 |
|
| In Bhekulwandle, South Africa, traditional housing is often deteriorating and unsafe. |
|
|
|
|
|
Geography matters.
Geography may have more to do with whether you live in poverty than almost anything else. Shift your world view: Think of a globe divided into north and south and consider these statistics:
- The southern hemisphere has the dubious distinction of being home to the majority of the world's one-room shelters.
- Two-thirds of the estimated 35 million housing units needed annually to shelter families moving to urban areas and to replace "life-threatening" housing would need to be built in the Asia/Pacific region.
- Africa fares no better, as it is home to the largest percentage of people in the world living under the $1 per day poverty line.
--United Nations; United Nations Human Settlements Programme; World Bank
Half the world's population lives on less than $2 a day.
With global population topping 6 billion today, one out of every two people scrapes out daily survival on a mere $2. One out of every six lives on $1 a day. But experts indicate that poverty is more than a lack of income. Rather, it is the result of insecurity, inequality, poor health and illiteracy. Its effects are worsened by the increasing gap in most societies between the richest and the poorest.
--United Nations Population Report: State of the World's Population 2002
Poor health makes people poor and being poor makes people sick.
A wage earner's illness can push families over the edge into poverty. In fact, the "newly poor" cite illness most frequently as the cause of their slide into poverty's grasp. For families who are already poor, illness can push them even farther into destitution. Worse, the poor are more often sick than people who are not poor. Continued exposure to diseases, unsafe working conditions, substandard housing and a lack of access to adequate health care degrade the health of the poor.
--United Nations Population Report: State of the World's Population 2002
Gender matters.
One out of every four developing countries has a constitution or national law that prevents women from owning land or taking mortgages in their own name. Women especially lack rights in Africa, western Asia and Latin America. And even though women comprise more than half the world's population, they hold only about 1 percent of the world's wealth.
--United Nations Human Settlements Programme; Women in Human Settlements Development Programme
Lacking clean water and adequate sanitation exacerbates poverty.
Some 2.4 billion people lack adequate sanitation; 1.1 billion have no clean water. This lack of access increases health risks, leading to the death of more than 2.2 million people-many of them children-from water- and sanitation-related diseases annually.
--United Nations Human Settlements Programme; United Nations Children's Fund
Geography matters.
