According to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is a human right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution. The number of refugees around the world has doubled since 2010, from 40 million to 79 million in 2019. During the Syrian War, where nearly 1.3 million migrants sought asylum in the E.U. in 2015, Austria became a crossing point. At the peak of the crisis, 89,000 people applied for asylum in the country, though it only accepted 15,000. The relationship with refugees in Austria is paradoxical in nature. Even though the country has accepted more refugees in the past few years, animosity toward these refugees is rising. These refugees face difficulties integrating into the Austrian society, forcing them into the outskirts of society and into poverty. At the same time, several initiatives continue to help support these refugees in creative ways.
The History of Relocation
In the past century, Austria experienced three main waves of refugees. The first came after 1945, where 1.6 million Jews, Hungarians, Romanians, Yugoslavians and German Poles escaped persecution from Germany. Only about 19% of these refugees stayed permanently in Austria. Another wave of 180,000 Hungarians, Czechoslovakians, Poles and Jews from the Soviet Union sought refuge in Austria in the 1960s. Only 10% of the Hungarian refugees stayed. The last major wave occurred in 1981 after the Polish Solidarity movements caused the country to become unstable. About 66,000 of the estimated 160,000 stayed in Austria. The last major wave came to Austria in 2015. That year, 89,000 mainly Syrians, Afghani and Iraqi applied for asylum.
Though Austria received international aid to handle the influx of refugees, the public still called refugees ‘ungrateful.’ Critics accused refugees of taking away jobs and housing from native-born Austrians. Since 1956, Austria has considered itself a place of first arrival and transit, but not as a place of resettlement. When the first 2015 refugees came, Austrians were welcoming toward the newcomers, waiting at the borders with supplies and support. Three years after the Syrian refugee crisis, public opinion shifted dramatically. It polarized, negatively affecting the relationship with refugees in Austria. The legislative election of 2017 brought a right-wing majority to the Austrian federal government, cementing the feelings of animosity toward refugees. By 2018, three years later, most 2015 refugees were still waiting on the results of their applications. Refugees coming to Austria face several problems, from the moment of their arrival to their integration at the economic and social levels.
Arrival
For Austrian authorities to consider a person a refugee, that individual must prove they are fleeing from persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. The Austrian police determine this during an interview with the potential refugees. There are, however, several ways to redirect these asylum-seekers in Austria. Under the Dublin Regulation, if a migrant does not receive asylum, they must go back to their country within six months. Austria also has a ‘fast track’ procedure that speeds up the asylum process when a migrant comes from a country that the government considers to be ‘safe.’ The historical mindset of sending people back immediately puts potential victims of human trafficking at risk. Moreover, gay people who come from countries that Austria considers ‘safe’ are at higher risk when they have to return to countries they fled. This is because these countries may prosecute queer people and women (who authorities do not question separately from male relatives).
According to the UN, host countries have a duty of care to identify the vulnerable situations of each migrant. In Austria, however, the identification methods are ‘random and unsystematic,’ where intervention occurs only when the vulnerabilities are visible or the asylum seekers state them themselves. This diminishes the rights of migrants to individual assessment, limiting their access to counseling, rehab and health services.
Economic Problems
Just over 1.2 million people in Austria were in danger of falling into poverty. While poverty threatened 39% of people with migration backgrounds in 2018, this percentage was 50% for people from non-European lands. Without these jobs, refugees are often at risk of falling into poverty. In 2019, 11% of people in poverty were from foreign lands, compared to 6.4% of Austrians. In total, 64% of people with migration backgrounds had employment. Syrians had the highest unemployment rate at 61.8%.
Access to the Austrian labor market as a refugee has limitations, especially before their claims for asylum have received acceptance. Even with diplomas from their home countries, Austria does not always recognize these diplomas. In 2016, about 22% of people with migration backgrounds were overqualified for their jobs.
Other major barriers to entry include discrimination, lack of social capital (both between members of the same ethnicity and with Austrians) and unfamiliarity with cultural nuances of how the host country’s labor market works. According to Amy Dudgeon, who has worked for more than 27 years with refugees and immigrants in New Orleans, Louisiana through Catholic Charities, a religious organization that provides immigration and refugee services, “The number one thing is the language barrier.”
Social Problems
The relationship with refugees in Austria is especially troubling in social integration. There is a rising intolerance for refugees in Austria. Though 41% of the population in 2020 agreed that Austria should help refugees, this is down from 51% in 2018. About 61% of the population also saw the coexistence of refugees and Austrians as ‘bad.’ Refugees themselves felt the discrimination. In fact, around 73% of people felt that their skin color, accent or where they come from caused them to face discrimination.
Finding Creative Solutions
These problems are not separate. In fact, there exists a causal link from social integration to labor market integration. When refugees create relationships within their ethnic communities, they can overcome their initial isolation and heighten their chances of getting their first job. Even better job opportunities open when refugees form relationships with people from Austria, as Austrians have insider and cultural knowledge about navigating the local labor market and job-searching process.
As Dudgeon pointed out, “I’ve met so many different people in so many different vocations in their home country, and then they come here and they can’t speak English so they have to do menial jobs. Just keeping an open mind, that just because they can’t speak English … it’s not an indicator of their intelligence or experience or anything like that.”
After two years, the employment rates of refugees start to converge with Austrian-born and other migrants. After seven years, they are as likely to receive employment as non-European migrants. The following organizations have found ways to aid refugees in Austria.
Organizations Helping Refugees in Austria
- Caritas: Caritas is one of Austria’s largest emergency help organizations of the Catholic Church. It has more than 16,000 employees, 50,000 volunteers and thousands of projects a year. Projects range from combatting homelessness to caring for young mothers. To support refugees, the organization offers “Lerncafes,” where children from 6 to 15 can receive free help for completing homework or learning German. Through interactions with both local volunteers and other refugees, these refugee youth learn how to integrate more fully into society. Additionally, these interactions prepare them to enter the job market.
- The Austrian Integrations Fonds (ÖIF): The ÖIF is an organization that the Republic of Austria and UNHCR created in the 1960s to help manage the influx of Hungarian refugees. Today, the organization helps all migrants integrate into Austrian society. One of its main targets is language learning with a focus on integrating refugees into the job market. To reach this goal, the organization offers free German-language lessons. The lessons range from beginner to advanced, with special courses involving business-specific knowledge. In 2017, the Austrian government spent 25 million Euros to support this organization, which allowed it to offer 20,000 spots to new language learners.
- CoRE Project: Beginning in 2016, this project brought together five partners, from NGOs to local governments. Together, they worked on a holistic approach to integrating refugees in Vienna, Austria, home to the largest number of refugees in the country. The project focused on empowering refugees by offering volunteer activities for them to take part in. By finding them places to volunteer, the project fought social exclusion, racism and intolerance. All the while, the refugees built personal and professional skills and competencies. Volunteering ensured that integration was a two-way street: refugees were able to give back to the country that took them in, making them equal citizens. Some volunteer organizations include Deutsch ohne Grenzen (German without Borders), which offers German language courses, free time activities and workshops around the topic of immigration.
- Refugees for Refugees (R4R): Refugees have been running this organization for refugees since 2015. The 150 members of R4R form events and activities that members can take part in, bringing refugees together through sport and culture. The organization, for example, regularly visits museums to help refugees integrate themselves into Austrian society.
- OLIVE: To help refugees and people of asylum status connect their previous professional and academic experience to their new lives in Europe, the University of Vienna offers free academic, bilingual non-degree programs. Some branches of the program include OLIVE Women and OLIVE Youth. These branches feature relevant seminars for each group to help them achieve both academic and professional goals.
Though the relationship with refugees in Austria is paradoxical, these five initiatives prove that Austria is beginning to decrease the discrimination that refugees in Austria face today.
– Charlotte Ehlers
Photo: Flickr
Economic Policies in Africa Reduce Poverty
Impacts of COVID-19
Projections in 2020 indicated that the economic effects of COVID-19 would lower Africa’s GDP by three to five percentage points. A lower GDP is projected to increase the number of Africans living below the international poverty line by 13 million people. In sub-Saharan Africa, a projected loss of $37-79 billion is expected in output losses.
Facing a dire economic situation, several African nations are implementing comprehensive policies and strategic partnerships with key financial institutions. These economic policies in Africa come with the goal of providing much-needed economic support for individuals and families hit hardest by the pandemic.
Cameroon’s Joint Initiative
In late November 2020, French multi-international bank, Société Générale, and the European Investment Bank (EIB) confirmed a new joint initiative to support economic development in Cameroon. The new initiative aims to provide support for private sector development to help increase the economic resilience of companies across Africa that have been impacted by COVID-19.
Among the initiatives is the SocGen-EIB COVID-19 economic resilience financing program. It will allow working capital expenses, and most importantly, payment of salaries and social security and tax, leaving out a minimum maturity requirement to help ease the economic effects of COVID-19. By increasing backing for financial investment through more flexible disbursement conditions, the initiative hopes to support the economic challenges faced by Cameroon and the Central African economy.
Rwanda’s Economic Recovery Fund
Among the most effective economic policies in Africa, Rwanda’s government finalized an Economic Recovery Fund in June 2020 to increase the number of businesses eligible for economic support. The recovery fund initially included approximately RWF100 billion aimed at supporting local businesses most financially impacted by COVID-19. Benefiting the most from this recovery fund has been hotels. Through refinancing initiatives, hotels are able to restructure loans and working capital to avoid lay-offs and ultimately keep their doors open.
Although only a portion of the total funds (roughly RWF50 billion) was slated for hotel refinancing, the portion looked to restructure at least 35% of total outstanding loans of the hotel industry for some 571 borrowers by close of February 2020. The mark has already been met, resulting in John Rwangombwa, Rwanda’s central bank governor, approving RWF43 billion more in additional funds for hotel loans. The hotel refinancing loans are disbursed at a 5% interest rate compared to present market rates of 16%.
Zimbabwe’s Economic Blueprint
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently launched a five-year economic blueprint called the National Development Strategy (NDS). Targeting a 5% growth rate per year, the plan intends to establish the country as an upper-middle-income economy by 2030. The NDS will look to accelerate economic growth, improve infrastructure and improve investments and usage in information and communications technology.
The plan takes over from the now outdated Transitional Stabilization Program (TSP), which managed to help the country take steps toward a more stable economy. The NDS hopes to improve and bolster the economy even further through improved quality of life and more equitable and equal distribution of wealth. It was projected that the Zimbabwean economy would contract by 4.5% in 2020 due to the effects of COVID-19. Fortunately, the NDS is expected to expand the economy by 7.4% in 2021 and an estimated 760,000 formal jobs are to be created.
African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA)
Malawi is working to finalize the ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) with other key stakeholders in the African Union (AU). The AfCFTA went into effect on January 1, 2021, and will bring together 55 African countries, affecting 1.2 billion people. The initiative has ambitious goals such as boosting the region’s income by a projected $450 billion. If accomplished this would bring 30 million people out of extreme poverty and increase the incomes of 68 million Africans.
In the short term, the measure will help mitigate the immediate effects of COVID-19 by supporting regional trade and value chains. In the long term, it will lay a new foundation and framework for cooperation among AU members and policy reform needed to curb the shocks felt on the African economy after COVID-19.
The Road to Recovery
Unfortunately, COVID-19 is still a major global issue that continues to pose serious threats to the economic and social stability of Africa. The situation calls for government action, and fortunately, many African nations are stepping up to the plate. Strategic partnerships and expedient economic recovery plans put in place by Cameroon, Rwanda and Zimbabwe hope to set an effective precedent for other African nations to follow. More importantly, pan-African agreements that require continent-wide cooperation such as the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement can lay the potential groundwork for a prosperous and strengthened Africa.
– Andrew Eckas
Photo: Flickr
5 Facts About Women’s Rights in Argentina
5 Facts About Women’s Rights in Argentina
While violence toward women and femicide are issues in Argentina, the progress of the country to combat those challenges is a promising start toward eliminating them. Through the continued work of Argentina’s government, women’s rights in Argentina should continuously improve.
– Jazmin Johnson
Photo: Flickr
Child Marriage and FGM in Sudan
In Sudan, authorities have declared that they will ban female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage, a monumental push forward for girls and women’s rights. Sudan will adopt the eradication of child marriage into all articles of the African charter on the rights and welfare of a child, reported The Guardian. Sudan’s authorities hope that these new additions allow for more protection for Sudan children. Here is some information about FGM in Sudan.
FGM in Sudan
Female genital mutilation involves the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia for non-medical reasons. Different types of FGM procedures exist, however, the core purpose is that it is a rite of passage into adulthood and a pre-requisite for marriage.
As of July 2020, laws in Sudan are making the practice of FGM punishable by up to three years in jail. By enforcing stricter laws against FGM, Sudanese government officials project a decline in FGM rituals. According to an in-depth analysis conducted by UNICEF in 2016, nearly two-thirds of circumcised women experienced FGM as early as ages 5 and 9 years and more than one-tenth of women married before 15 years of age.
Child Marriage in Sudan
People in Sudan commonly practice child marriage and about a third of Sudanese girls marry before the age of 18. Child brides are prevalent in Sudan due to several factors such as poverty, level of education and harmful traditional beliefs that younger girls are easier to socialize into obedience. Some Sudanese families believe they must marry off their daughters when they reach puberty to “protect” their chastity.
The Psychological Effects of Child Marriage and FGM
Child marriage and FGM can be detrimental to girls in Sudan as they can experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Sudanese girls are 23% more at risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, diabetes and stroke. Child marriage can also often lead to domestic abuse due to a potential imbalance in the power dynamic. The inequality in power threatens young girls’ ability to negotiate contraception, risking frequent early pregnancies. As the Sudan government and world leaders fight to put an end to child marriage and FGM in Sudan, this could, in turn, decrease potential long-term damaging psychological and physical effects on vulnerable Sudanese girls and women.
Plan International
Plan International is one of the many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) helping to end gender-based violence amongst vulnerable children and young people in Sudan. Since 1977, Plan International has been working towards inspiring girls and young women of Sudan to reach their full potential instead of entering into a cycle of violence and poverty. Through advocacy, academic opportunity, leadership outreach and mentorship programs that address child marriage and gender-based violence, Plan International has been inspiring girls and young women to obtain new opportunities. Helping advance children’s rights and equality for girls through its programs and projects is how Plan International aims to aid in the fight to eliminate child marriage and female genital mutilation.
As a new era in girls’ and women’s rights is present in Sudan, the road is still full of challenges. The process of complete abolishment of these crimes against humanity might be extensive but world leaders have pledged that these crimes will no longer exist by 2030. Fortunately, the future looks promising as Sudan’s government officials begin to consider how to improve female’s living conditions.
– Jessica Barile
Photo: Flickr
Organizations Helping Refugees in Austria
According to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is a human right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution. The number of refugees around the world has doubled since 2010, from 40 million to 79 million in 2019. During the Syrian War, where nearly 1.3 million migrants sought asylum in the E.U. in 2015, Austria became a crossing point. At the peak of the crisis, 89,000 people applied for asylum in the country, though it only accepted 15,000. The relationship with refugees in Austria is paradoxical in nature. Even though the country has accepted more refugees in the past few years, animosity toward these refugees is rising. These refugees face difficulties integrating into the Austrian society, forcing them into the outskirts of society and into poverty. At the same time, several initiatives continue to help support these refugees in creative ways.
The History of Relocation
In the past century, Austria experienced three main waves of refugees. The first came after 1945, where 1.6 million Jews, Hungarians, Romanians, Yugoslavians and German Poles escaped persecution from Germany. Only about 19% of these refugees stayed permanently in Austria. Another wave of 180,000 Hungarians, Czechoslovakians, Poles and Jews from the Soviet Union sought refuge in Austria in the 1960s. Only 10% of the Hungarian refugees stayed. The last major wave occurred in 1981 after the Polish Solidarity movements caused the country to become unstable. About 66,000 of the estimated 160,000 stayed in Austria. The last major wave came to Austria in 2015. That year, 89,000 mainly Syrians, Afghani and Iraqi applied for asylum.
Though Austria received international aid to handle the influx of refugees, the public still called refugees ‘ungrateful.’ Critics accused refugees of taking away jobs and housing from native-born Austrians. Since 1956, Austria has considered itself a place of first arrival and transit, but not as a place of resettlement. When the first 2015 refugees came, Austrians were welcoming toward the newcomers, waiting at the borders with supplies and support. Three years after the Syrian refugee crisis, public opinion shifted dramatically. It polarized, negatively affecting the relationship with refugees in Austria. The legislative election of 2017 brought a right-wing majority to the Austrian federal government, cementing the feelings of animosity toward refugees. By 2018, three years later, most 2015 refugees were still waiting on the results of their applications. Refugees coming to Austria face several problems, from the moment of their arrival to their integration at the economic and social levels.
Arrival
For Austrian authorities to consider a person a refugee, that individual must prove they are fleeing from persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. The Austrian police determine this during an interview with the potential refugees. There are, however, several ways to redirect these asylum-seekers in Austria. Under the Dublin Regulation, if a migrant does not receive asylum, they must go back to their country within six months. Austria also has a ‘fast track’ procedure that speeds up the asylum process when a migrant comes from a country that the government considers to be ‘safe.’ The historical mindset of sending people back immediately puts potential victims of human trafficking at risk. Moreover, gay people who come from countries that Austria considers ‘safe’ are at higher risk when they have to return to countries they fled. This is because these countries may prosecute queer people and women (who authorities do not question separately from male relatives).
According to the UN, host countries have a duty of care to identify the vulnerable situations of each migrant. In Austria, however, the identification methods are ‘random and unsystematic,’ where intervention occurs only when the vulnerabilities are visible or the asylum seekers state them themselves. This diminishes the rights of migrants to individual assessment, limiting their access to counseling, rehab and health services.
Economic Problems
Just over 1.2 million people in Austria were in danger of falling into poverty. While poverty threatened 39% of people with migration backgrounds in 2018, this percentage was 50% for people from non-European lands. Without these jobs, refugees are often at risk of falling into poverty. In 2019, 11% of people in poverty were from foreign lands, compared to 6.4% of Austrians. In total, 64% of people with migration backgrounds had employment. Syrians had the highest unemployment rate at 61.8%.
Access to the Austrian labor market as a refugee has limitations, especially before their claims for asylum have received acceptance. Even with diplomas from their home countries, Austria does not always recognize these diplomas. In 2016, about 22% of people with migration backgrounds were overqualified for their jobs.
Other major barriers to entry include discrimination, lack of social capital (both between members of the same ethnicity and with Austrians) and unfamiliarity with cultural nuances of how the host country’s labor market works. According to Amy Dudgeon, who has worked for more than 27 years with refugees and immigrants in New Orleans, Louisiana through Catholic Charities, a religious organization that provides immigration and refugee services, “The number one thing is the language barrier.”
Social Problems
The relationship with refugees in Austria is especially troubling in social integration. There is a rising intolerance for refugees in Austria. Though 41% of the population in 2020 agreed that Austria should help refugees, this is down from 51% in 2018. About 61% of the population also saw the coexistence of refugees and Austrians as ‘bad.’ Refugees themselves felt the discrimination. In fact, around 73% of people felt that their skin color, accent or where they come from caused them to face discrimination.
Finding Creative Solutions
These problems are not separate. In fact, there exists a causal link from social integration to labor market integration. When refugees create relationships within their ethnic communities, they can overcome their initial isolation and heighten their chances of getting their first job. Even better job opportunities open when refugees form relationships with people from Austria, as Austrians have insider and cultural knowledge about navigating the local labor market and job-searching process.
As Dudgeon pointed out, “I’ve met so many different people in so many different vocations in their home country, and then they come here and they can’t speak English so they have to do menial jobs. Just keeping an open mind, that just because they can’t speak English … it’s not an indicator of their intelligence or experience or anything like that.”
After two years, the employment rates of refugees start to converge with Austrian-born and other migrants. After seven years, they are as likely to receive employment as non-European migrants. The following organizations have found ways to aid refugees in Austria.
Organizations Helping Refugees in Austria
Though the relationship with refugees in Austria is paradoxical, these five initiatives prove that Austria is beginning to decrease the discrimination that refugees in Austria face today.
– Charlotte Ehlers
Photo: Flickr
Tackling The Taboo of Menstrual Hygiene
The American Medical Women’s Association defines period poverty as “the inadequate access to menstrual hygiene tools and education.” This includes limited accessibility to menstrual products like tampons, pads, washing stations and the ability to properly dispose of used products. The World Bank reports that “at least 500 million women and girls globally” lack the basic necessities for healthy menstrual management, making it difficult to combat the taboo of menstrual hygiene.
The inaccessibility of hygienic resources causes several problems for menstruating women and girls around the world. The U.N. states that in sub-Saharan Africa, 10% of school-aged girls will miss days for 20% of the school year due to menstruation. Their cycles, unfortunately, isolate them from their families and loved ones. These girls have to eat alone, sleep outside and wear the same clothes daily. Society claims they are “unclean” because of their cycles. Studies in Kenya found that it is not uncommon for girls to trade sex to pay for period supplies. Period poverty is a widespread issue. Countries frequently do not address it because of stigmas surrounding menstruation.
Entrepreneurs in the Making
In 2016, South Australian high school students Eloise Hall and Isobel Marshall attended a leadership conference that would start them on a journey of empowering women all over the world. The two young women left the conference with the motivation to do something impactful.
Eloise and Isobel decided that creating a social enterprise would be the most impactful. This is a result of making menstrual hygiene their target objective. They catered to a market that spent $300 million on period supplies annually.
As Isobel and Eloise researched menstrual hygiene, “they were shocked to learn that 30% of girls in developing countries will drop out of school once they start having periods.” They also researched “that far too many reproductive complications stem from the lack of appropriate menstrual health care and education.” They felt a responsibility to contribute to reducing period poverty. Isobel and Eloise launched their company, Taboo, over the next few years with an immense amount of effort, fundraising, persistence and heart.
Team Taboo
Taboo makes organic cotton period products, pads and tampons. Taboo sells them online and in stores throughout Australia. The Taboo team consists only of volunteers. Taboo has a commitment to using ethically sourced materials in its products. It also donates 100% of its profits. The money goes straight to One Girl, a nonprofit organization that “…break[s] down the barriers that girls face in accessing an education. [They] do this by running girl-led programs in Sierra Leone and Uganda to drive positive change for girls and their communities.” One Girl teaches on menstrual hygiene, which is a frequent topic. Taboo also donates menstrual products, thus, assisting the program with spreading awareness. One Girl distributes its products to its program members. It also combats the taboo of menstrual hygiene.
Eloise and Isobel sought to help their local community. In addition to their support of One Girl, they offer their consumers an option to subscribe to Taboo’s menstrual hygiene products on behalf of “disadvantaged” women in South Australia. They make a monthly trip to a women’s crisis center called Vinnie’s to hand deliver all donated supplies.
Taboo’s first products released in 2019. This company has made a huge impact in this short time. This contributes to Australia’s desire to combat the taboo of menstrual hygiene. In January 2021, co-founder Isobel Marshall became the recipient of the Young Australian of the Year award. The Taboo team is hopeful this recognition will spread awareness of the period poverty crisis.
– Rachel Proctor
Photo: Flickr
Organizations Combating Food Waste in the UK
The Facts on Food Waste
Since World War I, the U.K. has struggled with food waste. The country implemented rationing methods in both World Wars to combat excess waste in times of crisis. These methods have undergone adaptation to address modern food waste issues.
Several campaigns target the impact of domestic food waste in the U.K. There has been a great success, with household waste falling 6% in a three-year span. Still, an estimated 4.5 million tons of food goes to waste. Meal planning and using food within the home reduce domestic food waste. Small and simple actions on the individual level lead to large change across the nation.
The exact amounts of waste in the food industry are not clear, however, estimates are concerning. Food services waste roughly one million tons, “equivalent to throwing away one in six meals served.” Surplus food is responsible for much of this waste. Food producers produce food in quantities too large to match consumption. Additionally, while some of the food remains edible, it may be undesirable due to its appearance. In 2018, 20-40% of supermarket produce underwent disposal for failing to meet cosmetic standards.
Food waste comes with a price tag for individual households and the food services sector. Industries lose £2 billion due to excess food. Meanwhile households, manufacturing, retail and food services waste an estimated £19 billion worth of food annually. Solving the matter of food waste is not only of humanitarian interest but of economic value too.
The Role of WRAP
WRAP came about in 2000. It has successfully brokered agreements with several industries to reduce waste, including food retail. With the United Kingdom’s population expected to grow in coming years, there will be an increased need for food, resulting in possible excess waste. WRAP’s 2025 Food Vision tackles seven aspects of food waste:
Each focus point works in tandem. Improving efforts in one sector will benefit the others. Therefore, food waste reduction initiatives must address each aspect to ensure optimal success.
WRAP works with businesses and provides a roadmap and toolkit to guide parties interested in reducing food waste. The organization encourages businesses to set a target goal for reduction, to measure appropriately and to effectively act. The initiative aims to ensure the U.K. meets its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
WRAP began the Love Food Hate Waste campaign in 2007. The campaign raises awareness and teaches simple steps to reduce waste on an individual level. The Love Food Hate Waste campaign also offers recipes to ensure that each food item goes to use.
FareShare: Combating Food Waste
The longest-running food redistribution charity in the United Kingdom, FareShare, has been giving back to communities since 1994 by ensuring that no food goes to waste. The organization solves two problems with one solution: reduce waste and solve hunger by putting surplus food to good use. Powered by volunteers and fueled by charities, FareShare has provided millions of meals to vulnerable populations.
The process is simple: retailers supply FareShare with their surplus food and FareShare redistributes the goods to local charities. FareShare supports almost a million people every week. The U.K. economy also benefits by saving £51 million each year.
FareShare does not tackle its grand mission alone. The Borgen Project spoke with James Persad of FareShare who says, “There are still tons of food going to waste, enough for millions of meals. Our mission is not possible without our partners.” Businesses both big and small have committed to the cause. Nestlé is one of FareShare’s longest ongoing partnerships. From 2005 to 2016, they redistributed “roughly six million meals worth of food” to those in need.
Efforts have led to creative innovations. One such success is FareShare Go, a service that allows local supermarkets to donate surplus food to charities through text messages. The initiative received recognition from the World Food Innovation Awards in 2018.
Addressing Dual Issues
Food redistribution efforts are successfully combating food waste. Hunger and food waste are two dire problems society faces, but thankfully, solutions have emerged that address both. These food rescue solutions combat hunger by ensuring that no food goes to waste.
– Kelli Hughes
Photo: Flickr
Smartphones in Madagascar are Bridging the Gap
Madagascar is one of the world’s fifth-largest islands located off the east coast of Africa. Its population consists of more than 22 million people. Many of these people live in rural, impoverished areas. Additionally, many families cannot afford basic needs such as food, shelter or transportation. However, some people have found a way to find work through telecommunication. Here are some examples of how smartphones in Madagascar are bridging the wealth gap.
Madagascar’s Economy
Cell phones are efficient, fast and reliable in times of crisis. Currently, 96% of Americans own a cell phone. Now, villages in Madagascar are benefitting from telephone access as well. Since 2008, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has been doing business with Zain, a telecommunications company. IFC and Zain launched Village Phone, a campaign that helps bring change to local communities. This campaign creates jobs and promotes entrepreneurship by allowing small companies to sell mobile air time. Moreover, it helps people gain experience in areas like finance, information technology and business.
This knowledge is crucial to sustaining Madagascar’s economic future. The nation’s economy is largely based on agriculture, fishing and tourism. The economy now provides around 74% of the GDP, with 26.2% coming from the agriculture sector alone. The influx of technology will help strengthen Madagascar’s employment by enabling residents to improve in their respective fields.
Literacy Rate
Smartphones in Madagascar are also improving the literacy rate. In 2005, Madagascar’s literacy rate was at 58.4%. Meanwhile, in 2018, it climbed to 74.8%, an immense growth that rarely occurs in reality.
The relationship between growing literacy rates and texting is strong. Texting is a process that involves typing out letters, numbers and composing sentences. Thus, texting helps children gain more exposure to the written word. Greater exposure to the written word has a link to better reading skills.
Improved Education
Smartphones in Madagascar are accelerating the rate at which people receive information. Furthermore, smartphones help promote and improve access to education. Children who learn to read at an early age often become more capable of understanding syntax, grammar and literature. However, COVID-19 has caused many setbacks for students. Many schools closed in March 2020 due to the pandemic. A young mother expressed concern by saying, “It does not make me happy that my children are no longer going to school. Years don’t wait for them. They have already lost a lot.”
Thankfully, alternative options for learning are now available. Radio, television and smartphones are the main pipelines that support distance learning. Most recently, CISCO, a telephone company, and the Ministry of National Education and Technical and Vocational Education (MENETP) have launched a support platform to help with limited internet access to ensure learning continues.
Smartphones in Madagascar have proven to be especially useful for informing people of the COVID-19 infection rate and teaching children to wash their hands properly. Furthermore, this technology is providing hope in creating a more sustainable future for people.
– Nancy Taguiam
Photo: Flickr
The High Cost of Arable Land Loss in Africa
The Extent of Arable Land Loss
According to a report published in 2015 by the Montpellier Panel, a group of agricultural and economic trade experts, “about 65% of Africa’s arable land is too damaged to sustain viable food production.” This statistic, shocking as it may be, has ramifications that extend beyond its effect on the land.
When soil becomes degraded, food production decreases dramatically, causing severe economic side effects in agriculturally dominated communities. Ecological imbalances such as these decimate the livelihoods of people all around the continent. Ultimately this results in increased poverty rates. According to the Montpellier Panel report, “In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) an estimated 180 million people are affected, while the economic loss due to land degradation is estimated at $68 billion per year.” In short, this issue is not limited to one country or another. It extends beyond national and even continental borders.
The Causes of Arable Land Loss
The roots of this complex issue are spread across the continent and draw from a wide variety of international issues. However, the causes that can be immediately addressed lie in the heart of Africa. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) writes that the “available evidence leaves no doubt that soil degradation caused by erosion, desertification, deforestation and poor agricultural practices is undermining the very resources on which African farmers and their families depend for their very survival.”
These natural causes, while addressable, require the effort and consent of the leaders of Africa’s nations. Much of the burden that Africa faces currently falls on the shoulders of the most impoverished farmers with the least resources. The solution begins when governors grant their farmers the resources to practice water and soil conservation among other sustainability practices.
Though the situation seems dire, there are many opportunities available to change-makers in Africa’s agricultural sector. The international community, in conjunction with Africa’s national governments, has the opportunity to foster major structural changes to combat the ecological threat of arable land loss.
Solutions to Boost Agriculture in Africa
Food security and environmentalism have the potential to go hand-in-hand. With that said, overexploitation as a result of desperation will only lead farmers and their land into further degradation. Nonetheless, there are potential opportunities to consider in order to combat arable land loss and boost agriculture in Africa.
– Matthew Hayden
Photo: Pixabay
Malawian Farmers: Improving Gender Equality in Food Practices
Poverty and Agriculture
Although Malawi has been on a steady upward trend toward increased childhood education and greater access to healthcare, half of the overall population suffers from poverty due to negative factors such as droughts, floods and lack of sustainable farming methods. A majority of Malawian farmers can produce only enough food to survive and cannot grow the extra crops needed for future food supplies or trading opportunities. Thus, rural communities often live from harvest to harvest without a stable supply of fresh food and produce.
The Role of Women in Malawian Agriculture
Within the small rural communities of Malawi, societal norms divide the household responsibilities along gender lines, with the men of the household taking charge in plowing the fields, tending to crops and performing other farming duties. In addition to taking on agricultural tasks, women within the community complete household chores and watch over the children. Although the amount of female participation in Malawian farming practices is commendable compared to other small countries with similar economic conditions and demographics, the farming system is strenuous on women, who must perform double duties to ensure that the household runs smoothly.
With the economic fragility of Malawi, patriarchal structures have proven detrimental to the well-being and security of the community. It is difficult for Malawian female farmworkers to reach their full production potential and devote their full energy to sustainable farming practices and education. Families cannot produce enough food to sustain themselves and others in the village due to unequal task divisions.
Supporting Women in Malawi
A team of researchers recently undertook an experimental project to subvert the rigor of gender roles in Malawi and take some of the economic pressure off of Malawian women, often affected the most by poverty. One practice that researchers implemented to dismantle gender roles is to change the public perception of cooking and food practices in Malawi. Due to the reliance on starchy grains and roots that must be cooked in the Malawian diet, processing and cooking foods take up most Malawian women’s time. Seeing this phenomenon, researchers developed cooking tutorials to educate men on how to cook and also converted cooking into a fun activity by proposing it as a kind of competition in which different villages could contest who had the best male chefs.
Dismantling Gender Norms
As Raj Patel recounts in his lecture on transparency in the food system, although the social experiment that researchers conducted in Malawi initially seemed like a trivial novelty, its impact carried through into the daily lives of Malawian farmers. This small change in daily habits encouraged the men to shoulder more domestic tasks and act beyond the scope of traditional gender norms. In the short four-year period that researchers observed, Malawian malnutrition decreased and the women surveyed reported feeling more fulfilled and supported in their homes. Although there is still far to go in destabilizing the patriarchal structures present in Malawian society, small steps in the food system are the key to achieving bigger milestones such as reducing poverty and promoting gender equality.
– Luna Khalil
Photo: Flickr
5 Countries Leading in Poverty Rate Reduction
The World Bank published an analysis in 2019 of the 15 countries with the greatest poverty rate reduction from 1999-2015. Of those 15 countries, Tanzania, Tajikistan, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and The Kyrgyz Republic were the most successful in reducing poverty. While some of these five countries are continuing to reduce their poverty levels, others have recently faced hardships, stagnating their ability to eradicate poverty.
5 Leaders in Poverty Reduction
Looking Forward
While some countries have regressed in poverty rate reduction, others continue to decrease poverty rates. However, good news exists even for countries with increased poverty rates. Nonprofits work to provide relief, aid and policy changes that help those in poverty.
– Sophie Shippe
Photo: Flickr