Sarah Simpson wrote today about rallies in Kenyan for the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. I include an excerpt:
Thousands of mostly school age kids from the Nairobi slum of Korogocho gathered in a covered churchyard tucked amongst shambling tin houses for a morning of music and songs. It was their contribution to a 90 country, 24-hour campaign to end global poverty.
Event organizer, Sylvia Mwichuli, explained it was appropriate that most of the attendees were children, as poverty hits the youngest, hardest.
“Most families in the poorest slums across Africa do not even have access even to a meal a day,” she said. “And the worst affected, of course, are children.”
In 2000, world leaders from 189 countries signed up to the Millennium Development Goals – eight basic promises to slash poverty, tackle HIV and AIDS and increase access to education, amongst others, all by the year 2015.
The article also included quotes by Kenyan adults who say the government does not listen to them and address their needs. They say that the so-called democratic government there only addresses the people during election times.
Of course, the failure of democratically elected officials to care about the people’s concerns outside of election time affects most democracies throughout the world. Participatory democracy, in which the people vote more often on particular issues rather than just on electoral representatives, could help.
However, I doubt any government will do the job, as a result of the inherent inefficiency and corruption of government.
Instead, the people of the world need to find non-governmental solutions to poverty. We need to spark a global movement to end poverty that involves people organizing locally to fight poverty, by educating children and the uneducated and providing employment for the educated. The education must come with food, clothes, shelter, and healthcare. The employment must pay enough to pay for a lifetime’s worth of food, clothes, shelter, and healthcare.
If you have ideas about how to successfully fight poverty, or otherwise want to discuss these issues, please join the Hunger and Poverty Forums. It’s completely free, and all viewpoints are welcome.