Children forced by Poverty to Work

Of the greatest tragedies of poverty is that inflicted upon children.  Children who grow up in poverty are often not only lack development such as education, but can be forced into the workforce at a much earlier age than they should be.  This tends to perpetrate the cycle of poverty - family is poor, so children must work instead of grow, which leads them to be unable to pull themselves and their family out of poverty, so their children must work...etc

This is the problem facing children in Brazil...

More than 1 million children ages 10 to 14 still forced by poverty to work in Brazil

"The Folha de S.Paulo newspaper says Wednesday that its analysis of preliminary 2010 census figures compiled by Brazil’s government statistics agency shows that more than 1 million children between the ages of 10 and 14 were working last year..."

Next Mexican President Faces Challenge

The next president of Mexico is going to face a tremendous challenge when it comes to fighting poverty...

Growing poverty looms for next Mexican president

"A battle over how to tackle poverty, which is blamed for stunting Mexico's economic development and fueling the rise of violent drug gangs, is already raging between candidates competing to succeed Calderon in a July presidential election..."

Achieving Poverty Reduction Through Fast Growth Enterprises

Last month, a group of experts came together at the International Finance Corporation to discuss the potential for small and media fast growth companies to achieve reduction in poverty and to reach the development goals.  The idea is that these are the type of companies who present the most potential for rapid job growth.

Chasing Gazelles to Achieve Poverty Reduction, Development Goals

"Thirty years of research shows that a small percentage of SMEs create the vast majority of net new jobs and GDP growth in the U.S. and Europe, but how does this translate into opportunities in emerging markets?"

The Voices of Poverty

This article is an introduction to the project called Voices of Poverty.  One of the ways we can help fight poverty is to gain an understanding how it feels to be suffering from it..

The Voices of Poverty in America

"Voices of Poverty was conceived, in conversation with the Open Society Foundations, as a way to tell the stories, in their own voices, of impoverished men, women, and children around America. My aim was to put together an audio archive containing the voices, and stories of America’s invisible poor..."

Tracking our Progress toward the MDGs

The Millennium Development Goals were established by the UN in 2000 to set specific goals to deal with health, hunger, education, equality, and sustainability by the 2015 deadline.  As we are approaching that deadline, it is good to look and see how we are doing...

Charting our progress on global poverty

"In 2000, the United Nations member states declared, "We will spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty, to which more than a billion of them are currently subjected."  To that end, they agreed to the Millennium Development Goals - a set of eight goals and 21 targets dealing with health, education, hunger, gender equality and environmental sustainability..."

New US Poverty Figures Misinterpreted

It appears that the new poverty figures released by the US Census Bureau were not interpreted correctly by many journalists.  The declaration of 50% of US in poverty may be a bit exaggerated.

‘Poverty Figures May Be Wrong, Journalists May Have Misunderstood Census Data’

"Recently, the U.S Census Bureau released a report that creates a new designation of “low income” in order to “better reflect the distribution of poverty in the US.”  The Associated Press ran with a headline, “Census shows 1 in 2 people are poor or low-income ,” and scores of other media outlets followed suit...But analysts at the U.S. Census Bureau district office in Los Angeles are reporting today that perhaps journalists misunderstood. and over 300 online news reports simply got the story wrong..."

In Andrha Pradesh - Almost all In Poverty

In Andrha Pradesh - a state on the coast in SE India - 95% of the population lives below the poverty line...

95 percent of people below poverty line in Andrha Pradesh

"The figures, which came up for discussion during the two-day collectors' conference held by Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy in Hyderabad on December 14 and 15, clearly indicate that almost 95 per cent of the state population lives below the poverty line..."

UN Looking to Social Media to Fight Poverty

The UN has brought in social media gurus to help find ways that social media channels can be used to help fight poverty.  The incredible growth of mobile communications along with the vast amount of people utilizing services like Facebook (the article points out that 157.d million Americans use Facebook), provides a vast potential for creating action with a large amount of people...

UN Seeks Help In Poverty Fight From Social Media Gurus

"Around 300 UN Development Program communications officers from about 80 countries, as well as students and NYC tech professionals, filled an expansive UN conference room for the conference “Social Media: An Outside the UN Perspective.” Here are the major points from their presentation..."

UN Development Program Reveals Funding to Fight Poverty

The United Nations rural poverty agency announced their aims to raise $1.5 billion to support their efforts to bolster living conditions of the rural poor across the developing world.

UN rural poverty agency unveils billion-dollar funding target

"With almost two billion rural people worldwide depending for their livelihoods on an estimated 500 million smallholder farms in developing countries, the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) aims to fill a crucial niche, focusing its efforts in the areas of food and income security..."

Russia - 'Caucasian Emirate' War Most Deadly to the Poor

In the Republic of Dagestan in southern Russia, the war for 'Caucasian Emirate' has many casualties, but the most vulnerable are those in poverty and ignorant of their rights.  This article talks about a human rights group that works to aid women who are caught in the crossfire.

War for ‘Caucasian Emirate’ feeds on innocence and poverty

"The Caucasian republic of Dagestan in southern Russia is one of the most volatile areas in the country. Groups of militants operating in this part of the Caucasus have strong links with Al-Qaeda, and look to draw people in while they are young.  Anti-terror raids are constantly carried out in an attempt to eradicate the problem. Although militants usually target police and government officials, terrorism has so often ruined the lives of many innocent families across the region..."

US Bishops Campaign for Poverty

US Bishops have begun a campaign in the hopes of drawing attention to domestic poverty, with a new media effort including new website, social media presence, and daily events.

US bishops' campaign draws attention to domestic poverty

"Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, who leads the bishops’ efforts to fight poverty through the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, explained that the culture of life must start with a love “that binds us to the hopes and joys, the struggles and the sorrows” of the poor and afflicted in society."