There is a proven link between lack of education and rises in poverty numbers. People around the world struggle with poor school systems, denied scholastic access and few academic resources. Illiteracy is directly correlated to poverty, and creates a cycle that is hard to break. The difficulties associated with this crisis are large scale and ones that few individuals feel that they can fix by themselves.
The Female Plight
At the brunt of this battle is the female population. Due to gender-based violence, negative stigma within communities and higher rates of poverty, women globally lack education opportunities that are often provided to men.
Many citizens believe that there is nothing that they can do to help, and rely on the bigger voices to take the lead. But there are companies working to change that and to enable consumers to fight for female education as well.
These companies work to help individuals make a global difference and improve the lives of women and girls who are deprived of an education. Consumers can join the fight to educate, empower and break the cycle of poverty created by females’ lack of schooling and access to it.
Here are a five of the most impactful companies that are working towards educating the world.
1. Conscious Step
This sock company supports many different global causes, including their non-profit partner, “Room to Read.” For every pair of “socks that give books” sold, a school book is given to a child in one of a list of targeted countries that struggle with education.
The company especially focuses on communities that need gender equality in their school systems, and work towards enabling girls to achieve an education alongside their male counterparts. Conscious Step also enables consumers to fight for female education through beautiful socks that everyone loves.
2. Sseko Designs
The apparel company, which specializes in sandals, works with young women in Uganda to ensure that many can receive a college education. Sseko Designs employs local girls during the nine-month period between the end of high school and potential beginning of college.
The organization then provides the pre-collegiate girls with employment and scholarship opportunities. For each month of their nine months, 50 percent of the girls’ earnings go into a savings fund for college. This savings account not only allows these driven women to further their education, but it also deters them from caving to social pressures to give the money away to family and friends, which would thus continue the poverty cycle.
At the end of employment terms, Sseko provides the involved girls with scholarships matching the amount of their savings by 100 percent. Thanks to their employment opportunities, the company has already sent 87 girls to college, so far.
3. Out of Print
A business that sells literature themed products, Out of Print not only donates to literacy programs but for every piece purchased, the company also sends one book to a community in need.
Many of these communities have low female attendance in education due to extremely high rates of gender violence. These products help improve these struggling communities and encourage girls to receive an education so that they can rise above poverty and illiteracy.
The book based company work to enable consumers to fight for female education, bring literacy into poorer communities and spread awareness about the difficulties in high illiteracy rates.
4. Bloom and Give
With a specialty in handmade bags, this company sends girls in India to school. The company works to help girls fight against social views and norms that deter them from attending class, and enable them to become educated even through cultural protests. The company donates half of their profits to programs and grassroots movements that work directly with in-need communities.
Bloom and Give’s vibrant bags and other products serve as a way for shoppers to give back globally and also help Indian communities educate girls.
5. Naja
This underwear and lingerie company helps educate Colombian children and aid mothers to return to work. Naja, through its “Underwear for Hope” line, employs local single mothers, or female heads of household, and provides their children with books, uniforms, school supplies and all school meals.
The company strives to change the dialogue that makes mothers choose between childcare and employment, and helps its female employees to educate their children. On top of that, two percent of Naja’s revenue goes towards local charities that fund continuing education for these women.
Naja empowers not only Colombia’s women and children to become educated but also empowers consumers to help in the process through their purchases.
Every Person Counts
While the education crisis is a global one, each person can make a difference. Educating women does not have to solely ride on the backs of the wealthy and the well-connected. The average person can send a girl to school, teach a girl to read and send a woman to college through conscious purchasing and globally-minded companies.
– Emily Degn
Photo: Pixabay
Humanitarian Aid to Guinea Improves Livelihoods of All Guineans
Situated between Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone, Guinea is home to about a third of the world’s bauxite reserves which have not been smelted and refined into aluminum largely owing to the political instability in the country. Chronic underdevelopment has also angered many locals who have, in desperation, disrupted operations at the country’s mines to bring attention to their plight.
According to the U.S. State Department’s Office of Investment Affairs, Guinea suffers from “persistent corruption and fiscal management.” However, the country is not only resource-rich but also filled with economic potentials in the energy and the agricultural sector.
With over four billion tons of untapped high-grade iron ore, abundant rainfall, gold and diamond reserves, off-shore oil reserves and indeterminate amounts of uranium, Guinea has many economic drivers. The country’s natural geography also makes it very hospitable to renewable energy sources such as hydroelectric dams and turbines.
In May 2015, the 240 megawatt Kaleta Dam project was built after a $526 million investment by China. Kaleta more than doubled the country’s electricity supply and encouraged the government to seek aid for more energy infrastructure, mainly in the solar and hydroelectric sector.
According to USAID, Guinea suffered heavy losses to its economical revenue and outlook in the wake of the Ebola outbreak. Many widespread preventable and treatable diseases, such as malaria, prevail in the country and infant and maternal mortality rates remain very high. Furthermore, the agricultural sector is not able to completely function to provide the much-needed source of income and revenue for the people and the government.
The success of humanitarian aid to Guinea is underlined by USAID’s work in the country. In March 2015, USAID provided more than $7 million through the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to improve food security and nutrition as a means to combat poverty and hunger in Guinea.
This culminated in WFP making the largest-ever purchase of locally-produced rice, which supported the local agricultural sector and provided children with meals in hundreds of schools across the country. Furthermore, farmers were educated about the business and contracting process, including working with development partners, and were encouraged to establish relationships with banks to obtain credits and rates they could use to sustain their farms.
It has been said that Guinea’s entire population of 12 million people is at risk of malaria. Malaria control efforts and prevention policies are underway in the country, but the damage is ongoing. According to the Ministry of Health, most of the hospitalizations, consultations and deaths in Guinea are a result of malaria.
Aid organizations such as Plan International have been working for decades to provide humanitarian aid to Guinea. Plan International improves children’s access to health, education and sanitation. This is done by ensuring that sustainable, quality education is provided to all children. Children are afforded access to clean water and sanitation facilities. Furthermore, a safe environment designed to empower children is nurtured.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) Guinea actively helps vulnerable people and migrants to resettle in other countries by advocating on their behalf and lending support at every step of the resettlement process, including performing medical health assessments on behalf of the resettlement countries. Funding for IOM Guinea is mainly provided by the same governments of resettlement countries, and the international community can and should support the efforts of these countries.
With more humanitarian aid to Guinea, this resource-rich country certainly carries the potential to infuse its wealth of resources into the livelihoods of all Guineans.
– Mohammed Khalid
Photo: Flickr
The Devastating Effects of Cluster Bombs in Poor Countries
More than 98 percent of known cluster bomb victims are innocent civilians, and 40 percent of these are children. Cluster bombs are most prevalent in poor countries because these areas tend to be high in crime, corruption and war. These weapons undergo the following process that may result in detonation:
The Drop
A cluster munition is dropped from a plane and can fly around nine miles before releasing its submunitions. This ability makes for highly inaccurate targeting, meaning the bombs are a disproportionate hazard to civilians.
The container begins to spin a short time before releasing its submunitions. It opens at an altitude between 330 and 3,300 feet. The cluster munition’s height, rotation speed and velocity determine how large of an area will be impacted.
Parachutes Open
Submunitions deploy parachutes as they descend. The parachute ensures that each submunition is stable and descends with its nose down. Each submunition is about the size of a soda can and made of a copper cone containing over 300 steel fragments and incendiary material. The cone can pierce through seven inches of armor and its contents are designed to burn the targeted area and destroy its inhabitants.
Effects of Cluster Bombs
Depending on altitude and wind speed, a cluster bomb’s submunition strikes can cover an area up to 861,120 square feet. The detonation of a single submunition can cause fatalities in a 65-foot radius and injure anyone within a 328-foot radius.
Cluster bombs lack consistency; they are prone to external factors such as weather and deployment tactics. Their volatility renders it near impossible to predict the exact size of an area affected. The effects of cluster bombs usually include numerous civilian and child deaths because of the bomb’s unpredictability.
Many submunitions fail to detonate on impact, resulting in the scattering of explosive “duds” throughout the targeted area. Duds contaminate the area even after conflict ends, essentially becoming landmines that injure and kill civilians. The percentage of unexploded submunitions from older canisters can be as high as 30 percent, but modern canisters typically range from two to 20 percent.
Currently, 63 countries are stockpiling submunitions and this number continues to grow. Cheaper variations of the bombs are likely to be used by countries that brutalize their own civilians or by violent no-state agents that disregard civilian safety.
The Convention on Cluster Munitions prohibits the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster bombs. The international agreement was created in August 2010 and has been signed by 111 countries and ratified by 70. The U.S. has not signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
It is possible to combat the effects of cluster bombs by supporting the clearance of unexploded bombs and encouraging countries to sign the treaty banning cluster munitions. With continued effort, civilians’ and children’s lives can be spared.
– Carolyn Gibson
Photo: Flickr
The Varying Success of China’s Humanitarian Aid to Suriname
Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a small country on the northeastern coast of South America. Originally a Dutch colony, Suriname gained independence in 1975. Though Suriname is not a widely prosperous country, its economy has recently endured a variety of difficulties.
The Netherlands
In 2016, Suriname’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was more than $3.6 billion, the unemployment rate was slightly less than 10 percent and the poverty rate was 47 percent.
Despite gaining its independence, the Kingdom of the Netherlands was Suriname’s heaviest financial donor, sending years worth of humanitarian aid to Suriname. In 2012, the Netherlands suspended all aid to Suriname — approximately 26 million — two years after the election of President Desi Bouterse.
The European Commission
The European Commision has also approved emergency funding for Suriname over the years, especially in the case of natural disasters. Suriname is prone to severe flooding, which can wipe out homes and businesses, and increase unemployment and poverty. Usually, this aid is geared toward the population’s health, hygiene and sanitation, food and water.
People’s Republic of China
However, shortly after the Kingdom of the Netherlands completely pulled their funding to Suriname, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) increased its humanitarian aid to the country.
Since the immigration boom to Suriname in the 1990s, China has slowly been giving humanitarian relief to the South American country; in 2011, the Chinese government gifted Suriname with a new Foreign Ministry headquarters.
Also in 2012, China gave Suriname a grant of over 4 million to further the cooperation between both countries; however, it is unclear where this money is going. Since 2009, the Chinese embassy stated that development projects in Surinam — such as help with low-income housing, transportation, seaports and network television — are underway, despite any major initiatives.
Investment and Infrastructure
Within the last 10 years, China has set up various companies, businesses, shops, casinos and restaurants throughout Suriname. While this has vastly helped decrease unemployment, the poverty rate is still high, with nearly half the country living below the poverty line. In exchange for the land, China continues to give Suriname grants, buildings and advancements for the military.
Health-Related Aid
But not all of China’s aid is geared toward infrastructure and employment. In 2016, China provided Suriname with $1 million in humanitarian aid specifically geared toward Zika-related assistance. This included medical supplies and funding for medication and hospitalization for those affected. Zika virus is an infection most commonly found in Central and South America and can be fatal.
Suriname still has a long way to go before it is a completely stable country. The poverty rate still needs to lower significantly and the GDP must increase to be considered a prosperous economy.
Despite these much needed improvements, Suriname has already started distributing humanitarian aid itself. In September 2017, Suriname sent humanitarian aid to Cuba to help with relief efforts after hurricane Irma.
Though the success of humanitarian aid to Suriname is slow, the funds thus far have laid a solid groundwork. The Surinamese now have the tools they need to become a prosperous and independent country.
– Courtney Wallace
Photo: Flickr
5 Companies that Enable Consumers to Fight for Female Education
There is a proven link between lack of education and rises in poverty numbers. People around the world struggle with poor school systems, denied scholastic access and few academic resources. Illiteracy is directly correlated to poverty, and creates a cycle that is hard to break. The difficulties associated with this crisis are large scale and ones that few individuals feel that they can fix by themselves.
The Female Plight
At the brunt of this battle is the female population. Due to gender-based violence, negative stigma within communities and higher rates of poverty, women globally lack education opportunities that are often provided to men.
Many citizens believe that there is nothing that they can do to help, and rely on the bigger voices to take the lead. But there are companies working to change that and to enable consumers to fight for female education as well.
These companies work to help individuals make a global difference and improve the lives of women and girls who are deprived of an education. Consumers can join the fight to educate, empower and break the cycle of poverty created by females’ lack of schooling and access to it.
Here are a five of the most impactful companies that are working towards educating the world.
1. Conscious Step
This sock company supports many different global causes, including their non-profit partner, “Room to Read.” For every pair of “socks that give books” sold, a school book is given to a child in one of a list of targeted countries that struggle with education.
The company especially focuses on communities that need gender equality in their school systems, and work towards enabling girls to achieve an education alongside their male counterparts. Conscious Step also enables consumers to fight for female education through beautiful socks that everyone loves.
2. Sseko Designs
The apparel company, which specializes in sandals, works with young women in Uganda to ensure that many can receive a college education. Sseko Designs employs local girls during the nine-month period between the end of high school and potential beginning of college.
The organization then provides the pre-collegiate girls with employment and scholarship opportunities. For each month of their nine months, 50 percent of the girls’ earnings go into a savings fund for college. This savings account not only allows these driven women to further their education, but it also deters them from caving to social pressures to give the money away to family and friends, which would thus continue the poverty cycle.
At the end of employment terms, Sseko provides the involved girls with scholarships matching the amount of their savings by 100 percent. Thanks to their employment opportunities, the company has already sent 87 girls to college, so far.
3. Out of Print
A business that sells literature themed products, Out of Print not only donates to literacy programs but for every piece purchased, the company also sends one book to a community in need.
Many of these communities have low female attendance in education due to extremely high rates of gender violence. These products help improve these struggling communities and encourage girls to receive an education so that they can rise above poverty and illiteracy.
The book based company work to enable consumers to fight for female education, bring literacy into poorer communities and spread awareness about the difficulties in high illiteracy rates.
4. Bloom and Give
With a specialty in handmade bags, this company sends girls in India to school. The company works to help girls fight against social views and norms that deter them from attending class, and enable them to become educated even through cultural protests. The company donates half of their profits to programs and grassroots movements that work directly with in-need communities.
Bloom and Give’s vibrant bags and other products serve as a way for shoppers to give back globally and also help Indian communities educate girls.
5. Naja
This underwear and lingerie company helps educate Colombian children and aid mothers to return to work. Naja, through its “Underwear for Hope” line, employs local single mothers, or female heads of household, and provides their children with books, uniforms, school supplies and all school meals.
The company strives to change the dialogue that makes mothers choose between childcare and employment, and helps its female employees to educate their children. On top of that, two percent of Naja’s revenue goes towards local charities that fund continuing education for these women.
Naja empowers not only Colombia’s women and children to become educated but also empowers consumers to help in the process through their purchases.
Every Person Counts
While the education crisis is a global one, each person can make a difference. Educating women does not have to solely ride on the backs of the wealthy and the well-connected. The average person can send a girl to school, teach a girl to read and send a woman to college through conscious purchasing and globally-minded companies.
– Emily Degn
Photo: Pixabay
How Fair Trade Coffee in Colombia Could Solve the Poverty Struggle
Colombia is a land known for its jungles, food and, of course, the coffee industry. Four million of Colombians rely on the coffee bean for income. While coffee is the second most profitable industry in the world, 30 percent of the country still lives below the poverty line. These valuable coffee farmers are living on less than $2 a day, and yet are at the forefront of the global economy.
Coffee Farm Wage Discrepancies
This discrepancy is largely due to two factors: the middlemen are making 87 percent of the profits, and most farms are too small to become “fair trade certified” in order to sell fair trade coffee in Colombia. It is an unprofitable business for the growers but is central to Colombia’s and the world’s economies.
This disconnect perpetuates poverty in the country, as well as creates a lack of interest in the youth to continue the coffee business. Children grow up watching their parents struggle on the farms and receive little pay from buyers, and witnessing such hardship significantly impacts the next generation’s well-being and career foci. There is now a growing trend of these growing sons and daughters not only leaving their communities to escape rural poverty, but participating in criminal activity and gang life due to lack of education, and a support system elsewhere.
As the coffee farmers struggle, crime increases, and in a cyclic motion, so does poverty. Fair trade coffee in Colombia is key to abolishing such high rates of poverty within the economy.
The country has been taking measures to focus on growing profits from the industry and works to address the poverty issue at hand. The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation has been working to spread fair trade coffee in Colombia, transparent and fair prices and humane working conditions for farm workers.
One Improvement at a Time
Thanks to new and required minimum price lines on the beans, and large-scale corporations stepping in to help, Colombia is slowly improving living conditions for their farmers, making it a viable income for many. Making coffee have a required fee guarantees that farmers make a certain profit. The farmers can charge more if they’re able, but doing so deters buyers from taking advantage of the small farms.
Starbucks is one of the large corporations practicing direct trade in order to ensure fair price for both parties. They don’t buy from middlemen. They go straight to the farm. This practice is spreading slowly among coffee chains, thanks to the ethical sourcing being already embraced by a few.
Fair Trade Certification
A huge problem in the improvement process of this industry is the price to become Fair Trade Certified. Most of the coffee farms are small and lack the funds to gain certification. Many even already implement the practices involved, but are not able to participate in the movement and thus cannot gain the associated Fair Trade Certified market advantages.
Due to this occurrence, the National Federation of Coffee Growers strives to give easier access to the certification of small farmers, and lower costs. The Federation has already implemented measures to improve the sustainability, working conditions and economic value of the coffee business as a whole.
Fair Trade and Colombia
Colombia has a goal now to be certified nationwide by 2027. The government is working very closely with the different organizations to achieve this and is making the coffee business the nation’s business.
Thanks to conscious buyers, and chains that buy directly from the farmers, the country might be able to pull through with this achievable goal. The movement for fair trade coffee in Colombia has already gained a significant amount of traction in the United States and Great Britain, and small coffee farmers could be the key to raising Colombia out of poverty.
– Emily Degn
Photo: Flickr
Three Organizations Working to Eliminate Poverty in Mexico
Poverty in Mexico, and crime as a result of that poverty, are well-known problems. In Mexico, there is a rising level of violence as well as stagnant wages and declining purchasing power.
In 2014, 53.2 percent of the country lived below the national poverty line by the broadest measure of poverty. This means they lack sufficient income to meet basic needs including food, health, education, clothes, housing, transport and more.
On average, Mexican laborers worked a total of 2,246 hours in 2015, the most of the 35 members countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). However, those workers earned on average a total of only $14,867, the lowest in the OECD.
According to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Mexico received $338 million in aid that was broadly classified as economic development and military assistance in 2015.
The amount of foreign aid to Mexico varies each year but it has been about 0.7 percent of overall U.S. foreign aid since 2010. Overall foreign aid represents about 1 percent of the federal budget.
There are several initiatives that address poverty and seek to help those living in poverty in Mexico. Three organizations running initiatives like these are:
Freedom from Hunger
Freedom from Hunger uses microfinance as a self-assist support tool to help the poor reduce the day-to-day uncertainties of cash management. It also promotes the delivery of integrated financial services to increase economic and food security of the poor in Mexico and Central America, especially for women and girls.
Freedom from Hunger also developed and promoted “value-added” or “integrated” microfinance programs that pair financial services with education and health protection.
The education programs engage women during microfinance meetings with practical skills to promote better health, nutrition, business and money management through the use of dialogue, story, song, demonstrations and pictures.
The organization has six specially designed e-learning courses to build the skills of microfinance institutions and to create a frontline group who can provide better financial training to their clients.
TECHO
TECHO is a youth led non-profit organization present in Latin America and the Caribbean. They seek to overcome poverty in slums through the collaborative work of youth volunteers with families living in extreme poverty in Mexico.
TECHO aims to have society as a whole recognize poverty as a priority and actively work toward overcoming it, doing so through three strategic objectives:
ECLAC
ECLAC, also known in Spanish as CEPAL, is a U.N. regional commission encouraging economic cooperation. It works toward economic, social and sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean. It also reinforces economic ties to other countries and nations around the world.
With efforts toward eliminating poverty in Mexico, there can be a pathway toward a stronger, flourishing country.
– Julia Lee
Photo: Flickr
Mutual Gains: How the US Benefits From Foreign Aid to Lebanon
From the civil war that lasted around 20 years, to the Israeli war in 2006 and the outbreak of the Syrian crisis in March 2011, Lebanon has been in a state of instability and conflict for many years. The nation has struggled to overcome the seemingly endless obstacles that prohibit the country from reform and development. Luckily, though, USAID and foreign aid in general have been a great source of support in assisting its citizens with greater accessibility to clean drinking water, increased access to primary healthcare centers and medical treatment and improving education, poverty and vaccination rates among children.
Is Foreign Aid Detrimental to the U.S.?
Answering how the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Lebanon has been a subject of debate for many years, particularly among U.S. citizens who believe that their government is continuously providing monetary assistance to developing countries in huge amounts, far more than what is actually needed.
U.S. Perception
Most U.S. citizens estimate that around 25 percent of the federal government’s budget is spent on foreign aid; however, in reality, foreign aid accounts for less than 1 percent of the total budget. Since the perceived amount donated to help third world countries is highly inflated in the public’s eyes, it is expected that approximately 59 percent of Americans want to reduce foreign aid with the hope that the money will instead be invested in their own country.
Yet, what the public neglects is that the funds allocated to underserved nations is not just an act of compassion, but rather the establishment of a mutually beneficial relationship between both parties — the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Lebanon through improved security, increased stability and economic prosperity.
What are the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Lebanon?
By contributing to the country’s development process through the investments in projects and programs aimed at educating people and providing citizens with necessary resources, the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Lebanon through the establishment of a new trade relationship with the recipient country. This camaraderie will, in turn, increase its margin of profit.
In 2015, Lebanon imported goods from the U.S with a total value of $1.22 billion, as the U.S. ranked the country’s third top importer of goods. Such huge financial transactions have surely benefited both the donor (economic prosperity) and recipient (strong quality of goods).
Moreover, the U.S. donation of $419 million to aid Syrian refugees in Lebanon will not only help the Lebanese population in overcoming the economic and social burden imposed on their nation, but it will also reduce the influx of refugees to the U.S which can create an even greater burden if left uncontrolled.
Democratic Governance and Conflict Resolution
USAID has succeeded in initiating the start of democratic and resilient Lebanese societies by coordinating with local partners to enhance transparency and accountability of governments, as well as supporting elevated participation rates by the civil society, youth and women. By favoring government-led reforms that intend to foster more pluralistic and fair political leadership, U.S foreign aid to Lebanon has offered the country a chance to exercise proper peaceful democratic relationships.
Integration and Expansion
In response to the Syrian war crisis and its impact on Lebanon, USAID has also re-oriented existing projects in the country to integrate the refugees within the established system. Additional foreign aid to Lebanon has been provided to help host the refugees by building more schools, expanding health facilities and improving access to water.
Through foreign aid, Lebanon and the U.S. can maintain a healthy and mutually beneficial relationship that works to improve citizens’ lives from both nations.
– Lea Sacca
Photo: Flickr
PAXI, the Pink Taxi: Pakistan’s First Taxi Service for Women
A study by the International Labor Organization isolated a lack of safe transportation as a major contributor to the low number of Pakistani women participating in the workforce. Pink Taxi is Pakistan’s first taxi service for women, and ‘Paxi’ aims to create a safe environment for both its female passengers and female drivers through its Pink Taxi service.
Paxi offers three services: bikes with male drivers for short distances, the Paxi Taxi with male drivers and the Pink Taxi with female drivers. Pink Taxis are Paxi’s women-exclusive car service — the cars will not pick up male passengers between the ages of 12 and 70.
Pink Taxi launched in March 2017 and has been growing in popularity. Two months after launch, the service received approximately 50-60 more requests for rides per day.
A Safe Form of Transportation
Karachi’s Urban Resource Center recently released a study that found that 55 percent of women commuting by public bus in Karachi felt uncomfortable and faced sexual harassment. Public buses have large men’s areas and small women’s areas, but separation is oftentimes not enforced.
Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, Minister for Transport in Sindh (the province where Karachi is located) supports safe alternative transportation for women. He says: “Having a mode of public transport catering to [the women] alone can solve many of their transport issues.”
Call a Cab via an App
The taxi service for women can be called with the Paxi app. To accommodate less tech-savvy customers, Pink Taxi users can also dial a call center or use SMS texting to find a car. The rides can also be hailed on the road. To make the taxis recognizable to passengers, the cars are heavily branded and drivers wear special uniforms.
In addition, Pink Taxi drivers are given free driving and self-defense lessons and extensive communication training. Female drivers might face harassment and threats on the job, but Paxi teaches its female employees how to mitigate these situations.
Cost of a Paxi
Each ride is slightly more than a traditional taxi service, with a base fare of Rs. 150 and an additional Rs. 15/km. Other taxis start at a base fare of Rs. 100. Taxis are substantially more expensive than bus fare — a one-way bus ticket costs Rs. 20.
For professional women, Pink Taxis offer a welcome alternative to male-driven taxi cabs; however, the price can exclude lower-income women who rely on the bus for their daily commute.
Paxi’s Unifying Goals
Paxi aims to bring its taxi service for women to other cities in Pakistan such as Sukkur and Peshawar — Peshawar, for instance, is deeply conservative and observes strict purdah (seclusion of women), so Paxi would be extremely useful to the women in these areas. In fact, Paxi’s founder, Shaikh M. Zahid, argues that bringing Pink Taxis to Peshawar can give the large number of highly-educated women increased mobility throughout the city. This idea is encouraged by the positive response he’s received in informal talks with religious leaders and women in the community.
For now, though, Paxi will continue increasing its fleet of women drivers in Karachi to meet growing demand, all while looking to expansions of its services in the future.
– Katherine Parks
Photo: Flickr
The Difference Between Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide
The United Nations (U.N.) first termed ‘genocide’ in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, while ‘ethnic cleansing,’ on the other hand, is not recognized as a crime under international law (United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect).
The lines between the ethnic cleansing and genocide can become blurred; however, when it comes to the international community taking action to mediate in a crime, the difference between ethnic cleansing and genocide needs to be understood.
Genocide
Genocide, in the Convention, means “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, as such:
Therefore, under international law, genocide is a punishable crime. Any person found guilty of carrying out genocide will be tried by a tribunal of the state where the genocide was committed or an international tribunal.
Ethnic Cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is the process of removing particular groups from a specific area based on race, nationality, religion and other identifying principles.
While ethnic cleansing doesn’t, by definition, involve the intent to kill a group, the resettlement of said people typically results in the loss of lives; genocide, however, focuses on the “intent to destroy.”
Ethnic cleansing is considered a crime against humanity. It has not been written and signed in any U.N. treaty, which means Member States do not have to protect those who have fallen victim.
Critics of the terms “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide” say that many state governments will use the initial phrase — even in incidents that could arguably be classified as genocide — in order to escape the necessity of using state resources and taking action against the perpetrating nation.
Responsibility to Protect
International law, in general, is a tricky topic when it comes to holding perpetrators accountable and protecting human rights. However, there is discussion on the national and international level (especially within the U.N.) to improve global law enforcement mechanisms.
The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine says that “if a state is unable to protect its own population from “genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity” then the internationality community must do something.”
R2P was adopted at the World Summit in 2005. It aims to hold member states accountable for the equal and moral protection of their own populations and all populations at risk of genocide and other mass atrocity crimes.
Discussion is increasing to meet the needs of millions of individuals that have suffered (and are suffering) from ethnic cleansing and genocide in the world today.
– Caysi Simpson
Photo: Flickr
The Ways the US Benefits from Foreign Aid to Indonesia
The U.S. has allocated a total of $27.8 billion in foreign aid for the fiscal year of 2018 to benefit numerous countries around the world. One such recipient of that foreign aid is Indonesia, a country that began receiving U.S.-based funds after it gained its independence from Netherland in 1949.
Agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and Peace Corps have assisted the country for over 60 years in various development challenges. Although the country attributes much of considerable progress to foreign aid, the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Indonesia in numerous notable ways as well.
U.S. Benefits from Military Cooperation
The U.S. administration requested almost $41.7 million as foreign aid for Indonesia in fiscal year 2008. The goal was a joint fight of the two countries against terrorism, weapon expansion and other trans-national crimes. These aims also included strategic monitoring of waterways surrounding Indonesia and cooperation with the United States armed military forces.
From 2011 to 2016, the U.S. and Indonesia jointly performed 998 defense and security activities. High ranking military officials of the two countries exchanged their views on regional and global security issues through the Indonesia-United States Security Dialog (IUSSD) meetings. In 2015 at one of these meetings, the officials stated their focus on the following activities:
U.S. Benefits from Maritime Cooperation
In June 2010, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Maritime Cooperation which led to a joint National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) expedition. This voyage helped explore geological, biological and archaeological features of the unexplored ocean and involved scientists and engineers from both countries.
The MOU also extends cooperation in conservation and management of fishery, the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) and maritime safety and security, including combating and eliminating illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing.
U.S. Benefits from Economic Development
In 2008, the U.S. invested almost $27 million in the economic development of Indonesia. This funding helped to prevent corruption and increase transparency in finance, investment and the private sector of Indonesia facilitating trade between the two countries.
As a result of these aims, the U.S. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) stock reached almost $16 billion in Indonesia in 2009, an increase that substantially aided the growth of the U.S. investment sector. Then, from 2010 to 2011, the trade between the two countries amounted to almost $23.4 million with a 17 percent increase of exports of U.S. goods to Indonesia.
The U.S. is also a major supplier of aircraft transport, rail transport and energy sector equipment to Indonesia. In 2011, the supply of U.S. agricultural products was remarkable and earned more than $3 billion for the country. Different U.S. firms also invested a combined $450 million on plants.
Other Benefits
Indonesia is one of the world’s top greenhouse gas emitters due to its vast tropical forest. Thankfully, though, with the help of Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and USAID, the country aims to reduce CO2 emissions and generate 19 percent of the energy from renewable sources by 2019; accomplishing these goals would help fulfill the admirable targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Since 2004, the U.S. has also assisted with Indonesia’s education programs. This aid helped to develop education exchange programs between universities of two countries and in January 2017, it was reported that almost 500 U.S. citizens studied in Indonesia with scholarships helping waive tuition fees and living expenses.
The U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Indonesia is manifold in fighting terrorism and fostering marine exploration, fishing conservation, exchange education programs and job creation. These advantageous results help prove that foreign aid does not have to be charity but rather a strategic investment benefitting both recipient and donor.
– Mahua Mitra
Photo: Flickr