Poverty plagues rural Ohio, too: Athens leads region with 27 percent below poverty line

from The Marietta Times

By Connie Cartmell, ccartmell@mariettatimes.com

Poverty knows no geographical limits.

A recent U.S. Census Bureau report shows Cincinnati and Cleveland ranked third and fourth, respectively, among the nation’s 10 poorest big cities, as determined by the number of people living below the federal poverty level.

People expect poverty to plague such cities, but across the rolling hills, picturesque villages and lush farmland of rural southern Ohio, poverty is also real.

“Of course there is poverty out there — homelessness and all the current issues of poverty,” said Jim Baker, director of planning and development with Washington/Morgan Community Action.

Poverty in the cities simply gets more media attention.

“There’s just a lot of poor people out there,” Baker said of rural Appalachia. “We don’t have quite the racial tensions and other factors of the city, and there is a stronger element of families and ‘inside protection’ here.”

Of the 29 counties of Appalachian Ohio, 12 counties now bear the dubious distinction of 15 percent of their population living below the poverty level.

Washington County is not one of them, but at 11.4 percent, the statistics are not far off.

Jessie Thompson, 42, of Marietta knows all about numbers, poverty and struggle.

“It’s not easy for anybody right now,” she said. “I’m struggling to get by. The problem is everything is going up except paychecks.”

At one time Thompson, a single mother, received public assistance to help provide for herself and her son. She is no stranger to living below the poverty line.

“Sometimes you have to do without to pay bills, and it doesn’t leave much,” she said.

Today Thompson is buying a house, has a car and works as a homemaker aid.

“I’ve always been pretty much on my own,” she said. “Budgeting is always hard. Everything’s going good and something unexpected happens. I got help when I needed it. Sometimes you have to work jobs you don’t want to do.”

Elsewhere in the region, 19.8 percent of Morgan County residents live below the poverty line, along with 18.4 percent in Meigs County and 13.9 percent in Monroe County.

Athens County, on Washington County’s western boundary, has the highest percentage, at 27 percent.

When he was touring rural Morgan County earlier this summer, Fred Deel, director of the Governor’s Office on Appalachia, saw compelling evidence of critical needs of rural Ohio residents.

“There are a lot of people living in Morgan County who are still hauling water to their homes,” Deel said. “Improvements to local infrastructure, such as community water systems, is an important part of what we do.

“It’s a real desperate situation in many areas,” he said.

The average number of Ohio residents below the poverty level is actually 10.6 percent. The goal is to bring local numbers more in line with, and lower than, the state averages, Deel said.

“I’m not saying that the rest of the state doesn’t have needs,” he said. “But this Appalachian area is isolated in many ways and has special needs.”

Dave Riggs is coordinator of Newport Community Food Pantry, which serves 90 to 100 local families every month.

“We’ve had as many as 15 people in a single family,” he said. “We’re open one day a month, but we get calls for help all the time.”

People losing jobs is one major reason for the growing need, he said.

When a new food pantry opened last year in New Matamoras, taking about 100 families from the Marietta Community Food Pantry, Scott Britton, director, thought demand might ease locally.

It didn’t.

“We sent 100 families to New Matamoras and today we are exactly where we were last year, before they left us,” he said.

The local pantry serves about 3,600 households or just less than 10,000 people a year, he said. The numbers are growing.

“I’m thankful the need isn’t growing faster, but it is growing,” Britton said. “In addition, the amount of food we receive through Second Harvest has diminished quite a bit.”

David Brightbill, executive director of Washington/Morgan Community Action, said the trend of jobs moving from manufacturing to service is hurting local people more and more.

“We are seeing more jobs, but less money,” Brightbill said. “The cost of utilities, gasoline (and) insurances are increasing faster than people can keep up. People are losing ground.”

In addition, resources to help families struggling to live in poverty are shrinking, he said. The waiting list for people seeking help from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development are “outrageous,” he said.

“Resources don’t grow at the same rate as need,” he said. “Also, our program costs are going up. Affordable housing is a problem.”

In addition to all the other issues, the number of senior citizens is growing in the region, along with the number of seniors needing public services.

“The senior population is beginning to seek services in greater numbers. In past years, this group has been slower to ask for help,” Brightbill said. “We certainly have seen an increase in the number of seniors coming to us for H.E.A.P. (Home Energy Assistance Program).”

Brightbill said the needs of rural Ohioans are different from city residents, but services are available if people are willing to ask for help.

“One of the problems here is often access to services,” he said. “We don’t have a bus line or services within walking distance to most of the population.”

Australia to host talks on poverty

from The Age

Australia will host a meeting of Asia Pacific ministers aimed at producing further economic reform and reducing poverty, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.

Mr Downer's announcement followed an APEC ministerial meeting in Sydney.

He said discussions had focused on continuing economic growth and the need to reduce poverty.

"I'm pleased that APEC ministers share this view and they've welcomed the new emphasis in APEC on these issues," Mr Downer told reporters.

"To give momentum to this work, Australia will host a meeting at ministerial level, probably chaired by the treasurer of Australia, on structural reform in 2008."

Mr Downer said the meeting had agreed to a number of measures to reduce the impact of health and security-related incidents.

"We agreed on guidelines to help keep economies functioning in the event of pandemics and to facilitate trade recovery after a terrorist attack," he said.

"We've had a very productive discussion on food and product safety issues.

"We agreed to establish a food safety cooperation forum co-chaired by China and Australia to strengthen food safety practices and standards.

"We also endorsed a strong counter-terrorism program, including ways to counter terrorist financing and to protect our food supply, IT systems, energy infrastructure and mass transit from terrorist attacks."

Mr Downer said the meeting had also been an opportunity to brief ministers on preparations for the economic leaders meeting on Saturday and Sunday, including climate change.

"Ministers have welcomed the decision to make climate change and clean development a key focus for the leaders' discussion," Mr Downer said.

Mr Downer said he chaired a 90-minute breakfast with foreign ministers on Thursday morning "to discuss the climate change issue in preparation for the leaders meeting".

"We have certainly affirmed the importance of market-based solutions to address energy security and achieving sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions," he said.

The meeting has also decided to pour more resources into APEC as an institution, Mr Downer said, to "make it more effective than it already is for stakeholders".

Membership contributions would substantially increase from 2009 to help strengthen the secretariat, the first such increase since 1998.

"We have agreed to establish a policy support unit, that will be funded by voluntary contributions, to provide analytical capacity to APEC's trade investment and structural reform agenda," Mr Downer said.

"This policy support unit will be attached to the APEC secretariat in Singapore, and Australia will be providing ... $10 million over three years worth of key funding for this policy support unit."

Mr Downer said the economic and technical co-operation between APEC countries would also improve, through agreements to establish a health working group and mining taskforce.

Australia had made a contribution to this plan, and welcomed contributions from the United States and Russia.

Foreign and trade ministers at the APEC forum agreed to push for the successful conclusion of the Doha round of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

In a joint statement released at the conclusion of the two-day meeting, they urged APEC leaders, who will meet this weekend, to adopt a stand-alone statement aimed at providing momentum for the stalled Doha discussions.

Trade Minister Warren Truss said members agreed that liberalising world trade was the best way to "build a ladder out of poverty".

"(We reaffirmed) the urgency of doing what we can to bring Doha to a successful conclusion," he told reporters.

"There's a clear determination by all to achieve a successful outcome."

The meeting also examined the concept of a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific, which will be pursued by leaders this weekend.

"We finalised and submitted to our leaders a comprehensive report on strengthening regional economic integration, including on a free trade area of the Asia-Pacific as a long-term prospect," the statement said.

Mr Downer dismissed suggestions Australia would alter its view on climate change after China's President Hu Jintao earlier on Thursday renewed China's commitment to the Kyoto Protocol.

"The question now for us as an international community ... is what will we do next," he said.

He said Kyoto targets, which kick in from next year until 2012, are not the focus of climate change discussions at the APEC leaders summit or at upcoming UN and other meetings.

The minister also clarified statements he made earlier this year that "aspirational targets" on greenhouse gas emissions was code for "political stunt".

He said it was not to be applied to the efforts of APEC but to federal Labor's policy to reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 60 per cent by 2050.

"That is a stunt, because how Australia would do that alone and what sort of cooperative mechanisms would Australia have with other countries and what the global approach would be and what proportion of the burden of addressing the global approach Australia would carry - none of those questions were answered," Mr Downer said.

"It was probably designed by a public relations firm for the Labor Party to be part of their grab bag of stunts for the election."

Mr Downer said the key challenge to climate change was balancing the act of reducing greenhouse gas emissions while not stifling economic growth and its ability to lift people out of poverty.

"That is a very difficult thing to reconcile - but reconcile those two things we must," he said.

Mr Downer closed the briefing by making a plea to international commentators on climate change to move away from an exchange of slogans, "some of which are incredibly abusive".

"Instead, do what I think we've been doing at breakfast this morning - working through the complexity of some of these issues and looking at opportunities and ways of taking forward the task of stabilising and reducing CO2 emissions. Then we'll probably get a lot further a lot faster."

600 teachers in Bluffton offered tips on poverty

from The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

By Becky Manley

BLUFFTON – Educators can help students begin their escape from poverty, but first teachers must bridge the vast communication gulf that exists between people from different economic backgrounds.

That communication gulf affects everything, from how people talk to what they value in life.

That message was delivered to about 600 educators Thursday by Ruby K. Payne, an educator, speaker and author on poverty.

Payne’s appearance was part of Bluffton’s initiative to be more inclusive.

The effort, led by Mayor Ted Ellis, targets diversity issues – including social, class and age issues – in the community.

So far, those efforts have included adult Spanish classes, a workshop designed to help people understand what it’s like to be on welfare and Payne’s appearance.

Payne first distinguished between the types of poverty, saying situational poverty, which can occur after a death or divorce, is temporary and involves a different set of rules from those people trapped in generational poverty.

Impoverished people focus on survival, relationships and entertainment, whereas middle-class people value work, achievement and material security, Payne said.

The conflicts in schools happen because the educational system has its roots in the middle class, so Payne said misunderstandings develop when teachers work with impoverished students.

Using anecdotes from her own career as well as those shared with her by other educators, Payne explained the different rules and language used by people from different economic classes.

One story dealt with a teacher who gave $200 to a parent for clothing for two students, only to learn later the money was spent on a VCR – an electronic luxury the family had never enjoyed.

Poverty is painful, and entertainment takes away that pain and will always take precedence over other items, Payne said.

Sometimes impoverished students use harsh or even offensive language, but the statements they are making may be their way of showing they like a teacher, Payne said.

That harshness again has its roots in poverty, a situation that demands toughness, so compliments can be seen as a tool to soften and weaken someone, she said.

Economic classes also perceive food differently, with people in poverty being primarily concerned about whether the food they prepare satisfies hunger. Middle-class cooks are concerned about whether the food tastes good or its calorie content, whereas wealthy people value aesthetics and presentation when it comes to their meals, she said.

Payne’s presentation was lively, with her providing a generous helping of humor and frequent opportunities for audience members to briefly discuss topics with their seat neighbors.

Afterward, Norwell High School business teacher Debbie Darnell said Payne’s presentation left her with new strategies she can apply in the classroom.

Ellis said the morning presentation was attended by about 400 people, with some coming as far away as Indianapolis. Ellis said he had more than one revelation, or “aha” moment, during the speech.

“I wonder how I’ve lived as long as I have without realizing some of this.”

Mukono Farmers Blame Poverty on Low Vanilla Prices

from All Africa

New Vision (Kampala)

By Henry Wasswa
Kampala

GRIEF-STRICKEN, Hannington Luzze spent the weekend in the blazing sun, clearing his one-acre garden of vanilla and the bushes.

Like hundreds of peasants in the village of Mairikiti in Mukono, 33 miles south-east of Kampala, Luzze plans to replace the vanilla plants with other crops like potatoes and cassava.

"Everyone in this village has lost the initial great love for vanilla. The prices which were high are now too low that it is like donating the vanilla beans to the middlemen," the 42-year old said in an interview.

Vanilla prices suddenly shot up in 2003 with the price of a kilogramme at sh100,000 from sh35,000. The long-suffering peasants became rich over night.

Luzze who had never bought a bicycle bought a second-hand Carina vehicle and renovated his house.

People cut down their coffee trees and replaced them with vanilla. However, the prices suddenly went down and now, a kilogramme of vanilla costs between sh1,500 and sh2,000. The peasants are now reeling with poverty.

"I sold vanilla at between sh80,000 and sh100,000 a kilogramme and I bought whatever I wanted including a car. We started getting low prices from 2004.

When the prices fell, I was left with a huge debt burden. I had borrowed money to finish my projects. All these were unfinished on top of being hunted day and night to service the debt," Luzze said.

"I am now doing shoddy work like digging in other people's gardens and making bricks. I cannot even have sh20,000 in my pocket. You can imagine that at one time, there was a season when there was no single buyer for vanilla," he said.

The boom, however, lasted for a short time, leaving Ugandan peasants like Matia Ndabwalukanyi crying.

"I was a known coffee and cocoa framer but I cut all those crops and planted vanilla because the vanilla prices were very, very high. The money I got helped me pay tuition for my offspring. All that is gone and I do not even have the morale to weed the vanilla plants," Ndabwalukanyi (75), a retired teacher, said.

The U.S. is the largest importer of vanilla.

Children in poverty feel 'got at' by teachers

from 24 Dash

Children in poverty face greatly reduced educational prospects and future life chances, according to new research.

Emerging data published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) shows that children are aware of such outcomes from an early age and that their own stereotyping reinforces these differences.

Eight reports looking into the experiences and attitudes of children from different backgrounds represent the first phase of a major new JRF programme on education and poverty.

Social background influences the way children feel about school from an early age.

At primary school, children in poverty are more likely to have negative experiences and feel "got at" by teachers.

Donald Hirsch, author of the Round-up summary of the work, said: "This doesn't necessarily mean teachers are prejudiced, but that low-income children find themselves in schools where the pressures are greater, and this reinforces prior disadvantages."

While children from all backgrounds see the advantages of school, deprived children are more likely to feel anxious and unconfident about school.
Out-of-school activities can help build self-confidence by improving learning relationships, and children from advantaged backgrounds greatly benefit from the access they have to more structured and supervised activities beyond school.

A crucial difference highlighted by the research is in experiences of homework. Children from poorer families are less likely to have space in which to do their homework, or to get as much help from parents as children with higher socio-economic status.

Poorer parents may be under greater pressure. They may also lack the confidence in their own abilities and have bad memories of school.

"Poorer children do less well not just because their parents read to them less, but because of the rest of their life experience. If we are serious about improving the life chances of the poorest children, we have to do much more than worry about the curriculum," added Mr Hirsch.

The research also found that many children and young people who become disaffected with school develop strong resentments about mistreatment (including perceptions of racial discrimination) and these issues need to be taken into account when working with such children.

Work with disaffected young people is most effective where it creates a new environment and new relationships, where children feel more involved in their own futures.

Only a quarter of students receiving free school meals gain five good GCSEs or equivalent, compared to over half the overall population in England.

The gap between the outcomes of children from disadvantaged backgrounds and those from advantaged backgrounds is wider in the UK than in most other similar countries.

Mr Hirsch concluded: "We're not talking about just a small group of children in 'extreme circumstances'. The issues highlighted in this research affect one in four of our children."

'Colour of Poverty' project launched

from The Toronto Star

Nicholas Keung
Staff Reporter

While the poverty rate among white Canadians has fallen over the last two decades, the number of racial minorities who live under the poverty line has almost quadrupled.

That's just one set of startling statistics revealed by a coalition representing Toronto's visible minority communities as they gathered this morning in Thorncliffe Park to launch the "Colour of Poverty" project, a grassroots political campaign to organize the poor to fight for equal opportunities in the city.

"Racialized communities are experiencing a disporportionate level of poverty," said Ryerson University professor Grace-Edward Galabuzi, author of Canada's Economic Apartheid.

"In Toronto, they are three times more likely to be poor than others because of the barriers and challenges they face in the job market."

Being poor and visible minorities often lead to higher school dropouts among youth, greater risk for poor health, increased exposure to racial profiling, and inadequate access to justice, housing and food, coalition members said.

These interrelated challenges of poverty are published in fact sheets and posted on the website (www.colourofpoverty.ca) of the campaign led by the African, Chinese, South Asian, Southeast Asian and Spanish-speaking communities.

Starting in the fall, coalition members plan to hold community meetings in different neighbourhoods in Greater Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, London and Windsor to help raise public awareness about poverty among visible minority communities and organize for policy changes.

Arroyo calls on APEC to address climate change, alleviate poverty

from The International Herald Tribune

The Associated Press

MANILA, Philippines: The Philippine president urged an annual summit of Asia-Pacific leaders Thursday to push forward on trade liberalization, address climate change and help lift up the world's poor.

In a statement before leaving for Australia, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said that while the Philippines and other developing countries may not be ready to compete head-to-head with developed nations, "We cannot afford to be afraid of globalization."

"We hope to see greater regional economic integration made possible with all 21 APEC economies agreeing to pursue the path of trade liberalization and a discussion on how the APEC can work together to address the global challenges of climate change through a renewed framework for cooperation as a follow-up to the Kyoto Protocol," she said.

It was not clear if her call for a "renewed cooperation framework" on climate change backed the proposal of U.S. President George W. Bush and Australian Prime Minister John Howard for APEC to endorse a new approach to the divisive issue — one that unlike the current Kyodo Protocol would require firmer action by China and other developing countries.

Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said Arroyo welcomes discussions on climate change in APEC but binding action will have to be taken within the framework of the United Nations.

"We will be active in the discussions, we will echo not only our views but also the views of the NGOs ... whom we are working with," Bunye told The Associated Press, referring to environmental groups calling for more drastic emission cuts.

Finding consensus on climate change among a diverse group of rich and poor countries has bedeviled officials from APEC nations, who tried for a second day Wednesday to draft a statement the leaders would accept.

APEC's developing countries were trying to squelch the inclusion of specific targets to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

Supporters of the Australian proposal on climate change said it was not meant to supplant U.N. efforts to forge a successor to Kyoto, which expires in 2012, but to influence the discussion.

Ewha University to Honor Poverty Fighter

from The Korea Times

By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter

Muhammad Yunus, a poverty fighter, will receive an honorary doctorate degree from Ewha Womans University Tuesday.

Yunus, 67, managing director of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

The Bangladesh poverty fighter invented ``Grameen Micro Credit’’ in 1976 _ a program that lends money to underprivileged people without security and started to extend the system to other countries in 1983.

``Yunus has introduced new models to wipe out poverty. Especially, he has enabled women to take a leading role in economic activities by helping them in extreme poverty,’’ Lee Bae-young, the university president said Thursday.

Yunus also plans to give special lectures under the theme, `` Putting Poverty in Museums’’ and ``Microcredit and Social Business to Create a Poverty-Free World’’ at Ewha from Sept. 10 to 11.

Caution over UK Health Initiative

from One World

The International Health Partnership, which Gordon Brown has adopted as his first international development initiative as Prime Minister, could be groundbreaking but only if it attracts sufficient international funding, technical support and political backing, said anti-poverty agency ActionAid.

Flagged as a key policy platform and launching this week (5 September), the Partnership seeks to strengthen the developing world's health services. It aims to co-ordinate at country level the aid given to health systems from donor governments and multilateral agencies such as the World Bank and WHO.

ActionAid policy officer, Romilly Greenhill believes that better coordination of aid to health linked to mutual accountability of donors and recipients can only be a good thing. "Getting the process right may not be glamorous but it is essential in order to make money for health work harder."

In addition to country-to-country and multilateral aid, there are more than 80 global ring-fenced health treatment funds in operation. All have their own ways of working and reporting mechanisms. The pressure on already overstretched health services leads to confusion, overlap and mismanagement.

Donors also rarely fund vital areas such as doctors and nurses salaries - for too long the Cinderella of front-line healthcare.

Romilly Greenhill said: "Few countries in the developing world have a coherent vision of what a strong health system looks like, and currently donors' health assistance too often cherry picks, encouraging further fragmentation of health services and delivery gaps."

Yet ActionAid still has concerns about the partnership and highlights key areas that need to be addressed.

Some of the major players are missing. More bilateral donors need to sign up and the UK government should continue to work hard to ensure that big and influential health donors, such as the US government, fully support the initiative.

Another prime consideration should be the role that women play in the community. As frontline carers of the sick, women of all ages often bear the brunt of failing healthcare systems. The partnership should be seen as an opportunity to redress the balance for the millions who provide life-saving treatment and care.

In South Africa, a country with one of the highest HIV and AIDS prevalence rates, a national evaluation of home-based care found 91% of community caregivers were women. Neither should it be forgotten that there are massive funding gaps in aid to health. Whilst this initiative is primarily about coordinating existing aid better, donors have previously promised more aid and that is not yet forthcoming.

"Effective coordination at country level demands complete international and national buy-in and also money, and that is still a long way from being realised", concluded Romilly Greenhill.

New health scheme launched to help world's poor

from Yahoo News

By Adrian Croft Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Seven developing countries in Africa and Asia will be the first to take part in a new global health campaign aimed at directing aid more effectively at the basic needs of poor countries, Britain said on Wednesday.

Health ministers from Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia, Cambodia and Nepal will take part in the launch of the initiative at Prime Minister Gordon Brown's office later on Wednesday.

Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the creation of the International Health Partnership when they met in London last month.

Norway, France, Italy, the Netherlands and international organisations including the World Bank, the World Health Organisation, the European Commission and the African Development Bank have also thrown their support behind the programme, the British government said.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Microsoft chairman's charity, is also involved.

"Today we come together -- donor governments, health agencies and developing countries -- with the certainty that we have the knowledge and the power to save millions of lives through our efforts," Brown said in a statement.

The new partnership aims to reduce child and maternal mortality and tackle diseases such as HIV/AIDS by building long-term health infrastructure in developing countries and by improving coordination among donors.

MORE PREDICTABLE FUNDING

Donors will agree to work towards providing longer term and more predictable funding to poor countries to support their health plans.

Half a million women die each year in childbirth, while 10 million children do not reach their fifth birthday and only one in four of those in need of AIDS treatment in Africa receives it.

Britain's Department for International Development said that, while programmes to combat specific diseases in developing countries had brought good results, less attention had been paid to strengthening health systems by training doctors and nurses and building clinics.

Some developing countries have just one health worker per 1,000 people compared with one per 100 in Europe, it said.

Poor countries can also find it costly and time-consuming to deal with many different donors, it added.

The department did not mention any new funds for the scheme.

The aid agency Oxfam gave a guarded welcome to the plan.

"This initiative will only succeed if enough countries get behind it and if it mobilises additional aid to provide co-ordinated and expanded state health provision," Oxfam's director Barbara Stocking said.

Brown is promoting the new initiative as part of his efforts to kick-start the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals aimed at slashing extreme poverty by 2015.

A recent progress report found most of the Millennium Development Goals are far from being met.

At a June summit in Germany this year, world powers pledged to provide the finance needed to meet health care commitments made as part of the development goals.

World Bank Group directs $6 billion in 2007 to boost growth - extended

from BBJ

During Fiscal Year 2007, the World Bank Group committed some $6 billion in loans, credits, equity investments and guarantees to its members and to private business in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region. World Bank Group directs $6 billion in 2007 to boost growth, increase living standards in Europe and Central Asia.

The recipients are using these funds in more than 130 projects designed to overcome poverty and enhance growth—for example, by improving education and health services, promoting private sector development, building infrastructure, and strengthening governance and institutions.

“We are pleased to look back on a year of solid economic growth for most countries in our region,” said World Bank Europe and Central Asia Vice President Shigeo Katsu. “Structural reforms in most countries have driven ECA’s ongoing success. However, many challenges remain, including in the area of continuing institutional reforms, large subnational disparities, rapidly aging and declining populations, and persistent unemployment, especially among youth. We will continue to support our member countries to overcome these challenges and deepen our engagement in the management of the risks associated with climate change, HIV/AIDS and global financial markets.”

The entire World Bank Group contributed to this outcome, including the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), which provides financing, risk management products, and other financial services to members; the International Development Association (IDA), which provides interest-free loans and grants to the poorest countries; the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which makes equity investments, and provides loans, guarantees and advisory services to private-sector business in developing countries; and the Bank Group’s political risk insurance agency, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Investment Agency (MIGA).

IDA commitments in ECA were $422 million, and IBRD commitments totaled $3.34 billion. IDA/IBRD lending was down slightly from fiscal 2006 levels due to political uncertainty in a number of countries. 59 projects were delivered, along with 100 economic and sector policy reports and notes, and a further 84 technical assistance activities. Lending was provided across all sectors, with the largest areas of assistance in law, justice, and public administration (22%); water, sanitation, and flood protection (22%); and transportation (19%). The top borrowers in FY07 by volume were Turkey ($1,158 million), Croatia ($522 million), Romania ($349 million), and Bulgaria ($345 million).

In a rapidly changing economic landscape, the Region responded to continuing strong demand for both traditional and innovative product lines across a very diverse set of countries. In IDA countries, the Bank continues to be a vital development partner. Examples of IDA support in FY07, ending June 30, include a $17 million credit to Moldova to improve health services and social assistance, and a $29 million credit to Bosnia and Herzegovina to support agriculture and rural development.

In middle-income countries, the Bank continued to provide integrated product lines based on client demand, along with traditional lending. A Joint Economic Research Program with Kazakhstan, for example, has been expanded to include project preparation support on a cost-sharing basis. In the Russian Federation, the Bank provided technical assistance on a fee-for-service basis for a public-private partnership, tolled motorway project in St. Petersburg.

The Bank’s analytical work continued to increase knowledge and spark debate in FY07 on high-priority development topics through in-depth studies and advisory activities on such crucial issues as employment, trade, regional labor migration, and corruption.
Flagship reports published in FY07 included Migration and Remittances: Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union;
Anti-Corruption in Transition 3: Who Is Succeeding... and Why?;
From Red to Gray: The “Third Transition” of Aging Populations in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union; and
Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth: Lessons for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

IFC continued to assist countries in the region in their transition toward greater market orientation by supporting investments that diversify their economies, modernize their industries and infrastructure, promote a sound financial sector, and encourage intraregional investments. IFC’s commitments in FY07 reached $1.79 billion for 67 projects in FY07, and an additional $1.55 billion was mobilized through syndications and structured finance. Excluding projects classified as regional projects, 20% are in low income, high risk countries. IFC has increased commitments in these countries in recent years and they remain a priority. In addition to investments, IFC pays particular attention to designing advisory programs in these countries that aim to address constraints to private sector growth, particularly in financial markets, agribusiness, and infrastructure.

Russia and Turkey received the majority of IFC’s new business; both countries are among IFC’s top 10 country exposures. In these markets IFC seeks to invest in low-income regions and, as more private capital becomes available, to focus our support on smaller, second-tier companies, whose growth IFC assists with both capital and advice. “As IFC continued to increase its investments in the private sector across the region in FY07, I am pleased to note that the development impact results from earlier investments are strong, especially in the manufacturing, services, and financial markets sectors,” said Edward Nassim, IFC’s Vice President for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. “Also, IFC’s advisory services have helped cut red tape for private businesses across the region and contributed to generating $3 billion in investments by local and foreign companies since 2000.”

During the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007, MIGA supported four projects with $430 million in guarantee coverage and undertook eight technical assistance projects in the region. At year-end, MIGA’s gross guarantee exposure stood at $1.9 billion, 36.6% of the agency’s outstanding portfolio. In recent years, MIGA has played a growing role in increasing the availability of residential mortgages and in financial sector development as a whole. In FY06 and FY07, for example, MIGA provided guarantees in support of an innovative capital markets transaction designed to increase the availability of housing finance in Kazakhstan. MIGA’s guarantees for the project, totaling $85 million, played an important role in enabling the transaction to obtain international commercial paper funding.

“The Kazakhstan deal introduces an important new capital markets instrument to the pool of funding sources available to Kazakhstan’s financial institutions,” said MIGA’s Executive Vice President, Yukiko Omura. “It represents the latest trend in MIGA product offerings for the region, where we have worked with banks and financial institutions in many countries, including those emerging from conflict, to develop the local financial sector and help create innovative ways to finance projects.”


The World Bank doled out 8% more aid to developing nations in its latest fiscal year, including a record $11.9 billion to the poorest countries, the anti-poverty agency said Tuesday. Overall, the bank made $34.3 billion in loans, grants and investments for more than 600 economy-boosting projects in education, health services, business development, infrastructure and promoting good government, the World Bank said. “But we can and should do more,” bank president Robert Zoellick, a former number two at the US State Department, said in a statement.

Aid from the bank’s International Development Association division, which gives interest-free loans and grants to the poorest countries, surged 25% from $9.5 billion, the statement said. The figures were for the year ended June 30. (m&c.com, egovmonitor.com)

Morgan, Hendricks counties see sharp rise in poverty

from The Indianapolis Star

Dramatic increase from '05 to '06 adds to strain on medical, social services in the suburban communities

By Will Higgins
will.higgins@indystar.com

Under the old model, the suburbs were where you moved after you'd achieved a measure of success. But now there's trouble in paradise.

A deeper look at statistics released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that the number of people living below the poverty level nearly doubled in Hendricks and Morgan counties in 2006.

That translates to increased strain on food pantries and other social services, millions of dollars in unpaid medical bills and a rise in home foreclosures.

Hendricks and Morgan counties are two of the fast-growing so-called doughnut counties, the once-pastoral land surrounding Indianapolis that today is considered the burbs. Hendricks County's population is up 26 percent since 2000. Morgan's population shot up in the 1990s, then slowed to a still-healthy 5 percent from 2000 to 2006.

Both are largely bedroom communities, so the reasons for the poverty trend have more to do with job losses elsewhere than the economics of either county.

In Hendricks, the percentage of people living below the poverty line rose from 4.4 percent in 2005 to 7.3 percent in 2006. In Morgan, the proportion more than doubled, from 4.9 percent to 10.1 percent.

Statewide, the poverty rate also climbed, though not nearly as dramatically. It rose from 12.2 percent in 2005 to 12.7 percent in 2006, a one-year jump of about 37,500 people, bringing the state's total to 778,000.

"People are having a tougher time paying their utility bills," said Sharon Bolin, a welfare claims investigator with the Washington Township trustee's office who helps administer poor relief in Martinsville, the Morgan County seat. "Their rents are so high that when they do find jobs, the fast-food (restaurants) and all, they can't afford to pay the rent and the utilities. Many of our clients are working and struggling."

"We serve 270 households a month," said Alice Cordes, who runs the Churches in Mission food pantry in Mooresville. "A year ago, it was 150."
Kim White, a mother of three, calls the pantry a "blessing."

"They have helped with the rent, utilities, food, clothing, and given us Christmas presents," she said.

The charity has helped Shannon Haney in a similar way, coming up with the money last week to prevent her electricity from being disconnected and for some back-to-school supplies for her three children. In late August, her husband found a job, but it's only part time.

"The economy down here isn't very good," said Doug Kirsop, who runs a homeless shelter in Martinsville.

The county-owned medical centers in Hendricks and Morgan counties are feeling the sting, too, saying that more people are having trouble paying their medical bills.
Hendricks Regional Health, based in Danville, had $3 million in bad debt in 2006, up 50 percent from the previous year.

Morgan Hospital and Medical Center's bad debt levels have risen steeply for several years, climbing from $4.9 million in 2003 to $11 million last year, said Chief Executive Tom Laux.

"We see it in both bad debts and in charity care," Laux said. "We treat everybody who comes to our door. . . . We're getting more people unable to pay their portion of the bills."

Real estate foreclosure rates are up, too, said Gina Marsiglio, broker-owner of the RE/MAX Crossroads agency in Plainfield. "I think a lot of people got into homes who just weren't ready to get into homes."

Phil Powell, a professor with Indiana University's Kelley School of Business who follows Central Indiana's economy, said the downturn in Morgan and Hendricks stems from their recent influx of people with modest incomes and modest education levels.
"When the economy hiccups, they (those with modest incomes) get hit first," said Powell, who lives in the Hendricks County town of Brownsburg.

The poverty rate in prosperous, well-educated Hamilton County, by comparison, fell during the same period, from 4.4 percent to 3.9 percent.

Harold Gutzwiler, Hendricks County's economic development director, said the problem didn't start in Hendricks County.

"We haven't had plant closures in the past year," he said. "We have lots of distribution centers going up."

Roughly half of Hendricks County's residents hold jobs elsewhere, mostly in adjacent Marion County, he said.

In Morgan County, 60 percent of residents work outside the county.
Jeff Quyle, a county commissioner there, said business closings in Marion County have had a large and negative effect on Morgan.

"Olin Brass, the Chrysler Foundry, United (Airlines' maintenance facility). All those hits taken in Indianapolis, that's a decade's worth of explanation. But why the one-year jump? I don't know," he said.

Not that Morgan County is booming. The county is still feeling the effects of the sale of Harman-Becker Automotive's parent company to private equity buyout specialists Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and GS Capital Partners. Harman had been one of Martinsville's largest and best-paying employers.

Dozens of layoffs followed the sale.
"The Harman people, a lot of them are still getting unemployment," Bolin said. "But when that runs out, it's very possible we'll see even more people needing assistance.
"What's going to happen to us? I don't know. I think about it a lot."

Country Gets $64 Million Boost to Health Sector

from All Africa

East African (Nairobi)

By J. Mwamunyange
Nairobi

Tanzania's health sector will receive Tsh80.83 billion ($64.3 million) from its development partners this financial year, a 26 per cent increase over last year's figure.

"This is in recognition of the important role the health sector is playing in reducing poverty," said Julie McLaughlin, the lead health specialist of the World Bank in Tanzania.

The latest tranche will bring the funding to $165 million over the past three years.

Donors are supporting the sector through a basket fund sponsored by Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland, UNFPA, Unicef and the World Bank.

The fund is used in train-ing of health workers, provision of essential drugs, vaccines, contraceptives, medical equipment, and the rehabilitation of health facilities.

The fund also assists in the implementation of priority health programmes for maternal and reproductive health, child health, malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/Aids.

Colleen Wainwright, development specialist with Irish Aid and the chair of the Health Development Partners Group, says that this year, the basket fund has increased 50 per cent at the district level and further improved services at community level, health centres and district and mission hospitals.

According to the Ministry of Health, marked success has been recorded in reducing child and infant mortality across the country.

However, there is a need for additional resources in areas where the sector has been successful, such as in improving maternal health.

The sector has also ben-efited from the International Development Agency (IDA), which supported the implementation of the government's 2000-2011 health programme.

IDA has been active in the country's three-phase health sector development project, whose first phase - a $22 million adjustable programme loan (APL) - was implemented in 2000-2003.

The project emphasised institutional capacity development, focusing on strengthening capacity (particularly at local levels) to manage and adapt to changing roles and responsibilities; developing and piloting systems to improve quality and delivery of services and improving resource mobilisation and management.

Phase II - $64 million APL - was approved in 2003 and is running through December 2007.

The objectives of this phase are to expand the reforms and systems/capacity development for better management of resources and quality improvements, with a view to institutionalising decentralised management of health, nutrition and population services at district level and below, and shifting from an input-orientation to output/outcome-based planning and performance management.

In phase III - to run from 2008 to 2011 - the focus will be on institutionalising output-based management, and instituting improved systems for high quality care.

This will be done through the Poverty Reduction Support Credit.

Aid agency angry as poverty ignored

from The Sydney Morning Herald

Paul Bibby

ONE OF Australia's leading aid organisations has criticised the Federal Government for failing to put poverty on the agenda at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit.

But the Prime Minister, John Howard, yesterday released a report suggesting growth in emerging economies is lifting people from poverty and leading to the rise of a new global middle class.

The head of the Catholic aid agency Caritas Australia, Jack de Groot, said yesterday that the organisation was disappointed that the hundreds of millions of people living in poverty in the Asia-Pacific region would not rate a mention during the forum. "There are more than 700 million people in our region living on less than $1 a day and the leaders of some of those countries are attending this forum," Mr de Groot said.

"APEC offers an excellent opportunity to agree on multilateral trade policies to ease the burden on those countries and to get real commitments. The United Nations Millennium Development goals have played a major role at multilateral meetings such as the G8, WTO and the World Bank, and I am mystified as to why the Prime Minister has not done more to put them on the agenda here given his recent comments on the issue."

Mr Howard, and the Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, have referred in recent days to the positive contribution made by APEC in alleviating poverty.

However, the Asia-Pacific region is likely to achieve just two of the 18 targets set by the Millennium Development Goals, a recent UN report says.

"Development has actually gone backwards in a number of the categories such as gender equality, reducing child mortality and education," Mr de Groot said.

The report Mr Howard released yesterday, by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, says the most rapid increase in the new consumer class will take place in emerging economies in the Asia-Pacific. It shows the number of people in absolute poverty in east Asia and the Pacific fell from almost 500 million in 1990 to 200 million in 2003. It is estimated it could fall to 20 million by 2030.

"They are quite astonishing figures," Mr Howard said. "They underline the enormous value of globalisation and the importance of continued economic growth. They also underline the uninformed pigheadedness of those who demonstrate against APEC in the name of helping the poor and the dispossessed.

The co-ordinator of the Homeless Persons Legal Service, Elisabeth Baraka, said she was concerned homeless people with mental health problems may be unnerved by the police presence in the city. "We have homeless people walking along the street doing nothing who are being asked for their ID by the police, but most homeless people don't have any ID," Ms Baraka said said.

'Decrease in poverty levels still not enough'

from Y Net News

Officials from various social aid organizations say estimated positive figures in new poverty report insignificant. 'Even if there's a slight drop in poverty, there are still over 1.5 million poor living in Israel, half of whom are children,' says Latet director

Yael Branovsky

A new poverty report studying the year 2006 is scheduled to be published Tuesday by Israel's National Insurance Institute (NII). Despite the fact that the previous report showed the increase of poverty had been blocked – estimates indicate that no significant changes will be evident in the updated report.

Over 1.5 Israeli citizens live below the poverty line – half of them are children. Though the market has shown considerable growth and given rise to employment figures. But many of those who have joined the work force fail to break the cycle of poverty as they only earn minimum wage or work part-time jobs.

Even if the current report shows stability or improvement, primarily among the indigent elderly, the situation for most people has not changed.

According to the report released in January of this year for 2005 and the first half of 2006 – the number of Israelis living below the poverty line stands at 1,630,000 million. The number of poor families was 404,000 - in 174.6 of those families the head of the family was employed.

The poverty line is defined as 50% of the median net income and is adjusted to family size.

The report also showed that over 35 percent of children in Israel were living in poverty.

An NII source said the poverty rate was relatively stable. The increase in poverty amongst children and families has halted, and poverty among elderly citizens continues to fall, due to an increase in supplementary income payments.

Fomer NII director: 'No improvement in sight'

Former NII Director-General Yochanan Shtesman told Ynet on Monday that he does not foresee any significant improvement in the Tuesday's figures. "The poverty situation in Israel is very serious," said Shtesman, "cutting back on stipends for example – there is not question that that contributed to the rise in poverty and the declining situation of indigent families.

"Those same cuts only benefit the top percentile. And the fact that the stipends are not linked to the average salary in the market - that certainly doesn't make things better."

Gili Rei, director of Mehuyavut - Commitment for Peace and Social Justice, said that every year sees more and more people join the ranks of the 'working poor.'

"All those people in the poverty report have no access to education or proper medical care and the gaps are only getting wider… We should stop glorifying the growth, which only widens the gaps between the rich and the poor and concentrate instead on closing those gaps," said Rei.

"Even if there's a slight drop in the poverty levels, there are still over 1.5 million poor living in Israel, half of whom are children," said Eran Weintraub, director of the Latet organization.

"The figures don't matter, the reality is that a week before the holidays, and in the day-to-day as well, the only ones caring for families in need who are fighting a constant battle for survival are the non-governmental aid organizations."

Liberia's Hunger Strategy Signifies Shift to Development

from World Press

Liberia is finalizing a strategy aimed at boosting the government's capacity to tackle hunger and malnutrition—one pillar of an overall turn toward development after years of stop-gap measures aimed at picking up the pieces from war, observers say.

"This is the Liberian government reorienting itself toward development," said researcher Todd Benson of the International Food Policy Research Institute, who assisted agencies working on the strategy.

The national "Food Security and Nutrition Strategy," developed by the government in collaboration with the United Nations World Food Program (W.F.P.) and Food and Agriculture Organization, identifies how the government will coordinate itself to tackle chronic hunger—a challenge across the region but particularly in Liberia where 14 years of war gutted infrastructure and left massive poverty and malnutrition.

A nationwide survey in 2006 found 39 percent of children under five are stunted and 27 percent are underweight, according to a W.F.P. document on Liberia. Chronic malnutrition is over 40 percent in nine of Liberia's 15 counties and 30-40 percent in the remaining six.

The United Nations defines "food secure" as having reliable access to an adequate quantity and quality of food. The strategy also covers "nutrition security," which includes improving access to basic services like health care and a sanitary environment as much as improving diets.

"This strategy provides a framework for collaboration, in which we can all focus on what we need to do to ensure food is available in sufficient quantities to all Liberians," Agriculture Minister J. Chris Toe told IRIN from the capital, Monrovia.

As the lead agency, the Agriculture Ministry will present the strategy to the entire cabinet for approval in the next few weeks, Toe said.

An executive summary of the strategy says the government "recognizes that to further its ambitions of peace, reconciliation, stability, and development, the nation as a whole and each Liberian household must achieve food security and improved nutrition. Certainly, the Liberian economy rests heavily on the food security and the nutritional well-being of its citizens."
Starting From Zero

While a turn toward long-term development means ultimately a Liberia standing on its own two feet, development strategies in the nearer term will still reserve a considerable role for outside assistance, in a country that saw what Planning and Economic Affairs Minister Toga McIntosh has called "institutional meltdown" during the war.

"The government has not yet built the necessary capacity to take over 100 percent from [non-governmental organizations (N.G.O.'s)]," Agriculture Minister Toe told IRIN. "It is urgent that we prepare ourselves before all the N.G.O.'s go away. The transition cannot be abrupt; it must be gradual and well-coordinated."

He added, "We ask our partners for their assistance and their understanding as we build our capacity."

Helping build government capacity is a primary aim of the food security and nutrition strategy, development and aid workers say. And that remains a huge task. "The Agriculture Ministry is really starting from zero," Benson said. "The capacity constraints in Liberia are strong."

A May outline of the food security strategy said: "Most of the county-level work in agriculture is currently being done by N.G.O.'s with only limited contributions by Ministry of Agriculture staff, since their numbers are extremely few." The document says, "There is considerable need to build capacities for monitoring of food security in the country, particularly in ensuring that early warning can be provided of looming crises of whatever sort."

The strategy will serve as a tool by which donors can most effectively intervene with financial and technical assistance where it is needed most, with an eye toward sustainability, Benson said. "The government can use the strategy to approach donors," and aid agencies can point to the plan in appealing to donor countries, he said.

The government's next step is to draw up an action plan, which will have to lay out who is responsible for what, what resources are needed, what the main capacity constraints are, officials said.
Food Security Key to Development

The strategy stems from an increasing recognition on the part of donors and governments of the importance of eradicating hunger in the overall fight against poverty, officials say. The food security strategy is being finalized just as Liberia is beginning to draft its poverty reduction strategy paper, and the hope is that food and nutrition will figure prominently, sources told IRIN.

Benson said the very process of putting together a food security strategy is beneficial. "The process of developing this is probably as important as the actual document—people are talking about food security policy and stakeholders start to see that food security must be part of overall poverty reduction."

While the effort is being led by the Agriculture Ministry, it is not an agricultural strategy, the document points out. "Many ministries are involved in ensuring food security," Agriculture Minister Toe told IRIN. "Some areas are prone to food insecurity because of their remote location and inadequate road infrastructure, among other things," he said, noting that this is an example of how various ministries must be involved.

The W.F.P. document on Liberia says the underlying causes of food insecurity are low agricultural production, low purchasing power, and limited absorption capacities due to lack of safe drinking water and sanitation. The latest market review shows that outside Monrovia the market system functions poorly, largely due to bad roads, limited transportation, and lack of functioning institutions.

Agriculture Minister Toe said political will is also critical to beating chronic hunger. "Resources will be needed to achieve food security for all Liberians. There has to be political buy-in to meet this goal of making the people food secure. We have to be accountable for taking care of our people." © IRIN

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations.]

IMF Approves US$3.1m for Gambia

from All Africa

The Daily Observer (Banjul)

By Musa Ndow

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has completed the first review of The Gambia's economic performance under a program supported by a three-year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) arrangement.

After completing the review, the executive board approved the authorities' request for waivers of non-observance of two structural performance criteria pertaining to the submission of an audit report on monetary data and the implementation of the Central Project Management and Aid Coordination Directorate (CPMACD), and one quantitative performance criterion relating to the non accumulation of external payments arrear. The completion of the first review enables the release of an account equivalent to SDR 2 million (about U$3.1million) for The Gambia.

The Gambia's PRGF arrangement was approved on February 21, 2007 for an amount equivalent to SDR 14 million (about US$21.5 million).

According to reports from the IMF, following the executive board discussion on the Gambia's economic performance, Mr Murilo Portugal, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair revealed that, The Gambia has made good progress towards macro-economic stability and higher economic growth and performance under the PRGF-supported program.

"Fiscal discipline will be vital to achieve debt sustainability and protect social spending. The government is seeking to curtail its domestic borrowing requirement in order to keep real interest rates down and stimulate private investment. To this end, it will continue to strengthen tax administration, fully implement the integrated financial management information system that has been crucial in keeping expenditures in line with appropriations, and avoid extra-budgetary spending. Budget formulation and execution will be guided by the priorities set out in the new poverty reduction strategy paper," he said.

According to him, the government of The Gambia is committed to maintain price stability and increase the effectiveness of the monetary policy. "To this end, steps are underway to strengthen the operational independence of the Central Bank of the Gambia (CBG), including implementation of an Action Plan to bring CBG lending to the government within statutory limit. The CBG and the government are also working towards improving of the coordination of fiscal and monetary operations in order to enhance the effectiveness of the CBG's liquidity management," he observed.

He further noted that, authorities have made good progress towards reaching the completion point under the enhanced heavily indebted poor countries initiatives.

He further added that, reaching the completion will also make The Gambia eligible for assistance under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative. "In order to ensure that debt relief move the country's external debt to a sustainable path, the authorities intend to rely as much as possible on grants rather than external loans to finance their development program," he stated.

Mr Portugal then announced that loans are contracted and would be on highly concessional terms.

Gulu IDPs Return Home But Poverty Remains a Problem

from All Africa

The Monitor (Kampala)

By Nabusayi L. Wamboka
Gulu

IT is warm again. The closeness of the cooking pot inside the hut brings back memories of a happy home that was long forgotten.

Mr Constantino Opio, 24 and his young wife Lucky Anena, 20 are determined to start a new life, a life they had never known before.

In their newly built mud and wattle hut, the smell of fresh cow dung hangs in the air but the freedom that comes with breaking away from crowded internally displaced peoples camps is such a relief.

It makes home sweet again, even when that home is a house in the middle of bushes in Adak village, Omoro County in Gulu District.

Ms Anena had all her hopes in a bright future. She had just completed her Senior Four at Sacred Heart Girls Secondary school in Gulu, scoring an impressive Aggregate 28.

"I passed very well even if we were in the camp. But I got pregnant after and my parents decided I should get married. My husband is a P7 drop out and we decided to stay together," she said.

Ms Anena is no doubt a brilliant young girl whose English, though fluttering, is perfect. When the Vice President Prof Gilbert Bukenya, walked through their garden to the front of her house and introduced himself, Ms Anena mistook him for Mr Matthew Bukenya, the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) Executive Secretary. "You are the one from Uneb. Eeh, I know you, I used to hear about you," she said excitedly.

When Prof Bukenya said he was not Mr Bukenya of Uneb but Prof Bukenya the vice president, Ms Anena was both excited and confused. "Eeh, the vice president? I know Bukenya the vice president. I hear about him. You are the one?" she exclaimed.

Mr Bukenya of Uneb had stirred her hopes of returning to school, something she is willing to die for.

"I want to go back to school. My parents said they have no money. My husband also wants to go back to school, but now we have nobody to leave our daughter with. But if somebody can help us, we can ask our parents to keep the child and we complete our education," she said.

Ms Anena's wish to return to school is so strong that she named her daughter Sheila Limpe, meaning 'there is no money' to constantly remind her, that if she had not got pregnant, probably her parents would have kept paying the fees until she completes school.

Ms Anena's husband is a member of a farming group, Adak Group Farm which Prof Bukenya supported as a seed multiplication centre in Adak IDP camp. The group farm, which was also supported by Caritas Gulu, a Catholic NGO and Naads, was given upland rice seeds for multiplication and distribution to IDPs returning home.

"Peace is returning to the north and families such as these will be the ones to encourage others to come home. They have started opening up their land and for some who came earlier, their rice is about to be harvested," Prof Bukenya said.

"This seed multiplication centre will help because after harvest each member will take enough seeds to plant on its own and ensure they have enough food in their homes as they rebuild their lives."

The VP, who was on a nationwide popularisation tour of the Bonna Bagaggawale said there is need to fast track development in the north to encourage more people go back home.

According to Unicef, two decades of armed conflict between the UPDF and the rebel LRA created a complex humanitarian situation marked by violence, poverty and the internal displacement of more than 1.5 million people.

Children and women represent 80 per cent of the IDPs and have been direct targets of sexual violence and abductions perpetuated by the LRA.

Government report: 1.65 million Israelis living below poverty line

from Haaretz

By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz Correspondent

Some 1.65 million Israelis live under the poverty line, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Insurance Institute (NII).

The report, which examines data from 2006, shows a very slight decrease in poverty rates in the past year, as the percentage of families living under the poverty line dropped from 20.6 percent in 2005 to 20 percent. The total percentage of Israelis who live under the poverty line dropped from 24.7 percent to 24.5.

However, the percentage of children living under the poverty line has grown - from 35.2 percent in 2005 to 35.8 percent.

A total of 404,000 families, 1.65 million citizens and 766,000 children live in poverty.

Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog presented the report with director-general of the NII, Yigal Ben-Shalom. They insisted that the report shows that the poverty situation in Israel has stabilized.

However, the only noticeable drop was among senior citizens. The percentage of impoverished people in this group fell from 24.4 percent to 21.5 percent - mostly due to an increase in government stipends for the elderly.

The report also shows that it has become harder for people living beneath the poverty line to close the gap. The poverty gap index - which measures the severity of poverty among the poor, or, alternatively, how many poor people have drifted further from the poverty line - has gone from 33.1 percent to 33.8 percent. This is a sharp increase from 1999, when the ratio was 25.8 percent.

According to the NII, the income per capita among the poor has dropped, despite the perceived economic growth in Israel. On the other hand, the top tenth percentile in Israel has doubled its income in 2006 in comparison to the two lowest tenth percentiles.

Hadash Chairman MK Mohammed Barakeh said he was shocked that the government ignored the most drastic rise in poverty, which was among the Arab sector, where 50 percent of the population and 60 percent of the children live under the poverty line.

Barakeh warned against celebrating the fact that poverty hasn't gotten worse, saying that the data is problematic, since thousands of citizens were pushed barely above the poverty line by receiving a few tens of shekels, or less, each month.

The last report, released in January, dealt with the period between the middle of 2005 and the middle of 2006, and showed that growth in poverty rates had slowed for the first time in a decade.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has vowed that by 2010, the number of poor people in Israel will fall by 15 percent, or 250,000 people.

Caritas wants APEC to do better on poverty

from the ABC

By Brendan Trembath

The world leaders in Sydney this week will have first-class food and five-star accommodation, but they insist their APEC meetings do help alleviate poverty.

Their host, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, says tens of millions of people have been lifted out of poverty since the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group was formed in 1989.

Catholic aid agency Caritas says that is true to a certain extent, but millions more are missing out because of holes in APEC's agenda and are living on less than $1 per day.

Protesters will probably look at the red-carpet style and gourmet food rolled out for the 20 world leaders visiting Sydney and accuse the APEC delegates of not caring about the poor.

But Mr Howard does not buy this argument.

"Why don't they stop for a moment and recognise that the economic growth in the APEC region has lifted tens of millions of people out of poverty since APEC was founded? They never think about that," he said.

Mr Howard supports goals like increasing a country's foreign investment.

"The only way you're going to lift people out of poverty is to give them a job, is to give them a sustainable standard of living, and you won't do that unless you have economic growth and you get foreign investment," he said.

"That's the great message of globalisation. I'm not saying it's perfect and I don't argue that there aren't wrinkles, but fundamentally you have no hope of lifting people out of poverty without better governance and economic growth.

"That's the problem of Africa; it's still the problem of other parts of the world; it's less of a problem in Asia now than it used to be."

Anti-poverty campaigner Jack de Groot is the chief executive officer of Caritas, the Catholic agency for international aid and development.

"Capitalism is the accepted model of economic development throughout the APEC member nations; no-one's questioning that," he said.

"The question is, are the checks and balances to make sure that all benefit from the models of economic growth and development in place?"

Mr de Groot agrees with the analogy that capitalism is the accepted umbrella but some of the poor are still getting wet.

"It is very much the case that capitalism needs its checks and balances," he said.

Millennium Development Goals

He would like to see the APEC leaders include in their agenda the Millennium Development Goals, which include such ambitions as reducing youth unemployment and halting the spread of malaria.

Mr de Groot says the Millennium Development Goals are discussed at meetings of the world's eight most industrialised nations (G8), the World Trade Organisation and the World Bank.

"This is the international architecture for dealing with poverty alleviation," he said.

"To not have this as a core agenda item for APEC is quite an omission, verging on a degree of negligence."

There are many views on the best ways to fight poverty, and Andrew Stoeckel is among those who say economic growth is paramount.

Dr Stoeckel is the executive director of the Centre for International Economics, which completed a report for the Australian Treasury.

"The biggest driver, as well known, for poverty alleviation is economic growth, and you can't have economic growth unless you have investment," he said.

"What is often not appreciated is that when a student studies at a university, they are investing; when a farmer buys out their neighbour's plot to expand and get some economies of scale, they are investing.

"So investment is about these millions of decisions that are made throughout a whole economy, and it's much more than the headline-grabbing, ribbon-cutting, multinational plant that sets up, as important as that is.

"So governments importantly shape the investment climate and all those decisions through many different ways.

"For example, restrictions on student places at a university is a barrier to investment."