Today in Germany hundreds of thousands of refugees arrive each year, looking for asylum and safety. Many are from primarily Islamic nations.
The massive influx of people has strained local officials— finding adequate housing for everyone is a challenge.
Many cities have put massive amounts of refugees in old schools or re-purposed shipping containers. Often, the refugees are not welcome in their new neighborhoods due to religious tension. According to National Public Radio, “The western German city of Schwerte even proposed placing 21 refugees in a barracks on the grounds of a Nazi-era concentration camp.”
Berlin Residents Mareike Geiling and Jonas Kakoschke believe that refugees deserve a more humane treatment than mass, impersonal accommodations. This prompted them to create the organization Refugees Welcome— a website that matches refugees looking for asylum with people in Germany and Austria willing to open their homes to these people in need.
“We don’t like the idea of putting these people into one place where many, many people live,” explained Geiling to NPR.
“Many asylum-seekers have to stay there for years … doing nothing, because they are not allowed to do anything. They are not allowed to work, they are not allowed to have German classes sometimes and sometimes it’s not a city, it’s a village and there’s nothing to do and so you get depressed after years and stuff like this,” said Kakoschke.
Kakoschke and Geiling are a couple living in Berlin, and they were the first to open their doors to a refugee in need. The couple matched with a thirty-nine year old Muslim man from Mali, who had recently applied for asylum and is waiting for a working permit. For this reason, Kakoschke and Geiling raise money to cover their new roommates cost of rent and utilities.
NPR reports that the Malian man is afraid to give his name for safety reasons, but said “It surprised me a lot because … the people here don’t want to see people like us in their land.”
Before Kakoschke and Geiling opened their doors to him, the roommate was homeless. “Sometimes I’d take the bus from different sector to different sector at nighttime until, you know, 2:30” in the morning, he says. Then he’d “get out and sleep for 20 minutes and go back on the train again sometimes and go back in the mosque and pray there for 30 minutes and sleep there for one hour.”
Refugees Welcome has been very successful so far on a small scale. The website has matched 122 refugees to welcoming German and Austrian flatmates.
Refugees Welcome reports, “Through Refugees Welcome people have moved in to 80 homes in Augsburg, Berlin, Bonn, Darmstadt, Dortmund, Dresden, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Konstanz, Leipzig, Marburg, Munich, Munster, Norderstedt, Offenburg and Wolfratshausen. Through Refugees Welcome Austria (our Austrian sister-organisation) people have moved in to 44 places in Eisenstadt, Knittelfeld, Salzburg and Vienna. The new flatmates are from Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Senegal, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Syria and Tunisia.”
– Aaron Andree
Sources: NPR, Refugees-Welcome
Photo: thegaurdian
Healthabitat: Helping Disadvantaged People Worldwide
Operating in countries all over the world including Nepal, the United States and Bangladesh, Healthabitat’s goal is to make the world a healthier, cleaner place for everyone. Their projects focus on improving sanitation, helping people gain access to clean water and providing housing for those in need.
Healthabitat was formed in 1985 when the directors came together to improve the health environment in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara lands of northwest South Australia. Since then, Healthabitat has expanded out of Australia to help disadvantaged people all around the world.
When it was formed in 1985, the directors of Healthabitat put together a list of nine steps to healthy living, which has been used as a guideline for their practices ever since.
These steps ensure that people not only improve their sanitation and living conditions but that they are provided with adequate housing to help decrease mortality rates, particularly among children under the age of 5.
The members of Healthabitat follow a constrained methodology aimed at improving the lives of all involved. This methodology is then improved to accommodate for changes in lifestyles. Data is collected to monitor improvements and is used to better designs.
They then do applied research and develop projects based on the results. Their projects typically involve the help of indigenous people, with 75% of all volunteers coming from their respective local communities. Lastly, the methodology is staged and developed.
In addition to these practices, Healthabitat also works on health hardware for disadvantaged people. This includes a water supply, pumps, tanks, pipes, valves, taps, hot water system, tub and drainage pipes.
The overall goal of Healthabitat is to decrease the number of sick people in the world. The three partners, Paul Pholeros, Dr. Paul Torzillo and Stephan Rainow, along with the guidance of Yami Lester, former director of the controlled health service, Nganampa Health Council, put their minds together to make it all happen.
Healthabitat continues to help people all over the world. Right now, a project they are focusing on is providing the victims of the Nepal earthquake with toilets and housing, while continuing to work in South Australia and the surrounding areas.
– Julia Hettiger
Sources: Health Habitat, Top Masters in Healthcare, World Habitat Awards
Photo: cusphabitat
Expanding Universal Health Care in Asia
Universal health care (UHC) is not easy to measure. It is a set of defined protocols that are usually recognized when a combination of population coverage, services and financial protection work together to provide for people.
With China rapidly increasing its coverage since 2009, data shows that Southeast Asia contains more people without coverage than any other region survey by the World Health Organization (WHO).
For example, India currently has 40 million pushed into poverty each year due to health care costs. Hospitals in the country are known to simply not give health to those in need unless payment is made up front. In Indonesia, only 0.9 percent of the GDP is used to finance the public health sector.
Furthermore, only people pre-identified as being poor are entitled to be covered. This has left millions of people impoverished each year because they just aren’t able to afford adequate coverage and don’t qualify for universal health care for expensive treatments.
However, coverage varies depending on the nation. South Asia has some of the most celebrated examples of countries that have worked hard to achieve UHC. Bangladesh and Nepal have received international recognition for their expansion of coverage of cost-effective health services.
Another country that has offered universal health care in Asia is Thailand, where health care coverage has taken the name of a program called Universal Coverage Scheme. The plan was introduced in 2002 by pressure from civil society and is financed solely from general tax revenue.
The scheme covers 74.6 percent of the population as of 2007 estimates. The benefits package is a comprehensive package of care, including both curative and preventive care. Public hospitals are the main providers, covering more than 95 percent of the insured. About 60 private hospitals joined the system and register around 4 percent of the beneficiaries.
A large factor of success seems to be based on the level of government spending. The better-off countries have seen their governments’ increase in public financing to fund services for previously uncovered groups. These governments have also increased awareness among citizens and have encouraged their people to use the facilities because they are in adequate condition.
For the five top countries in Southeast Asia, government spending has only averaged to 2.9 percent of the GDP. For nations that are trying to build their educational institutions and economy, healthy workers are necessary.
The United States and other wealthy nations must continue to support Southeast Asia through education and funded public health works projects. Many developed nations will be able to import American goods once their people have a healthy standard of living.
– Adnan Khalid
Sources: Health Market Innovations, WHO, The World Bank
Photo: Pixabay
Bayern Munich Donates $1 Million to Refugees
The 2013 UEFA Champions League winner, FC Bayern Munich, is donating $1.11 million to refugees in Germany who arrived via Hungary and Austria. There is a training camp set up to supply food and enroll refugees in German classes. Bayern Munich will also donate soccer equipment to the incoming refugees.
Germany has taken 20,000 refugees in Munich alone and plans on taking 800,000 asylum seekers before the year is over. In 2014, the entire European Union took 626,000 refugees.
There are many aspects about Germany that makes it attractive for refugees. Germany has the strongest economy in Europe and is one of the safest countries in the world. Refugees in Germany get to enjoy a strong human rights record and free education for their children.
The police force in Germany asked Germans to stop donating items for the incoming refugees because the volume of aid they were taking in became overwhelming.
Germany estimates that each refugee costs about $14,500, which means 800,000 refugees will cost $11 billion this year. There will be $6.7 billion set aside in 2016 for refugees agreed to by the government.
Bayern Munich’s example is just a small package of what Germany is offering to refugees. The entire community has been involved in aiding refugees. Industries are going to provide job opportunities for refugees in Germany and there will be recruitment at refugee centers.
On September 12, Bayern Munich walked out with one German child and one refugee child to symbolize integration and to encourage Germany.
– Donald Gering
Sources: Al Jazeera 1, Al Jazeera 2, The Guardian, The Independent, UNHCR
Photo: PBS
Fighting for Yemeni Children: More Aid Needed
The civil war in Yemen has led to the deaths and injuries of over 1,000 children, and 4,300 total deaths, according to Save The Children. The crisis is worsening as the number of recruits to join the fighting has increased to 377 this year from 156 last year, according to Children Under Threat.
Just as concerning is the inadequate amount of humanitarian aid that is being sent to the country. Only 18 percent of the funding needed to address immediate needs has been received.
Stephen O’Brien, UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs had to persuade the UN Security Council to increase aid. O’Brien saw first-hand that 4 out of 5 Yemenis need aid, while 1.5 million are internally displaced.
According to the World Food Program about 13 million, or half of the population is going hungry and 6 million face starvation.
The conflict is preventing the importation of food and other aid. The conflict has also led to the doubling of gas prices, a resource needed for cooking.
On top of the malnutrition among 2 million people, over 2.5 million Yemeni children under age 15 are at risk of contracting measles, which would be 1 million more than 2014.
The months of ongoing conflict is between Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, and forces loyal to exiled government, backed by Saudi Arabia. O’Brien has called for the international community to get the opposing parties to negotiate.
– Paula Acevedo
Sources: ABC, Thomson Reuters Foundation
Photo: Huffington Post
New Horticultural System Improves Harvests in Balkh Province
As Afghanistan struggles to build a secure economic infrastructure after decades of war, producers of agricultural products are among those gaining traction. A program called the National Horticulture and Livestock Project (NHLP) has successfully promoted the adoption of improved production practices among farmers growing produce in the Balkh Province.
“We have built the capacity of local farmers to enable them to use the modern horticulture system even without our assistance in the future,” said Mohammad Ghaos Langary, NHLP provincial project coordinator in the Balkh Province. NHLP is supported by the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), which is financed by 34 donors and administered by the World Bank.
Agriculture is essential to the growth and prosperity of developing countries and is the main source of income for people in living in poverty worldwide. In Balkh Province, NHLP introduced a new horticultural trellis system to help solve the problem of insufficient space for vines and to improve harvests.
The new system factors in the local natural conditions, such as the type of soil, local area climate, regular irrigation system and other crucial conditions for agriculture. Under the new system, farmers are learning to use fertilizers, prune, weed and irrigate their orchards appropriately, which improves their harvests.
“For the first time, our grapevines have grown so well. It makes me very happy to see that our hard work is paying off,” said Allah Mohammad, a 45-year-old farmer who has worked in horticulture and agriculture for 20 years. “In the past, our vineyard was not producing higher and quality yield because of the traditional systems we would apply. Those problems are gone now, thanks to the new trellis system.”
NHLP has been operating in northern Balkh since 2008 and with the help of local farmers has turned around 1,290 hectares of land into orchards there. Besides grapevines, the orchards also grow various trees, such as apple, pomegranate, pear, cherry, almond, plum, and apricot. With the goals of increased production of horticultural products and improved animal production and health, NHLP currently has activities in 120 districts in 23 target provinces.
“With NHLP support, farmers can now easily sell their products in the market,” says Ahmad Fahim Jabbari, NHLP coordinator in northern Afghanistan. “Many farmers who were not interested in horticulture before are now applying to enroll for support so that they can modify their orchards based on the standards and guidelines provided by NHLP.”
－ Shengyu Wang
Sources: The World Bank, ResearchGate
Photo: borgenproject
German Organization Connects Individuals with Refugees
Today in Germany hundreds of thousands of refugees arrive each year, looking for asylum and safety. Many are from primarily Islamic nations.
The massive influx of people has strained local officials— finding adequate housing for everyone is a challenge.
Many cities have put massive amounts of refugees in old schools or re-purposed shipping containers. Often, the refugees are not welcome in their new neighborhoods due to religious tension. According to National Public Radio, “The western German city of Schwerte even proposed placing 21 refugees in a barracks on the grounds of a Nazi-era concentration camp.”
Berlin Residents Mareike Geiling and Jonas Kakoschke believe that refugees deserve a more humane treatment than mass, impersonal accommodations. This prompted them to create the organization Refugees Welcome— a website that matches refugees looking for asylum with people in Germany and Austria willing to open their homes to these people in need.
“We don’t like the idea of putting these people into one place where many, many people live,” explained Geiling to NPR.
“Many asylum-seekers have to stay there for years … doing nothing, because they are not allowed to do anything. They are not allowed to work, they are not allowed to have German classes sometimes and sometimes it’s not a city, it’s a village and there’s nothing to do and so you get depressed after years and stuff like this,” said Kakoschke.
Kakoschke and Geiling are a couple living in Berlin, and they were the first to open their doors to a refugee in need. The couple matched with a thirty-nine year old Muslim man from Mali, who had recently applied for asylum and is waiting for a working permit. For this reason, Kakoschke and Geiling raise money to cover their new roommates cost of rent and utilities.
NPR reports that the Malian man is afraid to give his name for safety reasons, but said “It surprised me a lot because … the people here don’t want to see people like us in their land.”
Before Kakoschke and Geiling opened their doors to him, the roommate was homeless. “Sometimes I’d take the bus from different sector to different sector at nighttime until, you know, 2:30” in the morning, he says. Then he’d “get out and sleep for 20 minutes and go back on the train again sometimes and go back in the mosque and pray there for 30 minutes and sleep there for one hour.”
Refugees Welcome has been very successful so far on a small scale. The website has matched 122 refugees to welcoming German and Austrian flatmates.
Refugees Welcome reports, “Through Refugees Welcome people have moved in to 80 homes in Augsburg, Berlin, Bonn, Darmstadt, Dortmund, Dresden, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Konstanz, Leipzig, Marburg, Munich, Munster, Norderstedt, Offenburg and Wolfratshausen. Through Refugees Welcome Austria (our Austrian sister-organisation) people have moved in to 44 places in Eisenstadt, Knittelfeld, Salzburg and Vienna. The new flatmates are from Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Senegal, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Syria and Tunisia.”
– Aaron Andree
Sources: NPR, Refugees-Welcome
Photo: thegaurdian
The Nursery of the Future
Premature births are a very real scare for mothers in developed countries like the U.S., but in developing countries, they can mean almost certain death. Worldwide, premature birth is the leading cause of death for children under five years of age. Despite advances in technology that have made tremendous strides in improving health outcomes for babies born earlier than 37 weeks, in developing countries, where women may be at a higher risk for giving birth prematurely, this technology is generally widely unavailable due to high prices and lack of access to adequate healthcare. Nursery of the Future is working affordable alternatives to those who need it most.
The Birth of Nursery of the Future
A bioengineering professor at Rice University in Texas, Rebecca Richards-Kortum, consistently saw this problem and wanted to do something about it. Along with colleagues and students, Richards-Kortum has begun to develop “the Nursery of the Future.” The team has developed prototypes of alternatives to high tech, and high cost medical machinery that is common across the U.S., for use in more underdeveloped areas around the world.
One such example of a low cost alternative is a belly band. One common problem in preemies is neurological underdevelopment that can cause the baby to stop breathing. In hospitals across the countries, monitors alert nurses if a baby stops breathing and the nurse then stimulates the baby somehow to remind them to breathe. In developing countries, these monitors are often too expensive to be used and often times infants die before a nurse notices. The belly band developed by Richards-Kortum and Maria Oden, a colleague, was designed with a tiny motor attached to it that detects when a baby’s air intake is low, or they stop breathing, and vibrates to remind the baby to breathe.
The belly band is just one step towards the development of a whole “Nursery of the Future” kit. Richards-Kortum and the team hope to make the Nursery available for under $10,000 and widely accessible for community hospitals. The belly band has been tested in Texas and is approaching its first international trial in Malawi in the near future. The Nursery of the Future is a huge step in the global fight against child mortality and overall accessibility and affordability of medical devices. Innovations made in the Nursery Kit for preemies hold promise for innovations in other medical technologies that could improve access to essential medical devices around the world.
– Emma Dowd
Sources: Houston Chronicle, TED Talks
Destigmatization of Breastfeeding in Urban India
World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated internationally every year from August 1-7th. Each year, there are various events and activities intended to educate about the benefits and encourage the practice. The theme this year was ‘Women and work – Let’s make it work.’ This year, added emphasis was placed on advocating for widespread maternity leave and other accommodations for working mothers.
Many organizations such as UNICEF, World Health Organization (WHO), and the Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI) have worked both independently and jointly with the Indian government to provide information and spread awareness throughout the country. The breastfeeding rates are higher in the rural Northern states than in the urban South.
UNICEF Nutrition Specialist, Gayatri Singh states, “The government of India has laws, policies and programs to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding. UNICEF supports national and state governments in the development and implementation of infant and young child feeding policies and plans for promoting optimal breastfeeding.”
Singh goes on to say, “Communication and advocacy activities on breastfeeding are also a key component of UNICEF’s support. We also support governments to design strategies for social and behavior change communication and in the implementation of the strategies through multiple communication channels.”
In an effort to promote breastfeeding, the Indian government enacted the Infant Milk Substitute (IMS) Amendment Act in 2003 which prohibits any form of advertising claiming newborn formula as an equivalent option.
“In India, between 2006 and 2013, there has been an improvement in the breastfeeding rates. The latest data shows that 44.6% of children are put to breastfeeding within one hour of birth and 64.9% of children under six months of age are exclusively breastfed,” states Singh. He goes on to add that while knowledge of health benefits appear to be even higher, there are societal factors hindering the practice.
Dalvinder Kaur, a public relations specialist, states, “A lot of people, while thinking of breasts, automatically think of sex, as if that’s their primary reason for existence. I feel that it is pretty much the heart of the matter. Women’s breasts are often defined as sex objects–and nothing more. And since sex is basically a taboo in the public realm, breastfeeding ends up being perceived as some sort of indecent, out-of-bounds behavior.”
Dhanya Ranjit, a software engineer and mother speaks on the stigma attached to breastfeeding, “Women find it difficult to breastfeed and more so, to nurse in public because of the lack of support from any quarter. They also don’t see it happening around them. While I was very hesitant to breastfeed my older child in front of others but the encouragement and exposure to information through the Facebook support groups made me realize that it is as natural as an adult eating food in public.”
As is the case with many social movements, the internet can be utilized very effectively to raise awareness and garner support. “Big Latch On” is an international gathering that occurs in many cities during World Breastfeeding Week and event calls for mothers to join together publicly and breastfeed together. Through a social media campaign, a “Big Latch On” event was held this past August 1st in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The organization started in New Zealand but has spread to many countries around the world.
Recent attempts at normalization in mainstream media have begun to manifest themselves as well. Indian cinema has begun to prominently display breastfeeding such as in the recent blockbuster movie Baahubali. The highly anticipated film cost $40 million and is the most expensive movie in Indian history. Whether purposeful or not, the display of breastfeeding in such a popular film shows marked progress towards shifting attitudes of the viewers.
– The Borgen Project
Sources: India Times, Jantaka Reporter, IBN Live
Photo: Flickr
Reducing Food Loss, Waste and Meat Consumption Could End World Hunger by 2030
The United Nations has called for the end of world hunger by 2030 in its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In Goal 2, of 17, the UN outlines the need for the promotion of sustainable agriculture that will improve food security and nutrition while protecting the ecosystem and fighting climate change. Although a tall order, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) along with the Austrian think tank, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, believes that the goal is attainable.
“I don’t think it’s all that ambitious to eliminate hunger,” said Jomo Sundaram, assistant director-general of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). He told Reuters he attributes his optimism to rising incomes in much of the world, improvements in the transportation of food, and new technologies that are keeping yields of many key crops on an upward trend.
But in order to achieve the goal of eliminating world hunger, food waste and the inefficiencies of the livestock industry need to be addressed.
Despite the fact that there is currently enough food produced globally to end world hunger, much loss and waste occur postharvest. According to the World Resources Institute (WRI), about 24 percent of all calories currently produced for human consumption are either lost or wasted.
The WRI reports that by reducing postharvest losses there will be more food available to farmers and communities, making food more affordable and accessible to the poor and food insecure. This can be done, the group states, through attainable solutions for developing nations such as pest-resistant packaging and cooling-cellar storage.
Changing dietary habits is another important solution to ending global hunger, particularly shifting from raising cattle as a source of protein to growing fruit, grain, and vegetables. According to the FAO, the amount of human-edible protein that goes into raising livestock is higher than the human-edible protein yielded from livestock. The group estimates that 26 percent of the world’s land that is being used for livestock grazing could produce better and more nutritionally valuable yields if converted to growing plant-based food for human consumption.
In addition to increasing the yield of protein-rich crops, reducing the number of grazing livestock, particularly cows, will also lower annual greenhouse gas emissions. According to the FAO, “Livestock contributes both directly and indirectly to climate change through the emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.” The FAO estimates that 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock.
By implementing better waste prevention systems and simply eating less meat from grazing animals, the fight against global food insecurity could indeed be attainable.
– Claire Colby
Sources: Food and Agriculture Organization 1, Food and Agriculture Organization 2, Huffpost Impact, The Physics Factbook, The World Bank, The World Factbook 1, The World Factbook 2, The World Factbook 3, World Resources Institute
Photo: fao
New Global Fund Grants Assist Ghana
The president of Ghana announced at a ceremony earlier this month that the West African nation’s government has signed new grants with Global Fund, an international financing organization that invests around $4 billion a year to support programs fighting AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis (TB).
The seven new grants, totaling $248 million, come from many supporters, including the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the U.K. Department for International Effort, the European Union, Denmark, Korea, UNICEF, UNAIDS and WHO, among others.
The primary objective of the grants is to increase how many people receive protection and treatment for HIV, malaria and TB. Specifically, the key targets address certain aspects of prevention and treatment and aim to complete the goals by 2017.
Among the goals of the grants are for 140,448 people to be assured antiretroviral treatment to control HIV, as well as increase coverage for an additional 32,246 pregnant women.
The funds will also aim to expand services to protect key affected populations from HIV, including 65 percent of female sex workers, 88 percent of homosexual men, and 80 percent of inmates, in addition to providing annual testing services for 20 percent of the general population.
In terms of malaria, the funds will be used to secure treatment for 80 percent of children under five, as well as have mosquito nets in 70 percent of households.
For TB, the goal is to double case notification rates to 103 per 100,000 and make sure 100 percent of drug-resistant patients on second-line treatment are covered for treatment, up from 42 percent in 2013.
Additionally, Ghanaian officials want to use the funds to better integrate treatment for HIV and TB in community health clinics.
The government of Ghana also plans to use domestic funds to cover the expenses for antiretroviral drugs for 22,000 current patients and 11,000 new patients.
The nation was the first to sign a grant with Global Fund, doing so in 2002, seeing advances in overall health as a result.
Since 2010, there has been a 43 percent decrease in new HIV infections, and between 2009 and 2014, there was a 51 percent drop in new infections in children. The percentage of coverage dealing with preventing mother-to-child transmission is now at 81 percent, up from 32 percent.
Successes have also been seen in preventing and treating malaria and TB, as government officials and other organizations have distributed a combined 19 million mosquito nets, as well as detected and treated 76,000 new TB cases and having 88,000 people currently in antiretroviral therapy.
– Matt Wotus
Sources: AllAfrica, The Global Fund
Photo: Pixabay