Poverty Over interactive map from Christian Aid

Christian Aid has a cool interactive map that shows how poverty has changed over the last 200 years. Using statistics from the United Nations' Human Development Index, the map shows how poverty has decreased over time. The map is good illustration of the great amount of progress that has been made in defeating poverty over the last 50 years. You can play with the interactive map, by clicking this link.

New Look Website Urges Kids to Take "Action!" on Poverty

from Reuters Alert Net

Source: Christian Aid - UK
Fiona Cowood (fcowood@christian-aid.org)
Website: http://www.globalgang.org

Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.

Christian Aid's children's website, www.globalgang.org, has been revamped and to mark the occasion it has launched 'Gang Up On Poverty!' - a nationwide search for young, aspiring movie-makers to make a short film about what should be done to address global poverty.

The competition is open to young people aged between seven and 14 and the winning entry will be shown on www.globalgang.org and displayed at the London International Gallery of Children's Art later this year. Entries need to be no longer than three minutes and should be based on children getting their peers to take action on poverty. For ideas and ways to get involved, entrants are encouraged to visit www.globalgang.org

Global Gang is packed with stories, pictures and clips from children around the world. The redesigned site encourages 7 to 13-year-olds to see themselves as active members of the global community, and enables them to chat, share ideas and play fun games that relate to development issues.

Sophie Shirt, editor of Global Gang, says: 'Global Gang houses an incredibly rich bank of content, from games about landmines and global warming, to stories about ex-child soldiers and child labour. Through fun, interactive activities and compelling stories, the site engages children with the issues of poverty and injustice.

'Our intention is that by illustrating what children have in common and giving them opportunities to interact, the site will encourage children here to feel connected with children worldwide. We hope to awaken a sense of injustice and ultimately a desire to take action and make the world a better place.'

Global Gang is also a great resource for homework with a new section called 'Find it!' in which kids can browse the entire site according to key words and topics. To add to the fun, children will be able to choose an avatar (or online character) to represent themselves on new message boards.

Global Gang is linked to Christian Aid's Learn website - an invaluable resource for teachers, teaching assistants and youth leaders. Visit www.christianaid.org.uk/learn for notes on how 'Gang Up On Poverty' links to the ICT and citizenship curricula. 'Learn' also contains a wide selection of free-to-download resources, including assemblies, stories and case studies in times of emergency and disaster. Its news and calendar sections are must-have resources for teachers who need to keep up with world news, disaster updates, events and competitions.

The new, improved website, www.globalgang.org will be live by the end of March and full details of how to enter the 'Gang Up On Poverty' competition can be found there.

EU Must Stop Hurting the Poor, Christian Aid Says

from Christian Today

Campaigners across Europe are to ask their governments to threaten to withhold funds from the World Bank unless specific changes are made to policy and practice.

by Anne Thomas

Campaigners across Europe will gather near the French Finance Ministry in Paris on Monday 5 March to put pressure on civil servants who are meeting there to discuss donor government’s contributions to the World Bank’s coffers.

Protestors are to ask their governments to threaten to withhold funds from the World Bank unless specific changes are made to policy and practice, Christian Aid reports.

Sixty NGOs from 15 countries, including Christian Aid, are urging European governments to demand that the World Bank end economic policy conditionality and phase out spending on fossil fuel operations.

They accuse the World Bank of applying a misguided development model, undermining countries’ abilities to chart their own development paths and often contributing to worsening poverty and environmental degradation.

Last year, Hilary Benn, the UK’s Secretary of State for International Development, withheld £50m from the World Bank in protest of the economic conditions it attached to loans. He said that UK funding pledges for the next three years, which start in Paris on Monday, depend on whether the World Bank undertakes genuine reform.

Although the World Bank later published a report showing it had reduced the number of conditions it attaches to loans and debt relief, Christian Aid believes this is not enough and that the World Bank has to make more reforms if it is to receive fresh funding from European governments, which provide 60 per cent of its money.

Martin Gordon, Christian Aid’s international campaigns manager, said: “We cannot accept the glacial pace of change at the World Bank. It’s time for European governments to put their money where their mouth is and force the World Bank to change its lending policy.”

New kids water campaign aims to flush out poverty

from Ekklesia

International development agency Christian Aid is launching a new campaign and fundraising initiative for March 2007 – designed especially for five to 16 year olds, and concerned to help “flush out” poverty. Almost literally.

“Flush”, aimed at schools and youth groups, is about toilets and water. There are around one billion people in the world who do not have access to clean water, according to expert NGO Water Aid – which works with both religious and secular groups.

Every year 6,000 children die of diseases like typhoid and cholera and from the diarrhoea such infections cause – all as a result of dirty water and inadequate toilet and washing facilities.

The new Christian Aid initiative includes a competition for the ‘best-dressed school loos’ in the land in the Toilet Transformation Challenge, fun fundraising ideas, a poster to chart progress, “fascinating water facts”, and examples of children’s water stories from across the world.

Using the toilet is part of our everyday lives and something we all take for granted. But for the 85 out of every 100 people in the world who don’t have running water at home, life is very different. That is why, says Christian Aid, it is encouraging kids to get in touch with their toilets and raise money for its overseas health and sanitation programmes.

Schools and youth groups are being asked to decorate their toilets for a day and charge everyone for the privilege of using them. The more funny and creative the ideas, the more people will want to visit them!

“We want to encourage kids to spend some pennies when they need to spend a penny,” said Nicola Inson, schools programme manager at Christian Aid. “It all adds up. For example if 300 people use the toilet 3 times a day at a charge of 20p a go, that’s £180 in one day. £180 could pay for pumps, pipes and tap stands to bring fresh water to four villages in Nicaragua.”

For example, Rahna Barowi is 10 years old and lives in Afghanistan. Collecting water in her village used to be difficult and time-consuming – before water pipes were built to supply her community. Now Rahna has clean water to drink and wash with, reducing the number of times she and her brothers and sisters fall ill.

Extra resources will be available online for teachers and youth leaders at www.christianaid.org.uk/learn which is being re-launched on 12 March 2007. The re-worked site will offer new fundraising ideas and activities throughout the year as well as the opportunity to order DVDs and CD-Roms as part of the government’s new e-learning scheme. Kids can log on to www.globalgang.org.

To order a free copy of the Flush fundraising pack email orders@christian-aid.org or call 08700 787 788 quoting F1331 for an English version or F1331W for a pack in Welsh.

Christian Aid is an international development agency working in 50 countries with people of all religions and none.