The Solomon Islands is an archipelago of 992 tropical islands residing between Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu. The country has a population of 555,000 predominantly Melanesian citizens. Poverty in the Solomon Islands is a prevailing issue.
Factors Exacerbating Poverty in the Solomon Islands
UNICEF reports that this country is one of the poorest pacific islands as it is still recovering from recent civil conflict. In addition, the islands are consistently victims of natural disaster; they experienced five tropical cyclones, two volcanic eruptions and one tsunami in 2010 alone.
The Solomon Islands are located in a “ring of fire” or a zone of active volcanoes that also comprises 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes. The earthquake in January 2010 registered at a 7.2 magnitude. It left one-third of the population on the island of Rendova without a home, The Guardian reports.
Due to the abundance of devastating natural disaster, the infrastructure of the country is also under great pressure as those facing poverty move to urban areas. Caritas Australia reports that less than only one of every three islanders had access to sufficient sanitation facilities in 2012.
Natural disasters, political unrest and movement of displaced people have made poverty in the Solomon Islands a serious issue. The Asian Development Bank reports that 22.7 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.
Evidence of this can be seen as medical issues are often not tended to at a proper time. Lack of connectivity between the islands makes it difficult for doctors and medical professionals to reach certain islands regularly and especially in emergency situations.
Members of UNICEF experienced this first hand as they traveled to the Vella la Vella island by way of a forty-minute boat ride, wading through water to reach land and walking along a gravel road to the islands’ only medical facility.
UNICEF worked with the staff to train and equip them through improved immunization services, prenatal and delivery care and programs designed to prevent HIV.
The organization has implemented a number of other programs in the islands such as aiding hospitals in reconstruction after damage due to the tsunami, along with expanded birth registration and counseling. UNICEF’s ultimate goal is to set-up opportunities that will enable medical facilities of the Solomon Islands to run efficiently on their own.
“It is very important that both UNICEF and other international donors when providing assistance… ensure that the assistance given lays the foundation for sustainable change in the communities that we aim to help,” said Andrei Dapkiunas, a permanent United Nations Representative and UNICEF partner.
UNICEF is not the only organization providing hope for the country. Caritas Australia, whose goal is to “end poverty, promote justice, uphold dignity” supports programs in the islands that teach social justice in schools. Over 5,000 children have been introduced to themes of equality, leadership, peacebuilding and environmental stewardship.
In light of the physical dangers the islanders face, the organization has provided teachers with curriculum instructing children how to prepare for natural disasters through nursery rhymes and games.
This country faces greater challenges than most due to its location on the globe, but the future is not without hope for these resilient people. Through programs and organizations working to build sustainable change, it is possible to combat poverty in the Solomon Islands.
– Rebecca Causey
Photo: Flickr
Business Opportunities for Ethiopian Women
On May 24, 2012, the World Bank approved the Women’s Entrepreneurship Development Project (WEDP) to provide business opportunities for Ethiopian women. This simple project has provided over 3,000 women with business loans and an additional 5,000 women with business training.
The project’s objective is to “increase earnings and employment of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) owned or partly owned by participating female entrepreneurs in targeted cities.” The $53 million project will close at the end of 2017.
WEDP aims to minimize the financing gap in Ethiopia. In developing countries, 70 percent of small and medium businesses owned by women cannot obtain the financing needed for them to grow. The project tackles this issue by providing loans to female business owners.
The loans are offered through the Development Bank of Ethiopia and microfinance institutions. WEDP receives additional financing from the international development agencies of the United Kingdom and Canada.
More than assisting with access to microfinance, the program also provides women with skill development, technology and product development. By the end of 2017, the project aims to provide loans to 17,500 Ethiopian women entrepreneurs as well as to improve access to and increase the capacity of existing microfinance institutions.
The investment in women entrepreneurs yields high return opportunities in emerging markets. Historically, women in developing countries played minute roles in entrepreneurship. Expanding their participation through microfinance drastically improves economic output. Because women entrepreneurs tend to hire other women, they are also key drivers of unemployment reduction.
WEDP has had far-reaching impacts, benefiting well over 3,000 women through a line of credit backed by the World Bank’s fund for the poorest countries with a repayment rate of 99.4 percent. The average loan size for the project is $11,000, nearly double the amount that women entrepreneurs were able to receive prior to the project’s implementation.
Recognizing the impacts of women entrepreneurship in Ethiopia and the importance of microfinance, the World Bank adopted the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Finance Project to complement the WEDP. With a similar objective, the SME Finance Project also provides loans to entrepreneurs.
Financing constraints of Ethiopian SMEs are one of the key obstacles to job creation, growth and new business opportunities for Ethiopian women, according to a recent World Bank study.
Further, small enterprises are more financially constrained than micro or medium/large enterprises. The development of microfinancing projects to target small enterprises will further build upon the success of WEDP, promoting economic prosperity throughout Ethiopia.
– Anna O’Toole
Photo: Flickr
Solving the Water Shortage in Israel and Palestine
Less than a decade ago, a serious water shortage in Israel threatened the quality of life and future survival of the Israeli people. Water quality and abundance in Israel have improved in recent years with the help of desalination techniques that turn Mediterranean seawater and wastewater into usable water.
Israel is an arid, Mediterranean country with a history of extreme water shortages. The seven-year drought that began in 2005 depleted Israel’s natural water sources and compromised the quality of the water. The Israeli government established the Water Authority in 2007 to focus the efforts on solving the water shortage in Israel.
One of the government’s methods for fixing the water shortage in Israel was its implementation of desalination plants that produce more than 130 billion gallons of water per year. Some experts say that desalination is becoming a cheap and energy-efficient way to treat water.
Desalination processes make more than 50 percent of water for various sectors of Israel, including homes, agriculture and industry. Water is now more expensive for farmers, but it is at least readily available.
Israel also reuses and recycles wastewater for agricultural purposes by treating 86 percent of domestic wastewater. The nation now leads as the world’s top water recycler.
Despite plentiful water supplies for Israel, the nation shares its mountain aquifer with the West Bank. Israel claims that it gives Palestinians more than what peace accords require it to give, but Palestinians are not satisfied with the amount or cost of the water.
The technology that solved the water shortage in Israel has not helped the Palestinians who rely on Israel’s water sources. The agreements that provided Palestinians with 20 percent of the water from the mountain aquifer have become outdated as the Palestinian population has almost doubled.
According to The Economist, Palestinians get an average of 73 liters of water a day. The World Health Organization recommends a minimum of 100 liters of water per day. To make matters worse, the coastal aquifer that Palestinians in Gaza rely on is polluted and could soon become permanently damaged.
Israelis have water thanks to revolutionary water treating techniques. Complex political and social struggles prevent Palestinians from gaining access to the same water. Now that Israel has solved its own water shortage, its actions will largely decide if Palestinians get the water that they need to survive.
– Addie Pazzynski
Photo: Flickr
Poverty in the Solomon Islands
Factors Exacerbating Poverty in the Solomon Islands
UNICEF reports that this country is one of the poorest pacific islands as it is still recovering from recent civil conflict. In addition, the islands are consistently victims of natural disaster; they experienced five tropical cyclones, two volcanic eruptions and one tsunami in 2010 alone.
The Solomon Islands are located in a “ring of fire” or a zone of active volcanoes that also comprises 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes. The earthquake in January 2010 registered at a 7.2 magnitude. It left one-third of the population on the island of Rendova without a home, The Guardian reports.
Due to the abundance of devastating natural disaster, the infrastructure of the country is also under great pressure as those facing poverty move to urban areas. Caritas Australia reports that less than only one of every three islanders had access to sufficient sanitation facilities in 2012.
Natural disasters, political unrest and movement of displaced people have made poverty in the Solomon Islands a serious issue. The Asian Development Bank reports that 22.7 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.
Evidence of this can be seen as medical issues are often not tended to at a proper time. Lack of connectivity between the islands makes it difficult for doctors and medical professionals to reach certain islands regularly and especially in emergency situations.
Members of UNICEF experienced this first hand as they traveled to the Vella la Vella island by way of a forty-minute boat ride, wading through water to reach land and walking along a gravel road to the islands’ only medical facility.
UNICEF worked with the staff to train and equip them through improved immunization services, prenatal and delivery care and programs designed to prevent HIV.
The organization has implemented a number of other programs in the islands such as aiding hospitals in reconstruction after damage due to the tsunami, along with expanded birth registration and counseling. UNICEF’s ultimate goal is to set-up opportunities that will enable medical facilities of the Solomon Islands to run efficiently on their own.
“It is very important that both UNICEF and other international donors when providing assistance… ensure that the assistance given lays the foundation for sustainable change in the communities that we aim to help,” said Andrei Dapkiunas, a permanent United Nations Representative and UNICEF partner.
UNICEF is not the only organization providing hope for the country. Caritas Australia, whose goal is to “end poverty, promote justice, uphold dignity” supports programs in the islands that teach social justice in schools. Over 5,000 children have been introduced to themes of equality, leadership, peacebuilding and environmental stewardship.
In light of the physical dangers the islanders face, the organization has provided teachers with curriculum instructing children how to prepare for natural disasters through nursery rhymes and games.
This country faces greater challenges than most due to its location on the globe, but the future is not without hope for these resilient people. Through programs and organizations working to build sustainable change, it is possible to combat poverty in the Solomon Islands.
– Rebecca Causey
Photo: Flickr
The Quality of Fiji’s Water is Misrepresented
The quality of Fiji’s water is drastically decreasing with the relentless presence of rotting pipes, inadequate wells and improper water treatment plants becoming more frequent.
Climate change continues to cause droughts in Rakiraki, Fiji. Throughout history, half the country has needed emergency water supplies of at least four gallons a week per family. Dirty water has led to outbreaks of typhoid and parasitic infections.
Fijian hospital patients have reported fetching their own water, and children have found shells, leaves and frogs in their school’s pipes. People resorted to breaking into fire hydrants and manipulating water truck drivers just to get a regular supply, according to Mother Jones.
Children die from a waterborne disease every minute. There are 750 million people worldwide without access to clean water. In 2014, the Water Authority of Fiji gave its allegiance to the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals, aiming to complete 60 percent of its protocol.
However, the quality of Fiji’s water is under scrutiny by international experts across the African Continent because they are below the average sanitation levels, even though the Fiji Water company claims it helped roughly 40,000 people get clean drinking water access. Warwick Pleass, the rotary pacific water chairman, tested the quality of Fiji’s water and found it is worse than Uganda in Africa.
Fiji Water, established in 1995, brought business to the impoverished country, but also benefits from tax exemptions. While co-founder David Gilmour stated in 2003 that he wanted Fiji Water “to become the biggest taxpayer in the country,” the tax break scheduled to end in 2008 has not yet expired.
When the Fijian government tried to impose a tax on the company in 2008, Fiji Water protested by temporarily shutting down the plant, describing the taxes as draconian. While the Fiji Water company is featured at the hands of celebrities and politicians in full-page ads, the country of Fiji is riddled with faulty water supplies and plagued by typhoid outbreaks.
Among the volcanic foothills with metal shacks and wooden homes, the Fiji Water factory is located in the Yagara Valley, immersed in cow pastures and swaying palm trees. Chickens roam through these vibrant houses and at the feet of market locals. A sweet smell of burning sugar cane fills the air, according to Mother Jones Reporter Anna Lenzer.
Only half an hour from the bottling plant is the small town Rakiraki, riddled with dusty marketplace shops. A sign advertises a “Coffin Box for Sale – Cheapest in Town.”
Even though Lenzer’s destination guide claims the quality of Fiji’s water is unfit for human consumption, Fiji Water bottles line grocery store aisles for 90 cents a pint, roughly the same as U.S. market sale prices.
– Rachel Williams
Photo: Flickr
Education in Mozambique: Serving Children with Disabilities
Volunteers spent the day with disabled children and adults at the Matola Children’s Home. In Mozambique, disabled people may be abandoned by family members and are often seen as a financial burden.
Currently, the Matola Children’s Home houses 42 children from many local areas and has 67 young children in their daily preschool. The center relies solely on donations from the international community. The most difficult situation for disabled children is the limited assistance and opportunities they have to pursue an education in Mozambique.
According to the African Disability Rights Yearbook, 103,276 people with disabilities were children between the ages 0 to 15 years, which makes up approximately 21 percent of the total population of people with disabilities. One of the main problems within the confines of the country with such children is the issue of schooling.
Public schools aren’t developed with this demographic in mind making, which makes it difficult for these children to partake in education provided by the government. In 2013, UNICEF partnered with world-renowned photographers to create a collection of multimedia films that centers on the troubles surrounding the children of Mozambique.
In “The Rights Responsibility: Invisible Children” directed by Francisco Carlos Zevute and photographed by Patrick Zachmann, many children and families are interviewed in order to shed light on how grave the situation pertaining to disabled children and education is in Mozambique.
The film goes on to state “children with disabilities are almost twice as likely to fall victim to violence and are at heightened risk of abandonment and intimidation.”
One of the direst situations for special needs education in Mozambique is a lack of qualified teachers able to teach these children as well as the infrastructure of schools which is not conducive for a child with disabilities.
Mozambique is slowly but surely making an effort to improve education as a whole in the country. In 2015, 51 percent of the country’s primary schools taught all seven grades in one school, and in 2016 the proportion increased to 56 percent.
Although great strides are made toward improving the education in Mozambique, little is being done to help disabled children.
Poverty plays a pivotal role in the scarce resources and availability of appropriate education for the disabled community. Ending global poverty proves to be a catalyst towards the accessibility of inclusive education in the developing world.
– Mariana Camacho
Photo: Flickr
Lumkani: A New Device Can Save Lives in South Africa’s Slums
Fires pose an extreme threat to slums, especially in South Africa. The City of Cape Town recently reported in a press release that between 2015 and 2016 there were 717 fires in slums, killing 32 people.
One of the most devastating fires to strike a slum occurred on Jan. 1, 2013 in the southwestern township of Khayelitsha. According to an article published by CNN, when the flames were finally extinguished, it was discovered that 800 homes were destroyed and as many as five people were killed.
Francois Petousis, an electrical engineering student at the University of Cape Town, along with five co-founders has invented a solution to this ever-growing issue. Lumkani, which translates to “be careful” in the South African language Xhosa, is the name of the team’s revolutionary heat-detecting mechanism.
In most slums or informal settlements, people cook and heat their homes using fire, which inevitably creates smoke. Due to this, Lumkani does not use standard smoke detection technology, it instead tracks how quickly heat rises in a room.
Fires are so destructive in slums because the homes are built close together, which allows the flames to spread quickly. According to Lumkani’s website, all devices that are within a 60-meter radius of a detected fire will ring in unison. This gives members of the community additional time to extinguish the fire or escape if it is spreading too quickly.
Recently, Lumkani developed new instruments that monitor the connectivity of devices and send text messages to nearby residents in the event of a fire. On their website, the start-up reported that they have distributed more than 7000 detectors since November 2014.
Lumkani has won numerous awards, including Global Innovation through Science and Technology’s competition for best start-up at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2014 and the overall prize for the Comfortable Home category at the Better Living Challenge 2014.
Since its launch, Lumkani devices have stopped the spread of numerous fires in South African slums. In the future, Lumkani plans to expand its market to the rest of Africa and Southeast Asia.
– Liam Travers
Photo: Flickr
Mosquito Death Ray: Technology That Could Save Millions
Mosquitos transmit various diseases including malaria, dengue, yellow fever and Zika. Although both bed nets and insecticides are helpful in fighting off these mosquitos, a new invention is working to completely eliminate these disease-infested bugs: the Mosquito Death Ray.
Developed by Intellectual Ventures, the Mosquito Death Ray zaps mosquitoes to death before they can make human contact. The photonic fence technology creates a force field that can be set up around the perimeter of different areas. These include villages, schools, buildings and fields.
The new technology is still in its beginning stages and is not available commercially. However, once completed and ready for implementation, the Mosquito Death Ray could potentially save the lives of millions.
The technology looks to detect female mosquitoes as the reproduction of more mosquitoes would be impossible without them. The gender of the mosquito is determined by their wing beat frequency — female mosquitoes have a lower wing beat frequency compared to male mosquitoes.
Eliminating mosquitoes is an important step in saving the lives of millions. Malaria, dengue and yellow fever account for millions of deaths and hundreds of millions of illnesses every year.
Yellow fever affects more than 120 million people in regions including Africa, India and the Americas.
Over 2 billion people worldwide are affected by dengue fever, which affects one’s ability to function in day to day activities.
Malaria is extremely prevalent in 91 countries and impairs the working capacity of millions of people, linking it to poverty and developmental issues. There are over 500 million cases each year with the majority of the cases infecting Africans. Each year, malaria kills 2.7 million people.
Without mosquitos transmitting these diseases from person to person, people and children could focus more on their educations and careers allowing countries to develop at a quicker pace.
– Casey Marx
Photo: Flickr
Restructuring Education in Malaysia to Follow Global Agenda
Redesigning the infrastructure of education in Malaysia goes hand in hand with the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals. The Sustainable Development Goals make up a section of UNESCO’s 2030 Education Plan.
Education Deputy Director General Datuk Seri Khairil Awang says that the Malaysian Education Blueprint (MEB) “was implemented three years ahead of Education 2030, (and) we found that MEB is very much in line with the targets of Education 2030.” Malaysian Education is being redesigned to be part of a global initiative for education.
UNESCO’s 2030 Education Plan was formulated at the World Education Forum 2015 held in Incheon, Republic of Korea. Students from both the public and private sectors, along with teachers, were present at the forum.
One hundred and sixty countries, 1,600 participants and over 120 ministries were also in attendance in order to create and adopt a new perspective of education that will be the new approach to teaching for the next 15 years. Within this new system are elements to ensure twelve years of free and public education, at least 9 of which will be compulsory.
In response to the most faulty educational systems being located in conflict-ridden countries, UNESCO’s plan stated, “We recommend a sufficient crisis response, from emergency response through to recovery and rebuilding; better coordinated national, regional and global responses; and capacity development for comprehensive risk reduction and mitigation to ensure that education is maintained during situations of conflict, emergency, post-conflict and early recovery.”
The plan, even though ambitious, proves to propel this agenda through legislation utilizing policy framework in order to assure transparency within the governments choosing to adopt this system.
The architects of education in Malaysia have opted to adopt the Sustainable Development Goal of the 2030 Agenda and implement the missions too, “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” The main challenge for the Malaysian educational system is providing accessible education for children with unique situations.
Children that require special educational needs, or the indigenous and minority children, were often marginalized and were not given the proper support in order for them to thrive within the previous schooling offered in Malaysia.
In order to properly install the 2030 program on a national scale within the Malaysian education frame according to Khairil Awang, it will “require building a strong capacity of management and coordination in utilizing data and evidence.” The future of Malaysia’s educational system looks promising if executed correctly.
Malaysia is only one of the few countries that vowed to adopt this system in order to better their children. Malaysia is setting itself up to succeed by investing in education and the future of the country.
Through such a bold statement, it gives the country confidence that it isn’t a false promise. The 2030 plan will revolutionize public education for the entire world and education in Malaysia will be a protagonist in the narrative of countries investing in the youth because it provides long-term solutions instead of short-sighted ones.
– Mariana Camacho
Photo: Flickr
Violence Fuels Honduran Refugees to Seek Asylum in the US
While many in the U.S. have begun focusing on the Syrian refugee crisis and the horrors committed by the Islamic State (IS) and the Assad regime, the U.S. still has a major refugee crisis along its southern border.
For decades, millions of migrants have traveled from South and Central America to the U.S. in search of better work opportunities and social benefits for themselves and their families. Recently, however, the migrant crisis has transformed into a refugee crisis, with many also traveling to the U.S. to escape the dangers of their home countries.
With the U.S. as the world’s biggest customer, a thriving drug market worth more than $300 billion has fueled the violence between gangs, each fighting for territory and the rights to sell drugs. In countries dictated by drug trades, government corruption also becomes inevitable, with police sometimes working hand in hand with gangs.
Especially in Honduras, these drug wars have displaced thousands, destroying neighborhoods and forcing their inhabitants to move north. Thousands of Honduran refugees have traveled to the U.S. in search of new lives.
In the past few years, however, U.S. investment in countries like Honduras has helped reduce violence. The American government has put money and resources into programs that dissuade youth from joining gangs and replenish impoverished neighborhoods.
Here are 10 facts about Honduras and Honduran refugees:
While there is a lot of potential in the U.S. funded pilot programs, more money is necessary to enact change on a large scale. Although many may criticize the foreign aid the U.S. already gives as being too charitable, they must keep in mind the costs of receiving these refugees illegally and the cost of them making the journey north. By fixing the roots of the problem, the U.S. can prevent the symptoms from reaching its borders.
Because Honduras is filled with human rights violations, many would see the funding completely cut. This summer, government officials tried to pass a bill in Congress that would do so.
However, responding to the human rights issue by cutting funding to violence prevention may be most impractical and harmful. Although expensive, the best solution may be to continue funding violence prevention programs while beginning separate programs that address government abuse and corruption.
– Henry Gao
Photo: Flickr
EALA Promotes Use of Kiswahili as Official Language
Language plays a pivotal role in creating a country’s identity. The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) has decided to reclaim its identity by passing a resolution to make Swahili the second official language of Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda.
The resolution promotes the use of Kiswahili as an official language in domains like offices, hospitals and schools.
Kiswahili has been an official language of the African Union since 2004, and the language will help define the EALA as a union. An agreement between EALA members to speak the same language will represent a stalwart bond between them.
Kiswahili’s roots are in the Bantu language, a language spoken by about 50 percent of the African population. The language’s prevalence will make Kiswahili easier to integrate into society.
In all EALA countries except Uganda, Kiswahili is commonly spoken among the general public. The assembly is looking for help directing the education of Ugandan youth, women and civil societies in the language.
Unifying the EALA’s official language will help create a shared East African identity among member countries.
The language of Kiswahili will facilitate all goings-on in the EALA, from government activities to the tourism industry. In addition to this, according to Rwandan legislator Patricia Hajabakiga, “besides promoting unity among the EAC populace, Kiswahili is a critical medium of communication that will facilitate trade in the region.”
– Mariana Camacho
Photo: Flickr