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  December 23, 2007 12:02 AM

BAN KI-MOON URGES COOPERATION AMONG DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO ERADICATE POVERTY
New York, Dec 19 2007  5:00PM
While a partnership between developed and developing countries is important, cooperation among developing countries themselves is central to global efforts to eradicate poverty, stimulate economic growth and promote sustainable development, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.

Such cooperation “is a vital means of attracting trade and investment flows and achieving sustainable debt financing,” he said in a <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/sgsm11341.doc.htm">message marking the UN Day for South-South Cooperation, observed annually on 19 December.

“It can also serve to promote increased international financial and technical cooperation for development.  In addition, South-South cooperation helps developing countries learn how best to apply successful policies and practices in a context that reflects their national priorities,” he added.

Noting that development successes remained uneven across the South, he said much more must be done to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which seek to drastically slash poverty, hunger and maternal and child mortality, and boost access to health care and education, all by 2015.

“Nearly 1 billion people remain in extreme poverty,” Mr. Ban stressed. “All regions are off track to reach the target for reducing child mortality, and one third of all children in developing countries lack access to improved sanitation.

“In the face of this stark reality, the international community must reinvigorate efforts to meet its commitments. Countries of the South must use their growing surpluses to reach development goals, including by funding public goods, creating and distributing vaccines, supporting agricultural research and development, establishing social insurance systems, enhancing access to credit for the poor, and improving transportation and communications structures.”

At the same time, he said the world must stay focused on the effects of climate change, which threaten to undermine much of the progress that has been achieved so far.  In addition, resources mobilized for development must be used effectively.

UN agencies, funds and programmes must better coordinate their activities, particularly in the area of South-South cooperation, to address development challenges that are beyond the capacity of any one country to tackle alone.

“I am committed to strengthening and streamlining United Nations support for South-South cooperation,” he concluded. “As we mark this International Day, let us all pledge our best efforts to enable the countries of the South to free their citizens from want.”
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 October 28, 2007 7:33 PM

LATEST FIGURES SHOW 43.7 MILLION TOOK PART IN GLOBAL UN ANTI-POVERTY EVENT
New York, Oct 24 2007  6:00PM
Over 43.7 million people took part in last week’s record-breaking United Nations campaign to “Stand Up Against Poverty,” a spokesperson for the world body announced today.

Citing figures from organizers, Marie Okabe said the event set a Guinness World Record as people from around the globe participated in a bid to push international leaders to deliver on their pledge to end extreme poverty by 2015.

More than 6,000 events were held in 110 countries during the 24-hour period from 16 to 17 October as part of the global campaign, which was led by the UN Millennium Campaign, an inter-agency initiative, in partnership with the Global Call to Action and a range of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), faith-based groups and civil society.

During the 17 October event, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged all people to join their voices in support of the cause. “Let us all stand up. Let us demonstrate the political will required to end the scourge of poverty once and for all,” he said.
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 October 13, 2007 5:30 PM

PARTS OF ASIA-PACIFIC REGION LAG BEHIND AFRICA IN REACHING ANTIPOVERTY GOALS -- UN
New York, Oct  8 2007  9:00AM
A new United Nations report assessing progress in the Asia-Pacific region on reaching the antipoverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) paints a mixed picture of progress in some parts of the region even as others lag behind Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

Released today in Bangkok and Manila, the report states that the region is well on track and ahead of its peers in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa to reduce extreme poverty by half, attain universal education, and achieve gender parity in education by the target year 2015.

But Asia and the Pacific accounts for about two thirds of the world's underweight children. More than one in four children under the age of five are underweight. The rates in many Asian countries exceed those of Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the report.

The region is also moving too slowly in reducing child mortality -- every year six out of every 100 children do not live to see their fifth birthday, a rate almost double that of Latin American and the Caribbean. The most serious problems are in South Asia where most countries are off track on reducing child mortality.

Maternal deaths in Asia and the Pacific account for almost half of the global total, according to the report, The Millennium Development Goals: Progress in Asia and the Pacific 2007. The region's overall maternal mortality ratio, at over 300 per 100,000 live births, is more than 30 percent higher than in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The region's greatest challenges lie in addressing the issues of child mortality, malnutrition, improving maternal health and providing safe drinking water and sanitation facilities, said the report -- a joint publication by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the Asian Development Bank (AD, and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

"The 2007 MDG progress report gives us an indication of what the region stands to gain if
focus on those countries that are moving slowly or not making progress, and within those areas concentrate on improving the lives of the most vulnerable," said Haishan Fu, Chief, Statistics Development Section, UNESCAP.

The report points out if the countries in the region that are off track were able to speed up and meet the MDG targets by 2015, then about 196 million more people would be lifted out of extreme poverty, 23 million more children would no longer suffer from hunger and nearly 1 million more children would survive beyond their fifth birthday.

The other key areas where Asia-Pacific region is making slow progress are provision of access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation facilities. Across the region, over 560 million people in rural areas lack access to improved water sources; over 1.5 billion are living without basic sanitation facilities, nearly three-quarters of the global total.

The report also warns that environmental pressures -- arising from land degradation, poor water management, rising pollution in urban areas, CO2 emission contributing to climate change and other factors -- could push more people into poverty.

The eight MDGs range from halving extreme poverty to reducing child mortality, halting spread of HIV and AIDS, providing universal primary education and providing access to clean drinking water and sanitation facilities -- all by the target year of 2015.
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 October 07, 2007 10:39 PM

SURGING WHEAT PRICES PUSH STAPLE PRODUCTS OUT OF REACH OF POOR – UN AGENCY
New York, Oct  5 2007  1:00PM
International wheat prices have hit record highs during the past three months, pushing the domestic price of bread and other basic foods in poor countries beyond the reach of many locals, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (<"http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2007/1000674/index.html">FAO) announced today.

The latest issue of the FAO Crop Prospects and Food Situation report, released at the agency’s headquarters in Rome, found that wheat prices have risen sharply since June because of tightening global supplies, historically low levels of stocks and sustained demand.

Maize prices have also jumped, despite this year’s bumper crop in North, Central and South America, because of continuing strong demand from the biofuels industry.

Paul Racionzer of the FAO’s Global Information and Early Warning System warned that cereal stocks, especially of wheat, are likely to remain at historically low levels for the foreseeable future. Wheat stocks are close to their lowest levels in 25 years.

“On current indications, this year’s cereal harvest would only just meet expected utilization levels in the coming year, which means that stocks will not be replenished,” he said.

The higher export prices for wheat – and other cereal crops – and surging freight rates have forced the price of bread and other products beyond the means of many people in the States classified as low-income food-deficit countries (LIFDCs), leading to social unrest in some areas.

The total cereal import bill for LIFDCs is forecast to hit an all-time high of $28 billion in 2007-08, a rise of 14 per cent on last year’s figures. In total, developing countries are likely to spend $52 billion on cereal imports  [ send green star] 		 
 August 05, 2007 10:53 PM

SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES GREATER EFFORTS TO ACHIEVE ANTI-POVERTY TARGETS
New York, Jul 31 2007  6:00PM
Stating that the world was “seriously off track” to reaching some of its shared anti-poverty goals by the target date of 2015, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for urgently stepped-up efforts to achieve the objectives on time.

“For the next seven and a half years, every day is a new day for us to make a difference for millions of people around the world,” Mr. Ban <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/sgsm11107.doc.htm">said today in New York, urging more concerted action towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals (<"http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">MDGs) – the set of eight targets for slashing poverty and other social and economic ills, all by 2015.

Mr. Ban’s call for action came at the launch of a new initiative by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown who, during his first visit to United Nations Headquarters since taking office last month, today announced a global partnership for development involving government and business leaders.

The Secretary-General hailed Mr. Brown’s “deep and genuine commitment to development,” and his proposal for a summit-level meeting on the Goals at the UN next year, saying that, to make such an event a success, the entire membership of the world body will need to be fully engaged in the preparations and follow-up.

A mid-point progress report on the MDGs, presented by Mr. Ban earlier this month, showed that the Goals remain achievable in most countries, but only if political leaders in rich and poor nations take urgent and concerted action.  

Calling the 2015 target date a “goalpost that cannot be moved,” Mr. Ban stressed today the need to “infuse our mission with the urgency it requires.”  

“As we reach the halfway point to that date, the clock is ticking louder every day,” he stated, adding that reaching the Goals on time will require strengthened partnerships between developed and developing countries and “innovative and bold” contributions from business, civil society and faith groups.

“Some say we will not make it,” he said.  “But I say we still can.”
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 June 17, 2007 8:27 PM

AFGHANISTAN, IRAN AND PAKISTAN AGREE TO STRENGTHEN COUNTER-NARCOTICS EFFORTS – UN
New York, Jun 12 2007  2:00PM
Senior officials from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan have agreed to work more closely to stop the threat of drug trafficking along their common borders, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (<"http://www.unodc.org/unodc/press_release_2007_06_12.html">UNODC), which hosted their meeting, announced today.

In a <"http://www.unodc.org/unodc/speech_2007_12_06.html">joint statement, the ministers of public security and counter-narcotics from the three countries expressed their intention to take action to reduce the threat posed by Afghanistan’s opium. “This transnational threat requires a cooperative solution,” they said.

UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa hailed the meeting as a turning point in the fight against Afghanistan's drug problem.

“The very fact that these ministers and senior officials turned up and agreed [to] a joint statement is a strong political signal of their desire to work together to fight a common problem. This increases the chances of containing the problem at its epicentre,” Mr. Costa said.  

The three countries agreed to take steps to improve border management by building more physical barriers, boosting law enforcement capacity, launching joint counter-narcotic operations, improving communication, and increasing intelligence-sharing about trafficking routes, traffickers, suspicious shipments and other activities, UNODC said.

The ministers and officials also agreed to focus not only on trafficking, but on all aspects of the drug economy, the agency said. This includes stopping the diversion and smuggling of precursor chemicals used to make drugs, locating and destroying drug labs, tackling corruption which facilitates the drug business, and halting the laundering of drug money.

They also urged countries where opiates are consumed, particularly the European Union and the Russian Federation, to assume their share of responsibility by curbing the demand that is fuelling the opium trade.

They called on States where precursor chemicals are produced to tighten their procedures to prevent diversion of substances that are essential for producing heroin from opium poppy. As the opium problem is best controlled at the source, chemical precursors should likewise be controlled first and foremost where they are produced.

The senior delegates from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan agreed to hold policy-level coordination meetings at least every six months and technical-level exchanges every three months, UNODC said, predicting that this should improve operational contacts that can stem the flow of drug trafficking from Afghanistan.

“UNODC is proud to have brokered this process which can help solve the world's biggest drug control problem,” said Mr. Costa. He urged the three countries to build on the goodwill evident at the Vienna meeting and pledged his Office’s continued support for the process.
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 February 28, 2007 7:59 PM

Poverty

Community Guides: Emmanuel Asomba  |  Agyemang Koforobour Amo  
Anura Widanapathirana

Water for Sustainable food production and poverty alleviation

Photo Credit: The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

"Any attempt to determine whether there will be enough water to grow food for the almost 8 000 million people expected to inhabit the Earth by 2025 requires an understanding of the link between water availability and food production.

Once this relationship is understood, decision-makers can perceive more clearly the consequences of the choices they make in order to balance water supply and demand. There have been more than 20 estimates of future world food security in the past 50 years, based on various, increasingly complex, computer models.

FAO and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have produced regular forecasts, but others, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) have also published their own forecasts. Others, such as the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), have made projections of future water-use scenarios.

Whatever model one may adopt, it is clear that agricultural water use will still increase, albeit at a diminushing rate, if the growing world population needs are to be met."

Source: FAO, "Unlocking the Water Potential of Agriculture"

Most resources contributed by Agyemang Koforobour Amo, dgPoverty Guide

 [ send green star] 		 
 January 14, 2007 6:08 PM

UN NUCLEAR WATCHDOG AGENCY HELPS AFRICA BOOST WATER SUPPLIES, AGRICULTURE, HEALTH
New York, Jan 10 2007 11:00AM
The United Nations atomic watchdog agency, better known for its efforts to prevent nuclear weapons proliferation, is <"      http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/2007/dg_algeria.html">boosting the use of radiation technology in Africa to promote development in numerous fields, from groundwater management and pest control to battling cancer and supplying energy.    

Nearly all of the IAEA’s development activities in Africa support in some way the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Muhamad ElBaradei <"http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Statements/2007/ebsp2007n001.html">said on an official visit to Algeria.    

The MDGs seek to slash a host of social ills, such as extreme hunger and poverty, infant and maternal mortality and lack of access to education and health care, all by 2015.    

Highlighting a whole slew of IAEA support for African development, Mr. ElBaradei cited the use of isotope hydrology as a tool in managing water resources. Because water contains different isotopes, isotopic dating can be used to estimate the origins and movement of water and determine the availability and capacity of underground aquifers.    

In the field of food security, one of the most challenging problems facing Africa, IAEA is supporting pest control through the sterile insect technique (SIT), where radiation is used to sterilize otherwise healthy insects, which are then released to mate without producing offspring, thus controlling and gradually eradicating the pest population.    

SIT is one of the methods being used to combat the tsetse fly. Trypanosomosis, also known as sleeping sickness, the parasitic disease carried by this fly, is considered a major constraint to sustainable development, affecting both humans and livestock.    

In human health, the IAEA helps countries in using nuclear and isotopic techniques to assess immune responses of individuals infected by various diseases, to monitor the emergence of drug resistance, and to evaluate the effectiveness of nutrition strategies. Current Agency projects support applying these techniques to national and regional efforts to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.    

For almost three decades, the IAEA has also been providing developing countries with radiation technology and training to diagnose and treat cancer.    

For energy production, a good part of IAEA efforts are focused on helping Member States to build their capacity to use nuclear technologies effectively and in a sustainable manner.    

“Capacity building in science and technology is a prerequisite for addressing national and global challenges associated with basic human needs: the right to food, water, energy, healthcare, housing and education,” Mr. ElBaradei said.  [ send green star] 		 
 January 13, 2007 7:37 PM

** A blue revolution to beat poverty **
This week's Green Room argues that fishing still holds the key for millions of people to secure a better future.
< http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/6255137.stm >
 [ send green star] 		 
 November 18, 2006 9:32 PM

STRONGER SOCIAL SECURITY NEEDED AGAINST POVERTY, EXPERT TELLS UN MEETING
New York, Nov 15 2006  6:00PM
To reduce poverty, developing countries need to strengthen their social security systems following on the success of industrial countries, an anti-poverty expert said today at a United Nations <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/dev2601.doc.htm">forum on poverty held at the world body’s Headquarters in New York.

Addressing the International Forum on Poverty Eradication, Professor Peter Townsend of the London School of Economics said poor States should follow the precedent set by members of the 30-nation Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) which largely eliminated poverty by strengthening their social protection and social security systems.

He pointed out that OECD countries had carried out universal schemes rather than just targeting the poor, and some of them were spending 18 per cent of their gross national product on social security.

Policy-makers should “direct more attention to social security than in the past,” he said, while poor nations should aim at establishing the same universal social security coverage.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs José Antonio Ocampo said advances had been made in reducing overall poverty. A global partnership for development had emerged and official development assistance had been steadily increasing, together with “quick-impact” initiatives to support education, health care and anti-malaria efforts.

Innovative sources of financing had been launched, he said, noting that 19 countries were implementing a “solidarity levy” on airline tickets to finance an international drug purchase initiative, and just last week an international finance facility had floated five-year bonds worth $1 billion to fund immunization programmes.

But Mr. Ocampo said more must be done to create adequate levels of decent employment and address the growing trend towards income inequality. According to a recent survey, 48 countries had seen a deterioration of income distribution over the past 30 years.

Kenyan anti-poverty activist Wahu Kaara said the picture was not just one of poverty and gloom, but of poor people fashioning new alternatives, planning from below, carrying a variety of economic activities that kept their communities together. In a world where 2.7 billion people lived on less than $2 a day, there was a need for less intervention by multinational corporations, development technocrats and “a multi-billion industry built on parachuting development,” she said, calling for new partnerships, stronger involvement of civil society and full guarantee of the rights to food, health and education.

The International Forum on Poverty Eradication, held today and tomorrow at the UN, brings together some 300 economists, civil society leaders and field practitioners from around the world to discuss novel ways to reduce poverty.
 [ send green star] 		 
 October 29, 2006 6:19 PM

It¹s Time to Adopt  A Living Wage Policy
By Cy Gonick

For the first time ever, the "living wage" emerged as an election issue in
the city of Winnipeg.   Several candidates, including two mayoralty
candidates, Marianne Cerilli and Kaj Hasselriis, supported living wage
legislation. The living wage is one of nine principles appearing in the Just
Income Charter produced by Manitoba's Just Income Coalition for this
election.  The Just Income Coalition, formed five years ago, is made up of
25 labour, faith, aboriginal and community groups.

The living wage proposed in the charter calls upon the city of Winnipeg to
pay its employees, employees of businesses contracted by the City, employees
of businesses that sell goods and/or services to the City, and employees of
businesses that receive assistance from the City of Winnipeg in any form no
less than $10.25/hr. plus $1.00/hr. where no benefit plan is in place.  This
is calculated on the basis of an individual working 40 hours a week earning
an hourly wage that allows him (her) to equal  the Low Income Cut Off
established by Statistics Canada and broadly accepted as the poverty line
for Canada. It amounts to an annual personal income of $21,000 before taxes.

The Charter also calls upon the city to explore adopting the Chicago model
of extending the living wage requirement to big box stores and other large
businesses.  Chicago is one of 140 U.S. cities that have passed living wage
ordinances since the late 1990s.  Chicago city council, attempting to
broaden coverage of the ordinance, extended it in late July 2006 to include
big box stores; but this extension was vetoed by Chicago mayor Richard
Daley, his first ever veto in 17 years as mayor.

Opposition to the living wage has been fierce everywhere it has been
proposed and several states have adopted measures to prevent local
governments from passing living wage ordinances.

This past year several Manitoba unions, together with the Winnipeg Labour
Council and the Just Income Coalition held a living wage workshop with Jen
Kern, director of the Living Wage Resource Centre at ACORN, the U.S. based
national coalition of anti-poverty groups, and a driving force for the
living wage movement there.  This fall ACORN , together with the AFL-CIO and
other organizations, is conducting a door-to-door campaign in six states
where proposals to increase the minimum wage is on the ballot.

Opposition to the living wage is led by chambers of commerce and small
business. They claim that in many instances employers cannot afford to pay a
living wage, causing them to lay off workers, reduce their hours or go out
of business entirely.

But there have been a number of studies of living wage laws in the US. In
assessing these studies, two leading economists in this field, Scott Adams
and David Neumark, conclude in a January 2005 article in the academic
journal, Industrial Relations, that living wage laws applying only to city
contractors "do not have detectable effects on wages or employment of low
wage individuals" at the city level.

While some contractors may go out of business if their competitive advantage
comes from low pay -- other contractors, whose advantage comes from superior
efficiency or service, and who pay decent wages, will then get the contract.
The overall job loss is therefore little, if any. The result is that workers
are able to look forward to decent pay and taxpayers are able to hold their
heads just a little higher, knowing that those paid to work on their behalf
are no longer earning a wage too low to live on.

In Canada, much more ambitious than the municipal targeted living wage
campaign, has been the campaign to boost provincially-based minimum wages to
living wage standards. Readers can inform themselves about this campaign by
going to the web site of the National Anti-Poverty Organization,
www.napo-onap.ca.

When Manitoba's Just Income Coalition determined to hold a low wage inquiry
last year, it commissioned a Statistics Canada study to indicate how many
Manitoba workers earned less than a living wage.  The results are startling.
They show that working for a living is not enough to escape poverty.
Currently, 125,000 workers, a quarter of Manitoba's work force, earn a low
wage.  Over half of all part-time workers earn a low wage.  Nearly 60
percent of low wage workers are women. Half of low wage workers are over 25
years of age; only 12 percent are under 18 years of age.

Fully one-third of child care and home care workers earn a low wage.  A
quarter of all clerical workers earn a low wage. A quarter of all factory
and warehouse workers earn a low wage.  A quarter of all agricultural
workers earn a low wage. Over half of all retail trade workers earn a low
wage.  Four-fifths of all food and restaurant workers earn a low wage. (Less
than half of these received tips.)  Over one in ten health support staff
earn a low wage.

The Doer government has consistently rejected lifting Manitoba's minimum
wage to a living wage, and seems content to raise it incrementally by 25
cents a year.  But over 20 years that would still leave the minimum wage
below the poverty line.

The government, echoing Manitoba's business lobbies, claims a living wage
policy is impractical.  But it is not.

Since most low-wage work is performed in the service sector, the likelihood
of  [ send green star] 		 
 October 01, 2006 1:49 PM

I signed up for that "War on Want" Philip.  Looks like a great resource!  [ send green star]  [ accepted] 		 
 September 25, 2006 6:45 PM

AFRICAN COUNTRIES UNDERLINE PROBLEM OF EXTREME POVERTY DURING ADDRESSES TO UN DEBATE
New York, Sep 22 2006 10:00PM
Extreme poverty remains the greatest danger facing humanity, African nations told the United Nations General Assembly today as they outlined the challenges they face in attempting to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the target date of 2015.

Rosemary Museminali, Rwandan Minister of State for Cooperation, <"http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/61/pdfs/rwanda-e.pdf">reminded delegates at the Assembly’s annual debate that 40 per cent of the world’s population – or about 2.5 billion people – live on less than $2 a day, and more than 800 million people suffer from hunger and malnutrition.

“For sub-Saharan Africa, the statistics are even more staggering: in most cases 60 to 70 per cent of national populations live on less than $1 a day, while life expectancy at birth is less than 50 years,” she said.

Mrs. Museminali said improving the standard of governance and raising the levels of official development assistance (ODA) from industrialized countries were critical if sub-Saharan Africa is to attain the eight MDGs, which were agreed upon at the Millennium Summit in New York in 2000.

But she said the most serious challenge is the surging price levels of key fossil fuels and the burden that is placing on African countries that have to import these energy sources, a theme adopted by Youssouf Ouedraogo, Burkina Faso’s Foreign Minister, in his address.

Mr. Ouedraogo said the recent jump in oil prices had pushed Burkina Faso towards developing bio-fuel technology using by-products from its cotton industry.

Calling for a revamp of the international trade regime, he said the current system was not free or equitable and punished Burkinabe cotton producers.

Lamenting the lack of progress towards the MDGs, Navinchandra Ramgoolam, the Prime Minister of Mauritius, <"http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/61/pdfs/mauritius-e.pdf">voiced concern that the world is relying too much on the trickle-down effect to reduce poverty, “instead of taking a bottom-up approach.”

The result is that “globalization does not seem to be living up to its promises,” Mr. Ramgoolam concluded, insisting that it must be transformed into a wider process so that everyone can share in its benefits, and not just the few.
 [ send green star] 		 
 September 25, 2006 6:17 PM

UN HEARS CALLS FOR ACCELERATED ASSISTANCE TO WORLD’S POOREST COUNTRIES
New York, Sep 18 2006  6:00PM
The lack of significant progress in reducing poverty in the world’s 50 poorest and most vulnerable countries – even as they posted sharply improved economic performance – dominated discussions at the United Nations General Assembly’s <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2006/ga10497.doc.htm">High-Level Meeting on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2006/dsgsm297.doc.htm">told the meeting that although the least developed countries have experienced higher economic growth, greater exports and larger investment inflows over the past five years, and despite some progress on reducing maternal and child mortality and increasing universal primary enrolment, the progress has had “minimum impact where it is most needed: in the fight against extreme poverty.”

Mr. Malloch Brown said efforts to assist the least developed countries must be expanded and accelerated by further securing development on the stable bedrock of democracy, human rights and good governance and “by making globalization work at least as much for the poor as for the rich.”

UN Under-Secretary-General Anwarul K. Chowdhury, who is also the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, acknowledged the economic growth but added that “the distribution at the grassroots level is not there.” He called for democratic governance to address the issue because “the poorest should have a voice in the decisions that affect them.”

This year’s General Assembly meeting is reviewing progress on an agreement forged five years ago in Brussels aimed at assisting the LDCs.  The meeting is expected to conclude tomorrow with a resolution reaffirming countries’ commitments toward meeting the goals that were agreed in Brussels.

Mr. Chowdhury said although there had been increased support from the international community, and that assistance to the poorest countries had increased by 25 per cent, most of these countries will not be able to reach the UN-agreed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of targets for addressing a host of global ills by the year 2015.

General Assembly President Haya Rashed Al Khalifa told delegates that the number of people living in extreme poverty in the least developed countries, who now number 370 million, could grow by an additional 100 million over the next decade.  “But we can be encouraged, that unlike in previous centuries, we now have the know-how and the resources to make a real and long lasting difference.”

According to a report of the Secretary-General prepared for the High-Level Meeting, governance has improved in the LDCs since world leaders adopted the Programme of Action for LDCs in Brussels in 2001.

While conflicts in the LDCs have decreased in number since 2001, according to the report, these countries still suffer disproportionately from civil unrest, with half of the UN’s 16 active peace operations being in LDCs. The report cites poverty and underdevelopment as a breeding ground for unrest in the LDCs.

The Secretary-General’s report calls for increased investment in education, health, clean water, sanitation, physical infrastructure and rural and agricultural development. It also calls for expanded international support, including greater and better aid, accelerated debt relief and better market access for LDCs coupled with support for improving export capacity.
 [ send green star] 		 
 August 19, 2006 8:54 PM

UN FOOD AID ORGANIZATION WARNS OF FOOD CUTS FOR 6 MILLION PEOPLE IN DARFUR
New York, Aug 16 2006  6:00PM
With food stocks running short, rations for 6 million people in Darfur could be scaled back as early as October unless funds are raised, the United Nations food agency warned today, calling on the international community to help the region’s beleaguered population.

“While the news cameras are focused on the conflict in Lebanon, the situation in Sudan has quietly grown more dangerous and desperate than ever,” said World Food Programme (WFP) Sudan Representative Kenro Oshidari. “As we continue to press for peace in Darfur, we must ensure that food aid gets to millions of hungry people trapped by violence.”

In May, <"WFP" target="new1848909440">http://www.wfp.org/english/?n=31">WFP was forced to cut food rations by half due to funding shortages. This time, unless $350 million in funds are raised, the agency could be forced to put beneficiaries on a reduced-calorie diet. “The minimum standard food basket represents some 2,100 calories per person. With such a diet one person can survive. If you reduce the calories the implication will be a slow degradation of the nutritional status ending ultimately with starvation,” WFP spokeswoman Ellen Gustafson told the UN News Service.

The escalating violence has been another hindrance in getting food to nearly half a million people living in camps as the deaths of 11 relief workers has prompted concern by humanitarian actors working in the region.

“The safety of staff is crucial and we take great precautions to avoid dangerous situations,” Mr. Oshidari said. The organization says it can limit the risk on the ground by moving staff by air only, advocating for a political solution and raising awareness of the dire conditions on the ground through the media.”

The three-year conflict in Darfur between Sudanese government forces, pro-government militias and rebels has seen many thousands killed and more than 2 million forced to flee to camps. There have been widespread charges of civilian massacre, rape and other atrocities.
 [ send green star] 		 
 August 05, 2006 7:13 PM

FIGHTING THE ROOT CAUSES OF POVERTY. Friday, 10:00 PM
Fighting the root causes of poverty

Our campaigns are about fighting the root causes of global poverty. Whether it’s change in British government policy, in the way international institutions operate or in a multinational company’s employment practice, we need your help to make it happen.

Trade Justice:
War on Want is at the forefront of the global movement campaigning for trade rules that put people and the environment before the interests of big business.

Challenging Corporate Power:
War on Want is campaigning for leaglly binding set of rules to hold big business to account for its impacts on people and the environment.

Palestine: The Wall must Fall:
War on Want's campaigning on the Occupied Palestinian Territories focuses on the devastating effects of the illegal Separation Wall built by Israel.

Western Sahara: 30 Years is Enough:
For 30 years the Saharawi people of Western Sahara have lived in refugee camps in some of the harshest conditions on earth, while their country remains under occupation by Morocco.

Corporations and Conflict:
War on Want's corporations and conflict campaign peels away the pleasant veneer of ‘corporate social responsibility’, and examines the real role corporations play in conflict – and the human costs that result.

Mayday Colombia:
Colombia is in the grip of a human rights crisis and speaking out can land you with a death sentence. Despite this, the UK government continues to provide Colombia's hardline government with military assistance.

Privatisation & Poverty
A wave of protest is growing across the developing world as essential services are sold off to big business. Join the resistance.

 [ send green star] 		 
 July 02, 2006 8:22 PM

One year on from the G8 Summit of 2005 that seemed to promise so
> much in the area of tackling poverty, what has been the status so
> far?
>
> It seems that some progress has certainly been made.  For example,
> significant debt cancellation has allowed some countries to offer
> enhanced or even free health services to all.  Yet, there are still
> many concerns.  The fancy accounting and spin used by some countries
> to paint a positive picture or give the impression that more
> assistance has been delivered than what actually has risks
> discrediting the process, impacting the poor once more.  This short
> article explores some of these concerns.
> http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Debt/g8summit2005/oneyearon/
>
 [ send green star] 		 
 July 01, 2006 10:09 PM

SOUTHERN AFRICA: DESPITE GOOD HARVESTS, UN NEEDS $85.5 MILLION TO FEED 3 MILLION HUNGRY
New York, Jun 28 2006 11:00AM
Despite better harvests across southern Africa, more than 3 million people will need over $85-million-worth of urgent international food aid this year because of grinding poverty and the highest rates of HIV/AIDS on earth, the United Nations World Food Programme (<"WFP)" target="new311981630">http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2151">WFP) warned today.

“It is great news that the region will have a reprieve from the major food deficits seen over the last few years,” WFP Executive Director James Morris said. “But as long as HIV/AIDS remains at such epic proportions throughout southern Africa, a large number of people will face severe hardship unless international assistance is provided.

“Good harvests do not necessarily mean people have enough to eat,” he added in a statement released following a one-day conference yesterday by the Southern Africa Development Community (<"SADC)" target="new311981630">http://www.sadc.int/">SADC) in Johannesburg, South Africa, where representatives from 10 countries announced preliminary agricultural production levels for the 2006/7 consumption year.

On a positive note, Malawi recorded its best harvest in nearly five years thanks to better rainfall and more widespread availability of seeds and fertilisers.

But many people across the region will need aid for the year ahead because they were unable to grow enough food to feed themselves until the next harvest, or they are unable to buy food on the market.  Even though harvests in some countries have reached bumper levels, there are concerns that surpluses may be bought by traders in East Africa, which is facing food shortages, rather than being sold at affordable prices in southern Africa.

In addition, because southern Africa has nine of the 10 highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in the world, many people are just too ill to work land or earn an income. The small amount of cash in poor HIV/AIDS-affected families is usually spent on medicines to treat their loved ones and on funerals.

More than 6 million people are estimated to be infected with the virus in Lesotho, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The number of orphans and child-headed households is also increasingly placing a heavy burden on family structures, communities, and the state. Nearly half of all orphans due to HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, live in these seven countries.

“Food and good nutrition are crucial in battling against HIV/AIDS but it is very tough to convince the international community of the complexity and depth of the pandemic in this region, especially when people’s misery is masked by green fields and good harvests,” Mr. Morris said.

“Orphans and other vulnerable children are a particular concern for WFP as most governments can’t cope with the overwhelming number of young people who need help,” he added.

WFP needs $85.5 million to help feed some 3 million people through to December. By then, the number of families needing help could increase dramatically at the start of the ‘lean season,’ when they have exhausted their food stock and await harvesting of the main crop in April/May.

At times over the last five years, WFP food has reached up to 13 million people suffering from widespread food shortages caused by erratic weather, poor government policies, economic stagnation and shortages of seeds and fertilisers.
 [ send green star] 		 
 July 01, 2006 9:59 PM

POVERTY IN AFRICA CAN BECOME HISTORY WITH PROPER USE OF CONTINENT’S RESOURCES – UN
New York, Jun 27 2006 11:00AM
Poverty for Africa’s 800 million inhabitants can be made history if the region’s wealth of natural resources is effectively, fairly and sustainably harnessed, but rapid deforestation, widespread land degradation, wasteful water use and climate change must be urgently addressed, according to a new United Nations report released today.

“The report challenges the myth that Africa is poor,” UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner said of the study, the Africa Environment Outlook-2 (AE0-2).

“Indeed, it points out that its vast natural wealth can, if sensitively, sustainably and creatively managed, be the basis for an African renaissance - a renaissance that meets and goes beyond the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” he added of the targets to slash a host of ills, such as extreme hunger and poverty, high infant and maternal mortality and lack of access to education and health care, all by 2015.

“But this is not inevitable and, as the AE0-2 points out, African nations face stark choices,” he warned. “If policies remain unchanged, political will found wanting and sufficient funding proves to be elusive, then Africa may take a far more unsustainable track that will see an erosion of its nature-based wealth and a slide into ever deeper poverty.”

Beyond home-grown issues like deforestation and water wastage, the report notes the imported challenges, ranging from genetically modified organisms and the costs of alien invasive species to a switch of chemical manufacturing from the developed to the developing world.

But it also cites a wide range of international environment treaties to which many African countries are now parties as well as new cooperative agreements covering shared river and ecosystems like the Limpopo and the Congo basin’s globally important forests.

Initiatives like the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) also promise to propel the region onto a more prosperous path that balances economic, social and environmental concerns.

Several African countries, like the Gambia and Zambia, are mainstreaming the environment in their Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers and other countries are starting to use tax and other market mechanisms to conserve ecosystems like forests.

“I am convinced that we are fast reaching a watershed in Africa’s response and that the pieces of a sustainable jigsaw puzzle are being steadily put into place,” Mr Steiner said.


“Governments are signalling an increased willingness to cooperate and to engage over a wide range of pressing regional and global issues. The economic importance of the environment is increasingly recognized by Africa’s leaders as an instrument for development, for livelihoods, for peace and for stability. I sincerely believe we have a real opportunity to take this impetus a long way,” he concluded.

Among the many sources of possible wealth the report cites the “huge but relatively untapped” potential for tourism based around nature and cultural sites; suitable land to feed its people; abundant but little used water resources for irrigation, drinking water and power generation; and its status as “a mining giant” producing nearly 80 per cent of the world’s platinum, more than 40 per cent of the globe’s diamonds and more than a fifth of its gold and cobalt.

It calls for a transition from being a major exporter of primary resources to being one with a vibrant industrial and manufacturing base.

And it warns against the pitfalls in development: pure market forces alone in food production could lead to greater land degradation, and industrial expansion could deprive the general public of water.

It proposes solutions such as government-held lands being put into production rather than over-exploiting existing agricultural land, and proper pollution controls and greater efficiency in water management
   [ send green star] 		 
 June 24, 2006 7:59 PM

POVERTY IS THE MOST SERIOUS AND WIDESPREAD HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE, UN OFFICIAL SAYS
New York, Jun 23 2006  5:00PM
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour today described poverty as the “most serious, invidious and widespread” human rights violation confronting the world, while calling on all States to keep laws at the forefront of their efforts to fight terrorism, highlighting in particular concerns over the use of torture.

Ms. Arbour, who’s remarks were delivered in a statement to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, spotlighted concerns in specific countries, ranging from reports of “dire conditions in labour camps” in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to refusal by Uzbekistan to allow the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to investigate last year’s killings in Andijan in the east of the country.

“Poverty continues to be the most serious, invidious and widespread human rights violation that we must confront,” she said. “For it is poverty and underdevelopment – both in cause and effect – that exacerbate abuse, neglect and discrimination, denying millions the enjoyment of their civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights, and ultimately their right to development.”

Discrimination is also another “widespread source of disempowerment,” she said, warning that in some parts of the world certain instances of this may be on the rise.

“Racial discrimination is also ever present, and in some regions may even be growing, fuelled by fear of terrorism, or anxiety over competition for employment. Those fears are easily manipulated with results often difficult to predict or control.”

Contemporary terrorism has raised many questions, Ms. Arbour said, including whether States are losing their monopoly over the use of overwhelming force and if so, whether existing laws must “yield to this new reality,” but she stressed it was crucial for the authorities to put the law at the forefront of their anti-terror efforts.

“It is vital that at all times governments anchor in law their response to terrorism,” she said, voicing particular concern about the “increasing challenge to the absolute prohibition on torture that has emerged in the context of counter-terrorism activities.”

“International law requires that the prohibition of torture be ensured by active measures: in addition to not engaging in acts of torture themselves, States have a positive obligation to protect individuals from exposure to torture,” she said. “No cogent argument, whether normative or empirical, has been advanced to support a departure from the torture prohibition in the fight against terrorism.”

In her report to the Council, which started its inaugural session on Monday, Ms. Arbour also highlighted that OHCHR’s presence in the field was a “vital part” of its mandate, adding that the willingness of governments to include the Office in their human rights efforts, showed their “serious commitment to the realization of rights.” In this regard, she mentioned OHCHR’s presence in Nepal, Uganda, Guatemala, Cambodia and Colombia.

Equally important said Ms. Arbour was the access granted to experts and other “special procedures mandate holders,” because she said their monitoring, investigating and reporting were the “trusted eyes and ears of the international human rights community.”

In contrast to this, “closed door policies” by governments were a source of “grave concern” because “without proper assessment and cooperation, the international community’s ability to render effective assistance is dramatically curtailed and human rights violations remain unaddressed,” she said.

In this context, she voiced regret that her Office was unable to assess the facts related to “the killings of possibly several hundred persons” in May 2005 by Uzbek military and security forces in the city of Andijan, in eastern Uzbekistan. She noted that the Government refused to allow access to the country and also monitoring of the trials of those it arrested.

She raised similar access constraints regarding the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, highlighting reports from refugees, who have escaped the country, describing “dire conditions in labour camps, grave food shortages and a lack of the most basic freedoms, such as freedom of expression, religion and assembly.”

Turning to Iraq, Ms. Arbour said she hoped the newly appointed Government would take the “necessary measures to ensure the protection of human rights and full respect for the rule of law.”

In Myanmar, she said the “marked worsening of the humanitarian situation” was a cause for “mounting international concern” and she called attention to the situation in the east of the country, where intensified military operations in recent months have led to the “forcible eviction and mass displacement of thousands of civilians.”

She spoke too of the “unspeakable suffering and loss of life” in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and said only a political solution would stop the bloodshed.

Regarding Africa, Ms. Arbour urged the Government of Sudan to seek the assistance of UN peacekeepers to help halt the killings in the troubled Darfur region, and she said that Somalia “can no longer remain the neglected crisis” where violence, displacement and chaos were exposing civilians to “massive suffering.”

After delivering her comprehensive report to the Council, representatives from various Member States and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) held discussions on it involving the High Commissioner.
 [ send green star] 		 
One in Four Children Suffer from Malnutrition, Says UNICEF May 27, 2006 10:58 PM

Progress for Children: A Report Card on Nutrition," 146 million children in poor countries are underweight, a condition that kills 10 children every minute. The region most acutely affected is South Asia, where half of all children are underweight (view an interactive map of malnutrition).

"At our current pace, we will not meet the promise of the Millennium Development Goals," said UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman. The first goal aims to half extreme poverty and hunger by 2015.

"The lack of progress to combat malnutrition is damaging children and nations," Veneman said at a press conference. "Few things have more impact than nutrition on a child's ability to survive, learn effectively and escape a life of poverty."

The report recommends a series of steps that can be taken to reduce malnutrition, such as improving sanitation, increasing access to education and raising awareness among adults.

Progress for Children: A Report Card on Nutrition," 146 million children in poor countries are underweight, a condition that kills 10 children every minute. The region most acutely affected is South Asia, where half of all children are underweight (view an interactive map of malnutrition).

"At our current pace, we will not meet the promise of the Millennium Development Goals," said UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman. The first goal aims to half extreme poverty and hunger by 2015.

"The lack of progress to combat malnutrition is damaging children and nations," Veneman said at a press conference. "Few things have more impact than nutrition on a child's ability to survive, learn effectively and escape a life of poverty."

The report recommends a series of steps that can be taken to reduce malnutrition, such as improving sanitation, increasing access to education and raising awareness among adults.

 [ send green star] 		 
Poverty, begins with lack of Education, and bad Farming practises. April 03, 2006 7:17 PM

please read the Below Articles, as there is more to poverty, than just Hunger, and the lack of Aid Relief, the World's poor who live in Poverty can be helped by better education, farming Practises and Irrigation, but Aid is still need in a source of advisement, to teach the people of Third World Nations, Education and self sufficency, then the people will have self pride of themselves and their Country.  [ send green star] 		 
5 causes of Poverty March 05, 2006 12:01 AM

Take a look at the five most popular resources of the past two weeks:
>
> Minimum wages and poverty
> http://www.developmentgateway.org/poverty/rc/ItemDetail.do~1055726?intcmp=923
>
> Aid Allocation and Fragile States
> http://topics.developmentgateway.org/poverty/rc/ItemDetail.do~1057490?intcmp=923
>
> Stormy Days on an Open Field: Asymmetries in the Global Economy
> http://topics.developmentgateway.org/poverty/rc/ItemDetail.do~1057454?intcmp=923
>
> Can a relation be found between inequality and growth?
> http://topics.developmentgateway.org/poverty/rc/ItemDetail.do~1057030?intcmp=923
>
> World Bank publication: Latin America Needs to Cut Poverty to Boost Growth
> http://topics.developmentgateway.org/poverty/rc/ItemDetail.do~1057231?intcmp=923
>
 [ send green star] 		 
 March 01, 2006 8:21 PM

5) See the following:

The Corporate Planet, Corporate Watch, 1997

Debt - The facts, Issue 312 - May 1999, New Internationalist

1998 Human Development Report, United Nations Development Programme

1999 Human Development Report, United Nations Development Programme

Missing the Target; The price of empty promises, Oxfam, June 2000

Global Development Finance, World Bank, 1999

Economics forever; Building sustainability into economic policy PANOS Briefing 38, March 2000

Human Development Report 2000, p. 82, United Nations Development Programme

Food Feed and Fiber section). Note, that dispite the food production rate being better than population growth rate, there is still so much hunger around the world.

Progress of Nations 2000, UNICEF, 2000;
  • Robert E. Black, Saul S Morris, Jennifer Bryce, Where and why are 10 million children dying every year?, The Lancet, Volume 361, Number 9376, 28 June 2003. (Note, while the article title says 10 million, their paper says 10.8 million.)
  • State of the World’s Children, 2005, UNICEF (this cites the number as 10.6 million in 2003)

    • Note that the statistic cited uses children as those under the age of five. If it was say 6, or 7, the numbers would be even higher.

    The Scorecard on Globalization 1980-2000: Twenty Years of Diminished Progress, by Mark Weisbrot, Dean Baker, Egor Kraev and Judy Chen, Center for Economic Policy and Research, August 2001.

    A cure worse than the disease, The Guardian, January 21, 2002

    World’s Billionaires Take a Hit, But Still Soar, The Institute for Policy Studies, March 6, 2002

    Water as Commodity - The Wrong Prescription, The Institute for Food and Development Policy, Backgrounder, Summer 2001, Vol. 7, No. 3

    Consumerism, Volunteer Now! (undated)

    State of the World’s Children, 2005, UNICEF

    Some 600,000 join millionaire ranks in 2004, Associate Press, June 9, 2005

     [ send green star]     		 
    		 March 01, 2006 8:18 PM

    1. The total wealth of the top 8.3 million people around the world “rose 8.2 percent to $30.8 trillion in 2004, giving them control of nearly a quarter of the world’s financial assets.”

      In other words, about 0.13% of the world’s population controlled 25% of the world’s assets in 2004. source 27

    Notes and Sources

    PPP), which basically suggests that prices of goods in countries tend to equate under floating exchange rates and therefore people would be able to purchase the same quantity of goods in any country for a given sum of money. That is, the notion that a dollar should buy the same amount in all countries. Hence if a poor person in a poor country living on a dollar a day moved to the U.S. with no changes to their income, they would still be living on a dollar a day. In addition, see the following:

    • Ignacio Ramonet, The politics of hunger, Le Monde diplomatique, November 1998
    • The 9th International Anti-Corruption Conference Plenary Address by James Wolfensohn, August 2000
    • March recognizes the billions living on less than two dollars a day, EarthTimes.org, October 24, 2000
    • The poverty lines: population living with less than 2 dollars and less than 1 dollar a day from PovertyMap.net provides two maps showing the concentration of people living on less than 1 and 2 dollars per day, around the world.
    • Also note that these numbers, from the World Bank, have been questioned and criticized.
      • The World Bank has been criticized for almost arbitrarily coming up with a definition of a poverty line to mean one dollar per day (of which they say there are about 1.3 billion people). That figure and how it has been chosen has been much criticized by many, as shown by University of Ottawa Professor, Michel Chossudovsky in the previous link.
      • In addition, in the United States for example, the poverty threshold for a family of four has been estimated to be around eleven dollars per day. The one dollar a day definition then misses out much of humanity to understand the impacts. Even the two dollars per day that I have pointed out here, while affecting half of humanity, also misses out the numbers under three or four, or eleven dollars per day. These statistics are harder to find, and as I come across them, I will post them here!
      • More fundamental than that though, for example, is a critique from Columbia University, called How not to count the poor. The report describes an ill-defined poverty line, a misleading and inaccurate measure of purchasing power equivalence, and false precision as the three main errors that may lead to “a large understatement of the extent of global income poverty and to an incorrect inference that it has declined.” (Emphasis added). This allows the World Bank to insist that the world is indeed “on the right track” in terms of poverty reduction strategy, attributing this “success” to the design and implementation of “good” or “better policies”.
    • But the statistic is not lost on some of the most prominent people in the world
      • The New York Times in one of their email updates, in their Quote of the Day section, for July 18, 2001 provided the following quote: “A world where some live in comfort and plenty, while half of the human race lives on less than $2 a day, is neither just, nor stable.” — President Bush
      • See also James Wolfenson, The Other Crisis, World Bank, October 1998 who said: “Today, across the world, 1.3 billion people live on less than one dollar a day; 3 billion live on under two dollars a day; 1.3 billion have no access to clean water; 3 billion have no access to sanitation; 2 billion have no access to electricity.” (See also note 21 below.)
      • Koffi Anan, UN Secretary General, in a speech on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, 17 October 2000, said “Almost half the world’s population lives on less than two dollars a day, yet even this statistic fails to capture the humiliation, powerlessness and brutal hardship that is the daily lot of the world’s poor.”
    The politics of hunger, Le Monde Diplomatique, November 1998

    The State of the World’s Children, 1999, UNICEF

    State of the World, Issue 287 - Feb 1997, New Internationalist

    5) Se  [ send green star]

    		 
    		 March 01, 2006 8:12 PM

    1. According to UNICEF, 30,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.”

      That is about 210,000 children each week, or just under 11 million children under five years of age, each year. source 19

    1. For economic growth and almost all of the other indicators, the last 20 years [of the current form of globalization, from 1980 - 2000] have shown a very clear decline in progress as compared with the previous two decades [1960 - 1980]. For each indicator, countries were divided into five roughly equal groups, according to what level the countries had achieved by the start of the period (1960 or 1980). Among the findings:
    2. Growth: The fall in economic growth rates was most pronounced and across the board for all groups or countries.
    • Life Expectancy: Progress in life expectancy was also reduced for 4 out of the 5 groups of countries, with the exception of the highest group (life expectancy 69-76 years).
    • Infant and Child Mortality: Progress in reducing infant mortality was also considerably slower during the period of globalization (1980-1998) than over the previous two decades.
    • Education and literacy: Progress in education also slowed during the period of globalization.
    1. source 20
    2. “Today, across the world, 1.3 billion people live on less than one dollar a day; 3 billion live on under two dollars a day; 1.3 billion have no access to clean water; 3 billion have no access to sanitation; 2 billion have no access to electricity.” source 21
    3. The richest 50 million people in Europe and North America have the same income as 2.7 billion poor people. “The slice of the cake taken by 1% is the same size as that handed to the poorest 57%.” source 22
    4. The world’s 497 billionaires in 2001 registered a combined wealth of $1.54 trillion, well over the combined gross national products of all the nations of sub-Saharan Africa ($929.3 billion) or those of the oil-rich regions of the Middle East and North Africa ($1.34 trillion). It is also greater than the combined incomes of the poorest half of humanity. source 23
    5. A mere 12 percent of the world’s population uses 85 percent of its water, and these 12 percent do not live in the Third World. source 24
    1. Consider the global priorities in spending in 1998
    1. Global Priority
    $U.S. BillionsCosmetics in the United States8Ice cream in Europe11Perfumes in Europe and the United States12Pet foods in Europe and the United States17Business entertainment in Japan35Cigarettes in Europe50Alcoholic drinks in Europe105Narcotics drugs in the world400Military spending in the world780
    1. And compare that to what was estimated as additional costs to achieve universal access to basic social services in all developing countries:
    1. Global Priority
    $U.S. BillionsBasic education for all6Water and sanitation for all9Reproductive health for all women12Basic health and nutrition13
    1. source 25
    1. Number of children in the world
    2. 2.2 billion
    3. Number in poverty
    4. 1 billion (every second child)
    5. Shelter, safe water and health
      1. For the 1.9 billion children from the developing world, there are:
      2. 640 million without adequate shelter (1 in 3)
      • 400 million with no access to safe water (1 in 5)
      • 270 million with no access to health services (1 in 7)
    7. Children out of education worldwide
    8. 121 million
    9. Survival for children

    10. Worldwide,

      • 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (same as children population in France, Germany, Greece and Italy)
      • 1.4 million die each year from lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation

  • Health of children 

    million children die each year because they are not immunized  [ send green star]     		 
    		 March 01, 2006 8:12 PM

    1. According to UNICEF, 30,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.”

      That is about 210,000 children each week, or just under 11 million children under five years of age, each year. source 19

    1. For economic growth and almost all of the other indicators, the last 20 years [of the current form of globalization, from 1980 - 2000] have shown a very clear decline in progress as compared with the previous two decades [1960 - 1980]. For each indicator, countries were divided into five roughly equal groups, according to what level the countries had achieved by the start of the period (1960 or 1980). Among the findings:
    2. Growth: The fall in economic growth rates was most pronounced and across the board for all groups or countries.
    • Life Expectancy: Progress in life expectancy was also reduced for 4 out of the 5 groups of countries, with the exception of the highest group (life expectancy 69-76 years).
    • Infant and Child Mortality: Progress in reducing infant mortality was also considerably slower during the period of globalization (1980-1998) than over the previous two decades.
    • Education and literacy: Progress in education also slowed during the period of globalization.
    1. source 20
    2. “Today, across the world, 1.3 billion people live on less than one dollar a day; 3 billion live on under two dollars a day; 1.3 billion have no access to clean water; 3 billion have no access to sanitation; 2 billion have no access to electricity.” source 21
    3. The richest 50 million people in Europe and North America have the same income as 2.7 billion poor people. “The slice of the cake taken by 1% is the same size as that handed to the poorest 57%.” source 22
    4. The world’s 497 billionaires in 2001 registered a combined wealth of $1.54 trillion, well over the combined gross national products of all the nations of sub-Saharan Africa ($929.3 billion) or those of the oil-rich regions of the Middle East and North Africa ($1.34 trillion). It is also greater than the combined incomes of the poorest half of humanity. source 23
    5. A mere 12 percent of the world’s population uses 85 percent of its water, and these 12 percent do not live in the Third World. source 24
    1. Consider the global priorities in spending in 1998
    1. Global Priority
    $U.S. BillionsCosmetics in the United States8Ice cream in Europe11Perfumes in Europe and the United States12Pet foods in Europe and the United States17Business entertainment in Japan35Cigarettes in Europe50Alcoholic drinks in Europe105Narcotics drugs in the world400Military spending in the world780
    1. And compare that to what was estimated as additional costs to achieve universal access to basic social services in all developing countries:
    1. Global Priority
    $U.S. BillionsBasic education for all6Water and sanitation for all9Reproductive health for all women12Basic health and nutrition13
    1. source 25
    1. Number of children in the world
    2. 2.2 billion
    3. Number in poverty
    4. 1 billion (every second child)
    5. Shelter, safe water and health
      1. For the 1.9 billion children from the developing world, there are:
      2. 640 million without adequate shelter (1 in 3)
      • 400 million with no access to safe water (1 in 5)
      • 270 million with no access to health services (1 in 7)
    7. Children out of education worldwide
    8. 121 million
    9. Survival for children

    10. Worldwide,

      • 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (same as children population in France, Germany, Greece and Italy)
      • 1.4 million die each year from lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation

  • Health of children 

    million children die each year because they are not immunized  [ send green star]     		 
    		 March 01, 2006 8:12 PM

    1. According to UNICEF, 30,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.”

      That is about 210,000 children each week, or just under 11 million children under five years of age, each year. source 19

    1. For economic growth and almost all of the other indicators, the last 20 years [of the current form of globalization, from 1980 - 2000] have shown a very clear decline in progress as compared with the previous two decades [1960 - 1980]. For each indicator, countries were divided into five roughly equal groups, according to what level the countries had achieved by the start of the period (1960 or 1980). Among the findings:
    2. Growth: The fall in economic growth rates was most pronounced and across the board for all groups or countries.
    • Life Expectancy: Progress in life expectancy was also reduced for 4 out of the 5 groups of countries, with the exception of the highest group (life expectancy 69-76 years).
    • Infant and Child Mortality: Progress in reducing infant mortality was also considerably slower during the period of globalization (1980-1998) than over the previous two decades.
    • Education and literacy: Progress in education also slowed during the period of globalization.
    1. source 20
    2. “Today, across the world, 1.3 billion people live on less than one dollar a day; 3 billion live on under two dollars a day; 1.3 billion have no access to clean water; 3 billion have no access to sanitation; 2 billion have no access to electricity.” source 21
    3. The richest 50 million people in Europe and North America have the same income as 2.7 billion poor people. “The slice of the cake taken by 1% is the same size as that handed to the poorest 57%.” source 22
    4. The world’s 497 billionaires in 2001 registered a combined wealth of $1.54 trillion, well over the combined gross national products of all the nations of sub-Saharan Africa ($929.3 billion) or those of the oil-rich regions of the Middle East and North Africa ($1.34 trillion). It is also greater than the combined incomes of the poorest half of humanity. source 23
    5. A mere 12 percent of the world’s population uses 85 percent of its water, and these 12 percent do not live in the Third World. source 24
    1. Consider the global priorities in spending in 1998
    1. Global Priority
    $U.S. BillionsCosmetics in the United States8Ice cream in Europe11Perfumes in Europe and the United States12Pet foods in Europe and the United States17Business entertainment in Japan35Cigarettes in Europe50Alcoholic drinks in Europe105Narcotics drugs in the world400Military spending in the world780
    1. And compare that to what was estimated as additional costs to achieve universal access to basic social services in all developing countries:
    1. Global Priority
    $U.S. BillionsBasic education for all6Water and sanitation for all9Reproductive health for all women12Basic health and nutrition13
    1. source 25
    1. Number of children in the world
    2. 2.2 billion
    3. Number in poverty
    4. 1 billion (every second child)
    5. Shelter, safe water and health
      1. For the 1.9 billion children from the developing world, there are:
      2. 640 million without adequate shelter (1 in 3)
      • 400 million with no access to safe water (1 in 5)
      • 270 million with no access to health services (1 in 7)
    7. Children out of education worldwide
    8. 121 million
    9. Survival for children

    10. Worldwide,

      • 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (same as children population in France, Germany, Greece and Italy)
      • 1.4 million die each year from lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation

  • Health of children 

    • 15 millio
    million children die each year because they are not immunized  [ send green star]     		 
    		 March 01, 2006 8:12 PM

    1. According to UNICEF, 30,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.”

      That is about 210,000 children each week, or just under 11 million children under five years of age, each year. source 19

    1. For economic growth and almost all of the other indicators, the last 20 years [of the current form of globalization, from 1980 - 2000] have shown a very clear decline in progress as compared with the previous two decades [1960 - 1980]. For each indicator, countries were divided into five roughly equal groups, according to what level the countries had achieved by the start of the period (1960 or 1980). Among the findings:
    2. Growth: The fall in economic growth rates was most pronounced and across the board for all groups or countries.
    • Life Expectancy: Progress in life expectancy was also reduced for 4 out of the 5 groups of countries, with the exception of the highest group (life expectancy 69-76 years).
    • Infant and Child Mortality: Progress in reducing infant mortality was also considerably slower during the period of globalization (1980-1998) than over the previous two decades.
    • Education and literacy: Progress in education also slowed during the period of globalization.
    1. source 20
    2. “Today, across the world, 1.3 billion people live on less than one dollar a day; 3 billion live on under two dollars a day; 1.3 billion have no access to clean water; 3 billion have no access to sanitation; 2 billion have no access to electricity.” source 21
    3. The richest 50 million people in Europe and North America have the same income as 2.7 billion poor people. “The slice of the cake taken by 1% is the same size as that handed to the poorest 57%.” source 22
    4. The world’s 497 billionaires in 2001 registered a combined wealth of $1.54 trillion, well over the combined gross national products of all the nations of sub-Saharan Africa ($929.3 billion) or those of the oil-rich regions of the Middle East and North Africa ($1.34 trillion). It is also greater than the combined incomes of the poorest half of humanity. source 23
    5. A mere 12 percent of the world’s population uses 85 percent of its water, and these 12 percent do not live in the Third World. source 24
    1. Consider the global priorities in spending in 1998
    1. Global Priority
    $U.S. BillionsCosmetics in the United States8Ice cream in Europe11Perfumes in Europe and the United States12Pet foods in Europe and the United States17Business entertainment in Japan35Cigarettes in Europe50Alcoholic drinks in Europe105Narcotics drugs in the world400Military spending in the world780
    1. And compare that to what was estimated as additional costs to achieve universal access to basic social services in all developing countries:
    1. Global Priority
    $U.S. BillionsBasic education for all6Water and sanitation for all9Reproductive health for all women12Basic health and nutrition13
    1. source 25
    1. Number of children in the world
    2. 2.2 billion
    3. Number in poverty
    4. 1 billion (every second child)
    5. Shelter, safe water and health
      1. For the 1.9 billion children from the developing world, there are:
      2. 640 million without adequate shelter (1 in 3)
      • 400 million with no access to safe water (1 in 5)
      • 270 million with no access to health services (1 in 7)
    7. Children out of education worldwide
    8. 121 million
    9. Survival for children

    10. Worldwide,

      • 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (same as children population in France, Germany, Greece and Italy)
      • 1.4 million die each year from lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation

  • Health of children 

    • 15 millio
    million children die each year because they are not immunized  [ send green star]     		 
    		Poverty Facts and Stats. March 01, 2006 8:07 PM

    Poverty Facts and Stats
    Author and Page information

    Skip this section and go straight to the main content

    • by Anup Shah
    • This Page Last Updated Saturday, June 11, 2005
    source 1
  • The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the poorest 48 nations (i.e. a quarter of the world’s countries) is less than the wealth of the world’s three richest people combined. source 2
  • Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names. source 3
  • Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn't happen. 4
  • 51 percent of the world’s 100 hundred wealthiest bodies are corporations. source 5
  • The wealthiest nation on Earth has the widest gap between rich and poor of any industrialized nation. source 6
  • The poorer the country, the more likely it is that debt repayments are being extracted directly from people who neither contracted the loans nor received any of the money. source 7
  • 20% of the population in the developed nations, consume 86% of the world’s goods. source 8
  • The top fifth of the world’s people in the richest countries enjoy 82% of the expanding export trade and 68% of foreign direct investment — the bottom fifth, barely more than 1%. source 9
  • In 1960, the 20% of the world’s people in the richest countries had 30 times the income of the poorest 20% — in 1997, 74 times as much. source 10
  • An analysis of long-term trends shows the distance between the richest and poorest countries was about:
    • 3 to 1 in 1820
    • 11 to 1 in 1913
    • 35 to 1 in 1950
    • 44 to 1 in 1973
    • 72 to 1 in 1992 source 11
  • “The lives of 1.7 million children will be needlessly lost this year [2000] because world governments have failed to reduce poverty levels” source 12
  • The developing world now spends $13 on debt repayment for every $1 it receives in grants. source 13
  • A few hundred millionaires now own as much wealth as the world’s poorest 2.5 billion people. source 14
  • “The 48 poorest countries account for less than 0.4 per cent of global exports.” source 15
  • “The combined wealth of the world’s 200 richest people hit $1 trillion in 1999; the combined incomes of the 582 million people living in the 43 least developed countries is $146 billion.” source 16
  • “Of all human rights failures today, those in economic and social areas affect by far the larger number and are the most widespread across the world’s nations and large numbers of people.” source 17
  • “Approximately 790 million people in the developing world are still chronically undernourished, almost two-thirds of whom reside in Asia and the Pacific.” source 18
    •  [ send green star]     		 
    		 March 01, 2006 7:58 PM

    These are the pages within this section on this web site that you can also read.

     [ send green star]     		 
    		 March 01, 2006 7:55 PM

    (Please also note that I do not make any proceeds from the sale of this book in any way.) Posted Sunday, November 26, 2000.

    Read article: Economic Democracy

    World Hunger and Poverty

    People are hungry not because of lack of availability of food, or “over” population, but because they are too poor to afford the food. Politics and economic conditions have led to poverty and dependency around the world. Addressing world hunger therefore implies addressing world poverty as well. If food production is further increased and provided to more people while the underlying causes of poverty are not addressed, hunger will still continue because people will not be able to purchase food. Last updated Monday, April 18, 2005.

    Read article: World Hunger and Poverty

    Food Dumping [Aid] Maintains Poverty

    Even non-emergency food aid, which seems a noble cause, is destructive, as it under-sells local farmers and can ultimately affect the entire economy of a poor nation. If the poorer nations are not given the sufficient means to produce their own food and other items then poverty and dependency may continue. In this section you will also find a chapter from a book which describes this situation in detail and looks at the myth that “more US aid will help the hungry” as the chapter is titled. A must read! Last updated Saturday, June 25, 2005.

    Read article: Food Dumping [Aid] Maintains Poverty

    Corruption New

    We often hear leaders from rich countries telling poor countries that aid and loans will only be given when they show they are stamping out corruption. While that definitely needs to happen, the rich countries themselves are often active in the largest forms of corruption in those poor countries, and many economic policies they prescribe have exacerbated the problem. Corruption in developing countries definitely must be high on the priority list, but so too must it be on the priority list of rich countries. Posted Sunday, January 29, 2006.

    Read article: Corruption

    United Nations World Summit 2005

    The UN World Summit for September 2005 is supposed to review progress since the Millennium Declaration, adopted by all Member States in 2000. However, the US has proposed enormous changes to an outcome document that is to be signed by all members. There are changes on almost all accounts, including striking any mention of the Millennium Development Goals, that aim for example, to halve poverty and world hunger by 2015. This has led to concerns that the outcome document will be weakened. Developing countries are also worried about stronger text on human rights and about giving the UN Security Council more powers. Last updated Sunday, September 18, 2005.

    Read article: United Nations World Summit 2005

    IMF & World Bank Protests, Washington D.C.

    To complement the public protests in Seattle, the week leading up to April 16th/17th 2000 saw the other two global institutions, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, as the focus of renewed protests and criticisms, in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the mass demonstrations were to protest against the current form of globalization, which is seen as unaccountable, corporate-led, and non-democratic and to show the link with poverty due to the various policies of the IMF and World Bank. Last updated Friday, July 13, 2001.

    Read article: IMF & World Bank Protests, Washington D.C.

    Poverty Facts and Stats

    While the world is globalizing and the mainstream media in many developed nations point out that economies are booming (or, in periods of downturns, that the current forms of “development” and economic policies are the only ways for people to prosper), there are an increasing number of poor people who are missing out on this apparent boom, while increasingly less people are becoming far more wealthy. Some of these facts and figures are an eye-opener to say the least. Last updated Saturday, June 11, 2005.

    Read article: Poverty Facts and Stats

     [ send green star]     		 
    		Causes of Poverty around the World, worth Reading. March 01, 2006 7:45 PM

    Causes of Poverty
    Author and Page information

    Skip this section and go straight to the main content

    • by Anup Shah
    • This Page Last Updated Sunday, January 29, 2006
    More Facts (and Sources) »

    Poverty is the state for the majority of the world’s people and nations. Why is this? Is it enough to blame poor people for their own predicament? Have they been lazy, made poor decisions, and been solely responsible for their plight? What about their government? Have they pursued policies that actually harm successful development? Such causes of poverty and inequality are no doubt real. But often less discussed are deeper and more global causes of poverty.

    Behind the increasing interconnectedness promised by globalization, are global decisions, policies, and practices. These are typically influenced, driven, or formulated by the rich and powerful. These can be leaders of rich countries or other global actors such as multinational corporations, institutions, and influential people.

    In the face of such enormous external influence, the governments of poor nations and their people are often powerless. As a result, in the global context, a few get wealthy while the majority struggle.

    These next few articles and sections explore various poverty issues in more depth:

    Structural Adjustment—a Major Cause of Poverty

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank-prescribed structural adjustment policies have meant that nations are lent money on condition that they cut social expenditure (such as health and education) in order to repay the loans. Many are tied to opening up their economies and being primarily commodity exporters in such a way that poor countries have found themselves in a spiraling race to the bottom as each nation competes against others to provide lower standards, reduced wages and cheaper resources to corporations and richer nations. This has increased poverty and dependency for most people. It also forms a backbone to what we today call globalization. As a result, it maintains the historic unequal rules of trade. Last updated Sunday, November 20, 2005.

    Read article: Structural Adjustment—a Major Cause of Poverty

    Poverty Around The World

    Around the world, inequality is increasing, while the world appears to globalize. Even the wealthiest nation has the largest gap between rich and poor compared to other developed nations. In many cases, international politics and various interests have led to a diversion of available resources from domestic needs to western markets. Historically, politics and power play by the elite leaders and rulers have increased poverty and dependency. These have often manifested themselves in wars, hot and cold, which have often been trade and resource-related. Mercantilist practices, while presented as free trade, still happen today. Poverty is therefore not just an economic issue, it is also an issue of political economics. Last updated Saturday, January 28, 2006.

    Read article: Poverty Around The World

    Economic Democracy

    This next page is a reposting of a flyer about a new book from J.W. Smith and the Institute for Economic Democracy, whom I thank for their kind permission. The book is called Economic Democracy: The Political Struggle Of The 21st Century. Typically on this site, I do not advertise books etc, (although I will cite from and link to some, where relevant). However, in this case, I found that just the text in this flyer alone to provide an excellent summary of the multitude of issues that cause poverty and its historic roots.

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