When you live in extreme poverty, it probably doesn't immediately matter to you how that poverty is measured.
As part of the 成人论坛's Extreme World series, we're looking at the extremes of rich and poor around the world.
Various league tables are published - take the latest UN Human Development Index which combines data on schooling, life expectancy and per capita income to rank countries, 1 to 169.
The top 3 countries are Norway, Australia and New Zealand; Zimbabwe is at the bottom, with Congo DRC and Niger just above.
The average annual income in Zimbabwe by this measure is $176.20; in Norway, it's 334 times higher at $58,809 - or, seen another way, the average Norwegian earns the average Zimbabwean's annual income every day (roughly).
But is the way in which world institutions measure extremes of poverty relevant to experiences on the ground?
Do the indicators tell the real story? Is it also about measures of happiness, or tolerance, or security?
And whichever indicator you use, is it also about the wealth gap between the poorest and the richest?
Does the existence of people hundreds of times richer than you mean your own sense of poverty is made all the worse?
And for all the measurement of the raw level of poverty, should we also somehow measure how possible or probable it is to get out of poverty?
Ros will be presenting WHYS from Sierra Leone again on the radio at 1800GMT - it's 158th on the UN list, life expectancy is 48, annual income $809 and adults have had an average of 2.9 years of schooling in their life.
These are some of the questions we're asking:
* How would you define extreme poverty and extreme wealth?
* If you're at the extreme end of the spectrum in your country, what is life like for you?
* How do you get on in life if you're extremely poor? How easy is it to change your life?
We're going to speak to guests in Sierra Leone and around the world, with rich and poor talking to each other - and we also want to hear from you.
We're also on 成人论坛 World News TV at 1530GMT.
Your comments
Comment sent via SMS
18:46
115720891
Everywhere in Africa and indeed the world, people must demand accounts of how public money is spent. christopher, calabar, Nigeria.
Comment sent via SMS
18:44
115720861
U need both hardwork and cash. without hardwork you cant find opportunity and without cash you cant access opportunity. monalisa, mzuzu, malawi
Comment sent via SMS
18:49
115720905
Welcome to Sierra Leone Roze,the probelm is that this country is not poor but poorly manage,if you dont believe visit kroobay. Samba.
Comment sent via YOURSAY
18:53
113631290
Alpha in New York emailed - Norway has one of the highest tax rates in the world and they use these taxes to provide free health care and education. We need to develop the taxing infrastructure to increase the revenue to enable the government to provide more services to the people.
Comment sent via SMS
18:52
114295205
Talking about extremes reminds me of an uncle to my friend who is a very wealthy business mogul. He have only one wife and three children, they live in a fifteen bedroom mansion. On the other hand his watchman have two wives and thirteen children, they live in two currugated iron bedrooms. Mustapha Kawoje. Nigeria.
Comment sent via YOURSAY
18:41
113631290
Umarr in Sierra Leone emailed WHYS - I think it's high time we stop painting the wrong picture of Sierra Leone. Where I am right now there is no electricity. I don’t understand how we are overtaking others on the index.
Comment sent via SMS
18:40
115720809
This kwasi in Sydney The problem in Sieraleon and Africa as a whole is too much wealth in too few hands
Comment sent via Facebook
18:36
113631290
Leonard posts on Facebook - The grading may motivate poor countries when they make strides and grading improves, but it can also cause richer countries to discriminate against the poor.
Comment sent via Facebook
18:28
113631290
Innocent posted on Facebook - Grading an economy is essential and serves as a guide for planning and resource allocation
Comment sent via SMS
18:28
109832593
Those people seem content. Are there no better suburbs with no dusty, dirty roads which they admire in Freetown? If they are given a better option, would they stay? - David Mulabi in Butaleja, Uganda
Comment sent via MSGBOARD
18:25
113631290
Paula in London called World Have Your Say - The programme is beautiful, a small part of myself is crying inside because they have so few expections and are so happy.
Comment sent via Twitter
18:23
113822651
@成人论坛_WHYS How can people around the world help, other than sending money through aid agencies?
Comment sent via Facebook
18:21
113631290
Vuti in Zambia posts on Facebook - The polls will make poor countries work hard instead of just abusing tax payers money.
Comment sent via Twitter
18:16
115268617
@成人论坛_WHYS the definition of poverty in the western context differs from its definition in the African context
Comment sent via Facebook
18:16
113631290
Bryn posts on Facebook - The grading does more harm than good.
Comment sent via Facebook
18:13
113631290
Allison posted on Facebook - I don't know if development indices make a difference as a whole, but when I visited UNCTAD a few years ago for a presentation of development. My personal sense of rich and poor changed. It made me question and think more about what was going on in other places that might not be as developed and how we need to pay attention to those places.
Comment sent via YOURSAY
18:08
113631290
J.B. in Scotland emailed - The gap between rich and poor will always get bigger as there will never be a cure for greed.
Comment sent via Facebook
17:52
113631290
Kiyingi writes on facebook - There is no definition for extreme wealth- may be scrap the survival for the fittest notion. BORN LUCKY is the universal definition for the whole spectrum of poverty and wealth... the rich should know that as much as the poor
Comment sent via Facebook
17:47
113631290
Gabriel posted on Facebook - The question really reminds me of myself and my parents. They could not afford to send me to school. By luck i got a sponsor from australia who paid my primary education (i'm so thankful to her). Even after having my school fees paid, my parents still could not afford to buy me shoes, text books, pens, school uniform etc. That's how i define poverty! Now though I am in college doing business administration but it's still an uphill struggle.
Comment sent via host
17:46
113631290
On air now: Ros is live in Sierra Leone again and we''ll be talking to people in some of the poorest and the richest countries in the world. Does it matter where you are in the UN index in terms of development? Does it help to be graded like that? What''s it like living in a very poor country?
On air: Extreme World - rich and poor
| Wednesday, 12 Dec. 2010 | 18:00 - 19:00 GMT
When you live in extreme poverty, it probably doesn't immediately matter to you how that poverty is measured.
As part of the 成人论坛's Extreme World series, we're looking at the extremes of rich and poor around the world.
Various league tables are published - take the latest UN Human Development Index which combines data on schooling, life expectancy and per capita income to rank countries, 1 to 169.
The top 3 countries are Norway, Australia and New Zealand; Zimbabwe is at the bottom, with Congo DRC and Niger just above.
The average annual income in Zimbabwe by this measure is $176.20; in Norway, it's 334 times higher at $58,809 - or, seen another way, the average Norwegian earns the average Zimbabwean's annual income every day (roughly).
But is the way in which world institutions measure extremes of poverty relevant to experiences on the ground?
Do the indicators tell the real story? Is it also about measures of happiness, or tolerance, or security?
And whichever indicator you use, is it also about the wealth gap between the poorest and the richest?
Does the existence of people hundreds of times richer than you mean your own sense of poverty is made all the worse?
And for all the measurement of the raw level of poverty, should we also somehow measure how possible or probable it is to get out of poverty?
Ros will be presenting WHYS from Sierra Leone again on the radio at 1800GMT - it's 158th on the UN list, life expectancy is 48, annual income $809 and adults have had an average of 2.9 years of schooling in their life.
These are some of the questions we're asking:
* How would you define extreme poverty and extreme wealth?
* If you're at the extreme end of the spectrum in your country, what is life like for you?
* How do you get on in life if you're extremely poor? How easy is it to change your life?
We're going to speak to guests in Sierra Leone and around the world, with rich and poor talking to each other - and we also want to hear from you.
We're also on 成人论坛 World News TV at 1530GMT.
Your comments
Comment sent via SMS
Everywhere in Africa and indeed the world, people must demand accounts of how public money is spent. christopher, calabar, Nigeria.
Comment sent via SMS
U need both hardwork and cash. without hardwork you cant find opportunity and without cash you cant access opportunity. monalisa, mzuzu, malawi
Comment sent via SMS
Welcome to Sierra Leone Roze,the probelm is that this country is not poor but poorly manage,if you dont believe visit kroobay. Samba.
Comment sent via YOURSAY
Alpha in New York emailed - Norway has one of the highest tax rates in the world and they use these taxes to provide free health care and education. We need to develop the taxing infrastructure to increase the revenue to enable the government to provide more services to the people.
Comment sent via SMS
Talking about extremes reminds me of an uncle to my friend who is a very wealthy business mogul. He have only one wife and three children, they live in a fifteen bedroom mansion. On the other hand his watchman have two wives and thirteen children, they live in two currugated iron bedrooms. Mustapha Kawoje. Nigeria.
Comment sent via YOURSAY
Umarr in Sierra Leone emailed WHYS - I think it's high time we stop painting the wrong picture of Sierra Leone. Where I am right now there is no electricity. I don’t understand how we are overtaking others on the index.
Comment sent via SMS
This kwasi in Sydney The problem in Sieraleon and Africa as a whole is too much wealth in too few hands
Comment sent via Facebook
Leonard posts on Facebook - The grading may motivate poor countries when they make strides and grading improves, but it can also cause richer countries to discriminate against the poor.
Comment sent via Facebook
Innocent posted on Facebook - Grading an economy is essential and serves as a guide for planning and resource allocation
Comment sent via SMS
Those people seem content. Are there no better suburbs with no dusty, dirty roads which they admire in Freetown? If they are given a better option, would they stay? - David Mulabi in Butaleja, Uganda
Comment sent via MSGBOARD
Paula in London called World Have Your Say - The programme is beautiful, a small part of myself is crying inside because they have so few expections and are so happy.
Comment sent via Twitter
@成人论坛_WHYS How can people around the world help, other than sending money through aid agencies?
Comment sent via Facebook
Vuti in Zambia posts on Facebook - The polls will make poor countries work hard instead of just abusing tax payers money.
Comment sent via Twitter
@成人论坛_WHYS the definition of poverty in the western context differs from its definition in the African context
Comment sent via Facebook
Bryn posts on Facebook - The grading does more harm than good.
Comment sent via Facebook
Allison posted on Facebook - I don't know if development indices make a difference as a whole, but when I visited UNCTAD a few years ago for a presentation of development. My personal sense of rich and poor changed. It made me question and think more about what was going on in other places that might not be as developed and how we need to pay attention to those places.
Comment sent via YOURSAY
J.B. in Scotland emailed - The gap between rich and poor will always get bigger as there will never be a cure for greed.
Comment sent via Facebook
Kiyingi writes on facebook - There is no definition for extreme wealth- may be scrap the survival for the fittest notion. BORN LUCKY is the universal definition for the whole spectrum of poverty and wealth... the rich should know that as much as the poor
Comment sent via Facebook
Gabriel posted on Facebook - The question really reminds me of myself and my parents. They could not afford to send me to school. By luck i got a sponsor from australia who paid my primary education (i'm so thankful to her). Even after having my school fees paid, my parents still could not afford to buy me shoes, text books, pens, school uniform etc. That's how i define poverty! Now though I am in college doing business administration but it's still an uphill struggle.
Comment sent via host
On air now: Ros is live in Sierra Leone again and we''ll be talking to people in some of the poorest and the richest countries in the world. Does it matter where you are in the UN index in terms of development? Does it help to be graded like that? What''s it like living in a very poor country?