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.
Svedoci smo ogromnog ljudskog napretka. U prethodnih nekoliko decenija, širenje svetskog tržišta je izdiglo trećinu svetske populacije iz krajnjeg siromaštva. Ipak, svedoci smo i zapanjujućeg pada. Naš trud da izdignemo ljude iz siromaštva ostavio je iza sebe one koji žive u najvećoj bedi, najsiromašnije.
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.
Značenje najvećeg siromaštva prevazilazi monetarnu definiciju koja nam je svima poznata: živeti sa manje od dva dolara dnevno. Prevazilazi čak i sredstva poput stoke ili zemlje. Biti ultra-siromašan podrazumeva lišavanje sopstvenog dostojanstva, svrhe i samopoštovanja. To podrazumeva život u izolaciji, jer ste vi teret sopstvene zajednice. Ono podrazumeva da ne možete zamisliti bolju budućnost za sebe i svoju porodicu.
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.
Do kraja 2019. godine, oko 400 miliona ljudi širom sveta je živelo u ultra-siromaštvu. To je više od zajedničke populacije Sjedinjenih Država i Kanade. A kada nesreća prodre, u vidu pandemije, prirodne katastrofe ili krize nastale ljudskom krivicom, ovi brojevi nesnosno rastu.
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.
Moj otac, Fazle Abed, odrekao se korporativne karijere kako bi ustanovio BRAC ovde u Bangladešu 1972. godine. Bangladeš je doživeo propast, pretrpevši upravo razarajući ciklon praćen nasilnim ratom za nezavisnost. Radeći sa najsiromašnijima, moj otac je shvatio da je siromaštvo više od nestašice prihoda i sredstava. Ono je ujedno i nestašica nade. Ljudi su ostali zarobljeni u siromaštvu, smatrajući svoje stanje nepromenljivim. Siromaštvo je za njih poput sunca i meseca, dato im od boga.
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.
Kako bi program borbe protiv siromaštva uspeo, oni bi morali da usade u sebe nadu i samopoštovanje i uz malu pomoć, ljudi bi mogli da se izdignu iz siromaštva.
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 je prvi načinio postepeni pristup, rešenje za ultra-siromaštvo koje se odnosi i na nedostatak prihoda i na nedostatak nade. Taj pristup je najpre učinjen ženama, jer su žene najviše pogođene ultra-siromaštvom ali su one, takođe, te koje najčešće izvuku sebe i svoje porodice iz istoga.
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.
Već dve godine, mi činimo četiri ključne stvari. Prva, upoznajemo se sa osnovnim potrebama žene obezbeđujući joj hranu i novac, i ono najosnovnije za preživljavanje. Drugo, obezbeđujemo joj smeštaj u pristojnom okruženju uz imovinu u vidu stoke i obučavamo je da od iste zarađuje novac. Treće, obučavamo je da štedi, predviđa i ulaže u nova bogatstva. I četvrto, pomažemo joj da se uklopi u društvo, najpre u grupu žena sličnih njoj, a zatim i u njenu zajednicu. Svaki od ovih elemenata je ključ za uspeh drugih, ali prava magija se krije u nadi i osećaju za mogućnosti koje žene razvijaju kroz blisko dobijeno savetovanje.
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.
Ispričaću vam priču o Džorini. Džorina je rođena u zabačenom selu na severu Bangladeša. Nikada nije pohađala školu, i u 15. godini su je udali za nasilnog čoveka. On ju je vremenom napustio, ostavivši je bez ikakvih primanja i sa dvoje teško pothranjene dece koja se nisu školovala. Nemajući nikoga da joj pomogne, ostala je bez ijedne nade. Džorina se pridružila organizaciji BRAC i ''Obrazovnom programu'' 2005. godine. Dobijala je jedan dolar nedeljno, dve krave, preduzetničku obuku i nedeljnu posetu svog mentora. Počela je da stvara svoju imovinu, ali što je najvažnije, počela je da zamišlja bolju budućnost za sebe i svoju decu. Ako biste posetili Džorinino selo danas, pronašli biste je kako vodi najveću prodavnicu mešovite robe u svom kraju. Ona bi vam ponosno pokazala zemlju koju je kupila i kuću koju je izgradila.
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.
Otkad smo započeli ovaj program 2002. godine, dva miliona žena iz Bangladeša je izdiglo sebe i svoje porodice iz najvećeg siromaštva. To je gotovo devet miliona ljudi. Program, koji košta 500 dolara po domaćinstvu, traje tek dve godine, ali uticaj je mnogo širi.
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.
Istraživači iz Londonske škole ekonomije otkrili su da je čak sedam godina nakon pristupanja programu, 92 odsto učesnika održalo ili uvećalo svoje prihode, imovinu i potrošnju. Ester Duflo i Abidžit Banerdži, ekonomisti sa MIT-a, dobitnici prošlogodišnje Nobelove nagrade, vodili su procene više zemalja te je ustanovljeno da je rangiranje jedan od najboljih načina kojim se uništava zamka siromaštva.
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.
Moj otac, međutim, nije bio zadovoljan što je pronašao rešenje koje je dovelo do uspeha kod nekih ljudi. Uvek se pitao da li smo bili dovoljno ambiciozni u pogledu razmera. Te kad smo dostigli nacionalnu razmeru u Bangladešu, on se zapitao kako bismo je mogli rangirati globalno. I to je moralo da uključi vladu. Vlada je već dodeljivala milijarde dolara za programe smanjenja siromaštva. Mnogo novca je, međutim, protraćeno jer se ovi programi ili nisu ticali najsiromašnijih, a čak i oni koji su se ticali, nisu imali dugoročni učinak.
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.
Mi radimo na tome da im vlasti pomognu pri usvajanju i sopstvenoj težnji ka programu obrazovanja, uvećavajući uticaj milijardi dolara koje su već dodeljene za borbu protiv ultra-siromaštva. Naš plan je da pomognemo još 21 milion ljudi da se izdignu iz ultra-siromaštva u osam zemalja, tokom narednih šest godina sa timom organizacije BRAC na licu mesta, postavljenim u svakoj državi.
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.
U julu 2019. godine, mom ocu je ustanovljen tumor na mozgu u završnoj fazi i još četiri meseca života. Kad se povukao iz BRAC-a nakon 47 godina vođenja organizacije, podsetio nas je da mu je tokom života uvek preovladavao optimizam nad očajanjem, da kada upališ iskru samopouzdanja u ljudima, čak i oni najsiromašniji mogu da promene sebi život.
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.
Moj otac je preminuo u decembru. On je upalio tu iskru kod miliona ljudi, i u poslednjim danima svog života, preklinjao nas je da nastavimo tako kod još miliona drugih.
This opportunity is ours for the taking, so let's stop imagining a world without ultra-poverty and start building that world together.
Ovo je naša prilika, zato prestanimo zamišljati svet bez ultra-siromaštva i počnimo da stvaramo taj svet zajedno.
Thank you.
Hvala.