The importance of investing in human capital
Editorial
ONE OF THE guiding theories in development economics over the last three decades is that governments must focus their attention on implementing the kinds of programmes which will improve the standard of living for the lower income workers and the poor in the society. These programmes which provide the structure for meeting the basic needs of people include pure water supply, sanitation, infrastructure for the delivery of health care and primary education, and nutritional supplements such as school-feeding projects for those in need. In the 1980s, when many developing countries were undergoing structural adjustment, which very often had devastating effects on the lives of the poorer classes, international organisations recommended the establishment of projects to cushion the harsh effects of this economic adjustment. There was great concern for those considered the most vulnerable in the society such as lactating mothers, infants and children, and therefore schemes were implemented to ensure that the basic nutritional needs of these groups were met. In Guyana, for instance, SIMAP - the Social Impact Amelioration Programme was introduced soon after the launch of the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) in 1989. Nowadays, in all the reports of international financial institutions, mention is made of the critical importance of addressing poverty in countries of the south, and every so often, the staggering fact that over one billion people on the planet exist on just US$1 a day is trotted out by both politicians and development theorists to underscore the urgency of addressing poverty. Some years ago, South African Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer described the state of poverty as "the sum of all our hungers" and the victims of poverty as being "condemned to plod through life at the lowest level of existence." And Gordimer, one of the most brilliant writers of this age, was absolutely correct in her assessment of the hopelessness of those persons whose preoccupations and dreams never move beyond the horizon of the next meal. Millions of the world's poor focus all their energies on scratching out an existence from their environment by day, and going to sleep to awaken to another day of deprivation. They are more prone to infections and diseases because they very often lack the means to live in an environment that is sanitary; they are more concerned with getting enough to eat to exist, therefore sensible nutrition is a luxury they cannot afford; and because many of them are illiterate or uneducated, they are unable to make the kind of choices to improve their lot or to guide their offspring away from repeating the cycle of existence. Governments must be concerned about improving the standard of living of the poor, for when there are great economic disparities within societies, these disparities provide the humus for the emergence of radical groups which can incite the marginalised to create social and political upheaval and disorder. At the Social Summit held in Copenhagen, Denmark in the mid-90s, world leaders pledged to allocate some 20 per cent of their budgets to the development of the social sector in their countries. Whether these commitments were honoured, and how far they have gone to mitigating the worst manifestations of poverty in the developed world would make interesting reading.
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