Egypt is a lower-middle-income country in northeastern Africa and as of 2019, 1.5% of the population lives on less than $2.15 a day (the international poverty line) while 17.6% are below the lower-middle income poverty line of $3.65. Here is everything you need to know about poverty in Egypt.
Food
Egypt is one of the most food-import-dependent countries in the world. It imports approximately 40% of its food in terms of total value, meaning that the country is highly vulnerable to shocks in global food prices. These food price shocks can have an outsized impact on the poor, who need to spend a much larger proportion of their income on food than the wealthy.
Understanding this, the Egyptian government has long implemented a comprehensive system of ration cards to combat food insecurity. As of June 2024, 71 million Egyptians, or 64% of the total population, participate in the country’s subsidized bread program. This program allows beneficiaries to buy up to 150 loaves of bread a month at the price of 20 piasters a loaf, or about $0.004 each. This price amounts to only 16% of production costs, while the government compensates bakeries for the remaining 84%, according to a 2024 report.
While this program is expensive for the government, it represents a buffer against swings in global food prices and a crucial lifeline for millions of low-income Egyptians.
Water
Water, the basic necessity for all life, is getting scarcer in Egypt. Egypt’s population has grown rapidly as its economy has expanded, exploding from just 27 million people in 1960 to about more than 100 million today. According to the Atlantic Council, this population growth has caused the per capita water supply to quarter over the same period.
The agricultural sector, which relies on traditional flood-based irrigation, is responsible for 86% of the country’s freshwater withdrawals while generating only between 11% and 14% of Egypt’s GDP, making it an ideal target for reform, the Atlantic Council reports.
The Egyptian government is addressing this by giving soft loans to farmers who switch to sprinklers or drip irrigation, which could reduce water usage by as much as 30% to 70% while increasing crop yields by 20% to 90%. At the 2023 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit, Egypt launched the Decent Life Initiative and committed to ending both hunger and poverty by 2027.
Income, Education and Health
Egypt is an admirably equal country when measured by its Gini score, a metric that proxies household income distribution. Boasting a score of 0.36 (where 0 equals perfect equality and 1 means perfect inequality), Egypt is the second most equal country in the Middle East by this metric, and among the most equal in the world.
Aiding this image of equality is that 100% of Egyptians have had access to electricity since 2017, while 99.9% have had access to clean fuel for cooking since 2016.
Health and education gaps between rich and poor Egyptians have historically been large, but are closing. For example, 93% of Egypt’s population had access to skilled birth attendants as of 2014, a marked increase from just 65% in 2000. Over the same period, infant mortality was cut in half in the country.
More than 95% of Egyptians have access to safe drinking water, and more than 90% have access to improved sanitation, according to the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) report. On the education front, the total proportion of Egyptians completing secondary education has more than doubled over the past decade, reaching 55% of the population.
The poorest quintile of Egyptians reached a secondary education completion rate of 41% in 2014, a huge improvement from the 8% completion rate in 2000, according to the ESCWA report. Despite this progress, the richest quintile has reached a secondary completion rate of 80%, which is almost double that of the poorest.
Final Thoughts
This overview of everything you need to know about poverty in Egypt shows that despite challenging circumstances, Egypt has made laudable progress in reducing domestic poverty in recent years. The country has significantly reduced health, education, and income gaps while supporting small farmers and low-income households through loans and targeted subsidies. While much is still to be done, the future looks hopeful for Egypt’s poor.
– Kipling Newman
Kipling based in Denver CO, USA and focuses on Good News and Global Health for The Borgen Project.
Photo: Pixabay
Philippine NGOs Offering Scholarships to the Underprivileged
TORM Philippines Education Foundation
The NGO was founded in 2007 and is devoted to promoting quality education to children from unprivileged families in the Philippines. Many rural families in the Philippines often struggle to send their children to school. Aside from low-income families, the organization also helps deserving individuals gain a college education. The organization has awarded more than 200 scholarships since its inception.
UPL
While the NGO mostly aims to help farmers in their agricultural endeavors and, in the process, provide millions of families with their daily sustenance, UPL also offers scholarship opportunities to grass-roots families. UPL predominantly offers scholarships to farming families. The scholarships are designed to enhance the farming family’s agricultural knowledge and allow them to cultivate the land more effectively and efficiently.
Project Pearls
Project Pearls is one of the Philippine NGOs predominantly aimed at feeding people experiencing poverty in the city of Tondo. While it is mostly devoted to funding feeding programs, it also has educational programs that aim to provide underprivileged children with a means of gaining education. The organization’s educational programs are predominantly aimed at teaching young people the right skills to gain jobs. These programs include livelihood programs, training seminars and workshops. The organization also provides underprivileged students with monetary help for school supplies. It has provided scholarships for more than 700 students in four communities in the Philippines.
Diwa ng Magdalo Foundation
The Diwa nang Magdalo Foundation was founded by a group known as Bagong Katipuneros. Its main goal is to promote better governance in the Philippines. The organization was first registered in 2011 and is meant to create a self-sufficient Philippines. To do so, the organization focuses mostly on the country’s youth.
Its main intent is to effect societal change and it has created various programs that help grassroots-level students meet their educational needs. A key function that the organization fulfills every year is the giving away of scholarships to unprivileged students. These scholars are usually sent to well-known colleges in the country, such as the University of the Philippines.
Aside from giving away free scholarships, the NGO is also focused on assisting its beneficiaries with financial aid and assistance during times of crisis.
Conclusion
The Philippines is a developing nation rife with corruption and poverty and many families cannot afford to send their children to school for a meaningful education. Through these Philippine NGOs, children from impoverished families are now able to attend high school and even gain a college education.
– Neil Lorenz Misola
Photo: Unsplash
HIV and Syphilis: Mother-to-Child Transmission in Belize
Improving Medical Services in Belize
Since the early 2000s, Belize’s health care services, in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), have been following the organization’s Plan of Action for the Prevention and Control of HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections. This initiative has improved and promoted access to prenatal HIV and syphilis testing. Health care providers now screen every pregnant woman for these viruses two to three times during pregnancy, at delivery and at 18 months postpartum.
The vastly improved testing services have reduced mother-to-child transmission in Belize, of HIV and syphilis by 81% from 2007 to 2023, achieving eradication by 2024. This success depended on effective treatments administered to pregnant women who tested positive for these diseases. For syphilis, health professionals administer three consecutive weeks of penicillin injections; HIV-positive mothers receive daily antiretrovirals along with prenatal vitamins. These treatments effectively prevent the transmission of HIV and syphilis to their children. To further ensure children are born virus-free, nurses follow up with mothers a week after treatment completion to verify the full course was administered and to identify any potential complications.
Encouraging Mothers to Seek Testing and Treatment
Throughout Belize’s collaboration with PAHO under its Plan of Action, the country has enhanced the research capabilities and capacity of its health care services, enabling more pregnant women to be tested earlier and more accurately for both HIV and syphilis. The percentage of women attending health clinics in their first trimester has risen to 90%, allowing for earlier and more effective administration of preventative treatments. When mothers test positive for these diseases, health care providers also encourage their partners to get tested, fostering community awareness and enabling more individuals to know their statuses and receive necessary treatment. As of 2022, 81% of people living with HIV in Belize are aware of their status.
Screenings and treatments in these clinics are free, ensuring that all women in Belize can access life-saving treatments for themselves and their unborn children. This accessibility has been crucial in eradicating the viruses and underscores the relentless efforts of Belizean health care workers. Additionally, if a mother misses an appointment, a nurse visits her home to conduct a follow-up check.
Nurses Maintaining the Transmission Rates
The critical roles of nurses in eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis in Belize, particularly in remote areas like San Lazaro, are pivotal. The Belize Ministry of Health facilitates mobile health services that allow nurses to travel between villages to conduct screenings and treatments. This commitment underscores the dedication of health care workers to achieving the certification for eradicating HIV and syphilis transmission from mothers to their children.
Health care services in Belize actively educate and promote awareness of HIV and syphilis, encouraging mothers to seek regular testing. During prenatal checkups at clinics, health care workers emphasize the importance of screenings for both the women and their unborn children. This approach normalizes early testing upon pregnancy, increasing awareness and helping more women know their health status.
Testimonies from Belizean health care workers emphasize that their diligence, research and efforts are crucial for sustaining the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. The Minister of Health and Wellness of Belize, Hon. Kevin Bernard, notes that cooperation and teamwork between health care workers and the communities they serve are essential for delivering optimal services and effectively preventing the spread of the disease.
Looking Ahead
The WHO certification confirming the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis in Belize highlights the success of the country’s health care workers and medical services. According to Dr. Natalia Largaespada Beer, this achievement not only ensures a new generation free of these diseases but also represents an opportunity to strengthen the health care system. The enhancement of services and nationwide access to life-saving treatments promise a bright future for Belize in sustaining this elimination, ensuring every child has the right to be born free from these diseases.
– Ben Kane
Photo: Flickr
Poverty in Egypt: Everything You Need to Know
Food
Egypt is one of the most food-import-dependent countries in the world. It imports approximately 40% of its food in terms of total value, meaning that the country is highly vulnerable to shocks in global food prices. These food price shocks can have an outsized impact on the poor, who need to spend a much larger proportion of their income on food than the wealthy.
Understanding this, the Egyptian government has long implemented a comprehensive system of ration cards to combat food insecurity. As of June 2024, 71 million Egyptians, or 64% of the total population, participate in the country’s subsidized bread program. This program allows beneficiaries to buy up to 150 loaves of bread a month at the price of 20 piasters a loaf, or about $0.004 each. This price amounts to only 16% of production costs, while the government compensates bakeries for the remaining 84%, according to a 2024 report.
While this program is expensive for the government, it represents a buffer against swings in global food prices and a crucial lifeline for millions of low-income Egyptians.
Water
Water, the basic necessity for all life, is getting scarcer in Egypt. Egypt’s population has grown rapidly as its economy has expanded, exploding from just 27 million people in 1960 to about more than 100 million today. According to the Atlantic Council, this population growth has caused the per capita water supply to quarter over the same period.
The agricultural sector, which relies on traditional flood-based irrigation, is responsible for 86% of the country’s freshwater withdrawals while generating only between 11% and 14% of Egypt’s GDP, making it an ideal target for reform, the Atlantic Council reports.
The Egyptian government is addressing this by giving soft loans to farmers who switch to sprinklers or drip irrigation, which could reduce water usage by as much as 30% to 70% while increasing crop yields by 20% to 90%. At the 2023 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit, Egypt launched the Decent Life Initiative and committed to ending both hunger and poverty by 2027.
Income, Education and Health
Egypt is an admirably equal country when measured by its Gini score, a metric that proxies household income distribution. Boasting a score of 0.36 (where 0 equals perfect equality and 1 means perfect inequality), Egypt is the second most equal country in the Middle East by this metric, and among the most equal in the world.
Aiding this image of equality is that 100% of Egyptians have had access to electricity since 2017, while 99.9% have had access to clean fuel for cooking since 2016.
Health and education gaps between rich and poor Egyptians have historically been large, but are closing. For example, 93% of Egypt’s population had access to skilled birth attendants as of 2014, a marked increase from just 65% in 2000. Over the same period, infant mortality was cut in half in the country.
More than 95% of Egyptians have access to safe drinking water, and more than 90% have access to improved sanitation, according to the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) report. On the education front, the total proportion of Egyptians completing secondary education has more than doubled over the past decade, reaching 55% of the population.
The poorest quintile of Egyptians reached a secondary education completion rate of 41% in 2014, a huge improvement from the 8% completion rate in 2000, according to the ESCWA report. Despite this progress, the richest quintile has reached a secondary completion rate of 80%, which is almost double that of the poorest.
Final Thoughts
This overview of everything you need to know about poverty in Egypt shows that despite challenging circumstances, Egypt has made laudable progress in reducing domestic poverty in recent years. The country has significantly reduced health, education, and income gaps while supporting small farmers and low-income households through loans and targeted subsidies. While much is still to be done, the future looks hopeful for Egypt’s poor.
– Kipling Newman
Photo: Pixabay
Reducing the Gender Wage Gap in Zambia
Understanding the Gender Wage Gap
In the 2023 Global Gender Gap Index rankings, Zambia ranked 85th out of 146 countries, with a score of 0.699. The Global Gender Gap Index considers education, health, politics and economic involvement. On the scale of the score, zero equals imparity whilst parity equals one. Zambia’s Index decreased from 0.723 in 2022 to 0.699 in 2023.
In terms of the economy, account ownership of either a bank account or a mobile money service was lower for women (45%) than men (52.5%). This difference helps to understand the gender wage gap. Although the rate of women working in vulnerable employment remains at 80.1% in Zambia, the number of female workers in vulnerable employment has decreased since 1991.
Education is a huge part of tackling the gender wage gap in Zambia and on a global scale. In 2024, the U.N. Women launched its economic empowerment strategy to champion clearer accountability for plans to achieve gender equality. These goals include U.N. Women working together with organizations such as UNICEF and the World Bank to advocate for gender equality.
Improving Education
UNICEF and the London Stock Exchange Group Foundation created Zambian Girls 2030. This scheme emerged because of the Zambian government’s “Vision 2030” aiming for the country to become a middle-income nation by 2030. The number of girls dropping out of education after completing primary school is almost double that of boys of the same age. Zambian Girls 2030 involved internships focusing on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects and the girls who participated in the program met women working in these industries, including accountants and business owners. Between 2016 and 2018, almost 10,000 girls participated in the initiative’s school clubs, whilst 233 girls had the opportunity to complete the internship. Zambian Girls 2030 provided education opportunities to girls in Zambia which could further help reduce the gender wage gap.
One reason why girls drop out at a higher rate than boys after leaving primary school is the lack of transport. Between 2012 and 2022, World Bicycle Relief and the Ministry of Education in Zambia provided 36,977 girls living in rural areas with Buffalo Bicycles so they could attend school. This removal of one barrier to their education meant that these girls were 19% less likely to drop out of school than those without access to bicycles and the amount of lessons missed fell by 28%.
Financial Literacy
Mother’s Union is a women-led organization that addresses trafficking, unemployment and the financial empowerment of women. Across Zambia, more than 12,000 Mother’s Union members campaign against violence against women and advocate health awareness schemes.
Mother’s Union has been running the Literary and Financial Education Programme (LFEP) since 2000. The program educates both men and women. Therefore, the environment is one where both men and women realize the importance of furthering women’s education and how they can contribute to the household income.
The Girls’ Education and Women’s Empowerment and Livelihoods (GEWEL) project has helped 96,000 women in Zambia to access support and opportunities. Projects such as these could challenge the gender wage gap by giving women the opportunity to have a more active role within the economy. The project links with the Zambia Agribusiness and Trade Project, which aims to stop the challenges farmers face. Therefore, these two projects combine to allow women the opportunity to succeed through accessing opportunities within agribusiness.
Numerous initiatives are working to fight gender inequality in Zambia. By understanding the extent of gender equality, these schemes are addressing the causes of the gender wage gap.
– Amy Fox
Photo: Unsplash
Sahar: The Organization Unlocking Education in Afghanistan
Education’s Impact
Education can bring social and economic development, reduce poverty and promote gender equality. In Afghanistan, educated girls are better equipped to contribute to their communities and the country’s development. However, the benefits of education are not limited to those who receive it directly. Educated women are more likely to ensure their children are educated, creating a positive cycle.
Sahar
Sahar, a nonprofit organization, has been at the forefront of the fight to educate Afghan girls. Since its creation in 2001, Sahar has helped educate 250,000 girls through 2024. The nonprofit provides grassroots schools and underground education, with people risking their lives to teach and learn. In 2001, Sahar aimed to build connections between the United States (U.S.) and Afghanistan, gradually expanding its mission. In this war-torn country, Sahar has built and supplied 39 schools, striving to serve those denied educational opportunities. Through education, Sahar opens pathways for girls to aim for a better life, targeting the 1.1 million girls lacking access to formal education.
Founded by Julia Bolz, an international humanitarian lawyer, Sahar has achieved remarkable success through partnerships. Information about said partners is limited, as partners in Afghanistan are actively breaking oppressive laws by protecting the human right to education. However, outside of Afghanistan, Sahar collaborates with several global partners. Sahar partners with the Afghan Ministry of Education, which helps maintain schools once they have been constructed. Additionally, foundations and philanthropists like Janet Wright Ketcham support the initiative, helping to construct two schools in Afghanistan. Institutes like the University of Washington and Coe Elementary School in Seattle have also supported Sahar’s goals through architectural assistance and fundraising efforts.
The Bright Future of Education in Afghanistan
The struggle for educational access in Afghanistan is ongoing. The Taliban’s restrictive policies, combined with cultural barriers, create significant challenges. However, the resilience and determination of Afghan girls and the organizations supporting them offer hope. Sahar’s work demonstrates the power of grassroots efforts and underground education in overcoming obstacles. By continuing to support Sahar and similar organizations, we can open up education and brighter futures for young girls. The fight for educational access in Afghanistan is far from over.
– Abby Collins
Photo: Flickr
Everything You Need to Know about Poverty in Tibet
China’s Poverty Alleviation Tactics in Tibet
China’s mission to alleviate poverty in Tibet is synonymous with modernizing the region. Some poor Tibetans now own cars in Tibet, according to ThinkChina, with paved expressways and a billboard advertising a “Westernised” café amid the Himalayan mountains. Some young Tibetans own cell phones and dream of “leaving the mountains and plains” to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, or to mainland China, ThinkChina says.
The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) reported that China’s efforts are a “scheme” that the government carries out under the guise of poverty alleviation. The economic gain from China’s poverty alleviation mission has come at a large cost to rural Tibetans and their culture. The Chinese government has relocated Tibetan nomads and farmers en masse from poverty-stricken areas to other locations in Tibet or China, forcing them into military training and factory labor.
China also seeks to eliminate what it calls the “harmful influence” of Buddhism and change Tibetans’ “way of thinking” by way of “re-education,” according to the CTA. U.N. experts are “very disturbed” that around a million Tibetan children face seemingly forced cultural, religious and linguistic assimilation into the majority Han culture, the U.N. reported in February 2023.
Forced Evictions and Relocations
In May 2024, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that 500 Tibetan villages with more than 140,000 residents have faced or are currently facing forced eviction and relocation. When individual households are relocated, poorer households are often selected — between 2016 and 2020, 567,000 people were relocated under this program by the government. These relocations are “severely eroding Tibetan culture and ways of life,” HRW’s China director Maya Wang said.
The Chinese government states that the goal of resettling Tibet’s poorest into urban areas is to improve their housing conditions, health care and education. However, the government’s mission left many of those resettled living in poverty in urban areas, according to the United States Department of State.
Despite China’s occupation, many Tibetans’ alliances continue to lie with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, who created a nonprofit organization working for the welfare of destitute Tibetans.
14th Dalai Lama’s Central Tibetan Relief Committee
Tibet used to be an independent region — in the 1950s, China forcibly claimed Tibet, destroying many Buddhist monasteries and killing thousands. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama fled to northern India, along with around 80,000 refugees, according to BBC. In 1994, he established the Central Tibetan Relief Committee (CTRC) in India.
The CTRC’s main objective is to rehabilitate and settle Tibetan refugees, as well as uplift the poor and make the Tibetan settlement “viable and sustainable,” according to its website. One of its primary initiatives is to “take care of genuinely poor and destitute elders who have no one to take care of them.” The CTRC has built more than 14 homes and accommodates more than 500 Tibetan elders, as of 2020.
“The awesome power that economic institutions have acquired in our society, and the distressing effects that poverty continues to wreak, should make all of us look for means of transforming our economy into one based on compassion,” His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama wrote in 2008.
Chinese government claims it has lifted Tibet out of extreme poverty, however, the CTA, the U.N. and HRW dispute this claim. China’s poverty alleviation tactics may have diminished Tibet’s poverty in an economic sense, but individual Tibetans often remain impoverished, with their traditional culture stripped away. Human rights groups and His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama continue to look out for poor Tibetans, ensuring proper poverty relief.
– Ahna Fleming
Photo: Flickr
Renewable Energy in Mauritania
Conditions in Mauritania
Monetary poverty in Mauritania is falling. In 2023, according to the UNDP, 6.5% of the population lives below the income poverty line. However, the UNDP also reports that the nation’s standard of living indicators are lower than in similar economies. Electricity access, for example, is low for rural populations at 4%.
Mauritania is chiefly a “traditional subsistence economy,” with agriculture and livestock raising being its largest sector. Mining and fishing are the nation’s major exports. At the same time, Mauritania has remarkable potential for renewable energy production. Straddling both the Sahara desert and the Atlantic Ocean, the nation has more than 700,000 square kilometres of space for solar and wind energy generation. The nation is leveraging this potential for development and economic growth.
Opportunities for Development
Renewable energy technology is offering new opportunities for development initiatives. One example is solar energy-powered water drilling, which has been effective in expanding access to clean water in Mauritania’s most isolated communities. UNICEF, which supports the initiative, has found solar energy to be the most cost-effective power source when compared to other, non-renewable sources. As of 2018, solar energy supplies the majority of drinking water drills, a rise to 60% from 20% in 2015.
Investments in renewable energy in Mauritania have also expanded the power grid capacity of the nation. More than 40% of the country’s energy is now generated from renewable sources, according to the International Trade Administration (ITA). This effort is continuing to grow, with $289.5 million invested in two projects to increase solar energy production and connectivity, both to rural regions and neighboring nations.
Center of International Cooperation
Export potential has made the renewable energy sector a focus for international cooperation. Under its Power Africa initiative, USAID has worked with the nation to increase electricity connection, including helping create 8,436 solar lamp connections. The development of renewable energy production and technologies has also been a key area of interest for the ITA as well as the U.S. Department of Energy. The latter signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the COP28 to support Mauritanian clean energy technologies and low-carbon exports including steel and green hydrogen.
Green hydrogen in particular is at the forefront of clean energy development, piquing the interest of large energy firms. With this, the nation has signed four MoUs with multinational energy corporations for green hydrogen production and development, including one with CWP Global to create the largest green hydrogen production facility in the world, according to ITA.
Much of the pledged development remains in the early stages, although the growing share of renewables in Mauritania’s energy supply is promising. Renewable energy in Mauritania and green hydrogen, in particular, presents opportunities to add value to the nation’s exports and economy, as well as efforts to elevate standards of living. As the world begins to transition to green economies, Mauritania represents a nation where this effort and economic development intersect.
– Imme Koolenbrander
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Health Care in Palestine
Health Care Difficulties
Even before the most recent conflict, the health care system in Palestine could not always provide satisfactory health services to all of its residents. Limitations have been imposed on items coming into Palestine, most notably the Gaza Strip, making it difficult for the health care sector in the region to get access to the supplies it needs to treat everyone properly.
Deficits of water, electricity and staff have also further created problems for the health care industry in Palestine. On top of this, many Palestinians live in refugee camps, which not only produces more health risks, but these camps do not often receive the health care that they need.
Israel’s Impact
However, activity coming from Israel has amplified these health care limitations as the Israeli military has destroyed hospitals and has been attacking patients and workers in the Gaza Strip. Beyond just health care, the Israeli military has prevented Palestinians from receiving “water, food, electricity and fuel,” as evidenced by the Institute for Palestinian Studies and this certainly creates its own set of problems. In the West Bank as well, roads that ambulances utilize have been blocked by Israeli forces.
As far as aid goes, only certain entrances to the country have been made accessible by Israel to allow relief to come into the country. Israeli forces have been accused of killing many individuals hoping to provide aid to the Gazan people.
Limitations of Aid
On top of these issues, robberies on deliveries of aid are further extrapolating the difficulties of getting assistance to the Palestinian people. Some argue that Israel needs to institute stronger levels of security to ensure that aid can actually make it into the country and be utilized to help the Palestinians. Aid in other forms, such as food, has also been limited in entering the country which has certainly created repercussions for the welfare of Palestinians. Malnutrition has become a widespread problem across the region.
Doctors Without Borders has identified how slow the process of moving aid into the country has been, which has created the problem of less than sufficient medical care resources being available. In fact, the organization has reported that “it has been unable to bring any medical supplies into Gaza since the end of April.”
Providing Aid
However, Doctors Without Borders has still been able to help thousands of people in the state of Palestine in the past couple of months. Thousands of wounds have been bandaged, tens of thousands of health appointments have been administered to Palestinians and surgeries have been able to take place as a result of Doctors Without Borders’ efforts.
Another organization, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), has also completed enormous amounts of work in the region. This group has provisioned Gaza with millions of dollars worth of medical necessities, such as antibiotics, bandages and medicines, while simultaneously working to limit the impacts of malnutrition. MAP has worked in both Gaza and the West Bank.
– Brendan Sheehan
Photo: Flickr
WFP Pushing for Poverty Relief in Togo
WFP Provides Poverty Relief in Togo
Out of 71,991 total beneficiaries, 33,392 are male and female, from ages 5-11 years old. WFP has not given up on the nation of Togo. There is still room for improvement in WFP’s poverty relief initiative, including but not limited to cash-based transfers, asset creation and livelihood, additional resource transfers and overall beneficiaries over the age of 12. The cash-based transfers are meant to directly affect the pockets of impoverished Togo residents as well as refugees residing in the nation. In addition to the projects that the World Bank financed, with the age group of 5-11 years seeing the most beneficiaries, age groups more than 12 years old are receiving less than 45% of the expected amount.
The latest report from the World Food Programme, published May 13, 2024, displays WFP’s progress in the poverty relief of the Togolese Republic. WFP has distributed a total of 77,554 school meals, reaching 14,207 children in 50 different schools supported by WFP in northern Togo. The World Food Programme is also appealing to the United Nations for a sum of $12.5 million in order to reach more beneficiaries in Togo. WFP, along with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are aiming to assist vulnerable parts of Togo damaged by flooding in the Northern region with 185.5 metric tons of food. Furthermore, a warehouse has been established in Kara to support the humanitarian operations in the Northern Region of Togo. However, there has been some struggle in WFP’s efforts to rehabilitate Togo’s infrastructure.
Rainfall
Food security has deteriorated in 2024 due to the Sahel crisis, the inflation of food and agricultural impacts due to the Ukrainian crisis and the extreme climate crisis occurring in Northern Togo. There has been a steady decrease in rainfall in West African countries. This disproportionately affects the population since the economy is heavily reliant on agriculture. Several studies have reported that on average in a 30 year scale (1968-1997) rainfall was 15%-40% lower than the earlier 30 year margin (1931-1960).
Looking Ahead
WFP has made immense progress in bolstering fiscal policy and debt management, business employment opportunities, the energy and digital sector, as well as agricultural productivity, health resources and food security. The budget that WFP provided to Togo and donations are financing these efforts. Donors to WFP’s efforts include the European Commission, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Government of Togo, the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance and more.
The European Commission is supporting poverty relief in Togo not just by donating to WFP, but through the Togolese government in the “Togo 25” roadmap for a total of 145 million euros to Togo. The strengthening of the internal infrastructure of Togo has led to immense social, political and economic growth in the struggling nation. These efforts have received support not just from the World Food Programme, but also from several other organizations and countries, pushing for humanitarian relief in the Togolese Republic.
– Petralyn Yeboah-Manson
Photo: Flickr
How USAID Programs in South Africa Are Fighting HIV
E-International Relations article has identified an undeniable and inextricable link between poverty and ill health, with poverty preventing access to hospital treatment, and ill health preventing the ability to carry out labor. It may be unsurprising, then, that HIV in the country is not just widespread, but at the epicenter of the wider HIV epidemic. Despite this, USAID programs in South Africa aim to change this reality and recent developments in their work suggest a brighter future for the health of the population.
HIV Prevalence in South Africa
In 2022, the South African government estimated that 8.45 million people were living with HIV in the country, and as of 2019, 20% of all new HIV cases occurred there. The concentration of cases in the 15-49 age group, where individuals are of reproductive age further exacerbates the crisis. Combined with conditions such as low condom use in the 15-24 age group, and young men debuting sexually at earlier ages (before age 15), HIV continues to wage its war on the South African population, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
USAID’s Response
USAID is doing critical work in the health sector. The agency’s work in the region is facilitated through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a scheme through which the U.S. government has contributed more than $110 billion to the global HIV/AIDS response. PEPFAR’s funding allows USAID to work effectively against the HIV crisis in South Africa, ultimately aiming to strengthen the country’s overall health system.
Though the South African government finances almost 80% of its HIV response, according to the CSIS, USAID has also been instrumental. The agency has been able to provide more than 1.4 million antiretroviral treatments (ART) in South Africa, a treatment that prolongs the lives of those already infected with HIV. Furthermore, according to its website, it has supported the South African National TB Program in expanding its treatment capacity, an essential strategy in fighting the public health threat posed by HIV and AIDS-related tuberculosis.
A Future of Prevention
In September 2023, USAID announced that it had partnered with the South African Medical Research Council, contracting them for research and development of an HIV vaccine. This development in USAID programs in South Africa marks a notable shift from a focus on treating HIV infection, to preventing it, and fittingly accompanies PEPFAR’s plan to focus on sustainable prevention of HIV throughout the next five years, according to USAID’s website. The search for an HIV vaccine has been ongoing for 40 years, and this localized initiative will now allow South African scientists to be at the forefront of healing their country from crisis.
In USAID’s official press release for this contract, Deputy Administrator Paloma Adams-Allen emphasized that, in South Africa, “the scientific community is on the cusp of developing a vaccine to prevent HIV.” This hopeful suggestion, and the clear shift from treatment towards prevention, points to a brighter future for South Africa and is a significant step towards USAID and PEPFAR’s goal to end HIV as a public health threat by 2030.
– Maeve Relihan
Photo: Flickr