The largest country in Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is “among the five poorest nations in the world.” Political instability, humanitarian crises, and conflict have aided the fact that 64% of all Congolese lived under the poverty line in 2021. With the population growing, along with unemployment, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s government, joined with international aid, has been making efforts toward poverty reduction in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Socioeconomic Issues
According to data from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s government and the International Monetary Fund’s country reports, unemployment impacts 30% of young citizens, which the COVID-19 crisis has only impacted more. Within the workforce, there is a gap between genders. In 2021, Congolese women only made up 23% of the government, 14% of the parliament and 24% of communal councils. Unemployment is higher among women, at 10.2% juxtaposed to 9% for men.
The country is one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa in levels of morbidity and mortality, along with having a maternity mortality ratio of 378 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy for the Republic of Congo report. When it comes to education, the Democratic Republic of Congo has seen a shortage of qualified teachers, a high student-to-teacher ratio and poor school infrastructure.
Poverty is the main issue within the country, as estimates have stated that the poverty rate rose between the years 2019 and 2020 by 4%, according to IMF. This is in large part due to the outbreak of COVID-19, which aggravated an economic recession and made it hard for Congolese people to afford rent, electricity and water bills, food and health care.
National Development Plan
The IMF report outlines the country’s National Development Plan 2022-2026. The goal of the plan is to “build a strong, diversified and resilient economy.” To do so, the government plans on focusing on agriculture, industry, tourism, real estate, technology and economic zones. This plan to regrow the economy comes with the prospect of an agreement with the IMF that could provide monetary aid.
Agriculture is an essential employer within the DRC, making it the first priority in the plan. By focusing on it, the country believes it can “fight effectively against unemployment, poverty, uncontrolled urbanization, the disarticulation of the national territory, food insecurity, and the foreign aid deficit.” The development of industry could bring modernization to the country and create jobs. In a similar vein, developing economic zones can create a “new national economy” and open them up to globalization. Tourism is a potential new market for the country to open up to, along with digitalization.
Following a visit to the DRC on February 15, 2023, the IMF released a statement reviewing the country’s recent economic data, saying that the agency “looks forward to continuing engagement in support of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
The World Bank
In 2022, the World Bank endorsed a Country Partnership Framework for the DRC that “promotes the stabilization and development of DRC, supporting strategic priorities and critical reforms to improve governance and deepen stabilization efforts.” The World Bank focuses on supporting the country’s developments in education, health and social protection.
As of June 2022, the World Bank aided poverty reduction in the Democratic Republic of Congo with $7.27 billion that financially supported 21 national projects and four regional projects. One of these projects is the Emergency Equity and System Strengthening in Education, which supports the country’s free primary education and lessens the burden of education costs on Congolese families. This project saw 2.5 million additional students enroll in school within 2021-2022 and allowed for around 60,000 teachers to receive regular salaries, the World Bank reports. The World Bank Urban Drinking Water Supply Project saw the installation of more than 450 community waterpoints, and the STEP-KIN project, launched in March 2021, is targeted to help 250,000 in its next phase.
The Human Rights Council
Recently, the United Nations Human Rights Council has been holding hearings with the Presidents of nations such as the DRC regarding peace plans. The speakers at this panel said that “human rights were at the centre of all global issues the world confronted today” and that “international financial institutions needed to undertake special measures to support developing countries in protecting basic rights to food, livelihood and a decent living.”
Félix-Antione Tshisekedi Tshilombo, the president of the DRC, spoke about political and military conflict within the country, a factor that can worsen poverty. The Human Rights Council and the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights recently addressed this conflict, reiterating a call for peace in Africa, along with assuring that “the U.N. Human Rights Office stands ready to continue our work to support the country in its efforts to overcome the human rights challenges that remain.”
As poverty reduction in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues, it is important to keep in mind how valuable foreign aid is to the rebuilding and restructuring of communities and countries.
– Audrey Gaines
Photo: Flickr
Boosting the Agricultural Sector in Africa
The 2022 Global Report on Food Crises 2022 Mid-Year Update estimates that acute food insecurity affects 140 million individuals in Africa. Agriculture has a significant social and economic impact on Africa — according to a McKinsey&Company analysis in 2019, smallholder farmers account for more than 60% of sub-Saharan Africa’s population and agriculture accounts for around 23% of the region’s GDP. The analysis also determines that Africa has the potential to multiply its cereal and grain output threefold. Nonetheless, most of Africa’s agricultural potential remains unexplored. However, realizing the full agricultural ability of Africa will require investments in fertilizers, irrigation, storage, infrastructure and more. Hello Tractor seeks to advance agricultural productivity in Africa.
Agriculture in Africa constitutes one of the primary sources of income as roughly two-thirds of Africa’s people work in the agricultural sector in Africa. Rural farmers have found it difficult to increase their productivity and their capacity to generate more food because of the “cost of mechanizing agriculture,” the World Economic Forum says.
Hello Tractor’s Solution
Jehiel Oliver, the founder of Hello Tractor, tells Forbes that African smallholder farmers typically lack access to the agricultural equipment necessary to expand cultivation and increase yields due to the high costs and no access to financing.
“I realized, if farmers have access to a tractor, that’s as good as owning one,” Oliver tells Forbes. He then started Hello Tractor in 2014, initially in Nigeria, where, via a digital app, one can establish a link between the tractor owner and the farmers, where the latter can rent the tractor to farmers to increase agricultural production and generate greater profits.
Hello Tractor implemented innovative digital tools with the purpose of connecting tractor owners, operators and farmers. The app includes several features. For instance, tractor owners can utilize GPS monitoring to oversee the movement of the tractor and find out information on the active and inactive hours and the number of trips made. Through the app, one can also monitor the fuel consumed by the tractor, the fuel prices and the scheduled activities for each tractor in the field.
“Hello Tractor technology makes fleet management easier and more profitable, supporting every aspect of your fleet from managing your tractor operators to your farmer customers,” its website says. Besides operating in 15 African countries, Hello Tractor also works in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Guatemala and Jamaica.
Pay-as-you-go Model
In January 2022, Hello Tractor launched the pay-as-you-go (PAYG) financing program for the agricultural sector in Africa, which “aims to significantly increase the number of tractors available to service farmers across sub-Saharan Africa by providing flexible financing to entrepreneurial youth and women who want to buy equipment to provide mechanization services to farmers in their network,” Ventures Africa says. The PAYG program is supplying $10 million in tractor loans, reaching more than 111,000 additional farmers. The program has the potential to generate at least 3,500 new jobs.
Hello Tractor is currently collaborating with the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and John Deere on a five-year plan to deploy 10,000 tractors. Using the pay-as-you-go system, the government will implement a model that “allows tractors to be leased to new owners over a defined period of time, before being resold to them at a discount,” Oliver told Forbes, with Hello Tractor as an implementation partner.
By the end of five years, Hello Tractor predicts that the initiative will generate 2 million jobs and 37 million tonnes of food using 9 million hectares of agricultural land.
The Impact of Hello Tractor on Farmers
As of August 2022, Hello Tractor has provided tractor services to more than 500,000 farmers, with 55% of them obtaining their first mechanization services through the company. Approximately 87% of these farmers reported gains in profits as a result of mechanization access.
Through the services of Hello Tractor, farmers have the opportunity to gain greater and more precise information on the types of crops to produce, when to ideally cultivate the crops and even the worth of the final harvest. Smallholder farmers can also more easily qualify for bank loans and grow their businesses by providing the banks with projections “based on verifiable targets” from Hello Tractor.
Looking Ahead
In 2021, Fortune’s Change the World list featured Hello Tractor as one of 53 companies using innovation and creativity to address issues impacting communities.
Accessible and inexpensive tractor services for smallholder farmers through this game-changing technology has the potential to boost agricultural output and farmer revenue in the agricultural sector in Africa, resulting in a more secure food system and less poverty.
– Elena Luisetto
Photo: Flickr
5 Organizations Helping Women and Children in Mauritania
Mauritania is a largely agricultural and pastoral country in the North-Western Saharan desert. As of 2020, only 47.3% of people had access to electricity. In 2021, around 15% of women were first married at 15, and in 2019, 156,142 children of primary school age were out of school. The country’s increasing poverty affects women and children in Mauritania. Here are five organizations seeking to aid women and children in Mauritania.
5 Organizations Helping Women and Children in Mauritania
Looking Ahead
Despite the challenges that women and children in Mauritania have faced, these five organizations are making a difference. As aid organizations continue their work in Mauritania, it is likely that quality of life will improve for all.
– Anna Richardson
Photo: Flickr
Aiding Children through World Vision Birthday Celebrations
For many children, birthday parties are annual celebrations that children anticipate months in advance. But, for many children living in impoverished countries, a birthday celebration is a luxury uncommon to most. World Vision birthday celebrations work to change this and simultaneously eliminate global poverty.
Child Poverty is a Global Issue
When one thinks about aid for children living in poverty, thoughts go to efforts such as providing clean drinking water, administering vaccines, reforming education or other big-picture efforts. While these are all extremely necessary actions, recognizing the simple pleasures children of impoverished countries are deprived of can often be an afterthought.
Across the world, more than 700 million people live on less than $1.90 a day and children make up about half of this number. This means extreme poverty affects roughly 365 million children around the world. The total number of children living in poverty globally can fill up the National Football League’s largest stadium, the MetLife Stadium, more than 4,424 times. Child poverty is a significant issue, but according to UNICEF, few governments have declared child poverty a national priority. These millions of children live without access to basic needs such as education, health services, nutritional food and even clean drinking water.
Child Poverty Impacts Health in Adulthood
Not only does child poverty impact children’s health in the present time but it also can affect health during adulthood. According to a study by Dennis Raphael published in the National Library of Medicine, child poverty can increase the risk of noncommunicable diseases later in life. This refers to diseases that are not contagious but arise due to poor diet and lifestyle, for instance, cardiovascular diseases and Type 2 diabetes. This displays that child poverty has a far-reaching impact on a large part of the global population. Considering the severity of child poverty globally, World Vision addresses child poverty in several manners, such as through World Vision birthday celebrations.
World Vision’s Birthday Celebrations
World Vision is a global humanitarian organization focused on diminishing global poverty through donations from sponsors. It has worked to combat poverty since 1950, and, as of 2023, serves more than 3.5 million children in almost 100 different countries. World Vision implements programs that directly aid impoverished children, families and communities in the areas of health, education, clean water access, food and nutrition, child protection and more.
One of World Vision’s most interesting programs, funded by sponsors, is its annual communal birthday celebrations for struggling children in impoverished countries. The goal of these celebrations is to show impoverished children love and support while also giving sponsors the opportunity to meet the child they sponsor if they so wish. World Vision’s birthday celebrations host about 1 million attendees per year. Celebrations have taken place in Ecuador, Vietnam, Mexico, Ghana and Romania along with various other impoverished countries.
World Vision’s birthday celebrations consist of brightly colored balloons, dancing character animals, singing, games, sports and lots of cake. These celebrations provide a day full of laughter and joy, but also can bring families, and even communities, out of poverty.
The Far-Reaching Impacts of the Celebrations
Matthew Sakala, who was once also a sponsored child through World Vision, now runs World Vision sponsorship programs in Moyo, Zambia. In an interview with World Vision, he says he has personally seen growth in his community due to the resources provided through birthday celebrations and continuous donations from World Vision sponsors. Sakala speaks of various opportunities, such as a training base provided through sponsorship donations so community members could learn skills in plumbing, carpentry, baking and more. Birthday celebrations enable connection and fellowship between sponsors and residents, making donations all the more meaningful.
In addition to typical children’s birthday gifts, World Vision gifts, through the support of sponsors, including audiovisual equipment, educational tools such as books, games and backpacks and recreational supplies including basketball, soccer and volleyball equipment. Other necessities, such as blankets, bedding, computers and water purification systems, are also accounted for, depending on the needs of the community. These items all contribute to uplifting communities even after the celebration ends.
Recognizing the Simple Joys
World Vision’s effort to recognize the simple joy in a birthday party and the lack of these experiences for impoverished children has led to the creation of a unique and impactful program. World Vision birthday celebrations provide joy and care to impoverished children while also fostering opportunities for growth and poverty minimization in entire communities.
– Leah Smith
Photo: Flickr
Poverty Reduction in the Democratic Republic of Congo
The largest country in Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is “among the five poorest nations in the world.” Political instability, humanitarian crises, and conflict have aided the fact that 64% of all Congolese lived under the poverty line in 2021. With the population growing, along with unemployment, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s government, joined with international aid, has been making efforts toward poverty reduction in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Socioeconomic Issues
According to data from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s government and the International Monetary Fund’s country reports, unemployment impacts 30% of young citizens, which the COVID-19 crisis has only impacted more. Within the workforce, there is a gap between genders. In 2021, Congolese women only made up 23% of the government, 14% of the parliament and 24% of communal councils. Unemployment is higher among women, at 10.2% juxtaposed to 9% for men.
The country is one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa in levels of morbidity and mortality, along with having a maternity mortality ratio of 378 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy for the Republic of Congo report. When it comes to education, the Democratic Republic of Congo has seen a shortage of qualified teachers, a high student-to-teacher ratio and poor school infrastructure.
Poverty is the main issue within the country, as estimates have stated that the poverty rate rose between the years 2019 and 2020 by 4%, according to IMF. This is in large part due to the outbreak of COVID-19, which aggravated an economic recession and made it hard for Congolese people to afford rent, electricity and water bills, food and health care.
National Development Plan
The IMF report outlines the country’s National Development Plan 2022-2026. The goal of the plan is to “build a strong, diversified and resilient economy.” To do so, the government plans on focusing on agriculture, industry, tourism, real estate, technology and economic zones. This plan to regrow the economy comes with the prospect of an agreement with the IMF that could provide monetary aid.
Agriculture is an essential employer within the DRC, making it the first priority in the plan. By focusing on it, the country believes it can “fight effectively against unemployment, poverty, uncontrolled urbanization, the disarticulation of the national territory, food insecurity, and the foreign aid deficit.” The development of industry could bring modernization to the country and create jobs. In a similar vein, developing economic zones can create a “new national economy” and open them up to globalization. Tourism is a potential new market for the country to open up to, along with digitalization.
Following a visit to the DRC on February 15, 2023, the IMF released a statement reviewing the country’s recent economic data, saying that the agency “looks forward to continuing engagement in support of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
The World Bank
In 2022, the World Bank endorsed a Country Partnership Framework for the DRC that “promotes the stabilization and development of DRC, supporting strategic priorities and critical reforms to improve governance and deepen stabilization efforts.” The World Bank focuses on supporting the country’s developments in education, health and social protection.
As of June 2022, the World Bank aided poverty reduction in the Democratic Republic of Congo with $7.27 billion that financially supported 21 national projects and four regional projects. One of these projects is the Emergency Equity and System Strengthening in Education, which supports the country’s free primary education and lessens the burden of education costs on Congolese families. This project saw 2.5 million additional students enroll in school within 2021-2022 and allowed for around 60,000 teachers to receive regular salaries, the World Bank reports. The World Bank Urban Drinking Water Supply Project saw the installation of more than 450 community waterpoints, and the STEP-KIN project, launched in March 2021, is targeted to help 250,000 in its next phase.
The Human Rights Council
Recently, the United Nations Human Rights Council has been holding hearings with the Presidents of nations such as the DRC regarding peace plans. The speakers at this panel said that “human rights were at the centre of all global issues the world confronted today” and that “international financial institutions needed to undertake special measures to support developing countries in protecting basic rights to food, livelihood and a decent living.”
Félix-Antione Tshisekedi Tshilombo, the president of the DRC, spoke about political and military conflict within the country, a factor that can worsen poverty. The Human Rights Council and the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights recently addressed this conflict, reiterating a call for peace in Africa, along with assuring that “the U.N. Human Rights Office stands ready to continue our work to support the country in its efforts to overcome the human rights challenges that remain.”
As poverty reduction in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues, it is important to keep in mind how valuable foreign aid is to the rebuilding and restructuring of communities and countries.
– Audrey Gaines
Photo: Flickr
The Women Fighting for Water in India
According to UNICEF “785 million people today do not have basic access to water.” To relieve this burden in India, Jal Sahelis, or women water warriors, are committed to reviving dried sources of water in Bundelkhand in what is now becoming a nationwide initiative to provide more access to clean water in India.
India’s Water Issues
In India, 91 million people lack access to clean water. Even though India has “18% of the world’s population, but only 4% of its water resources,” making it among the most water-stressed in the world.
Jah Salehi’s formed a volunteer network of more than 1,000 women to restore lost water sources throughout Bundelkhand. They can help with this by collecting rainwater during the June monsoon season and distributing it through dried-up water bodies around their village. As India’s water shortages increase, the women’s efforts provide.
The involvement of Jal Sahelis in many projects also highlights the importance of community-led efforts for sustainable development. The Jal Sahelis program empowers women to take leadership roles in managing and conserving water resources, which not only benefits the environment but also promotes gender equality and women’s empowerment in rural areas.
Improvements
Welthungerlife and Parmarth Samaj Sevi Sansthan helped these women with the organization and training necessary for “water resource planning, management and conservation.” There are currently close to 500 Jal Sahelis who completed the training and are now working. They are always available to help their communities with water issues and are identifiable by their blue saris.
As well as this, they have implemented “shramdan,” which are community donations to help restore ancient ponds and hand pumps, even using government funding to build check dams. The way in which they construct the ponds and dams is by moving boulders and then mixing concrete to form such structures, according to India Times. The Jal Shakti (Water Resources) Ministry of India has commended them for their successful efforts in resolving challenges pertaining to access to water in India.
Addressing Social Issues and Access to Water in India
Not only are Jal Sahelis helping with water issues, but many social changes as well, such as the promotion of human rights and the reduction of inequality. Jal Sahelis are also helping villages of India rediscover knowledge they lost decades earlier when water transformed from a community-managed resource to one administered by India’s government.
By working closely with communities, Jal Sahelis are helping to rediscover and revive traditional practices, which can be more sustainable and effective than modern systems. This can also contribute to the preservation of cultural heritage and identity. Overall, Jal Sahelis are playing a vital role in promoting sustainable water management and empowering communities, while also addressing social issues and reviving traditional knowledge.
– Lauryn Defreitas
Photo: Flickr
Aid for Syrian Earthquake Victims
BetterShelter is a Swedish nonprofit organization that provides temporary shelter for people that armed conflict, natural disasters or homelessness displace. Founded in 2010, the organization claims to have improved the lives of 400,000 people suffering from displacement in more than 80 countries. It is currently one of many organizations providing humanitarian aid for Turkish and Syrian earthquake victims.
Challenges of Providing Aid to Syria
Providing humanitarian aid in Syria is not an easy feat. According to USAID, the situation in Syria is the “largest and most complex humanitarian crisis of our time.” In Syria, 15.3 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance this year, with many people needing aid as a direct result of the Syrian Civil War.
Parties to the Syrian conflict also prevent humanitarian aid from reaching those who need it, whether it be diverting, blocking or other means of preventing aid from getting through. Aid workers have been victims of violent attacks in the past, which hampers relief efforts. Politics further affect aid, with nations like Russia and China, who hold permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council, vetoing renewals of cross-border aid operations to Syria in the past. Therefore, it came as no surprise that efforts at providing humanitarian aid for Syrian earthquake victims faced challenges.
Initially, the U.N. did not send trucks carrying humanitarian aid to Syria en masse. The U.N. only scaled up humanitarian aid for Syrian earthquake victims after an agreement between them and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that saw two additional border crossings open. With aid often facing hurdles like these, Dame Barbara Woodward, the British Ambassador to the U.N., stated that the earthquakes “brought into sharp focus the importance of unhindered and predictable access, without conditions, into north-west Syria.” While the U.N. and other organizations ramp up their aid operations, so is BetterShelter.
BetterShelter’s Impact
BetterShelter is no stranger to working in Syria. In fact, it has had a footprint there for quite some time. In partnership with the U.N. in 2020, it provided Relief Housing Unit (RHU) shelters to numerous refugee camps in Syria. RHUs were also “medical support shelters” when the COVID-19 pandemic first struck the country. In 2021, the organization sent RHUs to Syria, assisting another nonprofit organization in providing shelter to displaced families in the country.
The earthquakes have had a massive negative impact on the well-being of Syrians. The World Bank estimates that nearly $5.1 billion in “direct physical damage” took place in Syria and that the four governorates with “widespread damage” are home to around 10 million Syrians. Half of the total damage was direct damage to residential buildings, making the need for BetterShelter technology even direr.
With €10 million in funding from fellow Swedes at the IKEA Foundation, BetterShelter ramped up its operations in the country, as well as neighboring Turkey. The funds from the IKEA Foundation will provide 5,000 RHUs to those who the earthquakes impacted. For those in Syria, where BetterShelter says “delivery of critical aid has been delayed by the decades-long war that has already displaced 13 million people,” humanitarian aid for Syrian earthquake victims by companies like BetterShelter is a sign of hope for their recovery from the devastating quakes.
– Mohammad Samhouri
Photo: Flickr
The Importance of Funding for Disease Control in Nigeria
Managing disease control in Nigeria is a challenging task, given the country’s population of over 200 million people. Outbreaks of infectious diseases and emerging infectious diseases pose significant threats to public health, and addressing these challenges requires robust disease control measures. However, several factors, including inadequate funding, weak health care infrastructure and a high disease burden further complicate managing disease control in Nigeria.
Inadequate Funding
Unfortunately, inadequate funding often hampers disease control in Nigeria and prevention efforts. In the 2022 budget, the Nigerian government allocated only 4.34% of the national budget to health, resulting in insufficient funding for disease control and prevention.
Although there has been an increase in the recent allocation of funds to the health sector, the 2023 proposed Nigerian budget falls short of meeting the African Union’s commitment to allocate at least 15% of the total budget to the health sector. Only 5.75% of the total budget went to the health sector, indicating a significant funding gap that may negatively impact the country’s health care system. This has resulted in insufficient funding for disease control in Nigeria and prevention initiatives, leading to a lack of essential drugs, medical equipment and personnel in health care facilities.
Inadequate funding could have dire consequences, including increased mortality rates, a burden on health care systems and the spread of infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and emerging infectious diseases such as COVID-19. Nigeria has one of the highest malaria cases globally, accounting for 31.9% of malaria mortality cases worldwide. Malaria is a prevalent disease in Nigeria and a leading cause of death, particularly among young children and pregnant women.
Initiatives and Programs
Other infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, continue to pose a significant public health challenge. The spread of these diseases is exacerbated by inadequate funding, leading to increased mortality rates and a burden on healthcare systems.
However, several initiatives and programs aimed at addressing the funding gap have been implemented. International aid programs such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria have provided significant funding for disease control and prevention initiatives in Nigeria.
Additionally, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) aims to address the funding gap in health care systems, including Nigeria and meet the International Health Regulations requirements. CDC works closely with the Nigerian government and other stakeholders to achieve GHSA goals by “strengthening workforce development, surveillance, emergency response and laboratory capacity.”
CDC has implemented various initiatives and programs aimed at addressing the funding gap for disease control and prevention efforts in Nigeria. These programs include international aid programs, private sector investment and the role of the government in providing adequate funding. The CDC Nigeria has provided technical assistance, training and support to strengthen Nigeria’s public health system and preparedness for infectious disease threats.
However, continued efforts to secure funding for disease control in Nigeria and prevention initiatives are crucial for reducing the spread of diseases, improving healthcare outcomes and safeguarding public health in Nigeria. This requires a collaborative effort between the government, international organizations, the private sector and other stakeholders to address the funding gap and ensure that health care services are accessible to all Nigerians.
– Nkechi First
Photo: Flickr
Everything to know about poverty in Cambodia
In the 1970s, the Khmer Rouge conducted one of the largest genocides known in history, killing an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians, although the exact number remains unknown. The extreme communist beliefs of the Khmer Rouge caused the death of approximately 21% of Cambodia’s population. The rebuilding and reopening of the country to the international market revealed the depth of the effects of the regime on the country’s poverty levels. Despite various poverty reduction measures being taken that have had drastic impacts on the poverty present within Cambodia, poverty is still rife in the country with almost 13% of the population living below the poverty line. Here is everything to know about poverty in Cambodia.
Housing
Because of poverty, 62% of the Cambodian population lives in inadequate, one-bedroom housing. Cambodia’s population is growing increasingly urban with more than 25% of citizens living in cities. Meanwhile, in the capital of Phnom Penh, one in five people live in the slums or informal settlements, with limited access to basic needs and hygiene. There are an estimated 4,000 homeless children across seven Cambodian cities.
Water and Sanitation
Although 50% of Cambodians have access to a basic water supply, only a quarter of its population can access water that is safely managed. According to Lifewater, 2 million Cambodian citizens are without clean water, with a further 6 million without safe sanitation. Rural Cambodians face much more challenging hygiene problems than those in urban areas with a high rate of 80% of rural Cambodians openly defecating, as opposed to only 11% of those in the cities. The same is true of handwashing facilities, to which only 60% of those in rural Cambodia have access compared to 88% of urban Cambodians.
Hunger
Often, a country’s hunger rate is an indicator of poverty. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), 15% of Cambodia’s population suffers from undernourishment. Meanwhile, Cambodia’s children bear the heaviest burden, with 32% of young children facing stunted growth from malnourishment and 10% suffering from wasting. Floods and droughts threaten the rural Cambodian food system, putting the future of Cambodian nourishment at risk.
Cambodian Children’s Fund
Founded in 2004, the Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF) focuses on providing hands-on care to the children that need it the most in the Cambodian slums of Steung Meanchey. CCF focuses on covering four main solutions: basic needs, family and community, education and leadership. CCF has helped more than 3,500 children and their families find a route out of poverty. One of these children is Sophy, who was living in the garbage dump of Steung Meanchey when CCF encountered her and is now on a full scholarship at the University of Melbourne.
Looking Ahead
Despite the steady progress, poverty in Cambodia is still rife and its population is still one in need. When looking to help those in poverty, people must not forget countries that have faced detrimental conflicts with impacts that last many years later, such as the Khmer Rouge’s genocide of Cambodia. Nonetheless, in order to continue to lower Cambodian poverty rates, the first step is to raise awareness of everything there is to know about poverty in Cambodia.
– Genevieve Lewis
Photo: Flickr
African Social Enterprises Addressing Poverty
All over sub-Saharan Africa, many initiatives are seeking to address poverty and improve people’s lives amid fears of escalating hunger and extreme poverty. The World Bank reported that sub-Saharan Africa would note a decrease in economic growth from 4.1% in 2021 to 3.3% in 2022 due to sluggish global economic growth, the war in Ukraine and extreme weather conditions. Social enterprises keep hope alive by stepping up to address the effects of poverty on the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people. A social enterprise is a business with social objectives. While these businesses do seek to make profits, the enterprises maximize benefits to society and the environment by bringing relief to the most vulnerable sections of the communities. In particular, several African social enterprises look to address poverty in the region.
Pad-Up Creations
Olivia Onyemaobi founded Pad-Up Creations in May 2016 in Minna in Niger State of Nigeria. This Nigerian social enterprise aims to address period poverty in Nigeria. Period poverty refers to girls’ and women’s lack of access to menstrual products and hygiene facilities to properly manage menstruation. Onyemaobi launched a campaign in 2015 to provide female victims of sexual abuse with counseling and rehabilitation. Onyemaobi also noted a link between period poverty and sexual abuse.
Out of the 1,500 girls who received counseling, 68% had infections from using unsanitary alternatives to manage their menstruation and 79% typically did not attend school when menstruating due to a lack of access to menstrual supplies. Furthermore, 70% regret being female due to their menstruation and 95% reported engaging in sexual encounters to enable them to buy menstrual products.
Pad-Up Creations manufactures affordable washable and reusable sanitary pads that last up to a year, saving females from the monthly costs of menstrual supplies and ensuring girls stay in school. According to Onyemaobi, Pad-Up Creations reached more than 100,000 girls in Nigeria by 2017 but now has outlets in 18 African countries reaching millions of women and girls. Aside from reducing poverty, the social enterprise is also empowering other women economically. More than 300 females work in the factory in Minna while others are distributors of the products earning minimal profits.
Solar Sister
Solar Sister is another one of the African social enterprises empowering and helping women across sub-Saharan Africa. It invests in women and “clean energy businesses in off-grid Africa.” It is a movement of women, men, allies and partners with a mission to eradicate energy poverty by “empowering women with economic opportunity.”
Solar Sister initially came about in 2010 through the efforts of two women, a Ugandan banker, Katherine Lucey, and an Indian energy economist, Neha Misra, whose visits to remote areas in their different localities inspired them to build social enterprises around women, focusing on affordable clean energy. Three other women, Evelyn Namara of Uganda, Fatma Muzo of Tanzania and Olasimbo Sojinrin of Nigeria, boosted these efforts by launching operations in their respective countries.
According to the World Bank, just 48% of people in sub-Saharan Africa had access to electricity in 2020. Furthermore, just 18% of people in this region had “access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking” in the same year. The detrimental effects of household air pollution led to about 500,000 premature deaths in sub-Saharan Africa in 2018.
Against this backdrop, Solar Sister produces and provides clean stoves for cooking and solar solutions for lighting and charging batteries. So far, across three African countries, Solar Sister has reached more than 3.5 million people and has sold more than 700,000 clean energy products. Furthermore, the enterprise has helped 8,500 people become entrepreneurs by selling its solar products, 87% of whom are women.
Farm On Wheels
Farm On Wheels is a Nigerian social enterprise whose vision is to help smallholder farmers in hard-to-reach locations in Niger State, Nigeria. Its mission is to take knowledge, skills, improved seeds and agrochemicals to farmers in remote locations in order to assist them in increasing their yields and accessing markets for their products, making them gainfully employed and financially empowered. Jocelyne Agbo founded the enterprise in 2017 as an alumnus of the Tony Elumelu Foundation.
Because smallholder farmers in Nigeria live and work in remote locations with little knowledge of or access to advancements, they tend to stick to traditional agricultural practices at the subsistence level. Farm On Wheels brings advancements to rural farmers in leaps by helping to increase their yields and giving them access to bigger markets, making their farming endeavors more economically viable.
Between May 2021 to April 2022, Farm On Wheels partnered with the Feed the Future Nigeria Agribusiness Investment Activity, a USAID-funded activity implemented by Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA). To improve yields and production, Farm on Wheels distributed “input loans” totaling 24 million nairas ($58,151 USD) to 500 farmers, including 100 youth farmers in Niger State.
These three African social enterprises fill the gap between government action and the hard-to-reach, vulnerable people living in sub-Saharan Africa, thereby, lifting many out of poverty.
– Friday Okai
Photo: Flickr
Child Poverty in Jordan
According to UNICEF Jordan, one in five out of Jordan’s 3.16 million children endure multidimensional poverty. Children living in poverty suffer from a lack of health care options, inaccessible education, shortages of clean drinking water and nutritious food and lack of knowledge on proper hygiene practices. With the help of nonprofit organizations, child poverty in Jordan can reduce.
Children Face the Harshest Impacts of Poverty
In Jordan, refugee and stateless children suffer the greatest from extreme poverty. This is because, in Jordan, a child only receives citizenship based on the status of their father’s citizenship. This leaves children of single mothers or of multi-nationality households without rights. Public education and government-funded programs are not accessible to these children. A lack of access to education also keeps children rooted in cycles of poverty.
With 63% of Jordan’s population aged 30 years and younger, the impacts of poverty have hit Jordan’s younger population the hardest. In developing countries such as Jordan, with a national poverty rate of 15.7% in 2019, poverty also impacts the quality of health care services provided by medical centers as these centers typically lack essential resources and skilled professionals. Without adequate health care and nutrition, child mortality rates rise.
According to the World Bank, Jordan’s under-5 child mortality rate stood at 15 per 1,000 births in 2020. For reference, the global under-5 child mortality rate stood at about 37 deaths per every 1,000 births in the same year. Jordan’s child mortality rate has reduced significantly from 27 deaths in 2000, likely due to increased health care provisions.
Save the Children Takes Action
Save the Children has worked in Jordan since 1974, aiding more than 1.5 million children and families annually. Save the Children says every one out of 63 children in Jordan does not live to celebrate their fifth birthday, which is nine times higher than the rate in the United States. The organization provides resources to support the protection, health and education of vulnerable children in Jordan, regardless of their citizenship status.
For instance, from 2012 to 2022, Save the Children ran Early Childhood Care and Development Centers in the governates and refugee camps Azraq, Zaatari and Irbid. “These centers accommodate children aged 3 to 5 years, including children with disabilities, and work on preparing them for basic education by providing them with psychological, social and emotional support. The children also receive classes in writing, reading and mathematics, the organization’s website says. The organization also works on providing training for parents and caregivers to enhance their ability to contribute to the development of their children and improve children’s academic performance.
Looking Ahead in the Fight Against Child Poverty in Jordan
While child poverty in Jordan is prevalent, Save the Children is making a significant difference to improve health and education among children in Jordan. Through its continued work, as well as international aid, vulnerable children in Jordan should continue to receive the help they need.
– Leah Smith
Photo: Flickr