With the recent political unrest in Venezuela surrounding the controversial election of President Nicolás Maduro, the United States has placed financial sanctions on Maduro and some of his high-ranking officials. These sanctions are aiming to freeze any of Maduro’s U.S. assets as well as halt all business between him and U.S. citizens. However, there may be an unfortunate connection between U.S. oil sanctions and Venezuela’s poor.
These individual embargoes may not be enough, though. The Trump administration is still considering whether or not to place economic sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector, according to Reuters. This would hit the country hard, as the oil industry accounts for upwards of 95 percent of Venezuela’s export earnings. Venezuela is also the third largest supplier of oil exports to the United States.
While it is important to analyze the effects of economic sanctions on a nation’s elites, what are the effects of these actions on Venezuela’s general populace? More specifically, what effects will these actions against President Maduro have on his people, and are there potential collateral effects linking U.S. oil sanctions and Venezuela’s poor?
First, it should be noted that there are multiple types of sanctions that a country can pass. In terms of U.S. embargoes pertaining to Venezuela, the kinds of sanctions being enacted and debated are in regard to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List and the Sectoral Sanctions Identification (SSI) List, respectively.
As described in a case study by the U.S. State Department, sanctions targeting the SDN List are against individuals and entities, such as President Maduro and his high-ranking officials. SSI sanctions, on the other hand, target sectors in a foreign economy, such as the oil and gas industries in Venezuela.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the U.S. uses economic and financial embargoes more than any country or any body of countries in the world. As of 2015, the most notable U.S. sanctions historically have been levied against Cuba since 1960, Iran since 1984, North Korea since 2008, and the Ukraine/Russia since 2014.
U.S. embargoes against Venezuela began in 2015 when President Barack Obama issued an executive order targeting seven of Maduro’s high-level officials. New sanctions from late July added President Maduro himself to the SDN List.
In general, embargoes levied against individuals on the SDN List appear to have minimal collateral effects on that person’s respective regional economy. This is what the Obama administration argued when it placed sanctions on Venezuelan officials in 2015, and it is what the Trump administration is arguing now.
Sectoral sanctions, however, seem to have a broader impact on the country at large. The more a sanctioning country is a contributor to the economy of its target, the higher the potential is for collateral damage to occur.
For example, after monitoring the effects of sanctions placed on Russia by the United States and the European Union in 2014, U.S. State Department Deputy Chief Economist Daniel Ahn and Georgetown University professor Rodney Ludema concluded in a study that “sanctions [on Russia]…appear to be ‘smart,’ in the sense of hitting the intended targets…while causing minimal collateral damage.”
The E.U., however, who is Russia’s largest trading partner, had a different story. A study by the European Parliament in 2015 noted that Russian officials predicted an 8-10 percent loss of the country’s GDP due to the E.U. sanctions, resulting in a multitude of indirect collateral effects on the Russian economy and its people.
The scale of trade relations, therefore, directly correlates to the collateral damage sanctions have on an economy, and this must be considered when discussing U.S. sanctions and Venezuela’s poor. The oil sector accounts for 95 percent of Venezuela’s export earnings and 25 percent of their GDP, and because the United States is the country’s largest export destination according to OPEC, a sectoral sanction of this size could potentially have massive effects on Venezuela’s populace.
If Venezuela were to cease relations with their primary trade partner and lose the respective export earnings from their primary resource, the result would be a substantial decrease in national revenue. Money that would normally be used for social programs would be stifled, bringing more harm to a population that is already suffering from economic and political hardships plaguing the country.
Because of all this, it is important to watch the Trump administration and see how the President decides to handle the complex issues surrounding Venezuela. There is a viable argument that collateral damage would result from U.S. oil sanctions and Venezuela’s poor would bear the brunt of that damage.
– John Mirandette
Photo: Flickr
Preventing the Spread of HIV in El Salvador
HIV, which stands for human immunodeficiency virus, is a virus that attacks the human immune system. When it breaks the immune system down enough, a person displays a set of symptoms called acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS. A common misconception is that AIDS is a virus in and of itself, but it is merely a name for a set of varied symptoms.
There is not a high rate of HIV in El Salvador. However, the threat of a renewed epidemic remains, as only 36.5 percent of youth (age 15-24) in El Salvador know how to prevent it. The number of new HIV infections in this age group has been increasing since 2011. This highlights a major gap in sexual education offered in El Salvador, something UNAIDS Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Latin America and the Caribbean Alejandra Oraa seeks to correct.
While mother-to-child transmission of HIV is down to 0.5 percent of cases, the same cannot be said for the amount of cases contracted through sexual transmission. The limited access to sexual education in El Salvador stands in the way of halting the HIV epidemic.
The UNAIDS Country Director of El Salvador, Celina Miranda, said, “To end the AIDS epidemic by 2030, we cannot fail our young people and we cannot leave any of them behind. It is urgent to remove all barriers that limit their access to sexual and reproductive health and HIV services.”
Between August 9 and August 11, Oraa met with youth leaders and young people, and conducted a survey to analyze youth knowledge of HIV in El Salvador and how to prevent it. Currently, the National Network of Positive Youth, UNAIDS, the United Nations Population Fund, and the National Youth Institute all coordinate to provide outreach and awareness in public places. Between Friends (Entre Amigos) takes the face-to-face approach and offers combination prevention options.
The next step will be for the United Nations Children’s Fund and UNAIDS to use the findings of the survey to inform strategies and public policies to better prevent and reduce HIV infections among youth.
– Ellen Ray
Photo: Flickr
Improving Eyesight in Developing Countries to Fight Poverty
At first, it seems like vision is unrelated to the issue of poverty. Though vision is rarely discussed compared to other issues such as malnutrition, violence and healthcare, eyesight is an overlooked problem in many areas of poverty. Nine out of ten blind people live in developing countries, and most of them are in poverty.
When ignored and untreated, poor eyesight can cause or worsen conditions of poverty, and the conditions of poverty can also cause poor eyesight or blindness. Without access to proper healthcare and treatment, many people living in poverty contract eye diseases that could have been easily treated, but instead they are blinded. This makes their already difficult situation even more desperate, because they are unable to better educate themselves or get a job to support themselves. Poor eyesight and blindness compound the issues of poverty, so addressing and improving eyesight in developing countries is an important part of addressing the cycle of poverty.
Most of the 246 million people with a visual impairment just need corrective lenses to fix their vision. There are a variety of programs that can recycle old eyeglasses to give to those who need it. These programs keep thousands of glasses out of landfills and give them to someone who can use them.
Blindness may seem like a much more difficult problem to address, but about 80 percent of the world’s blindness is treatable or preventable. Over half of the world’s blindness is caused by cataracts, and a simple 15-minute operation would cure these people. These solutions seem relatively straightforward, yet poor eyesight is often an unknown factor when many people address poverty.
The solution is simple: provide proper eye care and corrective lenses to address these problems. However, implementing this is more difficult. In many areas where people have poor eyesight, there are dozens of other difficulties as well. For example, Africa has only ten percent of the world’s population, yet it has 19 percent of the world’s blindness. The rate of poor eyesight in Africa is the result of a variety of causes, but the main factor is poor healthcare.
Many diseases such as HIV/AIDS and others that cause or worsen poor eyesight go untreated due to the sparse and insufficient healthcare systems. The number of eye care personnel is in many areas even lower than the number of healthcare providers. For example, in South Africa, there is only about one optometrist for 17,600 people. With disproportionate numbers like this, it’s no mystery why eye care is practically nonexistent in many areas.
Tackling the vision problems in developing countries is an enormous task. Most organizations begin by treating trachoma, refractive errors, cataracts, and childhood ocular conditions. By treating these four causes of blindness and poor vision, millions of lives can be turned around. People are given the power of sight, and with it, they are better able to get an education or a job.
However, preventing the larger causes of poverty is the key to preventing blindness. Improving eyesight in developing countries helps end poverty, but it is a two-way relationship. Since so many preventable and treatable eyesight problems are caused by poverty, ending poverty will also prevent many of the eyesight problems that deepen the existing conditions of poverty. Promoting health and education leads to better eyesight, and better eyesight in turn leads to better overall health, better economic standing, and more independence. Instead of a downward cycle in poverty, improving eyesight can lead to an upward spiral where conditions get better and better for those whose vision is treated.
– Rachael Lind
Photo: Flickr
Education Access for Children With Disabilities in Ghana
With one in three children who are not in school being withheld simply because of a disability, this problem is affecting Ghana’s children significantly. Children with disabilities such as cerebral palsy are often hidden in their communities, unable to or not allowed to go to school. Parents of children with these mild to moderate disabilities often recognize their child’s intelligence, but lack local schools with the support required to care for their needs.
This is changing, however, with the help of initiatives from UNICEF and the Campaign for Learning Disabilities (CLED).
UNICEF, in partnership with USAID, has led this mission by creating and supporting inclusive schools where children with disabilities are welcomed and can get assistance. The goal of creating inclusive schools was pursued by a community outreach program where parents were encouraged to hear about how all children, regardless of ability, were entitled to an education.
From UNICEF’s initiative, more than 450 teachers have been trained in inclusive education, and children with mild to moderate disabilities have access to over 83 basic schools that provide an inclusive learning environment.
CLED has also improved education access for children with disabilities in Ghana. CLED is a non-profit organization that helps communities by equipping teachers and parents with the tools needed to best support children with disabilities, as well as by providing specialized tutoring for children with disabilities. CLED has also acted as an advocate for this issue in Ghana by leading monthly radio talk shows on inclusive education. So far, CLED has donated 2850 school supplies, provides tutoring programs in 30 schools, and has trained 2292 teachers.
While many children with disabilities still lack access to proper education, the solution to this problem will require better understanding and support from communities. However, through these initiatives led by UNICEF and CLED, more and more disabled children are able to learn and express themselves in inclusive schools.
– Kelly Hayes
Common Diseases in Tajikistan
The most common cause of death in Tajikistan is heart disease, which accounted for 21.4 percent of deaths in 2012. Many in Tajikistan who suffer from heart disease also have diabetes, which can cause complications. Cardiovascular diseases and diabetes also act as the second highest cause of premature deaths.
Aside from cardiovascular diseases, perhaps the most concerning aspect surrounds health care for children and mothers. Children in Tajikistan are disproportionately subject to respiratory infections, which accounts for 8.4 percent of total deaths. Tajikistan’s children are affected because of a lack of accessibility in rural areas; distance is the culprit of these deaths. In Tajikistan, only 63 percent of children under 5 who showed symptoms of respiratory infection were taken to a healthcare clinic.
Waterborne diseases are also common among children in rural Tajikistan. With roughly half the population lacking access to safe drinking water, and the absence of adequate sanitation practices, waterborne diseases are a major concern. These diseases include bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and typhoid fever, and account for over 3.7 percent of deaths.
Malnutrition, though not a disease itself, is a very prevalent health problem in Tajikistan, and causes problems like anemia, iodine deficiency disorders and other micronutrient deficiencies. The effect of malnutrition among children and women in Tajikistan is startling. Over 64 percent of children and 57 percent of women in Tajikistan are iodine deficient, and 20 percent of children have stunted growth from malnutrition.
Fortunately, humanitarian organizations such as UNICEF and WHO are intervening to improve the health of women and children in Tajikistan. Through vaccination programs, sanitation education, and improved access to medical clinics, there has been progress, with WHO reporting a four-year lifespan increase.
Although the common diseases in Tajikistan often disproportionately affect women and children, many of them remain preventable. Through improved access to medical facilities in rural areas, these diseases will begin to diminish, thanks to the help of humanitarian organizations such as UNICEF and WHO.
– Kelly Hayes
Photo: Flickr
How to Help People in Argentina
L.I.F.E. Argentina
This nonprofit works with youth living in extreme impoverished and marginalized communities within and in the surrounding suburbs of Buenos Aires. Partnering with local soup kitchens and community and education centers, L.I.F.E. Argentina aids school-age children by providing recreational and educational activities as well as supplying food, clothes and school supplies. Programs include Happy Birthday – a weekly celebration of birthdays at each community center, Play Time – a weekly recreational program that allows children to interact with games and crafts, as well as AIDS Awareness that informs youth about the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Their website offers examples on how to help people in Argentina, both by volunteering to work with youth in impoverished communities or by donating to help fund the continuation of their work.
Worldreader
According to UNESCO, there are 250 million children throughout the world who lack basic writing and reading skills. Worldreader strives to increase literacy among youth by providing e-readers – along with e-reader programs – to communities, promoting literary works by minority authors and conducting fieldwork to monitor the success of new digital publishing. Worldreader operates in 50 countries and 424 libraries and schools, and provides over 500,000 e-readers monthly. Individuals who are interested in helping can get involved in any of these three ways: making a single donation, sponsoring a school with monthly donations or becoming a corporate donor.
Medical Ambassadors International
The nonprofit Medical Ambassadors International works within impoverished communities to promote both spiritual and physical healing. The Christian medical organization focuses on providing medical resources for communities that lack basic access to health centers. This nonprofit also offers family and relationship counselling to help build stronger communities. For the past 35 years, Medical Ambassadors International has done work in 41 countries including Argentina. Making donations through their website allows funds to go toward geographic areas with the greatest need – one option for how to help impoverished people in Argentina.
Nonprofits such as these within Argentina are working to combat extreme poverty and the disadvantages it brings to marginalized communities. Spreading the word and getting people involved, either by donating or volunteering, is the first step to eradicating poverty and helping people in Argentina.
– Riley Bunch
Photo: Flickr
U.S. Sanctions and Venezuela’s Poor
These individual embargoes may not be enough, though. The Trump administration is still considering whether or not to place economic sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector, according to Reuters. This would hit the country hard, as the oil industry accounts for upwards of 95 percent of Venezuela’s export earnings. Venezuela is also the third largest supplier of oil exports to the United States.
While it is important to analyze the effects of economic sanctions on a nation’s elites, what are the effects of these actions on Venezuela’s general populace? More specifically, what effects will these actions against President Maduro have on his people, and are there potential collateral effects linking U.S. oil sanctions and Venezuela’s poor?
First, it should be noted that there are multiple types of sanctions that a country can pass. In terms of U.S. embargoes pertaining to Venezuela, the kinds of sanctions being enacted and debated are in regard to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List and the Sectoral Sanctions Identification (SSI) List, respectively.
As described in a case study by the U.S. State Department, sanctions targeting the SDN List are against individuals and entities, such as President Maduro and his high-ranking officials. SSI sanctions, on the other hand, target sectors in a foreign economy, such as the oil and gas industries in Venezuela.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the U.S. uses economic and financial embargoes more than any country or any body of countries in the world. As of 2015, the most notable U.S. sanctions historically have been levied against Cuba since 1960, Iran since 1984, North Korea since 2008, and the Ukraine/Russia since 2014.
U.S. embargoes against Venezuela began in 2015 when President Barack Obama issued an executive order targeting seven of Maduro’s high-level officials. New sanctions from late July added President Maduro himself to the SDN List.
In general, embargoes levied against individuals on the SDN List appear to have minimal collateral effects on that person’s respective regional economy. This is what the Obama administration argued when it placed sanctions on Venezuelan officials in 2015, and it is what the Trump administration is arguing now.
Sectoral sanctions, however, seem to have a broader impact on the country at large. The more a sanctioning country is a contributor to the economy of its target, the higher the potential is for collateral damage to occur.
For example, after monitoring the effects of sanctions placed on Russia by the United States and the European Union in 2014, U.S. State Department Deputy Chief Economist Daniel Ahn and Georgetown University professor Rodney Ludema concluded in a study that “sanctions [on Russia]…appear to be ‘smart,’ in the sense of hitting the intended targets…while causing minimal collateral damage.”
The E.U., however, who is Russia’s largest trading partner, had a different story. A study by the European Parliament in 2015 noted that Russian officials predicted an 8-10 percent loss of the country’s GDP due to the E.U. sanctions, resulting in a multitude of indirect collateral effects on the Russian economy and its people.
The scale of trade relations, therefore, directly correlates to the collateral damage sanctions have on an economy, and this must be considered when discussing U.S. sanctions and Venezuela’s poor. The oil sector accounts for 95 percent of Venezuela’s export earnings and 25 percent of their GDP, and because the United States is the country’s largest export destination according to OPEC, a sectoral sanction of this size could potentially have massive effects on Venezuela’s populace.
If Venezuela were to cease relations with their primary trade partner and lose the respective export earnings from their primary resource, the result would be a substantial decrease in national revenue. Money that would normally be used for social programs would be stifled, bringing more harm to a population that is already suffering from economic and political hardships plaguing the country.
Because of all this, it is important to watch the Trump administration and see how the President decides to handle the complex issues surrounding Venezuela. There is a viable argument that collateral damage would result from U.S. oil sanctions and Venezuela’s poor would bear the brunt of that damage.
– John Mirandette
Photo: Flickr
7 Facts About Mark Green, USAID’s Administrator
As Administrator, Mark Green is responsible for leading this charge. His vision of international development has the potential to affect the lives of millions of the global poor. With that in mind, it’s important that we know who exactly he is. Here are the 7 most important things to know about Mark Green.
You may never have heard of Mark Green. USAID doesn’t often make the front pages of newspapers. But that doesn’t make the work that Green and USAID are doing any less important. And under the leadership of Mark Green, USAID is sure to keep on helping millions of people.
– Adesuwa Agbonile
Photo: Google/span>
Children’s Book Inspires Girls’ Education in Pakistan
Malala’s Magic Pencil is about a young girl, Malala, who wants to use her magic pencil to fix problems and make everyone in her family happy. As she got older, she saw a world that needed more important things to be fixed. She realized that even if she never found a magic pencil, she could still work every day to make her wishes of fixing those problems come true. This inspiring illustration encouraged girls in Pakistan and around the world to strive for better lives through education.
Over a hundred thousand people joined Malala’s fight to make sure every girl has a school to go to with her foundation #YesAllGirls. As the refugee crisis grows, more girls are denied their right to education, but supporters of Malala’s campaign have promised 12 years of school to all girls. With the help of donations, Malala will not stop until all girls are in school.
With Malala’s determination, she provides hope for girls’ education in Pakistan and around the world. “We should all speak for girls’ education, for both girls’ and boys’ education. Boys and men should also know about equality and justice, and know that women have equal rights, and should be treated equally,” Malala says.
Because of her work, Malala is admired by thousands. Although growing up she was taught that women could only be doctors, teachers or housewives, she has expressed her desire to be a leader in her country, possibly even prime minister of Pakistan, in the future. For now, Malala continues her advocacy for girls striving for better lives. Every action she takes is another step towards her goal of providing all girls with education, first in Pakistan and then the rest of the world.
– Brandi Gomez
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Poverty Rate in Andorra
The Poverty Rate in Andorra
Before World War II, the majority of the citizens in Andorra lived in the same way they did in the Middle Ages. They primarily survived on small-scale farming and smuggling. In the modern day, this trend persists, and many citizens continue to live in old farmhouses from this era in history.
The subsequent increase in European tourism in the 1950s aided the country in developing its more rural regions. As tourism increased, old farm houses and undeveloped land became family hotels and restaurants, allowing for people in a lower income bracket to participate in the economy. When measured in 1996, Andorra had a GDP per capita of $18,000, which was higher than its neighbor, Spain.
The service-based economy has proven to be effective at maintaining a low poverty rate in Andorra. When measured in 1998, the country had a 1.62 percent rate of inflation. This low inflation rate and participation in the country’s economy have allowed even the poorest people to have a high standard of living. No extreme cases of poverty have been recorded in the country in recent history.
The Takeaway
Andorra is a country that made the most of the increased tourism in Europe after World War II. By allowing its citizens to convert their small farms into business, the poverty rate in Andorra has managed to remain low. Other European nations that have small economies should emulate the model that Andorra practices due to its effectiveness in maintaining a low poverty rate.
– Nick Beauchamp
Photo: Flickr
HIV in Swaziland Under Control
Data from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief show that the HIV epidemic is coming under control across all age groups in Swaziland, the country with the highest HIV prevalence in the world. The latest Swaziland HIV Incidence Measurement Survey has found that new HIV infections have nearly halved among adults.
The prevalence of HIV in Swaziland has had a significant impact on the country. 2015 estimates show that life expectancy in the country is 57 years for men and 61 years for women. Despite the longer lifespan, women are disproportionately affected by HIV, with most women contracting the virus between the ages of 15 and 24. This sharp increase has been attributed to the high level of intergenerational sex that occurs between older men and young, sexually inexperienced women.
Heterosexual sex is the main form of transmission of HIV in Swaziland, accounting for 94 percent of new infections. Low and inconsistent condom use, intergenerational sex, transactional sex, gender inequalities, gender-based violence, multiple and concurrent sexual relationships and a low uptake of male circumcision are all key drivers of Swaziland’s HIV epidemic.
HIV has played a major role in limiting Swaziland’s ability to support its dwindling economy. The epidemic consistently draws resources from other priority areas, placing the health system under considerable stress, and directly affecting capital accumulation and productivity. The impact of HIV has led to the disruption and destabilization of families and communal support systems. Destabilized families result in a dramatic increase in the number of vulnerable children and child-headed households that must use any limited assets to cover medical and burial costs.
With many world organizations working together to stop and reduce the spread of Swaziland’s HIV epidemic, more preventative options are available. Collaboration with the Swazi National Reference Laboratory and the Center for Disease Control resulted in drastically reduced turnaround time for key HIV diagnostics. Care and treatment for HIV has expanded nationwide to include promoting good hygiene, nutritional practices, safe drinking water, abstinence and partner reduction. Antiretroviral treatment reached over 85 percent of those eligible for treatment, and high-quality HIV testing and counseling services have served record numbers of people, especially the most at-risk populations.
The downturn of Swaziland’s HIV epidemic offers hope to other Sub-Saharan African countries that are fighting similar battles. Collaborating with world leaders and local governments has proven to be very productive in expanding the impact and sustainability of all health investments. From here, Swaziland finally has a true chance at becoming a stronger member of the global community.
– Allie Knofczynski
Photo: Flickr