POVERTY IN AFRICAAN ANALYSIS &

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

Poverty is going empty with no hope for the future. Poverty is getting nobody to feel your pain and poverty is when your dreams go in vain because nobody is there to help you. Poverty is watching your mothers; fathers, brothers and sisters die in pain and in sorrow just because they couldn't get something to eat.Poverty is hearing your grandmothers and grandfathers cry out to death to come take them because they are tired of this world. Poverty is watching your own children and grandchildren die in your arms but there is nothing you can do. Poverty is watching your children and grandchildren share tears in their deepest sleep.Poverty is suffering from HIV/AIDS and dying a shameful death but nobody seems to care. Poverty is when you hide your face and wish nobody could see you just because you feel less than a human being. Poverty is when you dream of bread and fish you never see in the day light.Poverty never takes a holiday" (One Poor African)

“…a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information.”

DEFINING POVERTY

Income vs. ConsumptionIncome refers to the amount of money someone makes, while consumption refers to the monetary value of the goods that person actually consumes.

Poverty is set at an income of $2 a day or less, and extreme poverty is set at $1 a day or less.

'Empowerment' refers to the ability of an individual to make choices regarding his or her life. Often, the poor are not empowered - they are forced to work at certain jobs or do certain things, and often, this state of existence can be linked to poverty.

Poverty should be defined by an individual's inability to affect change in their lives..." - Kathleen McHugh, 'Save the Children'

CAUSES OF POVERTY IN AFRICA - BRIEF OVERVIEW

Mismanagement of land

Misused money

Corruption

Human resources

Education

Diseases

Lack of infrastructure

Conflict

Effects of povertyAfrica's economic malaise engenders disease, warfare, misgovernment, and corruption that created it in the first place. The most direct consequence of low GDP is Africa's low standard of living and quality of life. Except for wealthy elite and the more prosperous peoples of South Africa and the Maghreb, Africans have very few consumer goods.

Possible Solutions

1. African poverty reduction depends upon raising African growth.2. The domain of the public sector should be kept small and decentralized.3. Strong checks and balances should be put in place on how governments use power and decentralized public spending.4. Reform of banking secrecy to make the embezzlement of resource taxes more difficult.5. Temporary preferential market access for Africa.6. International trade policies for poverty reduction to take precedence rather than additional aid.7. International peacekeeping and security guarantees to help resolve regional conflicts.8. Large and sustained aid inflows, not so much for investment in economic development, but rather for the direct raising of consumption levels.

RESEARCHED, COMPILED & PRESENTED BY

Marie Therese MuyukuTeam LeaderJohn Baptiste MpawenayoGroup CoordinatorFerdinand MbirigiStage Manager (Audio Visual )Main SpeakersYvonne UwimanaLeonard SentoreGabriel Nikundana