Child trafficking in Haiti is prevalent. As of 2021, the U.S. Department of State ranks Haiti as a Tier 2 Watch List country in terms of the minimum standards to eradicate human trafficking as laid out in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Haitian government has struggled to combat the exploitation of children in domestic servitude, also known as restavek. However, several organizations are advocating and taking action to prevent child trafficking.
The Haitian-Dominican Border
The Haitian-Dominican border has a high prevalence of child trafficking. Within Haiti, about 60% of people lived in conditions of poverty in 2020, according to the World Bank. Because of Haiti’s high poverty rate along with high unemployment rates, parents resort to sending their children across the Haitian-Dominican border in an attempt for them to secure a chance at a better life.
Parents entrust their children to strangers to get them across the border safely. However, these strangers exploit the children’s vulnerabilities and traffick them.
In August 2020, officials arrested a man on suspicion of trafficking five children across the Haitian-Dominican border. Likewise, a few years prior, in September 2017, Haiti officials rescued a 15-year-old girl named Prospélanda from being trafficked across the Haitian-Dominican border by a woman luring her with the promise of work and a better life.
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic
The Haitian-Dominican border has always been a hotspot for the exploitation of children. However, trafficking rings are now using the COVID-19 pandemic to their advantage. Haiti already ranks as the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere and the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates existing conditions of poverty even further. With rising poverty comes rising vulnerabilities for people enduring dire economic circumstances.
In particular, traffickers target children because of their vulnerabilities, often promising them a better life in the Dominican Republic. In the hopes of a better life, according to InSight Crime, about 50,000 children cross the Haitian-Dominican border annually with a high likelihood of finding themselves in a child trafficking ring.
Anti-Trafficking Laws in Haiti
In 2014, the government implemented the Anti-Trafficking Law (TIP), which criminalizes human trafficking. A trafficker can serve a sentence of between seven to 15 years in prison and pay a fine up to an equivalent of almost $21,000. For child trafficking cases, punishment can include life imprisonment.
Although the U.S. Department of State has ranked Haiti as s Tier 2 Watch List nation, meaning it “does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking,” the Haitian government is making efforts to combat child trafficking in Haiti.
In 2020, the Haitian government began investigating three trafficking cases in hopes of prosecuting traffickers, a significant decrease from nine cases in 2018 as well as 2019. However, “[t]here were 21 total human trafficking cases pending in Haitian courts at the end of the reporting period” for the 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report.
Advocating Against Child Trafficking
Many organizations advocate against child trafficking in Haiti. Restavek Freedom is a nonprofit organization founded in 2007 to fight against child trafficking.
The organization’s strategy is to fight for restavek children and raise awareness of child trafficking in Haiti. Restavek Freedom also educates Haitian families on the dangers of child trafficking and teaches them how to protect their children.
Lovely lived as a restavek for years. Her host family made her work hard with no pay. Her host family also did not allow her to go to school, but with Restavek Freedom’s help, Lovely is now free from that situation. Now, Lovely is reunited with her family and goes to school. She wants to be a doctor when she grows up so she can help others as Restavek Freedom helped her.
Although child trafficking in Haiti is prevalent, organizations like Restavek Freedom are working to reduce child trafficking. Children like Prospélanda and Lovely can avoid the horrors of child trafficking through the commitment of authorities and organizations.
– Chris Karenbauer
Photo: Flickr
Quelling Child Trafficking in Haiti
Child trafficking in Haiti is prevalent. As of 2021, the U.S. Department of State ranks Haiti as a Tier 2 Watch List country in terms of the minimum standards to eradicate human trafficking as laid out in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Haitian government has struggled to combat the exploitation of children in domestic servitude, also known as restavek. However, several organizations are advocating and taking action to prevent child trafficking.
The Haitian-Dominican Border
The Haitian-Dominican border has a high prevalence of child trafficking. Within Haiti, about 60% of people lived in conditions of poverty in 2020, according to the World Bank. Because of Haiti’s high poverty rate along with high unemployment rates, parents resort to sending their children across the Haitian-Dominican border in an attempt for them to secure a chance at a better life.
Parents entrust their children to strangers to get them across the border safely. However, these strangers exploit the children’s vulnerabilities and traffick them.
In August 2020, officials arrested a man on suspicion of trafficking five children across the Haitian-Dominican border. Likewise, a few years prior, in September 2017, Haiti officials rescued a 15-year-old girl named Prospélanda from being trafficked across the Haitian-Dominican border by a woman luring her with the promise of work and a better life.
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic
The Haitian-Dominican border has always been a hotspot for the exploitation of children. However, trafficking rings are now using the COVID-19 pandemic to their advantage. Haiti already ranks as the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere and the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates existing conditions of poverty even further. With rising poverty comes rising vulnerabilities for people enduring dire economic circumstances.
In particular, traffickers target children because of their vulnerabilities, often promising them a better life in the Dominican Republic. In the hopes of a better life, according to InSight Crime, about 50,000 children cross the Haitian-Dominican border annually with a high likelihood of finding themselves in a child trafficking ring.
Anti-Trafficking Laws in Haiti
In 2014, the government implemented the Anti-Trafficking Law (TIP), which criminalizes human trafficking. A trafficker can serve a sentence of between seven to 15 years in prison and pay a fine up to an equivalent of almost $21,000. For child trafficking cases, punishment can include life imprisonment.
Although the U.S. Department of State has ranked Haiti as s Tier 2 Watch List nation, meaning it “does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking,” the Haitian government is making efforts to combat child trafficking in Haiti.
In 2020, the Haitian government began investigating three trafficking cases in hopes of prosecuting traffickers, a significant decrease from nine cases in 2018 as well as 2019. However, “[t]here were 21 total human trafficking cases pending in Haitian courts at the end of the reporting period” for the 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report.
Advocating Against Child Trafficking
Many organizations advocate against child trafficking in Haiti. Restavek Freedom is a nonprofit organization founded in 2007 to fight against child trafficking.
The organization’s strategy is to fight for restavek children and raise awareness of child trafficking in Haiti. Restavek Freedom also educates Haitian families on the dangers of child trafficking and teaches them how to protect their children.
Lovely lived as a restavek for years. Her host family made her work hard with no pay. Her host family also did not allow her to go to school, but with Restavek Freedom’s help, Lovely is now free from that situation. Now, Lovely is reunited with her family and goes to school. She wants to be a doctor when she grows up so she can help others as Restavek Freedom helped her.
Although child trafficking in Haiti is prevalent, organizations like Restavek Freedom are working to reduce child trafficking. Children like Prospélanda and Lovely can avoid the horrors of child trafficking through the commitment of authorities and organizations.
– Chris Karenbauer
Photo: Flickr
India’s Boom in Wheat Exports
The beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine put the world’s wheat supply in danger. Together these two countries provide nearly a quarter of the world’s wheat supply, forcing many nations all around the world to search for alternative suppliers to avoid any potential wheat crisis. India, already an important wheat producer, will be among the countries that will benefit from this situation by increasing its wheat exports and at the same time benefiting from the rise in the price of wheat. With India’s boom in wheat exports, Indian farms will have an opportunity to increase their profits and decrease poverty among Indian farmers.
Poverty Among Indian Farmers
In 2021, farmers from all over India organized protests publicizing the poor quality of life of farmers and their struggle to make ends meet. In fact, farmers represent more than 50% of the jobs in the Indian job market but only contribute minimally to the nation’s GDP due to decreases in productivity and revenues reducing over the last two decades. This is mainly due to a “lack of mechanization” and the state progressively reducing farm subsidies. Between 2000 and 2017, the losses in revenue of Indian farmers stood at an estimated $600 billion. The situation is so dire that more than 10,000 Indian farmers and farm laborers committed suicide in 2019 as a consequence of financial and work-related concerns.
A New Opportunity
Given that Ukraine and Russia are the world’s main exporters of wheat, many countries depending on wheat imports from the two nations must now find a substitute. India is among the top wheat-producing countries globally, with the capacity to ship 12 million tons in 2022-23, making the nation an essential actor in this crisis.
Many countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East show interest in Indian wheat, especially with its competitive price compared to other big exporters in the market. The sudden halt of exports from one of the world’s highest wheat-producing regions has led to strong demand for Indian wheat. These circumstances not only increase Indian wheat exports but also allow Indian farmers to sell their harvests at a higher price.
For the first time, prices on the international market are higher than the price at which the Food Corporation of India usually buys the crops to subsidize farmers. This will enable the state to reduce its budget for farm support. The large stock of wheat in India also allows for cheaper prices than wheat producers in other countries, making India even more competitive; its wheat exports in FY 2021-22 were 275% higher than in FY 2020-21.
Due to India’s boom in wheat exports, farmers who were struggling a few months ago will be able to sell more crops at a higher price and prepare the ground for better trade in the future.
The Threat of the Heat Wave
With this unprecedented chance for Indian farmers to increase their exports and draw their way out of poverty, came a strong heat wave that threatened their harvests. March 2022 stood as India’s “hottest March in 122 years,” a condition that limited the crops by about 20%, forcing a reestimate of the season’s production.
The Russian-Ukrainian conflict led to a global wheat crisis allowing big producers such as India to play a larger role in the market. Other factors also contributed to India’s ability to increase its wheat exports, from the vast reserve of the wheat present in the country to the rising quality of its wheat.
Despite setbacks arising as a consequence of the heat wave, India’s boom in wheat exports has the potential to lift millions out of poverty.
– Youssef Yazbek
Photo: Flickr
Families Uplift Single Mothers in Africa
Millions of women in Africa experience single motherhood as a result of widowhood or divorce. Single mothers often turn to their immediate and extended families for various forms of child care and parenting support. Families uplift single mothers in Africa by giving them the time and opportunities to develop careers while also raising their children. Parenting support from single mothers’ families can allow women to eventually support themselves and their children independently.
Single Motherhood in Africa
Widowhood and divorce often leave women in Africa to take care of their children without a partner. Single motherhood involves a variety of hardships, many of which are rooted in economic concerns. Women in Africa are commonly married off young before they have the opportunity to complete their education and develop a career. Some single mothers turn to prostitution or other dangerous forms of work to earn money and support their children.
Unemployment is vast in many African countries, especially for women. Widows, in particular, may face difficulties supporting their children because some families disown widows and do not consider women family members when their husbands die, according to SOS Children’s Villages. When a single mother is able to receive support from her family members, perhaps by moving in with them, she may gain the time and resources to find work and better support her children.
The Role of Family Support
When women in Africa experience widowhood or divorce, they often turn to their extended families for assistance in covering finances and child care. Single mothers who live in areas with struggling economies may be especially reliant on family support to raise their children. A research study on family support of single mothers in Nairobi, Kenya, found that the majority of women in the community receive some form of support from their family networks. However, the study found that the extent of a family’s support depended on family members’ age, employment status and geographic proximity to the single mother.
Family support of single mothers may be especially prominent in Africa due to widespread poverty and limited governmental resources to assist women who are raising their children alone. Families uplift single mothers in Africa by helping them raise their children, develop careers and escape poverty.
Next Steps in Uplifting Single Mothers
Families with single parents are disproportionately vulnerable to poverty. Women who raise their children without a partner’s support may struggle to find and maintain a job while juggling parental responsibilities. Single mothers’ families may provide some emotional and practical support, but additional governmental assistance is necessary to ensure the safety and success of single-parent families throughout Africa. Policies that promote financial security, social assistance and greater access to job opportunities can help empower single mothers in Africa, especially if women lack families to help them support their children.
In countries that lack governmental policies to assist single parents, family support uplifts single mothers and gives them the opportunity to gain financial independence. When families uplift single mothers with emotional, financial and practical assistance in child care, women may be able to seek out and maintain stable career opportunities. Further governmental action is necessary to support single mothers in Africa, but families can make substantial differences in the lives of single mothers and their children.
– Cleo Hudson
Photo: Flickr
Innovations in Poverty Eradication in Vanuatu
The nation of Vanuatu, located in the South Pacific, consists of more than 80 individual islands. In 2020, around 16% of the nation lived below the national poverty line, according to the World Bank. As one of the most at-risk countries for natural disasters, frequent cyclones and earthquakes hinder economic development and damage infrastructure. On April 6, 2020, right after Vanuatu closed its borders to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Tropical Cyclone Harold damaged or destroyed about 885 schools. Since about three-fourths of the population lives in rural communities as of 2020, getting adequate relief to these areas after a natural disaster can be challenging. However, with recent innovations in poverty eradication in Vanuatu, access to rural areas and disaster relief are improving.
Disaster-Resilient Food Supply
Natural disasters can sometimes prevent imports of goods into Vanuatu, often limiting the food supply. Vanuatu-based food advocate Votausi Lucyann Mackenzie-Reur tells Devex some Ni-Vanuatu are more dependent on food imports rather than local farming and cooking. So, natural disasters that block imports hit some communities harder, as a strong local food supply is lacking. To create a more disaster-resilient food supply, the TV series “Pacific Island Food Revolution” advertises local foods by hosting cooking competitions among different chefs. The goal of the show is to promote the growth and consumption of local indigenous foods. Local food advocates seek to have a larger local food supply when trade slows, which also benefits the local economy.
Blockchain Technology
Blockchain technology, a platform on which data exists in a secure, “unhackable” setting, is assisting during disaster relief in Vanuatu. Oxfam, a leader in delivering humanitarian assistance, began the UnBlocked Cash initiative in 2019. As of April 2021, the UnBlocked Cash initiative has helped more than 35,000 people receive aid in Vanuatu. Monetary aid received through cards and smartphones gives people more freedom to buy exactly what they need from local businesses, instead of aid groups importing select items. People can buy food, medical necessities, emergency supplies and home rebuilding materials using the aid on blockchain.
So, disaster relief directly involves local businesses in the economy as recipients use blockchain at these locations. In addition, blockchain technology had the benefits of minimizing distribution costs by 75% and decreasing the delivery time of aid by 96%. With this innovation in poverty eradication, aid organizations can almost immediately upload funds to recipients’ accounts for them to use on essentials after a natural disaster.
Drone Technology
With almost 75% of the population living in the rural areas of Vanuatu, some communities may only be accessible by boat or by foot. But through the U.N.’s Office for Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA), the Digital Humanitarian Network began using drone technology in 2015. With the first use of drones after Cyclone Pam, the technology continues to make rural communities more accessible.
Drones can help map communities after a natural disaster. The drones collect data about a natural disaster’s impacts on infrastructure in certain communities. As a result, aid groups can identify hard-hit places faster and provide the proper aid.
Beyond disaster relief, drone technology is developing to serve other innovations in poverty eradication in Vanuatu. In 2018, the Vanuatu Ministry of Health, along with UNICEF, began using drones to distribute vaccines to rural areas. Before drones, it could take days on boat or foot to reach remote villages. With vaccines needing temperature-controlled storage, some vaccines were unusable by the time they reached some communities.
But now, drones can get to rural communities quickly, while using technology in the storage to ensure the temperature remains at a safe level. Contracting with drone companies Swoop Aero and Wingcopter, the pilot program began by serving 39 rural communities. As a result, children and adults in remote areas of Vanuatu receive essential vaccines that protect their health.
With remote geography and frequent natural disasters, getting aid to parts of Vanuatu can be difficult. But, with recent innovations in poverty eradication in Vanuatu, ranging from TV shows to drones, aid can reach the people of Vanuatu faster.
– Abigail Turner
Photo: Flickr
Impact of The War on Ukraine’s Public Health
The war in Ukraine has had several impacts on the world but most importantly on the Ukrainian people through Ukraine’s public health sector. In fact, the Russian army shelled many hospitals which strongly limited the people’s access to medication and proper health care services. Not to forget that war, the movement of big masses of people from one place to another and the lack of access to clean water, create a favorable environment to increase the spread of viruses and diseases. Ukraine has also had a fragile health sector before the war, being one of the countries with the highest number of HIV-infected people in Eastern Europe. Not to forget the COVID-19 pandemic and most recently a poliovirus outbreak that the government did not have time to handle properly.
HIV and Tuberculosis
Two of the main issues in Ukraine’s public health are HIV and tuberculosis viruses. More than 1% of the Ukrainian population is infected with HIV and the ongoing war caused a disruption in the health care system, leading to a potential lack of medicines used to treat HIV and tuberculosis patients. Tuberculosis is the main cause of death among HIV patients in Ukraine, which underlines the importance of providing proper medication for it. Especially since the country has the world’s highest number of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, meaning that patients must regularly take their medication or else their situation will degrade quickly.
Many people with tuberculosis are seeing their symptoms worsening because of the bad air quality they must deal with in the shelters. This also means that they can transmit the virus to other people present with them, according to Al Jazeera.
Polio
Back in October 2021, a few months before the beginning of the war and 19 years after Europe was declared polio-free, a young Ukrainian child received the diagnosis of polio. Later, positive polio cases started to increase and the government in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) started a vaccination campaign on February 1, 2022. Unfortunately, this campaign has stopped with the start of the war and although many children received their vaccines there remain around 100,00 who need to receive vaccines to consider this outbreak under control, TIME reports. Polio which was already a serious threat to Ukraine’s public health, given the low vaccination rate during COVID-19, is now very difficult to handle due to the war and its highly contagious characteristic.
The danger of these infectious diseases in times of war and displacement of many individuals all around Ukraine but also the rest of the world is the spread of these viruses without the capacity to track the refugees who might be carrying them and thus transmit them to other populations.
Solutions
When the war started, the UNAIDS stated that Ukraine has only a few weeks of medicines in reserve for its HIV patients. To preserve Ukraine’s public health and avoid the spread of the virus, the WHO along with the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief provided the Ukrainian government with enough antiretroviral medication for the next 12 months. Without forgetting of course the civil society in Ukraine and the help it is providing to make sure that medicines reach every patient on time.
Concerning polio, UNICEF along with Ukrainian health workers is setting up “blue dot centers” all along the refugees’ route, vaccinating a maximum of people against polio, according to TIME. Thus, limiting its spread in the countries, they are fleeing to.
Hence, among the numerous impacts that the Russian invasion of Ukraine had on the country is the destabilization of Ukraine’s public health. With an already fragile health sector, Ukraine had to deal with several health issues with relatively no proper means due to the war. Nonetheless, the country can count on foreign aid to preserve the health condition of its people and also prevent from spreading of different illnesses around the globe.
– Youssef Yazbek
Photo: Flickr
How COVID-19 has Impacted Mental Health in Argentina
Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have intensified mental health problems worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) published a scientific brief in 2022 showing a 25% increase in global anxiety and depression in the first year of the pandemic. Government response to mental health in Argentina during the pandemic reveals a crucial transitioning of its medical system.
Mental Health in Argentina – The Numbers
In 2015, Argentina’s Ministry of Health funded a survey that found that only about one in three people above the age of 18 with mental disorders receive treatment. The Ministry of Health administered approximately 4,000 household surveys to adults with fixed residences in Argentina’s largest urban areas. Researchers conducted the survey using the World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview, a comprehensive assessment of mental health that WHO designed. Individuals with low education and income were the least likely to receive treatment, according to the survey.
The COVID-19 pandemic has generated higher levels of stress and anxiety for many. A 2020 study by researchers at the University of Buenos Aires focused on the effects of Argentina’s mandatory quarantine on mental health in the wake of the pandemic. Researchers studied participants using online surveys on days 7-11 (from March 27 to 31, 2020) and days 50-55 (May 8 to 12, 2020) of the nationwide quarantine. The survey results indicated a rise in the percentage of participants with symptom indicators and suicidal thoughts between period 1 and period 2.
The relationship between poverty and mental health in Argentina is bidirectional. Just as mental health problems increased in the last couple of years, Argentina’s poverty level rose to 42% in 2020 according to The World Bank. Since 2018, the nation has been facing a severe recession that has led to a steep devaluation of the Argentine peso. The uncertainty surrounding this economic crisis and the ongoing pandemic draws concern for the mental and physical well-being of the approximately 11.7 million citizens who live in poverty.
Developments in Mental Health Care
Support for mental health in Argentina has been undergoing a transformation following the approval of the Mental Health Law in 2010. Argentina’s health care system is gradually transitioning from hospital-based to community-based care, placing focus on human rights and patient protection. The government implemented this law when public psychiatric hospitals still made up 89% of available in-patient beds, according to a study by the Ministry of Health.
The Mental Health Law is beneficial as it offers a shift from psychiatric hospitalization to community care, but certain socio-economic disparities exist between urban and rural areas that hinder some from getting the support they deserve. Argentina has the highest number of psychologists per capita in the world, but nearly half of them live in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital city. Many rural residents have less access to support systems or health professionals than those living in the cities.
Argentina’s New Mental Health Strategy
In April 2022, President Alberto Fernández addressed the effects of COVID-19 on mental health and offered a solution. Fernández and health minister Carla Vizzotti announced the implementation of the National Mental Health Strategy, aiming for an all-inclusive “recovery of society.” The plan includes major health care budgetary raise from 3.7 to 7.7 billion pesos, a 107% increase. The National Mental Health Strategy aims to expand Telehealth and community-based programs to serve the public. Fernández’ presented The National Mental Health Strategy alongside the inauguration of the Bonaparte Children’s Hospital and Adolescent’s Service.
Following the conference, Vizzotti met with the Federal Council of Mental Health and Addictions (COFESAMA) to address the federal strategy. Leaders from around the country analyzed the pivotal goals of the strategy, such as a “nationwide territorial operation for the promotion, prevention and care of community mental health.” The Ministry of Health has not yet announced when it will implement these plans and policies.
Looking to the Future
Argentina’s progressive outlook on mental health has led to some crucial developments for its medical system. Still, the Argentinian government needs to make efforts to breach disparities that exist for those with low income and low access to treatment, especially in Argentina’s rural regions. The National Mental Health Strategy’s emphasis on diversity and inclusion sets a hopeful precedent for Argentina’s future in health care.
– Evan Lemole
Photo: Pixabay
HIV/AIDS in India
Even though India, the largest country in South Asia and the seventh-largest country worldwide, is one of the most celebrated medical tourism destinations, it is also a hotbed for disease. India has one of the world’s largest sex work industries. A high rate of HIV/AIDS in India occurs as a result of unprotected sex bolstered by those industries. India needs to continue aggressively pursuing legislation to improve safe sex practices and to target health care for those infected with HIV/AIDS.
HIV/AIDS Explained
HIV is an acronym for the human immunodeficiency virus. It targets the immune system of human beings and impairs the general defense mechanism of the body to fight disease. AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and is an advanced stage of HIV infection in the human body. HIV/AIDS falls under the category of communicable diseases and spreads via exposure to blood, breast milk, semen or vaginal secretions of an infected individual.
The Situation in India
India currently has the second-largest HIV epidemic in the world and sex workers comprise a key affected population. Even though prostitution is not illegal in India, associated activities such as managing a brothel and pimping are not approved of by the law. As a result, there exists a strong stigma and general discrimination against sex workers. This hinders their chances of having access to adequate health care facilities.
In response to a Right to Information inquiry done in April 2022, the National AIDS Control Organization revealed that approximately 1,708,777 people contracted HIV in the country as a result of engaging in unprotected intercourse during the last 10 years (2011-2021). Madhya Pradesh-based activist Chandra Shekhar Gaur filed the inquiry.
The Government’s Response
The National AIDS Control Organization is an Indian association formed under the umbrella of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in 1992. Its founders created the organization with a vision to affect the prevention, detection and treatment of AIDS with a special focus on those areas of the nation where people do not have access to adequate education about safe sex practices.
NACO has made significant efforts to increase awareness about safe sex. It has collaborated with various marketing projects to spread information about safe sex to all. NACO has also introduced the Adolescent Education Programme to provide adequate sex education to children aged between 13 and 18.
In a 2020 report titled ‘Sankalak Status of National AIDS Response (second edition), NACO revealed that in 2019-20, out of a total of 2.3 million estimated infections nationally, 1.7 million patients (76%) were aware of their HIV status and 1.4 million (63%) were on Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) as of March 2020.
However, NACO continues to face several challenges such as lack of compliance, hesitation on part of the populace to talk about the subject, problems with the distribution of medicines and the alarming influence of quacks and magic cures on the patients.
Government Action: ART
Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) is an essential, life-saving drug treatment that can get the HIV virus under control for most people within six months. In Mumbai, there are 19 ART Centers where people infected with HIV receive medicines free of cost. NACO administers this system.
The government also aims to increase the reach of NACO so that it covers the state bodies and local jurisdictions as well and does not limit itself to the broad, national level. NACO is targeting increased education among the underprivileged sections of society, teenagers and young adults about safe sex practices and sexual health in general. The government also aims to break the stigma and hesitancy associated with HIV/AIDS among the Indian masses.
Looking Forward
Needless to say, HIV/AIDS in India is an acute issue that demands urgent attention because it continues to plague the nation which has the second-largest population base in the world. Legislation on safe sex practices, an informational campaign and the provision of adequate health care facilities to the key affected population hubs are critical. It is heartening to note that NACO is taking steps to continue to pursue the eradication of the disease.
– Riddhi Roy
Photo: Flickr
Child Poverty in Sri Lanka
Effects of Child Poverty
According to the American Psychological Association, child poverty can lead to hunger, illness, insecurity, depression and several behavioral problems. Living in poverty creates constant, toxic stress that can impair the development of the brain and impact mental and emotional cognition.
The effects of child poverty in Sri Lanka are long-lasting as these consequences later affect different aspects of adulthood, such as emotional and behavioral self-control and the development of skills necessary to obtain jobs.
The Sri Lanka Journal for Child Health conducted research and found that individuals suffering from child poverty in Sri Lanka experience different implications. The Journal stated that “they can experience deficiencies in nutritious food, housing, safe environment and access to health care and are at higher risk of being exposed to trauma and stressful life events.”
In addition, the study points out that children living in poverty are more likely to experience neglect and separation from their families. Their needs are overlooked due to the unresponsiveness of their parents and the stress arising from chronic poverty. As a result, child poverty can lead to difficulties in building bonds and relationships with others and children can experience language deficiencies as they grow up. Child poverty affects a child physically, mentally and emotionally. Here are several solutions to reduce child poverty in Sri Lanka.
Solutions to Child Poverty in Sri Lanka
Looking Ahead
The issue of child poverty in Sri Lanka requires sustained work and attention from the government and global organizations. Children who live in poverty suffer long-term effects physically, mentally and emotionally. The efforts of child support programs, well-equipped daycare centers and humanitarian organizations, such as the World Food Programme, ensure the well-being and development of Sri Lankan children.
– Jiaying Guo
Photo: Pixabay
Uncovering India’s Natural Disasters
With the number of natural disasters increasing every year, India fears that the situation will escalate to a point of no return. By the year 2030, no less than eight years from now, experts predict that the world will experience 560 natural disasters annually, which equates to about three natural disasters every two days. According to the National Herald, 32% of India’s population lives below the national poverty line. India’s natural disasters can have extreme economic repercussions, a burden that many impoverished Indians simply cannot shoulder.
Variations of Natural Disasters
India’s natural disasters vary and are not limited to just one type of disaster. Experts predict that droughts will increase more than 30% from the year 2001 leading to 2030 but may differ year on year. An increase in “extreme temperature events” is also a fear Indians face as experts also expect the frequency of these events to triple by the year 2030.
These risks lead to developmental, financial and policy decisions that aggravate the living conditions of already vulnerable people and further their existing dangers. This is without accounting for COVID-19, which also heightens unemployment and inequality. Furthermore, the intensity and impacts of natural disasters have been more extreme “in the last five years than in the previous five.”
Urbanization of Coastal Cities
Rapid urbanization also plays a factor as lots of large cities are concentrated in coastal areas, making them more vulnerable to the impacts of rising sea levels. In fact, on a world scale, “the global mean sea level is rising at a rate of around 3.7 millimeters per year, according to estimates made between 2006 and 2018.” Many of India’s coastal cities are at risk of becoming entirely submerged underwater by 2100. The Indian cities of Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Kochi and Mumbai “could be nearly three feet underwater” by 2100.
Disproportionate Impacts on the Impoverished
The impacts of natural disasters disproportionately affect impoverished people as people in poverty are more inclined to reside in substandard housing in precarious locations in the country. The impacts of natural disasters exacerbate poverty further as these individuals, in an attempt to survive, resort to reducing expenditure with regard to essentials such as “food, health and education,” which harms their well-being in the long term.
These families also desperately resort to pushing their children into child labor in order to add to the household income. These events also lead to a surge in prices of essentials, making these items unaffordable for the impoverished. For example, EUobserver writes that “floods can destroy harvests, affecting the regional supply of grain, maize or other crops, therefore driving up food prices.”
Over the past 30 years, the economic losses stemming from natural disasters rose more than twofold since the 1990s when the losses averaged $70 billion annually. By 2020, the economic losses averaged about $170 billion annually, although insurance covers 40% of these losses. However, insurance is not an option for some risks such as rising sea levels.
UNICEF Takes Preventative Measures
Although India’s natural disasters cause the country’s future to appear bleak, there is a brighter outlook for one of the “world’s most disaster-prone countries.” UNICEF is establishing disaster-risk reduction as a priority in its 2018-2022 Country Programme for India. This will involve incorporating “risk reduction strategies into the education, health, nutrition and water and sanitation sectors” of the nation to establish resiliency and enhance recovery.
UNICEF’s risk analysis will prioritize the well-being of the nation’s children, taking into account ” the impact of natural and man-made hazards and conflict on children’s well-being and their communities.” UNICEF will also prioritize the “design of comprehensive school safety [programs]” to mitigate impacts on children should disaster strike.
India’s natural disasters bring consequences that highlight the importance of prioritizing solutions for disaster risk reduction. The above actions play a significant role in safeguarding the well-being of India’s citizens.
– Christina Papas
Photo: Flickr
Electrification and Energy Expansion in Laos
Laos, which many know as the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, sharing borders with Thailand, China, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam. While Laos is one of the most impoverished countries in the region, its economy has significantly increased in the last 20 years, so much so that, in 2011, the World Bank upgraded the Lao PDR to lower-middle-income status. However, in terms of energy, not all citizens have access to electricity. The country has had difficulty expanding the energy sector due to factors such as “inaccessible terrain,” unexploded ordinances spread throughout the country, especially throughout rural areas, with some of those areas being more difficult to reach and some provinces having low economic growth compared to others. While expansion in the energy sector proves difficult, the Lao PDR has made a commitment to electrification and energy expansion in Laos to allow all its citizens to have access to electricity, especially as various organizations offer suggestions and plans for Laos to reach its energy goals.
The Current Situation
While the use of hydropower has helped Laos electrify the nation, increasing electrification rates from 15% in 1995 to 90% in 2019, around 5% of citizens still do not have access due to remote terrain locations that makes grid expansion difficult. Around 80.3% of rural areas and 97.4% of urban areas have access to electricity as of 2018. In response, the Lao PDR has an overall goal of enabling electricity access for a minimum of 98% of the overall population by 2030.
Observations and Recommendations by Organizations
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), “in 2019, 80% of all [Laos’] electricity generation came from hydropower.” The CSIS recommends that the nation diversify its energy mix “beyond hydropower,” suggesting that Laos expands into non-hydro renewable energy due to its geographic advantage “for solar photovoltaic, wind and biomass energy” and especially as prices in the sector have diminished over the years.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recognizes that Laos has the potential to develop solar power, especially when many parts of the country are exposed to direct sunlight during the dry season. This would potentially “increase the share of non-hydro renewable energies to 30% of total consumption by 2025.” More than 18,657 households have access to small solar power systems as of 2017 and the Lao PDR has started several larger projects to expand access to solar power systems.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in partnership with USAID suggests that electrification and energy expansion in Laos through alternative renewable energies can help the country reach its import demands, which would allow Laos to rely less on other countries for electricity. By expanding in renewable energy sources, Laos can “increase electricity exports to regional neighbors to become the ‘battery’ of Southeast Asia” while also meeting domestic demands.
Plans for Electrification and Energy Expansion in Laos
In Laos, around 50 dams underwent construction as of 2020, a process that will allow more access to electricity for citizens. However, while hydropower from dams will provide more access to electricity, this strategy proves controversial, especially with environmental concerns and communities relying on rivers such as the Mekong to live.
In the search for alternative solutions, Laos is in negotiation with the Thai company Impact Energy Asia to build a 600-megawatt wind farm and have it complete by 2023. By developing the energy sector to become “affordable, inclusive and sustainable” while focusing on socio-economic development, the country can move toward achieving its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
USAID programs such as the LUNA II Project, implemented from March 2014 through September 2018, help to “promote more sustainable economic policies and a more balanced energy sector” in Laos. The project largely focuses on establishing “trade liberalization” for Lao and “trade capacity building” in both public and private sectors, which will allow improvement of trade and investment. This should allow Laos to expand into alternative, sustainable and renewable energy sources.
Looking Forward
While Laos has made improvements in access to electricity and other resources for the citizenry, this work has not yet reached completion. Fortunately, through suggestions from various organizations and their data collection, Laos is able to offer plans to reach more Laotians. The country stepping up to reach its goals for electrification and energy expansion in Laos will allow the nation to achieve its 2030 energy goals.
– Jerrett Phinney
Photo: Flickr