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the world in 2012As we progress further into the third millennium, the United States (US) is still the largest and most dynamic economy the world has ever seen and its influence pervades every continent on the planet. Even after the sub-prime mortgage meltdown, with just 4.6% of the world's population, the US economy comprises 20.2% of world Gross National Income*(GNI), absorbs 24% of the annual world output of natural resources and pumps out 18% of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The US is such a dominant player in the world that just one state, California, has an economy on a par with that of Italy, whilst the third largest state, Texas, has a greater output than all of sub-Saharan Africa. However,
the US is only first amongst equals in the wealthy league of 33 advanced
economies which includes all 17 countries of the Euro Zone**, Japan, UK,
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden,
Iceland, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Israel. Collectively
these countries are often referred to as the 'North'. And together with
only 15.3% of the world's population they make up a colossal 52.6% of
global output. And the gap between the North and South just keeps on widening - a) by increasing economic growth in rich countries and b) by deepening poverty in many poor countries. In 1820 the ratio of living standards between the richest and poorest countries was some three to one. Then industrialisation cut in and things started to speed up. By 1913 the ratio was 11:1; 1950 35:1; 1973 44:1; 1993 72:1; and 2005 90:1. And so we have reached the absurd situation today where the richest 1% of the world's population have an income similar to the total income of the poorest 57%. [In recent years some of the larger developing countries have made giant strides in increasing economic growth year on year and the four BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) now account for 18.3% of world GNI compared to just 8.4% ten years ago. At the same time, however, China now accounts for 23% of CO2 emissions (UK 1.7%)] Unsurprisingly, then, most of us living in rich countries have everything we need to make the most of life. We live in comfortable well-heated homes within easy reach of shops where the shelves are stacked with food from all over the world; clean refreshing water gushes out of taps and costs very little; first-rate medical services are there for everyone from the cradle to the grave; schools give every child the golden opportunity to compete in our modern world where the choice of jobs has never been greater; infinite entertainment is no further away than the press of a button and the next holiday is planned before the last one has been taken. Meanwhile, in most of the developing world, life, as we know it, is in stark contrast. Here 2.7bn people struggle to live on less than $2 (£1.25) per day, over 1bn people go to bed hungry every night, 890m people risk their lives everyday by drinking dirty water, medical services - where there are any - are overwhelmed and often unaffordable, 69m children do not attend primary school and electricity, which has powered economies in the North for almost 100 years, is still not available to 2bn people in the South. Then there are the horrendous living conditions in most shanty towns with stinking open sewers running through the streets where children play, leaking roofs that make everything damp for days on end and crime and violence that can erupt at any time in places where crushing poverty is a way of life. All of this
translates into a depressing death toll which should be at the top of
every news bulletin in the North - for every single day in the South
Yet the world does care when tragedy strikes as was shown by the phenomenal international response to the Asian tsunami disaster where an estimated 230,000 people lost their lives in 14 countries in that Boxing Day tragedy in 2004. Perhaps this was because it was a 'real' event where TV thrust the death and devastation directly into our living space and so people everywhere felt they wanted to help alleviate the suffering. As a result they gave magnanimously to the Disasters Emergency Committee and other charities to help save survivors and to rebuild lives and livelihoods. The tsunami was a natural disaster and the world-wide response was magnificent; the death of 60,000 men, women and children needlessly everyday is a preventable disaster, which sadly has, as yet, seen the world unable to respond effectively. For those who are 'lucky' enough to survive in the very poorest countries sometimes as many as 85% of the population eke out monotonous lives as subsistence farmers often barely able to scratch a living for themselves and their families from land long paralysed by constant use. There a typical day breaks down as follows:-
Most of the world's poorest nations are in sub-Saharan Africa. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its annual Human Development Report calculates progress throughout the world by using three criteria in its Human Development Index (HDI) - life expectancy, mean/expected years of schooling and GNI per capita. It then places countries into very high, high, medium and low human development. In 2011, in a list of 187 countries, 36 out of the 46 Low Human Development countries were in sub-Saharan Africa. Two more countries, Somalia and South Sudan, had figures been available, would surely have been in this group too. That means that 38 out of the 49 nations which comprise sub-Saharan Africa are hugely under-developed. Furthermore, excluding the island nations of Seychelles and Mauritius, every country in the region, including South Africa and Botswana, are to be found from 106th position and below in the 2011 Human Development Index. Not surprisingly then as far as reaching the UN Millennium Development Goals (for full list see GLOBALISATION) set to be achieved by 2015, sub-Saharan Africa doesn't stand a chance. According to the World Bank, on current progress, sub-Saharan Africa will not meet the goal for reducing child mortality by 2/3rds until 2106 and it will take until 2129 to achieve universal primary education. As for three more goals - hunger, income and access to sanitation - no date can be set because the situation is worsening. And so,
in our disparate world, as Charles Dickens may have put it if he were
alive today:-
Several reasons can be put forward:- poor climate, bad geography, perennial famines, water shortages, pervasive illiteracy, chronic diseases, smouldering conflicts, rampant corruption, dysfunctional government, economic mismanagement, weak institutions, a small middle class, tribalism, strangling bureaucracy, lack of property rights, dilapidated infrastructure (roads, ports, power, telecommunications), unpayable debts, trade barriers and miserly overseas development aid (ODA). And under the various headings (e.g. FOOD, WATER, HEALTH etc.) just1WORLD tackles these issues, considers the present situation and discusses possible solutions. However, in RECOMMENDATIONS, we prioritise the main problem confronting the people of Africa as they seek to escape from poverty and, at the same time, offer constructive solutions which, if effected, could soon start to change the face of the continent. * GNI per hd is basically the total of goods and services produced by a country plus income earned from overseas divided by the population of that country. **Euro Zone nations:- Germany, France, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Austria, Finland, Portugal, Greece, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta, Estonia. |
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On
the other side of the globe is the developing world - the 'South' -where
things could not be more different. In 2011 the GNI per head in the US
was $47,140 (£29,280) as against $360 (£225) per head in Niger,
in N. Africa, one of the poorest countries in the world where the desert
ravages what remains of fertile ground every year. Already Americans are
more than 130 times richer than people in Niger where life has barely
changed in centuries. 
24,000 PEOPLE DIE
FROM HUNGER yet there is enough food for everyone in the world; 
Former
U K prime minister, Tony Blair, has called the current condition of Africa
'a scar on the conscience of the world.' He is right. And in this modern
age of globalisation when man has never known a period of such creativity
and technological advancement, why have so many people in so many countries
been left behind?