In Bolvia

Concluding: helping young Bolivians

This is the final part of my Bolivia blog. While there, the problems I witnessed – abandonment of children and the brutal view on HIV/AIDS and it’s victims- are the outgrowth of the larger problem of extreme poverty. Bolivia is the poorest country in South America and has the largest gap between the rich and the poor. More than 45% of the children and 60% of the country live in on less than a dollar a day, which is defined as extreme poverty by the World Bank. One of the direct effects of extreme poverty is maternal health and child mortality. With more than 15,000 children dying each year under the age of one, 7,500 before they are one month old and 5% of mothers dying in childbirth, it only makes the need to help more urgent.

Through my ongoing work with UNICEF, I have learned about some of the global community’s efforts to quell extreme poverty. There is hope on that front. But how can we transfer some of the money in the developed world to little known places such as Bolivia? I look to the G8 Summit to be held in Canada in June of this year. The Millennium Goals will be under discussion at the summit and will address issues such as the eradication of poverty, provision of medical support and education to the poorest countries.

Remarkably, almost every Millennium Goal relates to what is happening in Bolivia today. If Bolivia can be lifted out of such endemic poverty, it would positively affect all of South America. We don’t have the luxury to turn our backs. We, as countries are inestimably intertwined. It behooves us all to help provide the opportunities to the poorer countries, giving them the chance to stabilize and create sustainable internal infrastructure to participate and realize their own potential. As they do, then we too will inevitably reap the benefits.

MILLENNIUM GOALS

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

(The last part of my ‘trip report’ appears on the next pages.)

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