Women represent more than half of the world’s poor and make only a small percentage of the world’s income. This is influenced by various factors, including lack of access to education, abuse and gender inequality. Because women are already at a higher risk of facing the crippling effects of poverty, their situation becomes more precarious when they are pregnant or new mothers. It is estimated that 99 percent of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries.
Furthermore, in food insecure and unstable countries, adolescent pregnancy is the leading cause of death in young women, ages 15-19. Some of the leading causes of maternal death include severe bleeding, infection and delivery complications due to a lack of proper health care facilities.
Physical Effects of Poverty While Pregnant
In developing countries, where there is often little access to high-quality food and water, one of the most common effects of poverty while pregnant is malnutrition. Underweight and malnourished mothers are at an increased risk of mortality, miscarriage and preterm labor. Because they lack proper access to antenatal care, they are prone to infection and morbidity.
The WHO Millennium Goals Progress Report showed that 60 percent of women in Africa give birth without the presence of a skilled attendant. In addition, nearly 50 percent in Africa lack any antenatal care.
As it relates to malnutrition, more than half of all pregnant women in developing countries suffer from anemia. In South Asia, for instance, 75 percent of pregnant women have anemia versus 18 percent in developing countries. Aside from the low energy levels associated with anemia, anemic pregnant women face a heightened risk of death from bleeding during childbirth.
Malnourished mothers are also at risk of developing hypertension. Although hypertension is associated with higher risks of preterm birth and lower child birthweights, the most severe risks include preeclampsia and placental abruption. The former can cause kidney, liver and brain damage for the mother. Although this is a treatable condition if caught early, many women in developing countries have little access to health care that would offer a proper diagnosis or treatment.
With regard to placental abruption, the placenta separates from the wall of the uterus and can cause severe bleeding for the mother and prevent the baby from receiving enough oxygen. Like anemia, hypertension is a severe physical side effect directly correlated with higher rates of poverty that puts malnourished mothers and babies at great risk.
Emotional Effects of Poverty While Pregnant
In many developing countries, women do not have equal access to education or career opportunities, making them dependent upon their spouses or families. Such dependency can lead to feelings of helplessness that can affect the health of pregnant women. Evidence suggests that pregnant women who face extreme poverty are more likely to face inequality and develop mental illness.
Furthermore, humanitarian crises, such as conflict and post-conflict situations, can increase the risk of violence against women. It is estimated that 35 percent of women worldwide have experienced physical and emotional violence. In places such as West and Central Africa where child marriage still exists, women are more likely to face violence and domestic abuse.
In sub-Saharan Africa, Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) has a 61 percent prevalence in some areas. Abuse in any form, physical, psychological or sexual, can have dire consequences on women and their health during pregnancy. Victims of abuse often face physical harm and mental health issues, such as depression, post-traumatic stress and anxiety. Some victims turn to alcohol or drugs. In addition, women who suffer abuse often face unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The stress of abuse can affect many aspects of a person’s life but puts pregnant women at a much greater risk due to their already vulnerable physical state.
Efforts to Lessen the Effects of Poverty While Pregnant
Programs such as the U.N.’s Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescent’s Health, the U.N. Millennium Development Goals and WHO Global Action Plan have made strides in reducing the effects of poverty while pregnant. Between 1990 and 2013, the global maternal mortality rate has decreased by 50 percent.
Although maternal mortality rates remain high in developing countries, programs such as the U.N.’s Agenda for Sustainable Development and numerous nonprofit organizations are working to provide access to antenatal care and technology that would assist in identifying health problems for pregnant women. With increased food security, access to antenatal care and an increase in education and gender equality, the U.N. Agenda For Sustainable Development hopes to decrease the maternal mortality rates by at least two-thirds by 2030.
In keeping with this sustainable development agenda, the Reach Every Mother and Child Act (S.1766) is a bipartisan bill that would allow for mothers and children in these impoverished nations to receive the care they so desperately need while also providing a foundation for them thrive and contribute to the global economy. Because the U.S. already has the expertise in ending preventable maternal and child deaths, we must play a larger role in this global fight to help mothers and their children.
Send an email to your Senators today asking them to support the Reach Every Mother and Child Act.
In addition to increasing access, a greater focus is being placed on the quality of care for these vulnerable groups led by the WHO and UNICEF. The two organizations recently launched a Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health to “cut preventable maternal and newborn illness and deaths, and to improve every mother’s experience of care.” In 2017-2019, Bangladesh, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda signed on as partners and more countries are expected to join this effort in the future.
– Christina Laucello and Kim Thelwell
Photo: Flickr
Understanding The Effects of Poverty While Pregnant
Furthermore, in food insecure and unstable countries, adolescent pregnancy is the leading cause of death in young women, ages 15-19. Some of the leading causes of maternal death include severe bleeding, infection and delivery complications due to a lack of proper health care facilities.
Physical Effects of Poverty While Pregnant
In developing countries, where there is often little access to high-quality food and water, one of the most common effects of poverty while pregnant is malnutrition. Underweight and malnourished mothers are at an increased risk of mortality, miscarriage and preterm labor. Because they lack proper access to antenatal care, they are prone to infection and morbidity.
The WHO Millennium Goals Progress Report showed that 60 percent of women in Africa give birth without the presence of a skilled attendant. In addition, nearly 50 percent in Africa lack any antenatal care.
As it relates to malnutrition, more than half of all pregnant women in developing countries suffer from anemia. In South Asia, for instance, 75 percent of pregnant women have anemia versus 18 percent in developing countries. Aside from the low energy levels associated with anemia, anemic pregnant women face a heightened risk of death from bleeding during childbirth.
Malnourished mothers are also at risk of developing hypertension. Although hypertension is associated with higher risks of preterm birth and lower child birthweights, the most severe risks include preeclampsia and placental abruption. The former can cause kidney, liver and brain damage for the mother. Although this is a treatable condition if caught early, many women in developing countries have little access to health care that would offer a proper diagnosis or treatment.
With regard to placental abruption, the placenta separates from the wall of the uterus and can cause severe bleeding for the mother and prevent the baby from receiving enough oxygen. Like anemia, hypertension is a severe physical side effect directly correlated with higher rates of poverty that puts malnourished mothers and babies at great risk.
Emotional Effects of Poverty While Pregnant
In many developing countries, women do not have equal access to education or career opportunities, making them dependent upon their spouses or families. Such dependency can lead to feelings of helplessness that can affect the health of pregnant women. Evidence suggests that pregnant women who face extreme poverty are more likely to face inequality and develop mental illness.
Furthermore, humanitarian crises, such as conflict and post-conflict situations, can increase the risk of violence against women. It is estimated that 35 percent of women worldwide have experienced physical and emotional violence. In places such as West and Central Africa where child marriage still exists, women are more likely to face violence and domestic abuse.
In sub-Saharan Africa, Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) has a 61 percent prevalence in some areas. Abuse in any form, physical, psychological or sexual, can have dire consequences on women and their health during pregnancy. Victims of abuse often face physical harm and mental health issues, such as depression, post-traumatic stress and anxiety. Some victims turn to alcohol or drugs. In addition, women who suffer abuse often face unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The stress of abuse can affect many aspects of a person’s life but puts pregnant women at a much greater risk due to their already vulnerable physical state.
Efforts to Lessen the Effects of Poverty While Pregnant
Programs such as the U.N.’s Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescent’s Health, the U.N. Millennium Development Goals and WHO Global Action Plan have made strides in reducing the effects of poverty while pregnant. Between 1990 and 2013, the global maternal mortality rate has decreased by 50 percent.
Although maternal mortality rates remain high in developing countries, programs such as the U.N.’s Agenda for Sustainable Development and numerous nonprofit organizations are working to provide access to antenatal care and technology that would assist in identifying health problems for pregnant women. With increased food security, access to antenatal care and an increase in education and gender equality, the U.N. Agenda For Sustainable Development hopes to decrease the maternal mortality rates by at least two-thirds by 2030.
In keeping with this sustainable development agenda, the Reach Every Mother and Child Act (S.1766) is a bipartisan bill that would allow for mothers and children in these impoverished nations to receive the care they so desperately need while also providing a foundation for them thrive and contribute to the global economy. Because the U.S. already has the expertise in ending preventable maternal and child deaths, we must play a larger role in this global fight to help mothers and their children.
In addition to increasing access, a greater focus is being placed on the quality of care for these vulnerable groups led by the WHO and UNICEF. The two organizations recently launched a Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health to “cut preventable maternal and newborn illness and deaths, and to improve every mother’s experience of care.” In 2017-2019, Bangladesh, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda signed on as partners and more countries are expected to join this effort in the future.
– Christina Laucello and Kim Thelwell
Photo: Flickr
Renewable Energy in Developing Countries: Leading the Charge
Renewable Energy in Developing Countries: Current Undertakings
Effects
The effects of developing countries transitioning and installing renewable energy have been overwhelmingly positive especially for remote communities. Currently, an estimated 1.3 billion people do not have access to grid electricity, forcing them to pay absurd amounts of money for unclean lighting and heat such as kerosene oil and coal stoves. However, micro-hydro systems and solar panels have been able to combat this by being self-sufficient energy off-grid sources. For example, in Kenya, the global leader in solar panels per capita, more and more citizens are choosing to install private solar systems rather than connecting to the country’s highly unreliable electric grid.
Additionally, jobs are often created in lieu of the initiation of zero-carbon energy producers. As an illustration, when Delhi, India built a new waste-to-energy plant in 2017 that burned garbage as fuel, it immediately hired seven waste-pickers and provided job training and employment to roughly 200 women.
Challenges
Currently, the greatest challenge facing the implementation of renewable energy in developing countries is reliable energy storage. Without good energy storage, communities become dependent on the natural conditions for their electricity and are subject to frequent blackouts.
Another anticipated challenge is meeting the demand of critical metals and minerals, such as nickel, lithium and manganese, to these batteries in a sustainable and ethical manner. As the demand for these materials is expected to grow tenfold by 2050 and large deposits of them are found on African soil, the extracting industry must be regulated in a way so that the economic benefits are enjoyed by the entire locality, and that labor conditions within the supply chains are correctly regulated and addressed.
Future Directions
To combat the lack of reliable energy storage in third world countries, in 2018 the World Bank committed $1 billion to help accelerate investment in both the development and implementation of battery storage. Individual countries have also pledged varying amounts towards the development of alternative energy with China leading the way with an ambitious pledge to spend at least $360 billion on renewables by 2020.
The share of renewable energies in the global energy market is expected to grow up to 20 percent by 2023, and developing countries are expected to play a large role in this growth. The usage of bioenergy, energy generated from biomass fuels, is also expected to decrease as solar and hydropower become more efficient.
Conclusively, the future of renewable energy in developing countries appears quite promising. Although it would be too optimistic to not acknowledge developmental challenges such as efficient energy storage, through ingenious thinking and adventitious ideas, developing countries are likely to continue to be on the forefront of achieving the goal of carbon-neutral global energy consumption.
– Linda Yan
Photo: Flickr
New Job Creation in Africa is Reducing Poverty
African Youth and Information Technology
In the last 25 years, unemployment for young people has increased by 80 percent, further contributing to the economic and social divisions these countries already feel. Of those who are employed, many still belong to Africa’s large population of working poor. In an effort to make themselves more marketable to the job markets in Western nations, many African youths are pursuing an education in Information Technology.
Degrees in IT are viewed as sustainable and respectable by young people. Because of this, IT has become one of the most popular avenues of study by African university students. This creates huge potential for new job creation in Africa in the IT sector as a solution to some of these continent’s youth unemployment disparities.
Development Channel in Africa
Development Channel is a collection of companies that seek to bridge the divide between developing and developed nations by improving access to resources that will offer financial assistance, affordable nourishment and other resources that will improve quality of life. These programs are all available through the Development Channel “Mother App.” The introduction of this app also brings positive news for the many young people across Africa with training in IT as Development Channel’s app is creating more than 5,000 jobs.
The position, “Mother App Trainer,” will focus on teaching others how to access the myriad platforms for aid that Development Channel offers. The position offers room for a continual increase in a salary based on performance as well as healthcare coverage and discounts on items sold by their food stores. The job is even more appealing as it can be performed from one’s home, with all training done online and over the phone.
More Than Just a Job
The company itself is contributing to the fight against global poverty and disparity. Development Channel’s slogan is “bridging the development divide.” The platform offers aid in myriad services, including food stability, credit cards, homeownership, emergency relief infrastructure, water infrastructure, community development, information technology, philanthropic income support, student loans, vehicle ownership, legal defense, women’s empowerment, waste management, education and more.
For example, Development Channel believes malnourishment and a lack of access to viable food sources greatly contribute to the poverty cycle. This is why the platform has a chain of “corner stores” called SISCHI that offer easily accessible, affordable food. Another of its companies, Flow, makes it easier for people to access lines of credit in locations where citizens formerly had no basic bank accounts at all.
Not only is Development Channel initiating new job creation in Africa for the largely untapped market of educated African youth but the companies housed under Development Channel are aiding in creating a better quality of life for people in developing nations.
– Gina Beviglia
Photo: United Methodist News Service
8 Facts About Ghana’s Water Crisis
Much like many other countries in Africa, Ghana’s water crisis is straining the nation. The local government has taken steps to try and minimize the damage, but a growing population, faulty equipment and rapid urbanization are outpacing most improvements. Here are eight facts about Ghana’s water crisis.
8 Facts About Ghana’s Water Crisis
Unless the government receives outside help, however, it may be some time before it acquires any substantial gain in sanitation or water production. This is why these eight facts about Ghana’s water crisis are so important.
– Collin Williams
Photo: Flickr
Humanitarian Drones: How This Poverty-Solving Technology is Changing the World
WeRobotics established itself as a not-for-profit organization in December 2015. Since then, their progress has been astounding. WeRobotics and its Flying Labs work with NGOs, government agencies and universities in over 20 countries to spread this beneficial poverty-solving technology.
The company sets up Flying Labs in various countries that serve as a “hub of robotics technology, where staff host training sessions, webinars and teach people how to use technology.” These labs are also “incubators” for the formation of new, local businesses. There are now flying labs in Jamaica, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Chile, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Benin, Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Réunion, India, Nepal, the Philippines, Japan, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.
The robotic technology in these Flying Labs is used for a variety of purposes.The drones can be used for mapping, cargo delivery, drone journalism and conservation. In Nepal, for example, the drones were used to map out the damage done to a region after an earthquake. The map made by the drones was then printed out and annotated by locals to determine strategies and priorities for reconstruction. They also used swimming drones to better understand glacial lakes, which lakes formed by the melting of Himalayan glaciers. These lakes, when forming, have a “tsunami” effect on the areas around them. The swimming drones are used to understand how these lakes are formed and to predict new formations and determine vulnerable areas.
In Peru, the drones are primarily used for cargo delivery of important medicines and vaccines. In the Peruvian Amazon, many people live in areas that are not close to roads or highways. Thus, the main form of transportation is river boat, which can be slow, unreliable and costly. The drones are able to make deliveries of important medicines, such as anti-venom, in a fraction of the time it takes the river boats. In one example, anti-venom was delivered by a drone in 35 minutes, when it would have taken a river boat 6 hours. This can be the difference between life and death. In this way, the drones become poverty-solving technology as they remove barriers created by regional poverty.
One of the most important tenets of WeRobotic’s work is their focus on democratization and localization of technology. This means giving the technology and training to locals with no strings attached. They train locals to be able to use the technology themselves so that the project is respectful of local communities’ autonomy and is also sustainable. Locals in Nepal were able to complete an unfinished map on their own after the WeRobotics team left the site. Because the locals are given access to the information that makes the technology work, they are able to come up with solutions to problems themselves.
Some things that the company notes can be improved are the affordability, repairability, durability, simplicity and battery life of the drones.
This poverty-solving technology has a promising future. It has already provided local communities with means of mapping and transportation, things that are underappreciated in well-off countries, but necessary for civilian life. The possibilities for these humanitarian drones are far-reaching. With more and more people being trained around the world at these Flying Labs, there is more possibilities for improvements and innovative solutions.
– Sarah Faure
Photo: Pixabay
Kerala’s Innovative Health Policy
Kerala’s Current Health Needs
One of Kerala’s most pressing healthcare challenges is caring for its rapidly aging population. Kerala’s population over the age of 60 is expected to double by 2050, and as a larger proportion of people are retired, the state needs a healthcare infrastructure designed to support the health needs of the elderly.
A trustee of an NGO focused on healthcare for the underprivileged in Kerala, who wished to remain anonymous, pointed out changing lifestyles as the cause of some of Kerala’s growing health issues. Non-communicable diseases are on the rise; cancer and diabetes have become the two largest causes of death in the state.
While infectious diseases remain under control compared to other parts of India, re-emergence of certain diseases have led to rather high morbidity in some areas. Additionally, despite significant efforts on the part of the state to place healthcare in the hands of local authorities, and what the NGO trustee says is the highest ratio of doctors to the public in rural areas of any state in India, rural parts of Kerala still do not receive the same quality of care as do urban areas. Likewise, although Kerala has the lowest infant mortality and maternal mortality rates of any Indian state, the government still aims to reduce these rates further.
Policy Solutions
Because healthcare in India is managed at the state level, Kerala’s state government is responsible for formulating its own comprehensive healthcare policy. The state has a history and culture of providing health services to the public; as early as 1879, vaccinations were made mandatory for specific subsets of the population. Since India’s independence in 1947, Kerala has worked to expand easy, community-based access to primary care, prevention services, and specialized treatments.
Kerala’s decentralized healthcare model is a key component of its success in providing affordable and accessible care. After a statewide movement towards expensive private healthcare in the 1980s due to a lack of resources in the public health sector, in 1996, Kerala’s state government decentralized public healthcare through the People’s Campaign for Decentralized Planning. Decentralization shifted approximately 40 percent of state healthcare funding to local governments, prioritizing creating community-based services that are accessible to all regardless of income or caste, as a private-dominated system was consistently barring the poor from accessing care across Kerala.
Looking to the Future
Another key element of Kerala’s healthcare successes has been its willingness to generate policies anticipating future healthcare needs. As the state’s population ages rapidly, policy is already being generated to combat this coming issue. Senior care facilities are already being constructed across the state, existing facilities are being made more equipped for geriatric care, and the Pain and Palliative Care Policy of 2008 has increased the amount of home-based care at the local level.
Likewise, to combat the re-emergence of infectious diseases like diarrhea, typhoid, and Dengue fever, Kerala has invested in information-gathering at the household level in order to observe the spread of such illnesses. As diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease came to account for more than half of all deaths in Kerala, the National Programme for Prevention of CVD, Diabetes, Cancer and Stroke (NPCDCS) was introduced in Pathanamthitta district in 2010 and has since been expanded statewide.
This year, Kerala’s government passed a policy for comprehensive healthcare reform. This new policy seeks to reshape the state’s health services to better account for an aging population, re-emerging infectious diseases and non-communicable lifestyle diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and to expand mental healthcare. It will increase public spending on healthcare more than eightfold in order to further lower the price of public health services as well as providing treatment guidelines to ensure a more even quality of treatment across the state. This comes at the same time as the state is expanding its public health insurance coverage.
Impact on Poverty
Despite the government’s continued efforts to decrease the cost of healthcare and the fact that privatized healthcare services are still largely inaccessible to the poor, Kerala has accomplished several significant victories in providing affordable and accessible healthcare. According to the NGO trustee, no one needs to travel more than 10 kilometers to a primary health centre (PHC), and medicines are provided for free at PHCs across Kerala. Decentralization of healthcare has cut costs significantly, and the state’s new health policy seeks to encourage subsidized public healthcare even further while increasing insurance coverage.
Certainly, Kerala’s innovative health policy is a critical component of its low and steadily decreasing poverty rate. However, underprivileged individuals–including the poor, those in rural areas, women, and the elderly–continue to receive lower quality care and less of it. That is why NGOs and nonprofits like the trustee’s organization must continue to exist, and why the government continues its fight for constant improvement of Kerala’s health policy.
– Macklyn Hutchison
Photo: Flickr
10 Facts About Life Expectancy in Belarus
Belarus is a former member of the Soviet Union, located between Russia, Poland and Lithuania. Like most post-Soviet states, Belarus has experienced substantial economic and societal problems since attaining sovereignty. The country has developed under a dictatorship and today Belarus has virtually full employment and an official poverty rate of less than six percent. However, the country still faces significant obstacles to public health and economic development. Here are 10 facts about life expectancy in Belarus.
10 Facts About Life Expectancy in Belarus
These 10 facts about life expectancy in Belarus show that the tradition of substance abuse impacts the country’s life expectancy gravely, which Belarus largely ignored until recent years. Belarus’ robust health care system shows that the government has an interest in public health. Until recent years, state-run and international health organizations alike had difficulty combating the country’s culture of unhealthiness. This has become a clear governmental priority as reflected in the gradual shift toward more restricted access to tobacco and alcohol.
Since 2015, more studies on alcoholism in Belarus have published than ever before, and the issues of premature death and life expectancy have become common pieces of the national dialogue. Although Belarus has not yet definitively solved the problem of premature death and substance abuse, the country is certainly on the right path to reversing its health trends.
Photo: Flickr
10 Facts About Child Labor in Morocco
10 Facts About Child Labor in Morocco
While the solutions that these 10 facts about child labor in Morocco present only slightly reduce the overarching problem, child labor should lessen as the issues that people associate with it reach the spotlight of the media. Human Rights Watch suggests that the government take direct action to protect children.
Domestic workers and government actions are currently helping end contracts in houses across Morocco. The steps to ending child labor have only begun, yet the future looks promising. Programs such as the Cash Transfer Program reached 2 million children, allowing kid’s shoes to pass through the school gate. Other social programs give assistance to children at-risk for entering child labor with vocational training.
– Daniel Bertetti
Photo: Flickr
10 Facts About Life Expectancy in Sweden
As one of the more progressive countries in the world, Sweden boasts multiple government agencies and nonprofit organizations actively working toward improving citizens’ health and longevity. Sweden also possesses an efficient and well-equipped health care system. Thanks to these efforts, the country’s average life expectancy is improving. Below are 10 facts about life expectancy in Sweden, including current initiatives to continue improving the country’s average life expectancy.
10 Facts About Life Expectancy in Sweden
The Swedish government involves a large body of agencies dedicated to providing the best health care to its citizens. As a result, life expectancy in Sweden is one of the best in the world. Even those living below the poverty line can still access the services they need, and the life expectancy of all Swedish citizens is improving.
– Aric Hluch
Photo: Flickr
What Else Could the Money for Notre-Dame Repairs Be Used For?
After reaching nearly $1 billion just days after the fire, several articles marveled at how easy it was to raise these funds when investing the same amount of money and public support for other pressing issues seems so difficult. In a few op-ed pieces, authors even expressed the sadness and disappointment of how vigorous the funding was to repair a church whose religion preaches helping the poor and oppressed. This begs the question of what else could $1 billion be used for? Here are five different ways the funds for the Notre-Dame repairs could have been used.
What $1 Billion in Aid Could Do Around the World
Here are just five different ways that $1 billion could be used towards important problems in the world. These examples go to show the magnitude of what can be done with $1 billion to help the poor and oppressed. Although it is hearting to see so many people rally together to help with the Notre-Dame repairs, it would be an amazing leap to see that kid of dedication put towards humanitarian aid efforts.
– Luke Kwong
Photo: Wikimedia Commons