The List

The Bottom 100 was launched to give a face and voice to the people at the other end of the World’s Rich List. It is all too easy to think of “the bottom billion” in the abstract – but we hope that shining a light on even a tiny fraction of the world’s poor will put a human face on the suffering and crushing inequality endured by so many.

These 100 stories represent the many millions around the world who find themselves in poverty, living in an enduring struggle with little-to-nothing, in the face of adversity from conflict to oppression.

The Fund for Peace works tirelessly with local communities and policymakers around the world to address the challenges of conflict, inequality, and human rights abuse. Unfortunately, poverty is so abundant in the world that we could never hope to cover every issue or underlying cause. In compiling this list it was important to us to represent people from many different locations with a variety of poverty-causing challenges, to reflect the current state of the world and to put a human face to the complexities of the issues they face.

When we first engaged journalists and photographers across the globe with our initial concept, they jumped at the chance to be involved in giving a voice to the millions who need our help.

The project took almost two years to complete and saw interviews taking place across five continents, covering 23 different nationalities -- and many more ethnicities and languages -- to collate 100 compelling and important stories and experiences.

The Fund for Peace

The Fund for Peace is an independent, non-profit research and educational organization that works to prevent violent conflict and promote sustainable security. For 60 years, we have promoted sustainable security through research, training and education, engagement of civil society, building bridges across diverse sectors, and developing innovative technologies and tools for policy makers.

The Fund for Peace has worked in over 50 countries across the globe, with a wide range of partners in all sectors: governments, international organizations, the military, nongovernmental organizations, academics, journalists, civil society networks, and the private sector.