Every day, people all throughout Afghanistan face not only the public health challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic but also a lack of accessibility to food, employment and a sense of stability. A study by Jean-Francois Trani and Washington University in St. Louis discussed how challenges like these may lead to both increased poverty and increased disability. They also identified how disability and poverty may overlap or compound the suffering of individuals. Here is some information about the link between disability and poverty in Afghanistan.
Challenges for Children in Afghanistan
In an environment with varying challenges, illness, injury, neglect and malnourishment can lead to lifelong health concerns and disability for children. Likewise, the chronic stress of struggling to sustain the life of a family in the midst of violence and trauma may also lead to debilitating psychiatric conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder. This is the crisis of disability and poverty in Afghanistan.
Mothers and grandmothers like Haji Rizva (only identified by the first name for her safety), struggle to feed their children. She thinks specifically of her 18-month-old granddaughter, Parvana, who had been constantly vomiting and too weak to move for days. “We didn’t have enough to feed her,” Haji Rizva told NPR while waiting in the ward for malnourished children at Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. “Sometimes we only have tea for two, three days. We don’t even have bread.”
Around the same time, and in the same city, fathers like Kahn Wali Kamran told the Associated Press that they fear finding their young children dead when they return home from work each day. With a surge in large bombings, targeted killings and other forms of crime (including armed robbery and kidnapping for ransom), the future appears increasingly dangerous and uncertain.
The Link Between Disability and Poverty in Afghanistan
The Asia Foundation studies suggest that 17% of Afghan citizens suffer from some form of disability and 8.9% have severe impairments and are dependent on others. Additionally, after decades of uninterrupted conflict, the Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA) noted that despite the lack of comprehensive study and measurement of mental health in such a volatile region, it conservatively estimated that more than half of the population suffers from some form of depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Halfway across the world, Trani’s 2012 study examining the links between poverty and disability using data from Afghanistan and Zambia has become relevant once again. The study noted that it is logical that disabled individuals may be more likely to be poor, as they have a higher cost of living, and a diminished ability to perform certain tasks, especially those they may require for employment. People with PTSD may be unable to complete tasks, communicate effectively and stay calm, making it harder to acquire and maintain employment. However, poverty and disability as concepts are difficult to define, as they both take many dimensions into consideration.
Defining Poverty
Generally, the amount of income a household earns determines poverty status, and what necessary commodities that the family in that household would be able to acquire. However, because all households have different needs and expenses, this is an unreliable measurement. Instead, the capability to live in a state of well-being, and have a reasonable life expectancy, quality nourishment and shelter, basic education and access to health care should be factors when considering poverty. Trani noted that low income is a cause of poverty, not the definition of poverty. In this way, violence, too, is a cause of poverty, and so is disability.
This creates an unforgiving cycle that allows both poverty and disability to increase in prevalence. When a person is in poverty, like Kamran or Haji Rizva, they are unable to provide basic necessities for themselves and their families. Without proper shelter and protection, Kamran’s children are more likely to suffer severe injury, potentially leading to lifelong physical disability. Likewise, without proper nutrition, Parvana and other kids like her are less likely to grow and develop properly leading to weakened muscles, bones and organ systems. Poverty, in this case, causes injury. Injury then causes disability. This lowers employment opportunities, causing disabled individuals to fall further into poverty, putting them at greater risk of traumatic stress, further injury and other sufferings. This is the cycle of poverty and disability that has captured Afghanistan for decades.
The Humanitarian Response Plan for Afghanistan
Fortunately, OCHA has recently updated its ongoing Humanitarian Response Plan for Afghanistan to take greater action to help marginalized groups through the violence and the pandemic.
“Given the scale of vulnerability in Afghanistan, this effort will be guided by a range of both new and well-established technical working groups focused on gender, disability inclusion, gender-based violence (GBV), child protection, accountability to affected people (AAP) and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA)” wrote Parvathy Ramaswani in the plan’s updated introduction.
OCHA Measures
The efforts in regards to the pandemic will be largely consistent with others around the world, introducing sanitation protocols and vaccine distribution to the best of their ability, as reducing the spread of the pandemic will naturally provide relief to people caught in the poverty-disability cycle. As in developed countries, people with preexisting conditions are much more likely to develop complications from COVID-19 like pneumonia, infection and organ system failure. This could affect various disabilities that people develop from genetic conditions, malnutrition, previous infections and other injuries. Physical disability is quite prevalent in Afghanistan, so complications and deaths are also a greater concern than in some other areas.
From a psychiatric disability standpoint, the response plan is more targeted, directing resources and funding to local hospitals and clinics to seek out trauma patients who have not received adequate treatment prior to 2021. “With the volatile security situation creating higher trauma needs and associated disabilities, secondary trauma care continues to be a critical need,” the report noted. OCHA will continue to monitor the mental health of citizens closely through 2021, trying to care for those it missed in previous psychiatric treatment initiatives.
Help is on the way for people like Haji Rizva and Kamran, to prevent them and their children from developing new health concerns or complications from COVID-19. The OCHA response plan aims to reach 86% or more of the existing disabled population in Afghanistan.
– Anika Ledina
Photo: Flickr
How COVID-19 Affects Refugee Camps in Mauritania
The Mbera Camp
The Mbera camp is located 40km from Mauritania’s southern border shared with Mali. The Mbera camp first formed to house Malian refugees who fled the conflict in Mali. The camp is home to more than 50,000 Malian refugees. It is now one of the only camps in Mauritania that offers shelter and education for its refugees. Roughly 58% of the refugees in the Mbera camp are children.
COVID-19 affects refugee camps particularly harshly. Refugee camps are vulnerable to COVID-19 because they are overcrowded, densely populated and lack sufficient access to water, sanitation and health services. For more than 50,000 people in the Mbera camp, there is only one health center and four health posts. When 94% of the population rely on these facilities as their primary source of healthcare, it becomes overburdened when multiple people fall ill at once. This means at least 20% of households may be unable to access treatment because the health centers lack capacity to accommodate everyone or because the centers are a long distance away.
An Impacted Economy
In March 2020, the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) established a crisis committee in order to manage communications and mobilization simultaneously. The committee ensures that refugees have access to as much information as possible regarding COVID-19 risks in the community. A survey evaluated how COVID-19 affects refugees in the camp. It showed that 100% of those surveyed knew about COVID-19 and its risks. Additionally, 62% could not afford the hygiene items necessary for preventative measures. As with many countries, the economic impact in Mauritania has been harsh. Roughly 75% of respondents reported that COVID-19 negatively impacted their livelihoods.
To address these issues, the UNHCR introduced a Cash for Social Protection plan that benefited more than 1,000 households within the Mbera camp.
The UNHCR’s Plan
Since the start of COVID-19, the UNHCR has supported the Mauritanian Government’s COVID-19 Response Plan. The Government’s response includes refugees and national health structures treat COVID-19 refugee patients. The NGO, Alima, along with the UNHCR and the WHO, trained 32 young volunteers to participate in the COVID-19 community surveillance system. On 15 September 2020, the UNHCR promised to provide free primary healthcare services in the Mbera camp for all refugees until the close of the year.
Part of the UNHCR’s comprehensive COVID-19 response includes 46 quarantine units at the borders as well as four isolation points. Ongoing awareness initiatives in the Mbera camp ensure that refugees are educated about COVID-19. The UNHCR has also distributed protective personal equipment to the four health structures of Mbera camp and the border points. The organization has also established a contact tracing system and a COVID-19 data collection system. Furthermore, the UNHCR has provided the necessary medication, equipment and medical transportation to support the COVID-19 response in Mbera camp.
By supporting an effective COVID-19 response in Mauritania, and in Mbera camp specifically, the UNHCR ensures that vulnerable populations are not overlooked during a global health pandemic. In order for the global COVID-19 response to be successful, minority and marginalized groups must be prioritized.
– Seren Dere
Photo: Flickr
Addressing Mental Health in Italy
Italy’s Past Relationship with Mental Health
Italy passed Law Number 180 in 1978. Law Number 180 blocked all new admissions to Italian mental hospitals. This subsequently led to all mental hospitals in Italy closing by the year 2000. This change came about so that mental patients would receive similar treatment to other patients with physical ailments. Psychiatric wards that still exist in the country are located inside general hospitals with roughly 10 available beds in these wards per 100,000 people, and only 46 beds per 100,000 people in community residential facilities. These numbers can also vary significantly between geographical areas.
The State of Mental Health in Italy
In the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, Italy had been doing relatively well in terms of mental health. For example, in 2016, Italy had one of the lowest suicide rates among G7 countries, at 6.3 suicides per 100,000 people. This is less than half the rate of the United States in 2016, which was 13.3 suicides per 100,000 people. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that in 2017, 5.1% of the Italian population suffered from some form of depressive disorder and 5% of the population suffered from an anxiety disorder.
The Effects of COVID-19
The full effects of COVID-19 on mental health in Italy are unknown. However, psychological studies conducted while lockdown measures were in place provide some clarity on the subject. One online survey issued approximately four weeks into lockdown measures in Italy showed notably increased rates of post-traumatic stress syndrome, symptoms of depression, insomnia, symptoms of anxiety and perceived stress.
The Future of Mental Health in Italy
According to experts, there are going to be psychosocial and economic ramifications resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, due to the trauma associated with being a frontline worker, there is a projected decline in the mental health of frontline doctors and nurses. This decline will also affect members of the Italian population that have undergone any psychological distress because of the pandemic.
Steps have already been taken to help those suffering from COVID-19-related stress. In March 2020, the Italian government launched a national mental health service intended to combat the rise of mental distress in Italy. The program works with institutions and regional associations to provide free emergency help from psychoanalysts and psychologists. The new mental health service can also provide necessary mental resources to low-income families and individuals living independently as they are more at risk of developing mental health disorders.
Additionally, SOS Children’s Villages, an organization that has also taken action on the issue of mental health in Italy during COVID-19, has partnered with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the City University of New York and the WHO to train individuals on how to provide low-intensity psychological interventions to individuals in need of psychological aid.
The “Living with the Times” toolkit made by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Reference Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support also helps to provide adults with the tools necessary to support one’s mental health, as well as the welfare of those around them.
Italy has a unique relationship with mental health treatment, and COVID-19 presents an unusual challenge for the nation. Efforts by the institutions that have partnered with the Italian government, as well as local NGOs and nonprofits, aim to reduce the damage caused by COVID-19 by making mental health care widespread and accessible.
– Brendan Jacobs
Photo: Unsplash
5 Facts About Child Poverty in Nigeria
Settled on the western coast of Africa is the country of Nigeria. Despite being Africa’s wealthiest country, Nigeria is home to nearly 83 million people living in poverty. With half the country’s population comprising of people under the age of 15, poverty in Nigeria disproportionately affects children. Extreme poverty has disturbed nearly every aspect of child development including education, nutrition, safety and hygiene. These five facts about child poverty in Nigeria offer insight into the struggles that plague children living in poverty and highlight the humanitarian efforts to come in 2021.
5 Facts About Child Poverty in Nigeria
UNICEF’s Humanitarian Action for Children Appeal
With the COVID-19 pandemic devastating developing countries like Nigeria, the child poverty rates are only increasing. In response to this worsening crisis, UNICEF has created a comprehensive plan of humanitarian efforts in Nigeria and a list of goals for 2021.
Malnutrition and Disease
Malnutrition continues to be one of the leading causes of death for children in Nigeria. Food insecurity plagues rural regions of the country where government facilities are not accessible. To combat this crisis, by the end of 2021, UNICEF plans to admit 386,926 children under the age of 5 to UNICEF health facilities for severe acute malnutrition treatment.
Due to the worsening disease rates, UNICEF will be working with the Nigerian government to implement routine immunization efforts. These efforts will focus on rural areas as these are the regions that have the lowest percentage of vaccinations and see the least amount of service aid from the government. UNICEF projects this plan will result in 385,196 children receiving vaccinations against measles.
Sanitation
Contaminated water and unsanitary living conditions have been major contributors to child deaths in Nigeria. In 2021, UNICEF will focus on improving sanitary conditions and access to clean water in rural areas. UNICEF plans to focus these efforts on gender and disability sensitivity. In 2021, an estimated 850,000 people will receive access to clean water and sanitation facilities that are gender-specific and disability-friendly. In more rural, inaccessible areas, an additional 1.9 million people will obtain education on hygiene practices and receive hygiene tools and/or money for hygiene tools.
Education
As for education, UNICEF’s 2021 action plan accounts for access to formal or non-formal schooling for 1,345,145 children. In addition, 1,000 schools will implement infection prevention protocols and almost 700,000 children will receive individual learning materials. Education is vital to the UNICEF plan as it is the greatest resource for long-term progress and gives children the greatest chance to leave poverty later in life.
This comprehensive plan has the potential to bring essential humanitarian aid to 4.3 million people, including over 2 million Nigerian children that until now, have seen little to no aid due to the region where they live.
– Kendall Couture
Photo: Flickr
World of Warcraft’s Fight Against the Pandemic
Blizzard Charity Events
Since 2010, Blizzard has partnered with charities and nonprofit organizations to donate millions of dollars through player donations. In years past, Blizzard would donate 100% of proceeds made off of player purchases of in-game cosmetic items like World of Warcraft pets or Overwatch skins.
This year, Blizzard is changing the way donations are being made. Players will be allowed to donate however much they want directly to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), or Doctors without Borders, and these donations will be tracked by Blizzard. After reaching preset goals, players will be rewarded with in-game pets as a reward for contributing to World of Warcraft’s fight against the pandemic.
Blizzard’s previous charity events have generally gone toward alleviating domestic issues in the U.S. This will be the first time the company partnered with an international humanitarian organization, except for its partnership with WE Charity in 2019. The WE Charity works internationally to end poverty by establishing education access and resources, providing more than one million people with access to clean food and water and empowering women to be self-sufficient.
Doctors Without Borders
Blizzard’s charity event with Doctors Without Borders will have player donations going directly to the nonprofit’s COVID-19 Crisis Fund. Doctors Without Borders is a humanitarian nonprofit organization working in more than 70 countries, providing people with medical aid and assistance. The organization has been combating malnutrition in children, treating preventable diseases and providing people with access to medical services and care since being founded in 1971.
The COVID-19 Crisis Fund has a current target of €150 million, or more than $181 million. All the funds will go directly toward Doctors Without Borders’s global response to the pandemic. For instance, the funding will be used for supplies for patients and staff and research ways to combat the virus. The goals of the COVID-19 Crisis Fund are to help stop the spread of the virus, reinforce food and water systems for at-risk populations and provide medical aid to those suffering from illness in more than 70 countries where the nonprofit works.
To reach its goal of €150 million, Doctors Without Borders will need more donations to its COVID-19 Crisis Fund. By partnering with Blizzard and the World of Warcraft, Doctors Without Borders is one step closer to reaching its goal and contributing to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, this charity partnership will help improve the current global COVID-19 response and save lives.
– Gerardo Valladares
Photo: Flickr
Understanding Disability and Poverty in Afghanistan
Challenges for Children in Afghanistan
In an environment with varying challenges, illness, injury, neglect and malnourishment can lead to lifelong health concerns and disability for children. Likewise, the chronic stress of struggling to sustain the life of a family in the midst of violence and trauma may also lead to debilitating psychiatric conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder. This is the crisis of disability and poverty in Afghanistan.
Mothers and grandmothers like Haji Rizva (only identified by the first name for her safety), struggle to feed their children. She thinks specifically of her 18-month-old granddaughter, Parvana, who had been constantly vomiting and too weak to move for days. “We didn’t have enough to feed her,” Haji Rizva told NPR while waiting in the ward for malnourished children at Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. “Sometimes we only have tea for two, three days. We don’t even have bread.”
Around the same time, and in the same city, fathers like Kahn Wali Kamran told the Associated Press that they fear finding their young children dead when they return home from work each day. With a surge in large bombings, targeted killings and other forms of crime (including armed robbery and kidnapping for ransom), the future appears increasingly dangerous and uncertain.
The Link Between Disability and Poverty in Afghanistan
The Asia Foundation studies suggest that 17% of Afghan citizens suffer from some form of disability and 8.9% have severe impairments and are dependent on others. Additionally, after decades of uninterrupted conflict, the Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA) noted that despite the lack of comprehensive study and measurement of mental health in such a volatile region, it conservatively estimated that more than half of the population suffers from some form of depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Halfway across the world, Trani’s 2012 study examining the links between poverty and disability using data from Afghanistan and Zambia has become relevant once again. The study noted that it is logical that disabled individuals may be more likely to be poor, as they have a higher cost of living, and a diminished ability to perform certain tasks, especially those they may require for employment. People with PTSD may be unable to complete tasks, communicate effectively and stay calm, making it harder to acquire and maintain employment. However, poverty and disability as concepts are difficult to define, as they both take many dimensions into consideration.
Defining Poverty
Generally, the amount of income a household earns determines poverty status, and what necessary commodities that the family in that household would be able to acquire. However, because all households have different needs and expenses, this is an unreliable measurement. Instead, the capability to live in a state of well-being, and have a reasonable life expectancy, quality nourishment and shelter, basic education and access to health care should be factors when considering poverty. Trani noted that low income is a cause of poverty, not the definition of poverty. In this way, violence, too, is a cause of poverty, and so is disability.
This creates an unforgiving cycle that allows both poverty and disability to increase in prevalence. When a person is in poverty, like Kamran or Haji Rizva, they are unable to provide basic necessities for themselves and their families. Without proper shelter and protection, Kamran’s children are more likely to suffer severe injury, potentially leading to lifelong physical disability. Likewise, without proper nutrition, Parvana and other kids like her are less likely to grow and develop properly leading to weakened muscles, bones and organ systems. Poverty, in this case, causes injury. Injury then causes disability. This lowers employment opportunities, causing disabled individuals to fall further into poverty, putting them at greater risk of traumatic stress, further injury and other sufferings. This is the cycle of poverty and disability that has captured Afghanistan for decades.
The Humanitarian Response Plan for Afghanistan
Fortunately, OCHA has recently updated its ongoing Humanitarian Response Plan for Afghanistan to take greater action to help marginalized groups through the violence and the pandemic.
“Given the scale of vulnerability in Afghanistan, this effort will be guided by a range of both new and well-established technical working groups focused on gender, disability inclusion, gender-based violence (GBV), child protection, accountability to affected people (AAP) and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA)” wrote Parvathy Ramaswani in the plan’s updated introduction.
OCHA Measures
The efforts in regards to the pandemic will be largely consistent with others around the world, introducing sanitation protocols and vaccine distribution to the best of their ability, as reducing the spread of the pandemic will naturally provide relief to people caught in the poverty-disability cycle. As in developed countries, people with preexisting conditions are much more likely to develop complications from COVID-19 like pneumonia, infection and organ system failure. This could affect various disabilities that people develop from genetic conditions, malnutrition, previous infections and other injuries. Physical disability is quite prevalent in Afghanistan, so complications and deaths are also a greater concern than in some other areas.
From a psychiatric disability standpoint, the response plan is more targeted, directing resources and funding to local hospitals and clinics to seek out trauma patients who have not received adequate treatment prior to 2021. “With the volatile security situation creating higher trauma needs and associated disabilities, secondary trauma care continues to be a critical need,” the report noted. OCHA will continue to monitor the mental health of citizens closely through 2021, trying to care for those it missed in previous psychiatric treatment initiatives.
Help is on the way for people like Haji Rizva and Kamran, to prevent them and their children from developing new health concerns or complications from COVID-19. The OCHA response plan aims to reach 86% or more of the existing disabled population in Afghanistan.
– Anika Ledina
Photo: Flickr
Flood-Tolerant Rice Benefits Farmers in India
Environmental Challenges Affect Rice Production in India
Recent changes in the climate have caused rice production volatility due to flooding and drought. As many as 4.8 million people in India are exposed to river flood risks each year. In India, environmental challenges have had an especially negative effect on rice crops as floods have overtaken many viable planting areas. This flooding has disproportionately affected low-income farmers. These farmers often work with less reliable plots of land that are more prone to flooding. Without the development of techniques to help combat extreme weather, both the livelihoods of low-income people within India and the general Indian economy will experience a significant socio-economic impact.
Swarna Sub-1 Rice
A strain of flood-tolerant rice called Swarna Sub-1 has been a major development that addresses crop damage due to flooding in India. As a mixture of two different rice varieties, this scientifically developed plant is able to withstand intense flooding. This type of rice has been on the market for use since around 2009; however, many farmers have not had access to the rice strain until recently. This is largely due to the lack of information about the existence of Swarna Sub-1 and a lack of accessibility to it.
Flood-Tolerant Rice Benefits
The introduction of flood-tolerant rice has allowed for an increase in rice production, as J-PAL studies have shown. J-PAL is an organization that researches innovative solutions to global poverty. The increased rice production throughout India has had an incredibly positive effect, both economically and socially, as there is a larger supply of rice boosting local economies. As impoverished farmers have seen more successful rice harvests, they have been keener to cultivate a greater amount of farmland and make riskier agricultural decisions. Farmers have also invested in fertilizers to further increase crop health as they are more sure of their ability to create a solid income through rice farming. Additionally, precautionary rice savings decreased, suggesting farmers have perceived lower risk of crop losses with the flood-tolerant rice.
Swarna Sub-1 seeds increased rice yields by about 10% over the course of two years, as seen in the study. Researchers stated that the productive behavior changes among farmers who planted Swarna Sub-1 accounted for 41% of the long-term increase in rice yields. The higher yields also increased the income of farmers by roughly $47 per hectare.
The Potential of Flood-Tolerant Rice
These flood-tolerant rice benefits have improved the livelihoods of impoverished farmers in India while also contributing to food security and local economies. Increased access to flood-tolerant rice varieties in developing countries has the potential to improve lives and lift people out of poverty.
– Olivia Bay
Photo: Flickr
What to Know About Child Trafficking in Kenya
Child Trafficking in Kenya
The cities of Nairobi, Kisumu and Mombasa are where trafficking occurs the most. Traffickers traffic children for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation as well as forced labor, forced begging and forced marriage.
The African child trafficking market has become a refined system and it is difficult for authorities to keep up with the scale of the problem. Awareness Against Human Trafficking (HAART) reports that at best, only 2% of trafficked Kenyan children ever make it back home.
With these concerning statistics, it is crucial to bring awareness to these issues and create a judicious plan to put an end to child trafficking in Kenya.
The Vulnerability of Migrants and Refugees
The U.N. Economic Development in Africa Report 2018 notes that migrants, both legal and illegal, from bordering countries such as Somalia, Ethiopia and South Sudan are passing through Kenya in pursuit of better lives in southern Africa as well as Europe and the Americas. Many of these hopeful migrants become victims of exploitation. In Kenya, illegal recruiters make fraudulent offers of employment in the Middle East and Asia to deceive migrants, thus entrapping them, and oftentimes their children, in the trafficking web.
Kenya hosts approximately 470,000 refugees and asylum seekers. These refugees live in camps with limited access to education and livelihood opportunities which makes them vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.
The Abduction and Sale of Babies
In November 2020, BBC’s Africa Eye investigative journalism program exposed Nairobi’s flourishing black market trade in stolen babies. Children of vulnerable mothers are disappearing and being sold for profit and other mothers are selling their babies for mere survival. This form of illegal child trafficking happens at street clinics and even in plain sight at a major government-run hospital in Nairobi. Many impoverished Kenyans resort to stealing babies in order to sell them for lucrative prices — roughly $460 for a girl and $725 for a boy.
Many young women face challenges such as teen pregnancy. Kenya has one of the highest rates in Africa as 20,828 girls between 10 and 14 years old have become mothers while 24,106 older girls between 15 and 19 years old are either pregnant or mothers already. Some girls are entering sex work to survive which takes them away from school. In Kenya, abortion is illegal except in emergencies. With a lack of reproductive education and awareness of legal options, women may resort to selling their children on the black market.
Lacking Government Response
BBC’s Africa Eye reported that the government has no reports or accurate national surveys on child trafficking in Kenya and agencies are too under-resourced and under-staffed for success in tracking missing children in the black market. The U.S. Department of State’s 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report on Kenya noted that NGOs have affiliated with Kenyan authorities to assist with providing services to victims such as medical care, psycho-social counseling, rehabilitation and reintegration support, basic needs, legal aid and transportation. In some cases, NGOs acted alone when the government’s commitments became unresponsive or stagnant.
NGOs and international organizations have also worked with the government to implement regular training for prosecutorial and judicial officials, border guards, police officers and immigration agents on detecting and properly managing child trafficking in Kenya. This project is in response to the Kenyan authority’s tendency to treat victims as criminals and to label trafficking cases as immigration or labor law violations rather than crimes under the anti-trafficking law, thus leading to less stringent sentences for traffickers.
Organizations Addressing Child Trafficking in Kenya
Activist groups and NGOs alike are taking action in combatting the growing black market. From its inception in 2016 to December 2020, Missing Child Kenya has found and reunited 496 children with their families, committed 73 children to government homes for safe care and custody, documented 21 as deceased and is still searching for another 190. This is a total of 780 children in its case files.
Additionally, a Kenyan-based NGO, HAART Kenya has been engaged in anti-human trafficking efforts for 10 years. It has conducted more than 1,500 workshops on trafficking to educate and raise awareness of the issue and has assisted 585 survivors of human trafficking.
Efforts from organizations such as these ensure that child trafficking in Kenya is eradicated once and for all.
– Alyssa McGrail
Photo: Flickr
The Success of Ghana’s Electrical Mini-Grids
Electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa
As of April 2020, USAID found that Ghana had 4,3999 MW of installed energy capacity. However, only 2,400 MW of energy is available due to Ghana’s reliance on hydroelectricity, fossil fuels and ailing power infrastructure.
On the other hand, Cameroon only had 1,558 MW of installed electrical capacity in 2017 and a population of more than 25 million. Moreover, Cameroon’s electricity access rate was only at 61.4% at this same time. Urban regions and rural regions have a massive disparity in access with 93.2% and 21.3% respectively. As such, Ghana’s electrical grids are improving at a much faster rate than those around them.
Creating Solar Mini-Grids in Remote Communities
In 2007, Ghana, in partnership with the World Bank, approved the Energy Development and Access Project. As of January 2021, the project has financed more than $210 million to Ghana. By September 2020, 1.73 million people in Ghana have gained access to electricity. The 2022 target is for a total increase in access for 1.95 million people. The international resources provided have helped Ghana’s government implement its national electrification plan and is the reason for its successful electrical system.
The Ghanaian government in 2018, through its National Electrification Scheme (NES), identified 11,000 communities connected to the national grid. The Ghana Ministry of Energy in 2019 stated that it cost $2 billion to reach this number. The Ghana government also estimates that about three million citizens lack access to the electricity grid.
What it Takes to Create Solar Mini-grids in Remote Communities
Ghana and its partners have been successful in providing more than 90% of Ghana with electricity access. However, funding has been a challenge. Extending electric grids to connect the remaining communities could cost up to $900 million. The country also faces a shortage of funding due to “strict conditionalities of development partners and the rising cost of borrowing.” In order to deal with this issue, the government has established a unique initiative.
Mini off-grid electricity was implemented by NES to meet the rising cost of connecting rural communities to the national grid. This initiative brought light to these remote regions by installing 20 mini-grids in 2019. The average cost of connecting a household to a mini-grid is $2,000 and have set aside funds for many more.
The Benefits of the Mini-Grid
Ghana’s infrastructure, which its national energy grid relies on, is often unreliable in remote areas. While Ghana’s electrical mini-grids have more upfront costs, it offers more reliable electricity. Pediatorkope is a small island town in Ghana and one of the first regions to receive a mini-grid in Ghana. The World Bank’s report outlined that while the costs of the grid were more significant than if they had connected the town to Ghana’s national grid, the solar mini-grid provided a more reliable system for the town. Ghana’s national grid is under a lot of stress. These mini-grids offer reliable energy distribution systems for remote communities, providing tangible benefits to Ghana’s rural population.
The World Bank stated that mini-grids would “provide wider economic benefits to the community.” Solar power is one of the renewable resources that play a significant role in these mini-grids. Native Ghana companies, international energy corporations and governmental agencies supply, maintain and operate these mini-grids.
Naomi Dagrey, a Ghanaian citizen with a mini-grid has been financially saved by her community having consistent access to electricity. “Once we got connected to electricity, I invested in a refrigerator which I use [for] frozen beef and chicken,” she stated in a World Bank promotional video. The success of Ghana’s electrical mini-grids has changed the way people are able to live and has opened the doors for future possibilities.
– Jacob Richard Bergeron
Photo:Flickr
Improving Treatment for Mental Health in Morocco
A 60-year-old royal decree largely dictates mental health in Morocco, but the government and outside institutions have been working to address this outdated decree in the last decades. A Dahir, or King’s decree, emerged in 1959, which determines Morocco’s mental health program, rights of patients and other aspects. Due to the inadequacy of the law, the Ministry of Health has and still is working on a new law to address treatment for mental health in Morocco.
The Current Situation for Mental Health in Morocco
In 2009, the government published a mental health profile of the country’s general population. The government’s report on mental health in the country used a random sample that it took of the population. Researchers interviewed nearly 5,500 people and over 40% of those interviewed had an active mental disorder.
Mental health disorders were more frequent among women, the divorced, unemployed and those in urban areas. More recent data on Moroccan mental health add credence to these older findings.
A 2019 study in the Annals of General Psychiatry outlined that one in five children in Morocco suffered from insomnia, depression or anxiety. Half of the mental health issues in Morocco’s children started at the age of 14. The Moroccan Ministry of Health published that nearly half of all adolescents it studied suffer from a mental health disorder. Morocco’s adolescents make up nearly 9% of the country’s total population. Outside institutions like the World Bank state that women and those who are young require special attention. The World Bank described the important relationship between education, work productivity, family care and mental health.
Solutions
The Moroccan government and the World Health Organization (WHO) are addressing mental health shortcomings with three major goals; drafting new legislation on mental health, building more hospitals and increasing the psychiatric workforce. The WHO’s “Country Cooperation Strategy for 2017-2021″ focuses on the entirety of the health care system in Morocco. However, legislative scrutiny is addressing mental health in Morocco, specifically.
Addressing the 1959 Dahir
The government adopted draft legislation in 2015 that addressed the outdated nature of the 1959 Dahir. The law emerged to protect the rights of those with mental health disorders. After scrutiny from health care professionals in Morocco, the government announced that the law would go under review in consultation with the Moroccan Society of Psychiatry or other leaders in the mental health field. The draft law is currently still under review.
Building More Psychiatric Hospitals
Morocco’s mental health infrastructure is currently getting a boost. The government is building psychiatric hospitals, one of which has already started construction. These hospitals are part of a greater initiative to increase regional access to health care. In fact, a psychiatric clinic finished construction in late 2020. All of these health infrastructure creations are part of a cooperative between the WHO and Morocco.
Increasing the Mental Health Workforce
The WHO reported that the ratio of psychiatrists was at 0.4 per 100,000 in 2005. However, in 2017, that ratio was at 0.84 which means it has doubled in 12 years. The WHO’s numbers show a steady increase in this workforce. A case study of under-resourced areas in Morocco has proposed peer-therapy as a solution to the lack of available mental health physicians.
A 2017 case study in Morocco gives hope to under-resourced areas. Sixty people ages 18-33 engaged in a rehabilitation program. The researchers found that the sessions were successful. They believe peer-therapy can make up for the lack of an available workforce.
While treatment for mental health in Morocco has presented some challenges, the country is working to improve the situation. Through the implementation of new hospitals and clinics as well as peer-therapy, access to mental health care should improve for Morocco’s residents.
– Jacob Richard Bergeron
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The Program Tackling Poverty Eradication in Thailand
What is the Baan Mankong Program?
Why is Secure Housing Important?
How has the Baan Mankong Program Helped?
Its Impact and Growth
The program empowers the communities involved to plan, apply and improve the projects themselves based on the needs of the community. By 2009, the program existed in 260 cities in Thailand with money for 80,000 housing projects receiving approval, and communities implementing 1,033 housing projects that provide decent and secure housing for 104,000 poor families. The program not only helped the regions of Bangkok, but it also reached 320 cities/districts across 72 provinces and helped over 90,000 households with $191 million U.S. dollars. Thailand is one of a couple of countries that established a nation-wide effort to improve poor housing and what makes The Baan Mankong Program stand out is the focus of the community which strengthens the voices of the citizens in poor communities.
Supporting communities in need of quality housing is important to poverty eradication in Thailand and requires attention from the government, members of the low-income community, and members from high-income communities. The success of programs like the Baan Mankong Program not only depends on money but community support encouraging spaces to learn from one another.
Photo: Flickr