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Poverty in Kosovo

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Since the end of the war in 1999, the Republic of Kosovo has experienced consistent economic growth. Now a lower-middle-income country, it is one of only four countries in Europe that recorded positive growth rates during the economic crisis between 2008-2012, averaging about 4.5% each year. Despite its rapid growth, Kosovo continues to struggle with high rates of poverty and unemployment.

Joblessness is estimated to be at about 40% and remains a central economic-policy challenge. Youth and women are disproportionately affected by the difficult labor market conditions, creating an environment that undermines the country’s social fabric. Kosovo is one of the poorest countries in Europe with a per-capita gross domestic product (GDP) of about €2,700 and about one-third of the population living below the poverty line and approximately one-eighth living in extreme poverty.

Recent studies by UNICEF Kosovo showed that children are at higher risk of living in poverty in Kosovo compared to the general population. The greatest risk of poverty is for children who live in households with three or more children, children between 0 and 14 years of age, children of unemployed parents, children in households receiving social assistance, and children with low levels of education. Whereas, the risk of poverty is much lower for children in a household with at least one employed parent.

The European Union is mainstreaming an effort to fight child poverty by  recognizing the multi-dimensional nature of the issue. Child poverty and exclusion have high social and individual costs. Children in poverty are at high risks of low educational attainment, poor health, and an inability to find work later in life. Investing in children, therefore, is important not only for the well being of current children living in poverty, but also for the health, productivity, and engagement of future adult citizens.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008, however only 98 of a total 193 UN member states have recognized Kosovo’s independence. The lack of agreement remains a central obstacle to achieving the country’s goals for political integration and socio-economic development.

To help reverse joblessness and build a long-term economic growth plan, the World Bank, along with ten other donors, recently awarded Kosove 61 million Euros, mostly in the form of grant money. The Sustainable Employment Development Policy Program (SEDPP) funds were disbursed from the end of 2011 to the middle of 2012. The funds have supported reforms and improved transparency throughout many sectors in the country.

– Ali Warlich

Sources: World Bank, UNICEF, World Bank
Photo: SOS Children’s Villages

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Corn: A Cornerstone of Global Food Security

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A paper recently published in the Journal for the Society of Risk Analysis, brings attention to the important role corn plays in global food security. Corn’s many uses make it a central commodity and a great influence on prices and global food security. Corn can be found in: starch, oil, food sweeteners, alcohol, as well as livestock feed and biofuel that assists global food security.

Corn’s central role also means that a disruption in corn supply can create a global crisis. This is compounded by reliance on two major export markets: the United States and Argentina. Of the top five import countries, four of them rely on the United States to provide the vast majority of their corn.

Climate change, however, is a growing concern among corn growers world-wide. According to a study done at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom focusing on corn production in France, temperature levels are a significant variable in corn production. When temperatures exceed a certain level, corn yield suffers, according to the study. Already the average number of days over this threshold per year has risen. This is disturbing news as average temperatures are expected to continue to rise during the 21st century. As the study’s leader, Dr. Ed Hawkins of the Natural Environment Research Council’s National Centre for Atmospheric Science, states “It’s a serious risk to food security.”

Scientists estimate corn production will need to increase by 12 percent per acre between 2016 and 2035 in order to maintain current production levels. In order to increase crop yields, additional technology advancements will be necessary.

The importance of global food security has led corn growers from leading export nations to form a collaborative group to address this shared issue as well as biotechnology, stewardship, and trade. This cooperative group formation, dubbed The International Maize Alliance (MAIZALL), is the first of its kind and is significant for the collaboration among trade competitors. The United States, Argentina, and Brazil, the three top corn export markets, are members.

MAIZALL will discuss biotechnology in regards to food security as well. Getting import markets to accept drought-resistant traits is an important component for global food security, stated National Corn Growers Association President, Pam Johnson. MAIZALL members will travel to China and South Korea in October to discuss biotechnology in those markets.

Incorporating technological innovation to boost yields and counteract climate change is important for protecting and increasing future corn yields. A significant drop in these yields will lead to increased food prices and shortages that will endanger global food security. With a world population expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, corn producers world-wide are on the alert.

– Callie D. Coleman

Sources: Farm Futures, Corn and Soybean Digest, Food Security

10 Foreign Aid Quotes from Congress

Foreign Aid Quotes
Although Congress is known to disagree amongst itself, there is one issue that many members of the Democratic and Republican Party do agree on: the importance of foreign aid. Here are 10 quotes made by members of Congress stressing the need to continue funding foreign aid.

1. “Foreign aid must be viewed as an investment, not an expense…but when foreign aid is carefully guided and targeted at a specific issue, it can and must be effective.” – U.S. Representative Kay Granger (R-TX), Huffington Post, June 2011

2. “The world we live in takes a multifaceted approach. To the American taxpayer: We need to be investing in improving people’s lives before the terrorists try to take over.” – U.S. Senator, Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Foreign Policy magazine, February 2011

3. “For development to play its full role in our national security structure, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) must be a strong agency with the resources to accomplish the missions we give it. But during the last two decades, decision-makers have not made it easy for USAID to perform its vital function. Even as we have rediscovered the importance of foreign assistance, we find ourselves with a frail foundation to support a robust development strategy. I believe the starting point for any future design of our assistance programs and organization should not be the status quo, but rather the period in which we had a well functioning and well-resourced aid agency.” – U.S. Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN), Statement on Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act, July 2009

4.“The right question to ask is: are we really spending too much on non-defense programs? The answer is clearly no. Non-defense discretionary spending levels are essentially unchanged from 2001. There is no reason we shouldn’t be able to afford them today.” – U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI), June 2011

5.”The real problem in America’s spending is not foreign aid, which is a very small part of our budget.” – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), Town Hall meeting, July 2011

6. “We face tremendous foreign policy and national security challenges worldwide, from helping countries manage peaceful, democratic transitions in the Middle East, to preventing violence, conflict, and terrorism from engulfing key partners, and to leading humanitarian responses to forestall drought, famine, and natural disasters. We are only able to achieve these aims with a strong State Department and USAID.” – U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-MA), Press release, July 2011

7. “Leaders of both parties have affirmed that U.S. power is a three-legged stool of military might, diplomatic skill and development. The foreign aid bill’s diplomatic and development objectives pay dividends by helping avoid military deployments to protect U.S. interests, which are far more costly in both life and treasure. Robust engagement is no less necessary to achieve strategic security imperatives in this belt-tightening atmosphere. Investments in health, education, humanitarian aid for refugees and disaster victims and micro-loans for entrepreneurs are critical to fostering stability around the world. It would be senseless to let our response to a fiscal challenge create a national security crisis.” – U.S. Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY), Op-Ed in Politico, February 2011

8. “Our top military leaders are adamant that International Affairs programs are a critical to our national security. Our top business leaders are adamant that these programs are critical to our economic future. I’ve seen firsthand how these programs work beyond the frontline states and these cuts will seriously restrict our ability to keep Americans safe and advance our economic interests.” – Former U.S. Congressman and Ambassador Mark Green, July 2011

9. “Foreign aid is important. If it’s done right, it spreads America’s influence around the world in a positive way.” – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), Town Hall meeting, July 2011

10. (In support of continuing aid to Egypt) “Cut off all aid immediately and you will take an economy that is already floundering and probably drive it into chaos, and that is not in anyone’s national security interests.” – Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J

– Mary Penn

Sources: Huffington Post, InterAction
Photo: Politico

 

Read Humanitarian Quotes.

Radical Islamism, Jihad, Anti-Terrorism and the Internet

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More than a year ago, Mohamed Merah, a French citizen of Algerian origins, shot seven people in three different assaults. Among the victims, three were military personnel shot during two different attacks in a two day span in the French city of Montauban, one was a teacher, and three were children, killed after Merah’s attack on a Jewish school in Toulouse.

Merah claimed to have an affiliation with Al-Qaeda, and was known by the French secret services for his extreme views and was considered a potential threat. Even though he had been under surveillance for some time, police forces were still unable to prevent Mohamed Merah’s attacks.

Since 9/11, radical Islam has become a major security concern for the U.S. and other countries. The World Wide Web and the ease of access to Islam extremists’ thoughts have played a major role in the spread of radical ideologies.

Recent discoveries at Merah’s older brother’s in-law’s house have shown that access to radical Islam propaganda is almost as easy as a simple click. In a hard disk belonging to Merah’s brother, a digital library composed of several thousands of texts was found. These texts are both a guide for newbie jihadist as well as a guide to salafi indoctrination.

The websites visited by the murderer show the role of the Web in the spread of the radicalization of Islam. The websites appear in the headlines of searches of key words such as “Sharia” and “Jihad.” They espouse a more radical Islam centered around a rigorous defense of the Jihad. Translated in many languages, these websites are capable of reaching a larger public and thereby pose a greater threat.

Internet surveillance has become a national security priority in countries all over the world. And even when sites are censored because they are deemed dangerous, they often reappear with a different name.

The Internet, by facilitating access to ideas worldwide, has been greatly beneficial to the public, who can now hope for more transparency and easier access to knowledge. Nevertheless, this facilitated access to ideas has also become the unfortunate tool of many terrorist groups, who use it for both recruitment, financial purposes and as a source for their propaganda.

To this day, no international standard has been established to regulate the content of the internet available to the public. Each country makes its own rules, and there is little to no regulation at an international level. The challenge now is to create an international standard in order to avoid abusive censorship and promote freedom of speech and the spread of ideas in a context of mutual respect.

– Lauren Yeh

Sources: Washington Institute, Islam Et Verite, The Independent, Huffington Post
Photo: AIM

Indigenous Communities in Panama Fight for Land Rights

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The National Coordinating Body of Indigenous Peoples in Panama, or COONAPIP, is rallying for support to protect land rights, claiming the national government has failed to do so. “Our government has committed sins of omission as well as commission, showing great lack of concern about the wellbeing of indigenous peoples,” said Betanio Chiquidama, President of COONAPIP.

The UN is also calling on the government to expand and protect land rights. “The development of large investment projects in indigenous territories of Panama has been the subject of numerous allegations of violations of the rights of indigenous peoples, especially in recent years,” said the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya.

Land in Panama has been increasingly used-up by third parties, illegal loggers and miners. The misuse of indigenous land is not only making life difficult for people, but also puts Panama’s rainforests in jeopardy. In the past 5 years, unsustainable harvesting of natural resources has escalated on indigenous territories, which include more than half of Panama’s old-growth forests. The fight for indigenous peoples to hold onto their land has resulted in nine deaths in standoffs with the police in a two year span.

Panama’s indigenous groups comprise 10 percent of the total population, and most remain largely autonomous in the governance of their preserves, called comarcas. However, the strong interest in natural resources on the preserves is weakening the indigenous communities’ ability to protect their land. Some parts of the comarcas are not even on the map, which makes it hard for indigenous peoples to claim the land is theirs. Another problem is that the government has stopped designating comarcas in the 1990s, leaving nearly 20 indigenous communities without rights to their land. They had to lobby hard for the government to recognize just two more preserves, which are smaller than those established two decades ago.

Illegal logging, mining, and dam construction occurs on lands which are not clearly designated. The Program Director of Rainforest Foundation U.S., Christine Halvorson says, “there’s no good state presence, so it’s a little bit of a Wild West.” Indigenous people have even been bribed by companies with gifts of money and food to give their signatures in support of mining operations on land owned by their community, according to a 2011 report on indigenous experiences with mining in Panama.

COONAPIP is fighting for the voices from the comarcas to be heard by the decision makers in government, who continue to sell their land to international investors without including indigenous peoples. “They are making deals for investments on our land and we know nothing about it until the bulldozer arrives,” said Williams Barrigón Dogirama, former president of COONAPIP.

– Jennifer Bills

Sources: Thomson Reuters Foundation, UN News
Photo: Take Part

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Poverty in Uruguay

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18.6 % of the population is below the poverty line in Uruguay. Although the majority of this poverty in Uruguay is not extreme, it is still problematic. Like many of other South American countries, Uruguay struggles with alleviating extreme poverty for the poorest sections of its population. The country is also trying to prevent those who are only slightly below the poverty line from plummeting further into the category of the extreme poor.

The small South American nation experienced an economic boom in the early 1990’s followed by a damaging recession in 1995. This recession left a lasting impression on the economy, which to this day continues to suffer. The recession caused a widespread loss of jobs across the country and an increasingly wide income gap. The poverty is not debilitating, but it is significant enough to render notice from the international community. According to the World Bank’s 2001 report on Uruguay, “reduction in poverty is highly dependent on growth, and pockets of poverty and unemployment still exist and in recent years have shown some increase.”

Uruguay also struggles with the high number of children who are born into poverty. The World Bank reports that “children have become a significant portion of the poor with about 40% of Uruguay’s children born into poor families, pointing to a potentially serious problem of inter-generational poverty.” This threat of continuing, irreversible poverty is very concerning. The longer poverty continues to ravage Uruguay, the more entrenched it will become as it roots itself in disenfranchised communities.

The poverty problem in Uruguay is not the most dire in the world, but it requires confrontation. In order for the poverty problem in Uruguay to be eradicated, the economy must be fundamentally changed and social welfare programs must be instituted.

– Josh Forgét

Sources: The CIA World Factbook, The World Bank
Photo: Tico Times

Uniject: One Immunization, One Time, One Life

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In a given year, USAID immunization programs have been able to save over 3 million lives. The potency of a single injection in preventing life threatening diseases like measles, malaria, hepatitis, and others has been proven time and time again. Yet, with such benefits come some seemingly unavoidable costs, particularly the spread of infection caused by reusing syringes.

That is where Uniject comes to the fore. The product of a 20-year-long effort, Uniject has already been widely embraced as a mechanism of safeguarding the lives of this and coming generations. With funding from the United Agency for International Aid and Development (USAID), PATH, a Seattle based non-profit organization working to better global health through innovation, has developed the innovative “Uniject autodisable injection system.” From contraceptives to vaccines, Uniject has made medicine safer and more accessible to millions. It takes the medicines that save lives and then apportions them into individual sized packages, each carrying the medicine that could save one life.

The genius of this model lies in its one-time use. Indeed, reusing syringes has posed a serious threat in the global fight against preventable disease. In 2009, 20 million immunizations were given using syringes contaminated with the blood of HIV-infected patients. In the developing world, the average person receives an unsafe injection such as this about once a year—with grave consequences. Research has shown that reusing a syringe, even indirectly, can spread HIV from one patient to four others.

Autodisable systems, like Uniject, have done a great deal in alleviating this dilemma. In 2010, the use of autodisable syringes brought down the average hospital stay in Tanzania from seven days to three days. Similar results have been achieved across the developing world where Uniject has been distributed. Learn more at http://www.path.org/projects/uniject.php.

– Lina Saud

Sources: PATH, Safe Point Trust, The Borgen Project

Open Data for Africa

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After being deployment in 14 different African countries, the Open Data for Africa Platform has now been officially “rolled out to all 54 countries across the [African] continent,” announced the African Development Bank (AfDB), which launched the project.

Open Data for Africa is “part of the worldwide effort to strengthen statistical capacity” in order to “foster evidence-based decision-making, public accountability and good governance.”

Open Data for Africa directly resulted from global and regional initiatives aimed at boosting the availability of data necessary for the management and monitoring of development results and programs throughout Africa, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

The African Development Bank defines Open Data for Africa as “a user-friendly tool for extracting data, creating, and sharing customized reports, and visualizing data across themes, sectors and countries through tables, charts, and maps.” Thus, this unique platform provides reliable and timely data on Africa, through the use of development indicators, statistics and graphs.

Open Data for Africa will enable African governments and policymakers to more easily participate in the international community while facilitating dialogue between informed users across the globe. “This is because the platform is part of the AfDB’s ‘Africa Information Highway’ initiative which saw the establishment of live data links between the AfDB, National Statistical Offices, Central Banks and … ministries in all 54 countries.”

Ultimately, there are hopes attached to Open Data for Africa. The transparency of results of development programs and statistics is expected to encourage good governance and greater accountability of African leaders. Public awareness of funding and programs could spur development, especially given the recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, as The Next Web notes.

– Lauren Yeh

Sources: AfDB, The Next Web, Open Data for Africa

4 Crises Where AMURT Makes an Impact

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Since its founding in India in 1965, Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team (AMURT) has been dedicated to implementing disaster relief and development solutions to impoverished communities around the world. Instead of a cookie cutter based approach where every community receives the same aid regardless of circumstance, AMURT strives to localize solutions based on each community’s unique needs. With relief teams now set up and helping in 34 countries, here are 4 crisis zones where AMURT is making a major difference.

1. Ghana – Safer Water & Healthier Villages

Through the Mafi-Zongo Area Water Project, surface water from a seasonal river is treated with a variety of filters to make it safe for drinking. It is then pumped down a mountain through 45 pipes. Ghanaians pay about 2 pennies for a 20 liter bucket of water, the cost of which goes towards water treatment staffing and running the generators. Because of AMURT’s project, 9,000 people now have access to disease-free water that is not contaminated by the Guinea worm which is very prevalent in the area.

2. Syria – Help for the Displaced

The current civil war in Syria has led to a humanitarian crisis where more than 2 million refugees are fleeing to surrounding countries. The number of people increases daily, yet supplies for the displaced are dwindling. AMURT is now in Lebanon distributing precious, basic items to Syrian refugees. These goods include stoves, bedding, medicine, and 40 kilograms of food. Though it may not seem like much, these basic items mean everything for the survival of refugees.

3. Kenya – HIV/AIDS Assistance

As part of an initiative to help people living with AIDS in Kenya, AMURT has created a home-based care provider program to improve lives through “nursing care, nutritional education, [and] counseling.” These local providers are trained through the country’s Ministry of Health, and they make routine visits to AIDS patients’ homes when they are too sick to move. With this program, over 100 care providers have already been trained who are making a difference in the lives of thousands of patients and their families.

4. Haiti – Earthquake Relief

In the time since the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, AMURT raised over $4.2 million to help with the social and structural redevelopment of the country. Their main project worked on restoring well-being to Haitian children’s lives through nutritional assistance, motivational activities, and various kinds of educational enrichment. Since its inception, the psycho-social support program has reached 4,000 impoverished youth. In addition, AMURT helped thousands of people in displacement camps throughout Port-au-Prince with water filtration, cholera prevention, and even microfinance projects.

AMURT has proven that one organization can help tackle any disaster by utilizing local solutions and long-term development ideas. To find out more about AMURT and their wide-array of relief projects around the globe, visit their website.

– Caylee Pugh

Sources: AMURT, Haiti Aid Map
Photo: Flikr

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YouTube Star Builds School in Africa

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It started with a few funny homemade videos posted onto YouTube by a teenager in high school. However, overnight, YouTuber Kevin Wu’s videos shot up half a million views. From then, Wu, known by his YouTube name Kevjumba, would become one of YouTube’s leading cyber-celebrities. His comedy videos gathered millions of views. Today, 4 million people are subscribed to Kevjumba’s channel. His subscribers are roughly equal to the population of New Zealand.

Despite enormous success and fame, Wu has been using his influence for helping those in need, namely by helping to build a school in Kenya. Wu’s involvement in school’s construction began when a The Supply, a non-profit organization, posted a video of students in Nairobi challenging Kevjumba to teach one of their classes. Wu then received a flood of tweets urging him to go to Kenya. Soon enough, this American YouTube star was on his way to Africa.

According to Wu, his trip to Nairobi was life-changing because he learned from The Supply about the 1 billion people living in slums today and witnessed children living in the slums around Nairobi. Wu decided that he would partner with The Supply and commit to aiding the friends he made in Kenya. Wu had already created a charity YouTube channel called Jumbafund where views were generating ad revenue that Wu would donate to charities. Wu decided that he would direct all the funds from his charity channel to The Supply to help fund education for students in Kenya.

After uploading videos about his experience in Nairobi, which generated over 2 million views, Wu was able begin a project to raise funds for The Supply to build a school in Lenana, Kenya. When Wu turned 21, he and partners launched a campaign to urge people to donate 21 dollars to the construction of the school. With $50,000 raised, funding for the school’s construction is now complete. Kevjumba High School is the first secondary school in Lenana, Kenya. It now serves many of the students that Wu met while visiting Kenya.

Kevjumba has revolutionized  charity by using YouTube as a platform to truly aid those who need it. This is because Kevjumba’s viewers play a key part in generating the funds to build the school. Each click and each view plays a part in sustaining the school and providing opportunities for children in poverty to have an education. Furthermore, Kevjumba’s popular videos encourage viewers to donate directly. Kevjumba proves that with just a viral video and a compelling cause, anybody can make a difference in the world.

– Grace Zhao

Sources: The Huffington Post, Forbes, Kevjumba.com, PR Newser
Photo: KevJumba