The year 2021 is setting records in extreme heat and droughts, and Turkey is currently facing its worst heatwave in 30 years. On July 28, 2021, wildfires began to spread across the southwest coastline of Turkey. A total of 156 destructive blazes erupted and killed nine people, during these natural disasters in Turkey. The strong winds, low humidity and temperatures above 204 degrees Fahrenheit helped spread the fires quickly and made it extremely difficult to work towards putting out the fires. According to the Mugla municipality, wildfires have already affected more than 230,000 acres in Turkey.
Under Fire
Disputes have emerged as to whether or not Turkey’s government was prepared to handle such natural disasters. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is receiving criticism for not purchasing properly equipped firefighting planes despite knowing that Turkey often faces wildfires.
The fires began in mountainous southwest Turkey, meaning ground intervention was not possible. Despite the Turkish Aeronautical Association containing previous fires with planes, the government claimed to have no water-dropping planes in inventory.
Floods Follow Fire
Changing weather is causing more extreme environmental events throughout the world, and Turkey is facing several of these disasters. By August 9, 2021, heavy rainfall helped put out all but two fires. Just days after, starting August 11, 2021, Turkey faced flash floods that swept through the Black Sea Coast. With a current death toll of 77 and 47 people still missing, the torrents of water and debris are devastating from these Natural DIsasters in Turkey.
The most heavily hit area is Kastamonu province, where apartment buildings experienced destruction after the Ezine river burst its banks. Additionally, the floods collapsed buildings, destroyed bridges, clogged the streets and cut the power supply. Over 1,700 people were evacuated, with boats and helicopters rescuing many citizens.
Natural Disasters and Poverty
There is a clear connection between natural disasters and poverty; natural disasters disproportionately affect poor people. Following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Turkey’s poverty rate rose above 12%, meaning that these natural disasters will heavily affect many people. Unfortunately, the Turkish government did little to deal with the economic impact of COVID-19, and the lack of support contributed to rising poverty levels.
When facing poverty, any amount of impact on assets or consumption levels is a threat. Often, those facing poverty have to accept living in more risky areas due to affordability, which can lead to devastating outcomes during natural disasters. Additionally, people in low-income countries have less infrastructure to protect them.
A World Bank report found that the impact of extreme weather events on poverty is even more devastating than previously thought. Each year, natural disasters cause consumption losses of $520 billion and push 26 million people into poverty.
Often, events like these increase the damage to buildings, infrastructure and agriculture. These losses only represent the losses of those wealthy enough to lose something, and they fail to show the magnitude that the world’s poor suffer. With this idea in mind, the World Bank warns that natural disasters are a huge impediment to ending global poverty, and it is essential that poor people receive social and financial protection from unavoidable disasters.
The Good News
Poland sent firefighters, police officers and equipment to Turkey in order to help deal with the fires and flooding. Additionally, hundreds of Turkish volunteers banded together to help fight the fire. Volunteers formed a human chain to help carry equipment to firefighters and even put out a hillside fire with instruction from fire crews.
Turkish Philanthropy Funds has set up a Wildfire Relief Fund in order to provide support during the wildfires in Turkey. This support includes provisions of food and emergency aid to help those affected.
– Jacqueline Zembek
Photo: Flickr
How Labor Unions Can Alleviate Poverty
The Decline in Labor Unions
The recent trend toward globalization has admittedly fostered business competitiveness. However, this threatens labor unions due to the belief that unionization can harm a company’s ability to compete internationally. This belief stems from the strong negotiating power of unions, forcing companies to pay and treat their workers well, which many international companies do not have to do. In addition, organizational and technological changes have threatened union longevity. The final contributing factor is the decline of the manufacturing sector, a sector that is more likely to support unionization than other industries.
Along with the organizational factors contributing to the decrease in labor unions, the societal understanding of the value of labor unions is also decreasing. In part due to mass propaganda campaigns and anti-labor advertising unleashed by businesses in the last three decades, there is a growing sentiment that these organizations are no longer useful or necessary. This sentiment poses a direct threat to workers throughout the world as these organizations play an important role in poverty reduction.
Decrease in Economic Inequality
Labor unions play an important role in decreasing economic inequality. Unions provide people with the power to negotiate, which in turn, strengthens the middle class and increases salaries for blue-collar workers. Unions give power to people in lower positions in companies so they can negotiate and work for better wages. Unionized workers are typically able to raise their wages by 20% through negotiation.
White-collar workers do not reap the same benefits and labor unions play an important role in stopping runaway incomes for people at the top. This gives power to the middle class and reduces the power of the top 1%. Not only do higher wages for blue-collar workers support the workers themselves but they also boost economic mobility for future generations. By empowering workers to collectively bargain for higher wages, labor unions have played a vital role in the rise of the middle class.
Healthcare
Because members of labor unions can negotiate better benefits, they are 30% more likely to have healthcare benefits than non-union workers. Additionally, these healthcare benefits are typically higher quality than baseline coverage. On average, unionized workers are more likely to have health plans, including dental and vision care. Quality health insurance plays an important role in reducing the risk of poverty. The CDC finds that workers who possess and utilize health plans are more productive. Increased productivity among workers provides a foundation for educational and workplace success.
Along with increasing productivity, quality healthcare can reduce the risk of medical debt-induced poverty. Medical coverage for working adults can also cover the worker’s children. This is important as children who have medical coverage are less likely to develop chronic health conditions. Through family care, labor unions provide workers and their families the resources necessary to remain in good health, achieve success and protect their futures.
Work-Life Balance
Labor unions provide workers with the chance to negotiate better working conditions, including more paid time off. Unionized workers have 26.6% more vacation time on average than non-unionized workers. This time off is important for a work-life balance, overall longevity and family time. Children who spend quality time with their parents are more likely to be physically healthy and are less likely to partake in risky behaviors such as drug and alcohol abuse. Furthermore, these children are more likely to stay in school and achieve academic success, helping them secure well-paying jobs in the future. By supporting a work-life balance, labor unions ensure that households have a pathway out of poverty.
In these ways, labor unions play a vital role in reducing poverty. By increasing wages, strengthening the middle class, providing healthcare access and facilitating quality family time, labor unions can help people break cycles of poverty.
– Haylee Ann Ramsey-Code
Photo: Flickr
3D Printing Homes: the Future of Housing?
What is the Current Demand for Affordable Housing?
Before the pandemic, approximately 2% of the world’s population was classified as homeless. In addition, over 20% of the world’s population lacked adequate housing. Demographic trends point to an acceleration in population growth worldwide, coupled with the decline of average household size, the global need for affordable housing is increasing rapidly.
The UN estimates—with ‘medium growth’—the world’s population will reach over 11 billion people by the end of this century. Furthermore, environmental instances have displaced millions of people around the world, make it harder to live in some places. The need for affordable housing is clear, however, new 3D printing homes could be the answer to producing quality affordable housing around the world.
What does 3D Printed Housing Offer?
Compared to traditional housing methods, 3D printing is faster and cheaper. Moreover, 3D printing offers environmental benefits. By limiting construction and waste the method is carbon neutral or even negative. With millions of people living in poorly constructed homes made with scrap metal and dirt floors, 3D printed homes promise a safer and better-quality living environment. Living in slum housing can not only make it harder to succeed in school or at work, but the dangerous living conditions can present physical health risks.
3D printed homes are made to last. 3D printing creates a hybrid concrete mortar that hardens while printing. As a result, the tool can mass-produce ‘housing kits’ with the structures needed to build a home.
Current 3D Printing Examples
In the city of Chennai, India, the country is seeing its first 3D printed homes thanks to NGO Tvasta. “Traditional construction is tedious and time-consuming. People are increasingly getting left out as affordability is limited, or settling for low-quality homes,” said Adithya Jain, the company’s CEO. They built the first house in five days. Additionally, they used 30% less of the budget than planned and produced less environmental waste in the process.
In El Salvador, an American company ICON has successfully replaced slums with 3D-printed housing. They have designed a 350-square foot home which was assembled in approximately two days. “Something that sounds like science fiction is real… This is meant to be long-term sustainable housing,” said Jason Ballard the co-founder of ICON.
3D Printing’s Promising Future
As the demand for affordable housing continues to increase, there will be a need to invest in technology that allows us to keep up with the demand, giving everyone the opportunity to live in safe and quality housing. 3D printed homes have the potential to help end global poverty and the worldwide housing crisis.
– Alex Muckenfuss
Photo: Flickr
Impact of COVID-19 on Poverty in Iran
The impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Iran is severe. The pandemic accelerated the decline of Iran’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the rise of unemployment. Despite the economic crisis, Tehran’s massive natural resources allow the country to effectively recover economically if the newly elected Ebrahim Raisi is willing to end the country’s decades-long hostility with the United States.
The US Sanctions and Economic Crisis Before COVID-19
Before analyzing the impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Iran, one needs to understand the context in which the pandemic took place. In May 2018, under President Trump, the U.S. withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). As a result of the U.S. withdrawal, a “maximum pressure” campaign that consisted of unilateral sanctions against the Middle Eastern country replaced the Obama-era Iran foreign policy.
The sanctions contributed significantly to the downfall of Iran’s economy. The country’s GDP went down by 11% and average living standards have reduced by 13%. The “maximum pressure” campaign also caused an inflation shock. The sanctions cut oil exports, which reduced the supply of foreign exchange and resulted in hyperinflation. For example, the sanctions were one of the main reasons for prices rising by 41% in 2019.
How COVID-19 Worsened Iran’s Economic Crisis
The pandemic has further accelerated the crisis of the already declining Iranian economy. The mismanagement of the COVID-19 outbreak resulted in Iran being one of the worst impacted countries in the world, with almost 94,603 deaths and more than four million overall cases. Considering how widespread the highly transmissible Delta variant is and the fact that only about 4% of the country’s 83 million citizens are fully vaccinated, the future seems even more pessimistic.
Observing the health effects of the pandemic, it is not surprising how severely COVID-19 damaged Iran’s economy. In 2020, an estimated three to four million Iranians were at risk of losing their jobs, with the potential of increasing the actual (not official) unemployment rate from 20% to more than 35%. The country’s GDP shrunk by 5% in 2020 and inflation nearly doubled from February 2020 to February 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a decline in GDP and an increase in public spending led the government to take extensive debt and sell its assets on the stock market. As a result, the fiscal deficit-to-GDP ratio more than doubled.
The Lives of Impoverished Iranians During the Pandemic
COVID-19 forced working-class, low-income Iranians to choose between their health and earning a basic income necessary for physical survival. In previous decades, the combination of charity work and welfare ministry, which provided financial assistance to economically vulnerable families, managed to maintain poverty below the 10% threshold. However, sanctions and the pandemic have put the survival of millions of Iranians, particularly informal and daily workers, at risk.
Around six million Iranians (a quarter of the overall workforce) work in the informal economy and earn daily wages. They often have no fixed salaries, minimal or no savings and little insurance from the social protection programs. Although these workers face a greater risk of infection, their financial situation does not allow them to stop working. Due to the fragile economic reality of Iranian people, particularly low-income citizens, the government cannot afford strict quarantine measures because these restrictions can push an additional 20% of Iranians into extreme poverty.
Moreover, according to a World Bank report, consumer price inflation stood at 30.6% from April to November 2020 and reached 46.4% in November 2020. The hyperinflation caused drastic price increases in food and housing, which disproportionally harmed working-class families.
The Way Out of the Economic Crisis
Various international and local nongovernmental organizations work tirelessly to alleviate poverty in Iran. One of the most significant NGOs that provides financial and educational resources for Iran’s vulnerable is Relief International. The organization has been particularly active since the outbreak of COVID-19. Relief International has provided multi-purpose cash assistance for 26,000 families who lost their income due to the pandemic.
Although the work of Relief International and other NGOs is significant for mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Iran, NGOs have limited resources. Therefore, the Iranian government should play a greater role in the process of poverty reduction. For easing the short-term economic impact, the government should provide direct income assistance to its vulnerable citizens. More importantly, for a meaningful, long-term change, the Reisi administration should end the four-decade-long animosity with the U.S. and agree to the new nuclear deal. The precedent of the 2015 JCPOA agreement shows that lifting sanctions will reverse the negative economic impact of COVID-19.
– Aleksandre Jgarkava
Photo: Flickr
The New National Payments System in Somalia
National Payments System
A national payments system simply refers to the infrastructure within a specified country or locality that allows for commercial and financial transactions to occur. This includes a network of banks and a messaging and routing system. The system protects the information and transactions of the public, secures their finances and acts as an avenue into the global economy. A national payments system is essential to the efficacy of national economies and their involvement on a global financial scale. Until recently, Somalia existed without a national payments system. Domestic financial transactions largely used the U.S. dollar given the prevalence of counterfeit currency in the use of Somali shillings and that little to no domestic financial infrastructure was in place. This financial foundation hamstrung the Somali people and economy to the whim of exterior powers that provided such infrastructure in its most rudimentary form. During this period, Somalia has been in civil war, riddled with environmental decay and stifled by the threat of al Shabaab. All of the aforementioned conditions created an economic situation in which 64% of the population lives in absolute poverty in Somalia. The national payments system presents a monumental step toward economic progress.What the Future Holds
With the introduction of a national payments system in Somalia, the Central Bank of Somalia Governor Abdirahman M. Abdullahi stated that “the impact on the economy will be unprecedented. It will boost trade and business… and will enable more financial inclusion in a secure and safe manner.” The Central Bank of Somalia has also issued its first Visa card and its first mobile phone-centered financial system. During this time, the government has additionally increased its regulation and production of the Somali shilling. All these financial advancements have boosted the IMF’s predictions of Somali economic growth to 2.9% in the next year.Further Humanitarian Developments
In addition to the progress brought by the national payments system in Somalia, the Somali government has recently passed election and healthcare reform bills to increase equity in their political and social infrastructure. The National Elections Security Committee, a newly founded governmental body, has begun work on a new initiative to guarantee that at least 30% of the electorate consists of Somali women. The committee has additionally begun numerous programs to protect election integrity and voter privacy. Support from international bodies ranging from the World Bank to the IMF is essential to the efficacy of domestic progress in Somalia. On the other hand, it is important to note from where the motivation for such changes has arisen. It was not international groups that began the charge for Somali advancement. Rather, the impetus for this progress came from domestic pressure, not foreign assistance. Through the example that Somalia set, one can easily grasp the potential for self-sufficient humanitarian growth. All the changes are recent and will hopefully be immediately impactful in the global and domestic effort to end poverty in Somalia. – Jonah Issac Stern Photo: Flickr5 Healthcare Successes in Burundi
5 Healthcare Successes in Burundi
What Does This Mean for Poverty in Burundi?
These healthcare successes in Burundi are creating economic, social and physical improvement for the country. Malnutrition, the rate of disease and poverty are all decreasing. These operations expand beyond just healthcare, though. They reach every aspect of living in Burundi. They create opportunities for more children to thrive in school and more people to go to work. Ultimately, these opportunities lead to economic growth and a more sustainable country.
– Delaney Gilmore
Photo: Flickr
Natural Disasters in Turkey and the Impact on Poverty
Under Fire
Disputes have emerged as to whether or not Turkey’s government was prepared to handle such natural disasters. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is receiving criticism for not purchasing properly equipped firefighting planes despite knowing that Turkey often faces wildfires.
The fires began in mountainous southwest Turkey, meaning ground intervention was not possible. Despite the Turkish Aeronautical Association containing previous fires with planes, the government claimed to have no water-dropping planes in inventory.
Floods Follow Fire
Changing weather is causing more extreme environmental events throughout the world, and Turkey is facing several of these disasters. By August 9, 2021, heavy rainfall helped put out all but two fires. Just days after, starting August 11, 2021, Turkey faced flash floods that swept through the Black Sea Coast. With a current death toll of 77 and 47 people still missing, the torrents of water and debris are devastating from these Natural DIsasters in Turkey.
The most heavily hit area is Kastamonu province, where apartment buildings experienced destruction after the Ezine river burst its banks. Additionally, the floods collapsed buildings, destroyed bridges, clogged the streets and cut the power supply. Over 1,700 people were evacuated, with boats and helicopters rescuing many citizens.
Natural Disasters and Poverty
There is a clear connection between natural disasters and poverty; natural disasters disproportionately affect poor people. Following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Turkey’s poverty rate rose above 12%, meaning that these natural disasters will heavily affect many people. Unfortunately, the Turkish government did little to deal with the economic impact of COVID-19, and the lack of support contributed to rising poverty levels.
When facing poverty, any amount of impact on assets or consumption levels is a threat. Often, those facing poverty have to accept living in more risky areas due to affordability, which can lead to devastating outcomes during natural disasters. Additionally, people in low-income countries have less infrastructure to protect them.
A World Bank report found that the impact of extreme weather events on poverty is even more devastating than previously thought. Each year, natural disasters cause consumption losses of $520 billion and push 26 million people into poverty.
Often, events like these increase the damage to buildings, infrastructure and agriculture. These losses only represent the losses of those wealthy enough to lose something, and they fail to show the magnitude that the world’s poor suffer. With this idea in mind, the World Bank warns that natural disasters are a huge impediment to ending global poverty, and it is essential that poor people receive social and financial protection from unavoidable disasters.
The Good News
Poland sent firefighters, police officers and equipment to Turkey in order to help deal with the fires and flooding. Additionally, hundreds of Turkish volunteers banded together to help fight the fire. Volunteers formed a human chain to help carry equipment to firefighters and even put out a hillside fire with instruction from fire crews.
Turkish Philanthropy Funds has set up a Wildfire Relief Fund in order to provide support during the wildfires in Turkey. This support includes provisions of food and emergency aid to help those affected.
– Jacqueline Zembek
Photo: Flickr
Women Are the Face of the Farmers’ Movement in India
The Farm Laws
The three laws passed are known as the Farm Laws. They allow for the privatization of agricultural markets. While the government stated that the Farm Laws would “give expanded market access and provide greater flexibility to farmers,” protestors say the laws will push small farmers into poverty by curtailing produce prices and favoring large corporations.
Women’s Role in Agriculture
Women are prominent in the farmers’ movement protest scene for multiple reasons. The laws can affect both their work as farmers and their family lives as spouses to farmers. According to India’s National Council of Applied Economic Research, women account for more than 42% of India’s agricultural labor force but own only 2% of farmland.
In 2019, more than 10,000 agricultural sector workers in India committed suicide, partially due to financial hardships. Widowed women were left to provide for themselves and were often unable to gain rights to their husbands’ farmland due to gender-biased inheritance traditions.
Women’s Role in the Protests
The farmers’ protests and women’s role in them have received mixed reactions from the public and the government. S.A. Bobde, the Chief Justice of India, asked, “Why are women and elders kept in the protest?” Bobde asked advocates to encourage women to stop showing up at protest sites. However, women responded to his remarks by yelling “no” into microphones and continuing to protest.
Jasbir Kaur, a 74-year old farmer, told Time Magazine, “Why should we go back? This is not just the men’s protest. We toil in the fields alongside the men. Who are we — if not farmers?” On Christmas Eve, protestor Amra Ram, the vice president of the All India Kisan Sabha, acknowledged the work and importance of women in the farmers’ movement in India.“Women farmers are fighting the battle at the threshold, and we are here to follow them,” he said.
Global Response
Despite governmental dismay toward the protestors, there is support for the Indian farmers’ movement across the globe. Solidarity protests have been held in Great Britain, the U.S. and Canada. Furthermore, women celebrities such as singer Rihanna, climate activist Greta Thunberg and author Meena Harris have used their Twitter platforms to stand in solidarity with the Indian activists.
“We ALL should be outraged by India’s internet shutdowns and paramilitary violence against farmer protesters,” Harris tweeted in February.
India’s foreign affairs ministry accused foreign celebrities of being dangerously “sensational” after Rihanna’s tweet reading “why aren’t we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest” increased anger toward India’s government officials.
History of Women in Protests
A large female presence is not new in Indian protest scenes. In the 1960s and 1970s, women activists stood up against gender violence and the economic exploitation of women. Their efforts drew the attention of the United Nations, which called for the reassessment of social conditions for women in India. That led to the founding of the Committee for the Status of Women in India (CSWI) in 1974.
More recently, in 2012, protests following the gang rape of Jyoti Pandey demanded public safety reform for women. India passed the Criminal Law Amendment Act in 2013 to address concerns about sexual violence.
In India, women protestors have historically been persistent in demanding reform. Women are propelling the farmers’ movement in India, one of the largest protests in history. However, the Indian government has yet to repeal the Farm Laws as protestors demand.
– Sarah Eichstadt
Photo: Flickr
How COVID-19 Has Impacted Hunger In Brazil
Hunger in Brazil
Hunger existed in Brazil long before COVID-19 reached the South American nation, where inequality has fueled high rates of poverty and food insecurity. In 2011, despite a relatively high GDP of $10,900 per capita, roughly 16 million Brazilians lived in extreme poverty, and many lacked the income to support an adequate diet.
However, the U.N. World Food Programme’s 2020 Hunger Map, which displays data from 2017-2019, showed positive progress in Brazil. Less than 2.5% of the total population was undernourished, a rate among the lowest in the world.
COVID-19 Worsens Hunger in Brazil
While the U.N. statistics demonstrate positive trends, COVID-19 has exacerbated food insecurity by widening preexisting inequalities in Brazil’s population. For example, the pandemic caused prices of basic food products to increase. Cooking oils, rice and other diet essentials became so expensive that they were essentially impossible to purchase for many families in Brazil. The New York Times pointed out that as of April 2021, a kilogram of rice sold for twice as much as before the pandemic, and cooking oil tripled in price in the same period.
High unemployment rates caused by the pandemic combined with high food prices further increased the rates of hunger. In an interview with Reuters, unemployed worker Rosana de Paula describes the situation among the unemployed. Because of a lack of credit and little to no savings, the sudden disappearance of income from pandemic-related unemployment is devastating, leaving “no way to pay for food,” according to de Paula.
Now, more than a year into the pandemic and with hunger continually worsening in Brazil, the country is back in the “yellow zone” on the U.N.’s Hunger Map. In an interview with The New Humanitarian, the Director of the Center of Excellence Against Hunger said increasing hunger has raised the alarm in Brazil. More than 19 million people, or 9% of the population, are currently food insecure.
Ways the World is Helping Brazil
Despite the hardships the pandemic has created for many Brazilian families, NGOs and other grassroots campaigns have stepped in to alleviate the hunger crisis. Food campaigns across the country have offered support and resources, distributing meals to millions of Brazilian families. Anyone worldwide can donate to these anti-hunger campaigns to help curb the high demand for food and other necessities that the pandemic has exacerbated.
– Rebecca Fontana
Photo: Flickr
Impact of COVID-19 on Poverty in Iraq
Iraq has suffered from past wars, a security-challenged and corrupt government and the recent withdrawal of the United States troops. The impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Iraq adds another challenging element to this underdeveloped country. More than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s impoverished communities are struggling. The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed 4.5 million Iraqis below the poverty line. Job losses and a rise in prices for goods have contributed to the increase in poverty.
The Children
The pandemic has impacted Iraqi children the most. According to a UNICEF Iraq study, one out of five Iraqi children were already impoverished before the crisis. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the number has doubled to two out of five children. The study also revealed that the increase in poverty has affected school enrollment, nutrition and children’s development and coping skills.
UNICEF Iraq has recommended that the country needs more social services programs that protect children and that the Iraq government should take prompt action in making these programs more accessible in rural areas. The Iraq government has the funding to promote these programs and health-related public service announcements as well as awareness campaigns on gender-based violence awareness and prevention. However, the government has not always been consistent.
Employment Challenges
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, Iraqis have faced an increase in employment challenges. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Fafo Institute for Labour and Social Research in collaboration with the Cash Consortium for Iraq (CCI), COVID-19 has had a catastrophic impact on vulnerable households’ income and employment. Younger workers and people in informal employment make up 3,265 of the households in the study.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Iraq unemployment rate was at 12.76% and rose to 13.74%, after the pandemic. Research also determined that the majority had no health insurance or social security. One-quarter of citizens that had employment prior to the pandemic lockdown experienced permanent lay-offs, with 36% of those in the age group of 18-24 permanently dismissed from their jobs. Further assessment revealed that those employed under verbal agreements had a 40% reduction in income. Only 16% had savings and 85% only had savings to last less than three months.
The International Labor Country Coordinator for Iraq, Maha Kattaa, stated that COVID-19 has limited the availability of resources to vulnerable households and has affected their ability to cope. It has also created barriers to retaining good jobs.
The Government and Solutions
UNICEF Iraq has recommended that the Iraqi government establish long-term policy measures for impoverished communities to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Iraq. It suggested that the government create accessible support packages and provide cash and in-kind support to those who have lost their jobs. UNICEF Iraq also suggested that the Iraqi government make equal social security benefits available for public and private employees.
Despite the fact that the United States has withdrawn troops from Iraq, it is continuing to provide aid to the country’s impoverished communities. In August 2021, it donated 500,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has prepared labs for large-scale testing of COVID-19 and will continue to do so long-term. USAID has also implemented public health emergency plans, provided more than 19,000 food baskets and distributed cash-based transfers to the most vulnerable Iraqi citizens.
The Iraq government has been open to aid from other countries. The government wants to combat the negative effects of COVID-19 but realizes it needs help from outside sources. On the other hand, the government has not led a consistent vaccine awareness campaign and many Iraqis are skeptical about the COVID-19 vaccines. On April 24, 2021, Iraq had more than one million COVID-19 cases.
Looking Ahead
The Iraqi government has made efforts to protect its citizens from COVID-19. However, the inconsistent messaging, limited resources and rise in COVID-19 cases have made it difficult for impoverished communities to thrive. The resources for new jobs, healthcare, education enrollment and coping skills will need to be steady and must align with the current needs of the country. Continued studies on COVID-19 and the impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Iraq as well as aid from other countries could help Iraq significantly.
– Dana Smith
Photo: Flickr
Children International Works to End Global Child Poverty
Children International
Children International, a nonprofit that has worked to end poverty for nearly 80 years, is renowned for its transparency. Its website displays the many tangible positive changes the organization has brought about for children living in poverty. Children International believes addressing the needs of children is the way to end global poverty. Through its unique child sponsorship program, a person from anywhere in the world can fund the health, educational, security and nutritional needs of a child.
Through its Employment Program, Empowerment Program and various health and education programs, Children International works to end global child poverty through sustainable short-term and long-term approaches. These include providing basic health and dental services, boosting children’s confidence and creating post-graduation employment opportunities.
Safe Community Centers
Children International has also created more than 67 community centers to ensure that children can grow in secure and safe environments. Holistic child care in these safe spaces addresses the nutritional, educational and physical needs of children up to age 20. Children International believes that safe spaces and programs tailored to the unique needs of each child will ultimately end global poverty.
Nuanced Attention to Every Child
Children International’s customized programs focus on the individual needs of each child. The child sponsorship program enables donors to choose a child to sponsor, then give directly to that child’s specific needs. This “contextualization” ensures that both “a 6-year-old in Zambia” and “a 14-year-old in Honduras” have their particular needs met. The child sponsorship program focuses on the nuanced needs of every child by truly listening to the children themselves and allocating the necessary resources to lift them out of poverty.
Children International’s customized programs ensure that children are educated, healthy, employed and empowered as they transition into adulthood. The education program also provides children with shoes, books, uniforms, tutoring and scholarships and builds community centers with computers and other useful resources. Nearly 88% of children engaged in tutoring programs from Children International have improved profoundly in reading, writing and math and 71% of those involved in the Employment Program have found employment.
Ending Global Child Poverty
Success stories from four continents illuminate the astounding work of Children International, which has helped more than one million children. Children International is working to end global child poverty and has already taken off immensely in its success.
– Nora Zaim-Sassi
Photo: Flickr