Located in Southeast Asia, Thailand has a population of just over 69 million. While population has increased over the years, water quality in Thailand has declined, yielding health risks if water is not purified before consumption.
There are approximately 43 million Thai people drinking contaminated water, allowing diseases like diarrhea, typhoid and dysentery to enter their system. This water is contaminated primarily by pollutants disposed into rivers and streams. When water is extracted from these rivers and streams for consumption, the pollutants negatively impact the health of the consumer.
The main source of water pollution is from the agricultural sector. In 2016, 39 million cubic meters of wastewater was dumped per day into various river basins. Industrial sectors were the second highest distributor of polluted water at 17.8 million cubic meters per day. Lastly, residential areas contributed 9.6 million cubic meters of polluted water per day. A total of 3.5 billion cubic meters of wastewater was released into Thailand’s rivers in 2016.
Water quality in Thailand varies throughout the country. In the city of Chiang Mai, located in northern Thailand, the main concern is drinking water. In an interview with Gwang Elusive, a resident of Chiang Mai told The Borgen Project that tap water is used for “gardening, showing, washing…everything but drinking.” In order to get purified water, Gwang occasionally uses water purifiers and drinking water machines. However, her main source of purified water is from bottled water.
Every week, cases of filtered water are delivered to her through the company Wang Nam Kang. With an average cost of 40 baht, or $1.17, per twenty bottles of water, Gwang is able to safely receive the hydration she needs. She drinks an average of two to three bottles a day and recycles the bottles after each use.
Water bottle companies filter their water through various purification processes in order to rid the liquid of contaminants. Many companies perform purification through reverse osmosis. In this process, water is filtered until impurities and large particles are removed from the liquid. Reverse osmosis offers a quick and cheap solution to purifying water, which in turn allows for residents like Gwang to receive enough water to last her a week at a reasonable cost.
The majority of Thailand’s residents have accepted the idea of drinking bottled water; executive director of Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand (Earth), Penchom Saetang, has not. Although water quality in Thailand has improved according to the country’s annual pollution report, water pollution is still a red flag as it continues to threaten the Thai people.
A new law, the Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers law, is currently being created. This law would require agricultural operators to identify all pollutants in the wastewater that is being released into rivers outside of their property. Ultimately, the law would allow for the government to locate who is contributing most to the water pollution in order to reduce the problem.
As for industrial factories that produce drinkable water, stricter monitoring of wastewater would be implemented to ensure water treatment is being done properly. Surprise inspections would ensure that companies adhere to the strict water purification regulations.
In 2016, a surprise inspection was performed and only a few wastewater management factories out of 35,000 failed to pass inspection. The inspection agency continues to hold a strong stance on passing regulation with the threat of company shut-down if inspection is not passed. Industrial factories are continually encouraged to reuse, reduce and recycle water in order to decrease the amount of wastewater that is disposed into rivers.
The Thai government is continuing to work towards finding more ways to reduce the amount of pollution in their water, but until then it is the responsibility of the public to drink with caution.
– Brianna Summ
Photo: Flickr
How to Solve Energy Poverty
Nearly two billion people worldwide do not have access to modern energy. In less developed nations with prominent health crises, a lack of reliable energy sources can cause business owners to lose customers or even lead to the loss of life-saving vaccines. These communities rely heavily on burning coal, waste or wood for cooking, heating and light. To equip the underdeveloped world with modern energy options and enable the use of exuberant amounts of energy in the developed world would require roughly 30 terawatts of energy by 2050, according to experts.
The best formula to solve energy poverty has been widely debated. Some argue for coal plants, citing China as a success story. According to the U.N. Development Programme, China has helped millions of people out of poverty and to join the middle class by burning more coal. However, China is now also the leading nation in greenhouse gas emissions. The effects of burning coal are not limited to the environment. Smoke from burning coal and other biomass cause respiratory diseases that kill over 3.5 million people each year.
Alison Doig, the senior adviser on climate change at Christian Aid, warns that the poor are hit the hardest by climate change. An analysis by Cafod, Christian Aid and thinktank The Overseas Development Institute explains that the perpetuation of current coal-reliant energy policies risks leaving one billion people without access to electricity and three billion without access to clean cooking facilities by 2030.
The next options pit centralized distribution against distributed generation.
CONS: The implementation of centralized power requires the construction of transmission lines and steep capital investments.
CONS: Panel output intermittency cannot be directly managed and it is unclear how much distributed PV can be supported by an electrical grid.
Although arguing the cost-efficiency and sustainability of various solutions has made implementation of any one option near impossible, here are some suggestions to solve energy poverty:
A study released by the International Energy Agency and two U.N. bodies, the Development Programme and the Industrial Development Organization, states that energy poverty can be solved without breaking the banks of nations or contributing to the growing climate change issue. The study emphasizes “parts and patterns” as opposed to “packages and services”; that is, giving communities the capacity and training to solve their own energy problems. Providing energy to the poor as outlined in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals program would require only .06 percent of global GDP. Aiding the 1.4 billion people without access to electricity and the three billion who rely on burning biomass could be simpler than once estimated. According to the study, by 2030, electricity generation would only increase globally by 2.9 percent, demand for oil would increase by less than 1 percent and carbon emissions would be 0.8 percent above current projections.
Thomas Taha Rassam Culhane is a co-founder of Solar CITIES, a nonprofit organization that works with residents of poor neighborhoods in Cairo, Egypt and other African nations to install rooftop solar water heaters and small-scale biofuel systems. Culhane suggests that aid organizations use their financial clout to buy materials needed for small energy projects and distribute them at radically reduced costs.
The Sierra Club Energy Scorecard cites four key recommendations in response to failed energy poverty alleviation efforts by multilateral development banks (MDBs):
The United Nations General Assembly declared 2014 to 2024 the “Decade of Sustainable Energy for All” and established the Sustainable Energy for All initiative in 2011. Research is still being conducted to determine the best methods to solve energy poverty, but with the help of aid organizations and the U.N., SE4ALL has made supporting universal energy access a priority.
– Rebekah Korn
Photo: Flickr
Top 10 Facts About Poverty in Africa
How bad is poverty in Africa? The situation is improving, but Africa remains the poorest continent on Earth. But what many people may not know are the effects of poverty in Africa—including hunger, disease and a lack of basic necessities.
Leading Facts About Poverty in Africa
– Jordanna Packtor
Sources: Global Issues, World Hunger, World Bank, World Population Review, The Richest, Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, UNHCR, The Water Project, Gallup, Global Finance
1. Donate
2. Email Congress
3. Volunteer
Improved Water Quality in Turkey Linked to Protection of Rivers
According to the Environmental Performance Index, Turkey scored 85.06 out of 100 for water and sanitation quality. 100 percent of the population has access to improved water sources and sanitation, which has risen from 86 percent in 1990.
Turkey is a semi-arid region. Compared to water-rich regions such as North America and Western Europe, Turkey is lacking. Turkey only has one-fifth of the water available per capita that those areas do. Turkey also has areas that have an abundance of freshwater that is unusable, such as the Black Sea.
70 percent of Turkey’s usable freshwater is supplied by rivers, and the main ones that flow through Turkey are the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The water potential of the two rivers combined is close to that of the Nile River.
In 1993, Istanbul was facing a water and sanitation crisis. To solve this, Turkey began creating and implementing plans to meet the city’s water needs and improve its sanitation levels. As a result of these efforts, Istanbul’s water increased to 1,170 million m3 per year.
In 2016, Turkey defined 25 river basins and prepared protection plans for each of them. They put their Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs to work coordinating these plans.
The Southeastern Anatolia Project is an initiative that seeks to improve the water supply from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to the land resources of “Upper Mesopotamia”, also known as the Fertile Crescent for its quality farmland. It has been a great success in improving the efficiency of water management in this key agricultural area.
Turkey has recognized the importance of protecting its water sources, especially since they are in short supply compared to many other nations. It continues to take steps towards maintaining optimal water quality in Turkey and improving the lives of its people.
– Téa Franco
Photo: Flickr
Nanoly: Delivering Vaccines to Developing Countries
The proteins within a vaccine need to have a controlled environment to survive, thus, controlling storage temperature is the most important factor. The polio, measles and tetanus vaccines all need to be kept within a 35-45 degrees Fahrenheit temperature. These are also some of the most important vaccines that developing countries need.
If the vaccines are not stored in that temperature range, the proteins in the vaccine cease to function, rendering the vaccine useless.
The current “cold chain” method of delivering vaccines to developing countries requires the use of a chain of cold storage units that maintain the optimal temperature for vaccines during transport. However, the cold chain becomes difficult to maintain when it gets closer to rural areas due to the lack of electricity.
Nanoly’s creation is a new way to keep the vaccines temperature regulated and is more reliable than the cold chain. By blending the proteins with NanoShield, the polymer protects the proteins in the vaccines from outside temperatures.
During tests with high temperatures over a two week period, vaccines with NanoShield had an 88 percent efficacy rate while vaccines without it had only an 18 percent efficacy rate. The NanoShield protected the proteins and a large number of the vaccines were still usable. NanoShield can be applied to anti-viral vaccines, antibody drugs and therapeutics to help keep the temperature regulated.
It seems that there are also no adverse reactions to the polymer as well. Not only does the polymer protect the proteins from deteriorating due to high temperatures, it also does not need to be removed to administer the vaccine.
Delivering vaccines to developing countries can be difficult due to the lack of electricity. Thanks to Nanoly and their NanoShield polymer, delivering the vaccines becomes much more viable.
Developing countries need these vaccines to help protect their citizens from diseases like polio and measles. Nanoly can potentially save millions of lives thanks to the polymer they have developed.
– Daniel Borjas
Photo: Flickr
Pollution as the Main Cause of Poor Water Quality in Thailand
There are approximately 43 million Thai people drinking contaminated water, allowing diseases like diarrhea, typhoid and dysentery to enter their system. This water is contaminated primarily by pollutants disposed into rivers and streams. When water is extracted from these rivers and streams for consumption, the pollutants negatively impact the health of the consumer.
The main source of water pollution is from the agricultural sector. In 2016, 39 million cubic meters of wastewater was dumped per day into various river basins. Industrial sectors were the second highest distributor of polluted water at 17.8 million cubic meters per day. Lastly, residential areas contributed 9.6 million cubic meters of polluted water per day. A total of 3.5 billion cubic meters of wastewater was released into Thailand’s rivers in 2016.
Water quality in Thailand varies throughout the country. In the city of Chiang Mai, located in northern Thailand, the main concern is drinking water. In an interview with Gwang Elusive, a resident of Chiang Mai told The Borgen Project that tap water is used for “gardening, showing, washing…everything but drinking.” In order to get purified water, Gwang occasionally uses water purifiers and drinking water machines. However, her main source of purified water is from bottled water.
Every week, cases of filtered water are delivered to her through the company Wang Nam Kang. With an average cost of 40 baht, or $1.17, per twenty bottles of water, Gwang is able to safely receive the hydration she needs. She drinks an average of two to three bottles a day and recycles the bottles after each use.
Water bottle companies filter their water through various purification processes in order to rid the liquid of contaminants. Many companies perform purification through reverse osmosis. In this process, water is filtered until impurities and large particles are removed from the liquid. Reverse osmosis offers a quick and cheap solution to purifying water, which in turn allows for residents like Gwang to receive enough water to last her a week at a reasonable cost.
The majority of Thailand’s residents have accepted the idea of drinking bottled water; executive director of Ecological Alert and Recovery Thailand (Earth), Penchom Saetang, has not. Although water quality in Thailand has improved according to the country’s annual pollution report, water pollution is still a red flag as it continues to threaten the Thai people.
A new law, the Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers law, is currently being created. This law would require agricultural operators to identify all pollutants in the wastewater that is being released into rivers outside of their property. Ultimately, the law would allow for the government to locate who is contributing most to the water pollution in order to reduce the problem.
As for industrial factories that produce drinkable water, stricter monitoring of wastewater would be implemented to ensure water treatment is being done properly. Surprise inspections would ensure that companies adhere to the strict water purification regulations.
In 2016, a surprise inspection was performed and only a few wastewater management factories out of 35,000 failed to pass inspection. The inspection agency continues to hold a strong stance on passing regulation with the threat of company shut-down if inspection is not passed. Industrial factories are continually encouraged to reuse, reduce and recycle water in order to decrease the amount of wastewater that is disposed into rivers.
The Thai government is continuing to work towards finding more ways to reduce the amount of pollution in their water, but until then it is the responsibility of the public to drink with caution.
– Brianna Summ
Photo: Flickr
Education in Tajikistan Shows Progress
Despite some progress, Tajikistan, a post-soviet emerging nation, faces several obstacles today as a result of poor performance from its education system. Compulsory education in Tajikistan (primary and lower secondary) is free for all children, but, according to the Global Partnership for Education, there are many issues with the education system. Issues include problems with curriculum, minimal teaching and learning resources, deficient learning environments and an “insufficient use of the information system for decision-making and strategic planning.”
Like many other countries, Tajikistan has taken an initiative to solve these issues through the adoption of The National Strategy for Education Development (NSED). The NSED, which will continue until 2020, was approved by the Government in July of 2012. The strategy is separated into three general goals consisting of specific actions to be taken in the near future. The goals are: changing the structure of education, implementing a structural adjustment of the education system and business mechanisms and ensuring equal access to quality education.
While these goals are vague and appear to be far off, the strategy also outlines specific steps for following through with the developmental plan. For example, in the past, education in Tajikistan was based on a knowledge-based model. Part of the “structural” change to education will be constructing the system on a competency-based model instead.
Additionally, in order to implement a structural adjustment of education and business mechanism (another overarching goal), the NSED specifies introducing more early education programs. This would also allow students the liberty to choose which supplementary classes they would prefer to take. Additionally, it discusses “establishing a national education quality monitoring system for all levels” in order to implement these “adjustments.”
In terms of guaranteeing equal access to quality education, the NSED specifies greater access to education for children with disabilities and special needs. It will also ensure that minority students receive education in their native language. Furthermore, there will be a greater focus on providing incentives and means for girls to continue their education beyond the compulsory years.
In Tajikistan, the management of education is a task shared across all levels of government. The federal government takes charge of overall planning, the Ministry of Education monitors state policies and standards and establishes the curriculum. Meanwhile, the local governments supervise primary and secondary education. These levels of government must work together to follow through with the NSED if they wish to achieve its goals by 2020.
– Melanie Snyder
Photo: Flickr
UNICEF Focusing on Schools to Improve Water Quality in Libya
One specific area UNICEF has highlighted with regards to improving water quality in Libya is access to clean water in schools. A study completed by UNICEF, the Libyan National Center for Disease Control and the Libyan Ministry of Education in the first quarter of 2017 demonstrates why this focus is necessary.
Of 140 schools studied in the southern, eastern and western regions of the country, 54 percent had an insufficient and poor quality of drinking water and sanitation facilities. Through the study, UNICEF hopes that partners and other stakeholders will prioritize funds in order to spearhead water and sanitation programs across Libya.
Work has already begun to address the quality of water and sanitation facilities in schools. Through the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) program, UNICEF and partners have improved water and sanitation facilities in 20 schools in two cities, Sebha and Ubari. The program also focused on 10 schools in Tripoli and schools in Benghazi during the time period.
This program has expanded to 32 more schools across Libya in 2017. UNICEF’s overall plan for Libya in 2017 calls for 95,000 people to gain access to clean drinking water and sanitation facilities.
While the focus on improving water quality in Libya and improving facilities in schools has grown, a number of obstacles will likely make these improvements a slow fix.
Security concerns continue to arise as conflicts continue in the country. Additionally, UNICEF has reported obstacles to cash transfers to the country.
Despite these obstacles, past results in the country should provide an optimistic outlook moving forward.
– Erik Beck
Photo: Flickr
Improving the Water Quality in Gambia
In spite of being the smallest country in Africa, it is a greatly populated one, with a population close to two million citizens. Thus, the combination of a small territory with a lot of people is a major cause of poverty in the Gambia. Within the 187 countries that constitute Africa, Gambia is the 165th most impoverished with a GDP per capita of $1,664.
Along with general poverty, the main problems the country faces relate to the environment. Fifty-seven percent of citizens live in the urban areas of Gambia; the percentage populates rural areas where one-third of the population is poor.
The lack of agricultural resources and seeds, amongst others, are why rural areas regularly face poverty. However, the problem of water quality in Gambia stands out due to its negative impact.
Pollution results in contaminated water, which affects the species and individuals who consume it. Unfortunately, Gambia lacks the sanitation facilities necessary to properly filter water for consumption. Furthermore, harmful compounds can be transmitted by polluted water, which increases the possibility of contracting a dangerous disease or developing further health issues.
The most prevalent waterborne disease in Gambia is diarrhea, the leading cause of death among children under five. Hepatitis A and typhoid fever are also predominant waterborne diseases as well as schistosomiasis.
Contaminated water not only affects those who drink it but can also have harmful effects if used for farming or cooking. It is estimated that 53 percent of Gambia’s population that reside in rural areas have access to clean water.
Needless to say, multiple organizations such as the United Nations Children’s Fund and Childfund International are fighting every day to be able to solve this important and concerning matter.
Identifying the cause of the issue and taking action by delivering water provisions, creating water filters and more, are initiatives that nonprofit organizations are working towards. The water quality in Gambia has already received some help and will get better in a near future.
– Paula Gibson
Photo: Pixabay
Solar Panels in Refugee Camps Show Widely Positive Impacts
Jordan’s Zaatari camp, which houses over 100,000 refugees and asylum seekers, recently installed solar-powered street lamps in and around sanitation and toilet facilities, with the help of Oxfam Canada. Not only do these lamps use a 100 percent environmentally friendly source of power to operate, but they also make these facilities safer to use at night.
The Zaatari camp is by no means the only, or even most prime, example of solar panels in refugee camps providing help to tens of thousands of people.
The Azraq camp, also located in Jordan, is powered completely by renewable energy derived from solar panels. A two-megawatt solar plant, funded by the Ikea Foundation, supplies electricity to over 20,000 refugees living within Azraq’s shelters free of charge. Its energy is used to power fridges, fans, televisions and cell phones. Not only is the solar plant capable of immediately saving the UNHCR $1.5 million per year, but a planned output upgrade from two to five megawatts means that soon electricity will be available to all 36,000 residents in Azraq.
Solar panels in refugee camps also show a promising, optimistic future for the non-refugee population of Jordan as well.
According to Ala Qubain, the head engineer at Mustakbal (the firm that constructed Azraq’s solar plant), once the camp is no longer needed by refugees and asylum-seekers, the power plant “will remain as a contribution to Jordan to reduce its dependence on foreign fuel supplies.”
Unlike its neighbors, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, Jordan does not have an abundant supply of oil reserves to power homes and businesses and has struggled with electricity supply in the past. Now that solar panels in refugee camps have proven to be both effective and cheap, the push for renewable energy practices in Jordan, and possibly the wider Middle East, have been reinforced.
It is often difficult to find a positive message in the world’s refugee crisis, with figures and statistics of those displaced and struggling continuously rising. The effect of solar panels in refugee camps, however, has both short- and long-term benefits.
Neighborhoods are made safer at night for women and children thanks to solar-powered lamps. The energy source’s cheap implementation and maintenance is economically viable for businesses and the implications of the future use of solar panels are nothing short of positive and promising.
– Brad Tait
Photo: Flickr
How All Former U.S. Presidents Fight Global Poverty
Here’s how former presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama helped foreign nations since leaving office.
Jimmy Carter
Even at age 93, Jimmy Carter works alongside other volunteers outdoors to build houses with Habitat for Humanity. Both Carter and his wife Rosalynn have traveled around the world to raise awareness towards the benefits of affordable housing. Their work encompasses 14 countries and 4,000 built homes.
George Herbert Walker Bush
Both George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton fought a vicious campaign against each other for the presidency in 1992. But all wounds were mended by 2005, when the two former presidents visited Asia to raise money in the wake of a deadly tsunami. The two men also raised more than $100 million to support the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
On the subject of losing the re-election to a member of an opposing party, H.W. Bush commented, “You just can’t go through life with a great deal of bitterness in your heart over something that happened 15 years ago.”
Bill Clinton
In addition to the funds raised after Hurricane Katrina, Clinton established the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in 2005. The CGI gathered Nobel laureates, leading CEOs, philanthropists and more than 200 former heads of state to create Commitments to Action for those in need.
Previous Commitments to Action include an amount of refugees taken in by a country, an installation of solar arrays for a country and advice from major corporations to a country. CGI has aided 180 nations since its genesis.
George W. Bush
October wasn’t the first time the world saw George W. Bush and former U.S. presidents fight global poverty together. Both Bush and Clinton raised funds to provide for Haiti in the wake of the 2010 earthquake.
Bush continued his philanthropy even after his two terms saw the achievement of the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals years ahead of schedule.
Barack Obama
Not even a year after leaving office, Barack Obama advocated for the world to address climate change, poverty and disease. “People wildly overestimate what we spend on foreign aid,” he said, “…It’s a good investment to make countries work.” Obama joined philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates, Leymah Gbowee and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to urge nations in uniting to combat global poverty.
Seeing all former U.S. presidents fight global poverty reveals the tenacity within each leader. All five men, however, believe that saving the world is a global effort.
– Nick Edinger
Photo: Flickr