Studies by the government of Pakistan and donor agencies estimate poverty incidence in Pakistan using survey data. Over the past decade, these studies consistently show Balochistan as the poorest province, with its poor accounting for 10-11% of the country’s total poor population. Unfortunately, Balochistan is experiencing a challenge with gender-based violence and poverty. Here is information about the correlation between poverty and gender-based violence in Balochistan.
Harmful Customary Practices
Balochistan is full of harmful customs that adversely affect women and violate their rights. These include killings for honor, forced marriages, exchange marriages (where women are traded between tribes to settle disputes) and depriving girls of education. Poverty makes these abuses more likely to happen because it gives women less power and fewer choices.
According to police reports, in February 2022, over two days, three women and two men died in the name of ‘honor’ in the Jaffarabad, Mastung and Hub districts of Balochistan. In Jaffarabad, a man shot his wife and nephew dead. Meanwhile, in Mastung, unknown persons brutally slaughtered a married couple. In Hub, the second husband allegedly murdered his wife, Mah Jan. These honor killings show how common these kinds of crimes are in Balochistan. These unjustified killings are due to poverty, the lack of legal protections for women and traditional harmful beliefs that allow gender-based violence against women in Balochistan. The cases in February 2022 have brought calls for reform and justice to stop such tragic loss in the name of family honor.
Crisis of Missing Persons
The issue of missing persons in Balochistan also disproportionately affects women. Thousands of Baloch men have gone missing, allegedly abducted by security forces. Their grieving wives and mothers have been left in limbo, not knowing if their loved ones are dead or alive. These women, considered ‘half widows,’ face social stigma, economic deprivation, legal problems and severe psychological trauma. The unsolved missing person crisis further terrorizes and disempowers the province’s women.
Sammi Deen Baloch has been protesting for 13 years since her father disappeared in Balochistan, one of more than 5,000 reported missing persons in the province. After the abduction of Dr. Deen Mohammed Baloch in 2009, 15-year-old Sammi began raising awareness about these enforced disappearances by Pakistan’s security forces. Despite abusive crackdowns on protests, Sammi continues to demand answers and justice for families like hers suffering from indefinite loss. Her brave activism symbolizes the plight of Balochistan’s ‘half widows’ and mothers whose loved ones have vanished, as well as the importance of accountability for the decades-old human rights crisis that has left thousands missing amid the region’s separatist conflict.
The Vital Work of the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons
Organizations like the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons provide affected families with legal aid, counseling and advocacy support. However, endemic poverty makes it difficult for women to pursue justice and healing. Economic dependence and lack of opportunity trap them in anguish and uncertainty.
Affected families formed The Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) in 2009 to pursue justice for Balochistan’s disappearance. Headquartered in Quetta, VBMP provides free legal assistance to help families file petitions and cases seeking information on missing loved ones. It also offers counseling and mental health support to traumatized families, particularly women and children. VBMP organizes protests, sit-ins and campaigns to highlight enforced disappearances and pressurize authorities. It has district committees across Balochistan to document cases and mobilize families.
VBMP publishes reports to increase awareness of the crisis locally and internationally. It also assists impoverished families with resources for legal procedures and accessing VBMP hubs. Operating on donations and aid funding, the organization employs legal advocacy, activism, counseling and reporting to support families of the missing in Balochistan in their struggle for truth and justice.
Recommendations for Empowerment
Increasing economic empowerment among women is crucial. Income generation through vocational training, microfinance schemes, handicrafts cooperatives and cash-for-work programs can provide women with financial security. These enable women to avoid forced marriages, escape abuse and sustain themselves while searching for missing family members.
Communities and justice systems should engage to stop seeing women’s rights abuses as acceptable. Protecting women from harm, ensuring their safety through shelters and prosecuting abusers will create an environment where women can exercise their rights and seek justice.
Tackling endemic poverty and socioeconomic empowerment of women has to accompany legal-social reform to alleviate gender-based violence in Balochistan in all its forms. Holistic efforts addressing economic and cultural factors are needed to promote women’s rights, safety and development in Balochistan.
– Asia Jamil
Photo: Flickr
5 Facts About “Sound of Freedom” & Child Trafficking
On July 23, 2023, The Hill reported that “Sound of Freedom” — a film aiming to raise awareness about the global issue of child trafficking — surpassed $100 million in gross revenue at the domestic box office. While the film brought this issue to mainstream audiences, some have criticized it for portraying a sensationalized representation of child trafficking. Here are five facts about “Sound of Freedom” and child trafficking.
5 Facts About “Sound of Freedom” and Child Trafficking
Ongoing Efforts
While “Sound of Freedom” has brought attention to Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), it is not the only organization whose mission is to fight back against child trafficking. Other nonprofit organizations have the same goal. For example, World’s Children is an organization dedicated to creating “a world in which every child has a safe, nurturing place to call home, and a chance to achieve their potential through education.”
World’s Children currently has an initiative called the Prevention of Child Trafficking Program (PCT) that aims to educate vulnerable populations about how to identify and stop child traffickers as well as working directly with government officials and local authorities to put an end to child trafficking.
Thus far, PCT has made quite an impact on the communities it’s aimed to help with a total of 130,985 adults and children having been taught about child trafficking prevention, 153 victims being saved from child trafficking and 75 child marriages being terminated. Hopefully, ongoing efforts such as PCT will help put an end to child trafficking globally.
– Nicole Alexander
Photo: Flickr
Poverty and Gender-based Violence in Balochistan
Studies by the government of Pakistan and donor agencies estimate poverty incidence in Pakistan using survey data. Over the past decade, these studies consistently show Balochistan as the poorest province, with its poor accounting for 10-11% of the country’s total poor population. Unfortunately, Balochistan is experiencing a challenge with gender-based violence and poverty. Here is information about the correlation between poverty and gender-based violence in Balochistan.
Harmful Customary Practices
Balochistan is full of harmful customs that adversely affect women and violate their rights. These include killings for honor, forced marriages, exchange marriages (where women are traded between tribes to settle disputes) and depriving girls of education. Poverty makes these abuses more likely to happen because it gives women less power and fewer choices.
According to police reports, in February 2022, over two days, three women and two men died in the name of ‘honor’ in the Jaffarabad, Mastung and Hub districts of Balochistan. In Jaffarabad, a man shot his wife and nephew dead. Meanwhile, in Mastung, unknown persons brutally slaughtered a married couple. In Hub, the second husband allegedly murdered his wife, Mah Jan. These honor killings show how common these kinds of crimes are in Balochistan. These unjustified killings are due to poverty, the lack of legal protections for women and traditional harmful beliefs that allow gender-based violence against women in Balochistan. The cases in February 2022 have brought calls for reform and justice to stop such tragic loss in the name of family honor.
Crisis of Missing Persons
The issue of missing persons in Balochistan also disproportionately affects women. Thousands of Baloch men have gone missing, allegedly abducted by security forces. Their grieving wives and mothers have been left in limbo, not knowing if their loved ones are dead or alive. These women, considered ‘half widows,’ face social stigma, economic deprivation, legal problems and severe psychological trauma. The unsolved missing person crisis further terrorizes and disempowers the province’s women.
Sammi Deen Baloch has been protesting for 13 years since her father disappeared in Balochistan, one of more than 5,000 reported missing persons in the province. After the abduction of Dr. Deen Mohammed Baloch in 2009, 15-year-old Sammi began raising awareness about these enforced disappearances by Pakistan’s security forces. Despite abusive crackdowns on protests, Sammi continues to demand answers and justice for families like hers suffering from indefinite loss. Her brave activism symbolizes the plight of Balochistan’s ‘half widows’ and mothers whose loved ones have vanished, as well as the importance of accountability for the decades-old human rights crisis that has left thousands missing amid the region’s separatist conflict.
The Vital Work of the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons
Organizations like the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons provide affected families with legal aid, counseling and advocacy support. However, endemic poverty makes it difficult for women to pursue justice and healing. Economic dependence and lack of opportunity trap them in anguish and uncertainty.
Affected families formed The Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) in 2009 to pursue justice for Balochistan’s disappearance. Headquartered in Quetta, VBMP provides free legal assistance to help families file petitions and cases seeking information on missing loved ones. It also offers counseling and mental health support to traumatized families, particularly women and children. VBMP organizes protests, sit-ins and campaigns to highlight enforced disappearances and pressurize authorities. It has district committees across Balochistan to document cases and mobilize families.
VBMP publishes reports to increase awareness of the crisis locally and internationally. It also assists impoverished families with resources for legal procedures and accessing VBMP hubs. Operating on donations and aid funding, the organization employs legal advocacy, activism, counseling and reporting to support families of the missing in Balochistan in their struggle for truth and justice.
Recommendations for Empowerment
Increasing economic empowerment among women is crucial. Income generation through vocational training, microfinance schemes, handicrafts cooperatives and cash-for-work programs can provide women with financial security. These enable women to avoid forced marriages, escape abuse and sustain themselves while searching for missing family members.
Communities and justice systems should engage to stop seeing women’s rights abuses as acceptable. Protecting women from harm, ensuring their safety through shelters and prosecuting abusers will create an environment where women can exercise their rights and seek justice.
Tackling endemic poverty and socioeconomic empowerment of women has to accompany legal-social reform to alleviate gender-based violence in Balochistan in all its forms. Holistic efforts addressing economic and cultural factors are needed to promote women’s rights, safety and development in Balochistan.
– Asia Jamil
Photo: Flickr
5 Ways MSF is Tackling Noma in Nigeria
Noma, a disfiguring tropical disease in Nigeria, is a preventable and treatable condition that has unfortunately been neglected in impoverished areas in Nigeria. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has taken significant steps to support noma patients and combat the disease. Here is some information about noma and how MSF is tackling noma in Nigeria.
What is Noma?
Noma is an infectious but non-contagious bacterial disease that affects the face, primarily afflicting children between 2 and 5 years old living in impoverished conditions. Despite available preventions and cures, only up to 15% of affected children survive. Noma spreads rapidly, causing devastating damage to facial tissue and bones. Many survivors of the tropical disease in Nigeria are left with severe facial disfigurements and endure discrimination from their communities. The scars left from noma can lead to growth disturbances and result in functional impairment, making basic functions such as eating and speaking challenging. Here are five ways MSF is addressing noma in Nigeria.
5 Ways MSF is Tackling Noma in Nigeria
Looking Ahead
Free and accessible health care and SDG action plans have been crucial factors in noma prevention and treatment. MSF and other humanitarian organizations are making a remarkable difference in combating this neglected tropical disease in Nigeria. With ongoing dedication and support, it is possible to work towards a future where noma no longer exists.
– Sophia Holub
Photo: Flickr
How the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy is Helping Developing Nations
When the European Union was formed, all the countries that joined it collaborated on an extensive, detailed farm policy. The countries enacted this policy, known as the Common Agricultural Policy, in 1962. The policy aimed to create a cohesive market within the EU, where agricultural goods would move freely, and all members would have standardized prices. It also aimed to prioritize products from within the internal market over foreign imports by implementing shared customs tariffs and fostering financial cooperation through joint funding for agricultural initiatives. The European Union has found great success with this policy, especially in its recent efforts to support small rural farmers and implement initiatives that promote sustainable farming practices and resource management.
The implementation of this policy in the European Union has had an exponentially positive impact. However, past versions of the Common Agricultural Policy, which focused solely on domestic initiatives, did not provide assistance to developing nations. Recently, the Common Agricultural Policy has started to yield beneficial effects on developing nations, along with recommendations for modifying this policy to offer even greater assistance to these countries.
Subsidies
Within the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy, the European Union has taken a concrete step to generate positive impacts for developing nations. The step involves the gradual reduction of import barriers to access EU markets. Prior to 2017, the European Union maintained skewed trade policies that exclusively favored its own interests. Subsequently, these subsidies were eliminated to facilitate affordable access to the European Market for developing countries, including those in Africa. This shift is of particular significance as Europe serves as the primary market for numerous crops originating from Africa, such as coffee or peanuts.
A year after removing these subsidies, the European Union conducted a study on the global impact of the Common Agricultural Policy, which led to the conclusion that “In recent years, progress has been observed in better aligning agriculture with international development goals.” It becomes clear that the reduction of barriers for developing countries to enter the European agricultural market benefits both these nations and the global economy. This instance represents merely one example of the barriers the European Union has eliminated. Many more barriers remain in place to ensure the policy’s benefits for European farmers, while also safeguarding developing countries and their populations from exploitation. With achievements like this, further progress can be achieved in enhancing the inclusivity of this policy, promoting international development and simultaneously maintaining a thriving European Union.
Green Practices
While more indirect, the Common Agricultural Policy is benefiting developing nations through innovations and the adoption of green practices. European farmers receive numerous supports under the policy, but these often come with requirements for implementing green practices. This alignment ensures that initiatives within the Common Agricultural Policy adhere to environmental and climate regulations. Consequently, this arrangement proves advantageous for developing nations. Green farming practices, including those addressing environmental degradation, can be trialed within a supportive platform. Once their efficacy is established, these practices can be replicated in these nations, facilitating sustainable agricultural development.
Pre-Accession Assistance
Lastly, the Common Agricultural Policy has expanded its assistance to developing nations by offering pre-accession support in the agricultural sector. Strengthening their competitiveness, promoting sustainable practices and enhancing resilience against climate challenges constitute the core objectives of these forms of aid. These measures not only facilitate their prospective membership in the European Union but also enhance their stability and economies. Pre-accession assistance embodies practical international development.
Although these elements may appear modest within the context of the Common Agricultural Policy, the policy itself has progressed significantly from its earlier focus on international development. Nonetheless, substantial room for improvement remains to better serve developing nations, particularly within the agricultural sector. The 2018 study assessing the impact of the Common Agricultural Policy on developing nations underscores this point, pinpointing areas ripe for enhancement. Expanding this policy poses various challenges, yet the initial stride taken by the European Union in acknowledging its responsibility and influence is evident. The Union’s consideration of the study’s recommendations and its deliberation on the optimal approach to their implementation stand as indicative of this recognition.
– Ada Rose Wagar
Photo: Flickr
Food Systems in Singapore
Food Security Through Innovation
With limited land for agriculture, Singapore has historically relied on imports, with more than 90% of food coming from various outside sources. However, such a system leaves the country highly vulnerable to disruptions in the supply chain, leading the government to seek alternative solutions that not only secure the nation’s food supply but also greatly benefit the poor.
Some of the newly instituted food systems in Singapore include a vertical growth system, allowing for maximized use of resources within a controlled environment. Another example is the 30 x 30 goal, which aims to produce 30% of food locally by the year 2030. The government is leaving no stone unturned in attempting to fulfill this initiative, investing in cutting-edge technologies like hydroponics and aeroponics that work to optimize production.
Poverty Alleviation and the Job Industry
Ultimately, these food systems in Singapore are working toward the global goal of alleviating poverty. In the case of a supply chain disruption, the poor would likely be affected the most. The Food Bank Singapore found that 10.4% of surveyed households had experienced food insecurity in a 12-month period between 2018 and 2019. By securing the country’s food supply, the government ensures that those in poverty can feel safer knowing that food will continue to be accessible at all times and as affordable as possible.
Low-income individuals can gain skills and knowledge by participating in the urban farming industry and related sectors. For those struggling with poverty, being part of a farming project can provide a sense of purpose, skill development and access to healthy food. Not only can the food initiative provide a wealth of jobs for those who need them most, but it also plants the seeds for a pathway out of poverty through hard work and determination.
Education plays a vital role in sustainable food practices and poverty reduction. Singapore has embraced this by implementing educational programs that raise awareness about nutrition, waste reduction and responsible consumption. By equipping residents with knowledge about healthy food choices and reducing food waste, these programs contribute to healthier and more economically stable communities.
Looking Ahead
By developing sustainable farming initiatives and new food systems in Singapore, the government is creating a sense of social engagement and empowerment for marginalized communities and individuals. Despite its relatively low levels of poverty to start with, Singapore takes the issue seriously, providing an example for the rest of the world — by working to end poverty, it takes another crucial step in the path toward becoming a truly inclusive and equitable society.
– Namit Agrawal
Photo: Unsplash
How the Russian Invasion Has Impacted Mental Health in Ukraine
According to a UN survey, the biggest concern people in Ukraine have due to the Russian invasion is their mental health. Mental health in Ukraine was already low due to Russia’s previous invasion and the impact of COVID-19. But with the effects of the February 2022 Russian invasion, mental health in Ukraine has only declined further. A reported 70% of the population is experiencing mental health problems due to the war. Here is how the war in Ukraine has affected its people’s mental health.
Poverty in Ukraine
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has had a significant impact on the country’s economic and social conditions, as well as its general livelihood. The poverty rate in Ukraine increased from 5% to 24.2% in 2022, meaning almost a quarter of Ukrainians were living on less than $2.15 a day These poor living conditions have had a number of effects that have affected mental health in Ukraine.
Impact of the War
The fallout of the invasion has included:
All these effects have impacted the mental health and general well-being of the Ukrainian people in ways detailed in the Heal Ukraine Trauma report.
Mental Health Concerns
The Heal Ukraine Trauma report from April 2023 stated this about the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: “The invasion has stripped civilians of their sense of identity. Their world was turned upside down overnight, allowing for little preparation and increasing cases of depression, anxiety, and PTSD.”
The report goes on to detail the main mental health concerns in Ukraine due to the war, including a fear of death, loss of freedom, grief, separation of families, social dislocation, social disruption, forced migration and more.
Further, there are mental health issues in Ukraine due to the war that are specific to certain demographics; for example, women in Ukraine are fearful of gender-based violence such as rape and sexual torture. Many women have reported taking measures to avoid this violence such as constantly staying indoors, which has impacted their mental health significantly. Another example includes mothers and fathers, who may feel pressure to care for their families, taking on the burden of caring for their children and partners both emotionally and physically.
How Poverty and Mental Health Interact
The widespread increase in poverty due to the invasion is another cause of mental health issues. As mentioned earlier in this article, the poverty rate in Ukraine shot up from 5% to 24.2% due to the war, indicating a serious decline in the country’s situation.
In an interview with The Guardian, a church pastor in charge of giving out free bread to Ukrainian people stated that people who use the service talk about how “hard” it is dealing with the failing economy and how younger people who have lost their jobs will greatly “suffer.” Another resident told the Guardian that she “never imagined we would be living like this. Before the war, we managed everything. It’s very difficult and everyone is suffering the same.”
What Some are Doing to Help
The BMJ report states that funding is being placed into trauma training in order to help Ukrainian people process their mental health struggles. Upon fleeing from Ukraine to Berlin, Vitalii Panok, the director of Ukraine’s Scientific and Methodological Centre of Applied Psychology and Social Work, gathered 40 different Ukrainian psychologists with assistance from the Psychologische Hochschule to help people in Ukraine deal with trauma from the war.
– Jess Wilkinson
Photo: Flickr
USAID Programs in Liberia
The Ebola Crisis
One of USAID’s most important programs in Liberia in recent years was leading the global effort to combat the outbreak of the Ebola virus in the country in 2014-15. Ebola was particularly devastating in Liberia, with over 10,600 confirmed, or probable, cases during this period and 4,810 deaths. With an overwhelming lack of health care infrastructure, Liberia was unable to tackle the containment of the disease without support from USAID. For Liberia’s poorest, particularly those based in the capital city, Monrovia, Ebola proved a particularly deadly disease, with little support available for those who became infected and little protection from the disease’s rapid spread.
USAID programs in Liberia worked in partnership with other international organizations, leading a U.S. Government effort to contain the spread of the disease and eventually bring the number of cases down to zero. Contact tracing was implemented in all 15 of Liberia’s counties. In West Point, Monrovia, one of the worst affected areas, an Incident Management System was installed, allowing for rapid diagnosis, treatment and prevention of further spread of the virus.
Since USAID’s involvement in combating Ebola in 2014-15, it has continued to work with the country to ensure that Liberia is not only better prepared for outbreaks of deadly diseases in the future, but is able to implement robust health care infrastructure for all manner of contagious diseases and health issues. Between 2015 and 2021, USAID supported the Government of Liberia’s Investment Plan for Building a Resilient Health System in Liberia.
Other Infectious Diseases
Other infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, neonatal and diarrheal diseases continue to be a major problem for Liberia as some of the leading causes of death, often affecting the country’s poorest the worst. The prevalence of these diseases among Liberia’s poor has been attributed in large part to a lack of access to water sanitation and hygiene (WASH). USAID programs in Liberia have played an important role in supporting high-impact WASH interventions in Liberia. For example, USAID programs in Liberia are providing key support to the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation to provide an improved water supply to 90% of the population of three country capitals in Liberia: Robertsport, Sanniquellie and Voinjama, reaching an estimated 30,000 Liberians.
Successes
Aid programs in Liberia, such as those provided by USAID, have had other considerable positive impacts on the country and for Liberia’s poor:
Looking Forward
However, despite significant improvements, there is still much work to be done. Liberia remains among the world’s worst-ranked in terms of maternal mortality rate, due to a lack of family planning services, the frequency of childbearing before the age of 25 (at around 60%) and the low proportion of births attended to by medical professionals. Furthermore, female mortality in general remains high due to the prevalence of female genital cutting, affecting more than two-thirds of Liberia’s women and girls. But with the work being done by American governmental bodies such as USAID and their programs in Liberia, the future for Liberia’s poorest looks much brighter.
– Eleanor Lomas
Photo: Flickr
Access to Nutrition in India
India is one of the world’s poorest countries. Because of its weak economy, inadequate food distribution and high poverty rates, most citizens do not have the means to buy healthy foods or have access to nutrition in general. This has caused high rates of stunting, anemia and a high underweight average in Indian citizens. This problem continues to be devastating for several families and is only growing with time. However, there are some efforts in place to improve nutrition in India.
Statistics and Medical Outcomes
According to Business Today, around 37% of all food-insecure people live in India.
Within the country, 40.6% of the population is suffering from acute food insecurity. These statistics have grown within the past few years due to COVID-19 consequences decreasing access to nutrition even more.
The increasing food insecurity has elevated poor mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, poorer cognitive functions and sleep disorders. These situations set many citizens of India up for trouble when they try to perform strong in school and maintain a high work ethic.
The scarcity of nutrition has also created high rates of physical disabilities such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, physical frailty, joint/muscle pain and general functional limitations. Having one or more of these conditions decreases the amount of activities and events one is able to undertake.
Although India is ranked second worldwide in farm output, the country is still ranked 101 out of 116 countries suffering from food insecurity. This battle of nutrition is an ongoing and increasing problem. Here are some nonprofits that are helping improve nutrition in India.
Nonprofits
Luckily, the government of India is aware of the decreasing access to nutrition dilemma and has been trying to create new initiatives to eradicate it. Organizations like the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojona (PM-GKAY) have been sending India healthy and hearty foods to have in stock for distribution. PM-GKAY has doubled the monthly foodgrain entitlements to India since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other organizations such as the National Nutrition Mission (NNM), the National Food Security Mission and the Zero Hunger Programme are making efforts to eradicate hunger and malnutrition by making sure the government properly administers food enrichment programs.
India lacks a strong mechanism to get nutritious foods out to its less wealthy areas. Because of this, the country suffers from chronic malnutrition causing impediments to physical and mental health throughout the population. Fortunately, organizations and nonprofits are helping to improve nutrition in India. However, efforts must remain high and continue to grow if India wants to see significant change anytime soon.
– Nina Donlin
Photo: Flickr
An Endemic Resolved: Trachoma in Mali
The disease spreads more in areas with poor sanitation and overpopulation. It is most commonly found in the larger areas of Africa, previously affecting Mali significantly. It is spread from person to person, originating from an infection in the eye. Trachoma in Mali has not been a quickly fixed battle. Data from the 1980s shows the former prevalence of the disease in the country and the dire need for a solution.
The SAFE Strategy
Adopted by the WHO in 1993, the SAFE strategy helped supply countries with the resources needed to prevent the spread of trachoma.
SAFE stands for surgery, antibiotics, facial cleanliness and environmental improvements. The strategy aimed to increase the number of surgical operations performed on those infected with trachoma as well as provide antibiotics to entire communities for the benefit of public health. Because of how easily trachoma can be spread, it was essential to promote facial cleanliness and understand that the infection rate is linked to overcrowded living conditions and unsanitary water. The SAFE strategy has been used in many different countries that suffer from a trachoma endemic, and Mali, among other countries, has finally overcome the public health problem.
Trachoma in Mali
Political violence in Mali made it very difficult for the country to overcome this endemic problem. When the WHO created the SAFE strategy, the program slowly gained trust and developed a partnership with the Malian government. Diseases like trachoma affect the poorest communities and only lead countries to greater poverty rates.
Trachoma is the first of the WHO’s neglected tropical diseases that Mali has eliminated, and Mali is the sixth country out of 29 in Africa that has successfully eliminated the disease.
The WHO has several partners including The Carter Center and Sightsavers which all worked together to assist Mali in combating the disease. Through donations and medical training, trachoma is no longer a public health concern in Mali. It is important to note that several different organizations working alongside the WHO and the Malian government worked together to make this happen and improve the health and poverty rates of the people of Mali.
The World Health Organization recognized Mali for overcoming the trachoma endemic. Today, less than 5% of children suffer from inadequate access to antibiotics to treat trachoma, and the presence of trachoma in adults is nearly zero. On April 27, 2023, the World Health Organization announced that trachoma in Mali was no longer considered a public health problem.
– Alesandra Cowardin
Photo: Flickr
Disability and Poverty in Malaysia
A social disability model is where “people are viewed as being disabled by society rather than their bodies.”
People with disabilities are more vulnerable to negative social and economic factors than those without. More than 1 billion people worldwide have some form of disability. This prevents them from accessing essential services including education, health care and employment opportunities. As a result, they are less likely to participate in the economy, which in turn drives them to poverty.
Approaching disability and poverty in Malaysia through this lens helps unveil its powerful influence in shaping the country’s growth.
Disability and Poverty in Malaysia in a Post-COVID Era
Many regard Malaysia as a wealthy and economically stable nation. However, since the COVID-19 pandemic, poverty rates have risen. As of 2022, 5.6% of the Malaysian population lived in absolute poverty.
As per the National Health and Morbidity Survey as of 2019, about 11.1% of adults in Malaysia have disabilities. Since the pandemic, the average income of houses led by people with disabilities lowered by 36%. Consequently, this spiked the poverty rate to about 55% in those households.
Impactful Challenges to People with Disabilities in Malaysia
Toward Recovery and Growth
Malaysia continues to prioritize the social well-being of the economically vulnerable. Several initiatives are underway to promote disability inclusion. There is a clear framework for pivotal improvements in the lives of people with disabilities. The government will continue to address disability and poverty in Malaysia as the country accelerates toward becoming a developed economy by 2030.
– Sudha Krishnaswami
Photo: Flickr