Poverty is a structural problem. It is a reflection of global society at large and shows the problems in our economic systems. It is a failure of governments and of those with power in taking care of people.

Claiming people who live in poverty are lazy, bad with money, irresponsible etc. is a huge misconception of a complex problem like poverty and it's victim-blaming. Poverty is not an individual phenomenon, it largely depends on historical, geographic and environmental factors. It's also not static, people often move in and out poverty.

Currently, most people in the world live in poverty, on less than 10USD a day. 10 percent of the world's population live in extreme poverty, trying to maintain on less than 1.9USD a day. People who live in poverty often suffer from malnutrition, don't have access to education and healthcare amongst many other human rights violations. These make moving out of poverty even harder, if not impossible.

Global poverty is one of the most urgent problems our society is currently facing as it closely relates to many others. When it comes to solutions there is some good and bad news. According to the World Bank, the global poverty rate has reduced 36 percent from 1990. However, with the COVID-19 crisis experts expect the poverty rates to go up again, the first time in 12 years.

This means we have to act quickly before the problem becomes too large to handle There are many interventions employed organisations that proved effective in tackling poverty. Direct giving, transferring money directly to people who live in poverty, is one of these methods. With direct giving, people can decide what they and their communities need the most in order to survive and turn their survival sustainable. And they do.

100Weeks is a non-profit organisation that sends weekly cash transfers to a group of select women in poverty for a hundred weeks. In addition to weekly cash transfers, women receive lessons on bookkeeping, saving and planning. When you donate to 100Weeks, your donation goes towards helping these women take care of their families and start businesses that will keep them safe in the future when their 100Weeks are over. You can support 100Weeks by donating to them directly below.