You can't marginalize more than half of the globe's population and expect to see any meaningful solutions to the problems that ail the world. Helene D. Gayle More Quotes by Helene D. Gayle More Quotes From Helene D. Gayle No matter how you measure it, women and girls bear the brunt of poverty. But it's also clear that women are also our greatest hope for ending it. We at CARE have long believed that if you change the life of a girl or woman, you don't just change that individual, you change her family and then her community. Helene D. Gayle community girl long If you educate a girl, you educate a nation. Helene D. Gayle nations educate girl The difference between rich and poor is becoming more extreme, and as income inequality widens the wealth gap in major nations, education, health and social mobility are all threatened. Helene D. Gayle income becoming differences We always say at CARE that we would love to see if we can work ourselves out of business. Helene D. Gayle care ifs As many as half of Ethiopias girls become wives before becoming adults. But Ethiopia is also a place where lasting solutions to child marriage are starting to make a difference. Helene D. Gayle differences girl children Early marriage is most prevalent in communities suffering deep, chronic poverty. Helene D. Gayle poverty community suffering There is no doubt that a woman's economic empowerment is very much interconnected to her health and the well being of her children. Helene D. Gayle empowerment doubt children Learn to forgive yourself and move on. Helene D. Gayle forgiveness forgiving moving The environmental movement could do a better job incorporating the message about the connection between poverty and environmental degradation, and building that message at the grassroots level. Helene D. Gayle environmental degradation jobs When a child is starving, a family may not be able to think about long-term sustainability or damage to ecosystems that support endangered species. Helene D. Gayle ecosystems children thinking The environmental community has an opportunity to create and leverage partnerships with the development community on social issues, rather than trying to develop new expertise of its own. Helene D. Gayle issues community opportunity There are plenty of risks when we encourage "investment" or commoditization of natural resources, as power dynamics may mean that poor people (who are often marginalized and have less power) are sidelined by more powerful interests when money is involved. Helene D. Gayle powerful mean people Any discussion of investment or putting monetary value on the environment must start with the populations who rely on those resources. Helene D. Gayle investment population environment What keeps me motivated is going out to the field and seeing programs that incorporate a focus on both people and the planet, and seeing how mutually reinforcing they can really be. Helene D. Gayle going-out focus people Real, sustainable community change requires the initiative and engagement of community members. Helene D. Gayle initiative community real change In order to counteract income inequality, it's essential to tackle poverty in an integrated way that has long-term impact. We need to give people the capacity to be resilient, to take on challenges and to learn the skills they need to work toward more prosperous futures. Helene D. Gayle poverty challenges work people At CARE, a leading humanitarian organization, we recognize people live their lives in a holistic manner. Issues such as health care, education and economic empowerment cannot be addressed in a vacuum. Thus, effective programs need to tackle the multiple root causes of poverty. Helene D. Gayle poverty health education people The more you look into health and health inequalities, you realize that a lot of it is not due to a particular disease - it's really linked to underlying societal issues such as poverty, inequity, lack of access to safe drinking water and housing. And these are all the things we focus on at CARE. Helene D. Gayle you focus health water When I walk into a room that is all white and all male, I'm sitting on the outside of that club. That's sometimes an intimidating experience. But I think that everywhere that I've gotten is because I've worked hard. I have the experience, I have the credentials - I continue not to take any of that for granted. Helene D. Gayle walk experience white sometimes I always knew that I wanted to do the most that I could for the most people. Helene D. Gayle knew most always people