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International Day for the Eradication of Poverty   
Oct. 17, 2008—Today’s commemoration of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty comes in the midst of a severe economic downturn and recent sharp increases in food prices. Even without these economic shocks, the United Nations estimates that nearly three billion people around the world live on less than $2 a day. In the face of this stark reality, governments made an unprecedented commitment to help the world’s poor and reduce poverty, represented in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that were adopted eight years ago. The Millennium Development Goals brought together rich and poor nations alike in a pledge to help the world’s poor through economic investments, education programs, and programs to improve health, among other strategies. The goals included a call for greater efforts to educate girls and empower women, which research shows increases income for families in the long-term, strengthening communities and nations in the process. According to the United Nations Population Fund, when girls are educated in developing countries, they postpone marriage and have smaller families. A World Bank study shows that by adding just one more year of secondary school a girl can eventually increase her wage by 15 to 25 percent. Study after study has shown that investing in women advances community development. Institutions including the World Bank have documented how increasing women’s educational attainment and promoting their equal opportunity in the labor force and public life can reduce poverty and promote national growth. Investing in women also greatly enhances the well-being of families and their children, who are more likely to survive and thrive if their mothers are healthy and educated. The good news is that efforts to reduce poverty were beginning to work. New estimates from the United Nations show that the number of people living in extreme poverty fell from 1.8 billion in 1990 to 1.4 billion in 2005. This progress was unequal across world regions, most notably leaving behind sub-Saharan Africa where poverty rates rose during the same time period, but it was a hopeful trend. And, the Millennium Development Goals Report shows that in all but two regions, primary school enrollment is at least 90 percent and that women have more earning opportunities than ever before. CEDPA has worked for over 30 years to empower women and girls to improve their lives and communities, and free themselves from the constraints of poverty. At the core, CEDPA’s work has centered on efforts to ensure that girls go to school and stay in school, and that women have greater opportunities to lead.
There have been more than 200,000 graduates of CEDPA’s Better Life Options program around the world, which provides girls and boys with practical, non-formal education and improves their life skills. From health to human rights and from self-confidence to civic participation, CEDPA’s approach to non-formal education stresses practical skills and encourages greater community support for girls’ education. CEDPA also has trained more than 5,200 developing-country women and supportive men to advance international development and change the social and political context that impedes opportunities for women and girls. Graduates of CEDPA’s trainings have become change agents within their communities, running economic empowerment programs, literacy efforts and social agencies. Others have gone on to lead at the highest levels within their nations, including at the vice presidential and parliamentary levels, pushing through policies that have helped lift thousands of families out of poverty. Learn more about CEDPA’s programs to improve the lives of women and their families worldwide. |
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