A time-tested way out of the poverty cycle is starting a small business. Talent and hard work, when supported by capital investment, can build a business, bringing an idea to life. Today, rural micro-credit institutions like Mann Deshi Bank are changing lives by doing this as the next chapter of the small entrepreneurship revolution story is underway.
The Foundation
Chetna Gala Sinha, the founder of the Mann Deshi Bank, started the bank in 1996 with a determined team of a few rural illiterate neighborhood women. It all started when Chetna’s friend and neighbor, Kantabai, came to her for some friendly advice.
Kantabai wanted to open a savings account to make a daily deposit of 10 rupees (less than 15 cents), but the Bank would not open her account as the amount was too small. According to a recent World Bank report, India has around 224 million people living under the poverty line of $1.90 a day; there are millions of women facing the same predicament.
Unfazed by hurdles, Chetna and her friends decided to take matters in their own hands. After months of persistent effort, they were able to obtain a banking license from the Reserve Bank of India. They started Mann Deshi Mahila Sehkari Bank, the first cooperative bank in India solely run and owned by rural women.
There are numerous rural banks in India today that bolster the growth of small-scale businesses and first-time business owners through micro-loans, loans that are only a fraction of a traditional loan amount at maybe $25 or less. What makes Mann Deshi Bank unique, though, is the extra mile it goes. It builds community and long-term support helping customers along the tumultuous journey of a small-scale woman entrepreneur.
Support Group
Mann Deshi Bank started in Mhaswad, a drought-prone village in the state of Maharashtra, India. Today, the bank has branches at six different locations within the state. When a customer borrows money from any of the bank branches, she comes in contact with a family of female entrepreneurs. These individuals face similar socio-economic hurdles in their entrepreneurship journey including the facts that:
- They are women who are traditionally dependent on male family members for money.
- They live in small villages.
- They save small amounts of money on an everyday basis.
- They want to start a business.
Workshops, classroom lessons and annual cultural events give a sense of belonging to women entrepreneurs by regularly discussing motivational success stories, offering them customized advisory services and providing a place to network. Together they build a community that engages small business owners, providing them strong emotional and social support essential for successful entrepreneurship. Sugrabi Mulani, one of the beneficiaries of the Bank says, “Mann Deshi’s financial management training was very helpful and the bank also gave me several loans to expand my business. But most of all, I met so many women and I knew I was not alone.”
Financial Literacy
Most customers of Mann Deshi Bank have never been to school. Many of them run businesses that survive on daily or weekly income. To help them overcome everyday challenges, Mann Deshi Bank is changing lives by offering short-term vocational training courses in sewing, basic computers and cattle breeding, etc. In addition, business development workshops that the Bank offers helps new entrepreneurs understand key aspects of running a profitable business, such as:
- The ratio of profit and investment.
- The importance of insurance.
- The significance of marketing.
- Inventory management among others.
On average, trainees report a 25 percent increase in average annual income which includes 35 percent of women who expanded their business through weekly/regional markets.
In 2006, Mann Deshi Bank established Mann Deshi Business School for Rural Women and designed an affordable year-long MBA program in collaboration with CRISIL and National Payments Corporation. Students can leverage this program to learn essential skills related to marketing, expansion and management of a business. To date, 40,000 women have participated in various programs that the Bank and its schools run.
One of these women is Kavita Bhivre. Kavita participated in one of the Business Development Workshops offered by the Bank. After learning the basics of profit and loan, she went on to pursue her MBA that Mann Deshi Bank Business School offered. Employing her newly earned skills and a small loan from the bank, she opened a bangle shop and successfully turned herself from a stay-at-home mom into a businesswoman. Today, she is not only financially independent but also supports her family. Like her, 67 percent of women have started earning an income after graduating from the specially designed MBA program.
Sports Tournaments
Sports can act as a lever to uplift a whole family from poverty in a single lifetime. A state-level player can easily afford a house, electricity, clean water and education for children. However, less than 2 percent of girls participate in sports in Maharashtra. The bank took the initiative to organize open-house sporting events under the scheme called Mann Deshi Champions. The initiative serves two important purposes including to:
- Nourish physical and mental well-being.
- Promote sports as a viable career option in drought-prone villages.
In 2010, when the tournament started, 500 children participated in various racing competitions. Over the course of nine years, 4,000 children have benefitted from such events. Every year, hundreds of school-going children between the age of 10 and 16 go to the tournament grounds to participate in sporting events like wrestling, long jump and marathon running.
Under the program, children receive sports training sessions under the guidance of qualified sports coaches. Moreover, prospective outstanding athletes garner specialized professional training.
Young girls like Vaishnavi Sawant, Reshma Kewate and Poonam Kalel, who received training through initiatives of Mann Deshi and went on to win medals at a Northern Virginia regional competition in 2017, inspire the Champions. They hope to play in the Olympics and win medals for their country one day.
The Impact
Mann Deshi Bank is changing lives and has become a way of life for thousands of people. What started as a microfinance bank 30 years ago, is now a reliable partner in growth for women who want to earn a livelihood or financially support their families. With $13 million in deposits spread across 90,000 women account holders, Mann Deshi has become a force to reckon with. The Bank also broadcasts a community radio which has 150,000 listeners spread across 110 villages within a 50 km radius. The radio programs consistently encourage women to start their own business. Last year, with six other peers, Chetna Sinha, the Chairman and Founder of Mann Deshi Bank, chaired the 48th Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
– Himja Sethi
Photo: Flickr
WFP and Palantir Partner to End Global Hunger
Palantir’s Track Record
Palantir is a private software company that focuses on data analytics. Palantir emerged in 2004 with the intention of providing a different kind of technology than the ones it had seen fail before. The company has worked with several government agencies and other nonprofit organizations such as Mercy Crops and NCMEC. Both organizations have stated that Palantir has helped them become more efficient and that they had become a vital part of the organization’s operations.
How Will Data Mining Help World Food Programme?
World Food Programme has recently stated that it believes that technological innovation is a vital part of reaching its goal to end global hunger by 2030. With Palantir’s help, WFP can develop new analytical technologies to further enhance its global reach. WFP generates tons of data every year with its immense purchases and deliveries of rations. The benefits of the WFP and Palantir’s partnership have already been seen in the two organizations’ pilot application.
WFP and Palantir’s partnership has come from its foundational project together on WFP’s Optimus. An application that pulls together different datasets about types of food which allows for better decision making. Optimus saved WFP $30 million during operation and WFP projects to save up to $100 million. The success of the Optimus application has pushed WFP to partner with Palantir.
Controversy
Although the WFP and Palantir partnership could be extremely beneficial, many worry that it could actually harm the people that it aims to help. Some claim that without oversight, this collaboration could put impoverished people’s data at risk which could be exploited. However, WFP has already expressed that it would not give Palantir access to data about specific people. The nonprofit has also expressed its trust in Palantir and that the company will not use WFP’s data for its own benefit or use the company for data mining unless authorized by WFP.
Although WFP has expressed that this partnership will not put people in harm’s way, it still worries some. However, there have been great benefits from Palantir’s other partnerships with nonprofits and with WFP’s own Optimus project. The WFP and Palantir partnership has great potential and may allow WFP to reach even more hungry people in the next five years.
– Olivia Halliburton
Photo: Flickr
The Importance of Ecosystem Mapping Tools in the Caribbean
Ecosystems in the Caribbean act as more than just tourist attractions. Coral reefs and mangrove habitats provide protection from natural disasters such as storms, hurricanes and high sea levels. Natural flooding causes damage to property and endangers people’s lives. The following is a list of six ecosystem mapping tools that contribute as a solution to the 50-80 percent reduction of coral reefs in the region:
6 Ecosystem Mapping Tools in the Caribbean
Real-Time Ocean Forecasting System: The Caribbean and the Cayman Islands have made the management of marine habitats a priority. The Caribbean Restoration Explorer uses NOAA’s Real Time Ocean Forecasting System to monitor coral larval reproduction. Understanding the transfer and expansion of these barrier reefs is essential in determining which habitats to locate and protect.
Reef Rover: As coral reefs wane away in the Caribbean, 70 percent of the region’s beaches are deteriorating. For this reason, it is crucial to identify and nurture growing coral reefs. The “Reef Rover” is a developing ecosystem mapping tool that will capture underwater images. It is a drone positioned on a boat that can reveal the evolution of these reefs through regular tracking.
Carnegie Airborne Observatory (CAO): Along with the drones, The Nature Conservancy reveals the CAO is another advancement in ecosystem mapping tools. The CAO aircraft has already launched projects in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic. The hyperspectral technology is able to distinguish stress levels recognized in chemical fingerprints and habitat composition.
Satellites: What’s more impressive is the collection of over 200 satellites scoping elements, including small-scales of 10 feet. The data collected every day enables the scrutiny of any changes in marine habitats. The images of these ecosystems before and after natural disasters, such as the most recent 2017 hurricanes, will illustrate the essential function of coral reefs along coastlines.
The Mapping Ocean Wealth Explorer: This online data resource helps in the determination of policies that concern natural resources. In the Caribbean, tourism yields more than $25 billion annually, $2 billion of which comes from coral reefs alone. The data provides the worth of coral reefs as shown in the amount of money received through tourists on coastal recreational activities such as diving or snorkeling. This ecosystem draws 60 percent of scuba divers around the world. Fisheries contribute $400 million and provide food security. This entire commercial operation grants around 50 percent of the region’s income by protecting the jobs of six million people.
The Natural Capital Project’s Marine Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST): InVEST computes the capacity marine ecosystems have to mitigate the height and force of waves and weaken the chance of erosion in coastal areas. A healthy coral reef can divert more than 90 percent of wave force before reaching the shore. This is a valuable asset for coastal communities.
Ecosystem mapping tools in the Caribbean output social and economic data so policymakers, conservation professionals and business investors can see which regions require their attention. Coral reefs not only attract tourists, which feed the region’s economy, but they also diminish the impact of wave force. Not only can systems of technology detect environmental calamity, but these tools can prepare coastal communities to withstand rather than react to their environment.
Al Otro Lado and Other Nonprofits Helping the Migrant Crisis
The Migrant Crisis
Central Americans from the caravan have been labeled everything from refugees, asylum seekers and economic migrants to invaders, aliens and criminals. However, despite widespread disagreement and confusion about the caravan, U.S. immigration and international laws dictate that people have the legal right to seek asylum. Asylum seekers’ have the right to present their cases to an immigration officer, but with so many asylum-seekers to process, thousands of individuals and families are left waiting in limbo.
As Policy Analyst at the American Immigration Council Aaron Reichlin-Melnick explains, “The government would argue that high [asylum] denial rates indicate they’re fraudulent asylum claims… the more likely answer is that people are genuinely afraid for their lives–they may not know the ins and outs of a complex asylum system.” For many nonprofits, the situation is clearly a refugee crisis, and they treat it like one. Since caravans began arriving at the border, humanitarian organizations have been on the ground providing shelter, medical care and legal assistance. This is one way that Al Otro Lado is helping.
Al Otro Lado
Al Otro Lado is a legal services nonprofit based in Los Angeles, San Diego and Tijuana. Over the last four months, Al Otro Lado has helped more than 2,000 migrants in Tijuana while also fighting larger battles to protect the legal rights of asylum seekers. Operating out of an Enclave Caracol, a three-story community center turned migrant shelter, Al Otro Lado provides legal orientation and know-your-rights training to asylum seekers waiting in Tijuana.
Though Al Otro Lado is focused on upholding international and U.S. law, it is not immune to the controversy and violence that has accompanied the migrant caravan. The organization and its staff have received death threats, and co-directors Erika Pineiro and Nora Phillips were detained and forced to leave Mexico in January. Still, Al Otro Lado continues their operations in Tijuana, but now they just unplug their phones between calls to cut down on the death threats.
Other Notable Organizations Helping the Migrant Crisis
Organizations like Al Otro Lado, Save the Children and Amnesty International see the migrant caravan as a humanitarian issue beyond party politics. They have wasted no time supporting migrants and asylum-seekers who have risked their lives journeying to the border. However, unless governments and organizations address the larger issues that led the people to leave in the first place, they will continue migrating. Faced with violence, persecution and poverty, it’s hard to imagine anyone who wouldn’t do the same.
Photo: Flickr
Top 10 Facts About Life Expectancy in El Salvador
Coming in at 114 out of all countries, El Salvador has a relatively high life expectancy rate for countries within the region. El Salvador is a smaller country situated in Central America known for both its beaches and mountainous regions. With a population of 6,187, 271 people, 32 percent of Salvadorians live below the poverty line. Below are the top 10 facts about life expectancy in El Salvador.
The Top 10 Facts About Life Expectancy in El Salvador
High vulnerability to natural disasters, a lack of clean water and sanitation sources, gang violence and disparities within the healthcare system have contributed to lower life expectancy rates in El Salvador. However, these 10 facts about life expectancy rates in El Salvador show that attention is now being given to places where intervention can improve living conditions for El Salvadorians. Due to these efforts, the life expectancy rate in El Salvador has been growing at an average annual rate of 0.33 percent.
The Complexity of Farmers’ Suicide in India
In 1995, India saw its first few cases of farmer suicides. Since then, according to a 2010 report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), there has been a baseline of 15,000 farmers committing suicide every year since 2001. In total, the agency revealed that over a quarter of a million farmers (256,913) have killed themselves between 1995 to 2010 alone, which amounts to 45 farmers a day.
A more recent 2015 study about farmers’ suicide in India suggests that there has been an average of 12,000 suicides in the agricultural sector every year since 2013. As of 2018, the Bureau has not published any new statistics on the epidemic, but India is likely not on the path of solving the problem.
Farmers’ Suicide in India and its Causes
More than 8 percent of Indian farmers have landholdings below two hectares. These farmers have such a fragmented and small holding, and others deny them the benefits of mechanization, modern irrigation and other investment-based technological improvements, thus limiting productivity.
The overarching problem of water scarcity in India adds to this already weakened infrastructure. Estimates put India’s groundwater use at roughly one-quarter of the global usage, and needless to say, it is a quickly diminishing resource for those in rural areas especially.
Without access to water, farmers have relied on seasonal rains for their yield, the unpredictability of which can lead to either severe droughts or floods that prove to be a recipe for crop failure. Climate change is a problem that exacerbates these sorts of uncertainties.
Whatever income farmers manage to scrap is meager and depends on factors such as the prevailing market situation or the cost of greedy middlemen. As a result, profit is rare and this forces small and marginal farmers to take out expensive loans to fund the farming process, thus they get caught in debt traps.
These same small, two-hectare farmers made up 75 percent of the 5,650 suicides that the National Crime Records Bureau recorded during 2014; further data points out that in 2,474 suicides out of the studied 3,000 farmer suicides in 2015, the victims had unpaid loans from local banks. This information suggests that severe socioeconomic adversity, such as crop failure or debt-burdens, is a predominant cause of farmer suicide.
India’s agricultural sector accounts for almost 20 percent of the country’s GDP, making prompt attention to the tragedy of farmer suicide important not only from a humanitarian point of view but also an economic one.
Solutions
Protecting farmers from spiraling down a pit of debt is, of course, a compelling starting point. A few policy solutions, according to Indian psychiatrists, Mahesh R. Gowda and T.S. Sathyanarayana Roa, in their journal “Prevention of Farmer Suicides,” are:
Farmer suicide is a complex problem in India, but the solutions are doable if the government correctly implements initiatives, such as the ones above. Lives are on the line, after all, and being quick to action is of the utmost importance.
– William Cozens
Photo: Pexels
The State of Antenatal Care in India
Antenatal Care in India Today
Access to antenatal care in India depends strongly upon the geographic location and socioeconomic status of expectant mothers. Between 50 and 74 percent of expectant mothers in India receive prenatal care services – with a large gap in the distribution of these services.
According to a study done in 2011, 357,777 women in Delhi received at least three antenatal care check-ups, more than the entire state of Uttarakhand which had 153,202 women receive the same level of care.
Further studies showed that “some states, such as Kerala and Goa, more than 93 percent of women used ANC [Antenatal Care] four times or more, while in Bihar and Nagaland, this figure was less than 17percent,” highlighting the substantial inequalities of access to antenatal care in India.
Current Government Initiatives
Currently, several government programs are in place to increase access to antenatal care services throughout India but have not shown largely promising results. India’s largest program for improving neonatal health, Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), uses cash incentives to encourage birthing in hospitals.
However, a study done in 2014 found that the cash transferred to new mothers is much less than advertised, due to how much of it goes towards paying for delivery services – which are meant to be free. In addition, this program only encourages women to give birth in hospitals, rather than address pressing maternal health problems in India – such as maternal nutrition and low birthweight.
Meanwhile, the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) government program dispenses 5,000 rupees for expecting and lactating mothers. However, this is only available to first-time mothers.
The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) is intended to give food to expectant mothers and their children but is poorly implemented – with less than 30 percent of women having received food the ICDS program during their last pregnancy.
Looking Ahead
In order to improve access to antenatal care in India, studies suggest “policy and programme managers should shift from improving the ‘average figures’ to the ‘distribution’ of programme/health care indicators across the sub-groups of populations which need them most.”
The rice institute also notes that rather than rely on outdated surveys for indicators of maternal health, the government finally establish a national monitoring system allowing policymakers to view changes in maternal health over time.
With proper government oversight, the future of antenatal care in India looks promising, as suggested by a study published in The Lancet found that mortality rates for neonates declined by 3.3 percent annually between 2000 and 2015 due to government intervention.
– Shreya Gaddipati
Photo: Unsplash
Mann Deshi Bank is Changing Lives in Rural India
A time-tested way out of the poverty cycle is starting a small business. Talent and hard work, when supported by capital investment, can build a business, bringing an idea to life. Today, rural micro-credit institutions like Mann Deshi Bank are changing lives by doing this as the next chapter of the small entrepreneurship revolution story is underway.
The Foundation
Chetna Gala Sinha, the founder of the Mann Deshi Bank, started the bank in 1996 with a determined team of a few rural illiterate neighborhood women. It all started when Chetna’s friend and neighbor, Kantabai, came to her for some friendly advice.
Kantabai wanted to open a savings account to make a daily deposit of 10 rupees (less than 15 cents), but the Bank would not open her account as the amount was too small. According to a recent World Bank report, India has around 224 million people living under the poverty line of $1.90 a day; there are millions of women facing the same predicament.
Unfazed by hurdles, Chetna and her friends decided to take matters in their own hands. After months of persistent effort, they were able to obtain a banking license from the Reserve Bank of India. They started Mann Deshi Mahila Sehkari Bank, the first cooperative bank in India solely run and owned by rural women.
There are numerous rural banks in India today that bolster the growth of small-scale businesses and first-time business owners through micro-loans, loans that are only a fraction of a traditional loan amount at maybe $25 or less. What makes Mann Deshi Bank unique, though, is the extra mile it goes. It builds community and long-term support helping customers along the tumultuous journey of a small-scale woman entrepreneur.
Support Group
Mann Deshi Bank started in Mhaswad, a drought-prone village in the state of Maharashtra, India. Today, the bank has branches at six different locations within the state. When a customer borrows money from any of the bank branches, she comes in contact with a family of female entrepreneurs. These individuals face similar socio-economic hurdles in their entrepreneurship journey including the facts that:
Workshops, classroom lessons and annual cultural events give a sense of belonging to women entrepreneurs by regularly discussing motivational success stories, offering them customized advisory services and providing a place to network. Together they build a community that engages small business owners, providing them strong emotional and social support essential for successful entrepreneurship. Sugrabi Mulani, one of the beneficiaries of the Bank says, “Mann Deshi’s financial management training was very helpful and the bank also gave me several loans to expand my business. But most of all, I met so many women and I knew I was not alone.”
Financial Literacy
Most customers of Mann Deshi Bank have never been to school. Many of them run businesses that survive on daily or weekly income. To help them overcome everyday challenges, Mann Deshi Bank is changing lives by offering short-term vocational training courses in sewing, basic computers and cattle breeding, etc. In addition, business development workshops that the Bank offers helps new entrepreneurs understand key aspects of running a profitable business, such as:
On average, trainees report a 25 percent increase in average annual income which includes 35 percent of women who expanded their business through weekly/regional markets.
In 2006, Mann Deshi Bank established Mann Deshi Business School for Rural Women and designed an affordable year-long MBA program in collaboration with CRISIL and National Payments Corporation. Students can leverage this program to learn essential skills related to marketing, expansion and management of a business. To date, 40,000 women have participated in various programs that the Bank and its schools run.
One of these women is Kavita Bhivre. Kavita participated in one of the Business Development Workshops offered by the Bank. After learning the basics of profit and loan, she went on to pursue her MBA that Mann Deshi Bank Business School offered. Employing her newly earned skills and a small loan from the bank, she opened a bangle shop and successfully turned herself from a stay-at-home mom into a businesswoman. Today, she is not only financially independent but also supports her family. Like her, 67 percent of women have started earning an income after graduating from the specially designed MBA program.
Sports Tournaments
Sports can act as a lever to uplift a whole family from poverty in a single lifetime. A state-level player can easily afford a house, electricity, clean water and education for children. However, less than 2 percent of girls participate in sports in Maharashtra. The bank took the initiative to organize open-house sporting events under the scheme called Mann Deshi Champions. The initiative serves two important purposes including to:
In 2010, when the tournament started, 500 children participated in various racing competitions. Over the course of nine years, 4,000 children have benefitted from such events. Every year, hundreds of school-going children between the age of 10 and 16 go to the tournament grounds to participate in sporting events like wrestling, long jump and marathon running.
Under the program, children receive sports training sessions under the guidance of qualified sports coaches. Moreover, prospective outstanding athletes garner specialized professional training.
Young girls like Vaishnavi Sawant, Reshma Kewate and Poonam Kalel, who received training through initiatives of Mann Deshi and went on to win medals at a Northern Virginia regional competition in 2017, inspire the Champions. They hope to play in the Olympics and win medals for their country one day.
The Impact
Mann Deshi Bank is changing lives and has become a way of life for thousands of people. What started as a microfinance bank 30 years ago, is now a reliable partner in growth for women who want to earn a livelihood or financially support their families. With $13 million in deposits spread across 90,000 women account holders, Mann Deshi has become a force to reckon with. The Bank also broadcasts a community radio which has 150,000 listeners spread across 110 villages within a 50 km radius. The radio programs consistently encourage women to start their own business. Last year, with six other peers, Chetna Sinha, the Chairman and Founder of Mann Deshi Bank, chaired the 48th Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
– Himja Sethi
Photo: Flickr
The Connections Between Indigenous People and Poverty
Who Is Indigenous?
There is such a wide variety of indigenous cultures that it makes creating a common definition challenging. The United Nations refers to them as the descendants of the inhabitants of a country or geographic regions prior to the immigration of a second ethnic group. The second ethnic group then became dominant through conquest and settlement, marginalizing the original inhabitants. Examples include Native Americans, the Saami of Northern Europe, the Maori of New Zealand and the Maasai of Eastern Africa.
Many people prefer to be called by the name of their individual group or tribe, such as “Navaho” or “Inuit.” However, the blanket term, “indigenous,” is gaining popularity since it links together different peoples and provides a legitimate status for special rights in many countries.
What Problems Do They Face?
It is difficult to find data for countries in Asia because most governments deny the existence of indigenous populations. For example, China has officially stated that there are no indigenous people within their borders despite having the highest concentration in the world. In areas like the Philippines and Vietnam, there are indigenous populations as well as “ethnic minorities,” who are indigenous but do not come from the country in which they are currently living. Often these “ethnic minorities” were forced to leave their native lands.
The best data came from Latin America in 2010 where indigenous people made up 8 percent of the population, but 14 percent of the poor and 17 percent of the extreme poor. Part of the reason for the disparity is the fact that indigenous populations are more likely to live in rural or remote areas. In cities, there is better access to electricity, clean water and education. This is also evident if they are living in an urban slum where indigenous people can outnumber nonindigenous two-to-one.
There is also a significant pay gap for indigenous populations. In Mexico, native people earn 12 to 14 percent less than non-native people. In Bolivia, the gap is 9 to 13 percent and in Peru and Guatemala, it is about 6 percent. In Australia, aboriginals have 30 percent less disposable income than their non-aboriginal counterparts, and in Canada, the wage gap can be as high as 25 percent. This is a large part of the connection between indigenous people and poverty.
How Can This Be Solved?
Approximately half the poverty gap can be accounted for by differences in employment type, education level, living in a rural area and family size. The other half is the “unexplained” gap, which is a result of direct discrimination or racism. This creates a unique challenge for bringing indigenous people out of poverty. Reducing the gap in education rates is widely regarded as the first step and has been steadily improving in the past few years.
In Ecuador, Mexico and Nicaragua, indigenous children attend primary school at the same rate as non-indigenous children. However, in many communities, primary education is still strongly associated with assimilation to the majority culture. The best way to fight this belief is to offer bilingual language and a curriculum sensitive to cultural differences, which is slowly gaining popularity in many countries.
Indigenous peoples often have their own ideas of what improvement should look like; therefore it is important to increase their power to advocate for their own needs. The United Nations Declaration of Indigenous People’s Rights in 2007 brought together groups from all over the world. This put them in a better place to negotiate for further rights and land privileges on their terms. Worldwide, native peoples are asserting their political power to bring long-needed changes to their communities. If governments are willing to listen, indigenous people will have a better chance of breaking the connection between indigenous people and poverty.
Photo: Flickr
Meeting Basic Needs: Assessing Water Resources in Ethiopia
Water resources in Ethiopia should be three things: available, accessible and free from contamination. But where does the country stand in terms of achieving these goals?
Availability of Water Resources in Ethiopia
In a 2017 UNICEF survey, 78 percent of Ethiopians reported no problems with availability. Although rural areas of Ethiopia are more likely to drink from springs or wells, these sources are more consistent than their urban counterparts. Almost 75 percent of people living in the cities of Addis Ababa and Tigray have access to piped water, but half of urban respondents reported that water had been unavailable for a full day or more in the past two weeks. Access to piped water definitely has its advantages, but in Ethiopia, is it also the least reliable.
Accessibility of Water Resources in Ethiopia
The advantage of living in an urban area is that water is likely to be available on the premises, while rural areas deal with the burden of time-consuming collection. Nationally, 55 percent of people spend 1 to 30 minutes fetching water, and 26 percent spend more than 30 minutes.
This burden is not divided equally in the average household. Three-quarters of water bearers are female, most likely the daughter of the household head. Nationally, about 35 percent of those fetching water are children between the ages of 7 and 14. This may be a contributor to the fact that less than half of Ethiopian children attend primary school.
Safety of Water Resources in Ethiopia
In Ethiopia, water may be contaminated through fecal matter or industrial chemicals. Rural areas are more likely to rely on surface water or dug wells, which have the highest rates of E. coli in the country. There is also a higher risk that the water will become infected after it has been brought into the home. The practice of open defecation, still used by 27 million Ethiopians, contributes to these high numbers. The fact that humans and livestock rely on the same water sources also adds to the risk. The UNICEF report found that only 14 percent of tested water had no detectable E. coli.
Larger sources of water, such as rivers, are more likely to be contaminated with industrial waste. Ethiopia is largely reliant on agriculture, with industry focused around textiles and food industries. As the country continues to industrialize, pollution is expected to increase. Foreign investment in the Ethiopian economy has shown a positive influence on this issue, as these investors prefer nonpolluting activities.
In 2006, only 24 percent of the population had access to drinking water. In 2015, that number was 57 percent. The Ethiopian government and international charities have worked hard to bring about such rapid change. With continued interest, Ethiopia will see the day of 100 percent access to clean and available water.
– Jackie Mead
Photo: Flickr
Top 5 Facts About the Neven Subotic Foundation
Famous Serbian football player, Neven Subotic, has founded the Neven Subotic Foundation that works on projects focused on supplying this basic human right to as many people as possible in Ethiopia. Here are the top five facts about the Neven Subotic Foundation.
Top 5 Facts About the Neven Subotic Foundation
The Neven Subotic Foundation not only works to provide 100 percent WASH to the people in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, but the organization also promotes education. When the Foundation builds wells for communities and schools, they are offering opportunities for children — especially girls — to attend school instead of having to walk miles to unsanitary water sources.