Provide Clean Water & Improve Sanitation
Over 2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water & basic sanitation facilities.
Every year 250,000 children die from diarrhea cause by unsafe drinking water, sanitation & hygiene.
Problem: Lack of Access to Health & Wellness Information
Lack of information to health & wellness information combined with sociocultural barriers results in millions of preventable deaths, especially among children, in developing countries.
Problem
5.3 million children under the age of 5 die every year. Over half of these deaths are preventable, if simple, inexpensive interventions, such as handwashing, were used.
Solution
Media Health Campaigns:
- Media health campaigns broadcast via radio, television & mobile videos to millions of people in low-income countries to facilitate information exchange.
- These campaigns raise awareness of local health care services & promote positive behaviors.
- In a single campaign, communities can be educated on multiple health issues and the availability of local resources.
- Ex. Exclusive breastfeeding of infants & seeking treatment for known symptoms associated with fatal diseases.
Cost
Research from Givewell on the efficacy of media health campaigns show that mass media inteventions have the potential to be highly cost-effective given its ability to reach many people at scale. For example, DMI’s campaigns are estimated to cost only $22 per DALY (disability-adjusted life year) or $602 per life saved.
Problem
Government-led initiatives & public interventions are oftentimes poorly run & executed requiring the need for expertise to maximize the full potential of its programs. Public institutions often struggle with retaining top talent & operators and are resistant to change – systems & process-wise.
Solution
Engage Consultants That Test, Refine & Drive High-Potential, Cost-Effective Interventions.
- Taking high-potential, cost-effective interventions through accelerator-type programs to get them “ready to scale” and maximize impact.
Cost
It has been proven that the cost to hire these consulting organizations can lead to a significant return on investment in terms of the number of lives improved or saved.
For example, the Deworm the World Initiative, with the help of Evidence Action’s consultants, scaled from treating 160 million children in 2015 to over 280 million children in 2018.
Charities
Problem: Scaling Impactful Interventions
In order to tackle extreme poverty at the level it exists, we need to bridge the gap between identifying evidence-based, cost-effective interventions that work & successfully scaling them up to improve the most lives. Just like with a for-profit company, this involves building out the best systems, processes & team to grow these interventions at scale, with certainty.
Problem: Economic Inequality & Social Injustice
Around 700 million people worldwide live on less than $1.90 a day. Financial security, access to information & job opportunities are the foundation of sustainable economic equality. Spurring economic development by offering resources & training is the best way to help the world’s poorest break the cycle of poverty.
Problem
Economic inequality is caused by a multitude of factors for those living in extreme poverty. Lack of access to education, basic health care, inadequate food & reliable shelter — all make it very difficult for the world’s poorest to break out of the cycle of poverty. Similarly, the poor and politically disenfranchised – mostly women and girls, racial and sexual minorities – are particular vulnerable to the effects of conflicts, cultural discrimination & injustice.
Solution
Coordinated Action.
- The best way to bring about real change is to implement multifaceted, broad solutions to the root causes/problems and ramifications of poverty.
- These include: long-term health & welness development, emergency & disaster relief, as well as political advocacy for sustainable change.
Cost
With low-cost solutions to target the root causes/problems that cause extreme poverty, we can make a signficant improvement to those living on less than $1.90 per day.
Charities
