According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 9 out of 10 people breathe in high levels of pollutants resulting in the deaths of 7 million people each year. These diseases include cancer, heart disease, lung disease and strokes. The regions with the highest rates of air pollution are commonly found in Asia and Africa; however, cities in America, Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean also have levels that WHO finds unhealthy.
For regions with high rates of air pollution, the issue often lies with energy production such as the of burning coal and other industrial activities. These methods lead to increased air pollution because, on average, developing countries don’t possess the technology and resources to combat polluting waste. Iran is one such country that is experiencing this very problem.
Dust Storms in the Khuzestan Province
At the start of 2018, Iran made headlines for having the worst dust storm yet where elementary schools in 15 cities were shut down in the province of Khuzestan alone. Ahvaz, the largest city of southwestern Iran, was one of the 15. Known for its post-secondary education and role in commerce and industry, Ahvaz pollution levels were approximately 53 times higher than the moderate standard that WHO considers safe. As a result of the large dust storm, people of this province were forced to stay indoors, without power or running water at times, and 806 people were taken to the emergency wards, of whom 39 were hospitalized and nine were taken into intensive care.
This year’s dust storm isn’t the first to occur in the Khuzestan province. According to a study on the dust storms in southwestern Iran, one of the highest occurrences of dust storms was in 2009 with the respective number of days being 48 days during colder climates and 122 days during warmer climates. Because of the reoccurring dust storms, the number of protests has increased.
In January, the people of Ahvaz gathered in front of the City Council to bring awareness of the effects air pollution is having on them such as the loss of domestic products and increased health care costs. For example, the World Bank reports that diseases caused by air pollution cost $260 million in Iran causing damage to Iran’s economy by as much as 0.023 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).
Fueling their grievances further and contributing to the economic decline of Iran are changes in the regions’ climate and depleting water sources. Stronger winds are carrying the toxic dust and contaminating the water, which additionally aggravates health issues and thereby increases the medical costs for treatments.
Air Pollution in Tehran
In Tehran, air pollution is also causing grievances. Tehran is located at higher altitudes with the Alborz Mountain Range surrounding it and, therefore, comes in contact with the majority of the air pollution in Iran. The air pollution is also attributed to temperature inversions that prevent common pollutants like carbon dioxide and sulfur from being broken down in the atmosphere and the high use of vehicles stocked with archaic technology that continue to move around Tehran. Other major causes of air pollution in Iran include come from refineries and power plants, industries, household sources, and gas terminals.
In Tehran, the annual economic health costs associated with air pollution are about $2.6 billion. In order to combat air pollution, Tehran Municipality has shut down 8 businesses and heavily restricted the use of older trucks and buses. They also encourage the production of vehicles with more updated technology to reduce air pollution, which will replace some of the 3,400 old buses that crowd the streets today.
As a result of such actions, air pollution in Iran is seeing results. For example, the amount of black carbon (a major air pollutant) present was decreased by 50 percent, which reduces the toxicity of the air pollution affecting the population. In recent years, Iran has adopted higher fuel quality standards, is working to improve the management of the methods of congestion in locations with major activity and has encouraged the use of hybrid and electric vehicles as well as the use of bicycles.
The Clean Air Law in Iran
The Clean Air Law, adopted in July of 2017, continues implementing methods of reducing air pollution in Iran. For example, the law introduces heavier punishments and fines for any industries or individuals that do not adhere to the pollution limits. They also plan to divide the city of Tehran into three zones and charge people for crossing into the zones (like a toll system) as a way of deterring people from using personal cars, which will help decrease the particles present.
In efforts to decrease the number of children being admitted into hospitals for an air pollution-related condition, there have been talks of starting the school year earlier so that students would be on vacation during the period of the worst pollution in winter or introducing a one month vacation during that time. The Ministry of Agriculture has also acknowledged the importance of anti-desertification in reducing the pollution from dust storms and will be working annually on the 300,000 hectares of land that have caused the worst of the storms.
A Brighter Future
By taking these steps forward in reducing air pollution, Iran is working to prevent the premature deaths that result from noncommunicable diseases due to air pollution every year. It also reduces the cost of treatment and time off needed since fewer individuals would need to miss work to be attended to and could, therefore, become more financially stable. This allows the country to distribute financial efforts and alleviate another poverty stressor.
In general, the management of pollution can improve the quality of life for individuals and enhance competitiveness for the country through job creation, better energy efficiency, improved transport and sustainable urban and rural development. It also combats climate change thereby contributing to the alleviation of poverty by providing jobs and creating a healthier population.
– Stephanie Singh
Photo: Flickr
Girls’ Education in the Solomon Islands
In the Solomon Islands schooling is not compulsory; as a result, there are low enrollment rates among all young people. Less than 60 percent of children enter primary schooling, of which, the ratio of girls to boys enrolled is roughly equal. However, there is a large disparity between the percentage of girls enrolled in primary school versus secondary school. The gross rate for girls enrolled in secondary school is only 27 percent.
As a result, the respective literacy rates for women remain low as the country attempts to better its education. In 1999, the recorded literacy rate for women aged 15 years and older was 69 percent while men in the same age range had a literacy rate of almost 84 percent.
Improving Girls’ Education in The Solomon Islands
To combat the illiteracy in the Solomon Islands, World Vision began its Early Childhood and Adult Literacy projects on the islands. The aid organization has three projects in the provinces of Honiara, Temotu and Makira. The projects’ aim is to provide functional literacy to woman and youth on the islands.
In addition to literacy programs, World Vision uses the projects to provide economic, social and educational activities to the communities that the projects serve. After learning the necessary foundational skills — like literacy — the women are then provided with the economic and personal skills they need to become leaders in their communities.
World Vision’s Early Childhood and Adult Literacy projects are beneficial strategies to decrease adult illiteracy and aid women who missed opportunities for education when they were young. To better girls’ education in the Solomon Islands, World Bank has proposed multiple strategies that would provide a more egalitarian approach to education.
World Bank’s Suggestions for Keeping Enrollment Up
I order to target the discrepancy between the percentage of girls enrolled in primary and secondary education, World Bank suggests that educational settings should ensure water and sanitation facilities, education for pregnant young women, safe accommodation for boarding students including safety from violence and sexual abuse and access to sexual and reproductive health services.
All aspects of the aforementioned suggestions are solutions to a range of issues that prevent young girls from continuing schooling past the primary level. World Bank also highlights the fact that sexual and reproductive health services are critical to improving the educational experiences of girls, as teen pregnancy is one of the main reasons young women end their schooling.
Another strategy that World Bank has proposed involves offering short-courses, non-formal training and mobile village skills to girls who cannot access formal schooling. The current standard of focusing girls’ education on domestic skills is preventing girls from gaining the necessary education to participate in the economy.
Additionally, these village courses would reduce the need for rural families to send their daughters to board at schools, which is a major safety concern. The informal and mobile courses would offer girls an opportunity to gain an education that they otherwise would not have access to.
While the islands have been making some progress towards bettering their education, more work can be done to continue making progress in girls’ education in the Solomon Islands. The work of World Vision and World Bank offers valid solutions to the problems facing girls in their schooling. When coupled with government action on the islands, education can soon become more equal for girls in this small oceanic country.
– Savannah Hawley
Photo: Flickr
The Fight Against Pneumonia in Haiti
Pneumonia is lung inflammation caused by a viral or bacterial infection. It is one of the leading causes of death worldwide for children under the age of five. The issue is exacerbated by environmental and economic factors. Malnutrition weakens the immune system, especially in young children, and leaves people more susceptible to disease. Poverty and inadequate public infrastructure lead to poor access to medical care, affecting both those who are already sick and those trying not to contract an illness. By nearly every metric, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and this is further illustrated by the country’s high rates of pneumonia.
Vaccination Efforts in Haiti
According to a study conducted by Albert Schweitzer Hospital, pneumonia in Haiti is responsible for close to 40 percent of all deaths in children under the age of five. In response to the epidemic of pneumonia in Haiti, the Haitian government has focused on vaccinating more people. However, the country still lags behind the rest of the world in vaccination rates; according to a 2012 study, only 45 percent of children between one and two years old have been satisfactorily vaccinated.
The Benefits of Foreign Aid
The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, also known as the GAVI Alliance, has helped the Haitian government in reaching its vaccination goals. In a 2012 press release, the GAVI Alliance announced a nationwide vaccination campaign that would utilize both the pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines, which would target the primary causes of pneumonia and diarrhea. The organization has also pledged $9.2 million in total support to the people of Haiti. The funding has gone toward immunization, injection safety and medical training.
Other organizations have attempted to address the problem of pneumonia in Haiti. In conjunction with USAID, the Haitian Health Foundation (HHF) runs 60 mobile health clinics that visit villages around Jérémie, a coastal town in southwestern Haiti. USAID also leads a team of health agents, who provide life-saving medical knowledge and doctor referrals so that victims of pneumonia can find the help they need. Within Jérémie, the Haitian Health Foundation runs a 27,000-square-foot outpatient clinic which serves more than 120,000 patients per year.
The Future of the Fight Against Pneumonia
However, the fight against pneumonia in Haiti is far from over. There are still massive regional disparities in vaccinations in Haiti which result in disparities in instances of pneumonia. For example, a study of vaccinations in Haiti found that western Haiti, as well as parts along the eastern coast, had a vaccination rate between 55 and 65 percent. In contrast, large swathes of central and southern Haiti had a vaccination rate of less than 35 percent.
The work of organizations like the GAVI Alliance, the Haitian Health Foundation and the government of Haiti has produced positive results in alleviating pneumonia. In southwest Haiti, child deaths from pneumonia have been cut in half. As a whole, Haiti’s mortality rate for people afflicted by pneumonia has plummeted since the ‘90s, despite the spike in pneumonia cases that occurred between 2004 and 2013. The fight is not over, but important battles are being won against pneumonia in Haiti.
-Peter Buffo
Photo: Flickr
Air Pollution in Iran
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 9 out of 10 people breathe in high levels of pollutants resulting in the deaths of 7 million people each year. These diseases include cancer, heart disease, lung disease and strokes. The regions with the highest rates of air pollution are commonly found in Asia and Africa; however, cities in America, Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean also have levels that WHO finds unhealthy.
For regions with high rates of air pollution, the issue often lies with energy production such as the of burning coal and other industrial activities. These methods lead to increased air pollution because, on average, developing countries don’t possess the technology and resources to combat polluting waste. Iran is one such country that is experiencing this very problem.
Dust Storms in the Khuzestan Province
At the start of 2018, Iran made headlines for having the worst dust storm yet where elementary schools in 15 cities were shut down in the province of Khuzestan alone. Ahvaz, the largest city of southwestern Iran, was one of the 15. Known for its post-secondary education and role in commerce and industry, Ahvaz pollution levels were approximately 53 times higher than the moderate standard that WHO considers safe. As a result of the large dust storm, people of this province were forced to stay indoors, without power or running water at times, and 806 people were taken to the emergency wards, of whom 39 were hospitalized and nine were taken into intensive care.
This year’s dust storm isn’t the first to occur in the Khuzestan province. According to a study on the dust storms in southwestern Iran, one of the highest occurrences of dust storms was in 2009 with the respective number of days being 48 days during colder climates and 122 days during warmer climates. Because of the reoccurring dust storms, the number of protests has increased.
In January, the people of Ahvaz gathered in front of the City Council to bring awareness of the effects air pollution is having on them such as the loss of domestic products and increased health care costs. For example, the World Bank reports that diseases caused by air pollution cost $260 million in Iran causing damage to Iran’s economy by as much as 0.023 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).
Fueling their grievances further and contributing to the economic decline of Iran are changes in the regions’ climate and depleting water sources. Stronger winds are carrying the toxic dust and contaminating the water, which additionally aggravates health issues and thereby increases the medical costs for treatments.
Air Pollution in Tehran
In Tehran, air pollution is also causing grievances. Tehran is located at higher altitudes with the Alborz Mountain Range surrounding it and, therefore, comes in contact with the majority of the air pollution in Iran. The air pollution is also attributed to temperature inversions that prevent common pollutants like carbon dioxide and sulfur from being broken down in the atmosphere and the high use of vehicles stocked with archaic technology that continue to move around Tehran. Other major causes of air pollution in Iran include come from refineries and power plants, industries, household sources, and gas terminals.
In Tehran, the annual economic health costs associated with air pollution are about $2.6 billion. In order to combat air pollution, Tehran Municipality has shut down 8 businesses and heavily restricted the use of older trucks and buses. They also encourage the production of vehicles with more updated technology to reduce air pollution, which will replace some of the 3,400 old buses that crowd the streets today.
As a result of such actions, air pollution in Iran is seeing results. For example, the amount of black carbon (a major air pollutant) present was decreased by 50 percent, which reduces the toxicity of the air pollution affecting the population. In recent years, Iran has adopted higher fuel quality standards, is working to improve the management of the methods of congestion in locations with major activity and has encouraged the use of hybrid and electric vehicles as well as the use of bicycles.
The Clean Air Law in Iran
The Clean Air Law, adopted in July of 2017, continues implementing methods of reducing air pollution in Iran. For example, the law introduces heavier punishments and fines for any industries or individuals that do not adhere to the pollution limits. They also plan to divide the city of Tehran into three zones and charge people for crossing into the zones (like a toll system) as a way of deterring people from using personal cars, which will help decrease the particles present.
In efforts to decrease the number of children being admitted into hospitals for an air pollution-related condition, there have been talks of starting the school year earlier so that students would be on vacation during the period of the worst pollution in winter or introducing a one month vacation during that time. The Ministry of Agriculture has also acknowledged the importance of anti-desertification in reducing the pollution from dust storms and will be working annually on the 300,000 hectares of land that have caused the worst of the storms.
A Brighter Future
By taking these steps forward in reducing air pollution, Iran is working to prevent the premature deaths that result from noncommunicable diseases due to air pollution every year. It also reduces the cost of treatment and time off needed since fewer individuals would need to miss work to be attended to and could, therefore, become more financially stable. This allows the country to distribute financial efforts and alleviate another poverty stressor.
In general, the management of pollution can improve the quality of life for individuals and enhance competitiveness for the country through job creation, better energy efficiency, improved transport and sustainable urban and rural development. It also combats climate change thereby contributing to the alleviation of poverty by providing jobs and creating a healthier population.
– Stephanie Singh
Photo: Flickr
New Gas Reserves Could Be a Solution to Egypt’s Energy Needs
Egypt, a nation once plagued by frequent power blackouts, may have found a remedy to its power needs. The discovery of the Noor natural gas field, the largest offshore field in the Mediterranean Sea, could prove a permanent solution to Egypt’s energy needs and put it on the road to self-sufficiency. This discovery could help Egypt become an exporter of natural gas as well as encourage more foreign investment.
To contextualize what kind of impact this discovery is, one need only compare the Zohr natural gas field, which had been Egypt’s largest natural gas field until 2015, and the Noor natural gas field. The Zohr field is approximately 60 square miles and contains around 30 trillion cubic feet of gas. Noor, on the other hand, is about three times the size of Zohr and could contain as much as 90 trillion cubic feet of gas.
Egypt’s Power Problem
The dual threat of ballooning demand and declining production have put a constant strain on the Egyptian energy sector. In 2014, when Egypt endured one of its most dire energy crises, parts of the country experienced six power cuts per day lasting about two hours at a time. Electricity demand was 20 percent greater than power stations could provide.
In large part, gas shortages were due to an uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Divisive political struggles deterred investors and tourists, which in turn caused foreign currency reserves to decline. In order to meet demand, Egypt was forced to sacrifice important gas exports.
Solution to Egypt’s Energy Needs
Noor is instrumental in reducing the gap between total gas consumption in Egypt (4.9 billion cubic feet per day in 2016) and total daily production in Egypt (4 billion cubic feet). In order to meet its energy needs and compensate for excessive consumption, Egypt has been forced to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) at high costs.
In 2015/2016, Egypt purchased 89 cargoes of liquefied natural gas at a staggering $2.2 billion. With the Zohr field, in addition to the newly discovered Noor field, Egypt could end these purchases by the end of next year, according to Egypt’s oil minister Tarek El-Molla. This will enable Egypt to become independent in their natural gas production and make them a net exporter.
How Does This Help
By satisfying local demand, Egypt can spend significantly less on energy. Using those savings, Egypt can invest in improved infrastructure, healthcare and education. By turning to grid-connected gas, Egypt can avoid the fuel subsidies associated with liquid petroleum gas (LPG) use. Fuel subsidies have accounted for anywhere from 18-20 percent of Egypt’s expenditure, an amount equal to 5-7 percent of GDP.
According to the World Bank’s Country Director for Egypt, Hartwig Schafer, “Conversion to piped natural gas will help give households a safer, more reliable and cheaper supply of gas.” As households make the transition from high-subsidized, imported LPG to locally-produced natural gas, the government will save $201 per household per year.
The Noor gas field will not only facilitate Egypt’s transition from a net importer of natural gas to a net exporter, but it will provide the much-needed solution to Egypt’s energy needs by allowing Egyptians to have a reliable source of power at a much lower cost.
– McAfee Sheehan
Photo: Flickr
Hope is on the Horizon for Improving Healthcare in Romania
According to the Euro Health Consumer index, Romania has ranked last in the EU for the past two years regarding healthcare. The country has one of the EU’s highest poverty rates at 19.8 percent; nearly double the EU’s overall poverty rate. Because of the physical and mental restrictions sickness places on a community, healthcare is a basic necessity for lifting people out of poverty. Despite the country’s bleak rankings, improving healthcare in Romania is becoming a reality as foreign assistance and determined locals work toward developing a healthier population and fighting poverty.
Hardships Cause Doctors to Leave
Romania’s population of close to 20 million people has struggled through major changes and hardships over the past few decades. The country transferred from communist control into a constitutional republic and struggled through a financial crisis in 2008. The financial crisis rendered Romania a needy recipient of a $24 billion bailout given through the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission, the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Through these challenging times, many doctors began leaving Romania in search of higher-quality facilities, supplies, hours and pay. This loss of doctors and other medical professionals is sometimes referred to as a brain drain or a medical exodus. Since 2011, the number of family doctors in Romania decreased by 25 percent. Although thousands of doctors and nurses have left Romania, there is still hope on the horizon.
Efforts to Improve Healthcare
Through foreign aid and local perseverance, efforts are underway for improving healthcare in Romania. Several small hospitals in desperate need of infrastructural repairs and supplies are now undergoing renovation. For example, Victor Babes Infectious Diseases Hospital in the city of Timisoara is now undergoing major renovations to improve issues such as rusty furniture, peeling paint and a lack of basic supplies like curtains. Better-equipped medical facilities are also undergoing improvements. Ponderas Hospital in Bucharest is implementing two surgical robots that increase surgical maneuverability and reduce complications.
A centralization effort of improvements is also underway. Affidea and Hiperdia, two large diagnostic imaging companies with over 37 years of combined experience in Romania, merged in 2017. While some fear such a merger omits beneficial competition, others are hopeful that the merger will increase the quality and efficiency of healthcare in Romania. Affidea is active in at least 12 countries in Europe and has more than 5,000 employees.
Affidea’s manager for Romania, Radu Gorduza, declares the merger will bring a golden standard to Romania, which he hopes will inspire others in Romania’s healthcare system. He exhibits a very optimistic view of the situation, saying, “There is so much room for improvement here.” Plans are underway for major renovations and remodeling of waiting rooms to be more patient-friendly, as well as ensuring that employees have empathetic qualities and “soft skills.” Gorduza states that the merger will also improve Romania’s information technology infrastructure by providing remote access to imaging services through telemedicine.
The Implementation of Telemedicine
Telemedicine implementation is an important part of improving healthcare in Romania; half of Romania’s population lives in rural areas, but nearly all of the country’s hospitals are located in urban areas. Remote mountains and the Danube Delta present difficult terrain to travel for many people, and telemedicine is helping to connect doctors with people in these areas without necessitating travel. The EU funded the Romanian government with $19 million for implementing a telemedicine network for people in rural areas; the network was completed at the end of 2015.
Steps are also being taken to incentivize doctors and other medical professionals to stay in Romania rather than joining the exodus of thousands of others seeking better pay and working conditions elsewhere. The incentives include better benefits, higher salaries and reimbursement for participating in telemedicine.
Overall, while healthcare improvements are in the early stages of development in Romania due to the lasting effects of a communist dictatorship and a financial crisis, there are many reasons for Romanians and their allies to be optimistic about the future. Through foreign assistance and local participation, healthcare in Romania is slowly but steadily improving.
– Emme Leigh
Photo: Flickr
Top Facts about Poverty in Spain
Spain is a simultaneous representative of both the success and the struggles of twenty-first century Europe. The Spanish economy was hit particularly hard by the 2008 recession that sent shockwaves throughout global markets. As a result, Spain, along with Greece and Italy, has often been cited as an example of the straining of Eurozone economics. Though Spain remains firmly a developed country, the country’s struggle with poverty should not be overlooked. Here are nine important facts about poverty in Spain.
Nine Facts About Poverty in Spain
In Spain, the reduction of poverty and economic recovery in the wake of the 2008 recession represent great strides for a long-troubled economy. These facts about poverty in Spain show that more people in the country are working, and there are more and more jobs being created. These strides must not be undervalued. However, continued efforts in Spain are needed to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life for all.
– William Menchaca
Photo: Flickr
Top 10 Facts About Poverty in Cameroon
By definition, poverty is a state of being extremely poor, which includes the desperate search for food, water and shelter. Taking a look at poverty from a global perspective, the majority of the poorest countries in the world are in Africa. Facts about poverty in Cameroon is a topic that is overlooked in the media, but it remains extremely relevant to those experiencing it.
10 Facts About Poverty in Cameroon
Among the many facts about poverty in Cameroon that can be discussed, these issues are the most prevalent to those living in these conditions. With assistance from other countries with greater resources and organizations like The World Food Program, Cameroon’s state of poverty could improve drastically.
– Kayla Sellers
Photo: Flickr
Improving Credit Access in Jordan and SMEs
Credit access in Jordan has improved dramatically over the past two years thanks in part to changes in the regulation of funds by the government and the creation of newer, better lending programs across the country.
This year, global indicator, Doing Business has given Jordan’s overall credit access performance a ranking of 159 out of 189 countries, which shows an increase from a dismal 2016 ranking of 185 out of 189 countries. The continued improvement of these numbers will hopefully help Jordan to start pulling itself out of its nine-year stagnation of economic growth.
Background of Credit Access in Jordan
Lack of credit access in Jordan affects all citizens, but especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In 2016, SMEs accounted for an estimated 98 percent of all Jordanian business and affected 40 percent of the country’s GDP.
A 2011 survey by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) reported that 70 percent of SMEs considered themselves ‘credit constrained’ and thus had to put plans of growing and improving their business on hold.
Before the recent creation of new lending systems, SMEs found themselves having to choose between going to one of the many banks in Jordan for a loan and utilizing non-profit microfinance institutions (MFIs). Each of these methods proved to have significant flaws that made accessing credit impractical, if not impossible.
On the one hand, banks found it difficult to work with SMEs as most of them did not have enough collateral to mitigate the risk of providing the smaller business with a loan. On the other hand, while MFIs can provide loans to SMEs without the necessity of collateral, a system of regulation for MFIs did not yet exist within the Jordanian government.
Without regulation, interest rates varied wildly between MFIs, with some of them even going beyond the legal standard. As no clear method of recording credit existed, clients reported receiving the wrong amount of funds.
Remedying the Situation
Providing businesses with alternative forms of funding seems like the best method of helping them cross over the current financial gap. The Jordanian government, as a 2016 Oxford Business Group article reports, has already begun to put forward “initiatives with banks and multilateral institutions to offer more credit to smaller businesses”. The creation of the first credit bureau in Jordan, for example, will hopefully provide a more regulated method of credit access in Jordan than MFIs.
SMEs can also look into more private funding programs. The peer-to-peer lending program liwwa, for example, allows any SME with “business operations that are managed ethically” to apply for loans and, if accepted, campaign to receive loans from an individual or institutional investors. The program also helps regulate these funds by offering such services as negotiating overdue loan repayments with borrowers and investigating the businesses of borrowers to assure qualification. While the program has only processed 305 loans so far, this number can hopefully grow in the future.
The Jordan Loan Guarantee Corporation also provides SMEs with a more accessible finance option by acting as a facilitator between borrowers and investors. Created by a collaboration of USAID with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), this program supports businesses that “(1) have a well-defined marketing opportunity to start-up or expand, (2) need financing to achieve their goal; but (3) lack the collateral banks usually require for making loans” by offering a ‘loan guarantee’ to possible investors (mostly banks in this case). A loan guarantee means that in the case of a borrower defaulting on their loan, a business like JLGC will pay the investor back a large percentage of their investment. So far, the program has issued over 214 loans guaranteed and allowed SMEs to access over $50 million in finances.
Further success in these programs will provide SMEs with the opportunity to expand and thus create more job opportunities for those currently struggling to find employment. Along with this, if credit access in Jordan continues to improve, financially constrained entrepreneurial individuals will have more opportunity to create their business ventures.
Both of the aforementioned benefits can allow even those in poverty to change their social status and become consumers. This, along with expanding businesses, will hopefully improve Jordan’s rate of economic growth.
– Lyz Frerking
Photo: Flickr
Four Significant Examples of Female Empowerment in Rwanda
The Rwandan genocide of 1994 sparked the beginning of female empowerment in Rwanda. After this tragedy, much of the population left in this East African country was made up of women. This enabled them to have a voice in the public sector of Rwanda, empowering all Rwandan women to take a stand for their nation.
Four Examples of Female Empowerment in Rwanda
Female empowerment in Rwanda has come a long way since the genocide in 1994, but it still has a long way to go. Women are now very prominent in the public sector, but it is important that they also gain autonomy in their private lives. Nations around the world should look to Rwanda as a prime example of how much women can accomplish when they are given the chance.
– Megan Maxwell
Photo: Google
Strategies for Economic Growth in the Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic (DR) — with assistance from the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, the Caribbean Development Bank and other institutions — has instilled a clear strategy for economic development. Fortunately, the Dominican Republic is now reaping the fruits of such labor.
Up-to-Date Advances
There are several facets to the economic growth in the Dominican Republic, but two pillars of such growth stand out. As outlined in the Caribbean Growth Forum, two of these pillars are improving business climate and modernizing the public sector, and these well-planed has created extreme progress in the DR.
First Pillar
The speed at which companies seek to register their businesses has decreased from 45 to 7 days. The rate at which property titles are issued and bills for bankruptcy law are finalized both occur much more rapidly. Ultimately, such changes benefit both small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and creditors, since the former has greater borrowing capacity, while the latter has better protection.
The Dominican Republic’s business climate has also improved through the implementation of programs for non-reimbursable seed money to boost entrepreneurship amongst the youth. The Industry and Commerce Ministry created a training pilot to fortify business management practices to over 5000 SMEs.
These initiatives are crucial to empowering bright minds in the community to take risks on business endeavors and successfully manage such startups. Moreover, this also allows for greater attraction of investors, who seek to capitalize on promising entrepreneurial undertakings. SMEs already in existence would, of course, benefit from the training in commercial management.
Loans For Change
A significant stride to improve the business climate in the Dominican Republic came in the form of a $300 million policy centered loan from the Inter-American Development Bank in 2017. This effort seeks to support financial regulations in order to increase productivity, foster the creation of institutions to finance productive development as well as improve protection of contracts and transactions.
Additionally, this plan of action would update administrative processes, facilitate growth in competitiveness and help institutions that focus on promoting innovation and production developments. Finally, the loan would work to reduce evasion and avoidance of social security contributions by strengthening fiscal and social security systems, which would ultimately boost labor formalities.
Second Pillar
According to the World Bank, the Citizen Observatory for Public Procurement and 25 other committees have been created to monitor public contracts. By doing so, the changes would:
In 2015, the Inter-American Development Bank financed a $25 million project that worked to develop the Dominican Republic’s fiscal structure. In doing so, the project enables the processes of planning, monitoring and evaluating budgets, and helps modernize the ways of conducting the management of public funds. In addition, the endeavor also fosters greater participation of SMEs — particularly led by women — in public purchases.
What Now?
There are a set of focal points that would illustrate and improve the effectiveness of the strategies regarding the economic growth in the DR. The set includes creating a feedback-loop that would help assess reform implementation and accomplishment of goals, and therefore scale outreach and media interactions with stakeholders and set greater definitions of reforms, their timelines and other indicators of performance.
In the past decade, economic growth in the DR has been achieved through the execution of new strategies of development. These strategies, amongst other details, coincide with the DR’s 2030 National Development Strategy and have set the country on track for continued growth.
A Nation’s Future
The Dominican Republic, with the support of international institutions, is a step closer to accomplishing its goals. Already, the country has experienced success in many vital aspects of its economy’s sustainability, and its potential for continued growth is abundant.
– Roberto Carlos Ventura
Photo: Flickr