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First Steps to Solving the First Nations Water Crisis in Canada

First Nations Water Crisis
Local health officials issue a boil water advisory when the water in a community is contaminated. When issued, it means the tap water is no longer safe to use unless boiled for at least one minute and buying bottled water for consumption is advisable. On June 20, 2022, the Neskantaga First Nation in Ontario reached the 10,000th day of being under a drinking water advisory issued by authorities. Twenty-seven years have passed since authorities first issued the advisory in 1995 after the water treatment plant failed to produce safe drinking water. The Neskantaga First Nation holds the record for the longest boil water advisory in the nation and is a stark example of the First Nations water crisis that has been ongoing for decades.

Unfulfilled Promises

In 2015, Justin Trudeau made a campaign promise to bring clean water to Indigenous communities and end the First Nations water crisis in a span of five years. However, according to The Guardian, the deadline set by Trudeau passed with 52 advisories still active across 33 communities in Canada as of April 2021.

For decades, Indigenous communities have been forced to create and manage their own water treatment systems, which often means procuring bottled water on their own or simply using the contaminated water if the prices become too steep. Countless families, especially those living in areas where the water has traces of E. coli or uranium, are more susceptible to skin diseases, gastrointestinal issues and more.

Decades of inaction from the federal government and lack of adequate funding prompted chiefs and leaders of the First Nations to collectively sue the federal government in 2019 for failing to provide clean water in a country rich with water resources.

The Good News

According to The New York Times, the Federal Court of Canada ruled in favor of the First Nations and approved a legal settlement requiring the government to invest at least $6 billion CAD toward solving the First Nations water crisis in the next nine years. The government will provide compensation of $1.5 billion CAD to around 140,000 Indigenous people for the damages arising from contaminated water.

Chief Emily Whetung, a lawyer leading the Curve Lake First Nation, mentioned that many communities will be unable to feel the benefits of the settlement, especially those who rely predominantly on private wells. However, she still expressed her excitement at this legal success. “I’m just so thrilled,” she said to The New York Times. “Now that we’ve turned this corner, we can keep going down this road and ensure that we get access to clean drinking water for all First Nations.”

Activism in Indigenous Communities

However, other activists, such as Autumn Peltier, are also doing all they can to ensure Trudeau’s promise does not become an empty one. Her influence started in 2016 when she called out Trudeau publicly during the Assembly of First Nations for his failure to protect the water in her communities. According to APTN News, in the few moments she had to speak to Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada, she said, “I am very unhappy with the choices you’ve made.” Additionally, Trudeau said, “I understand that.” Trudeau responded with a commitment: “I will protect the water.”

Since then, Peltier has dedicated her work to ensuring Prime Minister Trudeau’s promise became reality. She became the chief water commissioner for the Anishinabek Nation and began a career advocating for the importance of clean water, consistently calling Trudeau out online for the lack of progress toward his promise. Having spoken with organizations such as the United Nations, she has also received nominations for the International Children’s Peace Prize on multiple occasions.

Looking Ahead

Although the path to completely solving the First Nations water crisis may be difficult, the legal settlement is a critical first step to bringing clean water to the Indigenous communities of Canada. With the help of activists placing pressure on the federal government, hopefully, it will just be a matter of time before the people of First Nations can enjoy the same right as all other Canadians: the right to clean, safe water.

– Emilie Zhang
Photo: Flickr

Myanmar’s Internet Shutdowns Exacerbate Poverty

Myanmar’s Internet Shutdowns
Myanmar’s community and economy suffer from the ongoing impacts of the military coup that occurred on February 1, 2021. Since 2021, Myanmar has imposed internet shutdowns in the country. In 2021, internet shutdowns across the world led to a global loss of $5.45 billion. Myanmar accounts for a significant portion of this loss, as Myanmar’s internet shutdowns in 2021 cost $2.8 billion. The junta regime established changes to the legal code that negate basic international human rights protections. This includes the amendment of the Electronic Transaction Law. With this, the current government in Myanmar prevents the “free flow of information and criminalizes the dissemination of information through cyberspace.”

Myanmar’s Internet Shutdowns

To curb protests, the military junta instigated total internet blackouts and social media blocks as well as slowed internet speeds to levels where only simple text-based communication was possible. The enforced shutdowns impacted several networks, “including international operators and cellular services.” As a result, people cannot access important COVID-19 information, businesses that rely on the internet cannot operate and reporters cannot give news updates. 

Considering the imposed internet outage cost Myanmar $2.8 billion in 2021, this amounts to the greatest economic loss worldwide in this category. The nation’s weak economy is “30% smaller than it might have been in the absence of COVID-19 and the February 2021 coup,” according to the World Bank.

Effect on Poverty

The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimated the decline of 1.6 million jobs in 2021. The situation has led some Myanmarese people to resort to exchanging their mobile phones for food. The regime increased internet prices, making online schools and digital medical services financially burdensome or unaffordable.

Business Repercussions

Businesses rely on the internet to maximize sales and remain competitive. In Myanmar, however, the disrupted, costly and slow internet contributes to the decline in overall income and employment. For example, internet outages prevented farms from researching prices online and devastated thousands of small internet businesses. Low income and unemployment perpetuate low domestic demand. An insufficient consumer base feeds the stagnation or failure of local industries. The overall instability in Myanmar has affected businesses‘ “operations, logistics, confidence and appetite to invest.”

USAID’s Contributions

Despite restrictions, Myanmar’s internet penetration continues to grow in part due to international efforts. The U.S. has provided close to $500 million in aid to struggling citizens within Myanmar as well as Myanmarese refugees in other nations. This assistance also involves $24 million worth of COVID-19-related aid. 

Through USAID, the U.S. is helping communities in Myanmar. To help alleviate the repression of basic freedoms, “USAID has trained 255 independent media outlets on unbiased reporting [and] strengthened the capacity of 235 civil society organizations to advocate for democratic reforms.”

In addition, USAID’s new Digital Strategy aims to empower millions to rise out of poverty by leveraging digital technology to ignite economic development in countries. The Digital Strategy aims to “improve development and humanitarian assistance outcomes through the use of digital technology” while encouraging “inclusive growth, [fostering] resilient and democratic societies and [empowering] all, including the most vulnerable.”

Remedial social investment is necessary for Myanmar’s sharply contracting economy. Self-sustainable poverty reduction is not yet a reality as military leadership reversed efforts toward democratic reforms and expelled freedoms to the internet.

– Anna Zawistowski
Photo: Flickr

Top Global Diplomats React to Myanmar’s Military Junta

Myanmar's Military Junta
This article will cover the recent political executions by Myanmar’s military junta, as well as reactions from the international community and demonstrations that are still ongoing, despite the possibilities of further executions. Burmese hip-hop artist Phyo Zeya Thaw was among those the Burmese government executed, due to his support of the resistance. These political executions were the first ones that Myanmar had in decades.

Burmese Resistance to the Junta

The National Unity Government (NUG) has spearheaded Burmese efforts to oust the military junta from power. It was also the first organization to call for international condemnation of the nation’s recent executions.

United Nations Statements

U.N. Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet condemned the executions, calling them “cruel” and “regressive.” The military junta has killed more than 2,100 Burmese citizens since it came into power, which has led many U.N. leaders to call for formal international sanctioning. The U.N. also urged Myanmar’s military junta to release political prisoners that have been awaiting trials via military tribunal. However, similar U.N. pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Since the junta took over in a 2021 coup d’état, the military courts sentenced 115 Burmese adults and two children to death.

A Bipartisan Condemnation from the US

Both prominent Republican and Democratic leaders in the American government condemned the junta’s recent executions. In its official statement, the White House labeled the recent incident as a “heinous execution.” Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called for sanctions on the Burmese energy sector, as well as further actions from Myanmar’s neighboring countries. In a U.S. Department of State press statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken also criticized the military junta for its “sham trials” of pro-democracy activists. American officials have also urged the Chinese government to play a more active role in promoting peace among the junta and Burmese citizens.

European Response

The European Union, along with several other industrialized nations, including Australia, Canada and South Korea released a statement condemning the junta’s rule. Before the political executions, the EU sanctioned junta officials and required European energy companies to withdraw their operations in Myanmar.

Myanmar’s Neighbors Respond

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), an inter-governmental organization that Myanmar is a member of, released a statement calling the executions reprehensible, as well as urging for dialogue among the Burmese. The ASEAN has also banned Myanmar’s junta officials from attending events that the association hosts. In contrast to the ASEAN’s strong rebuke of Myanmar’s executions, the Chinese government has yet to make a statement condemning the actions. However, China did push for peace talks between the junta and Burmese resistance groups in early July 2022, weeks before the political executions. By supplying weapons and giving the nation its political support, China has aligned with the coup leaders in Myanmar.

The Push for Further Action

Although many nations have placed sanctions on Myanmar, there have been no formally coordinated strategies put in place to sanction Myanmar and punish those in power for their breach of human rights. According to the World Bank’s July 2022 estimates, approximately 40% of Burmese citizens live in poverty. Economic contractions that occurred after the 2021 coup could have long-term consequences since the Burmese economy experienced an 18% contraction during the 2021 fiscal year. Myanmar’s slip away from democracy has caused economic turmoil and the juntas depriving of human rights is an issue that the international community must address.

– Salvatore Brancato
Photo: Flickr

The Growing Production of Energy in Niger

Energy in Niger
Niger is a geographically diverse country. The Northern stretch of the nation is located deep in the Sahara Desert, but as one traverses southward, the desert transitions into a lush savannah. Still suffering from the effects of the 2021-2022 Global Energy Crisis; however, Niger has one of the lowest rates of access to electricity in the world, as only 19.2% of the population has access to electricity, giving energy in Niger a small reputation. Despite this, due to Niger’s vast uranium deposits and its great potential to harvest large amounts of solar power, Niger might be a dormant energy powerhouse in the making, with energy in Niger potentially becoming one of the largest industries in the Sahara.

Nuclear Potential

In Niger, uranium exports make up a whopping 5% of the country’s GDP and supply 5% of the country’s tax revenues. Also, Niger has the second highest uranium reserve in Africa, barely behind South Africa. However, at the current moment, Niger cannot make great use of its vast uranium deposits and exports almost half to France instead of using the uranium themselves. Energy in Niger is therefore benefitting other countries rather than the homeland.

Although Niger exports most of its uranium to France, it might be able to make great use of its uranium deposits in the near future. This is because of a new project that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has undertaken. In coordination with the Government of Niger, this project has committed to developing robust nuclear power infrastructure in Niger. According to a recent report, there are 19 possible issues regarding nuclear power in Niger that, if fixed, could pave the way to developing nuclear power plants that would be able to provide electricity to the large numbers of people in the country who do not currently have access to electricity.

Solar Potential

While sounding preposterous, many have considered placing millions of solar panels in the Sahara Desert. According to recent estimates, if just 1.2% of the Sahara Desert has solar panels, the panels would generate enough energy for the entire world. The Sahara covers 80% of Niger’s 489,000 square miles of land, and the entire desert is 3,550,000 square miles. This means that if just under 9% of Niger had panels, energy in Niger would make up enough solar power to provide electricity to the entire world.

Of course, covering a large swath of desert with solar panels is not as easy as it sounds, with issues such as sand covering the panels or light bouncing off the panels interfering with energy production. However, various creative solutions are already undergoing in desert regions with solar panels to counteract these problems. For example, the Noor Solar Power Plant in Morocco, which will eventually cover around 30 square kilometers of the Sahara, uses many mirrors in a circle formation to reflect light onto a receiver in the middle of the circle. That receiver then converts that light into heat before converting it into electricity. Because these materials take hours to cool off, they continue to produce electricity even after sunset.

Hope For the Future

Although nearly 80% of people in Niger do not have access to electricity, this might change soon. This is because Niger has the potential to become one of Africa’s, if not one of the world’s biggest energy powerhouses through its vast nuclear-based resources and its large amount of solar energy potential.

Since energy in Niger is already expanding through the potential development of nuclear power plants through a project that the International Atomic Energy Agency undertook, the days of Niger being a country where less than a quarter of its citizens have access to electricity might come to a close very soon.

– Humzah Ahmad
Photo: Wikipedia Commons

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Politics and Poverty Reduction in Bolivia

Poverty Reduction in Bolivia
Although Bolivia does show signs of growth, economic and political difficulties have marred its few successes. In addition to having one of the highest rates of poverty in South America, corruption, political persecution and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic hamper Bolivia. These issues distract from efforts to improve the lives of the nearly 4 million Bolivians living in poverty in 2018, politicizing programs like the “Patriotic 2025 Bicentennial Agenda” which is supposed to work toward the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Thus, the very people who should be ending poverty are hampering poverty reduction in Bolivia.

Corruption in Bolivia

With Bolivia experiencing political turmoil, its politicians have often squandered the limited resources available to the nation. In 2017, ex-president Evo Morales built a $7 million museum dedicated to himself in the town of Orinoca, where 90% of the population lives below the poverty line. Interim-president Jeanine Añez’s brief administration included several examples of corruption, with both her Interior Minister and Health Minister receiving a charge of graft, the latter making a profit off of government-bought ventilators during the pandemic.

This has meant that funds intended to fight poverty in Bolivia have disappeared. A 2021 evaluation of the previous year’s government budget found that actual spending on public programs was always significantly lower than the expected amount, suggesting widespread corruption. The budget has also seen a decrease in funds appropriated for public services, further hampering anti-poverty efforts. Given this, Bolivia has been incredibly fortunate to see its poverty rate decline as dramatically as it has over the last 10 decades, but this is mostly due to an unsustainable boom in oil and natural gas. Institutional weaknesses thus present a major challenge to an economy reliant on volatile resource extraction.

Protests in Bolivia

Deepening Bolivia’s woes are the ongoing dispute between Bolivia’s socialist party, Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), and the country’s opposition parties. In 2019, protests erupted over whether incumbent socialist president Evo Morales could run for an unconstitutional fourth term, as well as the fraudulent nature of the election which gave him a sweeping victory. Following MAS’ return to power in 2020 after an interim government, and the election of Morales’ ally Luis Arce as President, many of those that participated in the interim government received charges of sedition. This includes President Jeanine Añez, who received a 10-year sentence in prison for staging a “coup” despite not having involvement with the 2019 protests. The upheaval and resources wasted on these political fights have ground Bolivia’s economic growth to a halt, with the pandemic only accentuating the country’s dire situation.

The International Response

These breaches of democracy have also drawn the attention of other international actors, straining Bolivia’s already tense geopolitical situation. President Arce attacked the Organization of American States (OAS) for interfering with the 2019 elections, to which the OAS responded by reaffirming it only documented instances of fraud and was concerned about the persecution of MAS’ political opponents. Similarly, the European Union and the U.S. State Department have expressed disapproval over the politically motivated imprisonments.

All of this prevents international aid from reaching the struggling nation, handicapping efforts to fight poverty in Bolivia. Following President Morales’ election in 2005, he expelled the U.S. ambassador and rejected assistance from USAID, permanently removing the latter by 2013. Morales chose to focus on short-term economic growth and reducing inequality, leveraging the country’s oil and gas resources to make significant reductions in the poverty rate by 2015. However, it is uncertain whether Bolivia’s extraction-based economy will be successful in the long run, or whether it made a mistake in shutting the door to aid.

Poverty Reduction in Bolivia

Even amid economic and political uncertainty, progress is occurring to promote poverty reduction in Bolivia. President Luis Arce’s government has seen a reduction in the extreme poverty rate from 13.7% to 11.1% in 2021, suggesting the economy might be rebounding after the pandemic. In addition, the yearly ‘National Report’ emphasizes Bolivia’s commitment to 13 ‘pillars’ of development, including the end of extreme poverty and investment in public health. With the report stressing Bolivia’s commitment to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), fighting poverty may be making a comeback in public policy.

– Samuel Bowles
Photo: Unsplash

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Parents’ Role in Improving Global Education

Global Education
More than 420 million people would be able to escape poverty if everyone around the world attended primary and secondary education, cutting global poverty numbers in half, UNESCO estimated in a 2017 analysis. If all children in low-income countries learned to read, 171 million people would rise out of extreme poverty. While achieving high-quality universal education might seem like a lofty goal, simply giving parents more information about their children’s education has proven to be a straightforward yet effective method of improving global education outcomes.

Report Cards Improve Test Performance

One 2017 study that the American Economic Review published examined the effect of school report cards on educational outcomes in Pakistan. Pakistan is a lower-middle-income country where only 58% of people aged 15 and older can read and write. By the end of third grade, not even a third of students can write a correct sentence. For the study, the researchers, who consisted of two American professors and one World Bank researcher, randomly chose the students of 56 Pakistani towns to receive report cards while students in 56 other towns did not receive report cards. This study delivered two-page report cards to the families of children in selected towns. The report cards contained the child’s test scores, information about their child’s performance relative to other students and information about the performance of the child’s school.

To test the effect of the report cards, the researchers compared standardized test scores at the time of the report card to scores on the same tests a year later. The researchers found that, in towns where parents had received report cards, students’ scores increased 42% more than students’ scores in towns where parents had not received report cards. In addition to improving performance on standard tests, the report cards also led to a 4.5% increase in elementary school enrolment and a 17% decrease in private school costs. The researchers suspect that these improvements are due to increased parent engagement with education due to receiving the report cards. Despite the notable impact of this intervention, the total cost of creating and distributing report cards was only $1 per student.

Attendance Reports Prevent Dropouts

In 2018, the World Bank published a study on the efficacy of different techniques for improving school attendance. The World Bank conducted its research in Mozambique, a low-income African Country where the literacy rate is only 60.7%. Fewer than one in five children in Mozambique attend secondary education and just 33.2% complete primary education. One of the techniques the researchers tested for improving school attendance rates was creating attendance reports for parents.

The researchers included 2,793 participants from 173 schools in their study. All the participants were girls in fifth and sixth grade at the start of the study. Study participants placed in the group with attendance reports would get a sheet indicating which days they had attended school to give their parents at the end of each week. To measure the effect of these attendance reports, observers would randomly check in on schools to see if the students participating in the study were present that day.

After three years of data collection, the researchers concluded that the weekly attendance reports did increase school attendance. For students who received attendance reports, attendance increased by 6.9% compared to students who did not receive an attendance report. The researchers also found that these attendance reports were just as effective at increasing attendance as a monetary incentive offered to parents.

Applying the Science

More than 600 million children around the world are unable to gain basic reading and math skills, UNICEF reported. While many of these children lack access to education, approximately two-thirds of them are in school and still are unable to gain a baseline education. Education access encompasses not only access to education but access to effective education. Research indicates that taking simple steps to improve parent information about schools by giving parents report cards about their child’s and school’s performance or giving them attendance reports contributes toward improving global education outcomes. Providing 600 million children with quality education will doubtlessly be a challenging task but, as this research indicates, simply providing parents more information about their child’s education could be a meaningful yet simple and low-cost part of the solution.

– Anna Inghram
Photo: Wikipedia Commons

The Fight Against Non-Communicable Diseases in Indonesia

Healthcare in Indonesia
The COVID-19 pandemic drew attention to the spread of airborne diseases and the vulnerability of the human population, but in everyday lives, another form of disease continues to haunt humans. These are non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which are typically long-lasting and do not have a specific cause. The most common NCDs are cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, cancer and diabetes. The cause of death for individuals around the globe remains NCDs in 71% of all cases, an alarming statistic that becomes more apparent considering most of these deaths are premature. Of those dying from NCDs, 85% are located in “low- and middle-income countries.” The prevalence of these types of diseases in Indonesia and other countries harms specifically those living in poverty. Among numerous other challenges in their daily lives, people do not have the resources for medical treatment or must utilize all of their remaining resources for treatments. The prevention of NCDs prevails as an important policy goal to implement in the fight against decreasing the number of deaths associated with NCDs and reducing poverty.

Non-Communicable Diseases in Indonesia

Located in Southeast Asia and consisting of numerous islands, Indonesia boasts a tropical climate. Indonesia is one of the most populous countries in the world, behind China, India and the United States. The demographics of the population are young with 42% under the age of 25. About 10% of the population lives in poverty.

With the COVID-19 pandemic bringing into focus some of the pre-existing health conditions that remain health risks when contracting the virus, it is important to address the concerns of high rates of NCDs and improve health care in Indonesia. According to the World Bank, NCDs caused 76% of deaths in Indonesia in 2019, a number that continues to rise over time. This is above the rate of 71% of deaths that NCDs have caused in the world, meaning that people must pay close attention to the risks of NCDs within this population.

Project Hope

In 1958, a Navy veteran, Dr. William B. Walsh founded an organization called Project Hope. His service in World War II inspired him to address health concerns that he encountered during wartime. The organization’s work started on a restored ship called SS Hope which delivered healthcare around the world, especially during the Cold War. Now, Project Hope operates by training the local medical community of volunteers in more than 20 countries. Over its 60 years of service, the organization trained more than 2 million individuals and delivered $2 billion in resources to communities in need.

To respond to the problem of NCDs in Indonesia, Project Hope assists with diagnosis and education about the issue, even utilizing remote training during the COVID-19 pandemic with a partnership with Brown University. The organization works especially hard on the ability to diagnose patients because it predicts many cases of NCDs remain undiagnosed. This realization is relevant because it assists in knowing how to respond and treat diseases within the population, the ability to prevent certain diseases and asserting control over diseases rather than simply reacting to emergencies involving one’s NCD. The organization educates doctors on diabetes and delves into issues related to asthma by training medical professionals and providing information on the detention of asthma. Project Hope helped more than 11,000 people seek treatment for their diseases, transforming the field of health care in Indonesia.

Project Hope’s Larger Impact

Apart from its work in NCDs, Project Hope also assists in other areas of health care in Indonesia. The organization works to address the deaths of mothers and infants, which largely occur in live births and due to malnutrition, respectively. Through health programs for mothers and children and “monthly wellness clinics,” local communities work together to address maternal and child health. Similarly, Project Hope responds to disasters within the region. For example, after the tsunami in Sulawesi in 2018, Project Hope assisted in providing insecticide to prevent malaria, providing water through new purification systems and checking for NCDs in the population.

The range of work that Project Hope completes in health care in Indonesia is broad but equally important. Through its main project of addressing NCDs in the region, improving maternal and child care and emergency response, the organization continues to make a large impact on the region after more than 60 years.

– Kaylee Messick
Photo: Flickr

Finland’s Sand Battery Heats a Small Town

Finland’s Sand Battery
Kankaanpää, a small town in Western Finland, is using sand to store heat from renewable energy sources to provide homes with better and more cost-effective heating during winter. Finland’s sand battery is the first of its kind to be fully functional and comprises thousands of cubic meters of sand. The sand battery may replace some of the energy drawn from the power grid and provide heating throughout the five-month-long Finnish winters.

How it Works

Polar Night Energy developed this sand battery and installed it at a power plant site that Vatajankoski, a green energy supplier in Kankaanpää, Finland, operates. It consists of a “4 x 7-meter steel container” that holds hundreds of tons of sand. Using renewable energy, the sand heats to about 500 degrees Celsius before it is “stored for use in the local district heating system,” said Energy Storage News.

The battery uses builder’s sand, which is a kind of rough and ready grain that stands as a cost-efficient power storing apparatus during times of need. The sand itself is heated using green, renewable power, mainly solar panels and wind turbines. The sand battery will bring the citizens of Kankaanpää, and soon all Finns, a better, greener, more cost-effective heating system, especially now that the war in Ukraine is affecting the importing of gas and electricity.

The Impact of Russia’s Halt on Energy Supplies

In a 2020 poll asking Finns about heating costs, 38% of Finnish consumers said their household’s heating costs represent a noteworthy economic difficulty and many other consumers reported “compromising their living comfort to save money on heating.” More so, most of Finland’s gas and energy comes via imports from the surrounding countries, mainly Russia. However, in May 2022, Russia halted both its gas and electricity supplies to Finland.

The first halt of the electricity supply came shortly after Western nations imposed sanctions on Russia due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. After these sanctions, Russia declared that all “unfriendly” countries wanting to continue receiving supplies of electricity and gas from Russia would have to pay using the Russian ruble, “a move the EU considers blackmail,” said the BBC.

As Finland deliberated joining NATO, Russia halted the supply of electricity to Finland and even threatened retaliatory action if Finland applies to join NATO. Then, on May 21, 2022, after Finland applied to join NATO, the Russian energy utility Gazprom affirmed it fully terminated any exports of goods to Finland. This halt also came after payment disagreements between the two countries due to Finland declining to make payments for gas in Russian currency.

Thus, since Finland gets most of its gas from Russia, concerns have risen “over sources of heat and light, especially with the long, cold Finnish winter on the horizon,” the BBC reports. Nonetheless, Finland’s state-owned gas and electricity companies confirmed that they will continue importing gas into the system through the Balticconnector entry point. The nation has plans to bring Finland’s sand battery technology to a larger, nationwide scale in the coming months, which may alleviate the heating expenses in the coming winter.

The Potential Benefits

Bringing Finland’s sand battery in Kankaanpää to such a large scale would make a great difference but it would come with certain challenges. For example, due to the nature of the technology, Finnish researchers have yet to find a way to keep efficiency from falling whenever the “sand is used to just return power to the electricity grid.”

But, even with these obstacles, the storing of this green energy long-term represents a significant opportunity for Finland’s textile, food and pharmaceutical industries that traditionally rely on fossil fuels. Due to power stations operating for several hours during the coldest months of winter, heating is “extremely expensive,” said Elina Seppänen, an energy and climate specialist, to the BBC.

Finland’s sand battery could be the solution to the heating problem and provide a more flexible way of using and storing heat that “would help a lot in terms of expense” while contributing to Finland’s transition toward more renewable sources of gas and electricity.

– Marcela Agreda L.
Photo: Flickr

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Games Done Quick Generates Millions for Global Healthcare

Games Done Quick
Crammed into the convention center of a suburban Minneapolis DoubleTree Hilton, thousands sat in a room filled with chairs, a pair of projection screens, a TV, a few gaming consoles and PCs, a stack of prizes and a couch, listening to the clicks of keyboards and joysticks over seven days. Competitors, many of whom were unknowns sitting among the crowd, trained for years, memorizing specific levels paths and honing their muscle memories, in anticipation for this week. Around the world, millions watch the lightning-fast action online, shooting comments into a scrolling chat box and sending in donations to fill up a green bar at the bottom of the screen. This is the scene of a typical Games Done Quick event. Generally, people are here for two things: to see video games — from classics like Super Mario Bros. to newcomers like Elden Ring — finished in record-breaking times and to generate millions of dollars toward saving lives.

About Games Done Quick (GDQ)

Games Done Quick, also known simply as GDQ, is a series of live-streamed and in-person charity events built around marathons of video game speed runs. Speedrunning is a popular style of gaming where players attempt to complete sections or entire games as quickly as possible — sometimes using hacks and/or glitches to achieve better times. GDQ typically regularly hosts two major events throughout the year: Awesome Games Done Quick and Summer Games Done Quick.

Though these events focus on speed-running video games, GDQ’s central goal is raising money for nonprofits. In the past, it has even controversially switched which games participants would play mid-event in hopes of maximizing the amount of viewership and donations. Over the nine years that GDQ has been hosting events, they have raised a total of $34 million toward charities that fight cancer, provide education to women in the developing world, and give health care to those around the world who would otherwise not receive it.

GDQ and Doctors Without Borders

Doctors Without Borders is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide medical care to anyone who needs it. According to its website, it works in more than 70 countries. Typically, the organization works mostly in conflict zones, areas where natural disasters have hit and locations where access to traditional health care is either limited or nonexistent.

Recently, Doctors Without Borders has been involved in the global response to COVID-19 by supporting developing nations’ overwhelmed healthcare systems, refugee search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea and providing displaced peoples from the Lake Chad region of Africa medical attention as the area experiences a period of violent conflict.

In July 2022, GDQ hosted its annual Summer Games Done Quick, benefitting Doctors Without Borders. It was its first in-person event since 2019, having switched to an online format during the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, viewers watching on the popular live streaming platform Twitch donated more than $3 million to Doctors Without Borders. According to its website, GDQ claims to be the largest event in the world raising money for Doctors Without Borders.

The Future of GDQ and Live Streaming for Charity

In August 2022, GDQ plans to host “Flame Fatales,” which will feature a cast of female-only speedrunners and benefit the Malala Foundation. The Malala Foundation is a nonprofit advocating for the funding of secondary education for girls around the world and supporting education activists.

Outside of GDQ, Twitch, among other live streaming services, has served as a platform for numerous other fundraisers. These include large-scale, produced events, such as GDQ, but also individual streamers encouraging their viewership to donate to charity while watching.

In 2021, French streamers ZeratoR and Dach hosted Z Event 2021 on Twitch. By collaborating with other popular streamers, they raised a record-breaking $11.5 million to fight world hunger through the organization Action Against Hunger.

Throughout his career, individual streamer Nick28T has driven those watching his gaming streams to donate more than $200,000 to the BC Cancer Foundation, which funds cancer research, advocacy and care for patients living in British Columbia.

In 2020 alone, Twitch reported that streamers across the site managed to raise over $81 million for charity. In response to the popularity of charity streams, Twitch has invested in specially made tools for philanthropy. It has partnered with Tiltify, a service that provides streamers with fundraising overlays, donation tracking tools and more. The partnership represents the company’s attempt to compete with other platforms like YouTube and Facebook to host these massive charity drives as more fundraisers choose to go digital.

– Ryan Morton
Photo: Flickr

Elderly Poverty in India 

Elderly Poverty in India
By 2027, India, the second most populated country in the world, will likely surpass China as the world’s most populated country by adding around 273 million people to its existing population, according to a U.N. report in 2019. Accordingly, the elderly population of India would also increase over the period – from 138 million in 2021 to 194 million in 2031 – the National Statistical Office (NSO) reported. With this growing elderly population, elderly poverty has become a pressing social issue in the country. In a report that the Agewell Foundation in 2021 produced, more than 90 million of the Indian elderly do not have financial security. This article will explore the reasons for elderly poverty in India and some initiatives of the Indian government.

Reasons for Elderly Poverty in India

For elderly Indians, the three important reasons contributing to their poverty are the incomplete welfare system, new family structure and social disparity. Incomplete welfare system for the elderly – While the social welfare system is essential for the elderly to access comfort, not all Indian elder citizens can enjoy that. The main issue of the system is that it does not provide affordable health care. Some reasons for elderly poverty in India are:

  • New Family Structure – The traditional joint family structure in Indian society is fundamental in protecting the economic and social security of elderly citizens. In other words, for Indians, looking after the elderly was previously a value and norm. However, as society developed and people became more occupied, this changed the Indian elderly’s living conditions – more elderly living alone instead of having a family member to take care of them. According to a study by Dr. Abhay B Mane, the number of Indian elderly living by themselves or with their partners increased from 9% in 1992 to 18.7% in 2006.
  • Social Disparity – In India, elderly poverty tends to fall upon women more than men, in particular, women who are widowed. In the World Widows Report from the Loomba Foundation in 2015, there are nearly five crores of widowed women in India. These women suffer discrimination and marginalization in society, contributing to their economic vulnerability. Moreover, due to the lack of access to education for Indian women, this turns into a disadvantage for them when they turn old, increasing their chances of having poorer lives than men. According to a study by Rossella Calvi, poverty rates are 80% less among elderly men than women in India.

Indian Government’s Initiatives

While elderly poverty in India is a tricky issue to solve, the government is attempting to improve the situation of the senior population. Here are some of its initiatives:

  • National Program for Health Care of the Elderly (NPHCE) – In 2010, the government implemented the program to deliver an accessible, affordable and dedicated healthcare system to elderly citizens at different levels, for instance, daycare services, rehabilitative services and home care services. In addition, the government also hoped to highlight two concepts in Indian society: healthy aging and activeness.
  • National Action Plan for Senior Citizens ( NAPSrC) – The government drafted the scheme in 2019. It set out the objective to improve the well-being of elderly Indians by providing them with dignified lives. To achieve this aim, government officials planned a series of activities. For example, the program resulted in the building of some extra homes with essential amenities for the elderly to ensure the quality of their lives. According to the Indian government’s report, the objective was an independent task for the central government or collaboration by the central and state governments to achieve.

The Results of the Initiatives

Both schemes achieved important progress. Here are some details about their accomplishments:

  • NPHCE – According to the website of the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, under this program, 8,300 elderly received home-based care services; 29,601 and 69,339 elderly received physiotherapy services from district hospitals and community health services, respectively.
  • NAPSrC – The Indian government launched the drafted scheme in 2019. For the financial years 2020 and 2021, the government announced that it would spend approximately RS 200 crore as the budget provision for the scheme, according to the NAPSrC’s report in 2020.

Overall, while elderly poverty is a pressing issue in India, the Indian government has come up with different solutions such as the NPHCE and NAPSrC schemes. Both have the same intention – to improve the quality of life of the elderly.

– Mimosa Ngai
Photo: Flickr