Eradicating Poverty in Landlocked Countries
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Forum:
General Assembly 3
Issue:
Eradicating poverty in landlocked countries
Student Officer:
Mohsen Aziz Pouri Aghdam
Position:
Deputy Chair
Introduction
Despite remarkable progress achieved since the Second World War, especially in parts of Asia, abject poverty remains widespread in many parts of the world and figures continue to grow to current 1.4 billion people living in poverty. Poverty is the principal cause of hunger and undernourishment and leads to children dying painful deaths in some of the poorest villages on earth. Poverty is not simply a lack of adequate income. It is a multidimensional phenomenon that extends beyond the economic arena to encompass factors such as the inability to participate in social and political life. In short, poverty is the deprivation of ones ability to live as a free and dignified human being with the full potential to achieve ones desired goals in life
In Copenhagen, the World Summit for Social Development identified poverty eradication as one of the three pillars of social development and has since become the overarching objective of development, as reflected in the Millennium Development Goals, which set the target of halving global extreme poverty by 2015.
Extreme poverty rates have been seen in landlocked countries due to their geographical position and relief. Landlocked countries are denied the right of water bodies, which is a very vital and useful resource for any nations economic development. Water also boosts the countrys commercial growth and lack of water in any nation can render its trade and economy to a very low level of progress. A good example would be the difficulties faced in trading, where they are urged to travel thousands of kilometers just to access the closest maritime ports to export and import goods. In addition, LLDCs are amongst the poorest developing countries due to all the struggles they confront, such as weak institutional and productive capacities, small domestic markets and high vulnerability to external shocks poor physical infrastructure and remoteness from world markets.
Definition of Key Terms
Landlocked Country
A landlocked country is a country entirely enclosed by land, or whose only coastlines lie on closed seas. There are 47 landlocked countries in the world, including partially recognized states. Of the major landmasses, only North America and Australia do not have a landlocked country inside their respective continents.
Many countries also have constricted access to the sea. If a countrys only coastline is on a sea that is almost landlocked, such as the Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea, this may allow ocean access to be easily blocked.
Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDC)
Landlocked developing countries (LLDC) are developing countries that are landlocked. The economic and other disadvantages experienced by such countries tend to place them amongst the Least Developed Countries (LDC) in the world. There are 15 LLDCs in Africa, 12 in Asia, 4 in Europe and 2 in South America.
Least Developed Country (LDC)
Least Developed Country (LDC) is the name given to a country which, according to the United Nations, exhibits the lowest indicators of socioeconomic development, with the lowest Human Development Index ratings of all countries in the world. A country is classified as a Least Developed Country if it meets three criteria:
Low income
human resource weakness
economic vulnerability
Countries may “graduate” out of the LDC classification when indicators exceed these criteria. The classification currently applies to 49 countries.
Primary production
Primary producers are the main providers of the resources required to create the final good or product. Primary products are mostly natural, or can be made of any other material. These goods are then sent to secondary producers. Primary producers are usually developing countries who are rich in natural resources (such as Africa or India).
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
The total market value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a given year, equal to total consumer, investment and government spending, plus the value of exports, minus the value of imports.
Millennium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight international development goals that all 192 UN member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015. They include:
Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger,
Achieve universal primary education,
Promote gender equality and empower women,
Reduce child mortality,
Improve maternal health,
Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases,
Ensure environmental sustainability
Develop a Global Partnership for Development.
History
Historically landlocked countries have a number of disadvantages. Being a landlocked country not only makes businesses such as fishing impossible but also prevents them from being able to engage in seaborne trade, which even now is the most utilized, best and cheap