United Nations Development Program
Disaster Risk Reduction
Syria
Athens High School
Delegate: Areeb Islam
Poverty is the overarching subject in which a person, or persons, lack the financial stability and resources to maintain a minimal standard of living. More than 3 billion people worldwide live on less than $2.50 a day. Almost 1.3 billion people live in extreme poverty, around $1.25. Many government and nongovernment institutions have made attempts to minimalize poverty around the globe. Services like welfare are offered in countries such as the United States. The organization, “Unicef,” states that almost half of the world’s children “live in poverty.” According to the UN, most people living below the poverty line relate to new Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, prioritizes targeting poverty as agenda number 1.
Syria has been in a state of war for many years, and with the uprising of the radical Islamic group, known as ISIS, living conditions have only been getting worse. In 2015, more than 80 percent of the population in Syria lived below the poverty line. This is a direct result of the massive 57.7% of people who are unemployed. Many families have been convinced that the only way their children can be freed of these conditions is by joining the Islamic terrorist organization. The life expectancy of Syrian residents has been reduced by 20 years. The Syrian government has been reported by the UN to have lost upwards of 200 billion dollars. As the Syrian conflict continues, many Syrian residents have lost loved ones, their jobs, and their homes.
In order to combat these poverty issues, humanitarian aid and resources could help to stop child recruitment, and provide families with health care, foods, and jobs. As Isis threatens to expand their territory into neighboring nations, a unified effort to stop this spread can end the conflict in Syria, and allow many people to get jobs.
- Areeb Islam
