Panos London

Gain new insights through the personal accounts of people living at the sharp end of development

Survival is a human right

In the autumn of 2008 the Panos London AIDS Programme worked with participants from the African HIV Policy Network (AHPN) to produce digital stories about their lives and concerns. All the participants are living with HIV and were at risk of being removed to their country of origin where treatment is not necessarily accessible, affordable or available.

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Living with poverty

"My wish is that [my children] may never face those problems which I faced in my life" Salma, Pakistan

These testimonies from Kenya, Mozambique, Pakistan and Zambia are a powerful reminder of the human indignities that lie at the heart of poverty and why effective approaches to poverty reduction matter. The stories bring to life the reality of poverty and its daily oppressions.

• Collection | Living with poverty

Survival strategies

"What besets our land is that lack of forest. We just have wide open land that brings strong winds, and holds back the rains." Vola, Madagascar

In southern Madagascar environmental change is pushing the poor even closer to the margins of survival. Two indigenous communities share the experience of this environment through their own films and life stories, providing an insight into the realities of rural poverty and the coping strategies they have developed.

• Collection | Survival strategies

Desert voices

"There is no resemblance between now and before 1984... and there is no improvement between today and yesterday" Ismail, Sudan  

Perhaps nowhere in the world are the impacts of desertification more challenging than in Africa. These accounts highlight its wide-ranging consequences, from migration for work and conflict over resources, to changes in traditions and women's roles.

• Collection | Desert voices