Shakira's 'Barefoot' to Focus on Poverty World Wide

Ashley Tyner


Shakira is a longtime activist for Latin America's poor children. Her and Alejandro Sanz are member of Latin America in Solidarity Action (ALAS is the Spanish acronym) which is a non profit coalition founded by Latin American Artists, intellectuals and business leaders to promote social communities and early childhood development programs in Latin America.

Shakira plans to make her colombian children's foundation a global one in the near future. For less than $2 a day, a child can be provided w/ top quality education and the nutrition needed to be able to function and be able to learn "because a kid with an empty stomach can not learn" says Shakira. Singers, Shakira and Alejandro Sanz asked the presidents of Mexico, Argentina, Paraguay, El Salvador, and Panama to adopt an agreement on combating child poverty during upcoming Iberoamerican Summit in late October

ALAS held all-star fundraising concerts in Mexico and Argentina that helped secure $200 million in donations. Shakira states, " We are not a passive generation, we're very proactive. We want to see all those brutal contrasts in our world disappear, we want to see poverty eliminated because we believe it's possible."

War and Drought Threaten Afghan Food Supply by: Carlotta Gall

Ashley Tyner


A bad harvest has left small farmers to face hunger. Aid officials warn about an acute food shortage for the up coming winter. More than 1/4 of the Afghan population could suffer. A big cause for this crisis is due to a harsh winter, followed by a drought sweeping through the whole country on top of deteriorating security, accumulated pressure of returning refugees, and of course, the effects from rising food costs.

British Charity Oxfam, conducted a provisional assessment of conditions in the province of Daykondi, a remote area of central Afghanistan, appealed for international assistance before the winter settles in.

By not having enough food, these small farmers would have to go into town to find work. Afghan government along with the U.N. was quick to get an appeal earlier in the year to prevent food shortage as world food prices increased and neighboring countries stopped wheat exports.

Neglecting a lifeline as vital as agriculture has been dangerous for stability as people are unable to feed themselves. Development officials warn that neglecting the poorest provinces can add to instability. People will be pushed to commit crimes or possibly join the insurgency, which usually pays recruits. Afghanistan is said to be one of the poorest countries in the world.

Progress in achieving UN anti-poverty goals for 2015 under new threat

Ashley Tyner

The world has make strong sustained progress in reducing the extreme poverty rate, but due to high prices in food and oil, this is now being undercut. Many developing countries are now facing higher import bills which jeopardizes their growth as a whole.

Estimates from the World Bank show that the number of poor in the developing world is larger than predicted: 1.4 billion people. Newer estimates confirm that between 1990 and 2005 the number of people in extreme poverty fell from 1.8 billion to the current 1.4 billion and the 1990 poverty rate is very likely to be cut almost in half by 2015. A great deal of the decline took place in Eastern Asia (China). In less fortunate countries such as, Sub-Saharan Africa had an increased rate of poor people between the 1990 and 2005 period.

With food prices continuing to rise with so signs of slowing down, it is expected to send many more people into poverty, especially Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, who already have the largest numbers of people living in poverty. These rising food prices will be the main theme to focus on for the incoming president of the general assembly, Miguel d'Escoto Brockman of Nicaragua, on September 16.

Trade not aid the answer to poverty, economists say

In Ghana, over 100 ministers met to talk about how aid would be efficient in helping developing nations deal with poverty. Most economists believe that aid is not the answer, they believe that freeing up trade could be a solution. Economists of all persuasions agree that growth is the key to lifting people out of poverty, and the WTO (World Trade Organization) states that a key to growth is trade.
"Since Japan's rise to prosperity, many other countries have followed a similar path." (Jonathan Lynn, August 31, 2008)
With trade comes greater economic capacity and I do believe that opening up trade will help with the growth and development of these nations thriving to get over poverty. With trade, more jobs open up, and different cultures of the world are introduced. Although trade will take out some smaller companies and farming, everyone has to think of the nation as a whole and what would be better for the whole society. I think that trades should start off gradually, so the economic growth will allow people to adjust at a reasonable pace instead of these new ideas and materials coming to them as a cultural shock. Poverty is definitely a big issue in the world and I hate that money is as important as it is because it ruins peoples lives. But at the same time, accepting that money is an important factor in daily living. By sending aid to these nations, it will not provide them that ladder to success they need. It will temporarily help with nutrition, being clothed, personal well being, and teachings. For example, someone sends volunteer teachers and doctors to these countries to help people out. A question I would ask myself is how will this help the country as a whole? It will just be helping one person individually. When this person knows they can make something of them self , why would they want to stay in their nation where they can go somewhere to better them? Usually they leave their country and go where there are more opportunities, for example coming to the U.S. The way I see it, is one person has been helped, now what about the rest of the country/ nation?