Charity of the Week: Action Against Hunger | ACF International

About 795 million people around the world don’t have enough to eat every day, or about 1 in 9. In fact, in 2010 alone 7.6 million children went hungry and died as a result. This hardly has anything to do with the level of food grown or created in the world and everything to do with the global spread of poverty. Action Against Hunger | ACF International is a humanitarian organization working to end global hunger by providing communities around the globe with sustainable hunger solutions and access to clean water.

Photo Credit: Action Against Hunger

Since they work all over the world from Somalia to Peru and Bangladesh to Syria, each of their projects is context-based and geared towards the specific community they’re currently working in. By combining immediate emergency hunger solutions and long-term and lasting solutions that targe the underlying causes of hunger and malnutrition, they are able to provide communities in developing nations real help to real problems in their area.

Photo Credit: Action Against Hunger

Last year they were able to treat 5 million people for malnutrition and illness while, in 2013 alone, they helped two million people attain economic self-suffieciency. And when you donate, you know that a huge chunk, 86.8%, of your donation goes directly to the programs helping those in need. Of the remaning donation, 10.6% goes to administrative costs and 2.5% to fundraising expenses. This, combined with their overall work, transparency, and excellent contributions to the global community has earned them:

• Highest rating from Charity Navigator, seven years in a row
• “A”-rated organization by CharityWatch
• Guidestar’s Exchange Seal for our commitment to transparency
• “Best in America” seal by the Independent Charities of America

Presently their main foci are on Nepal, South Sudan, and Nigeria due to natural catastrophe and violent conflicts, although they continue to work in another 45+ countries to help more than 9 million people a year. With their over 30 years of experience and the help of those outside the organization, they can continue their great work and reach those who are truly in need.

For more information or to make a donation, check them out here.

What You Need to Know About the Millennium Development Project.

Photo Credit: UN Foundation

The largest gathering of world leaders in history took place in September 2000 during the Millennium Summit hosted by the United Nations. During this momentous event, the Millennium Declaration was adopted, and a series of goals were set down to be achieved by 2015.

1. Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. reduce child mortality
5. improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development

Within the heading goal, there are targets that will be used to determine success. For example, one of the targets of the first goal is to halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger from 1990 to 2015. Each of these is thought to be a part of basic human rights that every person in the world should have access to, regardless of where they live, their income, their gender, or any other external factors.

So, how have we done?

Photo Credit: Borgen Project

It’s difficult to portray the effect of the MDGs have had on global poverty accurately as, unfortunately, some countries are excelling while others are falling woefully behind. Looking at the goals on a country by country basis may lead you to think that almost every one has been successful or that none has and that the whole thing is a failure. This makes tracking success and determining the impact a very complicated project.

The World Health Organization has compiled some statistics on each of the goals and their targets. For example, the proportion of underweight and malnourished children has fallen from 28% to 17% between 1990 and 2015. At first glance, it would appear that the goal to halve the number of underweight children is close at hand, but the reality is that the progress has been very unevenly distributed.

The target to reduce global infant mortality/under-5 mortality by two-thirds is suffering from a similar complication. Between 1990 and 2013 the number of children dying under the age of 5 decreased by 49%, and the global rate of decline has even accelerated in recent years. But, despite the improvements, the target amount is not likely to be met this year.

At the same time, though, it is thought that we will be able to easily surpass the goal of getting 15 million people on antiretroviral therapy by the end of the year. This achievement will promote the reduction of people newly infected with HIV/AIDS in the coming years.

In short, huge improvements have been made, and many people have been lifted out of poverty or experienced an improvement in quality of life, thanks to the Millennium Development Project. The fact is, though, that a lot more work has to be done if we want to reach the initial goals set down and even beyond.

What’s in store for the next 15 years?

Presently the UN is working on creating a new list of Sustainable Development Goals to be met in the years to follow. The idea is that these will finish and build on the work of the Millennium Development Goals. At the 2015 Sustainable Development Summit in September, the new goals will be adopted by the UN and the Member States.

Some of the proposed SDGs include:

• End all poverty everywhere.
• Achieve gender equality.
• Reduce inequality within and among all countries.
• Ensure sustainable production and consumption patterns.
• Conserve and sustainably use oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development.

In all, there are 17 proposed SDGs and the UN is in the process of defining the agenda in time for the September summit.

What can the rest of us do?

While the leaders of the world work together to end poverty, inequality, and climate change, the rest of us can be doing our

Photo Credit: Engineering and Technology Magazine

part as well. Continue to spread the word, educate those around us on the stark realities outside our comfortable lives, volunteer time, donate to charity, and (most importantly) never give up.

For more information on the Millennium Development Goals, the Sustainable Development Goals, and what you can do to help, visit the UNDP.

Welcome! So, what’s with the globally aware millennial?

Generally speaking, Millennials are hated. Across the board, we are a generation looked down on as being lazy, demanding, entitled, and particularly stupid.

I see what other generations dislike about us. I get it, everything we do is judged and it all seems trivial and annoying. I also know that we are the most diverse generation to date. It’s true that we are a generation shaped by technology, but we are also a generation deeply concerned with community, family, and creativity.  In short, we aren’t all bad. We have our ups and downs, but overall I don’t think we deserve all the guff we get. Everyone was young, once. We just happen to be young now.

This blog, globally aware millennial, is about spreading the sense of global community, educating Millennials (and the rest) about global poverty, and helping to inspire changes in the way we all look at the world and one another.

Some things to take into consideration:

• Almost half of the world’s population lives on less that $2.50 a day and more than 1.3 billion live on less that $1.50 a day.
• 795 million people don’t have enough to eat.
• Just in Africa, people spend 40 billion hours a year collecting water, time that could be spent receiving an education or working a job.
• 22,000 children die in poverty every single day.

Change is taking place, the poverty rates around the world are getting better. The number of people living in poverty dropped from 1.93 billion in 1981 to just over 1 billion in 2011. Thanks to the efforts of charities, volunteers, technological advancements, and governements around the world, people are continually being lifted out of poverty. But there is still so much to be done, so much that can be changed for the better. We all deserve a chance at a better life, and I intend to be a part of making sure everyone gets it.

I hope you’ll join me.