In 2012, Jihadist forces invaded and occupied Northern Mali, forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians into exile. Among these individuals were musicians, artists and scholars.
Timbuktu is a city in the country of Mali, a western African country. Timbuktu is historically important as a trading post on the trans-Saharan caravan route. It was also the center of Islamic culture from 1400-1600. In 1988, the city was designated as a World Heritage Site.
Extremists invaded and immediately targeted Mali’s culture, notably music, including the world-renowned Festival Au Desert, as well as historic manuscripts that document Timbuktu’s position as the center of Islamic civilization in Africa during the Renaissance period.
The established culture is especially crucial in Mali, as it provides a guard against fundamentalism and the rigid Sharia law that outsiders have attempted to impose on the Mali people.
In an attempt to snuff out Mali’s culture, Islamic Jihadists sought to gain increasing levels of control. The extremist’s work to break down Mali’s culture was a strategic move, as culture is necessary for collective identity. When the collective body breaks down, a culture loses its cohesive nature — which is exactly what the extremists were trying to achieve. Due to the strength and perseverance of the Mali people, however, they were unsuccessful.
Invaders sought to silence the musical Internet for much of Mali, destroyed unique mud-brick shrines and tore down UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Despite Jihadist efforts, the Malians continued to blend music in hiding and in exile in neighboring countries. Under the leadership of Abdel Kader Haidara, a scholar and member of the Timbuktu Renaissance Action Group, individuals saved thousands of precious historical manuscripts, risking their lives to transport hundreds of cases on donkey-back.
Luckily, French forces worked to assist Mali in expelling the Jihadist takeover in the North. Now, as the country is working to re-unify the North and South, the current course of action comes in the revival of the Mali culture.
Mali’s President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, speaks openly about the crucial role culture plays in reunifying the country. The president spoke of Timbuktu’s symbolic importance as a major center of Islamic history during the concert of Malian music held during the UN General Assembly last September.
President Keita leads distinguished members of the Timbuktu Renaissance Action Group to revive and strengthen Mali’s rich cultural environment. This effort is for more than historical preservation, but works toward harvesting the potential for unity. Mali culture has the capability to promote peace, spur economic growth and attract tourists back to the region.
The Timbuktu Renaissance is alive and in full swing — and as the movement continues to grow, so does the potential for peace.
— Caroline Logan
Sources: Britannica, Brookings 1, Brookings 2
Photo: Flickr
New High Commissioner For the UN
Prince Zeid al Hussein, longtime Jordan diplomat, ambassador and former U.N. peacekeeper, has been nominated to replace Navi Pillay as the new high commissioner for human rights for the U.N. Currently serving as the U.N. Ambassador for Jordan, Zeid has built a strong career rallying behind such issues as international justice and sexual violence. If appointed, many hope his position will help bring a voice to the Middle East, specifically at a time where many individual rights in the area are under strain.
Zeid will be replacing Navi Pillay, a South-African born woman who was the first female to have started a law practice in her home province of Natal in 1967. Pillay has additionally served on the South African High Court and for the U.N. General Assembly for a total of eight years.
Pillay, whose four-year term was extended for two years, has worked to fight against domestic violence, and to improve economic, social and cultural rights.
Many hope Zeid’s new position will work to give answers to some of the injustice happening in the Middle East, and Zeid seems to be obliging. Showing interest in addressing horrific abuses in the three-year conflict in Syria, Zeid’s future position may bring as many burdens as it does advantages.
“Obviously a challenge is that he has to be willing to speak frankly about the record of silencing civil society, crushing peaceful protests, which is endemic in that region at this stage,” said Peggy Hicks, global advocacy director for Human Rights Watch.
Jordan, with help from Luxembourg and Australia, has been working on a draft which would provide humanitarian aid into Syria through four border crossings without government approval. Hopeful that the new position will explore new possibilities for the U.N., fellow diplomats have continued to offer praise for Zeid’s nomination. “Great choice,” said France’s Gerard Araud, via Twitter. “A committed defender of human rights and international law.”
Zeid has appointed Dina Kawar as Jordan’s new representative to the U.N.
— Nicholas Magnanti
Sources: Fox News, DW, DNA India
Photo: Free Beacon
The Timbuktu Renaissance
In 2012, Jihadist forces invaded and occupied Northern Mali, forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians into exile. Among these individuals were musicians, artists and scholars.
Timbuktu is a city in the country of Mali, a western African country. Timbuktu is historically important as a trading post on the trans-Saharan caravan route. It was also the center of Islamic culture from 1400-1600. In 1988, the city was designated as a World Heritage Site.
Extremists invaded and immediately targeted Mali’s culture, notably music, including the world-renowned Festival Au Desert, as well as historic manuscripts that document Timbuktu’s position as the center of Islamic civilization in Africa during the Renaissance period.
The established culture is especially crucial in Mali, as it provides a guard against fundamentalism and the rigid Sharia law that outsiders have attempted to impose on the Mali people.
In an attempt to snuff out Mali’s culture, Islamic Jihadists sought to gain increasing levels of control. The extremist’s work to break down Mali’s culture was a strategic move, as culture is necessary for collective identity. When the collective body breaks down, a culture loses its cohesive nature — which is exactly what the extremists were trying to achieve. Due to the strength and perseverance of the Mali people, however, they were unsuccessful.
Invaders sought to silence the musical Internet for much of Mali, destroyed unique mud-brick shrines and tore down UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Despite Jihadist efforts, the Malians continued to blend music in hiding and in exile in neighboring countries. Under the leadership of Abdel Kader Haidara, a scholar and member of the Timbuktu Renaissance Action Group, individuals saved thousands of precious historical manuscripts, risking their lives to transport hundreds of cases on donkey-back.
Luckily, French forces worked to assist Mali in expelling the Jihadist takeover in the North. Now, as the country is working to re-unify the North and South, the current course of action comes in the revival of the Mali culture.
Mali’s President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, speaks openly about the crucial role culture plays in reunifying the country. The president spoke of Timbuktu’s symbolic importance as a major center of Islamic history during the concert of Malian music held during the UN General Assembly last September.
President Keita leads distinguished members of the Timbuktu Renaissance Action Group to revive and strengthen Mali’s rich cultural environment. This effort is for more than historical preservation, but works toward harvesting the potential for unity. Mali culture has the capability to promote peace, spur economic growth and attract tourists back to the region.
The Timbuktu Renaissance is alive and in full swing — and as the movement continues to grow, so does the potential for peace.
— Caroline Logan
Sources: Britannica, Brookings 1, Brookings 2
Photo: Flickr
Team UNICEF: Playtime at its Best
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation,” said Plato. Playing is something that every child should be able to do, no matter the race, gender, language or religion. Playtime is not only something that every child wants to do, but it is necessary that children get the chance to play every day. It enhances a child’s learning ability, social skills and overall childhood enjoyment.
Many children in third-world countries do not have the chance to play because they do not have time, due to child labor.
Team UNICEF was built to help improve children’s lives, and was launched this past fall. Team UNICEF’s goal is to “amplify its existing sport-related programs and partnerships to improve the lives of children globally.”
UNICEF has partnered up with other major organizations, UNICEF ambassadors, and celebrities to make Team UNICEF a success. Athlete celebrities are great to have as ambassadors in this program, because they are very influential and are very well known. Some of the sport-related UNICEF ambassadors that have taken part in Team UNICEF are Serena Williams, David Beckham, Leo Messi and Yuna Kim.
Team UNICEF is trying to get everyone involved.
UNICEF believes that playing a sport that involves everyone will stop exclusion and discrimination. It is believed that through sport, a sense of community and union will be built.
Here are a few points about what good play could do for children:
– Increases self-esteem, self-respect and self-awareness
– Improves and maintain physical and mental health
– Gives them the opportunity to interact with other children
– Increases their confidence by developing new skills
– Increases their imagination, creativity and independence
– Mixing with children off all backgrounds
– Develops social skills and learning skills
– Helps them learn about their environment and community
Playing should not only be a privilege; it is a right that every child should have, no matter the background, ethnicity, language or religion. Team UNICEF has successfully gave children this right, and will continue to do so.
-Priscilla Rodarte
Sources: UNICEF ,Planning With Kids ,Play England
Poverty in Austria
As of 2010, 16.4 percent of the European population, 80 million people, was considered poor and lived below the poverty threshold.
The definition of being impoverished (or at high risk of being impoverished) is: households where the household income is less than 60 percent of the total median income.
According to the EU Social Report 2012 statistics, 1.2 million people were at risk of poverty in Austria, meaning that 14.4 percent of the Austrian population was in danger of poverty.
The report also declared that about 1.5 million people were either at risk of poverty in Austria or were in danger of being debarred from society (about 18.5 percent) in Austria. In the European Union, 124.5 million people (24.8 percent of the population) were at risk of poverty or social exclusion.
This 18.5 percent all fit at least one of the following conditions: not able to afford basic expenses, not able to pay their monthly bills, not having funds to eat meat or fish every other day, not able to afford a holiday, not able to pay for a car, not able to afford heating costs, or those who cannot pay for items such as a TV, telephone or washing machine.
Single-parent families are predominantly at risk of poverty, especially single women without an income. 36.9 percent of single-parent households were affected by poverty in 2010. The significant amount of poverty in single-parent families is because of their resources being based on only one income.
In the European Union, the poverty rate of women is higher than of men: it is at 17.1 percent against 15.7 percent for men. Austria has one of the highest gender gaps of poverty in the European Union.
The elderly in Austria are also at a great risk of poverty. 15.9 percent of Europeans 65 years or older are living in poverty. Austria has a significant gap between the general poverty rate and the elderly poverty rate.
Those who are not citizens are also at risk of poverty in Austria. The poverty rate of immigrants born outside the European Union is at 26.9 percent, versus 14.8 percent for those Europeans living in their country of origin. These differences can be due to many different factors. In some countries, some jobs may be forbidden for foreigners or immigrants.
-Colleen Moore
Sources: Austrian Times, Inequality Watch
Photo: Spiegal
Domestic Violence in Nepal
Radha Neupane, who is already married at the age of 12, lives and supports her family on $30 a month. She has no financial backing from her alcoholic husband and she is also a victim of domestic violence. She works for a cleaning service, cleaning over three houses a day to place food on the table for her young ones.
“I’m used to it now. What choice do I have?” said Neupane to IRIN, a service of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Over the past decades, domestic violence in Nepal still remains an unsolved issue. Gender based violence, particularly toward females, is the main concern. The violence comes in all forms, including verbal abuse, beating and even more common, acid burning.
Saathi is an organization directed at helping victims of domestic violence. Activist and Saathi vice president Bhawana Rana states, “The office has barely changed because we hold the same patriarchal society where women’s equality is not accepted.”
Nepal is known to hold the worst rates of gender based violence in Asia. The current bill to hinder domestic violence from continuing to be a problem is currently on hold in Nepal’s government. As of now, the government is not taking any proactive actions to help relieve any of the domestic violence in Nepal.
In Nepal, domestic violence is considered to be more of a private family issue than a crime, thus resulting in a lack of outside interference. Abused women suffer from mental health problems like depression and physical reproductive health problems.
Violence against women in Nepal continues to grow every day. A total of 86 percent of women are unsafe in the communities they reside in. A disturbing 91 percent of women killed in Nepal have been killed by someone they know. Many of these abused adult females do not seek legal help in fear of more abuse from the government agencies and authorities.
Nepal does not provide secure areas for adult females who are victims of domestic abuse. This leaves women vulnerable and unable to escape the abuse. Over one-fifth of Nepal’s population deems domestic abuse acceptable. For most women the home is the most unsafe place to be. Women in the home are more likely to face marital rape and violence.
Activists are continuing their efforts to put an end to domestic violence and provide a safe environment for women and children to live in. The society is in need of political leadership to speak up for not only the women in Nepal, but all victims of domestic violence in the area. There is much improvement needed within Nepal’s government and legislature. Their view of domestic violence needs to change. Human rights activists have raised awareness of the social unjust in Nepal and continue to raise the question of providing necessary protocol and policies to end this epidemic.
– Rachel Cannon
Sources: IRIN, WOREC
Photo: World Bank
Modern Slavery in the Globalized World
Modern slavery is a major concern for our developing world. Modern slavery exists as a person being deprived of their freedom and rights. This is the right to leave a current job or workplace and the control over one’s own body. There are over 28 million people trapped in modern slavery.
Modern slavery can take the form of forced labor and human trafficking. All of these are forms of slavery and must be stopped. Countries like Russia and China have over 76 percent of the population trapped in some form of modern slavery.
The Walk Free Foundation is a driving force to end modern slavery in this generation. The foundation uses research and the help of businesses to gain a solid ground on the subject of modern slavery. The Walk Free foundation will look at the countries with high numbers of people in slavery and enlist partners to identify strategies to make a lasting impact on slavery.
New information provided by The Guardian states that it is possible that store-bought shrimp that lands on dinner tables across America is employed with forced slave labor. The shrimp is sold by major companies like Wal-Mart and Costco.
Thailand’s forced slave market is connected to the global shrimp chain. These ships enslave many unsuspecting workers by beating them and at times even ending up in death. Most of the shrimp slave workers are captured to work without pay, and threatened with violence and death. There is no escape when at sea on these ships.
The slaves are forced at sea for years with shifts lasting over 20 hours. At times these men witness horrific and brutal execution-style killings of other slaves. These workers are coerced with hopes of finding work in factories, but are sold to boat captains, most likely to never return.
One victim states to The Guardian that at one time “20 workers were murdered in front of him.”
Aidan McQuade, director of the Anti-Slavery Movement, states that “if you buy shrimp from Thailand, you are purchasing a product of slave labour.”
Over half a million people are trapped in globalized slavery, even sex trafficking at Thailand’s borders. 300,000 of these victims of modern slavery are migrant workers tricked into the slave trade for fishing boats. The demand and pressure for cheaper fish and prawn from America and Europe creates a drive for even cheaper labour: slavery.
The possibility that Thailand’s sea port industry relies so much on forced slave labour that without it the industry would collapse. Wal-Mart and Costco both agree to require audits and proper corrective actions to be in effect towards the ending of the supplier’s slave trade.
Thailand’s fishing industry will be soon forced to change with new audits and anti-slavery actions taking place. The International Labour Organization will be conducting changes to ensure slavery free supply chains, especially those from Asia countries.
There are several companies that have been placing workers in unsafe working conditions and slavery. It is not just Thailand’s fishing industry committing these unethical practices. Companies compete for cheaper prices as the market grows for consumers. The correct process is on companies and consumers alike to make ethical decisions for workers around the world to receive humane and fair treatment.
– Rachel Cannon
Sources: Walk Free Foundation, Global Slavery Index, The Guardian
Photo: Eureka Street Australia
Physicians for Peace
Physicians for Peace is a NGO whose main objective is to teach basic medical skills and deliver necessary resources to underserved regions of the world. Their goal is to provide a better and sustainable healthcare model.
Having education and collaboration as two of their main values, Physicians for Peace attempts to put the power to heal in the hands of the people. While physicians scatter to various regions, they do not aim to remain pillars of support in the society. Rather, they seek to teach the locals how to care for themselves and help the locals learn to teach others.
Physicians for Peace projects extend across the globe, reaching regions in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and the Americas where they believe they will be able to have the highest impact. Their established programs have taught people how to help burn victims, how to conduct various types of surgeries, how to prep a room to conduct each surgery, how to prevent blindness and enhance vision, how to help amputees and other disabled individuals learn to walk and move around on their own, and how to provide adequate care to mothers and children in order to optimize maternal health and appropriate child maturation.
As of early June 2014, the Physicians for Peace have been awarded two grants by the Major League Baseball Players Trust. The grants will be put towards their work in the Philippines, where two disability clinics will be established, primarily to provide care for those with physical disabilities and to help with Typhoon Haiyan recovery. The grants will also be used in the Dominican Republic to train people how to treat burn victims. A two-week long training camp is scheduled to take place at the United Ninos Quemados burn unit in Santiago, and those who attend will bring their skills back to their own hometowns.
– Jordyn Horowitz
Sources: Players Trust, Physicians for Peace
Photo: Physicians for Peace
Chime for Change
Haute fashion house Gucci held a benefit on June 3 at its Manhattan location on 5th Avenue in honor of its charity program, Chime for Change. Many influential celebrities were in supportive attendance such as Beyonce and actress Blake Lively. The event celebrated the charity’s first anniversary, marking a year of explosive growth and international charitable influence.
Chime for Change is a charity and international women’s empowerment and awareness campaign sponsored by Gucci, cofounded by Salma Hayek Pinault, Beyonce Knowles-Carter and Frida Giannini, Gucci’s creative director. The campaign is partnered with charity powerhouses such as the Kering Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Facebook, Catapult, Twitter, Hearst Magazines and Kellogg’s.
Gucci pledged to donate $1 million in proceeds from its global perfume sales; Gucci fragrance customers can donate $5 from each purchase to various projects, charities and organizations supporting justice, health or education for women and young girls. It also set up an official Chime for Change website, through which direct donations to the latter programs can be collected online. The campaign is partnered with Catapult, which connects donors and volunteers directly to over 50 organizations throughout 38 countries worldwide.
These organizations are primarily focused upon the formerly mentioned goals of female education, justice and health; the program has thus far contributed significantly to these programs, and its progress is meticulously recorded online at Chimeforchange.org/impact-report. For example, the program provided enough funding for midwives in Cambodia to reduce the country’s high rate of maternal deaths during childbirth. It has also nearly completed gathering the funding necessary to both create homes for young girls in India and provide free, sanitary cesarean sections to impoverished women at the St. Damien Hospital in Haiti (a nation in which one in 10 mothers die during childbirth.)
Another page of the website tracks donation progress by percentage for various exigent causes, such as providing health services for 35 rescued victims of human trafficking at a time and funding peer education in Spain to prevent female genital mutilation, which affects over 100 million children globally.
Chime for Change makes it simple for customers around the world to easily contribute to many influential causes worldwide; it represents a meaningful and influential step towards alleviating world poverty.
– Arielle Swett
Sources: Chime for Change, Huffington Post, Catapult
Photo: Closet On The Go
A Call for Agriculture in Africa
No dollar does more for the people of the African continent than a dollar invested in agriculture. In fact, as a means of poverty alleviation, growth within agriculture in Africa is 11 times more effective than growth in any other industry.
Recognizing that agricultural investments are crucial to eliminating poverty in Africa, many African leaders promised in 2003 to allocate 10 percent of their national budgets specifically toward agriculture. Unfortunately, very few of those leaders were able to keep that promise – today, over 10 years later, African governments spend on average only 4 percent of their national budgets on agriculture.
Despite this, development experts are hopeful that more African leaders will commit to agricultural investment at the African Union Summit to be held in Equatorial Guinea at the end of this month.
Citizens from a plethora of African nations put pressure on their leaders to target poverty through funding agriculture at the African Union’s Conference of Ministers of Agriculture, Rural Development, Fisheries, and Aquaculture, held in Addis Ababa in May. At this conference, African leaders, farmers and agriculture advocates discussed topics including decreasing food insecurity, supporting female farmers and assisting small farms. Prominent advocates also presented a petition urging leaders to invest in agriculture in order to create jobs and feed families. At the time of the conference, over 600,000 African citizens had signed the petition.
Because governments across the continent have declared 2014 the “year of agriculture and food security,” politicians would be wise to listen to their constituents and make agriculture a priority.
Another result of May’s conference was a list of 10 policy recommendations attendees had for African leaders. Among their recommendations were to “work to eliminate the gender and youth gap in agriculture,” “foster access to markets for small-scale farmers” and “integrate sustainability and climate resilience into national agriculture plans.”
These recommendations are not only reasonable and sustainable, but address a number of flaws in the agriculture industry.
Clearly, the people of Africa are working to prioritize agriculture. International aid organizations should follow their lead – after all, it’s the most effective way of eliminating poverty in Africa.
—Elise L. Riley
Sources: African Union, ONE 1, ONE 2, ONE 3
Photo: African Organisation for Standardisation
10 Ways to Live on $1.25 a Day
The World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on a budget of $1.25 a day. To promote awareness of this alarming statistic, many people participate in challenges to see if they can go a certain number of days “living below the line” of poverty. Celebrities like Ben Affleck and Sophia Bush, just to name a few, have participated in the challenge.
For anyone willing to try the challenge, here is a list of 10 possible food combinations, each totaling $1.25 or slightly less.
1. 2.5 oz of store brand lunchmeat + 4 oz of apple sauce = $1.24
2. 1.1 oz bag of corn chips + one banana + half of a 6 oz container of store brand flavored yogurt = $1.24
3. Protein bar = $1.25
Yes, some protein or granola bars can consume an entire day’s budget for the extreme poverty challenge, but only when they are not on sale.
4. Ice cream sundae cup + one banana = $1.25
5. One apple + 6 oz flavored yogurt = $1.09
6. One loaf of store brand white bread + one banana = $1.24
For challenge participants looking to extend the experiment more than a day, buying a loaf of bread for 99 cents is an economically intelligent decision.
7. 10 oz package of sliced American cheese + one chocolate chip cookie = $1.25
Much like the loaf of bread, a package of store brand sliced cheese, priced at $1, can last multiple days.
8. One candy bar + one quarter of a box of frozen spinach + half of a 6 oz container of plain yogurt = $1.24
9. One cereal cup + half of a cucumber = $1.23
10. Half of a can of chicken and rice soup + one bagel + half of an apple = $1.13
A common misinterpretation of the $1.25 statistic is that one American dollar will buy a lot more in an impoverished area than it would in the U.S. The conversion has already been taken into account, though, and tailored for the U.S. to understand better. So, for example, in Kenya, people living in extreme poverty are surviving on the food that approximately 56 cents worth of American currency would buy in their markets.
— Emily Walthouse
Sources: The World Bank, Peapod, Giving What We Can, Living on One, Home Shop
Photo: Flickr