ERADICATING POVERTY & DISEASE…
“Poverty is unnecessary.” - Dr Muhammad Yunus, 1998 Sydney Peace Prize recipient.
There can never be peace when so many billions of people still live on less than $1 a day, without access to even the most fundamental food, shelter, education or health care. This is a reality even in many developed and affluent countries, where much of the population may think that extreme poverty does not even exist. The lack of such basic needs can foster fear, anger, and hostility amongst those who are affected, leading to insecure and potentially violent situations between groups that must compete for the simplest resources. It can also lead to the spread of disease related to poor nutrition, poor hygiene, or simply a lack of access to medicine or treatment. What’s more, the increasingly rapid movement of people and goods means that many “third world illnesses” are now threatening the more developed world as well. In an ever more globalised world, we can only improve this dangerous situation by seeing and treating other people’s suffering as our own.
Media
Relevant Sydney Peace Prize Winners
DR. MUHAMMAD YUNUS, 1998 - Founder of the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh.
“My greatest challenge has been to change the mindset of people. Mindsets play strange tricks on us. We see things the way our minds have instructed our eyes to see.” - Dr Muhammad Yunus.
In 1998 Dr Yunus was awarded the first Sydney Peace Prize for being “an innovator in work for the world’s poor and an inspiring advocate of the view that peace is freedom from poverty.” Read more about 1998 Sydney Peace Prize recipient Dr Muhammad Yunus HERE.
YPI Projects
The following projects designed and run by Australian young people are dedicated to the cause of “Eradicating Poverty & Disease”: