Eradicating Poverty in Singapore and Other Developing Countries

Nearly 30 percent of households were not earning enough to afford the minimum standard of living.In 1990, the richest 10 percent of households earned 15.6 times more than the poorest 10 percent. By 2000, the gap widened: the richest 10 percent earned 36 times more than the poorest 10 percent. In 1999 monthly wages for low-skilled workers decreased by as much as 34 percent. Between 1998 and 1999, the average household monthly income of the poorest 10 percent of the population decreased by nearly 50 percent. The following year, the figure nose-dived by another 54 percent. Every year more than 10 million children die of hunger.A more recent survey found that 16 per cent of the respondents had family members who often went hungry. Many households earn so little that they cannot afford to give their children pocket-money for school, resulting in the students going hungry for the day.

Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes; reverse loss of environmental resources (2015).Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2015.Achieve significant improvement in lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers, by 2020.

In 1999, nearly 2,000 children did not attend school because their parents could not afford it.One in four adults in the developing world – 872 million people – is illiterate.More than 100 million children remain out of school. Critics of the education system, including many parents, state that the education system is too specialised, rigid, and elitist. Often, these criticisms state that there is little emphasis on creative thinking, unlike education systems in other societies.Other complaints about the education system includes educational streaming, at a young age.

Ministry of Education (MOE) directs education policy.All Singaporeans are required to have at least six years of primary education and must attend government schools as a part of National Education (Ministry of Education in Singapore).Recently, significant changes implemented by the Ministry of Education have introduced a greater focus on creative and critical thinking, and on learning for life-long skills rather than simply learning to excel in examinations.There is now greater flexibility for students to cross over different streams or take subjects in other streams, which alleviates somewhat the stigma attached to being in any single stream.Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling (2015).

Develop further an open trading and financial system that is rule-based, predictable and non-discriminatory. Includes a commitment to good governance, development and poverty reduction—nationally and internationally.Address the least developed countries’ special needs. This includes tariff- and quota-free access for their exports; enhanced debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries; cancellation of official bilateral debt; and more generous official development assistance for countries committed to poverty reduction.Address the special needs of landlocked and small island developing States.Deal comprehensively with developing countries’ debt problems through national and international measures to make debt sustainable in the long term.In cooperation with the developing countries, develop decent and productive work for youth.In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries.In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies—especially information and communications technologies.

Comparisons between women today and earlier generations in Singapore, show that gender stereotypes have been eliminated gradually over time. This is the result of increased education and and the number and magnitude of jobs for women.Women do about 66% of the world’s work in return for less than 5% of its income.In the least developed countries nearly twice as many women over age 15 are illiterate compared to men.46% of girls in the world’s poorest countries have no access to primary education. Two-thirds of children denied primary education are girls, and 75% of the world’s 876 million illiterate adults are women. Women work two-thirds of the world’s working hours, produce half of the world’s food, and yet earn only 10% of the world’s income and own less than 1% of the world’s property.

Singapore aimed to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2005, and at all levels by 2015.Regarding gender equality in matriomony, the Women’s Charter in Singapore governs all civil marriages in the community. In 2005, 1,627 women applied to get personal protection orders against their husbands. Violence towards women, including domestic violence, sexual or physical harassment, are considered crimes under Singapore law. There are government and NGO initiatives that help provide protection and assistance to abused women.

The number one killer of young women in developing countries is not a disease or condition, it is pregnancy and childbirth.Only 28 in 100 women giving birth are attended by trained health personnel in the least developed countries.500,000 women die every year, while trying to give life. That’s one every single minute.30,000 per day and one every 3 seconds die from preventable diseases, every year.In 2002, Singapore had child mortality rates of less than 5 per 1000 live births.In 2006, the under five mortality rate in Singapore was 3 per 1000 births.

Singapore, along with other countries like Africa and in southeast asia set a goal to reduce (by three quarters) the maternal mortality ratio by 2015.Reduce by two thirds the mortality rate among children under five.

The estimated number of people living with HIV in Singapore in 2005 was 5, 500.New HIV/AIDS infections in Singapore rose by a record 357 cases in 2006, bringing the total number of people diagnosed with the disease to 3,060, the Ministry of Health said.More than 90 percent of new HIV cases detected in 2006 were through sexual transmission with two-thirds of the infections from heterosexual sex, the ministry said.More than half of those detected with the disease in 2006 were already at a late stage of HIV/AIDS infection, it said.Approximately 40% of the world’s population-mostly those living in the world’s poorest countries-is at risk of contracting malaria. Malaria causes more than 300 million acute illnesses and at least one million deaths annually.

Singapore has expressed alarm over the growth of HIV infections but the government has rejected widespread promotion of condom use, preferring instead to focus on using more effective and cheaper methods such as preventing mother-to-child infections.Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases by 2015.

Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes; reverse loss of environmental resources (2015).Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2015.Achieve significant improvement in lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers, by 2020.

Singapore contributes to the principle of sustainable development and intensively takes part in international initiatives on the environment. Singapore played a key role in guaranteeing that the 1992 Rio Summit (through Ambassador Tommy Koh's chairmanship of the Summit Preparatory and Main Committees) would have a successful ending. Singapore is committed to doing their part to realise global and sustainable development objectives, including the World Summit on Sustainable Development's Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. They are also committed to participating in global and regional environmental sustainability fora, such as the Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GMEF), the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), the Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development (MCED) and the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment. Singapore understands that a strong and effective international effort is needed to address climate change and they state that every country must play its part. Singapore has also hosted many training programs on urban environmental management, such as the Singapore Technical Assistance Programme for Sustainable Development and the Small Island Developing States Co-operation Programme.http://app.mfa.gov.sg/2006/idx_fp.asp?web_id=10