The world’s poorest people use the cheapest available fuels – dung and twigs and even leaves.
The saddest fact of climate change – and the chief reason we should be concerned about finding a proper response – is that the countries it will hit hardest are already among the poorest and most long-suffering.
Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries on earth. Security issue or no security issue, there would need to be a focus on it.
Growing up in a very rural and remote area in Colorado’s San Luis Valley – one of the poorest counties in the United States – essentially created the framework of values from which I operate. I stand up for the little guy. I fight discrimination at all levels. I fight for an inclusive America.
But the Western countries that link their partnership with the poorest countries with respect for democracy also have to consider that they have obligations towards these countries.
I see drawings and pictures in the poorest of huts and the dirtiest of corners.
My father grew up with no money. He was raised in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the U.S. My mother helped him sew labels into his ties. My life has been very comfortable, sure, but they instilled into us the importance of the work ethic.
It is interesting to note that the 200 richest people have more assets than the 2 billion poorest.
Imagine a political system so radical as to promise to move more of the poorest 20% of the population into the richest 20% than remain in the poorest bracket within the decade? You don’t need to imagine it. It’s called the United States of America.
I founded Grameen Bank to provide loans to those considered traditionally unbankable. Grameen Bank works with the poorest and often illiterate, providing uncollateralized micro-loans for tiny business enterprises by which they can lift themselves and their families out of poverty.
Oxfam believes that any global talks to reform tax rules must include all countries, including the poorest.
The fact that our legal system has become so tolerant of police lying indicates how corrupted our criminal justice system has become by declarations of war, ‘get tough’ mantras, and a seemingly insatiable appetite for locking up and locking out the poorest and darkest among us.
Debt vultures are really the scum at the bottom of the pond. These are guys who buy up the debts of the world’s poorest countries on the secondary market. You can go buy debts of a country like Peru, for example, at a real discount. Why? Because people think that the debts won’t be repaid.
Camiguin, Romblon and Camarines Norte got out of the list of poorest provinces in 2003. With tourism, these provinces can become rich.
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