Nine scourges at once

The poorly regulated world economy, climate uncertainty, civil wars, fierce competition over natural resources, cultural and tribal conflicts and other factors increase the tensions in the world. One in seven people goes hungry every day. Meanwhile, world population keeps growing. Growing consumption by the wealthy and deep poverty of the weakest population groups, as well as weak or malignant governance in developing countries, and phenomena like the spread of weapons and new diseases will become disastrous if not turned around through better policies at the local, national and international level.

In the Sen-publication Negen Plagen Tegelijk: Hoe Overleven we de Toekomst (Nine scourges at once; How do we Survive the Future), Joris Voorhoeve demonstrates what we can do ourselves, what the Netherlands can contribute and how the European Union and the UN can best tackle the global challenges of the near future. The personal stories of people who fight injustice prove what a world of difference inspired individuals can make. They encourage the reader to face the threats of the 21st century. This first major publication of the Sen Foundation was issued in Dutch on April 27th 2011 by the publishing house Atlas- Contact (Amsterdam) ISBN 978 90 245 3463 2.

This publication will also become available in an English transation, updated and expanded: Ten Scourges, by the middle of 2014.

Since 2013 a follow-up book is being prepared on one hundred new possibilities to help solve global problems: Honderd Kansen (One Hundred Chances).

As of 2012, the Sen Foundation gives training courses for various educational institutes in The Netherlands on these issues.