News Briefs
Back to Weekly News Briefs...August 28, 2008
- More aid for Burma
- Turmoil in Bolivia
- Numbers shift on world poverty
More aid for Burma
Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR) is delivering additional aid to Burma following Cyclone Nargis which struck in May. The aid package will comprise part of a larger effort by Canadian Churches in Action, through Action by Churches Together (ACT) International. Canadian International Development Agency is supporting the group’s effort with $300,000 in funding. The amount is based upon private donations by concerned citizens.
“Everyone who has sent in a donation to CLWR is quite literally a part of this successful proposal for federal support,” says Elaine Peters, CLWR program director. “The Government of Canada has matched what Canadians have donated to this cause, dollar for dollar.”
The aid package will benefit families living along a 50-mile band across the Irrawaddy Delta that was hit hard by the disaster.
“Villages in this area have high rates of landless families, and the farm families here were already very vulnerable and in a precarious food situation before the cyclone hit,” says Peters. “The cyclone damaged much of their rice stocks and dry season crops, and killed work animals. Now they don’t have rice to last them through the monsoon ‘lean’ season. CLWR, through ACT International, will be providing farm tools, seed and fertilizer so there can be a new crop.”
– CLWR News Service
Turmoil in Bolivia
Bolivia, a country in which CLWR operates a community development office, is becoming increasingly divided as national tensions rise following a referendum earlier this month.
The referendum on August 10 resulted in the administration of President Evo Morales winning over 60 percent support, which is greater than the support he received when winning the presidency back in 2005. However, four of six governors who oppose Morales were also voted to continue leading their respective provinces, called departments in Bolivia.
Morales this week put all of his country’s gas and oil installations under military protection as three energy-rich provinces mobilize for protests. These provinces hold much of Bolivia’s wealth and are also divided from the rest of the country along ethnic lines.
The president, attempting to nationalize key industries, succeeded in May and June in placing most of the country’s oil fields under the control of a state-run company through forced buyouts. He is also pushing for land reforms that would redistribute private farmland to the country’s impoverished indigenous majority.
“Finding out on August 11 that Morales had ‘won’ reassured us that we can continue to support the areas in which we work,” says Wendy Kroeker, CLWR’s program manager for Latin America. “Things will not necessarily be easy since the vote has highlighted some basic divisions in Bolivian society. But justice work is always on the margins. CLWR wants to continue supporting the work of our partners, and we will take our cues from them in terms of viability.”
– CLWR News Service
Numbers shift on world poverty
Canadians have often heard about the number of people “living on less than a dollar a day,” including from CLWR. Now the World Bank has recast the number of people living in poverty by adjusting the poverty line to $1.25 for inflation while looking at its 2005 statistics. The new benchmark now places 1.4 billion people in poverty, up from the old estimate of 985 million.
Despite this daunting new figure, the poverty rate has actually fallen from one half of the world’s population to one quarter over the last 25 years. Major changes along regional lines put this shift into better context. China accounts for most of the world’s poverty reduction, with the poverty rate in that country going from 85 percent down to about 16 percent in the last decade and a half.
In Africa the story is opposite. The number of poor people doubled from 1981 to 2005, living on an average of only 70 cents. India has 455 million poor, contributing to South Asia’s title as the home of the most poor people in the world. A large portion of CLWR’s community development work is targeted to these regions.
– With files from BBC News
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Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR) is delivering additional aid to Burma following Cyclone Nargis which struck in May. The aid package will comprise part of a larger effort by Canadian Churches in Action, through Action by Churches Together (ACT) International. Canadian International Development Agency is supporting the group’s effort with $300,000 in funding. The amount is based upon private donations by concerned citizens.
“Everyone who has sent in a donation to CLWR is quite literally a part of this successful proposal for federal support,” says Elaine Peters, CLWR program director. “The Government of Canada has matched what Canadians have donated to this cause, dollar for dollar.”
The aid package will benefit families living along a 50-mile band across the Irrawaddy Delta that was hit hard by the disaster.
“Villages in this area have high rates of landless families, and the farm families here were already very vulnerable and in a precarious food situation before the cyclone hit,” says Peters. “The cyclone damaged much of their rice stocks and dry season crops, and killed work animals. Now they don’t have rice to last them through the monsoon ‘lean’ season. CLWR, through ACT International, will be providing farm tools, seed and fertilizer so there can be a new crop.”
– CLWR News Service
Turmoil in Bolivia
Bolivia, a country in which CLWR operates a community development office, is becoming increasingly divided as national tensions rise following a referendum earlier this month.
The referendum on August 10 resulted in the administration of President Evo Morales winning over 60 percent support, which is greater than the support he received when winning the presidency back in 2005. However, four of six governors who oppose Morales were also voted to continue leading their respective provinces, called departments in Bolivia.
Morales this week put all of his country’s gas and oil installations under military protection as three energy-rich provinces mobilize for protests. These provinces hold much of Bolivia’s wealth and are also divided from the rest of the country along ethnic lines.
The president, attempting to nationalize key industries, succeeded in May and June in placing most of the country’s oil fields under the control of a state-run company through forced buyouts. He is also pushing for land reforms that would redistribute private farmland to the country’s impoverished indigenous majority.
“Finding out on August 11 that Morales had ‘won’ reassured us that we can continue to support the areas in which we work,” says Wendy Kroeker, CLWR’s program manager for Latin America. “Things will not necessarily be easy since the vote has highlighted some basic divisions in Bolivian society. But justice work is always on the margins. CLWR wants to continue supporting the work of our partners, and we will take our cues from them in terms of viability.”
– CLWR News Service
Numbers shift on world poverty
Canadians have often heard about the number of people “living on less than a dollar a day,” including from CLWR. Now the World Bank has recast the number of people living in poverty by adjusting the poverty line to $1.25 for inflation while looking at its 2005 statistics. The new benchmark now places 1.4 billion people in poverty, up from the old estimate of 985 million.
Despite this daunting new figure, the poverty rate has actually fallen from one half of the world’s population to one quarter over the last 25 years. Major changes along regional lines put this shift into better context. China accounts for most of the world’s poverty reduction, with the poverty rate in that country going from 85 percent down to about 16 percent in the last decade and a half.
In Africa the story is opposite. The number of poor people doubled from 1981 to 2005, living on an average of only 70 cents. India has 455 million poor, contributing to South Asia’s title as the home of the most poor people in the world. A large portion of CLWR’s community development work is targeted to these regions.
– With files from BBC News
