Communication and Sustainable Development - Essay Example

Sustainable development Name Xxxxx Course Xxxxx Lecturer Xxxxx Date Xxxxx Introduction Debates surrounding sustainability, poverty alleviation and security for basic human needs such as food are major development challenges have been persistent in international media and conferences and have increasingly visible effects in the 21st century. This is compounded by expected population increase along with depleted natural resources and degradation of the same. Its importance in local, regional and international platforms has been demonstrated by increasing activity with respect to meeting the millennium development goals (MDGs). This paper analyses some of the strategies being used by world leaders such as the recent Ri0+20 conference and the use of technology to help provide sustainable and affordable solutions. It also analyses world leaders’ willingness to alleviate poverty and finally makes recommendations on sustainability focusing on increasing global population. 2012 Rio+20 Conference Outcomes The recent Rio+20 Summit 2012 concluded with a declaration entitled “The future we want” that presented agreements on various aspects that touch on the developmental challenges facing 21st century economies. Essentially, this summit had one key outcome: reaffirmation of the commitment of world leaders to eradicating poverty and ensuring sustainable development and accelerate the attainment of MDGs. Poverty alleviation was closely linked to sustainability aspects such as green economy policies, environmental protection, economic growth. It was dealt with as directed by the themes of the Summit: green economy and sustainable development institutional framework, intertwined in poverty eradication. Under poverty eradication, the summit reaffirmed that there is need to have integrated economic, political, social and environmental development that promotes equality and respect for human rights for freedom, adequate and nutritious food, health and employment. These were detailed on in the eradication framework which must be institutionalized. Institutionalisation is vital as it sets the basis for policies and legislation in individual governments by which the outcomes are declared. In addition, institutionalization is also vital as it provides a common area in which all relevant stakeholders are engaged in countering the institutionalized discriminatory processes which stand-out as poverty root causes (Galston & Hoffenberg 2010). World leaders reaffirmed to engage stakeholders such as governments, political leaders and organizations, civil society, and most importantly local communities to participate in an action- and result- based approach. The summit’s focus on green economies positions this aspect as a key pillar in sustainable poverty alleviation. This is with reference to dependence on natural resources and the need for economic growth amidst increasing demands. The outcomes described above suggest the need for governments to establish specific sustainable green economy policies by which there is institutionalisation of poverty alleviation and stakeholder participation. Specificity refers to the acknowledgement by leaders that to sovereign countries have specific national circumstances such as available resources and economic performance which should be integrated in contextualised decision making. This is in accordance to Agenda 21, Rio Declaration principles, and Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. In addition, FAO (2007) suggests that these policies should integrate environmental sustainability, food security and poverty alleviation. Global intervention in poverty alleviation Since the declaration of the MDGs in 2000, there have been numerous anti-poverty interventions at various levels of governance and involving diverse stakeholders. As such, there has been considerable progress in the pursuit of MDGs on the goal of halving extreme poverty levels by 2015. Firstly there has been increased international cooperation amongst world governments in attempts to develop poverty alleviation strategies. This has led to developments such as declarations, conventions and commitments amongst governments with meets that have played the role of assessing the response levels of governments, organizations and other stakeholders and thus promote their level of engagement. This cooperation has two more outcomes: donor intervention and promotion of value chain interventions (Humphrey & Navas-Aleman 2010). There have been donor led poverty alleviation initiatives especially focusing on developing and poorer economies. These initiatives come in terms of direct financial assistance in local economies especially in Sub-Sahara African and Asian countries to boost economic growth. Although these have had significant poverty level-rates, they have been challenged by growing overreliance. The effects of these were felt during the 2008 global economic crisis which forced donors to shrink their aid. In order to get objective results from foreign aid, donors are now focusing on value chain interventions which are oriented to economic growth that is market oriented. They have yielded positively in countries such as China and India and other emerging economies which have successfully reduced poverty levels, especially in urban areas (UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs 2010). In these interventions, investments in technological advancements have greatly contributed to poverty alleviation. Governments have committed themselves to the use of technology to improve the quality of life. Poverty alleviation involves not just resource allocation to the poor, but more with empowerment of skills, opportunities and information. Essentially, today’s growth theory is based on technology, implying that retardation of technological progress may aggravate poverty. There have been investments in technologies that aid decision making such as mapping, as well as those that promote economic activities. Economies have strived to make technology not only accessible, but also affordable to a majority. In additional, it benefits to have additional support on design, and content so that the traditional digital divide is controlled (Kelles-Viitanen 2003). Despite the acclaimed progress, some of the interventions have not translated to the desired results given that poverty levels are still high in some countries such as Bangladesh. Development should be oriented to enabling the poor have access to resources to improve resources and thus create socio-economic order. However, market-oriented growth that characterises the globalised liberalisation of economics has led to set-backs in the interventions. Rajasekhar et al. (2007) indicates that this is due to a market-focus that does not address the processes that are inherent in poverty generation. In order to possibly change this, literature suggests that development planning should incorporate three key cyclic events: measurement and assessment, framing strategies for action, and finally having a forecast of alternative futures (Hughes & Irfan 2006). This planning is aware of the current inadequacies of economic growth to solve the poverty situation and incorporates complementary social and environment progress policies. Interest in helping poor countries There seems to be a global agreement that economic growth is most powerful in improving lives and ending poverty (Kelles-Viitanen 2003; Hughes & Irfan 2006; Humphrey & Navas-Aleman 2010). However, many poorer and low-income nations still lag behind in growth due to challenges in such things as trade diversification, reforms and liberalization. This implies that there is a lag in poverty eradication in many countries for example in Sub Saharan Africa and in Asia. Against such a backdrop, developed economies and the international economies have committed themselves to assist the least developed grow with respect to infrastructural and supply-side capacities in order to improve competitiveness in the global market (Humphrey & Navas-Aleman 2010). World economic leaders have over time used aids for trade which is often designed as an interlock of policies and trade aid. They have participated in donor-led value chain developments that have had some successes in poor countries such as Malawi, and Argentina (UN Summit 2010). Apart from being involved in direct aid, these leaders have used the aid to influence reforms and policies with a view of promoting quality of lives. However, these leaders have not done enough to fully meet their commitment. For instance, the OECD indicates that donors hardly incorporate explicit trade objectives and that they hardly incorporate the poor in trade activities. There lacks adequate mainstreaming of trade relations so that the aforementioned capacities do not have direct trade benefits. Hughes & Irfan (2006) points this out where the literature indicates a lack of objective assessment and evaluation of the projects often engaged in. As such, many help-receiving countries have ended up as donor dependent and heavy generational loans that overly burden tax payers. In addition, the leaders have been accused of using the aid to control affairs of sovereign states, which has at times been termed as interference. This paper appreciates the role and interest world leaders have shown in helping poorer countries place such as Africa and Asia for example Togo, The Gambia, Bangladesh and Myanmar (UNDP, 2011). There have been success stories with regard to this. However, there is need to be more action- and result-oriented in tackling poverty and promoting socioeconomic order. As such, the trade will ameliorate and reduce poverty. Ensuring sustainability with increased population The UN projects that the global population, now about 7 billion, is expected to be over 10 billion by 2100. The MDGs have provided an important impetus on promotion of sustainable poverty reduction whose effects are limited to a 2015 benchmark. However, it has been indicated that this impetus has not taken account of the effects of population dynamics and a need for a post-2015 agenda (Fisher & Newman 2011). With improved life quality, it is expected that there will be a population explosion especially in developing countries, posing a threat to their future sustainability. This explosion will place pressure on vital natural resources and make it more difficult to alleviate poverty, hunger, inequalities, insecurity and mitigate disasters (UNFPA 2012). As such, it is vital that economic and development planners focus on sustainability. It is the right time to focus on sustainable development that satisfies present generations with assurance for the future generations. With reference to this, there are possible solutions that incorporate two key aspects: green economic growth and population control. Green economies may be built on more dependence on technology and information resources rather than the already depleted natural resources. I would prompt that governments should structure policies that encourage low-carbon investments especially for the private sector. This would stimulate growth and thus reduce public debt. With this growth, governments may tend to borrow more. As such, a sound monetary policy is required that addresses not only investments, but also sustainable patterns of production and consumption. Globally, it would be vital to invest in resource-rich developing world, but with controls on the effects of industrialization. One of the biggest challenges of 2100 sustenance is provision of adequate food. In order to adequately feed the billions, it will be imperative that humans will invest and depend on technological advances such as biotechnology and produce food crops with greater tolerance to environmental stress (Tuberosa et al. 2005). Concerning population growth, there is still unexploited potential in controlled birthrates through family planning. This requires investment in education. The other solution lies in providing In conclusion, this paper has addressed issues with global sustainability and poverty alleviation. It contributes to the ongoing debate on these aspects against a backdrop of expected population growth along with unsustainable use of natural resources. There have been interventions at global and national levels. The Rio+20 summit is an outstanding intervention by world leaders in the fight against poverty and for sustainability. Rio+20 2012 summit ended with global leaders reenacting their commitment to poverty alleviation and green sustainable economies. There was reaffirmed commitment to cooperation. Poverty eradication has also been done using technological advancements. There are new technologies that have to do with decision making and implementation. Governments have geared-up investments in technology. There is a need for world leaders to focus on sustainability in response to the expected 10 billion people population by 2100. The response should address green economy development as well as ensuring food sustenance. Economic growth is most powerful in preparing for 2100 and beyond. However, this should have a green tag and focused on resource-rich developing regions. References FAO. 2007. Communication and sustainable development : selected papers from the 9th UN roundtable on communication for development. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Fisher, S., & Newman, K. 2011. Population and the MDGs: The missing link. Freedom from Want, 1 (3). Galston, W., & Hoffenberg, P. 2010. Poverty and morality : religious and secular perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University press. Hughes, B., & Irfan, M. 2006. Assessing strategies for reducing global poverty. Denver: International University of Denver. Humphrey, J., & Navas-Aleman, L. 2010. Value chains, donor interventions and poverty reduction: A review of donor practice. Brighton: Institute of Development Studies. Kelles-Viitanen, A. 2003. The role of ICT in poverty reduction. Finnish Business and policy forum, 2. Rajasekhar, D., Gayathrivedi, K., & Satapathy, S. 2007. Good governance and poverty alleviation : a study of S.G.S.Y. programme. New Delhi: Concept Pub. Tuberosa, R., Phillips, R., & Gale, M. 2005. Feeding a world of ten billion people: A 21st century challenge. In the Wake of Double Helix: From the Green Revolution to the Gene Revolution (pp. 1-21). Bologna, Italy: Avenue Media. UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 2010. Rethinking poverty : report on the world social situation 2010. New York: UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. UN Summit. 2010. We can end poverty: 2015 MDGs. High-level plenary meeting of the General assembly. New York: UN. UNDP. 2011. 2011 Human Development Report: Environmental trends threaten global progress for the poor. New York: UNDP. UNFPA. 2012. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Population Division (DESA). 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