Costa Rica was ranked 32nd out of 144 on the 2016 Global Gender Gap Report. With a score of two representing maximum gender equality, Costa Rica scored 0.736, moving up six positions since the 2015 report. While this report evaluates the gap between women and men in economics, political empowerment, education, health and life expectancy, from an economic standpoint Costa Rica is making great leaps toward equality. With traditional family roles shifting and more Costa Rican women working outside of the home, opportunities have had to be available over the last decade to accommodate this change and growth. While conditions are far from perfect and equal pay is still a hot topic, women occupy more leadership roles in business, politics, education and agriculture, creating a significant influx of female empowerment in this Latin American country.
Female Leadership
Costa Rica is one of five Latin American countries that have adopted gender parity policies, aimed at increasing the number of women in national parliaments.
In 2011, Costa Rica elected its first female president. Laura Chinchilla Miranda won the presidential election and was more than 20 percentage points ahead of the runner-up. Her term ended in 2014, but her presence in a position of power marks the great strides being made toward gender equality and women’s empowerment in Costa Rica. With the 2018 election approaching, the representation of women has significantly increased, with women in Parliament exceeding 40 percent. These are historic numbers.
Among government leadership, there has also been an increase of female representation in the police force. Over the past three years, Costa Rica’s police force has gone from 3 percent to 17 percent female officers in the agency. With leadership in Parliament and on the streets, Costa Rican women are being represented more and more.
The Gender Equality Seal
Costa Rica has created a seal to verify and certify gender equality in the workplace. The Gender Equality Seal is a recognition given to public and private organizations. Its goal is to implement a system that will guarantee gender equality in each organization’s internal processes and labor relations. Existing gaps between women and men must be identified and a work plan to close those gaps must be created. The system is implemented in four areas: human resources, integral health, social co-responsibility in care and workplace environment. The seal seeks to empower women by offering them more opportunities in the workplace with equal pay as well as opportunities for high-level executive positions.
In 2016, 45 organizations participated in The Gender Equality Seal and signed a letter of commitment towards gender equality.
Coffee
More than 500 million people around the world are dependent on coffee for their livelihoods. Costa Rican coffee has been considered among the best in the world. As one of the country’s top three exports, coffee is a major source of revenue and a staple in the economy. Although coffee farmers can be paid extremely low wages for their work, there has been an influx of female-centered organizations seeking to remove the gender gap and allow women to make a living through coffee farming.
The International Women Coffee Alliance Costa Rican chapter, Women in Coffee Alliance of Costa Rica (WCACR), provides women in coffee a voice and vote in political decisions regarding the commodity. Formed in 2005, WCACR seeks to create sustainable developments in each community that are environmentally, economically and socially viable. They also offer opportunities for women in the coffee industry to learn more about the production of coffee and the marketplace.
Organizations like ASOMOBI, the Association of Organized Women of Biolley, make a point to advertise that their coffee is produced by women in an effort to strengthen gender equity and empower the women of this cooperative.
Today, with more than 30 associate members of the chapter including millers, producers, exporters and roasters, they represent 17 companies and organizations from Costa Rica’s seven coffee-producing regions.
Although Costa Rica is moving in the right direction, with equality in the workplace and gender salary as a topic of discussion among leaders and influencers, they still have a long way to go. But as politics change and leaders invest more energy into promoting an equal and thriving country, there is hope that women’s empowerment in Costa Rica will continue to be on the rise.
– Kailey Brennan
Photo: Flickr
USAID Leads the Success of Humanitarian Aid to Ghana
Nutrition
As of 2016, 1.2 million Ghanaians still experienced food insecurity and chronic undernutrition. Furthermore, there is a high prevalence of stunting, recording 37 percent of children in the Northern Province alone. There are also many reported cases of wasting, particularly in the Upper West area of Ghana.
To combat these issues, Ghana joined the national Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement in 2011 to improve nutrition among its population. With USAID’s support and donations, Ghanaians focused on improving the country’s nutritional funding and the way in which rations are measured and prioritized.
Furthermore, USAID’s Feed the Future targets the northern, impoverished regions of the country. It hopes to make the food value chains affordable, strengthen vulnerable communities and improve the nutritional state of women and children.
In 2014, USAID applied three Feed the Future chain projects to lead the success of humanitarian aid to Ghana:
Data between 2008 and 2011 indicates progress among all Ghanaian children under the age of five. The total prevalence of stunting decreased from 28 percent to 23 percent, while wasting dropped a total of 3 percent. The occurrence of anemia among children dropped more significantly from 78 percent to 57 percent. With USAID’s new programs, these numbers are predicted to decline even more drastically.
Health Professionals
UNICEF fights to break the Ghanaian norm for mothers to give birth at home, without a health professional. According to a study done in 2012, only 57 percent of births were attended by a midwife or health clinic professional.
A Ghanaian birth attendant named Kasua Musah works alongside UNICEF and the Ghana Health Service to break tradition and advocate for in-clinic deliveries.
Together, they utilize the community radio, along with street theatre and home visits to promote safe birth. The combination of these methods reached out to around 360 communities, including four of the more destitute regions.
As a result, they altered tradition within the Central Region and increased the number of patients in the maternity ward sector of the region’s largest hospital. Even further, the radio empowered those who had negative experiences with the clinic staff, enforcing improvement and new training methods.
Further training was provided for midwives, ensuring the betterment of at-home births. Overall, Ghana improved the patient-to-nurse relationship.
Lowering the child and female mortality rates through improved birthing processes, but also through augmenting nutritional programs, is what propelled the success of humanitarian aid to Ghana.
– Brianna White
Photo: Flickr
The Success of Humanitarian Aid to Eritrea
The idea behind his policy of non-acceptance is hinged on the accusation that foreign aid is inherently corrupt and intended to subjugate its recipients. Although this presumption may not be totally false, it is at the very least ironic given that the country’s government is one of the most oppressive and corrupt regimes in modern history.
In its current state, Eritrea is facing a serious threat to national security and well-being with the U.N. estimating that 5,000 Eritreans are fleeing the country each month. Considering these estimates, President Afwerki would do well to question whether or not his policy of non-acceptance is even sustainable.
The reason behind this mass migration has much to do with a fledgling agricultural sector, the product of an idealized self-reliance. Since nearly all humanitarian aid to Eritrea has been refused by the country’s leading officials, the state has experienced an overall rise in poverty and an intense degradation of trust between civil society and government.
The result has led to multiple citations by the U.N. for human rights abuses and fueled continuous civil strife and dissent within the country, causing many foreign watch-dogs to wonder how long it will be before Eritrea is once again embroiled in war. International accusations of negligence against the Eritrean government, however, has prompted some reassessment by Afwerki and led to his acceptance of an allotted 200 million euros from the European Development Fund over the course of four years (2016-2020).
The aid has been slotted to go toward the development of the energy sector with a focus on the improvement of agricultural infrastructure. Additionally, E.U. aid is conditioned upon the implementation of certain recommendations by the U.N. which aim to reduce the occurrence of government perpetrated human rights abuses.
Though the aid that is accepted by Afwerki is small, the impacts are already noticeable. One such example is an E.U. funded project that has distributed solar energy to rural regions of Eritrea. The success of humanitarian aid to Eritrea offers hope that the country might still have the ability to pull itself out of impoverishment.
– Katarina Schrag
Photo: Flickr
Women’s Empowerment in Papua New Guinea
Achieving gender equality is a common challenge for developing nations. This is certainly the case in Papua New Guinea, where a majority of women and girls are victims of violence. Authorities in Papua New Guinea have historically turned a blind eye to violence against women. However, countless organizations are working to make women’s empowerment in Papua New Guinea a reality.
In 2013, Papua New Guinea passed the Family Protection Act to protect women and children against domestic violence. Unfortunately, the parameters of the act are rarely upheld due to a largely corrupt police force. Authorities often charge illegitimate fees before acting, which most women cannot afford. Corruption makes women’s rights difficult to protect at the government level, so aid organizations and NGOs have had to step in.
The U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) has many goals, including bettering the treatment of women and children in the developing world. Government involvement by women is discouraged in Papua New Guinea, but since the UNDP’s intervention, three women have been elected to Papua New Guinea’s parliament. Twenty women have been elected to serve in local government positions, finally giving women a political voice.
Forty percent of men in Papua New Guinea are employed in the formal sector versus only 24 percent of women. These few employed women earn only half the salary that men make. Since 2015, U.N. Women has sought economic justice for women in Papua New Guinea by improving local markets via the Safe City Program. Eighty percent of market vendors in Papua New Guinea are women, and 55 percent of these women have experienced sexual violence and other forms of exploitation, such as robbery.
By creating a vendors’ association and a mobile bill-paying system, the Safe City Program is making markets safer for women. Dark public toilets were once areas of rampant sexual violence, but the Safe City Program has remodeled outdoor markets to be more organized and have better lighting in order to discourage violence. In new, safer markets, women have the opportunity to pursue economic empowerment.
Papua New Guinean women created and run Meri Toksave, an organization seeking gender equality in their country. Meri Toksave means “information for women” in Tok Pisin, the language spoken throughout Papua New Guinea. The goal of this group is just that: provide women with the knowledge to achieve women’s empowerment in Papua New Guinea. In 2014, Meri Toksave created the “Directory of Emergency Services for Those Affected by Family and Sexual Violence,” which was distributed across the entire country.
While nationwide discrimination often stifles the fight for women’s rights, gender equality in Papua New Guinea is possible and necessary. Through the efforts of local women and with the help of aid organizations, women’s empowerment in Papua New Guinea is taking shape. Women are serving in government positions and safely seeking economic betterment in larger numbers than ever before, and hopefully even larger numbers in years to come.
– Mary Efird
Photo: Flickr
Five Development Projects in Cabo Verde
Cabo Verde is a chain of islands off the coast of Senegal, West Africa. Despite having only 10 percent arable land, limited mineral resources, mountainous terrain and an arid climate, Cabo Verde has been developing rapidly. This is mainly due to the booming tourism industry and development projects in Cabo Verde.
Being a small island nation, there are a few challenges with development. The money spent on transportation between the nine inhabited islands is quite high. Several infrastructure constraints exist which make the delivery of public services and energy in need of improvement. Due to Cabo Verde‘s climate, the agriculture industry is not able to reach its full potential. Lastly, being an island in the Atlantic Ocean, it is susceptible to climate change, rising sea levels and natural disasters.
In light of these challenges, five development projects in Cabo Verde have been created to boost the economy, increase tourism and ensure the well-being of the residents on the islands.
As a middle-income country with a relatively low poverty rate, Cabo Verde is able to design projects like these to continue promoting growth and achieve goals. These development goals will boost the economy, increase tourism and ensure the well being of the residents and visitors on the islands and keep the poverty rate low.
– Lorial Roballo
Photo: Flickr
Women’s Empowerment in Madagascar
Stereotypes and traditional customs are still practiced in Madagascar. An example of a custom is moletry, the act of marrying a young girl to an older man in exchange for a gift or money to the bride’s family. These traditions often prevail due to the economic situations of many families and women, in particular. Many women in Madagascar lack the resources, or employment, to survive independently.
In 2005, Moana Essa Raseta aimed to change this fate. As the first female Governor of Ihorombe, a region in southeastern Madagascar, Raseta shifted the focus from the welfare of cattle in the region to that of women and children.
Through promoting education, Raseta aimed to break the stereotypes of Madagascar that viewed educated women as material only for an unwed and childless future. Initiatives were implemented to show women how to grow rice, sew and engage in social protection projects, which bolstered women’s empowerment in Madagascar. Some residents even learned how to save money, by keeping a portion of their income for themselves and their children, instead of giving it all to their male counterparts.
While Raseta is one of the few to break the barriers for women, it is still tough for women in Madagascar to become involved in politics. In 2014, Madagascar ranked 73rd in the world for women in parliament back in 2014. Currently, women represent only 23 percent of the national parliament.
Since 2013, the USAID MIKOLO project in Madagascar has been empowering women to adopt healthy behaviors and reduce maternal, infant and child morbidity rates. The women of Masiakakoho, a remote village in southeast Madagascar, use the skills they have learned to teach other villagers about health. These villagers are encouraged to use their community-based health services with women leading and men supporting.
Although progress has been made, there is still more to be done to promote women’s empowerment in Madagascar. In time, more women will have better access to work and independence throughout the country.
– Tara Jackson
Photo: Flickr
Infrastructure in Kosovo: Leaving the Past Behind
Located in the center of Europe’s Balkan Peninsula, the territory now known as Kosovo has historically been a hotbed of strife, driven by border disputes and ethnic tensions. The Romans conquered the indigenous Illyrian or Thracian tribes in the first century of the common era; Slavic people began settling the province in the sixth century as the region fell out of the then-Byzantine sphere of influence. This new population would go on to form a central part of a Serbian empire until the 1300s when the Ottomans wrested Kosovo away from Serbia proper. Deepening ethnic tensions came to a head during the Balkan Wars that kicked off the 20th century.
Violence exploded again between Serbs and Albanians in the 1990s. The war in Kosovo in 1998-99 pit Yugoslav and Serbian forces against the Kosovo Liberation Army, comprised of ethnic Albanians with NATO air support. The conflict resulted in tens of thousands of displaced and thousands disappeared. The humanitarian crisis that was caused by mass displacement was witnessed by many humanitarian actors.
The war destroyed both homes and infrastructure in Kosovo, hampering economic growth and the development of a peaceful modus vivendi between the different ethnic groups living in the region. Since its unilateral declaration of independence, the government of Kosovo has made the rehabilitation and revitalization of infrastructure and institutions a key priority, particularly the development of roads, education, good governance and competitive industries.
With help from the international community, progress has been made towards rebuilding the war-torn infrastructure in Kosovo. In partnership with the U.S. government and the World Bank, the country developed plans to build a new coal-fired power plant and rehabilitate an older facility in order to strengthen its electrical grid and improve access for its people.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is also active on the ground with a key mission being to improve access to education. USAID contributes to restoring and expanding educational infrastructure and increasing private-sector participation in rebuilding the infrastructure needed for the nation’s economy to thrive. It also focuses on encouraging inter-ethnic cooperation from an early age.
Despite these improvements, Kosovo remains the second-poorest country in Europe. Unemployment hovers at around 33 percent overall, but at 60 percent for young adults. The majority of the population depends on subsistence or near-subsistence farming outside of urban areas. They contend with inefficient agricultural practices and poor availability of equipment and technical expertise.
However, with the continued determination of the national government, assistance from international actors like USAID and private foreign investment in infrastructure in Kosovo, the country’s violent past may be just that — the past.
– Joel Dishman
Photo: Flickr
Steady Progress for Women’s Empowerment in Croatia
One of Croatia’s major foreign policies is to support women’s empowerment, both domestically and internationally. With revisions to existing policies and the implementation of new policies, there has been steady progress for women’s empowerment in Croatia.
From 2001 to 2005, the National Policy for Promotion of Gender Equality, under the Beijing Platform, was the main policy that served as the basis for promoting women’s rights. Unfortunately, this policy was not heavily enforced.
Due to gender inequality and stereotypes, violence against women in Croatia has been reported in the thousands. In 2010, there were 15,198 reported domestic violence offenses recorded by the Ministry of the Interior. For some time, due to a substantial gap that enforced combat against domestic violence, protection was impeded. Currently, 18 shelters support women who have been abused through trafficking or domestic violence.
Although gender discrimination is prohibited in the workplace by the Croatian Labor Law, in 2009, women earned only 76 percent of the average wages men earned. However, seven years later, that percentage increased to 78.9 percent which shows Croatia’s steady progress.
The significant change for women’s empowerment in Croatia began in 2011. A national action plan for the implementation of the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) ran from 2011 to 2014. This plan focused on women, peace and security, specifically encouraging women to join peace operations as well as the police and armed forces.
As of 2017, new and revised policies are being drafted with a focus on women’s empowerment in Croatia. The new National Strategy of Protection against Domestic Violence is being drafted, set to be implemented between 2017 and 2022. Further, Croatia maintains its obligation to “protect the human rights of the people living within its borders” as a member of the U.N., as stated on the Implementation of Croatia’s Domestic Violence Legislation: A Human Rights Report.
Croatia is setting positive examples for women’s empowerment, as it elected its first female president, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. Incorporating women’s perspectives in efforts to address and redirect initiatives proves that women’s empowerment in Croatia is no longer a faraway dream. With a focus on the social and economic issues Croatia there is hope for women in Croatia to not only be viewed as powerful but also treated as such.
– Tara Jackson
Photo: Flickr
Three Ways Women’s Empowerment in Costa Rica is on the Rise
Costa Rica was ranked 32nd out of 144 on the 2016 Global Gender Gap Report. With a score of two representing maximum gender equality, Costa Rica scored 0.736, moving up six positions since the 2015 report. While this report evaluates the gap between women and men in economics, political empowerment, education, health and life expectancy, from an economic standpoint Costa Rica is making great leaps toward equality. With traditional family roles shifting and more Costa Rican women working outside of the home, opportunities have had to be available over the last decade to accommodate this change and growth. While conditions are far from perfect and equal pay is still a hot topic, women occupy more leadership roles in business, politics, education and agriculture, creating a significant influx of female empowerment in this Latin American country.
Female Leadership
Costa Rica is one of five Latin American countries that have adopted gender parity policies, aimed at increasing the number of women in national parliaments.
In 2011, Costa Rica elected its first female president. Laura Chinchilla Miranda won the presidential election and was more than 20 percentage points ahead of the runner-up. Her term ended in 2014, but her presence in a position of power marks the great strides being made toward gender equality and women’s empowerment in Costa Rica. With the 2018 election approaching, the representation of women has significantly increased, with women in Parliament exceeding 40 percent. These are historic numbers.
Among government leadership, there has also been an increase of female representation in the police force. Over the past three years, Costa Rica’s police force has gone from 3 percent to 17 percent female officers in the agency. With leadership in Parliament and on the streets, Costa Rican women are being represented more and more.
The Gender Equality Seal
Costa Rica has created a seal to verify and certify gender equality in the workplace. The Gender Equality Seal is a recognition given to public and private organizations. Its goal is to implement a system that will guarantee gender equality in each organization’s internal processes and labor relations. Existing gaps between women and men must be identified and a work plan to close those gaps must be created. The system is implemented in four areas: human resources, integral health, social co-responsibility in care and workplace environment. The seal seeks to empower women by offering them more opportunities in the workplace with equal pay as well as opportunities for high-level executive positions.
In 2016, 45 organizations participated in The Gender Equality Seal and signed a letter of commitment towards gender equality.
Coffee
More than 500 million people around the world are dependent on coffee for their livelihoods. Costa Rican coffee has been considered among the best in the world. As one of the country’s top three exports, coffee is a major source of revenue and a staple in the economy. Although coffee farmers can be paid extremely low wages for their work, there has been an influx of female-centered organizations seeking to remove the gender gap and allow women to make a living through coffee farming.
The International Women Coffee Alliance Costa Rican chapter, Women in Coffee Alliance of Costa Rica (WCACR), provides women in coffee a voice and vote in political decisions regarding the commodity. Formed in 2005, WCACR seeks to create sustainable developments in each community that are environmentally, economically and socially viable. They also offer opportunities for women in the coffee industry to learn more about the production of coffee and the marketplace.
Organizations like ASOMOBI, the Association of Organized Women of Biolley, make a point to advertise that their coffee is produced by women in an effort to strengthen gender equity and empower the women of this cooperative.
Today, with more than 30 associate members of the chapter including millers, producers, exporters and roasters, they represent 17 companies and organizations from Costa Rica’s seven coffee-producing regions.
Although Costa Rica is moving in the right direction, with equality in the workplace and gender salary as a topic of discussion among leaders and influencers, they still have a long way to go. But as politics change and leaders invest more energy into promoting an equal and thriving country, there is hope that women’s empowerment in Costa Rica will continue to be on the rise.
– Kailey Brennan
Photo: Flickr
Why Vietnam Loves the US
In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement that would lower tariff barriers on trade. The United States withdrew from the negotiations. But Vietnam remained in, as 89 percent of Vietnamese were supportive of the TPP, according to a Pew survey. And, as predicted by economists Michael Plummer and Peter Petri, the nations involved in the TPP could gain $147 billion in income by 2030.
Vietnam’s support for free trade draws from its history. In addition to the 20th-century war, the U.S. trade embargo on Vietnam added to the country’s economic woes. The Asian country enriched itself once market opportunities opened up. Growing tourism on Vietnam’s beaches also gave the country the money required for a sustainable recovery.
Tran Thuc Huyen, a master’s candidate currently residing in Washington, commented on how economics, more than goodwill, explains why Vietnam loves the U.S. “What we’ve seen is the U.S. efforts to make war reparations here in Vietnam, like offering education scholarships as part of its soft-power diplomacy,” he said.
Despite Vietnam’s status as a poorer country, it ranks fifth among nations sending their students to American institutions. In addition, it grades in the top 10 among foreign buyers of residential properties in the U.S. These economic interests travel both ways. Forbes Magazine and the World Bank consider Vietnam an investment haven for entrepreneurs. Vietnam looks to American infrastructure investments as an alternative to their inefficient government-run programs.
In 2014, Llewellyn King of the Huffington Post toured Vietnam and interviewed its people. The Vietnamese had little interest in talking about the war. “They wanted to know three things,” said King, “…how could they get American goods, how could they sell their goods in the U.S. market, and what was the United States going to do about China?” Vietnam loves the U.S. because it wants to enrich its people, with the same methods America used, to become an economic superpower.
– Nick Edinger
Photo: Flickr
Financial Inclusion a Key Part of Credit Access in India
PMJDY and Financial Inclusion
Though financial inclusion has become a recent focus for policymakers, 40 percent of people still lack access to basic financial services. Financial inclusion is the basis of perpetual economic growth. “Without financial inclusion, we cannot think of economic development because a large chunk of the total population remains outside the growth process,” said Dr. Harpreet Kaur and Kawal Nain Singh of Punjabi University and The Rayat Institute of Management.
Many low-income individuals have relied on informal, and sometimes devastating, options to borrow money or gain credit access in India. In response to this, formal options such as Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), a mega financial inclusion plan, was designed. PMJDY aims to ameliorate poverty and fast track financial growth. The program targets those from remote areas and promotes financial literacy, universal access to banking services and insurance. This is all to “commence the next revolution of growth and prosperity,” the plan explains.
Unfortunate Faults
More than a few studies have reported the same findings as Dr. Joy Deshmukh-Ranadive of the Human Development Resource Centre in New Delhi. In the doctor’s report on rural micro-finance in India, she explains that “the track record of these formal sources has not been positive. Micro-finance…circumvents the drawbacks of both formal and informal systems of credit delivery.” These downsides include exploitative interest rates and fortifying systems of oppression.
Entrepreneurship in Rural India
The micro, small and medium enterprise sector (MSME) account for 37 percent of India’s GDP, and more than 40 percent of the country’s total exports, according to the World Bank. Despite this, MSMEs have been limited by inadequate access to financial services.
Fortunately, the International Finance Corporation devised a program called India Collateral. The program is modeled after a similar program that has had success in China. The project hopes to revise the discrepancy by opening access to banking services for more MSMEs by increasing lenders’ confidence.
While there are programs formulated to improve access to credit in India, there remains a gender bias. Though loan rejection and approval are issued at an equal rate to both men and women, women tend to seek financial services less often. Higher gender bias countries like India see more women deferring from the loan process, according to a report by the European Central Bank.
It is an interesting paradox: those who have money are those who typically qualify to borrow it. The necessary condition for credit access is already established finances. Those who stand to benefit the most from borrowed money are those who do not have it. Steps toward financial inclusion in India are governed by this idea. Many programs continue to amend credit access in India, develop the informal credit market and lower interest rates in the hopes of developing the country’s economy from the bottom up.
– Sloan Bousselaire
Photo: Flickr