The bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death, was a pandemic that occurred in Europe in the 14th century. Europe’s case of the plague killed tens of millions of people, seeming to disappear from history after it struck.
However, the bubonic plague is, in fact, still around today, though it doesn’t kill on the same scale that it did thousands of years ago. In countries like Madagascar, the plague is actually an annual occurrence, taking the lives of hundreds each time it appears.
Thanks to modern technology and medical advancements, the plague is now treatable with antibiotics. The key is to be aware of where it hits, so that its spread can be monitored and an epidemic can be prevented.
From August to November 2017, there was a major outbreak of bubonic plague in Madagascar across major cities and nonendemic areas. This was different than previous years, as typically the plague outbreak happens in rural regions of the country.
The plague starts with a simple flea bite, after which the disease rapidly spreads from person-to-person. In the span of three months, the WHO estimated that over 2,000 became ill and 171 died. While this is still an unfortunate amount, it is a decrease from around 300 who died from the bubonic plague in Madagascar in 2016.
The quick and efficient handling of this outbreak can be attributed to a number of sources: U.K. Public Health Rapid Support Team, U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Doctors Without Borders and Madagascar’s Ministry of Health. Together, these organizations developed a rapid response strategy in order to subdue and hopefully eliminate the bubonic plague in Madagascar, containing the bacteria’s spread within the urban area of its origin.
In order to accomplish this, the groups worked to adequately staff health centers so that those infected could get their antibiotics in a timely manner. Then, they conducted in-person interviews with patients to find out all of the people they were in contact with that could have gotten the disease. The health workers tracked down over 7,000 people that they believed may have been infected. The WHO states that 95 percent of the potentially infected have taken preventative antibiotics.
Very few people showed symptoms of the bubonic plague in Madagascar after these efforts, and those that did were treated with swift speed. From this case of bubonic plague in Madagascar, it is clear that treatment must be made accessible, travelers should be monitored in airports and countries must be given the necessary resource capacity and labor in order to avoid the disastrous effects of an outbreak.
Madagascar’s response to this plague outbreak was nothing short of timely and strategic. This is an unbelievable example of strategic planning and disaster mitigation. The steps that the organizations took together in order to reduce fatalities demonstrates the tremendous power of unification.
– Caysi Simpson
Photo: Flickr
Sale of Diamond Funds Development Projects in Sierra Leone
The village where the diamond was found, Koryardu, has no running water, electricity, roads or schools. Given that the country is still recovering from the recent Ebola virus outbreak, these are much-needed funds. These are five development projects in Sierra Leone that the sale of the diamond could potentially help.
Girls often have to spend many hours obtaining clean water for their families. This hampers their ability to receive an education. The Strengthening Access to Health Care and Community-Led Development project provides support on a local level so that communities can access services like clean drinking water.
The goal of this project is to promote transparency in government decisions in order to increase productivity in agriculture and efficiency in education.
The Ebola virus was devastating to the country. Development projects in Sierra Leone that were aimed at education had to be delayed to support the recovery from Ebola. REDiSL will allow for a scaling up of the current education system and improve learning environments.
The purpose of this project is to increase the power generated by independent power producers and to mobilize private capital. Its key component consists of a recovery plan to help support economic growth post-Ebola and create jobs by providing reliable electricity services to the Freetown Capital Western Area.
After the Ebola outbreak, many regions need to rebuild, but also be prepared for future emergencies. The purpose of this project is to improve the quality of essential maternal and child health services in their current state but also provide an immediate and effective response to constituents in case of an emergency.
With the country still reeling from the Ebola outbreak, it is necessary, now more than ever, to rebuild and develop the nation. The sale of the diamond provides a ray of hope that, given the opportunity, will help with these development projects in Sierra Leone.
– Dezanii Lewis
Photo: Flickr
Development Projects in Yemen Bringing Security in Crisis
Mohammed Mansour Yahiya is a coffee farmer affected by the conflict that arose in Yemen. In 2015, the suspension of salaries due to the conflict worsened his chances of providing for his family. His work and livelihood found hope when the USAID contributed just over $15 million to the Yemen Emergency Crisis Response Project (YECRP). Through this USAID fund and implementation by the UNDP in partnership with the Social Fund for Development, small farmers found solace in the Small and Micro Enterprise Promotion Service intervention project. This project seeks out farmers to modernize technologies and methods of production. Mohammed Mansour Yahiya became one of 350 coffee farmers supported by this project, which enabled their coffee to reach markets. Development projects in Yemen such as this one restore hope to individuals.
The Yemen Multisector Humanitarian Response Programme follows the YECRP in providing humanitarian aid in the form of food security. This project partners with NGOs to seek out malnourished individuals, the most vulnerable in Yemen, and provides cash and voucher assistance. This program works to eradicate malnourishment and integrate prevention and treatment of the condition through three sectors: nutrition, sanitation and health. Progress is being seen via partnerships with CARE, ACTED and Oxfam.
The third development project within Yemen is the Integrated Urban Service Emergency Project, which restores access to crucial urban services. With $150 million alloted for this project, it aims to support the restoration of safe water, sanitation, transportation, energy and solid waste management, while using local resources to improve the economy and lives within Yemen through employment and self-sufficiency.
Continuing to build self-sufficiency and developing Yemenis’ skill base is the Smallholder Agricultural Restoration and Enhancement Project for Yemen. The project strives to increase the use of productive and nutrition-enhancing agricultural practices. It works to increase production, income and nutrition through strengthening the community land and water management and efficient and responsible animal husbandry.
Developing farming skills and agriculture techniques provides a basis to grow the economy, and with equal access to medical health and education the quality of life will increase. The Second Basic Education Development Project, with a budget of $66 million, trains 68,000 teachers, headmasters and supervisors in Yemen. The project’s efforts will build additional classrooms, train headmasters and recruit and hire 700 rural women as teachers. Also included in this project is funding for poor families in rural areas to assist with equal opportunities for girls to attend school.
These development projects in Yemen seek to close the economic gap between Yemen and other countries and to provide security during the crisis. These projects aim to help the people of Yemen and ensure that the basic needs of the most vulnerable populations are being met.
– Bronti DeRoche
Photo: Flickr
Massive Projects Reshaping Infrastructure in Turkey
During the last 15 years, Turkey has spent nearly $100 billion to construct new railways, roadways, tunnels, bridges and airports to support its growing status as an international trade partner. In March 2017, the Turkish government allocated an additional $64 billion in order to complete the existing 3,500 infrastructure projects and begin new ones, such as a national space agency.
Due to Turkey’s large size — it is slightly bigger than Texas — travel throughout the country has historically been difficult. The massive infrastructure projects sought to bring its citizens closer together. Improved roadways were necessary; however, Turkey drives less than any other country in Europe. Therefore, new railways and improvements to its bus system have been instrumental in making travel easier.
Perhaps the most important improvement to infrastructure in Turkey focuses on its principal city, Istanbul. As the largest city in Europe by population and fourth by landmass, traveling through Istanbul presents unique challenges. To this end, Turkey has created several innovative approaches to navigating the ancient city. These include the Metrobus system, a rapid-speed bus system completely separate from streets congested by cars. Of more ingenuity and significance is the Marmaray tunnel, a submarine railway system that traverses the Bosphorus Strait, one of the most important waterways in the world.
The glut of projects related to infrastructure in Turkey, despite the astronomical costs, was necessary. The sheer size of the country and the likelihood of earthquakes meant that the country’s infrastructure had to be strong as well as convenient.
Turkey’s bold moves to improve its infrastructure over the last 15 years have modernized the country and tripled its economy. Exports have quadrupled, and travel is faster and easier than it has ever been. Political turmoil aside, Turkey’s efforts to strengthen its infrastructure and by proxy improve its economy should be recognized.
– Eric Paulsen
Photo: Flickr
The Rise of South Africa’s Instagram Influencers
Instagram usage in South Africa grew to 3.8 million in 2017, an 8.5 percent increase from the previous year. Facebook, which bought Instagram in 2012, remains South Africa’s most popular program. Of its 16 million South African users, 14 million of them access Facebook through a mobile device.
In 2010, South Africa had only five million smartphones in use. By 2017, that number increased to 50 million, giving space for South Africa’s Instagram influencers during its rise. Such go-getters let South African companies localize their businesses and compete on a global scale at the same time.
How did such a boost occur? U.S. aid to South Africa helped the country grow wealthy enough to support a national online presence. Between 1946 and 2010, the United States donated over $42 million to South Africa. Though this amount represents less than 1 percent of total U.S. aid given in that time frame, it allowed an emerging economy hungry for social networking sites to support a connected nation.
“Growth in South Africa’s mobile phone market is predominantly driven by the introduction of extremely low-cost smartphones,” says Nicolet Pienaar, a business group manager at GfK South Africa. Inexpensive smartphones have become a staple of foreign aid for their benefits in emerging markets.
What is important to remember is that there is a strong relationship between a country’s GDP and its access to the Internet. Pew Research Center suggests that this correlation levels off once national wealth reaches a certain point. MasiCorp, a South African NGO, provides libraries in Cape Town that can teach the local populace about computers and digital literacy. Cape Town itself hopes to “provide a space where people can enrich themselves and advance their livelihood goals, whether they are working on basic literacy or business ideas.”
South Africa’s Instagram influencers, who compete with the rest of the developed world, could only follow their dreams once the country had enough wealth to support a connected populace. Even the most driven of entrepreneurs needed a little help to get going.
The benefits of deciding one’s economic fate are inspiring. As Thithi Nteta puts it, “I really have been lucky enough to work with brands that get who I am.”
– Nick Edinger
Photo: Flickr
How Much Does It Cost to End Malnutrition?
Hunger: Not an Issue of Scarcity
When the U.N. implemented the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, one of the targets was to end hunger and malnutrition across the globe by 2030. While the target seems impossible to achieve, the reality shows that food production is not the problem. Since 2012, the amount of food produced globally has been enough to feed the world’s population. Furthermore, the growth of food production continues to outpace population growth.
Hunger is not caused by food scarcity but by other complex issues such as poverty and inequality. These problems are all linked and an approach to ending malnutrition must address poverty, inequality, climate change and other related issues across the globe.
The Cost to End Malnutrition
The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) has found that the cost to end malnutrition will be an extra $11 billion each year until 2030. This includes an additional $4 billion per year of investments from donor countries, which is a 45 percent increase over current donations. The remaining $7 billion per year will come from the affected countries themselves.
The IISD has created five main categories for which the additional investments will be used for. The categories are as follows:
It will take a combination of all five of these categories to meet the United Nation’s goal of eradicating hunger and malnutrition by 2030. While the estimated cost of $11 billion a year in additional funds is a tall order, it can be accomplished with a coordinated global effort.
Eradicating malnutrition goes hand in hand with ending poverty and creating a more equitable world. There is an opportunity to put an end to the injustices faced by many around the world. However, in order for that to happen, countries around the world must understand the cost to end malnutrition and make this cause a higher priority.
– Aaron Childree
Photo: Flickr
Women’s Empowerment in the Maldives
As early as the fourteenth century, the Maldives had already been ruled by three queens. Sultana Khadija reigned this nation for about 30 years from 1347 to 1380. However, after the transition from monarchy to constitutional republic in 1960s, women in the Maldives were not allowed to become president until a new constitution came out and abolished that regulation in 2008.
However, women in the Maldives currently have a limited presence in political affairs. The 2017 global gender gap also reported that only 5.9 percent seats of parliament and 17.6 percent of ministerial positions are filled by females. In the past 50 years, there have not been any female heads of the state.
Since modern development has changed the traditional way of living, many women in the Maldives play dual roles, working and taking care of their families. In the Maldives, the overall rate of labor force participation for women is 59.6 percent, compared to 81.3 percent for men. Women take all sorts of occupations but remain primarily in education, nursing, administration or secretarial services. Those relatively special positions such as police officer also recruit women and provide equal opportunities.
Regarding educational attainment, there is almost no gender difference in literacy rates are primary education enrollment rates. For tertiary education, women’s participation (20.4 percent) is significantly higher than that of men (12.4 percent). In 2014, the ratio of female teachers in the Maldives reached 75 percent. Well-educated and trained young ladies often become teachers and medical workers in the islands, while most stay in the capital city of Malé due to career choices. Appointment as an island chieftain, is no longer dominated by males.
Women in the Maldives have the rights and indeed own land and real estate. Despite the fact that inheritance is generally in accordance with Muslim theology, any division of land will be based on civil law such that sons and daughters may inherit the same share of land. Women in the Maldives enjoy a personal freedom not shared by the majority of Muslim societies.
One case related to women’s empowerment in the Maldives was widely reported in 2013. A teenage girl was repeatedly raped by her stepfather, and for this she was to be punished with 100 lashes after reaching the age of 18. Thanks to a petition of two million people from global campaign network Avaaz ,and efforts from local groups on women’s rights, the Maldivian High Court reviewed the case and dismissed the sentence.
While women’s empowerment in the Maldives has not been restricted by official regulations, there remain aspects of ingrained culture that must be continually addressed as the nation moves forward.
– Xin Gao
The Triumphant Containment of Bubonic Plague in Madagascar
However, the bubonic plague is, in fact, still around today, though it doesn’t kill on the same scale that it did thousands of years ago. In countries like Madagascar, the plague is actually an annual occurrence, taking the lives of hundreds each time it appears.
Thanks to modern technology and medical advancements, the plague is now treatable with antibiotics. The key is to be aware of where it hits, so that its spread can be monitored and an epidemic can be prevented.
From August to November 2017, there was a major outbreak of bubonic plague in Madagascar across major cities and nonendemic areas. This was different than previous years, as typically the plague outbreak happens in rural regions of the country.
The plague starts with a simple flea bite, after which the disease rapidly spreads from person-to-person. In the span of three months, the WHO estimated that over 2,000 became ill and 171 died. While this is still an unfortunate amount, it is a decrease from around 300 who died from the bubonic plague in Madagascar in 2016.
The quick and efficient handling of this outbreak can be attributed to a number of sources: U.K. Public Health Rapid Support Team, U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Doctors Without Borders and Madagascar’s Ministry of Health. Together, these organizations developed a rapid response strategy in order to subdue and hopefully eliminate the bubonic plague in Madagascar, containing the bacteria’s spread within the urban area of its origin.
In order to accomplish this, the groups worked to adequately staff health centers so that those infected could get their antibiotics in a timely manner. Then, they conducted in-person interviews with patients to find out all of the people they were in contact with that could have gotten the disease. The health workers tracked down over 7,000 people that they believed may have been infected. The WHO states that 95 percent of the potentially infected have taken preventative antibiotics.
Very few people showed symptoms of the bubonic plague in Madagascar after these efforts, and those that did were treated with swift speed. From this case of bubonic plague in Madagascar, it is clear that treatment must be made accessible, travelers should be monitored in airports and countries must be given the necessary resource capacity and labor in order to avoid the disastrous effects of an outbreak.
Madagascar’s response to this plague outbreak was nothing short of timely and strategic. This is an unbelievable example of strategic planning and disaster mitigation. The steps that the organizations took together in order to reduce fatalities demonstrates the tremendous power of unification.
– Caysi Simpson
Photo: Flickr
ModRoof is a Safer, Warmer Improvement for Slums
In 2001, 65 million people in India were living in slums without decent living conditions or any access to water and food on a daily basis. According to Berkeley research, more ore than 80 percent of the urban population in India cannot afford a concrete slab to be used as a roof.
For those who can afford a roof in slums, most of the time they are made of cement or metal sheets, which has a very bad effect on health and leads to poor quality of life. Witnessing such a lack of basic need, Hasit Ganatra, engineer and founder of ReMaterials, conceptualized a new type of roof named ModRoof to improve lives in slums.
According to ReMaterials, ModRoof is a “modular roofing system” that can improve shelters in slums and village homes in developing areas. Eco-friendly, easily removable and simple to install, it is also designed to be strong, waterproof and fire-resistant.
In addition, ModRoof is available for a low cost. Payable through microfinance companies, a very popular system in developing countries, the program solves the main obstacle to better facilities in worldwide slums: the price.
ReMaterials is currently considering embedding solar cells in ModRoof, which would allow houses to have power LED lights and outlets to charge phones. Employing solar power with ModRoof would be a huge step forward, as providing electricity to these shelters could assist in lifting the residents out of poverty.
“Worldwide experts told us to give up; they said we’d never do it,” said Ganatra in an interview with BBC. “But when you see this sort of problem [in the slums] you have to do something about it.”
Thus, the stark blue rooftop from ReMaterials is set to change lives. With continued persistence from Ganatra and his team, ModRoof will allow families living in slums all around the world to sleep in a safer, warmer environment.
– Léa Gorius
Photo: Flickr
Infrastructure in Jamaica: Developing a Road to Safety
Two of Jamaica’s largest economic sectors — tourism and the transport of goods — rely on this inefficient, and often dangerous, road network. The condition of the roads in Jamaica has led to increased traffic congestion, accidents and rising travel costs. With a population of 2.7 million, infrastructure in Jamaica fails to meet modern engineering standards for road quality and safety.
The roads are rapidly deteriorating as the population continues to rise on this small island, which threatens Jamaica’s economic stability. The road infrastructure in Jamaica must be addressed if the country aims to retain success in its main economic sectors.
Programs Addressing the Road Infrastructure in Jamaica
According to the Minister of Finance and Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation recently obtained funding for the continuation of two programs aimed at rehabilitating and restructuring the road network during the 2017-2018 fiscal year.
The Major Infrastructure Development Project (MIDP), with a budget of $16 billion, will restructure a set number of main roads, bringing them up to modern safety standards. These roads will be realigned or widened where necessary to accommodate the estimated daily amount of tourist traffic. In addition, this program plans to build three new bridges to increase the efficiency of freight transport. The Ministry intends to complete this project by the end of September 2018.
A second project aimed towards improving infrastructure in Jamaica is the Rural Road Rehabilitation Project II which began in 2008. With a budget of $500 million, this project will continue to rework 57 kilometers of roads to support the industrial, agricultural and tourist sectors in St. Mary, St. Ann, and Westmoreland. Due to budgeting issues, this project has required many extensions.
The government is working steadily towards its goal of decreasing the number of fatalities from car accidents to be under 300 annually. The modernization of roads is the key, and with the successful completion of these two major projects, infrastructure in Jamaica will be significantly closer to achieving that goal.
– Kayla Rafkin
Photo: Flickr
Women’s Empowerment in Swaziland
Women in Swaziland are not only left out of the country’s economic activities but also the country’s government. From 2008-2013, women made up 28 percent of the ministers in the national parliament, which increased from 20 percent during the 2003-2008 government. The Constitution sets the requirement at 30 percent, though many international bodies, including the African Union and the Southern African Development Community, have set their goal at 52 percent.
Formal employment opportunities for women in Swaziland are also scarce. It has a Gender Inequality Index (GII) of 0.557, which has ranked Swaziland 150th out of 188 countries.
Health and Education
Due to the lack of formal employment opportunities, women often resort to commercial or transactional sex as a way of making ends meet. Their work puts them at a higher risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease. Compared to the 20 percent of men in Swaziland that have HIV, 31 percent of women from the ages of 15 to 49 have HIV.
Another factor that contributes to women having to turn to sex work is their lack of education. In Swaziland, many girls must drop out of school in order to work at home and provide support for their families.
In 2007, the ratio of girls to boys in secondary education was 1.01. However, in that same year, there were over five thousand more girls of secondary school age than there were boys of this age. This statistic demonstrates that there is still a significant gap between the number of girls that attend school versus the number of boys that attend school in Swaziland.
Progress in Gender Equality
Despite the work that is still to be done for women’s empowerment in Swaziland, considerable progress has been made. The Swaziland Rural Women’s Assembly (SRWA), whose goal is to raise the voices of rural women and to further progress in gender equality, has grown by over four thousand members since 2012. It has also mobilized over 20,000 women to more actively fight for change.
In 2016, the Swaziland Progressive Women’s Charter launched on International Women’s Day, March 8. Over 350 women took part in promoting the Charter, which is meant to reflect the voices of rural women. In the Charter, the women say that they recognize how necessary it is for them to unite and build a strong voice of advocacy.
Through the work of these organizations, considerable progress can be made to improving women’s empowerment in Swaziland.
– Haley Rogers
Photo: Flickr