Poverty

Message For World Water Day

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message on World Water Day, to be observed on 22 March:

This year, World Water Day coincides with the International Year of Sanitation, challenging us to spur action on a crisis affecting more than one out of three people on the planet.

Every 20 seconds, a child dies as a result of the abysmal sanitation conditions endured by some 2.6 billion people globally. That adds up to an unconscionable 1.5 million young lives cut short by a cause we know well how to prevent.    » read more »

City and MTA Unveil ‘Give Real Change’ Public Education Campaign to Help the Homeless

March 4, 2008 -- New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Department of Homeless Services (DHS) Commissioner Robert V. Hess today announced that street homelessness in New York City is down 12 percent since last year and 25 percent since 2005 - the first year the City conducted the Homeless Outreach Population Estimate, or HOPE.    » read more »

February 28, 2008 -- Women are nearly twice as likely to be poor as men as they reach pre-retirement and retirement ages, according to a new report by AARP’s Public Policy Institute (PPI). The study, titled “From Work To Retirement: Tracking Changes in Women’s Poverty Status,” found that variables such as marital status, labor force participation, and health status affect the risk of poverty for women as they age.    » read more »

Chicago, IL, February 26, 2008 -- Senator Barack Obama's statement on fighting global poverty and disease:    » read more »

Legislation would aim to cut extreme global poverty in half by 2015

February 13, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Barack Obama (D-IL), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) today hailed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's passage of the Global Poverty Act (S.2433), which requires the President to develop and implement a comprehensive policy to cut extreme global poverty in half by 2015 through aid, trade, debt relief, and coordination with the international community, businesses and NGOs.    » read more »

Clinton Urges Conference Committee to Make Strong Investment in Nutrition Measures to Combat Growing Problem of Food Insecurity

February 8, 2008 -- Washington, DC – Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton joined several of her colleagues in urging the leadership of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees to make a strong investment in the Nutrition Title for the 2007 Reauthorization of the Farm Bill.    » read more »

Commission on Community Action and Economic Opportunity hold events that, in part, lead to upcoming poverty summit

Feb. 8, 2008 -- Michigan Commission on Community Action and Economic Opportunity will hold forums in Detroit and Flint in February to hear directly from Michigan individuals and families who are living in poverty. They are part of a series of six forums to be held across the state that will lead to Michigan's first poverty summit in November 2008. The forums will be held:    » read more »

Program Seeks to Increase Enrollment among Eligible Working Families

February 4, 2008 -- New York Governor Eliot Spitzer today announced the launch of the Working Families Food Stamp Initiative, an effort to dramatically expand and simplify Food Stamp eligibility statewide to help more families achieve economic security. By improving the efficiency of the program and streamlining enrollment, the State will provide needed assistance to families across New York who are struggling to get by.    » read more »

Investment intended to help millions of small farmers lift themselves out of hunger and poverty

January 25, 2008 -- DAVOS, Switzerland -- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced a $306 million package of agricultural development grants designed to boost the yields and incomes of millions of small farmers in Africa and other parts of the developing world so they can lift themselves and their families out of hunger and poverty.    » read more »

Davos, Switzerland, 24 January 2008 – Microsoft chairman and co-founder Bill Gates has called for ‘’creative capitalism’’ as a new approach for businesses to help stamp out global poverty and diseases.

Addressing the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008 in a session entitled "A New Approach to Capitalism in the 21st Century," Gates said: "The world is getting better, but it is not getting better fast enough, and it is not getting better for everyone.”    » read more »

Bridgeport, New Haven, Other Connecticut Cities to Benefit

January 13, 2008 -- Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that Connecticut will receive grants totaling $26.4 million to continue the state’s efforts to combat homelessness. The funds, from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), are being awarded to the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) and to nonprofit agencies throughout the state.    » read more »

On day two of his "Bringing It Home" tour, Edwards discusses ambitious plans to create a Working Society and end poverty in America within 30 years

Jan 12, 2008 -- Barnwell, South Carolina – Today, on the second day of the "Bringing It Home" tour, Senator John Edwards will hold town hall meetings in Barnwell and Aiken to greet supporters and discuss his ambitious plans to create a Working Society and end poverty in America within 30 years.    » read more »

Jan 9, 2008 -- Lansing – The Michigan Community Action Agency Association will join community action agencies across the nation in a campaign to reduce poverty.

“Rooting Out Poverty: A Campaign by America’s Community Action Network” calls for action to promote economic security for all Americans, especially those who are poor.    » read more »

December 20, 2007 -- ATLANTA– Today Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue recognized the Georgia Hunters for the Hungry program and the success of the multi-agency initiative by serving the millionth meal to those in need at the Community Concerns Outreach Center in Atlanta.    » read more »

December 14, 2007 -- [WASHINGTON, D.C.] – United States Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the language of his bill, The Hunger-Free Communities Act, was included in the 2007 Farm Bill.

“Currently, more than one in ten households in America worry about whether they will have enough food for their families,” said Durbin. “We hope to change that with the additional resources included in the Senate passed 2007 Farm Bill.”    » read more »