The challenge and our role – SNV Strategy Paper 2016-2018
Food, water and energy are fundamental to human development. Their importance in eradicating poverty is all too clear, but we still face a world where an unacceptable number of people lack access to the basic goods and services they need to lead a normal, healthy life.
Although absolute poverty is dominant in fragile and conflict-affected areas, two thirds of the world’s poor live in five middle-income countries: China, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Indonesia. And international security, mobility, regulation of trade and finance, and the spread of infectious diseases will increasingly influence the scope for poverty alleviation. Perhaps most of all, poor people are increasingly affected by environmental stress – climate change, biodiversity loss, competition for land and water – and by its effect on livelihoods and markets.
At SNV, we are determined to tackle the obstacles to poverty eradication, and our Strategy Paper 2016-2018 outlines our approach. We will continue to expand and adapt our services in our three sectors (Energy, Agriculture, and Water, Sanitation & Hygiene), while increasing our involvement in issues such mitigation and adaption to climate change, the growth in urban poverty, implementation at scale and poverty in middle-income countries.
From 2016 to 2018, our initiatives will improve the quality of life for over 20 million people. We will do this by developing locally-owned approaches, strengthening governance systems and improving markets for the poor. We work with governments, local development partners, businesses, knowledge institutes and low-income communities, so that together we can transform ideas into policy, policy into action, and action into results.
No matter how complex the international political stage becomes, no matter how the funding landscape changes, SNV will continue to be present, both on a local and international level, with the number one goal of eradicating poverty.