In her new book The Unheard Truth, Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan reveals why poverty is the worst human rights crisis in the world today.

If protected and fulfilled, human right can shield those living in poverty from insecurity, exclusion and inequality, and address the abuses which help to create and perpetuate poverty. Khan claims that economic analyses do not provide a full picture and economic solutions alone cannot end the problems of poverty.

Buy the book now for just $29.95 - all proceeds go to Amnesty International.

The truth on poverty

  • One billion people live in slums
  • One woman dies every minute in childbirth
  • 2.5 billion people have no acceess to adequate sanitation services
  • At least 963 millon people go to bed hungry every night
  • 20,000 children die a day from hunger

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"The Unheard Truth is a passionate and urgent plea for action. Poverty is the world's worst human rights crisis, and this book makes a powerful statement about not only why but how we can turn the tide."

— Mary Robinson, Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997–2002)

Ending poverty has become the rallying cry of international organisations, political and business leaders, philanthropists and rock stars. But it is almost certainly doomed to fail if it is driven solely by the imperative of boosting economic growth through investment, trade, new technology or foreign aid.

Khan argues with passion, backed up by analysis, that fighting poverty is about fighting deprivation, exclusion, insecurity and powerlessness. People living in poverty lack material resources but that more than that, they lack control over their own lives. To tackle global poverty, we need to focus on the human rights abuses that drive poverty and keep people poor. Giving people a say in their own future, and demanding that they be treated with dignity and respect for their rights is the way to make progress.

Through personal reflection and case-studies, Khan shows why poverty is first and foremost not a problem of economics but of human rights. As the numbers of people living in poverty swell to upwards of 2 billion, she argues that poverty is the world's worst human rights crisis. Slums are growing at an alarming rate condemning a billion people to live in dismal condition and with the constant threat of forced eviction, the commodity boom is pushing oil and mining activities into lawless zones impoverishing hundreds and thousands of people, and more than half a million women are dying every year due to complications related to pregnancy and childbirth, 99% of these are in the developing world, because of discrimination and denial of essential health care.

By raising the issue of rights, The Unheard Truth is not pointing fingers but providing a formula for sustainable and equitable solutions, and giving people the means to change the power imbalance that keeps them poor.

Available in our online shop to order now with all proceeds going to Amnesty International.

For more information, visit www.theunheardtruth.org.

More about author Irene Khan

Irene Khan joined Amnesty International (AI) as Secretary General in August 2001. The first woman, first Asian and first Muslim to head the world's largest human rights organisation, she has led AI through developments in the wake of September 11, confronting the backlash against human rights; broadening the work of the organisation in areas of economic, social and cultural rights; and bringing a strong focus to the issue of women's human rights and violence against women.

Prior to joining AI she served with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, including as Deputy Director in the Department of International Protection, Chief of Mission in India, Senior Legal Advisor for Asia and Senior Executive Officer to the High Commissioner.

She is a recipient of the Pilkington "Women of the Year" award (2002), the John Owens Distinguished Alumni award (University of Manchester - 2003) and the City of Sydney Peace Prize (2006). She is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of Manchester and was awarded honorary doctorates by Ferris University (Japan), Staffordshire University (UK), Ghent University (Belgium), the University of London, University of Manchester and the American University of Beirut. She has been voted one of the 100 Most Influential Asians in the UK.