It takes 21 days to form a habit according to plastic surgeon Maxwell Maltz who coined the phrase. Although we would like to believe that a set time frame exists, it’s not possible that we should all be capable of fitting the mold of such a vague theory.
While we often consider willpower and the ability to create a positive environment as antidotes for whatever aspect of our lives we desire change, these changes may just be scraping the surface of a much larger problem.
Forming a new behavior may be less about implementing physical changes and more about addressing behavioral ones — especially for Indians adhering to the cultural patterns associated with open defecation within their communities.
Presently, with 60 percent of rural Indian people defecating in the open, the call for eradicating this practice throughout the entirety of the country is underway.
Many changes have been occurring, particularly in the Nadia district of West Bengal, where openly defecating in public has been banned by the district and enforced by the “Para Nazardari,” which translates to Neighborhood Monitoring Committee.
Here it is not uncommon to see members of this committee with a whistle at the ready, patrolling previously popular sites for the newly banned practice.
According to an article by the World Bank, the Nadia district is now the first open-defecation-free (ODF) district in West Bengal thanks to the synergy of an “intense behavior change campaign, leadership of the local government, and strong community monitoring.”
This is a great achievement that has occurred within just 18 months of the launch of the State’s Nirmal Bangla (Clean Bengal) Mission, which strives to create an ODF State by 2017. India’s Prime Minister foresees a future that is ODF in India through the country’s new flagship program, Swachh Bharat Mission – Grameen (Clean India Mission – Rural).
Improving sanitation practices would greatly boost the country’s economy, which loses about $53.8 billion a year to premature mortality, healthcare costs and health-related productivity losses.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that one in every 10 deaths can be attributed to poor sanitation and hygiene, with nearly 44 million children under five stunted.
Due to the successful implementation of programs within West Bengal, the World Bank has stationed a 32-member delegation in Bihar to work their magic. Learning from West Bengal, Bahir will also adopt a “collective behavioral change” rather than a “subsidy-driven toilet construction.”
The programs have realized that the areas which consider themselves ODF are more valuable than the number of toilets constructed themselves.
Addressing solutions for behavior change has been carried out through various campaigns that involved having religious speakers discuss the need for sanitation, doctors prescribing toilets as “the first medicine” and schools taking cleanliness oaths by encouraging good hygiene, such as the proper use of toilets and handwashing.
Villages have also adopted a communal approach in their aim for an ODF India. “Community volunteers mapped people’s habits and captured their attention through puppet shows, cycle rallies, sanitation quizzes, repurposed catchy tunes from popular film songs and hot air balloons with sanitation messages.
New toilet users formed a massive human chain stretching 122 km, signifying a change in the way people viewed open defecation,” says the World Bank.
Ultimately, by addressing behavioral changes regarding sanitation in Bihar and West Bengal, it may one day be possible for India to be declared an ODF country.
– Nikki Schaffer
Sources: WHO, World Bank, James Clear
Photo: Pixabay
The Philippines Education System Improves
The Philippines was granted independence by the United States in 1946. In the Postcolony modern world, the country is still struggling to compete in the modern economy, particularly with regards to its education system.
World Bank statistics placed the Philippines in the bottom 10 percent of all educated countries in 2013. A report put out this year by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization has shed light on the challenges currently faced by the Philippines.
UNESCO’s latest report shows that the Filipino Government is complying with UNESCO and implementing the necessary reforms to raise the standard of education in its country. However, the Filipino Government is still struggling to raise the standards of education in the country.
In particular, the safety of students is of the foremost concern to UNESCO. This year, the Anti-Bullying Act addresses the issue of students’ safety. The Filipino Government has implemented several key pieces of legislation addressing issues that have been affecting education.
As part of the Philippines Development Plan put out by UNESCO, the Philippines’ Department of Education will make it mandatory for everyone to complete basic education, and the Philippines have made great progress in this respect.
The World Bank has reported that in 2013, the participation for 6- to 11-year-olds was at 95.24 percent, which marked a significant increase since 2005.
In the same report, overall enrollment improved from 13 million to 14.4 million that year. The Philippines has made significant progress in improving the condition of education in the country. Despite a great deal of progress the Philippines has made, 42 percent of the country still remains below the poverty line making roughly $2 a day.
UNESCO and USAID are working with the Philippine Government to improve the conditions of education. USAID reports an average 7 percent growth in education and attributes this to the weak government in the region. UNESCO attributes the challenges in education to internal conflict and is working to broker a lasting peace in the region.
The Philippines Development Plan laid out the goal for 2011 to 2016, and with one year left, only time will tell if the Philippines will meet its goal.
– Robert Cross
Sources: Asian Scientist, ICEF Monitor, UNESDOC, USAID, USAID Reform Efforts, World Bank
Photo: Google Images
Tetanus Eradicated in India
India has eliminated maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) as a threat to public health, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced at the Call to Action 2015 Summit on Aug. 27. The announcement comes ahead of the nation’s goal of December.
Tetanus regularly targets newborns and mothers, usually resulting from births taking place in unsanitary conditions or dirty blades being used to cut umbilical cords.
The eradication of MNT comes 15 years after the creation of a campaign by UNICEF, WHO and UNFPA. The organizations launched the Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus Elimination Initiative in 1999 with the goal of abolishing MNT as a global health problem.
The initiative defines the elimination of MNT as a global health problem as every district having less than one case of neonatal tetanus per 1,000 live births. When that is accomplished, maternal tetanus is deemed eliminated as well.
At the time the initiative was created, there were an estimated 800,000 newborn deaths a year globally as a result of tetanus, according to WHO. That number is now less than 50,000.
Along with the initiative, the Indian government took its own steps to help eradicate the disease, which is estimated to have killed 160,000 children in the country in 1988.
In Dec. 2014, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India launched Mission Indradhanush, a project aiming to increase the percentage of children completely vaccinated from 65 to at least 90 percent.
In addition to tetanus, immunizations provided by Mission Indradhanush help protect children against tuberculosis, polio, measles, hepatitis B, diphtheria and pertussis, and are free due to India’s Universal Immunization Programme.
In an effort to have more births occur in medical facilities, the Indian government developed a program in which women are paid up to $21 if they go to a clinic or hospital to give birth.
Health workers are also paid to make sure women in labor go to a medical facility. Dubbed “lady health workers,” they are paid up to $9 per mother and receive full payment only if they visit each baby at home and administer TB shots.
Even with these incentives, some women still insist on giving birth at home, as doing so is a local tradition in India. To ensure sanitary conditions, the government will send these women kits containing antibacterial soap, a clean plastic sheet, and a sterile scalpel and plastic clamp to be used on the umbilical cord.
While India has eliminated MNT, the infection is still considered a public health problem in 22 out of the 59 countries originally identified by the U.N. initiative.
– Matt Wotus
Sources: National Health Portal of India, Quartz, The New York Times, UNICEF, WHO
Photo: Google Images
Polio Eradication for the Globe
On March 27, 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) certified that the South-East Asia region, home to a quarter of the world’s population, was polio-free.
The beginning of the WHO Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988 was faced with 350,000 cases of poliovirus infections, in 125 countries worldwide. This 2014 achievement now means 80 percent of the world’s population is polio-free.
Mass immunization efforts are the most effective when dealing with the spread of the poliovirus. In the Horn of Africa, it has been over one year since the last reported case of Polio due to the synchronized efforts to vaccinate every child with the oral polio vaccine (OPV).
The June 2015 Horn of Africa outbreak assessment deduced that poliovirus transmission has been interrupted.
Nigeria is currently the last country in Africa with the poliovirus, however, they are making progress. In 2013 there were 49 reported cases of polio, however, this year Nigeria has reported only six cases.
This dramatic drop in poliovirus infection is due to the OPV for type 1, 2 and 3 polioviruses. Vaccines are also administered to children of all ages and even at birth.
In February 2015 the Inactive Polio Vaccine (IPV) was introduced into the immunization program. It is predicted that by September 2015, Nigeria could be removed from the WHO’s list of polio-endemic countries.
Poliovirus lives in an infected person’s throat and intestines and is spread through feces especially in unsanitary environments. Even though some persons infected with the poliovirus do not show any symptoms they can still pass on the virus. Moreover, there is no cure for polio which is why immunization is the most effective method to stop the spread of polio.
– Marie Helene Ngom
Sources: World Health Organization South-East Asia, Scientific American, The Atlantic, World Health Organization Africa, Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Photo: Polio Eradication
Improving Sanitation in Bihar
It takes 21 days to form a habit according to plastic surgeon Maxwell Maltz who coined the phrase. Although we would like to believe that a set time frame exists, it’s not possible that we should all be capable of fitting the mold of such a vague theory.
While we often consider willpower and the ability to create a positive environment as antidotes for whatever aspect of our lives we desire change, these changes may just be scraping the surface of a much larger problem.
Forming a new behavior may be less about implementing physical changes and more about addressing behavioral ones — especially for Indians adhering to the cultural patterns associated with open defecation within their communities.
Presently, with 60 percent of rural Indian people defecating in the open, the call for eradicating this practice throughout the entirety of the country is underway.
Many changes have been occurring, particularly in the Nadia district of West Bengal, where openly defecating in public has been banned by the district and enforced by the “Para Nazardari,” which translates to Neighborhood Monitoring Committee.
Here it is not uncommon to see members of this committee with a whistle at the ready, patrolling previously popular sites for the newly banned practice.
According to an article by the World Bank, the Nadia district is now the first open-defecation-free (ODF) district in West Bengal thanks to the synergy of an “intense behavior change campaign, leadership of the local government, and strong community monitoring.”
This is a great achievement that has occurred within just 18 months of the launch of the State’s Nirmal Bangla (Clean Bengal) Mission, which strives to create an ODF State by 2017. India’s Prime Minister foresees a future that is ODF in India through the country’s new flagship program, Swachh Bharat Mission – Grameen (Clean India Mission – Rural).
Improving sanitation practices would greatly boost the country’s economy, which loses about $53.8 billion a year to premature mortality, healthcare costs and health-related productivity losses.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that one in every 10 deaths can be attributed to poor sanitation and hygiene, with nearly 44 million children under five stunted.
Due to the successful implementation of programs within West Bengal, the World Bank has stationed a 32-member delegation in Bihar to work their magic. Learning from West Bengal, Bahir will also adopt a “collective behavioral change” rather than a “subsidy-driven toilet construction.”
The programs have realized that the areas which consider themselves ODF are more valuable than the number of toilets constructed themselves.
Addressing solutions for behavior change has been carried out through various campaigns that involved having religious speakers discuss the need for sanitation, doctors prescribing toilets as “the first medicine” and schools taking cleanliness oaths by encouraging good hygiene, such as the proper use of toilets and handwashing.
Villages have also adopted a communal approach in their aim for an ODF India. “Community volunteers mapped people’s habits and captured their attention through puppet shows, cycle rallies, sanitation quizzes, repurposed catchy tunes from popular film songs and hot air balloons with sanitation messages.
New toilet users formed a massive human chain stretching 122 km, signifying a change in the way people viewed open defecation,” says the World Bank.
Ultimately, by addressing behavioral changes regarding sanitation in Bihar and West Bengal, it may one day be possible for India to be declared an ODF country.
– Nikki Schaffer
Sources: WHO, World Bank, James Clear
Photo: Pixabay
Upward Mobility: Four Mobile Technologies in Africa
More people in Africa now have access to mobile phones than to toilets. While that may be a concerning statistic when talking about bio-security, the saturation of cell phones and the ease of data transfer and communication has opened the door to many creative solutions to some of Africa’s most pressing issues.
Humanitarian efforts, from tracking disease to analyzing hate speech, to helping farmers track market prices have all found an unexpected ally in mobile technology. Below are four mobile technologies in Africa that are making a difference.
Pulse Lab, use of telecommunications data to track measles outbreaks
Pulse Lab based out of Kampala, Uganda has found a unique way to predict disease outbreaks in the country, by using mobile phone locations to understand how Ugandans move around. Tracking population movements and aggregation trends can help disease experts predict when and where outbreaks are most likely to occur, as well as how the outbreak may spread around the country. This dramatically increases response time and allows for better overall preparedness.
Umati, monitoring online platforms to track the presence of hate speech
Following the 2007/08 post-election violence in Kenya, some wondered about the role of social media and online communications in catalyzing the violent outburst. The Umati project, started by iHub, an organization dedicated to advancing technological innovation in Africa, seeks to better understand the use of hate speech online. The goal of the project is to understand how hate speech is used online and to develop ways to detect when such vernacular indicates potential violence.
Kudu, using mobile phones to make agricultural markets more effective
The idea behind Kudu was to make agricultural markets more effective by helping farmers find the best buyers and thus the best prices for their goods. Kudu establishes a double auction, where sellers and buyers are connected by a third party, which both can communicate with as simple as sending a text. Buyers and sellers are then matched and the markets are kept stable.
Punya, “Transform a sea of goodwill into actions by linking knowledge, data, and mobility”
Punya cloud architecture aggregates data and mobile applications from numerous humanitarian organizations. The Punya project works to integrate individual applications with as much of the available relevant information as possible. This integration streamlines humanitarian efforts, connecting aid organizers, volunteers and researchers, all in one data cloud. During disaster relief efforts, or when combating disease outbreaks like the ebola epidemic, this streamlining can be a critical edge.
– Gina Lehner
Sources: Punya, Umati, Kudu, Pulse Lab Kampala
Photo: Wikimedia
Solar Cities: Hot Water for Rural Cairo
In Cairo, drinking tap water is considered to be a game with rules similar to Russian roulette — the possibility of dying is high. The concentration of bacteria in the water is astounding and the majority of the population living in Cairo’s slums does not have access to the hot water necessary to cook and bathe.
On average, it takes a mother seven hours to bathe her children. She must retrieve water from a well and carry it in a bucket back to her home before warming it up on the stove before she can give any of her children a bath.
To increase the availability of hot water for people living in Coptic Christian and Muslim communities in Cairo, Solar Cities install environment-friendly solar panels on the rooftops of houses in the city’s poorer neighborhoods.
Solar Cities was started by two science Ph.D. recipients, Dr. TH Culhane and Dr. Sybille Culhane. The pair is currently working on their project, C.3.I.T.I.E.S., which stands for Connecting Community Catalysts Integrating Technologies for Industrial Ecology Solutions.
Dr. TH — Thomas Taha Rassam — Culhane’s project succeeds in generating 200 liters of hot water and 200 liters of cold water for each household every day. More than 30 solar water heaters line housetops in Cairo, providing many families with access to usable and drinkable water.
Situated primarily in the Coptic Christian community of Zabaleen and Darb Al-Ahmar, an Islamic neighborhood, Culhane works not only on providing residents with access to water but also on bringing the two communities closer together.
The idea for Solar Cities came to Culhane after he worked on projects in the Dayak of Boneo and Itza Maya jungle villages in Guatemala, and to gain a better understanding of the struggles of living under these conditions, Culhane and his wife moved into an apartment in Zabaleen.
There, they were able to gather practical knowledge on what issues needed to be resolved, namely finding an environmentally friendly way of gaining access to clean water.
The duo has since worked on increasing solar energy and clean water in Cairo and spreading innovative ideas throughout the Zabaleen and Darb Al-Ahmar communities.
As two science educators, they work to make their projects fun and interactive for all of their colleagues and the people they assist with the belief that creativity can lead to innovation, which in turn will make the world a more environmentally sustainable place.
– Julia Hettiger
Sources: Matador Network, Egypt Independent, National Geographic
Photo: Google Images
Fighting Polio in Pakistan
The focus on the fight against polio has shifted from Africa to Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). There have been no cases in Africa this year, with Nigeria to be removed from the list soon. Africa will have to go with two years of no polio cases before it can be considered “polio-free.”
There have been 34 polio cases this year, 28 of them have occurred in Pakistan and the rest have occurred in Afghanistan. There have been 28 cases of polio in Pakistan, 13 of which occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 8 in Peshawar. Just last year, Pakistan saw the highest number of polio cases since 1998, a total of 296 polio cases.
The campaign to end polio faces a number of challenges. These vaccination campaigns have to deal with political instability and internal conflict in the region. They are often attacked by militants who believe immunization teams and polio workers might be a cover for espionage.
The political instability and internal conflict have caused a large population of refugees and slum areas where people are unaccounted for and have little to no access to health care.
There is also a lack of education regarding the effectiveness of polio vaccinations. In the region, there are rumors claiming they cause infertility. Before the vaccine was developed in the 1950s, polio affected everyone, rich and poor, and caused irreversible paralysis within hours.
The good news is, this past year, Pakistan ran its first eradication program. The World Health Organization (WHO) even reported more vaccinations in tribal areas where the government has less control.
WHO estimates that $50 billion could be saved in the next 20 years if polio is eradicated. In contrast, not eradicating polio could lead to 200,000 new cases every year within 10 years. Polio is on track to being the second infectious disease to be eradicated after smallpox.
– Paula Acevedo
Sources: Dawn, Thomson Reuters Foundation
Photo: Google Images
Trachoma in Ethiopia: What It Is and What Is Being Done
Trachoma is an endemic disease in Oromia, the largest and most populous state of Ethiopia. The disease has caused an impairment of vision in 2.2 million people in the world as the leading infectious cause of blindness.
The combination of poor sanitation and minimal access to clean water increases the risk of infection and nearly 229 million people in the world live in high-risk areas. Women are more susceptible to infectious trachoma than men because of their higher exposure to young children who are typically the bearers of the disease.
Eighty percent of Ethiopians live in rural areas with poor sanitation and little access to clean water. Seventy-six million people in Ethiopia are at risk of contracting blinding trachoma and another 800,000 people are at risk of irreversible blindness if they do not receive surgery.
Ethiopia only has 120 ophthalmologists and the majority of them work in Addis Ababa. The country is ill-equipped to destroy the disease on its own although the surgical procedures are simple and quick.
The Fred Hollows Foundation is a non-governmental organization focused on eliminating preventable blindness. The organization’s work in Ethiopia is focused mainly on the implementation of the SAFE strategy recommended by the World Health Organization in Oromia’s 225 endemic districts.
SAFE is an acronym for Surgery, Antibiotics, Face-washing, and Environmental improvements. Changing the way people manage personal hygiene has been one of the ways they are trying to reduce the risks of trachoma.
The Fred Hollows Foundation and its partners treated 5,637,226 people with antibiotics and performed more than 7,000 lid surgeries in 2014 alone. They also trained 36 surgeons and 10 clinic support staff as well as supplied $126,747 worth of equipment used to treat trachoma in Ethiopia.
According to the Fred Hollows Foundation website, “What is needed [to eliminate trachoma in Ethiopia] is a significant scale-up of the SAFE strategy, including resources, expertise and commitment from regional and local governments and development organizations in the water, sanitation and hygiene sectors.”
– Iona Brannon
Sources: Al Jazeera, The Fred Hollows Foundation, World Health Organization
Photo: Flickr
The Importance of Computer Science Education in School
While the UN recently approved the Sustainable Development Goals in January 2016, eradicating poverty and combating climate change are considered the top two global problems. More than ever before, computer science education will be crucial for students in low-income communities in order to avoid poverty.
In today’s world of technology, it is imperative for students to become exposed to computer technology at a young age.
To ensure children learn about computer technology at an early age, New York City Mayor, Bill de Blasio, announced that within 10 years, all students attending the city’s public schools would be required to take computer science courses.
New York City plans to spend $81 million over the next 10 years and estimates training 5,000 teachers in the field, which could be a potential issue.
“The difficulty is getting enough teachers who are trained in it, and trained well enough to make it a good introduction to computer science,” said Barbara Ericson, the director of computing outreach at Georgia Tech’s College of Computing. “And if you are well-trained in computer science, you can make a lot more money in industry than teaching.”
Of the $81 million needed, half of the money will be raised through private sources, including the Robin Hood Foundation and venture capitalist Fred Wilson.
Interestingly, a survey done by Google found that many poor parents want their children to learn computer science education so they have the opportunity to lead a better life.
While 15.3 percent of New York City lives in poverty, the opportunity for these students to be exposed to computer science at a young age could change the course of poverty and their futures.
“Stimulating the curiosity of today’s young students for math and science is critical for creating tomorrow’s physicists, mathematicians and cosmologists,” said Rocky Kolb, Dean of the Physical Sciences Division at the University of Chicago.
With knowledge of computer education, students have the opportunity to attend college studying the field and could possibly work in New York City’s fastest-growing technology sector.
“If we can get them earlier, I think we can get them excited about it,” Mr. Wilson said.
– Alexandra Korman
Sources: Gigaom, NY Times, United States Census, University of Chicago,
Photo: blogs.perficient
UN Sustainable Development Summit Highlights Women’s Rights
Global economics, health and sustainability are some of the usual discussion points at the United Nations. However, at the recently held U.N. Sustainable Development Summit, Ban Ki-moon, the U.N.’s secretary-general, put the spotlight on women’s empowerment.
“We cannot achieve our 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development without full and equal rights for half of the world’s population, in law and in practice. We cannot effectively respond to humanitarian emergencies without ensuring women and girls are protected and their needs prioritized,” said Ban Ki-moon during an event hosted by U.N. Women and China.
The Sustainable Development Summit discussed the Sustainable Development Goals, which are a follow-up to the Millennium Development goals created in 2000. These Sustainable Development Goals include the goal to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.”
To this end, Ban Ki-moon asked leaders to commit to ending gender inequality, pointing to “This means urgently addressing structural barriers, such as unequal pay.” He also discussed other gender inequalities, such as the importance of women’s bodily autonomy, gender violence and the encouragement of women’s participation in the workforce.
The United Nations, founded in 1945, began addressing gender inequalities prior to this summit. In 2010, The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, or U.N. Women, began. U.N. Women helps to streamline the U.N.’s efforts in advancing gender equality in all member states.
This past summer, the United Nations Security Council condemned the use of sexual violence during wartime, in reference to Syria and Iraq.
To help encourage gender equality to reality by 2030, businesses pledged millions of dollars At the Business and Philanthropy Leader’s Forum, co-hosted by U.N. Women, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Alibaba Group.
Now global citizens wait to see how many of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals will become a reality. With the recent attention to women’s rights, the United Nations starts the journey to make gender equality a reality within member states.
– Rachelle Kredentser
Sources: UN 1, UN 2, UN 3, UN Women, UN 4, UN 5
Photo: Pixabay