The Chronicle

Issue date: 11/13/06 Section: News
Last update: 11/13/06 at 5:33 AM EST

Media Credit: ROB GOODLATTE Renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs encouraged students to be active in the Millennium Village Project.

Jeffrey Sachs, a Columbia University professor and director of the United Nations Millennium Project, spoke Friday in a packed Page Auditorium about the pressing issue of extreme poverty while emphasizing the necessity of grassroots solutions.

Sachs focused on the collaborative nature of the Millennium Village Project. Duke, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Bennett College have organized the first-ever student-led project to help a Millennium Village rise out of extreme poverty.

"This is a project which can not only capture the best of what we can know and what we can do, but can also shine a light that will be seen everywhere in the world and create a mass movement of change," Sachs said.

Using examples from his recent trip to Africa, Sachs said "extreme poverty means that you do not have assurance of the basic needs to survive day to day, that basic life is a daily struggle."

But he added that poverty is not impossible to overcome.

Pointing to East Asia and India, Sachs said the difference between extreme poverty and rapid development is a "very small gap."

"If people stuck in extreme poverty can be empowered to rise above that level for investment, then we will see that the positive side of globalization can carry us to where we need to go-a world where no one is facing this crisis," Sachs said.

Describing poverty as "anachronistic," Sachs pointed out that poor regions still suffer from diseases that are curable like malaria.

"Two million children will die of [malaria], yet it is 100 percent treatable for $1 of medicine," Sachs said. "[It is] a disease where we have brilliant science, which could save millions of lives, but it doesn't reach the poor because... they don't have access to it."

A self-described optimist, Sachs lauded the Millennium Village program and encouraged students to get involved.

By maintaining regular contact and advising the villagers on issues such as agriculture, disease control and communication, the Millennium Village Project aims to eliminate extreme poverty.

"By helping them with some basic tools, you will see a transformation, you will see even in one year the amazing things that can be accomplished," Sachs said. "We don't need Washington. We need us and our partnership. We need to show the world what Duke, UNC and Bennett College can do."

Chris Conover, assistant research professor at the Center for Health Policy, said he saw the student-led initiative to end extreme poverty as unique and full of potential.

"I think that it's an interesting idea to have a student-led initiative, and I was intrigued with what he said they were able to do within a year," Conover said.

Attendees said Sachs' ability to reach out to his audience, along with his emphasis on the collective force of ideas, was inspiring.

"I think that he geared the speech really well to his audience and he really spoke on the point of empowerment," sophomore Samantha Fahrbach said. "Even though we're no government and we don't have our own money, the power of ideas is invaluable."

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