#Inequality

Goal 10 – Inequality

Significant strides have been made toward reducing poverty especially in developing nations. Inequality in health and education services and other assets still remain. The richest 10 percent earn up to 40 percent of total global income while the poorest 10 percent earn only between 2 and 7 percent of total global income. Income disparity is on the rise and is widening especially in developing nations. Income disparity is a global issue and requires global solutions. Please join the awareness initiative and visit the UN’s SDGS page on inequality to learn more about reducing inequalities within and among countries. Join the community. Make reducing inequalities your resolve.

Progress

The UN has a call for action that requires the adoption of sound policies to empower the bottom percentile of income earners and promote economic inclusion of all regardless of sex, race or ethnicity.” “This involves improving the regulation and monitoring of financial markets and institutions, encouraging development assistance and foreign direct investment to regions where the need is greatest. Facilitating the safe migration and mobility of people is also key to bridging the widening divide.”

In 2012, the Columbian Government initiated a micro-entrepreneur program which provides financing and mentorship to small business catering to food, utilities, clothing, and crafts. “The program objective is to ensure that micro-entrepreneurs can increase their income, establish a business network with major companies in the country, and create sustainable businesses that improve the quality of life of their families”.

Challenges

According to a recent UN Women report, “Women do almost two and a half times as much unpaid care work as men, from caring for children, the elderly and the ill to preparing meals and gathering water and fuel for cooking. But despite this daily reality that women know all too well, official measures of poverty don’t take into account either the time women spend on unpaid work or the money they might spend to “outsource” this work – such as to arrange childcare so they can go to work. Women may be considered as the “hidden poor” often working in informal sectors that are not recognized. “These women are not recognized and have no access to credit,” she said. “They are working for subsistence, when they could be doing it to grow their businesses. Let’s have a framework that will make it easier for these women to have access to credit. If we can make the informal become formal, it can be a major source of economic and national development.”

United Nations facts regarding Inequalities:

Income inequality increased by 11 per cent in developing countries between 1990 and 2010
A significant majority of households in developing countries—more than 75 per cent of the population—are living today in societies where income is more unequally distributed than it was in the 1990s
Inequality harms growth and poverty reduction, the quality of relations in the public and political spheres and individuals’ sense of fulfilment and self-worth
Several countries have managed to contain or reduce income inequality while achieving strong growth performance
Income inequality cannot be effectively tackled unless the underlying inequality of opportunities is addressed
Policy makers from around the world acknowledged that inequality in their countries is generally high and potentially a threat to long-term social and economic development
Children in the poorest 20 per cent of the populations are still up to three times more likely to die before their fifth birthday than children in the richest quintiles
Persons with disabilities are up to five times more likely than average to incur catastrophic health expenditures
Women in rural areas are still up to three times more likely to die while giving birth than women living in urban centers