Uyen+Nguyen+UNDP+Mali+Topic+1

Name: Uyen Nguyen Country: Mali Committee: UNDP High School: Arundel High School Date: 2012 January 24

Topic 1: The Economics of Poverty

There is no place in the world that has not seen the destructive and backward effects of poverty. But what exactly is poverty? Being poor does not simply mean that one is forced to survive on a certain amount of money a day – it is the daily struggle for freedom, dignity, security, and inclusion in society. To fight against poverty is the assurance that one will not die tomorrow because of starvation or preventable disease and the guarantee that the impoverished will not be forgotten and forced to face the vicious cycles of poverty for generations to come. Mali knows firsthand of the struggles that are attached to poverty. In union with other countries of the world, Mali passionately seeks to develop new, useful approaches that do not simply send financial aid into the country, but instead, create longer lasting and more efficient establishments with these financial resources that will help break the entrapping cycles of poverty and uproot its causes from society. There are numerous economic views on the causation of poverty. On the microeconomic level, individuals who are born poor are expected to remain poor due to the “poverty trap”, which begins with having a low income initially, thereby preventing proper education to develop sufficient skills, resulting in low employability. In a world where human laborers are being rapidly replaced by automated factories, skilled work is on high demand – this poses a serious problem for those thrown into the “poverty trap”. Macroeconomically, governments find themselves in the “development trap”: poorer countries receive less foreign investment and therefore have less revenue, leading to decreased government spending on public services and greater need for loans, which in turn aggravates the problem and further discourages foreign investment. Though the U.N Millennium Declaration in 2000 and agreements made during the 2005 World Summit of the U.N have outlined and recognized the collective responsibility of the world to eradicate poverty and support health and education efforts, there has been extreme unevenness in efforts to reduce global poverty; such is the reason for Africa’s growth in debt and poverty. With the destruction of families, tribal borders, workforce, and pre-existing trading currency that resulted from European colonialism and the slave trade, Mali also lost its rich culture and abundant resources that sustained their social and economic success. Today, Mali continues to lag behind other economies significantly, being amongst the twenty-five poorest countries in the world. On average, Mali continues to get poorer, incomes dropping compared to the rest of the world - 63.8% of its people are living in poverty. Land continues to be used improperly (due to unenforced property laws) and the lack of proper technology leaves the country at a disadvantage in terms of agricultural production and mining, markets that the Malian economy heavily depends on. Because of this, the country is particularly sensitive to price fluctuations in the world market and has little to depend on if these markets face a downturn. Although the land is abundant with natural minerals, much of it is monopolized by large corporations that send profits overseas. Expanding on this issue, the little foreign investment and/or aid that the country does receive usually ends up in the hands of corrupt government officials or allocated in military expenditures. As conditions continue to worsen and development in the country is at a standstill in comparison to the fast-moving world, Mali is pressed to call for more focused action from the U.N to the African continent. There are clearly a wide range of problems that affect Mali, which will require a great amount of effective action in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Combating poverty involves much more than just sending in donation packages – the Malian people must be taught how work beyond the realms of primitive agriculture and invest in more diversified assets in order to build a stronger, more enduring economy for themselves. Of course, this would require the cooperative efforts of international corporations and national government; if Mali was to open its market for more diversification and production, there must be outside markets willing to purchase these products. Furthermore, efforts of introducing more technology and skilled work has been proven to be successful in neighboring countries such as Malawi and Ghana, where great success was reached in increasing food production through voucher programs for fertilizers; in Vietnam, investment was made in agricultural research and development, producing enough food to decrease hunger levels by fifty percent. If such efforts have been demonstrated as effective in such a short amount of time within other countries, it most surely should be implemented in Mali as well. With increased construction of schools, variety in education should follow so that education is not completely secularized, but also teach skills, applicable knowledge, and methods of building a functioning, cohesive society. Allocating financial capital into special programs that promote higher employment, equality, and education, providing necessary technology, and building quality schools will not only help Mali and its people reach the more industrialized level of this day and age, but will also benefit other countries through more effective use of financial aid. Of course, a significant amount of monetary resources will be needed in order to fund special programs and schools to uplift the economy. However, no amount of monetary resource would be able to meet the amount of responsible cooperation of international and national organizations and governments that will be needed in order to replace the conflicts that continue to worsen in Mali with more opportunities and empowerment of the country’s people. Mali has great potential to become successful, with its hardworking, compassionate people, and land that is no more inferior to even the wealthiest of countries. It is only through the development of fair laws and economic agreements that this potential can be unlocked and bring even the poorest of countries out of the degrading circumstances caused by the poverty and development cycles.