E-waste in developing and developed countries is when electronics are used, and they come to the end of their lifecycle. In contrast to other forms of waste, disposal of e-waste is specific, in order to protect humans and the environment from the harmful materials within; yet, impoverished countries do not have the resources nor funds to dispose of their e-waste properly.
Due to these countries improperly disposing of their waste, toxic chemicals then leak into the environment. In turn, health hazards arise. Below illustrates the prevalence of e-waste around the globe, recycling e-waste methods, impacts on human health and possible solutions eliminating excess e-waste in developing countries.
Presence of E-Waste
As technology advances exponentially around the world, consumers are constantly purchasing, upgrading, replacing and discarding their electric products. These products include computers, printers, televisions, cell phones, microwaves and washers, and dryers. Among the developed nations, the U.S. alone throws away 400 million tons of electronic items per year. In contrast, the European Union produces 8.9 million tons of e-waste and Japan produces 4 million tons. In total, the world produces 50 million tons of e-waste a year. It is an estimate that the world’s population will be discarding 60 million tons of e-waste by 2021.
The Differences in Recylcing E-Waste
Both developing and developed countries recycle their e-waste. In the formal recycling facilities of developed countries, electronics are disassembled, separated and categorized by material. They are then cleaned and shredded for further sorting. It is necessary hat recycling companies adhere to health and safety rules. They must also use pollution-control technologies to decrease the health and environmental hazards of handling e-waste.
This process is expensive, and to avoid spending the large amount of money needed to recycle e-waste formally, developed countries illegally ship their e-waste to developing countries for disposal. However, these developing countries do not have the means to recycle their e-waste formally. This is why countries, like Nigeria and Ghana, recycle their e-waste in informal ways.
Within developing countries, the informal e-waste sector includes sites where the extraction of valuable components of electronics happen using crude recycling and disposal methods. Families and individual workers depend on the extraction of valuable metals for an income. Metals include gold, silver, copper, platinum, palladium, lithium and cobalt.
Effects of Chemicals in E-Waste
However, these electronics also contain toxic heavy metals, such as lead, mercury, cadmium and beryllium. They also include polluting PVC plastic and hazardous chemicals like brominated flame retardants. These chemicals remain in electronics after extraction of valuable materials. They are burned, buried and discharged into waterways. Furthermore, these chemicals can find their way into the air, earth, water and ultimately into food.
Victims of contamination from e-waste in developing countries can experience both direct and indirect exposure. Direct contact with hazardous materials from e-waste in both formal and informal recycling settings can cause increases in stillbirths, spontaneous abortions, premature births and lower birth weights. They can also cause increases in mutations, congenital malformations, abnormal thyroid function, lead levels, decreased lung function and neurobehavioral disturbances.
Intervention in Recycling E-Waste
To decrease the amount of informal recycling of e-waste in developing countries, the United Nations created the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. This organization bans the trading of hazardous waste between nations. Sadly, this policy fails to reduce informal recycling due to a general lack of governance and enforcement resources.
Renne Cho, a staff writer for the Earth Institute, lists six solutions in research that disposers should consider and practice globally to solve the global e-waste crisis. These six solutions are: designing better products, repairing and reusing devices already owned, extending producer responsibility, improving the recycling system, making recycling more convenient and making our economy more circular.
In regard to improving the recycling system, one strategy proposed to alleviate e-waste in developing countries is taking advantage of the large collection network of informal recyclers existing. Instead of eliminating this network, developing countries can utilize these companies to bring their collective e-waste to the formal sector.
Another solution to reduce the amount of e-waste illegally shipped to developing countries is for countries to invest in the resources necessary to provide the enforcement and supervision that will restrict the importation of e-waste.
The rapid rate at which consumers are now purchasing, upgrading, replacing and discarding electronics gives little reason to believe the e-waste crisis will end soon. More awareness about how e-waste is impacting the health of men, women and children in developing countries is necessary.
– Jacob Stubbs
Photo: Flickr
Top 10 facts About Life Expectancy in Taiwan
Taiwan is a small island off the eastern coast of China. The small country, rich in culture, food and language, is also known for their longevity and aging population. Additionally, over time, Taiwan has seen an increase in advocacy for better living standards of citizens of Taiwan; in turn, increasing the life expectancy in Taiwan. Here are the top 10 facts about life expectancy in Taiwan.
Top 10 Facts About Life Exectancy in Taiwan:
Life expectancy in Taiwan has been steadily growing since the 1950s. Although its resulting aging population puts a strain on pension and welfare systems, the Taiwanese government’s endeavors on aging through policy, research and promotion have evidently resulted in great successes in the older adult populations.
– Andrew Yang
Photo: Flickr
Improving Sierra Leone’s Urban Mobility
Many of these villages, as well as the country itself, are still recovering from the civil war that dismantled many of their institutions. In the 1980s, the government of Sierra Leone initiated a program to modernize their road system, which had been used as a railway until 1975. However, the new road system was also a victim of the aforementioned civil war. Organizations like the World Bank are improving Sierra Leone’s urban mobility by improving infrastructure.
The Integrated and Resilient Urban Mobility Project
On June 13, 2019, The World Bank introduced the Integrated and Resilient Urban Mobility Project for Sierra Leone. Their objectives are to “improve quality public transport, address climate resilience, improve road safety in selected areas and enhance institutional capacity in the transport sector.” The Integrated and Resilient Urban Mobility Project is comprised of five main sections:
The Freetown Urban Transport Authority
One way to improve urban mobility in Sierra Leone is by improving infrastructure in the country’s capital, Freetown. The World Bank is working with Adam Smith International, an award-winning global company that specializes in the delivery of projects that improve economic growth and government reform initiatives. They created a six-month project in line with the current Integrated and Resilient Urban Mobility Project, which will improve urban mobility.
Together, they developed a fully integrated mobility plan that updates regulation and planning in the urban center of Goderich and Hastings. It will work to create the Freetown Urban Transport Authority. They are working to rebuild and refurbish new and existing infrastructure to make it more sustainable and improve the roads in Freetown, the Capital of Sierra Leone.
As a country with an initially weak infrastructure and poor economy, Sierra Leone has struggled to adapt its foundation to modern needs. As a country with a higher percentage of rural areas than urban, Sierra Leone has had trouble with their transportation system. However, organizations such as the World Bank and Adam Smith International are working towards improving Sierra Leone’s urban mobility in order to provide more functional and safer streets and easier access to economic and travel centers.
– Jade Thompson
Photo: Flickr
The Save the State Protests in Liberia
Liberia, or officially the Republic of Liberia, is a small country located on the western coast of Africa. Coming from a rich history of international involvement, the nation holds the title of the first African state to declare independence and, therefore, is the oldest African modern republic. The Save the State protests are currently gripping Liberia.
On June 7, 2019, in the capital city of Monrovia, ongoing tensions and disappointment in the current regime reached a head, resulting in the largest anti-government protest since the end of the civil war in 2003. This was the first of the Save the State protests, which a coalition of politicians, professionals, students and regular citizens called the Council of Patriots organized.
The main goal of the demonstration was to protest high inflation rates and governmental corruption. These two points of frustration have been amplified during the current presidential administration, as these were the two major campaign promises behind the 2018 election of President George Weah. However, these issues merely represent the breaking point of decades-long tensions and it is necessary to understand the socio-economic situation in Liberia which has caused so much unrest, especially as protests continue.
A Damaged Economy
Liberia has continued to feel the effects of two civil wars that took place between 1989 and 2003 and resulted in the death of a quarter of a million people. The wars crippled the Liberian economy by 90 percent and the economy has struggled to fully recover ever since. It suffered another blow with the outbreak of Ebola from 2014 to 2015 that claimed the lives of thousands.
After these crises, foreign aid flowed into the country to help in the restoration of the economy and offer assistance to those struggling in the aftermath. But, as international funding began to dissipate – most recently with the withdrawal of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in 2018 – the country has struggled to develop on its own.
The country continues to rank among the poorest nations in the world, according to the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook. The fact that inflation reached a record high of 28.5 percent in 2018 and an International Monetary Fund growth rate projection of only 0.4 percent in 2019 compounds this.
Disillusioned Voters
The socio-economic situation of sustained, long-term poverty and poor living conditions due to rising prices and financial mismanagement have escalated since the election of President Weah. This is as a result of the lack of changes he made following his campaign promises. His connection to the people of Liberia as a former football star who achieved international acclaim initially spurred people’s excitement for his presidency.
However, hope for improvement has soured as prices continue to rise, fiscal growth continues to slow and the president’s personal wealth appears to be growing. This dissatisfaction brewed alongside a huge scandal where $102 million in new banknotes was allegedly missing. Although no one found evidence to support this claim in an investigation, people cited accuracy and completeness as major issues in the central bank’s records.
As 64 percent of Liberians continue to live below the poverty line and the people have planned more Save the State for the coming months, it is clear that long-term poverty engenders long-term instability and, therefore, a constant state of tension. This kind of unstable environment becomes a powder keg for tensions to erupt, making the future of these peaceful protests uncertain.
Despite President Weah’s opposition to the demands of the protestors thus far, their message remains clear: they want to save their state and improve the lives of their compatriots. It is a prime example of citizens wanting their voices be heard.
– Alexandra Schulman
Photo: Flickr
Enteric and Diarrheal Disease Prevention
Types of Enteric and Diarrheal Diseases
Rotavirus: Rotavirus is a highly transmittable disease and is one of the main causes of severe diarrhea in children. The disease affects millions of individuals around the world every year and is the cause of death in over 215,000 cases. The disease most often transfers via consumption of fecal matter, which can occur when individuals do not have access to proper handwashing and sanitation facilities. The Rotavirus vaccine can help prevent rotavirus. It is effective in preventing severe rotavirus in 90 percent of cases and the WHO has recommended it for use. Typically, children that are two to six months old receive two to three doses of the vaccine. Individuals who do not receive this vaccine and contract rotavirus (or cholera, typhoid, or shigella) most often receive treatment with either zinc supplementation or rehydration therapy or both. Zinc supplementation can reduce the severity of diarrhea in an individual while oral rehydration therapy can help rehydrate an individual that has become dehydrated due to diarrhea.
Cholera: Cholera is another diarrheal illness that individuals can contract by consuming contaminated food or water. It affects roughly three million individuals around the world every year and is the cause of death in nearly 145,000 cases. Furthermore, there have been recent outbreaks in countries like Haiti, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Guinea. Like rotavirus, a specialized vaccine can prevent cholera as well as sound sanitation techniques. Individuals older than six receive the vaccine in two doses while younger individuals receive three doses.
Typhoid: Like rotavirus and cholera, typhoid is transmitted through fecal contamination. It affects 22 million people annually and is the cause of death in roughly 200,000 cases per year. Before recently, no one had developed a vaccine to treat typhoid; however, in 2018, the WHO approved a vaccine called Typbar TCV. Scientists from Bharat Biotech International, a biotechnology company based in Hyderabad, India, developed the vaccine. Hundreds of thousands of individuals have received the vaccine and it has played a key role in stemming a recent typhoid breakout in Pakistan.
Shigella: The last major form of an enteric/diarrheal disease is shigella. Over 165 million individuals contract shigella every year (causing one million deaths), in large part due to the fact that there is no preventative vaccine for the disease. Because of this, much of the effort that has been given to prevent Shigella recently (as well as rotavirus, cholera and typhoid) have focused on ensuring proper hygiene and sanitation in areas that are at risk for fecal contamination. Listed below are some promising solutions to improve hygiene and sanitation in developing countries around the world.
Solutions to Reduce Enteric and Diarrheal Diseases
Janicki Omni Processor (JOP): The Janicki Omni Processor is an innovative solution that can help turn waste into clean drinking water. To do so, wet waste enters the JOP which dries and burns the waste in a controlled fashion. The JOP filters and condenses the resulting steam from the burning process, distilling the water. This water then receives treatment in order to meet clean drinking water standards. The JOP is environmentally friendly (the entire process is self-sustainable) and, through heavy funding from NGOs such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, it is a cheap and efficient way to provide clean water to communities throughout the developing world.
Nano Membrane Toilet: The Nano Membrane Toilet is a promising solution with regards to sanitation practices throughout the developing world. The toilet is sustainable and requires no water or electricity to function. It works like this: after an individual uses it, the toilet utilizes a waterless flushing system to separate the urine from the feces. The feces are then chopped up into small bits and placed into a combustion chamber. After roughly a week, the feces will turn into a substance similar to ash and people can safely deposit it in the trash. The water, meanwhile, enters a separate tank to purify. The purified water then enters a tank at the front of the toilet for the purpose of outdoor irrigation and cleaning. The Nano Membrane Toilet is a promising solution to help reduce feces contamination because it does not require water to function and is easily implementable in many communities around the world.
Hand Washing: Hand washing isn’t a new technology, but it can go a long way towards preventing a multitude of enteric and diarrheal diseases. Research indicates that diarrheal deaths could decrease by as much as 50 percent if the prevalence of handwashing increased around the globe. NGOs such as The Global Handwashing Partnership and World Vision have done great work in recent years to lead handwashing programs in developing nations and increase awareness about the importance of handwashing.
Looking Ahead
The prevention and treatment of individuals with rotavirus, cholera, typhoid and shigella are some of the biggest challenges facing the world in the coming years. The transmittable nature of these diseases makes them difficult to eradicate, and people cannot fix many of the reasons that they are prevalent (lack of sanitation, poor water quality, etc.) overnight. Continued investments from governments and NGOs around the world in promising technologies like the Janicki Omni Processor and the Nano Membrane Toilet are a step in the right direction towards the prevention of enteric and diarrheal diseases in individuals around the world.
– Kiran Matthias
Photo: Pexels
8 Facts about Child Labor in Bangladesh
Bangladesh is a small country in South Asia with a rapidly growing export-based economy including textiles, electronics, leather and jute. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world with approximately 168 million people and is the 39th richest country with an estimated GDP of $274 billion in 2018. Child laborers, however, highly support its flourishing economy. The following eight facts about child labor in Bangladesh further examine this human rights violation, and how the country is addressing the issue today.
8 Facts About Child Labor in Bangladesh
These eight facts about child labor in Bangladesh highlight the depth of this problem and reinforces the immediate attention that it deserves. Child labor is not a singular isolated issue, however, but a manifestation of sociopolitical shortcomings. In fact, child labor is a derivative of poverty. Reevaluating economic policies to enrich individuals and strengthen families is where the world has to start.
– Jordan Powell
Photo: Flickr
Millie Bobby Brown and UNICEF Advocate for Children
On World Children’s Day in 2018, “Stranger Things” actress Millie Bobby Brown was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, making her the youngest to hold the title at 14 years old. UNICEF, which stands for United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, is a nonprofit organization that has sought to provide aid for underprivileged children and protect their rights across 190 countries and territories since 1946. Brown’s role with UNICEF as an ambassador is to use her global platform to raise awareness of issues that affect youth around the world, such as lack of education, violence, poverty and bullying.
Children Taking Over for UNICEF
Before being named ambassador in 2018, Brown and UNICEF partnered in 2016 when the actress co-hosted the organization’s 70th anniversary event at the United Nations headquarters. The anniversary celebration was deemed a “children’s takeover” because it was hosted by Brown and other young celebrities who have been involved with UNICEF as well as young people who have directly benefited from the organization’s efforts. While co-hosting the event as a representative for the future of UNICEF, Brown interviewed soccer star David Beckham about his philanthropic efforts with UNICEF in his 11 years as an ambassador.
Millie Bobby Brown in Denmark
In Jan. 2019, Brown and UNICEF travelled together for the first time when the actress went to
visit the global supply headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. There, she assisted in assembling
early childhood development kits, which offer children in disastrous and contentious areas and living conditions a way to play and learn. The kits include art supplies, puzzles, games, books and puppets, and are given to caregivers helping in these areas. The kits are designed to be utilized by up to 50 children who are experiencing trauma and stress, and assist in creating a safe learning environment for them.
Brown also toured UNICEF’s supply and kit packing warehouse, the largest humanitarian warehouse in the world. Hundreds of necessities such as clothing and school supplies are sent from the warehouse every day to children and families in need around the world. In 2017 alone, $3.46 billion worth of supplies were sent to 150 countries in areas by UNICEF.
Collaboration Kits for a Cause
Representatives from Moncler, an Italian apparel and lifestyle brand, also accompanied Brown and UNICEF during the trip. In 2017 the Warmly Moncler project was launched in light of the collaboration between UNICEF and Moncler. The initiative provides winter survival kits containing hats, gloves, scarves, shoes, thermal blankets, socks and fuel to heat homes and schools to disadvantaged children and families in areas with harsh winter conditions worldwide. Since the collaboration was launched, over 38,000 families who live in some of the coldest countries in the world have benefited from the project.
For the future, Brown can be expected to continue to use her platform as an ambassador for
UNICEF to meet with as many children as she can, hear their stories and advocate and speak
out on their behalf.
– Cydni Payton
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
How the “Boat of Knowledge” is Impacting Education in the Philippines
Creation, Concept and Impact of the “Boat of Knowledge”
Durie is a fellow of the Bangsamoro Young Leaders Program-Leadership Communities (BYLP-LeadCom). After discussing the safety concerns with both parents and teachers, he developed the “Boat of Knowledge” project. Along with his fellow leader, Tau-Spartan, he secured a grant. With the grant, he purchased a two-engine boat to ferry students to school.
The “Boat of Knowledge” project is two-pronged in its approach. The 30-person boat ferries both middle schools and high school students. It even makes as many as three trips back and forth to make sure that everyone gets to school. Meanwhile, along with ensuring that each student receives an education, the boat provides work for fishermen in the off-season, helping to stimulate the economy of this small village.
Today, 99 percent of students in Darul-Akram are logging regular school hours.
Education in the Philippines
Although the nation has a substantial economy, the education program within the Philippines is heavily underfunded. Education is often hindered by shortages in textbooks and buildings. As a result, only 78 percent of students complete the basic level of education. In fact, fewer complete any secondary level of education. In addition, absenteeism is a major problem. Without any serious structure for evaluating attendance, millions of children do not go to school. Currently, 2.8 million Filipino children are not in school.
The Ayala Foundation: Providing the Spark
Durie’s project is part of the Ayala Foundation, a nonprofit based in the Philippines that seeks to connect the growing business market with communities across the country. Its goal is to create creative, self-reliant and self-sustaining communities all across the Phillippines. To do so, the Ayala Foundation helps to build bridges that connect different sectors of the market, acting as a catalyst for cooperation.
The Ayala Foundation created the initiative BYLP-LeadCom. The initiative seeks to use the energy of Filipino youth to create positive change in communities. One change, for example, is supporting Durie with his “Boat of Knowledge.” Today, BYLP-LeadCom operates in five different provinces across the Philippines.
Certainly, Durie’s “Boat of Knowledge” is simple. However, by providing children an opportunity to gain an education during the rainy season, Durie and the Tau-Spartans have opened a world of possibilities for the children of Darul-Akram.
– Andrew Edwards
Photo: Flickr
The Growing Crisis of E-Waste in Developing Countries
Due to these countries improperly disposing of their waste, toxic chemicals then leak into the environment. In turn, health hazards arise. Below illustrates the prevalence of e-waste around the globe, recycling e-waste methods, impacts on human health and possible solutions eliminating excess e-waste in developing countries.
Presence of E-Waste
As technology advances exponentially around the world, consumers are constantly purchasing, upgrading, replacing and discarding their electric products. These products include computers, printers, televisions, cell phones, microwaves and washers, and dryers. Among the developed nations, the U.S. alone throws away 400 million tons of electronic items per year. In contrast, the European Union produces 8.9 million tons of e-waste and Japan produces 4 million tons. In total, the world produces 50 million tons of e-waste a year. It is an estimate that the world’s population will be discarding 60 million tons of e-waste by 2021.
The Differences in Recylcing E-Waste
Both developing and developed countries recycle their e-waste. In the formal recycling facilities of developed countries, electronics are disassembled, separated and categorized by material. They are then cleaned and shredded for further sorting. It is necessary hat recycling companies adhere to health and safety rules. They must also use pollution-control technologies to decrease the health and environmental hazards of handling e-waste.
This process is expensive, and to avoid spending the large amount of money needed to recycle e-waste formally, developed countries illegally ship their e-waste to developing countries for disposal. However, these developing countries do not have the means to recycle their e-waste formally. This is why countries, like Nigeria and Ghana, recycle their e-waste in informal ways.
Within developing countries, the informal e-waste sector includes sites where the extraction of valuable components of electronics happen using crude recycling and disposal methods. Families and individual workers depend on the extraction of valuable metals for an income. Metals include gold, silver, copper, platinum, palladium, lithium and cobalt.
Effects of Chemicals in E-Waste
However, these electronics also contain toxic heavy metals, such as lead, mercury, cadmium and beryllium. They also include polluting PVC plastic and hazardous chemicals like brominated flame retardants. These chemicals remain in electronics after extraction of valuable materials. They are burned, buried and discharged into waterways. Furthermore, these chemicals can find their way into the air, earth, water and ultimately into food.
Victims of contamination from e-waste in developing countries can experience both direct and indirect exposure. Direct contact with hazardous materials from e-waste in both formal and informal recycling settings can cause increases in stillbirths, spontaneous abortions, premature births and lower birth weights. They can also cause increases in mutations, congenital malformations, abnormal thyroid function, lead levels, decreased lung function and neurobehavioral disturbances.
Intervention in Recycling E-Waste
To decrease the amount of informal recycling of e-waste in developing countries, the United Nations created the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. This organization bans the trading of hazardous waste between nations. Sadly, this policy fails to reduce informal recycling due to a general lack of governance and enforcement resources.
Renne Cho, a staff writer for the Earth Institute, lists six solutions in research that disposers should consider and practice globally to solve the global e-waste crisis. These six solutions are: designing better products, repairing and reusing devices already owned, extending producer responsibility, improving the recycling system, making recycling more convenient and making our economy more circular.
In regard to improving the recycling system, one strategy proposed to alleviate e-waste in developing countries is taking advantage of the large collection network of informal recyclers existing. Instead of eliminating this network, developing countries can utilize these companies to bring their collective e-waste to the formal sector.
Another solution to reduce the amount of e-waste illegally shipped to developing countries is for countries to invest in the resources necessary to provide the enforcement and supervision that will restrict the importation of e-waste.
The rapid rate at which consumers are now purchasing, upgrading, replacing and discarding electronics gives little reason to believe the e-waste crisis will end soon. More awareness about how e-waste is impacting the health of men, women and children in developing countries is necessary.
– Jacob Stubbs
Photo: Flickr
Three Ways the Relationship Between Technology and Philanthropy Is Evolving
Technology can be used to nurture closer links between donors and nonprofits. According to Giving USA, individuals, corporations, foundations and estates donated $410 billion to charities in 2017. This represents less than 3 percent of the United States’ GDP. Working to change this number through fundraising technology is social media platform Facebook. In November 2018, three years of launching its fundraising technology, Facebook reported that donations have broken $1 billion. No Kid Hungry, a U.S.-based child-hunger charity, reported raising $5 million from over 200,000 donors through Facebook fundraisers. Other social media platforms, like GoFundMe, have also made it easier for individuals to connect with causes they feel passionate about. Houses for Refugees is a notable beneficiary of such advancements, receiving over $2 million in donations through crowdfunding and online campaigning.
Although many people in the world are not yet able to access the necessary technology, the internet is helping connect NGOs and their clientele more efficiently. This will change how NGOs are able to operate in cases of natural or financial disasters, as well as create new and innovative ways in which organizations can make a difference. Mobile cash transfers are becoming a popular way of transferring money to those in remote areas of the world. For example, in 2017, because of difficulties in establishing cash liquidity in Zimbabwe, the U.K. government partnered with CARE International, a major humanitarian organization that is fighting poverty in 92 countries worldwide. This partnership provided small monthly cash payments by mobile phone or SIM cards to over 72,000 families, enabling them to continue buying basic foodstuffs and utilities. Technology can also be used to develop help build communities from the inside, by reducing long-standing tensions between communities. One example of a technology company hoping to change lives by connecting people is Tech2Peace, a joint Palestinian-Israeli startup designed to train youth in technical skills such as website building, while also encouraging intercultural dialogue and conflict resolution sessions.
Technology companies are helping nonprofits streamline their systems of data collection and analytics. New technological developments are changing how companies can exercise “Corporate Social Responsibility,” or CSR, an ethical business strategy designed to maximize a company’s positive social influence. For example, Microsoft is currently partnered with the Virginia-based charity Operation Smile, which provides children with the free surgical repair for cleft lip, cleft palate and other facial deformities. Operation Smile has a number of programs including operating international medical missions, running care facilities, conducting research on the causes of cleft lip and providing education to improve community treatment worldwide. One area where Microsoft assists Operation Smile is by developing customized solutions that allow the organization to analyze real-time patient outcomes and feedback, sharing simultaneously this data with volunteers around the globe. This cuts downtime spent by individual surgeons for patient evaluations and allows Operation Smile to perform more operations.
Technology and philanthropy are intricately connected. Advancement in technology has improved the relationship between donors and charities, charities and beneficiaries, and streamlined all the processes that define these relationships. As the technological revolution finds new ways to change the world, it will also find new ways to help those in need.
– Holly Barsham
Photo: Google Images
The Threat of War is a Public Health Crisis
Dispelling War Myths
According to the 2006 National Intelligence Estimate, during the war on terror, terrorism actually increased and spread. Several U.S. military commanders have made statements against war, claiming that violence and particular war tactics are actually creating a greater threat, not suppressing it. The former head of the C.I.A. Counterterrorism Center, Robert Grenier, stated that counter-terrorism strategies can backfire by helping form enemy alliances and therefore a larger threat.
“[Al Qaeda] are not just focused on helping oppressed Muslims in Kashmir or trying to fight the NATO and the Americans in Afghanistan, they see themselves as part of a global struggle, and therefore are a much broader threat than they were previously. So in a sense, yes, we have helped to bring about the situation that we most fear,” Grenier told Frontline.
Reports of a modern arms race have circulated for the past two years. Senior U.N. security expert, Renta Dwan, said the risk of a nuclear war is at its highest since WWII. There are over 13 thousand nuclear weapons in nine countries. Ninety percent belongs to the U.S. and Russia, yet using less than half of India and Pakistan’s arsenal is enough to cause a worldwide nuclear winter. A peace treaty banning nuclear weapons has only 23 of the 50 ratifications it needs to come into effect but the United States, Russia and other nuclear powers strongly oppose it.
Even if a nuclear threat had a low annual risk – as some claim – a group of physicians published an article for the American Heart Association arguing that experts need to think of the threat in terms of humanity’s lifetime. This is parallel to how cardiologists think of the cumulative risk of heart disease over a lifespan, not just within a given year. This means a one percent annual risk of a nuclear war translates to a 50 percent risk over a 70-year period. They claim that just as preventing heart disease requires behavioral changes such as losing weight, preventing nuclear war also requires a change in high-risk behavior, such as threats, sanctions and false accusations.
Changing the threat of war isn’t as unrealistic as it sounds. The European Union has established social institutions to deal with conflict between member states, and there are many global networks and health professionals working to end war as an institution. The first time the idea of ending the threat of war nearly came to fruition was during the Cold War, with the historical and ambitious US-USSR agreement in 1961, or the McCloy-Zorin Accords.
A World Without War
The McCloy-Zorin Accords outlined a detailed plan for a general and complete disarmament. Many agree that disarmament, international law enforcement and investment are all necessary to end the threat of war. Partial or full disarmament is a must, including selling weapons to countries that do not manufacture them but needs to be under the supervision of an international organization to verify the disarmament.
The accords specified that people carry the disarmament out in stages and that an international disarmament organization verify each stage. The accord recognized non-nuclear armaments, establishments and facilities as necessary for maintaining internal order, but called for the abolishment of weapon stockpiles, national armed forces, military establishments and the discontinuance of military budgets.
The accord also required simultaneous efforts to strengthen peace and international arbitration institutions. U.N. conflict management already resolves many conflicts, but better resourcing could maximize its impact. The World Court also resolves many interstate conflicts but does not recognize war as a crime. The accords are a gilded example of how to end the threat of war and prove its attainability.
How Non-Violence Prevails
Non-violent and civil disobedience campaigns have proven to be more effective in resisting tyranny, resolving conflicts and achieving security than violence. From 1900 to 2006, non-violent campaigns were twice as likely to succeed as violent rebellions across the globe. Non-violent campaigns are also more likely to usher in democratic intuitions and are 15 percent less likely to result in a civil war.
Even when non-violent resistance meets with violence, non-violence still prevails two-to-one. A major benefit of non-violent campaigns is how they tend to draw in larger and more diverse groups of people, but many of these campaigns usually happen without any training or support. If people better resourced such efforts and trained civilians, these campaigns could be even more successful.
Large and well-coordinated campaigns are actually able to switch from concentrated methods, such as protests, to dispersed methods when met with violence. Dispersed methods include strikes, stay-at-home demonstrations, a coordinated shut-down of electricity and even banging pots and pans. Dispersed methods, said Professor Erica Chenoweth, are “very hard or at least very costly to suppress, while the movement stays just as disruptive.”Chenoweth, a professor in Human Rights and International Affairs, believes that if history courses shifted focus onto the decades of mass civil disobedience that came before the Declaration of Independence, or if Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King came first and not as an afterthought, then perhaps the “war culture” could change and end the threat of war.
The 2019 Global Peace Index reports that 104 countries recorded an increase in terrorism, while only 38 improved. Changing international policies and promoting civil disobedience instead of violence and war as a means for change does not only make movements of change more resilient but prevents terrorism and promotes stability.
– Emma Uk
Photo: Flickr