Half Of World's Least Developed Countries Can 'Graduate' By 2020 With Specific Plan, UN Reports

In anticipation of the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, a group of leading development experts has released a report analyzing the ability of the world's poorest countries to escape poverty in the next decade.

Around the world, 48 countries are categorized as least developed by the United Nations. This designation quantifies the quality of life in an impoverished country, defining it as a place where the gross national income (GNI) per capita is under $905. To move out of this designation, nations have to reach a minimum of $1,086 GNI per capita.

The experts, known collectively as the Eminent Persons Group, have concluded that half of the least developed countries could "graduate" from poverty by 2021 with the help of specific policies outlined in the report.

The Group of Eminent Persons suggests that the economic and social growth necessary to break out of poverty can best be achieved through doubling access to education, implementing duty-free and quota-free trade policies for exports, and increasing agricultural productivity by double. Finally, they suggest targeting international aid to support the individual nation's government in their endeavors to meet these goals.

According to the UN News Centre,

Issued ahead of the a conference on LDCs to be held in Istanbul from 9 to 13 May, which will seek to promote a 10-year programme for food security, decent work, disaster risk reduction, climate resilience and clean energy growth in the LDCs, The Report of Eminent Persons 2011 stresses that these countries can break out of a decades-long poverty trap, depending on determined national action and international support.

Not only does the report show that countries are able to break out of poverty, it also suggests targeted policies that would best facilitate the graduation of more than 20 countries by 2020. These suggestions will undoubtedly influence the strategic Programme of Action (PoA) produced by global leaders at the upcoming conference.

At a recent General Assembly meeting, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated the importance of a concrete plan:

"We need a programme of action for the next decade that emphasizes sustained and inclusive economic growth, improved productive capacity and a structural transformation that will generate jobs, especially for the vast and growing population of young people," he said.

Read the full report.

Comments

[seventeengeese]

05:04 PM on 04/02/2011

Having travelled to Tanzania, Africa, I was amazed and impressed how, even in utter poverty, a people can remain kindly humerous and totally ingenious in making use of every part of a resource and wasting nothing. It made me embarrassed to think of how disposable everything is here in America.

When I think about Tanzania, I remember the children walking on rutted dirt roads in their school uniforms who would flash the biggest smile in the universe when we would stop to give them pencils and/or writing tablets.

Education in Africa is needed and wanted. Yet, even in the learning arena there is graft among the adults who are in charge of the students well being. Educating the young is so important in having future generations with the knowledge to help bring their countries into a more prosperous future.

I know this is difficult without the basics of food and water availability; it is a big picture that must be addressed at some point by richer nations who are willing to commit to a world that works for everyone.

[Derek Lantin]

11:55 PM on 04/01/2011

Sir

Your excellent article quotes a recent study saying “the ... growth necessary to break out of poverty can best be achieved through doubling access to education, implementing duty-free and quota-free trade policies for exports, ...increasing agricultural productivity by double.... (and) targeting international aid to support the individual nation's government in their endeavors to meet these goals”.

Let us examine these goals.

Doubling education requires resources which the poor nations do not have. If the poor nations had the funds to double education they would not now be poor.

International aid support is vastly inefficient. Most under-developed countries are riddled by corruption. It is likely that few the funds donated reach their intended targets.

Much can be done to increase agricultural production, both in the quantity and the type of crops. Poor countries often place most emphasis on grain production, but a wider range of produce would be better advised. There are now many types of basic foods that have been developed with increased vitamin content.

There is a limit to what agriculture can do. In most poor countries, most poor people have to by their food. They do not grow it. For them to do this a general economic growth is required. The simplest way to do this is to revise the inefficient quota systems and to encourage free trade. Sadly, this clashes with political agendas and meets with massive opposition from those who could help the most.

Sincerely, Derek Lantin. http://dereklantin.booksabuzz.com

[Terri Lorz]

11:02 AM on 04/01/2011

This would be so great. Terri Jo Lorz

[T4]

06:48 PM on 03/30/2011

Not going to happen and what are the side effects if it did. too often these social programs never include ramifications - it's just a jolly jolly world out there if more babaies are better fed and existing social order is disrupted. Here's what has happened - populations increases and the land can;t support them, the pop gets age imbalance of young to old, more tyrannical governemtns appear and use this imbalance to secure more personal power and child armies grow up killing people. Always be aware of the Law of Unintended Consequences before embarking on social change.

[Kenz300]

01:40 PM on 03/30/2011

The world added a billion people in the last 12 years. It will add another billion
people in the next 12 years.

The worlds limited resources of jobs, food, water, tuna, oil and others are coming
head to head with the worlds never ending population growth.

If we could not solve the worlds problems of hunger and despair when the world had
4 or 5 billion people and adequate resources, how will we solve these problems in a world
of 8 or 9 billion people and limited resources?

[Derek Lantin]

12:08 AM on 04/02/2011

Hi Kenz
Very good point.
I think the statistics show that the world populaton has increased from one billion to seven billion since 1900.
Everybody has the right to a good quality of life free from disease and hunger. To do this we must clearly limit the numbers of people.
Many developed countries now have neutral populaton growth rates; some countries have negative population growth.
Population growth in the under-developed world is hard to control. Historically, people would have,say, four children an the assumption that two would die young, one would turn out bad and one would turnout well and would help Mum and Dad in their old age.
It is likely that the advances of medical care are reducing the death rates, but education has not advanced in step and many poor people do not understand that there is no longer a need to breed prolifically.
At this point the "Catch 22" equation comes in, i.e. if poor countries could afford the education, they would not now be poor.
Sincerely, Derek Lantin. http://dereklantin.booksabuzz.com

[espressobeans]

07:41 AM on 03/30/2011

If there were a comprehensive plan and a world commitment, yes. Unfortunately, it would mean that some people making money on misery would have to stop.

[PlayTOE]

12:53 AM on 03/30/2011

the economic and social growth necessary to break out of poverty can best be achieved through doubling access to education,

This can be achieved cheaply if we could have an online free school with world wide access. Hopefully some of the worlds best teachers could be persuaded to teach lessons (once and recorded) so they could be viewed on line as students were ready to learn them.
Even testing can be auto-marked.

Offering a good education to everyone is in our power.