Nigeria is second only to India in terms of the number of maternal deaths it experiences, and along with five other countries—India, Pakistan, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, China and Ethiopia—Nigeria is part of a group which makes up more than 50 percent of the maternal mortalities that occur in the world.
The Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) in Nigeria was 560 per 100,000 live births in 2013. As UNICEF states, Nigeria loses 145 women to maternal mortality each day. This high level of maternal mortality is also linked to Nigeria’s high rate of deaths for children under 5—newborns account for a quarter of the under-five deaths which occur in the country.
There are many reasons why maternal mortality in Nigeria is so high, including a lack of access to healthcare, rampant poverty, substandard health care and the prevalence of child marriage.
Urban women have more of an opportunity to receive healthcare than rural women do. As stated in a Global One report about Nigeria, women in urban areas have over twice as many deliveries taking place in public and private health facilitates than women in rural areas. This is because women in rural areas are normally not able to afford the transport to the hospitals in urban areas, and have to settle for midwives or traditional birth attendants—or no help at all—when giving birth. Many of these traditional birth attendants do not have the skills and training necessary for delivering a baby—for example, many are not able to perform C-sections—and for treating complications that can occur during birth.
Rural women do not have the money to travel to hospitals to receive better care. Nigeria has a high poverty rate, with a 2010 report stating that 64.4 percent of the population lived in extreme poverty and 83.9 percent of the population lived in moderate to extreme poverty. The fact that many people cannot afford the healthcare that they need contributes to Nigeria’s high MMR.
Even if women in Nigeria are able to have access to a hospital, they sometimes still end up suffering. This is because some hospitals in Nigeria have substandard care. For example, Global One’s report states that substandard birth techniques in government hospitals in North-Central Nigeria, including poor C-section procedures, accounted for 40 percent of all fistula injuries suffered by women in Nigeria.
A fistula, according to the World Health Organization, is a hole in the birth canal. Fistulas are directly connected to obstructed labor, a problem that contributes to high levels of maternal mortality. Even if women survive labor, many of them still have to live with the fistula. Approximately two million women live with an untreated obstetric fistula in Sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia, and women with fistulas suffer incontinence, social segregation and health issues.
Fistulas are more common in women who give birth at a young age. These women’s bodies are not ready for childbirth, leading to many health problems, including obstetric fistulas. Nigeria has an extremely high rate of child marriage—43 percent of girls get married before the age of eighteen—and many of those girls are not given the option of whether or not they want to get pregnant. Contraceptive use is slowly becoming more widespread and acceptable, but in 2008, only 10 percent of women used contraceptives.
Since contraceptive use is still stigmatized, many brides under the age of 18 are forced to give birth, and their bodies are very vulnerable to complications, therefore contributing to a high maternal mortality rate. Nigeria also has a high fertility rate—five children per woman in 2014—which also impacts the MMR.
If Nigeria wants to reduce its high levels of maternal mortality, it has to make sure that access to healthcare is more widespread. It also needs to improve the quality of healthcare available, reduce the number of child marriages and de-stigmatize contraceptive use.
– Ashrita Rau
Sources: UNICEF, WHO 1 WHO 2, WHO 3, WHO 3, Global One Girls not Brides, IRIN News CIA World Factbook
Photo: Healthy Newborn Network
Everjobs Emerges in Senegal
Everjobs, an online job portal created by Rocket Internet, has begun operations in Dakar, Senegal. This job portal was created to simplify the job search and hiring process by connecting job seekers with employers.
Everjobs is also currently operating in eight other developing countries, including Myanmar, Bangladesh and Cambodia.
This online job portal supports Senegal’s new initiative, “Plan Senegal Emergent.” With this initiative, Senegal seeks to establish itself as an emerging country by 2035. With a hope to better lives for generations to come, youth employment is at the top of this agenda.
Because Everjobs is online, it is hoping to attract tech savvy youths. This strategy focuses on complying with Senegal’s initiative for youth employment.
Everjobs hopes to pave the way for Senegalese to match their skills and create a career path. It focuses on the job seeker’s core skills, expertise and interests in order to explore potential career paths that suit the seeker. By taking into account these factors, this type of application process categorizes jobs that are not suitable for the job seeker.
One feature that sets Everjobs apart from other job portals is the expert Job Journal. This feature provides the job seeker with knowledge that will motivate, inspire and track their progress while using the job portal.
Everjobs addresses the need to focus on industries with a high turnover rate, such as hospitality and banks. This aspect will help Senegalese to have the opportunity to work in these industries, gain job experience and hopefully find a career they enjoy.
The co-founder and Managing Director for Africa, Eric Lauer said, “Heads of HR are concerned that a lack of basic CV writing knowledge and poor interview preparation resources have contributed to a fall in employability among its youth.”
With the resources provided by Everjobs, the youth of Senegal will gain the necessary skills in order to complete a successful resume, leave a lasting impression during an interview and gain employment. In order to fulfill Senegal’s initiative, “Plan Senegal Emergent,” it is imperative for the youth to learn the skills to gain employment. With the help of Everjobs, this can be achieved.
Senegal has set a fast pace plan to move from a developing country to an emerging country in as little as 20 years. Because of the online component of Everjobs, it is attractive to the youth seeking employment. With access to an easy to use, resourceful online job portal like Everjobs, Senegal will transition into an emerging country. With the many resources that Senegal’s youth need in order to gain employment, Everjobs will bring about the change Senegalese have been hoping for.
– Kerri Szulak
Sources: CP Africa, IT News Africa
Photo: Senegal Business Services
Ex Novo: A Charitable Brewery
A company that unites good beer, good food and good causes seems too good to be true. But the Ex Novo Brewing Company in Portland, touting itself as “a 10-barrel non-profit brewery,” is making this dream a reality.
The charitable brewery was founded by former engineer Joel Gregory, who stated in an interview with Portland Monthly Magazine that he “felt compelled to help in any way.” And with the brewery’s charitable efforts supporting causes such as Mercy Corps’ work with Syrian refugees and the International Justice Mission, Mr. Gregory is helping.
The alcohol industry is not exactly known for its charitable efforts. By taking the growing craft beer craze and using it as an opportunity to do good, Ex Novo is bringing charity to the beer industry, and bringing change to the world.
And they’re doing it deliciously. Food items served at the brewery include bacon, cottage pie and a pork meatball banh mi. Beers include Irish Stouts, IPAs and a variety of Saison brews. In addition, the brewery serves homemade brownies and a stout milkshake.
The first non-profit brewery is receiving nothing but praise for these features. Customers on Yelp praise the non-profit nature of the establishment, along with the charitable brewery’s expansive food and drink menu. Though Ex Novo does not currently bottle or can its beer, it can be found on tap throughout the Portland area.
Opened in July 2014, it would appear that the one-year-old brewery is making a big splash in Portland. And with its delicious menu and good reputation, the organization can change both lives and tastes.
Only time will tell if Ex Novo’s conception of the not-for-profit brewery will have an impact in the beer industry. Through its support of Mercy Corps’ fight to end the cycle of refugee poverty and the International Justice Missions’ fight against global systems of exploitation, Ex Novo is a wonderful example of a local business making a global difference in the fight against poverty.
– Andrew Michaels
Sources: Portland Monthly Magazine, Ex Novo Brewing Company, Yelp, Eater, International Justice Mission, Mercy Corps
Photo: Koperski
Cambodian Child Sex Trade Supported by Parents
Svy Pak is a shanty town on the outskirts of the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. It is one of the most disadvantaged neighborhoods of one of Asia’s poorest cities. The population lives on less than $2 per day. As such, a child’s virginity is considered to be an extremely valuable asset because of the prices willing to be paid for it. Doctors in Cambodia perform what’s known as a “virginity check” on a child and then issue a “certificate of virginity.” This is meant to ensure buyers who want virgins that they are getting them. In some cases, a child’s virginity is sold before he or she is even born, and deposits for virginities can be easily made on toddlers. Selling one’s child for sex provides a steady source of income for families willing to make the sacrifice.
The child sex trade has blown up in Svy Pak. The town is known to pedophiles around the world as the go-to place for buying little girls. In 2008, Apage International Missions (AIM) found that 100 percent of the kids in the town between the ages of eight to 12 years of age were being trafficked for sex. The organization has rescued children as young as four years old from traffickers. UNICEF estimates that one third of the population in the sex industry is children in Cambodia, and amounts to 40,000 to 100,000 kids total.
Cambodia is a country where children have a long history of being a major export product. A young girl by the name of Kieu was sold by her mother at the age of 12. Over the course of six months, her mother sold her virginity and then forced her to work at five brothels in both Cambodia and Vietnam. Only when her mother began to make arrangements at the sixth brothel to rent her daughter out for sex did Kieu run away to find safety. CNN spoke to her mother, who said, “It was because of the debt, that’s why I had to sell her.”
The men who abuse these children fit many different profiles and backgrounds. Some are pedophile sex tourists who actively seek out sex with prepubescent children. Others are more opportunistic, situational offenders who simply take advantage of opportunities that present themselves to engage in sex with children. Then there are those for whom health-related beliefs about the protective or restorative qualities of virgins catalyze their interest in child sex.
Sex tourists tend to come from affluent countries all over the world, such as European countries, South Korea, Japan and China. But research suggests that Cambodian men remain the main exploiters of child sex trafficking in their country. Although the selling and buying of sex is illegal, not one Khmer man has ever been convicted for purchasing virgins. The police argue that they are limited in prosecuting these violations because of a lack of expertise, technical equipment and evidence collection tools. Corruption is also a barrier for law enforcement, as Cambodia is number 160 of the 175 countries on the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index.
The actions of the parents in Cambodia who sell their children for sex is deplorable and inexcusable. Since the beginning of time, people have been poor, but they have not always been selling their children. Something must be done.
– Erika Wright
Sources: ABC, CNN 1, CNN 2, The Guardian, Spiegel Online
Photo: Brandon Patoc Photography
Goodeed and Freerice: Two Easy Ways To Help
Helping those in need has never been easier with Goodeed and Freerice, websites that make it incredibly simple for those with computer access to make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate.
Goodeed allows users to donate to a cause for free. How is that possible, donating for free? On the website, you watch a twenty-second advertisement, and the revenue from watching the ad goes to one of three causes: trees, vaccines or meals.
The trees are in the East Khasi Hills in the Meghalaya forest in India. This area is known as the wettest place on earth and is under serious threat. Goodeed partnered with WeForest to not only conserve local biodiversity and the livelihood of the people but also to promote women’s entrepreneurship and empower the indigenous community.
The vaccines are delivered to Chad, where the goal is to completely eradicate polio. Today, 80 percent of people get vaccinated for polio, and Goodeed wants that percentage to be 100. Lastly, the meals go to Kenya schools to ensure that students get at least one nutritious meal a day. Goodeed teamed up with the World Food Programme to make this happen.
Each person can make a total of three donations a day, a grand total of 60 seconds of your time to support three worthwhile causes.
Freerice operates on a similar platform of effortless community involvement. Freerice is an English vocabulary test where, with each question answered correctly, 10 grains of rice are donated.
Freerice works with the World Food Programme to deliver rice to areas in need. They fed 27,000 refugees of Myanmar in Bangladesh for two weeks, and in Cambodia, they provided take-home rations of rice for over 13,500 pregnant and nursing women who needed it over the span of two months. In addition, they have sent rice to Uganda, Nepal and Bhutan.
Freerice is an educational tool for children in the First World, as well as an asset to the Third World. Melissa Foor, a middle school teacher in the United States, used Freerice as a vocabulary lesson for her students. Her classroom, as well as those of other inspired teachers in the school, raised 1,000,000 grains of rice. The students practiced vocabulary and learned a lesson on helping others.
There is a fine line between what people are willing to sacrifice to help others and what they are not. Goodeed and Freerice have made this sacrifice so minimal that making a difference in the lives of others takes no more than 60 seconds, and you can even have a little fun while doing it.
– Hannah Resnick
Sources: Freerice, Goodeed, The Next Web, World Food Programme
Photo: World Food Programme
Why Somalia has a High Malnutrition Rate
Over the past years, famine and food insecurity have threatened the lives of thousands of people in Somalia. These threats were, and are, some of the worst in decades. The famine in 2011 was the first famine in the Horn of Africa in over 30 years—it killed 250,000 people. Currently, about 1 million people in Somalia are food insecure and are in desperate need of assistance. There are around 236,000 children under 5 who are malnourished.
What makes Somalia so prone to these famines and to having high malnutrition rates?
For 20 years, Somalia has been in conflict. Civil war destroyed the nation. It affects how much food can be grown and destroys crops. People have to flee and cannot tend to their crops and livestock.
The conflict left the country in a state of political turmoil. So, when the drought hit in 2011, Somalia was unable to deal with the disaster. People did not receive aid from the government and foreign aid had difficulty reaching its people.
Droughts, as well as floods, continue to plague Somalia. Having crops destroyed every so many years makes it difficult to make progress in decreasing the malnutrition rate. Additionally, with a still unstable government, aid was not there. In 2014, the country once again had a threat of another famine, with up to 3 million people in need of aid.
Also contributing to the cause of high malnutrition rates is the lack of development in the younger generations. Only 42 percent of children are enrolled in school, with less than half of them being girls. Young people make up 42 percent of the population, with 67 percent of them unemployed because of a lack of education.
Without an education, these youths cannot get jobs to earn a steady income, one that would be enough to provide food for their children. The children are raised in poverty, with little food. Unlikely to escape poverty, the next generation will most likely fall in the same category. It is a difficult cycle to break, one that can contribute to the high malnutrition rates in Somalia.
Despite the hardship in Somalia, the World Food Program continues to work in Somalia to lower malnutrition rates. They provide job vocational trainings so that youths can get a job. They hand out food rations to attract parents to send their children, especially daughters to school. The WFP continues to provide nutritional and health aid in Somalia.
– Katherine Hewitt
Sources: Action Against Hunger, BBC, Huffington Post, WFP, UNICEF
Photo: Global Giving
Maternal Mortality in Nigeria
Nigeria is second only to India in terms of the number of maternal deaths it experiences, and along with five other countries—India, Pakistan, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, China and Ethiopia—Nigeria is part of a group which makes up more than 50 percent of the maternal mortalities that occur in the world.
The Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) in Nigeria was 560 per 100,000 live births in 2013. As UNICEF states, Nigeria loses 145 women to maternal mortality each day. This high level of maternal mortality is also linked to Nigeria’s high rate of deaths for children under 5—newborns account for a quarter of the under-five deaths which occur in the country.
There are many reasons why maternal mortality in Nigeria is so high, including a lack of access to healthcare, rampant poverty, substandard health care and the prevalence of child marriage.
Urban women have more of an opportunity to receive healthcare than rural women do. As stated in a Global One report about Nigeria, women in urban areas have over twice as many deliveries taking place in public and private health facilitates than women in rural areas. This is because women in rural areas are normally not able to afford the transport to the hospitals in urban areas, and have to settle for midwives or traditional birth attendants—or no help at all—when giving birth. Many of these traditional birth attendants do not have the skills and training necessary for delivering a baby—for example, many are not able to perform C-sections—and for treating complications that can occur during birth.
Rural women do not have the money to travel to hospitals to receive better care. Nigeria has a high poverty rate, with a 2010 report stating that 64.4 percent of the population lived in extreme poverty and 83.9 percent of the population lived in moderate to extreme poverty. The fact that many people cannot afford the healthcare that they need contributes to Nigeria’s high MMR.
Even if women in Nigeria are able to have access to a hospital, they sometimes still end up suffering. This is because some hospitals in Nigeria have substandard care. For example, Global One’s report states that substandard birth techniques in government hospitals in North-Central Nigeria, including poor C-section procedures, accounted for 40 percent of all fistula injuries suffered by women in Nigeria.
A fistula, according to the World Health Organization, is a hole in the birth canal. Fistulas are directly connected to obstructed labor, a problem that contributes to high levels of maternal mortality. Even if women survive labor, many of them still have to live with the fistula. Approximately two million women live with an untreated obstetric fistula in Sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia, and women with fistulas suffer incontinence, social segregation and health issues.
Fistulas are more common in women who give birth at a young age. These women’s bodies are not ready for childbirth, leading to many health problems, including obstetric fistulas. Nigeria has an extremely high rate of child marriage—43 percent of girls get married before the age of eighteen—and many of those girls are not given the option of whether or not they want to get pregnant. Contraceptive use is slowly becoming more widespread and acceptable, but in 2008, only 10 percent of women used contraceptives.
Since contraceptive use is still stigmatized, many brides under the age of 18 are forced to give birth, and their bodies are very vulnerable to complications, therefore contributing to a high maternal mortality rate. Nigeria also has a high fertility rate—five children per woman in 2014—which also impacts the MMR.
If Nigeria wants to reduce its high levels of maternal mortality, it has to make sure that access to healthcare is more widespread. It also needs to improve the quality of healthcare available, reduce the number of child marriages and de-stigmatize contraceptive use.
– Ashrita Rau
Sources: UNICEF, WHO 1 WHO 2, WHO 3, WHO 3, Global One Girls not Brides, IRIN News CIA World Factbook
Photo: Healthy Newborn Network
Want to Sponsor a Nonprofit? Here’s How.
Funds are critical in advancing the fight for poverty, and for nonprofits addressing these issues sponsorship in the form of charitable donations allows them to engage in various development, humanitarian and policy-related initiatives. Sponsorship of an organization can take place at any level, from individual to corporate, depending on who is donating and how much they are willing to give. While any amount no matter the size may be considered a sponsorship, nonprofits sometimes add in benefits for supporters who give larger donations.
The Borgen Project defines four specific categories in which donors may fall should an individual give large contributions: bronze partner, silver partner, gold partner and benefactor. Starting at $2,000, each offers benefits ranging from acknowledgments with the donor company’s link and logo on the borgenproject.org to an opportunity to join The Borgen Project’s National Council and be the subject of a news feature in BORGEN. Donations go toward the operation of this nonprofit and its efforts to bring about poverty and hunger alleviation through advocacy centered in Washington.
The U.N.’s World Food Programme is another example of an organization for which donations are critical, as it is completely funded by donors. Aid organizations will typically have a webpage for donors where they may select an amount and pay immediately through the site, making contributions quick and easy.
At a time when the WFP is seeing a record number of hunger crises, it is in great need of people willing to make contributions to better the nutrition of malnourished and starving people around the globe. Ninety percent of every donation made goes toward anti-hunger operations.
Organizations usually have a couple of options for the frequency of the donation. Those interested may make a one-time donation or, if they have the capability and willingness to continue their donation throughout the year, a monthly option is available.
It is especially important to note that sponsorship of any amount is meaningful and necessary for the operation of a nonprofit. Individuals, rather than corporations, foundations and other nonprofits, accounted for most of The Borgen Project’s revenue in 2014. Whether it’s $25,000 or $25, every amount counts and is valuable to the initiatives being carried out by an organization.
– Amy Russo
Sources: The Borgen Project, WFP 1, WFP 2
Photo: Don’t Shoot the Costumer
ICT Aids Education for Visually Impaired in Kenya
In partnership, AccessKenya, the Rockefeller Foundation and Atlanta-based nonprofit inABLE have launched a “Computer Labs for the Blind” initiative. Thus far, nearly 1,700 Kenyan students are benefiting from the program, which is intended to teach visually impaired learners basic information and communication technology (ICT) aptitude, allowing them to access educational content online and develop employable skills.
True to its name, Computer Labs for the Blind provides assistive technology computer labs and ICT education. The initiative trains visually impaired students and their instructors to use multiple computer and computational device types, including iPads. It also facilitates peer-to-peer training camps that allow advanced students to teach computer skills to the visually impaired.
In order to understand the importance of the Computer Labs for the Blind program, it is necessary to examine the hindrances non-sighted students otherwise experience. Blind and visually impaired students in Kenya face a variety of challenges to their education, including logistical issues, lack of facilities and insufficient teaching resources.
Not the least of these obstacles is the exorbitant cost of materials. In Kenya, braille textbooks can cost nearly nine times as much as ordinary textbooks, a price that most Kenyans are unable to afford. Consequently, four or more visually impaired students are compelled to share each book, limiting individual access and making it more difficult for students to acquire knowledge.
Other materials critical to blind students’ education, such as braille notepaper, are also far more expensive than standard supplies. For this reason, visually impaired and blind students find themselves unable to take notes in class the way their sighted peers do. However, they are still required to sit for the same exams as sighted students, regardless of their disadvantage in preparing for tests.
Additionally, the courses of study open to visually impaired students are limited. For example, at the high school level, students who are not sighted are unable to pursue chemistry and physics. The Kenyan education system does not equip teachers to educate visually impaired students in these subjects because it does not see them as feasible participants.
Even those students who are able to acquire braille skills and graduate high school find their employment prospects severely limited. Few industries accommodate braille skills and many employers are unfamiliar with braille. Continuing education is also rarely an option for visually impaired students in developing countries like Kenya.
Faced with this lack of economic options, many visually impaired and blind Kenyans must turn to begging or prostitution in order to survive. For this reason, access to technology and the development of ICT skills offer blind and visually impaired students a chance to improve their quality of life and offer a degree of financial independence and academic development that would have been previously out of reach.
The Computer Labs for the Blind initiative will help open the futures of blind and visually impaired Kenyan students. However, inABLE founder Irene Mbari-Kirika has hopes for a wider impact.
“inABLE envisions a day when blind and visually impaired students – all over Africa and beyond – have convenient access to life-changing computer-based educational tools,” Mbari-Kirika stated just before beginning inABLE’s first Computer Labs for the Blind project in a Kenyan school. With at least four more Kenyan schools lined up to benefit from the initiative, inABLE and its partner organizations are taking concrete steps toward their goal.
– Emma-Claire LaSaine
Sources: Inable Africa, IT News Africa
Photo: Global Giving
Urban Poverty Contributes to Mongolian Air Pollution
Extreme air pollution in Mongolia continues to place the country among the most polluted in the world, according to the World Health Organization. The WHO’s 2014 report on global air pollution ranks the developing nation the seventh most polluted country on the globe. With a population of only 2.9 million, pollution exposure levels are six to seven times higher than the most lenient WHO numbers. The population shift from rural to urban areas has intensified poor air quality in Ulaanbaatar and made air pollution a main concern for its citizens in recent years.
“Today, children are suffering from many unfamiliar illnesses caused by air pollution,” said Gerelchimeg, a mother living in one of Ulaanbaatar’s low-income districts. “As a mother, I am very worried about my children’s health and my neighbors’ newborns.”
The majority of Ulaanbaatar’s population lives in gers, traditional Mongolian dwellings where the burning of coal and wood for heat significantly contribute to the poor air quality of the city.
The Mongolian government has endorsed efforts to provide smokeless coal, improved stoves, gasification and solar heating to ger families in recent years; however, the challenge to fully implement environmentally-conscious legislation while allowing citizens to maintain their traditional lifestyles remains an issue for government officials.
“Many solutions will require Ulaanbaatar citizens to change technologies and learn how to use them,” said Gailius Draugelis, lead energy specialist at The World Bank. “The local private sector will need to supply and serve these technologies.”
The increase of vehicle use in Ulaanbaatar, from 75,000 to 300,100 between 2005 and 2013, spurred increased promotion of public transportation as well as legislation regarding the disposal of “older” and “too old” vehicles. The Mongolian government has also sought to reduce emissions from three major coal-fueled power plants in the Ulaanbaatar area by regulating the amounts of specific pollutants and endorsing power plant ‘scrubbers’ and other clean energy practices.
Despite governmental efforts to reduce air pollution on a variety of levels, air quality and conditions in Mongolia have improved little. Natural factors, such as geographic location and the topography of the capital city, have also contributed to air pollution and its effects on Mongolian health, including increased rates of non-communicable diseases.
Since 2010, the U.S. foreign aid agency the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has invested in a $41.5 million project to address the causes of air pollution in the poor outskirts of Ulaanbaatar. In only three years, the corporation sold almost 100,000 energy-efficient stoves and 19,000 ger insulation sets at subsidized rates. While green technology is only a temporary solution to the overarching issue of air pollution, the MCC’s contribution to public awareness and green research activity is an investment in the clean Mongolia of tomorrow.
Although air pollution is a major global health challenge in Mongolia and developing countries throughout the world, smart foreign aid gives hope for a cleaner future.
– Paulina Menichiello
Sources: World Bank, Scientific Research, NCBI, IIP Digital
Photo: Rising Voices
How Mobile Phones Help the Poor
Mobile technology has been shown to have a tremendous effect in helping alleviate global poverty. Over six billion of the approximately seven billion people in the world have access to mobile phones, as shown in a 2014 UNESCO report. By 2016, it is estimated that there will be one billion mobile phones in Africa. Such widespread access opens up a window of opportunity to utilize mobile technology as an instrument in improving the lives of users in developing countries.
According to UN Millennium Project Director Jeffrey Sachs, cell phones are the key instrument in transforming poverty-stricken lives.
“Poverty is almost equated with isolation in many places of the world,” he said, as quoted in a CNN article. “Poverty results from the lack of access to markets, to emergency health services, access to education, the ability to take advantage of government services and so on. What the mobile phone — and more generally IT technology — is ending is that kind of isolation in all its different varieties.”
From the educational sphere to the economy, access to mobile technology has already significantly improved the lives of many across various aspects of life.
4 Ways Mobile Phones Help the Poor
Literacy and education
Where there are no books, there are still mobile phones. Utilizing mobile technology is one of the easiest ways to increase literacy rates simply because phones are already in the hands of members of developing nations. Mobile reading provides a much cheaper and more convenient alternative to reading from books. While cell phones cannot teach users how to read, they are shown to significantly increase literacy retention rates. Several mobile applications and programs exist to increase access to mobile reading in the developing world. Programs such as MobiLiteracy Uganda provide parents with daily reading activities to complete with their children via audio SMS so that illiterate parents can still work to improve their children’s literacy. It is not necessary for users to own smartphones because even the cheapest mobile models allow access to mobile reading.
Agriculture
Mobile technology has completely transformed the lives of farmers in developing nations, as it allows them access to market prices without the timely concession of long-distance traveling to faraway markets. Additionally, access to weather information can help farmers prepare for in-climate conditions that may affect their crops. Several mobile applications exist to provide farmers with information about nearby markets and prices, mapping to potential clients, feeding schedules for cattle and local veterinary information.
Banking
Millions of Africans utilize mobile technology as a banking instrument. Since 2007, Safaricom and Vodafone’s M-PESA application has allowed users to store funds on their mobile decides in order to transfer funds to other users, pay bills, or make other purchases. In 2009, a 10th of Kenya’s GDP was being circulated via M-PESA. Former Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph noted that mobile technology has been transformative for the informal business sector, which comprises about 70 percent of jobs in Kenya. This increase has been instrumental in helping surge GDP rates throughout the developing world.
Health
Mobile phones allow endless distribution of health resources, which has led to the development of mHealth, or mobile health, programs. Field workers can use their mobile devices to work with experts to determine what conditions are treatable at a local level and what patients need to be transported to a hospital. This increased communication saves time and money and also helps to ensure appropriate treatment. Text messages have also shown to be vital in communicating stock levels of medications and resources in remote locations. Additionally, public health organizations have organized text message campaigns to increase preventative habits against fatal diseases.
– Arin Kerstein
Sources: CNN, Fortune, National Geographic, UNESCO, USAID,
Photo: Sustainable Brands