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Landesa’s Fight for Female Land Rights in India

women's land rights

The nonprofit organization Landesa is taking an important step in the battle against global poverty. Its goal is to increase female land rights in rural areas.

Though women make up about 43 percent of the agricultural labor force in the poorest regions of the world, they are often denied rights to own, control or inherit land. The lack of land rights can cause difficulties for women living in poverty who are “dispossessed,” meaning unmarried, widowed, divorced or disabled. These women are often forced to rely on extended family members for shelter, food and other necessities.

In Odisha, India alone, an estimated 500,000 single and landless women live in rural areas. Without access to land, they have few methods to adequately support themselves or lift themselves out of poverty.

Programs that aim to alleviate poverty by distributing land often fall into the trap of ignoring the ways in which experiences of land ownership and poverty are gendered. Odisha launched a government program called Vasundhara in 2005. The program allocated plots of government land to landless, rural families. However, due to government policies that overlooked the needs of rural, dispossessed women, many women were ineligible for the program.

Landesa, with support from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is working to rectify these oversights with a new woman-centric program that will help identify women in need through local health workers. They are working to create an inventory of single women in need of government land and social security entitlements. They are then served through Women Support Centers that help them apply for government services.

Over 5,000 dispossessed  women have been the beneficiaries of homestead land, and another 15,000 cases are currently being verified. The land rights project, though relatively new, is experiencing much success and is set to establish female land rights for thousands worldwide.

– Jordan Little

Photo: Flickr

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New Ministry of Happiness in India Focuses on Well-Being

Ministry of happiness

In April, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan of India’s central state, Madhya Pradesh, announced plans to create a Ministry of Happiness. This new ministry will oversee the growth of the state in terms of Gross National Happiness, an alternative national development index.

In contrast to GDP, GNH measures the well-being of a nation in terms of “community, culture, governance, knowledge and wisdom, health, spirituality and psychological welfare, a balanced use of time, and harmony with the environment.”

Proposing the Ministry of Happiness

Chief Minister Chauhan, a yoga enthusiast and a Master of Philosophy, hopes that the ministry of happiness will improve citizens’ mental and physical health.

The ministry of happiness is also set to run over 70 social programs such as yoga, meditation, spirituality, arts, and religious pilgrimages for seniors.

Building on existing programs, such as the state’s “Girl Child” program, the ministry of happiness will continue to financially reward families of female students for remaining in education. The funding will also be used to employ a team of psychologists dedicated to improving the well-being of citizens.

The ministry of happiness was proposed amid a severe drought that has left many citizens of Madhya Pradesh, a largely agrarian state, without income and has increased the rate of suicide among farmers.

In addition, Madhya Pradesh has seen 27 suicides of school-age children in the last year due to exam-related stress. The state also suffers from high rates of malnutrition, infant mortality and the highest rate of rape in the country.

Tracking Happiness for Economic Growth

Some citizens of Madhya Pradesh are skeptical of the need for a ministry of happiness, citing a lack of basic rights and resources as the main causes of suffering.

This has sparked questions about the legitimacy of government psychological and spiritual intervention. However, India is not the first government to try to track happiness.

Along similar lines, the United Nations World Happiness Report measures the well-being of populations using GDP per capita, as well as markers for social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption.

In Bhutan, the birthplace of the GNH index, the commitment to a holistic measure of well-being rather than solely financial measures one has led to positive results. By prioritizing well-being over material growth, Bhutan has become an example of alternative economic growth for the rest of the world.

Hope for an Equitable Society in India

“GNH is an aspiration,” said Thakur Singh Powdyel, Bhutan’s minister of education, “a set of guiding principles through which we are navigating our path toward a sustainable and equitable society. We believe the world needs to do the same before it is too late.”

The idea for a ministry of happiness demonstrates Madhya Pradesh’s commitment to these guiding principles. Heading the charge, Shivraj Singh Chauhan hopes that a new emphasis on the ideals of equality and community will improve the well-being of the state’s citizens.

– Lia Jean Ferguson

Photo: Pixabay

9 Facts About Poverty in Swaziland

Poverty in SwazilandIn conjunction with its quickly growing population, Swaziland has experienced continuous economic difficulties, especially in its rural areas. Here are nine interesting facts about poverty in Swaziland.

9 Facts About Poverty in Swaziland

  1. Ten percent of the population is responsible for about half of the nation’s consumption, while 84 percent of those living in poverty in Swaziland reside in rural areas. These figures point to a disproportion in the flow of resources between urban and rural areas in Swaziland.
  2. According to the Rural Poverty Portal, roughly 47 percent of the population is less than 15 years old. The unemployment rate of Swaziland is expected to rise unless working opportunities are found for these children.
  3. Life expectancy has actually dropped from a peak of 59 years in 1990 to 49 years in 2014.
  4.  In 2013, Swaziland had the highest rate of HIV in the world, at 27 percent according to AVERT. During 2013, 11,000 people contracted HIV, and 4,500 people died as a result of HIV.
  5. The data shared by AVERT shows that 31 percent of women have HIV as opposed to only 20 percent of men. This difference is likely tied to gender inequality in Swaziland, as women are often not in control of their own reproductive and sexual health.
  6. Nevertheless, Swaziland has seen improvements in its HIV problem during the 2000s through increased rates of antiretroviral treatment and investments in HIV response. AVERT’s statistics demonstrate such improvement. In 2012, only three percent of children born to HIV-positive mothers were HIV positive, as opposed to 12 percent in the prior year.
  7. Drought has been a major factor in restricting growth and contributing to poverty in Swaziland. According to All Africa, a drought last year was partially responsible for a 31 percent decline in maize production in 2015 and left 300,000 people (one-quarter of the population) targeted for aid.
  8. Other impacts of drought are seen in education, where water is needed for plumbing. The lack of water also increases the potential for water contamination, with 197,157 students, teachers, and workers being put at risk of water-borne disease.
  9. Since 2000, the Kingdom of Swaziland has been implementing a plan to reduce poverty. Some goals include providing all rural households with access to water as well as giving women the same rights over their land that men have.

Foreign support in dealing with problems such as HIV and water shortage would certainly help improve the economic disparity found in Swaziland, in conjunction with the nation’s own efforts.

– Edmond Kim

Photo: Flickr

10 Facts About Israeli Refugees

Israeli Refugees

The creation of the state of Israel in 1948 left many of the Palestinians who lived in these lands without homes or basic rights. The current politics of Israel leaves many of these people without access to services and human rights. Israel houses tens of thousands of African asylum seekers, as well as many more Palestinians, both within and outside its borders. Here are 10 facts about Israeli refugees.

10 Facts About Israeli Refugees

  1. Those seeking asylum in Israel do not have any rights or eligibility for social services.
  2. The Israeli government tries to push many refugees out of the country by detaining them, not accepting their asylum claims, not allowing them to participate in social services and through repatriation.
  3. The Supreme Court of Israel does not approve of the government’s treatment of Israeli refugees, specifically those of African descent. In two separate decisions, the Court has asked the Israeli government for policies that will take basic human rights principles into considerations for African refugees. Although the government did not comply, the Court’s demands for more comprehensive legislation concerning refugees is a step in the right direction.
  4. Palestinian refugees who re-enter Israel are considered “infiltrators” for crossing the border under the Prevention of Infiltration Law. The Israeli government has considered them a threat to national security since it passed the law in the 1950s.
  5. As of 2008, the Israeli government also considers African refugees “infiltrators.” The government passed an amendment to the Prevention of Infiltration Law in 2011, officially making the presence of African refugees in Israel unlawful.
  6. African refugees protested in 2014 in order for the Israeli government to recognize their rights. According to the African Refugee Development Center (ARDC), this was the first time that the asylum-seekers had distinct leaders associated with the movement. The height of the movement involved about 20,000 refugees and supporters. The peaceful approach helped to give government officials and the public more empathy for these refugees. The foundations of these protests will hopefully pave the way to legislative and societal changes in favor of refugees.
  7. Palestinian refugees are among the largest refugee populations in the world. According to the Palestinian Return Centre, about one in every three refugees from around the world is Palestinian.
  8. Many Palestinian refugees have remained close to their places of origins in Israel, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. More than one and a quarter million Palestinian refugees live in the nearly 60 official refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Others live in unofficial camps.
  9. The Palestinian Return Centre reports that some of the factors keeping Palestinians in camps include political and social struggles, as well as the physical safety of the camps. The refugee camps also stand as a symbol for the temporal situation of a people still asking to return to their homes.
  10. Even after many decades of displacement due to struggles with the Israeli government, Palestinians cannot return to their homes within the state of Israel in most cases. The peace process between Israel and Palestine has been slow, and most of the deliberations have not accounted for refugee rights.

The Israeli government must find a way to ensure the rights of Israeli refugees, whether they are from Palestine, Africa or anywhere else. Considering the current lack of legislative support for Israeli refugees, the refugee protests and pushes from the Supreme Court are a crucial foundation for ensuring the rights of these people.

– Addie Pazzynski

Photo: Flickr

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5 Things You Should Know About World Breastfeeding Week

World Breastfeeding Week

Breastmilk is a baby’s best protection against illness and disease, but data has shown that the number of newborns breastfed within the first hour of life has not improved over the past 15 years. World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated annually from August 1–7 in over 170 countries, and global organizations are sharing how early breastfeeding can make the difference between life and death.

5 Things to Know About Breastfeeding

  1. Delayed breastfeeding, even only 24 hours after birth, increases the child’s risk of dying within the first 28 days of life by 80 percent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Several factors contribute to this issue—from inadequate healthcare during delivery to babies being fed less nutritious alternatives, such as formula, cow’s milk or sugar water. These alternatives all decrease a newborn’s chance of survival. As such, government policymakers and organizations are targeting this issue by raising awareness and encouraging others to protect and promote exclusive breastfeeding.
  2. Research has found a clear connection between breastfeeding and higher IQ scores and educational achievement. Giving children the proper nutrition at the start of life supports optimal development and leads to higher earnings later in life–specifically, 12 percent higher per hour in high-income countries, and 16 percent in low to middle-income countries.
  3. The Global Breastfeeding Advocacy Initiative led by UNICEF and WHO is working with international partners to help build a healthy society. Lawmakers can show their support by ensuring a minimum of four months paid maternity leave, requiring employers to provide protection for mothers to pump milk at work and preventing discrimination against women and mothers in the workplace.
  4. Approximately 200 million children alive today will fail to reach their full physical, mental and social potential. Why? Negative factors inhibiting early childhood development–not being breastfed is among those factors. For this reason, WHO is working with countries to increase the rate of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months up to, at least, 50 percent by 2025, in order to turn things around and save millions of lives.
  5. Breastfeeding produces long-term health benefits for both the mother and the child. The act of breastfeeding produces oxytocin, protects against diarrhea and common illnesses like pneumonia, and reduces the risk of obesity in childhood and adolescence. It is crucial that people are knowledgeable on the subject of breastfeeding and the effects it has on a child’s life.

Though some of the statistics given might seem shocking, World Breastfeeding Week takes the initial steps necessary to create change by raising awareness of the problem and producing individuals that can implement solutions.

– Mikaela Frigillana

Photo: Flickr

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“Ladies Special Services” Bus Helps Women in India

India_WomenOn April 19, a small fleet of buses made their way through Srinagar, capital of the disputed territory of Kashmir, emblazoned with the words “Ladies Special Services.” The idea was proposed by the first woman Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in response to reports from women being harassed on public transportation. These women-only buses allow women to travel stress-free throughout India.

Harassment in India

Unfortunately, women are hassled on buses all over the globe. However, it is particularly difficult for women in India: a Reuters poll states that 80 percent report being publicly harassed, which ranges from cat-calling, groping or even rape. Women in Kashmir say the harassment is especially bad on the frequently crowded buses. Most have been leered at, groped or even followed.

Stigma often prevents them from reporting. A university student said that she did not tell her parents when a man was targeting her every day, in order to avoid excessive restrictions. Instead, she quietly started walking to school. Other women claim that if they do speak up or make a scene, people either ignore it or even blame them for provoking the molestation. A month before the Ladies buses premiered, Kashmir Observer calls out men who ignore the situation and encourages them to speak up, saying, “you would only be making the world a better place for your mother, daughter, wife or sister.”

Safety with Ladies Special Services

Currently, the Ladies Special Services fleet consists of five buses that make two round trips per day in Sringar. While some male politicians objected to the service, Chief Minister Mufti argued that they do not understand because have never shared these experiences. Because the bus is currently running at a fiscal loss, their service needs government support to continue funding. If not, the bus service will be forced to close.

Ideally, the service will continue. So far it has been a huge success. The bus is full of smiling, relaxed women. Transportation official Mushtaq Chanda reports that he receives a daily deluge of emails asking for expanded service.

Hope to Expand the Service

Ms. Hassan, a woman interviewed by BBC, says that this service is “an answered prayer” because traveling on regular buses is “like going to war.” Many hope that the service will be expanded to run more routes, more often in more cities. The Ladies Special Services have made huge strides toward gender equality by giving some women in India more freedom to safely travel and raising the issue of women’s treatment to the forefront.

– Jeanette I. Burke
Photo: Flickr

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3 Keys to Ending World Hunger Forever

World HungerThe plight of world hunger is nothing new. On average, one in eight individuals go hungry every day. Currently, about 795 million people suffer from chronic hunger.

This is especially critical in developing countries. There, food productivity and sustainability are just one amongst a plethora of other issues, including overpopulation, civil conflict and lack of education.

However, while the effects of hunger are not limited by race, religion or country, the answer to ending the world’s food shortage problem lies in many, perhaps unexpected places.

Women’s Empowerment

For instance, one such solution can be found in empowering women. Of the 600 million small farmers, herders and food providers in the world, half are women. However, this large fraction of food providers is hindered from producing adequate quotas due to cultural and gender boundaries.

Typically, women have less access to education, ownership of land or livestock. They also receive less credit than their male counterparts. As a result, half of the world’s food providers are unable or not producing nearly enough to sustain themselves, let alone the world’s population.

If these restrictions on female agriculturists decreased, however, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) the number of hungry people in the world would drop 17%.

Education

Another solution to ending world hunger revolves around education. Countries in Africa and South America have fertile land, but with ignorant farmers, food production remains low. These uneducated agriculturists practice outdated farming techniques and in turn reap poor results.

But programs such as Food for Training projects focus on educating food providers in developing nations. They can dramatically improve food production levels and encourage long term self-sustainability at very little cost.

Moreover, school meal projects also reduce hunger amongst children, who most heavily feel the effects of food shortages. In turn, the free or reduced meals schools provide encourage families to send their children to school, which supports education.

Reducing Food Waste

Lastly, a crucial part of reducing and eventually ending world hunger lies in ending global food waste. If the world were to reduce its food waste, a third of the world’s entire food supply would be saved, which is enough to feed 3 billion people.

Ultimately, this would result in a food surplus that could sustain entire countries. However, food recycling projects and campaigns such as Feedback, which focuses on saving leftover produce and creating nutritious meals from marketable food scraps, help reduce hunger. This provides thousands of people around the world with free, nutritious meals.

World hunger has reduced significantly since the 1990s; however, it has since leveled in 2010. Strategies such as food waste reduction campaigns, education and discouraging gender inequality can make significant dents in the fight to end this battle.

– Jenna Salisbury

Photo: Pixabay

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Shifting Focus to Support Education in Haiti

Education in Haiti

Education in Haiti is a critical issue. Haiti is an impoverished country that struggles to educate its youth due to factors including past disasters, social disparity and present economic hardship. A couple facts put this into perspective:

  1. Haiti is the third poorest country in the world, with the majority of the population living on less than $3 a day.
  2. In 2010, 230,000 Haitian lives were taken by a devastating earthquake in Port-au-Prince.
  3. More than 400,000 Haitian children are forced to live without the care of their parents.

These factors have destroyed the lives of many Haitians. As a result, education in Haiti is not an economic priority for the Haitian government and only 10 percent of the federal budget is spent on primary and secondary schools. Haiti ranks 177th out of 186 in the world for national spending on education.

Only 76 percent of children in Haiti enroll in primary school; one of the lowest enrollment rates in the world. However, despite the low percentage of educational success, Haitians highly value literacy and proudly wear their school uniforms when they are enrolled in school. However, compared to most other countries, it takes a higher percentage of one’s income to be able go to school, making it difficult for many to attend.

The most prevalent challenges Haitian education faces include funding and teacher training. In the United States, USAID helps fund Haitian education systems. USAID supports 550 schools and strives toward improving early grade reading and writing while helping demonstrate modern instruction to teachers and staff members.

In 2014, the Haitian Minister of Economy and Finance and the World Bank Special Envoy signed a grant of $24 million to help 230,000 children attend school and receive a quality education. This is done through tuition waivers and other means of support under the Education for All project.

The grant helps focus the Haitian government’s priorities on education. It does this by aiming to increase the quality of teaching and continuously focusing on increasing enrollment.

The goals of the Education for All project include

  • Financing more than 420,000 school fee waivers
  • Improving teaching and reading instruction material
  • Constructing of 160 classrooms in community-based school

With the help of the United States and other developed countries, education in Haiti is slowly improving as enrollment rates continue to rise. Hopefully, this trend will continue and thousands of Haitians will be able to wear their school uniforms with pride.

– Casey Marx

Photo: Flickr

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An Assessment of Poverty in Colombia

Poverty in ColombiaIn recent years, Colombia has successfully taken measures to reduce the issues that contribute to poverty, particularly in the worse urban areas. However, land displacement due to violent conflict still causes a significant portion of the population to be affected by extreme poverty in Colombia.

Approximately 29 percent of the population of Colombia live in extreme poverty. The constant violence and illegal occupation in Colombia is partly at fault for the number of those who continue to struggle. Families who have been displaced struggle to provide their daily needs, particularly the indigenous and Afro-Latino communities.

Small farmworkers in particular are victims of displacement, as the recent reduction in poverty in Colombia is partly due to many of the small farmers abandoning their careers to find new work in urban areas with less conflict. Here, they are able to generate sustainable income and provide for their families.

However, as is the case in many impoverished urban areas, there is little security of employment or reliable access to education and health services. While the lack of human security allows the issues contributing to poverty to fester, Colombia has been lately successful at poverty reduction by focusing on reducing crime and conflict in the two largest cities, Bogota and Medellin. By targeting these areas, surrounding cities have also improved.

In the past decade, the number of citizens living in extreme poverty in Colombia has been cut in half. Doing so through times in conflict shows the overall ability of Colombians to reduce poverty, the results of which would be vastly greater if violent conflicts could be reduced as well.

Gerardo Corrochano says when speaking to the World Bank, “The current face of Colombia is completely different and its future, promising.” With continued international aid and investment in infrastructure, Corrochano believes that Colombia can eradicate poverty and sustain peace for the people. Colombia is now considered to have a more middle class than an impoverished population, which displays the progress that the nation has already made.

– Amanda Panella
Photo: Flickr

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5 Things to Know About #RaiseYourHand Campaign

#raiseyourhandA partnership between the jewelry and luxury goods brand Bulgari and the nonprofit Save the Children has led to a new philanthropic campaign entitled #RaiseYourHand. Together, these groups are working to aid children around the world who are affected by marginalization, natural disasters, war, disability and poverty. Here are the five things to know about #RaiseYourHand campaign:

  1. Bulgari has released a bracelet specifically created for Save the Children’s #RaiseYourHand campaign. The beautiful, sterling silver and black ceramic piece is available at some major retailers as well as on the Bulgari website and in Bulgari stores. $100 of each bracelet purchase goes straight to Save the Children making it a beautiful way to showcase your passion for the cause.
  2. #RaiseYourHand is more than just a catchy hashtag. In fact, Fabrizio Ferri, the campaign’s Creative Director, explained the meaning behind the campaign title, saying, “We raise our hand to signal our presence, our interest, our attention, our participation. To signal that we do not hide, that we have no fear, that we believe we have an answer. Raising our hand while wearing the ring or the bracelet symbolizes our support for Bulgari’s effort to raise funds for Save the Children.” The Instagram hashtag is a stream of celebrities and do-gooders from the fashion industry holding a hand up in support of children in need.
  3. The supporters of #RaiseYourHand include actresses Meg Ryan and Naomi Watts, models like Tali Lennox, Lily Aldrige, Helena Christensen and many others. Plenty of well-known faces have already taken initiative and gotten involved in a campaign that has done and will continue doing good for vulnerable populations in the world.
  4. This is not the first time Bulgari and Save the Children have worked together. In fact, they have been working together since 2009. This partnership has been extremely beneficial in raising funds for Save the Children programs, it has also led to more global visibility for the Save the Children organization.
  5. Already the partnership between Bulgari and Save the Children has been wildly successful. The sales of the custom-designed Bulgari pieces have helped raise $50 million for Save the Children. Said donations have impacted one million people spanning 33 countries on five different continents.

This partnership has already proven itself capable of doing massive amounts of good in the world. The CEO of Bulgari, Jean-Christophe Babin, spoke up about the work Bulgari and Save the Children do together, saying, “Bettering the world is a quality inborn in Bulgari’s company culture. We are proud to partner with Save the Children to do our part in making a better tomorrow.”

– Jordan Little
Photo: Forbes