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5 Pieces of Legislation That Affect Global Poverty

The United States is one of the wealthiest nations in the world. Many in the U.S. feel that is their job to help those in poverty stricken countries. Currently, there are  five bills in legislation that affect global poverty.

International Affairs Budget:
One piece of legislation that affects global poverty is the International Affairs Budget. In March 2017, the Trump administration proposed a 31 percent cut to the State Department and USAID funding. This enormous cut has not been seen since World War II. Programs funded by the IAB create jobs here at home by opening new markets to U.S. businesses and protect our national security by fighting terrorism and preventing conflicts before they start. This piece of legislation that affects global poverty can help those in need.

AGOA and MCA Modernization Act
Another piece of legislation that affects global poverty is the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Millennial Challenge Corporation (MCC) Modernization Act. This legislation that affects global poverty has a rich history. This act has spurred economic development around the world. Strengthening these programs furthers the U.S. position of international leadership and strengthens our domestic economy while protecting our national security interests.

Protecting Girls’ Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings Act
The lack of education for girls in developing countries can hinder their ability to find jobs, engage in civil society and access other economic opportunities. This piece of legislation that affects global poverty can help. This act will prioritize efforts to support access to primary and secondary education for displaced children with a specific focus on the inclusion of women and girls in foreign assistance programs.

Economic Growth and Development Act
The Economic Growth and Development Act seeks to boost market-based economic growth in developing countries. This legislation that affects global poverty also creates opportunities for the U.S. private sector to become more involved in foreign assistance programs by improving planning and coordination among U.S. departments and agencies.

Global Health Innovation Act
The last legislation that affects global poverty can help significantly. Each year, millions of people in the developing world die of infectious diseases, malnutrition and complications due to pregnancy and childbirth. This act seeks to require the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development to submit an annual report to Congress on the development and use of global health innovations in the programs, projects and activities of the Agency.

If you feel strongly about any of these issues, visit the borgenproject.org and email your local congressmen. https://borgenproject.org/action-center/

– Paige Wilson

Photo: Flickr

Why is Nepal Poor? Cyclical Poverty, Industrial Stagnation, & More

Why Is Nepal Poor
Nepal has a long history as the poorest country in South Asia and the twelfth poorest in the world. Although progress was made to decrease poverty from 22 percent to 10 percent in urban areas and from 43 percent to 35 percent in rural areas, these numbers are still high and extremely damaging to Nepal.

Why is Nepal Poor?

Four out of five people in the Nepalese workforce live in rural areas and depend on subsistence farming. They often have little or no access to primary health care, education, clean drinking water or proper sanitation services.

Less than half of the population has access to safe drinking water, and half of all children under the age of five are underweight. These troubling health and safety statistics manifest themselves in the life expectancy of 54 years, compared to countries like Canada that have been able to achieve 80-year life expectancy because of greater infrastructure and development.

So why is Nepal poor? Cyclical poverty in Nepal is partly due to a history of limited education access. Before 1951 education was reserved for the ruling classes, and accessibility problems persisted even after it was opened to the general public.

The legacy of this educational restriction is that today, two-thirds of the country’s adult population cannot read or write. Women and girls are disproportionately uneducated and often sold into child labor or child marriages before they have a chance to contribute to the workforce.

Industrial stagnation also played a role in the country’s poverty, with 80 percent of the labor force still employed in agriculture despite lowered consumption levels in recent years. There is a huge need to move workers into industry and services to expand the economy. Because the government cannot subsidize large-scale development of infrastructure, it needs to allow private sector development to pay for things like roads.

Ways to Improve

Government policies also need to become more pro-business and create employment opportunities by encouraging new industries, eliminating curbs on foreign investment, lowering taxes on income, imports and production, and promoting free trade.

Nepal has a long way to go to strengthen both their educational system and foreign investment in the private sector, however steady progress is being made to industrialize and increase infrastructure build-up in rural areas of the country.

– Saru Duckworth

Photo: Pixabay

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A Prominent Unbalance: The Fight to End Sexism in Poverty

Sexism in Poverty
Words associated with poverty tend to be hunger, disease or politics but rarely sexism. In 2015, over 80 prominent media figures, from Bono to Beyoncé, signed a letter petitioning to end sexism in poverty. The public letter received recognition from ONE, a campaigning and advocacy organization, and continues to accumulate attention in the media and raise awareness of how sexism is more abundant and destructive in impoverished regions.

ONE plans to decrease sexism in poverty by  improving education and healthcare systems. Over 130 million girls are not allowed to pursue education. In order for girls and women living in poverty to improve their standards of living, education is necessary.

According to ONE, educating women provides a more bountiful future because “every additional year of school that a girl completes increases her future earnings, which is good for her family, her community and her country.”

The current educational obstacles that influence sexism in poverty are poor infrastructure within the education system, cultural restraints that do not support female education and the need for women to remain in the household to ensure the survival of their children.

Another factor contributing to sexism in poverty is the lack of availability of healthcare for women. Impoverished women are especially susceptible to preventable diseases. According to Time, “women spend about twice as much time as men doing the unpaid work that makes life possible for everyone, like cooking, cleaning and caring. In developing countries, the gap is even bigger. As a result, women have no time to finish their education, learn new skills, open a business or even go to the doctor.”

Preventable diseases, such as tuberculosis, HIV and malaria, must be targeted by the governments of impoverished countries to counter the sexually unbalanced spread of disease.

If women succeed, the world succeeds. Neglecting the potential of half the world’s population due to societal and cultural limitations is irresponsible for the future.

Organizations like ONE are fighting to end sexism in poverty to guarantee a prosperous social, political and economic future for women who are not given the chance to thrive due to poverty.

– Kaitlin Hocker

Photo: Flickr

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Six Technological Innovations in Healthcare Helping the World’s Poor

Technological Innovations in Healthcare
In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to get caught up in the new big technology or startup that’s coming out of Silicon Valley. But these innovations happening close to home can often obscure the work that’s happening abroad: work that is very often life-saving. Here are 6 technological innovations in healthcare that are helping the world’s poor:

1. TotoHealth

An innovative way to use technology for healthcare, TotoHealth is a way of providing maternal education via text message. The texts remind parents about vaccinations, give advice on family planning and detect warning signs in the pregnancy to alert the parents.

Currently, they have nearly 38,000 enrollees in 6 counties across Kenya. This is an essential technological innovations in healthcare, given that currently in Kenya, 510 mothers out of every 100,000 die in childbirth. TotoHealth is committed to bringing that number down.

2. Gozee

Founded by access.mobile International, a digital health company, Gozee is a sleek, friendly website that connects people in Uganda and Kenya with doctors near them. The website also collects a trove of data, that allows doctors to make quicker, easier, and more accurate diagnoses.

This service is vital in developing countries, where healthcare infrastructure is often severely lacking. Gozee puts the power in the hands of the patient and allows them to take ownership of their care.

3. Vula

In 2014, Dr. Mapham got tired of driving up to eight hours to diagnose patients in rural Swaziland. So he created Vula, a mobile app that streamlines the diagnostic process by connecting primary health care workers, who live in more rural areas, with specialists, who can easily diagnose problems like cataracts.

All the primary healthcare worker needs is a phone with a camera—by snapping a couple of pictures of the patient, the specialist can diagnose the problem and give advice on treatment options. Since 2014, Vula has expanded its diagnostic capabilities to cardiology, orthopedics, burns, HIV, and dermatology. Like many other technological innovations in healthcare, Vula takes commonplace tech most people have and harnesses its power for life-changing results.

4. Project Khuluma

It’s hard navigating life when you’re a teenager. It’s even harder if you’re HIV positive. Project Khuluma, a South African based service set up by the SHM Foundation, is a text-messaging based support group that gives South African HIV-positive teens a safe space to anonymously share concerns, listen to advice, and make lasting friendships.

The project has tangible results, showing decreased levels of anxiety, depression, and internalized stigma in the participants. It also increased knowledge about HIV and the resources available to them.

5. Ambulance Taxi

The maternal mortality rates in Tanzania are among the highest in the world. Vodafone, partnering with Pathfinder International, Touch Foundation and USAID, is working to change that. By setting up a toll-free emergency line similar to 911, Vodafone gives pregnant women suffering medical complications access to quick and potentially lifesaving medical care.

The taxi service is projected to save at least 2,700 lives per year in Tanzania alone. Technological innovations in healthcare such as this one are desperately needed, as they broadly expand access to healthcare for the rural poor.

6. Khushi Baby

India has one of the lowest child vaccination rates in the world, in large part because there is no viable infrastructure to track when babies have been immunized. Richit Nagar and Leen van Besien, two students at Yale, noticed this and discovered an innovative solution. They crafted a necklace similar to the pendant babies are given to protect them from the evil eye, but this necklace records and stores immunization data for the baby.

Health care workers can scan the necklace to view and update the baby’s medical records. Khushi Baby hopes to expand to serve over 300 villages in India, and their necklaces are a prime example of the good that comes when technological innovation in healthcare works within a culture.

It is these kinds of technological innovations in healthcare that empower the global poor and lift them out of poverty. Access to healthcare is a fundamental human right and a foundation for living a safe and secure life. These pioneering technological innovations might not be as flashy as the latest iPhone, but they are drastically more important, and they’re doing vital work.

– Adesuwa Agbonile

Photo: Flickr

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Fighting Starvation Since 2008: Poverty and Hunger in Latvia

Hunger in Latvia
Formerly a part of the USSR, Latvia is a member of the EU for the past 13 years. The country is home to over two million people, and it is slightly larger than West Virginia. The recession of 2008 deeply affected the Latvian economy, and as a result, the country has a massive income gap. Additionally, as of 2013, Latvia gave less aid to the poor than any other members of the EU. These conditions leave ample room for the number of those living in poverty to increase, which makes hunger in Latvia an important issue.

Historically, Latvia lacks an adequate food supply. Children suffer most from hunger in Latvia, and malnutrition steadily weakened the population since the end of World War I.

As of 2014, almost 20 percent of Latvians were living under the poverty line. It is the third-poorest country in the EU. Of those in poverty, the average family lives on an average of 215 euros or less, not enough to feed the whole family. In 2012, 100,000 citizens had a monthly income of less than 65 euros.

While hunger in Latvia is still an issue, the country greatly improved in the past decade. Since 2000, Latvia decreased their Global Health Index rating by 59 percent. The Global Health Index gives countries a score from zero to 100 based on undernourishment, child mortality and other factors. The lower the score, the healthier the country is.

Many organizations contributed to the decrease in poverty and hunger in Latvia. The American Relief Administration worked to feed the hungry, especially children. Carelinks Ministry, a religious outreach organization, worked in Riga, Latvia, serving food to the poor, especially in the colder months. With people partnering to reduce hunger in Latvia, the country will continue to decrease their GHI rating.

– Julia Mccartney

Photo: Flickr

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A Foreseeable Future: The Asylum for Andorra Refugees

Andorra Refugees
Home to roughly 79,300 people, Andorra is a tiny principality located in the mountainous region between France and Spain. Although the principality joined the Council of Europe and the United Nations, it is not an official member of the European Union. Despite this, Andorra maintains a special relationship with the European Union, and, today, supports the common policy for refugees that the European Union has established. Here are 10 facts about Andorra refugees:

  1. The principality works directly with the European Union in matters of solidarity.
  2. Andorran Foreign Minister Gilbert Saboya has stated that the principality works with representatives from the European Union to create a screening and security process which will accommodate only 40 refugees.
  3. Andorra agreed to assist refugees for strictly humanitarian reasons. However, the municipality stated that it guarantees no official protections.
  4. A political asylum plan is not a priority of the local government, and is by no mean, an “action plan.” Instead, Andorra plans to support the common policy of the European Union.
  5. Currently, an individual must reside in Andorra for 15 years before they may apply for citizenship.
  6. Current opposition parties are working on legislation which would allow an individual to apply for citizenship before a period of 15 years.
  7. In order for anyone to obtain Andorran citizenship, an exam must be taken in the national language of Catalan. Geography and history questions are included on the exam.
  8. According to the most recent World Data information, the Andorran government received zero asylum applications.
  9. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees recommended that Andorra “accede to the 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees and its 1976 Protocol,” and “establish a refugee status determination procedure which is fully gender and age sensitive.”
  10. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees also recommends that Andorra “accede to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.”

Although Andorra is quite small, the reality for Andorra refugees reveals that the principality is representative of a number of countries who have yet to commit to providing asylum. Should the Andorran government continue to work directly with the European Union on this matter, refugee asylum may be in the foreseeable future.

– Shannon Golden

Photo: Pixabay

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A Newfound Governmental Focus: Water Quality in Belarus

Water Quality in Belarus
A former member of the Soviet Union, Belarus has been under the control of President Alexander Lukashenko since 1994. The country has almost 10 million citizens and is known for its suppression of free speech. Belarus currently depends on Russia for most of its energy supply and trade deals.

The country has a history filled with oppression and this manifests in the poverty seen in Belarus. As of 2014, 17.8 percent of citizens lived on an income below the level needed to support themselves. Equal access to clean drinking water is key to lifting communities and families out of poverty. In the past decade or so, water quality in Belarus improved, inspiring hope that poverty will continue to decrease.

Belarus has more than enough water sources to satisfy the needs of citizens. The roadblock to safe drinking water for everyone is pollution and an inability to distribute resources equally. Laws regarding ownership of bodies of water can cause conflict, especially when waterways border other states.

Environmental pollution is a huge issue for Belarus. It was the area of the Soviet Union most affected by the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, and the consequences of that can still be seen today. The cities in Belarus are also very polluted due to industrial pursuits, and waste from factories can compromise water supplies.

Currently, 100 percent of Belarus has access to drinking water sources. Seven percent still does not have access to properly sanitized water, but these statistics are very encouraging when compared to other countries.

Without proper precautions, drinking water has a high risk of being contaminated and is not safe to drink due to a high iron content. The Water Supply and Sanitation Project worked to supply Belorussians with clean water. Funded by the World Bank, this project gave over 300,000 citizens access to a safe source of drinking water.

With the government’s newfound focus on improving the water quality in Belarus, equal access to clean water should be attainable.

– Julia Mccartney

Photo: Flickr

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Refugees in Norway: 10 Important Facts to Know

Norway RefugeesNorway is a country in Northern Europe that is home to about 5,196,000 people. It is not part of the European Union because of its strong economy. With the recent influx of refugees to Europe, Norway had to determine how to manage those coming into the country.

10 Facts About Refugees in Norway

  1. Out of all the countries that make up Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland), Norway has a stricter approach when it comes to accepting refugees. Norway attempted to pose limitations in several ways to thin the flow of refugees to the country.
  2. Some measures the government took to decrease the amount of refugees include deporting those who are deemed a threat to security, and building a steel fence to stop refugees from crossing the border.
  3. In 2015, Norway experienced a large increase in asylum-seekers. More than 30,000 refugees came to Norway, and more than half of them were Syrian. Norway refugees also consist of Iraqis, Afghans, Sudanese, Somalis and Eritreans. Currently, refugees represent 3.6 percent of the Norwegian population.
  4. Since 2016, Norway is building a steel fence at the Arctic border with Russia to keep out refugees. In 2015, 5,500 refugees used this border in order to cross over into Norway. The border fence will be 660 feet long and 11 feet high. The border fence was met with criticism from refugees’ rights groups, and it reflects the tension that exists between asylum-seekers and members of the Norwegian population.
  5. To get to Norway through the Arctic border, people seeking refuge used a legal loophole. Russian border police do not permit people to cross the border while walking, and Norwegian border police do not allow cars to come through unless the driver has proper paper identification. Therefore, refugees made the crossing by riding bicycles. Refugees who used this loophole are under threat of deportation.
  6. Norway refugees typically arrive through two methods: crossing the Mediterranean by boat or going through Russia.
  7. After the shocking amount of refugees that Norway received in 2015, it developed more stringent controls on their borders and ID checks. Norway also offered $2,300 to refugees who choose to return to their own countries. This made the number of asylum seekers in Norway drop by 95 percent.
  8. Refugees entering the country are required to take “culture coding classes.” If they do not attend these classes, their benefits are cut. These classes were set up after there were a number of rapes committed by refugees. The classes focus on topics like gender, consent, communicating with the opposite sex, boundaries, domestic violence and what to do if you witness a sexual assault. Although these classes were criticized for stigmatizing refugees, many refugees appear to react positively to the classes, seeing them as a way to ease their integration into Norwegian society and better understand the different cultural norms.
  9. Despite Norway’s restrictions on asylum seekers, the country is very generous with the aid it provides to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). In fact, in 2016, it became the UNHCR’s largest donor per capita and the seventh largest donor among all countries. Norway also is the fourth largest donor of non-earmarked support.
  10. Norway strongly invests in UNHCR’s education programs for refugee children and in resettlement programs.

– Anna Gargiulo

Photo: Flickr

One Happy Island: The Expensive Cost of Living in Aruba

Aruba, known for their slogan, “One Happy Island,” is just one of four countries that make up the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has been a desired tourist spot for vacationers due to its dry and reliably warm climate. Tourism dominates the economy with over one million tourists per year, mainly from the United States.

For an island as small as Aruba, 20 miles long by 6 miles wide, the cost of living in Aruba would seemingly be low. Yet, due to the size of the island, Aruba’s economy primarily depends on tourism as 30 percent of the island’s income, as well as aloe exports and petroleum refining.

In a July 2017 Aruba Economic of Affairs report, 2012 was said to have tourism receipts of 2,504.9 million Aruban Florin. This factor heavily affects the cost of living in Aruba.

In June 2017, $1 was equivalent to 1.79 Aruban Florin. Many businesses operate on the U.S. dollar instead of florins, especially in the resort district.

Compared to the U.S., rent prices are about 31 percent lower in Aruba, and restaurant prices are about 11 percent lower. While housing rent in and out of city centers tends to be significantly less than in the U.S., buying property tends to be more expensive. Costs such as utilities and income tax are often the most expensive part of the cost of living in Aruba.

Due to the poor soil quality and low rainfall, agriculture on the island is limited. This causes Aruba to have an increase in the import of groceries at a 5.75 percent increase over U.S. prices, due to its imports of milk, beef and fruits.

Aruba may rely on those imports to make up everyday grocery items, but the island is known to have the world’s third largest desalination plant. This allows Aruba to produce potable industrial water, makes the island independent from other sources and cuts the cost of bottled water.

Although tourism has been the main source of income for Aruba, imports and exports have continued to heavily influence the cost of living on the island. Aruba may heavily depend on its imports, but the government is making efforts to expand exports as well so as to balance trade and allow a balance in the cost of living as well.

– Stefanie Podosek

Photo: Flickr

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Refugees in Need of Further Aid in Mosul

As Mosul, Iraq slowly slips from the grasp of ISIS, civilians are fleeing the city and being evacuated in large numbers. Refugee agencies estimate that 900,000 people were displaced as the Iraqi government launched their offensive to take the city back from ISIS.

As the fighting has continued, evacuations took place throughout the city. Many civilians fled despite ISIS snipers targeting those attempting to leave the city. When refugees emerge from the city, they are usually starving and injured. The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) attests that food in the city was seized by militant groups, leaving civilians with very little to eat.

To address the problem, humanitarian camps were set up nearby to provide aid to civilians who fled or were evacuated. In Northern Iraq, the UNHCR created 13 camps and assisted over 500,000 people. However, the refugee agency states that tens of thousands of refugees are still trapped in Mosul. Between 700 and 1,000 people are arriving at the camps every day.

The Iraqi government’s offensive to retake Mosul lasted eight months. Over the course of the fighting in the streets and the bombing, the city was largely destroyed. Civilians likely will not be able to return for months, as large sections of the city will need to be rebuilt and checked for rigged explosives left behind by militants.

Although the camps are safer than the city, they are in no way designed to be long-term housing for Mosul’s refugees. Families are each assigned a tent, but they afford little protection against the cold temperatures. There is no school for the children to attend while at the camp.

Ultimately, the need for continued humanitarian assistance in Mosul is paramount. Organizations on the ground, such as the UNHCR, need the resources to continue to provide aid to refugees from Mosul. Despite current conditions, many hope the fighting will end as the Iraqi government takes controls the city.

– Anika Lanser

Photo: Flickr