Millennium Goal 1

PovertyFocus: China

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20111116000083&cid=1103 http://www.livetradingnews.com/china-economic-slowdown-89220.htm

Overview

Extreme Poverty specifically in China

Why extreme poverty is important in China

Who is most affected by the extreme poverty

Why extreme poverty exists in this region

How the UN proposes to fix this problem

Significance

Eliminating poverty = improved overall well-being of individuals

Health Reasons- well-nourished society more successful than malnourished

There should be enough resources around the world for everyone to have food and to be taken care of properly

China struggles with this also

Global Applications

Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

“Extreme poverty”- those whose income is less than $1.25 a day

Halve proportion of those in extreme poverty

Met 5 years ahead of 2015 deadline

Globally, more than 800 million still in extreme poverty

Full employment and decent work for all

Including women and young people

Halve proportion of people suffering from hunger

About 795 million still undernourished

More than 90 million children under 5 undernourished and underweight

Causes of Poverty in China

1.Rural-Urban Migration

a. China became an urbanized country in 2012

b. People are moving into urban areas at extremely rapid rates in search of higher paying jobs

c. Causes poverty in cities because of a lack of high paying jobs for excess of people

d. Causes poverty in urban areas because the women and children are left behind to survive

http://english.sina.com/china/p/2013/0406/579136.html

Causes of Poverty in China

2. Hukou System and Migrant Workers

a. The Hukou System is the household registration program

b. Identifies every person as either urban or rural

c. Discriminatory system that prevents large slums from occurring in city populations

d. Today, it’s a barrier preventing economic reform

e. Prevents migrant workers from receiving government services (ie. healthcare, education, pension)

f. Citizens can only receive this aid from local government, when they move they cannot receive aid from new local government

g. The Economist, “Shanghai had 170,000 students enrolled in high school in 2010, but there were 570,000 migrant children aged 15 to 19 living in the city who were unable to attend those schools.”

http://english.sina.com/china/p/2013/0406/579136.html

Causes of Poverty in China

3. Education Gap

a. China government in the 80s implemented 9 year compulsory education system

b. Urban students learn in state-of-the-art facilities with excellent teacher.

c. Rural students learn in poor buildings receiving a substandard education.

d. Education is also monitored under the national family planning policy so unless exempt, only one child may receive government education per family

http://english.sina.com/china/p/2013/0406/579136.html

Causes of Poverty in China

4. Agricultural Lifestyle

a. The poorer the family, the more their livelihood depends on agricultural activities

b. Agricultural activities are difficult in China because:

i. unsafe drinking water

ii. lack of skills and knowledge

iii.dependence on traditional farming techniques

iv. naturally dry climate and poor soil quality

v. remote locations making selling crops difficult

http://english.sina.com/china/p/2013/0406/579136.html

Causes of Poverty in China

5. Access to Healthcare

a. While considered a basic right by Chinese government, large gap between urban and rural healthcare

b. Most healthcare funding comes from local government

c. Rural local governments lack funding so clinics are few and far between and lack adequate personnel.

http://english.sina.com/china/p/2013/0406/579136.html

Poverty Stricken Regions of China

●Urban Vs Rural

○ Urban Incomes currently three times as high as rural incomes

○ 50% of population located in rural areas

■ About ⅔ of population engaged in farming, animal husbandry, forestry, fishing

■ Faster economic growth in eastern provinces than in west, though 51% of the poor reside in the 12 western provinces and autonomous regions

■ Perhaps because more trade and prominent resources, such as fish, are located on the eastern coast

■ Rural male laborers have migrated to urban areas creating a feminization of agriculture and rural labor

■ Women, the elderly, and children who stay behind are left vulnerable

Poverty Stricken Regions of China

https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~koyam20m/Urbanruraldivide.html

Poverty Stricken Regions of China

●Causes Of Rural Poverty

○ Rise in natural disasters, ex. droughts and floods, due to extreme weather conditions linked to climate change

○ Poor infrastructure-roads that aren’t paved, unsafe drinking water

○ Decrease of farm size and natural resources

○ Disproportional illiteracy and poor skills among women-linked to lower quality education in rural areas than in urban areas

○ Relying on traditional farm techniques

Poverty Stricken Regions of China

●What has been done to decrease poverty in China?

○ 12th Five Year Plan-Addresses wealth disparity, sustainability

○ Promotes improvement of social welfare-state supported education, social security healthcare

○ Aims to fund earmarking for IT, scientific research, environmental protection

○ Allows poor communities to benefit from social and economic development

○ Promotes expansion of transportation

●Criticisms of 12th FYP

○ Disconnect between planners in the central government and local governments responsible for implementing plan

Post-2015 Millennium Goals

New goals

Sustainable Development Goals

Eradicate extreme poverty by 2030

Empower youth

Employment

“Part of the first generation that can end poverty” - UN Secretary-General

Promote development of the other goals

Ex. Mitigating climate change

Improves sustainability and wellbeing

Reducing deforestation, reducing land degradation, and enhancing carbon stocks

→ cost effective

→ provide conditions for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity

→ more equitable sharing of benefits

Post-2015 Millennium Goals

Support developing countries trying to achieve the UN goals

Increase official development assistance (ODA)

Increase international public finance

Countries least able to raise public resources can receive needed aid

Resources focused on poorest of the developing countries

Assess effectiveness of amounts disbursed

Combine ODA with non-concessional public finance

Leverage private finance

Summary

The significance of China’s problems

Extreme poverty is a Global issue

The reasons for China’s economic epidemic

Regions in China most affected

The UN’s strategy for fixing the problems in China

Works Cited

Casey, Joseph and Katherine Kolesky. “Backgrounder: China’s 12th Five Year Plan.” U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission. Uscc.gov, 24 Jun. 2011. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.“China’s 12th Five Year Plan: Overview.” KPMG. KPMG.com, Mar. 2011. Web. 25 Oct. 2015."Give Young People Decent Jobs and They Will Create a Better Future." United Nations. United Nations, 1 June 2015. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.“Investing in rural people in China.” IFAD. Ifad.org, Apr. 2015. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.MDG Gap Task Force. "Taking Stock of the Global Partnership for Development." United Nations. United Nations, 2015. Web. 26 Oct. 2015."On International Day, Ban Says Biodiversity Is Essential to Sustainable Development, Eradicating Poverty." United Nations. United Nations, 22 May 2015. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.“5 Causes of Poverty in China” ProjectPartner.org, Oct. 2015. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.