Trachoma is an infection of the eyes that originates from the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis. The infection is most prevalent in low-income, rural areas of Africa, Asia, Central America and South America where people often lack adequate sanitation facilities and clean water.
Fighting trachoma matters in the fight against global poverty for a variety of reasons. Children suffering from the disease are often unable to continue studying or working due to the symptoms of the illness, which include intolerable pain and constant itching. Older family members experiencing the same symptoms may struggle to support and care for their families and be unable to continue in their lines of work. Eventually, if left untreated, the infection will cause permanent blindness which significantly impacts the livelihoods of its victims.
While trachoma is easily spread, it is both preventable and treatable. The case of ENVISION in Mozambique demonstrates the potential impact prevention and treatment measures can have in the spread of this disease.
The WHO recommends the combination of preventative measures and treatment through the SAFE strategy (Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial-cleanliness and Environmental improvement). Mozambique’s government, with the help of USAID’s Neglected Tropical Diseases Program, launched ENVISION in 2012 and aims to end trachoma in Mozambique by 2020. While this timeline may seem ambitious, there have already been significant signs of improvement in Mozambique.
According to USAID, in 2013, ENVISION distributed and successfully administered the antibiotic Zithromax in the 10 districts of Niassa, the most remote province of Mozambique. Since then, rates of trachoma in Niassa have dropped to below five percent. This is low enough to end the mass drug administrations in the area.
ENVISION leaders are also collaborating with NGOs working in the areas of sanitation, water and hygiene to aid in establishing preventative measures. While trachoma has yet to be completely eradicated, the leaders behind the ENVISION initiative have made great progress in fighting trachoma in just five years.
https://borgenproject.org/wp-content/uploads/logo.jpg00Borgen Projecthttps://borgenproject.org/wp-content/uploads/logo.jpgBorgen Project2016-08-22 01:30:122020-06-18 18:51:57Mozambique Sees Success in Fighting Trachoma
When one thinks of Germany, poverty doesn’t usually come to mind. But there are indications that poverty in Germany is a looming threat for the country of over 80 million. The influx of migrants in the past couple of years may provide a solution for the country’s low-wage labor market and the aging population.
Germany’s Economic and Social Problems are Manifold
In May 2016, the country’s Federal Employment Agency reported that one in seven children under the age of 15 were living on government long-term unemployment benefits in 2015. In some states, like Berlin and Bremen, the figure was one in three. The total number stood at 1.54 million and represented an increase of 30,000 compared with 2014.
Sabine Zimmermann, a Left Party member of the German parliament, recently argued that the issue is systemic. She also said that it lies with the country’s slack labor market. Germany’s labor market offers few jobs and low wages.
Similarly, the Bertelsmann Foundation, the largest private foundation in Germany, published a study in October 2015 which revealed that 19.4% of Germans under the age of 18 are at risk for poverty and social exclusion. This is the case because even though the country’s youth unemployment rate, at 7.7%, is the lowest in Europe, 40% of young people toil at low-wage service industry jobs.
Daniel Schraad-Tischler, one of the co-authors of the study, wrote that the current state of the German labor market has serious implications for the future of the welfare state. The government, he concluded, needs to create opportunities for young people to move to higher-paying professions.
Remove Employment Restrictions for Foreign-Born Citizens
Rather than being a burden on German society, migrants may encourage German businesses to invest at home and create jobs. Schraad-Tischler is not the only one pointing to migrants as a measure to address widespread poverty in Germany.
Christian Dürr, a German politician belonging to the center-right Free Democratic Party, wrote in a Huffington Post article that migrants will help bridge Germany’s sustainability gap.
This concept measures the amount of money needed to sustain future payments promised by the government. In 2013, Germany’s was 237% of its GDP, which translates to nearly 6.5 billion euros.
The Sustainability Gap is a Result of Changing Demographics
Germany’s population is aging at the same time as it is shrinking. This means that government expenditures on health care and pensions are on the rise. But fewer and fewer people are putting money into the system.
Eventually, this would force the government to divert money from education and infrastructure in order to finance this deficit. As a result, many people would fall into poverty due to lack of future opportunities.
With the help of migration, however, the gap can be reduced to 217%, according to research that Dürr cited.
It is true that the gains made from migration will be modest. In addition, the government needs to pass a few necessary laws. It is also true that migration alone cannot resolve the country’s economic problems. Migrants, however, can help slow the advance of poverty in Germany by easing demographic pressures and catering to labor market demands.
– Philip Katz
Photo: Flickr
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Over the past two decades, Rwanda has faced an uphill battle on the road to development post-genocide. Despite troubling circumstances and more than its share of challenges, the country is quickly becoming a global development and poverty reduction success story. Below are five facts about poverty in Rwanda.
Rwanda Poverty Facts
According to the World Bank’s most recent estimates, 44.9 percent of Rwanda’s population currently lives below the poverty line. Down from 56.7 percent in 2005, more than one million people have been lifted out of poverty in just five years thanks to the government’s commitment to eradicating poverty in Rwanda and becoming a middle-income country.
In the past decade, mortality rates for children under five years old have been more than halved. Down from 182 deaths per 1,000 children in 2000 to 55 per 1,000 in 2012.
As a key marker of successful poverty reduction efforts, life expectancy in Rwanda has improved dramatically. As of 1993, the average life expectancy was just 27 years. By 2014 that number had more than doubled to 64 years. Better living conditions and improved health care are largely to thank for these impressive improvements.
After experiencing a dip in annual GDP growth rates after the Great Recession, the Rwandan economy has quickly rebounded. The country is projected to enjoy growth rates of more than six percent for the next several years. As this growth begins to be picked up by even the lowest income sectors of the country, poverty in Rwanda is expected to be dramatically reduced in the coming years.
The Rwandan government has made achieving middle-income status a top priority by introducing Vision 2020, an initiative that aims to move the country away from its primarily agricultural-based economy to a more progressive, diversified economy with the ability to drastically reduce poverty in Rwanda. With 75 percent of the 650,000 new workers added to the work force between 2005 and 2010, the country is well on its way to achieving its goal.
As shown through these facts about poverty in Rwanda, the country still has a long way to go on the road to development, yet over the past decade, its progress has been unprecedentedly successful. With continued support and development assistance poverty in Rwanda may one day be a distant memory.
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Hunger in Kenya is a prominent issue, with more than 600,000 Kenyans in urgent need of food aid after the region was hit by a drought, which started in February when most farmers were preparing for planting season. The weather has dried up waterholes and rivers leading to crop failure.
The Kenyan government has promised to release 50 million Kenya shillings, or $5 million, to be used to purchase food aid, but the government has yet to release the funds. West Pokot deputy governor Titus Lotee said, “We have started distributing food but the 4,000 bags of maize is not enough,” and called on humanitarian organizations to help fight the hunger in Kenya.
Action Against Hunger has implemented a strategy for 2015–2017 in Kenya in order to address two main pillars: ending the drought emergency and addressing all forms of malnutrition.
Action Against Hunger has strengthened its approach to addressing health problems in Kenya by implementing programs in nutrition, food security, water, sanitation and hygiene. Thus far, 275,552 people have received nutritional support and 25,060 people have accessed safe water and sanitation.
Another charity, Feed the Children, provides access to food, water and schooling in four of Kenya’s counties. The organization focuses on the most vulnerable: malnourished children under the age of five, pregnant and lactating women, and people living with HIV/AIDS.
Feed the Children has built water pans and rainwater harvesting systems, which can hold water for up to seven months after the rain stops for the year. The Australian government assisted Feed the Children in building 35 latrines in six schools and supplied 8,000-cubic-meter water tanks to seven schools.
The Feed Hungry Children in Kenya project is providing health clinics, where children are weighed and measured and given food supplements. Poor families are given a food ration of beans and maize each month.
In addition to the two organizations, the World Food Programme works with Feed the Children to serve regular meals to children in 170 schools throughout Kenya in hopes of mitigating the crisis.
These humanitarian organizations will work to tackle starvation and hunger in Kenya until the country’s food availability problem improves.
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This group is comprised of about 61 million children of primary school age (6-11 years), 60 million of lower secondary age (12-14) and 142 million of upper secondary age (15-17). Most of these children reside in sub-Saharan Africa, where over a fifth of children of primary school age, a third of children of lower secondary age and nearly 60 percent of youths of upper secondary age were found to be out of school.
Out-of-school rates are particularly high among youth age 15-17 because in many countries, although primary and lower secondary schooling is mandatory, upper secondary schooling is not. Furthermore, youth in this age group are often of legal working age and must choose between employment and education. Those living in poverty often pick the former option in order to provide for their families.
In addition to wealth, other barriers to education include location, armed conflict and sex. Girls are less likely than boys to attend school. The study found that 15 million girls of primary school age will never have the opportunity to attend school; only 10 million boys will face the same predicament. More than half of these girls live in sub-Saharan Africa.
Although the numbers are shocking, they are still better than those from 2000, when 374.7 million children and youth were out of school. Progress has been made, but the results of the UNESCO education study show that there is much more work to be done.
This is especially true considering the pledge that more than 160 countries made at the 2015 World Education Forum in Incheon, South Korea. At the meeting, leaders promised to provide all girls and boys with quality and publicly funded primary and secondary education by the year 2030, a goal that is still far from actualization.
Education has always been inextricably linked to development. Quality education decreases poverty, promotes health and provides economic growth. Improving education is the key to creating more sustainable societies.
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Since 1991, The Day of the African Child has been celebrated as an opportunity to advance African children’s rights. The day commemorates African students who were killed by police in a 1976 demonstration in Soweto, South Africa to protest education injustice.
The official theme of this year’s celebration, “Conflict and Crisis in Africa: Protecting All Children’s Rights,” recognizes that conflict, natural disaster and disease currently affect 500 million children worldwide. The Day of the African Child (DAC) events have centered on promoting access to education but this year there was a focus on how access is jeopardized by conflict.
According to the UNICEF All in School initiative, 36 percent of the primary-school age children who are not attending school are prevented by their residence in conflict-affected areas. Overall, this accounts for 59.3 million children. The damage to structures and infrastructure makes it difficult for African children who live in conflict zones to attend school.
According to a recent African Union report, Africa remains the most conflict-prone continent in the world. Approximately 57 million children in the world do not attend school and 30 million of those children are in sub-Saharan Africa. Living in a conflict zone not only makes attending school unsafe but also affects children’s emotional health.
The 2016 DAC celebration took place at more than 100 events worldwide thanks to partnerships with organizations like A World at School, which utilizes a network of global youth ambassadors and faith-based groups to accelerate progress in education.
This year 500 young people from around Africa staged a ‘youth takeover’ at Ethiopia’s Africa Union, in Addis Ababa for the DAC. Youth ambassadors played a key role in the celebration and promoting the message.
The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child provides member states with outlined suggestions for observing the DAC. Their recommendations further push the goals of the celebration by providing outlines of current conflict contexts in Africa, how they impact children and best practice for mitigating the impact.
The importance afforded to three decades of DAC and its worldwide events provides hope for the situation of children across Africa. While the struggles they face are remarkably diverse, more equitable access to education remains a priority.
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Despite being one of the smaller nations of South America, the Oriental Republic of Uruguay boasts some of the most successful education statistics in the continent. In fact, Education in Uruguay boasts statistics among the best in the world.
According to the U.N. Development Program’s Education Index in 2013, Uruguay is “slightly better educated than the average country at 0.71 out of one” while the world’s median is 0.65. The Republic also boasts a 98.36 percent adult literacy rate, making them rank first out of 12th for South America and 33rd in the world’s ranking.
Education is compulsory in Uruguay for students between the ages of six and 11, and free at all levels. Its capital of Montevideo is also the major center for education and the home of the main and only public university: University of the Republic. Across the board, classrooms have a great student per teacher ratio, at 13.8 students per teacher. This assuring statistic has resulted in a greater amount of attention given to pupils in addition to higher grade averages.
The commitment to compulsory education in Uruguay dates back to the 1800s when President José Pedro Varela convinced the government to pass the 1877 Law of Common Education. This key statute instituted a model for public school systems and was made in the image of the French academic system. It created three separate branches – primary, secondary, and university levels. Although president for only one year, Varela’s impact remains influential to the country’s education system.
Uruguay’s commitment to education even goes so far as to become the first country to give free laptops and Wi-Fi connection to every student across the country. In 2009, President Tabaré Vázquez finalized the inaugural project “Plan Ceibal” which gave laptops to all grade school students and their teachers. The project worked in alliance with non-profit One Laptop Per Child, an organization with a mission to distribute low-cost laptops to poor children all over the world.
Education in Uruguay only continues to improve classroom conditions and technologies with each succeeding year. Minister of Education and Culture María Julia Muñoz and American Ambassador to Uruguay Kelly Keiderling recently renewed a Fulbright partnership between the two countries, which will allow teachers to learn modern education methods from their Fulbright scholars.
Muñoz stated that the Ministry of Education and Culture has even increased their contribution to the partnership program from 60,000 dollars to 100,000 dollars, to maintain their marked dedication to the lives of Uruguayan students and teachers.
The continued efforts of Uruguayan leaders will undoubtedly secure the significance of academia as an apex of the Oriental Republic and its culture. Further movements concerning the Education of Uruguay are, therefore, not to be discredited.
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Energy poverty is a global issue. Access to energy, especially in developing areas, is severely lacking. Globally, an estimated 1.2 billion people have absolutely no access to electricity, and an additional 2.7 billion rely on the use of traditional biomass to cook.
Burning traditional biomass, which includes wood, agricultural by-products and dung, causes respiratory diseases that kill over 3.5 million annually, which is twice the amount of deaths caused by malaria every year.
Solving the problem of energy poverty is central to the goal of eliminating global poverty, but there is an extensive and politically-charged debate on the best way to approach solutions.
Tensions can run high in renewable sources such as hydro, solar and wind energy versus fossil fuels such as coal and oil. The potential role of nuclear power is also a significant consideration in the mix. Even beyond issues of energy sources, questions remain about whether energy generation should be largely centralized, or be more locally distributed?
This aspect of the question was highlighted in a recent debate held by the Brookings Institute. Ted Nordhaus is the co-founder and Research Director of the Breakthrough institute that is in favor of a more centralized model of energy development.
Nordhaus pointed out that in the past no country has had universal access to energy without the majority of the population moving out of agriculture and into cities, pointing out that growth in off-farm employment is crucial to this development.
In response, Daniel Kamme, Director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at UC Berkley described the numerous technology innovations such as micro-grids and improved batteries that make a more distributed energy model more viable.
He emphasized that both centralized and distributed grids can coexist, and that rejection of smaller grids in favor of larger centralized ones is “to bet on the past, not bet on the future.”
A centralized model is more in line with coal-fired power plants and other fossil-fuel reliant methods, while a more dispersed approach has a higher reliance on renewable resources.
Proponents of fossil fuels such as Dr. Robert Bezdek, president of the consulting firm MISI, argue that the tried-and-true method of using coal is a much more reliable way to solve energy poverty, and that better scrubbing technology has improved the cleanliness of coal so that it is more sustainable.
Opponents of this viewpoint argue that this perception is an antiquated, one-size-fits-all model, and neglects to consider the level of innovation that exists now in contrast to the industrial revolution.
It is true according to World Bank data that least developed countries on average use renewable sources for 40.8 percent of their power generation, which is about twice as much as high-income countries.
Overall, the correct approach to solving energy poverty will continue to be debated until a solution is found. The answer to energy poverty must be sufficient to provide energy for both personal and commercial use in a sustainable manner.
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Ashis Paul overheard his daughter’s physics tutor explain how gas cools when it quickly expands, and the idea for the Eco-Cooler was born. During the hot seasons in Bangladesh, the temperatures rise up to 45 degrees Celsius, or about 113 degrees Fahrenheit.
70% of the Bangladeshi population lives in huts with corrugated tin roofs, which greatly amplify the heat. Eco-Coolers, built with accessible materials such as plastic bottles, provide heat relief in Bangladesh to improve the lives of those living without power or air conditioning.
Paul works as a creative supervisor at an advertising company called Grey Group, which sponsors several pro-bono projects, including Eco-Cooler. To spread the knowledge on how to build an Eco-Cooler, Grey Group partnered with Grameen International Social Business Ltd., which works in many Bangladeshi villages.
Volunteers teach locals to build the Eco-Coolers from easily found materials and encourage them to teach others how to make them as well. Detailed, step-by-step instructions are also available on Grey’s website.
The materials to make an Eco-Cooler include a board cut to fit a window and plastic bottles with the bottom halves cut off. Due to a litter problem, plastic bottles are easy to find in rural villages. Repurposing waste for its construction and requiring no electricity to run, the Eco-Cooler serves as an environmentally-friendly and cost-effective cooling unit.
Extreme heat can decrease productivity, increase dehydration and the number of cases of heat stroke.
Considering the heat coupled with the tin-corrugated roofs, Jaiyyanul Huq, a creative director with Grey Group told The Observers, “I’ve been in these huts. It’s like being in a sauna in the Sahara.” Generally, the Eco-Cooler cools homes up to 5 degrees Celsius, or 9 degrees Fahrenheit, improving the quality of conditions for those living in homes with tin-corrugated roofs.
“The beauty of it is how easy these units are to make,” Huq told The Observers. Eco-Cooler has already impacted 25,000 homes, with more to come, providing environmentally-conscious, cost-efficient heat relief in Bangladesh.
In the first week of August, the U.N. flexed its creative muscle to provide food aid in Syria to internally displaced Syrians by hoisting supplies via crane over the walled-off Jordanian border. The process was monitored by drones on the other side.
The border was sealed following a June attack on the Jordanian military. The border closure is problematic for a number of reasons, one being that the World Food Programme (WFP) and other U.N. partners previously delivered supplies from Jordan to the 75,000 people living the area.
WFP representative and country director in Jordan, Mageed Yahia said that most of the people living in the region are women, children and the elderly. Many of these individuals are sick or wounded, and none of them have regular access to food or medicine.
The BBC reports that thousands of people have been migrating to this point at the border, a heavily entrenched area known as the berm since late last year. The number has ballooned because of strict immigration restrictions imposed by Jordan, limiting those who are allowed to cross. Of the 4.85 million Syrians registered as refugees with the U.N., 655,000 are hosted by Jordan.
Five years of war have left Syria broken, beaten and scarred, but there are still some 18 million people living in the country. Outside of the capital, Damascus, the Syrian people struggle to get by; 13.5 million of them are said to need humanitarian aid.
The war has destroyed Syria’s economy with an estimated cost of $255 billion, according to the Syrian Center for Policy Research. Unemployment stands at over 50 percent, a 36 percent increase since 2011. And yet, there are still those who have not given up hope.
The WFP and other organizations came together to devise this unconventional program of food aid in Syria in the spirit of providing temporary relief to those on the other side. The partners delivered 650 metric tons of aid to two locations over three days.
Of note, 70-meter-high cranes lifted pallets over the border in Rukban and Hadalat, lowering them into encampments on the other side. Items delivered included food from WFP, bread from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and hygiene kits from UNICEF.
The WFP is calling this operation a “one-off distribution,” and says that a long-term solution is necessary to meet the needs of the tens of thousands of displaced and hungry Syrians in the area. The Jordanian government has said that it will not allow future aid deliveries to the area due to concerns over security.
This instance of food aid in Syria may have been a singular effort, but it provided food to people who had not received aid in months. Furthermore, officials at the U.N. and the WFP are using their best efforts to come up with a sustainable, long-term solution to the problem.
Mozambique Sees Success in Fighting Trachoma
Trachoma is an infection of the eyes that originates from the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis. The infection is most prevalent in low-income, rural areas of Africa, Asia, Central America and South America where people often lack adequate sanitation facilities and clean water.
Fighting trachoma matters in the fight against global poverty for a variety of reasons. Children suffering from the disease are often unable to continue studying or working due to the symptoms of the illness, which include intolerable pain and constant itching. Older family members experiencing the same symptoms may struggle to support and care for their families and be unable to continue in their lines of work. Eventually, if left untreated, the infection will cause permanent blindness which significantly impacts the livelihoods of its victims.
While trachoma is easily spread, it is both preventable and treatable. The case of ENVISION in Mozambique demonstrates the potential impact prevention and treatment measures can have in the spread of this disease.
The WHO recommends the combination of preventative measures and treatment through the SAFE strategy (Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial-cleanliness and Environmental improvement). Mozambique’s government, with the help of USAID’s Neglected Tropical Diseases Program, launched ENVISION in 2012 and aims to end trachoma in Mozambique by 2020. While this timeline may seem ambitious, there have already been significant signs of improvement in Mozambique.
According to USAID, in 2013, ENVISION distributed and successfully administered the antibiotic Zithromax in the 10 districts of Niassa, the most remote province of Mozambique. Since then, rates of trachoma in Niassa have dropped to below five percent. This is low enough to end the mass drug administrations in the area.
ENVISION leaders are also collaborating with NGOs working in the areas of sanitation, water and hygiene to aid in establishing preventative measures. While trachoma has yet to be completely eradicated, the leaders behind the ENVISION initiative have made great progress in fighting trachoma in just five years.
– Jordan Rose Little
Photo: Flickr
How Migrants Can Help Prevent Future Poverty in Germany
When one thinks of Germany, poverty doesn’t usually come to mind. But there are indications that poverty in Germany is a looming threat for the country of over 80 million. The influx of migrants in the past couple of years may provide a solution for the country’s low-wage labor market and the aging population.
Germany’s Economic and Social Problems are Manifold
In May 2016, the country’s Federal Employment Agency reported that one in seven children under the age of 15 were living on government long-term unemployment benefits in 2015. In some states, like Berlin and Bremen, the figure was one in three. The total number stood at 1.54 million and represented an increase of 30,000 compared with 2014.
Sabine Zimmermann, a Left Party member of the German parliament, recently argued that the issue is systemic. She also said that it lies with the country’s slack labor market. Germany’s labor market offers few jobs and low wages.
Similarly, the Bertelsmann Foundation, the largest private foundation in Germany, published a study in October 2015 which revealed that 19.4% of Germans under the age of 18 are at risk for poverty and social exclusion. This is the case because even though the country’s youth unemployment rate, at 7.7%, is the lowest in Europe, 40% of young people toil at low-wage service industry jobs.
Daniel Schraad-Tischler, one of the co-authors of the study, wrote that the current state of the German labor market has serious implications for the future of the welfare state. The government, he concluded, needs to create opportunities for young people to move to higher-paying professions.
Remove Employment Restrictions for Foreign-Born Citizens
Rather than being a burden on German society, migrants may encourage German businesses to invest at home and create jobs. Schraad-Tischler is not the only one pointing to migrants as a measure to address widespread poverty in Germany.
Christian Dürr, a German politician belonging to the center-right Free Democratic Party, wrote in a Huffington Post article that migrants will help bridge Germany’s sustainability gap.
This concept measures the amount of money needed to sustain future payments promised by the government. In 2013, Germany’s was 237% of its GDP, which translates to nearly 6.5 billion euros.
The Sustainability Gap is a Result of Changing Demographics
Germany’s population is aging at the same time as it is shrinking. This means that government expenditures on health care and pensions are on the rise. But fewer and fewer people are putting money into the system.
Eventually, this would force the government to divert money from education and infrastructure in order to finance this deficit. As a result, many people would fall into poverty due to lack of future opportunities.
With the help of migration, however, the gap can be reduced to 217%, according to research that Dürr cited.
It is true that the gains made from migration will be modest. In addition, the government needs to pass a few necessary laws. It is also true that migration alone cannot resolve the country’s economic problems. Migrants, however, can help slow the advance of poverty in Germany by easing demographic pressures and catering to labor market demands.
– Philip Katz
Photo: Flickr
5 Facts about Poverty in Rwanda
Over the past two decades, Rwanda has faced an uphill battle on the road to development post-genocide. Despite troubling circumstances and more than its share of challenges, the country is quickly becoming a global development and poverty reduction success story. Below are five facts about poverty in Rwanda.
Rwanda Poverty Facts
As shown through these facts about poverty in Rwanda, the country still has a long way to go on the road to development, yet over the past decade, its progress has been unprecedentedly successful. With continued support and development assistance poverty in Rwanda may one day be a distant memory.
– Sara Christensen
Photo: Flickr
Hunger in Kenya: Organizations that are Helping
The Kenyan government has promised to release 50 million Kenya shillings, or $5 million, to be used to purchase food aid, but the government has yet to release the funds. West Pokot deputy governor Titus Lotee said, “We have started distributing food but the 4,000 bags of maize is not enough,” and called on humanitarian organizations to help fight the hunger in Kenya.
Action Against Hunger has implemented a strategy for 2015–2017 in Kenya in order to address two main pillars: ending the drought emergency and addressing all forms of malnutrition.
Action Against Hunger has strengthened its approach to addressing health problems in Kenya by implementing programs in nutrition, food security, water, sanitation and hygiene. Thus far, 275,552 people have received nutritional support and 25,060 people have accessed safe water and sanitation.
Another charity, Feed the Children, provides access to food, water and schooling in four of Kenya’s counties. The organization focuses on the most vulnerable: malnourished children under the age of five, pregnant and lactating women, and people living with HIV/AIDS.
Feed the Children has built water pans and rainwater harvesting systems, which can hold water for up to seven months after the rain stops for the year. The Australian government assisted Feed the Children in building 35 latrines in six schools and supplied 8,000-cubic-meter water tanks to seven schools.
The Feed Hungry Children in Kenya project is providing health clinics, where children are weighed and measured and given food supplements. Poor families are given a food ration of beans and maize each month.
In addition to the two organizations, the World Food Programme works with Feed the Children to serve regular meals to children in 170 schools throughout Kenya in hopes of mitigating the crisis.
These humanitarian organizations will work to tackle starvation and hunger in Kenya until the country’s food availability problem improves.
– Jackie Venuti
Photo: Flickr
UNESCO Education Study: 263 Million Children out of School
On July 15, a UNESCO education study found that 263 million youth and children worldwide do not attend school.
This group is comprised of about 61 million children of primary school age (6-11 years), 60 million of lower secondary age (12-14) and 142 million of upper secondary age (15-17). Most of these children reside in sub-Saharan Africa, where over a fifth of children of primary school age, a third of children of lower secondary age and nearly 60 percent of youths of upper secondary age were found to be out of school.
Out-of-school rates are particularly high among youth age 15-17 because in many countries, although primary and lower secondary schooling is mandatory, upper secondary schooling is not. Furthermore, youth in this age group are often of legal working age and must choose between employment and education. Those living in poverty often pick the former option in order to provide for their families.
In addition to wealth, other barriers to education include location, armed conflict and sex. Girls are less likely than boys to attend school. The study found that 15 million girls of primary school age will never have the opportunity to attend school; only 10 million boys will face the same predicament. More than half of these girls live in sub-Saharan Africa.
Although the numbers are shocking, they are still better than those from 2000, when 374.7 million children and youth were out of school. Progress has been made, but the results of the UNESCO education study show that there is much more work to be done.
This is especially true considering the pledge that more than 160 countries made at the 2015 World Education Forum in Incheon, South Korea. At the meeting, leaders promised to provide all girls and boys with quality and publicly funded primary and secondary education by the year 2030, a goal that is still far from actualization.
Education has always been inextricably linked to development. Quality education decreases poverty, promotes health and provides economic growth. Improving education is the key to creating more sustainable societies.
– Ugochi Ihenatu
Photo: Pixabay
Focusing on Education for The Day of the African Child
Since 1991, The Day of the African Child has been celebrated as an opportunity to advance African children’s rights. The day commemorates African students who were killed by police in a 1976 demonstration in Soweto, South Africa to protest education injustice.
The official theme of this year’s celebration, “Conflict and Crisis in Africa: Protecting All Children’s Rights,” recognizes that conflict, natural disaster and disease currently affect 500 million children worldwide. The Day of the African Child (DAC) events have centered on promoting access to education but this year there was a focus on how access is jeopardized by conflict.
According to the UNICEF All in School initiative, 36 percent of the primary-school age children who are not attending school are prevented by their residence in conflict-affected areas. Overall, this accounts for 59.3 million children. The damage to structures and infrastructure makes it difficult for African children who live in conflict zones to attend school.
According to a recent African Union report, Africa remains the most conflict-prone continent in the world. Approximately 57 million children in the world do not attend school and 30 million of those children are in sub-Saharan Africa. Living in a conflict zone not only makes attending school unsafe but also affects children’s emotional health.
The 2016 DAC celebration took place at more than 100 events worldwide thanks to partnerships with organizations like A World at School, which utilizes a network of global youth ambassadors and faith-based groups to accelerate progress in education.
This year 500 young people from around Africa staged a ‘youth takeover’ at Ethiopia’s Africa Union, in Addis Ababa for the DAC. Youth ambassadors played a key role in the celebration and promoting the message.
The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child provides member states with outlined suggestions for observing the DAC. Their recommendations further push the goals of the celebration by providing outlines of current conflict contexts in Africa, how they impact children and best practice for mitigating the impact.
The importance afforded to three decades of DAC and its worldwide events provides hope for the situation of children across Africa. While the struggles they face are remarkably diverse, more equitable access to education remains a priority.
– Charlotte Bellomy
Photo: Pixabay
What to Know about Education in Uruguay
Despite being one of the smaller nations of South America, the Oriental Republic of Uruguay boasts some of the most successful education statistics in the continent. In fact, Education in Uruguay boasts statistics among the best in the world.
According to the U.N. Development Program’s Education Index in 2013, Uruguay is “slightly better educated than the average country at 0.71 out of one” while the world’s median is 0.65. The Republic also boasts a 98.36 percent adult literacy rate, making them rank first out of 12th for South America and 33rd in the world’s ranking.
Education is compulsory in Uruguay for students between the ages of six and 11, and free at all levels. Its capital of Montevideo is also the major center for education and the home of the main and only public university: University of the Republic. Across the board, classrooms have a great student per teacher ratio, at 13.8 students per teacher. This assuring statistic has resulted in a greater amount of attention given to pupils in addition to higher grade averages.
The commitment to compulsory education in Uruguay dates back to the 1800s when President José Pedro Varela convinced the government to pass the 1877 Law of Common Education. This key statute instituted a model for public school systems and was made in the image of the French academic system. It created three separate branches – primary, secondary, and university levels. Although president for only one year, Varela’s impact remains influential to the country’s education system.
Uruguay’s commitment to education even goes so far as to become the first country to give free laptops and Wi-Fi connection to every student across the country. In 2009, President Tabaré Vázquez finalized the inaugural project “Plan Ceibal” which gave laptops to all grade school students and their teachers. The project worked in alliance with non-profit One Laptop Per Child, an organization with a mission to distribute low-cost laptops to poor children all over the world.
Education in Uruguay only continues to improve classroom conditions and technologies with each succeeding year. Minister of Education and Culture María Julia Muñoz and American Ambassador to Uruguay Kelly Keiderling recently renewed a Fulbright partnership between the two countries, which will allow teachers to learn modern education methods from their Fulbright scholars.
Muñoz stated that the Ministry of Education and Culture has even increased their contribution to the partnership program from 60,000 dollars to 100,000 dollars, to maintain their marked dedication to the lives of Uruguayan students and teachers.
The continued efforts of Uruguayan leaders will undoubtedly secure the significance of academia as an apex of the Oriental Republic and its culture. Further movements concerning the Education of Uruguay are, therefore, not to be discredited.
– Ashley Morefield
Photo: Flickr
How Should the World End Energy Poverty?
Energy poverty is a global issue. Access to energy, especially in developing areas, is severely lacking. Globally, an estimated 1.2 billion people have absolutely no access to electricity, and an additional 2.7 billion rely on the use of traditional biomass to cook.
Burning traditional biomass, which includes wood, agricultural by-products and dung, causes respiratory diseases that kill over 3.5 million annually, which is twice the amount of deaths caused by malaria every year.
Solving the problem of energy poverty is central to the goal of eliminating global poverty, but there is an extensive and politically-charged debate on the best way to approach solutions.
Tensions can run high in renewable sources such as hydro, solar and wind energy versus fossil fuels such as coal and oil. The potential role of nuclear power is also a significant consideration in the mix. Even beyond issues of energy sources, questions remain about whether energy generation should be largely centralized, or be more locally distributed?
This aspect of the question was highlighted in a recent debate held by the Brookings Institute. Ted Nordhaus is the co-founder and Research Director of the Breakthrough institute that is in favor of a more centralized model of energy development.
Nordhaus pointed out that in the past no country has had universal access to energy without the majority of the population moving out of agriculture and into cities, pointing out that growth in off-farm employment is crucial to this development.
In response, Daniel Kamme, Director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at UC Berkley described the numerous technology innovations such as micro-grids and improved batteries that make a more distributed energy model more viable.
He emphasized that both centralized and distributed grids can coexist, and that rejection of smaller grids in favor of larger centralized ones is “to bet on the past, not bet on the future.”
A centralized model is more in line with coal-fired power plants and other fossil-fuel reliant methods, while a more dispersed approach has a higher reliance on renewable resources.
Proponents of fossil fuels such as Dr. Robert Bezdek, president of the consulting firm MISI, argue that the tried-and-true method of using coal is a much more reliable way to solve energy poverty, and that better scrubbing technology has improved the cleanliness of coal so that it is more sustainable.
Opponents of this viewpoint argue that this perception is an antiquated, one-size-fits-all model, and neglects to consider the level of innovation that exists now in contrast to the industrial revolution.
It is true according to World Bank data that least developed countries on average use renewable sources for 40.8 percent of their power generation, which is about twice as much as high-income countries.
Overall, the correct approach to solving energy poverty will continue to be debated until a solution is found. The answer to energy poverty must be sufficient to provide energy for both personal and commercial use in a sustainable manner.
– Adam Gonzalez
Photo: Pixabay
Heat Relief in Bangladesh: Cost-Effective Solutions
70% of the Bangladeshi population lives in huts with corrugated tin roofs, which greatly amplify the heat. Eco-Coolers, built with accessible materials such as plastic bottles, provide heat relief in Bangladesh to improve the lives of those living without power or air conditioning.
Paul works as a creative supervisor at an advertising company called Grey Group, which sponsors several pro-bono projects, including Eco-Cooler. To spread the knowledge on how to build an Eco-Cooler, Grey Group partnered with Grameen International Social Business Ltd., which works in many Bangladeshi villages.
Volunteers teach locals to build the Eco-Coolers from easily found materials and encourage them to teach others how to make them as well. Detailed, step-by-step instructions are also available on Grey’s website.
The materials to make an Eco-Cooler include a board cut to fit a window and plastic bottles with the bottom halves cut off. Due to a litter problem, plastic bottles are easy to find in rural villages. Repurposing waste for its construction and requiring no electricity to run, the Eco-Cooler serves as an environmentally-friendly and cost-effective cooling unit.
Extreme heat can decrease productivity, increase dehydration and the number of cases of heat stroke.
Considering the heat coupled with the tin-corrugated roofs, Jaiyyanul Huq, a creative director with Grey Group told The Observers, “I’ve been in these huts. It’s like being in a sauna in the Sahara.” Generally, the Eco-Cooler cools homes up to 5 degrees Celsius, or 9 degrees Fahrenheit, improving the quality of conditions for those living in homes with tin-corrugated roofs.
“The beauty of it is how easy these units are to make,” Huq told The Observers. Eco-Cooler has already impacted 25,000 homes, with more to come, providing environmentally-conscious, cost-efficient heat relief in Bangladesh.
– Laura Isaza
Photo: Flickr
Unconventional Method Provides Food Aid in Syria
The border was sealed following a June attack on the Jordanian military. The border closure is problematic for a number of reasons, one being that the World Food Programme (WFP) and other U.N. partners previously delivered supplies from Jordan to the 75,000 people living the area.
WFP representative and country director in Jordan, Mageed Yahia said that most of the people living in the region are women, children and the elderly. Many of these individuals are sick or wounded, and none of them have regular access to food or medicine.
The BBC reports that thousands of people have been migrating to this point at the border, a heavily entrenched area known as the berm since late last year. The number has ballooned because of strict immigration restrictions imposed by Jordan, limiting those who are allowed to cross. Of the 4.85 million Syrians registered as refugees with the U.N., 655,000 are hosted by Jordan.
Five years of war have left Syria broken, beaten and scarred, but there are still some 18 million people living in the country. Outside of the capital, Damascus, the Syrian people struggle to get by; 13.5 million of them are said to need humanitarian aid.
The war has destroyed Syria’s economy with an estimated cost of $255 billion, according to the Syrian Center for Policy Research. Unemployment stands at over 50 percent, a 36 percent increase since 2011. And yet, there are still those who have not given up hope.
The WFP and other organizations came together to devise this unconventional program of food aid in Syria in the spirit of providing temporary relief to those on the other side. The partners delivered 650 metric tons of aid to two locations over three days.
Of note, 70-meter-high cranes lifted pallets over the border in Rukban and Hadalat, lowering them into encampments on the other side. Items delivered included food from WFP, bread from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and hygiene kits from UNICEF.
The WFP is calling this operation a “one-off distribution,” and says that a long-term solution is necessary to meet the needs of the tens of thousands of displaced and hungry Syrians in the area. The Jordanian government has said that it will not allow future aid deliveries to the area due to concerns over security.
This instance of food aid in Syria may have been a singular effort, but it provided food to people who had not received aid in months. Furthermore, officials at the U.N. and the WFP are using their best efforts to come up with a sustainable, long-term solution to the problem.
– Aaron Parr
Photo: Flickr