The air pollution rates in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, exceeded the international safe limit set by The World Health Organization by seven times, causing a health crisis, particularly among Mongolia’s youth.
The Ger Districts in Ulaanbaatar
Air pollution in Mongolia is caused, in part, by Ulaanbaatar’s topography, climatic conditions, peaking population, lacking infrastructure and heavy reliance on coal for up to eight months of the year. Ulaanbaatar was built in a river valley with surrounding mountains that trap the city’s smog.
Nearly half of Mongolia’s population – 1.5 million – resides in Ulaanbaatar where the vast majority of Mongolia’s air pollution crisis is caused by those living in the ger districts in the north. Named for the traditional nomadic dwellings of Mongolia’s herding lifestyle, a ger is a circular tent with bedding and furniture surrounding the stove: the one thing making the harsh climate of Mongolia bearable.
Ulaanbaatar’s severe air pollution problem stems primarily from the unplanned and inadequate urban planning of the ger districts. Due to uncertainty regarding land ownership and migrant workers’ relocation to the city in search of work, the ger districts have sprung up all over Ulaanbaatar. Ger areas lack basic services, such as sewer systems, running water and trash collection.
As the world’s coldest capital, Ulaanbaatar can see temperatures as low as -40 degrees Fahrenheit/Celsius – contributing to the population’s heavy use of coal to keep warm. In fact, to keep warm from the harsh Mongolian weather, Ulaanbaatar residents have burned over a million tons of raw coal per year. In 2016, Ulaanbaatar surpassed New Delhi and Beijing as the capital with the highest levels of air pollution in the world.
Dangerous Effects of Air Pollution on Children
In the last ten years, Mongolia’s air pollution crisis and, consequently, related respiratory diseases have increased dramatically. The effects of air pollution in Mongolia are felt most severely by the country’s children. Babies and young children are especially vulnerable to air pollution due to their small lungs and their still-developing immune systems.
According to UNICEF, children living in Ulaanbaatar have a high risk of getting lower respiratory infections than those living in rural areas. Airborne chemicals and toxins associated with air pollution can also complicate pregnancies, starving the fetus of oxygen, which can cause birth defects like irreversibly stunting brain growth or result in miscarriages. Children exposed to these toxins are more likely to have lower IQs, exhibit behavioral problems and neurological disorders.
UNICEF Mongolia warned of a “child health crisis” in February 2018. Data from the reports of health officials suggests a 3.5-fold increase in fetal mortality rates between summer and winter, and a “near-perfect correlation between still births and air toxicity.” Respiratory infections have nearly tripled and pneumonia is the second leading cause of death for children under five.
The High Cost of Air Pollution
The National Center for Public Health and UNICEF released a joint report in February 2018 highlighting the severity of Mongolia’s air pollution crisis. The report states that unless Ulaanbaatar’s air pollution levels drastically decrease in the next few years, the cost of treating air pollution-related diseases in children will increase 33 percent by 2025.
In addition to the health risks associated with air pollution – stillbirth, preterm birth, lower birth weight, asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis and death – Mongolia’s air pollution crisis is also costing the public health system MNT 4.8 billion per year (just over $2 million) by 2025.
The residents of Ulaanbaatar have become desperate to rid themselves of the pollution. Stores and pharmacies have begun selling “lung tea” and “oxygen cocktails,” though WHO officials say there is no evidence that these Russian-made “anti-smog” products work. Pregnant women are among the products’ most avid buyers.
What is being Done to Reduce Air Pollution in Mongolia
Realistic recommendations to reduce the severity of Mongolia’s air pollution crisis include strengthening public education campaigns to increase awareness of the health issues associated with air pollution, use of clean technologies and fuels and greater use of the Pneumococcal Vaccine, which will have an immediate impact on the children of Ulaanbaatar exposed to heavy air pollution.
Furthermore, improvement of indoor air quality in public kindergartens, schools and hospitals as well as guidance for the public on the use and access of high-quality face masks will greatly help reduce the effects of Mongolia’s air pollution.
In March 2018, the government of Mongolia went to The Asian Development Bank to request financial assistance to address Ulaanbaatar’s severe air pollution problem. This policy-based loan will help to prioritize and expand upon public resources for pollution reduction efforts and update urban energy and transport systems, encouraging cost-effective actions.
Some individuals are taking Mongolia’s air pollution crisis into their own hands. Odgerel Gamsukh, a 34-year-old architect, has started a company to turn the unplanned and heavily polluted city of Ulaanbaatar into a green community. This community would be comprised of solar-heated, permanant ger structures, which would add windows, solar collectors and insulation to the traditional model.
Both the problem of air pollution and the solutions, i.e. green building, are relatively new to Mongolia. Traditional Mongolian culture involved a nomadic lifestyle expressed by the mobile ger homes. Modernization, increasing urban populations and inadequate infrastructure have exacerbated the health issues related to air pollution in Mongolia. If efforts such as Gamsukh’s green community and foreign aid assistance programs continue, there is hope of seeing a reduction in Mongolia’s air pollution crisis.
– Kara Roberts
Photo: Flickr
Poverty’s Toll on Mental Health
What is mental health?
By definition, mental health is the condition regarding one’s psychological and emotional well-being. Mental health affects how one thinks, feels and acts. It can also dictate how someone copes with stress, their ability to relate to others and decision making. The most prevalent examples of mental health disorders are anxiety, depression, alcohol/drug use, Bipolar disorder, Schizophrenia and eating disorders. According to Mentalhealth.gov, some factors that can contribute to mental health issues include:
The term ‘Mental Health’ has been around for quite some time, but it has gotten a reputation for being abused. There have been many cases over the years where people self-diagnose or lie to get out of particular circumstances. Because of this kind of abuse, some people don’t believe in mental health disorders at all. Although there is a vast variety of mental health issues, these disorders do exist and should be taken seriously.
Everyone is different just like every health condition differs. There are some people who suffer from anxiety on a low spectrum, which can sometimes be maintained in-house, while there are others who suffer from anxiety on a high spectrum and may undergo daily panic attacks. This would be an example of someone who may need psychiatric help or medication.
How does poverty affect mental health?
Poverty is considered a significant social determinant of mental health. Poverty is a perfect example of a life experience that can affect one’s mental state. Physical health and wellness isn’t the only hardship that people in poverty endure. Being subjected to an impoverished environment where money, food and shelter is uncertain can lead to mental health complications.
Although the idea of poverty being the cause of a mental illness is fairly new to science, there is evidence of a connection. According to National Public Radio, people that live in poverty appear to be at a higher risk for mental illnesses and show lower levels of happiness. It has been difficult to study people in poverty for statistical purposes, but the studies that have been done do exhibit signs that when financial circumstances are drastically affected, there’s a rise in rates of depression.
How People in Poverty Are Affected
It’s a proven fact that living in poverty for any significant period of time automatically increases risk factors for health and mental problems. The vicious cycle of poverty comes with the constant stress of finances- worrying if there’s enough money to eat and practicing bad eating habits because processed food is cheaper than healthy food.
Stress is an immediate link to mental issues, such as depression, anxiety and, in extreme cases, multiple personality disorder. The rates of violence tend to also be higher among those that face economic tension. There are some cases where mental illnesses can be the cause for people to fall into poverty.
For people who have experienced poverty early in life, their risk of a mental illness is higher. Poverty’s toll on mental health for children can lead to higher rates of delinquency, depressive and anxiety disorders and higher rates for psychiatric disorders in adulthood.
Although poverty’s toll on mental health is known, it’s still unclear how to best break this cycle. Perhaps more research will allow for solutions. Considering poverty doesn’t have to be a life-long condition, it is very possible for mental illnesses brought on by poverty to be alleviate if the people affected can be helped out of poverty.
– Kayla Sellers
Photo: Flickr
Cuatro Por Venezuela: Alleviating the Crisis in Venezuela
While there are many complex issues involved, alleviating the crisis in Venezuela is within the reach of virtually anyone who wants to contribute. The Cuatro Por Venezuela Foundation is providing the way by collecting donations and resources from individuals throughout the world who want to get involved in the cause.
How Cuatro Por Venezuela alleviating the crisis in Venezuela?
In 2016, The Cuatro Por Venezuela Foundation was founded by four Venezuelan women living in The United States. With the vision of fundraising to deliver resource packages to Venezuelans in need, they have made tremendous progress in a short amount of time, delivering supplies to more than 130 hospitals and institutions in 14 of the 23 states in Venezuela.
The foundation’s Health Program focuses on four core objectives: decreasing the medicine and medical supply shortages, preventing complications from chronic diseases, decreasing the resurgence of diseases through vaccinations and prevention methods and decreasing the mortality of hospitalized patients. The annual report for the organization showed that they served 17,375 medical patients last year.
The desperation associated with the medicine shortages and inflation in Venezuela has led to the rise of black markets. While these markets have created greater access to much-needed medicines, this accessibility comes at a great risk. José Oberto Leal, the President at the School of Medicine in Zulia, Venezuela, has “found that a lot of them [the drugs] have not been maintained at proper temperatures.”
The need for organizations, like Cuatro Por Venezuela, that can properly maintain and deliver these very medications is abundant in times like these. Its efforts are vital to alleviating further medical issues for locals in a time when medical institutions are unstable, understaffed and lacking in resources.
Other Projects by Cuatro Por Venezuela
Beyond fundraising and mailing supplies, the organization is getting involved on the ground alleviating the crisis in Venezuela. One of the foundation’s most recent projects, Projecto Nodriza in Petare, Caracas, is delivering food to mothers in the area to use to cook for their families. They are also sending nutritionists to guide local mothers on ways in which they can eat properly and provide proper natal care for their babies with limited resources.
The organization’s Food Program is its newest branch, having started in May 2017. In just seven months, 20,000 meals were delivered to orphanages, nursing homes and to local organizations that cook for the homeless. Meals were also delivered to rural schools, providing students with at least one meal a day on school days and weekends.
As the economy has failed, so too have the school systems in Venezuela. Annual school dropout rates have doubled since 2011, in part due to the inability of many low-income families to buy school uniforms, shoes, backpacks and other required supplies, according to the foundation. Cuatro Por Venezuela is not only addressing the health and food crises but it is also improving access to education for low-income children through a program called Schools with Smiles.
Cuatro Por Venezuela is alleviating the crisis in Venezuela on several levels. In doing so, they are providing a platform for ordinary people to get involved, whether it be through their grassroots initiatives on the ground in local communities or from afar through donations and resource packages. As a U.S. based foundation, Cuatro Por Venezuela’s grassroots initiatives allow them to have a meaningful impact on the lives of the people they serve and ensure that their donors’ dollars are making it to those communities as well.
While solving the grand issues behind the economic crisis in Venezuela may not be in the foundation’s repertoire, making a difference in the lives of those most affected by the crisis is. The efforts of Cuatro Por Venezuela, as well as those of its partners and donors, have and will continue to be a key part of alleviating the crisis in Venezuela.
– Julius Long
Photo: Flickr
Christy Turlington: Making A Difference with Every Mother Counts
How It All Started
It all started in the birthing center in New York City’s St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital. Christy and her husband, Edward Burns, arrived at the center not long after her water broke. The pregnancy had been normal up to this point, and the birth of their child, Grace, seemed to go off without a hitch. She did not even need pain medication.
However, the placenta had become embedded into Christy’s uterine wall, causing her to bleed heavily. This is known as postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), and it kills 1,000 women around the world every day. The midwife began to suspect this was happening when Christy had not passed the afterbirth after 45 minutes. (Normally, it takes less than 20 minutes.) After another 25 minutes, the doctor had to come in and remove the placenta manually.
The following day, the excessive bleeding had stopped. Christy, knowing that the doctors would likely be able to save her life again, decided to get pregnant again. While carrying her second child, Finn, she and her mother took a trip to the latter’s hometown, San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. Once there, Christy learned that PPH causes the majority of postpartum deaths not only there, but all over the developing world.
Turlington also learned that many pregnant women in the developing world have to walk to hospitals instead of driving; as a result, many simply choose to give birth at home, without any access to medical care. Learning this inspired Christy to found Every Mother Counts, a foundation that helps cut down on the maternal death rate.
The Charity and the Documentary
Every Mother Counts started out as an advocacy organization that simply aimed to make people aware of worldwide maternal deaths so that they could help. Their first act, spurred by Christy, was to make the documentary No Woman, No Cry. It was filmed in Tanzania, Bangladesh, Guatemala, and The U.S. over the span of a year and shows what birth is like in each country. The bottom line is that The U.S. is disproportionately better at helping women survive childbirth.
While advocacy remains a large part of Every Mother Counts’s overall mission, the organization has branched out over time to include other avenues to help. They sell several products, mostly clothing, and use the profits to help have a greater impact on the lives of the women they are helping. They host running events to raise even more donation money for their cause.
Their website contains forms that allow people to call, email or tweet their congressional leaders to get them to support bills that will help poor mothers survive childbirth. Every Mother Counts has had an impact on more than 680,800 individuals, including mothers, babies, and health care providers.
The Success of Every Mother Counts
Using only donation money, Every Mother Counts funds grants for projects that improve and save the lives of pregnant women in poor countries around the world. For example, in Malawi, they spent $113,740 to give portable solar suitcases to 40 rural clinics, which provided them with a reliable source of electricity with which to run their equipment.
In Syria, $40,350 was spent to help train and equip six midwives to deal with life-threatening emergencies, including giving them home visit kits, medicines, cell phones and more. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, $10,000 went to giving clinics delivery and postpartum beds, emergency supplies and incinerators to get rid of medical waste. All of these efforts and more have saved the lives of over 400,000 women worldwide.
Christy Turlington has had a huge impact on women’s lives as the founder and CEO of Every Mother Counts. She has saved thousands of lives, made many U.S. citizens aware of postmortem deaths in the developing world and given health centers the equipment that they need to prevent many birth-related tragedies. Although she continues to accept modeling jobs, they barely matter to her anymore. The fact of the matter is that Christy Turlington helps poor pregnant women around the world avoid becoming another health statistic.
– Cassie Parvaz
Photo: Flickr
A Brief History of Border Walls
Berlin Wall
The ideology and causes of the Berlin Wall are fairly well known. The wall was meant to separate East from West Germany and thus became the symbol of two competing political and economic ideologies. The conflict between the Eastern Bloc countries and the USSR on one side, and capitalist Western Europe and the United States on the other became physically manifested in 155 kilometers of concrete. Yet, the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. The conflict between the USSR and the United States, as well as their political and economic ideologies, has thus subsided. Moreover, the notion of a post-Cold War, globalizing society should foster the idea that borders ought to hold less importance.
Yet, in the history of border walls, the opposite has occurred. With the Cold War over and globalization already the reality in many countries, the creation of border walls and border protection has, paradoxically, increased. This increase has been linked to new waves of migrants, particularly refugees. They are often constructed as a mean of a country’s security but ultimately serve as barriers for refugees, forcing them to travel through increasingly dangerous situations to gain access to a certain country.
The Wall Between Africa and Europe
The notion that, in the history of border walls, these barriers are meant to deter refugee migration becomes more explicit considering the location of many of these border walls.
Around the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, one of the only slivers of Europe on the continent of Africa, is a border fence between Spain and Morocco. As the last stop on the way to Europe from Africa, the border has become a major destination for refugees and asylum-seekers from war-torn and impoverished countries in Africa. The Moroccan people and government were initially unsupportive of the wall since they view the city of Ceuta and its land as rightfully Morocco’s. Yet, recently, Spain has cooperated with Morocco economically in exchange for Morocco’s police to monitor the border. This has led to numerous human rights abuses and violence, with the Moroccan police frequently raiding refugee camps and destroying the inhabitants’ belongings.
The fact that the barrier exists in Africa, on the southern border between Spain and Morocco, also serves to create the notion of a “Fortress Europe”. Europe can contradictorily want to build bridges yet creates the image of impenetrability with all of the ethnic, economic and racial factors there to unpack.
Thus, the history of border walls shows their existence often creates the veneer of security or inaccessibility but they ultimately do little to actually enhance a country’s safety or prevent illegal immigration. Moreover, while border walls serve as deterrents for refugees, migrants will continue to try and find other means of access to a country. In Ceuta, for example, refugees continue to try and climb over the fence or storm the barrier. And, in March 2014, 1,000 of those people were successful: Fortress Europe was breached.
The Wrong Message of Walls
The cost of building and maintaining border walls are very high but they are often unsuccessful in fulfilling their purpose and yield very little results.
The border wall does communicate the idea of unwelcomeness—refugees or migrants willing to risk their lives to cross into a country with a border will not feel at ease in their new home. With deportation likely being a risk for many of these people, these people tend to keep to themselves and their communities, which hampers refugee integration and creates social stratification.
Ultimately, this brief history of border walls shows that the trend of creating border walls is very ineffective mean of fostering security, mired by xenophobia and fear of refugees. Yet, the fact is that there is an ongoing refugee crisis. The solution, however, isn’t to create massive walls to tell these people that they are unwanted but to increase humanitarian aid abroad, in order to address the issues creating these refugees, while working to welcome the refugees at home.
The average cost of resettling a refugee is around $15,000. The average amount returned by refugees through taxes for a couple decades exceeds $20,000, not to mention the benefits to the market economy, the economic incentive, particularly compared to costly border walls. This suggests countries should take in, not turn away, more refugees.
– William Wilcox
Photo: Flickr
The Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement: The World’s Largest
Who Are the Bidi Bidi
The Bidi Bidi refugee settlement is home to a mostly South Sudanese population. Many of the inhabitants of Bidi Bidi fled because of the threat of murder or imprisonment from rebels or government soldiers. Having left their homes, often walking for days at a time, they arrive at the settlement center with nothing more than the clothes on their back. The process of becoming a refugee is often slow and hectic, but basic needs are met in a timely manner thanks to the NGOs and volunteers’ tremendous effort and funds that have been dedicated to making this refugee camp more livable.
Insecurities
Many of the inhabitants are affected by disease, predominantly malaria and HIV/AIDS. Malaria-carrying mosquitoes breed in wet environments, and due to the rains in Uganda, no one is safe from malaria. Therefore, it is imperative that these settlements have proper access to medical aid and resources to ensure the well-being of refugees. In addition to a lack of medical resources, malnutrition affects most of the population of Bidi Bidi and the rest of Uganda. The Ugandan government has been under pressure to provide food for those malnourished, but it is almost impossible without humanitarian aid and support.
Opportunities in Bidi Bidi
Each organization working within the Ugandan settlement camps and Bidi Bidi offers different and varied opportunities for refugees to support themselves and regain a sense of normalcy. Caritas is an organization aimed at promoting justice and helping the poor, and they have mobilized efforts to give aid to the people of Bidi Bidi. Depending on which zone of the camp refugees live in, some receive a plot of land, agricultural tools and seeds to begin to sustain themselves and create opportunities for businesses.
Many women in Bidi Bidi have access to psycho-social support and empowerment resources that have been set up within the camp. The U.N. has created a system of revolving funds, meaning that funds are replenished when used, which allows women to learn vocational skills such as hairdressing and helping women build their own businesses. This leads to empowerment and creates a sense of stability in an unstable world.
The Future of the Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement
The Bidi Bidi refugee settlement is the largest of its kind in the world, it uses what it can to create and offer opportunities and resources to refugees, so they may live more independently. It focuses on rehabilitation and independence and creates a sense of hope for the future of the inhabitants of Bidi Bidi. The unrest and violence in South Sudan still create thousands of refugees on a daily basis. The long-term solution is to achieve peace in South Sudan, so people can return home. However, in the short-term, it is imperative that Uganda receives humanitarian aid to ensure the safety and wellbeing of its inhabitants.
– Trelawny Robinson
Photo: Flickr
The Struggle Against Drug Trafficking in Tajikistan
The Tajikistani population is faced with a lack of educational institutions, deteriorated healthcare, severely limited access to clean drinking water, high rates of childhood malnutrition, high maternal mortality, a growing HIV/AIDS epidemic, high rates of tuberculosis and inadequate access to electricity, heat and roads. In addition to these daily struggles, the country continues to combat drug trafficking, an issue that is intertwined with Tajikistan’s economy, governance, culture and health.
Explaining Drug Trafficking in Tajikistan
Approximately 75 to 80 metric tons (MT) of heroin and 35 to 40 MT of opium are smuggled into Tajikistan annually, either for transfer north to Russia and Europe or for domestic consumption. Tajikistan’s geographic location, history of political unrest and high level of poverty contribute to the country’s major function as a “drug transit state.”
Tajikistan’s geographic location, with a porous border of 1,400 kilometers next to Afghanistan, has affected the country’s vulnerability for trafficking of illegal drugs to Russia, Kazakhstan and Europe. According to a 2012 estimate, 30 percent of the opiates produced in Afghanistan passed through Tajikistan. The high volume of drug trafficking in Tajikistan has now become equivalent to 30 percent of the country’s GDP.
Drug trafficking in Tajikistan is the product of a variety of interwoven problems. These problems include the continued large-scale production of opium in Tajikistan’s neighboring state of Afghanistan, a growing economic and social crisis in Tajikistan and governmental complicity contributing to the problem. Despite Tajik governmental policies to combat drug trafficking, U.S. counter-narcotics policies in Afghanistan and $200 million of U.S. military assistance since 2001, drug trafficking in Tajikistan not only continues to persist, but has increased.
Common discourse tends to overemphasize the link between the increase in drug trafficking in Tajikistan and the country’s neighbors, who are composed of Islamist groups such as the Taliban. This emphasis places responsibility for drug trafficking with terrorist organizations. However, this explanation undermines the severity of Tajikistan’s economic, social and political crisis.
In 2011, it was estimated that drug trafficking in Tajikistan generated $2.7 billion per year. For a country with an unstable population growth rate of 2.2 percent and a volatile GDP annual growth rate of 6.9 percent, the wealth generated from the drug trade is seen as profitable and legitimate among politicians and state officials.
Since the Tajikistan Civil War, which took place from May of 1992 to June of 1997, drug trafficking in Tajikistan has been a major source of income for the government. State officials, government personnel and military administrators continue to profit not only from the drug trade, but from the outside aid and efforts to combat drug trafficking.
Methods to Fight Drug Trafficking
Prior to 2004, Tajikistan’s government was limited in its methods to put an end to the drug flow. However, U.S. military assistance in the form of vehicles and specialized equipment, the creation of anti-drug squads and the construction of border outposts has served to undermine the flow of narcotics. More barriers positioned along the border has equated to more extraction opportunities for Tajik government officials, facilitated by the severe and persistent institutionalized corruption. The largest drug traffickers in Tajikistan are believed to be among the high-level officials of the Tajik government.
In addition to corrupt law enforcement, drug trafficking in Tajikistan has developed through the efforts of small traffickers, namely Tajik migrant workers who are willing to transport drugs to meet their basic needs. Government corruption and resistance to reform, as well as the country’s limited economic resources, has encouraged the development of illicit drug rings among local administrative officials.
What Can Be Done?
As long as governmental corruption is present in Tajikistan, international organizations and aid efforts have little hope of tackling drug trafficking in the country with any legitimate success. Institutionalized corruption among law enforcement officials, the presidential family and Tajik authorities is seen as a valid and necessary form of wealth production for the state.
International aid and military assistance has, thus far, failed to make any kind of a serious dent in the issue due to the governmental acceptance of drug trafficking and corruption. Drug trafficking in Tajikistan will not significantly decrease without greater emphasis placed on socio-economic development, poverty reduction efforts and the creation and maintenance of basic public services and infrastructure. These basic needs to be met include healthcare, education, transportation, heating, electricity and sanitation.
As a result, drug trafficking in Tajikistan must be fought indirectly. Organizations such as USAID are working with the Tajikistan Ministry of Health to improve basic healthcare services. By creating and building upon Tajikistan’s infrastructure and public services, international aid will be more effective in preventing the widespread corruption and drug trade prevalent within Tajikistan.
– Kara Roberts
Photo: Flickr
Addressing a Crisis: Air Pollution in Mongolia
The Ger Districts in Ulaanbaatar
Air pollution in Mongolia is caused, in part, by Ulaanbaatar’s topography, climatic conditions, peaking population, lacking infrastructure and heavy reliance on coal for up to eight months of the year. Ulaanbaatar was built in a river valley with surrounding mountains that trap the city’s smog.
Nearly half of Mongolia’s population – 1.5 million – resides in Ulaanbaatar where the vast majority of Mongolia’s air pollution crisis is caused by those living in the ger districts in the north. Named for the traditional nomadic dwellings of Mongolia’s herding lifestyle, a ger is a circular tent with bedding and furniture surrounding the stove: the one thing making the harsh climate of Mongolia bearable.
Ulaanbaatar’s severe air pollution problem stems primarily from the unplanned and inadequate urban planning of the ger districts. Due to uncertainty regarding land ownership and migrant workers’ relocation to the city in search of work, the ger districts have sprung up all over Ulaanbaatar. Ger areas lack basic services, such as sewer systems, running water and trash collection.
As the world’s coldest capital, Ulaanbaatar can see temperatures as low as -40 degrees Fahrenheit/Celsius – contributing to the population’s heavy use of coal to keep warm. In fact, to keep warm from the harsh Mongolian weather, Ulaanbaatar residents have burned over a million tons of raw coal per year. In 2016, Ulaanbaatar surpassed New Delhi and Beijing as the capital with the highest levels of air pollution in the world.
Dangerous Effects of Air Pollution on Children
In the last ten years, Mongolia’s air pollution crisis and, consequently, related respiratory diseases have increased dramatically. The effects of air pollution in Mongolia are felt most severely by the country’s children. Babies and young children are especially vulnerable to air pollution due to their small lungs and their still-developing immune systems.
According to UNICEF, children living in Ulaanbaatar have a high risk of getting lower respiratory infections than those living in rural areas. Airborne chemicals and toxins associated with air pollution can also complicate pregnancies, starving the fetus of oxygen, which can cause birth defects like irreversibly stunting brain growth or result in miscarriages. Children exposed to these toxins are more likely to have lower IQs, exhibit behavioral problems and neurological disorders.
UNICEF Mongolia warned of a “child health crisis” in February 2018. Data from the reports of health officials suggests a 3.5-fold increase in fetal mortality rates between summer and winter, and a “near-perfect correlation between still births and air toxicity.” Respiratory infections have nearly tripled and pneumonia is the second leading cause of death for children under five.
The High Cost of Air Pollution
The National Center for Public Health and UNICEF released a joint report in February 2018 highlighting the severity of Mongolia’s air pollution crisis. The report states that unless Ulaanbaatar’s air pollution levels drastically decrease in the next few years, the cost of treating air pollution-related diseases in children will increase 33 percent by 2025.
In addition to the health risks associated with air pollution – stillbirth, preterm birth, lower birth weight, asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis and death – Mongolia’s air pollution crisis is also costing the public health system MNT 4.8 billion per year (just over $2 million) by 2025.
The residents of Ulaanbaatar have become desperate to rid themselves of the pollution. Stores and pharmacies have begun selling “lung tea” and “oxygen cocktails,” though WHO officials say there is no evidence that these Russian-made “anti-smog” products work. Pregnant women are among the products’ most avid buyers.
What is being Done to Reduce Air Pollution in Mongolia
Realistic recommendations to reduce the severity of Mongolia’s air pollution crisis include strengthening public education campaigns to increase awareness of the health issues associated with air pollution, use of clean technologies and fuels and greater use of the Pneumococcal Vaccine, which will have an immediate impact on the children of Ulaanbaatar exposed to heavy air pollution.
Furthermore, improvement of indoor air quality in public kindergartens, schools and hospitals as well as guidance for the public on the use and access of high-quality face masks will greatly help reduce the effects of Mongolia’s air pollution.
In March 2018, the government of Mongolia went to The Asian Development Bank to request financial assistance to address Ulaanbaatar’s severe air pollution problem. This policy-based loan will help to prioritize and expand upon public resources for pollution reduction efforts and update urban energy and transport systems, encouraging cost-effective actions.
Some individuals are taking Mongolia’s air pollution crisis into their own hands. Odgerel Gamsukh, a 34-year-old architect, has started a company to turn the unplanned and heavily polluted city of Ulaanbaatar into a green community. This community would be comprised of solar-heated, permanant ger structures, which would add windows, solar collectors and insulation to the traditional model.
Both the problem of air pollution and the solutions, i.e. green building, are relatively new to Mongolia. Traditional Mongolian culture involved a nomadic lifestyle expressed by the mobile ger homes. Modernization, increasing urban populations and inadequate infrastructure have exacerbated the health issues related to air pollution in Mongolia. If efforts such as Gamsukh’s green community and foreign aid assistance programs continue, there is hope of seeing a reduction in Mongolia’s air pollution crisis.
– Kara Roberts
Photo: Flickr
Poverty and Methods To Control Stray Dogs
Adoption as a Method to Control Stray Dogs
In the United States, shelters control stray dogs by capturing them and allowing families to adopt them into loving homes. It may seem as though this method can transfer to other countries (and many have tried) but cultural differences prevent its effectiveness. The concept of dog ownership differs from country to country. Though some changes have recently occurred, the adoption of street dogs does not often factor into the norm.
While citizens of the United States can adopt dogs from overseas, the process has many dangers. With the failure of quarantine and vaccination procedures, dogs can spread dangerous diseases from overseas. Also, bringing in foreign dogs can deny native dogs the chance for a loving home.
Euthanasia
Too many countries promote and carry out the mass-culling of dogs in an attempt to curb the stray dog population. Readers might recall the 2014 scandal in which the city of Sochi poisoned hundreds of dogs in preparation of the Winter Olympics. In places such as India, citizens kill stray dogs every day through cruel methods such as electrocution.
Killing dogs might seem as justifiable as killing any wild animal in self-defense and the defense of others, and perhaps the introduction of more humane methods of euthanasia might solve the ethical conundrum of human welfare versus dog welfare. Yet, even humane euthanasia has very little effect upon the stray population. India has attempted to control stray dogs through culling programs for decades and still has the highest stray dog population of any country.
Furthermore, the ethics of euthanasia tend to recommend using euthanasia as a last resort. While euthanasia can remove a dog from a desperate situation, humans should attempt to intervene in health, environmental and behavioral issues first. Only in the failure of these inventions can the act of euthanasia become justified.
Capture, Neuter, Vaccination and Release
Vaccination and Capture, Neuter and Release programs (some programs combine the two) seem the most effective when dealing with the most common issues of stray dogs. Vaccinating stray dogs against diseases should cause them to not spread diseases to humans. Neutering dogs should cause a decrease in the dog population. The data of such programs backs up these claims.
A 1983 rabies vaccination program led by the World Health Organization (WHO) caused rabies rates to drop 93 percent between 1982 and 2003 in Latin America. Other programs in Tanzania reduced the rabies rate by 93 percent.
As for neutering programs, Jaipur, India decreased the dog density of the state by a third in 1994 and 1995. A program in the island nation of Abaco saw the number of dogs seen in the street reduced by 50-75 percent. The stray dogs in these programs also showed an improvement of health and welfare, having “improved coat luster and quality, improved skin conditions, and fewer parasites and venereal tumors.”
Yet despite the proven success of these programs, they still have limitations for wide-spread reach. Often in developing countries, veterinarians do not have the training or experience in small animal medicine and surgery. Citizens also can have misgivings with wanting to spay their pets or cannot reach the program locations. On top of that, organizations can have difficulty accessing the necessary resources and funds.
Though no method to control stray dogs works perfectly, some do work better both in the ethical and practical sense. In the future, perhaps innovation will make the practical methods more accessible to the places that need them. For now, the efforts made have great success.
– Elizabeth Frerking
Photo: Flickr
Top 5 Facts About Smart Cities in Africa
Africa, much like the rest of the developing world, is racing towards a potential crisis of overpopulation. Over the past 50 years, Africa has held a persistent population growth rate of 2 percent, and this growth, according to the U.N. Population Division, is showing no signs of slowing down.
Factors of Overpopulation
A variety of factors are contributing to this rate of growth, the most prominent of which is Africa’s staggeringly high fertility rate. The top 15 nations with the highest rates of fertility in the world all lie within Africa’s borders. Africa’s challenge of fertility rates and overpopulation is only being compounded with the improvement in health care and lagging family planning programs. People are living longer and children are surviving birth more frequently but fertility rates in Africa are remaining static. In Africa, the fertility rate is five to six children per birth mother. In comparison, the fertility rate of the United States is just below two children per birth mother.
As Africa’s population continues to expand, more and more of its new citizens are opting to live in urban areas. This increases pressure on governors, policymakers and city planners to ensure that Africa’s urban landscapes are properly optimized to support a growing population.
Improved family planning alongside a host of other measures is being taken to target the root causes of overpopulation in Africa. Even still, these measures may not be enough. Africa, as a continent, is in need for creative solutions that go beyond the causes and effects of overpopulation, and towards the future, in order to address these symptoms.
Smart cities, a new conceptual model for living in Africa aims to address these symptoms of overpopulation alongside increased urbanization. These cities are being built to be relevant in an ever-evolving global climate. In the text below, five facts about Smart cities in Africa are presented.
5 Facts About Smart Cities in Africa
Clearly, the implementation of smart cities should not and will not be cordoned off to a section of the globe. They hold the potential to help humanity as a whole.
– Ian Lloyd Greenwood
Photo: Flickr
10 Facts about South African Corruption
South African corruption is widespread, affecting educational sectors and police, and non-enforcement of anti-corruption laws. Corruption disadvantages citizens and hurts the poor in particular. Some efforts are being made to fight corruption as a few perpetrators are currently being prosecuted and a new government is vowing to fight corruption. In the text below, 10 facts about corruption in this country are presented.
10 Facts about South African Corruption
While the struggles against corruption in South Africa are far from finished, the future promises changes. With citizens who care about ending corruption and holding officials responsible for their actions, South Africans have a great opportunity to improve the quality of life in their country.
– Grace Gay
Photo: Flickr