Showing no signs of stopping, the surge of Syrian refugees poses many issues for European and Middle Eastern countries, mainly housing, as the Northern hemisphere gears up for winter.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), since the start of 2015 more than 750,000 migrants have arrived by sea to Europe. The large amount of refugees has not only sparked international interest but also a crisis as many European countries struggle to cope with the influx of refugees fleeing to Europe for a better life.
The IKEA Foundation, in collaboration with Better Shelter, has partnered to create safer, more reliable housing options for the thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing to Europe.
Focusing on cost-effectiveness, IKEA developed a tent that costs approximately $1,000. The tent can comfortably house a family of five and only takes four to eight hours to assemble. The structures come in two sizes: 57 square feet or 188 square feet of living space and will last up to three years. Comparatively, the United Nations (UN) shelters only last three months.
“This is just a tiny part of humanitarian aid. But it’s an important one when it comes to allowing displaced people to live with dignity,” said Johan Karlsson, the main Swedish Industrial designer.
Additionally, the shelters are equipped with solar panels that are durable against extreme temperatures. The solar panels were developed in response to the cited lack of electricity among refugee shelters.
A woman by the name of Mayada, one of many refugees seeking asylum, came to a camp in Jordan ten months ago. She said she never imagined having to live without the most basic necessities, particularly electricity.
“Nowadays electricity is life, and without it even the most simple things become a struggle,” she told visitors from the UN Refugee Agency.
The absence of light and power makes everyday living activities difficult, as well as dangerous, particularly for women. Mayada’s daughter is too scared to go to the bathroom at night and has to wake her parents to accompany her. The solar panels will help to quell their fears.
With the arrival of winter and light disappearing earlier in the day, basic daily functions, as well as communication among refugees, become more difficult.
“You can’t visit friends, the kids can’t do their homework. By nine or 10 o’clock most of the camp is in bed,” Mayada said.
In addition to the solar panels, the tents will also have mosquito nets, windows and a door that locks. The lock option for doors is a simple solution to help prevent sexual assault among refugee women traveling across the Middle East and Europe.
“People tell us it will make a huge difference to them just to be able to switch a light on again, making them feel more at home,” UN Refugee Agency Energy Advisor Paul Quigley said.
The UN has ordered 10,000 of the units to help reduce the Syrian housing crisis. Europe will receive 755 units and 2,600 homes will go to Iraq.
Mayada said when electricity is made more available to the refugee camps, she will no longer have to put on a brave face for the sake of her kids, particularly her daughter.
“I wish I could give [IKEA] all a big kiss between their eyes! It will mean everything to us!” Mayada said.
– Alyson Atondo
Sources: PBS, UNHCR, Business Insider, BBC
Photo: Google Images
“Orange the World”: Calls for an End to Violence Against Women
At the campaign’s official commemoration in New York, the United Nations (U.N.) presented the very first U.N. Framework on Preventing Violence Against Women. The document recognizes violence against women as not only a public health concern but also a breach of basic human rights. Women, according to the document, have a right to “physical integrity, agency, and autonomy”. These rights, according to the framework, lay at the crux of prevention efforts.
The proposed framework outlines a multi-level approach, discussing methods to prevent violence before it occurs, the recurrence of violence and the negative repercussions of violence against women. Perhaps most importantly, the document recognizes intervention must be informed by the particular social structure, culture and norms of a given setting.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 35 percent of women across the globe have experienced either intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. Violence against women has also been shown to increase the likelihood for homelessness, unemployment and depression.
Orange the World was in line with goal five of the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) launched this past September, “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”. The campaign also linked up specifically with target two, which seeks “[to eliminate] all forms of violence against women and girls” by 2030.
Prevention of violence against women may also be vital to the attainment of other SDGs. WHO, for instance, cites lower levels of education as a risk factor connected to sexual violence perpetration. Achieving goal four of the SDGs, which looks to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education”, could alleviate this risk.
Addressing violence against women is also necessary to the fight against poverty, the World Bank said. Ede Ijjasz -Velasquez, Senior Director at the World Bank, said violence against women “has very important economic consequences” that could negatively impact any given nation.
Geraldine Terry, a research associate at the University of East Anglia, also found “[poverty] and violence against women interact in complex cycles of causality.” Poverty can lead to violence against women, and violence against women can also play a causal role in poverty.
Over 70 countries participated in Orange the World. Major world landmarks such as Niagara Falls (Ontario, Canada/New York) and the Palais de Justice (the Democratic Republic of the Congo) were lit up in orange to honor the campaign.
– Jocelyn Lim
Sources: U.N. Women, Geraldine Terry, “Poverty reduction and violence against women: exploring links, assessing impacts,” , U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, U.N. Women 2, World Bank, WHO
Photo: Google Images
Smartphones: The Future of Disease Detection and Diagnosis
Smartphones seem a simple alternative to expensive lab equipment. “We have close to six billion cell phone subscribers today,” Ozcan said on the timeliness of his development. Of these users, 70 percent come from developing countries that have a greater need for this microscope.
The system weighs about 200 grams and is able to identify particles as small as 100 nanometers. According to Charles Choi of Scientific American, the microscope can also detect relatively large viruses like HIV and harmful bacteria present in food and water.
The device is easy to use, which means more people can use the smartphone microscope for their benefit. The portability and cost-effectiveness of the device may prove invaluable in remote areas without easy access to medical facilities or trained personnel.
How exactly does the microscope function?
Instead of lenses, this device creates images electronically, according to a New York Times article by Anne Eisenberg. Choi explains that molecules known as fluorophores “[that] fluoresce under certain wavelengths of light” identify and locate the target particles to which they attach.
A blue laser shined onto the particles excites them, creating a hologram from which information can be extracted. The hologram may prove quicker than microscopes in disease detection and diagnosis, according to Eisenberg.
This speed and effectiveness could play a crucial role in future research by, for instance, facilitating the screening of entire regions. This could help gather information on how diseases spread and subsequently inform future responses, Ozcan said.
Ozcan continues to develop his research for the betterment of global healthcare. Holomic LLC, a start-up he founded, “aims to commercialize the computational microscopy.” Commercialization may give his and similar innovations a greater reach and applicability.
– Jocelyn Lim
Sources: Anna Eisenberg, Charles Q. Choi, Holomic, National Geographic, Biophototonics
Picture: Google Images
The “Three Delays” at the Root of Maternal Mortality
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 303,000 women will die of maternal causes by the end of 2015. While this figure has been reduced by approximately 44 percent in the past 25 years, improvements to maternal mortality rates still need to be made. Almost 99 percent of maternal deaths occur in developing regions, two-thirds of which are concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa.
In 1994, Sereen Thaddeus of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Deborah Maine, Professor Emerita at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, linked causes of maternal mortality to “three delays:” delay in seeking care, delay in arrival at a health facility, and delay in the provision of adequate care.
Today, these three delays still make up a framework that helps in understanding what causes maternal deaths.
1. Delay in Seeking Care
Around 28 percent of maternal deaths stem from pre-existing conditions like anemia and malaria, according to WHO. Women, however, may put off seeking prepartum care because of the inadequacy of available health facilities.
The question of agency plays another role in this delay. According to Kingsley Ighobor, in some countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso and Nigeria, many women do not make the decisions over their health. This responsibility is instead left to spouses or other relatives.
2. Delay in Arrival at a Health Facility
Those living in rural areas face the major obstacle of distance from healthcare facilities. In developing nations, Thaddeus and Maine pointed out how weak infrastructure often means poor roads and slow transportation methods which can delay a woman’s arrival at a health facility.
Socioeconomic divisions within countries often mean unequal access to health facilities. WHO reports “delivery care… is strongly associated with their income, whether they live in a rural or urban area, and their level of education”.
3. Delay in the Provision of Adequate Care
Postpartum hemorrhage accounts for 27 percent of maternal deaths while obstructed labor constitutes eight percent.
Especially in developing nations, a shortage of staff, insufficient training, little to no antibiotic availability and more means health facilities are often ill-equipped to respond to a mother’s needs during and after her pregnancy.
Inadequate sanitation can also be detrimental to mothers. Maternal deaths as a result of infection rank at 15 percent.
Solutions moving forward
Goal Three, Target 3.1 of the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals seeks to “reduce the global maternal mortality rate to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030.”
Achieving this goal may call for tackling the three delays that play a central role in the causes of maternal mortality.
“One of the easiest ways to continue to reduce the rate of maternal mortalities is to improve access to reproductive health”, Dana Dovey of Medical Daily said.
Educating women and relatives on reproductive health along with strengthening the infrastructure of health facilities is necessary to ensure mothers have the help they need for safe pregnancies.
– Jocelyn Lim
Sources: Medical Daily, Kingsley Ighobor, Nawal M. Nour, Sereen Thaddeus and Deborah Maine, United Nations, World Health Organization (WHO), WHO report on health from MDGs to SGDs, WHO: Trends in maternal mortality, 1990-2015
Picture: Google Images
UN Millennium Development Project Reaches Malaria Goal
The United Nations (U.N.) gathered in New York late last November to celebrate positive progress on the 2015 Millennium Development Goals made to curb one of the world’s deadliest diseases: malaria. Global leaders, diplomats, and health experts were also present to witness the good news.
“Today, we celebrate major advances in our fight against malaria,” U.N. Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon said in a message.
In 2000, a set of eight universally-agreed goals to rid the world of extreme poverty and disease by 2015 was developed by the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The program saw much success, particularly regarding malaria.
“The world’s success in rolling back malaria shows just what can be achieved with the right kind of determination and partnerships,” said Mogens Lykketoft, the President of the UN General Assembly. “It provides bold inspiration to all nations that seek to create a healthy environment for their children and adults. We can and we must eliminate malaria by 2030.”
In order to achieve the 2030 target, the UN says that they will need full cooperation from the Roll Back Malaria Partnership and the World Health Organization (WHO). “In it, we have the path forward,” said Lykketoft. “I urge all members states to fully support implementation of this strategic plan.”
The UN announced that it surpassed MDG goals to “bring reversing malaria incidence by 2015.” Their progress is responsible for 6.2 million averted malaria deaths, 97 percent of which are young children.
Over 100 countries are declared “free” of malaria. Another 55 are on track to reduce new malaria cases by at least 75 percent by the end of the year. African countries are even seeing fewer malaria cases, a historical statistic for a continent that has struggled against the disease.
Despite the progress made, WHO estimates that approximately 214 million people were infected with malaria in 2015. Of that staggering number, 472,000 people lost their lives, a large percentage of which were children under the age of five.
Advancements in technology, as well as new measures, have helped reduce malaria deaths by up to 20 percent in African children since 2000. About 95,000 newborn deaths related to malaria pregnancy have also been averted between 2009 and 2012.
Although health ministers will move away from the eight Millennium Development Goals and transition to a new set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) next year, the Roll Back Malaria Partnership is “urging continued commitment to achieve malaria elimination by 2030” while also helping to advance development across government sectors.
“Under MDGs, we have seen what can be achieved when we join our efforts and come together in a coordinated fashion,” said Herv Verhoosel, Representative from the Roll Back Malaria Partnership Secretariat in New York.
“As we set our sights on elimination, we stand to avert nearly 3 billion cases of infection and generate some $4 trillion in additional economic output over the next 15 years,” he said. “But we must ensure political commitment and predictable financial resources necessary to carry us over the finish line.”
– Alyson Atondo
Sources: San Antonio Post, UN 1, UN 2
Photo: Flickr
Dealing with Land Depletion
The Guardian cited the rate of erosion as occurring “at a pace of up to 100 times greater than the rate of soil formation.” Using land for agriculture continuously, over-fertilizing the land, industrialization and deforestation are the main factors contributing to land depletion. Land depletion continues at a rate of 10 million hectares per year. At the rate of present usage, the land is unable to restore itself and maintain soil health. The study, completed by the University of Sheffeld’s Grantham Center for Sustainable Futures, called the loss “catastrophic.”
This issue of land depletion has implications for a variety of issues, including food production, energy usage, animal and land conservation and ocean health. This research was discussed at the climate talks in Paris.
In the study, the authors suggested several different solutions to radically overhaul global agriculture and attempt to prevent significant land depletion in the future. These solutions primarily included a reduction and/or increased regulation of land used for meat production. Presently, 30 percent of our current arable land is used for pasture for animals. By using this land in a way that promotes soil restoration, rates of soil depletion could be decreased.
The study’s authors also recommend increased crop rotation, use of biotechnology and increased recycling of bio-nutrients for soil restoration. Much of this will have to be implemented by policy-makers and national bodies. However, for the average consumer, the best action will be a practice of mindfulness. By being more aware of what we purchase, how it is produced and how to best dispose of it, we can make choices that support sustainable practices.
– Priscilla McCelvey
Sources: The Guardian, University of Michigan
Photo: Flickr
Workplace Gender Equality in Honduras
In order to see this success, women will need proper training and economic incentives to be economically stable. One small business owner, Daniel Vàsquez, moved his plantain processing plant from Tegucigalpa to Valle de Jamastràn in order to tap into the markets of smallholder farmers, both male and female alike.
Vàsque’s business, Dartma, processes the plantains that are used to make chips and other snack foods throughout small convenience stores in rural Honduras. His business model prioritizes gender equality throughout the workplace and was created by TechnoServe, a nonprofit that focuses on business solutions to poverty.
Dartma purchases produce from male and female farmers, and has a gender-balanced sales and production staff—individual talent determines who works where.
Vàsquez explains broadly, “There’s balance. Women are more creative in some areas, they’re detail-oriented, they’re better at product quality control. Men are better at activities requiring physical strength, like carrying materials.”
After implementing TechnoServe’s goals towards gender equality in the workplace, Dartma saw a 20 percent increase in revenue after one year. With more growth, he hopes to one day provide parental leave to his female employees.
According to global management firm McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), advancing women’s roles in the workforce can contribute $12 trillion in global growth by 2025.
For women to contribute more to the economy, there must be more gender equity at work. This requires adequate training that provides the skills females need to perform well in higher-productivity jobs, along with equal benefits and pay from the employer.
An MGI report states that in order to achieve gender equality at work, there must be economic development and a change in society’s attitude towards gender equality.
Over the last 30 years, these social attitudes have already improved, which has contributed to a 19.7 percent increase in female workforce participation last year, according to the same report. If this growth is maintained, nearly 240 million people will be added to the world’s labor force by 2025.
Daniel Vàsquez shares why he values the women who work for him and supports gender equality in the workplace. He states, “The main benefit of buying raw materials from women is that they deliver a higher quality product, they always deliver the right order and on time. The other benefit is that the money reaches their hands and they invest it in their children.”
– Kelsey Lay
Sources: McKinsey Global Institute, TechnoServe
Photo: Latin Correspondent
Ikea Builds 10,000 Shelters for Syrian Refugees
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), since the start of 2015 more than 750,000 migrants have arrived by sea to Europe. The large amount of refugees has not only sparked international interest but also a crisis as many European countries struggle to cope with the influx of refugees fleeing to Europe for a better life.
The IKEA Foundation, in collaboration with Better Shelter, has partnered to create safer, more reliable housing options for the thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing to Europe.
Focusing on cost-effectiveness, IKEA developed a tent that costs approximately $1,000. The tent can comfortably house a family of five and only takes four to eight hours to assemble. The structures come in two sizes: 57 square feet or 188 square feet of living space and will last up to three years. Comparatively, the United Nations (UN) shelters only last three months.
“This is just a tiny part of humanitarian aid. But it’s an important one when it comes to allowing displaced people to live with dignity,” said Johan Karlsson, the main Swedish Industrial designer.
Additionally, the shelters are equipped with solar panels that are durable against extreme temperatures. The solar panels were developed in response to the cited lack of electricity among refugee shelters.
A woman by the name of Mayada, one of many refugees seeking asylum, came to a camp in Jordan ten months ago. She said she never imagined having to live without the most basic necessities, particularly electricity.
“Nowadays electricity is life, and without it even the most simple things become a struggle,” she told visitors from the UN Refugee Agency.
The absence of light and power makes everyday living activities difficult, as well as dangerous, particularly for women. Mayada’s daughter is too scared to go to the bathroom at night and has to wake her parents to accompany her. The solar panels will help to quell their fears.
With the arrival of winter and light disappearing earlier in the day, basic daily functions, as well as communication among refugees, become more difficult.
“You can’t visit friends, the kids can’t do their homework. By nine or 10 o’clock most of the camp is in bed,” Mayada said.
In addition to the solar panels, the tents will also have mosquito nets, windows and a door that locks. The lock option for doors is a simple solution to help prevent sexual assault among refugee women traveling across the Middle East and Europe.
“People tell us it will make a huge difference to them just to be able to switch a light on again, making them feel more at home,” UN Refugee Agency Energy Advisor Paul Quigley said.
The UN has ordered 10,000 of the units to help reduce the Syrian housing crisis. Europe will receive 755 units and 2,600 homes will go to Iraq.
Mayada said when electricity is made more available to the refugee camps, she will no longer have to put on a brave face for the sake of her kids, particularly her daughter.
“I wish I could give [IKEA] all a big kiss between their eyes! It will mean everything to us!” Mayada said.
– Alyson Atondo
Sources: PBS, UNHCR, Business Insider, BBC
Photo: Google Images
A Look at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
But on Tuesday, Zuckerberg and Chan announced plans for something far greater.
In a Facebook post, the couple disclosed first the birth of their daughter Maxima, and then, more notably, a new project: the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
The new philanthropy is Zuckerberg’s pledge to donate 99 percent of his Facebook shares towards charitable donations over the course of his lifetime. It’s a stake that is currently valued at $45 billion.
According to Reuters, Zuckerberg said he intends to invest up to $1 billion of his shares each year over the next three years into the Initiative.
“Our initial areas of focus will be personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities,” wrote the couple. To date, however, they have not outlined specific organizations or causes they will fund.
Their drive in creating this Initiative came from the impending arrival of their new daughter. In a video, Zuckerberg stated, “Having this child has made us think about all of the things that should be improved in the world for her whole generation. The only way that we reach our full human potential is if we’re able to unlock the gifts of every person around the world.”
Overshadowing their intentions is the unique structure of the Initiative. Zuckerberg and Chan elected to create the Initiative as a limited liability company. That means, unlike a traditional charitable or philanthropic foundation, the Initiative can make political donations, lobby lawmakers, invest in businesses and recoup any profits from those investments.
According to Leslie Lenkowsky, professor of public affairs and philanthropy at Indiana University, “They are instead trying to achieve philanthropic purposes using a business model.”
Despite all this, Bill Gates, the wealthiest person in the world (with an estimated net worth of $85.2 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index) and his wife congratulated Zuckerberg and Chan.
“The example you’re setting today is an inspiration to us and the world,” they said. “We can be confident of this: Max and every child born today will grow up in a world that is better than the one we know now. As you say, ‘Seeds planted now will grow.’ Your work will bear fruit for many decades to come.”
Past donations made by Zuckerberg and Chan include a 2010 donation of $100 million for the improvement of Newark public schools, which met with some controversy. More recent donations include $20 million to EducationSuperHighway, which helps connect classrooms to the Internet, and a new acute care and trauma center at San Francisco General Hospital, where Chan works as a pediatrician.
– Kara Buckley
Sources: BBC News, NY Times, Reuters 1, Reuters 2
Photo: Google Images
Ghalib Khalil’s Impact on Advocacy
The actions of individual people like Ghalib Khalil have been cited as the spark for many great advocacy and social movements. As Nelson Mandela once said, “It is time for the next generations to continue to struggle against social injustice and for the rights of humanity. It is in your hands.”
Ghalib Khalil: A Movement
This is exactly what took place in 2010 in Pakistan after the country was devastated by flooding. Ghalib Khalil, inspired to help his country recover from the natural disaster, realized that his own solitary efforts would not be enough to make a big difference. Guided by the advice of a teacher, the 15-year-old created the Rescue Pakistan Youth Foundation. Networking for the organization on Facebook, Khalil used his connections to mobilize support and a volunteer force of several hundred Pakistanis.
This volunteer force engaged in door-to-door collections to help make a difference, but Khalil knew that he still wanted to make a bigger impact. By reaching out to large international corporations and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Khalil was able to dramatically expand his impact on advocacy. Due to the creation of Rescue Pakistan Youth Foundation, he successfully raised more than $100,000 to aid in relief efforts.
Since then, Khalil’s impact on advocacy has only continued and increased. After Pakistan recovered from the flood, Rescue Pakistan Youth Foundation continued to take donations for local community projects, but Khalil has set his sights on the struggle for peace. Peacetide, originally named Friends Without Borders, is an international advocacy campaign that focuses on promoting mutual respect and peaceful relations between Israel and Palestine, India and Pakistan, Greece and Turkey, Kosovo and Serbia.
The campaign is aimed at 14 to 25-year-olds, using visual storytelling through videos, pictures, art, inspirational quotes and personal testimonials for peace from its members. To date, the campaign’s main promotional platform on Facebook has more than 40,000 followers.
Both Rescue Pakistan Youth Foundation and Peacetide have achieved a positive impact on advocacy on a grassroots level while helping to educate, promote international peace and make a tangible difference in local communities in Pakistan. The secret to the popularity of Khalil’s organizations is connection, which is perfectly summed-up in Peacetide’s motto, “Goodness is growing one friend at a time.”
– Claire Colby
Sources: Peacetide Facebook Page, The Xrtaordinary, International Political Forum
Photo: Flickr
Employing Young People with Disabilities in Zambia
The International Labor Organization (ILO) has launched an innovative new pilot program to improve access to vocational training and employment for young people with disabilities in Zambia. ILO has been working with the Zambian government since 2012 to make training institutions more inclusive, and this new program will augment that effort.
Zambia currently has 300 vocational training institutions serving over 33,600 students, but ability-based discrimination during enrollment has lead to high levels of exclusion and unemployment for many young people. ILO hopes this program will change that.
“The program will give young people with disabilities the skills they need to enter the open labor market,” the report read.
ILO currently audits training institutions against international standards to identify barriers to entry, ease of campus accessibility and adaptability of curricula for students with special needs. Recommendations are then made to the colleges to make improvements.
Instructors also undergo disability awareness training that includes not only insight into the physical limitations of students but also ways in which students are hindered by societal attitudes and stigma. Instructors are then supported in finding ways to overcome these obstacles.
Under the new pilot program, 20 teachers at five training institutions will take courses on how to build inclusive educational environments, and they will become certified to train other teachers, creating a sustainable education model. Training for new teachers will also be redesigned to include disability inclusion from the outset.
Partner colleges have embraced these efforts. “Our goal is to be a fully inclusive vocational training institution within three to five years,” said Samuel Mayo, Chief Executive of Lusaka Technical and Business College.
But discrimination continues beyond education into working life in Zambia, where over 45 percent of young people with disabilities are unemployed. Employers hesitate to hire these candidates because they incorrectly assume there will be costs associated with doing so. They might also assume that these candidates will require complicated special accommodations, which has also proven to be untrue.
In response, ILO held a roundtable discussion on the business-case benefits of hiring qualified candidates regardless of ability. The event brought in 50 representatives from private companies and launched the formation of the Zambia Business and Disability Network, which now works to build capacity for inclusive hiring practices among employers.
While the organization works primarily with business leaders to foster inclusive workplace attitudes, it has also partnered with hiring agencies to develop skills and confidence for candidates of all abilities.
ILO is confident that this program’s sustainable model will allow it to have a broader impact outside of Zambia. “By being both a source and a catalyst of knowledge-sharing and innovation, the ILO program is helping countries around the world achieve better results for men and women with disabilities,” they say.
– Ron Minard
Sources: ILO, UN, WHO
Photo: Flickr