“After 3 nights we were told that one of us would be executed. We had to draw straws to decide who would be killed. If the police had come one hour later we would have been killed already.” –An escaped slave
The London-based non-profit organization Environmental Justice Fund (EJF) recently released a report on the state of human trafficking in Thailand, called ‘Sold to the Sea.’ In it, former fishing boat slaves provide accounts of torture and “casual homicide” committed by captains and crews onboard numerous fishing vessels. The results of their 2009 survey were very clear: Thailand’s fishing industry is one of the worst examples of modern slavery.
Thailand’s $7.3 billion fishery export business is the third most valuable in the world. One in six pounds of seafood sold in the United States comes from the small nation, which also supplies Europe and most of Asia. The high demand in the industry has created an increase in foreign migrant workers traveling to Thailand in order to fill labor needs. However, the Thai government’s complicated and expensive visa and immigration policies have forced many poor workers to rely on human traffickers in order to enter the country.
Laborers are typically trafficked into Thailand from Myanmar, Burma and Cambodia by coyotes (human traffickers), who lure them there with false promises. Boys as young as 16 can be bought for $600 by fishing companies to work on their boats for up to 20 hours a day with little to no compensation. Such easy access to cheap labor has resulted in barbaric practices on fishing trawlers, including the maiming and murder of these foreign slaves.
A UN report found that up to 59 percent of escaped slaves admit to witnessing at least one murder of another worker at the hands of senior crewman. One former slave testified to the EJF that, “The senior crew attacked workers with knives. And some got killed and their bodies were thrown into the sea.”
These abuses have been allowed to continue for the most part because they take place in international waters, where no country has jurisdiction. Unregistered “ghost boats” take the forced laborers out to sea, and there the crew commits terrible acts against them. Reports of stabbing, crippling, and tossing people alive into the ocean have all been made over the past few years. These crews have been allowed to get away with their crimes because ghost boats rarely ever enter port. Instead, they take their slave-caught seafood to “mother ships,” that then bring the fish into port to sell to brokers.
For the past four years, Thailand has consistently ranked in the second-tier of the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons report. The report, which is based on a three-tier scale, rates nations around the world based on their human trafficking statistics. Thailand has only avoided the worst rating because they have continued to be pardoned by Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. This year, Thailand used up its last pardon, and if they do not make noticeable improvements in handling their human trafficking stats, the United States will be legally obligated to begin implementing targeted sanctions against them. President Obama has already voiced his support for cracking down on these practices.
This means that the Thai government must spend the next 12 months conducting enough raids and arrests to prove their sincerity and commitment to ending human trafficking in their country. Over the past few years they have made modest steps towards that goal. The government increased police training, created greater potential sentences for convicted traffickers and have constructed more shelters for refugees. These efforts have made little impact on the Thai slave trade, however, mainly because they are not targeted at the true perpetrators.
Human trafficking in Thailand has continued to be facilitated by corruption and an unwillingness to prosecute the companies and brokers profiting from the sale of human beings. The Thai navy’s efforts to monitor the fishing fleet have been negligible at best, and without pressure from the government, the issue is not going to improve. With the threat of international sanctions looming over them, maybe 2013 will be the year that Thailand begins cracking down on human trafficking in the fishing industry- but if the past is any indication, it is not likely.
– Allana Welch
Sources: Al Jazeera, International Business Times, Marine Link, Global Post, Environmental Justice Foundation
Photo: The Asia Foundation
Myanmar Creates New Opium Elimination Program
Opium is a narcotic, or an opioid. It is a white liquid made from the poppy plant, and is smoked in order to create euphoria. This is an addicting drug that can lead to physical dependence. Myanmar is the second-largest opium producer in the world. Myanmar, also known as Burma or the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, is located in Southeast Asia, and is bordered by China, India, Laos, Bangladesh, and Thailand. In a region known as “Southeast Asia’s Golden Triangle” at the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar, is notorious for its abundance of drugs and opium production through multiple poppy fields. This is one of the world’s primary sources of heroin, and the Myanmar government wishes to eliminate this opium production. Myanmar has been fighting opium within its borders for years, with little success. However, a new opium elimination program was recently created in order to tackle opium.
There was a peace initiative recently implemented in Shan State, which is the eastern part of Myanmar, which may end up helping the eradication of opium and poppies. The country manager of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in Myanmar, or UNODC, Jason Eligh, detailed the plan to reporters. Basically, the plan is to help farmers wean themselves off of poppy in areas that are rebel-controlled. This will be done in order to gain trust and to help those opium producers find other ways to succeed, without having to turn to illegal means. The first step of this plan is to let survey staff enter Shan State, which grows 90% of the country’s poppies.
The plan was created under a partnership between the government of Myanmar and the military of Myanmar. Over the past few years, the growth rate of the poppy plant has increased, despite governmental attempts to lower it. Therefore, a new strategy was necessary in order to fight the growth of this plant. The government of Myanmar has partnered with the Restoration Council of Shan State, or RCSS, which has wanted independence for the past half century, but recently signed a ceasefire with the government in 2011. There are peace talks occurring at this time, and included in those peace talks is a promise to help farmers that are in poverty to have alternative development programmes, which would bring them away from the cultivation of poppy plants, or the temptation to grow them.
The plan to turn farmers to development programmes will occur from 2014 to 2017, and it is a multimillion dollar promise. The overall aim will be to help the infrastructure of Myanmar, as well as improve health and education. Still, a main component of the plan is crop substitution of the poppy plants, in order to raise citizens out of poverty and out of criminal activity. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, wishes to make Myanmar drug free by 2015. The Minister of Home Affairs, Lt-Gen Ko Ko, said that alternative development is the solution to the drug culture in Myanmar, and asked for international support, as well as international donors in order to help fund the project.
Overall, the situation in Myanmar is stressful and still a bit tense, but if this plan is enacted properly, it is entirely possible that there will be less or no opium production in Myanmar, and many farmers will be raised out of poverty and criminal activity.
– Corina Balsamo
Sources: The Jakarta Globe, IRIN News, DVB
Photo: The Telegraph
3 Rules of Smart Giving
Can someone really be wrong when he or she decides to give to charity? There is no concrete answer, but sometimes certain types of giving can do more overall good than others.
Eric Friedman, an actuary and philanthropist, argues that there is a right and wrong way to give, and many people are doing it wrong. Today’s generation of givers prefers to become more deeply involved in their philanthropy, for example, by mentoring young people, creating a foundation, or asking to learn exactly what good their money did when they donated to an organization. While this philanthropic trend is positive, Friedman claims that people still need to be smarter when it comes to giving by focusing on these three areas:
If Friedman is correct, this type of smart giving could make a much more significant impact when it comes to issues like global poverty and world hunger.
– Katie Brockman
Sources: TIME, Give Well, Giving What We Can
Photo: WPFD
Poverty in Uganda 101
Poverty in Uganda remains a pressing issue. About 67 percent of Ugandans are either poor or highly vulnerable to poverty according to the 2012 expenditure review for Uganda by the Directorate of Social Protection in the gender ministry.
Top Facts on Poverty in Uganda
Based on an analysis of the 1989-90 Household Budget Survey, the poverty assessment for Uganda was divided along two lines. The first category of poverty was defined by a level that represented the spending needed for a daily consumption of 2,200 calories in addition to some non-food spending. Ugandans falling below this line were categorized as “poor.” The second level of poverty was set at a line that represented the bare minimum for adequate food intake. Those who fell below even that line were labeled the “poorest.” According to these definitions, 55 percent of Ugandans are considered poor. The rest of that 67 percent of at-risk or poor Ugandans fall somewhere in the core “poorest” category.
Ninety-two percent of the poor live in rural areas even though 89 percent of the population is actually classified as rural. Not only is poverty more widespread in rural areas, it is also more severe. Thus, poverty-related indicators – including household size, dependency ratio and illiteracy – are higher for rural Uganda.
Because of poverty in Uganda, life expectancy for men and women is one of the lowest in the world at an average of 59 years. AIDS has become a key contributor to death and illness amongst young children, consistently driving the infant and child mortality rate higher. Malaria has been found to be the primary killer among adults admitted to hospitals. Additionally, diarrhea, pneumonia and anemia are almost as prevalent as AIDS as reported causes of death. With a per-capita income of under $170, Uganda is regarded as one of the most impoverished countries in the world. These grim facts are a testament of the destruction brought about by the political turmoil and economic decline characteristics of over ten years of despotic leadership.
Uganda’s small revenue has made it extremely difficult to directly target its impoverished human capital. Nevertheless, social protection mechanisms are central to uplifting the poor and allowing them to achieve full productivity potential. Recognizing this, the government has attempted to re-prioritize its expenditures in favor of the social sectors and rural infrastructure. Some newer areas of focus include government development of family planning programs and promotion of literacy and education. Yet, development of social indicators is still lagging, particularly for rural women who work longer hours than men.
Despite the seemingly enormous magnitude of poverty in Uganda, some economic progress has occurred in recent years. For example, the government has implemented a far-reaching economic reform agenda that has transformed Uganda into one of the most liberal economies of Sub-Saharan Africa. This entails the liberalization of the exchange and trade regime, the endorsement of a new investment code and the liberalization of the agricultural market. With these factors in play, the government is readying the way for future economic growth. In fact, aggregate real per capital GDP actually grew substantially between 1987 and 1991 whereas previously it had been in steady decline.
It is true that the economic situation in Uganda still seems bleak and poverty remains rampant. Yet, as indicated by past examples, economic reform coupled with increased focus on social affairs can bring increased hope for the poor of Uganda.
– Grace Zhao
Source: The World Bank, New Vision, UNICEF
Photo: OB
How Pussy Riot Will Change Russia
Pussy Riot, a Russian feminist punk-rock group that stages anonymous political anti-establishment performances in controversial places throughout Russia, is a band that is introducing political art in a way that most Russians are unfamiliar with. Until now, much of Russian art was either propagandistic or entirely apolitical; now, Pussy Riot and street art groups like it are introducing art with the purpose of political change.
Pussy Riot became famous in February 2012, when they staged a performance in their typical garb (brightly colored dresses and balaclavas) at the altar of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. The performance lasted less than one minute before three of the seven participants were dragged off the altar and arrested for “hooliganism” (similar to disorderly conduct).
The group’s performance wouldn’t have made nearly as much of an impact if it weren’t for many important factors:
Pussy Riot’s trial gained media attention in Russia because of the enormous political and social implications of both their actions and the resulting trial. However, the leftist political group Pussy Riot is doing more than just fighting Putin’s government.
The general public in Russia is conservative leaning. Vladimir Putin, current president of Russia, is sponsored by the political party United Russia, which is Russia’s leading conservative political party. United Russia supports the neoclassical economic model, meaning it focuses on the economic activities of production, distribution and consumption. Neoclassical economics exclude all non-market activities, which is the financial antithesis of feminist economics, which shows that including non-market activities removes substantial gender biases from social order.
Excluding non-market activities from GDP analyses literally devalues the work done disproportionately by women, and when an entire half of the population’s financial contributions are significantly devalued, less money is available for social programs. This is a contributing factor as to why poverty rates generally increase in places that don’t provide equal social and professional opportunities for men and women (for example, based on Hofstede’s Power Distance Index, Bangladesh is extremely hierarchical, and over 70% of the population lives on less than $2/day. In contrast, Denmark is one of the most egalitarian nations in the world, and only 13% of that population lives below the poverty line).
Of course, with such a divisive performance, Pussy Riot turned off an abundance of people in Russia. However, what Pussy Riot is doing is slowly gaining supporters for left-leaning economic policies. When non-market activities are included in the calculations of Russia’s GDP, the numbers will be notably more accurate, meaning more money will appear, and there will be more money available to the public. This will be a long process, but undoubtedly one that will bring many in Russia out of poverty.
– Lindsey Rubinstein
Sources: Tufts University, GQ, The Guardian, The Economist, Library of Economics, Volunteer Alberta, BBC, Index Mundi
Norad 101
The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) has a yearly budget of just over one percent of Norway’s federal budget, approximately 27.8 billion kroner (or $4.5 billion USD). This budget of over one percent of Norway’s GDP makes Norway the biggest donor to development aid in the world. The money is used to support the agency’s goal of achieving political, economic, agricultural, and educational stability worldwide.
Brazil, the top recipient of Norad funding for the last two years due to the forestry initiative, received 400 million NOK for all five of Norad’s incentives: environment and energy, health and social services, education, economic development and trade, and good governance. The aid was most heavily concentrated for the environment/energy incentive, which received 365 million NOK.
The budget for Brazil has led to outstanding results in some of those categories. Environmentally, that money helped to reduce deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest by over 77% in the last seven years. It also helped Brazil’s economy boom, making that country the world’s sixth largest economy today.
However, there have only been tangible results in two of the five incentives. Brazil and developing countries like it would benefit more from being on some of the Norad plans to help countries support themselves.
For example, Norad is one of the partners in the program aimed to reinforce public financial management (PFM) systems, which are important for democratic governance and macroeconomic stability. The countries that receive PFM support are almost all African, with the exception of Nepal.
Programs like this that encourage poverty reduction and financial planning could be hugely beneficial to countries on an economic upswing like Brazil. Giving more developing countries incentives to create better PFM systems helps those countries meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goals to eradicate extreme poverty and develop a global partnership for development.
Still, Norad’s donations to Brazil have been undoubtedly influential in creating such a booming economy there. Brazil was the 22nd highest importer of Norwegian goods in 2012, which shows that consistently donating aid to developing countries is a high return of investment. Brazil and Norway have recently founded the Brazilian-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce, which aims to promote the development of commercial relationships between Brazil and Norway.
Norad’s funding for developing countries like Brazil has changed the way these countries not only trade, but also how they view government, provide healthcare, and structure education. In a limited amount of time, Norad has made invaluable changes in some of the world’s poorest populations, all for just one percent of its GDP.
– Lindsey Rubinstein
Sources: Norad, CIA, BNCC
Policymic: 5 Unique Ways to End World Poverty
Extreme poverty is an issue many have tried to solve. Typing in how to solve world poverty on Google retrieves a multitude of the same results. But Policymic has provided an interesting take on innovation and the impact it can have on ending poverty. Below are the five ways Policymic believes progress can be made.
– William Norris
Sources: Policymic WHO
The Voluntary Relocation of Tibetans
The program is known as the New Socialist Countryside, and has provided up to 2.1 million Tibetans with running water, electricity, and access to improved healthcare and education in the past 7 years. Run by planners in Beijing, the program is ostensibly aimed at raising living standards and improving the economy of Tibet, one of the poorest regions within China.
However, a recent report by Human Rights Watch suggests that the program has had a severe effect on the traditional Tibetan way of life. Says Sophie Richardson, China Director for Human Rights Watch, “…while it may be true that some Tibetans have benefitted, the majority have simply been forced to trade poor but stable livelihoods for the uncertainties of a cash economy in which they are often the weakest actors.”
Having observed the income disparity between rural and urban dwellers, the Chinese government has relocated nearly three-quarters of Tibetans to urban areas. However, upon arriving in cities, rural Tibetans can’t compete with immigrants from other regions of China, nor with educated locals who speak Mandarin. As such, large portions of the population are being moved, supposedly voluntarily, but not being given a support structure once resettled that would allow them to survive in a setting wholly foreign to their previous nomadic lifestyle.
There are many claims for the motives of the government, including protecting the ecologically fragile grasslands of the Tibetan plateau, and facilitating improved utility distribution for the population, but at the same time the thought lingers that the relocations have more to do with control of the population and improving rural incomes to avoid unrest.
120 self-immolations have taken place in Tibet in the past five years. Sadly, civil unrest is an ongoing theme in Tibet, and with governmental policies such as New Socialist Countryside, improvement is a double-edged sword.
– David Wilson
Sources: NY Times, Huffington Post
How did the EJF Save Thailand’s Fishing Slaves?
“After 3 nights we were told that one of us would be executed. We had to draw straws to decide who would be killed. If the police had come one hour later we would have been killed already.” –An escaped slave
The London-based non-profit organization Environmental Justice Fund (EJF) recently released a report on the state of human trafficking in Thailand, called ‘Sold to the Sea.’ In it, former fishing boat slaves provide accounts of torture and “casual homicide” committed by captains and crews onboard numerous fishing vessels. The results of their 2009 survey were very clear: Thailand’s fishing industry is one of the worst examples of modern slavery.
Thailand’s $7.3 billion fishery export business is the third most valuable in the world. One in six pounds of seafood sold in the United States comes from the small nation, which also supplies Europe and most of Asia. The high demand in the industry has created an increase in foreign migrant workers traveling to Thailand in order to fill labor needs. However, the Thai government’s complicated and expensive visa and immigration policies have forced many poor workers to rely on human traffickers in order to enter the country.
Laborers are typically trafficked into Thailand from Myanmar, Burma and Cambodia by coyotes (human traffickers), who lure them there with false promises. Boys as young as 16 can be bought for $600 by fishing companies to work on their boats for up to 20 hours a day with little to no compensation. Such easy access to cheap labor has resulted in barbaric practices on fishing trawlers, including the maiming and murder of these foreign slaves.
A UN report found that up to 59 percent of escaped slaves admit to witnessing at least one murder of another worker at the hands of senior crewman. One former slave testified to the EJF that, “The senior crew attacked workers with knives. And some got killed and their bodies were thrown into the sea.”
These abuses have been allowed to continue for the most part because they take place in international waters, where no country has jurisdiction. Unregistered “ghost boats” take the forced laborers out to sea, and there the crew commits terrible acts against them. Reports of stabbing, crippling, and tossing people alive into the ocean have all been made over the past few years. These crews have been allowed to get away with their crimes because ghost boats rarely ever enter port. Instead, they take their slave-caught seafood to “mother ships,” that then bring the fish into port to sell to brokers.
For the past four years, Thailand has consistently ranked in the second-tier of the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons report. The report, which is based on a three-tier scale, rates nations around the world based on their human trafficking statistics. Thailand has only avoided the worst rating because they have continued to be pardoned by Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. This year, Thailand used up its last pardon, and if they do not make noticeable improvements in handling their human trafficking stats, the United States will be legally obligated to begin implementing targeted sanctions against them. President Obama has already voiced his support for cracking down on these practices.
This means that the Thai government must spend the next 12 months conducting enough raids and arrests to prove their sincerity and commitment to ending human trafficking in their country. Over the past few years they have made modest steps towards that goal. The government increased police training, created greater potential sentences for convicted traffickers and have constructed more shelters for refugees. These efforts have made little impact on the Thai slave trade, however, mainly because they are not targeted at the true perpetrators.
Human trafficking in Thailand has continued to be facilitated by corruption and an unwillingness to prosecute the companies and brokers profiting from the sale of human beings. The Thai navy’s efforts to monitor the fishing fleet have been negligible at best, and without pressure from the government, the issue is not going to improve. With the threat of international sanctions looming over them, maybe 2013 will be the year that Thailand begins cracking down on human trafficking in the fishing industry- but if the past is any indication, it is not likely.
– Allana Welch
Sources: Al Jazeera, International Business Times, Marine Link, Global Post, Environmental Justice Foundation
Photo: The Asia Foundation
Poverty and the 2013 G8 Summit
The Group of Eight, or G8, summit was held in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland last week. The G8 Summit is an annual conference at which leaders from nine of the world’s most powerful nations and bodies come together to discuss the global issues of the day. Representatives from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Russia, Japan, Italy, Germany, France and the European Union all sat down together to discuss the Syrian conflict, international trade agreements, and meeting Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Though only briefly discussed, one of the most important topics on their agenda was poverty and how it related to health and development.
In the days leading up to the summit, anti-poverty groups came out in force to demonstrate on behalf of their cause. In Belfast and at Lough Erne resort, where the global leaders were staying, over 10,000 activists took to the streets to make their voices heard. Prime Minister of the UK, David Cameron, had already vowed to put “impact investing” on the G8 agenda, and the people wanted to be sure that he stuck to his word. Impact investing- a combination of philanthropy and profit- was a topic that would coincide well with other issues up for discussion.
More than three billion people worldwide, about 40% of the world’s population, live in poverty. 1.5 billion people living in “resource rich” countries survive on less than $2 a day. Tax avoidance schemes conducted by foreign investors deprive nations of around $161 billion per year, and global leaders have allowed these practices to continue. The removal of all barriers to foreign investment and the privatization of industries have maintained a status quo where investors benefit more from the country than its people receive in return.
One of the MDGs agreed upon in 2000 was a reform in the structure of economic relations between developed and developing countries, including fairer trade relations. This would allow developing nations to work their way out of poverty, as opposed to allowing wealthier countries to take advantage of their natural resources. As opposed to pursuing a solution to this goal, wealthy nations and investors have denied developing economies the opportunity to build their own industries. Policies that force developing countries to rely on inward “investment” have been embraced instead.
In countries where development initiatives, such as funding for education and improving health care, have been embraced, there has been marked improvement. In Ghana and the Philippines, development index scores have come up over the past few years after implementing such programs. In that same span of time, since 2009, 60 countries have introduced legislation to discourage or prohibit activism in all forms. Organizations that seek to improve the lives of the poor are limited to only providing basic services.
What is needed now is a sustainable development model for nations trying to climb out of poverty. Accountability, transparency and commitment are all essential to shared development goals.
This past week may have been the first step towards reaching this new objective. On the Saturday before the official start of the G8 summit, the participating leaders came together in a pre-G8 meeting and they all agreed to join a tax sharing agreement. This new agreement means that companies and investors must report what they pay to home-nations to insure that developing countries are receiving their rightful portion of the profit pie. If the world’s top leaders commit to seeing this agreement succeed, it could mean the beginning of a brighter future for the developing world.
– Allana Welch
Sources: Hindustan Times, Action Aid, The Journal, The Telegraph, One.org
Grand Challenges Explorations Initiatives
One of the most inventive programs created by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the Grand Challenges Explorations initiative. GCE is a grant program that encourages bold concepts designed to improve the lives of the world’s poorest people. In March, the foundation called for anyone with inventive ideas to apply for Round 11 of the initiative; 58 projects across 18 countries were accepted for funding.
This year, the Gates Foundation will invest $8.1 million in innovative ideas that will address global health and development problems. Each project will receive $100,000 to conduct their studies and experiments. Chris Wilson, director of Global Health Discovery and Translational Sciences at the Gates Foundation, said in a statement, “The impressive concepts from around the world…are pushing the envelope when it comes to innovation to tackle ongoing challenges for the poor using approaches ranging from agricultural development to communications for social good.”
One category potential recipients could submit their ideas under was “Labor Saving Innovations for Women Smallholder Farms.” Grantees will be working to find holistic solutions to boost productivity on smallholder farms. Some projects accepted for funding include:
A second topic for submission was “Aid is Working. Tell the World.” Inventors working in this field will seek new approaches to communications that would motivate wealthy nations to support foreign aid investment. A few of the projects in this category include:
Finally, GCE will also be awarding additional funding to projects that have showed promise from previous GCE rounds. These are more inventive initiatives and include:
Since its inception in 2008, GCE has funded over 800 grants in 52 nations. Applications for the next round of Grand Challenges Explorations will open up in September.
– Allana Welch
Sources: Gates Foundation, Gates Foundation – Media
Photo: The Guardian