The Gabonese Republic, a nation in central Africa bordering the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, originated in 1960 following independence from France. Following the successful decolonization movement, a constitutional and political order with a dominant presidency and close ties to France was established. Unfortunately, child poverty in Gabon is an issue that requires significant attention but some are making a difference.
The Situation
President El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba of the Gabonese Democratic Party, the new republic’s second head of state, abolished all other political parties. Using revenue from substantial natural reserves from forestry, oil and other extraction-based industries, Gabon invested in social services, such as comprehensive education, while encouraging the rural population to seek better-paying jobs based in urban centers.
Substantial aid from other nations such as France and multinational institutions, such as the United Nations, have provided additional benefits. Following political turmoil and economic stagnation through the 1980s, President Bongo reintroduced multiparty democracy and deregulated the private sector economy, encouraging business investment.
Gabon has since developed a reputation for stability and relative security in comparison with its central African neighbors. Additionally, Gabon is distinguished from its regional peers by its population, which is about 90% urban, and possesses one of the highest per capita incomes in central Africa. This wealth and high economic growth following independence has also permitted the country of $2.3 million to invest in economic development and establish social services, such as comprehensive education and other social services.
As a result, Gabon experiences comparatively lower rates of poverty, illiteracy and food insecurity than most of its central and sub-Saharan peers. However, domestic government aid has been criticized globally for being inefficient, with economic incentives and development programs often benefiting those already secure and receiving upper and middle incomes more than concentrated demographics in need of direct help, such as impoverished children. Here is information about child poverty in Gabon and the efforts to eliminate it.
Poverty Among Vulnerable Groups
Despite these advantages and policies, Gabon continues to suffer from high concentrations of poverty and insecurity amongst vulnerable parts of the population, such as the elderly, those in rural areas and children. Children, who account for a substantial proportion of Gabon’s population, also face disadvantages due to mixed social services and basic infrastructure and uneven educational and early job opportunities, especially in rural areas. While the total national poverty rate is 38.5%, more than 40% of children face deprivation in health and sanitation, with nearly 50% facing such shortfalls in rural areas. Similarly, though unemployment amongst the broad population is 20%, youth unemployment remains elevated at 38%.
Learning Poverty in Gabon
Issues more relevant to younger children are also prevalent, such as in education, which reflects the nuanced situation for children in Gabon. Primary and secondary education is mandatory from the ages 6 to 16, and Gabon has invested more resources than average for sub-Saharan Africa on a per-student basis.
Additionally, learning poverty, defined as an inability to comprehend grade-level text by the age of 10 years, is 49.9% below average for regional peers. Despite these longstanding advantages in basic educational services, with only 9% of children not enrolled in school, persistent challenges exist in attempts to improve both the quality of services and reduce the substantial quantity of children not getting an adequate array of curricular services.
Proficiency remains an ongoing challenge, with substantial minorities evaluated by international observers as below proficient; 31% do not achieve the Minimum Proficiency Standard, a national test sponsored by the United Nations Institute for Statistics to measure academic skills among school children.
Overcrowding and a shortage of experienced teachers are especially prevalent in rural areas and “poor” educational quality compounds them.
Food Security and Water Access
Food security and access to water, examples of the essential services Gabon has been able to provide to its residents, also face issues related to quality which may hamper further progress. The imposition of a national water price, though effective in guaranteeing affordability for most households, remains prohibitive for those in poverty, especially families in rural areas.
Further, rural families often lack direct access to water and depend upon neighbors, who often demand premiums over the government price, negating the impact. This structural obstacle towards greater water access also challenges efforts to improve access to superior so-called hygienic facilities, with 47% of households without running water septic systems and latrines. As a result, 40% of children lack basic hygienic provisions, with those in rural areas getting fewer resources on average.
Historical improvements and more recent stagnation have also defined progress in addressing food insecurity among children in Gabon. According to the Global Hunger Index, Gabon has experienced gradual declines in chronic undernourishment of children, with the proportion of stunted children declining to under 20%. However, undernourishment remains a growing issue, with the UNICEF statistics showing that 35% of children in Gabon are nutritionally deprived, a reflection of ongoing problems in concentrating aid and resources towards those already disadvantaged, especially families, in rural areas.
In sum, the Gabonese Republic has, through the encouragement of international aid and continuous social investments, successfully outperformed most other central African peers in countering poverty, including child poverty in Gabon. These investments, such as in widespread education and in key industries, have proved constructive in reducing poverty and countering social ills. However, the most vulnerable demographics, such as the poorest and children, have not reaped the full benefits of these programs and investments, acting as an example of the benefits of incentivizing aid while highlighting the intractability of complex issues such as child poverty in developing nations.
– Cormac Sullivan
Photo: Wikipedia Commons
5 Poverty-Fighting NGOs in Mali
5 NGOs in Mali
Prospects for the Future
While Mali’s situation might be worsening, the actions of the aforementioned NGOs prove that localized success is possible and that the fight to end poverty is not a lost cause. In the despair of poverty, these NGOs bring hope to those most in need.
– Daniel Pereda
Photo: Flickr
Nonprofits Creating Change in Sub-Saharan Africa
UNICEF
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was established in 1946. Initially, the organization was created to provide mothers and their children with emergency care during World War II. Now, the nonprofit assists women and children in underdeveloped countries everywhere.
In Eastern Africa, malnutrition and hunger have become very prominent. Due to extreme weather patterns, the region has experienced its worst drought in decades. The devastation has made it nearly impossible for crops to grow and sustain people in the easternmost part of Africa. Approximately 37 million people are suffering the consequences of this drought. Among those, 20 million are children.
UNICEF has been called into action and continues to create several positive impact plans for the future of this region. For example, UNICEF uses its Ready-To-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) as a protein substance for many children lacking in nutrition. RUTF is a peanut paste that is known to be an effective way to increase a malnourished child’s health stability.
Additionally, UNICEF is working to improve East Africa’s access to water and sanitation products through a more efficient delivery process. Its new action plan creates emergency interventions, including immunization processes for children. Overall, UNICEF is striving to create positive change in sub-Saharan Africa.
MIET Africa
The Media in Education Trust Organization was established in 1996 in Durban, South Africa. The program strives to promote schooling and socioeconomic development (as it relates to education) in the Southern region of Africa.
In sub-Saharan Africa, over one-fifth of young children between the ages of 6 and 11 are out of school. This stat increases its numbers to one-third with 12- to 14-year-olds and then drops off to about 60% of 15- to 17-year-olds not in school.
To enhance the quality of education in South Africa, MIET works with Ministries of Education to create better research development programs, meaningful and inclusive partnerships between students and staff and technology-based solutions.
MIET has become so big and impactful that the organization has created regional satellite offices in South Africa and the Southern African Development Community.
MIET offers several projects and programs for children looking for a sufficient education. Programs addressing barriers to learning and development include the Amani Project, the Boys’ Vulnerability Study and the Education: My Right! My Future! program. Programs aimed to enhance the quality of one’s education include Maths 4 All, the Pongola Science and Mathematics Enhancement Programme and the FNB Primary Education Projects. Finally, youth development projects include Future-Life Now!, Bright Futures and Learn to Earn. Each one of these programs has a unique teaching style that will prepare students for their futures in the working world.
The Power of Nonprofits in Sub-Saharan Africa
Both UNICEF and MIET use their power and influence to create change for sub-Saharan Africa and help enhance the lives of many. Fortunately, these are not the only nonprofits to improve underdeveloped countries. Programs such as The Nyagi Project and Tostan are raising money and awareness in Africa for those who do not have as large of a voice in the corporate world. The Nyagi Project is teaching local doctors in Africa how to use more advanced medical technology to get more precise diagnoses on a given patient. Tostan enables young entrepreneurs in Africa to train in more advanced IT-based settings.
By implementing nonprofit programs within the sub-Saharan region of Africa, lower-income countries are given an opportunity to learn, grow and create change that will help provide them extended economic and social opportunities in the future.
– Nina Donlin
Photo: Flickr
Progress Report on Women’s Rights in Lesotho
Background on Lesotho
Lesotho is a landlocked country located in South Africa. The former Basutoland won independence in 1966 from the United Kingdom and recognized itself as the Kingdom of Lesotho. A constitutional government was then instituted in 1993 after a brief span of military rule. It acquired a semblance of political stability following the constitutional reforms in the late 1990s.
Lesotho is classified as a lower-middle-income country. In 2022, 34.7% of the population was experiencing poverty, living on only $2.15 per day.
Definition of Women’s Rights
Women’s rights involve issues such as freedom from sexual violence, the right to vote, to hold public office, to work, to education and to own property. The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (U.N. Women) is the U.N. entity committed to empowering women and promoting gender equality. Their vision of equality involves the following:
The Current Status of Women’s Rights in Lesotho
Internationally, Lesotho ranks very low on women’s rights. According to the Human Development Report 2021/2022, the country ranks 144 out of 191 worldwide on gender equality. As a result, women are more likely to live in poverty than men due to discriminatory practices that limit their employment opportunities.
Women in Lesotho face high rates of domestic abuse and sexual assault. A survey in 2018 reported that 16.5% of women ages 15–49 were victims of physical and/or sexual assault from a current or former partner within the last year.
A lack of quality health care services is a major issue. With little access to necessary medical procedures, women become susceptible to high infant and maternal mortality rates. An underdeveloped health care sector also weakens the official capacity to mitigate virus outbreaks. Women in particular are disproportionately affected by HIV, as 27.3% live with the virus, compared to 17.4% of men.
Lastly, women are politically underrepresented in local government. Lesotho’s population was measured at 2.3 million as of 2022. Although women make up 50.7% of the population, as of February 2021, women held 23.3% of the seats in parliament.
The Progress
Despite these ongoing issues, the status of women’s rights in Lesotho has improved. Regarding women’s health, the rate of infant and maternal mortality is decreasing. This is a direct consequence of the 86.6% increase in health care professionals attending live births.
The government has also passed legislation to enhance the status of women’s rights in Lesotho. In the last two decades, the government has passed The Sexual Offenses Act, The Anti-Trafficking Persons Act and the Local Government Elections Act, the latter of which sets a quota for women’s representation in local government.
The recent growth of the garment industry has had a major impact on poverty reduction. Currently, the garment industry produces 20% of the country’s GDP. While many men in Lesotho travel to South Africa to work in mines, it is women who find employment in clothing factories. Women make up 80% of the factory workforce. Such job opportunities mean women no longer have to rely solely on a man’s ability to provide.
To further reduce poverty the World Bank has adopted the Country Partnership Framework 2024–-2028 for Lesotho. This strategy focuses on three long-term outcomes:
Conclusion
Lesotho is still struggling with high rates of HIV/AIDS and relatively low gender inequality. Yet clear progress has been made on women’s rights. These improvements serve as a sign of hope that greater swaths of the population in Lesotho are experiencing longer, more stable and more enriching lives.
– Nicholas Jaramillo
Photo: Pixabay
Improving Mental Health in Samoa
The Past
Samoans have faced many challenges regarding mental health. Due to a lack of financial support, Samoans have had little education about mental illness and how to treat it. This confusion has resulted in misconceptions as to what causes poor mental health.
For many years, the Samoan culture relied on the belief that a demon was responsible for mental illness. This “demon” dictated the person’s actions and feelings about themselves. This belief led to feelings of isolation and misunderstanding amongst the Samoan people. That isolation perpetuates the silence.
In the 1970s and the early 80s, Samoa experienced an epidemic of suicide. The suicide rates rose sharply, and the mental health of many Samoans worsened. To combat this, the minister of public works decided they needed to build a space for people struggling with mental illness. However, they did not have the resources or money to care for these patients. Pisaina Tago, a nurse at the time, recalled what happened to one of the violent patients: “One of the patients — he damaged the whole room, and everyone was at risk. We took him to the police, and they agreed to take him to prison, and that’s where he died. He [was found] drowned in the 44-gallon water tank for the toilet and baths.”
By 1981, Samoa had the third-highest suicide rate in the world per capita. The citizens needed help.
The Change Within
Poverty has an extreme effect on one’s mental health. Being at or below the poverty line makes someone twice as likely to suffer from depression. Samoans already experience immense pressure from family and peers. Adding financial insecurity on top of this is detrimental to one’s well-being. The good news is that changes have begun to address mental health and poverty in Samoa.
Rehabilitative measures have started to help Samoans find meaning in life and allow them to open up. First, the Mental Health Unit (MHU) constructed new buildings. These renovations created a safer space for the staff and patients. The MHU also started implementing art therapy. Art allows the patients to express themselves. This form of self-care has spread around the island and reached youth.
The MHU in Samoa altogether is working towards lowering suicide rates. With the awareness rising of the extremities of mental illness, the MHU can target many of its causes now. Alcohol, bullying, prison and family problems are focal points for the MHU and stopping suicide. In a 2014 survey, when 124 Samoans were asked if mental health was important, 77% said it was, and the other 23% said it was not, signifying the need for education.
Fellow Samoans have also started to step in and help their community. The organization Faatua Le Ola (FLO) started offering free counseling sessions for anyone who needs help. FLO spreads awareness about suicide by reaching out to schools and speaking to youth about where to get help. FLO also created a hotline to prevent suicide. It is one of many organizations that realized the dire need for mental health assistance on the island.
Plan of Action
Addressing poverty will improve mental health in Samoa. Money is needed to provide people with the proper education and resources. People can focus on their mental health and getting help by improving financial strain.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is helping fight poverty in Samoa. IFAD focuses on the rural poor by enhancing opportunities and building self-reliance. IFAD improves access for Samoans and allows them better resources and technology. IFAD also focuses on helping governments invest in programs that help places like Samoa.
For mental health in Samoa, the Bridgetown Declaration on Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) and Mental Health addressed the world’s deadliest diseases in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Bridgetown launched the declaration to address mental health conditions. The directive aims to raise awareness of SIDS’s challenges, forge possible solutions, increase domestic and international action on NCDs and mental health, and engage society to accelerate proposed ideas.
Although there is room for growth in improving mental health in Samoa, increased awareness and problem-solving have put the island on the right track. The future of Samoan mental health will continue to improve with better action plans to alleviate poverty and help from the community.
– Madison Rogers
Photo: Flickr
StrongMinds Strives to Support Mental Health in Africa
Mental health in Africa requires significant attention. An integral aspect of a person’s health, mental health encompasses one’s cognitive, behavioral and emotional well-being. Mental health influences how people are able to interact with others, handle stress and make healthy decisions that will benefit them in life. Unsurprisingly, taking care of one’s mental health is incredibly valuable and important when working towards optimal physical health and healthy relationships with others, both of which can contribute to preserving a person’s ability to enjoy life.
Unfortunately, mental health is a serious issue: 970 million people across the globe experience struggles with some form of mental illness or drug abuse, and approximately 8 million deaths worldwide can be attributed to mental disorders. With mental illness afflicting one in four people across the world at some point in their lives, mental health is a global health issue that is particularly challenging in low- and middle-income countries, with 76% to 85% of the population struggling with receiving proper care or treatment for their mental illnesses. Here is some information about mental health in Africa.
Mental Health in Africa
Many African countries experience difficulty regarding accessibility to proper mental health care, with fewer than two mental health workers for every 100,00 people and severely inadequate funding for mental health care. The average African government dedicates less than 50 cents per capita to mental health, which is drastically lower than the recommended allocation of $2 per capita for low-income countries. In addition to overall inefficient and inadequate mental health care, high treatment costs can also deter many in Africa from seeking treatment for mental disorders.
Other prevalent barriers to mental health care include limited education and awareness in addition to the shame and stigma associated with mental illnesses. Some may feel hesitant to acknowledge their own condition, especially when surrounded by the stigma that portrays those living with mental conditions as unfavorable.
StrongMinds Targeting Depression in Africa
Founded in 2013, StrongMinds is a nonprofit organization concentrated in Uganda that treats African women living with depression through free group talk therapy. Since its founding, StrongMinds has helped approximately 230,000 women with depression in Uganda and Zambia. StrongMinds also supports adolescents through peer-to-peer therapy.
To treat depression, StrongMinds utilizes group interpersonal psychotherapy, which has been recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the preferred method when intervening with depression in resource-poor areas. This treatment model employed by StrongMinds highlights the importance of relationships with others as the basis of recovery from depression. Counselors help members over six to 10 sessions through structured discussions, teach them coping mechanisms, and share support structures that the members can utilize even after therapy at StrongMinds. The members are able to practice interpersonal skills and reflect on underlying triggers for their depression while working with each other to form meaningful social bonds in the process.
Following therapy at StrongMinds, beneficiaries have reported that on average, 80% of the women treated remain depression-free for six months. The results are remarkable, as these women achieve clinically significant reductions in symptoms of depression and report feeling more connected with their surrounding community. According to StrongMinds, 16% of women report an increase in work attendance, 13% report being able to feed their children more regularly and 30% of women say that their children attend school more often.
StrongMinds is also actively working with advocacy initiatives with the Ministry of Health to improve the Health Management System to ensure that the number of people who receive treatment for mental illnesses is properly recorded, and the organization also conducts research to advance knowledge on mental health.
Looking Forward
StrongMinds is just one of several leading organizations spearheading the efforts to improve the state of mental health in many African countries. By supporting those who are struggling with finding access to therapy or treatment, organizations like StrongMinds can ensure individuals experiencing mental illness across Africa receive the proper high-quality care they deserve. By empowering women in Africa through investments in mental health services, StrongMinds shows how a society of mentally healthy individuals can reduce poverty, encourage financial independence, and foster positive, social changes.
– Annie Song
Photo: Flickr
What Catalytic Communities Has to Say About Favelas
In 2019, the João Pinheiro Foundation estimated that Brazil lacked nearly 6 million homes across the country. The deficit was concentrated in the lower-income population and is certainly now higher given the thousands of evictions that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Brazil’s housing crisis cannot just be reduced to numbers. Along with being insufficient, Brazilian social housing has proved to be inadequate, poorly placed and susceptible to crime and violence.
Catalytic Communities (CatComm), an NGO based in Rio de Janeiro, provides a new way of looking at social housing by refusing to demonize favelas. Instead, it draws out the positives of favelas and explains how people should follow these traits as an example for future social housing developments. First, it is important to properly diagnose Brazil’s social housing crisis.
The Minha Casa, Minha Vida (MCMV) Program
In 2009, former President Lula created the social housing program dubbed Minha Casa, Minha Vida (MCMV), meaning “My House, My Life.” In 11 years, the program built 6 million housing units. Essentially, the program functioned by giving lodgings to people in need of social housing. These tenants would pay in subsidized installments every month, and eventually, the property would become theirs. This process would usually take 10 years.
The program has faced several obstacles in its time, often due to political upheaval such as former President Temer’s freezing of the MCMV for budgetary readjustment. In 2020, former President Bolsonaro replaced the program with his own Green and Yellow House Program (PCVA). Critics bemoaned this change with Thalles Vichiato Breda claiming that the new program “only serves as (fake) political propaganda,” for Bolsonaro. While the MCMV provided interest-free payments, PCVA payments had interest rates of 4.5% over a much longer time (35 years). The sum payments were higher too. There were also claims that the PCVA was not meeting MCMV contracts for housing improvements.
Challenges with the MCMV Program
Since President Lula retook power this year, he reinstated the MCMV. Many have praised this change. However, while this is progress, simple praise threatens to obscure the inherent problems of the MCMV. Due to land prices in Brazil, most MCMV developments are very far away from urban centers. This peripheralization has a multitude of drawbacks. First, it places lower-income residents very far away from services and employment opportunities. For men, this means an increase in transport costs, as well as time spent on commutes, especially given that these areas often have poor infrastructural links to urban centers. For women, the lack of infrastructure exacerbates their safety concerns, meaning that they are more likely to stay in urban peripheries, constraining their economic independence.
Social isolation and the above employment constraints mean that MCMV residents are more likely to turn to informal employment, allowing crime to proliferate. A study in the Journal of Illicit Economies and Development details how some social housing developments are virtually run by local militias, which is often abetted by corruption in the local government and police. Residents who disobey militia rules sometimes experience violent expulsion.
At the same time, these houses are often of poor quality, such as not being equipped against dry heat. They are also very small, sometimes just designed as places to sleep rather than proper homes which diminishes their functionality. Also, constantly increasing city sizes through peripheralization threatens green spaces and causes environmental degradation.
While MCMV payments are interest-free, repayments toward owning a house are still difficult to fulfill, and as many as 45% of low-income beneficiaries are indebted under this repayment system. Clearly, the MCMV program is far from perfect. Exploring what works in favelas could provide some solutions.
How Catalytic Communities’ Sustainable Favela Network is Helping?
Catalytic Communities’ Sustainable Favela Network aims to turn consensus from favelas away from being inherent problems towards being “solution factories.” The desired outcome is that favelas undergo sustainable development, rather than being dismantled. Catalytic Communities details many favorable traits of favelas. First, favelas are situated within urban centers, rather than peripheralized like MCMV housing. As a result, they are closer to employment opportunities and public transit services. They also say that the low-rise nature of favelas avoids social isolation, which leads to higher entrepreneurship and collective action through constant knowledge exchanges. In these ways, favelas are the opposite of MCMV developments.
In favelas, CatComm aims to make more visible already existing initiatives within favelas, to both improve knowledge exchange networks and to promulgate the conversation beyond Rio de Janeiro. For example, the NGO has visually mapped about 111 community initiatives, thereby increasing knowledge of, and access to, them.
While it would be unwise to declare that favelas should be the target, given the poverty and crime present, CatComm shows that social housing provisions in Brazil need to be more adaptive. Instead of going ahead with the same projects as before, the newly reinstated MCMV program must respond to the problems of peripheralization. While this is certainly easier said than done, President Lula’s government should begin looking at what the favelas do right and what it can learn from them.
– Ryan Ratnam
Photo: Flickr
Child Poverty in Gabon
The Gabonese Republic, a nation in central Africa bordering the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, originated in 1960 following independence from France. Following the successful decolonization movement, a constitutional and political order with a dominant presidency and close ties to France was established. Unfortunately, child poverty in Gabon is an issue that requires significant attention but some are making a difference.
The Situation
President El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba of the Gabonese Democratic Party, the new republic’s second head of state, abolished all other political parties. Using revenue from substantial natural reserves from forestry, oil and other extraction-based industries, Gabon invested in social services, such as comprehensive education, while encouraging the rural population to seek better-paying jobs based in urban centers.
Substantial aid from other nations such as France and multinational institutions, such as the United Nations, have provided additional benefits. Following political turmoil and economic stagnation through the 1980s, President Bongo reintroduced multiparty democracy and deregulated the private sector economy, encouraging business investment.
Gabon has since developed a reputation for stability and relative security in comparison with its central African neighbors. Additionally, Gabon is distinguished from its regional peers by its population, which is about 90% urban, and possesses one of the highest per capita incomes in central Africa. This wealth and high economic growth following independence has also permitted the country of $2.3 million to invest in economic development and establish social services, such as comprehensive education and other social services.
As a result, Gabon experiences comparatively lower rates of poverty, illiteracy and food insecurity than most of its central and sub-Saharan peers. However, domestic government aid has been criticized globally for being inefficient, with economic incentives and development programs often benefiting those already secure and receiving upper and middle incomes more than concentrated demographics in need of direct help, such as impoverished children. Here is information about child poverty in Gabon and the efforts to eliminate it.
Poverty Among Vulnerable Groups
Despite these advantages and policies, Gabon continues to suffer from high concentrations of poverty and insecurity amongst vulnerable parts of the population, such as the elderly, those in rural areas and children. Children, who account for a substantial proportion of Gabon’s population, also face disadvantages due to mixed social services and basic infrastructure and uneven educational and early job opportunities, especially in rural areas. While the total national poverty rate is 38.5%, more than 40% of children face deprivation in health and sanitation, with nearly 50% facing such shortfalls in rural areas. Similarly, though unemployment amongst the broad population is 20%, youth unemployment remains elevated at 38%.
Learning Poverty in Gabon
Issues more relevant to younger children are also prevalent, such as in education, which reflects the nuanced situation for children in Gabon. Primary and secondary education is mandatory from the ages 6 to 16, and Gabon has invested more resources than average for sub-Saharan Africa on a per-student basis.
Additionally, learning poverty, defined as an inability to comprehend grade-level text by the age of 10 years, is 49.9% below average for regional peers. Despite these longstanding advantages in basic educational services, with only 9% of children not enrolled in school, persistent challenges exist in attempts to improve both the quality of services and reduce the substantial quantity of children not getting an adequate array of curricular services.
Proficiency remains an ongoing challenge, with substantial minorities evaluated by international observers as below proficient; 31% do not achieve the Minimum Proficiency Standard, a national test sponsored by the United Nations Institute for Statistics to measure academic skills among school children.
Overcrowding and a shortage of experienced teachers are especially prevalent in rural areas and “poor” educational quality compounds them.
Food Security and Water Access
Food security and access to water, examples of the essential services Gabon has been able to provide to its residents, also face issues related to quality which may hamper further progress. The imposition of a national water price, though effective in guaranteeing affordability for most households, remains prohibitive for those in poverty, especially families in rural areas.
Further, rural families often lack direct access to water and depend upon neighbors, who often demand premiums over the government price, negating the impact. This structural obstacle towards greater water access also challenges efforts to improve access to superior so-called hygienic facilities, with 47% of households without running water septic systems and latrines. As a result, 40% of children lack basic hygienic provisions, with those in rural areas getting fewer resources on average.
Historical improvements and more recent stagnation have also defined progress in addressing food insecurity among children in Gabon. According to the Global Hunger Index, Gabon has experienced gradual declines in chronic undernourishment of children, with the proportion of stunted children declining to under 20%. However, undernourishment remains a growing issue, with the UNICEF statistics showing that 35% of children in Gabon are nutritionally deprived, a reflection of ongoing problems in concentrating aid and resources towards those already disadvantaged, especially families, in rural areas.
In sum, the Gabonese Republic has, through the encouragement of international aid and continuous social investments, successfully outperformed most other central African peers in countering poverty, including child poverty in Gabon. These investments, such as in widespread education and in key industries, have proved constructive in reducing poverty and countering social ills. However, the most vulnerable demographics, such as the poorest and children, have not reaped the full benefits of these programs and investments, acting as an example of the benefits of incentivizing aid while highlighting the intractability of complex issues such as child poverty in developing nations.
– Cormac Sullivan
Photo: Wikipedia Commons
Peter Njeri Wins Award for His Engineering Projects in Kenya
Visionary engineer and company co-founder Peter Njeri has won the 2023 Waislitz Global Citizen Grand Award for his work on a method that reduces indoor pollution by turning plastic waste into clean energy. Today, more than 10,050 Kenyan families use his equipment to reduce deaths due to indoor pollution.
Indoor Pollution in Kenya
According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), about 3.2 million people die from indoor pollution every year. Women and children are affected the most since they carry the burden of household chores. In conservative estimates, about 23,000 of the 3.2 million deaths are low-income women living in Kenya. Health complications from indoor pollution are caused by the unsafe burning of biomass fuels such as charcoal, kerosene, firewood and dung. The use of indoor fires has been linked to many respiratory diseases. It has been reported in villages from western Kenya that 92% of women and 95.4% of children had coughs of varying intensities during the year 2022.
Energy poverty is a major factor responsible for these deaths. In northeastern Kenya, 88% of households are classified as acute energy poor. Today, one-third of the global population remains without access to clean cooking energy.
Peter Njeri, now an engineer and CEO of Mega Gas Alternative Energy, grew up in Soweto, where he observed the effects of energy poverty and indoor pollution first-hand. Many Kenyan mothers, like Njeri’s, have many children to feed. They are therefore exposed to harmful fumes from indoor fires for more than five hours every day. Njeri always noticed that his mother would choke and cough because of the indoor fire. This was a common occurrence in other households and communities as well. Njeri saw many women get sick and die; one of the cooks at his school passed away without a warning. People blamed the cause of death on her proximity to a hot stove, but Njeri knows the truth now.
Njeri’s Solution
Plastic waste is an overabundant material in Kenya. It litters the streets, playgrounds and countryside. Nairobi generates more than 480 tons of plastic every day, and EU Countries are additionally dumping 37 million items of “junk plastic clothing” on Kenyan land every year. Many people are at risk of coming into contact with plastic that contains biohazardous materials that can cause serious burns. Kenya’s natural ecosystems are destroyed as the plastic waste creeps into lakes and rivers. Both people and animals that live on those lands are threatened by flash floods, as the plastic waste clogs the drains.
Njeri’s education at the Royal Academy of Engineering provided him with the tools to turn plastic waste into clean gas with no pollutants or emissions, tackling both the indoor pollution and plastic waste problems in Kenya. The plastic is converted to gas by a thermal cracking process. Njeri’s clean gas has a high calorific value, burning for a long period of time. It is therefore a much cheaper alternative to biomass fuels.
Additionally, Njeri co-founded Mega Gas Alternative Energy, a clean-tech company on a mission to provide clean and affordable cooking energy for low-income families. The company hires Kenyan women, the group that has been affected the most by indoor pollution, to collect plastic waste and resell the clean gas product back to the community. The 6 kg gas canisters that the company sells back to the communities are only $4 per canister. For an even more reduced price, families can pay only $0.2/hr for access to a fully-kitted community kitchen. The company works closely with chiefs and village elders every two weeks to generate informed solutions. This protects the environment as well as the people. The company’s closeness with Kenyan communities has led to its success.
The Impact
Because of Njeri’s solutions, 250 tons of plastic waste are recycled each month, there are two community kitchens available for on-demand use, 100 Kenyan women have been employed in stable jobs and 12,164.76 tons of CO2 emissions have been prevented.
For his innovative work and impact, Peter Njeri has won the 2023 Waislitz Global Citizen Award Grand Prize. These awards have been taking place for nine years now, awarding citizens for their empowering missions to end extreme poverty. The winners of these awards will receive cash prizes and networking support that help them accelerate the scale of their impact. The Waislitz Global Citizen Award will allow Njeri and his company to serve an additional 5,400 families each month.
Currently, more than 10,050 families are using Njeri’s technology for cooking. His impactful work has not gone unnoticed in the world. His prize will provide him with the means to take his work even further, inspiring others to use their own skills to end global poverty.
– Sophia Holub
Photo: Flickr
How Venus Williams Is Promoting Educational Rights
Humanitarian Work
According to UNESCO, around 244 million children in Africa between the ages of 6 and 18 are out of school. The Human Rights Watch estimates that more than 49 million women in Sub-Saharan Africa are out of primary and secondary schooling, undermining their opportunities and limiting their rights. Early marriages are a factor in the lack of women’s education in Africa. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 40% of girls below the age of 18 are married, preventing them from receiving a proper education.
In response, Williams is promoting educational rights for women by partnering with CARE, an international humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. The aim of the partnership is to raise awareness and encourage girls’ education in developing regions by supporting programs in Kenya and Malawi. According to UNESCO, 74% of the Malawi population lives in poverty, and education for girls often ends in primary school. Williams is promoting educational rights by contributing $25,000 to assist CARE in launching a vocational training program based in Malawi. The vocational training program has been able to reach out to 50 women in Malawi.
Educational Support in Latin America
According to the Pew Research Center, 33% of Latinos ages 18 to 24 are enrolled in school, compared to an average of 42%. The lack of education that Latinos receive is evident in the socio-economic challenges that they face. Latino families are 1.5 times more likely to live below the poverty line compared to white families.
Alongside supporting the education of African girls, Williams is promoting educational rights for Latinas. She has constantly supported the Eva Longoria Foundation, an organization that helps “Latinas build better futures for themselves and their families through education and entrepreneurship.”
The Eva Longoria Foundation
The Eva Longoria Foundation works by launching programs that are culturally relevant in order to enhance the learning and productivity of Latinas. According to the Eva Longoria Foundation, 17% of U.S. women are Latina, yet only 2% of them are in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) workforce. The Eva Longoria Foundation launched the STEM Program, which encourages young Latinas’ love for math and science at a young age through projects like coding and robotics. Through Williams’ support of the organization, the Eva Longoria Foundation has been successful in teaching STEM skills to more than 2,000 young Latina women.
– Yana Gupta
Photo: Flickr
How USAID Programs Aid Smallholder Peruvian Coffee Farmers
Located in South America, Peru has a GDP of $242 million as of 2022, according to the World Bank. With more than 200,000 acres of land dedicated to coffee farming, Peru is currently known as the “world’s largest leading exporter of organic coffee,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture says. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) notes that Peru exports coffee to more than 50 countries, with coffee making up one-fourth of its “national agriculture income.” Although Peru has boasted high success with this commodity, smallholder coffee farmers continue to struggle as their financial stability is dependent on coffee’s “delicate sustainability.” With challenges of market fluctuations, labor costs, disease, deforestation and changing weather patterns for Peruvian coffee farmers, support is imperative to ensure sustainability and stability.
The Work of USAID
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has instituted various programs to promote positive growth in coffee production in Peru. These programs will help coffee cooperatives to increase income, yields and access markets. The following programs by USAID aid smallholder Peruvian coffee farmers by providing funds, technical assistance, training and agricultural aid to increase sustainability and productivity.
Farmer-to-Farmer
The John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer Program recognizes the need to provide technical assistance to coffee farmers around the world. Since its authorization in 1985, this program has extended aid to more than 12,000 organizations and reached more than 100 million people in various countries.
From 2019 to 2023, Farmer-to-Farmer has aimed to provide services to 36 countries, including Peru. These services provide smallholder Peruvian coffee farmers with aid from U.S. volunteers, who have professional experience in farming, marketing and agriculture. These volunteers provide technology and business expertise, training small and medium enterprises on marketing, production, agricultural growth and problem-solving.
As the USAID website states, this program focuses on “promoting sustainable improvements in food security” so Peruvian coffee farmers experience positive economic growth and acquire knowledge to support their businesses. USAID anticipates that this $6.25 million USAID-funded program will train more than 40,000 people over five years.
Coffee Alliance for Excellence (CAFE)
With more than $13 million in funding from USAID, the Coffee Alliance for Excellence (CAFE) aims to multiply the incomes of smallholder Peruvian coffee farmers by increasing productivity and coffee bean quality. The program has also garnered more than $1.7 million in funding from USAID partners.
Coffee Alliance for Excellence (CAFE) is a USAID program that began in 2017 and is projected to run until late 2024. This USAID program partners with popular companies such as Peet’s Coffee and Starbucks Coffee. As a USAID publication states, this program is integral as it deters impoverished smallholder Peruvian coffee farmers from resorting to cultivating narcotics to secure an income.
CAFE aims to increase productivity through the training of farmers on efficient farming techniques, such as “low emission production practices.” CAFE also connects farmers with financial and marketing services to boost the success of their businesses. USAID reports that CAFE has brought about a “201% increase in household income of more than 8,380 families in the Amazon.” Furthermore, CAFE helped Peruvian coffee farmers to sell more than 45,000 metric tons of coffee, totaling more than $100 million, among other outcomes.
Specialty Coffee Community
Implemented in September 2021, this five-year program aims to boost farmer income in Peru by focusing on coffee bean quality during production. This involves “reducing/eliminating inefficiencies” and increasing market access for coffee farmers. Since the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected jobs and productivity, this program recognizes the need to boost smallholder Peruvian coffee farmers in their trades.
With $5.7 million in program funding, USAID partnered with the Central Café & Cacao del Perú (Central), which connects 10 other Peruvian organizations and more than 2,500 coffee farmers to the cause. This program will involve the training of coffee farmers and various marketing and promotion exercises. By 2026, this program expects to triple the income of more than 3,000 Peruvian coffee farms, bringing coffee sales into a profitable margin.
Geni Fundes Buleje, director of this project, believes that Peru will “position itself as a producer of high-quality coffees in the world” through the work of this project, which aims to create “sustainable, efficient production, consistent quality and market access.”
Looking to the Future
While the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected the production of coffee and its sustainability, programs by USAID have contributed funding, training and technical and agricultural assistance to smallholder Peruvian coffee farmers.
While coffee-growing regions face deforestation risks, environmental issues and market inconsistencies, these programs continue to boost Peruvian livelihoods by providing access to much-needed services. With the assistance of U.S. experts and private companies, the coffee market can continue to grow and lift coffee farmers and their families out of poverty.
– Kristina Gaffney
Photo: Flickr