Sustainability could be described as a way to improve the understanding of
livelihoods of poor people. It focuses its attention on the main factors that
affect poor people's livelihoods and the typical relationships between these
factors. This can then be used in planning new development activities and in
assessing the contribution that existing activities have made to sustain
livelihoods. The rate of
population growth has made it imperative for the current generation to develop
ways in which to manage resources much more effectively. Situations are particularly bleak in Sub-Sahara
Africa, as the astronomical population growth, which is partly due to “Rural to
Urban” migration, is met with lack of infrastructure, failure to plan and lack
of data. This is usually a chain effect of bad government policies and
corruption of leaders.
Sustainability for rural livelihood aims to approach the
problem by trying to address the fundamental cause of poverty in most rural
areas. These, which are ways of thinking of the people as it relates to
employment, production and the general perception of standard of living. The sustainable livelihood plan puts impoverished people
themselves at the center of all of its analysis. It takes into consideration
the complexities of poverty: what level of skills an individual possesses,
whether or not they have access to education, whether or not they have access
to social network and how vulnerable they to stress factors like natural
disasters or fluctuations in food prices. It recognizes not just what assets the
rural dwellers lack be it physical, financial, human, social, but
also what assets they do have and develop a sustainable way to make it work.
Sustainability is used to determine the challenges and opportunities confronted
by poor people, as expressed by themselves. It builds on these representations,
and then supports poor people as they address the constraints, or take
advantage of opportunities.
A key component in the framework of sustainability approach
is the integration of future plans. The framework is not a model that puts into
consideration, all the key elements of people's livelihoods, or a universal
solution. Rather, it is a means of provoking thought and analysis. Its
implementation is also based on the current situation of the people on which it
is to address. The ability to be able to prepare for the future is important in
a bid to retain a sustainable system for the upcoming generation. Conclusively,
sustainability analyses poor people’s needs and their assets and develop ways
in which to maintain a livelihood while developing mechanism to respond to
stress.
The Rio+20 draft article talks about sustainable development
goal (SDG), which refers to a concession reached by the United Nations to meet
and deliberate periodically on matters that would affect the future of the
world. Such issues include food security, access to clean water, biodiversity,
greenhouse emission control and poverty eradication. The article on sustainable
development goal describes the steps been currently taken to address energy,
biodiversity, food security and climate change. The aim of this conference is
to create an all inclusive and
transparent intergovernmental process, which is open to all stakeholders, with
a view to developing global sustainable development goals to be agreed by the
General Assembly. The result is a
carefully outlined set of goals and a timeline appended to each of these goals
for execution. Each member state is required to adhere to these outlined goals
in bid to contribute towards sustainable planet earth. The framework for the
project is set up to correlate the poverty-reduction Millennium Development
Goals earlier agreed upon by member states
The financial downturn been experienced around the global
economies coupled with the deficiencies in the earth’s natural resources has
compelled governments around the world to try to formulate a new “socially
responsible” economic model. However, according to the article most observers
of the sustainable development goal project are pessimistic of the process. Their
major worry is that governments around the world and mostly in developing
nations usually just pay lip service to these directives. Even in developing
nations that go ahead to implement, the processes are half hazard and for the
most part hindered by government bureaucracies and corruption. Critics of
project are calling for more impetus on the part of world leaders, as they are
not seen as addressing the problem head-on.
The article on the United Nation’s millennium development
goals emphasizes the need for countries around the world to be in unison in the
fight to eradicate poverty, improve healthcare, food security, environmental sustainability
and improve the general standard of living. The goals are eight carefully itemized
objectives that were established following the millennium summit of the United
Nations in the year 2000. To each of this goal is a target, and a time limit is
assigned for theses targets. These goals are as follow:
·
Eradicate
extreme poverty and hunger
·
Achieve
universal primary education
·
Promote
gender equality and empower women
·
Reduce
child mortality
·
Improve
maternal health
·
Combat
HIV/AIDS and other diseases
·
Ensure
environmental sustainability
·
Develop
a global partnership for development
Since its adoption, the world in general has made
considerable progress in achieving many of the Goals. Average number of people
in extreme poverty declined, Child mortality rates have fallen, life expectancy
has since increased and an additional 8 percent of the developing world now has
access to clean water. However, progress has not been uniform across the world
or across the Goals. There are huge inconsistencies in implementation across
different regions of the world. Sub-Saharan Africa is in the middle of implementation
crisis, with shocking child and maternal mortality, continuing food insecurity,
surge of extreme poverty, huge numbers of people living in slums, and a
widespread shortfall for most of the goals that have been outlined. Asia
witnessed better success in implementation but a huge number still live poverty
there. Critics berated the project for lack of analysis and basis for the
chosen objectives, the complexities involved in the measurements for some goals
and uneven progress.
