For some reason, humanity believes the world’s ultra poor, i.e., those of us who live directly on < $1.9/day in the global south, should have no business ending extreme poverty and that this must instead be done for us by the right people, or the most legit people, from the global north.

For this reason, humanity really is very opposed to the idea of directly supporting the extreme poor, in the global south.

Some key figures:

Today, only 1% of all the money that is intended to end global poverty, is what goes directly to the extreme poor in the global south as a whole.

Specifically, only 1% of all Official Development Assistance (funding from agencies like USAID, UKAID etc), and an even smaller portion (0.4% in 2018 alone) of all international humanitarian assistance (all charitable global antipoverty funding included), is what goes directly to local and national grassroots organizations in the global south, today.

Moreover, for the latter, the 0.4% in 2018 was an increase, according the 2019 Global Humanitarian Assistance Report. In earlier years, that figure was even smaller.

Sealing the fate:

To seal the whole fate, the people from the global development sector, who keep the other 99% of global antipoverty funding, and who could have been the ultimate allies of the poor, are instead the same people who are very determined never to work directly with the extreme poor in any way, unless when rolling out their own predetermined solutions.

But their own solutions, the sole thing that brings them together with the extreme poor, only reach very, very few random poor communities, and in most cases, these solutions often turn out to be very short-lived.

This is what makes it simply impossible for global poverty to ever end.

Regardless, billions are still spent every year, in the name of ending global poverty, in a way that doesn’t touch the ultra poor in any way.

The biggest barrier though? 

Humanity as a whole is convinced this is the way to go. For this reason, humanity really is very opposed to the idea of directly supporting those of us who live in chronic poverty, in the global south.