Poverty and Human Rights Violations: A Contemporary Report Analysis

This report meticulously examines poverty as a grave violation of human rights in the contemporary world. It begins by defining poverty and its implications, emphasizing the fundamental right to basic necessities such as food and shelter. The report delves into the root causes of poverty, including overpopulation, cultural factors, lack of education, economic instability, environmental issues, and the widening gap between the rich and the poor. It analyzes various articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that are violated by poverty, such as the right to life, liberty, security, and equality. The report highlights the efforts of various organizations and governments in combating poverty, while also pointing out the need for individual contributions and changes in mindset. It discusses potential solutions such as creating good jobs, educating women, promoting micro-financing, and addressing corruption. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of long-term goals, balanced income levels, and continuous efforts from all sectors of society to eradicate poverty and uphold human rights.

Poverty is the most egregious human rights
violation in the contemporary world

A power which is available to every person living in this world is known as human right.
Execution, torture, etc. are some of its examples relating to violation if rights available to an
individual. Poverty is a situation when someone does not have money or any other resource to
fulfil his/her basic needs like food, shelter, etc. (Alkire and Foster, 2011). This report is based on
violations relating to human rights. Its main focus is on poverty which is one of the most
significant issue of this era. Some people in this world are getting rich day by day while, on the
other hand some are dying as they are hungry for more than couple of months. It is
understandable that every person cannot become rich but according to law, every individual
deserves the basic resources which are necessary for living. There was a time when most of the
regions were suffering from this problem. At that time, they could not help each other but now,
significant number of countries have overcome this issue and people residing in these nations are
living more than lavish life.
Before discussing about various articles relating to poverty and the way it can be stopped,
it is important to understand the causes of this problem (Alkire and Foster, 2011). In some parts
of Asia, the reason behind this issue is overpopulation. The resources like food, land, water, etc.
are less in these countries when they are compared to the total number of population living in
that nation. Africa continent is facing this trouble because poverty is present in their culture and
most of the time they suffer from epidemic diseases like malaria, Zika virus etc. Lack of
education and economy of a region are some other causes which stop large amount of population
to get basic needs which are essential for their living. Environmental problems like drought or
heavy rainfalls are also considered as the prime reason of poverty. According to a research done
in California, almost 50% of the people who are currently living in this world are forced to use
inferior quality goods which make a negative impact on their health. Some of them earn less than
two 2.5 dollar per day.
In the present era, there are many organisations that are working in this issue. Some of
them are run by state or national government and others are funded by rich people (Dercon and
Christiaensen, 2011). It is the duty of every single person living in this world to make some
contribution either in the terms of money or by providing free goods and services. Most of the
people do not know that poverty is also considered as a violation of human rights. Authorities
cannot give punishment to someone if they are capable but not making some contribution in
removing poverty. However, as an individual, every human being has to think of this trouble and

try to find its solution. If a person or country has resources more than they need then it is their
responsibility to do some charity and provide necessary sources of living to most of the
underprivileged people. The gap between rich and poor people is widening and according to
some experts of this field, this problem will get bigger in the upcoming period.
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The hard work of many organisations is now paying off. According to a recent report
released by World Bank in 2017, global economic growth is going to strengthen by around 2.7
percent. The regions which were suffering from poverty are going to drive growth in upcoming
time. African and Asian countries are ready to open door for multinational companies that can
invest a huge amount and generate jobs (Gilder, 2012). This will help people of these nations in
improving their standard of living. This is also good for the economy of country. According to
some experts, in forthcoming scenario, issues like terrorism will become the main reason for
poverty. People in nations like Syria are fighting for food. They do not have home to live and
terrorists are also damaging the public property whose renovation or reconstruction will be an
expensive work. There are some causes of poverty that human beings can check but factors like
natural disasters are out of their hand. They can do a lot of planning for it but somewhere in their
mind they know that they cannot control nature.
After the end of world war, General assembly of United Nations made the Universal
declaration of Human rights. In article 3, it is clearly stated that every human being has right to
live his/her life by their own. It also mentioned rights relating to liberty as well as security of a
person. If government in some country is executing a human being than it will be considered as
the breach of human right. Poor people commit suicide as they fail to earn basic resources for
living. Some of them choose a path of crime in order to fulfil their needs (Hernandez, 2011).
Article 4 talks about slavery, although this problem has almost disappeared from this world but
in some parts of Africa and now in Syria, it is coming back. This act clearly stated that slavery is
banned in any form. Most of the poor people complain that they faced discrimination. An
individual who has a lot of money is treated in different ways while a person who lacks basic
resources do not get what he or she deserves. Article 7 discusses about equality. According to
their explanation, equal rights are above than any law prevailing in any country. Article 2 ban
discrimination and this problem is considered as the main reason that difference between rich
and poor people is increasing (Yoshikawa, Aber and Beardslee, 2012).
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Main reason that most of the poor countries are successfully removing this problem is
that they are finishing the culture of poverty. They are improving business environment and
opening their economy so that they can receive a significant amount of investment and fulfil
their need of basic infrastructure. A large number of NGOs are working for this issue. Bill and
Melinda gates foundation has done an impressive work in Asian and African region. Many
billionaires are giving them billions of dollars so that they can remove various problems which
are present in this world. People who have monetary resources should work in order to remove
poverty from its roots. It is their social responsibility to fulfil the needs of underprivileged
population so that they can get basic goods as well as services (Hickey and Du Toit, 2013). In the
present scenario, some of them either do not have necessary resources for living or they are using
inferior quality of items.
Issues like terrorism need immediate attention as they are considered as one of the
biggest threats for personal security. Countries who are the most affected by this problem are
facing risk of increasing poverty. Instead of focusing on social welfare, government of these
nations are spending public money on purchasing weapons and so, they can fight against terrorist
organisation. Most of the people who are helping NGOs are transferring funds through E-
money. Technology is playing a crucial role in providing funds to the needy person.
Public want to help underprivileged segment as they know that they are responsible for
fulfilling their basic needs but people have a fear that their money can go in wrong hand. Most of
the rich people are ready to surrender their earnings to poor class but when they hear corruption
prevailing in NGOs, they get second thoughts. By doing proper utilisation of technology, this
problem can be checked. Government in all the countries should make strict law against
improper utilisation of charity funds. They should also think about making policies which
decrease the gap between rich and poor people along with distributing money in an appropriate
manner.
People who faced poverty in their life understand the situation of scarcity of resources but
upper class does not have such an experience. So, they fail to understand the complexity and
impact of these problems. If this world wants to resolve this issue then they have to first change
the mind-set of poor people. They need to tell them that they can come out of this trouble and
instead of focusing on problem,people need to think about the solution (Landes, 2015). Public
blame government for most of the problem but they do not see their accountability. It is the
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responsibility of every individual to work in this area and make whatever contribution they can
give. Laymen claim that they do not have money to spend of poor people, but they should think
about providing voluntary service to them. Government in underdeveloped and developing
nations give free food and shelter to underprivileged people. This is not the solution of poverty
as instead of raising their living standard they are making them beggar. They should make
policies to them self dependent and provide them job so they can have regular income which will
help in developing a dignity in their personality.
NGOs are also committing blunder as instead of targeting a community, they are focusing
on few people. If they want to make a huge impact and finish this problem in the large area then
they have to change their strategy and working style. The causes of poverty differ from one
region to another. Some have cultural issue while others have poor economy. If someone try to
implement same policy in all the areas then they will not get desired results. People first need to
understand the core reason behind existence of this problem (Nolan and Whelan, 2011).
Governments should focus on creating good jobs and develop skills in workers so they can
increase their value in market. They need to focus on an employment which should not be
replaced by machine in upcoming time. Unemployment is considered as one of the main reasons
that is increasing poverty in this world. Underemployment is also is big concern which is
creating additional problems.
Educating women can play a significant role in solving this issue in short period of time.
If a girl or female is illiterate then she will fail to provide basic education to their children. This
process is considered as one of the prime reasons that most of the poor countries still do not have
basic infrastructure and education in nation. Women manages whole family and if she has proper
education then they can lift up the whole society. Most of the experts of this field do not give
much importance to micro-financing. It can become a major player in resolving this critical
issue. Poor people want to come out of this situation but they need a path which they can follow
(Rakodi, 2014.). If they get loan of small funds then they can start their own business which can
help them in earning regular income and it will also raise their living standard. This will decrease
their dependency on NGOs and government.
Public need to think about the issue like corruption which is considered as the major
hurdle in solving problem of poverty. There is a need of transparency in public expenditure,
leaders only think about votes and power. They do not care about poor people and give
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preference to their career. This world need to keep patiences, problem of poverty will take time
in disappearing from this world. Every single person should make some contribution for which
continuous efforts can be made and right track can be followed. Instead of making short term
goals, society needs to set achievable long term targets (Short, 2012). The difference between
rich and poor people should be targeted in order to maintain a proper balance between income
levels.
At the end, it can be concluded that there are various articles which clearly state that
every human being has right to live their life. Every individual is responsible for helping a poor
person so this major problem of society can be solved within a short period of time. The causes
of this trouble are needed to be addressed and solution should be made accordingly. Various
governments and NGOs have done a lot of work in these areas but they still need to think about
violation of human rights.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Alkire, S. and Foster, J., 2011. Counting and multidimensional poverty measurement. Journal of
public economics. 95(7). pp.476-487.
Alkire, S. and Foster, J., 2011. Understandings and misunderstandings of multidimensional
poverty measurement. Journal of Economic Inequality. 9(2). pp.289-314.
Dercon, S. and Christiaensen, L., 2011. Consumption risk, technology adoption and poverty
traps: Evidence from Ethiopia. Journal of development economics. 96(2). pp.159-173.
Gilder, G., 2012. Wealth and poverty: A new edition for the twenty-first century. Regnery
Publishing.
Hernandez, D. J., 2011. Double Jeopardy: How Third-Grade Reading Skills and Poverty
Influence High School Graduation. Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Hickey, S. and Du Toit, A., 2013. Adverse incorporation, social exclusion, and chronic poverty.
In Chronic Poverty (pp. 134-159). Palgrave Macmillan UK.
Landes, D. S., 2015. Wealth and poverty of nations. Hachette UK.
Nolan, B. and Whelan, C. T., 2011. Poverty and deprivation in Europe. OUP Catalogue.
Rakodi, C., 2014. Urban livelihoods: A people-centred approach to reducing poverty. Routledge.
Short, K., 2012. The research supplemental poverty measure: 2011. US Department of
Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, US Census Bureau.
Yoshikawa, H., Aber, J. L. and Beardslee, W. R., 2012. The effects of poverty on the mental,
emotional, and behavioral health of children and youth: implications for prevention.
American Psychologist. 67(4). p.272.
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