The third-smallest South American country came into independence in 1966 after more than 340 years of colonial control by the Dutch, British and French. Slavery and indentured servitude brought immigrants from several continents, giving Guyana one of the most ethnically diverse populations globally. Many ethnic origins are international, and many people choose to leave and live in other countries. Guyana has one of the worst net migration rates in the world as more than 55% migrate to find work.
Economy
Sixty percent of the country’s gross domestic product is represented by six exports: sugar, gold, bauxite, shrimp, timber, and rice. Guyana was once a powerful producer of sugar, yet its production sunk to an all-time low in 2014. More recent crop production numbers have shown an improvement. A 2015 submission to the Guyana Sugar Corporation Commission of Inquiry reported reaching 94 percent of productivity goals in the first half of that year.
With somewhat recent estimates stating that 35% of the population lives in poverty, Guyana is one of the world’s poorest nations. (2012 Gross National Income (GNI) per capita: $3,410-USD, 2011: $2,900-USD)
Education
Less than 3.5% of Guyana’s GDP goes toward education expenditures. Less than 90% of people age 15 and over have attended school, and the average school-life expectancy is 10 years.
In its population, 27% of which are children under the age of 15, just 281,000 people use the internet. More than a quarter of the population are without cellular telephones. Of those 199,607 0-14-year-olds, 16% are child laborers.
Health
There were 100 HIV/AIDS-related deaths in 2015. With a population of less than 800,000, that number is staggering. In that year there were nearly 8,000 people living with HIV and AIDS in Guyana.
The cause for low numbers of doctors and hospital beds is very low health expenditures. The country has a low life expectancy, 165th in the world at 68.4%. This is likely due to the populations’ increased exposure to major infectious diseases like hepatitis A and malaria.
Water supplies are endangered by sewage, chemicals, and well water pollution by saltwater from the sea.
Solutions
According to the CIA world factbook, the government remains maligned in sizable debt servitude despite the Inter-American Development Bank canceling more than $450 million of their debt a decade ago. While that brought the debt-to-GDP ratio down from 183% in 2006 to 67 percent in 2015, the country sorely needs investments in infrastructure and an influx of skilled workers.
Coordinating with international health organizations to develop research facilities would develop a premier health care network.
Currently, the nation’s largest university focuses mainly on agricultural sciences. While the Pan-American Health Organization maintains an office in the country, working to expand upon that network would prove beneficial.
Developing a health care network on the northern-most coast of South America would aid in fighting infectious disease in Guyana. This creates a need to improve its poor infrastructure and bring skilled medical professionals back into the country.
The focus on improving health conditions in Guyana is the first step toward a stronger economy. Improving health conditions is done by investing more resources, educating physicians and keeping those doctors from emigrating by buying more hospital beds. The possibility of creating an infrastructure around medical research facilities could benefit the region, keep and draw skilled health professionals in and to Guyana.
– Shaun Savarese
Photo: Flickr
Facts to Know About Education in Spain
Education in Spain was hit hard by the financial crisis of 2008, leaving one in three children in poverty — nearly 2.7 million children — and has one of the highest jobless rates in Europe. Since the financial crisis, the government has been trying to recover, but they have not succeeded in improving education in Spain.
The school drop-out rate is the highest in the EU. In 2014, the drop-out rate was nearly 25 percent. Compared to other countries in the EU, Denmark’s drop-out rate was eight percent, and France’s drop-out rate was 9.7 percent. Only 57 percent of adults in Spain have completed upper secondary education, which is lower than the average 76 percent, according to the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). This number has been increasing slightly, but it still continues to be the lowest in the EU.
An education bill was introduced in 2013 that has gained controversy. It was passed in 2014 by the conservative Popular Party, which controlled Spanish parliament, despite opposition from other political parties. The bill increased the number of annual exams, organized school funding based on students’ test scores and reintroduced religion as a mandatory subject.
Many Spanish students have protested against this education bill and the subsequent increased costs for college tuition. In 2016, thousands of university students participated in protests in Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia.
During the years 2012-2013, there were massive budget cuts on education amounting to 2.2 billion euros. Higher education in Spain took the bulk of the cut at 62.5 percent. The budget cuts led to increases in college tuition, which led to the student protests. The overall investment in education was 21 percent lower than in previous years.
Education in Spain
However, even after the last few years of disarray with education in Spain, the Spanish government is trying to make improvements. In 2016, the government increased the education budget by 10.8 percent even after the large cuts in previous years. The early school leaving percentage is also falling, even as it remains the highest in the EU. The Spanish government has also been reforming the basic vocational education and training (VET) system to improve the chances of gaining employment after graduation for young people. The process seems to be working. The employment rate is one of the lowest in the EU but has risen from 40.9 percent in 2013 to 54.9 percent in 2015.
According to Article 27 of the Spanish Constitution, “Everyone has the right to education.” Therefore, the people of Spain have the right to affordable education to achieve opportunities. Education in Spain still has a chance to improve.
– Emma Majewski
Photo: Flickr
10 Facts About Spain Refugees
Despite having a history of being a welcoming and friendly culture, Spain does not have a very inviting asylum policy. Citizens are pushing their leaders to make Spain a viable location for refugees escaping war-torn countries. Here are 10 facts about Spain refugees.
Even though Spain’s recent attempts at accepting refugees are lower than past years, and regardless of the government putting staunch regulations on incoming refugees, the regular citizens of Spain still want to give their assistance and try to make a difference.
– Karyn Adams
Photo: Flickr
Rebuilding Education in Liberia
From 2014-2015, the Ebola virus swept through Liberia. The disease left nearly 5,000 people dead and thousands orphaned, childless or without access to education. The outbreak, combined with 14 years of civil war, weakened an already crumbling education system. In 2014, the Liberian government closed more than 4,000 schools for six months. The action left 1.5 million children without access to sufficient education. Organizations like UNICEF, USAID and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) developed the following programs to rebuild the education system. Their hope is to provide better access to quality education in Liberia.
The goal: to ensure that children had access to education during school closures and to protect children from the Ebola virus after schools were reopened.
The methodology: During the Ebola epidemic, USAID broadcast lessons on the radio for students affected by the school closures. After the Liberian government reopened schools in Feb. 2015, the organization trained teachers and administrators in Ebola prevention. USAID also assisted schools in creating response plans in case of another Ebola outbreak.
The goal: to make education in Liberia easily accessible for children living in poverty or with disabilities.
The methodology: UNICEF collaborates with local initiatives to make children’s physical and mental health a part of the curriculum. The program also encourages needs assessments for students and educates parents through PTA programs.
The goal: to fund student scholarships and rebuilding projects.
The methodology: After the Ebola crisis, GPE donated $40 million in grants to over 2,500 schools. GPE used the grants to supply students with textbooks, build and furnish classrooms and construct housing units for teachers. The funds were also used for teacher training and scholarships for children whose parents didn’t previously have the means to send their children to school.
In a GPE video, Elizabeth Toe, a K2 teacher, stressed the role of education in sustaining and building communities, “They are Liberian children, and Liberia needs them. They are important. Whether you are poor or rich, you are a part of this country. And you will make a difference in your country and in your family, especially for the girls.”
The goal: to supply schools with a quality curriculum.
The methodology: USAID trains teachers in a curriculum that improves literacy and numeracy in primary schools. It prepares students to continue furthering their education. Two of the programs are mentioned here:
The goal: to certify all teachers in primary school education. According to USAID, this will “implement the national plan to ensure all children are reading by the end of Grade 3.”
The methodology: USAID trains teachers in basic curricula, with a focus on reading and math. This training ensures that students in rural areas are receiving the same education as children in larger communities.
The goal: to assist schools with developing new administration and operations.
The methodology: USAID trains administrators in policy-making, monitoring learning and making basic management decisions so that schools can develop sustainable practices and operate without assistance.
The goal: to “provide increased access to […] basic education, social opportunities, leadership development and sustainable livelihood pathways for out-of-school Liberian youth.”
The methodology: The project is for youth who have been affected by the education crisis, who either did not attend school or had their schooling interrupted. They are able to take skill-building classes to secure an occupation and contribute to their community’s economy.
The goal: to increase girls’ enrollment in school.
The methodology: GOAL Plus grants girls in grades one through six with scholarships to ensure their enrollment and continued success in higher education in Liberia. Educating girls is often the main focus of programs like USAID’s because educated women are able to financially contribute to their communities in nations where men have traditionally been the breadwinners.
The goal: to address Liberia’s development challenges.
The methodology: In partnership with the University of Liberia and Cuttington University, USAID is building “Centers for Excellence.” There, students with interests in engineering and agriculture can pursue quality higher education in Liberia. Citizens with engineering and agricultural skills are crucial to rebuilding Liberia’s economy.
The goal: to “improve the quality of instruction through faculty and staff strengthening, curriculum development and upgrades in instructional resources.”
The methodology: In partnership with the University of Liberia and Indiana University, USAID created a new two-year undergraduate program for students pursuing careers in medicine, midwifery, life sciences or public health.
– Rachel Cooper
Photo: Flickr
Rebuilding Schools in Aleppo: Hope for Syrian Children
Thousands of individuals and families are returning to eastern Aleppo after months of displacement. The U.N. estimates that since the beginning of February, over 40,000 people have moved back to the area. Despite the joy of being able to return home, the war-torn city remains in ruin.
An estimated 1.8 million people in and around Aleppo lack access to clean water. The supply was cut off in the middle of January. The weather in Syria is extremely cold during this time of year, and most houses have no windows or doors. The U.N. is providing assistance in the form of sleeping mats and plastic sheets to cover open windows. Nonetheless, most remain unable to find the same comfort in their homes as they used to.
There is one beacon of hope that remains despite these horrors: the promise of education. Schools in Aleppo are gradually reopening after being destroyed by bombing. Thousands of children require remedial classes to reintegrate into the schooling system. More importantly, these students need to rebuild their confidence.
Close to half of the schools in eastern Aleppo are damaged in some way. However, the process of rebuilding is ongoing. UNICEF is playing a vital role in ensuring that children have access to education in the area. The organization is working hard to reopen and secure safe access to schools in Aleppo.
UNICEF is assessing which former schools can still be used for educational purposes. Roughly 23 primary schools have reopened since the beginning of 2017, and the number continues to grow. Prefabricated classrooms have also been set up for overflows of students who don’t have access to safe buildings.
In some areas of Aleppo, UNICEF has provided “schools in a box” and recreational kits to 90,000 children. Almost 300 teachers have received special training to help children catch up after long periods of missed education.
Children can supplement their education with classes in 70 child service spaces opened by UNICEF. The spaces allow children to play while also providing education on how to stay safe in a war-torn environment. Clinics in these spaces have taught over 60,000 people life-saving information, including how to recognize explosives.
Despite the cold and often uncomfortable conditions inside these makeshift classrooms, children are extremely excited to be getting back into a familiar routine. It is estimated that 1.7 million children in Syria are still not in school. However, the progress being made thus far provides hope that soon all returning children will have access to schools in Aleppo.
– Lindsay Harris
Photo: Flickr
10 Facts About Hunger in Somalia
Situated on the Horn of Africa and plagued by a history of instability, Somalia has fallen victim to crisis after crisis. The end result has created massive hunger in Somalia. Clan warfare, droughts, famines, and the presence of terror group al-Shabab have left much of the country vulnerable and without food.
10 Facts about Hunger in Somalia:
Hunger in Somalia has a detrimental impact on communities and future generations. The conflict hinders the country’s progress toward establishing stability. However, understanding the facts and conditions surrounding hunger in Somalia is an essential first step in becoming a part of the solution.
– Alexi Worley
Photo: Flickr
Poverty in TAAF: French Southern and Antarctic Lands
The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) are an outer department of France. There are four main islands: Kerguelen, La Terre-Adélie, Saint Paul & New Amsterdam and Archipel Crozet. These islands are notably famous for their large penguin populations. There are also around 150 human inhabitants on the islands in winter, but the population grows to around 310 in the summer.
The region is used for meteorological and geophysical research, military bases and French fishing fleets. The main interest of these territories resides in their large maritime zones and economically exclusive zones. These zones allow for unlimited resource consumption, which has been going on for decades and has now led to the creation of a 3,850,000 euros program administered by the Agence française de développement (AFD) to protect local fauna, fisheries and biodiversity of these islands. The program that was adopted in 2009 converted dozens of previous fishing zones into protected marine habitats and parks.
There exists a strong correlation, however, between the consumption of resources and the reduction of poverty in TAAF. The AFD is set on changing fishing habits, to make consumption and trade more sustainable, and to ensure that overfishing doesn’t occur.
The AFD also distributes the Bpifrance Bank’s development loan program and has offered 14.4 million euros to the public sector to grow infrastructure, as well as 23.3 million dollars worth of loans to agricultural, fishing, aquaculture and individual enterprises.
Regardless of TAAF’s very low population density, the AFD has still created a solid development plan that will ensure that the environment, as well as the local economy, are both protected. The cornerstone of this project is the implementation of sustainable fishing and the AFD has worked with the local prefecture to develop a plan to do just that. The AFD has done a great job of creating a win-win scenario to reduce poverty in TAAF, as well as to ensure that the environment remains protected.
– Joshua Ward
Photo: Flickr
6th World Sustainability Forum Held in Cape Town
At the end of January, Cape Town, South Africa played host to the 6th World Sustainability Forum. The journal Sustainability sponsored this international scientific conference. The Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI) organizes the annual World Sustainability Forum. The forum includes the presentation of research in many areas relating to sustainability and sustainable development.
Sustainable Development Goals
The 17 U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted in September 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, motivated discussions at the 2017 conference. The sustainability agenda outlined by the U.N. has the main aim that “countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change while ensuring that no one is left behind.” Madame Graca Machel, a member of the SDGs Advocacy Group of the United Nations, was one of the keynote speakers at the conference.
Key Messages
The themes of this year’s forum were environmental management and social and economic development. There were key national and international speakers in attendance, including world-renowned professor of economics Jeffrey Sachs, who is also director of the Center for Sustainable Development and the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Sachs’ messages in his presentation included:
Sachs went on to say that “achieving the SDGs is the moonshot for our generation […] when 193 governments agree on something […] that is really something for us to grab hold of. That is a lifeline.” Plans are already underway for next year’s conference, which will be held in Beijing.
– Kristin Westad
Photo: Flickr
Five Facts About Poverty in Svalbard
Contributions from nations around the world work as insurance for genetic crop variations, providing a backup in case of natural or man-made catastrophes. The vault stands as a powerful defense against hunger worldwide and has most recently been used to aid a vulnerable gene bank in Aleppo during the Syrian civil war of 2015.
Poverty in Svalbard is practically nonexistent, but its economic policies and small population shed light on broader social issues. And while the archipelago’s economy is small and seemingly insignificant, it provides a fascinating microcosm of larger societies and a powerful platform for research. In addition, the archipelago’s Global Seed Vault has been and will continue to be a powerful weapon against poverty and hunger worldwide.
– Chasen Turk
Photo: Flickr
Poverty in Guyana: Educate, Fund and Build Medical Network
The third-smallest South American country came into independence in 1966 after more than 340 years of colonial control by the Dutch, British and French. Slavery and indentured servitude brought immigrants from several continents, giving Guyana one of the most ethnically diverse populations globally. Many ethnic origins are international, and many people choose to leave and live in other countries. Guyana has one of the worst net migration rates in the world as more than 55% migrate to find work.
Economy
Sixty percent of the country’s gross domestic product is represented by six exports: sugar, gold, bauxite, shrimp, timber, and rice. Guyana was once a powerful producer of sugar, yet its production sunk to an all-time low in 2014. More recent crop production numbers have shown an improvement. A 2015 submission to the Guyana Sugar Corporation Commission of Inquiry reported reaching 94 percent of productivity goals in the first half of that year.
With somewhat recent estimates stating that 35% of the population lives in poverty, Guyana is one of the world’s poorest nations. (2012 Gross National Income (GNI) per capita: $3,410-USD, 2011: $2,900-USD)
Education
Less than 3.5% of Guyana’s GDP goes toward education expenditures. Less than 90% of people age 15 and over have attended school, and the average school-life expectancy is 10 years.
In its population, 27% of which are children under the age of 15, just 281,000 people use the internet. More than a quarter of the population are without cellular telephones. Of those 199,607 0-14-year-olds, 16% are child laborers.
Health
There were 100 HIV/AIDS-related deaths in 2015. With a population of less than 800,000, that number is staggering. In that year there were nearly 8,000 people living with HIV and AIDS in Guyana.
The cause for low numbers of doctors and hospital beds is very low health expenditures. The country has a low life expectancy, 165th in the world at 68.4%. This is likely due to the populations’ increased exposure to major infectious diseases like hepatitis A and malaria.
Water supplies are endangered by sewage, chemicals, and well water pollution by saltwater from the sea.
Solutions
According to the CIA world factbook, the government remains maligned in sizable debt servitude despite the Inter-American Development Bank canceling more than $450 million of their debt a decade ago. While that brought the debt-to-GDP ratio down from 183% in 2006 to 67 percent in 2015, the country sorely needs investments in infrastructure and an influx of skilled workers.
Coordinating with international health organizations to develop research facilities would develop a premier health care network.
Currently, the nation’s largest university focuses mainly on agricultural sciences. While the Pan-American Health Organization maintains an office in the country, working to expand upon that network would prove beneficial.
Developing a health care network on the northern-most coast of South America would aid in fighting infectious disease in Guyana. This creates a need to improve its poor infrastructure and bring skilled medical professionals back into the country.
The focus on improving health conditions in Guyana is the first step toward a stronger economy. Improving health conditions is done by investing more resources, educating physicians and keeping those doctors from emigrating by buying more hospital beds. The possibility of creating an infrastructure around medical research facilities could benefit the region, keep and draw skilled health professionals in and to Guyana.
– Shaun Savarese
Photo: Flickr
New E-Permit System to Boost Construction in Serbia
A new e-permit system in Serbia, created with the help of USAID, has shortened the process for obtaining a construction permit from 240 to 28 days. It cut out the 50-plus interactions between the investor and the government. One can register for an e-permit through the Business Register’s Agency website, the Minister of Construction website, or other government websites.
The new e-permit system will help develop Serbia’s important infrastructure as well, particularly transportation. Serbia has been called the “gateway to Europe” as it is the crossroads between Western Europe and the Middle East. The Serbian parliament is looking for private investment in this sector, and the e-permits system has made this process more efficient. In addition, the new e-permit system is allowing the Clinical Center of Serbia to build new healthcare facilities. New jobs in the construction sector lead to new jobs in other sectors. The new e-permit system has not only helped construction in Serbia, it has increased the nation’s GDP by 3.5% in the first quarter of 2016.
One company already taking advantage of the new system is IKEA, and its investment is expected to bring 700 million euros and 300 new jobs to the nation. IKEA took advantage of the new permit process to build a new store in Belgrade. This new store is expected to open in July 2017. IKEA will be the first international business to invest in Serbia after the introduction of the country’s new construction e-permit system. The store in Belgrade is only the first store IKEA is building in Serbia, and the company is planning to invest 300 million euros in five stores across the nation.
IKEA will hopefully pave the way for more investment in Serbia, whether through creating new businesses or encouraging domestic construction in Serbia.
– Jennifer Taggart
Photo: Flickr