Kyrgyzstan is often viewed as a country with vast gender inequality. Reports of “bride kidnapping,” such as in the famous 2011 Vice documentary, have painted a dispiriting picture of the place women have in Kyrgyz society. The state of women’s rights in Kyrgyzstan has seen a vast improvement over the last 15 years, however, and despite the continued prevalence of these and other instances of gender-based violations, the general picture is one of progress.
Legal Equality
As an independent nation, the Kyrgyz Republic holds a good record for promoting gender equality. The Central Asian country remains a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which it has committed to since 1996, and like most post-Soviet countries, it has enshrined gender equality in the constitution.
Gaps in legislation and inconsistent legal interpretation have precluded greater progress in the area of sex discrimination, however. For example, until recently, many divorced women could not access child support. In 2018, the country reported 40,000 cases of alimony evasion. But in 2020, partly due to the work of activists, the government helped improve women’s rights in Kyrgyzstan by passing an amendment that made alimony evaders more accountable under family law. Whereas previously fathers who failed to pay child support could get away with just a fine, since 2020, fathers must pay alimony in full.
Child Marriages
The marrying of persons under the age of 18 is illegal in Kyrgyzstan yet 13% of Kyrgyz girls are married before their 18th birthday. Failures in law enforcement in conjunction with unemployment and rural poverty have meant the persistence of traditional non-consensual child marriages. Particularly in larger families that lack the income to support numerous children, parents seek to marry their daughters off to wealthier families to alleviate economic hardship. The problem is worse in rural areas, where the poverty rate is higher than the national poverty rate.
Child marriages in Kyrgyzstan are usually the result of “bride kidnapping” or “ala kachuu,” which literally translates to “pick up and run away.” Every year, 7,000 to 9,000 Kyrgyz girls fall prey to this practice, according to government figures. The bride’s parents are often responsible, along with the other family providing the “bride money.” Both parties arrange the marriage for the daughter typically without her consent in an unofficial religious ceremony. These illegal child marriages put young brides at risk of rape and domestic violence.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has worked to reduce child marriages in Kyrgyzstan since 2016. A key example of its work is the 2018-19 Project Addressing Early Marriages, which the British Embassy funded. This project was successful at encouraging the Kyrgyz Ministry of Labour and Social Development to implement the law prohibiting underage religious marriages in a “systematic way.” It also assisted the training of religious leaders in their understanding of marital law and improved the hotline services available to affected women and girls.
Domestic Violence
As part of the global Spotlight Initiative, a multi-year program that the Kyrgyz government and the European Union supported, U.N. has been implementing sex equality training to improve women’s rights in Kyrgyzstan. Two of the main aims of this program are to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls and provide services to survivors.
Violence against women is a serious problem in Kyrgyzstan and cases have risen since the forced closures of crisis centers during the country’s COVID-19 lockdowns. The last decade has seen improvements though, both in legislation and the provision of survivor support services, such as Spotlight Initiative-funded safe spaces.
Yet despite these improvements, the majority of domestic violence survivors in Kyrgyzstan do not seek help. Family pressure, social stigma and a lack of economic opportunities compel up to 90% of women who have suffered violent treatment from their husbands to return to them, according to U.N. figures. Alternatively, many women escape to pursue unsafe employment opportunities, making them susceptible to trafficking.
Education
The state education system in Kyrgyzstan nominally treats all pupils equally regardless of sex. Girls and boys enjoy near educational parity in Kyrgyzstan at the primary level in terms of enrollment and attendance rates. At the secondary level, however, the net attendance of girls is 3% lower than boys (59% for boys compared with 56% for girls). A U.N. Working Group has found that the principal reasons for girls dropping out of school early are “forced marriage and adolescent pregnancy.” Nevertheless, the 100% adult female literacy rate in Kyrgyzstan as of 2019 should provide a solid basis for women’s future economic participation.
The government is also advancing women’s rights in Kyrgyzstan through efforts to remove negative stereotypes surrounding women in schools. In April 2022, the Kyrgyz government launched a review of all textbooks and teaching materials with the aim of removing any discriminatory content and pictures. Additionally, initiatives such as “Girls in Science,” which has already helped 3,000 girls, aim to increase the proportion of women in underrepresented sectors.
The Future
The Kyrgyz Republic has made impressive strides toward gender equality since earning its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. It ranks 82nd out of 162 countries on the Gender Inequality Index in 2021. Today, the main impediments to women’s rights in Kyrgyzstan are intolerant patriarchal attitudes that perpetuate violence against women, notably the ancient practice of “bride kidnapping”, failures in law enforcement and a lack of economic opportunities for women. “Kyrgyzstan stands at a crossroads with an immense opportunity to harness the potential of women,” wrote a group of U.N. human rights experts in April 2022.
– Samuel Chambers
Photo: Flickr
How Art Can Change the World
Art helps adults develop human empathy, understand the problems of people around them and encourage people to be involved in their communities. Art education gives children in grades K-12 more hope for the future, improves academic participation and success and increases emotional intelligence. Importantly, art can also help shine a spotlight on the plight of the world’s most vulnerable. Here is how art can change the world.
Results Through Research
Researchers around the world have observed positive results of art bringing change and easing global poverty. Margaret Topping studied the effects that the French film “Les Glaneurs et la glaneuseon” had on reducing global food poverty. The film shows heartbreaking explicit scenes of food waste and the faces of the hungry. It also brought much attention to the food crises in France and around the world. It helped launch agricultural and food waste campaigns calling for action from individuals to change their lifestyles. This film shows how art can bring publicity to global poverty and create the empathy needed to change the world.
Jean-Pierre Daogo Guingane is another researcher who has reported on how stage and screen can help reduce global poverty. His experience lies in his teachings across developing African nations’ rural communities where he was able to use plays and stage acting as a way to create political dialogue and improve engagement in issues most impacting their lives. Daogo Guingane encouraged people to not only attend these shows but to write and act in their shows. He also found that through engaging the community in theatre, people were more likely to find solutions to their problems, develop a deeper understanding of the problems of others and have more faith in the community and the government to find solutions. This is a leading example of how art can reduce apathy and encourage people living in global poverty to feel empowered to change their situation as they are building artistic talents.
Powerful Examples of How Art Has Changed Communities
Mobile Art School in Kenya (MASK) is an NGO bringing art education to K-12 schools all over the country to improve the future for generations of students. This program tackled many of the challenges to bring art education to an impoverished nation suffering from internal violence and dissent and still the project found much success. Implementation of the project led teachers to report their students felt more confident, creative and peaceful. In addition, 41% of students reported they felt confident these skills could lead to employment and careers later in life. This project makes it easy to see how art can change the world, reduce global poverty and give hope to future generations.
Dandelion Action is an art program that the Commission for Children’s Art Education initiated under the Chinese Artists’ Association and primarily receives funding from the U.S. Ford Foundation. This project helped bring art education to children in poverty in urban and rural areas across China. The program provided supplies (previously completely inaccessible) and lessons to grade school children. This program encouraged kids to be confident in their art as well as learn about and preserve long-standing cultural history. Students were positively impacted and found themselves more confident and invested in their community. This demonstrates how art and art education can positively impact younger generations and encourage them to grow and improve their community no matter their current state of living.
Art is Necessary
Art has a tangible impact on people and their communities. It opens doors, minds and hearts to build courage, confidence and creativity. Increasing accessibility to see and practice art has created a deeper sense of community, empathy and innovation so that developing nations and the international community may find solutions and improve global poverty.
– Alexandra Curry
Photo: Flickr
Addressing Rabies in Developing Countries
Rabies Vulnerability in Developing Countries
Rabies is an extremely dangerous disease with a 99% fatality rate. Vaccination of animals and humans with high exposure rates is possible, but once infected there is little to stop the infection other than immediate treatment of multiple fast-acting shots and vaccines to help fight off the virus are administered with continuous wound washing.
The issue is that many people who live in poverty lack immediate access to these treatments and vaccinations. Even if these treatments are available, they come at a hefty price. Rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) costs an estimated $108 per treatment not including travel and shipping costs, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Not only is treatment expensive and often unavailable, but developing countries also have limited diagnostic facilities and almost no rabies surveillance, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The vaccination of stray dogs would greatly prevent the infection of humans, but this also comes with a steep cost and risks burdening public health resources even in the most stable countries. Globally, the burden of rabies costs around $120 billion.
Ethiopia Takes Action
Ethiopia is one of the most affected countries when it comes to rabies with an estimated death rate by rabies of about 2,700 deaths yearly. Ethiopia’s canine vaccination rate is far behind the 70% rate necessary to control the disease. Ethiopia suffers from the same limitations as other developing countries regarding inaccessible vaccinations and PEP treatments. As of 2019, 68.7% of Ethiopia’s population is multidimensionally poor.
Despite Ethiopia’s challenges, it still implemented many programs to fight against rabies infections that plague the country due to its high poverty rates and increased vulnerability. Rabies experts from the CDC have been working closely with Ethiopian leaders to determine the best way to safely take on the issue. Local animal surveillance officers and veterinarians get training on the capturing, vaccinating and releasing of stray dogs to control the source of infectors safely and effectively.
Public awareness and methods of youth education are also being implemented to protect young people from becoming infected due to canine exposure. The University of Mekelle has been providing awareness sessions to more than 7,000 children in schools across Ethiopia. However, a large portion of Ethiopian children is still at great risk due to high levels of multidimensional poverty which leads to a large number of children who do not attend formal school programs. With programs that target a larger community-based audience, more people could benefit from education and interest in participating in safe response protocols such as immediate wound washing and PEP administration.
Vaccination centers located in precise locations based on the high canine population have been recommended by the CDC and are expected to bring about positive coverage results. These are all necessary steps in the control of rabies in developing countries.
Looking Ahead
Ethiopia is setting the standard for the control of rabies in developing countries. With the improvement of educational sources, health services and animal control services rabies contraction in humans could be under control. However, as long as multidimensional poverty persists it is unlikely that rabies and other neglected diseases will be able to decrease.
– Leah Smith
Photo: Flickr
Worst Drought in Argentina in 60 Years
La Niña
Experts are crediting the weather in Argentina to the La Niña climate pattern. La Niña refers to a weather pattern that cools the surface of the Pacific water on the west coast of South America, creating hotter and drier weather in South America. It usually occurs every three to five years, but experts are crediting Argentina’s continuous hot and dry conditions to a third successive year of La Niña.
Impact on Crop and Economy
A severe combination of heat waves and a dry climate is causing fires to scorch and spread through Northern Argentina. Argentina suffered a minimum of eight heat waves between 2022 and 2023. As of February 23, 2023 officials state that the fires have covered at least 9% of the Corrientes province’s territory, located in Northeastern Argentina.
Due to the lack of crops to sell, the Rosario Grains Exchange (BCR) predicts that the drought in Argentina will cut the nation’s 2023 GDP by $19 billion compared to 2022. The drought has already reduced the country’s GDP by three points.
Solutions
With the inability to grow as many crops as usual, coupled with almost 100% inflation, Argentina is struggling to meet the annual debt owed to the IMF. However, Argentina and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are currently negotiating a deal where the nation does not need to provide the IMF with the amount of “currency reserves target” previously agreed upon for 2023.
In addition, Argentina is working on several solutions to ease troubles for struggling farmers who depend on crops as their livelihood. In January 2023, the government announced the launch of a relief fund for farmers struggling amid the drought. The fund will provide farmers with access to 5 billion pesos, or about $27 million.
Secondly, the government announced at the same time that it will not require farmers in areas affected the worst by the drought to pay the “advance income tax payments.” This comes along with lower interest rates and greater subsidies. The hope is that this will lighten any excess financial burdens that struggling farmers may have.
– Maya Steele
Photo: Flickr
The Impact of COVID-19 on Child Poverty in New Zealand
Awareness
The pandemic’s impact upon poverty did not come as a surprise. The Executive Director of UNICEF NZ, Vivien Maidaborn, spoke of her awareness of the threat in the early stages of COVID-19, stating, “the coronavirus pandemic…has triggered an unprecedented socio-economic crisis that threatens to roll back years of progress in reducing child poverty.” Heidi Coetzee, Chief Executive of Save the Children New Zealand, also recognized that “continued investment (would) be needed to ensure protections for (New Zealand’s) children.”
Indeed, the first year of the pandemic pushed 18,000 New Zealand children into poverty, according to the Guardian. Ronji Tanielu, a New Zealand social policy analyst, has been outspoken about the country’s failure to address poverty during the pandemic, stating, “the cracks that were in society before Covid…got worse during Covid.” Similarly, while some argue that, against the backdrop of the pandemic, the increase in New Zealand’s poverty was out of government control, the Child Poverty Action Group sees “government neglect” as the primary reason that poverty rose during COVID-19.
Perspective
Where some see failure, however, Ardern, who served as New Zealand’s Prime Minister through January 2023, sees success. She compares the impact of COVID-19 to that of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) that occurred a decade earlier. Though both saw an increase in poverty, the rise during the GFC was much more alarming–a reported 145,000 fewer children suffered from poverty during the pandemic than during the GFC. Ardern attributes this to the government actions taken to reduce poverty throughout the pandemic, which have included:
The positive impacts of such initiatives are undeniable. The director of the Salvation Army’s Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit, Ian Hutson, has acknowledged that, though child poverty was “unacceptably high” to start with, they have contributed to “limited but steady progress” in addressing the country’s child poverty.
Conclusion
The impact of COVID-19 on child poverty in New Zealand has been significant. As Tanielu acknowledges, this is an issue that “could take generations to fix.” Yet, while, as Ardern admits, “there is more work to do,” there has also been progress in preventing “the spike in poverty (seen) during the Global Financial Crisis a decade ago.”
– Jenny Boxall
Photo: Flickr
Women’s Rights in Kyrgyzstan
Legal Equality
As an independent nation, the Kyrgyz Republic holds a good record for promoting gender equality. The Central Asian country remains a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which it has committed to since 1996, and like most post-Soviet countries, it has enshrined gender equality in the constitution.
Gaps in legislation and inconsistent legal interpretation have precluded greater progress in the area of sex discrimination, however. For example, until recently, many divorced women could not access child support. In 2018, the country reported 40,000 cases of alimony evasion. But in 2020, partly due to the work of activists, the government helped improve women’s rights in Kyrgyzstan by passing an amendment that made alimony evaders more accountable under family law. Whereas previously fathers who failed to pay child support could get away with just a fine, since 2020, fathers must pay alimony in full.
Child Marriages
The marrying of persons under the age of 18 is illegal in Kyrgyzstan yet 13% of Kyrgyz girls are married before their 18th birthday. Failures in law enforcement in conjunction with unemployment and rural poverty have meant the persistence of traditional non-consensual child marriages. Particularly in larger families that lack the income to support numerous children, parents seek to marry their daughters off to wealthier families to alleviate economic hardship. The problem is worse in rural areas, where the poverty rate is higher than the national poverty rate.
Child marriages in Kyrgyzstan are usually the result of “bride kidnapping” or “ala kachuu,” which literally translates to “pick up and run away.” Every year, 7,000 to 9,000 Kyrgyz girls fall prey to this practice, according to government figures. The bride’s parents are often responsible, along with the other family providing the “bride money.” Both parties arrange the marriage for the daughter typically without her consent in an unofficial religious ceremony. These illegal child marriages put young brides at risk of rape and domestic violence.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has worked to reduce child marriages in Kyrgyzstan since 2016. A key example of its work is the 2018-19 Project Addressing Early Marriages, which the British Embassy funded. This project was successful at encouraging the Kyrgyz Ministry of Labour and Social Development to implement the law prohibiting underage religious marriages in a “systematic way.” It also assisted the training of religious leaders in their understanding of marital law and improved the hotline services available to affected women and girls.
Domestic Violence
As part of the global Spotlight Initiative, a multi-year program that the Kyrgyz government and the European Union supported, U.N. has been implementing sex equality training to improve women’s rights in Kyrgyzstan. Two of the main aims of this program are to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls and provide services to survivors.
Violence against women is a serious problem in Kyrgyzstan and cases have risen since the forced closures of crisis centers during the country’s COVID-19 lockdowns. The last decade has seen improvements though, both in legislation and the provision of survivor support services, such as Spotlight Initiative-funded safe spaces.
Yet despite these improvements, the majority of domestic violence survivors in Kyrgyzstan do not seek help. Family pressure, social stigma and a lack of economic opportunities compel up to 90% of women who have suffered violent treatment from their husbands to return to them, according to U.N. figures. Alternatively, many women escape to pursue unsafe employment opportunities, making them susceptible to trafficking.
Education
The state education system in Kyrgyzstan nominally treats all pupils equally regardless of sex. Girls and boys enjoy near educational parity in Kyrgyzstan at the primary level in terms of enrollment and attendance rates. At the secondary level, however, the net attendance of girls is 3% lower than boys (59% for boys compared with 56% for girls). A U.N. Working Group has found that the principal reasons for girls dropping out of school early are “forced marriage and adolescent pregnancy.” Nevertheless, the 100% adult female literacy rate in Kyrgyzstan as of 2019 should provide a solid basis for women’s future economic participation.
The government is also advancing women’s rights in Kyrgyzstan through efforts to remove negative stereotypes surrounding women in schools. In April 2022, the Kyrgyz government launched a review of all textbooks and teaching materials with the aim of removing any discriminatory content and pictures. Additionally, initiatives such as “Girls in Science,” which has already helped 3,000 girls, aim to increase the proportion of women in underrepresented sectors.
The Future
The Kyrgyz Republic has made impressive strides toward gender equality since earning its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. It ranks 82nd out of 162 countries on the Gender Inequality Index in 2021. Today, the main impediments to women’s rights in Kyrgyzstan are intolerant patriarchal attitudes that perpetuate violence against women, notably the ancient practice of “bride kidnapping”, failures in law enforcement and a lack of economic opportunities for women. “Kyrgyzstan stands at a crossroads with an immense opportunity to harness the potential of women,” wrote a group of U.N. human rights experts in April 2022.
– Samuel Chambers
Photo: Flickr
Rural Land Engineering in China
According to 2017 data from UNICEF, about 53.6% of China’s rural poor reside in the country’s western region, equaling 16.34 million people. Guizhou holds the highest number of impoverished people at 2.95 million. Xinjiang, an area with high numbers of ethnic minorities such as the marginalized Uyghur people, has the most significant poverty rate — 9.9%.
Since 2000, China has introduced several social development programs in rural communities, such as “universal compulsory education up to grade 9, rural medical cooperative system, social pension system for rural residents and a minimum living allowance scheme,” the World Bank reports.
What is Rural Land Engineering?
Since land degradation is the most significant problem that some rural communities in China face, people are turning to rural land engineering and other similar practices that revitalize the land. In this context, it is a method of agricultural engineering that is able to prevent land degradation. Some forms of land engineering are land consolidation, reclamation, restoration and reallocation. All of these different types of land engineering help curtail land degradation, and therefore, rural poverty.
The most well-known form of rural land engineering is land consolidation. According to the European Environment Agency, land consolidation involves “joining small plots of land together to form larger farms or large fields.” According to an article in Geographical Research, the main objective of land consolidation is to maximize the amount of arable land and advance the conditions of agricultural production. Land consolidation generally consists of practices that seek to maximize the earning potential of a given area.
Why Rural Land Engineering?
To put it simply, this method of curtailing poverty is useful and easy. It creates a balanced man-land system. Because people and land are the two most important parts of rural communities, it makes sense that a balanced man-land system would be optimal for reducing poverty.
Liu Yansui and Wang Yongsheng conducted a study that discusses rural land engineering and how it helps to alleviate poverty. In the study, the researchers find that hilly areas in parts of rural China can be repurposed into productive farmland. This productive farmland would then create income for rural families. By repurposing this hilly land, rural families in such areas can rise out of poverty.
Another key explanation in the study outlines the link between poverty and land engineering. The researchers found that “land engineering utilizes engineering measures to coordinate human-land relationships by transforming unused land into available land or efficiently using the existing land.”
Geographical Research explains that, through the use of land consolidation, impoverished peasants are able to obtain farmland that is supplied with “improved infrastructure and roads.”
A History of Land Engineering
China began land engineering practices as far back as the time of the Xia dynasty but has now moved onto more modern means of land engineering. China established the Key Laboratory of Degraded and Unused Land Consolidation Engineering in 2013.
In 2016, China developed a new commission of the International Geography Union on Agricultural Geography and Land Engineering (IGU-AGLE) in the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. IGU-AGLE focuses on “the improvement in agricultural conditions and consolidation of degraded land and defiled land using land engineering.” Also in 2016, universities in China formalized land engineering as a discipline to “cultivate professional talent for national land technology innovation and development.”
Overall, rural land engineering plays a role in poverty reduction in rural China. China stands as an example of national poverty reduction at a large scale and continues to demonstrate a commitment to dissolving poverty among rural populations.
– Timothy Ginter
Photo: Flickr
HIV/AIDS in Honduras
With a population of more than 10 million, Honduras is the second-largest country in Central America but it has the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS cases in the region. Since its first cases in 1985, the disease has quickly become an epidemic, causing up to 1,000 deaths per year and leaving as many as 16,000 orphans as of 2021.
Reasons for High HIV/AIDS Rates
The spread of HIV/AIDS in Honduras is largely due to a lack of awareness, education and health care. USAID reports that only 65% of women reported using condoms as a preventative measure and 90% of women faced at least one obstacle in accessing health care. More than half a decade later, in 2012, only 61% of individuals reported having used a condom during their last sexual encounter with a high HIV-risk partner and 32% used this protection the last time they paid for sex. Just 57% of HIV-positive individuals were aware of their condition, according to a 2021 report. Delayed detection and lack of treatment allow the disease to spread, often unnoticed, through communities, via intercourse, mother-to-child transmission and infected blood.
The Effects of HIV/AIDS
HIV/AIDS is primarily dangerous for its weakening of the immune system, making the carrier vulnerable to other infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis (TB), one of the main causes of death of HIV carriers in Honduras. Approximately 13% of TB patients in Honduras have HIV, according to USAID.
After diagnosis, carriers often face stigmatization and discrimination from their community. The 2005–2006 Honduras Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) showed that only 46% of women would buy produce from an HIV-positive vendor and only 56% believed an infected teacher should be able to continue his profession. Unemployment and poverty further marginalize these individuals, USAID reports. As three-quarters of HIV infections in Honduras occur in its most economically active population, the age group of 20 to 39, the economic growth of communities and the nation as a whole is impeded.
In some cases, HIV/AIDS infections have led to human rights abuses in the form of involuntary sterilization. A 2018 City University of New York (CUNY) research study presented the case studies of two women seeking asylum in the U.S. to avoid sterilization on the basis of their diagnosis.
The Most Affected
Higher rates of HIV/AIDS exist among Honduras’ more vulnerable communities, such as female sex workers, gay men and Garífuna communities. Although neither homosexuality nor sex work is illegal, both communities report regular harassment and stigmatization and these disadvantages are subsequently amplified upon diagnosis, according to The Global Fund report.
The Afro-indigenous ethnic group, the Garífuna, reported a rate of HIV infections “over three times the national average,” largely because of the high levels of migration which facilitates sexual concurrency and the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted infection (STI).
Efforts to Fight the Epidemic
Internal and external efforts to combat HIV/AIDS in Honduras have shown consistently positive results. Plans have primarily focused on promoting education surrounding sexual and reproductive health, expanding STI treatment and prevention, providing access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and increasing surveillance and research. HIV/AIDS incidence has fallen from 0.7% in 2007, according to USAID, to 0.2% in 2021. AIDS-related deaths also fell from 40 per 100,000 in 2002 to 7 per 100,000 in 2020.
The PEPFAR provided AIDS-related support to more than 30,000 Hondurans in 2022 alone and identified 1,190 undiagnosed individuals, who were then able to seek treatment. The nonprofit organization Project HOPE has worked in Honduras since 1984 to support the eradication of HIV/AIDS-related deaths. This progress is ongoing.
Additionally, The Global Fund recently achieved a U.S. grant of up to $19.1 million for Honduras for 2022-2025. Its aims include reducing deaths from AIDS-related causes by 50% and reducing HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men to 5% or lower.
The Future
There is still far to go in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Honduras and unforeseen challenges such as natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic threatens disruption to HIV/AIDS treatments and preventative programs. Nevertheless, progress is visible and ongoing. Improved access to critical treatment means a diagnosis is no longer a death sentence.
– Helene Schlichter
Photo: Pixabay
5 Charities Operating in Ukraine
5 Charities Operating in Ukraine
Amid the war in Ukraine, charities play an important role in meeting the needs of both troops and civilians.
– Anna Konovalenko
Photo: Courtesy of Anna Konovalenko
The Blended Finance Fund Shaping African Health Care
The Financing Gap
Africa is home to 16% of the world’s population and bears 23% of the global disease burden, yet 1% of global health spending ends up in the continent, according to the Health Finance Coalition (HFC). Compared to their international counterparts, the Brookings Institute reports that Africans pay high out-of-pocket costs for health care — while also living in countries with some of the worst poverty rates in the world. Half of all Africans, according to DFC, currently lack access to modern medical facilities.
One challenge to building system resilience, exposed during the coronavirus pandemic, is the lack of African-made health care products: the continent imports more than 90% of pharmaceutical equipment and supplies to meet its health needs, according to Brookings. During the pandemic, Africa established local production firms and intra-governmental funds and partnerships, such as the African Medical Supplies Platform. Yet, there remain ample opportunities for improvements in disease prevention and treatment, pandemic preparedness and health commodity production throughout Africa. The IFC estimates that $25-$30 billion is necessary to ensure African health care systems can meet the continent’s rising demand.
Bridging Public and Private Financing
The Transform Health Fund is one example of an increasingly popular strategy of resilience-building in Africa’s health care system known as blended financing, or a capital stack approach. The primary feature of this model is public-private partnerships, where institutions, including government institutions like the DFC, nonprofit organizations and investment firms, leverage their resources to make an impact on a shared goal.
Virtues of the approach, according to agencies like Wilton Park, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and IFC, lie in its distribution of risk among funders and its ability to achieve a balance between donor and commercial investments in the face of dramatic need. While donor institutions can help bolster emerging industries, health systems in capitalist, globalized economies require private sector buy-in to decrease dependency upon aid and strained state budgets.
Toward Universal Health Coverage
HFC and AfricInvest, key contributors to the Fund, state that the ultimate goal of the Transform Health Fund is to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC). The role of public-private partnerships in achieving this social impact is unique and complex. A Health and Human Rights Journal article warns of possible conflicts between the goals and priorities of private and public health care institutions, particularly as related to human rights-based conceptions of health care. Such conflicts are more likely to be avoided if collaborators can ensure African leadership of the initiative and both strong coordination, according to Wilton Park and effective regulation, according to Brookings, of Africa’s blossoming health care sector.
Given the widely documented link between health and poverty, stakeholders of the Fund hope that industries serving populations in need can also prove to be sustainable and profitable. With a target amount of $100 million, the Fund will primarily inject investments into eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and Nigeria, according to the DFC report. However, with a diverse set of stakeholders and a strong focus on transformation, as its name suggests, the Transform Health Fund ushers a new future for the broader African health care landscape and, if successful, the well-being of all African people.
– Hannah Carrigan
Photo: Wikipedia Commons
How Recycling in Nigeria Can Help the Poor
Most members of the poor communities of Nigeria struggle with disposing of their waste, inherently making them vulnerable to exposure to epidemic diseases, such as malaria, meningitis and other diseases. Accumulation of trash in sewages and gutters contaminates waters, creating a breeding pool for mosquitoes and vectors. This article will illuminate the accomplishments of two successful Nigerian female entrepreneurs, Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola and Mariam Lawani, who executed practical tools to incentivize communities to adopt a sustainable livelihood and reward them for their efforts. Despite the environmental benefits of motivating others to recycle, the economic and social benefits are equally as remarkable. Here is some information about how recycling in Nigeria can help the poor.
WeCyclers
Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola set up WeCyclers in 2012, a Lagos-based social enterprise fundamentally driven by fostering sustainability, physical and emotional well-being and socioeconomic empowerment for poor-income households. It provides impoverished households the opportunity of creating utility from their own recyclable waste. They collect recyclable waste from their homes and travel to Wecyclers collection point in Lagos, using low-cost cargo bikes called “wecycles.” The company then sorts and packages the waste before selling it to Nigerian manufacturers, who turn it into eco-friendly items.
Members of the local community are strongly incentivized to register as they get reward points for each kilogram of goods they recycle every week. Over time, they exchange the points for money or staple goods. The role of recycling in Nigeria in this context can help tackle poverty in Nigeria.
Unlike a conventional car, cargo bikes can travel through extremely tight roads. Consequently, Wecyclers can further expand its waste management infrastructure to the densely populated regions in Nigeria. Since Wecycler’s establishment, it has thrived significantly, allowing it to diversify its methods of transporting materials. It now uses vans, trucks, mobile technology and electric tricycles to deliver more recyclable waste to manufacturers.
This strategy of rewarding participants generates a ripple effect as family and friends of participants acknowledge the advantages of getting involved. They are vicariously reinforced to register to WeCyclers, as a way of reaping the benefits of participation. Adebiyi-Abiola states how the social enterprise “stopped actively reaching out to households to register people” because “people see their friends getting rewards for clearing up, and they want to do the same,” Copenhagenize Index reports. Here, she pertinently highlights how local community members observing others commit to a particular cause and receive bonuses motivates them to become part of the movement.
Greenhill Recycling
Rising poverty rates in Nigeria galvanized Nigerian entrepreneur Mariam Lawani to find a solution to these challenges. She founded Greenhill Recycling, a social enterprise that raises awareness of poverty and unemployment concentrated in Lagos in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The process Greenhill Recycling adopts is a “household collection system.” It picks up recyclable waste from the doorsteps of its subscribers, such as aluminum cans, water sachets, plastic bottles and empty cans. Those who take part receive redeemable green points that they can exchange for groceries, household equipment or even educational supplies for children. This demonstrates its altruistic nature in giving back to individuals from poor incomes.
Both organizations generate a platform for rural communities in Nigeria to be active agents and autonomous individuals in creating a pathway out of poverty. Recycling in Nigeria provides a beacon of hope for poor Nigerians to escape from the vicious cycle of poverty.
– Dami Kalejaiye
Photo: Flickr