Poverty is defined as not having enough money to meet basic needs like food, shelter and clothing. The document outlines several key causes of global poverty, including natural disasters that destroy infrastructure and livelihoods, war and civil unrest that kill wage earners and destroy farms, unfair trade practices that keep prices low for cash crops in developing nations, crippling national debt, and diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria that reduce productivity and increase suffering. Addressing these root causes through development aid and debt relief is presented as a moral duty so that all people around the world can lead dignified lives.