Since 2004, the well-known international humanitarian aid organization Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frotières, has responded to urgent healthcare needs in the Kurram district in Pakistan. Doctors Without Borders in Pakistan focuses primarily on mother and child health and delivering medical care to rural parts of the country, urban slums and areas afflicted by conflict, including isolated tribal areas.
The tribal districts are among the poorest areas in Pakistan, still operating under an extremely harsh legal system implemented by colonizers more than a century ago.
In Kurram, a district within the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Doctors Without Borders teams have been providing inpatient and outpatient care for children, treating parasite infections, attending to women during pregnancy and birth and offering emergency treatment services. The organization has been present in the local hospitals, Sadda and Alizai, since 2008.
In Sadda hospital, Doctors Without Borders operated the outpatient department for children under the age of five as well as the inpatient department focused on treating severely ill children up to 12 years of age. In addition, the hospital housed a newborn unit catering to premature babies and complicated births. The organization also facilitated emergency referrals to tertiary care hospitals when necessary by means of ambulance services and medical transfer staff.
The Alizai hospital, with the aid of the international doctors, was responsible for caring for children under 12 in an outpatient department and observation room. In 2016, the Sadda hospital alone admitted 1,946 patients and treated 414 patients for cutaneous leishmaniasis, a skin infection caused by a parasite. 736 children were also admitted to the newborn unit.
Doctors Without Borders in Pakistan has continued to work in this impoverished area of the country amid increased militancy, including American drone strikes targeting members of terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda. Sectarian militant attacks primarily targeting Shiite Muslims still plague the area.
Local officials have remarked that Doctors Without Borders provided crucial care in areas that have some of the poorest health services and lowest literacy rates in the country. However, despite continued appreciation from officials and patients in these areas for the work of Doctors Without Borders in Pakistan, the Interior Ministry of the country has ordered that the aid organization leave the Kurram tribal region.
Although Doctors Without Borders was one of 25 international aid agencies that signed an agreement with the government of Pakistan formally granting it permission to operate in the country, Pakistan has been cracking down on international aid agencies in recent years. The Pakistani government has cited the medical charity’s failure to renew their certificates to operate in volatile areas, such as the Kurram tribal region, as the reason for asking the organization to withdraw from the area.
Catherine Moody, the country representative for Doctors Without Borders in Pakistan, expressed sadness over the decision to halt medical services in the Kurram district after 14 years of work. Nevertheless, the organization has stated, “We will, as much as possible, continue to provide obstetric and newborn care to the women of FATA through the MSF women’s hospital located in Peshawar.”
Additionally, Doctors Without Borders will carry on offering free outpatient, emergency and maternal healthcare in other FATA districts, as well as care in other provinces of the country while they continue trying to renew their work certification to provide services in Kurram.
– Richa Bijlani
Photo: Google
Causes of Poverty in Tokelau
Despite being predominantly known as a lower-middle-income nation, Tokelau still has higher incomes than any other Polynesian country. However, the causes of poverty in Tokelau have impacted the standard of life on the island. These causes include extreme isolation, limited natural resources, depopulation and the island’s proneness to natural disasters.
Tokelau is a Polynesian state composed of three atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu, and Fakaofo, located about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand in the Central Pacific Ocean. Tokelau is known to be politically associated with New Zealand. What this means is that Tokelau heavily depends on New Zealand to receive aid and remittances. According to Oxfam International, the island constitutes the smallest economy of any country in the world. This extreme isolation from the rest of the world is one of the causes of poverty in Tokelau.
Oxfam International showed that Tokelau has only one ship visiting three times a month and no air transportations. This leads to a cutback of resources entering the country, which restricts economic development and restrains the population to subsistence-based agriculture. The island’s main food sources are fish and coconut. Other cultivated food crops include bananas, breadfruit, pandanus and papaya. The island is subsidized with imported goods such as rice, flour and sugar. Without New Zealand’s assistance, this isolation and lack of natural resources would make the island almost unable to be self-sufficient.
Depopulation is also one of the causes of poverty in Tokelau. Because of its size, the islands have a restricted human development capacity and suffer from heavy emigration.
The third factor causing poverty in Tokelau is its vulnerability to damage from natural disasters. Climate change is a major issue across the island that threatens human existence and environmental preservation. Due to the island’s small landmass surrounded by ocean, rising sea levels constitute a threat to inhabitants. However, policies have been put in place to address this, such as making Tokelau the first country to derive 100% of its energy needs on renewables.
Despite Tokelau’s subsistence lifestyle and fragile environment, the island’s inhabitants maintain social cohesion and a strong communal culture that keeps the economy stable.
– Sarah Soutoul
Photo: Flickr
Important Organizations that Are Helping Burundian Refugees
In September 2017, at least 36 Burundian refugees that were attempting to leave the violence inside their home country were killed in Congo, informed The New York Times. Since 2015, when President Pierre Nkurunziza was re-elected for a third term in a highly controversial election, 300,000 people have abandoned Burundi pursuing freedom.
Despite a decade of peace that Burundians saw after the civil war between the Hutus and Tutsis ends in 2005, 66.9 percent of the population in the Eastern African country are below the national poverty line. This problem makes conditions for refugees worse, as they lack basic services like water, shelter and health care. Four out of every 10 Burundians have been displaced from their country by the violent ethnic conflict.
However, several organizations provide aid to refugees fleeing Burundi. The following foundations work on assisting conditions in the African nation and are always accepting help from volunteers or donors.
Some countries have adopted public policies that ensure the welfare of refugees around the world, especially after the crisis in the Middle East in 2011. For example, Germany offers asylum applications for refugees, and Sweden provides refugees with rights like the immediate capacity to work and the possibility to choose a place of residence. Countries in Africa surrounding Burundi must adopt similar policies to allow the Burundian refugees a safe environment to shelter themselves and their families.
– Dario Ledesma
Photo: Flickr
Human Rights in Micronesia: Inching Towards Equality
Micronesia is a collection of more than 600 islands and islets located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Caroline Islands archipelago and is split into the states of Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae.
According to a 2016 report on human rights in Micronesia filed by the United States Department of State, corruption, discrimination and violence against women are the most common violations of human rights in the republic. Judicial delays, domestic violence, child neglect and foreign worker abuse pose problems for human rights in Micronesia as well. There is no protection in the Micronesian constitution against discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation or disability.
In 2014, the Family Health and Safety Study reported that violence against women is a regular occurrence, and is most often perpetrated by a close family member. The same study found that 33 percent of of partnered women were physically or sexually assaulted in their lifetime by a partner.
There is no law that prohibits a husband from sexually assaulting his wife in Micronesia. Although it is punishable by up to ten years in prison, depending on whether it involves a deadly weapon, it often goes unreported and authorities do not prosecute many cases.
Effective prosecution of domestic violence poses yet another problem for human rights in Micronesia. This is partly due to many victims choosing not to press charges against a family member. Pressure from their families, fear of being assaulted again, and the belief that authorities will not get involved in private family affairs are common reasons for this.
The government does not provide shelter or support for battered women, although there is a private facility for women in Chuuk that receives its funding from a foreign government. The department of public safety in Pohnpei offers education on domestic violence and trains officers to handle such cases. There is also a hotline specifically for reports of it.
Although violence against women is a significant problem for human rights in Micronesia, The Family Health and Safety Study emphasizes raising awareness of violence against women and advancing methods to improve the well-being of women and children. Women’s groups in the republic continue working towards raising awareness, and the island nation is being motivated to consider passing laws that criminalize violence against women.
Several groups shared the results of regional meetings in October 2014 and discussed several issues, including the progress of women, women and children’s access to health and education and women in leadership. Micronesia’s government was given a number of recommendations for strengthening the protection of women at its universal periodic review in 2016. With these steps being taken, Micronesia is getting closer to resolving its gender equality and human rights issues.
– Fernando Vazquez
Photo: Flickr
Kenya’s Female Literacy Rate Continues to Improve
In September 2017, a BBC News correspondent reported a 60-year old woman from East Africa, Florence Cheptoo, learning to read for the first time. This feat is surprisingly uncommon for Cheptoo’s demographic in Kenya.
Although Kenya is one of the “best-educated low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa,” the literacy rate among females, particularly the elderly, are lower than males. According to Global Ageing Campaign, “literacy rates among older people – especially older women – remain low and are often lower than for the population as a whole.”
The literacy rates among women have increased exponentially within the last 30 years, since the National Literacy Campaign launched in Kenya in 1979. During this time, according to a study from the International Review of Education, around 35 percent of males 15 and older and 70 percent of females in the same age group were illiterate. Furthermore, 93 percent of women over the age of 55 could not read.
In 1993, women comprised 70 percent of those enrolled in the adult literacy programs in Kenya, due to a lack of available educational opportunities for girls. Prior to the National Literacy Campaign, Cheptoo, who was born in 1957, did not receive support from her parents for education, encouraged instead to get married and have children. This is typical in sub-Saharan Africa, where females are often persuaded to marry early and are “unlikely to find any professional opportunities that enable economic self-sufficiency,” according to Daraja Academy.
Today, the female literacy rate is 74.9 percent, compared to the literacy rate of males at 81.1 percent, a stark difference from the literacy rates of the past. The female literacy rate is continually increasing with the support of secondary schools for girls including Daraja Academy and Oprah Winfrey’s Leadership Academy, which allow females of the future generations to secure an education.
Adult literacy programs are bridging the education gap for women who did not receive proper schooling in their youth. These literacy programs are a turning point for women, like Cheptoo, and provide them with learning opportunities to increase their knowledge of the world that surrounds them.
– Ashley Howard
Photo: Flickr
Understanding the Poverty Rate in Seychelles
Located in the Indian Ocean just northeast of Madagascar, Seychelles is an archipelago nation of 115 islands and home to approximately 120,000 people. With an economy focused mainly on tourism and fishing, Seychelles boasts the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in Africa at $13,250.5 in 2022.
Poverty in Seychelles
According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 2023 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report, 0.9% of the Seychelles population is multidimensionally poor. Additionally, 0.4% are reported to be at risk of experiencing acute poverty. This poverty rate puts Seychelles among the lowest in the world among nations that are not part of the 35-member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
While these numbers are very low, the poverty rate in Seychelles, as reported by the government, is vastly different from the MPI data. A 2013 study by the Seychelles National Bureau of Statistics put the poverty rate at 39.3%. The large difference is due to using a national basic needs poverty line. This poverty line is SCR 3,945 per month, equivalent to roughly $300 per month or $10 per day.
Structural Challenges
Other structural challenges also exist for the country. While unemployment is low, at 3% as of 2017, high-quality job creation is hindered by skill mismatches. Youth poverty rates run three times higher than the reported, with male youth poverty two times higher than female youth poverty. Economic inequality is also a major concern in Seychelles.
After an outcry in the country regarding poverty statistics, the National Bureau of Statistics completed a poverty survey on the country’s main island in May and June 2017. The survey focused on four central districts which have the highest poverty rates in the country. The survey revealed housing issues, including a lack of running water, electricity and toilet facilities in some houses. Overcrowding, unemployment and drug abuse were also identified as major issues in the survey area.
The Seychellois Secretary of State for Poverty Alleviation, Dick Esparon, laid out a short-term intervention plan for the members of the study. This plan includes access to electricity, water, food and hygiene, as well as employment opportunities and social work support.
Moving Forward
Moving forward, in 2017, Esparon announced a targeted policy approach to fighting poverty that will be specific to different household situations. In addition, a second phase of the poverty survey will cover five more districts on the main island, with the rest of the country being covered by the end of 2018. Results from the surveys will be combined with the targeted policy approach to create a national anti-poverty strategy, which will be used to fight the poverty rate in Seychelles.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is also working to reduce poverty in Seychelles. It aims to improve the lives of those living in rural Seychelles through initiatives that support income generation and food security. Since its inception in Seychelles in 1991, the nonprofit has completed two projects, impacting more than 5,000 households.
– Erik Beck
Photo: Flickr
Updated: May 29, 2024
How to Help People in the Republic of Moldova
The Republic of Moldova is the poorest country in Europe. The national GDP amounts to $1,900 per capita. Moldova relies heavily on agriculture as a main source of income, rendering the environment a major factor in the country’s economic affairs. It faces many economic challenges, including political corruption, which impact the economic depreciation as well. In order to help people in the Republic of Moldova, it is necessary for international aid and domestic reform.
Get Involved – How to Help People in the Republic of Moldova
Major organizations helping the people in the Republic of Moldova include recognizable institutions such as The World Bank and the United Nations.
The World Bank
The World Bank currently has eight projects underway. They are designed to help people in the Republic of Moldova by increasing internal revenue through rejuvenating local businesses and helping to construct a self-sustaining economic foundation.
You can learn more about the World Bank’s mission and how to help by connecting with them on their website.
The United Nations
The United Nations Development Programme focuses on environmental efficiency, developing an accountable and transparent government, and evolving inclusive growth for the people of Moldova.
You can supplement this mission by donating funds or by advocating for change and promoting the mission by visiting their website.
Promo-LEX
Local non-profits are working to promote equality and the insurance of human rights by working directly with Moldovan administration to benefit citizens on a residential level.
The Promo-LEX Association is a group dedicated to democratic values, civic liberties and social justice through pro-bono legal work. By subscribing to the Promo-LEX newsletter, you can keep up to date on legal movements and significant occurrences in Moldova.
Volunteering Moldova
Volunteering Moldova is a state-run non-profit charity whose objective is to aid vulnerable populations including children, the disabled, and those facing financial hardship.
You can get involved by volunteering at group homes, disabled institutions and orphanages. Donations are equally important for non-profits that rely on benevolence; learn how you can fund supplies including diapers, food, medicine, books and school supplies and other general goods. Your efforts will help people in the Republic of Moldova.
Moving Forward
Despite these hardships, Moldova’s economy is growing steadily. Legislative efforts, combined with those of independent organizations, have contributed to successfully reducing poverty. This shows hope for a promising future for the Republic of Moldova.
– Sloan Bousselaire
Photo: Flickr
How to Help People in Gabon
Surprisingly, then, Gabon is one of the richest countries in Africa, with a high GDP per capita. Unfortunately, however, due to the number of people living in poverty in this country, there is much improvement to be made to alleviate this. Here are some of the ways that you can help people in Gabon:
1. Donate to or Volunteer for a Nonprofit
Organizations such as UNICEF are trying to encourage people to volunteer their time or donate to UNICEF. These donations would provide the organization with the means to assist the many people living in the rainforests of Gabon who have poor access to healthcare and sanitation. You can also ask UNICEF or other nonprofits for suggestions on other ways to help people in Gabon.
HIV/AIDS is also a huge problem among people in Gabon – nine percent of the population had this disease in 2002. Organizations like UNAIDS are working on combatting this issue, which affects the population in various ways.
2. Call Your Representatives and Senators
Call your elected officials to support bilateral and trade agreements with Gabon. Contact various departments within the Executive Branch as well. Asking them to support measures or bills that would pressure the Gabonese government to focus on the wealth gap, due to its oil export profits going to the wealthiest Gabonese people.
3. Educate Yourself and Others
You can start a group at your school or university concerning issues in Gabon. There are many classes on wealth disparities in Africa as well as a lot of research on it. Get the word out about this issue because it is easy to get caught up in the positive numbers that Gabon has (such as its GDP). Study why issues like this exist in political economies such as Gabon and other countries around the world. You could even start your own nonprofit or lobby organizations and governments yourself someday. Being a global citizen is incredibly important.
While Gabon may seem to be in a great place in terms of its wealth, much of what is happening there is benefiting a small group of people – the wealthiest group, that is. Unemployment and poor healthcare are unequally affecting poor people in Gabon. That is why it is important for us to think about how we can help people in Gabon, even from abroad.
– Emilia Beuger
Photo: Flickr
14 Years of Doctors Without Borders in Pakistan
The tribal districts are among the poorest areas in Pakistan, still operating under an extremely harsh legal system implemented by colonizers more than a century ago.
In Kurram, a district within the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Doctors Without Borders teams have been providing inpatient and outpatient care for children, treating parasite infections, attending to women during pregnancy and birth and offering emergency treatment services. The organization has been present in the local hospitals, Sadda and Alizai, since 2008.
In Sadda hospital, Doctors Without Borders operated the outpatient department for children under the age of five as well as the inpatient department focused on treating severely ill children up to 12 years of age. In addition, the hospital housed a newborn unit catering to premature babies and complicated births. The organization also facilitated emergency referrals to tertiary care hospitals when necessary by means of ambulance services and medical transfer staff.
The Alizai hospital, with the aid of the international doctors, was responsible for caring for children under 12 in an outpatient department and observation room. In 2016, the Sadda hospital alone admitted 1,946 patients and treated 414 patients for cutaneous leishmaniasis, a skin infection caused by a parasite. 736 children were also admitted to the newborn unit.
Doctors Without Borders in Pakistan has continued to work in this impoverished area of the country amid increased militancy, including American drone strikes targeting members of terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda. Sectarian militant attacks primarily targeting Shiite Muslims still plague the area.
Local officials have remarked that Doctors Without Borders provided crucial care in areas that have some of the poorest health services and lowest literacy rates in the country. However, despite continued appreciation from officials and patients in these areas for the work of Doctors Without Borders in Pakistan, the Interior Ministry of the country has ordered that the aid organization leave the Kurram tribal region.
Although Doctors Without Borders was one of 25 international aid agencies that signed an agreement with the government of Pakistan formally granting it permission to operate in the country, Pakistan has been cracking down on international aid agencies in recent years. The Pakistani government has cited the medical charity’s failure to renew their certificates to operate in volatile areas, such as the Kurram tribal region, as the reason for asking the organization to withdraw from the area.
Catherine Moody, the country representative for Doctors Without Borders in Pakistan, expressed sadness over the decision to halt medical services in the Kurram district after 14 years of work. Nevertheless, the organization has stated, “We will, as much as possible, continue to provide obstetric and newborn care to the women of FATA through the MSF women’s hospital located in Peshawar.”
Additionally, Doctors Without Borders will carry on offering free outpatient, emergency and maternal healthcare in other FATA districts, as well as care in other provinces of the country while they continue trying to renew their work certification to provide services in Kurram.
– Richa Bijlani
Photo: Google
Organizations Fighting Hunger in Cameroon
The few roads linking rural areas to urban centers are rickety and inefficient; though on the decline, the country’s rural population still topped 40 percent in 2015. Falling investments, poor infrastructure and Boko Haram insurgency have thrown Cameroon into an economic and existential crisis of an unprecedented scale – 2.6 million of nearly 24 million people are food insecure and chronic malnutrition affects one third of children under the age of five. The country is ranked 68 out of 104 on the 2015 Global Hunger Index.
Reducing abject hunger in Cameroon has become a priority for humanitarian organizations. The World Food Programme (WFP) works with local ministries and food banks to provide critical nutrition sources to the 230,000 Nigerian refugees and displaced Cameroonians in the Far North. The organization aims to install cash for work programs in the country and feed 500,000 people this year.
WFP’s comprehensive program board aims to benefit a host of communities. Its Food by Prescription Programme (FPP), for example, assists malnourished HIV-infected people. Another initiative hopes to supply school meals to 55,000 children in rural schools every year – at once diminishing hunger and incentivizing school attendance. One of the most effective tools the WFP employs is air transport services. The U.N. Humanitarian Air Service imports food to 41 humanitarian agencies fighting hunger in Cameroon.
The Food and Rural Development Foundation (FORUDEF), a NGO founded by citizens of Cameroon in 1998, seeks to promote higher living standards and economic growth primarily by boosting education and advocacy in the Southwest, where many lack access to basic sanitation facilities. After establishing community latrines to distribute anti-malaria medication – to dampen immediate health threats – FORUDEF began pioneering the region’s first nutrition program to lower malnutrition and deficiency-related illnesses.
FORUDEF founders believe that access to education can allow individuals to become knowledgeable and self-reliant, eventually overcoming poverty through their own efforts. In partnership with Bees Abroad UK, the organization brought beekeeping to the Akwaya and Buea regions, creating jobs for locals and unlocking growth potential. FORUDEF also opened workshops to train ambitious Cameroonians into successful beekeepers who can then introduce future generations to the trade.
The efforts of organizations such as the WFP and FORUDEF have made great strides in fighting hunger in Cameroon thus far, and they give hope that progress can continue to be made on this front.
– Claire Wang
Photo: Flickr
Vodafone Foundation and Education in sub-Saharan Africa
The Instant Schools for Africa will provide children and young people with online access to educational materials that are completely free, and comes without mobile data charges. Those unable to access the internet will also be able to use the program offline. The subjects that are included in the material are math and science from primary to advanced levels. Charitable giving, along with technology, is how the Vodafone Foundation aids young people at their 27 locations around the world.
The Vodafone Foundation hopes to improve education in sub-Saharan Africa by targeting children who are typically excluded from a standard education. The overall mission of the Vodafone Foundation is to support global projects that are working towards benefiting areas with health, education, and disaster relief. The foundation uses technology to help those who need it.
Currently, the Vodafone Foundation has a program similar to Instant Schools for Africa, called Vodacom e-school, which provides 215,000 children with access to education. The need for these programs is in high demand, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, as it holds the lowest rate of primary school enrolment across the world. Over one-fifth of children, ranging in age from six to 11, are not in school, while 60 percent of children between 15 and 17 are also not in school.
With Instant Schools for Africa, the Vodafone Foundation is expanding their current education program. Their program is considered one of the largest philanthropic programs, with over 25 years of aid. While the program is expanding, they are planning to keep the already running program, Vodacom e-school.
– Chloe Turner
Photo: Flickr