Uzbekistan, a landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the few countries in the world to avoid a severe economic downturn in the fiscal year 2020, received a financial projection from the World Bank indicating that Uzbekistan’s economy should improve about 6% in total in the fiscal year 2021. Here is some information about the country’s economy including what contributes to its growth.
Uzbekistan’s Economic Foundation
Uzbekistan’s economy is heavily reliant on agriculture. About 27% of the population works in agriculture, a sector that accounts for 28% of the nation’s gross domestic product. The most exported crop is cotton, which is a water-intensive crop. Most of Uzbekistan’s farming land requires heavy irrigation through the country’s “system of pumps and canals.” Uzbekistan, on average, produces more than 700,000 tons of cotton per year. In 2020, this brought in $78.87 million to Uzbekistan’s economy. Other agricultural products include livestock or seedlings. Altogether, Uzbekistan earned $15 billion from the exportation of goods alone.
What Changed in 2020?
Despite the difficulties involved in trade due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Uzbekistan’s agricultural sector remained steady and robust. The impact of the pandemic on unemployment was minimal and poverty has already begun reverting to its pre-pandemic levels. At the beginning of 2020, the unemployment rate was about 9% increasing to 11% by the end of the year. Since then, the poverty rate has re-stabilized at about 9.8% for the first three quarters of 2021. Experts expect this upward trend to continue during 2021.
In 2020, one of the reasons the agricultural sector was not as harshly affected as it was in other nations is because Uzbekistan began efforts to update farming technologies and develop a primarily agricultural export-oriented market to further the agricultural sector’s contributions to the nation’s GDP. In August 2021, a plan was approved to transform the agricultural sector in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The developmental plans will expand resources available for those working in agriculture and expand job accessibility in Uzbekistan. In turn, with the expanded job accessibility and resource expansion, the poverty rate in Uzbekistan has a significant chance of decreasing further. As agriculture remained a stable sector for business in 2019 and 2020, Uzbekistan’s government saw the opportunity for expansion and reorganization. This plays a significant role in the expected increase in Uzbekistan’s GDP.
Uzbekistan and the World Bank
The World Bank has partnered with Uzbekistan for decades. It tracks Uzbekistan’s overall poverty rate, economic growth and more. Uzbekistan’s partnership with the World Bank involves “providing technical advice on how to improve the country’s economic and financial management” with a focus on “private sector growth, agricultural competitiveness and modernization and improved public service delivery.” One of the aims also includes transitioning to “a market-based agriculture system.” This goal is also the primary aim of the Uzbekistan-USAID agricultural transformation strategy outlined for 2020-2030.
Throughout this partnership, the World Bank and Uzbekistan have developed policies to do away with child labor but expand job opportunities. Positively, Uzbekistan noted significant increases in the nation’s GDP since the partnership began.
In October 2021, the World Bank Vice President Anna Bjerde met with Uzbekistan’s president to discuss the partnership between the organization and the country and see how the World Bank can help Uzbekistan fulfill its goal of expanding into the market-based agriculture system. The system can help farmers operate more business ventures and expand their markets without many restrictions, leading to more job opportunities.
The Potential of a New Market
Much of the projected economic growth stems from the change in agriculture marketing in Uzbekistan. The country’s income from cotton exports and trade decreased to about $3 million in 2020, even though, in 2019, this amount was about five times higher. Despite this staggering drop, Uzbekistan’s economy remained fairly untouched.
Uzbekistan’s economy hardly shrank, which means a better chance for significant improvement this fiscal year. Furthermore, the increasing rate of vaccinations globally and the opening of markets for trade increase the potential for Uzbekistan’s economy to re-expand fully and continue expanding.
Positive projections for Uzbekistan’s economy provide confidence to Uzbekistan and will attract foreign investors. The positive projection increasing four points from the previous projection, as well as the expansion of the free agriculture-market system, potential job opportunities and the chance for more foreign investments, all point toward a positive 2021 for Uzbekistan and its economy.
– Clara Mulvihill
Photo: Flickr
Internet Accessibility in the Dominican Republic
Intelsat, an international satellite communications organization, is partnering “with coreNOC, Audio Union International and KM Systems and an undisclosed capital fund” to deliver affordable high-speed internet to rural areas of the Dominican Republic. In collaboration with the Dominican Republic government, the endeavor will help provide “a nationwide wireless internet and infrastructure system for the Ministry of Education.” Expanding internet accessibility in the Dominican Republic will benefit schoolchildren in the more rural and impoverished regions of the Dominican Republic by allowing them access to quality learning materials and lessons. The endeavor will also create more jobs in the telecommunications sector in the Dominican Republic, aiding in economic growth.
Internet Access in the Dominican Republic
Approximately 15% of the Dominican Republic’s population, or approximately 1.6 million people, live in rural areas. In these areas, internet accessibility has lagged. In 2016, internet accessibility in the Dominican Republic reached slightly more than 50% of the country’s population.
Adding and maintaining internet access is expensive and Dominican rural residents are often more impoverished than the rest of the island. The poverty in the rural sections of the Dominican Republic stems from the destruction of recurring natural disasters as well as an unproductive agricultural sector.
Benefiting School Children
In the Dominican Republic, in 2018, only 69% of children in rural areas had access to the internet. As a nation with “one of the world’s worst education systems,” in 2014, the Dominican Republic committed to reforming its education system by updating the curriculum and building better classrooms. Adding internet accessibility to classrooms has “the potential to improve the quality of education.” According to dotmagazine, the internet “opens doorways to a wealth of information, knowledge and educational resources, increasing opportunities for learning in and beyond the classroom.” In addition, “interactive teaching methods, supported by the internet, enable teachers to give more attention to individual students’ needs and support shared learning.”
As Dominican students progress from one education level to another, studies note a high dropout rate. Many students drop out of school to provide an income for their families. Others want to avoid adding further financial stress on their household with the costs of school. However, a lack of education significantly impacts an individual’s earning potential. A survey that the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic conducted in 2015 shows that students with a high school degree “earn more than 30% higher” incomes than individuals who only completed primary school. In general, a better quality education decreases overall poverty rates and the internet has the potential to increase the quality of education in the Dominican Republic.
Benefiting the Dominican Republic Workforce
Increased internet accessibility in the Dominican Republic will bring more jobs to the rural areas of the Dominican Republic. Most telecommunications jobs exist in larger cities, such as Santo Domingo. In July 2021, the Inter-American Development Bank proposed a project to improve internet connectivity in the Dominican Republic. This project alone could generate more than 33,000 local jobs. Furthermore, the World Bank estimates that with each telecommunication job generated, two to four more jobs emerge across other business sectors too.
Looking Ahead
The Dominican Republic’s poverty rate reached about 23% in 2020. Research suggests that improving internet access also increases the chances of lower poverty and unemployment rates. Intelsat’s proposed plan to improve internet accessibility in the Dominican Republic means that the nation can expect similar positive outcomes.
– Clara Mulvihill
Photo: Flickr
Impact of COVID-19 on Poverty in North Korea
North Korea has not reported a single case of COVID-19. According to NPR, the government has tested only 30,000 of the country’s 25 million people for the virus and has not reported any infections. Without any data to examine, global health experts and the international community have little understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on poverty in North Korea.
Yet, North Korea’s longtime despot Kim Jong-un recently announced that the country is amidst a “Great Crisis.” Jong-un cited the government’s failure to establish appropriate pandemic measures as the principal cause of the crisis. Jong-un’s statements have raised considerable questions about the impact of COVID-19 on poverty in North Korea, questions which have largely gone unanswered.
North Korea Before the Pandemic
Before the pandemic, North Korea’s population faced significant economic hurdles. The Heritage Foundation created an Index of Economic Freedom in 1995 that analyzes a country’s levels of various economic freedoms such as government spending, labor freedom, trade freedom and others, by using a score that falls between one and 100. The Foundation then ranks the country globally and regionally using an overall score. According to the Foundation’s 2021 report, North Korea’s economy has received a classification of “repressed” and has ranked lowest in the world on the Foundation’s Index since the year it began.
North Korea’s starving population bolsters the Heritage Foundation’s findings on economic freedom. North Korea has suffered yearly food shortages for decades, and in the year leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation expected still worse food shortages than usual. Poor harvests and international sanctions battered the North Korean economy as the U.N. reported that 40% of North Koreans would need food aid and more than 10 million were in “urgent need of assistance.”
The “Hermit Kingdom’s” Response to COVID-19
Once the COVID-19 pandemic began, North Korea quickly imposed strict measures to fight it. In one of the most comprehensive and swiftest responses to COVID-19, the government sealed its borders from virtually everyone, including China, its largest trading partner.
Some believe that the government’s isolationist policies were necessary. “North Korea’s all-of-government, comprehensive approach and the repeated holding of large-scale public gatherings suggest that it may have prevented any major outbreak,” said Harvard Medical School’s Kee B. Park.
However, the coronavirus and the government’s response have only bludgeoned an already starving people. According to Radio Free Asia, starvation has caused deaths, and those who cannot receive support from family have resorted to begging. Though the number of people infected is unclear, the increasing number of starving people in an already malnourished nation shows the tremendous impact of COVID-19 on poverty in North Korea.
Despite the worsening situation, North Korea still rejected deliveries of nearly 3 million Chinese-made Sinovac vaccines and more than 2 million Astrazeneca vaccine shipments. The government has expressed concerns about the viability of the vaccines it rejected.
Signs of Progress
Though there is a dearth of information regarding the impact of COVID-19 in North Korea, there have been moments that warrant optimism. For Instance, Kim Jong-un has now acknowledged the food shortages plaguing the country and has even signed an order that may open wartime food supplies to the North Korean people. In addition, the North Korean government has started to ease its closures by accepting shipments of medical supplies including health kits and medicine from the WHO, U.N. and other agencies.
– Richard J. Vieira
Photo: Flickr
Women’s Health In Nigeria
Women’s health is a branch of medicine that focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of conditions that affect women’s physical and emotional wellbeing. The promotion of women’s health greatly improves the quality of life for women and children globally. Unfortunately, women in the West African country of Nigeria experience an especially low quality of life. Luckily, several organizations in Nigeria are targeting an improvement in women’s health.
Women’s Health and Multidimensional Poverty in Nigeria
According to the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), multidimensional poverty includes poverty in both the economic and social dimensions. It follows that health and wellbeing are significant factors in each of those dimensions. In the 2019 Human Development Report, Nigeria ranked 161 out of 189 countries. Moreover, Nigerians had an average life expectancy of 54 years.
Nigerian researchers Yetunde Abosede Zaid and Samuel Popoola attribute the low quality of life for rural women in Nigeria to poverty, hunger, diseases, a lack of drinking water and shelter. They also cite low income and access to medical attention and information as factors of poor wellbeing. For example, Zaid and Popoola reference a study that concludes that more rural women could become wage earners and boost their personal wellbeing if they began small businesses selling the produce from their farms. However, lack of access to information about running a small business stops them from doing that. In fact, since most rural women in Nigeria cannot read, they need alternatives to printed materials to get that key information. The following three organizations are working to improve these trends in women’s health in Nigeria.
Centre for Women’s Health and Information
Founded in 2003 in Lagos, the Centre for Women’s Health and Information (CEWHIN) promotes the fundamental rights of Nigerian women and girls. To do this, CEWHIN focuses on research, capacity building and advocacy.
One of the nonprofit’s initiatives includes the Women’s Development Action Network. This project empowers disadvantaged women by providing them with educational scholarships. This is because better-educated women better understand their reproductive health rights. To date, the project has supported 50 students, including four at the university level.
Women’s Health Solutions in Nigeria
Next, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA) seeks to improve health outcomes for women, infants and children. Founded in Lagos in 2004 by the philanthropist Toyin Ojora Saraki, the WBFA sponsors several national projects. One of these, MamaCares360, empowers mothers by providing health information and education before, during and after pregnancy. Currently, MamaCares 360 runs in 29 locations in five southwestern Nigerian states, and it has a cumulative daily attendance of over 2,000 women per state with more than 230,000 repeated contacts.
Women’s Rights and Health Project
Third, the Women’s Rights and Health Project is a nongovernmental nonprofit that promotes reproductive health and rights for women, young people and communities. Founded in 2007, WRAHP applies practical interventions to support community health in southwestern Nigeria. One such intervention promotes the early detection of breast, cervical and prostate cancer for communities in Lagos State. To date, it has helped over 1,300 people obtain screenings.
Looking Ahead to Improve Women’s Health in Nigeria
Each of these organizations targeting women’s health in Nigeria works a little differently, but each is making progress to improve the health and quality of life for Nigerian women, children and young adults.
– Ozi Ojukwu
Photo: Flickr
Programs Addressing HIV/AIDS in Mexico
To better understand the HIV/AIDS crisis in Mexico, looking at the numbers alone is only half the equation. In 2020, UNAIDS reported 340,000 people living with HIV, a 55% increase from 2018’s report of 230,000. The stigma surrounding positive HIV status plays a significant role in discouraging HIV testing and treatment. However, several programs in Mexico aim to make treatment more accessible and address the underlying issues relating to HIV/AIDS in Mexico.
HIV/AIDS in Mexico
HIV prevalence in Mexico is notably high among gay men, prisoners, transgender people and sex workers. Men who have sex with men (MSM) account for the highest number of infected people, with approximately 1.2 million men affected in this category. Despite this fact, only about 40% of these individuals go for HIV testing and know their HIV/AIDS status. Homophobia and a machismo culture mean that “sex between men is highly stigmatized.” Therefore, individuals within this category are hesitant to access HIV testing. Regular HIV testing is significantly higher in the transgender and sex workers communities at 62% and 66% respectively. The stigma surrounding HIV leaves many unaware of their status and exposed to potential transmission.
“PrEParing” for a Better Future
The fight against HIV/AIDS in Mexico starts with the United Nations PrEP program. On September 13, 2018, the U.N. launched its pilot PrEP program with the goal of targeting high-risk HIV-negative individuals. PrEP or (pre-exposure prophylaxis), is a preventive treatment for HIV-negative people who have an increased likelihood of coming into contact with the virus, such as sex workers and individuals whose partners have HIV.
The program received $26 million in HIV treatment funding to assist “7,500 at-risk people in Mexico, Brazil and Peru” until 2020. In Mexico, the PrEP program was open to assist up to 3,000 people with free treatments across four Mexican cities including Puerto Vallarta, Mexico City, Merida and Guadalajara. Additionally, patients received STD testing, counseling and condoms free of charge.
In a 2018 press release, Dr. Ariel Campos of Jalisco’s State Council for AIDS Prevention (COESIDA) said that in Puerto Vallarta, 300 people would receive a one-month supply of Truvada through the program. After the first month, the plan was to re-test patients for HIV and other STDs and then put them on a “three-month schedule” of Truvada. Studies show that PrEP is 99% successful at preventing HIV infection “when taken as prescribed.”
Protecting Prisoners
The Mexican Movement for Positive Citizenship (MMPC) helps combat HIV/AIDS in Mexico by helping those “invisible to society.” Many living with HIV in Mexico’s prisons often lack basic medical treatment, including prisoners in the advanced stages of the AIDS illness. People living with HIV in prison have personally affected each woman working with the MMPC.
For 30 years, Georgina Gutiérrez, a human rights activist and representative for the MMPC, has worked with Mexicans living with HIV. Her partner faced eight years of imprisonment in the Santa Martha Acatitla Penitentiary where the reality of the prison system opened her eyes. MMPC is one of 30 UNAIDS initiatives encouraging community-based HIV work. MMPC “received an award of $5,000” to carry out its work. To date, the MMPC has helped 180 HIV-positive prisoners at the Santa Martha Acatitla Penitentiary, providing both COVID-19 PPE and HIV/AIDS training. An additional 1,000 prisoners and staff have “benefited from the project.”
The efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Mexico continues to grow with help from everyday citizens, commitments from organizations and advancements in medicine. If support continues to grow, the stigma behind HIV/AIDS in Mexico will soon be a thing of the past and Mexico will have its HIV/AIDS crisis well under control.
– Sal Huizar
Photo: Flickr
The Predicted 6% Increase in Uzbekistan’s Economy
Uzbekistan, a landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the few countries in the world to avoid a severe economic downturn in the fiscal year 2020, received a financial projection from the World Bank indicating that Uzbekistan’s economy should improve about 6% in total in the fiscal year 2021. Here is some information about the country’s economy including what contributes to its growth.
Uzbekistan’s Economic Foundation
Uzbekistan’s economy is heavily reliant on agriculture. About 27% of the population works in agriculture, a sector that accounts for 28% of the nation’s gross domestic product. The most exported crop is cotton, which is a water-intensive crop. Most of Uzbekistan’s farming land requires heavy irrigation through the country’s “system of pumps and canals.” Uzbekistan, on average, produces more than 700,000 tons of cotton per year. In 2020, this brought in $78.87 million to Uzbekistan’s economy. Other agricultural products include livestock or seedlings. Altogether, Uzbekistan earned $15 billion from the exportation of goods alone.
What Changed in 2020?
Despite the difficulties involved in trade due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Uzbekistan’s agricultural sector remained steady and robust. The impact of the pandemic on unemployment was minimal and poverty has already begun reverting to its pre-pandemic levels. At the beginning of 2020, the unemployment rate was about 9% increasing to 11% by the end of the year. Since then, the poverty rate has re-stabilized at about 9.8% for the first three quarters of 2021. Experts expect this upward trend to continue during 2021.
In 2020, one of the reasons the agricultural sector was not as harshly affected as it was in other nations is because Uzbekistan began efforts to update farming technologies and develop a primarily agricultural export-oriented market to further the agricultural sector’s contributions to the nation’s GDP. In August 2021, a plan was approved to transform the agricultural sector in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The developmental plans will expand resources available for those working in agriculture and expand job accessibility in Uzbekistan. In turn, with the expanded job accessibility and resource expansion, the poverty rate in Uzbekistan has a significant chance of decreasing further. As agriculture remained a stable sector for business in 2019 and 2020, Uzbekistan’s government saw the opportunity for expansion and reorganization. This plays a significant role in the expected increase in Uzbekistan’s GDP.
Uzbekistan and the World Bank
The World Bank has partnered with Uzbekistan for decades. It tracks Uzbekistan’s overall poverty rate, economic growth and more. Uzbekistan’s partnership with the World Bank involves “providing technical advice on how to improve the country’s economic and financial management” with a focus on “private sector growth, agricultural competitiveness and modernization and improved public service delivery.” One of the aims also includes transitioning to “a market-based agriculture system.” This goal is also the primary aim of the Uzbekistan-USAID agricultural transformation strategy outlined for 2020-2030.
Throughout this partnership, the World Bank and Uzbekistan have developed policies to do away with child labor but expand job opportunities. Positively, Uzbekistan noted significant increases in the nation’s GDP since the partnership began.
In October 2021, the World Bank Vice President Anna Bjerde met with Uzbekistan’s president to discuss the partnership between the organization and the country and see how the World Bank can help Uzbekistan fulfill its goal of expanding into the market-based agriculture system. The system can help farmers operate more business ventures and expand their markets without many restrictions, leading to more job opportunities.
The Potential of a New Market
Much of the projected economic growth stems from the change in agriculture marketing in Uzbekistan. The country’s income from cotton exports and trade decreased to about $3 million in 2020, even though, in 2019, this amount was about five times higher. Despite this staggering drop, Uzbekistan’s economy remained fairly untouched.
Uzbekistan’s economy hardly shrank, which means a better chance for significant improvement this fiscal year. Furthermore, the increasing rate of vaccinations globally and the opening of markets for trade increase the potential for Uzbekistan’s economy to re-expand fully and continue expanding.
Positive projections for Uzbekistan’s economy provide confidence to Uzbekistan and will attract foreign investors. The positive projection increasing four points from the previous projection, as well as the expansion of the free agriculture-market system, potential job opportunities and the chance for more foreign investments, all point toward a positive 2021 for Uzbekistan and its economy.
– Clara Mulvihill
Photo: Flickr
Foreign Aid and The Impacts of COVID-19 in Guyana
Guyana, the only English-speaking country in South America, shares borders with Suriname, Venezuela and Brazil. According to 2021 data from the World Population Review, Guyana is the 17th most impoverished nation on the continent. Guyana’s economy relies mostly on its natural resources and has seen great improvements since the discovery of petroleum and gas reservoirs in 2015. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the country socially and economically. Fortunately, foreign aid is contributing to Guyana’s recovery and the safeguarding of its population during COVID-19 in Guyana. Here is some information about the impacts of COVID-19 in Guyana including measures to help the country deal with the pandemic.
The Impacts of COVID-19 in Guyana
Similar to the rest of the world, Guyana has not been exempt from the impacts of COVID-19. By September 19, 2021, Guyana reported a total of 29,553 COVID-19 cases and 725 deaths.
In 2020, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) assessed the socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Guyana and found alarming results. Telephone survey results indicate that about 10% of respondents cannot access healthcare, mostly because health centers are not equipped with the necessary medical supplies and limited healthcare facilities lead to overcrowding.
Furthermore, almost 60% of respondents reported concerns of not having adequate food during COVID-19 and “22% have skipped meals since the pandemic” began. Spending more than 60% of their income on food supplies is the reality of 18% of respondents. Income cuts affect 20% of respondents, with businesses closing down or “reduced work” accounting for 70% of these income losses. People who have had to dip into their savings due to financial difficulties make up 52% of the respondents and roughly 70% of “households indicated a need for priority assistance, including cash, food and hygiene products.” The financial impacts of COVID-19 impact women-headed households the most as 76% required financial help.
Foreign Aid Counts
In 2021, Guyana has received three shipments of COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX Facility — a partnership between “global [nonprofits] and leaders in vaccine development and distribution,” totaling 100,800 doses. France has also donated 19,200 extra doses to Guyana. These numbers together represent approximately 23% of all doses administered up until September 2021 when the same percentage of people had been fully vaccinated and 44% had at least started the vaccination protocol.
In June 2021, the World Bank approved $6 million in financial aid for the Guyana COVID-19 Emergency Response Project. This aid is not only for the purchase of vaccines but also for awareness-raising efforts and overall improvements in the country’s health system.
Finally, the United States has been one of the major allies improving Guyana’s situation, donating $1.3 million to aid Guyana’s COVID-19 response. The global superpower also benefits from helping Guyana stabilize socially and economically since the two countries have strong bilateral economic relations; the nations rely heavily on each other for imports and exports of goods, for example. In August 2021, the U.S. also shipped 146,250 cost-free Pfizer vaccine doses to the country. Guyana’s Ministry of Health stated that it has enough doses to immunize all Guyanese adults thanks to its foreign “friends.” Widespread vaccination is essential in fighting the global pandemic and reducing social-economic instability.
Looking Ahead
Guyana’s economy has been growing exponentially since the discovery of oil and gas reserves on its coast. However, the pandemic has impacted the well-being of a great part of the population with widespread job losses, income cuts and difficulties accessing healthcare, among other challenges. Foreign aid plays an essential role in Guyana’s path to recovery, mostly by accelerating immunization and promoting the improvement of the country’s health system. The United States is one of Guyana’s main donors and partners, benefiting directly from Guyana’s upturn.
– Iasmine Oliveira
Photo: Flickr
USAID: Aiding the Economy in Timor-Leste
Timor-Leste, a small island nation previously known as East Timor, is inarguably enduring a very difficult and trying year. The combination of devastating floods after Cyclone Seroja in 2021 and the COVID-19 pandemic has left the nation desperately in need of assistance. Due to these disasters, the nation’s economy is currently struggling to find its way back to stability. Fortunately, on September 13, 2021, USAID announced plans to contribute an additional $1 million toward COVID-19 relief in Timor. This generous contribution will aid the goal of saving lives and the economy in Timor-Leste.
COVID-19 in Timor-Leste
Like any other nation, Timor-Leste has felt the inescapable effects of COVID-19. With a population of 1.3 million, the nation has witnessed 19,445 cases and 114 deaths as of September 28, 2021. Despite these numbers, as of September 28, 2021, Timor-Leste’s full vaccination rate stands at only about 20% of the population. This leaves an astounding number of people still unprotected.
The combination of flooding and COVID-19 has been catastrophic for Timor-Leste’s economy. In 2020, the nation’s economy endured a decline of 7%. Lockdowns and other restrictions amid COVID-19 led to significantly lower economic activity. While imports saw a reduction of approximately 19% “due to a slowdown in construction and travel services,” exports suffered even more, essentially declining by almost 50% “owing to limited travel services and lower coffee earnings.”
Because COVID-19 is a significant threat to the economy in Timor-Leste, increasing the country’s overall vaccination rate is crucial. Ending lockdowns and restoring normalcy will allow economic activity to return to pre-pandemic levels. Due to these harsh impacts, COVID-19 relief from organizations such as USAID is necessary for saving lives and the economy in Timor-Leste.
Assistance From USAID
USAID is a U.S. agency with a dedication to providing assistance during times of disaster at an international level. It works to eliminate poverty on a global scale, “strengthen democratic governance and help people emerge from humanitarian crises and progress beyond assistance.”
Along with an existing amount of $1.6 million that USAID allocated for COVID-19 relief in Timor-Leste, USAID is now providing an additional $1 million in support of this cause. The amount of COVID-19 aid to Timor-Leste from the United States now totals $5 million.
This added funding will contribute to the expansion of vaccination programs by employing prominent organizations and “trusted leaders” to encourage Timorese citizens to receive vaccinations. These efforts specifically focus on underserved communities on the outskirts of Dili, the largest city in Timor-Leste.
Partnering with Timorese officials, USAID also intends to instruct healthcare employees within rural and agricultural communities on vaccine protocols such as proper storage and transportation manners. Furthermore, USAID aims for vaccine equity, ensuring equal opportunity for all citizens to receive the vaccine. Additionally, USAID will partner with the Ministry of Health in Timor-Leste to closely monitor COVID-19 statistics in order to determine the safest resolutions for the nation and its citizens in the future.
Moving Forward
With USAID’s generous $1 million to fight the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the future looks promising for Timor-Leste and its population despite facing a tumultuous year. Through the support of organizations such as USAID, hope exists for restoring normalcy in Timor-Leste.
Not only are expanded vaccination efforts helping save lives but these efforts are also restoring economic stability in the country. With continued international support, Timor-Leste can successfully rebuild and recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
– River Simpson
Photo: Flickr
Child Poverty in The Bahamas
Of the several nations and the many diverse peoples of Central America and the Caribbean, The Bahamas is one of the most beautiful and iconic. Well known for its thriving tourist industry, many U.S. citizens visit this collection of islands on vacation. The Bahamas has continued to rise in GDP and other metrics of quality of life for its citizens due to its successful tourism industry and offshore financing industry. Despite the growth that The Bahamas continues to present, there have been some concerning trends that have threatened this. Specifically, there have been problems and uncontrollable circumstances that the children have had to face. These problems affect the country and its future. Amongst these struggles, external catastrophes hit many of the most vulnerable children hardest, exacerbating child poverty in The Bahamas. This includes Hurricane Dorian in 2018 and more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic.
Child Poverty Rates
The Bahamas’ poverty rate is comparable to some of its Caribbean neighbors. Studies found that 12.5% of the population is living under the poverty line with under $5,000 a year. Many of these households support children. Additionally, children under the age of 14 represent the group with the highest poverty rate in the country.
Without access to resources and basic needs, these children are likely to have trouble maturing. The lack of food, sleep and time for a developing child who poverty affects will directly affect their performance in academics, recreation, social interactions and other aspects of their life.
Blocks in Education
As The Bahamas has grown its economy and infrastructure its education systems have also grown to match. However, there has been an alarming disparity in the quality and access to education. The literacy rate in people over the age of 15 decreased from 98% in 1995 to 93% in 2020. Many have largely attributed this trend to the difference in the quality of education between private and public schools.
Public state-run schools have a graduation rate of 44% for boys and 51% for girls while the graduation rate is 87.6% for those in private institutions. The reason for this variance is the lack of funding and resources for teaching materials, school supplies, and internet access for those in public schools.
Home Situations
The Bahamas has a very low dual household dynamic. More than 50% of all children in The Bahamas are born out of wedlock and a single parent often raises them. This is a holdover from times when large families lived together, so children did not feel the absence of a parent so harshly. However, the commonality of this has faded.
Children that single parents raise, especially those suffering from poverty, have more developmental and material disadvantages in life. The education challenges and dropout rates among the youth of The Bahamas reflect this issue.
Children are the Future of The Bahamas
Help from NGOs and other countries has been stagnant because of the COVID-19 pandemic and lack of awareness. Project Hope is an organization that has a consistent presence in The Bahamas, although there are no large organizations. However, Project Hope’s work should receive commendation and undergo replication because they have been instrumental in shedding light on the challenges that people in The Bahamas face.
Project Hope is an NGO that focuses primarily on health care needs and services. They have been bringing aid, resources and expertise to The Bahamas. Beginning after Hurricane Dorian, Project Hope has focused on providing health care services for children, including those who experience child poverty in The Bahamas. This helps the children to further their education.
The Bahamas has been in a vicious cycle of struggling children becoming struggling adults. Rather than beautiful beaches or offshore tax evasion, children are at once the most vulnerable and most valuable resource that The Bahamas has.
– John J. Lee
Photo: Flickr
Horn of Africa Development Initiative in Kenya
In a part of the African region known as the Horn of Africa, Kenya has made significant reforms in the past 10 years to ignite economic growth in the nation. However, like the rest of the world, economic progress in Kenya came to a halt during the COVID-19 pandemic. With a vulnerable economy, poverty and inequality remain daunting issues. Infestations of locusts began in January 2020, which further weakened the economic infrastructure, particularly in the Northeast part of Kenya. The Horn of Africa Development Initiative aims to uplift and empower Kenyans living in poverty.
The Impact of COVID-19 on Poverty in Kenya
For many Kenyans, food security is a serious problem. According to the Kenya COVID-19 Poverty Monitor by the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network, by January 2020, some families could not afford more expensive foods such as vegetables while others only ate one or two meals per day. In addition, “lower agricultural yields” create further stress on households as does job loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 has impacted the Kenyan economy through “supply and demand shocks.” In 2020, real gross domestic product in Kenya dropped by 0.3%. Service sectors such as tourism and education faced disruption and manufacturing took a hit as well.
Help for Kenyans in Need
An inventive non-governmental organization is working to help families in need and reduce global poverty by building resilient communities. Fatuma A. Adan founded the Horn of Africa Development Initiative (HODI) in 2003, in Marsabit, Northern Kenya. Through “advocacy, education, peacebuilding and sustainable livelihoods,” the NGO works with communities and women who struggle to meet their basic needs.
Due to unemployment, locust infestation and frequent droughts that wither crops, many households are barely able to put food on the table every month. Because economic shocks disproportionately impact women-headed households, HODI runs a program with disadvantaged Kenyan women in mind.
Building Resilient Communities Program
HODI’s Building Resilient Communities Program aims to empower women and help communities increase their economic power. The program encourages village women to organize into groups of 10 to 50 women to save money together. Each member must save “at least 10 shillings every day: three shillings for education, three shillings for hospital bills and four shillings for small business.” After 30 days, this amounts to 300 shillings per member, which goes into a bank account that the women operate. From this pooled money, “women take out small loans repayable in small monthly installments” to fund their children’s education, pay medical bills and even start their own businesses.
With the revenue from their small businesses, women can”repay their loans” and also provide for their families and achieve financial independence. Within the program, HODI helps participants with record-keeping and teaches them financial literacy.
With the donations HODI receives for this program, HODI “inject[s] grants into the groups to increase the amount of money that is available for loans” and provides households with “water tanks to increase the water-saving capacity” of families.
Bringing Women Together for a Shared Purpose
Another benefit of the Building Resilient Communities Program is that although the women belong to different ethnic groups, they come together for a common purpose. Because HODI founder “Fatuma Adan was born to parents from two warring tribes in Marsabit, Northern Kenya,” she made it her goal to help unite people from different factions.
For her work in building resilient communities in Kenya, Adan received the Stuttgart Peace Prize in 2011, among other awards. In 2012, Adan received a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. With support and funding from donors, the Horn of Africa Development Initiative can continue to empower and uplift Kenyans living in poverty.
– Sarah Betuel
Photo: Flickr
Child Poverty in the Gambia
Child poverty in the Gambia is a rampant issue throughout the country. While the smallest country in West Africa, the Gambia’s rising poverty and food insecurity cause significant concern for children’s future safety and health. Despite the attempts to encourage positive change, 48% of the 2.1 million people living in the Gambia live in poverty, and 10.3% of the children suffer from acute malnutrition, with a more significant number being food insecure.
COVID-19 and Poverty
Globally, COVID-19 has struck economies and the healthcare systems of every nation, regardless of size or wealth. Though COVID-19 indiscriminately targeted the world’s populations, the healthcare system’s integrity and economic power were essential in protecting and supporting a nation’s citizens. In August 2020, households with insufficient food intake rose to 22% from 20% in July 2020, with the World Food Programme (WFP) attributing those changes to the pandemic. COVID-19 has more than doubled the quarterly increase of acute malnutrition at 5.6%, impacting approximately 58,177 children.
On top of increasing food insecurity, COVID-19 causes an increase in child poverty in the Gambia as employment decreases and the nation’s food supply decreases. The combining factors in the past two years add to the previous instability in the Gambia that included high rates of poverty and malnutrition.
Child Labor and Abuse
In the Gambia, child labor is a common occurrence, and even child prostitution remains a significant issue within the country. According to the U.S. Department of Labor and the United Nations, minors’ commercial exploitation and trafficking in the Gambia contributes to the illegal sex tourism business. This form of labor is illegal while enforcement and allegations fail to eliminate the reoccurring allegations. Without a robust justice system and significant improvement in entrepreneurship in the Gambia, illegal and horrifying child abuse will likely continue with minimal justice for the victims.
Besides the concerning presence of child prostitution, children ages 5 to 14 are working at a rate of 22.6%, and children attending school while working are at 21.7%. Typical fields of child labor are farming, mining, scavenging or street begging. While the child labor forms are nowhere near the complete list of potential labor fields, the necessity and use of children in the positions reflect the high rates of child poverty in the Gambia.
Education and Poverty
As with any nation, there is a direct association between poverty and education, especially with commonplace child labor. Although there have been slight improvements in education, such as 78% enrollment in primary schools, retention remains a significant issue for Gambian children. Of the 65.5% of students that complete primary school education, only 45.8% enter a lower secondary school and only 29.2% reach an upper secondary school education. The primary concern is approximately 20% of school-age children never enter the education system, reflecting a significant piece of the population unable to reach full economic potential.
Education is an essential aspect of youth in many emerging economies, as it allows individuals to enter specific and unique aspects of the global market. Without education, it can be challenging to improve socioeconomic status or advance development within one’s country. The combined rates of child education and child labor reflect the loss in economic potential and the inability to decrease poverty in the Gambia internally. Child poverty in the Gambia will continue without increasing the assistance to build up the education system and enforce ratified child labor laws. The factors of food insecurity, child poverty and weak systems to combat social issues contribute to the estimation that Gambian children only reach 40% of their full potential.
Looking Ahead
In an attempt to reduce child poverty in the Gambia, NGOs are providing supplies and monetary support to ensure safety, health and education. Child Aid Gambia is one organization that is supporting children, with multiple programs, including Bakoteh Rubbish Dump or Feeding Programmes. The Bakoteh Rubbish Dump spans over one kilometer in each direction and sits in the district of the busy township Serekunda. This dump is one of the largest and most toxic in the Gambia and Child Aid Gambia found children between 4 years old and older scavenging for metal and scraps to sell in the location. The Bakoteh Rubbish Dump Program works to reintegrate the children scavenging the dump back into local schools to ensure their education.
With the high rates of food scarcity, the Feeding Programmes assist the poorest communities by providing high-quality food for families and those suffering from malnutrition, especially with shorter rainy seasons in recent years causing massive drought. The care packages act as lifelines for communities experiencing drought or economic losses stagnating development. Without organizations such as Child Aid Gambia, there would be higher food insecurity and poverty levels throughout the nation. To end child poverty in the Gambia, NGOs and government organizations need to increase support for systemic change for education and ground-level support for food-insecure and impoverished children.
– Mikey Redding
Photo: Flickr