Category: Rachel Brunts

By Rachel Brunts

    a)   Jacqueline Novogratz defines poverty, within her TED talk ‘Invest in Africa’s own solutions’, through her personal experiences throughout her whole life. I was shocked to hear her interaction with the young boy wearing her sweater she gave to Goodwill, but personally I did not enjoy her TED talk as much as I enjoyed Mia Birdsong’s TED Talk ‘The Story we tell about poverty isn’t true’. Although Novogratz did provide a respectable answer for solving poverty, stating that we need to, “Build viable systems on the ground that deliver critical and affordable goods and services to the poor”. Counteracting most Americans views of just simply donating money, and implying that we need a more hands-on approach to end poverty in Africa. I believe her main message to the audience was that we need to stop looking at Africa and other poor countries as, “them”, and start referring to them as, “us”. Overall I thought Novogratz’s  TED talk was good, but personally not as impactful to me.

     b)

As stated in the United Nations Development Programme article, ‘Sustainable Development Goals’, the SDGs are, “a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. I believe the vision/goal of the SDGs is to make our world a cleaner, safer, and more prosperous community by building off MDGs successes. Officially, the ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ best summarizes their vision stating, “We can be the first generation to succeed in ending poverty; just as we may be the last to have a chance of saving the planet. The world will be a better place in 2030 if we succeed in our objectives”.

As far as the neo-liberalisms effect on the SDGs, the study, ‘Sustainable Development Goals In the Age of Neoliberalism’ states, “It is more probable that the global trade tilt will be less away from neoliberalism than towards new rules, agreements or simply unilateral actions”

c)

When John McArthur discusses the, “Players on the Bench”, in ‘Own the Goals’, he is referring to U.S. President George W. Bush and The World Bank. McArthur criticizes these powerful forces as the “players on the bench”, because of their shared failures of inactively participating in the Millennium Development Goals. I believe this characterization to be both humorous and fitting.

  President Bush is definitely a player on the bench through his attempted team player attitude to support part of the MDG efforts, yet still refusing to fully submerge himself within the MDG targets; therefore, sitting, “on the bench”. McArthur criticized President Bush’s stands, stating that, “by refusing to directly engage with the MDGs in their early years, the United States missed an opportunity to highlight its contributions to development efforts and foster international goodwill.”

The World Bank also had hesitations supporting MDG. McArthur summarized their initial delay stating, “Early resistance was in part due to bureaucratic resentment of the UN for its having been given such a prominent role on development issues.” Also, this essay explains that The World Bank focuses primarily on economic issues over social issues, such as the MDGs, so personally I understand why McArthur would label The World Bank as, “players on the bench”.

Although, McArthur does still critics The Bank for their stance stating, “the bank, as a main interlocutor with the developing world, should have helped poor countries assess how they could achieve the MDGs and sounded the alarm about donor financing gaps”.  

d)       

After reading “How to Help Poor Countries” I have learned that more aid money can be both good and bad. Aid money effects poor and rich countries differently depending on their economic system and society. I found it embarrassing to learn that the best way to help poor countries is by letting them help themselves. As the text stated, “help developing countries help themselves, wealthy nations must begin to lift the burdens they impose on the poor.” As an American, I feel as though I have always thought the best way to help the poor is to donate money. After crafting this blog post I have learned eye-opening knowledge on the perception of the less fortunate and their potential.            

Some suggestions to help the poor included: business opportunities, individualized economic policy, experimentation, and monitor money loaned appropriately. For example, “How to Help Poor Countries” stated, “The World Bank and other organizations are designing programs with countries in which resources are disbursed not in exchange for policy reform but on the basis of pre-agreed benchmarks of progress”. I agree with the stance of this article and value its viewpoint. There is no perfect formula to solve poverty; we just have to work harder than donating $1 to Haiti, at the grocery store checkout line, if we truly want to make an impact.