Friday, October 17 is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty – so declared in 1992 by the United Nations General Assembly. Last month the World Bank reported an even greater level of global poverty than previously estimated. According to recent data, more than a quarter of the developing world lives in extreme poverty. There is a growing need to invest in poverty eradication with a focus on programs that address the sharp disparities that plague many societies. International aid for family planning and sexual and reproductive health services is a powerful catalyst for breaking the cycle of poverty. Yet such aid has declined in the last ten years. In Latin America and the Caribbean, a region of extreme contrasts, this decrease in aid means that the poorest are left even further behind.
Last month at a United Nations summit to review implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), world leaders, the private sector, and civil society pledged 16 billion dollars to fight poverty worldwide. Commitments totaling nearly $2 billion next year and rising to $7 billion by 2015 were made for the MDGs relating to child mortality and maternal health.
Meanwhile right here in Wisconsin . . . homelessness in the schools is up 67% from 2003-2004. Not just in Madison.
What’s wrong with this picture?
