Children

As we leave 2007 behind in the shadows of our minds and embark on the journey of a new year and new hope, let us not leave our lessons learned behind. While 2007 brought us a great deal of progress in children’s rights and children’s development across the globe, it has also left us with a long list of resolutions for 2008.

There are some 2.2 billion children in the world, 86% of which live in the developing world. A third of all children in the developing world have some level of malnutrition by the age of five, and have little or no access to adequate healthcare. Malnutrition is a leading cause of disease and death among children, and 20%while considerable achievements have been made, much more is left to be done. In the last 25 years the rate of extreme poverty, those living on a dollar or less a day, has fallen some 20%. According to the newly released 2007 Progress for Children Report , 2006 showed us that for the first time the number of children dying before their fifth birthday fell below 10 million, to 9.7 million. So why is this not cause for celebration, well it is and it isn’t. We should celebrate any achievement in development that is giving more and more children a chance at life and a better future, however we cannot get carried away and think we have solved the problem, or are going to fully eradicate poverty in the near future.

Poverty is most often directly or indirectly exacerbated by war and conflict, and these conflicts bring with them corruption and a multitude of other hindrances that work to keep those in poverty, as well as those on the edge of poverty, in poverty. In a world where corruption runs rampant, trade is a necessity of survival, and natural disasters have only grown, escape from poverty has become even more turbulent. Therefore we still have a long, difficult path out of poverty, and as highlighted this recent Financial Times article, aid while necessary is not what developing countries are most in need of.

“The most obvious way in which rich countries could help is by keeping the peace in regions ravaged by war, or at least funding and supporting peacekeeping forces. But that is also the most difficult, risky and contentious way to carry out development policy. Trade policy, too, has a part to play. US efforts to open that country’s markets to African manufacturers have worked well, but they should be broader and other rich countries should be co-ordinating their initiatives.”

Throwing things at a problem has never been a way to solve it, but merely a band-aid over a larger gaping wound, and poverty and food shortages are no different. While food aid is an immediate need, it cannot be the end of the solution if we are to find sustainable ways out of poverty. What developing nations need is peace and stability and this needs to be the number one resolution on the 2008 agenda, if we are going to heal the wound of poverty.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008 at 3:36 am and is filed under Uncategorized, Blogroll, Foreign Policy Association, Great Decisions Blogs, Famine, Food Crisis or Shortage, Poverty. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.