In 2017, five female Kenyan students created i-Cut, a female genital mutilation protection app that provides medical and legal assistance for girls who will or have gone through genital mutilation (FGM), a process where the outer part of the genitals are either partially or completely cut off.
The creators of the female genital mutilation app are Ivy Akinyi, Stacy Owino, Cynthia Otieno, Mascrine Atieno and Purity Achieng, who refer to themselves as the Restorers. According to CNN, Dorcas Adhiambo Owino was the girls’ mentor on the project.
The female genital mutilation protection app i-Cut, as explained in Ebony, has five options: “”help”, “rescue”, “report”, “information on FGM” and “donate and feedback”.” “Help” alerts the authorities when FGM is about to occur, and “Rescue” gives young women information about places to receive medical treatment after FGM. “Report” informs the authorities that an instance of FGM has occurred.
Although FGM is illegal in Kenya, it is still heavily practiced, with one in five girls experiencing it. According to Mashable, FGM is seen as a rite of passage in many communities, preparing young women for marriage and purportedly discouraging premarital sex. These traditions are commonly found in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Unfortunately, girls experience many challenges after FGM. According to Mashable, young girls are often unable to go to school, which prevents many of them from being employed. There is also a connection between girls who become young wives and mothers and FGM. Worse still, many girls die as a result of the process.
The creators of the female genital mutilation app have a personal connection with FGM: even though their tribe is opposed to the practice, a friend of theirs from school went through it. The friend, as they explained to Reuters, was intelligent, but dropped out of school after the procedure was done. The app is meant to combat situations like this.
i-Cut is currently one of the technological innovations competing for the Technovation Challenge award of $15,000, and is the only African country represented this year. “Sponsored by Google, Salesforce and Adobe, Technovation challenges girls aged 10-18 to create an app that solves problems faced by their communities,” according to CNN.
Regardless of whether or not they receive the prize, the young inventors of the female genital mutilation protection app are content that the app gives young girls a way “to decide their own destinies.”
– Cortney Rowe
Photo: Flickr
The Positive Perspective on Tourism in Developing Countries
One important aspect that contributes to a more positive outlook on tourism is the attitude of both tourists and locals regarding foreign travel. Leaders of countries with successful tourism industries tend to emphasize certain ground rules to encourage the community to view the tourists as a source of wealth creation, not of charity. This attitude contributes to a more healthy relationship between tourists and locals and fosters more respectful interactions instead of a transactional relationship.
In Rwanda, the majority of the country’s revenue comes from wealthy safari tours and other tourism cooperatives. The natives have welcomed tourism as a large contributor to their economy and a necessary part of life.
The life of Mukasinadere, a member of a weaving cooperative in Rwanda, has been completely changed by the tours. Working as a weaver and selling baskets to tourists, she is now able to pay for her family’s basic needs. As a result of these cooperatives, the economy in Rwanda is flourishing, food is abundant and mortality rates have decreased substantially.
Aside from financial improvements, tourism also has positive effects on infrastructure development. Tourism encourages local customs, artwork and festivals which contribute to a better cultural understanding for both tourists and locals.
Facilities in areas with high tourist traffic are often much more high-quality, not to mention more sanitary, than local facilities which increases the quality of life and health for locals. Environmental tourism encourages wildlife and nature preservation in addition to providing funding for these causes that might not have received allocations otherwise.
While tourism in developing countries is a controversial and often stigmatized topic of discussion, it is important to remember the positives that tourism affords for the local community and aspects of cultural acceptance.
– Sarah Coiro
Photo: Pixabay
Five Facts About Common Diseases in Palau
Although it is disheartening to see development tied to a slew of new diseases and causes of death, NCDs are fortunately preventable as they are chiefly associated with lifestyle choices. Palau’s Ministry of Health is clearly aware of these health problems and is taking necessary and effective steps toward making progress in controlling them, including developing a comprehensive five-year plan.
– Sophie Nunnally
Photo: Google
Jordan Poverty Rate Increases with Refugee Crisis
The Jordan poverty rate has taken some hits in recent years, with high unemployment and weak economic growth. Job growth is a particular challenge in the area. In 2016, unemployment was at 15.3 percent.
The World Bank reported that in April that there are over 650,000 Syrian refugees currently in Jordan, which has put a strain on the country’s economy.
Economic growth has slowed in recent years. In 2016, Jordan’s economic growth saw a slight decrease, from 2.4 percent in 2015 to 2 percent. The ongoing Syrian crisis and the closure of export routes to Iraq and Syria have contributed to the country’s state of minimal growth.
However, the Jordan poverty rate is expected to see improvement in the coming years. The World Bank reports that Jordan should see a 2.3 percent growth rate for 2017, and an average rate of growth of 2.6 percent between 2017 and 2019.
According to data from the World Bank, Jordan’s GDP is approximately $38.655 billion. Its population is approaching 9.5 million.
As of 2010, the poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines was approximately 14.4 percent, according to data from the World Bank.
According to a report from the World Bank, Jordan has undergone massive reforms in respect to education, health services, privatization and liberalization.
Additionally, social protection systems and reformed subsidies have been introduced by the country’s government. While issues of investment and business exchanges are still present, these improvements have positively influenced the region’s economy and poverty rate.
Jordan’s proximity to major conflicts in the area has put a major strain on the country’s economy. However, Jordan’s government has major improvements in the works that will benefit the economy and the Jordan poverty rate.
– Leah Potter
Photo: Flickr
Project CASITA Helps Infants and Toddlers in Peru
Community health workers aid the mothers and teach them activities to do with their children to encourage mobility and language development. The community health workers help parents design toys to exercise their infants’ tongues and play games to promote language development. Toddlers also work on picking up small objects to develop their fine motor skills. Some health workers meet parents weekly in their home and other parents attend education sessions at a central location. Health workers and caregivers typically work together for three months.
Grand Challenges Canada helps to support Project CASITA. Initially, Grand Challenges Canada provided a grant of $199,000. In May 2016, they provided a second grant to help Partners in Health expand the program to reach 3,000 children. In order to successfully expand, 30 additional community health workers were trained.
Partners in Health also cooperates with the Peruvian Ministry of Health to ensure programs are integrated and sustainable on the community and municipal levels.
Project CASITA supports families in other ways as well. They provide food baskets and mental health services. Families also receive help in applying for national identification cards which grant them access to a variety of public services.
– Sarah Denning
Photo: Flickr
The Fight for Equal Human Rights in Latvia
Latvia has a large number of stateless individuals – over 250,000 of the population. These people, many of whom are children, are not recognized as citizens of Latvia and do not enjoy many of the benefits that come with being a citizen. A lot of these stateless people are ethnic Russians who have difficulty becoming citizens of Latvia due to discrimination.
Discrimination against Russians carries over to many aspects of daily life. People who are not citizens of Latvia endure heavy restrictions in the professional world and are also limited regarding land ownership. Several people have been fired from positions due to possessing an unsatisfactory mastery of the Latvian language. Recently, the mayor of the capital of Latvia was fined for using Russian in a media post. This discriminatory behavior creates a barrier to achieving equal human rights in Latvia.
The U.N. has also raised concern about human rights in Latvia for the disabled. These concerns are specifically regarding the mentally disabled, and representatives for human rights have insisted the Latvian government prioritize the education of disabled children.
Latvia has the EU and the U.N. to hold them accountable for the preservation of human rights, and these organizations have certainly being doing so. While many issues create barriers to attaining the equal treatment of all people, Latvia continues to create reform to try to combat these issues – though there are definitely some areas still needing work. As long as the country is held accountable for its treatment of people, surely progress will be made.
– Julia Mccartney
Photo: Flickr
Female Genital Mutilation Protection App Helps Girls
The creators of the female genital mutilation app are Ivy Akinyi, Stacy Owino, Cynthia Otieno, Mascrine Atieno and Purity Achieng, who refer to themselves as the Restorers. According to CNN, Dorcas Adhiambo Owino was the girls’ mentor on the project.
The female genital mutilation protection app i-Cut, as explained in Ebony, has five options: “”help”, “rescue”, “report”, “information on FGM” and “donate and feedback”.” “Help” alerts the authorities when FGM is about to occur, and “Rescue” gives young women information about places to receive medical treatment after FGM. “Report” informs the authorities that an instance of FGM has occurred.
Although FGM is illegal in Kenya, it is still heavily practiced, with one in five girls experiencing it. According to Mashable, FGM is seen as a rite of passage in many communities, preparing young women for marriage and purportedly discouraging premarital sex. These traditions are commonly found in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Unfortunately, girls experience many challenges after FGM. According to Mashable, young girls are often unable to go to school, which prevents many of them from being employed. There is also a connection between girls who become young wives and mothers and FGM. Worse still, many girls die as a result of the process.
The creators of the female genital mutilation app have a personal connection with FGM: even though their tribe is opposed to the practice, a friend of theirs from school went through it. The friend, as they explained to Reuters, was intelligent, but dropped out of school after the procedure was done. The app is meant to combat situations like this.
i-Cut is currently one of the technological innovations competing for the Technovation Challenge award of $15,000, and is the only African country represented this year. “Sponsored by Google, Salesforce and Adobe, Technovation challenges girls aged 10-18 to create an app that solves problems faced by their communities,” according to CNN.
Regardless of whether or not they receive the prize, the young inventors of the female genital mutilation protection app are content that the app gives young girls a way “to decide their own destinies.”
– Cortney Rowe
Photo: Flickr
International Youth Day 2017
Each year, the day of August 12 is used to spread awareness of the World Program of Action for Youth, which works to improve situations for children and young adults around the world. International Youth Day is also a tool to recognize the ability of youth to instill change in the world.
Since the first observance of International Youth Day in 2000, a theme has been selected each year. Some of the themes include Addressing Health and Unemployment, Tackling Poverty Together, Change Our World and the 2017 theme of Youth Building Peace.
In 2017, the theme of Youth Building Peace was used to highlight the ability of youth to contribute to conflict resolution and sustainable peace. United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 aims to ensure that decision making is responsive, inclusive, representative and participatory at all levels.
On December 9, 2015, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution on Youth, Peace and Security and identified five key pillars for action: participation, protection, prevention, partnerships and disengagement and reintegration.
Both the U.N. Security Council and The World Program of Action for Youth recognize though International Youth Day that youths are often left out of important decision making because of their age. “When youth are excluded from political, economic and social spheres and processes, it can be a risk factor for violence and violent forms of conflict,” according to the U.N.
“Therefore, identifying and addressing the social exclusion of young people is a precondition for sustaining peace.”
Throughout the decades, many steps have been taken towards building peace. But in recent years, the occurrence of violence and conflict has been far too prevalent. Youths comprise a large part of populations where violent conflict is prevalent.
Since the population of youth across the globe is the biggest it has ever been, it is important now more than ever to include this population in decisions that will affect the future of peace.
– Madeline Boeding
Photo: Flickr
Poverty Rate in Bhutan Declines Due to Government Initiatives
In recent years, Bhutan has significantly lowered the number of citizens living below the poverty line. Between 2007 and 2012, the country was able to reduce the number of those living in poverty from 23 percent of the population to 12 percent. While most of the poverty reduction has been in rural areas of the country, these same families are the ones most at risk for slipping backwards.
The commercialization of agriculture as well as the creation of roads and hydropower projects allowed for more economic stability for those who made their living in the farming industry. While this has created great prosperity for rural areas in Bhutan, the agricultural industry is still the most vulnerable within the country, susceptible to environmental catastrophes.
While the poverty rate continues to decrease and the country’s GNI per capita increases yearly, the Bhutanese government refuses to stop there. The government has recently made a commitment to reduce multidimensional poverty to five percent by the end of 2018. One of the biggest initiatives under this new plan is to give land to 245 households that previously had unusable or no land.
While a good portion of the country’s people still live in poverty, Bhutan has seen incredible progress in the past 10 years. The poverty rate in Bhutan has seen a dramatic decrease and the government continues to implement programs in hopes of providing more opportunities for the people.
– Olivia Hayes
Photo: Flickr
Common Diseases in Gabon
UNAIDS reports that 44,000 Gabonese adults (ages 15 and older) are infected with HIV. 30,000 women (ages 15 and older) are among that demographic. There are 2,600 Gabonese children (ages 0 to 14) living with HIV and 16,000 Gabonese orphans due to parents who died from AIDS.
Gabon has high incidences of malaria and other insect-transmitted diseases. While Gabon has a yearly malaria risk, the risk is especially high during and immediately after the country’s rainy seasons (October through December and February through April). The disease is mainly transmitted through Anopheles mosquitoes that feed from dusk to dawn.
In July 2017, a vaccine called RTS,S was found to have the capability of stopping malaria before it starts. The vaccine was tested in Gabon from May 2009 to early 2014. In July 2015, the European Medicines Agency gave the vaccine a “positive scientific opinion,” revealing that it could be used for Gabon’s future malaria cases.
Tuberculosis is an increasing epidemic in Gabon. In 2013, a research study observed 64 tuberculosis-infected children in a Lambaréné, Gabon hospital. The findings showed a discrepancy between the tuberculosis burden and the commitment to controlling it. Tuberculosis was found to be especially prevalent in Gabonese children.
International funding agencies have attempted to implement a “DOTS Strategy” program that could slow down and reverse the effects of tuberculosis. However, Gabon is unable to qualify for the program due to the country’s commodities and a high per capita income. As a result, the country’s national program against the disease is funded entirely by the state and tuberculosis remains one among many common diseases in Gabon.
However, efforts are still being made to combat Gabon’s disease outbreaks. In August 2017, a Regional Collaborating Centre was established as part of Africa’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The center will coordinate efforts to prevent infectious and non-communicable diseases in Gabon and other central African countries.
While common diseases in Gabon remain a problem for many residents, these efforts can help Gabonese people combat disease risks. The RTS,S vaccine could prevent many malaria cases if it continues to be used in the country. Gabonese children who are highly vulnerable to tuberculosis and other diseases will need continuing treatment as well.
– Rhondjé Singh Tanwar
Photo: Flickr
Common Diseases in Uruguay
1. Cardiovascular diseases
Cardiovascular diseases constitute 30.6 percent of deaths in the country. Ischemic heart disease is the most common form of cardiovascular disease. Risk factors include unhealthy weight, high cholesterol and blood pressure, diabetes, unhealthy eating habits, smoking, stress and lack of exercise. In Uruguay, 56.6 percent of the population is overweight or obese, 29.2 percent have high cholesterol, 30.4 percent have hypertension and 5.5 percent have diabetes. Most people do not eat enough fruits and vegetables.
2. Neoplasms
Cancer makes up 24.8 percent of deaths in Uruguay. For men, the most common cases of cancer are lung cancer (45.32 percent of cases), prostate cancer (22.13 percent) and colorectal cancer (11.37 percent). For women, the most common cases are breast cancer (22.74 percent), colorectal cancer (12.65 percent) and lung cancer (6.43 percent).
3. Respiratory diseases
Respiratory diseases account for 9.2 percent of deaths in Uruguay. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the most common respiratory disease in the country. COPD is caused by breathing in smoke, dust and chemicals. Smoking is a major risk factor for respiratory diseases as well as lung cancer. About 29.7 percent of adult males and 19.1 percent of adult females smoke. Additionally, 22.9 percent of adolescents ages 15 to 18 smoke. Secondhand smoke is another risk factor, and roughly 11.8 percent of adults are exposed.
In 2006, Uruguay passed a smoke-free policy that mandated public facilities and workplaces be smoke-free. This lead to a 26 percent decrease in hospitalization for respiratory diseases between 2006 and 2012. There has been a significant reduction in asthma and pulmonary infection. However, COPD has not had the same decrease.
4. Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
Dementia is a major cause of death and disability and most common in the elderly. About 4.03 percent of the population has dementia. Alzheimer’s disease is a common form of dementia. Between 40,000 and 50,000 people in Uruguay have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
Understanding and further research of these common diseases in Uruguay can aid in the fight against poverty.
– Francesca Montalto
Photo: Flickr