A new report by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) and the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in India is calling the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Scheme a success, though maybe not quite as large of one as was hoped.
Using data from two rounds of the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) which involved more than 26,000 rural Indian households, the surveyors determined that the MGNREGS program helped reduce poverty by up to 32 percent and kept an estimated 14 million people from falling into poverty.
While overall economic growth contributed significantly to the reduction in total poverty, and the impact of the program is smaller than hoped, the authors of the study said the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Scheme did play a significant role in lowering the overall poverty level.
The researchers found that the program did not add days of employment in rural economies, but did succeed in pulling workers into more productive lines of work, thereby increasing overall incomes. The program, which works to ensure at least 100 days of paid employment each year, also proved to be a powerful tool for providing women with employment opportunities.
An estimated 45 percent of the women enrolled in the MGNREGS program had either never worked, or worked only on the family farm. “This may well be the first opportunity many women have to earn cash income,” said the authors of the report. Female employment not only creates greater overall family incomes but increases women’s control of resources, giving them greater independence.
Children from MGNREGS households also saw direct benefits the report found, with them being more likely to obtain higher education than their non-MGNREGS peers. One reason for the disparity, the researchers offered, was that children in non-enrolled households were more likely to be working instead of attending school.
The one thing holding back the program, according to the report, is work rationing, the issue MGNREGS has with meeting the high demand. Despite high interest in the program, erratic funds and trouble implementing them has left the program with high levels of unmet demand, said Jugal Kishore Mohapatra, secretary at the Ministry of Rural Development.
Despite uncertain results, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Scheme, also known as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, has been hailed by the Indian government as “the largest and most ambitious social security and public works program in the world.” In 2014, the World Development Report referred to the program as a “stellar example of rural development.”
So, while there have been bumps in the road, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has shown itself to be a successful venture, with much room to grow, and a lot of help to offer India’s poorest.
– Gina Lehner
Sources: The Hindu, MGNREGS-AP
Photo: imagenes
Solar Cities: Hot Water for Rural Cairo
In Cairo, drinking tap water is considered to be a game with rules similar to Russian roulette — the possibility of dying is high. The concentration of bacteria in the water is astounding and the majority of the population living in Cairo’s slums does not have access to the hot water necessary to cook and bathe.
On average, it takes a mother seven hours to bathe her children. She must retrieve water from a well and carry it in a bucket back to her home before warming it up on the stove before she can give any of her children a bath.
To increase the availability of hot water for people living in Coptic Christian and Muslim communities in Cairo, Solar Cities install environment-friendly solar panels on the rooftops of houses in the city’s poorer neighborhoods.
Solar Cities was started by two science Ph.D. recipients, Dr. TH Culhane and Dr. Sybille Culhane. The pair is currently working on their project, C.3.I.T.I.E.S., which stands for Connecting Community Catalysts Integrating Technologies for Industrial Ecology Solutions.
Dr. TH — Thomas Taha Rassam — Culhane’s project succeeds in generating 200 liters of hot water and 200 liters of cold water for each household every day. More than 30 solar water heaters line housetops in Cairo, providing many families with access to usable and drinkable water.
Situated primarily in the Coptic Christian community of Zabaleen and Darb Al-Ahmar, an Islamic neighborhood, Culhane works not only on providing residents with access to water but also on bringing the two communities closer together.
The idea for Solar Cities came to Culhane after he worked on projects in the Dayak of Boneo and Itza Maya jungle villages in Guatemala, and to gain a better understanding of the struggles of living under these conditions, Culhane and his wife moved into an apartment in Zabaleen.
There, they were able to gather practical knowledge on what issues needed to be resolved, namely finding an environmentally friendly way of gaining access to clean water.
The duo has since worked on increasing solar energy and clean water in Cairo and spreading innovative ideas throughout the Zabaleen and Darb Al-Ahmar communities.
As two science educators, they work to make their projects fun and interactive for all of their colleagues and the people they assist with the belief that creativity can lead to innovation, which in turn will make the world a more environmentally sustainable place.
– Julia Hettiger
Sources: Matador Network, Egypt Independent, National Geographic
Photo: Google Images
Fighting Polio in Pakistan
The focus on the fight against polio has shifted from Africa to Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). There have been no cases in Africa this year, with Nigeria to be removed from the list soon. Africa will have to go with two years of no polio cases before it can be considered “polio-free.”
There have been 34 polio cases this year, 28 of them have occurred in Pakistan and the rest have occurred in Afghanistan. There have been 28 cases of polio in Pakistan, 13 of which occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 8 in Peshawar. Just last year, Pakistan saw the highest number of polio cases since 1998, a total of 296 polio cases.
The campaign to end polio faces a number of challenges. These vaccination campaigns have to deal with political instability and internal conflict in the region. They are often attacked by militants who believe immunization teams and polio workers might be a cover for espionage.
The political instability and internal conflict have caused a large population of refugees and slum areas where people are unaccounted for and have little to no access to health care.
There is also a lack of education regarding the effectiveness of polio vaccinations. In the region, there are rumors claiming they cause infertility. Before the vaccine was developed in the 1950s, polio affected everyone, rich and poor, and caused irreversible paralysis within hours.
The good news is, this past year, Pakistan ran its first eradication program. The World Health Organization (WHO) even reported more vaccinations in tribal areas where the government has less control.
WHO estimates that $50 billion could be saved in the next 20 years if polio is eradicated. In contrast, not eradicating polio could lead to 200,000 new cases every year within 10 years. Polio is on track to being the second infectious disease to be eradicated after smallpox.
– Paula Acevedo
Sources: Dawn, Thomson Reuters Foundation
Photo: Google Images
Trachoma in Ethiopia: What It Is and What Is Being Done
Trachoma is an endemic disease in Oromia, the largest and most populous state of Ethiopia. The disease has caused an impairment of vision in 2.2 million people in the world as the leading infectious cause of blindness.
The combination of poor sanitation and minimal access to clean water increases the risk of infection and nearly 229 million people in the world live in high-risk areas. Women are more susceptible to infectious trachoma than men because of their higher exposure to young children who are typically the bearers of the disease.
Eighty percent of Ethiopians live in rural areas with poor sanitation and little access to clean water. Seventy-six million people in Ethiopia are at risk of contracting blinding trachoma and another 800,000 people are at risk of irreversible blindness if they do not receive surgery.
Ethiopia only has 120 ophthalmologists and the majority of them work in Addis Ababa. The country is ill-equipped to destroy the disease on its own although the surgical procedures are simple and quick.
The Fred Hollows Foundation is a non-governmental organization focused on eliminating preventable blindness. The organization’s work in Ethiopia is focused mainly on the implementation of the SAFE strategy recommended by the World Health Organization in Oromia’s 225 endemic districts.
SAFE is an acronym for Surgery, Antibiotics, Face-washing, and Environmental improvements. Changing the way people manage personal hygiene has been one of the ways they are trying to reduce the risks of trachoma.
The Fred Hollows Foundation and its partners treated 5,637,226 people with antibiotics and performed more than 7,000 lid surgeries in 2014 alone. They also trained 36 surgeons and 10 clinic support staff as well as supplied $126,747 worth of equipment used to treat trachoma in Ethiopia.
According to the Fred Hollows Foundation website, “What is needed [to eliminate trachoma in Ethiopia] is a significant scale-up of the SAFE strategy, including resources, expertise and commitment from regional and local governments and development organizations in the water, sanitation and hygiene sectors.”
– Iona Brannon
Sources: Al Jazeera, The Fred Hollows Foundation, World Health Organization
Photo: Flickr
The Importance of Computer Science Education in School
While the UN recently approved the Sustainable Development Goals in January 2016, eradicating poverty and combating climate change are considered the top two global problems. More than ever before, computer science education will be crucial for students in low-income communities in order to avoid poverty.
In today’s world of technology, it is imperative for students to become exposed to computer technology at a young age.
To ensure children learn about computer technology at an early age, New York City Mayor, Bill de Blasio, announced that within 10 years, all students attending the city’s public schools would be required to take computer science courses.
New York City plans to spend $81 million over the next 10 years and estimates training 5,000 teachers in the field, which could be a potential issue.
“The difficulty is getting enough teachers who are trained in it, and trained well enough to make it a good introduction to computer science,” said Barbara Ericson, the director of computing outreach at Georgia Tech’s College of Computing. “And if you are well-trained in computer science, you can make a lot more money in industry than teaching.”
Of the $81 million needed, half of the money will be raised through private sources, including the Robin Hood Foundation and venture capitalist Fred Wilson.
Interestingly, a survey done by Google found that many poor parents want their children to learn computer science education so they have the opportunity to lead a better life.
While 15.3 percent of New York City lives in poverty, the opportunity for these students to be exposed to computer science at a young age could change the course of poverty and their futures.
“Stimulating the curiosity of today’s young students for math and science is critical for creating tomorrow’s physicists, mathematicians and cosmologists,” said Rocky Kolb, Dean of the Physical Sciences Division at the University of Chicago.
With knowledge of computer education, students have the opportunity to attend college studying the field and could possibly work in New York City’s fastest-growing technology sector.
“If we can get them earlier, I think we can get them excited about it,” Mr. Wilson said.
– Alexandra Korman
Sources: Gigaom, NY Times, United States Census, University of Chicago,
Photo: blogs.perficient
UN Sustainable Development Summit Highlights Women’s Rights
Global economics, health and sustainability are some of the usual discussion points at the United Nations. However, at the recently held U.N. Sustainable Development Summit, Ban Ki-moon, the U.N.’s secretary-general, put the spotlight on women’s empowerment.
“We cannot achieve our 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development without full and equal rights for half of the world’s population, in law and in practice. We cannot effectively respond to humanitarian emergencies without ensuring women and girls are protected and their needs prioritized,” said Ban Ki-moon during an event hosted by U.N. Women and China.
The Sustainable Development Summit discussed the Sustainable Development Goals, which are a follow-up to the Millennium Development goals created in 2000. These Sustainable Development Goals include the goal to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.”
To this end, Ban Ki-moon asked leaders to commit to ending gender inequality, pointing to “This means urgently addressing structural barriers, such as unequal pay.” He also discussed other gender inequalities, such as the importance of women’s bodily autonomy, gender violence and the encouragement of women’s participation in the workforce.
The United Nations, founded in 1945, began addressing gender inequalities prior to this summit. In 2010, The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, or U.N. Women, began. U.N. Women helps to streamline the U.N.’s efforts in advancing gender equality in all member states.
This past summer, the United Nations Security Council condemned the use of sexual violence during wartime, in reference to Syria and Iraq.
To help encourage gender equality to reality by 2030, businesses pledged millions of dollars At the Business and Philanthropy Leader’s Forum, co-hosted by U.N. Women, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Alibaba Group.
Now global citizens wait to see how many of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals will become a reality. With the recent attention to women’s rights, the United Nations starts the journey to make gender equality a reality within member states.
– Rachelle Kredentser
Sources: UN 1, UN 2, UN 3, UN Women, UN 4, UN 5
Photo: Pixabay
Mahatma Gandhi Employment Program: Women and Poverty
A new report by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) and the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in India is calling the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Scheme a success, though maybe not quite as large of one as was hoped.
Using data from two rounds of the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) which involved more than 26,000 rural Indian households, the surveyors determined that the MGNREGS program helped reduce poverty by up to 32 percent and kept an estimated 14 million people from falling into poverty.
While overall economic growth contributed significantly to the reduction in total poverty, and the impact of the program is smaller than hoped, the authors of the study said the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Scheme did play a significant role in lowering the overall poverty level.
The researchers found that the program did not add days of employment in rural economies, but did succeed in pulling workers into more productive lines of work, thereby increasing overall incomes. The program, which works to ensure at least 100 days of paid employment each year, also proved to be a powerful tool for providing women with employment opportunities.
An estimated 45 percent of the women enrolled in the MGNREGS program had either never worked, or worked only on the family farm. “This may well be the first opportunity many women have to earn cash income,” said the authors of the report. Female employment not only creates greater overall family incomes but increases women’s control of resources, giving them greater independence.
Children from MGNREGS households also saw direct benefits the report found, with them being more likely to obtain higher education than their non-MGNREGS peers. One reason for the disparity, the researchers offered, was that children in non-enrolled households were more likely to be working instead of attending school.
The one thing holding back the program, according to the report, is work rationing, the issue MGNREGS has with meeting the high demand. Despite high interest in the program, erratic funds and trouble implementing them has left the program with high levels of unmet demand, said Jugal Kishore Mohapatra, secretary at the Ministry of Rural Development.
Despite uncertain results, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Scheme, also known as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, has been hailed by the Indian government as “the largest and most ambitious social security and public works program in the world.” In 2014, the World Development Report referred to the program as a “stellar example of rural development.”
So, while there have been bumps in the road, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has shown itself to be a successful venture, with much room to grow, and a lot of help to offer India’s poorest.
– Gina Lehner
Sources: The Hindu, MGNREGS-AP
Photo: imagenes
Child Family Health International at a Glance
There is a plethora of organizations working toward the betterment of our world and the people living in it, however, they often do not get the attention or credit they deserve. So let’s shine a little spotlight on one and take a minute to appreciate others’ hard work and the power of teamwork.
Child Family Health International (CFHI) is a nonprofit organization that is focused on global health education. They offer education programs for individuals interested in global health and related careers. Here are three ways CFHI is working towards improving global health.
Educate Future Global Health Crusaders
CFHI offers education programs for students or volunteers to gain experience with the clinical practices, public health and social services in developing nations. They work within Latin America, Africa and India.
Participants of community-based Global Health CFHI programs can gain the valuable experience needed to build their resumes or earn college credit. CFHI offers more than twenty different programs in seven countries that work within and with the local community on projects like providing healthcare for underserved communities in the Himalayas to training midwives in Oaxaca.
Integrates into the Local Health Care Community
CFHI recognizes that there are already health care professionals and experts residing in the community they are working in and have partnered with existing health care providers. By utilizing local community leaders and health workers, CFHI helps support the development of opportunities for their international partners.
They invest in the continuing of their educations by offering scholarships for higher degrees and including locals in conferences and workshops. CFHI holds that students can learn not only from CFHI staff but also from those living in the communities they are working with.
Invests in Host Community
Students who participate in a CFHI education program pay a fee, which is common amongst study abroad experiences. However, unlike many other programs, CFHI invests half of a student’s fee back into the community they will be working and learning in. The invested funds work to bolster the economy of the countries CFHI works with and compensate the communities for their time, expertise and hospitality.
– Brittney Dimond
Sources: Child Family Health International 1, Child Family Health International 2, GoAbroad.com
Photo: Flickr
Ending Extreme Poverty: Politics Weighs Us Down
In November, The United Nations Climate Change Summit will commence in Paris, France, the last of three paired conferences that set to discuss action regarding two great problems of our time: extreme poverty and climate change. Even though extreme poverty has been cut in half since 1980, political systems are making it difficult to envision the end of extreme poverty by 2030.
Since 2000 when the UN adopted the Millennial Development Goals (MDGs), major victories have been made in regard to extreme poverty. Compared to 1990, the number of people in the world living on less than $1.25 per day has dropped from 1.9 billion to 836 million.
Despite the efforts of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) implemented in September 2015, politics may be halting the fight to eradicate extreme poverty.
Due to war and climate change, 59.5 million people worldwide have left their homes, a global displacement figure that has not been this high since World War II.
With this high displacement, the European Union (EU) has failed to find homes for a mere 60,000 asylum seekers. Since the EU has a population of over 500 million, political leaders have no excuse for finding homes.
In regards to the UN’s Third Financing for Development Summit this past July in Ethiopia, the goal was to discuss ways to finance the end to extreme poverty in 2030.
One key phrase from the conference linked climate, environment, and development: “All of our actions need to be underpinned by our strong commitment to protect and preserve our planet and natural resources, our biodiversity and our climate.”
Unfortunately, no dates or commitment to the clause ensures physical action, lacking a sense of urgency that should be present.
As the Climate Change summit approaches, world leaders will decide a necessary strategy in regard to the growing problem with climate change and its connection to extreme poverty.
With only 15 years left to solve extreme poverty, world leaders and the general population cannot expect the matter to solve itself. More compromise and effort is needed with all world leaders to solve extreme poverty.
– Alexandra Korman
Sources: Arab News, Devex, Irish Examiner
Photo: Flickr
5 Things to Expect from the Post-2015 Development Agenda
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are set to expire at the end of 2015, and a new proposal of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be discussed in September. MDGs have helped alleviate poverty and hunger, reduce fatality rates for children under 5, improve maternal health and help prevent HIV/AIDS from spreading.
For the last 15 years, the MDGs have been the most important global humanitarian effort to help improve living conditions in developing countries. The SDGs have an even more ambitious agenda and will involve all member states instead of just developing countries.
Here are 5 things you can expect from the Post-2015 Development Agenda
If the commitment to the MDGs is a sign of things to come, then there will be many success stories involving the new SDGs.
– Donald Gering
Sources: End Poverty 2015, Global Education, Green Biz, The Guardian, Huffington Post, Internet.org, LA Times, UN
Photo: concorditalia
Syrian Town Affected by Decline in Health Care
Syrian towns are lacking healthcare services. The Islamic State’s rules make the situation worse with the segregation of the genders and having to treat fighters before civilians.
The Islamic State (IS) has convinced thousands of foreign fighters and their families to flee to Syria where they will build a great place for them to live. Syrians in IS-controlled cities like Raqqa, believe they’re providing basic governance despite the civil war. IS has done a pretty good job with their recruiting efforts and getting funds through oil sales, taxes and extortions to continue their fight and gain more control.
Syrians, however, are in serious need of better healthcare services, especially women, to avoid a potential HIV/AIDS outbreak. Syrians feel that their health care was better under President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which covered most medical costs. Now, hospitals are charging and medications are hard to come by in pharmacies.
The IS hospitals are pretty limited given that they can’t do complex surgeries and procedures or treat cancer patients. As a result, Syrians are going to regime-controlled areas for medications and for complex procedures. The trip is worth it given the price disparity, for example, with a blood test that costs $10 at a public hospital and $20 at a private clinic.
The biggest problem is IS’s gender rules that hurt more women than men, especially in the case of emergencies. A woman cannot be seen by a man unless the husband and son are present. This problem is magnified during airstrikes by the Assad regime or U.S. led coalition forces. Fortunately, on one night, the IS let go of its gender rules.
The hospitals are already understaffed and supplemented by volunteer foreign doctors, Arab and Western, who lack experience with war-zone injuries. Fortunately, for the people of Raqqa, the IS hospitals are better equipped than rebel-controlled territories.
There is, however, a potential HIV/AID outbreak in the region. According to the activist group, Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, various factors are contributing to this. Among them are blood transfusions without adequate screening, foreign and local fighters injecting drugs, short-term marriages, and high turnover of partners. Under the Assad regime, everyone would check for HIV/AIDS before marriage. Due to the threat, IS is bringing equipment from Mosul, Iraq, where they have a strong base.
Fortunately, for the people of Raqqa, the IS is responding to the need of abandoning gender rules during airstrikes and getting necessary equipment, but more needs to be done so these people can live peaceful, stable lives.
– Paula Acevedo
Sources: The Christian Science Monitor, The Washington Post
Photo: Flickr