More than 1.4 billion people live in poverty so extreme that they can barely survive, and around 25,000 people die from hunger each day whilst a new billionaire is created every second day. The call for a global safety net has never been so urgent - and compels the international community to transform economic priorities and guarantee the universal securing of basic human needs.
As news of the global economic slump becomes more dire by the day, the latest World Bank statistics suggest that 53 million more people could fall into $2 a day poverty in 2009 as a direct result of the financial crisis - or up to 100 million more people according to the UN Millennium Campaign.
Despite strong economic growth that produced millions of new jobs
since the early 1990s, income inequality grew dramatically in most
regions of the world and is expected to increase due to the current
global financial crisis, according to a new study by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
One billion people will go hungry around the globe next year for the
first time in human history, as the international financial crisis
deepens, according to the United Nations. Reported by Geoffrey Lean.
Fighting against the imbalance in the world, in his book the ‘Hatred of the West' Jean Ziegler calls for a new social contract based on global solidarity and dialogue between the South and the West. Interview conducted by Cathy Ceiba.
After the failure of mainstream strategies to combat the unprecedented financial crisis, rising food prices, climate change and growing inequities, the abandoned principles of social justice and a rights-based approach to development are an essential component of any solution, says a new report by Social Watch.
The U.S Department of Agriculture has released figures on the increase of hunger in the U.S, revealing how the current economic downturn has contributed to painting a dire picture of the health and nutrition of many Americans, writes David Walsh.
A senior United Nations humanitarian official has called on the world to rescue people from poverty and war, and not just banks
from financial collapse.