Full coverage: Poverty

24.11.2006 While the number of young unemployed increased from 74 million to 85 million, or by 14.8 per cent between 1995 and 2005, more than 300 million youth, or approximately 25 per cent of the youth population, were living below the US $2 per day poverty line, says a new report by the International Labour Office (ILO)

23.11.2006 The scarcity at the heart of the global water crisis is rooted in power, poverty and equality, not in physical availability. There is more than enough water in the world for domestic purposes, for agriculture and for industry. The problem is that some people -- notably the poor -- are systematically excluded from access by their poverty, by their limited legal rights or by public policies.

23.11.2006 The South Asian region contains most of the children in the world who are denied sustained access to basic education. Most of the countries in the region share a common socio-cultural context albeit one which is itself very varied.

22.11.2006 Metsät on usein unohdettu kansallisissa köyhyyden vähentämisohjelmissa, vaikka ne ovat 1,6 miljardin ihmisen elinehto joko ravinnon, tulojen tai muiden hyödykkeiden muodossa, arvioi FAO:n metsäosaston uusi johtaja Jan Heino. Tilanne on Heinon mielestä outo, koska maailmassa on vain kourallinen valtioita, joissa ei ole metsäpeitettä ollenkaan.

22.11.2006 Vuonna 2007 vietetään taksvärkkitoiminnan 40-vuotisjuhlavuotta. Juhlavuoden keräyksen varat suunnataan Kenian katulapsille. Nairobissa elää arviolta 60 000 katulasta ja -nuorta, jotka ovat 8-30 -vuotiaita. Kadulla asuu myös nuorten aikuisten perustamia perheitä. Taksvärkin kehitysyhteistyöhanke toteutetaan yhteistyössä kenialaisen kansalaisjärjestön Undugu Society of Kenyan kanssa.

21.11.2006 Intian maaseutua ajatellessa mieleen tulee helposti äärimmäinen köyhyys. Nykyisin kuulemme kuitenkin aina vain enenevissä määrin maan IT-buumista ja käsitys todellisuudesta suurien kaupunkien ulkopuolella saattaa hämärtyä. Tehelkan järjestämässä keskustelutilaisuudessa puhuttiin näiden kahden eri maailman kohtaamisesta ja pyrittiin niiden yhdistämiseen.

20.11.2006 Rural India is a phrase which is essentially synonymous with extreme poverty. In the era of globalization we hear more and more about the urban IT boom, world class infrastructure in India, but, by and large, the ideas about what's happening outside of the big cities seems pretty frozen in time. To discuss the two worlds in the same country Tehelka organized a summit of the powerless for building bridges between these two worlds

17.11.2006 Networked Intelligence for Development is a Toronto based network of independent consultants and trainers specializing in new media, information and communication technologies (ICTs), the creative industries and international development. Our consultants have held senior positions in multilateral organizations, governmental and intergovernmental organizations, broadcasting and media institutions, research institutes and non-governmental organizations.

17.11.2006 The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) is inviting applications for CSE Media Fellowships on the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA): Opportunities and Challenges. The felloships are open to journalists and the last date is November 28, 2006.

16.11.2006 To reduce poverty, developing countries need to strengthen their social security systems following on the success of industrial countries, an anti-poverty expert said at United Nations.

16.11.2006 President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam exhorted the construction industry to take up a societal mission to provide dwelling units costing not more than Rs. 1 lakh for the needy in urban and rural areas and wanted the Government to step in by arranging subsidies and hassle-free bank loans for them.

15.11.2006 While access to microcredit serves as a useful complement to the survival strategies of poor households, it is not a strategy of poverty alleviation and growth.

15.11.2006 The NGO, National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) mainly orgainsed events related dalit's rights to land, education and other socio-economic rights at par with other communities including seminar on dalits rights to development and also discussion on India's development goals and dalits status and policy intervention especially in budget allocation at ISF 2006, New Delhi.

15.11.2006 The Times of India

15.11.2006 The Hindu

14.11.2006 To give voice to the silent majority, to find creative responses to some of the most difficult questions of our time, on November 20 –21 this year at Dr. M.A Ansari auditorium, Jamia Milia Islamia, Tehelka is hosting a visionary new forum: Summit of the Powerless.

14.11.2006 "Che una voce così ascoltata come quella del Papa ricordi il dramma della fame nel mondo è un fatto importante e apprezzabile" - dichiara Marco De Ponte, segretario generale di ActionAid. "Chiedendo criteri di giustizia nei confronti di coloro che coltivano la terra, il Pontefice ha sottolineato uno dei principali problemi nella lotta alla fame: almeno la metà degli 852 milioni di persone che vanno a letto affamate ogni sera, infatti, sono agricoltori" - ricorda De Ponte. "Questi contadini spesso non riescono neppure a produrre il cibo sufficiente per sfamare se stessi e le proprie famiglie, e ciò a causa di scelte politiche sbagliate compiute sia a livello di governi nazionali sia di organizzazioni mondiali" - spiega il segretario generale di ActionAid. Il Pontefice ha ricordato l’ultimo rapporto Fao che riporta che “800 milioni di persone vivono in stato di sottoalimentazione e troppe persone, specialmente bambini, muoiono di fame”.

11.11.2006 Indian health professionals have expressed their concern over a failing public health system that threatens to erode earlier health gains. Speaking at the ISF, social activists said that inequitable global economic structure is leading to stagnant or declining health budgets. Satya Chakrapani from OneWorld reports from a seminar held by the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA).

10.11.2006 “La povertà in Italia sta assumendo proporzioni rilevanti e potrebbe peggiorare ulteriormente, secondo la tendenza per la quale oggi, rispetto a 10 anni fa, il numero di coloro che sono sotto la soglia di povertà è aumentato a 7,5 milioni” - afferma la ricerca “Vite fragili — Rapporto 2006 su povertà ed esclusione sociale in Italia” curato dalla Caritas Italiana e dalla Fondazione Zancan. Questo mentre la distribuzione della ricchezza evidenzia una crescente divaricazione sociale, con l’1% delle famiglie che possiede il 17,2% della ricchezza nazionale e il 10 per cento del ceto più alto che possiede il 48,5% dei beni nazionali”. “La maggiore fragilità, di fronte a queste situazioni di ingiustizia, si registra tra i bambini, paradigma dell’esclusione sociale”. L’elemento essenziale che emerge è la persistenza di povertà “classica”, legata a problemi di lavoro, reddito e abitativi, senza dimenticare altri tipi di problemi (familiari, relazionali, sanitari, di istruzione, di dipendenza da sostanze, di detenzione o post-detenzione, disabilità).

10.11.2006 The number of poor people in Bangladesh fell to 40 percent from 49 percent in the last five years, beating the rate of poverty decline in neighbouring India and Pakistan, the World Bank study said.