The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is working to alleviate global poverty in the world and doing a shockingly good job so far. USAID believes it can wipe out extreme poverty (earning less than $1.90 a day) by the year 2030, and USAID has three presidential initiatives working to attain this admirable goal: Feed the Future, Global Climate Change and Global Health.

Feed the Future

Feed the Future is the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative. Because nearly 800 million people go to bed hungry every night, Feed the Future works to diminish that number by spurring economic growth to increase incomes and reduce hunger, poverty and malnourishment.

USAID believes that Feed the Future will be a lasting initiative with long-term success since the program is deeply rooted in government and organizational partnerships. This adaptivity is key, especially as the population continues to increase.

Every country depends heavily on its environment to provide essential resources, such as food, water, shelter and energy. Unfortunately, these resources are under incredible strain due to the world’s tremendous increase in population; by 2050 there will be roughly an additional two billion people on earth.

Currently, 800 million individuals around the world suffer from chronic hunger, mainly due to poverty. With two billion additional people on earth by 2050, the number of chronically hungry individuals will only increase without initiatives such as Feed the Future.

Global Climate Change Initiative

USAID’s Global Climate Change Initiative works to help impoverished countries manage and benefit from their natural resources. USAID can alleviate countries out of poverty for good by helping them manage their supporting land tenure policies and resource rights, fight deforestation and plant trees, protect biodiversity and adapt to the effects of climate change.

Global Health

USAID’s Global Health Initiative “seeks to advance world safe and secure from infectious diseases and to promote global health security as an international health priority.”

USAID works towards this goal by decreasing maternal mortality and infant death rates as well as lessening the number of HIV infections found in children. In the past 50 years, USAID has helped child mortality rates decline by 70% and maternal mortality rates by 40-65%. This amazing feat was achieved by providing mothers and children with supplements, vaccines and bed nets — actions that save about six million children per year.

A Truly Life-Saving Organization

USAID saves more than three million lives annually through their immunization programs, three large initiatives and many smaller poverty-alleviating acts. USAID has educated over 850,000 people on HIV prevention and over 50 million couples worldwide use family planning because of USAID’s population program.

USAID plays a critical role in our nation’s effort to stabilize countries and build responsive local governance. Most importantly, USAID strives to not only alleviate extreme global poverty but also keep individuals from having to make impossible choices between food, medicine, housing or education daily. Incredibly, this organization does all in its power to make sure people are able to afford their basic human needs.

– Bella Chaffey

Photo: Flickr