The Poverty Quiz
Think you know roughly how the world works? See if you can match the country, person or rganization to the right quote or statistic. The correct answers are on the action page.
1. In which country does one in nine people live in poverty?
- South Africa
- Australia
- India
- Brazil
2. How much do the rich countries give to the much poorer ones?
- Nothing
- $210 million
- $3,000 million
- $340,000 million
3. Who said: ‘Whenever you are in doubt or when the self becomes too much... Apply the following test: Recall the face of the poorest and weakest man [sic] you have seen and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny? Then you will find your doubts and your self melting away.’?
- Mahatma Gandhi
- Julius Nyerere
- Nelson Mandela
- President Suharto
4. The world's 225 richest people have a combined wealth of over a million million dollars. This is the same as the annual income of how many of the world's poorest people?
- 1 million
- 30 million
- 1,000 million
- 2,500 million
5. In which country do 35.5 million people – one child in four – live below the official poverty line?
- Zambia
- Cambodia
- Russia
- United States
6. ‘I'm married and have a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter. I get up at 8am and don't have anything to eat until 7 or 8pm. I want my daughter to be able to eat.’ Where is this person from?
- Uganda
- Britain
- Aotearoa/New Zealand
- India
7. Where do hundreds of thousands of rural people have no guaranteed water supply?
- Pakistan
- Papua New Guinea
- Peru
- Australia
8. What percentage of the UK population experienced a spell of poverty between 1990 and 1994?
- 2%
- 53%
- 31%
- 7%
9. Who said: ‘A substantial increase in the resources for fighting poverty in the poorest countries appears entirely affordable. It is a matter of political commitment.’?
- The World Bank
- The New Internationalist
- The Government of Canada
- Mozambique's Prime Minister
10. The West gave the Global South $47.58 billion in aid in 1997. By what percentage was this different from the previous year?
- +2.5%
- +10%
- -7.1%
- -15.7%
11. Who said: ‘The new century is not going to be new at all if we offer only charity. That palliative to satisfy the conscience and keep the same old system of haves and have-nots quietly contained.’
- Nadine Gordimer
- Noam Chomsky
- Boris Yeltsin
- Tony Blair
12. In what part of the world has poverty increased seven-fold since 1988, pushing an additional 105 million people below the poverty line?
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- South America
- The Pacific
- Former Soviet Union
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Voices from the margins:
Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.
- Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
- The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
- Iranian women speak out
- 3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
- Raised Voices audio:
- Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power
- Vinayan from India on agriculture
