The massive earthquake that struck Haiti on 12 January 2010 devastated rural areas as well as urban, destroying crops, farm buildings, equipment, and infrastructure. Indirect effects touched almost every corner of the nation, as 600,000 people migrated to the countryside, increasing pressure on already stretched food and fuel resources. Internal displacement worsened food insecurity, which affected six out of ten people even before the disaster.
This paper is intended for senior managers in all companies that source goods from developing countries. Examples are drawn mainly from the garment and agriculture industries but the learning is transferable to other industries, including electronics, construction, and services.
Topic:
Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, Poverty, and Labor Issues
No disaster is completely natural. The devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on 12 January 2010 was no exception. Haiti's extreme levels of poverty and inequality exacerbated the devastation and determined who was vulnerable.
Topic:
Development, Poverty, Foreign Aid, and Reconstruction
In October 2009, Oxfam and the European Women's Lobby (EWL) commissioned research to explore and analyse the hidden impact of the current economic recession on women's poverty in EU countries. The research was conducted with EWL member organisations, and supplemented with other research and information available at the end of 2009.
Topic:
Economics, Gender Issues, Poverty, and Financial Crisis
In Mozambique, the government has a national plan to tackle poverty and inequality, but it cannot finance this plan from national resources alone. Despite this, Mozambique – just 20 years ago the poorest country in the world – has increased its spending on health care by over half, and in the past decade the number of children who die before their fifth birthday has come down by almost 20 percent.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Poverty, Third World, and Foreign Aid
Climate change is fast pushing communities, particularly the most poor and marginalized, beyond their capacity to respond. Across the world, staple subsistence crops are approaching their outer viable temperature ranges; erratic rainfall patterns and changing seasons are upsetting agricultural cycles and leaving many struggling to feed their families; and rising sea levels are causing the inundation of crops and the contamination of water supplies with salt water.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Poverty, and Third World
Senait Regassa, Christina Givey, and Gina E. Castillo
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
Climate variability in Ethiopia is not new—its diverse agro-ecological zones have brought a dazzling variety of micro-climates, and corresponding weather patterns, and people have developed ways to respond successfully to these challenges. But now, in addition to the usual struggles, Ethiopians living in poverty are additionally suffering the effects of climate change—both more variable climate and more extreme weather events. Women, men, families, and whole communities are struggling with how to understand this new variability, identify new patterns, and establish what resources they need to be able to move beyond reacting and coping to adapting to the new realities and being resilient. Policy makers, likewise, face the daunting challenge of how to refine policies, especially investments in and related to agriculture, to focus on poverty and vulnerability reduction in context of the new realities of climate change.
People living in poverty in the UK make a vital contribution to the economy and society through unpaid caring and community work. But public attitudes prevail that people on low incomes – and particularly those on benefits – are 'scroungers' who are to blame for their own poverty. These attitudes are exacerbated by a widespread assumption that opportunities to earn a reasonable income are readily available.
Topic:
Poverty, Social Stratification, and Public Opinion
The financial crisis has hit developing countries hard, driving millions more people into poverty and reversing several years of rapid progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For most of the poorest people, the impact will depend on what governments do with their budgets–how much they spend to fight against the crisis, protect the poorest, and revive progress towards the MDGs. This report examines what 56 low-income countries have done in 2009 and are planning to do in 2010. It is unique in drawing on budget documents issued in June–December 2009, and therefore in being able to describe what is happening in detail, in order to look ahead to 2010 and beyond. This study is particularly timely as the deadline for countries to reach the MDGs is now only five years away.
Topic:
Development, Poverty, Third World, Global Recession, and Financial Crisis
It is a stable democracy, with an efficient and increasingly transparent government. The entire budget is published online. Strong education and health plans are in place, and the government promotes the use of generic medicines. In recent years growth has been consistently robust, at around 6 percent. The country hosts a world-renowned film festival. It has consistently sought to reform and modernize, just as the IMF and World Bank have prescribed. And, in turn, donors love to fund it. It was, for instance, one of the first countries to qualify for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) programme. So confident is the international community that its money will be in safe hands that it readily gives budget support – which is very positive, as this form of aid allows the government to fund recurrent expenditures such as teachers' and doctors' salaries, though from a donor's perspective it is more difficult to trace, in large amounts.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, Poverty, Third World, Global Recession, and Financial Crisis