Poverty:Global & Ever-Present

Because of the bad economy, everyone is having a hard time these days. Recently, the Census released a report, revealing that approximately 14.3 percent of Americans live in poverty, and the numbers are even worse for people of color.

But what the United States is going through right now is something many in the developing world have been dealing with for many years. This week, world leaders are gathering at the United Nations to discuss the poverty question. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is leading the discussion.

From CNN:

"We have led you to the river, so what are we asking of you today?" he asked a U.N. summit on global goals to fight poverty, hunger and disease. "To stay true, true to our identity as an international community built on a foundation of solidarity, true to our commitment to end the dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty."

But what about debt? Evo Morales might have a solution...

Morales also called for the establishment of a bank for developing countries in the southern hemisphere, including those in Africa and Asia. The bank, if funded with a percentage of the countries' international reserves, could help the countries "break away from our dependency on the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank," he said.

During the four years he has served as president, the break with the IMF and the World Bank has helped Bolivia, he said.

"Without the IMF, we're better off than we were before," he said, citing eradication of illiteracy, a drop in extreme poverty from 41 percent to 32 percent and a 42 percent drop in infant mortality.

But Bolivia will not be able to meet the millennium goals unless the distribution of wealth is made more equal, he said, noting that a recent U.N. report says that the poorest 40 percent of the world's population has only 5 percent of global income, while 70 percent of world income goes to the top 5 percent of the world's population.

"That is unfair distribution of wealth," he said. "Our task should be oriented toward putting an end to this unfair distribution."