“Money is not enough to cure poverty.”
Poverty has several causes, states Agostinho Moreira, of the European Anti-poverty Network, who says that it is a priority to “act within the family first,” especially in cases concerning homelessness and drug and alcohol addiction.
In 2015 it was estimated that 700 million people worldwide were living on less than $1.90 per day. According to a Human Rights blog post, there are ten root causes of poverty.
- Lack of meaningful employment: Millions of people are working and yet trapped in or under the poverty line.
- Lack of a good education. According to UNESCO data almost 170 million people could be freed from poverty if conditions allowed them to study and learn to read.
- War/Conflict.
- Weather/Climate change. With weather systems on the change, it is believed that a further 100 million people will be adversely affected by new weather patterns – flooding, and extreme temperatures.
- Social Injustice – discrimination against women, ethnic minorities, and religious groups.
- Lack of food and water – drought/famine.
- Lack of infrastructure.
- Corrupt governments.
- Lack of healthcare
- Cost of living. It is estimated that those families living on the poverty line spend up to 80% of their income on food.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
