Blog

The UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDG) are failing to meet their objectives and highlight wealthier nations inadequate approach to tackling global poverty, writes Justin Frewen.

The humanitarian crisis unfolding in Haiti has forced the West yet again to consider the plight of the poor and destitute in the developing world. While Haiti widely covered by the media - if not generally in any great depth as to the underlying causes of such wholesale poverty – billions of people continue to live in dire poverty, hunger and inequitable conditions globally.

The threat of hijackings did not deter the Malian authorities from hosting one of the biggest earners in the tourist calender, nor from Tom Rowe checking out the nomadic vibes at the Festival au Desert, in the surrounds of the exotic Saharan lanscape.

A recent headline from the Irish Times ("Elderly Take Over", Jan. 13) conjures images of the medical card protests in October 2008 by the elderly citizens of Ireland. Clearly, the effect of an ageing population on economics, politics, and society in general is in need of contemplation. The UN Population Division has issued a report showing how trends in the average age of workers will affect advanced societies.

In most of the world, the difference in income between rich and poor is growing, and the wealthy consume more while the poor are forced to live ever more frugally. Justin Frewen discloses the nature of global and domestic inequality. 

The inability of people from poorer, ‘developing’ countries to meet their basic food needs is a perversity driven by the food demands and greed of wealthy nations. Children in poor countries are the worst affected by the imbalance. Food production is measured purely in terms of market value - this must change for the imbalance to be redressed. By Justin Frewen

Today marks a year since the announcement of Dell’s closure in Limerick.

True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. Necessitous men are not free men. - Franklin D. Roosevelt (State of the Union Address 1944)

The portrayal of evil by western leaders and media ignores the true evils that devastate people globally – the triad of poverty, hunger and broader inequality. In this first blog for Politico, Justin Frewen gives a brief insight into the scale of global poverty.