4 steps to ending extreme poverty
-
0:01 - 0:04We are witness to monumental
human progress. -
0:04 - 0:08Over the past few decades,
the expansion of the global marketplace -
0:08 - 0:13has lifted a third of the world's
population out of extreme poverty. -
0:13 - 0:16Yet we are also witness
to an astounding failure. -
0:16 - 0:18Our efforts to lift people up
-
0:18 - 0:21have left behind those
in the harshest forms of poverty, -
0:21 - 0:23the ultra-poor.
-
0:23 - 0:27What it means to be ultra-poor
goes beyond the monetary definition -
0:27 - 0:29that we're all familiar with:
-
0:29 - 0:31living on less than two dollars a day.
-
0:32 - 0:35It goes even beyond not having assets
-
0:35 - 0:37like livestock or land.
-
0:37 - 0:41To be ultra-poor means
to be stripped of your dignity, -
0:41 - 0:43purpose and self-worth.
-
0:43 - 0:45It means living in isolation,
-
0:45 - 0:47because you're a burden
to your own community. -
0:48 - 0:51It means being unable
to imagine a better future -
0:51 - 0:53for yourself and your family.
-
0:54 - 0:56By the end of 2019,
-
0:56 - 1:01about 400 million people
were living in ultra-poverty worldwide. -
1:01 - 1:05That's more than the populations
of the United States and Canada combined. -
1:06 - 1:08And when calamity strikes,
-
1:08 - 1:12whether it's a pandemic,
a natural disaster or a manmade crisis, -
1:12 - 1:15these numbers spike astronomically higher.
-
1:16 - 1:20My father, Fazle Abed,
gave up a corporate career -
1:20 - 1:24to establish BRAC
here in Bangladesh in 1972. -
1:24 - 1:26Bangladesh was a wreck,
-
1:26 - 1:29having just gone through
a devastating cyclone -
1:29 - 1:31followed by a brutal war for independence.
-
1:32 - 1:35Working with the poorest of the poor,
my father realized -
1:35 - 1:40that poverty was more
than the lack of income and assets. -
1:40 - 1:42It was also a lack of hope.
-
1:43 - 1:45People were trapped in poverty,
-
1:45 - 1:49because they felt
their condition was immutable. -
1:49 - 1:52Poverty, to them,
was like the sun and the moon -- -
1:52 - 1:54something given to them by God.
-
1:55 - 1:58For poverty reduction programs to succeed,
-
1:58 - 2:01they would need to instill
hope and self-worth -
2:01 - 2:03so that, with a little support,
-
2:03 - 2:05people could lift themselves
out of poverty. -
2:06 - 2:09BRAC went on to pioneer
the graduation approach, -
2:09 - 2:13a solution to ultra-poverty
that addresses both income poverty -
2:13 - 2:15and the poverty of hope.
-
2:15 - 2:18The approach works primarily with women,
-
2:18 - 2:21because women are
the most affected by ultra-poverty -
2:21 - 2:25but also the ones most likely
to pull themselves and their families -
2:25 - 2:26out of it.
-
2:26 - 2:27Over a two-year period,
-
2:27 - 2:29we essentially do four things.
-
2:30 - 2:33One, we meet a woman's basic needs
-
2:33 - 2:36by giving her food or cash,
-
2:36 - 2:38ensuring the minimum to survive.
-
2:38 - 2:41Two, we move her
towards a decent livelihood -
2:41 - 2:44by giving her an asset, like livestock,
-
2:44 - 2:47and training her to earn money from it.
-
2:47 - 2:50Three, we train her to save, budget
-
2:50 - 2:52and invest her new wealth.
-
2:52 - 2:56And four, we help
to integrate her socially, -
2:56 - 2:58first into groups of women like her
-
2:58 - 3:00and then into her community.
-
3:01 - 3:04Each of these elements
is key to the success of the others, -
3:04 - 3:08but the real magic is the hope
and sense of possibility -
3:08 - 3:12the women develop through
the close mentorship they receive. -
3:12 - 3:14Let me tell you about Jorina.
-
3:14 - 3:19Jorina was born in a remote village
in northern Bangladesh. -
3:19 - 3:20She never went to school,
-
3:20 - 3:25and at the age of 15,
she was married off to an abusive husband. -
3:25 - 3:27He eventually abandoned her,
-
3:27 - 3:29leaving her with no income
-
3:29 - 3:33and two children who were not in school
and were severely malnourished. -
3:33 - 3:35With no one to turn to for help,
-
3:35 - 3:37she had no hope.
-
3:37 - 3:42Jorina joined BRAC's
Graduation program in 2005. -
3:42 - 3:44She received a dollar a week,
-
3:44 - 3:45two cows,
-
3:45 - 3:47enterprise training
-
3:47 - 3:49and a weekly visit from a mentor.
-
3:49 - 3:51She began to build her assets,
-
3:51 - 3:53but most importantly,
-
3:53 - 3:57she began to imagine a better future
for herself and her children. -
3:58 - 4:00If you were visit Jorina's village today,
-
4:00 - 4:04you would find that she runs
the largest general store in her area. -
4:04 - 4:07She will proudly show you
the land she bought -
4:07 - 4:09and the house she built.
-
4:09 - 4:12Since we began this program in 2002,
-
4:12 - 4:14two million Bangladeshi women
-
4:14 - 4:18have lifted themselves and their families
out of ultra-poverty. -
4:18 - 4:21That's almost nine million people.
-
4:21 - 4:25The program, which costs
500 dollars per household, -
4:25 - 4:26runs for only two years,
-
4:26 - 4:29but the impact goes well beyond that.
-
4:29 - 4:32Researchers at the London
School of Economics found -
4:32 - 4:35that even seven years
after entering the program, -
4:35 - 4:3992 percent of participants
had maintained or increased -
4:39 - 4:42their income, assets and consumption.
-
4:43 - 4:45Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee,
-
4:45 - 4:48the MIT economists who won
the Nobel Prize last year, -
4:48 - 4:51led multicountry evaluations
-
4:51 - 4:55that identified graduation
as one of the most effective ways -
4:55 - 4:56to break the poverty trap.
-
4:57 - 4:59But my father wasn't content
-
4:59 - 5:02to have found a solution
that worked for some people. -
5:02 - 5:06He always wanted to know
whether we were being ambitious enough -
5:06 - 5:07in terms of scale.
-
5:07 - 5:11So when we achieved
nationwide scale in Bangladesh, -
5:11 - 5:14he wanted to know
how we could scale it globally. -
5:14 - 5:17And that has to involve governments.
-
5:17 - 5:20Governments already dedicate
billions of dollars -
5:20 - 5:22on poverty reduction programs.
-
5:22 - 5:25But so much of that money is wasted,
-
5:25 - 5:28because these programs
either don't reach the poorest, -
5:28 - 5:32and even the ones that do
fail to have significant long-term impact. -
5:33 - 5:36We are working to engage governments
-
5:36 - 5:40to help them to adopt and scale
graduation programs themselves, -
5:40 - 5:44maximizing the impact
of the billions of dollars -
5:44 - 5:47they already allocate
to fight ultra-poverty. -
5:48 - 5:52Our plan is to help
another 21 million people -
5:52 - 5:54lift themselves out of ultra-poverty
-
5:54 - 5:58in eight countries over the next six years
-
5:58 - 6:02with BRAC teams on-site
and embedded in each country. -
6:02 - 6:08In July of 2019, my father was diagnosed
with terminal brain cancer -
6:08 - 6:10and given four months to live.
-
6:10 - 6:16As he transitioned out of BRAC after
leading the organization for 47 years, -
6:16 - 6:19he reminded us that throughout his life,
-
6:19 - 6:22he saw optimism triumph over despair,
-
6:22 - 6:25that when you light the spark
of self-belief in people, -
6:25 - 6:29even the poorest
can transform their lives. -
6:29 - 6:32My father passed away in December.
-
6:33 - 6:37He lit that spark for millions of people,
-
6:37 - 6:39and in the final days of his life,
-
6:39 - 6:43he implored us to continue to do so
for millions more. -
6:44 - 6:47This opportunity is ours for the taking,
-
6:47 - 6:50so let's stop imagining
a world without ultra-poverty -
6:50 - 6:53and start building that world together.
-
6:54 - 6:55Thank you.
- Title:
- 4 steps to ending extreme poverty
- Speaker:
- Shameran Abed
- Description:
-
At least 400 million people worldwide live in ultra-poverty: a state of severe financial and social vulnerability that robs many of hope and dignity. At BRAC, an international development organization focused on fighting poverty, Shameran Abed and his team have developed a sustainable, multi-faceted program that has already helped millions lift themselves out of poverty and create lives full of possibility. Learn more about their audacious plan to partner with governments to bring this life-changing program to an additional 21 million people in the next six years. (This ambitious plan is a part of the Audacious Project, TED's initiative to inspire and fund global change.)
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 07:09
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for 4 steps to ending extreme poverty | ||
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for 4 steps to ending extreme poverty | ||
Erin Gregory approved English subtitles for 4 steps to ending extreme poverty | ||
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for 4 steps to ending extreme poverty | ||
Camille Martínez accepted English subtitles for 4 steps to ending extreme poverty | ||
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for 4 steps to ending extreme poverty | ||
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for 4 steps to ending extreme poverty | ||
Joseph Geni edited English subtitles for 4 steps to ending extreme poverty |