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Issues: Poverty
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My Global Poverty Project journey began when I saw the 1.4 Billion Reasons presentation delivered by Hugh Evans at a festival in summer 2010. The presentation really struck me. Its simplicity and professionalism in delivering a message that resonated with the values I had, left me longing to find out more and eager to join in with the movement..jpg)
I have been passionate about seeing an end to global poverty since I experienced it first hand in Rwanda in 2002: the extreme need and vulnerability of some of the people I met whilst there was overwhelming. I have a desire to make any change I can in the world, to ensure that, one day, we see an end to this incomparable injustice.
When the opportunity came to apply to become a Global Poverty Ambassador, the greatest appeal for me was that I would be trained to deliver 1.4 Billion Reasons. I wanted everyone in my community to have the opportunity to experience it, as I know that it has the power to change and shape people’s values through its clear and positive message. As I live on the Isle of Man, a country with a population of only 85,000 residents, there was also the possibility to engage with leaders at the highest levels.
So far in my time as a Global Poverty Ambassador, I have had the opportunity to present 1.4 Billion Reasons to a wide range of people in faith groups, schools and more recently to an invitation only event for government, business, faith and community leaders on the Isle of Man. I have been pleased to see the positive response to the presentation that I have received from many people; in particular from one of our local politicians, a long standing supporter of international development, who commented in a radio interview after seeing 1.4 Billion Reasons “...if every inhabitant of the Isle of Man could see this presentation they would very clearly understand why overseas aid is important.”
The highlights of my time as a Global Poverty Ambassador have to be the Live Below the Line campaign, where two of our local politicians participated and created great media coverage. The Isle of Man network on the Live Below the Line website raised over £1,500. In July 2012 we also launched an Island specific campaign called Point 1, to encourage the Isle of Man government to fulfil its commitment to the world’s poorest people, by increasing overseas aid to 0.1% of GNI. A step towards its promise to join other leading countries in giving the full 0.7%, which would be enough to see the Millennium Development Goals fully come to pass. The budget for aid last year was £2.4 million - only 0.07% of Isle of Man GNI.
I find it challenging sometimes but I’m very excited about the opportunities and possibilities that have been created and made possible by my work with the Global Poverty Project this year. It is a privilege to volunteer in this way and I am delighted that my ambition to be a world-changer continues to be fulfilled.
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Posted by Kristina Crawford in Poverty, Education for column 1.4 Billion Reasons on Jul 31st 2012, 12:57 |
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Guest blog by Nelson Oppong, an independent analyst with Think Africa Press. His main interests are in the political economy of resources and state building in Africa and the British Carribean. 
Ghana’s Rural Enterprise Project (REP) demonstrates that – with clear-sighted goals, well-defined targets and determined international donor support – state-driven social intervention can succeed.
Initiated by the government in 1995 under the auspices of the GRATIS Foundation and with the support of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the project seeks to reduce poverty and improve living conditions in rural areas through increased productivity for the rural poor.
Making a real impact
According to Ulac Demirag, the Country Programme Manager of IFAD-Ghana, REP is one of IFAD’s best performing programmes in West and East Africa. With an initially modest target of about ten districts in the Brong Ahafo and Ashanti regions, the project has expanded and recorded achievements which have received glowing recognition from other international donors such as the African Development Bank.
In 2002, the Ghanaian government and IFAD scaled up the project to cover 66 districts that were considered amongst the poorest in Ghana. Within these operating districts, there have been verifiable success stories as exemplified by the number of businesses operating sustainably and making profits over the last decade.
With 70% of Ghanaians - and around 86% of the population who live below the poverty line - living in rural areas, REP’s targeting of economically-active youth and women in the rural areas lends support to a strategic area of the country’s development.
Conservative estimates from the government indicate that over 170,000 people have been trained under REP in various community-based trading and enterprise development undertakings. Between 2003 and 2010, almost GHS150000 ($83,000) was been disbursed by financial institutions involved in the project. A Graduate Apprenticeship Scheme initiated in 2009 has so far produced over 12,000 new businesses. And several rural-based small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) dealing in things such as clothing, textiles, soap-making, carpentry, hairdressing and food-processing have benefited from the project’s business development services, technology transfer, apprenticeship training, and rural finance services.
Many of the major beneficiaries have been women. In the Garu-Tempane District of the Upper East Region, for instance, half of the 1,200 clients using support services are female. And in the same district, women are healthily represented in the 150 new businesses and 700 jobs created in 2011.
REP is also among the few national interventions that have survived the turbulence of Ghana’s schizophrenic development planning since 1992. While the country’s policy atmosphere has considerably fluctuated under different governments, with many initiatives either being abandoned or significantly altered after general elections, REP has done well to maintain a degree of steadiness.
Room for improvement
As many Ghanaians revel in the remarkable success and well-noted institutional and operational strengths of REP, there are also some legitimate suggestions that the project could benefit from a more holistic approach from the government, especially in tackling the structural unemployment and underdevelopment of rural communities.
In spite of REP contributions, there are also some concerns that progress could be undermined by the decreased attention given to other rural development priorities, especially in areas such infrastructure building. In addition, increased partisan involvement in local governance has also produced various policy initiatives that have sought to promote similar objectives to REP but which have no meaningful harmonisation with REP.
The many parties involved in REP’s success must be wary of these upcoming challenges to ensure the project continues to yield the impressive successes it has thus far, and go from strength to strength.
You can find out more from the full version of this article on the Think Africa Press website.
image by IFAD/Nana Kofi Acquah
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Posted by Nelson Oppong in Poverty for column Success Stories on Jul 24th 2012, 12:53 |
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Guest blog by Sophie Goulter, a GPP ambassador from New Zealand.
A wise lady once told me I don’t have the power to change the world. She followed this by stating that, actually, I have the power to change many people’s worlds. While this woman may have been trying to protect her younger sister from the frustration and challenges which accompany jobs in the aid and development sector, I believe she was incorrect. Perhaps she was not wrong in declaring that one girl from a small town in New Zealand couldn’t right all of the injustices in the world. However, by suggesting that I may change many lives for the better offers evidence that I am changing the world, but only if everyone participates. For all it takes is everyone to change one person’s world.
Confirmation that change is taking place is everywhere, just look at the young adults standing up in New Zealand. Organisations such as P3, Generation Zero, United Nations Youth, Regeneration and our very own Global Poverty Project are making waves in the national community. We are the generation to increase awareness and education on issues which may not be at the forefront of every Kiwi’s mind. The fact that Wellington may now proudly declare itself to be a Fairtrade City is result of the actions of our like-minded peers. Furthermore, food for motivating thought, if this atmosphere of change is bubbling in this little capital, what is taking place out in the rest of the world at the international level?
A central theme of the Global Poverty Project philosophy is to advocate that initiating change is accessible. For those on a lowly student budget who can’t donate significant amounts of money this fact is rather reassuring. This last month I challenged myself to create a way to instigate conversation concerning the eradication of poverty on a daily basis. And what was the result you query?
A simple, recycled, up-loved, organic cotton tote. Emblazoned on this bag is a small but significant number, 1.4. By utilising this means of subtle guerrillmarketing I effectively provoke the curiosity of those I encounter who wish to know the meaning behind 1.4. On a day-to-day basis, I estimate to be in contact with one hundred people at the minimum. A day at university would likely increase this quantity to a few hundred. Therefore, this bag holds great potential for initiating informative conversation in everyday life, all with relative ease. Perhaps even more importantly, my bag serves a firm reminder of how fortunate I am and how I am morally bound to enact the change I wish to see
My challenge to you? Find your unique way to create change.
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Posted by Sophie Goulter in What Can I Do?, Poverty for column Action Stories on Jul 17th 2012, 12:50 |
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We are very pleased to announce that the Sumner M. Redstone Charitable Foundation has donated $650,000, to help us towards our vision of a world without extreme poverty! Mr Redstone’s total giving now stands at $2.1 million, due to a previous donation and current pledges. We join Hugh Evans, Founder and CEO of the Global Poverty Project, in thanking the foundation and Mr Redstone, “I am delighted with the continued generous support from Sumner Redstone.”
So where will the money go?
Hugh Evans went on to explain, “We have important plans to lead an iconic campaign in New York to coincide with the UN General Assembly meeting in September. His donation will directly contribute to the campaign, helping us call for action from a generation who want to stamp their role in history and are looking to make a huge difference,” .
Mr Redstone’s previous donation went towards supporting the End of Polio Campaign, which is a partnership between the Global Poverty Project and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In the last twenty years, cases of Polio have been reduced by 99% but continued attention and investment needs to be maintained if it is to be eradicated. Nevertheless, the progress that has been made by the campaign, governments and groups is undeniable. As Mr Redstone says, “It is incredible evidence of what global collaboration can achieve “.
Mr. Redstone is well known in media circles as the Executive Chairman of Viacom Inc. and CBS Corporation. He began his career in Law as the Law Secretary with the U.S. Court of Appeals and at one point served in the Military Intelligence Division during World War II. His involvement in media can be traced back to joining National Amusements, Inc., which is now one of the largest motion picture circuits in the United States. Through the Sumner M. Redstone Charitable Foundation and through personal donations, Mr Redstone has supported a wide range of projects and organisations connected with health, education and research as well as The Global Poverty Project.
In response to his recent donation Mr Redstone said:
“I am proud to further my support of the important work of the Global Poverty Project. I am also pleased that both CBS Corporation and Viacom are among the many organizations that are providing support to the Global Poverty Project and I urge other philanthropists, foundations and media outlets to join them to help end extreme poverty on our planet,” .
Let us hope that others, including you, are inspired by his call to action and support organisations, campaigns and efforts to tackle extremepoverty!
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“Our governments are locked into the chains of the status quo” so said Jeff Sachs this week at the Rio plus 20 summit, “What we need are pioneers who don’t ask for permission.”
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As the Rio+20 Summit comes to a close there is a mixture of sentiments in the air, none of which is excitement. Veteran policy makers at the summit tell me that ‘if everyone leaves the negotiation table unhappy, you have probably done something right.’ At a meeting of this size, the largest UN gathering ever, bold declarative commitments on behalf of our collective future were hard to come by.
The conference is largely about natural capital, how we divvy up resources like fisheries and forests, and negotiating around rights to use those resources. What we really need is a return to old virtues and bold declarative leadership. We have abandoned ourselves to markets and to politicians, and I am struck by a lack of vision.
I am in Rio because I was invited to participate in a high-level event on accelerating progress in the Millennium Development Goals (the agreed upon global platform to end extreme poverty around the World) through Youth Innovation. I was absolutely humbled by the visionaries in the room, many personal heroes: Marina Silva, Jeff Sachs, Ted Turner, Mohammed Yunus, and the Secretary General. What I saw in their stance was that each led first with bold actions in their respective fields- their collective actions will leave an enduring legacy on the world.
“Mohammed Yunus did not take the textbook of microfinance off the shelf, he wrote the textbook! But even before he wrote the textbook he did it so it wasn’t theory, it was practice, it was proved, it was demonstrated.” Sachs continued, “Our politicians are highly refined followers, that is their job in a democracy – they listen closely – they wonder what will get votes… okay that is the way it works, we have to be the one to tell them what gets votes!”.jpg)
Later that day in response to the conference in general, a group of 200 gathered in protest, handed in their access badges and walked out chanting “the future we want is not found here!” It was the most declarative statement I had heard thus far, but I also realized that these valuable voices had just left the room.
The acute tension at Rio+20 is how do we break the quagmire? Twenty years ago declarations were born that have yet to come to life, and the stakes are high- our collective futures depend on them.
We need the visionaries to inspire the masses because the will of the masses drives the political will upon which these collective agreements are forged.
The future we want is found in leaders rising up. We need the bureaucrats and the protesters, we need the system and the movement; for in the tension between them lies a dynamic possibility. We no longer have a choice, as the future we want is no longer a question but a generational imperative. If we do not declare it with commitment and live boldly into our interdependence, we will face 7 billion people (and growing) all fighting for scraps from the table.
What I take away from Rio is that we need the collective table we all sit down at to listen and discuss, but we also need those willing to take a stand. We need them to shout with their actions and their words because the future we want isn’t just found at the tip of the politicians pen, but rather in the seeds sewn by a generation of global citizens. These citizens are committed to bold vision and innovative action taken on behalf of a collective future because our generation does not have the legacy to wait another 20 years.
My Keys to the future we want:.jpg)
More transparency and accountability, and a more inclusive process- where the voices in the room are not simply those with access badges
More Social Enterprise- businesses that measure environmental and social impact, along with economic benefits
Political will- this is where the movement and the establishment can meet. If citizens can demonstrate they are informed, engaged and most importantly mobilized, their representatives take note
Global Citizens like you– informed, inspired, and taking action
*Image Above: Ted Turner, Above Left: Michael Trainer, Above Right: Michael Trainer and Mohammed Yunus. |
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