Fighting poverty

A bird's-eye-view of street corners across the globe

In many cities around the world, the sight of human beings sleeping in doorways, scrounging in alleys for food scraps or rattling paper cups in search of loose change has begun to seem unexceptional-even inevitable-and therefore unworthy of attention. The global crisis of homelessness is not only all too common, but also all too commonly ignored, overlooked or misunderstood.

INSP street papers work towards improving the lives of the important people who are reflected in the following statistics.

Global Homelessness: The Facts

• Over 100 million persons are homeless worldwide and over 1 billion inadequately housed. (Source)
• At least 600 million people live in shelters that are life threatening or health threatening.
  (Source)
• Every day, some 50,000 people, mostly women and children, die as a result of poor shelter, polluted water and inadequate sanitation. (Source)
• There are an estimated 1.3 billion people living in poverty around the world of which 70 percent are women and girls. (Source)
• There are 23 million refugees, and 27 million internal displaced people (within their own countries) worldwide, nearly all of which are living in poverty. (Source)
• Homelessness directly affects one's health. In London, for example, life expectancy among homeless people is more than 25 years lower than the national average. (Source)

A Regional Snapshot          

• USA: On any given night, it is estimated that some 842,000 people experience homelessness. Based on this data, the annual projection is 3.5 million people.(Source)
• Germany: A total of 272,000 people were found either homeless, roofless, or utilizing a housing service in 2004.
• Poland: It is estimated that some 33,434 people live in overnight shelters, temporary accommodation or a homeless hostel every year. (Source )
• India: India is one of the few developing countries that has tried to count its homeless, finding more than 2.3 million.
  (Source)
• Australia: The 2001 Population Census showed that there were 99,900 houseless people in Australia.
  (Source)