Barbados is a tiny island in the Caribbean. Many visit Barbados to enjoy the island’s lush greenery and warm sun. However, there are still causes of poverty in Barbados that impact the residents deeply. Locals contend with poverty on different scales, with the youth of Barbados struggling to overcome poverty.
Lack of Opportunities
The job market in Barbados is somewhat narrow, constrained by stigma and discrimination. Job seekers may be discriminated against because of their age, gender, migrant status or even their area of residence.
Job seekers are also restricted by their social networks. While those looking for jobs usually look in newspapers, with 50.7 percent seeking out newspaper advertisements, word of mouth plays a large role in landing jobs for youth. Approximately 36.3 percent used word of mouth as a tool for job hunting.
The problem with using word of mouth information is that individuals are limited to seeking jobs only through their social networks. Individuals have to expand their social networks in order to land jobs through word of mouth.
Education
Financial issues prevent youths from accessing education. Unfortunately, without access to quality education, the youth of Barbados are limited in the job market.
On the other end of the spectrum, those who are highly qualified with certifications expect to find high-paying jobs. However, when these high-paying jobs are not available because of the local economy, educated youths become discouraged in their job hunt. Approximately 21 percent of voluntarily unemployed youths did not want to work because of the stark difference between their qualifications and the availability of jobs.
At Home
When youths are unable to find jobs because of limited contacts or poor education, they remain dependents in their households. This means that there are large households with fewer resources for every member in the family.
High fertility rates and large numbers of children mean that households are fairly large already, stretching families’ financial resources. A lack of financial support from children’s fathers means that household revenues are low.
When families’ financial resources are stretched, youths are not able to economically access the education or social networks they need. This perpetuates the cycle of economic instability and families continue to face poverty.
A Solution?
In 2012, the government of Barbados established a poverty intervention scheme, titled the Implementation Stabilisation Enablement and Empowerment Bridge Programme.
Trained social workers led the program for two years, acting as household facilitators and supervisors.
The ultimate goal of the program is to encourage self-reliance and more importantly, self-introspection by families. Families can then make empowering long-term plans based on their individual situations.
The government’s implementation of such a program bodes well for the predominantly socioeconomic causes of poverty in Barbados.
– Smriti Krishnan
Photo: Flickr
A New Model for Education in Developing Countries
Programs working to achieve the Millennium Development Goals have had great success in increasing school enrollment in developing countries, but many still do not finish school. Obstacles to children completing their education include the difficulty of getting to school and paying for uniforms, books and examination fees.
Another significant factor is the opportunity cost. That is, when a child goes to school instead of working, their family is missing out on an opportunity to bring in extra income. Most of these children will work in agriculture or trade, not in the formal sector. Continuing past primary school does not provide any economic benefit for them or their families.
Education in developing countries tends to adopt traditional western ideals, focusing on literacy, math, social studies and science. For most children, however, these topics are irrelevant to their lives and do not help them improve their real-life circumstances. A new educational model called “school for life” focuses on building the students’ ability to improve their lives. The curriculum focuses on entrepreneurship, health education and empowerment.
Within the realm of entrepreneurship, the curriculum teaches financial management, market analysis and interpersonal skills. Students are also taught how to identify business opportunities and effectively turn them into a revenue stream.
Since many of these children live without access to proper healthcare, teaching them how they can protect their own health is crucial. Many common health issues, such as malaria, dysentery, respiratory infections and nutrition-related illnesses are preventable by simply making small lifestyle changes.
Rote learning dominates education in developing countries, which encourages memorization instead of creativity. The most powerful resource is empowered people, and education systems can unlock this asset for their country with this innovative approach to education. The “school for life” system promotes interactive exercises instead of lectures, so that students have an opportunity to practise desired skills and learn to think critically. For example, students may work on a project to improve the cleanliness of their school. This activity allows students to develop practical skills like planning, collaboration, delegation of tasks and leadership.
A pilot version of the “school for life” curriculum has been adopted in Escuela Nueva in Colombia. If schools switch the focus from improving standardized test scores to empowering students to improve their lives, education can become a powerful tool for lifting people out of poverty.
– Kristen Nixon
Photo: Flickr
Mauritius Poverty Rate: Good and Getting Better
This, however, is not necessarily the case. While Mauritius’ GDP is ranked 137th in the world at $25.89 billion, their GDP per capita is ranked 84th at $20,400 per person, according to the CIA World Factbook. This means that Mauritius has one of the highest GDPs per capita throughout the entirety of Africa.
With numbers this good, the Mauritius poverty rate is relatively low, at just 8 percent as of 2006. Keep in mind that the global poverty rate according to the World Bank is just over 10 percent of the population, meaning that, all things considered, Mauritius is doing relatively well in this aspect.
What is interesting is that these figures could also keep improving. Since its independence in 1968, Mauritius has continuously diversified its economy so that the country can grow its industrial, financial and tourism sectors. These are more capital-intensive industries that have reconstructed Mauritius’ economy into one that is upper-middle-income, rather than low-income.
The numbers are there to back this up as well. Over the last five to six years, Mauritius’ GDP grew by about three to four percent each year, and the World Bank projects that this level of growth will continue well into the future. Foreign investment has increased in Mauritius, and as the country’s economy diversifies, its GDP and GDP per capita will also see tangible increases.
This means that, as the country’s general economy improves, the Mauritius poverty rate could also see an improvement. A further decrease would give Mauritius one of the lowest poverty rates in the world. As foreign investors flock to the island nation and as its economy evolves and diversifies, we will see how Mauritius responds to this new international attention.
– John Mirandette
Photo: Flickr
HIV Foreign Aid Cuts Are Projected to Cause Humanitarian Crisis
It has been estimated that President Trump’s HIV foreign aid cuts would result in nine million life years lost in South Africa and Ivory Coast, which are two countries that have a predominant problem with the spread of HIV. Specifically, according to humanitarian writer Sebastien Malo, “South Africa has the highest prevalence of HIV worldwide, with 19 percent of its adult population carrying the virus in 2015.”
The U.S. Department of State reported that HIV-infected patients who currently receive antiretroviral therapy funded by U.S. foreign aid would not stop getting treatments. On the other hand, however, it is estimated that 1.8 million people would die from HIV in South Africa and Ivory Coast within 10 years due to President Trump’s HIV foreign aid cuts.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, if the Trump administration continues to cut funding for HIV-related programs and research, HIV could transform into a pandemic and affect the world. Jacqueline Alemany, White House reporter, indicated that the foreign aid cuts are due to the Trump administration’s partiality toward defense and military spending.
Thus, a small reduction of $1 billion from the current $6 billion PEPFAR program would potentially cause catastrophic effects around the world. Furthermore, adding to South Africa’s estimated seven million HIV-infected people, Ivory Coast is home to approximately 460,000 HIV-infected people. All in all, as Malo questions, “would the relatively small savings realized by currently proposed budget reductions be worth these large humanitarian costs?”
Now, the U.S. government is left to determine whether or not the budget cuts are worth the potential humanitarian crisis caused by an enormous loss of life and the spread of HIV.
– Emily Santora
Photo: Flickr
10 Facts About Dominican Refugees
– Mary Luft
Photo: Flickr
The Success of Private Education in Pakistan
With all this in mind, it is of no surprise that 37 percent of the nation’s educational institutions are private. Even more significant is the fact that this private 37 percent is somehow serving 42 percent of the nation’s total population of enrolled students and employing 48 percent of all teachers. Even so, the obvious reality is that private education is often expensive, thus making it out of reach for the most vulnerable and impoverished children. Consequently, a new subset of private education has further entered the scene: low-cost private schools.
Such is where Nasra Public Schools comes in. Despite its misleading name, it is indeed a low-cost private educational institution, and was founded in 1949 in a bungalow living room. Today, it has expanded into a system of private schools that boasts five campuses and serves 11,000 students. By 2020, it is projected to expand to 14 campuses, and will potentially expand further to 70 campuses across the nation.
Nasra is committed to low-cost, high quality private education. It does so through a contained monthly fee, meaning that fees have a maximum limit in the effort to maintain financial accessibility for low-income families. This works extremely well, as an astounding 79 percent of Nasra students are from homes that make less than four dollars a day. Additionally, Nasra rents campus locations rather than purchasing land- diluting infrastructural costs, which is ultimately what allows them to continually expand.
The system employs a staff of roughly 1,000, and teaches in English, a huge draw for the school. Further, it partners with various well-established institutions, such as the British Council and Pakistan’s COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, to provide the necessary technological resources and to create the most modern curricula it can. It also provides various extracurricular activities, such as student council, arts programs, cricket and table tennis, the latter two being supported through a partnership with the British Council’s International Inspirational Program.
Yet, it is still necessary to note that Nasra schools are not currently located throughout the nation, although such is the intention for the future. There is still a myriad of students who cannot afford to enroll in even low-cost institutions, an issue largely due to transportation fees. In many cases, urban and rural alike, students’ transportation fees would exceed that of school fees themselves, effectively making even low-cost private schooling inaccessible as well. Thus, the work of Nasra and its potential for expansion is even more essential; more Nasra schools spread throughout the nation would mean more educational opportunities for those that most desperately need them.
– Kailee Nardi
Photo: Flickr
Top 10 Facts About Landmines
10 Facts about Landmines:
Landmines can be hard to detect and are often prevalent in areas decimated by war. This makes their existence especially dangerous to the poor and to refugees. While these facts about landmines can be distressing, great work by organizations like Minesweepers helps make environments less dangerous and the lives of the global poor safer.
– Brock Hall
Photo: Flickr
Three Causes of Poverty in Barbados
Lack of Opportunities
The job market in Barbados is somewhat narrow, constrained by stigma and discrimination. Job seekers may be discriminated against because of their age, gender, migrant status or even their area of residence.
Job seekers are also restricted by their social networks. While those looking for jobs usually look in newspapers, with 50.7 percent seeking out newspaper advertisements, word of mouth plays a large role in landing jobs for youth. Approximately 36.3 percent used word of mouth as a tool for job hunting.
The problem with using word of mouth information is that individuals are limited to seeking jobs only through their social networks. Individuals have to expand their social networks in order to land jobs through word of mouth.
Education
Financial issues prevent youths from accessing education. Unfortunately, without access to quality education, the youth of Barbados are limited in the job market.
On the other end of the spectrum, those who are highly qualified with certifications expect to find high-paying jobs. However, when these high-paying jobs are not available because of the local economy, educated youths become discouraged in their job hunt. Approximately 21 percent of voluntarily unemployed youths did not want to work because of the stark difference between their qualifications and the availability of jobs.
At Home
When youths are unable to find jobs because of limited contacts or poor education, they remain dependents in their households. This means that there are large households with fewer resources for every member in the family.
High fertility rates and large numbers of children mean that households are fairly large already, stretching families’ financial resources. A lack of financial support from children’s fathers means that household revenues are low.
When families’ financial resources are stretched, youths are not able to economically access the education or social networks they need. This perpetuates the cycle of economic instability and families continue to face poverty.
A Solution?
In 2012, the government of Barbados established a poverty intervention scheme, titled the Implementation Stabilisation Enablement and Empowerment Bridge Programme.
Trained social workers led the program for two years, acting as household facilitators and supervisors.
The ultimate goal of the program is to encourage self-reliance and more importantly, self-introspection by families. Families can then make empowering long-term plans based on their individual situations.
The government’s implementation of such a program bodes well for the predominantly socioeconomic causes of poverty in Barbados.
– Smriti Krishnan
Photo: Flickr
Why Is Tonga Poor?
Resources are scarce in Tonga, with arable land being at the top of the scarce resources list. Only 24 percent of Tonga’s land is able to grow crops. Astonishingly, of that 24 percent, about 43 percent of the land is used for agricultural purposes. High dependency on limited resources leads to a wide range of economic issues and food insecurity. Much of Tonga’s financial growth is now dependent on more than half of the population that has moved abroad.
Tourism contributes to about 14 percent of Tonga’s total GDP. According to the South Pacific Touring Organization, the number of tourists has drastically gone down. Tourist arrivals to Tonga in the first quarter of 2017 fell dramatically by 45.7 percent compared to its previous quarter. The root cause can be traced back to decreasing travel in Tonga’s leading source markets: New Zealand and Australia. Efforts are now being considered to increase this important source of revenue.
The question of why Tonga is poor can also be answered by looking at climate change. Over recent years, Tonga has reported a significant decline in precipitation as well as substantial rises in atmospheric temperatures. Coastal erosion, rising sea levels and ocean acidification are at record-breaking highs. Climate change is directly linked to the depletion of the agricultural and tourism sectors in Tonga. The islands have turned to agricultural biotechnology as a possible solution.
Samiuela ‘Akilisi Pōhiva, the Prime Minister of Tonga, has been working diligently with the U.N. to progress development on these poverty-related issues. A detailed outline is currently being followed with the eradication of poverty still intact. Even though poverty remains one of the largest challenges for Tonga, these islands can take pride in the existing partnerships they have made in order to advance poverty reduction efforts.
– Emilee Wessel
Photo: Flickr
Progress Made: An Update on SDGs in Ethiopia
It has now been two years since that conference took place, and countries have had the chance to assess themselves and see which goals they can achieve and where they can succeed. In July 2017, representatives from certain countries met up again, this time to report some of their findings on a number of goals. The SDGs in Ethiopia that are most important are goals one, two and five.
Concerning the first goal of no poverty, Ethiopia has made immense strides in the past decade and even more since they adopted the SDGs. The poverty rate was 38.7 percent in 2004, but declined to 29.6 percent in 2010. In 2011, the rate declined another 6.2 percent to 23.4 percent by the end of 2015. These improvements came about as a result of government measures to promote economic growth, such as the Growth and Transformation Plan, as well as anti-poverty organizations working all over the country.
Ethiopia’s progress on the second goal, zero hunger, has also been positive, despite the drought that affected the country’s food supply. The country continues to support programs to bolster small farmers. The country also implemented Climate-Resilient Green Agricultural Development in order to slow their greenhouse gas emissions while promoting growth in the agricultural sector. Different organizations also continue to help Ethiopia become more food secure, like The Hunger Project, which works to decrease food insecurity while also mobilizing communities to become self-reliant.
Finally, the fifth goal of gender equality has also seen improvements. In many countries, women tend to lack political agency. In Ethiopia, the number of female representatives in Parliament reached 38.7 percent, while at regional and district levels women’s representation reached 48 percent in 2016.
Updates on the SDGs in Ethiopia may not paint a perfect picture, but they illustrate a positive look at a country moving towards a better future. Progress in the areas of poverty, hunger, equality and sustainability help Ethiopia model the SDGs in action. This progress is emblematic of a country and world moving away from poverty and toward progress.
– Selasi Amoani
Photo: Flickr
3 Benefits of LEGO Education in Africa
LEGO as an education tool has been seen to improve the quality of learning in classrooms. Through LEGO, children are able to better express creativity, work as a team and solve problems.
Through Play Well Africa, LEGO education is able to benefit students in three ways:
Increase critical thinking skills
Learning with LEGOs requires critical thinking skills which are developed more through LEGO projects and challenges. For example, when building a project without instructions, it requires the students to consider structure and forces in order to create a stable solution.
In a 2001 study, a group of preschoolers were followed to assess the outcome of early block learning. The study showed that the students who participated in early block learning scored higher on standardized math tests starting in seventh grade.
While the effects of LEGO education may not be immediately seen, over time critical thinking skills develop and serve the children well.
Strengthen team building and communication
While LEGO building can be seen as an individual task, students tend to fare well when working on LEGO projects together. When working in a group, students must learn to communicate effectively to build a high-quality design.
A 2006 study used LEGO building materials to act as a medium for communication between autistic children. They were split into two groups, one using LEGO therapy and the other using more traditional therapy. In the end, both groups improved significantly in social skills; however, LEGO participants improved more than those not using LEGO.
LEGO has proven itself to be an effective means of not only building social skills, but helping improve social interaction as well.
Encourage long-term growth
LEGO is seen as an effective learning tool in schools through improving creativity, critical thinking skills, teamwork and problem solving. Through fostering these important learning skills, it allows permanent solutions to come about in underdeveloped countries.
As students grow and utilize these skills, they learn new ways to help their community grow into a more stable environment. While LEGO does an effective job building successful students, it also helps to create powerful members of the community.
Students benefit in multiple ways from Play Well Africa donating used LEGOs to schools. They not only grow as learners, but as active members in their community. While Play Well Africa currently only works with three countries, they are looking to expand in the near future.
– Rebekah Covey
Photo: Flickr