In the shadow of Myanmar’s military junta, where conflict and censorship have shattered formal education for millions, a resilient wave of EdTech innovations and counter-revolutionary learning systems is rising to bridge the digital divide and empower the next generation, proving that poverty eradication in Myanmar hinges on harnessing emerging technologies such as mobile apps, offline platforms and community-led digital initiatives to deliver access to knowledge and skills amid chaos.
Myanmar faces persistent poverty exacerbated by civil conflict, economic instability and natural disasters, with nearly half the population living near the subsistence level. Despite these challenges, opportunities exist to reduce poverty through investment in education and the adoption of educational technologies (EdTech). This article examines Myanmar’s poverty landscape, the obstacles confronting its education system and the prospects for poverty eradication through EdTech-driven reforms.
Myanmar’s Poverty Context
Between 2005 and 2017, Myanmar reduced poverty rates from 48% to 25%, largely due to manufacturing growth. However, the 2021 military coup reversed these gains, causing significant declines in household consumption and in job quality. Conscription, insecurity and recurring disasters have further weakened the labor demand. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reports that the middle class has shrunk by more than 50%, with 76% of people living close to subsistence level. Consequently, poverty rates doubled to nearly 50% between 2017 and 2023.
Barriers to Educational Access
Myanmar’s education system is fragmented and strained following the 2021 coup. The Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan (2018-2030) underscores education as central to human capacity development, aiming for greater access and quality. However, ongoing conflict and instability have led to widespread school closures, teacher shortages and attacks on educational facilities. As of 2024, approximately 5 million school-aged children remain out of school, and parallel education systems have emerged in areas outside the junta’s control, run by the National Unity Government (NUG) and Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations (ERO). These federalized multilingual initiatives reach approximately 1 million children but face chronic funding and resource limitations.
The junta’s centralization efforts and amendments to the National Education Law have restricted the use of ethnic languages, deepening ethnic divisions. Violent incidents against schools have increased, with more than 174 documented attacks in 2024. Officially reported at more than 6 million for 2024–25, widespread dropouts linked to safety, inflation and corruption have occurred. International support is essential to promote teacher development and rebuild educational capacity, but ongoing conflict and centralized control continue to constrain progress.
The Emergence and Challenges of EdTech
EdTech startups in Myanmar offer innovative approaches to counter such educational disruptions. Companies such as 360ed leverage AR/VR platforms for interactive learning, targeting more than 4 million primary students, which is 38.5% of the school-age population. Offline EdTech products help bridge digital divides, and platforms such as MyanLearn, MMTutors, Laelar and MYEO provide tutoring, online courses and workforce preparation. For instance, the MYEO has trained 21,000 students in digital and soft skills, addressing an 8% youth unemployment rate.
Despite these advances, the adoption of EdTech faces significant barriers. Internet and computer access remain limited, particularly in rural and conflict-affected areas, with 46% of university students resistant to online learning. Access to continuous electricity is another challenge. Affordability and weak funding further limit EdTech’s reach; only one startup, eSchool, secured a major investment of $700,000 in 2019. Systemic issues, including rote learning traditions, teacher-centric pedagogy and insufficient government support, also impede broad EdTech integration.
EdTech and Poverty Eradication: Pathways and Prospects
The World Bank positions EdTech as essential for expanding educational access and combating intergenerational poverty in the country. Its 2020 report highlights the importance of networking teachers, fostering data-driven ecosystems and leveraging technology to promote human connection in education. The World Bank’s Digital Pathways framework identifies five pillars of digital readiness – leadership, technology infrastructure, education delivery, workforce capacity and EdTech market models – as crucial for effective interventions in low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC) such as Myanmar.
Digital learning tools, including radio, TV, SMS and virtual tutoring, can mitigate teacher shortages and reach marginalized communities. Such interventions are foundational for bridging educational disparities and promoting upward social mobility among Myanmar’s rural and ethnic minority populations. Personalized digital learning, especially in foundational literacy and numeracy, is linked to improved lifetime earnings and, therefore, can help with poverty eradication in Myanmar.
The World Bank’s Inclusive Access and Quality Education Project (IAQE) exemplifies targeted investment with a $100 million grant to improve education among marginalized groups and conflict-affected communities. Serving 3 million students and 60,000 teachers across 15,000 schools, the IAQE demonstrates how technology and inclusive interventions can break poverty cycles and address food security challenges.
Investments in EdTech
Burmese food insecurity presents dual challenges: an unstable economic infrastructure and a fractured populace facing inadequate education, fragile agriculture, unstable energy provision and limited economic opportunities. Improving education is vital for poverty eradication in Myanmar as quality education drives human-capital development and economic growth. Myanmar’s poverty rate of 50% post-coup is worsened by the education crisis, perpetuating intergenerational poverty through dropouts and skill shortages. The military junta’s “Burmanization” policies have devastated education, with 245 school attacks in 2022-23 and 31.5% of facilities damaged. EdTech has emerged as a solution, fostering decentralized learning that supports poverty eradication. Through offline mobile apps and AR/VR platforms, startups like 360ed (targeting 4.2 million primary students) and MYEO (training 21,000 youth) bypass censorship and Internet blackouts, bridging the digital divide in rural areas.
This EdTech approach contrasts with the junta’s monolingual model, aligning with the National Unity Government (NUG) and Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations’ (EROs) parallel systems, which educate up to 1 million children through multilingual approaches. The World Bank’s Digital Pathways report (2024) shows that EdTech improves literacy and numeracy for low-income students, enhancing employability amid a 50% poverty rate surge post-2021 coup.
The Inclusive Access and Quality Education Project allocated $100 million to integrate ICT for marginalized groups, serving 3 million students and 60,000 teachers. Reimagining Human Connections shows that sustained EdTech investment through partnerships can rebuild human capital and drive equitable growth for poverty eradication in Myanmar.
– Christopher Michael Pellant
Christopher Michael Pellant is based in Evansville, Indiana and focuses on Technology and Solutions for The Borgen Project.
Photo: Unsplash
Elderly Poverty in Tunisia Is Pushing Reform
An Aging Population With Limited Incomes
Tunisia is one of Africa’s oldest societies, with people aged 60 and above accounting for approximately one-tenth of the population. This share is expected to grow rapidly over the next two decades. While the country has made notable progress in reducing overall poverty, the national poverty rate still stood at 16.6% in 2021.
A regional profile on aging notes that 40% of Tunisian men aged 60 to 64 are still working, compared to just 5% of women of the same age. This gap suggests that many women enter old age without their own income and remain reliant on welfare support or their spouses. As life expectancy rises and family structures change, these disparities place older people at greater risk of poverty when work ends or family support weakens.
Pensions Protecting Formal Workers
Tunisia’s pension system is comprehensive by regional standards. Contributory schemes operate through two main funds: the National Pension and Social Insurance Fund (CNRPS) for public sector workers and the National Social Security Fund (CNSS) for private sector workers. Together, these funds help older people and those with disabilities retire without falling into extreme poverty. By 2018, 75% of Tunisia’s population had contributed to some form of pension scheme, a high rate for a developing country.
Minimum pensions are linked to the legal minimum wage. For example, one rule sets the minimum benefit at approximately two-thirds of the minimum monthly salary for the entire career. This link is important for redistributing resources and reducing elderly poverty among formal workers in Tunisia.
However, many people are still excluded from the system. Those without contracted work or in seasonal jobs—especially in rural and agricultural areas—often fail to accumulate enough contributions to qualify for a decent pension. Older women, who tend to have lower lifetime labor force participation, are particularly likely to be excluded or receive only very small pensions.
Cash Transfers for the Most Impoverished Seniors
To support people who can not rely on government pension schemes, Tunisia operates the National Program for Assistance to Needy Families (PNAFN). The program, established in 1986, targets households that are unable to work due to old age, disability or chronic illness. Since its inception, the value of the PNAFN transfer has increased at a rate faster than the minimum wage.
Beneficiary households receive around $61 to $69 per month, equivalent to about 45% of the minimum wage, along with quarterly top-ups for families with children in school. The program is also linked to free medical cards under the Assistance Médicale Gratuite (AMG) scheme, giving needy older adults access to public health services at little or no cost. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the PNAFN and AMG databases enabled the government to rapidly deliver emergency cash transfers to hundreds of thousands of impoverished households, many of which included older people.
These measures helped mitigate poverty and showed how social assistance can protect seniors during crises.
Health and Community Services for Older Tunisians
Income is only one form of elderly poverty in Tunisia; access to affordable health and care services is just as important. Tunisia’s social system provides health coverage through a mix of social programs and tax-funded insurance. These include the National Health Insurance Fund (CNAM) and the AMG scheme, which assist low-income households.
Government reports highlight efforts to bring services closer to older people. This includes expanding mobile teams that provide health and social care at home, as well as establishing day centers where seniors can receive support and participate in community activities. These services are essential for older adults who live alone, have limited mobility or are unable to afford private care.
Gaps That Need Closing
Despite these programs, significant gaps remain. Before the pandemic, about 17% of Tunisians still lacked any form of medical coverage, leaving many older adults exposed to costly treatments and check-ups. Studies of the pension system note that benefit levels are often insufficient to cover basic needs and many non-contracted and rural workers are not covered.
The lack of inflation adjustments in many of these schemes also means that pension purchasing power declines over time. However, charities and civil organizations have called for broader social protection that guarantees a basic income in old age, regardless of employment history. Proposals include expanding social coverage, improving targeting to reach isolated older adults and exploring the introduction of a universal social pension to supplement contributory benefits.
Toward a Dignified Old Age in Tunisia
Elderly poverty in Tunisia is shaped by both the strengths and limitations of its social protection system. Strong pension contributions and an innovative cash transfer program have already prevented many older citizens from falling into extreme poverty. However, coverage gaps, low benefit levels and rising health costs mean that too many seniors still rely on insecure family support or must continue working into old age.
If Tunisia succeeds in strengthening pension coverage, expanding social care and ensuring that older people have access to affordable health and community care, the country can change the narrative of population ageing. Rather than being a story of vulnerability, it can become one of dignity and inclusion for its growing elderly population.
– Jibreel Meddah
Photo: Flickr
EdTech and Poverty Eradication in Myanmar
In the shadow of Myanmar’s military junta, where conflict and censorship have shattered formal education for millions, a resilient wave of EdTech innovations and counter-revolutionary learning systems is rising to bridge the digital divide and empower the next generation, proving that poverty eradication in Myanmar hinges on harnessing emerging technologies such as mobile apps, offline platforms and community-led digital initiatives to deliver access to knowledge and skills amid chaos.
Myanmar faces persistent poverty exacerbated by civil conflict, economic instability and natural disasters, with nearly half the population living near the subsistence level. Despite these challenges, opportunities exist to reduce poverty through investment in education and the adoption of educational technologies (EdTech). This article examines Myanmar’s poverty landscape, the obstacles confronting its education system and the prospects for poverty eradication through EdTech-driven reforms.
Myanmar’s Poverty Context
Between 2005 and 2017, Myanmar reduced poverty rates from 48% to 25%, largely due to manufacturing growth. However, the 2021 military coup reversed these gains, causing significant declines in household consumption and in job quality. Conscription, insecurity and recurring disasters have further weakened the labor demand. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reports that the middle class has shrunk by more than 50%, with 76% of people living close to subsistence level. Consequently, poverty rates doubled to nearly 50% between 2017 and 2023.
Barriers to Educational Access
Myanmar’s education system is fragmented and strained following the 2021 coup. The Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan (2018-2030) underscores education as central to human capacity development, aiming for greater access and quality. However, ongoing conflict and instability have led to widespread school closures, teacher shortages and attacks on educational facilities. As of 2024, approximately 5 million school-aged children remain out of school, and parallel education systems have emerged in areas outside the junta’s control, run by the National Unity Government (NUG) and Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations (ERO). These federalized multilingual initiatives reach approximately 1 million children but face chronic funding and resource limitations.
The junta’s centralization efforts and amendments to the National Education Law have restricted the use of ethnic languages, deepening ethnic divisions. Violent incidents against schools have increased, with more than 174 documented attacks in 2024. Officially reported at more than 6 million for 2024–25, widespread dropouts linked to safety, inflation and corruption have occurred. International support is essential to promote teacher development and rebuild educational capacity, but ongoing conflict and centralized control continue to constrain progress.
The Emergence and Challenges of EdTech
EdTech startups in Myanmar offer innovative approaches to counter such educational disruptions. Companies such as 360ed leverage AR/VR platforms for interactive learning, targeting more than 4 million primary students, which is 38.5% of the school-age population. Offline EdTech products help bridge digital divides, and platforms such as MyanLearn, MMTutors, Laelar and MYEO provide tutoring, online courses and workforce preparation. For instance, the MYEO has trained 21,000 students in digital and soft skills, addressing an 8% youth unemployment rate.
Despite these advances, the adoption of EdTech faces significant barriers. Internet and computer access remain limited, particularly in rural and conflict-affected areas, with 46% of university students resistant to online learning. Access to continuous electricity is another challenge. Affordability and weak funding further limit EdTech’s reach; only one startup, eSchool, secured a major investment of $700,000 in 2019. Systemic issues, including rote learning traditions, teacher-centric pedagogy and insufficient government support, also impede broad EdTech integration.
EdTech and Poverty Eradication: Pathways and Prospects
The World Bank positions EdTech as essential for expanding educational access and combating intergenerational poverty in the country. Its 2020 report highlights the importance of networking teachers, fostering data-driven ecosystems and leveraging technology to promote human connection in education. The World Bank’s Digital Pathways framework identifies five pillars of digital readiness – leadership, technology infrastructure, education delivery, workforce capacity and EdTech market models – as crucial for effective interventions in low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC) such as Myanmar.
Digital learning tools, including radio, TV, SMS and virtual tutoring, can mitigate teacher shortages and reach marginalized communities. Such interventions are foundational for bridging educational disparities and promoting upward social mobility among Myanmar’s rural and ethnic minority populations. Personalized digital learning, especially in foundational literacy and numeracy, is linked to improved lifetime earnings and, therefore, can help with poverty eradication in Myanmar.
The World Bank’s Inclusive Access and Quality Education Project (IAQE) exemplifies targeted investment with a $100 million grant to improve education among marginalized groups and conflict-affected communities. Serving 3 million students and 60,000 teachers across 15,000 schools, the IAQE demonstrates how technology and inclusive interventions can break poverty cycles and address food security challenges.
Investments in EdTech
Burmese food insecurity presents dual challenges: an unstable economic infrastructure and a fractured populace facing inadequate education, fragile agriculture, unstable energy provision and limited economic opportunities. Improving education is vital for poverty eradication in Myanmar as quality education drives human-capital development and economic growth. Myanmar’s poverty rate of 50% post-coup is worsened by the education crisis, perpetuating intergenerational poverty through dropouts and skill shortages. The military junta’s “Burmanization” policies have devastated education, with 245 school attacks in 2022-23 and 31.5% of facilities damaged. EdTech has emerged as a solution, fostering decentralized learning that supports poverty eradication. Through offline mobile apps and AR/VR platforms, startups like 360ed (targeting 4.2 million primary students) and MYEO (training 21,000 youth) bypass censorship and Internet blackouts, bridging the digital divide in rural areas.
This EdTech approach contrasts with the junta’s monolingual model, aligning with the National Unity Government (NUG) and Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations’ (EROs) parallel systems, which educate up to 1 million children through multilingual approaches. The World Bank’s Digital Pathways report (2024) shows that EdTech improves literacy and numeracy for low-income students, enhancing employability amid a 50% poverty rate surge post-2021 coup.
The Inclusive Access and Quality Education Project allocated $100 million to integrate ICT for marginalized groups, serving 3 million students and 60,000 teachers. Reimagining Human Connections shows that sustained EdTech investment through partnerships can rebuild human capital and drive equitable growth for poverty eradication in Myanmar.
– Christopher Michael Pellant
Photo: Unsplash
Poverty Amid Currency Discrepancies and Inflation in Egypt
Egypt is starting to recover from what was, in 2023, a widening gap between its official currency exchange rates and black-market rates. With a record high inflation rate of 38% documented in September 2023, Egypt’s economy remains caught between the two exchange rates. To facilitate an understanding of the timeline, these figures reflect the peak of the crisis in 2023, followed by developments in 2024 and 2025 as reforms continued to unfold. Although the peak of inflation in Egypt has passed, recorded as 13.6% in March 2025, food prices continue to surge and remain an area of difficulty for the population. Meanwhile, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) continues to withhold poverty data, feeding fears that although there is an apparent phase of stabilization, worsening hardship and poverty may be masked.
Currency Dynamics and Discrepancies
Egypt has long held the problem of what can be known as a dual-rate system. While the Central Bank of Egypt sets an official currency rate against the U.S. dollar, the black-market rate continues to fluctuate based on supply and demand. As Egypt is heavily dependent on imports, many businesses and individuals need access to dollars to purchase goods and services. However, when the dollar supply becomes insufficient through official channels, many have to turn to the black market, where the exchange rate is significantly higher.
This reveals a widening gap between those who have access to foreign currency and those forced to rely on depreciating and unstable Egyptian pounds. Although this gap has narrowed in 2025, businesses still struggle to access dollars, driving up both import and consumer prices. These developments reflect gradual adjustments since 2023 instead of focusing solely on a single moment of change.
Inflation in Egypt and Purchasing Power
Although a recent decline in inflation in Egypt has been observed, pressure remains. In January, inflation in Egypt increased by 1.6% after having been stable in December. Despite this, the cost of health care services continues to rise by 4.6% monthly, with sustenance costs increasing by 2.1%. This continues to drive poverty and decrease the purchasing power of individuals, as the prices of goods erode real wages.
Egypt’s reliance on Russia for wheat, and the impacts of the war in Ukraine, have doubled bread costs. The government has tried to reduce these increases through subsidies and price restrictions, and many protests have occurred over the years regarding the price of bread. Even with slower inflation and subsidies, purchasing power remains weakened, with many still below the poverty line, although this is beginning to decrease.
There are also concerns regarding how CAPMAS defines poverty. The latest report classifies extreme poverty as 550 pounds per month per person, and poverty as 857 pounds per month. These definitions are not in line with global poverty standards. Therefore, what appears to be a decrease in poverty may partly reflect shifts in definitions.
Disproportionate Impacts on Business and Living Standards
Various groups of people are being affected in different ways by the economic crisis. One example is young people giving up on education and resorting to any available work to sustain themselves and their families. This includes redefining what a decent life means, as many are no longer able to uphold previous standards. This has also led to a decrease in confidence regarding the future, with concerns about stability. Many Egyptians have moved back in with family, delayed marriage or given up on private further education.
Businesses are also struggling, as many rely on higher unofficial exchange rates to operate. This leaves them with higher running costs and makes it difficult to stay afloat. With fluctuating inflation, instability and record import prices, many businesses operate at a loss or at reduced capacity. As individuals lose purchasing power, they are less able to afford goods and services that once fit within their budgets.
Policy Response and Recommendations
In recent years, Egypt has been heavily reliant on loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and its Gulf allies. In 2024, the IMF approved a $3 billion loan for Egypt with the condition of “a permanent shift to a flexible exchange rate regime.” With effective implementation, Egypt may be able to improve economic stability and build resilience. This would require measures that boost investor confidence, increase transparency and reduce incentives for black-market activity. Investor confidence could be strengthened through clearer public communication of monetary policy, more frequent publication of economic data and improvements in financial governance that make procedures easier for businesses and households to navigate.
To do this, Egypt needs to strengthen its foreign currency reserves by increasing and diversifying foreign investment and exports. Foreign currency reserves could also receive support through the encouragement of investment in infrastructure that improves transport and shipping efficiency, which would lower import costs and encourage export competitiveness. A focus on greater flexibility of the official exchange rate would go a long way toward this stable future, in which market forces play a more influential role, keeping in mind that adjustments need to be gradual to inhibit shocks and destabilization. Gradual adjustments paired with targeted fiscal measures would support small and medium-sized businesses during periods of volatility, which would also support employment and production.
Looking Ahead
In clarifying the progression from 2023 through 2025 and devising practical steps for reform we can see how stabilization may eventually translate into improvements, namely the alleviation of poverty, felt across society. While current data indicate a decline in poverty and unemployment, many Egyptians have not yet felt improvements in daily life. The country could benefit from intentional efforts toward a more stable and transparent economic landscape for a future where the positive impacts reach every household.
– Maryam Qutbuddin
Photo: Unsplash
Renewable Energy in Sao Tome and Principe
Current Energy Situation
Renewable energy in Sao Tome and Principe is no longer just an option; it is a necessity. In 2022, 95% of all the country’s electricity generation relied on oil, which is imported, creating a big problem. This heavy dependence on imported diesel creates high electricity prices. The cost of the kilowatt per hour in São Tomé and Príncipe is $0.18, while in the neighboring country of Nigeria, it is a much lower rate of $0.035.
As a result, grid coverage in the country is limited, with approximately 78% of the population having access to electricity, and many people experience frequent outages. That means many people in São Tomé and Príncipe still use candles as the main source of light in their houses and have to burn biomass when they need to cook.
Electricity is essential. Homes, businesses, hospitals and schools all need electricity to function properly. The economy of a country is directly linked to its capacity to generate energy.
Renewable Energy Potential
One of the significant advantages of São Tomé and Principe is its enormous potential for renewable energy. This tropical island nation has mountainous terrain, rainforests and abundant water resources. Even though only 5% of the country’s electricity comes from solar and hydro power, Sao Tome and Principe can do so much more on both these sources.
Current Projects and International Support
The government of São Tomé and Principe is aware of this energy challenge. It is taking concrete steps to address it, making renewable energy in São Tomé and Príncipe a reality. The goal is to achieve full electricity coverage in the country by 2030 with 50% of generation coming from renewable sources.
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is a partner in this effort, along with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the African Development Bank (AfDB). Their goal is to promote energy efficiency and increase the use of renewable energy sources.
A recent example is the launch of a photovoltaic solar park in São Tomé and Principe, with a capacity of 1.2 megawatts. This demonstrates the country’s intention to reduce dependence on imported diesel for electricity.
As mentioned above, foreign investment is key to developing renewable energy in São Tomé and Príncipe. With early initial successes, more external financing is likely to follow.
Environmental, Social and Economic Benefits
The development of renewable energy brings many benefits:
Challenges and Future Outlook
The challenges for Sao Tome and Principe are clear: a lack of funding for large-scale renewable energy investments, a shortage of technical expertise and infrastructure gaps. However, these barriers can be overcome. The country’s full potential could make Sao Tome and Principe a model for other tropical island nations seeking a viable and sustainable energy system.
– Thiago Almeida de Andrade
Photo: Pixabay
GPEI Funding: $1.9 Billion Toward the Fight Against Polio
On December 8, 2025, it was announced that political leaders had collectively pledged $1.9 billion to the GPEI. In the fight against Polio, this generous fund has the potential to protect hundreds of millions of children from polio each year and possibly eradicate the virus.
How Polio Affects the World Today
Afghanistan and Pakistan remain the only countries where vaccines have not eliminated wild poliovirus. Other developing nations with low immunization rates continue to experience outbreaks of virus variants. This year, there have been 39 paralysis cases across Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Although polio cases are currently rare, “failure to stop polio in these last remaining areas could result in a global resurgence of the disease.” It is important to eradicate this virus in order to prevent it from spreading once again. Efforts have come very close to eradication and the recent GPEI funding will help bring the world even closer to this goal.
Successes in the Fight Against Polio
The GPEI was established in 1988 with the goal of ensuring that every child receives a polio vaccination. Since then, polio cases have dropped by 99% and vaccines have prevented approximately 20 million cases of paralysis. The virus once affected thousands of children across more than 100 countries but has now been eliminated in all except two, Afghanistan and Pakistan, where only a handful of cases occur each year.
About the Funds Against Polio
Pledges to the GPEI came from multiple donors, including:
These funds will help protect 370 million children from polio through vaccination and reduce GPEI’s remaining resource gap. The shortage of vaccines and resources is a key reason polio still persists. With this recent funding, the complete eradication of poliovirus could become achievable.
– Renata Hirmiz
Photo: Unsplash
What to Know About Hunger in Vietnam
Hunger, Nutrition and Food Security in Vietnam
The Global Hunger Index classifies hunger in Vietnam as moderate, with a rank of 56 out of 127 countries. Its most serious issue is children under 5 stunted (19.5%), with child wasting (4.7%), child mortality (2%) and undernourished population (5.2%) all considered to be low. The country’s overall GHI score has been more than halved since 2000, with undernourishment dropping from 42.5% to 19.5%.
Of the 13 global nutrition targets, Vietnam is “off course” for eight, and has shown no progress or is worsening in anemia among women of childbearing age. It has made only “some progress” with childhood stunting, childhood wasting, low birthweight and exclusive breastfeeding. The country has implemented national food and NCD (noncommunicable disease) policies in six of the ten recommended areas and has included specific nutrition targets in almost all related national policy areas.
Given the country’s moderate level of hunger, it is not surprising that it ranks above average (67.9:100) in the Global Food Security Index (GFSI), a 113-country comparison of food security (2022). Its highest (best) ranks are for affordability, availability and quality and safety. It is weakest in sustainability and adaptation. Its greatest weakness in sustainability is water, which includes access to safe drinking water and agricultural water supply and quality. It also gets a lower rating for political commitment to adaptation.
Addressing Hunger in Vietnam
In March 2023, the year following the 2022 GFSI report highlighting Vietnam’s need to address sustainability, Vietnam approved the National Action Plan on Food Systems Transformation toward Transparency, Responsibility and Sustainability in Vietnam by 2030. This plan is being implemented by Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and identifies programs and missions with 16 specific targets to achieve by 2030, including:
Global Food Donation Policy Atlas
In September 2024, Harvard Law School’s Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC), in collaboration with the Global FoodBanking Network (GFN) and Foodbank Vietnam (FBVN), conducted research that outlined steps to build on Vietnam’s national food systems plan. Vietnam was noted as a pioneer in food recovery and redistribution, with local innovation and successes providing the basis to “reduce food waste, boost food donation, feed people who are hungry, and curb environmental damage.”
A significant outcome of this collaboration was the Global Food Donation Policy Atlas, with recommendations to expand food donations. The atlas includes an interactive tool that enables the comparison of country policies for the 25 participating countries plus the European Union. FBVN chairman Nguyen Tuan Khoi describes the Atlas as part of the foodbank’s mission and sees it as contributing “to reducing food waste, and [ensuring] timely, safe and high-quality nutritional food supplies, especially in times of disaster and pandemic response.” GFN has made the map, legal guidelines, policy recommendations and country summaries available on its website.
Sustainable Food Security at Home and Globally
Vietnam’s commitment to its own food security and to making environmental sustainability a part of that security has thus allowed it to play a role in modeling similar activities for other developing countries.
– Staff Reports
Photo: Pixabay
From Papyrus Waste to Sanitary Pads: MakaPads in Uganda
A national audit published in January 2025 found that 64% of female students miss school regularly because sanitary materials and proper water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities are lacking. In this context, MakaPads emerged as a social enterprise, through which local engineers and social entrepreneurs began producing sanitary pads from papyrus reeds and recycled paper. MakaPads’ aim was straightforward: create a hygiene product affordable enough for low-income families while relying on materials available in Uganda itself.
MakaPads Project
The manufacturing remains deliberately low-tech and locally based. Papyrus stems are harvested from wetlands, stripped into fibers or pulp, mixed with recycled paper and shaped into absorbent pads. The finished pads are reportedly up to 95% biodegradable, chemical-free and cost roughly half as much as many imported pads available on the Ugandan market.
MakaPads has also provided employment and economic opportunity, particularly for women from vulnerable backgrounds. According to the project’s own documentation, production at its peak involved as many as 225 people, including both skilled and unskilled workers, as well as refugees, across various factories and stages of production. In one refugee camp factory at Kyaka II, a 2015 report describes 76 women employed, producing more than 800 pads daily and scaling production from 30,000 pads in 2009 to more than one million in 2014.
Women involved in production reported earning enough to cover their children’s school fees or invest in small assets, such as land or motorcycles, illustrating the tangible economic benefits of the project.
Social Impact and Challenges
On the social side, users and distributors have reported that locally made pads have helped reduce reliance on improvised alternatives, such as cloth and rags, which are often uncomfortable, unhygienic and stigmatizing. One user in the camp, Evelyne Banyamisa, reported that access to MakaPads allowed her to maintain consistent school attendance and participate fully in daily activities during her menstrual cycle.
However, the initiative has faced challenges. The UNHCR contract to supply pads to refugee camps was discontinued in 2015 after a quality inspection by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) revealed deficiencies. Some users also noted limitations, including leakage on heavier flow days, narrow pad width and occasional odor issues, highlighting the ongoing need to balance affordability, accessibility and product quality.
Final Remarks
Despite these setbacks, MakaPads remains a rare example of a social enterprise that simultaneously addresses menstrual health, local employment and environmental sustainability through low-cost, biodegradable sanitary products. Nevertheless, MakaPads demonstrates what community-rooted, resource-aware innovation can achieve: a model that combines menstrual hygiene with local manufacturing, environmental sustainability and economic opportunity. In a country where period poverty affects the majority of schoolgirls, low-cost, biodegradable pads made from native plant waste stand out as a hopeful, home-grown solution.
– George Horberry
Photo: Flickr
Inequality in Isan: Building Economic and Social Equity
The study also found that although 87% of households in Isan own land, land ownership alone has not guaranteed stable or sufficient livelihoods.
Budget and Health Care Inequality and Intra-Regional Disparity
Inequality persists in Thailand, particularly in the Isan region, when compared to more affluent areas such as Bangkok. In 2024, the Thai government allocated only 5.54% of its 3.48-trillion-baht (roughly $111 billion) national budget to Isan. In contrast, it allocated almost 10 times that amount, 1.85 trillion baht ($59.2 billion), to Bangkok, despite the capital having less than half of Isan’s population (around 11 million people).
Health care distribution also reflects this inequality. In 2023, Thailand had 37,559 doctors nationwide, but only 8,447 worked in Isan. Inequalities also exist within the region itself. Khon Kaen, one of Isan’s major cities, has a significantly lower doctor-to-patient ratio, with one doctor serving approximately 1,080 people, compared to Bueng Kan, where one doctor serves 5,003 people.
Discrimination
According to Manushya, urban populations in wealthier regions have long perpetuated negative stereotypes about Isan people, mocking them as poor, backward or as “mia farang” (meaning a white foreigner’s wife). The Asia Foundation also notes that some believe “there is no future in Isan,” leading to the assumption that people must migrate to Bangkok for “good prospects.” However, the study shows major shifts in migration patterns.
Young people in Isan are increasingly choosing to enroll in local institutions, such as Khon Kaen University, rather than moving to Bangkok. As a result, students are becoming more interested in pursuing entrepreneurship in Isan rather than seeking work in the capital. These findings show that the negative stereotypes stem from outdated or poorly informed assumptions.
Universal Health Coverage
Thailand introduced the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Scheme, often referred to as the “30-baht Scheme,” in 2001 to provide health care access for residents not covered by other public health schemes. The Asia Foundation identifies UHC as the most widely used social safety net in Isan, with 97% of surveyed respondents expressing high satisfaction. Before the scheme began, around 80% of the population lacked adequate health care coverage or faced prohibitive medical costs.
UHC has reduced this burden significantly. By 2015, household health care expenditure in Thailand had decreased by 11.8%, easing financial pressure on low-income households and contributing to a reduction in poverty.
Manushya and Advocacy Efforts
Founded in 2017 by Emilie Palamy Paradichit, Manushya is an intersectional feminist organization dedicated to promoting equality and human rights. Manushya worked with several Thai civil society organizations to prepare the Isan UPR factsheet for Thailand’s third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2021. These partners included the Thai CSOs Coalition for the UPR, the Human Rights Violations in Isaan Monitoring Group, the Sai Thong Rak Pah Network, the Amnat Charoen Friend of Women Center and the Isaan Gender Diversity Network (IGDN).
The factsheet highlighted discrimination against Isan residents, such as unequal budget allocation, employment in low-paying jobs and negative stereotypes describing people as “poor,” “backward,” or “lower-class.” Manushya also included these concerns in its shadow civil society report for Thailand’s Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) review and participated in two sessions with CERD committee members to ensure that issues affecting Isan were addressed.
Progress and Opportunities in Isan
Efforts to reduce inequality in Isan demonstrate how targeted policies and strong community engagement can lead to meaningful change. Programs such as the UHC have expanded access to essential services, while organizations like Manushya continue to advocate for fair resource distribution and human rights protections. Growing interest in local education and entrepreneurship also reflects a generation investing in the region’s future.
With continued cooperation among government agencies, civil society groups and local communities, progress toward addressing inequality in Isan can accelerate, supporting more secure and sustainable livelihoods.
– Sammi Li
Photo: Pexels
Education in Gabon
With vast petroleum reserves, Gabon is a natural-resource-rich, upper-middle-income country and is considered one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most prosperous and stable countries. At the same time, while the forecasted 2025 extreme poverty rate is just 3.1%, the upper-middle-income poverty rate is forecast to be over 37.8%. Unemployment is 20%.
Education in Gabon
Based on the French model, education in Gabon is compulsory and free from ages 6 to 16, beginning with six years of primary education, followed by seven years of secondary school (state program). Options include the predominant general and technical schools, supplemented by private and international schools. Tertiary education includes two state universities: the University of Sciences and Technologies of Masuku, and the Omar Bongo University programs in administration, engineering, forestry, hydraulics, law, literature, management, science and teacher training.
Primary education expenditure per child of primary education age was 94.9% above the sub-Saharan regional average, but 48.9% below the upper-middle-income country average.
Learning Poverty
The Learning Poverty rate, a metric initiated in 2019 by the World Bank and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, measures the proportion of children who are unable to read a simple text with comprehension by age 10, and considers both schooling and learning. Schooling Deprivation, Learning Deprivation and Learning Poverty are all related and are an early indication of risks to the overall quality of education.
In 2021, the World Bank reported that 30% of Gabonese children at late primary age were not proficient in reading, 24% of students did not achieve the minimum proficiency level in reading at the end of primary school and 9% of primary school-aged children were not enrolled in school. This puts Gabon in a better position than the average for the sub-Saharan Africa region (55.7 percentage points lower) and slightly lower than the average for upper-middle-income countries. Learning poverty was higher for girls than for boys, but the indicators and component proportions for boys and girls were within a few points of each other.
Demographic Disparities
As might be expected, there are various demographic differences in education regarding access and completion, including discrepancies related to wealth and location (urban/rural) in Gabon. The largest differences between the poorest and the richest students are in completion rates: primary (44% and 95%, respectively), lower secondary (17% and 75%), upper secondary (4% and 49%) and tertiary (more than 40%). This disparity pattern in completion rates is similar between rural and urban locations.
There are also some gender differences, but these are not as dramatic. Boys and girls are relatively close on the individual metrics, and both are low for lower secondary completion (below 50%) and upper secondary completion (below 25%). Literacy is high for both 15-14-year-old boys and girls at 95% and 97%, respectively. Learning achievements are within 5-10% of each other, but low for math at the end of primary school.
SDG 4
In the 2025 United Nations Sustainable Development Report, Gabon is ranked 103:167 overall on the 17 SDGs. SDG 4, Quality Education, is to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” The assessment of Gabon on SDG 4 is that “major challenges remain.” Noted are major challenges remaining in the net primary enrollment rate and the lower secondary completion rate, and the literacy rate. (The World Bank reported adult literacy in 2021 to be 86%.)
Addressing High School Dropout: ADAP
Primary school enrollment in Gabon is high—90%–but there is a serious drop in transitioning to secondary school. Only 48% of boys and 57% of girls enroll in secondary school, reportedly because of “social factors.” UNICEF, through its Adolescent Development and Participation program (ADAP), is working with Gabonese education professionals to encourage young people to stay in school and understand how they can contribute to their communities. In addition to working with those in daily contact with adolescents, UNICEF Gabon contributes to various community and school awareness-building activities and extracurricular talks.
U-Report
An innovative approach for communication and advocacy is UNICEF’s use of U-Report, UNICEF’s free and anonymous mobile digital platform where young people can post opinions and information, engaging in advocacy within their communities and beyond. Launched in Uganda in 2011, as of mid-202, there were over 37 million registered U-Reporters in 102 countries, including 4,231 U-Reporters in Gabon. In July 2025, Gabon’s fifth U-Report regional branch opened in Franceville, with the network hailed as a means of allowing “young people to express themselves, learn and influence public policy on issues that concern them.”
Advocacy Enhancing Education
As a correlate to UNICEF’s ADAP effort, U-Report can serve not only to support students’ healthy communication and advocacy activities, but also to strengthen and support their involvement in local communities, including activities that improve their schools. In Libreville, for example, group field action was conducted to remove unhealthy conditions on school grounds in Sibang by collecting waste, recycling plastic, and weeding around a classroom building to provide a cleaner environment to support students’ well-being and academic success. The Oyem group conducted a two-day campaign in schools to raise awareness of crucial issues—violence in schools, cyberbullying, sexual violence in schools and children’s rights. This involved middle and high school students in interactive workshops and discussion sessions.
Final Thoughts
Together, UNICEF’s ADAP initiative and the U-Report platform are helping transform young Gabonese into active advocates for their education and communities. By amplifying their voices and encouraging civic engagement, these programs not only motivate students to stay in school but also foster a generation prepared to address the persistent challenges of inequality and access to education in Gabon.
– Staff Reports
Photo: Flickr
How the United Nations is Working to Prevent Hunger in Tonga
Food Security: Access vs. Quality
The most recent Sustainable Development Report for Tonga for the U.N.’s SDG 2, Zero Hunger, shows decreasing trends in terms of improvement, with significant challenges remaining. (Information was available for only four of the eight indicators comprising the assessment.) While the SDG has been achieved for stunting and wasting of children under 5, significant challenges remain for the Sustainable Nitrogen Management Index, and a major challenge regarding the prevalence of obesity, where the improvement trend is decreasing.
Tonga has not met the criteria for inclusion in the Global Hunger Index, most likely because of insufficient data. Still, other sources support the conclusion that food security in Tonga is not a question of access to food, but rather an issue of the quality of food being consumed. The Pacific Community: Tonga Food Security Profile reports that more than 97% of the population has adequate access to food, but around 12% lack access to nutritious foods. While vegetable and fruit consumption is approximately what the WHO recommends for a healthy diet, 60% of dietary energy comes from foods it is recommended to limit or avoid—e.g., sugar and animal fats. Only 15% of Tongans consume a balanced diet.
This conclusion is supported by the 2022 Global Nutrition Report, which indicates that Tonga’s obesity prevalence (57.9% of adult women and 45.5% of adult men) is higher than the regional average and among the highest in the world. At the same time, while Tonga is “on course” for childhood stunting, childhood wasting and childhood overweight, there has been no progress, or worsening, for anemia among women of childbearing age and exclusive breastfeeding. Tonga is off course for the remaining eight indicators of the report.
Impact of Dietary Diversity on Health
The World Food Programme’s mobile Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping survey, October/November 2024, in Tonga, similarly noted that 98% of the households surveyed experienced adequate consumption, but diets lacked diversity. Although food security was found to be stable, the high cost of food and rural poverty are challenges. Significantly, the poor quality of diets can lead to NCDs (non-communicable diseases).
The World Bank had previously noted an increase in poor diet as one of the behavior-related risk factors contributing to Tonga’s rise in NCDs, which accounted for four of the five leading causes of mortality. A 2021 World Bank study focused on NCD-related fiscal policies, such as taxation policy on unhealthy food consumption behaviors.
The World Bank has worked with Tonga to evaluate programs put in place 2016-2019 to promote healthy lifestyles. These programs were:
The World Bank’s findings showed that “integrated, innovative solutions can work together to reduce food security risk… and improve health and nutrition outcomes.”
Climate Challenge
Not to be ignored is the impact of climate on Tonga and its key economic sectors—tourism, agriculture and fisheries—and thus the direct and indirect effect on food security and health. Natural hazards include heat waves, drought, floods, cyclones and storm surges. In January 2022, for example, a volcanic eruption and tsunami destroyed crops and polluted drinking water.
Subsequent to the COVID pandemic, the U.N.’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) worked through the Informal Economies Recovery Project to support the implementation of various agricultural development activities in Tonga. IFAD’s mission is to reduce rural poverty, to improve nutrition and increase food security, as well as to strengthen resilience. IFAD partnered with MORDITT in Tonga (Mainstreaming of Rural Development Innovation Tonga Trust), with activities including the distribution of seedlings.
A Collaborative and Multi-Pronged Approach
Addressing hunger in Tonga is thus a combination of national and international commitment with macro-level policy and sectoral efforts, as well as micro-level behavioral change efforts.
– Staff Reports
Photo: Flickr