Eradicating global poverty

AS WE mark International Day for the Eradication of Poverty tomorrow, it is timely to reflect on some causes of poverty, and the challenges and prospects of addressing this global problem.

Poverty is a condition that arises from injustices in society. It is a problem for all of humanity and not only for the poor. Eradicating poverty should, therefore, be addressed from a human rights perspective related to justice and obligation rather than charity.

According to a statement of the Bahá’í International Community, “poverty can be described as the absence of those ethical, social and material resources needed to develop the moral, intellectual and social capacities of individuals, communities and institutions”.

“Moral reasoning, group decisionmaking and freedom from racism, for example, are all essential tools for poverty alleviation.

“Such capacities must shape individual thinking as well as institutional arrangements and policy-making.”

The creation of a just and peaceful global order – in which every individual is able to meet their basic human needs, and where people of diverse backgrounds co-operate and live in harmony

– in the Baháí view, will require a significant reorientation of individual and collective goals and a profound transformation in attitudes and behaviours. We need to accept the oneness of humanity and eliminate the extremes of both wealth and poverty.

Extremes of poverty are linked to extremes of wealth. One extreme cannot be abolished while the other is allowed to exist. In a January 2020 report, Oxfam International states: “The world’s 2 153 billionaires have more wealth than the 4.6 billion people who make up 60% of the planet’s population.”

Poverty is a symptom of a system of economic and social relationships that promote the advantage of the few at the expense of the many.

The same way as the material world is governed by physical principles, the social world is governed by moral principles, which underlie the functioning of an ordered society.

“Principles such as gender equality, trustworthiness, access to education, human rights and freedom of religion, for example, tend to correlate positively with measures of socioeconomic wellbeing and stability,” the Bahá;í International Community states.

The global efforts to deal with poverty have been primarily in terms of transfer of financial resources. However, such an approach has not been able to solve the problems for which it was intended.

We can see that the gap that separates rich and poor is actually widening each year, which indicates that current systems in place to eradicate poverty are incapable of solving the problem.

Today, one of our greatest challenges is how to release the enormous financial, technical, human and moral resources required for sustainable development – resources that are often tied up for wars and wasteful projects.

It is the Bahá’í view that, “these resources will be freed up only as the peoples of the world develop a profound sense of responsibility for the fate of the planet and for the well-being of the entire human family”and “this sense of responsibility can only emerge from the acceptance of the oneness of humanity and will only be sustained by a unifying vision of a peaceful, prosperous world society”.

Contact: tshwane@bahai.org.za; or call 083 794 0819. Websites: www. bahai.org, www.bahai.org.za