Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
On February 13, 2008—the AIESEC POL team held a forum with leading members
of Singapore Management University (SMU) faculty and women leaders from the
non-governmental organizations (NGO) sector here in Singapore.
The aim of the forum was to gather like-minded students from SMU &
Junior College students who are interested to learn more about the issue of
poverty; to understand in greater detail the complexity of the issue from SMU
faculty (John Donaldson—SMU Assistant Professor of Political Science), aidha
President (Dr. Sarah Mavrinac) & the National Committee for United Nations
Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) Singapore General Manager (Sreyashi
Sengupta).
Staggering & depressing facts about the state of the poor in the world today
set the discussion on poverty - with almost 48% of the world’s population living on
less than $2/day as according to the World Bank recent statistics, students are
given a glimpse of the challenges facing impoverished communities around the
world. Consequently, there are approximately 4 billion people living at the
“Bottom-of-the-Pyramid” & it is a challenge for these communities to meet their
basic necessities on a daily basis. Furthermore, according to the Center for
Business as an Agent of World Benefit (BAWB), one person dies every 3.6 seconds
from malnutrition & related causes.
Economic development factors such as educational opportunities, gender
equality, access to basic sanitation, children’s well-being along with stable
governance seemed to contribute to a communities’ ability to manage its poverty
levels. Coincidently, women’s ability to gain educational opportunities is highly
correlated to the rate of her children's success in the community (ie. literacy,
health levels, economic viability for the mother & family). Gender equality is, thus
an important factor to look at when needing to understand the complexity of
communities’ ability to remove themselves from the cycle of poverty. Women
usually are able to take better care of the finances for their children’s education or
to source for the family daily food necessities (ie. Rice, water, cassava, sugar or
flour). Additionally, women tend to be in a better position to alleviate their family’s
poverty levels because of their nurturing personality.
Sreyashi from the National Committee for UNIFEM Singapore shared with
the audience a story in India of a women’s struggle to gain some income while
working on a farm (4 hours walking distance from her home) even till her last days
of pregnancy. She endured a painful experience while giving birth to her child in a
situation that didn’t allow her the choice that women in developed countries have
- clean sanitized surroundings. UNIFEM’s work is about empowering women
through programs, workshops & campaigns - ‘Say No to Violence against Women’,
‘Day-off’ or the ‘Stop Child Sex’ campaigns. These campaigns are aimed to raise
awareness on these issues while also providing funds for participation through
these programs too.
aidha - a non-governmental organization that started in 2006, provides
financial education to migrant workers in Singapore. Domestic helpers usually
from Indonesia & the Philippines would take up classes such as career & money
management, technology & communication, and advanced entrepreneurship &
management classes. These classes are designed to develop participants’ skills &
knowledge so that they are able to create small businesses (ie. hair salons, sundry
shops) upon their return home - as a way to find means for financial
independence. These programs not only provide these financial skills &
knowledge to the ladies but also build on their self-esteem that empowers women
in their lives.