As the United Nations headquarters in New York prepares to host what is being hailed as the largest General Assembly gathering to date, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is disseminating a report designed to call attention to the plight of the world’s working poor. Mr. Ban prepared a report entitled “Voices of the Vulnerable,” and today distributed it to all foreign missions in an effort to keep attention on those most impacted by the global recession. The aim is to stimulate and maintain aid flows by reminding country representatives that many working poor living on the margins of the absolute bottom category could, without assistance and interventions, quickly fall to the very bottom rung.
Statistics from the report include the following bleak figures:
–Up to 222 million workers risk joining the ranks of the most impoverished category of the working poor, who earn less than $1.25 a day.
–Remittance flows, which reached $328 billion in 2008, are predicted to drop by 7.3 percent in 2009.
–Hunger rates are up in every region in the world.
Critics of these figures argue that no one, the UN included, is able to obtain and maintain accurate global data on poverty levels, and in particular on those living on less than $1.25 a day and working the world’s lowest paying jobs. In response, Mr. Ban’s report suggests global funding for a poverty monitoring system. While this may sound inverted at first–why fund the collection of data when the money could be used to actually alleviate poverty?–adequately mapping poverty could prove essential to advancing its eradication. For one thing, the first retort to anti-poverty actions is often that the program lacks the data to support its raison d’être. Having the data in hand would shut down this first line of argument. For another, before we can claim we are fighting poverty, we should have a solid idea of the factors causing it. For example, in terms of the current global crisis, analysts argue that the poorest countries have been most effected by lower trade flows, decreased investment, and a drop-off in remittance. But because such countries do not keep employment and other related data in as comprehensive and timely a manner as rich countries, we can’t be fully sure that the global recession hasn’t also caused massive waves of unemployment in the poorest countries as well. It would be helpful to have the real story before attempting to unbend the problem.
In the meantime, what can we do? Call for aid as Mr. Ban is doing? Given that for many people the financial crisis literally means a crisis–homelessness, hunger, even starvation–immediate aid is certainly a useful proposition. But when proposals such as this are on the table at moments that could be historically important–such as the largest UNGA gathering ever, amidst the economic crisis and the global warming crisis–it could be a moment to make a significant break. This could be the moment we rethink wealth and poverty. While Mr. Ban’s report may have a more modest, short-term objective, it will be interesting to watch what comes out of the UNGA in the coming days and weeks. It could be something meaningful for the world’s poorest inhabitants.
