Five Easy Ways to Help End Global Poverty

Global poverty is affecting millions of people, and those affected are often living on less than $1.90 a day. The epidemic has been ongoing for centuries, and people continue to die due to starvation, disease and many other issues brought about by poverty. Fortunately, the percentage of people in the world living in extreme poverty is declining. There are easy ways for anyone to help in the fight to end global poverty.

Donate
Donations come in all forms and are taken by all types of organizations. They can be in the form of money, books, school supplies, clothing, blood, organs, time; the list goes on. Each donation, whether it is the spare change from your pocket or clothes that were going to be thrown out, can help immensely.

Sponsor
Sponsoring an event, a charity, a child, you name it, it can make a difference. Sponsoring an event can be a way to end global poverty by raising money and sending the proceeds to people throughout the globe living in severe conditions. Children can also be sponsored, which means the child would receive money each month from their sponsor and is able to use it towards medical care, education and other needs. The sponsor receives a photo of the child and letters from the child with annual updates and can possibly meet the child.

Volunteer
Volunteering is a hands-on, and often life-changing, experience people partake in to end global poverty. Volunteers are needed in the medical field, teaching and advocacy. Even just mentoring and spending time with children makes a huge difference in poverty-stricken countries.

Spread Awareness
This may be the easiest way to join the fight to end global poverty. With social media at our fingertips, we can publish whatever we choose on a platform that is seen by a lot of people. Why not use it to make a difference? Anything from sharing articles, links to donation pages, or even a handwritten post can give a spark to others and encourage them to contribute.

Improve Governance
How many emails and phone calls does the average person make in a week? What if one of those was to Congress? Taking five minutes out of one day of the week could really make all the difference. Researching the issues related to global poverty and reaching out to members of Congress can have the power to bring change and make the difference as to whether or not a bill passes.

– Chloe Turner

Photo: Flickr

Elimination of Trachoma in Cambodia and Lao PDR

Cambodia and Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) recently eliminated trachoma as a public threat. Through the creation of the Alliance for Global Elimination of Trachoma by the year 2020 (GET2020) by the World Health Organization (WHO), these countries were able to improve their strategies for diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

Trachoma is a disease that affects the eye and is caused by the bacteria Chlamidya trachomatis. Trachoma spreads through physical contact via discharge of the nose or eyes of an infected individual. Progression or repeated infection of this disease can lead to permanent damage to the cornea and blindness.

Trachoma is a disease that is closely linked to poor hygiene and sanitation conditions. Other environmental factors that contribute to the spread of trachoma include water shortages and crowded living spaces. As of now, trachoma affects 41 countries in the poorest parts of the world.

Through GET2020, the WHO and other organizations use the SAFE strategy to ensure the elimination of trachoma. According to the WHO, the SAFE strategy includes “surgery for trichiasis, antibiotics to treat active infection, facial cleanliness and environmental improvements to limit transmission.”

Since 2000, Cambodia and Lao PDR have worked to implement better treatment for trachoma, as well as increase health education to prevent the spread of trachoma. Furthermore, over the past decade, socioeconomic conditions have improved and the birth rate has decreased. All these efforts have led to better conditions to avoid the spread of trachoma.

The elimination of trachoma as a public health threat does not necessarily mean that the disease is eradicated from the countries. It does, however, show a significant improvement of the standard of living and health conditions in both of these countries.

In order for the WHO to consider trachoma to be eliminated as a public health threat, certain numbers must be seen across the board. According to the WHO website, “less than 5 percent of children aged 1-9 [should] have signs of active trachoma, less than 0.2 percent of people over 15 years have a more advanced form of the disease…and their health systems can identify and manage new cases[.]”

While only three of the 41 affected countries have eliminated trachoma as a public health threat, Cambodia and Lao PDR have paved a path for other countries to follow suit. Through the help of the WHO and other affiliated organizations, the elimination of trachoma as a public health threat can continue.

– Rebekah Covey

Photo: Flickr

How to Help People in Nauru: Aid for Asylum Seekers

Nauru is the smallest republic in the world. The island located in the South Pacific has just 10,000 citizens. It has two main income sources: phosphate mines, which have been exploited over the years, and a detention camp that has become home to hundreds of refugees that tried to find asylum in Australia.

The process is simple: asylum seekers who attempt to reach Australia by boat are sent directly to Nauru’s detention camp. Recently, several publications have denounced the violence and the lack of human rights protections that the refugees experience in the camp. How to help people in Nauru has turned into a two-pronged topic, one for the asylum seekers and one for the Nauruans.

The MV Tampa Policy
The refugee landscape in Nauru was shaped by Australia, one of the most developed countries in the world. In 2001, after a freighter with 400 Afghan Hazara refugees was refused entry into Australian territory, Nauru became an offshore detention center.

That event led the Australian government to create a public policy called MV Tampa. In brief, this policy states that no person who arrives in the country by boat seeking asylum should settle in Australia. Instead, they are sent to Nauru or to Papua New Guinea in exchange for monetary aid.

That problem was resolved in 2007, when most of the refugees found accommodation in other countries. But in 2012, the issue rose again, when a number of news articles published information about the terrible conditions that refugees experienced in the camp. Since then, more refugees have been sent to the island.

The United Nations addressed the crisis in Nauru in 2016. “We are extremely concerned about the serious allegations of violence, sexual assault, degrading treatment and self-harm contained in more than 1,000 incident reports from offshore processing centres on Nauru, many of which reportedly involved children,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Good News for Refugees
This September, good news traveled to Nauru: about 50 refugees were accepted for resettlement in the United States. In addition, diverse organizations also support the island refugees’ cause. How to help people in Nauru has become a question that has found some answers.

After several reports detailing the human rights violations against refugees in Nauru, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch pushed to provide aid to asylum seekers. One important action they took last year was to force international Health and Medical Services to provide healthcare to the children and women in the camp. In addition, they fought to end the violence and sexual harassment taking place there. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees also demanded the closure of the offshore processing facility and called for the immediate transfer of refugees out of the detention camp.

Local organizations like Refugee Council of Australia and Asylum Seeker Resource Centre are working to bring refugees better living conditions. In addition to assisting with health, legal, and education aid for the asylum seekers, these foundations have also developed a job training program for the refugees, a project that has empowered people in the detention camp. If you have wondered how to help people in Nauru, you can donate money to these organizations.

However, on the island, Nauruans face an elevated unemployment rate. According to the U.N., 23 percent of people are unemployed, a number directly related to the imminent extinction of the phosphate mines. It is expected that extraction of the mineral will be able to continue for only 30 more years.

How to help people in Nauru, or how to help refugees on the island and the people of the island, is a complex question involving various nations, but organizations efforts are getting significant results. The next months will be crucial in the resolution of the refugee crisis.

– Dario Ledesma

Photo: Flickr

What are the Causes of Poverty in Kiribati?

Kiribati is an island country, scattered over the vast Pacific Ocean. The people believe in a very simple way of life, peace and harmony. Their traditional dances are a visual delight and a unique expression of their culture.

The economy of Kiribati depends mostly on fishing, cutting copra (dried coconut kernels) and agriculture. In the more urban South Tarawa, land and fishing resources are almost completely depleted, and there is a serious lack of job opportunities.

One in four people live below the basic needs poverty line, and the number is higher in South Tarawa. Female-headed households are more vulnerable to poverty and one-third of children in Kiribati are from households living in poverty.

The unemployment rate in Kiribati was estimated at 30 percent in 2010. The causes of poverty in Kiribati include factors such as a lack of skilled workers, weak infrastructure and Kiribati’s remote location away from international markets. The causes of poverty in Kiribati can be summed up by these eight issues:

1. Employment opportunities are rare; only four in ten adults are employed. This is causing per capita income to fall.
2. Loss of traditional skills among the youth, who are not as ready as their predecessors to live in the hardships that plague rural life.
3. Internal migration to South Tarawa is increasing, which has caused overcrowding, poor health and sanitation problems.
4. Degradation of natural resources due to overutilization. This is resulting in climate change that is bound to destroy the fragile ecosystem on which the people depend for their subsistence.
5. Gender inequality; women have a lower status and lack any decision-making powers. There is also a stigma against people with disabilities.
6. High debts incurred from informal loan providers give rise to social abuse.
7. Population growth is one of the most important causes of poverty in Kiribati, as family planning is shunned by the Catholic Church as well as Kiribati society in general.
8. Kiribati depends on imports for most of its food supplies, which means they are especially vulnerable to price changes. Even a household that does not identify itself as living in poverty struggles with poor diet and inadequate nutrition.

The informal traditional care system characteristic to the Kiribati way of life is disintegrating and remittances from seamen are falling. However, the government has shown its commitment to fighting against the causes of poverty in Kiribati through specific programs aimed to promote equity:

1. Primary and junior secondary education are free.
2. Most health services are provided for free through health clinics.
3. The Elderly Fund is a non-contributory pension scheme for people over 67 years by way of monthly payments.
4. The Copra Fund Subsidy helps maintain the production level, discourage migration and guarantees a minimum purchase price from the government.
5. The Kiribati Provident Fund for formal sector employees.
6. The Import Levy Fund subsidizes the cost of transportation to maintain prices at the same level.
7. A price control ordinance caps price on basic need commodities.
8. Water and electricity are subsidized for households in South Tawara.

Poverty in Kiribati is more urban in nature due to the stress it has caused on limited resources of the mainland. Another important factor is that Kiribati is heavily dependent on foreign aid and assistance to cover its financial budget, which is hardly a sustainable solution in terms of development.

The poverty of opportunity is underlying all the causes of poverty in Kiribati. To overcome the current situation, all efforts have to be focused towards the creation of direct employment as well as making the population more employable. The government needs to make major investments in its infrastructure. Also, the growth of private sector industries is very important for Kiribati to become self-sufficient. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, these efforts along with a progressive social policy is Kiribati’s best chance to fight poverty.

– Tripti Sinha

Photo: Flickr

What are the Causes of Poverty in Suriname?

The smallest country in South America, Suriname is one of the world’s poorest countries, with over 70 percent of its population living under the poverty line. While the country has seen some economic growth in recent years, its tumultuous political history explains many of the current causes of poverty in Suriname.

Having been a Dutch colony for a number of centuries, Suriname’s relationship with the Netherlands is a complicated one. For a long time after its independence it relied on Dutch aid to propel its economy; however, relations deteriorated in the late 1990s and in 2014 Suriname was dropped as a recipient of Dutch development aid.

The government of Jules Wijdenbosch ended Suriname’s structural adjustment program in 1996 in an attempt to make taxation more equitable for the country’s large poor population. As a result, tax revenues fell and the government was unable to implement an alternative. Mining, construction and service sectors declined and, combined with increased government spending, a bloated civil service and reduced foreign aid, the country faced a massive fiscal deficit, estimated at around 11 percent of the GDP. Eventually, this led to a long period of inflation, where consumer prices skyrocketed and it took the average Surinamese citizen more than two years to register a business.

The causes of poverty in Suriname began with Dutch colonization and continue to suffer from structural shortcomings and poor governance, as is common with many postcolonial nations in the global South.

Suriname and the Netherlands maintain a strained relationship after Desi Bouterse’s military government rose to power. He is currently convicted on a number of drug and corruption charges in the Netherlands, but was reelected as the president of Suriname in 2010. Under his regime, the nation’s political climate became saturated with ethnic polarization and corruption.

The economy of Suriname became more diversified and independent once Dutch aid stopped. Bauxite is the primary source of revenue, as well as agricultural exports and oil and gold extraction. These improvements are, in many ways, a double-edged sword, since the environmental fallout of such extraction is incredible. It has also led to a spike in forced child labor, with more children being recruited into the mining industry. Education rates have dropped, health problems and malnutrition have increased and high poverty rates continue to run rampant.

However, almost 80 percent of Suriname’s landmass is untouched rainforest and protected bioreserves, which has attracted many tourists over the years. With a rise in ecotourism and diversification of exports, the potential for Suriname’s economy to improve is high. A large number of local and international organizations are working to provide educational services and health facilities, particularly to children in need. A number of groups focus on empowerment and legal advocacy as a way to bring about grassroots change. With an increase in foreign investment and local change to tackle corruption, some of the problems faced by the Surinamese can be addressed.

– Paroma Soni

Photo: Flickr