A measles outbreak has been occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo since the beginning of the year, with 16,500 cases reported from January to June.
The Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF – also known as Doctors Without Borders in the U.S.) was able to take responsive measures starting in March, vaccinating over 287,000 children either to combat measles or to prevent it.
Since May, all of the children aged 6 months to 10 years in the Malemba Nkulu health zone – 101,000 in total – were vaccinated.
Over 500 members of the MSF team have been deployed to respond to the measles outbreak in the Congolese provinces. They are working to transport and administer vaccines and care for those afflicted by the disease. But the fight against measles calls for more than just brave, skillful responders.
The challenges in treating the epidemic are great and many, but organizations like MSF overcome them by being aware of these challenges so that they can be addressed.
The last time that Katanga (the Congolese province where the most cases are being seen) had a measles outbreak this serious was in 2011. MSF and other organizations involved in treating this outbreak are drawing on the lessons they learned from 2011 to treat this outbreak more efficiently.
The head of the MSF mission in the Congo, Jean-Guy Vataux, cites several barriers to fighting the disease: “shortage of funds, running out of vaccines, problems maintaining the cold chain. . . and a lack of qualified human resources.”
Shortage of funds is a problem humanitarian organizations have always been familiar with. Organizations like the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the Measles and Rubella Immunization Initiative provide grants to humanitarian organizations – they have funded several vaccination campaigns during the current outbreak.
Donations from governments, organizations, corporations, and individuals can be sent to groups like these, or also straight to the organizations fighting the disease on the ground (MSF, WHO, etc.)
Beyond the scope of finance, organizations are working together to make sure they reach as many people as possible.
In Sudan, health professionals involved in the response have noted the increased effectiveness of response when different organizations, such as MSF and UNICEF, work together. It is through the teamwork of different organizations that barriers, like marshy roads that make villages difficult to access, can be evaluated and worked through.
The Ministry of Health in Sudan and WHO are working together on a plan of action to help about 180,000 people in the Zamzam camp. Currently, the camp has ongoing routine immunizations for children and pregnant women. Eight different vaccination centers are up and running, staffed by 20 vaccinators.
Areas such as case investigation and response measures are also being reevaluated for efficiency. Investigations are particularly pertinent because oftentimes, the disease goes untreated, ad thus deaths go unreported and statistics are inaccurate. Without a proper understanding of the situation, resources can’t be allocated to where they are needed.
According to Dr. Malik Alabbasi, Director-General of the Public Health Care Directorate in the Federal Ministry of Health, recent reports have already reflected improvement in case management and implementation of vaccines.
The situation in the Congo and Sudan is grim in many ways, but through the collective effort of organizations determined to make a difference, the fight against measles is making slow and steady progress.
– Emily Dieckman
Sources: All Africa, WHO, MSF 1, MSF 2, Reuters, Time, OCHA, Vaccine News Daily
Photo: Doctors Without Borders
Solar Powered Classrooms Coming to Kenya
Kenya currently ranks 101st in the world in access to basic information, which includes literacy rates, primary and secondary school enrollments, and gender parity in secondary enrollment. In addition, only 39 percent of the population has internet access.
Safaricom Foundation, an African telco, is looking to change the current landscape by providing every student a school with a room full of computers to boost education in Kenya.
A 20-by-9-foot classroom can hold up to 40 students and be equipped with 11 desktop computers. Each classroom comes with monitors, a server, and a projector. The building is made from local materials to boost local revenues while providing a building with educational value.
Aleutia is a company which builds computers for schools and clinics that are powered by solar panels at a cost of about $20,000. They are currently building solar powered classrooms in 47 villages around Kenya. $10,000 goes toward structural costs and the other $10,000 goes toward the equipment. The solar panels come pre-installed in order to reduce costs.
Two classrooms can be preloaded onto a 40-foot flatbed truck.
Aleutia’s founder, Mike Rosenberg, wants to create local micro-grids that will power communities and allow the power to transfer as needed. So if the school has extra power available it can be transferred to a clinic building that is using more power.
Kenya has made significant progress since 1999 to ensure that more children are getting an education and becoming more literate. They spend on average 6.7 percent of their GNP on education, which is an increase from 5.4 percent in 1999. However, one million children are still not attending school.
Primary education in Kenya is free, but families do not have the money or resources to provide for their children to excel in school and compete globally. The classrooms from Aleutia and Safaricom can reduce the costs for families and help Kenyan children become more competitive on the global level by providing them with resources not available to other parts of the world.
An estimated 20,000 kids will benefit from the classrooms in 47 Kenyan counties that are gaining energy from the sun to provide internet access and learning resources to students.
– Donald Gering
Sources: Fast Company, Good News Network, Social Progress Imperative, UNESCO
Photo: Google Images
Humanitarian Response Faces Increasing Pressure to Reform
The humanitarian system is facing increasing demand to reform its approach to crisis response. The demands are for the system to become more flexible and transparent in order to better meet needs, utilize resources more efficiently as well as improve local capacity. But, why now?
Our world is changing rapidly and there is an increasing demand to solve new problems in an ever-changing world of ongoing conflict. As a result, UN’s Secretary-General has initiated the World Humanitarian Summit to be held in Istanbul on May 23-24, 2016, where he seeks to challenge the ways humanitarian organizations work together to deliver aid and save lives.
In 2014, $23 billion was spent on crisis response. Yet, the international emergency aid system is still failing vulnerable regions such as Syria and Ukraine.
IRIN, an independent, nonprofit news organization, suggested various ways UN humanitarianism could change to Ertharin Cousin, head of the World Food Programme (WFP), and Kyung-wha Kang, Assistant Secretary-General of the UN’s humanitarian coordination body, OCHA.
Among the many ideas for reform is localizing the humanitarian response system. This not only involves having the local communities making crisis response decisions, but also changing the humanitarian funding methods. Currently, larger organizations such as OCHA and WFP receive the vast majority of the funding, while local organizations receive little funding.
Another important reform proposal, is making the top jobs available to everyone, not just permanent members of the Security Council. This is something the UN has been heavily criticized for.
Having only people on the inside of the organization and not bringing an outside perspective is definitely not conducive to change. It’s also not conducive to avoiding politicisation, one of the many causes of humanitarian problems.
Despite all of these ideas, the question still remains – is reform the answer to a more efficacious humanitarian response system or should we get rid of the system all together?
– Paula Acevedo
Sources: IRIN News, World Humanitarian Summit
Photo: Flickr
H&M Designs T-Shirts for Global Citizen Festival
H&M is known for providing fashionable and affordable styles for men, women and children. However, the Swedish clothing store chain also does its part to promote sustainability across the world. That’s right – H&M knows how to make fashion sustainable.
A proud partner of the Global Poverty Project, H&M is dedicated to supporting the mission to end extreme global poverty and building sustainable lives for people around the world.
By default, H&M is also in a partnership with Global Citizen, the online platform for the Global Poverty Project that provides crucial information about ongoing problems in the world and actions global citizens can take to eliminate them.
Most recently, H&M and Global Citizen have launched an exclusive t-shirt line to promote the Global Citizen Festival this fall. Musicians Coldplay and Ed Sheeran also contributed to the designs to show their support for the fight against global poverty. Coldplay and Sheeran will also perform at the Global Citizen Festival on September 26th.
Each shirt has a design unique to the musician and is made entirely of sustainable materials. At $9.95, the shirts are on sale at all H&M locations in the U.S. and 25 percent of the proceeds go to Global Citizen.
Furthermore, H&M encourages customers to donate gently used clothing to be recycled. Donation stations are located in every H&M store nationwide until Sept. 17, in a box that advertises the Festival.
Tickets for the Festival are free of monetary charge. Instead, guests must earn their tickets by taking actions against poverty. For every customer that purchases a t-shirt or donates clothing, H&M will provide them with the opportunity to earn free tickets.
Sheeran expressed his excitement to work alongside H&M and Global Citizen to create a shirt that fights back against poverty, uniting people to take meaningful action. T-shirts and fashion are no longer all about style; fashion is now also about taking sustainable steps towards a positive future.
– Sarah Sheppard
Sources: PR News Wire, Global Citizen 1, Global Citizen 2
Photo: Google Images
Salt-Tolerant Plants: The Crop of the Future
Farmers along India’s coast struggle to make a living, owing their hardships to the rising sea level, an issue negatively impacting countries around the world. Scientists believe there is a solution: salt-tolerant plants.
According to a study done by the Indian Space Organization (ISO) and the Central Water Commission (CWC), the coast of India has lost nearly 96.6 square miles over the past 15 years.
Due a combination of increased sea level and natural disasters including cyclones and tsunamis, Indian scientists from the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) are left with few options.
“The biggest problem in India is just the very large population. We can say people can relocate, but where could we even accommodate all those who need to move inland?” said M.S. Swaminathan.
Since the rising sea level is becoming a crisis, M.S. Swaminathan scientists have created a small greenhouse with salt-tolerant plants known as halophytes to test crossbreeding and gene modification. Currently, 350 salt-tolerant plant species could possibly become crops in the future.
“Saltwater agriculture is considered a futuristic area. But it really shouldn’t be,” said marine biologist V. Selvam, the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation’s Director of Coastal Research. “Very soon there won’t be enough land and water to meet our needs.”
According to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization, the world population is set to rise nine billion by 2050, driving the demand for food up 60 percent. It is imperative for world leaders to find nearly 296 million acres of farmland to keep up with the staggering increase of food.
University of Arizona Environmental Science professor Edward Glenn believes the world’s irrigated acreage could be increased 50 percent by reusing saline water and salinized crop fields for halophytes.
“As with aquaculture replacing wild fisheries, it is inevitable that halophytes will have their day,” he said.
Unfortunately, in small villages along the coast of India, salt-tolerant plants are negatively impacting the area.
Within the village of Tetakudi, salt-tolerant plants Salicornia brachiate and Suaeda maritime are known to the villagers as “chicken feet” due to their weed-like growth. The plants’ uncontrolled growth has already forced 12 families to move elsewhere.
If this trend continues, experts say these costal regions will be forced to grow non-food crops including biofuels.
– Alexandra Korman
Sources: BBC, CBC, Hindustan Times
Photo: CBC
Improving Education Levels for Women in the Middle East
Women in the Middle East are subjected to extreme patriarchal systems that often deprive them of their human rights and their dignity. In 1995, Dr. Golnar Mehrah a UNICEF education consultant published a report titled “Girls drop out of primary school in the Middle East and North Africa.”
In his report, Dr. Mehrah set out to discover why despite the fact that girls’ enrollment rates had increased significantly since 1985, girls were dropping out before the 5th grade. In this report, he found that there existed a gender disparity in the enrollment of girls in primary school in the Middle East and North Africa. The primary reason for both male and female dropouts in the Middle East and North Africa region was poverty.
Their parents pulled them from school in order to help with domestic and agricultural tasks. In many cases, there were a lack of basic programs for students such as an available teacher for a given grade. In some villages in the Middle East and North Africa regions lack educators past a certain grade level making it difficult for students to be promoted to the next grade.
A report by the Population Reference Bureau on the Middle East and North Africa region sheds light on the challenges that women face in the region. Two key factors highlighted in the report was the MENA culture and the oil based economy. The report shows a clear gender biased toward men in the region.
In the report, women were asked if they could only afford to send one child to a university and they had a son and a daughter who would it be. An overwhelming majority of the women said they would pay for their son over their daughter to go to school. The statistics were shocking with 39 percent in favor of the son going on to higher education and only 8 percent in favor of the daughters.
There is a clear son preference in Middle Eastern culture that has privileged them with certain advantages in their society. In certain places in the MENA region this gender biased is enforced by a set of codified laws. This trend is slowly changing with the rise of women activists in Islamic society who demand better treatment for women.
Recently a news report from U.S. News and World Report shows a rise in enrollment rates for women in several countries in the Middle East and North Africa region as of 2014. The current global score for the Middle East and North Africa region is 31 which is actually higher than the global average of 30.
As foreign aid and development enter the region, many MENA countries are seeing the economic benefits of breaking away from rigid tradition and encouraging women’s participation in education. Egypt, in particular, is making great strides toward women’s education.
– Robert Cross
Sources: Public Reference Bureau, UNICEF Report, US News and World Report
Photo: Open Equal Free
Médecins Sans Frontières Responds to Congo Measles Outbreak
A measles outbreak has been occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo since the beginning of the year, with 16,500 cases reported from January to June.
The Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF – also known as Doctors Without Borders in the U.S.) was able to take responsive measures starting in March, vaccinating over 287,000 children either to combat measles or to prevent it.
Since May, all of the children aged 6 months to 10 years in the Malemba Nkulu health zone – 101,000 in total – were vaccinated.
Over 500 members of the MSF team have been deployed to respond to the measles outbreak in the Congolese provinces. They are working to transport and administer vaccines and care for those afflicted by the disease. But the fight against measles calls for more than just brave, skillful responders.
The challenges in treating the epidemic are great and many, but organizations like MSF overcome them by being aware of these challenges so that they can be addressed.
The last time that Katanga (the Congolese province where the most cases are being seen) had a measles outbreak this serious was in 2011. MSF and other organizations involved in treating this outbreak are drawing on the lessons they learned from 2011 to treat this outbreak more efficiently.
The head of the MSF mission in the Congo, Jean-Guy Vataux, cites several barriers to fighting the disease: “shortage of funds, running out of vaccines, problems maintaining the cold chain. . . and a lack of qualified human resources.”
Shortage of funds is a problem humanitarian organizations have always been familiar with. Organizations like the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the Measles and Rubella Immunization Initiative provide grants to humanitarian organizations – they have funded several vaccination campaigns during the current outbreak.
Donations from governments, organizations, corporations, and individuals can be sent to groups like these, or also straight to the organizations fighting the disease on the ground (MSF, WHO, etc.)
Beyond the scope of finance, organizations are working together to make sure they reach as many people as possible.
In Sudan, health professionals involved in the response have noted the increased effectiveness of response when different organizations, such as MSF and UNICEF, work together. It is through the teamwork of different organizations that barriers, like marshy roads that make villages difficult to access, can be evaluated and worked through.
The Ministry of Health in Sudan and WHO are working together on a plan of action to help about 180,000 people in the Zamzam camp. Currently, the camp has ongoing routine immunizations for children and pregnant women. Eight different vaccination centers are up and running, staffed by 20 vaccinators.
Areas such as case investigation and response measures are also being reevaluated for efficiency. Investigations are particularly pertinent because oftentimes, the disease goes untreated, ad thus deaths go unreported and statistics are inaccurate. Without a proper understanding of the situation, resources can’t be allocated to where they are needed.
According to Dr. Malik Alabbasi, Director-General of the Public Health Care Directorate in the Federal Ministry of Health, recent reports have already reflected improvement in case management and implementation of vaccines.
The situation in the Congo and Sudan is grim in many ways, but through the collective effort of organizations determined to make a difference, the fight against measles is making slow and steady progress.
– Emily Dieckman
Sources: All Africa, WHO, MSF 1, MSF 2, Reuters, Time, OCHA, Vaccine News Daily
Photo: Doctors Without Borders
Life Saving Dot: The New Bindi
Women in India have been sporting small dots between their eyebrows since the third or fourth century. The mark is called a bindi and is a Hindu tradition.
Historically, it has been worn for religious purposes or to show that a woman is married. Today, women of all ages wear the bindi just as a beauty mark.
A nonprofit organization based in Nashik, India has come up with a new reason to wear the bindi. The Neelvasant Medical Foundation and Research Center, in partnership with Grey Group Singapore, a company that makes advertisements, wants the bindi to become a source of iodine.
The two organizations initiated the Life Saving Dot program that coats bindis with a full daily recommended dose of iodine. Dr Prachi Pawar is the leader of the project. He explains that the skin can absorb the essential micronutrient, but the nonprofit is still studying just how efficient the dots are.
“It would have been more satisfying—and convincing—if [the organizers] had done a bit of work beforehand to show that it actually delivers iodine,” says Michael Zimmerman. He is a nutrition researcher for the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.
Roland Kupka is a micronutrient senior adviser for UNICEF. He points out that no one knows for sure if the iodine stays on the bindi. There is a chance that it might evaporate off when women spend time in the sun.
India is one of 54 countries struggling with iodine sufficiency. The soil there lacks iodine and, therefore, so do the crops. Iodized salt is unavailable to a third of all families in the country. According to UNICEF, 66 percent of families worldwide have access.
Iodine is necessary for the manufacture of thyroid hormones. For pregnant women, it is crucial for the development of the fetus’ brain. Iodine deficiency is the greatest cause of preventable but irreversible brain damage in the world. It also causes depression and weight gain in adults. Children can suffer from mental health issues like retardation and even death.
So far, more than 30,000 women in about 100 villages throughout India have been given the special iodine bindis. The organizations are starting to plan a system to produce and distribute them on a large scale.
If the Life Saving bindis are successful at administering iodine, they will be an affordable nutritional supplement: 10 repees, about 16 cents, for a package of 30 bindis.
The Neevlasant Medical Foundation and Research Center is a nongovernmental organization that strives to support rural and tribal parts of India and other developing countries. Started in August of 2005, they have specific programs for health, environment conservation, finance, child/women development, mental health and water conversation.
– Lillian Sickler
Sources: NPR, YouTube, Neelvasant Foundation, Indian Journal of Medical Research, Huffington Post, The Times of India, WHO
Photo: Health Life
What is the Definition of Philanthropy?
According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, philanthropy is defined as “goodwill to fellow members of the human race; especially active effort to promote human welfare.” Additionally, philanthropy is “an act or gift done or made for humanitarian purposes,” or “an organization distributing or supported by funds set aside for humanitarian purposes.”
This is interesting to consider. The majority of the time, most of us tend to think of philanthropy as the large donation of money to humanitarian or environmental causes. We tend to think of famous philanthropists like Andrew Carnegie and John Rockefeller. More recently, we might think of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.
What is a Philanthropist
However, a philanthropist does not only have to be someone who donates large sums of money to worthy causes. The definition of philanthropy says that one has to have a goodwill to humankind and an interest in promoting human welfare. One can accomplish this in a multitude of different ways.
A philanthropist could be someone who is educating herself on humanitarian issues. She could figure out what issues are salient to her, what issues are most dire or what issues people do not acknowledge as much. She could also learn the most effective solutions to this issue. The philanthropist could use this education in order to build her dedication to an issue and make the most change.
A philanthropist could be someone who consistently does community service for a humanitarian organization or a cause that he supports. He could dedicate his time to this organization and help using the skills that he possesses.
A philanthropist could be someone who works for a nonprofit or humanitarian organization. This person could dedicate his or her career to a valuable cause. She could work on the ground or in policy reform.
Finally, someone could donate a percentage of their income to a cause or humanitarian organization. The amount of money does not necessarily have to be large.
In conclusion, it is important to remember that a philanthropist has to make an “active effort to promote human welfare.” This means that a philanthropist is not exclusively someone who donates a lot of money to humanitarian causes. A philanthropist makes a significant effort to change a societal problem, in the best way that he or she can. A philanthropist finds an issue resonates with her, and she does what she can to help. Philanthropy is about dedication to humanitarian issues. It is not always about money.
– Ella Cady
Sources: Huffington Post, Merriam Webster, About.com, Biography Online
Photo: LTD
What is Advocacy?
Advocacy is a concept with a short definition but an extensive explanation. In a very broad sense, advocacy is simply supporting a cause. The cause could be anything from human rights to animal rights and anything in between and beyond. An advocate works on behalf of another person or a group of people (or animals) who are voiceless or too vulnerable to promote their own causes and obtain help.
Advocates can work on the behalf of individuals, such as a parent for a child. Other examples include a teacher for a student, a doctor for a patient and a lawyer for a client. Relatives can also hire individual advocates who are trained and specialize in specific causes. Advocating for the disabled is one example.
Advocates can also work for groups that support individuals or larger numbers of people. Nonprofit organizations, such as charities or public arts organizations, are one type. An example is The Borgen Project. Another type are nongovernmental organizations that include Doctors Without Borders and Amnesty International.
Depending on the context of the situation, whether it be social, legal, medical or political, advocates use different skills and types of activities to benefit the people they support. Most advocacy involves at least researching, educating and organizing. The following list of activities, while not comprehensive, includes the most common advocacy activities.
These activities help form the backbone of advocacy. They enable advocates to support, defend and safeguard the children, families, communities and causes they represent. In these small and large ways, advocacy efforts effectively empower the vulnerable and give voice to the voiceless.
– Janet Quinn
Sources: Alliance for Justice, Citizens’ Committee for Children
Photo: NAGC
Humanitarian Data Exchange Speeds Up Relief Efforts
Humanitarian relief projects involve massive undertakings, and often organizations employ hundreds or even thousands of aid workers to get the job done. It’s no surprise then that relief efforts require huge amounts of logistic planning and coordination.
This can be difficult to achieve accurately and quickly as communication infrastructure may be downed or poorly developed to begin with.
Further, it is difficult to track the individual efforts of aid workers across large developing, or vastly affected regions. As a result, relief may be slow, disorganized, and ineffective. In order to deliver aid more quickly and efficiently, the UN has teamed up with San Francisco based tech company Frog to develop the Humanitarian Data Exchange, or HDX for short.
The goal of the project is to streamline humanitarian data. In the past, relief workers compiled thousands of documents and data points in a variety of formats. The HDX standardizes the methods in which data is entered and collected, thus making finding specific data points easier with less crucial time wasted.
The HDX contains numerous data points, most complied by aid workers on the ground. The network can be accessed from any computer or mobile device with an Internet connection. Users then search for a specific dataset using a basic search engine.
The data includes region-specific populations, available medical services and their inventories, national poverty indexes, the number of homeless in the area, and hundreds of others.
The UN first implemented the HDX in West Africa during the Ebola epidemic. Currently, aid workers coordinating earthquake relief efforts are most actively using the HDX in Nepal.
The HDX has currently 76 different datasets for Nepal; many of these include maps and topographical information, as remote Nepalese regions are difficult to traverse due to limited infrastructure.
Nepal is not the only country benefitting from more efficient aid; the HDX lists data in 244 locations. Data is available to the public as well, and can be found at their website.
– Joe Kitaj
Sources: Forbes 1, Forbes 2, RW Labs
Photo: Forbes