Advocates Urge Action on Poverty

Advocates Urge Action on Poverty

by Megan Harris
United Press International
June 14, 2007

WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- Development experts and observers agree that enormous strides have been made in fighting global poverty, but much more remains to be done. More important may be their message that eradicating poverty and fostering development are no longer merely moral choices, but matters of world security.

At its 4th annual National Advocacy Conference this week, the international humanitarian and development organization CARE offered a hopeful perspective on the chances of eradicating world poverty, particularly by empowering women. More than 300 delegates from the United States and CARE staff took their message to Capitol Hill Thursday, meeting with their respective representatives and senators to urge more funding for development assistance.

"We're so lucky to live in this country ... all of us bear a responsibility for our fellow human beings around the world. ... We will advocate for 3 billion people who live in extreme poverty -- on less than $2 a day," Washington State Chairwoman Jeri Rice told delegates from the western regions.

But development advocates are competing against many other groups vying for time and influence -- especially because now is appropriations season. "This environment isn't good for international issues. There's pressure to get domestic projects done," a CARE staff member told delegates.

They are asking legislators to increase development spending by 1 percent of the total U.S. budget, which would still fall below the stated goal of the Western countries of each providing 0.7 percent of GDP for development assistance, said Bruce Tully, a delegate from New York and CARE board member.

Asking why more isn't done given proven development results, CARE President and Chief Executive Officer Helene Gayle said, "We lack the political will to put together the resources and to do what we know works."

Senator Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., assured delegates that they were making a difference -- on Capitol Hill and in the fight against poverty -- and said more has to be done to help the one-third to one-half of the world's population who live in poverty. He advocated the need to "harness the public-private framework," as modeled by the hugely successful Marshall Plan.

While praising the efforts of the Bush administration to address HIV/AIDS, CARE staff members argued that it's essential to remove the abstinence-only stipulations from HIV/AIDS funding, which prevents the distributions of condoms.

A theme that reverberated throughout the conference was the key role of women in eradicating poverty. Though often marginalized by their societies and the most vulnerable to negative events, women tend to be a great force in spreading change throughout their families and communities -- when they are empowered.

Speaking Wednesday, ABC White House correspondent Ann Compton described accompanying Hillary Clinton on her first trip as first lady to five Asian countries, where visits to orphanages and hospitals revealed the disparities between girls and boys. She said it was "the single best-crafted trip ... by anyone in the White House" because of the message of the importance of women it delivered. All the countries on the itinerary had had a female prime minister and the people "were straining for that kind of accomplishment."

When asked how poverty advocates could make their message heard when issues like Iraq drown out other concerns, Compton said: "You need to have advocates as far up the chain as possible."

Another effort to gather more support was the presence of about 30 student members of Americans for Informed Democracy, a group that seeks to establish globally aware leaders and foster discussion of international affairs. "AID will be partnering with CARE to bring the message about ending poverty to college campuses," said AID Global Youth Leadership Fellow Courtney Matson.

Several also noted that fighting poverty is important for creating a peaceful world. When asked, Compton also addressed the relationship between poverty and terrorism: "Terrorism is the extreme reaction of people who are disempowered. For that reason, it ought to be an easy connection for any administration to make."

A similar conversation took place last week at the Brookings Institution, when development experts and contributors to a new book, "Too Poor for Peace?", argued that poverty eradication is no longer a moral issue, but an imperative for both world and national security.

Development experts at Brookings also highlighted the need to reassess and revamp longstanding poverty and development programs through better coordination and systemic strategies, but all noted that enormous progress has been achieved so far in elevating millions of people out of extreme poverty -- from reduction in infant mortality and illiteracy rates to providing clean water and basic food needs.

CARE began a unique kind of evaluation program last year -- a strategic impact inquiry designed to measure the impact of specific programs on underlying causes. The results of its first SII, which looked at its gender empowerment programs, were not very impressive, but Kent Glazer, head of Care's Monitoring and Evaluation Programs, said they were typical for NGO programs. "I'd say about 60 percent of our programs are good ... and 25 percent of our portfolio we should be embarrassed about. These results help us to see how we can do better in the future."

"We've been focused on short-term gains that are never retained." The erosion, he said, "is due to the fact that the project had a one-time impact and didn't address the underlying issues. Development is structured around projects and projects are short-term. Staff leaves when the project ends. Knowledge is about people."

CARE, like other development organizations, tries to partner with local groups, particularly in the private sector, said Glazer, who's worked off and on with CARE for 11 years. And CARE seeks to complement existing programs by looking at "the value added" they bring to a development sphere. "We try to bring in people with complementary skills," Glazer said.