American Samoa is a small group of islands in the Pacific Ocean south of Hawaii. As a U.S. territory, American Samoa upholds the fundamental rights of the constitution, and its citizens are considered U.S. nationals. The territory status of American Samoa keeps it from receiving foreign aid from other developed nations as the U.S. is the only nation to send foreign aid. The U.S. benefits from foreign aid to American Samoa in many ways such as:
- Dedication to the reduction of carbon emissions
- Rebuilding coral reefs
- Economic growth through trade
Reduction of Carbon Emissions
The U.S. benefits from foreign aid to American Samoa as the territory works diligently to improve environmental conditions.
In January 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded a total of $10.7 million to the American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency. The aid provided will go to strengthening its capacity to protect human health, the environment and vital water infrastructure. American Samoa has many projects to utilize the aid, benefiting and improving the lives of U.S. citizens as well as the U.S. nationals living on the islands.
American Samoa plans on severely reducing its carbon emissions and the emissions from diesel fuels, aiming for 100 percent renewable energy generation for the outer islands’ electric power system by 2040. In an interconnected world, the reduction of one nation’s carbon emissions can improve the air and water quality of the entire world in a global strategy for combatting climate change.
The Paris Agreement, currently supported by 175 countries, highlights the importance of every nation reducing carbon emissions. According to the U.N., carbon emissions from human activities are driving climate change which now affects every nation on the planet through: changing weather patterns, rising sea level, and the increased presence of more extreme weather events.
Health of Coral Reefs
The importance of coral reefs to the ecosystem and every human being’s quality of life cannot be understated. Often overlooked, coral reefs are responsible for protecting coastlines from flooding during tropical storms, providing vital marine life with shelter and assisting in carbon and nitrogen fixing.
The diversity of sea life is essential to the fishing industry in the United States. Many fish spawn in coral reefs. Juvenile fish spend a large portion of their time there before making their way to the open sea. Without coral reefs, the global economy would suffer huge losses of $375 billion annually from Australia to Florida.
Without the presence of thriving coral reefs, it is expected that more than 4,000 species of marine life that call the reef home face extinction. Among the multitude of species at risk are tuna, sea turtles, spiny lobsters and dolphins.
The U.S. benefits from foreign aid to American Samoa as American Samoa plans to use substantial portions of the foreign aid to revitalize these essential marine life and ocean ecosystems directly benefiting the lives of all U.S. citizens.
Economy and Trade
The economy of American Samoa is intricately linked with the U.S. economy. American Samoa conducts most of its commerce with the U.S. through imports and exports. American Samoa today is one of the world’s largest exporters of canned tuna, canned pet food and fish meal.
Home to the Chicken of the Sea and Starkist Samoa tuna canneries, American Samoa faces nearly zero tariffs when importing goods to the United States. This effectively works to keep costs low for consumers. Furthermore, American Samoa is exempt from the federal law prohibiting foreign commercial fishing vessels from offloading tuna at U.S. ports. It is estimated the tuna canning supplied to the U.S. is worth $500 million a year.
The economy of the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to American Samoa in more than just exports. American Samoa is also a consumer of U.S. goods generating $27.9 million in imports for 2016. Including American Samoa, the U.S. accounts for more than 25 percent of Samoan exports, while 10 percent of Samoa and American Samoa’s imports come from the United States.
The benefits of foreign aid are symbiotic. Through providing funds to empower American Samoa to take on environmental initiatives, grow local businesses and create valuable trade partnerships, the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to American Samoa.
– Kelilani Johnson
Photo: Flickr
The Story of Poverty Decline in Kenya
Despite these findings, researchers maintain that it is doubtful that poverty in Kenya will be eradicated by 2030. So what exactly is behind the poverty decline in Kenya, and why will it not be enough to completely solve the problem in the future?
Infrastructure Contributes to Poverty Decline in Kenya
Since 2013, the public sector’s contribution to GDP growth has jumped from just 1.1 percent to 2.5 percent. This is largely due to ambitious projects undertaken by the Kenyatta administration, including the construction of a $24.5 billion northern trade route, the expansion of the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, the creation of the Lamu Port and the modernization of major Kenyan airports. These developments have opened up new opportunities for trade throughout the region.
Beyond that, Kenya has made incredible strides in providing basic needs to its citizens over the past few years. In 2013, only 27 percent of Kenyan households had access to electricity. This number skyrocketed to 55 percent, or 5.7 million households, by the beginning of 2017. The number of Kenyan households with access to improved water sources has also climbed from just 60 percent in 2005 to nearly 72 percent in 2015. In addition, Kenya is leading the way in households with access to adequate sanitation facilities among countries with similar poverty rates. These improvements are crucial to promoting economic growth because they are the cornerstones of basic health and well-being.
Agricultural Growth Promising, But Unstable
Another factor leading to the poverty decline in Kenya is the agricultural sector. According to the report, agriculture accounted for the largest share of poverty reduction in the past decade. The agricultural sector remains the leading contributor to Kenya’s GDP, and provided a sizeable boost to the economy with an average growth of 4.1 percent between 2011 and 2015.
However, this is problematic because farming is an unreliable source of growth. The success of crops is completely controlled by weather conditions, and drought is extremely common in Africa. Kenya witnessed the devastating impacts of relying on agriculture last year when its economy took a hit due to decreased rainfall levels. This instability is one of the reasons why experts say that poverty will not be eradicated by 2030.
Private Sector Investment Needed to Continue Poverty Decline in Kenya
An additional obstacle to the poverty decline in Kenya is the deterioration of the private sector. In recent years, GDP growth from private investments has slid from 1.3 percent in 2013 to negative 0.7 percent in 2017. This is partially due to the political instability that surrounded the presidential election in 2017, which led many to see investments in Kenya as a risk because the government seemed fragile. Another claim made in the report is that the increase in government spending led to “crowding out,” the discouraging of private spending due to a rise in interest rates.
Although poverty may not be completely eradicated by 2030, it is projected to decrease at the rate of one percentage point per year if current trends continue. Though there are some major challenges to overcome in the future, the poverty decline in Kenya is a promising sign for the country’s welfare.
– Maddi Roy
Photo: Flickr
Movies, Music and Tech: How the Media Misrepresents Nigeria
Due to news reports highlighting Nigeria’s plights, positive news is often overshadowed, news that sheds light on the innovation that is happening in the nation. As a result, what may not be as commonly known is how the media misrepresents Nigeria.
Planned Changes Ahead
The current president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, has established a plan to fuel economic growth. The government has established the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, which address and proposes initiatives to resolve economic issues within Nigeria.
According to the plan, which includes the National Industrial Revolution Plan, the government plans to focus “on priority sectors to generate jobs, promote growth and upgrade skills to create 1.5 million jobs by 2020.” It is predicted that President Buhari’s plan is expected “to reduce unemployment from 13.9 percent as of Q3 2016 to 11.23 percent by 2020.”
The rampant reports of violence in the nation often overshadow the president’s plan to reverse economic plights and is an example of how the media misrepresents Nigeria.
The Media Misrepresents Nigeria by Ignoring Its Growing Industries
Civil conflicts have overshadowed Nigeria’s multiple booming industries that are captivating audiences abroad, and this serves as another example of how the media misrepresents Nigeria. The following industries are bringing Nigeria’s domestic talent to the limelight, creating the potential for the nation’s economy to transform dramatically over time.
Nollywood
As of 2009, Nigeria’s film industry has grown to become the second largest film industry in the world, behind Bollywood, India’s film industry. The industry has a valuation of $3.3 billion and produced 1,844 films in 2013. As the nation continues to develop, the film industry is only expected to grow over time.
Nigeria’s Music Industry
Nigeria has a thriving music industry, with big names in music seeing success abroad. Afrobeats, as it is commonly referred to, is a niche of West African music that has made its artists into stars overseas. Even domestically, Nigeria’s music scene is a promising sector for the nation to continue to improve its economy. In 2015 alone, the nation’s music industry generated an estimated $56 million, and domestic revenues from music are expected to increase over time.
A Booming Tech Industry
Over the past few years, Nigeria has seen growth in its tech industry, with its startups becoming successful and gaining attention from big-time investors. Nigeria’s tech industry is known as Africa’s “most valuable ecosystem” and is the founding place for many notable startups, including Andela, iROKO and Flutterwave. In 2016, the nation attracted more investments than any other startup ecosystem in Africa, with $109.37 million raised from investments.
With the nation being a leader in innovation in Africa, it is expected that in the forthcoming years Nigeria will become more of a global presence, shedding more light on the great things that are happening in the nation.
– Lois Charm
Photo: Flickr
How the US Benefits from Foreign Aid to American Samoa
Reduction of Carbon Emissions
The U.S. benefits from foreign aid to American Samoa as the territory works diligently to improve environmental conditions.
In January 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded a total of $10.7 million to the American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency. The aid provided will go to strengthening its capacity to protect human health, the environment and vital water infrastructure. American Samoa has many projects to utilize the aid, benefiting and improving the lives of U.S. citizens as well as the U.S. nationals living on the islands.
American Samoa plans on severely reducing its carbon emissions and the emissions from diesel fuels, aiming for 100 percent renewable energy generation for the outer islands’ electric power system by 2040. In an interconnected world, the reduction of one nation’s carbon emissions can improve the air and water quality of the entire world in a global strategy for combatting climate change.
The Paris Agreement, currently supported by 175 countries, highlights the importance of every nation reducing carbon emissions. According to the U.N., carbon emissions from human activities are driving climate change which now affects every nation on the planet through: changing weather patterns, rising sea level, and the increased presence of more extreme weather events.
Health of Coral Reefs
The importance of coral reefs to the ecosystem and every human being’s quality of life cannot be understated. Often overlooked, coral reefs are responsible for protecting coastlines from flooding during tropical storms, providing vital marine life with shelter and assisting in carbon and nitrogen fixing.
The diversity of sea life is essential to the fishing industry in the United States. Many fish spawn in coral reefs. Juvenile fish spend a large portion of their time there before making their way to the open sea. Without coral reefs, the global economy would suffer huge losses of $375 billion annually from Australia to Florida.
Without the presence of thriving coral reefs, it is expected that more than 4,000 species of marine life that call the reef home face extinction. Among the multitude of species at risk are tuna, sea turtles, spiny lobsters and dolphins.
The U.S. benefits from foreign aid to American Samoa as American Samoa plans to use substantial portions of the foreign aid to revitalize these essential marine life and ocean ecosystems directly benefiting the lives of all U.S. citizens.
Economy and Trade
The economy of American Samoa is intricately linked with the U.S. economy. American Samoa conducts most of its commerce with the U.S. through imports and exports. American Samoa today is one of the world’s largest exporters of canned tuna, canned pet food and fish meal.
Home to the Chicken of the Sea and Starkist Samoa tuna canneries, American Samoa faces nearly zero tariffs when importing goods to the United States. This effectively works to keep costs low for consumers. Furthermore, American Samoa is exempt from the federal law prohibiting foreign commercial fishing vessels from offloading tuna at U.S. ports. It is estimated the tuna canning supplied to the U.S. is worth $500 million a year.
The economy of the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to American Samoa in more than just exports. American Samoa is also a consumer of U.S. goods generating $27.9 million in imports for 2016. Including American Samoa, the U.S. accounts for more than 25 percent of Samoan exports, while 10 percent of Samoa and American Samoa’s imports come from the United States.
The benefits of foreign aid are symbiotic. Through providing funds to empower American Samoa to take on environmental initiatives, grow local businesses and create valuable trade partnerships, the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to American Samoa.
– Kelilani Johnson
Photo: Flickr
How the US Benefits From Foreign Aid to Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina was involved in an ethnically-motivated civil war from 1992 to 1995. It was not until 1995 that NATO intervened and a ceasefire (the Dayton Accords) was negotiated that finally ended the conflict. Today, the Dayton Accords are still in force.
How USAID Has Helped Bosnia and Herzegovina
The millions of dollars donated to the country have been allocated towards efforts of reconstruction, humanitarian assistance, economic development and military rebuilding. USAID assistance has had a large role in numerous projects and programs to get the country back on its feet and helping it become a thriving and economically stable country.
USAID has laid out in its official fact sheet its aid to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the following areas:
In 2016, the EU accepted Bosnia and Herzegovina’s application into the EU, but member states say the country should continue with reform, “including socioeconomic reforms, reforms in the area of rule of law and public administration.” Challenges including the country’s poor governance and an effort made by the Republika Srpska to move the country to secession has made its commitment to the EU-driven package harder to accomplish. Nevertheless, economic reforms made by Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to join the EU has led to it becoming one of the fastest growing economies in Eastern Europe.
How the U.S. Benefits From Foreign Aid to Bosnia and Herzegovina
According to the Department of State, “U.S. assistance will help BiH implement this reform package and improve government accountability and efficiency, trade with Europe, and inter-ethnic dialogue and reconciliation.” The U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Bosnia and Herzegovina by securing the country’s stability in the region.
With U.S. assistance, the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Bosnia and Herzegovina joining the EU would bring Bosnia and Herzegovina one step closer to joining NATO, creating a stronger alliance with the U.S. Bosnia and Herzegovina has been vocal since 2008 about its desire to join NATO. Not only did the country join the Partnership for Peace, but has contributed to NATO projects in Afghanistan. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s cooperation with NATO will not only provide defense for the U.S., but will also increase trade between the two countries.
Continued efforts from Bosnia and Herzegovina to reform its social, political, and economic situation in order to enter the EU would allow the EU’s organizations, such as its Common Security and Defense Policy, to ensure that the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
– Emma Martin
Photo: Flickr
Credit Access in Honduras is Steadily Improving Lives
The Current Situation
Without access to credit, savings or other basic financial services, over two billion people around the world are financially excluded. Increased credit access in Honduras and other developing countries enables poor families to earn a larger income, build their assets and cushion themselves from extra costs from external shocks like natural disasters. Poverty in Honduras is exacerbated by a consistent threat of natural disasters, such as floods, hurricanes and land erosion.
In Honduras, 60 percent of the population lives below the national poverty line and the country has one of the lowest per capita incomes in Latin America. Credit access in Honduras is limited, especially in rural areas due to obstacles including high operating costs because of infrastructural deficiencies, a high level of risk due to the threat of natural disasters and a lack of flexible financial products and financial intermediaries that can cater to specific needs.
Improvements to Credit Access in Honduras
In 1989, a non-banking financial institution called FINCA was established in Honduras to provide banking services to people across the country, including loans, savings deposits, money transfer services and insurance. FINCA now has 21 branches and serves over 47,000 people in rural and urban areas of Honduras. The average loan is less than $800 and the institution’s loan portfolio amounts to over $21 million.
In 2014, the Rural Savings and Credit Union was formed in Honduras to provide these financial services in rural areas and offer flexible financial services based on individual negotiations and a deep knowledge of local communities and the businesses within those communities. Rural Savings and Credit Unions have promoted a more gender-inclusive market system, empowering women to participate in the economy to open small businesses and support their families financially. They are also sustainable and easy to replicate, ensuring a stable source of financial services to rural and poor areas in Honduras.
The Multilateral Investment Fund also approved a $200,000 technical assistance grant and a $3 million loan to the José María Covelo Foundation. The funds will allow the organization to pursue a project to improve the economic conditions of productive and entrepreneurial individuals in rural and peri-urban areas by increasing the microcredit supply in Honduras.
Real Life Results
Microcredit services like FINCA have helped increase poor people’s credit access in Honduras, enabling them to start small businesses and increase their incomes without having to go into major debt. For example, 62-year-old Consuelo Esperanza Rueda Aguilar has been able to start several businesses, from running a taxi service to selling a variety of different items ranging from cell phones to clothing to pots and pans. By utilizing FINCA’s services, Consuelo carefully invested her earnings to develop her entrepreneurial endeavors. She was also able to educate all five of her children and to buy a bigger house.
Models like FINCA and Rural Savings and Credit Unions strive to reduce poverty by increasing credit access in Honduras, providing economic opportunity for people in the most vulnerable settings and increasing economic empowerment by giving Hondurans the tools to become more financially stable.
– Sydney Lacey
Photo: Flickr
How the US Benefits from Foreign Aid to Laos
The relationship between the two countries has broadened to include cooperation on a range of issues including health, nutrition, education, environmental protection, trade liberalization, legal reform, law enforcement and English training. One of the major U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Laos is in improving health and child nutrition. A 2011 Lao government survey revealed that 44 percent of children under five are stunted due to limited access to nutritious foods and sanitation.
The Lower Mekong Initiative
Cooperation was accelerated since 2009 with the launch of the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) which serves as a platform to discuss the complex transnational development and policy changes in the lower Mekong subregion. The U.S. helps to improve trade policy in Laos, promotes sustainable development and biodiversity conservation and works to strengthen the criminal justice system and law enforcement. President Obama became the first U.S. President to visit Laos in September 2016.
U.S. exports to Laos include metals, aircraft, vehicles and agricultural products. U.S. imports from Laos include apparel, inorganic chemicals, agricultural products and precious metals.
Clear Unexploded Ordnance
The U.S. is helping Laos clear unexploded ordnance (UXO) which poses a threat to people and hampers economic development. Annual casualties over the last 20 years have lowered from more than 300 to fewer than 50. The U.S. has provided significant support for the clearance of UXO from the war and in 2016, President Obama announced $90 million in UXO funding over three years during his visit.
This funding will help make sure UXO victims have better access to quality rehabilitation services, including orthotics and prosthetics to improve their lives. Since the end of the Vietnam War, both countries have worked jointly to search for and recover the remains of U.S. soldiers who were unaccounted for. So far, the remains of 273 people have been recovered and identified.
USAID will lead new initiatives including a new five-year early grade reading program that will prepare Lao students for an increasingly competitive and integrated ASEAN community. The United States through the U.S Department of Agriculture has contributed nearly $100 million over 10 years for school meal programs in Laos that allow children to concentrate on education.
The U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Laos by seeking to strengthen people-to-people ties with Laos by multiplying the connections between the young people of the two countries. With 70 percent of Laos population under 30 years old, the U.S is engaging the next generation of young leaders and sponsors the full range of U.S exchange programs for Lao citizens. Lao takes full advantage of these programs and has facilitated exchanges for more than 2,300 emerging Lao leaders.
Both the U.S and Laos are committed to begin discussions on establishing a Peace Corps country agreement. It remains to be seen how relations continue between the United States and Laos.
– Zachary Ott
Photo: Flickr
Top Poverty in Afghanistan Facts
In recent memory, people often think of Afghanistan as the nation of the Taliban, who provided sanctuary to terrorists like Osama bin Laden. However, they do not tend to think about how a country falls into the grip of such extremism. Often, when poverty is widespread, terrorism and instability take hold. Poverty in Afghanistan has been a serious problem for nearly three decades, starting with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.
This instability can make poverty alleviation an uphill battle. According to the World Bank’s 2017 Poverty Status Update Report regarding socioeconomic progress in Afghanistan, the 15 years of growth that the country has seen are now jeopardized by a recent rise in insecurity. The World Bank Country Director for Afghanistan, Shubham Chaudhuri, explains that with poverty rising from 36 to 39 percent of the Afghan population, there need to be reinforcements to guarantee that economic growth reaches Afghan families. For further information about the living conditions of the Afghan people, here are 10 facts about poverty in Afghanistan.
Top 10 Facts About Poverty in Afghanistan
To help bring some relief to these issues, Aryana Aid has been providing food packages to the people of Afghanistan since 2009. In early 2018, USAID’s Office of Food For Peace provided $25 million to the World Food Programme; an estimated 547,000 malnourished Afghan people were provided with emergency aid from local and regional marketplaces.
The World Bank projected economic growth for Afghanistan in 2017, by 2.6 percent compared to 2.2 percent in 2016. The progression is predicted to continue in 2018 with a 3.2 percent growth, which will help cure the many problems listed on the top 10 facts about poverty in Afghanistan.
– Christopher Shipman
Photo: Flickr
Understanding How the Media Misrepresents El Salvador
A Better Future for Salvadorans
While there is this negativity present, there is also a garment factory that is trying to help turn the life of its workers around. This garment factory hired people “who are normally left out of society, including ex-gang members,” according to PBS News Hour. The factory combines school and works to give El Salvador a brighter future.
The factory’s general manager, Rodrigo Bolanos, said, “I saw the American dream, where lower- and middle-class kids can work and study at night in community colleges. And for me, that is a good way to resolve and to give the American dream right here in El Salvador to all these poor people.”
Carlos Arguetta, a previous gang member, wore long sleeves to his interview to try to cover up his tattoos, as described in the report. Through an interpreter, Arguetta stated that if he “didn’t have a job like this one, [he] would probably still be part of the gang and be doing killings.”
Improving Living Conditions in Slums
Another way that the media misrepresents El Salvador is in the way that its citizens live. Descriptions of wooden shacks are abundant when describing living conditions. While that might be true, there are two companies that are trying to change the places that Salvadorans live in.
Recently, a Texas-based construction technology company by the name of ICON partnered with New Story, a company that builds homes in developing countries, in order to provide better living conditions for those stuck in the El Salvador slums. ICON and New Story plan to transport a 3D-printer in order to produce 3D-printed homes for people at a highly reduced building cost.
The companies hope to give people who live in the slums an opportunity to live in a safer housing environment. As reported by Arab News, the mixture that produces the homes contains “a mix of concrete, water and other materials [that] are pumped through the 3D-printer.” The mixture hardens as it is being printed. It only takes 48 hours for a house to be built from the ground up. This is a much better alternative to makeshift shacks that citizens currently live in.
Using Art to Combat Violence
The final persistent misrepresentation of El Salvador in the media is the violence, and while the violence does occur, the nation is often presented as inescapable. However, art is one way that Salvadorans are able to escape their realities.
Marco Paíz is an artist and organizer of a festival by the name of “Sombrilla Fest,” or umbrella fest. It is a festival that is part of a bigger celebration called the World Social Circus Day, which takes place annually on April 7. This day is organized to be an international day to spread joy and is celebrated by 20 nations worldwide.
The goal of the festival is to have people “take over these spaces and these activities so that they [can] come out of the darkness of the violence that surrounds the country,” said Marco Paíz to TeleSur. It can also be an opportunity to motivate Salvadorans to learn the artistic practices so that they are able to improve their own living situation.
Despite the ways in which the media misrepresents El Salvador, there are numerous positive developments happening across this Central American nation.
– Valeria Flores
Photo: Flickr
Rise Against Hunger: An Organization Striving to Create an Impact
With an alarming 805 million people in the world impacted by hunger, organizations such as Rise Against Hunger are striving to do their part in alleviating malnourished and hungry nations. Because poverty is largely caused by conflict and lack of resources, it is said to be the principal cause of hunger. Rise Against Hunger ignites the passion and drive to address this reality by doing its part in feeding millions and ending global hunger.
What Does Rise Against Hunger Do?
Established in 1998, Rise Against Hunger is an international hunger relief organization with aspirations to end hunger by 2030. Its daily task is to distribute food and aid to the world’s most vulnerable. The organization’s 2017 impact report shows that well over 1.4 million lives were impacted by this single organization in 36 different countries, sending out 76 million meals. A crucial factor in its success can be accredited to its four pillars toward ending world hunger:
An effective tool it uses for growing the movement is the volunteering events it hosts throughout different universities and other organizations. This allows people to come together as a community to take action with Rise Against Hunger by packaging meals for distribution to the world’s hungry.
The organization empowers communities by educating and advocating about topics such as sustainable agriculture and hosting clean water projects. Rise Against Hunger also nourishes lives by giving warm, sustainable meals to those who are in dire need by responding to disasters efficiently, therefore providing effective emergency relief with these prepackaged meals.
Who Does the Organization Help?
Tom Barbitta, the Rise Against Hunger Chief Marketing Director, emphasizes the importance of how education plays a vital role in global poverty and how this, as a result, affects the hunger scale of a nation. “A country has never been able to lift itself out of poverty without first hitting a 40 percent literacy rate,” he told The Borgen Project. “Because of this, around 40 percent of the meals distributed from Rise Against Hunger end up in school feeding programs.”
Children who are living in severe poverty have to spend their time begging for food, rather than receiving an education that will benefit them in the future. The organization keeps this in the forefront of its work and Baritta comments that “we hope to empower young minds to take control of their own community.”
Aspirations Become Reality
A 12-year-old child from Zambia, Aswali, who once did not have adequate access to food, now receives meals each day from Rise Against Hunger distributed by Family Legacy Missions. He is also able to provide food for his family while attending school, decreasing the global poverty rate.
Meals from Rise Against Hunger are also distributed to vocational training facilities. In places such as West Africa, when the people in these facilities have access to meals, they are able to focus on their skills which will, in turn, give them an income that allows them to allocate more food for their families and live life on their own terms.
Rise Against Hunger is an organization that makes valuable efforts toward putting an end to the widespread global hunger. Its impact remains prevalent, with thousands of volunteers joining each year creating an effective tool for growing the movement. Rise Against Hunger understands the importance of every individual being able to make a viable difference toward diminishing poverty.
– Angelina Gillispie
Photo: Flickr
How the US Benefits from Foreign Aid to Burundi
Burundi is a small, landlocked country in Eastern Africa with a population of 8 million people. It also stands to be one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, ranked 184 out of 188 countries on the U.N.’s Human Development Index. While aiding the struggling country, the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Burundi as well.
Burundi’s Political Climate
Burundi suffered a civil war in 1962 and since then has been plagued by ethnic and political conflict amidst continuing efforts to recover as a nation. Poverty has increased due to the spike in violence since the election of Pierre Nkurunziza in 2005. Nkurunziza has since bypassed constitutional limits on his electoral eligibility through announcing a law permitting him to remain in office until 2034.
With the instability in Burundi, continued funding to the country ensures the wellbeing of its citizens. However, the European Union suspended funds to Burundi in March after declaring the president had not done enough to resolve the ongoing political and economic crisis.
But this is not the time to suspend funds to Burundi, for it would do more harm than good. For example, the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Burundi in a multitude of ways.
U.S. Benefits from Foreign Aid to Burundi: Peacekeeping
The foreign aid provided to Burundi would help support America’s goal of peacekeeping in other nations. Burundi is the second-highest contributor to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which focuses on regional peacekeeping.
Through Burundi’s 5,432 troops participating in AMISOM, it is slowly restoring stability around the continent as far as the Horn of Africa.
However, with continued unrest, Burundi faces recalling its deployed troops within and surrounding the country. In this case, the rate of violence and instability will increase not only in the country of Burundi but also in surrounding regions.
Without receiving the foreign aid, Burundi’s military would be unable to assist in peacekeeping throughout the continent, which would most likely lead to the deployment of more American troops onto African soil.
U.S. Benefits from Foreign Aid to Burundi: Boosting the Economy
Another method for how the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Burundi is by pouring financially into the economy of Burundi, which in turn would boost America’s economy.
U.S. investments to Burundi ensure the country can climb the economic ladder, and therefore provide more income for the people of Burundi. When the people of Burundi have higher incomes, they are able to contribute more to the economy of the country.
This benefits American businesses by providing connections with new customers and suppliers. It also prevents additional markets that could be potential competition.
The U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Burundi through economic growth and development, political stability and respect for human rights; therefore, it is important to continue funding the nation of Burundi.
– Adrienne Tauscheck
Photo: Flickr