Mobile Phones Tackling Poverty

MOBILE PHONES TACKLING POVERTY MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES EMP OWER THE POOR TO TAKE HOLD OF THEIR FUTURE. They fundamentally transform the way people in the developing world interact with one another and their governments, and access basic health, education, business and financial services. 4.5 billion MOBILES IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD • 2016 1 billion 2011 500 million BY 2016, THERE WILL BE ONE BILLION PHONES IN AFRICA. 2000 16 million MOBILE IMPACT 110% An increase of 10% in mobile penetration can raise the annual GDP growth rate by 1.2% in a developing country. 930 mobile phone 85 41 use their phones to increase their income and of female feel more independent users feel safer professional opportunities with a phone MOBILE PHONES EMPOWER THE POOR MOBILES CAN MEAN SAFETY. A USAID-supported program allows MOBILE PHONES Kenyans to text incidences of ethnic violence, which is generated on a map so DELIVER EDUCATION. people know the dangerous areas to In Tanzania, teachers provide locally-developed educational content to avoid. The system also works in Gaza and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. remote schools by downloading videos through mobile phones in their classrooms. SMS HELPS KEEP PEOPLE HEALTHY. MOBILE PHONES IMPROVE The Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA) uses TRANSPARENCY & ROOT OUT CORRUPTION. mobile phones to provide mothers without access to When USAID helped the Afghan clinics vital health information about pregnancy, childbirth and the first year of life. Government pay government employees and police officers through mobile phones, it cut out so much graft that some employees thought they were actually getting a 30% raise. MOBILES PROVIDE ACCESS TO MARKETS. The mFarmer Initiative Fund MOBILE PHONES STRENGTHEN DEMOCRACY. In Haiti and Tunisia, USAID launched in 2011 will help more than 2 million farmers in used mobile phones to provide citizens with important information on polling locations and voting procedures via SMS. developing countries by providing farmers access via their mobile phones to agricultural information services such as daily market MOBILES MEAN BANKING. Mobile phones accelerate financial inclusion for the 1.8 billion people with access to a phone but not a bank: Roughly 30 percent more Haitians have access to financial services as a result of USAID's mobile money prices, weather reports, and mapping to potential buyers for their crops. partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. * Sources: http://mobithinking.com/mobile-marketing-toolsjtatest-mobile-stats#mobile-basics http://www.gvepinternational.org/sites/default/files/phone charging businesses_report_with gsma final_for_web_o.pdf (P. 2) http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-Russia/Local%20Assets/Documents/Global%20Mobile%20Tax%20Review%202006-2007(1).pdf (P. 24,25) http://www.mwomen.org/Files/9479a302 (P.21) http://www.usaid.gov/press/frontlines/fl_febo9/p11_cellphone.html http://www.usald.gov/educctrionweek/program.html http://www.sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyreports/octzo11/Lores/Econ.pdf http://www.mobilemamaalliance.org/ http://hati.usaid.gov/work/docs/governance/1111 election_management_support.pdf http://www.ndi.org/tunisia-election-extraordinary-achievement http://www.gsma.com/mfarmer http://blog.usaid.gov/2012/01/can-mobile-money-transform-a-country/ USAID 50... USAID USAI FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE