Hunger and World PovertyAbout 25,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes, according to the United Nations. This is one person every three and a half seconds, as you can see on this display. Unfortunately, it is children who die most often.Yet there is plenty of food in the world for everyone. The problem is that hungry people are trapped in severe poverty. They lack the money to buy enough food to nourish themselves. Being constantly malnourished, they become weaker and often sick. This makes them increasingly less able to work, which then makes them even poorer and hungrier. This downward spiral often continues until death for them and their families.There are effective programs to break this spiral. For adults, there are food for work programs where the adults are paid with food to build schools, dig wells, make roads, and so on. This both nourishes them and builds infrastructure to end the poverty. For children, there are food for education programs where the children are provided with food when they attend school. Their education will help them to escape from hunger and global poverty.Hunger and World Poverty Sources:United Nations World Food Program (WFP),Oxfam,UNICEF.Note: The world hunger map display above is representational only and does not show the names and faces of real people. The photographs are computer composites of multiple individuals.

International Aid A SolutionQuick Summary: Almost all of the deaths from hunger and disease that you see on this site can be stopped. The cost to do this is about $195 billion a year, according to the United Nations. Twenty-two developed countries below have pledged to work towards each giving 0.7% (a little less than 1%) of their national income in international aid, which would raise the $195 billion. Some countries are slow to meet their pledge.2011 International Aid Donated (Official Development Assistance)

COUNTRYFor each $100 earned in the country, how much is donated in aidAid as % of incomeHow close the country is to reaching the 0.7% goal

Sweden102 cents1.02Already reached goal

Norway100 cents1.00Already reached goal

Luxembourg99 cents0.99Already reached goal

Denmark86 cents0.86Already reached goal

Netherlands75 cents0.75Already reached goal

United Kingdom56 cents0.56Scheduled to reach in 2013

Belgium53 cents0.53Scheduled to reach in 2015

Finland52 cents0.52Scheduled to reach in 2015

Ireland52 cents0.52Scheduled to reach in 2015

France46 cents0.46Scheduled to reach in 2015

Switzerland46 cents0.46No schedule yet

Germany40 cents0.40Scheduled to reach in 2015

Australia35 cents0.35No schedule yet

Canada31 cents0.31No schedule yet

Portugal29 cents0.29Scheduled to reach in 2015

Spain29 cents0.29Scheduled to reach in 2015

New Zealand28 cents0.28No schedule yet

Austria27 cents0.27Scheduled to reach in 2015

United States20 cents0.20No schedule yet

Italy19 cents0.19Scheduled to reach in 2015

Japan18 cents0.18No schedule yet

Greece11 cents0.11Scheduled to reach in 2015

Source: OECDDetailsIn September 2000, the 189 countries of the United Nations unanimously agreed to spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty, specifically hunger and the major diseases that afflict humanity.To accomplish this great objective would be expensive, and the price was later estimated at about $195 billion a year. It would be very difficult for this amount of money to be raised by private charities or individuals. It would require the combined efforts of governments throughout the world to do it.Countries Agree to 0.7% in International AidIn the March 2002 Monterrey Conference, 22 of the worlds wealthiest countries (listed above) agreed to make concrete efforts towards the goal of each giving 0.7 per cent of their national income as aid to the poorest countries. This conference was attended by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, U.S. President George Bush, French President Jacques Chirac, and many other world leaders.In the September 2002 Johannesburg Summit, these same 22 counties re-affirmed their commitment to reach the 0.7% goal. This would provide enough money to raise the $195 billion per year.Why the 0.7% Agreement?The countries made this agreement because they realized that it was hard for each country on its own to give a consistent, minimum level of aid each year. Despite good intentions, a country would find that the aid it wanted to give was eaten away by competing political interests, concern about budget deficits, problems at home, problems abroad, and so on. So they agreed to a minimal, flat rate that each country could afford each year regardless of its current political or economic state.The 0.7% figure may sound complicated, but it is actually quite simple. You take the total income earned by all the people in the country and then the government gives 0.7% (seven tenths of one percent) of that as aid. Or to look at it another way: for every $100 earned in the country, the country gives 70 cents in aid.How are the countries doing?As the chart above shows, five countries have already met the goal to give 0.7% of their income in international aid: Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.In 2002 and 2003, five other countries set up a schedule to give 0.7%: Belgium, Ireland, Finland, France, and Spain.In July 2004, the United Kingdom set up a schedule to give 0.7%.In April 2005, Germany set up a schedule to give 0.7%.In May 2005, Austria, Greece, Italy, and Portugal set up a schedule to give 0.7%.It was not easy for many of the countries to set up a schedule to reach the 0.7% goal. In some cases, such as Britain and Germany, it took the combined effort of many thousands of citizens writing and petitioning their government to get it done.The remaining six countriesOnly six countries have not yet set up a schedule to give 0.7%. These are Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United States. To raise the $195 billion a year, these six will need to reach the goal.These six countries are all democracies. All that is necessary for them to reach the 0.7% goal is for enough of their citizens to show their support.Sources:UN Millennium Project,United Nations Development Program (UNDP), The End of Poverty (Jeffrey D. Sachs),Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Causes of PovertyAuthor And Page Information by Anup Shah This Page Last Updated Sunday, April 08, 2012 This page:http://www.globalissues.org/issue/2/causes-of-poverty. To print all information e.g. expanded side notes, shows alternative links, use the print version:. http://www.globalissues.org/print/issue/2 Almost half the world over 3 billion people live on less than $2.50 a day. The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (567 million people) is less than the wealth of the worlds 7 richest people combined. Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names. Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didnt happen. 1 billion children live in poverty (1 in 2 children in the world). 640 million live without adequate shelter, 400 million have no access to safe water, 270 million have no access to health services. 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (or roughly 29,000 children per day).More Facts (and Sources) Poverty is the state for the majority of the worlds people and nations. Why is this? Is it enough to blame poor people for their own predicament? Have they been lazy, made poor decisions, and been solely responsible for their plight? What about their governments? Have they pursued policies that actually harm successful development? Such causes of poverty and inequality are no doubt real. But deeper and more global causes of poverty are often less discussed.Behind the increasing interconnectedness promised by globalization are global decisions, policies, and practices. These are typically influenced, driven, or formulated by the rich and powerful. These can be leaders of rich countries or other global actors such as multinational corporations, institutions, and influential people.In the face of such enormous external influence, the governments of poor nations and their people are often powerless. As a result, in the global context, a few get wealthy while the majority struggle.These next few articles and sections explore various poverty issues in more depth:13 articles on Causes of Poverty and 6 related issues:Poverty Facts And StatsLast updated Monday, September 20, 2010.Most of humanity lives on just a few dollars a day. Whether you live in the wealthiest nations in the world or the poorest, you will see high levels of inequality.

The poorest people will also have less access to health, education and other services. Problems of hunger, malnutrition and disease afflict the poorest in society. The poorest are also typically marginalized from society and have little representation or voice in public and political debates, making it even harder to escape poverty.By contrast, the wealthier you are, the more likely you are to benefit from economic or political policies. The amount the world spends on military, financial bailouts and other areas that benefit the wealthy, compared to the amount spent to address the daily crisis of poverty and related problems are often staggering.Some facts and figures on poverty presented in this page are eye-openers, to say the least.