Poverty

The world economy now is declining, and poverty percentage will surely rise, not only in third, fourth or fifth world countries, but in first world countries too, like the US where the economic crisis penetrated the most. Many countries are helping fight poverty giving large sums of money, but the sad fact is, poverty is still all around us. In my opinion, we just do not have the will power to totally eradicate poverty for various reasons; some believe that it is the poor person who is at fault, the poor person was lazy, others just don't like giving away money, and others just take for granted what is happening around them. Poverty is a big problem, technically, poverty is one of the main factors that pulls a country down. People who can not survive resort to crime, which, furthermore, brings down the country economically and tourist related. I think this problem needs to be solved soon before numbers keep on rising and it will seem as if there is no way to stop it.

some "sad" facts about the world and poverty today:
*At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day
*More than 80 percent of the world’s population lives in countries where income differentials are widening.
*Based on enrollment data, about 72 million children of primary school age in the developing world were not in school in 2005; 57 per cent of them were girls. And these are regarded as optimisitic numbers.
Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.
*Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen.
*Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.
*Almost two in three people lacking access to clean water survive on less than $2 a day, with one in three living on less than $1 a day.
*More than 660 million people without sanitation live on less than $2 a day, and more than 385 million on less than $1 a day.