Recent estimates for global poverty are that 9.2% of the world, or 689 million people, live in extreme poverty on $1.90 or less a day, according to the World Bank. So many people live on a subsistence diet, barely scraping together one meagre meal a day, while others who are less fortunate succumb and die of starvation.
How will Verozi Foundation help to end poverty?
We see the multidimensional reality of poverty, and so our work targets the biggest challenges: hunger and food security, clean water, health, economic empowerment, gender equality, disability inclusion, disaster relief, and child protection. Since poverty is different in each context, we work with communities, families, local leaders, and children themselves to identify solutions and transform lives. People we aim to help are those who lack even the most basic essentials to sustain life, such as adequate clean water, food and shelter.
What causes poverty?
The root causes of poverty are not only a lack of access to basic necessities of life like water, food, shelter, education, or healthcare. Inequities including gender or ethnic discrimination, poor governance, conflict, exploitation, and domestic violence also cause poverty. These inequities not only lead a person or a society into poverty but can also restrict access to social services that could help people overcome poverty.
The places most entrenched in poverty are fragile contexts, which can be entire countries or areas of a country. In fragile states, children and communities face higher rates of poverty due to political upheaval, past or present conflict, corrupt leaders, and poor infrastructure that limit access to education, clean water, healthcare, and other necessities.
To end extreme poverty, the U.N. estimates that the total cost per year would be about $175 billion, less than 1% of the combined income of the richest countries in the world.
What is the cycle of poverty?
Poverty can be a trap. For someone to get out of poverty, they need opportunities such as education, clean water, medical facilities nearby, and financial resources. Without these basic elements, poverty becomes a cycle from one generation to the next.
If families are too poor to send their children to school, their children will have a difficult time earning an income when they grow up. If a community lacks clean water, women will spend much of their day fetching water instead of earning an income. If medical facilities are far away, a parent loses income every time they take a sick child to the doctor.
Natural disasters and conflict can add to the cycle of poverty or add people to it. When a natural disaster strikes an impoverished community without functional public institutions, families are more vulnerable and often lack basic resources to recover, thus further entrenching a community in poverty or jeopardizing one that had recently emerged.
How can we end poverty?
We can help end poverty by identifying what is causing poverty in a particular community and then determining what needs to change. Because poverty looks different in various places and is caused by different factors, the work to eradicate poverty varies on the context