While the people of Iraq certainly underwent extreme oppression under the former totalitarian leader Saddam Hussein, the United States’ stated mission to spread democracy by overthrowing Hussein and invading the country in 2003 has not proven to be a success by many standards.
While it has indisputably achieved important strategic military objectives, former President George W. Bush’s decision to do this has also cost U.S. taxpayers over $2 trillion thus far, resulted in approximately half a million civilian and combat casualties, devastated the quality of life for millions of Iraqi citizens and unfortunately, it does not appear to be a conflict that will be ending anytime soon.
Perhaps the two most damaging results of this conflict for Iraqi society have been the decline of education and widespread health problems and mental illness, both of which are byproducts of the violence taking place across the nation.
Fortunately, organizations and individuals across the globe have recognized these problems and have become actively involved determining how to help people in Iraq. Listed below are these two problems, the methods in which certain humanitarian organizations are seeking to combat them and also ways in which the average citizen can help to be a part of the solution.
Education
Education is necessary for the stability of any society, and, generally speaking, provides children with a safe and healthy socialization process, which is why it is important to consider the fact that roughly 3.5 million children in Iraq attend school infrequently, if at all.
From 2011 to 2013, the British Council and members of the European Union supported a project called the Support to Improving the Quality of Education in Iraq program, which was intended to improve educational conditions in Iraq. The project cost approximately $10 million and implemented programs designed to provide resources, improve teaching skills and develop high-quality curriculums. Overall, the project was a success, allowing 800,000 students of all ages in southern and central Iraq access to a quality education.
Another organization that fights for the improvement of education in Iraq, among other things, is the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Similarly to the British Council’s approach, the IRC is concerned with finding a long-term solution when trying to solve the problem of how to help people in Iraq get an education. They seek to do so by providing well-trained teachers, safe learning environments and reducing the problem of overcrowded schools. You can donate to their cause here.
Perhaps the largest organization that is making the largest strides for the improvement of Iraqi education is UNICEF. In 2016 alone, the organization helped to allow 682,000 children access to an education and provided over 520,000 children with school supplies such as backpacks and stationery. They have also created new ways of how to help people in Iraq by providing cash to families who are particularly vulnerable, offering summer classes to students who have fallen behind and even operating mobile schools in various parts of the nation. You can donate to their efforts here.
Healthcare
In a country where there an estimated 11 million people are speculated to need some form of humanitarian aid, there is no organization more noticeably devoted to providing adequate healthcare to Iraqi citizens in need than Doctors Without Borders (DWB). The organization currently has ongoing projects in almost the entire country with the exception of the southeastern region and works in five major cities or villages including Baghdad, the nation’s capital.
With many medical facilities and resources destroyed, medical care in Iraq is expensive and hard to come by. Millions of citizens have been displaced from their homes and others find themselves miles away from the nearest medical facility. While their mission is not over, DWB has effectively countered this negativity with tremendous success, providing healthcare and first aid to millions of people across the country, putting their own lives on the line to do so.
Currently, their main agenda is providing aid to those affected by the ongoing crisis in Mosul, the country’s second largest city. On the western side of the city, an estimated 60,000 civilians are trapped by the ongoing fighting, which has consistently produced large numbers of civilian casualties and severe displacement. To help solve this problem of displacement, DWB has created displacement camps in different areas of the country, camps who have seen dramatic influxes of people in the recent months.
In June 2017, DWB opened a project in western Mosul and reported a high number of patients needing life-saving treatments. In their June 2017 update, Jonathan Henry, the Emergency Coordinator for the DWB project in west Mosul, stated that “this influx of wounded patients is yet another example of the horrific suffering and indiscriminate violence suffered by civilians, including women and children, throughout the battle for Mosul.” You can donate to DWB here.
Above all, as an American, when asking the question of how to help people in Iraq, the quickest, easiest and best thing you can do is reach out to your congressional leaders and express to them a desire to increase the U.S. foreign aid budget. In doing so, you help to ensure that the wealthiest nation in the world will do more than it currently is to bring these atrocities to an end and allow the country and its neighboring regions to one day see an era of development and prosperity.
– Hunter Mcferrin
Photo: Google
How to Help People in Bahrain
The Economic Development Board characterizes Bahrain as a “legislative sector” and “strong financial system,” — a standing which attracts investors. Bahrain is also able to transfer profits, funds and capital without restrictions. Bahrain’s free and open economic policy has given its country the reputation of a fast-growing financial center in the Middle East.
As for Bahrain’s labor productivity rate, the country has seen only a 17 percent increase in this sector over the past 25 years. Compared to countries with labor productivity rate increases of 21 percent, Bahrain’s rate is relatively small. Bahrain also increased its employment rates by offering jobs to citizens in the country’s public sector. However, the jobs were low-wage, causing Bahrain to face a shortage of quality employment.
Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (Bahrain’s king in 2008) launched a development program called Vision 2030 to improve Bahrain’s economy. The program aimed for more Bahraini families to have twice as much disposable income by 2030. Less than a decade after Vision 2030’s launch, Bahrain’s economy has grown by 28 percent, and from 2009 to 2014 international investments into Bahrain have risen threefold.
Infrastructure investments in Bahrain have helped the country boost its non-oil sector by 3.7 percent. The sectors that helped this growth were particularly strong in financial performance, social services and construction. Additionally, Bahrain’s volume of active projects doubled from $1.6 billion in the first quarter of 2016 to $3.2 billion in February 2017.
After a six-year absence from Bahrain, Ethiopian Airlines announced in July 2017 that it would resume its services to the country. Ethiopian Airlines will offer three flights per week between its base in Addis Ababa-Bole and Manama (Bahrain’s capital). The airline calls Bahrain a “centre of the main trade routes” with a decade’s worth of growing economy; this too shows how to help people in Bahrain.
Bahrain’s manufacturing sector accounts for 14.4 percent of the country’s GDP. Bahrain also has investment and international growth opportunities in the sub-sectors of food, industrials, and beverage (F&B) and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG).
The country plans to invest $32 billion in infrastructure projects in the coming years as well. One-third of the expenses will go toward Bahrain’s manufacturing sector.
Bahrain also works to enhance infrastructure and create more attractions to increase tourism. Earlier this year, Bahrain held an event called “Shop Bahrain” that managed to attract 130,000 shoppers from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other neighboring Gulf states. More business coming to Bahrain could mean more job opportunities for Bahrain’s citizens.
With trade, tourism and Vision 2030, Bahrainis may have many economic opportunities to come. This could prove especially helpful for the four percent of unemployed Bahrainis. These opportunities and the efforts in place to help the country’s economy demonstrate feasible methods of how to help people in Bahrain.
– Rhondjé Singh Tanwar
Photo: Flickr
The Five Most Common Diseases in the Netherlands
1. Neoplasms
The Netherlands has the 12th highest rate of cancer in the world, in part due to increased awareness and diagnosis. Thirty-three percent of deaths in the country are due to cancer. Lung cancer is the most prevalent, followed by breast cancer and intestinal cancer. Skin cancer and pancreatic cancer cases also are increasing, and, between 2005 and 2015, the mortality rate of pancreatic cancer increased by 12 percent.
During that same period, the mortality rate of lung cancer, which is especially common because of smoking, increased by six percent. The premature death rates and prevalence of lung cancer, pancreatic cancer and breast cancer are significantly higher in the Netherlands than in similar countries.
2. Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)
CVD causes 29 percent of deaths in the Netherlands. Although the mortality rate of CVD has declined since the second half of the 20th century, the burden remains. Ischemic heart disease is especially crippling to the country. In 2007, it was estimated that about 730,400 people were living with ischemic heart disease.
3. Chronic Respiratory Diseases
Chronic respiratory diseases cause six percent of deaths. Lung diseases in the Netherlands are especially prevalent because of the high percentage of smokers. About 28 percent of people in the country smoke. Because of this, there are roughly 23,000 lung related deaths per year and over one million lung patients.
In addition to lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is also prevalent in the county. Between 2005 and 2015, the mortality rate of COPD increased by 9.5 percent. The premature death rate is significantly higher in the Netherlands compared to similar countries. COPD can lead to emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
4. Mental and Behavioral Disorders
Mental health is important to recognize in the Netherlands. Depressive disorders are a leading cause of death and disability in the country. In 2014, about eight percent of the population claimed to be suffering from depression, accounting for more than one million people.
5. Alzheimer’s Disease
Dementia affects 1.47 percent of the Dutch population. In 2012, about 245,568 people lived with dementia. Alzheimer’s disease is especially common as the mortality rate increased by 18.6 percent between 2005 and 2015. Risk factors of Alzheimer’s include age, genetics, traumatic brain injury and mild cognitive impairment. Research also suggests that cardiovascular disease and education level may be linked to the disease.
Poor lifestyle choices are commonly associated to many of these diseases. Smoking, for example, is a major risk factor and something that should be recognized when addressing rates of diseases such as lung cancer and COPD. Improving health education is one step in helping decrease the rates of these common diseases in the Netherlands.
– Francesca Montalto
Photo: Flickr
Increasing Political Participation for Women in Iran
In some parts of the country, there was a 34 percent decrease in the number of women elected compared to 2013; however, although the number decreased in 16 provincial capitals, 3 remained the same, while 11, including Tehran, saw increases in women being elected to councils. Iran’s Sistan-Balochistan province—an underdeveloped and impoverished area in the southeast of Iran with the highest percentage of illiterate girls and women in the country—saw a total of 415 women elected to office. In a village called Afzalabad located in the province’s Khash district, all of the 10 elected candidates were women.
Some of the concerns that women in Iran campaigned on included women’s civic engagement, citizens’ rights, employment, education, health and social security and welfare.
Recently, Iran’s newly reelected president Hassan Rouhani has been under pressure to appoint female ministers to his cabinet. During his last term, his all-male list of ministers disappointed his followers, even though he appointed a number of women to vice-president positions. Despite this, Shahindokht Molaverdi, Rouhani’s vice-president for women and family affairs, has won support among women’s rights advocates in Iran.
Ghonchech Ghavami, a leading women’s rights activist based out of Tehran, has said that “this structure has eliminated women on the excuse of meritocracy and experience but it looks like that main criteria for them is being male. That’s why appointing female ministers is symbolically important and would send a powerful signal in a country where politics still originates from men.”
One may find it surprising, though, that Iran as a whole has near-universal female literacy: women make up the majority (60 percent) of university students, as well as the majority of graduates earning degrees in science (68 percent). Furthermore, women in Iran are consistently outperforming their male counterparts.
Workplace biases in general are very much alive for women in Iran, and these biases often compel employers to hire male workers that are of identical or even lesser qualifications than their female counterparts. Although women in Iran have been as whole increasing their political participation within their government, they clearly still have a long way to go before achieving true gender equality.
– Sara Venusti
Photo: Flickr/span>
Five Facts About Period Poverty
Unfortunately, many people fail to recognize the effects that period poverty have on young women and girls. In times of uncertainty, sanitary needs come secondary, or even tertiary, to finding food and shelter. While this is understandable, a few organizations such as Freedom4Girls and Bloody Good Period, and many others, are fighting back against period poverty.
One of the biggest defenses against period poverty is to start a conversation and stop the stigma.
– Madeline Boeding
Photo: Flickr
Solar-Powered Lanterns Boost Grades for Kenyan Students
The Panasonic Corporation began The Solar Lantern Project to provide a safer alternative for light in northern Kenya. The company donated more than 2,000 solar-powered lanterns to schools and clinics in the counties of Samburu and Isiolo.
The solar-powered lanterns have become a huge success in the schools of northern Kenya. They are recharged there during the day and are taken home by students at night to allow them to study and complete their homework. Students are not risking their health when they use the lamps.
Parents of students in northern Kenya can save almost two percent of their monthly expenses when their child brings home the solar-powered lanterns. In an interview conducted by Medium, a Kenyan mother stated that she “had to spend 20 shillings on kerosene every day.” Thanks to the solar-powered lanterns, she saves “around 1,000 shillings a month.”
Solar energy has become a popular alternative to electricity in many poor countries. It is accessible anywhere and an alternative source that is sustainable. According to research conducted by the International Energy Agency, “enough solar energy falls on the surface of the earth every 90 minutes to meet the entire planet’s energy needs for a year.”
The environment also benefits from using the Panasonic solar-powered lanterns instead of kerosene lamps. The fumes that come from burning kerosene contaminate the air and only further global warming. If one million lamps are in use by the end of 2018, they are “expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 30,000 tonnes between 2014 and 2018.”
Panasonic’s solar-powered lanterns may seem like a small solution, but they are allowing students to learn better and more safely outside of the classroom. The benefits of these lamps will continue to improve poverty in Kenya, slowly, but at least in the right direction.
– Mackenzie Fielder
Photo: Flickr
Cash on Delivery Could Be the Future of Foreign Aid
Cash on Delivery works to provide funding for measurable development so that foreign aid can be more focused on results rather than disbursements. It is this type of results-based aid that is arising from the wonder of why money is being spent overseas rather than on local hospitals if results aren’t the main goal.
In the case of health funding, many developing countries such as Rwanda and Burundi are adopting this type of approach by setting a health standard and receiving, for example, $100 for every child at or above that standard.
Cash on Delivery aid (COD), named after a mail delivery option where you pay for the package upon delivery, is being crowned as the most refined form of results-based aid. It fosters a hands-off approach to development, providing the incentive to progress where the country can use all tools at it needs as long as results are generated.
As many believe foreign aid has long been plagued by micromanagement and transparent contracts, this hands-off approach encourages countries to make their own process decisions and remain independent both culturally and politically.
No more is the time when countries are forced to take fees for basic health services or resources for schools. By giving the decision-making power to the country, aid will be in service of the citizens rather than the donors.
The criticisms of this program lie in the potential risk and short-term feel, but the advantages lie with a more self-sustaining approach to progress. Providing the incentive and the tools to progress may prove just as valuable as the funding itself. Cash on Delivery may just be the future of aid.
– Tucker Hallowell
Photo: Flickr
In Happiness and in Health: Causes of Poverty in Nicaragua
Indeed, as of 2014, the national poverty rate was at 29.6 percent. What’s more, though overall poverty in Nicaragua has dropped significantly in the past 12 years, extreme poverty (earning less than $1 a day) is reported to be on the rise, going from 7.6 to 9.5 percent between 2012 and 2013. What are the causes of poverty in Nicaragua? Why does an already struggling country only seem to be getting worse, according to international studies and statistics?
According to a survey cited by the Tico Times, one reason for recent rises in poverty could be lowered export prices on agricultural goods. Much of the country is dependent on temporary farm work and agricultural products such as coffee, and as prices dip, jobs are lost and people struggle to gain a foothold as labor opportunities become harder to find.
Another reason may be stagnant enrollment in education. UNICEF estimates that around 500,000 children between the ages of three and 17 are not enrolled in any formal education. To add to the problem, the number of school-aged children in Nicaragua is at roughly two million, equal to a third of the country’s total population.
However, the causes of poverty in Nicaragua are beginning to be addressed. According to the Tico Times, “the government earmarked $1.3 billion – more than half its official budget – to finance anti-poverty programs and free health and education services. Venezuelan aid also has helped fund programs for the distribution of roof sheeting, financial credits, low-cost housing and food packages for the poor.”
What’s more, the 2017 World Happiness Report noted that Nicaragua had made the largest gains in overall happiness out of 155 countries analyzed.
To trace all the causes of poverty in Nicaragua is a complicated job. As the government continues to fund anti-poverty programs and foreign aid continues to pour in, it seems Nicaragua is on the precipice of moving away from the abysmal poverty rate it now has.
It will take more than mere happiness to combat poverty, but the groundwork has been laid. As global poverty rates continue to fall and markets continue to rise, Nicaragua just may be able to pull itself out of poverty.
– Joseph Dover
Photo: Google
How to Help People in Iraq from the US
While it has indisputably achieved important strategic military objectives, former President George W. Bush’s decision to do this has also cost U.S. taxpayers over $2 trillion thus far, resulted in approximately half a million civilian and combat casualties, devastated the quality of life for millions of Iraqi citizens and unfortunately, it does not appear to be a conflict that will be ending anytime soon.
Perhaps the two most damaging results of this conflict for Iraqi society have been the decline of education and widespread health problems and mental illness, both of which are byproducts of the violence taking place across the nation.
Fortunately, organizations and individuals across the globe have recognized these problems and have become actively involved determining how to help people in Iraq. Listed below are these two problems, the methods in which certain humanitarian organizations are seeking to combat them and also ways in which the average citizen can help to be a part of the solution.
Education
Education is necessary for the stability of any society, and, generally speaking, provides children with a safe and healthy socialization process, which is why it is important to consider the fact that roughly 3.5 million children in Iraq attend school infrequently, if at all.
From 2011 to 2013, the British Council and members of the European Union supported a project called the Support to Improving the Quality of Education in Iraq program, which was intended to improve educational conditions in Iraq. The project cost approximately $10 million and implemented programs designed to provide resources, improve teaching skills and develop high-quality curriculums. Overall, the project was a success, allowing 800,000 students of all ages in southern and central Iraq access to a quality education.
Another organization that fights for the improvement of education in Iraq, among other things, is the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Similarly to the British Council’s approach, the IRC is concerned with finding a long-term solution when trying to solve the problem of how to help people in Iraq get an education. They seek to do so by providing well-trained teachers, safe learning environments and reducing the problem of overcrowded schools. You can donate to their cause here.
Perhaps the largest organization that is making the largest strides for the improvement of Iraqi education is UNICEF. In 2016 alone, the organization helped to allow 682,000 children access to an education and provided over 520,000 children with school supplies such as backpacks and stationery. They have also created new ways of how to help people in Iraq by providing cash to families who are particularly vulnerable, offering summer classes to students who have fallen behind and even operating mobile schools in various parts of the nation. You can donate to their efforts here.
Healthcare
In a country where there an estimated 11 million people are speculated to need some form of humanitarian aid, there is no organization more noticeably devoted to providing adequate healthcare to Iraqi citizens in need than Doctors Without Borders (DWB). The organization currently has ongoing projects in almost the entire country with the exception of the southeastern region and works in five major cities or villages including Baghdad, the nation’s capital.
With many medical facilities and resources destroyed, medical care in Iraq is expensive and hard to come by. Millions of citizens have been displaced from their homes and others find themselves miles away from the nearest medical facility. While their mission is not over, DWB has effectively countered this negativity with tremendous success, providing healthcare and first aid to millions of people across the country, putting their own lives on the line to do so.
Currently, their main agenda is providing aid to those affected by the ongoing crisis in Mosul, the country’s second largest city. On the western side of the city, an estimated 60,000 civilians are trapped by the ongoing fighting, which has consistently produced large numbers of civilian casualties and severe displacement. To help solve this problem of displacement, DWB has created displacement camps in different areas of the country, camps who have seen dramatic influxes of people in the recent months.
In June 2017, DWB opened a project in western Mosul and reported a high number of patients needing life-saving treatments. In their June 2017 update, Jonathan Henry, the Emergency Coordinator for the DWB project in west Mosul, stated that “this influx of wounded patients is yet another example of the horrific suffering and indiscriminate violence suffered by civilians, including women and children, throughout the battle for Mosul.” You can donate to DWB here.
Above all, as an American, when asking the question of how to help people in Iraq, the quickest, easiest and best thing you can do is reach out to your congressional leaders and express to them a desire to increase the U.S. foreign aid budget. In doing so, you help to ensure that the wealthiest nation in the world will do more than it currently is to bring these atrocities to an end and allow the country and its neighboring regions to one day see an era of development and prosperity.
– Hunter Mcferrin
Photo: Google
Statistical Exploration of the Poverty Rate in Algeria
Currently, unemployment is one of the biggest factors leading to setbacks in improving the poverty rate in Algeria. The World Bank reports that unemployment increased to 11.2 percent in 2015 and has remained that way through population increases in 2016. High levels of unemployment also occur among women and youth at 16.6 percent and 29.9 percent respectively.
Combined with low oil prices and deteriorating living standards, tackling inequality has become increasingly difficult in Algeria. Many disparities exist regionally, with almost 75 percent of Algeria’s poor living in urban areas and working informal jobs. Looking beyond the blanket statistical figures that exist, regional disparities indicate that twice as much poverty exists in Algeria’s Sahara, and three times as much exists among the population living on the Steppe, a Mediterranean forest and woodland region of North Africa.
Moving forward, the United Nations and other organizations such as the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LADDH) are working toward improving early childhood development and nutrition, health coverage, implementing cash transfers and strengthening rural infrastructure to displace inequality and decrease the poverty rate in Algeria. In 2005, Algeria launched the UNICEF Unite for Children Against AIDS global campaign, and other campaigns and movements have progressed alongside those efforts.
A 2017 UNICEF analysis covering 11 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, including Algeria, Comoros and Egypt among others, has also led efforts to improve education, provide adequate housing, provide access to clean water and improve antenatal care and birth assistance.
Through political advocacy and policy implementation, solutions can be found and goals achieved to leverage inequality, continue moving citizens above the international poverty line and lower the poverty rate in Algeria.
– Katherine Wang
Photo: Pixabay
10 Facts About the Poverty Rate in North Macedonia
Macedonia, also known as the Republic of North Macedonia, is located in the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. Macedonia declared peaceful independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 and has a population of 2.058 million people. The country has made progress in improving its economy and business environment; however, corruption and weak rule of law are still problems in Macedonia. Additionally, some businesses in Macedonia have complained about unequal enforcement of the law. Here are 10 facts about the poverty rate in Macedonia:
North Macedonia has been making progress in creating a better business environment. However, due to internal conflicts such as corruption and political problems, Macedonia has consistently missed its fiscal targets in the past few years. As a result, the poverty rate in Macedonia is still high. Reducing the unemployment rate and increasing foreign investment are the two major things that North Macedonia needs to focus on in order to reduce the poverty rate in the coming years.
– Mike Liu
Photo: Flickr
Updated: June 3, 2024