UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, addresses the OSCE in Vienna on November 4, 2014. UN Photo/Amanda Voisard

If the United Nations was fully funded, why would we need social enterprise or Arc Initiative?

Even if all the money necessary to eradicate the world’s problems were available to fund the United Nations, it would still not be enough to do so. The reason? People who work for the United Nations are not capable of entering the world’s most impoverished areas and implementing projects that will independently sustain themselves when they eventually leave. Impoverished areas need its own citizens to become entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs understand the people, culture and problems of the area. They have the best knowledge of the community they are affecting, have the greatest motivation to improve it and, therefore, they are most suited for the job. In order to increase the number of social entrepreneurs, we need programs such as Arc Initiative to educate and empower, so that these citizens can receive the tools and knowledge necessary to succeed in their business ventures. Although the United Nations has provided short term aid and has proved useful in maintaining peace among world leaders, it is not the key to sustainably reducing poverty or famine in the long-term.