On July 27, Harry Styles of One Direction spoke in a video sanctioned by his campaign, action/1D, about his views on global education and those who deserve a better quality of life.
“I want to live in a world where every child can go to school,” Styles said at the beginning of the video.
Styles, along with bandmates Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Niall Horan, recently launched the action/1D campaign to inspire fans and promote awareness for global education, poverty, climate change, disease and inequality.
With action/1D, supporters can get involved in the campaign by posting pictures and videos that correspond to a topic related to the cause. Fans of One Direction can also catch the boys in videos where each band member will begin with the phrase: “I want to live in a world where…”
In Styles’ video, he spoke about how much he enjoyed school, and the children that he met in Ghana who dream of getting an education. These children cannot afford school, Styles said, and they spend their days working instead of learning.
“At the moment, they have to work all day every day just to earn enough to eat,” Styles said.
The “What Makes You Beautiful” singer brings light to a continuing problem.
According to UNICEF, there are almost 624,000 children not in primary school. Those who do receive an education do not learn the tools required to be successful in secondary school or professional work.
“Often, the school environment is not conducive to learning: classes are overcrowded, water and sanitation facilities are lacking and trained teachers and school books are in short supply,” UNICEF reports.
For those children with disabiliites, education is even more difficult to attain. According to the 2010 national census, 20% of children with physical disabilities are not attending school.
In addition, gender inequality does not provide for an equal amount of girls in school as boys. The national average amount of education is seven years, and in Northern Ghana, girls attend school for just three years.
“Making education available to 100 percent of people around the world is one way to ensure that poverty declines,” the article said.
Along with The Borgen Project, Styles and other members of action/1D agree that education a key to ending extreme poverty. One Direction’s campaign, which is associated with a similar organization, action/2015, seeks to create a world where education, along with health, climate change and inequality, are no longer a problem.
This year, two U.N. summits will gather some of the most influential people in the world. During each conference, these leaders will formulate plans to fix these issues.
With the help of these conferences, numerous humanitarian organizations and Styles, extreme poverty just might end; as Styles pointed out in his video, this change can begin with education.
“Going to school could literally change their lives, but for now, all they can look forward to is a life of struggle, and they deserve so much more,” he said.
Action/1D asks fans of the band to group together to make a difference. To contribute to the cause and to learn more about the campaign, visit the action/1D website.
– Fallon Lineberger
Sources: Action/1D 1, Action/1D 2, Action/2015, The Borgen Project, United States Census, Twitter, UNICEF
Photo: Sugarscape
The Modern Slavery Act and What It Means
There are more slaves in the world now than any other period of time in human history. These slaves range from young children captured by warlords to do their bidding, to men and women captured to be used as sex slaves. For many years these individuals have been forced to live hidden lives, ashamed of past actions and often worried of facing prosecution for actions carried out while they were enslaved. The United Kingdom has taken the first step of providing solace to these victims with the passing of the Modern Slavery Act of 2015.
The United Kingdom is estimated to house between 10,000 to 13,000 slaves working as prostitutes, servants and workers who live on meager or no wages. These individuals live in constant fear of the traffickers who brought them to the UK and have witnessed atrocities beyond what most have endured. For several years, the laws have been unclear as to how to handle victims of trafficking and this has led to arrests and harsh treatments of several victims rather than their traffickers.
The Modern Slavery Act will effectively protect trafficking victims and prosecute perpetrators.
As the main supporter of the bill, Home Secretary Theresa May said, “This landmark legislation sends the strongest possible signal to criminals that if you are involved in this vile trade you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted and you will be locked up. And it says to victims, you are not alone – we are here to help you.”
This bill proposes increasing traffickers’ jail time from the current 14 years to a lifetime sentence instead. It also provides trafficked workers with overseas domestic work visas, protection and counseling for anything that might have occurred while they were enslaved. While legislation and increased presence from law enforcement may only be the start, it is a step in the right direction. The UK has become the first country to make strict laws and regulations regarding trafficking; for years, traffickers have been using loopholes in the system in order to keep their businesses alive.
Most of the people who are trafficked into the system come from poor families in developing nations who are in desperate need of money. Traffickers promise individuals jobs in outside countries that would allow them to support their families, and while they may get jobs none of the money they earn goes back to their families. If people instead were promised education in local areas, if they no longer had to worry about being stolen away in the night, imagine the innovation that would come with that peace of mind.
While there are a few issues with the bill, time and experience will determine if the bill will be successful.
The developing world needs all the help it can get in order to succeed in becoming a competitor in the global market. This act allows people to stay in their home countries, get the counseling and education they need in order to prosper and ensures that traffickers will be prosecuted to the best of the ability of the law.
– Sumita Tellakat
Sources: Gov.UK, BBC
Photo: IB Times
Save the Children: Healing Through Art
The practice of art has the power to help young children who have faced emotional trauma and devastating tragedies. In countries where severe poverty is persistent, children experience life events that can delay their development and affect their mental health.
Save the Children’s HEART, Healing and Education through the Arts, program has positively impacted the lives of many young children. The concept is that art forms such as drawing, painting, music, drama, and dance can help children express their emotions and experiences in order to improve their emotional well-being and ability to learn.
The program exists in Haiti, Malawi, Mozambique, and Nepal. It has reached thousands of preschoolers and school children. It is often incorporated into existing after school child development programs.
Children in these regions of the world experience stress from their life circumstances of poverty and traumatic events. The following are the stories of three children who have benefited from the HEART Project.
The video of this Save the Children program portrays the stories of some of these young children and how art allowed them to work through feelings that they could not express verbally.
– Iliana Lang
Sources: Save the Children, Save the Children, YouTube
Photo: Save the Children
Education in Costa Rica – A Progress Report
Education in Costa Rica has been a hot button topic for many years. In 1990, the country pledged to work toward the targets set out by Education for All (EFA) under the direction of UNESCO. EFA is used to help achieve UNESCO’s education goals of quality education for everyone and for education being a fundamental part of development.
During the first years of the initiative to improve the standards of education in Costa Rica, the country faced numerous challenges. Some of these challenges included students repeating class levels, high drop out rates, and limited training courses for teachers. In addition, it was found that the education system suffered from a lack of innovative, and passionate teachers.
Poverty has also had a significant impact on education in Costa Rica. Families where the parents have less than six years of education tended to have a lower income and their children usually did not finish school. This only perpetuated the cycle and government support was required to improve the system overall.
In addition, providing quality teachers has boosted education goals. The government pays education professionals more to attract young bright high school and college graduates to go into education. It encourages students to finish school and have a decent paying job, which helps break the low-level education and poverty cycle. There are training programs aimed to improve the quality of teachers as well.
In rural areas, there are special programs to compensate for the lack of teachers. There is a movement to bring technology in and have one computer per student. This way the students can complete high school with a quality education.
Currently, Costa Rica has a 93.6 percent rate for access to education. For youth literacy (ages 15-24) there is an average of 98 percent. Primary school attendance is about 96 percent of the youth population. Costa Rica has one of the highest literacy rates and school attendance in Latin America and South America.
– Katherine Hewitt
Sources: Costa Rica Gold Country, HDR, Social Progress Imperative, Tico Times, ASCOA
Photo: Tico Times
Senate Revives Export-Import Bank
On July 26, 2015, the Senate voted to revive the federal Export-Import Bank, a substantial tool in promoting development and reducing poverty. Authorization for the bank expired on June 30, 2015.
The Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank, an independent federal agency, is the official export credit agency of the United States. Since the Ex-Im Bank’s founding in 1934 by an executive order issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, it has provided financial support for American businesses exporting goods overseas when private sector financiers are unable or unwilling to step in.
The financial instruments the Ex-Im Bank provides include direct loans, guarantees and insurance. These instruments supported an estimated $27.5 billion in U.S. exports of goods and services in 2014. Interestingly, the bank operates at no cost to the taxpayers – it offsets collections to cover the cost of its operations. Just as interesting, in 2014, the bank reported a default rate of 0.175 percent.
In recent years, the financial services that the Ex-Im Bank offers have increasingly helped American businesses export to emerging markets as opposed to advanced economies. More than two-thirds of the projects financed by the bank occurred in relation to emerging markets in 2014, which the bank attributes to worldwide demand for infrastructure rising in emerging markets.
Creating infrastructure in the developing world is crucial for development. For those in poverty, access to electricity, telecommunications, clean water and transportation saves crucial time and resources. In 2014 the bank authorized $11.6 billion to support U.S. exports in infrastructure projects, more than half of its total financing for the year.
Looking at Sub-Saharan Africa, in the past five years the Ex-Im Bank has approved more than $6.3 billion to finance U.S. exports to that region, including $2.1 billion in 2014. That same year, Ex-Im Bank supported exports accounted for approximately 8 percent of an estimated more than $25 billion of total manufacturing exports to the region.
While these numbers ideally would be higher, they are still significant, likely affecting hundreds of thousands of African lives directly and millions indirectly. Facilitating the capacity of U.S. businesses to invest in developing regions of the world not only reduces poverty in those regions but also stimulates the U.S. economy. For example, the bank contends that for the fiscal year 2014, it supported 164,000 U.S. jobs by authorizing $20.5 billion for 3,746 financial transactions.
Looking at the bank holistically, it operates at no cost to the taxpayer, helps develop the developing world and stimulates the U.S. economy. However its detractors, many of who are Tea Party members, do not see the bank in such a light. They assert that the use of taxpayer’s funds for private benefit, whether for large or small businesses, distorts the market since, ideally, the private sector is more efficient in financing exports.
Yet the entire Republican Party does not see it this way. A bipartisan vote to attach a measure to a highway and infrastructure bill included almost half of the Republicans in the Senate, and a majority in the House supports resurrecting the agency.
Ultimately though, it will be up to the Republican leadership in the House whether to pass the bill with the measure or not. Unfortunately for proponents of the bank, the House majority leader, the majority whip, the Ways and Means Committee chairman and the Financial Services Committee, all opponents of the bank, stand in the way.
– Connor Bohannan
Sources: Congressional Research Service, Export Import Bank 1, Export Import Bank 2, Las Vegas Sun, The New York Times
Photo: Flickr
Facts About Poverty in Kenya
The stereotype remains that Africa as a whole is vastly impoverished and desolate. While certainly some pockets of the continent continue to suffer, poverty in Kenya is showing great improvement. Here are a few things to know about poverty in the East African country.
1. Kenya has one of the highest rates of population growth
Kenya’s population has nearly doubled in the last 25 years, from about 29.14 million in 1998 to 56.2 million in 2024 and the rapid population increase is set to continue. The United Nations (U.N.) has projected that Kenya’s population will grow by one million annually for the next 40 years, ultimately reaching 85 million by 2050. This will result in the rapid urbanization of Kenya’s rural areas. Furthermore, according to the World Bank, it will play an important role in “determining Kenya’s social stability.”
2. Children make up a large amount of the population
Of those living in Kenya, 38% (2022 estimate) are children aged less than 15. This has major implications for the country’s infrastructure and leaders realize it is past time to support these children.
3. Life expectancy is increasing
Life expectancy in Kenya has greatly increased over the years, from 53 years old in 2000 to more than 60 years in 2021. The majority of these improvements are from public health initiatives, particularly surrounding HIV/AIDS prevention after the disease was officially declared a natural disaster by the government in 2001.
4. There are not many physicians in Kenya
With a doctor-to-patient ratio of 1:17,000 and a nurse-to-patient ratio of 100:100,000, Kenya’s health care workforce density falls below the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended density of at least one doctor per 1000 patients and 365 nurses per 100,000 patients. This shortage of medical professionals has compromised quality health care delivery in Kenya. However, major public health interventions have helped to reduce the mortality rate, such as those taken with HIV/AIDS, as well as many waterborne illnesses.
5. The poorest inhabitants live in rural areas
With limited access to the few physicians and nurses who inhabit the country, rural areas suffer the greatest. Comprised mostly of farmers and other agricultural workers, those living in rural areas often go without health care, clean water, sanitation and many other social services, which are primarily located in the cities and business regions. Poverty in Kenya is a widespread problem but is concentrated in rural areas.
6. The nation is not economically diverse
The vast majority of all work lies in the agricultural sector,” which employs more than 40% of the total population and 70% of the rural population.” Thus, when droughts and other natural disasters occur, farmers are out of luck.
7. Kenya has one of the highest literacy rates in Sub-Saharan Africa
The youth literacy rate in Kenya is 89% percent as of 2022, which is greater than that of some of its neighboring nations. For example, the youth literacy rate is approximately 70.5% in Somalia.
8. There is hope
Kenya Aids NGOs Consortium (KANCO) is a leading nongovernmental organization in Kenya dedicated to combating HIV/AIDs, malaria and Tuberculosis and promoting public health. In 2022, the organization reached nearly 30,000 households through community health outreaches, supported 4,000 health workers and screened more than 40,000 people for Tuberculosis.
Through its comprehensive approach, KANCO continues to make significant contributions to the improvement of public health outcomes in Kenya.
– Liz Vestal
Photo: Flickr,
Updated: May 27, 2024
Where Soccer and Global Poverty Innovation Collide
Soccer unites people. It is one of the few things that crosses social, geographic, ethnic and religious boundaries. It is widely understood and played by many. This is why Uncharted Play tapped into the love of soccer to make a difference in the world. They believed in the power of play.
Uncharted Play was founded in 2011 with the strong belief that through the pursuit of play and happiness, they could create something that “would show the world how play could be a tangible tool for inspiring social invention.”
The two founders of Uncharted Play, Jessica O. Matthews and Julia Silverman, met during their junior year at Harvard University, where they teamed up to create the SOCCKET as a class project.
The SOCCKET is a soccer ball with an LED light and a plug off the side. It has a mechanism on the inside that converts kinetic energy to electricity, which powers an LED light for three hours after just thirty minutes of play.
Uncharted Play’s first large-scale success was in Mexico in March 2013, where the largest television station, Televisa, gave out 150 SOCCKETs for free at a ceremony.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtgpRo-Jd5k
However, the first big problem that users ran into with the SOCCKETs was the invention’s low durability. Uncharted Play took this into account and began making improvements. Matthews said, “We’re not Nike. We’re not Walmart… We’re a group of eight people in an apartment in New York City.” She later added, “Things may not always go right, but we are always, always, always… trying to do our best and doing it for the bigger picture.”
Since the creation of the SOCCKET in 2008 and the establishment of Uncharted Play in 2011, they have created a second product—energy-storing jump ropes—and have improved on the first.
Uncharted Play recognized that nearly 1.2 billion people live without electricity and sought to find a solution that not only reduced this number, but also increased happiness. The SOCCKETs are used to light homes and help children do their homework, and most importantly, it gets the kids out to play. Here, soccer and global poverty truly do collide—with positive results.
– Hannah Resnick
Sources: Smithsonian, Public Radio International, Uncharted Play, World Bank
Photo: Development Crossing
Source via a nice article published in SoccerTimes
Chelsea Clinton Visits Haiti
On July 28 and 29, Chelsea Clinton, the Clinton Foundation Vice Chair, visited Clinton Foundation-funded Haitian projects in Port-au-Prince to oversee agricultural improvement, health reform and female employment progress.
The Clinton Foundation’s slogan is “Partners in Haiti’s Future,” and the organization has definitely created many opportunities for the country to flourish in the present. The work of the foundation and its supporters has aided more than 85,000 farmers with new agriculture techniques. In addition, more than 350,000 people’s lives were bettered because of the organization’s social enterprises, and 9.9 million people have access to HIV/AIDS medication.
In total, the Clinton Foundation has helped raise more than $30 million for Haiti for its Trees of Hope program, Clinton Climate Initiative, Chakipi Acceso Distribution Enterprise, the Clinton Health Access Initiative and more.
Clinton visited Haiti to supervise the projects as well as inspire those who are being helped by the foundation. Clinton observed local artisans, posting an Instagram picture of herself holding a locally crafted doll with the caption “#ActionIsGreater through partnership and collaboration.”
This photo practices some of the Clinton Foundation’s guiding principles: “We’re all in this together,” and “The greatest good is helping people live their best life story.”
To further acknowledge these principles, Clinton hosted a meeting with the Clinton Foundation President, Donna Shalala, where the two discussed women’s success in the Haitian workplace and ways to create more opportunities for female employment.
Clinton said the implementation of new programs for the betterment of Haiti’s female youth is crucial to female empowerment and achievement.
“We need programs… to help close the gap, so that girls and young women who haven’t had the chance to get educated don’t live with the burden of illiteracy their whole lives,” she said.
During her stay, Clinton made it a point to visit local female-owned businesses to show support for successful female entrepreneurship. The business, Caribbean Craft, is supported by the Clinton Foundation where products are crafted and later sold in popular U.S. stores like Anthropologie and HomeGoods.
In support of other projects, Clinton visited the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership’s (CGEP) Acceso-Haiti depot. There, local farmers can store their peanuts for safe-keeping. The depot also serves to empower local farmers.
“Across Haiti, CGEP is helping more than 1,500 local smallholder farmers increase their peanut yields dramatically and better sort and store their peanuts,” Clinton said.
Because of depots like this, the Clinton Foundation has helped Haitian farmers grow higher yields of crops and improve market access. In turn, the organization’s help with agriculture creates greater opportunities for a healthy lifestyle.
To check up on the Foundation’s projects for better health in Haiti, Clinton visited Partners in Health’s Mirebalais Hospital. This hospital is the country’s top educational hospital because of the influence of one of the Clinton Foundation’s supporters, Paul Farmer.
Because of his commitment, Clinton said that the hospital employees were just as good as health workers in any developed country.
After leaving the hospital, Clinton said she took time to reflect on stories about the projects created by the Clinton Foundation in her heart. She said she feels confident that Haiti’s future is bright.
“I left with an even stronger belief in what’s possible in Haiti,” Clinton said.
The Clinton Foundation has many projects that have greatly benefited the people of Haiti, and the organization is continually editing and drafting plans to implement for the persistent improvement of the Caribbean country.
– Fallon Lineberger
Sources: ABC News, Caribbean Journal, Clinton Foundation 1, Clinton Foundation 2, Vogue
Photo: Jakarta Post
Harry Styles Speaks In Video About Education
On July 27, Harry Styles of One Direction spoke in a video sanctioned by his campaign, action/1D, about his views on global education and those who deserve a better quality of life.
“I want to live in a world where every child can go to school,” Styles said at the beginning of the video.
Styles, along with bandmates Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Niall Horan, recently launched the action/1D campaign to inspire fans and promote awareness for global education, poverty, climate change, disease and inequality.
With action/1D, supporters can get involved in the campaign by posting pictures and videos that correspond to a topic related to the cause. Fans of One Direction can also catch the boys in videos where each band member will begin with the phrase: “I want to live in a world where…”
In Styles’ video, he spoke about how much he enjoyed school, and the children that he met in Ghana who dream of getting an education. These children cannot afford school, Styles said, and they spend their days working instead of learning.
“At the moment, they have to work all day every day just to earn enough to eat,” Styles said.
The “What Makes You Beautiful” singer brings light to a continuing problem.
According to UNICEF, there are almost 624,000 children not in primary school. Those who do receive an education do not learn the tools required to be successful in secondary school or professional work.
“Often, the school environment is not conducive to learning: classes are overcrowded, water and sanitation facilities are lacking and trained teachers and school books are in short supply,” UNICEF reports.
For those children with disabiliites, education is even more difficult to attain. According to the 2010 national census, 20% of children with physical disabilities are not attending school.
In addition, gender inequality does not provide for an equal amount of girls in school as boys. The national average amount of education is seven years, and in Northern Ghana, girls attend school for just three years.
“Making education available to 100 percent of people around the world is one way to ensure that poverty declines,” the article said.
Along with The Borgen Project, Styles and other members of action/1D agree that education a key to ending extreme poverty. One Direction’s campaign, which is associated with a similar organization, action/2015, seeks to create a world where education, along with health, climate change and inequality, are no longer a problem.
This year, two U.N. summits will gather some of the most influential people in the world. During each conference, these leaders will formulate plans to fix these issues.
With the help of these conferences, numerous humanitarian organizations and Styles, extreme poverty just might end; as Styles pointed out in his video, this change can begin with education.
“Going to school could literally change their lives, but for now, all they can look forward to is a life of struggle, and they deserve so much more,” he said.
Action/1D asks fans of the band to group together to make a difference. To contribute to the cause and to learn more about the campaign, visit the action/1D website.
– Fallon Lineberger
Sources: Action/1D 1, Action/1D 2, Action/2015, The Borgen Project, United States Census, Twitter, UNICEF
Photo: Sugarscape
Rotary International Continues Fight Against Poverty
For the past 110 years, Rotary International has brought together business leaders, philanthropists and other individuals to promote interdisciplinary discussion to find solutions to the world’s biggest problems.
Started in the United States, the group now operates on a global scale. Through monetary donation or helping on the ground, Rotary’s 1.2 million members have positively impacted the world’s poor in a variety of ways.
Promoting Peace, Fighting Disease, Providing Clean Water, Saving Mothers and Children, Support Education and Growing Local Economies are Rotary’s biggest campaigns—made up of thousands of initiatives that work in different, but important, ways. Rotary International recognizes poverty is an intricate problem, and combatting it requires employing a litany of methods that enable individuals and countries alike to attain economic security.
Their greatest achievement is highlighted by the role they’ve played in the worldwide fight against polio. Launched in 1979, Rotary International has contributed $1.3 billion and countless volunteer hours to the campaign to eradicate polio. Since then, the number of polio-ridden countries has plummeted from 179 to three.
In January of this year, Rotary contributed an additional $35 million for immunization efforts that many believe will fully eliminate the disease.
Rotary can be just as effective on the ground. Their Clean Water campaign has provided millions with access to toilets, sanitation facilities and other water infrastructure.
Clean water also has many residual health and economic benefits. Healthy children mean less premature deaths, which stabilizes population growth. It also prevents the spread of infectious diseases, such as dysentery, diarrhea and ulcers. Access to local and clean water allows children to attend school instead of walking miles to retrieve it.
Since Rotary has expanded its Clean Water campaign in Ghana, the country has experienced a stark drop in waterborne diseases. Not surprisingly, 85 percent of Ghana’s citizens have access to a reliable water supply due to the newly drilled wells.
Rotary’s part in ending polio and bringing water security to Ghana are just the surface of what the group’s achievements. Its unique structure creates solutions at the local level, but change on a global scale. Going forward, they will have a substantial role in reducing and eventually eliminating global poverty.
Based on the past century, that role will be in safe hands.
Here is the link to Rotary’s website. Check it out to learn more about their mission and campaigns.
– Kevin Meyers
Sources: End Polio Now, Forbes, Rotary International 1, Rotary International 2, Rotary International 3
Photo: Rotary International
New Census Reveals Depth of Poverty in India
According to India’s most recent Socioeconomic and Caste Census (SECC), the extent of poverty in India could be worse than ever before.
A total of 300 million Indian households were surveyed in this census, and 73 percent of those households are in small, rural villages. Of these villages, those who have a job that provides a stable salary make up 10 percent. Those who can afford to pay taxes or own a car make up only 5 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.
This data solidifies the fact that roughly one-third of the world’s poor currently live in India.
“It is our firm belief that the member countries will not only overcome the endemic poverty in the region but will in the coming years develop the capacity to address all problems relating to poverty,” said SECC Minister of State of Rural Development Sudarshan Bhagat.
In the meantime, those problems are still piling up. According to the SECC, literacy rates in rural India are disheartening, with 35.7 percent of residents illiterate and only 3.5 percent of students graduating from school.
The SECC data, however, is not without its flaws. The data is not quite as concrete as what might be found in a more formal federal survey, but it does provide the most cohesive look at poverty in the country published in recent years.
“We should beware of any illusion that SECC data can be used for the purpose of drawing a line between poor and non-poor households,” said development economist Jean Drèze. “There are fundamental, conceptual and practical difficulties with doing that on the basis of proxy indicators, even with good-quality data.”
According to a different study, a report made by India’s Planning Commission, 363 million Indians, or 29.5 percent of the total population, were living in poverty between 2011 and 2012. Even though this data is a few years old, it does not paint a much brighter picture of the current state of poverty in India. For now, the SECC report is the best bet.
“Quite likely, the SECC dataset is more reliable than earlier Below Poverty Line (BPL) surveys and could be well used, for pro-active identification of people who need social security pensions, housing subsidies and so on,” added Drèze.
– Alexander Jones
Sources: Economic Times, CNN, Huffington Post
Photo: Deccan Chronicle