www.salvationarmy.org.uk/id06

crunch timeOver the past year we’ve all heard a lot about the global recession that we have found ourselves in. This ‘economic downturn’ or ‘credit crunch’ has dominated our news agenda and has undoubtedly affected us all in one way or another. For some of us it has not made much of a difference to our lives – we may have found our shopping bills go up or had a bit less disposable income to spend on life’s little treats. You may even have found yourself better off thanks to lower interest rates on your mortgage or the reduction of VAT. For others of us it has had considerably more of an impact due to losing business or even being made redundant or finding it difficult to find work.

The fact is, to some extent, great or small, we have all been affected, and that is true for our world’s poorest people too. In many parts of the world rising food prices have plunged people even deeper into poverty. In the past year the number of people who are undernourished hit almost 1 billion1 – that’s 15% of our world’s population who do not have something as simple as enough food to eat. It is also providing another barrier for a number of vulnerable countries who are being prevented from reaching the Millennium Development Goals, a set of eight targets agreed to by all the world’s countries to meet the needs of the world’s poorest people. In Zambia, for example, communities who rely on farming to survive and earn a living have been unable to afford vital fertiliser for their crops as it has risen in price by 150% in the past year. Figures published recently

by the World Bank also show that the world’s poorest countries will lose $1 trillion from their economies and will stay in recession for much longer than other countries2.

Consider the ways in which your life has changed during these past few months. What changes or sacrifices have you had to make in your lives? Have they been big or small, easy or difficult? Now consider those, for example, who are having to decide

whether or not their children can go to school, or whether their family can access the healthcare that they need. Consider those who are becoming susceptible to the promises of traffickers who are just looking to exploit those desperately in need of some way of earning a living. The global financial crisis might not seem like much of a crisis to us or our local neighbours, but it definitely is to our global neighbours if they are having

to make these kinds of decisions.The Salvation Army is responding

to smaller financial crises all over the world through income-generating opportunities, which continue to empower thousands of people in developing communities. Sometimes this is done through micro-credit projects, where our world’s poorest people help themselves out of poverty through a carefully designed system of loans used to encourage

income generation. The people who benefit from these projects would never otherwise be able to get a loan as they are so poor; the only alternative would be through loan sharks who then add enormous interest to the loan, which puts them under enormous pressure to pay the money back and keeps them

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1 http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=848932 http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jun/22/world-bank-international-capital-recession

trapped in poverty for even longer. Another way The Salvation Army is

supporting people is through projects that promote income-generating opportunities for rural communities. The people in the Nujiang area of China are primarily subsistence farmers. Due to the lack of these opportunities in the area, women often make the decision to migrate to other areas to look for work, and as such become vulnerable to

human trafficking. However, this community also has the potential to engage in silkworm farming. If we provide the necessary silkworm eggs and tools, plant mulberry trees that the silkworms use to feed off and provide training on how to raise them, the

community can then sell the cocoons which are used to produce silk, allowing them to start to earn a living in and for their own community. This helps them to pull themselves out of poverty and make them less vulnerable to exploitation.

There are many different ideas and theories as to why everything has gone wrong in the

global market. However, even before the events of the last few months, the world was already suffering from

You can fight against injustice too by supporting the work of The Salvation Army International Development. If you would like to make a regular or one-off donation, or increase your current donation, please fill in the form on the inside back cover of this magazine and return it to us.

We still maintain our commitment that no less than 95 pence in every pound donated will go directly to support Salvation Army development projects overseas. If you are a UK taxpayer you can help maximise your donations by allowing The Salvation Army to claim gift aid, adding an extra 28% to every donation you make. Please contact us on 020 7367 4777 for more details on how to do this on all future donations, as well as those made since 6th April 2003.

We are hoping to set up a network of advocates in the near future – a group of people situated all over the UK and Ireland who can help spread the world about our work and help campaign on issues such as the global financial crisis. If you are interested in being part of this please email us on id@salvationarmy.org.uk.

poverty, inequality and the threat of climate change. There were already billions of people suffering due to bad

regulations, unfair trading laws and environmental changes. This is also something that so far hasn’t been redressed, despite the efforts of protests such as the Put People First rally earlier in the year (see the news section for more information). However, The Salvation Army will continue to fight against injustice and strive to improve

the lives of our world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, whatever their circumstances.

Even before the events of the last few months, the world was already suffering from poverty, inequality and the threat of climate change.