Brazil

For Brazilians, poverty encompassed economic, social and ethical dimensions. The poor suffer from material depravation and the lack of basic resources such as food, shelter, education, health and work. Brazilians also described poverty as a condition in which human beings are stripped of their dignity and self-esteem. The poor are deprived of the opportunity and the capacity to participate in society. In the words of one participant, “poverty is when a person has no capacity to reflect, or awareness of his true condition.” Poverty is caused, on the one hand, by economic and political forces, and by individualism, corruption and indifference on the other. While all are seen as responsible for eradicating poverty, some groups are seen as more responsible than others. Participants identified the media as one powerful agent of change because of its far-reaching capacity to disseminate information among the population. All agreed that poverty is a violation of human rights; a violation that “engenders all other violations.” When a person is poor, he lacks the “the capability even to express himself adequately, to reflect on his situation or to perceive that there do exist certain rights that are being violated.”

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