Article Type

Article

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The Millennium Development Goal of poverty reduction has been achieved ahead of the 2015 deadline. Human development indicators have improved significantly in almost all countries with very few exceptions.

Developing countries now account for almost half the world’s income, and most of the growth in the global economy in the post-2007 period has been contributed by them. Technological revolution particularly in information and communications technology has been a major driver of economic growth.

Strategies of the past, however successful in boosting growth and alleviating poverty, have given rise to second-generation problems that have surfaced in the last decade or so.

Consumption standards of advanced countries that are being imitated by developing countries are likely to give rise to global warming due to heavy emission of carbon dioxide caused by increase in the consumption of fossil fuels. Income inequalities, the concentration of income in the top 1pc of the population and regional disparities resulting from rapid growth have become a threat to social cohesion and harmonious ties within multi-ethnic nation-states.

It’s therefore obvious that these strategies have to be altered in fundamental ways to ensure environmental sustainability and social equity in addition to economic efficiency. The 21st-century model of development would thus stand on three pillars — economic efficiency, environmental sustainability and social equity.

Publication Source

Dawn

Publication Date

12-17-2013

Pages

1-2

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