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An international effort to eradicate poverty
by Christin Davis –
In an eight-part series, New Frontier is exploring the United Nations’ eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to eradicate poverty and achieve basic human rights for all people, and detailing Salvation Army work to accomplish the goals.
Goal 1: To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Read more about this goal in New Frontier, volume 28, number 3.
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Read more about this goal in New Frontier, volume 28, number 5.
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Read more about this goal in New Frontier, volume 28, number 7.
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Read more about this goal in New Frontier, volume 28, number 9.
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Read more about this goal in New Frontier, volume 28, number 12.
Goal 6: Combat AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Read more about this goal in New Frontier, volume 28, number 16.
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
The Salvation Army in Angola is working to address the need for shelter in partnership with Oxfam GB, the Angolan Government and the communities themselves. Before doing anything, Salvation Army workers immerse themselves in the communities in order to mobilize and motivate the people, ensuring that the need for water and sanitation is understood and that the community supports the initiative. The community then appoints a Grupa Agua Saniemeto (GAS) who takes initiative in helping the community construct latrines out of local materials and in selecting sites for wells.
The Salvation Army water technicians then dig and build the wells with the help of the community. They also train members of the GAS to operate and maintain the well, to ensure that the community can perform any minor repairs. The Angolan Government completes major repairs.
The Army has assisted Angolan communities in building more than 200 latrines. Similar water projects are taking place in more than 12 countries.
In Haiti, The Salvation Army is building more than 2,000 transitional shelthers for earthquake victims. The shelters are 10 by 20 ft. dwellings, designed to last three years or more and are framed with timber from beetle-killed trees salvaged from sustainably managed forestlands in Colorado. The project has provided over 400 Haitians with much needed work.
See more about the concept of “Sacred Space” and programs promoting sustainability in the spring 2010 issue of Caring.
Goal 8: A global partnership for development
See more about the MDGs in the past and upcoming final part of this New Frontier series and at endpoverty2015.org.
