The impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Kuwait can first be seen through the way in which Kuwait’s economy was substantially affected by the pandemic. Oil exports make up 90% of the country’s GDP, but COVID-19 had a huge impact on oil demand, leading to a large drop in revenue. During the pandemic, oil prices fell to a 17-year low and the oil export revenue fell by half in 2020 as compared to the previous year.
Further, lockdown measures impacted supply chains of goods and services and affected different industries and sectors including “restaurants, retail, tourism and transport.” Lockdowns also impacted businesses, with many SMEs experiencing a large decrease in revenues while suffering increased costs of doing business. Job losses affected employees and consumers experienced higher prices.
Impact of COVID-19 on the Bidoon
Levels of poverty among non-citizens in Kuwait are high, despite the poverty rate in Kuwait being close to zero. Citizens, who make up roughly 30% of the population, have access to “free health care, education and housing,” as well as government employment and extensive subsidies.
Non-citizens, by contrast, often work in the informal sector and do not have access to state services. A specific subset of non-citizens are “Bidoon” meaning “without nationality” in Arabic. Despite having resided in the country before or since its independence in 1961, the government regards them as illegal foreigners and has not granted them nationality, so they are stateless.
The poverty rate among the Bidoon is high. Without nationality, they cannot access the formal job market. In a study, 24% of Bidoon interviewed reported job loss due to COVID-19, with 26% suffering major economic hardship, such as inability to pay rent and medical fees, and limited funds for food. Further, 14% percent reported living in worse living conditions, with landlords evicting 8% from their homes. In terms of humanitarian relief during the pandemic, 61% reported that the government had not considered their needs.
This was due to a requirement to register with one’s civil ID, meaning that government aid was inaccessible to the Bidoon. The impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Kuwait was therefore higher among this community.
Education and Health Care
The pandemic also greatly affected children. Stateless children must attend fee-paying schools, as opposed to state-funded schools and during the pandemic, students were not able to log into the online system to take exams, as they could not provide their identification document number, according to SALAM DHR and ISI report.
Further, according to the same report, stateless people were barred from accessing testing and treatment and hospital entry due to lack of legal status and were excluded from social services. Moreover, stateless people often, despite their conditions, did not seek hospital treatment as they believed that they would be refused treatment. Online registration for the COVID-19 vaccination also proved difficult, due to a lack of an identity number.
The impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Kuwait was therefore wide-ranging among the Bidoon community, affecting a wide range of rights and services.
COVID-19 Impact on Migrant Workers
In March 2020, the state asked all non-essential government workers to stay at home. This particularly affected non-Kuwaitis, the government only employs 4.7% of the expatriate, according to LSE.
Many migrant workers found themselves unemployed, without any means of income and surviving on little food. Further, many were not eligible for the government unemployment insurance scheme. This also affected the families of these workers back home, many of whom depended on the remittances that they received, according to LSE.
Many domestic workers were unable to leave the country and were confined to their employer’s homes due to lockdown restrictions, as a result of the kafala system which ties migrant workers’ visas to their employers. Others lost their employment visas and were at risk of deportation, according to Middle East Institute (MEI).
Further, migrant workers were at increased risk of COVID-19 due to their living conditions. Many work in the construction sector, living in overcrowded, unsanitary camps or dormitories, with little opportunity for social distancing, UNDP reports. Migrant workers were also more vulnerable to COVID-19, with expatriates being twice as likely to need emergency COVID-19 care, according to MEI.
Positive Initiatives During the Pandemic
The en.v Initiative, an NGO “dedicated to building community resilience and civil society capacity” in Kuwait, organized a coordinated response, according to MEI. This has delivered community-level initiatives such as ASWATNA, which empowers youth to shape their education needs.
Its COVID-19 response involved local migrant community organizers, human rights activists, health care professionals, private sector executives and representatives from the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), MEI reports. The goal was to implement a COVID-19 response, guided by the expertise and experience of local community leaders.
Further, volunteer groups delivered food aid door-to-door to those who had been unable to register. These food packages were tailored to the recipients’ cultural preferences. This initiative also reached non-Arabic and non-English speakers, through registration with community organizers.
According to MEI, other organizations such as Trashtag changed their mission from beach clean-ups, to food delivery. They developed a shared database of recipients, streamlining logistics and ensuring efficient use of funds. They were able to deliver food to around 500 households in three months and observed during the visits the lack of access to clean water. Trashtag then funded the installation of new water filters in houses, to avoid the distribution of environmentally unsustainable water bottles.
The impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Kuwait, therefore, manifested in multiple different ways, having the greatest impact on non-citizens who are more marginalized during normal times, thus driving a disadvantaged proportion of the population into further poverty.
– Ottoline Spearman
Photo: Flickr
5 Facts About Kiva: Empowering Small Business Owners Globally
5 Inspiring Facts About Kiva
Pillar of Hope
These facts about Kiva indicate that the organization stands as a shining pillar for innovation in the face of impoverishment. Through its revolutionary system, entrepreneurs and everyday people across the globe can get the financial support they need to thrive through dire economic situations. Kiva continues to push forward against the tide of poverty and help millions of people sail across waves of hardship and toward the more friendly shores of financial security and prosperity.
– Sanjith Sambath
Photo: Flickr
Renewable Energy in Nepal
Nepal is in a unique position — the country is blessed with abundant natural renewable energy resources, providing it with the opportunity to bypass developing a fossil fuel industry and transition straight into a renewable energy economy. In 2019, about 17% of the population in Nepal endured multi-dimensional poverty. Renewable energy in Nepal can help expand energy access to remote areas and improve living standards for impoverished Nepalese people.
Immense Potential for Renewables
The dramatic Himalayan mountains, glaciers and rivers that dominate the Nepalese landscape provide the country with a powerful energy source, in the form of falling water. This is known as hydropower. Thanks to this energy source, Nepal is one of the few countries with domestic energy generation that is entirely renewable, with 98% of it coming from hydropower. Nepal currently produces 2,200 MW of hydropower but has the potential to produce 50,000 MW of estimated hydropower, one of the highest amounts in the world.
However, Nepal’s natural renewable resources do not stop at hydro as experts consider the country’s solar resources to be even greater than that of hydro. Scientists estimate that solar power alone could provide 100 times more energy than required for a 100% solar system in which all Nepalese had consumption levels similar to developed countries.
Despite abundant resources, the high cost of infrastructure development has historically limited the development of renewable energy in Nepal. Renewable energy makes up only a fraction of Nepal’s total energy consumption. The majority of the country’s energy consumption is from non-electric sources including biomass (68%) and fossil fuels (25%). Shifting to electricity as the main energy source, a process known as electrification, is necessary to fully utilize Nepal’s renewable energy potential.
Energy Access in Remote Areas
Electrifying Nepal comes with challenges. The situation is especially severe in rural and remote areas where the rugged, mountainous terrain creates a barrier to connecting communities to national electricity grids. As a result, many rural households still use firewood, kerosene and batteries for cooking and lighting their homes. The lack of access to reliable and efficient energy hinders other fundamental human rights like access to clean water, health and education. This is known as energy poverty.
Despite historical challenges with energy access, Nepal is one of the fastest electrifying countries in the world. Electricity access in remote areas is increasing at an annual rate of around 4.3% per year compared to the global average of 0.8%. The proportion of households with access to electricity increased from 68% in 2010 to almost 90% in 2020. However, this remains low when compared to neighboring countries such as India, Sri Lanka and Thailand, which have achieved 100% access.
Micro-grid Renewable Energy
Micro-grid renewable energy may be the solution to Nepal’s energy access challenges. Government and local organizations have previously invested heavily in micro-hydro plants in rural communities. One example is the Rural Energy Development Programme (REDP) which began in 2015 and installed 307 micro-hydro plants across rural areas of Nepal. The overall efforts of the REDP allowed 550,000 people living in remote areas to obtain access to electricity.
Experts are now advocating for the use of micro-grid solar energy in rural Nepal. Solar is competitive with and vastly more available than hydro and is also easy to implement at small scales. As the cost of solar energy production falls, it becomes an increasingly viable option for broaching the gap in nationwide electricity access and eliminating energy poverty in Nepal. Solar will also enhance Nepal’s energy resiliency in the circumstance of changing weather patterns, with climate scientists predicting that some areas of Nepal will experience a reduction in water availability, which will impact hydropower production in the future.
Micro-grid Solar Power Installations
A number of micro-grid solar power projects have undergone initiation in rural areas of Nepal in recent years. One such project is the installation of solar-powered water pumps in the buffer zone of Bardiya National Park in the southern Tarai region of Nepal. The water pumps allow clean water access for houses and businesses. The water also helps grow crops and raise livestock, contributing to the overall food security of the community.
In Nepal’s Gulmi district, solar panels underwent installation in 11 schools and colleges, providing educational institutions with a regular power supply. This improved the quality of education by powering equipment such as computers and has allowed water pumps to be installed to provide access to clean water and improve sanitation. Access to clean water is especially important for encouraging girls to attend school, given the sanitary challenges that stop girls from attending school during menstruation.
The electrification of Nepal’s rural and remote communities is also a goal of the federal government. The federal, provincial and local governments have been collaborating with energy sector stakeholders to expand and promote clean and sustainable energy. The government has released a target of electric cookstoves in all households by 2030 and net-zero national carbon emissions by 2045.
Looking Ahead
Renewable energy in Nepal at both small and large scales is playing an important role in the country’s economic development. With the right renewable energy strategy, experts believe Nepal can achieve energy self-sufficiency during the 21st century. The development of a clean sustainable energy economy has the potential to reduce energy poverty and improve living standards for Nepalese people.
– Amy McAlpine
Photo: Flickr
A United Front to Fight Child Poverty in Czechia
Groups at High Risk of Poverty
The youth most affected by poverty in the Czech Republic are socially disadvantaged. For instance, Roma children, children with disabilities, Ukrainian refugees or those from single-mother families.
The European Roma Rights Center and Forum for Human Rights filed a complaint in January 2023 to the European Committee of Social Rights, noting the government’s failure to provide Roma children and those facing poverty with accessible preschool education. Without accessible and affordable education and care, poverty could lead to a loss of educational opportunities and a decline in children’s overall well-being.
Policies in Action
The Czech Republic, along with its fellow European Union member states, is ready to fulfill these needs. The European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan promises to decrease the number of children at risk of poverty by approximately 5 million in seven years (2030). Additionally, the European Child Guarantee, proposed in 2021, aims to meet the five basic needs of every child: “free health care, education, preschool education and care, decent housing and adequate nutrition.”
Reformation on the Horizon
Combating child poverty requires addressing children’s specific needs. The government will likely appoint an ombudsman (representative) for children soon in order to tackle specific needs and systemic issues. According to Diana Šmídová, the secretary of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, school reforms are underway focusing on teaching children’s rights. Free language lessons for Ukrainian child refugees and educational integration are also a priority. Appointed in December 2022, Lucie Fuková, the first-ever Roma commissioner in Czechia, is taking on the task of helping the Roma community integrate.
Alternatives to Institutionalization
Every year, more than a thousand children are sent to orphanages or state care institutions in Czechia. A notable 25% of these children are younger than 4. Czechia is one of the few remaining countries in the EU that still institutionalize children so young.
Children born in poverty are more likely to be placed in institutions because their families are unable to provide for them. This subsequent neglect and separation from their biological family can have detrimental effects on children’s development.
Roma children are also commonly removed from their homes and institutionalized as their families are more susceptible to eviction, or simply because of discrimination.
For these reasons, the Czech government is prioritizing foster families and slowly restricting institutionalized care. Such institutionalized care for children younger than 4 will be banned from 2025, save for certain exemptions, according to a national 2022 report. Substitute family and preventative care will be expanded to meet as many needs as possible. With supportive networks in development, an increasing interest in foster care is anticipated.
Nonprofits Making an Impact
Nonprofits like Charita Hvězda z.s. step in to provide additional support for children of at-risk families. In 2022, the organization assisted 293 families in need, 395 Ukrainian refugee families and 212 substitute families. Ukrainian families received the organization’s largest contribution of aid (44%). Assistance ranged from covering individual client expenses to donations of food and drugstore items.
Charita Hvězda’s main project, the Foster Care Warehouse, is located in Horoměřice and offers material help for all children from substitute or socially disadvantaged families. This includes baby food, playpens, toiletries and sports equipment.
As of 2018, this site serves as a meeting place for foster families and those in crisis, providing emergency care, information and numerous resources. Though Charita Hvězda is a non-governmental organization, it is the byproduct of a government initiative to support surrogate families and limit institutional care.
Refugees in Need
The Russia-Ukraine war has taken a particularly heavy toll on the young. Notably high, more than a third of global refugees forced out of their countries are children. Approximately 130,000 Ukrainian children are living as refugees in Czechia now, some unaccompanied.
In response to the growing numbers of refugees fleeing the conflict, the Czech Republic’s Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA), UNICEF and civil society organizations created a disability cash benefit program in January 2023. This program targets vulnerable, refugee children: whether Ukrainian, Roma, unaccompanied or disabled. MoLSA and UNICEF began their collaboration in July 2022 and are expanding this plan to address specific needs.
According to Yulia Oleinik, head of the UNICEF Refugee Response Office in Czechia, the collective goal is to provide “4,000 refugee children with disabilities with financial benefits and support services.” Expanded psychosocial and mental health services for 25,000 at-risk refugee children, as well as their guardians, is another aim. Oleinik said that strengthening the social system will eventually “benefit all children in the Czech Republic.”
UNICEF is cooperating with MoLSA through March 2024. Together, the two partners have already provided grants for education centers, giving children up to age 6 access to community education. So far, 29 early education centers offering non-formal activities like integration groups and parenting support have reached more than 1,200 children and 1,500 parents across Ukraine and Czechia.
Dedication to the Cause
Money alone will not eradicate child poverty in Czechia. A strong commitment to seeing through key action plans and making them a reality is also necessary. With community support and nonprofit organizations providing further aid, Czechia can greatly reduce child poverty for at-risk groups and keep families together.
– Clare Calzada
Photo: Flickr
6 Facts about the State of Education in Afghanistan
The education system in Afghanistan has faced many obstacles as a result of conflicts and changes in the country’s legal structure. In 2001, only 1 million children attended school in Afghanistan. However, since the Taliban ceased to rule in 2001, according to UNESCO, by 2018, around 10 million children attended school. Despite this improvement, UNICEF statistics indicate that Afghanistan’s out-of-school population equaled 3.7 million children, with girls accounting for 60% of this group. The state of education in Afghanistan has significantly deteriorated since the Taliban takeover in 2021.
6 Facts About the State of Education in Afghanistan
Efforts to Improve Education in Afghanistan
Before the takeover, Afghanistan had significantly progressed in the realm of education. Though gender discrimination continued to impact girls’ education, girls’ school attendance rates did rise — the number of Afghan girls attending primary school rose from nearly zero in 2001 to 2.5 million in 2018.
A six-member project called Step Towards Afghan Girls’ Education Success (STAGES) prioritizes the education of boys and girls in Afghanistan through “community-based education classes in 1,078 communities across 16 provinces.” The project, spanning 6.5 years, began in April 2017 and will run until September 2023. Part one of the project reached completion in June 2021.
By this date, the project had aided the education of almost 25,000 disadvantaged girls in Afghanistan. Part one of the project also helped “1,995 young women to become teachers through a teaching apprenticeship [program] and grants to attend Teacher Training Colleges,” the Girls’ Education Challenge website says. Part two of the project looks to allow community-based education for an additional 5,145 marginalized Afghan girls to finish lower primary education.
By supporting projects like STAGES and mobilizing U.K. and U.S. advocates, the state of education in Afghanistan can improve.
– Safa Ali
Photo: Flickr
Impact of COVID-19 on Poverty in Kuwait
Further, lockdown measures impacted supply chains of goods and services and affected different industries and sectors including “restaurants, retail, tourism and transport.” Lockdowns also impacted businesses, with many SMEs experiencing a large decrease in revenues while suffering increased costs of doing business. Job losses affected employees and consumers experienced higher prices.
Impact of COVID-19 on the Bidoon
Levels of poverty among non-citizens in Kuwait are high, despite the poverty rate in Kuwait being close to zero. Citizens, who make up roughly 30% of the population, have access to “free health care, education and housing,” as well as government employment and extensive subsidies.
Non-citizens, by contrast, often work in the informal sector and do not have access to state services. A specific subset of non-citizens are “Bidoon” meaning “without nationality” in Arabic. Despite having resided in the country before or since its independence in 1961, the government regards them as illegal foreigners and has not granted them nationality, so they are stateless.
The poverty rate among the Bidoon is high. Without nationality, they cannot access the formal job market. In a study, 24% of Bidoon interviewed reported job loss due to COVID-19, with 26% suffering major economic hardship, such as inability to pay rent and medical fees, and limited funds for food. Further, 14% percent reported living in worse living conditions, with landlords evicting 8% from their homes. In terms of humanitarian relief during the pandemic, 61% reported that the government had not considered their needs.
This was due to a requirement to register with one’s civil ID, meaning that government aid was inaccessible to the Bidoon. The impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Kuwait was therefore higher among this community.
Education and Health Care
The pandemic also greatly affected children. Stateless children must attend fee-paying schools, as opposed to state-funded schools and during the pandemic, students were not able to log into the online system to take exams, as they could not provide their identification document number, according to SALAM DHR and ISI report.
Further, according to the same report, stateless people were barred from accessing testing and treatment and hospital entry due to lack of legal status and were excluded from social services. Moreover, stateless people often, despite their conditions, did not seek hospital treatment as they believed that they would be refused treatment. Online registration for the COVID-19 vaccination also proved difficult, due to a lack of an identity number.
The impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Kuwait was therefore wide-ranging among the Bidoon community, affecting a wide range of rights and services.
COVID-19 Impact on Migrant Workers
In March 2020, the state asked all non-essential government workers to stay at home. This particularly affected non-Kuwaitis, the government only employs 4.7% of the expatriate, according to LSE.
Many migrant workers found themselves unemployed, without any means of income and surviving on little food. Further, many were not eligible for the government unemployment insurance scheme. This also affected the families of these workers back home, many of whom depended on the remittances that they received, according to LSE.
Many domestic workers were unable to leave the country and were confined to their employer’s homes due to lockdown restrictions, as a result of the kafala system which ties migrant workers’ visas to their employers. Others lost their employment visas and were at risk of deportation, according to Middle East Institute (MEI).
Further, migrant workers were at increased risk of COVID-19 due to their living conditions. Many work in the construction sector, living in overcrowded, unsanitary camps or dormitories, with little opportunity for social distancing, UNDP reports. Migrant workers were also more vulnerable to COVID-19, with expatriates being twice as likely to need emergency COVID-19 care, according to MEI.
Positive Initiatives During the Pandemic
The en.v Initiative, an NGO “dedicated to building community resilience and civil society capacity” in Kuwait, organized a coordinated response, according to MEI. This has delivered community-level initiatives such as ASWATNA, which empowers youth to shape their education needs.
Its COVID-19 response involved local migrant community organizers, human rights activists, health care professionals, private sector executives and representatives from the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), MEI reports. The goal was to implement a COVID-19 response, guided by the expertise and experience of local community leaders.
Further, volunteer groups delivered food aid door-to-door to those who had been unable to register. These food packages were tailored to the recipients’ cultural preferences. This initiative also reached non-Arabic and non-English speakers, through registration with community organizers.
According to MEI, other organizations such as Trashtag changed their mission from beach clean-ups, to food delivery. They developed a shared database of recipients, streamlining logistics and ensuring efficient use of funds. They were able to deliver food to around 500 households in three months and observed during the visits the lack of access to clean water. Trashtag then funded the installation of new water filters in houses, to avoid the distribution of environmentally unsustainable water bottles.
The impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Kuwait, therefore, manifested in multiple different ways, having the greatest impact on non-citizens who are more marginalized during normal times, thus driving a disadvantaged proportion of the population into further poverty.
– Ottoline Spearman
Photo: Flickr
AGRI-Ukraine Helps Tackle Global Food Insecurity
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has hindered Ukrainian agricultural production and jeopardized the food supply to the most vulnerable parts of the world. This threatens the food security of millions of people and hinders efforts to tackle global food insecurity.
The Breadbasket of Europe
Ukraine and Russia are the world’s largest suppliers of sunflower products, barley, maize and wheat. Due to its ample agricultural land and vast production of grains, Ukraine is known as the “breadbasket of Europe.”
According to the United Nations, about 821 million people suffered from hunger in 2021. The impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on food prices and the supply of important food supplies has exacerbated hunger, especially among import-dependent developing countries in the Middle East and Africa. For instance, about half of the wheat imports in Tunisia and Lebanon come from Ukraine. Food prices are increasing, and according to the projections of the World Trade Organization, the world should expect further increases if the conflict does not resolve soon.
AGRI-Ukraine: Supporting Ukrainian Farmers
In 2022, the price of wheat increased by about 60%, largely due to the impacts of the Russian invasion, a consequence that significantly affects net food-importing countries. During these times of crisis, support for Ukrainian farmers will help to tackle global food insecurity.
In January 2023, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and German multinational biotechnology company Bayer agreed to donate “high-quality vegetable seeds to Ukrainian farmers” to “bolster Ukraine’s export and agricultural sector needs,” the USAID website explains.
Bayer has partnered with USAID’s Agriculture Resilience Initiative for Ukraine (AGRI-Ukraine). This initiative builds on the previously established partnership between AGRI-Ukraine and Bayer, launched in October 2022, to specifically aid Ukrainian farmers and tackle global food insecurity.
Bayer will provide Ukrainian farmers with carrot seeds and USAID will distribute the donation to destitute farmers, with a foremost focus on households in “newly-liberated areas.” The first batch will cover as many as 25,000 homes and smallholder farmers, and over the growing cycle, USAID and Bayer will assess the need for more seeds.
This is a notable example of what can be achieved when the U.S. government and the private sector join forces. These kinds of partnerships have a tremendous positive impact on countries in need of aid.
Bayer for Ukraine
Bayer has supported Ukraine’s agriculture sector for more than 25 years. As part of its participation in AGRI-Ukraine, Bayer is additionally committing more than $35 million to increase the capacity of its Ukraine-based seed processing facility. Furthermore, the German multinational company has contributed “more than 40,000 bags of corn seed” and additional monetary support to secure a “mechanical mine clearing machine” for 1,750 small-scale farmers, enabling them to conduct their farming activities safely with the support of the U.S. Department of State-funded demining activities.
AGRI-Ukraine supports Ukrainian farmers’ access to necessary agricultural commodities, such as fertilizers, seeds and pesticides. Such efforts substantially increase the capacity of Ukrainian businesses to process agricultural goods and export them successfully on the international market.
Restriction in world trade has a snowball effect that impacts the entire global system. An export restriction in one country might provoke export restrictions in other countries, which will cause shortages in goods that states cannot supply themselves. Likewise, the war in Ukraine disrupts food markets, mainly through increasing prices for grains and oilseeds, which has dire ramifications for developing countries in the Middle East and Africa. Bayer’s contribution to AGRI-Ukraine illustrates the benefits of government and private sector collaborations and how joint efforts can help to resolve even the most complex issues.
– Nino Basaria
Photo: Flickr
How Corruption in Developing Countries Impacts Poverty
One of the consequences of corruption is that it can divert resources away from important social initiatives, such as health care and education programs. Moreover, corruption can prevent foreign investment and restrict a nation’s access to international assistance and support.
Addressing Corruption
The United Nations Office on Drugs (UNODC) says addressing corruption in developing countries requires a comprehensive approach that includes strengthening legal and institutional frameworks, promoting transparency and accountability and encouraging citizen participation. Governments can accomplish this by taking steps to strengthen anti-corruption legislation and regulations, increasing accountability in the public sector and giving civil society organizations and the media more authority to observe government operations.
International organizations have created anti-corruption conventions and agreements that encourage countries to combat corruption. For example, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) seeks to address the key governance issues and provide transparency in the extractive sectors such as oil, gas and mineral resources.
Continued Struggles With Corruption
According to Transparency International’s 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which measures perceptions of corruption in the public sector of 180 countries and territories, many developing nations continue to struggle with corruption. The CPI uses a scale of zero (extremely corrupt) to 100 (extremely clean) to measure this.
“The global average remains unchanged for over a decade at just 43 out of 100” on the CPI scale. Furthermore, 26 nations now have the lowest scores ever noted and more than 66% of nations have received ratings below 50. Across the world, 155 nations have barely progressed in reducing corruption or have seen a deterioration since 2012 despite sustained efforts. The 2022 CPI, therefore, shows that most countries are failing to reduce corruption.
Efforts to Fight Corruption
Civil society organizations and the media play an important role in exposing corruption and holding government officials accountable. Many countries have worked to strengthen civil society and media engagement in anti-corruption efforts.
International aid and support can help countries build the capacity to address corruption by providing technical assistance, training and financial support.
There are many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are actively working to combat corruption in developing nations:
Prioritizing Anti-Corruption Efforts
Corruption remains a significant challenge in many developing countries and is a major obstacle to economic growth, social development and good governance. It continues to undermine public trust in government institutions while perpetuating poverty and inequality. Considering the links between poverty and corruption, anti-corruption initiatives designed to address issues of economic growth, income inequality, governance capacity, government services in health care and education and public trust in government are likely to reduce corruption along with poverty.
– Lauryn Defreitas
Photo: Flickr
Advocating for Critical Aid to Ukraine
A local Facebook group “Birmingham Stands With Ukraine” hosted one of Birmingham’s first rallies in support of Ukraine in response to the first strikes of warfare almost a year ago. On February 25, 2023, approximately 50 residents gathered outside Railroad Park in Birmingham, Alabama, to show support for Ukraine amid the ongoing war with Russia and commemorate 365 days of the war in Ukraine. This is the exact spot where many of these same supporters gathered for the first time almost a year ago in support of Ukraine after Russia’s attack on February 24, 2022. With 365 seconds of silence, the group acknowledged the resilience and bravery of the Ukrainian people. The group focuses on organizing local actions such as fundraisers and rallies to aid Ukraine. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, poverty rates have multiplied more than five times, placing more than 8 million Ukrainians in poverty by the close of 2022. These Birmingham residents continue to advocate for critical aid to Ukraine.
Impacts of the Russia-Ukraine War on Global Poverty
Scotty Colson, the Honorary Consul for Ukraine to Alabama, addressed the crowd at the start of the rally and noted how easy it is for the global community to forget about the ongoing war in Ukraine and push the issue out of mind when it does not directly affect them.
People in the U.S. do not see or hear the constant warfare. Some may think that the U.S. has its own problems to worry about. The truth is that the war in Ukraine affects everyone. The Federal Reserve says the war in Ukraine has created a geopolitical risk that has caused a global spike in inflation due to supply chain disruptions and limited access to food and energy resources.
As the war continues, countries all over the world continue to see an overall rise in the cost of living. For example, the exportation of fossil fuels has become so expensive that more households across the world now face the risk of falling into energy poverty. The expense of heating, cooling and lighting has increased to an almost unmanageable level for many households. The World Economic Forum reported in February 2023 that rising costs of living due to the impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war have the potential to push between 78 million and 141 million people below the global poverty line.
Ukraine TrustChain Takes Action
The Ukraine TrustChain is an organization that supports volunteer groups in Ukraine. To provide critical aid to Ukraine, it works hands-on with residents by delivering medicine, food, generators and stoves while repairing war-ravaged schools and homes.
So far, the Ukraine TrustChain has helped more than 1 million Ukrainian residents and tens of thousands of residents continue to receive support weekly. In the most recent March 2023 effort, the Ukraine TrustChain supported a small group by the name of Dobra Spavra that undertakes evacuation missions. The group traveled 16 times in one week into the frontline zones of warfare to evacuate 208 people. The Ukraine TrustChain supplied this group with a van, fuel and vehicle repairs to provide further critical aid to Ukraine through evacuation missions.
The Ukraine TrustChain runs an online art merchandise store to gain financial support for its humanitarian endeavors. It partnered with artists from Ukraine and other supporters around the world to create and sell merchandise such as tote bags, scarves, t-shirts, notebooks and prints of original designs in support of Ukraine. The nonprofit states that 100% of the net proceeds from the sales go to on-the-ground volunteer groups in Ukraine.
Looking Ahead
The rally in Birmingham, Alabama, displays the ability of the average person to contribute to aiding people in war-afflicted countries through advocacy. One person’s Facebook group with 380 current members continues to gain support and raise awareness across the Birmingham area of the need for critical aid to Ukraine. With millions of Ukrainian people living in poverty due to the ongoing war, advocacy and aid efforts are crucial.
– Leah Smith
Photo: Courtesy of Leah Smith
5 Initiatives Helping Children in Mozambique
Mozambique’s multidimensional poverty manifests in low literacy rates with only 63% of adults being literate in 2021. According to USAID, “Among children who finish primary school, nearly two-thirds leave the system without basic reading, writing and math skills.” For this reason, several organizations are centering efforts around helping children in Mozambique meet their basic needs and receive a proper education.
5 Initiatives Helping Children in Mozambique
Looking Ahead
Even though the impacts of poverty on children in Mozambique are harsh, organizations are committed to improving the lives of these children and ensuring a brighter future.
Photo: Flickr
5 Charities Operating in Morocco
5 Charities Operating in Morocco
High Atlas Foundation (HAF) – Founded in the year 2000, High Atlas Foundation reaches social groups around Morocco to help develop, implement and sustain local projects that target economic, social and environmental challenges. The organization has 17 active projects, 400 volunteers and at least 3,000 beneficiaries. Some of the projects include planting trees to empower farming families, empowering women for democratic participation, providing clean drinking water for 1,250 villagers, improving rural Moroccan schools and many more. Since 2011, HAF has had Consultancy Status at the U.N. Economic and Social Council.
Education For All (EFA) – After seeing a 70% illiteracy rate among girls in rural Morocco, EFA stepped in to launch its project in 2007. The aim was to provide high-quality education for girls living close to the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco and with no resources to attend schools in the city. EFA boarding schools serve as “homes away from home” for the admitted girls who get three meals a day, studying supplies and everything else needed for optimal education. With a total of five boarding houses, the number of beneficiaries reached 185 girls in 2017. EFA reports that 90% of all donations it receives go directly into funding the project.
Project SOAR – Established in 2015, Project SOAR’s mission is to empower teenage girls in the rural areas of Morocco and lead them to a better future. So far, the results have been outstanding, as 99.5% of the SOAR girls avoid early marriage or early pregnancy. Also, 100% of SOAR girls go on to pursue higher education compared to only 39% of girls globally. More than 3,700 girls from 42 rural communities across Morocco and Syria have benefited from the program. The girls learn and build social and leadership skills through the program’s activities and workshops. In 2016, Project SOAR started a partnership with Michelle Obama’s “Let Girls Learn” initiative. This led to some beneficiaries and staff visiting the White House for the filming of “We Will Rise” to celebrate the International Day of the Girl.
Though there are several NGOs and charities operating in Morocco, these five stand out for international recognition, and past and present progress. Each is dedicated to tackling several aspects of multidimensional poverty, presenting underprivileged communities with opportunities to grow and learn.
– Sebastián Garcés
Photo: Flickr