Dear Editor,
Your editorial ‘Eradicating Poverty’ published in your January 20, 2024 edition sought to address the universal problem of poverty in a Guyanese context. For example, referencing government’s ‘Because We Care’ programme, your editorial stated: “’The ‘Because We Care’ and the uniform grants that benefit the parents and guardians of 205,000 schoolchildren with $45,000 per annum will cost only $9.2b – less than .001% of the 2024 trillion dollar budget.” The editorial went on; “Clearly this could be increased to an amount that is far more impactful. Additionally the method of its transfer could be changed with payments perhaps each quarter.” “Whatever the format, the current ‘Because We Care’ grant is fair in its comprehensiveness and could become the basis for a more robust approach to eradicate poverty in Guyana.”
A second editorial, published in your January 22, 2024, edition headlined; ‘Protecting a Trillion Dollar Budget’ suggested; “Poverty mapping must absolutely be done by this government to ensure that those living in penury and having to decide if they can afford three meals per day are given real assistance in an economy that will absorb $240b in oil revenues.” The editorial continued; “One must also ask about the wisdom of the part time jobs programme. While it does provide $40,000 per month, questions are increasingly being raised about the method for selecting individuals and how much work is actually being done. More problematic is that it may be encouraging the participants to settle for part time jobs when they could be looking for full time positions. As such it seems to be a poverty trap.”
A couple of days before publication of your second editorial, the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, meeting from January 15-20, 2024 in Kampala, capital city of Uganda, issued the Kampala Declaration. A large portion of that Declaration was dedicated to the issue of poverty. In their declaration, participants at the summit committed “To taking comprehensive and targeted measures to eradicate poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, everywhere, recognizing it is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. (We) Also commit to enhancing and supporting policies and strategies for reducing poverty and inequality, including through international cooperation.” Had S/N been following the agenda of the Global South it would have noticed the most recent commitments made by governments of 120 states to fight poverty.
This is not to say that S/N’s editorials on poverty were untimely or weak. Reference to the American and Kenyan experiences aside, the editorials could have offered a more balanced and objective appreciation of the scale and magnitude of the problem worldwide and efforts by governments and non-state actors to address poverty. Take for example the USA, 46.0 million people were lifted out of poverty in 2020, a year-over-year increase of 14.5 million people, yet the official poverty rate in 2022 was 11.5 percent, with 37.9 million people in poverty. In America there are two versions of official poverty lines – the poverty thresholds and the poverty guidelines. The former is issued by the US Census Bureau, while the latter is issued by the Department of Health and Human Services. Unlike China, the US does not have different poverty lines applicable to each state.
As regards Kenya, nearly half a million Kenyans were lifted out of extreme poverty in 2023. And, although the Kenyan economy is the largest and most developed in Eastern and Central Africa, 16.1% (2023/2024) of its population live below the international poverty line. According to the World Bank, more than 850 million Chinese people have been lifted out of extreme poverty; China’s poverty rate fell from 88 percent in 1981 to 0.7 percent in 2015. China’s criteria on poverty differ from the World Bank’s, and both are changing. For example, in 2010, the World Bank poverty standard was $1.90 per day, while China’s poverty standard was 2,300 yuan per year (equivalent to $1.60 per day). China’s poverty alleviation standards are adjusted to the annual dynamics of price and life index with a view to matching international standards. However, by any measure, China eliminated absolute poverty by the end of 2020. According to a 2022 World Bank report, 800 million people have been lifted out of poverty in China in the past 40 years, accounting for 75 percent of the people lifted out of poverty in the world. In 2015, the World Bank announced a new international poverty line. In its report ‘Ending Extreme Poverty and Sharing Prosperity: Progress and Policies’ the international poverty threshold was raised from US$1.25 per person per day to $1.90 per person per day.
Amartya Sen, winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics, declared that “the true meaning of poverty is the lack of capacity and opportunity for the poor to create income, and that poverty means the poor lack the ability to not obtain and enjoy normal life”. And British scholar, Benjamin S. Rowntree, determined that “once the living conditions of individuals and families lack the economic resources or economic ability to obtain these goods and services that can be called poverty.” Addressing the poverty issue from a Guyana perspective, PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo declared: “Government wants to eliminate poverty totally. We want to ensure every Guyanese citizen is living in a decent place they own or can afford to rent; ensure a high quality of health care for all people; every child or adult who want to study; to live free of fear in a democratic society. This is what is meant by a maximum threshold.”
According to Jagdeo; “There are two key objectives government is working towards: first, accomplishing a minimum threshold for all Guyanese; and second, creating the conditions for wealth creation. Every Guyanese must have a minimum threshold in terms of the quality of life – not a minimum fixed income… not a monetary target.” Jagdeo went on to explain; “Maximum threshold is a broad reaching concept… a people centered concept. We want to ensure that every Guyanese become wealthy through their own efforts; to grow income and wealth by creating conditions for people to grow their own personal wealth, household or business wealth …”
Sincerely,
Clement J. Rohee
