18 - 25 May 2008

Last week was Christian Aid Week which helps the poorest of the poor. Some facts from their web site:

• Rigged trade rules cost the developing world $700 billion a year, according to the UN.
• The three richest people in the world control more wealth than all 600 million people living in the world's poorest countries.
• International trade is worth $10 million a minute. But poor countries only account for 0.4% of this trade. Indeed, their share is actually half what it was in 1980.
• Nearly half the world's population (2.8 billion people) live on less than $2 per day. And more than 800 million go hungry every day.
• Income per person in the poorest countries in Africa has fallen by a quarter in the past 20 years.