Every day, Partners of the Americas collaborates with individuals and organizations around the world to eradicate poverty. The coronavirus pandemic this year has hurt communities experiencing poverty the hardest, yet we are finding ways to work through it to achieve social and environmental justice for all. This International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, we’re highlighting the steps our programs, projects, and members have taken to end poverty during COVID-19.
Economic Development & Health
Since the start of COVID-19, epicenters of the virus have moved across borders, across continents, and across hemispheres. Now, as of mid-May, Latin America is the newest region suffering from the most cases of and subsequent deaths due to the novel-coronavirus.
Just like a third of the world’s population, our Farmer-to-Farmer staff at the Washington, D.C. office and in our six field offices around the world (Colombia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Guyana, Jamaica, and Myanmar) are currently working from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic. While it may be from the safety of our homes, today on April 22, we would like to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.
Beekeeping is Cathy Shaw’s passion. She has found that most beekeepers feel the same way she does, and this was no exception in the Dominican Republic. Shaw helped beekeepers raise healthy and strong beehives as a Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) volunteer in June 2019.
En 2010, Antonio de Jesús Reyes Meza (Toño) vivió en una de las zonas más pobres y peligrosas de Ciudad Juárez, México. Luego encontró A Ganar, el programa de Partners of the Americas que ayuda a los jóvenes de las comunidades más complejas de América Latina y el Caribe a encontrar empleo, emprender un negocio o regresar a la escuela a través del poder del deporte./ In 2010, Antonio de Jesús Reyes Meza (Toño) lived in one of the poorest and most dangerous zones in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Then he found A Ganar, Partners’ program that helps youth in some of the toughest communities in Latin America and the Caribbean find employment or return to school through the power of sport.
On October 30, a former Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) volunteer, Bill Nichols, visited the Partners of the Americas’ (Partners) Washington, D.C. office to offer insight on his volunteer experiences. Nichols boasts an extensive history of volunteering, with 56 assignments over the past decade.
Since its creation in July 2017, the USAID-funded Ranfose Abitid Nitrisyon pou Fè Ogmante Sante Program (RANFOSE), implemented by Partners of the Americas, has sought to fight malnutrition in Haiti through food fortification. In cooperation with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, (GAIN), the program advocates for policy changes that have led to providing approximately 7-8.5 million Haitians with access to fortified foods.
Since 2008, August 19 has been designated as World Humanitarian Day to pay tribute to the aid workers who risk their lives in humanitarian service, and to rally support for people impacted by crises around the world. In honor of this year’s theme, #WomenHumanitarians, we celebrate the contributions of all of our volunteers, especially our women volunteers. In 2018, 6,122 Partners volunteers and members served more than 11,000 hours.
Today, Partners of the Americas commemorates World Youth Skills Day (WYSD) by recognizing the power of adequate skills training to combat youth unemployment. This year, WYSD centers on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all under Sustainable Development Goal 4. At Partners, we work toward this goal by teaching youth marketable skills and emphasizing the importance of education to transform lives around the world.