Following decades of non-stop armed conflict, Sudan has a horrible human rights record and ranks as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Violent clashes and subsequent displacement of citizens have particularly hurt the country’s most vulnerable population: children. Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organization for children and is currently engaged in 120 countries, including Sudan. Save the Children has worked to improve the welfare of Sudanese children since 1983.
Sudan has been plagued by a string of violent conflicts. In 2005, the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005) concluded with the signage of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Subsequently, in 2011 residents of South Sudan overwhelmingly voted to secede from Sudan. The secession of South Sudan resulted in a mass migration as citizens of Sudan relocated to South Sudan and vice-versa.
This mass displacement separated tens of thousands of children from their families. To address this crisis, Save the Children has implemented a family tracing and reunification (FTR) program. FTR is the first initiative that Save the Children launches in conflict zones.
Save the Children partnered with UNICEF and community-based networks to introduce FTR following the creation of the Republic of South Sudan in 2011. The program identifies and registers unaccompanied children, then works to reunite them with their families. Unfortunately, the longer a child remains separated from caregivers, the greater the risk that the child will become a victim of violence and exploitation.
Last month, Save the Children and UNICEF aided 399 unaccompanied Sudanese children. Additionally, the partners have just reunited their 5,000th child with his mother. In total, 16,055 separated children have been traced and documented by all the family reunification organizations in Sudan.
Save the Children in Sudan further supports children by supporting community-based child protection networks. The organization leverages existing community structures to identify and respond to child protection issues. Through these networks, Save the Children aims to raise awareness and spread information to prevent child matriculation into armed forces, to reduce the number of children separated from caregivers and to educate the community about existing resources that combat child abuse.
Additionally, the organization has created child-friendly spaces that help children recover from trauma and re-enter their local communities. Save the Children establishes child-friendly spaces in all conflict zones where it operates. The nonprofit coordinates these spaces with existing local services to expand the care options available.
Save the Children combats major social problems through public information campaigns delivered at schools, child-friendly spaces and community centers. In Sudan, the organization disseminates information about two major safety threats: the recruitment of children by armed forces and the continued presence of landmines and unexplained ordinances. Additionally, Save the Children addresses the root cause of child enrollment into armies by working to improve the economic circumstances of vulnerable children.
Save the Children believes that the existing legislative framework for the protection of Sudanese children is inadequate. Physical discipline is still widely accepted in schools and homes. Therefore, Save the Children helps national civil rights groups campaign for new protective policies and expansion of government bodies that combat physical punishment.
In 2013, Save the Children’s child protection program in Sudan directly impacted 969,000 people, including 551,974 children, and indirectly impacted 5,025670 people, including 3,318,931 children. Its efforts are going a long way to alleviate the issues caused by the ongoing instability in Sudan.
– Katherine Parks
Photo: Flickr
10 Facts about the Holodomor Genocide
In 1933, Ukraine experienced a manmade famine orchestrated by Joseph Stalin’s Soviet regime. As a result of the Holodomor Genocide somewhere around 10 million Ukrainians perished. Whether the Holodomor (translated from Ukrainian as “extermination by famine”) was a genocide, as Ukrainian history insists, or a byproduct of the ongoing Soviet famine, as some contemporaries still suggest, the stories of the millions that died should be remembered to ensure that such a widespread tragedy does not happen again.
10 Facts about the Holodomor Genocide:
The denial by the Soviet Union of their role in the genocide has prevented a nation from healing. While the U.S. and other Western nations believed accounts that lessened the famine or ignored Stalin’s complicity, they have taken steps to remedy their failure. Russia must do the same to ensure that nothing like the Holodomor Genocide happens again.
– Eric Paulsen
Photo: Google
Deforestation in Brazilian Amazon Sees First Decline in 3 Years
Forests cover one third of the world’s landmass and serve vital purposes around the globe, including regulating the atmosphere and providing shelter, sustenance and survival to millions of people. However, since 1990, the world has lost 1.3 million square kilometers of forest, an area larger than South Africa. When combating this injustice, it is important to note that the world’s forests are very unevenly distributed. Brazil holds the world’s second largest share of forests, with approximately one quarter of the world’s total.
The Brazilian Amazon is the world’s largest tropical rainforest and it is “vital to the well-being of the peoples on our planet,” according to Rodrigo Medeiros, Vice President of CI-Brasil. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has long plagued the nation’s people, environment and economy.
Seven institutions, including the Brazilian Ministry of Environment and the World Bank, have joined together for the largest restoration effort ever made in Brazilian forests. The efforts to reverse the rampant deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is proving to be effective; the region’s deforestation fell by 16 percent in July 2017 compared to the previous year. This is the first decline in three years.
This decline is an indication that Brazil is making strides towards its climate change targets and towards a more prosperous and sustainable environment, which is essential for the eradication of poverty.
The multifaceted response to deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is “helping Brazil demonstrate that it is possible to preserve the forest, mitigate the impacts of climate change, and at the same time strengthen the local communities,” said Martin Raiser, World Bank Country Director for Brazil.
The harmful relationship between deforestation and poverty requires that both be targeted individually in order to halt the cycle of deprivation across the globe. Forests help us breathe, provide shelter, foster biodiversity, regulate temperatures, influence weather patterns, prevent flooding, refill aquifers, block wind, stabilize Earth’s foundation, purify the air, provide nutrition, supply medicines and create jobs. When any of these life-saving advantages of forests are compromised due to deforestation, it is the world’s poor whose health and livelihood suffers most. It is imperative that the fight to end poverty, as well as the fight to sustainably manage forests, both continue without impeding each other.
– Jamie Enright
Photo: Flickr
10 Facts About Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone
From 1991 to 2002, Sierra Leone was embroiled in a devastating civil war, fought primarily between the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and Sierra Leone Army (SLA). This civil war garnered international attention for its blatant use of child soldiers and for the skyrocketing of child soldiers in Sierra Leone.
Child soldiers are children (defined under international law as individuals under the age of 18) who are used for any military purpose. In the Sierra Leonean civil war, children made up between 40 and 50 percent of the RUF’s military force and approximately 20 percent of the government’s military force. In total, approximately 10,000 children were exploited and forced to be child soldiers in Sierra Leone. Discussed below are the leading facts about child soldiers in Sierra Leone.
Top 10 Facts About Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone
Recent innovations in international human rights law, such as the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (which has been ratified by more than 110 countries) are a reason to have hope for the future of children in conflict, as are nonprofits like the Child Soldier Initiative.
According to Theresa Betancourt, an expert in the field of child psychology in conflict and child soldiers, “We need to devise lasting systems of care, instead of leaving behind a dust cloud that disappears when the humanitarian actors leave.”
– Olivia Bradley
Photo: Flickr
Why Samoa Has Poverty: Ongoing Struggles
In comparison to some of its neighbors in the Pacific region, the Samoa is largely successful and has a relatively strong economy. However, that is not to say that poverty does not exist in Samoa. There are a number of reasons why Samoa has poverty.
It is true that Samoa does not have extreme poverty. However, it does have large concentrations of working poor. 20 percent of Samoans live below the poverty line.
One of the biggest reasons as to why Samoa has poverty is its geography. Samoa is a small country with limited resources. Its soil is fertile but vulnerable to erosion. Natural disasters, such as volcanic activity and cyclones, have always been a threat to the nation. Samoa is also particularly susceptible to the effects of climate change, including the resulting loss of biodiversity and rising sea levels. The areas most threatened by these phenomena are generally rural and poorer. Furthermore, recovery from cyclones and other disasters can take a long time.
At the same time, fishable marine life is decreasing and the human population is increasing, creating a strain on the economy.
Another explanation for why Samoa has poverty is the high cost of living. Samoan citizens have complained about the fact that one can easily spend $100 in one day for basic necessities, when $100 is often what rural Samoans make in a week. It is not unheard of for Samoans to operate side businesses or do additional work to make ends meet, such as selling coconut oil or selling plates of food.
Despite the apparent inaction of the Samoan government, as well as the multiple possible explanations for why Samoa has poverty, there are some glimmers of hope. Some Samoans have turned to livestock farming, particularly lambs, which until recently was uncommon. Many Samoans turn to their churches not just for spiritual guidance, but for community support.
Additionally, Samoa has made strong progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals set forth by the World Health Organization, having made social progress on a number of fronts and virtually eliminating extreme poverty. Samoa certainly has its ongoing struggles, but if its people and past are any indication, it has the potential to improve.
– Andrew Revord
Photo: Flickr
Corruption: One of the Main Causes of Poverty in Congo
Despite its vast material wealth, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has long been a very poor nation. Beneath its surface lies about $24 trillion in minerals, but this treasure has so far done nothing to alleviate poverty in this country. Half of the country’s population lives below the poverty line, living on less than $1 a day, especially those in rural communities. There is no single reason, but there are several causes of poverty in Congo that can be identified.
In rural areas, there has often been a lack of investment in basic infrastructure, such as roads, making transportation costs high. Farming methods are often antiquated and inefficient. Finally, there is a general lack of investment on the part of the government and the private sector in rural Congo.
Disease has always been one of the biggest causes of poverty in Congo. There were about 6.7 million reported cases of malaria in 2009, which is especially deadly to children. Cholera outbreaks are frequent. HIV/AIDS affects 5.3 percent of Congolese. Congo’s healthcare system is anemic, with hospitals often understaffed and underequipped.
The mining industry in Congo is particularly corrupt and is one of the largest causes of poverty in Congo. The precious metals mined in the Congo are necessary for a lot of technology taken for granted in the west: smartphones, computers, etc. Many foreign investors in the mining sector end up signing billion-dollar contracts with parties funding armed paramilitary groups, who siphoned some $185 million in 2008 from mining deals. The Congolese army is also dependent on funding from valuable minerals.
There has been some recent pushback against corruption in the Congolese mining industry. #Standwithcongo was launched by activist JD Steir with Robin Wright of House of Cards fame to get mining companies to disclose owners of the offshore shell companies involved with these mining deals.
– Andrew Revord
Photo: Flickr
Protect Drought Vital to End Hunger in Uganda
Only 4 percent of households in Uganda have had food security over the past six years. This is related to the food shortages and destitute diets that have also come from dealing with climate change, urbanization, the inconsistencies of Ugandan policies and poor public financing.
Hunger in Uganda has also been caused by the lack of water. A growing population has led to stresses on water and sanitation services. 24 million people in rural areas do not have access to water, which has increased the incidence of water-related diseases such as diarrhea and dysentery. Each week, 30,000 deaths are caused by unsafe water.
The lack of food has led to malnutrition among children, including refugees. It has been estimated that 33 percent of children under five are enduring chronic undernourishment and stunted growth. Only one in three children actually have food to eat during the day, while stunting affects 29 percent of children and rises to 40 percent in certain areas and among refugees.
Organizations like Action Against Hunger have made efforts to help Uganda. They focus on nutrition, health and care practices, and have helped 148,420 people. They have been able to reach some of the most vulnerable children in refugee settlements and treat life-threatening malnutrition. Action Against Hunger has helped strengthen the local capacity while training locals to be able to provide treatment. They have plans to help prevent malnutrition as well as to gather more information on malnutrition in order to prevent it in the future.
The World Food Programme also helps Uganda by providing cash and food assistance to people in need. They have also set up the “cash/food-for-work” program to ensure there is food during the lean seasons. This program helps communities build tree farms, orchards, irrigation systems, water ponds and dams to help them better endure droughts.
While the poverty rate in Uganda has declined from 31 to 19.7 percent, the fact that the population is still growing means that the number of poor people has not decreased. To combat this, the work the aforementioned groups are doing is vital to help Ugandans become self-sufficient in growing food and end hunger in Uganda.
– Chavez Spicer
Photo: Flickr
Education in Dominica: The Fight for Accessibility
However, there are challenges outlined in the OECS Education Sector plan. Inadequacies in access are greatest at the pre-primary and tertiary levels. Net enrollment at the pre-primary level for the region averages just over 66 percent. Fewer than 15 percent of graduates from secondary school are able to access higher education, while fewer than 10 percent of adults in the OECS have completed tertiary level education.
Inequality has become more obvious and there are increasing concerns that in some areas, the most disadvantaged economically and socially may not be enjoying the benefits of the education system. Gender disparities in performance are evident at all levels of the school system, and there is declining participation of males at the upper secondary and tertiary levels.
These challenges are obstacles that many countries face, including Dominica. However, education in Dominica has improved over the years. The World Bank data shows an improvement in the gross enrollment rate from 95 percent in 1986 to 116 percent in 2015. One reason for the rise in education enrollment is because of the Global Partnership for Education’s grant of $2 million in 2014.
The objectives of this grant have contributed to “quality learning standards, improvement of teacher practices, strengthening primary school leadership and accountability and initiated the strengthening of sector monitoring and evaluation capacity.” By continuing to focus on these areas, education in Dominica can continue its upward trend. Additional attention on making education accessible to all is another key part of addressing these issues.
– Ashley Howard
Photo: Flickr
Interventions Initiated by Save the Children in Sudan
Sudan has been plagued by a string of violent conflicts. In 2005, the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005) concluded with the signage of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Subsequently, in 2011 residents of South Sudan overwhelmingly voted to secede from Sudan. The secession of South Sudan resulted in a mass migration as citizens of Sudan relocated to South Sudan and vice-versa.
This mass displacement separated tens of thousands of children from their families. To address this crisis, Save the Children has implemented a family tracing and reunification (FTR) program. FTR is the first initiative that Save the Children launches in conflict zones.
Save the Children partnered with UNICEF and community-based networks to introduce FTR following the creation of the Republic of South Sudan in 2011. The program identifies and registers unaccompanied children, then works to reunite them with their families. Unfortunately, the longer a child remains separated from caregivers, the greater the risk that the child will become a victim of violence and exploitation.
Last month, Save the Children and UNICEF aided 399 unaccompanied Sudanese children. Additionally, the partners have just reunited their 5,000th child with his mother. In total, 16,055 separated children have been traced and documented by all the family reunification organizations in Sudan.
Save the Children in Sudan further supports children by supporting community-based child protection networks. The organization leverages existing community structures to identify and respond to child protection issues. Through these networks, Save the Children aims to raise awareness and spread information to prevent child matriculation into armed forces, to reduce the number of children separated from caregivers and to educate the community about existing resources that combat child abuse.
Additionally, the organization has created child-friendly spaces that help children recover from trauma and re-enter their local communities. Save the Children establishes child-friendly spaces in all conflict zones where it operates. The nonprofit coordinates these spaces with existing local services to expand the care options available.
Save the Children combats major social problems through public information campaigns delivered at schools, child-friendly spaces and community centers. In Sudan, the organization disseminates information about two major safety threats: the recruitment of children by armed forces and the continued presence of landmines and unexplained ordinances. Additionally, Save the Children addresses the root cause of child enrollment into armies by working to improve the economic circumstances of vulnerable children.
Save the Children believes that the existing legislative framework for the protection of Sudanese children is inadequate. Physical discipline is still widely accepted in schools and homes. Therefore, Save the Children helps national civil rights groups campaign for new protective policies and expansion of government bodies that combat physical punishment.
In 2013, Save the Children’s child protection program in Sudan directly impacted 969,000 people, including 551,974 children, and indirectly impacted 5,025670 people, including 3,318,931 children. Its efforts are going a long way to alleviate the issues caused by the ongoing instability in Sudan.
– Katherine Parks
Photo: Flickr
Water Quality in Kenya: Working to Expand Access
As is known to many already, Kenya has one of the most struggling populations in the world. With a population of 36.6 million and still rising, the country needs water. The lack of quality water in Kenya has been an issue for decades. As a result, agriculture is mostly barren. There is only a small area that is actually sustainable for planting. One of the recent natural disasters that hit the country caused major deterioration in the soil, which caused refugee displacement throughout the country.
Kenya does have natural water resources to provide water; however, it does not provide enough water to various areas of the country. There are also many water basins that do not reach a large enough area. Thus, most of the population the country is left without water. With the increase in urbanization in Kenya, those who are poor are pushed into slums, where they are overcrowded, there is no clean water and the sanitation is at hazardous levels, resulting in horrific health conditions for the people.
With dirty water comes diseases. Water pathogens are a major issue in Kenya. The people are at risk of sporadic epidemics such as cholera and parasitic worms because their basins and pumps are contaminated. Not only are the sources unsatisfactory, the containers in which they carry their were often previously used for oil, fertilizer or waste.
To retrieve water, women and children often have to spend a majority of their day in the hot sun trying to find fresh water. During these journeys, women and children are susceptible to dangers like attacks from predators and exposure to the elements in addition to the diseases from the water.
It seems as though the government would be involved in such a situation; however, there have been problems there as well. There are some areas in Kenya that have been privatized, but other sectors have had investors discouraged from developing the areas. Water privatization is seen as a negative, but without it, many areas do not have piping, sanitation and tanker services. Kenya’s government is nearly bankrupt and lacks the funds to be able to run pumping stations or piping systems. The ones that are built are often pirated and are unable to be repaired.
However, there are groups working to improve water quality in Kenya. Organizations like Water.org are providing safe water and sanitation. They are developing new ways to reach out to banks, digital financial service providers and water service providers to find partners to provide financing. In addition to helping financially, there are organizations on the ground making changes. Charitywater.org has looked into the solutions of hand-dug wells, drilled wells, spring protections and rainwater catchments. These two groups are taking important steps to help improve the situation for Kenya’s people.
– Chavez Spicer
Photo: Flickr
Water Quality in Austria Among the Highest in the World
Water quality is important to any community, as it prevents illness, promotes the economy and ensures that citizens are healthy. Austria is considered one of Europe’s most water-wealthy countries, and the water quality in Austria is excellent. Austria witnesses on average 1,100 mm of precipitation each year. 50 percent of the drinking water in Austria comes from groundwater and the other 50 percent comes from springs.
Austria is ranked number one in the Environmental Performance Index (tied with 21 other countries) for water and sanitation. 100 percent of people in Austria have access to drinking water and sanitation. Drinking water sources are improved, meaning they are protected from outside contamination, in 100 percent of both urban and rural areas.
Despite already having high rankings for water and sanitation, Austria has also implemented efforts to improve its environment and water quality. One of these is The Environmental Impact Assessment Act of 2005, which assesses the effects that planned projects will have on the environment and its inhabitants, both humans and animals. The program has resulted in the water quality of Austrian lakes to rise to commendable levels.
Austria also implemented the EU Water Framework Directive, amending the preexisting Austrian Water Act. Meant to ensure quality water for EU citizens, the directive is meant to set specific environmental goals regarding groundwater and and surface waters, analyze the characteristics of river basins and the effect that human activity has on them and prevent further deterioration of aquatic ecosystems. The goal of these actions is to make access to quality water secure and sustainable, maintain and restore the near-natural state of bodies of water and to prevent contamination of water.
Along with stellar water and sanitation levels, Austrians also enjoy a ranking of eight out of 178 countries for overall Environmental Performance Index with a score of 78.32 out of 100. With its already good conditions and continued commitments to improve them, Austria is a model to the world of how to provide clean water to a country’s citizens.
– Téa Franco
Photo: Flickr