What is Microenterprise?

What is Microenterprise?
What is microenterprise? Microenterprise is the mom and pop shop on the corner. It is the lemon-aid stand on the side-walk. It is the vegetable stand in the local market. Microenterprises are entrepreneurs working towards a livelihood with a small number of products and often limited access to financial security and support.

USAID uses financing of microenterprises as an anti-poverty program. Economic growth on its own is not enough. Poor people in developing countries often do not share in the wealth creation. The distribution of income from economic growth through empowering poor people to participate is a crucial and fundamental challenge undertaken by USAID.

An additional challenge, particularly for women in developing countries, is finding a safe place to keep their savings. Without a reservoir of savings, obtaining credit and making investments in their business is next to impossible. The savings they do accumulate are often drained when natural disasters and social/cultural events occur. Their lack of access to insurance means they spend their available money on purchasing life saving medicine for an ailing relative or purchasing new seeds when drought kills a crop.

The USAID provides financial services to many of those lacking access through their national and private institutions. These services include savings and credit. These two basic financial tools allow entrepreneurs to invest in technology, connect to professional networks and most importantly, get their products to market.

The USAID microfinance programs have three goals:
1. “Improve the quality and affordability of financial services.
2. “Extend access to excluded populations such as women, the disabled, and those living in remote areas
3. “Assist smallholder farmers and small business entrepreneurs in selling their products by linking them with buyers and suppliers of good and services.”

The approach USAID and partners use is called the Value Chain Approach. The VCA views each business as a unique cog in the intricate clockwork of the global marketplace. To assess the potential of projects VCA focuses on influencing “structures, systems and relationships that define the value chain.” Manipulating these factors increases competitiveness by improving/upgrading processes and products. The scope of industry analysis and inputs to intervention design yield a unique perspective that has led to great success.

• “A market system perspective
• “A focus on end markets
• “Understanding the role of value chain governance
• “Recognition of the importance of relationships
• “Facilitating changes in firm behavior
• “Transforming relationships
• “Targeting leverage points
• “Empowering the private sector”

By working to fulfill these goals, USAID and entrepreneurs make higher quality products and increase the visible to consumers. In the experience of USAID, when micro financing options are offered alongside education, health and energy services, household earnings are increased allowing people to “graduate themselves out of poverty.”

– Katherine Zobre
Sources: USAID , Microlinks
Photo: USAID

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Meet One Doctor Healing the Blind

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As a young child, Dr. Aisha Simjee contracted Trachoma, an eye disease that can lead to blindness if not treated.  Dr. Simjee grew up in Burma and as a 7 year-old was being prepared for a life as a housewife when she contracted the disease. She was cured by a folk remedy that consisted of having a local women squirt breast milk into her eye. The experience led Dr. Simjee to a life mission-healing the blind.  Her fascination with eye health led her to immigrate to the US and study to be an ophthalmologist in Orange Country, CA.

Now in her sixties with two grown children, Dr. Simjee has written a book reflecting on her life experience.  The experiences of a youth growing up in Burma impacted her and motivated her to do more than simply be a good doctor. She wanted to prevent blindness and eye disease in the world’s poor. Her book, “Hope in Sight: One Doctor’s Quest to Restore Eyesight and Dignity to the World’s Poor” tells of her journey and includes decades of personal journals and accounts from friends, families, and colleagues.  She wrote the book to motivate others to give back and encourage other young ophthalmologists to help others.

The World Health Organization reports that over three-quarters of all blindness worldwide can be prevented or treated.  Around 285 million people are visually impaired due to various treatable causes and about 90% of the world’s visually impaired people live in developing nations where there are little or no welfare services. Dr. Simjee has seen firsthand how eyesight can be a matter of survival.  She has served on more than 25 medical missions, often putting her private practice on hold and paying her own expenses.  Her trips have spanned Asia, South America, Eastern Europe, and Africa.  The 69-year-old persists  in taking the trips and she often serves in rural areas.  Her mission is not to travel to well-equipped capital cities, but to the villages miles and miles away from modern civilization.

She has worked with children suffering from wounds from knives, people who have walked miles to see her, prison inmates, and indigenous Indians.  Her goal is eyesight and helping people regardless of status. Her book focuses on hard facts and short anecdotes about her travels and the experiences she has had.  Dr. Simjee wants to motivate others to give their time and money to help others.  Dr. Simjee is a wonderful example of someone using their talents to serve the world’s under-resourced. Check out her book from White Spruce Press.

– Amanda Kloeppel
Source: Ophthalmology Times
Photo: Twitter

6 Ways To Help Disaster Victims

Help Disaster Victims
The massive tornado in Oklahoma devastated thousands, and many people around the country wanted to do what they could to help disaster victims. But, unfortunately, the days after a major disaster or crisis are when the scam organizations arise, trying to lure innocent do-gooders into donating to their fake charity. Here are six ways to make sure you are doing the best for those you are trying to help.

1. Look up the charity on one of these sites (Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Navigator, Guidestar or Charity Watch) and see what experts think about it. This way you can be certain that the organization you choose is reputable and honest about the donations they receive.

2. Find a charity that has done this a few times. Small, local charities may mean well, but they may not have the best resources to get your donation to the people who need it as efficiently as a larger organization that has faced major disasters before.

3. Designate where you want your donation to go. If you want your money to help rebuild homes, provide food, or buy clothing, specify when you send it to the organization.

4. Send money, not supplies. Although it may seem more helpful to send food, clothes, or toys to disaster victims, it just makes it harder for the charity to sort out and distribute the items. If you have items that you need to get rid of anyway, try selling them and donating the money instead.

5. Avoid donating to people who send mail or emails claiming to be disaster victims. Unless you know them personally, don’t trust them. It’s much safer to simply donate to a reputable charity.

6. If you choose to donate online, do it through the charity’s website, not social media. After Hurricane Katrina, the FBI reported more than 2,400 fake websites that tried to scam money from well-meaning donors. Your best bet is to donate directly through the organization’s website, which is much more trustworthy.

– Katie Brockman
Source: Forbes

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Middle School Students Fight Global Hunger

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Middle school can be an unforgiving time for young people, but one group of students at St. Francis Episcopal Day School in Texas are using their middle school years to fight global hunger. Under the direction of faculty Debbie Harris, the St. Francis Wolves Against Hunger are making a global difference. The group consists of 7 eighth grade students. They participated in the World Hunger Leadership Challenge, an initiative founded by Lead2Feed with the purpose of promoting leadership among middle school students in the fight against world hunger.  It is important to develop future leaders and foster a spirit of giving back to the community especially during the tough middle school years.

The St. Francis Episcopal Day School was awarded a $25,000 check from the Yum! Brand Foundation for the work the Wolves Against Hunger did in the World Hunger Leadership Challenge.  More than 300,000 students participated from over 1,500 schools and the Yum! Foundation provided close to $250,000 in prize money grants to 140 schools. The grants will support US public charities engaged in hunger relief. The recognition ceremony was shared with another student group located in Utaar Pradesh, India. The students from St. Francis have been in close contact with the students from K.L. International (KLI) in Utaar Pradesh over the last two semesters.  The St. Francis students packed 5,100 sack lunches, collected more than 6,500 cans of food, and packed boxes at a local food back. The KLI students volunteered time at a local orphanage run by Mother Teresa Missionaries of Charity as well as created Project 365 in which at least one hungry person is fed every day of the year.

Harris had heard about the World Hunger Leadership Challenge and entered her students in the hopes of gaining them some recognition for all their hard work. She noted the students participated in events on the weekends in addition to school activities. The program began when Harris organized a campaign for World Water Day in 2012 and came in contact with Jasdeep Lamba, whose father-in-law runs KLI School. They worked together to get a Skype discussion scheduled between the students and faculty of the two schools. The next school year, they arranged for six Skype forums to be held. The forums gave the US students a greater appreciation for hunger and poverty as well as motivated both groups of students to get more involved in their respective communities.

The award money won by St. Francis will be donated to Kids’ Meals Houston, a charity working to feed children under 5. The work done by the KLI students will benefit The Earth Saviours Foundation, a local charity in New Delhi, India.

– Amanda Kloeppel
Source: Indo American News

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Mobile Technology for Women is a Global Development Must

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Closing the gender gap is high on the priorities of those working in global development and one way to accomplish this is through increasing the availability of mobile technology to women according to Patricia Mechael, Executive Director of mHealthAlliance.  In her years working in global health and development, she saw first hand the realities of poverty and gender inequality. The social status of women has a negative effect on their health and ability to care for their families. Problems such as maternal mortality and unintended pregnancies are often the result of poor maternal health care and poor gender representation in countries.

Mobile technology is working to reduce the gender gap and provide women around the globe a chance at a healthy life. Women who would force abortions to save themselves from another mouth to feed now have access to vital family planning information and commodities through the increase of mobile technology. While less than a decade ago, the mobile penetration rate was in the single digits among low-income nations, today reports indicate it stands at 89%.  The digital divide is shrinking between low and high-income nations, but women are still 21% less likely to own a mobile device compared to men. Millennium Development Goal #3 is to promote gender equality and empower women and providing them with mobile technology is a way to get closer to accomplishing that goal.

Beyond meeting MDG3, mobile technology is key in accomplishing MDG5, improving maternal health. The mHealth Alliance and the World Health Organization have worked to bring about mobile technology to improve maternal health. These projects use a variety of mobile technologies to provide everything from information about vaccines to improving access to essential medicine through reducing depletion of stock.

The advances in mobile technology have come a long way and will continue to be essential to promoting global development and accomplishing the MDGs.  In addition, Mechael is working with her company to come up with ways to further include women in the development and discussion of mobile technology and applications to serve and assist them.

– Amanda Kloeppel
Source: Forbes
Photo: WAHA

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How to Help the World’s Poor

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Global poverty is an international issue, and because of its scope helping the poor can often seem like an insurmountable problem. However, if everyone one person devoted to the cause could take 5 or 10 minutes to make an effort and get involved, the solution to poverty wouldn’t seem so out of reach. Here are some simple ways to make a difference:

1. Call or Write Congress

The power of free speech is often underestimated; when in reality congressional leaders often support poverty-reduction legislation when as few as 7 to 10 people in their district contact them in support of it. Calling your leaders each week only takes up to a minute out of your schedule – all you need to say is that you are calling to support funding for USAID or poverty-focused aid. Simple as that!

2. Donate to the Cause

There are many ways to donate either time or money – instead of birthday or graduation presents, ask for donations. Set up a fundraiser with your local bakery. Volunteer and donate your time to aid organizations. The options are endless.

3. Spread the Word

In order to solve a global problem, it is important to have a global presence. Whether through flier posting, blogging, or word of mouth, make sure to educate those around you to the trials of those in poverty and the simplicity of the solution. Encourage others to call their congressional leaders in order to have the most impact on foreign aid legislation. It’s as easy as posting a link with the information to your social media accounts.

Being an active member of the movement to eradicate poverty is incredibly important; and the more people that get interested and involved, the faster the government will take note and put more poverty-focused aid into legislation. It’s quick and simple, so why not take a minute to call right now?

-Sarah Rybak
Source: The Borgen Project
Photo: The Ambrose School

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs

chicago-council-on-global-affairs
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs was founded in 1922. It is an independent, non-partisan organization charged with influencing discourse on global issues. The organization employs opinion and policy formation, leadership dialogue, and public learning to influence discourse. The organization hosts public programs and private events featuring world leaders and experts. They implement task forces, conferences, and other methods to broadcast their ideas and opinions on a global scale. Individual and corporate members who pay a yearly fee support the council.

The council’s history showcases their importance and focus. The founders believed that World War I had changed foreign affairs, and thus, our policies and methods ought to be reevaluated. In the late twenties and thirties, the council was one of the premier sources for international news and analysis drawing speakers such as John Maynard Keynes and President Herbert Hoover. During the forties and fifties, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs made an effort to attract younger participants as well as to expand programs to the suburbs. Speakers in this period included Eleanor Roosevelt, and then U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy.

During the sixties and seventies the council’s focus changed slightly as they began to focus on world hunger and relations of countries in the Atlantic. They launched biennial conferences with foreign policy experts from around the world. They also began publishing results for its Public Opinion Survey on Foreign Policy Issues. Speakers included President Gerald Ford, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and UN Secretaries General U Thant and Kurt Waldheim among others.

In the eighties and nineties, the council shifted towards European development, economics and integration as well as human rights. Speakers included Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and others.

Today, the council has shifted its focus towards globalism. They are eager to help in the fields of public education, the global economy, democratization, sovereignty,  intervention, global institutions and a changing America. Additionally, they have begun focusing on Asia, Africa and Latin America- regions that were previously less discussed. Recent speakers have included Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The Council holds Chicago and World forums where experts present their perspectives on various themes. The council also sponsors corporate programs and emerging leadership programs among others. Their publications and studies include food security as well as a public opinion study of illegal immigration flows among others.

The Council has defined a list of several topics of interest. These include agriculture and development, economics and business, energy, environment and climate, international politics and policy, foreign policy and national security, and values, diversity and pluralism. These topics guide the council’s discourse. The Chicago Council on Global Affairs has an important and rich history. They exist as an important non-partisan organization to provide valuable information and opinions on global affairs. For more information about their programs, studies and events visit them here.

– Caitlin Zusy
Source: The Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Photo: Opportunity.org

UK to Protect 360 Million Children from Polio

polio-vaccination-afghanistan
The British Aid office has announced that it will step up their current efforts to vaccinate more children against polio in developing countries. The office has promised to vaccinate up to 360 million children against polio in the next six years.

The British Aid office will work to eradicate polio in the three countries where it still remains prevalent: Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria. International Development Secretary Justine Greening was adamant that the UK would not stand on the sidelines while easily prevented diseases, including polio, still exist. She believes that our generation has the ability and responsibility to make polio a thing of the past.

The UK announcement came in the weeks leading up to the Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi.  The Summit was attended by the UK’s International Development Minister Alan Duncan, who pledged the UK’s support of 300 million pounds over six years. The conference highlighted the importance of routine immunization in achieving global child health and development goals. British Aid is attempting to make a final push in this opportunity to eliminate the disease. They would like to see additional donors join them in their fight to form a healthier population to lead to increased economic development.

The British announcement was followed by another from Bill Gates, the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, who committed six years of support from his organization to the implementation of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s plan to achieve a polio-free world by 2018. The U.K has already helped over 200 million children receive vaccinations since 2009. They believe, however, that there is more work to be done and that polio vaccinations must be included in health programs and routine immunizations in order to improve the general health of developing nations.

-Caitlin Zusy 
Source: Gov.uk
Photo: Guardian

What is DFID?

uk-department-for-international-development
DFID is the Department for International Development.  Set up in 1997, DFID leads the UK government’s fight against world poverty. They are responsible for the implementation of long-term programs to help stop the underlying causes of poverty and to respond to humanitarian emergencies.

DFID is a ministerial department that is supported by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK and the Independent Commission for Aid Impact. The department is responsible for honoring the UK’s international commitments and taking action on the Millennium Development Goals. These include: targeting international development policy on economic growth and wealth creation, improving international development coherence and performance in fragile and conflict-affected countries, improving conditions for women and girls, including, education, family planning and violence prevention, and finally, working to prevent climate change.

DFID has prioritized several goals to create the most effective aid organization possible. These priorities include education, health, economic growth and the private sector, governance and conflict, climate and the environment, and water and sanitation. Many of their goals within the individual categories closely align with those outlined in the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals.  DFID is a state-funded department, which accepts applications for various aid programs.

DFID works in 29 countries across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. They are working with international organizations and the governments of poorer countries to help end poverty. They are taking action to mitigate climate change, help developing countries’ economies grow and countering weapons. They expel a great deal of energy working to create stability in the developing world as well as fight corruption, forcing countries to become more transparent and accountable. DFID also understands that children in developing countries need improved access to education, health services, and sanitation, and they are implementing programs in many countries to improve these standards.

DFID is headed by three ministers. Justine Greening serves as the Secretary of State for International Development, Alan Duncan serves as the Minister of State for International Development and Lynne Featherstone serves as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development.

-Caitlin Zusy
Source: Gov.uk

What is Uniject?

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Uniject is a revolutionary new injection method. The idea behind Uniject is that it would be so simple to use, that even untrained health workers would be able to safely and effectively give injections. This idea would allow for prepackaged, low-cost syringes. Not only would Uniject provide a safer and more cost efficient method of administering vaccines, it would also cut down drastically on the amount of wasted vaccines. The new syringes would not be able to be reused, also eliminating the chance of HIV transmission.

Uniject is an autodisable injection system created by PATH in Seattle. It is essentially a small bubble of plastic connected to a needle that contains whatever vaccine is desired. Health workers would be able to learn how to use this within two hours of training. The plastic bubble contains exactly one injection of vaccine, ensuring the correct dosage every single time.

PATH developed Uniject through funding from the US Agency for International Development. The idea has since been licensed to BD, which is the largest producer of syringes in the world. As part of this agreement, the technology must be given to pharmaceutical producers at preferential pricing for use in developing country programs. The development of Uniject has taken twenty years.

While Uniject was developed with the idea of providing low-cost effective syringes for use of vaccinations in developing countries, it also has the potential to help reduce poverty in other ways. Uniject could, down the road, also be used for other life saving drugs, as well as a potential contraception delivery method. The use of Uniject to deliver contraception could have an immense effect on the developing world and provide an extraordinarily important outlet for female empowerment and family planning in the developing world.

-Caitlin Zusy 
Source: