Bangkok’s Priest Serves the Poor for 50 Years

For 50 years, the Rev. Joseph Maier has lived in one of the poorest parts of the Thai capital, ministering to Catholics, Buddhists and Muslims alike, and never finding favor with the church hierarchy. The young priest, always something of a misfit, chose an unconventional spot to start his preschool: a former pigsty near a

How Much Tax Should the Wealthy Pay?

  It’s been a back-and-forth struggle over the course of American history: How much tax should the wealthy pay? After the country’s founding, the low-tax advocates generally won out — until the 20th century, when soaring inequality, two wars and the Great Depression led Washington to create the world’s most progressive tax system. Then the

The Indian Jobs Situation is Worse Than was Suspected

India has a job crisis, and the government would rather you didn’t notice. In January 2019, it hastily amended the Constitution to set aside 10 percent of all government posts for the “economically weak.” But it defined the “economically weak” as anybody from a household earning less than 800,000 rupees, roughly $11,200, a year or owning a

Building Accessible Societies For All

Urban poverty, inequalities and exclusion often exist at the expense of sustainable development. The speed and scale of urbanization brings challenges for all family members such as youth, particularly young girls and women, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and older persons. To meet these future challenges that the growing urban population is facing, city leaders

Ela Bhatt: ‘Poverty Is Violence With Tacit Consent’

Glued to Gandhism, Ela Bhatt believes the principles are even more valid now. She grew up in Ahmedabad during the heady days of India’s freedom struggle and, as a 14-year-old, rose to answer Mahatma Gandhi’s call for Rashtra Nirmaan or nation building. Now, at 83, Ela Bhatt, founder of SEWA (Self-Employed Women’s Association of India),

Annum Fatima: Woman Went from Karachi’s Slums to Harvard University

This is a story of a girl who lived in a slum in Ismail Goth. And who, despite the challenges she faced, enrolled in a Harvard Program and much more. The Tale of Anum Fatima Meet Anum Fatima, a humble girl who used to reside in a local slum. Her tale proves that nothing is

Rizq: Feeding the Underprivileged by Using the Waste Food

In April 2015, during a discussion on class disparity, malnutrition and hunger, university students Huzaifa Ahmed, Musa Amir and Qasim Javed came up with a simple idea: they would feed the underprivileged and malnourished by collecting food that would normally go to waste and delivering it to those who could not afford a meal. Within

Pakistan: Per Capita Income of Super Rich 18,000 is $73,000

Although income-based poverty in Pakistan has declined from 57.9 percent in 1989 to 29.5 percent in 2013-14, the country experiences substantial level of multifaceted inequalities. Urban-rural, men-women, inter-provincial and intra-provincial and rich-poor divides are of appalling proportions that keep fuelling social disharmony and political instability in the country. According to a report of the World

Dimensions of Poverty

by Naseer Memon The UNDP and Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) have released a report “Multidimensional Poverty in Pakistan” which depicts a grim picture of social well-being in the country. The concept of poverty has evolved over time. As knowledge about the complexity of human societies is growing, poverty has found new meanings

60 Million Below Poverty Line Or is the Number Double This

The Nawaz Sharif government has announced that 60 million Pakistanis are living below the poverty line, posing a challenge for the ruling party. The number of poor increased owing to the adoption of a new methodology for measuring poverty which uses the 2013-14 survey data, said Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal. The

Poverty Leading to Unabated Sex in Africa

Transactional sex in the Democratic Republic of the Congo helps in understanding women’s choices. Transactional sex is part of everyday urban life in South Kivu – taking place in situations as varied as marketplaces, offices and churches. A new study, based on a survey of 480 sex workers and focus group discussions, examines women’s motivations

Pangs Of Hunger: ‘There Is Not As Much Agitation On Hunger As On Electricity Issues’

There is not as much agitation on hunger as is seen on electricity issues. Hardly anyone bothers to look at the state of malnutrition and its implications and solutions in the country. Making malnutrition a political agenda poses the biggest challenge to the country. Though right to food is a comprehensive concept, it should not