Expert Night: Ending Extreme Poverty
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Jacqueline Novogratz (Acumen) spoke to the tremendous opportunity ahead when she said, “It’s time to embrace the difficult.” We couldn’t agree more. This spring, Battery Powered is exploring what it will take to end extreme poverty in developing countries by 2030. International development experts and human rights advocates Musimbi Kanyoro, Khalid Malik, Jacqueline Novogratz, and Jane Wales joined us at The Battery to share their insights and recommendations for action.
Here are the five key takeaways from Expert Night, and the steps anyone can take to understand more about the issues and activate generosity:
1. Solutions must be holistic and cross-cutting
Each of the experts underscored a simple yet powerful idea over the course of the evening: if the experience of poverty is primarily about deprivation and discrimination, then the solutions must ultimately be about empowerment—through coordinated efforts to build strong livelihoods, expand access to resources opportunities, and promote social inclusion.
“Poverty is not about the lack of material goods but the lack of power.”
—Musimbi Kanyoro
2. Philanthropy brings a risk appetite
Philanthropy and social investing expert Jane Wales addressed the important role of philanthropic capital in influencing big change on this issue. Philanthropists are flexible with their social change investments, willing to take risks and able to participate in more opportunities for collaborative actions than ever before.
“All solutions will have to have the attributes of the public and private sectors. … Philanthropy brings a risk appetite and the capacity to have a long view of the issue and of the solution.”
—Jane Wales
3. Women are the face of poverty; they are also the solution
Human rights advocate Musimbi Kanyoro shared insight into the disproportionate way that poverty affects women. In most rural settings, the majority of farmers are women, yet they do not own the land. In urban areas, competition for wage-paying jobs is high, and women are at a high risk of trafficking and slavery. And in situations of displacement and conflict, women and their families are left vulnerable to food insecurity, illness and social exclusion.
“Seventy percent of the world’s poor are women. We must invest in them. … For every four years that a girl stays in school, she will delay the age of marriage and pregnancy...and she will learn the skills to participate fully in society.”
—Musimbi Kanyoro
4. The poor have invaluable knowledge, skills and contributions for society
In her work funding companies, leaders and the spread of ideas that work to tackle global poverty, expert Jacqueline Novogratz shared about the importance of seeing the work firsthand and bringing the beneficiary to the table to create solutions that work for them.
“Dignity for the poor, and for everyone, lies in the power of transformation. … It’s time to embrace the difficult. We have to get uncomfortable or we’re not going to solve these issues.”
— Jacqueline Novogratz
5. Poverty is about more than economics
Development expert Khalid Malik pinpointed that the experience of poverty is interconnected by environment, society and health. Malik was part of the team that created the Human Development Index, which measures human potential against standard of living, life expectancy, education, as well as income.
“To match the quality of life in San Francisco, you would need 3 worlds to accommodate for all people. … The way to change the world that we have is to empower people fundamentally.”
—Khalid Malik
About the Experts:
Jane Wales (Global Philanthropy Forum; Aspen Institute) was our expert moderator for the evening. She is a leader in the global philanthropy and social investing space and served in both the Clinton and Carter administrations.
Khalid Malik (UNDP Human Development Report Office) is a development economist with extensive research and advocacy experience. He is an expert on development and aid effectiveness and a global policy leader for the United Nations.
Musimbi Kanyoro (Global Fund for Women) is an international leader and advocate for the health, development and human rights for women, girls and minority groups. She holds a dual PhD in Linguistics and Feminist Theology.
Jacqueline Novogratz (Acumen) is a nonprofit venture capital entrepreneur and celebrated speaker and author. Under her leadership, Acumen has approved investments of more than $88 million to companies focused on delivering affordable health care, water, housing and energy to the poor.
About The Theme:
We are at a key moment in time in which to take action and support global efforts to end extreme poverty in this lifetime. 2015 marks the starting point for a new surge of coordinated action spurred by the UN to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030. Though projections to 2030 are optimistic, the number of people who remain in extreme poverty—an estimated 1.2 billion —are some of the hardest to reach. The Issue Brief explores three different settings where people in extreme poverty face a distinct set of challenges: rural poverty, urban poverty and displacement poverty.
Here are the five key takeaways from Expert Night, and the steps anyone can take to understand more about the issues and activate generosity:
1. Solutions must be holistic and cross-cutting
Each of the experts underscored a simple yet powerful idea over the course of the evening: if the experience of poverty is primarily about deprivation and discrimination, then the solutions must ultimately be about empowerment—through coordinated efforts to build strong livelihoods, expand access to resources opportunities, and promote social inclusion.
“Poverty is not about the lack of material goods but the lack of power.”
—Musimbi Kanyoro
2. Philanthropy brings a risk appetite
Philanthropy and social investing expert Jane Wales addressed the important role of philanthropic capital in influencing big change on this issue. Philanthropists are flexible with their social change investments, willing to take risks and able to participate in more opportunities for collaborative actions than ever before.
“All solutions will have to have the attributes of the public and private sectors. … Philanthropy brings a risk appetite and the capacity to have a long view of the issue and of the solution.”
—Jane Wales
3. Women are the face of poverty; they are also the solution
Human rights advocate Musimbi Kanyoro shared insight into the disproportionate way that poverty affects women. In most rural settings, the majority of farmers are women, yet they do not own the land. In urban areas, competition for wage-paying jobs is high, and women are at a high risk of trafficking and slavery. And in situations of displacement and conflict, women and their families are left vulnerable to food insecurity, illness and social exclusion.
“Seventy percent of the world’s poor are women. We must invest in them. … For every four years that a girl stays in school, she will delay the age of marriage and pregnancy...and she will learn the skills to participate fully in society.”
—Musimbi Kanyoro
4. The poor have invaluable knowledge, skills and contributions for society
In her work funding companies, leaders and the spread of ideas that work to tackle global poverty, expert Jacqueline Novogratz shared about the importance of seeing the work firsthand and bringing the beneficiary to the table to create solutions that work for them.
“Dignity for the poor, and for everyone, lies in the power of transformation. … It’s time to embrace the difficult. We have to get uncomfortable or we’re not going to solve these issues.”
— Jacqueline Novogratz
5. Poverty is about more than economics
Development expert Khalid Malik pinpointed that the experience of poverty is interconnected by environment, society and health. Malik was part of the team that created the Human Development Index, which measures human potential against standard of living, life expectancy, education, as well as income.
“To match the quality of life in San Francisco, you would need 3 worlds to accommodate for all people. … The way to change the world that we have is to empower people fundamentally.”
—Khalid Malik
About the Experts:
Jane Wales (Global Philanthropy Forum; Aspen Institute) was our expert moderator for the evening. She is a leader in the global philanthropy and social investing space and served in both the Clinton and Carter administrations.
Khalid Malik (UNDP Human Development Report Office) is a development economist with extensive research and advocacy experience. He is an expert on development and aid effectiveness and a global policy leader for the United Nations.
Musimbi Kanyoro (Global Fund for Women) is an international leader and advocate for the health, development and human rights for women, girls and minority groups. She holds a dual PhD in Linguistics and Feminist Theology.
Jacqueline Novogratz (Acumen) is a nonprofit venture capital entrepreneur and celebrated speaker and author. Under her leadership, Acumen has approved investments of more than $88 million to companies focused on delivering affordable health care, water, housing and energy to the poor.
About The Theme:
We are at a key moment in time in which to take action and support global efforts to end extreme poverty in this lifetime. 2015 marks the starting point for a new surge of coordinated action spurred by the UN to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030. Though projections to 2030 are optimistic, the number of people who remain in extreme poverty—an estimated 1.2 billion —are some of the hardest to reach. The Issue Brief explores three different settings where people in extreme poverty face a distinct set of challenges: rural poverty, urban poverty and displacement poverty.