SDG #3 Good Health and Well-Being

I continue my blog series on the topic of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the ways Opportunity International Canada attempts to play a role in helping to achieve some of them. In this blog post, the focus is on the third goal – Good Health and Well-Being. 

It probably goes without saying that poverty leads to poor health (and vice-versa). People trapped in poverty without a regular source of income often live in unsanitary conditions and lack access to clean water and regular healthy meals.  The absence of basic medical care and simple interventions that could address treatable conditions exacerbate these challenges. 

And what I call the grinding, dehumanizing nature of poverty — where there is little hope for a better future — certainly takes a devastating toll on overall well-being. 

Hope is a powerful force for change. When a client, often a woman who has been marginalized, is provided with an opportunity to build her own enterprise, the rise in confidence and hope within her allows for the momentum for a new trajectory for her and her family.

Hope is a powerful force for change. When a client, often a woman who has been marginalized, is provided with an opportunity to build her own enterprise, the rise in confidence and hope within her allows for the momentum for a new trajectory for her and her family.

The mission of Opportunity International is to come alongside clients with financial inclusion, training, and other supports to help them acquire a sustainable livelihood. This provides a regular, predictable income, which changes everything — and includes immediate health benefits due to improved living conditions. 

So, in this sense, our work contributes generally to improved health and well-being through the sense of control and the dignity that comes from being able to secure a regular income and provide for one’s family. 

But an aspect of our work impacts health more directly as we have seen the principles of financial inclusion specifically deployed within the health sector. The most significant impact to date is in India, where an army of Community Health Entrepreneurs (CHEs) have been trained and deployed into remote rural locations in collaboration with our Partners’ network of branches and loan officers – a program called Healing Fields.

The CHWs have specialized training in first-level health care and the importance of sanitation and clean water. They teach several aspects of healthy living and can address many fundamental health concerns. They can also tap into a network of health care professionals to remotely diagnose more severe conditions and arrange ambulance transport where necessary.

These women observe, evaluate, and intervene in a variety of health challenges in the communities they serve.  They can also collect data using surveys on cell phones that enable evidence-based improvements to local health care.

Their work is also sustainable as they take small loans to manufacture and sell affordable items such as sanitary napkins – simple changes with significant health outcomes. They reach deep into rural areas where each CHW can impact thousands of lives. We are seeing similar sustainable rural health initiatives unfolding in parts of Africa and Haiti. 

Their work is also sustainable … simple changes with significant health outcomes. They reach deep into rural areas where each CHW can impact thousands of lives. We are seeing similar sustainable rural health initiatives unfolding in parts of Africa and Haiti.

Financial inclusion opens a world of opportunity for people trapped in poverty, and it plays a role in helping achieve the third sustainable development goal of good health and well-being.