This week marks the start of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

It is an event where the global community of business, political, intellectual and other leaders of society meet to map out solutions to global challenges.

This year on the agenda are issues such as natural resource scarcity, climate change and healthcare.

However, with the global financial crisis continuing to have an unrelenting grip on billions of people around the world, it is arguably the most widespread issue facing world leaders today and one which needs to remain high on the agenda at Davos.

Since the beginnings of the global financial crisis in 2008 governments have been promising to tackle the world’s economic problems. But with the World Bank estimating an additional 64 million people globally had fallen into poverty by the end of 2011 because of the economic crisis, the question must be asked are they doing enough to protect the most vulnerable?

From job cuts to higher fuel costs, we have all experienced changes in our day to day lives due to the crisis. However, here in Australia we have come out relatively unscathed compared with the rest of the world.

Instead it is the poor and low-income families who have borne the brunt of the economic downturn.

As the United Nation’s Independent Expert on Human Rights and Extreme Poverty, Magdalena Sepulveda Carmon stated, these are the people who are "enduring the gravest effects of the crisis". They are the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in society.

And each day they are left in an increasingly weak and vulnerable situation.

The World Bank estimates that 71 million additional people will remain in extreme poverty until 2020. The United Nations says a further 100 million more people were left hungry and malnourished because of the crisis, with the World Bank predicting an additional 1.4-2.8 million infant deaths by 2015.

It is clear the economic crisis can no longer be passed off as just a financial crisis. It is a human rights crisis. And it is time for governments and leaders around the world to recognise it as such.

While the crisis has left the vulnerable more vulnerable, it is their voices which have risen above the feeble response of many governments.

Across the world ordinary people are demanding more accountable governments - ones that regulate businesses and respect human rights.

In country after country, from the US Occupy Wall Street Movement to the protests in Nigeria on higher fuel prices, ordinary people have come together to speak out against government support to big business, while individuals are left to struggle on their own in the face of high unemployment, falling living standards and shrinking social services.

This year at Davos is a time for governments and leaders around the world to recognise the connection between financial systems, economic policy and human rights.

It is a time where the voices of ordinary people must be heard and what they are calling for is change. But are business and political leaders listening closely enough?