Bangladesh, a country long associated with malnutrition and chronic hunger, has made incredibly noteworthy strides in its fight against hunger. Furthermore, it serves as an inspiration to other countries that struggle with the same problems. Bangladesh is the most densely populated country in the world, with a population of more than 165 million people and a projected population of more than 200 million people by 2050. This poses clear challenges, as it places economic, social and environmental strains on the country and drastically affects its ability to provide for its citizens.
How Bangladesh is Transforming into a Food Secure Country
In the last 40 years, Bangladesh has transformed from a country with chronic food shortages and poverty into a food basket that even serves the international community; food production has quadrupled in the last 40 years, and Bangladesh now exports food to other nations. Overall, hunger in Bangladesh has lessened.
This upward trend began in 1971 when Bangladesh gained its independence. This freed the country from economic strangulation and consequently high levels of poverty and extreme hunger. Initially, it struggled with extreme, devastating floods, which destroyed fertile farmland and resources. Bangladesh also did not initially receive adequate aid for food production. However, Bangladesh is now a model for other countries seeking to mitigate issues of hunger, as it has made notable strides in reducing malnutrition. A recent U.N. report even highlighted Bangladesh as a “bright spot” in the global movement to end global hunger before 2030. Since 2000, Bangladesh has lowered its hunger level by more than half and reduced the number of underweight children by 25%. In addition, it has decreased the infant mortality rate by 50%, an achievement that it shares with only five other countries.
To succeed in these ways, Bangladesh had to prioritize its development by promoting economic and food security. In the late 90s, improvements in rice varieties allowed for a revolution in rice production. This also combined with developments in aquaculture — 150,000 shallow ponds are now sustainable fish farms, for example. This also promotes women’s rights and development, as more than 60% of the nation’s fish farmers are women.
The Work of USAID
Many organizations have assisted Bangladesh in its efforts. USAID has been an incredibly active partner to Bangladesh in this effort, as it trained 67,000 women in aquaculture techniques. It works with the Bangladeshi government on various development activities that help improve availability and access to domestically produced, nutritious foods. Additionally, USAID assistance provides funding for research, monitoring, and training within Bangladeshi government agencies.
U.S. State Department funding helped establish the Food for Education program, which provided food vouchers and cash for poor families in exchange for their promises to send their children to school and help educate the next generation. This initiative, which started in Bangladesh, proved so successful that it was implemented in other countries; according to the U.N., the initiative was crucial in reducing global malnutrition. Bangladesh has also implemented microfinance programs to combat hunger and poverty, especially for women. Small loans enable small businesses to start and produce income that helps families around the country.
Feed the Future
Another essential initiative is Feed the Future, which the U.S. government funds. Bangladesh receives the third highest amount of any country. This initiative helps improve productivity and agricultural diversity in specific areas of southern Bangladesh; this enhances private sector competition by promoting economic growth, corporate practices and supply chain developments that assist poor farmers and struggling businesses. Additionally, the government consistently demonstrates its commitment to mitigating the issue of food insecurity, as its enthusiasm to work with these initiatives has proven.
All of these efforts are imperative because they help diversify sources of income for Bangladeshi farmers. The focus on aquaculture also broadens the variety of plants, fish and livestock. In addition, it encourages the adoption of post-harvest practices and promotes off-farm income. Bangladesh’s progress also shows the importance of coordinating with private and public sectors to identify market opportunities and strategies. Through improved collaboration, these efforts supported more than 225,000 farmers, who applied improved technologies in agronomic practices, such as irrigation, pest and disease management and livestock management.
Bangladesh is now completely food secure in rice production and produces sufficient amounts to feed its population of 165 million. This is a very noteworthy accomplishment, especially given the struggles with changing weather. According to household surveys that USAID and Feed the Future conducted, there has been a 16% decrease in poverty levels in areas that receive USAID and Feed the Future assistance. It is difficult to precisely pinpoint how much of this reduction in the poverty level is due to USAID programming, but this initial data is certainly encouraging.
Moving Forward and Ensuring Long-Term Prosperity
Going forward, these initiatives can improve by encouraging more nutritional diversity. Since most of the typical Bangladeshi diet is rice, young children may be prone to stunting or chronic malnutrition. About four-fifths of children do not receive a sufficient diet for their age range; on a national scale, 36% of children below 5 years of age experience stunting. Meanwhile, less than one-fifth of Feed the Future’s budget, for example, goes toward eliminating malnutrition. With more balanced programs, initiatives that Feed the Future and USAID run can better target this problem. Meanwhile, the country will continue to be an example of how implementing better agricultural practices and working with various initiatives can assist in mitigating poverty and hunger in Bangladesh.
– Shiloh Harrill
Photo: Flickr
Human Trafficking in Angola
The Right to Form Unions
The law indicates that workers, except those that the armed forces or police employ, have the right to form and join independent trade unions. However, an issue is that authorities in Angola do not always enforce its laws adequately. The law states that for a union to form, at least 30% of workers in an industry or province must go through a registration process and receive approval from the authorities. The law also provides for the right to collective bargaining but excludes public sector workers. However, the country has prohibited strikes by members of the armed forces, police, prosecutors and judges, prison staff, firefighters, public sector workers and oil workers.
Employment
The Angolan government enforced the Minimum Wage Act in the formal labor sector. In 2019, the national minimum wage was Kwanzas 16,503 ($52.60 USD) and the aim was for it to reach Kwanzas 21,454 ($68.30 USD) for the agricultural sector, Kwanzas 26,817 ($85.50 USD) for the trade and manufacturing sector and Kwanzas 32,181 ($102.50 USD) for the extractive industries sector. Furthermore, while the law guarantees a safe working environment for all sectors of the economy, labor protection standards do not protect most workers in the informal sector.
Discrimination and Working Labor
The Constitution and the law prohibit discrimination in employment based on race, sex, religion, disability or language, and the government has generally enforced these laws effectively in the formal sector. The law provides for equal pay for equal work, and women often hold at least some high-level positions in state industry and the private sector. However, many women tend to hold low-level positions, especially in the informal sector. The law prohibits all forms of forced or compulsory labor too.
The government reportedly does not enforce this law effectively, partly because there are not enough labor inspectors. Penalties are reportedly inadequate to deter violations. Children under 14 are prohibited from working too. To obtain a work contract, children must prove that they are at least 14 years old and that the work does not interfere with their formal education or cause them physical or mental harm. Between the ages of 14 and 16, parental consent to work is necessary. Tuition is free and compulsory for children up to sixth grade.
NGOs and Immigration Policies
There are several hundred non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working for transparency, human rights and political reform regarding human trafficking in Angola. Organizations critical of the government are often subject to state interference and can experience the threat of legal action or closure. In 2017, the Constitutional Court ruled that a 2015 decree requiring NGOs to register with the government and subjecting NGOs receiving donations to further scrutiny was no longer constitutional due to criticism from civil society. This criticism openly described the decree as restrictive and intrusive, as it required NGOs to obtain government approval before engaging in activities and allowed the government to monitor the organizations.
One of the best-known NGOs in Angola that is working on human rights is Missio, which has the main objective to support the Catholic Church in missionary dioceses around the world. The organization changes lives by listening to local needs and aiding in the creation of infrastructure, such as chapels, schools, orphanages, clinics and dispensaries and centers where young church members can thrive and grow. All this support is most tangible in the funds that it collects and distributes, but even more tangible in the spiritual and pastoral unity it creates. Therefore, the organization has two main areas of activity: mission animation and education and fundraising. It was registered in April 1996 and has raised more than £7 million to date and may have an impact on reducing human trafficking in Angola.
Several obstacles exist that prevent refugees and migrants from finding employment. Regulation 273/13 prevents refugees from obtaining a compulsory business license, which is necessary to own and operate a business. Refugees have also reported that they often have difficulty working in the formal sector because they cannot obtain legal documents. The government is making significant efforts to combat human trafficking in Angola. It has educated the public about the dangers of trafficking, amended the constitution to explicitly prohibit trafficking and maintained anti-trafficking funding despite a significant decline in government revenue and subsequent cuts to the national budget.
– Manos S. Karousos
Photo: Flickr
Period Poverty in Africa
Period poverty is the lack of access to sanitary products and hygiene facilities to allow women to manage the monthly duration of menstruation properly. For many girls in Africa, having their period once a month includes negative connotations meaning they may have to stay home from school and are at risk of health issues due to a lack of access to sanitary products. Current statistics that UNESCO collected have revealed that one in 10 African girls miss school because their schools have inadequate toilet facilities – also providing them with no access to sanitary products. However, many activist groups aim to counter the effects of period poverty in Africa for women and girls.
Period Poverty in Ghana
In Ghana, data collected in 2016 showed that 95% of girls sometimes miss school due to period poverty. Within Ghana, factors that contribute to this include the taboo surrounding menstruation – with some local beliefs that menstruating women are unclean. There is also a lack of facilities within schools.
However, progress is occurring within Ghana through charities such as Dressability and Action Through Enterprise, which worked to give girls hygienic, reusable pads in a small rural area in upper west Ghana in 2021. This was due to its belief that sanitary pads are a luxury item in a post-pandemic era, and many families they have worked with struggled to send their girls to school due to not being able to afford them.
Period Poverty in Uganda
When girls in Uganda are on their period, absence from school is around 28% – a sharp increase from 7% on non-period days. Nearly a quarter of girls in the country between the ages of 12 and 18 drop out of school when menstruation commences meaning period poverty is rife within the country. Both statistics are according to data collected in 2019.
However, the government is making moves to try and tackle the issue by partnering with the Ugandan Red Cross for their ‘Keep a Girl in School Initiative,’ which gave out sanitary pads in schools there alongside partnering with reusable pad manufacturer ‘AFRIpads’ in 2019.
Period Poverty in South Africa
Around 7 million South African girls in 2022 still struggle to access sanitary products, according to the South African Minister for Women. When a Menstrual Health Management Symposium in Johannesburg occurred, reports stated that period poverty is a human rights issue that people must strive to resolve.
The Cora Project aims to support those who menstruate in South Africa by equipping them with sound knowledge regarding periods and period poverty and providing them with practical resources to combat it. In December 2020, the Cora Project gifted 100 women in various shelters across Cape Town Christmas gift boxes containing menstrual products and other goodies. Additionally, other projects occurred throughout 2020, such as the distribution of 12,000 products to in-need menstruators in Hout Bay and giving out more than 400 products on Mandela Day.
In conclusion, one can say that despite currently alarming statistics regarding period poverty in Africa, several organizations are striving to combat this to the greatest extent they can. The work that the organizations mentioned above have undertaken is evidence of a growing movement to combat period poverty in Africa for menstruators in education and broader life. By providing workshops and inclusion for men and boys to reduce period stigma and practical resources to ensure no one ends up without access to products, these groups are creating a better future for the next generation of menstruators.
– Claire Dickson
Photo: Wikipedia Commons
The Fight Against Hunger in Bangladesh
Bangladesh, a country long associated with malnutrition and chronic hunger, has made incredibly noteworthy strides in its fight against hunger. Furthermore, it serves as an inspiration to other countries that struggle with the same problems. Bangladesh is the most densely populated country in the world, with a population of more than 165 million people and a projected population of more than 200 million people by 2050. This poses clear challenges, as it places economic, social and environmental strains on the country and drastically affects its ability to provide for its citizens.
How Bangladesh is Transforming into a Food Secure Country
In the last 40 years, Bangladesh has transformed from a country with chronic food shortages and poverty into a food basket that even serves the international community; food production has quadrupled in the last 40 years, and Bangladesh now exports food to other nations. Overall, hunger in Bangladesh has lessened.
This upward trend began in 1971 when Bangladesh gained its independence. This freed the country from economic strangulation and consequently high levels of poverty and extreme hunger. Initially, it struggled with extreme, devastating floods, which destroyed fertile farmland and resources. Bangladesh also did not initially receive adequate aid for food production. However, Bangladesh is now a model for other countries seeking to mitigate issues of hunger, as it has made notable strides in reducing malnutrition. A recent U.N. report even highlighted Bangladesh as a “bright spot” in the global movement to end global hunger before 2030. Since 2000, Bangladesh has lowered its hunger level by more than half and reduced the number of underweight children by 25%. In addition, it has decreased the infant mortality rate by 50%, an achievement that it shares with only five other countries.
To succeed in these ways, Bangladesh had to prioritize its development by promoting economic and food security. In the late 90s, improvements in rice varieties allowed for a revolution in rice production. This also combined with developments in aquaculture — 150,000 shallow ponds are now sustainable fish farms, for example. This also promotes women’s rights and development, as more than 60% of the nation’s fish farmers are women.
The Work of USAID
Many organizations have assisted Bangladesh in its efforts. USAID has been an incredibly active partner to Bangladesh in this effort, as it trained 67,000 women in aquaculture techniques. It works with the Bangladeshi government on various development activities that help improve availability and access to domestically produced, nutritious foods. Additionally, USAID assistance provides funding for research, monitoring, and training within Bangladeshi government agencies.
U.S. State Department funding helped establish the Food for Education program, which provided food vouchers and cash for poor families in exchange for their promises to send their children to school and help educate the next generation. This initiative, which started in Bangladesh, proved so successful that it was implemented in other countries; according to the U.N., the initiative was crucial in reducing global malnutrition. Bangladesh has also implemented microfinance programs to combat hunger and poverty, especially for women. Small loans enable small businesses to start and produce income that helps families around the country.
Feed the Future
Another essential initiative is Feed the Future, which the U.S. government funds. Bangladesh receives the third highest amount of any country. This initiative helps improve productivity and agricultural diversity in specific areas of southern Bangladesh; this enhances private sector competition by promoting economic growth, corporate practices and supply chain developments that assist poor farmers and struggling businesses. Additionally, the government consistently demonstrates its commitment to mitigating the issue of food insecurity, as its enthusiasm to work with these initiatives has proven.
All of these efforts are imperative because they help diversify sources of income for Bangladeshi farmers. The focus on aquaculture also broadens the variety of plants, fish and livestock. In addition, it encourages the adoption of post-harvest practices and promotes off-farm income. Bangladesh’s progress also shows the importance of coordinating with private and public sectors to identify market opportunities and strategies. Through improved collaboration, these efforts supported more than 225,000 farmers, who applied improved technologies in agronomic practices, such as irrigation, pest and disease management and livestock management.
Bangladesh is now completely food secure in rice production and produces sufficient amounts to feed its population of 165 million. This is a very noteworthy accomplishment, especially given the struggles with changing weather. According to household surveys that USAID and Feed the Future conducted, there has been a 16% decrease in poverty levels in areas that receive USAID and Feed the Future assistance. It is difficult to precisely pinpoint how much of this reduction in the poverty level is due to USAID programming, but this initial data is certainly encouraging.
Moving Forward and Ensuring Long-Term Prosperity
Going forward, these initiatives can improve by encouraging more nutritional diversity. Since most of the typical Bangladeshi diet is rice, young children may be prone to stunting or chronic malnutrition. About four-fifths of children do not receive a sufficient diet for their age range; on a national scale, 36% of children below 5 years of age experience stunting. Meanwhile, less than one-fifth of Feed the Future’s budget, for example, goes toward eliminating malnutrition. With more balanced programs, initiatives that Feed the Future and USAID run can better target this problem. Meanwhile, the country will continue to be an example of how implementing better agricultural practices and working with various initiatives can assist in mitigating poverty and hunger in Bangladesh.
– Shiloh Harrill
Photo: Flickr
How Norway’s Foreign Aid Programs are Fighting Global Poverty
Norway is a country in Europe with more than 5 million residents. Although possessing little hard power on the global stage, Norway has made its influence known through its foreign aid program, Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad). Norway’s contribution of $4.7 billion to its foreign aid program in 2021 constituted 0.93% of its Gross National Income (GNI), making it the second largest contributor among OECD countries as a percentage of GNI to foreign aid. Norway’s foreign aid acts as a major player in global development programs and given its relatively small size serves as a testament to how any country can play a role in promoting global development to reduce poverty. In fact, Norway has made significant investments in major fields to reduce poverty and unleash opportunities for a more prosperous and stable world.
A Leader in Promoting Universal Education
Norwegian foreign aid has played a critical role in promoting global access to quality education in recent years. From 2013-2016, Norway met its pledge to nearly double its annual education aid from $210 million to $400 million by 2016. This increase resulted in several achievements in promoting quality education opportunities for children in developing countries.
During this three-year period, 3.1 million children obtained support each year, 1.6 million were in conflict-affected countries, 11 million students received school supplies along with 8.5 million textbooks, 140,000 teachers underwent training and 5,400 schools either underwent construction or received repair in several developing countries, according to Their World.
These concrete gains for education access from Norwegian foreign aid could help reduce poverty by promoting access to education and the socioeconomic opportunities it creates to achieve higher living standards for future workers. Countries receiving the bulk of aid are also recovering from or are currently enduring civil war and negative impacts on education. Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Ethiopia, South Sudan, the Palestinean territories and Lebanon are the biggest recipients of Norad aid, according to OECD.
This means Norwegian foreign aid is working to promote education in countries where the effects of war have impacted education access most acutely through the destruction of infrastructure and threat of violence inhibiting the experience of quality education.
The U.N. lauded Norway for its commitment to promoting global education through its Norad increases, as it represented an increase from 2% to 9% of humanitarian funding for one country going to education, more than twice the U.N. goal of 4%, according to Their World.
The country has also taken action to rally other countries behind promoting education access. It hosted the 2015 Oslo Education Summit to provide a global platform for forging a strategy to promote universal education in participating countries. At this Summit, the World Bank pledged to commit $5 billion over five years to global education.
Norwegian foreign aid has played a critical role in both contributing more than a fair share of its aid to education, but also as a small country nonetheless played an important role in galvanizing the international community to promote global education in its aid programs to reduce poverty.
Promotion of Global Health
Norway’s foreign aid has also played an important role in promoting global health and recently combating the COVID-19 pandemic. Between 2000-2016, Norway spent roughly 53 billion Norwegian Krone (NOK) ($5.7 billion) on global health care programs through Norad. As with education, Norwegian foreign aid has worked to promote global cooperation to promote human health through collective action.
From its NOK 4.7 billion ($494 million) Norad spent on health care in 2016, 80% of it underwent distribution through multilateral organizations, demonstrating Norway recognizes the importance of galvanizing other countries to work together in reducing poverty through the promotion of quality health care access to have a healthy workforce capable of contributing to national development and achieving higher living standards for themselves.
Norwegian foreign aid for health care like education has also seen greater contributions than other developed countries. In 2020, Norway spent NOK $6.6 billion (roughly $665 million) on healthcare-related foreign aid.
Norad aims its investments in health care at four main goals. Reduction of deaths from preventable diseases through promotion of food security, clean water, sanitation and the delivery of vaccines. Also, equality of access to and distribution of quality health care services and combating corruption to ensure the former is accomplished.
Combating COVID-19
Norway’s foreign aid has also contributed to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2020, Norway has increased its health-related foreign aid expenditures by 8.4% in direct response to combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
Norway has also along with South Africa co-chaired the COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, a global initiative to promote equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, raising $18 billion in the process.
Through such spending and global leadership, Norway has proved itself an important factor not just by itself but also by supporting the global response to a global health crisis to combat poverty through better human health.
Norway for its small size plays a major role in the fight against global poverty. The fact Norway can contribute as much to reducing global poverty can serve as inspiration that both anyone or any country can play a role in fighting global poverty in the interest of a more prosperous and stable world. Norway’s efforts can also serve as an example that more powerful countries could do more, as the combination of Norwegian commitment and great power capacity to execute such commitment could achieve immense gains in the fight against global poverty through international aid.
– John Zak
Photo: Flickr
SEWA Bharat: Empowering Informal Female Workers in India
Mission Statement
The primary goal of all SEWA endeavors is to establish “Poorna Swaraj,” or “full freedom” for female informal workers in India. The association views freedom as a concept that can only be achieved through “full employment.” SEWA Bharat defines “full employment” as the ability of a family to afford adequate nutrition, clean water, housing and garments. In addition, the household should have access to “health care, child care, insurance and pension.” SEWA strives to help people achieve full employment through collective yet peaceful organization and action. In fact, harmony is one of the key principles SEWA subscribes to, in combination with integrity, simplicity and social justice.
With this ethical framework in mind, SEWA Bharat focuses its assistance on four main areas:
Goals in Practice
As part of its services to empower female informal workers in India, SEWA Bharat provides support to microenterprises. These are small enterprises that typically do not receive adequate assistance, attention and support to expand and thrive. Microenterprises can range from an individual to a family-wide endeavor and make up the majority of Indian firms. Microenterprises are highly susceptible to market fluctuations and external shocks, yet lack the resources to bounce back from such disruptions.
SEWA supports microentrepreneurs by “enabling access to capital, [explaining] market demands, [procuring] raw materials, [teaching] product design and development,” according to its website, and by connecting these women-led operations to the online marketplace. In total, nearly 125,000 new and/or potential microentrepreneurs have received assistance from SEWA. Further, slightly less than 14,000 individuals accessed digital and financial literacy classes and SEWA helped connect more than 6,000 microentrepreneurs to formal credit services.
A Story of Empowerment
Aarifa is a 19-year-old traditional lac jewelry artisan whose livelihood faced hard hits after the introduction of chemical lac alternatives. Lac is a natural resin left behind on trees by insects, which is then used to create jewelry. Aarifa and similar artisans do not have proper market access, which limits their profits as the artisans usually only sell to local shops and vendors. Through SEWA Rajasthan’s Digital Beti program, Aarifa has advanced her craftsmanship skills and is able to work with lac on a more advanced level. This teenage entrepreneur can now complete the entirety of her work independently. Aarifa aims to become self-sufficient and finance her own studies.
Impact in Numbers
A 2005 assessment of SEWA’s impact shows significant advancements in female employment in India. With regard to “full employment,” up to 75% of SEWA members noted more regularity and security in their work and up to 82% of members saw a rise in income. During that same time period, a woman involved in SEWA was 10 times more likely to have health insurance than the average female.
SEWA gives attention to the most marginalized women with a multifaceted plan of action in mind, using the concept of freedom as a guide. Moving forward, continued success looks hopeful given the organization’s ability to adapt assistance in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. SEWA’s research also informs its projects, ensuring that aid is research-driven to enable the greatest impact.
– Jacob Lawhern
Photo: Flickr
Ending AIDS in Africa
Background of the AIDS Epidemic
The history of AIDS is controversial and incomplete. There are wide-ranging speculations regarding the origin of the virus in humans, but these are far from confirmed. In America, the AIDS crisis is commonly reported as beginning in the 1980s. The first cases, however, are believed to have occurred almost a decade earlier.
In Africa, AIDS is said to have spread to humans from chimpanzees in the early 1900s. The AIDS epidemic began on the continent in the 1970s, with the first cases being reported in the 1960s. Kinasha, Congo is commonly cited as the birthplace of the epidemic in Africa. A Cameroon traveler is said to have brought the virus to the city and from there, it began to spread rapidly. Within the next decade, AIDS reached the eastern and western parts of Africa. Coupled with diseases like tuberculosis, malaria, sarcoma, meningitis and pneumonia, Africa as a whole was nowhere near ready to deal with a new deadly disease.
The most recent update on the AIDS epidemic in Africa was in 2020. According to UNAIDS, there were 150,000 AIDS-related deaths in the region and 200,000 people were infected with HIV. Every week more than 1,000 adolescent girls and young women become infected with HIV in the region and 1.2 million people in western and central Africa are still waiting to initiate life-saving HIV treatment. Only 35% of children living with HIV in western and central Africa are being treated. Taking a step further, on a global scale, SOS Children’s Villages reports two-thirds of all HIV-infected people worldwide are Africans, which has resulted in significant social and economic consequences.
The Correlation Between AIDS and Poverty
The spread of AIDS and poverty in Africa are closely related; poverty is both the cause and effect of the disease. Due to the high poverty rate in Africa, sanitation and health care facilities are rare. Women are often restricted to the household and remained uneducated about STDs. There is also a high ratio of men in urban areas, widespread labor migration and sex workers – all contributing factors to the spread of AIDS. Overall, AIDS forces families to be ostracized from society and causes unemployment. Without a steady income or assistance from neighbors, entire families – even with only one case of AIDS – fall into poverty. Often, a family with an individual that contracts AIDS finds themselves both out of society and out of a job.
Since its arrival, the HIV/AIDS virus has targeted impoverished urban areas. Factors such as poor income levels and food insufficiency are coupled with transactional sex, which is correlated with the contraction of AIDS. Impoverished individuals are more likely to contract AIDS and because the disease is so highly stigmatized, these affected individuals become disadvantaged when looking for economic opportunities. The virus has perpetuated a cycle of poverty – one that desperately needs to be broken.
The Fight Against AIDS
Despite numerous obstacles, the U.N. and a multitude of nonprofit organizations remain committed to constricting the spread of HIV/AIDS. Recently, a U.N. Millennium Development Goal was created to end the AIDS epidemic worldwide by 2030. So far, the U.N. has stayed true to its word – the number of AIDS deaths in sub-Saharan Africa has declined by roughly 35% in recent years due to proper diagnosis and life-saving therapeutic treatments carried out by experienced U.N. physicians.
The Future of AIDS in Africa
Ending AIDS in Africa is a daunting task, however, the steps taken by leaders around the world have helped in diminishing the presence of the fatal disease. Due to the high correlation between poverty and AIDS, it is imperative that nations and organizations across the world come together to enact poverty-related reform. Through proper funding, the governments of Africa could establish proper health care facilities and set up economic and educational programs. AIDS may not have a vaccine, but there are solutions so long as international organizations remain committed to preventing its spread.
– Sania Patel
Photo: Flickr
5 Facts about Higher Education in South Korea
5 Facts about Higher Education in South Korea
Admission to Korean universities is a rigorous process that often involves significant amounts of time and money. The expenses involved in preparing for the CSAT — the single most important factor in application decisions — often put low-income families at a disadvantage in the admissions process. However, international aid and education reforms have allowed several Korean universities to climb global university rankings. Moreover, an influx of international applicants is a strong indicator of increased university quality and prestige.
– Salvatore Brancato
Photo: WikkiCommons
Afghan Women’s Protest Highlights a Need for More Aid
The Current Situation
The Afghan women’s protest was motivated, in part, by a desire for more humanitarian aid to be distributed to the 24 million Afghans in need. As of August 15, 2022, approximately 20 million of these Afghans are at critical risk of starvation and an estimated 1.1 million Afghan children may face severe malnutrition this year. Drought conditions and a spiraling economy have only exacerbated these issues. Furthermore, the Taliban have restricted women’s right to work and closed school to most girls after the sixth grade. As a result of these restrictions on women, Afghanistan has lost upwards of $1 billion. The government budget this year is a fraction of the 2020 budget and the economy has become increasingly dependent on foreign aid to fund public spending.
The Response from Other Countries
The deteriorating human rights situation in Afghanistan, especially for women and girls, has led to increased foreign intervention. For example, the U.S. has admitted more than 81,000 Afghans since the Taliban regained control over the country. Furthermore, on August 12, 2022, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a $30 million commitment in support of gender equality and female empowerment in Afghanistan. This money will also be allocated to organizations seeking to advance women’s rights in Afghanistan. However, the Afghan women’s protest shows that these efforts have been too far and in between and highlights the dire need for more international partnership on these issues.
The Efforts of International Organizations
The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has also prompted aid from international organizations. In fact, since the Taliban takeover, U.N. agencies have stayed in Afghanistan and provided aid to nearly 23 million people. Moreover, on June 10, 2022, the U.K. provided donations to The World Food Programme (WFP), which allowed the organization to aid 17 million Afghans through cash transfers and food and nutrition support. This helped families address their most urgent needs by putting food on the table.
The Road Ahead
Afghanistan has been plagued by violence and anguish for decades now. Many children and young adults do not know of an Afghanistan that is not war-torn and barren. They do not know of the nation that was on its way to international prominence – this might be the greatest tragedy of all. Despite the havoc caused by the withdrawal of U.S. forces, humanitarian agencies such as the WFP have stayed in the country. Countries, such as the U.S. and the U.K., continue to provide aid to the Afghans in a pragmatic manner. Although this is indicative of the international community’s determination to help Afghans, as the women’s protest has emphasized, there is still a considerable amount of work left to do.
– Abdullah Dowaihy
Photo: Flickr
The Masiyiwa Family: Africa’s Billionaires Fight Poverty
Higherlife Foundation
In 1996, the Masiyiwa family created the Higherlife Foundation to “invest in Africa’s human capital in order to build thriving individuals, communities and sustainable livelihoods.” Tsitsi Masiyiwa states how, at the time, a severe outbreak of HIV/AIDS deeply affected her. She states how she and her husband saw the deaths of many breadwinners, leaving orphaned children to fend for themselves. With her husband’s support, Tsitsi founded Higherlife to help children in need. This social impact organization improves people’s lives in Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Burundi, Kenya and Rwanda through education, health care, relief packages and more.
Higherlife Foundation provides two types of scholarship opportunities for orphans or disadvantaged children. According to Heart for Africa, there are an estimated 52 million orphans in Africa. These statistics inspired the Masiyiwa family to establish these scholarships to fund tuition, housing and meals. Since the organization’s establishment, Higherlife Foundation has helped more than 350,000 children receive an education.
The Foundation also looks to improve health care to “strengthen livelihoods.” This includes bringing quality health care services to communities and strengthening existing health care systems. In 2008, Higherlife established the National Healthcare Trust group to quickly respond to a major cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe that led to about 4,000 deaths. In 2019, the Masiyiwa family established the Reimagine Rural Fund, which “aims to foster economic activity at the rural level with a special focus on women and youth.” The Masiyiwa family believes that by making loans more accessible, women can guide their families out of poverty and create a more sustainable life.
The African Philanthropy Forum
Tsitsi Masiyiwa is the board chair of the African Philanthropy Forum (APF), a network of philanthropists and social investors “who through their strategic giving, investments and influence, foster shared prosperity on the African continent.” Since 2014, the APF has reached more than 1,400 philanthropists and investors worldwide. APF holds yearly conferences where the forum addresses Africa’s most significant issues.
In March 2022, Tsitsi Masiyiwa rallied the APF and raised $1 billion for the Gender Fund, a fund created by Co-Impact to bring resources and funding to women-led initiatives worldwide. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, MacKenzie Scott and more have also funded the project.
The Gender Fund supports women from all over the world, focusing on funding women-led organizations from Africa, Asia and Latin America. Co-Impact believes that over the next decade, the Gender Fund will help more than 100 million people “have better health care, quality education, and opportunity to work and thrive – regardless of gender, ethnicity, caste or race.”
Additionally, over two to three years, the fund will grant $10 million to “feminist groups and movements across the Global South.” Tsitsi Masiyiwa continues to rally prominent African philanthropists to invest in the fund as she believes that closing the gender gap is a top priority.
More to Give
In March 2022, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic groups in the world, announced a board of trustees with Strive Masiyiwa as one. Strive Masiyiwa and Nemat Minouche Shafik, the Egyptian-born director of the London School of Economics and Political Science, are the first from Africa to hold trustee positions.
The Masiyiwa family has promised that its work is far from over. Strive Masiyiwa released a statement after joining the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation expressing his excitement to fight disease and poverty worldwide on a larger scale. Tsisti Masiyiwa still supports the Gender Fund and raises some of Africa’s most pressing issues at the conferences the APF hosts. The Masiyiwas are changing the narrative in Africa by proving that their commitment to their nation is fueled by the drive of a family’s spirit and the ambition to improve lives.
– Yashavi Upasani
Photo: Flickr
Young Jordanians Who Confront Food Insecurity via Innovation
Food insecurity has become the central issue amongst citizens in the developing world primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine-Russia war and economic decline. This made tackling food insecurity in developing countries more challenging especially given the vulnerability of the governments. Therefore, citizens living in the developing world are compelled to find effective alternative methods to feed themselves, their families and their fellow citizens. The innovations in tackling food insecurity presented by these young Jordanians highlight new ways to reduce hunger quickly. The key is to discover the latest methods and adopt them as official development policy.
The Current Food Insecurity Situation in Jordan
The food insecurity situation in Jordan worsened because of the COVID-19 pandemic as it “has affected sustainable development efforts.” On February 28, A U.N. policy brief on Jordan’s food security strategy stated that 53% “of Jordanians are vulnerable to food insecurity” while 3% of Jordan’s households are struggling with food insecurity. Jordan is also facing water scarcity which can heavily impact its agriculture since it absorbs more than 50% of water in order “to produce 45%” of Jordan’s agriculture. The country relies on young Jordanians who confront food insecurity via innovation to solve the hunger issue.
Aya Kreik: The Soil as a Sustainable Source of Food
One of the young Jordanians confronting food insecurity via innovation is Aya Kreik, an architecture student living in Jordan’s capital city, Amman. Aya is part of a team that “succeeded in converting farm waste into organic fertilizers rich in nutrients.” This innovative method revived the soil and compelled farmers to stop using chemical fertilizers. Furthermore, the soil would “retain water in a large proportion,” reducing water irrigation in a water-scarce country. This method that Aya and her team created produces more organic food for Jordanians, which helps tackle food insecurity while promoting environmental sustainability.
Alaa and Nourhan: Plants that Self-Feed
Alaa (Banking and Finance student) and Nourhan (Business Intelligence student) are also young Jordanians who confront food insecurity via innovation. The students teamed up to build a start-up enterprise that specializes in producing “self-watering and self-feeding plants.” This is done by transforming “moisture in the air into pure water” via a type of hydrogel that is made up “of self-absorbing polymers.” This method allows for the availability of more water that produces more food at a time when Jordanians are struggling to find water and food.
Conclusion
Jordan, as with many other Middle Eastern countries, is experiencing severe food shortages and high prices for food items due to COVID-19 and the Ukraine-Russia war. However, despite the seemingly insurmountable odds, Jordanians have proven that tough challenges can be easily overcome via innovation and creativity. The innovative methods the young Jordanians have presented to the world are helping Jordan solve its food insecurity problem by producing healthy organic food that contributes to environmental sustainability. The creative methods show the world that solving development issues and policies in the developing world requires intelligent solutions. In other words, the world may be closer to ending hunger than before.
– Abdullah Dowaihy
Photo: Flickr