Recently becoming the world’s largest industry, travel is one of the hottest commodities on the market. With a trillion-dollar annual footprint, the travel business has major economic and political power. However, not all destinations are created equal. Where you, as a traveler, choose to journey can either encourage best practice behavior from mindful countries, or support the harmful tourist industries of their irresponsible counterparts.
Ethical Traveler is an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization that seeks to use tourism to protect human rights and the environment. Every year, Ethical Traveler compiles a list of 10 developing countries with vibrant tourism industries that will put your traveling expenses to good use.
The countries that made the list are those that scored best in the categories of support of human rights, preservation of the environment, social welfare and animal welfare. According to Ethical Traveler, “Each country selected as a Best Ethical Destination also offers the opportunity to experience unspoiled natural beauty, and to interact with local people and cultures in a meaningful, mutually enriching way.”
This year’s winners may surprise you; the majority of these unusual destinations are off the beaten path, but promise an outstanding vacation with values you can feel good about. Here are the 10 most ethical vacation destinations.
These islands prioritize conservation and sustainability, as shown by the efforts to establish new Marine Protected Areas and the expansion of a number of protected acres in a major National Park. The Bahamas made great strides to combat human trafficking this year, with the first prosecution under human trafficking law.
Cited by Ethical Traveler as a “best practice model for the Caribbean,” Barbados promotes sustainable tourism while protecting its coastline. The child mortality rate in Barbados is particularly low, and this nation received the highest possible score in the categories of Political Rights and Civil Liberties –higher even than some developed countries.
This country has the goal of making energy 100 percent renewable over the next two decades. Cape Verde is also an outstanding example of an African country with stellar attention to political and civil rights, with laws that prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, and holding its first Gay Pride Week this year — the second to take place in all of Africa.
Dominica
This island boasts unspoiled forests and native species. An emphasis on protecting wildlife includes the preservation of native frog and iguana populations, along with a valiant effort to save endemic mountain chickens, which only inhabit two islands in the world. Dominica has expanded solar power across the island, and has the goal of being energy-independent and carbon negative by 2020.
Latvia
Of the winning destinations, Latvia scored the highest in environmental protection. This nation has been acknowledged as one of the top performers in the world in both environmental public health and ecosystem vitality. Not only does this country have a pristine environmental record, it is the highest ranked of the 10 countries in gender equality.
Like Latvia, Lithuania is a leader in environmental and animal protection. Lithuania made strides in social welfare this year by reaching it’s Millennium Development Goal for under 5 mortality rate, which has dropped by a whopping 52 percent since 2000.
Mauritius
This year Mauritius announced an impressive renewable energy goal, aiming for 35 percent renewable use over the next two decades. The U.N. praised Mauritius for having made ‘substantial progress’ in social welfare this year, due to their improvements in property rights and labor freedom.
Palau
In Palau, 28.2 percent of precious marine and terrestrial area is protected – the highest percentage out of all the countries on this list. Press freedom in Palau is impressive; this country prides itself on exemplary freedom of press for a developing country.
Uruguay is in the process of building 21 wind farms, and is working toward the goal of 90 percent renewable electricity by 2015. Uruguay dominates the category of human rights, with laws passed this year allowing marriage equality and the legalization of steps toward ending unsafe abortions. This country’s equality ranking was second only to Chile.
By visiting the destinations on this list, travelers can reward developing countries for their promotion of sustainable tourism and ethical laws. The additional economic support from tourism will allow these nations to continue improving their countries, and protect the valuable natural resources that make them such appealing places to explore.
– Grace Flaherty
Sources: BBC 1, BBC 2, Ethical Traveler
Photo: BBC
The Power of 12 Dollars
Before the 1990s, many people disapproved of giving unregulated cash to the poor. People feared that handing out checks would lead to corruption, waste and an increase in drug and alcohol abuse among the impoverished.
However, the increasingly popular cash grant programs that have appeared in countries such as Brazil and Mexico are disproving these stigmas. Those in extreme poverty receive invaluable benefits from cash grants of as little as 12 dollars per month. When desperately needy individuals get small monthly cash transfers, research shows that better health, education and smarter overall life decisions will follow.
Michelle Adato has studied the impact of cash transfers for many years. She reveals, “Cash grants are now being seen as a part of a comprehensive development strategy as opposed to just a safety net.” What was previously thought of as a short-term solution is proving to have longer, more sustainable results.
When individuals and families receive grants, such as South African child support grants and those from The Transfer Project led by UNICEF, they can buy things they really need such as food, clothes and an education for their children. Extended grants to adolescents have proven to decrease risky sexual behavior, thereby reducing the chances of teen pregnancy and HIV, by 63 percent.
John Hoddinott, a deputy director at the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Unit, argues that cash grants not only give the poor a means to buy necessary survival items, but they “give beneficiaries a base from which to make longer term investments.”
“The research shows that in the vast majority of cases, poor people use their money well — the evidence is unambiguous.”
The Transfer Project, which runs programs across Sub-Saharan Africa, operates on the premise that income poverty has highly damaging impacts on human development, and that cash empowers people living in poverty to make their own decisions on how to improve their lives.
Those receiving grants from The Transfer Project in Zambia, Ghana and Malawi “all reported being happier with their lives, and research showed that recipients in these countries were eating better too.”
The child support grant in South Africa has expanded to include 17-year-olds, and now reaches 11 million children. The U.N. reports that a total of 20 African countries have social protection programs like these and both the number of countries and size of the programs are growing, with Kenya, Zambia, Lesotho, Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Zimbabwe all expanding their programs.
In many ways, the initial skepticism of cash grant programs have only served to increase scrutiny and research, in turn strengthening them. Handing out cash rather than food and supplies empowers the impoverished to make their own choices and invest the stipends wisely. The widespread success of programs like The Transfer Project and the South African child support grants is a testament to the power of a small amount of money on lifting the poorest of the poor out of dire living conditions and into a brighter future.
– Grace Flaherty
Sources: CPC, IRIN News
Photo: Poke
5 Violations Against Women’s Rights
Despite enormous strides made toward gender equality, the world today is still riddled with gender disparities. Below are a list of five reasons why fighting for women’s rights is so important, and why it’s still an ongoing battle.
1. Workplace Inequalities Around the World…Including the United States
For most Americans, it isn’t a secret that women still face extreme disadvantages in the workplace. Despite putting in equally long hours and given identical responsibilities as their male counterparts, women still only make 77 cents for every man’s dollar in the United States, and it’s even worse in other countries. Not only do women make less, but their responsibilities at home are often more rigorous; according to Harvard studies, men still put in a significantly less amount of time in household chores as their female partners.
2. Skewed Gender Ratios
In some countries, where population control laws were put into a much stricter affect, gender ratio disparities are skyrocketing. A favorable push of male-to-female in these countries has resulted in unbalanced gender ratio problems, where some female babies can be killed or left abandoned. In China, the gender ratio of male to female was 108:100 based on a 2013 data consensus; in India, it was 107:100.
3. Violence
According to a statement made by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2008, one in every three women is likely to be “beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime.” In fact, violence against women is so common in developing countries that oftentimes it doesn’t even make the news cycle. And while many countries fail to protect their rape victims, other countries such as Morocco and Saudi Arabia have much stricter punishments. Rape victims in these countries can be charged with crimes for being “alone with an unrelated man, or for getting pregnant afterwards,” only further perpetuating the damaging notion of rape culture.
4. Marriage and Divorce
According to UNICEF, more than one-third of women between the ages of 20 and 24 were married before they turned 18, which is considered below the minimum age for marriage in most countries. Nevertheless, these child brides risk greater chances of giving birth at earlier ages and suffer from risks of complications in childbirth and a greater chance of contracting HIV/AIDS. Courts do little to help the problem; in Yemen, it is against the law for a woman to leave the house without her husband’s permission. This results in a high percentage of women, who are afraid of the legal ramifications, to stay in abusive relationships.
5. Education
Women currently make up two-thirds of the world’s illiterate adults. Whether they are kept from school in order to keep up with household chores or their father deems it time for them to marry, women are consistently being denied their right to education; a right hardly ever denied to their male counterparts. While numerous studies have been proven to show that educating women is key to eliminating poverty and aiding development, the gender gap in education in many of these developing countries is only continuing to increase.
– Nick Magnanti
Sources: The Washington Post, Harvard Summer School, Discovery, United Nations Population Fund
Photo: Act 4 Entertainment
10 Most Ethical Vacation Destinations
Recently becoming the world’s largest industry, travel is one of the hottest commodities on the market. With a trillion-dollar annual footprint, the travel business has major economic and political power. However, not all destinations are created equal. Where you, as a traveler, choose to journey can either encourage best practice behavior from mindful countries, or support the harmful tourist industries of their irresponsible counterparts.
Ethical Traveler is an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization that seeks to use tourism to protect human rights and the environment. Every year, Ethical Traveler compiles a list of 10 developing countries with vibrant tourism industries that will put your traveling expenses to good use.
The countries that made the list are those that scored best in the categories of support of human rights, preservation of the environment, social welfare and animal welfare. According to Ethical Traveler, “Each country selected as a Best Ethical Destination also offers the opportunity to experience unspoiled natural beauty, and to interact with local people and cultures in a meaningful, mutually enriching way.”
This year’s winners may surprise you; the majority of these unusual destinations are off the beaten path, but promise an outstanding vacation with values you can feel good about. Here are the 10 most ethical vacation destinations.
The Bahamas
These islands prioritize conservation and sustainability, as shown by the efforts to establish new Marine Protected Areas and the expansion of a number of protected acres in a major National Park. The Bahamas made great strides to combat human trafficking this year, with the first prosecution under human trafficking law.
Barbados
Cited by Ethical Traveler as a “best practice model for the Caribbean,” Barbados promotes sustainable tourism while protecting its coastline. The child mortality rate in Barbados is particularly low, and this nation received the highest possible score in the categories of Political Rights and Civil Liberties –higher even than some developed countries.
Cape Verde
This country has the goal of making energy 100 percent renewable over the next two decades. Cape Verde is also an outstanding example of an African country with stellar attention to political and civil rights, with laws that prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, and holding its first Gay Pride Week this year — the second to take place in all of Africa.
Dominica
This island boasts unspoiled forests and native species. An emphasis on protecting wildlife includes the preservation of native frog and iguana populations, along with a valiant effort to save endemic mountain chickens, which only inhabit two islands in the world. Dominica has expanded solar power across the island, and has the goal of being energy-independent and carbon negative by 2020.
Latvia
Of the winning destinations, Latvia scored the highest in environmental protection. This nation has been acknowledged as one of the top performers in the world in both environmental public health and ecosystem vitality. Not only does this country have a pristine environmental record, it is the highest ranked of the 10 countries in gender equality.
Lithuania
Like Latvia, Lithuania is a leader in environmental and animal protection. Lithuania made strides in social welfare this year by reaching it’s Millennium Development Goal for under 5 mortality rate, which has dropped by a whopping 52 percent since 2000.
Mauritius
This year Mauritius announced an impressive renewable energy goal, aiming for 35 percent renewable use over the next two decades. The U.N. praised Mauritius for having made ‘substantial progress’ in social welfare this year, due to their improvements in property rights and labor freedom.
Palau
In Palau, 28.2 percent of precious marine and terrestrial area is protected – the highest percentage out of all the countries on this list. Press freedom in Palau is impressive; this country prides itself on exemplary freedom of press for a developing country.
Uruguay
Uruguay is in the process of building 21 wind farms, and is working toward the goal of 90 percent renewable electricity by 2015. Uruguay dominates the category of human rights, with laws passed this year allowing marriage equality and the legalization of steps toward ending unsafe abortions. This country’s equality ranking was second only to Chile.
By visiting the destinations on this list, travelers can reward developing countries for their promotion of sustainable tourism and ethical laws. The additional economic support from tourism will allow these nations to continue improving their countries, and protect the valuable natural resources that make them such appealing places to explore.
– Grace Flaherty
Sources: BBC 1, BBC 2, Ethical Traveler
Photo: BBC
Bahrain Expels Human Rights Official
Bahrain’s government, which until now has maintained good relations with the United States despite being accused of widespread human rights violations over the past three years, has expelled U.S. Assistant Secretary of the State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Tom Malinowski from the nation. Bahrain’s expulsion came after Malinowski’s recent meeting with the opposition group, Al Wefaq. The group is fighting for more representation for the Shiite majority in Bahrain’s politics.
The ministry claimed that Malinowski “met with a particular party to the detriment of other interlocutors,” and deemed the meeting as interference with the nation’s internal affairs. Over the past few years, the Bahrain government has used extreme forces to inhibit protests against the Sunni royal family, including beating and jailing dissidents and calling in help from the Saudi Arabian army. Nevertheless, Malinowski attributes his expulsion to the government’s attempt at “undermining dialogue,” and urges opposition groups to continue toward reconciliation.
Scheduled to last for three days, Malinowski’s stay in Bahrain has been cut short thanks to his removal. While he is still on their grounds, he will not be meeting with government officials. Though Malinowski’s stance may seem surprising to some, his previous experience may shed further light.
Malinowski, who served as the director for Human Rights Watch’s Washington, D.C. branch, wrote a dispatch in 2012 titled “Bahrain: Prison Island,” in which he highlighted many of the crackdowns on Arab Spring protests. “Police torture and abuse have simply moved from police stations to the alleyways and back lots of Shiite villages,” he wrote. “Though their convictions were based on nothing more than the content of their speeches and participation in meetings and rallies challenging the monarchy.”
The visit, which was coordinated in advance and was meant to strengthen ties between the two countries, has “deeply concerned” the United States government. Noting these recent actions are “inconsistent” with their previous relationship, the United States insists the Bahraini government was “well aware” that the U.S. met with all officially-recognized political societies, including Al Wefaq. Nevertheless, their decision to expel the Assistant Secretary remains adamant, causing many to question the future of the two countries’ relationship.
– Nick Magnanti
Sources: Think Progress, Yahoo News, ABC News
Photo: El Venezolano
Medical Aid To Palestine Due to Violence
The World Health Organization warns of the critical medical situation within Palestine and the Gaza Strip. The four days of rocket attacks from both Palestine and Israel has left those in Gaza in a critical state.
The recent violence has increased medical emergencies, and the Palestinian healthcare system is struggling to cope with the new burden. WHO reported that large amounts healthcare debt, in addition to medical and fuel shortages, have severely crippled health services in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Unless the international community takes immediate action, Palestinians will not be able to have their basic medical needs met.
With the most recent strikes by Israel on Gaza on June 11, 2014, the death toll in Palestine has reached nearly 100. Over 570 people have been injured since the conflict started on July 6, 2014. Those in Gaza continue to fight back, and it appears that the conflict will only continue to escalate.
The fighting has weakened the already inadequate medical system in Palestine, and especially in Gaza. WHO is now making an international plea for funding and medical aid to help Palestinians receive urgent medical care.
To make matters worse, the hospitals in Gaza only have 10 days worth of fuel left to run the buildings. The lack of fuel is alarming, as the fighting continues to interrupt electricity. In an effort to conserve money, the hospitals are only performing operations on those in life-threatening conditions. Those with less threatening, but still serious, medical problems cannot receive treatment.
The Israeli airstrikes damaged a hospital, three clinics and a water sanitation facility in a refugee camp in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The organization reports that hospitals in East Jerusalem are struggling financially because of unpaid referral services, and there is a shortage of medications in both the West Bank and Gaza.
While the attacks on Israel have left multiple civilians injured, the poorer and militarily inferior Palestine is grappling to provide essential services for those injured and affected by the conflict.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health, with backing from WHO, is making a pressing appeal for $40 million in aid, enough to provide critical medical supplies for six months. The United Nations has also stepped in to help organize the relief effort.
The hope is that with numerous aid agencies involved in bringing the severity of the situation in Palestine into the international spotlight, hospitals will receive the supplies they need, and victims of the fighting will receive the care they desperately require.
– Kathleen Egan
Sources: The New York Times, WHO, Ma’an News Agency
Photo: The New York Times
World’s Students Struggle with Loan Debt
Fear not, American undergraduates. While we may have the single most expensive higher educational system in the developed world, students from all over are still accruing debt. You may have heard the statistics, or suffer from them personally: American student loan debt has rocketed to more than $1 trillion, and more than 7 million borrowers are currently in default. Yet, students from all over the world, from Japan to Britain, are also raking up expensive debt to receive an education.
While public university tuition is free in countries like Argentina, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, this does not always mean students finish their education with zero debt. In 2012, approximately 900,000 Swedish students received help from the government, totaling close to 22 billion krona (roughly $3.5 billion). Two-thirds of those funds were loans.
The average student loan debt for the U.K. is between €12,360 and €12,850, where more than 93 percent of students have received some form of financial assistance, accruing debt in the process. The country has even seen a staggering rise in suicide rates as a result of its student debt crisis. Between 2007 and 2011, the number rose to a devastating 50 percent.
In China, average tuition runs at about ¥40,000 annually, though the average family only makes about ¥3,000 per year. Japan, too, is saddled with increasing student loan problems. Between 2001 and 2011, the number of students applying for loans jumped to 70 percent, and 60 percent of its graduating student population since 2009 has been left underemployed or unemployed altogether.
While the United States’ position on student loan debt far surpasses the rest of the world, the global severity of the situation should not be overlooked. In the 21st century, the economy has become global-if one country is hurting, other countries will be affected, too. As student loan debt manages to climb, one can only hope the institutional problem will be fixed sooner, rather than later.
– Nick Magnanti
Sources: Huffington Post, Collegestats.org, Tuition.io
Photo: Boston
UN Begs End to South Sudan Crisis
Stability continues to evade citizens of the world’s newest country, South Sudan, as tensions rise and fear floods through the streets. From the declaration of statehood on July 9, 2011, South Sudan struggled to form internal peace, an issue that quickly spiraled into a civil war.
The UN has voiced concern for the situation. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated, “Those hopes were dashed by the conflict that broke out in December 2013. Thousands of South Sudanese have been killed, and atrocities have been committed against civilians,” underscoring the tragedy that has ruled during the South Sudan crisis. Born from internal political fighting between President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Riek Machar, the conflict escalated into the current situation. Seven million people are on the brink of hunger and disease, and 1.5 million have already been displaced as a result of the brutal fighting.
The upsetting factor in the eyes of the UN is that this is a “man-made crisis.” The longer the warrior mentality imbeds itself in the territory, the worse the possible outcome becomes. South Sudan is currently on the brink of a humanitarian disaster, and should the status quo maintain, there’s no doubt that the situation will worsen to the point of no return.
Al Jazeera journalist Mehari Taddele Maru writes, “the root cause of the current crisis resides in the unwillingness of the SPLM/A [Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army] to transform itself into a democratic political party fit to govern.” These groups have refused to acknowledge the welfare of the people they attempt to control, inherently taking away the peoples’ basic human rights of safety and health.
The sole hope for a brighter future is the concept of a caretaker government, in which individuals who identify with neither government regime take the reigns and serve during a transitional period, during which, national dialogue would develop a permanent plan of action.
There are currently three parties attempting to govern South Sudan; SPLM/A, the rebel group and the eclectic group of former detained SPLM/A leaders. As it stands, it’s unlikely, if not impossible, for either of the three to effectively govern South Sudan in a way that benefits all levels of citizens.
– Elena Lopez
Sources: Global Post, Al Jazeera, ABC
Photo: The Wire
Hunger in Senegal
Summers are hungry times for the poor of Senegal, who must endure an annual “lean season,” lasting from June to September. Food insecurity caused by fluctuating food prices and unpredictable cereal harvests can leave hundreds of thousands of Senegalese malnourished and ill. Though Senegal’s economy relies mainly on the success of its agricultural sector – nearly 80 percent of the country’s people are employed in the industry, that success does not always translate to adequate nourishment for its 13 million people.
This year, underwhelming crop outputs are largely to blame for the food shortage Senegal is currently facing. Cereal harvests typically produce 20 percent more food than they have this year. As an added effect, the lean season started even earlier than usual this year, extending the period of chronic food insecurity for over half a million people.
Hunger has the power not only to kill and make ill, but also to disrupt families and throw individuals further into poverty. In Senegal, men often leave rural areas to seek food or employment in urban centers, forcing women to bear the burden of childcare at home. Many women, failing to obtain adequate food and water supplies for their families, resort to selling many of their possessions to make ends meet. Still, that is often not enough.
What’s the good news? Senegal is one of the most stable countries in Africa and has been since its independence from France in 1960. That makes it much easier for humanitarian agencies to work with the Senegalese government to implement effective aid programs. Currently, the World Food Programme of the United Nations is collaborating with Senegal to bring food to 675,000 of its people during the lean season.
The food aid strategy Senegal employs is based on a voucher system, in which households receive a monthly voucher they can use to feed their families. The program is very popular among the Senegalese people; one voucher recipient noted that, “from today forward, I will be able to feed my children, prepare rice the way I like it, and also save money to pay back my debts.”
With successful, targeted food aid programs like World Food Programme’s, the people of Senegal may be able to weather what is already the worst lean season of the last five years. Additional foreign aid aimed at Senegal would only extend that effect to even more people.
– Elise L. Riley
Sources: World Food Programme, The Hunger Project, Action Against Hunger
Photo: Global Post
Girls Not Brides
There are girls as young as 13-years-old married off throughout the world. In developing countries, one out of every seven girls is married before her 15th birthday.
Girls married younger than the age of 18 often report that have been beaten by their husbands and forced to have sex. These girls often think it is acceptable for their husbands to beat them and make them feel powerless.
The main reasons for girls being married off include culture and parents’ desire to counteract a fear of their daughter getting molested. Tradition and culture are a big reason for young girls being married off; families are scared to stray from tradition in fear of being excluded from their communities. Poverty is another cause of child marriage. Poor families often marry off their daughters so that they have less expenses. They have one less body to feed, educate and clothe.
Although parents in certain situations marry their daughters off at young ages trying protect them, the young girls are still losing their human rights. They completely lose their childhoods.
Girls Not Brides is an organization working to protect girls from being married at a young age. They give a voice to the voiceless. Members of this organization are based in Africa, America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East; they are united in helping girls reach their full potential and not being married off at a young age.
Girls Not Brides works with 350 other civil organizations from over 60 countries. They believe that partnering up will bring attention to the issue and show that there are others who want to stop young marriages too.
Girls Not Brides reaches out to young girls and helps them feel empowered. They supply young girls with skills that will be useful in the future and have different workshops to show girls how to use their newly learned skills. This program also sets up support groups for young girls and boys to share their experiences so that they can become advocates against child marriage themselves.
Girls Not Brides has put together a technical brief on ending child marriages. Please take a look and see what you can do to help.
–Priscilla Rodarte
Sources: Girls Not Brides, Girls Not Brides, Girls Not Brides, Slate
Photo: WUNRN
Prosecuting Organ Harvesters in Europe
The international community awaits the European Union’s unveiling of a special tribunal for allegations against illegal organ harvesters in Kosovo in the late 1990s. Working for the EU, U.S. prosecutor John Clint Williamson will likely finish his investigation of the claims within this year. The government of Kosovo disapproves of the investigation, as many of its officials are former guerrilla members.
The renewed interest in long-awaited justice provides a grim reminder of a black market system responsible for the illegal global sale of approximately one organ every hour, according to the World Health Organization. In Europe alone, 120,000 desperate patients on dialysis and 40,000 patients awaiting organ transplants continue to buy organs from inhumane origins. Illegally obtained organs derive from a variety of methods including kidnapping, fraud, murder or seizure. The victim is ultimately unaware of the process.
In April of 2013, Serbia arrested five of its citizens involved in an illegal kidney ring serving wealthy patients in North America, Germany and Israel. Lutfi Deruishi, the leader, received an eight year sentence after the court convicted him of luring victims – often from Turkey, Moldova and Russia – to his clinic with the promise a large payout. The organ harvesters removed organs with little or no compensation and abandoned victims at the airport, which is how authorities eventually discovered the group. The prosecutor on the case, Jonathan Ratel, called the crimes a “..cruel harvest of the poor.”
The 2009 arrest of a Brooklyn man, Levy-Ishak Rosenbaum, resulted in the first federal prosecution of organ harvesting in the United States. He brokered sales to New Jersey patients of organs harvested from the poor of Israel and Moldova.
Impoverished Eastern Europeans find traffickers via the internet and believe the price of selling their organs will solve their desperate financial state. Traffickers often transport their victims across borders and threaten violence if the donor refuses to continue with the operation or reports the crime to police. These criminal organizations profit as the middleman between dying patients and impoverished donors, both willing to adopt extremes to survive. On the black market, organs can fetch tens of thousands of dollars – lungs and hearts selling for hundreds of thousands. The 15,000 to 20,000 kidneys trafficked each year account for 75 percent of all annual illegal organ sales.
The 2008 summit in Turkey of the Transplantation Society and International Society of Nephrology produced the Declaration of Istanbul on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism. This document focuses on the state’s responsibility to protect the vulnerable poor. Governments, according to the Declaration, should reinforce programs on kidney disease prevention and proper medical care for donors. Experts believe legislation against organ trafficking will need increased enforcement; additionally, donor pool regulations will need to be reexamined in order to end the exploitation of the world’s impoverished.
— Erica Lignell
Sources: The Guardian, Seattle Times, NBC, WHO, NY Times 1, NY Times 2, NY Daily News 1, NY Daily News 2, Telegraph, Reuters, Medscape