Finance for Development Conference: Dare we be hopeful!

World leaders, government ministers, NGOs and financial experts converged in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa from 13th to 16th July 2015 for the third Finance For Development (FFD) Conference under the theme “Time For Global Action”.

In a joint statement, the leaders affirmed their strong political commitment towards addressing the challenge of financing and creating an enabling environment at all levels for sustainable development in the spirit of global partnership and solidarity.

Source: FFD 

They pledge that their goal is to end poverty and hunger, and to achieve sustainable development in its three dimensions through promoting inclusive economic growth, protecting the environment, and promoting social inclusion. Furthermore, they proclaim:

We commit to respecting all human rights, including the right to development. We will ensure gender equality and women’s and girls’ empowerment. We will promote peaceful and inclusive societies and advance fully towards an equitable global economic system in which no country or person is left behind, enabling decent work and productive livelihoods for all, while preserving the planet for our children and future generations.

Based on the above statements and pledges, we ask if we really dare to be hopeful especially with pledge to end poverty and hunger. We wonder how long will it take for that to become reality in a world where 795 million or 1 in 9 people do not have enough to eat, and a staggering 1.4 billion people live on about or under $1 a day.

According to The Hunger Project, 98% of the world’s undernourished people live in  developing countries, 214 million of which are from Sub-Saharan Africa. Tragically, the project also estimates that about 22,000 children die each day due to conditions of poverty and every 10 seconds, a child dies from hunger-related diseases.

Yet, according to the BBC, the technology giant Apple have just reported the biggest quarterly profit in history, and are now sitting on a pile of cash huge enough to give every person in the world £20 each with enough remaining to buy the 3 biggest Supermarket chains in the UK (Tesco, Sainsbury's & Morrison).

TRY Oyster Women Association, Gambia. Source: UNDP

The world population continues to grow especially in developing countries. A report by the  African Economic Outlook presents that the continent's population is set to triple by 2050 with both cities and rural communities seeing their population grow drastically. The report also argues that this population growth, combined with climate change, will exert increasing pressure on natural resources, such as food, water and land whereas poverty will remain stubbornly high.  

As a consequent, the fanciful idea of totally eradicating world poverty and hunger is nothing but a fantasy at least for our generation. And by their own admission, the FFD recognises the enormous hurdles that needs to be conquered. They highlighted that;

Inequalities within many countries have increased dramatically. Women, representing half of the world’s population, as well as indigenous peoples and the vulnerable, continue to be excluded from participating fully in the economy.  There are often shocks from financial and economic crises, and environmental degradation and climate change remain a biggest threat. Also conflicts, natural disasters and disease outbreaks spread rapidly in our highly interconnected world.

The challenges posed by these hurdles will not at all be easy to overcome. It requires a great deal of effort and need to be tackle at the grass root level. Development aid is certainly not the answer. It only makes poor people to become ever so reliant on such aids. In order to eradicate poverty, the culture of self-reliant must be inculcated on poor people’s mind. They need to be sensitised, trained and offered the necessary support to become self sufficient. As the saying goes, ‘show me how to catch a fish rather than giving me a fish everyday’.