A 2016 World Bank Report states that, despite the Dominican Republic’s status as one of the countries with the greatest growth in Latin America and the Caribbean, one in every three citizens is poor.
While there was a substantial decrease in poverty from 36.4 percent to 32.3 percent in 2015, the country is still in dire need of reform and aid. With limited access to healthcare, proper sanitation and developing industries outside of tourism, citizens often have little socioeconomic mobility. As a result, President Danilo Medina declared that reducing this extreme, widespread poverty is the key goal in the country’s 2016-2020 plans.
Although an April 2017 World Bank report did state that the business and investing climate has improved alongside access to social services, there is still a great need for improvement.
However, there are three organizations that are directly addressing and helping alleviate the issues plaguing the island. By doing so, they are showing not only U.S. citizens, but anyone concerned, how to help people in the Dominican Republic:
The Mariposa DR Foundation
Inspired by the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals, this organization seeks to minimize both the gender gap and generational poverty through the education and empowerment of young girls. The organization assists in funding the education, health and empowerment of a girl, as “she will reinvest 90 percent of her income back into her family and her community, making her the most influential figure in the today’s world.” The Mariposa DR Foundation invests in girls’ education, enforces community engagement and service and provides a well-rounded health program to each girl. The foundation believes its model can be easily recreated in other poverty-stricken communities across the globe.
Many donations, volunteers (which include countless U.S. college students) and a capital campaign keep the young foundation afloat. The investment the Mariposa DR Foundation currently helps over 100 girls in more than 35 families while giving the Dominican Republic an educated generation of girls to round out their industries.
Sister Island Project
This organization’s mission is to foster “community empowerment, cultural exchange, diversity and equity awareness and action supporting social justice and compassion in the Dominican Republic and the U.S.” The project provides access to health care, education, creative outlets, political empowerment and safe housing to people in the Cruz Verde village and the Yabacao region. Volunteers keep the project going by teaching classes and helping build homes. Many volunteers are helping while staying in the U.S. by holding fundraisers and raising awareness.
The project maintains a learning center where health and education classes are taught. Sister Island Project has also built houses for community members, given scholarships to university students, coordinated micro-enterprise projects and distributed over a ton of donations. Sister Island is lifting communities up with an integrated approach.
The DREAM Project
Based upon six values (integrity, opportunity, inclusion, quality, sustainability and transparency), the DREAM Project focuses on “early childhood education, high-quality primary education and holistic youth development.” Volunteers for the DREAM Project come from all over the U.S. and are never too young; a six-year-old can donate pencils and a girl once raised funds for the project at her bat mitzvah. With 14 programs in 27 different communities, the project is aiding over 7,000 children in the Dominican Republic. It promotes change first through early childhood education, then quality primary education, both of which lead to a holistic youth development in adolescence. This approach results in youth who are better-equipped with decision-making skills and job training, which creates more opportunities for success. With more opportunities for success and higher-quality education, poverty can be reduced in a generational way.
By donating to, volunteering for or simply raising awareness for these organizations, people can help these impoverished communities and subsequently show others how to help people in the Dominican Republic in more substantial ways.
– Gabriella Paez
Photo: Flickr
Examining the Poverty Rate in Fiji
The percentage of Fiji’s population living beneath its national poverty line hovers around 30 percent, amounting to a quarter million people, and has remained fairly stationary for the past 10 years. Compared to its South Pacific counterparts, the poverty rate in Fiji is average given its location and circumstances. Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Micronesia top the list with rates of about 40 percent. The Solomon Islands and Vanuatu are the wealthiest nations in the South Pacific with poverty rates of 12.7 percent. To put these numbers into perspective, 15 percent of the United States lives in poverty.
Shanty towns, or squatter neighborhoods, rest mere miles outside of Fiji’s luxurious resorts. Impoverished rural citizens often resort to moving into shanty towns in order to find work in urban areas within the tourism industry. Fiji’s sugar production, once another booming industry, is on a slow decline. Because of this, rural workers now have better luck finding work in the cities.
In the past, hunger was a looming issue across the islands of Fiji. A 2004 report stated that approximately 40 percent of Fijian children experienced malnourishment. This figure is high even when compared to the country’s poverty rate as a whole.
Why does Fiji experience such issues? Fiji’s politics were once turbulent and the lack of a strong judiciary system allowed for rampant corruption and misconduct. Education and literacy rates are relatively low, making it difficult for many Fijians to find ample work. Land ownership and leasing are highly restricted, as the government lays claim to about 92 percent of all property. Business ownership is also a difficult venture due to strict regulations, but it is becoming easier as new policy makes an effort to enforce a simpler start-up process.
Luckily, current news regarding Fiji’s poverty and hunger is not so bleak. With record numbers of tourists entering the country, workers are finding jobs now more than ever. With changes in leadership and policy, the government is now more supportive of its constituents. The operations manager of Fiji’s Red Cross Society, Eseroma Ledua, noted that the government supports locals in doing business and educates them to be resilient in potentially troubling future economies.
Continued government reform and an increasing tourist volume are likely to continue the steady decline of the poverty rate in Fiji.
-Emily Van Devender
Photo: Flickr
A Glimpse Into the Current State of Human Rights in Austria
While holding a position as a peaceful and democratic society, Austria‘s human rights record still leaves something to be desired. On the one hand, Austria chooses its leaders in free and fair multiparty elections, and freedom of the press is alive and well; however, there are still many complex institutional problems with human rights in Austria.
In 2008, there were several reports of excessive force by police, societal discrimination against Muslims, Jews and members of unrecognized religious groups, violence against women and children and human trafficking. In addition, several isolated incidents were reported of neo-Nazi and xenophobic extremism towards members of minority groups.
Complaints of police ill-treatment towards minorities are still often met with insufficient investigation and action both by the police and the judicial system. In a study done by the Vienna-based EU Fundamental Rights Agency, over 50 percent of immigrants and minorities believe that Austria has a widespread problem of discrimination.
Going hand in hand with this sentiment, racial profiling is also a major threat to human rights in Austria. For example, in 2009, the Viennese police based a large-scale operation almost entirely on racial profiling; after a string of burglaries, the police carried out searches of all houses known to be owned by people of Georgian or Moldovan origin, all without any grounds of suspicion.
This comes along with several other incidents of police discrimination around the same time, including the killings of a Chechen asylum seeker and a Sikh religious leader, both of which were under-investigated. It was later revealed that in both cases the Austrian police had ignored warnings or requests for personal protection.
This police mistreatment can even go so far as torture, as in the case of Bakary J., a Gambian citizen who was tortured by three Viennese police officers in 2006 when it became apparent that he was residing in the country illegally.
While authorities were at fault for failing to implement safeguards against torture and have not revised any official protocol, the Disciplinary Appeal Commission decided to fire two of the three officers involved and cut off the pension of the third.
Since these incidents, human rights in Austria have come to the forefront of the country’s consciousness. In 2011, Austria was officially elected as a member of the Human Rights Council by the U.N. General Assembly. With this new membership, Austria pledged to combat threats to women’s rights, failure of law enforcement and human trafficking. Also, there is a priority for protection of freedom of religion and the protection of religious minorities.
These are important first steps but, like many countries, Austria still struggles with racism and the role of police. Through these conflicts, the country will work to improve human rights for all its citizens.
– Audrey Palzkill
Photo: Flickr
How to Help People in El Salvador
Poverty is high in El Salvador due to the remnants of its violent civil war from 1979 to 1992. Although a truce was agreed to, tensions between the communist rebel movement and the conservative government remain, which has led to the growth of violent street gangs. El Salvador has the highest murder rate in the world (excluding countries at war) due to the activities of its gangs. Violence and instability have created increased poverty within El Salvador.
People in the United States can help citizens in El Salvador. Many Salvadorans have fled to other countries – including the United States – due to the violence in their homeland. American citizens can help Salvadoran refugees by donating to The UN Refugee Agency’s Children on the Run campaign. This campaign is specifically aimed at providing shelter, education and physical and mental care for children and families fleeing the violence in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. Donations can be made through UNHCR’s website.
Save the Children works within El Salvador to help improve the quality of living for Salvadorans. Through Save the Children, one can sponsor a child from early childhood through to early adulthood. The program supports children throughout their education by providing specialized programmings, such as early literacy programs for toddlers and life-skills programs for adolescents. Save the Children also provides families with seeds and livestock that they need for survival, and tools and temporary jobs to give them an income and teach them new skills. Donating to this cause is a great way to help the people, especially children, of El Salvador.
More hands-on approaches can be used to help people in El Salvador as well. Volunteer opportunities are abundant through a variety of organizations. One such organization is Help International. Help International works on an assortment of projects including building community centers, running outreach programs to assist at-risk youth and reforestation campaigns. One can apply to participate in Help International’s El Salvador program through their website.
Finally, simply sharing this information with friends and family and brainstorming ways you can help can go a long way in helping the people of El Salvador overcome poverty.
– Mary Kate Luft
Photo: Flickr
Why Is Bulgaria Poor?
The European Union is one of the largest single-market economies in the world. However, not all of its 27 countries are able to attain the economic prosperity of the wealthier member states. Bulgaria is one such country. While the EU average risk of poverty is 23 percent, more than 41 percent of Bulgarians find themselves falling into this category, making it the member state with the highest level of this risk. Across the country, almost 10 percent of the population is defined as extremely poor, i.e. living with an income lower than 40 percent of that of the average member of the middle class. While other EU members thrive inside the single market, a question that needs to be asked is this: why is Bulgaria poor?
Perhaps the largest contributor to poverty in Bulgaria is the impact of the 2008 financial crisis on the country. In years prior, Bulgaria had experienced rapid growth. However, like many EU members, this reversed following the crash. In real terms, the economy contracted by 5.5 percent in 2009 primarily due to a decline in foreign direct investment and international trade. Since then, growth has not returned to previous levels, with 2011 figures showing GDP growth to be 1.7 percent. This is far lower than the 6.2 percent growth rate witnessed in 2008.
This lack of growth has negatively impacted wages, with the average annual wage in Bulgaria easily the lowest in the EU at the equivalent of just under 2,000 euros. Around 1.5 million people live on less than 60 percent of the average wage, limiting spending power and leading to further potential issues.
One of these issues is unemployment, with Bulgaria’s unemployment rate standing at 10.8 percent, a full percentage point higher than the EU average. The low wages offered through employment are part of this issue, with people lacking the incentive to work since they are able to receive similar incomes through unemployment benefits. Similarly, the financial crisis has enhanced this issue, with unemployment significantly increasing to current levels from 5.6 percent in 2008. With this being the case, many suggest unemployment as one of the primary reasons for Bulgaria’s high levels of poverty.
There seems to be little progress in assisting those in poverty in Bulgaria. Existing policies are criticised for being unreliable and unable to truly address the problems that the poor of the country face. Additionally, it is estimated that, of the poorest 20 percent of households, such policies impact less than half. Policy focused on growth appears to have failed as well and, despite funding from the EU, increases in employment, income and social inclusion have been minute.
The situation in Bulgaria appears bleak and, without significant policy change at a national level, little will change going forward. Decision makers must investigate ways to increase wages, growth and employment opportunities, while simultaneously providing sufficient aid to those in poverty. While this may be difficult, “why is Bulgaria poor?” should no longer be the primary question; rather, we should be asking about potential solutions.
– Gavin Callander
Photo: Flickr
SafePad: Revolutionizing Menstruation and Hygiene
When thinking of the extremely poor, one’s mind may not immediately go to the inherent struggles that come with menstruation. This is not just cramping, bloating and irritability, but the associated sanitation issues that may arise without access to proper hygiene, not to mention the stigmatic buzz around womanhood and her period.
Real Relief, a small organization committed to supplying common life sustaining supplies, is devoted to making a difference and has developed a tool for menstruation hygiene for the extremely poor: SafePad, a period game changer in the sanitation industry. While sanitary napkins are nothing new to the women’s hygiene repertoire, SafePad exemplifies what certain basic life necessities encompass and how something so simple can impact the lives of millions of women and their younger counterparts.
The extremely poor cross many cultures as well as economic strains over a variety of different ages, races and religions. There are several different ways in which women have traditionally dealt with their menses. In some cases, these methods may be simply impractical. Rags may be used to deal with menses, but they often take time and privacy to wash and dry. Where menstruation cups may be available, some cultures may not accept this means or view it as reasonable.
Inadequate access to proper sanitation such as soap and clean water can also cause yeast infections, other serious illness or in extreme cases, infertility. When all else fails, women may choose to “free bleed,” which may not seem particularly harmful unless in the context of young girls attending schools in which they may take five or more days of leave, eventually leading to a poorer performance in their classes or even drop out.
Real Relief’s mission led to the production and distribution of SafePad through NGOs, religious communities and relief aid organizations of SafePad. SafePad has been specifically designed to combat bacteria by utilizing silica, nitrogen and carbon treatment agents, provide comfort, discretion and practical solutions to women where access to hygienic means of caring for the menses is difficult or impossible.
SafePad is also reusable and recyclable for women that do not experience reliable waste management in their communities and can withstand up to 100 washes, which translates to four years of use.
Menstruation is a part of most every woman’s life but if not taken care of properly, has the potential to have serious, life-long side effects. Menstrual health, education and supplies, however, can lead to so much more relief. Period.
– Casey Hess
Photo: Flickr
How to Help People in Tanzania
When it comes to fighting global poverty, feeling sympathetic towards those in need is a slippery slope of uselessness. What makes sympathy dangerous is that it often goes hand-in-hand with marginalization. Feeling sorry for the world’s poor does nothing but invoke quiet judgment and a subsequent divide between the affluent and the impoverished. Social change is only possible when individuals have empathy.
A lack of empathy between groups of people is a primary cause of conflict worldwide. A lack of empathy is often a result of the absence of contact between two parties. Out of sight, out of mind, as the saying goes.
A recent study published in the PNAS journal found that empathy increases significantly between two parties after just two shared positive experiences. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) fighting global poverty have long used jarring images and language to provoke pity in potential donors; the “guilt-trip,” essentially. However, there are growing concerns that such traditional methods can have a reverse effect.
When news of global poverty is overwhelmingly negative, the cause can seem hopeless, donations useless. Organizations such as The Borgen Project recognize this paradox and seek to supply readers with the bad and good news. Neither should be ignored.
Hope and a sentiment of personal efficacy are critical to ensuring the fight against global poverty maintains its vigor. So, know this: the world is waging a successful war against global poverty. In fact, global poverty has been more than halved in the past 20 years. With that information in mind, know too that the fight is far from won.
Take up arms and fight. There are numerous countries on the precipice of development, but just as many on the precipice of decline. Both require foreign aid brought about by empathy and hope.
Tanzania is one such country steadily pulling itself out of an impoverished past. Sixty-eight percent of the population survives on less than $1.25 a day. With newfound hope in the global fight, you may find yourself wondering how to help people in Tanzania. The outlets are endless
If you are concerned with the fundamental human right to healthcare, Dodomo Tanzania Health Development (DTHD) may be the perfect place for you to donate to. According to their website, DTHD’s mission is “to ensure high-quality, compassionate, Tanzanian-led health care for the people of Central Tanzania.”
Another important organization working in Tanzania is Feed the Children. One donation to Feed the Children can change a child’s life. The foundation can multiply your donation five times with the continued support of its corporate sponsors. The donation goes towards nutritious food, clean water, school and supplies and maybe even a goat for their family.
A third organization to which you may want to consider donating is Solar Sister, an organization which is helping to end “rural Africa’s energy poverty by empowering women to become clean energy entrepreneurs and bring light, hope and opportunity to their families and communities.”
There are many more answers to the question of how to help people in Tanzania. In fact, there are copious amounts of resources to help every country in need. It only takes a few active engagements with those in need to nourish a long-term, valuable empathetic bond. Perhaps just one person’s involvement with humanitarian aid could start an influential chain reaction.
– Sophie Nunnally
Photo: Flickr
Human Rights in Chad
According to the 2015 United States Department of State’s Human Rights Practices report on Chad, there are three human rights problems that stand out above the rest: security force abuse, harsh prison conditions and discrimination and violence against women and children.
Protecting people from physical danger is an integral part of human rights protection, but Chad has largely failed in this area. According to reports, the government or its agencies have committed illegitimate killings, including by torture. A tragic example of this occurred in the fall of 2014, when protests against a variety of issues, including increased fuel prices, was met with live fire from police. According to Freedom House, a self-described “watchdog organization” that aims to spread freedom and democracy around the globe, between three and five protestors were killed. Unfortunately, an end to events like these may not come anytime soon due to a lack of accountability. The Department of State’s report found that Chad’s government rarely punishes those who commit abuses.
There are 45 prisons in Chad. Unfortunately, the conditions in these prisons are absolutely reprehensible. Finding oneself in one of these prisons can be potentially life-threatening due to a number of reasons, including inadequate food storage and deleterious sanitary conditions.
Human rights in Chad must be protected equally among all people, but this is unfortunately not always the case. Women, for instance, widely report instances of domestic violence. While this is technically against the law, police have seldom been helpful and women have few legal options. One can only hope that Chad will take steps to improve its protection of human rights, so that its citizens can one day enjoy a higher quality of life.
– Adam Braunstein
Photo: Flickr
Improvements Made for Women’s Rights in Cambodia
Cambodia ratified the CEDAW in 1992, shortly after the end of its civil war. Despite the good intentions such a ratification signals, women’s rights in Cambodia remained stagnant for many years.
Not until the 2003 National Poverty Reduction Strategy (NPRS) was enacted did the Cambodian CEDAW ratification become anything more than nominal. Among many other goals, the NPRS acknowledged and addressed the gap in education, employment and property rights between men and women. Though many women were helped by the plan, the fact remains that they were simply a small part of a larger overall strategy. There remained much to do.
Though women’s rights in Cambodia were helped by both the NPRS and a 2002 affirmative action policy, which gave priority to women entering tertiary education, it was not until recently that the government began truly following through on its commitment to equal rights for women. The Cambodia National Council for Women (CNCW) and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA) were both established in 2001, but it was not until 2005 and 2007, respectively, that either began having any measurable effect.
Some progress has been made. In 2005, 64 percent of people in Cambodia knew a man who had abused his wife. By 2009, the number had shrunk to 53 percent. Infant mortality rates dropped from 65 to 45 per 1000 births between 2005 and 2010, and maternal mortality rates dropped from 472 to 206 per 100,000 births over the same period. From 2008 to 2013, the number of women who received education increased three percent overall, with the most significant improvements being made in the vital rural regions.
Women’s rights in Cambodia have come a long way in a short amount of time, but there is no place now for complacency. Women make up only 15 percent of the Cambodian Senate, a number unchanged since 1999. Parliament is slightly better, with one in five members being women, but this percentage is still frighteningly low.
No Cambodian provinces are governed by women, and sex trafficking, low wages and long hours at menial jobs remain a reality for many women, especially those in rural areas. The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights monitors violations of women’s rights and the work they do alongside the CNCW and the MoWA will continue to shepherd Cambodia into the future. If Cambodians truly wish to become a modern nation, the progress they have made cannot stop until reality reflects the intent of the CEDAW, signed so many years ago.
– Connor S. Keowen
Photo: Flickr
How to Help People in the Dominican Republic
While there was a substantial decrease in poverty from 36.4 percent to 32.3 percent in 2015, the country is still in dire need of reform and aid. With limited access to healthcare, proper sanitation and developing industries outside of tourism, citizens often have little socioeconomic mobility. As a result, President Danilo Medina declared that reducing this extreme, widespread poverty is the key goal in the country’s 2016-2020 plans.
Although an April 2017 World Bank report did state that the business and investing climate has improved alongside access to social services, there is still a great need for improvement.
However, there are three organizations that are directly addressing and helping alleviate the issues plaguing the island. By doing so, they are showing not only U.S. citizens, but anyone concerned, how to help people in the Dominican Republic:
The Mariposa DR Foundation
Inspired by the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals, this organization seeks to minimize both the gender gap and generational poverty through the education and empowerment of young girls. The organization assists in funding the education, health and empowerment of a girl, as “she will reinvest 90 percent of her income back into her family and her community, making her the most influential figure in the today’s world.” The Mariposa DR Foundation invests in girls’ education, enforces community engagement and service and provides a well-rounded health program to each girl. The foundation believes its model can be easily recreated in other poverty-stricken communities across the globe.
Many donations, volunteers (which include countless U.S. college students) and a capital campaign keep the young foundation afloat. The investment the Mariposa DR Foundation currently helps over 100 girls in more than 35 families while giving the Dominican Republic an educated generation of girls to round out their industries.
Sister Island Project
This organization’s mission is to foster “community empowerment, cultural exchange, diversity and equity awareness and action supporting social justice and compassion in the Dominican Republic and the U.S.” The project provides access to health care, education, creative outlets, political empowerment and safe housing to people in the Cruz Verde village and the Yabacao region. Volunteers keep the project going by teaching classes and helping build homes. Many volunteers are helping while staying in the U.S. by holding fundraisers and raising awareness.
The project maintains a learning center where health and education classes are taught. Sister Island Project has also built houses for community members, given scholarships to university students, coordinated micro-enterprise projects and distributed over a ton of donations. Sister Island is lifting communities up with an integrated approach.
The DREAM Project
Based upon six values (integrity, opportunity, inclusion, quality, sustainability and transparency), the DREAM Project focuses on “early childhood education, high-quality primary education and holistic youth development.” Volunteers for the DREAM Project come from all over the U.S. and are never too young; a six-year-old can donate pencils and a girl once raised funds for the project at her bat mitzvah. With 14 programs in 27 different communities, the project is aiding over 7,000 children in the Dominican Republic. It promotes change first through early childhood education, then quality primary education, both of which lead to a holistic youth development in adolescence. This approach results in youth who are better-equipped with decision-making skills and job training, which creates more opportunities for success. With more opportunities for success and higher-quality education, poverty can be reduced in a generational way.
By donating to, volunteering for or simply raising awareness for these organizations, people can help these impoverished communities and subsequently show others how to help people in the Dominican Republic in more substantial ways.
– Gabriella Paez
Photo: Flickr
Problems of Human Rights in the Bahamas
One blemish on this nation’s record is its substandard record on human rights, particularly in the areas of immigrants and prison and detention center conditions.
The 2015 United States Department of State’s report on human rights in the Bahamas concluded that several different types of human rights problems do in fact exist.
The report states that poor treatment of irregular migrants exacerbated by issues in processing them is an issue needing attention. Haitian immigrants to the region, for example, have been detained by Bahamian authorities and kept in custody until proper arrangements were made for them to exit the country or legally stay.
The Bahamian and Haitian governments have taken measures to alleviate the problem, but their solution has brought its own problems with it. The Bahamian government required that non-Bahamian citizens must carry legal documents with them beginning in the fall of 2014. However, outcry poured in from certain international organizations that enforcement of this law was applied unfairly to those of Haitian descent, along with several other complaints. Perhaps the most disturbing accusation of the abuse of human rights in the Bahamas came in the form of reports claiming that “immigration officials physically abused persons as they were being detained and that officials solicited and accepted bribes to avoid detention or secure release,” according to the State Department’s report.
To make matters even worse, the places where these people are being held is substandard. Prison and detention centers did not meet international standards, and overcrowding is a major issue at the government’s only prison.
This data suggests that human rights in the Bahamas are not as well protected as they need to be. In the future, more work must be done by the local and international communities to ensure the better enforcement of human rights in the Bahamas.
– Adam Braunstein
Photo: Google