Poverty in Scotland is worse than it has been for the past 30 years. According to a Breadline Britain Poverty and Social Exclusion report, 29 percent of Scots are unable to afford three or more basic necessities for living (things like food, water, shelter, and clothing).
A spokeswoman for Glasgow University (which helped to fund the report) said: “For a significant and growing proportion of the population, living conditions and opportunities have been going backwards. Housing and heating conditions in particular have deteriorated rapidly.”
The report found that 8 percent of Scots could not afford to heat the living areas of their homes, and 16 percent of children in Scotland live in a home which is either damp or ineffectively heated. Commonly known as fuel poverty, those affected are unable to keep adequately warm at a reasonable price, and are often forced to spend more than ten percent of their household income on fuel for heating.
“These findings paint a very bleak picture of life for large numbers of people living in low- income households in Scotland today,” said Nick Bailey, a senior urban studies lecturer at Glasgow University.
It is such a crucial issue that the Scottish government has sworn to eradicate it by 2016, or else risk more citizens falling into lifestyles of poverty.
Enter Knowes Housing Association: a company that decided to help fight this growing problem. 350 homes at risk of fuel poverty in the city of Clydebank were supplied with solar PV installations by Edison Energy. Also known as photovoltaic systems, the devices use solar energy to supply usable electric power for a large amount of purposes.
Part of a £2 million energy improvement program for the housing association over the next two years, the solar arrays will generate a revenue stream for the housing association through the associated feed-in-tariff payments. Local installer Edison Energy plans to offer aftercare, financing and maintenance support during the lifetime of these payments.
“In a climate of escalating uncertainty over traditional energy supplies and concern about potential price hikes, it is important to emphasize the vital role that solar PV is already playing – and will continue to play – as part of the renewable energy mix, helping to stave off the threat of fuel poverty in areas hardest hit by the challenging economic circumstances of recent years,” said Richard Rushin, a sales manager for Trina Solar, a company that supplied 4,000 pieces of equipment for the project.
KHA, Edison Energy, and Trina Solar plan to continue working together to create and maintain high-quality projects like this one, in order to help those in danger of fuel poverty in the UK.
“Our relationship with Trina Solar has allowed us to develop a sustainable energy solution using market-leading solar technologies, resulting in lower operations and maintenance costs. It is critical to our business model that we have established relationships with our supply partners to ensure that we work together to deliver a consistently high-quality product, in terms of both system performance and maintenance,” said Fraser MacKenzie, Business Development Director at Edison Energy.
The improvements are expected to deliver annual energy bill savings of £70,000.
– Samantha Davis
Sources: Herald Scotland, Scotland.gov, Solar Power Portal
Photo: STV News
The United Kingdom’s Hidden Poor
The United Kingdom is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It boasts Europe’s second biggest economy after Germany. It also has a $2.313 trillion dollar GDP according to the CIA’s 2012 World Fact book website estimations. Given these statistics, the recent announcement that the U.K. suffers from almost untold amounts of deprivation in its society due to both financial and economic insecurities comes as a surprise.
The University of Bristol recently published a report which paints an extremely dark picture of life in the United Kingdom. According to the study, over half of the U.K.’s population is suffering from some type of financial trouble. The study also reported that about 5.5 million adults in the U.K. go without some types of essential clothing; in addition, four million children and adults are not fed properly by today’s standards.
The Trussell Trust, which is the largest provider of food banks in Great Britain, issued a report in which they said more than 350,000 people went to their various food banks for help in the past year, which, according to their figures, is almost triple the number of people that required food aid in 2012.
The Guardian published a report by a charity in the U.K. known as 4Children, which reported more than half of Britain’s poor children reside in homes that are cold or not heated. Also, more than 55 percent of the children surveyed stated that they felt embarrassment over the fact that their family was not well off, and 14 percent had experienced some sort of bullying as a result.
These types of numbers are indeed surprising from one of the richest and most well off countries in the world. The study by the University of Bristol also found that living conditions for the U.K.’s hidden poor have indeed slid backwards. The study showed that one-third of British households could not afford to adequately heat their homes in the winter of 2012 and that the number of homes that could not afford to adequately heat the living areas of their homes is at a record high of nine percent.
There was also an extreme lack of adequate food for children noted in the study. The study noted that over half a million children live in homes that cannot adequately feed them. The Guardian also reported that the “squeezed-middle” families with two children need to earn over $37,000 pounds per year in order to meet what the public deems as the lowest ordinary acceptable living standards.
Great Britain is one of the most wealthy, powerful, and influential countries in the world, but if it does not begin to seriously examine those families who fall through the cracks in the welfare system, the U.K. will begin to suffer the effects. These families are the ones who work but still are unable to make end meet at the end of the month. They are hidden because they do not fall into a definable category and thus get left behind by the welfare state.
– Arthur Fuller
Sources: Bristol university, The Guardian Society Section, CIA, The Huffington Post, The Guardian, The Mirror
Poverty in Scotland
Poverty in Scotland is worse than it has been for the past 30 years. According to a Breadline Britain Poverty and Social Exclusion report, 29 percent of Scots are unable to afford three or more basic necessities for living (things like food, water, shelter, and clothing).
A spokeswoman for Glasgow University (which helped to fund the report) said: “For a significant and growing proportion of the population, living conditions and opportunities have been going backwards. Housing and heating conditions in particular have deteriorated rapidly.”
The report found that 8 percent of Scots could not afford to heat the living areas of their homes, and 16 percent of children in Scotland live in a home which is either damp or ineffectively heated. Commonly known as fuel poverty, those affected are unable to keep adequately warm at a reasonable price, and are often forced to spend more than ten percent of their household income on fuel for heating.
“These findings paint a very bleak picture of life for large numbers of people living in low- income households in Scotland today,” said Nick Bailey, a senior urban studies lecturer at Glasgow University.
It is such a crucial issue that the Scottish government has sworn to eradicate it by 2016, or else risk more citizens falling into lifestyles of poverty.
Enter Knowes Housing Association: a company that decided to help fight this growing problem. 350 homes at risk of fuel poverty in the city of Clydebank were supplied with solar PV installations by Edison Energy. Also known as photovoltaic systems, the devices use solar energy to supply usable electric power for a large amount of purposes.
Part of a £2 million energy improvement program for the housing association over the next two years, the solar arrays will generate a revenue stream for the housing association through the associated feed-in-tariff payments. Local installer Edison Energy plans to offer aftercare, financing and maintenance support during the lifetime of these payments.
“In a climate of escalating uncertainty over traditional energy supplies and concern about potential price hikes, it is important to emphasize the vital role that solar PV is already playing – and will continue to play – as part of the renewable energy mix, helping to stave off the threat of fuel poverty in areas hardest hit by the challenging economic circumstances of recent years,” said Richard Rushin, a sales manager for Trina Solar, a company that supplied 4,000 pieces of equipment for the project.
KHA, Edison Energy, and Trina Solar plan to continue working together to create and maintain high-quality projects like this one, in order to help those in danger of fuel poverty in the UK.
“Our relationship with Trina Solar has allowed us to develop a sustainable energy solution using market-leading solar technologies, resulting in lower operations and maintenance costs. It is critical to our business model that we have established relationships with our supply partners to ensure that we work together to deliver a consistently high-quality product, in terms of both system performance and maintenance,” said Fraser MacKenzie, Business Development Director at Edison Energy.
The improvements are expected to deliver annual energy bill savings of £70,000.
– Samantha Davis
Sources: Herald Scotland, Scotland.gov, Solar Power Portal
Photo: STV News
China’s Bird Flu on the Rise
Health officials have reported 73 cases of people infected with H7N9 in China this January, making the total in the country 221.The bird flu initially infected domestic chickens and ducks back in 2013 but has now caused 57 human deaths. There have been few reported cases of the virus spreading from person to person and a WHO official suggests that it mainly circulates due to the present cold winter.
So far, the virus has not mutated but the WHO remains cautious due to increased travel by the millions for the Chinese New Year. The virus has already spread a large distance, further south and east to the Guangdong province. A WHO official suggests that the virus might be seasonal or possibly linked to the increased exposure to poultry as the nation prepares for the New Year.
Approximately 3.6 billion trips are estimated to occur during this holiday and this is dangerous due to the millions who will be purchasing or receiving poultry as gifts.
Humans acquire the virus when they are in close proximity to infected poultry, so anyone could potentially contract it at the street markets or just as easily at home during food preparations. Billions of Chinese will be traveling in trains or buses alongside their chickens for the two week holiday, which could possibly lead to more outbreaks.
Several health officials are worried about H7N9 because this strain does not make infected birds sick, so both farmers and customers are unaware of the danger. Other flu strains lead to the virus being released in feces while H7N9 is breathed out by the infected birds. The first H7N9 cases first reported in Shanghai last March but since then another 200 people became infected.
Transmission has occurred by family clusters versus person to person and scientists have discovered that it is due to genetic markers that allow easier infection to mammals.
People who become infected have severe flu symptoms such as high fever and respiratory problems. Many also have shortness of breath, muscular pain, and even pneumonia. Currently, there is no evidence that suggests that this virus may mutate and spread around the globe since reports don’t suggest simple human to human transmission.
Chinese authorities are investigating more cases because several reports suggest contaminated environments can also infect humans. Fear remains until the holiday is over as increased travel could lead to the virus mutating and quickly pass between people. The WHO remains vigilant for any mutations and does not advise travel.
– Maybelline Martez
Sources: USA Today, BBC, ABC News
Photo: Once Upon a Time
#GlobalPOV
Everyone can help end global poverty, even Twitter. #GlobalPOV was created by the Blum Center for Developing Economies at University of California, Berkeley. The Global Poverty Project started by students working with the Blum Center thought of using a hashtag to trend topics surrounding global poverty. The students wanted to get people thinking, reading, and writing about concepts related to global poverty and what causes it as well as how it can be resolved.
Some hashtags are just fact or comments about the world’s poor. Some topics are news headlines about natural disasters and relief efforts across the globe. They include links to charities and organizations that are providing aid to victims of the disaster, and ways everyone can contribute.
#GlobalPOV can follow a post about an article detailing events in other countries related to politics and foreign aid. One tweet talks about social entrepreneurship ending global poverty with a link to Forbes Magazine cover photo of Bono and Bill Gates, two high profile charity donors. Another tweet links a YouTube video that describes how people become dependent on welfare in different societies.
The great thing about Twitter is that using the #GlobalPov phrase in the search bar connects audiences to a wealth of links and information that they can browse on their own time.
The best part of the Global Poverty Project, besides the impact it makes on the lives of poverty victims, is the convenience of spreading the word. One button can share the tweet with potential hundreds of followers. No one has to tediously search through different websites for the information since it is directly accessed via the link.
Richard C. Blum is the founder of the Blum Center at Berkeley. He is also the founder of the American Himalayan Foundation that helps provide food and education to people living in the Himalayas. Mister Bloom serves as a board member today and as the Honorary Consul of Nepal. His dream to help people has touched people all across the world. Starting the Blum Center at Berkeley University was intended as a place to bring together people of all different experiences and backgrounds to help those struggling with poverty.
Brainstorming, education, business, technology, and more are subjects that students working at the Blum Center use to help solve poverty across the globe. Their Global Poverty Project continues to grow with the hashtag #GlobalPOV, which can also be read as Global Point-of-View. This project challenges readers to act against widespread misconception and become educated about the issues facing people today.
Anyone can log onto Twitter.com right now and tweet about global poverty, or search for the hashtag and start reading.
– Kaitlin Sutherby
Photo: AIIA
Sources: Himalayan Foundation, Wall Street Journal
The Problems of Dressing for Success in Kenyan Schools
Global access to education should not always be uniformly approached. Many countries have been successful in reducing school fees since the installment of the UN Millennium Goals, and attendance has skyrocketed. However, the expense of the school uniform is still preventing too many children from the benefits of an education.
Kenya progressively eliminated tuition in 2002, under the leadership of President Mwai Kibaki. Yet the strictly enforced tradition of uniforms is still very much in place. Students in the Sub-Saharan African country are required to dress appropriately, or else risk dismissal at the discretion of their teacher.
Even if a child is not sent away, the lack of a uniform greatly inhibits education and encourages drop out rates. Just like in school, environments anywhere else have the pressure to fit in and the fear of ridicule can be crippling for Kenyan adolescence. Stigmatization and reprimand from teachers and peers are highly demotivational in the classroom, leading to attendance and concentration issues.
These sentiments have been proven by ISC-Africa, and NGO that funds the Child Sponsorship Program and focuses on the distribution of school supplies. Since the program began providing annual school uniforms to sponsored children in rural Kenyan schools, drop out rates decreased almost in half, from 15% to 8.6%.
Uniforms remain an unaffordable luxury, though, for many Kenyan families. The cost could be anywhere between 325 and 550 shillings, or $4.33-$7.33, per outfit. Although their educational purpose is essential, the value of a uniform naturally ranks lower in the household budget than, say, the next meal.
So, if uniforms are so detrimental to the access of education, then why are they still in place? Many parents support them because they encourage good behavior in the classroom and qualify students for reduced fees on public transportation. A more cynical theory speculates that teachers, whose regional assignments are decided based on student test scores, are motivated to exclude the lowest income, and most likely lowest scoring, students.
Cheaper alternatives have been explored such as matching badges or a school color scheme. The fact remains though, that providing education for all is a complicated and multi-faceted issue. The Millennium Goals must take this into account in its approach to reducing global poverty.
– Stefanie Doucette
Sources: World Bank, CESLA
Photo: Rabondo Community Project
Are Needy Children in Nigeria Invisible?
As the most populous country in all of Africa, the Federal Republic of Nigeria is made up of over 250 ethnic groups. The following are the most populous: Fulani and Hausa, 29 percent; Yoruba, 21 percent; Igbo, 18 percent and Ijaw 10 percent. They also have a significant split in religion, with 50 percent of the population being Muslim and 40 percent of the population being Christian.
With the largest population in Africa, Nigeria has 174,507,539 people and is ranked as having the 8th highest amount of people in the world. Of all those people, 76,461,896 are fourteen years of age or younger, meaning 43.8 percent of Nigerians are children. Of that 43.8 percent, about 60 percent lack birth certificates, meaning they are not permitted to use many government facilities that would normally be free with proper proof of citizenship.
Nigeria’s government is trying to reform its petroleum-based economy, but through all the corruption in that sector, it is not focusing as much on the youth in need. On top of that, presidential elections are tarnished by substantial violence and irregularities and the country has been undergoing long-lasting religious and ethnic conflicts, which also takes focus away from the children in need. These children need help; about 1,000,000 children die each year in Nigeria before their fifth birthday (10 percent of the global total.) What they need to save more lives is continuous investment and organized scaling up of essential newborn, maternal, and juvenile health interventions.
In Nigeria, there are numerous state hospitals that are free for children under the age of five, but the only dilemma is that the majority of these children do not have birth certificates. This is a catch-22 because the hospitals admit patients under five for free with proof of age, but these children have never had any way to prove how old they truly are. From there, they have no choice but to go to a private hospital for treatment where they are forced to pay $45 (a trivial amount for a life-saving medication in the United States,) but an unfathomable expense for the people living in this region, especially since most of them live on less than a dollar per day.
The number of children lacking birth certificates in Nigeria is up to about 17,000,000, a number second only to India, which has 71,000,000 unregistered children. According to UNICEF, one out of every three children in Sub-Saharan Africa does not “officially exist,” but does that mean that they do not still need help? The undocumented children in Nigeria are denied education and healthcare and often times have their rights abused. Their parents often times cannot even help them because in these rural areas many are uneducated and are not aware of how important it is to register their children.
The deficiency of birth records in Nigeria also causes an error in the government’s efforts to track demographic information. Without the proper information on how many children need hospitalization or immunization, the government cannot tell how many vaccines it needs from organizations like UNICEF, it cannot tell how many children have already died nor the cause of death.
The good news is UNICEF is trying to convince people to register their children and trying to increase the number of registration centers in Nigeria so the families can have easier access. They plan on having 65 percent to 70 percent of children be registered with official birth certificates within the next few years.
– Kenneth W. Kliesner
Sources: CIA World Factbook, Voice of America ,UNICEF
Photo: The Guardian
India Celebrates 3 Years Polio-Free
This week marked the three-year anniversary of India’s being polio-free. Once viewed as one of the biggest challenges in polio eradication, significant improvements in public health, education and vaccination programs have helped India reach this developmental milestone.
A densely populated country of more than one billion people, India was considered one of the toughest places to tackle the polio endemic. In 2009, India reported 741 polio cases, comprising nearly half of the world’s polio cases. Two years after this peak level, India saw its last reported case of wild polio on January 13, 2011.
To combat this endemic, India has made vast improvements to its infrastructure, which has advanced public health measures beyond polio eradication. These changes allowed India’s poorest and most rural populations access to vaccinations. Innovative approaches were taken, such as targeting families on trains and accessing the vast rural area of India by foot to deliver vaccinations. They are now being used to tackle other diseases through immunization, such as measles.
The polio eradication efforts also used social mobilizers to educate people on the subject, working with religious leaders to reach parents, specifically targeting the importance for children’s health. Today, they are using these education techniques in counseling pregnant women on breastfeeding and providing newborns with necessary immunizations.
A National Immunization Day has been implemented for further awareness and progress. Each day consists of vaccine doses, vaccinators, vaccine carriers, and supervisors and hundreds of thousands of people mobilizing worldwide to eradicate polio completely by 2018. Past cases provide proof that as long as polio exists, it remains a threat everywhere. A success story, India continues to build its own immunization campaign. Giving hope and providing successful measures to eradicate polio to the three remaining polio-endemic countries: Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan.
– Maris Brummel
Sources: Polio Eradication, UNICEF, Polio Eradication
Photo: India Ink
Income Inequality in 2014
The World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting is occurring in Davos, Switzerland and there is one issue that is being presented as one of the largest challenges that has to be faced in the coming years. Income inequality around the world is rising and experts say that it is going to become an explosive issue as time goes on.
Oxfam recently released an article that puts into startling perspective how significant an issue income inequality is becoming. Oxfam found that the 85 richest people on the globe have as much collective wealth as the poorest half of the world. This is a staggering statistic. Oxfam goes on to point out that the richest one percent of the world holds an accrued wealth of $110 trillion dollars, while the 3.5 billion poorest people in the world posses roughly the same amount.
Oxfam’s report also pointed out that in the United States, the wealthiest one percent captured 95 percent of post financial crisis growth since 2009, while the bottom 90 percent have become poorer. The report goes on to point out how the wealthy have taken advantage of their wealth and created tax havens and other political means to ensure their wealth remains unaffected.
The Huffington Post released a report in which it found that the U.S. has the worst income inequality in the world. It cited the tax code as a huge reason for the massive income inequality bracket in the U.S. The report also highlighted Wall Street as a reason for the U.S. having the world largest income inequality range. “The same politicians that have busily been slashing taxes on the wealthy have also been loosening fetters on banking, allowing the financial sector to swell to bloated size and mop up ever-more income while contributing ever-less back to the economy.”
Oxfam’s Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, issued a statement saying, “Widening inequality is creating a vicious circle where wealth and power are increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few, leaving the rest of us to fight over crumbs from the top table.” She went on to say that with the WEF having income inequality as a hot button issue, the attendees will work personally to make sure that they are not taking advantage of various tax breaks and things of that nature as well.
The WEF is a amazing opportunity for many of the world leading figures to come together and begin to try and sort out many of the issues that plague our society.
– Arthur Fuller
Sources: Business Insider, Huffington Post, Huffington Post, Oxfam
Photo: WTW
Boundless City – Art For Global Justice
Renamed “Boundless City,” Art for Global Justice began when a team of young people decided they could use art to change the world. After a trip to Accra, Ghana, these young people realized that the world is struggling with poverty and civil hardships. They discuss how when traveling to other nations, everyone has cultural differences and perceptions about the nation and its residents.
Economic inequality, political strife and violence often contribute to the complex issue of global poverty and the understanding of the general public. Fielding requests from communities, Boundless City works as a collaborative partner with schools and city programs to educate children from struggling backgrounds.
They discuss the misconceptions created around other nations, religions, cultures and people. Allowing children to draw and express themselves through art helps them develop healthy outlets for their emotions while giving them a common ground with children from all sorts of backgrounds. Planting the seed of understanding and empathy can help prevent conflict and inequality from growing in the future.
Setting up inner city workshops and gallery showings, Boundless City shared its love of art with cities and young residents while teaching them to think of others. Focusing on New York, Ghana, and Guatemala, the newly christened Boundless City teaches communities to express their desire to help and relate to people all over the world.
Using a wordpress blog, students living in foreign nations can post articles about their trips and discoveries abroad. A recent post from a student living South Africa describes how sculptures constructed in busy intersections give people a sense of community.
The whole point of public art is to foster an ideal of brotherhood and belonging to everyone involved. Art can be made by any soul, anywhere, at almost any time. Conflict and war do not decrease art but rather inspire more of it to spread the fight against injustice — and Boundless City, formerly Art for Global Justice, is an important aspect of this message.
Starting Boundless City was a way to show everyone how a simple image can open someone’s mind and change the way they see something, even how the view the world.
Art can express emotion and encourage change in the hearts of its audience. For years, people have been telling the history of life through art. Whether elaborately displayed on church ceilings or drawn crudely in the dark with spray paint, artists send their messages into the world.
It is a universally understood form of communication, like a smile.
– Kaitlin Sutherby
Sources: Art for Global Justice (blog), Start Some Good, Art for Global Justice
Photo: Nathan Midgley
Afghani Asylum
Former member of Afghani Parliament Noorzia Atmar was banned under strict refugee laws from applying for asylum from within Afghanistan’s borders forcing her to flee.
According to The Guardian, the United States embassy did respond to her cry for help, but it was not able to assist her with asylum or a visa unless she applied from another country. Atmar mentions, “I love my country and even though I was under threat in some way I tried to get work, not to be lazy or rely on anyone else.”
More importantly, she stated, “The situation pushed me to leave. No one respects women in our country. It is really difficult to find a space just to live.”
Previously an affluent and powerful politician, Atmar now lives in a single run down room in extreme poverty outside of her original borders. Her current location is not being released for fear of herself and her family she now does not in contact.
Despite her horrendous situation she is still passionate about women’s rights and hopes to begin working again. Like Atmar, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) is working for women as the oldest political/social organization of Afghan women struggling for peace, freedom, democracy and women’s rights in fundamentalism-blighted Afghanistan since 1977, according to its website.
Even though she was lucky enough to escape her situation, Atmar knows there are many other women still suffering. One main issue is the fact that a refugee cannot apply for asylum while in their home country. In a male-dominated Afghanistan, it is extremely difficult for a woman to be able to have the job, money or status to pass rigorous western visa requirements.
RAWA’s work inside of Afghanistan mainly consists of support for female victims of war and other aggressive groups much like Atmar’s situation. The government they are after is one of democratic values that ensure freedom of thought, religion and political expression while protecting women’s rights.
Policy and research manager at Asylum Aid said, “Our overall sense is that the asylum system here is that it’s not sensitive to the needs of women fleeing countries like Afghanistan and doesn’t respond as it should to their cases.” This is part of the motivating cause behind RAWA and the work it is doing to fight for women.
– Lindsey Lerner
Sources: The Guardian, RAWA
Photo: Kompas