Schools in northern Nigeria are again the targets of religious tension, after a fatal attack by Boko Haram on February 24. The militant group set fire to the dormitories of a boarding school in the town of Budi Yani, Adamawa killing 29 young boys ages 11-18.
This is one of a growing number of attacks by the organization, which is responsible for roughly 1,700 deaths since their establishment in 2009. It is eerily similar to the burning of the College of Agriculture in Yobe State last September, during which 42 students were killed and 18 injured. Again on February 12, an estimated 50-90 civilians lost their lives in the village of Izghe in Borno state.
Tension is prevalent across the northern states of Borno, Yobe, Kano, Adamawa, Kaduna and Bauchi, where Boko Haram seeks to create a separate Islamic state, under the rule of Sharia law. Their sectarian stance is adamantly opposed to Western influence and Christianity, as indicated by their name, which translates to “Western education is sinful”.
Religious conflict between the predominantly Muslim north and the mainly Christian south arose in 1914, when British colonial rule created the West African nation. Demographics were not considered when the borders were drawn, combining culturally distinct and incongruous populations.
Boko Haram’s presence has been disastrous for Nigeria’s education system. Schools across the north are closing indefinitely, and even those that remain open are seeing extremely low attendance. Previously, State Commissioner of Education Mohammed Lamin frequently claimed that the government was winning the war on terror, and urged schools to reopen. However, many frightened parents remain unconvinced.
Aside from schools, Boko Haram also targets local banks, businesses, homes, churches and public buildings. Many families have fled to nearby Chad and Cameroon, choosing refugee status over sectarian violence.
Local chairman of Izghe, Maina Ularamu, says, “there is no protection. We cannot predict where and when they are going to attack. People can’t sleep with their eyes closed.”
The boarding school assault has been interpreted as an “open declaration of war,” according to Nigeria’s Senate President David Mark, along with other government leaders. The state of emergency declared in the region last year, as an attempt to end the insurgency through formal military deployment, will continue.
International efforts continue to be implemented against Boko Haram. France and the United States recently pledged their support for the Nigerian government, and leaders of neighboring Senegal, Niger, and Cameroon promise to help fight the militants on the ground. Nigeria’s President Jonathon will also soon be attending a security conference in Europe, where he hopes to garner even more awareness of the issue.
– Stefanie Doucette
Sources: Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, NPR, NPR, BBC, The Guardian
Photo: LA Times
Rohingya Abuse Sanctioned by Burmese Government
You probably have never heard of the Rohingya, as they are arguably one of the world’s least known and more persecuted indigenous groups. They are making the news lately, however, as their culture and very way of life is under attack by the Myanmar government. A number of leaked documents have come to light that reveal the deplorable and insidious nature of these crimes.
The South Asian human rights organization, called Fortify Rights, recently released an 80-page report that details the abuses that the Rohingya people are suffering, with the added twist that the Myanmar government has given these various abuses their consent and blessing. Some background is needed in order to fully understand the situation.
Rohingya in Myanmar are widely considered to be illegal immigrants and are not widely welcome due to their practice of Islam. Myanmar is a predominately Buddhist country, and tensions erupted in 2012 which resulted in 88 deaths and the displacement of nearly 100,000 people. There was evidence during these riots, according to various United Kingdom-based NGOs, that both the Burmese police and military played a large role in the persecution of the Rohingya.
The abuses that the Rohingya are enduring have been ignored by members of the international community; however, the sanctioning of these abuses by the government of Myanmar is a new development. The report that was published by the human rights organization Fortify Rights gives a behind the curtain look at what is really occurring to the Rohingyas in Myanmar.
The sheer number of ways in which the Rohingyas are limited or hindered by the regulations and sanctions is quite astonishing. The sanctions seem to be an attempt to drive the Rohingya’s from Myanmar. On July 23, 2012, Myanmar Minister of Home Affairs Lieutenant-General Ko Ko told parliament that the authorities were “tightening the regulations [against the Rohingya] in order to handle traveling, birth, death, immigration, migration, marriage, etc…”
There are over 1.5 million Rohingya living in Myanmar, but a 1982 citizenship law stripped their citizenship status. To complicate the matter even more, the government of Myanmar does not recognize the Rohingya as a group. For example, the United Nations and the government of Myanmar are working together to conduct a nation-wide census. However, there is no “Rohingya” nationality to select as an option, the Rohingya will have to identify themselves as “other.”
The government of Myanmar has also imposed a two-child policy on Rohingya who live in the northern townships of Maungdaw and Buthidaung. Fortify Rights obtained “Regional Order 1/2005,” which only applies to the Rohingya. It states “Starting the date of this regional order, those who have permission to marry must limit the number of children, in order to control the birth rate so there is enough food and shelter.
The Rohingya are in dire need of assistance from the outside world. The fact that there is no rampant violence occurring on a daily basis does not mean that the Rohingya are in any less need of assistance. The sanctions that are being placed on the Rohingya are being used as a tool to eliminate their presence inside Myanmar and the international community has to step up and help protect them.
– Arthur Fuller
Sources: Fortify Rights, BBC, BBC, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, DVB
Photo: Press TV
Boko Haram Targets Schools in Northern Nigeria
Schools in northern Nigeria are again the targets of religious tension, after a fatal attack by Boko Haram on February 24. The militant group set fire to the dormitories of a boarding school in the town of Budi Yani, Adamawa killing 29 young boys ages 11-18.
This is one of a growing number of attacks by the organization, which is responsible for roughly 1,700 deaths since their establishment in 2009. It is eerily similar to the burning of the College of Agriculture in Yobe State last September, during which 42 students were killed and 18 injured. Again on February 12, an estimated 50-90 civilians lost their lives in the village of Izghe in Borno state.
Tension is prevalent across the northern states of Borno, Yobe, Kano, Adamawa, Kaduna and Bauchi, where Boko Haram seeks to create a separate Islamic state, under the rule of Sharia law. Their sectarian stance is adamantly opposed to Western influence and Christianity, as indicated by their name, which translates to “Western education is sinful”.
Religious conflict between the predominantly Muslim north and the mainly Christian south arose in 1914, when British colonial rule created the West African nation. Demographics were not considered when the borders were drawn, combining culturally distinct and incongruous populations.
Boko Haram’s presence has been disastrous for Nigeria’s education system. Schools across the north are closing indefinitely, and even those that remain open are seeing extremely low attendance. Previously, State Commissioner of Education Mohammed Lamin frequently claimed that the government was winning the war on terror, and urged schools to reopen. However, many frightened parents remain unconvinced.
Aside from schools, Boko Haram also targets local banks, businesses, homes, churches and public buildings. Many families have fled to nearby Chad and Cameroon, choosing refugee status over sectarian violence.
Local chairman of Izghe, Maina Ularamu, says, “there is no protection. We cannot predict where and when they are going to attack. People can’t sleep with their eyes closed.”
The boarding school assault has been interpreted as an “open declaration of war,” according to Nigeria’s Senate President David Mark, along with other government leaders. The state of emergency declared in the region last year, as an attempt to end the insurgency through formal military deployment, will continue.
International efforts continue to be implemented against Boko Haram. France and the United States recently pledged their support for the Nigerian government, and leaders of neighboring Senegal, Niger, and Cameroon promise to help fight the militants on the ground. Nigeria’s President Jonathon will also soon be attending a security conference in Europe, where he hopes to garner even more awareness of the issue.
– Stefanie Doucette
Sources: Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, NPR, NPR, BBC, The Guardian
Photo: LA Times
10 Quotes From People That Changed the World
What do a French priest, Spanish poet, U.S. President, Scottish philosopher and self-freed African American all have in common?
They all think it’s time to end world poverty. Famous and brilliant men and women have been saying for years that at last we have the ability to make lasting change in the war on hunger. Below are ten quotes from people that changed the world.
1. “Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.” – Frederick Douglass, escaped slave, abolitionist leader and supporter of woman’s rights.
2. “The war against hunger is truly mankind’s war of liberation.” – John F. Kennedy, former U.S. President
3. “The real tragedy of the poor is the poverty of their aspirations.” – Adam Smith, Scottish philosopher
4. “Hunger is not an issue of charity. It is an issue of justice.” – Jacques Diouf, Food and Agricultural Organization Director-general
5. “This is the first generation in all of recorded history that can do something about the scourge of poverty. We have the means to do it. We can banish hunger from the face of the earth.” – Hubert H. Humphrey, former U.S. Vice President
6. “[P]eace does not mean just putting an end to violence or to war, but to all other factors that threaten peace, such as discrimination, such as inequality, poverty.”– Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese opposition politician and chairperson of the National League for Democracy in Burma
7. “What I would say to the young men and women who are beset by hopelessness and doubt is that they should go and see what is being done on the ground to fight poverty, not like going to the zoo but to take action, to open their hearts and their consciences.” – Abbé Pierre, French priest and member of the Resistance in WWII
8. “Poverty is everyone’s problem. It cuts across any line you can name: age, race, social, geographic or religious. Whether you are black or white; rich, middle-class or poor, we are ALL touched by poverty.” – Kathleen Blanco, former Governor of Louisiana
9. “The day that hunger is eradicated from the earth there will be the greatest spiritual explosion the world has ever known. Humanity cannot imagine the joy that will burst into the world.” – Federico Garcia Lorca, Spanish poet
10. “Hunger is not a problem. It is an obscenity. How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank, Holocaust victim
Change isn’t just needed, it’s also possible. It’s time to join the movement that’s fighting back against the greatest killer of people the world has ever seen – hunger. If any of these people inspire you, it’s because they accomplished something in the face of great opposition.
People are what change the world. Join us.
– Lydia Caswell
Sources: Do One Thing, Brainy Quote, Do Something Now
Photo: PBS
World Poverty on the Decline
Despite the ever-pressing need to lend aid to the global community, as of recently, world poverty has been declining-presumably from a convergence of factors such as foreign aid, economic stabilization and increased development. As a result of increased investment in education, health, housing and facilitated access to water, living conditions around the globe have undergone improvement, further contributing to the decline in world poverty. According to a development report by the United Nations, the decline of poverty in the developing world was surpassing predictions.
The UN reported that “The world is witnessing an epochal ‘global re-balancing’ with higher growth in at least 40 poor countries helping lift hundreds of millions out of poverty and into a new ‘global middle class.’ Never in history have the living conditions and prospects of so many people changed so dramatically and so fast.” Furthermore, shortly after the release of the UN report, Oxford University conducted a study supporting the UN’s findings.
According to Oxford University’s poverty and human development initiative, poverty in many regions of the world is no longer as acute. According this initiative, acute poverty in the poorest countries could become eliminated within the short time frame of 20 years. Among the countries that could experience the eradication of severe poverty are Nepal, Bangladesh, Ghana, Tanzania and Bolivia.
Furthermore, the method of gauging poverty has also changed. Sabine Alkire and Maria Emma Santos of the UN engendered the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) in 2010 to provide a more compressive measure of poverty. The MPI measures poverty along ten dimensions, such as nutrition, child morality, schooling, cooking fuel, water, sanitation, electricity and infrastructure. Unlike older measures of poverty that overlook critical indicators of poverty such as nutrition and health, the MPI is a far more thorough assessment.
Despite the economic crises of 2008 and 2009 that had catapulted the global economy into a recession, the world’s poorest nations are still able to rapidly approach the achievement of Millennium Development Goals. According to estimates by the World Bank, the global poverty rate is projected to fall below 15 percent by 2015, implying that other consequences of poverty such as hunger and death are also projected to decline significantly.
– Phoebe Pradhan
Sources: The Guardian, UN
Photo: Dreambook
Global Citizen Nights: Promoting Poverty Awareness
Ever since the great success of “We Are the World,” the music industry has been known for being a big part of poverty awareness, as many artists use their notoriety to make a difference.
The Global Poverty Project (GPP), started in 2008 by Hugh Evans, is best known for its once-per-year event, the Global Citizen Festival. Due to all the success the festivals have had in the past few years, the GPP has started a new concert series to help work toward its goal to end global poverty by 2030: Global Citizen Nights.
Billboard announced on February 26, 2014 that The Fray will be the headliner for the very first Global Citizen Night, taking place at Emo’s East in Austin, Texas on March 10. In addition to The Fray, Allen Stone and Saints of Valory will also be playing the event.
The lead singer of The Fray, Isaac Slade, said to Billboard recently, “It’s almost unimaginable how many people live in extreme poverty today. With all the technology and connectivity in our so-called modern global landscape, you’d think we’d have this figured out by now. We hope the Global Citizen Nights concerts will help bring attention to this important issue.”
The GPP is planning for additional Global Citizen Nights in Nashville, Chicago and St. Louis. Those performers and the venues they will be playing will be announced soon.
The process to earn tickets for Global Citizen Nights will be in the same vein as earning tickets for the Global Citizen Festival. Anyone can take action online by visiting Globalcitizen.org and entering a prize draw for whichever event he or she chooses. Any person can put his or her name in the draw up to three times. These tickets that are earned are completely free of charge. In addition, there are a small number of VIP tickets available that guarantee a ticket to the show and better seating.
One of the trademarks of the GPP is that it works tirelessly to get everyday citizens involved and to educate them about the extreme poverty that exists in our world. Partnering with musicians has further allowed the GPP to connect with the “Global Citizens” that it tries to create and unite, because it provides both incentive and inspiration to make a difference.
Evans hopes that this new venture will continue to attract a young crowd, as these individuals can become some of the most involved Global Citizens. Evans has said, “The Global Citizen Nights concert series lets us bring major artists to small venues as a reward to young, energetic, and socially-conscious Global Citizens who are engaging with us online.”
Evans is taking a unique approach to demonstrate the progress that has been made in alleviating poverty and emphasizing what still needs to be done to end poverty as a whole. By encouraging activism and spreading awareness, Evans’ goal is get increased United States government funding to provide a wide range of aid.
The focus of Global Citizen Nights, in addition to spreading awareness, is to guarantee that every single child has access to food, clean water, an education and basic healthcare. By partnering with the music industry and using free concerts as rewards, the GPP is targeting a younger audience and uniting Global Citizens to successfully end poverty by 2030.
– Julie Guacci
Sources: Global Citizen, Billboard
Photo: Global Citizen
The Struggle of Circassians in Sochi
With the Winter Olympics now over, many are lamenting the failure of civil society and LGBT advocacy to impact the games, due in large part to the IOC’s unwavering apolitical stance. Yet what is more shocking is how little of Sochi coverage went to the Circassians, a North Caucasian ethnic group indigenous to the region.
In the 19th century, Circassians were the subject of a bizarre European and American fixation which arose in part from anthropologist Johan Friedrich Blumenbach’s claim that they were the origin of the white race. The image of the “Circassian Beauty” was extolled by authors from Pushkin to Dumas—all while the Arab-African slave trade imported Circassian women into Ottoman harems through the 18th and 19th centuries. Then in the early 1800’s, the Russian conquest into the Caucasus led to what many are calling the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Circassians.
During the years before the Winter Olympics, the Circassian Cultural Institute, among other organizations, united Circassians worldwide to raise awareness about the tragic history of the region and get recognition from the Russian government that the Russo-Circassian War was in fact a genocide—an allegation that Russian leaders, from Tsar Nicholas II to Vladimir Putin, have downplayed and denied. Roughly 700,000 Circassians live in Russia, with significant numbers in Turkey, Jordan, Syria and New Jersey in the U.S., where the Institute is based.
Delegations in Israel and Turkey have lobbied and protested both the IOC and the Russian embassies in their respective countries, with little response from either. Moreover, Circassian advocates and local community leaders were detained in the months prior to the Olympics. Many have also accused Putin of downplaying the ethnic heterogeneity in the region, and misleadingly portraying Sochi as an ethnically Russian region. While the struggle has been reported on by several reputable news outlets, discussions on Circassians in Sochi have failed to launch from the blogosphere into mainstream media.
Martin W. Lewis at Stanford University attributes the lack of reporting to confusion, uncertainty and overwhelming lack of awareness by Western audiences of the history and demographics of the Caucasus region. Lewis suspects that the story, in the minds of reporters, may be too complicated for observers to bear, and furthermore distracts audiences from the “tunnel vision” of the Caucasian narrative—which has predominantly focused on Chechnya, not Circassia.
The disproportionate focus on LGBT rights and allegations of corruption in funding—not to mention the anecdotal and overdone coverage on Sochi hotel rooms and bathrooms—may have very well swayed attention away from the plight of Circassians in Sochi. And now that the Olympics are over, Ukraine and Crimea take center stage in Eastern European affairs. Looking back, Sochi seems like a lost opportunity for garnering the global awareness that only the Olympics can bring, especially for a region that has, until now, kept out of the spotlight.
– Dmitriy Synkov
Sources: Buzzfeed, The New Yorker, GeoCurrents, The Asahi Shimbun, Mirror of Race
Photo: The Nation
Sin Nombre: Looking Back at Cary Fukunaga’s Directorial Debut
Sin Nombre may seem like old news compared to Cary Fukunaga’s most recent project “True Detective.” This is especially the case since the newly popular HBO crime drama, starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, has cemented the fledgling director’s reputation as a serious filmmaker.
However, before 2014’s “True Detective,” and even before his critically acclaimed 2011 adaptation of Jayne Eyre, Fukunaga debuted as a director with the much less watched Sin Nombre (Spanish for “nameless”). The 2009 U.S.-Mexican production tells the story of two emigrants travelling north through Mexico to the United States. One of them, a young girl from Honduras accompanied by her family. The other, a former gang member from Chiapas, Mexico, escaping from the Mara Salvatrucha, known colloquially as the infamous MS-13.
While the film lacked the mainstream success of some similar area films (like Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu’s “death trilogy”) it fared well on the festival circuit and received overwhelmingly positive feedback from critics. The film currently holds an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, a score of 77 on Metacritic and a 7.6 on IMDB. The film was popular both domestically and internationally, receiving awards at the Sundance and Stockholm film festivals, among others.
Sin Nombre is noted for its gritty and at times harrowing portrayal of Central American gang culture, particularly focusing on the entrapment faced by young men growing up in poverty. The film’s protagonist, known as El Casper, decides to escape after his gang leader questions his loyalty. Atop a northbound train, full of other U.S.-bound emigrants, Casper is befriended by a young girl named Sayra, despite her family’s reproach.
According to Roger Ebert’s review, Fukunaga was inspired by a story of 80 illegal immigrants found trapped in a truck in Texas, 19 of whom had died. Unlike many films on social issues, however, Sin Nombre is an apolitical and one could even say an amoral film, depicting the dangers of emigration without the politicking of immigration reform.
Though the film lacks the gloss, subtext and moral of what you would call “socially conscious films,” the movie is socially conscious in its own way, depicting desperation that transcends political ideals and the legality of immigration. Its message is not in its words, but in the adrenaline of watching its characters go through struggle.
The protagonist, after all, is hardly a hero. The film does not ask its viewers to respect or adore him. It shows the other side of the border which we rarely see, and tries to explain that for some, the risks of emigration are small compared to the consequences of home.
What is also important to note is how films like Sin Nombre have reached wide-ranging audiences through outlets such as Netflix—especially its “Watch Instantly” feature. Viewers looking to watch a film immediately (as opposed to planning to see it in theaters) are more likely to go beyond their genre comfort zone. The fact that films like Sin Nombre, Maria Full of Grace and Whore’s Glory have become well-known in the U.S.—all of which are foreign or transnational productions—shows how filmmakers can use neutral outlets such as Netflix to reach new audiences, sparking discussion and interest.
– Dmitriy Synkov
Sources: Rotten Tomatoes, Meta Critic, Nth Position, Roger Rebert, IMDB, New York Times, The Borgen Project
Photo: Brad Nehring
U.S. Involvement in Afghanistan Nears End
The roller coaster ride of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan continues to twist and turn even as it nears its end. If security issues and a Taliban insurgency are not put in check, the withdrawal of U.S. troops could cause getting off of that symbolic rollercoaster to be even bumpier and more dangerous than the rocky ride itself.
The Taliban, in the short term, are not expected to take over the country, Afghan security forces, standing at 350,000, greatly outnumber the current 84,000 international troops deployed in the region.
Even as international troops are deployed to less than one fifth of their present number, Afghan’s provincial capitals are mightily defended. The largest city in Afghanistan’s south, Kandahar, has seen attacks by insurgents drop in half since 2011 at the high point of influence by American troops.
So, what is there to worry about?
Impending elections and the vulnerability of small outlying outposts torment the collective conscious of Afghan civilians. Smaller districts experiencing a pullback of international troops have described in increase in attacks by the Taliban. Residents fear a takeover by these insurgent forces in the coming years of political transition and global extraction.
Wheat in some districts rose to numerous times its normal price as a result of roadblocks and other siege methods used by insurgents. In these cases, the Taliban has surrounded some towns and cut off supplies while prohibiting police and soldiers to access medical attention for simple injuries or illnesses, leaving them to die from preventable causes.
Upcoming elections mean Afghan president Hamid Karzai, accused of fraternizing with the Taliban enemy, will be stepping down. Fraud, corruption and security issues are not absent from the problems anticipated in the election process. It is possible to stop these complications from having substantial impact on the legitimacy of the election as a whole, yet there must be guidelines and rules to keep the situation in check.
It would be sophomoric to assume these rules would completely resolve extreme mistrust and conflict between candidates and their parties, and as such the international community has been advised to keep this in mind. The concept of an internationally mandated mediator is on the table, and could possibly ease tensions to some degree. Some even surmise that the election process may help advance peace talks with the Taliban.
Security issues with U.S. involvement in Afghanistan
U. S. involvement in Afghanistan has been, some may say, far too long. Reducing troop numbers and assistance levels is a necessary step to eventual withdrawal from the country.
Yet how much security remains necessary is under debate.
In order for a few NATO troops to remain in the country to advise and help administer the transitional process, Afghanistan and the U.S. need to sign a bilateral security agreement. Karzai is hesitant in this regard, having refused to sign the document multiple times.
Self sufficiency and independent governance in a secure and prosperous environment are among many hopeful goals the international community sets for Afghanistan’s future. These goals are not unachievable. It just may take some time, and some awareness of the country’s situation, to get there.
-Jaclyn Stutz
Sources: The New York Times
Photo: DC Clothesline
Protesters March in Solidarity for El Chapo
The bloody drug war in Mexico has been raging for over eight years now, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of cartel soldiers as well as innocent civilians. Recently, Joaquin Guzman, otherwise known as El Chapo, was caught by Mexican authorities; many protesters have displayed anger over his imprisonment.
Hundreds of these angry citizens marched in streets of Culiacan, located in the Sinaloa region of Mexico; the hub of the Sinaloa cartel. The protesters are angered by Guzman’s capture mainly because cartel activity provided jobs for many of the poor in the mountainous Sinaloa region. Signs among the crowd illustrated their anger. One said “We Want Chapo Free.”
Currently, El Chapo is awaiting possible extradition to the United States for trafficking activity linked to several major American cities.
The fallout from the loss of leadership within the Sinaloa cartel could threaten economic activity in the Sinaloa region as a whole; a sad reality in a region where 74% of its residents suffer from poverty. Despite the presence of mass poverty in the region, freshly painted houses dot the countryside, mainly from the work of the cartel foot soldiers.
The residents fear the possibility of hardship if they lose the support the drug trade provides to the agricultural sector of the region. The economic support by the drug trade felt in the region is typified by the mythical status El Chapo reached among the locals. He is viewed as a hero rather than a vicious murderer.
Some draw parallels to him and a 20th century Mexican folk hero by the name of Jesus Malverde, a bandit who shared his wealth with the poor of the region.
El Chapo’s future remains uncertain as he awaits possible extradition to the U.S. Leads provided by the cell phone of his assistant, Carlos Manuel Hoo Ramirez, after his capture, eventually led authorities to the Mazatlan region of Mexico, where Guzman was evading arrest.
Some experts fear severe fallout from the drug lord’s capture. There is a possibility of an increase in violence rather than a decrease. A bloody turf war is not out of the question for many. The end result could be something similar to the previous administration’s “Kingpin Strategy,” where the focus on killing cartel drug lords led to the splintering of cartels into smaller groups that relied on more sinister and violent strategies to maintain control of their respective regions.
The drug war just beyond the United States’ southern border is a tragedy unfolding before our eyes. The majority of drugs manufactured and shipped by the cartels cross over into U.S. territory to satisfy an insatiable appetite for drugs.
The U.S. must create new policy initiatives to address this problem. Such policy changes would curb demand of illicit drugs, which seems to be the only way to reduce the manufacture of drugs and the subsequent violence associated with the illicit drug industry.
– Zachary Lindberg
Sources: Los Angeles Times
Photo: Time
Julia Roberts Backs Clean Cookstoves Initiative
When people think of the needs of the hungry in the developing world, their supply of proper cookware is not always the first thing that comes to mind. More common are thoughts of the need for immediate food supplies and ways to promote agriculture. However, there is a definite need in the developing world for proper cookware. Estimates say three billion people around the world rely on open-air stoves, an inefficient and sometimes dangerous way of cooking food.
The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves was organized in 2010 by then-Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and the United Nations Foundation to raise awareness about the challenges that so many face in cooking their food from open-air flames. In 2011, Julia Roberts joined the Alliance as a global ambassador and became a key spokesperson for the group. In a statement soon after her decision, she said, “I was inspired to join the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves because its core mission is saving lives – especially children’s lives.”
It is believed that two million people a year are killed due to the smoke coming from the cooking done on unclean cookstoves. Up to a million of those killed are children. In the necessity for parents to provide for their children they inadvertently put them at risk. This shows the necessity for governments in the developed world to step in, and shows the necessity of groups like the Borgen Project to encourage this type of support.
Fires cooked over open-air flames take the terrible human toll that have resulted in the millions of deaths around the world. They also take a toll on the environment, raising concerns about the future of humans on this planet. In order to supply these open-air flames, the people using them are contributing to the global deforestation problem. The flames from the stoves, just as they release carcinogens that can harm the cooks, can also release dangerous greenhouse gases that harm the environment. Studies have shown that fires contribute to emissions of methane, carbon monoxide and black carbon.
The goal of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is to change the landscape of cooking in the developing world by 2020. Goals have been set to establish 100 million clean stoves by that year. Julia Roberts describes the “effective solutions, which can save lives, improve livelihoods… and combat climate change.”
This is a fight worth taking up, one that could have large impacts on the global stage. With more efficient stoves, the health costs spent combating smoke-related diseases could be used towards the upkeep of a productive family. As more families have these funds freed up, a significant impact on the global economy could follow.
Human lives being lost in the search for a good meal should not be the case anywhere in the world. The meals people cook everyday at home are an unheralded luxury we enjoy. If citizens take the time at every meal to think of how they can make it easier for those abroad to healthily enjoy their meals, it may contribute to a global effort to save lives.
– Eric Gustafsson
Sources: Kiva, Clean Cookstoves, Guardian, PBS
Photo: TV Guide