A worker pauses for a sandwich, resting on a girder during the construction of a skycraper. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). Circa 1930

A worker is immersed in a kaleidoscope of colour while they paint traditional umbrellas in Juwiring, Klaten, Central Java, Indonesia in December 2023. The workers who spend around 8 hours a day, depending on order quantities and customer deadlines are paid around Ј200 a month. They will paint a batch over the period of two to three days until each layer of paint is dry. Extras of the traditional umbrella will be made as many tourists come to buy them. (Photo by Lia Indriani/Solent News & Photo Agency)

The shoemaker in Turkey, the potato seller in Vietnam, and the weaver in Bolivia are among the billions of low-income entrepreneurs who make the world go round. They are also the type of people who can benefit significantly from microfinance. Every year, the Consultative Group To Assist The Poor (or CGAP) hosts a photo contest asking entrants to submit photos based around the idea of microfinance.The purpose of the contest is to give amateur and professional photographers a chance to show the different ways that poor households manage their financial lives and make their lives better through financial inclusion. Photo: South Asia Regional Winner – “Bricks Worker”, Bangladesh. A private enterprise worker is working at a brick field. These small businesses are creating new job opportunities for many poor people. (Photo by Moksumul Haque)

Riot police stand guard behind a fire as refinery workers hold a blockade of the oil depot of Douchy-Les-Mines to protest against the government's proposed labour reforms, on May 25, 2016. Refinery workers stepped up strikes that threaten to paralyse France weeks ahead of the Euro 2016 tournament as the government moved to break their blockades, escalating a three-month tug-of-war over labour reforms. (Photo by François L.O./AFP Photo)

Elephants are paraded in front of the Grand Palace to pay respects to the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej in Bangkok on October 8, 2016. Thailand' s King Bhumibol Adulyadej died at the age of 88 on October 13 after years of ill health, ending a seven- decade reign and leaving the politically divided nation without its key pillar of unity. (Photo by Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP Photo)

Lebanese people take pictures for damaged grain silos in Beirut port following a huge explosion rocked the city in Beirut, Lebanon, 23 August 2020. According to Lebanese Health Ministry at least 181 people were killed, and more than 6,000 injured in the Beirut blast that devastated the port area on 04 August and believed to have been caused by an estimated 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse. (Photo by Wael Hamzeh/EPA/EFE)

Iranian girls wearing face masks walk in Tehran, Iran, 02 November 2020. According to the Iranian Health ministry, Iran reported its highest daily COVID-19 death toll and infections by announcing 440 deaths and 8,289 new infections in past 24 hours in what appears to be a third wave of COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo by Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA/EFE)

Raissa Floriano whose father is hospitalized with CCOVID-19, cries during a protest amid the new coronavirus pandemic outside the 28 Agosto Hospital, in Manaus, Brazil, Thursday, January 14, 2021. Scores of COVID-19 patients in the Amazon rainforest's biggest city will be transferred out of state as the local health system collapses and dwindling stocks of oxygen tanks begin to falter. (Photo by Edmar Barros/AP Photos)