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How the UN Fights Global Poverty

How the UN Fights Global Poverty2015 represents an important year for the United Nations to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.

Among the goals that the United Nations has to eradicate poverty and hunger are: to reduce by half the amount of people that make less than $1 per day, accomplish employment and work for everyone including minorities such as women and to reduce by half the amount of people who are suffering from hunger.

The United Nations partners with different organizations and foundations in order to achieve these goals to eradicate poverty.

The Zero Hunger Challenge, the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement and the UNDP-IKEA Foundation are three movements that the United Nations are partnering with.

1. Zero Hunger Challenge

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon gives the invitation to every country to work for the future, a future in which every person has adequate nutrition and doesn’t lack food.

The Zero Hunger Challenge involves having no stunted children, 100 percent access to adequate food, sustainable food systems, 100 percent increase in smallholder productivity and zero food waste.

According to this challenge, the investment in agriculture, rural development and equality of opportunity helps to eradicate hunger.

This challenge promotes different strategies and cooperation in order to strive for results that combat hunger.

2. Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement

The principle of this movement is that everyone has the right to good nutrition and food. This movement is supported by donors, people from the government, the United Nations and various others.

This movement seeks to address malnutrition by activities such as implementing programs and collaborations.

The principles of engagement are to be transparent and honest about the impact that collective action has, bring solutions that can be proven and interventions to scale, have a commitment to support the rights and equity of all human beings, resolve conflicts if they arise, be responsible so stakeholders can feel collectively accountable to the commitments, establish priorities and be communicative toward what works and what doesn’t.

3. UNDP-IKEA Foundation

This is a foundation that is benefiting 50,000 women from India.

This foundation has helped 9,000 dairy producers to form a company through provided financial literacy training. Profits also double within a year through the participation of the members.

The United Nations also contributes with other organizations, such as the UNDP and Brazil’s Natura Cosméticos, which brings training to beauty advisors in areas that vary from direct sales to customer training.

It is clear that the United Nations uses different methods to obtain results in the different humanity issues that it focuses on.

While they address different issues such as climate change, terrorism, food production, human rights, health emergencies and many others, global poverty and the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger is under the Millennium Development Goals that the United Nations has, and partnering with different associations, movements, organizations and foundations has resulted in a way to reach for success in addressing these issues in the year of 2015.

– Diana Fernanda Leon

Sources: United Nations 1, United Nations 2, Scaling Up Nutrition
Photo: Flickr

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Electrify Africa Act

ELECTRIFY AFRICA ACT PASSED!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ADVOCACY!

On February 1st, 2016 the Electrify Africa Act passed in Congress. We want to thank you for sending over 6,300 emails supporting the bill to your Congressional leaders. The Borgen Project held nearly 400 Congressional meetings while working to get the legislation passed in Congress and we want to thank our donors who’ve provided the fuel to help drive this key bill through Congress.

Electrify Africa Act
Nearly 70 percent of people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity, so they live without lights, refrigeration, life-saving medical treatments, machines to produce goods, and modern technologies. The Electrify Africa Act provides 50 million people with access to electricity by 2020.

electrify africa act

The Problem: Electricity is crucial to the form and function of modern life, but an astonishing 70 percent of people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to such power. This lack of electricity causes schools, hospitals and businesses to be decades behind the rest of the world. In addition to the educational and economic ramifications of no access to electricity, there are huge costs to public health. Globally, more people die every year from indoor smoke inhalation from open fire cook stoves than from HIV/AIDS and malaria combined. Electricity also allows for much better care in hospitals and medical clinics. The lack of access to electricity is one of the biggest health issues facing Africa.

The Bill: The Electrify Africa Act provides 50 million people with access to electricity. The legislation builds on the success of the Power Africa initiative.

 

Electrify Africa Act 101

 

Electrify Africa Act

electrify africa act

The Problem: Electricity is crucial to the form and function of modern life, but an astonishing 70 percent of people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to such power. This lack of electricity causes schools, hospitals and businesses to be decades behind the rest of the world. In addition to the educational and economic ramifications of no access to electricity, there are huge costs to public health. Globally, more people die every year from indoor smoke inhalation from open fire cook stoves than from HIV/AIDS and malaria combined. Electricity also allows for much better care in hospitals and medical clinics. The lack of access to electricity is one of the biggest health issues facing Africa.

 

The Bill: The Electrify Africa Act provides 50 million people with access to electricity. The legislation builds on the success of the Power Africa initiative.

 

 

Last Session Members who Supported it:

 

 

The Inside Scoop: Last Congressional session, the Electrify Africa Act passed in the House. The Senate version (called the Energize Africa Act) passed in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The bill had great support in the Senate as well, but was dropped too late in the session to make it through to full passage.

 

 

CBO Score: Last session, the Congressional Budget Office projected the Electrify Africa Act would save $86 million (Learn how). This session’s version has not been scored yet, but will likely have the same savings.

 

 

Material for Lobbying Meetings

 

Handout for Lobbying Meetings: 

Bring to Lobbying Meetings Just in Case:

 

 

Electrify Africa Act Learning Resources

 

 

 

Questions/Feedback You Might Get During a Congressional Meeting

  1. What is the difference between this session’s version of the Electrify Africa Act and the last one?
  2. Has the CBO scored the bill?/What is the cost of the bill?
  3. The Senator/Representative doesn’t like OPIC.
  4. What type of electricity does the bill promote?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Electrify Africa Act
Photo of the earth at night illustrates Africa’s power shortage, despite being home to 1/7 of people on earth.