Session 4

Studying poverty on a broader and more globally scale, definitely showed some key ideas and facts that were, to say the least, very upsetting.

As I have discussed in my previous posts, I think that the lack of education is a direct link to who is poor in the United States. Of course not in every scenario, as there are plenty of educated people that are poor and plenty of people who did not continue their education who are NOT poor. What was interesting with the information this week was the correlation between the sex of those that were poor- women. And by poor, we aren't just talking about not being able to afford health care (a common problem in the United States.) This can include a life that is surrounded by unsanitary conditions, no place for a restroom, no clean drinking water...etc.

While countries such as Africa, Asia and Latin America have yet to experience an abundance of progress in living conditions, it is easy to understand how these living conditions can be associated with the stagnant number of mother and child deaths. In less developed countries, women and children are also the last to eat, often going hungry regularly. I think it is very important to recognize the relation to the article from our reading, Rich World Poor Women. The article reported that the largest contributor to decline among malnutrition in children was the advancement of education of women in 63 different countries. After touching on the relations last week for domestic poverty and its ties to education, now having international facts that support this theory has made it more than evident that there is indeed a strong correlation between the two, and it is a world wide issue.

I have also always struggled with the idea that globalization is a bad thing all together. I think that we all benefit from globalization, the instant access that we have to so many products, media, and knowledge. Especially in the United States, we are very free to research, learn, and are encouraged to do so! As they say, knowledge is power, and as our world continues to get smaller via globalization, we will all ultimately become a more powerful race. I can see the arguments that would suggest that globalization brings jobs overseas, also known as outsourcing. While this is maybe something that can negatively affect our economy here, understand that it is greatly aiding another country. Not to say that that is right or wrong, but I think globalization can very easily be labeled as a positive or negative thing, depending on which side of the argument you are on naturally.


The United Nations (Secretary General more specifically,) created the UN Millennium where any people came together to develop and present this projects goals: including eradicating hunger and poverty, promoting gender equality, and achieve universal primary education to name a few. As you may see, these goals can easily be linked to, maybe not a solution, but a step towards reducing the poverty levels across the globe due to issues earlier discussed.

While I appreciate the ideas of the UN Millennium, we must understand that we cannot reach out to every one across the globe. While the struggle continues for women around the world, so will the poverty levels.