The global community is painstakingly close to eradicating polio. Increases in vaccinations have spared the lives of more than 10 million people worldwide. Polio, a disease which used to claim the lives of up to 500,000 people a year, is almost gone. Its eradication would be a crucial milestone in transforming global health and demonstrating the effectiveness of collective action.
Global collective efforts have brought together UN agencies, governments, foundations, private businesses, and individuals to combat this disease. Worldwide, the number of recorded cases last year fell to an all-time-low of 223. There are only three countries where polio remains endemic: Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria.
These countries are susceptible to polio because of the fringe communities such as nomads, migrant workers, and displaced populations. People are much more likely to contract polio in areas of conflict and insecurity. In order to eradicate polio, vaccines must be delivered to the most marginalized of our society. This requires belief that every person has equal worth.
If the global community is not careful, and do not maintain its commitment to vaccinations and eradication, the World Health Organization has warned that the disease could break out again, reversing the last few decades of progress. This caveat has motivated UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to intensify efforts to eliminate the disease.
This ambition has lead the Global Polio Eradication Initiative to develop a six year strategy requiring countries where polio remains, to step up their efforts to vaccinate all children. Additionally, they are pressuring over 100 other countries to refine their polio immunization programs to ensure all children have access to the vaccines.
Kofi Annan has been urging the international community to provide the necessary funding to make vaccinations for marginalized and hard to reach children possible. The Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi this week implores partners and philanthropists to dig deep to support increased access to polio vaccinations.
It is vital that people understand that vaccinations improve overall health and drive development. Additionally, there are impressive financial benefits to eradicating polio – in the sum of an estimated $40 billion or more – with most of them accruing in the world’s poorest countries. Success of this nature begs the question: what do we, the global community, have to lose?
– Caitlin Zusy
Source: Guardian
Where Children Sleep
World renowned Kenyan photographer James Mollison is most known for his photo book Where Children Sleep. In it, he presents portraits of children from around the world and their bedrooms. The book, intended for a younger audience, is meant to not necessarily create a sense of guilt but more so a sense of appreciation and awareness of the different lives and home environments children around the world live in.
Indira, 7, Kathmandu, Nepal
Douha, 10, Hebron, The West Bank
Anonymous, 9, Ivory Coast
Jasmine, 4, Kentucky, USA
Ahkohxet, 8, Amazonia, Brazil
Risa, 15, Kyoto, Japan
Alex, 9, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The different conditions of each room can also be seen on the faces of the children in their portraits. Whether its pride, humility, confidence, or defeat, its possible to learn as much from their faces and poses in the portraits as it is from their rooms. While many of the poorer children live in small homes with multiple people, children with their own rooms can’t simply be stereotyped to be spoiled and ungrateful. To learn more about these children’s individual stories and lives, visit Telegraph’s article.
– Deena Dulgerian
Source: Bored Panda
Food Security – Hydrogen Sulphide and Enhanced Plant Growth
Hydrogen sulphide, a gas known for its toxicity to both plants and humans, has rarely even been studied in small quantities. Recently, a scientist researching the effects of hydrogen sulphide on plants made a simple dilution mistake-accidentally exposing the plants to low as opposed to high levels of the gas-that yielded completely unexpected results. In a discovery that has huge implications in regards to global food security, a surprising link was discovered between hydrogen sulphide and enhanced plant growth.
Researchers at the University of Washington were researching the toxicity effects of hydrogen sulphide and mistakenly exposed the plants to a much lower concentration of the compound then they originally intended. Unbelievably, instead of dying the plants responded with an accelerated rate of growth, with seeds germinating in half the time and crop yields nearly doubling. Just to make sure, researchers replicated the experiment several times in order to verify the relationship between hydrogen sulphide and enhanced plant growth, and the plants responded with the same accelerated growth patterns.
This recent development has exciting implications with respect to global food security, as the ability to grow plants at a larger and faster rate will help meet the demands of a rapidly increasing world population.
In regards to the link between hydrogen sulphide and enhanced plant growth, University of Washington Doctoral student Frederick Dooley remarked that, “They germinate faster and they produce roots and leaves faster. Basically what we’ve done is accelerate the entire plant process.”
The ability to both expedite and enhance the germination of plants from seeds to readily available crops carries with it great implications for the future of food security. Moreover, by unexpectedly finding the previously unknown link between hydrogen sulphide and enhanced plant growth, agricultural researchers are helping to solve the world hunger problem.
– Brian Turner
Source Science Daily
Photo Kazak
U.S. Army to Encourage Food Security in Afghanistan
For the past 12 years, the US Army has primarily been assigned to the role of peacekeeper in support of the NATO led military operations in Afghanistan. Subsequently, as the security operations draw to a close and military personnel began a phased withdrawal, coalition forces have a renewed focus on the long-term economic benefits of sustainable farming in Afghanistan. Sadly, many of the invaluable skill sets necessary for high yield farming have been lost, a consequence of the frequent military incursions that have occurred over the last half-century. In an effort to both ameliorate local poverty levels and build agricultural capacity, NATO is calling for the US Army to encourage food security in Afghanistan.
Soldiers of the 5-19 Agribusiness Development Team of the Indian National Guard have spent the last year instructing Afghan farmers of the Khowst Provice in the basics of farming. What tasks are being covered in the course curriculum? Army instructors are focusing on row planting, pest control, livestock care, and green house management; all important techniques that will enable farmers to increase crop yields and pass along the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities of sustainable farming to future generations. Thus far, the program assigning the US Army to encourage food security in Afghanistan has reaped substantial dividends, with local farmers taking pride in their yearly harvests and neighboring villages working towards the purchase of farm equipment in the near future.
In regards to the policy calling for the U.S. Army to encourage food security in Afghanistan, U.S. Army Major Gregory Motz noted that, “This is the best job I have had in the Army. To be able to see the progress the Afghans have made in a year and know that it isn’t because we did it for them, but with them…The agricultural community in Khost has made leaps and bounds in the last five years. It is really exciting to be part of that.”
A program calling for the U.S. Army to encourage food security in Afghanistan is a much needed reason to be optimistic about the future of the war torn nation, as the economic opportunities afforded by a newly invigorated agricultural industry will serve as positive legacy that will outlast the violence of the last decade. Furthermore, by laying the necessary groundwork required for a rich food security program to take hold, the citizens of Afghanistan can look forward to a future high in agricultural sustainability and economic development.
– Brian Turner
Source: ClarksVilleonline
Photo: National Guard News
Coffee With Apple CEO? It’ll Cost You Big Bucks
Want to enjoy a cup of coffee with Apple CEO Tim Cook? As of now it will cost you over $210,000. Cook has volunteered, through the online-auction site Charity Buzz, to share up to an hour of his precious time with two lucky (and deep-pocketed) winners. Proceeds from the auction will go to The RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights, an international nonprofit founded as a memorial to Robert F. Kennedy by his family and friends.
In the auction’s first day, Cook received 52 bids, starting at $5,000 and spiraling upward quickly. The leading bid Thursday evening was $210,000, and there are still 19 days to go until bidding closes on May 14.
The coffee chat will happen at Apple’s Cupertino, California, headquarters. The winner may bring along one guest.
The move fits in with the more open public persona Cook has adopted since replacing late Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs. One of the knocks on Jobs was that he never contributed much of his considerable fortune, or celebrity, to charity — at least not in the public ways other tech titans like Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg have. Not only does this coffee date allow two lucky Apple fans to live their dream, a great PR move, but it contributes to society as well, a greater PR move.
Other celebs taking part in the auction for the RFK Center include Robert DeNiro, Alex Trebek, Carrie Underwood, Peyton Manning, William Shatner, and David Letterman.
– Katie Brockman
Source CNN
Photo Apple
John Legend: Singer, Songwriter, Humanitarian
As a nine-time Grammy award winner, John Legend is well known as a singer, songwriter, and humanitarian. His vocals have earned him a multitude of worldwide fans and a string of Top 10 platinum-selling albums. His most recent release, Wake Up! (2010) is a compilation of music from the 1960s and ’70s including songs with underlying themes of awareness, engagement, and social consciousness. Legend, while a talented musician, seeks to be an agent of change in society. He is a member of several boards including Teach for America, Stand for Children, and the Harlem Village Academies.
As he spoke to a crowd of interested attendees in Southern Indiana, Legend focused on education equality and social awareness. Legend was inspiring, motivating, and very real in his comments. Early in his career, Legend had the opportunity to travel to Africa and it forever changed his life. He realized that his position in life granted him a platform to spread awareness and raise the standard for education and community involvement. Legend tirelessly works to promote education equality, which he believes is key to raising people out of poverty. By providing access to quality education for all individuals, we can ensure that being poor is not a life sentence but that there are opportunities to escape poverty and improve one’s life.
Legend gave the audience several tips on how to get involved in fighting for education equality from right where they sit.
His ideas included:
1. Join local boards and organizations working to improve education
2. Tutor students in local schools.
3. Encourage others to invest in schools.
4. Choose political leaders who take meaningful action within education.
The evening ended with the challenge from Legend to go and do something. The time for sitting still has passed and now the call to the work for education equality and diminished global poverty has arrived.
– Amanda Kloeppel
Source: Evansville Courier and Press
What is Childhood Stunting?
Childhood stunting effects a massive percentage of the world’s youth. UNICEF estimates that some 39% of children in the developing world are stunted. 40% of children in sub-Saharan Africa are stunted and in East and South Asia, estimates climb as high as 50% of children. The numbers tally in at 209 million stunted children in the developing world.
Childhood stunting is a condition that is defined as height for age below the fifth percentile on a reference growth curve. If, within a given population, substantially more than 5% of an identified child population have heights that are lower than the curve, then it is likely that said population would have a higher-than-expected prevalence of stunting. It measures the nutritional status of children. It is an important indicator of the prevalence of malnutrition or other nutrition-related disorders among an identified population in a given region or area.
Aside from inadequate nutrition, there are several other causes of childhood stunting. These include: chronic or recurrent infections, intestinal parasites, low birth weight, and in rare cases, extreme psychosocial stress without nutritional deficiencies. Several of these factors are influenced by each other. Low birth weight is correlated with nutritional deficiencies, and inadequate nutrition is correlated to chronic or recurrent infections.
One of the serious consequences of stunting is particularly impaired cognitive development. When a child has inadequate access to food, their body conserves energy by first limiting social activity and cognitive development in the form of apathetic and incurious children. These children may not develop the capacity to adequately learn or play. Then the child’s body will limit the energy available for growth.
Fortunately, studies have found that improvement in diet after age two can restore a child to near-normal mental development. Conversely, malnutrition after age two can be just as damaging as it is before age two. However, it is important to note that once stunting is established, it typically becomes permanent.
The reasons stated above serve as important reminders of why foreign aid and programs aimed at eliminating extreme malnutrition and nutritional deficiencies are so vital. The impact of new legislation focusing on increasing USAID and other foreign aid is substantial. Stunting can be seriously limited through the introduction of increased access to food security in the developing world. Knowledge of the facts surrounding stunting is also an important step in working to combat and eliminate childhood stunting worldwide.
– Caitlin Zusy
Sources: UNICEF, Future of Children
Double Cropping in Brazil
The country of Brazil, long known for its biologically-diverse rainforests and unique ecosystems, has been practicing the method of double cropping – or planting two crops per year instead of one – as a means of intensifying the amount of agricultural goods grown in a given area. Recently, much research has been centered on the state of Mato Grosso, known for its heavy use of the double cropping method and position as the undisputed hub of Brazil’s agricultural production area. The data gleaned thus far in regards to economic benefits have been nothing less than astounding, as there is mounting evidence that double cropping encourages economic development in Brazil.
Researchers at Brown University have been conducting extensive research into the GDP, educational infrastructure, and public sanitation of Mato Grossso in order to take a closer look at the ramifications of the agricultural program known as double cropping. Surprisingly, they found that the large production of soybean, cotton, and corn from the area resulted in huge economic opportunities for the residents of the Mato Grosso area. How are they linked? Double cropping encourages economic development in Brazil primarily due to the huge amounts of labor required to harvest, transport, and process the crops grown in area, leading to the low unemployment and high local investment absent from area’s that employ the single cropping method.
In regards to exactly how double cropping encourages economic development in Brazil, Associate Professor at Brown University Leah VanWey noted that the industry has created thousands of jobs, also noting that, “In the long run there isn’t much money in just growing things and selling them, but processing allows the local area and workers to retain more of the per-unit cost of the final product.”
Exiting new methods of agricultural development are being implemented and assessed across the globe, leading to innovative ways of encouraging growth and ameliorating local poverty levels. Furthermore, recent evidence showing that double cropping encourages economic development in Brazil should serve as a reason for continued support of agricultural aid agencies such as the FAO.
– Brian Turner
Source: Science Daily
Photo: Terra Project
New Public Health Policy of Aflatoxin Prevention in Ghana
Of the many climatic, soil, and logistical challenges the Ghanaian agricultural industry has had to overcome in order to encourage economic growth and production capacity, none have posed a greater threat to crop efficacy than that of aflatoxin exposure. Aflatoxin – a cancer caused by product of the fungi Aspergillus – found in yam chips, groundnuts, cassava, and maize has been a chronic public health concern faced by much of the local farmers and agribusinesses of the sub-Saharan country. In an effort to ameliorate the carcinogenic side effects of the compound, health officials are working to implement a policy of aflatoxin prevention in Ghana.
Thanks in part to the increased coordination between the Food Research Institute (FRI), Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), and support funding from the Southern African Trust, a newly invigorated policy of aflatoxin prevention in Ghana will be launched. What exactly does the new prevention program entail? FRI officials are asking for mechanical driers – needed to quickly dry the grains – along with requisite storage facilities in order to prevent contamination during the rainy season. Once implemented, this robust policy of quick drying and storage is expected to mitigate the public health effects of the aflatoxin compound.
In regards to aflatoxin prevention in Ghana, FRI official George Anyebuno noted that, “These toxins are also potent causes of cancer and suppress the immune system, causing humans and animals to be more susceptible to diseases… But they are not often visible on the corn when purchased; once the maize is infected, nothing can be done to remove the toxins as they are very stable compounds even at high temperatures making the maize unwholesome.”
Thanks to a newly energized policy of aflatoxin prevention in Ghana, the chronic health and agricultural problems caused by the hazardous compound will now be addressed. Furthermore, through the deployment of a policy that includes public health awareness, prevention, and interdepartmental cooperation, the resulting health problems caused by aflatoxin contamination will finally be eliminated.
– Brian Turner
Source Ghana Business News
Photo Tree Hugger
5 Fun Events to End Global Poverty
These 5 fun events are bringing people together with one common goal, to expose and eliminate poverty around the world. Whether the focus is on one specific country, or the world, the magnitude of learning about world poverty and efforts to end it are being multiplied.
1. The Borgen Project’s “Downsizing Poverty” Online Auction– Taking place from April 12 to April 28, the online auction boasts numerous items from trips to Mexico, artwork, outdoor passes, electronics, to the flag flown at the Obama’s 2013 Inauguration, online bidders from around the world can help the completely volunteer-organized and -run Borgen Project stop global poverty. Proceeds from this event will assist the Borgen Project in marketing initiatives to build public and political support to reduce poverty.
2. Concern Worldwide US Leadership Network Meeting – On May 9 in Chicago, IL, Concern Worldwide US will host an event to bring together young, like-minded professionals to connect and discuss the elimination of extreme poverty in developing countries. Participants will enjoy their first beverage on Concern Worldwide US while the rest of the proceeds from this event will benefit various projects supported the organization.
3. The Bretton Woods Committee 30th Anniversary Annual Meeting – Themed “Can the IFIs, Business, Government, and Society End Poverty in a Generation?” this conference will bring together representatives from multilateral, non-profit, and government organizations such as Oxfam America, The World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund. The dialogue will encompass the “development ecosystem” and how it is changing and how these organizations can support and assist those countries at the bottom of the pyramid. This event will take place on May 15 in Washington, D.C..
4. UNICEF’s Next Generation Photo Benefit – On May 17 at the Milk Gallery in New York City, photographers (both professional and amateur) and givers will come together to raise funds for UNICEF’s Next Generations Colombia Project. The theme of this event is “Seeing ZERO” and guests will have the opportunity to partake in a silent auction alongside an open bar, enjoying hors d’oeuvres and music.
5. Devendra Banhart Concert Tour –This spring and summer at concerts across America, Oxfam will have outreach tables as well as volunteer opportunities to generate awareness to end world hunger and start saving lives. Visit Oxfam to view a complete list of events.
– Kira Maixner
Source: The Borgen Project, Concern Worldwide US, Bretton Woods Committee, Unicef USA, Oxfam America
Photo: United Nations Information Center Washington
Eradicating Polio: We’re Getting There
The global community is painstakingly close to eradicating polio. Increases in vaccinations have spared the lives of more than 10 million people worldwide. Polio, a disease which used to claim the lives of up to 500,000 people a year, is almost gone. Its eradication would be a crucial milestone in transforming global health and demonstrating the effectiveness of collective action.
Global collective efforts have brought together UN agencies, governments, foundations, private businesses, and individuals to combat this disease. Worldwide, the number of recorded cases last year fell to an all-time-low of 223. There are only three countries where polio remains endemic: Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria.
These countries are susceptible to polio because of the fringe communities such as nomads, migrant workers, and displaced populations. People are much more likely to contract polio in areas of conflict and insecurity. In order to eradicate polio, vaccines must be delivered to the most marginalized of our society. This requires belief that every person has equal worth.
If the global community is not careful, and do not maintain its commitment to vaccinations and eradication, the World Health Organization has warned that the disease could break out again, reversing the last few decades of progress. This caveat has motivated UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to intensify efforts to eliminate the disease.
This ambition has lead the Global Polio Eradication Initiative to develop a six year strategy requiring countries where polio remains, to step up their efforts to vaccinate all children. Additionally, they are pressuring over 100 other countries to refine their polio immunization programs to ensure all children have access to the vaccines.
Kofi Annan has been urging the international community to provide the necessary funding to make vaccinations for marginalized and hard to reach children possible. The Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi this week implores partners and philanthropists to dig deep to support increased access to polio vaccinations.
It is vital that people understand that vaccinations improve overall health and drive development. Additionally, there are impressive financial benefits to eradicating polio – in the sum of an estimated $40 billion or more – with most of them accruing in the world’s poorest countries. Success of this nature begs the question: what do we, the global community, have to lose?
– Caitlin Zusy
Source: Guardian