2022

Project Report on Poverty

Report By: Hamza Kayani

 Abstract………………………………………………………..Page # 02

 Introduction……………………………………………………Page # 03

 Causes………………………………………………………… Page # 04

 Recommendations……………………………………………...Page # 06

 Conclusions…………………………………………………….Page # 07

 References……………………………………………………...Page # 08

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 Abstract

While billions enjoy affluent style, more than a tenth of the world’s population live in extreme

poverty today. Poverty is not a consequence of limited global resources, but political and

economic injustice. However, the poorest people are almost always at greatest risk from

environmental damage, climate change and competition for resources. The effects of

unsustainable population hit the poorest first, and hardest.

The world's poorest countries tend to have the largest family sizes and fertility rates. When

people have no economic security and cannot rely on their government and a social safety net,

they often have children to ensure they will be looked after when they are older. Where child

mortality is high, there is an even greater impetus to have more children. Those circumstances

can lead in turn to a culture which values high family size.

This understandable human impulse can contribute to a vicious cycle. Poor families with large

numbers of dependent children may perceive the need to take children out of education early, or

marry off their daughter’s young. They will also often live in deprived communities where

access to modern family planning is limited. All these factors combine to keep family sizes high,

perpetuating the cycle.

While people living in poverty make a tiny impact on global environmental problems such as

climate change, they can have a devastating impact on their local environment. Environmental

damage can have wider impacts. For instance, in places where there is no water supply and no

refuse collection, people are obliged to use and discard plastic packaging or bottles, sometimes in

waterways, contributing to plastic pollution in the oceans. The perception that poverty equates to

a low environmental footprint does not hold true in many circumstances.

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 Introduction

What is Poverty ?

Poverty is about not having enough money to meet basic needs including food, clothing and

shelter.  However, poverty is more, much more than just not having enough money. In addition

to a lack of money, poverty is about not being able to participate in recreational activities; not

being able to send children on a day trip with their schoolmates or to a birthday party; not being

able to pay for medications for an illness.  These are all costs of being poor. Those people who

are barely able to pay for food and shelter simply can’t consider these other expenses.  When

people are excluded within a society, when they are not well educated and when they have a

higher incidence of illness, there are negative consequences for society.  We all pay the price for

poverty.  The increased cost on the health system, the justice system and other systems that

provide supports to those living in poverty has an impact on our economy.

Poverty in Pakistan

The World Bank (WB) has estimated that poverty in Pakistan has increased from 4.4 per cent to

5.4 per cent in 2021, as over two million people have fallen below the poverty line.

Pakistan's economy has been growing slowly over the past two decades. The annual per capita

growth has averaged only two per cent, less than half of the South Asia average. The sectors in

Pakistan that employ the poorest, such as agriculture, are expected to remain weak, and therefore

poverty is likely to remain high.  Poverty in Pakistan has historically been higher in rural areas

and lower in the cities. Out of the total 40 million living below the poverty line, thirty million

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live in rural areas. Poverty rose sharply in the rural areas in the 1990’s   and the gap in income

between urban and rural areas of the country became more significant.

Causes of Poverty

The causes of poverty may vary with respect to nation, region, and in comparison with other

countries at the global level. Yet, there is a commonality amongst these causes.

 Hunger

 Poor healthcare system

 Climate change

 Lack of Education

 Poor public works and Infrastructure

 Hunger:

Hunger is a major cause of poverty. If a person doesn’t get enough food, they’ll lack the strength

and energy needed to work. Or their immune system will weaken from malnutrition and leave

them more susceptible to illness that prevents them from getting to work. For children born into

low-income families, health is also a key asset to their breaking the cycle of poverty. Adults who

were stunted as children earn, on average, 22% less than those who weren’t stunted.

 Poor healthcare system:

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As we saw above with the effects of hunger, extreme poverty and poor health go hand-in-hand.

In countries with weakened health systems, easily-preventable and treatable illnesses like

malaria, diarrhea, and respiratory infections can be fatal. Especially for young children. 

 Climate change:

Many of the world’s poorest populations rely on farming or hunting and gathering to eat and earn

a living. Malawi, as an example, is 80% agrarian. They often have only just enough food and

assets to last through the next season, and not enough reserves to fall back on in the event of a

poor harvest. So when climate change or natural disasters leave millions of people without food,

it pushes them further into poverty, and can make recovery even more difficult.

 Lack of Education:

Not every person without an education is living in extreme poverty. But most adults living in

extreme poverty did not receive a quality education. And, if they have children, they’re likely

passing that on to them. There are many barriers to education around world, including a lack of

money for uniforms and books or a cultural bias against girl’s education. Poverty threatens

education, but education can help end poverty.

 Poor public works and Infrastructure:

A lack of infrastructure from roads, bridges, and wells, to cables for light, cell phones, and

internet can isolate communities living in rural areas. Living off the grid often means living

without the ability to go to school, work, or the market to buy and sell goods. Travelling further

distances to access basic needs costs money which leads to poverty

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 Recommendations

These are the effective ways to reduce Poverty.

1) Develop and implement rapid and sustained economic growth politics and programs, in

areas such as health, education, nutrition and sanitation, allowing the poor to

participate and contribute to the growth. Studies show that a 10 percent increase in a

country’s average income reduces poverty by as much as 20-30 percent.

2) Improve management of water and other natural resources. Most of the rural poor

depend on agriculture or other natural resources for their livelihood. Consequently, it is

necessary that they have more equitable access to those resources so they are better

able to manage their resources.

3) Create and improve access to jobs and income and develop entrepreneurial talent.

4) Providing all people with access to basic social services including education, health

care, adequate food, sanitation, shelter and clean water.

5) Empower people living in poverty by involving them in the development and

implementation of plans and programs to reduce and eradicate poverty. Their

involvement ensures that programs reflect those things that are important to them.

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 Conclusion
Poverty has become a great issue in our world. Though many organizations have been created to

find solutions for this matter nobody could not save our world completely from poverty.

As a young student, I would like to suggest some factors which would be helpful in our journey

to reduce poverty. Basically we have to take necessary steps to reduce the population in our

world. Natural resources don’t increase according to the population which is increasing at a high

speed. When we consider the families in poor countries, they have at least six or seven kids. But

those kids do not have a proper health or the parents cannot provide proper education for them.

And also those parents cannot provide good foods filled with suitable nutrients to their kids due

to lack of wealth. Because of that their healthiness decreases by a considerable amount. The

development of their brains becomes insufficient and due to that their ability to get a proper

education decreases.

So taking necessary steps to develop health and education sectors in these countries is a good

way to reduce poverty.

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 References

 https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/esic/overview/content/

what_is_poverty.html

 https://borgenproject.org/

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_Pakistan

 https://www.un.org/

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