Poverty in Ayacucho--The legacy of Peru's armed conflict

Ayacucho is the birthplace of Peru's Maoist rebel movement known as Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path). Between 1980 and 2000, violent clashes between the Shining Path and government counter-insurgency forces claimed approximately 70,000 lives. Today, Ayacucho remains one of Peru's poorest regions.

In 2003, I traveled to Ayacucho to work with indigenous communities affected by the conflict through the local non-governmental organization Paz y Esperanza. This work gave me an opportunity to observe and experience many of the ways in which the conflict devastated the region and relegated thousands of families to extreme poverty.

Mike Wooldridge of the BBC recently traveled to Ayacucho and spoke to impoverished community members. In this broadcast, he first asks about the socio-economic impact of the conflict and the challenges of raising a family on a dollar a day. He then learns about Peru's social programs that aim to alleviate poverty and the effects of Ayacucho's violent past.

BBC Documentaries --"A Dollar A Day"

Part One: Listen to the program (23:00)
Poverty was a key issue in the recent elections in Kenya and the unrest that followed.

Part Two: Listen to the program (23:00)
In Peru, women get one dollar a day for vaccinating and sending their children to school .

Part Three: Listen to the program (23:00)
In India, more people are surviving into their old age, and many live in deep poverty.

Corruption traps millions in poverty

Transparency International is a global civil society organization that uses a variety of tools, including expert opinion surveys, questionnaires, and polls, to measure the perceptions of public sector corruption in 163 countries. According to Transparency International, corruption is defined as the misuse of entrusted power for private gain. The study of corruption is important because of the strong correlation that exists between corruption and poverty. Furthermore, corruption is not just a problem in a few countries; on the contrary, it is considered a serious domestic threat in over seventy-five percent of the world.

“Corruption traps millions in poverty,” says Transparency International Chair Huguette Labelle. “Despite a decade of progress in establishing anti-corruption laws and regulations, today’s results indicate that much remains to be done before we see meaningful improvements in the lives of the world’s citizens.” The fight against corruption in North America gained importance as a result of recent accounting, financial and political scandals. Meanwhile, corruption in Latin America is largely defined by structural problems that not only adversely affect the region’s economic and democratic development, but also place a direct burden on the overall quality of life.

In 2006, out of 163 countries surveyed the countries with the lowest perceived levels of corruption were Finland, Iceland, and New Zealand. Haiti, Myanmar, Iraq, and Guinea were among the countries with the highest levels of corruption. In a report that compares only countries located in the Americas, the United States ranks second, tied with Chile behind Canada. In comparison to the 163 countries surveyed worldwide, the United States ranks 20th overall. In contrast, Colombia ranks ninth in the Americas and 59th overall.