In recent years, Panama has made significant progress in advancing their public education system. As of 2013, rates of literacy and primary school net enrollment for youth ages 15-24 were over 97 percent. The country — like many others in the Central American region — has worked towards elevating basic human rights for its people; these efforts include taking seriously the task of accomplishing U.N. Millennium Development Goals of providing universal primary education and promoting gender equality.
The state of girls’ education in Panama has improved to the level that recently, non-indigenous Panamanian women have been able to achieve high levels of education. Recent statistics reveal that women outnumber men at the university level 60 percent to 40 percent, and now average 12.1 years of schooling compared to the 10.5 years of schooling for men.
Barriers to Accessing Education
Inspiring though the statistics may be, women still face many obstacles to their education and empowerment. The data displays that the significant enrollment numbers of women in higher education might not necessarily translate to educational gender equality. Enrollment statistics at Panama’s five public universities reveal a trend that centers of higher education may benefit male students more than they do females.
It’s true that women comprise the majority of students at three out of the five universities in the country; however, men outnumber women at the two universities that offer more prestigious careers with higher salaries. For example, there is a clear majority of males studying in the areas of computer science (62 percent) and engineering (75 percent), whereas the majority of females study in the areas of education (15.1 percent) and business and management (28.1 percent).
Another important factor to consider when probing the equality of public education in Panama is the elevated rate of teen pregnancy. The Latin American/Caribbean region has the second-highest teen pregnancy rate worldwide, with the highest numbers found in Central America, particularly in Panama. A 2018 report by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), UNICEF and the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) revealed that in Panama, 15 percent of all pregnancies were undergone by girls below the age of 20.
Teen pregnancy, in its significantly high numbers, hinders the accessibility of girls’ education in Panama as many young women are forced to quit school in order to care for their children. The report also stated that girls with only a primary education or no education at all were four times more likely to get pregnant than girls with secondary schooling. This reality is disturbing, as 26.1 percent of females drop out of school between their primary (ages 6-11) and secondary (ages 12-17) school years according to a 2013 UNICEF statistic. By the time females enter secondary school age, only 71.3 percent are enrolled in school.
Impact of Location
Access to education proves to be an even greater difficulty for girls who live in rural and/or indigenous communities. Between the primarily non-indigenous, urban communities and the indigenous, rural communities there are noticeable disparities. Many rural areas lack access to pre-primary school (ages 4-5) and often must make do without potable water or electricity in their educational facilities.
In these lesser-developed communities, girls struggle to find time for an education while under the strain of poverty. In the more remote areas of the country, if girls manage to attend school they are likely to attend for only 4-6 years compared to males who on average attend 8-9 years. In 2005, UNICEF reported that 45 percent of indigenous children were not enrolled in school at all.
Few for Change’s Mission
Recognizing the unique educational barriers beset upon girls’ education in Panama, Few for Change, a volunteer-operated nonprofit organization, has made it a critical part of their mission to improve educational opportunities for girls living in the Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé region. In the Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé, 10-19 year-olds accounted for one-third of all pregnancies in the area, registering the region among the three Panamanian provinces with the highest rates of teen pregnancy.
The indigenous Ngäbe-Buglé people have endured a long history of displacement by Panamanian settlers, and this occurrence has lead to chronic poverty and cultural isolation. The Ngäbe live in a remote, mountainous region which makes communication to the government and mainstream Panamanian society difficult.
Often, students in the region must travel to a different state to receive a secondary education. Travel and boarding expenses create substantial financial burdens on students’ families. The Few for Change group attempts to combat these difficulties by awarding scholarships, educational resources and community support to high-achieving students. Through these methods, they hope to empower motivated youth and break the cycle of poverty.
Aligning Priorities
The main goal of this mission is also to give girls the power to decide when and how to start their families. Higher levels of education are shown time and again to reduce rates of teenage pregnancy. By providing female students with resources and support, Few for Change hopes to foster girls’ education in Panama and keep girls in school so that they have more autonomy and choice in their adult lives.
Panama has made remarkable strides towards achieving universal primary education and gender equality; but with institutional bias still favoring males, remarkably high teen pregnancy rates and indigenous communities that cry out for more educational resources, there remains much work to be done.
– Clarke Hallum
Photo: Flickr
How the World Health Organization Ensures a Healthier Future
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a worldwide company first launched in April of 1948. WHO was established as a specialized agency of the United Nations, created to focus on improving the health of our society.
Now employing more than 7000 people in 150 countries around the world, WHO strives to ensure that everyone has access to the most basic needs everyone deserves. The World Health Organization focuses on several important areas, including noncommunicable and communicable diseases, health systems and promoting health through the life course.
Smallpox and Polio
The WHO’s campaigns against two deadly diseases of smallpox and polio were extremely notable. Thanks to the WHO’s multimillion-dollar vaccination campaign, the smallpox vaccine became available around the world in 1967. The campaign was successful, and by 1980, the world was free from the disease.
In 1988, the World Health Organization once again created a vaccine campaign, but this time for polio. Polio was once a disease that affected people all over the world, but thanks to the efforts of the WHO, it is now confined to South Asia and Africa.
The Eliminate Yellow Fever Epidemics Campaign
In April of 2018, WHO announced it would be collaborating with several organizations — including Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, UNICEF and many others — to vaccinate close to one billion people in Africa against yellow fever. The hope is to have reached this goal by 2026.
This campaign is called the Eliminate Yellow Fever Epidemics, and was launched by Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who stated, “With one injection we can protect a person for life against this dangerous pathogen.” This is just one of many comprehensive strategies created by this organization to combat the outbreak of deadly diseases across the globe.
The World Health Organization, along with Gavi The Vaccine Alliance and many other organizations, have made an incredible amount of vaccines available all over the world. They have collaborated to provide vaccines for things such as tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis b.
Partnerships of Improvement
January of 2018 also sparked a new collaboration between WHO and U.N. Environment. This new agreement will increase joint action between the two organizations in the effort to increase action on topics such as air pollution, water quality and food and nutrition issues.
These organizations have recognized that the environments in developing countries cause hundreds of thousands of deaths per year, because of pollution and contaminated drinking water. With these two major organizations working closely to implement new programs, the hope is to tackle these major issues and see growth each year. The two organizations will meet annually to discuss strategies and plans for reaching these goals.
Changing Lives, Eliminating Disease
For 70 years, the World Health Organization has been a leader in strategic planning and implementation of new programs around the globe. Hundreds of thousands of people in developing countries contract diseases and suffer from malnourishment each year, but WHO is working with leaders all over the world to ensure everyone is able to access lifesaving vaccines, clean water and shelter.
Working in over 150 countries around the world and raising millions of dollars each year, the World Health Organization strives to end diseases globally, and provide support to countries in need. With the support of world leader and donor countries, the WHO is changing the outcome of countless lives.
– Allisa Rumreich
Photo: Flickr
Genocide Prevention Through Education, Awareness & Action
One of the worst occurrences in humankind is genocide — the killing of an entire group of people. The website titled Genocide Watch has a goal of predicting, preventing, stopping and punishing genocide and other forms of mass murder if/when they occur. In fact, this website even went so far as to develop a code for people at risk of genocide:
Genocide Watch, Warning and Emergency
Currently, Burundi is coded Genocide Watch; Turkey is coded as a Genocide Warning. However, nine countries are signified with a Genocide Emergency: Yemen, Iraq, Myanmar, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Syria. This extensive list of countries in conflict demonstrates why genocide prevention efforts are crucial to stopping a genocide in its tracks.
Organizations Combatting Genocide
Numerous efforts are being made across the globe to make genocides an action of the past, and the following is a few of the groups making a profound change on the prevention and combat of genocides today.
Preventative Efforts
When considering genocide prevention, it is important to address the stages of genocide and the importance of early intervention. Knowing signs of classification, symbolization, discrimination, dehumanization, organization, polarization and preparation and educational efforts are crucial to preventing genocide prior to persecution, extermination and denial.
For an example of such preemptive behavior, Myanmar is under a Genocide Emergency. Three major stages of this status that occurred were discrimination, dehumanization and polarization of the Rohingya Muslims. By identifying these stages and how they occur in society, the international community can better prevent genocide.
Awareness and Activism
Such organizations focus their work on preventing genocide through bringing awareness to the public, educating and mobilizing policymakers, and taking action when needed. Projects that work toward preventing genocide not only reduce or stop massive conflict in its tracks, but also work to alleviate poverty worldwide.
These key tools of education, awareness and action are also important when alleviating communities of extreme poverty. These global issues are interwoven and by addressing poverty and addressing genocide simultaneously, the global community can live in a better world.
– Jenna Walmer
Photo: Flickr
Credit Access in the Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands are not a dominant country in the international sphere. Home to only 70,000 people and largely separated as tiny islands that string across the Pacific, the Marshall Islands, and with them their people and businesses, are disconnected from much of the world. Although they lack economic significance in most regards, the Marshall Islands are valuable assets that should be protected and considered when discussing credit access and other business-related activities.
Credit Access Relating to Natural Disasters
Credit access in the Marshall Islands, while small when compared to more developed countries, is an important aspect when considering the looming threat of climate change and the impacts it may have on business development and activity. According to many reports regarding the financial aspects of the Marshall Islands, related relief related to natural disasters is a large component of the credit conversation in the country.
One of the main issues with credit access in the Marshall Islands, whether relating to natural disasters or not, is the limited amount of individuals who are able to oversee and initiate credit activity. As the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative reports, “authority lies with a few key individuals who are also responsible for many other portfolios of work.” Already constrained by their regular duties, these authority figures are further stretched when natural disasters take place and require immediate attention. The impact of climate change is growing in this area of the world with rising sea levels, acidification of crops and infrastructural damage, and credit access in the Marshall Islands seems to be entering a time of greater complexity, with few people able to navigate the system.
U.S. Foreign Aid
The Marshall Islands are currently receiving significant levels of aid from the United States. Since 1986, the U.S. has committed roughly $46 million per year to the Marshall Islands, focusing on boosting economic standing within the country. While international aid is a positive aspect as a whole, the fact that a significant portion of the economy and its associated activity rely on outside help is a point of concern, especially because the U.S.-Marshall Island aid agreement is ending in 2023. Foreign aid fluctuations or, in the extreme case, suspension of all aid, could result in disaster for the Marshall Islands and their people.
The Marshallese face not only the prospect of being unable to create and establish new business ventures with a lack of adequate credit, but the possibility that credit already in place could be severely undercut. Credit access in the Marshall Islands is already limited, and international aid is essentially the only aspect keeping the nation afloat.
Difficulties With Microcredit
Microcredit activity is another financial aspect being considered in the Marshall Islands; however, complexities with this activity are also concerning. As the Enterprise Research Institute (ERI) explains, microcredit activity requires “substantial expertise” and diligent follow up, which often prove costly. The ERI finds another issue with microcredit initiatives in the fact that, “usury laws impose a ceiling on lending charges at an effective nominal interest rate of 24 percent per year. This amount is below the minimum sustainable level of successful microcredit institutions in other countries.”
Individual Credit Access
When taking a closer look at individual access to credit, the situation is not much better. While legal rights are widely acknowledged throughout the country, the depth of credit information is severely lacking; the Marshall Islands scored a 0 out of 8 in the category for depth in credit information index. Not only is credit access misunderstood throughout the country, but basic information regarding this area of concern is either limited or held from view. Additionally, the Marshall Islands placed 90 out of 190 countries in the category of “getting credit.” While not at the bottom of the list, there is still substantial room for improvement.
While the Marshall Islands are home to a small population and an economy that predominantly relies on agricultural activity, access to credit remains an important aspect within their economy, especially when considering the looming impacts of climate change on economic activity. Not only is Marshallese credit access reliant on foreign aid from countries like the United States, but it is becoming increasingly tied to the topic of disaster relief. Credit information is limited nationwide, microcredit activity is seemingly non-applicable and authority figures who can properly handle the allotment of credit are already few and far between. As of now, credit access in the Marshall Islands resembles the physical layout of the country: underdeveloped, propped up by international aid and under the constant threat of natural disasters.
– Ryan Montbleau
Photo: Flickr
10 Crucial Facts About Girls’ Education in Argentina
To educate a woman is to give her the tools to create a brighter future for herself and her family. Argentina is a nation known to be improving its gender equality; in fact, women currently fight for equal education and job opportunities to men. However, girls education in Argentina is an ongoing process, and women are still placed second to men in many situations. Here are the top 10 facts about girls’ education in Argentina.
Top 10 Facts About Girls Education in Argentina
Acquiring a Female Future, One Woman At a Time
A lack of education is one of the core factors related to poverty — girls who are educated find themselves in better living situations. Although these were the top 10 facts about girls’ education in Argentina, there are plenty of other points of note where the women are restricted and want to strive for a better future. As Argentinian women continue to fight for a change, the future will hopefully become better for the younger generation.
– Negin Nia
Photo: Flickr
The Benefits of Dominican Baseball Recruitment
American baseball has become increasingly diverse and filled with players not originally from the United States. Major and minor league recruiters set up sophisticated training facilities, or ‘academias,’ throughout Latin America, including the Dominican Republic, aiming to streamline talented students to successful careers in U.S. baseball. The academias function as motivation and preparation for Hispanic youth to bring themselves and their families out of poverty. Since 4 out of 10 are impoverished in the Dominican Republic, baseball is seen as a ticket out. There are many benefits that come from baseball recruitment in the Dominican Republic.
Baseball in the Dominican Republic
More Major League Baseball players come from the Dominican Republic than any other country. In 2016, 134 players came from the country, about one in every 10 major leaguers. In the Dominican Republic, efforts to build the best players begin with children as young as 14 years old.
It is estimated that Dominican players earn roughly $400 million each year from playing baseball, some of which is sent back to the Dominican Republican and reinvested in their economy. This sum makes up a small part of the true financial impact of baseball in the Dominican Republic, as the training academias draw in thousands of aspiring youths — not just Dominicans, but also those from neighboring countries such as Venezuela, Nicaragua, Panama, Mexico and Cuba. These facilities must be staffed with trainers and equipment, and baseball is estimated to spur the Dominican economy by $1 billion a year.
Pros and Cons
Baseball also plays a socially positive role for Dominicans. Dominican baseball recruitment bonds families and friends towards a common goal, and keeps youth out of troubling activities that could derail futures. Major league players functions as heroes and inspiration—showing those who come from nothing that success is possible. Those who grow up impoverished can make it to the MLB, amass a fortune, and spread the wealth back to their home country.
A downside frequently exists when this type of cultural transplant occurs. On average, only 2 percent of those who enter academias ever make it to the major leagues. Another major issue is the use of performance enhancing drugs on youth to make them more competitive to recruiters — handlers, or agents, stand to benefit from their prodigies’ prowess and success.
Since players’ signing bonuses range anywhere from $10,000 to over $3 million, with handlers receiving 10 percent – 50 percent of this amount, it’s logical that Dominican players make up 38 percent out of those who test positive for these drugs. In addition, few legal boundaries are in place for how players are handled prior to handling, and often result in vast amounts of corruption among agents.
Back to One’s Roots
Despite these problems, the success of baseball recruitment in the Dominican Republic remains strong. Nelson Cruz, the Seattle Mariners cleanup hitter, is an exemplary illustration of a Dominican player that gives back in meaningful ways.
Living the good life as an impressive MLB player, he has not forgotten the reality of life for many back home in the Dominican Republic. His family ingrained in him a commitment to doing the right thing, and after his old neighbors and lifelong friends in Las Matas de Santa Cruz lost their home in a fire, he arranged to have a firetruck sent back to his hometown.
“In my community, we didn’t have a firetruck,” Cruz said. “We also needed an ambulance because we don’t have the biggest hospital. When somebody gets sick, or accidents or heart attacks, any emergency, we had to transport those people in trucks or SUVs, nothing that can give you the medical attention you need.” In the U.S., we take things like emergency medical response for granted, but this is often not the case in many Latin American countries. Cruz’s donation has reportedly helped save many lives and changed the landscape of his home country.
Living the Dream
Cruz has also arranged a scholarship program to help combat some of the issues with baseball recruitment. Oftentimes, recruits leave school and sign a three-year contract but never make it to the big leagues, leaving them with nothing and no education. Cruz helped create a scholarship program to help these youth obtain an online diploma in an attempt to ease the transition for Hispanic youth whose baseball dreams fail to take them to full athletic success.
This story of one of many Hispanic players giving back to their home countries facing extreme poverty demonstrates the positive cycle spurred by baseball recruitment in Latin America. This sport helps bring underdeveloped countries out of extreme poverty and can act as a beacon of hope for Hispanic youth.
– Jilly Fox
Photo: Flickr
TEDx Kakuma Breaks Down Barriers for Refugees
While the world sits in social turmoil determining how best to help refugees from countries such as Syria, TEDx is attempting to bring light where there is darkness. TED is a non-profit organization that works to share ideas with the masses, inspiring the individual to speak out and be heard.
TED has been prevalent in developed countries in North America and Europe since 1984; however, they have since expanded to include other nations from other continents. TEDx started in 2009 and is run independently. It reaches out to smaller communities around the world. While this expansion was sorely needed and widely welcomed, TEDx surpassed all former barriers by choosing to host TEDx Kakuma, a convention in a Kenyan refugee camp.
TEDx Kakuma
On June 9, 250 TEDx speakers spoke to a group of refugees that have found a temporary home in Kakuma, Kenya. The speakers presenting at the TEDx Kakuma conference included former refugees and scholars who have spent their life’s work studying developing countries, poverty and poverty reduction techniques.
By having these speakers physically come to the refugee camps, it not only provides the speakers with some firsthand experience and knowledge of the people and places they study but also provides the refugees with an opportunity to speak their truth and be heard. Collaboration and such a meeting of the minds is a strong and beneficial way to connect the world, showing us that whether we be the refugee or the TEDx Kakuma speaker, we work for betterment together.
Holding a TEDx within the refugee camp is essential to reminding refugees of something sorely and too often overlooked – their humanity. Speakers, such as athletes from The Refugee Olympic Team and others who grew up in refugee camps, provided the opportunity for hope to grow and for the refugees to be inspired.
Providing A Platform For Refugees
Many of the speakers at the TEDx Kakuma convention represented a program called the LuQuLuQu campaign, showing the strength of refugees all over the world. The program focuses on the displaced due to poverty, violence, war or oppression. The U.N. Refugee Agency, the founders of the campaign, work to protect the rights of those often ignored providing a voice when there often is none.
Providing this platform to refugees in the Kakuma camp allows hope to grow and to foster growth away from poverty and towards a better future. By introducing this campaign in a refugee camp instead of at a regular TED convention where only a few privileged individuals have access to it, TEDx Kakuma is working to end poverty and discrimination at the source rather than focusing on it from a distant perspective.
Refugee status cannot be solely attached to poverty within a nation; however, it can be linked as a common factor. When nations don’t work to provide protection for their citizens, more refugees are created and more poverty spreads into refugee camps. By providing TEDx in a refugee camp such as Kakuma, Kenya, TEDx is working to bring more minds into the poverty discussion. More importantly, TEDx is providing those who are struggling with the opportunity to be a part of the conversation, a factor sorely needed to end poverty.
– Kayleigh Mattoon
Photo: Flickr
Nonprofit Highlight: SAMBHAV in Nepal
Poverty is a significant and growing concern in Nepal. The country’s Finance Ministry estimated that 21.6 percent of Nepal’s population, or 6 million Nepalis, are living under the poverty line. This makes Nepal one of the most impoverished countries in South Asia.
Poverty In Nepal
High poverty rates have numerous implications. Nepal has an extremely high infant mortality rate. Per 1,000 live births in Nepal, 34.5 children die before the age of 5. Poverty contributes to this significantly, as many of these lives likely could have been saved with greater hygiene standards and access to healthcare.
Over 50,000 children die every year in Nepal with malnutrition accounting for over 60 percent of the deaths. A total of half of the children in Nepal are underweight. Rates of disease and death in pregnant women are also high due to lack of access to healthcare and poor hygiene.
Considerable amounts of political unrest and conflict in Nepal have contributed to the poverty issue. Schools have been forced to close or teachers go on strike, which leads to a shortened school year for the Nepali children. Living in a conflict zone also makes it much more difficult for children to travel to and from school.
SAMBHAV
Thankfully, there are many non-profits out there that work to make a difference in the world of poverty. SAMBHAV in Nepal is one of them. This organization utilizes youth clubs and training programs to alleviate the burdens of poverty, specifically for teens and women. These initiatives lead to reforms in education and healthcare, to name a few.
Past projects have included a drinking water project in which SAMBHAV rebuilt the water systems in villages and schools after the earthquake in Nepal in 2015. This venture led to increased access to clean drinking water in impoverished communities leading to better hygiene and fewer diseases for those living in poverty.
SAMBHAV and Education
Providing quality education is also essential in alleviating poverty. SAMBHAV in Nepal has reconstructed schools and moved them to more convenient locations in order to increase attendance. For example, when Dharapani Secondary School first began, it only had 10 students. The school was destroyed by an earthquake in 1987 and was poorly rebuilt.
SAMBHAV brought attention to this project’s needs, and in 2010, it was rebuilt by The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Dharapani Secondary School was completely reconstructed with a new toilet facility installed. In addition, multiple teacher training programs were implemented to increase the quality of the school’s education system. Dharapani Secondary School now has around 400 students.
SAMBHAV has included the reconstruction of another school in its current projects in Nepal’s. The Bhairabi Primary School was also damaged after the earthquake and was in desperate need of reconstruction. Phase I of the project, which was finished in April of 2017, included three newly constructed classrooms in addition to three renovated old classrooms and three new toilets. Phase II is now underway and is set to consist of rebuilding a five-block classroom and adding three more toilets.
Thanks to the efforts of SAMBHAV, children in Nepal have brighter futures in the face of poverty.
– Amelia Merchant
Photo: Flickr
How Credit Access in Zambia Can Boost Employment Rates
Credit access in Zambia is limited with only 38 percent of adults having some level of formal financial inclusion. While this number represents progress — as that percentage used to be a mere 23 percent — it also indicates that there is still room for development in the private and financial sector of Zambia.
The Financial Sector Deepening Zambia (FSDZ) is making a substantial effort to increase the availability of financial services and credit access to individuals in Zambia. By working with financial service providers, policymakers and civil society, FSDZ is creating an environment of greater financial inclusion in Zambia.
The Root of the Lack of Credit Access
One of the largest economic drivers in Zambia and several other developing countries are Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). SMEs are pivotal to increasing the economy, as they often provide opportunities for low-income people and contribute to Zambia’s GDP by creating growth opportunities. In Zambia, the SME sector comprises approximately 97 percent of all businesses.
However, a majority of SMEs in Zambia face obstacles when attempting to gain support from Financial Service Providers like banks and microfinance institutions to grow their portfolios. According to a business survey conducted in Zambia, a majority of SMEs do not belong to a formal business association or network. Due to this, business owners and farm owners often can only rely on their limited network of friends and family for business, which is not a sustainable growth model.
Conversely, financial institutions emphasize that SME owners often do not have the capacity to prepare bankable business proposals, which was a large constraint to accessing finance. Better relationships between Financial Service Providers and owners of SMEs may create a path of greater understanding and thereby greater financial inclusion.
Long-Term Effects of Enhancing Zambia SMEs Access to Finance
Improving credit access in Zambia and addressing its financial inclusion strategy is key to not only increasing formal financial inclusion but also to growing and developing Zambia’s ever-changing economy. Increasing financial literacy among small and medium enterprise business owners will allow them advocate for themselves among financial institutions. Organizations like International Trade Centre (ITC) work to do just that, facilitating access to financial supply for SMEs with high growth potential.
So far, ITC has provided 105 growth-oriented small or medium enterprises with business development training and individual counseling that improves business management. All of the SMEs that underwent training developed growth strategies that helped them increase sales, invest in new technologies and hire more staff. Through the timeframe of the project, 50 percent of the SMEs that received support and training were able to access formal finance.
The Ripple Effect
Increasing financial inclusion in Zambia will have a ripple effect: if Financial Service Providers provide access to services to owners of SMEs, then SMEs will have more room for growth. If SMEs grow their businesses, then there will be more opportunities for employment, especially for the country’s poor, thereby decreasing poverty rates.
There is still much that needs to be done for Zambia to become more stable as an economy. However, if business owners receive more access to formal financial institutions, then credit access in Zambia will produce many opportunities for its citizens, lead to a more robust economy and alleviate poverty rates.
– Shefali Kumar
Photo: Flickr
10 Eye-Opening Facts about Human Rights in Haiti
Located on the island of Hispaniola, Haiti is home to a population of around 11 million people and has been victim to environmental disasters and political corruption. These issues are still prevalent today and continue to affect Haitians around the country; here are 10 facts about humans rights in Haiti that everyone should know.
10 Facts About Human Rights in Haiti
Proactive and Concentrated Efforts
These 10 facts about human rights in Haiti raise many concerns. Nevertheless, nationwide and international programs are dedicated to finding solutions to provide a better lifestyle for people in Haiti.
– Lilly Hershey-Webb
Photo: Flickr
Girls’ Education in Panama: A Work in Progress
In recent years, Panama has made significant progress in advancing their public education system. As of 2013, rates of literacy and primary school net enrollment for youth ages 15-24 were over 97 percent. The country — like many others in the Central American region — has worked towards elevating basic human rights for its people; these efforts include taking seriously the task of accomplishing U.N. Millennium Development Goals of providing universal primary education and promoting gender equality.
The state of girls’ education in Panama has improved to the level that recently, non-indigenous Panamanian women have been able to achieve high levels of education. Recent statistics reveal that women outnumber men at the university level 60 percent to 40 percent, and now average 12.1 years of schooling compared to the 10.5 years of schooling for men.
Barriers to Accessing Education
Inspiring though the statistics may be, women still face many obstacles to their education and empowerment. The data displays that the significant enrollment numbers of women in higher education might not necessarily translate to educational gender equality. Enrollment statistics at Panama’s five public universities reveal a trend that centers of higher education may benefit male students more than they do females.
It’s true that women comprise the majority of students at three out of the five universities in the country; however, men outnumber women at the two universities that offer more prestigious careers with higher salaries. For example, there is a clear majority of males studying in the areas of computer science (62 percent) and engineering (75 percent), whereas the majority of females study in the areas of education (15.1 percent) and business and management (28.1 percent).
Another important factor to consider when probing the equality of public education in Panama is the elevated rate of teen pregnancy. The Latin American/Caribbean region has the second-highest teen pregnancy rate worldwide, with the highest numbers found in Central America, particularly in Panama. A 2018 report by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), UNICEF and the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) revealed that in Panama, 15 percent of all pregnancies were undergone by girls below the age of 20.
Teen pregnancy, in its significantly high numbers, hinders the accessibility of girls’ education in Panama as many young women are forced to quit school in order to care for their children. The report also stated that girls with only a primary education or no education at all were four times more likely to get pregnant than girls with secondary schooling. This reality is disturbing, as 26.1 percent of females drop out of school between their primary (ages 6-11) and secondary (ages 12-17) school years according to a 2013 UNICEF statistic. By the time females enter secondary school age, only 71.3 percent are enrolled in school.
Impact of Location
Access to education proves to be an even greater difficulty for girls who live in rural and/or indigenous communities. Between the primarily non-indigenous, urban communities and the indigenous, rural communities there are noticeable disparities. Many rural areas lack access to pre-primary school (ages 4-5) and often must make do without potable water or electricity in their educational facilities.
In these lesser-developed communities, girls struggle to find time for an education while under the strain of poverty. In the more remote areas of the country, if girls manage to attend school they are likely to attend for only 4-6 years compared to males who on average attend 8-9 years. In 2005, UNICEF reported that 45 percent of indigenous children were not enrolled in school at all.
Few for Change’s Mission
Recognizing the unique educational barriers beset upon girls’ education in Panama, Few for Change, a volunteer-operated nonprofit organization, has made it a critical part of their mission to improve educational opportunities for girls living in the Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé region. In the Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé, 10-19 year-olds accounted for one-third of all pregnancies in the area, registering the region among the three Panamanian provinces with the highest rates of teen pregnancy.
The indigenous Ngäbe-Buglé people have endured a long history of displacement by Panamanian settlers, and this occurrence has lead to chronic poverty and cultural isolation. The Ngäbe live in a remote, mountainous region which makes communication to the government and mainstream Panamanian society difficult.
Often, students in the region must travel to a different state to receive a secondary education. Travel and boarding expenses create substantial financial burdens on students’ families. The Few for Change group attempts to combat these difficulties by awarding scholarships, educational resources and community support to high-achieving students. Through these methods, they hope to empower motivated youth and break the cycle of poverty.
Aligning Priorities
The main goal of this mission is also to give girls the power to decide when and how to start their families. Higher levels of education are shown time and again to reduce rates of teenage pregnancy. By providing female students with resources and support, Few for Change hopes to foster girls’ education in Panama and keep girls in school so that they have more autonomy and choice in their adult lives.
Panama has made remarkable strides towards achieving universal primary education and gender equality; but with institutional bias still favoring males, remarkably high teen pregnancy rates and indigenous communities that cry out for more educational resources, there remains much work to be done.
– Clarke Hallum
Photo: Flickr