5 Charities Operating in Ukraine

Charities Operating in UkraineSince February 2022, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has thrust Ukrainians into a humanitarian crisis. According to the United Nations, as of July 2022, 12 million Ukrainians at minimum have “fled their homes” since the invasion. In particular, five charities operating in Ukraine aim to address the humanitarian needs of citizens amid the conflict.

5 Charities Operating in Ukraine

  1. Mercy Corps. In Ukraine, Mercy Corps works primarily by connecting with and funding local refugee organizations in Ukraine, Poland and Romania. The organizations that Mercy Corps supports distribute basic essentials such as food and medical resources. In particular, Mercy Corps prioritizes marginalized groups like people with disabilities, Ukraine’s Roma and the elderly. In Ukraine, Mercy Corps has assisted evacuations of more than 18,000 people, and in Poland, the organization has delivered “essential services to 52,000 Ukrainians and third-country nationals.”
  2. Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JJC). Ukraine’s community of Jewish people “is one of the largest in the world,” housing as many as 200,000 Jews. However, antisemitism in Ukraine is a significant issue as Jewish people in Ukraine endure hate crimes in the form of physical assaults, vandalism of Jewish infrastructure and other public acts of xenophobia, according to details from a 2018 report by the National Minority Rights Monitoring Group. To support the humanitarian needs of the Jewish amid the Ukraine crisis, JCC has provided essential resources such as “food and medicine” as well as psychological support for trauma. The JCC also runs “emergency hotlines in collaboration with local Jewish communities” in Ukraine and surrounding countries such as Poland and Moldova. The JCC also arranges evacuations, including transport and accommodations. For the Jewish elderly who need to evacuate, the JCC arranges “special medical transport.” Since its establishment, the JJC has provided support to “an estimated 40,000 Jewish elderly and 2,500 poor Jewish children in Ukraine,” according to the JCC website.
  3. Youth Agency for the Advocacy of Roma Culture (ARCA). Pre-war, ARCA aimed to promote the “development of the Roma youth movement” while “[supporting] and [preserving] Roma history and culture,” hoping to uplift a persecuted Ukrainian population of about 400,000 Roma individuals. Since the February 2022 attack on Ukraine, ARCA has been operating in partnership with the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC) to provide humanitarian help to Ukrainian Roma. The partnership uses its funds to provide essential supplies, such as food and medicine, while aiding the relocation of “vulnerable community members” and helping to facilitate the crossing of the Ukrainian border for the Roma seeking refuge in other countries. So far, through a GoFundMe page, the partnership has been able to raise €6,741 for these purposes.
  4. Water Mission. The 2022 conflict in Ukraine has denied more than 6 million people access to safe and clean water. Water Mission focuses on bringing these Ukrainians “emergency water treatment equipment and water purification supplies” along with hygiene kits to improve access to safe water and promote good health amid the crisis. By August 2022, Water Mission had “installed 18 safe water systems across the cities of Mykolaiv, Pokrovsk, Kramatorsk and Myrnohrad,” producing more than 2 million liters of safe and clean water for Ukrainians, the organization’s Facebook page highlights.
  5. The U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR). According to its website, the “UNHCR in Ukraine operates out of offices in Lviv, Vinnytsia, Uzhhorod, Chernivtsi, Dnipro and in Donetsk and Luhansk.” Most broadly, UNHCR provides humanitarian assistance in Ukraine in the form of protection, shelter, food and refugee support. In light of the war in Ukraine commencing in February 2022, an inter-agency Regional Refugee Response Plan came into being. The Plan focuses on supporting governments of host countries welcoming refugees, providing immediate relief to refugees of military hostilities while working closely with state authorities.

The help of these five charities operating in Ukraine provides direct support to the innocent civilians impacted by the ongoing war.

– Alisa Gulyansky
Photo: Flickr

3 Facts About Indigenous Ecuadorians, Poverty and Gender Violence

Indigenous Ecuadorians
Ecuador is a small South American country on the east coast of the continent. It gets its name from its place on the equator that splits the northern and southern hemispheres. While there is a population of about 17 million people, more than a million of those people are Indigenous Ecuadorians, according to IWGIA. Historically, the Indigenous people, particularly Indigenous women, have endured discrimination, poverty and gender-based violence. Here are three facts about Indigenous Ecuadorians, poverty and gender violence.

3 Facts About Indigenous Ecuadorians

  1. “Indigenous Ecuadorians” is an umbrella term. About 14  groups make up Indigenous Ecuadorians. They are: “Tsáchila, Chachi, Epera, Awa, Quichua, Shuar, Achuar, Shiwiar, Cofán, Siona, Secoya, Zápara, Andoa y Waorani, and Afro-Ecuadorians.” According to the group Minority Rights, there are disparities in data on people self-identifying as Indigenous. While officially, in 2010, only 6.8% of Ecuador’s population identified as Indigenous, estimates suggest that up to 30% of the population could be Indigenous.
  2. Poverty is widespread in Indigenous communities. In 2012, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimated that 60% of Indigenous Ecuadorians live in poverty. The established poverty level is living on $1.90 or less a day. Additionally, half of this 60% lived in extreme poverty, surviving off of $1.16 a day. In fact, Indigenous Ecuadorians are twice as likely to live in poverty as the rest of the country.
  3. Gender violence is more common against minority women. A 2019 study by Agnes Edeby and Miguel San Sebastián showed that 64% of Indigenous Ecuadorian women surveyed faced some form of violence. Many people of color living in Ecuador also experienced violence, according to the study. The study noted a larger risk difference between Indigenous and non-Indigenous women in Ecuador. Gender-based violence occurs partially due to economic dependence. According to the World Bank, economic opportunities for women in Indigenous communities are slim, leaving many reliant on men, whether familial or domestic partners. On top of that, a lack of education, health care and reproductive health care leave Indigenous Ecuadorians more vulnerable to gender-based violence.

Programs to Help Indigenous Women in Ecuador

The World Bank founded the Territorial Economic Empowerment for the Indigenous, Afro-Ecuadorians and Montubian Peoples and Nationalities (TEEIPAM) project, which received board approval in 2020. The project aims to help reduce gender-based violence and provide economic stability among these minority groups. While the TEEIPAM project is still in the early stages of its rollout, project financers have invested $40 million to achieve the project goals by 2026.

TEEIPAM has identified four elements to combat gender-based violence among Indigenous Ecuadorians:

  1. Working to “train and sensitize the local authorities” to gender-based violence and raise the participation of Indigenous peoples in “coordination spaces.”
  2. Creating a community-based approach focused on communication and local activities to address gender-based violence.
  3. Educating households on gender equality and healthy relationships.
  4. Strengthening Indigenous community repercussions for gender-based violence and educating Indigenous leaders to advocate against gender-based violence.

Casa de Mujeres Amazonicas

An Ecuadorian center recently opened to help Indigenous Ecuadorians fleeing gender violence. An alliance of minority women founded the Casa de Mujeres Amazonicas (Home of Amazonian Women) in March 2022. According to its founders, the center is the first in Ecuador to acknowledge the common thread between violence against Indigenous Ecuadorians and Ecuadorian women as violence against both is an ongoing issue. The center provides accommodation, legal help, emotional support and more.

Overall, Ecuador can do more to help Ecuador’s Indigenous people, particularly women, who suffer from violence and discrimination, and therefore, are at higher risk of poverty. Despite the grim statistics, programs are working diligently to get help to those who need it the most, both domestically and abroad. The changes implemented are both structural and abstract but overall will contribute to a better quality of life for Indigenous Ecuadorians.

– Emma Rushworth
Photo: Wikipedia Commons

, ,

The Basics of Climate Migration

Climate Migration
As global temperatures continue to rise, those in the hottest regions of the world face an impossible choice. They can either endure malnutrition, economic malaise and political instability or run the gauntlet of relocating to greener pastures. Affecting more than 20 million people every year, climate migration poses a serious threat to countries in Central America, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. As people relocate domestically and internationally, they strain their new community’s and their own recourses, leaving both vulnerable.

Exacerbating Already Existing Issues

In Guatemala, climate migration exacerbates many of the issues it already faces. Rapid increases in temperature as well as prolonged droughts followed by violent flooding have destroyed agricultural harvests, forcing many into overcrowded urban centers or seeking refuge in the United States. Since much of the country’s economy is dependent on agriculture, this will increase malnutrition and poverty rates, damaging an already struggling nation.

These effects will only become worse as temperatures continue to rise, with 1.5 million people expected to flee Mexico and Guatemala every year by 2050, according to The New York Times.

Similarly, climate migration in other regions can cause dramatic economic and political harm. Sub-Saharan Africa is particularly vulnerable to this, as increased temperatures quicken a process known as desertification, in which arid land becomes unusable while coastal regions succumb to rising sea levels and more frequent natural disasters.

For the Philippines and many island nations, marine life degradation and higher sea levels threaten the livelihoods of millions reliant on the sea, creating a host of political and economic issues, according to the OECD report. This will only lead to increased climate migration and further internal disruption.

Affecting the Progress

Looked at from a larger perspective, climate migration threatens to undo decades of progress in the fight against global poverty. Both the United Nations General Assembly and the Human Rights Council have highlighted the current and potential threat that climate migration poses. In regions like the Sahel desert, water shortages have catalyzed armed violence, displacing more than 3 million people, according to UNHCR. Should the international community ignore this pressing issue, climate migration could become an even greater issue.

Solutions

However, it is not too late to curb the effects of climate migration. With the threat of mass environmental exodus, more organizations have spotlighted the issue, urging nations to protect climate refugees. The Biden Administration emphasized climate migration in a report before the United Nations Climate Change Conference. The International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) released a report in 2021 on how countries like the United States could prevent climate migration from worsening. One proposed suggestion was that the U.S. should allow those fleeing climate-related disasters to seek refugee status.

As more focus is drawn to this alarming phenomenon, increased research is allowing scientists to make estimates as to where climate migration will be strongest and how to fix the issue in the long run, according to The New York Times. Environmental protection policies and aid toward refugees are solutions that tackle the problem from important angles and are becoming more prominent as migration due to weather becomes a larger part of the fight against poverty.

– Samuel Bowles
Photo: Pixabay

Kamal Mouzawak Empowers Lebanese Communities

Mouzawak Empowers Lebanese Communities
Native Lebanese food and social entrepreneur Kamal Mouzawak has been using his country’s traditions to promote activism within his community using food as the basis. Mouzawak believes that despite the various cultures and backgrounds of the people that inhabit Lebanon, those differences do not matter when it comes to providing food. This idea has led to several projects and initiatives that show how Mouzawak empowers Lebanese communities.

Souk El Tayeb

The initial effort created to ensure Mouzawak empowers Lebanese communities was the creation of the Souk El Tayeb farmers market, the first established farmer’s market in Lebanon. Mouzawak opened it back in 2004. Later in 2009, Mouzawak opened a series of restaurants called Tawlet which features women from various regions of Lebanon coming together to cook dishes that are representative of their homes.

“Mr. Mouzawak estimates that more than 500 women, including refugees, have been trained and employed across his organization’s projects and programs,” according to The New York Times.

Everything Changed

Mouzwak and his communities enjoyed much success from the market and restaurant that provided relief for hundreds. However, everything for Mouzawak and his efforts changed after the Beirut port explosion in August 2020. Mouzawak’s homes, along with many others, experienced devastation. In response, Mouzawak and “his team created an emergency community kitchen, in partnership with the Spanish-American chef José André’s nonprofit World Central Kitchen, to feed the residents who lost everything.”

Further efforts emerged to ensure Mouzawak empowers Lebanese communities in response to the August 2020 explosion. According to the Los Angeles Times, Mouzawak had his restaurant, Tawlet, make meals that went to hospitals, elderly, and rescue workers that handled the response to the destruction.

Mouzawak said to the U.K. news outlet inews that he and his team were providing 800 meals daily to the people in need. Mouzawak added in an interview with inews that “we have no state to help us… It’s down to the people, and organizations, and charities.”

The explosion destroyed the farmers market, Souk El Tayeb, after serving its community for more than a decade. However, Mouzawak now desires to turn the market, along with the Tawlet restaurant, into a kitchen for the community that provides free food to its residents. “This will help secure jobs for hundreds of women, farmers, and producers,” Mouzawak told inews.

Poverty in Lebanon

According to the latest update by the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), “the multidimensional poverty rate in Lebanon has nearly doubled from 42% in 2019 to 82% in 2021.” The study also reveals that the number of households that lack health care rose to 33% in 2021 “and the share of those unable to obtain medicines, has also increased to more than half,” according to U.N. News.

As of June 2022, “Lebanon remains the country hosting the largest number of refugees per capita,” according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR.) The Lebanese government estimates that 1.5 million Syrian refugees and 13,617 refugees from other nations reside in Lebanon.

Mouzawak grew up in the rural part of Lebanon. Both his grandfather and his uncle were farmers and his family would only eat produce that they grew themselves. In Mouzawak’s mind, the market “Souk El Tayeb served as a platform to share not only food but also traditions and conversations, giving people something to unite over and thus playing a part in healing the societal fractures that plagued the country after the Lebanese Civil War,” according to The World’s 50 Best.

– Henry Hyman
Photo: Flickr

Topographic Drones and the Importance of Indigenous Land Mapping

Indigenous Land Mapping
Indigenous communities all around the world have been facing the destruction of their lands as populations grow. Land shortages have only increased as changing climate continues to make parts of the world uninhabitable. The expansion of urban construction into protected Indigenous lands has violated the rights of Indigenous communities, who often have formal legal agreements with surrounding governments. Additionally, Indigenous people typically have poorer health and development outcomes than their non-Indigenous counterparts. The use of drones for land mapping is giving Indigenous communities more power and protection. Here is some information about Indigenous land mapping.

Indigenous Land Mapping

Creating accurate and culturally sensitive maps gives Indigenous communities respect and anchors them in their traditions. While there is a long history of erasure within Indigenous lands, mapping legitimizes their claims in the eyes of surrounding governments. This is particularly important when it comes to the preservation of this land, as well as the livelihoods of the Indigenous peoples who inhabit it.

Drones have become a remarkably efficient means of mapping hard-to-reach areas and the true borders of Indigenous claims to land. They are small, easy to use and can store data electronically. The geographic information systems (GIS) that are in drones can help build virtual maps. Additionally, individuals and large-scale projects alike can use drones.

The Indigenous Mapping Collective is a virtual network of Indigenous people who empower each other to map their communities. It offers skills training in drone use, land mapping and more from professional cartographers. In 2014, the Indigenous Mapping Collective partnered with Google Earth and held its first workshop designed to encourage more representation on the mapping platform.

The Power of Land Mapping

The possibilities are endless when it comes to drone use in Indigenous land mapping. The kinds of information gathered from electronic land mapping have implications for development, health and equity.

Drone mapping data has been used to assess “housing fire risk, historical building preservation status and potential economic resources such as tourist attractions [for] data-poor” Indigenous communities in China.

In Panama, the Indigenous Guna people have been in the throes of a housing crisis, coupled with land shortages and the devastating impacts of environmental changes. Relocation has long been a source of violence for Indigenous people. However, a partnership between Guna community leaders and Panama Flying Labs allowed the Indigenous community to survey their land and make their own decisions about their futures, UAV Coach reported.

Peru and Guyana have also been home to many Indigenous drone mapping projects, whose main outlooks for the future include environmental protection opportunities and the defense against illegal expansion projects.

Indigenous communities are already considered vulnerable populations. In North America, Canada and many other nations around the world, Indigenous peoples face discouraging health disparities.

Given power over their territories, they can be more informed about how to utilize their resources and better protect themselves from illegal government action. Land mapping alone is important in achieving these goals and the use of drone technology makes it that much more accessible and intuitive.

– Hannah Yonas
Photo: Flickr

,

Argentinian Doctors Fill Vacuum for Health Care in Sicily

Health Care in Sicily
In the small village of Mussomeli, Sicily, the lack of economic opportunities has prompted many inhabitants to move to larger cities. Rapid depopulation has made this village a ghost of its previous self, with crumbling buildings and a high unemployment rate. Most importantly, the lack of health care professionals has created a vacuum in the local village hospital, creating problems with health care in Sicily.

Poverty in Sicily

In 1968, an earthquake occurred across Sicily called the Belice earthquake. Measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale, this earthquake killed hundreds and left around 100,000 people homeless. The damage that the earthquake caused was so great that it was cheaper for many inhabitants to move elsewhere with the insurance money than to stay and rebuild.

Although the government tried to reconstruct the ravaged villages, grocery stores, workshops, farmhouses and hospitals remained unbuilt, significantly impacting health care in Sicily.

Thus began the exodus in Sicily that would continue for decades. As the old inhabitants of Sicilian villages relocated to escape the wreckage, the economy of southern Italy would continue to recess. Across the country, young people would leave rural towns for larger cities and better opportunities. Depopulation occurred across Sicily and some areas would see up to a 30% decrease since the 1950s, with a total of more than 1 million inhabitants moving away from southern Italy.

Later on, other reasons would contribute to the general poverty in Sicily, including the long and complicated history and influence of the Mafia, a lack of economic opportunities other than agriculture, issues of health care in Sicily and unemployment rates reaching up to 18.7%, one of the highest unemployment rates in all of Italy.

One-Euro Houses Bring Doctors

Faced with an economic recession and health care emergencies, the government of this Sicilian town Mussomeli began selling dilapidated houses for €1 only. Hoping for foreign investment at first, what they got in turn was much more than they ever imagined.

Argentinian doctors with Italian roots have begun settling in Mussomeli, not only to fill the vacancy for health care professionals but also to help revitalize the village. Many of these families had migrated from Mussomeli in the 1900s and now have the opportunity not only to return home but also to accept a career change.

For example, Leonardo Roldan, who is an ER surgeon, had two goals in his move to Mussomeli. “I’m still quite young, 49, so it’s more than just a professional shift in my career: It’s the choice of leading a different life,” he told CNN in an interview.

To Roldan, a life in Mussomeli means the chance to take things slowly and enjoy a change in pace. According to him, “Mussomeli is a total break from my everyday reality. It’s another world: quiet, peaceful, where locals lead a simple lifestyle. I have come to realize that we should all, at some point in our lives, slow down and take it easy, take more time to savor things of quality” CNN reported. Furthermore, four of Roldan’s great-grandparents had migrated to Argentina from Italy. Moving here would allow Roldan to make a new connection with his roots.

The Future

Now, Mussomeli’s local village hospital and the university of Rosario located in Argentina have struck a partnership. Many Argentinian doctors are participating in this partnership, due to the cheap prices of the one-euro houses and the other opportunities that village life could offer.

According to the mayor of Mussomeli, Guiseppe Catania, “soon we will have new Argentinian doctors who speak fluent Italian,” and the emergency vacancies in health care in Sicily and its villages just might resolve.

– Emilie Zhang
Photo: Flickr

The Cost of Childhood: Why Child Marriage in Pakistan Persists

the-cost-of-childhood-why-child-marriage-in-pakistan-persistsQubra, a 13-year-old Pakistani girl, was forced to become a child bride because of “her father’s beliefs.” In an interview with VOA News, she revealed, “My father believed that it was sinful for a daughter to remain unwedded once she reached puberty.” According to data from a 2017-2018 survey, 18% of Pakistani girls got married before the age of 18 and 4% before the age of 15. Child marriage in Pakistan continues to persist due to tradition and cultural practices.

Driving Forces Behind Child Marriage

According to UNICEF, in 2018, Pakistan ranked sixth in the world for the highest child marriage rates. The driving causes of child marriage in Pakistan are customs and traditions, poor living conditions, gender norms and lack of education and awareness.

Poverty. One of the key drivers of child marriage in Pakistan is poverty. The Asian Development Bank estimated in 2018 that the number of people in Pakistan living below the poverty line stood at 21.9%. In a study published in 2020 by Girls Not Brides, findings in Punjab revealed that low-income households are more likely to marry their daughters off earlier than well-off households. Rural areas are also more likely to practice child marriages and do so due to the belief that marriage eases a family’s economic burdens.

Customs. Social norms also stand as a key factor, with cultural and religious traditions both playing an equally significant part. Pakistani society considers females the family honor and marrying them early helps preserve this honor. This holds particular weight if young girls have experienced some sort of sexual assault or engaged in premarital sex. According to Islam, marriage is obligatory and different factions argue that early marriage for girls is mandatory as a religious practice. Because of the prevalence of such norms, child marriage deeply embeds itself into the social fabric of Pakistani society.

Lack of Education. According to the World Bank, the literacy rate of females 15 and older in Pakistan stood at 46% in 2019. Many girls do not receive a full education because their parents force them to drop out of school early to marry and do housework. This lack of education means girls have no decision-making powers and are often unaware of their legal rights.

Facts About Child Marriage in Pakistan

Child marriage can have an adverse impact on the future of young girls. Child marriage makes girls more likely to drop out of school and increases the risk of domestic violence and abuse. In addition, child brides face higher chances of at-risk pregnancies and complications during childbirth because their bodies have not fully developed. Child marriage also reduces a female’s independence and ability to have a say in important decisions.

A report by the World Bank and the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) in 2017 estimates that incidences of child marriage will bring about “trillions of dollars” in costs for developing nations. The same study highlights that “ending child marriage in Pakistan could see a 13% rise in earnings and productivity for Pakistani women.”

Steps to Address Child Marriage in Pakistan

Child marriage is a difficult topic to address in Pakistan for many reasons: First, there is extreme institutionalization of social and religious norms. In addition, many provincial laws do not align with national law, and laws, in general, are very poorly enforced. Furthermore, Pakistani courts apply Sharia Law, which says that postpubescent girls can enter into marriage.

Regardless, progress is visible. According to Girls Not Brides, Pakistan agreed to end all marriages under 18 by 2030 in order to achieve the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. In 2019, the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) told the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) that it established a National Consultation on Child Marriage with the support of key human rights groups.

Civil society has played a huge role since 2013 by pushing for stricter marriage laws and working with both law enforcement agencies and religious scholars to tackle this issue at the local level. Organizations like the Malala Fund are working to increase access to education for young girls to combat child marriage, while others, like Girls Not Brides, specifically focus on the issue of child marriages and advocates against it.

Future Action Required

Despite progress, the government and organizations must still take further action to reduce the prevalence of child marriage. Any program or movement that seeks to eradicate child marriage needs to work with institutions, law enforcement, religious leaders and families to change attitudes as well as laws. Such a multidimensional approach is the only way to reduce child marriage in Pakistan.

–Umaima Munir
Photo: Flickr

, , ,

UN Working with the Zakat Foundation to End Poverty

It is no secret that the issues associated with global poverty were only made worse during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Factors such as the cost of living, food security, healthcare and education are all points of concern for many nations with a struggling poor population. Luckily, there are many organizations working to address these issues. The Zakat Foundation has recently begun working with the United Nations to address worldwide hunger and global poverty.

The Zakat Foundation

The National Zakat Foundation Worldwide is an Islamic charity organization that is dedicated to helping the world’s poor. Zakat is one of the pillars of Islam which dictates that all Muslims should be kept financially viable, and one way to ensure this is for all Muslims to donate 2.5% of their earnings to charity organizations that aid the poor. The NZF Worldwide is the perfect channeling organization for all of this funding. It is estimated that the total amount of Zakat donations reach $300 billion to nearly $1 trillion dollars annually. The NZF Worldwide wants to use this incredible amount of money to help eradicate poverty.

Success so Far

The National Zakat Foundation currently has five member countries, Austria, Netherlands, Canada, Switzerland and the UK, which all provide a pathway for Muslims to send their Zakat donations to help eradicate global hunger and poverty. Through the Zakat Foundation, the member countries have raised more than $30 million since 2016 that has been used to provide aid for people living in poverty in other countries.

The UN and NZF Worldwide

The United Nations Development Programme announced in early August 2022 that it will once again be working with the National Zakat Foundation to use Zakat donation funding to help achieve the sustainable development goals for the world’s poorest countries. The first major project of this partnership is the goal of achieving the eradication of hunger and poverty in Somalia. The NZF with the help of the U.N. will work with local government officials, Islamic officials and the Central Bank of Somalia to help direct the Zakat funds in a productive manner that helps alleviate food insecurity and improve quality of life conditions for people living in poverty in Somalia.

Other NZF Programs

The National Zakat Foundation has had some recent success in the summer of 2022 before this partnership with the U.N. was announced. In the closing weeks of July, the NZF was able to provide the state of Osun in Nigeria with much needed power equipment that improved the quality of life in every sector, from nutrition to education. With the help of Zakat donations made by the member countries, the NZF was able to provide the state of Osun with cash grants, fridges, sewing machines, laptops, printers and more. Small items similar to those listed can have a profound impact on the lives of those who receive them, such as fridges keeping food from spoiling and laptops aiding educational growth.

The Future of Zakat

Despite the looming effects of an increased cost of living for those living in poverty, it appears that good news in the form of charitable religious donations may be what is keeping those people from continued suffering. The partnership with the United Nations and the already proven success are just a few reasons why the outlook for the world’s poor is bright, thanks to hard working organizations like the National Zakat Foundation.

– Declan Harkness
Photo: Flickr

, , , , ,

Benefits of Increasing Economic Development Aid to Turkey

Economic Development Aid to TurkeyThe relationship between the United States and Turkey began in 1831 when the country was still the Ottoman Empire. Turkey is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and one can best describe the U.S.-Turkey relationship as diplomatic. While the United States only had $220 million in obligations to the Western Asian country in 2020, more economic development aid to Turkey could help alleviate poverty and an ongoing economic crisis.

Poverty in Turkey

In 2019, the World Bank reported that 0.4% of Turkish citizens lived in poverty. In a country of 84 million people, that equates to 336,000 impoverished people.

One of the most significant factors contributing to poverty in Turkey is the lack of education. In 2019, only 66% of the population 25 and older had finished lower secondary education. Low education attainment gives rise to unemployment. In 2021, unemployment in Turkey stood at 13.4%. While the COVID-19 pandemic does stand as a contributing factor to the unemployment rate, the unemployment rate increased only about 3% since 2018.

With the unemployment rate also comes low wages, which factors into poverty. In 2018, the average wage stood at about 4,000 Turkish lira (about $220). But, the cost of living in Turkey jumped nearly 70% in April 2022, according to the BBC. To try and counteract that, the Turkish government has raised the minimum wage to 5,500 lira a month, but citizens say rent alone equates to “3,000-4,000 Turkish liras.”

Foreign Aid to Turkey

The majority of foreign aid to Turkey from the United States comes from the U.S. Department of State, largely going toward humanitarian aid. The Department of Defense gave Turkey $28.43 million in 2020 for “conflict, peace and security” programs. However, Turkey only received about $2.8 million through the Trade and Development Agency for economic development.

Trade and the Economic Crisis

Money for economic development from the Trade and Development Agency involves creating economic opportunities by exporting goods from the United States for development projects. This is beneficial to the United States as the money is invested in the Turkish economy through products produced domestically. In turn, that investment is returned through the continued trade partnership of U.S. goods.

The trade relationship between the United States and Turkey has increased significantly since 2009. According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, from 2009 to 2019, U.S. exports to Turkey increased by about 41% to $10 billion.

Despite a GDP increase of 0.9% in 2019, Turkey is facing an economic spiral. The value of its currency, the Turkish lira, has endured instability since 2018. Outstanding circumstances like the pandemic and economic sanctions have created a perfect storm of financial woes for the country, along with rampant inflation.

In November 2021, the value of the lira dropped sharply by 30%, triggering another wave of panic in the country. In 2022, the war between Russia and Ukraine exacerbated these financial circumstances, with Turkey seeing inflation rise more than 70% this year.

The United States can help alleviate poverty and the ongoing economic crisis via increased foreign aid to Turkey, especially through economic development. Expanding programs through the Trade and Development Agency would be one instrumental way to facilitate change in Turkey. Additionally, increasing economic development aid to Turkey could greatly aid the stability of the country until the lira crisis resolves.

– Emma Rushworth
Photo: WikiCommons

How Small Island Nations Fight Poverty Alongside Pollution

how-small-island-nations-fight-poverty-alongside-pollutionSmall island nations possess a unique perspective in the fight against poverty. Representing some of the most vulnerable areas, their tiny landmasses and isolated locations make them particularly susceptible to climate disasters. This can lead to extreme suffering and hardship for the county’s citizens when their supply routes are cut. The 2010 earthquake in Haiti is an example of this; so is the 2021 volcanic explosion in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. However, they also possess unique economic opportunities to uplift their citizens that rest upon that same tempestuous climate.

The Vulnerability of Small Island Nations

To put into perspective how vulnerable small island nations are, one can consult the Global Risk Report, a yearly study of the countries most susceptible to natural, social and economic disasters. In 2021, 10 small islands ranked in the top 15 most vulnerable nations on the list.

Small islands accounted for the top three most vulnerable nations: Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Tonga. The reason being: they possess a dangerous mixture of impoverished people, poor infrastructure and high susceptibility to climate events. Such events are only increasing with time due to climate change. “In addition to cyclones, earthquakes and droughts, the risk profile is also increasingly determined by sea-level rise.”

The COVID-19 pandemic also hit small island nations harder than most. Tourism, an industry that completely dried up during the height of the virus, powered many island economies. Importing and exporting goods also became much more difficult as supply lines around the world strained over new restrictions.

Going Green in the Maldives With Parley

Most small island nations are slowly recovering from the pandemic and looking towards a brighter economic and social future. These countries are trying to strengthen by becoming some of the most environmentally advanced nations on the planet.

The Maldives, a collection of islands near Sri Lanka, began partnering with environmental nonprofit Parley for the Oceans in 2019 in order to help preserve the nation’s famous coastlines.

Parley is implementing the AIR (Avoid, Intercept, Redesign) strategy, working with local organizations and communities. Parley prioritized the following:

  • Reducing plastic use
  • Educating communities and youth
  • Combating pollution with cleanups
  • Recycling and plastic interception programs
  • Support an eco-innovative approach to sustainable development

Parley, implemented “plastic interception and baling sites” including more than 70 educational facilities. Hosted “collaborative cleanups” on shores and built the first plastic center and innovation laboratory in the nation’s capital of Malé.

Although this partnership does not directly address poverty in the nation, Parley looks to help struggling people within the Maldives by way of educational programs and “eco-innovative” collaborations with artists and corporations that bring more money and jobs into the country. The program has coincided with a decline in poverty in the Maldives, as the poverty rate rose to 11% during the pandemic-fueled year of 2020 but then fell to 4% a year later in 2021.

Tree Planting in Jamaica

Jamaica, which saw its poverty rate balloon during the pandemic to almost 23% in 2020, is using an eco-friendly approach to support the economies of itself and smaller islands around the Caribbean. In 2019, the nation founded the Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance, which aims to pool “financial and other resources” to help Caribbean nations meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. This includes the achievement of environment-related SDGs. As such, the Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance implemented the Caribbean Tree Planting Project (CTPP) in February 2020, mobilizing young people, local communities and organizations across 22 Caribbean nations to plant at least 1 million trees to speed up progress toward achieving the SDGs.

Seychelles’ Blue Economy

In Seychelles, a collection of islands off the western coast of Africa, the “blue economy,” which the World Bank describes as “sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs,” has helped the nation and its people grow stronger in recent years. In 2018, Seychelles launched the “world’s first sovereign blue bond” to fund projects to strengthen the nation’s blue economy. In March 2020, Seychelles absolved of its foreign debt by denoting a third of its marine territory as a protected area. It was the first-ever case where foreign debt is paid off by way of environmental change. These changes are part of why Seychelles can expect to see a rise in GDP by 4.6% in 2022 and a decline in poverty ($5.5 in 2011 PPP) from 6.6% in 2020 to 5.1% in 2023.

Moving Forward

These small islands will require more foreign assistance to keep moving forward and reaching their environmental goals. As the U.N. reported in September 2019, “sustainable development in small island developing States will require a major increase in urgent investment.” It is essential for the health of these nations that these programs continue to receive funding. If they are, the islands’ futures, as well as their oceans, will be bright.

– Finn Hartnett

Photo: Flickr