The latest story in a seemingly endless news cycle about violence and mining in central Africa focuses on the neighboring countries of Angola and The DRC (the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Both countries are mineral rich, but this story, along with many others, is rooted in the poverty that resulted from the exploitation of these resources by Western countries.
The Violence Between Angola and the DRC
How did Angola come to host such vast numbers of DRC migrants and refugees that a humanitarian crisis was possible? In recent years, many Congolese diamond miners have crossed the border between Angola and the DRC to take advantage of Angola’s mining industry. In the DRC, the supply chain and mines are more government regulated, creating a lower profit margin for miners. Apparently, Angola’s president, João Lourenço, recently decided that, because the government was not financially benefitting from these migrations, the Congolese must leave.
This has catalyzed a series of violent expulsions by Angola’s military and police about which The United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNCHR) has expressed concern. Congolese have been murdered, raped, looted, burned out of their homes, separated from their children and stranded. The Kasai Province of the DRC, which is on the country’s northeastern border with Angola, has become overcrowded with more than 200,00 of expelled migrants. The UNCHR cautions that such an influx to an already unstable region could cause a humanitarian crisis.
A Brief History of Angola
Angola and the DRC have similar, intertwined stories of colonial rule, civil wars and poverty that have been integral in creating the current problem. The Portuguese established a settlement at Luanda Bay in 1576, which eventually became the colony of Angola. Wealth from natural resources desired in the West and the Portuguese involvement in the Atlantic slave trade fueled the colony at the expense of its native people.
A revolution in Portugal allowed Angolans to gain its independence in 1975. However, leaders of different nationalist movements within Angola clashed, leading to a civil war that, with some interludes, ravished the country from 1975 to 2002 with an estimated 1.5 million Angolan lives lost and another 4 million Angolans displaced.
While the end of the civil war allowed Angola to focus on harnessing its natural resources, the country’s history still manifests in extreme poverty. The improving economy has mostly benefitted the wealthy while 20 percent of the population remains unemployed and five million Angolans live in slum conditions.
The diamond mining industry that the economy depends on was originally created for European gain, meaning that safety standards for Angolans were never established. In Africa as a whole, an estimated one million miners earn less than one dollar a day, a wage below the extreme poverty line. Besides having few wage or labor regulations in Angola, an estimated 46 percent of miners are between the ages of five and 16. It is a sad irony that the industry the economy needs fuels poverty and oppression.
A Brief History of the DRC
Angola and the DRC have followed a similar developmental pattern, and therefore, experience poverty similarly. The DRC has also progressed from colonial rule to civil wars and violence, creating poverty that manifests in a growing gap between the rich and poor and an economy based on unjust mining conditions. This led to the violence and conflict between the two countries that are so prevalent in the current news cycle.
The area that now constitutes the DRC dates back to The Berlin West African Conference in 1884-45, where the Great Powers of Europe at the time officially divided the land, making their own colonial boundaries that ignored tribal and ethnic distinctions. After the division, Belgium’s King Leopold II officially began exploiting the DRC’s natural resources and its inhabitants with slave labor.
The DRC became independent in 1960. However, the instability of the new government and continued attempts of outside involvement from Belgium led to the Congo Crisis, essentially five years of violence and political instability. Another civil war, involving Angola and most of the surrounding area in what some term Africa’s World War, consumed the region from 1997-2003.
Because these wars were rooted in the colonial past, infrastructure and stability were lacking. An estimated six out of seven people in the DRC live on less than $1.25 a day. Approximately 2.9 million Congolese have been internally displaced by the violence. Since Belgium focused on the abundant natural resources, jobs like mining became the main vocation for Congolese. Additionally, Belgium neglected to oversee education in the DRC, leaving many unequipped for jobs outside the mines. The DRC once supplied a fourth of the world’s diamond supply, but that number has dropped significantly in recent years, in favor of other resources like cobalt, leaving the remaining diamond miners even less prosperous.
Interconnected Poverty Between Angola and the DRC
Angola and the DRC have become linked as these DRC miners seek opportunities across the border. The countries’ colonial pasts have made them dependent on natural resources as part of their attempts to combat poverty and recover from civil war. But, in this case, attempts to financially recover have led to more violence as both the Angolan government and the DRC’s miners strive to earn enough money from diamond sales.
There is a political undercurrent as well due to the DRC’s President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to step down since his maximum constitutional mandate ended in 2016. Interconnected government concerns due to the close proximity and a historical tendency for government conflict to become violent have been part of Angola and the DRC’s relationship for years.
In Africa’s World War, Angola supported a rebel coalition that removed DRC military dictator Mobutu Sese Seko from power in 1997, assisted the DRC in combating rebel movements from Rwanda and Uganda in 1998 and supported President Joseph Kabila at the start of his term. This war caused many refugees to seek asylum in Angola in the first place, and fear of another such conflict if Kabila does not step down, seems to be reverberating in the current violent expulsion.
However, based on the economic growth seen since the war’s end, the potential exists for two countries to improve their poverty rates. Angola has seen an average annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increase of 8.68 percent with the help of foreign investment and high oil prices. Although in the past two years there have been GDP decreases, the overall trend is positive. The DRC’s GDP has also averaged increases since 2002, although it has fluctuated more. These growth rates reveal hope for those living in poverty in Angola and the DRC if the governments can avoid further violence and instability and begin to combat gaps between the rich and poor.
– Charlotte Preston
Photo: Flickr
State of Russian Higher Education
The course of formal learning in society takes a mold that has been carefully crafted over the course of history. Similar to business, hierarchal structures remain in place to provide a linear path for young and ambitious students to rise through the levels of education in order to become better contributors to society. This logic path applies to all developed nations of the world, but for the developing nation of Russia, a massive suboptimal state within higher education continues to disenfranchise the student population from the institutions themselves.
State of Higher Education in Russia
The suboptimal state of higher education in Russia presents itself in the faulty relationship between faculty-led lecture and curriculum learning and student capability. Currently, the system of education in Russia mimics that of United States by level and progression. Russia has three primary levels of education available to its 143 million citizens: primary school, secondary school, college and tertiary school that is often referred to as university or post-secondary education.
Unlike the United States where higher education finds its roots in Jeffersonian ideals of limited government and freedom of expression, states and religious communities, all higher education in Russia is either commercial or state-owned and operated. Commercially owned universities take on the same form as privately owned universities in the United States where a board of controllers share a stake in the institution and design its curriculum and policies.
Conversely, state-owned and operated universities in Russia is where the suboptimal state of higher education in Russia materializes. Faculty are on the government payroll and often found work in higher education as an alternative to finding private sector work. Lack of qualifications coupled with a general apathy corrodes the quality of higher education in Russia.
Contrary to the United States where the possession of a Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.) represents the terminal degree of higher education and right of passage into a professorship, poor education standards in Russia afford more graduate students to earn their Ph.D. equivalents and enter the employment world of higher education. Proper education training programs are not pushed on professors as much as it is in the United States.
Higher Education and Poverty in Russia
According to World Education News and Reviews, around 54 percent of Russians aged from 25 to 64 held tertiary degrees as of 2015. Representing more than 50 percent of Russia’s demographic of educable citizens, the country is ranked as one of the most educated nations in the world. Where then does the suboptimal state of higher education in Russia fit into the equation of global poverty?
The answer is complex. Because government-owned universities offer free tuition and significant subsidies on student housing and extraneous costs, the state proctors an array of difficult entrance exams that determine a candidates eligibility into Russian university. For those who do not pass the exam or have little care for the system of higher education altogether, a pivot toward traditional blue-collar trades such as electricians, plumbers and contractors is not unfamiliar. However, the pursuit of blue-collar work does not afford Russians the same pay scale and livelihood as it does for U.S. laborers. Herein lies the trickle-down effects of higher education restraints into the poverty of the Russian’s middle-class.
Present and Future of Higher Education in Russia
In 2019, higher education in Russia is beginning to respond to the needs of the labor market and mimic the same dynamic of labor – education as in the United States. Around 20 years prior, laborers with a Bachelor of Science or Arts degree were very competitive and employable in the labor force. Currently, bachelor degrees are being less valued by Americans and now college graduates pursue a masters degree in addition to a four-year degree so to better secure their chances of higher job security and pay.
Notwithstanding this change, the trend of Americans who believes a four year-year degree will lead to a good job and higher lifetime earnings represents only 49 percent of the population, down 13 percentage points when the same question was asked four years earlier.
There are a few possible solutions to the link between middle-class poverty in Russia and the shambolic higher education offered. Requiring professors in Russia to visit select cities where intense training and education is offered in preparation for professorship may cure the qualifications issue.
Additionally, commercial universities ought to take measures of their own to increase competitiveness and admission rates to receive the pressure off of state-run institutions. Russia is presently molding its education philosophy around Western ideals that hinge on government deregulation, freedom of choice and competition. Implementing additional measures and programs that fall in line with that philosophical shift is not beyond Russia’s capability. The survival of Russia’s educated middle class depends on it.
– Nicholas Maldarelli
Photo: Pixabay
Outbreaks in the Eastern Mediterranean Region
Cholera, MERS and influenza continue to devastate the Eastern Mediterranean Region. This region, found near the Mediterranean Sea, consists of the Levant, the Middle East and North Africa. Fortunately, the World Health Organization (WHO) monitors and records these outbreaks in the Eastern Mediterranean Region in order to better understand epidemic trends.
Each epidemic consists of different symptoms that can be lethal if the individual does not undergo proper treatment. Unfortunately, a majority of the countries within the Eastern Mediterranean Region lack access to the medication and proper public health infrastructure necessary to combat these epidemics. As a result, cholera, MERS and influenza are major public health problems that affect a large population of citizens.
Defining Cholera
Cholera is a bacterial disease spread through contaminated drinking water or food. Symptoms consist of diarrhea and dehydration, and if cholera is left untreated, the symptoms could worsen to seizures and, ultimately, lead to death.
Cholera is quite common among developing states due to a lack of sanitation and infrastructural advancements. Somalia, a country in Africa, is consistently faced with cholera outbreaks. In fact, the last outbreak was August 23, 2018, in which the Ministry of Health discovered 39 new cases since August 16 of that same year. They found that approximately 72 percent of new cases were children under the age of five, and in August 2018, the Ministry of Health recorded 230 cholera cases overall.
The number of cases per week continue to fluctuate, with some weeks showing 151 to 344 new cases. Yemen, which is located South of Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, possesses the world’s worst outbreak with approximately 220,000 cases reported as of 2017. BBC reports that 1,300 people have died, with 25 percent being children. Now, there are about 10,000 suspected cases weekly, and numbers are expected to rise.
These statistics are disheartening, yet the World Health Organization is helping to decrease cholera. The WHO has a Global Task Force on cholera control in this region. This task force has led to initiatives — such as the launch of the Cholera Kits — which prepare families for an upcoming outbreak for the first month, decreasing their chances of contracting the illness. WHO has also planned “Ending Cholera: A Global Roadmap to 2030,” which will monitor water sources, administer vaccinations and construct sanitary networks and healthcare systems. They have also given families in hotspots the oral cholera vaccine.
Impacts of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome is a respiratory illness with symptoms such as fever, cough, dizziness and shortness of breath. This disease can be fatal if not treated correctly. MERS is extremely rare within industrialized countries, yet it does frequently occur in developing countries.
Saudi Arabia is one of the many victims of the MERS outbreak, and astonishingly accounts for 83.2 percent of new cases. The World Health Organization reports that Saudi Arabia had 1861 new cases of MERS in July 2018, and about 719 of those individuals died, which makes the fatality rate 38.6 percent. The fatality rate increased by 3.1 percent since June 2018.
MERS is an epidemic with devastating impacts on society; thankfully, WHO is learning more about this illness through international and local conventions that discuss implementation goals and research. Recently, the WHO hosted a convention in which scientists, doctors and researchers discussed the outbreak of MERS.
They delved into the correlation between human and animal health, research projects/initiatives and preventative methods. The disease was only discovered in 2012 so there is still a lot the world does not know about MERS, but thankfully, organizations like WHO are continually making efforts to understand the epidemic.
Ramifications of Influenza
Influenza is a viral infection transmitted through contaminated surfaces, contact and saliva. Its symptoms include fever, cough, congestion, fatigue and muscle aches. Influenza is one of the outbreaks in the Eastern Mediterranean Region dependent upon seasonal changes and is a common global phenonmenon. Despite its preventability and treatability in developed countries, in other parts of the world, it can be deadly — especially among high-risk groups.
Egypt, Qatar and Iraq were the only countries that reported a high-level of influenza activity — each reported a higher rate of the H1N1 strain. The number of cases of influenza continue to decrease, particularly in the month of July, and WHO continues to help decrease the number of influenza cases through research improvements. WHO continues to monitor influenza and its strains while also creating the “Global Influenza Surveillance & Response System” in order to teach states how to prepare for influenza.
They have given the Eastern Mediterranean Region technical support in order to better responses to influenza, and also funded projects to better influenza treatment — such as building new, advanced laboratories and upgrading surveillance programs in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Populations.
Preventative Measures
Although the outbreaks are devastating, the World Health Organization perservers in its fight against outbreaks in the Eastern Mediterranean Region through inter-organizational collaboration, science conventions and advanced surveillance programs. With groups like WHO actively researching and collecting data, the progress in preventing cholera, MERS and influenza is an ever-increasing occurrence.
– Diana Hallisey
Photo: Flickr
How Tech is Improving Food Security in Nigeria
Malnutrition has been labeled Nigeria’s silent crisis by the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health. The most vulnerable group affected are children as up to one million children under the age of five are affected by severe acute malnutrition in Nigerian each year. Policy predictions about future access to nutrition continue to place food security in Nigeria as a pressing issue for government, NGOs and local organizations.
Chowberry
Oscar Ekponimo, a Nigerian entrepreneur, had personal experience with hunger as a child that led him to develop a cloud-based software app called Chowberry. When he was a child, his mom used to remind him that hunger was not forever, and he cites this reminder as one of the reasons that kept him going every day. The idea for the app came as he walked the aisles of a grocery store and came across a can of tuna about to expire. With the goal of reducing food waste by redirecting it to those in need, Chowberry combines technology with the missions of local NGOs to address the momentous issue of food security in Nigeria.
In fact, this app allows retailers to monitor and track food product expiration in order to allow customers to access deep discounts through the app’s algorithm. The discounts become larger the longer the food waits on the shelves. The beta version – a 3-month trial of the app – connected 300 users with 20 retailers that provided nutrition to approximately 150 orphans and vulnerable children through partnership with orphanages. This pilot program was a success as it allowed participating orphanages to cut down on spending by more than 70 percent.
The app also reaches non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are able to purchase food at reasonable prices and acquire more food for distribution. The app logs a list of the NGOs’ preferences and notifies them when it receives the type of food the charities need for their food distribution programs. As of right now, Ekponimo’s biggest challenge is fighting ‘red tape’ that makes larger companies slow to adopt the necessary technology.
Powerful Partnerships
There has been a growing demand for Chowberry’s services over the past few years, and the organization now has a team of nine in Abuja that works with 20 retailers. Chowberry partners with three local charities to enhance food security in Nigeria: the Afro Global Care Foundation, Hold My Hands Women and Youth Development Foundation and Thrifty Slayer.
Ekponimo doesn’t stop his social activism with Chowberry; he also delivers free training and mentorship to school-age children on how to tackle hunger, malnutrition and achieving sustainable development. His social entrepreneurship and commitment to addressing food security in Nigeria won Ekponimo the 2016 Rolex Award of Enterprise and the title of being named one of Time magazine’s Next Generation Leader for 2017.
Creating Sustainable Innovations and Improvement
Although Nigeria is Africa’s wealthiest and most populated country, more than half the people residing in its borders live below the poverty line. Furthermore, Northern Nigeria has the third highest rate of chronic undernutrition of children in the world, and the International Committee of the Red Cross estimates that approximately 300,000 children are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition in Nigeria over the coming year.
Food security remains at the forefront of challenges within th enation, and there is thus no doubt that the need exists for innovations like Chowberry.
– Georgie Giannopoulos
Photo: Flickr
Top 10 Facts About Living Conditions in Liberia
The Republic of Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world, partly because of the 14-year long civil war that ended in 1997, which has continued to impact its population of 4.9 million people.
These top 10 facts about living conditions in Liberia portray what life is like for Liberians.
Top 10 Facts About Living Conditions in Liberia
Half of Liberians live in abject poverty which means they are severely deprived of basic needs like food, clean water, shelter, sanitation and health care access.
The 14-year civil war in Liberia caused a breakdown in law enforcement which has disproportionately affected the poor. However, in more recent years, there has been an increase in the number of professional arrests as well as a decline in reports of torture and mistreatment in detention centers. These improvements are in part due to the United Nations Mission in Liberia initiatives on law enforcement monitoring and training.
A recent report shows that roughly 64.7 percent of Liberians are literate, compared to 10 years ago when only 42 percent of the population could read and write. Though the literacy rate has increased, the gender gap continues to highlight the lack of educational opportunities for women. While 77 percent of Liberian men can read and write, only 54 percent of women are literate.
Ebola virus disease, which is transmitted to people from animals and human-to-human, has killed more than 11,000 Liberians. Though the country was declared Ebola-free in 2015, two people died of the disease a few weeks after the announcement. The outbreak has impacted crop production, income levels and food security as well. Poor living conditions, like access to clean water and adequate medical facilities, have also exacerbated the impact of this deadly virus. In 2018, the WHO reported that two out of a group of 16 people that received an experimental drug for the Ebola virus have recovered. This is a big step in the eradication of Ebola in Liberia.In 2017, Liberia experienced a deadly outbreak of meningococcal disease but this was contained within weeks with help from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
HIV/AIDS has also negatively affected the country. In 2016 alone, Liberia had 2,900 new HIV/AIDS infections added to the already 43,000 people living with the disease. And of the 43,000, only 19 percent were able to access antiretroviral treatment. The following year, the Liberia National Policy on Condoms was created to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, as well as to increase awareness regarding safe sex practices.
Following the most recent Ebola outbreak, nonprofits such as Water Aid and Waves for Water campaigned to improve clean water access in Liberia. Today, two-thirds of Liberians have access to clean water sources. However, there is still work to be done as 3.7 million people still do not have a decent toilet.
Years after the war, 80 percent of Liberians continue to experience food insecurity. Though the country has a vast amount of farming land and plenty of natural resources, the war has had a lasting impact on productive assets. An increase in food prices also causes a threat to food supply. As a result of increased food prices, many have changed their diet and now eat less protein and vegetables. Not surprisingly this has led to higher rates of malnutrition especially among children under the age of five.
Poor living conditions in Liberian has forced many families to send their children to work instead of school. As of 2018, 21 percent of children are engaged in child labor. Organizations such as the Liberia National Police’s Women and Children Protection Section lack resources to enforce laws against child labor and many children continue to be forced to work in dangerous environments such as the production of rubber and mining.
The President of Liberia promised the government would not get worse under his leadership. In doing so, he has become committed to the country’s development, especially as it relates to improving feeder roads. The President has noted that the development and growth from road connectivity will not only be safer but will also help to support economic activities as well.
The growing population of Liberia is creating a housing shortage, with many living in inadequate housing structures. To combat this issue, the government has begun a “pro-poor national agenda” that has resulted in the establishment of a Slum Upgrading Unit with Habitat for Humanity. This program supports slums and unsafe communities that constitute 70 percent of housing in the town of Monrovia. It also aims to facilitate the supplying of basic services and infrastructure.
These top 10 facts about living conditions in Liberia showcase progress in areas such as clean water access and addressing the Ebola virus. However, there remain areas for improvement as it relates to food security and health care.
– Andrea Rodriguez
Photo: Flickr
Middle-Class Poverty in Russia Alleviated by Retail Market
For most of Russia’s history as a developing nation, foreign direct investments have taken the form of oil and land. The consumer market within Russia has remained a small part of its economy because of a consistently weak Russian currency- ruble, market volatility and consumer hesitation in purchasing durable goods such as cars and other less-liquid assets.
Russian Economy
A weakened economy and increased embargoes from the United States and other Western nations have led to the worsening of middle-class poverty in Russia. Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell on average 1.5 percent yearly between 2014 and 2016. GDP is a measure of the country’s finished goods and services produced within its borders and sold to trade partners.
If a country’s GDP is decreasing, the nation’s consumers have fewer goods and services to purchase. As a result, this adversely affects the country’s economy and consumer market. As of 2016, the population living below the poverty line in Russia rose to 23 percent and amounts to around 20 million people. A rebound in oil prices coupled with a growing agricultural sector has improved Russia’s chance for a massive economy turnaround. Increased trade with China has also given room for economic improvements to the developing nation.
Middle-Class Poverty in Russia and Retail Market
In turn, middle-class poverty in Russia is being addressed through a revitalization of consumerism in malls and small shops across large Russian citizens such as Moscow, St. Petersburg and Saransk. A renewed interest in mass consumerism across this Eastern nation has inspired thousands of businesses to open and offer a variety of goods to consumers.
Mass production of commodity items mimics the consumerism attitude in the United States. Historically, Russian consumers have taken rubles out of the country and purchased goods and services abroad because of lower prices and an increased purchasing power. However, because Russia is producing and selling its own goods and services, consumers are remaining in the country and spending their money with Russian businesses.
As a result of increased consumerism and small to medium-sized enterprise business growth, additional Russian business owners have flooded the market with new enterprises. As of January 2019, Russia’s employment rate is 59.90 percent. The developing nation has seen unemployment continuously fall as a result of improved geopolitics and business within its borders.
The Future Opportunities
Within the next 10 years, Russia’s consumer market is expected to grow internally and the economy is expected to improve. Currently, Russia’s economic freedom score is 58.2 on an index of 100, ranking the country globally as the 107th freest in the 2018 index. Compared to the United States, ranked at the 18th place with a score of 78.8, Russian consumers exercise a significantly lesser degree of economic freedom in their daily purchases and investments.
The Russian government intends to reverse this downward trend with increased investment in malls and shopping centers across the country. The burgeoning consumer market is one solution to alleviating middle-class poverty in Russia as it creates more jobs and opportunities for less-skilled laborers.
Additionally, Russian can begin to encourage more multinational businesses and franchises to do business within its borders. The presence of well-known global brands works cooperatively with Russia’s present goals of increasing consumerism and mall traffic. Russia has a long way to go yet before it improves its global ranking as an economically free country of consumers. The present geopolitical landscape lends itself to a much-needed overhaul of economic policy within Russia.
Russia is combatting economic strife and political pressure from the rest of the world by revitalizing its consumer market. Brand development is a key success factor in this revitalization process. If the country continues to mimic the United States of America in the rebuilding of its consumer market, the middle-class poverty in Russia can potentially be eradicated and lead Russia into the new decade of economic growth and prosperity.
– Nicholas Maldarelli
Photo: Pixabay
Mayan Women Spearhead Rural Development in Guatemala
According to the CIA, 79 percent of Guatemala’s indigenous population lives under the poverty line. Guatemala suffers high rates of malnutrition that are disproportionately experienced among indigenous, Mayan communities. One organization, Qachuu Aloom, is working to improve conditions for Mayan communities by empowering Mayan women to spearhead rural development in Guatemala.
A History of Farming in Guatemala
Ending in 1996, Guatemala’s civil war lasted for 36 years. A report by the United Nations-backed truth commission found that Guatemalan security officials committed multiple acts of genocide against the Mayan population. More than 200,000 people died during the civil war, 83 percent of which were Mayan citizens. Mayan villages and families were torn apart, and Mayan corn plots and gardens were destroyed by the Guatemalan military.
In the years following the end of the civil war, agricultural development projects carpeted the area, distributing a development model that disseminated American and European hybrid seeds. The foreign development projects introduced high-input agriculture, requiring chemicals, fertilizers and expensive hybrid seeds. These projects were rarely successful in rural villages because the farmers could not save seeds from the hybrids and were instead forced to buy new seeds after every harvest, which were they could not afford.
The introduction of modern agriculture to Guatemala brought the accelerated loss of native seeds. Farmers were no longer applying organic fertilizer but using chemical fertilizers and pesticides. This practice not only damaged good soil but also translated to a loss of identity, knowledge and heritage for the Mayan people. It has also been the antagonist that has kept Mayan communities in poverty.
In 2013, stunting due to malnutrition was rampant in rural areas, with some Mayan communities experiencing rates as high as 75 percent. The life expectancy in indigenous Mayan communities is shorter than in other communities in the country by 13 years, with an infant mortality rate is more than doubled. Poverty affects indigenous Mayan women even greater. Mayan women have limited access to health facilities and proper healthcare, which explains the high rates of maternal and infant mortality. The maternal mortality rate among Mayan women is estimated to be five times the national average at 190 women out of 100,000 live births.
Qachuu Aloom in Guatemala
For the last 15 years, the organization Qachuu Aloom (The Garden’s Edge) has been working with farmers from 25 Maya Achí communities in Guatemala. Out of Qachuu Aloom’s 500 associated members, 80 percent are women. Qachuu Aloom positions women in leadership roles, making Mayan women the spearhead for rural development in Guatemala. Qachuu Aloom was established to help families rebuild their lives after decades of civil war.
More than 60 percent of the people living in the Qachuu Aloom partnered communities are rural workers and producers. Qachuu Aloom has set up networks to improve the commercialization of organic products and medicinal plants so that its members can increase their economic health. In the gardens, members produce amaranth flour, pigeon pea flour and salted squash. The products give members an alternative income stream so they can reinvest in their communities, farms and families. Qachuu Aloom also couples its development measures with the preservation of native seeds. The organization built a seed bank in the municipality of Rabinal that ensures food sovereignty, promotes ancient ancestral knowledge and contributes to food security for its members.
Mil Milagros in Guatemala
Mil Milagros, another community-led development organization, has been empowering Mayan women to be the spearheads for rural development in Guatemala. Since its inception in 2007, Mil Milagros has been equipping mothers and teachers with skills and resources to improve the lives of children and families in rural Guatemala. In regions of Guatemala where primary school completion was as low as 40 percent, Mil Milagros partner schools have raised this percentage up to 97 percent. The organization has also helped combat malnutrition. Through Early Childhood Development workshops and by providing nutritional supplements and vitamins to Mil Milagros mothers, malnutrition has decreased by half.
Development projects that enlist women as the agent of change and power are successful in rural regions because when women are given opportunities to extend their economic margins, that money gets reinvested in their children, their household, and their community. Organizations like Qachuu Aloom and Mil Milagros recognize women’s potential and work to empower Mayan women to be the spearheads for rural development in Guatemala.
– Sasha Kramer
Photo: Flickr
Work and Travel USA: A Russian Student’s Way Out
The Work and Travel USA program is a United States’ government program that offers foreign students an opportunity to work and travel across the country through the provision of a J1 work visa. The program allows over 100,000 students to come to the U.S. into a variety of cities and towns across the country each summer.
Advantages of Work and Travel USA
Prior to moving to the U.S. for the summer, students find an employment opportunity in the U.S. through their respective work and travel agencies. Upon arrival, four months of work are defined and nearly a month’s time of travel and leisure for each student, depending on their savings throughout the summer. The program offers foreign students the unique opportunity to earn thousands of U.S. dollars, experience American life and culture through personal interaction and work experience as well as the privilege of repatriating thousands of dollars back into their respective country’s currency when they inevitably return home. Unless they decide not to return home.
Middle Classes of US and Russia
According to the Pew Research Foundation, approximately half of the U.S. population that totals to around 320 million citizens reside in middle-class households. Despite a strong representation of middle-class American citizens, financial gains for middle-income Americans during this period were modest compared with those of higher-income households, causing the income disparity between the two groups to grow.
Contrary to the United States, Russia’s middle class has shrunken to the point of nonrecognition. In developed countries, the middle class is an essential class, the guarantor of social and political stability, legislator of norms of socio-economic and cultural behavior. Its representatives are characterized by independence and critical thinking that facilitate the development of civil society and the efficiency of state management. In Russia’s developing nation, the middle class is parceled into ultra-rich oligarchs that, in fact, represent the elite and the derelict poor on the opposite side of the spectrum.
Motivations for Work and Travel Program
Russian student candidates for the Work and Travel USA program fall somewhere in the middle. They are aged from 18 to 28 years, have a proficiency in English, belong to a travel agency with a work arrangement, they have obtained all legal documents to work in the U.S. for three to four months and have successfully completed at least one semester at their home university.
The motivations for applying to the Work and Travel USA program appear obvious, but American laborers and academics seldom realize the hidden incentives behind a J1 visa and its political power. On average, candidates for the Work and Travel USA program initially put up over $1,200 in program fees and paperwork in order to be afforded a J1 visa and to work in the United States. The granting of this visa grants temporary freedom to a Russian student that he or she is seldom likely to experience while living, studying and working in Russia.
Matters of poor higher education standards and poverty in the form of household income, per capita GDP, social exclusion on the basis of sexual orientation and gender and geographic/geopolitical disenfranchisement are the primary motivations for a select few Russian J1 visa holders to defy the Work and Travel USA agreement and ultimately overstay their visas in pursuit of residency, a green card and, ultimately, American citizenship.
Misuse of Work and Travel USA
The J1 visas awarded to students through the Work and Travel USA program have become a solution to middle-class poverty students in Russia for escaping the country. Rather than committing to a broken system of higher education or working tirelessly in a blue-collar trade, many young Russians are overstaying their visas while in the U.S. in preparation for a new life. Due to matters of conflicted interest, Russian travel agencies and the U.S. government do not disclose precisely how many J1 visa holders overstay their visitor status.
The issue of overstayed J1 students obviously concerns the internal environment of Russia and its connection to poverty. Young Russian citizens know better than to assume the state of affairs in Russia will improve to the point where poverty will be alleviated nationwide. Thus, students fortunate enough to make the cut and receive the J1 visa often pursue the Work and Travel USA program with nefarious and permanent intent.
There are real solutions to solve this suboptimal state for young Russians in the middle class. The establishment of lobbyist groups to improve higher education standards will begin to set positive trends in motion. There is however the persisting issue of Russians wanting to visit the USA with the intent of returning home. Programs and measures taken must work to encourage all Russian J1 holders to return home without disadvantaging those who seek the program with integrity.
Conversely, the issue of overstaying can be reframed entirely. Perhaps the U.S. can begin to set up incubator programs for foreign students who overstay their visa in order to afford them the necessary legal resources so they may make legitimate claims to the residence. If Russia refuses to enact policy that addresses its middle-class poverty issue, perhaps it is time for the United States to step up and show how far legislation can go to improve the lives of law-abiding people.
– Nicholas Maldarelli
Photo: Pixabay
Top 10 Facts About Girls’ Education in Indonesia
Education in Indonesia has reached gender parity, with no significant gender gap in enrollment percentages. However, the schools there continue to reinforce gender stereotypes through their teachings. The top 10 facts about girls’ education in Indonesia explore issues within the gender-biased curriculum as well as the changes being made to combat them.
Top 10 Facts About Girls’ Education in Indonesia
These top 10 facts about girls’ education in Indonesia highlight the issues with the gender-biased curriculum in Indonesia and also emphasizes the various efforts put forth by the Ministry of Education and Culture in order to close the gender gap.
– Anna Power
Photo: Flickr
Sustainable Tourism is Combatting Poverty in Sardinia
Sardinia, Italian Sardegna, is an Italian island in the mediterranean sea that is no stranger to poverty. The economic hardship increased after the 2008 recession. Beginning in 2010, a variety of workers and artisans found themselves at risk of losing their jobs. For example, shepherds and independent farmers were losing business to larger farming companies and small entrepreneurs and independent contractors had to compete with privatization. So, they took to the streets of the regional capital city in Cagliari in protest. Now, Italy is looking to sustainable development and ecotourism to alleviate poverty in Sardinia.
Poverty Overall
Italy really began showing signs of economic recovery in 2017. In the first quarter of 2017, its GDP went up 0.5 percent, business morale was at its highest in a decade and export volumes had risen 2.8 percent over the first eight months of the year. The economic recovery, however, has not played out evenly. Life is getting worse for many Italians. The number of Italians living in extreme poverty had increased from 4.7 million in 2016 to 5 million by the end of 2017 despite that fact that the economic recovery has slowly been gaining traction on a macro level.
Poverty in Sardinia did not skip a beat. The percent of poor individuals living in Sardinia increased from 16 percent in 2016 to 21.4 percent in 2017, according to ISTAT. To compound the issue, the unemployment rate in Sardinia was 17 percent in 2017, which was considerably higher than Italy’s overall 11 percent rate in 2017. The island suffers from high emigration, a negative rate of population growth and a low population density of 40 inhabitants per square mile, which is almost one-third of the average in Italy.
Despite the issue of poverty in Sardinia, the inhabitants of the island live a very long time, especially in the village of Tiana where the proportion of centenarians is found to be 3 times higher than in other parts of Italy. Researchers believe this is true because of the social fabric of the region. The elderly in Tiana tend to lead longer and happier lives because of the degree of social interaction they enjoy. Italy is working to improve condition on the island by capitalizing on the history and culture of the region.
Efforts to Combat Poverty in Sardinia
To combat poverty in Sardinia and promote economic development, the country has embraced a model of sustainable development. In 2013, the island became the first sustainable destination in the Mediterranean. Part of Sardinia’s commitment to sustainability comes from the fact that the island is a huge promoter of green energy, hosting more than 2000 companies in the green supply chain and using renewable energies through its numerous wind and solar farms.
Ecotourism is gaining momentum on the island. Almost 200,000 more tourists visited the Sardinia in April and May 2017 than in the previous year during the same time. Sardinia’s beautiful coasts boast nearly unspoiled beaches and reefs. Tourists can go diving to see the protected marine life or one of the many underwater archeological sites in the region. There are a variety of things to do and see on the different islands in Sardinia depending on the interests of the tourists.
Tourism in the summer months is very popular and helps to combat low employment rates. The ecotourists and elites that visit the island during the summer months bring employment and capital to the coastal regions of the island, but the interior does not benefit from summer tourism. Sardinians living in the interior have recently taken strides to develop a cultural tourism industry. Sardinians who live in the interior believe there is an opportunity for increased tourism since the heritage of the island–cultural, linguistic, artistic and musical–has been fiercely preserved. They have begun attracting tourists to the interior by hosting successful festivals that draw out the unique characteristics of each region.
Although there is still a significant number of people living in poverty in Sardinia, efforts are underway to greatly alleviate the situation by capitalizing on the island’s beauty and rich cultural history. Ecotourism and sustainable energy are going a long way to improve the living conditions in Sardinia and bring in new business opportunities to continue building a prosperous economy.
Photo: Flickr
Interconnected Poverty: Angola and The DRC
The latest story in a seemingly endless news cycle about violence and mining in central Africa focuses on the neighboring countries of Angola and The DRC (the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Both countries are mineral rich, but this story, along with many others, is rooted in the poverty that resulted from the exploitation of these resources by Western countries.
The Violence Between Angola and the DRC
How did Angola come to host such vast numbers of DRC migrants and refugees that a humanitarian crisis was possible? In recent years, many Congolese diamond miners have crossed the border between Angola and the DRC to take advantage of Angola’s mining industry. In the DRC, the supply chain and mines are more government regulated, creating a lower profit margin for miners. Apparently, Angola’s president, João Lourenço, recently decided that, because the government was not financially benefitting from these migrations, the Congolese must leave.
This has catalyzed a series of violent expulsions by Angola’s military and police about which The United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNCHR) has expressed concern. Congolese have been murdered, raped, looted, burned out of their homes, separated from their children and stranded. The Kasai Province of the DRC, which is on the country’s northeastern border with Angola, has become overcrowded with more than 200,00 of expelled migrants. The UNCHR cautions that such an influx to an already unstable region could cause a humanitarian crisis.
A Brief History of Angola
Angola and the DRC have similar, intertwined stories of colonial rule, civil wars and poverty that have been integral in creating the current problem. The Portuguese established a settlement at Luanda Bay in 1576, which eventually became the colony of Angola. Wealth from natural resources desired in the West and the Portuguese involvement in the Atlantic slave trade fueled the colony at the expense of its native people.
A revolution in Portugal allowed Angolans to gain its independence in 1975. However, leaders of different nationalist movements within Angola clashed, leading to a civil war that, with some interludes, ravished the country from 1975 to 2002 with an estimated 1.5 million Angolan lives lost and another 4 million Angolans displaced.
While the end of the civil war allowed Angola to focus on harnessing its natural resources, the country’s history still manifests in extreme poverty. The improving economy has mostly benefitted the wealthy while 20 percent of the population remains unemployed and five million Angolans live in slum conditions.
The diamond mining industry that the economy depends on was originally created for European gain, meaning that safety standards for Angolans were never established. In Africa as a whole, an estimated one million miners earn less than one dollar a day, a wage below the extreme poverty line. Besides having few wage or labor regulations in Angola, an estimated 46 percent of miners are between the ages of five and 16. It is a sad irony that the industry the economy needs fuels poverty and oppression.
A Brief History of the DRC
Angola and the DRC have followed a similar developmental pattern, and therefore, experience poverty similarly. The DRC has also progressed from colonial rule to civil wars and violence, creating poverty that manifests in a growing gap between the rich and poor and an economy based on unjust mining conditions. This led to the violence and conflict between the two countries that are so prevalent in the current news cycle.
The area that now constitutes the DRC dates back to The Berlin West African Conference in 1884-45, where the Great Powers of Europe at the time officially divided the land, making their own colonial boundaries that ignored tribal and ethnic distinctions. After the division, Belgium’s King Leopold II officially began exploiting the DRC’s natural resources and its inhabitants with slave labor.
The DRC became independent in 1960. However, the instability of the new government and continued attempts of outside involvement from Belgium led to the Congo Crisis, essentially five years of violence and political instability. Another civil war, involving Angola and most of the surrounding area in what some term Africa’s World War, consumed the region from 1997-2003.
Because these wars were rooted in the colonial past, infrastructure and stability were lacking. An estimated six out of seven people in the DRC live on less than $1.25 a day. Approximately 2.9 million Congolese have been internally displaced by the violence. Since Belgium focused on the abundant natural resources, jobs like mining became the main vocation for Congolese. Additionally, Belgium neglected to oversee education in the DRC, leaving many unequipped for jobs outside the mines. The DRC once supplied a fourth of the world’s diamond supply, but that number has dropped significantly in recent years, in favor of other resources like cobalt, leaving the remaining diamond miners even less prosperous.
Interconnected Poverty Between Angola and the DRC
Angola and the DRC have become linked as these DRC miners seek opportunities across the border. The countries’ colonial pasts have made them dependent on natural resources as part of their attempts to combat poverty and recover from civil war. But, in this case, attempts to financially recover have led to more violence as both the Angolan government and the DRC’s miners strive to earn enough money from diamond sales.
There is a political undercurrent as well due to the DRC’s President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to step down since his maximum constitutional mandate ended in 2016. Interconnected government concerns due to the close proximity and a historical tendency for government conflict to become violent have been part of Angola and the DRC’s relationship for years.
In Africa’s World War, Angola supported a rebel coalition that removed DRC military dictator Mobutu Sese Seko from power in 1997, assisted the DRC in combating rebel movements from Rwanda and Uganda in 1998 and supported President Joseph Kabila at the start of his term. This war caused many refugees to seek asylum in Angola in the first place, and fear of another such conflict if Kabila does not step down, seems to be reverberating in the current violent expulsion.
However, based on the economic growth seen since the war’s end, the potential exists for two countries to improve their poverty rates. Angola has seen an average annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increase of 8.68 percent with the help of foreign investment and high oil prices. Although in the past two years there have been GDP decreases, the overall trend is positive. The DRC’s GDP has also averaged increases since 2002, although it has fluctuated more. These growth rates reveal hope for those living in poverty in Angola and the DRC if the governments can avoid further violence and instability and begin to combat gaps between the rich and poor.
– Charlotte Preston
Photo: Flickr