Child marriage continues to pose significant social challenges for countries around the world, but nowhere more than in India, where an estimated 47 percent of girls are married before their 18th birthday. But Indian state governments have developed promising programs to provide girls with opportunities aimed at weakening the social and economic arguments for marrying young.
While the Indian Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) established legal ages for marriage at 18 and 21, respectively, for women and men, enforcement of the law depends on cooperation on the local level. Because the social and economic conditions that compel women to marry young have yet to be addressed, the PCMA remains largely ineffective.
According to Girls Not Brides, a global partnership of over 500 organizations working to ending child marriage, the primary factors driving child marriage are “economic considerations (poverty, marriage-related expenses/dowry), gender norms and expectations, concerns about girls’ safety and family honour, and lack of educational opportunities for girls.” While a National Action Plan to prevent such marriages was drafted in 2013, it is yet to be finalized.
State governments have adopted a number of policy initiatives to address the underlying conditions that compel children to marry. In late 2013, the government of West Bengal launched Kanyashree Prakalpa, a conditional cash transfer program intended to provide every indigent female student aged 13 to 18 with an annual scholarship and a $400 grant on her 18th birthday.
Girls must be unmarried to receive those benefits, which are meant to provide economic incentives for families that would otherwise marry off their daughters. According to Roshni Sen, one of the designers of the cash transfer initiative, nearly 3 million girls have enrolled in Kanyashree Prakalpa.
“They feel enormously enabled – it is not just the prospect of receiving money that excites them, but that they receive it in bank accounts that are opened in their names,” wrote Sen in an article for Devex. “It has put on hold their parents’ quest for a suitable groom. Most important, it has given them the opportunity to start a new dialogue with their parents, a dialogue in which they dare to speak of their future identities forged through continued education and professional training, identities which may – or may not – include marriage.”
Another initiative called Empowerment of Adolescent Girls, commonly referred to as SABLA and implemented by a district in West Bengal, is designed to help adolescent girls meet their nutritional requirements and to stay in school, with the goal of ensuring their eventual fulfillment of their rights to land.
According to Sen, strengthening women’s right to land can give them the resources they need to provide for their families on a long-term basis. It also helps organizations meet a number of development challenges, ranging from malnutrition to a lack of financial access. Under the program, government workers in West Bengal teach girls about their rights to attend school, their right not to be married before the age of 18, and their rights to assets, like land and other forms of capital.
These programs often help girls establish leverage with their parents, and evaluations of the program have found that “participating girls are more likely to stay in school, more likely to have an asset in their own name and less likely to be a child bride.”
Because national government policies depend on enforcement at the local level, smaller scale programs like SABLA are often better suited to remedying the deeply rooted social customs that drive phenomena like child marriage. As development organizations continue to focus on providing economic opportunity to vulnerable communities, poverty rates will decrease, and demographics like Indian women will be better able to realize their potential and gain the financial autonomy necessary for self-determination.
– Zach VeShancey
Sources: Devex, Girls Not Brides
Photo: Girls Not Brides
Tax Inspectors Without Borders
TIWB will play a vital role in unlocking billions of dollars over the 15-year course of the Sustainable Development Goals.
TIWB’s strategy has evolved out of the revelation that every year, roughly $3 trillion in government revenue goes uncollected due to tax avoidance.
IMF researchers estimate that developing nations lose $213 billion each year for those reasons. Finding a way to get their hands on that money could help those governments invest more in education, health, energy, infrastructure and the like.
Tax law can be dense, confusing and hard to follow, especially when multinationals make it that way on purpose. For this reason, TIWB will send in highly trained tax accountants and audit specialists that will work with national tax agencies. They will strengthen tax audit capabilities and help design smarter tax policies.
The details are less exciting than the results.
Pilot projects are underway in Europe, Latin America and Africa, all of which are helping national governments increase revenue stream that will be vital for financing the Sustainable Development Goals. The numbers speak for themselves. From 2011 to 2014, tax revenue in Colombia increased from $3.3 million to $33.2 million.
TIWB is extending the hard work of previous initiatives including the Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation and the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.
They all arose in an environment where multinationals are gaining in power and influence and governments around the world are strapped for cash. In trying to rebalance the scales, they are looking for everyone to pay their fair share.
The money that will come from more effective regulation will be crucial for funding the Sustainable Development Goals. Furthermore, the expertise and training that the TIWB will provide to developing country governments around the world is an extension of the philosophy embodied in the SDGs themselves.
This form of technical training and capacity building will lead to more professionals in developing countries and their skills will become necessary to help their countries develop.
– John Wachter
Sources: The Guardian 1, The Guardian 2, OECD 1, OECD 2, UNDP
Photo: TaxLinked
How Insects May Solve World Hunger
In 2013, the United Nations reported that eating insects could reduce world hunger and food insecurity.
Eva Muller, a Director of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says, “Insects are not harmful to eat, quite the contrary. They are nutritious, they have a lot of protein and are considered a delicacy in many countries.”
In fact, scientists have discovered over 1,900 edible insects. Some of these include beetles, wasps, caterpillars, grasshoppers, worms and cicadas. Scientists also claim that insects have more protein than beef and other meats.
Insects may also be better for farming than pigs and cows. Not only are insects easier to raise, but they also require less water, feed on waste materials, and produce less greenhouse gasses than cows and pigs. Insect farming could even provide income-generating opportunities for people in rural areas, which ultimately could decrease poverty and end world hunger.
After the report was published, Muller said, “Consumer disgust remains one of the largest barriers to the adoption of insects as viable sources of protein in many Western countries.”
Recently, however, eating insects has gained more popularity.
Daniella Martin, author of the blog Girl Meets Bug, says, “At any angle you look at it, insects have the advantage. They’re ecologically sustainable, use fewer resources and are a high-protein option. It’s also cleaner than livestock.”
Insect recipes are proving to be incredibly trendy, but most importantly, accepted by consumers.
With this in mind, perhaps more researchers can perfect technologies to grow insects in large numbers to feed people all around the world.
Bugs can do more than save the lives of the hungry, but can also conserve our planet.
– Kelsey Parrotte
Sources: Armenpress, Business Insider 1, Business Insider 2,
Photo: BugsFeed
Acrobats of the Road Teaches Intercultural Understanding
Traveling the world since 2005, Acrobats of the Road Juan Villarino and Laura Lazzarino have enacted their Educational Nomadic Project in communities all over South America, southern Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The project is dedicated to documenting and spreading world hospitality to help overcome social issues domestic to different regions.
Juan Villarino is a writer and photographer originally from Argentina who has spent the majority of his life traveling the world and writing about the people he has met. Laura is a nomad who spent much of her youth traveling solo through South America, Western Europe and southern Asia. The pair met while abroad, and after traveling for a few years, they decided to team up and start Acrobats of the Road.
For each community the group impacts, Villarino self-publishes a book to inform readers about the importance of hospitality and social justice in rural villages throughout the world. His most recent book, Hitchhiking in the Axis of Evil, was picked up for proper publication and will be distributed internationally. The book follows Villarino’s journey through Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan and his contributions to increasing social justice in communities affected by war.
Acrobats of the Road have traveled to over 60 countries, crossing more than 1,500 borders and travelling over 160,000 kilometers. Throughout their journeys, they have stayed in monasteries, hostels, campgrounds and with locals. These experiences have allowed them to encounter firsthand the generosity that inspired them to create Acrobats of the Road.
For their Educational Nomadic Project, Villarino compiles slideshows of photographs and the pair present lectures and workshops on a variety of topics including the intrinsic goodness of human beings, community involvement and cooperation. In collaboration with the People’s Health Movement, the pair travels with a projector to teach to these communities.
While travelling, the duo has received a lot of love and care from people of many races, religions and backgrounds, and the project focuses on giving back to those who have helped them along the way. The project was started in 2009 and has been used to spread empathy and care. Villarino’s photographs capture the everyday life, kindness and cultures of communities he has encountered while hitchhiking. Acrobats of the Road hopes that with this project, they can promote equality and happiness and show that the world can become a more harmonious place.
– Julia Hettiger
Sources: Blogspot, Mangomanjaro, Matador Network
Photo: Acrobatsoftheroad
Development Impact Bonds: Investing in Poverty Reduction
A relatively new strategy in guiding private money toward poverty reduction are deemed Development Impact Bonds, or DIBs. DIBs differ from traditional financing for poverty reduction in a few key ways.
First, rather than an aid agency or philanthropist giving money for a certain goal, like increasing educational attainment for girls in a developing country, private investors provide the money with an expectation to make a profit. As with any investment, risks are an inherent part of the equation.
The way that the investors recoup their investment is the principle of outcome-based returns. If a certain project hits its goals, then the investors get their initial money plus whatever interest was agreed upon in the contract.
For example, a program that trains job seekers would not get money for the number of people trained but by the number of people that graduated from the program and held jobs for a certain amount of time. If successful, investors’ profit comes from a philanthropic organization, aid agency or the government that received the benefits of the program.
What this does — and the second way DIBs differ from traditional development program financing — is to take the risk off the hands of the constrained budgets of aid agencies. If, unfortunately, the program fails, then the aid agency or government responsible for repayment is off the hook and the investors are left empty handed. However, this risk sharing allows for more programs to have a chance.
Thirdly, the outcome-based principle allows allows for more flexibility in meeting program goals. Rather than be burdened with a predetermined process imposed by the donor, the program can be innovative and work within the context of the local environment.
This allows frees up space for local entrepreneurs. They know the area, the culture, and have a better idea of what will and will not work best. The flexibility in meeting targets not only incubates different and novel ideas, it incorporates locals and their knowledge better than traditional funding.
While these differences make DIBs attractive, the management and transaction costs may be prohibitively high. The novelty of the mechanism and uniqueness of each contract, together with the infant stage that this industry is in are what contributes to these costs. If successful, over time, a streamlined process and proven results will reduce the costs and increase the uptake.
DIBs have potential in the areas of global health, education, agriculture, water and sanitation, housing and the environment.
Investors interested in creating a positive social impact with their money now have a new option. Savvy investors may also view these investments as laying the groundwork for future business opportunities in the developing economy.
– John Wachter
Sources: Conscious Company Magazine, EcoEnterprises Fund, The Guardian 1, The Guardian 2, Instiglio, JP Morgan Chase
Photo: Flickr
GlobeSmart Focuses on Cross-Culture Effectiveness
Child Family Health International (CFHI), a nonprofit organization working to broaden students’ perspectives about global health and initiatives in community health, announced a partnership with Aperian Global on Aug. 23.
Aperian Global, one of the leading organizations in the world, focuses on assisting individuals and organizations to become more efficient at working on a global scale.
Specifically, CFHI will benefit from GlobeSmart, an online cultural tool developed by Aperian Global. Those who utilize the tool will be provided with information on how to effectively interact with people from all over the world.
GlobeSmart also includes the GlobeSmart Profile, a survey that gives users the ability to compare their preferred interaction styles with those of other cultures and colleagues. The tool then provides them with ideas on how to modify their behavior to be successful when interacting with global associates.
The partnership is substantial for CFHI because GlobeSmart will allow the nonprofit to better understand the culture of countries where its Global Health Education Programs take place.
The purpose of the programs is to understand how health and other policies work at the community level, allowing participants to be the ‘trenches’ of global health, in that they work with community-based clinical and public health delivery.
CFHI offers more than 30 programs in nine countries, including Bolivia, Ecuador, India, Uganda, South Africa and the Philippines. Since 1992, more than 8,000 have participated in the programs.
– Matt Wotus
Sources: Benzinga, CFHI
Photo: Pixabay
How Economic Opportunity Reduces Child Marriage in India
Child marriage continues to pose significant social challenges for countries around the world, but nowhere more than in India, where an estimated 47 percent of girls are married before their 18th birthday. But Indian state governments have developed promising programs to provide girls with opportunities aimed at weakening the social and economic arguments for marrying young.
While the Indian Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) established legal ages for marriage at 18 and 21, respectively, for women and men, enforcement of the law depends on cooperation on the local level. Because the social and economic conditions that compel women to marry young have yet to be addressed, the PCMA remains largely ineffective.
According to Girls Not Brides, a global partnership of over 500 organizations working to ending child marriage, the primary factors driving child marriage are “economic considerations (poverty, marriage-related expenses/dowry), gender norms and expectations, concerns about girls’ safety and family honour, and lack of educational opportunities for girls.” While a National Action Plan to prevent such marriages was drafted in 2013, it is yet to be finalized.
State governments have adopted a number of policy initiatives to address the underlying conditions that compel children to marry. In late 2013, the government of West Bengal launched Kanyashree Prakalpa, a conditional cash transfer program intended to provide every indigent female student aged 13 to 18 with an annual scholarship and a $400 grant on her 18th birthday.
Girls must be unmarried to receive those benefits, which are meant to provide economic incentives for families that would otherwise marry off their daughters. According to Roshni Sen, one of the designers of the cash transfer initiative, nearly 3 million girls have enrolled in Kanyashree Prakalpa.
“They feel enormously enabled – it is not just the prospect of receiving money that excites them, but that they receive it in bank accounts that are opened in their names,” wrote Sen in an article for Devex. “It has put on hold their parents’ quest for a suitable groom. Most important, it has given them the opportunity to start a new dialogue with their parents, a dialogue in which they dare to speak of their future identities forged through continued education and professional training, identities which may – or may not – include marriage.”
Another initiative called Empowerment of Adolescent Girls, commonly referred to as SABLA and implemented by a district in West Bengal, is designed to help adolescent girls meet their nutritional requirements and to stay in school, with the goal of ensuring their eventual fulfillment of their rights to land.
According to Sen, strengthening women’s right to land can give them the resources they need to provide for their families on a long-term basis. It also helps organizations meet a number of development challenges, ranging from malnutrition to a lack of financial access. Under the program, government workers in West Bengal teach girls about their rights to attend school, their right not to be married before the age of 18, and their rights to assets, like land and other forms of capital.
These programs often help girls establish leverage with their parents, and evaluations of the program have found that “participating girls are more likely to stay in school, more likely to have an asset in their own name and less likely to be a child bride.”
Because national government policies depend on enforcement at the local level, smaller scale programs like SABLA are often better suited to remedying the deeply rooted social customs that drive phenomena like child marriage. As development organizations continue to focus on providing economic opportunity to vulnerable communities, poverty rates will decrease, and demographics like Indian women will be better able to realize their potential and gain the financial autonomy necessary for self-determination.
– Zach VeShancey
Sources: Devex, Girls Not Brides
Photo: Girls Not Brides
Colombia to Have Nationwide Internet Access by End of 2015
Four years ago, the newly formed Colombian Ministry of Information Technology and Communications pledged to have 100 percent Internet access across the country by 2015. That goal is soon becoming a reality, with 96 percent of the country already connected via fiber-optic or satellite Internet.
The program is called “Vive Digital,” which means “Live Digital,” and its goal is to bridge the gap between connected urban Colombians and those living in rural communities who had no Internet access until recently. The Ministry of ICT states the increasingly well known fact that greater digital connectivity leads to higher employment, greater economic output and significantly reduced poverty rates.
Colombia is following the lead of another South American country. Chile recently achieved universal Internet access, and has since seen a 2.6 percent drop in nationwide unemployment. Colombia hopes for similar results.
The Ministry of ICT and the Colombian government hope that “Vive Digital” will inspire development in rural communities as well as bolster the ICT sector within Colombia’s urban areas. “It’s been proven that there’s a direct correlation between that massification, job creation and poverty reduction. Removing barriers to technology access is key to this objective,” said the minister of ICT, David Luna.
The initiative has seen some 8,000 Internet access points and hot spots set up across the country. These facilities house computers, printers, scanners and phones so as to connect all communities across Colombia. In addition the Ministry has provided 1 million computers to public schools and launched ICT training programs for publicly employed teachers. The Ministry of ICT expects to meet its 100 percent goal by the end of 2015.
– Joe Kitaj
Sources: Mintic, FOX News/span>, University of Pittsburgh
Photo: Sucre Communicaciones
Mercury Poisoning in Artisanal Gold Mining
Artisanal gold mining is the process of extracting metals from the earth by independent miners, who utilize the mined metal for small-scale independent projects. These miners, or artisans, work independently of mining companies, and are very often non-compliant with regulations pertaining to mining and metallurgy.
Artisanal mining of gold is a significant source of income in low-income countries with noteworthy deposits of gold, such as Colombia and Peru. Mining companies hold the monopoly over most of the gold ore in the areas, and the miners employed by their contractors are not particularly well-paid. Artisanal mining allows for the miner to extract as well as finish the gold product, which gives a higher monetary return than the wage labor in the mines.
Notwithstanding the somewhat uncertain nature of artisanal mining, it employs an estimated 30 million people worldwide, mostly in the developing countries. Some people adopt this practice seasonally as an alternate to farming; in other instances, gold mining is their sole source of livelihood.
Despite the financial incentive of independent mining, the challenges associated with it are substantial as well. The most immediate one of these challenges is the issue of extracting the gold metal from its mined ore. To ensure a decent yield, an effective metallurgy process needs to be used. In absence of industrial purification, the next best alternative is usually the use of mercury extractions.
Mercury extraction of gold was once a popular technique for the metallurgical removal of gold from its ore. It has largely been replaced with other methods now due to its potential for health and environmental hazards. In developing countries, this process is still popular for artisanal mining. The method involves amalgamating gold ore with mercury metal. The gold metal is melted into the mercury, while the impurities are separated. The gold-mercury amalgam is then heated to a high temperature, where the mercury evaporates, and pure gold is left behind.
The method, although effective, uses the highly toxic mercury metal. The evaporation process yields the highly dangerous mercury vapor. The improper handling of mercury in artisanal mining is a major issue for the environment, as well as the health of the miners. Mercury can be inhaled in airborne droplets from the extraction process. The inhalation can cause potentially fatal damage to the lungs, as well as kidney failure, seizures and permanent brain damage. Mercury poisoning in pregnant women can cause long-term cerebral damage to the fetus.
The implications of improper handling of mercury are vast; international regulations encourage the elimination or reduction of mercury usage in metal purification. Nevertheless, almost 400 metric tons of airborne, toxic mercury are produced from gold mining each year. The miners and people in close vicinity of these mines are the ones to face the harshest consequences of mercury pollution. The continued usage of mercury extraction is a manifestation of poverty of resources, both financial and educational, that hinders the safety of artisanal mining.
To eradicate this harmful practice, the World Bank has launched several programs that educate miners to utilize safer, cost-effective methods. These programs facilitate a better selling price and demand for products manufactured through these alternative methods. In a program initiated by the US State Department, 10,000 Peruvian miners were taught alternative metallurgy methods by 2013, and encouraged to sell the ores at a higher price than the amalgamated gold price. These methods successfully decreased the mercury production in the area by 50 percent.
The problem of mercury pollution and the health hazards it poses to artisanal miners in developing countries is one that has garnered much attention globally. Training the miners in better extraction techniques, as well as incentives to trade crude ore can eliminate the problems associated with mercury without damaging the livelihoods of the artisanal miners.
– Atifah Safi
Sources: World Bank, Science Direct, Human Rights Watch, EPA
Photo: The Ecologist
Richemont: A Luxury Goods Company Established from Poverty
As the second largest luxury goods company in the world, Richemont always gives us an impression of noble and unreachable. However, this luxury group is generated from impoverished land in Africa.
Generated from a cigarette company in South Africa, Richemont successfully shows us the transition from agricultural business based on impoverished areas into a worldwide-leading luxury consumer goods sector. Through Richemont, we could see the vast potential commercial opportunities in Africa.
Born and raised in the small town of Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape, Anton Rupert started manufacturing cigarettes from his garage with a £10 investment in the 1940s. Soon, he established the Rembrandt group and relied on his tobacco business in South Africa, and it became one of the largest tobacco firms in Africa.
In 1988, Rupert’s eldest son, Johann Ruperts, divided the Rembrandt group into two companies—Remegro and Richemont. Remegro is an investment company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and it holds properties in various industries, such as the banking, healthcare and industrial sectors. Richemont is a Swiss-based luxury goods company, where Johann Ruperts serves as CEO since 2010.
According to Forbes, the Africa based Remegro is one of the top 10 family businesses in Africa. At the same time, Richemont has been developing rapidly since being divided from Rembrandt. However, the influence of tobacco business has been crucial in it.
Since founded in 1988, in addition to holdings in luxury brands, such as Cartier Monde and Alfred Dunhill, Richemont also acquired Rembrandt’s shares in Rothmans International, a British tobacco manufacturer. In 1993, Richemont separated its tobacco and luxury goods operations into Rothmans Internationa NV/PLC and Vendôme Luxury Group SA/PLC respectively. In 1995, Richemont bought out of Rothmans International minority shareholders, and in the next year, Richemont increased its property by merging its tobacco interests with those in South Africa held by Remegro and holding 67 percent of the enlarged tobacco group. In 1999, after Rothmans International with British American Tobacco, Richemont holds 23.3 percent effective interest in the enlarged British American Tobacco. Although from 2000 to 2006 Richemont had been reducing its effective interest in British American Tobacco from 23.3 to 18.2 percent, its effective interests have increased to 30 percent in 2007 as British American Tobacco’s share buyback programm reduces the overall number of shares in issue.
Recently, Richemont belongs to the luxury consumer goods sector, whose business includes jewelry, fine watchmaking and premium accessories. Its “Jewellery Maisons,” which produces high jewelry and jewlry watches, mainly includes Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, which lead the global branded jewelry sector. Its eight specialist watchmakers are concentrated in Switzerland and are the most renowned in the fine watchmaking industry. In addition, 30 percent of Richemont is in the industry of premium accessories, including writing instruments, leather goods and fashion.
Nowadays, Richemont is the second largest luxury goods company worldwide. Regarding the developmental history of its business, Africa has always been the backup for its luxury consumer goods sector. Thus, Richemont demonstrates the possibility of transition from poverty to luxury, and it shows us vast commercial opportunity in the land of Africa.
– Shengyu Wang
Sources: Forbes, Richemont
Photo: BizNews
The What Took You So Long Foundation Solving Local Issues
The What Took You So Long Foundation (WTYSL), founded on June 14, 2009, is a team of storytellers that uses multimedia outlets to tell the stories of farmers, nomads and entrepreneurs from around the world. They use these stories to inspire small communities to work together to solve issues with health, education and social justice. Through lectures, workshops and movies, the organization works with people living in rural villages in overcoming speed bumps preventing them from using their resources to create new markets.
The organization collaborates with NGOs, friends and institutions to develop projects in communities based on the issues they are facing. They document the process using videos and photographs, which in turn are used in future workshops or lectures in new communities. WTYSL uses guerrilla filmmaking, a form of filmmaking that works with a low budget, skeleton crews and simple props, to capture the situation, culture and people of different countries.
During the filmmaking process, the members of WTYSL live where they’re filming and build relationships with members of the community. They also follow local customs, use local transportation and encourage residents to participate in their project to gain a better understanding of their everyday life.
In total, WTYSL has filmed in over 60 countries, including Mauritania, Mongolia and Papua New Guinea. The members of WTYSL believe everyone, no matter what their age is, has an imagination and can use their imagination to help those in need. WTYSL will take on amateur filmmakers and train them on the job in creating quality films and working with underdeveloped communities. Working together, the team is able to motivate positive change in these communities.
The team of WTYSL consists of a variety of filmmakers, storytellers and photographers from various backgrounds. The team’s most recent project had them travelling to Rwanda to document the impact of solar energy on the community. Before Rwanda, WTYSL created films in Liberia to observe the quest for camel milk. The team continues to travel the world, documenting achievements, encouraging empathy and creating projects to make the world a better place.
– Julia Hettiger
Sources: What Took You So Long, Co.Exist, Afritorial
Photo: What Took You So Long