In a report released by ONE, an anti-poverty organization, it is estimated that corruption causes 3.6 million unnecessary deaths and costs poor countries $1 trillion each year.
Using three different methodologies to calculate the cost of corruption, all three measures indicated that the loss was either $1 trillion or $2 trillion.
In what is called a “trillion dollar scandal,” corrupt business practices, “anonymous shell companies, money laundering and illegal tax evasion” all serve to severely reduce the effectiveness of poverty relief efforts.
While extreme poverty has been reduced to half its original level over the past 20 years and has the potential to be completely eradicated by 2030, corruption is putting much of that progress at risk.
While corruption is damaging in almost all countries, it is especially dangerous in poorer and developing countries and mostly affects children. It is estimated that millions of deaths could be avoided if corruption was combated and recovered funds were reinvested in essential fields.
Furthermore, the money that is siphoned out of poor countries is not from international development aid, which has helped make a considerable improvement, but rather directly from businesses in these countries. The money is generated by domestic businesses and illegally extracted out of the country. The largest source of financial drain is the illegal manipulation of cross-border trade.
The organization found that even recovering a small amount of the money lost to corruption could dramatically affect development. In Sub-Saharan Africa, a small amount of recovered funds could provide an education to an additional 10 million children each year; pay for an additional 500,000 primary school teachers; provide antiretroviral drugs for more 11 million people with HIV/AIDS and buy nearly 165 million vaccines.
The report stresses action that serves to end the secrecy that allows corruption to thrive. If specific policies were implemented that increased transparency and combated corruption in the four areas of “natural resource deals, the use of phantom firms, tax evasion and money laundering,” developing countries could considerably stem the financial drain.
Natural resources in particular can provide a vital source of funds that could greatly increase economic growth in many developing countries. Corruption concerning natural resources is particularly bad, with approximately 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa rich in natural resources but receiving few benefits from these reserves.
Specifically, One calls for mandatory reporting laws for the natural resource sectors and publish open data so citizens are able to track where travels from and to, ensuring that the funds are not lost to corruption.
Published in anticipation of the G20 meeting in Brisbane, Australia in November, the organization stresses the importance for the G20 nations to address the issue. Now that the cost of corruption has been defined in real terms, the fight against corruption can become more directed and effective.
— William Ying
Sources: ONE 1, ONE 2, ONE 3, BBC, The Guardian, ABC News, Yahoo News
Photo: Blogspot
Africa Gathering and Sustainable Collaboration
In the African savannah, the baobab tree is a symbol of life, a sign of positivity in a dry landscape where very little other life can survive. The baobab tree is also a place where people come to share knowledge, discuss their thoughts and learn from one another; it is the meeting point for people from different walks of Africa.
The Africa Gathering movement draws its inspiration from the baobab tree, and brings together individuals with very different career focuses.
From writers to activists, techies to artists, the organization creates a place where passionate innovators can share their ideas and celebrate their dreams for a positive Africa. It provides a network for creative individuals to collaborate and share ideas on how technology can transform the continent on both small and large scales.
In its sixth year, Africa Gathering draws on inspiration from change from within its own country through the methods of planting seeds of innovation in the continent’s young men and women. By increasing visibility and allowing anyone who has an idea to share it, the organization hopes to mobilize people for change and create a sustainable Africa.
Africa Gathering frequently hosts events to engage supporters and allow African thinkers to share their ideas on technology and sustainable development. In celebration of its five-year anniversary in 2013, the movement hosted a conference with BBC Africa that focused on the increasing number of African women in the technology sector.
The conference focused on how women taking the lead in developing technological solutions could solve problems. While there was no anniversary party this year, leaders from Africa Gathering traveled to Geneva, Switzerland for the Africa CEO 2014. The group debated on the increasingly competitive nature of Africa and the delocation of foods from where they are manufactured.
“In my short but very entertaining life, there have been the few moments that have created great change – Having a child at a young age, discovering my life’s purpose, and attending the Africa Gathering last year,” said Tonisha Tagoe, a film producer and artist. “My reason for attending was as simple as a Tweet, but the results have been life changing. Africa has got a lot to offer to the world, but most importantly to Africans. It is beautiful to see such focus, determination, and family spirit fused into one space at this event.”
– Julia Thomas
Sources: The Tree of Life, Africa Gathering, The Guardian
Photo: National Geographic
Plastic Trade Transforms China
Global plastic waste has turned cities in China from natural wonders into chasms of poverty and sickness.
In 2010, author and Shanghai correspondent Adam Minter went undercover to explore the inner workings of the plastic business in China, and he discovered the frightening realities of recycling plastic scraps. Minter visited Wen’an, a Chinese city that has become a global hub of the scrap plastic trade, to see the effects of the recycling industry.
According to locals, Wen’an was once well known for its beautiful landscape and the natural bounty that came from the streams, peach trees and fertile soil. However, the lush nature of Wen’an quickly disappeared when its citizens began to realize that there was money to be made in the plastic recycling business.
By 2006, one third of the 60,000 Chinese Plastics Processing Association’s workshops were located in Wen’an.
When Minter traveled to Wen’an he noticed that the streets are “bustling, crowded and incomprehensibly dirty.” What used to be a green paradise is now a dead zone where children play in dried puddles of melted plastic instead of on the grass. The common health problems of the citizens of Wen’an have shifted from poverty related ailments to still more dangerous conditions caused by pollution.
Before the plastic waste factories sprung up across China, people suffered from stomach problems and diarrhea due to a lack of nutrition and clean water. These sicknesses disappeared when cities could pay to dig wells for uncontaminated water. However, the money for these wells came from plastic factories that polluted the streets, air and laborers’ lungs.
“Since the ’80s, high blood pressure has exploded,” a doctor from Wen’an warned. “In the past nobody had it. Now 40 percent of the adults in this village have it. People have it in their 30s so badly that they can’t move anymore. They’re paralyzed.”
In addition to the environmental impact, the economic reality in the region is grim. Although the plastic industry brought employment to the citizens of Wen’an, the wages are pitiful and the working conditions are astonishingly poor.
During his undercover visit to a plastic factory, Minter noticed that although the owner was well fed and sharply dressed, his employees are “scrawny and bug eyed.” Men breathe in melted plastic fumes from the machinery, while teenage boys work shirtless under the sun, picking rubbish from shredded piles of plastic.
Since Minter’s visit to Wen’an in 2010, the Chinese government imposed new regulations and shut down the scrap plastic trade in parts of the country. Despite the modest improvements, the Bureau of International Recycling estimates that the global plastic scrap trade will grow from the 15 million tons consumed in 2007 to about 45 million tons by 2014.
Although the scrap plastic trade creates employment in cities like Wen’an, it is disheartening to watch the disintegration, not only of the wellbeing of the workers, but also the natural beauty of nations worldwide.
– Grace Flaherty
Sources: The Guardian, Great Lakes Trade Adjustment Assistance Center
Photo: The Guardian
#GirlWithABook
Last month, the creators of #GirlWithABook, a project advocating for girl’s education, had the opportunity to meet Malala Yousafzai, their inspiration. #GirlWithABook, the hashtag coined by college students Olivia Curl and Lena Shareef, has caught the attention of leaders and advocates worldwide.
Students at American University in Washington, D.C., Curl and Shareef shared the world’s reaction of astonishment and disgust after 14-year-old Pakistani Yousafzai was attacked on her way home from school in October 2012.
Malala Yousafzai survived after she was shot in the head by the Taliban, and when United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon admonished the Taliban in an address to the world, his words stuck with the two American girls. Ki-moon explained that what frightens terrorists the most is “a girl with a book.”
Curl and Shareef decided to start a campaign based on those words. They sent out a call to action, asking their female friends and family to pose for photos with books and flood social media with the pictures accompanied by the hashtag #GirlWithABook.
“Stand with Malala Yousafzai and show the Taliban that there’s no way they can stop us girls from getting an education,” their website reads. “Post a picture of yourself reading a book or holding a sign of support.”
Just a month after the project had begun, hundreds of photos flooded in from notable figures around the world. Ki-moon is pictured reading to his granddaughter, violinist Midori sent in a photo and even scientist Jane Goodall participated in the campaign.
The overwhelming response from women’s education supporters worldwide prompted Curl and Shareef to compile all the photos into a book. The Secretary-General presented Yousafzai with the book on her 16th birthday, when she visited the United Nations headquarters in New York.
A year has passed since #GirlWithABook was published, but the excitement over the movement continues.
Recently, Curl and Shareef were invited to participate in a conversation about the Millennium Development Goals as a part of the U.N.’s 500 days of action. On August 18, the girls spent the day at United Nations headquarters, along with 500 other young people.
They had the opportunity to meet face to face with Yousafzai and her father, who showered the girls with words of encouragement to continue their advocacy efforts.
Lena Shareef speaks on behalf of her partner when she describes the future of #GirlWithABook: “If Malala wants us to keep going, then there’s no question that we will.”
– Grace Flaherty
Sources: UN
Photo: UN
How Carbon Can Power Solar Energy
According to the World Bank, renewable and efficient energy are key to overcoming global poverty. Researchers have recently found that carbon-based materials can offer some of the most effective sources of renewable solar energy.
The first source is an all-carbon solar cell developed by researchers at Stanford University. As the name suggests, the cell uses carbon to replace traditional silver and indium tin oxide, which are far more expensive.
What proves most beneficial about the cell is the consistency. The prototype is a thin film, and because of this, it can be placed on top of existing equipment to gather energy. This means new windows or panes do not need to be retrofitted to the new design. Instead the film can simply be placed on top and the energy will generate.
The product is still in the developmental stages, thus not yet reaching the levels of silicon solar panels. This is partially because the carbon-based material needs infrared light to function. While this is problematic, researchers are confident that they can adjust the material to make it a potent form of energy that can be used around the world.
Another carbon-based material has also been found as an excellent steam generator. Solar-powered steam is effective for electricity, but there are other uses that make it ideal for areas of the world whose only natural resource is sunlight. These include refrigeration, sterilization, chemical purification and waste treatment.
Despite its many beneficial uses, it will be hard to pass these on at a commercial level. While it might take a while, it seems that the researchers at MIT are confident about solar energy.
The verdict on both of these carbon-based materials seems to be similar: they can be quite effective but are still in nascent stages. However, the research that has happened up to this point has proven to be very promising. Researchers have looked into several different solutions to each of the unique problems posed. The big incentive backing it should be enough cause to act.
– Andrew Rywak
Sources: The Economist, Scientific American, Gizmag
Photo: Gizmag
Corruption Kills Millions, Steals Trillions
In a report released by ONE, an anti-poverty organization, it is estimated that corruption causes 3.6 million unnecessary deaths and costs poor countries $1 trillion each year.
Using three different methodologies to calculate the cost of corruption, all three measures indicated that the loss was either $1 trillion or $2 trillion.
In what is called a “trillion dollar scandal,” corrupt business practices, “anonymous shell companies, money laundering and illegal tax evasion” all serve to severely reduce the effectiveness of poverty relief efforts.
While extreme poverty has been reduced to half its original level over the past 20 years and has the potential to be completely eradicated by 2030, corruption is putting much of that progress at risk.
While corruption is damaging in almost all countries, it is especially dangerous in poorer and developing countries and mostly affects children. It is estimated that millions of deaths could be avoided if corruption was combated and recovered funds were reinvested in essential fields.
Furthermore, the money that is siphoned out of poor countries is not from international development aid, which has helped make a considerable improvement, but rather directly from businesses in these countries. The money is generated by domestic businesses and illegally extracted out of the country. The largest source of financial drain is the illegal manipulation of cross-border trade.
The organization found that even recovering a small amount of the money lost to corruption could dramatically affect development. In Sub-Saharan Africa, a small amount of recovered funds could provide an education to an additional 10 million children each year; pay for an additional 500,000 primary school teachers; provide antiretroviral drugs for more 11 million people with HIV/AIDS and buy nearly 165 million vaccines.
The report stresses action that serves to end the secrecy that allows corruption to thrive. If specific policies were implemented that increased transparency and combated corruption in the four areas of “natural resource deals, the use of phantom firms, tax evasion and money laundering,” developing countries could considerably stem the financial drain.
Natural resources in particular can provide a vital source of funds that could greatly increase economic growth in many developing countries. Corruption concerning natural resources is particularly bad, with approximately 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa rich in natural resources but receiving few benefits from these reserves.
Specifically, One calls for mandatory reporting laws for the natural resource sectors and publish open data so citizens are able to track where travels from and to, ensuring that the funds are not lost to corruption.
Published in anticipation of the G20 meeting in Brisbane, Australia in November, the organization stresses the importance for the G20 nations to address the issue. Now that the cost of corruption has been defined in real terms, the fight against corruption can become more directed and effective.
— William Ying
Sources: ONE 1, ONE 2, ONE 3, BBC, The Guardian, ABC News, Yahoo News
Photo: Blogspot
Helping Hand for Relief and Development in Action
Ninety percent of the Helping Hand for Relief and Development’s (HHRD) funds are spent on the programs and services it delivers. HHRD is a nonprofit based out of Detroit, Michigan and prides itself on being known as a group of “Muslims for Humanity.”
The organization responds to emergencies and disasters all over the world with a focus on those living in poverty. Apart from disaster relief programs, HHRD also works on long term projects including economic empowerment, livelihood, orphan and widow support and skills development.
Founded in 2005, the HHRD believes in the Islamic principle of helping those who are in need. The organization works to strengthen the human condition regardless of gender, religion or ethnicity. Their core values seek to recognize the innate worth of all people, ensure equity and justice, increase transparency and advocate mutual respect.
In the event of a natural disaster, HHRD provides food, clothing and medical relief to the troubled area. It does not simply come in to provide relief and then leave once the chaos of the disaster has been subdued. Following a catastrophe, the nonprofit supports physiotherapy and donates artificial limbs for victims in need. It rebuilds homes and schools in affected areas, as well.
It also sponsors rehabilitation centers, supports home construction and contributes to career programs. The organization has scholarships available for students in need. Apart from direct contributions, HHRD also raises awareness through campaigns such as its walk for tuberculosis.
Partnering with organizations ranging from small community support groups to international relief programs, HHRD is funded predominately by private donors. In addition, it receives funding from big names including the World Food Program and the World Health Organization. Corporations such as Microsoft serve as match partners, agreeing to match HHRD’s private donor gifts.
This nonprofit works all over the globe—particularly in areas considered under the poverty line, such as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
With the current events surrounding ISIS and other terrorist organizations, the religion of Islam often gets unfairly labeled as a violent religion. HHRD’s mission and life-altering work is the perfect example to prove the negative stereotype wrong.
– Caroline Logan
Sources: HHRD, Charity Navigator
Photo: Helping-hand-online
The Benefits of the LifeStraw
In the United States, the LifeStraw is a popular tool for those interested in backpacking and hiking. But while these uses might be popular, it was never intended to be the primary function of the plastic device.
For those unaware, the LifeStraw is a plastic personal water filter designed by a company of the same name. The product allows an individual to take contaminated water and clean it. According to studies, the device removes a minimum of 99.9999 percent of waterborne bacteria and can fit into a pocket. Additionally, the LifeStraw contains no moving parts or batteries, which increases its longevity.
In addition to the regular LifeStraw, there is a LifeStraw Family. The latter is capable of filtering up to 18,000 liters of water, an amount that would be able to sustain a four-person family for three years. The individual product can filter 1,000 liters, and can sustain an individual for one year.
The LifeStraw was introduced and field-tested in 2005 as an on-the-ground relief for humanitarian crises. Feedback was positive and it is now available in the United States since it passed EPA standards for clean water. Shortly after the test period ended, the product was honored with the TIME magazine invention of the year award.
The LifeStraw is hailed as one of the most cost-effective and eco-friendly ways to bring water to the 884 million people who do not have access to a clean water supply, but is not meant to supplant other, more traditional humanitarian solutions.
One LifeStraw success story comes from an island nation of Kiribati, located in the central tropical Pacific Ocean. Around one in 20 infants do not survive due to malnutrition that is often caused by dehydration. In a response to this, Carol Armstrong started the Island Rescue Project. While the campaign has traditional, large-scale methods of curbing this high death rate, it also encourages the use of low-tech simple solutions.
To no surprise, the LifeStraw is among the highest rated of these. Armstrong commented on the ability of the device to sustain an individual for up to a year. It was especially promising compared to the other solution—the “sodi method.” This method involves putting water into an empty plastic bottle and letting UV rays hit it. After seven hours, the water should be clean to drink. However, the water will only be clean for a few days and it will not clean the water to the standard that the LifeStraw does. But it’s a solution that anyone can do, and at virtually no cost.
– Andrew Rywak
Sources: ABC, Men’s Journal, Digital Journal, Hills News
Photo: Future of Cities
How Gandhi Utilized Advocacy
Martin Luther King Jr. once referred to Gandhi’s philosophy as “the only morally and practically sound method open to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom.” Mahatma, or “Great Soul,” Gandhi was an advocate for human rights and is largely known for initiating the idea of nonviolent resistance.
Gandhi’s journey as an advocate began in South Africa. As a young legal adviser, he saw firsthand the damage caused by race-oriented laws and class-based oppression.
This is when Gandhi began to teach his philosophy of passive resistance. Gandhi’s organization of the Indian community in South Africa began widespread social change.
When Gandhi returned to India in 1915, he began working as an advocate for various local struggles concerning working conditions. Four years after his arrival home, British authorities passed the Rowlatt Acts, which allowed imprisonment without trial of any Indian accused of sedition.
Gandhi advocated through a national day of fasting and a refusal to work. He termed this as an act of Satyagraha, or love-force.
Gandhi eventually transformed the Indian National Congress into a large movement committed to nonviolent resistance in support of India’s independence, otherwise known as the non-cooperation movement.
As a consequence of his activism, he was arrested in March of 1922 and served two years for sedition.
Eight years later, in 1930, Gandhi organized 80 volunteers for a 200-mile march to the sea where the volunteers made salt out of seawater in protest of British Salt Laws. The movement eventually grew to 60,000 Indians who were all arrested and imprisoned for their defiance until Gandhi negotiated a truce with representative Lord Irwin.
After Irwin left office and his successor continued the oppressive measures taken against Indians, Gandhi began his movement once again and was immediately imprisoned. In prison, Gandhi began fasting in protest of a new Indian constitution, which was to include different representatives for the “untouchables” or members of India’s lowest level on the caste system.
His fasting gained international attention and was the precursor to the 1947 resolution, which made the discriminatory practice illegal. Britain left India that same year. Gandhi had won his country’s independence back, without the use of violence.
Gandhi’s approach to advocacy inspired many leaders, from Nelson Mandela to Martin Luther King Jr. The Dalai Lama, a follower of Gandhi, expressed, “As Mahatma Gandhi showed by his own example, nonviolence can be implemented not only in politics but also in day-to-day life. That was his great achievement. He showed that nonviolence should be active in helping others.”
– Christopher Kolezynski
Sources: Stanford University, New York Times, MSN News, The Borgen Project
Photo: Wikiphotos
Uganda Criminalizes HIV Transmission
This August, Uganda passed a landmark HIV bill which criminalizes HIV transmission. Experts say that with this law, the dreams of an “AIDS-free generation” have evaporated. With threats of fines and jail times, many HIV positive people will be dissuaded from taking proactive measures for their health.
According to the new bill, HIV sufferers cannot be legally charged with a crime if they didn’t knowingly infect someone with HIV. Thus, many people are now refusing to get tested as a loophole around the law.
Despite the United States, a large funder of HIV programs in Uganda, publicly denouncing the bill since its conception, the Ugandan president has still signed it into law. Even with these multinational efforts from the U.S. and elsewhere, the HIV infection rate has been steadily increasing in the past several years. The overall HIV positive rate is approximately 6.5 percent of the population, but higher among certain at-risk groups.
Among those specifically targeted by the bill are sexual assault survivors and pregnant women who are required to undergo routine blood testing for HIV. Pregnant women with HIV have been the victims of forced sterilization in the past, and the lack of privacy concerns are causing fears that these cases will increase.
While there are measures directly targeting women in this bill, the effects on both men and women are troublesome. Experts warn of the slippery slope of discrimination that this bill will cause. HIV/AIDS is already highly stigmatized in Uganda and this bill is thought likely to worsen the stigmas, shame and misconceptions surrounding the disease.
Many global health advocates view this bill as a setback for the HIV awareness community in Uganda. With a steady increase in the past few years of HIV positive rates, this law is projected to exacerbate the problem.
– Kristin Ronzi
Sources: Africa Science News, Human Rights Watch
Photo: Devex
The Much Needed Release of Child Soldiers
Since 2013, various countries have taken steps to end child soldiering in order to meet international human rights standards.
In accordance with these standards, the Tatmadaw, the Myanmar Armed Forces, has released 176 child soldiers since signing a joint action plan to end the recruiting of children for military service.
Earlier this year, Yemen signed an action plan with the United Nations to end recruitment of child soldiers and by doing so, “formalized its commitment to protect its future generations,” says Leila Zerrougui, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.
Similarly, UNICEF and partners arranged for the release of over 1,000 children from military service in the Central African Republic after the country made headlines earlier this year for having over 6,000 children involved in armed conflict.
It is estimated that there are 300,000 child soldiers in the world today, and 40 percent of armed forces around the world use children to fight in their battles. Although the thought of a child soldier is foreign to Americans and citizens of developed countries, it is all too familiar to those of undeveloped nations. Child Soldiers International has reported that since January 2011, the use of child soldiers has been found in 19 different countries.
Children are taken by militias to fight because children are far more malleable than adults. They are also less costly due to the fact that they are given fewer resources and smaller weapons – although they are more likely to be seen on the front lines. Because of this, children are more likely to die in battle than adult soldiers.
Children who survive have lasting psychological effects, which include PTSD and stunted mental development. When there is failure to integrate back into society, there’s a likely chance these once child soldiers will return to battle because it’s all they’ve known.
If the children are released from duty with the help of UNICEF, like in the Central African Republic, they meet with social workers, are taken to a transition center where they can receive an education or learn a vocational skill and are given help in locating their families.
Upon the release of the child soldiers, UNICEF Representative in the Central African Republic Souleymane Diabaté said, “Every single child we spoke to said they wanted to leave the armed group and return to school. We cannot fail them.”
– Kori Withers
Sources: Child Soldiers International, Child Soldiers International: FAQ, Forbes, United States Institute of Peace, UN News Centre, UNICEF Press Centre 1, UNICEF Press Centre 2, UNICEF Connect
Photo: UN