Visualizing Vulnerable Voices from the UN Global Pulse 2010 Mobile Survey
This viz is a compilation of the results from the UN Global Pulse 2010 Mobile Survey. While not a statistically significant sample, the survey provides an opportunity to explore the economic impacts of the current global economic crisis from the voices of those most vulnerable. Five countries were chosen for the survey; Uganda, Iraq, Ukraine, India and Mexico.
The results are both distressing and surprisingly inspiring. While over one-third of all respondents reported that it had become more or very difficult to meet their household needs in the past year, most were fairly optimistic about the future. Interestingly, people surveyed in Mexico, the most economically advantaged of the five countries, reported the least optimism and yet those in Uganda seemed the most hopeful about their future. I guess it's all relative. To have nothing and then be able to buy a couple of pigs would indeed make the future seem brighter, whereas to have a little and then lose your job would make the future seem bleak.
I recommend reading through the actual survey responses as the bottom. These are the poignantly brave voices of people who struggle to survive daily and yet only want the same from life as any other person, to be able to go to school, to have a job, to care for their family, and to live with dignity.
