Top Facts about Poverty in Spain

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

  1. Over one-quarter (26.6 percent) of the Spanish population is at risk of poverty or social exclusion as of 2017. These results do also show, however, that this number has fallen from a peak of 29.4 percent in 2014.
  2. Spain has the highest youth poverty rate (.221) in Western Europe. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, an intergovernmental economic organization, Spain sits ahead of both its neighbors, Portugal and Italy, and is even ahead of its Mediterranean counterpart Greece.
  3. Nearly 40 percent of Spain’s youth labor force were unemployed in 2017. This number is compared to a 9.2 percent in the Euro Area.
  4. Poverty in Spain is concentrated in rural areas. A chart published by a Spanish statistical website compares the different regions of Spain based on their per capita GRP (gross regional product) or PIB in Spanish. In general, the more rural provinces, such as Extremadura, Castilla La Mancha and Andalucía, have a lower GRP than the Basque country, Madrid and Catalonia. The poorest households in Spain are those of young, inexperienced foreigners who live in southern Spain.
  5. The migrant crisis has put a strain on Spanish support systems. The New York Times reports that over 20,000 migrants have reached Spain by sea in 2018. This has put added pressure on the migrant support systems and increased the population of those in need of assistance.
  6. About 34.4 percent of Spanish households were unable to afford a week-long vacation in 2017 according to data compiled by the National Statistics Institute, a Spanish government agency. This is down, however, from 45.8 percent when the study began in 2013.
  7. Unemployed Spaniards are gaining employment via temporary or part-time jobs. Now that Spain’s economy is rebounding, many new jobs have been created and, although temporary, they may help ease the poverty of previously unemployed Spaniards.
  8. Spanish youths are the beneficiaries of the European Commission’s Youth Guarantee program. This program has the mission of ensuring that all of Europe’s young people have “a good quality offer of employment, continued education, apprenticeship and traineeship within a period of four months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education.” This program, among others like it, hopes to reduce youth unemployment and a more employed workforce may mean a reduction in poverty.
  9. Spain is now recovering well from the 2008 recession. According to a 2017 article by the New York Times, the economy of Spain is growing roughly at three percent, is producing goods for export and “is restoring a sense of normalcy” to the country. With this growth, the unemployment rate is expected to decline as per the European Commission’s forecast for 2018.

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

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

  1. The Human Development Index (HDI) is the calculation of a country’s health, education and income. As of 2015, the most recent HDI reported Cameroon’s value at 0.518 percent. Out of 188 countries, Cameroon ranks at 153. The good news seems to be that this is progress for Cameroon. The infant mortality rate has decreased, raising the life expectancy of newborns by 2.4 years. The expected number of years enrolled in formal schooling has increased by 2.4 years, and the GNI per capita has risen by 5.5 percent since 1990.
  2. At an estimated population count of 24.68 million people, 30 percent of Cameroon’s society lives below the poverty line.
  3. In 1960 Cameroon obtained their independence while experiencing a prosperous economy that soon transitioned into a decade-long recession beginning in the mid-1980’s. Their economic prosperity was attributed to income from oil, gas, timber, aluminum, agriculture, and the mining of natural resources. While much of their profit has relied on these exports, the economy eventually fell short due to a major decline in global prices. This led to the current stagnant and inequitable per capita income.
  4. The current unemployment rate stands at 4.2 percent, which is a dramatic increase in employment since the country’s all-time high record in 1996 of 8 percent.
  5. Health care is a major struggle for impoverished citizens of Cameroon. People don’t possess the financial capacity to access decent healthcare, and the public resources available are insufficient. Although more money is spent on healthcare in Cameroon than any other sub-Saharan country, it’s only available to the wealthy regions. Organizations like The International Medical Corps are helping with preventive medicine as well as educating the citizens of Cameroon on maintaining good health. This is a major fact about poverty in Cameroon that needs to be addressed in order to prevent fatal diseases and deaths.
  6. Cameroon’s poverty level is considered a rural phenomenon, with 55 percent of the poor occupying that geography. The level of education, gender and matrimonial status reflects the poverty dynamic. Women and children make up about half of those living in rural poverty.
  7. Proper education isn’t accessible to children of Cameroon, especially in poor regions. The expected years of schooling, on average, is about 10 years. The adult literacy rate of around 70 percent is due to the lack the proper funding, infrastructure, and teachers in the educational system.
  8. Cameroonians face the challenge of obliterating malnutrition. Moderate to severe stunting affects 31.7 percent of children under the age of five. Health hazards, extreme illnesses, and death are known ramifications of malnutrition. Food scarcity has the strongest influence on the affliction of poverty. Limited income equates a limited amount of food. Organizations like The World Food Program are trying to help people in Cameroon eradicate malnutrition by 2030.
  9. The government of Cameroon provides subsidies for electricity, food, and fuel, that have dented the federal budget. This affects the potential funding for education, healthcare and infrastructure. This poses concern of the government’s priority for funding and assisting with impoverished societies.
  10. Migration appears to be the most popular resolution to individuals growing up in impoverished regions Cameroon. In response to the increasing poverty, many people move out of the country to seek better living conditions. A few key factors that lead to migration are; family reunification, relocation in search of education, and lack of autonomy.

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
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

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

  1. President Paul Kagame led the call for female empowerment in Rwanda. President Kagame realized that women would need to play a large role in Rwanda’s restoration. A new constitution was passed in 2003 which stated that 30 percent of parliamentary seats would be reserved for women. Girls’ education was also very much encouraged as well as women being appointed to leadership roles.The president’s policies were welcomed by all Rwandans and quotas were met and surpassed extraordinarily. In the country’s 2003 election, 48 percent of parliamentary seats went to women; in the next election, 64 percent of seats went to women.
  2. Rwanda leads the world by having the most women in its national legislature. On this same scale, the U.S. ranks ninety-sixth with only 19 percent of its governmental seats held by women.
  3. Abishyizehamwe, in collaboration with the ActionAid Fund Leadership Opportunities for Women (FLOW), is a women’s smallholder farmers’ group formed in 2013 in order to mobilize women to learn and adopt sustainable agriculture practices. The organization opened an early childhood care center to provide women with the opportunity to spend less time caring for children and more time generating income for their families. FLOW and Abishyizehamwe have allowed Rwandan women to help support their families financially instead of just being an unpaid caretaker.
  4. Since 1997, Women for Women International has helped more than 76,000 Rwandan women become economically autonomous. The organization’s one-year program has allowed women to strengthen themselves as well as their country by gaining economic and social self-sufficieny. Through this program, women are able to succeed in anything from yogurt-making to brick-making to hospitality management. Women for Women International has allowed Rwandan women to go from being poverty-stricken to having voices in their country and making a real difference in rebuilding 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

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:

  • Foster private sector confidence
  • Encourage SMEs to participate in public contracting
  • Form greater transparency, especially in what is “open procurement”

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

10 Facts About Justice and Human Rights in Palestine

Facts About Human Rights in Palestine
The history that created Israel, Gaza and the West Bank is not brief. The tensions can not be simply put as they require delicate unpacking and care. Until 1948, these three regions were all Palestine; following the Arab-Israeli War of 1947-1948, the land was divided between Jewish Israelis, whose ancestors began migrating to the area in the 1880s, and the Palestinian Arabs whose ancestors had lived in the region for hundreds of years. The dispute over ownership has since led to continued conflict.

Palestine/Israel Conflict

Jewish Israelis lay claim to the land based on a promise from God for a safe haven from widespread hostility to their faith. Palestinian Arabs, whose majority are Muslim but also include Christians and Druze, contest that they are the rightful inhabitants due to the length of their ancestors existence on the land.

Palestinians have been displaced to two regions, Gaza and the West Bank. Under the Oslo peace accords signed in 1993, Gaza was turned over to the newly created Palestinian Authority, to form one wing of an emerging Palestinian state, along with the West Bank and a potential land corridor between them. But two different parties rule these two regions — the militant Hamas controlled Gaza and Fatah ruled the West Bank.

These tensions run deep, and conflict persists. The Israeli government continues to enforce severe and discriminatory restrictions on Palestinian’s human rights, and Palestinian security forces continue to treat their own people with disrespect. Here are the top 10 facts about human rights in Palestine/Israel.

10 Facts About Human Rights in Palestine/Israel

  1. The Israeli government restricts the movement of people and goods into and out of the Gaza Strip. Israel continues to maintain a decade-long effective closure of Gaza, as does the region’s neighbor, Egypt. This imposed border imposes restrictions that limit the supply of water and medical care as well as educational and economic opportunities. These blockades restrict exports and cripple the economy leading to exacerbated and widespread poverty. Approximately 70 percent of Gaza’s 1.9 million people rely on humanitarian assistance.
  2. Israel’s parliament has given itself the ability to dispossess Palestinian’s of their land. In February of 2017, the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, passed the Regularization Law allowing Israel to take control of private Palestinian land on which they have profited from building settlements for Israeli settlers.
  3. Preferential treatment is given to Israeli settlers in the West Bank. In 2017, Israeli authorities destroyed homes and other property, and forcibly displaced hundreds of Palestinians while continuing to provide security, administrative services, housing, education and medical care for about 607,000 Israeli settlers residing in unlawful settlement housing built in the West Bank. The discriminatory practices also include the rejection of almost all building permit applications submitted by Palestinians.
  4. Feuds between Gaza’s two main governmental parties has led to periodic shutdowns of its only power plant. Disputes between Fatah and Hamas concerning responsibility for paying the plant’s fuel has led to frequent loss of electricity in Gaza. Power outages jeopardize water supply, interfere with sewage treatment and cripple hospital operations.
  5. Thousands of Palestinians have been imprisoned, on what Israeli authorities call “security grounds,” without charge or trial. The majority of these prisoners are overwhelmingly Palestinian. As of November 1, 2017, Israeli authorities incarcerated 6,154 inmates. In April and May later that same year, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners spent 40 days on a hunger strike seeking better conditions.
  6. The two leading Palestinian political groups — the Palestinian Authority and Hamas — have arrested and mistreated activists critical of their leaders, security forces and policies. The Independent Commission for Human Rights in Palestine received 205 complaints of torture and ill-treatment by Palestinian Authority security forces and 193 similar complaints against Hamas security forces.
  7. Torture perpetrated by the Palestinian police and security forces remain common. In September 2018, a 16-year old boy and another detainee died in unclear circumstances in a Hamas-controlled detention center. Instances of torture have been carried out with impunity in both the West Bank and Gaza.
  8. Security forces use excessive force to disperse protests. Palestinian security forces have used excessive force to violently suppress peaceful protests in the West Bank. On March 12, 2018, at least 13 men and eight women were injured. Seventeen people were hospitalized during a protest outside of the Ramallah District Court. Despite the Prime Minister’s commitment to upholding recommendations made by a Fact-Finding Commission to follow government regulations on the dispersal of protests, none of the officers responsible for the violence were brought to justice.
  9. Women and girls continue to face discrimination is both law and practice. The violation of women’s human rights in Palestine is most clearly seen in the inadequate protection of women and girls against sexual and other gender-based violence including “honor” killings. In 2017, at least 28 women and girls were reported to have been killed by male relatives in honor fashion. Article 308 of the Jordanian Penal Code allows those who commit rape or sexual assault to escape punishment by marrying their victim.
  10. Capital punishment has been used in Gaza. Six people were executed in 2017 after civil and military courts sentenced them to death for their “collaboration with Israel” and other offenses. In May, Hamas executed three men in a public square in Gaza city after a trial that lasted only one week (consisted of four brief sessions).

Supporting Humanity

Violence committed with impunity is a trait of no one creed but man; both Israelis and Palestinians violate the human rights of each other and themselves. These top 10 facts about human rights in Palestine/Israel and their total violation do little justice to what it is to live under the weight of so much hate.

“We are of one blood you and I.” This sentiment is as true between the people of Palestine and Israel as it is between those reading this and those suffering from the things discussed in this list. Showing indifference to hate allows it to flourish. Do not support representatives and policies that excuse indifference to crises such as what is happening in Palestine/Israel.

– Carolina Sherwood Bigelow
Photo: Flickr

Girls’ Education in Comoros

Girl’s Education in Comoros
Comoros is located off the coast of East Africa near the northern section of the Mozambique Channel. It is made up of more than 800,000 people spread across three main islands (Grand Comore, Anjouan and Moheli). For years, it has been known as one of the poorest countries in the entire world consisting of inadequate transportation, an increasingly young population and a dearth of natural resources. Even though they are still struggling, they have made strides over the years in many areas, specifically in the light of girls’ education in Comoros.

Dubai Cares

In 2013, Dubai Cares, a philanthropic organization focused on improving children’s access to education in developing countries, chose to launch a program specifically targeting girls’ education in Comoros. The program took the time to educate and train teachers and local authorities on how to create gender-friendly classrooms and teach gender-friendly class material. Furthermore, Dubai Cares made it a central part of their program to raise awareness in the community, specifically in topics such as the demand for quality education and gender disparities.

According to Tariq Al Gurg, the chief executive of Dubai Cares, the program for girls’ education in Comoros was focused on three main goals:

  1. Improve upon the accessibility of quality education
  2. Reduce or attempt to eliminate any gender disparities and improve female attendance
  3. Improve development in childhood education

Dubai Cares’ chose these aspects as their focus because they understand the importance of education for women. Girls are consistently tested and faced with obstacles that boys simply do not have to face when it comes to education. It is important to acknowledge the impact that girls’ education in Comoros, and worldwide, can have in the fight against poverty.

Al Gurg, emphasizes the importance of improving upon girl’s education when he states, “It creates a ripple effect of positive change in the community and country. As future mothers and wives, who will play an integral role in nurturing and raising families, these girls hold the key to a future generation of educated and enlightened children.”

Measurable Success

Dubai Cares’ four-year program, implemented by UNICEF, has considerably improved girls’ education in Comoros. The improvements and results include:

  • Approximately 58,000 students benefitted through the program
  • $2.6 million  had been raised to improve educational standards and reduce gender disparities
  • Education reform in 309 public primary schools
  • 190 renovated Koranic Teaching Classes created in 153 public primary schools
  • 6,200 children, ranging from 3-5 years of age, receive aid for school enrollment

Dubai Cares has laid the groundwork for other programs being launched around the world. The Dubai Cares program has created an environment for girls’ education in Comoros that fosters positivity and an eagerness to learn. Comoros is in an amazing position to build off the improvements that have been made.

The Future of Education in Comoros

In July 2018, Dubai Cares announced the launch of another program in Comoros. This one is set to build off of the success of their prior program implemented in 2013. While the last program’s focus was on girls’ education in Comoros, this program’s focus will be on early childhood development (ECD) among all children. The program will also be implementing parenting practices such as the encouragement of appropriate nutrition, hygiene and early educational stimulation. It is set to help at least 269,382 children as well as teachers across all 394 primary schools in Comoros.

Dubai Cares took the initiative to improve girls’ education in Comoros. This focus to fight and foster positive learning environments for all genders has created a building block for all. The success of the 2013 girls’ education program has afforded the opportunity for success in this newly implemented 2018 program focused on early childhood development.

Although Comoros remains one of the poorest countries in the world, they are far more advanced when it comes to understanding the importance of women and a good education. By allowing women the benefits of attaining an education, many doors are being opened for everyone in the community of Comoros. Other countries should take note.

– Emilie Cieslak
Photo: Flickr

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Uganda Launches Rotavirus Vaccine Program

rotavirus vaccine
In recent weeks, the government of Uganda has taken an important step to protect the health of its most vulnerable citizens — a rotavirus vaccine is now available around the country free of charge. This new expansion of Uganda’s vaccination program has the potential to impact the lives of tens of thousands of people for decades to come.

The Threat of Rotavirus

Rotavirus is a highly-contagious disease that causes fever, diarrhea and vomiting. Together, these symptoms often cause severe dehydration, which can be deadly if it goes untreated. Children under the age of five are especially vulnerable — more than 450,000 die each year across the globe. Eighty percent of those deaths occur in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Unlike other diarrhea-causing diseases, rotavirus is difficult to fight with improved sanitation alone. It can be spread by a variety of methods including person-to-person contact or eating contaminated raw vegetables. In Uganda, even owning a dog makes infection much more likely.

Rotavirus in Uganda

Diarrhea in general and rotavirus in particular have an enormous impact on public health in Uganda.

  • Diarrhea is in the top five causes of death for Ugandan children younger than five.
  • Rotavirus causes around 40 percent of diarrhea cases for Ugandan children younger than five.
  • Over 10,000 of those young Ugandan children with rotavirus die each year.

Of course, thousands of other children also suffer from milder cases of the disease. Since rotavirus is so resilient and easily-spread, fighting it requires a comprehensive strategy. While sanitation must play an important role in that strategy, both the CDC and the WHO recommend using rotavirus vaccines as a crucial method to protect children from the disease. Thankfully, the Ugandan government has begun doing just that.

Impact and Costs

The ongoing distribution of the rotavirus vaccine will not be without its challenges. The vaccine is free, safe to administer alongside other vaccines and can be given to infants as young as 6 weeks old, but it requires multiple doses to be fully effective and is not a 100 percent guarantee of immunity.

During the program’s rollout, the Prime Minister of Uganda urged citizens to ensure that children went through their entire immunization schedule. He also re-emphasized the importance of proper sanitation measures like handwashing in maintaining everyone’s safety.

Despite the potential for setbacks, though, the rotavirus vaccine has the potential to save thousands of lives across the country. The CDC estimates that 70 percent of vaccinated children are protected from rotavirus entirely and as many as 90 percent are protected from the most severe, often deadly, cases.

Four Million Lives

Studies on the long-term results of a vaccination program in Uganda reveal that these percentages could yield incredible results in the coming decades. In next twenty years, the vaccination program will likely only cost the Ugandan government a net $50 million after accounting for saved healthcare expenses. For that investment, the vaccine will prevent an estimated four million cases of rotavirus and save the lives of more than 70,000 young children.

The Ugandan government clearly realizes this amazing potential and has vocally supported the program. The Minister of Health praised it as an important step toward building a healthier and more productive population. Hopefully, time will further illustrate the program’s results and live up to its incredible potential.

– Josh Henreckson
Photo: Google

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Top 10 Facts About Poverty in Vietnam

Facts About Poverty in Vietnam
Since 2010, Vietnam has undergone major success in transforming its country into a lower middle-income nation. It has also achieved its Millennium Development Goal targets in reducing poverty in Vietnam and have since then established new goals. Despite its continual development, there are a few concerning disparities, such as regional inequalities between city dwellers and the Vietnamese minority groups that populate mountainous regions. But, the country is still making impressive progress. Below are ten important facts about poverty in Vietnam.

Top 10 Facts About Poverty in Vietnam

    1. Because of rapid economic growth in the 1990s, Vietnam experienced a drastic improvement, especially in the southeast where poverty dropped from 32.7 percent of people living below the poverty line in 1993 to less than 7.6 percent as recorded in 1998. According to the Asian Development Bank, six other countries in Southeast Asia still have from 8.6 to 32.1 percent of their populations struggling under the national poverty line.
    2. The United States has been strategizing with Vietnam to transform it into a more sustainable developing country and partner. A five-year plan was developed in 2014 where $86 million is being allocated to improve trade, grow the private sector and develop higher education. Another $239 million is assigned to areas of international health, climate change, disaster relief and vulnerable groups important to a successful economic and social fabric. USAID is also allotting funds of $19 million to the issue of dioxin contamination at Danang and Bien Hoa Airbase along with other general environmental pollution issues they may find with 19 million dollars.
    3. To continue addressing the issues stemming from poverty, Vietnam set Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are 17 goals to be achieved by 2030 that improve the country’s poverty rate, healthcare system and address issues of equality. Vietnam has further narrowed its focus to accommodate the needs of more vulnerable groups such as the disabled, women, children, and ethnic minorities.
    4. In the past few years, Vietnam has already achieved 10 of the impressive Sustainable Development Goals. Since 2016, 93.4 percent of households have had access to clean water. Gender equality is increasing, as 26.7 percent of the seats in National Parliaments will be held by women in the 2016 to 2021 term. Health insurance coverage had reached 86.4 of the population in 2017.
    5. The participation rate in organized education is 87.9 percent among females and 91.1 percent among males. Education is often cited as one of the most influential factors in lifting Vietnam completely out of poverty.
    6. Renewable energy made up 35 percent of the total final energy consumption in 2015. In 2016, electricity became accessible to 100 percent of the population.
    7. In South Asia, child marriage has decreased by nearly 20 percent in the last decade. However, in 2014, one in 10 women aged 20 to 24 has reported that they had been married before turning 18. The child marriage rates among the women in Vietnam have not seen much decrease. To end this practice by 2030 will take significantly more effort.
    8. By 2020, Vietnam hopes to achieve its own goal of becoming a developed nation.
    9. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) strives to deliver Vietnam into the upper middle-income country status. It has given Vietnam $16 billion since 1993 to promote job creation in the economy, as well as encouraged environmental sustainability. The ADB is supporting Vietnam through a 2016 to 2020 partnership that will promote investments and policy reforms that benefit environmentally sustainable economic development as well as increase equality in the social classes.
    10. Overlooked ethnic minorities and groups struggling in mountainous areas are taking an active role in eliminating their poverty. In developing strategies to improve their communities, they have worked with the Poverty Reduction Policies Project to come up with sustainable solutions. More than 11,500 men and women in such communities from 8 different pilot provinces in Vietnam have attended meetings to discuss innovative lifestyle changes. For instance, one northern mountain province, the small village Na Vuong, has incorporated cow breeding into their livelihoods to increase income for many families.

The level of progress that Vietnam has attained is a token to its continual support from countries and organizations all around the globe. As others from outside the borders are delivering the necessary attention to poverty in Vietnam, those from within the country that are still suffering from a worse poverty rate due to geological, ethnic, gender, and other disparities have been hard at work to raise themselves out of their oppressive reality.

– Alice Lieu
Photo: Google