Since the end of the Second World War in 1945, the United States has been one of the largest contributors of foreign aid globally owing to its massive economic resources. The country has proved to be an important player and mediator especially in the geopolitics of North Africa and the Middle East.
At the same time, the U.S. benefits from foreign aid include financial, humanitarian and economic benefits like an expansion of trade. Also, given the widespread influence that other key global flourishing economies like China, India and Russia continue to have, it is imperative for the United States to take advantage of its existing assets and finances.
U.S. foreign aid is imperative during economic and political crises or natural disasters. Aid is usually given in the form of bilateral, multilateral, humanitarian, political and developmental assistance, which includes the provision of knowledge, resources, advice and other goods and services. It is managed mainly by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of Defense.
However, with the recent rise of populism in the United States, the regressive policy proposals of the Trump Administration and the current international climate, there is a lot of skepticism surrounding the U.S. benefits from foreign aid. The U.S. State Department is concerned with trade, national security, dependency and corruption. Contrary to conventional belief, foreign aid accounts for only 1 percent of the federal budget.
Moreover, another misconception that overlooks the U.S. benefits from foreign aid is that it can potentially diminish economic self-sufficiency for developing countries. Yet, it can be argued that sustainable aid can build a strong foundation for future economic and social progress in countries. Aid of this nature is a worthwhile investment as it has the capability to effectively spearhead poverty alleviation efforts.
The United States can also capitalize on the flourishing growth and development of other expanding economies, especially as growth in the sub-Saharan region is projected to continue to increase. For instance, supporting emerging economies like South Africa could potentially help the U.S. expand into uncharted territory and new markets, especially for consumer and capital goods.
In 2015, U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa was $17.8 billion, a 75 percent increase compared to 2005. U.S. trade in goods to the 49 countries in the region generated more than 121,000 jobs in 2014.
In this way, there are U.S. benefits from foreign aid because the country gets access to more trade routes and can improve trading relationships. U.S. businesses and enterprises also gain more outlets for their goods and services.
On another front, health and humanitarian aid account for over 80 percent of U.S. aid to African nations. For example, the country contributes to 35 percent of healthcare funding for malaria. There is significant headway being made in finding important solutions to pressing healthcare concerns among many communities globally.
Additionally, the Department of Health and Human Services is executing a number of healthcare initiatives like the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The U.S. Treasury is spearheading economic reform in poorer nations with the help of organizations like the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Peace Corps and the African Development Foundation. As a result, a number of government institutions are integrating and working collaboratively with their counterparts.
To conclude, due to the number of U.S. benefits from foreign aid to African countries, the country will continue to be a staunch supporter of existing and future initiatives. The next few years remain essential for the continued economic growth, development and prosperity for the region.
– Shivani Ekkanath
Photo: Flickr
Girls’ Education in North Korea a Modernized Aspect of Its Society
Public Education in North Korea
Only after the opening of Korea to foreign countries in the late 19th century could more Korean females gain access to modern education, with Christian missionaries establishing girls’ schools. In North Korea, education is universal and state-operated, offering free compulsory education to the secondary level, which consists of 11 years of schooling at the minimum. North Korea’s “people’s school” (primary school) and “middle-high” (secondary school) curriculum encompasses Korean language, mathematics, literature and “socialist ethics”, which refers to political and ideological subject matter.
The reported literacy rate of North Koreans is 100 percent for both men and women over age 15. This number is self-reported by the North Korean government, making its reliability questionable, but if accurate, it makes North Korea one of the most literate countries in the world. There is no doubt that the secondary education is equally accessible to men and women.
Some Obstacles to Girls’ Education in North Korea Remain
Nonetheless, some differences do exist among the varied educational programs directed at boys and girls, and there are some restrictions on higher education for women, obstructing the potential greater progress for girls’ education in North Korea.
Traditional gender roles influence the educational system in North Korea. In this patriarchal society, this is seen in the practice of separating boys and girls into single-gender schools in both the elementary and middle school levels, preventing the two sexes from receiving a uniform educational instruction. Meanwhile, there are different curriculums for boys and girls, with more emphasis on “physical education for boys and home economics for girls”.
On top of that, at the university level of education, the limitation on girls’ education in North Korea is showcased more obviously. In contrast with the high accessibility of basic education for women and men, one of the top universities in North Korea, Pyongyang University for Science and Technology, has previously only had male students. However, recent reports have indicated increasing numbers of female students at this university.
North Korean Women Work for Educational Equality
Despite the prescribed gender roles and attendant images, there are many women majoring in medicine, biology, foreign languages and literature. These North Korean women are encouraging the breakdown of certain obstinate social norms and expectations imposed on not only women, but on men as well, that may discourage students from studying the subject of their choice.
North Korea is notoriously restrictive of its people’s freedoms, and the limits placed on girls’ education are but a mild example of the government’s repression. However, the fact that North Korean girls have the educational opportunities that they do is a heartening sign of progress, and can be of great benefit to girls and women now and in the future.
– Heulwen Leung
Photo: Google
Poverty Decline in Pakistan Is a Positive Step Forward
How Politics Help the Poverty Decline in Paksitan
The report suggests a variety of reasons for the poverty decline in Pakistan, but one of the primary factors is a more stable political environment. Beginning in 1999, Pakistan was under the rule of Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf assumed the roles of both president and head of the army and imposed harsh military rule over the country. Pakistan fell into political turmoil as Musharraf continued to grant himself more power over the years, repeatedly suspending the constitution and dissolving parliament in order to get his way.
In 2008 the Pakistani People’s Party (PPP) finally forced Musharraf out of power and replaced him with Asif Ali Zardari, a civilian president who put an end military rule. It was at this point that Freedom House changed Pakistan’s ranking from “Not Free” to “Partly Free.” In 2013, there was a peaceful transition of power between two democratic governments for the first time in Pakistani history and the country has maintained its “Partly Free” status to this day.
The power shift in the government has contributed to the poverty decline in Pakistan because when a country is politically stable, investors are more likely to make deals there because there is a decreased risk of the laws changing and of their contracts being altered or nullified. With this in mind, it is easy to see how Pakistan’s democratic process has led to a higher level of confidence in the private sector.
Government Programs for Economic Improvement
Another contributor to the poverty decline in Pakistan has been the implementation of the Social Safety Net Programme (SSNP). This is an umbrella program which encompasses many different welfare initiatives in Pakistan, all of which have the aim of providing financial assistance to those living in poverty and helping them out of the crisis. The largest of these is the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). The BISP serves 5.29 million beneficiaries and has reduced the poverty rate by seven percent on its own.
An additional reason for the poverty decline in Pakistan is the government’s shift in attitude toward the agriculture sector. Agriculture is crucial to the Pakistani economy as it makes up for 18.9 percent of the GDP and 42.3 percent of the workforce. In recent years, the government has implemented policies that focus more on supporting smaller farms, such as increasing agricultural credit disbursements and providing crop insurance to farmers. The government is also investing in new technologies to help modernize the industry, like new irrigation systems and drought-resistant seeds.
Looking Toward the Future
Clearly, the poverty decline in Pakistan is no accident. It took years of hard work and policy reformation by the Pakistani government to improve the welfare of its people. But Pakistan’s incredible achievement over the past decade is a sign of great optimism for developing countries around the world, a sign that real change is possible in even the direst of situations.
– Maddi Roy
Photo: Google
Top 10 Facts About Hunger in Syria
Facts About Hunger in Syria
Bread is the most basic food source in Syria, however, its prices have risen by 1000 percent in the most violent areas leaving thousands unable to provide for themselves or their families.
Farmers were only able to plant wheat on an estimated 900,000 hectares of land in 2017 compared to 1.5 million hectares before 2011. This is a neverending cycle because farmers rely on the community to buy their produce in order to continue farming but when the community does not have money to buy food, there is a continuing lack thereof.
Constant displacement does not provide Syrians with food security. Being food secure is one of the most basic necessities but also somehow overlooked.
During a siege, all humanitarian resources are cut off from people thereby leaving them with no option but to starve to death or die of diseases without proper medical attention.
Although there are still more than 4.5 million people living in hard-to-reach zones throughout Syria, airdrops have been able to deliver food to approximately 4.2 million of those in need.
After analyzing the number of refugees in need of humanitarian assistance in 2016, the U.N. was able to estimate the funds required to help the current refugees. However, this does not account for new refugees if the conflict continues.
This group has created checkpoints and sealed off all roads into and out of besieged areas to prevent any aid from reaching the people located within.
This does not include refugees who sought shelter in neighboring countries but merely the remaining population living in Syria.
They do this by providing food rations, e-cards and vouchers to the Syrians who are in dire need of food and medical resources.
When the cost of feeding refugees is so low, it is a wonder how we are still struggling to find ways to help them. This accentuates the necessity to donate anything, for every little bit counts.
There is still a long way to go for Syrian refugees, however, these top 10 facts about hunger in Syria highlight the good and the bad in this devastating crisis.
– Adrienne Tauscheck
Photo: Flickr
Bringing Affordable Internet Access to Developing Countries
Fighting Pandemics via the Internet
Affordable internet access would help fight pandemics because it can be used to both: a.) train healthcare workers in better ways to help prevent communicable diseases from spreading; b.) monitor the spread of a disease before it turns into a pandemic.
Another way affordable internet access would help developing nations is by allowing people in remote areas to use telemedicine to get basic medical care. Telemedicine is using technologies such as the internet to allow people who live in remote areas, without enough doctors, to gain access to healthcare. However, it is only feasible in areas that have low-cost internet access.
The internet would greatly benefit people living in third world countries by providing them with the information they need to stay healthy, for instance, learning how to prevent death as a result of diarrhoea by staying hydrated, teaching people the ways to avoid contracting HIV, providing helpful information to diabetic people so that they can manage their condition better, etc.
Affordable Internet Access and Financial Independence
Bringing affordable internet access to developing countries allows people to sell their goods in the open market. For example, easy access to the global marketplace via the internet allows both farmers and artisans to directly sell their goods to international buyers, without going through intermediaries, thereby getting the full value of their commodities.
Many of the technical tools used by people in the third world to trade, such as the blockchain, require affordable internet access. These tools are there to ensure that sellers get a fair price for whatever they are selling in the global marketplace.
Digital GAP Act and Children’s Education
Children in developing countries can use the internet to get access to online educational materials so that they are able to learn independently using resources available on the internet. These educational resources only become viable in areas where affordable internet access is readily available to people.
Seymour Papert, an MIT professor, believed that giving students in impoverished countries access to electronic devices would enable them to become curious and learn more. MIT provided students with inexpensive laptops that are very hard to break and the Digital GAP Act ensures that connecting such devices to the internet is an affordable option so that the children can use their laptops to access online resources and learn independently.
The Borgen Project is trying to bring the Digital GAP Act to the attention of the legislators and has an online tool, that will allow people who care about helping other people in the third world get access to the internet, to send a letter to their representatives. The bill has already passed in the House of Representatives but must be introduced in the Senate.
– Michael Israel
Photo: Flickr
10 Facts About Poverty in Tokyo
10 Facts About Poverty in Tokyo
These 10 facts about poverty in Tokyo only touch on poverty in the city. Though Tokyo is often thought of as a fast-paced, glamorous metropolitan city, the reality is that many living in Tokyo are facing crippling levels of poverty.
The above 10 facts about poverty in Tokyo reveal many of the issues being faced by these citizens. Though poverty may be more severe in Tokyo than many would assume, the recognition of this problem at all offers a glimmer of hope that Japan is on its way to improving the lives of its poorest citizens.
– Nicole Stout
Photo: Flickr
How the US Benefits from Foreign Aid to African Countries
At the same time, the U.S. benefits from foreign aid include financial, humanitarian and economic benefits like an expansion of trade. Also, given the widespread influence that other key global flourishing economies like China, India and Russia continue to have, it is imperative for the United States to take advantage of its existing assets and finances.
U.S. foreign aid is imperative during economic and political crises or natural disasters. Aid is usually given in the form of bilateral, multilateral, humanitarian, political and developmental assistance, which includes the provision of knowledge, resources, advice and other goods and services. It is managed mainly by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of Defense.
However, with the recent rise of populism in the United States, the regressive policy proposals of the Trump Administration and the current international climate, there is a lot of skepticism surrounding the U.S. benefits from foreign aid. The U.S. State Department is concerned with trade, national security, dependency and corruption. Contrary to conventional belief, foreign aid accounts for only 1 percent of the federal budget.
Moreover, another misconception that overlooks the U.S. benefits from foreign aid is that it can potentially diminish economic self-sufficiency for developing countries. Yet, it can be argued that sustainable aid can build a strong foundation for future economic and social progress in countries. Aid of this nature is a worthwhile investment as it has the capability to effectively spearhead poverty alleviation efforts.
The United States can also capitalize on the flourishing growth and development of other expanding economies, especially as growth in the sub-Saharan region is projected to continue to increase. For instance, supporting emerging economies like South Africa could potentially help the U.S. expand into uncharted territory and new markets, especially for consumer and capital goods.
In 2015, U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa was $17.8 billion, a 75 percent increase compared to 2005. U.S. trade in goods to the 49 countries in the region generated more than 121,000 jobs in 2014.
In this way, there are U.S. benefits from foreign aid because the country gets access to more trade routes and can improve trading relationships. U.S. businesses and enterprises also gain more outlets for their goods and services.
On another front, health and humanitarian aid account for over 80 percent of U.S. aid to African nations. For example, the country contributes to 35 percent of healthcare funding for malaria. There is significant headway being made in finding important solutions to pressing healthcare concerns among many communities globally.
Additionally, the Department of Health and Human Services is executing a number of healthcare initiatives like the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The U.S. Treasury is spearheading economic reform in poorer nations with the help of organizations like the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Peace Corps and the African Development Foundation. As a result, a number of government institutions are integrating and working collaboratively with their counterparts.
To conclude, due to the number of U.S. benefits from foreign aid to African countries, the country will continue to be a staunch supporter of existing and future initiatives. The next few years remain essential for the continued economic growth, development and prosperity for the region.
– Shivani Ekkanath
Photo: Flickr
The Top 10 Most Important Facts About Poverty in Haiti
Facts About Poverty in Haiti
The first of the 10 facts about poverty in Haiti is in regards to the rate of poverty in the Caribbean nation. According to United Nations Development Program, 24.7 percent of Haitians live in extreme poverty, which is less than $1.25 per day. Even more, approximately 59 percent of Haitians live on less than $2 a day. However, the rate of extreme poverty has started to decline since 2000.
Haiti is ranked fourth on the CIA World Factbook for income inequality. This measurement is based on the Gini coefficient, a ratio of highest to lowest incomes. For Haiti, this means that the top 20 percent of households hold 64 percent of the total wealth in the country.
Haitian residents are all too familiar with natural disasters, such as hurricanes and earthquakes. Hurricane Matthew, a category four storm which struck Haiti in October 2017, killed 546 people and affected two million more. However, the consequences of the hurricane spanned over many months. In turn, the destruction of buildings and crops, a major source of income for Haitians, cost the country greatly.
Haiti’s GDP growth slowed from 1.5 percent in 2016 to 1.2 percent in 2017. This is largely due to crop loss following Hurricane Matthew.
Haitians suffer from lack of or unreliability of electricity. According to USAID, the two key energy issues for Haiti are a broken electricity sector and a dependency on charcoal. This means that a large percentage of the population is without power and those who do have it have unreliable power. The issue remains at a standstill as a quarter of the population did not have power before the 2010 earthquake and that figure remains the same to this day.
Haiti has been led by a poor line of leaders since gaining independence from France. Pierre Esperance, director of the National Human Rights Defense Network in Haiti, said of the leaders in the L.A. Times, “They don’t really want to work for the Haitian people, to improve them. They work for themselves once they get to power. They want to steal money.”The country will need strong, dedicated leaders to better conditions, which it has never had before. However, the current president, Jovenel Moïse, has vowed to do just this. His plans include streamlining agriculture and addressing corruption.
Approximately 100,000 children under the age of five are malnourished, while 30 percent of the overall population is considered food insecure. This means that citizens do not have ample access to nourishing food.
About one in two Haitians use unsanitary water, which has been proven to cause illnesses. In fact, about 80 percent of illnesses in developing countries are due in part to unsanitary water.
Only 50 percent of children in Haiti attend school, making it more difficult to find employment in the future.
In part due to the lack of education, many Haitians, about two-thirds, do not have formal jobs, resulting in unsteady incomes.
These important facts about poverty in Haiti have been prominent in Haiti for many years now. Though these issues are still severe, improvements have been made, including a leader who seems determined to better the lives of his citizens and a slowly declining poverty rate.
– Olivia Booth
Photo: Flickr
Understanding How the Media Misrepresents Kazakhstan
How the Media Misrepresents Kazakhstan
A close examination of the lives of people in Kazakhstan and of its actual political and economic situation, including the perspectives of diverse sources, reveals how the media misrepresents Kazakhstan, fueled by the after-effects of the Cold War. Many people, especially in the U.S., received misrepresentative information about Kazakhstan from the American comedy film “Borat,” a parody of Kazakhstan’s culture rather than an accurate portrayal.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s long-advocated approach of “economy first, political reforms later” is described by British human rights advocate Hugh Williamson as a visage of “economy first, political reforms never” instead. Williamson claims that Kazakhstan is moving politically backward with “no free elections, little permitted open speech and the government significantly represses human rights.”
Current Developments in Kazakhstan
However, slow but apparent democratic progress in Kazakhstan has been recorded. It has been previously hindered because of the state of total economic collapse after the breakdown of the Soviet Union in 1991. Since then, however, its economy has flourished and Kazakhstan is now an upper-middle-income country, according to the World Bank.
Democratic development in Kazakhstan includes the Secular Constitution established in 1995, which outlines a separation of powers of the executive, legislative and judicial branches. Elections were also delivered in a multiparty parliament in 2012.
Further Progress in the Nation
In early 2016, Kazakhstan launched the Fostering Productive Innovations Project in cooperation with the World Bank. This is where ongoing science commercialization projects based on international standards of scientific excellence and high commercialization potential were developed.
In addition, Kazakhstan launched its first ever five-year program for Digital Kazakhstan 2020 which aims at creating the “Digital Silk Road.” This will provide support for the development of digital infrastructure and invest in human capital.
How the media misrepresents Kazakhstan extends to the nation’s political, economic, social and technological development. It is easy to dispel these cultural myths about Kazakhstan after looking into this exotic land through the lens of objective historical and social analysis.
– Heulwen Leung
Photo: Google
How to Stop Poverty: Seven Effective Actions
Even in the 21st century, nearly half of the world’s population, or three billion people, lives on $2.50 a day, and 80 percent of the world’s population lives on less than $10 a day. Focusing on how to stop poverty is very important, both in the ways that an individual can have an impact and on the wider changes that need to be made to bring an end to poverty.
How to Stop Poverty
Social media has become an integral part of daily life, and now is the time to use it as a voice of social good. Sharing links on Facebook, Twitter and other platforms will allow people to learn more about global poverty and will increase the general consciousness of the issue.
There are a few simple ways we can help as individuals, such as funding a poor child’s education or by sponsoring a poor family and influencing others to do so. Raising money and donating it to a nonprofit can help as well.
Donations can help in so many ways. They do not always have to take the form of money. This can include donating books to a poor child or buying groceries for a poor family for a week to help fight hunger. Donating old clothes, furniture and toiletries can also help improve the well-being of the poor.
With two-thirds of the world’s illiterate being female, the ratio of boys and girls should be made equal in primary, secondary and tertiary education. Girls that attend school are less likely to get married before age 18, thus decreasing child marriage rates by 64 percent worldwide. Similarly, literate women are less likely to spread diseases like HIV/AIDS due to a better knowledge of disease transmission, which helps to accelerate poverty reduction in the long run.
According to the International Labour Organization, 197 million people are without work worldwide. More employment options in a country mean more ways of how to stop poverty. To increase employment, non-literate people can be taught a few skills to make them employable.
Access to clean water and sanitation directly affects health and education. Currently, 800 million people live without access to safe water and 2.5 billion live without adequate sanitation. Dirty bathrooms keep girls from attending schools, thus stopping them from receiving an education. Lack of clean water spreads diseases like diarrhea and cholera, which take the lives of more than one million children each year.
Education helps increase individual earnings for every member of a family. UNESCO points out that basic reading skills can lift 171 million people out of extreme poverty, ultimately reducing the world’s total poverty by 12 percent. UNESCO also mentions there are currently about one billion illiterate adults in the world.
Above are a few solutions about how to stop poverty, but first, it is important to understand the roots of the problems that cause poverty. Since different countries have different reasons for poverty, there will never be a single solution for all. However, these seven actions can do a lot to alleviate poverty anywhere.
– Shweta Roy
Photo: Flickr
Facts Pertaining to Poverty in Cambodia
Living in Rural Areas
“Ninety percent of Cambodia’s 4.8 million poor people live in rural areas. Most of them depend on agriculture for their livelihood, but 12 percent of them are landless.”
With the majority of the population relying on cultivation in the area, many people need extra assistance getting the necessary resources for their families. There are a plethora of aspects that need to be taken into consideration when looking for land including landmines, nearest roads and types of facilities in the area.
Exploiting Natural Resources
“Between 2000 and 2012, [Cambodia] lost more than 7 percent of its forest cover, the fifth fastest rate in the world.”
Deforestation and illegal farming practices are part of the reason why the forest cover has been depleting and is one of the facts pertaining to poverty in Cambodia. Increased protection and conservation efforts would lessen deforestation. It would also provide more natural resources to the public, contributing to a wide array of support for poverty-stricken individuals.
Surviving on Minimal Income
“Average annual income is $2.60 per day, with a third of the population living on less than $1 per day. It is one of the poorest countries in the world.”
There are many factors that play a role in Cambodia being one of the poorest countries in the world. Cambodia does not have a stable economy and the majority of people who do work, are paid under the table. This could mean they are paid illegally or through a third party that supplies them with cash for hard labor.
Decreasing Maternal Mortality
“The maternal mortality ratio per 100,000 live births decreased from 472 in 2005 to 170 in 2014.”
The death of a pregnant woman can be the result of many aspects during childbirth. Cambodia’s dramatic decline in its maternal mortality rate proves that the country is on the right track toward becoming more sanitary. This also shows Cambodia is implementing better health systems to possibly eradicate the issue of mothers dying while giving birth.
Lacking in Education
“More than 50 percent of the population is 25 years old or younger. Most of them don’t receive education higher than the secondary level. This results in a lack of experienced workers and talent who can help with the country’s development.”
Cambodia has recently seen an increase in tourism and the money the government receives from external activities needs to be used to better the education system. A higher quality school system would not only help the development of the country prosper, but also advance job positions for certain individuals. A lack of education is one of the facts about poverty pertaining to Cambodia that could be improved and help make money more accessible, leading to higher incomes throughout the country.
– Matthew McGee
Photo: Flickr