UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon addressed leaders from all over the world in September, calling on them to join him in ending poverty.
“Our aim is clear,” he said during the 70th UN General Assembly meeting. “Our mission is possible. And our destination is in our sights: an end to extreme poverty by 2030, a life of peace and dignity for all.”
Ki-moon proposed a new UN framework for addressing global issues. The new 17 Sustainable Development Goals are a continuation of the eight Millennium Development Goals introduced in 2000. The 17 goals focus on the UN’s agenda for the next 15 years.
The new framework, he said, “weaves the goals together, with human rights, the rule of law and women’s empowerment as crucial parts of an integrated whole.”
Poverty was a top priority during the 70th UN general assembly. President Barack Obama, among many other world leaders, voiced concern about global poverty, citing urgency and opportunity at this year’s meeting.
Obama’s speech drew attention to the importance of collective diplomacy between nations on issues of poverty and economic inequality. He commended the gathering of nations for securing, as he said, “a global economy that has lifted more than a billion people from poverty.”
At the same time Obama warned that much is left to be done, saying “the march of human progress never travels in a straight line,” and that “dangerous currents risk pulling us back into a darker, more disordered world.”
Obama summarized the UN meeting with a sense of hope. He emphasized progress requiring “a sustained commitment to our people — so farmers can feed more people; so entrepreneurs can start a business without paying a bribe; so young people have the skills they need to succeed in this modern, knowledge-based economy.”
Obama and Ki-moon’s speeches were preliminary descriptions of the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals project proposal. The proposal creates a novel structure of how the UN concentrates on global issues.
The UN Sustainable Development agenda outlined problems nations face in the next 15 years. The UN document acknowledges global issues but also envisions, as it says, “a world in which every country enjoys sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth and decent work for all.”
The document both analyzes challenges and presents solutions.
Nations are meeting at “a time of immense opportunity,” the document says in its message. “Within the past generation, hundreds of millions of people have emerged from extreme poverty.”
The 17 development goals for 2030 aim to make the dimensions of the environment, economics and government sustainable. Human rights are at the forefront of the goals, with the alleviation of poverty and curable diseases major points.
“What counts now is translating promises on paper into change on the ground,” Ki-moon said, concluding his speech. “We owe this and much more to the vulnerable, the oppressed, the displaced and the forgotten people in our world.”
– Michael Hopek
Sources: General Assembly of the United Nations, Millennium Project, The White House, UN, Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform
Photo: Wikimedia
Switzerland Hosts Global Consultation in Geneva
From Oct. 14 to 16, Switzerland’s second-largest city became especially bustling as 900 people poured in with ideas about future humanitarian aid. They were invited by Switzerland to attend the Global Consultation in Geneva.
The Global Consultation in Geneva consisted of a live webcast and Q&A session. The purpose of the consultation was to introduce the upcoming World Humanitarian Summit that will be held in Istanbul in May 2016.
The event attracted a diverse crowd of members from struggling communities, government representatives and everyone in between. The webcast itself is available online for anyone wishing to be involved in future humanitarian aid.
A preceding online consultation posted several questions and proposals regarding preparation, empowerment, safety and more. For example, the World Humanitarian Summit said that affected communities should be given leadership positions when dealing with the crises in their areas.
Recognizing disaster victims as primary agents in the recovery process will increase their involvement in preparation and response tactics.
People from around the globe responded with suggestions and opinions. These responses were used as feedback for the goals announced in the Global Consultation in Geneva. This way, speakers would know ahead of time which concerns to target in their discourses.
One particular concern was strengthening the resilience of countries. Regions prone to natural disasters must be prepared, war-torn areas need fortification and the deeply impoverished want to be told that there is hope.
“Concentrating our efforts on humanitarian action and reconstruction is not a valuable strategy in the light of humankind’s growing exposure to the consequences of poor land use planning and climate change; preventive measures are much more effective than responding to disasters,” said Didier Burkhalter, former president of the Swiss Confederation, during the webcast.
World Food Programme (WFP) released a statement on the first day of the global consultation, revealing its proposals for 2016 humanitarian aid. Like many other humanitarian programs, WFP advocated for further mobilizing affected areas.
“While international actors can support countries in managing disasters, it is national and local actors who first and foremost require stronger capacity for preparedness and response,” said WFP.
As the refugee population increases, WFP requests that taking care of displaced persons be considered a “global good” and countries hosting refugees receive more support.
It hopes that the discussions prompted by these proposals will “bring forth more concrete ideas that will feed into agenda for Summit in Istanbul next year.”
Roughly 80 million people worldwide depend on humanitarian aid. Sixty million have been displaced from their homes.
These figures may seem insurmountable, but they can be overcome if the ideas and goals proposed during the Global Consultation in Geneva take root across the globe. Already, many people want to help, and many more want to be helped.
“No refugee wants to remain a refugee,” said Burkhalter in his speech. “Every child in this world prevented from going to school wants to return to their classrooms as quickly as possible.”
– Sarah Prellwitz
Sources: Relief Web, EDA, WFP, World Humanitarian Summit
Photo: Flickr
The Rising Potential For “The Educational Journey of a Girl”
“Over 31 million primary school-age girls are out of school despite progress in achieving universal primary education,” a report published by the Global Business Coalition for Education found.
This study was released on the International Day of the Girl Child, a time “to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world,” says the UN.
The study produced an infographic and report which followed a female’s educational journey from birth to adulthood, offering insight into the obstacles faced by many seeking an education.
The infographic illustrated many of the disadvantages girls must overcome but, due to their circumstances, may be unable to. For example, a child born to a literate mother is five times more likely to survive beyond the age of 5.
However, girls who start engaging in child labor tend to be between 5-7 years old and few of them are given the opportunity of enrolling in school, which means millions never make it.
While the study recognizes that many businesses already do a great deal to empower girls in secondary education, the report encouraged companies to begin making investments at an earlier age.
“Examining the wider life cycle of a girl and investing sooner would have economic and societal benefits and help companies to support girls to become the leaders, consumers, employees, employers and innovators of the future,” says A World at School, a global campaign working to place all children in school.
After surveying 32 companies that invest in girls, the report discovered that early support in a child’s education is more helpful and transformative because it aids in building foundations in subjects, such as numeracy and literacy, which could advance them later in life.
The study suggests that the key to enabling more girls to receive an education lies in early investment; starting early will help prepare them with the necessary skills they will need to advance at work and in life.
In fact, the infographic also revealed that girls who complete both primary and secondary education “are likely to earn income, have fewer unwanted pregnancies, and break the poverty cycle.”
To build a more involved and sustainable role in girls’ educational development, the report has issued the following recommendations:
For many children’s education, their only hope rests in receiving support during their early years. As Executive Chair of GBC-Education Sarah Brown said, “We know all too well that the economic empowerment of a woman does not start when she is an adult. It starts when she is a girl.”
– Nikki Schaffer
Sources: A World at School, UN
Photo: A World at School
The World Bank Is Fighting Poverty With Surveys
Surveys are one way that the world measures a variety of information. The aim of these data compilations is to improve the quality of a product or service provided.
When looking back on areas that have and have not been surveyed, the World Bank found that between 2002 and 2011, approximately 57 countries only had a 0-1-poverty estimate. So, how can a survey help fight poverty?
According to the World Bank, “Poverty-fighting efforts have long been constrained by a lack of data in many countries.” Without the proper information on how many people are actually struggling and where they are, it is hard to provide the necessary resources to effectively help.
In a report done in April of this year, the World Bank described what they are calling data deprivation. They stated that “the poor are often socially marginalized and voiceless, and the collection of objective and quantitative data is crucial in locating them and formulating policy to help them exit extreme deprivation.”
In order to gain better insight into what is going on in these countries, the World Bank has begun fighting poverty with surveys. They have committed to surveying the 78 poorest nations every three years.
The first round is expected to be completed by 2020. These surveys are expected to provide real in-depth information on poverty issues in each country surveyed.
“Without having the data you cannot do anything about it or you don’t know what’s going on,” said Umar Serajuddin, World Bank member, in a video entitled “My Favorite Number: 77 Reasons We Need Poverty Data.”
Knowing what is actually taking place is the first step in alleviating the poverty crisis in order to succeed in moving forward.
Jim Yong Kim, the World Bank Group head, has expressed his optimism in the project’s undertaking.
“Poverty isn’t something that should be considered as perpetual,” Kim said.
Poverty has already begun to decrease. With data information, this progress is expected to continue.
– Katherine Martin
Sources: World Bank 1, World Bank 2, YouTube, Inquisitr
Photo: Flickr
Global Maternal Newborn Health Conference in Mexico City
In response to the recent sustainable development goals created by the UN, Mexico City hosted a Global Maternal Newborn Health Conference to focus attention on and propel efforts towards improving maternal and newborn health and healthcare around the world.
Representatives of more than 50 countries, which included policymakers, healthcare workers, researchers and organization leaders, attended the conference.
The general public or those unable to attend in person had ample opportunity to participate virtually through webcasts, live converge and social media engagements. The theme of the Conference was “Reaching every mother and newborn with quality care.”
The talks, group sessions and skill demonstrations focused on six primary tracks: innovating to accelerate impact at scale, measuring for evaluation and accountability, bridging equity divides, generating new evidence to fill critical knowledge gaps, strengthening demand for health care and increasing health systems’ capacity to respond to population needs.
The conference was hosted with the intention of increasing collaboration to encourage innovation and improved global health.
Every day, about 800 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy or childbirth. These deaths are often due to the fact that the women did not have access to adequate healthcare.
This helps explain why 99 percent of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries where woman are restricted geographically or economically from the medical care they need.
Mexico City was selected to host the conference because Mexico is a recognized global leader in maternal and newborn health improvements.
Their national maternal and newborn health agenda has been greatly improved through successful government policies and programs, as well as through assistance from local and national NGOs, philanthropic entities and academic organizations.
In order to abide by and accomplish the UN’s Sustainable Developmental Goals, nations and international organizations must find ways to work together to set satisfactory standards and procedures and flush out what strategies and techniques work and what ones do not.
Conferences like the Global Maternal Newborn Health Conference allow information to be shared as well as spur insight to solutions and inspire hope for progress.
– Brittney Dimond
Sources: Global MNH 2015, The Guardian, WHO
Photo: Flickr
Finalists Revealed for 2015 Appsafrica Innovation Award
The first contest was held in 2012 as a small competition to inspire innovation centered in Africa. Today, the worldwide participation in these awards has thrust Appsafrica to the forefront of innovation.
As entries from 21 countries have spread across the globe in three different continents, only the most effective apps continue on to become finalists in the awards, which are to be held this year in Cape Town Nov. 16.
The awards celebrate technology and entrepreneurship in Africa. Applications were accepted from July 20 to Sept. 7, and no one except the most innovative developers produced apps valuable enough to proceed onward. Below are just a few of the front-runners of this year’s Appsafrica Innovation Awards in each category:
As mentioned above, these are just a few of the finalists revealed for the 2015 Appsafrica Innovation Awards. A full list is available on the website.
– Emilio Rivera
Sources: Appsafrica, Picup, MyMusic, Mergims, Changemakers, Mvendr, Mpaper, TMCG, Bookly, 1Task1Job, OMobileFunding
Photo: Aps Africa
Renewable Energy Campaigns Scheduled for Africa
However, there is still a long way to go to completely eradicate poverty issues. Several countries and organizations have banded together in order to continue making progress in these areas.
One such project that is underway is the United Kingdom’s Energy Africa campaign. The goal of this campaign, as stated by the UK’s government site, is to “help Africa to achieve universal energy access by 2030. A reliable electricity supply is one of the most powerful tools for lifting people out of poverty and ending dependency on aid.”
Despite drastic improvements that have been made in Africa, USAID still reports, “Two out of three people in Sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity.”
Addressing this issue, the UK’s Energy Africa campaign states that “together with African governments, investors, businesses, NGOs, think tanks and other donors, DFID will work to increase investment in off-grid energy firms, overcome regulatory barriers, foster innovation, and accelerate delivery of solar energy systems to households across Africa.”
The UK alone is not the only group interested in renewable energy in Africa, though. The IRENA, International Renewable Energy Agency, has shown high hopes for an improved Africa through energy changes.
The IRENA recently came out with a report, Africa 2030, that outlines these hopes. In the report it is stated that “modern renewable energy will provide a prominent alternative to support the African population, which is striving for better living standards, more comfort, and fewer health hazards and avoiding extreme inconveniences.”
The main focus is to switch Africa to four key energy sources: biomass, hydropower, wind and solar power. While this large switch sounds expensive, professionals have shown it as a necessary investment.
The IRENA report has shown that “the abundance and high quality of renewable-energy resources render renewables economically competitive, in particular as the costs of renewable technologies are rapidly decreasing. Recent renewable-energy project deals concluded in Africa will deliver power at some of the lowest costs worldwide.”
The Energy Africa campaign was launched on Oct. 22. The promise of success in renewable energy campaigns is there. The hope to bring reliable and sustainable energy to everyone brings the promise of really “lifting people out of poverty and ending dependency on aid.”
— Katherine Martin
Sources: Gov.uk, USAID, IRENA
Photo: Assets Inhabitat
The Difference Between a Non-Resilient and Resilient Village
Here in the U.S. when disasters are predicted and do strike, such as natural disasters and droughts, the government prepares and provides aid to people who need it.
Many villages and communities in developing countries do not have backup plans when it comes to shelter, food and money if economical, natural or health shocks should occur. In addition, with the increase of changing climate, villages are in need of training to adapt as the world around them changes.
A non-resilient village experiencing drought would most likely react as follows: less rain means fewer, if any, crops, which in turn makes it difficult to feed livestock such as cows.
Underfed cows will produce less milk and families may be forced to sell livestock and eat less. This causes malnutrition as well as illness to become more common, further weakening the resilience of an already ill-prepared village.
Another shock that a non-resilient village is not prepared for would be the breaking of a water pump. No one in the village knows how to maintain, fix or buy new parts for the pump.
Women and young girls are now forced to walk many miles a day to retrieve water, usually unsanitary, for the village to survive on. The results of this are not only diarrheal diseases which will cause malnutrition, but an increase in the possibility of attacks and rape on the women and girls.
Take the same two scenarios from above and re-imagine them with villages that have received resilience training.
When a drought is occurring in a resilient village, farmers will use their training, specific to their villages, to begin implementing practices to help. These practices could include planting crops in pits so that they receive rainwater run-off or planting trees to protect the soil.
There will be emergency stores of animal food and grain, and mothers understand that breastfeeding during normal and difficult times can help protect their babies against malnutrition.
When a water pump breaks in a resilient village the group placed in charge of its upkeep when it was installed will pull on specific funds saved for this occurrence. This team of villagers will be knowledgeable about the pump.
So, they will be able to find the problems and report and buy the parts needed for the repair. There will be no need to sacrifice women and children’s active roles in society, including a proper education.
These scenarios and others, put forth by Concern Worldwide, show both visually and textually the reality and the difference between a resilient and non-resilient village.
It is important that villages be taught emergency and preventative measures as well as how to adapt to a changing environment and different situations in order to ensure their survival and independence.
– Drusilla Gibbs
Sources: CGIAR, Concern Worldwide (UK)
Photo: Pixabay
Poverty At Top of 70th UN General Assembly Agenda
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon addressed leaders from all over the world in September, calling on them to join him in ending poverty.
“Our aim is clear,” he said during the 70th UN General Assembly meeting. “Our mission is possible. And our destination is in our sights: an end to extreme poverty by 2030, a life of peace and dignity for all.”
Ki-moon proposed a new UN framework for addressing global issues. The new 17 Sustainable Development Goals are a continuation of the eight Millennium Development Goals introduced in 2000. The 17 goals focus on the UN’s agenda for the next 15 years.
The new framework, he said, “weaves the goals together, with human rights, the rule of law and women’s empowerment as crucial parts of an integrated whole.”
Poverty was a top priority during the 70th UN general assembly. President Barack Obama, among many other world leaders, voiced concern about global poverty, citing urgency and opportunity at this year’s meeting.
Obama’s speech drew attention to the importance of collective diplomacy between nations on issues of poverty and economic inequality. He commended the gathering of nations for securing, as he said, “a global economy that has lifted more than a billion people from poverty.”
At the same time Obama warned that much is left to be done, saying “the march of human progress never travels in a straight line,” and that “dangerous currents risk pulling us back into a darker, more disordered world.”
Obama summarized the UN meeting with a sense of hope. He emphasized progress requiring “a sustained commitment to our people — so farmers can feed more people; so entrepreneurs can start a business without paying a bribe; so young people have the skills they need to succeed in this modern, knowledge-based economy.”
Obama and Ki-moon’s speeches were preliminary descriptions of the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals project proposal. The proposal creates a novel structure of how the UN concentrates on global issues.
The UN Sustainable Development agenda outlined problems nations face in the next 15 years. The UN document acknowledges global issues but also envisions, as it says, “a world in which every country enjoys sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth and decent work for all.”
The document both analyzes challenges and presents solutions.
Nations are meeting at “a time of immense opportunity,” the document says in its message. “Within the past generation, hundreds of millions of people have emerged from extreme poverty.”
The 17 development goals for 2030 aim to make the dimensions of the environment, economics and government sustainable. Human rights are at the forefront of the goals, with the alleviation of poverty and curable diseases major points.
“What counts now is translating promises on paper into change on the ground,” Ki-moon said, concluding his speech. “We owe this and much more to the vulnerable, the oppressed, the displaced and the forgotten people in our world.”
– Michael Hopek
Sources: General Assembly of the United Nations, Millennium Project, The White House, UN, Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform
Photo: Wikimedia
Bolivia’s Land for Agricultural Development Project
The Land for Agricultural Development Project in Bolivia granted more than 150,000 hectares of land to poor farmers and indigenous people. Consequently, the average family income increased by 39%.
The program, which lasted seven years, initially focused on decentralizing the land market so that poor farmers and indigenous people were able to make purchases.
Over the course of the project, however, the changing market made land prices unaffordable, so the program expanded to include leasing, sharecropping and technical assistance in commercializing its products and investing in agriculture and livestock.
The U.S. $15 million program also promoted the involvement of women. Women participated in training programs focused on agricultural and administrative skills. By the closing date of the project, Sept. 15, 2014, women’s involvement had reached 38%.
The Land for Agricultural Development Project enabled 5,681 women to become direct individual beneficiaries, out of the 11,488 individual beneficiaries.
The 39% increase in the average family income is a result of 2,891 families becoming beneficiaries of the program, and also the investments they made in livestock, agriculture and agroforestry. This contributed to sustaining the livelihoods of families and, in the long run, ending the generational cycle of poverty.
The “Implementation Completion and Results Report,” released on March 12, 2015, revealed that the Bolivian government’s commitment to eradicating extreme poverty and empowering indigenous people was very instrumental in the success of the program.
When President Evo Morales came to power in 2006 he made the distribution of agricultural lands to poor and/or landless farmers and indigenous people one of his priorities. However, indigenous families were still struggling to sustain living because of the privatization of land markets.
Morales expressed gratitude for the partnership with the World Bank following the New 2012-2015 Country Partnership Strategy. He stated that “[it is time to] give power economic power to social movements, especially in rural areas where historically we have been abandoned.”
– Marie Helene Ngom
Sources: World Bank 1, World Bank 2, World Bank 3, New Agriculturalist
Photo: Google Images
USAID Grants Palladium Health Policy Plus
USAID tasked Palladium with implementing Health Policy Plus (HP+), which is a five-year $185 million project that focuses on strengthening health policy, financing, governance and advocacy in developing countries.
The initiation of Palladium Health Policy Plus is in perfect timing with the establishment of the new Global Sustainable Health Goal (SDGs).
It directly focuses on Goal 3, which is to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages,” and goal 17: “strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.”
Palladium is greatly experienced in leading initiatives on social and economic development. They have led projects in 84 countries in collaboration with the U.S. Government and World Bank.
Ed Abel, president of Palladium’s U.S. business unit, said: “We are grateful to USAID in recognizing Palladium’s leadership in bringing positive impact to its global effort to end extreme poverty and promote resilient, democratic societies through health policy and financing.”
HP+ builds upon the previous Health Policy Project (HPP) that ended on Sep. 29, 2015. HPP was active from 2010 to 2015 and was implemented in 48 countries worldwide.
The USAID-funded HP+ was initiated on Aug. 28, 2015. Palladium plans on using the following “four pillars” to achieve success: International Development, Strategy Execution Consulting, Research Development and Training and finally Impact Investing.
These approaches will also take into account gender equality and equity issues, family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH), maternal and child health (MCH) and HIV and AIDS.
Palladium will be working in collaboration with Avenir Health, Futures Group Global Outreach, Plan International USA, Population Reference Bureau, RTI international, The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood and ThinkWell.
Suneeta Sharma, HP+ Director, commented: “We’re looking forward to collaborating with USAID, health ministries and civil society actors worldwide to foster more equitable, sustainable, rights-based health services, supplies and delivery systems using evidence-based approaches for decision making and resource allocation.”
– Marie Helene Ngom
Sources: PRNewswire, Federal Grants, UN Sustainable Development, Palladium
Photo: Rachel Yang