Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Poverty in Africa vs Povery in Asia

I heard Dr. Theogene Rudasingwa (Former Rwandan Ambassador to the US) speak in the Management of Technology lecture series at Haas School of Business (UC Berkeley). One striking thing he talked about was how African countries did not buzz much during last three decades in terms of the health standards and the per person income. At the same time East Asia and the South Asia made tremendous upward movement. Large chunk of population under poverty line (less than $1 a day) comes from the African nations.

He used the examples of Singapore and Malaysia vs Rwanda and Nigeria. While Singapore and Malayasia have progressed greatly in terms of income and child mortality, Rwanda and Nigeria are still at similar levels as they were in 1970. Why?

Some very vivid and descriptive animation about the world income distribution could be found in this really good report titled "Human Development Trends 2005".

http://hdr.undp.org/docs/statistics/data/flash/2005/2005.html

India's Growth: Is it helping the poor?

Economic growth may have been spectacular since 1993 — that is, post-economic reforms — but it seems to be trickling down rather slowly.

A soon-to-be-released official report has estimated that poverty declined by a mere 0.74% during the 11-year period ended 2004-05. Although there are signs of things moving a little faster, at 0.79%, between 1999-2000 and 2004-05, going by another measure, the number of people below poverty line may have remained unchanged.

National Sample Survey Organisation’s (NSSO) findings show the number of people living below poverty line (BPL) at 22.15% in 2004-05, compared with 26.09% in 1999-2000. In the same period, the country’s GDP grew at around 6%. This mismatch between growth and its distribution is politically worrying as it indicates a rise in economic disparities.

Economists say uneven growth often leads to social unrest which, in turn, can cause problems for politicians. Anyone consuming less than 2,100 calories in urban areas, and 2,400 calories in rural areas, is classifed in the BPL category.

The NSSO study also shows that poverty declined the sharpest in the poorer states.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Yunus from Grameen Bank gets the Nobel Peace prize

A great day for those who aspire to make this world a happier place - one person at a time - with small contributions.

Yunus is an ispiration for many of us. Yunus getting the Nobel peace prize endorses the view that development and peace are both linked to each other.

Here is an inspirational article by Yunus -

http://www.grameen-info.org/bank/GBdifferent.htm