Eyes have centered on Athens in recent weeks as Greece has attempted to manage its overwhelming debt. This is the climax of a five year decay that has left Greece’s finances at a standstill and its healthcare system in critical condition. With banks limiting withdrawals to just 60 euros per day, it is hard to tell which has become scarcer, money or medicine.
Since 2010, Greece’s public healthcare system has decreased its spending on drugs by 32 percent and at the same time owes 1.2 billion dollars to international drug manufacturers. This reflects an overall declining trend; between the years of 2009 and 2012, government healthcare spending fell by 25 percent.
These reductions are visible throughout treatment centers in Greece. One of the largest hospitals in Athens, Gennimatas General Hospital, has faced shortages of antibiotics. It also lacks the budget to fix its damaged medical equipment which has resulted in week long waits for procedures such as CAT scans and MRIs.
Unfortunately, healthcare struggles such as these have become common to Greeks. Currently, 27 percent of people lack employment which has led to a significant loss of healthcare coverage. Many can no longer afford even government subsidized insurance while free health care eligibility has become much more stringent; 2.5 million people, essentially a quarter of all Greeks, lack health insurance.
Even though less people have coverage, the usage of Greece’s public healthcare system has spiked. As the crisis escalated in 2010, public inpatient and primary care services experienced six percent more usage. Just one year later, this figure had more than tripled to nearly a 22 percent increase in healthcare usage. With fewer funds but even more people to treat, the system is folding in on itself.
Years ago, before the recession triggered Greece’s current crisis, significant faults in Greece’s health care already existed and hinted at an eventual failure. During the first decade of the 21st century, its healthcare system experienced massive and untenable increases in expenditures.
According to a World Health Organization Report, from 2003 to 2009, “general government spending rose from 59.5 percent to 70.3 percent of total health spending.” Pharmaceutical spending also increased by 80 percent, from 293 euros per capita in 2003 to 528 euros per capita in 2010. In 2009, as Greece approached the end of the decade, it had accumulated a 50 billion euro healthcare deficit.
Inefficient management, ineffective distribution of medical resources and increasing government spending on hospital debts were the main culprits behind the healthcare bubble, and its inevitable bursting.
Today, average Greeks can feel the unpleasant consequences of years of mismanagement. Those who arrive at Greece’s underfunded hospitals for treatment can often expect underhanded tactics like informal doctoral payments, which are essentially bribes. In one instance, a women who given birth in a hospital was prohibited from receiving her baby until her payments were made.
While more prominent hospitals like Evangelisimos do not wield these dishonest methods, their conditions are still poor. Even as the largest hospital in Greece, Evangelisimos still lacks enough beds and recently has run at 10 to 20 percent beyond its capacity. A patient noted that her single room that was crammed with three beds yet only housed one other person. This was due to a ceiling collapse that had obstructed the third vacant bed. Without funds to repair the damage, the hospital was forced to continue using the room.
Problems are not just contained to hospitals and treatment centers; the decline in prosperity itself has led to health issues across the nation. Since the crisis, suicides have increased dramatically in Greece. Between the years of 2010 and 2012, they rose by 35 percent.
Nutrition and obesity have become another burgeoning health issues as families have struggled to afford healthy foods. Experts have noticed this increase in particular among Greece’s poor. Ironically, economic down turn has also caused many to eat more at home to save money, with the consumption of pizza and fast food having fallen by over 20 percent.
In order to revive the Greek healthcare system, the nation’s government, the ‘troika,’ consisting of the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank have planned a set of strategies.
For these groups seeking solutions, the name of the game is efficiency. They have planned to overhaul Greece’s healthcare administration, hospitals and districts in order to effectively distribute healthcare resources evenly throughout the country. In order to prevent unchecked spending like before they have advised greater financial oversight.
While the Troika faces the resistance of residual bad habits, they hope for Greece to emerge from its healthcare crisis with a well-planned and functional health care system. And it seems that it has that potential: among its European Union peers, Greece actually has the highest concentration of physicians. Now, the nation must work to develop a system through which both its doctors and patients can thrive.
– Andrew Logan
Sources: World Health Organization, The National Center for Biotechnology Information, CNN, The Washington Post, The Guardian
Photo: 99GetSmart
U.S. Congressman Introduces Bill Calling For Solidarity, Peace Promotion in South Sudan
Representative Thomas Rooney of Florida recently introduced the South Sudan Peace Promotion and Accountability Act of 2015, urging U.S. leaders to recognize their leadership failure in the war-torn nation.
Specifically, the bill states that the United States will recognize that there has been a failure of leadership in South Sudan that has left the country’s civilians in a state of suffering, and will urge all parties to find a peaceful resolution. The bill furthers calls for the President of the United States to submit to Congress a strategy for further engagement with South Sudan.
South Sudan, a ascent nation that arose in 2011 from the civil unrest that had divided Sudan for years, has been plagued by conflict since it gained independence. In 2013, tensions between new political leaders sparked a civil upheaval that killed tens of thousands, displaced an estimated two million people, and left nearly five million needing food and other humanitarian assistance.
In 2005, the United States helped broker the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which would ultimately set the framework for South Sudan establishing their independence. Since the separation, the United States, along with the United Nations, has worked to help the new nation establish itself.
However, despite the outpouring of international support and its integral role in the new nation, in 2015, the government of South Sudan expelled the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in charge of overseeing the massive humanitarian effort in the country. Since then, the South Sudanese government has continued to place restrictions on foreign aid workers in the country, calling for the majority of humanitarian aid to come from within the country.
The South Sudan Peace Promotion and Accountability Act of 2015 urges the administration to prioritize promoting peace and human rights, as well as establishing freedom of association and expression.
– Gina Lehner
Sources: Congress, Wikipedia
Photo: UN Multimedia
NYU Student Fights Energy Poverty in India
The fate of the future now lies in the hands of Generation Y, and millennials must rise to the task of eradicating global poverty. One kid is doing just that, and all before graduating from college.
A 20-year-old economics major at New York University, Mansi Prakash is bringing clean energy to developing countries. After visiting her grandparents’ Indian village in 2010, Prakash became inspired by the energy crisis and went on to discover Brighter Today, a nonprofit that promotes the use of eco-friendly light bulbs as a tool to lessen poverty.
Prakash learned that most families did not use their light bulbs because they could not afford to pay the electricity bill. Immediately, a metaphorical light bulb turned on in her head—eliminate the energy-efficient 600-watt incandescent bulbs that work for just two months for 20 cents a bulb and replace them with 11-watt compact fluorescent lamp bulbs that work for 3 to 4 years and cost $2 per bulb. And so Prakash began her fight against energy poverty in India.
Although the original bulb appears more cost effective at just 20 cents, the switch ultimately decreases electricity bill payments by 80%.
In March 2014, Prakash presented her brilliant idea at the Clinton Global Initiative University Conference, where she was awarded a fellowship to begin her project in India and formed a partnership with Philips, a tech company focused on healthcare, lighting and electronics. Together, Philips and Prakash brought cost-effective and eco-friendly light to 5,300 residents of Behlana Village.
This year, after winning Glamour magazine’s 2015 Top 10 College Women contest, Prakash was awarded a $20,000 grand prize, which seriously advanced her fight against energy poverty.
Prakash is now focused on a project for the Philippines called Light for Life, developing a solar panel powered by daylight. Made possible by the money from Glamour, the solar panel will provide constant light and sustainable power to many homes for free.
An energy transformation saves a lot of money for many families, money that Prakash would like to see put towards food, health and education. Furthermore, efficient and long lasting light provides families with more time in the day for productivity, thus improving their overall quality of life, Prakash’s goal from the start.
– Sarah Sheppard
Sources: Take Part, Glamour, Brighter Today
Photo: The Christian Science Monitor
Immigration, Labor Markets and the Impoverished
Immigration policy and reform have been on the minds of many policymakers for years, not only in the United States, but also, particularly, in Western Europe. The issue is of increasing importance for a variety of reasons, both economic and social. The impact of immigration on populations and nations is significant, but hard to decipher. The impoverished around the world can see both benefits and disadvantages to the phenomenon of immigration across borders.
In the United States, millions of undocumented immigrants live the United States to find work and pursue a better life, often fleeing violence and instability. Europe has also experienced its fair share of immigration troubles, with 137,000 immigrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea in search of a better life in only 6 months last year. Hundreds of the same immigrants died attempting the journey. These massive quantities of immigrants crossing borders without documentation have posed problems for the countries receiving these people in a variety of ways. In addition, immigration through proper channels can often exacerbate problems posed by undocumented immigrants. First, many of these new residents will join the labor market, and second, the social and cultural differences can create tensions within the populace. So, what does immigration mean for the countries being left behind, and for their inhabitants?
One of the primary dilemmas when discussing immigration is the job market. What happens to the labor market when illegal or legal immigration occurs? The answer is: it’s complicated. The effects of immigration on a country’s labor market is highly dependent on the policies in place, the enforcement of such policies and the context.
Take, for example, a law in Alabama that would have given police more power to find undocumented immigrants and punish their hypothetical employers; immediately, much of the illegal labor fled the state. This was hailed as a victory by some people, but the law exposed fundamental flaws in the labor system. The jobs being done by immigrants were low-wage with questionable working conditions. They usually involved manual labor that Americans either simply did not want to do, or would not do due to the working conditions and pay—which were caused by a lack of proper regulation in these industries. Much of the agriculture and food industry remains this way, with the majority of the population turning a blind eye to the unfair practices taking place. In the case of Alabama, Americans barely attempted to take these jobs, despite unemployment in the region being very high. A study from the National Bureau of Economic Research showed that there was a 3.2% decrease in wages directly associated with large-scale immigration. A possible explanation is that immigrants are generally more likely to accept lower wages than native workers, which draws the price for labor downwards with the increased demand and lower price-setting.
In other cases, such as those involving legal immigration with visas, such as H-1B, immigrants end up in more direct competition with native workers for more highly-skilled jobs. The H-1B visas in the United States are very important, providing high levels of talent from across the globe—from both developed and developing nations. The problem is that, in many cases, companies prefer to hire H-1B visa holders because they are usually more willing to accept lower wages, similar to the problem with lower-skilled jobs.
Immigration can also be a cause of social unrest. It is not uncommon for immigrant populations to be framed as the root of a host of problems, ranging from economic ones, to social and moral ones. It has been done in the past, and is undergoing resurgence in Europe, as right-wing political movements shower blame and prejudice on the expanding Middle Eastern and North African populations in the continent. The cultural divide of language and customs can also instigate potential xenophobic behaviors against immigrant populations.
What does this all mean for the poor? Immigrants frequently work low-wage jobs, but these low wages in developed countries often go much further to families in developing nations. Remittances—money sent back to one’s native state—have been found to have a significant impact on the levels of poverty in developing nations. A study by the Center for Immigration Studies also found that in the 2000s, immigration to the United States did not cause increased poverty in the United States. These two studies taken together suggests that poverty can be alleviated with immigration, because immigration can be reduced abroad while not increasing poverty in the new home nation. In fact, there are even some who argue that borders should be open and immigration should not be restricted as a way to help significantly reduce poverty.
Immigration is a difficult issue with which to grapple on any level. It can invoke powerful emotions of fear, pain, anger or happiness from immigrants, or those who feel personally affected by its consequences. The economics of immigration are complicated, and the literature seems to be incomplete in its conclusions. However, it seems that immigration can help the poor by allowing some people abroad to lead better lives and support themselves, while also helping to support their families at home. Unfortunately, the poor can also fall victim to trafficking and bad working conditions. Globally, large-scale migrations of people can be expected to increase due to climate change, and it is important that more effort goes into understanding how to best handle influxes of immigrants.
– Martin Yim
Sources: New York Times 1, Bloomberg, New York Times 2, National Bureau of Economic Research, Social Science Research Council, UC Davis
Photo: Immigrant Document Solutions
OneDollarGlasses Makes Eyewear Available for All
Across the globe, about 150 million people need corrective lenses, but cannot afford them, impeding their ability to work, study and provide for their family. Yet OneDollarGlasses aims to change this.
OneDollarGlasses was started in 2009 by Martin Aufmuth when he saw a pair of glasses sold for US$1 in Germany and questioned why the First World had US$1 glasses but the Third World did not. With that in mind, Aufmuth created the first pair of OneDollarGlasses with bent spring steel wire frames and hardened polycarbonate lenses.
No tools are required to assemble the OneDollarGlasses before putting them on and, most importantly, they cost US$0.80 to make. Today, OneDollarGlasses works with seven developing countries and has greatly improved the lives of many.
Their first project was in Rwanda. Rwanda is densely populated and of the 11.4 million inhabitants, only 11 are ophthalmologists. There, Alfmuth teamed up with a German team of students called Enactus Munich to train local opticians and merchants.
Next, OneDollarGlasses went to Burkina Faso where they faced a low literacy rate and a language barrier. The Enactus students took the lead on training 10 micro-opticians who since then have sold over 1,600 pairs of glasses.
OneDollarGlasses then went to work in Nicaragua in Central America. In Nicaragua, more than 80 percent of the population lives on fewer than US$2 a day. In 2014, OneDollarGlasses sent trainers to San Carlos, and by spring, glasses were being sold.
One pair was given to a woman named María Sandoval on her 99th birthday by her family. With +6 diopters on both eyes, it was the first time she had seen the world in full detail.
In April 2014, Alfmuth presented OneDollarGlasses to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. He received praise at the end of his presentation and several countries described his foundation as “groundbreaking.” OneDollarGlasses has it all: low cost to produce, cheap to buy and a huge demand.
– Hannah Resnick
Sources: Empowering People, Enactus, Essilor, OneDollarGlasses, UNICEF, Venture Beat
Photo: Quora
Greek Healthcare Crisis
Eyes have centered on Athens in recent weeks as Greece has attempted to manage its overwhelming debt. This is the climax of a five year decay that has left Greece’s finances at a standstill and its healthcare system in critical condition. With banks limiting withdrawals to just 60 euros per day, it is hard to tell which has become scarcer, money or medicine.
Since 2010, Greece’s public healthcare system has decreased its spending on drugs by 32 percent and at the same time owes 1.2 billion dollars to international drug manufacturers. This reflects an overall declining trend; between the years of 2009 and 2012, government healthcare spending fell by 25 percent.
These reductions are visible throughout treatment centers in Greece. One of the largest hospitals in Athens, Gennimatas General Hospital, has faced shortages of antibiotics. It also lacks the budget to fix its damaged medical equipment which has resulted in week long waits for procedures such as CAT scans and MRIs.
Unfortunately, healthcare struggles such as these have become common to Greeks. Currently, 27 percent of people lack employment which has led to a significant loss of healthcare coverage. Many can no longer afford even government subsidized insurance while free health care eligibility has become much more stringent; 2.5 million people, essentially a quarter of all Greeks, lack health insurance.
Even though less people have coverage, the usage of Greece’s public healthcare system has spiked. As the crisis escalated in 2010, public inpatient and primary care services experienced six percent more usage. Just one year later, this figure had more than tripled to nearly a 22 percent increase in healthcare usage. With fewer funds but even more people to treat, the system is folding in on itself.
Years ago, before the recession triggered Greece’s current crisis, significant faults in Greece’s health care already existed and hinted at an eventual failure. During the first decade of the 21st century, its healthcare system experienced massive and untenable increases in expenditures.
According to a World Health Organization Report, from 2003 to 2009, “general government spending rose from 59.5 percent to 70.3 percent of total health spending.” Pharmaceutical spending also increased by 80 percent, from 293 euros per capita in 2003 to 528 euros per capita in 2010. In 2009, as Greece approached the end of the decade, it had accumulated a 50 billion euro healthcare deficit.
Inefficient management, ineffective distribution of medical resources and increasing government spending on hospital debts were the main culprits behind the healthcare bubble, and its inevitable bursting.
Today, average Greeks can feel the unpleasant consequences of years of mismanagement. Those who arrive at Greece’s underfunded hospitals for treatment can often expect underhanded tactics like informal doctoral payments, which are essentially bribes. In one instance, a women who given birth in a hospital was prohibited from receiving her baby until her payments were made.
While more prominent hospitals like Evangelisimos do not wield these dishonest methods, their conditions are still poor. Even as the largest hospital in Greece, Evangelisimos still lacks enough beds and recently has run at 10 to 20 percent beyond its capacity. A patient noted that her single room that was crammed with three beds yet only housed one other person. This was due to a ceiling collapse that had obstructed the third vacant bed. Without funds to repair the damage, the hospital was forced to continue using the room.
Problems are not just contained to hospitals and treatment centers; the decline in prosperity itself has led to health issues across the nation. Since the crisis, suicides have increased dramatically in Greece. Between the years of 2010 and 2012, they rose by 35 percent.
Nutrition and obesity have become another burgeoning health issues as families have struggled to afford healthy foods. Experts have noticed this increase in particular among Greece’s poor. Ironically, economic down turn has also caused many to eat more at home to save money, with the consumption of pizza and fast food having fallen by over 20 percent.
In order to revive the Greek healthcare system, the nation’s government, the ‘troika,’ consisting of the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank have planned a set of strategies.
For these groups seeking solutions, the name of the game is efficiency. They have planned to overhaul Greece’s healthcare administration, hospitals and districts in order to effectively distribute healthcare resources evenly throughout the country. In order to prevent unchecked spending like before they have advised greater financial oversight.
While the Troika faces the resistance of residual bad habits, they hope for Greece to emerge from its healthcare crisis with a well-planned and functional health care system. And it seems that it has that potential: among its European Union peers, Greece actually has the highest concentration of physicians. Now, the nation must work to develop a system through which both its doctors and patients can thrive.
– Andrew Logan
Sources: World Health Organization, The National Center for Biotechnology Information, CNN, The Washington Post, The Guardian
Photo: 99GetSmart
Maternal Mortality in Zambia
Zambia is a landlocked country in southern Africa with a population of about 15 million. It borders Angola and the Democratic Republic of The Congo. One of the main health problems that Zambia faces is maternal mortality. However, in recent years the maternal mortality rate (MMR) in Zambia has declined.
In 1996, the MMR in Zambia was 649 per 100,000 live births. Although this number rose throughout the years, to a total of 729 per 100,000 births in 2002, by 2011, the MMR in Zambia had fallen to 591 per 100,000.
Hemorrhaging, or extensive bleeding, is one of the main causes of maternal mortality. Many women who give birth at home do not have the blood transfusions available to help them recover from the loss of blood, and some hospitals also do not have enough blood available to provide those transfusions. According to the United Nations Population Fund (NFPA), hemorrhaging accounts for 34 percent of maternal deaths.
The Population Reference Bureau reports that another main cause of maternal mortality in Zambia is obstructed labor, which is when the infant is not able to exit its mother due to its position or the size of its head. Obstructed labor can be solved by giving birth via C-section, but many people give birth at home and some hospital attendants are not able to perform the C-section needed for a safe delivery. 8 percent of the maternal deaths in Zambia are due to obstructed labor.
Infections due to unsanitary conditions during delivery also account for some of the maternal deaths which occur in Zambia. 13 percent of mothers die because of poor hygienic conditions during their delivery. Other causes of maternal mortality include complications from unsafe abortions and underlying causes such as malaria, anemia, HIV or cardiovascular disease, diseases that are aggravated during delivery.
Another problem is that many women are not able to go to a hospital and receive the help that they need. Only 47 percent of births in Zambia are attended by a skilled health worker. Urban women are more likely to have access to a hospital at the time of birthing. Women also choose to not go to a hospital because of traditional beliefs and customs, which promote home births and the use of traditional healing — such as the drinking of certain herbs that are supposed to help women deliver quickly. These herbs can cause vomiting and diarrhea and sometimes complicate the delivery.
Groups such as UNICEF and Saving Mothers; Giving Life (SMGL) are working to help lower the number of maternal deaths in Zambia. Saving Mothers; Giving Life is a group that works with the Zambian government and has a six-step plan they use to helping decrease the MMR. Firstly, they equip facilitates so that they are prepared to help women with complications receive care within two hours. They also work to increase the availability of drugs and equipment, train and mentor health professionals, promote better transportation to health facilities, improve data collection and help mobilize communities to increase demand for hospital births. Since 2011, they have been working in four districts in Zambia and have decreased the MMR in those districts by 35 percent.
UNICEF, according to their website, funds programs and interventions aimed at improving care for mothers and children. The government of the Republic of Zambia is also playing a large part in improving the MMR, as they have abolished user fees for maternal and child health services in order to grant larger access to such services.
All of these efforts have paid off, as shown by the dramatic success of Saving Mothers; Giving Life. However, in order to help continue to reduce MMR, programs such as those implemented by SMGL should be established throughout the entire country.
– Ashrita Rau
Sources: UNICEF, Saving Mothers, PRB, The CIA World Factbook
Photo: Flickr
Global Mental Health Spending
Inequities in public health spending and focus are often seen among income level, race, and different diseases. However, there are also huge discrepancies in the funding and attention of different aspects of health. Particularly, mental health is lacking. Globally, 1 in 10 people suffer from a mental illness, and yet only a mere one percent of the global health workforce works in mental health. This puts the average mental health worker allegedly responsible for 10,000 people(based on world statistics). We know that the distribution of mental health professionals is not equal around the world. For example, in the U.S., though our mental health workforce is lacking and treating mental illness continues to be a huge public health challenge for us, we still have better access and generally more advanced treatment than millions of people suffering around the world.
One of the reasons for such low accessibility is the overall lack of funding in this area. It is estimated that only $2 per capita per year is spent on mental health in low and middle-income countries. Even higher income countries are not spending nearly enough with an average rate of 42 beds per 100,000 population. With a lack of funding, few countries have any programs in place to spread awareness of care or even to accept new patients. Less than half of countries surveyed by the World Health Organization have at least two functioning mental health promotion and prevention initiatives. Of countries that do have programs in place, most are focused on combating stigmas and largely on suicide prevention. There is a huge gap in care for women with mental illness pertaining to maternity or violence.
Along with a lack of funding comes a lack of professionals entering the field. Since 2011, the number of nurses entering into mental health professions has increased, but only by a slight 35 percent. This number also does not showcase the distribution of the new professionals entering the field- most in higher income countries. Furthermore, the countries where the largest inequities are seen are often the places where people are most susceptible to mental illness. In middle and low-income countries, there are often higher incidences of violence or more disastrous effects of natural disasters, which prove to be traumatic for the people who experience and deal with the consequences of such events. Thus, mental illness can easily manifest and often go untreated.
The World Health Organization has put into effect the Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020, which aims at improving leadership, providing comprehensive care services, implementing promotion and prevention strategies, and strengthening information systems, evidence, and research as each pertains to mental illness. Hopefully, as the plan gains traction, we will start to see real progress in bridging the gaps in mental health care around the world. While higher-income countries in general have the resources, it is a matter of stepping back and refocusing to make quality and sustainable investments for long term success so that developing nations follow suit. Also, once more developed nations start to improve their care, they will be able to implement similar cost-effective programs in developing countries.
– Emma Dowd
Sources: CBC , Economic Times, US News, WHO
Photo: Boston’s Children Hospital
Memory Banda: Champion for Girls in Malawi
Girls not Brides reports that “over 700 million women alive today were married as children” and that “1 in 3 girls in the developing world are said to be married before 18.” Malawi is the worst offender for child marriage as one in two girls in Malawi are married before 18, many of them married even well before the age of 15.
Such young marriages are a cultural custom, but it is at the expense of the girls involved. When girls become pubescent, they are sent to cleansing ceremonies where girls as young as nine are taught how to sexually please a man, even being forced to engage in sex with an older man to become cleansed from their “childhood dust.” Many girls often leave the ceremonies infected with HIV/AIDs, or even pregnant.
Since pregnancy and marriage are forced on girls at such a young age, most girls drop out of school and remain uneducated. If a girl becomes pregnant at the ceremony, it is normal for that girl to be forced into a marriage immediately. Divorce is also quite high; it is not uncommon for a 16 year-old to have several children and a divorce or two as well.
Such is the story of Memory Banda’s sister and many other girls in her country of Malawi, but not for Memory herself. She was determined not go to a cleansing ceremony, but, rather, to finish her education. She not only finished her education, but also went on to become a champion for girls’ rights in Malawi.
She was part of a writing workshop for girls, where the girls shared their experiences of the cultural practices they faced. The Girls Empowerment Network Malawi (GENET) compiled and published these accounts as “I Will Marry When I Want To!” Memory recently gave a TedTalk in May 2015, describing the culture she grew up in and the challenges that young girls face in Malawi, as described above.
Memory has also specifically lobbied her government for new laws regarding child marriage and has spoken at a UN event. Her platform, in conjunction with GENET, focuses on bringing awareness to the dire women’s rights’ issue in Malawi and has helped legislation change in Malawi.
In early 2015, an official law was made that raised the legal marrying age to 18. In a country where child marriage is a cultural norm and abuse against women often goes unreported in an effort for families to save their reputations, this ruling is a monumental achievement. Girls, and their education and well-being, are being given the recognition and respect that they deserve in the legal system.
There is a stipulation in the new law that children aged 15-18 may still marry with parental consent, and there is worry that illegal marriages will still take place. Also, now the police force must enforce the law, a fact that could meet resistance in areas. But legislation is starting to move the issue in the right direction; girls are being given a fighting chance to have a life of their own.
Memory Banda and the girls brave enough to stand with her are taking back their rights to choose marriage when they are ready. Those girls who have suffered through a child marriage, like Memory’s sister, are ready to give their own children a different fate. Ripples of change are moving through Malawi culture thanks to Memory Banda and those who stand for women’s rights.
– Megan Ivy
Sources: GENET, Girls not Brides, Genet Malawi, KBIA, TedTalk
Photo: Girls Learn International
New Eco-Friendly Methods Make Farming in Palestine Possible
For those who live in occupied territories, self-sufficiency is increasingly difficult and poverty is often rampant for the natives. Such is the case in Palestine, where, in addition to their land being confiscated, Palestinians suffer from overworked, polluted soil as well as little access to water.
As a result, agricultural workers in Gaza and the West Bank have developed an increased reliance on Israel. Jillian Kestler-D’Amours, a writer from Al Jazeera, reported that much-needed groundwater wells can only be dug with a permit from the Israeli Civil Administration. “These permits are rarely, if ever, given and as a result, the Israeli army demolishes new Palestinian cisterns almost immediately,” she said. “Confiscation of Palestinian water tanks has also been widely reported.”
There is also an increased reliance on Israel for work, and in order to work one must receive a work permit. That being said, most of the work being offered to Palestinians is for building walls and other barriers that further rob them of their land.
According to Kestler-D’Amours, “Israeli settlements in the Jordan Valley control more than 1.46 million dunams (1,460 square kilometers) of land, or about 90 percent of the total area. This land is entirely off-limits to Palestinians.”
However, there is a solution for farming in Palestine. Some call it a kind of silent rebellion. Permaculture is the act of working with nature in order to maintain sustainable growing methods. Basically, whatever crops that nature can sustain on its own are the kinds that workers can tend to and harvest in abundance.
Murad Al Kuffash is one of those workers. He went from working small jobs in the U.S. to escape the second intifada to returning to his homeland and sharing the knowledge that he has gained by taking care of his father’s land. “The evidence is in the farm where nothing is wasted. Weeds and organic waste are used to mulch beds and feed chickens, scrap wood and branches are used as apparatus to support plants and food waste and manure are collected to make compost.”
Many other farmers in Palestine have hastened to follow Murad’s lead and decrease their reliance on Israel by growing their own food. Though there’s still much to be done, this eco-friendly movement is one giant leap toward self-sustainability.
– Anna Brailow
Sources: Al Jazeera, Good News Network
Photo: Palestine Farm Project
French Government to Spend €500k in Improving Sanitation Conditions
The French government has pledged to provide €500,000 ($567,000) to a migrant town near Calais. The make-shift town has been a source of controversy for France and a point of criticism from the United Nations due to poor sanitation standards and treatment of migrants.
This camp, dubbed “New Jungle” by locals, is home to an estimated 4,000 migrant workers who left their home countries to find work and refugee status in Great Britain. When high security prevented them from crossing the English Chanel the migrants were left stranded in France, in a political limbo.
The majority of the migrants are sans papiers (without papers) and have a difficult time finding work or government aid without legal documentation. When opportunities in France dwindle, the migrants (including women and children) are left without a place to go except for the camps.
Last year, the government of France shut down another nearby migrant town nicknamed the “Jungle”. The area had had humanitarian groups concerned for several years.
Since the area was not a legal town, it did not have any government protection nor requirements to meet health standards. Makeshift tents surrounded the area, and the undocumented migrants living there had little to no access to water, electricity or food resources.
The destruction of the camp only resulted in the creation of another migrant camp north of Calais, the current “New Jungle”. Like its predecessor, New Jungle has been condemned by the United Nations.
Philippe Leclerc, a representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, described living conditions as “absolutely appalling”.
New Jungle residents are often surrounded by garbage and there is no running water. Although there are surrounding towns, several of the migrant workers fear leaving due to worries about racial discrimination and hate crimes.
As a result, sanitation standards are very low and the migrant workers have very little opportunities to buy food or seek medical attention.
The current aid will lessen some of the migrant workers’ woes. The French government will begin working on plans to provide running water, electricity and better access to medical care for the migrants.
Part of the money will also go into creating sturdier homes in the New Jungle and another 10,500 lodgings throughout France. These lodgings will be available to men, women and children who currently reside in France as migrants.
While the European Union believes it is a step in the right direction, the French government worries for how long this can last. France has experienced large amounts of migrants entering the country for the past 15 years. However, current crises in the Middle East and Africa have caused more people to enter France in the past six months.
Brigitte Lips, a Calais resident, states, “The ones who make it here have already escaped death several times. They’ve crossed war-torn Sudan, then the Libyan desert, and then packed into rickety boats to cross the Mediterranean Sea.”
As long as war and poverty continue to grow in regions such as Afghanistan, Eritrea, Sudan and Syria the amount of refugees and migrants entering France will continue to increase.
– Erendira Jimenez
Sources: UNHCR, Express, NPR
Photo: Express