Haiti has experienced a long history of natural disasters and extreme poverty. Despite these challenges, Haiti could eventually thrive through technology and innovation. Technology and innovations in poverty eradication in Haiti have set the stage for new products and ideas, but expertise and transformation have also allowed the country to improve on assets that already exist.
Foreign Direct Investment
Digicel, a communications and entertainment company headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica, set up its mobile phone venture in Haiti in 2005. Until its arrival, operators Comcel-Voilà (now Voilà) and Haïtel controlled the mobile phone market. When Digicel entered the Haiti market, its economic impact was almost immediate. Within two years, Digicel contributed to more than 15% of the Haitian Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Meanwhile, paired with its two competitors, the contribution of all three was more than 25% of the GDP.
During the years 2005-2009, Digicel invested more than $250 million in Haiti’s economy which led to more than 60,000 jobs. Not only had Digicel poured into Haiti’s bottom line with job creation, in a market with two telecom competitors, but it was also able to account for almost 30% of tax revenue. The company has definitely been working on poverty eradication in Haiti.
In 2012, Digicel acquired Voilà, which substantially increased its market share penetration and helped maintain its presence. All of this occurred despite the fact that Haiti had experienced a major earthquake that displaced 5 million people and killed 250,000 people in 2010 on top of the devastation of Hurricanes Isaac and Sandy that occurred in 2012. Those setbacks have not derailed Digicel as of 2020. The company is still strong as it continues to provide innovations in poverty eradication in Haiti by keeping the country connected.
Education: Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
Many have proven and echoed that children are the future and that they need to have exposure to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to keep pace with the future innovative job market. Haiti’s challenge is that it lacks some capabilities and resources as an underdeveloped country.
Enter the NGO, Pennies for Haiti. This NGO’s long-term goal is to end Haiti’s series of poverty by providing sustenance and educating the country’s children. Meanwhile, its short-term objective is to equip Haiti’s children through education as a means to help them rise above their current situation. While Pennies for Haiti has several ongoing projects that serve 200 people a year, two of the projects focus on education.
The first is Haiti STEM Alliance, which is open to both boys and girls. The second is STEM 4 Girls, which places emphasis on girls. While both of these projects pour their energies into helping each participant achieve higher education and realize the vast employment opportunities in STEM, the difference is that STEM 4 Girls delves into personal growth and the benefits of higher learning. Pennies for Haiti hopes to instill in young women how STEM jobs can open the door to economic freedom.
In addition, the organization visualizes engaging an abundance of youth in the STEM industry as it will create more opportunities for technology and automation careers in Haiti. Pennies for Haiti is counting on the success of both of these programs with a focus on poverty eradication in Haiti and to boost Haiti’s image to the world and make them attractive to those companies who are looking to subcontract jobs as well as showing that they are a leader in gender equality and STEM careers.
Entrepreneurs
People may not know Haiti as a startup oasis, but over 75% of its residents operate some type of business to supplement their income. As a result, it is evident that Haiti is full of citizens who have demonstrated they can build, operate and sustain their own companies. Their startups range from fresh markets to tech platforms, and these enterprises are redefining the Haiti business culture.
One citizen, Christine Souffrant Ntim, who founded the Haiti Tech Summit (2017), has firsthand experience. She answered her entrepreneurial call as a youngster by helping her grandmother and mother sell goods in the streets of Haiti.
The Haiti Tech Summit brings together entrepreneurs, stakeholders, superstars and visionaries to address humanity’s extreme difficulties via tech and entrepreneurship. It has generated tangible results in its short existence such as helping an Airbnb sign a five-year multiple year contract with Haiti’s governmental branch that specializes in culture, tourism and the arts. Also, Facebook launched Haiti’s initial globally recognized grassroots pioneer group in 2017.
The Haiti Tech Summit’s success is based on the Ecosystem Map methodology, a vigorous arrangement of unified organizations that rely on each other for shared survival. As the Summit gains more energy and notoriety across the globe, Ntim’s focus is for the association to become the world’s next major tech innovation hub by 2030.
Poverty eradication in Haiti has made positive headway as it continues to rebuild its community and successfully learn how to navigate a technology-driven society. It has the existing tools to help bridge the gap with the main ingredient, being themselves. With the assistance of foreign aid, continued support of educational equality, especially among girls and entrepreneurs mobilizing the next generation, Haiti should be ready to move into the future with momentum.
– Kim L. Patterson
Photo: Pixabay
Colombian Family Creates YouTube Channel to Teach Sustainable Farming Practices
Nubia Cardenas and her two sons, Jeimer and Arley, live in the countryside of Chipaqué, Colombia, a municipality close to Bogotá, the country’s capital. They have recently become YouTube stars with their channel “Nubia e hijos,” or “Nubia and children.” Many farmers in Colombia grow large fields of onions, potatoes and aromatic herbs for the residents of metropolitan areas. However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, food supplies are more difficult to access and food prices are steadily increasing. This makes it more difficult for low-income communities and farmers to get the resources they need to survive. In this context, Cardenas’s YouTube channel, which focuses on sustainable farming practices, is crucial for farmers in Colombia.
Peasant Farming in Colombia
Recent corruption within the Colombian government is putting an even bigger strain on peasant communities throughout Columbia. The former minister of agriculture, Andrés Felipe Arias, created the Agro Ingreso Seguro program to assist poor farmers in the economic downturn. While the program was supposed to be a low-interest line of credit from the government to impoverished farmers, it only benefited wealthy farmers, giving them subsidies greater than 26,000 pesos.
The Agro Ingreso Seguro program might have resulted in a $300 billion diversion of funds, but it enabled the top 1% of the largest farms in Columbia to dominate 81% of the country’s farms, while millions of poor farmers live on tiny plots of land. Although Arias received a 17-year prison sentence over this scandal, his actions greatly impacted impoverished Colombian communities’ access to resources and opportunities they desperately need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Columbia’s economic state and the current state of the world were two major reasons for the creation of the “Nubia e hijos” YouTube channel. The purpose of the channel is to share tips for sustainable farming practices, like how to grow fruits, vegetables and herbs. In doing so, the Cardenas family hopes to ensure that no one will have to go to bed hungry in Colombia.
5 Interesting Facts About the “Nubia e hijos” Channel
The coronavirus pandemic has limited interaction and communication to strictly online forms. However, the Cardenas family was dedicated to sharing their potentially life-saving knowledge with others. Through the “Nubia e hijos” YouTube channel, the Cardenas family has established an innovative way to improve their own economic situation and help fight hunger and poverty in many parts of the world through sustainable farming practices.
– Ashley Bond
Photo: Flickr
Protecting Iraq’s Yazidi Communities During COVID-19
Who Are the Yazidis?
The Yazidis are a Kurdish-speaking minority located primarily in northern Iraq, where about 400,000 lived as of 2014. They have traditionally kept to themselves but experienced ethnic and religious persecution from both Saddam Hussein’s regime over the years as well as ISIL most recently. Such oppression crippled Yazidi communities as their members dealt with the economic fallout and social setbacks resulting from trauma. The novel coronavirus poses a new threat, and the consequences for peace and security in Iraq will be manifold — especially if the Yazidis are excluded from Iraq’s COVID-19 economic recovery strategy.
The COVID-19 Crisis
The spread of COVID-19 has hurt Iraq and its people on a grand scale, as it has in the rest of the world. Yet, despite a low number of cases in northern Iraq, Yazidi communities have been disproportionately affected by the virus due to safety measures taken by the Iraqi government. In Sinjar, where many Yazidis in Iraq live, most of the working population must travel for jobs located outside of the city or are farmers who rely on visiting other cities to sell their crops. However, this way of life is no longer possible under the imposed movement restrictions. Yazidis cannot leave Sinjar for employment, and farmers cannot travel to other cities. Therefore, many Yazidi communities have essentially lost all means of income.
The emergency measures have also adversely impacted the Yazidis on the healthcare front, as access to healthcare has been reduced. Those requiring medical attention can only receive it four hours away in Mosul, taking an ambulance so that they can cross various checkpoints throughout the province. Along with the long trip, some Yazidis do not seek treatment in Mosul because of the language barrier. These factors have further ostracized the Yazidis economically and socially, thus risking an increase in regional poverty.
The Resurgence of Poverty and of ISIL
Poverty’s resurgence in Yazidi communities because of the novel coronavirus has myriad implications for peace and security within the Middle East. In addition to trauma following the end of ISIL’s occupation of Yazidi land, the pandemic has created a mental health crisis within Yazidi communities. Those who previously received counseling at mental health facilities are no longer able to obtain that help due to COVID-19. Some experts are even predicting that 25% of Yazidis will require mental health care after the pandemic subsides.
Others have raised concerns surrounding the return of ISIL during this period of instability. Iraq’s government has acted on this issue militarily and can continue to fight ISIL’s revival by providing economic aid and building necessary healthcare infrastructure in Yazidi communities.
Humanitarian Solutions and NGOs
Ultimately, northern Iraq’s stability will not be achieved through military success alone. The long-term solution will be humanitarian. Following the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as developing better infrastructure, will lead to extraordinary progress on other pressing problems in Iraq, like reducing poverty and improving health.
Giving non-governmental organizations, like Yazda, a bigger role in community building is another way to strengthen Yazidi societies. Yazda focuses on helping Yazidis in various ways. It has already helped thousands obtain mobile medical services in addition to providing hundreds of mental health and socioeconomic assistance and supporting hundreds more in their pursuit of criminal justice.
For now, Baghdad is focused on reopening its urban and economic centers. However, including Yazidi communities in the reopening process during and after COVID-19, as well as supporting them to become more resilient in tumultuous conditions, will be crucial in preventing future conflicts and eliminating poverty in Iraq.
– Alex Berman
Photo: Flickr
COVID-19 and the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act
Xinjiang is located in China’s northeast corner. Of its 19 million inhabitants, 8 million belong to the Uyghur Muslim minority. Since the days of Mao Zedong, the Chinese government has consistently persecuted certain religions, including Islam. Separatist sentiments among the Uyghur population and their strong Muslim identity have made them a problematic minority for the government’s vision of a united, nonreligious China in Beijing. The spread of COVID-19 as well as the mass detention and forced labor of the Uyghur peoples illustrate the importance of properly enacting the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act.
A History of Tension
The Uyghur peoples have a history of independence. In the 1940s, the Xinjiang region was independent for a short time. The Uyghur language, religion and culture are completely different from those of the Han Chinese. Since Xi Jinping became the General Secretary of China’s communist party, religious persecution against Muslims, Christians and other spiritual groups has increased. Ethnic tensions have intensified, as the Uyghurs are often painted as thugs, Chinese separatists and religious extremists.
Multiple Uyghur-led, anti-government acts of violence in 2014 initiated Jinping’s harsh crackdown on the ethnic minority group. This meant the mass detention of Uyghurs in re-education facilities, an effective and wide-ranging surveillance system and forced labor. The Chinese government states that these measures are part of its fight against religious extremism and terrorism. In 2017, Jinping claimed that “Xinjiang is in an active period of terrorist activities, intense struggle against separatism and painful intervention to treat this.”
Uyghur Detention Facilities
The Chinese government has indefinitely detained an estimated 1 million Uyghurs in so-called re-education camps since 2014. The objective of these camps is to turn the Muslim Uyghurs into loyal citizens of the Chinese nation. Re-education includes forcing detainees to learn Mandarin and attempting to strip them of their Islamic faith.
Many Uyghurs in these camps must work in factories and other forms of labor against their will. Some global companies rely on products produced in Xinjiang. In 2012, Volkswagen came under heavy criticism for its decision to open a factory in the region’s capital, but the German car manufacturer is far from the only company to do business in Xinjiang. Uyghur forced labor is also critical to the supply chains of global brands such as Adidas and H&M.
The Perfect Environment for COVID-19 Transmission
Recent spikes in COVID-19 cases throughout Xinjiang, China have many human rights activists concerned that a massive outbreak could happen in the dense re-education camps and factories. Governments throughout the world have released inmates from tightly packed prisons to prevent COVID-19 transmission on a grand scale, but such a move by the Chinese government seems unlikely. Chinese nationalist hardliners may view an outbreak in these re-education facilities positively, based on their current treatment and detention of Uyghur Muslims. However, the United States can do something about this blatant violation of human rights through the aggressive application and enforcement of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act.
The Reasons the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act is Important
Economic pressure from the U.S. government could help release many Uyghur people from detention centers, a measure that is especially important with a deadly outbreak of COVID-19 in the region. The Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act gives Congress the authority to impose strategic sanctions and export restrictions on products produced in Xinjiang.
The bill can encourage companies like Volkswagen to stop production in the area via sanctions, cutting off their access to the valuable U.S. market. This bill would thereby apply pressure on the Chinese government to change its policy of mass detention and forced labor of Uyghur Muslims. President Trump signed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act into law, giving himself the power to send Congress a list of “foreign individuals and entities” responsible for abusing the Uyghurs.
The U.S. has already sanctioned multiple Chinese companies over their actions in Xinjiang, but no sanctions have been levied on Western businesses that rely on forced Uyghur labor for their production or supply chains. Congress and President Trump have to power to more broadly and aggressively enact the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act in order to institute real change in Xinjiang and avert the worsening of a human rights crisis.
– Marcus Lawniczak
Photo: Flickr
How COVID-19 Is Changing Politics in Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked European nation of nearly 10 million that operates under a parliamentary government system. Historically, the political divide in Hungary led to highly competitive elections, with the prime minister and presidential positions democratically grappled over. Elected as prime minister in 2010, Viktor Orbán is an outspoken Eurosceptic, self-proclaimed illiberal and member of the right-wing Fidesz party. Orbán has slowly centralized government powers, squashed political opposition and threatened freedom of the press for nearly a decade. Orbán supporters point to the prime minister’s rapid response to the COVID-19 global pandemic, which hit Hungary in March 2020 but has experienced near-eradication from the country, as evidence of his effectiveness. Implementing a five-year jail sentence for promoting misinformation about the virus, closing borders and shutting down non-essential businesses early, Orbán undoubtedly contributed to Hungary’s successful containment of COVID-19. However, the power he indirectly obtained from the virus also contributed to his controversial ambitions to redefine politics in Hungary.
5 Ways COVID-19 is Changing Politics in Hungary
Moving Forward
With an election approaching, approximately half of Hungarians approving of the Fidesz party and Orbán’s approval rating at an all-time high of 57%, the stability of politics in Hungary is in danger. As partisan leaders have largely failed in efforts to hold Orbán democratically accountable, NGOs like Freedom House are stepping in to influence politics in Hungary. Freedom House collects data on political overreach and provides educated reports and quantitative scores on the status of democracy in Hungary, where critical press coverage of the government is punishable. The reliable and in-depth assessments that Freedom House generates provide crucial evidence for Orbán’s political opposers. If these opposers, who advocate for democracy and decentralized government, can regain parliament seats in 2022, Hungarians in the political minority will likely regain a voice.
– Caledonia Strelow
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The Fight Against Hunger in Togo
Many West African countries have been struggling with the indirect effects of COVID-19, hunger being the worst of the side-effects that the pandemic brought on. Togo is one of these nations facing an escalating death rate due to the indirect results of COVID-19 such as hunger and malnutrition. Here is some information about the increased hunger in Togo.
Causes of Hunger in Togo
The decrease in demand for phosphate contributed to Togo’s economic struggles. Phosphate is a natural resource that the country produces abundantly. For the majority of the 19th century, Togo’s economy depended on the rare mineral, but since the early 2000s, phosphate prices have gone up and the sales have gone down. Thus, the republic is now agriculture-dependent, like many of its neighbors.
Due to the quick shift between the two sectors, the agricultural aspect of the economy does not receive adequate support. In fact, only 16% of farms in Togo currently use fertilizers, meaning that they do not function optimally. Farms also only make up 2% of bank loans nationwide, which shows that farmers are not investing in technology to improve their business longterm. For the Togolese Republic, agriculture maintains nearly 40% of the economy. This field did not have the preparation for so many to be economically dependent on it, which is one of the reasons why 58% of the Togolese population live in poverty.
The Environment and Hunger
In the past 10 years, droughts in Togo have worsened significantly, with rainfall decreasing by 2.4% per decade and temperature increasing by 1.1°C in the last half a century. While these numbers may not seem high, they have a significant negative consequence on the success of agriculture. A 2°C increase in temperature, which predictions determine could occur by 2050, could create a decrease of 62.02% in the net revenue of the nation and put an even higher percentage of the population under the poverty line and into the malnourished category. An increase in the number of floods has further subdued agricultural progress.
Hunger in Togo Statistics
With impoverishment comes hunger. Togo is 81 out of 117 countries on the Global Hunger Index. As of now, 16.1% of the population experiences undernourishment. The Togolese Republic had decreased its hunger rates from 32% back in 2001. It has successfully stabilized its depth of hunger rates, with average nutrition being around 280 kilocalories and consistently lower than that of a healthy population for the last decade. Yet, to this day, nearly 30% of children under the age of 5 experience chronic malnourishment, with spikes of up to 43% in the Savannah region, where the dry, hot climate drastically worsens hunger and poverty.
Side Effects of Hunger
Although hunger in itself is a major human rights issue, there are many side effects of hunger and malnutrition that put the population at a further disadvantage. Poor cognitive development in children, diabetes and growth stunts are all severe byproducts of population malnutrition. The effects of hunger on mental health are just as devastating. Parents of malnourished children are 53.1% more likely to go through depression and 56.2% more likely to have PTSD.
These side effects can drastically decrease productivity in both the parents and the children once the children grow up, thus furthering the poverty and hunger in the family. It is arduous for governments to control hunger in the population as when it is so widespread. In fact, malnourished workers can further worsen the economy leading to more hungry citizens. Some believe that the estimated cost of malnutrition to the global economy is around $3.5 trillion per year.
Effects of COVID-19 on Hunger
The current global pandemic has negatively affected nearly every country in the world, but it seems that West African countries like Togo will struggle much more economically. The disease severely impacted Togo’s agriculture season. With enforced social distancing and curfews, limits on working hours and enforced policies on markets and sellers, farmers have experienced economic challenges. Environmental challenges have already been decreasing the success of farming in the West African region but the pandemic might have even worse effects. The closing of schools also meant that many children who relied on in-school meal plans, now have no access to nutrition.
Fighting Hunger in Togo
As previously highlighted, without government intervention, high rates of hunger in a population after time lead to even higher rates of hunger; therefore, it is economically beneficial for the government to involve itself. Yet, the Togolese government has not made the proper investment into agriculture or hunger initiatives over the past decade.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has been one of the main actors dealing with the issue of hunger in Togo. WFP has been present in Togo since 1968 and is currently participating in three main projects to help the country: United Nations SDG 2030 Fund, WFP Immediate Response Account (IRA) for emergency preparedness activity in Togo and U.N. Country Team (UNCT) for food assistance to those who experienced floods in the Togo maritime region. WFP has been working on increasing and improving food production strategies across the territory, providing technical and financial assistance to farms and training 95 national actors from northern Togo on a joint quick assessment of humanitarian needs after a catastrophe. WFP has also introduced food-for-work projects in the region, in which citizens receive nourishment for participating in reforestation or improvement of roads.
In order to help the Togolese government respond to COVID-19 properly, WFP has not only been providing food to those the pandemic has affected but also collecting data from 2,180 households about food security. However, the virus has now delayed many of WFP’s projects.
Although hunger has been rising drastically over the last couple of months globally, social response and aid have also been on the rise. Hunger in Togo will likely increase in 2020, but given the work of NGOs such as WFP, the citizens of Togo will hopefully receive the aid they need.
– Anna Synakh
Photo: Flickr
5 Facts About Poverty in Ecuador
Ecuador is a country located in Western South America that is home to the Amazon rainforest and the Galapagos Islands. Despite its abundance of natural resources, the country has struggled with political instability and economic crises throughout its history: as of 2022, approximately 25% of the population still lived below the poverty line. However, recent economic growth creates hope for the eventual alleviation of poverty in Ecuador. Below are five facts about poverty in Ecuador.
5 Facts About Poverty in Ecuador
A Positive Outlook
Despite the economic challenges that Ecuadorians have faced in the past, recent statistics reveal hope for the country in the years to come. The country’s GDP is recovering with the help of government reforms and the resilience of the Ecuadorian people, despite the economic instability that has characterized the past few decades. With the efforts of the local government and the international community’s continuous support in alleviating poverty in Ecuador, there may come a day when Ecuador can achieve freedom from its financial burdens and successfully combat poverty.
– San Sung Kim
Photo: Flickr
5 Innovations in Poverty Eradication in Chad
Chad is a land-locked country with sporadic rain patterns and regular droughts, but it has not given up its hope of ending poverty. With a population of approximately 15.5 million people, 66.2% of the population live in severe poverty with little access to clean water, healthcare and education. However, this has not stopped the Government of Chad or partnering organizations from aiding in the country’s advancement. Here are five innovations in poverty eradication in Chad.
5 Innovations in Poverty Eradication in Chad
Chad is working hard to lift its people out of poverty. This is evident in its unique approaches in important areas such as agriculture and livestock, education and technology access, life-saving vaccines and access to clean water. Increasing access to education and technological literacy along with high child vaccination rates in several areas should heavily aid in bringing a generation out of poverty. In addition, they should have opportunities in their adult lives to continue to work on even more innovations to further the success of their country.
– Madalyn Wright
Photo: Flickr
Innovations in Poverty Eradication in Haiti
Foreign Direct Investment
Digicel, a communications and entertainment company headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica, set up its mobile phone venture in Haiti in 2005. Until its arrival, operators Comcel-Voilà (now Voilà) and Haïtel controlled the mobile phone market. When Digicel entered the Haiti market, its economic impact was almost immediate. Within two years, Digicel contributed to more than 15% of the Haitian Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Meanwhile, paired with its two competitors, the contribution of all three was more than 25% of the GDP.
During the years 2005-2009, Digicel invested more than $250 million in Haiti’s economy which led to more than 60,000 jobs. Not only had Digicel poured into Haiti’s bottom line with job creation, in a market with two telecom competitors, but it was also able to account for almost 30% of tax revenue. The company has definitely been working on poverty eradication in Haiti.
In 2012, Digicel acquired Voilà, which substantially increased its market share penetration and helped maintain its presence. All of this occurred despite the fact that Haiti had experienced a major earthquake that displaced 5 million people and killed 250,000 people in 2010 on top of the devastation of Hurricanes Isaac and Sandy that occurred in 2012. Those setbacks have not derailed Digicel as of 2020. The company is still strong as it continues to provide innovations in poverty eradication in Haiti by keeping the country connected.
Education: Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
Many have proven and echoed that children are the future and that they need to have exposure to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to keep pace with the future innovative job market. Haiti’s challenge is that it lacks some capabilities and resources as an underdeveloped country.
Enter the NGO, Pennies for Haiti. This NGO’s long-term goal is to end Haiti’s series of poverty by providing sustenance and educating the country’s children. Meanwhile, its short-term objective is to equip Haiti’s children through education as a means to help them rise above their current situation. While Pennies for Haiti has several ongoing projects that serve 200 people a year, two of the projects focus on education.
The first is Haiti STEM Alliance, which is open to both boys and girls. The second is STEM 4 Girls, which places emphasis on girls. While both of these projects pour their energies into helping each participant achieve higher education and realize the vast employment opportunities in STEM, the difference is that STEM 4 Girls delves into personal growth and the benefits of higher learning. Pennies for Haiti hopes to instill in young women how STEM jobs can open the door to economic freedom.
In addition, the organization visualizes engaging an abundance of youth in the STEM industry as it will create more opportunities for technology and automation careers in Haiti. Pennies for Haiti is counting on the success of both of these programs with a focus on poverty eradication in Haiti and to boost Haiti’s image to the world and make them attractive to those companies who are looking to subcontract jobs as well as showing that they are a leader in gender equality and STEM careers.
Entrepreneurs
People may not know Haiti as a startup oasis, but over 75% of its residents operate some type of business to supplement their income. As a result, it is evident that Haiti is full of citizens who have demonstrated they can build, operate and sustain their own companies. Their startups range from fresh markets to tech platforms, and these enterprises are redefining the Haiti business culture.
One citizen, Christine Souffrant Ntim, who founded the Haiti Tech Summit (2017), has firsthand experience. She answered her entrepreneurial call as a youngster by helping her grandmother and mother sell goods in the streets of Haiti.
The Haiti Tech Summit brings together entrepreneurs, stakeholders, superstars and visionaries to address humanity’s extreme difficulties via tech and entrepreneurship. It has generated tangible results in its short existence such as helping an Airbnb sign a five-year multiple year contract with Haiti’s governmental branch that specializes in culture, tourism and the arts. Also, Facebook launched Haiti’s initial globally recognized grassroots pioneer group in 2017.
The Haiti Tech Summit’s success is based on the Ecosystem Map methodology, a vigorous arrangement of unified organizations that rely on each other for shared survival. As the Summit gains more energy and notoriety across the globe, Ntim’s focus is for the association to become the world’s next major tech innovation hub by 2030.
Poverty eradication in Haiti has made positive headway as it continues to rebuild its community and successfully learn how to navigate a technology-driven society. It has the existing tools to help bridge the gap with the main ingredient, being themselves. With the assistance of foreign aid, continued support of educational equality, especially among girls and entrepreneurs mobilizing the next generation, Haiti should be ready to move into the future with momentum.
– Kim L. Patterson
Photo: Pixabay
Innovations in Poverty Eradication in Egypt
Innovations in poverty eradication in Egypt have taken a sustainable and decentralized form in the last four years. Through local initiatives and collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Egypt has incorporated social welfare and development programs aimed at improving the standard of living in its poorest governorates and providing a permanent path out of poverty for future generations.
With Egypt’s poverty rate rising to 5% in 2019, how exactly does Egypt plan to have a “competitive, balanced, diversified, and knowledge based economy” that would eliminate poverty by 2030?
UNDP Sustainable Development Strategies
One significant innovation in poverty eradication in Egypt is the UNDP’s adoption of a social entrepreneurial and minority centralized model. Through partnerships with Egypt’s public sector, private companies and civil society, the UNDP not only helped prioritize economic development but also made women, children and disabled people a focal point.
J-PAL’s (Abdul Latif Jamil Poverty Action Lab) Innovative Research
Despite these innovations in poverty eradication in Egypt, reports determined that there were 32.5% of Egyptian citizens living below the poverty line in 2019. According to J-PAL, a global research center aiming to reduce poverty, this extreme poverty figure of 32.5% indicates that the policies and programs designed to alleviate Egypt’s poverty are not as effective as they could be.
In order to achieve successful innovations in poverty eradication in Egypt, J-PAL’s MIT branch is launching a research center at the American University in Cairo. Through research and professional training to inform evidence-based policies and engage governments and relevant NGOs, Egypt will establish a culture of empirical policy making so that it can adequately evaluate the efficacy of its plans.
Institutionalizing Social Innovation and Sustainable Development
While international efforts facilitate innovations in poverty eradication in Egypt, government and grassroots organizations in Egypt have adopted technological and sustainable based solutions to economic problems through their own localized projects and findings.
Egypt’s ability to mitigate poverty across all demographics using sustainable, innovative and ethical practices is testimony to its economic and cultural prosperity. Egypt’s innovations in poverty eradication are unique in that they exemplify the duality of individual, entrepreneurial growth in the private sphere and collective, righteous leadership in the public sphere.
– Joy Arkeh
Photo: Flickr
The Process of Reducing Homelessness in Lithuania
Lithuania has experienced many issues with poverty and an increase in homelessness since its independence in the early 1990s. Its independence quickly led to high unemployment, low wages, poor state support in security housing, gaps in social housing provisions and an underdeveloped social services sector. This eventually resulted in a surge in homelessness in Lithuania.
Despite the overall increase in homelessness, Statistics Lithuania reported over 4,000 homeless people in 2017. While significant, the 4,000 homeless people in 2017 is actually a reduction since 2012 when reports determined that there were about 4,957 homeless people in Lithuania. The Lithuanian government has put some social policies in place in the case of unemployment; people who register with employment services can receive benefits while also using provided resources to look for another job.
With these policies, Lithuania has experienced a drop in unemployment from over 17% in 2010 to 6.35% in 2019.
The Lithuanian government has stepped in over the past few years in response to the homelessness crisis and implemented provisions that promised public housing and services to those in need of assistance. The following key points will explain how Lithuania is combating the crisis and the challenges it is facing.
How Lithuania is Combating the Homelessness Crisis
According to the European Social Policy Network, the Lithuanian government put legislation and policies in place to help people experiencing homelessness:
The Challenges Lithuania Faces in the Fight Against Homelessness
The current programs and policies show the progress Lithuania has made since its independence. However, the country still faces challenges in its fight against homelessness:
Lithuania’s Ministry of Social Security and Labor has put into effect policies to help decrease the wait times for social housing. In 2024, wait times for social housing could decrease to five years. Meanwhile, in 2026, expectations determine that the wait times could decrease to about three years. If municipalities do not provide social housing by the deadline, they must compensate part of the rent to families in their current housing while they wait for social housing.
The policies the Lithuanian government has put in place have helped many homeless people get back on their feet. However, it is clear that Lithuania has a long way to go to resolve the issue of homelessness.
– Jackson Lebedun
Photo: Flickr