Conference speakers detail poverty in their home countries

Published: 2006-11-01

SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) -- During a two-day national conference on poverty in San Francisco, speakers from some of the world's poorest countries spoke of current hardships in their countries and possible solutions. Speakers from India, Kenya and Brazil told of dire poverty in Asia, Africa and Latin America where the inequality between the rich and poor is most notable. They addressed nearly 1,000 participants during the Oct. 27-28 "Point 7 Now" conference on global poverty at St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco. The San Francisco Archdiocese co-sponsored the conference with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and a handful of other Catholic institutions. The conference title refers to goals adopted by nations in September 2000 at the U.N. Millennium Summit aimed at reducing extreme poverty and improving the lives of those living in the world's poorest countries by the year 2015. The governments of most developed countries agreed to increase their aid to the poorest countries -- pledging the equivalent of seven-tenths of 1 percent of their gross domestic product each year for development assistance.

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