4 steps to ending extreme poverty | Shameran Abed

Translator: Alba Méndez Reviewer: Xosé María Moreno

We are witness to monumental human progress.

Somos testemuñas do colosal progreso humano.

Over the past few decades, the expansion of the global marketplace

Nas últimas décadas, a expansión do mercado mundial

has lifted a third of the world's population out of extreme poverty.

sacou da pobreza extrema a un terzo da poboación mundial.

Yet we are also witness to an astounding failure.

Porén, tamén somos testemuñas dun incrible fracaso.

Our efforts to lift people up

Os nosos esforzos para axudar a xente

have left behind those in the harshest forms of poverty,

deixaron atrás a aquelas nas formas máis duras de pobreza

the ultra-poor.

os da pobreza extrema.

What it means to be ultra-poor goes beyond the monetary definition

A definición de pobreza extrema

vai máis alá daquela coa que estamos familiarizados:

that we're all familiar with:

living on less than two dollars a day.

vivir con menos de dous dólares ao día.

It goes even beyond not having assets

Vai máis alá de non ter bens

like livestock or land.

como gando ou terras.

To be ultra-poor means to be stripped of your dignity,

A pobreza extrema é estar privado da túa dignidade

purpose and self-worth.

obxectivos e autoestima.

It means living in isolation,

É vivires illado

because you're a burden to your own community.

porque es un lastre para a sociedade.

It means being unable to imagine a better future

É seres incapaz de idear un futuro mellor

for yourself and your family.

para ti e túa familia.

By the end of 2019,

A finais de 2019,

about 400 million people were living in ultra-poverty worldwide.

preto de 400 millóns de persoas vivían na extrema pobreza.

That's more than the populations of the United States and Canada combined.

Máis que a poboación dos EUA e Canadá xuntos.

And when calamity strikes,

E cando hai catástrofes

whether it's a pandemic, a natural disaster or a manmade crisis,

coma unha pandemia, un desastre natural ou unha crise

these numbers spike astronomically higher.

estas cifras aumentan.

My father, Fazle Abed, gave up a corporate career

O meu pai, Fazle Abed, renunciou a unha carreira corporativa

to establish BRAC here in Bangladesh in 1972.

para fundar BRAC aquí en Bangladesh en 1972.

Bangladesh was a wreck,

Bangladesh estaba destruído

having just gone through a devastating cyclone

houbo un ciclón devastador

followed by a brutal war for independence.

seguido dunha brutal guerra pola independencia.

Working with the poorest of the poor, my father realized

Traballando cos máis pobres, meu pai descubriu

that poverty was more than the lack of income and assets.

que a pobreza é algo máis que a falta de ingresos e bens.

It was also a lack of hope.

Tamén é a perda da esperanza.

People were trapped in poverty,

A xente estaba atrapada na pobreza

because they felt their condition was immutable.

porque sentían que a súa condición era inalterable.

Poverty, to them, was like the sun and the moon --

Para eles a pobreza era coma o sol e a lúa

something given to them by God.

algo que Deus lles dera.

For poverty reduction programs to succeed,

Para os programas para reducir a pobreza teren éxito,

they would need to instill hope and self-worth

deberían inculcar esperanza e autoestima

so that, with a little support,

para que cun pouco de apoio

people could lift themselves out of poverty.

a xente poida saír, por si mesma, da pobreza.

BRAC went on to pioneer the graduation approach,

BRAC foi pioneira no modelo de graduación da pobreza.

a solution to ultra-poverty that addresses both income poverty

Unha solución da pobreza extrema dirixida á pobreza de ingresos

and the poverty of hope.

e á pobreza de esperanza.

The approach works primarily with women,

O modelo traballa, maiormente, con mulleres

because women are the most affected by ultra-poverty

porque son as máis afectadas pola pobreza extrema

but also the ones most likely to pull themselves and their families

pero tamén as que, probablemente, saquen as súas familias

out of it.

Over a two-year period,

da pobreza.

Durante dous anos

we essentially do four things.

fixemos, sobre todo, catro cousas.

One, we meet a woman's basic needs

Un, satisfixemos as necesidades básicas dunha muller

by giving her food or cash,

dándolle comida ou diñeiro

ensuring the minimum to survive.

asegurándolle o mínimo para vivir.

Two, we move her towards a decent livelihood

Dous, trasladámola a un medio de vida digno

by giving her an asset, like livestock,

dándolle bens, como gando

and training her to earn money from it.

e ensinándolle como gañar diñeiro con el.

Three, we train her to save, budget

Tres, aprendímoslle a aforrar, presupostar

and invest her new wealth.

e investir na so seu novo patrimonio.

And four, we help to integrate her socially,

E catro, axudámola a integrarse na sociedade

first into groups of women like her

primeiro en grupos de mulleres coma ela

and then into her community.

e logo na súa comunidade.

Each of these elements is key to the success of the others,

Cada un destes elementos é clave para o éxito dos demais

but the real magic is the hope and sense of possibility

pero a verdadeira maxia é a esperanza e o sentido da posibilidade

the women develop through the close mentorship they receive.

que desenvolven as mulleres grazas á orientación que reciben.

Let me tell you about Jorina.

Vouvos falar de Jorina.

Jorina was born in a remote village in northern Bangladesh.

Naceu nunha vila remota no norte de Bangladesh.

She never went to school,

Nunca foi á escola

and at the age of 15, she was married off to an abusive husband.

e aos 15 anos foi casada cun maltratador.

He eventually abandoned her,

Finalmente, abandonouna

leaving her with no income

e deixouna sen diñeiro

and two children who were not in school and were severely malnourished.

e con dous fillos que non ían á escola e tiñan desnutrición severa.

With no one to turn to for help,

Non tiña a quen pedir axuda

she had no hope.

non tiña esperanza.

Jorina joined BRAC's Graduation program in 2005.

Uniuse ao programa de graduación en 2005.

She received a dollar a week,

Recibiu un dólar á semana

two cows,

dúas vacas,

enterprise training

formación profesional

and a weekly visit from a mentor.

e a visita dun asesor cada semana.

She began to build her assets,

Comezou a construír os seus bens

but most importantly,

pero o máis importante

she began to imagine a better future for herself and her children.

comezou a imaxinar un futuro mellor para ela e os seus fillos.

If you were visit Jorina's village today,

Se hoxe visitas a vila de Jorina

you would find that she runs the largest general store in her area.

verás que dirixe a maior tenda da zona.

She will proudly show you the land she bought

Amosarache con orgullo as terras que mercou

and the house she built.

e a casa que construíu.

Since we began this program in 2002,

Dende que comezamos o programa en 2002

two million Bangladeshi women

dous millóns de mulleres de Bangladesh

have lifted themselves and their families out of ultra-poverty.

saíron xunto coa súa familia da pobreza extrema.

That's almost nine million people.

Iso son case nove millóns de persoas.

The program, which costs 500 dollars per household,

O programa, que supón 500 dólares por familia

runs for only two years,

dura só dous anos

but the impact goes well beyond that.

pero o impacto vai máis alá.

Researchers at the London School of Economics found

Investigadores da Escola de Economía de Londres descubriron

that even seven years after entering the program,

que mesmo sete anos despois de ter participado no programa

92 percent of participants had maintained or increased

o 92 % das participantes mantiveron ou incrementaron

their income, assets and consumption.

os seus ingresos, bens e consumo.

Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee,

Esther Duflo e Abhijit Banerjee

the MIT economists who won the Nobel Prize last year,

as economistas do MIT, que gañaron o Premio Nobel o ano pasado

led multicountry evaluations

realizaron controis multinacionais

that identified graduation as one of the most effective ways

e sinalaron que a graduación é un dos métodos máis efectivos

to break the poverty trap.

para acabar coa trampa da pobreza.

But my father wasn't content

Pero o meu pai non estaba satisfeito

to have found a solution that worked for some people.

de ter atopado unha solución que só funcionase para algúns.

He always wanted to know whether we were being ambitious enough

Sempre quixo saber se eramos o suficientemente ambiciosos

in terms of scale.

en termos de escala.

So when we achieved nationwide scale in Bangladesh,

Así, cando logramos a escala nacional en Bangladesh

he wanted to know how we could scale it globally.

quixo saber se poderiamos escalar a nivel mundial.

And that has to involve governments.

Iso supuña involucrar gobernos.

Governments already dedicate billions of dollars

Os gobernos xa destinan miles de millóns de dólares

on poverty reduction programs.

a programas de redución da pobreza.

But so much of that money is wasted,

Pero moito dese diñeiro estrágase

because these programs either don't reach the poorest,

porque eses programas non chegan aos máis pobres

and even the ones that do fail to have significant long-term impact.

e aos que o fan, non teñen un impacto a longo prazo.

We are working to engage governments

Traballamos en captar gobernos

to help them to adopt and scale graduation programs themselves,

para axudalos a adoptar programas de graduación da pobreza

maximizing the impact of the billions of dollars

maximizando o impacto dos miles de millóns de dólares

they already allocate to fight ultra-poverty.

que xa destinan para lidar contra a pobreza extrema.

Our plan is to help another 21 million people

O noso plan é axudar a outros 21 millóns de persoas

lift themselves out of ultra-poverty

a saír da pobreza extrema elas mesmas

in eight countries over the next six years

en oito países nos próximos seis anos

with BRAC teams on-site and embedded in each country.

cos equipos do BRAC presentes e incorporados en cada país.

In July of 2019, my father was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer

En xullo de 2019, ao meu pai diagnosticáronlle cáncer terminal

and given four months to live.

e déronlle catro meses de vida.

As he transitioned out of BRAC after leading the organization for 47 years,

Cando deixou a BRAC, logo de liderala durante 47 anos

he reminded us that throughout his life,

lembrounos que durante a súa vida

he saw optimism triumph over despair,

viu como o optimismo triunfaba sobre o pesimismo

that when you light the spark of self-belief in people,

e como cando prendes a luz da confianza na xente

even the poorest can transform their lives.

mesmo os máis pobres poden transformar as súas vidas.

My father passed away in December.

O meu pai faleceu en decembro.

He lit that spark for millions of people,

El prendeu esa luz para milleiros de persoas

and in the final days of his life,

e nos seus últimos días de vida

he implored us to continue to do so for millions more.

rogounos que continuásemos a facelo.

This opportunity is ours for the taking,

Esta é a nosa oportunidade para facelo

so let's stop imagining a world without ultra-poverty

así que deixemos de imaxinar un mundo sen pobreza extrema

and start building that world together.

e comecemos a construílo xuntos.

Thank you.

Grazas.