Currently, the global movement to fight poverty looks to be succeeding. The World Bank notes that “the proportion of the developing world’s population living in extreme economic poverty-defined as living on less than $1.25 per day…has fallen from 52 percent in 1981 to 26 percent in 2005.” However, the Bank noted, this statistic “masks large regional differences,” especially in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite declining poverty rates, the number of total poor globally has remained unchanged, at 1.2 billion.
The first thought when addressing poverty may be to think on the macro-level; looking in terms of countries or regions. However, as Grantmakers Without Borders reminds us, the grassroots level must be a critical focus of development efforts, as there “are to be found those most acutely affected by injustice, and the experience and power to develop solutions.” There “a small grant can go a long way. There, the size of the grant often matters less than such important factors as need, timing and flexibility.”
GWB lists thirteen “Key Elements of Successful Grassroots Projects.” These are:
• Popular Particpiation
• Tackling of Institutional Barriers and Discrimination
• Energetic and Committed Leadership
• Resident Skill
• Community Motivation and Tenacity
• Community Resource Mobilization
• Social and Participatory Research
• “Outsiders” as Key Actors
• Historical Structural Economic Factors
• Single-Minded Project Zeal
• Sustainable Development
• Replicability
• The Role of the Outside Funder
The key to any successful grassroots project, GWB notes, is the focus on empowering local communities and their expertise, responding to their needs while creating self-sustainability. Indeed, a large-scale initiative, the Community-initiated Agriculture and Resource Management Project (CARD) active in Belize from 1999-2006 was plagued by disconnect between communities’ desired programs and project leadership. “In the isolated cases where community priorities had been supported,” the International Fund for Agriculture and Development noted, “the results were very positive, with groups demonstrating improved financial and organizational capacity, as well as recording increases in their enterprise activities.
In its mission, the Genesis Network emphasizes connecting grassroots projects with donors and volunteers as critical to promoting sustainability and growth in developing regions, emphasizing “the highest returns on human rights advancement to every dollar irrespective of the beneficiaries’ gender, culture, religion, or nationality.” Through creating growth and self-sustainability community by community, we hope to lift societies from the cycle of poverty and create a path to a better future.