One of the hallmarks of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s premiership is his commitment to the development of Africa. Since leaving office in 2007, Blair continues his dedication to Africa’s poor through the Africa Governance Initiative (AGI).
In Sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 50 percent of all people live in poverty. Around 239 million Africans face food insecurity and 70 percent do not have electricity.
In 2008, AGI was founded upon a mission to establish enduring governments that will lift impoverished Africans out of poverty.
The AGI team strives to achieve this goal by working with public officials to improve their policies, strategies and capacities to affect change within their respective countries.
Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who was elected in 2006, noted, “There you stand, trying to re-build a nation in an environment where everyone wants to see change take place right away…. Only you cannot because the capacity to implement whatever change you have in mind does not exist.”
Liberia is one of six African countries AGI works with. The others are Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Rwanda—where AGI was piloted.
AGI operates by working “shoulder-to-shoulder” with the highest levels of government. With a cornerstone platform of prioritization, planning and performance management, AGI tailors its programs to the specific needs of each country.
In 1994, many Rwandans fled the country or died as a result of genocide. Rwanda felt the devastating effects of the genocide for more than a decade after. In 2008, AGI came to Rwanda to help President Paul Kagame and his government put Rwanda back on a path toward development.
The initiatives AGI undertook in Rwanda were tailored to their Vision 2020 plan. Vision 2020 is the government’s plan to make Rwanda a middle-income country by 2020.
Together the AGI team and the Rwandan government developed the Strategic Capacity Building Initiative (SCBI). The SCBI paired government workers with technical experts to recognize and address the reasons why capacity building in Rwanda failed in the past.
After much research and deliberation, SCBI decided on four measures that would be the key to program implementation in the future.
These measures are priority driven, having government ownership of programs and strategies, focusing on delivery of relevant work in a real context and lastly long-term investment or, in other words, youth involvement.
Phase 1 AGI’s Program
- Phase 1 of the program targeted energy, agriculture, mining and investment.
- In the energy sector, Rwanda quickly took the initiative to become a world example for sustainable development.
- In 2014, Rwanda completed the construction of East Africa’s first large-scale solar power plant.
The process of legal negotiations, considering international guidelines for best practice and leveraging long-term investment leading up to the construction took just seven months—what AGI calls, “lighting-fast by international standards.”
The plant is located about an hour outside of Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. Since its implementation just last year, the plant has already produced 8.5 megawatts of electricity.
This replaced expensive and dirty diesel fuel with clean and cheap solar energy which now powers 12,000 homes.
Plans for the future include increasing solar capacity to 250 megawatts, which could power close to 353,000 more homes.
Other successes from the SCBI include increased wages for farmers and a fairer mining industry. Between 2000 and 2010 Rwanda was considered one of the world’s ten fastest growing economies. Since 2007, poverty in Rwanda decreased by nearly 8 percent.
“I set up AGI to help African governments bridge the gap between plans and results, to get from power plans to power plants, from a line in a speech to a line of children outside their new school,” said Blair.
Rwanda’s successes show that it is not corruption, but a need for proper capacity building that hinders development.
The Rwanda government’s eagerness to continue with SCBI and other projects is a testament to Africa’s ability to become a world leader in raising its people out of poverty.
– Celestina Radogno
Sources: Africa Governance Initiative 1, Africa Governance Initiative 2, Africa Governance Initiative 3, Africa Governance Initiative 4, Africa Governance Initiative 5, CIA World Fact Book, Huffington Post, Tony Blair, World Hunger
Photo: Diallo Kenyatta
Youth Entrepreneurship Forum in Dushanbe
Since independence, the long civil war and recurring natural disasters have led to widespread poverty in Tajikistan. About half of the country’s population is poor and depends on agriculture to survive. The majority of the poor are unemployed, underemployed or self-employed.
On Oct. 12, 2015, a Youth Entrepreneurship Forum took place in Dushanbe with support from the World Bank Group. The goal of the event is to increase awareness of the importance of entrepreneurship for job creation and economic growth and to share ideas about entrepreneurship for youth in Tajikistan.
The World Bank has an active portfolio of 24 projects, including regional projects and Trust Funds. It intends to make a net commitment of U.S. $383 million to support economic growth through private sector development and investments in better public services, such as education, health, municipal services and social protection.
As part of the World Bank Group-financed Central Asia Youth Empowerment and Jobs Project, this event aims to improve the business climate and foster youth entrepreneurship in Tajikistan through improving the capacity of state entities and offering skills training for youth.
The event involved around 200 young entrepreneurs, private companies, civil society organizations, development partners, World Bank Group experts, representatives from the Government of Tajikistan and participants from the Slovak Republic.
At the forum, international and local experts introduced key concepts of entrepreneurship, including how to set up and manage a business, how to make entrepreneurial decisions and identify new business opportunities. Representatives from Tajikistan private companies and the Slovak Republic shared their experience of starting a business and discussed with young entrepreneurs about how entrepreneurship works at the individual and company level.
The forum also includes the discussion on business and entrepreneurship opportunities offered by local and international civil society organizations, development partners and local associations and companies.
In order to put words into action, following the forum, a master class started on October 13 for start-up businesses intending to collect individual business advice from successful entrepreneurs from Tajikistan and the Slovak Republic.
“Young people are eager to work and need good job opportunities. A society that can deliver these opportunities is promoting growth and investing in its welfare,” said Patricia Veevers-Carter, World Bank Country Manager for Tajikistan. “The World Bank Group’s efforts in this area in Tajikistan are going to focus on helping youth develop skills and increase employment opportunities, as well as on assisting the Government in designing policies that help youth thrive.”
This project will benefit the society of Tajikistan with more jobs created by entrepreneurship and improved economy.
– Shengyu Wang
Sources: World Bank, Rural Poverty Photo: DIPNOTE
International Scholarships: Hope for Developing Countries
Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa and education advocate, once stated that “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
It is with this outlook that countries have banded together to make education a priority in developing countries where change is most needed.
Primary education and ensuring that each child has access to it has been a first step, but what next? USAID along with several other countries and organizations have begun expanding their focus on continued education.
On the USAID site, it explains that “higher levels of education can raise developing countries’ productivity significantly. One study shows that an additional year of average secondary or university-level education in a country raises national output by 19 percent.”
The U.N. News Center showed this in its report on economic growth within developing countries. Its feature article shared, “Economic growth alone does not automatically translate into human development progress. [Developing countries] are therefore not just tapping into global trade, but they are also improving health and education services, which have allowed them to sustain their growth.”
Countries such as the U.S., U.K. and Poland have helped to expand educational opportunities through international scholarships.
Go Poland is one project that has helped more than 400 international students continue their education outside of their home country.
On its site, the organization notes that “new scholarship programmes translate into higher numbers of foreigners studying in Poland. Foreign students in Poland acquire expertise which they will be able to use afterwards for the benefit of their home countries.”
The same goals are maintained in all other international scholarships awarded to students from developing countries. It is an investment in the students, developing countries and the world at large.
Future scholarships for 2016 are already being handed out to students in various developing nations. These scholarships provide hope for a better future in countries that still have much room for growth.
– Katherine Martin
Sources: Washington Post, USAID, UN, Polska Pomoc
Photo: Pixabay
Bpeace Aids Entrepreneurs in Historically Violent Communities
Bpeace, short for Business Council for Peace, is an organization comprised of business savvy individuals who have combined their efforts to aid business owners in areas who have suffered from violence and war.
Bpeace volunteers help decrease violence in conflict-ridden communities by accelerating job creation and, in turn, decreasing poverty. They have aided business owners in countries like Rwanda, Afghanistan, El Salvador, Guatemala and more.
Bpeace was founded in 2002 in New York City. Serving as a pro bono management consulting firm, Bpeace helps entrepreneurs scale their businesses, create significant employment for members of their communities and expand the economic power of women.
The founders of Bpeace believe the most efficient way to spread world peace is by creating jobs, and they apply this philosophy to all of their practices. Jobs have a big multiplier effect. This creates local purchasing power, which helps families become sustainable.
Since 2009, Bpeace has held an event called Pedal for Peace that brings together donors and bikers to raise money for local entrepreneurs in developing countries. Participants ride either a sixty-mile or 25-mile race while donating at least $500. Every dollar is donated to families in Afghanistan, El Salvador and Guatemala.
In 2015, Bpeace provided mentoring to over 65 entrepreneurs, with their efforts reaching 2,657 employees. In total, 12,000 families have been positively affected by Bpeace’s effort. Bpeace also assists business owners with finances to keep violence away from their businesses.
Karina Koper, a business owner in Guatemala, uses the financial assistance she receives from Bpeace to pay for her employees to take cabs to and from work to avoid being mugged or assaulted and to pay off gangs from messing with her shops.
Another example of this is Veronica Mejia Handal, a business owner in El Salvador, who received social media marketing training from Bpeace and used her newfound skills to market herself to potential customers around the world.
Today, Bpeace continues to help entrepreneurs, creates jobs and helps end gang violence by spreading employment to constituents of all backgrounds.
– Julia Hettiger
Sources: Fox Business, Bpeace 1, Bpeace 2, Indiegogo
Photo: Pause for Thought
Fighting Malnutrition in Honduras
Honduras is the third poorest nation in the Americas. One-third of the population lives below the poverty line and 1.5 million Hondurans or 20% of the population, face hunger on a daily basis.
However, malnutrition is especially problematic for children.
Fortunately, several organizations are providing funding to the country to alleviate malnutrition.
World Bank and the United Nations
The growing rates of malnutrition in Honduras have prompted the World Bank and the United Nations to act. Currently, the organization is supporting a program called the AIN-C with the United States and investing $20 million into Honduras.
The money will be divided among nearly 1,000 Honduran communities and benefit 16,000 children.
World Food Programme
In addition, the World Food Programme (WFP) implemented the School Meals Programme in Honduras, which has provided 1.2 million children in primary school with food aid.
The program targets the very poorest communities in the country and provides the children with daily meals in order to encourage school enrollment. In addition to the program, the WFP has implemented the Purchase for Progress (P4P) program.
The P4P is a program that buys products from small farmers in order to help support the community. In partnership with other buyers, they have purchased $60 million in food from local Honduran communities.
Hopefully, as the international community continues to support poverty reducing programs in Honduras, the rate of malnutrition will decrease throughout the country.
– Robert Cross
Sources: Hope International, World Bank, World Food Programme
Photo: Wikimedia
What is the Africa Governance Initiative?
One of the hallmarks of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s premiership is his commitment to the development of Africa. Since leaving office in 2007, Blair continues his dedication to Africa’s poor through the Africa Governance Initiative (AGI).
In Sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 50 percent of all people live in poverty. Around 239 million Africans face food insecurity and 70 percent do not have electricity.
In 2008, AGI was founded upon a mission to establish enduring governments that will lift impoverished Africans out of poverty.
The AGI team strives to achieve this goal by working with public officials to improve their policies, strategies and capacities to affect change within their respective countries.
Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who was elected in 2006, noted, “There you stand, trying to re-build a nation in an environment where everyone wants to see change take place right away…. Only you cannot because the capacity to implement whatever change you have in mind does not exist.”
Liberia is one of six African countries AGI works with. The others are Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Rwanda—where AGI was piloted.
AGI operates by working “shoulder-to-shoulder” with the highest levels of government. With a cornerstone platform of prioritization, planning and performance management, AGI tailors its programs to the specific needs of each country.
In 1994, many Rwandans fled the country or died as a result of genocide. Rwanda felt the devastating effects of the genocide for more than a decade after. In 2008, AGI came to Rwanda to help President Paul Kagame and his government put Rwanda back on a path toward development.
The initiatives AGI undertook in Rwanda were tailored to their Vision 2020 plan. Vision 2020 is the government’s plan to make Rwanda a middle-income country by 2020.
Together the AGI team and the Rwandan government developed the Strategic Capacity Building Initiative (SCBI). The SCBI paired government workers with technical experts to recognize and address the reasons why capacity building in Rwanda failed in the past.
After much research and deliberation, SCBI decided on four measures that would be the key to program implementation in the future.
These measures are priority driven, having government ownership of programs and strategies, focusing on delivery of relevant work in a real context and lastly long-term investment or, in other words, youth involvement.
Phase 1 AGI’s Program
The process of legal negotiations, considering international guidelines for best practice and leveraging long-term investment leading up to the construction took just seven months—what AGI calls, “lighting-fast by international standards.”
The plant is located about an hour outside of Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. Since its implementation just last year, the plant has already produced 8.5 megawatts of electricity.
This replaced expensive and dirty diesel fuel with clean and cheap solar energy which now powers 12,000 homes.
Plans for the future include increasing solar capacity to 250 megawatts, which could power close to 353,000 more homes.
Other successes from the SCBI include increased wages for farmers and a fairer mining industry. Between 2000 and 2010 Rwanda was considered one of the world’s ten fastest growing economies. Since 2007, poverty in Rwanda decreased by nearly 8 percent.
“I set up AGI to help African governments bridge the gap between plans and results, to get from power plans to power plants, from a line in a speech to a line of children outside their new school,” said Blair.
Rwanda’s successes show that it is not corruption, but a need for proper capacity building that hinders development.
The Rwanda government’s eagerness to continue with SCBI and other projects is a testament to Africa’s ability to become a world leader in raising its people out of poverty.
– Celestina Radogno
Sources: Africa Governance Initiative 1, Africa Governance Initiative 2, Africa Governance Initiative 3, Africa Governance Initiative 4, Africa Governance Initiative 5, CIA World Fact Book, Huffington Post, Tony Blair, World Hunger
Photo: Diallo Kenyatta
Creating Ways to Continue Education Despite War and Conflict
Elementary school is a time that is remembered by new backpacks and the smell of fresh pencils and erasers. Small children proudly sport new outfits and seek out new friends in various classes.
This is the idealized picture of what a small proportion of the world’s children is able to enjoy. In war-torn developing countries, though, elementary schools look very different.
A recent article from The Guardian found that “Almost 50 million children and young people living in conflict areas are out of school, more than half of them primary age, and reports of attacks on education are rising.”
Multiple studies done over the years have found that when it comes to war, education is one of the first casualties. War and other such conflicts cause damage to buildings, displaced families, necessary certificates to be lost, and a change in priorities.
While this is often the case, new programs are springing up that provide access to school even amidst such turmoil.
UNICEF, for instance, has been working with the Ministry of Education to find solutions.
In an article focused on Yemen, the UNICEF site stated that they are, “working with the Government to help organize catch-up classes for those who have missed their education and encourage as many children as possible to return to school for the new school year.”
The combined efforts of UNICEF and the Ministry of Education have also worked to help children take exams that were missed due to schools being closed during the fighting.
War Child is another organization that has been working in several war-torn countries to improve education despite war and conflict.
On their site they shared, “In Afghanistan we’re providing education for the street children who use our drop-in-centres. We’ve also opened 20 Early Childhood Development Centres to provide 620 children aged 4-6 with a pre-school education.”
Similar work is being done in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Uganda and Syria.
These programs allow for children to receive the education that is needed to help end the cycle of poverty in these developing nations despite the negative impacts of war.
– Katherine Martin
Sources: The Guardian, UNICEF, War Child
Photo: Google Images
End Poverty Day: World Bank Group President Visits Ghana
On October 16, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim visited Ghana to participate in high-level talks, launch a report on poverty in Africa, highlight Ghana’s progress toward ending extreme poverty and commemorate End Poverty Day.
Earlier this month, the World Bank released a report showing that the percentage of people living in extreme poverty around the world will have fallen to 9.6 percent in 2015, which is below 10 percent for the first time.
With this percentage, the Bank estimates that 702 million people still live in extreme poverty today around the world. Jim Yong Kim’s visit to Accra is part of several activities focusing on the World Bank’s goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030.
Several African countries, such as Ghana, are successful in reducing extreme poverty. From 1991/92 (under the $1.90 poverty line) to 2005/06, Ghana reduced extreme poverty from 47.3 percent to 25.2 percent.
However, the whole region lags behind the rest of the world in progressing toward the elimination of poverty. Based on an extreme poverty line of $1.90 a day, Sub-Saharan poverty fell from 56 percent in 1990 to 35 percent from 1990 to 2015.
Rapid population growth remains a key obstacle in many countries’ progress.
Firstly, joined by Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama and other development partners as well as civil society leaders, private sector representatives and student leaders, Dr. Kim visited “End Poverty Day” in Jamestown, Accra to launch the regional flagship report, “Poverty in a Rising Africa,” with the other participants.
The content of his report includes whether Africa’s growth covers enough citizens on the continent, the challenges related to poverty data and updates on poverty and other trends related to human well-being.
In the afternoon at the University of Ghana, Legon, Kim also participated in a “Shared Prosperity Forum,” along with government ministers from Africa, civil society and private sector leaders, to share thoughts on what it will take to end extreme poverty in Africa and the rest of the world by 2030. Participants explored Ghana’s own path toward prosperity.
The World Bank’s current portfolio for Sub-Saharan Africa consists of $11.6 billion for 103 projects, including $1.2 billion in IBRD loans and $10.4 billion in IDA commitments.
IFC is a member of the World Bank Group focused on the private sector. It has a total committed investment portfolio of $10.3 billion in Sub-Saharan Africa. IFC also offers advice to governments and businesses to emphasize the roles of private sectors in the global effort to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity.
MIGA, the political risk insurance and credit enhancement arm of the World Bank Group, has a gross exposure of $3.3 billion in the region. Ending poverty is a goal that the World is fighting for.
– Shengyu Wang
Sources: World Bank, GBN
Photo: Flickr
Smartphones Affect Education Gaps in Rural Pakistan
Throughout rural Pakistan, many teachers don’t have access to quality educational training for a variety of reasons, including cost, distance and family commitments.
Online distance learning could easily fill-in these educational gaps, but limited Internet coverage has proven to be a stumbling block for educators and students alike.
Developments in Literacy (DIL), a nonprofit founded by Pakistani-Americans in order to bring quality education to disadvantaged children in underdeveloped regions, has created a revolutionary solution to end this problem.
Funded by USAID, DIL created a mobile distance learning program known as mLearning. The parameters of the program were straightforward. Teachers were each given a smartphone with video lessons loaded onto them, giving teachers unlimited access to the material.
Once a month, teachers would meet at one of the 23 WiFi hubs DIL established throughout the nations to download more training videos. The 8- to 10-minute videos cover a variety of techniques to engage and inspire students to love learning, especially math and English.
Although the program’s focus is on bettering the understanding of school subjects and the teaching ability of rural educators, the end-game is to inspire children to stay in school. The goal is to have smartphones affect education gaps in rural Pakistan.
The average number of years that Pakistani children stay in school is only eight years, with most dropping out before age 16. This low level of academic participation has capped the Pakistani literacy rate at 57 percent, with only 45 percent literacy for women.
Because of this, mLearning is aimed at improving the education and opportunities of poor children and at-risk rural girls through better teacher training and learning resources.
During the course of the initial mLearning program, 200 teachers were given smartphones and completed the program from January 2013 to November 2014. Currently, more than 5,000 children benefit from being taught by teachers who have participated in mLearning.
Since the end of mLearning, the educational aid videos have been shared with 40 schools not affiliated with DIL, and countless teachers have shared the videos personally from their smartphones.
That’s the real brilliance behind mLearning using smartphones as its method of delivery. Since DIL owns the majority of the content, teachers are able to share the videos freely.
mLearning’s results thus far have been impressive. Across the board, teachers reported a 30 percent increase in their English skills and a 40 percent increase in their comprehension of mathematics. As the mLearning videos continue to be spread around, DIL is looking to expand the program.
– Claire Colby
Sources: USAID, World Factbook
Photo: USAID
Photo: The Hindu.Com
FAO Social Protection Program to End Cycle of Rural Poverty
The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) updated its social protection plan by adding agricultural and rural development measures.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on reducing poverty have been met by many developing countries; however, there are still high levels of extreme poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Evidence has shown that the three elements of the FAO social protection program: social assistance, social insurance and labor market protection, are very effective in reducing poverty and hunger.
In 2013, the program helped relieve up to 150 million people out of extreme poverty.
The most common form of social protection in developing countries is social assistance, which provides conditional or unconditional cash transfers to households and individuals.
These incentives account for large income losses and lack of savings when farmers are unable to produce enough to survive.
“Most of the world’s poor and hungry continue to live in rural area. According to the World Bank, about 78 percent of the planet’s poor are found in rural areas”, stated FAO Assistant Director-General Jomo Kwame Sundaram.
Rural households depend on subsistence agriculture to survive; the cash incentives provided by the FAO have proven to encourage households to invest in the education and health of their children.
These acts help end the generational cycle of poverty and bring FAO closer to achieving the first “Zero-Hunger Generation” goal.
The FAO social protection program has also allowed impoverished rural farmers in developing countries to weather the effects of external shocks such as floods, pests, droughts and price volatility.
José Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General, stated that “With climate change, the shocks happen year after year; it eats away at the capacity of rural poor to cope with it.
Social protection offers poor families a kind of buffer to protect them from external shocks.”
The most recent edition of The State of Food and Agriculture 2015 explains how the addition of agricultural and rural development measures to the social protection program will sustainably move people out of poverty and hunger.
The report illustrates that agricultural input subsidies, such as fertilizer, have been well received across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.
There was an increase in food and fertilizer costs in 2007-2008, so the FAO agricultural incentive was instrumental in providing food security for rural households.
The report also addresses the issue of credit and how little of it is allocated to agricultural needs.
It goes on to emphasize that “leveraging public expenditure on agriculture and social programs” is imperative in strengthening agricultural and rural development.
Agricultural incentives and credit fosters independence amongst rural farmers. They become more financially capable and are able to manage household risks.
Providing credit also allows poor rural farmers to make investments in livestock and machinery, therefore increasing their productivity and income.
– Marie Helene Ngom
Sources: BBC, FAO
Photo: Google Images
Early Childhood Development and Economic Stability
Early childhood development (ECD), or the time from a child’s birth to turning 8 years old, is considered the most critical window of childhood development.
During this eight-year window, children undergo intensive physical and social growth, shaping their bodies and perceptions of society.
But many children in developing nations lack the nutrition, healthcare and social engagement necessary during ECD to have a strong foundation for future growth and development.
ECD initiatives, ranging from parental training to preschool, have been shown to dramatically improve children’s earning potential and help them to escape the poverty cycle.
In the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, the United Nations specifically addressed the value of ECD in Goal 4, stating that by 2030 all children will “have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.”
The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, echoed the importance of providing aid to ECD for the termination of global poverty, saying, “Children have been educated who otherwise would have missed out.”
Through aid efforts, programs are sprouting throughout some of the world’s poorest regions, showing promising results.
The World Bank reports that children in developing nations who have participated in ECD programs have higher levels of cognitive and academic performance than their peers.
Children who have benefitted from ECD initiatives are also more prepared to enter primary school and learn more efficiently while in class. This early success in schools has led to lower levels of dropouts and grade repetitions.
As educational levels rise, so does earning potential. Especially for girls. For every year of primary education a girl receives, her earning potential rises 10 percent to 20 percent, and for every additional year of secondary education, her earning potential rises another 15 percent to 25 percent, empowering her in the workforce.
As the workforces in developing nations expand with more educated and skilled laborers, the population at large benefits from an expanded consumer base.
With increased earning and buying power comes a more complex and stable economy that is less susceptible to shock and a higher gross domestic income.
According to UNICEF, this increase in school attendance shrinks the gap between the wealthiest and poorest families, hoisting children and their families out of the poverty cycle.
– Claire Colby
Sources: The Guardian 1, The Guardian 2 UNICEF, UN, USAID, World Bank
Photo: Sharp School