, , , , ,

5 Reasons for The Rapid Pace Development of India

Development of India

Thirty years ago, India was considered by many to be the poster child for global poverty, with what the CIA World Factbook described as “environmental degradation, extensive poverty and widespread corruption.” However, in the decades since, India has grown tremendously, threatening to eclipse existing global superpowers, in fact, the country is projected to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2025. Here are five reasons for the rapid pace of development in India:

5 Reasons for the Rapid Pace Development of India

  1. Risk Management in Farming – Farmers are the backbone of a thriving society. However, the field of agriculture is full of risks, as bad crops, bad weather and other unexpected circumstances can lead to ruin for a would-be farmer, particularly in a country like India, which experiences ongoing monsoons that can completely ruin a farmer’s crops. This is why India has begun to implement risk management programs that insure farmers’ crops against monsoons and other disasters, a practice common in developed countries. When the Indian government implemented the PMFBY risk management scheme in 2016, the country saw the market premiums for agricultural goods increase by 300 percent.
  2. Quickly Growing Cities – A large part of India’s development has taken place in its cities. Two-thirds of the economic growth of the country comes from its cities, which are projected to have economies the size of small countries by 2030. This is largely due to the large influx of new citizens to the cities, which is projected to add 300 million residents by 2050. This comes at the cost of tremendous overcrowding in the cities, but India is working to develop new methods of urban sustainability that will keep the growth provided by its massive cities going.
  3. Investing in Renewable Energy – When India began to take off as a world power, the country was able to quickly develop its energy systems due to a rapid and early adoption of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy. This is because, due to the lack of preexisting infrastructure and the country’s sunny climate, it is cheaper for the Indian energy industry to harness solar energy than to harness energy from coal and gas. Today, solar energy alone makes up 30 percent of the energy produced in India and has the capacity to produce 30 GW of power in 2019. This access to cheap and reliable energy has helped India’s development by allowing the country to power its cities and even export energy to other countries. With that said, many households in India still lack access to electricity, which has caused many in the country to criticize the government’s export policies.
  4. Increased Focus on Breastfeeding – Although this point may seem oddly specific, it is vital to India’s development. The ability of children to breastfeed has been shown to improve their overall nutrition and reduce child mortality. Over the last 10 years, the percentage of babies who are breastfed in India has increased from 46.4 to 54.9 percent. This is partly due to a government program called Mother’s Absolute Affection, which works to make mothers and health care providers more aware of the benefits of breastfeeding and the nutritional needs of a developing baby.
  5. Thriving Tech Industry – In recent years, India has become almost ubiquitously known for being one of the largest tech powerhouses in the world. Most of this growth has been concentrated in start-up companies, turning India into a gigantic Silicon Valley. Of note, Bangalore, India’s biggest tech city, is considered by experts to be the second-fastest growing startup city in the world (behind Berlin) and the country has been rated the world’s top exporter of IT services.

Overall, India is one of the world’s fastest-growing countries and it is because of smart government policies, targeted economic development and stronger social services that help ensure that people aren’t left behind.

– Kelton Holsen
Photo: Flickr

 

 

, , , , ,

How China’s Protests Affect its Poverty and Economy

China's Protests Affect its Poverty and Economy
As protests in Hong Kong have continued to escalate between protesters and China’s ruling Communist Party, each side appears to become increasingly distant from the other. The term One China is not new, but what is new is the number of protests that have occurred and the amount of support that it is receiving from citizens. The protests in Hong Kong began to occur in April 2019 following an extradition bill that would have allowed the extradition of the citizens of Hong Kong to the mainland. Here is how China’s protests affect its poverty and economy.

Tourism and the Economy

In Hong Kong’s top tourist area Tsim Sha Tsui, many shop workers tend empty shops waiting for consumers. This district holds an assortment of luxury hotels, restaurants and boutiques that attract tourists. In recent months, however, it has seen an inverse of traffic as shoppers occupy it less and protesters occupy it more. At the beginning of 2019, businesses started to struggle from the strained U.S. and Beijing trade war. In the months following, the economic state worsened and the protesting has lasted for months to date.

Similar to the tourism business, other industries across the region have felt comparable effects from the protests as well. A large number of startup companies are beginning to consider other areas like Singapore for future operations. Some economists believe that China may be one step closer to a recession as GDP has decreased. Select industries are seeing a decline rate in the double-digits from previous years.

Immigration

As the economy of China has been on the decline for months, immigrants from the mainland have moved to Hong Kong at high rates for the past 10 years. Estimates determine that between 60 to 70 percent of China’s population came from the mainland. In 2017, approximately 40 percent of immigrants from the mainland to Hong Kong were living under the poverty line.

Success So Far

Chinese leaders have held a goal to eliminate national poverty for several years now. Even with the protest and political tension that the region is facing, it still seeks to eradicate poverty. In the last seven years, nearly a billion citizens have risen from their impoverished status. In 2018, official counts determined that there were only 16 million people living below the poverty line. If the country continues at the rate it has been going, there will be just a few million people still in poverty by the end of 2019.

Distractions or Support

People have made numerous cases against the middle class, the largest class in the country. Some believe that this initiative has drowned out other issues that impact the nation. Topics such as extreme poverty and class status are beyond the realm of politics and legislation that people typically see. Another claim is that the economic frustrations of China’s citizens are pushing the protest to expand. What initially was about an extradition bill also serves as an opportunity for protesters to speak out about their concerns.

In the last decade, China has reduced the number of people living in poverty substantially, however, it has been occurring at a decreasing rate. In recent months, the discussion of China relates to the increasing rate of protests in Hong Kong. Many people have taken notice of how China’s protests affect its poverty and economy. The nation’s finances have been a point of interest as numbers fail to match those of previous years.

– Kimberly Debnam
Photo: Flickr

China’s Belt and Road Initiative

China's Belt and Road Initiative
Chinese authorities have dubbed the One Belt One Road Initiative as the Project of the Century. Spanning 78 countries with a total investment representing 70 percent of the world’s population, 55 percent of its GDP and 75 percent of its energy reserves, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the world’s largest-scale development project. The One Belt One Road is conceptually based on the historic Silk Road, a network of trade routes established during China’s Han Dynasty from the second century B.C. until the 14th century A.D. stretching from China to the Mediterranean.

Broken down into two parts, BRI is composed of a land-based Silk Road Economic Belt, which will connect China with Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Western Europe, and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, a sea-based route that will give China’s southern coast access to the Mediterranean, South-East Asia, Central Asia and Africa. The One Belt includes six economic corridors by land and the maritime One Road has two directions, one reaching the Indian Ocean from China’s coastal ports and extending to Europe and the other from coastal China to the South Pacific.

This modern Silk Road is a massive undertaking of unprecedented scope that will take the next 20 years to build. China is investing over $1 trillion to implement the infrastructure projects, funded through low-cost loans to the cooperating countries, including highways, railways, ports, bridges, pipelines, energy grids and power plants. Here are some of the most significant routes and projects in 10 countries affected by China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative Projects in 10 Countries

  1. The Mombasa-Nairobi Railway: The maritime route to Africa connects China to Africa. Kenya is one of the largest recipients of the Belt and Road Initiative in Africa. The Mombasa-Nairobi Railway is the first new railway in Kenya in the past 100 years and among the first modern infrastructure projects in east Africa. The new railway has already increased Kenya’s GDP and boosted local and foreign tourists, who can now take the Nairobi-Mombasa Madarak Express train to cross Tsavo National Park in just four hours instead of 18. Chinese enterprises have also begun construction on a wind power project in Kapedo, Kenya.
  2. The China-Pakistan Corridor: The China-Pakistan Corridor connects south-western China through Pakistan to the Arabian Sea. In Pakistan, the Karot hydropower station on Ji lahm River was the first foreign investment of the BRI and its main project in Pakistan. China also began construction on the Karachi-Lahore Highway project with Pakistan’s National Highway Administration, the largest transportation infrastructure project in the China-Pakistan corridor.
  3. The Five Nations Railway: In Afghanistan, BRI plans include the Five Nations Railway, which would run from China to Iran through Afghanistan, as well as the north-south railway corridor connecting Kunduz to Torkham on Pakistan’s border.
  4. The Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Corridor: The Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Corridor connects Southern China to India via Bangladesh and Myanmar (BCIMEC). In Bangladesh, the CMEC has led to the construction of the Sheila GanJie Power Station Project, which will improve the local electricity shortage in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has a great need for ports to import energy or raw materials and export finished products. The last port to have been developed in Bangladesh was when it gained independence in 1971. The BRI will establish a new deep-sea port at Payra, which will include an oil refinery, a coal terminal to service a power plant and a container terminal.
  5. Myanmar Infrastructure Projects: In Myanmar, China plans to build a deep seaport, a trading estate and a special economic zone (SEZ) or an area designated for facilitating the industrial activity in Kyaukphyu, Rakhine State. Infrastructure projects will also be implemented in the remote western state, where it is much needed as the violence between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists continues.
  6. The China-Mongolia-Russia Corridor: The China-Mongolia-Russia Corridor connects North China to Eastern Russia via Mongolia (CMREC). In Mongolia, two high-speed railways along this corridor, the Mongolian Vector running from Mongolia-Brest to Belarus and the Zhengzhou-Hamburg running from China to Germany via Mongolia, are bringing Mongolian markets to European firms. Development plans have begun for the building of an international UHV electric transmission super grid along CMREC routes. Another high profile BRI project in Mongolia is the Tavan Tolgoi Rail Project, which aims to link Tavan Tolgoi, the world’s most massive untapped coal mine, to the Chinese border by 2021.
  7. The China-Central Asia-West Asia Corridor: The China-Central Asia-West Asia Corridor connects Western China to Turkey via Central and West Asia. Turkey is a priority country for the BRI because of its quickly growing pipeline projects, especially the Lake Tuz Expansion, which will increase the capacity of an underground gas storage facility from 1.2 to 5.4 billion cubic meters. Lake Tuz (Tuz Gölü) is currently home to the world’s largest gas storage project under construction and it is expected to be completed in 2023.
  8. The Tehran-Mashhad: Iran is an essential part of the global framework of the BRI due to its tactical location. The BRI has implemented the Tehran-Mashhad, high-speed rail project, which unlike most of the single-tracked, slow and circuitous railways centered around Tehran, will be double-tracked and electrified. Iran plans to electrify all of its railroads, revolutionizing the country’s transportation, by 2025.
  9. China Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor (CICPEC): Vietnam is in a position to reap the most opportunity from the BRI in the Indochina region. China built a 1,205-mile North-South Expressway from Hanoi to Can Tho, connecting eight major cities including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Ho Chi Minh City, Vientiane, Hanoi and Nanning. However, fears that the special economic zone laws would undermine Vietnamese sovereignty have caused unrest, leading to public demonstrations against SEZ law. Vietnam’s history of economic dependencies on China has made the Vietnamese citizens reluctant to cooperate with the BRI.
  10. The New Eurasian Land Bridge: The New Eurasian Land Bridge connects China to Europe and Western Russia (NELB). Kazakhstan will likely become a bustling financial hub of the Belt and Road Initiative as well as one of China’s main trading partners in the BRI. Khorgos has completed the Khorgos Gateway Dry Port, an important logistical town along the original Silk Road more than 1,000 years ago. The BRI has also completed a new land-border crossing with a four-lane road, connecting Khorgos with its Chinese counterpart Horgos.

Although there are many more countries that China’s Belt and Road Initiative will impact, these 10 countries highlight some of the key players and the most important development projects. So far, there have already been many notable successes, as well as failures and obstacles. The BRI has the potential to lift millions out of poverty.

– Sarah Newgarden
Photo: Flickr

 

, , , ,

10 Facts About Child Labor in Saudi Arabia

Child Labor in Saudi Arabia
Many know Saudi Arabia as one of the richest countries in the world. With the second largest natural oil reserve underground, Saudi Arabia is rapidly accumulating wealth and political power in international affairs. However, there is a dark side to the flashy urban lights of Saudi Arabia. The wealth gap that exists between the rich and the poor, coupled with the country’s patriarchal tradition and its recent conflict with the Houthi movement in Yemen, puts many Saudi and immigrant children in danger of child labor, violence and economic exploitation. Here are 10 facts about child labor in Saudi Arabia.

10 Facts About Child Labor in Saudi Arabia

  1. Poverty is the main cause of Saudi Arabia’s Child Labor. While Saudi Arabia is famous for its wealth, thanks in large part to the second-largest oil deposits in the world, there is a big economic disparity between the poor and the rich. According to a study that the Saudi Arabian government funded in 2015, 22 percent of families in Saudi Arabia depend on their children’s income.
  2. The minimum employment age is 13. In the royal decree of 1969, Saudi Arabia enacted a law that set the minimum employment age to 13 years old and banned children from working in hazardous conditions. This does not apply to works in the family business, domestic labor and agricultural work. Some employers of Saudi Arabia exploit a loophole in the law. For example, this law does not address the child brides of Saudi Arabia. If a child bride does any house chores or agricultural work for her husband’s family, it will not be a violation of the minimum employment age law.
  3. There are cases of child labor trafficking from neighboring countries. Stemming from Saudi Arabia’s recent conflict with Yemen, which left Yemen devastated, wartorn and practically lawless, some Yemeni parents are seeking illegal agents who will traffick their children to Saudi Arabia. While some Yemeni parents traffick their children to Saudi Arabia to save them from the desperate conditions in Yemen, other parents traffick their children in hopes of economic relief provided by their children’s labor in Saudi Arabia. While deportation is the main concern of many Yemeni parents for their trafficked children, many trafficked Yemeni children are in danger of violence, hunger and sexual abuse.
  4. Child workers usually have parents who have low professional and education level. The low education and professional level of child workers’ parents, coupled with economic disparity, make poverty in Saudi Arabia hereditary. Saudi Arabia is taking steps to ameliorate this issue. In early 2018, the Saudi government declared that it aims to eradicate adult illiteracy by 2024. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Education established adult education centers across the country and launched the Learning Neighborhood program in 2006 in pursuit of this goal.
  5. Children of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia do not have protection under a law that prohibits forced or compulsory labor. Saudi Arabia’s labor law does prohibit forced labor, however, these measures do not extend to over 12 million migrant workers in the country. Some employers exploit this loophole in the labor laws, which sometimes results in physical, mental and sexual abuse of migrant workers and their children.
  6. Saudi Arabia’s citizenship requirement puts Saudi children in danger of child labor and human trafficking. A Saudi child’s citizenship comes from his or her father. If a child has a citizen mother and a non-citizen father, or from a mother who is not legally married to a citizen father, there is a chance that the country will consider the child a stateless person. As a result of being stateless, Saudi Arabia can deny a child state education, and in certain cases, medical attention. According to the U.S. Department of State, about 5 percent of street begging children in Saudi Arabia are Saudi nationals of unknown parents.
  7. The Saudi government is working with the international community to combat child labor. In 2016, with technical advisory services support from the International Labour Organization (ILO), Saudi Arabia ratified its report for ILO’s Minimum Age Convention of 1973. According to the United Nations’ 2016 report on Saudi Arabia’s adherence to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Saudi Arabia adopted and implemented regulations against child abuse and human trafficking. As part of the new labor reforms and regulations in 2015, for example, the Labor Ministry of Saudi Arabia can impose SR $20,000 ($5,333) on employers who employ children under 15-years old.
  8. In 2014, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Women’s World Summit Foundation (WWSF) launched a campaign against child labor in Saudi Arabia. For 19-days, WWSF campaigned to raise awareness for child labor, abuse and violence against children and youth. The National Family Safety Program of Saudi Arabia also launched its four-day program which raised awareness for economic exploitation and abuse of children in Saudi Arabia. Through these campaigns, both WWSF and the Saudi government aimed to reduce child labor in Saudi Arabia by highlighting that child labor contributes to the abuse of children by harming children’s health, physical development, psychological health and access to education.
  9. UNICEF and the Saudi Ministry of Social Affairs opened a reception center for trafficked Yemeni children. Many trafficked Yemeni children end up in the streets of Saudi Arabian cities as beggars or street vendors. In the worst cases, these trafficked children are under severe danger of exploitation and abuse. When the Saudi authorities detained them, these Yemeni children usually went to prison or open-air enclosures with adult deportees. The center provides shelter for these children.
  10. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 aims to address the country’s poverty. Launched in April 2016, the Saudi government plans to address the country’s poverty by improving state education and empowering nonprofit organizations. These improvements can lead to making more opportunities available for the children and parents of poor economic background, potentially reducing child labor in Saudi Arabia. In this pursuit, the Saudi government granted $51 billion to the education sector. The Ministry of education established educational centers all around the country to improve adult literacy and theories determine that this improvement in adult literacy will also improve child literacy.

Child labor in Saudi Arabia is both a local and international issue. While the stateless and poor children of Saudi Arabia turn to street vending and begging to support their families, many trafficked Yemeni children in the country are under constant threat of violence and exploitation. These 10 facts about child labor in Saudi Arabia show that with the help of the international community and the Saudi government’s increasing awareness of its less fortunate populace, a better future awaits for the children of Saudi Arabia.

– YongJin Yi
Photo: Flickr

,

10 Horrendous Facts About Adolf Hitler

Mein Horrendous Facts about Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler, one of the most notorious figures in human history, became the leader (Führer), of the German Nazi Party in 1921 and the Chancellor in 1933. His fascist and lawless power led to the onset of World War II and the death of at least 11 million people. Here are 10 horrendous facts about Adolf Hitler and his rule.

10 Horrendous Facts About Adolf Hitler

  1.  As the leader of the Nazi Party, Hitler gave numerous politically charged speeches during which he blamed Germany’s Jewish population for the nation’s turmoil following World War I. He asserted that German Jews sought to control the Weimar Republic, the post-war government. He also claimed that they had influenced the Weimar Republic to accept the Treaty of Versailles which significantly limited the nation’s military power and demanded $33 billion in reparations for World War I. During a 1922 speech in Munich, Hitler proclaimed “There are only two possibilities, either victory of the Aryan or annihilation of the Aryan and the victory of the Jew.”
  2. While in prison for the failed coup d’état of the Beer Hall Putsch, Hitler wrote the first volume of Mein Kampf. Democrats, communists and internationalists are all targets in this narrative, but it targeted the Jews most bitterly. He declared that the highest racial purity was that of the German people, making them the master race and thus responsible for the elimination of all Jewish people. In this book, Hitler’s proclamations about Jews overtly shifted from those of deportation to murder. Further, he wrote extensively in support of the dismantling of democracy. Before the start of World War II, people purchased more than five million copies.
  3. In 1933, the same year that Hitler assumed total power, concentration camps arose in Germany. Suspected enemies of the Nazi Party faced imprisonment at the camps, the first of which was Dachau. Political opponents, gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses and homosexuals comprised the initial target population. Following 1938, Hitler’s forces filled the camps with Jewish prisoners, simply because they were Jews.
  4. Hitler outlawed youth groups like the Boy Scouts and required all non-Jewish boys in Germany to join his Hitler Youth Organization. Through this group, the Nazi Party held the power to condition over 90 percent of Germany’s young men. The boys faced military-like training in weaponry and survival while fostering an almost religious devotion to Hitler. Following years of indoctrination, boys at the age of 17 had to serve in the military.
  5. In 1935, Hitler enacted the Nuremberg Laws which stripped Jewish populations in Germany of their citizenship and banned marriage between Jews and Germans. Many consider these laws the foundation on which Hitler built the ensuing internment and murder of the German Jews. The passing of the Nuremberg Laws legalized the persecution of Jewish people as a part of Hitler’s Final Solution.
  6. On the nights of November 9 and 10 in 1938, German mobs took to the streets to attack Jews, destroying their homes and workplaces as well as burning synagogues. This event, called Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass, led to the murder of 96 Jews and the burning of between 1,000 and 2,000 places of worship. Hitler and his administration both introduced the propaganda leading to this riot and offered encouragement for the mobs to continue their harassment. The administration later held Jews financially responsible for the damages incurred during these events.
  7. In early 1939, the Nazi Party secretly began the Child Euthanasia Program under which it murdered disabled children by lethal drug overdoses and starvation. Later that year, the program, shifting to the name Operation T4, extended to target disabled adults who faced murder by gas chamber. Hitler authorized all phases of the Nazi Party’s euthanasia efforts in order to “cleanse” Germany’s Aryan race, leading to the deaths of at least 250,000 physically and mentally disabled people. The infamous use of gas chambers at Hitler’s extermination camps originates from this program.
  8. Following the German invasion of Poland in 1939, Hitler began a campaign of anti-Jewish propaganda in order to concentrate Poland’s Jewish populations into areas called ghettos. Nazis propagated the idea that Jews carried diseases like typhus and thus required isolation. Ghettos suffered overcrowding and were cold, unsanitary and largely lacked in terms of food.
  9. To facilitate the Final Solution, Hitler authorized the implementation of Jewish extermination camps in 1941. Chelmno, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Majdanek and Auschwitz-Birkenau comprised the six camps intended only for the sole purpose of murder. Between 1942 and 1943, Hitler’s Nazi Party attempted to destroy these camps in order to conceal its abhorrent actions from Allied forces.
  10. With the loss inevitable to the Allied forces, Hitler and his frenzied party began recruiting thousands of young men, even those below the 17-year-old age requirement, to fight losing battles. Recruiters offered the children chocolates and candy in exchange for their lives. Thousands died in combat from lack of experience and training while others’ States executed them for refusing to fight.

Hitler’s Holocaust enabled the mass murder of at least 6 million European Jews. Another 5 million targeted groups perished alongside in concentration camps’ gas chambers or at the hands of Hitler’s barbaric forces. As demonstrated by the 10 horrendous facts about Adolf Hitler, people should never forget Nazi Germany’s actions so that they may never be repeated.

 – Bhavya Girotra
Photo: Flickr

,

Top 10 Facts About Living Conditions in Qatar


Qatar borders Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf in Asia. From villages to a booming urban sector, it promotes sustainable development across a gradient continuing to flourish. Here are the top 10 facts about living conditions in Qatar.

Top 10 Facts About Living Conditions in Qatar

  1. Oil: As the third-largest reservoir of natural resources Qatar makes up 14 percent of worldwide oil production. The reserves endure 25 trillion cubic meters. Predominantly obtaining resources in The North Field, petroleum accounts for more than half of GDP.
  2. Mowsalat: A government organization, Mowasalat, operates public transportation, limo and taxi services. It has headquarters in Doha and works throughout various communities within the region. It provides dispatch services under Karwa technologies and a variety of telecommunication amenities with regards to living conditions in Qatar.
  3. Water: Desalination contrives 99 percent of the domestic water supply. The majority of the population has access to clean drinking water and sanitation facilities. Groundwater is one of the main freshwater resources. The country has no rivers or lakes.
  4. People: With a population of approximately 2 million, the median age of Qatar’s inhabitants is 33 years old. Non-Arab immigrants comprise the majority with Pakistanis, Indians, Iranians and other various ethnic backgrounds. Arabic is the official language and English is a close second.
  5. Women’s Rights: Personal status laws victimize women in child custody, marriage and divorce. Male frontrunners must approve of women’s’ rights to marry. Boundaries contiguous with divorce provide unilateral rights only to men.
  6. Kafala: Kafala is a sponsorship program for migrant workers that the International Labor Organization (ILO) brought forth. Labor laws prohibit workers from leaving the country without permits with regards to living conditions in Qatar. It implements reforms for increasing minimum wage, procedures surrounding recruitment and elements against human trafficking.
  7. Reforms on Education: Reform is continually taking place in Education City to bolster and enhance sustainable development amidst Qatar’s youth and higher education. Increasing motivation and factors stem from region-specific tradition to import best practices, globalization and transnational education, global competition, local education reform policies and liberalization.
  8. Health Care: With an increasing population, free health care offerings extend to all people in the country. Life expectancy stands at approximately 79 years as of 2005. The government regulates planning and infrastructure among initiatives.
  9. Municipalities: Qatar has 10 municipalities including Jarayan al Batinah, Madinat Ash Shamal, Messaieed, Umm Salal, Ad Dawhah, Al Ghuwayriyah, Al Jumayliyah, Al Khawr, Al Wakrah and Ar Rayyan. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs controls urban planning and economic development. Municipalities are responsible for answering to councils within their region.
  10. Tourism: Doha and surrounding cities have been renovating tourism for the preparation of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Tourist attractions such as Al Wakra Museum and Aspire Park provide cultural identification for living conditions in Qatar. In previous years, it has been hosting the 2006 Asian Games and the 2011 Pan Arab Games.

Rapid economic and industrial expansion began at the price of reform. Qatar has the highest per capita GDP in the world largely due to the discovery of petroleum. As a syndicate of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the country continues to develop at an alarming pace. From the racing of camels to the vastness of their sand dunes the culture derives from nomadic Bedouins.

– Zach Erlanger
Photo: Flickr

, , , ,

5 Companies that Use a Buy One Give One System

Companies that use a buy one give one system

The buy one give one model is being implemented by a variety of businesses as a way to give back to those in need. The model works under the idea that for one item sold, another item is donated to a person or community in need. Here are five companies that use a buy one give one system.

5 Companies that Use a Buy One Give One System

  • Baby Teresa – Sammie Appleyard and Kirsty Dunphey founded the Baby Teresa project in 2009, naming their company after Mother Teresa. For every sale that is made on a baby romper, hat, bib, etc., another is given to a baby in need. The two women recognized that clothing a baby can be the difference between life and death — especially in areas where poverty is high and access to necessities like baby clothes is limited. When purchasing, customers have a choice of where to send the donated item. As of 2019, Baby Teresa has impacted families in Ecuador, Vanuatu, Cambodia, Vietnam, Uganda and more.
  • One World Futbol Project – The One World Futbol Project has a mission of bringing the “transformative power of play to youth living in disadvantaged communities worldwide” through its indestructible soccer ball. The ball was originally created by Tim Jahnigen after he saw a video of Darfur refugees playing soccer with a handmade ball. The idea was that the ball would be a solution for children who wanted to play but did not have the materials. Thanks to funding from international superstar, Sting, the company launched and has impacted more than 60 million lives. For every ball purchased, another is donated to a poverty-stricken community, war zone or refugee camp.
  • Figs – Figs is a company that specializes in selling medical scrubs. The founders of Figs recognized that many medical professionals in poverty-stricken areas lack access to basic medical supplies including scrubs. While owning a pair of scrubs helps medical professionals to look the part, they also contribute to clean work environments. To date, Figs has donated thousands of scrubs to medical professionals in need in more than 30 different countries through this charitable model.
  • SoapBox – SoapBox is a company that sells personal care products including body wash, hand soap, liquid soap, shampoo and conditioner. David Simnick launched SoapBox in 2010 with a mission to persuade people to change the world through everyday purchases. For every product bought, a bar of soap and hygiene lessons are donated to a community in need. More than 3 million lives in Cambodia, Haiti, India and other countries have been impacted by purchases made to SoapBox.
  • Out of Print – Since 2010, Out of Print has been selling t-shirts and apparel printed with covers of classic literature covers and quotes. With every item purchased, Out of Print donates one book to Books for Africa, helping to support literacy programs around the world. To date, the company has donated more than 3 million books to communities in need.

– Juliette Lopez
Photo: Flickr

10 Facts About Corruption in Colombia

10 Facts About Corruption in Colombia
Colombians often say that the biggest sport in the country is corruption. Since 1994, corruption in Colombia has steadily increased and as of 2018, Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index ranks the country 99 out of 180. The following 10 facts about corruption in Colombia break down the issue by looking at the various affected sectors, the implications of corruption and potential solutions that the country has attempted.

10 Facts About Corruption in Colombia

  1. One can trace Colombian corruption back to the early colonial legacies of the Spanish conquest. Many believe that the Spanish Empire had a corrupt and disorganized bureaucracy. As a colony of the Spanish Empire, Colombia adopted this system when it gained independence. During the early years, the elite members of society achieved a majority of their wealth through corrupt manners, and there was little punishment due to corruption in the judiciary court as well. Consequently, many aspects of society remained vulnerable in the future.
  2.  Eighty-one percent of the Colombian population believes that political parties are corrupt. Corruption levels have increased continuously since 2009, and as of 2019, corruption exists at every level of government, from local to national. Investigations for corruption have taken place regarding over 48,000 government officials across the political spectrum. Unfortunately, due to corruption in the judiciary system as well, a majority of these politicians avoid prosecution by using their own political parties’ budget to bribe judges.
  3. Colombia has lost up to 1 percent of its GDP annually due to corruption. There is a large amount of mistrust from the people when it comes to businesses and their products, as companies are often corrupt and there is no guarantee for a product’s quality or functionality. Furthermore, Colombia suffers from a trade deficit as other nations are reluctant to engage in business. Due to diminishing consumer interest, Colombia’s production, both domestically and internationally, has decreased.
  4. There has been a 39.7 percent annual increase in crime rates. Forty-nine percent and 61 percent of Colombians believe that the military and police, respectively, are corrupt. Due to military personnel, police officers and other armed forces repeatedly taking bribes, many crimes do not receive punishment. As a result, crime has become normalized and crime rates are climbing.
  5. Eighteen networks of corruption are in Colombia’s public health care system. The Colombian health care system has lost $160 million due to corruption. Doctors and other medical professionals manipulate medical records, including inventing fake patients or fake hiring employees, in order to acquire money for their own gains. The cost of corruption has increased treatment and drug costs and weakened health care performance.
  6. In 2012, audits prompted education secretariats to reveal the embezzlement of $125 million from school budgets. Corrupt officials are inventing ghost students, nearly 180,000, to secure money from the treasury for personal gains. Over the years, this number has decreased due to stricter regulations, but the practice continues to remain in effect; it is especially prominent in smaller areas, where school reports do not receive thorough checks.
  7. Only 2.9 percent of the population views the problem of corruption as a high priority. Corruption in Colombia has become normalized to the extent that most people disregard it, opting to focus on other issues such as increased crime rates and lack of health care. Unfortunately, many of these problems have corruption rooted in them. The widespread apathy from society enables corrupt behavior to persist.
  8. Colombia has put anti-Corruption policies into place such as the Anti-Corruption Act of 2011 and the Colombian Penal Code. These legislations redefined legal framework, criminalizing active and passive bribery, political corruption, foreign bribery, extortion and trading with confidential state information. The government’s goal in implementing such legislation was to increase prevention, investigation and penalty mechanisms against both, private and public corruption. By imposing more drastic measures, the government hoped that people would become more cautious and reports of corruption would increase.
  9.  President Santos created an Anti-Corruption Office in 2011. After the legislation improved, the government needed new agencies to tackle corruption. The Anti-Corruption Office maintains control and performs checks in order to ensure that others follow the legislation. The office intends to prevent conflict of interest and avoid nepotism, cronyism and patronage.
  10. Colombia has signed many international conventions to gain further assistance in addressing corruption. In 2013, Colombia signed the OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention, the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. By signing such documents, the country sent an important message to the government, businesses and the people about the seriousness of the issue. Colombia has also taken part in the UNCAC’s voluntary Pilot Review Programme and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, both of which allow an external review of corruption in Colombia as a means to keep the country in check.

As the current government is understanding the repercussions of high corruption, it is taking steps to counteract the problem. Unfortunately, the problem of corruption has not decreased and the country’s world ranking continues to fall. Looking at the 10 facts about corruption in Colombia mentioned above, it is clear that the issue affects many different aspects of life in the country; a lack of further change will significantly hinder Colombia’s development.

– Shvetali Thatte
Photo: Flickr
,

Education in Peru: The “Friendly Schooling” Initiative

Education in Peru

Education in Peru is an area in need of improvement, especially for children living in the most vulnerable parts of the country. In 2017, the Peruvian government spent only 3.92 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on education. While this represents an improvement from 10 years prior, with only 2.63 percent of its GDP spent on school improvement, there is a significant disparity between private and public education.

Private schools have a reputation for offering the highest quality education in the country, but only families with deep pockets can afford the high fees. For instance, the Markam College, one of the top bilingual schools in Lima, costs $12,500 for middle school and $8,500 for high school and the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program.

Most middle and lower class Peruvians cannot afford such high school fees. The situation is even worse in the Peruvian Andes and Rainforest regions, where indifference and tremendous cultural and linguistic barriers often hinder children from receiving an education at all. To solve these problems, UNICEF Peru started the Multicultural Bilingual Schools Initiative or “Friendly Schooling” in 2017 to tackle the three main obstacles that Andean and Rainforest students face: isolation, gender inequality and language barriers.

Education in Peru: Isolation

When referring to isolation, in many cases, children have to walk for hours to school. Others may discontinue their education altogether due to family pressures or gender discrimination. That is why Peru’s “Friendly Schooling” works closely with community leaders and parents, keeping them informed of the academic progress of their children. Parents and the rest of the population participate in the children’s education, even taking time to educate new teachers on their culture. “Friendly Schooling” also emphasizes that for the community to develop, education must be a priority.

Education in Peru: Gender Inequality

The 2015 documentary “The School of Silence” shows the desperate situation of girls in Andean schools and the reality that the main role of females in the school environment is to do chores and serve as assistants to their male counterparts. Girls were rarely seen taking on leadership roles and in general, female participation in the classroom was almost nonexistent.

“Friendly Schooling” aims to destigmatize this cultural bias. In this new school environment, both girls and boys equally participate in keeping the classroom clean. However, the most significant contribution is that girls now have the possibility of participating in class elections. Now, thanks to cooperation between teachers and parents to uplift female students, girls are taught that they are equal to their male counterparts.

Education in Peru: Language Barriers

The biggest obstacle to overcome is the language barrier that exists not only between the authorities and the community but also between students and teachers. When the “Friendly Schooling” initiative first started, several schools were selected from three provinces where native languages such as Quechua and Aymara are primarily spoken rather than Spanish. Learning in a language they barely understood caused many female students to forgo continuing their studies. In fact, according to Brookings, “along Peru’s northern Pacific coast, where the Afro-Peruvian population is most heavily concentrated, only 26.9 percent of those girls access education, compared with an average of 42.3 percent for all girls in the same geographic area.”

The point of this bilingual education initiative is not only to teach children in their native tongue but also to ensure adequate training for teachers and the provision of quality materials for students. The program also leverages the use of ICTs in delivering instruction in Spanish and the given native language of children.

Implementation Worldwide

Peru‘s “Friendly Schooling” Program can serve as an example for many countries whose native populations are suffering from a lack of educational opportunities. Indigenous communities can become empowered if their culture is formally recognized in their studies.

– Adriana Ruiz and Kim Thelwell
Photo: Flickr

, , ,

10 Facts About Human Trafficking in China

 10 Facts About Human Trafficking in China
Most people know China for its immense production capacity, sky-rocketing population, and of course its incredible cuisine. The human trafficking at the source of the nation’s production capacity, however, often remains unknown outside the country. While China’s aggressive censorship policies create a difficult barrier for the flow of information, here are 10 facts about human trafficking in China.

 10 Facts About Human Trafficking in China

  1. The Government Prosecutes Some Cases: The Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS) reported investigating 1,004 cases of human trafficking and arresting 2,036 suspects in 2016. China convicted 435 individuals for sex trafficking, 19 individuals for labor trafficking and 1,302 individuals in other cases slavery.
  2. Apple and Sony Offer “Internships”: Foxconn, a Chinese electronics manufacturer that produces parts for Apple’s iPhone, reportedly utilizes exploitative working conditions. The company forces students to work in the manufacturing sector by threatening to fail them and limit their ability to graduate. While job postings often list these as internships, they usually are just production line jobs in dangerous factories. Similar cases of forced labor have occurred in electronics factories supplying major brands such as Apple, Acer, HP, and even Sony, according to The Wallstreet Journal.
  3. China’s Imports Support Human Trafficking: In 2015, China imported a total value of $1.6 billion of electronic products from Malaysia, which employs forced labor to produce electronic goods. China also participates in coal trade with North Korea—importing $954 million worth of coal in 2016—which allegedly uses state-imposed forced labor to sustain many of its economic sectors, including the coal industry.
  4. Some Chinese Buy Myanmar Women for Babies: Most know about China’s one-child policy, meant to slow its burgeoning population. The black market for babies, however, remains relatively unknown outside the nation. Traffickers usually sell women, originating from Myanmar’s northern Kachin and Shan States, for some amount between $3,000 to $13,000 after luring them across the border by promising good jobs. Traffickers lock up and rape many of the victims, and force them to bear the children.
  5. China has 61 Million Left-Behind Children: With China’s booming urban economy, many people in rural areas migrate for work, often leaving behind their families and children completely. While previous estimates documented 61 million of these left-behind children in rural areas, the Chinese authorities officially altered the definition of left-behind children, resulting in a significant decrease in their numbers to 9 million in 2016. These children are prime victims for different traffickers for uses such as forced labor, sexual exploitation and others.
  6. China is One of the Largest Human Smuggling Victims: In 2011, more than 40.3 million Chinese resided overseas in 148 countries. Human smuggling syndicates, like the Snakeheads, leverage its criminal connections to transport Chinese people to other nations. Fees for transnational smuggling vary from $1,000 to $70,000 (average of $50,000) per person. Oftentimes these migrants end up dead or the gangs who smuggled them extort for more money.
  7. It Affects the U.S.: Traffickers lure many Chinese women to the U.S. with promises of “$10,000 per month, board and lodging, and opportunities to travel around.” Garden of Hope, an NGO in New York has helped 1,528 women and 420 youths escape human trafficking since its inception 13 years ago, said Yuanfen Chi, executive director of the organization. Starting in September 2013, criminal courts in New York viewed workers at illegal massage salons (where people offered sexual) not as normal criminals, but as potential human trafficking victims. Liu stated that these victims can remain and work in the U.S. if traffickers forced them to perform sexual acts or work by fraud or force as defined in The Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
  8. North Korean Refugees Face Trafficking in China: The smuggling of North Korean refugees into China constitutes part of a multi-million-dollar criminal industry, operated by a vast network of brokers in both countries. These brokers arrange for guards in both countries to allow for safe passage, often costing refugees around $8,000. This price will only increase as crackdowns on border security intensify in both countries. Once these refugees arrive in China, they become extremely vulnerable to trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, cyber pornography and forced marriage.
  9. China Attempts to Crack Down on Marriage Trafficking: The Supreme People’s Court issued a new judicial interpretation on trafficking of women and children that entered into effect on January 1, 2017. It defines illegal trafficking as “matchmaking that involves subtle coercive measures such as withholding of passports, restriction of freedom of movement, and taking advantage of vulnerabilities such as language barriers, or unfamiliarity with the destination in order to sell the victims against their will.”
  10. Child Forced Labor is Not Overexaggerated: In 2016, police found cases of forced child labor in a garment factory in Changshu, Jiangsu Province, where managers forced underage workers to work overtime, beating them if they refused. The factory took the workers’ phones and passport if they tried to escape. The new judicial interpretation mentioned in point 9 of these 10 facts about human trafficking in China should help stop some of these cases of child trafficking and forced labor.

While China’s significant activity in human trafficking remains unknown in many aspects, these 10 facts about human trafficking in China shed some light on modern-day slavery in one of the largest and most censored nations in the world.

– Raleigh Dewan
Photo: Flickr