15 Organizations Fighting Poverty in Developing Countries

15 Influential Organizations Committed to Fighting Poverty in Developing Countries Help
Naturally, The Borgen Project is our favorite organization fighting global poverty, but there are lots of amazing groups changing the world. Thanks to multilateral partnerships between nonprofit organizations, intergovernmental organizations and governments around the world, extreme poverty is down 50 percent since 1990. Below is a list of influential organizations that are fighting poverty in developing countries by working to better the lives of the world’s poor. This list is by no means exhaustive; this is just a sample of the exemplary organizations doing work in problem areas such as global health, water, sanitation, food, housing and education.

Top Organization Fighting Poverty in Developing Countries

  1. Oxfam: Oxfam is currently fighting poverty in developing countries by taking on issues of inequality, discrimination and unequal access to resources. The organization provides assistance during humanitarian crises. Oxfam is also very involved in educating the world’s poor about human rights and civic engagement in order to change the root causes of poverty at the political level.
  2. United Nations Development Program (UNDP): Founded on the belief that all people should have a chance to live with dignity, opportunity and safety, the UNDP helps countries develop policies. These lead to sustainable development, democratic governance, peace building and climate and disaster resilience. The UNDP is a giant agency that delegates country-specific activities and programs through its Resident Coordinator System with offices in 130 countries. The organization’s highest goal is to implement the Sustainable Development Goals in all countries of operation.
  3. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF): UNICEF fights for children’s rights and welfare by strengthening legislation and social services. Initiatives include early childhood development, nutrition, immunization, water, sanitation and hygiene, children with disabilities and education.
  4. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA): UNOCHA is responsible for coordinating humanitarian relief efforts during natural disasters and conflict, as well as raising awareness and encouraging involvement among U.N. member states.
  5. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA): The UN DESA creates and analyzes data pertaining to the economic and social aspects of sustainable development, which U.N. member states draw from when creating U.N. resolutions as well as drafting local policy plans in each respective home country. The UN DESA’s in-depth policy analysis has helped to resolve many of the world’s most pressing socioeconomic issues.
  6. The Borgen Project: The Borgen Project is an influential U.S.-based nonprofit fighting poverty in developing countries through civic engagement and education. The organization believes that developed countries have a moral obligation to help the world’s poor. The organization advocates on Capitol Hill for poverty reduction legislation, increasing the international affairs budget and making poverty reduction a primary focus of U.S. foreign policy.
  7. U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID): USAID facilitates development abroad by allocating the U.S. international aid budget toward projects that increase agricultural productivity, lower child mortality rates and deadly diseases, provide humanitarian assistance during a natural disaster and prolonged conflict, as well as promote democracy, economic growth, environmental resiliency and women’s empowerment.
  8. Overseas Development Institute (ODI): ODI is an independent think tank that researches a myriad of topics such as climate, energy, poverty and inequality. The institute’s goal is to facilitate international development by providing policy advice, consultancy services and training programs to fight poverty.
  9. Concern Worldwide: Concern Worldwide is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that fights poverty in developing countries by providing lifesaving humanitarian aid primarily focused on alleviating world hunger, increasing world health, and responding to emergencies and natural disasters.
  10. The Hunger Project: Two-thirds of the world’s illiterate population is female. Sixty percent of HIV/AIDS cases today affect women. The Hunger Project recognizes that poverty is sexist, and believes that empowering women is essential to ending world hunger and poverty. The project fights for clean drinking water, nutrition, and sanitation, as well as economic growth.
  11. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF): The BMGF has been instrumental in saving the lives of 122 million children since 1990. This is largely made possible through its efforts to increase access to healthcare and vaccinations, which have all but eradicated polio and halved malaria and tuberculosis rates around the world.
  12. World Bank Group: The World Bank Group is a crucial piece of our international development; it funds development projects around the world through traditional loans, interest-free credits and grants. The World Bank Group produces some of the world’s leading research and publications concerning development policies and programs. The group also offers policy advice, analysis and technical assistance to developing countries throughout the project application process.
  13. The Earth Institute: The Earth Institute is part of New York University and is directed by Jeffrey Sachs. It is comprised of two dozen research facilities in the fields of Earth and climate science, public health, economics, law, business and public policy. All of the organization’s research is focused on the future sustainability of our planet. The institute uses its research to develop policies and solutions to the world’s problems, especially in the areas of sustainable development and the alleviation of poverty.
  14. The Red Cross: The Red Cross in an international NGO that provides urgent assistance to those affected by disaster through vaccination campaigns, disaster preparedness and by reconnecting families separated by conflict and natural disasters.
  15. Engineers Without Borders (EWB): Engineers Without Borders is fighting poverty in developing countries by providing real-world engineering solutions to tough problems all over the world. Whether that be through increasing access to clean drinking water in rural communities or building roads and dams, EWB is committed to community-driven development by working alongside community members.

There are thousands of other organizations that are working to do their part on local and international scales. These groups are all increasing standards of living and fighting poverty in developing countries.

– Josh Ward

Photo: Flickr

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Shakira Opens Seventh School to Provide Better Education in Colombia


Noting her country’s unrelenting stance on its budget, musician Shakira will be opening her seventh school to provide better education in Colombia for impoverished children.

Since the 1960s, education in Colombia has changed drastically, with government funding growing ten-fold. In fact, because government funding has increased 5.75 percent in 2015, Colombia’s primary school enrollment has doubled, secondary school enrollment has increased six-fold and university enrollment has increased fifteen times over.

In 2009, the country’s Education Minister, Cecilia Velez, noted that high school enrollment rose from 400,000 to 700,000 in the past five years. However, it wasn’t always like this. In fact, much of Colombia is still catching up to modern times and is still striving to lower poverty that keeps children out of school.

Approximately 30.6 percent of Colombia’s population lives below the poverty line, and Colombia ranks as the tenth most unequal country in the world. Among those most affected by poverty and inequality are children. In addition, of that 30.6 percent, 42.8 percent are impoverished rural people, while 26.9 percent live in urban areas.

Although Colombia has made great strides over the past few years in reforming education, little has been done to accommodate children in poverty trying to go to school. Students have even resorted to protesting on the streets, demanding a better investment in schools and making education in Colombia a priority.

However, Velez noted that achieving higher quality and more accessible education would take a greater investment by the government, and with a strict budget going toward security and defense rather than education, little can be done.

To combat this budgetary issue, Shakira and her foundation, the Pies Descalzos Foundation, have been building schools around Colombia for nearly 20 years. The singer specifically chooses rural, impoverished areas where the government has little to no involvement to give children the opportunity to attend school. She has already built six schools, and this time she’s focusing on her home, Barranquilla, where 25.7 percent of the town’s population lives below the poverty line.

Teaming up with FC Barcelona and La Caixa Banking Foundation, 1.2 million euros will be donated to build the new school, which will be named “Institución Nuevo Bosque.” The Colombian Ministry of Education and the City of Barranquilla have also volunteered to donate the remaining balance of the project.

Shakira noted that by providing education to children shackled down by their economic status, they are being liberated and having their minds opened to things they could never have imagined. In addition, the singer hopes that the opening of a new school will help provide jobs, security and peace to the conflict-ridden town.

With the construction of her seventh school, set to be finished in 2019, Shakira will be providing education in one of the darkest corners of Colombia.

– Amira Wynn

Photo: Flickr

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Private Help Needed to Improve Water Quality in Gambia


With the steady decline of freshwater, accessing sanitary drinking water is an escalating global catastrophe. In West Africa, the Gambia faces significant challenges in sanitation and water quality. Water quality in Gambia is being affected due to expanding urban populations near water sources and discarding waste into waterways.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the primary environmental issue in Gambia is waste management, specifically in urban neighborhoods. In highly populated areas, unsustainable waste and landfill management create environmental hazards that affect the quality of drinking water. The exponential growth of Gambia’s urbanized regions and insufficient resources to support the subsequent waste has intensified water pollution.

The water quality in Gambia has decreased from the insufficient waste collection, the common disposal of trash from small industries and households and lacking appropriate disposal practices. Without proper surveillance methods, monitoring the quality of surface and groundwater has become a major challenge.

From 2002 to 2011, the government of Gambia invested approximately $1.7 million annually on “water-related infrastructure and programs.” The funds were primarily distributed between water supply and sanitation on large systems (61.4 percent) and agricultural water resources (21.3 percent).

The amount of reliable drinking water sources has risen 15 percent from 1992 to 2010 and continues to increase. In 2010, 15 percent of rural and eight percent of urban Gambians did not have access to sanitary drinking water. Nearly all of Gambia’s potable water must be drilled from underground. The surface water, which includes and is affected by the River Gambia and its tributaries, is incredibly saline and undrinkable. Groundwater sources supply potable water for urban areas, industry, tourism, livestock and irrigation watering.

Rural areas depend on the help of independent charities for access to potable water. The investment-based charity, Water for Africa, believes that the best help for a country’s infrastructure and prosperity begins with accessible, clean water. So far, it has primarily helped West African countries by using donations to find regions that have unreliable access or none at all. It has specifically helped two regions in the north and south of Gambia by identifying the villages, Bambara and Kuntair, as the best hubs for wells and funding their installation to improve the water quality in Gambia.

– Madison O’Connell

Photo: Flickr

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9 Facts About Belgium Refugees


With the recent conflict in Syria and other nations, Belgium has prepared for a huge influx of asylum applications. However, with the huge numbers pouring into neighboring countries, Belgium is somewhat “spooked.” Following are nine facts about Belgium refugees.

9 Facts About Belgium Refugees

  1. With the huge influx of migrants and refugees, the Director of a Belgian regional tourism office warned hotels in March 2016 that they would lose government help and funding if they housed asylum seekers for more than three months.
  2. Additionally, the Mayor of the port city of Zeebrugge called for a “camp like Guantanamo” to house Belgium refugees and told locals to not feed refugees to discourage a large number of refugees attempting to find asylum in Belgium.
  3. In the past year, Belgium police have arrested 363 refugees, and in January it increased to 950. This increase comes after the dismantling of the “Jungle” housing camp in Calais, France, which housed nearly 4,000 people, and the border reinforcement in Hungary.
  4. Refugees detained in Belgium are sent to the last European country before arriving in Belgium, or if they have no documentation given the opportunity to claim asylum and released. The Interior Minister has said those arrested would reach thousands as migrants struggle to find alternative routes to Britain.
  5. In the wake of several refugee shelters being dismantled due to violence, local families have volunteered to host Belgium refugees.
  6. In August 2015, there were approximately 5,600 Belgium refugee applications, with about 1,900 of those applications coming from Brussels.
  7. Most of the refugees seeking temporary asylum in Belgium are Syrian. In 2016, 452 refugees entered Belgium and 448 of those refugees were Syrian. In addition, in the last four years, Belgium has accepted 862 refugees, and more are expected in 2017, including about 550 Syrians planning to enter the country that couldn’t be resettled per the EU-Turkey agreement.
  8. In 2016, 12,197 asylum seekers were granted Belgium refugee status, a record that doubled from the previous year. The 3,281 refugees that did not qualify for refugee status were granted protection until they could be resettled or granted refugee status later.
  9. In 2017, and for the next two years, the Belgian population is predicted to increase about 85,000 people each year. Half of the influx is attributed to refugees entering the country, while the other half is attributed to “natural” additions.

With the impending increase of refugees over the next few years, the government continues to find ways to control the flow and provide resources to Belgium refugees.

– Amira Wynn

Photo: Flickr

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Top Diseases in Albania Mostly Non-Communicable


Non-communicable diseases are the top diseases in Albania. Overall, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and respiratory diseases are the three deadliest. The annual mortality rate of cardiovascular diseases is 54.3 percent. For cancer, the annual mortality rate is 17.7 percent and for respiratory diseases, the mortality rate falls just below six percent.

Cardiovascular Diseases
The top diseases in Albania consist of various cardiovascular diseases. They are the deadliest of all non-communicable diseases. In 2013, the three deadliest cardiovascular diseases were strokes, ischemic heart disease and other cardiovascular and circulatory diseases.

These common yet deadly diseases made up 94.1 percent of all deaths cause from cardiovascular diseases in Albania. In fact, strokes were fatal to 197.5 people out of every 100,000. Unfortunately, since 1990, its mortality rate has increased by 124 percent. At the same time, ischemic heart disease killed another 172.7 per 100,000. Since 1990, the mortality rate for ischemic heart disease has increased by 170 percent.

Slightly more than 23 out of every 100,000 persons were killed by other cardiovascular and circulatory diseases.

Cancer
Cancer is the second-deadliest of all non-communicable diseases. In 2013, the most common forms included cancer of the stomach, liver, trachea, bronchus and lungs. These made up 49.2 percent of all deaths caused by cancer. The mortality rate has also increased.

As a matter of fact, stomach cancer killed 16.6 per 100,000 and its mortality rate has increased by 49 percent since 1990. Moreover, liver cancer killed 16.2 per 100,000 and its mortality rate has increased by 101 percent.

Combined, tracheal, bronchial and lung cancer killed 34.2 people out of every 100,000. Since 1990, its mortality rate has increased by 111 percent.

Chronic Respiratory Diseases
The third-deadliest non-communicable diseases are respiratory. In 2013, the most deadly chronic respiratory diseases were obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and interstitial lung disease and pulmonary sarcoidosis. These made up 93.5 percent of deaths which result from chronic respiratory diseases.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), killed 31.3 people out of every 100,000. COPD’s mortality rate has grown by 49 percent since 1990.

Asthma killed another 7.8 per 100,000. Its mortality rate has sadly increased by 56 percent. Interstitial lung disease and pulmonary sarcoidosis killed 3.3 persons out of 100,000. In addition, its mortality rate has increased by 70 percent.

Fortunately, healthcare in Albania is provided to everyone. However, the government is having a hard time meeting the needs of all citizens. As a result, the World Bank is working on the health system improvement project, in order to improve the country’s health system. Hopefully, this will help alleviate the top diseases in Albania.

– Solansh Moya

Photo: Flickr

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9 Technological Innovations from Africa

Africa Technology: 10 Technological Innovations from AfricaIn recent years, the African Union has concentrated on better ways that to solve local problems. Facing a lot of challenges, the continent is raising a generation of innovators who are making a big investment in Africa technology development taking a creative approach and non-standard thinking. Here are 10 examples of technological innovations coming out of African countries.

9 Technological Innovations from Africa

  1. Mellowcabs: Mellowcab is a fully electric vehicle that provides public transportation in urban areas. Developed in South Africa, Mellowcabs are eco-friendly and carbon-neutral. The cabs use kinetic energy to power the vehicle, on-board tablet computers, use hydrogen fuel cell technology, and are made out of recycled materials. The rides are free; the company relies on an advertisement placed in the cab. Mellowcabs developers helped to reduce traffic in urban areas and successfully tied into the transport infrastructure.
  2. Jumia: Jumia launched in Nigeria in 2012. The largest e-commerce retailer in the country works with 16 African countries and sells anything from electronics to clothes and home goods. Initially starting with three employees, Jumia presently has a staff of 1,000 young and entrepreneurial Nigerians. Jumia set-up the first e-commerce academy in Nigeria, the Jumia Academy, building young entrepreneurs pioneering various aspects of business in Nigeria.
  3. Sterio.me: Sterio.me is a critical education startup in Africa, utilising the recent development of mobile industry, SMS-based programs are a good way to engages learners outside the classroom, to reinforce in-classroom learning. The process is easy: teachers record a lecture or quiz, upload it to the site where pupils can access the information with a code. First launched in Zimbabwe, Sterio.me opens up an opportunity for everyone who wants to learn.
  4. Obami: Obami is a South Africa-based social learning platform, where students can get news from schools and groups and submit school work. Launched in 2007, the technology is currently used by about 400 organizations across Africa. The cloud-hosted platform is easily accessible from the web or, importantly, from mobile. The mobile app, Obami Tutor, focuses on private tutoring. Barbara Mallinson, Obami’s founder, is one of the leading female entrepreneurs in South Africa.
  5. M-PESA: M-PESA is a mobile-based money transfer application, which allows users to store money on mobile accounts and make simple transfers via SMS messaging. Customers can deposit and withdraw money from a large network of agents, charging its users a small fee for sending and withdrawing transactions. Since its creation in 2007, M-PESA expanded as far as Afghanistan, India and Albania. This app moves an entire third of the Kenyan GDP among its 15 million mostly rural users.
  6. Charging Shoes: One extraordinary method to charge a mobile phone while walking is to use ultra-thin chips of crystal inserted into the sole of a shoe. Invented by Anthony Mutua from Kenya, technology generates electricity through the pressure exerted when it is stepped on.
  7. Sleep Out: Sleep Out is a website for adventurers and travelers who are looking for accommodation in Africa. Launched in 2011 in Kenya, the online portal became popular very quick. Today it covers hotels, hostels, B&Bs and private hosts from all over the continent. It allows users to pay directly to the host via mobile, cash, card or transfer.
  8. The Kenya Open Data Initiative: A portal to fuel new enterprises and apps. Most important, it makes government data freely available to the Kenyan public. The technological initiative was claimed to improve governance and constitutional groundwork on information access.
  9. Ushahidi: This app was developed after 2008 post-election violence outbreak to create a map reflecting data of violent acts in the country. Ushahidi offers products that enable local observers to submit reports using their mobile phones or the internet, while simultaneously creating a temporary geospatial archive of events.

Right now the continent’s technological development is going through a creative phase. This evolution will continue to empower Africa’s technology markets, people and potential in meaningful ways, taking the continent into the digitized era.

– Yana Emets

Photo: Flickr

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Urban-Rural Disparity in Water Quality in Argentina

Clean Water in Argentina

For years, Argentina, a nation surrounded by water, has been lacking the resources to secure clean and safe drinking water for its people. Travel websites often question, “Can you drink the tap water in Buenos Aires?”, leading to discussions regarding water quality in Argentina.

In 1996, Argentines protested after they found manganese in their water, turning the water brown. Also, because of the poor economic growth in the early 2000s, water bills have increased by 70 percent.

Some urban areas of Argentina have access to clean water, but the rural communities are far behind their urban counterparts. These people face issues of water pollution from industrial influences, urbanization and harmful agriculture.

Arsenic, chromium, copper, zinc, and lead have been found in the Riachuelo river in Argentina, which in 2013 was named one of the 10 dirtiest places on the planet. Muddy bubbles can be seen forming at the river’s surface. “These are gases produced by heavy metals on the bottom,” explained Alfredo Alberti of the La Boca Neighbors Association.

Those in poorer areas of Argentina suffer greatly because of the little influence they have on their government, leading to political neglect. Dan Adaszko, a research scholar at the Argentine Catholic University observatory on social debt, explained that the percentage of the population lacking access to water and sanitation represents a national average that covers much higher levels among poor households.

Eleven percent of the population lacks piped water, leading those without access to safe drinking water. Marisa Arienza, head of the Green Cross Argentina and research specialist in water, went into detail about the situation. Arienza explained that there has been “substantial improvement” in water quality in Argentina, yet there are many challenges for more progress.

“The main problem in inequity of water access. When a family does not have access to drinking water, they drink polluted water from wells, with the result that they suffer from diseases and even disabilities,” Arienza explained.

There are plentiful water supplies in the nation but citizens in specific areas lack to tools to have access to clean water.

– Mary Waller

Photo: Flickr

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Focus on Domestic and International Hunger in the Netherlands

The Netherlands is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. The country’s gross domestic product is the 17th-highest in the world and it consistently ranks in the top 10 on the Human Development Index in the world. Hunger in the Netherlands is prevalent, even though the country contributes a very high percentage of its GDP to foreign aid. And as of recently, due to the economic crisis, more than one million of the country’s 17 million people have hit the marker for poverty.

There are many nonprofit organizations that aid in providing food to families who are in need. Foodbank Netherlands is one of these organizations that partners with food companies to donate food products to those who suffer from hunger in the Netherlands.
The government in the Netherlands has also developed a food security policy that addresses different concerns that bring about hunger in the Netherlands as well as the world. The Netherlands seeks to specifically address hunger worldwide and also focuses on the many people who suffer from hidden hunger.
While the economic downturn has seen the Netherlands own citizens experience hunger the country still focuses on foreign aid to other countries. Hunger in the Netherlands is being combated while the country still remains at the top of initiatives for its citizenry and policy reform for global hunger and poverty reduction. 
 
Hunger trends are very minute for the Dutch as unemployment is low and the country has generous social benefits that prevent the growth of poverty. The Netherlands has the lowest poverty rate in Europe next to Sweden due to government aid that subsides burden for the country’s citizenry.
The Netherlands continues to lead by example in its contributions to ending global hunger while it faces its own challenges domestically.

– Rochelle R. Dean

Photo: Flickr

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10 Facts About Hunger in the Gambia


The Gambia, officially the Republic of the Gambia, is a country in West Africa almost entirely surrounded by Senegal. The Gambia is the smallest country in mainland Africa, home to just fewer than two million people, about half of whom live in poverty. Here are 10 facts about hunger in the Gambia.

10 Facts About Hunger in the Gambia

  1. Approximately one-tenth of the Gambia’s population is food-insecure, and nearly one in three Gambians are vulnerable to food insecurity.
  2. Food insecurity has led to high malnutrition rates. In 2015, 10.3 percent of the population was malnourished.
  3. Malnutrition in the Gambia has resulted in the stunting of growth in 24.9 percent of children.
  4. The country’s high poverty rate contributes to hunger. Nearly half — 48 percent of the population — live below the national poverty line.
  5. The population is growing exceptionally quickly. Since 2003, the population has grown by 36 percent, to almost two million people.
  6. The Gambia is classified as a food-deficit, low-income country. It ranked 175 out of 188 countries in the UNDP Human Development Index.
  7. Due to the Gambia’s climate, the country’s agriculture is particularly susceptible to damage from climate change, with extreme weather events and rising sea levels harming output.
  8. Food costs in the Gambia are increasing. Since domestic cereal production fulfills just 60 percent of demand, the population relies greatly on food imports. As a result, the retail price of imported rice has almost doubled within the past decade.
  9. Like many other impoverished countries, poverty in the Gambia is worse in rural areas. Approximately three-quarters of the rural population lives in poverty.
  10. Women in the country are also facing higher rates of poverty. Women in the Gambia make up more than 50 percent of the agricultural labor force and 70 percent of unskilled laborers. However, lack of access to new technology and land hurt their incomes.

Climate change and increasingly low agricultural output continue to worsen hunger in the country. However, providing the population with new technology to help them become more resilient to environmental changes could help reduce hunger in the Gambia.

– Alexi Worley

Photo: Flickr

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5 Facts About the State of Hunger in Guam


Guam is a U.S. island territory in Micronesia, with a small population of 162,742 as of 2016. Issues such as unemployment and the high cost of living contribute to hunger in Guam. However, with the aid of organizations like The Salvation Army in Guam and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s distribution of food stamps, conditions are beginning to look up for citizens. The following are five facts on the state of hunger in Guam.

5 Facts About the State of Hunger in Guam

  1. As of 2013, the unemployment rate sits at 8.4 percent. The deep drop only contributes to the issue of hunger in Guam, making it difficult for individuals to work well-paying jobs and earn enough money to provide for their families.
  2. In 2015, the number of Guam residents on food stamp assistance rose 3.7 percent, with a total of 15,779 island households receiving food subsidies, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which funds the national Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
  3. In 1994, one in every 8.4 Guam residents received food stamps. Today that number has dropped to one in every 3.4 residents.
  4. The Guam Department of Education wishes to expand the program to give more students free meals in Guam’s 41 public schools. This will cost the government of Guam an additional $3 million to $5 million a year to fund.
  5. The Salvation Army focuses efforts in Guam, providing millions of meals to face the threat of food security, cure hunger and overcome poverty. Donations and various means of volunteering through this outlet help kids in low-income communities thrive.

Ending hunger in Guam, particularly child hunger, is a high priority for Guam. Communities and schools have joined together in fighting the widespread problem. By ensuring that food programs extend to greater groups of people, hunger can hopefully be eliminated as a whole in the near future.

– Mikaela Frigillana

Photo: Flickr