The one tool we believe will finish off hunger and poverty

The news this month has been very good with regards to the fight against global hunger and poverty. All sources agree that progress is being made and both hunger and absolute poverty are on the decline worldwide. 

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Several sources including official UN reports, reports from the WHO, as well as non-profit activist groups are all reporting the same thing: with the exception of areas which are suffering from severe political and environmental instability, hunger and absolute poverty are on the retreat.

Hunger is generally defined as a chronic condition, and is now believed to affect less than 800 million people worldwide. This is tremendous progress. And thanks to advances in agriculture, the world now produces more calories per person, in spite of population increases, than at any time on record.

Here's a tool that can eradicate poverty at the source.

Absolute poverty deals with the bare necessities of life and although many people still suffer from relative poverty, meaning their standard of living is below the mainstream in many societies, fewer people are suffering from absolute poverty-meaning they lack the bare essentials for life.

Thanks for advances in technology, infrastructure, and other socio-economic improvements throughout the world, absolute poverty is falling to a new all-time low. According to the World Bank, less than 50 percent of Africans lived in poverty, crossing below that mark sometime in 2007 or 2008. The number of Africans suffering in such poverty continues to drop.

China alone is responsible for a major decline in poverty across Asia with half of the long-term decline in poverty a direct result of socio-economic improvement in that country. Over 660 million people have been lifted out of poverty in China since 1981, according to the World Bank.

Pope Francis has set a goal for the Catholic Church, to join with relief organizations globally to end world hunger by 2025. Improvements in food production and infrastructure appear to be on track to meet this goal. Already, the world produces enough food, however it is distributed so that wealthier regions, such as in North America, where people enjoy an incredible surplus of food, versus parts of Asia and Africa where people go without on a seasonal basis.

Many people believe that the eradication of absolute poverty is impossible, especially since the world has experienced this kind of poverty throughout all of recorded history. However, the example of the developed world dispels this myth. For example, in North America and Western Europe, absolute poverty is extraordinarily rare.

In those places, the standard of living has improved so much that people do not experience absolute poverty. Even those who are relatively poor enjoy homes, access to basic services, education and more.

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This proves the feat can be accomplished. As the third world develops, it too will experience a decline of absolute poverty.

However, the key contributors to this decline are not simple economic development in those regions. The dictates of governments must combine with the efforts of organizations, such as the WHO and Catholic Church, and those of individuals (like you) to sustain and prepare people during this transition.

Your Catholic Voice Foundation is working to eliminate poverty at its source, which is a lack of moral education. A lack of moral education contributes to ignorance, which in turn leads to corruption, and corruption creates poverty. From poverty, there stems hunger.

The solution then is to provide moral education through quality learning tools. YCVF is supporting educational initiatives by providing XO Tablets to schools that provide a moral education to children in some of the world's poorest places.

In addition to tablets, food and medicine are also sent to provide immediate relief for those in need. Kids learn better when they're healthy and fed.

YCVF is inviting the readers of Catholic Online to support this vital mission by giving a gift that will fund the purchase of an XO Tablet for a school. Readers may also give to buy food or medicine as they are moved to do so. If you are able to help, it will be appreciated.

You can start by going here and browsing the YCVF website. Together, YCVF can help you be the change you wish to see in the world.

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