The individuals and families of developing nations that have contributed little to climate change will nonetheless experience its greatest hardships. The World Bank warns that Earth’s rising temperature is undermining economic development in poor countries. Droughts, floods, heatwaves, rising sea levels, and powerful storms will cause severe devastation in areas that are already poor or were coming out of poverty. Within just two decades, climate change is expected to cause food shortages in these same areas.
An increase of at least 2°C, the limit set by scientists that marks a catastrophic and irreversible change to the climate, is inevitable if current trends continue. Although some refuse to regard climate change as anything other than a future problem, many parts of the world are already experiencing extreme challenges due to rising temperatures.
Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank, warns that: “The scientists tell us that if the world warms by 2°C—warming which may be reached in 20 to 30 years—that will cause widespread food shortages, unprecedented heatwaves, and more intense cyclones.”
In Southeast Asia, catastrophic events such as the floods in Pakistan in 2010, which affected the lives of 20 million people, could become the norm, while changes to the monsoon season could be detrimental to Indian farmers. In Sub-Saharan Africa, researchers found that food security will be a major challenge, accompanied by dangers from droughts, flooding, and shifts in rainfall. It is predicted that farmers of this region will lose 40-80% of current farmland used primarily for growing their most stable crop: maize.
The World Bank plans to increase funding to countries currently without the capabilities to adapt to the consequences of climate change. Its aid has doubled from $2.3 billion in 2011 to $4.6 billion last year. An additional $7 billion a year is used to help poor countries cut their greenhouse gas emissions and work towards an environmentally sustainable economy. The bank is calling for rich countries to increase their efforts in cutting current greenhouse gas emissions. The need to avoid 2°C of warming is being emphasized, which scientists say is possible if countries cut their emissions in the near future.
According to Kim, “At the World Bank Group, we are concerned that unless the world takes bold action now, a disastrously warming planet threatens to put prosperity out of reach of millions and roll back decades of development…in response, we are stepping up our mitigation, adaptation, and disaster risk management work, and will increasingly look at our business through a ‘climate lens’.”
– Ali Warlich
Source: The Guardian, World Bank, Huffington Post
Photo: Business Insider
Top Three Charities in the World
Ever wonder how large charities can get and how much they can impact the world we live in? Charity Navigator has provided a glimpse into the top ten enormous charitable organizations that operate today. The ranking scale they use is out of 70. Here is a look at the top three.
It is interesting to view just how large the top three charities are and the immense impact that these charities have. Without the amount of money they raise and the support they provide, it would be a very different world we live in today.
– William Norris
Sources: Charity Navigator United Nations Foundation The Conservation Fund Direct Relief
Photo: Direct Relief
Girl Rising Spotlights Education
“I feel as though I have power.” These are the powerful words of one of nine girls whose stories are documented in the critically acclaimed film “Girl Rising.” Released this year and featured on CNN recently, the documentary follows the struggles of nine girls in nine countries all striving to achieve the same goal: an education. The obstacles they faced were daunting. From forced marriage to war, from bondage to orphanhood, these girls were able to climb out of the depths of despair with a perseverance that has already inspired millions.
The film’s Academy Award nominated director, Richard Robbins, describes his film project’s founding goals as, “Change minds. Change lives. Change policy.” His vision has since led to the 10X10 organization, a campaign that strives to educate girls around the world. Centered around the film, 10X10 has spread its roots through partnerships with companies like Intel that run programs to educate the world’s women, and through networks like CNN that promote women’s education via featured programs and documentaries.
Among the inspiring stories told in the film are those of Sokha and Azmera. Sokha, an orphan from Cambodia, struggled for most of her life to find enough food to eat. And Azmera, one of two children in her Ethiopian family, was nearly married off at the young age of 13. But for each girl a guiding light, a “series of miracles” in Sokha’s case, and an incredibly supportive brother in Azmera’s case, helped them get to school. Sokha and Azmera’s narratives are shared by those of their counterparts in the film originating from Egypt, India, Nepal, Peru, Afghanistan, Haiti, and Sierra Leone.
These girls have found fans in some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Selena Gomez, Kerry Washington, Salma Hayak, Cate Blanchett, Frieda Pinto, Liam Neeson, Priyanka Chopra, Chloe Moretz, and Alicia Keys have all joined the campaign and are featured in the film. In Meryl Streep’s own words, “If to see it is to know it, this film delivers hope; reasonable, measurable, tangible hope that the world can be healed and helped to a better future.”
– Lina Saud
Sources: 10 By 10 Act, Girl Rising, CNN
Photo: WWeek
Syrian Refugee Camps: Escape or Endangerment?
For many females in the Syrian refugee camps, the fear of death that propelled them from their home is now replaced by the fear of sexual assault in what is supposed to be their area of sanctuary. Rape and sexual assault have become major issues in the Syrian civil war, especially in the Zataari refugee camp in Jordan, where the problem has become more concentrated and centralized.
Because there is such a harsh stigma surrounding rape and the blame often lies on the victim rather than the assailant, most women do not report any incidence. The female victims often remain silent in fear of retribution from the perpetrators as well as the shame and anger that would fall on their family members.
In response to this problem, many women have entered into unwanted marriages for protection. These marriages are called “sutra” marriages and are becoming increasingly common as the Zaataari camp continues to be flooded with new refugees from across the border. This is often orchestrated by the male members of the family who, feeling they cannot offer their daughters adequate protection, marry them off to someone they believe can.
One Syrian American Medical Society volunteer estimates that the instances of child marriage in Syrian refugee camps are 60% higher than in Syria. Sexual exploitation in the Zaatari camp is so prevalent that a number of refugees have created monitoring groups that have uncovered several “marriage brokers” who infiltrated the camp posing as workers. These individuals are merely escorted off the camp if reported.
CNN recently published an article sharing numerous experiences of women inside the camp. One woman, named Ruwaida, who was a wedding dress designer back in Syria, now designs dresses for girls as young as 13. She says that girls rarely got married that young in Syria, but that it has become commonplace in their new temporary home.
“I feel like I have a child between my hands and she is having to take on a responsibility that’s bigger than she is,” Ruwaida says. “I feel her life is over, her life is ending early.” Another encounter documented was with 14-year-old Eman, who married at 13 and became a mother before her body was even fully developed. She said, “I wouldn’t have gotten married, it’s because of the situation.”
– Kathryn Cassibry
Sources: CNN, Standpoint Magazine
Photo: PressTV
What Does Hunger Cost Swaziland?
The study draws on data from 2009 that measures several different long-term effects of hunger. The first economic impact is stunting. Stunting results when children are denied nutrition and vitamins necessary for developing their bodies. Around 40% of Swaziland workers suffer from stunting. People who suffer from stunting are more likely to get sick, fair poorly in school, are less productive at work, and have shorter lives.
Treating hunger-related problems such as diarrhea, anemia, and respiratory infections have cost Swaziland around $6 million a year. The report estimated that 37 million working hours were lost in 2009 to hunger-related deaths, which cost the economy 1.4% of GDP.
The study reported that by reducing the rate of stunting from 40 percent to 10 percent by 2025, Swaziland could reduce its losses to the economy by $60 million per year.
“The Cost of Hunger in Africa” report is conducting research in a total of 12 African countries. Currently, four studies have been released including Ethiopia, Uganda, Egypt and Swaziland. Ethiopia reported a loss of 16.5% of its GDP to hunger, which is around the US $4.7 billion per year. Later this year the study will release reports on Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritania, and Rwanda.
– Catherine Ulrich
Sources: World Food Programme, African Union Commission
Photo: Flickr
Australian Foodbank Increases Efforts
Food charities around the world, particularly those in Australia, are struggling to meet the increasing demands of their recipient base.
In supplying 90% of Australia’s food welfare, the organization Foodbank provides welfare recipients with over 25 million kg of food each year. Foodbank general manager Greg Warren claims that his fleet of 20 trucks that supply the equivalent of 32 million meals a year is less than half of what Australia needs to fully address its food security problems.
Food charity organizations formerly relied on collecting leftovers from restaurants and just-expired foods from grocery stores as their main source of supplies. However, these organizations are now finding that the yields from these resources are inadequate for meeting the ever-increasing demand of the world’s poor and homeless.
Nearly 25% of people that collect from welfare agencies around the world are neither homeless nor living in developing countries. Rather, they are newly unemployed people trying to make ends meet, or those accepting pay cuts at work as the cost of living climbs. These people begin struggling to support a family and turn to food charities like Foodbank for help acquiring certain staples like milk and bread on a consistent basis.
Warren insists, however, that Foodbank’s foremost concern is with not sacrificing quality as the group seeks to increase quantity and welfare access points. Warren claims that the utmost goal is for food to be “safe and delivered in a safe manner.”
Foodbank currently accepts supplies from the Australian Red Cross’s Good Start Breakfast Club, Kellogg’s, Arnotts-Campbells, and Kraft, among others. Foodbank has also begun to expand to working directly with farmers and wholesalers for increased access to fresh fruits and vegetables. This initiative corresponds with Warren’s stipulation about maintaining high quality.
According to Warren, it’s all a matter of logistics, in transporting food from areas of surplus to areas of scarcity. Food charities around the world should seek to mimic the Australian Foodbank in their efforts to end chronic hunger across socioeconomic lines through careful planning and practical connections.
– Alexandra Bruschi
Sources: The Daily Telegraph, Foodbank
Photo: American Aid Foundation
How the Government of Lithuania is Bettering the Lives of its Poor
Lithuania’s seemingly instantaneous recovery from the recession is amazing, especially considering the extremity of the economic downturn in the Baltic states. Her ability to exploit chief exports such as textiles, plastics, and heavy machinery has given the country the diversified type of income that facilitates longterm budgetary growth. What truly sets Lithuania apart though is the shocking rise in the minimum wage that took place last year. In 2012, the monthly minimum wage was raised almost 25% from around 850 litai ($850 US dollars) in January to 1000 litai ($372 US dollars) in December. This has significantly raised the status of the poor in Lithuania, where a measly 4% of the population is now living below the poverty line. Prior to 2009, a little over 20% of Lithuanians were on or below the poverty line, unable to meet basic daily needs.
This change illustrates the way in which a government, faced with insurmountable challenges, can institute economic policies that positively impact the well-being of the working poor. When compared to its neighbor Latvia, where the monthly salary from a minimum wage job does not fulfill minimum subsistence level requirements, Lithuania is doing significantly better. Lithuania did not allow the economic crisis to distract from the problem of the minimum wage, implementing sound laws to raise the status of the poor. In the wake of the global recession, other Baltic countries should follow the example of Lithuania and raise the minimum wage. The poor will be much better off for it.
– Josh Forgét
Sources: The Baltic Course, Bloomberg, CIA World Factbook
Photo: Flickr
Food Crisis in the Central African Republic
The Central African Republic is now facing a food crisis nearly four months after a coup overthrew the government and proclaimed the leader of the Seleka rebel coalition, Michel Djotodia, as president. More than 60,000 people are suffering from severe food shortages, and 200,000 have been forced to flee their homes due to instability in the region.
Food shortages are nothing new for the country, as last year the United Nations claimed that upwards of 800,000 people, nearly 20% of the country’s population, experienced some level of food crisis. However, the current shortages have the potential to be much more severe as the fighting has severely impacted the country’s agriculture, with many families losing food stocks, seeds, and livestock.
Due to the new government administration, and ongoing political turmoil following the coup, access for humanitarian agencies throughout the country has been restricted, especially in some of the hardest-hit rural areas. Yet before this can change, security throughout the country must improve. This lack of security has further led to the closing of health centers and schools due to safety concerns. Nearly a million children are out of school as a result of these closures, and a significant percentage of those have missed nearly a full school year due to the ongoing conflict.
Funding for humanitarian work is an ongoing issue. Current donations account for only about 43% of the $125 million in aid that the UN estimates are needed in the Central African Republic. The Archbishop of Bangui, Dieudonné Nzapalainga, said, “The current humanitarian crisis is the worst in the country’s history. It is urgent that the international community provides funds quickly to help and to save lives. The world can’t turn a blind eye on the crisis here. The country is bordered by six of the most fragile African nations—there is a high risk of destabilization throughout Central Africa.”
– David Wilson
Sources: WFP, The Examiner, Action Against America
Revolution in Chiapas: An Unstoppable Force
When thinking about poverty and hard times, it’s important to remember that no matter how bad one might think they have it, there are always people around the world who have it worse. One group of people who have to deal with extreme poverty and repression are the indigenous populations in Mexico and Central America.
Many indigenous people are from the state of Chiapas, which contains the largest population of indigenous people and is also the poorest region of the country. For the poorest state to have the most indigenous people is far from a coincidence. They seek to preserve their traditional ways of life and are often discriminated against by their own nation. Battles between the indigenous population and the Mexican state have gone on for decades and unfortunately continue today.
The Zapatista movement (an armed revolutionary group based in Chiapas) began in 1994 and has been in a declared war against the “Mexican state” ever since. During this time, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed between Mexico, the United States, and Canada, which ended up taking many jobs away from local farmers in Mexico while throwing millions into poverty. It also revoked Article 27 of the Mexican constitution which granted land rights to the indigenous. After the article was revoked, these indigenous people were driven off their lands by the government.
While the Chiapas have taken steps to improve the lives of the indigenous population and maintain their fundamental rights, more still needs to be done. A big step forward took place in 2009 when the state adopted the Chiapas-UN Agenda. The deal put a strong focus on improving health and education while also dealing with poverty and the environment. The state amended its constitution in the process. While each president promises to lend a helping to these communities, too often they fall short.
One looks at the indigenous people and it will become obvious that their ideology has never died and the people will always reach for their goal of demolishing deprivation and injustice within Chiapas. Their continued revolutionary ways set an example for the rest of the world that corruption, poverty, injustice, and environmental devastation will not be tolerated as the underdog will continue to push forward until justice is served.
– Taylor Rae Schaefer
Sources: Occupy News Network, United Development Programme
Photo: LibCom
Climate Change and the World’s Poor
The individuals and families of developing nations that have contributed little to climate change will nonetheless experience its greatest hardships. The World Bank warns that Earth’s rising temperature is undermining economic development in poor countries. Droughts, floods, heatwaves, rising sea levels, and powerful storms will cause severe devastation in areas that are already poor or were coming out of poverty. Within just two decades, climate change is expected to cause food shortages in these same areas.
An increase of at least 2°C, the limit set by scientists that marks a catastrophic and irreversible change to the climate, is inevitable if current trends continue. Although some refuse to regard climate change as anything other than a future problem, many parts of the world are already experiencing extreme challenges due to rising temperatures.
Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank, warns that: “The scientists tell us that if the world warms by 2°C—warming which may be reached in 20 to 30 years—that will cause widespread food shortages, unprecedented heatwaves, and more intense cyclones.”
In Southeast Asia, catastrophic events such as the floods in Pakistan in 2010, which affected the lives of 20 million people, could become the norm, while changes to the monsoon season could be detrimental to Indian farmers. In Sub-Saharan Africa, researchers found that food security will be a major challenge, accompanied by dangers from droughts, flooding, and shifts in rainfall. It is predicted that farmers of this region will lose 40-80% of current farmland used primarily for growing their most stable crop: maize.
The World Bank plans to increase funding to countries currently without the capabilities to adapt to the consequences of climate change. Its aid has doubled from $2.3 billion in 2011 to $4.6 billion last year. An additional $7 billion a year is used to help poor countries cut their greenhouse gas emissions and work towards an environmentally sustainable economy. The bank is calling for rich countries to increase their efforts in cutting current greenhouse gas emissions. The need to avoid 2°C of warming is being emphasized, which scientists say is possible if countries cut their emissions in the near future.
According to Kim, “At the World Bank Group, we are concerned that unless the world takes bold action now, a disastrously warming planet threatens to put prosperity out of reach of millions and roll back decades of development…in response, we are stepping up our mitigation, adaptation, and disaster risk management work, and will increasingly look at our business through a ‘climate lens’.”
– Ali Warlich
Source: The Guardian, World Bank, Huffington Post
Photo: Business Insider
Marketplace for Nutritious Foods in Kenya and Mozambique
Over 925 million people are currently undernourished worldwide, and 3.5 million children under the age of five die from malnourishment every year. The problem is especially prevalent in Eastern Africa, where 23 million children will grow up stunted and likely permanently impaired. Most diets in these areas consist of simple grains and very few fruits and vegetables which contain key nutrients that are needed for proper mental and physical growth.
In the past, poverty alleviation efforts have been focused on increasing the quantity of food produced by farmers, rather than quality. But recently, more attention has been paid to what kinds of foods are reaching those in poverty, and how the crops can help them not just survive, but actually improve their quality of life. The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) has created a unique plan for making nutritious foods a possibility for farmers to grow, and for consumers to buy.
The Marketplace for Nutritious Foods, which was started up with a $2.1 million grant from USAID, is up and running in both Kenya and Mozambique, with plans to go to Tanzania as well. The Marketplace works by searching for businesses that can provide affordable nutritious foods upon receipt of help from the organization in the form of funding for seeds, technical assistance, business support and networking opportunities. After receiving numerous applications, GAIN selectively chooses organizations that fit the program and gives them everything they need to get nutritious foods to the consumers. The final product, which is anything from dairy products to sweet potatoes, is fully nutritious and reaches the local markets at an affordable price for the public to consume.
As a result, the public is not only given more access to nutritious foods, but the farmers also gain an opportunity for income. The Marketplace provides the incentive farmers need to produce the healthy foods necessary for the population to thrive.
– Emma McKay
Sources: USAID