The Nobel Peace Prize is the most distinguished prize in the world. Every year, one individual “who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses” is awarded the prize. The prize is the stuff of myth in terms of both prestige and mystery: how and why was it ever conceived? Why is the Peace Prize so legendary and illustrious?
In 1895, Swedish industrial magnate Alfred Bernhard Nobel hand-drafted the first conceptions of the prestigious Nobel Prizes in his will. Nobel left his vast wealth for the awarding of five annual prizes to five individuals in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology/Medicine, Literature, and, most prestigious of all, Peace.
The man behind the prize is a character steeped in paradox and enigma. Son of salt-of-the-earth inventor and builder Immanuel Nobel, Alfred Nobel’s childhood was filled with frequent moving and change from Stockholm to St. Petersburg, and from modest means to bourgeois status. Growing up, Nobel was a quiet intellectual who preferred the solitude of philosophy books and writing; his weak health surely contributed to his broody temperaments.
Alfred Nobel, along with his brothers, was tutored to become fluent in five languages, and taught fundamental mathematics, physics, and chemistry while in St. Petersburg. He eventually received training to become a chemist and engineer, leading to his invention of dynamite as well as other explosives used in modern warfare. Ironic, for the man who would become posthumously famous for the most famous prize in world peace, explosives was Nobel’s industry and base for wealth.
It is suggested by historians that his belated adjustments to his will to include the Prizes were inspired by a poignant but nevertheless strange occurrence. When his brother died in Cannes, France in 1888, the French papers mistook his brother for the Alfred Nobel. The headlines read: “Le marchand de la mort est mort” (“The Merchant of Death is dead”). His brother’s obituary was eerily a dress rehearsal for his own—one that he did not want for himself for when his time finally came. Historians conclude that Nobel, who was also a philosopher and pacifist, belatedly added the prizes to his will to ameliorate his fears of posthumous disrepute.
The curious case of Alfred Nobel aside, the prestige of the Nobel Peace Prize is an undeniable medium of both change and historic record. Reading the accomplishments of the award through its 110 years is to turn through the pages of Modern history.
For example, there were no prizes for award peace during the tumultuous First World War that ended with no victors—only a whimper. The only prize awarded during the war years was to the Red Cross. The same occurred during WWII.
In the 1990s, “Pluralist Globalization” seemed to be the theme of the prizes. In 1990 for example, Mikhail Gorbachev was controversially awarded the Peace Prize because The Norwegian Nobel Committee had seen that he had done the most to end the Cold War. In 1993 Nelson Mandela and Frederick Willem de Klerk were award the Peace Prize for their work towards ending the violence and oppression of Apartied in South Africa.
But above all controversy and politics, the prize paints an enduring narrative of the human desire for salvation from suffering and war.
– Malika Gumpangkum
Sources: Britannica, Nobel Prize, Sweden
Photo: ABC
History of the Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is the most distinguished prize in the world. Every year, one individual “who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses” is awarded the prize. The prize is the stuff of myth in terms of both prestige and mystery: how and why was it ever conceived? Why is the Peace Prize so legendary and illustrious?
In 1895, Swedish industrial magnate Alfred Bernhard Nobel hand-drafted the first conceptions of the prestigious Nobel Prizes in his will. Nobel left his vast wealth for the awarding of five annual prizes to five individuals in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology/Medicine, Literature, and, most prestigious of all, Peace.
The man behind the prize is a character steeped in paradox and enigma. Son of salt-of-the-earth inventor and builder Immanuel Nobel, Alfred Nobel’s childhood was filled with frequent moving and change from Stockholm to St. Petersburg, and from modest means to bourgeois status. Growing up, Nobel was a quiet intellectual who preferred the solitude of philosophy books and writing; his weak health surely contributed to his broody temperaments.
Alfred Nobel, along with his brothers, was tutored to become fluent in five languages, and taught fundamental mathematics, physics, and chemistry while in St. Petersburg. He eventually received training to become a chemist and engineer, leading to his invention of dynamite as well as other explosives used in modern warfare. Ironic, for the man who would become posthumously famous for the most famous prize in world peace, explosives was Nobel’s industry and base for wealth.
It is suggested by historians that his belated adjustments to his will to include the Prizes were inspired by a poignant but nevertheless strange occurrence. When his brother died in Cannes, France in 1888, the French papers mistook his brother for the Alfred Nobel. The headlines read: “Le marchand de la mort est mort” (“The Merchant of Death is dead”). His brother’s obituary was eerily a dress rehearsal for his own—one that he did not want for himself for when his time finally came. Historians conclude that Nobel, who was also a philosopher and pacifist, belatedly added the prizes to his will to ameliorate his fears of posthumous disrepute.
The curious case of Alfred Nobel aside, the prestige of the Nobel Peace Prize is an undeniable medium of both change and historic record. Reading the accomplishments of the award through its 110 years is to turn through the pages of Modern history.
For example, there were no prizes for award peace during the tumultuous First World War that ended with no victors—only a whimper. The only prize awarded during the war years was to the Red Cross. The same occurred during WWII.
In the 1990s, “Pluralist Globalization” seemed to be the theme of the prizes. In 1990 for example, Mikhail Gorbachev was controversially awarded the Peace Prize because The Norwegian Nobel Committee had seen that he had done the most to end the Cold War. In 1993 Nelson Mandela and Frederick Willem de Klerk were award the Peace Prize for their work towards ending the violence and oppression of Apartied in South Africa.
But above all controversy and politics, the prize paints an enduring narrative of the human desire for salvation from suffering and war.
– Malika Gumpangkum
Sources: Britannica, Nobel Prize, Sweden
Photo: ABC
An Overview of USAID
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was created in 1961 by The Foreign Assistance Act, which established a separate administration for non-military foreign aid. This consolidated the many separate foreign aid organizations within the US government at the time into one effective agency.
USAID advocates for making international aid the focus of foreign policy. Under President Truman, foreign policy had two goals: creating new markets for U.S. exports by relieving global poverty and helping countries prosper through capitalism. Later, in the 1970s, USAID shifted its focus to basic human needs: food security, health, education, jobs and resource management.
Today, USAID focuses on creating sustainable markets, transitioning countries into democracies and rebuilding former areas of conflict. USAID works mainly through non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and diversified aid packages. Food security, economic growth, education, environmental protection, gender equality, health, innovation, sanitation and conflict management are at the forefront of US foreign policy. All these factors go into creating sustainable trade partners and positive political relations.
USAID’s $20.4 billion funding comes directly from the U.S. government. Of this, only about $1.35 billion is spent on operating costs. The rest of the funding goes to “bilateral assistance” provided to countries and regions in need. Afghanistan is the largest recipient of US economic assistance at $2.24 billion, followed by Pakistan with $970 million.
Past successes include family planning, immunization programs, improved farming techniques and booming energy sectors in developing countries. Life expectancy in the developing world has increased by 33 percent, immunizations have eliminated smallpox, and infant and child death rates have decreased by 50 percent in the developing world. HIV/AIDS education and prevention has been a major focus of USAID, with programs set up in 32 countries. Meanwhile, 1.3 billion people have access to safe drinking water thanks to USAID-led UN Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade.
– Stephanie Lamm
Sources: USAID History, USAID Sites
Photo: Business Week
How do you Accurately Measure Extreme Poverty?
We currently measure poverty by quantifying it as existing on less than $1.25 USD a day. Not only is that an inaccurate capture monetarily, the true cost or measure of poverty often exists on parallels outside of the economic benchmarks given to development and poverty.
A recent event organized by ActionAid described the $1.25 a day or less benchmark as a starvation line, not a poverty line.
Lant Pritchett of the Center for Global Development has argued that a single monolithic figure to indicate extreme poverty is not only flawed, but fails the poor on an additional level. He has suggested employing a range to indicate and understand extreme poverty, and identifies those living in the range of existing on $10 USD a day or less as those living in extreme poverty.
The current definition of extreme poverty would suggest that only 6% of the world’s population is poor. Taking Pritchett’s range of $10 a day or less, it expands to 5 billion of the 7 billion global population as living in poverty.
Keeping the definition to an economic understanding still does not account for the reality of what poverty means to those who are trapped in it. Consider how even if someone earns enough to live off $1.25 or even $10 a day, without education and access to healthcare or social services, he or she will still exist in a state of extreme poverty.
Not only do they lack the same access to key factors of human development and progress, they are just as likely to be trapped in its cyclical and systemic nature as someone who is numerically counted as living in extreme poverty.
In wealthy countries, the Pritchett range does not account for many who would obviously be identified as part of the global poor and as living in extreme poverty. The economic measurement of poverty varies between national borders and rests on the value of a given currency.
Those who live in extreme poverty, regardless of the borders surrounding them, face similar risks and lack similar basic needs. If development can be universally measured, why can’t poverty?
The Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative along with ministers from several countries in the developing world have pushed for the adoption of a multidimensional poverty index (MPI). An MPI could be utilized alongside economic indicators to present a more dynamic and nuanced understanding of poverty, how to address it, and how to measure progress when combating it.
The MPI would measure individuals and households across a series of parallels, including access to healthcare and education. This would create a profile of deprivations to not only measure extreme poverty, but to offer a structural analysis of the ways in which people are impoverished and what is being denied to them.
The data would also provide indicators for points of investment in development, so that suffering and the ways in which it can be eliminated can be measured.
– Nina Verfaillie
Feature Writer
Sources: The Guardian, National Review, World Bank
Photo: Awareness Bali
Where Children Sleep Photography Project
It’s hard to say exactly how much of an impact a photo can have. At the risk of cliché, I won’t say that a picture is worth 1,000 words. Imagine seeing hundreds of photographs that detail not only a child’s appearance and age, but also the place they call their own – where they sleep.
James Mollison decided to take on that mission himself. A 40-year-old native of Kenya who grew up in England, Mollison had always been interested in art and design. He graduated from Oxford Brooks University and, later, Newport School of Art and Design with degrees in art, design, film, and photography. After attaining his degree, Mollison moved to Italy in order to work at Fabrica, Benetton’s communications research center and creative lab. This was where the idea for the Where Children Sleep Photography Project came about.
Among his other achievements and publications lies this creation, published in November 2010 – “stories of diverse children around the world, told through portraits and pictures of their bedroom.”
The aforementioned juxtaposition is exactly what Mollison longed to create, in order to point out the inequalities that exist all over the world. The two extremes he found most interesting were in a top-floor apartment in New York and a mud hut in Lesotho, Africa: the bedrooms of Jaime and Lehlohonolo.
Jamie went to a prestigious school in the area. He also had quite a hectic schedule filled with extracurricular activities such as judo, swimming, cello, and kickball. He would often study his finances on the Citibank website.
Lehlohonolo, in contrast, lived a highly different life. Along with his three brothers, who were AIDS orphans, he lived in a mud hut. The floor of this hut was where the boys would sleep, “cuddling up to each other for warmth during the freezing cold nights. Two of Lehlohonolo’s brothers walked to a school eight kilometers away where they are also given monthly rations of food -– cereal, pulses and oil. They couldn’t remember the last time they ate meat. Sadly, they will probably live in poverty for the rest of their lives because crops are difficult to grow on the infertile land and there are no prospects of employment. The vulnerability of these kids was very upsetting.”
When asked what he hoped people would take away from this collection of photos, Mollison said, “We tend to inhabit a small world of friends, family, work, school etc. I hope the book gives a glimpse into the lives some children are living in very diverse situations around the world; a chance to reflect on the inequality that exists, and realize just how lucky most of us in the developed world are.”
– Samantha Davis
Sources: New York Times Blog, Where Children Sleep, Huffington Post
Photo: Visual News
UN Women and the Fight for Equality
UN Women is an organization that was created in July 2010 by the United Nations General Assembly. The organization’s full name is the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women; its mission is to promote gender equality throughout the world and champion women from all walks of life.
Many women in the world face discrimination in the workplace, and receive fewer opportunities when it comes to career and educational advancement. UN Women sees this kind of gender discrimination happening all over the world, and makes it a part of its agenda to ensure that women have basic and equal human rights. Women are often denied access to health care, and even worse, they lack the political voice to change such conditions because of their stark under-representation in governmental decision making.
One of the major issues on the UN Women’s agenda is the end to violence against women. In a 2013 global review, published by the World Health Organization, it was reported that 35 percent of women in the world have experienced some kind of violence from an intimate partner. UN Women also focuses on the different aspects that are associated with violence against women: sex trafficking, child brides, rape, and sexual harassment in the work or education place.
Partnering with government agencies is an effective way that UN Women is able to take action against the various forms of discrimination against women. UN Women channels its efforts on implementing laws that will help protect women against threats like violence. It also advocates for policies that will open up more economic opportunities for women.
The wage gap between men and women is something that UN Women takes very seriously and seeks to bring to a close by implementing policies that argue for fairness in the workplace. A large part of the organization’s mission to empower women comes from its dedication to spread awareness in response to the AIDS epidemic. Women make up 54 percent of all people living in the world with HIV. UN Women has made it a job to spread awareness on the factors connected to the spread of HIV/AIDS. With the help of its partners, and resources UN Women has been able to broadcast the voice of women living with AIDS and it takes steps to help prevent the spread of the disease.
UN Women is gaining momentum and acquiring more support. Actress, Nicole Kidman, showed her support for the organization during an acceptance speech at the Variety Magazine Power of Women Awards event. Kidman encouraged her audience to see the desperate need for women’s equality in the world.
– Chante Owens
Sources: UN Women, Daily Mail
Socks that Solve Social Problems
Inspired by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of meeting the needs of the world’s poorest through international collaboration, Conscious Step sells fashionable dress socks to create a positive impact on the world. Each sock the organization sells is connected to a different cause, allowing customers the freedom to choose the cause most important to them.
So far, Conscious Step has created three socks that are associated with three different causes. The first sock is inspired by the first MDG of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. In partnership with the global humanitarian organization Action Against Hunger, Conscious Step supports nutrition programs in Kenya, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Purchasing this sock provides three therapeutic food packets to malnourished children in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The second MDG of achieving universal primary education inspires Conscious Step’s second sock. This sock partners with Engineers Without Borders to provide clean water sources and increase the number of children in primary schools in Nepal.
Conscious Step’s final sock addresses the seventh MDG of ensuring environmental sustainability. Purchasing this sock allows Trees for the Future to plant 30 trees in rural Ghana and teach agroforestry techniques to women and children, which then generates income, provides material for food and fuel and protects the environment.
Buying Conscious Step socks not only helps solve poverty, but also provides a big bang for the buyer’s buck. These socks are made from 200-needle count, organic, fair trade cotton and are sweat resistant. Each of the three styles of socks is embroidered with a distinguishable symbol, allowing supporters to wear their cause with pride and stimulate discussion about poverty alleviation.
Conscious Step helps “give an ordinary purchase an extraordinary purpose.” Supporters can purchase ethically made, high-quality socks that give them the power to consume for a cause. You can help launch the organization into gear and get your pair from Conscious Step’s Indiegogo campaign here.
– Tara Young
Sources: Indiegogo, Good Magazine
Photo: Indiegogo
What is Krokodil?
Krokodil, a flesh-eating morphine derivative intended to imitate the effects of heroin, has been attracting international intention for its devastating flesh-eating effects.
Krokodil is easily made with common household chemicals. It includes codeine and a combination of iodine, paint thinner, lighter fluid and hydrochloric acid that only need to be cooked for 30 minutes.
Although its short-term effects are pleasant – a heroin-type high sans nausea – repeated exposure causes users’ skin to become scaly, then rots their flesh from the inside out. The average lifespan of a krokodil user is 2-3 years.
The drug, a homemade variant of desomorphine, has sedative and analgesic properties similar to those of morphine. Desomorphine was originally patented in 1932 by Frederick Small Lyndon, after which it was widely distributed in Switzerland under the brand name Permonid.
Although krokodil was developed decades ago, it has only gained notoriety in the past few years – not until this past month has krokodil shown up in the United States. The krokodil trend first took off in Russia, where a stuttering economy has caused widespread clandestine manufacturing of the drug in order to meet demand for a cheap heroin substitute.
Opiate addiction is rampant in Russia, partially because of its proximity to Afghanistan. The Huffington Post reports that Afghanistan provides Russia’s 2.5 million heroin addicts with 70 tons of heroin each year – accounting for more than 20 percent of annual global drug consumption.
Many of the country’s poor, seeking an affordable way to sustain their addiction, have turned to krokodil as a heroin substitute. The drug is especially pervasive among homeless people and prostitution rings. New York’s Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services estimates that 1 million Russians now use krokodil, equivalent to 40 percent of the Russian population already addicted to heroin.
Krokodil is deceptively lethal. Many users falsely assume that the cooking process removes impurities from the drug. This is not true. Even after cooking, the drug retains chemicals that almost immediately cause the body to deteriorate. The drug’s use is most prevalent among poor people already addicted to hard drugs.
Because the krokodil trend is relatively new, health professionals do not fully understand the drug’s long-term effects. They continue to investigate as new victims are hospitalized. However, because krokodil is usually homemade and has ingredients that vary by manufacturer, the effects of krokodil will vary case-by-case.
– Matt Berg
Sources: Espacenet, Huffington Post1, Huffington Post2, OASAS, LA Times
Photo: The Parallax Brief
Yehu Microfinance
Founded in 1998 under the name Yehu Enterprises Support Services (YESS), Yehu has always had a strong focus on low income rural entrepreneurs and women of Kenya. The company’s dedication to providing the aforementioned population with specially targeted products and services allows their customers to improve their economic position.
The most significant trait that sets Yehu apart is their commitment to responsiveness. The company receives feedback from their clients using surveys, focus groups, complaint resolutions, and market research. From these endeavors, employees are able to draw conclusions regarding what their customers want. Yehu believes that “access to responsive and sustainable financial services helps accelerate their clients’ ability to move up the economic ladder and improve their lives.”
The aforementioned dedication to customer satisfaction is clearly portrayed in their products and services. One of the products Yehu offers is known as the Maji ni Uhai (which means “water is life). The Maji ni Uhai allows the customer to choose from water tanks, water connectors, and fresh water wells. It involves “durable water tanks (both underground and storage tanks), piping, water harvesting infrastructure, water pans, and plumbing works.” This product is meant to provide clients with an uninterrupted sustainable supply of clean water for domestic and commercial use.
Among its other services, Yehu offers the following: Business Loans, Elimu Loans (school fees), Mabati Loans (home improvements and clean water harvesting), Emergency Loans (covers finances in case of an emergency or death), Poultry Loans, Meat Goat Loans, Sikukuu Loans (religious unemployment, covers costs of housing and food), and Top Up Loans (an additional amount given to clients with existing business loans to mitigate unforeseen business challenges). In all of these situations, Yehu values flexibility and responsiveness to customer needs.
According to the World Health Organization, there are only two registered medical professionals for every 1,000 patients in Kenya. A recent economic survey showed that only 19 public health officials and 18 doctors are available per 100,000 Kenyans. Those who have health insurance have the option to receive better care at a private health facility and have a much better chance of survival. However, few Kenyans can afford insurance for their families, much less themselves.
Thankfully, Yehu noticed this devastating problem and stepped up to the plate with the introduction of a brand new loan–the Afya Imara (“strong health”) loan. Boasting no HIV/AIDS exclusion, this loan allows Yehu members to purchase a combined in-patient and out-patient family insurance policy for $140 per year. To ensure the loan’s accessibility to the rural population, the company has offered them as low as 2 percent below market rate.
Another unique facet of Yehu’s business is how their credit officers operate. Eighty percent of clients live in the remote coastal villages of Kenya. Credit officers travel on foot or on motorbike in order to meet with clients weekly or bi-weekly. This distance would often be deemed a huge problem in regards to loan disbursement, but Yehu quickly figured out a solution.
All disbursements and deposits are made through “a network of local banks and post office outlets.” This prevents distance from becoming an issue and strongly displays Yehu’s commitment to accessibility and responsiveness.
– Samantha Davis
Sources: KIVA, Yehu
Photo: Joseph Hill
China’s Environmental Crisis
China is one of the fastest growing countries in the world. With that being said, it can be safe to say that it has one of the fastest growing industries in the world. These industries require a lot more labor and resources. Recently, it has been reported that in order to “meet its growing energy needs, China is planning to build hundreds of coal fired power plants in the next few years.” However, developing the coal industry could have a devastating effect on China’s freshwater resources. The development of these plants threatens other areas such as drinking water supplies, industry, farming, and the environment.
In 2011, the Associated Press reported that around 68.4 percent of China’s energy came from coal. China’s coal industry is the fastest and most dominant in the country. Other nations such as the United States and Germany reported that around 30-37 percent of their energy came from coal. Moreover, China is the world’s largest consumer of coal. Around 50 percent of the world’s coal is consumed by China. This number is expected to grow.
According to the Washington Times, the Chinese government recently announced its plans to build 363 new coal-fired plants. The new power plants would increase the country’s coal-powered generating capacity from 68.4 percent to 75 percent. As a result, China’s coal consumption would significantly increase.
Although China’s industries depend on cheap, easy-to-use resources to keep the economy going, the cheap energy sources are considered dangerous and detrimental to society. One example is coal. Coal is considered to be the less costly and more effective way to address China’s energy problem. However, coal is extremely labor and water intensive. This creates a problem for people and for areas where water is scarce. In these areas, water resources can diminish further. The problem is that China does have enough water resources, however, these resources are not evenly distributed between communities. According to the Washington Times, “demographics, population, geography and politics make water a complicated issue.”
– Stephanie Olaya
Sources: Washington Times, Reuters
Cancer Crisis in Iraq
The war in Iraq is finally over – new leadership is in place and the country has begun to rebuild. But the effects of the Iraq War continue to have a deadly impact. Contamination from depleted uranium used in U.S. munitions has resulted in an increase of cancer and birth complications throughout the region.
Toxic waste, as well as radiation from U.S. bombings, still linger in the war-ravaged nation. Chris Busby, author of “Cancer, Infant Mortality and Birth Sex-Ration in Fallujah, Iraq 2005-2009,” says Iraq’s medical records show “the highest rate of genetic damage in any population ever studied.”
There has been a startlingly rise in premature births, infertility and congenital birth defects. Doctors report children born with tumors, deformities, multiple limbs and underdeveloped nervous systems. Mothers sometimes do not survive through the delivery process due to unexpected complications. Most babies born with these extreme abnormalities do not survive. Dr. Alani, who has been studying the effects of radiation in Iraq, reports that 14.7 percent of all babies born in Fallujah have birth defects. In post-atomic bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the birth defect rate was about 2 percent.
Exposure to lead and mercury during the 1991 bombings and the 2003 invasion have also led to increased cancer rates. Busby reports that childhood cancer in Fallujah, Iraq is 12 times higher since the heavy bombing started around 2004. Basra University reports that leukemia in children has increased by 22 percent, and the number of patients with breast cancer has increased 19 percent since the 2004 invasion. Cancer is now the leading cause of death in southern Iraq, according to a report published by the Basra University Medical College.
So far, the United States has refused to acknowledge the damage caused by its chemical weapons. No compensation or assistance has been provided for Iraq, similar to refusals to clean up Agent Orange after the Vietnam War.
The medical impact of war will not go away any time soon. When depleted uranium bombs explode, they produce a fine dust containing uranium. The uranium is absorbed by plants, contaminating the food and water supply. To make matters worse, Iraq’s infamous sandstorms can also stir up the uranium, making the contaminants airborne. It will be 4,000 years before the depleted uranium will decay to a safe level.
– Stephanie Lamm
Sources: Al Jazeera, Fire Dog Lake
Photo: Inter Press Service