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Chemical Toilet Troubles in Cape Town

Because of the wealth that circulates throughout Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and Pretoria, South Africa is technically classified as an upper-middle income nation. However, the very cities that contain much of the country’s money are also surrounded by its most extreme examples of poverty.

The townships scattered around the edges of these cities are home to millions of people (the overwhelming majority of whom are “black Africans”) living in overcrowded shelters with little to no sanitation. It’s a recipe for disease, but some are saying that hasty solutions to the problem are not helping – in fact, the chemical toilets installed in townships outside of Cape Town have been explicitly described as human rights violations.

The city of Cape Town has provided chemical toilets – the type of toilet found inside Porta-Potties – to its townships for over a year. An investigation conducted by the Human Rights Commission has found that not only does the city fail to communicate with each township individually to cater to its specific sanitation needs, but it also equips its townships with the bare minimum sanitation services according to a set of “emergency housing guidelines.” The problem? For the people who live in townships, improper sanitation is no one-time emergency. It is their everyday reality.

Accordingly, the Human Rights Commission recommends that the city of Cape Town implement a new approach to sanitation in informal settlements, one that better serves the “rights to equality, dignity, privacy, basic sanitation, and a healthy environment.” To fulfill these expectations, Cape Town must provide its townships with chemical toilets that can service the needs of their entire populations, undergo periodic maintenance, are sufficiently cleaned on a regular basis – measures that are currently not being taken.

If Cape Town follows through with these recommendations and commits to providing proper sanitation, the residents of its townships will experience reduced risk of contracting the diseases and conditions associated with open sewage systems, including diarrhea, parasites and bacterial infection. In a country of nearly 60 million people, successful public health interventions can be difficult. However, Cape Town has its work laid out for it as far as sanitation goes.

Perhaps future sanitation successes in Cape Town’s townships will inspire further steps to improve the quality of life for South Africa’s poor. Townships, which are largely the result of the forced relocation of millions of black and “coloured” people during South Africa’s infamous period of apartheid, typically lack not just sanitation but also food security, safety and educational outlets. Giving people in informal settlements the sanitation measures necessary to prevent disease and protect human dignity is the first step to giving them a hand up and out of poverty.

– Elise L. Riley

Sources: All Africa, UNICEF, World Bank, Telegraph
Photo: International Budget

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Urban Farming Spreads in Latin America

urban agriculture
Latin America is the most urban region in the world. But from Cuba to Mexico to Argentina, issues of food insecurity and urban poverty persist. Several factors contribute to agricultural instability in Latin America. Climate change is affecting crop yields, and urban sprawl has pushed farmland further from cities, into areas with low soil fertility. Additionally, many Latin American countries are shifting their production energy from agriculture to tourism ventures, which means that food imports are now exceeding exports.

A recent report from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations examines the progress made in cities pursuing urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) policies. The study surveys 23 countries and 110 cities throughout Latin America, revealing the enormous benefits that urban farming has for city-dwelling populations.

UPA gives poor households access to nutritious foods, generates jobs and extra income, provides fresh local food to city populations, creates more green space within urban landscapes and stimulates local economic production.

Poverty in modern-day Latin America has as much to do with hunger as with obesity. Non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and some forms of cancer, have become enormous health threats and financial burdens for Latin America. In fact, these “lifestyle” diseases kill more people than infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV and tuberculosis in every region except sub-Saharan Africa.

The root of this troubling phenomenon lies in the scarcity and high cost of nutritious food options, which denies the poorest segments of society access to a healthy lifestyle. In Latin America, urban farming is breaking down these barriers and bringing fresh, local foods into impoverished homes.

UPA’s potential can be seen in Havana’s 97 organoponic gardens, which use new agricultural technologies involving organic substrates in the face of seed, pesticide and fertilizer shortages. Today, 90,000 residents of Havana practice UPA, bringing sustenance to a population long harassed by food crises and rationing.

Cubans began planting food wherever they could find space after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Economic mayhem ensued, and fertilizer and pesticides were nowhere to be found on the island. Out of necessity, Cubans built small urban gardens and, with strong government support, the practice was transformed from a grassroots response to food insecurity into a concrete national priority.

Although many Latin American countries practice urban agriculture, only half of the 23 countries surveyed in the FAO report have national policies explicitly promoting UPA. Graeme Thomas, author of the report, states, “Where the sector has strong governmental support from national to local level… it has a far greater impact in terms of improving urban food security and contributing to people’s livelihoods and local economic development.”

Leaders in Latin America would do well to invest in the development of UPA initiatives. Urban agriculture has notable health, economic and social benefits as it grants impoverished households access to nutritious, local fruits and vegetables, encourages local economic development and places food sovereignty into the hands of the people who most desperately need nourishment.

– Kayla Strickland

Sources: FAO, Christian Science Monitor
Photo: City Farmer News

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Women of Baghdad Versus ISIS

women of baghdad
ISIS closes in on Baghdad. Streets and homes are emptied of Iraqi men, who enlist to protect their families, their city and their country. They do so out of a new-found national pride, a sense of duty toward the struggling Iraq or simple necessity. But as the front lines are bolstered, “home” is left to the protection of sisters, wives, mothers and daughters.

ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, was formed late last year by Iraqi Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai. Its estimated 7,000 to 10,000 soldiers have a steady cash flow from captured oilfields and territories. Its goal is to create an Islamic caliphate that governs both Iraq and Syria, but its methods are extreme, so much so that even Al Qaeda has renounced any association with the group. Having taken control of towns, oil refineries and even chemical weapons facilities near Aleppo and beyond, ISIS continues to move closer to Baghdad.

Citizens in Baghdad are responding to calls to action made by political and religious officials alike. Tens of thousands of men have volunteered in the anti-ISIS military effort. Men without military experience remain in Baghdad for training, while men with it are sent to the overrun Mosul, Tikrit, the Green Zone and foreign embassies. Military transport vehicles and personnel carriers have become a common sight in the capital city. Everyone is on high alert.

Baghdad is by no means defenseless. The Iraqi military has a force of nearly one million, and many remain. Iraqi officials are aided by foreign advisers, who hope to strengthen the fledgling military’s operations. President Obama awaits reports on the feasibility of drone strikes. Still, the newborn government and its even newer armed forces are being severely tested by some of the best-resourced insurgents in the modern world. That ISIS intends to take Baghdad is certain. But no one is idly waiting to find out if they can.

More than 450 women of Baghdad have volunteered for military training. Most have lost a loved one to the violence of the past few decades, feeling deeply the price of war. They will not be joining their male counterparts on the front lines, but over the course of a five day training period, female relatives of the Badr Brigade are armed with AK-47s and taught both how to shoot and how to defend themselves. Then they are left to return and defend their homes.

These women are between the ages 14 and 60. Ageel Fadhil, 14 years old, trains at the request of her mother. While her parents work, she alone is responsible for the safety of herself and her younger brother. In the event Baghdad]s security fails, her mother hopes she will have a chance.

This hope for safety, security and freedom is echoed by Iraqis across the nation and the city. While hoping for the best, the women of Baghdad are preparing for the worst.

– Olivia Kostreva

Sources: CNN 1, CNN 2, The Washington Times
Photo: Totally Cool Pix

Africa’s Agricultural Potential

The farming industry makes up 30 to 40 percent of Sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP and 70 percent of the labor force. Africa’s agricultural potential is so great that the continent could become the new bread basket of the world if properly guided. It has all the makings for a green revolution, such as the ones newly developed regions in Brazil and Asia have experienced. One prediction sets agricultural output of Africa at a worth of $880 billion by 2030.

“Agriculture is a proven driver of transformational change,” says Juergen Voegele, Senior Director of the World Bank’s Agriculture Global Practice. Unlocking the potential in the farming industry would have affects far beyond the industry itself. It could be the catalyst for massive social and economic growth.

However, the industry is currently struggling. One reason for the struggle is the lack of enthusiasm in younger generations for farming. The youth no longer want to take over their parents’ farms and, with the average farmer aged 55, the current generation is running out of time.

Sanoussi Diakite is a young man from Senegal whose innovative invention shows that there is more to agriculture than farming. If youth are not motivated to farm as a career, there are other options. Senegal has a high demand for the cereal fonio. Sanoussi noticed the demand, and he also noticed how laborious and time inefficient the process of husking fonio is. So, he solved the problem by inventing a machine to assist the husking process.

Sanoussi’s machine is widely successful, with 20 operating in West Africa. He also has plans to create a factory to produce his machine on a large scale.

Not every young person will be motivated by the same entrepreneurial spirit, but Dr. Katrin Glatzel, Innovation Officer at Agriculture for Impact, suggests actions donors and governments might make to assist the process. She advises financing farm-related business, education in agricultural science, vocational or business management and economic policies to nurture an environment conducive to entrepreneurship.

Other fruitful techniques for overcoming the obstacles of a struggling agricultural industry are seen in eastern Africa. Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are working with the East African Agricultural Productivity Program (EAAPP) to harness the agricultural industry’s powers to contribute to inclusive growth.

A concrete example of what is being done can be seen in Uganda. Cassava is a staple in the diets of people not just in Uganda, but all over eastern Africa. When brown streak disease threatened to deplete the cassava crop to dangerously low levels, the National Crops Resources Research Institute stepped in. They developed a technique that saved the cassava and, consequently, saved farmers and their families from going under.

EAAPP is financed by The World Bank and partners. Makhtar Diop, The World Bank Vice President for the Africa region, speaks of the achievements in the four countries: “These success stories show how science and technology is enabling African farmers to grow more nutritious food and boost inclusive growth.”

– Julianne O’Connor

Sources: Business Fights Poverty, The World Bank, Ventures
Photo: SNV

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Search for Teachers in the Philippines

Since 1985, the Metrobank Foundation has carried out an annual search for the best teachers in the Philippines. Every year, the foundation accepts applications from teachers around the country for its Search for Outstanding Teachers (SOT) program. After multiple rounds in an extensive search process, the Metrobank Foundation selects 10 teachers to honor for their contributions to education in the Philippines.

The Metrobank Foundation states that the program is designed to promote a culture of excellence in the field of education in the Philippines. The award is meant to motivate educators to be the best possible teachers.  As a result, students receive a higher quality education and many teachers receive credible reviews.

Teachers of all grade levels from public and private schools can apply for the SOT program. The application comes out in January each year. After all applications are received, the Metrobank Foundation narrows the competition down to about 50 teachers. These 50 teachers undergo a thorough interview process so that by July, a selection committee can pick just 10 teachers to celebrate that year.

The award is quite prestigious, and comes with an enticing prize. Aside from winning a medal, a trophy and a plaque for the teachers to display at their schools, winners also receive 500,000 Philippine Pesos, which translates to just over $11,500. This is extremely enticing for teachers in the Philippines, where the average monthly salary for those in the teaching profession is 33,374 Philippine Pesos, or $767.60. Finalists that do not make it to the final 10 receive a smaller, but noteworthy, cash prize as well.

The 2014 search began in January, as it does every year. This year, however, was particularly special for the Metrobank Foundation because it marked the 30th anniversary of the SOT program. To celebrate 30 years of recognizing outstanding teachers, the theme of this year’s search was “Launching Dreams toward Nation Building.”

Any teacher selected for the prestigious honor of a 30th anniversary SOT winner will be not only an outstanding teacher, but also an educator dedicated to empowering Philippine youth for the betterment of the country’s future.

The Metrobank Foundation has created an honor society comprised of all previous SOT winners.  The society is called the Network of Outstanding Teachers and Educators Inc., but is often shortened to “NOTED.” NOTED ensures that SOT winners continue proving their commitment to excellence in education after they have received their awards. NOTED fosters collaboration among the top educators in the Philippines to increase creativity and professionalism in their classrooms. Additionally, NOTED provides a group for these knowledgeable educators to discuss national concerns in the field of education.

The Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education in the Philippines aid the Metrobank Foundation every year in the search for 10 well-deserving teachers. In the past, winners have included Mitchel Rodriguez, who single-handedly organized a reading program in her school to improve students’ reading habits; Rodel Sampang, a teacher that makes lessons relatable by comparing them to real-world situations; Emilyn Espiritu, an environmental scientist and educator that helped her students make environmentally conscious decisions based on her own discoveries.

The point of the SOT program is to generate a desire for all teachers to do something meaningful just like the previous winners of the competition. If every teacher in the Philippines strives to achieve the same level of excellence required to be recognized by the Metrobank Foundation, Philippine students can receive quality education.

– Emily Walthouse

Sources: Inquirer, Metrobank Foundation, Phil Star, Salary Explorer, Sunday Punch
Photo: Inquirer

Medical Crisis in Gaza By Hamas

crisis in gaza
Since the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers last month by the terrorist organization Hamas, tensions between Israel and Gaza have skyrocketed. Israel retaliated this week by launching missiles into Palestinian territory, killing over 120 Palestinians, including many women and children, and injuring over 800.

Residents are warned before the bombings, but local hospitals in Gaza are still overwhelmed and unable to effectively treat the inundation of patients.

Emergency rooms across the territory are crowded and patients have resorted to sleeping on hospital floors. In Al-Shifa hospital, the central medical center in Gaza, all 12 beds in the intensive care unit are in use.

Gaza launched numerous missiles into Israel this week as well.

“Gaza is completely missing about 30 percent of essential drugs,” said Ashraf al-Qedra, Gaza’s Health Ministry spokesman.

The numbers of medicines, gloves, urine catheters and other medical supplies are dwindling.

Fuel shortages have further limited what medical treatment Palestinians have access to. Only half of the ambulances have enough fuel to run, and hospital lights may fail within the next few days as generators give out. This puts patients who rely on incubators, dialysis machines and other lifesaving equipment at especial risk.

As violence continues to devastate the Israel and Palestine region, there is a beacon of hope, a potential for peace; many injured Palestinians have been treated in Israeli hospitals, despite the airstrikes on both sides. If other Palestinians and Israelis overcome the differences of nationality and religion, the death toll may finally slow.

– Adam Kaminski

Sources: Al Jazeera America, CNN, New York Times
Photo: JFJFP

Charity Vs Investment: The Two Faces of Foreign Aid

The type of foreign aid and methods advocated for by congressional leaders vary. Nonetheless, the impulse of doing something in the face of crises is still there. However, it is not all good news. Of the wealthiest countries, the United States still ranks towards the bottom in terms of the percentage of their national budget allocated to foreign assistance.

Recent studies suggest that foreign aid faces significant challenges, especially due to the mainstream view of it as a charitable act. Following this approach to gather funding or support for foreign aid can indeed be counterproductive, and even harmful.

In a comparison study about what motivates large versus small donors, Economists Dean Karlan and Daniel Wood found that usually large donors are motivated to increase their donation when presented with the broader impact of a foreign aid initiative.

On the other hand, small donors did not pay much attention to the evidence of impact, but actually increased their donation when they were presented with individual stories that appealed to their emotions.

Karlan and Wood’s study illustrates an issue that extends to the entirety of the aid system: “the view of aid as pennies in the box.” Focusing attention on the act of giving, rather than the actual results of foreign aid takes away from the big picture.

A shift towards viewing foreign aid as an investment would be highly beneficial, there is enough evidence to suggest that this kind of investment pays off. In recent years, the flow of foreign assistance in the form of development aid and emergency relief have helped over 500 million people lift themselves out of poverty. What is more, foreign aid sponsored programs have brought basic education to millions of children in poor countries, and reduced child mortality by over 20 percent.

The benefits of foreign aid are not only visible in the results achieved abroad, but they usually find their way back to the donor nations. Industrialized countries greatly benefit from increased global stability, both in economic and security terms. Foreign aid should be taken seriously as an investment opportunity that provides dividend, sometimes in the long term, but dividends nevertheless.

– Sahar Abi Hassan

Sources: Telegraph
Photo: Economist

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Syrian Crisis Making UN Rethink Refugee Camps

Since the start of the Syrian conflict, 2.8 million registered refugees have fled the country and over four million have been displaced internally. With no end in sight, the United Nations has begun to rethink how to handle mass influxes of refugees in host countries.

Refugee camps have long been the main way international aid groups have sheltered people fleeing from conflicts around the world. However, this practice is being reconsidered by the UN, which hopes to place refugees in local communities as opposed to camps.

In camps, refugees often do not have the opportunity to work and are usually confined to restricted areas. However, when refugees are integrated into local communities, they are able to become more self-reliant and contribute to the local economy. This also allows the UN to utilize their funding on already existing communities, as opposed to building and maintaining brand new camps.

Although integration into local communities is preferred for refugees it is ultimately up to the host country–and many have been reluctant. Host countries often experience a drain in resources due to increases in refugee populations, fueling an increase in tensions between the two groups.

The UN hopes to convince host countries that they can benefit economically by allowing refugees to integrate. In addition to basic market advantages, host countries will also be eligible for Targeted Development Assistance (TDA).

TDA allows the UN as well as donor states (such as the United States) to specifically allocate monies to countries that host large refugee populations. The goal is to help host countries provide better security, medical assistance and supplies, as well as educational and vocational training within their existing communities. These services will not only benefit the refugees, but also the lives of the local populations.

A host country cannot be expected to bear the brunt of the refugee influx on its own. Furthermore, camp situations are often unable to provide anything beyond basic necessities, and do not allow refugees enough economic freedom to become more self-reliant. Because of this, international aid is used at a faster rate. As the world experiences a surge in refugees, rethinking how to provide a safe place for refugees while also considering the effects on local populations is essential in order to avoid the development of further conflict.

– Andrea Blinkhorn

Sources: IRIN, U.S. Department of State, The New York Times, UNHCR
Photo: IRIN

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World Learning: Connecting Minds Across the Globe

World Learning, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to empowering youth and advancing leadership in 60 countries worldwide. With three specific and unique programs—in education, development and exchange—World Learning’s initiatives cover a broad range of issues to comprehensively address critical needs in the global education sector.

The Experiment in International Learning program offers high school students opportunities to take part in “immersive, life-transforming” experiences in more than 20 countries through three-week or five-week summer abroad programs.

At the graduate and undergraduate levels, World Learning’s School for International Training (SIT) is an accredited higher education institution that provides undergraduates with semester-long programs in 30 countries, each with a focus on critical global issues.

Additionally, SIT aims to offer deep cultural immersion through fieldwork, language courses and urban and rural home-stays with locals. SIT’s graduate institute offers masters degrees in conflict transformation, international education, sustainable education, and teaching English as a second language.

International Exchange programs enable World Learning to address larger worldwide issues in education such as teacher professional development, community and school enrichment, and English language/literacy improvement. Additionally, these programs work with policymakers and education reform programs, working to achieve the support and resources necessary to promoting sustainable development in education.

In addition to education programs, World Learning brings together emerging leaders from 140 countries around the world to the United States. on exchanges. These exchange programs are unique in that they are short-term, but offer high-value learning experiences for leaders who are eager to gain professional development by connecting with U.S. and international colleagues to gain a broader view of U.S. culture and values. This program provides people of all ages with the opportunity to learn together about leadership, current issues and peace building.

World Learning’s International Development programs work to educate communities worldwide to address issues relating to poverty, such as education access and disease prevention. Working with local partners, World Learning’s grassroots programs identify specific needs, challenges and resources within communities, customizing development plans.

One example of these projects is the Caribbean HIV/AIDS Grants Solicitation and Management program. World Learning’s development goal is to ensure that partners invest deeply in projects and provide the necessary support for successful, long-term improvements.

World Learning’s work is essential to global policy and affairs because, in essence, it pulls back the curtain from many cultures and communities and allows people to examine not only their own cultures and communities, but others as well. Education is key not only in breaking the cycle of poverty, but it’s crucial in the preserving of peace and in the building of understanding, trust, and respect across communities worldwide.

World Learning’s promotion of global communication through education, development and exchange programs and higher education opportunities are making strides in the effort to eliminate conflict and achieve equality across the board when it comes to worldwide education.

– Elizabeth Nutt

Sources: World Bank, World Learning, Inc.
Photo: World Learning

USAID Takes Over Production of Medika Mamba

In an effort to combat malnutrition among Haitian infants and youth (about 22 percent of Haitian children under five years of age are malnourished), the nonprofit Meds and Food for Kids distributes medika mamba, otherwise known as Plumpy’Nut, a peanut butter-based food that helps provide nutrition for malnourished children.

Medika mamba will soon be distributed in Guatemala as a result of UNICEF programming. However, the good news comes to a halt there.

The World Food Program has announced that they will no longer be buying products from Meds and Food for kids because they are now able to obtain a soy-corn based product from USAID free of charge. This change will cause Meds and Food for Kids to lose half of their yearly income.

Moreover, this decision is having a negative impact on the Haitian community. Ten years ago a factory was opened (spearheaded by pediatrician Patricia Wolff) to produce medika mamba in order to help treat malnourishment through local products. If the budget cuts force the factory to close, about 42 people will lose their jobs and hundreds of peanut farmers will lose one of their main buyers.

The factory had recently been doing very well, increasing the amount of peanuts they were buying from farmers by 50 percent. Wollf claims “that with assured international aid buyers for medika mamba, the factory could boost production year on year, creating economies of scale and a sustainable local loop of supply and demand.”

WFP asserts that while they understand the value in having Haiti use local products to help their own community, because their nutrition related activities are now secured by USAID’s Kore Lavi Food Voucher Program, they are unable to continue purchasing goods from the Meds and Food for Kids organization. While the Kore Lavi program will still provide aid, it will not give Haitain individuals the same ability to provide for themselves like the medika mamba factory has.

– Jordyn Horowitz

Sources: The Guardian, Nutriset, Meds & Food for Kids, WFP
Photo: Drake