Poverty & Health – more information

Poverty remains widespread

Although extreme poverty has halved in the last fifty years, this decline is slow to continue. According to the World Bank’s latest figures from 2019, 8.4% of the world’s population lives on less than $2.15 per day and 46.7% on less than $6.85. Most of them are located in sub-Saharan Africa.

Health impacts

Poverty has severe implications for people’s physical and mental health. Babies, children and mothers often die young due to starvation or preventable disease. Those who do live endure intense and needless suffering.

Helping effectively

Some organisations and interventions in the poverty and global health domains are hundreds of times more effective than others. There are two main reasons for this:

1. Money goes further in poorer countries

The Netherlands has a GDP of €49,000 per capita (2021) making it one of the richest countries in the world and ranks fifth in the European Union¹.
The poorest countries in the world are found in Africa – in these regions GDP per capita can drop below €1,000². These are the places where a sum of money can do the most good towards preventing unnecessary suffering, disease and death compared to the same sum in a rich country.

2. Programs proven to be effective

Knowledge and recognition of the best aid interventions has increased enormously over the last two decades. This is thanks in part to pioneering intervention studies. These studies use a research strategy known as randomised controlled trials in which participants are divided into at least two groups. One group receives the intervention while the other does not. In this way, the actual effect of the intervention can be assessed at the end of the trial. Development economists were awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize for this work³. In general, disease prevention is extremely effective. As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure!

Donate to the most effective causes!

In order to determine which charities are best, we assess organisations by the proven effectiveness of their interventions. We rely on GiveWell – a renowned non-profit focused on charity evaluation. They conduct thorough research into which charities save or improve the most lives per euro donated. These results can help you in choosing which charity you wish to donate to!

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