In global diplomacy, the key ingredient in maintaining peaceful relations is interdependence on valuable resources. For most, economic resources such as oil and natural gas are the first to come to mind. With economic prosperity and financial assistance carefully balancing on free trade and relatively unfettered access, each international actor has an interest in resources availability.
In modernity, however, a seemingly plentiful resource, one that many of us don’t fully appreciate, is liquid gold for far too many people. While soft regulations have caused mild discomfort for the richer nations, the global water crisis remains for many a matter of life and death.
We have all felt the feeling of thirst; it is not uncommon. Fortunately for many of us, the solution for thirst is no further than a trip to a nearby fountain or faucet. Quite a few of us have felt this thirst turn into dehydration. Now imagine having to consider the cost of getting ill from an unkempt water supply versus the cost of further dehydration? Sadly, this is a reality with which millions have to live each and every day.
According to the 2012 Millennium Global Development report, 783 million people, constituting 11 percent of the global population, lack adequate accessibility to a clean water source. Undeniably, the issue of water access, suitable to basic human needs, is nothing new. Where there are growing populations, particularly where development is stunted, the infrastructure to meet these needs simply does not exist.
To meet this inadequacy, the global community has met the challenge with the explicit goal of alleviating the strain. The UN reports that “the United Nations Water Conference (1977), the International Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990), the International Conference on Water and the Environment (1992), and the Earth Summit (1992)–all focused on this vital resource. The Decade, in particular, helped some 1.3 billion people in developing countries gain access to safe drinking water.”
As for the Millennium Development Goals, the UN is pleased to report that the world met water accessibility goals five years ahead of schedule. Between the years of 1990 and 2010, the proportion of people with access to an improved water source rose from 76 percent to 89 percent. With roughly 2 billion people now with access to improved water sources such as protected wells and pipes, where they otherwise would not have, the onus remains on the UN to further access to the remaining 11 percent.
To be sure, while efforts in providing access to improved water have dealt a blow to a parched earth, demand for water continues to skyrocket. With rising commercial and agricultural demand for water, the principal goal of providing individuals with the resource remains in tact.
On 28 July 2010, the UN general assembly passed Resolution 64/292, explicitly recognizing access to clean water (roughly 50-100 liters per person per day) as a human right. Moreover, the resolution makes clear that the water must cost no more than 3 percent of the individual’s income, and cannot be sourced further than 1000 feet from home. With this, the UN has an explicit responsibility to pursue these goals.
Despite these goals and the understanding that access is an inalienable human right, millions remain without clean water. With over 40 percent of the globe’s thirsty living in Sub-Saharan Africa, the final 11 percent reduction will focus principally on underdeveloped regions, which will not be an easy task.
– Thomas Van Der List
Sources: UN Millennium Goals, UN Water
Photo: UN
Chlorhexidine: Behind a Simple Solution
Despite declining mortality rates for children under five, deaths that occur within the first month of life are on the rise. Infections caught through the cutting of umbilical cords are a factor in nearly 13 percent of neonatal deaths worldwide and more than 50 percent in developing nations. A simple, affordable solution is presented by the antiseptic solution chlorhexidine.
Chlorhexidine has already been around for more than 50 years, and can be found in a variety of products, like hand sanitizers and mouth washes, both of which are available in the United States and Europe. The type of chlorhexidine that would be used specifically to treat and prevent umbilical cord infections is 7.1 percent chlorhexidine digluconate. It would potentially prevent over 200,000 deaths a year in South Asia alone. Up to 75 percent of serious umbilical cord infections are eliminated through its use as well. According to PATH, the cost of providing chlorhexidine would be less than fifty or even thirty cents a dose.
In July, the World Health Organization (WHO) listed 7.1 percent chlorhexidine digluconate on its Essential Medicines for Children. More instructions on how chlorhexidine will be used are coming later this year. Despite chlorhexidine’s supposed effectiveness, progress is slow to distribute it. At the moment, there are only two sources for purchasing 7.1 percent chlorhexidine digluconate for umbilical cord use: Lomus Pharmaceuticals in Nepal and UNICEF Supply Division.
PATH, the secretariat of the Chlorhexidine Working Group, is working to spread the word about the low cost and high effectiveness of 7.1 percent chlorhexidine in order to see it used in more locations and countries where it is needed most, particularly in African countries.
– The Borgen Project
Sources: Huffington Post, PATH, Healthy Newborn Network, Trust
Photo: The Script Lab
Child Labor 101
According to the International Labor Organization, approximately 211 million children are working around the world. These children range from ages five to 14, and most are working in order to provide support for their poor families. Nearly 128 products from 70 countries are made through child labor – many cases of which are forced child labor. While some children elect to start working at a young age to help support their families, many are forced into labor and treated as slaves in bondage.
In addition to poor treatment, the work environments children are forced to work in are often dangerous and harmful to their health. When children are sent to scour hazardous lakes filled with toxins in order to search for metals and jewels, the consequences are extremely damaging to their health. Much of the merchandise purchased by Americans is made in other countries, many of which are still developing and relying on labor from children. Children are often forced into labor by their government, or their government simply ignores the fact that companies and factories are forcing children to work for their own profit. Some of the products made by children include clothes, tobacco, metals, jewels, food items, pornography, holiday decorations, and electronic goods. This wide span of merchandise leaves little that child labor has not infiltrated.
In the worst cases of child labor, children are used much like slaves. In these cases, children are trafficked, often times forcing them to deal in illegal activities like drug trafficking, prostitution, and weapon conflict. Binding the children in debt is another method used by companies to ensure that the children will continue to work under their authority.
According to a report conducted by the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, India has the highest percentage of child workers. India is followed by China, which is then followed by smaller countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa. In 2008, as many as one in every four children in sub-Saharan Africa were forced into labor, and commonly sent to work in diamond mines and factories. In Ethiopia, an estimated 60 percent of children are forced into labor to help support their families, the child’s income usually amounting to a dollar a month.
In Afghanistan, an increasing number of underage girls are being sold in order to pay off debt, and more than 30 percent of children are working in major industries rather than attending school. Some of the worst forms of child labor occur in Somalia where 40 percent of children under the age of 15 are forced to engage in sex slavery and armed conflict.
Though the statistics concerning child labor may seem bleak, an increasing number of organizations and nations are rising up to help put an end to child labor. The International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) is an advocacy organization that has been fighting for years to redesign working conditions across the world focusing on women in the workforce, sweatshops, and child labor. The U.S. Labor Department has also joined the stand against child labor: one of its recent reports says that Brazil is no longer relying on child labor for coal production, and that India and other countries have started anti-poverty programs to help end child labor.
– Chante Owens
Sources: Fox Business, International Labor Rights Forum, Business Insider
Photo: NYTimes
5 Cool Things Leonardo DiCaprio Has Done for Humanity
Leonardo DiCaprio is a 38-year-old American actor and film producer. He has received three nominations for Academy Awards, as well as nine Golden Globe Awards. DiCaprio has not only received praise regarding his acting career, but also for his efforts in philanthropy.
First and foremost, Leonardo DiCaprio has a strong passion for environmental activism. His longing to protect the environment is one that heavily influences his everyday life. He owns electric and hybrid cars and has even installed solar panels on his home. His personal life is filled with environmentally friendly alternatives to products that would normally cause harm to the earth. His passion also extends into his career – many humanitarian causes can be seen in the movies he’s been in like Blood Diamond and The 11th Hour, for example.
With that being said, here are five things DiCaprio has done for humanity:
– Samantha Davis
Sources: Leonardo DiCaprio, Look To The Stars, CCF
Photo: SOS Children’s Villages
ASIRVAD Serves Indian Communities
Few organizations have a vision as ambitious as “to empower at least one million families by 2013 by providing financial assistance,” but ASIRVAD is determined to do just that. ASIRVAD operates in India and provides economic support to families and communities in rural and urban regions of the vast country.
Founded in 2007, ASIRVAD Microfinance Private LTD has been addressing Indian’s agricultural economic needs. The organization focuses on economic growth and micro-finance to alleviate poverty. With assistance from ASIRVAD, poor clients are able to purchase land, seeds, technology and other business necessities. This assistance empowers the clients to lift themselves out of poverty once their farms begin producing an income.
The company offers two types of products: income generating products and business loans.
The income generating products consist of “micro loans provided to borrowers as per the RBI stipulated norms for income generating purposes.” The business loans range from “Rs. 50,000 (US 800.750) to Rs.1,00,000 (US 1601.50) [and are] provided for persons doing business for improving their existing business.” In addition to ensuring economic aid, ASIRVAD vows to provide excellent customer service.
ASIRVAD boasts the results of a recent study of the company. The study reported superb levels of transparency, governance, services altered to clients’ unique needs, client protection, low costs and high efficiency and a supportive environment for staff members. Through these programs and high standards of operation, ASIRVAD has been offering vital economic assistance to poor Indians for the past six years. This company is playing a crucial role in the fight against poverty in India.
– Mary Penn
Sources: ASIRVAD, Mix Market
Photo: Top Travel Lists
John Kerry Announces Initiative to Fight Gender-Based Violence
This past Monday, Secretary of State John Kerry announced a new U.S. initiative aimed at preventing and responding to gender-based violence in humanitarian emergencies worldwide. Known as “Safe from Start,” the $10 million will be funded to allow the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and other humanitarian organizations to hire specialized staff, start new programs, and “develop innovative methods” to protect women and girls at the onset of emergencies around the world.
“In the face of conflict and disaster, we should strive to protect women and girls from sexual assault and other violence,” Kerry emphasized in a press release. The statement also mentions that the U.S. will coordinate with other donors and stakeholders to develop a framework for action and accountability to ensure that efforts to address gender-based violence are routinely prioritized as a life-saving interference, along with other vital humanitarian help.
The initiative builds on the framework established by the U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, and the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence Globally. The Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will be responsible for the initiative.
Most conflict-ridden countries such as Syria, Egypt, or the Democratic Republic of Congo are reporting high rates of rape. Seen as a tool to terrorize villages and break the will of the opposition, rape has been routinely incorporated as a weapon of war during conflicts. According to Save the Children, up to 80 percent of war rape victims are under 18, while an Oxfam report states that rape is the “most extensive form of violence” women and girls are currently facing in Syria.
Although the press release mentions women and girls as the primary victims of gender-based violence, the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence Globally states that this type of aggression can also be directed towards men and boys, as well as sexual and gender minorities.
According to this document, gender-based violence is “violence directed at an individual based on his or her biological sex, gender identity, or perceived adherence to socially defined norms of masculinity and femininity.” It includes physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, as well as threats, coercion, arbitrary loss of liberty, and economic hardship.
– Nayomi Chibana
Feature Writer
Sources: U.S. Department of State, CNS News, Huffington Post
Photo: Cloture Club
“Womenomics:” Japan Integrates Women to Boost GDP
On September 26, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe addressed the United Nations General Assembly, discussing his initiatives to create Japanese “womenomics,” an economic theory that posits the advancement and success of women in a society as directly correlated to the country’s larger growth rate.
The idea of utilizing Japan’s greatest resource—its women—is not entirely new. In 1999, Kathy Matsui, along with a variety of other employees at Goldman Sachs addressed a similar topic, suggesting that Japan could significantly increase its gross domestic product (GDP) by about 15 percent by better integrating its women.
In order to implement “womenomics,” the Japanese government will contribute over $3 billion by 2016 to increase female participation in society, aid in female healthcare costs, mitigate violence against women, and further empower women in a variety of other realms.
In a country with a rapidly shrinking population and a remarkably low birthrate, a successful implementation of “womenomics” is crucial. By introducing large numbers of women to the workforce, Japan will vastly benefit both economically and demographically. Clearly, women are the key to Japan’s future.
Of course, “womenomics” also exists as a crucial necessity in the rest of the world, particularly in developing regions like Africa. Fortunately, the Japanese government has recognized this and is now providing enormous support to Africa’s women.
Instead of working within the donor culture of international development, Japan is striving to help transform agriculture in Africa, a domain primarily characterized by female laborers. Japanese efforts have already proven successful, as many farmers’ incomes have doubled in regions of Kenya.
Tellingly, African and Japanese women—as well as their female counterparts everywhere—are the key to a thriving economy. Yet, without egalitarian access to governmental resources and support, they cannot be empowered economically. Thus, it is the responsibility of governments everywhere to support their female citizens, and thereby, support themselves.
– Anna Purcell
Sources: United Nations, Wall Street Journal
Sources: Japan Today
Posner Center for International Development
The Posner Center for International Development, located in Denver, Colorado, is an organization that displays the convergence of over 30 companies working together to help create better living conditions for the world’s poor while also addressing environmental issues. These companies work together to come up with creative and innovative solutions that can help those in poverty while also staying environmentally friendly. While these individual companies already create positive impact, their collaboration can only significantly boost the results.
Bridges to Prosperity is one of the organizations that has joined the Posner Center for International Development. Bridges to Prosperity plans and builds bridges over rivers all over the world. While building a bridge over a river may seem like a small development, it can be life altering. In villages with little transportation, most of the world’s poor depend on walking to reach their destinations. Bridges give them a safe means of transport, whether it is to school, a hospital, to work, etc. So far, Bridges to Prosperity has had projects in South America, Asia, Africa, and Central America.
Another such organization is Nokero, short for “no kerosene.” Nokero’s attempt to eliminate kerosene lights that are harmful to the environment is ambitious but possible. They hope to replace these kerosene lamps with solar lights, which are energy efficient and environmentally friendly. Engineers at Nokero have also developed a solar powered cell phone charger. Such valuable technology is affordably priced and cost effective.
Nokero and Bridges to Prosperity are just two of the 35 organizations working at the Posner Center for International Development. Whether it’s with seemingly simple solutions like building bridges to make transportation easier, or with life changing technologies that bring power to a neighborhood, these organizations’ attempts to change the world are indeed powerful and inspiring. Their collaborative efforts will only result in bigger and better ideas and innovations for the future.
– Aalekhya Malladi
Sources: The Denver Post, Posner Center for International Development, Bridges to Prosperity, Nokero
Photo: Hosted
The Water Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa
Water is a necessary means for survival. Water covers two-thirds of planet Earth. The human body consists of 75 percent water. Water is involved in all bodily functions including digestion, respiration, maintaining body temperature, and adequate performance of all bodily functions. Early civilizations developed around easily accessible clean drinking water sources. Water is vital to life; that is a given. But what if accessing clean drinking water was not as easy as turning on the faucet, or opening a bottle of Dasani? The continuing water crisis in sub-Saharan Africa proves that this kind of access is not always so easy.
Water scarcity is a tragic reality for many regions of the world. Astoundingly, 85 percent of the world’s people live in the driest regions of the world. According to UN Water, 783 million world citizens do not have access to clean water. Among that demographic, 6 to 8 million die every year from water related disasters and diseases. Incredibly, in the year 2000, 2.4 billion people lacked access to water sanitation, and 1.1 billion lacked access to fresh water sources. The populations suffering the most are in rural, poor areas of the world.
The most common water related diseases occur due to lack of sanitation. According to Dr. Lee Jong-wook, Director General at World Health Organization (WHO), “Water and Sanitation is one of the primary drivers of public health,” and refers to water and sanitation as “Health 101.” Jong-Wook further explains that if communities secure access to water and sanitation, “a huge battle against all kinds of diseases will be won.” Two of the deadliest water and sanitation related diseases are diarrhea and malaria.
According to data by World Health Organization, the four driving factors in the water and sanitation crisis are: access to water supply and sanitation, sanitation gap, emergencies and disasters, and water resources.
The sanitation gap refers to an increase in population growth combined with low sanitation development growth. The number of people with access to hygienic sanitation facilities, such as toilets and hand washing tools, has declined slightly since the 1990s because construction cannot keep up with population growth.
Floods and drought are the most dangerous water-related disasters. Flooding causes contamination of drinking water, and destructed systems of hygiene and wastewater. Droughts cause the most death because they can initiate malnutrition and deny the community a water supply. 66 percent of people dwelling in sub-Saharan Africa live in areas of little to no rainfall which often results in failed vegetation and agricultural efforts. More than 300 to 800 sub-Saharan Africans live in a water-scarce location.
– Laura Reinacher
Sources: Rights to Water and Sanitation, UNICEF, UN Water
Photo: Because water
What is the OECD?
What is the OECD?
In short: OECD stands for Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. It is an international economic organization whose mission is to “promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.”
A little more detail: In the beginning, the OECD was actually named the OEEC – the Organization for European Economic Co-operation. It was founded in April of 1948, with 18 original European participants. The first and original principles of the OEEC were as follows: “Promote cooperation between participating countries and their national production programs for the reconstruction of Europe; Develop intra-European trade by reducing tariffs and other barriers to the expansion of trade; Study the feasibility of creating a customs union or free trade area; Study multi-lateralization of payments; and Achieve conditions for better utilization of labor.”
In 1961, the OEEC became the OECD, and membership was extended to non-European countries. Most OECD members are regarded as “developed countries” with a high human development index. To this day, according to Pierre Tristam at about.com, the OECD remains one of the most cited sources for “economic data and information” because the organization keeps vast databases and “conducts some of the world’s most authoritative analyses and studies on the world economy.”
The OECD said that it provides a forum in which countries can work together to “seek solutions to common problems.” The organization aims to identify good practices and to coordinate “domestic and international policies.” It is committed to democracy and a sustainable market economy. Some of these good practices include taxes and social security, leisure time, school systems and “pension systems” that look after country’s elderly citizens, since the OECD tries to look at issues “that directly affect the lives of ordinary people.”
Its reach extends to the environment, the economy and social issues. The OECD is committed to helping the lives of ordinary people, thus making life harder for those “whose actions undermine a fair and open society,” such as terrorists, unethical businessmen and tax evaders.
The OECD promotes policies designed:
“To achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and a rising standard of living in Member countries, while maintaining financial stability, and thus to contribute to the development of the world economy; to contribute to sound economic expansion in Member as well as nonmember countries in the process of economic development; and to contribute to the expansion of world trade on a multilateral, nondiscriminatory basis in accordance with international obligations.”
As of 2013, the OECD has 34 active member countries, including the United States, and “is in accession talks with the Russian Federation.”
– Alycia Rock
Sources: OECD: About, OECD: Report 2013, Middle East About, OECD
Photo: CIB
Water Accessibility Remains Matter of Life and Death
In global diplomacy, the key ingredient in maintaining peaceful relations is interdependence on valuable resources. For most, economic resources such as oil and natural gas are the first to come to mind. With economic prosperity and financial assistance carefully balancing on free trade and relatively unfettered access, each international actor has an interest in resources availability.
In modernity, however, a seemingly plentiful resource, one that many of us don’t fully appreciate, is liquid gold for far too many people. While soft regulations have caused mild discomfort for the richer nations, the global water crisis remains for many a matter of life and death.
We have all felt the feeling of thirst; it is not uncommon. Fortunately for many of us, the solution for thirst is no further than a trip to a nearby fountain or faucet. Quite a few of us have felt this thirst turn into dehydration. Now imagine having to consider the cost of getting ill from an unkempt water supply versus the cost of further dehydration? Sadly, this is a reality with which millions have to live each and every day.
According to the 2012 Millennium Global Development report, 783 million people, constituting 11 percent of the global population, lack adequate accessibility to a clean water source. Undeniably, the issue of water access, suitable to basic human needs, is nothing new. Where there are growing populations, particularly where development is stunted, the infrastructure to meet these needs simply does not exist.
To meet this inadequacy, the global community has met the challenge with the explicit goal of alleviating the strain. The UN reports that “the United Nations Water Conference (1977), the International Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990), the International Conference on Water and the Environment (1992), and the Earth Summit (1992)–all focused on this vital resource. The Decade, in particular, helped some 1.3 billion people in developing countries gain access to safe drinking water.”
As for the Millennium Development Goals, the UN is pleased to report that the world met water accessibility goals five years ahead of schedule. Between the years of 1990 and 2010, the proportion of people with access to an improved water source rose from 76 percent to 89 percent. With roughly 2 billion people now with access to improved water sources such as protected wells and pipes, where they otherwise would not have, the onus remains on the UN to further access to the remaining 11 percent.
To be sure, while efforts in providing access to improved water have dealt a blow to a parched earth, demand for water continues to skyrocket. With rising commercial and agricultural demand for water, the principal goal of providing individuals with the resource remains in tact.
On 28 July 2010, the UN general assembly passed Resolution 64/292, explicitly recognizing access to clean water (roughly 50-100 liters per person per day) as a human right. Moreover, the resolution makes clear that the water must cost no more than 3 percent of the individual’s income, and cannot be sourced further than 1000 feet from home. With this, the UN has an explicit responsibility to pursue these goals.
Despite these goals and the understanding that access is an inalienable human right, millions remain without clean water. With over 40 percent of the globe’s thirsty living in Sub-Saharan Africa, the final 11 percent reduction will focus principally on underdeveloped regions, which will not be an easy task.
– Thomas Van Der List
Sources: UN Millennium Goals, UN Water
Photo: UN