For every winner, there are a million losers. Quite literally. The very regulations that favour the super-rich keep poor people from earning a decent living. There are loads of ways this could change - closing tax loopholes so multinational corporations pay their fair share and making trade rules fair would do for starters.

Photo: Photo: Andy Hall

Doesn’t seem fair to us. Doesn’t make sense either. Because when women get a fair share of land and profits they spend more on the basics – food, health care, education – so their kids will grow up better equipped to work and earn. Put simply, equality reduces poverty. You can’t say fairer than that.

Photo: Jenny Matthews

Terribly depressing, but what can you do? Well, since the Brazilian government started educating about sexual health and providing medicine to people with HIV and AIDs, related deaths have halved. And fewer people are treated as outcasts. It’s amazing what a bit of planning, money and effort can do. More is needed.

Photo: AP/PA photos.

That’s one billion people without clean water and electricity. They often miss out on healthcare and schools, too. It’s hard to earn a living when you live like this - people tend to stay poor. More money could help countries build houses and improve conditions. Giving people a chance to work their way out of poverty.

Photo:Tom Pietrasik.

That's equivalent to an Asian tsunami every two years. Going on right under our noses. Unpredictable weather means more flooding, more drought, and less chance for poor countries to develop. And without better protection for the people most affected, and global agreements to reduce emissions, things can only get worse. Action is needed now, for all our sakes.

Photo: Jerry Carreon.

Think about it. That's one child dead every three seconds. From preventable, treatable diseases, like malaria and diarrhoea. Such a needless, tragic waste of life. Poor countries need more and better aid until they can afford the vital sanitation, healthcare, and doctors and nurses they desperately need.

Photo: Abbie Trayler-Smith.

Have we really got our priorities right? The UN says $300 billion a year could lift everyone on the planet out of extreme poverty. It sounds a lot, but it's half the annual cost of the Iraq war so far, and just a third of yearly military spending. Some fighting may be sadly unavoidable, but if we concentrated more on the biggest battle of all - the one against poverty and inequality - one billion people would benefit.

Photo: Crispin Hughes / Panos.

This is one of the most shocking facts of them all: The global economy really could support everyone to have a decent life, if it was shared out more fairly. While $97 in every $100 ^[9] made from global exports goes to rich countries, how can the poorest countries grow? Rich, powerful countries set the rules, but it's high time they changed.

Photo: Oxfam Hong Kong

Changing global rules and getting more aid to poor countries isn't beyond our power. People in poor countries are trying to improve their own lives, and we can help them. Inequality threatens all our futures. Our leaders need to take action now. And we need to insist they do. Use your power.

Photo: Abraham Conneh.