SEWA Bharat: Empowering Informal Female Workers in India

Informal Female Workers in IndiaAccording to a Foreign Policy podcast called “Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women,” despite the rapid expansion of India’s economy in the last 10 years, about 82% of women in India still work in the informal economy. WIEGO classifies the informal economy as “the diversified set of economic activities, enterprises, jobs and workers that are not regulated or protected by the state.” Workers in the informal economy, therefore, lack job security, benefits and protections. According to its website, SEWA Bharat, formed in 1972, is “a federation of women-led institutions providing economic and social support” for India’s informal female workers and is part of the greater SEWA movement established in 1984. SEWA stands for the Self-Employed Women’s Association.

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:

  1. Entrepreneurship Support. SEWA Bharat recognizes that women’s participation in the economy has an impact on their “position in the household” as well as the local community and the economy at large. This participation leads the way for women to involve themselves in political affairs. These impacts are even more pronounced when women establish their own businesses.
  2. Skill Development. SEWA recognizes that women require skills training that will translate into employment opportunities. Further than “technical and managerial skills,” women require “personality development, life skills and the knowledge of the competitive and ever-changing environment.”SEWA runs skills development programs in livestock rearing, retail management, e-rickshaw driving and more.
  3. Social Security and Health. The organization ensures “social security and health services are delivered equally and fairly to women in the informal sector.” SEWA accomplishes this through “information dissemination, awareness generation and service delivery mechanisms.”
  4. Research. SEWA conducts research, typically via survey, and actively finds areas of weakness among India’s informal female workers and advocates for their remedy accordingly.

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

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Ending AIDS in Africa

Ending AIDS in AfricaAIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is a highly stigmatized disease. Throughout history, the AIDS epidemic has brought on severe discrimination toward individuals on the basis of race, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. The epidemic started in the 1980s, and upon arrival, it spread rapidly through marginalized communities – primarily prostitutes, drug addicts and homosexuals. AIDS is defined as the last stage of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). AIDS and HIV are classified as STDs (sexually transmitted diseases); they are highly contagious and can cause severe flu-like symptoms. After acquiring HIV/AIDS, some expensive treatment options range from therapy to surgery to prescription drugs, however, there are currently no effective vaccines for the disease. Despite these complications, ending AIDS in Africa is a global goal.

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

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5 Facts about Higher Education in South Korea

Higher Education in South KoreaDue to its rigorous entrance processes and societal emphasis on university prestige, South Korea spends a large portion of its annual GDP on higher education and the costs associated with college admissions preparation. Acceptance into one of the nation’s high-ranking “SKY” institutions can help differentiate applicants in an already competitive job market, as 70% of South Koreans have a college education. Here are five facts about the higher education system in South Korea:

5 Facts about Higher Education in South Korea

  1. Education and Industrialization: Rapid growth in literacy and education rates coincided with South Korea’s emergence as a newly industrialized nation. Just after WWII, South Korea’s literacy rate was a meager 22%, with few Koreans attending college. Now, its literacy rate sits at 97.9% and over 70% of high school graduates in South Korea go on to attend university. Once a beneficiary of American aid, South Korea now eclipses the U.S. in spending per capita on research and development, much of which is done at the university level.
  2. SKY Universities: Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University are widely viewed as the most prestigious institutions in Korea and three of the top-ranked universities in all of Asia. In fact, employment at elite firms and entrance into social circles is often contingent upon holding a degree from a SKY university.
  3. College Scholastic Ability Test: The eight-hour College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) is an assessment that determines which universities Korean students can attend. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), CSAT scores make up 70% of admissions criteria at Korean universities. Comparatively, high school grades carry significantly less weight, comprising only 10% of a student’s profile. Overall, higher CSAT scores are highly correlated with better job prospects and higher income potential.
  4. Spending on College Prep Classes: Since CSAT scores are viewed as the most important factor in South Korean college admissions decisions, Korean families often invest large sums of money in private tutoring. For example, the OECD estimates that middle-income parents of high school students in South Korea spend as much as 30% of their income on tutoring, with families spending an average of 3.6 million KRW ($2,600) on tutoring per year.
  5. An Increase in International Students: Since the early 2000s, the number of international students studying in South Korea has steadily risen. According to the Center for Strategy & International Studies, the global student population in South Korea has risen from 17,000 in 2004 to 160,000 in 2019. The South Korean government has also enacted reforms that expanded government tuition assistance to international students and created bilingual courses taught in English.

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

afghan-womens-protest-highlights-a-desire-for-more-aidOn August 13, 2022, Afghan women in the capital city of Kabul gathered in front of the education ministry building, to protest human rights abuses by the Taliban including depriving women of the ability to work and participate in politics. They were also aiming to secure more aid and support from nations abroad. The Taliban swiftly responded by chasing and beating the female protestors. The international community, including the U.N. and human rights groups, have condemned the Taliban’s repression of women’s rights.

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

the-masiyiwa-family-africas-biggest-billionaires-are-fighting-povertyBorn in Zimbabwe, Strive Masiyiwa is the 10th wealthiest billionaire in Africa as of 2022 and is widely regarded as the “Bill Gates of Africa.” Masiyiwa grew his wealth after launching a mobile phone network called Econet Wireless Zimbabwe in his home country in 1998. He owns slightly more than 50% of the publicly-traded Econet Wireless Zimbabwe. He also owns more than 50% of half the private Liquid Telecom company that operates in Africa. Masiyiwa has an estimated worth of $1.6 billion. He and his wife, Tsitsi Masiyiwa, are committed to fighting poverty on the continent. The Masiyiwa family accomplishes most of its humanitarian work through the Higherlife Foundation.

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

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Young Jordanians Who Confront Food Insecurity via Innovation

Young Jordanians Who Confront Food Insecurity via InnovationJordan has been experiencing food insecurity challenges due to multiple factors, such as water scarcity and slow economic growth. As a result, many Jordanians struggle to afford food for themselves. Food insecurity is a pervading problem in Jordan because 63% of its population is under 30 years old, a generational issue. However, young Jordanians have discovered new ways to cleverly tackle food insecurity in their country without successful government policies. The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and The World Food Programme (WFP) have recently established the Youth in Food Security Innovation Programme, which gathers 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

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Creating African Digital Jobs

African Digital Jobs
Africa is struggling to keep up with a global economy dominated by technology but African digital jobs are growing. Nigerian activist Oladiwura Oladepo co-founded the Tech4Dev organization to enrich the continent’s access to digital work opportunities.

Technology for Social Change and Development Initiative or Tech4dev is a nonprofit that originated in 2016 according to the Global Citizen site. Founded to solve the “world’s greatest problems,” the group provides access to the internet and computers in Africa and trains Africans in digital skills. This is especially vital in Oladepo’s home of Nigeria, where more than 100 million of the country’s 200 million population lack any digital services and many suffer from poverty, unemployment and starvation.

Tech4Dev’s Programs

Tech4Dev offers numerous specialized educational programs to create African digital jobs for different demographics. One program listed on their website includes “Women Techsters,” which aims to increase economic equity between genders and financially empower women. The “Basic Digital Education Initiative” also aims to teach elementary and high school students technology skills as well as basic STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) skills.

Another more-advanced program that Tech4Dev offers is the “Emerging Market Model Initiative.” The program emerged with the help of Microsoft to provide strong digital training to Nigerian adults through various government agencies. In addition to helping prospective learners, this program also equips said agencies with the ability to teach future groups of adults and increase overall digital literacy in the long term.

Although the programs have different target audiences, all of the programs have the same overall goal of teaching Africans online skills so they can find work and improve the lives of themselves and their communities. In Tech4Dev Executive Director Oladiwura Oladepo’s own words, this is “Using technology to advance sustainable human capital development in Africa.”

Technology and Economy Hand-in-Hand

The World Bank has stated that the digital economy is 15.5% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP), which is a monetary measurement assigned to the overall goods and services that a country provides. With this number expected to increase as digitalization increases, African digital jobs in countries like Nigeria could produce significant capital gains.

As President Enrico Lores of HP Inc. stated on the World Economic Forum’s website, digital access factors into more than just job opportunities. With remote learning, no online access means not receiving an education. Online medical access can mean life or death. Even ignoring formal services, the internet can provide vital information similar to how Oladiwura Oladepo shared life-saving information on Ebola precautions in 2014.

About Global Citizen

In 2022, Oladiwura Oladepo received the 2022 Waislitz Global Citizens’ Choice Award from the Waislitz Foundation and the Global Citizen platform. Global Citizen defines a global citizen as someone who takes action to fight inequity and poverty across the whole world through collective action.

Oladepo acts as a global citizen by using Tech4Dev to support Nigeria and all of Africa by setting the groundwork for African digital jobs. Global citizens like her have raised more than $41.4 billion in funding and aided the impoverished in both developed and developing countries across the globe. The site lists 1,560,219 active global citizens dedicated to eliminating global poverty today.

– Henry Bauer
Photo: Wikipedia Commons

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Child Soldiers in Afghanistan

Child Soldiers in Afghanistan
Since the Taliban overthrew the Afghani central government in 2021, the nation has experienced increased human rights violations such as the recruitment and use of child soldiers in Afghanistan.

Rise of the Taliban

The Taliban, meaning “students” in Pashto, is a conservative political-religious movement founded during the 90s amid the Afghan War which lasted from 1978-1992. The group originated as a modest band of religious scholars and students whose aim was to fight crime and corruption in Afghanistan. After deposing the Soviet-sponsored government, the group went on to establish the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and institute rigid Islamic law significantly impacting women’s livelihoods, religious minorities and political opponents.

Current Humanitarian Crisis in Afghanistan

On August 15, 2021, the Taliban launched its campaign to take over Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul. Soon after the initial assault on September 7, 2021, the Islamic fundamentalist group declared itself as the interim government without communicating its plans for establishing a new central government. Since the hostile takeover, the U.N. has observed growing human rights violations, including forceful censorship of journalists and protestors, regression of women’s rights, worsening socio-economic conditions, an increase in child marriage and the recruitment of child soldiers.

Child Soldiers

The U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report identifies a state’s ability to combat human trafficking and assess the implementation of child soldiers. The Department of State reported Afghanistan as a “Tier 3” country, indicating failure to report cases of trafficking and a lack of serious reduction efforts.

The use of child soldiers in Afghanistan is not a new phenomenon. Before the insurgency, the Afghan government made an effort to address the symptoms of trafficking by developing awareness programs to prepare officials to respond to such cases. Through government-sanctioned Child Protection Units (CPUs), between April 2020 and March 2021, Afghani authorities thwarted the recruitment of more than 5,000 children into armed government groups and programs and identified 20 within the military.

However, the effects of the Taliban’s takeover and the COVID-19 pandemic have hindered the state’s capacity to protect, maintain or counter threats to civil liberties, including the use of children in the militia. Before and after the insurgency of August 15, 2021, the Taliban continued to illicitly use child soldiers in combative roles such as planting and setting off IEDs, carrying out suicide attacks, transporting weapons, standing guard and spying. The Taliban has ceased to investigate, prosecute or prevent cases of trafficking or recruiting. The Insurgent forces continue to eliminate shelters and protective services for victims, resulting in a more vulnerable population.

Without a centralized infrastructure or agency to provide services, Afghan children are more susceptible to recruitment and trafficking. The Taliban has made NGOs operating within Afghanistan useless as the group has imposed crippling restrictions on humanitarian aid, ransacked the few remaining shelters and threatened humanitarian staff. The Taliban has recruited children in Afghanistan from madrassas or religious schools. The children are indoctrinated and prepared to fight in exchange for protection. Moreover, the Taliban also targets children from Afghanistan’s more impoverished rural regions, exemplifying the role of poverty in the assimilation of children into the armed forces. Young boys living in dire economic circumstances see fighting as a means to a better life. Unfortunately, this is seldom the case.

The Road Ahead

It has been a year since the collapse of the central Afghan government, and conditions within the state remain concerning. Without proper protective and preventive services, children and women and girls remain Afghanistan’s most vulnerable. The U.N. has documented hundreds of human rights violations against children along with increased attacks on schools, hospitals and humanitarian shelters. The Taliban’s presence continues to exacerbate Afghanistan’s worsening socio-economic systems, poverty and food insecurity, thus, increasing the presence of child soldiers among their ranks.

The Taliban’s continued presence in Afghanistan and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic remain the biggest threat to the well-being of Afghan citizens. Thousands of children stay within the Taliban’s ranks serving in dangerous combative roles. With the U.N. and NGOs calling for urgent humanitarian aid, hope remains for a decrease in the number of children becoming child soldiers in Afghanistan.

– Ricardo Silva
Photo: Flickr

2 Organizations Combating Human Trafficking

Far outnumbering the global cocaine market, the “industry” of international human trafficking sees about $99 billion as of 2022. The connection between poverty and human trafficking manifests in how the crime tends to concentrate in lower-income countries such as Cambodia, Pakistan, Romania and Belarus. While authorities continue to work to eradicate the crime, Freekind and STOP THE TRAFFIK (STT) are two organizations combating human trafficking.

What is Human Trafficking?

Human trafficking is a crime that trades and exploits people for profit. According to the United Nations, three important elements define trafficking: the act, the means and the purpose. The act refers to the recruitment or transportation of victims. The means include the violence and deception that traffickers use to traffic victims. Lastly, the purpose is the exploitation of victims.

Different Types of Human Trafficking

There are two main types of human trafficking: sexual and forced labor. Sexual labor is the most common form of human trafficking. Research on sex trafficking shows that, on average, 4.8 million are sexually exploited at any given time. Among these victims, 99% of the sex trafficked are women and girls, according to the U.N. International Labour Office. The same report states that about 25 million were in forced labor in 2017. Of this group, 42% were male, and 19% were children.

Poverty and Human Trafficking

While human trafficking is a global crisis, lower-income countries often have the highest cases of trafficking due to a lack of resources. Lack of employment opportunities is highest in places with extreme poverty. Consequently, traffickers exploit this vulnerability by falsely offering jobs or training. Job seekers in lower-income areas frequently migrate for work. These migrant workers, particularly young people and children, become vulnerable targets. Sociocultural structures in other regions lacking equal rights for females also see more child and forced marriages.

Freekind and STOP THE TRAFFIK

Two organizations are combating human trafficking by using education and technology.

Freekind focuses on rebuilding lives and raising awareness. To meet these objectives, Freekind designed the Prevention Project curriculum in 2012.  This award-winning program was produced by human trafficking survivors, educators and advocates, rooted in the belief that “if change is going to happen, it must begin with the young generation.” The curriculum is designed for secondary school students and youth service providers. Through interactive sessions, many students have become aware of the seriousness of human trafficking and have become committed to combating the crime.

STOP THE TRAFFIK uses technology to fight human trafficking. Like Freekind, STT believes in uniting people across the globe through information, inspiration and mobilization to understand human trafficking better. In addition, STT also trains people to report trafficking with the STOP APP, a smartphone app that people can use globally to report suspicious activities of human trafficking securely and anonymously.

STT analyzes the app’s data to provide information on global human trafficking hot spots and trends. According to STT’s Final Impact Report of 2020, data from the STOP APP progressed 11 human trafficking cases to authorities.

Human trafficking is an issue that requires more attention from authorities. In areas with extreme poverty, individuals are at a greater risk of becoming targets of traffickers. Organizations such as Freekind and STT have dedicated themselves to combating human trafficking. Through prevention education and technology, both organizations address the seriousness of human trafficking and aim to bring people together to prevent trafficking from taking place.

– Mimosa Ngai
Photo: Pexels

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Women’s Rights in the Philippines

Women's Rights in the PhilippinesSeveral policies focus on advancing women’s rights in the Philippines to increase women’s empowerment and gender equality. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light gender disparities that make women’s rights progressions as urgent as ever.

Barriers for Women in the Workplace

Women’s rights in the Philippines, particularly in the workforce, are progressing. According to the 2021 Global Gender Gap report, the Philippines ranks 17th globally in gender equality, having closed 78.4% of its gender gap. A major role player in the Philippines’ gender equality advancements is the Philippine Magna Carta for Women, a comprehensive human rights law enacted in 2009 to abolish discrimination against Filipino women.

Despite this progression, female participation in the workforce is low, standing at just 49%—one of the lowest rates in the East Asia and Pacific region (EAP) compared to the regional average of 59%. According to the World Bank, progression in female workforce participation rates has seen minimal improvement since 1990. Since 2015, this gap has reduced by just 0.3%.

The lack of participation of women in the labor force hinders opportunities for the nation’s overall economic growth.  The World Bank says, “An increase of women’s labor supply by a mere 0.5 percentage points per year would increase gross domestic product (GDP) per capita by about 6% by 2040 and almost 10% by 2050.”

Barriers to Workforce Participation

A 2021 World Bank report on women’s economic empowerment explores the barriers to women’s participation in the Philippines’ labor force, including societal norms and beliefs.

The report’s survey on women’s work and childcare reveals that about 75% of Filipino males and 80% of Filipino women believe that men should be the breadwinners and women should bear the responsibility of caretaking and household chores. Further, more than 70% of men and 76% of women believe that a mother’s employment negatively impacts “the emotional and psychosocial development skills of a preschool child.” The World Bank has made policy recommendations to increase women’s participation in the labor force. This includes implementing “alternatives to child-care in the home” programs and promoting flexible work structures, such as remote work and e-commerce platforms.

The Magna Carta of Women

The Magna Carta of Women aims to abolish gender discrimination and protect women’s rights in the Philippines through a comprehensive definition of what constitutes gender discrimination. The law sets out extensive protections for women ranging from protection against violence to representation in male-dominated work sectors.

The Magna Carta of Women protects women from “all forms of violence” and ensures compulsory training on gender sensitivity for government staff  who work in sectors “involved in the protection and defense of women against gender-based violence.”

The law calls for more women representation in male-dominated fields, such as the police and military sectors. Women must also have equal rights regarding “marriage and family relations,” among many other rights such as equal opportunities to participate in sports.

Women’s Empowerment in the Workforce

In March 2022, at The Manila Times Online Business Forum called “Empowered Women Powering Changes,” chairperson and CEO of P&A Grant Thornton, Marivic Españo said the Philippines boasts a high percentage of females in leadership roles.

According to Españo, in 2021, about 48% of Filipino women worked in senior leadership roles; however, this rate declined in 2022 to 39%. Despite the decrease, the Philippines still ranks fourth-highest in the world for rates of women in senior leadership roles.

Abigail Tina del Rosario, Maybank Philippines president and CEO, says women in the Philippines fare better than women in other countries in terms of academics, the professional arena, the political sphere and the legislative sphere.

The Philippines has resources in place to protect women’s rights in the workplace, like the Expanded Maternity Leave Law, the Safe Streets and Public Spaces Law and the Telecommuting Law that allows females to work from home.

Looking Ahead

Despite the challenges women in the Philippines face, policies and laws are in place to advance women’s rights in the country to empower women and eliminate gender inequality.

– Jacara Watkins
Photo: Wikimedia Commons