Global Poverty Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Global Poverty - Research Paper Example Extreme poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa however increased to 46% in 2001 and it combined numbers of individuals living in extreme poverty (World Bank, 2004). Some of the transition economies of Eastern Europe and Central Asia suffered a sharp decline in income in the 1990s and the breakup of the Soviet Union also caused a significant reduction in their Gross Development Product per capita (Radio Free Europe, 2012). Poverty rates in the region increased as a result; improvements were gradually seen in the following years with per capital incomes recovering and poverty rates dropping. The World Bank also declared that poverty rates would start improving in Georgia and Ukraine in 2007 (Radio Free Europe, 2012). World Bank figures also indicate that based on 2004 figures, percentage of people living in poor households in East Asia and the Pacific region are at 9.07%; in Europe and Central Asia at 0.95%; in Latin America and the Caribbean at 8.64%; Middle East and North Africa at 1.47%; in South Asia at 30.84%; and Sub-Saharan Africa at 41.09%. There are also other indicators which are being used to indicate poverty, including life expectancy, child mortality, food supplies or calories taken per day, wage, literacy, and access to clean water (World Bank, 2004). ... Africa is also predicted to suffer even worse conditions in the years to come. Economic aspects of poverty highlights material needs, mostly those which include the necessities of daily living, like food, clothing, shelter, and safe drinking water. Poverty is therefore understood as the condition where a person or community does not have the basic needs to support the minimum standards of well-being, mostly due to the lack of a continued source of income (Townsend, 1979). An assessment of the social elements of poverty considers scarcity and elements of distribution resources as well as power forces in society as determinants of poverty levels. The social elements of poverty include lack of access to information, education, health, as well as political power. Poverty may also be considered in terms of unequal social conditions and social relationship including dependency, social exclusion, and failure to participate or to establish connections in society (Townsend, 1979). This social exclusion can be reduced via higher connections in the general society. The World Bank discussed that based on their assessment of about 20,000 poor individuals in 23 countries, they identified the following elements as determinants of poverty: unstable livelihoods, excluded locations, physical restrictions, gender relations, issues in social relations, limited or reduced security or safety, abuse of power, limited capabilities, disempowered institutions, and weak community organizations (Blastland, 2007). Under these conditions, poverty can be as significant problem, restricting opportunities as well as capabilities among the population affected. The main individuals affected by this issue are the people in developing countries,