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The Issue of Human Trafficking in Paraguay

Human Trafficking in Paraguay
In the last few decades, human trafficking has become rampant in many Latin American countries. Landlocked by Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil, Paraguay finds itself grappling with this issue, putting many of its citizens at risk of becoming victims of trafficking. For the year 2021, the U.S. State Department ranks Paraguay at Tier 2 in regard to the nation’s handling of human trafficking. This ranking means that Paraguay does not meet the minimum requirements for combating trafficking as outlined in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 but “is making significant efforts to do so.”

Victims of Trafficking in Paraguay

According to the Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) of 2021, men, women and children are all susceptible to human trafficking in Paraguay. However, the most prevalent and concerning act of human trafficking in Paraguay involves the exploitation of children under a practice called “criadazgo,” which entails the exploitive labor of children as domestic workers.

A child, usually from an impoverished family, provides domestic work to middle and high-class families in exchange for “varying compensation that includes room, board, money, a small stipend or access to educational opportunities.” Estimates indicate that about 47,000 Paraguayan children work under this practice, often girls. However, this practice is a form of exploitation “similar to slavery.” In fact, many victims of criadazgo experience physical abuse and sexual abuse. Although officially outlawed in Paraguay due to child rights violations, the practice continues.

Barriers to Combating Human Trafficking in Paraguay

Law enforcement officials are often complicit in human trafficking crimes. Allegations include accepting bribes to overlook acts of trafficking in “massage parlors and brothels” and “issuing passports for Paraguayan trafficking victims exploited abroad.” According to the TIP, Paraguay’s national law against human trafficking does not “align with international law.” Furthermore, the official anti-trafficking unit lacks the resources to operate effectively. Considering the significant number of trafficking victims in Paraguay,  the nation does not have adequate services and infrastructure in place to adequately serve victims.

The Good News

Paraguay developed the Ministry of Adolescents and Children (MINNA), which “maintains a unit dedicated to fighting child trafficking and a hotline to report cases of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children.” This unit also offers “social services” to child victims of trafficking.

MINNA created Program Abrazo (Embrace Program) in 2005 to aid children within exploitative child labor by supplying the children and their family members “with health and education services, food deliveries and cash transfers conditioned on children’s school attendance and withdrawal from work.” In 2020, MINNA collaborated with “local institutions” to “open new Embrace Program attention centers for street children and to strengthen services at existing centers.”

In 2017, Paraguay created a child trafficking awareness initiative to reduce “child commercial sexual exploitation” within the tourism industry. The initiative made use of flyers, banners and stickers “at hotels, airports and places of mass circulation” in Ciudad del Este, the second-largest city in Paraguay, as well as the Paraguay border area.

Looking Ahead

These efforts are placing the country on the right path for Tier 1 categorization as a fully compliant nation. It is important to raise awareness of human trafficking to help eliminate it. Human trafficking can put any one of the 7.6 million people residing in Paraguay at risk. Most importantly, the vulnerable population, such as children and impoverished people, face this risk at a higher proportion than anyone else. Through continued efforts to combat human trafficking in Paraguay, the government can safeguard the well-being of vulnerable Paraguayans.

– Kler Teran
Photo: Unsplash

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How AFR is Improving Rwanda’s Financial Sector

AFR
Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR) is a nonprofit that began in 2010. It aims to stimulate the economy by increasing the use of financial services. AFR addresses the barriers that restrict financial sector service to the low-income population, with hopes to bring sustainable change and financial inclusion. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted their poverty levels and economy drastically, making AFR critical to recovery. Here is some information about Rwanda and how AFR is improving Rwanda’s financial sector.

Poverty in Rwanda

Poverty is not new for Rwandans, since it is one of the poorest countries in the world with 56.5% of the population living on less than $1.90 a day. However, this was before the COVID-19 pandemic which brought this percentage higher. The World Bank explained that “the overall increase in the poverty headcount is 5.7 percentage points, indicating an estimated additional 625,500 people falling into poverty.”

The harsh reality of the pandemic hit Rwanda hard, making foreign aid more important than before. The unfortunate aspect of the situation is the step back from previous successful progress.

How AFR Works

Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR) aims to help boost Rwanda’s financial sector, which is essential for its growth. It implements phases, each lasting five years with specific goals and targets to achieve. Each phase consists of Micro, Meso and Macro level achievements which all aid Rwandans in poverty.

Between 2010 and 2015, almost 1 million people in Rwanda were able to access and use financial services thanks to AFR and its partnership with other institutions. During the second phase, between 2016 and 2020, AFR partnered with the public and private sector and implemented interventions and allowed the access and use of financial services to around 2.5 million people in Rwanda. Its work speaks for itself and with more phases to come, Rwanda has a loyal and strong team fighting on its behalf.

AFR’s Objectives

AFR’s objectives are clear and demonstrate the importance of their job.

  1. “Increase access to financial services for poor rural and urban people and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs);”
  2. “Improve the livelihoods of poor people through reduced vulnerability to shocks, increased income and employment creation;”
  3. “Provide funding and technical assistance to the public sector/private sector and/or civil society recipients in order to promote, and achieve, the objectives set out in paragraphs (a) and (b) above; and”
  4. “Carry on all other such things that are incidental or conducive to the attainment of the above.”

AFR upholds values of respect, integrity, collaboration, responsibility, quality and value for money. Its mission and vision are to bring inclusivity and diversity to Rwanda’s financial sector. This could bring sustainability and resilience to the economy and people.

Rwanda’s Future

Although the pandemic brought setbacks to Rwanda’s development, its previous progress brings hope for the future. Rwanda continues to have one of the fastest-growing economies in Central Africa. By 2035, Rwanda hopes to gain Middle Income Country Status and High Income Country status by 2050.

The pandemic resulted in Rwanda’s first recession since 1994, which is extremely impressive for this country. Not to mention, its economic growth brought immense improvement in living standards, “with a two-thirds drop in child mortality and near-universal primary school enrollment,” according to the World Bank.

Organizations like AFR grow every day in strength and number, so expect great improvement in years to come. Rwanda could return to making the progress it started over 20 years ago and the benefits could continue to improve life for Rwandans.

– Anna Montgomery
Photo: Flickr

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Cash Handouts to Reduce Poverty in Afghanistan

Cash Handouts
As winter approached and the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan worsened, the United Nations (U.N.) proposed cash handouts to help the millions of Afghans who were struggling in the country. The U.N. announced the proposal of the program on December 1, 2021, as it believes that cash handouts will be the best and most plausible solution to deal with the increasing poverty rate in Afghanistan.

The Problem

Still reeling from the effects of the full United States withdrawal combined with the Taliban takeover of the government in August 2021, millions of people are suffering. On December 10, 2021, the United Nations humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, warned that Afghanistan is inching closer and closer to “economic collapse.” As such, Griffiths urges donor nations to “support basic services” along with “emergency humanitarian aid.” Griffiths said that “4 million children are out of school” and the education of another 9 million children is in jeopardy because 70% of educators in Afghanistan have not received remuneration since August 2021.

Winters in Afghanistan are especially brutal, and this season, the U.N. expects wintertime temperatures to go down to -25 C. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated in early December 2021 that as many as 3.5 million displaced Afghans require essential support to make it through the winter. On top of this, UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch has stated that more than half of Afghanistan’s population, equating to 23 million people, are enduring extreme hunger, which may spiral into famine without prompt intervention.

UNHCR is providing essential humanitarian assistance to 60,000 people per week, which involves providing food, thermal blankets and winter clothing as well as rebuilding shelters and supplying cash assistance. This work will continue until February 2022, according to Baloch, at which time the next round of funding will need to begin as he estimated that another $374.9 million is necessary for 2022, especially during the winter.

The Solution

As a potential solution to the severe problems that Afghanistan is facing, the U.N. proposed a program that would provide $300 million annually in cash handouts to Afghan households with children, elderly people and Afghans with disabilities.

At the same time, the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) wishes to bolster an existing “cash for work” initiative in Afghanistan with another $100 million to increase employment rates and $90 million to support small businesses with cash payments.

The “cash for work” initiative began in October 2021 in the three provinces of Mazar, Kunduz and Herat, with the intention to expand to more provinces. So far, through the initiative, UNDP has distributed $100 million worth of cash payments in exchange for work, creating employment opportunities for 2,300 people.

UNDP estimates that poverty in Afghanistan may reach a staggering 90% by the middle of 2022. In October 2021, with the Taliban in control of Afghanistan, UNDP created “a special trust fund” with an initial $58 million pledge of financial support from Germany to supply urgent cash directly to Afghan citizens. By early December 2021, the fund reached $170 million in pledges from countries around the world.

The Effectiveness of Cash Handouts

The possibility of handing out cash directly to people who need it most seems easy enough, but will Afghans use the money effectively? The World Food Programme (WFP) strongly supports cash transfers as a form of humanitarian aid. In 2020, WFP handed out $2.1 billion worth of cash transfers across 67 nations.

According to WFP, research shows that disadvantaged households that are empowered to make their own decisions through cash transfers “make choices that improve their food security and wellbeing.” For example, in 2018, 91% of households in Lebanon put cash assistance toward food, rental fees and medical costs. Cash handouts also boost local markets as people purchase resources locally, consequently bolstering economies.

Looking Ahead

Though the situation looks dire, there is hope as global organizations step in to assist vulnerable Afghans. However, urgent assistance is still necessary to prevent the collapse of the nation. With more support from the international community, organizations can bolster efforts to safeguard the lives of the people of Afghanistan.

– Julian Smith
Photo: Flickr

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5 Ways to Support Sustainable Development Goal 2

Sustainable Development Goal 2
In 2015, the United Nations established 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for creating global change in key areas by 2030, especially in lower and middle-income countries. The second of these goals, Zero Hunger, aims to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.” According to Action Against Hunger, in 2021, hunger affects almost 10% of the global population. Furthermore, just between 2019 and 2020, the number of people suffering from undernourishment globally rose by 161 million. To prevent the dire consequences of not reaching Sustainable Development Goal 2, the U.N. has suggested several steps for individuals to take to support this goal.

5 Ways to Achieve Zero Hunger

  1. Shop Local and In-Season. Eating locally-grown foods helps to support smaller-scale farmers in one’s community. Buying in-season foods also helps sustain local, native crops and plants. Preserving native crops helps increase genetic diversity as it increases the number of plant species in a given area. Maintaining genetic diversity in food production across the globe is one of the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 2 as this allows the plants with favorable traits — those that are resistant to pests or are able to provide higher yields — to proliferate.
  2. Reduce Food Waste. Food waste is one of the greatest barriers to eradicating hunger as food that could serve food insecure populations instead ends up in landfills. According to Feeding America, U.S. citizens waste “108 billion pounds of food” annually, equivalent to 130 billion discarded meals. However, food waste is not an issue unique to high-income countries: the U.N. Environment Programme’s “Food Waste Index Report 2021” has found that lower-middle-income nations annually discard 201 pounds of food per capita at the household level. In comparison, for high-income nations, this amount is 174 pounds per capita per year. To reduce food waste, people can freeze extra produce and save leftovers from meals. They can also buy “ugly” produce from the grocery store, which often ends up going to waste because it is less aesthetically desirable. However, the slightly misshapen produce found in grocery stores is still perfectly good to eat. In addition, staying informed on anti-food waste initiatives in low- and middle-income countries helps to develop global awareness and better understand the progress that these countries are making toward achieving Zero Hunger.
  3. Reduce Meat Consumption. The U.S. imported $216 million worth of beef from Brazil in the first nine months of 2021. Approximately 80% of deforestation in the Amazon is due to cattle ranching. Deforestation can have negative impacts on food production thousands of miles away. For example, deforestation of the Amazon at 40% would significantly decrease rainfall in the Rio de la Plata agricultural basin more than 2,000 miles away. Such droughts lead to decreased crop production, negatively impacting local farmers. To help mitigate the impact of the meat industry on deforestation, the U.N. has suggested that individuals consider vegetarianism for just a day per week. Just one day of vegetarianism could preserve “3 million acres of land.” Even though those who live in North America may be physically far away from local farmers in the Amazon, individual eating habits still impact these farmers.
  4. Support Organizations Focusing on SDG 2. Two organizations working to improve food security worldwide include the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the World Food Program (WFP). GAIN focuses on providing aid to women, children and adolescents. One of its programs is Better Diets for Children, which provides support to small-scale food manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries to make nutritious, safe food more affordable and accessible. The program spans eight countries and aims to help more than 120 million people. The WFP provides food assistance to victims of extreme events, such as those facing natural disasters and conflict. The organization operates in more than 80 countries and provides more than 15 billion life-saving meals each year. One of the WFP’s programs is the food assistance program, which provides “cash-based assistance” so that families can afford nutritious food.
  5. Stay Informed and Spread the Word. Staying updated on global hunger reduction initiatives is important for tracking progress made toward Sustainable Development Goal 2. The U.N. SDG website and social media stand as great resources in this regard. It is also important to educate others about Sustainable Development Goal 2 by sharing ways that others can help and the organizations that people can support in achieving this goal. Social media serves as an essential tool for raising awareness of global issues.

Looking Ahead

Minimizing hunger is an important step in the sustainable development of low- and middle-income countries. By taking action to support Sustainable Development Goal 2, each person can help improve food security and small-scale agriculture worldwide.

– Aimée Eicher
Photo: Flickr

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A Success Story: 10 Impressive Improvements in Rwanda

improvements in RwandaRwanda is the fourth-smallest country in Africa, located in the Great Rift Valley in the central part of the continent. The nation has a population of about 13 million people and is home to two main ethnic groups: the pastoral Hutu and the agricultural Tutsi tribes. In 1990, tensions rose between these two groups and sparked a civil war, resulting in the Rwandan genocide in 1994. The genocide led to the massacre of approximately 800,000 Tutsi civilians by Hutu extremists, marking one of the worst genocides in history. Since then, Rwanda has been in a state of repair and has made great strides in many areas of development. In particular, the Rwandan government notes 10 impressive improvements in Rwanda.

10 Improvements in Rwanda

  1. Poverty is on the Decline. In 2001, the poverty rate in Rwanda was as high as 77%, dropping to 55% in 2017. The introduction of the first five-year Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy in 2008 and a second five-year plan in 2013 largely account for this reduction.
  2. Increasing Life Expectancy. The Rwandan Civil War had a significant impact on life expectancy, which fell to a mere 26 years in 1993. Since then, the government has committed to improving the health and quality of life for its citizens, achieving a life expectancy of 69 as of 2019.
  3. Rwanda is a Leading Country in Gender Equality. In the World Economic Forum’s 2017 Global Gender Gap Report, Rwanda ranked as one of the top five leading countries in gender equality alongside Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Norway. Since the civil war, the nation has pushed for more female leadership in politics — as of November 2021, the Rwandan parliament has a 61% women-led majority, the world’s highest rate of female representation in parliament. Rwanda also has one the highest rates of women participating in the labor force at 84% in 2019.
  4. Unemployment is Decreasing Despite the COVID-19 Pandemic. Before the pandemic, unemployment in Rwanda was steadily declining, dropping to less than 1% in 2019. Like many countries, lockdowns and other preventive measures for COVID-19 originally caused unemployment to skyrocket back up to 1.35% in 2020. However, Rwanda quickly bounced back — employment rates rose from 43% in the second quarter of 2020 to nearly 49% in the third quarter.
  5. Maternal Mortality Rates are Falling. In 2019, the maternal mortality rate in Rwanda decreased by nearly 23% “from 1,270 per 100,000 live births” in the 1990s to 290. This significant decrease is largely due to innovations in the medical field, which allow for better storage and delivery of blood supplies, preventing postpartum hemorrhaging deaths in women.
  6. Inequality is on the decline. Inequality is defined as “disparities between individuals or groups in areas such as income, wealth, education, health, nutrition, space, politics and social identity.” Historically, Rwanda was home to some of the highest rates of inequality in Africa. However, this is changing. Over the past two decades, Rwanda has noted significant improvements in terms of access to utilities. Access to health care is also improving although there are still disparities between urban and rural communities. From 2006 to 2017, inequality declined from 0.52 to 0.43 as measured by the Gini index.
  7. The Rwandan Economy is Growing. Prior to the pandemic, Rwanda was experiencing “an economic boom.” From 2000 to 2019, the economy grew by an average of 7.2% and the country’s GDP rose by about 5% annually. Rwanda has put in place measures to control COVID-19 within its borders, resulting in an unsurprising 3.4% GDP decrease in 2020. However, the nation hopes to resume growth following the distribution of vaccines.
  8. Land Restoration. Rwanda also notes great improvements in terms of the environment. In 2012, the Rwandan government initiated the Green Fund, “the largest investment fund of its kind in Africa.” So far, the project has created more than 10,000 jobs and encourages rural communities to participate in agroforestry and reforestation.
  9. Malaria Progress. Medical improvements in Rwanda have reduced fatal malaria cases significantly in recent years. In 2017, the country experienced upwards of 4.8 million cases, but in 2020, cases dropped to 1.8 million. Malaria-related deaths also reduced from 700 in 2016 to 148 deaths in 2020.
  10. Health care is Universal. Mutual Health is the name of Rwanda’s universal health care system, which was created in 2008. As of 2019, Mutual Health covered close to 96% of the population, lowering medical costs and providing services for even the most impoverished citizens of Rwanda.

Rwanda: A Success Story

The COVID-19 pandemic has created many new obstacles for Rwanda, but the “Land of a Thousand Hills” is advancing nonetheless. Since the civil war and the Rwandan genocide of 1994, the country has committed to recovery and restoration and has certainly exceeded all expectations. These many improvements in Rwanda are due to the great resiliency of the nation’s people, a nation that will continue to rise above all obstacles.

– Hannah Gage
Photo: Flickr

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9 Facts About South Sudan

Facts about South SudanIn South Sudan, poverty and food insecurity are prevalent despite the country’s abundance of natural resources. Challenges include civil wars and prolonged violence. These challenges contribute to a significant number of people living below the poverty line within the nation. Several facts about South Sudan provide insight into the country’s economic and social landscape.

9  Facts About South Sudan

  1. A 50-Year Conflict. From 1955 through 2005, North and South Sudan faced civil wars and conflict. In January of 2005, the leaders of North and South Sudan signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). This agreement granted Southerners a revised Interim Constitution and partial autonomy. However, even with a signed peace agreement, social, political and economic conflict continues in South Sudan.
  2. Gaining Independence. In January 2011, 98% of Southerners in Sudan voted to secede from the north. Due to this vote, in July 2011, the Republic of South Sudan was formed — the world’s youngest country.
  3. High Poverty Rate. South Sudan has a population of about 12 million people. The overwhelming majority of the population, about 80%, resides in rural areas. According to the World Bank’s latest estimates, about 82% of South Sudanese people endure poverty, surviving on less than $1.90 per day.
  4.  An Abundance of Natural Resources. Although South Sudan falls high on the poverty scale, the country has many natural resources. The Nile River, petroleum, marble/dolomite, aluminum, iron ore and gold stand as the nation’s major natural resources. Of these resources, oil fuels the country’s economy, with outside investors dominating the sector. The issue is that about 85% of the population works in non-wage pastoral jobs and does not benefit from the abundance of natural resources.
  5. Water and Sanitation are Limited. In 2019, just half of the South Sudanese population had access to safe drinking water. Also, just 10% of people had “access to basic sanitation.” On a positive note, due to the work of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), almost a million more South Sudanese people received “access to improved drinking water” between 2008 and 2019.
  6. Inadequate Health Care. Less than 50% of the South Sudanese population has access to health services. The government allocates only 2.6% of its budget to health care. For this reason, many citizens rely on non-governental organizations (NGOs) for their health care needs. Doctors Without Borders is a movement dedicated to providing medical aid globally. In 2019, Doctors Without Borders had 19 project sites across South Sudan. The organization’s medical assistance is vast and ranges from tackling malaria to vaccinating children and treating gunshot wounds.
  7. Food Insecurity is High. More than 60% of the population is currently enduring food insecurity. The International Relief Committee (IRC) believes that famine will increase even more in 2021. This stems from the cumulative effects of “conflict, an economic crisis, recurrent flooding and COVID-19” as well as displacement. The IRC is advocating for an infusion of support to stave off famine in South Sudan. Action Against Hunger is an NGO currently aiding South Sudan in hunger relief. As the world’s hunger specialist, its goal is to create new, better ways to deal with hunger. In 2020, it helped 558,079 people in South Sudan. Of this number, the organization’s health and nutrition programs helped more than 300,000 people. Further, 103,004 people received help through “food security and livelihood programs.”
  8. Life Expectancy is Increasing. South Sudanese life expectancy stood at 57.6 years of age in 2018. For males, the life expectancy was 56.1 years old. For the female counterpart, the life expectancy was higher at 59.1 years old. This is a steady increase over the years — 20 years ago, in 1998, the life expectancy at birth stood at 48.3 years old.
  9. Access to Education. More than 70% of South Sudanese children are not attending school. Some of these children live in pastoral settings and need to follow the herds so they cannot attend school. Girls are the largest group of students out of school.  This is due to poverty, cultural and religious beliefs and child marriage.

Looking Ahead

These facts about South Sudan may seem discouraging, but there are NGOs working on solutions. World Concern is a faith-based organization that works in South Sudan and 11 other countries. The organization provides assistance in the areas of water access, health, child protection, education, food security and nutrition, disaster and crisis response as well as economic resilience. World Concern supports countries village by village and operates in eight villages in South Sudan.

Hope is on the horizon for the people of South Sudan as organizations like World Concern, the IRC, Doctors Without Borders and Action Against Hunger step up to help. Coupled with the country’s abundance of natural resources, these efforts ensure South Sudanese people are able to rise out of poverty.

– Ariel Dowdy
Photo: Flickr

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What to Know About CVD in Sub-Saharan Africa

CVD in Sub-Saharan AfricaThe term CVD, or cardiovascular disease, refers to a variety of disorders related to cardiac muscle and the blood vessels that supply “the heart, brain and other vital organs.” CVD is the leading cause of death worldwide, killing more than 18.56 million people in 2019. Although many people tend to associate CVD prevalence with high-income regions, CVD in sub-Saharan Africa is also quite common. In 2016, CVD overtook HIV/AIDS as the leading cause of death in this region.

Prevalence of CVD in sub-Saharan Africa

There are nine main risk factors for CVD: “smoking, history of hypertension or diabetes, obesity, unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity, excessive alcohol consumption, raised blood lipids and psychosocial factors.” Psychosocial factors are defined as characteristics that impact an individual on a psychological or social level. Negative psychological factors include stress, anxiety and depression.

Several of these risk factors are common in sub-Saharan Africa and are continuing to increase in prevalence with the rise of urbanization. The region is starting to face high rates of hypertension. In 2016, in the African region, 46% of adults 25 and older had hypertension, a figure that experts expect to climb rapidly. As urbanization in sub-Saharan Africa increases, lifestyle choices diversify — diets change and lifestyles often become more sedentary. These factors all increase the risk of CVD among sub-Saharan Africans, which provides a feasible explanation for the steep increase in this health issue over the past decade.

How Does Poverty Increase the Risk of CVD?

The number of sub-Saharan Africans living in extreme poverty face increased exposure to multiple risk factors for CVD. In 2018, 40% of sub-Saharan Africans endured extreme poverty. Poverty exacerbates negative psychological factors. Researchers from the National Institutes of Health found that those struggling with poverty have “more stress-related brain activity,” which leads to inflammation that increases the risk of CVD. These stress levels link to job insecurity, living in crowded environments and the difficulties one may face in providing for oneself and one’s family.

In addition, people living in poverty have reduced access to adequate preventative health care services. In addition, when sub-Saharan Africans begin to develop diseases that increase their risk of CVD, such as obesity, hypertension and diabetes, they often lack the health care resources to promptly and properly treat these issues. As a result, these health problems often spiral into CVD. CVD can also lead to disability and chronic illness, which impacts the human capital of the nation, leading to a loss of productivity that exacerbates negative psychosocial factors and existing economic instability.

ScienceDirect published a research study in 2013 indicating that child poverty may also increase the risk of developing CVD later in life, in part due to the negative psychosocial factors these children face. In 2017, an estimated 64% of children in sub-Saharan Africa lived in multidimensional poverty. Considering the link between child poverty and CVD, the health impacts of impoverished living conditions are of imperative concern.

Preventing CVD

Although CVD in sub-Saharan Africa is highly prevalent, there are solutions to reduce the burden of this disease. One initiative working to reduce CVD is the Healthy Heart Africa (HHA) program run by AstraZeneca. The program aims to reduce CVD risk by providing hypertension care. Since its launch in Kenya in 2014, HHA has given training to more than 7,600 health care workers “to provide education and awareness, screening and treatment services for hypertension.” In addition, HHA has supported more than 900 health centers in Africa in supplying “hypertension services” to the public. The program now serves five additional countries — Ethiopia, Tanzania, Ghana, Uganda and Côte d’Ivoire. By 2025, HHA aims to reach 10 million people suffering from high blood pressure across the African continent.

Researchers studying CVD have historically neglected sub-Saharan Africa as an area of interest. Although research in this region is expanding, there is still much to learn about the prevalence and causes of CVD. Increased knowledge of this health issue will aid in developing effective courses of action to reduce the prevalence of CVD in sub-Saharan Africa.

– Aimée Eicher
Photo: Flickr

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Health and Human Development in Brazil

Human Development in Brazil
Although Brazil made gains in public health, poverty reduction and human capital over the years, COVID-19 has sent the country backward. As of December 23, 2021, Brazil ranked third in the world for COVID-19 cases after the United States and India. It had more than 22 million cases and more than 620,000 deaths. The inspiring NGO the Dara Institute has committed to supporting vulnerable Brazilians since 1991 and continues to do so even amid COVID-19. Here is some information about how the Dara Institute is promoting health and human development in Brazil.

The Consequences of COVID-19 on Education and Poverty in Brazil

Due to COVID-19, Brazil had one of the longest public school closures of any Latin American or Caribbean country, consequently increasing learning poverty rates from 48% to 70% and disproportionately impacting the impoverished in comparison to other socioeconomic groups. In essence, this means that the impact of the pandemic may “reverse a decade-long steady improvement in the Human Capital Index.”

The level of extreme poverty in Brazil rose from 6.1% in 2019 to 9.6% in 2021 as a consequence of pandemic-induced job losses, reduced working hours and salary cuts. However, the Dara Institute is working to reverse these trends by fighting poverty and promoting health and human development in Brazil.

The Dara Institute

The Dara Institute is a nonprofit organization that began in 1991 and has headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Institute provides direct aid to vulnerable households while disseminating information about health and income-creating opportunities as well as working to influence public policy and mobilizing society to take action. Through an integrated approach to combating poverty, the NGO aims to “promote health and human development” among the country’s most destitute citizens.

Dara Institute’s leaders believe that poverty has many aspects and that helping at-risk families is only possible when humanitarian organizations provide support that addresses the many areas of life — “health, housing, income, citizenship and education” — simultaneously. This inclusive methodology in the form of the PAF – Family Action Plan ensures that Dara Institute follows a holistic approach in assisting citizens. The work of Dara contributes to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including ending global poverty.

The Family Action Plan

Founded in 1991 by Dr. Vera Cordeiro from Lagoa Hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Dara Institute’s team aimed to develop a social technology based on the specific needs of each family — the Family Action Plan. Through the plan, needy Brazilians are given ideas for income generation and help with housing along with assistance in remaining healthy through the pandemic and keeping children in school.

Dara Institute’s medical team helps families by referring members for treatment as well as making sure children’s immunizations are up-to-date. The organization also donates medical equipment and medicines that the Unified Health System in Brazil does not provide. With food shortages and job losses expanding exponentially during the pandemic, the Institute provides a monthly food voucher to help lower-income families bridge the gap between their earnings and their needs.

Dara’s Impact

Through a network of partnerships and more than 1,600 volunteers, the NGO has impacted the lives of more than 75,000 vulnerable people, thereby promoting health and human development in Brazil. Finding strength in numbers, families that receive support from the Institute’s programs opted to create their own community support groups. Many of Dara’s partner organizations offer professional training to those in the Family Action Plan program. Furthermore, volunteers have taken the Institute’s social technology to four continents to assist thousands of people in other countries. Because of its success in fighting poverty and enhancing family health, in 2018, NGO Advisor ranked Dara Institute 18th out of “500 top NGOs in the world.” Today, Dara Institute continues to fight against poverty, disease and the devastation of the pandemic by promoting health and human development in Brazil.

– Sarah Betuel
Photo: Flickr

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3 Steps to Ending Cooking Poverty

Cooking povertyWhen the United Nations adopted its Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, the aim was to address poverty, global inequality and climate change simultaneously through 17 different goals. One of these goals is to achieve access to clean energy for all. However, an often overlooked aspect of energy poverty is cooking poverty — the lack of access to modern cooking methods and technologies. According to the World Bank’s 2020 Energy Progress Report, 2.8 billion people across the globe do not have access to clean cooking and instead rely on solid fuels like wood, kerosene, coal or animal dung. The U.N. Sustainable Development Goals clearly outline the importance of clean cooking. However, there remains a lack of awareness about the issue and not much progress has occurred since 2015. The 2020 Energy Progress Report predicts that, by 2030, 2.3 billion people would still lack access to clean cooking technologies.

The Health and Social Impacts of Cooking Poverty

Cooking poverty also impacts other targets of the Sustainable Development Goals, such as good health and gender equality. People enduring cooking poverty depend on pollutant fuels like wood and coal, which result in indoor air pollution. An estimated 4 million people die prematurely every year due to indoor air pollution, which causes respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses. The World Bank also finds that non-clean cooking ties to more acute physical ailments, such as burns that occur when cooking with traditional resources.

The financial impact of cooking poverty on public health is significant, costing $1.4 trillion each year, but the social impact is even greater. Cooking poverty disproportionately affects women and girls who serve as the primary cooks in most households. Because the burden of collecting fuel and cooking often falls on women, indoor pollution affects them the most. Furthermore, because outdated methods of cooking are very time-consuming, this often means women and girls cannot spare time to go to work or school — deepening their poverty.

Fortunately, new technologies and initiatives led by national governments, private companies and nonprofit organizations are making clean cooking a reality in low-income countries. There are three main ways that initiatives are targeting cooking poverty.

3 Ways to Address Cooking Poverty

  1. Behavioral Change and Awareness. The simplest step toward clean cooking is increasing awareness of indoor air pollution and promoting change. The World Bank’s Carbon Initiative for Development partnered with the Mind, Behavior and Development Unit in Ghana, Rwanda and Madagascar to identify some behavioral changes that would make clean cooking easier. For example, the initiative found that Rwandans could save time and fuel by soaking beans, a staple food, overnight rather than slow cooking the beans throughout the day. Other simpler practices include leaving the door open while cooking, cooking outdoors and keeping children and other family members away from the kitchen while cooking. While these are important practices to adopt to reduce exposure to air pollutants, most initiatives are going further to introduce new technologies for clean cooking.
  2. Improved Cookstoves. ICS, or improved cookstoves, are more efficient biomass stoves, meaning they rely on wood, coal or other biomaterials like traditional stoves. However, the improved cookstoves burn the fuel more efficiently, which can cut down the time of exposure to pollutants. The World Bank-supported Bangladesh Improved Cookstoves Program helped provide 1.7 million improved cookstoves across Bangladesh by 2019. This resulted in a reduction of 3 million metric tons of CO2 greenhouse gases and cut the use of firewood, the primary fuel source in Bangladesh, by more than half. The ICS program in Bangladesh also had economic impacts, saving each household 375.84 Bangladeshi taka each month, according to the State of Access to Modern Energy Cooking Services. Currently, improved cookstoves do not meet the World Health Organization’s definition of “clean” cooking methods because the stoves do not reduce emissions sufficiently enough to note meaningful health benefits. However, the improved cookstoves are inexpensive and save time that can go toward income-generating activities or education.
  3. Clean Cooking Technologies. The most advanced step to end cooking poverty is the adoption of clean cooking technologies that reduce emissions to a meaningful degree while also saving time and money. Clean cooking includes the use of stoves powered by electricity, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), solar heat and alcohol, among other sources. Electricity now makes up 10% of cooking fuels globally and LPG makes up 37%. At the same time, the share of kerosene and coal is declining. Gas is also overtaking unprocessed biomass as the most popular cooking fuel in low and middle-income countries, thanks to urbanization and younger generations’ openness to clean cooking solutions, according to the 2020 Energy Progress Report. Despite this, the introduction of clean cooking technologies has not caught up with population growth and faces financial and cultural barriers. NGO work, like that of World Central Kitchen, empowers local communities to transition to clean cooking by converting outdated school and community kitchens to LPG-based kitchens. By targeting larger kitchens, World Central Kitchen positively impacts more people. Innovative business models are also proving successful in making clean cooking technology more reliable and affordable. Lastly, grants provided by the World Bank’s Clean Cooking Fund aim to incentivize the private sector to supply modern energy cooking services.

Ending cooking poverty is dependent on many factors and requires a variety of solutions by many actors, among them national governments, nonprofits and public-private partnerships. Overall, the ongoing efforts to provide access to clean cooking help contribute to global poverty reduction.

– Emma Tkacz
Photo: Flickr

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7 NGOs Contributing to Global Dental Health

dental healthThere is a strong association between oral diseases and poverty. According to the World Health Organization, oral diseases impact approximately 3.5 billion people. In addition, it is estimated that 3.9 billion people worldwide suffer from dental decay, which can impact their overall “health and well-being” and increase the burden of health care costs for already impoverished people. Many remote and underserved communities lack access to treatment and preventative services, however, several nonprofits are working to increase access to dental health services globally.

7 NGOs Making Strides in Improving Global Dental Health

  1. Academy of Dentistry International Foundation. The Academy of Dentistry International is an honor society “for dentists dedicated to sharing knowledge… to serve dental health needs and to improve the quality of life throughout the world.” Its Academy of Dentistry International Foundation provides grants for missions and projects that assist disadvantaged communities, supporting dental care for people in Honduras, Columbia, Kenya, Jamaica, the Philippines and Belize since 2010. The Foundation funded Bright Smiles Cameroon in 2018, which offers oral health education to school-aged children. Another grant recipient was the Health and Development Society Nepal, which offers oral health training to primary care workers who can then offer health care services to marginalized communities in Nepal.
  2. Dentaid. This organization began its work in 1996, delivering dental treatment to more than 70 countries since then, including the U.K. Dentaid supplies dental equipment and sends volunteers to impoverished and rural communities. Its “DentaidBox,” an innovative portable bin, includes all the equipment necessary to perform dental surgery even when electricity and running water are unavailable. In 2021, the DentaidBox reached seven African countries. In that same year, Dentaid created eight free clinics for people who are homeless in the U.K. and has plans to launch nine more. It also offered services to refugees and asylum seekers in the U.K.
  3. Global Child Dental Fund. This organization aims to serve every child needing dental health services. Currently, the organization is working with Jordanian dental students to aid Syrian refugees in Jordan. About 1,500 children in Jordan’s refugee camps have received “toothbrushes, toothpaste and oral health education.” One of the fund’s projects, SEAL Cambodia, has treated more than “66,000 children with dental sealants.” Global Child Dental Fund also provides “special care dentistry” in poverty-stricken and remote areas. The fund has trained students in Zambia and offered services to children with special needs in Kenya and Cambodia.
  4. Global Dental Relief. Since 2001, Global Dental Relief has offered free dental care to children across the world, serving close to 200,000 children from 2001 to 2020 with its volunteer work in eight countries. In addition to providing dental care, Global Dental Relief is unique in that, in Guatemala and Nepal, it also provides meals to families suffering from food scarcity.
  5. Open Wide Foundation. The Foundation’s mission is “to bring lasting change to the state of oral health in underserved communities worldwide.” The Foundation targets communities that have the greatest need for dental health care, beginning in 2012 and since serving more than 200,000 people. Open Wide Foundation built its first clinic in the Guatemalan city of Peronia, an impoverished community that had little to no access to dental health services. Since then, the Foundation has opened additional dental clinics in Guatemala. The Open Wide Foundation also works with students, offering “mentoring and practicum opportunities” to first-year dental students.
  6. Smiles for Everyone. Smiles for Everyone offers free dental health services in several countries. Since its inception, more than 27,000 individuals have received free dental care. Smiles for Everyone offers basic dental services as well as root canals, dentures and implants. The organization also provides training to Paraguayan dentists on complex dental procedures. Many of the patients at the free dental clinics have never visited a dentist before.
  7. World Health Dental Organization. This organization offers free dental care and education to marginalized communities, primarily in Kenya. Its flagship clinic provides annual dental treatment to around 4,000 Maasai people who have limited access to dental services. One particular Maasai initiative is the Momma Baby Clinic program that offers “preventative oral health and early intervention strategies… to pregnant mothers and mothers of infants and young children,” educating “hundreds of mothers” a year. Another program, I Am Responsible, has led to the oral health education of more than 700 school children. The organization, through its programs, has also distributed 1,500 bamboo toothbrushes to children living in the Mara.

Looking Ahead

While many oral diseases continue to plague impoverished communities, NGOs are committed to addressing the issue by providing free dental care to previously out-of-reach communities. By volunteering services, supplying resources and carrying out skill-based training, these NGOs aim to create global change. Many also aim to offer education to school-aged children on good oral health and hygiene. As people have better access to essential resources for oral disease prevention, such as toothbrushes, toothpaste and running water, the burden to alleviate the public health problem of oral diseases will subside.

– Amy Helmendach
Photo: Flickr