Military action can seem to be the logical fix to solving many of the issues of poverty-stricken areas. Because these areas are so susceptible to violence, it might seem like the authority of a powerful military could be the solution. However, military involvement might actually be having the opposite effect and contributing to global poverty.
It continues to remain an unanswered question: are countries poor because they are violent or violent because they are poor? According to the World Bank’s World Development Report, although there are several contributing factors to poverty, violence is becoming the primary one.
While on the surface it appears that these countries have fallen vulnerable to a poverty trap, the World Development Report suggests that there is something deeper than the poverty trap. Beneath the poverty trap is a violence trap that puts a constraint on the development of countries living in poverty. While peaceful countries are able to escape poverty, countries affected by military violence remain impoverished and sometimes even worsen.
One form of military violence that has severely hurt 39 impoverished countries is civil war. All 39 of the countries that were involved in a civil war since 2000 have also had one in the last three decades, according to The Economist.
Although not many countries suffer from civil war, it causes enough of an impact on global poverty to create lasting damage. Following many civil wars is extreme gang violence. Today, more people are murdered in Guatemala per year by gang violence than from military violence during the country’s civil war in the 1980s.
The countries involved in civil wars — as well as interstate wars and coups — experience more poverty issues than they did in the past. Today, fewer countries experience this type of military violence, but the ones that do are suffering repeatedly.
According to The Economist, citizens in these countries are more than twice as likely to be malnourished, three times as likely to miss primary school and almost twice as likely to die in infancy as people in other developing countries.
Increasing military involvement is leading to increased poverty in these already poor countries because they do not have the financial stability or unity to develop after these wars. People’s homes and communities are destroyed as well as the little food that was once available to them. As a result of this military violence, poverty increases to incredibly dangerous levels.
While countries are spending more money on militaries than they ever have in the past, funding for necessities such as food, education and healthcare is being put on hold. Military involvement has an impact on global poverty for the violence it entails, but it also contributes to the brutality of poverty.
As stated in Bainbridge Island Review, “every dollar spent on weapons and war is a dollar not spent on food, education, health care and the environment.” Thus, peaceful countries are more capable of reducing poverty because they are putting funding toward helping people rather than fighting.
Although military involvement can seem like a plausible solution to finding peace in countries living in poverty, the violence it ensues contributes to the issues of poverty that caused the military involvement in the first place.
To put an end to this vicious cycle, less military involvement and more participation in funding for food, education and other necessities in countries living in poverty can reverse the damage that has been done by repeated military violence. As stated in The Economist, “Violence, it seems, is always with us, like poverty.”
– Kassidy Tarala
Photo: Flickr
Military Violence and Its Effects on Global Poverty
Military action can seem to be the logical fix to solving many of the issues of poverty-stricken areas. Because these areas are so susceptible to violence, it might seem like the authority of a powerful military could be the solution. However, military involvement might actually be having the opposite effect and contributing to global poverty.
It continues to remain an unanswered question: are countries poor because they are violent or violent because they are poor? According to the World Bank’s World Development Report, although there are several contributing factors to poverty, violence is becoming the primary one.
While on the surface it appears that these countries have fallen vulnerable to a poverty trap, the World Development Report suggests that there is something deeper than the poverty trap. Beneath the poverty trap is a violence trap that puts a constraint on the development of countries living in poverty. While peaceful countries are able to escape poverty, countries affected by military violence remain impoverished and sometimes even worsen.
One form of military violence that has severely hurt 39 impoverished countries is civil war. All 39 of the countries that were involved in a civil war since 2000 have also had one in the last three decades, according to The Economist.
Although not many countries suffer from civil war, it causes enough of an impact on global poverty to create lasting damage. Following many civil wars is extreme gang violence. Today, more people are murdered in Guatemala per year by gang violence than from military violence during the country’s civil war in the 1980s.
The countries involved in civil wars — as well as interstate wars and coups — experience more poverty issues than they did in the past. Today, fewer countries experience this type of military violence, but the ones that do are suffering repeatedly.
According to The Economist, citizens in these countries are more than twice as likely to be malnourished, three times as likely to miss primary school and almost twice as likely to die in infancy as people in other developing countries.
Increasing military involvement is leading to increased poverty in these already poor countries because they do not have the financial stability or unity to develop after these wars. People’s homes and communities are destroyed as well as the little food that was once available to them. As a result of this military violence, poverty increases to incredibly dangerous levels.
While countries are spending more money on militaries than they ever have in the past, funding for necessities such as food, education and healthcare is being put on hold. Military involvement has an impact on global poverty for the violence it entails, but it also contributes to the brutality of poverty.
As stated in Bainbridge Island Review, “every dollar spent on weapons and war is a dollar not spent on food, education, health care and the environment.” Thus, peaceful countries are more capable of reducing poverty because they are putting funding toward helping people rather than fighting.
Although military involvement can seem like a plausible solution to finding peace in countries living in poverty, the violence it ensues contributes to the issues of poverty that caused the military involvement in the first place.
To put an end to this vicious cycle, less military involvement and more participation in funding for food, education and other necessities in countries living in poverty can reverse the damage that has been done by repeated military violence. As stated in The Economist, “Violence, it seems, is always with us, like poverty.”
– Kassidy Tarala
Photo: Flickr
Social-Ecological Model Offers New Approach to Public Health
People do not act in isolation, which is why it is important to understand the ways they interact with their communities and environments, in order to determine why they do what they do.
One way of measuring these networks of interactions is the Social Ecological Model. This model, developed by sociologists in the 1970s, studies how behaviors form based on characteristics of individuals, communities, nations and levels in between. In examining these intervals and how they interact and overlap, public health experts can develop strategies to promote wellbeing in the U.S. and abroad.
The Social-Ecological Model is broad in scope. Each level overlaps with other levels. This signifies how the best public health strategies are those that encompass and target a wide range of perspectives. A public health organization may struggle to promote healthy habits in a community if it does not take into account how other factors play into the behavior of the community as a whole.
Different organizations use variations of the Social-Ecological Model organizational hierarchies in a given society. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sometimes uses a four-level model, while UNICEF’s model has five levels. Here is the layout of UNICEF’s model and its application in a public health context:
The Social-Ecological Model is useful in the creation of sustainable solutions for at-risk individuals and societies. One approach to public health that considers many of the model’s levels is the practice of social change communication (SCC). Communities use SCC to facilitate discussions about beneficial and harmful practices in societies and to encourage people to speak about individual and communal problems. A health-based SCC discussion could cover anything from strategies developed to reduce pneumonia rates in babies to changing an outdated and potentially harmful social ritual.
SCC allows individuals and communities to influence shaping fairer, healthier societies. Its use of the Social-Ecological Model ensures that the strategies it develops are implemented across society.
Through SCC and other approaches, public health organizations are creating long-term solutions to the problems that plague individuals, societies and countries today. Only in understanding the numerous factors that influence harmful behavior can experts hope to tackle such problems effectively.
– Sabine Poux
Photo: Flickr
Water Quality in Timor-Leste
One of the themes common to countries struggling with poverty is the ability of the population to have access to clean water and sanitation. The people of Timor-Leste are no different from the millions of others around the world who battle with this problem daily. Water quality in Timor-Leste is concerning, compounding many of the issues the country faces.
In Timor-Leste, the majority of freshwater comes from two sources, groundwater and surface water. Often abundant in areas, groundwater is largely underutilized in the country, whether down to a lack of finance, technology or other insurmountable problems. Surface water, on the other hand, is far easier to acquire, yet it also has a number of problems attached to it.
The issues associated with groundwater can be attributed to several factors. A lack of funding for the initial development of water supply presents a large obstacle. The unavailability of spare parts for maintenance is another issue, particularly in rural areas. A third problem is the lack of technical knowledge within the country to successfully implement such plans.
Those who gather water from the surface are often faced with a different set of problems. A recent WHO study into water quality in Timor-Leste showed that as much as 70% of water sources were contaminated with microbiological entities, often holding potential for spreading diseases such as typhoid and cholera. Contaminations such as this are partly the result of a lack of effective sewage systems, with much of the country’s waste being disposed of in rivers and fields.
The lack of access to clean water has created additional strain on the limited healthcare system in Timor-Leste. Respiratory illness is widespread, as are malaria and dengue fever, with water quality often cited as the problem. For young children, diarrhoeal diseases, the largest killer of those under five, are similarly common, often causing complications that can have long-term negative effects on the younger population.
Despite these problems, however, progress has been made with several organizations targeting the water problem in Timor-Leste as part of their global strategies. Water Aid has trained many Timorese in servicing water points, enabling expertise, which allows the people to become self-sufficient. Its efforts in recent years have enabled 2,672 people to access clean water.
In addition, the World Health Organisation has provided support for studies, in collaboration with other NGOs, governments and Timorese societies. They have also supported the training of the populous in water safety processes. Through the assistance of UNICEF and the European Union, more than 37,000 people across multiple districts were given access to clean water through the installation of new water supply systems. Training into the managing and maintenance of these systems was also provided, enabling autonomy for the people of these districts.
The problems facing Timor-Leste are no doubt difficult to overcome. A government target for 2020 will cost an estimated $40 million each year to attain. In spite of this cost, however, steps do appear to be being made to ensure water quality in Timor-Leste in future years.
– Gavin Callander
Photo: Google
How to Help People in Turkey
Turkey’s lower-class faces issues of poverty that affect the country’s food security, schools, economic development and more. In particular, an influx of Syrian refugees over the past few years has put stress on the country’s economy.
Approximately three million refugees live in Turkey, the majority coming from Syria. Approximately 260,000 of Syrian refugees living in Turkey still reside in camps and are not fully integrated into community life. Whether a person is from a large nonprofit or a small family, here’s how to help people in Turkey.
The World Food Programme is an organization that focuses on combating global hunger. It reports that high volumes of refugees entering Turkey have led to a 30% increase in the size of host communities. This, according to the organization, puts a hefty strain on local markets and infrastructure. A strain is also created by informal migration, according to the World Food Programme. In fact, in 2015 approximately 885,000 people entered Europe through Turkey. The International Rescue Committee began working in Turkey in 2013. They focus on how to help people in Turkey with respect to education, safety, economic status and legal aid.
President Trump’s travel ban prohibits refugees from countries like Syria from entering the U.S., thus making them more likely to inhabit a close neighboring country like Turkey. An increase in Turkey’s refugee population has the potential to seriously weaken the country’s economy. Signing petitions, making regular calls to federal representatives and spreading public awareness about how the travel ban affects countries like Turkey are important strategies.
One of the most pressing issues in Turkey is the large presence of Syrian refugees. Even without the backing of a large organization working to combat poverty, there are still several approaches one can take when considering how to help people in Turkey.
– Leah Potter
Photo: Google
The Educational Challenges of the Dominican Stateless
The Dominican Republic denies thousands of children access to education due to nationality laws rendering them stateless. The educational challenges of the Dominican stateless, many of them of Haitian descent, are both varied and continuous.
Since the 1990s, many Dominicans of Haitian descent have encountered difficulties proving their citizenship. A court ruling in 2013 exacerbated these struggles by retroactively declaring immigrants and their descendants to be noncitizens from 1929 forward. This left generations of Dominican people unable to receive healthcare, education or employment, most of which require proof of citizenship.
A report from the Georgetown Law Human Rights Institute gathered information about the educational challenges of the Dominican stateless through interviews and analysis of the Dominican Republic’s education policies. According to the report, schools refuse to enroll students or administer state examinations without birth certificates or proof of nationality. Bureaucratic hurdles and arbitrary enforcement of the nationality law stall the efforts to remedy this.
A consequence of the Dominican stateless’ inability to attain an education is a lack of high-quality jobs. The Guardian discusses how many migrant descendants work in menial jobs like domestic work by force. Employers also often subject them to abuse or long hours due to the lack of legal protections.
The educational challenges of the Dominican stateless especially affect young people. Yolanda Alcino, a young Dominican descended from Haitian migrants, told The Guardian how she and other Dominican stateless are “discriminated against, and without education, without work, life is more difficult in almost every way.”
In response to this issue, Dominican stateless have protested for their rights. Young people have met with government officials and developed petitions that implore the government to uphold equal rights.
International governments and organizations have also condemned the Dominican Republic for its actions and inaction. As reported in Refugees Deeply, although the country has adopted the New York Declaration, it has not honored the Declaration’s requirement of providing education to all youth.
The domestic and international response to the educational challenges of the Dominican stateless has helped influence the Dominican Republic to modify nationality laws. According to Refugees Deeply, the country will acknowledge the children of undocumented immigrants as citizens if they have a verified birth certificate or go through the process of naturalization.
Despite this, the processes have the same problems: they require too much time and are arbitrarily applied. With the legal, vocational, economic and educational challenges of the Dominican stateless, the Dominican Republic has a lot to remedy.
– Cortney Rowe
Photo: Pixabay
How Flooding Leads to the Most Common Diseases in Sri Lanka
As a country that endures two monsoon seasons and is surrounded by several bodies of water, Sri Lanka is particularly vulnerable to floods. The country’s floods do not just damage physical property, but also pose a threat to Sri Lankans’ health. Most of the common diseases in Sri Lanka are so due to the danger the floods pose.
The floods that affect Sri Lanka leave the nation’s people with damaged homes and an excess of unsanitary water. With the contaminated floodwater lingering around, more mosquitoes are likely to come, thus increasing the risk of dengue fever. Due to severe flooding that occurred this past May, affecting more than 600,000 people, many are now concerned that dengue cases will increase.
Based on statistics, they have a valid reason to worry. In the past seven months alone, there were already 80,732 dengue fever cases reported in the nation. This number tremendously exceeds the number of cases the country had seen from 2000-2016. While there are four different types of dengue fever, DENV-2 is the one that is mostly spreading throughout the nation right now.
Besides dengue fever, there are other common diseases in Sri Lanka that pose an increased threat due to flooding. One of these diseases is cholera. With 172,454 reported cases in 2015, cholera remains an issue in today’s world. The abundance of contaminated floodwater increases the risk of Sri Lankans contracting cholera.
In response to the recent flooding crisis, Australia is giving the World Health Organization money to establish programs that focus on dengue fever in Sri Lanka. The World Health Organization is also working with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health to assist with any medical issues related to the flood. The World Health Organization is supplying the nation with more beds in an effort to provide more people with medical assistance.
Although the people of Sri Lanka struggle from the aftermath of monsoons, they, fortunately, receive help from others.
– Raven Rentas
Photo: Flickr
Fighting the Most Common Diseases in Cambodia
Since Cambodia is a developing country in Asia, it is prone to the spread of diseases. It is not uncommon for drinking water to be home to bacteria and other parasites. People, of course, rely on water for everything, making Cambodia’s contaminated water sources a major issue. Here are some of the most common diseases in Cambodia:
Cities such as Phnom Penh and Siem Reap are free of the risk of malaria, but the rest of Cambodia is exposed to it. Female Anopheles mosquitos spread the disease in Cambodia at night through their bites. When a person is bitten, “parasites multiply in the liver attacking red blood cells resulting in cycles of fever, chills, and sweats accompanied by anemia.”Malaria can be contracted year-round, especially in the western part of the country, making it one of the most common diseases in Cambodia. Those who contract malaria must be put on an antimalarial drug so that it does not attack major organs and cut off blood flow to the brain.
AIDS in Cambodia is the most common cause of death for children and female sex workers. For female prostitutes, it is extremely difficult to get the drugs needed to treat HIV because their line of work is illegal. An article in the New York Times states that “sex workers are about 12 times as likely to be infected with HIV as other women in their communities.” Many of these women are mothers and pass the disease onto their children.HIV has become such a major issue in Cambodia because there are not enough drugs accessible to mothers to prevent spreading it to their children. With less discrimination and easier access to needed medications, HIV/AIDS could be lessened.
Dengue fever is a disease that is mainly contracted from mosquitos during the rainy season in Cambodia. The infected mosquitos live wherever there is garbage or standing water which can be found in both rural and urban parts of Cambodia. It takes almost a week for the symptoms of dengue to appear, but when they do, many mistake them for the flu. This is usually followed by vomiting, pain in the abdomen and a high fever if it progresses into dengue hemorrhagic fever. Dengue is a disease in Cambodia that can be fatal but can also lead to immunity from infections.
The risk of contracting tuberculosis in Cambodia is high. It is an airborne infection that attacks the lungs and “the lymphatic system, central nervous system, urogenital area, joints, and bones.” People in Cambodia can contract tuberculosis by being around an infected person or drinking unpasteurized milk. Symptoms include chest pain, fever, lack of appetite and being extremely weak. While tuberculosis is typically treated with antibiotics, there is a growing concern that some people have developed a form of the infection that cannot be treated.
By taking more precautions and providing the tools needed to prevent these common diseases in Cambodia, the country could be looking at a healthier population.
– Mackenzie Fielder
Photo: Flickr
Improving Mental Health in Poor Communities
While it is proven that poverty leads to cognitive setbacks, similar studies suggest that there are methods to counter poverty and its psychological effects in both the family unit and schools.
Improving mental health in poor communities became a priority in sustainable development over the last decade. Children from low-income families face psychological challenges that are much less common for higher-income children, including developmental delays, mental disabilities, ADHD, anxiety, depression and attention disorders. Parents’ education levels, race and other critical factors are not shown to have as strong a correlation as family income. Scientists trace statistics concerning mental health in poor communities back to inadequate nutrition, obstacles to proper development and chronic stress.
In response to these findings, more promising studies have shown that efforts to improve mental health in disadvantaged populations can be particularly effective during childhood.
For example, nutrition during and for a year after pregnancy is a critical part of cognitive development. Mothers who prioritize nutrition and a high-protein diet during pregnancy and breastfeeding are far more likely to have children free of mental disability.
The parent-child relationship is also crucial. At least one parent or parental figure’s consistent ability to care for a child leads to “secure attachment,” which encourages brain development, feelings of being worthy of love and the development of positive relationships. Professionals today are using attachment theory to understand and assist disadvantaged families.
The takeaway is that prioritizing pregnancy education and support in addition to positive parental relationships can improve mental health in poor communities.
Outside of the family unit, schools are an additional opportunity to promote psychological health in disadvantaged populations. Encouraging students to set goals in the classroom and giving consistent feedback develops student autonomy and intrinsic motivation. Since impoverished individuals are at greater risk of adopting a “victim mindset,” the thought process that external events alone determine their circumstance, drive and independence are crucial to future success.
According to the self-determination theory, surrounding students having material that suggests they can overcome difficult circumstances lead them to believe that they can succeed. Supplementing this school material with similar cultural stories and values at home increases the chances of internalizing positive values.
Organizing students into cooperative learning groups promotes relaxation, high achievement, positive relationships and improved psychological health, according to a 2000 study. Encouraging children to work together may combat the anxiety and stress that results from living in a low-income family and improve socialization.
While the psychological effects of poverty can be discouraging, these studies suggest that simple changes in the home and classroom are highly effective ways of empowering disadvantaged individuals. As research continues in the areas of cognitive development and psychology, further improvement in mental health in poor communities is expected.
– Kailey Dubinsky
Photo: Flickr
The Three Most Common Diseases in Iceland
Iceland is a country with a small population of about 338,000, making the nation ideal for medical research. Due to a long period of isolation, natives are genetically similar. This means that identifying common diseases in Iceland is simple.
Below are the three most common diseases in Iceland according to the most current global health statistics.
The three most common diseases in Iceland are also common to most developed nations, including the United States. Placing more attention on global health will be important in preventing and curing these diseases through collaboration and collective research.
– Haley Hurtt
Photo: Google
Female Workers in the Philippines
The Philippines has emerged as an equality leader among Asian countries, promoting female workers in the Philippines in recent decades. While many female workers in the Philippines still deal with the same struggles as other female workers worldwide, including unequal income and inequality, much more have entered the workforce than any other Asian country. This marks a distinct shift in culture within Asian countries, which infamously used to prevent women from entering the workforce. This has slowed the ability of many to lift themselves out of poverty.
The Philippines ranked first in the MasterCard Worldwide Women’s Advancement Index among Asian countries with a score of 70.5%. Major Asian powers such as China, Japan and Korea scored 61.5, 48.1 and 49.7 respectively. Access to education appears to be the driving cause for the surge of women in the workforce in the Philippines. The Philippines also ranked ahead of all other Asian countries in the percentage of women with secondary and tertiary education.
While women have gained a substantial place in the Philippines workforce, they face issues regarding advancement to more skilled professions and gaining further statues beyond base level employment. Unfortunately, many overqualified women effectively become trapped in entry-level positions. Like many Asian countries, male workers typically fill managerial roles, mainly due to gender biases ingrained in societal expectations.
Numerous policy initiatives have been put in place to promote women in managerial level roles, including the broad policy statements embodied in the Philippines Constitution of 1973, policy instruments embodied in the Letter of Instructions 974 and 1066, and the U.N. World Plan of Action for the Integration of Women in Development.
Despite these policy efforts, a lot of work still remains to promote female workers in the Philippines; it is an issue that should continue to demand attention.
– Garrett Keyes
Photo: Flickr