Poverty Facts

Globally, millions of people, predominantly women and girls, dedicate significant portions of their day to fetching water. In many regions, this essential task can take over 30 minutes, and in some extreme cases, particularly in rural areas, individuals may walk for several hours each day.

In the 1970s, the Canadian town of Dauphin, Manitoba ran a 'Mincome' experiment that guaranteed every resident a minimum income, eliminating poverty for four years.

The world's ten richest billionaires have more combined wealth than the 40 poorest countries' annual GDP.

In Haiti, only about 1 out of every 260 people owns a car—one of the lowest car ownership rates in the world.

Sisa Abu Daooh, an Egyptian woman, disguised herself as a man for 43 years after her husband passed away so she could work and provide for her daughter. She worked as a shoe shiner, brick layer, and farmer. When she was finally revealed in 2015, the Egyptian government didn't punish her — they awarded her the "Ideal Mother" prize on national television.

William Kamkwamba dropped out of school at 14 years old when famine hit Malawi and his family could not afford the fees. He walked to a local library and taught himself from the diagrams in a book he could barely read. Then he built a 16-foot windmill from scrapyard junk - and it lit up his family home.