Extreme Poverty
What does Martin Luther King Jr mean by “the guaranteed income.” It may be a minimum wage law but more importantly it is naming the abolition of poverty as a human right. Human rights are the basic rights and freedom that belong to each one of us. All humans must enjoy a certain type of freedom, the right to educate, right to vote, right to express their opinions…. these guarantees do not exist in every nation. One of the biggest obstacles on a global level that serves as a gateway to reaching most basic rights is poverty. How do we define poverty?
The United Nation’s sustainable development goal number one is no poverty. Unfortunately this goal does not seem to be closely attained. Poverty is a complex notion; awareness of the complexity of poverty requires a certain global knowledge. Lack of education is the main reason that leads to poverty. Access to education opens a new door to knowledge and helps solve crises; if the right to learn is not included then the country is facing a lot conflicts.
Eradicating poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice and the key to unlocking an enormous human potential. Still, nearly half of the world’s population lives in poverty, and lack of food and clean water is killing thousands every single day of the year. Together, we can feed the hungry, wipe out disease and give everyone in the world a chance to prosper and live a productive and rich life.
The number of people living in extreme poverty is becoming more concentrated in some global regions such as Africa. In unstable governments population is rising day by day. Some researchers have shown that overall the number of poor people living in Africa is currently is growing by five people per minute. No country should be facing this challenge.
Amartya Sen, an Indian economist, once said “poverty is not just lack of money, it is not having the capability to realize one’s full potential as a human being” so a human right could not be fulfilled in countries facing extreme poverty as a result many people have to fight against this extreme concept. How are people taking action to fight poverty? In order to solve extreme poverty we need to see citizenship as a global responsibility and solving poverty problems as an investment in our future. In addition to people like Bill and Melinda Gates, awareness programs through the United Nations and missionary type groups