From British Prime Minister David Cameron to US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to India’s Commerce Minister Anand Sharma as well as a legion of CEOs of leading multinationals, all were busy in winning friends and influencing people. But they seemed to have little time to discuss about the plight of millions of people who are bearing the brunt of the global meltdown and have reaped no benefits from the strong performance of emerging economies like India and China.
Referred to as the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), these 48 poor countries are home to about 750 million people. Over the next four years, their population is expected to reach nearly 942 million. Out of the 35 countries that are at the bottom of the Human Development Index (HDI)-- measured in terms of life expectancy, literacy, standard of living and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita-- 32 are LDCs.
In 1971, the United Nations identified 24 countries as LDCs and called upon world leaders to devise special measures to help them join the global development mainstream. But, after four decades, the number of LDCs has doubled to 48 and only three countries – Botswana, Cape Verde and Maldives-- have been able to graduate from the LDC status. Countries with per capita income of less than US$ 745 are designated as the LDCs. But they can graduate from the LDC status only if their per capita income crosses the US$ 900 threshold.
From war-ravaged Afghanistan and Somalia to the earthquake-hit Haiti, from Bhutan, Burma and Nepal to Democratic Republic of Congo, LDCs are characterised by poverty, unemployment and low level of socio-economic development. Southern Sudan, that voted in favour of independence recently, is likely to join this exclusive club as the 49th member.
During the Millennium Summit in the year 2000, 192 member countries of the United Nations agreed on eight Millennium Development Goals (also known as the MDGs). They include eradicating extreme poverty, reducing child mortality rates, fighting diseases like AIDS and developing a global partnership for development.
Number one goal of the MDGs is to halve the proportion of people-- whose income is less than $1 a day -- between 1990 and 2015. So, what is the progress so far? The MDG report 2010, published by the United Nations last year, says that robust growth in the first half of the decade reduced the number of people in developing regions living on less than $1.25 a day from 1.8 billion in 1990 to 1.4 billion in 2005, while the poverty rate dropped from 46 per cent to 27 percent. The report, however, warned that global economic and financial crisis sparked abrupt declines in exports and commodity prices and reduced trade and investment, slowing growth in developing countries.
Food prices went up in 2008 and falling income due to the financial crisis further worsened the situation. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) estimates that the number of people who were undernourished in 2008 may be as high as 915 million and exceed 1 billion in 2009. “Despite some progress, one in four children in the developing world are still underweight,” said the MDG report.
In 1971, the United Nations identified 24 countries as LDCs and called upon world leaders to devise special measures to help them join the global development mainstream. But, after four decades, the number of LDCs has doubled to 48 and only three countries – Botswana, Cape Verde and Maldives-- have been able to graduate from the LDC status.
Many would, however, ask if it is important for the prosperous parts of the world (including those who are growing rapidly) to look back at their brethren who have fallen behind and may even be falling apart. UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon says that leaving a sizeable chunk of people behind would multiply the dangers of our world – from instability to epidemic diseases to environmental degradation.
In his thought-provoking book, “The Bottom Billion,” economist Paul Collier warns that the twenty-first century world of material comfort, global travel and economic inter-dependence will become increasingly vulnerable to these large islands of chaos and it matters now. “As the bottom billion diverges from an increasingly sophisticated world economy, integration will become harder, not easier.”
The fourth United Nations Conference on LDCs (LDC IV), taking place in Istanbul in May this year, is expected to review the role played by the international community in helping the LDCs – or to be precise, in their failure. There is no denying the fact that traditional model of development aid while closing their own markets by rich countries is not going to help. Moreover, rising prices of food worldwide and severe impact of climate change on the poorer countries will need to be addressed in a holistic way.
LDC Watch -- a global alliance of civil society organisations – estimates that LDCs spend over six billion dollars every year for debt servicing. In many LDCs, more money is spent on debt servicing than on essential services like healthcare, drinking water and energy. Cancellation of all debt to LDCs could be a point of departure and a strong message that the world still cares about their brothers and sisters --who happen to live in some of the most insecure and unstable societies.
It may even add to the narrative while rich and powerful meet in Davos next year.
bhagirath.yogi@gmail.com
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