CREATING INNOVATIVE, SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS TO EXTREME POVERTY
In September 2000, the United Nations adopted a set of eight Millennium Development Goals with the proposed intent to end extreme poverty by the year 2015. Since that time, much work has been done in international development to create sustainable solutions to poverty. However, according to the latest available data from the World Bank, 1.1 billion people still live below the $1 a day extreme poverty line. Seventy percent of these impoverished people live in rural areas.

In this age of stunning advances in the natural sciences, technology, medicine, and business where developed nations can afford to offer their next generation the hope of a better tomorrow, millions still struggle every day to find enough food to ensure their children even see tomorrow.

As the disparity of wealth in our world continues to grow and this global crisis of needless suffering intensifies, Nuru International has decided to take a stand and humbly offer a new poverty reduction model in hopes of turning the tide…

WHO ARE WE?
The word, “nuru,” (pronounced new-roo) is a word in the Kiswahili language that means “light.” The light here is most analogous to hope. In some parts of East Africa, its meaning is analogous to hope. Nuru International is an 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the goal of bringing lasting hope to those struggling to break free from the chains of extreme poverty around the world. Our strategy is built around three main goals:

We aim to help impoverished, rural communities to lift themselves out of extreme poverty in a sustainable way within five years through a holistic community development model. This model focuses on five major target areas: agriculture, healthcare, education, water and sanitation, and small business development.

We hope to first raise awareness among citizens of developed nations about the crisis of extreme poverty and then inspire and mobilize them to take action.

We will strive to bring a high level of efficiency, accountability, and transparency to our projects through rigorous measurement and evaluation of our progress as conducted by objective third party firms. We utilize a standardized, holistic social metric system for poverty reduction that can be implemented across cultures and climates. The metric system also enables us to set specific mission accomplishment criteria. Such criteria allow a defined exit strategy at five years so a harmful sense of dependency in the community does not develop.

We are humbled by the many brave souls that have blazed a path before us in the fight against poverty. We have studied both their incredible successes and their failures, all in an attempt to create an innovative, sustainable, and scalable model. Using this model, we aim to bring lasting hope to many around the world. We are energized and optimistic in this journey we have begun. We hope that you will join us in this endeavor.

MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS