Humanity Care--UPGs and SDGs 25

 

Global Integration Updates  Special News--November 2023 Issue 89 View this email in your browser

Global Integration Updates Common Ground for the Common Good  Be the people we need--Build the world we need Special News--November 2023 Multidimensional Poverty Ending Poverty in All Its Forms Everywhere  "In Panama City inequality is seen side by side. Panama, April 2020." Photo: UNDP/Grey Díaz UNDP Photos of the Year 2020 And in so many other places throughout our world!   "As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest...Massive poverty and obscene inequality are such terrible scourges of our times - times in which the world boasts breathtaking advances in science, technology, industry and wealth accumulation - that they have to rank alongside slavery and apartheid as social evils...millions of people in the world’s poorest countries remain imprisoned, enslaved, and in chains. They are trapped in the prison of poverty. It is time to set them free." (Nelson Mandela, 3 February 2005 (speech text)--Make Poverty History (video) ------------ Overview In this Update (#89), we focus on multidimensional poverty and some of the main research tools for measuring and monitoring it in our world. It is such a devastating experience for hundreds of million of people in our world--fellow humans like us who are not simply statistics! Before we go any further, we want to encourage you to watch this short video overview on multidimensional poverty HERE (1 minute 30 seconds). “Poverty is often defined by one-dimensional measures--usually  based on income. But no single indicator can capture the multiple dimensions of poverty. Multidimensional poverty encompasses the various deprivations experienced by poor people in their daily lives--such as poor health, lack of education, inadequate living standards, disempowerment, poor quality of work, the threat of violence, and living in areas that are environmentally hazardous, among others.” (Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative) Tackling the pervasive and massive reality of multidimensional poverty is an underlying emphasis throughout the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is embodied in Goal 1: "End poverty in all its forms everywhere." Some of the aims of Goal 1's seven associated targets seek to "eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty, and implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable." (UN DESA website) Specifically we feature four core resources--new research and reports:  2023 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Global Multinational Poverty Index Report 2023 Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, United Nations Development Program Multidimensional Poverty Measure (2023) World Development Report 2023--Migrants, Refugees, and Societies World Bank How many people live in extreme poverty? And what causes poverty? “For most of us, living on less than $2 a day seems far removed from reality. But it is the reality for roughly 800 million people around the globe. Approximately 10% of the global population lives in extreme poverty, meaning that they're living below the poverty line of $1.90 per day.” (The Top 11 Causes for Poverty Around the World, World Concern US, 2022) We conclude the Update with some personal perspectives on being "people of faith-hope-love" in the Christian tradition who embrace "common ground for the common good." It is an inclusive approach which encourages active partnership with a diverse group of colleagues on behalf of wellbeing for all people and the planet. Suggested Applications--Making It Personal Review the information and the key findings and statistics in the materials below. Watch Nelson Mandela's historic speech for the Make Poverty History Campaign (2005, 9 minutes). We have included two quotes from this speech--a summons to action--in this Update. Probe further by reading some of the summary materials online. Consider reading through parts of one or both of the two main reports. Share this Update with your colleagues, organization(s), and network(s). Discuss practical applications for your life and work. See these Global Integration Updates: Halfway into the SDGs: Taking Stock–Taking Action (July 2023) Resisting Despair-Disillusion: Will It Get Worse Before It Gets Worse? (January 2023) Thinking Critically about Sustainable Development (February 2022) Warm greetings, Kelly and Michèle       MCAresources@gmail.com Featured Resources Multidimensional Poverty Ending Poverty in All Its Forms Everywhere Click HERE or on the map above to access the interactive map including more information by country. "Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. And overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom... Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom...Of course the task will not be easy. But not to do this would be a crime against humanity, against which I ask all humanity now to rise up." (Nelson Mandela, 3 February 2005 (speech text)--Make Poverty History (video) ---------- Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) 2023 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Global Multinational Poverty Index Report 2023 "This report presents a compact update on the state of multidimensional poverty (henceforth referred to as “poverty”) in the world. It compiles data from 110 developing countries covering 6.1 billion people, accounting for 92 percent of the population in developing countries. It tells an important and persistent story about how prevalent poverty is in the world and provides insights into the lives of poor people, their deprivations and how intense their poverty is—to inform and accelerate efforts to end poverty in all its forms. As still only a few countries have data from after the COVID-19 pandemic, the report urgently calls for updated multidimensional poverty data. And while providing a sobering annual stock take of global poverty, the report also highlights examples of success in every region." (quote from UNDP website) “The global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)...has three dimensions and 10 indicators [see image above]. Each dimension is equally weighted, and each indicator within a dimension is also equally weighted. Any person who fails to meet the deprivation cutoff is identified as deprived in that indicator. The global MPI is then created using multidimensional measurement method of Alkire and Foster (AF). So the core information the MPI uses is the profile of deprivations each person experiences.” (quote from OPHI website) Key Findings Where do poor people live? Across 110 countries 1.1 billion out of 6.1 billion people are poor – just over 18% are estimated to live in acute multidimensional poverty. 534 million out of 1.1 billion poor people – half of all poor people – live in Sub-Saharan Africa Over a third of all poor people live in South Asia – that’s 389 million people. 730 million – nearly two-thirds of all poor people – live in middle-income countries. Low-income countries are home to over one-third of all poor people – 387 million. Who are the poorest? The higher the incidence of poverty, the higher the intensity of poverty that poor people experience. 485 million poor people live in severe poverty across 110 countries, experiencing 50–100% of weighted deprivations. 99 million poor people experience deprivations in all three dimensions (70–100% of weighted deprivations). 10 million of the 12 million poor people with the highest deprivation scores (90–100%) live in Sub-Saharan Africa Which groups are the poorest? Subnational regions are being left behind in two ways: where poverty is widespread, poverty is also most intense. Half of the 1.1 billion poor people (566 million) are children under 18 years of age. 84% of all poor people live in rural areas. Rural areas are poorer than urban areas in every world region. What deprivations do poor people face? 824–991 million out of the 1.1 billion poor people do not have adequate sanitation, housing or cooking fuel. 600 million poor people live with a person who is undernourished in their household. Gaps in years of schooling are a cross regional issue: In all regions except Europe and Central Asia, around half of poor people do not have a single member of their household who has completed six years of schooling. How do monetary and multidimensional poverty compare? In 42 of 61 countries more people live in multidimensional poverty, based on the global MPI, than in extreme monetary poverty according to the World Bank’s $2.15 a day measure. How has poverty changed? 72 of 81 countries, covering well over 5 billion peo­ple, experienced a significant absolute reduction in MPI value during at least one period. But nearly all data are from before the COVID-19 pandemic. 25 countries halved their global MPI value well within 15 years, showing that progress at scale is attainable."  (quote from OPHI website) World Bank Multidimensional Poverty Measure (2023) (MPM) World Development Report 2023--Migrants, Refugees, and Societies "[The MPM] measures the percentage of households in a country deprived along three dimensions –monetary poverty, education, and basic infrastructure services – to capture a more complete picture of poverty. [It is a] means to capture the complexity of poverty that considers dimensions of well-being beyond just monetary poverty. [The MPM] seeks to understand poverty beyond monetary deprivations (which remain the focal point of the World Bank’s monitoring of global poverty) by including access to education and basic infrastructure along with the monetary headcount ratio at the $2.15 international poverty line. The World Bank’s measure takes inspiration and guidance from other prominent global multidimensional measures, particularly the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Oxford University but differs from them in one important aspect: it includes monetary poverty less than $2.15 per day, the New International Poverty Line at 2017 PPP (Purchasing Power Parity), as one of the dimensions. Under this broader definition of poverty, many more people come into view as poor. While monetary poverty is strongly correlated with deprivations in other domains, this correlation is far from perfect. The Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2022 report (World Bank, 2022) shows that almost 4 out of 10 multidimensionally poor individuals (39 percent) are not captured by monetary poverty, as they are deprived in nonmonetary dimensions alone. A country’s MPM is at least as high as or higher than monetary poverty, reflecting the additional role of nonmonetary dimensions to poverty and their importance to general well-being. Deprivations in nonmonetary dimensions like access to schooling and basic infrastructure, compound poverty and perpetuate cycles of inequality. Securing higher living standards for a population becomes more challenging when poverty in all its forms is considered, but it can provide policymakers with a roadmap for and a means of monitoring improvements in welfare. [This 5th edition of the MPM] includes the latest estimates for 121 economies. A full list of 149 countries with the latest and historical MPM data is available [on the website]. Major updates to the MPM database happen around March/April of every year, with the possibility of a smaller update in September some years." (World Bank website) Going Further See the various events during Geneva Peace Week (30 October-3 November 2023) related to peace and poverty etc. You can register to attend several of the events virtually.  See the many resources related to poverty and corruption on the Global Integrity Day website. The theme for 2021 was Corruption and Poverty--Multidimensional Probity to End Multidimensional Poverty. Personal Reflections Being People of Faith-Hope-Love California Coastline USA--Image courtesy and © ENOD 2016 "I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.” Martin Luther King Jr. Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, 1964 As people of faith who practice Christian spirituality, we are committed to responsibly engage with others in the challenges facing our world, locally through globally, while holding firmly to our belief that we are in God's hands. We pray that God's purposes "will be done on earth as they are in heaven;" acknowledge that prayer, repentance, and relationship with God are key to human-planetary wellbeing; and live in hope for the time when God through Jesus Christ will decisively intervene in human history with equity--righteousness and justice--to restore all things. And in the meantime, we seek to embrace lifestyles of integrity that prioritize a deep, practical love for truth, peace, and people--and this includes being willing to acknowledge, resist, and confront evil in its many forms (starting with ourselves ourselves, etc.). We do not want to further problematize our world's plight by focusing primarily on the negative. Rather we want to also promote the many examples of the good going forward, as people of integrity find common ground for the common good. Finally, we want to highlight that the despair and disillusion that result from seemingly intractable problems like corruption can also be quite positive. They can embody a crucial existential message about reality that can be "revisited"--explored and heeded--rather than simply "resisted." They can point us to Someone who is bigger than ourselves, the SDGs, humanity, and our world--the knowable, Eternal One who is both in and beyond space-time and who loves us all dearly.  The above thoughts build upon the Personal Reflections in Perils, Paralysis, Hope: Sustainable Development-Sustainable Destruction? (Global Integration Update, October 2022). Member Care Associates MCAresources@gmail.com Member Care Associates Inc. (MCA) is a non-profit, Christian organization working internationally from Geneva and the USA. MCA's involvement in Global Integration focuses on the wellbeing and effectiveness of personnel and their organizations across sectors (e.g., mission, humanitarian, peace, health, and development sectors) as well as global mental health and integrity/anti-corruption, all with a view towards collaboratively supporting sustainable development for all people and the planet. Our services include consultation, training, research, resource development, and publications.   Click on these items below to access our: Member Care Updates, Global Integration Updates, member care books, and recent MCA publications. Global Integration     Global Integration (GI) is a framework for actively and responsibly engaging in our world--locally to globally. It emphasizes connecting relationally and contributing relevantly on behalf of human wellbeing and the issues facing humanity, in light of our integrity, commitments, and core values (e.g., ethical, humanitarian, human rights, faith-based). GI encourages a variety of people to be at the “global tables” and in the "global trenches"--and everything in-between--in order to help research, shape, and monitor agendas, policies, and action for all people and the planet. It intentionally links building the world we need with being the people we need.   Our Global Integration Updates are designed to help shape and support the emerging diversity of global integrators who as learners-practitioners are committed to the "common ground for the common good." 2015-current (85+ issues). Some examples of foundational ones: Doomsday?--June 2017 Living in Global Integrity--April 2017 Peace and Security--December 2016 Global Citizenship--June 2016 Faith-Based Partners in Transformation--August 2015 Global Pearl The Global Integration image used in this Update (the global pearl) is a cover detail from our edited book, Global Member Care (volume 2): Crossing Sectors for Serving Humanity (2013). William Carey Library.  ------   Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be coworkers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation.  Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail (April 1963)

Global Integrators--7

Taking the Pulse--World Reports

20th Century Death--Selected Major Causes

Click below to access and expand the diagram 

from the Information is Beautiful website

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/20th-century-death/

We think that the time is coming for a diversity of colleagues to come together intentionally, visibly, and practically on behalf of global integration (GI). GI put simply is how we skillfully integrate our lives and values on behalf of the issues facing humanity. Likewise we think that the time is coming for colleagues to carefully reflect and act on what it means to be good global learners-practitioners--to seriously consider what it means to be what we are calling global integrators (GI-People).

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Global Integrators stay current with global events, issues, and developments. Or at least they try to...So to what degree, practically speaking, is this really possible, given the masses amount of information, news, publications, websites, organizations, gatherings, etc. that are increasingly being produced? And knowing that it is not just information that is needed but things like accurate analysis and wise application that are especially needed? The answer depends on how much time one is able to judiciously track with the core materials that seem the most relevant, knowing, as we certainly do, that there are often many gaps in one's awareness of and time for important materials and resources. Global Integrators, realistically, are more likely to be developing into Relevant People than Renaissance People.

Here are four items that have helped us recently--"world reports" (all but the fourth one is published annually). We usually cannot read lengthy reports word for word but we at least go over the Executive Summaries/Overviews in order to grasp the main messages and new terms/concepts as well as consider their applications for our GI-related work (member care, mental health, sustainable development). These world reports help us to take some of the world pulse.

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1. World Disasters Report: Focus on Culture and Risk (2014). International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. "This year, the World Disasters Report takes on a challenging theme that looks at different aspects of how culture affects disaster risk reduction (DRR) and how disasters and risk influence culture. The report asks, for example, what should be done when people blame a flood on an angry goddess (River Kosi, India, in 2008) or a volcanic eruption on the mountain god (Mount Merapi). After the tsunami in 2004, many people in Aceh (Indonesia) believed that Allah had punished them for allowing tourism or drilling for oil, and similar beliefs were widespread in the United States regarding Hurricane Katrina, showing God’s displeasure with aspects of the behaviour of the people who live in or visit New Orleans. Most people who live in places that are exposed to serious hazards are aware of the risks they face, including earthquakes, tropical cyclones, tsunami, volcanic eruptions, floods, landslides and droughts. Yet they still live there because, to earn their living, they need to or have no alternative. Coasts and rivers are good for fishing and farming; valley and volcanic soils are very fertile; drought alternates with good farming or herding. Culture and beliefs, for example, in spirits or gods, or simple fatalism, enable people to live with risks and make sense of their lives in dangerous places. Sometimes, though, unequal power relations are also part of culture, and those who have little influence must inevitably cope with threatening environments." (quote from website)  [Note--the diagram at the top of this entry is included in this Report as a foldout between pages 18-19]. 

http://www.odi.org/events/4024-launch-world-disasters-report-2014-focus-culture-risk

 

2. Human Development Report: Sustaining Human Development--Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience (2014). United Nations Development Program. “As successive Human Development Reports have shown, most people in most countries have been doing steadily better in human development. Advances in technology, education and incomes hold ever-greater promise for longer, healthier, more secure lives. Globalization has on balance produced major human development gains, especially in many countries of the South. But there is also a widespread sense of precariousness in the world today—in livelihoods, in personal security, in the environment and in global politics. High achievements on critical aspects of human development, such as health and nutrition, can quickly be undermined by a natural disaster or economic slump. Theft and assault can leave people physically and psychologically impoverished. Corruption and unresponsive state institutions can leave those in need of assistance without recourse. Political threats, community tensions, violent conflict, neglect of public health, environmental damages, crime and discrimination all add to individual and community vulnerability.” (p. 1, bold font added for emphasis) http://hdr.undp.org/en/2014-report

3. World Development Report: Mind, Society, and Behavior (2015). World Bank Group. “This Report aims to integrate recent findings on the psychological and social underpinnings of behavior to make them available for more systematic use by both researchers and practitioners in development communities. The Report draws on findings from many disciplines, including neuroscience, cognitive science, psychology, behavioral economics, sociology, political science, and anthropology. In ongoing research, these findings help explain decisions that individuals make in many aspects of development, including savings, investment, energy consumption, health, and child rearing. The findings also enhance the understanding of how collective behaviors—such as widespread trust or widespread corruption—develop and become entrenched in a society. The findings apply not only to individuals in developing countries but also to development professionals, who are themselves prone to error when decision-making contexts are complex.” (pp.2-3) http://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2015

4. White Paper on Peacebuilding (2014), Geneva Peaebuilding Platform. "The White Paper on Peacebuilding reflects a 12-month collaborative multi-stakeholder initiative with peacebuilding professionals from all regions coordinated by the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform. The aim of this exercise is to present a range of voices and perspectives about the challenges, opportunities and future of peacebuilding practice. These reflections occur at a moment of several agenda setting processes including the 10-year review of the UN Peacebuilding Architecture and the work of the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations. The White Paper on Peacebuilding complements these efforts by broadening the discussion about how countries and societies can move towards sustainable peace, and about the assistance the UN and other international and local actors can bring to such processes." (quote from website) http://www.gpplatform.ch/white-papers/whitepapers

Global Integrators--5

Global Disintegration

The Precarious Exploitation of People-Planet

Universal Declaration of Human Rights-shattered.

Monument on the border dividing Nicosia, Cyprus.

We think that the time is coming for a diversity of colleagues to come together intentionally, visibly, and practically on behalf of global integration (GI). GI put simply is how we skillfully integrate our lives and values on behalf of the issues facing humanity. Likewise we think that the time is coming for colleagues to carefully reflect and act on what it means to be good global learners-practitioners--to seriously consider what it means to be what we are calling global integrators (GI-People).

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The only thing necessary for disintegration to happen,

 at any level of society, is for people to do nothing—

or to exploit others…

Global integration is what helps to safeguard us all from global disintegration.  Global integrators, as defined in these entries, have crucial roles to play in counteracting disintegration as they “integrate their skills and values on behalf of the major problems facing humanity.”

Here are five realities, among others, that seriously undermine the world community’s efforts to promote wellbeing and sustainable development for all people, including the estimated 1.5 billion “multi-dimensional poor.” Perhaps at the core of all five of these disintegration realities is exploitation at all levels of society:  fundamentally, people exploiting people.

1.       Complacency—business as usual, denial, oblivion, someone else’s responsibility

2.       Conflicts –protracted and new human security threats, interpersonal violence

3.       Consumption—consumerism, lifestyle maintenance

4.       Corruption—moral sickness at all levels, including cover ups, complicity and cowardice to act

5.       Climate change—related to the threat to many “planetary boundaries”

The Human Development Report 2014 lists many of the issues, challenges, and opportunities for countering what we are calling “disintegration” and for promoting wellbeing and sustainable development.  The theme this year is Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience (United nations Development Program). Consider the opening quotes, which highlight the precarious state of human affairs:

“As successive Human Development Reports have shown, most people in most countries have been doing steadily better in human development. Advances in technology, education and incomes hold ever-greater promise for longer, healthier, more secure lives. Globalization has on balance produced major human development gains, especially in many countries of the South.

But there is also a widespread sense of precariousness in the world today—in livelihoods, in personal security, in the environment and in global politics. High achievements on critical aspects of human development, such as health and nutrition, can quickly be undermined by a natural disaster or economic slump. Theft and assault can leave people physically and psychologically impoverished. Corruption and unresponsive state institutions can leave those in need of assistance without recourse. Political threats, community tensions, violent conflict, neglect of public health, environmental damages, crime and discrimination all add to individual and community vulnerability.

Real progress on human development, then, is not only a matter of enlarging people’s critical choices and their ability to be educated, be healthy, have a reasonable standard of living and feel safe. It is also a matter of how secure these achievements are and whether conditions are sufficient for sustained human development. An account of progress in human development is incomplete without exploring and assessing vulnerability.” (Overview, page 1, bold font added for emphasis)

Notes: 
1. The Overview is 12 pages and provides a quick, helpful summary of the full report (225 pages). 

2. See page 21 of the full Report for a description of six “shocks and threats to human development”—realities that are both sources and results of “disintegration.” 

3. Click here to watch the two minute summary of the launch of  the Report.
http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter/events/2014/july/HDR2014.html

4. For some more perspectives on development, watch the four minute animated piece below: "A Modern Tale of Risk and Opportunity.

http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter/events/2014/july/HDR2014.html

Pax Dei--Living in Peace 11

The World We Want

Click here to watch on Youtube--full screen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6-MjHBBmBw&list=PLhanS7jySFTKOGpXi6ZJfeKwgc6rvQqsA&index=2

A sustainable future with dignity for all

“This report by the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) collects the perspectives on the 'world we want' from over 1 million people around the globe. For almost one year, people have engaged energetically in 88 national consultations, 11 thematic dialogues, and through the MY World global survey. As member states consult on the shape and content of a successor framework to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) beyond 2015, it is hoped that the opportunity to listen to these voices will contribute to reaching consensus on what is needed to move towards a common sustainable future.”

Key Messages

"The findings of this global conversation contain important messages for governments as they seek to agree on a new development agenda.

·People demand to play a role in shaping and changing their world.

·The fundamental areas covered by the MDGs remain critically important. At the same time, there is a call to strengthen ambition and urgency.

·People are indignant at the injustice they feel because of growing inequalities and insecurities that exist particularly for poorer and marginalized people.

·The challenges are complex and interlinked, requiring a sustainable development agenda that is integrated, holistic and universal, applying to all countries and all people.

·People call for a new agenda built on human rights, and universal values of equality, justice and security. Better governance underpins many of their calls.
·The focus on concrete, measurable goals should be retained but measurement of progress needs to be improved. A data revolution will support an accountability revolution."

Excerpted from the online site:

One Million Voices: The World We Want

http://www.worldwewant2015.org/millionvoices

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Pax Dei
Live in peace,
and the God of love and peace
will be with you.  
2 Corinthians 13:11 NASB