In the delicate landscape of democratic consolidation, foreign assistance serves as an indispensable scaffold for nations emerging from prolonged autocracy. For nearly a decade, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and partnered State Department programs have acted as a foundational pillar supporting The Gambia’s painstaking efforts to rebuild its public institutions following the 22-year dictatorship of Yahya Jammeh. However, according to the IMF’s April 2026 Regional Economic Outlook, these hard-won stabilization gains across Sub-Saharan Africa are now under severe macro-financial pressure.
USAID Programs in The Gambia
Historically, this recovery has faced steep domestic hurdles. The 2026 regional economic slowdown to 4.3%, which external shocks, rising commodity inflation and climbing fertilizer costs that threaten fragile agricultural sectors drove, further exacerbated the structural vulnerability of the Gambian economy. While past USAID programs in The Gambia actively worked to alleviate these conditions, funding community-based civic education and agricultural resilience workshops, the IMF reports that declining foreign aid is creating sharp headwinds for poverty reduction and food security across low-income, non-resource-rich nations.
The sudden freeze of USAID programs in The Gambia mirrors a dangerous, broader regional trend identified by the IMF: a synchronized, donor-driven contraction in bilateral official development assistance (ODA). As the IMF warns that these structural aid cuts hit fragile and low-income states the hardest, Banjul must navigate a high-stakes political transition with severely diminished external financing. Despite these immediate structural pressures, a combination of alternative European partnerships and regional civil society coalitions is actively working to safeguard the country’s democratic gains.
The Foundation of Institutional Rebirth
For a small, aid-dependent nation like The Gambia, international development assistance has historically been focused on systemic, long-term stabilization. Following the democratic election of President Adama Barrow, Washington stepped up its engagement, deploying targeted grants through USAID alongside multilateral frameworks led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to bolster governance, the rule of law, and anti-corruption measures. As the UNDP’s transitional justice initiatives detailed, these funds and partnerships were strategically channeled into rewriting the country’s repressive legal frameworks, training an independent judiciary and reinforcing security sector reforms meant to depoliticize the national armed forces and police.
Prior to the funding freeze, U.S. aid directly supported the infrastructure behind the country’s landmark transitional justice mechanisms, including the implementation phase of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC). International governance experts emphasize that such foundational support is critical for young democracies struggling to root out deeply embedded corruption and heal societal divisions that a generation of authoritarian rule left behind.
The Strategic Fallout of the Funding Freeze
The trajectory of governance in West Africa experienced a sharp disruption following a widespread freeze on foreign aid programs funded by the U.S. government. In Banjul, the sudden suspension brought critical joint projects with local ministries to an immediate standstill, exposing vulnerabilities across several priority areas:
- Constitutional Reform – The U.S. government froze funding originally designated to support the National Assembly during the complex drafting and review of the new Constitution Amendment Bill, slowing down essential legislative progress.
- Human Rights Oversight – The government has deferred frucial grants to expand the operational capacity of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), limiting the state’s ability to independently monitor abuses.
- Media and Civic Space Protection – The government has abruptly cut subsidies aimed at training independent journalists, upholding ethical media monitoring standards and supporting civic education in schools.
When international funding pipelines dry up, the financial and administrative burden shifts back onto a fragile state economy already struggling with inflation and low human capital. Without robust alternative buffers, the structural gaps left by sudden aid cuts threaten to undo years of delicate institutional progress.
Towards a Positive Future
While external financing gaps have introduced significant friction, a robust multilateral effort is actively working to protect the Gambia’s progressive path. In alignment with its Global Gateway strategy, the European Union has stepped forward as a critical stabilizing partner, allocating €193 million in bilateral grant funding for the 2021–2027 period. These funds are explicitly designated to consolidate democratic transition, strengthen the National Social Protection Secretariat, and transform the rural energy infrastructure by powering 1,000 schools and 100 health centers via sustainable solar grids.
Simultaneously, international governance organizations like International IDEA have launched the EU-funded Consolidation of Democratic Dispensation in The Gambia (EU-CODE) project. Through this initiative, they have partnered directly with local networks, including the Gambia Press Union (GPU) and the CSO Gender Platform, to build legislative capacities, deliver ethical media monitoring training and amplify human rights and women’s representation within the national constitutional process. Ultimately, these cooperative frameworks demonstrate that the collective resolve of European institutions and local civic actors remains an essential buffer in maintaining the country’s democratic journey.
Looking Ahead
Ultimately, the suspension of U.S. foreign assistance exposes the deep vulnerabilities of transitional states operating under severe macro-financial pressures. While the freeze on USAID funding has abruptly disrupted critical pillars of democratic consolidation, stalling constitutional reform, human rights oversight, and civic space protections, The Gambia’s trajectory is not entirely compromised. The swift intervention of multilateral frameworks, catalyzed by the European Union’s €193 million Global Gateway strategy and International IDEA’s localized partnerships, highlights a shifting paradigm in international development. By successfully absorbing structural shocks, this diversified coalition of European institutions and local civic actors demonstrates that while single-donor dependencies pose high risks, a resilient, multi-layered international network remains a powerful buffer capable of safeguarding a young democracy’s hard-won gains.
– Ioana Marin
Ioana is based in Bucharest, Romania and focuses on Politics for The Borgen Project.
Photo: Unsplash
How US Aid Freezes Jeopardize USAID Programs in The Gambia
USAID Programs in The Gambia
Historically, this recovery has faced steep domestic hurdles. The 2026 regional economic slowdown to 4.3%, which external shocks, rising commodity inflation and climbing fertilizer costs that threaten fragile agricultural sectors drove, further exacerbated the structural vulnerability of the Gambian economy. While past USAID programs in The Gambia actively worked to alleviate these conditions, funding community-based civic education and agricultural resilience workshops, the IMF reports that declining foreign aid is creating sharp headwinds for poverty reduction and food security across low-income, non-resource-rich nations.
The sudden freeze of USAID programs in The Gambia mirrors a dangerous, broader regional trend identified by the IMF: a synchronized, donor-driven contraction in bilateral official development assistance (ODA). As the IMF warns that these structural aid cuts hit fragile and low-income states the hardest, Banjul must navigate a high-stakes political transition with severely diminished external financing. Despite these immediate structural pressures, a combination of alternative European partnerships and regional civil society coalitions is actively working to safeguard the country’s democratic gains.
The Foundation of Institutional Rebirth
For a small, aid-dependent nation like The Gambia, international development assistance has historically been focused on systemic, long-term stabilization. Following the democratic election of President Adama Barrow, Washington stepped up its engagement, deploying targeted grants through USAID alongside multilateral frameworks led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to bolster governance, the rule of law, and anti-corruption measures. As the UNDP’s transitional justice initiatives detailed, these funds and partnerships were strategically channeled into rewriting the country’s repressive legal frameworks, training an independent judiciary and reinforcing security sector reforms meant to depoliticize the national armed forces and police.
Prior to the funding freeze, U.S. aid directly supported the infrastructure behind the country’s landmark transitional justice mechanisms, including the implementation phase of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC). International governance experts emphasize that such foundational support is critical for young democracies struggling to root out deeply embedded corruption and heal societal divisions that a generation of authoritarian rule left behind.
The Strategic Fallout of the Funding Freeze
The trajectory of governance in West Africa experienced a sharp disruption following a widespread freeze on foreign aid programs funded by the U.S. government. In Banjul, the sudden suspension brought critical joint projects with local ministries to an immediate standstill, exposing vulnerabilities across several priority areas:
When international funding pipelines dry up, the financial and administrative burden shifts back onto a fragile state economy already struggling with inflation and low human capital. Without robust alternative buffers, the structural gaps left by sudden aid cuts threaten to undo years of delicate institutional progress.
Towards a Positive Future
While external financing gaps have introduced significant friction, a robust multilateral effort is actively working to protect the Gambia’s progressive path. In alignment with its Global Gateway strategy, the European Union has stepped forward as a critical stabilizing partner, allocating €193 million in bilateral grant funding for the 2021–2027 period. These funds are explicitly designated to consolidate democratic transition, strengthen the National Social Protection Secretariat, and transform the rural energy infrastructure by powering 1,000 schools and 100 health centers via sustainable solar grids.
Simultaneously, international governance organizations like International IDEA have launched the EU-funded Consolidation of Democratic Dispensation in The Gambia (EU-CODE) project. Through this initiative, they have partnered directly with local networks, including the Gambia Press Union (GPU) and the CSO Gender Platform, to build legislative capacities, deliver ethical media monitoring training and amplify human rights and women’s representation within the national constitutional process. Ultimately, these cooperative frameworks demonstrate that the collective resolve of European institutions and local civic actors remains an essential buffer in maintaining the country’s democratic journey.
Looking Ahead
Ultimately, the suspension of U.S. foreign assistance exposes the deep vulnerabilities of transitional states operating under severe macro-financial pressures. While the freeze on USAID funding has abruptly disrupted critical pillars of democratic consolidation, stalling constitutional reform, human rights oversight, and civic space protections, The Gambia’s trajectory is not entirely compromised. The swift intervention of multilateral frameworks, catalyzed by the European Union’s €193 million Global Gateway strategy and International IDEA’s localized partnerships, highlights a shifting paradigm in international development. By successfully absorbing structural shocks, this diversified coalition of European institutions and local civic actors demonstrates that while single-donor dependencies pose high risks, a resilient, multi-layered international network remains a powerful buffer capable of safeguarding a young democracy’s hard-won gains.
– Ioana Marin
Photo: Unsplash
Foreign Aid in Vietnam: Decades of Progress, a Year of Uncertainty
A Partnership Built Out of War
Foreign aid in Vietnam has touched everything from public health to the unfinished business of the war itself. The United States has been Vietnam’s most prominent aid partner, and its most meaningful contributions addressed the legacy of the war. Since the 1990s, Washington has helped clear unexploded ordnance, clean up Agent Orange contamination and account for missing soldiers.
The American military sprayed vast areas of southern Vietnam with Agent Orange and other herbicides between 1962 and 1971. As many as 4.8 million Vietnamese may have been exposed to the dioxin those chemicals contained, and at least 1 million still live with related health and disability effects, according to the U.S. Institute of Peace. The Vietnam Red Cross estimates that about 150,000 children have been born with birth defects tied to that exposure — including limb deformities, spina bifida, developmental disabilities and other conditions that can leave people unable to walk or live independently, sometimes across two or three generations.
According to the U.S. State Department, the U.S. provided more than $250 million for unexploded ordnance clearance and more than $155 million for disability support in affected provinces between the early 1990s and 2025. The two countries completed a major dioxin cleanup at Da Nang Airbase in 2018 and began remediation at the larger contaminated site at Bien Hoa.
These programs did more than remove poison from the soil. They turned a painful history into a foundation for cooperation, helping the former adversaries normalize relations and, in 2023, establish a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership — Vietnam’s highest diplomatic designation.
Addressing HIV/AIDS
U.S. aid also propped up public health. About 250,000 Vietnamese live with HIV, and the epidemic has long been concentrated among marginalized groups — including people who inject drugs and men who have sex with men — who often face stigma that keeps them from seeking care. Through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), American funding sustained HIV prevention and treatment for tens of thousands of Vietnamese. Vietnam became the first and only country in Asia to receive focused PEPFAR support after the program launched in 2003, and within a decade the U.S. was the largest single donor to the national HIV response. That investment helped Vietnam reach a 99% viral-suppression rate in PEPFAR’s focus provinces and shift most patients onto antiretroviral treatment paid for through domestic health insurance. Most of the country’s pre-exposure prophylaxis clients still rely on PEPFAR support, UNAIDS reported.
The 2025 Freeze
In January 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order pausing nearly all foreign aid, and his administration moved to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). By March, the State Department had announced that most USAID programs would be terminated and the rest folded into the department; the agency effectively ceased operating by mid-2025.
The effects in Vietnam were immediate. Writing in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, two Vietnam specialists documented how the freeze idled more than a thousand deminers, cut off rehabilitation services for tens of thousands of people affected by Agent Orange, and reduced the world’s largest dioxin remediation project to a skeleton crew. In Quang Tri Province, Vietnam’s most contaminated region, over a thousand local demining workers lost their jobs. At Bien Hoa, U.S. diplomats warned of an environmental and public-health catastrophe as dioxin-laced soil sat exposed, ProPublica reported. UNAIDS found that the cuts suspended or terminated HIV and tuberculosis programs, leaving some patients to pay out of pocket.
A Partial Recovery — And a Lasting Lesson
After lobbying from Vietnamese officials and American advocates, funding for most war-legacy projects resumed by late March 2025, and in October the two governments signed a memorandum reaffirming cooperation. But the disruption left a mark. The Georgetown analysts argue that even a brief suspension in the “safest” area of cooperation signaled that any U.S. commitment could fall victim to domestic politics — prompting Vietnam to diversify its partners and giving China fresh evidence to portray Washington as unreliable. Just weeks after the freeze, Reuters reported, Xi Jinping visited Hanoi and signed roughly 45 cooperation agreements.
Foreign aid makes up about 1% of the U.S. federal budget, yet its impact in Vietnam has been enormous. Foreign aid in Vietnam shows both what outside assistance can build and how quickly it can stall: the events of 2025 underscored a simple truth — the gains aid produces are real, but they are not self-sustaining.
– Jen Phan
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Mountain Gorilla Conservation and Poverty Reduction
Mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) live only in the forests of the Virunga Massif, which spans Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. With a global population of just more than 1,000 individuals, the species remains vulnerable to poaching, habitat pressure and disease. However, research shows that poverty and lack of economic opportunity often increase reliance on illegal hunting, making conservation efforts that provide alternative income sources critical to both protecting gorillas and supporting local communities.
Rwanda
Rwanda has adopted one of the most direct approaches to mountain gorilla conservation in connection with economic development. Gorilla trekking permits cost approximately $1,500 per visitor in 2017, generating significant revenue from international tourism. Through its formal revenue sharing policy, the Rwanda Development Board allocates 10% all of national park tourism income to communities living near protected areas; this furthers funding toward schools, health centers and local infrastructure projects.
Tourism now generates more than $600 million annually for Rwanda and supports employment across sectors ranging from hospitality to transportation.
By ensuring that local communities receive direct economic benefits from conservation, Rwanda has created incentives to protect mountain gorillas rather than exploit them.
Uganda
Uganda has focused on combining regulated tourism with community involvement around mountain gorilla habitats. Gorilla tourism is centred in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, where controlled trekking permits generate income and help fund conservation efforts. Conservation organizations working in the region focus on community engagement and opportunities, recognizing that poverty and limited employment can contribute to reliance on illegal hunting.
As mountain gorilla conservation efforts have expanded, jobs such as guides, porters, trackers and park staff have provided local residents with stable sources of income tied directly to the continued protection of gorillas. This approach helps reduce pressure on wildlife while creating economic opportunities in surrounding communities.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Mountain gorilla conservation efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo face unique challenges due to ongoing conflict and instability. Despite these conditions, mountain gorillas continue to receive protection through conservation programs in areas such as Virunga National Park.
Rangers remove traps, monitor wildlife populations and work to prevent poaching, often under dangerous circumstances.
These programs create employment opportunities for local residents and support conservation outcomes in regions where economic opportunities are limited. Conservation remains an important source of both environmental protection and local economic activity.
While the approaches used by Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo differ, each reflects the same underlying principle: conservation is often most effective when local communities benefit from it. Through tourism revenue, job creation and investment, mountain gorilla conservation programs help address some of the economic pressures that can contribute to poaching. As a result, efforts to protect one of the world’s most endangered primates are also creating opportunities to reduce poverty and support long-term development in the communities that live alongside them.
– Kale Overton
Photo: Flickr
The Top 3 Organizations Fighting Poverty in Canada
Canada Without Poverty
Canada Without Poverty is a nonprofit, charitable organization that lobbies the government to introduce policies that help struggling individuals access housing, employment and income security.
The organization has used systematic advocacy to successfully lobby for the legislation of Canada’s first National Housing Strategy and National Poverty Reduction Strategy. This was achieved by collaborating with more than 700 organizations, including Citizens for Public Justice, and more than 11,000 individuals.
In recent years, it has worked to introduce the Lived Experience Community 2030 Project. The major initiative focuses on bringing together individuals across the ten provinces to share their personal experiences with poverty and homelessness.
By providing a platform for victims of poverty to voice their experiences, the project aims to reshape how Canada’s government conducts consultations and ensure that those most affected by poverty can inform the path toward achieving the United Nations’ (U.N.) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Campaign 2000
Based in Toronto, Campaign 2000 was founded in 1991 to address child poverty. With more than 120 partners across Canada, the organization focuses on improving the living situations of families by advocating for public policy solutions and education. Campaign 2000 publishes research on child poverty on its blog to educate the public about the indicators of and solutions for child poverty. The blog releases resources such as:
For more than 35 years, the information released by Campaign 2000 has consistently helped push the Canadian government to make significant changes, such as introducing the Canada Child Benefit in 2016. Its work is credited with raising public awareness and helping to guide legislative change, making it one of the most influential organizations fighting poverty in Canada.
United Way Centraide Canada
United Way Centraide Canada tackles poverty with a more hands-on approach by breaking the issue down into the following elements:
Since its founding in 1917, United Way Centraide Canada has mobilized $600.1 million annually and supported 8 million people in need, making it one of the most successful organizations fighting poverty in Canada.
Looking Ahead
Although poverty continues to be a significant issue nationwide, the dedication and perseverance of organizations like Canada Without Poverty, Campaign 2000 and United Way Centraide Canada offer not only hope but opportunity. Indeed, as these organizations continue to grow their reach and influence, sustained public support through donations and volunteering will be essential to building a more equitable future for Canadians living in poverty.
– Ruby Fraser
Photo: Pixabay
Innovate Health Africa’s DHLSAT
A Continent Adopting Digital Tools
Africa carries approximately 25% of the world’s disease burden but accounts for only 3% of the global health care workforce, according to McKinsey. To bridge that gap, African health care has increasingly turned to digital health tools. However, this adoption has revealed a critical challenge: many health workers lack the digital literacy needed to use those tools effectively.
Research conducted across sub-Saharan Africa found that low digital literacy levels and limited access to technology represent key challenges for health workers and patients alike when adopting and embracing digital health tools. In Ethiopia, studies found that only around half of health care workers demonstrated sufficient digital literacy levels, with gaps widening in rural and lower-income areas.
The consequences are significant. Addressing the health care worker shortage in sub-Saharan Africa could reduce the region’s disease burden by 35% and increase its GDP by an estimated $22 billion a year, except if those workers are equipped with the skills to operate in an increasingly digital health landscape.
What Is the DHLSAT?
Innovate Health Africa is an organization advancing equitable health care in Africa through innovation, research and workforce capacity development. It developed the Digital Health Literacy Self-Assessment Tool (DHLSAT) to address this gap.
The DHLSAT is a scientifically validated diagnostic framework developed to align with continental health workforce digital readiness efforts. It empowers frontline health care professionals across Africa to precisely map their digital competencies, identify critical literacy gaps and access tailored recommendations to accelerate digital readiness at the frontline.
How It Works
Health care professionals complete the DHLSAT assessment online and receive a personalized digital health literacy profile based on four proficiency tiers: Practitioner, Explorer, Innovator and Expert. Each tier reflects a different level of digital health competency ranging from foundational awareness to advanced innovation capability.
Following the assessment, the tool generates personalized recommendations and scientifically validated insights to guide each user’s digital health literacy growth. Users can download their digital health literacy profile report and share it with employers, recruiters, academic institutions or other relevant organizations.
The DHLSAT covers key areas of digital health competency, including data governance, bioinformatics, digital health’s role in climate change and the broader digital health landscape across Africa, giving health workers a comprehensive view of both their strengths and the areas that require development.
DHLSAT’s Impact
The response from health care professionals who have used the tool reflects its practical value. One user, Dr. Alex O., described the experience as opening a new perspective on developing digital skills. Another user, Kofo Kola O., described the profile as clearly articulating both strengths and weaknesses in a way that felt comforting, exciting and inspiring. A community health worker, Sarah T.S., noted that with Innovate Health Africa’s guidance, her community health project now reaches more than 10,000 people monthly.
Building the Foundation for Digital Readiness
The DHLSAT does not operate alone. Innovate Health Africa works with more than 30 trusted partners in more than six countries and operates across three core portfolios: workforce capacity development, implementation research and innovation. Furthermore, the organization designs and delivers competency-based training in digital health, generates scientific evidence on how digital health is being experienced across African health systems and works with public and private health institutions to design and implement community-shaped digital health solutions.
The DHLSAT fits within a broader strategy to ensure that Africa’s digital health transformation is led by informed, capable health workers instead of being undermined by a skills gap that goes undiagnosed and unaddressed.
Looking Ahead
Africa’s digital health sector is growing rapidly, and the need for a skilled, digitally literate health workforce has never been more necessary. By giving health care professionals the ability to assess their own digital readiness, receive personalized guidance and track their progress, the DHLSAT represents a practical, scalable solution to one of the continent’s most pressing workforce challenges.
– Joy Kohol
Photo: Unsplash
CAMFED: Education Opportunities for Women
Education Barriers for Women
A child born to a mother who can read is twice as likely to live past the age of five. However, as of 2023, national laws to protect adolescent and pregnant mothers’ right to an education exist in only half of African countries, even though more than 30% of teenagers in Africa become pregnant. Adi Radhakrishnan, Leonard H. Sandler Fellow in the Children’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch, said that many pregnant girls and adolescent mothers in Africa are still denied their basic right to education for reasons that have nothing to do with their desire and ability to learn.
The number of girls who drop out of school because of early pregnancies is especially high in Sub-Saharan Africa. More than 6 million young women ages 10 to 19 who were pregnant or parenting were out of school in October 2024. Because of the stigma around teen pregnancy and school cultures that discourage return, fewer than 5% of girls who drop out early due to pregnancy ever return to finish their education. Regional directors of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have noted that when these girls want to return to school, they are not welcomed back.
Progress in Girls’ Education
For every year that a girl stays in school, her potential future income increases by 10%. Girls in Africa who finish secondary education are more likely to be healthier, earn more money for their families, marry later and have greater knowledge around medicinal and nutritional health to pass on to the next generation.
Education opportunities for women in Africa create benefits beyond the individual — they are a catalyst for brighter futures for families, communities and the broader region. In Africa, 50 million more girls were in school in 2024 than in 2015. During the same period, infant mortality declined from 55 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2014 to 47 in 2024, suggesting a connection between expanded educational access for mothers and improved child survival rates.
Providing Education Opportunities for Women in Africa
The Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) association is a sisterhood of African women who partner with their communities to support and mentor young girls in their journey to becoming young adults, both in the classroom and beyond. CAMFED not only sends girls to school who would otherwise be unable to attend due to poverty — it also works one-on-one to provide girls with real-world skills so they can contribute to their communities long after they finish secondary school.
One young woman whose life was affected by CAMFED’s support said that without the organization, she would have dropped out of school and her family would have gone hungry. She now works as one of CAMFED’s climate-smart agriculture guides, bringing sustainable practices and climate education into classrooms and to rural farmers. Like many other women who once received educational support from CAMFED, she is now part of the sisterhood, working to help girls who are in the same position she once was.
This sisterhood, founded in 1993 with just 32 women, aims to provide education opportunities for women across Africa. On average, each member of the CAMFED association uses her own resources to support another three girls in attending school. So far, the association has supported 646,000 students with secondary school scholarships and helped more than 1 million girls attend primary school. Since its founding, CAMFED has supported more than 9 million children in schools across seven countries in Africa.
Looking Ahead
Expanding education opportunities for women in Africa requires continued investment in policy, funding and community engagement. The progress seen over the past decade — from legislative reforms to grassroots organizations like CAMFED — demonstrates that meaningful change is achievable. Sustained commitment to girls’ education remains one of the most effective pathways to reducing poverty and improving health outcomes across the continent.
– Tommy Bass
Photo: Pixabay
The Growth in Food Systems in Senegal
Many people are struggling to afford food in Senegal even if it is available. Poverty has left 1.3 million people facing acute food insecurity. The people need the ability to purchase and access food. Many people living in poverty are in the rural areas of Senegal. Cities like Dakar, the capital of Senegal, are growing rapidly. There are new initiatives to make Senegal self-sufficient and less dependent on imports and foreign aid.
Food Sovereignty
Senegal is starting to implement new agricultural practices that incorporate drought-resistant crops and better irrigation. New technology and machines are being incorporated into farming. The country is striving to reach food sovereignty by increasing its productivity and building the economy. Senegal is now a lower-middle-income country.
New policies aim to help Senegal grow and reach food sovereignty. The AgriConnect Senegal Compact aims to improve the food systems in Senegal. The World Bank has partnered with the Senegalese government to work on new farming methods. Grains, horticulture and livestock are the main focus of the AgriConnect Compact. This initiative aligns with the Senegal National Agenda for Transformation 2050 and the Food Sovereignty Strategy (SSA 2025-2034).
“By 2029, the AgriConnect Compact aims to achieve more than 90% food security at the national level and create 800,000 formal jobs in the agricultural sector,” according to the World Bank. “Among the objectives set are an increase in the cereal coverage rate from 48% to 78%, rice self-sufficiency to 64%, and the establishment of 100 community-based agricultural cooperatives across the country.”
Agriculture
The food systems in Senegal rely on agriculture. Rural areas of the country focus on small-scale farming that supplies food for their families. The Senegalese women do most of the farming. They plant and harvest everything by hand. Farms are typically two to seven acres. Larger commercial farms export crops to places such as the U.K. The farmers grow vegetables such as okra, tomatoes, onions and peppers. Vendors sell the produce in markets such as Marché Tilène in Dakar.
“In Senegal, agriculture is not just an economic activity but also a central aspect of cultural identity and community life,” according to a peer-reviewed article in World. “Growth in agricultural productivity also contributes to reducing poverty. In essence, higher agricultural productivity leads to increased incomes, which can be reinvested into local communities, further enhancing rural development.”
Peanuts are one of Senegal’s biggest cash crops. Kaolack, Kaffrine and Fatick are known as the “Groundnut Basin.” The peanuts are often sold shelled and roasted. Senegal’s national dish, Maafe, is a peanut butter and tomato stew served with meat or fish over rice. Peanuts are a large part of the country’s exports that contribute to the growth of the economy. China is a major importer of Senegalese peanuts.
Fishing
Senegal borders the Atlantic Ocean, where fishing supports the local community. Blue Marlin, Sailfish and Yellowfin Tuna are caught and sold fresh in the markets. Inland, there is the Saloum Delta and Casamance River where locals catch tarpon, captain fish and barracuda. The fishermen are known as “The Pirogue Fleet” where they partake in artisanal fishing in the colorful boats.
The people in cities such as Dakar depend on the fish for their livelihood. Overfishing has drastically depleted the numbers of fish and devastated the people who live on the coast. The Regional Partnership for the Conservation of the Coastal and Marine Zone in West Africa will apply new regulations concerning illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing that can lead to an increase in the fish population.
“This project will effectively and sustainably improve Senegal’s capacity to fight IUU fishing through better fisheries governance, in particular by increasing the transparency of the activities of fisheries policy bodies, through enforcement of fisheries legislation and by building capacities of stakeholders in Senegal,” according to an article by Oceans 5.
Livestock
Livestock is a smaller portion of the food system in Senegal. The Senegalese diet mainly consists of fish and rice because meat is too expensive. Poultry makes up 80% of the livestock population. Farmers herd cattle, sheep and goats in rural areas. These herds are typically small. The climate poses a great challenge to raising livestock in Senegal. The drought, land and water all pose challenges for farmers.
“To optimize the use of natural resources such as pasture and surface water, whose availability varies throughout the year, livestock farmers are forced to move their herds around: these movements occur all the year round (nomadism) or in specific periods (transhumance),” according to a study by Transboundary and Emerging Diseases. “Because of the lack of storage facilities and infrastructure, the majority of animals are sold alive at markets all year round.”
A Growing Senegal
The impact of inflation, war and trade have increased the price of food in Senegal. The growing agriculture business has contributed to a significant decrease in the poverty rate. With time, West Africa can successfully grow into a productive, competitive economy with less poverty.
– Brittany LeJeune
Photo: Unsplash
Policy Changes: Estonia’s Mental Health Challenges
Despite this, the need for mental health services is continuously increasing. In 2024, Estonian psychiatrists recorded a 4% increase in mental health and behavioral disorder diagnosis during outpatient visits than the previous year. The biggest increase was among children under 15, according to the National Institute for Health Development (TAI). This is because Estonians still face some challenges when it comes to seeking mental health support.
Challenges People with Mental Health Issues Face in Estonia
Challenges for people with mental health issues in Estonia include:
Estonia has gradually implemented policy changes which aim to reduce Estonia’s mental health challenges.
How Poverty Affects Mental Health in Estonia
The Estonian government has been placing a large number of orphaned children in state-run institutions that have impoverishing conditions. For example, the children don’t have access to adequate resources or specialized staff. This means the children are at a higher risk of developing mental and behavioral issues because of their economic status. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has stated that Estonia needs to implement more open and rehabilitative care strategies to reduce the number of orphaned children with mental health issues.
Reducing Estonia’s Mental Health Challenges
From the early 1990s to 2003, the government closed large psychiatric hospitals and established family medicine as a specialty. It also established the publicly financed benefits package, which expanded mental health care in the region. The purchasing agency (Estonian Health Insurance Fund) provided this.
Furthermore, from 2004 to 2013, the role of mental health in primary health care was established through the development of policy frameworks and clinical guidelines, which allowed more family doctors to prescribe medicine for mental health conditions.
Additionally, since 2014, the government has consolidated and made numerous changes to the mental health services to further tackle Estonia’s mental health challenges. Some changes focused on establishing multidisciplinary primary health care with indirect benefits for mental health care. Others explicitly prioritized mental health care by making changes in how the government finances it.
Addressing Workforce Shortages
The Ministry has worked significantly to improve mental health services in Estonia, said Anne Randväli, the Head of Mental Health Department at the Ministry of Social Affairs in Estonia. They have addressed “workforce shortages” through state funding “residency or induction years for clinical psychologists and psychologist-counsellors since 2021.” The Ministry created “a coherent and sustainable system for training new specialists.” Before, “training largely depended on the personal resources of the professionals.”
Stepped Care Model for Mental Health
In 2024, the Ministry introduced a “stepped care model for mental health.” This model focuses on treating “common conditions such as depression and anxiety” through educating citizens on psychology and mental health and through specialists providing “digital self-help tools” or “low intensity intervention” to those with minor mental issues. This system provides support “at the earliest possible stage and progresses to more intensive services as needed” stated Randväli.
The findings of “the Estonian Human Development Report 2023” were used to create this model. EHDR’s current findings show that the current system resembles an “hourglass shape: relatively strong in terms of self-management and specialist care, but weak at the intermediate levels of community and primary care support.” The stepped care model will use “cost-effective solutions” to improve these intermediate levels, Randväli added.
The Outcomes of These Efforts
The national suicide rate dropped from 15.1% per 100,000 people in 2020 oecd.org to 14% per 100,000 in 2023. This is significantly lower than the suicide rates of countries such as Lithuania, which is at around 17% in 2023, or Korea which is at 24%. However, Estonia’s rate is still higher than many other countries. For example, Chile which is at 11% and Denmark at 9.5%.
Conclusion
The Estonian government has significantly improved their mental health services over the years through their policy changes, which have had a significant effect in extreme cases such as reducing the suicide rate. However, the mental health system is still seen as weak in terms of providing primary care support. The Ministry is working to further improve the mental health services through the stepped care model.
– Bianca Burdulea
Photo: Flickr
Disability and Poverty in the Marshall Islands
Link Between Disability and Poverty
The Republic of the Marshall Islands consists of 29 coral atolls and five islands in the North Pacific and has a population of about 40,000 people. The country’s government has reaffirmed its commitment to protecting the rights of people with disabilities through policies that promote inclusion and equal opportunities.
A 2024 United Nations survey of 308 people with disabilities found that many continue to face significant barriers to employment and accessibility. About 85% of those surveyed were unemployed, with respondents citing inaccessible workplaces, limited workplace accommodations and discrimination by employers as major obstacles. The report also noted that noncommunicable diseases, particularly diabetes, have contributed to disabilities such as amputations and vision loss. In addition, the long-term effects of nuclear testing continue to affect some Marshallese, creating ongoing health challenges and highlighting the need for continued international support.
The government and local disability advocates have also worked to increase public awareness. In partnership with the College of Marshall Islands, the Disability Coordination Office and the Marshall Islands Disabled Persons Organization recently organized a community “wheel-a-thon” to promote disability inclusion and increase visibility for people with disabilities.
Barriers to Education and Employment
Education plays a critical role in reducing poverty. However, children with disabilities often encounter barriers that limit their participation in school. Some schools lack accessible infrastructure, while others have limited resources to support students in diverse learning needs.
Employment opportunities also remain limited. A 2024 survey of persons with disabilities in the Marshall Islands found that approximately 85% of respondents were unemployed. Respondents identified inaccessible workplaces, employer bias and a lack of accommodations as major obstacles to finding work.
Without access to education and employment opportunities, many people with disabilities remain dependent on family support or government assistance. This cycle can contribute to long-term poverty and social exclusion.
Government Efforts to Promote Inclusion
The Marshall Islands government has taken important steps to improve opportunities for people with disabilities. In 2015, the country enacted the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act. The law promotes disability inclusive development and seeks to protect the rights of people with disabilities in areas such as education, employment and public services.
The government also established a Disability Coordination Office to help implement disability related policies and programs. Recent efforts have focused on improving accessibility, increasing participation in public life, and strengthening support services.
In 2025, the government expanded social protection initiatives through the Social Support Scheme Act. The program provides income support to elderly citizens and persons with disabilities, helping vulnerable populations meet basic needs. Eligible beneficiaries receive at least $1,200 annually through the program.
The Role of the Marshall Islands Disabled Persons Organization
The Marshall Islands Disabled Persons Organization (MIDPO) serves as a leading advocate for disability rights and inclusion. MIDPO works alongside government agencies and regional partners to improve accessibility and increase awareness of disability issues.
In 2025, MIDPO launched an accessibility bus funded through the Asian Development Bank’s COVID-19 Assistance Fund. The service helps people with disabilities travel to essential services, community events and other important destinations. Improved transportation can increase access to education, health care and employment opportunities.
MIDPO also participated in the Pacific Disability Forum’s “Growing Stronger Together” initiative, which strengthened the organization’s capacity to advocate for disability inclusive policies and programs.
Looking Ahead
Disability and poverty in the Marshall Islands remain interconnected challenges. Limited access to education, employment and essential services continues to affect many individuals with disabilities. However, government reforms, social support programs and the work of organizations such as MIDPO demonstrate meaningful progress.
By expanding inclusive education, improving accessibility and strengthening economic opportunities, the Marshall Islands can continue reducing poverty among people with disabilities. These efforts can help ensure that all citizens have the opportunity to participate fully in society and build more secure futures.
– Terrell Munford
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
How Leaders are Responding to HIV/AIDS in Belize
The History of HIV/AIDS in Belize
AIDS first showed up in Belize in 1986 and is one of the leading causes of death for Belizeans. The disease disproportionately affects gay and bisexual men in the country with people between 15-24 years of age being the largest portion of new infection. Only half of the estimated 3,700 people infected with HIV/AIDS in Belize are receiving treatment.
While new infections have declined 29% since 2010, Belizean deaths from AIDS have risen 14%. People of lower socioeconomic status are more likely to contract HIV/AIDS due to their behaviors around health. Factors correlated to poverty such as food scarcity, lack of economic opportunity and homelessness all increase the risk of HIV transmission.
Low socioeconomic status correlates to low access to HIV treatment. Delays to treatment only decrease the chance of patient survival. In Belize, where 19.1% of the population is multidimensionally poor, organizations see the need to address the issue.
The National AIDS Commission of Belize
The National AIDS Commission of Belize’s goals include keeping Belizeans up-to-date on new information about the disease. The organization, established in 2000, drives a national response to HIV/AIDS in Belize.
The organization also educates citizens on how to prevent infection for themselves and others. It mentions factors like drug and alcohol use, vertical transmission and blood contact. The organization’s leaders are high ranking officials in the country. It also has local and regional partners that assist with education and response.
To overcome barriers associated with a response to HIV/AIDS in Belize, the United Nations in the Caribbean prioritizes the following:
Another priority of the response to HIV/AIDS in Belize is eliminating transmission from mother to child. Belize has created a system where mothers are tested for HIV and syphilis two to three times during pregnancy and before birth. If a mother tests positive, treatment is immediately given to prevent transmission. In addition, women can receive care for 18 months after birth.
In 2023, Belize repealed its law that criminalized exposure to HIV and not disclosing it. The law previously punished an individual that “deliberately or recklessly transmits or spreads HIV/AIDS.” The law did not actually require transmission for penalization.
Looking Ahead
There is some hope in Belize. In 2025, Belizeans took 49,615 HIV/AIDS tests. As a national standard, treatment is available as well as preventive measures like PrEP, PEP and HIVST.
Since 2023, the proportion of diagnosed, treated and suppressed AIDS cases have all risen. While still below the optimal rates, the numbers show that some progress is being made. In Belize, the limited resources make it difficult to overcome the HIV/AIDS epidemic entirely.
– Hayden Randolph
Photo: Unsplash