Mainstream thinking revolves around the idea that emerging nations need the industrialized world to bring innovation to them, since they lack the resources to innovate themselves. Silicon Valley and their cohort have proven themselves to be masters of advancing and solving first-world issues, but they do little to solve the very real problems that exist in the developing world. Their hearts lie in the right place, but, having grown up in a different world with a vastly different life, they tend to lack the knowledge to fully understand what will and won’t work.
The true innovators of our time are those who live within the borders of developing countries, as they are the ones who truly comprehend the complex relationship between creativity, innovation and poverty.
Creativity and Poverty
In an interview with Innovations Online, a technology and entrepreneurial digital magazine, Marcelo Giugale, a senior economic advisor at the World Bank, stated that “innovation is not the same as invention. Innovation is the actual application of an invention.”
According to Ken Burns, an Ashoka fellow in a similar interview with Innovations, the minds in first world countries often innovate for the sake of innovating. When people live in dire situations and are consistently faced with constrained resources, they may be driven to solve problems and create in ways that can fundamentally change their daily lives.
The creativity that comes from the people who live in extreme poverty has the potential to instate meaningful and large-scale change that can improve the lives of millions, and not just those in the middle and upper middle class seen in developed countries. The link between creativity, innovation and poverty is being acted upon within the minds of several talented individuals living in emerging countries.
Map Kibera and Insiders4Good
In 2009, young Kiberans of the Kibera division in Nairobi, Kenya, created Map Kibera, the first open and free digital map of their own community. Until then, it was just a blank spot on the map. The primary goal of Map Kibera was “to find a new solution to an old problem: the lack of participatory democracy in Kibera.” The platform aims to address the omission of Nairobi’s citizens from policy decisions, mass communications and city representation.
The site utilizes the digital age to allow the region’s inhabitants to bypass the traditional gatekeepers of data and information. They no longer must rely on the common methodologies of NGOs to learn the facts about HIV, gender, malaria, sanitation and other important health facts in their own community – they can now research the information themselves. Map Kibera has recently grown into a full interactive community project and has expanded to Mathare and Mukura.
Insiders4Good East Africa Fellowship is a training program that, in 2017, brought together 20 young entrepreneurs from Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania who had innovative business ideas that have the potential to improve their communities. The program consists of six months of technical and strategic mentorship from international and local leaders.
Mensa Healthcare and Worknasi.com
Many of these young entrepreneurs utilized the cross-section between creativity, innovation and poverty to address and solve many critical local problems. Using artificial intelligence, Peter Aketch’s Mensa Healthcare provides actionable data to pharmaceutical companies, public health organizations and governmental agencies.
The necessity for such an innovation is vital due to the healthcare system’s lack of comprehensive and efficient digital record keeping. This innovation will decrease the possibility of misdiagnosis and allow for a more robust collection of public health data.
Eighty percent of graduates in Tanzania struggle to find jobs. This has led to an increase in crime, extremism, drug abuse, and violence. Edgar Mwampinge’s Worknasi.com aims to help these youths by making it easier for start-ups and freelancers to succeed.
His goal is to make shared office space available by connecting these youths with business and office owners who wish to share their workspaces.
IV Drip Alert and Lyon Analytics
In Rwanda, Ange Uwambajimana’s IV Drip Alert enables nurses to more easily manage intravenous fluids through its wireless system. This creative innovation was in response to problems such as embolism which can occur if the medical observer forgets to change the IV at the right time.
And Kenya’s John Mugendi developed a breast cancer prediction system. He proposes that his Lyon Analytics will track the progression from onset to late stages.
2015 Website
2015 is a site that launched in the Middle East. It invites users to submit their own creations that help bring awareness to social issues such as poverty in the Arab region. The relationship between creativity, innovation and poverty is front and center on the site as it showcases images and videos of hunger, the vulnerable and of poverty.
This “movement,” as some have come to call it, was born out of a reaction to the promise made by the nearly 200 world leaders at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000. They pledged to eradicate extreme poverty by the year 2015; however, as of 2012, the number of people still living in extreme poverty checked in at 3 billion.
The creative mind brings wonderous elements to the world — whether that be in new technological advances in the medical field, social satire, digital communications or a site dedicated to awareness. As long as ambition and goodwill prevail, there will always be a relationship that exists between creativity, innovation and poverty. The 2015 slogan reads, “Art changes perceptions, perceptions change people, people change the world,” and its mantra could not be more right.
– Aaron Stein
Photo: Flickr
Three Amazing African Technological Innovations
The First Recycled 3D Printer
With a population of just 7.6 million people, Togo is one of the smallest countries in Africa. In recent years, this small nation gained worldwide recognition for accomplishing an incredible feat. In the city of Lome, a team of young innovators operates Woelab, a fablab launched in 2012 where local makers come together to collaborate and create. In 2013, Woelab developed the world’s first fully-functional 3D printer made entirely from recycled parts. Made from used computer parts and other finds, the Woelab innovation is one shining example of resourcefulness, sustainability and ingenuity.
In the years after this impressive first, several creators throughout the African continent have followed in Woelab’s footsteps, creating recycled 3D printers and putting them to use in their own countries. Buni Hub in Tanzania and KLAKS 3D in Ghana have sprung up in recent years, creating and dispensing their own 3D printers to benefit national industries. Kenyan startups Micrive Infinite and African Born 3D are currently using 3D printers to help hospitals cut production costs and become more efficient.
African Technological Innovations Include the First Digital Laser
Another exciting example of African technological innovations comes out of South Africa. Dr. Sandile Ngcobo, a researcher for the country’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, developed an important invention that could revolutionize the worlds of science, medicine and information and communications technology. In 2013, while working on his PhD, Ngcobo created the world’s first digital laser.
Traditional lasers use beams of light that can only be modified with various shaping devices like lenses and mirrors. Ngcobo’s laser does not require these devices. Rather, this laser beam is shaped electronically via computer. The digital laser has applications across several disciplines and is making all the meticulous effort that goes into producing technology using lasers a good deal simpler.
The First Neurotechnology Device
Perhaps the one of the most profound African technological innovations to be introduced to the world in recent times comes from a Nigerian physicist. Oshi Agabi brought forth a groundbreaking innovation called the Koniku Kore in 2017. Named for the Yoruba word for “immortal”, the Koniku Kore is the world’s first neurotechnology device. It combines live neurons and stem cells from mice into a silicon chip, and it has applications for several real-world problems. The device may have the ability to detect cancer cells and explosives alike, an infinitely useful technology in contemporary times.
These outstanding innovations are just three in a growing sea of inventions coming to the global market from Africa. Each of these technologies has useful applications for reducing poverty within their countries of origin and the African continent as a whole. Furthermore, they have great potential to impact the world, revolutionizing ICT, science and medicine across the globe.
– Chantel Baul
Photo: Flickr
United Kingdom Affirms How Aid Creates Markets
As public sector debt in developed countries continues to rise, foreign aid has become a target for activists and policymakers seeking to cut spending. The aid budget of the United Kingdom is no exception, with critics claiming that spending on foreigners is wasteful and contrary to national interest.
The country’s Department for International Development (DFID), responsible for administering overseas aid, has rejected calls for cuts in spending by emphasizing that aid creates markets that will ultimately consume British goods and provide higher returns for British investment.
National Debate Over Aid Spending
As one of six countries to reach the United Nations target for international aid spending of 0.7 percent of gross national income, the U.K. is a major contributor to worldwide aid spending. The leadership role the country plays in international aid was bolstered by the passing of a 2015 bill that enshrined the spending target into law, committing the country to sustaining current levels of spending as a share of the economy’s size.
However, in a political environment where nationalist sentiment is rising, exemplified by the 2016 Brexit referendum, prominent U.K. politicians have called for a reduction in foreign aid spending. Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Member of Parliament of the Conservative Party and potential future party leader, has said that with the government budget running a deficit, aid levels are an insane and a costly mistake.
Facing this criticism, Penny Mordaunt, the recently appointed head of DFID, has pushed back, contending that the aid is a moral obligation that also serves British interests. In an April 12 speech laying out her vision for U.K. aid, Mordaunt said that improving global health, security and income is linked to British prosperity and that promoting these goals abroad provides lasting benefits for the U.K.
Notably, Mordaunt emphasized that aid creates markets through the development of economies and human capital, citing DFID’s work in sub-Saharan Africa as having created jobs and growth, benefiting recipient countries but also benefiting British companies by creating new consumers.
Private Sector Partnerships a Key Way That Aid Creates Markets
Mordaunt’s speech also explained how aid creates markets in conjunction with the private sector. Aid will be directed to help African companies to acquire loans through British financial markets, encouraging British investors to direct more capital to the region and spurring economic development. By proposing an aid plan in which British investors could achieve higher returns, DFID is hoping to illustrate another channel through which an aid budget is mutually beneficial to both the donor and recipient countries.
Critics have cautioned of the dangers of conflating national and foreign interests in aid work. In response to Mordaunt’s speech, Tamsyn Barton, chief executive of an international development network representing NGOs called Bond, told Devex that aid programs focused on serving national interests are inherently less effective than those focused on the primary goal of improving conditions in affected countries.
Mordaunt does clarify that aid will not be conditional, stating in her speech that tied aid is bad for U.K. competitiveness and for the recipient nations, but observers such as Barton have warned that this distinction should be made explicit.
Even a country such as the United Kingdom, which has enshrined its commitment to foreign aid in law, faces pressure from domestic critics to redirect this funding home. In highlighting how aid creates markets that benefit the home country, Mordaunt and the DFID are seeking to show that the decision between spending at home and spending abroad is a false dilemma.
– Mark Fitzpatrick
Photo: Flickr
Food, Water and Human Rights: 10 Examples of Global Issues
The year 2018 has brought many positives with it. Several countries are on pace to minimize poverty. Education movements for girls are spreading like wildfire all over the world. More women in developing countries are gaining access to maternal care. More governments are establishing innovative ways to combat fundamental challenges around the globe. Unfortunately, there are still many global issues that plague the world.
Global issues are matters of economic, environmental, social and political concerns that affect the whole world as a community. These issues disrupt the natural framework of humanity, disturbing economic and social progress. These are 10 examples of global issues that are altering the development of human progress across society as a whole.
Examples of Global Issues
Water is a basic substance required for all living organisms. Without it, human health inevitably fails. According to a report by the United Nations, there is enough fresh water on the planet for everyone. Unfortunately, 844 million people lack access to it, and one of three people do not have access to a toilet. Millions perish daily from unhygienic diseases due to inadequate water and sanitation. Governments are making efforts to assist those in need but are hindered by declining economics and disorganized infrastructures.
Like water, food helps people lead healthy lives. Globally, 12.9 percent of the population is undernourished. Developing countries struggle with providing an adequate food supply to their people; as a result, nearly 795 million people do not have enough food to meet their nutritional needs. The World Food Programme, a humanitarian effort established by the U.N. to combat hunger and food security, is working to bring relief to developing countries, currently assisting more than 80 countries every year.
Universal health is a growing concern. Unfortunately, diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, smallpox and polio are still claiming the lives of thousands of people worldwide, mostly in developing nations. The World Health Organization is a global initiative that provides antibiotics and vaccinations all over the world. Since its inception, polio cases have declined by 99 percent, tuberculosis treatment has saved more than 37 million people, and in 2016, zero cases of Ebola were reported in West Africa.
Every person deserves basic rights, regardless of their race, sex or ethnicity. In 1948, the United Nations created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which today is commonly known as the International Human Rights Law. This declaration promotes and protects human rights civilly, economically, politically and socially.
Maternal health is a global human rights issue, making it one of the key examples of global issues. There are an estimated 830 pregnancy-related deaths each day. This is mainly due to lack of maternal care. Women die from infections, postpartum bleeding, blood clots and other conditions. The United Nations Population Fund develops relationships with governments around the world to train healthcare professionals to provide expert maternal care to expecting mothers.
Girls deserve the right to learn. Currently, 98 million girls do not attend school due to barriers like poverty, gender bias, governmental conflict, safety concerns and a lack of educators, classrooms and curriculums. Global Citizen reported that schools are sometimes hours away from where children live, making it unsafe for them to travel alone. Let Girls Learn is a U.S. global strategy targeting an increase in safe access to education for girls and educators. Funds are directed towards curriculums to help girls read and write.
We live in a digital age where we can find all the help we need online. This luxury is absent in many countries, as more than four billion people do not have access to the internet. Internet connectivity would assist those living in developing countries with finding help and aid. With online options, people in need can contact international aid programs to get assistance faster.
The world would like to believe it does enough for the poor, but sadly this is not true. In the U.S., the International Affairs Budget only makes up 1 percent of the federal budget. Increasing the foreign aid budget is actually beneficial to the American economy. It helps create more jobs in the U.S. and builds wealth in developing countries.
Women’s rights are human rights. Women suffer discrimination in many areas: laws, the workforce and gender-based stereotypes and social practices. The first conference on global feminism was held in Nairobi in 1985 and involved more than 15,000 non-governmental organizations, encouraging 157 governments to adopt strategies geared towards equality, development and peace for women.
Refugees are people who have been forced to flee their homeland due to war, conflict and abuse. Foreign countries have granted them asylum for thousands of years. Refugees are sometimes denied entry into other countries, leaving them without basic human rights such as food, healthcare, education and jobs. Children make up the largest percentage of refugees. The U.N. Refugee Agency currently provides aid and safekeeping to 59 million refugees.
These 10 examples of global issues are not exhaustive. The world is filled with complex issues that must be addressed. Global strategies must continue to advance to nurture and protect all of humanity.
– Naomi C. Kellogg
Photo: Flickr
The Relationship Between Creativity, Innovation and Poverty
Mainstream thinking revolves around the idea that emerging nations need the industrialized world to bring innovation to them, since they lack the resources to innovate themselves. Silicon Valley and their cohort have proven themselves to be masters of advancing and solving first-world issues, but they do little to solve the very real problems that exist in the developing world. Their hearts lie in the right place, but, having grown up in a different world with a vastly different life, they tend to lack the knowledge to fully understand what will and won’t work.
The true innovators of our time are those who live within the borders of developing countries, as they are the ones who truly comprehend the complex relationship between creativity, innovation and poverty.
Creativity and Poverty
In an interview with Innovations Online, a technology and entrepreneurial digital magazine, Marcelo Giugale, a senior economic advisor at the World Bank, stated that “innovation is not the same as invention. Innovation is the actual application of an invention.”
According to Ken Burns, an Ashoka fellow in a similar interview with Innovations, the minds in first world countries often innovate for the sake of innovating. When people live in dire situations and are consistently faced with constrained resources, they may be driven to solve problems and create in ways that can fundamentally change their daily lives.
The creativity that comes from the people who live in extreme poverty has the potential to instate meaningful and large-scale change that can improve the lives of millions, and not just those in the middle and upper middle class seen in developed countries. The link between creativity, innovation and poverty is being acted upon within the minds of several talented individuals living in emerging countries.
Map Kibera and Insiders4Good
In 2009, young Kiberans of the Kibera division in Nairobi, Kenya, created Map Kibera, the first open and free digital map of their own community. Until then, it was just a blank spot on the map. The primary goal of Map Kibera was “to find a new solution to an old problem: the lack of participatory democracy in Kibera.” The platform aims to address the omission of Nairobi’s citizens from policy decisions, mass communications and city representation.
The site utilizes the digital age to allow the region’s inhabitants to bypass the traditional gatekeepers of data and information. They no longer must rely on the common methodologies of NGOs to learn the facts about HIV, gender, malaria, sanitation and other important health facts in their own community – they can now research the information themselves. Map Kibera has recently grown into a full interactive community project and has expanded to Mathare and Mukura.
Insiders4Good East Africa Fellowship is a training program that, in 2017, brought together 20 young entrepreneurs from Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania who had innovative business ideas that have the potential to improve their communities. The program consists of six months of technical and strategic mentorship from international and local leaders.
Mensa Healthcare and Worknasi.com
Many of these young entrepreneurs utilized the cross-section between creativity, innovation and poverty to address and solve many critical local problems. Using artificial intelligence, Peter Aketch’s Mensa Healthcare provides actionable data to pharmaceutical companies, public health organizations and governmental agencies.
The necessity for such an innovation is vital due to the healthcare system’s lack of comprehensive and efficient digital record keeping. This innovation will decrease the possibility of misdiagnosis and allow for a more robust collection of public health data.
Eighty percent of graduates in Tanzania struggle to find jobs. This has led to an increase in crime, extremism, drug abuse, and violence. Edgar Mwampinge’s Worknasi.com aims to help these youths by making it easier for start-ups and freelancers to succeed.
His goal is to make shared office space available by connecting these youths with business and office owners who wish to share their workspaces.
IV Drip Alert and Lyon Analytics
In Rwanda, Ange Uwambajimana’s IV Drip Alert enables nurses to more easily manage intravenous fluids through its wireless system. This creative innovation was in response to problems such as embolism which can occur if the medical observer forgets to change the IV at the right time.
And Kenya’s John Mugendi developed a breast cancer prediction system. He proposes that his Lyon Analytics will track the progression from onset to late stages.
2015 Website
2015 is a site that launched in the Middle East. It invites users to submit their own creations that help bring awareness to social issues such as poverty in the Arab region. The relationship between creativity, innovation and poverty is front and center on the site as it showcases images and videos of hunger, the vulnerable and of poverty.
This “movement,” as some have come to call it, was born out of a reaction to the promise made by the nearly 200 world leaders at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000. They pledged to eradicate extreme poverty by the year 2015; however, as of 2012, the number of people still living in extreme poverty checked in at 3 billion.
The creative mind brings wonderous elements to the world — whether that be in new technological advances in the medical field, social satire, digital communications or a site dedicated to awareness. As long as ambition and goodwill prevail, there will always be a relationship that exists between creativity, innovation and poverty. The 2015 slogan reads, “Art changes perceptions, perceptions change people, people change the world,” and its mantra could not be more right.
– Aaron Stein
Photo: Flickr
Political Instability Affecting Credit Access in Libya
Starting in 2014, chronic shortages of dinar banknotes and weak valuation of Libyan currency have caused serious problems for Libyans, who are forced to spend their days lining up in front of banks in order to cash their paychecks or simply withdraw some money, only to find out that it cannot be done.
Political Instability a Roadblock to Credit Access in Libya
One of the main factors that has contributed to the lack of credit access in Libya is the precarious political scenario that has effectively held the country hostage. Political stability is all but necessary to kickstart any economy, and Libya has been struggling to achieve this. Ever since the Libyan Political Agreement was reached in Skhirat in December 2015, Libyans have been living under a divided and problematic system.
The eastern part of the country, controlled by the House of Representatives, is based in Tobruk and supported by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army, but this conglomerate of political and military forces does not support nor recognize the Government of National Accord in Tripoli, which was established by the agreement and has international support.
In economic terms, this unstable political situation resulted in nominal GDP in 2016 falling by more than half compared to 2010, to $33.2 billion from $73.6 billion, and per capita income dropping to $5,000 in 2016 from more than $11,000 in 2010. Furthermore, those who took over the country after Qaddafi’s death kept the regime’s welfare system in place, which has been spending at unsustainable levels. Much of the clientelism, corruption and misappropriation that characterized the old regime has been allowed to continue.
Political instability also has led to a forceful block of hydrocarbon infrastructure by armed militias in the summer of 2013. Such action caused oil production to drop precipitously, from 1.45 million barrels per day in May 2013 to only 220,000 barrels per day in November 2013.
Immediate Efforts to Address the Credit Access Crisis
The most important step in alleviating the currently disastrous status of credit access in Libya is working towards political stability. However, more short-term efforts to remedy the situation are also underway.
In October 2017, public authorities, businesses and international donors gathered in Tripoli to discuss ways to improve access to finance for entrepreneurs in Libya. Many political authorities were present at the meeting, such as Ahmed Maitieg, Libya’s deputy Prime Minister, and Johannes Han, European Union Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations. This meeting established a new program funded by Libyan banks to provide €74 million of standard and subsidized loans to small and medium-sized businesses in 2018.
Such strategies can help small businesses survive and grow in the midst of the larger work towards political stability in Libya. Both short and long-term efforts are needed to create lasting stability and resolve the current credit access crisis.
– Luca Di Fabio
Photo: Flickr
How the US Benefits from Foreign Aid to Sierra Leone
In May 2014, West Africa was struck by a deadly Ebola epidemic. By the epidemic’s end, more than 11,000 people had lost their lives and close to 28,000 total cases were reported. Among the West African countries most affected was Sierra Leone. Prior to the May 2014 outbreak, the Sierra Leonean economy was growing rapidly and democratization had begun to wash over the country.
Although the Ebola epidemic seriously stunted economic growth for a time, Sierra Leone has begun to vigorously bounce back. In addition to domestic reform, continued aid from the U.S. has aided greatly in improving the lives of Sierra Leonean citizens. However, this aid is not one-sided; the U.S benefits from foreign aid to Sierra Leone as well.
Containment of Infectious Diseases
According to U.S. foreign assistance statistics, Sierra Leone will receive $14.4 million in foreign aid from the U.S. in 2019. The majority of the aid will focus primarily on providing medical care for those affected by malaria. Even though malaria continues to be a major issue in Sierra Leone, the overall mortality rate attributed to malaria cases has fallen dramatically in recent years. Sierra Leone has pledged to reduce malaria-based infections by 40 percent by 2020.
If this goal were achieved, Sierra Leoneans would see increased life expectancy, a lower infant mortality rate and fewer cases of pregnancy complications in women. Increasing resistance to epidemics like Ebola or infectious diseases like malaria is a key way in which the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Sierra Leone. The risk of regional epidemics becoming global ones is of great importance to ensuring global security and health.
Promoting Democracy and Good Diplomatic Relations
Sierra Leone has seen progress in its democratic institutions since the end of a brutal civil war in 2002. In 2007, Sierra Leone experienced its first peaceful transition of power since the conflict through a democratic election. Approximately $2 million in U.S. foreign aid will be directed towards encouraging democracy, respect for human rights and good governance. Strengthening ties with another democratic ally in West Africa is one way that the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone’s poverty rates remain quite high and the majority of those living in poverty are girls and women. Due to stagnant economic growth during the Ebola epidemic and traditional cultural norms, women have been denied access to high-quality healthcare and education. As the Sierra Leonean government continues to root out entrenched corruption and institute economic reform, poverty rates across the country have begun to slowly decline.
Trade a Major Way the U.S. Benefits from Foreign Aid to Sierra Leone
Bilateral relations between the U.S. and Sierra Leone remain relatively strong. According to the State Department, “U.S. exports to Sierra Leone include transportation equipment, agricultural products, machinery and chemicals, while its imports from Sierra Leone include minerals, metals, machinery and agricultural products.” Having a strong economic partner in Africa increases the U.S.’ competitiveness with countries such as China, who has been investing heavily in Africa in recent years. Having a strong partner in trade is another way that the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Sierra Leone.
With the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone contained and the country experiencing economic growth, the future looks quite bright for the small West African country. To see continued progress in strengthening its ties with Sierra Leone, the U.S. must continue to pledge its support in the form of foreign aid.
– Dalton Westfall
Photo: Flickr
Partnership Delivers Feed the Future Plan in Kenya
April 2018 marked the official start of the Feed the Future Kenya Country Plan, a USAID initiative to reduce poverty and food insecurity in Kenya. The plan was put into action by U.S. Ambassador Robert F. Godec at the Accelerating Value Chain Development (AVCD) National Conference, which took place in Nairobi during April 26-27.
Feed the Future
Feed the Future is a program developed by the Obama administration as part of the U.S. Global Food Security Strategy. It aims to promote agricultural production and help communities better cope with drought and climate change by introducing new technologies and innovative strategies to local farmers.
The Country Plan is actually the beginning of the second phase of Feed the Future in Kenya; the first phase was originally implemented five years ago. The hope for the second phase is to bolster the areas of the program which were successful and make improvements to the components that need work.
Progress in Combatting Poverty
So far, Feed the Future has been a huge success. Between 2011 and 2016, the program lifted an approximated 9 million people out from under the poverty line. Feed the Future farmers produce maize and groundnut crop yields that are 23 percent and 64 percent higher than the national average, respectively, which has resulted in an additional revenue of 2.6 billion dollars in agricultural sales.
Because of the progress made in the agrarian sector, an estimated 1.7 million households are no longer experiencing frequent hunger and malnutrition. In addition, there has been a 26 percent drop in stunted growth among children since the program began.
Agriculture and Economy Partner Up
The incredible numbers that have been achieved by Feed the Future are the result of partnerships between leading minds in the agricultural and economic fields. The program brings in speculation from scientists, successful businesses, nonprofits, food production companies and government agencies to create well thought out approaches to food insecurity.
Despite all of its accomplishments, there are still some issues that need to be worked out with Feed the Future. The most major of these is the focus of the program, which until now has been primarily on increasing crop yield.
While this is undeniably important, there should be more emphasis on education so that farmers understand what’s behind the positive trends and can continue them on their own for years to come — it’s called Feed the Future for a reason, after all.
Dual Success
But overall, Feed the Future is a promising initiative that has already delivered spectacular results to food insecure nations. It is important that projects like this one continue to receive attention and funding, not only for the sake of those in need but for the taxpayers who finance them as well.
A recent study by the U.K. Department for International Development in Ethiopia and Kenya found that over the next two decades, every dollar invested in strengthening the ability of communities to cope with drought and climate change could result in about $3 saved in short-term humanitarian aid. This means that funding the right programs today will save American taxpayer dollars tomorrow.
– Maddi Roy
Photo: Flickr
Five Organizations Working Towards Eliminating Malaria
For 130 million years, malaria has plagued humans as one of the most dangerous diseases on earth. Malaria is transmitted to humans and mammals through mosquitos that carry the parasite. Many African, Middle Eastern and South American countries are afflicted with malaria; however, due to health and technological advances, there are many organizations now fighting against malaria.
Roll Back Malaria – Partnership to End Malaria
Roll Back Malaria (RBM) has worked for many years to combat the spread of malaria. In 2008, RBM put in action the Global Malaria Action Plan (GMAP) at the 2008 MDG Malaria Summit in New York, which was a movement endorsed by many world leaders. GMAP mapped out a strong advocacy plan in the fight towards eliminating malaria.
Eight years later, in 2016, RBM organized the Action and Investment to Defeat Malaria (AIM) 2016-2030 plan. AIM accompanies the WHO Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016-2030 plan, and both programs demonstrate how lowering and eliminating instances of malaria creates healthier and more successful societies.
The benefits of eradicating malaria was demonstrated in a statement made by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon: “Reaching our 2030 global malaria goals will not only save millions of lives, it will reduce poverty and create healthier, more equitable societies. Ensuring the continued reduction and elimination of malaria will generate benefits for entire economies, businesses, agriculture, education, health systems and households.”
USAID
Since 2000, USAID, who has partnered with the likes of RBM, the World Health Organization Global Malaria Programme and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, has carried out The President’s Malaria Initiative. By 2015, USAID had helped reduce malaria deaths by over 60 percent, saved nearly 7 million lives and guarded against more than 1 billion malaria cases. USAID takes many precautionary measures to help prevent the spread of malaria including:
With USAIDs continuous efforts, the world is well on its way to eliminating malaria.
Together Against Malaria
Together Against Malaria (TAMTAM), a non-profit organization, fights to protect pregnant women and young children from the burden of malaria. TAMTAM works with researchers and policymakers at their offices to increase the usage of insecticide nets.
TAMTAM also distributes free bed nets to underprivileged districts via scientifically and cost-effective methods. The nets are given to health clinics to provide easy-access to everyone living in vulnerable situations, and helps protect pregnant women and children otherwise defenseless against malaria.
Against Malaria Foundation
The Against Malaria Foundation, another organization that helps to distribute insecticide nets, raises money through different organizations and events held each year to raise funds for net distribution. Their specific nets, called LLINs, are long-lasting, so as to ensure that people in these communities stay safe for longer periods of time without having to change out their nets.
The foundation’s charitable efforts include events such as the Speedo Swim Around the World, an event open to anyone, anywhere to help raise funds for the nets. There’s also the Speedo Elite Athletes 2010, which engaged the likes of celebrity swimmers such as Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin in addition to the group, Japan Swimming.
PATH
PATH is an organization working to eliminate malaria through scientific methods and advancements. The company’s preventive methods include vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, devices and system and service innovations. PATH is speeding up access to effective, affordable and more sensitive malaria diagnostic tools, while also ensuring a stable supply of antimalarial drugs.
PATH’s Center for Malaria Control and Elimination aids in vaccine distribution and diagnostics, and its main goal is to eradicate malaria altogether.
With technological and scientific advancements, eliminating malaria once and for all is a definite possibility for the future. By protecting health, these organizations are doing a world of good by fighting malaria and using the best measures possible to ensure that this debilitating disease does not spread any more.
– Rebecca Lee
Photo: Flickr
What You Need to Know About Girls’ Education in Iran
In recent years, girls’ education in Iran has fallen victim to many restrictions and limitations. While Iran was one of the first countries in the Middle East to allow women to study at the university level, many things have changed since the violence of the Iraq war and other related conflicts. Many Iranian politicians in the years after 9/11 have viewed girls’ education in Iran in a different light, often as a threat to political power.
Repression for Girls’ Education in Iran
The presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from 2005 to 2013 ushered in an era of repression for girls’ education in Iran. Before his election, women accounted for more applications to universities than men in Iran. During Ahmadinejad’s presidency, however, many restrictions were introduced to girls education including separate entrances and classrooms, as well as separate social areas and a repression of the subjects women were allowed to study.
This trend represents what many politicians labeled a return to more traditional Islamic values and a “re-Islamisation” of the Iranian people. This call for change from political leaders placed an emphasis on reducing Western influence on Iranian culture and many of these reductions were felt by the female population in Iran. Conservative government officials made it known that they felt the education of women was leading to a diminishment of family values and desire for women to bear children and perform familial duties.
To promote this view, President Ahmadinejad’s administration primarily linked girls’ education in Iran to an increasing divorce rate and decreasing fertility rate. In addition to linking these factors, the administration promoted gender-based admission policies through the Iranian ministry of science, which selects who leads universities in Iran.
Change in Admissions and Leadership
In August 2012, Mehr news agency reported that women were being prevented from admissions in 77 majors, 36 universities and in important areas such as accounting, education, chemistry, engineering and advising in Iran. Many of the majors reserved for men included engineering, surveying, management and leadership positions.
In 2013, Iran elected Hassan Rouhani as its president, which marks a hopeful improvement in the fight for equal rights for women’s education. Rouhani criticized gender-based education in Iran, and has stated that his administration will not discriminate between men and women seeking employment or education in Iran. While the President and his administration feel that this is fair, many in Iran oppose his rollback of gender-based education and his administration has not had much effect on the state of women’s education in Iraq today.
An Upwards Battle
While the fight for girls’ education in Iran will undoubtedly be better received by the Rouhani administration, it is still an upwards battle for the women in Iran to see educational improvements in their lives. Even though girls’ education in Iran has largely been accepted and promoted since the turn of the twentieth century, in recent years many people have called for a return to a more traditional Islamic model of women having more familial duties in the home.
It is the hope of many people that Iran allows its women to gain the educational opportunities they want and deserve. With a presidential administration amenable to equal education for women, Iranian women may gain equal access to education soon.
– Dalton Westfall
Photo: Flickr
Labour Behind the Label Advocates for Clothing Workers’ Rights
The Clean Clothes Campaign’s United Kingdom-based nonprofit, Labour Behind the Label, is taking action to improve the deplorable work conditions found in factories across the world and provide support to workers in the garment industry. The organization promotes ethical clothing and collaborates with brands and trade unions to push for the reform of systemic problems found in the clothing business.
Change Your Shoes and Labor Rights
Recently, Labour Behind the Label held campaigns to uphold worker rights, such as the “Change Your Shoes” campaign, a project that called for shoe brands to provide greater transparency in their production process. Through its tireless efforts, Labour Behind the Label is working to amend the garment industry, combatting low wages, unsafe working conditions and abusive treatment, thereby holding brands accountable.
According to the organization, Labour Behind the Label is the United Kingdom’s only campaign group dedicated solely to labor rights in the worldwide garment industry. Past activity has included urging retailers to sign the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, pushing for living wages for Cambodian garment workers, and bringing victims of the Rana Plaza factory disaster compensation.
Clean Clothes and Living Wages
The nonprofit was founded in 2001 as part of the Clean Clothes Campaign, the garment industry’s most prominent alliance of labor unions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Labour Behind the Label’s endeavors include raising awareness and putting pressure on companies to support workers’ rights, as well as lobbying governments and policymakers.
The group is currently advancing programs such as the “Living Wage” campaign, working with the Asia Floor Wage Alliance to demand a living wage in Asian garment producing countries. The campaign would help provide garment workers, 80 percent of whom are women, with living wages to cover their basic needs.
Worker Safety and the Shoe Industry
The organization is also holding a “Worker Safety” campaign,” providing compensation for victims of Pakistan’s 2012 Ali Enterprises factory fire. In addition, it has led actions such as a weeklong initiative to lobby brands to ban dangerous practices such as the sandblasting of jeans.
Labour Behind the Label launched the “Change Your Shoes” campaign to look specifically at the operations of the shoe industry. Twenty-four billion pairs of shoes were produced in the year 2013, with 87 percent of them manufactured in Asia. The program has called upon leading shoe brands in the United Kingdom, as well as brands such as Prada, Birkenstock and Camper, to provide information pertaining to their production processes.
The program also asks members of the shoe industry to publish the names and addresses of suppliers, report on steps taken to move away from dangerous chemicals and demonstrate that the companies are providing fair wages and safe working conditions. The campaign has led research and investigations into the manufacturing processes of major shoe brands, observing that the system involves high-intensity labor, short deadlines and worsening living conditions of exploited workers.
Ending Fear and Silence
In many countries, there is a climate of fear and silence in the production chains. The project acknowledges that some companies, such as Nike and Adidas, have already begun to publish information about its processes and will hand its petition to brands to promote change.
Through projects such as the “Change Your Shoes” campaign, Labour Behind the Label is taking action to bring about fairer conditions in the garment industry worldwide. The organization is working to hold companies more accountable and create transparency in the industry, demanding living wages and calling for safer work environments in the clothing manufacturing business.
Ongoing Positive Change and Accountability
Labour Behind the Label’s activism has led to the creation of “codes of conduct” for companies, as well as “ethical trading” initiatives, which have promoted the annual inspection of factories. Labour Behind the Label acknowledges that sweatshop abuses are an elusive and deeply ingrained problem, as there are no easy solutions. But through its advocacy, campaigning, and research, Labour Behind the Label is taking steps to galvanize change in the clothing business on an international scale.
– Shira Laucharoen
Photo: Flickr