Archive Posts

Money-grabbing Sven has struck a three-month deal with FA chiefs in the country where half the population survives on under £3 a day. Soccer chiefs in the cash-strapped African nation have agreed to guarantee him at least £270,000, plus up to £1.7million in bonuses if the team progress - equivalent to £22,000 a day. They have also accepted the former England boss's demands for an uncapped expense account and a team credit card.

According to a survey conducted by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and the University of Maryland of the US, the monthly income of nearly one-third of Muslims in India is less than Rs 550. Three out of every 10 Muslims lived below the poverty line and earned less than Rs 550 a month in 2004-05, the survey revealed. Even among the poor, urban Muslims were better off compared to those in villages, who survived on Rs 338 a month during the year under review, NCAER said last week.

It is 0500 in Mpika, Zambia. Outside in the twilight, the wind whips dust against the family's mud hut. It won't be long before the rainy season arrives.

She wraps up warm and goes outside to sweep the yard and wash the dishes, scrubbing the pots and pans, not with water, but with sand.

For Christine, each morning begins the same way. Christine's father died three years ago. To put food on the table, her mother.

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A woman, living in a squatter camp, collects water for her family from a nearby source in Lahore March 21, 2010. The Earth is literally covered in water, but more than a billion people lack access to clean water for drinking or sanitation as most water is salty or dirty. March 22 is World Water Day.Women, living in a squatter camps, carry water to their families from a nearby source in Karachi March 21, 2010. The Earth is literally covered in water, but more than a billion people lack access to clean water for drinking or sanitation as most water is salty or dirty. March 22 is World Water Day.

Nearly a decade after Original Sin was released, the movie can now say it has not one, but two official Goodwill Ambassadors in its cast.

That's because Antonio Banderas has joined Angelina Jolie in that honorable role after being named by the United Nations as a Goodwill Ambassador for the fight against poverty.

According to the United Nations release, the Spanish-born actor, who will soon appear in his first Woody Allen movie, will be focusing.

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The number of teenagers and children sniffing glue and using drugs is on the rise and most of them have resigned to a fate of misery. Most young addicts are to be found near the Karkhano Market on the outskirts of Peshawar. Some are street-children and homeless, others are rag pickers, who spend on drugs whatever they earn.

Shahid, a teenager who has been a drug addict for the last five years, blamed poverty as the main reason of his ruined life. Talking to The News at the railway line near the busy Karkhano Market, he claimed his parents had died. “I am a rag-picker and I spend Rs400 daily on buying drugs.

He said even if his tone was unconvincing. According to Shahid, the policemen often harassed him and took away his money and belongings. Sources said the price of one gram of heroin is Rs180 in Peshawar while 12 grams of hashish costs Rs300. Drugs are easily available in the city and the surrounding areas.

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It's a telling sign of the times when past donors call up the Burnaby Christmas Bureau asking to become clients. That's just what happened with several families last Christmas, said Stephen D'Souza, executive director of Burnaby Community Connections, which operates the bureau each year.

"It was a shock to us a little bit." While former clients have dropped in to donate and give back, it was new to see it happening the other way around. It was the first holiday season to show a significant impact from the economic downturn that started in fall 2008.

That's because during Christmas of 2008, many people who had lost jobs initially were still getting by on employment insurance benefits, D'Souza said. By last December, those benefits would have run out for many families, leaving them looking for help.

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REASONS FOR Pueblo's poverty cycle being so hard to break are well-known: unhealthy lifestyles and single births by young mothers that perpetuate the problem generation after generation. Dr. Chris Nevin-Woods, director of the Pueblo City-Council Health Department, recently discussed the implications of Pueblo's ranking of 55th among 56 Colorado counties included in a study of factors that affect health.

"When people are poor, they don't have access to a lot of health care, they're stressed, they're not educated about what's available and they can't find jobs," Dr. Nevin-Woods said. "They're more likely to be overweight, diabetic, to smoke and to not understand the rationale for controlling those risk factors."

She added that about half of local births involve single women. Yet, as Dr. Nevin-Woods pointed out, Pueblo ironically ranks 13th for the quality of and access to the health care system.  So it's not so much a lack of public resources for dealing with the health outcomes as it is a generational culture that perpetuates poverty. That culture is missing the value of education, self-reliance and hard work — all necessary ingredients in breaking the cycle.    All of us, starting with parents and extending into the schools and social structure, need to take steps to help children climb out of poverty.

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While the global economic crisis still threatens to trap tens of millions of people in extreme poverty, alleviation initiatives in China are gaining new momentum and increasing recognition from the international community. From lifting innumerable people out of poverty by satisfying basic needs of food, clothes and shelter during the past three decades, the Chinese Government's anti-poverty drive is now to focus more on helping rural poor to start small businesses and guaranteeing access to public services and social welfare.

China, with its huge resources and success in reducing poverty, should lead developing Asian countries in attaining Asia-Pacific Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a senior official of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) said on February 17.

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People fall into fuel poverty when more then ten per cent of the household income is spent keeping the house at a comfortable temperature. While we struggle with the worst fuel poverty in the UK, others have come up with some innovative schemes.

Our Environment Correspondent, Mike McKimm, has been visiting an area that used to have the some of the worst fuel poverty. But not any more. We have also given you a chance to have your say on the issue and below you can see your comments on, and experiences of fuel poverty.

"I think it would be a good idea to have the government provide people with a low income with a certificate for proof that they are on low income, and for the fuel providers to offer these people a discount, such as half price in November, December, January and February."

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