1. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia
In 2006, Sirleaf became the first elected female head in Africa. As the new Liberian president, she had inherited a war-torn country that was desperate for peace after 13 years of civil war and violence. Her administration rebuilt Liberia’s economy, strengthened its infrastructure, erased the enormous national debt and tackled problems like corruption, security, education and women’s rights.
In 2011, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts in promoting democracy and gender equality. Nicknamed the “Iron Lady,” Sirleaf continues to promote increased education and opportunity for women to gain skills and become more competitive in the world. She showed the world that women could no longer be excluded from African politics.
She is currently serving her second term as president after winning re-election in 2011.
“The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.”- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
2. President Joyce Banda of Malawi
In 2012, after the sudden death of President Bingu wa Mutharika, his vice president became the first female president of Malawi and the second female head of an African state.
As the first two female presidents of African nations, Banda and Sirleaf share a common background. Both women escaped abusive marriages and overcame single motherhood and poverty to become leaders of African nations. Both women are strong supporters of women’s rights, women’s education and reproductive rights. After taking office, Banda launched the Presidential Initiative for Maternal Health and Safe Motherhood. In Liberia, Sirleaf founded the Reach Every Pregnant Woman program to ensure medical care for pregnant women.
“Most African women are taught to endure abusive marriages. They say endurance means a good wife but most women endure abusive relationship because they are not empowered economically” – Joyce Banda
3. President Catherine Samba-Panza in the Central African Republic
In January, Catherine Samba-Panza defeated seven other candidates to be elected as the Central African Republic’s (CAR) interim president. Due to months of violence and killings, the CAR has collapsed politically and economically. She has the colossal task of leading the state safely into elections next year, rebuilding the CAR’s government and economy, and repairing the hostile relationship between the Muslim Seleka fighters and the Christian anti-balaka militias.
Called “Mother Courage,” Samba-Panza continues to promote women’s rights in a country where men dominate. She cites Sirleaf as her political inspiration and vows to find a solution to her country’s problems.
“The majority of my sisters and daughters in the Central African Republic don’t know their rights so they can’t defend them. But we who know our rights can help them. We must always help them: the battle is always to promote and protect the rights of women. When they are victims of violence, notably sexual violence, in the area of my activities in civil society, it was a battle I always led.” – Catherine Samba-Panza
– Sarah Yan
Sources: The Root, The Guardian, BBC
School Lunch Program in Thailand Targets Malnutrition
Thailand is known for having one of the best nutritional programs in Asia. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), Thailand has successfully dropped child malnutrition from 36% to approximately 8.42% within 30 years.
Thailand’s success stemmed from an in-depth look at growth rates, nutritional education, supplementation of iron and vitamins, as well as a focus on health coverage. It was also one of the primary countries to reach out to the community as a basis for promoting an end to malnutrition – specifically in children.
One method for reducing malnutrition in Thailand among school-aged children is the School Lunch Program, which supplies lunch at no cost to children struggling to maintain a healthy weight, or students who are unable to afford lunch. These lunches also aim to “educate students about desirable eating habits, values, and social manners.”
Students from rural areas have specifically been the victims of malnutrition in Thailand. Although rice is a staple food, the large amount of production does not necessarily correlate with balanced meals or eating a satisfactory amount required for healthy growth, both physically and mentally. Since diet is mainly based on rice, a lack of protein in diets are a large contributor to malnutrition in Thailand; also among the nutrients lacking in diets are iron, iodine and vitamin A.
SLP is currently providing all kindergarten and elementary public schools, reaching about 30,000 schools and 700,000 preschoolers. School Lunch Program currently provides meals for students for 200 days during the school year. The program started off by focusing merely on the amount of meals that were able to reach students. Now the meals are geared around the nutritional value.
With the help from the School Lunch Program many students whose diets are lacking in balance, or worse nonexistent, now receive meals at school that they may not have been able to receive at home.
The meals that Thailand is able to provide to children not only helps their struggle with malnutrition, but also helps with their ability to focus, gain weight, and grow cognitively.
– Rebecca Felcon
Sources: Rappler, Right To Food Campaign, World Food
Photo: IIRR
Africa’s 3 Formidable Female Presidents
1. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia
In 2006, Sirleaf became the first elected female head in Africa. As the new Liberian president, she had inherited a war-torn country that was desperate for peace after 13 years of civil war and violence. Her administration rebuilt Liberia’s economy, strengthened its infrastructure, erased the enormous national debt and tackled problems like corruption, security, education and women’s rights.
In 2011, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts in promoting democracy and gender equality. Nicknamed the “Iron Lady,” Sirleaf continues to promote increased education and opportunity for women to gain skills and become more competitive in the world. She showed the world that women could no longer be excluded from African politics.
She is currently serving her second term as president after winning re-election in 2011.
“The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.”- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
2. President Joyce Banda of Malawi
In 2012, after the sudden death of President Bingu wa Mutharika, his vice president became the first female president of Malawi and the second female head of an African state.
As the first two female presidents of African nations, Banda and Sirleaf share a common background. Both women escaped abusive marriages and overcame single motherhood and poverty to become leaders of African nations. Both women are strong supporters of women’s rights, women’s education and reproductive rights. After taking office, Banda launched the Presidential Initiative for Maternal Health and Safe Motherhood. In Liberia, Sirleaf founded the Reach Every Pregnant Woman program to ensure medical care for pregnant women.
“Most African women are taught to endure abusive marriages. They say endurance means a good wife but most women endure abusive relationship because they are not empowered economically” – Joyce Banda
3. President Catherine Samba-Panza in the Central African Republic
In January, Catherine Samba-Panza defeated seven other candidates to be elected as the Central African Republic’s (CAR) interim president. Due to months of violence and killings, the CAR has collapsed politically and economically. She has the colossal task of leading the state safely into elections next year, rebuilding the CAR’s government and economy, and repairing the hostile relationship between the Muslim Seleka fighters and the Christian anti-balaka militias.
Called “Mother Courage,” Samba-Panza continues to promote women’s rights in a country where men dominate. She cites Sirleaf as her political inspiration and vows to find a solution to her country’s problems.
“The majority of my sisters and daughters in the Central African Republic don’t know their rights so they can’t defend them. But we who know our rights can help them. We must always help them: the battle is always to promote and protect the rights of women. When they are victims of violence, notably sexual violence, in the area of my activities in civil society, it was a battle I always led.” – Catherine Samba-Panza
– Sarah Yan
Sources: The Root, The Guardian, BBC
Seattle Foundations
The city of Seattle is the headquarters of many great philanthropic organizations and nonprofits. With Seattle foundations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to our very own The Borgen Project, the city offers countless ways to get involved in the community or make an impact on a state, national or global level.
To help you in your quest to become an active citizen of the world around you, here are some Seattle foundations and non-governmental organizations to consider:
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Led by Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, the Foundation’s mission is to help people live healthy, productive lives and uplift those in battling extreme poverty and hunger. With an endowment of $40.2 billion, the Foundation is in the best position to provide dozens of grants to for initiatives such as childhood immunization, polio eradication and agricultural technologies.
Alliance for Education
Alliance for Education works to provide all children in the Seattle area with the tools they need to be successful in college while building a good career and happy life. The organization has a three-pronged attack focusing on fundraising, advocacy and community engagement. Raising $131 million since 1995, Alliance for Education invests in effective public school system-wide leadership, teacher effectiveness and academic rigor.
PATH
PATH has its headquarters in Seattle. However, it has offices in over 40 cities in 22 countries. Its goal is to ensure every person leads a healthy life by advancing technologies, improving health systems and promoting healthy behaviors. PATH takes on challenges in areas like maternal and child health, reproductive health, vaccines and immunization and emerging and epidemic diseases. PATH engages communities by speaking their language, going to where they live to spread information to promote healthy living.
Agros International
Agros targets areas dealing with significant poverty to provide them with the facilities they need to build a hard-working fulfilled life. Argos purchases land to support up to 200 families, dividing the land between them so they can build homes, establish a garden and cultivate cash groups. They establish a community with a democratically elected governing structure and provide them with financial tools to build and sustain their businesses. To promote proper nutrition, hygiene, basic healthcare and female empowerment, Argos provides educational programs to all families in the community.
These Seattle foundations offer many career and volunteer opportunities for those seeking to get involved in the non-profit sector. Alternatively, if you are just seeking to donate, you can be sure that your money will go to a great organization that helps people around the globe climb out the depths of poverty and poor health. To serve, visit their respective websites.
– Sunny Bhatt
Sources: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Alliance for Education, PATH, Agros International
Photo: Cospick
Rwanda and Microsoft Team Up to Improve Education
Microsoft and the Rwandan Ministry of Education are teaming up to bring a better learning experience to Rwandan children. Through its Partners in Learning Program, Microsoft hopes to increase information and communications technology (ICT) throughout the Rwandan school system. Both parties feel that improved ICT access will facilitate teaching and learning while also increasing the chances every child receives a quality education.
Microsoft’s Partners in Learning program seeks to improve the student and teacher experience through technology. The program has invested over $750 million throughout the world, helping 12 million educators in 134 countries. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, 13 million students have received benefits due to Microsoft’s initiative.
On the other hand, Rwanda’s educational system is in desperate need of aid. Only 6% of primary schools and 18% of secondary schools are connected to the Internet. Additionally, the student-to-computer ratio in Rwandan secondary schools is a feeble 40-to-1. Without adequate resources, it is difficult for many of these children to receive the technological background that is needed to survive in the modern age.
Rwanda is a country with a tumultuous history.
It has experienced the worst genocide in modern history, when clashes in 1994 between the minority Tutsi population and the majority Hutus left up to a million Rwandans dead and eliminated approximately three-quarters of the Rwandan Tutsis. Since the tumultuous violence of the 1990s, Rwanda has been working to remake its image.
In fact, it has made substantial gains in bringing stability, and subsequently the country has experienced average growth of 7% to 8% since 2003.
Microsoft and Rwanda’s partnership goes along with the government’s desire to become a regional leader in information and communication technologies. It has taken steps, such as establishing a Specialized Economic Zone in Kigali, to attract further private investment in the area and help jump-start the economy.
Through increased investment, Rwandan hopes to build up its infrastructure and lower poverty.
Currently, 44.9% of its population, almost six million people, lives below the poverty line. Additionally, Rwanda suffers from energy shortages and a lack of adequate transportation linkages to other countries. Through efforts such as the Partners in Learning program with Microsoft, Rwanda is making the correct moves to attract private investment and improve both its economic potential and the lives of its people.
– Martin Levy
Sources: IT News Africa, CIA Factbook
Orphanage Tourism
The number of orphanages in Cambodia has nearly doubled since 2007, yet the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that there are now fewer orphans in Cambodia than ever before. The reason for this discrepancy? Orphanage tourism.
Volunteering at a local orphanage has become a bucket-list item for many tourists and the preferred feel-good end to a trip full of festivals, massages, cooking classes, and guided tours. Regardless of skill-sets or language barriers, most orphanages throw open their doors to well-meaning travelers, but for a price.
UNICEF’s statistics show that of the estimated 12,000 children living in Cambodian orphanages today, only 28 percent have lost both their parents. Most of the children in these establishments are serving as — for lack of a kinder expression — tourist attractions.
The inflation of orphanages has come an explosive 250 percent increase of travelers into the country.
Parents who cannot afford to feed or educate their children have started sending them to one of the newly sprung-up orphanages in the hopes that they will find a better life through the pocket change of tourists. But while a few orphanages deliver on their promises to desperate parents that their children will be educated, most do not.
Tuk tuk drivers are often commissioned by orphanages to deliver optimistic tourists, and again by market vendors if the tourists are brought to them first to purchase school supplies.
Smart travelers are able to find the few genuine orphanages, but it takes determination, and a willingness to accept their own limitations; trained child workers and long-standing volunteers are almost always more qualified to care for orphans, and the quick turn-around time of visitors often just deepens a child’s feelings of abandonment.
It’s common for unwieldy volunteers to pamper their own conscience more than those they are aiming to help, because while this sometimes leads to a life of humanitarian work, most times it just leads to cool Facebook pictures. Travelers wishing to spend some of their vacation doing volunteer work must be careful to put their money in the hands of people with similar motives.
– Lydia Caswell
Sources: The Telegraph, Forbes
Photo: Mangine
Same-Sex Marriage Laws Around the World
Although recent gains have been made in advancing equality for same-sex couples, the majority of the world’s countries do not have any legislation permitting same-sex marriage. As of 2014, only 16 countries have laws allowing same-sex marriage. The majority of those countries are in Europe and South America, while the rest of the world struggles to gain ground for this meaningful right.
It is important to note, however, that legal recognition of gay couples varies from country to country and even within countries. Some countries provide full recognition of gay marriage, while other provide for limited civil union status, to even countries that criminalize same-sex marriage such as Uganda.
France legalized gay marriage after much effort and debate in May 2013, becoming the 14th country to do so. Despite more than 60% of France approving of same-sex marriage, the approval of same-sex marriage provoked acts of violence and protests that drew in hundreds of thousands of people from all over the country.
A prior law, the Pacte civile de Soldarité, allowed for civil unions between couples but did not provide the full benefits that marriage brings. Namely, the law did not confer similar treatment under the law for same-sex couples over inheritance issues and parenting rights.
The Netherlands was the first country to grant full legal recognition of same-sex marriage under the law when it passed a bill in 2001. One major difference between the treatment of same-sex couples and heterosexual couples lies in the birth of children. In the Netherlands, the biological father of the child is considered the father while their partner needs to adopt the child in order to obtain a co-parenting status.
In May 2013, a legal body in Brazil, the National Council of Justice, handed down a ruling effectively legalizing gay marriage. The ruling explicitly prohibited government officials from discriminating against same-sex couples by denying them the right to marry. Before this ruling, Brazil allowed for same-sex civil unions through its constitution, which permits “stable unions.” Stable unions gave many same-sex couples the same rights as married heterosexual couples, from the right to joint declaration of income tax, pension, property sharing, and inheritance.
In 2006, South Africa became the only country on the African continent to legalize same-sex marriage when it passed the Civil Union Act. This approval had its roots in the 1997 constitution that was the first to recognize sexual orientation as a basic human right. Despite this progressive legislation, some say homophobia in South Africa continues to be rampant, with famous South African soccer star Eudy Simelane killed in a hate-crime due to her sexual orientation.
– Jeff Meyer
Sources: Council on Foreign Relations, The New York Times
Photo: Illinois Observer
Doctors Without Borders expelled from Myanmar
Doctors without Borders, also known as Medecins Sans Frontiers, is one of the most respected aid organizations in the world. It was created in 1971 by a group of doctors who desired to have a more direct approach to aiding those in need. It has provided aid to many countries that desperately need it. Doctors without Borders won the Nobel Peace prize in 1999 for its work helping those in war torn countries around the world.
In accepting the award in 1999, former head of the organization Dr. James Orbinski said, “Silence has long been confused with neutrality, and has been presented as a necessary condition for humanitarian action. From its inception, MSF (Medecins Sans Frontiers) was created in opposition to this assumption.”
The situation in Myanmar for the Rohingya could not be more dire and the comments of Orbinski could not be more apt. The Muslim Rohingya are the minority in Myanmar and are one of the most persecuted groups in the world, according to the United Nations.
Doctors Without Borders was an integral part of ensuring that the Rohingya received basic medical care and the services that they desperately need. The situation is more complex however as the government of Myanmar does not recognize the Rohingya as a legitimate ethnic group and persecutes and block their basic human rights at every turn.
Doctors Without Borders has been providing aid to citizens in Myanmar for the last 22 years, according to CNN, and was the largest non-governmental organization in the Rakhine state where the Rohingya live. The group was banned by the Myanmar authority for allegedly showing a “bias” towards the Rohingya who are termed Bengali by the Myanmar government which views them as illegal aliens.
There is speculation by a number of sources that the ban originated because Doctors without Borders put out a statement regarding a massacre of 44 Rohingya by state security officials. The UN and Doctors Without Borders maintain that the Rohingya were targeted by security forces and a mob of local Buddhist.
Myanmar’s government maintains that just one police officer was killed and no other violence occurred.
Doctors Without Borders was operating medical clinics for basic needs as well as HIV/AIDS clinics that were providing treatment to over 30,000 people. The NGO was Myanmar’s largest supplier of HIV medicine and the lack of treatment for this many could and will have devastating consequences in the long term.
Representative Joe Crowley is an outspoken voice on Myanmar and recently tweeted, “It is the responsibility of the Burmese government to protect its civilians. This is deeply troubling.” The Rohingya need more outspoken representatives in international governments around the world if they are to continue to be under the thumb of Myanmar’s oppressive government.
– Arthur Fuller
Sources: ABC, CNN, Doctors Without Borders, Los Angeles Times, Fox
Photo: Apologetics Press
Famous, Rich and Hungry: BBC’s Latest Foray Into Poverty
The BBC is one of the more respected production companies in the world.
It produces such shows as Top Gear, which is an extremely popular show. It also produces a variety of news programs and also many sports programs as well. However, the BBC has, in the past few years, been straying from its normal programming and delving into the area of reality television and poverty. The BBC has aired Famous, Rich and Jobless, Famous, Rich and Homeless, and, most recently, Famous, Rich and Hungry.
The shows are designed to expose the lives of those who live on the fringes of England’s society and air them to the entire nation. In the latest show, Famous, Rich and Hungry, various celebrities in England are sent to live with poor families for a week in order to experience what food poverty really feels like. The show will have such celebrities as Rachel Johnson, the sister of the Mayor of London Boris Johnson.
It will also have Teo Paphitis an extremely successful businessman who is estimated to be worth over 200 million British pounds (roughly $332.26 million.)
The show is produced by Love Productions, who was also behind the production of the other Famous and Rich series. The show’s executive producer, Richard McKerrow, spoke in an interview recently and said, “I am sure there will be the same media storm, because my God, there is a political bun fight about whether people in Britain are currently going hungry.”
There is a plethora of evidence from both scientific and scholarly sources that there is indeed a crises occurring in Europe. The situation in Europe right now calls for a united effort to pass laws and bills that aid in both the economic recovery and aid of getting Europe citizens out from the ever present shadow of poverty.
The austerity measure that are being used by many European counties at the moment in order to lift their economies out from the rubble. The BBC has an opportunity as one of the world’s largest television producers and acclaimed sources of information really to aid those in need.
The BBC should focus on producing quality television that can educate, enrich, and inform its viewers rather than sensationalizing someone’s misfortune by showcasing it as a spectacle to the world. The poor need informed and educated people fighting for them, rather than having their lives made a mockery of.
– Arthur Fuller
Sources: The Guardian TV-Radio Blog, The Guardian Media, The Guardian, Daily Mail
Photo: Daily Mail
Brutal Poverty in Sierra Leone
Poverty in Sierra Leone is alive and well. Freetown, the capital and largest city in Sierra Leone, was founded in 1787. It was known as the “Province of Freedom” because it was a British crown colony and the principal base for the suppression of the slave trade. The Maroons were the original settlers, consisting of 1,200 newly freed slaves from Nova Scotia. In 1800, a rebellion of Jamaican slaves escaped and moved to Freetown.
The British Empire’s abolition of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade was mostly due to the efforts of William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson, Granville Sharpe and Lord Mansfield. They founded a naval base in Freetown in order to patrol against the illegal slave ships that still existed, fining every British ship found with a slave onboard.
Sierra Leone was officially named a crown colony in 1808. In 1833 British Parliament passed the Emancipation Act, which abolished slavery. As a result, over 50,000 freed slaves settled in Freetown by 1855. Their descendants, known as the Krios, now live in a multi-ethnic country. Krio is a widely spoken language throughout the country that some ethnic groups speak, though English is the official language.
Since Sierra Leone gained independence from the British in 1961, the country has experienced many economic, political and social challenges. A rebel group called the Revolutionary United Front plotted to overthrow the Joseph Momoh Government, causing a devastating civil war from 1991 to 2002.
The extreme brutality of this conflict caused over two million people to be displaced and resulted in more than 50,000 casualties. The war ended as a result of a U.N. peacekeeping and British military intervention. The country has made tremendous advancements in establishing a good government and keeping peace and security since the war ended.
Three years after the war ended, Sierra Leone was considered the poorest country in the world. Today, it is ranked at 177 out of 184 countries on the Human Development Index. This minor improvement is partly due to the assistance of international donors. Officials say Sierra Leone is on its way toward securing macroeconomic stability through democratization and stabilization, but large populations of youth who are former combatants are still unemployed, threatening the peace and stability of the country.
More than 60 percent of Sierra Leone’s population presently lives in poverty. Many people are living under the poverty line at less than $1.25 per day. The literacy rate is only 41 percent and 70 percent of young people in Sierra Leone are unemployed or underemployed as a result. The poorest people live in the Northern and Southern provinces of the country and consist mostly of landless people, particularly women in rural households.
The civil war and social unrest of previous years caused a severe economic decline that virtually destroyed the physical and social infrastructure of the country, leading to widespread poverty. Sierra Leone’s development depends on consolidating peace, democracy and increasing its economic growth.
– Kenneth W. Kliesner
Sources: Global Finance, UNDP, Rural Poverty Portal
Photo: Justinsandefur.org
Electrify Africa Act
U.S. Congress is introducing concrete legislation that if passed will help bring energy security to over 500 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa. The House Foreign Affairs Committee introduced the Electrify Africa Act of 2013 with the stated goal of forming a “strategic approach to support affordable, reliable electricity in sub-Saharan Africa to unlock the potential for economic growth, job creation, improved health and education, and poverty reduction.” It has garnered sponsors from both Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Currently, 68 percent of people in Sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to electricity. An additional 10% that have electricity still burn wood, shrubs or cow manure to cook their food. This includes people in 30 African countries and comes at an average cost of 2-5% of GDP growth per year. The Electrify Africa Act would make it official U.S. policy to encourage energy capacity gains of 20,000 megawatts by 2020. This would grant first time electricity access to 50 million people.
The Electrify Africa Act also comes as a response to increased Chinese investment in Africa. China has become the single largest director in the area and has drawn attention for providing $2 billion in aid to African energy projects while also supporting Chinese companies in the region.
The bill requires the current Administration to develop a comprehensive multi-year strategy to meet its energy goals. After three years, the president must present progress to Congress. The plan would include lobbying of organizations such as the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the World Bank and the African Development Bank to increase electricity related investment. Additionally, USAID will be encouraged to use loan guarantees and grants to support various energy projects.
Email your congressional representative to show your support for this life-changing piece of legislation today. Urging your representative to act is an effective way to have your opinion heard and make an impact in the fight against global poverty. Congressional staffers will keep track of all the calls, emails and letters that enter their office in support of legislation and report the data in a weekly report to your representative.
Securing commitments from Congress to attack poverty in the form of concrete legislation is an enormous step in helping millions of people. With properly directed aid electrical deficiencies’ in sub-Saharan Africa will cease to exist. The region will take off economically and over 500 million people can enjoy a more prosperous and secure life. The Electrify Africa Act will provide an effective step in eradicating poverty and empowering countless people.
– Martin Levy
Sources: House Foreign Affairs Committee, The Borgen Project, Forbes
Photo: Economist