March To 21st Century
English Essay on "March To 21st Century"
After less than a decade the world will enter into the 21st century. The global situation s it stands now may shed some light on the shape of the world to come unless some corrective political measures are adopted to reverse the trends for improved quality of life for the vast majority of mankind.
The major objective of the development should be the satisfaction of human needs. The essential needs of vast numbers of people, for food, shelter, clothing, education and employment, are not being met. In addition, people in developing countries have also their legitimate aspiration for an improved quality of life. The global population is increasing between 84 to 90 million a year. UN population projections indicate an increase in global population from 4.8 billion in 1985 to 1.6 billion by 2000, and 8.2 billion by 2025. More than 90 per cent of this increase is expected in developing countries where the young would predominate. The large number of young people in developing regions means large number of future parents. In developing countries, the 1985 population of 3.7 billion may increase t 6.8 billion by 2025, in the developed countries from its current 1.2 billion to about 1.4 billion in the same period. It is a proven fact that poverty breeds high rates of population growth. Poor families need more children first to work and then to sustain elderly parents. However, giving people a choice to select the size of the their families does not keep population in balance with resources.
The current principle development challenge is to meet the needs and aspirations of an expanding developing world population. The most basic of all, needs is employment. Between 1985 and 2000, the labour force in the developing countries will increase by nearly 900 million and new employment opportunities for 60 million people have to be generated every year, which is a hard goal to achieve.
Education can enhance a society’s ability to increase income to overcome poverty, improve health and reduce family size. Despite the growth in primary education, illiteracy will be on the rise and there will be more than 900 million people in the developing countries unable to read or write by the year 2000.educationsight.blogspot.com In enrolment rates beyond primary schools, a large gap exists between developed and developing countries, and developing countries may not even attain the 1960 industrial country levels in the secondary education by the turn of the century.
Energy is another essential human need. Poor Third World households, mainly depend on fuel wood for their energy requirements. By 1980, 96 million people in the countryside of developing regions, being short of fuel wood, were unable to meet their needs. Another 150 million lived in cities surrounded by countryside without enough firewood. By the turn of the century, about 3 billion people may live in areas where fuel wood is extremely scarce or where wood is cut faster than it grows. The 20th century is the century of ‘urban revolution. By the turn of the century, almost half of the world wilt live in urban areas. Between 1980 and 2000, there will be an addition of 1 billion people to urban areas in developing countries which will almost be equal to the total urban population in the industrialised countries by the end of the century. Mega cities are growing rapidly in developing regions. According to UN estimates, at the end of the century, more than two-thirds of the 30 large cities in the world will be in the developing countries. Some of these will be: Mexico City, 26 ml1ion; Sao Paolo, 24 million, Bombay and Calcutta, 16 million each, Delhi, Rio de Janerio, Jakarta, Tehran, Shanghai and Seoul, 13 million each; Bangkok, Beijing, Cairo, Karachi and Manila, 1.0 million each; Madras, Lagos and Lima, 8 million each.
In developing regions, by the end of the century, more than half the ‘households in absolute poverty or near subsistence will be concentrated in the urban areas. According to the world bank, 90 per cent of the 1 billion ‘absolute poor’ in Latin America and the Caribbean, 40 per cent in Africa and 45 percent in Asia will be in the cities. The number of households living in poverty will increase from 33.5 million at the end of the century. No doubt, urbanisation itself ‘is part of the development process but the challenge is to manage the process so as the, avoid a severe deterioration in the quality of life In order to reduce pressure in large cities, the development of smaller urban centers ought to be encouraged.
The basic needs for shelter, sanitation, water supply and health care are linked together, and environmentally important. The failure to meet these key needs in the developing regions is one of the major cases of many communicable diseases: malaria, cholera, typhoid and gastro-intestinal infections. The lack of safe drinking water for over 1300 million people and of sanitation for over 1700 million is the most severe from of pollution caused by poverty. Malnutrition and diarrheal diseases related to unsafe drinking water killed an estimated 60 million children. Population growth and growing trends of urbanization threaten to make these problems even worse.
As we enter the 21st, it appears that the world will be divided into two distinct parts, separated by a thin but invisible line. On one side will be more than 1 billion people living in the industrialised countries, enjoying all the basic facilities of life: food, shelter, higher education, jobs, leisure, and security, and on the other side will be a six-fold population of the Third World regions where the young would predominate and the vast majority will be living in shanty towns, unsafe houses, struggling for employment, food, education, health facilities and for improved quality of life. Can this kind of situation exist for a long, time without cheek, tension or resentment? Sustainable development requires that these trends be corrected.
The general assembly of the UN has already raised the alarm twice within a short span of less than years. In 1983, the UN formed a world commission on environment and development as an independent body with Norway’s Gro Herlem Brundtland as its chairman to check the situation and to propose a long term agenda for action during the coming decades, and aspiration goals for the world community. The commission published its report, our common future, in 1987. It again raised its alarm in 1990 by convening a UN development in June 1992 in. Brazil with Maurice F. Strong as its secretary general which provided a desired opportunity to the world community for a political dialogue on an international forum.
The common interest in the areas of population, basic needs, education, employment, urbanisation, and energy, etc. can only be achieved through international co-operation but these areas were not on the agenda of the 1992 UN conference on environment & development. The complete omission of these areas might prove disastrous. Since the outcome of the conference was likely to influence the way the world community will march towards the 21st century, it requires a strong political will on the part of world governments to take decisions to avoid entering an unbearable situation in the coming future.
The major objective of the development should be the satisfaction of human needs. The essential needs of vast numbers of people, for food, shelter, clothing, education and employment, are not being met. In addition, people in developing countries have also their legitimate aspiration for an improved quality of life. The global population is increasing between 84 to 90 million a year. UN population projections indicate an increase in global population from 4.8 billion in 1985 to 1.6 billion by 2000, and 8.2 billion by 2025. More than 90 per cent of this increase is expected in developing countries where the young would predominate. The large number of young people in developing regions means large number of future parents. In developing countries, the 1985 population of 3.7 billion may increase t 6.8 billion by 2025, in the developed countries from its current 1.2 billion to about 1.4 billion in the same period. It is a proven fact that poverty breeds high rates of population growth. Poor families need more children first to work and then to sustain elderly parents. However, giving people a choice to select the size of the their families does not keep population in balance with resources.
The current principle development challenge is to meet the needs and aspirations of an expanding developing world population. The most basic of all, needs is employment. Between 1985 and 2000, the labour force in the developing countries will increase by nearly 900 million and new employment opportunities for 60 million people have to be generated every year, which is a hard goal to achieve.
Education can enhance a society’s ability to increase income to overcome poverty, improve health and reduce family size. Despite the growth in primary education, illiteracy will be on the rise and there will be more than 900 million people in the developing countries unable to read or write by the year 2000.educationsight.blogspot.com In enrolment rates beyond primary schools, a large gap exists between developed and developing countries, and developing countries may not even attain the 1960 industrial country levels in the secondary education by the turn of the century.
Energy is another essential human need. Poor Third World households, mainly depend on fuel wood for their energy requirements. By 1980, 96 million people in the countryside of developing regions, being short of fuel wood, were unable to meet their needs. Another 150 million lived in cities surrounded by countryside without enough firewood. By the turn of the century, about 3 billion people may live in areas where fuel wood is extremely scarce or where wood is cut faster than it grows. The 20th century is the century of ‘urban revolution. By the turn of the century, almost half of the world wilt live in urban areas. Between 1980 and 2000, there will be an addition of 1 billion people to urban areas in developing countries which will almost be equal to the total urban population in the industrialised countries by the end of the century. Mega cities are growing rapidly in developing regions. According to UN estimates, at the end of the century, more than two-thirds of the 30 large cities in the world will be in the developing countries. Some of these will be: Mexico City, 26 ml1ion; Sao Paolo, 24 million, Bombay and Calcutta, 16 million each, Delhi, Rio de Janerio, Jakarta, Tehran, Shanghai and Seoul, 13 million each; Bangkok, Beijing, Cairo, Karachi and Manila, 1.0 million each; Madras, Lagos and Lima, 8 million each.
In developing regions, by the end of the century, more than half the ‘households in absolute poverty or near subsistence will be concentrated in the urban areas. According to the world bank, 90 per cent of the 1 billion ‘absolute poor’ in Latin America and the Caribbean, 40 per cent in Africa and 45 percent in Asia will be in the cities. The number of households living in poverty will increase from 33.5 million at the end of the century. No doubt, urbanisation itself ‘is part of the development process but the challenge is to manage the process so as the, avoid a severe deterioration in the quality of life In order to reduce pressure in large cities, the development of smaller urban centers ought to be encouraged.
The basic needs for shelter, sanitation, water supply and health care are linked together, and environmentally important. The failure to meet these key needs in the developing regions is one of the major cases of many communicable diseases: malaria, cholera, typhoid and gastro-intestinal infections. The lack of safe drinking water for over 1300 million people and of sanitation for over 1700 million is the most severe from of pollution caused by poverty. Malnutrition and diarrheal diseases related to unsafe drinking water killed an estimated 60 million children. Population growth and growing trends of urbanization threaten to make these problems even worse.
As we enter the 21st, it appears that the world will be divided into two distinct parts, separated by a thin but invisible line. On one side will be more than 1 billion people living in the industrialised countries, enjoying all the basic facilities of life: food, shelter, higher education, jobs, leisure, and security, and on the other side will be a six-fold population of the Third World regions where the young would predominate and the vast majority will be living in shanty towns, unsafe houses, struggling for employment, food, education, health facilities and for improved quality of life. Can this kind of situation exist for a long, time without cheek, tension or resentment? Sustainable development requires that these trends be corrected.
The general assembly of the UN has already raised the alarm twice within a short span of less than years. In 1983, the UN formed a world commission on environment and development as an independent body with Norway’s Gro Herlem Brundtland as its chairman to check the situation and to propose a long term agenda for action during the coming decades, and aspiration goals for the world community. The commission published its report, our common future, in 1987. It again raised its alarm in 1990 by convening a UN development in June 1992 in. Brazil with Maurice F. Strong as its secretary general which provided a desired opportunity to the world community for a political dialogue on an international forum.
The common interest in the areas of population, basic needs, education, employment, urbanisation, and energy, etc. can only be achieved through international co-operation but these areas were not on the agenda of the 1992 UN conference on environment & development. The complete omission of these areas might prove disastrous. Since the outcome of the conference was likely to influence the way the world community will march towards the 21st century, it requires a strong political will on the part of world governments to take decisions to avoid entering an unbearable situation in the coming future.
No comments:
Post a Comment