About

PovertyCure is an initiative of the Acton Institute that seeks to ground the battle against local and global poverty in a proper understanding of the human person and society, and to encourage solutions that foster opportunity and unleash the entrepreneurial spirit that already fills poverty-stricken areas of the developed and developing world.

$1.25

800 million people live on less than this per day.

703m

lack access to clean water.

17m

die from preventable diseases every year.

The Challenge of Global Poverty

We are called to a loving and generous concern for the poor. Yet for many of us with a heart for the poor, the statistics are almost overwhelming. More than 800 million people live on less than $1.25 a day. Every year, millions of men, women and children die from AIDS, malaria and other preventable diseases. Tens of millions lack clean water and go to bed hungry.

There is, however, reason for hope. Although we cannot create heaven on earth, we know what it takes for the poor to be able to create new wealth for themselves and rise out of poverty. Indeed, there exist powerful tools that could allow us to make enormous strides in creating prosperous societies. It is time to rethink poverty. It is time to put the person, made in the image of God, at the center of the economy. It is time to help unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of the developing world.

The PovertyCure Vision

When we put the person at the center of our economic thinking, we transform the way we look at wealth and poverty. Instead of asking what causes poverty, we begin to ask, what causes wealth? What are the conditions for human flourishing from which prosperity can grow? And how can we create and protect the space for people to live out their freedom and responsibilities?

It is time to move:

From aid to enterprise
From poverty alleviation to wealth creation
From paternalism to partnerships
From handouts to investments
From seeing the poor as consumers or burdens to seeing them as creators
From viewing people and economies as experiments to pursuing solidarity with the poor
From viewing the poor as recipients of charity to acknowledging them as agents of change with dignity, capacity, and creativity.
From encouraging dependency to integrating the poor into networks of productivity and exchange
From subsidies and protectionism to open trade and competition
From seeing the global economy as a fixed pie to understanding that human enterprise can grow economies

Statement of Principles

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.