Poverty may have varied definitions and perspectives for different groups of people. Several children across the globe were asked to respond to the question: “What does it mean to be poor?” The following is a cross-section of their responses:

“Poverty is when one doesn’t have a house or money, when children have no place to stay, no food, or even a place to sleep.” Esther, Tanzania

“I think young people should have a say in poverty policy, as it helps people have an insight in to what poverty is like in the United Kingdom and how they can make a positive change, from the little things in their local community, to the big things on a national scale.” Liam, United Kingdom

“Poverty is having many problems and you are not able to solve them easily because you have no money” William Murigi, Kenya

“I was surprised by how things can change so fast… You can go from doing OK, not having to go hungry, to this: going hungry and having to pay all your bills and not being able to buy food, on the verge of being homeless again.” Roger, USA

“I hope that with my writing I will be able to draw attention of the world to the poor children in the world. I’m happy because I am involved in the fight against child poverty, because every child has the right to a better life.” Fatma, Bosnia and Herzogovina

“Finding solutions for the poverty in India is one of the most important needs. Poverty among the children is a very bad situation and a bad thing to everyone. Involving the youth and children in finding solutions  is one of the precious gifts.” Ravichandran, India 

“To me, poverty is suffering, difficulties and dis¬eases…it interferes with everything, the quality of education and the ability to purchase materials.” Isabella, Brazil 

“As a child, what I can do about poverty is to stay positive” Princess, Kenya

“Poverty is not having enough money to provide for one’s basic needs.” John, Tanzania

“We should try to get greediness out of our country. It is something that kills the dreams of those who come from poor states as I do. It kills them because – when people are greedy, the money that is meant for us, people who are poor and come from this state – it’s taken by them and used to satisfy their needs and this makes us poorer.” girl from Kenya

“If my dream comes true and I play football and I get good (grades), I will build a school, so that poor children can learn” boy from Kenya