What We Do

“Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time. Poverty is losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water. Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom… Most often, poverty is a situation people want to escape.”

Whilst Singaporeans live on an average of US$74 a day (refer to footnote below), millions elsewhere in the world live in extreme poverty. “It has been estimated that in 2001, 1.1 billion people had consumption levels below US$1 a day, and 2.7 billion lived on less than $2 a day. These figures…remain too high in terms of human suffering, and much more remains to be done.”

Our mission is to:

* increase awareness of global extreme poverty and promote Fair Trade as an equitable and sustainable form    of exchange for its eradication



Footnote:

(1) "Background on Poverty" quoted from the World Bank's PovertyNet website, assessed on 10 March, 2006.

(2) "Singaporeans' average income per day" is based on data extracted from The World Bank’s World Development Indicators. The calculation is based on Gross Domestic Product Per Capita for Singaporeans in the year 2004 (USD27,272.53), divided  by 365 days per year. Do note that this figure does not take into account the effects of purchasing power parity, income distribution, taxes and other distortions.