Tackling poverty by talking less and doing more

Governments go slow and poverty goes fast: it’s vital that governments talk less and do more to eradicate poverty, says Catalina Escobar in this video for the Schwab Foundation.

This post is part of a major series from the Schwab Foundation looking at lessons from leading social entrepreneurs.

The Colombian social entrepreneur is President of Juan Felipe Foundation, an organisation that works to improve the rates of infant mortality and teenage pregnancies amoung poor communities in Colombia. She says leaders must be prepared to deliver excellence and measure results: “You really want to tackle a problem and you find the way to do it, you need to prove it and measure it yourself.”

Escobar says excellence for the Juan Felipe Foundation means bringing the best to the poor: “The poor are tired of being poor. So we bring our world-class initiatives. If you bring poor things to the poor, you’re extending poverty and misery. But if you bring the best to the poor … social transformation will kick in.”

Author: Catalina Escobar, President of the Juan Felipe Foundation

Image: A sister of the Franciscan order plays with children in Lambare city, near Asuncion, April 2, 2014. REUTERS/Jorge Adorn