Page 18 - FerMUN 2020 - Futurecasters Global Young Visionaries Summit, 8th-10th January 2020

So, who is responsible? It is obvious that the first responsibility of acting on poverty lies with nation
states and governments, elected or not. But all governments have challenges. Some find it
easier to build nuclear weapons than feeding, housing, clothing, and educating the poor.

Some try but fall short because there is always so much wrong when so much poverty exists.
So, who takes up the challenge of alleviating human suffering when governments fall short?
The heroes of course. Organizations and people who step in when no one else can or will. They

make it their mission to uplift the human spirit and help people lead more dignified lives.

You can see these heroes all around you. We are in one such organization. The story of the
United Nations is also the story of people and nations coming together to help every global
citizen from every background, every age, every color, every religion, and every gender across

the world who is suffering. The greatest heroes of course are the people who make up the UN
Secretariat. These men and women risk their lives, working far from home and their families, just
so they can get to that 16 year old Pakistani girl and the millions and millions more suffering

from unimaginable challenges the world over. I can say this because for many years the UN
has tried to reach every child in my country of 200 million every year regardless of absent road
networks, conflict, and natural disasters to make sure no child has to live with Polio ever again.
Some of these workers have paid for it with their lives, and Pakistan is still not polio free, but I will

bet my future they will keep trying and they are so close.

These heroes are also everyday people you can find in every country. In Pakistan, a man who
passed away in 2016 created the world’s largest ambulance network across Pakistan, built
homeless shelters, animal shelters, rehab centers, and orphanages to bring dignity to millions

living in poverty. He did this entirely through private donations. His name was Abdul Sattar Edhi,
founder of the Edhi Foundation. At the time of his death he was the registered guardian or
parent to over 20,000 Pakistani children. His son continues his work through his foundation.

A girl from Swat wrote in defiance of the Al Qaeda backed Taliban in northern Pakistan. All she

wanted was to go to school and she was shot for it, but she survived. Today, she is a global
advocate for girl’s education and Pakistan is Taliban free. Her name is Malala Yousafzai.

Thirty years ago a man campaigned to build Pakistan’s first free Cancer research hospital.
Today Shaukat Khanum Cancer Research hospitals treat hundreds of thousands of poor
Pakistani cancer patients free of cost each year. He also believed in human dignity and vowed

to pull people out of poverty. In 2018 he was elected the 22nd Prime Minster of Pakistan. One
of his first acts was to establish homeless shelters and meal centers across every city in Pakistan
where anyone is welcome. His name is Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi.

So, between governments and heroes why are we still struggling with addressing poverty? The

numbers are growing and we are no closer to solving this crisis. Perhaps the solution lies in the
simplest of questions. How can a burger in Geneva cost 40 Dollars when a girl in Pakistan is
eating out of a garbage dump? How can two sixteen year old lives differ so drastically? How

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