This is obviously a massive question that could easily take an entire course to answer, let alone one midterm assignment. At first, I had no idea how to even begin. Do you blame it all on capitalism? Racism? Neo-colonialism? Neo-liberalism? Climate change and the growing number of natural disasters? There are so many factors as to why poverty has continued to plague the global south, and it's extremely difficult to cram them all into a 1,000 paper.
Below is an excerpt of the answer I came up with after a few days of brainstorming and narrowing down topics. It doesn't fully express my views - again, this is a huge problem with even bigger implications - but it does give a small snapshot of some of the reasons that poverty, in my opinion, is still so widespread.
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Despite the millions of dollars worth of aid that is funnelled through developing countries every year, poverty still proves to be a large issue faced by many people living in the global south. According to a recent report by the UNDP, titled Humanity Divided: Confronting Inequality in Developing Countries the "richest one percent of the world population owns about 40 percent of the world's assets, while the bottom half owns no more than one percent." This statistic demonstrates how the global inequality gap remains substantial despite efforts to eradicate poverty and ensure all people are able to live healthy, secure and comfortable lives. In the examples that follow, it will become evident that widespread poverty is still prevalent worldwide due to the self-interest fostered by nations.
Many developed countries, such as Canada, give millions of dollars of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to various developing countries every year. However, this money is primarily given to countries of interest. Canada, for example, lists countries such as Haiti, Vietnam, Ukraine and Ethiopia as countries of focus, meaning that the majority of money funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) goes towards development projects in these areas. In some instances, this money is being sent not only to help people in need, but also to benefit the interest of the Canadian government. As discussed in class, funding for Ukraine began during a Liberal election campaign, and has continued in order to keep the support of the Ukrainian population within Canada. This money is not filled with good hopes and intentions - it carries an attempt to keep Ukrainian-Canadians content with the actions of the Canadian government. It is clear that ODA funds have not always been intended as genuine aid for countries in need, not to mention regions where such money is needed, but rather, to help foster the political interests of the donor country.
China, a newly developed country, is driven by the need to further develop itself at the cost os its own people. In order to compete with, and embrace, the rising tide of globalization, China turned to embracing illegal methods of production such as child workers and sweatshops. China's economic development has taken precedence over safe working conditions and concern for human rights. As the country continues to grow, many of its people remain in poverty. The vast amount of pollution throughout China, which results from their massive factories, also make everyday life almost unbearable for citizens, and greatly affect the agricultural production of farmers in rural areas.
But projects at home are not enough to help boost its economy, so China also funds various infrastructure projects across the African continent. Many of these projects are established and managed by Chinese companies in order to bolster the Chinese economy externally, not from a humanitarian concern for the long-term prosperity of African economies and workers. As a result, China's continued economic expansion operates at the expense of its own people and those that it targets for external economic development. This once again demonstrates how international aid money can be the object of political self-interest. The self-interest of China to continue expanding its own economy greatly hinders both the capacities of its own people and those in developing nations it claims to be helping.
The ways in which ODA are currently used has a great impact in ensuring that many people in developing nations continually rely on aid and relief, rather than gaining the capacities and knowledge to better their own lives. Large amounts of aid are used to supply 'band-aid' solutions to issues regarding poverty rather than providing a sustainable alternative. Rather than allowing aid money to be used to temporarily fix issues of poverty, donor countries should ensure that their ODA is being used for sustainable projects that will yield lifelong results. Due to the continuing pattern of 'band-aid' solutions, aid dependency has become rampant and allowed for a cycle of poverty to grow. Therefore, by holding donor countries accountable to implementing sustainable projects, this cycle has the potential to be broken, and poverty could be alleviated.
All of these examples have shown the reality of growing poverty despite efforts of eradication. It has become extremely important for both developed and developing countries to set aside their own personal agendas and truly think about the future of the world as a whole. Systems of trade, governance and life itself are at risk when poverty expands, and self-interest will not protect our respected nations. In order to properly help those with the greatest needs, sustainable projects must be implemented with the sole intention of helping those whoa re suffering gain a better way of life, and not be based on prioritization or self-intertes.
