Addressing poverty

October 17 was observed by United Nations member countries as International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. According to the UN, some 1 billion people live in extreme poverty and more than 800 million endure hunger and malnutrition. The UN has noted that poverty is not simply measured by inadequate income. It is manifested in restricted access to health, education, sanitation and other essential services and, too often, by the denial or abuse of other fundamental human rights.
According to the UN, vast inequalities threaten economies, communities and nations, trapping people in a cycle of poverty and marginalisation. The State of World Population 2017, a flagship report of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), notes that these inequalities are not simply a matter of wealth, but also include social, racial and political dimensions which are all mutually reinforcing. The report says that around the world, gender amplifies these inequalities. For example, too many women and girls do not have access to sexual and reproductive health care, which means they are unable to receive family planning services or antenatal care, and may be forced to give birth in unsafe conditions.

Pressed into motherhood early, or repeatedly, these girls and women are less able to finish their educations or enter the paid workforce, leaving their families poorer and their children with bleaker futures.
In Guyana, too many citizens are still considered living below the poverty line, and many more are still waiting to access the opportunities that would allow them to lift themselves out of poverty. President David Granger has said before that Guyana has enough resources to banish poverty forever. However, the nation is still waiting to see what concrete plans and programmes are being put in place to address poverty and to create “the good life” for all that was promised on the campaign trail some two and a half years ago.
Further, rather than creating opportunities for employment, thousands of sugar workers are being placed on the breadline. In spite of the mounting calls for the Coalition Government to reconsider its decision to downscale the sugar industry via closure of sugar Estates, the Administration seems unmoved and is bent on moving in a direction that will see these workers and their families being severely affected.
It could be recalled that on May 8, Agriculture Minister Noel Holder presented Government’s ‘White Paper’ on the future of the sugar industry to the National Assembly. He had announced that several sugar estates would be closed and the annual production of sugar would be reduced, among a number of other measures, as part of a new policy on the sugar industry.
Cognisant of the huge impact these closures would have on their lives, thousands of sugar workers and their families have taken to the streets over the past few months to highlight their concerns on the matter, with the hope that the government would stop to listen. While alternative mechanisms have been touted to cushion the impact, nothing substantial has been earmarked that would stem the swelling of unemployment occasioned by the closure of these estates.
Certainly, the estates are a major source of sustenance and their closure will be felt deeply and far and wide. Workers and their families are rightly fearful that their communities would be destroyed, families broken up and there will be increased incidences of crime and other social problems.
We had suggested that the issue be brought for discussion and debate at the national level with the involvement of all stakeholders, but this was ignored.
It is the duty of the Government to address systemic socio-economic inequalities and to facilitate the governmental engagement of all citizens. This is a necessary ingredient if Guyana is to seriously work towards eradicating poverty.