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10 Most Malnourished Countries

top ten malnourished countriesAccording to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 815 million people around the world suffer from malnourishment. Hunger strikes a nation when violence, conflict and any type of instability is present. Here are the top ten malnourished countries based on the malnourishment rates of countries around the world.

10 Most Malnourished Countries

  1. Central African Republic (CAR): CAR is known to be the hungriest country in the world. Half of its population suffers from hunger. CAR has “suffered from instability, ethnic violence and conflict since 2012.” This has disrupted food production and has displaced more than a million people. CAR has the highest malnutrition rate at 61.8 percent.
  2. Zimbabwe: A combination of the economic crisis and the devastating drought from October to May has resulted in Zimbabwe’s 46.6 percent malnutrition rates. About 5.5 million people will need food assistance by 2020. More than two million people are already facing severe starvation.
  3. Haiti: Haiti has gone through hurricanes, floods, political instability and earthquakes that account for its high levels of hunger. About 22 percent of children are chronically malnourished, and 66 percent of children under the age of five are anemic. Half of the 10.7 million people in Haiti are undernourished. Haiti’s malnutrition rate comes in at 45.8 percent.
  4. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea: More than 10 million people, around 40 percent of the population, are in need of “urgent food aid.” Due to the drought the country experienced earlier this spring, its crops went through “dry spells” and “heat waves,” leaving one in five children stunted.
  5. Zambia: The drought from 2001-2002 has driven Zambia into a “massive food deficit” that affected more than 2.3 million households who are dependent on rural agricultural. About 58 percent of the population are “classified as extremely poor,” hungry and food insecure. About 25 percent of children under five are underweight, and 6 percent are severely malnourished.
  6. Madagascar: Due to extreme weather conditions, long droughts and locust attacks, 1.4 million people in Madagascar are in food crisis. At least 43.1 percent of its population is malnourished. Deforestation is another key issue since 85 percent of its rainforests have vanished because of “cooking and slash and burn agricultural practices.”
  7. Uganda: Because of issues of land evictions, fake seed supplies and problematic farming methods, Uganda’s malnutrition rate stands at 41 percent. More than 1.6 million Ugandans are in a food crisis. About 82 percent of malnourished children cases go untreated, resulting in many other health problems. About 15 percent “of all child mortality cases” in the nation are related to undernutrition.
  8. Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): The food situation in DRC is so dire that people are resorting to prostitution and joining armed forces for extra money. Due to conflict-related issues, about 15 million people in the nation are going hungry. This is higher than the 7.7 million people in 2017.
  9. Yemen Republic: Yemen has a 39 percent malnutrition rate. More than 2 million children are suffering from malnutrition. Food insecurity in Yemen is due to the “large scale displacement, high food prices, endemic poverty, and influences of refugees and migrants.”
  10. Chad: Chad has been suffering from “political instability, social unrest and conflicts” ever since its independence in 1960. Additionally, its consecutive drought and random rains have resulted in failed harvests. The National Nutrition Survey of 2018 states that global acute malnutrition rests at 13.5 percent, of which 4 percent is severe malnutrition. The U.N.’s Office for the coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that about 4.5 million people face food insecurity.

Organizations Combatting Malnutrition

Organizations like Action Against Hunger and UNICEF are trying to combat malnutrition. The World Food Programme helps 86.7 million people in 83 different countries every year. It delivers “food assistance in emergencies” and works with communities to “improve nutrition and build resilience.” It has helped each one of these nations listed above. It had especially helped Yemen in 2013 when it provided food assistance for more than five million people.

IFRC and the DPRK Red Cross have also helped highly vulnerable countries like North Korea. IFRC has given about 77,000 Swiss francs to the national Red Cross efforts to help 22,000 people. Red Cross has also created around 100 community greenhouses to grow vegetables to help feed communities. DPRK has also helped by deploying water pumps during droughts so communities can water their crops.
Malnutrition is a serious issue that affects many countries. Populations in developing countries and countries in conflict are the most vulnerable. Efforts from organizations to combat malnutrition are making a difference. However, the top ten malnourished countries on this list are still in dire need of aid.

– Isabella Gonzalez Montilla
Photo: Flickr

Clean Water in Papua New Guinea

Clean Water in Papua New Guinea
Nestled on the eastern coast of the Island of New Guinea, just north of Australia, Papua New Guinea is home to the third-largest rainforest, over 839 spoken languages and countless commodities like cocoa, coffee and palm oil. The country boasts a diverse topography ranging from coastal towns and river valleys to mountainous highlands. The tribal communities within its borders are as diverse as the landscapes they inhabit. However, there is a lack of clean water in Papua New Guinea.

Lack of Clean Water and Sanitation Facilities

Despite its ecological diversity and recent economic development, the country still lacks one of the most vital resources of all: clean water. The consequences of the clean water and improved sanitation facility shortage are both dire and systematic. This affects current populations and the future prosperity of the country. The country ranks second-lowest in access to safe water in the world because of its wide range of challenging geographies which make accessing some rural areas nearly impossible. According to the World Bank Systematic Diagnostic, only 13 percent of rural areas have access to improved facilities. In addition, only 33 percent of rural areas have access to clean water in Papua New Guinea.

Consequences

Rural areas experiencing substantially lower levels of access are more vulnerable to waterborne illnesses such as dysentery, cholera, malaria and diarrhea. These illnesses are leading causes of the high infant mortality rate, which according to UNICEF’s most recent estimate is about 38 deaths per 1,000 live births. According to 2016 estimates, the mortality rate of diarrheal diseases from exposure to unsafe WASH services is 16.3 per 100,000.

Even in less severe instances, these shortcomings cause malnutrition and stunted growth. It is also a cause of socioeconomic obstacles such as lack of education due to infection. Additionally, this leads to reduced social mobility for communities in rural areas.

Water Access

The prevailing means of getting water is to carry it up from the river in jerry cans. This can be time-consuming and often dangerous for the women and girls burdened with the task. Some larger institutions with adequate roofing such as the Madan Coffee Plantation, hospitals and various schools are equipped with rain catchment systems. Those institutions will occasionally allow surrounding communities to access the water reserves at certain times during the day. The dry season lasts from June through September, during which even these communities rely on the river to supply their water. Larger water systems may also include sky hydrants. The sky hydrants utilize piping to bring water up from the river before sending it through a filtration system. Then, it will send the water back down to the communities in need. These systems are far less common as they require substantial financial resources for initial investment and cost of maintenance.

Sanitation Facilities

Lack of improved sanitation facilities is even more widespread and arguably more detrimental to the health of Papua New Guineans since many will take to the river as an alternative. When the Borgen Project interviewed Laura Elizabeth Combee, a nurse who volunteers with Water Hands Hope, about the water conditions in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, she said that “You just see people living in bamboo walls and you see people carrying water from the side of the mountain. And maybe the water is fine, but what are the people on top of the mountain doing? Do you know? So, you don’t know what is contaminating the water.”

One of the most effective alternatives is ash and hay toilets or composting toilets. This catches excrement in two separate compartments before respectively covering them with either ash or hay. This process allows for more sanitary water sources and allows populations to use the remnants as a fertilizer for agricultural purposes. While highly efficient, the use of these is not widespread as there is a lack of information and knowhow.

Water Hands Hope

One of the organizations working to remedy the shortage of clean water in Papua New Guinea is Water Hands Hope. Founded in 2014, the mission of this small Honolulu-based NGO is to use a network of local communities and volunteers to develop and implement WASH infrastructure, deliver community-based educational services and provide medical assistance and clinical work.

Laura Elizabeth Combee uses her medical knowledge to promote, educate and report on water sanitation in rural areas of Papua New Guinea. Two regions in which she volunteers are the Wagi Wan community surrounding the Madan Coffee Plantation and the town of Kundiawa, both located in the highlands of Papua New Guinea.

Participants in Water Hands Hope

During educational sessions, Water Hands Hope advises participant groups to boil water. This process would rid it of any parasites, viruses and protozoa. Additionally, it is the leading cause of waterborne illnesses.

Returning participants aware of the risks associated with unsterilized water grieve that without electricity, they often have to complete other more pressing tasks during the limited daytime, such as tending to the gardens for nourishment or working on the plantation. Lack of electricity is one of the main developmental obstacles that people in the country face.

Even if water systems are in place, there are plenty of hindrances that might deny people access to clean water in Papua New Guinea. Sometimes people have limited water access due to a lack of maintenance or a piece going missing and causing the whole system to be dysfunctional. Other times, the reasons might be because of culture or tradition.

– Victoria-Maxine Haburka
Photo: Flickr

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10 Facts About Sanitation in Southeast Asia

10 Facts About Sanitation in Southeast Asia
In many developing Southeast Asian countries, governments seldom prioritize sanitation when there is a limited spending budget. However, over the past decade or so, many countries in the area have experienced steady economic growth which has led to gradual improvements in sanitary conditions for the people. Here are 10 facts about sanitation in Southeast Asia.

10 Facts About Sanitation in Southeast Asia

  1. Increased Coverage for Improved Sanitation: As of 2018, 95.5 percent of Southeast Asia’s urban population and 85.6 percent of its rural population had access to improved drinking water. This marked a 2.4 percent increase in access for urban locations and an 8.9 percent increase for rural areas since 2005. Approximately 80.8 percent of people living in urban areas and 64.3 percent living in rural areas had access to improved sanitation such as flush toilets and piped sewer systems in 2018. Access to improved sanitation is also increasing at greater rates than improved water in most countries.
  2. Improved Health Due to Better Conditions: Around 0.71 percent of all deaths in Southeast Asia in 2017 was the result of unsafe sanitation conditions. This percentage has dropped 2.3 percent since 1990 and is lower than the world average of 1.38 percent. Cases of infectious diseases, diarrhea, malnutrition and other negative health effects that open defecation caused have also gone down as the share of the population practicing such actions decreased. As for countries where substantial toilet infrastructure is still lacking, such as Cambodia, Timor, Laos and Indonesia, scientists are working to design and install new flush toilets. One team at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok has received a $5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fund such a project.
  3. Creating Comprehensive National Policies: Certain developing Southeast Asian countries lack comprehensive regulations regarding the design and construction of sewers and other sanitation systems. Existing regulations often fail to take variations in local conditions into consideration and people do not always strictly enforce these regulations. Some also neglect to assign the responsibility of management to an institution.
  4. Establishing Institutional Management: Limited ability to implement sanitary systems and unclear institutional division of responsibility has caused gaps in service provision, resulting in low-quality infrastructure, delayed constructions and miscommunications. Multiple international committees have called for government officials to receive training in all essential aspects of sanitation management.
  5. Raising Awareness Among Policymakers: Internationally, the U.S. Agency for International Development recommended that local policymakers become aware of the benefits improved sanitation systems have regarding health, environment and economy through regional research collaborations and water operator partnerships. The intergovernmental Association of Southeast Asian Nations has also come together to discuss Indonesia’s progress in delivering improved water and sanitation to its people. Locally, increasing media coverage and discussions about sanitation are also helping the subject gain focus.
  6. Raising Awareness Among Local Community: Many locals are unaware of the dangers that lie in unsanitary defecation and do not understand the purposes of an improved sewer system. In Indonesia, Water.org has held media sessions to encourage dialogue and awareness regarding sanitation. Similarly, many community health centers and international organizations are working to educate locals on the benefits of improved sanitation, as well as to inform them of the services and financial support available.
  7. Community-led Sanitation Installations: Community-led total sanitation efforts have drastically improved conditions in many Southeast Asian countries as self-respect became the driving force behind the movement. With help and guidance from local authorities, community households can get the financial and institutional support necessary to connect to the more improved sanitation systems.
  8. Financing On-Site Sanitation Installations: Government sanitation funding often focuses on the large-scale municipal infrastructure like waste treatment plants, tending to overlook the construction of supporting connection infrastructure necessary for on-site household sanitation systems. As a result, people have turned to local banks and other financial institutions for loans that would enable them to build the necessary infrastructure necessary to access improved water on a daily basis.
  9. Local Programs Improve Water Sanitation: There are several local efforts that are working to preserve Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake, Tonle Sap, so as to improve the lives of approximately 100,000 locals living in the surrounding area. The Cambodian enterprise Wetlands Work is selling innovative technologies, such as water purifying system HandyPod that uses bacteria to turn raw sewage into grey water. Meanwhile, the NGO Live & Learn Cambodia is in the process of testing new toilet innovations.
  10. Water Privatization Limits Accessibility: The privatization of water is a common phenomenon in Southeast Asia. In Indonesia, for example, European companies Thames Water and Suez have 25-year contracts with the local government in 1997 to provide water for the country’s capital, Jakarta. With the goal of ensuring piped water coverage for 97 percent of the popular by 2017, the actual number came up to only 59.4 percent. However, in Surabaya, another Indonesian city, the government provided water publicly through the government and coverage reached 95.5 percent in 2016. Calculations determine that average water prices in the city are one-third of that in Jakarta.

These 10 facts about sanitation in Southeast Asia show how these countries are making consistent progress in procuring improved sanitation for their population. With the assistance of intergovernmental organizations and nonprofits, more people are now living under safe and sanitary conditions.

– Kiera Yu
Photo: Flickr

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Hunger in Africa and Jumia Food

Hunger in Africa
World hunger has been on the rise for the third year in a row, with nearly 10 million more people without enough food to survive on. Hunger in Africa is especially prevalent, where over 25 percent of the population suffers from some form of food insecurity.

There are many factors that play a role in why some areas of Africa suffer from food insecurity. While poverty is a key factor, environmental issues such as drought, desertification, overpopulation and ongoing conflicts are all contributing issues. These issues inhibit the creation of a stable food source. Therefore, the lack of food stability is a key contributor to hunger in Africa. However, a new and innovative digital solution is joining the fight against hunger in Africa.

Jumia in Africa

Jeremy Hodara and Sacha Poignonnec founded Jumia in 2012, which is an online marketplace for clothes, technology and other commodities. The website has quickly gained the reputation of being the Amazon of Africa, because of its similarity to Amazon in operation and magnitude.

The website created a service, Jumia Food, that delivers fresh food to citizens and businesses alike in 11 African countries. The service aims to reduce food scarcity in Africa by offering a reliable source of food to select countries.

Services like Jumia Food are common in the United States. For example, the services Imperfect Produce and Farm Box Direct, offer the delivery of fresh produce to people’s homes. These companies act as a way to promote sustainability and lower food waste in America; however, Jumia Foods also offers a way to maintain a healthy diet from a safe and reliable source of food.

Jumia Food offers basic food necessities that people can normally find in supermarkets, as well as the delivery of restaurant foods, alcoholic beverages and an assortment of commodities, such as electronics and beauty products. Jumia employed delivery drivers to deliver all orders by bike.

Internet Access

While not a continent-wide solution to food insecurity, Jumia Foods has great potential for those with an internet connection in Africa. The ongoing conflicts in a number of African countries and the fact that the majority of Africans live without a car make trips to a local supermarket a difficult endeavor. This is especially the case for those who live in rural regions far away from a supermarket or grocery store.

Despite this, most of Africa is still without connection to the internet. This difficulty currently hinders the impact of the service. Less than 12 percent of the world’s internet users are located in an African country and only around 13.5 percent of Africans have internet access. However, telecommunication in Africa is growing at a rapid rate. In 2018 alone, the number of internet users in Africa increased by 20 percent.

Bridging the Gap

The internet is a great solution to help reduce hunger in Africa because of the potential to connect remote parts of any country to a reliable food source. As internet usage in Africa continues to rise, this will hopefully reduce food insecurity. With services like Jumia Foods and the potential to connect thousands of customers to their local supermarket, enormous progress is in the future.

Jumia Foods cannot provide food to the most impoverished corners of Africa yet, but the business is nonetheless a futuristic solution that will help provide food to many African consumers. With every additional country that the service expands into, it will create more delivery driver jobs. Further, food insecurity may reduce through this innovative new solution to hunger in Africa.

– Andrew Lueker
Photo: Flickr

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How Bangladesh Reduced Poverty

How Bangladesh Reduced Poverty
Bangladesh is a country of 159 million people in the Bay of Bengal next to India. Bangladesh struggled with poverty and economic problems after gaining its independence in 1971. However, the country has recently seen economic growth along with a steady decline in poverty. How Bangladesh reduced poverty holds lessons for other countries and one can attribute it to a variety of factors.

Investing in Public Services

In the past six years, Bangladesh has lifted 8 million people out of poverty. The rate of extreme poverty fell from 17 percent to 13 percent, and the overall poverty rate declined from more than 31 percent to 24 percent. Bangladesh has also made great strides in education, health, infrastructure and energy. Primary school enrollment rates have risen from 80 percent in 2000 to more than 90 percent in 2015, and secondary school enrollment has increased from 45 percent in 2000 to 62 percent in 2015. This jump in education heralds a bright future ahead as Bangladesh invests in its youth.

In terms of health care, the country has achieved an amazing 40 percent decrease in maternal mortality rates, as well as ensuring that 63 percent of pregnant women received maternity care from a trained medical professional in 2015, up from 53 percent in 2007. Bangladesh has also improved its infrastructure by building new roads and water pipelines. People now have better access to schools, health facilities and workplaces, and the pipelines have increased access to drinkable water in rural areas. Lastly, Bangladesh has added over 2,000 megawatts of energy to the national grid and provided solar energy capabilities to over four million households in remote areas. These improvements help households go about daily activities and provide more consistent access to the internet for individuals and businesses. All of these improvements help explain how Bangladesh reduced poverty and may serve as an example for other countries.

Implementing Special Economic Zones

Bangladesh reduced poverty and increased its GDP and living standards thanks to the government’s decisions and international aid. The creation of special economic zones that encourage foreign investment was one major factor in Bangladesh’s economic growth. These zones ensure legal protection and fiscal incentives for investors and allow freer movement of goods and services. These policies make these zones in Bangladesh a safe and profitable place for foreign companies to invest.

Currently, garments and textiles are Bangladesh’s biggest industries, but it is expanding into technology as well thanks to these economic zones. For example, Bangladesh exported 12 industrial robots to South Korea in 2018. While Bangladesh currently has 12 special economic zones, there are plans to create 100 special economic zones and technology hubs to foster future growth. This investment creates jobs and brings money into the economy. Bangladesh is currently trying to direct that new money into new businesses and build the country’s service industries.

The International Development Association

In addition to government policy, the World Bank and the International Development Association (IDA) were also crucial to Bangladesh’s improving fortunes. Many of the country’s achievements in infrastructure, health, energy and education have come with the help of IDA financing. The IDA has given Bangladesh over $28 billion in grants and interest-free credit. This funding has been crucial to the country’s recent accomplishments. The combination of IDA funding and special economic zones has given Bangladesh the jobs and infrastructure needed to pull themselves out of poverty. International aid has been a crucial factor in Bangladesh’s development.

Bangladesh has made remarkable strides in both economic growth and quality of life. Economic policies that encourage foreign investment and help from the IDA both help explain how Bangladesh reduced poverty in the last decade.

– Josh Fritzjunker
Photo: Flickr

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How Land Grabbing and Poverty Are Linked

Land Grabbing and PovertyLand grabbing is not a new concept and it is not an isolated event. However, land grabbing and poverty have recently been linked together. While companies around the globe participate in this harmful process that drives farmers off their lands, farmers in industrial countries are especially susceptible to losing their lands, and therefore, their source of income. The act of industrial companies land grabbing not only costs a person their home but also their food and money. In countries such as Africa and South America, many people have fallen below the poverty line and suffer from displacement.

The Actions of Large Companies

The link between land grabbing and poverty is growing and has become a big issue. Major companies, such as the Teacher’s Insurance and Annuity Association of America College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF or TIAA), are buying multiple acres of land at exceedingly high prices. This, in turn, raises the prices of rent above what nearby family farmers can afford to pay. In Brazil, the TIAA has ownership of over 600,000 acres of land. The company also has a stake of over $400 million in Malaysian and Indonesian palm oil, which has displaced established communities of indigenous people in addition to several endangered species.

Who Owns the Land?

Land grabbing hugely contributes to the loss of property which advances poverty levels. Indigenous people claim and manage about 50 percent of the world’s land. However, of that 50 percent, people who depend on it only legally own 10 percent. Big companies can easily buy out the remaining 40 percent of the land and repurpose it to maximize industrial gains. Most of this land goes towards fossil-fuels projects, tourism and even conservation. Because of this, many families become displaced and left without a source of income and experience a lack of food security. Companies, such as TIAA, have led directly to malnutrition in industrial countries where they held land.

Initiating Change

There have been many demonstrations to try and combat the act of land grabbing. Grassroots International has started a petition to end land grabbing. There are also The Tenure Guidelines that have the intention of ending global poverty through tenure rights and land access. Policies within these guidelines would give land rights to the person who has owned the land the longest, ensuring that those who depend on the land for their livelihoods can continue to use it. In Africa, 29 women farmers climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the country’s tallest mountain, to raise awareness about the issue. The climbers met 400 fellow women farmers at the base of the mountain to help raise awareness about secure land rights and guarantee the farmers access to local and global markets.

Land grabbing and poverty reduction will give the people of the land a place to live as well as a food source and a dependable income. Crop sales will increase and farmers will have a more reliable income if others do not drive them from their land. The decrease of land grabbing will also increase access to both local and global markets, providing farmers with more ways to sell their food. Overall, restricting land grabbing, honoring tenure and giving land access to those who need it will lead to a decline in global poverty.

– Destinee Smethers
Photo: Flickr

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5 Women Fighting Poverty in Latin America

5 Women Fighting Poverty in Latin America
Around the world, women bear the brunt of poverty. Specifically in developing countries, women hold the responsibility of household welfare and the gendered division of labor; in their attempt to manage both, women face the absence of autonomy and economic opportunities.

Here are five women fighting poverty in Latin America. These women are working hard to ensure their rights and the rights of thousands of people in their countries who are living in poverty.

Mariana Costa Checa

A businesswoman from Peru, Mariana Costa Checa is the brain behind Laboratoria. Laboratoria is a web-based education startup that uses online boot camps and corporate training programs to train women in the tech industry. The goal of the company is to enable women of all income levels to train for and connect with and work at tech jobs that have an impact at the systematic level. By providing women with a source of income and the knowledge to pursue various careers, Mariana has established a company that has the potential to draw hundreds of women, and their households, out of poverty.

Claudia López

Another one of the women fighting poverty in Latin America is Claudia López, who was elected as mayor of Bogotá in Colombia’s October 2019 election. This event marked a historic first for the country as Claudia López is the first woman, and the first gay woman, elected as mayor. In Colombia, the mayor of Bogotá holds a high position, often considered the second most important politician in the country after the president. López has reached a milestone for women, and she promises to continue fighting for women by providing educational opportunities and opening up more job opportunities.

López also prioritizes fighting corruption, ending child labor and putting more police officers on the streets. With her victory, the country has a chance to put an end to some of its most ongoing and pressing issues.

Erika Herrero

As the chief executive officer of Belcorp, Erika Herrero Bettarel has been making waves in the beauty industry and the community of women. Belcorp is a multi-brand corporation that specializes in beauty products and services based in numerous countries around Latin America. Belcorp believes that women are a major driver of positive social change, and the company aims to bring women closer to their idea of beauty and fulfillment. With Erika’s help, Belcorp has been able to help support over 1 million women in terms of receiving income, flexible working hours, appropriate training, social protection and micro-life insurance.

Belcorp has also facilitated over 1,600 scholarships for young Latin American girls and trained over 18,400 low-income adult women in areas of personal development, violence prevention and economic development. Erika Herrero says that by capitalizing on the importance of the beauty industry, she is able to use Belcorp to open up more networks and job opportunities for women in Latin America, promising women a better future by helping to end their poverty.

Lynne Patterson and Carmen Velasco

Co-founders of Pro Mujer, Lynne Patterson and Carmen Velasco, are leading women’s development through social entrepreneurship. Patterson and Carmen’s work has provided women in Latin American with health, microfinance and training services that are typically out of reach to women of low-income families. Pro Mujer works with over 277,000 women across five Latin American countries to help diagnose and treat health problems such as obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure. Individuals in poverty are at high risk for these chronic diseases due to economic problems.

When individuals in poverty are struck with illnesses that go untreated, their condition further deteriorates, perpetuating the cycle. Pro Mujer promotes healthy behavior among clients by holding meetings, offering health counseling and education and using innovative and financially sustainable health models to diagnose and treat illnesses. By offering below-market prices for its services, Pro Mujer is giving sophisticated health care to those in poverty.

 

Women may still carry the weight of poverty, but there are many women fighting poverty in Latin America. Mariana Checa, Claudia López, Erika Herrero, Lynne Patterson, Carmen Velasco and countless others are making a significant difference with their work. As women continue to make progress in Latin America, the region has high hopes of economic growth.

–Shvetali Thatte
Photo: Pixabay

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10 Facts About Hunger in North Korea

Hunger in North Korea

North Korea, one of the most secretive and repressive countries in the world, has faced chronic food shortages since the mid-1990s when hundreds of thousands of people died due to severe famine. The international community responded by providing food assistance until 2009 when aid began to decrease significantly due to North Korea’s policy of “self-reliance.” These 10 facts about hunger in North Korea will reveal how dire the situation is and what government initiatives and NGOs are doing to help.

10 Facts About Hunger in North Korea

  1. North Korea’s climate ranges from temperate, with rainfall during the summer, to long, bitter winters. During the short growing season, drought, heatwaves and flooding have caused crop failure, creating widespread food shortages. North Korea’s total food crop production for 2018-2019 is estimated at 4.9 million metric tons, the lowest since the 2008-2009 season, according to a U.N. food security assessment.
  2. In addition to climate conditions unfavorable for agriculture, North Korea faces a shortage of farming products such as fuel, fertilizer and equipment. This has resulted in low food supply and limited dietary diversity, forcing families to eat less or cut meals.
  3. These unfavorable climatic conditions and the worst harvest in 10 years have resulted in a hunger crisis. More than 10 million North Koreans are suffering from severe food shortages and malnutrition, according to the U.N. This equates to about 40 percent of the total population.
  4. Young children are among the most vulnerable to malnutrition. One in five North Korean children are malnourished and about 20 percent experience stunted growth. Malnutrition, contaminated water and a shortage of drugs and medical supplies are the main causes behind stunting, or a failure to develop physically and cognitively, in North Korean children.
  5. According to Kee Park of the New York Times, sanctions on the capital city Pyongyang contribute to the hunger crisis. Under U.N. resolutions, North Korea is heavily sanctioned because of its nuclear weapons program. Park writes that these sanctions are “punishing the most vulnerable citizens and shackling the ability of humanitarian agencies to deliver aid to them.” Due to sanctions on iron, textiles, seafood, oil and coal, lost income and rising food prices will result in more North Koreans facing hunger.
  6. Despite U.N. sanctions, the U.N. is attempting to raise $111 million for health, water, sanitation and food security needs for 6 million North Koreans. Through donations from Sweden, Switzerland and Canada, about 10 percent has been raised thus far.
  7. The World Food Programme (WFP) has been providing food assistance to North Korea since 1995. Every month, the WFP provides foods fortified with protein, vitamins and minerals, such as cereals and biscuits, to around one million children, pregnant women and nursing mothers, all of whom are the most vulnerable to malnutrition.
  8. In 2018, UNICEF screened 90 percent of North Korean children for malnutrition and identified cases were later treated. Vitamin A supplements were provided to more than 1.5 million children and micronutrient tablets were distributed to more than 28,000 pregnant women.
  9. First Steps is a Vancouver-based nonprofit organization that is implementing innovative solutions for fighting hunger in North Korea, such as its Sprinkles program. The program’s aim is to prevent child malnutrition by delivering micronutrient powder to children, pregnant women and nursing mothers. The powder is packaged in sachets and then added to food. According to First Steps, Sprinkles is a proven and cost-efficient method of preventing and fighting vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
  10. These various forms of assistance have made significant progress in reducing levels of child malnutrition. The percent of children suffering from stunted growth has dropped notably from 28 percent in 2012 to 19 percent in 2017.

Although there has been recent progress, immense humanitarian challenges remain. Despite the fact that vast amounts of North Korean citizens are without basic necessities, the government has declined offers to renounce their nuclear weapons program in exchange for assistance. These 10 facts about hunger in North Korea reveal why a strengthened approach to solving food insecurity is required.

– Adam Bentz
Photo: Flickr

 

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Infection Prevention and Control in Sierra Leone

Infection Prevention and Control in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone did not have an existing infection prevention and control program before its 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic. However, infection prevention and control is an essential element aiding in eradicating and preventing cross-infection among the community, patients, health care providers and hospital visitors.

The Current Course of Action

The Ministry of Health and Sanitation, with the help of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has made significant strides in an attempt to get Sierra Leone’s health sector back on the right track. This partnership involves the implementation of the National Infection Prevention and Control Action Plan (IPC) to prevent future infection and disease. The IPC will enable the equipping of health facilities and open up conditions for the resources required for standard and transmission-based precautions. Further, the goal of the IPC aims to prevent and contain health care-associated infections.

The CDC’s Involvement

Disease threats are spreading faster than ever before but the CDC’s efforts in Sierra Leone have helped improve the country’s prevention, detection and ability to respond to infectious disease outbreaks. These abilities remain especially key before outbreaks become epidemics with the potential to affect global populations.

The CDC has played an important role in infection control in Sierra Leone, even establishing a country office in 2015 to focus on global health security. The CDC has been diligently working with Sierra Leone on surveillance, emergency management, strengthening laboratory and the workforce capacity to respond to disease outbreaks.

More than 700 CDC staff members served on over 1,000 deployments to Sierra Leone after the Ebola outbreak. Further, this makes it the CDC’s largest outbreak response ever in a single country. Sierra Leone, as of November 2015, is Ebola-free.

Keeping Infection and Disease Under Control in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone has taken a different approach to sustain the infection prevention and control. The country has invested in ongoing training for its health care workers. These efforts have helped ensure a safe working environment for all, with lower health care-associated infection risks. Health care workers and hospitals have improved their disposal of waste practices, hiring individuals to clean, along with disposing of the waste.

In addition, Sierra Leone has heightened awareness of infection prevention and control with the aid of supported sanitation and hand hygiene campaigns. These campaigns aid in the creation of a culture of hand-washing and have drastically reduced cross-infection among patients, thus eradicating Ebola.

As Dr. Keiji Fukuda, the WHO Assistant-Director General, states, “When health workers are infected at work, this puts other health care workers at risk. Understanding where the breach in these measures is occurring and taking the steps needed to fully implement infection prevention and control measures can put an end to these infections.”

– Na’Keevia Brown
Photo: Flickr

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India is Winning the War on Poverty

India is Winning the War on Poverty
In 2010, India was home to most of the world’s poor with more than 410 million people living in poverty. So, just how is India winning the war on poverty? People do not just define poverty by low income, but also by poor health, poor quality of work and the threat of violence. Since 2010, India has made incredible progress and is now even a middle-income country. India is the second-most populous country and the seventh-largest country by area. The dense population is a trigger for any of the possible negatives that come with living in India.

India’s Path to Economic Success

From 2006 to 2016, India lifted 271 million people out of poverty, cutting the poverty rate by half. This was because of improvements in assets, sanitation and nutrition. India received recognition for improvements it made in some of its most impoverished areas. In Jharkhand, poverty has decreased from 74.9 percent (2006) to 46.5 percent (2016). The better quality of life is a huge factor in how India is winning the war on poverty, most importantly in regards to nutrition.

Organizations such as The Integrated Child Development Services and The National Health Mission set out to improve the nutrition status in the country. Care is an NGO that has been working for 68 years to fight poverty in India. It formed in 1950 by the signing of the IndoCARE bilateral agreement and focuses on women and children. India is home to 30 percent of the world’s impoverished children, and children are twice as likely to live in poverty than adults. Saying this, poverty rates among children have decreased faster than adults, and the child mortality rate has decreased by 2.4 percent compared to 2005.

A Better Future

Predictions determine that 40 percent of Indians will be urban residents by 2030, but it is still imperative that there is socioeconomic inclusion within the rural states, where a majority of the country’s poor reside. There is a lack of connection to electricity, internet and financial institutions which drastically impacts the poverty rate. The Economic Rural Development Society, a nonprofit established in 1982, works to introduce sustainable development techniques in rural communities. It has built 606 sanitation units to lower the impact of human waste as well as forming health education and rehabilitation programs for the elderly. It equips marginalized people with education, livelihood skills and self-governing capabilities.

In 2018, only 5 percent of the 130 billion living in India was in extreme poverty. According to the World Poverty Clock, if things continue the way they are, fewer than 3 percent of the population will live in extreme poverty by 2021. Having more access to cooking fuels, sanitation faculties and household assets have driven the decrease in poverty.

For India to continue to win the war on poverty it must implement skill development for its workers. Changes in education and a focus on tangible skills are important to ensure Indian workers keep up with the technologically advancing world.

Efforts to make health care more accessible to all citizens is a problem that the country still needs to tackle. Making sure that people properly sanitize health care facilities is also a way to ensure that the tightly-packed population does not get sick. India eradicated the Polio scare, but there is still 63 percent of the population dying from non-communicable diseases, which can emerge from unhealthy food and lifestyle choices.

India has a long way to go, but it has moved from the poorest country to a middle-income country. Many of its citizens have emerged from poverty, and the future looks bright for India as long as the way of life continues to rise.

– Taylor Pittman
Photo: Flickr