Today, an approximate of five hundred million people are living below the absolute poverty line and more than three million children are dying of hunger every year all over the world. The World Food Program says, “The poor are hungry and their hunger traps them in poverty.” Hunger is the number one cause of death in the world.
World leaders are trying to conquer space, build technology and weapons to make their own countries safe. They do not offer to give food and water to those suffering. The tragedy of our present world is that we are concentrating on things that don’t matter and we have lost love for our neighbours. The basic reason for world hunger is our lack of priorities. In this digital world our priorities are “comfort and convenience,” while people are not getting enough to survive. Studies proves that the root cause for food scarcity is inequity rather than shortage. God has provided us everything we need as natural resources but because people are greedy for power, resources are being hoarded. For this, many countries are increasing their defence budget and closing their boundaries.
Poverty exists in the most modern digital world because of our choices. World leaders intentionally forget about their previous declarations. Political systems that favour the rich will close their eyes towards the interest of the downtrodden and corrupt leaders will prevent the aid from reaching the needy. Countries that are blessed with more resources should have a moral obligation to assist those who are suffering from poverty, famine, disease and war. Being generous to the needy will only increase our wealth and happiness. Charity activities of UAE proves this and are the best examples of a country being generous to others. Mother Teresa once said “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one”. Most world leaders need a “spiritual rebirth” so that they can open their eyes and see the reality of things.
In the words of the former United Nations’ Secretary General, the late Kofi Annan said: “Extreme poverty anywhere is a threat to human security everywhere.” Let us unite to overcome this threat by reducing the “large income disparities”, which are the real root cause of poverty, by providing opportunities to increase the daily income of the downtrodden. Be generous and provide adequate opportunities to people so that they have proper and enough access to the basic requirements of food, water, shelter and clothing. I hope everyone follows the “UAE way” of helping others.
- The reader is a resident of Dubai
