Three things stick out to me about this excellent piece, Bono.
The first, of course, is your usual flair, including a reference to “projectile vomiting.” Most people in development don’t write like rock stars. I certainly don’t. I’m glad we have you, because you know how to get people’s attention.
The second is your argument that the global refugee crisis underscores the need for long-term investments in development, including a serious commitment to the Global Goals that are about to be ratified by the United Nations. The word “crisis” implies an immediate emergency that nobody could have foreseen. But when massive numbers of people are living in poverty, disaster is tragically easy to predict. If we can help people in poor countries build thriving societies in which they are healthy and fulfilled, we can prevent many crises before they happen. And that’s what the Global Goals are, a concrete way of expressing our collective beliefs about what a flourishing future looks like.
The third thing that stuck out is the pull quote about halfway down that says, “Poverty is sexist: it hits women and girls the hardest, which is doubly ironic, because investing in them is the best way to end poverty.” I want to reinforce this point. It is impossible to understand poverty — both what it really is and how to fight it — without understanding the plight of women and girls around the world.
In poor places, women and girls are poorer than men and boys — that is, they suffer more from the worst consequences of poverty, like ill health and the lack of education. Women have even fewer economic opportunities than impoverished men do, and when they can seize such opportunities, they have less control over what happens with the money they earn.
This is not only unfair; it’s a serious impediment to progress, because when women have the power to decide, they spend significantly more of their money on things that build strong foundations for society, including health care and school fees.
Women and girls are the heart of families. They spend hours and hours caring for men and boys: gathering water and wood, cooking food, harvesting crops, and saving for medical emergencies and tuition.
I remember visiting a village in Tanzania recently, and when I fell asleep the only person still awake was the daughter of the family I was staying with, Grace. She needed to study to move on in school but couldn’t start until all her household work was done. If Grace cannot finish school, she will not be able to live up to her potential. If she can, she will guarantee that her children — her daughters and her sons — have more opportunity and a better life than she had.
If you multiply that simple equation by billions of women and girls in poor countries around the world, you begin to see why you are right, Bono. Investing in women and girls is indeed the best way to end poverty for everyone.
