Sustainable Development #Thread
December of 2018, I tweeted this: https://t.co/xrc5pO7An3 and so far I have been doing what I can to enlighten us a little bit. You may check my "Moments" on here for the different intellectual threads I have posted here, & if you want something "light" enjoy my pinned Tweet
So this evening, we want to talk about "Sustainable Development", some of the major problems and proffered solutions.
Everyone and anyone in any part of this world share a common home, and that home is called “earth”. The earth is dynamic in nature, and as such everything that exists within it periodically experiences evolution, as many organisms constantly evolve. Development an survival are
two key things humans need, however, as basic as these needs may seem, the environmental resources needed to deal with the needs are limited, and in most cases need technological implementations to discover. The population of humans keeps growing, and so do their needs, the
earth even if it cannot be made bigger to accommodate everyone is already big enough, and there are enough environmental resources to go round. However, while we need to keep developing functional systems, we also need to take future generations into consideration, hence; there
is the need to utilize whatever available resources we have wisely. The importance and need for sustainable development cannot be overemphasized, and it is needed to bring balance to our social, environmental, and economic needs. With sustainable development, we are encouraged
employ modes of conservation and enhancement of whatever resources we have, and this will be made possible by optimally applying technology where needs be. Back in 2013, it was estimated that about 767 million people were living below $1.90 per day which was the international
poverty line, which was an improvement from the 1.7 billion people living below that same daily amount in 1999. Global poverty rate may have dropped tremendously between 2000 and now, however, there is the need to tackle serious problems which if not dealt with, may gradually
lead to an increase in poverty levels all around the world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. These problems are basic in nature, but need a lot of attention as they are an important part of sustaining any economical development. The problems are:
•Income Inequality •Suffering •Lack of Resilience of Individuals Living in Abject Poverty These problems if resolved are the key to effective sustainable development in countries affected.
Income Inequality, hence, Boost Incomes The World Bank in March 2013 reported that there were about 145 underdeveloped nations around the world, and one of the major attributing factors stunting the development of these countries was income inequality. Income inequality has
always been a huge problem for many countries, especially in Africa, as it further enhances the divide between citizens with a marginalized ideology, it constantly drives the poverty circle, and it generally slows down or totally stops the development of the countries, and even
their economies get terribly affected. More so, with income inequality, there is the tendency for citizens to want to resort to crime, hence the high crime rates in such countries, there is the development of business structures that are oligarchic in their operations, also
citizens of such countries have no faith or trust in the government. With this large gulf between the rich and the poor, there will always be trouble brewing- like different factions fighting in desperation, and political unrest, among others. With income inequality, the economic
growth of such countries gets limited, and you end up seeing children of low income earners working to survive and support their families when they should be in school, learning. Furthermore, income inequality affects the market, in that the markets cannot function optimally, and
this is due the fact that demand keeps diminishing, because there is a lack of use of labor resources, hence, you get countries where majority of their citizens go against any type of rational decision making, including putting limits to how regulations by the government can be
effected, thereby creating markets that are totally unstable. With an unstable market, there is a decrease in consumption, which invariably results in the dive of the economic progress and GDP of the affected countries. With a stunted growth mechanism, income inequality does
nothing but lose opportunities to develop a country. Solutions There is no laid down principle on how to solve income inequality, however there are different approaches to the problem, some of them include:
•Ensure jobs are created for everyone, if the private market cannot handle the totality of it, then the onus is on the government to provide these jobs. •For countries where there is more capacity than growth, such countries end up having slack job markets, hence, policies
(monetary and fiscal) need to be applied aggressively, to get a commendable result of full employment. •Minimum wages should be raised, and the overtime salary should also be reviewed, and all indexed to inflation. •Make high quality child care very affordable.
•There should be no systemic barriers, and if there are, they should be removed. People should be treated equally irrespective of their language, ethnicity, race, or immigration status. •Low income youths and adults should have unhindered access to training opportunities and
employment that will lead to great economic success in such countries. •Political imbalances should be corrected. •Make quality education accessible and affordable. •There should be unhindered access to capital, and entrepreneurship should be encouraged.
2. Suffering There is a belief that many developing countries are enjoying a steady developmental growth, especially some African countries, countries like South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Angola, among others have been seen to have growing economies. However, while it is a welcome
development, it will interest you to note that a greater percentage of these countries are struggling strongly with poverty, and this affects the whole African continent. It leaves you wondering why despite the major deposits of raw materials the continent has; there is still a
deep-rooted struggle with poverty. The major reasons why this is so includes: •A lifestyle of corruption •Hindered access to education and educational resources •Trade policies that are unfair •Lack of quality health system and infrastructure •Terrorism and civil wars
•Absence of social infrastructure and basic amenities •High rate of unemployment •Geographically disadvantaged •Malnutrition •Disregard for human rights •Hunger •Natural disasters as a result of negligence of the government and people. Etc. With all the resources the
continent has, the continent should be among the best worldwide in terms of economic growth, infrastructural development, and the general well-being of the average person, however, with the aforementioned problems, there is the need to really reduce the sufferings in places
affected. While the government has a major responsibility, international aids also have their parts to play in ensuring that citizens within these countries have access to basic things that seem like luxuries to them at the moment. Solution These countries that are suffering
need to know how to get development right, and to achieve this, their orientation needs to change and be aligned with developmental goals for the country. Some ways to reduce the suffering in poverty stricken countries include: •Improvement in governance, as bad leadership is
largely responsible for the state of these countries. •Agriculture should be improved on, especially in African countries, as they have the huge landmass of arable land; the landmass is so big enough that they can actually feed the world.
•More educational institutions should be built, and everyone should be encouraged to learn, as this will further drive the economy via the drive to want to be technologically inclined, hence the creation of technologically advanced systems that will further enhance productivity
•Provision of proper and affordable healthcare system. •To fight corruption, there should be judicial systems in place that enforce the rule of law no matter how highly placed anybody is. •Boost income by eliminating income inequality.
•Tackle conflicts from the roots, to prevent more conflicts. •Create more jobs, and train more people to become entrepreneurs spanning different sectors. Let people be taught business skills •Finance sustainable projects and NGOs. Etc. One major NGO that has continued to be a
light in the darkness is Oxfam. Oxfam has been in the business of fighting poverty in countries since 1942, and has twenty independent charitable organizations, and their goal is to alleviate poverty globally. No country with both human and natural resources should be poor,
such countries can and should be guided, and not exploited. 3. Lack of Resilience of the Individuals still living in Extreme Poverty Every country has had its fair share of disasters, some natural and others man-made, but there is always the need to bounce back no matter how
badly hit a country is. The problem still remains that when disasters hit poverty prone countries; there is usually a high level of unpreparedness, and this has proven to be a huge setback. Disaster do not just come with devastation, they also drag the poor and impoverished
further down the pit of poverty. There is the tendency for people who are in the tight grips of poverty to live in hazardous places, while they some of them do it ignorantly, others do it without minding the dangers and this is because to them it just may be a means to survive.
A majority of these people do not have access to social protection or insurance, hence they use the very limited assets they have to cushion losses from disasters, and this in turn makes them even poorer, as it the disaster was never planned for. Disasters can lead to a lot of
negative things that affect not just the poor, but everyone involved. Some of these impacts include: •Displacement as a result of a flood, fire, famine, or insurgency. •Poor health, with lack of proper healthcare and/or restriction to basic healthcare facilities.
•Food insecurity •Complete loss of livelihood •Loss of life •Damage •Injury, etc. Several researches carried out have suggested that disasters are a contributing factor to impoverishment, and if not nipped in the bud can lead to a chain of losses, drastic drag to efforts put
in to reduce poverty, and poverty traps. Solution Vulnerability can be as a result of the combined effects of inequality and poverty, , however, even the vulnerable have the ability to deal with disasters, they only need to strengthen these abilities.
There is the need to not just build the resilience of the poor, but also to have preventive measures against disasters. By strengthening resilience, it becomes easy for society, households, and individuals to make headway even in the face of disasters, hence the cycle of poverty
being caused by the incessant disasters gets broken. It is therefore very important to increase resilience and strengthen livelihoods, to reduce poverty and risks. There are different dimensions to reinforcing livelihoods, and they include: •Social protection and assistance
•Diversification of livelihoods •Provision of basic services and infrastructural developments •Management for natural resources. All these involve the building of social, physical, human, financial, political, and natural assets. The assets will function as capacity builders
as a result of access to resources, and they will also reduce the vulnerability of the impoverished by acting as the cushion between hazards and people. If we are going to have a successful sustainable development process, then all hands must be on deck to make it happen.
This is a summary, so I expect the experts among us to step in and perhaps break it down, or expand if needs be. That'll be all for today.... Your contributions are welcome. Thanks for coming yo my yenyenyen talk *drops mic* *sips B milk*
