After spending seven centuries as a sultanate, the Maldives became a British protectorate in 1887. In 1986, three years after gaining its independence, the country became a republic. Education in the Maldives is faring well, as the island spends about 5.7 percent of its Gross Domestic Product on education. 99.3 percent of its population over the age of 15 can read and write. The country’s functional literacy rate of 98 percent is the highest in South Asia and in the Indian Ocean region.
About 35 percent of the population in the Maldives is under 18 years of age. In order for the country to have a sustainable future, greater social investment in education is required for young children.
Schools in the Maldives are divided into three types: English language primary and secondary schools, Quranic Schools and Dhivehi language primary schools. Primary and secondary education in the Maldives is free. The country’s colleges and universities are managed by the Ministry of Education.
In the past, traditional education in the Maldives was the responsibility of religious leaders and institutions. Known as “edhuruge,” the schools followed the patterns of Quranic schools. Today, the British system of education is followed, but there are still several modern schools that continue to provide Arabic and Islamic education. The system of education in the Maldives is designed within a specific curriculum to foster cultural and religious values in students, as well as so that they may obtain training and employment opportunities. A typical curriculum in schools includes Dhivehi, mathematics, environmental studies, Islam, English, fine arts, physical education, handwriting and study of the Quran.
In 1998, the Maldives College of Higher Education (MCHE) was established and provided Bachelor’s degrees. Before MHEC, only primary and secondary levels of education were available and students who wanted to pursue higher education studies had to go abroad. Since then, however, Maldives National University condensed and upgraded the existing facilities of MCHE in 2011.
UNICEF and the Ministry of Education have created tsunami recovery programs that have enhanced development, raised educational standards nationally and integrated schools in dispersed areas of the islands. This has included the construction of teacher resource centers, programs encouraging active involvement of caregivers in children’s learning, revision of curriculum to reflect national development priorities and knowledge-sharing initiatives at both national and local levels.
There are several vocational training centers and schools scattered throughout the islands. The Vocational Training Center in Male offers training in subjects such as engine repair and maintenance, refrigeration, electricity, welding and machinery. A Rural Youth Vocational Training Program is maintained by the Maldivian government and provides training in atoll localities. Other schools in the country include the Maldives Center for Social Education, Maldives Institute of Technical Education, Science Education Center and Arabic Islamic Education Center.
UNICEF has noted the success of the child-friendly teaching methods which have caused many communities to voluntarily join the educational system. In order to expand participatory learning into secondary schools to continue learning opportunities for interested students, the government of Maldives has developed its own national development programs.
The government of the Maldives needs to maintain and sustain its educational investments and devise innovative solutions to the problems of travel and distance that prohibit many students from learning in an institutional environment. The young population of the country will be the future job-seekers – and leaders – of the country. As such, they deserve the best opportunities education can provide.
– Mohammed Khalid
Photo: Flickr
Tackling Poverty Together: Canada’s Poverty Reduction Strategy
Overview of Canada’s Poverty Reduction Strategy
Approximately five million Canadians currently live in poverty, and poverty costs Canada between $72 and $84 billion each year. Canada has an opportunity to improve the quality of life of its citizens and also stimulate its economy through the Poverty Reduction Strategy. Canada’s Poverty Reduction Strategy included three initial steps:
Consulting Canadians on Poverty
The first step in Canada’s Poverty Reduction Strategy was to consult people from all areas of the country and all walks of life. This phase included a combination of meetings with local governments as well as online forums and town halls so that all Canadian citizens were given an opportunity to be heard. The use of online tools to engage more people in the conversation is a great example of leveraging modern technology to help find solutions for complex problems like poverty.
Establishing an Advisory Committee
Canada’s Poverty Reduction Strategy includes an advisory board of 17 leaders from academia, business and beyond. The advisory group also includes members that have experienced poverty themselves. This is an important reminder that any decision-making body should include those who have lived experience with the topic being considered. The advisory board will discuss issues pertaining to poverty and give advice to the Canadian government.
Conducting Research
The Canadian government has also conducted a case-study in six different communities across Canada to look at what can be done to lift people out of poverty. The final report made key conclusions about what Canada’s Poverty Reduction Strategy needs to focus on moving forward. Many other countries can learn from Canada’s findings. The conclusions were as follows:
An Innovative Way Forward In the Fight Against Poverty
Canada’s Poverty Reduction Strategy should be an example to the world on how to create a cohesive, modern and organized strategy for fighting poverty. However, poverty is a complex issue and there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
Powerful governments like that of the United States and organizations like the United Nations have the opportunity to aid the reduction of global poverty. One way they can do this is by making sure developing countries have the resources they need to implement their own poverty reduction strategies.
– Aaron Childree
Photo: Flickr
Education in The Gambia Benefits From UNICEF’s Efforts
Madonna’s Raising Malawi Constructs New Medical Facilities
Raising Malawi’s most recent program is the construction of a new pediatric surgery unit at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre. Madonna announced that it would be called the Mercy James Institute of Pediatric Surgery and Intensive Care, named after one of Madonna’s adopted children. In June 2017, furniture and equipment started being moved into the new unit. Madonna’s children helped paint murals at the new hospital.
The new construction will help the hospital “double the number of surgeries performed on children each year and will provide an intensive care unit which will increase the chance of survival after critical surgeries.” This is a program that is needed in Malawi because 50 percent of the population is under the age of 15. With such a shortage of pediatricians and pediatric doctors, child care and access to it are extremely important to child development. Raising Malawi has worked hard to expand pediatric care opportunities in the small country.
For Madonna’s birthday, she started a hashtag called #STOCKTHEWARD, which asked people to donate certain services and items for the new unit. For example, $500 pays a nurse’s salary for a month, while $200 pays for 10 blankets for the ward. If a donor gives $25,000, this will pay to ship a container of medicines not available in Malawi to the ward. Madonna’s Raising Malawi is allowing her to literally help these children grow up healthy and happy.
In addition to this newer program, Raising Malawi promotes education through scholarships and grassroots soccer, and partners with others to build schools. Also, Madonna’s organization works within the community as well. The orphanage she adopted some of her children from is called Home of Hope, and Raising Malawi has supported the orphanage financially for years. Madonna also helped raise awareness for the AIDS epidemic through a film she wrote entitled “I Am Because We Are.”
Overall, Raising Malawi has helped children in all aspects of their life, whether it be through education, healthcare or their community. The organization is able to help children in many different parts of their lives, which will lead to real change in these children’s lives.
– Emilia Beuger
Photo: Flickr
How to Aid People With Depression in the Developing World
It is estimated that 350 million people suffer from depression worldwide, yet less than 10 percent of people in developing countries have access to adequate treatment and care options. A study conducted in rural India found that just under 40 percent of the entire population suffered from some form of mild to moderate depression. Another study conducted in Pakistan found that 50 percent of all women living in rural areas suffered from some form of depression or anxiety. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that patients who had previously endured a traumatic event – such as conflict or fleeing their countries as refugees – had a significantly increased risk of experiencing recurring depression.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized the severity of depression and its nature as a global health crisis. Conditions that commonly exist in developing countries, such as social and political instability, armed conflict, refugee crises, economic instability and food instability are all extremely high-risk triggers for anxiety and depression disorders. According to the WHO, a disproportionate number of the world’s medical professionals practice in developed countries. There is far greater availability of healthcare in places where it is least needed.
Depression is a disease that can limit a patient’s functioning and cause them a great deal of discomfort and suffering. The WHO has listed depression on their Mental Health Gap Action Program, and as a result, they aim to curb the rising number of individuals suffering from depression in the developing world. The plan is to provide adequate training and assistance to people who might not have extensive healthcare backgrounds so that they can better assist people suffering from depression in developing nations.
There is a real and dire need to determine ways in which to combat depression in the developing world. With the support of the international aid community, organizations such as WHO can implement aid strategies to hopefully bring an end to the disproportionately high number of untreated depression patients living in the developing world.
– Tyler Troped
Photo: Flickr
Women’s Rights in Tunisia
Tunisia has long been the leader in regard to women’s rights in the region – particularly among Muslim-majority countries. Although women’s rights organizations have campaigned for decades, their first recognized achievement was persuading legislators to make Tunisia the first country to eliminate a law protecting rapists from punishment if they marry their victims.
Experts worry that Tunisia faces an “identity crisis” as it struggles to enact its 2014 constitution without a functioning constitutional court for checks and balances. The constitution promises full gender equality as a vague concept and specifies international treaties outweighing domestic law, but does not consider the weight of current family law.
Amid this identity crisis, gender equality in the feminist sense has yet to be agreed upon as it stands in opposition to many beliefs of Islam. A recent review of inheritance law – which states that a man should receive a share of inheritance equal to the portions of two women – has been under debate, as some women have strongly supported the review but many oppose it, citing their religion as a defense of the law. True integration of the sexes in Tunisia may be out of reach until the dust of the revolution settles, but they have made significant strides in the past decade. The most recent events of women’s rights in Tunisia include:
These legal strides are minimally effective without a full court to enforce them – even government officials have admitted that laws themselves are not enough. To combat the problems fully, certain organizations have been founded to actively fight for women’s rights in Tunisia. These include the National Union for Tunisian Women, Union of Tunisian Workers ‘Women’s Commission’, The Nissa Group and Tunisian Association of Women Democrats.
In addition to the various organizations formed, two women have joined forces to encourage victims of abuse to stand up for themselves and to talk about their experiences. Amal Khleef and Amal Amrawy started an online forum called “Chaml,” which means, “coming together,” as a place for victims of domestic violence to speak up about their challenges.
The percentage of Tunisian women reported as victims of domestic violence has fortunately been reduced from 70 percent in 2016 to 47 percent in 2017 – a significant decline that should be celebrated. Although integrating policy change with social change in a fluctuating democracy may prove difficult, the results of efforts to improve women’s rights in Tunisia thus far can already be seen.
– Rebekah Korn
Photo: Flickr
The Promising Future of Education in the Maldives
About 35 percent of the population in the Maldives is under 18 years of age. In order for the country to have a sustainable future, greater social investment in education is required for young children.
Schools in the Maldives are divided into three types: English language primary and secondary schools, Quranic Schools and Dhivehi language primary schools. Primary and secondary education in the Maldives is free. The country’s colleges and universities are managed by the Ministry of Education.
In the past, traditional education in the Maldives was the responsibility of religious leaders and institutions. Known as “edhuruge,” the schools followed the patterns of Quranic schools. Today, the British system of education is followed, but there are still several modern schools that continue to provide Arabic and Islamic education. The system of education in the Maldives is designed within a specific curriculum to foster cultural and religious values in students, as well as so that they may obtain training and employment opportunities. A typical curriculum in schools includes Dhivehi, mathematics, environmental studies, Islam, English, fine arts, physical education, handwriting and study of the Quran.
In 1998, the Maldives College of Higher Education (MCHE) was established and provided Bachelor’s degrees. Before MHEC, only primary and secondary levels of education were available and students who wanted to pursue higher education studies had to go abroad. Since then, however, Maldives National University condensed and upgraded the existing facilities of MCHE in 2011.
UNICEF and the Ministry of Education have created tsunami recovery programs that have enhanced development, raised educational standards nationally and integrated schools in dispersed areas of the islands. This has included the construction of teacher resource centers, programs encouraging active involvement of caregivers in children’s learning, revision of curriculum to reflect national development priorities and knowledge-sharing initiatives at both national and local levels.
There are several vocational training centers and schools scattered throughout the islands. The Vocational Training Center in Male offers training in subjects such as engine repair and maintenance, refrigeration, electricity, welding and machinery. A Rural Youth Vocational Training Program is maintained by the Maldivian government and provides training in atoll localities. Other schools in the country include the Maldives Center for Social Education, Maldives Institute of Technical Education, Science Education Center and Arabic Islamic Education Center.
UNICEF has noted the success of the child-friendly teaching methods which have caused many communities to voluntarily join the educational system. In order to expand participatory learning into secondary schools to continue learning opportunities for interested students, the government of Maldives has developed its own national development programs.
The government of the Maldives needs to maintain and sustain its educational investments and devise innovative solutions to the problems of travel and distance that prohibit many students from learning in an institutional environment. The young population of the country will be the future job-seekers – and leaders – of the country. As such, they deserve the best opportunities education can provide.
– Mohammed Khalid
Photo: Flickr
Womens’ Empowerment in Ethiopia
One reason for the prevalence of poverty is because Ethiopia’s economy is mostly based around agriculture and farming. Thus, whenever there is an occurrence of droughts, the population has to face hunger and a lack of basic resources to survive. Droughts have been very recurrent during the past few years in the country of Ethiopia.
Another increasingly severe problem in Ethiopia is the international trafficking of women and children. Along with it, domestic violence has been a recurrent problem that does not seem to be reducing with time.
Ethiopia’s constitution mentions how it provides equality for women, but the reality is that the application of this statement is sorely lacking. Most victims of abuse, rape, sexual assault or other criminal activities do not understand the legal procedures and rights that they have when going through the legal process. Thus, the victim’s ignorance along with the common belief in Ethiopia that husbands have the right to beat their wife creates an unsafe environment. Victims consider such acts as normal or understandable. Women’s empowerment in Ethiopia seems to be a concept that not even women in this African country are aware of.
The issue is that women’s inequality is an ancient problem that has not been resolved over time, as it has happened in other countries around the world. Thus, situations such as forced marriages and female genital mutilation are still taking place to this day.
Changing Ethiopian society’s view regarding women and children has – understandably – not proven to be an overnight process. The concept as a whole has been tackled by different organizations, including USAID, which has been a major advocate for womens’ empowerment in Ethiopia. Through talks, conventions, creating awareness and promoting reading clubs, women’s empowerment in Ethiopia grows every day a little more.
The Revolutionary Ethiopia Women’s Association (REWA) is an organization with up to five million members, which focuses on women’s rights in the African country. Reach for Change is another organization well known for its work towards women’s empowerment in Ethiopia. Whilst working directly with Ethiopian citizens, these organizations are working to create an awareness that will help make progress in empowering women in Ethiopia – something that has been a long time coming.
– Paula Gibson
Photo: Flickr
Regulating Maternal Immunizations in Developing Countries
A system that identifies, evaluates and responds to the potential events after immunization is called the Pharmacovigilance system. This system is vital for pregnancies but unfortunately, it is still uncommon in developing countries. Fortunately, however, GAPPS (Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Still Birth) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have created a report that discusses the monitoring of existing systems for safety, identifies the gaps, and outlines a plan to implement this program in low and middle-income countries.
The analysis brings in a range of organizations including the WHO (World Health Organization), UNICEF, and MNCH (Maternal, Newborn and Child Health) to develop the strategy further. The report also discusses key necessities such as the need for regulations, response to events including the health of pregnant women and their offspring, training in the Pharmacovigilance system, model creation of dates, and linkages between the systems and collaborators.
If a pregnant woman is at a high risk of being exposed to any diseases that would be a high risk to both her and the fetus, the benefits of maternal immunization would typically outweigh the risks. The two vaccinations for pregnant women that are most encouraged are whooping cough (Pertussis), and the flu (Influenza) vaccines. The whopping cough can be life-threatening for newborns, but with the vaccine, the body will produce protective antibodies for the mother and the baby which protects against whooping cough. The flu vaccination is a necessity for pregnant women because they are more susceptible to the virus with the changes in their immune system, heart and lungs. If a pregnant woman catches the flu it can potentially cause serious problems for the fetus including premature birth.
With these systems and an increase in maternal immunization, pregnant women can have confidence in their pregnancy and labor as well as lower the global maternal and newborn mortality rate.
– Chloe Turner
Photo: Flickr
Uzbekistan’s Poverty Rate
Although Uzbekistan has successfully decreased its poverty rate, the country still faces the challenge of creating more jobs to keep the poverty rate down. Many urban cities – where most of the population live – lack adequate employment opportunities. An unsteady unemployment rate, high cost of basic necessities such as food and low wages are major factors contributing to the poverty rate in Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan boasts 92.3 points out of 100 for food production stability and 88.5 points for quality, meaning the country does not have a problem producing high-quality food products. The problem is that the low wages plus the high cost of food mean many residents cannot afford to buy this high-quality food. In fact, 75 percent of the population has a low income. Because of this, the country reports high rates of iron, folic acid and vitamin A deficiencies in its citizens living in poverty.
Thanks to the overall economic growth, a decrease in unemployment and a rise in the labor force have contributed to the decrease in the Uzbekistan poverty rate. In fact, the GDP has steadily increased in the last decade. In 2016, the GDP was estimated at $67.22 billion, a rise from 2014’s $63.067 billion.
Uzbekistan’s poverty rate now ranks seventh compared to its neighbors. It follows countries such as Afghanistan (39.1 percent), Armenia (29.8 percent), and Georgia (20.1 percent).
Although Uzbekistan has a long way to go to completely eradicate poverty, Uzbekistan’s poverty rate has significantly decreased over the years. Continuing to create suitable jobs for urban residents while increasing the GDP will help the country maintain its steady poverty decline.
– Amira Wynn
Photo: Flickr
Why African Countries Have Fallen Behind in Education
A Global Education Monitoring (GEM) report done by UNESCO found that in sub-Saharan Africa, 41 percent of students in primary education don’t complete basic education. The report also said that 87 percent of students don’t reach the minimum proficiency level in reading. This equates to more than one in four young people in the region that can not read or write proficiently.
There are many factors as to why African countries are behind in education, one of them being poverty. But other factors for this issue have to do with the organization of the education system. The GEM report found that less than half of the developing countries had created standards for primary education. Additionally, education systems did not have the means to monitor how students develop or teachers progress. The lack of organization of an educational system causes classrooms to be overcrowded and poorly resourced with teachers that are not qualified.
There are some programs that are addressing these issues. For example, UNESCO is working to improve the quality of teachers’ abilities and to develop a curriculum to improve the learning experience for students. The program also focuses on teaching students skills that are relevant while also providing gender-inclusive literacy programs.
Another way to improve education in African countries is to invest in technology in schools. Internet access is common for people in developed countries but is not distributed equally around the world. Students that live in African countries could benefit from Internet access because of the access to information and connection to resources.
SDGs are obtainable for all developing countries, including countries in Africa. Further investment in the educational systems, the creation of plans and providing a curriculum that is beneficial for students will help provide children with quality education. Investing in technology will also help students learn and help teachers teach, providing a better future for young people in developing countries.
– Deanna Wetmore
Photo: Flickr