Poverty Reduction & Livelihoods
Austcare has changed its name to ActionAid Australia For more information please visit the ActionAid website www.actionaid.org.auThe Poverty Cycle
Around the world, over 1 billion people live on less than US$1 per day.
No one chooses to live in poverty, and those whose lives are constrained have little chance of escaping from the vicious cycle it perpetuates. Individuals and families cannot afford tools to farm, or resources to start a business. Parents cannot afford to educate their children. Lack of adequate resources leads to poor nutrition resulting in health problems and restricted access to education and/or employment, sealing people's poverty status.
Poverty also increases peoples' vulnerability to outside factors - such as crop failures, natural disasters or political instability- as they lack the necessary capacity to overcome even small setbacks. Natural and man-made disasters hit hardest in the poorest communities of the world.
Conflict and lack of individual security are also inextricably linked with poverty. When resources are scarce, the level of conflict and violence in a region can increase markedly. For people fleeing violence or living in mine-affected areas the poverty cycle can become endemic.
Poverty Reduction
Most poor people aren't looking for a 'hand-out' but a 'hand up'. Austcare's poverty reduction programs involve long-term solutions to help people get themselves out of cycles of violence and poverty, enabling them to gain independence with dignity.
Our solutions are designed to enable sustainable development and contribute to building peace and include initiatives that improve health and education, provide food security, and assist the development of livelihoods. Sustainable development involves economic and social advancement in ways that do not exhaust a country's natural resources - ensuring future generations can also be supported.
Livelihoods
Livelihood-building, or income generation, is a cost-effective long-term means of empowering communities to provide for themselves. Enabling an individual to earn an income can help a whole family break free from poverty. Assisting an individual or group to establish a small business can assist the whole the community by providing jobs and stimulating the economy.
Austcare uses income-generation as a method of poverty reduction in many programs. Microcredit provides poor people with access to small loans at more manageable interest rates, aimed at creating self-sufficiency and alleviating poverty.
As part of a post-tsunami Microfinance Livelihoods Recovery Project in Lam Bada Lhok, Ismail Yusuf has received his own fishing boat and equipment from Austcare. Ismali said "if I don't have boat, I and my family wouldn't be able to survive. The boat has meant improvements in my income - to my life".
Education and Training
Austcare sees education as one of the most effective paths out of poverty, particularly for girls and women.
Education is the most empowering tool people use to overcome the challenges of poverty. By being educated, employment prospects and income-earning potential are greatly improved. Literate women can also provide better healthcare and nutrition for their children.
In Cambodia, Austcare resourced libraries in four schools, with books for children and adult literacy materials for the community. Agricultural training programs commenced through planting school gardens.
In the Bobonaro district of East Timor Austcare has rehabilitated two schools, improving access to education for over 500 primary school children. While in East Timor recently, photographer John Rodstead visited a school Austcare had built. John said, "This village is two hours over very bad roads into the mountains to the nearest town. Without this project, these children wouldn't be going to school."
"Now there are 300 kids getting an education and the start of a brighter future. This really is the kind of project that gives solutions to problems on a larger scale."
Vocational and Agricultural Training
Austcare also implements vocational and micro-skills training programs for refugees in places like Nepal and Kenya. This training gives them skills they can use to earn an income if and when they are repatriated or resettled. It also gives them hope and a sense of purpose, while they are in the refugee camps. Austcare has found that often physical and mental health has improved in the people in the training courses, and suicide attempts have decreased.
Austcare also works with local communities such as in Cambodia to provide agricultural training to improve the production of crops and livestock, resulting in improved food security and an increased ability of farmers and their families to meet basic livelihood needs.
Austcare has changed its name to ActionAid Australia For more information please visit the ActionAid website www.actionaid.org.au