Around the world, acid attacks affect the futures of around 1,500 people every year. The majority of these crimes take place in India, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Uganda.
The attacks are mostly used as punishments or revenge for slights against the perpetrator. Some women are attacked because of their beauty, particularly if their beauty draws unwanted glances. One-third of women do not even know why their attacks occur.
Children are often second-hand victims to attacks on their mothers. One woman was attacked while breastfeeding her infant and both suffered severe burns.
Men are also victims. In Uganda, 45 percent of the attacks are against men.
Administrations typically downplay these attacks. Many countries have passed new laws to increase punishments, but these are not always enforced. In Cambodia, acid attacks are punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
There are also laws regulating the sale of acid, which is currently available in many places for a few cents per bottle. After the regulation was passed, there were fewer attacks, but it is hard to completely regulate the intent for the purchases.
Most perpetrators are never prosecuted for their crimes.
Their victims suffer from gruesome deformities. Acid destroys skin, clothing, and hair, and in high concentrations, it can melt bone. In some cases, victims are tricked into drinking acid and suffer from internal damage. Victims must deal with perpetual health issues, even after the attacks.
Recovery is elaborate and expensive. The multitude of surgeries is often unaffordable for victims.
The physical and mental suffering attached to these crimes prevents many victims from living their lives. Many end up blaming themselves. One mother lamented how her appearance scared her own children.
Even if they are willing to go back into society, victims are often ostracized. One mother said that her in-laws show pictures of her to her children and tell them she has turned into a monster. Her husband was her attacker.
The combined lack of self-worth and societal support makes it difficult for these victims to find employment after their attacks. Many attacks are perpetrated by men against their wives, and when they cast them out, these women often have no source of income.
Most places will not hire victims with their deformities and it is often foreign charities that provide any work at all. Many women attempt to cover their scars with burkas, but this often does not hide the crime.
Some victims do work to rise from their past. This is often done with encouragement from supportive family or friends. One woman is pursuing a degree in finance after her husband attacked her.
Recently, a group of female victims were given the opportunity to act as models for Rupa Designs. They were wearing designer clothes, and it provided a way for them to still feel wanted by society. The goal of the photo shoot was to motivate women to move past their attacks and recognize that they can still realize their dreams. The shoot was organized by Stop Acid Attacks, an organization that works with survivors.
Other organizations, like the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity and the Acid Survivors Foundation also offer services for victims. Some groups offer free surgical care, physiotherapy, counseling and financial support to survivors. They also educate communities about the realities of acid attacks and the needs of victims afterwards.
The lives of both men and women are affected by these attacks, and it causes irreparable damage to their lives. Countries and organizations are working to end the violence, but there is still work to be done.
– Monica Roth
Sources: New York Daily News, Post Magazine, Daily Mail, DW, Huffington Post
Photo: flickr
Food Shortages and Smuggling in Venezuela
Venezuela’s government continues to battle a food hoarding and smuggling epidemic. It accuses food smugglers of causing national food shortages in the country. The government states that food smugglers hoard goods to resell for profit and smuggle such items into Venezuela’s neighboring countries.
Due to currency controls and a lack of U.S. dollars, Venezuela has found it to be increasingly difficult to import foreign food products from other countries. One of the most popular countries for food smuggling is Colombia, which borders Venezuela. Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos have both acknowledged the problem.
Earlier this month, Maduro stated that smuggling seizure efforts in Colombia have recovered close to $400 million U.S. dollars worth of goods. Due to these smuggling incidents, the Venezuelan government intends to introduce a biometric tracking system that will limit citizens’ food purchases via a fingerprint scanning.
A military spokesperson for the government told El Universal newspaper that the quantity of goods smuggled to Colombia “would be enough to load the shelves of our supermarkets.”
This July, the government seized more than 11 tons worth of fish, chicken and beef.
Last month, Venezuela began to close its border to Colombia at night and deploy thousands of troops in an effort to stop the smuggling in Venezuela from taking place. However, opposition to the plan suggests that the policy will treat Venezuelan citizens as criminals and even breach individual privacy. Many have suggested that the policy leans toward food rationing.
Some watchdog groups have even predicted that those without the biometric cards may not be able to shop at state supermarkets. The Venezuelan government believes up to 40 percent of items purchased within the country are smuggled out of the country. This includes medicines and basic foodstuff.
Even though the government has stated that those who make use of the biometric cards may receive various discounts and other benefits, those against the plan suggest otherwise. Nevertheless, the country has seen inflation rates top 60 percent this year due to food smuggling, which indicates that something must be done.
– Ethan Safran
Sources: The Guardian, BBC, Latin Post, The Guardian
Photo: The London Fog
RESULTS: Advocates for the World’s Poor
RESULTS is a U.S.-based charity that advocates for the world’s poor. RESULTS uses advocacy to bring the world’s wealthiest governments together to do more to help end extreme poverty.
It relies heavily on volunteers and has partner organizations in four other countries—Canada, Australia, Japan and the U.K.
Thirty years ago, a teacher named Sam Daley-Harris, was inspired by a report from the National Academy of Sciences which stated that ending poverty was possible through strong political will. This led to the creation of RESULTS.
Each national organization has its own campaigns. Canada’s campaigns are nutrition, education, water and sanitation and microfinance. In the U.K., RESULTS is working on campaigns for basic education, child health and tuberculosis.
In the U.S., RESULTS has four main campaigns. The first is appropriation, which works to ensure that Congress continues to fund foreign assistance programs, specifically the ones that are the most effective.
The next campaign works to expand economic opportunities like increasing micro finance and “changing the policies of international financial institutions that hinder development.”
The final two campaigns are ensuring that all children have access to basic education and basic healthcare.
These campaigns are meant to educate communities and individuals as well as congress and the media on global poverty and hunger.
RESULTS U.S. has worked within Congress in support of important legislation like the Education for All Act as well as convincing congressmen to support crucial organizations like the Global Fund to Fight AIDS.
A clear definitive example of how RESULTS operates and achieves results is their written letter to the president in 2010. The letter was co-written with Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and asked the president to pledge $6 billion from 2012-2014 to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS.
An additional 101 members of congress signed the letter and the result was a $4 billion pledge which was a “38 percent increase over the preceding three-year period.”
There are many more examples of successes like this on their website—examples of how advocacy really made a difference.
Charity Navigator has only reviewed the U.S. based RESULTS organization. According to their website RESULTS has complete transparency and accountability with a 4 star rating and a score of 99 out of a 100.
It shows that 90 percent of their budget goes towards the programs they support. This is legitimate charity that anyone could feel confident donating too.
On the U.S. website they use a fitting quote that expresses how advocacy and education about poverty is the best way to end it.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus said during his acceptance speech, “I firmly believe that we can create a poverty-free world if we collectively believe in it. In a poverty-free world, the only place you would be able to see poverty is in the poverty museums.”
– Eleni Marino
Sources: RESULTS UK, RESULTS Canada, RESULTS USA, Charity Navigator
Photo: Newsday
Vaccine-Resistant Polio: the 2010 Congo Outbreak
On August 18, a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences discovered the cause of the particularly deadly 2010 polio outbreak in Congo: a mutated strain that is resistant to vaccination.
Of the 445 infected, almost half of them succumbed to the virus. The outbreak’s high death rate of 47 percent was originally attributed to low immunization coverage but is now thought to be caused by a mutated strain originating from Southeast Asia. The vaccine-resistant polio strain featured a combination of two mutations that both affected the proteins of the strain’s coat, effectively making it more difficult for the antibodies to recognize and stick on the virus.
The research team tested blood samples from Gabon and from German medical students that had been vaccinated. They found that their antibodies were less effective against the Congo variant and that approximately 15 to 29 percent of the students would have been unprotected from the Congo version.
The vaccine used in Congo and in most developing countries is a weaker, dead serum and was not sufficient in providing protection. In contrast, individuals that receive the live, oral polio vaccine are provided with the strongest immunity and are protected from this polio variant.
The spread in the Congo was stopped by the administration of oral vaccine to the entire population of the surrounding areas.
While the disease is only widespread in three countries, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the larger concern is that similar outbreaks will appear as the world is on the cusp of completely eradicating polio. Areas where dominant strains have been eradicated but vaccine coverage is low are at risk of mutated strains in particular.
However, there are a number of promising methods for prevention and the eventual eradication of polio.
By simply increasing vaccine coverage and surveillance, outbreaks can be detected earlier or completely prevented with high vaccine implementation.
In addition, double vaccination has also proved effective in boosting immunity. By combining the oral vaccine with an additional injection of the inactivated virus, the provided immunity is much more effective than the typical application of two drops of the oral vaccine.
On the other hand, there are still many barriers impeding efforts to eliminate polio.
Delays with updating the public database with the most recent poliovirus sequences have been impeding research among the wider scientific community.
Moreover, security issues in high-conflict regions where vaccination is used as a political tool prevent successful vaccination coverage. The effectiveness of the double vaccination approach is especially promising due to its efficiency under limited access. With a brief period of time, the double vaccination method achieves much more than with the oral vaccination method.
While much has been done to almost eradicate polio, there must still be efforts to achieve the complete annihilation of the virus.
– William Ying
Sources: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Nature, Yahoo News, Live Science, BBC
Photo: flickr
Lasting Effects of Acid Attacks
Around the world, acid attacks affect the futures of around 1,500 people every year. The majority of these crimes take place in India, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Uganda.
The attacks are mostly used as punishments or revenge for slights against the perpetrator. Some women are attacked because of their beauty, particularly if their beauty draws unwanted glances. One-third of women do not even know why their attacks occur.
Children are often second-hand victims to attacks on their mothers. One woman was attacked while breastfeeding her infant and both suffered severe burns.
Men are also victims. In Uganda, 45 percent of the attacks are against men.
Administrations typically downplay these attacks. Many countries have passed new laws to increase punishments, but these are not always enforced. In Cambodia, acid attacks are punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
There are also laws regulating the sale of acid, which is currently available in many places for a few cents per bottle. After the regulation was passed, there were fewer attacks, but it is hard to completely regulate the intent for the purchases.
Most perpetrators are never prosecuted for their crimes.
Their victims suffer from gruesome deformities. Acid destroys skin, clothing, and hair, and in high concentrations, it can melt bone. In some cases, victims are tricked into drinking acid and suffer from internal damage. Victims must deal with perpetual health issues, even after the attacks.
Recovery is elaborate and expensive. The multitude of surgeries is often unaffordable for victims.
The physical and mental suffering attached to these crimes prevents many victims from living their lives. Many end up blaming themselves. One mother lamented how her appearance scared her own children.
Even if they are willing to go back into society, victims are often ostracized. One mother said that her in-laws show pictures of her to her children and tell them she has turned into a monster. Her husband was her attacker.
The combined lack of self-worth and societal support makes it difficult for these victims to find employment after their attacks. Many attacks are perpetrated by men against their wives, and when they cast them out, these women often have no source of income.
Most places will not hire victims with their deformities and it is often foreign charities that provide any work at all. Many women attempt to cover their scars with burkas, but this often does not hide the crime.
Some victims do work to rise from their past. This is often done with encouragement from supportive family or friends. One woman is pursuing a degree in finance after her husband attacked her.
Recently, a group of female victims were given the opportunity to act as models for Rupa Designs. They were wearing designer clothes, and it provided a way for them to still feel wanted by society. The goal of the photo shoot was to motivate women to move past their attacks and recognize that they can still realize their dreams. The shoot was organized by Stop Acid Attacks, an organization that works with survivors.
Other organizations, like the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity and the Acid Survivors Foundation also offer services for victims. Some groups offer free surgical care, physiotherapy, counseling and financial support to survivors. They also educate communities about the realities of acid attacks and the needs of victims afterwards.
The lives of both men and women are affected by these attacks, and it causes irreparable damage to their lives. Countries and organizations are working to end the violence, but there is still work to be done.
– Monica Roth
Sources: New York Daily News, Post Magazine, Daily Mail, DW, Huffington Post
Photo: flickr
Inner Mongolia: Changing China’s Views on Women
In the northern Chinese province of Inner Mongolia, a recent conference was held by the Inner Mongolia Women’s Federation in the provincial capital. The topic of conversation was the role of women in the family and maintaining harmonious ties.
With the discussion taking place at a psychology center, psychologists provided an open dialogue about household relationships and engaged the women to openly discuss some problems and provide insight.
Though there are many who are considered homemaking women, the goal of the meeting was to provide insight, assistance and discussion around topics that previously had not been adequately discussed.
In recent months, Inner Mongolia has been in the forefront of equalizing opportunities for women. Along with having open dialogues about women’s interests in the capital, other events have focused on the professional development of women.
Though much of the Chinese agricultural business is dominated by men, women are becoming farming agents and spreading their professional wisdom with others. By including women in the conversation, the Chinese government is hoping to expand the potential of the agricultural business by accessing a greater population.
Though many of these local conferences are supported by women’s interest groups in the region, to improve domestic and professional conditions for women, Inner Mongolia is not alone. The dialogue in Inner Mongolia is reflective of a greater conversation in China as more women are entering the workforce and developing professional careers
With more conferences happening in large cities across China including Beijing, the recognition of women as resources for growth and development has influenced the way they are being acknowledged. While the dichotomy of women working professionally or staying home is still strong other ventures are emphasizing both roles.
These women’s interest groups are maximizing the opportunities of every day women both in Inner Mongolia and the rest of China. The projected goal of these endeavors is to help better economic conditions for women and enable greater social equality both in the home and in their professions.
– Kristin Ronzi
Sources: Women of China, Catalyst
Photo: Little Star
ARAHA: Alleviating Suffering in the Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa is considered to be one of the poorest regions in the world. The United Nations recently estimated that nearly 16 million people in this area are in urgent need of food and other assistance. The American Relief Agency for the Horn of Africa (ARAHA) is an organization working to alleviate suffering from hunger, illiteracy, diseases and poverty—targeting this troubled region.
The region known as the Horn of Africa makes up the eastern part of the continent. The countries of focus include Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. In order to accomplish their goals the ARAHA divides up their work into the following categories: food, water, disaster relief, education, self-reliance, orphans and repatriation.
The Horn of Africa faces a number of challenges that contribute to and exacerbate the extreme poverty, malnutrition and disease in the region. Drought continues to affect the region’s ability to successfully grow crops and obtain clean water. High levels of famine are a result of drought within the region, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives.
Somalia experienced a famine between the years 2010-2012 that claimed 260,000 lives—half of these deaths were children under the age of five. Since August of this year, there has been yet another famine that is creeping its way through the country.
Long wars and ethnic conflicts make it difficult for countries to progress and for economies to grow. In conflict areas within the Horn, 1.1 million people are currently internally displaced.
ARAHA works to track situations such as the current famine in Somalia. More than 500 families have received food baskets due to the efforts of the ARAHA. The organization builds hand-dug water wells. Emergency water distributions and water harvesting systems are also implemented in areas of need. Water wells are important in that they provide an opportunity for individuals to seek employment – fetching clean water can take the entire day.
With a donation of $500, the ARAHA is able to grant a dairy cow to a family in need. The purpose of this project is to provide the family a source of income by selling and drinking the milk. A family can expect an average income to be $100 a month with this new pet.
In addition to providing food and access to water, ARAHA provides tools to the struggling region in order to promote sustainable assistance. For example, the solar stove cooks virtually any food using natural light as its source of power. ARAHA has partnered with Shajee Solar International in order to send 200 of these stoves to Sudan.
One of ARAHA’s longest-running programs is the Orphan Sponsorship Program. A $40 sponsorship every month covers the basic needs of orphans such as school fees, basic healthcare and food.
Headquartered in Minneapolis, ARAHA is implementing newer strategies to downsize hunger, poverty, disease and illiteracy–while creating sustainable practices while doing so.
– Caroline Logan
Sources: American Relief Agency for the Horn of Africa, Razoo, Faqs
Photo: flickr
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