Recent data by the Mexican government has revealed that close to 50 percent of the Mexican population is currently living in poverty. This poverty crisis represents a major blow to President Pena Nieto’s pledge to alleviate close to 15 million Mexican citizens in poverty throughout his six year electoral term.

As it stands, 46.2 percent of Mexicans live in poverty, with two million Mexican citizens falling below the poverty line from 2012 to 2014. Despite a steady economy in recent years, the Mexican government is struggling to enact any meaningful relief to its population. Contrary to the woes of the administration, global relief organization Freedom from Hunger has emerged as a beacon of hope for millions of displaced Mexicans.

Freedom from Hunger is a nonprofit organization that operates by going into poverty stricken areas and meeting with already existing local groups to provide technological aid as well as training in a variety of crucial survival skills. As per Freedom from Hunger’s website: “We learn from our partners about the unique challenges in their service areas and how, together, we can overcome them. By training partner organizations to deliver the services—and training them to train others—we ensure that the programs become locally owned, spontaneously shared and sustained beyond our original collaboration.” This group provides immediate aid as well as long-term sustainability to developing zones across the globe.

Freedom from Hunger has recently launched an initiative to address poverty in Mexico. The plan is simple: focus the bulk of effort on helping the poor in rural areas of Mexico, as these people are the most in need of aid. Freedom from Hunger plans to bring banking and healthcare infrastructures to the areas of Guanajuato, Chiapas and Hidalgo, where the number of those in poverty is reportedly in the tens of thousands. At the same time, the organization plans on instituting a headquarters in Mexico City to provide year-round training for local Mexican relief agencies.

By launching this initiative, Freedom from Hunger is estimating that “by the end of the first year, Freedom from Hunger and its collaborating partners could be reaching as many as 14,000 people in villages where financial services and health education are desperately needed.” This immediate success could provide a spark for the Mexican government to piggy-back some of Freedom from Hunger’s ideas and create substantial government aid. It is inconceivable that almost half of a country with a population of roughly 123 million people lives in poverty, but it is inspiring that one organization could be the difference in changing this nation forever.

– Diego Catala

Sources: Channel News Asia, Freedom from Hunger
Photo: Global Micro Credits Summit