Argentina’s child poverty rate on track to hit 70 per cent, UNICEF warns
Buenos Aires, Argentina Reuters Argentina’s child poverty rate could hit 70% in the first quarter of the year unless there is a change in course, UNICEF warned in a report on Tuesday, reflecting how high inflation, weakening growth and austerity is hitting the country hard. In a report, the UN Children’s Fund said the poverty […]
Colombia poverty fell in 2022, extreme poverty rose slightly – government
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Poverty levels in Colombia declined slightly in 2022, according to a report from the government’s DANE statistics agency, although the proportion of people living in extreme poverty rose slightly. The share of Colombians living in poverty fell to 36.6 per cent in 2022 – equivalent to 18.3 million people in the country of […]
“On the verge of an abyss”: At the mercy of gangs and hunger, Haitians survive on remittances
JOSEPH GUYLER DELVER, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how many in Haiti are relying on family sending money from abroad to pay for basics as rising prices force citizens into “catastrophic” hunger…
Modern slavery on the rise as crises fuel poverty – UN report
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters The number of people forced to work or in a marriage against their will has surged in recent years to around 50 million on any given day, the UN’s International Labour Organization said on Monday upon releasing its modern slavery report. Crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, armed conflicts and climate change […]
Pandemic sets back Asia-Pacific’s poverty fight by two years – ADB
Manila, The PhilippinesReuters The pandemic has set back the fight against poverty in the Asia-Pacific region by at least two years, and many nations will find it harder to escape poverty, the Asian Development Bank said on Wednesday. Had the pandemic not happened, the proportion of people in the region facing extreme poverty – defined […]
Cost-of-living crisis driving “breathtaking” surge in extreme poverty – UNDP
London, UKReuters The global cost-of-living crisis is pushing an additional 71 million people in the world’s poorest countries into extreme poverty, a new report published by the UN Development Programme on Thursday has warned. Achim Steiner, UNDP administrator, said an analysis of 159 developing countries showed that the surge in key commodity prices this year […]
Pandemic sends 4.7 million more people into extreme poverty in South-East Asia – ADB
Manila, The PhilippinesReuters The pandemic added 4.7 million more people to Southeast Asia’s most extreme poor in 2021, reversing gains made in fighting poverty, the Asian Development Bank said on Wednesday, while urging governments to take steps to boost economic growth. The number of people in extreme poverty – defined as those living on less […]
Extreme poverty in Venezuela rises to 76.6 per cent – study
Caracas, VenezuelaReuters Around three-fourths of Venezuelans now live in extreme poverty as the once-prosperous OPEC nation’s hyperinflationary economic collapse continued for a seventh straight year, according to a study published on Wednesday. The 2020-2021 National Survey of Living Conditions (ENCOVI), conducted by researchers at Andres Bello Catholic University (UCAB), found that of the country’s 28 […]
Extreme poverty jumps in Italy on back of COVID woes
Rome, ItalyReuters The number of Italians living in absolute poverty rose sharply in 2020 to its highest level for at least 15 years as the coronavirus crisis brought economic pain to much of the country, data showed on Wednesday. Last year, about 5.6 million people, or 9.4 per cent of the population, lived in absolute […]
Charity uses mobile phone data to identify aid recipients in Togo
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation A US-based non-profit that is using algorithms to identify people living in extreme poverty by analysing their mobile phone habits has made direct cash payments to 30,000 people as part of a pioneering project in Togo. GiveDirectly worked with the government of the West African nation and experts at the University […]