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
Politics and 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
Parents’ Role in Improving 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
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
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
Games Done Quick Generates Millions for Global Healthcare
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
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:
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:
The Results of the Initiatives
Both schemes achieved important progress. Here are some details about their accomplishments:
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
Examining Poverty in Argentina
Currently, 37% of people live below the poverty line in Argentina and are struggling due to the inconsistency of prices and jobs from inflation and changes in unemployment. Poverty in Argentina affects over 17 million people in the country, learn more about the unique struggles in Argentina.
Historic Inflation and Recent Economic Disaster
Argentina has felt the effects of intense inflation since the 1980s, but in recent months has seen record increases in these rates. The year-on-year inflation rate is the highest it has been in the past 30 years, exceeding 60 points, according to Peoples Dispatch. This increase has hurt those in the lowest income bracket the most, but the poverty rate is on the rise. It is estimated that 2,800 people are forced into poverty every day.
Despite that alarming amount, economists predict more could be hurt as the inflation rate could reach 90% by the end of 2022. The instability of inflation has made prices different on a variety of items that change weekly. This hurts those struggling to afford groceries and other necessities. The recent economic instability is a huge threat to those living in Argentina.
Unemployment, the Working Poor and the COVID-19 Pandemic
World events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic further impacted poverty in Argentina. The poverty rate hit between 46% and 47% towards the end of June 2020, at the height of the COVID-19-induced shutdown. The high poverty rate was due in part to the 3.5 million jobs lost during the pandemic. In 2020, the poverty rate related to an income of 14,718 pesos, or $193, per month.
The unemployment rate dropped to 7% at the beginning of 2022, however, the poverty rate includes 28% of Argentinians who hold jobs. The research found that from 2018 to 2022 that due to inflation and a combination of currency devaluation wages lost 20% of their purchasing power. The increase in unemployment during the pandemic increased the poverty rate, but as the unemployment rate decreased, the poverty rate did not.
The effects of outside events, like war or pandemics are global, but Argentina’s sensitive economy sees drastic changes easily. Changes in habitable actions and consumption also show the increase in poverty. For example, in 2021, Argentinians consumed the lowest amount of beef per capita (47.8 kilos) since the 1920s, Peoples Dispatch reported. Th
The Future of Poverty in Argentina
The IMF began working with the Argentinian government in May 2018 and has a plan to help those most at risk. This calls for actions like the central banks to be independent and protect social spending. Those in poverty in Argentina need help since they are sinking even deeper into poverty.
A
Changing economy and the socioeconomic inequalities that often affect employment rates further complicate poverty in Argentina. The recent increase in inflation implies there is a strong need for stability to save those falling below the poverty line every day.
– Ann Shick
Photo: Wikipedia Commons
Jal Jeevan Mission Provides Rural India with Clean Water
According to UNICEF, in 2017, less than half of India’s people had “access to safely managed drinking water.” Furthermore, contamination of water is a serious issue and two-thirds of all Indian districts endure “extreme water depletion,” so many of India’s citizens cannot access water or have to trek long distances to access it. This national issue disproportionately affects women and children as they are the ones typically responsible for gathering and transporting water. However, since August 2019, the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), run by the Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation in the Ministry of Jal Shakti, has aimed to provide all houses in rural India with functioning tap water by 2024.
Current Water Issue Impacts
According to Forbes, every year, about 37.7 million people in India suffer waterborne diseases due to unsafe water and 1.5 million Indian children lose their lives due to diarrhea arising from contaminated water. Water sources contaminated with fluoride, arsenic and other chemicals negatively impact the health of Indian people. Annually, India loses 73 million days of labor due to waterborne illnesses. Altogether, India faces an economic burden of $600 million per year as a result of the associated costs of waterborne diseases. A National Geographic article published in 2020 said that 21% of India’s communicable illnesses were due to unclean water.
The lack of water also causes other issues in Indian society. Women and children are often responsible for going on long treks for water if there is no available source of water near their communities. Many children are unable to attend school and women cannot participate in education or paid employment because they must retrieve water for their families.
Because of these conditions, the JJM is working to ensure all rural houses in India have functioning tap water by 2024.
How the Jal Jeevan Mission is Making a Difference
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Jal Javeen Mission in 2019. Its mission is to provide safe and accessible drinking water by allowing families to access water from their own homes through household tap connections. It works with the states in India to ensure water security and accessibility are available for all citizens. Since the launch of the mission, by September 1, 2022, JJM provided 43.18% of India’s rural households with tap connections. As of September 2022, 52% of the nation’s rural houses have access to functional tap connections.
Not only does the JJM work to provide rural houses in India with tap connections but it also aims to ensure schools have access to convenient clean water. By June 2022, JJM had assisted 860,000 schools and 890,000 daycare centers with access to a clean and safe water supply.
More women are actively involved in community issues about water. As many as 1 million women have received training from JJM to ensure safe water quality water through the use of field safety kits. Additionally, women comprise 50% of the members of 496,000 established Village Water and Sanitation Committees. Women are now playing a key role in discussions and decisions pertaining to clean water access in communities.
Looking Ahead
Ultimately, the Jal Jeevan Mission has allowed more rural households in India access to safe and clean water. This will bring about better health in communities as waterborne diseases become less prevalent. More children can attend schools and women no longer have to endure the burden of walking long distances to fetch clean water. All of this is thanks to the Jal Jeevan Mission and its goal to provide all rural houses in India with functioning tap water by 2024.
– Janae O’Connell
Photo: Wikipedia Commons
Renewable Energy in Japan
In 2019, Japan stood as one of the largest oil and coal consumers in the world but is now Asia’s “third-largest producer of renewable energy.” Renewable energy in Japan is on the rise.
Overcoming Challenges
Transitioning to renewable energy has its challenges. The cost of solar energy in Japan is high, land use restrictions limit the potential for wind power and Japan’s power grid “is segmented and consists of many smaller grids with weak interconnections.” Even so, a net zero society is still a feasible goal for the nation.
Progress
In 2021, renewables made up about 22% of total electricity generation, which is two percentage points higher than in 2020. Solar and wind power have become much more prominent thanks to the Renewable Energy Act, which became effective in 2022. This act defines renewable energy as solar, biomass, wind, geothermal and hydropower.
Additionally, the Japanese government is planning on establishing wind power as a cheaper energy source than thermal energy and aims to reach this goal by 2035. Japan aims to accomplish this mainly by increasing its generation of wind energy. Making wind power more affordable will be especially impactful for low-income communities because low-income communities in Japan have a much higher energy poverty rate than their more wealthy counterparts.
Clean Energy Decreasing Poverty
Improving access to clean energy reduces poverty by increasing access to education and improving public health. Japan has been noticing the need for clean energy along with the need for reducing poverty. Here are some ways the country is taking action on both at the same time:
Looking Ahead
With the rising costs of electricity and the unsustainability of fossil fuels, the world is realizing the importance o transitioning to renewable energy. Countries, such as Japan, are not only looking to move toward clean energy but are also prioritizing the accessibility of renewable energy so that it can benefit all people regardless of income level.
With these developments and more to come, the future looks bright for renewable energy in Japan. By 2030, the country expects to derive 60% of its power from clean energy sources and is set to achieve full carbon neutrality by 2050.
– Ava Ronning
Photo: Flickr
How Andean Health and Development is Transforming Rural Ecuador
Andean Health and Development (AHD) is a nonprofit that specializes in health care. It operates mainly in rural Ecuador, where barriers to health care are everywhere. Costs of travel into more populous areas where hospitals are typically located, the types of physical work that are common in rural communities and lower health literacy rates in rural Ecuador all have negative implications for human development.
What Andean Health and Development Does
Andean Health and Development (AHD) works to create health care system solutions that make care more accessible to rural Ecuadorians. AHD has built two hospitals in rural Ecuador that offer quality health care to those who cannot travel for health care. To make this approach sustainable, AHD has a rigorous three-year residency program that trains Ecuadorian doctors to become “the rural health care leaders of tomorrow.” This residency program has classes of up to 60 physicians who are hoping to focus their practice in the rural communities that need it. All of the staff at AHD health centers are Ecuadorian, which plays a key role in the success of this community-based approach.
Why Andean Health and Development Matters for Rural Ecuador
Rural poverty is the result of poor infrastructure, poor access to quality resources like health care and education and fewer job opportunities.
AHD addresses all three of these systemic issues. Although Ecuador has universal health care coverage, access is the most significant challenge for rural citizens. By implementing nearly an entire supplemental health care system, AHD is not only providing health care to those who need it but is also creating a wealth of job opportunities for providers and other AHD staff. AHD creates a sustainable healthcare system that improves patient care as the business grows.
– Hannah Yonas
Photo: Wikipedia Commons