Ending

Povert y in
Africa
1 Raise Aw areness &
Educate

To raise awareness for poverty in Africa, the US needs to provide funding

for programs in each state that work to open our eyes to the seriousness
of the issue in Africa. Many people simply do not understand how serious
poverty is, and it needs more attention.

Programs are already in existence like UNICEF and Aid for Africa, but a
nationwide program would be beneficial to show that the government has
taken initiative in the issue. These programs will educate students and
adults on poverty, encourage discussion in communities, and promote
action on the ideas created.

Show people that poverty does not simply mean lack of money, but that if
affects parts of their lives like education and health, and contributes to
violence and other dangerous aspects of Africa.

Open the eyes of people who see this as Africa?s problem, not ours. Show
them that Africa has some extremely important aspects to it and that the
people are struggling and truly need help.
2 Collect Funding &
Donat ions

Just as we have been doing for years, we need to raise money to donate to
Africa. No, money alone will not fix the problem, but it?s necessary to help.
Had the money that we raised over the past several years actually been
used for the correct things, Africa could be well on its way out of poverty.
So far, since the 1960s when aid began, up to now, the United States has
donated $500 billion.

Unfortunately, Africa?s corrupt governments and dysfunctional leadership

has caused the money to fall into the wrong hands, or into the hands of
no one at all. So, we need to raise not only money to give to Africa, but
money to fund trips over to Africa by programs who are designed to help
change the course of Africa's destiny and end poverty.

Money itself won?t solve all of Africa?s poverty, but it still is essential to
provide them opportunities to find their way out.
3 Send Programs to
Africa

It?s not going to be for everyone, but for some of the most dedicated
programs, or some who want to take firm action and truly make one of
the biggest differences possible, going over to Africa to educate their
people is a great next step.

One of the biggest issues in Africa is that the money we donate goes to
corrupt governments. The leaders abuse their authority and use the money
for either personal gain, or put it towards things based on uneducated
decisions. These governments are never going to change if the people
themselves are not educated on what is happening.

Essentially, with travelers going over from our programs in the US,
programs can be created in Africa to educate the citizens over there on
ways to change the course of their nations and get them on the right track.
No, not by creating violence and revolting, but by advocating for change
and using the donated funding for what it needs to be used for.

Getting the ball rolling in Africa?s own communities is extremely important.

We can?t solve the issues for them because then all they will ever do is
depend on foreign aid. The best thing we can do is start to promote change
within their own nations.
4 New Internat ional
Agreement

Ending poverty in Africa, as well as all over the world, has to be a team
effort. The regions that are in poverty obviously need help, but the help of
one nation is not going to solve all the problems.

There needs to be an International agreement, signed by leaders of thriving

nations across the globe, outlining what needs to be done. Each nation can
be held responsible for a specific job, all of which come together to help
Africa the best. What those jobs and tactics are, can be completely up to
the leaders of the nations, but something needs to be agreed upon.

The world has already agreed that poverty is a serious issue, and they need
to act like it. Based on steps 1-3, there have already been actions to get the
process started, and if people with more power--the leaders of
nations--acknowledge the issue and commit to helping solve it, there could
really be some solid ground gained.
5 Monitor Dat a &
Adjust

Unfortunately, there is zero chance that steps 1-4 work to perfection.

Following these actions, we will need to look at the data and see where
Africa?s poverty is trending. And again unfortunately, a change most likely
wouldn?t be seen until years down the road.

The goal cannot be to completely end poverty by 2030, because when we

make goals that are seemingly unable to be reached, the effort in programs
declines significantly. Instead, our goal needs to be to trend the data in the
direction of less people in poverty each year. Then, maybe someday,
poverty will become extinct.

It will always be a matter of monitoring data, adjusting, and acting upon

the conclusions that we make. There is no clear cut way to end poverty, but
if we can acknowledge the issue and take it seriously, we can give it our
best shot and have a chance at helping millions of people live a better life.