Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Imagine There’s No Hunger Campaign

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The Imagine There’s No Hunger campaign is in its sixth year this year. The goal of the campaign is to help children in impoverished regions who suffer from hunger and poverty related issues. The campaign was inspired by John Lennon’s vision for a world at peace and without hunger; it teaches children all over the world to recognize their own power in making a difference in their living conditions and food scarcity. The campaign encourages rural families in impoverished communities to grow their own food, offering sustainable agricultural programs and training in 34 grassroots organizations. Spearheaded by Hard Rock International and WhyHunger, the campaign has accomplished huge gains in the war on poverty. This year, Yoko Ono Lennon has teamed up with Hard Rock International and is advocating for widespread support for the campaign.  Thus far, the Imagine There’s No Hunger campaign has provided enough food in communities to ensure 5.5 million meals for children in 22 countries.

In the months of November and December, the campaign receives special media attention as they encourage the public to get involved in their mission and make donations to help end world hunger for children. A number of musicians have joined the Imagine There’s No Hunger campaign, and participate in fundraising concerts and visits to grassroots organizations. The musicians involved in the campaign use their star power to help bring fans on board with Imagine There’s No Hunger.

By working with grassroots organizations across the world, Imagine There’s No Hunger helps to develop agricultural systems in places that have a weak agricultural condition. The campaign encourages healthy eating and homegrown food; they have helped launch programs that feed children farm-fresh food and teach farmers the proper methods of farming. Imagine There’s No Hunger doesn’t just want to supply a quick order of food for starving countries, but help implement systems and training programs so that countries can subsist on their own and receive income well into the future.

This year, the Imagine There’s No Hunger campaign wishes to make a greater impact than ever before on children living in poverty. With the help of teammate Yoko Ono Lennon, the campaign has received an increase in public attention and advocacy. Ono is scheduled to make an appearance in December in Tokyo to continue her goal of rallying support for the campaign.

– Chante Owens

Sources: Imagine Peace, Why Hunger
Photo: Daily Mail

Shakira’s Philanthropy Doesn’t Lie

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Over the course of her career, Colombian recording artist Shakira has been nominated for five American Grammys and eight Latin Grammys, both of which are among the highest honors in the music industry, and has amassed an estimated net worth of a staggering $200 million. However, despite her international fame and incredible fortune, Shakira remains an avid humanitarian, having initiated and participated in many charity organizations, particularly those that target her home country of Colombia.

After solidifying her position as a true Latin American music star with the release of her critically-successful breakthrough album, Pies Descalzos, Shakira founded the Pies Descalzos Foundation (Barefoot Foundation) in efforts to aid the impoverished children of Colombia. While growing up in her native country, Shakira made it a mission to serve the country’s poor after watching children make homes out of park benches and street corners.

The extent to which early experiences impacted Shakira’s humanitarian motives is manifested in the name of the non-profit, non-governmental charity organization. Pies Descalzos not only pays homage to the album that launched Shakira’s musical career but also recognizes the thousands of children who are far too destitute to even afford shoes

One of the overarching goals of Pies Descalzos is improvements in international education quality – an opportunity that can enable needy children to break out of the confines of squalor. Pies Descalzos provides children with the opportunity for attaining an education and necessary tools for survival, such as food, that they otherwise would have been unable to access.

Since 2003, the foundation has launched six schools in Colombia that provide support to impoverished children and their families by providing education, food, and financial support. Also founded by Shakira, the Barefoot Foundation in America, rather than focusing its efforts solely on Colombia, takes its aid worldwide, promoting universal education.

After receiving honors from the United Nations in 2006, Shakira reinforced the urgency and importance of Pies Descalzos and other charity foundations by stating, “Let’s not forget at the end of this day when we go home, 960 children will have died in Latin America.” With her adamant support of global education and passionate efforts towards eradicating hunger and poverty, Shakira has demonstrated that the power of music can travel far beyond entertainment purposes to serve inspiring humanitarian purposes.

– Phoebe Pradhan

Sources: Ace Show Biz, Celebrity Net Worth, People
Photo: People

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Pope Francis: Champion of the Poor

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Forbes Magazine has released its annual “World’s Most Powerful People” list, ranking the leaders of nations, intergovernmental agencies and businesses in relation to global influence. In the year 2013, the fourth most influential person in the world is the newly elected leader of the Roman Catholic Church, who has been drawing a lot of positive attention to the office.

As the leader of a church membership of over 1 billion people, Pope Francis has been dedicated to taking the papacy to the poor and the downtrodden. In Latin America, he has recently been nicknamed the Slum Pope because of his frequent visits to the more dangerous and impoverished neighborhoods in the region. His visits to the more destitute areas have given hope that the Catholic Church will do more to help those who cannot help themselves.

After his election in March, Pope Francis called for the church and its followers to return to helping the poor. In the papal tradition of taking on a new name after election, he purposely chose the name of Francis, after Saint Francis d’Assisi. The saint is widely known and recognized as the son of a wealthy man who left his riches to help the poor as a member of the clergy. In Pope Francis’ speeches, he has often championed the themes of poverty, hope and social justice which are the interests of the poor. Helping the poor is the constant theme of his papacy which has been warmly received wherever he has visited.

In his short ministry, he has visited the Italian Island of Lampedusa which is the frequent destination of fleeing African Immigrants seeking better economic and social opportunities in Europe. Every year many Africans unsuccessfully embark to the island with the hopes of ending their poverty but, instead, drown in the Mediterranean before reaching their goal. In his visit to the island, the Pope wept for those that had died and suggested repurposing church resources to accommodate African migrants.

As one of the most admired figures in the world, the Pope has always had a tremendous impact on not only his religious followers but leaders of nations across the world. The Pope is trying to use his office as a worldwide leader to be an advocate for improving the livelihood of the poor. His admirable example is one that should be emulated by leaders throughout the world.

– Travis Whinery

Sources: CNN, CNN Blog, Time, BBC News, Fox News, Forbes
Photo: The Times

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JP Morgan Chase Historic Settlement

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On November 17, 2013, the megabank JP Morgan Chase reached a record civil settlement of $13 billion and still could face criminal charges. The vast majority of the settlement, $9 billion, will go to State and Federal agencies that insured and backed the many bad mortgages the bank doled out from 2006-2009, including a $2 billion fine received by federal prosecutors. Consumers of the bad-faith mortgages will receive the benefit of the remaining $4 billion through a reduction in interest rates, temporary payment deferment, the removal of abandoned homes from low-income neighborhoods and other measures designed to offer relief to those hit hardest by the bank’s improper practices. There is no mention of the bank buying back any of the sour loans, and those who have already foreclosed are out of luck.

As a whole, the settlement stands to make little impact on the banking giant despite the historic figure. JP Morgan Chase revealed they had put aside $23 billion some time earlier just to pay for expected damages. Last year alone the company recorded over $20 billion in profits, and, despite the current litigation, the company’s stock is increasing as the housing market stabilizes. Last year, the US government budgeted just $42 billion in foreign aid and $11.2 billion in war-related aid to Afghanistan and Iraq. Sequestered litigation funds from JP Morgan Chase alone could have paid almost half of that budget.

Syria is embroiled in an incredibly costly war that has left many homeless as they flee the fighting or watch as their homes are destroyed by shelling. With the total number of refugees expected to hit 3 million by the end of this year, the UN has appealed for $5 billion in aid to house and care for these victims. Right now, they are about $2 billion short of that request. Before the US Justice Department transfers their imposed fine to the treasury, think of the millions of Syrians lacking food, healthcare, water and shelter.

Typhoon Haiyan has destroyed or damaged over 240,000 homes in the Philippines and over 800,000 people have been displaced from the storm. Though aid efforts have been swift and generous, rebuilding destruction of that magnitude will not come quickly. Hurricane survivors will need temporary shelter for months while debris is cleared, utility lines are restored and, eventually, homes are rebuilt. Estimates say the country suffered a total of $15 billion in physical damages. Federal and State investors could donate their $7 billion to the recently homeless of the Philippines and easily cover the cost of returning them to shelter.

$13 billion is a massive sum, why not think big? As of July of this year, the UN estimated a need for $12.84 billion to assist the entire world’s crises. One settlement that only represents a little more than half of JPMorgan Chase’s 2012 profits could provide adequate humanitarian relief to the entire world for the year. One company’s misdeeds resulting in relief for millions across over 25 countries; that would be historic.

– Tyson Watkins

Sources: NY Times, USA Today, Reuters, Reuters, NY Times, USAID, Yahoo News
Photo: Business Week

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The Impact of Poverty on Life Expectancy

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The numbers on poverty are stunning.

One in three people do not have access to electricity. One in three children and one in seven adults suffer from malnutrition. One in five people do not have access to safe drinking water.

The experience of inequality and poverty based suffering is reported again and again in reports issued by international organizations ranging from the UN to the World Bank to the FAO. Poverty robs people of dignity and health to the point that life expectancy falls along with security and quality of life. When the basic rights and needs of people are not met and they are trapped in the cycle of poverty there is an accrued toll on human life. Poverty is so threatening and destabilizing to individual safety and health that it robs people of years of life because the cost and cumulative damage is so great.

The numbers of life lessened by poverty add up each and every day. Every five seconds a child dies of hunger; Every five minutes 19 children under five years of age die of pneumonia; Due to inadequate and substandard medical care, 500,000 mothers every year die in childbirth; five million children every year do not survive to celebrate their fifth birthday.

These numbers imply that there is an inherent cost of life for those who are not privileged and wealthy. In our globalized society, access and participation – which are fundamental aspects of human rights – are not truly guaranteed and protected. One in five, or almost 20 percent of the global population, face barriers to access to food and are unable to participate in the global economy.  Just over 300 million people worldwide have a life expectancy of less than 60 years, partially due to nutrient deficient and incomplete diets as well as the array of maladies and disease that stem from malnutrition and systemic poverty.

Thirty- five percent of the world population does not receive enough protein, and therefore not enough physical energy to function and work normally. Globally, there are 2 billion people who are anemic, including 5.5 million people who reside in countries of wealthy western capitalism.

In the United States, poverty is concentrated along the southern poverty belt stretching from New Mexico, across the deep south and Tennessee and Kentucky, to the Carolinas and Georgia.

A new CDC study recently revealed that states where more than 1 in 3 people live in high poverty areas reported the lowest life expectancy. In regions of poverty like this, burdens such as limited health care, higher crime rates, and poor schools and housing can keep people trapped in poverty and rob them of potential years of life.

Not just being poor, but living in areas blighted by poverty can mean a shorter life span and a stolen future for many people. Underperforming schools, few job opportunities, higher crime rates, poor nutrition and food access, lack of health care and housing all add up to shorter, unhealthier, impoverished lives.

This is no longer an issue of individual security, but larger issues of development, human rights, and economic stability. In order to truly tackle poverty we have to tackle the root causes of inequality, conflict and government corruption. Only when equal access to food and equal enjoyment are obtained can we reach the level of global security where poverty and malnutrition no longer threaten entire countries and limit chances for development and justice.

– Nina Verfaillie
Feature Writer

Sources: Mission Allende, Pravda

Romania Struggles with Poverty

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Romania, the small country in southeastern Europe, has struggled with poverty throughout its history.  The traditionally agricultural country has floundered since ceasing to be a communist state in 1989.  Poverty is most pronounced in rural areas, which are home to 44% of Romania’s population.

Low agricultural production is a large problem for the rural poor.  Additionally, there are few opportunities for formal employment or higher education outside of urban areas of Romania. Remote mountainous areas receive little support from the government, and suffer from a lack of social services, infrastructure, sanitation and opportunity.

Poor Romanians often leave in search of better opportunities overseas, sometimes at rates of hundreds of thousands per year.  The earnings sent home by these emigrants have made up as much as 6% of Romania’s GDP.  While poverty is a clear and large scale problem in Romania, the government has no formal policy to help raise the employment rate or improve conditions in rural areas.  In fact, there is a marked absence of government initiatives to reduce poverty.

One ethnic group in particular is plagued by poverty, illiteracy, squalid living conditions as well as government discrimination and social persecution.  The Romani people, known negatively around Europe as ‘gypsies’, were held as slaves around Europe until the mid-eighteen hundreds.  They were exterminated by the Nazis on a large scale, and continue to be mistreated around Europe.  Romania is home to as many as two million Roma people, and they are five times as likely as other groups to live in poverty.

Frequently, Roma, like other Romanians, leave to find work and better fortunes in more affluent parts of Europe.  Many Europeans discriminate against the Romani, however, and an influx of Roma people in France has contributed to the recreation of racist, fascist groups from the 1940s.

Romani people often live in segregated neighborhoods, or in their own villages entirely.  One such village, in a rural region of Romania, is generally ignored by the authorities and does not even appear on maps despite its population of over 500 people.  The citizens of Ponorata live without electricity, in handmade wooden homes and frequently in conditions that have been described as ‘medieval’.  Illiteracy and unemployment are rampant.

The plight of Ponorata is a symptom of a wider problem in rural Romania, which is the lack of initiative taken by the government to solve the poverty of these areas. While some non-governmental organizations run schools and health centers, there is a desperate need for a more widespread and coordinated strategy to improve the quality of life of Romanians, especially the Roma.

– Abigail Hanson

Sources: Daily Mail, Rural Poverty Portal, Euractiv

Reality Check: Emerging African Middle Class

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Africa, over the past 15 years, has seen robust economic growth and made strides in governance and stability.  While it is difficult to generalize about the state of an entire continent, it is doubtless that fewer Africans live in abject poverty and an African middle class is growing into consumers for international goods and services.

While many Western banks and investors are eager to profit from this new and developing market, it is important that they remain aware of the realities of the African market for consumer goods.

Africa has begun to emerge from decades of violence and corruption, which only help to keep people impoverished.  In the past twenty years, the number of major conflicts in Africa has been reduced from twelve to just four.  Increased peace and stability not only increase people’s ability to provide for their families, but also increases consumer confidence.

Additionally, the number of democracies in sub-Saharan Africa has grown from three in 1989 to 23 in 2008.  Better governance and transparency has made it easier for people to start businesses and for outside investors to participate in African economies.

The middle class in Africa is defined as those living on USD $2-$20 a day, though those making between two and four US dollars are considered to be a ‘floating class’.  This group is highly susceptible to being pulled back into poverty in the event of a food crisis or if the major breadwinner in the family should lose their ability to work.  They are, however, part of the recent spending boom in Africa.

Consumer spending is expected to rise from USD $860 billion in 2008 to a projected USD $1.4 trillion in 2020.  In the past decade, six out of the ten fastest growing economies in the world were in Africa, with Ghana leading the charge with a growth rate of 13% annually.  All this has been highly encouraging to Western investors, eager to cash in on the growth of a new market while debt and banking issues slow economic growth at home.

Much of the information about the growth of the African middle class has not been entirely accurate, however.  These hopeful facts and statistics do point to positive trends, but the African middle class is not homogeneous, nor does it have all the characteristics of middle classes in the West or in Asia.

It is important to bear in mind that Africa is home to an incredible diversity of people and cultures, and the middle class in South Africa will likely have different habits than middle class folks in Rwanda or Mali or Ghana.  Additionally, certain accomplishments, such as a college degree, are considered requisites for the middle classes in the West or in Asia, but in Africa this is less true.

Middle class Africans are often involved in entrepreneurship, or in importing goods for sale in their local communities.  Many investors make assumptions about middle class Africans based upon the spending habits of middle class populations elsewhere, but the economic outcome of the growth of the African middle class is likely to look very different.

– Abigail Hanson
Sources: UHY, World Bank, Harvard Business Review

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Ethnic Tension Stirs Violence in China’s Far West

Ethnic Tension Stirs Violence in China’s Far West
Xinjiang, China’s far-western region recently witnessed its first new case of violence since the riots that sprung up in June 2013. In the town of Selibuya, a mob bearing axes attacked a police station on Saturday, November 16. In total, 11 people were killed, nine of whom were a part of the mob, and two who were assisting the police.

Xinjiang is home to great ethnic tension, which has led to unpredictable bursts of violence throughout the year. Ethnic conflict exists between Muslim Uighur and Han Chinese communities. The ethnic conflict has created a great sense of instability and posed a major security threat to Chinese leaders.

Many Chinese are blaming the region’s unrest on the Uighur community–ethnic Uighur separatists who make up the minority in an otherwise Han Chinese region. Uighurs are widely known to practice Islam in China, something that is highly monitored by the authorities.

Some of the Uighurs who have carried out violent attacks in Xinjiang are believed to be tied to terrorist operations overseas. When interviewed, Uighurs deny such claims and instead argue against the growing disparities in class between their community and the dominant Han Chinese community.

The Uighur minority argue that the Mandarin-speaking Han Chinese receive many more jobs than them because they must face Mandarin language barriers, which often disqualifies them in the running for jobs. Uighur communities continue to grow upset, as economic development has led huge numbers of Han Chinese to areas traditionally occupied by Uighurs. The socioeconomic discrimination that the Uighur community feels, coupled with increasing ethnic tension between themselves and Han Chinese have created many violent uprisings over the years.

The first outbreak of violence this year occurred in June in Xinjiang’s city of Turpan when a mob wielding knives stormed police stations and a government building. The riot resulted in the death of 27 people, after rioters who stabbed civilians and lit police cars on fire were shot down by the police force. Although the origin of this riot was never confirmed, it is believed to have stemmed from the oppression and aggravation of the Uighur community by the Chinese government.

As an Islamic minority, Uighurs face pressure from many sides to conform to the dominant culture and give up certain practices like men growing beards and women wearing the veil. Ethnic division and violent turmoil will continue in Xinjiang as long as the tension between Uighur communities and the Han Chinese exist.

– Chante Owens

Sources: BBC News, The Wall Street Journal

The Worldwide Pop-Up Newsroom

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On November 16, global poverty had a unique light shed on it thanks to journalism students from around the globe. As part of a “pop-up newsroom,” students in the UK, U.S., Taiwan and India hit their local streets armed with their journalism training and social media outlets to report on those who experience poverty directly.

Politicians usually hold the platform for discussing poverty but they are rarely the ones who actually experience it. Instead, the journalism students went through locally-based organizations and interviewed both victims and combatants to gather on-the-ground experiences of poverty and the policies meant to address it. David Baines, who led the UK side of the project, stated one of the goals was, “to make the complexities transparent rather than trying to simplify things,” as is often done by politicians.

The pop-up newsroom idea began at California State University Northridge (located in Northern Los Angeles). As technology changes the way we can access information, Dr. Melissa Wall (a journalism professor at CSUN) wanted to find a way to utilize the immediacy of social media to inspire positive changes. By appealing to a younger population, the pop-up newsroom allows important issues, like global poverty, to reach people of all ages and of all interests.

November 16 marked the first time the experimental pop-up news reporting went international. The universities that participated have a number of international students and the fact that they were reporting from different countries made this a truly global event.

Not only are the students participating in an innovative journalism experience, they are adequately trained to do so. The Asian College of Journalism in Chennai, India is one of the most prestigious in the region and covering inequality is a requirement for all students. At Newcastle University, UK, the students prepared for this project by studying the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s guidelines for good reporting on poverty.

Reported topics ranged from art, health, feminist issues and economic inequality. Using the hashtag #livepoverty, students reported their stories on Twitter while in the field, as it was happening. By encouraging students to post immediately, the project emphasized that global poverty is a constant force that doesn’t go to sleep at night, but rather hangs over its victims 24 hours a day. With participants like the UK and U.S., the pop-up news stories proved that poverty is experienced even in the wealthiest countries in the world.

– Alessandra Luppi
Sources: Pop Up News, Rebel Mouse
Photo: WNYC

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15 Memorable TED Quotes

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TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, is a global set of conferences owned by the private nonprofit organization Sapling Foundation. Under the slogan “ideas worth spreading,” TED events are held throughout the world, addressing a variety of topics, from science and culture to health, medicine, and global development. Here are some of the most memorable quotes made by TED speakers on the topic of poverty and development.

1.       “You don’t wake up one day no longer a racist. It takes generations to tear that intuition, that DNA, out of a soul of a people.”

–Lawrence Lessig: We the People, and the Republic we must reclaim

2.       “I’d grown up thinking that a [sanitary toilet] was my right, when in fact it’s a privilege — 2.5 billion people worldwide have no adequate toilet.”

–Rose George: Let’s talk crap. Seriously.

3.       “Child mortality [since 2000 is] down by 2.65 million a year. That’s a rate of 7,256 children’s lives saved each day. … It drives me nuts that most people don’t seem to know this news.”

–Bono: The good news on poverty (Yes, there’s good news)

4.       “What you do [to provide better aid is] you shut up. You never arrive in a community with any ideas.”

–Ernesto Sirolli: Want to help someone? Shut up and listen!

5.       “The challenge of development: abject poverty surrounded by corruption.”

–Sanjay Pradhan: How open data is changing international aid

6.       “I have never met a villager who does not want a vote.”

–Rory Stewart: Why democracy matters

7.       “You don’t have to get rich to have [fewer] children. It has happened across the world.”

–Hans Rosling: Religions and babies

8.       “We get so little news about the developing world that we often forget that there are literally millions of people out there struggling to change things to be fairer, freer, more democratic, less corrupt.”

–Alex Steffen: The route to a sustainable future

9. “Connectivity is productivity — whether it’s in a modern office or an underdeveloped village.”

–Iqbal Quadir: How mobile phones can fight poverty

10. “We’ve seen how distributed networks, big data and information can transform society. I think it’s time for us to apply them to water.”

–Sonaar Luthra: Meet the Water Canary

11. “Birth control has almost completely and totally disappeared from the global health agenda, and the victims of this paralysis are the people of Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.”

–Melinda Gates: Let’s put birth control back on the agenda

12. “Human development, not secularization, is what’s key to women’s empowerment in the transforming Middle East.”

–Dalia Mogahed: The attitudes that sparked Arab Spring

13. “The United Street Sellers Republic — the USSR — [would be] the second-largest economy in the world after the United States.”

–Robert Neuwirth: The power of the informal economy

14. “We need to deliver [mental] health care using whoever is available and affordable in our local communities.”

–Vikram Patel: Mental health for all by involving all

15. “It was the buildings [in Haiti], not the earthquake, that killed 220,000 people, that injured 330,000, that displaced 1.3 million people, that cut off food and water and supplies for an entire nation.”

–Peter Haas: Haiti’s disaster of engineering

– Nayomi Chibana
Feature Writer 

 

Read global poverty quotes.

Sources: TED, Reddit
Photo: Lingholic