Ways to Help the World’s Poor
Do you want to know some easy ways to help the world’s poor? Well, here are 10 simple ways to help the world’s poor, which can often be done without even having to leave your home!
One of the quickest and most obvious ways to help the world’s poor is to donate to charity. Click here to donate to The Borgen Project.
2. Call Congress
This way to help the world’s poor is surprisingly simple. Every person in the United States has 3 representatives in Congress (2 Senators and 1 Representative in the House). By calling these 3 peoples’ offices each week, individuals can show the Congressmen the issues that they care about. Calling your Congressmen is a simple process. Generally, an intern will answer the phone, or you can leave a message after hours.
The message you need to say is simple: “My name is ___, I live in ___, and I want to raise the funding for helping the world’s poor,” or something similar. As few as 7 people calling in can make a Congressman change his mind on a bill: Congressmen want those they are serving in the U.S. to be happy so if you let them know what you want, they are more likely to listen. Go here for more detailed instructions.
3. Inform Yourself
This is one of the simplest ways to help the world’s poor, and also it helps you to do the other things more effectively. Basically, all you need to do is stay informed on the issues. Pay attention to what is happening in Congress and read up on current poverty-related events. It may surprise you to find out that poverty has made some great strides in the past few years. Indeed, in the past 20 years, the world’s undernourished has decreased by 50%. Life expectancy has also increased by 1/3.
(Browse The Borgen Project to find out more interesting facts about poverty).
4. Build Buzz/Raise Awareness
Now that you’ve done your research, you can use your new information as tools to build buzz or to raise the awareness of those around you. If you care about the world’s poor, you can be sure that other people do too, but may just be unaware of how they can help. You can share info on different poverty-fighting organizations with your colleagues, family, and friends (see 1. Donate for ideas). You can also call into radio shows, write to editors, speak locally about the cause, send ideas to the media, or anything else that may bring the idea of helping the world’s poor to the forefront of people’s vision and thoughts.
5. Social Media
Recently, social media has become one of the most fantastical ways a person can help the world’s poor (among other ventures). This is perhaps the easiest way to help, as well. Many Congressional leaders (your members of Congress) have Facebook pages, Twitters, or websites. All you need to do is either post on their pages to bring up the idea of helping the world’s poor, or post on your own about the various issues. Also, you can easily follow many different organizations, including The Borgen Project, and retweet them or post about them on Facebook or other websites. Overall, your voice will be heard. (The Social Media of Congress can be found here and here). (Also, follow us on Twitter!)
6. Get Political
Although you can call Congress or post on their Facebook pages, there are other ways to help the world’s poor and to “get political.” If you are willing, you can always arrange a meeting with Congressional staffers to tell them what issues (like reducing global poverty) you are interested in. You can also mobilize those around you; just one person calling into Congress will make a difference, but if multiple people in an area call Congress about the same issue and around the same time, there will be a bigger effect. Finally, you can “bird dog” Congress, which means to go to where a legislator is speaking, and ask them publicly about poverty (For example, “What are you doing to help poverty?” or “Will you support helping reduce global poverty?”, etc).
7. Fundraising
Another one of the ways to help the world’s poor is fundraising. Contact people about various organizations to donate to, or use sites like Crowd Rise to start a campaign. You can also run marathons or accomplish other feats as a way to raise money, as long as you ask people to be your sponsor. You can also ask for donations to different charities rather than receiving gifts for your birthdays, weddings, or other events.
8. Be a Consumer with a Cause
One of the surprising ways to help the world’s poor is simply by being a consumer, or something who buys things. This can be done by buying products from websites that donate a portion of their proceeds to charity, or from nonprofit organizations that sell shirts or other merchandise to help the cause. The Borgen Project even has a Visa Card that has no annual fee, and some unique card designs. Basically, when possible, buy from places that will help the cause.
9. Arrange Events
One of the harder ways to help the world’s poor is arranging events. Of course, this does not need to be too difficult: you could host parties (or movie/TV show marathons with your friends!) and have a $5 (suggested donation) to get in. This can be done by living your life as normal, but adding in charity donation so that everyone can get involved. On the other hand, you can also host poverty-based events or parties with the pure purpose of raising awareness on poverty and discussing its issues. Finally, you can have a “non-event” event, where instead of going out that night, everyone donates a certain amount and stays in.
10. Volunteer
Finally, one of the most difficult (but, arguably, most rewarding) ways to help the world’s poor is through volunteering. This can encompass many different things: volunteer for a political campaign, volunteer for a nonprofit organization, volunteer for a movement to fight poverty or grab an internship. Personally, I am an intern writing for The Borgen Project; I do not get paid, but it helps get the message out to the world. Overall, you can find volunteer opportunities online (for example, through Idealist), but there are also local opportunities that may be available if you ask around.
To see even more easy ways to help the world’s poor, look here.
– Corina Balsamo
Source: The Borgen Project
Photo: Flickr
Innovation Building Resilience and Prosperity for the Poor
Using its network to bring the public and private sectors together to work toward resilience and high impact innovations, the Global Resilience Partnership intends to put an end to vulnerability creating community issues through multi-sectoral collaboration.
With cooperation between the organization’s partners – the Rockefeller Foundation, USAID and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) – the organization is currently engaged in eight projects to build long-term resilience in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel and Southeast Asia.
Global Resilience Partnership is hoping to foster the capacity to recover quickly from issues such as climate change, food insecurity and population growth in impoverished communities through technological innovation and multi-sectoral resource sharing.
Countless aid organizations have observed the devastating impact on development that communities face after a disruptive event. It has also been seen that the ability of a community to bounce back from a disaster or crisis is time-sensitive. The longer that a community remains disrupted, the more difficult it is to get back on track.
The theory behind this drive for partnership is that each sector holds a piece of the puzzle to creating resilience and prosperity for the poor. Individually, efforts are only a fraction of the solution. It’s when the pieces are put together that the bigger picture of a lasting solution is achieved.
Executive Director Dr. Luca Alinovi stressed the importance of this theory even more in a letter calling for continued investment in resilience in 2016: “We will only make progress when we start to ‘join the dots’ and activate different stakeholders to talk to each [other], work together and make each other stronger.”
Connecting the dots must be done on three levels: global, regional, local.
Globally, the Rockefeller Foundation, USAID and Sida have collectively invested $150 million to increase global resilience and establish regional collaborations.
Regionally, partnerships are developed, utilizing and supporting collaboration between local level connections. Currently, the organization is still focusing heavily on this phase of regional partnership development, which is arguably the most critical phase in establishing a lasting and impactful local level solution.
Once at a local level, the organization will mobilize and encourage local and regional institutions, the private sector, governmental development agencies, nongovernmental organizations and humanitarian organizations to work together on the behalf of local communities to help increase prosperity for the poor.
“When we foster resilient livelihoods, men, women and families are better able to cope with chronic stresses and acute disasters,” wrote Alinovi. “A resilience mindset is proactive, focused on root causes, systematic changes and long-term impacts. Resilience is critical to achieving all of our ambitious global goals from eradicating hunger to ending extreme poverty.”
But the establishment of resilience solutions and multi-sectoral cooperation is easier said than done and requires a strategic plan to accomplish its goals. As Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, said, “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”
The Global Resilience Partnership clearly agrees with this sentiment. The organization’s formula for success hinges on “programs that help surface innovation and long-term collaboration amongst the region-wide ecosystem of diverse local actors.”
Starting with a foundation of analytic diagnosis of a region’s problems, followed by the mobilization of a collaborative team to address the identified problems, solutions are developed to meet the unique circumstances. These solutions are then shared with the network and beyond to inspire free and radical change.
Through Global Resilience Partnership’s commitment to creating resilience and prosperity for the poor and vulnerable, the organization is paving the way for a new way of thinking about aid and development. As Alinovi put it, “Technology is a problem-solver, and the acceleration it provides is giving us the chance to make the difference.”
– Claire Colby
Sources: Global Resilience Partnership, The Guardian
Photo: CGIAR
Major Programs That Lilly Endowment Supports
Lilly Endowment focuses its activities on education, religion and community development. The founders of the endowment had a burning desire to help the people of Indiana; thus, the bulk of charitable initiatives and grants offered by the organization are geared towards activities in Indiana.
Since its inception, various programs have been developed under each of the endowment’s principal focus areas. These are programs that the organization funds on a regular basis.
Lilly Endowment recognizes the importance of education as an instrument of change and development. The organization gives grants to educational institutions and programs that seek to improve the quality of education across Indiana. Emphasis is placed on supporting higher learning institutions in order to increase the number of people with a bachelor’s degree. This is in response to Indiana’s ranking as one of the states with the highest number of people over 25 without a bachelor’s degree.
The three major programs in the education division are the Community Scholarship Program, the Teacher Creativity Fellowship Program and the Summer Youth Program Fund.
Established in 1987, the Teacher Creativity Fellowship Program was developed with the aim of renewing the commitment of educators across Indiana to delivering quality education. During the program, school media specialists, teachers, guidance counselors and principals are given financial backing and time to tend to their personal development and growth.
The Community Scholarship Program was founded in 1998 and seeks to improve the level of higher education attainment in Indiana. The program offers four-year, full tuition scholarships with an additional 900 dollars per year for educational materials. Community foundations in Indiana play an integral role in the administration of the scholarships.
The most recent program that was added to the education section is the Summer Youth Program Fund. Through this program, Lilly Endowment provides grants to organizations that provide constructive and safe activities for children from 4-19 years of age to engage in during the summer. Organizations that receive funding include tutoring centers, churches, community and sports centers, art centers, overnight camps, parks and theaters.
Eli Lilly once mentioned in Madison Magazine that the cause closest to his heart was character education. In order to bring about the development of individuals with moral fibre and upright character, Eli Lilly supported numerous religious causes leading to the establishment of the religious arm of the endowment.
The religious branch of Lilly Endowment seeks to enrich the lives of Christians and congregations across America by improving the capacity of pastors already engaged in the work of ministry and educating a new crop of pastors. They do this through supporting theological institutions and providing opportunities for established ministers to renew their commitment to ministry.
The Indiana and National clergy renewal programs are long-standing initiatives that Lilly Endowment supports as part of its religion arm. Founded in the years 1999 and 2000, respectively, the programs seek to provide pastors with time they can use to recharge their spiritual batteries in order to better serve in ministry. Congregations also use the programs as opportunities to grow the capacities of lay pastors.
The programs both offer grants of up to $50,000 to churches for renewal of their pastors.
Community development is the third major division of Lilly Endowment. Under this section, the organization funds programs that improve the quality of life in Indiana. These are programs that create the kind of economy that can attract lucrative, developmental businesses to the state. Projects and organizations that have received funding in the past include low-income housing projects, neighborhood revitalization projects and arts and culture organizations.
An initiative under community development is the Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT) program.
Established in 1990, the endowment uses GIFT to support the establishment, growth and success of community foundations in Indiana’s 92 counties. The community foundations, in turn, provide Lilly Endowment with an avenue to improve the quality of life throughout Indiana. The GIFT program has undergone five phases and is currently in its sixth phase.
The continuous growth and expansion of these programs will enable Lilly Endowment to fulfill its overall objective of creating change and fostering development in Indiana.
— June Samo
Sources: Lilly Endowment Community Development, Lilly Endowment Religion, Lilly Endowment Education, Lilly Endowment, General, Learning to Give, ISI News
Photo: TECHPOINT
Pope Francis to Davos Leadership: Fight Inequality
Every year, the World Economic Forum (WEF) gathers the global business, political and academic elite in Davos, Switzerland to tackle the planet’s toughest issues. This year, Pope Francis was once again invited to address the group and his message was clear: fight inequality.
A cardinal from the Vatican read the Pope’s letter to forum members on Jan. 22. It began by thanking the WEF for their invitation but quickly addressed global poverty and inequality: “The financialization and technologization of national and global economies have produced far-reaching changes in the field of labor. Diminished opportunities for useful and dignified employment, combined with a reduction in social security, are causing a disturbing rise in inequality and poverty in different countries.”
The recently published Oxfam report, “An Economy For the 1%,” corroborates the Pope’s views. Increasingly fewer people control more of the world’s wealth. From 1988 to 2011, for example, 46 percent of the global increase in income went to the wealthiest 10 percent of the world’s population.
Pope Francis’s address emphasized that caring for the poor means more than empathizing with their plight. “Weeping for other people’s pain does not only mean sharing in their sufferings, but also and above all realizing that our own actions are a cause of injustice and inequality.” He called on business leaders to create an inclusive future and warned about the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” that is hindering progress to fight inequality.
The “Fourth Industrial Revolution” refers to the coming age of robotics and artificial intelligence in everyday life. On its website, the WEF explains that while this revolution will raise global income levels, it may exacerbate inequality. The Pope wishes that this transformation of society “does not lead to the destruction of the human person – to be replaced by a soulless machine – or to the transformation of our planet into an empty garden for the enjoyment of a chosen few.”
Along with this warning, Pope Francis stressed that the age of robotics also presents an opportunity. With vastly increased productivity, humans will have more resources available for “our common home.” He emphasized that business is “a noble vocation” with the ability to improve others’ lives by providing them with a living wage and meaningful work.
His message is that, besides increasing profit and productivity, business leaders must not forget their duty to create jobs. Through the creation of jobs that pay a living wage, the economic elite lift people out of poverty and provide stability for the many living precarious lives. In the drive for modernization, Pope Francis tells leaders, “Do not forget the poor!”
Since becoming Pope, he has uniquely focused on ending inequality. In his 2016 address to Davos, he urged the global elite to work with that goal in mind. The most powerful people on earth, after all, are the most powerful agents for change.
As for what he recommends, Pope Francis’ words speak for themselves. From his 2014 apostolic exhortation: “Growth in justice requires more than economic growth: it requires decisions, programs, mechanisms and processes specifically geared to a better distribution of income, the creation of sources of employment and an integral promotion of the poor which goes beyond a simple welfare mentality.” Careful planning and action are needed to fight inequality.
– Dennis Sawyers
Sources: Reuters, Rome Reports, Oxfam International, The Holy See (Vatican), World Economic Forum
Photo: Merco Press
5 Ways Addressing Women’s Rights Reduces Poverty
Since the 1970s, women have had a key role in addressing women’s rights in terms of ending global poverty.
There are several reasons for this phenomenon, whether laws in certain countries stimulating this repression or customs in a society. Laws protecting women often remain unimplemented at the national and local levels.
The U.N. Commission for Africa states that women, in particular, suffer from inequality, both socially and economically. It is important to recognize women’s rights implications for the declination of global poverty.
1. It Increases Education Enrollment
Young girls are among the largest of demographics not receiving an education. It is a known fact that women with equal rights become more educated. These women are more likely to participate in the job field. Education results in gaining the skills necessary to obtain work and consequently gain financial resources to rise above the poverty line.
2. It Increases Enrollment in the Job Sector
As women acquire education and skills, they may gain the aspirations of entrepreneurship. The right to education for women also creates future options for labor. Furthermore, as women become educated, their role is expanded beyond child-rearing. Women are then able to obtain a presence in the working field.
3. Women Are More Likely to Participate in Decision Making
Women with legal rights are more likely to own land and therefore to access finance. The U.N. claims that rural women with the right of control over their land increase social and political status. Addressing women’s rights in controlling land boosts bargaining power domestically and empowers their public voice.
4. It Diminishes Dependence
Many women who are impoverished are widows, single-headed households or those who did not have an income to begin with. Addressing women’s rights to education and ownership enables them to earn a living regardless of challenging situations. When women have rights to land ownership and to education, it ensures their ability to provide for their families’ daily needs. Land ownership also decreases the prospects of women being evicted and subsequently sliding into poverty.
5. It Reduces Unpaid Work
Many women spend a lot of time doing household work such as caring for children. Additionally, many women spend a great portion of their day preparing meals and gathering water, during which they resort to paying for childcare. Greater equality in the household would allow women the opportunity to spend time carrying out paid work.
The U.N. states that with access to resources such as financial credit, technical assistance, training and land ownership, the feminization of poverty will diminish.
– Mayra Vega
Sources: U.N.E.C.A., UNDP 1, UNDP 2, UNDP 3, UNDP 4, U.N. 1, Sachs, Jeffrey, U.N. 2
Photo: Africa Agribusiness
Corporate Social Responsibility Investment
CCM reported that the company’s CRA Qualified Investment Fund Institutional Shares (CRANX) ranked among the top one percent of all performers out of 309 government funds during 2015.
According to PR Newswire, CRANX saw about two percent returns in 2015, exceeding the average return for its category. Out of 301 funds, investment research group Morningstar rated the share class with four stars for its $1.8 billion asset portfolio across its three share classes.
“We are equally proud of the Fund’s bespoke impact portfolio and community impact performance, having invested $512 million in 2015 and $5.8 billion since inception in bonds financing economic and environmentally sustainable initiatives,” said CCM chief investment strategist David Sand.
CCM offers shareholders the ability to customize their investments to align with social or environmental missions, in addition to participating in open-ended bond funds that provide liquidity as a part of their corporate social responsibility.
Funds like CRANX offer investors the chance to facilitate change through impact investing – making investments that bring about a social or environmental change as well as a financial return.
CCM’s impact investments have brought great change to areas within the United States. For example, $283 million helped to fund job creation and small business development, $354 million was invested for environmental sustainability and neighborhood revitalization, $33 million helped to create affordable health facilities and 320,000 affordable rental housing units were created.
Canyon Crossing is one of these complexes that offers 180 rental properties to low-income residents of Salt Lake County in Utah. The construction of these buildings, along with the state’s other efforts over the last 10 years, has resulted in a rapid reduction of homelessness throughout the state, according to the Department of Workforce Services (DWS).
According to the African Development Report of 2011, the private investment sector is the driving force behind economic growth and poverty reduction in Africa. The report finds that 80 percent of Africa’s production, two-thirds of total investments and 75 percent of total credit to the economy comes from private sector investments.
Barron’s reports that the popularity of impact investing has grown in the last 10 years and current trends indicate an increase in international impact investing. A survey conducted by Fidelity Investments found that a quarter of respondents plan to invest their impact portfolios overseas.
“Impact investing has the potential to channel significant amounts of private capital to solutions to the world’s most intransigent challenges. Last year was a banner year for impact investing and set the stage for 2016 to be a year of tremendous growth and progress,” said Global Impact Investing Network CEO, Amit Bouri.
– Kelsey Lay
Sources: African Development Bank Group, Community Capital Management, Inc., Department of Workforce Services, Forbes 1, Forbes 2, PR Newswire
Photo: Huffington Post
Helping Save Street Children in Guatemala
Street children are those for whom the street has become their real home — a situation in which there is no protection, supervision or direction from responsible adults. Consequently, most of these children live and sleep on the street, with some taking refuge in parks or under stairs.
Children living on the streets migrate from rural areas of Guatemala or from Honduras or El Salvador. This migration is caused by the extreme poverty in Guatemala, which is both widespread and severe. According to the World Bank, “approximately 75 percent of the population is estimated to live below the poverty line, which is defined as an income that is insufficient to purchase a basic basket of goods and services.”
The main sources of income for these children are usually activities such as robbery, begging and prostitution. Specialist Irving Epstein indicated that “many children inhale the fumes of shoe glue or paint thinner, often their only avenue to escape hunger, pain and hopelessness.”
Due to the lack of access to any educational institution, these children are more likely to choose violent pathways and tend to join street gangs. In 2005, approximately 10,000 Guatemalan children were members of street gangs.
Unfortunately, joining these street gangs comes at a price. According to Epstein, “violence between street gangs is common and is often used as an excuse by the national police and private security guards to harass and beat street children.”
Additionally, condom use is irregular and the pregnancy rate among the girls is high. This is unfortunate for many reasons, but largely because these girls hardly have what they need to take care of themselves and do not have the capacity to raise a child.
The social panorama in which street children find themselves living reflects the widespread poverty and severe inequality existing in Guatemala. Yet the plight of street children is hardly uncommon amongst developing countries.
However, several governmental and nongovernmental organizations have become active in Guatemala City since 2003. With his wife, former president Alvaro Arzu opened a center that provides both traditional humanitarian aid, such as food, shelter and clothing, and long-term sustainable aid, such as health services and education, to the homeless.
Casa Alianza is another agency working in Guatemala City that has provided several services for street children. It promotes residential and outreach programs, legal aid, drug rehabilitation and other vital services.
Children living in the streets of Guatemala are the most vulnerable to major social issues. Nonetheless, these initiatives are fighting to ensure a better life for these children, and hopefully in the coming years, Guatemala may see fewer children living alone and in destitution.
– Isabella Rölz
Sources: World Bank, Google Books
Photo: Hansen Photo
Expanding Preschool Access for Poor Children
Attending preschool can drastically improve the intellectual capacity of children. Research has demonstrated positive effects on learning and development in both the short and the long run.
A recent study from Northwestern University suggested that children from lower income families tend to perform significantly worse in the first years of elementary school. This is due to the fact that they usually did not have the opportunity to attend preschool.
Policy expert Whitmore Schanzenbach suggested that “by the time they reach kindergarten, disadvantaged children already show an achievement gap relative to their higher-income peers.”
Schanzenbach emphasized that “the poverty gap in school readiness appears to be growing as income inequality widens.”
Teachers at elementary schools have reported that children from less privileged families have more difficulty paying attention and exhibit more behavioral problems given no kind of education prior to elementary school.
This is because the state and the government usually do not focus their attention on expanding preschool access to children from marginalized sectors. They have concentrated mainly on improving education for children over five years of age.
According to Schanzenbach, a common proposal to bridge this gap is to make formal preschool accessible to poor children under the age of five. Given many ways to expand these educational programs, specialists at Northwestern designed a program that is cost-effective.
In their proposal, a well-developed framework would introduce the highest quality curriculum and nurturing assistance that would ultimately help these young children prepare themselves for further education.
It is important to emphasize that this is a project designed to be introduced in developing countries and rural sectors, where preschool access needs to be attainable.
Schanzenbach concluded that “the expansion of early education programs along these lines will lead to improved educational outcomes for disadvantaged children.” She added a list of other benefits which included lower crime rates, reduced teenage pregnancy and a decreased reliance on the social safety net.
Read Schanzenbach’s full study here.
– Isabella Rölz
Sources: Brookings, U.S. Department of Education, NYTimes
Photo: U.S. News
One Stop Shop Improves Health Care in Lesotho
The health centers, called One Stop Shops, are an effort to bring HIV, malnutrition, blood pressure screenings, immunizations and infant checkups to the most remote areas of the country. Community members in mountain regions are currently unable to get these services without traveling to district capitals, which is a severe hardship that often deters them from seeking help at all.
“Without easy access to these service providers, they won’t go after these services,” said district council secretary for Maseru, Mamajara Lehloenya. “One wouldn’t take the initiative to go test your high blood pressure (hypertension) unless you are very sick.”
This is a serious problem in a country facing a number of national health burdens. The most recent reports from the World Health Organization indicate that the hypertension prevalence rate is more than 30 percent. HIV affects over 23 percent of the population. At the same time, Lesotho is experiencing an under-five mortality rate of 100/1000 children.
To remedy this lack of accessible health care in Lesotho, which is taking away lives, UNICEF and GIZ are bringing services to the most accessible level of government: community councils.
After the pilot phase is over, agencies hope that One Stop Shop will be a “reliable information hub” where community members can learn what services they can receive near home and how to receive them. One Stop Shop also aims to strengthen the referral network for more technical services offered in the capitals.
Social workers will also be included in the initiative in order to assist residents with government documents, including birth certificates and identification cards, as these are often necessary to receive help outside of local communities.
Empowering rural citizens of Lesotho to take charge of their health is critical to sustainably improving human and economic development in the country.
“By linking them to services that build their human capital – like health and education – a safety net of public assistance programs can help the poor rise out of long-term poverty,” said UNICEF Social Protection Consultant Betina Ramirez.
The efforts will complement those of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which has been working to build capacity in the country, especially in the agricultural sector. UNDP urges that, together, improving health and food security will be critical if Lesotho is to get back on track with the Millennium Development Goals.
– Ron Minard
Sources: UNDP, UNICEF, WHO
Photo: Flickr
10 Ways to Help the World’s Poor
Ways to Help the World’s Poor
Do you want to know some easy ways to help the world’s poor? Well, here are 10 simple ways to help the world’s poor, which can often be done without even having to leave your home!
1. Donate
One of the quickest and most obvious ways to help the world’s poor is to donate to charity. Click here to donate to The Borgen Project.
2. Call Congress
This way to help the world’s poor is surprisingly simple. Every person in the United States has 3 representatives in Congress (2 Senators and 1 Representative in the House). By calling these 3 peoples’ offices each week, individuals can show the Congressmen the issues that they care about. Calling your Congressmen is a simple process. Generally, an intern will answer the phone, or you can leave a message after hours.
The message you need to say is simple: “My name is ___, I live in ___, and I want to raise the funding for helping the world’s poor,” or something similar. As few as 7 people calling in can make a Congressman change his mind on a bill: Congressmen want those they are serving in the U.S. to be happy so if you let them know what you want, they are more likely to listen. Go here for more detailed instructions.
3. Inform Yourself
This is one of the simplest ways to help the world’s poor, and also it helps you to do the other things more effectively. Basically, all you need to do is stay informed on the issues. Pay attention to what is happening in Congress and read up on current poverty-related events. It may surprise you to find out that poverty has made some great strides in the past few years. Indeed, in the past 20 years, the world’s undernourished has decreased by 50%. Life expectancy has also increased by 1/3.
(Browse The Borgen Project to find out more interesting facts about poverty).
4. Build Buzz/Raise Awareness
Now that you’ve done your research, you can use your new information as tools to build buzz or to raise the awareness of those around you. If you care about the world’s poor, you can be sure that other people do too, but may just be unaware of how they can help. You can share info on different poverty-fighting organizations with your colleagues, family, and friends (see 1. Donate for ideas). You can also call into radio shows, write to editors, speak locally about the cause, send ideas to the media, or anything else that may bring the idea of helping the world’s poor to the forefront of people’s vision and thoughts.
5. Social Media
Recently, social media has become one of the most fantastical ways a person can help the world’s poor (among other ventures). This is perhaps the easiest way to help, as well. Many Congressional leaders (your members of Congress) have Facebook pages, Twitters, or websites. All you need to do is either post on their pages to bring up the idea of helping the world’s poor, or post on your own about the various issues. Also, you can easily follow many different organizations, including The Borgen Project, and retweet them or post about them on Facebook or other websites. Overall, your voice will be heard. (The Social Media of Congress can be found here and here). (Also, follow us on Twitter!)
6. Get Political
Although you can call Congress or post on their Facebook pages, there are other ways to help the world’s poor and to “get political.” If you are willing, you can always arrange a meeting with Congressional staffers to tell them what issues (like reducing global poverty) you are interested in. You can also mobilize those around you; just one person calling into Congress will make a difference, but if multiple people in an area call Congress about the same issue and around the same time, there will be a bigger effect. Finally, you can “bird dog” Congress, which means to go to where a legislator is speaking, and ask them publicly about poverty (For example, “What are you doing to help poverty?” or “Will you support helping reduce global poverty?”, etc).
7. Fundraising
Another one of the ways to help the world’s poor is fundraising. Contact people about various organizations to donate to, or use sites like Crowd Rise to start a campaign. You can also run marathons or accomplish other feats as a way to raise money, as long as you ask people to be your sponsor. You can also ask for donations to different charities rather than receiving gifts for your birthdays, weddings, or other events.
8. Be a Consumer with a Cause
One of the surprising ways to help the world’s poor is simply by being a consumer, or something who buys things. This can be done by buying products from websites that donate a portion of their proceeds to charity, or from nonprofit organizations that sell shirts or other merchandise to help the cause. The Borgen Project even has a Visa Card that has no annual fee, and some unique card designs. Basically, when possible, buy from places that will help the cause.
9. Arrange Events
One of the harder ways to help the world’s poor is arranging events. Of course, this does not need to be too difficult: you could host parties (or movie/TV show marathons with your friends!) and have a $5 (suggested donation) to get in. This can be done by living your life as normal, but adding in charity donation so that everyone can get involved. On the other hand, you can also host poverty-based events or parties with the pure purpose of raising awareness on poverty and discussing its issues. Finally, you can have a “non-event” event, where instead of going out that night, everyone donates a certain amount and stays in.
10. Volunteer
Finally, one of the most difficult (but, arguably, most rewarding) ways to help the world’s poor is through volunteering. This can encompass many different things: volunteer for a political campaign, volunteer for a nonprofit organization, volunteer for a movement to fight poverty or grab an internship. Personally, I am an intern writing for The Borgen Project; I do not get paid, but it helps get the message out to the world. Overall, you can find volunteer opportunities online (for example, through Idealist), but there are also local opportunities that may be available if you ask around.
To see even more easy ways to help the world’s poor, look here.
– Corina Balsamo
Source: The Borgen Project
Photo: Flickr
Using Data Literacy to Improve Development in Sudan
The World Bank has launched a data literacy program to improve evidence-based policymaking and development outcomes in Sudan.
Funded by UKAid, experts from the World Bank will work over the next eight months to bridge the gap between data producers and data consumers. The program will bring together statisticians, who produce oftentimes complex development indicators, and journalists, academics and government officials, who use this data to inform policymaking.
“This initiative is timely,” said World Bank Country Representative to Sudan, Xavier Furtado. “In addition to better quality data, the World Bank hopes that the Evidence Base Program will contribute to greater transparency and accountability in how public policy is debated and decisions are made.”
Sudan faces a complex set of development issues requiring sound policy.
The most recent data from the World Health Organization indicates that the under-five mortality rate is 77 per 1000 children, the maternal mortality rate is 360 per 100,000 live births and the number of deaths due to tuberculosis is just over 25 per 100,000 citizens. The most recent data from The World Bank indicates that 46.5 percent of the population in Sudan is living in poverty.
But WHO notes that its figures haven’t been updated since 2013 and Sudan didn’t begin to measure these statistics until between 1990 and 2000. The World Bank also notes that its figures have not been updated since 2009. On the World Bank’s 0-100 scale of level of statistical capacity, Sudan sits just above 51, compared to the average for all sub-Saharan African countries of 70.
Finding solutions to the challenges facing Sudan will require targeted, efficient development programs and leaders cannot hope to make progress without first filling its data literacy and acquisition gaps.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has also been working toward this objective. Since 2006, UNDP has hosted workshops designed to train government representatives on how to understand, analyze and utilize development data – hoping to foster better aid policy.
“We understand that changes will not happen overnight,” Furtado said. But by building capacity to collect, analyze and manage reliable data at national and provincial levels through its new program, the World Bank hopes to ingrain data use into the development culture of the fragile state. In turn, they estimate that better programs and more inclusive economic growth will occur.
– Ron Minard
Sources: UNDP, WHO, World Bank 1, World Bank 2
Photo: USAID