Leading IT and networking company, Cisco has signed a three-year partnership with international advocacy organization, Global Citizen, to power the movement to end extreme poverty. In an exclusive interview with BusinessDay’s Jumoke Lawanson, Cisco’s executive vice president and chief people officer, Francine Katsoudas and Global Citizen CEO, Hugh Evans, both talk about plans to leverage technology to end world poverty by 2030, and the role that both organisations play towards achieving the United Nations Global Goals for Sustainable Development. Excerpts:
Why has Cisco decided to focus on the goal to end poverty (SDG1)? And are there any other global goals that the company is working to help achieve?
Fran: At Cisco, we believe we have a part to play to support those left behind. We need to think about how to make growth inclusive, extending it to those who most need opportunities to improve their lives, educate their children, access health care and benefit from the digital economy. For more than 30 years, Cisco has focused on making an impact in our communities around the world. We have done this by leveraging technology, along with the technical and intellectual capabilities of our employees, and a thoughtful use of financial contributions. We have committed that by 2025, we would like to positively impact one billion people. As part of that, we made a pledge at the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 in December 2018, to prepare 10 million students worldwide, including one million in Africa, over the next five years, to work and thrive in the digital economy.
Nigeria recently overtook India in extreme poverty rate in the world. Are there any deliberate programmes targeted to help end extreme poverty in Nigeria?
Fran: Extreme poverty is a hugely complex issue, and education is one important part of the solution. In Nigeria specifically, Cisco has a strong focus on supporting education and skills building. To this end, we have established 200 Cisco Networking Academies in Nigeria where, beyond teaching IT skills, we match students to career opportunities and connect businesses with highly trained and motivated talent, all to help build a workforce ready to grow the economy.
What will the 3-year partnership between Global Citizen and Cisco entail?
Hugh: Through this partnership, Global Citizen will incorporate Cisco Collaboration technology to connect engaged activists across continents and allow them to build support for their projects. With ten years left to achieve the Global Goals and end extreme poverty by 2030, we are at a critical moment for the world’s poor and for our campaigns, and we’re so thrilled to have Cisco’s invaluable support. We will be able to continue to invest in essential programmes like ‘Food 4 Education’ in Kenya, who was the recipient of the 2018 Global Citizen Prize for Youth Leadership which was presented by Cisco at our Festival.
What will be the ripple effect for Nigeria and the world economy at large if we can reduce poverty rate to a minimal level?
Fran: If we can reduce the poverty rate to a minimal level, it means we have succeeded in a full transformation to modernization and urbanization. For Nigeria, it will mean better opportunities for the citizens and an improved standard of living. And of course, if each Country is economically stable, it will be easier to achieve all our sustainable development goals. This is exactly what we aim to do at Cisco. Through all our programmes and technology solutions applied in various communities globally, we are working tirelessly to help build a world that will thrive with innovation and technology – ultimately we see the world transforming to become a ‘smart planet’.
Hugh: Reducing the poverty rate will transform lives, communities, and countries as we improve the overall standard of living. For Nigeria, it will mean better opportunities and an improved standard of living for millions of Nigerians, and allow the country to be more economically stable. As one of the youngest and most populous countries in the world, investing in education and health to improve outcomes for Nigerians is a critical part of ending poverty worldwide and creating a future where everyone can thrive.
Cisco announced during the Global Citizen Festival in December 2018, that it would train 10 million people in the next five years to thrive and work in a digital economy. How far have you gone with your plans to do this, and what are your short terms goals to ensure that you achieve the five-year plan?
Fran: This commitment was made in respect to our Cisco Networking Academy, which we are extremely proud of. Since its inception 20 years ago, we have trained over 9 million students in 180 countries by providing education and mentorship. In Nigeria, we recently celebrated the establishment of 200 Networking Academies and we couldn’t be more thrilled about the potential these students exhibited with their various inventions. We have a variety of e-learning courses that our students take globally including networking, security, internet of things, programming and much more.
Why was it important to have Cisco as a partner, how can technology help to achieve the SDG to end poverty?
Hugh: In my years of pushing for global change, one major thing I have come to learn is that global collaborations and partnerships foster direct impact. Having Cisco as a partner, is the right step in fostering such direct impact. Since inception, we have constantly channeled all efforts to ending poverty; we made it a movement for people to take action to end poverty. I happily say that this movement has extended to millions of people across the world who are taking action to support this goal. With technology, there is an even greater potential for actions against poverty to be taken to the next level; be it via tweets, emails, online petitions, etc. The idea is that technology has the potential to amplify the voices of global citizens taking action. Thanks to this new three-year partnership with Cisco, we are assured that this movement will be powered in an even greater way because of access to funding and technology. We are looking forward to using Cisco’s technology which will definitely allow us access to people whom we can engage to make an impact. We are leveraging Cisco’s expertise with innovative technology to push the initiative in a more effective way. The partnership is going to make the user experience at Global Citizen Festivals much richer for our global citizens because they’re going to be able to use the Cisco Collaboration and Wi-Fi technology tools to connect with other global citizens around the world. With the power of technology, education, opportunities, jobs, will become better and those are definitely required to achieve the SDG to end poverty.
How can other well-meaning organisations tap into the opportunity to help achieve global goals?
Hugh: Everyone has a role to play in the fight to end extreme poverty. If you’re working in the private sector, find ways that your organisation can support and amplify the work of non-profits or commit to making an impact like Cisco has. I’d encourage individuals to sign up at globalcitizen.org to become a part of the movement and advocate directly to world leaders on behalf of the world’s poor. We are all in this race together and the year 2020 is the beginning of a 10-year countdown to end extreme poverty by 2030. We need everyone’s support if we want to make lasting change.
