Top 10 Facts About Living Conditions in Bulgaria

Top 10 Facts About Living Conditions in Bulgaria
Bulgaria is a country in southeastern Europe, neighboring Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Romania to the north, Greece and Turkey to the south and the Black Sea to the east. The country has been a member of NATO since 2004 and the EU since 2007. After its transition from Soviet control, it has sought to deepen its ties with the West. Bulgaria has improved a lot in its post-communist period from 1990 up to today, yet it still ranks near the bottom of EU lists on life expectancy, income per capita and several other areas. These are the top 10 facts about living conditions in Bulgaria you should know.

Top 10 Facts About Living Conditions in Bulgaria

  1. Rural regions are underdeveloped – There is a disparity between rural and urban populations with poverty being prevalent among the former. A lot of people live in cities, the urban population is 74.6 percent because rural regions in the country are very underdeveloped. Nearly two-thirds of poor Bulgarians live in the country and rely on agriculture for jobs. Nearly 26 percent of the workforce in rural areas is above working age, compared to 17 percent in urban areas.
  2. Life expectancy is low –  Life expectancy at birth has increased, but it still remains below the European average by almost 6 years, partially due to the high maternal mortality rate. Bulgaria takes the second to last place with its life expectancy of 74.7 years.
  3. The population is aging – Even though life expectancy is rising, birthrates are low, and Bulgaria’s population is aging along with other European countries. Bulgaria is one of six EU countries where the proportion of people over 65 years old has passed the 20 percent mark. Most elderly live in remote rural areas where access is very limited. They rely solely on pensions that do not meet their needs. More than half of these pensioners live below the poverty line.
  4. There is a lot of emigration – The aging population is one of the reasons for the 12 percent decline in the overall population of Bulgaria from 1990 to 2012. Another reason is emigration, which leads to lower productivity. Factors such as the low income per capita, high unemployment and income inequality push Bulgarians to move to Western countries, resulting in a brain drain.
  5. The transport system is in a good shape – Even though intercity roads are not in top condition, there have been improvements in the transportation system. Large urban areas are connected by public transport networks, and Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital, has been continually extending the subway line to connect different parts of the city. Bulgaria is accessible by land, water and air with the Danube river being a transport channel used for commercial purposes.
  6. It is not expensive to live in Bulgaria – Even though the median wage in Bulgaria is significantly lower than other EU member states, the cost of living is low. Sofia ranks 92 out of 105 countries in terms of cost of living. But, to counter that, the minimum wage is roughly 260 euros per month, which is amongst the lowest of the EU member states. Households in Bulgaria have only about half of the purchasing power of other EU countries.
  7. The economy is growing despite doing so slowly. The GDP during the second quarter of 2018 increased by 3.4 percent compared to the same quarter in 2017, according to the National Statistical Institute’s adjusted data. Exports of goods and services grew by 1.7 percent. The unemployment rate in the country decreased from 11.3 in 2013 to 7.2 in 2017.
  8. Bulgaria is ranked 51st according to the Human Development Index (HDI) – Bulgaria’s HDI is higher than its Eastern Europe neighbors Macedonia, Albania and Serbia. The index measures a country’s development based on factors such as life expectancy, the standard of living and education. Bulgaria’s HDI value had an increased 17.1 percent, from 0.694 to 0.813, between 1990 and 2017. It is now in the very high development category.
  9. Children In Bulgaria Face High Poverty Rates – The population of Bulgarians living below the poverty line was 23.4 percent in 2016 with children facing the highest risk of poverty and social exclusion among E.U. member states. Data from 2016 shows that 527,000 children (or 43.7 percent) live in low-income households.
  10. Access to health services remains limited to some groups in the country. Around 12 percent of citizens do not have insurance, and the high costs of out-of-pocket payments limits access for low-income people, the elderly and the Roma minority. Additional barriers to health services for people with low income are traveling distance and the availability of doctors.

The transition from a centralized, planned economy to a free market one has been tumultuous. The country has implemented changes, but it is lagging behind in its development compared to other member states in the EU. These facts about living conditions in Bulgaria focus on what needs to improve and how poverty in Bulgaria has ethnic, gender, age and rural dimensions.

The situation may look pessimistic based on some of these 10 facts about living conditions in Bulgaria, but despite its challenges, Bulgaria has vastly improved and continues to improve. The cultural environment is rich and diverse and tourism is flourishing in many parts of the country. Furthermore, telecommunications are highly developed with Internet speeds being some of the highest in the world.

Overall, these top 10 facts about living conditions in Bulgaria highlight that, while there is room for improvement, the country has great potential to continue developing into a wealthy, prosperous member of the EU.

– Aleksandra Sirakov
Photo: Pixabay

TOP 10 FACTS ABOUT HUNGER IN MALAWI

Top 10 Facts About Hunger in MalawiMalawi, a country in Southeast Africa with a population of about 21 million, is facing a severe crisis. Nearly half of its people are affected by hunger and food insecurity, while extreme poverty impacts two out of three Malawians. 

Top 10 Facts About Hunger in Malawi

  1. Food crisis– Malawi has been grappling with a food crisis in various forms for over a decade. Factors such as inflation, poverty, unemployment and natural disasters have significantly affected the country. It ranks among the top four countries in the world, with a very high percentage of the population living in extreme poverty. 
  2. Unreliable weather patterns- Rural Malawians rely on smallholder farming for their livelihoods. By repeatedly cultivating small pieces of land, they aim to harvest enough food to sustain themselves and their families. However, over the last two decades, the country has faced natural disasters such as droughts, which have had a detrimental impact on farming. In 2024, the worst El Nino in a century devastated maize crops. 40% of the population is affected and needs immediate assistance.  
  3. Unstable economy- Malawi’s economic conditions are quite challenging. High inflation rates have increased food prices, reaching 41% in May 2024. Since the economy heavily relies on agriculture, adverse developments in this sector have resulted in an unemployment rate of around 20%, pushing more people into poverty. 
  4. Reduced production of Malawi’s staple food, Maize- Malawi has experienced unexpected weather trends that have adversely impacted its staple food, maize. Recent droughts have led to a shortfall of 600,000 metric tons between maize production and consumption, resulting in an emergency in the country. In June 2024, the price of maize increased by 23% compared to the previous month, making it even less affordable for millions of people in Malawi. 
  5. Food import– Malawi is facing significant food security challenges and needs $447 million to import food, mainly maize, due to the severe effects of drought. Nearly half of the population is affected and struggles to access nutritious food. Although imports may temporarily relieve shortages, they could also drive up already high food prices, burdening households living in widespread poverty. 
  6. Winter Cropping –  Winter cropping allows farmers in Malawi to have two harvests per year, reducing the effects of climate change and weather and improving food security in the country. This approach enables small farmers to maintain a stable income and contributes to a reduction in food imports. 
  7. Stunting in children under 5- Malawi has successfully decreased the stunting rate in children under 5 from 42% to 37%. However, the country still faces challenges, as 62,000 children are at risk of suffering from “severe acute malnutrition,” commonly known as wasting. Additionally, 64% of children under 5 suffer from anemia and 23% of all child fatalities are attributed to undernutrition, highlighting the critical state of child health in Malawi.
  8. Children’s education– The percentage of children completing primary and secondary school is alarmingly low, with only 33% finishing primary school and 23% completing secondary school. Factors such as poverty, food insecurity, and undernourishment contribute to the issue. Statistics reveal that 25% of students who drop out come from the lowest wealth quintile. Additionally, studies conducted by the World Food Program (WFP) indicate that children who are stunted or malnourished are more likely to drop out of school.
  9. Zero Hunger in Schools – The WFP supports education in Malawi by providing daily meals to 900 primary and nursery schools, benefitting approximately 1 million children. The meals are freshly prepared and the ingredients are sourced from local smallholder farms to support the local farmers. The WFP plans to provide emergency assistance to around 440,000 children in the current situation and aims to treat acute malnutrition in about 90,000 children. 
  10. “Changing Lives“– The World Food Program (WFP) has launched a Rural Resilience Initiative that allows farmers to insure their crops against unexpected natural events through labor support. Additionally, the WFP provides training in climate-resilient agricultural techniques and works to ensure a continuous water supply for farmers. These efforts aim to reduce food insecurity and poverty in the country.

Final Comments

These facts show us the challenges faced by people in Malawi. However, in collaboration with the government, local and international organizations are working to promote sustainable farming practices and empower communities. These efforts offer hope for a future with reduced food insecurity in the country.

– Aquillina Ngowera and Maria Waleed
Photo: Flickr
Updated: November 11, 2024

e-Commerce in India Encourages Female Empowerment

e-Commerce Industry in India
The e-commerce industry in India is growing at an unprecedented rate and is estimated to be worth $150 billion by 2022. This industry is expected to generate employment throughout the country; it includes e-travel, e-tail and e-financial services. Fashion retail is around 30 percent of the online retail searches and may reach as much as $35 billion by 2020. This will be a significant source of employment for women and minorities.

Supporting Digital Commerce

The Government of India has supported this sector through initiatives such as Digital India and Startup India. Digital India is a campaign to increase access to digital technology throughout the country by improving infrastructure, spreading awareness about digital technology and digitizing government services. This campaign has been endorsed by several high profile companies such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft. Other major initiatives, such as the GST (Goods and Services Tax), have coaxed the economy away from cash transactions towards the digital economy.

The Government of India has involved various stakeholders from the private and public sector to create an updated e-commerce policy that recommends improving the regulatory mechanism and enforcing certain protectionist barriers. The draft version of this policy includes providing data protection for users, giving more control to the founders of e-commerce and encouraging domestic production.

Helping Women Become Successful Entrepreneurs

The e-commerce industry in India is expected to generate more than a million jobs by 2023; this will not only increase jobs in the corporate sector but also in industries such as logistics, warehousing, customer care, human resources and technology. This will benefit many Indians in both urban and rural areas.

Studies show that more than 70 percent of online sellers come from smaller towns, and more than 20 percent of them are women. Thus, e-commerce encourages women entrepreneurship and adds to the growth of the economy. Creating opportunities for women to be economically independent helps fight gender norms and make progress towards economic equality of the sexes.

Many women are selling products within the fashion, health and wellness as well as handicraft industries. The ability to work from home is a convenient and effective way to earn a living, and it also supplements family incomes. Studies show that empowering women has a huge impact on the health and well being of the family.

An online portal named Mahila-e-Haat is an organization that facilitates a direct interaction between vendors and buyers. It provides support to women who wish to gain financial independence; this group is expected to help 125,000 women nationwide.

Craftsmanship on the Rise

Global as well as local companies are contributing to the market by expanding the workforce. Many traditional craftsman and artisans have been able to use this platform to sell their products. Now, they can continue the age-old traditions of craftsmanship while at the same time break free from the traditional costs of the middleman.

Plus, the e-commerce industry in India is empowering small manufacturers since many e-commerce companies are employing experienced craftsman, many of whom were not formally employed before, but rather, worked with their families unofficially.

– Isha Kakar

Photo: Flickr

Top 10 Facts About Hunger in the Congo

Hunger in the CongoTo achieve the goal of zero hunger in the Congo by 2030, the international community must understand the root causes and impact of hunger in the country. Only then can effective measures to address it be developed. 

Top 10 Facts About Hunger in the Congo

  1. One-third or 33% of the population is food insecure in the Republic of Congo and 47% live below the poverty line. 
  2. The main crops grown are cassava, banana and peanuts, which are insufficient to meet the population’s nutritional requirements. 
  3. Around 80% of the population’s food needs are met by imports, as almost 90% of the land is uncultivated. The direct result is that high food prices make food out of reach for most of the population, making them food insecure.
  4. The floods in 2023 affected at least 1.8 million people in the country, making them reliant on assistance. In addition to its population, the country is home to at least 65,000 refugees from neighboring countries who have also been affected by the floods and require assistance.
  5. Hunger has led to over 30% of the population being undernourished, particularly affecting children under the age of 5. Statistics indicate that stunting is prevalent in 21.2% of children and wasting in 8.2% of those under 5. 
  6. Hunger is detrimental for infants, who are more vulnerable to its effects. Malnutrition has been the fifth cause of premature death for over 10 years, with infant mortality at 31.3%. Additionally, only 5.6% of children aged between 6 months and two years receive a minimum acceptable diet (MAD).
  7. Anemia is the second most common cause of disability in the Congo and is directly caused by nutrition deficiencies. In 2016, 63.2% of children under 5 and 41% of women had anemia. Efforts have been made to address this issue, including providing supplements and micronutrient powders for children.
  8. Around 32% of people live in rural areas where the effects of hunger are more dramatic. 
  9. Despite facing significant challenges, there has been a notable improvement in certain key indicators. Specifically, there has been a slight reduction in the percentage of children experiencing severe malnourishment and stunting, which has led to a decrease in infant mortality from 40% to 31% over the last 10 years. 
  10. The World Food Programme is working towards its “Zero Hunger” goal in the Congo through food and voucher distribution, refugee aid, and nutrition programs. It distributes food and vouchers that refugees and displaced people can exchange for food. It provides nutritious foods for students, some from local farmers. It has also established “social safety nets” that require HIV/TB patients and pregnant women to make regular doctor visits and check-ups in return for food vouchers.

While these facts about hunger in Congo demonstrate the severity of the situation, progress has been and is still being made to improve it. Through the efforts of various organizations, such as the World Food Program, SDG 2 of zero hunger is achievable. 

– Massarath Fatima
Photo: Flickr
Updated: September 24, 2024

Top 10 Facts About Hunger in Mexico

Top 10 Facts About Hunger in Mexico
Mexico has suffered from the effects of poverty and food insecurity for decades. The problem does not lie in food unavailability but in the fact that areas living in poverty do not make enough money to purchase necessary goods. This issue is being addressed and alleviated by nonprofit organizations like The Hunger Project (THP) and even the country’s President, Enrique Peña Nieto. In the text below top 10 facts about hunger in Mexico are presented.

Top 10 Facts About Hunger in Mexico

  1. About 8.5 million residents of Mexico or about 7 percent of the population need to live on less than $2 a day.
  2. Mexico is experiencing an unbalanced distribution of wealth where the richest part of the population has nearly 14 times more money than the poorest one. As different social classes have different access to food the main problem with food insecurity is accessibility, not availability.
  3. At least 10 percent of all residents of Mexico experience poor access to food, while the inadequate food access affects between 25 and 35 percent of the population in nine states.
  4. Mexico suffers from issues with malnutrition, anemia, overweight and obesity. The rates of malnutrition have dropped significantly but about 13 percent of children under the age of 5 suffer from malnutrition and one in four children is overweight or obese. Rates of malnutrition are highest in rural areas and obesity is highest in urban areas.
  5. Between 2003 and 2005, the food supply per capita daily in Mexico was 3,270 kilocalories on average, while the minimum requirements are only 1,850 kilocalories per capita daily.
  6. According to data acquired by the National Survey of Wholesale, Food and Nutritional Status in Rural Areas  (ENAAEN), all food groups for a healthy diet were available for sale within the communities. The problem is that residents do not have sufficient income to purchase all the goods they need.
  7. In 2008, 18.2 percent of the population in Mexico was in poverty meaning they could not buy adequate food for their families even if they use their entire income. An analysis done by CONEVAL found that the states with the highest percentages of food poverty were Chiapas, Guerrero and Oaxaca.
  8. Since nearly 52 million people in Mexico suffer from hunger, President Enrique Peña Nieto instituted an executive order that he would fight the issue directly. In Chiapas, he announced the program called La Cruzada Nacional contra el Hambre (National Crusade against Hunger). The program works to enhance the social development, education and defense amongst 400 of the country’s poorest communities. He also began Sistema Nacional contra el Hambre (National System against Hunger) that works to be a legal medium for government agencies and the communities over issues about hunger.
  9. A nonprofit organization called The Hunger Project (THP) is working to fight hunger and poverty with strategies that are sustainable, grassroots and women-centered. They have also been addressing issues of food insecurity in Mexico.
  10. In 2013, THP celebrated 30 years of working in Mexico. Between 1987 and 1997, THP was focused mainly on raising awareness of the problem and raising money to alleviate the hunger. Later on, between 1998 and 2004, it trained people to become change agents, with the primary goal to develop change within the communities. The training began in Mexico City and assigned the change agents into some the poorest communities in the country. Finally, in 2012, it strengthened the programs and focused on monitoring and evaluating progress. The organization has worked in Chiapas, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi and Oaxaca.

The top 10 facts about hunger in Mexico highlight the main problem which can be summarized in the fact that the food is available but cannot be accessed due to the different reasons mentioned above.

– David Daniels
Photo: Flickr

Top 10 Facts About Poverty in Belarus

Top 10 Facts About Poverty in Belarus
Belarus is a country in Eastern Europe bordering Russia and Ukraine. Instead of integrating with the rest of the region, the country, known popularly as “White Russia”, is the last dictatorship in Europe. In the text below, top 10 facts about poverty in Belarus are presented.

Top 10 Facts about Poverty in Belarus

  1. In the 1990s, Belarus was one of the poorest countries in Europe due to the collapse of the USSR socialist system. Around 50 percent of the population lived below the poverty line at the time. It concerned the population so much that the campaign slogan of Belarus politician Aliaksandr Lukashenka in 1994 was to “take people away from the abyss”. He was a presidential candidate and he won the election that year.
  2. The proportion of people living in poverty fell from 60 percent in 2000 to less than 1 percent in 2013. This decrease in poverty headcount outpaced the general rate in Europe and Central Asia that started with 47 percent of people living in poverty in 2000 and decreased to 14 percent in 2013.
  3. The highest rate of economic growth that Belarus underwent was during the 2006-2011 period when many countries in Europe experienced the effects of the financial crisis. The bottom 40 percent of the people in most of the European countries saw their incomes fall massively, but in Belarus, the expenditures amongst the bottom 40 percent actually increased.
  4. The main causes of economic growth have been Russia’s favorable pricing of energy as well as economic growth that country’s nearby trading partners achieved. This fact heavily stimulated the agricultural and mining industries.
  5. Not everyone has reaped the benefits of this so-called “inclusive” growth. Recently, the distribution of wealth has begun to favor the already rich people with the poorest people still remaining economically immobile. In 2010, 20 percent of the richest Belarusians owned 36.7 percent of the total wealth. In 2016, this figure has jumped to 38.8 percent.
  6. Unemployment is a major problem in Belarus especially considering that less than 10 percent of unemployed people are not receiving welfare benefits. The benefits themselves are meager in real terms, ranging between $12 to $24, according to economist Aliksandr Chubrik.
  7. There is also a widening gap in the incomes between those who live in Minsk, the capital city of the country, and the outlying regions. According to the data released by the government, the poor constitute only 1.4 percent of the population in Minsk whereas they constitute 5.9 percent of those in the Homiel Region.
  8. In 2017, plans were announced to introduce a “social parasite tax” for the unemployed to discourage them from being work-shy and to instill discipline in those without jobs. It was first signed into law in 2015, then known as “freeloaders tax” that proposed a fine for people who went 6 months without a job. If one failed to pay the levy or find a job within 6 months, that person would be jailed.
  9. Belarus also faces challenges in containing tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/AIDS crises. Fortunately, the UNDP is providing health care assistance to those affected in the country. The government has recently received grants from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS and the Ministry of Health in Belarus.
  10. Human trafficking in Belarus has been in the constant decrease. This has been achieved by collaboration between the World Bank and the Government of Belarus and by creating the Country Partnership Strategy. This strategy was designed to increase employment in the energy, transport, forestry and public finance management sectors to attract more people into those that risk their lives in trafficking.

Despite the reforms and efforts that have been achieved, Belarus is in desperate need of internal and external reform. It needs to create a stable social security system that will allow social mobility rather than punishing people for being poor and reaching a more equitable society for all.

– Maneesha Khalae

Photo: Flickr

Top 10 Facts About Living Conditions in Iraq

Top 10 Facts About Living Conditions in Iraq
Decades of war and conflict have left their mark on Iraq. The lack of stability in the region has made the productive investment a challenge and limited private sector consumption and growth. Living conditions in Iraq are often strenuous and many people struggle with poverty, unemployment and malnutrition.

The struggle has marked the recent past for many Iraqis, however, despite setbacks, the country is trying to rebuild itself. In May 2018, the country had its first national election since the war with ISIS, instilling hope in many people that Iraq is on it’s way to political stability. The hope is that times of war are in the past and a new Iraq lays ahead. In the text below, top 10 facts about living conditions in Iraq are presented.

Top 10 Facts About Living Conditions in Iraq

  1. Between 2014 and 2017 the Iraqi government was engulfed in civil war with the Islamic State (ISIS). In December 2017, the Iraqi government announced that all territory captured by ISIS during the war had been liberated. However, the effects of the war were tragic for the people. For example, in the period between January 2014 and October 2015, nearly 19,000 civilians were killed and about 3.2 million people were internally displaced.
  2. As a result of the fighting and destruction during the Iraqi Civil War, millions of civilians were displaced from their homes, lost their jobs and were stripped of many other assets key for financial security. Reflective of this situation is the disproportionality of unemployment rates in areas most affected by ISIS (21.6 percent) compared to the rest of the country (11.2 percent). Additionally, UNICEF released a report this year warning that one in four children in Iraq is in poverty and four million in need of assistance as a direct result of the war.
  3. On September 25, 2017, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) passed a referendum establishing independence from Iraq. In response to the results of the referendum, the federal Iraqi government instructed the KRG to nullify the results of the referendum as well as withdraw KRG military forces from the city of Kirkuk. On Oct. 16, Iraqi forces retook previously Kurdish-controlled territories forcing thousands of Kurdish families to flee their homes and escape the approaching Iraqi federal forces.
  4. In May 2018, Iraq held its first national election since the ISIS takeover in 2014. Although the fact that the elections were held is positive, voter turnout was the lowest since the country’s first democratic election in 2005, coming in at 44.5 percent. Additionally, the vote had to be recounted in June due to concerns over serious violations in the initial vote count. Four months after the elections, the winning parties are still in negotiations over forming the next government.
  5. In recent years, rainfall has been increasingly sparse throughout Iraq. Lack of rainfall, as well as dam construction upstream in Turkey and Iran, have significantly reduced water levels in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers which has consequential effects on Iraqi agricultural and hydroelectric outputs. As an added concern, the increasingly dry seasons have caused water salinization making it unusable for farming and worsening living conditions in Iraq.
  6. Results gathered by the World Food Program reveal that 53 percent of Iraqi residents are vulnerable to food insecurity. Faring worse than national averages are Iraqis who have been internally displaced by the civil war. Results show that 66 percent of internally displaced people are susceptible to food insecurity.
  7. Life expectancy in Iraq is reported to be 58.7 years for men and 62.9 years for women. In recent years, health care for Iraq’s population has been weakened due to warfare and economic sanctions. As Iraq’s GDP has shrunk in the recent past so has its public expenditure on health care. Health services have deteriorated and routine shortages in drugs and other supplies followed.
  8. Iraq has an incredibly young population. Forty percent of the population was born after the U.S. invasion in 2003. This youthful group of civilians poses unique challenges and benefits to the country. To support this population the government will need to invest in education and other social services to maintain suitable living conditions in Iraq. In the upcoming years, the Iraqi labor force is expected to increase greatly, offering up a significant economic opportunity for the country.
  9. Iraq has free of charge, compulsory primary education for six years. In comparison to other countries in the region, Iraq has been notable for its commitment to educating boys and girls alike. As a result of this egalitarian approach to public education, Iraq has an overall literacy rate of 80 percent.
  10. Compared objectively to women’s freedoms globally, Iraqi women undergo certain practices that have been deemed suppressive and unequal in many countries. More than 24 percent of Iraqi women claim to have been married before the age of 18, indicating a very high rate of child marriage. Additionally, 8 percent of women are claimed to have been victims of female genital mutilation. These data and other statistics rank Iraq 123 out of 189 countries on the U.N.’s Gender Inequality Index.

When looking at Iraq, one can see a country set back and hurt by decades of conflict. Currently, though, the country is not at war and the national election this past May marked the progress of the living conditions in the country since the chaos of a year ago. However, a voting recount and partisan negotiations have made the results of the election vague and uncertain.

Reflective of the frustration of this election and the futile optimism of the Iraqi people is a quote from Hawla Habib, a professor at Mustansiriya University in Baghdad explaining that “all Iraqis care about their nation, it’s just that many are too tired to think anymore.”

– Clarke Hallum
Photo: Flickr

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Eight Facts About Poverty, Crime and Orphans in Ecuador

children in Ecuador
A simple Google search for “Ecuador orphans,” expected to provide factual information, instead it presents a plethora of pages touting orphanages to donate to, opportunities to volunteer in Ecuador, children to adopt and personal fundraising pages. Even with some keyword tweaking, clearly orphans in Ecuador have abundant needs, but very few scholarly or news articles provide coverage of the issues. In an effort to fill that apparent statistical lack, orphans in Ecuador relate to the country’s poverty and crime rates in eight factual ways.

Eight Facts About Poverty, Crime and Orphans in Ecuador

  1. Ecuador is part of a global crisis for children born in poverty. Of the children who live in orphanages worldwide, about 80 percent have at least one living parent. Since AIDS took the lives of so many parents, UNICEF changed its definition of an orphan in the 1990s to children, those under 18 years old, who have at least one deceased parent. Under this new lens, there are about 140 million orphans worldwide. Many of them, unsurprisingly, are located in some of the poorest countries in the world. Asia has 61 million orphans, and Africa has 52 million. Ecuador falls into the geographical location in third place for most orphans, as Latin America and the Caribbean have 10 million between them. The most common reason cited for living parents placing their children in orphanages is an inability to afford food.
  2. Developed countries have responded to poverty and orphans in Ecuador incorrectly because of this nuanced terminology. Countries like the U.S., that only consider children with two deceased parents to be orphans, tend to interpret global statistics about orphans as reflecting the number of children who need homes. Many well-intentioned efforts then provide for the needs of individual children instead of combating the poverty in their families that sent them to orphanages. Thus, parents continue sending their children away to these homes because that is where the resources are funneled.
  3. Ecuador’s government had historically attempted to respond to poverty by channeling money in the wrong places. It too has tried to help needy families by funding orphanages instead of providing social programs for individuals and families to eventually be able to take care of their families without having to send children away. This would prevent perpetuating the orphan crisis by discouraging parents who believe their children will be better provided for in orphanages than at home.
  4. Institutionalizing children has proven to have negative effects on their development behavior, causing many to remain in poverty after they leave their orphanages. The government makes little effort to monitor harsh punishments and sexual abuse, leaving children psychologically damaged and creating a barrier to fending for themselves. Even for those who do not live in abusive situations, orphanages often constrain children socially, keeping them insulated among a relatively small group of peers, and then release children suddenly into the world, with little training and life experience to prepare them emotionally or academically for obtaining jobs and housing.
  5. Restore17 connects orphans in Ecuador with the country’s crime rates. Restore17 is a charity that does not pop up in the initial onslaught of Google results for “Ecuador orphans,” but deserves to be highlighted. Their mission statement reads: “Restore17 seeks to prevent boys from being exploited by providing them with hope and a future through holistic Christ-centered care.” Tangibly, they do this by working with orphans in Ecuador at a children’s home because 70 percent of males who grow up in orphanages eventually become criminals as well as face elevated rates for suicide and depression and heightened risk of involvement in human trafficking and gangs.
  6. Restore17 seeks to interrupt this progression from orphans in Ecuador to criminals by partnering with a children’s home for boys to provide holistic care. This involves attempts to meet spiritual needs, providing hygiene products, meals, healthcare, help with homework, technical training and attempting to give them a fun childhood with outings and birthday parties. Restore17 is also attempting to provide for male orphans in Ecuador after they turn 18 by building Casa Esperanza. This home will allow them an opportunity for transition past when orphanages will house them, giving them time to enter full adulthood. The vision is to help both the truly parentless young men who still need a place to live and those who have moved back with their families. By providing a space where wifi, school supplies and tutoring and mentoring are available, Restore17 hopes to reduce the necessity of turning to lives of crime.
  7. The total rate of orphans globally is declining, and Ecuador has contributed to this by allocating more funds relieving poverty through different means than funding orphanages. Since estimates about the number of orphans peaked in 2001, the rate has decreased on an average of 7 percent a year. Ecuador has shifted to combating poverty at its root instead of after children that have already been affected to such an extent that they end up in orphanages. A government spokesperson specifically cited efforts to make homes safe for those who could not afford to do so independently. The United Nations has applauded their commitment of resources, and the numbers seem successful. The country’s poverty rate has dropped by 14 percent since 2006. Extreme poverty has decreased by 50 percent since then, boding well for the creation of fewer orphans in Ecuador.
  8. However, orphans in Ecuador from rural regions that face higher poverty rates remain at a disadvantage. Poverty is concentrated in rural areas in Ecuador, where 70 percent of the population was poor in 2000, as opposed to 13.7 percent of the urban population. The numbers of children in poverty in these rural regions are staggering. For example, in the province of Bolivar, 91 percent of children and adolescents are poor, with Chimborazo and Esmereldas following close behind. This reveals the need for Ecuador to keep addressing poverty at the source for the sake of all of these children who could become part of the orphan crisis.

Clearly, such a system that inadvertently funnels non-orphans into institutions and perpetuates poverty must be directly combated. However, organizations like Restore17 enter into the present reality to provide stable homes and equip boys to overcome poverty as men. It is a good beginning. Such efforts should help create a new financially capable and empowered generation that will be able to raise their children at home and above the poverty line.

– Charlotte Preston

Photo: Flickr

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How Identification Closes The Gender Gap

Identification closes the gender gap
Empowering women has long been acknowledged as a key ingredient in reducing poverty and improving economic development. The United Nations (U.N.) has set 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and gender equality underlies almost all of them. More specifically, the fifth SDG is set to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. As the World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes, these goals are interdependent, meaning gender equality is essential not only to the economic prosperity of the communities but for other important issues like health and sustainability as well.

Even today, gender inequality persists worldwide, depriving women of basic human rights and equal opportunities. In poverty-stricken communities around the world, an estimated 90 percent sustain long-standing social practices that devalue women.

Need for Identification

Breaking these modes will require great efforts. Both legal and cultural strides need to change in order to counter deeply ingrained discrimination throughout societies. Studies by the U.N. and UNHCR found that women in conflict and poverty affected regions do not have adequate identification documents. These documents are necessary for achieving the benefits of civic and public life.

Access to identification closes the gender gap in the developing world, but a lack of awareness around the documents prevents women from obtaining them in some cases. Many believe that identification cards are only necessary for exceptional circumstances when in reality they are needed to make the most of social programs and civil rights.

Having personal identification cards in the developing world acts as an important stepping stone. In having the ability to access decisive services and claim entitlements as citizens, women are able to increase their voice and agency through civic participation, access to finances and voting. In assisting women’s social engagement, identification closes the gender gap.

Example of Myanmar

All factors of the country development are intertwined. Women’s documentation is often essential to the peace process in some countries. Resolving the issue of land rights, for example, is crucial to the current conflict in Myanmar, and gender inclusion in the peace process is fundamental to reaching a genuine peace accord. The laws in this country allow women to register and co-register for the property even if they are not head of the household.

While progressive laws have been enacted, there lies a major gap between the law and the reality that women face. Cultural conventions exclude women from participating in land governing let alone a peace accord, making it essential that their names are registered to partake in community meetings. The decisions affect both women and men, making identification an important transition step in transforming cultural norms in poverty and conflict-stricken regions.

Problems with Women Identification

In 2012, four out of every 10 infants born worldwide were not registered with civil governments or authorities. Globally, 750 million children lack identification. A 2013 UNICEF survey found that there is no major disparity between the birth registration of boys and girls.

Evidence suggests that adult women, however, face gender-specific barriers to getting identification documents. Women must provide proof of marriage, additional family signatures and conduct many other steps in the process to obtain identification that men simply do not have to deal with. Unmarried women especially face discrimination as, without a male counterpart or marriage certificate, obtaining identification documents (IDs) is often impossible. IDs are also optional for women, although essential to accessing civic opportunities and required for men.

Increasing access to identification closes the gender gap by helping international organizations better plan and target gender inequality in poverty. The incompleteness of civil registration for women has generated holes in statistics and data for organizations like the World Bank to measure the progress of women in the developing world.

Changing Cultural Barriers

Equality is fundamental to building strong societies. Having active members at every level of a community makes the plight of poverty that much easier to conquer. Gender equality is no different. Ensuring that more than half of the population can do its part must remain at the foremost of poverty reduction endeavors.

While the legal framework with these notions in mind has changed for the better, an uphill battle in the mindset of the communities is much needed. Obtaining identification is the first step in employing available programs and in realizing the agency needed to transform the cultural barriers that devalue women.

– Joseph Ventura
Photo: Flickr

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Big Data and the Fight Against Global Poverty

Big Data
Three years into the United Nations’ latest agenda to fight global poverty and promote peace, health and justice, the chief Sustainable Development Goal of 2030 to end extreme poverty has become a contest to procure and deliver the right resources for the world’s most vulnerable people at just the right pace. There is a race against rising inequality and time, but some economic circles have come to regard one performance-enhancing resource as more valuable than oil and with the potential to boost poverty relief — big data.

Big Data to End Global Poverty

During a lecture at Singularity University Global Summit 2018, a lead economist for the World Bank, Wolfgang Fengler, shared his curiosity about using data to end global poverty by asking, “What would it take to create a data revolution for the SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals]?” Fengler oriented summit-goers to subterranean depths as he compared big data to oil, and emphasized how their values are only realized in the efficiency of its production modes: collection, refinement and delivery in a usable form.

In 1990, 1.9 billion people were considered extremely impoverished; in 2015, the final year of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, that number was 836 million, a 66 percent decrease. Pointing to the World Poverty Clock, a real-time dashboard for poverty numbers created by Fengler, the current global poverty escape rate is 1.1 people per second. That rate should be 1.6 people per second to put an end to global poverty by 2030.

World Poverty Clock

The World Poverty Clock shows data from specific countries, and these types of snapshots provide reliable stories that can inform effective policy and strategic poverty alleviation practices. According to Singularity Hub, next steps for the World Poverty Clock include presenting data by specific regions within countries with the idea in mind that there are region-specific issues related to poverty.

Forbes Magazine contributor Bernard Marr offers some corrections to the data and oil comparison, one that suggests much richer potential for data. Oil is a finite resource that requires a massive amount of ancillary resources to deliver a final product. Contrarily, data has a low cost of production and can become more useful with every use. He also contends big data is environmentally innocuous and has a wider variety of application beyond its crude state.

New Kind of Renewable Resource

While Marr takes issue with comparing big data to an “old world resource,” he does concede to its versatility and value in shrinking hunger and battling climate change. He likens it more so to a renewable energy source such as wind or the sun. The World Poverty Clock reports that poverty is rising in 13 African nations. Two of those nations are Africa’s largest oil exporters: Angola and Nigeria, which both produced more than 1.5 million barrels of oil in 2017.

Rounding out the rest of the African OPEC nations, Guinea and Libya are labeled as “off track,” or “unable to reach the sustainable development goal target at the current rate;” Gabon and Algeria are also considered to have “no extreme poverty.” In Nigeria, oil production accounts for 10 percent of the GDP of the new world capital of extreme poverty; almost half of the nation’s 180 million people live within poverty’s grips.In Angola, 30 percent of its 25 million live in extreme poverty; oil production is expected to comprise 10 percent of its GDP.

Combatting Poverty

These macro-level findings support The Economist’s and Forbes Magazine’s positions on data’s supremacy to oil as a precious resource for profit and a poverty alleviation tool. Crude oil has less of a guarantee, if any at all, to be wielded as such a resource as it does not necessarily translate to economic stability in nations where the gross national income per capita has been decreasing since 2015.

Just as marketing research uses big data to track discrete consumer insights — such as millennial spending trends or researchers’ use of data to identify the demographic most likely to be excessive sun tanners — big data has the power for direct combat against extreme poverty.

Big Data Around the Globe

In China, the Guizhou province developed a cloud-computing platform that tracks the financial status of 6 million impoverished people in 9,000 villages. China aims to usher 10 million people out of poverty annually from 2016 to 2020. In Tongzi county, the government issued subsidies to needy villagers and a data platform monitors the distribution of these subsidies, minimizing the risk of embezzlement by unscrupulous officials.

Zhou Xing, an expert of the poverty-relief office in Guizhou province, said, “Big data really helps make poverty-relief more precise and efficient.” On the days before big data, Xing added, “poverty relief work was difficult because the information of residents was written by hand and passed to central authorities via a series of local officials, which could be hampered by corruption.”

In Rwanda, American researchers have leveraged cellphone metadata to estimate wealth and poverty distributions and the telephoning habits of the affluent and those with more modest means.

Infinite Possibilities

Putting an end to extreme poverty can potentially be achieved through fiber-optic cables rather than petroleum pipelines. The Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 are fixed; through big data, the potential for precisely architected solutions to end extreme poverty seems infinite.

– Thomas Benjamin
Photo: Flickr