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10 Facts About Sanitation in the Dominican Republic

10 Facts About Sanitation in the Dominican Republic
In the Dominican Republic, legislative efforts to curb outbreaks of cholera and waterborne diseases in rural and urban populations have steadily improved sanitation, water and hygiene levels. National commitment has pushed both government and non-government organizations to develop and improve much of the Dominican Republic’s infrastructure. Below are 10 facts about sanitation in the Dominican Republic.

10 Facts About Sanitation in the Dominican Republic

  1. Cholera Outbreaks: Only 74 percent of residents have access to clean water, which primarily led to the cholera outbreaks in November 2010. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 8,000 people have died as a result of cholera.
  2. Natural Disasters: The Dominican Republic encountered 40 natural disasters from 1980 to 2008 that have severely damaged water systems and contaminated tanks. Approximately 2.65 million residents faced water shortages and illnesses due to poor weather conditions.
  3. Waterborne and Diarrheal Diseases: Waterborne and diarrheal diseases in the Dominican Republic spread mainly due to a lack of sanitary restrooms. Almost 24 percent of residents do not have access to bathrooms. Additionally, many, particularly children, do not have access to routine vaccinations for these diseases.
  4. Government Projects: Government partnerships and projects with the World Health Organization and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation have controlled epidemic outbreaks. These organizations have also improved accessibility to drinking water sources to 86 percent of the population. Further, sanitation facilities increased accessibility to 83 percent of residents between 1990 and 2010.
  5. The Inter-American Bank’s Loan: In 2012, the Dominican Republic partnered with the Inter-American Development Bank to obtain a $25 million loan. This loan would improve energy efficiency and provide access to water services for at least 12 hours to more than 200,000 residents. Despite ongoing measurements of the impact, about 84 percent of the population experienced an improvement in sanitation facilities and drinking water.
  6. The Dominican Red Cross: In response to the cholera outbreak, the Dominican Red Cross imported 28 water treatment plants to magnify emergency responses. The Haitian and Dominican governments developed a 10-year plan with the Red Cross to ensure cholera-free islands. The countries curated a two-year campaign that pushed their key objectives in eradicating the disease.
  7. USAID Batey Community Development Project: The USAID Batey Community Development Project is pushing to improve water access and sanitary conditions in the Dominican Republic’s bateyes. Bateyes, which are towns surrounding sugar mills, traditionally have no running water, electricity or cooking facilities. The project aims to improve water distribution systems, build restroom facilities and train the population on environmental hygiene.
  8. The Regional Coalition on Water and Sanitation to Eliminate Cholera in Hispaniola: The Regional Coalition on Water and Sanitation to Eliminate Cholera in Hispaniola emerged in June 2012 as a blueprint for cholera-affected countries, primarily Haiti and the Dominican Republic, to help mobilize resources and reduce cholera-related deaths by 90 percent by 2030. The coalition consists of the World Health Organization, Pan American Health Organization, UNICEF and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  9. Surge for Water: In partnership with Project Hearts in 2016, Surge for Water installed 45 water tanks, 16 water filters and education and training opportunities to the people in Baitoa, Dominican Republic. This increased the population’s access to safe drinking water to 97 percent.
  10. The ACCIONA Agua’s Water Plant: A potable water plant that the ACCIONA Agua instituted in the south of the Dominican Republic improved the region’s network by providing access to more than 138,000 residents. This number will likely rise up to 300,000 in the coming years. For residents, this makes cooking a simple meal such as rice and beans more feasible.

These initiatives and developments are important in the progress of the Dominican Republic’s water, sanitation and hygiene levels. It is important to recognize many of the constituents that have compromised the country’s water supplies and sanitary conditions. Illnesses that are preventable through sustainable action often affect residents. These 10 facts about sanitation in the Dominican Republic, involving training, education and accessibility efforts, are vital to the country’s quality of life.

– Brittany Adames
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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10 Facts About Corruption in Nigeria 

10 Facts About Corruption in Nigeria 
People most commonly define corruption as the “abuse of entrusted power for private gain,” and government officials and citizens feel its effects on an everyday basis. It is a growing political issue around the globe, but developing countries like Nigeria often struggle deeply to control or combat corruption. The most reliable source that measures corruption is the Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index. Nigeria often ranks in the bottom quartile of this index, with the scale being zero (most corrupt) to 100 (cleanest). Below are 10 facts about corruption in Nigeria.

10 Facts About Corruption in Nigeria

  1. Nigeria has two main political parties: the All Progressive Congress party (ADC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). These parties are almost identical in platforms but still oppose one another. Each party often increases corruption in Nigeria by utilizing misappropriated public funds to run opposing campaigns.
  2. A survey from 2013 showed that over 75 percent of journalists admitted to accepting financial gifts from politicians. These bribes often lead to editors and journalists manipulating stories and coverage to create media corruption in Nigeria. Despite this, the country still maintains an almost completely free press.
  3. Corruption in Nigeria has neither improved nor declined in score over the past several years. Typically, the country’s score varies from 25-28 any given year. Although there has not been a sharp increase or decrease, Nigeria still ranks below the average of 32 for the sub-Saharan African region.
  4. Former petroleum minister Diezani Alison-Madueke used a $115 million bribe to secure an election victory for the PDP in 2015. The ADP and PDP collectively spent almost $2 billion on his campaign in the same year. This spending came from public funds and contributed to higher electoral corruption in Nigeria.
  5. Entrepreneurs generate 50 percent of the GDP in Nigeria but often face extortion and racketeering from police forces. Federal legislators have diverted $433 billion to vague projects in the past several years. This hurts small businesses in the country and allows corruption in the government to continue.
  6. Before the 2015 elections, the removal and distribution of $236 billion to 24 state governors occurred without explanation. Nigeria originally opened the fund to provide inexpensive loans to small businesses in the country. As of 2018, there is evidence to suggest that this money has been almost completely embezzled throughout the years.
  7. Nigeria has conducted a fixed exchange rate for its currency, the naira, in hopes of preventing further inflation from corruption. The naira is currently one of the lower performing currencies in the world largely due to continuing corruption in Nigeria. This new rate has caused prices of imported goods to double and inflation to spike.
  8. The Buhari administration has proposed a budget with plans for investing in agriculture and mining while battling corrupt business practices. However, projects like these often consume large quantities of public funds. This appropriation of funds to industrial projects often leads to higher levels of corruption in Nigeria.
  9. Between 2011 and 2015, over $3.6 billion disappeared from Nigerian public coffers. Unfortunately, this stolen sum resulted in a loss of potential roads, schools and homes planned for construction. This includes a loss of 500 kilometers of potential roads and around 200 potential schools that required only one-third of the stolen funds.
  10. Corruption in Nigeria affects poorer families most severely. These high levels of corruption could cost individuals $1,000 per person by 2030 if the country does not address it. Further, the levels of inequality continue to increase in the country due to corruption. 

The country still has many steps to take in order to successfully defeat corruption and continue developing. A presidential advisory committee has recently established to combat corruption in Nigeria. Nigeria also now legally requires banks to issue universal identification numbers to individuals. This process works by tracking multiple accounts owned by an individual and identifies missing or misappropriated funds. Citizens must speak out against corruption and governments must be held accountable in order to fully combat the issue. Additionally, governments must strengthen their institutions and close loopholes that allow for corruption in Nigeria to continue. For now, Nigeria is taking action in hopes of at least decreasing corruption in the coming years.

– Hannah Easley
Photo: Flickr

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CARE International’s Response to the Taal Volcano Eruption

Taal VolcanoOn January 12, 2020, the Philippines was rocked by a violent, volcanic eruption. Ash and toxic chemicals billowed into the skies above before descending on towns and villages below. Taal Volcano was the source of the blast. It is an active volcano that has caused several devastating eruptions during the last few centuries. It is located just south of Manila, the Philippines’ capital. As a result, more than 400,000 people were left with no choice but to flee their homes. In the sudden panic that ensued, NGOs like CARE International were quick to act and help in any way possible.

The Days Following the Eruption

Even though the initial blast was finished in a matter of hours, the true scale of the disaster was just beginning to bubble to the surface. Huge spikes in seismic activity occur after a volcano erupts, which ultimately means earthquakes. In the first 24 hours after the blast, at least 75 earthquakes hammered the surrounding areas.

The first task that responders did was establish a danger zone, which is an area around the volcano where it is inherently dangerous to be in. In the case of the Taal Volcano, the danger zone covered a 14 kilometer (8.7 miles) radius. This means that almost half a million people needed to be evacuated as quickly as possible.

Rya Ducusin is a communications and knowledge management specialist with CARE International. She has been working for the organization in the Philippines for the last three years. She was delighted to see how quickly citizens came together to help evacuate one another from the danger zone. Civilians began using their own cars and boats to transport their fellow neighbors to safety. It is tragic for any deaths to occur in a disaster like this, but without the efforts of everyday civilians, it is likely that far more people would have perished as a result of the eruption.

Ensuring The Safety Of All IDPs

Ducusin specializes in making sure that every internally displaced person (IDP) feels safe once they arrive at evacuation centers (ECs). She helped conduct a rapid gender assessment (RGA), particularly focusing on women and young girls, who were living in ECs. RGAs are immensely helpful for organizations like CARE International because not everyone has the same needs. The information comes directly from IDPs and paints a better picture of what issues NGOs need to be focusing on. The findings can be used to not only help the current relief efforts but plan for better responses in the future.

Findings From The Rapid Gender Assessment

The RGA helped uncover that some families chose to allow their youngest children to leave the ECs so that their children would not have to experience the conditions of living in a congested space with people they did not know. Children who left were primarily staying with relatives in neighboring cities. However, relatives did not always have the funding or resources necessary to care for the children. By identifying this need through the RGA, CARE International could coordinate getting families outside of the ECs additional support.

Ducusin also helped resolve a need that women and young girls, in particular, were experiencing. All of the tents at the ECs looked similar and were not fitted with locks. This led to people understandably mixing up which tents belonged to who. To provide privacy and decrease confusion, CARE identified tents by marking them with specific symbols or colors. In the future, tents could possibly be designed with some sort of locking mechanism to resolve this issue even further.

While the RGA identified many problems, it also helped identify some positive instances in the ECs. In times of emergencies, people are forced to take on roles that they would not normally undertake. For example, women and men in some ECs would work together to cook meals for everyone. Men typically would not do this in the comfort of their own homes and women reported a feeling of unity when the men would help them with such tasks. Men and women developed a larger appreciation for each others’ skill sets and saw that certain skills did not have to be determined on whether someone was born male or female.

Relief Efforts

Today, Ducusin said that almost all of the 400,000 people who were forced to evacuate have returned home. Unfortunately, some homes were wiped out permanently and certain areas around the volcano will not be safe to return to for years.

The silver lining of any disaster, including the Taal volcano, is the work NGOs like CARE do to make relief efforts as safe and comfortable as possible. Natural disasters like the eruption of the Taal volcano will, unfortunately, continue to reoccur. However, by conducting procedures like RGAs when they do occur, relief organizations can be better prepared to respond to natural disasters in the future.

– Jake Hill
Photo: Flickr

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10 Facts About Sanitation in Morocco

10 Facts About Sanitation in Morocco
Morocco has made significant progress in sanitation during the past decade. Although there are still many issues, improvements in water sanitation in Morocco are in the near future. Here are 10 facts about sanitation in Morocco.

10 Facts About Sanitation in Morocco

  1. H2O Maghreb: USAID and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) implemented an activity called H2O Maghreb in order to help establish advanced and sustainable water management practices in Morocco. H2O Maghreb includes a two-year degree accredited by the government of Morocco. Furthermore, the H20 Maghreb activity provides training and job opportunities in waste management. About 80 percent of the students participating are women.
  2. The Douira Sea Water Desalination Plant: Morocco plans to build the world’s largest seawater desalination plant in the city of Agadir in 2021. The Douira Sea Water Desalination Plant will provide drinking water to the people of the Chtouka Ait Baha region in Morocco. Further, the Douira Sea Water Desalination Plant should be able to irrigate 15,000 hectares of land and produce up to 450,000 cubic meters of desalinated water every day.
  3. Dakhla’s Wasterwater Treatment Plant: Morocco is also building a wastewater treatment plant in Dakhla. The plant will help prevent wastewater from polluting groundwater resources. Additionally, the wastewater sludge can also act as a fertilizer.
  4. Improvements to the Wastewater Sector: During the past decade, Morocco has made many improvements in its wastewater sector. Of the 34 million people in Morocco, 25 percent of the people are not connected to the sewer network and 38 percent of the people are not connected to wastewater treatment plants.
  5. Leprosy: Leprosy is on the decline in Morocco. From 2000 to 2012, the number of leprosy cases decreased by 4.68 percent each year. In 2012, Morocco began a program to distribute rifampicin to help prevent the spread of leprosy. From 2012 to 2017, the number of cases of leprosy in Morocco decreased by 16.38 percent each year. The rifampicin program helped prevent leprosy and improved sanitation in Morocco
  6. Trachoma: Morocco eliminated trachoma in 2016. Trachoma is an infectious disease that causes blindness. Morocco implemented the World Health Organization-endorsed SAFE strategy in the 1990s. This included surgery for trichiasis, antibiotics to treat trachoma, facial cleanliness and environmental improvements to help prevent the spread of trachoma.
  7. Acid Mine Drainage: Acid mine drainage is an issue in Morocco. When people do not clean mine sites, the acid mine drainage at the mines can contaminate the land and the groundwater.
  8. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Schools (WinS): Morocco implemented the program Water, sanitation and hygiene in schools (WinS) in order to provide clean water and improve sanitary facilities in 19 primary schools in the country. Improving sanitary facilities at schools can help prevent water-related diseases and encourage children to stay in school and graduate.
  9. European Space Agency Technology: The University of Kenitra utilizes technology developed by the European Space Agency to clean groundwater so that it is safe for people to drink. The water treatment facility will provide water for 1,200 students.
  10. Safely-Managed Drinking Services: As of 2017, 70.266 percent of the people in Morocco have access to safely-managed drinking water services. This also means that as of 2017, 29.734 percent of the people in Morocco do not have access to safely-managed drinking water services.

These 10 facts about sanitation in Morocco show that the water supply is improving and will continue to improve. As technology and new initiatives increase the water supply, more people will gain access to safe drinking water.

– Frank Decapio
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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10 Facts About Sanitation in the DRC

10 Facts About Sanitation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a country located in Central Africa, has been the victim of oppression, colonization and enslavement by European nations dating back to the year 1890. Violence and war continued for decades as a result. The Central African country currently lacks some essential sanitation resources, which has led to the spread of diseases such as cholera within the nation. Part of this is because half of the people of the DRC receive improved drinking water from wells and public standpipes. Here are 10 facts about sanitation in the DRC.

10 Facts About Sanitation in the DRC

  1. In 2018, only 29 percent of people in the DRC had access to basic sanitation services. There is 42 percent of people in the DRC currently using unimproved methods of sanitation. This includes pit latrines and bucket latrines.
  2. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there is an indisputable crisis in the availability of clean and pure drinking water. UNICEF reports that despite the fact that 50 percent of Africa’s water reserves exist there, there are still millions of people living without pure drinking water. In fact, more than half the population of the DRC lacks clean drinking water.
  3. Many people and schoolchildren have benefitted from the national program, Healthy School and Village. This national program aims to provide clean drinking water to villages in Africa to prevent diarrheal diseases. Waterborne diseases, like cholera, claim the lives of thousands of people of the DRC per year. UNICEF reports that as many as 7 million people and 983,000 schoolchildren have seen an improvement in their quality of life from this program since 2008.
  4. Women in the DRC and other sub-Saharan African countries are bearing the burden of having to deliver clean drinking water to their families. Women and girls in the developing world, such as the DRC, spend up to 90 percent of their valuable time collecting water. The women and girls in the DRC rarely finish their schooling due to this need for water. In the DRC, the participation of boys in the secondary school system has been 25 percent higher than girls since 2009.
  5. In 2011, a program called We Are Water successfully raised 20,000 euros in an effort to give accessible drinking water to the DRC. The program estimates that with the funds raised, it will be able to minimize the cholera epidemic. It is giving 20,000 people from 30 different villages clean water to drink and maintain their hygiene. This will only increase the efforts for creating better sanitation in the DRC.
  6. The U.N. Refugee Agency’s Cash for Shelter project has given funds to people in the DRC so they may build their own homes with real functioning toilets. Most people can only dream of owning a toilet because they are living on a mere $2 a day. Through this program, they do not have to construct makeshift pit latrines. They can now create a sense of security and ownership for themselves. Since its inception in 2016, the UNHCR’s cash-based interventions have reached more than 20 million people.
  7. There are many initiatives that bring clean drinking water to the people of the DRC like Concern Worldwide. It has provided the village of Mulombwa with its very own water pipe, which has revitalized the village in so many ways. Throughout its 50 years, this program has reached 24.2 million people in 23 different countries.
  8. The proportion of people drinking surface water, which includes contaminated lakes and rivers, was 11 percent, as of December 2018. The use of unimproved water sources like surface water is nearly universal in rural areas, according to the World Bank. Urban areas have 81 percent access to improved water sources, while it is as low as 31 percent in rural areas.
  9. According to the World Bank, access to improved water, sanitation and hygiene services is low, improving only by 3 percent. In urban areas, however, access to water, sanitation and hygiene services is much higher.
  10. There is a trend of constant outbreaks of cholera in various regions of the DRC due to contaminated drinking water. The infection can lead to severe dehydration and diarrhea which, if people leave unchecked, could lead to death. From November 2015 to February 2018, there were 1,065 cases of cholera in the capital Kinshasa alone, according to the World Health Organization. Of these 1,065 cases, there were 43 confirmed deaths.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has seen little improvement in water quality and sanitation services. Thankfully, people and organizations are consistently working on improving everyday life for the people of the DRC. Whether it be funding Congolese families to have a functioning toilet in their homes or building a protected well for an entire village, there are several ways these organizations can make an impact

– William Mendez
Photo: Flickr

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10 Facts About Sanitation in India

Sanitation in India
In recent years, India has invested tremendous resources to mitigate its public health pressure, especially with respect to sanitation. The problem of the Ganges catches most eyes, however, uneven distribution of precipitation and demographic density cause issues as well. Due to the lack of appropriate access to clean water and related infrastructures such as toilets, waterborne diseases cost India more in actual societal and economic losses than the average level across the world. Here are 10 facts about sanitation in India.

10 Facts about Sanitation in India

  1. The Ganges River provides water access for around 400 million nearby dwellers, and unfortunately, cities directly inject over three-quarters of untreated sewage into the river. The government approved Namami Genge program has achieved operation of 75 sewage treatment plants, a river surface cleaning action plan and a desire to rejuvenate the river from heavy pollution.
  2. Open defecation and communicable waterborne disease are highly concerning in India. Water relates to 21 percent of diseases in India. Around 99 million people have no access to safe water and 500 children in India each day cannot survive through their fifth year on the earth due to diarrheal disease.
  3. Lack of adequate and appropriate toilets used to contribute to the main reason for open defecation in India. Only 32.7 percent of its rural households previously had access to toilets. This figure has now grown to 98.8 percent as 92 million newly constructed toilets cover most of the rural area. Research suggests that a great decrease is emerging while the coverage rate of toilets is rising.
  4. Mental and societal reasons determine the preference for open defecation. Research suggests that even in rural households with toilets or latrines, some of the household members prefer open defecation because they believe it is more pleasurable and desirable compared to the use of available toilets.
  5. Women’s risk of being sexually assaulted is higher when private and safe toilets are not available. At least 50 percent of sanitation structures remain unused or not used properly. Many women (300 million) have no or limited access to safe bathrooms. In some extreme cases, the problem puts females’ life at stake because of the unfamiliarity of toilet facilities.
  6. Vulnerability against seasonal changes undermines the capacity to provide sanitation in India. In the monsoon season, water treatment plants in low lying basins must shut down to avoid flash floods and power outages, while some water scarcity villages will only use the toilets during this period. In turn, villages cannot maintain sustainable water supply when periodic drought strikes.
  7. Water supply is the cornerstone of the sanitation system, yet the network is incomplete in both urban and rural areas. In rural areas, villages are draining unsafe underground water for daily usage, and in cities, poor water management rises the potential pressure for water shortage.
  8. Limited water access in rural regions directly impedes children’s possibility to receive an education. In general, the shortage of water in rural areas gives people the added burden of carrying the water home. Instead of attending school, children are supporting their families with such undesired labor.
  9. The Swachh Bharat (Clean India Mission) contributed incredible achievements. India built about 1.5 million toilets in 2019 and over 100 million toilets during the past 5 years. In total, when the mission completed in October 2019, 60,000 villages were open-defecation free. The Individual Household Latrine (IHHL) coverage reached 100 percent of the state’s households.
  10. Partnership with Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) represents an outstanding international intervention of sanitation improvement in India’s local communities. It secured over $5 million in funding from the private sector. Fueled by this funding, 175,000 people have access to safe water and 25,000 communities are open-defecation free.

Today in India, diseases from untreated water and unhygienic defecation impact society not only through triggering the public health crisis, but also impacting females and children. Limited drainage systems and a lack of water preservation systems are two issues that could prevent India from fully integrating sanitation into rural areas. Fortunately, the Indian government’s campaigns keep sanitation in India on the top of its to-do list. The imperfections cannot overshadow the progress that India has made in promoting its sanitation.

– Dingnan Zhang
Photo: Flickr

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6 Facts about Girls’ Education in Romania

facts about girls' education in RomaniaRomania is a country settled in east-central Europe bordering the Black Sea. The country has a rigid education program that falls short in some areas of girls’ education, particularly for Roma girls who come from a minority making up about 10 percent of Romania’s population. While improvements are being made to the overall education of the country, some pupils are more neglected than others. These six facts about girls’ education in Romania shed some light on the achievements and shortfalls of the Romanian education system and what is being done to further improve girls’ education.

6 Facts About Girls’ Education in Romania

  1. There are more girls in pre-primary schools than boys. As of 2016, 75.26 percent of Romanian girls were enrolled in pre-primary school—the equivalent of kindergarten—while only 74.52 percent of boys were enrolled.
  2. Female literacy rates are on the rise. In 1992, 94.98 percent of the Romanian female population older than 15 were literate. As of 2018, that percentage stood at 98.6.
  3. Half of the women in rural Romania don’t finish secondary school. Half of the female population living in rural areas of Romania don’t manage to finish secondary school according to Tatiana Proscuryakova, World Bank’s Country Manager for Romania and Hungary.
  4. Roma women often don’t have the same opportunities as other women in Romania. One of the largest minority groups in Romania is the Roma people. Roma girls are disproportionately impacted by poverty conditions and continue to face societal discrimination. On average, Roma girls leave school at age 10 so that they can contribute to the household in some way.
  5. Female unemployment rates are increasing. As of 2019, only 45.17 percent of Romanian women are part of the workforce. This number dropped from 62.31 percent in 1992 and is likely a direct result of the struggle among many women to complete a proper education. Without an education, many women find themselves without the skills necessary to make themselves a valuable member of the workforce.
  6. Save the Children is working to fix the gap in Roma girls’ education. The American nonprofit, known for its work in helping children around the world, launched a preparedness program in the summer of 2016 for children in Romania. The goal of this program is to help Roma children be better equipped for pre-primary school, both academically and socially.

Romania has an impressive literacy rate among both men and women but has seen a dramatic drop in the number of women in the workforce. Most Romanian women are able to receive an education, but Roma girls seem to be subject to a prejudiced struggle. While the number of girls in the workforce is declining, education is increasing and the hope of overall improvement of girls’ education and the consequent life opportunities is bright.

– Amanda Gibson
Photo: Flickr

 

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10 Biggest Problems In The World 

10 Biggest Problems in the World 
There is no better time to focus on the biggest problems in the world. The everlasting tightened world economy, war threats and lingering diseases all ubiquitously affect human lives in every corner of the world. The United Nations (U.N.) has compiled a list of the current 10 biggest problems in the world.

 10 Biggest Problems in the World

  1. Peace and Security: Civil conflicts in Syria, Libya and Yemen, Russian aggression over Ukraine and its neighbors and tensions in the South China Sea are some global peace and security threats that are in existence today. These threats cost many lives due to terrorist acts and population displacement. The U.N. has 16 peacekeeping operations currently underway with nine in Africa, three in the Middle East, two in Europe and one in the Americas. With a peacekeeping budget of approximately $8.2 million, it keeps over 125,000 military personnel, police and civilians grounded and armed. The U.N. has made some progress with success stories coming from Burundi and Sierra Leone. U.N. forces eliminated more than 42,000 weapons and 1.2 million rounds of ammunition. It also demilitarized 75,000 fighters, including children, in Sierra Leone.
  2. AIDS: Among these 10 biggest problems in the world, AIDS is still a global health issue with 37.9 million people living with HIV. HIV newly infected around 1.7 million people and 770,000 people died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2018. Many global initiatives have emerged to lower the number of HIV cases including the GMT Initiative and TREAT Asia. The Foundation for AIDS Research, amfAR, lowers the number of AIDS cases with its GMT Initiative by supporting HIV organizations in developing countries to provide better education about HIV, expand prevention services and advocate for more HIV treatment and prevention funding. The TREAT Asia initiative links a network of clinics, hospitals and research institutions to perform research on HIV and AIDS treatments within the Asia-Pacific region. Many people (23.3 million) living with HIV in 2018 were undergoing antiretroviral therapy. New HIV infections have fallen by 16 percent since 2010 and AIDS-related deaths have fallen by 55 percent since the peak in 2004.
  3. Children in Poverty: Children around the world regularly do not have a fair chance for health, education and protection due to armed conflicts, violence and poverty. Millions of young children in 2019 did not have basic health care and proper nutrition resulting in stunted growth. The Millennium Development Goals have been in place for the past 15 years to help address the above issues affecting children. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been working with governments, the U.N., other NGOs and the private sector to broaden the impact on addressing child poverty with a particular focus on child malnutrition.
  4. Climate and Agriculture: The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report stated that human activities cause climate change and that the impacts are adverse. Climate change ties to world poverty by negatively impacting agriculture with increasing energy use, decreasing food production and increasing food prices. Many say that more water is necessary to grow crops due to high temperatures and drought, downpour rain in other areas causes sea level rises and that people require more lands with favorable climates. Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan had low yield on their crops in the summer of 2010 due to excessive heat that led to very high food prices, starvation, malnutrition and poverty. Some agricultural areas around the world have made improvements to their agricultural practices such as scaling sowing time, using different cultivation techniques and testing different cultivars.
  5. Democracy: Countries around the world often experience democracy deficit, weak institutions and poor governance. The U.N. is working to bring democracy to countries around the world by working with each country’s government to promote fair and exemplary governing practices, facilitate transparency and accountability and advise on new constitutions. The United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) is funding projects that promote human rights, civil society and democratic inclusion. UNDEF is funding projects to include youths in elections in Cote d’Ivoire, promote gender equality in Palestine and support citizens in elections in Brazil.
  6. Poverty: The United Nations poverty facts and figures show that approximately 8 percent of the world’s workforce and their families live off of less than $1.90 daily. High poverty rates exist in small and deserted regions with armed conflicts, and approximately 55 percent of the world’s population has no social protection such as cash or food benefits. The condition of those living in poverty is improving following the U.N.’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In fact, the percentage of the world’s population living off of $1.90 or less per day in 2015 is down to 10 percent from 16 percent in 2010.
  7. Hunger: Statistics have identified that 821 million people around the world suffered undernourishment in 2017, 149 million children had stunted growth and 49 million children under 5 years old experienced wasting due to malnourishment. The World Food Programme, U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, World Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development are working together toward the Sustainable Development Goal to end hunger, maintain food security, improve nutrition and promote excellent agricultural practices. The World Bank Group is working with partners to promote farming practices, improve land use, grow high-yield and nutritious crops and instruct on storage and chain supply to prevent food loss.
  8. Gender Equality: Women in more than 60 countries cannot get citizenship. Sixty percent of people lacking basic literacy skills are women and one-third of women experience sexual violence, according to U.N. Women. The United Population Fund supports the protection of women’s rights through the law. They helped fight for women’s access to reproductive health care in Ecuador and Guatemala. The United Population Fund also helps to build shelters for trafficked women in Moldova and girls fleeing mutilation in Tanzania.
  9. Health: Half of the 7.3 billion people worldwide do not have access to adequate health services, according to the world health statistics of 2019. The World Health Organization (WHO) is leading the efforts in addressing world health issues which include malaria, women’s health and tuberculosis. For the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa in 2014, WHO deployed experts, medical equipment and medical teams to set up and run mobile laboratories and treatment clinics.
  10. Water: In 2019, 2.2 billion people did not have access to safe drinking water and 297,000 children under 5 years old died from diarrheal diseases. Eighty percent of wastewater went back into the ecosystem without prior treatment in 2017. The U.N. is promoting agreements among countries to ensure better usage of water. The 2015 Addis Ababa Action Agenda includes policies and measures that incorporate finance, technology, innovation, trade, debt and data to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals including water sanitation and water usage.

These 10 biggest problems in the world may bring uncertainty and worry, however, many organizations are planning and implementing initiatives to solve these issues. People can provide support to these organizations either financially or through direct involvement to aid in eliminating these challenges.

– Hung Minh Le
Photo: Pixabay

 

 

The Criminalization of Poverty in Rio

Criminalization of Poverty in Rio
Brazil boasts the fourth-highest incarceration rate in the entire world and a lot of these arrests occur in the most urban areas of the country like Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo. These cities happen to be centers of diversity and culture, but also areas of extreme wealth disparity. The criminalization of poverty in Rio demonstrates the general poverty-crime cycle, where greater economic disadvantage and higher rates of incarceration lead to each other.

The Case of Rafael Braga Vieria

In 2013, the case of Rafael Braga Vieria became a landmark for the government of Rio’s less-than-neutral approach to making arrests at the time filled with mass demonstrations. Vieria was a homeless street cleaner carrying cleaning supplies. The authorities only arrested Vieria out of the 300,000 protesting that night. He received a five-year sentence on the grounds that he could have used the supplies to make a molotov cocktail.

Article 3 of Brazil’s constitution protects against this sort of discrimination against poverty, but at the same time, there is legislation allowing for drug offenses to receive judgment based on personal circumstances. For example, if the suspect came from a certain background, authorities could legally assume that they intended the drugs for personal use.

Life in Favelas

Usually, the poorer people in the area, living in favelas or poor neighborhoods, receive the worst of this treatment. The residents become targets for drug trafficking as well as scapegoats for the law. Rio de Janeiro’s favelas hold upwards of 1 million that face discrimination from the general public. In reality, violence is not an inherent part of favelas. It is a result of the system that allows them to exist in a state of such neglect. All of this leads to violence within the community and violence on behalf of the state. For instance, the police killed upwards of 600 people in 2015 alone. Around 75 percent of these deaths were black men.

Such high incarceration rates because of the criminalization of poverty in Rio often have other economic effects on the people most affected. Those living in favelas, disproportionately black families, receive evictions from their homes without reason. Between 2009 and 2013, the government forced around 20,000 families out of their homes with no compensation. In addition, many low-income families felt the impact of having one person incarcerated for a long time, especially if the person was the wage-earner of the family. Not only does this criminalization of poverty in Rio make life more difficult in the moment, but it also opens the door for further turning towards crime and violence.

Today

The percentage of people living in poverty is rising after the boom of the 2016 Olympics. Unemployment has risen, as well as the other byproducts of poverty, but many organizations are working to make a difference in Rio. Habitat for Humanity has helped almost 20,000 families find houses outside of these favelas, but people can always do more. Investing in other aid organizations, especially local ones, would be necessary to improve living conditions, thereby decreasing the criminalization of poverty in Rio and Brazil as a whole.

– Anna Sarah Langlois
Photo: Flickr

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10 Facts about Life Expectancy in Kuwait

10 Facts About Life Expectancy in Kuwait
Kuwait does not immediately come to mind when one thinks of poverty. It may seem that statistics like life expectancy point to a high standard of living, but life is different for expatriates and noncitizens who make up the majority of the country’s inhabitants. Here are 10 facts about life expectancy in Kuwait, including a couple that appears a little too good to be true.

10 Facts About Life Expectancy in Kuwait

  1. The average life expectancy in Kuwait is about 75. This puts Kuwait above average for an Arab country, yet this figure likely does not take into account many foreign workers for reasons that number six in this list will explain. In comparison, the average life expectancy in Egypt is 72, 70 in both Iraq and Syria and 74 in the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza. Additionally, all of these countries have faced some form of geopolitical unrest.
  2. Kuwait began the development of its petroleum industry in the 1930s. The industry is largely responsible for the country’s wealth and high standard of living today. It is likely also partly responsible for its high life expectancy. High socioeconomic status is a key determinant of high life expectancies, and Kuwaiti citizens, on average, enjoy both.
  3. The biggest increase in life expectancy was in the 1960s. Life expectancy in Kuwait grew rapidly with the coinciding economic development during the decade. Since then, it has followed a trajectory similar to other developed nations such as the U.S. and Australia.
  4. The difference in life expectancy between men and women is not significant. Unlike in the United States where the gap between men and women is five years, the gap is only about two years in Kuwait, and it is unclear why this might be the case. Kuwait’s neighbor Bahrain has a similarly small life expectancy gap.
  5. The third leading cause of death is influenza and pneumonia. In fact, the rates of influenza and pneumonia are high in comparison to most countries. In the U.S., these are only the eighth leading killers. Kuwait’s ministry of health has made efforts to combat influenza. In fact, flu vaccines more than tripled from 50,000 to 160,000 in 2019.
  6. Kuwait has one of the lowest death rates in the world, ranking 224th out of 226 countries. Only its neighbors Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have lower death rates. The low death rates reflect these countries’ world-class health care systems, but incidentally, all three of these countries have ex-pat populations that greatly outnumber their citizens. These countries do not have paths to citizenship in almost all cases, so once a foreigner is no longer able to work due to illness or old age, they must return home. Consequently, those who die in these countries are natives or foreigners who pass away from sudden and unexpected causes. This fact makes it difficult to accurately estimate the average life expectancy of foreigners difficult.
  7. Health care is poor for Kuwaiti people without citizenship. Foreign workers are not the only people who face discrimination in Kuwait. The Bidoons are a Kuwaiti born population that the government considers illegal. They may purchase health care plans, but government hospitals restrict certain procedures, treatments and medications. In addition, medical facilities may refuse them care outright if they lack proper documentation.
  8. Unemployment is around 2 percent. One should note, however, that others frequently relegate the Bidoon population to the informal job market. When the Bidoon’s have employment through the government, their contracts offer little job security and benefits.
  9. Some reports determine that the poverty rate is 0 percent. Having one of the lowest death rates and reportedly no individuals living in poverty may paint a picture of life in Kuwait that is not wholly accurate, however. Out of the 10 facts about life expectancy in Kuwait, this fact appears to be the most suspect. The questionable validity of the cited figure notwithstanding, many treat expatriates like second class citizens, greatly reducing their quality of life. The challenges they face include harsh working conditions, fears of harassment and practices like nonpayment or delayed payment. The good news is that some are making progress. Recent 2016 legislation allows some migrant workers to transfer their visa sponsorship to other employers after three years, potentially providing an incentive for companies to maintain acceptable working conditions.
  10. The government is investing $104 billion in health care infrastructure. This is in part to combat high rates of obesity, diabetes and cancer in the country. The investment should theoretically lead to longer lives as access to health care is one of the main determinants of life expectancy.

 These 10 facts about life expectancy in Kuwait show that the quality of life is good for the country’s citizens. The still strong oil industry and recent efforts to improve health care infrastructure can only improve the situation. Unfortunately, many noncitizens do not have the rights that are responsible for the long lives that Kuwaiti’s can expect to live. Social and economic equality, not total wealth, are the primary issues facing Kuwait’s less well off today.

– Caleb Carr
Photo: Flickr