Accumulated Problems Impede Global Social Development and Poverty Reduction – Global Issues
UNITED STATES, Oct 19 (IPS) – The development of society in the global context shows the risk of downward spiral and non-recovery if countries do not reduce the long-term impact of many problems and work to build their resilience. While this will require national political will, it will also require global cooperation to make it happen.
The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) launched the 2024 edition of the World Social Report on October 17. The title ‘Community Development in Times of Transitional Disasters: A Call for Global Action’the report discusses the effects of multiple crises and shocks on countries’ social development and their capacity to handle those shocks through social protection or lack thereof. It states that although there has been an uptick in development and economic growth in some parts of the world after the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation, many developing countries are still struggling to reach their development goals or reduce extreme poverty even before the pandemic.
Intermittent problems, especially those caused by extreme weather, may increase in frequency and severity. The shock from these disasters will be felt, or will be felt globally rather than in a single country or region because of the networks that connect all countries and systems. The DESA report provides an example of global warming and predicts that all regions will experience changes in their national climate systems. The increased risk of extreme weather such as hurricanes and prolonged droughts will not only affect the countries directly affected, but this will also threaten agricultural production and food security.
The report shows that although there is a better understanding of the impacts of these disasters, preparedness has not yet been achieved. Information on early warning and prevention programs is not always available or it is not clear how effective they are.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have strengthened their social security; however, gaps remain, undermining social development in times of crisis. As the report reveals, only 47 percent of the world’s population has access to at least one social protection benefit, which means that almost half of the 8.1 billion people do not have access to social protection. The difference continues as the report shows that in high-income countries, 85 percent of people are helped, while in low-income countries, only 13 percent are. Looking at gender, a new report from UN-Women revealed that two billion women and girls around the world do not have access to social protection.
Ongoing conflicts and shocks to social development disproportionately affect vulnerable communities as they face increased risks of poverty, food insecurity, wealth inequality and loss of education, which are only exacerbated by limited access or lack of access to social protection.
Another area where this is evident is in unemployment rates, which have increased over time. The employment gap increased from 20 percent in 2018 to 21 percent in 2023. By 2022, the world’s poorest half owned only two percent of the world’s health. These are indicators of rising inequality in income and wealth, especially in developing countries with already high levels of inequality.
For countries to build resilience is now more important than ever, the report says, which can be fully achieved through international cooperation. Otherwise, actions taken at the national level will be limited.
“I think that in many countries, the priorities of the government are actually to reduce poverty and improve people’s lives. It’s just that in order to do that, they need to achieve a certain level of growth,” said Shantanu Mukherjee, Director of Economic Policy and Analysis. , UN DESA. “Most of the time it’s a question of which will come first. What we see in this report is that this idea does not have the idea that you can invest in people to get higher growth in the future because you improve resilience. You improve their ability to contribute to the future.
The report concludes with recommendations that countries can take to renew national actions for social development, such as expanding and strengthening social protection and accelerating work towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Global cooperation can be strengthened by establishing international cooperation solutions and a knowledge base for risk management.
Improving global financing is also one of the recommendations proposed in the report. Easing debt limits in developing countries, for example, will ensure the flow of money, especially those that spend more on paying off their debts than on social development. According to Mukherjee, this has been achieved in the past, and there are discussions among major lenders to take steps to reduce credit limits.
However, in today’s day, not only are the challenges more complex, now many groups are involved. Besides countries and financial institutions such as the World Bank and international development banks, private companies can also participate as countries can collect funds from international markets, which must be returned, he said.
“Now you can imagine that if there are a lot of people with loans, nobody wants to be the first to say, ‘Okay, I’ll take…I’ll withdraw my request a little until then.’ things get better’, because then everyone will say, “Country X is taking less time; why don’t you pay us because country X is lagging behind?”. So these linkages and good forms of agreements were established, and I think they need to be renewed,” said Mukherjee.
The report and its recommendations come after the Summit on the Future and the ratification of the Future Pact, where member states committed to taking concrete steps towards development and preparedness for current and future generations, thinking beyond the 2030 Agenda. . Upcoming global meetings such as the Fourth World Conference on Financing for Development, scheduled for June-July 2025 in Spain, and the Second World Summit on Social Development, scheduled for November 2025 in Qatar, will be important opportunities for the international community to reach out. consensus in different areas of social policy.
“Increasing insecurity and high inequality and persistent social exclusion are eroding the social background and thus the ability of countries and the international community to work together to achieve common goals, including achieving the SDGs to address climate challenges,” said Wenyan Yang, Head. Global Dialogue for Social Development Branch, UN DESA.
“Therefore, the Second World Conference on Social Development is an opportunity to build a new global consensus on social policies and actions to create momentum for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and to fulfill the promises we made to people in 1995.”
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
