Q & A Archive

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on income inequality and poverty reduction in various countries around the world. Honduras is the most unequal country in Latin America and the sixth most unequal country in the world, according to World Bank statistics. The poverty rate currently stands at 64.5 percent, while 42.6 percent of Hondurans live in extreme poverty. In an email interview, Jake Johnston, a research associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, discusses income inequality and poverty in Honduras. WPR: What is the rate of income inequality in Honduras, what are the […]

Last month, Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom was denied an official visit to Israel, and Israeli officials refused to meet with her; a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry said there were “scheduling problems.” In an email interview, Per Jönsson, an associate editor at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, discusses Sweden’s ties with Israel. WPR: What is behind the recent tensions between Sweden and Israel? Per Jönsson: In October 2014, Sweden unilaterally recognized the state of Palestine, the first and only Western country to do so. In Israeli eyes, the move put Sweden in the category of anti-Zionist countries. […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on income inequality and poverty reduction in various countries around the world. In 2000, the wealthiest 1 percent of Turks owned 38 percent of Turkey’s total wealth. Today, despite a decade and a half of solid economic growth, the top 1 percent controls around 55 percent of total wealth. In an email interview, Aysen Candas, an associate professor at Bogazici University, discusses income inequality in Turkey. WPR: What is the rate of income inequality in Turkey, what are the latest trends in terms of increasing or lessening inequality, and […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series on the status of women’s rights and gender equality in various countries around the globe. In late December, Nigeria’s top Muslim cleric called on lawmakers to reject a bill currently under debate in the National Assembly that would allow women the right to inherit family wealth and property, saying it goes against the teachings of the Quran. In an email interview, Ngozi Odiaka, a lecturer at Afe-Babalola University in Nigeria, discusses women’s rights in Nigeria. WPR: What is the current status of gender equality and women’s rights in Nigeria? […]