Millennium Promise.org
Millennium Promise is the brain child of Professor Jeffrey Sachs - a leading world economist whose mission is to end extreme poverty in the world by 2025. Extreme poverty is defined as people trying to live on less than $1 a day, which currently represents about 1/6th of the world's population (approximately 1 Billion people). Most of those suffering are caught in an extreme "poverty trap" from which they cannot escape on their own.
To put this crisis in perspective, approximately 3,000 people died in the tragic 9/11 attack on the United States. By comparison, each and every day, 20,000 people die of extreme poverty because they are too poor to stay alive (from disease, hunger, or lack of basic shelter and health care). This means that since 9/11, 36.5 million people have died from completely preventable causes. That is equivalent to the entire population of California being wiped out. Every year, 8 million people die of extreme poverty, which equals the population of New York City.
Millennium Promise operates about 80 villages in 10 countries across sub-Saharan Africa. The mission is to achieve the 8 globally endorsed objectives known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs were unanimously agreed upon by the 191 UN Member Nations, including the United States. The Millennium Promise has put the MDGs into practice through a multi-pronged approach addressing the major problems simultaneously. By attacking hunger, disease, lack of clean drinking water, inadequate education, women's health issues, etc., the Millennium Villagers receive the assistance needed to achieve self-sustained development. The goal is to provide the initial boost necessary for these disadvantaged people to reach the lowest rung of the development ladder, after which they can begin to climb on their own. This approach is already underway and showing great promise in Africa (see "Sauri" below).
It was this simultaneous approach that really got me interested in this project initially and after reading Jeffrey Sachs book 'The End of Poverty', I knew that working with Millennium Promise was the calling that I had been searching for. I agree with Dr. Sach's assertion that all causes of extreme poverty must be addressed at the same time in order to break the cycle once and for all.
Because of the onset of an unexpected illness 10 years ago, I am extremely limited in what I am able to do physically. The illness left me wondering what my purpose was in life. So for the past several years, I have been trying to focus my efforts and find some way to make a difference in other people's lives. I truly believe I've found that way. I know that raising public awareness of extreme poverty and fundraising for the Millennium Promise program is something I've been called to do.
Extreme Poverty Statistics
The Utterly Shocking Truth
Most people know that in Africa and other parts of the world people are dying of malnutrition, malaria, HIV/AIDS and other maladies associated with extreme poverty (the most severe state of poverty where people cannot meet basic needs for survival, such as food, water, clothing, shelter, sanitation, education and health care). But until I read 'The End of Poverty', even I didn't grasp just how bad the problem truly is. It isn't OK with me and it shouldn't be OK with any human being on this planet! For more quick poverty facts, visit Wrechedness.org. Photo shows the Zomba Pediatric Ward in Malawi - taken from the Millennium Promise archive.- POVERTY - As of 2004, 2.6 Billion people live on less than $2 per day (about 1/3 of the world's population). Of those, nearly 1 billion are living on less than $1 per day. In sub-Saharan Africa, 72% of the people live on less than $2 per day and 41% try to live on less than $1 a day.
- HUNGER - 854 million people in the world are chronically malnourished. About 300 million of them are children. 6 million of those children die from malnutrition each year.
- CHILD MORTALITY - Every year, 10 million children in developing countries die before the age of 5. A child dies every three seconds from AIDS and extreme poverty.
- EDUCATION - In sub-Saharan Africa, only 58% of children finish primary school. There is a huge disparity in girl's education. In fact, more than 40 percent of women in Africa do not have access to basic education.
- SANITATION & WATER - More than one billion people do not have access to clean water. Four out of every ten people in the world don't even have access to a simple latrine.
- BIRTH - A woman living in sub-Saharan Africa has a 1 in 16 chance of dying in pregnancy. Compare that with only a 1 in 3,700 risk of dying from childbirth for a woman from North America.
- LIFE EXCPECTANCY - According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the overall life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa has dropped precipitously over the past 10 years from 51.1 years to 46.3 years for female babies, and from 47.3 years to 44.8 years for male babies. Much of the drop is blamed on the AIDS epidemic. "Healthy life expectancy in some African countries is dropping back to levels we haven't seen in advanced countries since Medieval times," says Alan Lopez of the WHO. For more details, visit the World Health Organization.
- DISEASE - AIDS is now the leading cause of death in Sub-Saharan Africa, far surpassing the traditional deadly diseases of malaria, tuberculosis, pneumonia and diarrheal disease. AIDS killed 2.2 million Africans in 1999, versus 300,000 AIDS deaths TOTAL for the previous 10 years. TB is the leading AIDS-related killer and in some parts of Africa, 75 percent of people with HIV also have TB.
Each year, approximately 300 to 500 million people are infected with malaria. Approximately three million people die as a result.
Millennium Promise - The Village Approach
Millennium Villages introduce a broad range of interventions that simultaneously address the specific needs of each village. Of equal importance is the fact that the villagers themselves own and drive all the work being done through Millennium Promise. They are our partners and they are the keys to success. These practical, proven, integrated, low-cost investments are provided under the scientific and technical guidance of the Millennium Promise Scientific Council, the UN Millennium Project, and The Earth Institute at Columbia University. Below are the key interventions and the objectives being addressed.1) Nutrition - Meet the most basic human need by eliminating hunger and malnutrition in the village. This is accomplished by increasing production, access and utilization of nutritious foods, and includes a special focus on improving nutritional status of those in greatest need (pregnant women, nursing mothers and infants under two).
2) Agriculture - Improve livelihoods of all villagers and increase incomes for both on- and off-farm activities.
3) Gender Equality and Education - Invest in the future by assuring full attendance of primary schools for both boys and girls and eliminate gender disparity in schools.
4) Gender Equality and Health - Improve access to medical care and services, with particular emphasis focused on improving women's health and drastically reducing child and maternal mortality rates.
5) Health - Decrease the rate of infection of HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other major diseases; and increase access to essential medication for treatment of diseases.
6) Environment - Introduce and educate villages on the principles of sustainable development and integrate these methods into village programs to reverse the loss of environmental resources and enhance ecosystem services.
7) Water - Increase access to clean water and sanitation for households, schools and medical services.
8) Infrastructure - Utilize the power of modern technologies to eliminate the digital divide; making available the benefits of communication technologies, especially access to Internet and mobile telephones services.
For more details, visit Millennium Promise and MillenniumVillage.org. Photo shows Jeffrey Sachs speaking at the Mbola Tanzania Village Inauguration.
ABC News Millennium Village Report
ABC News visits the Mbola Village in Tanzania
ABC NEWS -- Jeffrey Sachs in Africa
ABC News sends a reporter to see two Millennium Villages in East Africa. He witnesses programs that are designed to end extreme poverty. Jeffrey Sachs tours a village in Tanzania. www.millenniumpromise.org
Runtime: 2:55
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Millennium Villages Proven Model
Sauri Kenya - A Millennium Village Success Story
HUNGER - In June of 2004, Millennium Promise found that population growth had led to a shortage of land, and subsequent overuse had diminished the fertility of the limited land available. These factors made it difficult for Sauri's villagers to grow enough food to feed their families and impossible for them to produce excess food for other purposes. As a Millennium Village, Sauri was given fertilizer, new seeds, and better farming techniques. Austin Oumo Oweno, the district's area assistant chief, says that these improvements have helped average production to soar from 1-2 sacks per acre to 7-12 sacks. In fact, the estimated average yield for the 2006 harvest was 6 tons per hectare (an estimated 400% increase over previous yields).
The benefits of increased crop yields can also spill over into other efforts in the village. For instance, a portion of yields is now being allocated to schools so that they can feed their students to improve education. Maize for school lunches is provided by local farmers, who donate 10% of their yield to school feeding programs as part of an agreement to receive subsidized seed and fertilizer.
WATER - Sauri's villagers have always collected water from a number of nearby springs. However, this water used to be unsafe and unclean and was constantly contributing to the spread of disease. Now, the springs in Sauri have been protected. Villagers can continue to gather water without having to fear that it will make them ill. Also, many of Sauri's homes have been equipped with roof-based rainwater harvesting systems, further ensuring access to clean, safe water.
EDUCATION - Before Sauri became a Millennium Village, Bar primary school was ranked 198th out of the 353 schools in the country of Kenya. One reason for the weak academic performance was the inability of many students to even eat every day. As food production has increased in the village, the school has become able to serve lunch to its students. Over 17,000 students are currently being served lunch every day in all of the area's 28 primary schools. A free meal program has been shown to increase enrollments in very poor communities because it increases parents' incentive to send their children to school where they will be fed without cost to the family. The food helps the students focus on academics and concentrate in class. Now, Bar Sauri Primary School is ranked 4th.
HEALTH - There is now a free clinic that provides treatment and a dispensary that supplies medicine. Personnel is being hired and trained and existing clinics are being renovated and staffed. These changes have improved health and given hope to villagers. Houses in Sauri have been supplied with anti-malarial bed nets, as well as education regarding how these nets are to be used. These nets and malaria treatment in the clinic have led to a major drop in malaria's prevalence in Sauri-it has fallen from 55% to 13%. Bed nets do three things: they physically protect people from insect bites, they repel mosquitoes from the area, and they kill any mosquitoes that land on the insecticide-treated net. Malaria treatment at the clinic gives those who do contract the disease a better chance to survive.
AGRICULTURE & ENTREPRENUERSHIP - One group of villagers is trying to grow mushrooms indoors. Despite initial resistance from villagers, more and more people are getting involved as trial mushrooms start to grow. This project has allowed villagers to work together, and one leader explains, "Every member, when it is harvested, will have a share". Another site of success can be found at the local barber's stand. The barber is constantly busy, sometimes working 11 hour days to keep up with customers' new demand. Once people are willing and able to spend money on the things that they want (not just things they need), the number of services (like the barber business) that can be profitable in the village grows exponentially.
INFRASTRUCTURE - Sauri is now better able to communicate and connect with the rest of the world through a new phone and improved roads. Villagers no longer must embark on a 5 kilometer trek in order to make a phone call. Roads allow both those in Sauri to travel to other places and visitors to come enjoy Sauri's progress. One man plans to establish Sauri's first small hotel. "I was just looking for an opportunity and using it," he explains.
And the best news of all is that Villagers have begun to come up with their own strategies to keep Sauri moving along the path to prosperity. The villagers' success is now largely in their own hands-and they are optimistic about their futures. The village barber tells us, "I think that if I just go on with the hard work, I think I'll just succeed."
What I'm Doing To Help
First of all, I educated myself about extreme poverty by reading books and internet articles from varying sources and perspectives. If you ask how to solve or end extreme poverty to 10 different people, you might get 10 different answers. My husband and I have been contributing to various charities over the years. It has been our experience that most times, when you give money, it is like giving to a big black box. You have no idea exactly what the money is used for or how much actually reaches the intended recipients. Nor do you know whether the people in charge reflect your values and philosophies regarding a specific problem.
Why Millennium Promise?
I chose to focus on Millennium Promise above all others because I agree with Jeffrey Sachs that those in extreme poverty need help getting on the bottom rung of the poverty ladder. The old adage about picking yourself up by the bootstraps doesn't exactly apply if you can't even afford the boots. People in extreme poverty live on less than $2 per day, they don't spend time thinking about the future because they need to figure out how to keep themselves and their families alive for today -hunger, lack of water, disease are a part of their daily life. Do you think a family stranded in a snowstorm in their car is contemplating the future? Of course not, they are just trying to figure out how to survive and I think that is a point that a lot of people miss. Don't get me wrong, I am not for giving people handouts one after another with no plan. That is why I believe Millennium Villages can work - they provide resources and teach people how to become self sufficient.
My Call To Action - Raise $1.5 Million
After deciding Millennium Promise was the most effective approach to solving this problem, I brainstormed to come up with ways that I could assist the charity. I like to think big! Thinking small means that you will achieve small. With that in mind, I decided that I needed to find a way to raise the $1.5 million. This is the amount necessary to fully fund a Millennium Village of 5,000 people for the initial five years. Of course, I know that it will take a village of people to sponsor a village.
Virtual Millennium Village Poverty Ladder
So to facilitate small business and individual participation, I started what is known as a 'poverty ladder' with an overall goal to raise $1.5 million. The poverty ladder is called the Virtual Millennium Village, Tanzania (since all proceeds will sponsor a village in the Mbola region of Tanzania). Millennium Promise enables folks who start a poverty ladder the ability to track all the funds contributed directly to the ladder.
Partnering with Small Businesses
I am working to find online business and retailers that will sponsor a portion of the overall ladder. For instance, All About Gifts & Baskets has generously set a goal of $200,000 to be raised by the company and their customers. They are asking customers to contribute either $1, $2, $5 or $10 with each gift purchase. And they are matching one for one the funds contributed by their customers. I have also been able to get Wedding Favors Unlimited to use the same type of customer contribution and matching system so that they can ask bride's to open their hearts to the Virtual Millennium Village - Tanzania project as well.
Contributing From Squidoo & Social Networking
I am also funding the ladder by contributing my online proceeds from this Squidoo page and other social networking pages that I operate directly to the poverty ladder.
Family - Friend - Public Contributions
Finally, I am asking all my friends and family and all of you to get involved. I know that we can raise the funds!
Mbola Tanzania Photos
From October 2007
Proceeds from the Virtual Millennium Village - Tanzania Poverty Ladder will go directly to one of the six small villages that make up the Mbola Tanzania project in Eastern Africa. Like many communities in sub-Saharan Africa, the villagers of Mbola are suffering the effects of extreme poverty - hunger, disease such as Malaria, lack of clean drinking water, education inequality, etc. Our funds and Millennium Promise will help these villagers get on the path to self sufficiency. The average life expectancy in this region is only 46 years old - can you imagine? Truly I have a hard time wrapping my head around that fact. We can do better.
Ways You Can Help
- Contribute directly to the Virtual Millennium Village, Tanzania Every little bit helps so if you can only afford $1, give it please!
- Visit the online sponsors of the virtual village. All About Gifts & Baskets and Wedding Favors Unlimited are matching customer contributions one-for-one so turn your $5 contribution into $10 by shopping for items at these great retailers.
- E-mail your family and friends about the virtual village and ask them to contribute or help you spread the word. If you are really gung-ho, you could become a member of the team and set a personal goal (say $500). Then, e-mail your friends & family to contribute directly to your part of the ladder.
- If you work for a big company, many of them will match charitable contributions so check with them before you contribute to the poverty ladder. You may be able to double the contribution with your employer's assistance.
- If you own a small business, become a team member and sponsor a portion of the Virtual Millennium Village - Tanzania ladder. There are tons of ways that you can raise the capital for your ladder and the team. For instance, you can donate a portion of your proceeds each year or match your customer contributions. It is a great way to partner with other small business to make a big impact on the lives of the Mbola village.
- Educate yourself about extreme poverty, micro-lending and more by purchasing the books listed below from Amazon. A portion of the profits from Amazon will be donated to the virtual millennium village - Tanzania poverty ladder.
- If you'd rather donate your time, consider writing a letter to your congress person or Senator telling them that they should provide the money to Africa that was promised by the US during the G8 summit, various state of the union addresses and Monterrey, Mexico convention. If the United States and other nations all contributed the amount of money already promised (just 0.7% of Gross National Product), that alone would provide enough money to fully fund these efforts.
- Start your own poverty ladder with your own ideas to raise funds - perhaps a run-walk race, a bake sale, selling t-shirts or bracelets. The possibilities are endless!
Millennium Promise & Villages
Visit Villages with Angelina Jolie & Jeffrey Sachs
Great Books About Ending Poverty
The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Amazon Price: $11.56 (as of 10/12/2008)
Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World
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Amazon Price: $16.47 (as of 10/12/2008)
Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism
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Amazon Price: $17.16 (as of 10/12/2008)
Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty
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Amazon Price: $10.20 (as of 10/12/2008)
How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, Updated Edition
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Amazon Price: $10.85 (as of 10/12/2008)
More Perspective - Total Cost of the War in Iraq
The U.S. needs to deliver on their Africa aid promises
My Favorite Charities
- Malaria No More
- 3,000 children a day die from malaria - Help protect a child by purchasing a $10 bed net.
- Millennium Promise
- Give directly to my favorite charity.
- One Campaign
- 2.4 million people have joined together to raise public awareness about AIDS, global poverty, hunger & more.
- Heifer International
- Strives to end poverty and hunger while caring for the planet.
- Kiva
- Give a small business loan to aspiring entrepreneurs - change a life.
Share Your Comments about my Millennium Promise Lens
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sammi
wonderful site, great references, and glad to be working for the same goal as you. here in seattle we have the millennium goals project and your support has been invaluable. thank you. Posted September 06, 2008 |
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KimGiancaterino
Stunning lens! Welcome to the Help Africa Group. Posted June 19, 2008 |
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mosaic
Yes! I agree! I also believe in Jeffrey Sach's work. Have you read his newest book, Common Wealth? While I do not have a small business that can join your ladder team, I do make donations to the Earth Institute in support of the Millennium Villages. Posted May 22, 2008 |
