Basic Needs Satisfaction Calculation

1
Basic Needs Satisfaction Calculation

• Meeting basic needs requires 1.08 US per day per
  person (by 1993 purchasing power adjustment
  prices)
• Present average income 0.77 US or 113/yr.
• 1.1 billion now live below the poverty line
• Short fall of the poor in 2001 was 124 billion
• Income of top 22 donor countries was 20.2
  trillion
• So just 0.06 of this would provide the 124
  billion for the poor.

2
Contributions to Inequality

• Trickle-down economic market model the rich
  made richer
• Inconsiderate industrial property rights system
  - ignoring the legacy of history and present
  realities
• Disingenuous global governance and abuse of power
• Excessive competition - collaboration a
  pretense
• Wanton consumerism - wasteful acquisitiveness
  in a finite world
• Creed of profits over people - poverty a side
  issue
• Present motivators - materialism and greed
• Denial of human rights

3
Key Impediments to Poverty Reduction

• Apart from Insufficient Financial Resources
• Lax accountability
• No signposts of success
• Little learning
• Waste and Corruption
• Decisions without the poor
• Right to socio-economic development not
  universally accepted
• Socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor

4
Ways of Tackling Poverty

• Place poverty at the center of socio-economic
  development by
• Establishing clear policies, plans, strategies
  and resources with adequate metrics of success to
  eradicate poverty.
• Empowering poor to be self reliant
• The poor challenging waste and corruption in
  programmes for their benefit.
• Appreciating the true cost of tolerating poverty
  and ill-will.
• Sharing experiences with others engaged in the
  same quest
• Promoting the moral fortitude, ethical
  disposition, political will and justice, to
  accept that the denials of basic needs is a
  violation of human rights.
• Better use of benevolence.
• Restore dignity to those denied.

5
Science An Essential Component of Human Rights

• Science a public good of survival value to
• Create awareness, proper thinking and
  technological assessment and actions
• Allow the poor to participate in decision making
  processes and democracy
• Link poor with S T infrastructure
• Target R D for the poor
• Deal with products and services of high
  scientific content.
• Prevent a few controlling the destiny of many

6
Freedom and Democracy Imperatives for Progress

• Poverty antithetical to freedom
• Without Freedom - No democracy
• Without Democracy - Disillusionment
• Social and political power must be shifted to
  points of need.
• Reduction of Poverty way to measure
  democracies.

7
Costs of the Violation of Human Rights

• Agricultural Decline - food safety and security
  jeoparised
• Education deficit - loss of jobs, suboptimum
  economic growth and development
• Loss of talent, energies and production
• Denial of Justice, rise of rebellion and violence