The Cube

No poverty! What an objective to have! Are we close to eliminating
all poverty by 2030? You can answer that for yourself. Whether you
answer yes or no, you probably will not argue against the merit of this
goal. And seeking to eliminate poverty in all its forms everywhere is
not an objective for those who lack conviction. There is much to do,
and millions of people out there waiting for the eradication of poverty
believe this is a worthwhile goal. Fortunately, we are the alumni and
students of the United Nations University, and if there is a group of
people that are going to do something about this goal, it will be us.
Most of us understand very well the implications of poverty and how
it prevents humanity from moving forward. Whether you learned
about it from your classes or through volunteering or in an internship
journey abroad, or perhaps from your own personal experience in
your home town, we all likely agree that this is a priority objective.
Poverty affects all its victims in the same way; it steals from them
the right to live a life with dignity and opportunity. Perhaps it was
the desire to fight poverty that motivated you to study the MPP
or pursue the PhD, or perhaps it was once you were in UNU that
you discovered what you wanted to do about it and how to do it.
For the alumni that we feature in this first issue of The Cube it was
all of these reasons. It was the way that poverty affected women
and children in New Dehli that motivated Arushi Tangri (MPP’
2019) to do the MPP so that she could enage in policy work that
directly helped the most vulnerable around her. David Lambert
Tumwesigye (MPP’ 2002) wanted to contribute to the end of
poverty in his native Uganda, and so he contributed to building a
successful, inclusive social protection system. And Amjad Rabi
(MPP’ 2007), the social security expert of Iraq, has learned and now
teaches too that there are plenty of ways in which you can reduce
poverty, including, of course, through social security schemes. In
all these stories you will find a common link, a genuine desire to
contribute to reducing vulnerabilities and therefore ending poverty.
What will your own personal path towards achieving SDG 1 look
like?
Do not hesitate to share your own thoughts and letters with the
editorial team. We look forward to sharing it with all UNU-MERIT
alumni in future issues.
The Cube | 07