"Yellow Vest" ? The Majority of French People Are Among the Richest 10% in the World

THOUSANDS OF YELLOW VESTS (GILETS JAUNES) PROTESTS IN PARIS CALLING FOR LOWER FUEL TAXES, REINTRODUCTION OF THE SOLIDARITY TAX ON WEALTH, A MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE, AND EMMANUEL MACRON'S RESIGNATION AS PRESIDENT OF FRANCE, 09 FEBRUARY 2019. BY NORBU GYACHUNG, CC BY-SA 4.0. VIA WIKI COMMONS.

" Yellow Vest " ? The Majority of French People Are Among the Richest 10% in the World

In France, the concern for inequality makes poverty invisible. For example, the organization Oxfam, whose name is related to the famine ( Ox ford Committee for Fam ine Relief), focused his campaign on the rich. The media gave the names of billionaires who would own as much as half of humanity but did not say a word about the poor. Yet, naming poor people increases their sympathy for them and promotes altruistic decision, as many studiesshow.

The invisibility of the poor could be explained by the current context. After long months of saying that yellow jackets "suffer", that they are "in distress" and can not "make ends meet" or "fill their fridge", can we still talk about those who live on $ 1.90 a day?

There is certainly good news: the proportion of the world's poor has fallen drastically. Forty years ago, it was over 40%. Today, only 10% of the world's population lives on $ 1.90 a day. Half of these people live in Africa.

So, imagine that you have 100 euros to give. You can give them to Christian, one of my students, born in Burkina Faso: he will send them to his family who live with $ 1.90 a day, as nearly half of Burkinabe. But you can also give them to Eric, father and driver, who earns a little more than 54 euros per day, the value of the daily smic.

How are you going to spend those 100 euros?

Empowering Women Is Key To Planned Population Growth in Africa, Educated Citizens, Good Health and Economic Development

Empowering Women Is Key To Planned Population Growth in Africa, Educated Citizens, Good Health and Economic Development

By Alex Ezeh, Dornsife Professor of Global Health, Drexel University

I think about the future of my continent in terms of three questions: Are Africans healthy? Do they have access to a good education? And do they have opportunities to apply their skills?

Millions more Africans have been able to answer yes to these questions in recent years. But there’s an elephant in the room. One of the keys to keeping this progress going is slowing down the rapid rates of population growth in parts of the continent. But population issues are so difficult to talk about that the development community has been ignoring them for years.

Population growth is a controversial topic because, in the not-too-distant past, some countries tried to control population growth with abusive, coercive policies, including forced sterilization. Now, human rights are again at the centre of the discussion about family planning, where they belong. But as part of repairing the wounds created by this history, population was removed from the development vocabulary altogether.

For the sake of Africa’s future, we should bring it back. Based on current trends, Africa as a whole is projected to double in size by 2050. Between 2050 and 2100, according to the United Nations, it could almost double again. In that case, the continent would have to quadruple its efforts just to maintain the current level of investment in health and education, which is too low already.

But if the rate of population growth slows down there will be more resources to invest in each African’s health, education, and opportunity – in other words, in a good life.

Girls' Underage Marriages Decline By More Than A Third In A Decade, With India Center Stage

Girls' Underage Marriages Decline By More Than A Third In A Decade, With India Center Stage

UNICEF announced in a new report that the number of underage girls married each year is now estimated at 12 million. Even though the number remains too high, the total a decade ago was a depressing and embarrassing 37 million girls. 

“Each and every child marriage prevented gives another girl the chance to fulfill her potential,” Anju Malhotra, UNICEF’s Principal Gender Advisor, says in a press release. “But given the world has pledged to end child marriage by 2030, we’re going to have to collectively redouble efforts to prevent millions of girls from having their childhoods stolen through this devastating practice.”

The data is widespread with major drops of more than a third in India and Ethiopia. The New York Times reports that in Bihar, a poor, agrarian state in northern India, a 2005 survey reported that 60 percent of surveyed women reported being underage when married. A decade later, 42.5 percent report being married under age 18.

Bill and Melinda Gates Make A Big Move For Women's Global Economic Empowerment

Bill and Melinda Gates Make A Big Move For Women's Global Economic Empowerment

For over a decade, researchers have known that everything changes in almost every community and country worldwide when women have money. 

On Monday Melinda Gates published an op-ed in Quartz in which she and husband Bill Gates announced a four-year pledge of $170 million to help empower women economically worldwide.

The decision comes at a time when 1) the Gates Foundation has tried to block the damage levied at poor women worldwide by cuts In the US budget that funds global women's health initiatives -- not abortions, but 'yes' to birth control being available at women's health clinics. Generally-speaking, the Trump administration stands opposed to taxpayer-funded birth control, arguing that it diminishes religious freedoms for those Americans opposed to contraception; and 2) in response to #MeToo stories and the prevalence of sexual harassment and violence against women worldwide.

The money, from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will be spent over four years “to help women exercise their economic power,” Melinda Gates wrote. She noted that research shows economic power is the “most promising entry points for gender equality.” 

“Simply put when money flows into the hands of women who have the authority to use it, everything changes,” Melinda Gates wrote.

Emmanuel & Brigitte Macron Meet With Bono & Rihanna On Global Poverty Aid

Emmanuel & Brigitte Macron Meet With Bono & Rihanna On Global Poverty Aid

France's First Lady Brigitte Macron and French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Irish superstarBono to the Elysee Palace on Monday, where they had an hour-long meeting on key topics in solving global poverty. Bono, appearing with Brigitte Macron, said that a strong focus of the dialogue was educating girls and women in Africa. 

Bono met with the Macrons in his capacity as founder of the NGO ONE, dedicated to fighting extreme poverty. Bono said that the French president, who has seen a 10 pt pt. drop in ratings since he assumed office, will boost its aid budget to 0.55 percent of gross domestic product by 2022.

Trumps Launch Full Assault On International Programs That Benefit Women & Girls

Trumps Launch Full Assault On International Programs That Benefit Women & Girls

The Trump family double teamed their lies about women's rights with the proposed elimination of Hillary Clinton's Global Women's Issues Office, a State Department office that fights for the rights of women all over the world, with a special focus on defending those who are in the most precarious and vulnerable situations in impoverished countries.

Will The Berlin Girls Club Confront Ivanka Trump About Her Father's Anti-Contraception Drive In Poor Countries?

Will The Berlin Girls Club Confront Ivanka Trump About Her Father's Anti-Contraception Drive In Poor Countries?

The coverage of Ivanka Trump in the German press in the days leading up to her speech was similar to that at home, where she has been criticized on late night programs like “Saturday Night Live” for being “complicit” in her father’s agenda. The front page of one daily newspaper, Berliner Zeitung, featured a photograph of Ivanka Trump under the headline “First Flusterin,” or “the first whisperer.” 

Ivanka can read the headlines, and anticipating not being taken seriously, having no policy chops, the Trump daughter co-authored an op-ed in The Financial Times, with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, arguing that the estimated 170-year timeline to close the gender pay gap "is unacceptable."

{.. . }

It's ironic to read Ivanka Trump's commentary about empowering women in developing countries, after her father has decimated family-planning budgets in place under the Obama Administration and instituted when Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State. 

India's Bihar Province Women Launch Assault On Alcohol With Dramatic Wins For Families

India's Bihar Province Women Launch Assault On Alcohol With Dramatic Wins For Families

Bihar is a state in East India, bordering Nepal. It is divided by the River Ganges, which floods its fertile plains. Important Buddhist pilgrimage sites include the Bodhi Tree in Bodhgaya's Mahabodhi Temple, under which the Buddha allegedly meditated. In the state capital Patna, Mahavir Mandir temple is revered by Hindus, while Sikhs worship at the domed, riverside Gurdwara of Takht Sri Harmandir Sahib Ji.

It's easy to conjure up images of women taking their drunk-husband lives into their own hands in the image of Carry Nation, the temperance advocate who attacked saloons in America, hatchet in hand.

But the reality of everyday life in Bihar state province is that the majority of per capita income of $600 a year is routinely spent on alcohol, rather than to advance impoverished families. 

Daily News: Samira Wiley In 'The Handmaid's Tale'; Prince Harry Honors Diana on Landmine Free World Day April 4

Beautiful Bride Samira Wiley Goes Gay Again As Moira In 'The Handmaid's Tale'

Just how beautiful is it that Samara Wiley and Lauren Morelli's March 25th Palm Springs wedding is featured in Martha Stewart Weddings? Pretty damn wonderful! ~ Anne

More Hillary Women News Daily

Status Update On Global Drive For Clean Cookstoves In Developing Countries

Status Update On Global Drive For Clean Cookstoves In Developing Countries

Stand #WithStrongGirls Because Poverty Is Sexist

Join the campaign, stand with over 6 million strong girls supporters everywhere: http://one.org. 

ONEinAfrica Facebook

ONEinAfrica Twitter

We’ve joined forces with 9 of Africa’s most talented artists to create a new anthem that celebrates the power of girls and women everywhere.

This song is a call to action for you to put pressure on your leader to empower girls and women in the poorest countries, so that they can lift their own communities out of poverty.

‘Strong Girl’ features vocalists Waje (Nigeria), Victoria Kimani (Kenya), Vanessa Mdee (Tanzania), Arielle T (Gabon), Gabriela (Mozambique), Yemi Alade (Nigeria), Selmor Mtukudzi (Zimbabwe), Judith Sephuma (South Africa), new talent Blessing Nwafor (South Africa) and the video stars Omotola Jalade Ekeinde (Nigeria). 

Madonna's buildOn Alliance Bears Fruit In Malawi

Madonna’s buildOn Alliance Bears Fruit In Malawi

“Because of Madonna and Raising Malawi’s support, we will be able to build schools for children that the rest of the world has left behind.  Generations of children will have access to education and be empowered to break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy and low expectations,” said Jim Ziolkowski, Founder and CEO of buildOn, in his own comments around the collaboration.

Shakira: Brainiac Smart Sensuality Activist with Curves

Shakira: Brainiac Smart Sensuality Activist with Curves

One of our most important AOC articles took off yesterday, moving into the top 5 after a hiatus. Originally written in 2009 when Shakira’s ‘She Wolf’ video hit the charts, Anne explains much of her philosophy about the Smart Sensuality woman: smart and sexy with heart.

Shakira | Permanently Committed to A Better World

Like their sexy gal pal, the Smarty Pants guys are concerned about the real issues of our times. Only powerful thinking and strong alliances will save the planet from the devastating effects of global poverty, women’s subjugation, lack of childhood education and environmental catastrophe.

With Howard Buffett and Carlos Slim Helu on her side, Shakira is cruising in her determined crusade to change the world.

Gucci Brand's Deep Commitment to Women In Need

Gucci Brand's Deep Commitment to Women In Need

Digging deeper into the Gucci website, we discover a wide range of involvement with young people around the world. The luxury brand supports China Children & Teenagers Fund. And now for the AOC jackpot.

PPR Foundation for Women’s Dignity and Rights

Gucci is part of the PPR Foundation for Women’s Dignity and Rights, replacing the former SolidarCité. The foundation is tied to PPR, the French multinational founded by François Pinault and now run by his son François-Henri Pinault.

PPR sold its French Printemps store in 2006 and is now focused on Gucci, Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, Sergio Rossi, Boucheron, Bottega Veneta, Alexander McQueen (50%) and Stella McCartney (50%), as well as other brands and mail order companies.

The Foundation for Women’s Dignity & Rights is involved in so many global initiatives for women that we can’t list them. The projects aren’t sexy: genital mutilation, forced child marriage, honour killings, sex trafficking.

In my experience, most American brands shudder at the thoughts of articulating these concerns in the same sentence as their brand names.

'The Places We Live': Four Monumental Slums Typify 'Home' for More Than One Billion People

‘The Places We Live’: Four Monumental Slums Typify ‘Home’ for More Than One Billion People

In 2008, for the first time in human history, more people lived in cities than in rural areas. One-third of these urban dwellers—more than one billion people—resided in slums. That number is expected to rise substantially: the United Nations forecasts that the number of slum dwellers will double to two billion people within the next 25 years. Poverty is urbanizing at breakneck speed, and there are few overarching plans to address how cities can accommodate this rapid influx of humans.

Christy Turlington's Maternal Health 'No Woman No Cry' Full Documentary

Christy Turlington's Maternal Health 'No Woman No Cry' Full Documentary

Statistically, development experts agree that women are far more likely than men to invest available resources on their children’s education and welfare. When mothers are killed or left debilitated by childbirth, cycles of poverty and misery are particularly harsh for girl babies and young girls in the family. 

I didn’t want it to feel like an advocacy film,” says Christy Turlington about her documentary “No Woman No Cry”, which also made its debut at last week’s conference on reproductive health. “I didn’t want it to feel like an advocacy film,” Turlington says, “I wanted it to be an advocacy tool.” That means “No Woman No Cry” is almost wholly free of development speak and policy recommendations. via The Daily Beast

All who know her understand that Christy Turlington Burns is an activist first and a supermodel second. Turlington may have just signed up for the A/W Louis Vuitton campaign, but her focus is sharing the powerful stories of at-risk pregnant women in four parts of the world, including a remote Maasai tribe in Tanzania, a slum of Bangladesh, a post-abortion care ward in Guatemala, and a prenatal clinic in the United States.

Photographers JR & Jonas Bendiksen | Artistry in Kibera, Kenya

JR ‘s “Women Are Heroes” Kibera, Kenya

NOWNESS, Louis Vuitton’s culture website Tweeted JR’s “Women Are Heroes” project just now, featuring photos from Kibera, located in Nairobi, Kenya.

We’ve written extensively about this inspiring, global project and only recently connected it to Jonas Bendiksen’s widely-read stories at Anne of Carversville: ‘The Places We Live”: Four Monumental Slums Typify ‘Home’ for More than One Billion People.

Bendiksen photographs Kibera from another angle than JR.

We found ourselves in Kibera for another reason, wanting to learn more about the so-called “flying toilets” of Kibera. If you require translation, a “flying toilet” consists of human waste put into a plastic bag and tossed into the air, landing on roads or in gutters.

The photographs of both JR and Jonas Bendiksen bring the “flying toilets” of Kibera into sharp focus.

An 'Au Naturel" Jolie and Pitt Laugh at Gossipmongers at LA UNICEF Bash

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are the anti-glamour couple at the UNICEF Ball honoring Jerry Weintraub

An ‘Au Naturel’ Jolie and Pitt Laugh at Gossipmongers at LA UNICEF Bash

Presumably the tabloids won’t let up on the fact that Brangelina is coming unglued and there’s no love left in the house, but Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were beyond joined at the hip last night, at UNICEF’s Ball honoring Jerry Weintraub.

The pair looked very Cultural Creative last evening, perhaps the most “au naturel” we’ve seen them when attending a gala. Angelina Jolie is a UNICEF ambassador and chose to not outshine the grime of the many devastating war and poverty zones that she covers on her international beat.

Diamonds at the Beverly Wilshire and starving camps in Somalia don’t make the best press, although no one would throw even a marsh mellow at Jolie and Pitt, a couple who goes beyond “walking their talk” for humanitarian causes.

Jacqueline Novogratz's Acumen Fund Means Good Business for Poor People

Jacqueline Novogratz’s Acumen Fund Means Good Business for Poor People