Globalization is the process of integration
of different countries due to increased cross-border interactions, allowing for
an increased exchange of ideas and trade. However, one of the problems caused by
globalization is the widening income gap between developing and developed
countries (Birdsall, 1999). It can be said that the main reason for this is due
to third world countries lacking the capital and skills to contest in the
global market.
Developing countries tend to lose out in
the case of global market competition as they lack the skill and capital to
compete against countries that are much richer and more resourceful than them (Ohno,
1999). Thus, citizens often end up in the low paying, labour intensive factory
jobs. Pro-globalization activists often state that the outsourcing of labour by
developed countries has created new job opportunities and reduced the overall unemployment
rate, thus mitigating the problem of poverty. Evidence of this can be seen in China, India
and Indonesia, where the number of people living below the poverty line has
decreased significantly. However, these employees work in unhealthy
environments as they are often mistreated at their workplace (Bardhan, 2006). Furthermore,
the highly educated individuals from the third world countries prefer to work
in developed countries as these richer countries provides them with more
opportunities to properly utilize their skills. World Health Organization (WHO)
has reported that in the healthcare sector, most nurses and doctors come from
third world countries due to the better working environments and higher
salaries as compared to working in their own countries. This migration of
talent from the developing countries results in a ‘brain drain’ where the
developed countries reap the benefits of such educated individuals and the underdeveloped
countries becoming poorer with its talent pool being drawn away (Shah, 2006).
This makes it difficult for them to compete with their more developed
counterparts.
Ensuring
that citizens undergo proper education would help to break the country free
from poverty. With the global information age, the need for education is
paramount and benefits can be attributed to mandatory primary and secondary
education. It offers students with poorer financial backgrounds a way to break
the poverty cycle by giving them the tools to secure higher paying jobs in
society. In Singapore, the government invested heavily in education during the
country’s developing years, showing the importance of education for its
citizens, especially for a developing nation (Stiglitz, 2013). However, it can
become another financial burden for poorer families, thus providing free
education for the citizens could be a way to solve this problem. However, this
requires the help from other countries. INJAZ al-Maghrib “committed to training
26155 Moroccan students in entrepreneurship over three years” (Clinton, 2013),
where 70 corporations send volunteers to mentor and teach students in the
creation and management of their own businesses. Thus it can be seen that
although education may become another financial burden for a family, it can lead
to benefits in the long run to help the families escape from poverty.
Another strategy to alleviate poverty would
be via the implementation of a community led savings model would help the
community by encouraging individuals to save regularly. Loans could also be
made to members for the fund. One example can be seen in a project in Africa
known as “Banking on Change”, whose partnership includes Barclays, CARE
International U.K. and Plan U.K. It provides small loans for aspiring
entrepreneurs and helps in the expansion of small businesses which benefits the
lives of many families (Clinton, 2013). However this initiative requires the
cooperation of many parties, and thus it can be difficult to implement. Furthermore,
with many families in poverty living from hand to mouth, it would be difficult
for them to put away a certain amount of their salary as savings. Some incentives
could be given to encourage the participants of the plan to invest in this
community savings model, and eventually the savings can be used to start up a
business or finance the education of their children.
Thus it can be seen that for developing
countries to break free of poverty, cooperation with developed countries is
needed to provide logistical and financial support until they become
self-sustainable enough to implement their own policies to reduce the poverty
in their country.
References:
Bardhan, P. (2006) Does globalization help
or hurt the world's poor? Scientific
American, 294, 84-91. Retrieved from http://emlab.berkeley.edu/users/webfac/bardhan/papers/BardhanDoesGlobalizationHelp.pdf
Birdsall, N. (1999, March). Globalization and the Developing Countries:
The Inequality Risk. Paper presented at the Overseas Development Council Conference, Making Globalization
Work, International Trade Centre, Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://www.econ.yale.edu/alumni/reunion99/birdsall.htm
Clinton, B. (2013, September 30) It Takes a
Village. Time, p. 44
Ohno, M. (1999). Latecomer Countries and
the Global Market Economy: The risk of premature international integration
disrupting the development process. Asian
Development Bank Institute: National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. Retrieved
from: http://www.grips.ac.jp/vietnam/KOarchives/doc/EP01_Sekai.pdf
Shah, A. (2006). Brain Drain of Workers from Poor to Rich Countries. Retrieved from http://www.globalissues.org/article/599/brain-drain-of-workers-from-poor-to-rich-countries
Stiglitz, J. E. (2013). Singapore’s Lessons
for an Unequal America. The New York
Times: The Opinion Pages. Retrieved from http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/18/singapores-lessons-for-an-unequal-america/?_r=0
