global poverty

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Latest Count: 1B People Live in Acute Poverty

More than half the global total are children, UN and Oxford programs find

(Newser) - More than 1 billion people live in acute poverty, over half are children, and nearly 40% live in conflict-torn and fragile countries, according to a report released Thursday. The report by the UN Development Program and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative at the University of Oxford also said...

Ben Affleck: I Plan to Live on $1.50 a Day

...for at least one day, to bring awareness to global poverty

(Newser) - According to one estimate, 1.4 billion people around the world have to get by on just $1.50 a day. To bring awareness to that fact, Ben Affleck will spend only that much on food and drink for "at least one day" next week. Sophia Bush, Josh Groban,...

To Help World's Poor, Hand Them Cash

Government 'cash-transfer' programs prove successful

(Newser) - It might seem counter-intuitive, but in some 45 countries across the globe, it’s working: Governments are handing cash to the poor to use at their own discretion, writes Christopher Werth in Newsweek . Some 110 million families are getting aid, and the World Bank has spent $5.5 billion on...

Widows' Plight: Beatings, Sex With Strangers

Hubby's death just the start of pain

(Newser) - Newly widowed women in Kenya must have unprotected sex with a stranger to "purify" themselves, and in Bangladesh their only hope is to turn to their sons for economic support—if they're lucky enough to have any. In many parts of the world, the pain of losing a husband...

Haiti Is a Cultural Disaster, Not a Natural One

Progress-resistant country needs 'intrusive paternalism'

(Newser) - The tragedy in Haiti is more a man-made than a natural disaster, caused by shoddy construction and terrible infrastructure, writes David Brooks, noting the 1989 Bay Area earthquake of the same magnitude only killed 63 people. The kind of poverty that caused this catastrophe needs to be tackled, but to...

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