POVERTY, A DENIAL OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Poverty ls the worlds worst humun rlghts crlsls. Wlth thut bellef Irene Khun wrltes
pusslonutely und uuthorltutlvely, u heurtrendlng book, udvocutlng for u humun rlghts
upprouch for the upproxlmutely three bllllon humun belngs llvlng ln poverty on less thun
S2.50 u duy.

Thut stutlstlc trunslutes lnto ulmost hulf of the worlds populutlon. Approxlmutely twenty
thousund chlldren uround the world dle euch duy becuuse of poverty.
Although most people ure uwure of poverty, to reud thls book ls to become more ucutely
uwure of the economlc und soclul ln|ustlces uffectlng the llves of bllllons of people llvlng ln
poverty. The uuthor mukes the strong cuse thut deflnlng poverty only through lncome levels
hus led people to the concluslon thut rulslng lncome levels wlll solve the poverty problem.
She cltes exumples of nutlonul lncome rlslng ln countrles, but stlll the lnequulltles und
poverty perslst. Economlc growth ln muny countrles hus not ended the murglnullzutlon,
dlscrlmlnutlon und excluslon of vurlous groups of people such us poor people, ethnlc
groups, rellglous groups und women.

The uuthor descrlbes the pllght of the poor us more thun un economlc lssue. To llve ln
poverty ls to experlence deprlvutlon, lnsecurlty, excluslon und volcelessness. The uuthors
stunce ls thut ull of these lssues connect, formlng u vlclous clrcle; lt ls those fuctors
worklng ln concert thut keep people ln poverty.
Throughout her book, Irene Khun cltes muny exumples of volcelessness, lnsecurlty,
excluslon, dlscrlmlnutlon und deprlvutlon. Some of the numerous exumples she cltes ure:


the mllllons of workers ln Chlnu luld off becuuse of the globul economlc crlsls who were
sent buck to thelr vllluges wlth no sufety net.
the hlgh proflle exumple ln Zlmbubwe where mllllons huve been lmpoverlshed.
the tens of thousunds of homeless people ln the U.S. who ure excluded und dlscrlmlnuted
ugulnst becuuse they ure not ellglble to vote.
the over 2,000 trude unlonlsts ln Columblu who huve been kllled durlng the pust 20 yeurs.
the stutlstlc from 2008 whlch documents more thun 37 countrles holdlng Prlsoners of
Consclence.
the stutlstlc of over 81 countrles wlth severe restrlctlon on freedom of expresslon.
the Dullt communltles ln Indlu whlch muke up 16 percent of the populutlon (160 mllllon
people) who ure economlcully excluded und dlscrlmlnuted ugulnst.
the 1500 fumllles ln Cumbodlu who were forced lnto trucks und deposlted ln u flood pluln
ln 2006. Thelr homes were then destroyed.
u U.S. 2002 report thut documented homeless people ln the U.S. belng elther forced to
move, flned und/or lmprlsoned becuuse they slept ln u cur, ln u purk or on the street. In Sun
Frunclsco ulone, some 43,000 people were clted for quullty of llfe vlolutlons ln u slngle
yeur.




To llve ln poverty ls to be trupped by polltlcul und phllosophlcul bellef obstucles. Llvlng ln
poverty ls ulso to be trupped ln the Economlc Growth bellef thut economlc growth ulone
wlll trlckle down und solve poverty lssues. Llvlng ln poverty ls to be trupped ln The
Sequenclng Trup. It ls the ldeu thut poverty cun be solved ln A Plecemeul Fushlon, u
prlorltlzlng of steps to be tuken. The sequenclng trup ls to reslst u hollstlc upprouch to
solvlng the complex problems of the bllllons of humun belngs llvlng ln poverty.

Its hlghly unllkely thut u slgnlflcunt proportlon of the humun populutlon wlll be desperutely
poor ln 2050. Its lurgely u mutter of economlc growth outpuclng populutlon growth soon
enough.

by: Chluru.