Some stories are just too big to tackle in the newspaper – and global poverty is one of them. The past few years have seen an incredible amount of literature from authors who are experienced in the deeply embedded issue of poverty and are now putting their storytelling skills towards the fight against it. These three recently published texts provide a knowledgeable glimpse into the problems of the world today, and are perfect for a reader with a humanitarian mind.
1. This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz
A love story is not the traditional plot line for a novel delving into issues of corruption, violence, poverty and racism. Pulitzer Prize winning author Junot Diaz, however, expertly intertwines these in his account of failed and messy romance, set against the backdrop of an immigrant neighborhood in New Jersey. The novel follows the narrator, Yunior, across various stages of his adult life, as he struggles to navigate the difficulties of human relationships, further complicated by his racial, economic, and gender identity.
Through Yunior, Diaz challenges what it means to be a young Latino man from the Dominican Republic now living in the United States. This means breaking down a range of stereotyped assumptions, as well as internalized insecurities. Additionally, Diaz sheds light on the depth of poverty in both of the narrator’s home countries, the U.S. and the Dominican Republic. Global poverty is a powerfully destructive force, which alters the characters’ lives in unexpected ways. Still, though, it cannot destroy Yunior’s strong emotional attachment to his Dominican heritage.
2. Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat
Images of Haiti, the western hemispheres poorest nation, have flooded the media in recent years, showing a nation struggling with natural disaster, political turmoil, and horrible living conditions. In her new novel, Danticat presents an alternate and more insightful image of family, love and community.
Danticat’s characters are certainly not immune to the structural problems of poverty and corruption. The novel focuses on the heart-wrenching decision of one fisherman to give up his daughter, Claire, so as to provide her with a better life. However, it also portrays individuals eager to fight back against the outside injustices that have augmented their situation, through political activism. Overall, Danticat presents a beautiful story illuminating the humanity and agency of the Haitian community.
3. Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
Poverty is often hidden in plain sight, as this non-fiction Pulitzer Prize nominee seeks to describe. Boo, a former journalist, gives a touching and tragic account of her time in Mumbai, where the poorest of the community live in direct contact with the most affluent, although their neighborhoods remain socially isolated.
The story is one of upward mobility, highlighting the unique hardships of a family from the Mumbai slums of Annawadi hindering their success. Boo describes individuals who have aspirations shared by many universally, such as finding a better job, wanting security for their loved ones and renovating the kitchen. However, the starkly divided social dynamic accompanying poverty in India is distinctively interpreted.
– Stefanie Doucette
Sources: New York Times, The Guardian, NPR
Photo: Extraordinary Experiences
Roma Gypsies are being Persecuted
The Roma people—also vernacularly referred to as “gypsies”—have become a widely discussed topic in the European Union over the past few years. Despite being Europe’s largest, stateless ethnic minority (more than 10 million people), they are still mired in poverty and bereft of opportunity and political representation all across the continent.
With Romania and Bulgaria, two member states containing a considerably large Roma population, becoming party of the Schengen Area this year, some Western European politicians are deploying xenophobic rhetoric to their own advantages. Much of this xenophobia is targeting Romanian Roma immigrants.
Comprising somewhere between 5-10% of Romania’s total population, an estimated 80% of Romanian Roma population lives in poverty. With the rise of the far-right across Europe, the community has fallen target to racial discrimination and violent abuses; an extremist organization in Romania even suggested that Roma women should be sterilized.
The socio-economic tribulations that grip the Romanian Roma community stem from centuries of segregation and prejudice. Furthermore, the widespread prejudice to view them as unwilling to work and as free riders also contribute to the tension between the majority society and the Roma community.
In many parts of Europe—Western and Eastern alike—Roma people live in segregated communities with inadequate access to water and electricity. They are also at constant risk of forced eviction and hostility from surrounding majority population. The latter of which often manifests itself violently. In many cases, they are relocated to suburban landfills with no access to running water or electricity. With sometimes more than 13 people living in a single room, their hygienic wellbeing is greatly at risk. To make matters worse, being placed in remote locations also deprive the children of the opportunity to attend school since often times they are outside of school bus routes.
In 2012, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights conducted a survey whose findings were truly shocking for a continent that boasts some of the highest human development indexes in the world. In Romania alone, nearly a quarter of Roma children aged 7 to 15 do not attend school and nearly a third of respondents aged 20 to 64 are unemployed, in contrast to the average of 11% among the country’s non-roma population.
Since Romania has at last joined the Schengen Area and its people have finally received full rights as citizens of the EU, many politicians in more prosperous member states such as the UK have found the anti-immigrant discourse to be a convenient tool in winning over public opinion. Unfortunately, unless the EU soon finds measures to solve the millennium-old prejudice towards the community, the Roma will inevitably be exploited as the political bête noire within the politics of inter-Schengen migration.
– Peewara Sapsuwan
Sources: Amnesty International, Express, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Romania-Insider, SPIEGEL Online International
Photo: March Inbetween
Global Poverty 3 Must-Reads
Some stories are just too big to tackle in the newspaper – and global poverty is one of them. The past few years have seen an incredible amount of literature from authors who are experienced in the deeply embedded issue of poverty and are now putting their storytelling skills towards the fight against it. These three recently published texts provide a knowledgeable glimpse into the problems of the world today, and are perfect for a reader with a humanitarian mind.
1. This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz
A love story is not the traditional plot line for a novel delving into issues of corruption, violence, poverty and racism. Pulitzer Prize winning author Junot Diaz, however, expertly intertwines these in his account of failed and messy romance, set against the backdrop of an immigrant neighborhood in New Jersey. The novel follows the narrator, Yunior, across various stages of his adult life, as he struggles to navigate the difficulties of human relationships, further complicated by his racial, economic, and gender identity.
Through Yunior, Diaz challenges what it means to be a young Latino man from the Dominican Republic now living in the United States. This means breaking down a range of stereotyped assumptions, as well as internalized insecurities. Additionally, Diaz sheds light on the depth of poverty in both of the narrator’s home countries, the U.S. and the Dominican Republic. Global poverty is a powerfully destructive force, which alters the characters’ lives in unexpected ways. Still, though, it cannot destroy Yunior’s strong emotional attachment to his Dominican heritage.
2. Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat
Images of Haiti, the western hemispheres poorest nation, have flooded the media in recent years, showing a nation struggling with natural disaster, political turmoil, and horrible living conditions. In her new novel, Danticat presents an alternate and more insightful image of family, love and community.
Danticat’s characters are certainly not immune to the structural problems of poverty and corruption. The novel focuses on the heart-wrenching decision of one fisherman to give up his daughter, Claire, so as to provide her with a better life. However, it also portrays individuals eager to fight back against the outside injustices that have augmented their situation, through political activism. Overall, Danticat presents a beautiful story illuminating the humanity and agency of the Haitian community.
3. Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
Poverty is often hidden in plain sight, as this non-fiction Pulitzer Prize nominee seeks to describe. Boo, a former journalist, gives a touching and tragic account of her time in Mumbai, where the poorest of the community live in direct contact with the most affluent, although their neighborhoods remain socially isolated.
The story is one of upward mobility, highlighting the unique hardships of a family from the Mumbai slums of Annawadi hindering their success. Boo describes individuals who have aspirations shared by many universally, such as finding a better job, wanting security for their loved ones and renovating the kitchen. However, the starkly divided social dynamic accompanying poverty in India is distinctively interpreted.
– Stefanie Doucette
Sources: New York Times, The Guardian, NPR
Photo: Extraordinary Experiences
Geneva II Peace Talks and Hom Relief at Standstill
With humanitarian conditions dire in Syria, the Geneva II peace talks between the National Coalition and the opposing Syrian government largely lack progress.
Led by Bashar Al-Assad, the Syrian regime has been in violent conflict with the National Coalition since 2011. Claiming over 130,000 lives with nine million more displaced, the peace talks nestled in Switzerland’s town of Montreux are far from arriving at a solution.
The situation on the ground in Syria is sorely lacking in electricity, heat and most importantly of all, food and water.
A recent shipment of food relief arrived in the Yarmuk camp of Palestine, independent of the on going peace talks in Switzerland, yet blockades and the fear of “terrorists” in certain areas leave the greater population of Hom without the relief packages.
In fact, the continued presence of violence and the inadmissibility of evacuation resulted in over 1,870 people killed since the beginning of conflict mediation on Jan. 22. Of those, 498 were civilians.
The continued supply of armaments to the National Coalition from the United States and to the Syrian government from Russia continues to exacerbate the situation, reports Oxfam. A ceasefire, though proposed, is far from being executed. Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations mediator, arbitrates in Montreux, with reports stating that both opposite sides refuse to address one another.
The agenda is said to begin with the issue of humanitarian aid and the release of political prisoners. The real hard-hitting issue of a transitional government, however, is the stalling point.
Hom is located in the heart of Syria and has been a battleground since the start of conflict. For those in Hom living in starving conditions, people are turning towards growing radish and spinach indoors. The infrastructure is in ruin and little medicine available.
Though food envoys are ready to be released, neither side appears ready to allow humanitarian aid access to the famine-stricken city of Hom.
– Miles Abadilla
Sources: CBS News, Global Post, The Guardian, The Independent, Oxfam, Thomson Reuters
Photo: GuardianLV
After Years of Conflict, New Crisis in Mali
At this time last year, France had just lead an intervention into Mali as Al-Qaeda militants had control over much of the country. The French sent troops in after the government became alarmed by the direction Mali was going. Within three weeks, the French had driven out many of the jihadists that had once seemed like they would take hold of the country.
While there are still worries about a remaining Al Qaeda presence in the region, the tumult that ensued in the last few years has severely affected the nation’s food situation. Many residents were displaced from the fighting and harvests have been disrupted as well.
Thus, a number of food programs have stated that 800,000 people are in need of “immediate food aid,” and that “three million people nationwide are at risk.”
Food shortages have been an ongoing problem amid the tumult going back to 2012.
This looks to be the largest crisis facing the country at the present time, yet the help that came last year to fight the jihadists has not been there to fight hunger. According to the Thomson Reuters Foundation, “the ‘lean’ season… will start early this year. The late arrival of rains, the low availability of cereal stocks… mean that people have not been able to recover.”
These factors, along with the instability that has been much publicized, has brought Mali to the food crisis they are now facing. It is up to organizations like The Borgen Project to raise the proper awareness about the food crisis. The United Nations appeal for help in the food situation was only able to raise half the funds it set out for.
The Oxfam director in Mali said, “We have to invest in agricultural and pastoral policies that… make people less vulnerable to shocks.”
The next few months will be very important for the future of Mali. It is just this sort of food crisis that could cause the desperation that allowed the jihadists to come into Mali previously. If the Western world identifies the issue beforehand, they will be able to save the money and resources that another intervention would entail. Mali is a banner example for the importance of foreign poverty relief, and the background of the past two years should weigh heavily on the work the West can do.
– Eric Gustafsson
Sources: Trust.org, The Economist, ABC News, The Guardian
Photo: Voice of America
Climate Change Breeds Greed In Some, Dread in Most
For some, climate change means irreversible damage to Earth’s ecosystems and food insecurity. For others, it heralds a new way to turn a profit.
In his new book, Windfall: The Booming Business of Global Warming, journalist Mckenzie Funk reveals a problematic, if not entirely unsurprising, result of global climate change. During an interview on NPR’s Fresh Air Jan. 28, Funk discussed how corporations and countries alike are plotting how to best take advantage of the melting ice.
Countries near the Arctic such as the United States, Greenland, Canada and Russia may benefit financially from the ice melts. Newly created shipping lanes in the Northwest Passage could encourage Canada, the country most likely to claim their ownership to exact payments from ships while Greenland could tap into the mineral deposits exposed by ice melts.
Above all else, Funk believes Arctic countries will most benefit from increased exposure to oil-rich Arctic locations.
“The main benefit right now is oil and gas,” said Funk. “Up to a quarter of the world’s remaining oil and gas is in the Arctic and there’s been a major push to go get it.”
The same climate change that provides a longer drilling season for oil prospectors in the Arctic also destabilizes urban infrastructure. In places like Russia, which has particularly muddy soil, the Earth’s melting permafrost could potentially buckle roads break pipes, and weaken building structures.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an internationally staffed organization charged with assessing the risk of human-induced climate change, predicts severe changes to the Earth’s continents.
In Latin America, the IPCC expects a gradual replacement of tropical forest by savanna in eastern Amazonia and a significant change in water availability for human consumption, agriculture and energy generation.
They also project that by 2020, between 75 and 250 million people in Africa will be exposed to increased water stress, and the yields from rain-fed agriculture could be reduced by up to 50% in some regions.
Overall, they warn that food security, including its accessibility and production, “may be severely compromised.”
Profiteering from climate change may decrease efforts to reduce it. Even worse, such profiteering may encourage beneficiaries to exacerbate the problem to reap any additional benefits. In the meantime, the world’s most disenfranchised wait, powerless to do anything else.
– Emily Bajet
Sources: NASA, IPPC, NPR
Photo: TED Oxbridge
The Tragedy of Climate Change
One of the great tragedies of climate change is that extreme weather events and unpredictable patterns disproportionately affect the world’s poor. This includes nations like the Philippines but also the poor in the United States. To understand why this happens we must examine the geography of climate change impacts.
Nations that are near or below the equator will experience desertification and extreme storms. Sea levels in these regions will also face an above average rise. Coastal areas that are already vulnerable will experience more frequent flooding. Northern Africa and parts of the Middle East will become even warmer.
Examining the demographics of these regions shows that it is the world’s poorest populations that are the inhabitants. The poor generally cluster around low-lying flood zones and dry rural areas. These places have poor drainage facilities, no storm surge protections and no public services.
Some estimates suggest that by 2050, 200 million people will have to migrate each year due to loss of land and hunger.
Not surprisingly, once these disadvantaged areas are hit with a major storm or drought, they are the least capable of mitigating and adapting. This pushes the developing country back down the ladder. For example, the Philippines loses 5% of their GDP every year due to storms.
The Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) created by Maplecroft analyzes social, environmental and economic factors to give a rating to 193 countries. Each country was assessed on criteria of climate change phenomena, adaptation capability and patterns in population migrations, development, agriculture, conflict and natural resources. The CCVI found that 9 out of 10 countries with extreme risk are in sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia.
Furthermore, by 2025, 31% of global economic output will be produced in countries with extreme or high-risk designations. This includes countries like India, China, Thailand and Vietnam who currently demonstrate significant growth. The economic impacts should provide incentive for the international business community to finally join with governments to create sustainable climate change solutions.
The developed nations must recognize that the people in these high-risk nations are future consumers. Preemptive investments in poor nations today will give these people a chance to adapt and become resilient against climate change threats. Instead of spending money to rebuild, these nations can continue to progress towards economic stability and better quality of life.
– Sunny Bhatt
Sources: New York Times, Maplecroft, Think Progress, Oxfam
Photo: United Nations Development Program
Afghanistan’s Mineral Wealth Remains Untapped
Afghanistan is a country trying desperately to recover from decades of conflict. From the Soviet invasion in 1979 to the United State’s invasion in 2001, Afghanistan has suffered a multitude of setbacks and developing world devastation to its people, culture and way of life. However, Afghanistan’s way forward is sitting right under its feet.
Afghanistan’s mineral wealth of gold, copper, iron and other rare metals is valued up to 3 trillion, according to NPR. This type of money could truly turn Afghanistan from an impoverished and suffering country whose largest export is currently heroin to a country that is the envy of its neighbors.
On top of this wealth comes a recent discovery by a small group of Pentagon officials and an American geologist, that there is an estimated 1 trillion dollars worth of the rare metal lithium in massive quantities as well. An internal Pentagon memo noted that Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium” a New York Times article recently stated.
The un-mined potential of the mineral wealth is so great that many believe it will attract investors before any type of mining becomes profitable.
The issue of attracting companies to begin investing in the country is another matter entirely. Afghanistan’s current instability is of major concern, the NATO pullout of the majority of its troops at the end of 2014 has most major companies in a holding matter waiting to see what changes will occur once Afghanistan is virtually in charge of all facets of running itself.
Afghan officials have recently opened up a nearly 1 billion dollar cement tender which is in part due to the fact that as of right now, Afghanistan imports virtually all of its cement (which is a 1 billion dollar drain on the economy).
Another noted fear by many potential investors is the issue of corruption in any official dealings that outside investors may have with the Afghani government. Afghanistan is routinely noted for being one of the most corrupt countries in the world. In 2012, its corruption rank according to the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index placed Afghanistan at the bottom with North Korea and Somalia.
All three countries scored an 8 out of 100, 176 countries were studied in order to compile the full table. Afghanistan has long been a country that has endured conflict after conflict, and a multitude of hardships and struggles.
However, with a lot of hard work by both international and local Afghan institutions; the nearly limitless mineral potential under its feet could truly make Afghanistan one of the most important mining countries in the world. There is not been a real chance for a country to do so much good for itself in a long time, but if both the world and Afghanistan work together, this could be the turning point that this war ravaged country so badly needs.
– Arthur Fuller
Sources: Huffington Post, New York Times, Reuters, NPR, Huffington Post- 2
Photo: Global Post
Clemson Engineers for Developing Countries
Last week the Institute for International Education (IIE) announced the winners of its annual Andrew Heiskell Awards for Innovation in International Education. Among the recipients was an innovative study abroad program called Clemson Engineers for Developing Countries (CEDC).
What makes the CEDC so unique is its focus on service-learning and community development abroad. The program promotes civic duty and international leadership through targeted civil engineering projects.
The CEDC allows its scholars to aid communities on and around the Central Plateau of Haiti in the design and implementation of sustainable infrastructure. These projects include the creation and improvement of water treatment facilities, road designs and waste management plants.
Each of these elements of infrastructure is essential to human health, quality of life and to the economic development of Haiti. The Central Plateau is one of the most impoverished and disaster-prone regions in the world and without the aid of programs like the CEDC, Haiti would have little opportunity to better the lives of its people.
Beyond development, the CEDC aims to prepare the peoples of Haiti to become integral to ensuring the success of this program. While Clemson University scholars and engineers receive the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the developing world, many Haitian students in the area shadow the engineers and learn the skills necessary to continue their work.
For this reason the CEDC has garnered a lot of attention and created many strategic partnerships with NGOs, private industries and Haitian schools.
The Andrew Heiskell Awards recognize the CEDCs tremendous commitment to, and investment in, both education and community development. According to the IIE, the Heiskell awards are aimed at, “highlighting initiatives that remove institutional barriers and broaden the base of participation in international teaching and learning on campus.”
The award was created in 2001 and named after the former chairman of Time Inc., Andrew Heiskell. The prize has been given annually to innovative university programs in four different categories: Internationalizing the Campus, Study Abroad, International Partnerships and Internationalizing the Community College.
– Chase Colton
Sources: Digital Journal, Clemson
Photo: Clemson Engineering for Developing Countries
Norway Quality of Life Far Exceeds America
When it comes to quality of life, there are few countries that can supersede America in terms of luxury, comfort and overall well-being. Not even Canada or Britain exceeds the United States in quality of life. However, Norway, an oil-rich country situated in the Scandinavian Peninsula, undeniably outstrips the American standard of living.
The United States has a lower per capita GDP than Norway with a GDP of 51,749 compared to 99,558, respectively, and is also home to one of the most pressing income distribution gaps in any industrialized nation, surpassed in income inequality by only Russia and Mexico.
Due to America’s cavernous income inequality, the poorest 38% of Norwegians are better off than the poorest 38% of Americans despite an overall lower average per capita GDP. According to Syracuse University professor Timothy Smeeding, the United States relies heavily on the markets to an extent that social safety nets are neglected, unlike Norway, which focuses more resources on providing aid to the poor.
This is not to say that America completely disregards its poor. To clarify, the United States has initiated its portion of socially-oriented acts, such as its attempt to reform the welfare system during the past two decades.
However, while the number of individuals on welfare was reduced from 5 million to slightly over 2 million, the welfare poor were downgraded into the working poor. Although welfare reform was rooted in good intentions, the lack of government safety nets defeated the purpose of the entire act.
Although the discovery of oil on the land in 1969 had transformed Norway, more than just an abundance of the valued natural resource buttresses Norway’s economy. Norway’s success has been attributed to what many call the “Norwegian Model”– a model of running a welfare state in which resources are carefully monitored, preserved and kept up-to-date.
While the United States ranks among one of the wealthiest nations in the world, it has stayed remiss in establishing social safety nets, particularly for the less economically-advantaged subsection of the population. Due to the lack of social safety nets, America hosts one of the largest global income inequality gaps, and is ultimately surpassed by the tiny welfare state of Norway in terms of quality of life.
– Phoebe Pradhan
Sources: Infoplease, CS Monitor, World Bank, News in English
Photo: The Telegraph
Down Under the Poverty Line
Australia is known for gorgeous beaches, the Great Barrier Reef and incredibly attractive accents. Many people would be shocked to hear that according to the Australian Council of Social Service and the Social Policy Research Centre (ACOSS), almost 13 percent of the population is struggling with poverty.
Low income families can get assistance from programs like NewStart, an ‘allowance’ payment similar to the welfare system in the United States.
However, ACOSS has determined that the payment of thirty five dollars per week has fallen well below the cost of living. That allowance numeral has not been updated since its implementation in 1994. Per week, the allowance is about two hundred and fifty dollars and the poverty line income is three hundred and sixty as of today.
Families with children meet the poverty line at seven hundred and fifty dollars, which the allowance payment is obviously not qualifying. Critics are fighting for new policies and programs that address the real number needed to live above the poverty line, and a way to fix the outdated New Start allowance amount.
One idea is to increase the allowance immediately by fifty dollars per week and help families find sustainable incomes so that eventually they can support themselves.
One issue that is being brought to the fore-front of the fight against poverty in Australia specifically is climate change. The poor population of Australia spends a large chunk of their income on basic needs like water sanitation and energy. Both of these basic services are going to become more expensive as the world’s climate continues to change, and coming up with policies to deal with this change and prevent poverty from spreading is of the utmost importance.
It will cost the nation more if they do not act now than if they spend the necessary funds to create solutions to the problems that climate change will inevitably bring. Heating, insulation and more weather related activities are more costly to low income families than to wealthier ones.
Officials in Australia and United Nations are committed to making climate change a priority in order to help citizens of the outback better their quality of lives and their futures. Reintroducing the unemployed and underpaid into jobs with increased wages and lasting security of future employment will help pull families out from under debilitating circumstances.
Assistance programs and awareness of what needs to be done in Australia will help not only their own citizens but also the rest of the world as new wealth and innovation comes from the newly assisted people down under.
– Kaitlin Sutherby
Sources: The Australian, ACOSS, ACOSS
Photo: An Infinite Summer