Childhood should be a happy time spent with friends, and playing with toys, but children in the developing world spend most of their childhood struggling to survive, without much hope for a secure, productive life. Even 40 years after the international War on Poverty began, much of the public conversation and official response remains disconnected from the real lives of poor families.

Of the 57 million people worldwide who died last year, 10.5 million of them were children less than five years old. 98 percent of these children were from developing nations. Treatable illnesses, such as pneumonia, malaria, diarrhoea and malnutrition, become life threatening when combined with poverty, war, and poor sanitation, inadequate health care and insufficient preventive measures. But poverty is not only associated with developing countries - and we must first begin to look closer to home.

In the UK there are at least 13 million people living in poverty, around 3.4 million are children. Children go without two or more items that are necessities, such as adequate clothing, toys, or three meals a day. People in poverty in the UK are living in a parallel financial universe, often budgeting on a weekly cash basis, with no bank account, and constantly juggling bills and debts.

Being poor isn't just about a lack of money or possessions - the effects run much deeper. There are many studies to show that the education, health, life expectancy, and employment prospects of the children of families with low incomes are much worse than they are for children born to wealthy parents. Poverty also means being powerless - having no say in the decisions that affect your life. And it can also mean being treated as a second-class citizen by the rest of society. This is the same for most poor people, whether they live in a housing estate in Brixton, or a village in China. Poverty strips you of your dignity and affects your self-esteem, and your confidence.

It is a well-known global fact that poverty is killing our future generations and restricting talented individuals across the globe from developing skills in their desired career path. And believe me, such a realisation of not being able to follow your dreams is crushing, and could leave a permanent scar for life.

You may think poverty is a problem for developing countries, but think again! Those delicious fruits you just bought for the kitchen table - were they bought through fair trade?

The chances are you can't go out and help the poor - but you can donate to organisations and you can buy fair trade goods and get involved in poverty prevention and awareness campaigns. Have you recently enlisted to learn how to do flower arranging? Why not join an organisation such as 'Care International' or 'World Vision Japan', and make a difference on our planet.

Do you believe that thou shall not kill? Then you should also believe and on the same token that thou shall save those from being killed. Yes, I did say being killed! Poverty is not born out of choice - it is due to the structures of our society and modern day world. The government in the UK give income support to those who need it, but it is only barely enough to survive on, and not enough to improve one's life. It is also a fact that people from poorer backgrounds are most likely to smoke and eat junk food, which leads to lack of exercise, which then leads to chronic disease. Junk food is not marketed to those well-educated people from wealthier backgrounds. And what about how the UK imports its oil, food and other services and products? Through modern day slave labour - and if you don't know about these things, then you should question what you have been reading and doing up until now.

Poverty is killing our planet and the human mentality. It is noticeable that immigrants and asylum seekers have a distinct and rather raw-like animal attitude. Most lack the social qualities to be able to communicate properly within society. This is born from out of a poverty-cultured background.

In the UK, we can grasp some idea of what it means to be poor as the gap between the rich and poor is wide like an ocean. However, in Japan, which is a wealthy country, such a wide gap doesn't exist - thus there is a lack of understanding and knowledge to the affects of what poverty can have on an individual, family, society and the nation. I asked the average Japanese citizen if they know of any Japanese based organisations in the aid of poverty awareness and/or prevention. The answer? 'NO!' This is not to say that there isn't any.

Poverty is like a virus leading our current generation into health diseases, lack of physical activity and bad eating habits. Every 3 minutes, one British adult dies due to heart disease - and an increasing number of young people are dying due to chronic diseases. Our younger generation are dying like flies, and the global life expectancy is reducing year by year.

The government and the wealthy persons greed is keeping the rich, rich and the poor, poor (unfair terms in international trade, debt repayment, the tying of aid disbursements to the privatisation of essential public services - rich countries are free to strike individual treaties with their weaker trading partners, and that is not mentioning that if developing countries increased their share of world exports by five per cent, they would earn an extra £300 billion a year, three times more than they will be given in 2015 [as suggested by the G8 and the world's leading countries in their attempts to Make Poverty History]).

And why is that poor people are the most likely ones to donate money? Those in a position to help those who aren't should do. And no - I'm not saying feel guilty - for you shouldn't, since you are where you are today probably because of your decisions and choices - but while you eat your food and leave a half eaten plate, please bear a thought for those that do not have such a luxury. Change your thoughts towards those that live in poverty - join organisations to make a united voice against the government - donate to organisations. Make the following for this New Year important thoughts in you everyday life: 'Fair trade, debt relief, corruption prevention - better education, health, clean water, food aid' - ALL IN THE NAME OF POVERTY! THANK YOU!

 

Leading Organisations:

CARE INTERNATIONAL (UK): http://www.care.org/

UNICEF (UK): www.unicef.org.uk

UNICEF (JAPAN): www.unicef.or.jp

SHELTER (UK): www.shelter.org.uk

OXFAM (UK): http://www.oxfam.org.uk

OXFAM (JAPAN): http://www.oxfam.jp

CHILD POVERTY ACTION GROUP (UK): http://www.cpag.org.uk/

WORLD VISION JAPAN (JAPAN): http://www.worldvision.jp/

VSO AWARENESS & ACTION (UK): www.vso.org.uk/

NICCO (JAPAN): http://www.kyoto-nicco.org/

HOTTOKENAI (JAPAN): http://www.hottokenai.jp/index.html

YOUTH ENDING HUNGER (JAPAN): http://www2.hungerfree.net/yehjapan/index.html

OXFORD HEALTH ALLIANCE (UK): http://oxha.org

3FOUR50 (UK): http://www.3four50.com