Young women between the ages of 15 and 24 make up approximately 9.8% of sub-Saharan Africa’s total population, but they account for 20% of the region’s confirmed cases of HIV. While part of the reason why HIV affects women the most is due to basic biology and the fact that women are more likely to contract HIV, it also has to do with economic, cultural and legal factors present in sub-Saharan Africa.
Poverty and the Spread of HIV
The good news is that poverty is declining globally. The bad news is that extreme poverty is becoming ever more prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, where experts believe that 90% of impoverished people will live by 2030. A struggling economy warrants little room for government expenditures on healthcare and education, so not only are many poor people in sub-Saharan Africa not able to access affordable methods of HIV prevention and treatment, but they also do not receive substantial education on how to prevent its spread. Specifically, in this region, 70% of young women have not learned about the risks, treatments and preventions of HIV.
Without promising futures, it is not uncommon for young women to resort to transactional sex or early marriage for support. Both customs are associated with less condom use, sexual violence and multiple partners. Both transactional sex and child marriage often result in a significant age gap between partners. Evidence shows that HIV in men becomes more prevalent with age, so higher age gaps cause HIV to affect young women.
Cultural and Political Barriers
Gender norms that accompany older man/younger woman relationships also add how HIV disproportionately affects women. In order to feel masculine, men tend to assert their dominance by having many partners, refusing to get tested for sexually transmitted infections and not wearing a condom during sex. These practices reinforce ideals that perpetuate sexual health as a woman’s responsibility and are some of the reasons for why HIV affects women so significantly.
Culturally, there is much stigma surrounding premarital sex, having multiple partners and being a woman with HIV. There are many reports of unsupportive healthcare professionals, denial of service and miscommunication about results concerning HIV status. Coupled with the fear of horror stories of forced sterilization, forced abortions and forced virginity examinations, there are high barriers discouraging women from accessing the care they need.
Restrictive policies also make it difficult for young women to access information about their sexual health. In a study that received results from 110 countries, over half of the responding African countries required parental or spousal consent for women under 18 to receive HIV testing. Although these laws may be to protect children, it actually prevents young women from accessing sexual and reproductive medical care. For places that do offer HIV services, many are exclusively for married women with children, so most young women do not fit the criteria to obtain testing. Additionally, nearly half of the responding African countries reported having age restrictions for buying condoms.
Action Plan
The statistics look grim, but the World Health Organization’s five-year plan to reduce the number of HIV infections and deaths is in full swing. Its goals include increasing testing, eliminating discriminatory laws and creating larger global access to testing for sexually transmitted infections.
The plan includes five specific tactics the WHO intends to use, which cover assessing the situation, deciding which services to provide, how to provide these services, financing the efforts and implementing structural change. In the end, the WHO aims to end the AIDS epidemic by prioritizing preventative measures like wearing condoms and education about injection safety, allocate more resources towards ending gender-based violence and discrimination, introducing a harm-reduction intervention package and much more.
If WHO carries out this plan correctly, it will reach hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom are young women residing in sub-Saharan Africa. It should also equitably deliver HIV services to those who are most in need.
– Rebecca Blanke
Photo: Wikipedia Commons
How Solar Freeze Aims to End Food Loss in Africa
Growing up in the rural Kenyan village of Machakos, Dysmus Kisilu witnessed firsthand how smallholder farmers struggled financially, losing 40-60% of their harvest due to the lack of refrigeration. When food losses are at such a high rate, food security also becomes an issue. About 30% of Kenya’s population faces food insecurity and poor nutrition each year, and agricultural food loss in Africa plays a significant role.
Kisilu wanted to utilize his knowledge and skills in renewable energy to make an impact on small-scale farmers, specifically women and youth, and food insecurity in Kenya. After studying solar-powered solutions to post-harvest losses at UC Davis in 2016, he developed Solar Freeze – a company that provides mobile solar-powered cold storage units for small-scale farmers.
Solar Freeze
Solar Freeze includes four innovative technologies within its system:
Implementation in Kenya
Solar Freeze takes on a micro-franchise business model that aims to integrate its technology and knowledge with village women and youth. The goal is to get more women to own and operate the cold storage units as independent micro-franchisee entrepreneurs. Through the micro- franchise model, Solar Freeze will supply women smallholder farmers and their communities with solar-powered cold storage units and provide resources, training and mentorship to operate the units and grow their agribusinesses.
Solar Freeze has also created a youth empowerment program called Each One Teach One. The program, already training 50 youth, teaches the younger generation how to work with the cold storage equipment as well as solar irrigation. They learn the entirety of the solar-powered technology to repair and maintain the machinery. Students then teach others in their community the skills that they learned.
The innovative technology and implementation of Solar Freeze aim to transform rural agriculture in Africa, making agribusiness more efficient and profitable. It also plans to aid in ending women and youth unemployment, food loss and hunger in Kenya and Africa.
Future of Solar Freeze
Solar Freeze has currently tested its technology and business model with 3,000 smallholder farmers in Kenya. Out of the 3,000 farmers, 90% reported that there was a reduction in post-harvest losses. Kisilu plans to impact 30,000 farmers with Solar Freeze by 2030. The impact Solar Freeze can have on smallholder farmers and the surrounding communities could be a massive stride in revolutionizing farming and ending hunger and food loss in Africa for future generations.
– Dalton Dunning
Photo: Flickr
5 Documentaries About Healthcare Around the World
During quarantine, many people resort to watching Netflix shows and movies. Though the pandemic has freed up more time for binging meaningless films, one can also use this time to learn about how impoverished countries are handling the COVID-19 pandemic. While documentaries have a reputation for being boring, many documentaries about healthcare are the opposite. Here are five documentaries about healthcare around the world.
1. “The Final Inch” (2009)
Rating: PG-13
Where to Watch: HBO
In the late 2000s, polio spread through India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. “The Final Inch” focuses on efforts to eradicate polio in these countries (it has since seen elimination in India, but there are ongoing efforts to reduce the numbers in Pakistan and Afghanistan). Produced by the philanthropic division of Google, this documentary aims to increase awareness of the outbreak of polio in these countries and the efforts of healthcare workers to eradicate the disease. This documentary follows numerous workers and volunteers in their efforts to administer the polio vaccine in these vulnerable places. While dangers arose in Afghanistan while filming, this documentary about healthcare provides a raw outlook on the polio epidemic and its effects on these countries.
2. “Sicko” (2007)
Rating: PG-13
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video
Directed by Michael Moore, “Sicko” is a political documentary that investigates healthcare in the United States. Centered around the American pharmaceutical industry, this film compares the non-universal U.S. healthcare system to systems in Canada, France and Cuba. “Sicko” follows Moore’s journey to understand the difference in how the United States and other countries around the world handle the same problems. Moore considers issues of health insurance and money, revealing horror stories behind healthcare policies. Moore effectively combines tragedy and comedy in this raw film and exposes the truth behind American healthcare.
3. “Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders” (2008)
Rating: Unrated
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video
Doctors Without Borders is a nonprofit organization that provides medical care in impoverished countries around the world. Set in the Congo and post-conflict Liberia, Oscar-nominated documentary “Living in Emergency” follows four doctors and their efforts to provide emergency medical care to the public. Through the chaos, this documentary about healthcare follows these volunteers as they confront many challenges and make tough decisions. The doctors often face limited resources, personnel and poor living conditions. “Living in Emergency” provides a new, more realistic perspective for those privileged enough to access proper healthcare.
4. “Period. End of Sentence” (2018)
Rating: TV-PG
Where to Watch: Netflix
While menstruation is a shared experience across the world, it is a taboo topic in India. In rural communities in this country, sanitary products are out of reach, as proper healthcare is often available only in urban areas. “Period. End of Sentence” follows a group of women in the Harpur district outside of Delhi, India as they create sanitary products. Throughout the film, these women not only learn how to produce pads, but they also rid their community of stigma against menstruation. Nominated for an Oscar, this documentary about healthcare in India has severely changed the view on periods in healthcare systems and rural communities as well. Beyond changing the way people view menstruation, “Period. End of Sentence” has also yielded significant praise as a documentary.
5. “Cervical Cancer in Uganda: Three Perspectives” (2014)
Rating: Unrated
Where to Watch: YouTube
In sub-Saharan Africa, the most prominent form of cancer is cervical cancer. Research from the National Center for Biotechnology Information concludes that cervical cancer causes the most cancer-related deaths in Uganda. While cervical cancer is common in this country, however, it does not get mainstream attention. This documentary follows Sascha Garrey as she travels through the country to understand the prevention and treatment options for women in Uganda. Produced by the Pulitzer Center, this documentary on healthcare educates viewers on cervical cancer and its prevalence in impoverished countries.
While these five documentaries may not all be the most recent, watching them during the pandemic can provide valuable insight into healthcare in impoverished countries. Instead of watching mindless films to pass the time, consider watching an informative and interesting documentary about healthcare conditions around the world.
– Aditi Prasad
Photo: Flickr
Addressing the Impact of COVID-19 in Nepal Via Direct Relief
Direct Relief Background
Direct Relief is renowned for its consistent dedication to helping people around the world recover from natural disasters, humanitarian crises and widespread medical emergencies such as Ebola. In addition, Direct Relief raised and delivered $1.17 billion in aid resources to various countries in 2019. Now, Direct Relief is focusing its aim on the far-reaching impacts of COVID-19 globally.
History of Direct Relief’s Help in Nepal
Direct Relief has a long history of helping Nepal through times of crisis. Since beginning its work with Nepal in 2008, Direct Relief has provided more than $67 million worth of medical aid to local healthcare providers. After the 2015 earthquake that killed approximately 9,000 Nepali people, the organization focused on providing on-the-ground assistance in the form of equipment, medicine and trained paramedics. Additionally, Direct Relief repaired destroyed medical facilities and provided mobile assistance for those who could not access what care centers were left.
It is important to note that Nepal is greatly dependent on India for resources. Further, because of the border lockdown, access to medical supplies became severely limited. Nepal is also a mountainous country since it is home to both the Himalayas and Mount Everest. This type of terrain makes it extraordinarily difficult to properly distribute supplies.
Direct Relief’s Assistance During COVID-19 Pandemic
In response to the rise of COVID-19 in Nepal, Direct Relief distributed medication, prepared ICU kits and supplied in-person treatment for those infected. Because of its efforts, Direct Relief has successfully acquired and circulated equipment to hospitals all across Nepal. While the borders remain closed and resources are still limited, Direct Relief continues to fight for Nepal and other developing countries in similar situations. Of note, Direct Relief delivered more than 2 million pounds of medicine in Nepal alone.
COVID-19 is a large hurdle to overcome. It is one that can appear seemingly insurmountable for countries struggling to provide sustainable aid for its population. However, it is a threat that can be targeted and minimized with the right kind of effort. Direct Relief continues to apply this effort for the many millions who still suffer around the world.
– Nicolette Schneiderman
Photo: Flickr
Anti-Poverty in Mongolia: Residents use a Phone App to Vote
Public Participation in Mongolia
In 2013, the Mongolian government created a new law titled The Integrated Budget Law. This is the first law in Mongolia that works toward Mongolian residents’ participation in the Local Development Fund. The fund emerged to offer monetary assistance in urban centers and the more rural areas. The fund immediately provided relief by placing 280 street lights in various cities between 2013 and 2015. Despite this, the needs of Mongolian residents vary depending on where they are located. Urban centers long for more street lights while rural areas need more welfare to provide support for stagnating jobs.
The Asia Foundation and Anti-poverty in Mongolia
To gain public participation, the government has partnered with the nonprofit The Asia Foundation and a government organization called The Swiss Agency for Development. The Asia Foundation created an app to vote on public projects in 2014 and working with the Ulaanbaanter Municipal, mapped out entire districts and important amenities on a website called manaikhoroo.
The Asia Foundation is concerned with rural areas receiving the important services they need like job training and loans. The urban centers still have a majority of representation in government, but the focus is turning more towards local khoroos to find what they need the most. The efforts going toward anti-poverty include attempting to give more power to local communities. Another program connected to the participatory budget, named the Urban Governance Project, is working towards giving all residents a scorecard to identify what things they need the most. The government is attempting to provide equal representation for all khorros. The Asia Foundation also worked with another NGO named the GER Community Mapping Center to focus on the subdivisions of Ulaanbaatar, called khoroos, to share the Local Development Fund equally in all areas.
Mongolia has Replicated Brazil’s Anti-poverty Measure
The idea behind participatory budgeting began as an anti-poverty measure in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The Brazilian Worker’s Party introduced the participatory budget as a way to counteract the dictatorship in 1989. The struggle with participatory budgets is keeping the people interested in taking part in determining the budget. As with Porte Alegre, participation has passed through waves of interest and disinterest. The Asia Development Fund estimated from a survey of 33 khoroos, that only 18% knew about the Local Development Fund.
The app works better in Ulaanbaatar because 90% of people have an internet connection in the city. It is more difficult to inform the nomadic people living in Mongolia. Since 40% of the people live in nomadic tribes, it is difficult for the government to work towards mapping entire areas. Along with this, 60% of the nomadic population has settled into gers around the central city of Ulaanbaatar because of drastic weather changes making it difficult to wander as they used to.
How Mongolia Can Improve its Anti-poverty Measures
By updating the mapping of the gers and informing the public, the government can provide funding to the areas that need it most. A lot of work is necessary to implement the voting system in all areas in Mongolia, but so far, 800,000 people in Ulaanbaatar have voted using the app. Despite this only accounting for half of the population, 54% of women voted using the app. The Asian Development Bank is working towards providing community meetings to explain to residents how they can involve themselves with the Local Development Fund.
A participatory budget is useful in aiding anti-poverty measures and other cities are picking up on using the same principles as Mongolia. In 2015, Paris introduced a new participation method geared toward citizens suggesting ideas that generated benefits for residents in local communities. Paris government officials partook in a social media campaign and garnered more than 1 million views on an online platform discussing the most popular ideas. Paris government officials held discussions in community meetings and people could suggest ideas offline as well.
The Mongolia model of participation budgeting is still new, but as the model gains traction through advocacy and mapping, the government officials in Ulaanbaatar hope to spread the participatory budget system to other places in Mongolia to let residents know that they care about how the government spends their money.
– Sarah Litchney
Photo: Pixabay
Record Breaking Sandwiches Fight Hunger in South Africa
Ladles of Love
Ladles of Love is a volunteer soup kitchen for the homeless. Although the organization is honored by winning a world record, it’s main focus remains to provide food aid to hungry Capetonians. Ladles of Love was founded by Danny Diliberto in 2014. While walking the streets of Cape Town providing free soup, the restaurateur observed a homeless man shouting and swearing. When Diliberto approached him with the soup, the man stopped to thank Diliberto and continue walking. Realizing the power of a simple gesture in restoring dignity as well as a basic human right, Diliberto founded the soup kitchen. Since then, Ladles of Love has served over four million meals.
Hunger in South Africa
South Africa has a population of 53 million people, of which 7 million suffer from hunger. More than half of the South African population is at risk of hunger with the poorest groups spending 50% of their income on food. In comparison, the average American spends 9.5% of their income on food. Many factors have contributed to food insecurity in South Africa, including unemployment, rising food prices and the disproportionate effects of apartheid on communities of color.
To improve hunger in South Africa, many large organizations such as the WHO and CARE have also invested in food aid. These efforts have made a positive impact. The percentage of hungry individuals in South Africa fell from 30% in 2002 to 13% in 2017. During this time, the crime rate also fell from 46% to 34%. This observation supports studies that show that improving food security reduces conflict and improves economies. Every dollar invested in childhood nutrition programs and interventions yields around $16 in return.
Hunger and COVID in South Africa
As the COVID pandemic puts more South Africans out of work and weakens the economy, more food aid is crucial to helping the country recover. Organizations like Ladles of Love have already stepped up. The non-profit said that, in addition to making record-breaking sandwiches, it is now supplying various soup kitchens, shelters and 110 beneficiaries and NPOs (who support 250 beneficiaries of their own) in order to help provide food where it is needed most.
With the help of organizations like Ladles of Love and support from government institutions, South Africa is working to overcome food insecurity. Currently, the country has the highest number of COVID cases on the continent. In addition to record-breaking sandwiches, the nation is in need of greater investment in food aid. As demonstrated by a local initiative that feeds hundreds of thousands of South Africans year-round, improving access to food for the hungry and malnourished is possible through cooperation.
– Beti Sharew
Photo: Flickr
HIV Affects Women in Sub-Saharan Africa
Young women between the ages of 15 and 24 make up approximately 9.8% of sub-Saharan Africa’s total population, but they account for 20% of the region’s confirmed cases of HIV. While part of the reason why HIV affects women the most is due to basic biology and the fact that women are more likely to contract HIV, it also has to do with economic, cultural and legal factors present in sub-Saharan Africa.
Poverty and the Spread of HIV
The good news is that poverty is declining globally. The bad news is that extreme poverty is becoming ever more prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, where experts believe that 90% of impoverished people will live by 2030. A struggling economy warrants little room for government expenditures on healthcare and education, so not only are many poor people in sub-Saharan Africa not able to access affordable methods of HIV prevention and treatment, but they also do not receive substantial education on how to prevent its spread. Specifically, in this region, 70% of young women have not learned about the risks, treatments and preventions of HIV.
Without promising futures, it is not uncommon for young women to resort to transactional sex or early marriage for support. Both customs are associated with less condom use, sexual violence and multiple partners. Both transactional sex and child marriage often result in a significant age gap between partners. Evidence shows that HIV in men becomes more prevalent with age, so higher age gaps cause HIV to affect young women.
Cultural and Political Barriers
Gender norms that accompany older man/younger woman relationships also add how HIV disproportionately affects women. In order to feel masculine, men tend to assert their dominance by having many partners, refusing to get tested for sexually transmitted infections and not wearing a condom during sex. These practices reinforce ideals that perpetuate sexual health as a woman’s responsibility and are some of the reasons for why HIV affects women so significantly.
Culturally, there is much stigma surrounding premarital sex, having multiple partners and being a woman with HIV. There are many reports of unsupportive healthcare professionals, denial of service and miscommunication about results concerning HIV status. Coupled with the fear of horror stories of forced sterilization, forced abortions and forced virginity examinations, there are high barriers discouraging women from accessing the care they need.
Restrictive policies also make it difficult for young women to access information about their sexual health. In a study that received results from 110 countries, over half of the responding African countries required parental or spousal consent for women under 18 to receive HIV testing. Although these laws may be to protect children, it actually prevents young women from accessing sexual and reproductive medical care. For places that do offer HIV services, many are exclusively for married women with children, so most young women do not fit the criteria to obtain testing. Additionally, nearly half of the responding African countries reported having age restrictions for buying condoms.
Action Plan
The statistics look grim, but the World Health Organization’s five-year plan to reduce the number of HIV infections and deaths is in full swing. Its goals include increasing testing, eliminating discriminatory laws and creating larger global access to testing for sexually transmitted infections.
The plan includes five specific tactics the WHO intends to use, which cover assessing the situation, deciding which services to provide, how to provide these services, financing the efforts and implementing structural change. In the end, the WHO aims to end the AIDS epidemic by prioritizing preventative measures like wearing condoms and education about injection safety, allocate more resources towards ending gender-based violence and discrimination, introducing a harm-reduction intervention package and much more.
If WHO carries out this plan correctly, it will reach hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom are young women residing in sub-Saharan Africa. It should also equitably deliver HIV services to those who are most in need.
– Rebecca Blanke
Photo: Wikipedia Commons
Energy for All: Empowering Women in Senegal
One of the most crucial needs for countries around the world is widespread renewable energy access. In Senegal, limited energy access in rural areas has impeded economic development for years, with only 44% of households in rural Senegal having access to electricity in 2018. With such a lack of access, rural communities are limited to rudimentary energy sources such as wood-burning fires for cooking, lighting, warmth and other needs. For rural Senegalese businesses, renewable energy could dramatically improve food production and work efficiency. For example, instead of drawing water from a well one bucket at a time, farmers in Senegal could simply use a solar-powered water pump, saving a lot of time and expending far less physical energy.
Rural agricultural businesses, like market gardens, are in dire need of these technology upgrades as well as equal energy access between rural men and women. Market gardening is a popular agricultural technique utilized by smaller-scale farmers in Senegal, and most of the market gardening businesses are run by women. In fact, women in Senegal comprise 70% of the total rural employment workforce, making them the cornerstone of the country’s agricultural and livestock farming sectors. The empowerment campaign Energy 4 Impact is supporting rural women not only in their pursuit of widespread access to clean and renewable energy but also in the promotion of women’s autonomy and equality.
Energy 4 Impact’s “Energy Opportunities for Women in Senegal” Project
Energy 4 Impact is a non-profit organization partnering with local businesses to extend access to energy in Africa. It is working alongside Siggil Jigeen, a non-governmental organization that promotes and protects women’s rights in Senegal through the Energy Opportunities for Women in Senegal Project. The project aims not only to supply rural communities in Senegal with sustainable, efficient energy, but also to increase women’s contribution across the entirety of Senegal’s energy value chain. The project is active within the Tambacounda and Kedougou regions in Senegal, marked by characteristically high poverty and unemployment rates, low access to electricity, the dependence on solid fuel, the high level of working poor and the untapped potential for agricultural development.
So far, the program has empowered over “250 women-led Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs)” in rural areas. It hopes that by increasing the presence of sustainable energy sources, more economic opportunities will manifest themselves for women-run agricultural operations. The project has provided Senegalese women and women-run MSEs with reusable energy technologies (solar-powered pumps, solar lamps and freezers) and improved equipment for crop treatment. Besides supplying equipment, the project has held seminars providing women in Senegal with key entrepreneurial information that further empowers them as businesswomen. The project teaches business skills like record keeping, using financial services, networking and business autonomy, among others. Women are at the heart of Senegal’s agricultural scene, and this empowerment campaign has further secured their position as the country’s main actors along the energy value chain.
Project Impact
The project’s impact on women in Senegal is significant. A study found that married women entrepreneurs who participated in the project were more directly involved in decision-making, household investments/spending and health than other married women. Moreover, it was noted that most of the women who attended the informational seminars were more cognizant of “women’s energy needs,” their part in the energy sector and the numerous benefits yielded by actively participating in the country’s energy sector.
The Energy Opportunities for Women in Senegal Project has made tremendous progress by disseminating useful information and energy technologies throughout rural Senegal, but the country’s fight for energy is far from over. Energy access gender gaps and low female employment rates still plague Senegal’s urbanized areas. However, Energy 4 Impact has given hundreds of businesswomen in Tambacounda and Kedougou the tools needed to reach out to other women throughout Senegal, and hopefully empower them in the same way that they have been.
– Maxwell Karibian
Photo: Flickr
7 Facts about Healthcare in Egypt
In early 2020, the population of Egypt increased to more than 100 million. Overcrowding in urban spaces, with an estimated 95% of the population living on about 4% of the land, has aggravated pollution and traffic while placing a strain on resources, such as clean drinking water. The poverty rate was at 32.5% in 2019, and unemployment, especially among youths, has elevated the need for affordable, accessible and quality healthcare. In recent years, these concerns have led to the implementation of measures to reform Egypt’s underfunded public healthcare system. Here are seven facts about healthcare in Egypt and measures to reform the system.
7 Facts About Healthcare in Egypt
Egypt still requires work to reform its healthcare system. However, the implementation of the Universal Health Insurance Law and continued support from international organizations, such as The World Bank, is helping make a change. These combined efforts are working to make quality healthcare accessible to all citizens of Egypt.
– Amy Olassa
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Poverty in Singapore: A New National Priority
Despite the enormous wealth present in Singapore, poverty is also a pressing issue within the nation. With the lack of a minimum wage, there is no guarantee that Singaporean citizens have the opportunity to make enough to live on. Leaders within the country, however, are bringing the issue to the forefront of the national conversation. Poverty in Singapore increased by 43.45% in just three years, from 2012 to 2015. Poverty affects the elderly the most, with their rates increasing 74.32% within the same time period. This rapid increase has spurred government officials to address the issue. Various government policies, such as the lack of a minimum wage and restrictions on the withdrawal of retirement money, often receive critiques as possible causes of the growing problem of poverty in Singapore.
PSP Talk
The Progress Singapore Party is a major national political group, that describes itself as the ‘party for the people.’ It supports increased attention toward rising poverty rates. The party’s rhetoric largely focuses on fighting for all Singaporeans, not just elite classes that possess money and power. The party hosted a talk series, PSP Talk, in September 2019 to highlight pressing issues and direct the national conversation. Poverty in Singapore was one of the major topics of discussion during the event. Yeoh Lam Keong, the former chief economist at GIC Private Limited, spoke at the talk series, notably proposing several poverty reforms based on the findings from his research. Keong took the opportunity to emphasize the severity of poverty in Singapore.
“To my shock and horror, I [realized] that the position of the poor in [Singapore] was much worse and much more awful than I [could] imagine,” said Keong about his research.
PSP Talk opened up an opportunity for education and reflection on Singapore’s relationship with poverty and welfare reform. Keong defined three classes of poverty in his presentation– the elderly poor, the working poor and the unemployed poor– to establish an academic understanding of the situation in Singapore. He went on to explain his research-based policy initiatives, which the government could enforce to support its impoverished citizens. Keong’s initiatives included raising funding for the Workfare Income Supplement and Silver Support Scheme, programs that provide funds to those in need, by $500-$600 a month. He argued that this was a fiscally achievable action that would aid the suffering populations of the poor and elderly. Since Keong’s presentation on these policy reforms, the Singaporean government has set up expansions to the Silver Support Scheme. In January 2021, the program will expand its qualifying criteria and increase quarterly payouts by 20%.
Party member Secretary-General Tan Cheng Bok also spoke at the event. Dr. Tan made a public commitment to understanding the complexities of poverty in the nation and working to create solutions. He continued to support this assertion in July 2020 while campaigning for the General Election, pushing voters to elect representatives who ask the “right questions,” and value trust and transparency. After a narrow defeat, Dr. Tan vowed to continue to serve the people on these issues.
Looking Forward
PSP Talk represents a promising step toward addressing the growing rate of poverty in Singapore. The Progress Singapore Party’s decision to highlight poverty at this gathering of academics and national leaders suggests a new focus for Singapore’s government. The party continues to push for increased influence within the government while holding the current elected officials accountable for the needs of all Singaporean citizens.
– Riya Kohli
Photo: Flickr
Key Facts About Homelessness in Colombia
Poverty in Colombia
About 34% of Colombians live in “poor conditions.” This number is especially stark because Colombia is home to massive wealth inequality. Many of the richest members of Colombian society own disproportionate amounts of wealth.
Internal conflict has worsened conditions for people in Colombia. For more than 50 years, Colombia has experienced relatively severe internal conflicts, most of which originated from drug trafficking that swept the nation in the 1970s and 80s. This led to many people migrating into urban slums, where homelessness was rampant. More than 5.7 million people have been displaced due to the ongoing violence present in the country. As a result of this conflict and the frequent migration of communities, living conditions in settled areas have been notoriously bad. Homelessness in Colombia has affected 662,146 families, and more than 3.8 million families do not have “adequate” housing.
Organizations Are Working to Help
Organizations like Habitat for Humanity have tried to make a dent in these high rates of homelessness in Colombia, pledging support to hundreds of thousands of families in need. While helping to build up neighborhoods, Habitat for Humanity has also worked with Colombians to instill technical skills for construction and to build better community infrastructure. In addition, the organization is helping to provide financial education and making targeted investments in communities.
Another organization, called the Homeless World Cup Foundation, is combating homelessness in Colombia through athletics. The foundation’s mission is to provide access to soccer in some of the poorest communities in the country — not only bringing social cohesion and opportunity to disadvantaged communities but also creating new avenues for players to pursue careers in sports and other fields. The organization has touched the lives of more than 20,000 children and their families.
Tackling Homelessness in an Emerging Economy
Colombia is recognized as one of the world’s “emerging economies.” While homelessness in Colombia is a dire problem, the economic outlook for Colombia is relatively positive — with a consistent 3% expected economic growth for the first half of the 20th century. Through proper planning and prudent public policy, Colombian leaders can use this economic growth to tackle homelessness in Colombia and improve the lives of citizens in need.
– Zak Schneider
Photo: Pixabay