Poverty and Livelihood A look at Papua New Guinea A look at Papua - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Poverty and Livelihood A look at Papua New Guinea A look at Papua New Guinea

Background Population 7.6m Growth rate: 3.5% Capital City Port Moresby (345, 000) Currency PG Kina Poverty rate 37% Languages Languages 850 (named the most diversified 850 (named the most diversified country in the world due to the number of languages spoken) Main Languages: English, Tok Pisin and Motu Papua New Guinea (PNG) is the largest and most populous country in the Pacific. After early colonial administration by Britain and Germany, and four years of Japanese occupation during WWII, PNG gained independence from Australia in 1975.

• Papua New Guinea, one of the poorest and most isolated countries in the world, has been growing consistently in recent years. Papua New Guinea is rich in natural resources, such as oil, gold and copper. • Natural resource extraction, the most important sector of the economy, accounts for 60 percent of GDP and a large share of government revenues. GDP and a large share of government revenues. Agriculture is also important, since it employs up to 85 percent of the population. Revenues from natural resource exploitation have resulted in high government spending and a construction boom. Yet, as the country suffers from endemic corruption and lacks a functioning legal system, inequality has been increasing . Source: tradingeconomics.com

Geography Number of provinces - 22 600 islands Rugged Rugged Resource rich Resource rich Half of the Coastal & island of New highlands Guinea Comprises 5 regions: Highlands, Momase, New Guinea Islands, Papuan Region, Autonomous region of Bougainville

What is poverty? • Condition where people's basic needs for food, clothing, safe drinking water, health care and shelter are not being met. Generally two types of poverty: (1) Absolute poverty is synonymous or the same as with destitution and occurs when people cannot obtain adequate resources (measured in terms of calories or nutrition) to support a minimum level of physical health. Absolute support a minimum level of physical health. Absolute poverty means about the same everywhere, and can be poverty means about the same everywhere, and can be eradicated as demonstrated by some countries. (2) Relative poverty occurs when people do not enjoy a certain minimum level of living standards as determined by a government (and enjoyed by the bulk of the population) that vary from country to country, sometimes within the same country. Relative poverty occurs everywhere, is said to be increasing, and may never be eradicated. Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/poverty.html

Poverty Cycle Seemingly endless continuation of poverty. • Once a person or community falls below a certain level of resourcefulness, a chain of events starts to occur that tends to perpetuate the situation: progressively lower levels of education and training leading to lack of employment opportunities, leading to criminal activity employment opportunities, leading to criminal activity (such as sale of illegal drugs) for survival, leading to addiction, shattered health, early death, and breakup of family, leading to even bleaker future for the next generation ... and so on. This cycle continues until someone intervenes by providing worthwhile means (not handouts) for people to climb out of destitution, and by ensuring children's health and education Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/poverty.html

Poverty trap • Situation created by tax laws and income related social security benefits that prevents people from climbing out of welfare dependency. If these people work hard and earn more, they move into higher tax brackets earn more, they move into higher tax brackets and end up having even less disposable income than before. After trying several times, they generally give up and may accept the situation as their fate. Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/poverty.html

Is Papua New Guinea really poor? The number one Sustainable Development Goal is to End Poverty in all its forms everywhere . Petra Arifeae, Program Manager of an NGO says “this made me think about what poverty • actually is. How does one determine poverty? How is poverty present in my country, Papua New Guinea? Is PNG really poor? I looked up the word ‘poverty’ and ‘poor’ in the dictionary. Poverty is described as ‘ the • condition where people’s basic needs for food, clothing, shelter are not being met .’ The word poor is defined as ‘ having very little money; not having enough money for basic needs .’ But is poverty only determined by not having enough money for basic needs? I don’t think so. Through the lens of the international community, PNG is seen as a poor nation, but also rich but corrupt. Rich in the sense of resources such as oil, gas and gold, rich for its fertile land but corrupt. Rich in the sense of resources such as oil, gas and gold, rich for its fertile land that produces fresh food. Corrupt, as not much of the resource industry profits and government funds are feeding back to the people of PNG. According to UNDP 40% of PNG’s population still lives below the poverty line. However, through the eyes of local villagers, Papua New Guinea is not regarded as poor. They • have the land to hunt, gather, cultivate and harvest produce. Through their gardens they are able to feed their family and still have surplus to share with relatives or sell at the markets. This allows them to earn enough income to buy clothing or other necessary utensils and tools. Most villagers have survived living this way for many years. So far so good you’d think – unfortunately not. •

Is Papua New Guinea really poor? Cont. The majority of communities in rural and remote PNG are lacking access to • basic healthcare services and education as well as electricity to power their homes. There are a limited number of recognised schools and teachers to educate children and an inadequate number of health care facilities. The lack of these basic services means most communities have a low literacy rate, little to no knowledge about diseases or disease prevention, and have limited skills to get formal employment. In rural communities, people often walk for days to see a doctor. Sick women, or children • walk for more than a day to see a community health worker (not a doctor), who might not have adequate medical supplies or drugs to treat the patient. Or envisage no school or teacher in your community. Research shows that 600,000 children are currently not going to teacher in your community. Research shows that 600,000 children are currently not going to school in Papua New Guinea because of the lack of teachers or simply for not having a functioning classroom in their village. Walking to the next village is not an option. Urban drift is on the increase from their rural village to the promise of regional cities. Urban • drifters are often unskilled and have difficulty finding employment. They end up frustrated and displaced. Life in the cities is tough especially without money to survive. They become a burden to relatives and the government. All too often many end up living on the street or joining rascal gangs. Poverty is not only related to basic needs such as food, clothes and shelter. It is also linked to • the quality of life, having access to education and healthcare and with the prospect to earn a living. I see a great future for my country, but only if the PNG government, businesses and NGOs • work together with communities to improve the livelihoods and services for the people. Source: Petra Arifeae

Poverty analysis summary 1. There is no official definition of poverty in Papua New Guinea (PNG), • although the concept “poverty of opportunity” is often used, referring to a lack of access to education and health services and to income-earning opportunities. There are two different types of poverty: urban poverty and rural poverty. In rural areas, poverty relates to the lack of access to services, including transport, education, and health infrastructure. Survey results2 show that, in 2001, respondents considered the proximate causes of poverty in urban areas to be the shortage of livelihood opportunities, including opportunities to earn cash and the lack of land on which to cultivate food crops. There is evidence that many Papua New Guineans are resilient to income • shocks because they are able to respond by producing more domestic food staples and turning to traditional coping mechanisms, grounded in strong ethnic group links. However, groups that are particularly vulnerable to food security issues include landless populations living in settlements around provincial towns. In these communities traditional social systems are becoming stretched because of greater mobility and urban drift. Source: World Bank update 2004, Country Partnership Strategy: Papua New Guinea, 2011–2015

Poverty Analysis summary cont. • 2. In 1996, it is estimated that 30.2% of the population lived below the national poverty line. Only 5% of those classified as poor are dependent on wage employment in the formal sector. Those under the national poverty line tend to have lower literacy rates and to depend heavily on agriculture for their rates and to depend heavily on agriculture for their livelihoods. Another important characteristic of poverty in PNG is the large geographical disparities, which exist between and within provinces, districts and even local governments. Source: World Bank update 2004, Country Partnership Strategy: Papua New Guinea, 2011–2015