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.
我們見證了人類歷史上進步的里程碑。 在過去數十年間,全球市場的擴張 讓全世界三分之一的人口 脫離了極度貧窮。 但我們也見證了一個驚人的失敗。 我們在努力協助的同時, 竟拋棄了那些身陷在 最貧窮艱困處境的人—— 極度貧窮者。
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.
極度貧窮的意思 已經超越了我們熟悉的金錢定義: 每天靠少於兩塊錢美金過日子。 它的定義也超越 沒有擁有任何牲畜或土地等資產。 極度貧窮的意思是 被剝奪尊嚴、目的和自我價值。 意思是孤獨生活, 因為你對於自己的社區而言是個擔子。 意思是無法想像你自己和家人 能有更好的未來。
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.
截至 2019 年年底, 全世界大約有四億人 過著極度貧窮的生活。 這個數字超過了 美國加上加拿大的人口總數。 當災難降臨時, 不論是疾病大流行、天災或人為危機, 這些數字就會衝得更高。
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.
我父親法茲勒阿貝德 放棄了在企業的職涯, 於 1972 年在孟加拉成立了 孟加拉重整援助委員( BRAC)。 孟加拉當時是一團糟, 才剛度過了破壞力極大的暴風, 接著又是殘酷的獨立戰爭。 我父親和窮人中的窮人接觸之後, 了解到貧窮不只是缺乏收入和資產。 也是缺乏希望。 這些人被困在貧窮中, 因為他們覺得他們的狀況 是永遠不會改變的。 對他們而言,貧窮就像太陽和月亮, 是神賦予他們的。
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.
要讓減貧計畫能夠成功, 會需要逐漸將希望 與自我價值灌輸給窮人, 這麼一來,只要輕拉一把, 窮人就能夠靠自己脫離貧窮。
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 首先推出「從貧窮畢業計畫」, 這是針對極度貧窮的解決方案, 同時解決低收入導致的貧窮, 以及希望的破產。 這個方法的對象主要是女性, 因為女性受到極度貧窮的影響最大, 卻同時也是最有機會 讓她們自己與家人脫離貧窮的人。
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.
在兩年的期間, 我們基本上會做四件事。 一、我們會提供食物或現金給女性, 滿足她的基本需求, 確保能達到生存的最低標準。 二、我們協助她們有正當的謀生能力。 做法是提供她資產,如家畜, 並訓練她利用這些來賺錢。 三、我們訓練她存錢、做預算 並將她的存下的財富拿來做投資。 四、我們協助她融入社會。 首先融入和她類似的女性團體, 接著融入她的社區。 上述的每一點 都是其他各點成功的關鍵。 但真正神奇的地方 在於她們在接受密切指導的過程中 所感受到的希望和可能性,
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.
讓我跟大家說說喬琳娜的故事。 喬琳娜出生在孟加拉北部的偏遠村落。 她從來沒有上過學。 十五歲時,她被嫁給 一個會施暴的丈夫。 最終,他拋棄了她。 她沒有任何收入,還帶著兩個孩子, 孩子都沒去上學且嚴重營養不良。 她求助無門, 完全不抱希望。 喬琳娜在 2005 年加入了 BRAC「從貧窮畢業計畫」。 她每週能領一塊美金, 另外也拿到兩頭牛,並接受企業訓練, 且指導員每週會拜訪她一次。 她開始累積她的資產, 但最重要的是, 她開始為她自己及她的孩子 想像一個更好的未來。 如果今天你去造訪喬琳娜的村落, 你會看到她在經營 該區域中最大的雜貨店。 她會很驕傲地帶你去看她買下的土地 及她建造的房子。
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.
自從 2002 年我們 推出這個計畫之後, 有兩百萬名孟加拉女子 帶著她們自己及家人 脫離極度貧窮的處境。 共有近九百萬人受惠。 這個計畫的花費是每戶五百美金, 為期只有兩年, 但影響力卻更為久遠。
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.
倫敦經濟學院的研究者發現, 在加入計畫之後七年, 92% 的參與者仍然維持或提升了 她們的收入、資產和消費。 埃絲特杜芙洛和阿比吉特巴納吉 是去年贏得諾貝爾獎的 兩位麻省理工學院經濟學家, 他們進行了多國的評估, 評定畢業方案是能夠打破 貧窮陷阱的最有效方法之一。
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.
我父親找到了對一些人 行得通的解決方案, 但他並不因此滿足。 他一直想知道, 我們在規模上的野心是否夠大。 所以當我們在孟加拉 做到全國規模時, 他想要知道我們如何 能將規模擴大到全球。 那就要涉及政府了。 全球的政府已在減貧計畫上 投入了數十億美金, 但那些錢大部分都浪費掉了, 因為這些計畫若不是 無法接觸到最貧窮的人, 就是接觸到卻無法產生 顯著的長期影響。
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.
我們正在努力結合各國政府, 協助他們自己採用 從貧窮畢業計畫並將規模擴大, 將他們已經提撥來 對抗極端貧窮的數十億美金 發揮出最大效用。 我們的計畫是要協助 另外兩千一百萬人 自己脫離極度貧窮, 我們會在接下來六年 於八個國家中進行, BRAC 團隊會到各國的現場去協助。
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.
2019 年 7 月, 我父親被診斷出末期腦癌, 只剩下四個月可以活。 他領導了 BRAC 四十七年, 當他要離開這個組織時, 他提醒我們,在他一生中, 他見過樂觀擊敗絕望, 當你點燃了人們心中的自信火花, 就算是最貧窮的人 也可能轉變他們的生活。
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.
我父親在十二月過世。 他點燃了數百萬人心中的火花, 在他人生最後的日子裡, 他懇求我們持續努力, 再去協助幾百萬人。
This opportunity is ours for the taking, so let's stop imagining a world without ultra-poverty and start building that world together.
這個機會在等著我們去抓住, 所以我們別再想像 一個沒有極度貧窮的世界了, 開始一起動手建造這個世界吧。
Thank you.
謝謝。