In March 2017, the European Union (EU) and United International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) announced a new partnership with the Turkish government to address the issue of education for Syrian refugees in Turkey by initiating a program to provide 230,000 additional Syrian refugee children in Turkey with educational opportunities.
There are currently 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey. 1.3 million of them are children. About half of the Syrian refugee children are enrolled in schools or temporary education centers. Nonetheless, 40 percent, or 370,000, of the Syrian refugee children living in Turkey are not receiving an education.
The initiative announced by the EU, UNICEF, and the Turkish government is a Conditional Cash Transfer for Education (CCTE). The CCTE, inaugurated in May 2017, provides refugee families with bi-monthly cash transfers. The cash transfers are targeted with the goal of encouraging 230,000 more children to regularly attend school. The overarching goal is to ensure that there is “no lost generation” of Syrians.
UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake noted that education is especially needed in emergency situations so that the refugees can one day rebuild their lives and their countries.
As of June 8, 2017, 56,000 refugee children have enrolled in the program.
Education for Syrian refugees in Turkey is difficult to implement for multiple reasons. The language used to teach in schools in Turkey is Turkish, while most Syrians grew up learning and speaking Arabic. Also, many Syrian refugee families do not have the financial resources to send their children to school.
Besides the CCTE, many organizations are working to better provide access to education for Syrian refugees in Turkey. In 2016, UNICEF, supported by the EU, aided 12,600 Syrian children by safeguarding their crossing of conflict lines so that they could sit their national examinations.
The Turkish Ministry of National Education and UNICEF have held teacher training for 20,500 Syrian refugees. The aim is to instruct Syrian volunteer teachers with pedagogic skills under the guidelines of Turkish teacher training standards. This aids the teachers who often teach in overcrowded classrooms and have many students with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
One Syrian volunteer teacher, Osama Ayat, relates to his students by telling them stories about his hours spent learning the Turkish language. He says he makes them laugh and emphasizes that teachers can empower their students.
Ayat and his students are one example of individuals benefiting from the strides that multiple organizations make to guarantee education for Syrian refugees in Turkey.
– Sean Newhouse
Photo: Flickr
Common Diseases in South Sudan
Visceral leishmaniasis, also called kala-azar, travels through a sandfly’s bite. The disease swells the spleen and liver, damaging the two organs. It is crucial to seek medical help as soon as possible because this disease can be fatal if not treated properly. In 2016, 42 individuals died from kala-azar, though that includes only reported deaths.
Measles is another of the more common diseases in South Sudan. In the first five months of this year, there have been 573 suspected cases. Measles is very contagious: a sick individual could spread the disease with a single cough.
The living conditions of the country mean these diseases leave a significant impact on the South Sudanese. Some areas in South Sudan are immune to visceral leishmaniasis. Unfortunately, their immunity is useless due to the amount of stress the South Sudanese live in. As a result, the disease continues to spread. According to the WHO, people are more vulnerable to diseases if they are placed in conflict situations.
Not only are many South Sudanese unable to afford food, but some also live in areas that are suffering from famine. Due to this food shortage, they are malnourished. The consequential lack of nutrients makes them even more susceptible to diseases.
With measles vaccination campaigns going around the country, there are several efforts to fight these common diseases in South Sudan. Groups such as the WHO are working toward providing the people of South Sudan the health care that they need.
– Raven Rentas
Photo: Flickr
A New Reality: The Progress of Education and Development in Ethiopia
Fortunately, Ethiopia is also one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, and education and development in Ethiopia have become a legislative priority. Between 2005 and 2011, Ethiopian economic growth averaged to 11 percent, and although the country is still heavily reliant on agriculture, it has been working toward the lofty goal of becoming a lower-middle-income economy by 2025.
With an emphasis on education and development in Ethiopia, the country has seen impressive results. As a result, universal education has become close to reality in the country. In 1990, Ethiopian university enrollment had peaked 10,000 students. By 2015 enrollment skyrocketed to 360,000 students.
Training in technical and vocational careers has also significantly increased. From 1999 to 2014 the number of students in these fields rose from 5,264 to 271,389. The emphasis in these areas hopes that workers will be well suited for the growing construction and manufacturing sectors.
Despite skyrocketing employment, there remains a disconnect between schools and skills demanded in the market. Even though the number of educational institutions has increased, the quality had decreased. Many students have since graduated with skills are unfit for the available jobs. This issue has led to some unemployment in the newly educated youth workforce.
Despite such economic pressures, overall unemployment has decreased. According to the World Bank Group, a major contributor of Ethiopia’s annual foreign aid, the country has been taking all the right steps forward. By decentralizing resources to regional governments, focusing on infrastructure and reorienting expenditures the country has seen enormous growth.
Today, Ethiopia requires continued aid to accelerate job creation and vastly decrease poverty in the country. This continued support will allow education and development in Ethiopia to continue to thrive.
– Shannon Golden
Photo: Flickr
EU and UNICEF: New Hope in Education for Syrian Refugees in Turkey
There are currently 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey. 1.3 million of them are children. About half of the Syrian refugee children are enrolled in schools or temporary education centers. Nonetheless, 40 percent, or 370,000, of the Syrian refugee children living in Turkey are not receiving an education.
The initiative announced by the EU, UNICEF, and the Turkish government is a Conditional Cash Transfer for Education (CCTE). The CCTE, inaugurated in May 2017, provides refugee families with bi-monthly cash transfers. The cash transfers are targeted with the goal of encouraging 230,000 more children to regularly attend school. The overarching goal is to ensure that there is “no lost generation” of Syrians.
UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake noted that education is especially needed in emergency situations so that the refugees can one day rebuild their lives and their countries.
As of June 8, 2017, 56,000 refugee children have enrolled in the program.
Education for Syrian refugees in Turkey is difficult to implement for multiple reasons. The language used to teach in schools in Turkey is Turkish, while most Syrians grew up learning and speaking Arabic. Also, many Syrian refugee families do not have the financial resources to send their children to school.
Besides the CCTE, many organizations are working to better provide access to education for Syrian refugees in Turkey. In 2016, UNICEF, supported by the EU, aided 12,600 Syrian children by safeguarding their crossing of conflict lines so that they could sit their national examinations.
The Turkish Ministry of National Education and UNICEF have held teacher training for 20,500 Syrian refugees. The aim is to instruct Syrian volunteer teachers with pedagogic skills under the guidelines of Turkish teacher training standards. This aids the teachers who often teach in overcrowded classrooms and have many students with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
One Syrian volunteer teacher, Osama Ayat, relates to his students by telling them stories about his hours spent learning the Turkish language. He says he makes them laugh and emphasizes that teachers can empower their students.
Ayat and his students are one example of individuals benefiting from the strides that multiple organizations make to guarantee education for Syrian refugees in Turkey.
– Sean Newhouse
Photo: Flickr
How Agsol Brings Power to Poor Farmers
Agsol founders Matt Carr and Greg Denn created several small mills that can turn harvested crops, such maize and rice, into marketable products. Agsol’s solar-powered products include rice polishers and hullers, coconut scrapers and cassava scrapers.
Agsol currently works with Project Support Services, which provides Agsol’s products to customers in Papa New Guinea and the Pacific Islands. According to the supplier’s website, Agsol’s machines are “built strong for harsh environments…have zero fuel costs, require little maintenance, have a long life and are easy to use.” In this way, the products drive food production efficiency.
The machines save farm families from performing backbreaking, repetitive manual labor. In minutes they do what would have taken much longer before. The machines’ speed and efficiency mean farmers can prepare more products for the market, increasing their incomes and allowing them to rise out of poverty.
When rural farmers can grow and sell more, others also benefit. A 10 percent increase in farm yields contributes to a seven percent poverty reduction in Africa and a five percent reduction in Asia.
Agsol’s agro-processing machines also solve energy needs by producing electricity. “It could power a water purifier, a fridge, or even a community office server for computers,” Carr stated, as reported in Anthill, an Australian magazine that highlights innovation and entrepreneurship.
Providing energy to smallholder farmers and rural communities can further alleviate poverty. The energy created by Agsol’s machines could power a medical clinic, which would help decrease the rate and severity of illnesses. It could also power a school, enabling children to receive a quality education. Even something as simple as a smartphone charger could allow a farmer to communicate with other farmers about current local conditions and share tips for success.
Agsol was one of five companies that recently graduated from The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization’s “ON Connect@Lindfield,” an eight-week experience for small businesses to gain connections and knowledge to further develop their businesses.
The training Agsol received has set it on pace to sell around 800 machines in 2017. With each machine sold, Agsol brings power to poor farmers: the power to improve farm yields, incomes and communities.
– Kristen Reesor
Photo: Flickr
Facts and Figures in India
There is headway for an improvement to the Indian government’s tackling of health issues. The World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office for India and the Indian government worked together to create the WHO Country Cooperation Strategy— India (CCS).
The Country Cooperation Strategy’s goal is to help alleviate equity issues and improve health. It does so by using three different strategic priorities. Frst, it will support the Indian government’s involvement in global health through international health regulations and pharmaceutical improvements. Second, it will promote access to sustainable quality services for the entire population. Lastly, it will confront the spread of diseases. With a concrete plan in place, India’s quality of life will improve drastically in coming years.
— Stephen Praytor
Pixabay
The Ongoing Problem of Human Rights in Mali
To escape the unrest, more than 135,000 Malians have fled to neighboring countries. The U.N. Security Council responded to the insecurity of Malian civilians with an additional 2,500 personnel for The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), maximizing its strength with 13,289 militia and 1,920 police, as well as authorizing French forces to intervene if imminent danger arises. Armed Islamist groups are restricting human rights in Mali by closing schools, cautioning against collaboration with the government and confining villages to their interpretation of Islam.
According to the U.N., insecurity caused 296 out of 2,380 schools to close in Gao, Kidal, Ségou and Timbuktu without alternatives. Kamissa Camara, a researcher specializing in Africa’s Sahel region, doubts that most Malian children have attended school since 2012 with the exception of those near Bamako. The U.N. Peacebuilding Fund has invested $12 million since 2013 to address unemployment, access to justice and education and communal tension.
According to the Human Rights Watch, state security services are improving but “Malian authorities have made no meaningful effort to investigate those implicated in violations.” Without action from the authorities, Malian communities face continual conflict with armed groups and their allegiance to their country.
Armed Islamist groups focus their recruitment campaigns on exploiting community frustrations over poverty and corruption. While they provoke fear in civilians, they also use communities’ vulnerability by filling their lack of governance, including investigating crimes, resolving deadly land disputes and reducing communal violence in certain regions.
Though the government is engaged in counterterrorism operations, perhaps one of the greatest strides it has made is increasing awareness of human rights violations in Mali. In 2016, the government accepted a bill increasing independence for the National Commission for Human Rights and a five-year action plan to strengthen human rights and access to justice.
Strengthening Mali’s rule begins with providing greater security and human rights to its civilians, eliminating armed groups and creating peace where there is conflict.
– Sarah Dunlap
Photo: Flickr
5 Tips for Helping People in Uganda
There are dozens of nonprofits dedicated to helping people in Uganda. In fact, many organizations have people whose job it is to help people decide how they are best able to aid someone half a world away.
If you’re wondering how to help people in Uganda, here are some tips:
Another way you can help the people in Uganda is by contacting congressmen and encouraging protection of the International Affairs Budget31. President Trump’s administration has proposed a 31 percent cut to the State Department and USAID, both of which support development and diplomacy around the world and creates jobs in America.
You can also contact your representatives about the AGOA and MCA Modernization Act, the READ Act, Economic Growth and Development Act and many more. The Borgen Project website has information about these pieces of legislation, as well as many more.
You can stop wondering how to help people in Uganda and put this knowledge into action. Stay educated, become passionate and decide that helping people is an important step for you to take.
– Emily Arnold
Flickr
Water Quality in Vanuatu
Because the island is inhabited in part by tourists who visit sporadically, maintaining reliable water sources for the entire island population can prove to be quite difficult. Furthermore, the island community predicts that the risk of pollution and climate-related changes will affect and likely lessen the availability of clean water sources in years to come.
Water quality in Vanuatu is paramount to sustaining the island’s natural environment and its booming tourist industry. As a result, Vanuatu’s Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources works constantly to ensure that citizens and visitors have access to sufficient quantities of clean water to perform basic functions including drinking, cooking and sanitation.
One obstacle that many island communities face is the lack of freshwater sources available nearby. The island’s Ministry of Water emphasizes providing equitable access to clean water sources for all communities to support public health and promote social and economic development. Vanuatu’s main strategy to access fresh water is through groundwater drilling, which provides the urban areas of Port Vila and Luganville with clean water for daily tasks.
While accessing clean water in one of the country’s large cities may not be difficult, a major concern lies in providing rural communities with clean water. One way that Vanuatu addresses this concern is through the use of smaller hand pumps in rural areas as an alternative to groundwater drilling machinery. Another effective method is rainwater catchments which are slightly less reliable and require monitoring of weather patterns.
Perhaps the most important concern for the island country of Vanuatu is the fragile and limited nature of their freshwater sources. As a precaution, water resource officers patrol rivers and other water sources and monitor the river flow to predict droughts or flooding. Water resource employees also conduct water quality testing to ensure that the local and visiting populations are protected from water-borne diseases that plague the area such as scabies, skin diseases and malaria.
Water quality in Vanuatu is constantly and effectively monitored by the government and natural resource employees to ensure that the island’s biggest asset, its natural beauty, remains intact. The island community’s continuous prioritization of water control and resource preservation is extremely effective to combat the issues that many water-locked areas face.
– Sarah Coiro
Photo: Flickr
Water Quality in Malaysia
Malaysia is experiencing rapid urbanization and population growth. This rapid growth leads to an increased demand for water and spiked levels of water pollution. These factors seriously harm the water quality in Malaysia.
Various human, domestic, industrial, commercial and transportation wastes trickle into the water supply. Polluting water sources consequently creates serious health hazards.
Water quality in Malaysia, as well as access to water in general, is a major problem. The primary pollutants present in the water are Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Ammoniacal Nitrogen and Suspended Solids. These are consequences of untreated or only partially treated sewage.
Lakes and reservoirs serve as domestic, industrial, agricultural, hydroelectric, navigational and recreational sources of water. Since 98 percent of the water originates from rivers, river pollution is a serious concern.
Malaysia has departments like the Department of Environments to take charge of the water quality problem. The Department of Environments is responsible for tracking the water quality in Malaysia using Water Quality Index and National Water Quality Standards. The National Water Quality Monitoring Programme added new rivers in the area to control the presence of Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Ammoniacal Nitrogen and Suspended Solids.
With the development of the Department of Environments to control the water quality problem and the National Water Quality Monitoring Program to decrease pollutants in the water supply, water quality in Malaysia is improving significantly. Malaysia receives 25,000 cubic meters of renewable water for each person each year from this river system.
This system significantly improves the water quality in Malaysia. However, the country lacks a nationally recognized standard for water quality. Several agencies manage the system, but they have no legal ties or obligations to follow certain policies.
Malaysia continues to work on improving its water quality through these fragmented agencies, but these efforts are not enough to completely salvage the quality. Fixing the fragmentation is a step in the right direction for Malaysia. Additionally, outside organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund are working in Malaysia.
Focusing on creating a cohesive and binding system in Malaysia would improve the water quality while also ensuring that agencies have a legal obligation to comply with monitoring practices.
– Katelynn Kenworthy
Photo: Flickr
The Current Cost of Living in France
Everything from gas to a loaf of bread has an inflated price in France. The average price per gallon of gas in France is around $5.54. The same amount of gas in Venezuela would be about $0.12. These countries couldn’t be farther apart in distance, and their people have near polar opposite lifestyles, demonstrating the wealth disparity and high cost of living in France.
Housing is arguably the biggest factor in living cost, and France is a prime example of a competitive housing market. Paris is on par with other major cities such as Beijing and Chicago in terms of monthly price. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Paris per month is $1,730. The same apartment over 5,000 miles away in Beijing would be $1,900 a month.
It is not always the average person looking for a place to live in France. In 2016, a villa in southern France was estimated to be valued at $1 billion. Many have reported this house to be the most expensive in the world.
Currency also reflects a country’s cost of living. The euro has been volatile in recent months but is consistently valued higher than other major currencies, such as the dollar. Over the past three months, the euro has steadily grown to four percent more valuable than the dollar. This disparity increases cost of living in France.
From the French Riviera to Normandy’s beaches, France is regularly one of the most expensive places to live. Paris tops many lists with its exuberant prices and is widely known to be exclusively for the wealthy. This ideology is not solely in Paris, as cities across France continue to see prices soar for everything from rent to a loaf of bread.
– Sophie Casimes
Photo: Flickr