Nicknamed the “Cradle of Polynesia,” Samoa made history in its most recent election cycle. After a months-long dispute that took a court ruling to determine the winner, this island located in the central South Pacific Ocean named Fiame Naomi Mata’afa as Samoa’s first female Prime Minister. As head of the new Fa’atuatua I Le Atua Samoa ua Tasi Party, or FAST, Mata’afa won over Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, head of the Human Rights Protection Party, who was the prime minister for 22 years.
The Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) held the office of Prime Minister for more than four decades, and now Samoa is looking at a new future with the FAST party and Mata’afa as Prime Minister. The FAST Party, created in 2020 as a response to the decades-long political domination of the HRPP. Fiame Naomi Mata’afa’s appointment as prime minister sparks an even larger conversation about Samoan women’s role in politics.
Mata’afa’s History
The Pacific region of the world has the lowest amount of female representation in government, and Fiame Naomi Mata’afa is hoping to inspire more women and young girls to involve themselves in local politics. Mata’afa’s upbringing contributes heavily to her passion for politics and women’s representation in Samoa. Mata’afa was born right before Samoa gained independence from New Zealand in 1962, and her grandfather was very active in the Mau, a movement centered around gaining Samoa’s independence through non-violence.
Eventually, her grandfather would go on to become the first Prime Minister of Samoa. Mata’afa also saw influence from her mother who was a Pacific women’s rights activist and brought her daughter to many political gatherings. Her mother would go on to become a Member of Parliament.
To qualify as a political candidate in any capacity in Samoa, one must first be a matai – a respected title meaning chief. These titles cannot pass through inheritance, so when Mata’afa’s father passed away when she was 18, she went to court to claim her father’s title over the claims of others. Named Faime in 1978, Mata’afa became the chief over the Lotofaga village on Upolo, Samoa’s main island.
Men typically hold these titles, but young, unmarried women occasionally have them as well. Mata’afa’s political career skyrocketed following this and at 27, she became a Member of Parliament and has continued to hold this position ever since. Before her victory as Samoa’s first female Prime Minister, she made history when she served as the first female deputy female Prime Minister prior to the recent election.
The Context for Representation and the Election
“At the village governance level, women make up close to 36% of total Matai,” according to U.N. Women. Both women and men serve as ballot chiefs or Matai Polata. Before 1990, when all Samoan citizens gained suffrage, non-Matai could not vote. In 2013, a Constitutional amendment bill passed that required that women fill a minimum of 10% of parliament or five seats. This quota served to increase women’s representation in the Samoan government and people now know it as the 10% act.
Samoa’s most recent election, which ended with Mata’afa’s appointment, came at a time when only 9.8% of Parliament consisted of women. With a 51 person legislature, the HRPP and FAST parties tied with 25 seats each, leaving one independent elected. An additional HRPP-elected woman candidate filled a seat in Parliament to follow the 10% act. The sole independent then ended up voting with the FAST party, creating a locked 26-26 election.
The Samoan Supreme Court reviewed the election, ultimately deciding that the additional candidate that the HRPP party appointed was invalid. As a result, the FAST party candidate, Mata’afa, rightfully won the election to become Prime Minister. While many rejoiced in the celebration of Mata’afa’s victory and appointment as Samoa’s first female Prime Minister, Malielegaoi’s outrage surrounding the decision led to his refusal to step down as Prime Minister. Forcing her swearing-in ceremony to occur outside the locked doors, Malielegaoi even went so far as to lock Mata’afa and her supporters out of Parliament.
Looking Forward
Women’s rights in Samoa have evolved over the past few decades and now the country currently sees about “53% of the total public service” consist of women. In the private manufacturing sector, women also are a majority of the workforce and women own and run more than 40% of small businesses. Management and promotion opportunities for women in the Samoan workforce have also increased over time with chief officer positions and other top leadership roles that women hold.
Fiame Naomi Mata’afa is a role model for young Pacific women. Her political career has broken many barriers that women in the south Pacific region often face. Following in her family’s footsteps, she is working towards a better future for women in Samoa.
– Annaclaire Acosta
Photo: Wikipedia Commons
Aiding Impoverished Children in New Zealand
In New Zealand, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed 18,000 children into poverty, on top of the already large amount of children struggling with unmet basic needs. However, one organization, Share My Super, is working hard to change these statistics and reduce the number of impoverished children in New Zealand.
Impoverished Children in New Zealand
Against the backdrop of New Zealand’s 4.8 million population, more than 235,000 children lived in poverty before the pandemic’s effects. While reducing child poverty is one of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s signature goals, the country has only seen rising numbers of struggling children in recent years.
A recent study shows a 10% increase in child poverty due to the country’s pandemic policies, mostly impacting minority groups such as the Māori and Pasifika. The report lists several main reasons for child poverty in New Zealand including lack of government support, “unemployment and education disruptions” due to the COVID-19 pandemic and “inadequate income support for children.”
Share My Super
One organization, Share My Super, recognizes the detrimental effects of this issue and is working toward alleviating child poverty in New Zealand. Founded by Liz Greive, the organization functions by uniting citizens older than the retirement age of 65 and allowing them to share their leftover pensions with charities that are helping eliminate child poverty.
“I came to the conclusion that the most needy people in New Zealand, where real progress could be achieved, would be with children who were having a hard start,” Greive told The Spinoff, a New Zealand-based magazine. “I was well aware of the poverty that many people experience and how hard it is to raise a family when there is quite simply not enough money coming in.”
Share My Super hand-selects charities that it believes in and trusts for donors to donate to. The organization fosters relationships with these organizations and ensures that there is a variety of organizations, so people can choose to put their money toward immediate needs like shelter or food, or alternatively, they can put their money toward long-term solutions like mentorship or education.
Additionally, the organization receives 100% private funding. Therefore, the full donations go directly to the organization that the person chooses. Users also do not have to be at the retirement age to set up a donation — anyone can donate through Share My Super.
Impact
According to Share My Super’s 2020 Annual Report, the organization raised $294,296 in donations for charities through Superannuants, which refers to retirement-aged people donating their surplus pension through the organization. Share My Super also has benefits both ways: New Zealand’s children benefit and the country’s older population is also able to make a difference for the next generation. The organization also runs a blog detailing the tangible impacts of the charities on the country’s children so that the Superannuants can see the direct impact of their donations.
Although child poverty rates have been climbing in New Zealand, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations like Share My Super are working to help impoverished children in New Zealand through donations, uniting the older generations with the younger generations.
– Laya Neelakandan
Photo: Flickr
Fighting Poverty through Traditional Art in India
For many communities, art serves as the basis of culture. Unfortunately, though, traditional art forms commonly disappear during industrialization as cheap, mass-produced traditional-looking art reaches tourist vendors much quicker than authentic, quality traditional art. India has experienced this especially hard, almost completely losing multiple forms of art. Fortunately, multiple NGOs, in partnership with the Indian government and UNESCO, are stepping up to defend traditional art in India while also fighting poverty through traditional art.
Banglanatak’s Art For Life’s Focus on Community
Banglanatak’s Art for Life program serves as one of the biggest art-focused NGOs in West Bengal, a region in India bordering Bangladesh. For nearly 17 years, Art for Life has focused on fighting poverty through traditional art, especially in rural areas. The program focuses on three key aspects to improve the situation of traditional artists: artistry education, connections to markets and exchange collaboration. In collaboration with the government of West Bengal, the Art for Life program has built craft hubs for artists to sell their products and performers to host shows in 15 West Bengal provinces, reaching nearly 12,000 beneficiaries.
Art for Life has made a major contribution to fighting poverty through traditional art in India. Nearly 10,000 artists have risen out of poverty through the program, a stunning success rate. When participating, artists have seen a two and a half times increase in their income, with many buying houses and dramatically increasing their living standards. The communities around these craft hubs have developed into major tourist destinations as well. This allows these communities to keep their traditional cultural heritage alive while bringing in tourists, a rare combination. Women artists especially benefit from this program, with communities with craft hubs seeing a doubling in the number of female artists.
As part of its program, Art for Life also supports cultural exchanges so traditional artists worldwide can interact and spread awareness about their practices in artistic communities. Recently, Art for Life participated in an exchange in the Czech Republic where Indian and Czech artists exchanged playing styles and appreciation for their respective cultures.
Saturday Art Class: Starting Artists Young
Another NGO focuses on young children in its drive to fight poverty through traditional art. Saturday Art Class fills the gaps in primary school where art class commonly does not receive funds or schools discard it in favor of maths and sciences. Including art in the primary school curriculum can have many positive effects in reducing poverty. Children become more creative, engaged and keener problem solvers when they learned this crucial subject in school. This can help children develop skills critical to reducing poverty, including entrepreneurial spirit and creativity.
Saturday Art Class has reached more than 5,500 schoolchildren across 46 partnerships since its founding in 2017. By supplementing the skills taught by public schools with the critical Social Emotional Learning brought by art, Saturday Art Class helps lift children out of poverty by giving them the soft skills they need to succeed. Additionally, by exposing children to art at a young age, some will choose to go into the traditional craft sectors that Art for Life promotes, ensuring a generation of traditional artists to come.
Both of these initiatives have made great strides in fighting poverty through traditional art in India. While Saturday Art Class focuses on the development of children’s artistic skills, Art for Life focuses on training and equipping current artists. By fighting poverty through traditional art, these initiatives are preserving India’s rich cultural and artistic heritage for generations to come.
– Justin Morgan
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Samoa’s First Female Prime Minister
Nicknamed the “Cradle of Polynesia,” Samoa made history in its most recent election cycle. After a months-long dispute that took a court ruling to determine the winner, this island located in the central South Pacific Ocean named Fiame Naomi Mata’afa as Samoa’s first female Prime Minister. As head of the new Fa’atuatua I Le Atua Samoa ua Tasi Party, or FAST, Mata’afa won over Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, head of the Human Rights Protection Party, who was the prime minister for 22 years.
The Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) held the office of Prime Minister for more than four decades, and now Samoa is looking at a new future with the FAST party and Mata’afa as Prime Minister. The FAST Party, created in 2020 as a response to the decades-long political domination of the HRPP. Fiame Naomi Mata’afa’s appointment as prime minister sparks an even larger conversation about Samoan women’s role in politics.
Mata’afa’s History
The Pacific region of the world has the lowest amount of female representation in government, and Fiame Naomi Mata’afa is hoping to inspire more women and young girls to involve themselves in local politics. Mata’afa’s upbringing contributes heavily to her passion for politics and women’s representation in Samoa. Mata’afa was born right before Samoa gained independence from New Zealand in 1962, and her grandfather was very active in the Mau, a movement centered around gaining Samoa’s independence through non-violence.
Eventually, her grandfather would go on to become the first Prime Minister of Samoa. Mata’afa also saw influence from her mother who was a Pacific women’s rights activist and brought her daughter to many political gatherings. Her mother would go on to become a Member of Parliament.
To qualify as a political candidate in any capacity in Samoa, one must first be a matai – a respected title meaning chief. These titles cannot pass through inheritance, so when Mata’afa’s father passed away when she was 18, she went to court to claim her father’s title over the claims of others. Named Faime in 1978, Mata’afa became the chief over the Lotofaga village on Upolo, Samoa’s main island.
Men typically hold these titles, but young, unmarried women occasionally have them as well. Mata’afa’s political career skyrocketed following this and at 27, she became a Member of Parliament and has continued to hold this position ever since. Before her victory as Samoa’s first female Prime Minister, she made history when she served as the first female deputy female Prime Minister prior to the recent election.
The Context for Representation and the Election
“At the village governance level, women make up close to 36% of total Matai,” according to U.N. Women. Both women and men serve as ballot chiefs or Matai Polata. Before 1990, when all Samoan citizens gained suffrage, non-Matai could not vote. In 2013, a Constitutional amendment bill passed that required that women fill a minimum of 10% of parliament or five seats. This quota served to increase women’s representation in the Samoan government and people now know it as the 10% act.
Samoa’s most recent election, which ended with Mata’afa’s appointment, came at a time when only 9.8% of Parliament consisted of women. With a 51 person legislature, the HRPP and FAST parties tied with 25 seats each, leaving one independent elected. An additional HRPP-elected woman candidate filled a seat in Parliament to follow the 10% act. The sole independent then ended up voting with the FAST party, creating a locked 26-26 election.
The Samoan Supreme Court reviewed the election, ultimately deciding that the additional candidate that the HRPP party appointed was invalid. As a result, the FAST party candidate, Mata’afa, rightfully won the election to become Prime Minister. While many rejoiced in the celebration of Mata’afa’s victory and appointment as Samoa’s first female Prime Minister, Malielegaoi’s outrage surrounding the decision led to his refusal to step down as Prime Minister. Forcing her swearing-in ceremony to occur outside the locked doors, Malielegaoi even went so far as to lock Mata’afa and her supporters out of Parliament.
Looking Forward
Women’s rights in Samoa have evolved over the past few decades and now the country currently sees about “53% of the total public service” consist of women. In the private manufacturing sector, women also are a majority of the workforce and women own and run more than 40% of small businesses. Management and promotion opportunities for women in the Samoan workforce have also increased over time with chief officer positions and other top leadership roles that women hold.
Fiame Naomi Mata’afa is a role model for young Pacific women. Her political career has broken many barriers that women in the south Pacific region often face. Following in her family’s footsteps, she is working towards a better future for women in Samoa.
– Annaclaire Acosta
Photo: Wikipedia Commons
Standardized English and Poverty
Standardized English and Poverty can be attributed to the fact that English ranks as the most commonly spoken language in the world. English originated in England and then spread worldwide through colonization, the internet, print and the spoken word. Because it has spread through colonization, it has also become a marker of social standing globally. English was not always this unified language.
The Bare Beginnings
English has gone through many changes and evolutions throughout its time. Its letters come from the Roman alphabet with partial pronunciation from Anglo-Saxons. For a long time, many different English-speaking groups lived in England. After the conquests in the middle ages and moving the court seat to London, the new speaking norms came from the English of London instead of ancestral Wessex. Manuscripts underwent revisions to translate them in the dialect of London English. Through printing, this way of speaking spread nationwide. Language is constantly evolving, especially vowels, and many shifts occurred. This period also saw the rise of language purists against the perceived threat of different ethnicities and cultures.
British or American?
English contains two orthographies: British English and American English. Both have the same core rules but hold to some different spelling and terms. A great example of this can be seen in the television series, “The Great British Bake Off.” Aside from a change in accents, bakers use different words for the same thing. For example, a baker may say “sponge” instead of “cake.” Even the show has a name change in the U.S., from “The Great British Bake Off” to “The Great British Baking Show.”
These changes are due to time, distance and America’s colonization. The Englishmen who first came to America were poor and desperate for a new life. Therefore, a new dialect quickly formed in America based primarily on the linguistic styles of rural England. Over time, these dialect differences became bigger and bigger until they diverged officially into British English and American English.
Language and Class
Despite only having two specific orthographies, English sports a ton of different dialects. A dialect is a way of speaking specifically to a region or group. One example of this is AAVE or African-American Vernacular English. This dialect likely formed after the transatlantic trade of enslaved people from Africa, who mingled English with their native languages to form a new dialect. Many groups impacted by colonization, such as India and South America, experienced variations of this phenomenon.
Eventually, English’s various strains and dialects were applied to social class in industry-based societies. These linguistic variants are still closely related to questions of education and race in social stratification. Someone speaking AAVE demonstrates that they have less education and are therefore lower in class. Linguistic discrimination occurs when those who don’t use standardized English are barred from promotion for not appearing as educated or intelligent. At times, linguistic prejudice can even result in unfair legal rulings when particular vernaculars are discredited.
How It Haunts Us
The results of language colonization still exist today. India links English to education and class. Ever since Great Britain’s colonization of India, British culture is still considered high class. Skin-whitening products remain popular in India for this reason. Only 20% of the population speaking any English, and only 4% can boost fluency. Of the fluent speakers, 34% earn more money than those who are not. Fluent English-speakers enjoy more opportunities in jobs and education, which both factors heavily into poverty. Therefore, 96% of the population that doesn’t speak English suffer an immediate disadvantage. Fluency offers greater means to escape poverty. Many other countries and minorities harmed by colonization share this classist structure.
Towards Linguistic Equality
Many organizations, such as colleges, are growing increasingly aware of this linguistic class issue. In 2018, Yale Law School’s Environmental Justice Clinic mounted a legal fight against New Mexico’s Environment Department on the basis of language discrimination against native Spanish-speakers. The conversation increasingly revolves around making college a safe place for all dialects and opening the class barrier. Equalizing education access, especially in areas with sparse funding, offers the first step towards mending the classist language barrier. Additionally, advocates hope to stop discrimination through legal bills as well as encouraging more acceptance among the standardized English-speaking populace.
-Audrey Burran
Photo: Flickr
Togo Opens First Data Center in Lomé
Poverty and Economic Development in Togo
Togo has made strides in growth leading up to 2020, but even pre-pandemic, past poverty levels were still high. More than half of the population has been living under the poverty line for years prior to the pandemic, according to the World Bank. The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation have lent the government a hand in improving conditions for its people by putting resources into the financial, energy, transportation and manufacturing sectors, which played a major role in Togo’s jump from 137th to 97th place in the Doing Business 2020 report.
Digital Transformation of Togo’s Economy
With investments into Togo’s digital economy and infrastructure, the country plans to grow in its wholesale broadband market and cheapen service costs for its people. The government aims for a complete structural reformation of the Togolese economy. In the hopes of job creation and modernization of key institutions, Togo’s data center was constructed as a part of the long-term investment into digital technology.
Hawa Cissé Wagué, the World Bank resident representative for Togo, tells the World Bank that the pandemic has displayed the necessity of increasing Togo’s digital infrastructure in order to improve services and economic productivity. So far, Togo’s data center and its development have mildly restored its reputation and its future looks bright as foreign investment ramps up with a number of prominent banks in the region choosing to operate and do business within Togo.
Impact of the Data Center in Lomé
The secure, quality and reliable nature of the advanced technology makes the investment into the data center significant in the long run for the Togolese economy. The locally stationed data center will directly impact the surrounding community by providing employment opportunities within the facility itself but it will also have a ripple effect and extend throughout the country, according to government plans. Distributed data centers offer lower transaction costs as well as convenience when it comes to digital regulations. The centers also come with lower geopolitical risks and are safer for data storage.
– Gene Kang
Photo: Flickr
Gozem Hopes to be the Biggest Super App in Africa
Gojek Super App
The super app Gojek, for example, launched in Indonesia in 2010 and has grown to rank among Fortune’s Top 20 companies, now offering services to several Southeast Asian countries. The super app includes transportation products (goride, gocar and gosend) and shopping functions (gofood, gomart and goshop) that customers can enjoy without having to switch between apps. After seeing the success of Gojek and other super apps in Southeast Asia, one company, Gozem, hopes to turn its platform into the most popular super app in Africa.
Who is Gozem?
Based in Singapore, one Nigerian and two Swiss entrepreneurs co-founded Gozem after appreciating West Africa’s potential as a lucrative business market. Raphael Dana, one of Gozem’s co-founders, visited Togo and Benin on a business trip in 2017. After seeing individuals ride motorcycle taxis throughout both countries, Dana knew he could replicate the success of Gojek in West Africa — especially since it seemed as though no other entrepreneurs “saw [vehicle-hailing] as a business” like Dana did.
In 2018, Gozem launched in Togo as a motorcycle-hailing app, but eventually, the company expanded to include “food and grocery delivery, vehicle financing and a digital wallet.” Gozem has since spread its operations to Benin and Gabon and plans to serve other West African and Central African countries in the future. When asked about Gozem’s premise, Dana explains to CNN that since everyone uses transportation, makes payments and eats dinner, he put “all those key verticals that we all use in our daily life” into one app.
Plans in Motion
The Gozem team does not want to limit its business to only a few countries. By the end of December 2021, Gozem hopes to offer services in Cameroon, and by the end of 2022, Gozem aims to launch in Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Senegal. On Gozem’s website, residents of the countries Gozem wishes to service can already provide their name, contact number and email to join Gozem’s communication list.
New York University professor, Anindya Ghose, tells CNN that some communities’ lack of high-speed internet and the potential difficulties of monetizing services are obstacles that Gozem must conquer to become a successful super app in Africa. However, Gozem plans to make money through vehicle financing commissions, “rides and deliveries” and “transaction fees on payments.” Additionally, the fact that consulting firm McKinsey & Company projects super apps to earn “$500 billion in revenues by 2025” makes Gozem optimistic for the future of the company in Western and Central Africa.
Why Africa?
According to Dana, one of the reasons he wanted to launch Gozem in Western Africa is because the region’s “emerging markets” provide less competition for each individual service. In other words, while in developed markets such as the United States, there are too many companies to compete with for an app that can profit in several sectors, Dana believes that the “(African) Francophone market is completely untapped.”
Companies like Gozem understand that the future of business lies in Africa. As technology booms throughout the continent and more individuals become consumers of smartphone services, entrepreneurs should follow Gozem’s example and invest in one of the biggest business markets.
Gozem also prioritizes education with a graduate program to train its potential “managers of tomorrow.” The new jobs created by Gozem allow individuals to earn an income, improving standards of living in African countries plagued by poverty.
– Madeline Murphy
Photo: Wikipedia Commons
Princess Marie and her Philanthropic Efforts
DanChurchAid
DanChurchAid is an organization that works with economically developing nations to combat hunger, poverty, and oppression. It has been operating for over a hundred years, and with the help of donors, volunteers, and partners, it has aided people in more than 120 countries. The group uses popular and political forces to urge political decision-makers to improve living conditions for the underprivileged. Along with their long-term aid in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the organization offers relief to disaster-stricken areas. They make sure that communities reemerge more robustly, and are more adequately prepared if disaster strikes again. The group’s mission emphasizes the importance of human rights as well as working with those in need on relevant, sustainable, and practical projects.
Humanitarian Trips
Through her years as a patron, Princess Marie’s philanthropy has shown through her multiple humanitarian trips with DanChurchAid. During a recent trip to Uganda, she visited the Raising Gabdho Foundation in Kampala. There, she learned more about the foundation’s work, and the techniques they developed to cook in a more sustainable way. She also saw a DanChurchAid project called Fresh Fruit Nexus. The Danish International Development Agency first developed this project in Northern Uganda in 2018. Here, Princess Marie visited Ugandan farmers in the Omugo Refugee Settlement. Together with their refugee families, the farmers formed a cooperative in which they collected crops together and had the opportunity to borrow money from each other.
Princess Marie’s philanthropy extends to other countries as well. She has also traveled to Myanmar in the past. In Myanmar, DanChurchAid has provided underdeveloped communities with practical tools to advance their economic status and quality of life. People have worked to financially organize themselves through savings and loan systems. The underprivileged community could use the money to purchase essential tools, such as sewing machines, for economic sustainability. Princess Marie made this humanitarian trip alongside Danish donors who are also passionate about combating global poverty.
Promoting Sustainability and Accessibility
Another project that Princess Marie was active in is a supermarket called Wefood, which is located in the capital of Copenhagen, Denmark. Her Royal Highness worked with DanChurchAid in unveiling the project. Wefood aims to promote sustainability and accessibility by collecting surplus produce daily and selling it. By using this method, they can cut costs by 30 to 50%. The supermarket has aimed to cut back on food waste and provide food to those affected by poverty. This is the first of its kind in the nation.
In addition to Wefood, Princess Marie has also worked with FoedevareBanken, a Danish food bank. This organization also aims to fight food waste and poverty. Similar to Wefood, they work to provide disadvantaged people with sustainable food, and this initiative ensures that all people can have access to nutritious and balanced meals.
Through her advocacy and patronage with DanChurchAid, Princess Marie has effectively influenced the fight against global poverty. After her ten years with the organization, people worldwide eagerly await to see where Princess Marie’s philanthropy will inspire change next.
– Carly Johnson
Photo: Flickr
USAID Programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina
After the conclusion of the Bosnian War of 1992-1995, USAID has been instrumental in charting a path forward for positive economic development in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In fact, since 1996, USAID has helped provide more than $1.7 billion in assistance to foster democratic, social and economic growth. This has significantly improved the standard of living of Bosnian citizens over the past two decades. USAID programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been especially noteworthy in their outcomes of significantly reducing poverty.
For instance, USAID’s initial business development loan program aided private businesses in restarting operations and increasing job opportunities for citizens. It helped massively decrease the country’s unemployment rate from 50% in 1996 to 29.3% in 1998. USAID’s 1,600 projects in the country over the past two decades have been crucial in minimizing poverty as well as improving the health and education infrastructure of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Previous Major Programs
In just three years prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were multiple USAID programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina targeting job creation and community investment. There were two notable programs, which began in 2017, that proved key in addressing the aforementioned goals.
The first project, USAID’s Workforce and Higher Access to Markets (WHAM) Activity, underwent implementation in June 2017 and sought to further integrate Bosnia and Herzegovina into E.U. and regional trade markets. The results were notable for jobs with the creation of nearly 2,000 new jobs, allowing for “female participation [at] 31 percent and youth participation [at] 56 percent.”
The second program that USAID launched, called the Diaspora Invest project, began in April 2017. It proved instrumental to investment in Bosnia’s diaspora communities to tackle poverty and enable socioeconomic development. The outcome of the project is evident; as of February 2020, the project has supported 86 diaspora companies, created nearly 300 jobs and has produced around $9.5 million in new investments.
COVID-19 Initiatives
Since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, USAID has significantly stepped up its initiatives in Bosnia to address multiple aspects of poverty that have worsened as a consequence of the pandemic. One of the most crucial policies USAID conducted in April 2021 was to coordinate with UNICEF. The coordination provided $4.8 million in additional funding for pandemic relief for the country. Bosnia and Herzegovina plan to use the relief over the next two years. Beyond COVID-19 relief policies, USAID has additionally established two significant programs in the country as part of COVID-19 recovery and poverty reduction in the long term.
As efforts continue to address issues in Bosnia and Herzegovina, USAID programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina will work to tackle different dimensions of poverty in multiple ways throughout the region.
– Gabriel Sylvan
Photo: Flickr
COVID-19’s Effects On Asia’s Economy
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe economic disparities globally. Specifically, those living on the Asian continent have experienced significant economic damage and hindrance to their broad economic goals. About 15 million Southeast Asians have become impoverished since the onset of the pandemic in 2019. The delta variant, along with a resurgence of national lockdown measures, has caused another case of economic damage. Through analyzing COVID-19’s effects on Asia’s economy, it is clear that the continent can implement strategies in order to combat these high rates of poverty and economic disparity.
Low Vaccination Rates
Overall, Southeast Asia has lower-than-average vaccination rates compared to the rest of the world. However, some Southeast Asian countries have better vaccination rates than others. Singapore has the highest vaccination rate, at 77.3%, whereas Vietnam has the lowest vaccination rate at 7%. As Southeast Asia is Asia’s major area for good economic production, this has led to a decline in economic growth. These low vaccination rates have allowed COVID-19’s effects on Asia’s economy to be extremely negative as low-income countries have had low vaccine rates due to their economic disadvantage. Around 55% of individuals who live in higher-income countries have been vaccinated with at least one of two vaccination dosages whereas 1% of individuals who live in lower-income countries have received one of two vaccinations.
National Lockdowns
In Southeast Asia, as cases have risen due to the delta variant beginning in July 2021, strict lockdown restrictions have become reimplemented. The implementation of lockdowns worldwide in 2020 was common as countries felt this would be an effective way to quickly decrease the number of people who contracted COVID-19. Lockdowns were extremely effective in decreasing the spread of COVID-19; however, they also caused a negative effect on the global economy. In Asia, lockdowns caused a severe drop in retail sales. For example, vehicle sales in China have been steadily decreasing each month; more recently, they decreased by 11.9% in July 2021. Factories have also stopped production as a response to the surge of cases since July 2021. Southeast Asian countries have also had to enter lockdowns again. This has caused the negative effects of COVID-19 on Asia’s economy to resurface, with yet another decrease in retail sales.
The Delta Variant
The COVID-19 delta variant is more infectious than the original COVID-19 strain, causing a spike in cases for Southeast Asian countries that began in July 2021. The delta variant of COVID-19 has caused both a surge in COVID-19 cases worldwide and a resurgence of the 2020 economic downturn that came with the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The effects of Southeast Asia’s low rates of vaccination have caused a spike in COVID-19 cases in addition to the delta variant, factoring into the reasoning behind the reimplementation of national lockdown measures.
Looking Ahead
A large and overarching goal of Asia in its entirety is to increase rates of vaccination in each Asian country as a response to this economic decline. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) regional director of Southeast Asia, Dr. Poonam Khetraapal Singh, has a goal to have the Southeast Asian population 40% fully vaccinated by 2021. This strategy against economic disparity uses the COVAX initiative, a plan that WHO put in place that advocates for global access to COVID-19 vaccines. The COVAX initiative especially targets low-income countries and works to help them gain equitable access to not only vaccines but also to COVID-19 testing and treatments.
If Asia successfully increases its vaccination rates, there is hope that the Asian economies will be able to continue with their goals of economic growth.
– Francesca Giuliano
Photo: Unsplash
Vaccine Distribution in Latin America
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Latin America hard. As of July 2021, about 1.3 million people throughout Latin America and the Caribbean have died from COVID-19 alone, showing the devastating toll that the virus has had on families throughout the region. With such a high death toll and the introduction of new, more dangerous variants of the original virus, the question of vaccine distribution in Latin America has been a topic of discussion among health experts.
Throughout Latin America, vaccination rates overall have remained lower than world averages. Some countries such as Uruguay have a higher vaccination rate. As of September 16, 2021, the country has administered 171.68 doses per 100 people. Chile’s vaccination rate is second to Uruguay, with 159.65 doses administered per 100 people. The two countries with the lowest vaccination rates are Nicaragua, with 10.97 doses per 100 people and Haiti, with 0.44 doses per 100 people.
Vaccine distribution in Latin America unequivocally varies per country. These discrepancies are problematic in combatting the disease throughout the region. Many of the regions with low vaccination rates have some of the highest mortality rates as well, which has caused more need for the vaccine.
Access to COVID-19 Vaccines
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) released a report in April 2021 detailing vaccination distribution in Latin America. It included its recommendations and the challenges that Latin America needs to overcome to increase vaccination rates and better the population’s overall prospects. UNESCO gave strategies for vaccination, focusing on impoverished areas that have higher mortality rates. Yet, UNESCO also projects that only approximately a third of people in Latin America and the Caribbean will receive vaccinations by the end of 2021.
Guillermo Anllo, a UNESCO program head for Latin America and the Caribbean, spoke to Reuters in early August. Anllo emphasized how crucial equity is to the distribution of vaccines in Latin America. The pace of vaccination has been slow in the region as a whole due to structural issues. For example, the highest income countries throughout the world have vaccination rates that are 30 times faster than the countries that have the lowest incomes.
Furthermore, economies have experienced damage during the pandemic, especially those in the Caribbean who rely on tourism. This damage to tourism has a ripple effect on the purchasing power of the countries’ governments to obtain more vaccinations, slowing the process in this way as well.
Efforts to Increase Vaccine Distribution
Worldwide organizations and agencies have sent aid to Latin America throughout the spring of 2021. Most recently, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has vowed to increase access to vaccines and to help minimize transmission of COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean. This plan comes from PAHO’s Revolving Fund for Access to Vaccines, which has operated for more than 40 years to distribute vaccines to places in need. PAHO’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution in Latin America will go to the areas and people at the greatest risk in order to adequately and equitably protect the people of these regions.
With more vaccines on the way and a heightened urgency to vaccinate due to spreading variants, more inhabitants of Latin America will hopefully see higher rates of vaccinations and an increase in safety from the virus in the near future.
– Rebecca Fontana
Photo: Flickr