The ‘Let’s Do More Initiative’ is the most ambitious and inclusive project ever undertaken by Global Association of Billionaires and Millionaires (GABM) and seeks to involve the entire international business community and civil society as a strong collective in its quest towards the alleviation of global poverty.

The ‘Let’s Do More Initiative’ has been introduced as a result of the dire state of the global economy and high levels of unemployment, resulting in the current unprecedented levels of poverty, extreme hunger, civil unrest, crime levels and political instabilityall over the world.

It has become obvious that our generation MUST take responsibility and bring about change to save the world from our own destructive actions. We have to find and implement solutions NOW to address the increasing levels of global poverty as well as to save the environment from the unscrupulous development and exploitation of today.

WHY? Because we have a social and moral obligation as responsible citizens to help those in need; and in respect of the environment we have to acknowledge that we are indeed the custodians and guardians of Planet Earth from which all our resources derive from.

FACT: Our current demand for natural resources and food cannot for much longer be sustainably produced by Planet Earth. Either we change our ways or face extinction.

Many people would argue that it is the exclusive responsibility of the United Nations and Governments to take care of these issues. Theoretically it may be rightly so argued, but considering that the UN will most likely not achieve its Millennium Development Goals as well as having so many failed governments (due to corruption and dictatorial rule) and the developed countries struggling to cope with the effects of the global financial crises off late, we have to face the fact that we all will have to contribute to make the world a safer, free and economically better place for all human kind.

To date, GABM has as a private initiative made significant contributions to address the effects of global poverty, etc but to make a more significant impact we desperately need to increase our various philanthropic programs on a global or macro scale.

To achieve this we plan to drastically increase both GABM’s global representation and philanthropic programs, as well as to work with general society in a well structured collaborative action – THE GABM ‘LET’S DO MORE INITIATIVE’.

It is important to understand that every citizen of the world can contribute towards GABM’s ‘Let’s Do More Initiative’, as the initiative involves many aspects of support besides from providing financial grants. (To learn more about the various ways in which one can contribute - go to the “How can one contribute to GABM’s Let’s Do More Initiative” section below.)

PERSPECTIVE ON THE GLOBAL POVERTY CRISES

Around the world, in rich or poor nations, poverty has always been present. In fact, the majority of the world’s people are still living in extreme poverty. Global poverty is a catastrophe that present those affected with daily challenges which can altogether be prevented if there is global consensus among us all to address same.

Similarly, in most nations today, inequality - the gap between the rich and the poor - is alarmingly high and is widening rapidly.

Quick Facts:

Although global poverty levels have declined from 46% in 2000 to 27% in 2005, more than a billion people have still lived under the international poverty line of $1.25 per day in 2008.

By contrast, poverty in East Asia has declined from nearly 60% to 20% in the past 25 years, but in sub-Saharan Africa poverty has only declined from 58% to %51% since 1990.

The World Bank has estimated that a further 64 million people had been pushed into extreme poverty as a result of the 2010 global economic crises.

The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (567 million people) is less than the wealth of the world’s 7 richest people combined.

Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names. Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen.

In addition:

1 billion children live in poverty (1 in 2 children in the world)
640 million live without adequate shelter
400 million have no access to safe water
270 million have no access to health services
10.6 million children died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (or roughly 29,000 children per day).

That is equivalent to:

1 child dying about every 4 seconds
15 children dying about every minute
A 2010 Haiti earthquake occurring almost every 10 days
A 2004 Asian Tsunami occurring almost every 10 days
An Iraq-scale death toll every 18–43 days
Just under 8.1 million children dying every year
Some 88 million children died between 2000 and 2009.

The above statistics portray only part of the shocking reality of what is really happening around the world.

THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL POVERTY

Most of us are generally ignorant about the effects of global poverty or those affected by it, because we live in relatively safe and economically sound environments far from the raging wars and regions affected by frequent and extreme natural disasters. Why then should we care if we are not affected?

Besides from our social and moral obligations explained in the introductory section, we are all being affected by the symptoms of global poverty in some way or another. We live in a globalized society and are affected by what is happening elsewhere in the world. Just to name a few:

Poverty in one region affects the financial security of other regions.
We all are affected by the increased levels of crime.
Civil Unrest is ever present these days, in particular by young people who cannot find quality jobs to support their families or to further their professional careers. (A good example of this is the situations in North Africa and Middle East where people engage in violent protests to secure regime changes or fleeing to neighboring countries creating humanitarian challenges.)
Political Instability in developing countries is one of the major causes of poverty and associated problems which required immense resources from the developed world.
Spread of Diseases all over the world by citizens of the developing world as a result of poor health care services in their countries.
Destruction of the environment and natural resources.

CAUSES OF POVERTY

Poverty is unfortunately the state for the majority of the world’s people and nations. Why is this? Is it fair to blame poor people for their own predicament? Have they been lazy, made poor decisions, and been solely responsible for their plight? What about their governments?  

The causes are actually numerous, including a lack of individual responsibility, the exploitation of people and businesses by those with power and influence, or a combination of these and other factors.

The above causes of poverty and inequality are no doubt real. But deeper global causes of poverty are often less discussed.

Behind the increasing interconnectedness promised by globalization are global decisions, policies, and practices. These are typically influenced, driven, or formulated by the rich and powerful. These can be leaders of rich countries or other global actors such as multinational corporations, institutions, and influential people.

In the face of such enormous external influence, the governments of poor nations and their people are often powerless and they have a propensity to pursue bad policies that harm successful development, or in most cases they regrettably become involved in large scale corruption. As a result, in the global context, a few get wealthy while the majority struggle.

OBJECTIVE OF GABM’S ‘LET’S DO MORE INITIATIVE’

The exclusive objective of GABM’s ‘Let’s Do More Initiative’ is to create an international movement by which the combined efforts of the international private sector and civil society is sought to participate with GABM in a common purpose to alleviate global poverty. GABM firmly believes that through combined efforts meaningful long-term solutions will be created in alleviating extreme global poverty and the effects thereof.

HOW CAN ONE CONTRIBUTE TO GABM’S ‘LET’S DO MORE INITIATIVE’?

The emphasis of GABM’s philanthropic programs has always been to encourage the principle of individual responsibility and to provide less fortunate people with the necessary skills, and opportunities, and business resources to take control of their own lives.

The focus is therefore on the funding of business ventures, and the development of business opportunities, and entrepreneurship, and the creation of sustainable job opportunities, and tertiary education sponsorships, and entrepreneurship mentoring, etc.

As such, the implementation and success of GABM’s ‘Let’s Do More Initiative’ depends on two groups of people.

1. Those who have the financial and professional capabilities, and wish to make a measurable difference are invited to become directly involved in GABM’s philanthropic programs or corporate activities, which include but are not limited to:

ADOPT A STUDENT - by sponsoring a student’s university fees one can physically experience the value of one’s human development investment.
ADOPT AN ENTREPRENEUR - by sponsoring subsistence farmers and small entrepreneurs in developing countries with a small investment of $1000 - $5000, one can permanently alleviates poverty among a family group of up to 10 people.
INVEST IN BUSINESS VENTURES – by investing in business development ventures, one not only receives an above average growth on investment but have a sense of pride knowing that one is indirectly part of a business that created several quality job opportunities.
FINANCE A HOME – by sponsoring the construction of a house, one will have the satisfaction of knowing that one has given shelter to one of the millions of families not having a basic form of housing or shelter with water and basic sanitary infrastructure.
PROVIDE BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURIAL MENTORSHIP – by providing mentorship, one directly transfer theoretical knowledge into practical experience from which a new generation of entrepreneurs are created that has the potential of creating successful businesses and numerous quality job opportunities.
CREATE ONE MORE JOB – by creating just one more job opportunity small, medium and international organizations all over the world will create millions of additional quality job opportunities.
INVOLVE YOUR COLLEAGUES AND FRIENDS – by informing and motivating individuals from your professional and social networks to become involved in GABM”s Let’s Do More Initiative, the movement will have an international snowball effect that has the potential of addressing the effects of global poverty in a significant and sustainable way.
FOLLOW GABM ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER – by following GABM on Twitter and by clicking the “Like This” button on GABM’s Facebook, one’s valuable moral support will create global awareness on the plight of the poor.

The direct value proposition of GABM’s philanthropic programs is that one can become directly involved with the individual you are developing or sponsoring, and thereby experiencing the physical growth of the said individual or family as appose to merely giving a donation to a charity of sorts and do not know how your capital has been utilized. Moreover one has the satisfaction of knowing that you have potentially created another responsible citizen in the world, able to secure the financial, education, health and home security for yet another family.

2. Those who do not have the financial or professional capabilities of contributing towards GABM’s philanthropic programs or corporate activities, but feel strongly about making a difference, are invited to support us in creating and establishing the ‘Let’s Do More Initiative’ movement by aggressively spreading the message by means of the internet, Facebook, Twitter, social networks, professional networks or informally to the business community in your region.

INVOLVE YOUR COLLEAGUES AND FRIENDS – by informing and motivating individuals from your professional and social networks to become involved in GABM’s ‘Let’s Do More Initiative’, the movement will have an international snowball effect that has the potential of addressing the effects of global poverty in a significant and sustainable way.
FOLLOW GABM ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER – by following GABM on Twitter and by clicking the “Like This” button on GABM’s Facebook, one’s valuable moral support will create global awareness on the plight of the poor.

Come on people, LET’S DO MORE – because it is the right thing to do!

Mark Paulsmeier

President, Global Association of Billionaires and Millionaires