We are witness to monumental human progress. Over the past few decades, the expansion of the global marketplace has lifted a third of the world's population out of extreme poverty. Yet we are also witness to an astounding failure. Our efforts to lift people up have left behind those in the harshest forms of poverty, the ultra-poor.
Somos testemuñas do colosal progreso humano. Nas últimas décadas, a expansión do mercado mundial sacou da pobreza extrema a un terzo da poboación mundial. Porén, tamén somos testemuñas dun incrible fracaso. Os nosos esforzos para axudar a xente deixaron atrás a aquelas nas formas máis duras de pobreza os da pobreza extrema.
What it means to be ultra-poor goes beyond the monetary definition that we're all familiar with: living on less than two dollars a day. It goes even beyond not having assets like livestock or land. To be ultra-poor means to be stripped of your dignity, purpose and self-worth. It means living in isolation, because you're a burden to your own community. It means being unable to imagine a better future for yourself and your family.
A definición de pobreza extrema vai máis alá daquela coa que estamos familiarizados: vivir con menos de dous dólares ao día. Vai máis alá de non ter bens como gando ou terras. A pobreza extrema é estar privado da túa dignidade obxectivos e autoestima. É vivires illado porque es un lastre para a sociedade. É seres incapaz de idear un futuro mellor para ti e túa familia.
By the end of 2019, about 400 million people were living in ultra-poverty worldwide. That's more than the populations of the United States and Canada combined. And when calamity strikes, whether it's a pandemic, a natural disaster or a manmade crisis, these numbers spike astronomically higher.
A finais de 2019, preto de 400 millóns de persoas vivían na extrema pobreza. Máis que a poboación dos EUA e Canadá xuntos. E cando hai catástrofes coma unha pandemia, un desastre natural ou unha crise estas cifras aumentan.
My father, Fazle Abed, gave up a corporate career to establish BRAC here in Bangladesh in 1972. Bangladesh was a wreck, having just gone through a devastating cyclone followed by a brutal war for independence. Working with the poorest of the poor, my father realized that poverty was more than the lack of income and assets. It was also a lack of hope. People were trapped in poverty, because they felt their condition was immutable. Poverty, to them, was like the sun and the moon -- something given to them by God.
O meu pai, Fazle Abed, renunciou a unha carreira corporativa para fundar BRAC aquí en Bangladesh en 1972. Bangladesh estaba destruído houbo un ciclón devastador seguido dunha brutal guerra pola independencia. Traballando cos máis pobres, meu pai descubriu que a pobreza é algo máis que a falta de ingresos e bens. Tamén é a perda da esperanza. A xente estaba atrapada na pobreza porque sentían que a súa condición era inalterable. Para eles a pobreza era coma o sol e a lúa algo que Deus lles dera.
For poverty reduction programs to succeed, they would need to instill hope and self-worth so that, with a little support, people could lift themselves out of poverty.
Para os programas para reducir a pobreza teren éxito, deberían inculcar esperanza e autoestima para que cun pouco de apoio a xente poida saír, por si mesma, da pobreza.
BRAC went on to pioneer the graduation approach, a solution to ultra-poverty that addresses both income poverty and the poverty of hope. The approach works primarily with women, because women are the most affected by ultra-poverty but also the ones most likely to pull themselves and their families out of it.
BRAC foi pioneira no modelo de graduación da pobreza. Unha solución da pobreza extrema dirixida á pobreza de ingresos e á pobreza de esperanza. O modelo traballa, maiormente, con mulleres porque son as máis afectadas pola pobreza extrema pero tamén as que, probablemente, saquen as súas familias
Over a two-year period, we essentially do four things. One, we meet a woman's basic needs by giving her food or cash, ensuring the minimum to survive. Two, we move her towards a decent livelihood by giving her an asset, like livestock, and training her to earn money from it. Three, we train her to save, budget and invest her new wealth. And four, we help to integrate her socially, first into groups of women like her and then into her community. Each of these elements is key to the success of the others, but the real magic is the hope and sense of possibility the women develop through the close mentorship they receive.
da pobreza. Durante dous anos fixemos, sobre todo, catro cousas. Un, satisfixemos as necesidades básicas dunha muller dándolle comida ou diñeiro asegurándolle o mínimo para vivir. Dous, trasladámola a un medio de vida digno dándolle bens, como gando e ensinándolle como gañar diñeiro con el. Tres, aprendímoslle a aforrar, presupostar e investir na so seu novo patrimonio. E catro, axudámola a integrarse na sociedade primeiro en grupos de mulleres coma ela e logo na súa comunidade. Cada un destes elementos é clave para o éxito dos demais pero a verdadeira maxia é a esperanza e o sentido da posibilidade que desenvolven as mulleres grazas á orientación que reciben.
Let me tell you about Jorina. Jorina was born in a remote village in northern Bangladesh. She never went to school, and at the age of 15, she was married off to an abusive husband. He eventually abandoned her, leaving her with no income and two children who were not in school and were severely malnourished. With no one to turn to for help, she had no hope. Jorina joined BRAC's Graduation program in 2005. She received a dollar a week, two cows, enterprise training and a weekly visit from a mentor. She began to build her assets, but most importantly, she began to imagine a better future for herself and her children. If you were visit Jorina's village today, you would find that she runs the largest general store in her area. She will proudly show you the land she bought and the house she built.
Vouvos falar de Jorina. Naceu nunha vila remota no norte de Bangladesh. Nunca foi á escola e aos 15 anos foi casada cun maltratador. Finalmente, abandonouna e deixouna sen diñeiro e con dous fillos que non ían á escola e tiñan desnutrición severa. Non tiña a quen pedir axuda non tiña esperanza. Uniuse ao programa de graduación en 2005. Recibiu un dólar á semana dúas vacas, formación profesional e a visita dun asesor cada semana. Comezou a construír os seus bens pero o máis importante comezou a imaxinar un futuro mellor para ela e os seus fillos. Se hoxe visitas a vila de Jorina verás que dirixe a maior tenda da zona. Amosarache con orgullo as terras que mercou e a casa que construíu.
Since we began this program in 2002, two million Bangladeshi women have lifted themselves and their families out of ultra-poverty. That's almost nine million people. The program, which costs 500 dollars per household, runs for only two years, but the impact goes well beyond that.
Dende que comezamos o programa en 2002 dous millóns de mulleres de Bangladesh saíron xunto coa súa familia da pobreza extrema. Iso son case nove millóns de persoas. O programa, que supón 500 dólares por familia dura só dous anos pero o impacto vai máis alá.
Researchers at the London School of Economics found that even seven years after entering the program, 92 percent of participants had maintained or increased their income, assets and consumption. Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee, the MIT economists who won the Nobel Prize last year, led multicountry evaluations that identified graduation as one of the most effective ways to break the poverty trap.
Investigadores da Escola de Economía de Londres descubriron que mesmo sete anos despois de ter participado no programa o 92 % das participantes mantiveron ou incrementaron os seus ingresos, bens e consumo. Esther Duflo e Abhijit Banerjee as economistas do MIT, que gañaron o Premio Nobel o ano pasado realizaron controis multinacionais e sinalaron que a graduación é un dos métodos máis efectivos para acabar coa trampa da pobreza.
But my father wasn't content to have found a solution that worked for some people. He always wanted to know whether we were being ambitious enough in terms of scale. So when we achieved nationwide scale in Bangladesh, he wanted to know how we could scale it globally. And that has to involve governments. Governments already dedicate billions of dollars on poverty reduction programs. But so much of that money is wasted, because these programs either don't reach the poorest, and even the ones that do fail to have significant long-term impact.
Pero o meu pai non estaba satisfeito de ter atopado unha solución que só funcionase para algúns. Sempre quixo saber se eramos o suficientemente ambiciosos en termos de escala. Así, cando logramos a escala nacional en Bangladesh quixo saber se poderiamos escalar a nivel mundial. Iso supuña involucrar gobernos. Os gobernos xa destinan miles de millóns de dólares a programas de redución da pobreza. Pero moito dese diñeiro estrágase porque eses programas non chegan aos máis pobres e aos que o fan, non teñen un impacto a longo prazo.
We are working to engage governments to help them to adopt and scale graduation programs themselves, maximizing the impact of the billions of dollars they already allocate to fight ultra-poverty. Our plan is to help another 21 million people lift themselves out of ultra-poverty in eight countries over the next six years with BRAC teams on-site and embedded in each country.
Traballamos en captar gobernos para axudalos a adoptar programas de graduación da pobreza maximizando o impacto dos miles de millóns de dólares que xa destinan para lidar contra a pobreza extrema. O noso plan é axudar a outros 21 millóns de persoas a saír da pobreza extrema elas mesmas en oito países nos próximos seis anos cos equipos do BRAC presentes e incorporados en cada país.
In July of 2019, my father was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and given four months to live. As he transitioned out of BRAC after leading the organization for 47 years, he reminded us that throughout his life, he saw optimism triumph over despair, that when you light the spark of self-belief in people, even the poorest can transform their lives.
En xullo de 2019, ao meu pai diagnosticáronlle cáncer terminal e déronlle catro meses de vida. Cando deixou a BRAC, logo de liderala durante 47 anos lembrounos que durante a súa vida viu como o optimismo triunfaba sobre o pesimismo e como cando prendes a luz da confianza na xente mesmo os máis pobres poden transformar as súas vidas.
My father passed away in December. He lit that spark for millions of people, and in the final days of his life, he implored us to continue to do so for millions more.
O meu pai faleceu en decembro. El prendeu esa luz para milleiros de persoas e nos seus últimos días de vida rogounos que continuásemos a facelo.
This opportunity is ours for the taking, so let's stop imagining a world without ultra-poverty and start building that world together.
Esta é a nosa oportunidade para facelo así que deixemos de imaxinar un mundo sen pobreza extrema e comecemos a construílo xuntos.
Thank you.
Grazas.