Recovering from a gruesome civil war that left the nation paralyzed between 1991 and 2001, Algeria has slowly been restoring the backbone of its infrastructure. Algeria’s infrastructure system is highly important, as it serves as a gateway between North Africa and Europe.
The Algerian government has launched an extensive public investment program in an effort to make transport a top priority. According to CountryWatch, in 2010, Algeria began “a five-year $286 billion development program to update its infrastructure and provide jobs.”
Another area of improvement that will directly impact infrastructure in Algeria is tourism. In 2012, the government began investing in the tourism sector and set a target of attracting 3.5 million tourists by 2015. The tourism sector has been the main focus of delivering employment in Algeria to better improve living conditions. The Minister of Tourism and Handicrafts, Hacène Mermouri, announced in December 2017 that 1,812 new hotel infrastructure projects have been approved by the Ministry.
These changes also impact nearby airports within the region. New terminals are being built to better accommodate international tourists in Oran and Algiers. Additional renovations include the establishment of Algeria’s first underground metro system, as well as extending roads and rail services.
The Ministry of Transport has reaped the successes from infrastructure in Algeria, earning €35.7 billion between 2010 and 2014. Such investments are expected to improve Algeria’s logistics performance, as well as reduce congestion and transport costs in a hub that serves as the primary source of transportation.
A surge in the number of vehicles that are to circulate Algeria’s roads is also concerning, leading the government to focus on expanding the country’s road network. According to the Ministry of Public Works, from the start of 2000 to 2014, the government invested in €46.9 billion in road infrastructure.
Some caveats that may impede Algeria’s growth in the near future are the fall of oil demand from nations such as the U.S., allocating between 20 to 25 percent of all Algerian exports. In addition, there has been a decrease in gas and oil production, of which Algeria ranks fourth and tenth as the largest exporter worldwide, respectively.
Per a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) report, this decrease is putting increasing pressure on Algeria’s government to liberalize its economic and investment policies. Despite such internal worries, Algeria has significantly improved its logistics infrastructure, which had them ranked 140th in 2007, to which they have climbed to 96th out of 160 countries.
The central component of Algeria’s projected growth resonates with the success of the $262 billion five-year investment plan. This project is aimed at “boosting domestic production and moving the country’s economy away from oil and gas reliance,” per CountryWatch.
In a nation where poverty remains widespread, a high unemployment rate, particularly among the youth, is obstructing the country from any consistent growth. Moreover, PWC reports that the labor market is inefficient, ranking “last globally in the 2013 Global Competitiveness Index.”
Reforming institutions and monetary policies are vital to an environment crippled by political unrest and faced with strenuous complications. Infrastructure in Algeria, especially under the five-year plan, is set to ensure “significant continued development of transportation networks in the coming years,” as Oxford Business Group reports. Apart from the advertised objectives, the future of Algerian development is also contingent upon its domestic production. Algeria has a plan, but its path forward in a rapidly adjusting global system remains to be seen.
– Alexandre Dumouza
Photo: Flickr
Discussing the Success of Humanitarian Aid to Russia
The Russian economy has been something of a roller coaster over the course of the past three decades. The rapid economic transformation after the fall of the Soviet Union is responsible for the economic hardship the country endured in its aftermath, and resulted in many countries providing humanitarian aid to Russia over the past thirty years.
While still not without its problems, Russia has gone from a recipient of foreign aid to a major donor at the international level. Its story is well worth examining, as it demonstrates that humanitarian aid to Russia has been largely successful, that countries do “graduate” from foreign aid and also that former recipients of foreign aid can put themselves in a position to turn around and become donors, benefitting other developing nations while simultaneously advancing their own interests.
The Soviet Union was a major donor of foreign aid, providing it to many countries. After its collapse, however, Russia endured years of economic hardship. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, humanitarian aid to Russia in various forms was regularly provided by the international community. Russia continues to receive small amounts of foreign aid from donors like the United States, although this aid has transitioned in recent years from being mostly humanitarian in nature and development-oriented to supporting governance and international law enforcement efforts.
Just last year, the United Kingdom elected to stop providing humanitarian aid to Russia out of a desire to aid “only the poorest people in the poorest countries.” This indicates that, from the point of view of the U.K., Russia has “graduated” from foreign aid, despite the widespread belief that doing so is impossible for a developing country.
While some would debate whether Russia specifically is no longer in need of aid, it is accepted that the country no longer needs as much as it once did. This would imply that foreign aid played a role in Russia’s return to economic self-sufficiency. Without debating specifics, Russia is an excellent example of how there is a return on investment when providing foreign aid.
Over the past several years, Russia has even begun providing foreign aid to other developing countries. While its foreign aid budget is still the lowest of the G8 countries, it is by no means insignificant, and it seldom decreases.
While Russia prefers to channel most of its aid through multilateral organizations, the Russian government has also indicated that it would like to expand its capacity for foreign aid and create a dedicated agency to oversee distribution in order to enhance Russia’s international image. Most of Russia’s aid money is put toward food security and vaccine distribution programs, which means that humanitarian aid to Russia has indirectly resulted in aid being provided to other countries, meaning that the return on investment far outstrips the amount initially provided.
The story of Russia is an excellent example of humanitarian aid that was a resounding success. Not only has Russia become capable of meeting its basic needs on its own, but it has now become a donor to other countries. While the situation in the nation is not perfect, Russia still serves as an excellent example of why foreign aid is worth every penny.
– Michaela Downey
Photo: Pixabay
Women’s Empowerment in the Solomon Islands Needs Improvement
In 2007, only 67 percent of adult females and 84 percent of adult males were literate in the Solomon Islands. While this sharp contrast has gradually shrunk in the past ten years, women performed poorer than men in gross enrollment at almost all levels of education. In tertiary education, female students took up only 38 percent of total enrollment in 2012, and were concentrated in tourism, hospitality and education.
Another concern for women’s empowerment in the Solomon Islands is related to improving their health conditions. Malaria infections are high in pregnant women and children. There is a shortage of fresh water, fruits and vegetables in women’s diets, and this contributes to a high maternal mortality rate. Huge numbers of sexually transmitted infections come from early marriage, sexual violence and culturally sanctioned male infidelity, all of which contribute to gender inequality in the nation.
Lower levels of education and vulnerability to health issues leads to the poorer status of women in the economy. A large gap in employment rates sees 72.2 percent of men and 60.4 percent of women employed in the Solomon Islands. Land ownership and other traditional property rights still exclude women, despite the fact that 76.2 percent of women are involved in subsistence work, compared to 58.1 percent of men.
Female political leaders in this nation are almost nonexistent. Freda Tuki Soriocomua is the only woman holding one of the 50 seats in parliament, and also serves as minister for women. As claimed by the Inter-Parliamentary Union in June 2017, the Solomon Islands has the sixth-worst representation of women in parliament in the world.
Furthermore, due to the lack of domestic violence legislation, violence towards women in the Solomon Islands is a serious issue. As reported by the Family Health and Safety Study in 2009, among women aged 15 to 49 who had ever had a partner, 64 percent had experienced physical or sexual violence. About one-third of women reported being sexually abused before age 15, while around 10 percent of women reported physical violence during their pregnancy. Actual numbers could be even higher due to incomplete statistics.
Besides the 2012 ratified conventions and other regional commitments, U.N. Women in the Solomon Islands has been running a variety of programs to promote gender equality. These programs include Advancing Gender Justice in the Pacific, Ending Violence Against Women, Increasing Community Resilience through Empowerment of Women to Address Climate Change and Natural Hazards, and Women’s Economic Empowerment.
Women’s empowerment in the Solomon Islands demands increased concern. While previous cultural barriers and the nature of work created restrictions to women’s empowerment in the Solomon Islands, global efforts and collaborative policy development will gradually relieve the inequality-related issues of this nation.
– Xin Gao
Photo: Flickr
Humanitarian Aid to Zambia Saves Mothers and Infants
Zambia has undergone rapid economic growth over the last decade as Africa’s second-largest copper producer, but the country’s dependence on copper has made it prone to falling commodity prices. Zambia’s economy is also unable to keep up with its immense population of 15.972 million. Zambia has one of the world’s fastest-growing populations with an anticipated tripling of its population by 2025.
Its total fertility rate has decreased by less than 1.5 children per woman over the last 30 years. On average, a Zambian woman will give birth to six children. Zambia’s high fertility rate derives from its lack of access to education, employment and family planning services. Its youthful demographic also plays a role in its high fertility rates; 66 percent of Zambians are under the age of 24.
The Mother and Baby Care II Project emphasizes humanitarian aid to Zambia. The project’s duration is January 2015 to December 2017 and is a follow-up to the first Mother and Baby Care Project established in 2013 and 2014. The project focuses on healthcare and improving mother and baby care in the Mongo region of the Western Province.
The Western Province is one of Zambia’s least developed regions. It faces one of the world’s highest mortality rates among mothers, newborns and children under five years old. High mortality rates stem from limited healthcare knowledge, poorly equipped medical facilities and a lack of qualified medical personnel.
Objectives of The Mother and Baby Care II Project include:
The Mother and Baby Care II Project promotes human welfare and provides basic healthcare needs to a poverty-stricken region. Projects that focus on humanitarian aid to Zambia may further the country’s development and reduce mortality rates among women and children.
– Carolyn Gibson
Photo: Flickr
How the Mobile Lending Boom Affects Credit Access in Kenya
Many ordinary citizens have struggled to get credit access in Kenya, but new technologies are narrowing the gap. This points to a better future for finance in the East African nation.
Lack of Credit Access in Kenya
By some measurements, the Republic of Kenya’s economy has the largest GDP in East and Central Africa, owing no small part to its capital city, Nairobi, a regional commercial hub. But the nation suffers from its poor formal credit access for poor rural and urban populations, and small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs).
As recently as 2009, only 39.6 percent of Kenya’s adult population had access to credit. As the costs of living have risen in Kenya, this lack of access can accelerate poverty levels. But the good news is, recently, the growth of new options like mobile lending have boosted credit access in Kenya.
The Mobile Lending Boom
According to Kenyan newspaper Business Daily Africa, lending via mobile phones has boosted credit access in Kenya six times over the past seven years. This conclusion comes from research done by the Standard Investment Bank.
The number of persons or households with loan accounts rose to 7.2 million between 2010 and 2016. The expansion of credit comes as mobile phone banking solutions have reached those who were left out of banking services due to their lack of traditional credit histories.
Warning Signs and Course Corrections
Although increased credit access is in many ways a good development, Business Daily Africa writes that defaults on loans rose 42.4 percent in 2016, likely the result of a softening job market in the country. A second Kenyan paper, the Daily Nation, suggests that the inability of entrepreneurs and SMEs to get loans via traditional banks is playing a role in this issue.
If Kenyan banks can correct their courses and find a way to make the traditional system work in a responsible way for the nation’s rural and urban poor, the loan system will hopefully stabilize, and non-performing loans will shrink as a percentage of total loans in Kenya.
– Chuck Hasenauer
Photo: Flickr
5 Things to Know About Development Projects in Lesotho
There are several development projects in Lesotho dedicated to increasing agricultural production, constructing income-generating activities and improving development effectiveness. Below are five development projects in Lesotho.
The LHWP is a binational infrastructure project between South Africa and Lesotho intended to provide water to an arid region of South Africa and to generate hydroelectricity and income for Lesotho. Phase I of the project was completed in 2003; work on Phase II of the LHWP began in 2013. Phase II involves water transfer and hydropower components that are meant to increase both water transmission to South Africa and the amount of electricity generated in Lesotho by 2020.
The Cultural Heritage Plan was developed and implemented in response to Phase II of the LHWP. Its objective is to preserve and manage Lesotho’s history by protecting cultural heritage and burial sites, rock art and Stone Age occupation sites.
Work began on the SADP in early 2012, as part of the Lesotho government’s National Strategic Development Plan, but the project’s design was restructured in 2016. The project’s development objectives are to increase and improve the marketed portion of agriculture output among project beneficiaries and to generate practical responses to an Eligible Crisis or Emergency.
In 2016, the Lesotho government implemented the Sustainable Energy for All project. Developed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the project’s goal is to improve access to clean energy services in the rural areas of Lesotho by 2021.
The Lesotho Data for Sustainable Development Project was implemented by the Lesotho government in 2016 and is expected to reach its developmental goals by January 2018. The project’s objectives include the collection, analysis and distribution of development data; the construction of institutional and technical capacities for the management and evaluation of development projects; and to improve national and sectoral capacities to generate data and facilitate accountability for resources.
The rate of poverty in Lesotho has declined steadily over the last decade, an achievement credited to economic growth. With these development projects in Lesotho, the nation should continue to improve its capacity to address development challenges and constraints, to sustain growth and to prioritize human welfare progression.
– Gabrielle Doran
Photo: Flickr
The Importance of the U.S. Office of Global Food Security
One of the initiatives of the OGFS is an organization called 1,000 Days, and it shows the importance of providing and achieving global food security. The purpose of 1,000 Days is to ensure the best nutrition during a woman’s pregnancy up until the second birthday of that child, as this “sets the foundation for all the days that follow,” as the organization’s official website states.
According to the organization, nutrition during pregnancy up until the second birthday provides the essentials for brain development, healthy growth and a strong immune system. A person’s predisposition to chronic diseases and obesity are also linked to this thousand-day window. Malnourished daughters who become malnourished mothers can also give birth to malnourished children, continuing the cycle.
Feed the Future serves as an OGFS initiative as well, with its focus being combating hunger and poverty around the world. The areas the initiative seeks to improve upon are inclusive agriculture sector growth, gender integration, improved nutrition, research and capacity building, private sector engagement and resilience.
Some of the key accomplishments of Feed the Future from 2017 include 1.7 million families no longer suffering from hunger and $2.6 billion in crop sales generated by farmers. Furthermore, more than nine million more people now live above the poverty line due to the initiative.
Despite the effectiveness of the Office of Global Food Security’s efforts to reduce hunger, President Trump’s administration said it would withdraw funding to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, or GAFSP. Created during the Obama administration, GAFSP was designed as an integral part of the Feed the Future initiative. GAFSP’s main goals are to raise farmer incomes, increase food security and prevent unrest that results from food shortages.
The United States is the program’s biggest donor, with $653 million to date. In an interview with Foreign Policy, Marie Clarke, a member of the GAFSP steering committee and executive director of the nonprofit ActionAid USA, explained that withdrawing the United States’ funding could be extremely harmful to economic development, security and humanitarian conditions in the world’s most susceptible regions.
Hopefully, withdrawing funding for GAFSP will not set the tone for how much the U.S. Office of Global Food Security will be able to spend on reducing global hunger. The continued vigilance of such organizations, supported by nations like the U.S., is supremely important in the fight against poverty.
– Blake Chambers
Photo: Flickr
Extending the Global Health Security Agenda to 2024
In October 2017, GHSA was extended until 2024. This extension will allow the global health community to enhance data sharing, preparedness planning, epidemiological and laboratory surveillance, risk assessment and response to infectious diseases and other health issues and threats.
The Global Health Security Agenda has created a set of eleven targets and an assessment tool, which is currently being carried out in five countries: Georgia, Peru, Portugal, Uganda and the United Kingdom. In the organization’s assessment of Georgia, it noted that zoonotic diseases are a problem, as 60 percent of human pathogens are zoonotic. Much of the diseases seen in humans within the country are of animal origin, spreading, for example, through contact with veterinarians. These assessment reports contain information about immunization, biosafety and biosecurity and real-time surveillance among other things.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) believes that global health security strengthens United States security. The CDC works in association with GHSA to combat disease worldwide. The organization currently has partnerships with 31 countries, including the Caribbean, that are working to meet the goals of GHSA. The CDC has established Global Disease Detection Centers around the world, providing assistance to over 2,000 requests for disease outbreaks and creating more than 380 diagnostic tests in laboratories of 59 countries.
GHSA has had success stories in many countries, including Tanzania. The nation’s government is determined to play a role in ensuring GHSA’s success, both nationally and internationally. Tanzania joined the program back in August 2015, and in February 2016, it became the first country to use the Joint External Evaluation to assess its 19 capacities to prevent, detect and respond to public health issues.
In a formal event, Tanzania also launched the National Action Plan for Health Security. Held on September 8, 2017, the event was well attended, including guests such as USAID, the World Bank and the World Health Organization.
The fight to keep the world safe from disease may still be a long road, but with programs like the Global Health Security Agenda, the future seems promising.
– Blake Chambers
Photo: Flickr
Women’s Empowerment in Comoros
Women’s issues in Comoros are closely associated with tradition, customs and religion. Challenges for gender equality include women being under-represented at the political level, a need for women in leadership, violence against women and women’s healthcare. By focusing on women’s empowerment in Comoros, these challenges could be properly addressed.
Women in Comoros, as well as Nigeria, Swaziland, the Republic of the Congo and Benin still have less than 8 percent female representation in their legislatures.
U.N. Women Working Towards Women’s Empowerment in Comoros
The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (U.N. Women) works towards building capacities for women to participate in leadership. This transformative leadership training allows women to engage from a perspective of basic human rights and understand broader governance issues and democracy in general.
In Comoros, U.N Women has peacebuilding projects underway in partnership with the U.N. country team. Its contribution is to build the skills of women to understand the issues of gender relations in peace and in peacebuilding. It also strives to help women understand conflicts and how conflicts occur in order to help women build allies within the traditional leadership.
Addressing Domestic Violence and Women’s Healthcare
Violence against women, including domestic violence, is widespread in many places of Comoros. The physical, sexual and psychological violence against women threaten women’s empowerment in Comoros.
There has, however, been an advancement in women’s empowerment in Comoros through the improvement of healthcare services and decreasing maternal mortality.
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) programs are key to the improvement of healthcare services. These programs provide emergency obstetric care and family planning, aim to maintain the low prevalence of HIV/AIDS and manage sexually transmitted infections. They also increase the availability and use of timely and reliable demographic data and integrate population variables into gender policies and development programs.
Reproductive health is a priority in the national health strategy of Comoros. According to U.N. Women, maternal mortality rates fell from 381 to 170 deaths per 100,000 live births between 2007 and 2012. Programs have extended services to women during pregnancy, delivery and after birth.
Comoros pledges to strengthens its multi-sectoral strategy on HIV, enhance women’s access to microcredit, and continue to implement actions to bring more women into key decision-making posts across national institutions.
With efforts to provide women with more opportunities to succeed, women’s empowerment in Comoros will effectively address the challenges women face in society.
– Julia Lee
Photo: Flickr
Sustainable Agriculture in India is Reducing Poverty
One way to combat the malnourishment epidemic in India is to create a sustainable agricultural system. These systems aim to produce food that is not only natural and healthy, but also plentiful and not harmful to the earth. In a sustainable agricultural system, the growers stay away from any form of chemicals or pesticides. This helps keep the food healthy and edible, and decreases disease within the community.
In India, much of the nation’s agriculture is dependent on rainfall. This leads to the slow growth of crops, causing the supply to fall behind the demand. Fortunately, through technological advancements and education, many of the barriers between India and sustainable agriculture can be conquered.
India must optimize its agriculture through three main areas: production, storage and distribution.
By establishing efficient water management, India could increase its supply dramatically. Many of the crops it raises, such as sugar cane, require large amounts of water. By creating an irrigation system, Indian farmers would no longer need to only rely on rainwater for their crops. This would help increase production.
Another reason why India’s agriculture is floundering is insufficient storage. Perishables are going bad in store houses before they can be consumed. New innovations such as certain tarpaulins, which keep perishables cool during transit, can help improve storage and distribution.
Though the country still has a long way to go before it can officially state that it has sustainable agriculture in India, it has already started making headway. One company, BASF, has already started creating and distributing products to India to help drive sustainability. The company’s products include biodegradable mulch film and other seed treatments.
BASF has also created an outreach program, Samruddhi, that has reached over 23,000 Indian farmers in 2016 alone. The company provides kits to Indian farmers that include protective tools and equipment.
While India still has a long way to go, products and education through companies like BASF can help fuel sustainable agriculture in India in the future.
– Courtney Wallace
Photo: Flickr
Infrastructure in Algeria Under Significant Improvement
The Algerian government has launched an extensive public investment program in an effort to make transport a top priority. According to CountryWatch, in 2010, Algeria began “a five-year $286 billion development program to update its infrastructure and provide jobs.”
Another area of improvement that will directly impact infrastructure in Algeria is tourism. In 2012, the government began investing in the tourism sector and set a target of attracting 3.5 million tourists by 2015. The tourism sector has been the main focus of delivering employment in Algeria to better improve living conditions. The Minister of Tourism and Handicrafts, Hacène Mermouri, announced in December 2017 that 1,812 new hotel infrastructure projects have been approved by the Ministry.
These changes also impact nearby airports within the region. New terminals are being built to better accommodate international tourists in Oran and Algiers. Additional renovations include the establishment of Algeria’s first underground metro system, as well as extending roads and rail services.
The Ministry of Transport has reaped the successes from infrastructure in Algeria, earning €35.7 billion between 2010 and 2014. Such investments are expected to improve Algeria’s logistics performance, as well as reduce congestion and transport costs in a hub that serves as the primary source of transportation.
A surge in the number of vehicles that are to circulate Algeria’s roads is also concerning, leading the government to focus on expanding the country’s road network. According to the Ministry of Public Works, from the start of 2000 to 2014, the government invested in €46.9 billion in road infrastructure.
Some caveats that may impede Algeria’s growth in the near future are the fall of oil demand from nations such as the U.S., allocating between 20 to 25 percent of all Algerian exports. In addition, there has been a decrease in gas and oil production, of which Algeria ranks fourth and tenth as the largest exporter worldwide, respectively.
Per a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) report, this decrease is putting increasing pressure on Algeria’s government to liberalize its economic and investment policies. Despite such internal worries, Algeria has significantly improved its logistics infrastructure, which had them ranked 140th in 2007, to which they have climbed to 96th out of 160 countries.
The central component of Algeria’s projected growth resonates with the success of the $262 billion five-year investment plan. This project is aimed at “boosting domestic production and moving the country’s economy away from oil and gas reliance,” per CountryWatch.
In a nation where poverty remains widespread, a high unemployment rate, particularly among the youth, is obstructing the country from any consistent growth. Moreover, PWC reports that the labor market is inefficient, ranking “last globally in the 2013 Global Competitiveness Index.”
Reforming institutions and monetary policies are vital to an environment crippled by political unrest and faced with strenuous complications. Infrastructure in Algeria, especially under the five-year plan, is set to ensure “significant continued development of transportation networks in the coming years,” as Oxford Business Group reports. Apart from the advertised objectives, the future of Algerian development is also contingent upon its domestic production. Algeria has a plan, but its path forward in a rapidly adjusting global system remains to be seen.
– Alexandre Dumouza
Photo: Flickr