Tanzania has seen a rapid increase in its growth rate over the years, becoming a hub for foreign assistance from a myriad of countries, non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations, such as the United Nations. Despite increases of humanitarian aid to Tanzania, poverty continues to persist in predominately rural zones of the country.
A 2008 country report indicated that 36 percent of the population was living beneath the poverty line. To account for this, Tanzania became an integral component of President Obama’s strategy towards sub-Saharan Africa. Under the Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS), programs were launched to spark economic empowerment for women and children. Furthermore, the object aimed to “achieve inclusive, broad-based, and economic growth – to advance Tanzania’s advancement toward middle-income status by 2025.”
The aim of humanitarian aid to Tanzania is to provide economic empowerment for those residing in rural and urban areas, as well as providing direct humanitarian assistance for those in need.
Funding
Some forms of assistance have come from philanthropists such as Bill and Melinda Gates, who announced that their foundation will invest $300 million in Tanzania toward public health and poverty reduction programs. Bill Gates spoke on the improvements in the way foreign aid was being spent in the developing world, noting that aid spending was occurring in a “smarter way.”
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has provided an extensive amount of money toward development aid projects in recent years, according to Reuters. Gates added that eradicating both malaria and HIV in Tanzania were essential in inspiring any direct change.
Foreign Assistance
The United Nations started an initiative in 2016 to respond to a severe cholera outbreak which impacted 19 regions of the country. Their aim was to allocate $11 million to respond to the urgent needs of refugees fleeing from Burundi at the time.
Since then, other medical issues have surfaced because of inadequate resources as well as a decline in funding from international donors. Specifically, there is an increase in sexual and reproductive health concerns, as well as malaria, which is attributed to refugees who reside in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions.
The success of humanitarian aid to Tanzania, however, stems from the U.N.’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). This operation is sought to target severely underfunded emergencies in 94 countries and territories and has now allocated almost $4.2 billion in aid.
Room for Improvement
Despite Tanzania’s remarkable increase in GDP growth at seven percent per annum from 2003-2012, the reflection of this growth was not accurately represented. According to the CDCS report, Tanzania’s population living below the $1.25 per day global poverty line was at 68 percent in 2007.
Additionally, farmers residing in rural areas were much more impoverished than those residing in urban areas. In order for Tanzania to implement effective change in its development strategy, the CDCS advised the government of Tanzania to increase regional economic integration.
Final Thoughts
More pragmatic approaches include rectifying the education sector, providing employment opportunities in rural areas as well as promoting exports by reducing trade barriers. Humanitarian aid to Tanzania can be successful with the integration of Tanzanian women and youth, who are largely marginalized and underutilized segments of the population. Further, the continuous wave of refugees and asylum seekers who have been fleeing persecution or natural disaster from neighboring countries have impacted efforts of eradicating extreme poverty.
Tanzania is one of the ten largest U.S. aid recipients in Africa. Despite potential cuts to foreign assistance, USAID still maintains efforts to provide aid and opportunities for citizens who are desperate to lift themselves out of poverty.
– Alexandre Dumouza
Photo: Flickr
Infrastructure in Burkina Faso Shows Great Improvement
The government has made significant improvements to the infrastructure in Burkina Faso, particularly in the water sanitation and supply sector. The government is working hard to ensure that there is better access to safe drinking water, piped water into homes and improved health for the people living in the West African nation.
In past years, people in Burkina Faso went without sustainable water, even though the country is near the Volta River Basin and Niger River Delta. In fact, both of these rivers have proven to be unreliable to Burkina Faso, as they begin to dry out during certain seasons. In addition to the seasonal rivers, the country experiences common droughts throughout the year. With these geographic disadvantages, water became scarce for over 18 million citizens of the country, and water sanitation became an issue.
Fortunately, the infrastructure in Burkina Faso has improved drastically from the past. Over a span of twelve years, drinking water sustainability increased from 54 percent to 90 percent. For the Burkinabé living there, this improvement in drinking water sustainability means that the chances of having better living conditions and health are much higher.
The urban areas of Burkina Faso seem to be improving because of the technological resources that are being made available to the people living there. Yet, the same cannot be said for those who live in the poor rural areas of the country. More than half of the rural population still lives without usable water.
One of the main reasons why the infrastructure in Burkina Faso has issues with water sanitation and supply is because there is a lack of information provided to people living in rural areas. According to UNICEF, 50 percent of Burkinabé still practice open defecation, as they are not aware of the dangers of poor hygiene and see this practice as an everyday norm.
Another issue the country is having with improving water sanitation in rural areas is being able to increase access to technology while saving on funds. Without the proper budget, Burkina Faso must take into consideration the methods in which they plan to continue to help their citizens get better access to water supply and sanitation. This has changed with the assistance of the World Bank, which has mobilized $226 million over the past 20 years for Burkina Faso’s sanitation development. More than 440,000 people, including those in rural areas, have gained access to better water supply and sanitation, thus improving living conditions.
The people of Burkina Faso can hold their heads high knowing that their government is working hard with organizations such as the World Bank, UNICEF, and Wateraid to ensure that conditions continually improve over the next couple of years.
– Seriah Sargenton
Photo: Flickr
10 Important Facts about Poverty in Brazil
Brazil’s learning initiatives focus on ending poverty at both the national and international levels. However, the Brazilian economic boom of the last decade seems to have concluded with millions returning to poverty. The following 10 facts about poverty in Brazil provide insight on the country’s current poverty threshold, political state, budget cuts and programs created to combat poverty.
Facts about Poverty in Brazil
According to Fox News, the average American spends approximately $1,100 per year, more than double Brazil’s poverty threshold, on coffee. A simple conclusion can be reached from these 10 facts about poverty in Brazil: if every American cut their coffee budget in half, they could help eradicate poverty in Brazil.
– Carolyn Gibson
Photo: Flickr
A Generous Generation: Millennials Give to Charity
According to the Millennial Impact Report, 75 percent of millennials donated to charity in 2011. That number increased to an impressive 84 percent in 2015. Seventy percent of millennials even help raise funds for their favorite causes.
If the charitable millennial still seems like an imaginary creature, consider Micaela Hill, a 22-year-old volunteer with AmeriCorps NCCC. At present, Hill is involved in disaster relief efforts in Texas. Two years ago, she did medical volunteer work in Guatemala. Needless to say, she resents the self-absorbed image bestowed on her and her fellow millennials. “I am currently surrounded by 300 charity-minded millennials,” Hill told The Borgen Project. “My friends have always been willing to help others.”
Conceding that millennials are engaged in charity work, is there anything to support the myth of the “narcissism epidemic” that supposedly plagues them? A study done by the University of Illinois’ psychology department determined that college-age individuals score the highest on Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) assessments. However, the research also explains that this phenomenon has little to do with generations and more to do with maturation. Young people today actually earn lower NPI scores than young people 20 years ago.
Indeed, millennials give to charity and they are doing so in modern and tech-savvy ways. An estimated 62 percent of millennials make charitable donations online. The Digital Age has led to the birth of fundraising websites like Indigogo and Kickstarter, which make donating fast and simple for proficient web-users. Eight percent of millennials give to charity through social media platforms, and 50 percent use their social media accounts to share information about charities and causes they believe in.
In Hill’s opinion, the Internet and social media contribute crucially to millennials’ awareness of global affairs. “Now everyone knows about [global issues] and can become aware of what they can do to help,” she says.
Most millennials report that when they give to charity, they want the opportunity to see the good their donation has done. This desire to make a visible change in the world is considered narcissistic according to the NPI test, but many millennials would argue it is admirably ambitious. Hill is one such individual.
“We all haven’t had the chance to enact the changes we want to see in the world yet, but we are now coming of age. Our time is coming.”
– Mary Efird
Photo: Flickr
The Success of Humanitarian Aid to Tanzania
A 2008 country report indicated that 36 percent of the population was living beneath the poverty line. To account for this, Tanzania became an integral component of President Obama’s strategy towards sub-Saharan Africa. Under the Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS), programs were launched to spark economic empowerment for women and children. Furthermore, the object aimed to “achieve inclusive, broad-based, and economic growth – to advance Tanzania’s advancement toward middle-income status by 2025.”
The aim of humanitarian aid to Tanzania is to provide economic empowerment for those residing in rural and urban areas, as well as providing direct humanitarian assistance for those in need.
Funding
Some forms of assistance have come from philanthropists such as Bill and Melinda Gates, who announced that their foundation will invest $300 million in Tanzania toward public health and poverty reduction programs. Bill Gates spoke on the improvements in the way foreign aid was being spent in the developing world, noting that aid spending was occurring in a “smarter way.”
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has provided an extensive amount of money toward development aid projects in recent years, according to Reuters. Gates added that eradicating both malaria and HIV in Tanzania were essential in inspiring any direct change.
Foreign Assistance
The United Nations started an initiative in 2016 to respond to a severe cholera outbreak which impacted 19 regions of the country. Their aim was to allocate $11 million to respond to the urgent needs of refugees fleeing from Burundi at the time.
Since then, other medical issues have surfaced because of inadequate resources as well as a decline in funding from international donors. Specifically, there is an increase in sexual and reproductive health concerns, as well as malaria, which is attributed to refugees who reside in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions.
The success of humanitarian aid to Tanzania, however, stems from the U.N.’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). This operation is sought to target severely underfunded emergencies in 94 countries and territories and has now allocated almost $4.2 billion in aid.
Room for Improvement
Despite Tanzania’s remarkable increase in GDP growth at seven percent per annum from 2003-2012, the reflection of this growth was not accurately represented. According to the CDCS report, Tanzania’s population living below the $1.25 per day global poverty line was at 68 percent in 2007.
Additionally, farmers residing in rural areas were much more impoverished than those residing in urban areas. In order for Tanzania to implement effective change in its development strategy, the CDCS advised the government of Tanzania to increase regional economic integration.
Final Thoughts
More pragmatic approaches include rectifying the education sector, providing employment opportunities in rural areas as well as promoting exports by reducing trade barriers. Humanitarian aid to Tanzania can be successful with the integration of Tanzanian women and youth, who are largely marginalized and underutilized segments of the population. Further, the continuous wave of refugees and asylum seekers who have been fleeing persecution or natural disaster from neighboring countries have impacted efforts of eradicating extreme poverty.
Tanzania is one of the ten largest U.S. aid recipients in Africa. Despite potential cuts to foreign assistance, USAID still maintains efforts to provide aid and opportunities for citizens who are desperate to lift themselves out of poverty.
– Alexandre Dumouza
Photo: Flickr
5 Development Projects in Pakistan
The Strategic Strengthening of Flood Warning and Management Capacity of Pakistan
In 2010, around 2 million homes were damaged and 20,000 lives were lost due to flooding caused by heavy monsoon rains. There was no system set in place to warn individuals of the impending flooding and no recovery programs to assess the damages. The Strategic Strengthening of Flood Warning and Management Capacity of Pakistan project, developed by the United Nations Educational, Science and Cultural Organization began in 2011. $2.5 million in aid was provided in order to upgrade flood warning systems, asses damages caused by flooding, and update flood hazard maps in order to help with recovery efforts as well as prevent future catastrophes.
Sindh Resilience Project
Another one of the development projects in Pakistan which focused on disaster management is the Sindh Resilience Project. The main goals of this project are to mainstream disaster risk reduction in development budgeting, support restoration and improvement of high-risk sites, and construct rainwater dams in drought regions. Starting in 2016, the Pakistan government allocated $120 million for this project.
Karachi Neighborhood Improvement Project
Many Pakistani people live in neighborhoods that are not easy for pedestrians to navigate and do not have safe transportation. The objective of the Karachi Neighborhood Improvement Project is to create usability of public spaces, increase mobility, improve traffic safety, and provide better city management. Funded by the International Development Association, this project will cost around $98 million.
The Polio Eradication Project
Pakistan is one of the only polio-endemic countries in the world, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria. Due to an increasing trend of polio cases in Pakistan, the government announced the National Emergency Action Plan for Polio Eradication. In order to support these efforts in collaboration with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Polio Eradication Project allocated $43 million to provide polio vaccines and to implement campaigns focusing on bringing light to the polio-endemic.
Ranolia Hydropower Project
Imported oil is Pakistan’s main source of power. The high price of oil is causing a strain on the country and causing power outages. The Ranolia Hydropower Project was started in order to harness clean energy and create jobs. The Renewable Energy Development Sector Investment Program, a $510 million program, is funding the construction of a hydropower plant fueled by the Indus river, which will generate three times the electrical capacity of Pakistan’s current national demand.
These five development projects in Pakistan are all working to make Pakistan a better place to live thanks to the support and cooperation of generous organizations committed to public health and safety in Pakistan.
– Jenae Atwell
Photo: Flickr
Women’s Empowerment in Ghana
Violence against women is a major issue that women face in Ghana. Women and young girls often face widespread violence, sexual harassment, and abuse in the areas that they populate, which includes their homes, workplaces, the streets, and on public transportation. In many circumstances, women have to constantly live in fear of being attacked and this can lessen their likelihood of living a full life.
The lack of control that women in Ghana have over their own bodies is also extremely harmful. Women and girls are forced to endure dangerous practices that bring great suffering to them. One of these practices is Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). At the young ages of 10 through 12, young girls are forced to go through this mutilation. In addition, they may be forced into marriage, sex-selective abortion, dowry-related crimes, honor crimes, and other harmful practices.
An organization, act!onaid, is a global movement that is working in Ghana to help improve rights and reduce poverty. Some of the issues they are working on are bringing awareness to violence against women and girls, bringing women to the forefront of decision making and leadership opportunities, and harnessing women’s economic empowerment and economic justice. They are working to include women’s rights as a priority in developmental policies and advocating for spaces where women’s voices, especially those from poorer backgrounds will be heard.
Dealing with women’s education in Ghana, there are major inequalities when it comes to women’s access. The country is nearing gender parity in primary education, but the gender gap in post-primary education level remains a challenge, although there was a marginal improvement in the percentage of girls in senior high school and technical vocational education and training.
To bring about women’s Empowerment in Ghana, act!onaid has adopted strategies and interventions to promote gender equality and women empowerment. They have established the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs through Executive Instrument. They will be initiating and coordinating formulation policies to monitor and evaluate the execution of policies in place to ensure the promotion of gender equality and empowerment.
Additionally, the organization plans to implement gender-responsive budgeting. They plan to use a strategy using the government’s fiscal policy to achieve gender equality and to implement gender-responsive budgeting in three sectors of the economy; education, health, and agriculture. In addition, they plan to mainstream justice as a policy area for gender equity. The legal reforms will include Constitutional provisions for gender equity under the law to criminalize harmful tradition practices against young women and girls.
The country of Ghana has the help of organizations and a government making changes to alter the hardships the women are facing. If these ideas are put into place, women’s Empowerment in Ghana can exist and these women can live full lives.
– Chavez Spicer
Photo: Flickr
Deaftronics: Tackling Hearing Loss in Impoverished Countries
Hearing loss can be caused by a number of factors. It can be caused by damage to the outer, middle or inner ear. Hearing loss can also be genetic. Those who suffer from this condition can end up having a number of issues in their lives.
Hearing loss makes it much more difficult for children to learn how to speak, which causes them to develop more slowly than other children. In the classroom, children with some form of hearing loss will have a much more difficult time understanding what is being taught to them. They will end up falling behind and possibly fail classes. As they grow older, these kids will end up having a much more difficult time finding jobs and providing for their families. This ends up keeping those with hearing loss within the cycle of poverty.
Hearing aids can be used to assist those with hearing loss, but they can be expensive. The average cost of a hearing aid is about $600 and battery replacement can be costly. Batteries for hearing aids usually run out within 10 days, which results in frequent, costly battery replacements.
The solar hearing aid hopes to alleviate this costly issue and take on hearing loss in impoverished countries. As the name implies, the solar hearing aids run on solar power. Users set the batteries in a solar charging station in the sunlight to charge the batteries for the solar hearing aids. Then the users place the batteries in their hearing aids, which are fully functional for about 10 days.
Although the solar hearing aids include hearing aids along with the solar battery, the battery can work with about 80 percent of all hearing aids. Therefore, those who need hearing aids are not limited to a single pair of hearing aids.
Cost is a large factor in why hearing aids are not widely available to those who need them. Compared to the $600 for the average pair hearing aids, solar hearing aids cost about $200 per unit. Not only that, but the solar batteries and the solar hearing aids last for two to three years.
Deaftronics has done everything within its power to make sure those who suffer from hearing loss can get an affordable pair of hearing aids.
Originally, Deaftronics’ focus was to get hearing aids to people in Botswana. Now they are receiving orders from South Africa, Kenya and Angola. As Deaftronics continue to expand, more countries will ask for solar hearing aids and Deaftronics will be able to help more people with hearing loss in impoverished countries.
The solar hearing aids are not only providing people with the ability to hear, they are also giving people a chance to learn in school without being held back by hearing loss and a chance to use their education to get a job and escape from poverty. Solar hearing aids are not only alleviating hearing loss in impoverished countries, but they are also helping people escape from the cycle of poverty.
– Daniel Borjas
Photo: Flickr
Political Participation And Women’s Empowerment in Argentina
Across national and local governments, women face several obstacles to participating in political life. However, women’s leadership in government has been shown to benefit society at large.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has noted that supporting the participation of women in politics is essential for advancing issues of importance to women on national agendas, which in turn benefits both women and men. Ensuring that financial assets are in the hands of women not only promotes women’s economic participation, but also speeds up development, helps overcome poverty, reduces inequalities and improves children’s health and nutrition as well as school attendance. Additionally, keeping girls in school further empowers women’s status in society and politics. Properly addressing these issues has the potential to provide tangible benefits for everyone. With women participating in politics, these topics receive much-needed attention.
The United Nations recognized that quotas, such as the one in place in Argentina, could be a fast track to enhancing women’s representation. These legal quotas are binding for all political parties, and legal sanctions or penalties for non-compliance can be enforced. Unlike voluntary party quotas, sanctions upheld by the law are the most effective to reject political party lists that do not comply with the quota regulations. However, it is important to note that quotas come with limitations. The regulations must work with the already in place electoral system, or they will have little or no effect. Furthermore, these systems only provide women with a chance to stand for election, as they do not guarantee the election of women candidates.
While as of 2016, women held 35.8 percent of the elected seats in the national Lower House, Argentina ranked in sixth place among Latin American nations in terms of female participation in politics and 28th in the world. However, this ranking far surpasses the United Kingdom and the United States, ranked at 48th and 97th respectively.
Though female representation in the Argentinian government complies with the 1991 quota law meant to increase women’s empowerment in Argentina, many feel that the country has not made enough progress. A movement launched in part by Amnesty International Argentina, #MujeresALaPolítica (Women to Politics), has been pushing for a law to be approved by National Congress which would dictate that any ballot list for elected office must contain equal percentages of male and female candidates.
Using parity as a tool to ensure the fulfillment of women’s political rights enforces equality, autonomy and collaboration in decision-making processes. Increasing the number of women participating in politics can not only help further the women’s empowerment in Argentina, but it can send a powerful message to the rest of the world.
– Richa Bijlani
Photo: Flickr
The Success of Humanitarian Aid to Panama
The Success Stories
In 2012, the USAID mission in Panama was officially closed. This means that after 51 years of providing humanitarian aid to Panama, the country had reached a point where it could deal with its own developmental and economic challenges.
At the time the mission was closed, the poverty rate had fallen from a high of 23 percent to seven percent, and the official unemployment rate was just 4.3 percent.
The health of Panama’s citizens also improved greatly during the period in which USAID was active in Panama. The life expectancy went up to 76 years and the fertility rate went down to 2.4 children per woman.
Access to education is now nearly universal in Panama. The country’s education system includes 11 years of free and compulsory education provided by the government. The curriculum includes science, math, language, social studies and other subjects needed to train a thriving workforce.
Humanitarian aid to Panama also helped the country during its transition back to democracy in 1990. The aid was used to bolster an economic recovery after a 20-year military dictatorship. It also helped stabilize Panama’s new democratic government.
From Aid Recipient to Aid Provider
When Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in September and early October 2017, Panama was quick to ship aid in the form of milk, oil and rice to the island.
Panama had been receiving U.S. foreign assistance for over 50 years and they have seen tremendous benefits from USAID. But the biggest success story of all is that Panama has become a country that is now able to provide aid to other countries in times of crisis.
When former aid recipients are able to give back to American citizens in their time of need, it is a reminder that foreign assistance is not a handout, but an investment in the future. USAID in Panama assisted Panama in their economic, political and humanitarian development. It also helped create a powerful ally for the U.S.
– Aaron Childree
Photo: Flickr
Factors Contributing to Poverty in Australia
Despite multiple decades of economic growth, the poverty rate has not wavered. There are 320,000 public housing dwellings in the country, and 150,000 applicants are still waiting on listings. Very few people get access to the minuscule supply of social housing in Australia. In fact, social housing accounts for less than five percent of the entire housing sector. As a result, many people living in poverty are excluded from affordable housing and the unaffordability of housing in the market directly contributes to their poverty.
A spike in single parentage contributes to poverty in Australia. According to a report by The Guardian, a rise in poverty was recorded for children in one-parent families from 2012 to 2014. That’s four percent in two years.
There is also a historic relation of inequality and poverty in Australia, with Aboriginal populations being much more likely to suffer from poverty. Aboriginal people are still rebounding from an era of discrimination and oppression.
Furthermore, many residents in Australia are feeling the negative effects of the reduction of social welfare payments such as Newstart, the parenting payment, and the Disability Support Pension. The majority of people below the poverty line rely on social security as their main source of income, although around a third subsist on actual wages.
Recent reports by charity Foodbank SA indicate more than 102,000 South Australians needed help to get food in the past year, compared to 85,000 in 2016. Foodbank SA chief executive officer Greg Pattinson says this growth is the worst the organization has seen and is largely attributed to rising electricity prices. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) today released a report that found the average power bill for South Australian households had increased by 48 percent from 2007 to 2008. ACCC chairman Rod Sims says these increased prices are due to a clean energy target. Sims said the ACCC’s report showed the gold-plating of Australia’s power grid as the biggest factor behind the power price increases.
It is evident that the prevalence of poverty in Australia is caused by a multiplicity of factors and solutions will need to take into account this complexity.
– Sam Bramlett
Photo: Flickr