Poverty decreased to 15% in Guyana

Guyana has successfully combated poverty, dropping to figures to 15 per cent. This is according to International Development Adviser to the United Nations on Poverty, Dr Naresh Singh, during the recording of ‘The Factor’ hosted by Neaz Subhan, to be aired on Television Guyana (TVG) Channel 28 at 20:00h tonight.

According to the expert, Guyana has been successful in reducing poverty from about 28 per cent in 1992 to roughly 18 per cent in 2006. Singh asserted that with sound technical advice, it is believed that Guyana in 10 years time can be able to ‘fix’ the poverty problem with the creation of an inter-ministerial body.

Guyana has two poverty lines – extreme poverty and moderate poverty.

Extreme poverty which is also a global poverty line, is define as people who live one less than US$1.25 a day, people who do not get enough food for normal functioning of everyday life.

Moderate poverty is defined in Guyana as people living on US$1.75 which is G$350 per day. Both type of poverty have been majorly affecting persons living in the hinterland regions, especially Amerindians.

However, as Guyana successfully continues to fight the issue of poverty, effort to alleviate the scourge appears relentless globally also.

According to the Singh, the UN has been able to mobilise resources to help fight poverty. It has established global goals such as the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) which ended in 2015. The world has made tremendous success in reducing poverty over the years by using the Millennium Development Goal.

MDG was established in 2002 based on the year 2000 Millennium Declaration where all world’s leader got together at the United Nations General Assembly.

Their number one goal was to reduce extreme poverty by 50 per cent by the year 2015 which the world was successful in achieving. However, even as the reduction was seen globally, not all countries achieved a reduction.

So currently, the 2015-2030 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) has been formulated, where nations would come together to achieve goals set by the UN.

Seventeen goals were agreed upon by the United Nations last year and the UN is now mobilising the countries to work towards those goals. “So my task in the meeting will be to draw all the lessons I have learned, what countries have done… [what] worked and not worked, to help them influence the way the Sustainable Development Goals will be shaped,” Singh relayed.

The United Nations stands firm in its commission to have poverty eradicated.