Since 2002, 70,000 children have benefited from Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha’s 20 solar-powered floating schools. Bangladesh, a nation plagued by incessant monsoons, often has a disrupted school year. During the rainy season, roads become impassable, closing upwards of 4,000 schools for months at a time.
Global warming is an omnipresent reality in Bangladesh, with climatologists projecting that one-fifth of the nation will be submerged by 2050. Geographically, Bangladesh is acutely sensitive to the effects of climate change, owing to the Bengal delta—the world’s largest glacial melting from the Himalayas—as it runs off into the rivers, raising the sea level, which in turn pushes inland.
Frustrated by the month-long interruptions during his childhood education, Mohammed Rezwan believed there was a more viable solution to Bangladesh’s education woes, so instead of avoiding the floods, he embraced them.
The concept was if children marooned by floods could not attend school, then the school should come to them. “Many friends and relatives were denied access to education,” Rezwan said. “I thought, if the children cannot come to school because of floods, then the school should go to them by boat.”
In 1998, Rezwan founded Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, a nonprofit centered on mobile, accessible education, with a mere $500. In 2002, he introduced his first school boat. Then, in 2003, donations started flooding in (pun intended).
From the United States, the Global Fund for Children donated $5,000, followed by $100,000 from the Levi Foundation and, finally, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation gave $1 million.
The funds enabled Rezwan to build more school boats. Noka, traditional Bangladeshi boats, cost $18,000 to modify into a proper school boat, with weatherproof window vanes, solar panels and arched metal beams. An additional $6,500 a year covers teachers’ salaries and overhead.
The boats are large: stretching 50-feet long and 15-feet wide. Each boat holds roughly 30 to 35 children or adults and is equipped with a laptop, library and other electronic resources. For many of Shidhulai’s students—particularly girls—the school boats are their only opportunity to access technology.
Shidhulai provides three classes, lasting two to three hours a day, six days a week, up to grade four. Students are taught the Bengali alphabet, along with essential life skills, such as how to purify water from contaminated sources. This relatively modest education is all many of these children will ever receive.
Adults attend classes too; their curriculum covers more practical matters. Topics range from proper use of insecticide to climate change adaptation to increasing crop yields—all essential skills in Bangladesh’s agricultural economy.
Shidhulai’s ultimate gesture of accessibility takes the form of portable lanterns given to each child, who can then study at night from home. The lanterns are low-cost and solar-powered, keeping with the renewable solar energy of the school boats.
The existential question facing Shidhulai is its financial sustainability. Critics claim that, while the school boats are an ingenious form of adaption, they are not sustainable, since solar power requires vast amounts of energy.
Undaunted, Rezwan aspires to open 100 more boats within the next five years, spreading his organization’s reach to roughly 100,000 people.
To boost Shidhulai’s viability, Rezwan plans to rebrand the solar lamps currently used as instructional tools and sell them as hurricane lamps.
“Building on that concept, we plan to sell hurricane lamps for around 500 taka ($7.30) each, and the villagers will have to pay 40 taka (about US $0.60) a month to recharge each lamp on our boats,” said Rezwan.
As roughly 78 million Bangladeshis currently go without electricity, relying instead on kerosene or fossil fuel for light, the market for Shidhulai’s solar lamps looks very bright indeed.
– Bilal Ibrahim
Sources: IRIN, WISE Initiative,, New York Times
Photo: BBC
How You Can Celebrate International Youth Day 2015
August 12, 2015 marks the fifteenth commemoration of the United Nations International Youth Day. The annual celebration draws together young people from around the world to work as agents of change.
Each year, the U.N. highlights a particular issue that affects the world’s young people. This year’s recently announced theme, “Youth Civic Engagement,” will draw international attention to the importance of youth involvement in political, economic and social affairs. The U.N. asserts that youth participation in public life is necessary to achieve global sustainable development.
This August 12, young people around the world will join the U.N.’s movement to get involved in civic activities. Here is how you can be a part of the International Youth Day 2015 celebrations:
Use Social media
The U.N.’s Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development wants to hear from you! Use social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to spread the word about the importance of civic engagement. Use the hashtag #YouthDay to connect with young people across the globe.
Advocate
While youth advocacy is always an important part of International Youth Day celebrations, this year’s theme emphasizes youth involvement in public life more strongly than ever. Civic engagement means taking action, so choose a cause that means something to you and get started!
You can raise awareness by creating info sheets or flyers and placing them at local schools, libraries and community centers. You can also contact local media outlets and ask them to run a feature on your issue. The more publicity your issue gets, the better.
Call or email your congressional leaders and ask them to support your cause. Gather a group of friends to lobby your local officials on or around August 12.
With all the work you put into your specific cause, do not forget to call attention to the limited opportunities for youth engagement in many areas of society. Talk with leaders in your school, faith community and local organizations, and ask them to strengthen programs that promote involving youth in civic activities.
Plan an event
Organizing a community event to promote International Youth Day is a great way to raise awareness and funds for a cause of your choice. You can host a concert and invite local musicians to play, or plan a festival or block party and invite a distinguished individual to speak. You can even organize an exhibit featuring art from young people in your community.
Share your engagement
If you decide to plan an event for International Youth Day 2015, do not forget to document it and share photos with youth@un.org. If you share your event with youth@un.org, the organization will post the information to its global map of International Youth Day activities. Your events could inspire others to advocate for youth civic engagement.
The most creative photo submissions will be displayed at the U.N. Headquarters, shared online via official U.N. social media and used in the World Youth Report 2015. Be sure to include this copyright release form so the U.N. can share your photo. The deadline for submissions is July 23.
– Caitlin Harrison
Sources: UN 1, Department of Economical and Social Affairs 1, Department of Economical and Social Affairs 2, UN 2
Photo: Nam News Network
Nonprofit Helps Reduce Child Labor in Cambodia
In 2012, the U.S. Department of Labor estimated that about 28% of the Cambodian national population ages 5 to 14–nearly 900,000 children–participated in child labor practices.
World Vision is a nonprofit organization working to reduce the prevalence of Child Labor in Cambodia by providing educational and household assistance to low-income families. The organization is operating a four-year child labor reduction project known as EXCEL, which has already assisted over 20,000 children and receives annual funding from the U.S. Department of Labor.
When asked how the organization plans to continue to reduce child labor rates within Cambodia, World Vision administrator Imelda Ochavillo responded, “If you want to reduce it significantly we should have very comprehensive interventions that would include continuous poverty alleviation, provision of alternative sources of income, decent employment for youth, and education should be made accessible.”
U.N. findings report that, of the 430,000 Cambodians under the age of 18, nearly half participate in roles that the International Labor Organization regards as “the worst forms of child labor.” These practices include agricultural production, construction, brick-making, fishing, street vending and illegal child solicitation.
Cambodia maintains one of the highest incidences of child labor practices within Asia and the Pacific, as a U.S. Department of Labor Study estimated the average frequency of child labor for this global region rested at 9.3% in 2013.
Researchers argue that significant disparities within Cambodia’s educational infrastructure and economic development programs have fostered a national environment that encourages child labor practices. In many rural areas of Cambodia, access to educational opportunities is limited and requires children to travel long distances despite a lack of public transportation systems. The persistence of children not accessing educational institutions due to limited infrastructural systems and safety concerns has led many low-income families to allow their children to enter the labor force.
Veng Heang, Director of the Child labor Department in Cambodia, explained recently in an interview that despite decreasing child labor by nearly 50% within the country since 1999, his administration remains determined to have less than 375,000 Cambodians under the age of 18 participating in the national labor force by 2015.
“Not only in 2015, but after 2015–we have to work very carefully on quality of education, food security and especially income generation for the poor,” Heang insisted.
Along with nonprofit organizations such as World Vision, the government of Cambodia has continued to demonstrate strong dedication to reducing the frequency of child labor at a national level. The country completed a National Child Labor Survey in 2013 to study the relative occurrences of child labor practices within sub-national areas and lead multiple operations to combat forced labor and child sexual exploitation, showing that Cambodia recognizes the necessity for further progress within this issue.
With Cambodia continuing to record high annual rates of child labor practices, efforts by both the national government and foreign aid entities to improve infrastructure, educational opportunities and regulatory services are essential in advancing the fight.
– James Thornton
Sources: United States Department of Labor 1, Learning English, United States Department of Labor 2
Photo: World Vision
Bangladeshi Floating Schools Redefine Accessible Education
Since 2002, 70,000 children have benefited from Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha’s 20 solar-powered floating schools. Bangladesh, a nation plagued by incessant monsoons, often has a disrupted school year. During the rainy season, roads become impassable, closing upwards of 4,000 schools for months at a time.
Global warming is an omnipresent reality in Bangladesh, with climatologists projecting that one-fifth of the nation will be submerged by 2050. Geographically, Bangladesh is acutely sensitive to the effects of climate change, owing to the Bengal delta—the world’s largest glacial melting from the Himalayas—as it runs off into the rivers, raising the sea level, which in turn pushes inland.
Frustrated by the month-long interruptions during his childhood education, Mohammed Rezwan believed there was a more viable solution to Bangladesh’s education woes, so instead of avoiding the floods, he embraced them.
The concept was if children marooned by floods could not attend school, then the school should come to them. “Many friends and relatives were denied access to education,” Rezwan said. “I thought, if the children cannot come to school because of floods, then the school should go to them by boat.”
In 1998, Rezwan founded Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, a nonprofit centered on mobile, accessible education, with a mere $500. In 2002, he introduced his first school boat. Then, in 2003, donations started flooding in (pun intended).
From the United States, the Global Fund for Children donated $5,000, followed by $100,000 from the Levi Foundation and, finally, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation gave $1 million.
The funds enabled Rezwan to build more school boats. Noka, traditional Bangladeshi boats, cost $18,000 to modify into a proper school boat, with weatherproof window vanes, solar panels and arched metal beams. An additional $6,500 a year covers teachers’ salaries and overhead.
The boats are large: stretching 50-feet long and 15-feet wide. Each boat holds roughly 30 to 35 children or adults and is equipped with a laptop, library and other electronic resources. For many of Shidhulai’s students—particularly girls—the school boats are their only opportunity to access technology.
Shidhulai provides three classes, lasting two to three hours a day, six days a week, up to grade four. Students are taught the Bengali alphabet, along with essential life skills, such as how to purify water from contaminated sources. This relatively modest education is all many of these children will ever receive.
Adults attend classes too; their curriculum covers more practical matters. Topics range from proper use of insecticide to climate change adaptation to increasing crop yields—all essential skills in Bangladesh’s agricultural economy.
Shidhulai’s ultimate gesture of accessibility takes the form of portable lanterns given to each child, who can then study at night from home. The lanterns are low-cost and solar-powered, keeping with the renewable solar energy of the school boats.
The existential question facing Shidhulai is its financial sustainability. Critics claim that, while the school boats are an ingenious form of adaption, they are not sustainable, since solar power requires vast amounts of energy.
Undaunted, Rezwan aspires to open 100 more boats within the next five years, spreading his organization’s reach to roughly 100,000 people.
To boost Shidhulai’s viability, Rezwan plans to rebrand the solar lamps currently used as instructional tools and sell them as hurricane lamps.
“Building on that concept, we plan to sell hurricane lamps for around 500 taka ($7.30) each, and the villagers will have to pay 40 taka (about US $0.60) a month to recharge each lamp on our boats,” said Rezwan.
As roughly 78 million Bangladeshis currently go without electricity, relying instead on kerosene or fossil fuel for light, the market for Shidhulai’s solar lamps looks very bright indeed.
– Bilal Ibrahim
Sources: IRIN, WISE Initiative,, New York Times
Photo: BBC
Family Planning and Poverty
Latin America and the Caribbean provide valuable examples of how family planning can reduce poverty.
Family planning involves strategies to delay childbirth, space births over time and avoid unintended pregnancies. When women and men can control the size of their families, they are more likely to have the resources to support their children.
A recent report, “Family Planning in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Achievements of 50 Years,” shares many success stories of family planning research and programs in this region.
The current contraceptive prevalence rate in this region is 74%. This is one of the highest rates within the developing world. The rest of the world can learn from success in Latin America.
With the rise in contraception use, Latin America has seen an increase in educational participation, a decrease in the infant mortality rate and a more stable economic climate.
A few of the most effective strategies include the work of dynamic NGOs with new methods of family planning, financial and technical assistance from USAID, the development of local expertise, and availability and access to research data.
The family planning strategies developed from clinic-based efforts include direct delivery of contraceptives to community-based awareness efforts involving mass media.
The use of mass media to change cultural norms and attitudes proved to be an effective strategy. The use of radio and television helped increase awareness about family planning and strengthen support. Traditionally, families in the region had many children and did not use contraception. This put a strain on limited resources. For families to accept family planning methods, this required a change in belief about how families should be created and maintained.
In Mexico, popular singers, Tatiana and Johnny, recorded songs and produced music videos that supported responsible sex. For example, the song titled “Detente” or “Wait” in English, suggesting ideas to delay childbirths or wait to have sex.
While this region of the world has achieved great success and can serve as a model for areas such as Sub-Saharan Africa, there is still work to be done. Adolescent fertility rates remain high, and young, rural women of lower socioeconomic status are less likely to have access to family planning resources. There is a need for continued research and commitment to reach all people.
– Iliana Lang
Sources: Carolina Population Center, Carolina Population Center 2
Photo: YouTube
Child Poverty in Wales Remains Highest in the UK
Child poverty in Wales is currently one of the largest issues facing the United Kingdom.
Under the U.K. government’s Child Poverty Act, which was recently scrapped due to poverty levels across the U.K. remaining high, a child is defined as living in poverty when they are “living in a household with an income below 60 percent of the UK average of £453 a week.”
Based on these guidelines, over 2.3 million children across the U.K. are currently living in poverty, or about one in six. With one-third of children living in poverty, Wales currently has the highest child poverty rate in the U.K. outside of the city of London.
In response to these recent figures, Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith stated that poverty issues in Wales are “deep rooted,” while a severe lack of public transportation has left communities without access to better jobs.
Wales’ Children’s Commissioner, Professor Sandy Holland, has been an open advocate for reform of the Welsh government’s child poverty programs. Speaking to ITV.com, she lamented that child poverty statistics in Wales are “unacceptably high.”
“The different life chances for children, whether you’re living in the poorest fifth of society or the richest fifth, they’re really stark and we’ve done nothing in the last eight years to reduce that inequality,” Holland said.
Despite a rise in employment across the U.K. since 2010, poverty in Wales has remained unaffected. Speaking to the BBC, Dr. Sarah Lloyd-Jones, director of Cardiff’s education charity People and Work Unity, says that policy reform is the first big step Wales needs to take to start improving its statistics.
“We have an approach that says we’ll look at basic skills and structures to help people survive in poverty but we need to be more ambitious,” she said. “We need to be saying, ‘Why aren’t we getting engineers out of this community, why aren’t we getting doctors or chemists?’”
– Alexander Jones
Sources: BBC 1, BBC 2, ITV
Photo: BBC
Is Hosting the Olympics a Good Investment for the Host Population’s Welfare?
The purported benefits of hosting mega-events such as the Olympics have been increasingly criticized by economists and journalists, and questions are being raised. Are the host nations for the Olympics or similar events making a good investment? Could the money be better leveraged to help the poor via other means? What makes hosting mega-events beneficial or not?
The costs of hosting the Olympics used to be small, in the millions of dollars. In the past few decades, this has not been the case. Billions of dollars are poured into infrastructure projects and other related costs in order to create the environment for hosting the Olympic Games.
The huge investment and sunk costs put into hosting the Olympics are not always returning the same value. The stadiums built for the events are often left unused and in a state of decay within only a few years of the events. With little demand for such a large amount of new sports infrastructure, the huge construction costs rarely pay for themselves in the long run.
On the other hand, there is such a thing as the “Olympic Effect”—trade openness and overall transactions tend to increase for the host country following the Olympics. Prestige and attention is also granted to the host country, as the Olympics are a chance to showcase the host’s best qualities and cultural attractions. This is important—but is it worth the cost? Many would say it probably is not.
The Sochi Winter Games cost Russia $50 billion, the highest costs of all time for an Olympics Game. The national economy benefited negligibly from the Games but the regional effect may have indeed had some positive impact. Because of the expected increase in tourism and guests in the region, infrastructure of all kinds had to be upgraded to be able to accommodate the flash flood of spectators and athletes. This could mean a long-lasting positive impact on certain regions of the country, even if the new infrastructure is underused afterwards.
The more recent Olympic Games have been held in emerging economies such as Russia and China, with Brazil upcoming. This trend away from more developed nations such as the United States and European countries is important to recognize. Government spending is particularly important for these developing nations. Investing wisely is the name of the game for economic development, and the Olympics net return on investment is questionable at best. This is not a good sign for these countries. For example, Brazil built massive stadiums in small cities for the World Cup that had no use for them past the mega-events for which they would be used. The government even cleared out favelas (slums) in order to build new infrastructure and gentrify city outskirts. It begs the question, is it possible that Brazil should be using the billions of dollars to help those in the favelas and others like them, rather than build massive stadiums? These are the questions that emerging economies must consider carefully when they make the investment that most economists consider an economic net loss.
Norway recently withdrew its bid for the 2022 Winter Games due to concerns that the cost would be too large and a lack of public support. The lack of evidence that the Olympics produce the economic benefits advertised is a message that must be heeded. The hidden costs of hosting mega-events such as the Olympics and the World Cup are especially prominent to a developing economy like Brazil. First, they might end up losing money and, secondly, that money could have been leveraged to a much greater degree. Just imagine if instead of hosting the Sochi Games, Russia had the same enthusiasm for spending $50 billion—but on social and job-training programs designed to reduce poverty within their own borders. These are the hidden costs of hosting mega-events.
– Martin Yim
Sources: NBER, The Economist, International Business Times, Reuters
Photo: NPR
Fracking and Poverty in Mexico
In the poverty discussion, it is easy to forget Mexico. Although less than two percent of the country lives below the international poverty line set by the World Bank, poverty and lack of economic and educational opportunity is very prevalent throughout the country. It is estimated that 42 percent of the population lives in some degree of poverty in Mexico.
Under President Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration, efforts to provide economic and educational opportunities have been made and the country has also instituted universal healthcare during his time in office.
One of Mexico’s newest ambitions is to extract the oil and gas reserves in the Eagle Shale Ford. The massive shale field starts in Texas and runs south along Mexico’s eastern corridor into Veracruz.
According to the Mexican government, the Eagle Shale Ford holds approximately 90 billion barrels of untapped oil and natural gas reserves. This makes Mexico one of the biggest hydrocarbon controlling countries in the world.
Officials believe that the rise of hydraulic fracturing in the United States can be applied in Mexico. Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” involves drilling into shale and blasting a mixture of water, sand and a litany of chemicals against the rock. This fractures the rock, allowing the gas or oil to be extracted.
This method has recently enabled Texas to ramp up oil operations. The state now produces as much oil annually as Mexico does.
President Nieto passed legislation last year that ended Pemex, the state-owned energy monopoly, and opened up foreign investment to private energy companies.
The difference between oil exploitation in Texas and Mexico is striking. Texas has over 8,000 wells operating in the shale field. In northern Mexico, there were only 25 by the end of 2014.
Mexico believes it is in their best economic interest to exploit the rest of their reserves. In an interview with Dallas Morning News, Mexican Ambassador Medina Mora said that the development of wells is key to limiting the influence of cartels. “The best way to counteract organized crime is to develop jobs in poor areas, that’s why investment by foreign energy companies is key to our future,” Mora said.
However Mexico’s ambition to exploit these reserves have many barriers. Some areas in the Eagle Shale Ford are controlled by various drug cartels. Foreign companies performing preliminary drilling have been known to pay cartels for access to prospective well sites.
Those same cartels also illegally extract oil from pipelines. Pemex asserts it has lost over a billion dollars in revenue over the past few years due to this.
For some foreign energy companies, this lack of security has kept them away from Mexico. Federal Congressman Javier Travińo of Nuevo León said that states must “get their house in order” if they want international investment.
Despite the day and night differences in security and infrastructure in Texas and Mexico, fracking still raises the same health and environmental concerns.
Fracking is banned in New York, Maryland and various counties and municipalities across the US. It is prohibited in Scotland and Wales as well. These bans were enacted due to the proven environmental and health concerns surrounding the process.
There are 250 chemicals commonly used in fracking. Many are detrimental to mammals, aquatic life and human health. The water and chemical mixture, or slurry, that is left in the ground has been linked to contaminated groundwater. Some chemicals have unknown effects.
The amount of water used for fracking also raises concern. In 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that 70 to 140 billion gallons of water were used in the U.S. for fracking. For water deprived Mexico, this will be an issue if necessary infrastructure and security materialize.
Mexico has much more lax environmental regulations than the United States. For companies that have made investments, there isn’t much transparency required with the public.
Gabino Vicente, a delegate from a small town at the southern edge of the Eagle Shale Ford, says companies are leasing land by deceiving owners in Mexico. “They take advantage of the poverty and low education levels to gain access to the land. Many citizens don’t even know what fracking is.”
Mexico is faced with a tough choice. There are direct economic incentives to exploit their natural resources. However, the environmental and social costs, which are obscure and delayed, could negate the monetary gains.
Whichever option is pursued, the citizens of Mexico have the right to be educated about this issue.
– Kevin Meyers
Sources: Global Issues, HSPH, Keep Tap Water Safe, Poverty Data, Dallas News, Roar Mag
Photo: Dallas News
Contraceptive Vaginal Ring Helps Mothers Around the World
Developed by the Population Council, this contraception method is unique because it is safe and effective for lactating women after they have given birth. It can be used as early as four weeks after childbirth for up to one year in order to space out potential future births.
Birth spacing is important for the health of mother and child. Maternal death and other health complications are more likely to arise with short intervals between births. In addition, family planning can help parents to plan finances related to family expansion. Family planning is critical to poverty reduction. When families do not have the knowledge or ability to space births, particularly in developing countries, they may also lack the resources to support these children.
The vaginal ring is 98.5 percent effective in preventing pregnancy with proper use. The ring can be inserted and removed by the mother. This translates to less doctor visits, which are known to strain family resources, such as time and money, in developing countries.
The ring releases progesterone, but does not interfere with breast milk production. In this way, it is unlike oral contraceptives, which contain estrogen and cannot be used by lactating women.
This method is currently used in Bolivia, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, and Peru. Currently, studies in India and Sub-Saharan Africa are underway in order to determine if it could be effective in these regions as well.
The inclusion of this method on the list from the World Health Organization’s list suggests that it is likely to be more accessible to communities in the near future. The CVR is effective, safe, and inexpensive. Medical services can be difficult to reach in developing countries, but the CVR places very few demands on doctors.
The Population Council is currently developing another vaginal ring that will not have to be replaced every 3 months. It would last for one year. This would make this contraceptive method even more appropriate for the developing world.
In the future, we may even see vaginal rings that can protect against HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, in addition to its contraceptive function. This exciting new technology has the potential to address many of the global health problems our world faces today.
– Iliana Lang
Sources: WHO, Population Council, Impatient Optimists
Photo: Impatient Optimists
Global Development Lab Brings Silicon Valley to Washington
USAID’s mission to fight global poverty has just received significant support with the recent addition of the Global Development Lab. USAID has long been the leading government agency seeking to alleviate poverty, yet their mission has primarily been that of implementation. The agency is now not only committed to the physical deployment of aid, but also the development of future relief systems.
Founded in April of 2014, the new subdivision seeks to change the ways in which aid is delivered and developed. According to the official website, “The U.S. Global Development Lab is a new entity within USAID that brings together a diverse set of partners to discover, test, and scale breakthrough solutions to achieve what human progress has only now made possible—the end of extreme poverty by 2030.”
The Global Development Lab is bringing the fight against extreme poverty into the 21st century information age. Its aim is to use strategies that top technology companies have used, such as crowd sourcing, big data collection, and constant research and development to find the best solutions in terms of ending extreme poverty.
USAID has appointed Ann Mei Chang as Executive Director for the Global Development Lab. Chang worked for twenty years in Silicon Valley, spending eight of them working for Google as lead engineer of its mobile division. With both experience in the technology and nonprofit sectors, Chang brings a fresh outlook on new ways to implement global development.
The lab is revolutionary in its mission to use resources and partners from both the public and private sectors. The Global Development Lab is partnered with technology companies that are synonymous with innovation. Microsoft, Intel and Nike are listed as cornerstone sponsors. Many of the nation’s top universities, including the University of California, Duke and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have also partnered with the lab. USAID hopes that these partnerships will “leverage the combined skills, assets, technologies, and resources of the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to deliver sustainable development impact.”
USAID and its new Global Development Lab are not only attempting to alleviate extreme poverty through donations and other tried methods, but the agency is now attempting to end the suffering of millions around the globe by seeking cutting edge solutions through science, innovation, and collaboration.
– Joe Kitaj
Sources: USAID, The White House
Photo: USAID Blog
Bernie Sanders: A Champion for American Poverty
Sanders uses the increasing disparity between the wealth classes in America to illustrate his point on the problem of American poverty. Continuing to hammer his point home, Sanders then puts the blame on Wall Street’s influence over economic poverty, unfairly favoring those with more income. Sanders is directly quoted as saying, “There are a lot of great public servants out there, great economists who for years have been standing up for the middle class and the working families of this country, who know that it is an international embarrassment that we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major country on Earth.” Sanders makes a bold claim with this statement, but one that is shockingly valid.
Sanders’ campaign website lists some alarming figures about overall U.S. poverty as well as child poverty on an international scale. According to the site, 46.5 million Americans live below the poverty line making that figure the largest in U.S. history. In addition to this number, Sanders’ website cites a 21.8 percent child poverty rate, the “highest of any major country on earth.” It is important to distinguish here that by “major country,” he is referring to all countries part of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED).
In March of 2014 Sanders organized a subcommittee to examine in depth the differences in life expectancy across the United Sates as a direct result of varying poverty levels. Some of the findings reported that almost as many people die from poverty as from lung cancer. Life expectancy was also shown to have decreased over the past 20 years in 313 U.S. counties, and the United States has 6 million more people in poverty today than it did in 2004.
Poverty is as crucial an issue as any from presidential hopefuls this elections. Senator Bernie Sanders has made it one of his top campaign priorities to reduce this number drastically if elected, by working vigorously to improve the system of the American economy and reduce the vast gap between wealth classes in America.
– Diego Catala
Sources: PolitiFact, Senate
Photo: Bernie Sanders