Facts about the worlds current economical and social situation:
- Colonialism was a major cause of poverty in subsahara countries. That is when rich countries exploit the resources of poor countries to their own economical benefit. Tourism is a resource.
- Globalization has now taken over the role of colonialism where big organizations become an economical power in a country to the economical benefit of mainly a few people in the organizations top structures who mostly lives abroad.
- Developed countries tend to import cheap raw materials from the developing world and add value to it before selling it back as expensive finished products to the developing world.
- There is a difference of about 20 years in the life expectancy of someone living in the US and someone living in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Every cow in the European Union is subsidised by more than R50 a day - more than what 3 out of every 4 Africans have to live on in a month.
- 25% of the rich population of the world consumes 75% of its natural resources annually
- Money has become the currency for the purchasing of natural resources, not fairness and equity.
- The way development takes place at the moment is extremely wasteful of natural resources
- A poor home will use about 150 Kw of electricity per month whereas a middle income home will use as much as 2000 Kws of electricity.
- The 12% of the world's population that lives in North America and Western Europe accounts for 60% of private consumption spending, while the 33% living in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa accounts for only 3.2 percent.
- Through the efforts of the United Nations there is some agreement on at least two approaches to development - people-centred development and sustainable development:
- People's centred development is a development model that does not just focus on the economy. It stresses the importance of developing people in a community and letting them participate actively in the development programmes.
- Sustainable development is the development approach that most countries now agree on. It deals with suing the world's resources to improve people's lives without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same.
Some sugestions:
- The economical sphere:
- We believe in community-led regeneration that builds rather than replaces the value and distinctiveness of local economies and communities. People also want to invest or live in places that seem ‘real’.
- Equally important is the way that resources flow into and through a local economy. Who controls that flow? Who benefits from it? Even when people are short of money, their ideas and enthusiasm can help lift a neighborhood out of poverty. We believe everyone has something to offer their local area. Feeling and being useful – not necessarily in paid employment – is a basic human need.
- “At the heart of community-based development is the identification and optimal use of an area’s assets – the skills, culture, environment, buildings, networks and relationships.” Paul Sander-Jackson nef thriving communities director
- Our vision is of a society where wealth is defined and measured in terms of well-being. This means measuring human well-being, but it also means measuring the social success of neighborhoods, the genuine effects of non-profits or social enterprises, or the knock-on benefits of charities
- We challenges notions of political apathy by developing new ways to encourage public participation and debate. Co-production treats people as subjects and actors in public services, not recipients and patients. That means involving people.
- Our aim is a new economy based on social justice, environmental sustainability and collective well-being.
- The environment: We cannot solve global poverty without addressing global warming:
- Protection of existing local forests, animal life, sea life, bird life and sensitive areas like estuaries and wetlands through an eco-tourism approach
- Evaluation and measuring of products from the sea
- The sustainable use of local materials like clay, grass and poles for buildings
- Accumulation of rain water for the use in flush toilets, gardens, washing of boats, vehicles and any other non human consumption areas.
- Use of non flush compost toilets and wind and sun toilets (eco-loo) as far as possible
- Recycling of white water through fat trap systems for gardens
- Recycling of bottles and tins
- Installation of wind and solar energy systems and solar heating systems to supplement mainframe electrical installation
- A building style complimenting an economical and environmental efficiency