UN studies and declarations agree that poverty is linked to lack of control over resources, especially unequal access to land. The UN world conference on Habitat , which took place June 1996, in Istanbul, recommended the recapture of speculative gains in land values through local taxes in order to alleviate poverty and increase affordable housing. Real estate generally becomes more valuable as population grows and as communities improve themselves. Their business is simply to anticipate such rises, then monopolize land parcels until they can sell them and reap high returns on their investments while depriving others of the use of land at affordable prices. Unfortunately, references to the problems created by transnational corporations, the WTO and others are few and weak in most UN commitments and resolutions .
Reform groups call poverty a human rights violation.
What Folks Have Been Saying Once again, you people are out of the mainstream. It represents a call to arms for all those concerned with Earth's ecosystem and the hellish spiral of destruction the world's poor are already undergoing. It is certain nearly every nation will sign on to this document, considering the stranglehold that the international financial community has on trade between nations. World government is becoming a frightening reality and the interests of the environment and the world's poor are diametrically opposed to those in charge of it. Nobody asked the people of this world if they wanted to be controlled by international bankers and corporations, yet, with the signing of this document, they will be.