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Since 2015 when the world’s governments, civil society organizations, and citizens rallied around the UN Millennium Development Goals, some 1.2 billion people continue to live on less than US $2.25 a day, struggling to access necessities like food, clean water, and healthcare. Concentrated overwhelmingly in sub-Saharan Africa and central Asia, this ‘bottom billion’ remains largely untouched by the global project to eradicate poverty, with limited opportunities for sustainable livelihoods and vulnerable to food insecurity and poor health outcomes.
An average of five family members benefits from every job we create – particularly for women, who make up over 90 percent of Hand in Hand entrepreneurs. Conservatively estimating an average family size of four, then, some 250 million jobs are required to lift the bottom billion out of extreme poverty, ensure food security, and improve health and well-being. By empowering entrepreneurs and creating sustainable livelihoods, we can help break the cycle of poverty and ensure that millions of people have access to nutritious food, clean water, and quality healthcare, ultimately improving their overall health and well-being.”
Across the developing world, informal small- and medium-sized enterprises dominate the economic landscape. In India, for example, home to Hand in Hand’s largest operation, informal jobs in agriculture, manufacturing and more account for 90 percent of GDP. Clearly, the public and formal private sectors cannot and will not provide the 250 million jobs required to lift the bottom billion out of poverty.
But for all its size and dynamism, the informal sector cannot overcome poverty on its own. A lack of capital and business knowledge, along with barriers to accessing microcredit and crucial larger markets, keep millions from realizing their potential. That’s where Hand in Hand comes in, providing would-be entrepreneurs with the skills and training they need to work their own way out of poverty – without fuelling the cycle of dependency.
In India, where our job creation model was first tried and tested, jobs cost as little as US $38 each to produce. In Afghanistan – our most challenging context, hampered by security concerns and difficult geography – that figure is approximately US $328. According to the Institute for the Study of Labor, other NGOs spend up to US $400 per person on training alone.
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