Archive Posts

Why don't we have celebrities singing "Let them know it's Christmas time" to raise money for the 3 million or so children in this country living below the poverty line? Why is there no Bono or Bob Geldof marshalling the campaign to end child poverty? Why can't campaign groups rouse sufficient outrage to get the public marching on the streets, galvanising the same energy that fuelled the Jubilee 2000 campaign to cancel developing world debt?

Searching for an answer to why there isn't much popular concern over UK poverty, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), in a report published last week, places much of the blame on the media, saying there is little appetite to address themes of poverty. In newspapers, the subject is "worthy, not newsworthy", and journalists found it was often "difficult to give poverty a focus, since it is ongoing and amorphous rather than a specific 'event'".

When the subject does get space, those involved don't always get a chance for expression. "The voices of people with experience of poverty are effective and powerful in engaging the public, but they are severely under-represented in media coverage," says the report

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The Dutch tourists came well prepared for the walking safari: strong shoes and sunscreen, backpacks and bottled water.

Ahead lay an afternoon visiting one of Kenya's most recognisable sights – but one that rarely features in tourist brochures.

"It might seem a bit strange to come here," said Eric Schlangen, as the guide led him towards the sea of tin-roofed shacks that constitute Kibera, often described as one of the world's largest slums. "But I wanted to see how people live in this country, not just the animals."

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STATE minister for northern Uganda David Wakikona has urged the Karimojong to use the prevailing peace to fight poverty.  Wakikona was speaking as a chief guest at the International Peace Day celebrations held at Panyangara Primary School in Kotido district.

“We have plans to bring NAADS and other programmes to Karamoja to fight poverty,” he said.  Wakikona said malnutrition, illiteracy and diseases like HIV/AIDS are a manifestation of poverty.  “Trillions of shillings have been injected in these conflict areas for humanitarian development but nothing tangible can be seen,” he said.

Wakikona said no development would be sustained if the conflicts in the region were not addressed. “The north and north-eastern Uganda, where conflicts have prevailed, have the lowest levels of development with close to sixty-five percent of the population living below the poverty line,” he said.  During the celebrations, the UPDF demonstrated the need for peace by burning over 120 guns.

The U.S. government's Millennium Challenge Corporation and the government of Senegal  Wednesday signed a five-year $540 million grant to reduce poverty in the West African nation. The grant will focus on road rehabilitation and food security initiatives in two of the poorest regions of Senegal.

The funding itself will be invested in the rehabilitation of two roads, one in the Casamance region and one in the Senegal River Valley.  Additional funds will be invested in rehabilitating and expanding existing infrastructure for irrigation and water resources management," said Madolyn Phillips, Director of the Corporation's Senegal country program.

Launched in 2004, the Millennium Challenge Corporation is an independent agency of the U.S. government. It has a specific mission to invest in poverty reduction through economic-development projects in some of the poorest countries in the world.

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The stampede in Karachi came during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a traditional time for charitable acts including giving away food. Pakistan's battered economy, combined with higher than usual prices for staples such as sugar due to alleged hoarding by producers, has made this Ramadan a particularly needy time for the country's largely impoverished population of 175 million.

At times, however, the food giveaways have turned rowdy and dangerous. The incident occurred in a small building with narrow passages. As more women entered to get the flour, some panicked and guards used strong-arm tactics to clear the building, officials and witnesses said.

Wasim Ahmad, Karachi police chief, said at least 18 women and girls died in the ensuing rush. Mohammad Amin Khan of Karachi Civil Hospital said some of the women had suffocated and that there were at least 20 bodies.

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Pakistani authorities say at least 18 women and children were killed in a stampede in the southern city of Karachi, where they were waiting to get free flour.  Medical officials say at least 25 others were injured in the crush in the city's crowded Khori Garden neighborhood. 

A private charity group was giving out the flour in honor of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.   Dozens of impoverished women and children had gathered in the narrow lanes and alleys outside the distribution point. Witnesses say some people on line started pushing, and panic ensued when a security guard used force to restore order.

Officials say most of the victims died of suffocation. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ordered medical treatment for the injured and an investigation into the incident. Police have detained the event's organizer, saying they were not notified of the planned distribution.

The Government is set to outline its path towards eradicating child poverty by 2020. In a speech to campaigners in Manchester, Financial Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Timms will set out how the landmark Child Poverty Bill will tackle the problem.

The Bill, which received its second reading in July and is set to become law later this year, places a legal duty on the Government to work towards meeting child poverty targets by 2020.

Ministers aim to get more parents into work so that families are lifted out of poverty. Children in poverty are defined as those who live in households with an income of less than 60% of the average.

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Poverty in Africa is not a permanent condition as it can banished by commitment and visionary leadership, a bank chairman has said. “The seemingly endless cycle of poverty associated with the African continent could be eradicated through passionate commitment ignited by the believe in a green revolution in Africa,” said Equity Bank’s Peter Munga.  He spoke in Olso, Norway after receiving the Yara prize for his role in transforming small scale agriculture in Africa.

The awards were organised by the Yara Foundation whose objective is to support former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s call for an African green revolution and the UN Millennium Project’s goal of halving poverty and hunger in Africa by 2015.

Green revolution The chairman was awarded for his work in touching the lives and fortunes of small scale farmers on the continent by empowering them to be creators and generators of employment. Mr Munga immediately dedicated the $100,000 prize money (Sh8 million) to mentoring, inspiring and enabling small scale farmers to achieve a green revolution in Africa.

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As India is getting rapidly urbanised, a disturbing phenomenon – ‘urbanisation of poverty’ – is taking deep roots.

Being the fastest urbanising State in the country, this is of serious concern to Tamil Nadu in general and Chennai in particular. For, urban poverty is much crueler than rural poverty since it exists in the midst of opulent wealth and its vulgar display.

The ‘India: Urban Poverty Report, 2009’, prepared with the support of the United Nations Development Programme has certain revealing facts. According to the study, an estimated 23.7 per cent of the urban population was living in slums amid squalor, crime, disease and tension.

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"Our public pension system, Old Age Security, and the Guaranteed Income Supplement, plus the Canada Pension Plan, provides a secure income in retirement, but the maximum value of public pensions falls well short of replacing the 50 per cent to 70 per cent of pre-retirement income needed to maintain decent living standards," the Congress wrote in a policy paper released Thursday.

In Canada, the overall poverty rate has fallen steeply in recent years, from 15.7 per cent in 1996 to 10.8 per cent in 2005, the most recent year for which numbers are available. That is a reduction of about one-third. According to Statistics Canada, about 3.5 million people were living below what it calls the low-income cut-off line in 2004. That is a 1.1 million drop from 1996.

But the Congress says that only about one in five workers in the private sector now belong to an employer pension plan and that very few non-union workers, with the exception of managers and professionals, are covered by an employer plan.

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