Guyana currently has one of the fastest-growing economies due to its vast offshore oil reserves. Despite this, Guyana remains one of the most impoverished countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region. In 2023, 58% of Guyanese lived in poverty, earning less than $6.85 a day, and 32% lived in extreme poverty, earning under $3.65 a day.
This disparity worsened after the government signed production and revenue-sharing agreements in 2016 with major oil companies. These deals grant Guyana just 12.5% of oil revenues, a small portion of which reaches the average Guyanese. At the same time, energy remains expensive, unreliable, and inaccessible for many, exacerbating energy poverty nationwide.
For Guyana and other developing nations, renewable energy offers a path towards sustainable, affordable, and reliable power. It holds the potential to lift communities out of poverty and build a more secure future. While renewable energy in Guyana shows significant promise, the country must overcome several key challenges to unlock its full potential.
The Current State of Energy
Oil production in Guyana exploded after ExxonMobil’s 2015 discovery of offshore oil reserves in the Stabroek Block. By 2024, daily output reached 630,000 barrels, with projections to double by 2027. This will make Guyana one of the world’s top per capita oil producers. Additionally, petroleum supplies over 99% of the country’s energy generation and consumption.
Guayana generates its power primarily through aging diesel systems and delivers it through a deteriorating grid, which causes severe inefficiencies and frequent outages. This makes energy both expensive and unreliable, and leaves many Guyanese in a constant state of energy poverty and exacerbating financial strains.
Electricity in Guyana costs around $0.32 per kilowatt-hour, which is among the highest in the region and the country loses 26% of all power due to grid inefficiencies. Those who can afford power experience frequent power outages.
Oil companies have secured significant control over the energy sector, including monopoly rights on power generation and the grid, through legal frameworks designed to protect their interests. While oil brings GDP growth, due to these agreements, Guyanese citizens themselves see little of the money.
Why Renewable Energy in Guyana Matters
Renewables offer Guyana a way to produce inexpensive, reliable, and sustainable energy that will reduce energy and financial strain for many Guyanese citizens. Recognizing this, the Guyana government created a Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) which focuses on fostering low-emission economic growth by 2030. The LCDS emphasizes energy access for underserved populations, environmental protection, and international collaboration.
Despite strong potential, renewable energy development in Guyana remains slow and uneven.
Hydropower
Guyana has an estimated 7,600 megawatts of hydropower potential, but currently has no large-scale hydro plants. The country ultimately abandoned the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project, proposed in 2014 to generate more than 1,000 gigawatt-hours annually.
More recently, smaller projects have found success. In 2024, the country built the 1.5 MW Kumu Hydropower Station, and in 2025, it built the 0.7 MW Moco Moco Plant. These projects provide clean, reliable energy to several hinterland communities.
Solar Power
Solar energy has seen the most progress in Guyana, particularly in rural and off-grid areas. In 2023, the Guyana Energy Agency distributed 26,398 solar units to remote communities, according to EIA. The Home Energy Systems Project plans to add 30,000 more units, totaling 4.8 megawatts of capacity.
Two 45-kilowatt mini-grids with battery storage were installed in Orealla and Siparuta. The GUYSOL program launched a 1.5 megawatt solar plant in Bartica in 2023, which aims for 19% renewable energy in the national grid.
In March 2024, Guyana signed a $38 million deal with SUMEC to build solar farms in three regions, adding 10 megawatts. By 2025, new solar farms in Guyana are expected to produce over 39 megawatts of solar energy.
Wind and Biomass
Wind power in Guyana remains largely underdeveloped. The country never completed a 10 megawatt wind farm proposed for Hope Beach in 2007. More recently, the government proposed a 450-kilowatt wind turbine for Leguan Island, designed to complement an existing solar farm.
Guyana’s agricultural sector produces large volumes of rice husks and sugarcane waste, which offer ideal biomass fuel sources. However, biomass energy remains underutilized.
The Skeldon Biomass Power Plant in East Berbice-Corentyne is currently the only operational biomass facility. It generates 30 megawatts of power from sugarcane residue and supplies energy to surrounding communities.
Challenges to Renewable Energy
Despite significant potential, renewable energy development in Guyana faces several obstacles such as energy laws, high upfront costs and unequal access. Building renewable infrastructure requires a significant initial investment. Remote and Indigenous communities benefit least from oil revenue and struggle to finance energy projects, making them particularly dependent on public or international aid.
Strategic investment, donor support, and regulatory change could help Guyana shift toward a more equitable and sustainable energy future.
– Dylan Kretchmar
Dylan is based in Granville, OH, USA and focuses on Technology and Solutions for The Borgen Project.
Photo: Flickr
FH Cambodia: Combatting Malnutrition
Furthermore, assistance to combat hunger is disproportionate, with urban areas improving significantly faster than rural areas, creating greater inequality. Food for the Hungry Cambodia (FH Cambodia) is one of the leading organizations working to bridge the gap and create communities that are sustainable and resilient.
FH Cambodia
FH’s initial mission was relief: aiding refugees and providing immediate support during civil unrest after the Vietnam war. By 1992, FH Cambodia shifted strategy: from temporary relief to partnering with marginalized communities in southern Cambodia (Kampot Province) to improve living conditions over the long term. Over time, FH expanded north, adopting decade-long community development models that address education, health, economic security, and leadership.
In 2024, FH Cambodia reached more than 211 communities and served 188,925 individuals. Out of the individuals, 66,472 were children. Young children, from 6-23 months, have a minimum dietary diversity, minimizing the risk that they are malnourished. FH was successful in combating malnutrition by partnering with local health care centers that measure the health status of the child.
Improving Education
In addition to combating malnutrition by aiding children and starving households, the organization created long term benefits, such as mobilizing churches and providing educational resources to schools. Specifically, the education program brought 625 children, 285 of which are girls, into primary education. Furthermore, FH Cambodia assisted in renovating five digital libraries in a district, allowing for interactive online learning. As a result, school absences of children aged 7–15 decreased by 17.9%, and 86.4% of children the same age are proficient in reading.
Pregnancy
FH Cambodia’s aggregate impact demonstrates the effectiveness of community-based programs focusing on long-term sustainability. However, the improvement in individual lives can be best seen through the stories of those directly aided. Mrs Khuon Sinan is a 27-year-old woman who lost three pregnancies, suffering miscarriages.
With help from community health workers partnered with FH Cambodia, Mrs Sinan received the care and observation of a midwife at a health center. There, Mrs Sinan changed her diet to have more diverse foods such as local greens and fruit, to satisfy nutritional requirements for a healthy pregnancy.
In addition, she also attended community health awareness programs and support groups to better understand how to take care of one’s wellbeing. At the end of the pregnancy, Mrs Sinan successfully gave birth to a healthy girl, and is able to provide for her newborn by breastfeeding and learning to cook nutritious meals.
The Future
Mrs Sinan’s story, after numerous tragic failures, is a testament to the impact FH Cambodia’s program on individuals. Even though hunger and poverty remain great problems in Cambodia, combating malnutrition and hunger as a whole is imperative. The work of organizations such as FH Cambodia ensures that communities cannot face the same devastation as decades prior and that everyone is on the path to a sustainable future.
– Owen Wu
Photo: Flickr
COPD Underdiagnosis in Latin America: Challenges and Solutions
COPD is caused by damage to the lungs. It can be a consequence of smoking or exposure to air pollutants from biomass fuels. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the overwhelming majority of deaths of people aged 70 and younger from COPD take place in low- and middle-income nations.
Who Is at Risk?
In Puno, Peru, on the shore of Lake Titicaca, women’s risk of developing respiratory issues due to daily use of biomass fuels is 55%. In Colombia, older men who smoked or were exposed to wood smoke for more than 10 years were more likely to develop COPD. The findings of the 2016 PUMA study, which focused on primary care in Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela and Paraguay, revealed underdiagnosis of COPD in more than 70% of cases. The most affected group included younger men with low educational levels and no prior testing.
Consequences of COPD Underdiagnosis in Latin America
The burden created by the underdiagnosis of COPD in Latin American countries can turn into an even heavier burden that those already struggling with poverty cannot afford:
The Challenges
In a survey by Vital Strategies and Umane, up to 62.3% of Brazilians did not seek medical attention due to several reasons. The surveyees stated long wait times, difficulties accessing specialists or underestimating the health issue. Up to 40.5% of those who did attempt to visit a doctor could not, due to extensive waiting times, lack of available doctors or proper equipment.
However, starting in 2024, the Breathe Well South America program has a plan to investigate access to primary care for people with COPD. It is being funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). It’s driven by the work of the Institute for Clinical Effectiveness and Health Policy (IECS) in Argentina and several international universities.
Diagnostic Tools
Spirometers are a vital tool for the diagnosis of COPD. The test measures airflow and volume. In Latin America, it is often underused by primary care providers because of limited access to spirometers, short appointment windows and insufficient training to perform and interpret tests.
Throughout 2022 and 2023, the Brazilian Ministry of Health, in conjunction with the Hospital das Clínicas of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, began putting into place the Telespirometry System Brazil (TS-BR). The initiative aims to provide training and spirometers to specialists. As of 2024, 147 municipalities had participated in the program.
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca launched Smart Spiros in Panama to improve the rate of diagnosis of COPD. Around 7,500 tests are expected to be performed by the end of 2025, which could help diagnose nearly 50% of COPD cases.
Increasing Awareness
The survey by Vital Strategies discovered that 34.6% of Brazilians questioned avoided seeking care because they assumed their health issue wasn’t serious enough to merit a visit. To combat this, World COPD Day takes place worldwide on the third Wednesday in November. It encourages health organizations to educate people about symptoms and possible treatments regularly.
In 2017, Paraguay’s Health Ministry dedicated an entire week to training, education and testing patients. This work is important because early diagnosis is crucial to preventing exacerbations that can result in costly, lengthy hospital stays.
From Underdiagnosis to Action
As of 2024, COPD was the fourth-leading cause of death globally. COPD underdiagnosis in Latin America has been a major issue that national and international organizations are working to quantify and resolve. For people living in poverty, illness and loss of income can become a crippling situation that further diminishes their earning capacity or entirely prevents them from earning a livelihood.
Despite challenges, such as a lack of education, spirometers and trained professionals, universities, international organizations and governments have come together to put into motion programs that bring much-needed solutions to the public.
– Johanna Lorena Arredondo Gonzalez
Photo: Pexels
How Latam-GPT Will Empower Latin America
Why Develop an LLM for Latin America?
Álvaro Soto, director of CENIA, explained why context matters in an interview with WIRED: “Imagine if we wanted to use them to modernize the education system in Latin America. If you ask one of these models for an example, it would probably tell you about George Washington.”
According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), digital skills in the region lag behind those in wealthier countries. Only about 30% of adults had basic digital skills in 2020, compared with 80% in developed nations.
There is also a growing divide between people who work in jobs with access to AI tools and those who do not. Of the 30% to 40% of jobs that use generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) in Latin America, most are concentrated in urban, higher-paying sectors that require advanced education. Meanwhile, women are at greater risk of being replaced by AI automation.
A Joint Effort
To build an LLM for Latin America, CENIA is collaborating with organizations from Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, the United States, Spain, Peru and Uruguay. As of October 2025, its computing center in Arca, Chile, had processed 2,645,500 documents from Central and South America, Spain and the Caribbean. Progress depends on each country’s level of digital development and the availability of structured information. Latam-GPT also trains its model using conversations from users through Copuchat, an online chat platform that allows anonymous interaction and information sharing. Copuchat currently runs on GPT-3.5.
The Role of Latam-GPT in Reducing Poverty
An open-source LLM that understands the languages and cultures of Latin America can help reduce inequality and foster inclusion in several ways:
Looking Forward
Through CENIA’s efforts, Latam-GPT aims to empower Latin America to learn and work at a competitive level regardless of socioeconomic status. A model trained in Spanish, Portuguese and more than 50 Indigenous languages will allow for broader inclusion and the preservation of cultural identity. The future of Gen AI as an essential tool is inevitable. Latam-GPT can help bridge the digital and educational divide, allowing even the most poverty-stricken regions to access information, training and technology that might otherwise remain out of reach.
– Johanna Lorena Arredondo Gonzalez
Photo: Flickr
The Problem with Oil: Renewable Energy in Guyana
This disparity worsened after the government signed production and revenue-sharing agreements in 2016 with major oil companies. These deals grant Guyana just 12.5% of oil revenues, a small portion of which reaches the average Guyanese. At the same time, energy remains expensive, unreliable, and inaccessible for many, exacerbating energy poverty nationwide.
For Guyana and other developing nations, renewable energy offers a path towards sustainable, affordable, and reliable power. It holds the potential to lift communities out of poverty and build a more secure future. While renewable energy in Guyana shows significant promise, the country must overcome several key challenges to unlock its full potential.
The Current State of Energy
Oil production in Guyana exploded after ExxonMobil’s 2015 discovery of offshore oil reserves in the Stabroek Block. By 2024, daily output reached 630,000 barrels, with projections to double by 2027. This will make Guyana one of the world’s top per capita oil producers. Additionally, petroleum supplies over 99% of the country’s energy generation and consumption.
Guayana generates its power primarily through aging diesel systems and delivers it through a deteriorating grid, which causes severe inefficiencies and frequent outages. This makes energy both expensive and unreliable, and leaves many Guyanese in a constant state of energy poverty and exacerbating financial strains.
Electricity in Guyana costs around $0.32 per kilowatt-hour, which is among the highest in the region and the country loses 26% of all power due to grid inefficiencies. Those who can afford power experience frequent power outages.
Oil companies have secured significant control over the energy sector, including monopoly rights on power generation and the grid, through legal frameworks designed to protect their interests. While oil brings GDP growth, due to these agreements, Guyanese citizens themselves see little of the money.
Why Renewable Energy in Guyana Matters
Renewables offer Guyana a way to produce inexpensive, reliable, and sustainable energy that will reduce energy and financial strain for many Guyanese citizens. Recognizing this, the Guyana government created a Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) which focuses on fostering low-emission economic growth by 2030. The LCDS emphasizes energy access for underserved populations, environmental protection, and international collaboration.
Despite strong potential, renewable energy development in Guyana remains slow and uneven.
Hydropower
Guyana has an estimated 7,600 megawatts of hydropower potential, but currently has no large-scale hydro plants. The country ultimately abandoned the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project, proposed in 2014 to generate more than 1,000 gigawatt-hours annually.
More recently, smaller projects have found success. In 2024, the country built the 1.5 MW Kumu Hydropower Station, and in 2025, it built the 0.7 MW Moco Moco Plant. These projects provide clean, reliable energy to several hinterland communities.
Solar Power
Solar energy has seen the most progress in Guyana, particularly in rural and off-grid areas. In 2023, the Guyana Energy Agency distributed 26,398 solar units to remote communities, according to EIA. The Home Energy Systems Project plans to add 30,000 more units, totaling 4.8 megawatts of capacity.
Two 45-kilowatt mini-grids with battery storage were installed in Orealla and Siparuta. The GUYSOL program launched a 1.5 megawatt solar plant in Bartica in 2023, which aims for 19% renewable energy in the national grid.
In March 2024, Guyana signed a $38 million deal with SUMEC to build solar farms in three regions, adding 10 megawatts. By 2025, new solar farms in Guyana are expected to produce over 39 megawatts of solar energy.
Wind and Biomass
Wind power in Guyana remains largely underdeveloped. The country never completed a 10 megawatt wind farm proposed for Hope Beach in 2007. More recently, the government proposed a 450-kilowatt wind turbine for Leguan Island, designed to complement an existing solar farm.
Guyana’s agricultural sector produces large volumes of rice husks and sugarcane waste, which offer ideal biomass fuel sources. However, biomass energy remains underutilized.
The Skeldon Biomass Power Plant in East Berbice-Corentyne is currently the only operational biomass facility. It generates 30 megawatts of power from sugarcane residue and supplies energy to surrounding communities.
Challenges to Renewable Energy
Despite significant potential, renewable energy development in Guyana faces several obstacles such as energy laws, high upfront costs and unequal access. Building renewable infrastructure requires a significant initial investment. Remote and Indigenous communities benefit least from oil revenue and struggle to finance energy projects, making them particularly dependent on public or international aid.
Strategic investment, donor support, and regulatory change could help Guyana shift toward a more equitable and sustainable energy future.
– Dylan Kretchmar
Photo: Flickr
Improving Moldova’s Energy Infrastructure
History
In October of 2022, Russia’s state-owned gas corporation, Gazprom, began reducing exports of gas to Moldova by 30%, claiming that it was a consequence of Ukraine refusing to allow large volumes of gas to go through the Sochranivka station, according to the OSW Centre for Eastern Studies.
Then, in December 2022, Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu said that the state-owned firm Moldovagaz would purchase 100 million cubic meters of gas from another state-owned enterprise: Energocom. This decision aimed to reduce dependence on Russia, according to CNBC. In conjunction, Moldova also ceased all imports of Russian gas that same month. Although in March 2023, Moldova had changed their tune, deciding to resume business with Gazprom, according to Reuters.
Russian Gas and Transnistria
According to Reuters, in October 2023, Moldova’s Energy Minister Victor Parlicov stated that much of Moldova would no longer purchase gas from the Russian energy giant.
Transnistria, a Russian-backed separatist region within Moldova, continued to receive gas through all of this by way of a piped route through Ukraine. Russia had been sending this gas virtually free of charge. It was only on January 1, 2025, that these imports came to a halt after Ukraine abstained from renewing the deal with Russia, which had made this supply plausible, according to CNN.
While Moldova had refused to purchase Russian gas, it purchased much of its electricity from Transnistria because it houses the Cuciurgan Power Station, the largest of its kind in Moldova. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Moldova relies on Transnistria for around 70-80% of its electricity.
Energy Projects
Moldova’s Ministry of Energy said that in 2024, the country generated 16.7% of electricity through renewable resources.
In the last 10 months, considerable progress has been made in updating Moldova’s energy infrastructure. Renewable mediums of energy are on the rise, and diversification strategies have been fostered; deals have been made, funding has been secured.
In January, when the Trump administration decided to freeze funding for USAID programs, Moldova lost approximately $300 million, which included energy projects, according to Deutsche Welle.
But, in September, the United States approved funding for the Strășeni-Gutinaș transmission line; one of several projects which was supposed to be funded with the aforementioned USAID disbursements. According to the U.S. Embassy in Moldova, it is a “$130 million initiative that will provide opportunities for U.S. businesses, strengthen Moldova’s electric grid, and enhance Moldova’s energy security. When complete, the project will increase Moldova’s energy independence by ensuring a reliable electricity supply from European markets.”
In February 2025, the European Parliament said that it had approved a Reform and Growth facility for Moldova, totaling over $2.1 billion. The facility consists of more than $600 million from grants (more than $445 million of which is non-repayable support), as well as over $1.7 billion in concessional loans.
The EU will distribute funds over the course of two years. In 2025 alone, nearly $290 million will be allocated to help ensure energy security; additionally, almost $70 million will go towards similar efforts in Transnistria, according to the European Commission.
Furthermore, in July 2025, the European Investment Bank said it had granted Moldova a loan of more than $165 million to improve district heating in Chisinau.
The Future
On September 1, 2025, Moldova replaced Moldovagaz as the official gas supplier, instead opting to go with Energocom for a period of three years, according to Cotidianul. For context, Gazprom controls 50% of Modovagaz, according to Reuters.
Moreover, according to Moldova’s Ministry of Energy, a new thermal power plant in Chisinau will supply an electrical capacity of 250 MW, thermal capacity of 180 MW and a thermal energy storage facility with a capacity of 1,200 MWh; construction could be complete by 2030 with funding from the World Bank.
According to Moldova’s Ministry of Energy, in August 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the auction results for a series of wind and solar farms, which would produce 105 MW and 60 MW, respectively. And as of September 2025, solar grids are online, according to PV Magazine.
Moldova may have taken years to distance itself from Russian energy influence, but it is finally paying off, and the country is strengthening its ties with other European nations. Only time will tell if their pursuit to renew Moldova’s energy infrastructure can remain manageable in the next decade.
– Owen Armentrout
Photo: Flickr
Education in Nigeria: Children in Poverty
Children in Poverty
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that 54% of children in Nigeria are multidimensionally poor, meaning they face more than one form of deprivation. World Bank data further shows that child poverty levels exceed adult poverty levels. Children in northern Nigeria face particularly high rates of poverty. Additionally, parents’ education levels strongly correlate with the likelihood of their families living in poverty and deprivation.
Children from impoverished households are less likely to receive a quality education because they cannot afford essential school materials. Data shows that underserved children in Nigeria achieve only 19.7% learning compared to 49.4% among children from wealthier families.
Children Attending Schools in Nigeria
Violence in northeastern Nigeria has created widespread insecurity, making it difficult for children in the region to access education. The conflict has forced schools to close and displaced 3.3 million people, nearly half of whom are children. For girls, the situation is even more challenging, as cultural norms often prioritize boys’ education.
The Education Policy and Data Center reports that 33% of primary school–aged children in Nigeria are out of school, with girls disproportionately affected. According to the Malala Fund, nearly five million adolescent girls and a total of 8.97 million girls are out of school in the country. This makes young girls more vulnerable to child marriage.
The INEMO Foundation
The INEMO Foundation is a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that believes education is one of the most effective ways to reduce poverty in Nigeria. It directly supports families and schools to help keep children in school.
The INEMO Foundation was founded by Dr. Opeyemi Adeosun, the Executive Director and his wife, Sophia Inemotimi Adeosun, in Abuja, Nigeria. Adeosun was inspired by the novel “Only God Can Save Nigeria: What a Myth?”, which motivated him to help children in his community attend school in 2017.
After speaking with the novel’s author, Adeosun was invited to share his story on the author’s platform. This appearance attracted sponsors to his work, enabling him and his wife to help 62 children attend school in 2018. The couple officially registered the INEMO Foundation as an NGO in 2019 to continue and expand their efforts.
The Borgen Project spoke with Adeosun, who shared that he is a public health practitioner and wanted to help children in his community access education. “The education aspect has been the main part we focus on,” Adeosun said.
Reviving Schools, Restoring Hope
The Foundation’s latest project involved renovating a school in Keffi, Nasarawa State. “The Bank of Industry gave us some money to refurbish and renovate some of the classrooms,” Adeosun explained. “According to the school’s headmistress, since the renovations, they have seen more children enrolling and an increase in admissions.”
“That’s the biggest achievement we’ve had in any school,” says Adeosun, referring to the school’s renovation. The Foundation not only refurbished the school but also installed functional toilets and a reliable water supply for the community to use.
The Foundation also focuses on supporting local mothers and this approach has shown positive results. The financial assistance provided has helped cover school fees for many families. “Inflation has increased and many parents cannot afford this. So instead of the situation getting better, it’s actually getting worse,” Adeosun said.
“Poverty does not know religion, does not know ethnicity in Nigeria, but mostly those who are not educated, because the majority of the parents of these children in poverty I’m talking about are not educated,” says Adeosun as he expresses how uplifting education can be from poverty. For Adeosun, education in Nigeria is a key tool to help children escape poverty. So far, the Foundation has supported 300 children in returning to school.
Charities Working To Improve Education Access in Nigeria
Britain-Nigeria Educational Trust (BNET) is a charity that provides funding toward the advancement of education in Nigeria. The charity aims to support the training and development of teachers in Nigeria while also maintaining funding for other projects in education.
The BNET Trust has helped many schools and one of the projects it has given funding to is the Pacelli School for Blind and Partially Sighted Children. BNET’s funding has been significant as it enabled the school to buy a JAWS screen reader for the blind and partially sighted children. This has given children better resources fitted to their needs.
The Malala Fund is an international organization that aims to provide quality education for every girl. Founded by activist Malala Yousafzai, the Fund invests in local education advocates who can help to shape policies for girls’ education.
The priorities for the Malala Fund regarding Nigeria are to strengthen the right to education for girls who are married and young mothers. Another priority is to enhance the funding for girls in secondary schools. The organization wants to increase education funding at the federal and state levels so that girls in Nigeria receive better education.
UNICEF has reported that one in four Nigerian children is out of school and deserves to be educated. The charity has found that 73% of children aged between 7 and 14 do not have foundational reading skills. There is a significant gap between primary and secondary schools, with a lack of infrastructure, leaving only one secondary school for every five primary schools.
UNICEF aims to reach several goals for education in Nigeria by 2027 and one of these is to give 10 million children access to education. Another aim is to provide 4.8 million children with access to vital learning materials and for 22 states to increase and scale up their approach to literacy and numeracy learning.
– Alice Haston
Photo: Dr. Opeyemi Adeosun
Psychology of Hair: Female Empowerment in African Hair Salons
Hair Salons as Mental Health Care
Whether it is their subordinated social, political and economic status, or the threats of domestic violence, sexual assault and harmful traditional practices that still permeate many African cultures, women bear a heavy burden in African society. To add to this, Women make up 80% of the 12.7 million refugees and asylum seekers forcibly displaced from West and Central Africa every year.
The lack of safe institutional spaces and the scarcity of mental health professionals further exacerbate this multifaceted gender oppression. These subordinated women are often unable to seek support in wider, male-dominated society. As a result, many remain both vulnerable and powerless in society.
Recognizing the strong tendency for women to casually open up to their hairdresser, humanitarian organizations have begun training stylists in delivering mental health support – particularly for women who may use the salon as their first port of call in a crisis.
Learning New Skills
Hairstylists universally hold a unique caregiving position in society that cannot be easily replicated. In accordance, the Heal by Hair program, active across Togo, aims to equip these workers with skills in active listening, recognizing emotional distress and delivering psychological first aid. Delivering training sessions across three days and receiving nearly 250 applications, the program successfully trained stylists to become the first hairdresser mental health ambassadors on the African Continent. The initiative allows both for stylists to conduct risk assessments and refer clients to professional services and for these women to take control of their own mental health through access to resources.
Perhaps it is the connection that forms through sharing eye contact in the mirror, the comfort of talking to someone outside their inner circle, or the hours of idle time to be filled with conversation – but something about hair salons makes people want to talk. By reshaping the vulnerable conversations that naturally occur in African hair salons into therapeutic and healing dialogues, this augmentation of female empowerment offers an outlet and camaraderie which ultimately reshape the lives of young women.
Hair Salons as Sexual Health Care
For many African women, seeking sexual health support at a clinic is difficult because of fears of being dismissal, stigma or exposure – not to mention challenges around cost and distance. As a result, they often have limited access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, leading to higher rates of unintended pregnancies, unsafe terminations and sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
This risk is avoidable. Acknowledging the accessibility and trustworthiness of African hair salons has helped shift the way of delivering SRH services. Their informal, familiar environments make salons ideal spaces for women to discuss and receive sexual health care safely and without judgement.
Across southern Africa, salons have started training stylists to deliver STI testing, hormonal and injectable contraceptives and HIV prevention medications – all from the salon floor.
Stylists also learn how to deliver education and counselling to young girls, offering them autonomy to make informed choices about their bodies. This sense of female empowerment in African hair salons can be carried through to real-world scenarios, and is often the key factor in improving their futures. In turn, such initatives prevent socioeconomic consequences of unsafe sexual practices, such as school dropout and generational poverty.
Safe Spaces
Salons become both literal and symbolic safe spaces, an everyday space which encompasses many of their needs. These initiatives have gained momentum across several African countries and even attracted attention from major publications such as Vogue and Elle, affirming that this focus on female empowerment in African hair salons is revolutionary in regard to women’s health. Amongst women who share similar stories and struggles, women forge chosen families rooted in empathy and mutual support, empowering them to find strength in one another to face an uncertain future.
– Emily Wooster
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Vocational Training in Paraguay: Empowering the Next Generation
About 32.6% of Paraguay’s rural population lives in multidimensional poverty—a significantly higher rate than the national average. In these regions, communities often face challenges accessing water and proper sanitation. Youth in poverty-stricken areas often have limited access to secondary and formal education. Generally, lower education rates create limited opportunities and heighten an individual’s likelihood of experiencing poverty.
Only 61.3% of Paraguay’s population has completed primary education, and 34.4% have completed secondary. With limited education, much of Paraguay’s youth remain unemployed, with rates reaching 14.1% in 2024.
Many young people turn to agriculture and farming to get by. Yet this industry is vulnerable to climate-related shocks, such as increasingly frequent droughts. These effects are often more detrimental due to the lack of investment, infrastructure, and access rural communities have to technology and financial support. This creates an entrenched cycle of poverty that is difficult to escape.
Vocational Training for the Youth
Vocational training in Paraguay plays a crucial role in sustainably breaking cycles of poverty. It offers education, opportunity and job readiness to groups previously marginalized and excluded. Vocational training provides hands-on education focused on the development of practical skills that often fill gaps left by limited access to formal education.
This approach is especially valuable because it targets specific groups and inequalities. In regular education streams, Indigenous women have the lowest average length of schooling at 3.5 years. Vocational training for these groups is often the only tangible pathway toward economic independence, skill development and social inclusion.
Fundación Paraguaya
Fundación Paraguaya is a leading social enterprise and nonprofit organization that offers vocational training and sustainable poverty alleviation initiatives across Paraguay, focusing on marginalized rural communities and socio-economically disadvantaged youth. Founded in 1985 by Martin Burt, the organization’s multidimensional approach—combining education, finance and self-assessment tools—aims to “activate the entrepreneurial potential of families” to eliminate poverty and help them “live with dignity.”
The organization’s “Self-Sustaining Agricultural Schools” program offers classroom-style learning alongside hands-on agricultural enterprises. Students have access to secondary-level education while managing real-life businesses, such as poultry farms, bakeries and gardens, which cover school expenses. Upon graduation, students have practical skills in business management, agriculture and entrepreneurship, improving their employability.
Another facet of the organization’s vocational training is its “Entrepreneurial Education” program. This initiative encourages and empowers marginalized youth groups. For example, Fundación Paraguaya conducts a Youth Ambassadors exchange program in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education. This program grants full scholarships to young people to participate in training related to leadership, social enterprise and community development projects.
The Impact of Vocational Training
Fundación Paraguaya’s model demonstrates the value of vocational training in sustainably alleviating poverty and creating opportunities for youth. In 2024, the organization reported major progress in reducing extreme poverty, which fell from 10% to 3%, and income poverty, which dropped from 54% to 33%, among families involved in its programs. These initiatives have reached more than 200,000 youth members.
Looking Ahead
Vocational training empowers the next generation of Paraguayans by equipping them with sustainable methods to create livelihoods and opportunities. Unlike traditional aid approaches, this hands-on model positions young people as active agents of change rather than passive recipients of support. By fostering skills such as entrepreneurship, self-reliance and technical expertise, vocational training can help break poverty cycles and promote sustainable development through a skilled and resilient workforce.
– Mia Keen
Photo: Flickr
Nukkad Nataks: Turning Audiences Into Activists
Background
In a country where public life is very open – where people cook, bathe, and connect with neighbours in shared spaces – and where access to literature and formal education is not universal, Nukkad Nataks offer an ideal medium for communication. Performed in vibrant public settings like street corners, markets and college campuses, these short, high-energy plays turn everyday spaces into platforms for protest, dialogue and awareness, as Euronews reports.
Nukkad Nataks confront deeply human struggles and provoke urgent conversations. Their interactive, accessible format – featuring props, music and audience participation – ensures their messages on themes such as gender equality, political corruption, and environmental justice resonate with a wide-cross section of society.
The SOS Children’s Villages India
One powerful example is a street play that the young girls of Children’s Villages India perform, addressing the urgent issues of female education and restrictive gender roles. A 15-year-old girl Meena wrote and staged the story in a public courtyard. The play was deeply personal – shaped by her own experiences growing up in a community where girls are discouraged and shamed for seeking an education.
The absurdity of this notion was amplified through use of sharp exaggeration and satire, causing the audience to question their moral system. Recognizing the value of youth in the fight for equality, this Indian street theatre group focuses on harnessing the creativity, leadership and self-expression of young activists.
SCMS Hyderabad
SCMS Hyderabad delivered a Nukkad Natak raising awareness about the widespread issue of child labour in India and its traumatic impact on children’s futures. Their powerful Indian street theatre portrayed a series of heart-wrenching realities: a young boy injured while toiling on a construction site; a girl trapped in domestic servitude, watching other children attend school; and another boy burdened with the role of a family breadwinner as his childhood quietly slips away.
At the play’s crescendo, an actor takes on the haunting role of child labour itself, joining the children’s desperate cries for freedom – a symbolic moment that brought the emotional weight of the issue to life. Through emotive performances, the student actors revealed the audience’s passivity and naivety, urging them to join the fight for a more promising future for every child. on the public to stand together in the fight for a more promising future for every child.
Yatri Niwas
Nukkad Natak also blends entertainment with vital education on health and safety. A striking example is the Yatri Niwas street play, where actors dressed as mosquitoes and viruses to raise mass awareness about the devastating impact of Dengue fever.
In a country where preventable diseases continue to claim lives, especially among the poor and vulnerable, this creative yet hard-hitting performance blended humour with harsh truths about the consequences of neglecting cleanliness. It shared life-saving information about Dengue’s causes, prevention and control, aiming to reach as many people as possible. The group dramatized the importance of awareness, empathy and group action in protecting public health.
Banka Bihar
Six tribal women from the Theatre of the Oprressed performed the unique Nukkad Nattax that dismantles the conventions of traditional theatre. The company serves as both a refuge and a platform – empowering women to transform their lived experiences of subordination into impactful, performative storytelling. Through a series of short scenes that expose the devastating consequences of gender inequality across India, the performances invite direct audience participation. Spectators are encouraged to pause the action, step onto the stage, and share their own stories if they feel compelled.
This interactive format not only deepens engagement but also fosters solidarity against gender-based discrimination. For many, this Indian street theatre provides liberation; several women have credited it with giving them the strength to leave abusive relationships and claim their autonomy.
Making Changes
These plays artfully expose audiences to the various forms of corruption within their society, and use cleverly executed theatre crafts to catalyse change that benefits and begins with the ordinary person. Their ability to ignite conversations, empower people across all age groups and communities and encourage civic responsibility cannot be overlooked. Hence, by turning public spaces into stages and amplifying unheard voices, Indian street theatre actively performs a more conscious, compassionate and equitable society into existence.
– Emily Wooster
Photo: Flickr
Kistpay: Revolutionizing Smartphone Affordability
Given that 15% of the global population currently cannot afford a mobile phone package, where in the world’s poorest fifth of countries these cost an average of 51% of a user’s monthly income, rethinking smartphone financing is essential to reduce digital exclusion and poverty.
Current Difficulties in Developing Countries
While institutions such as the World Bank recognize how the digital divide perpetuates poverty in low to middle-income countries, their recommended solutions for remedying this involve substantial policy shifts such as subsidising device costs and tax exemptions for the cheapest devices.
While these are important steps to bridge the accessibility gap that exists for the world’s poorest, the political viability of these measures varies across developing countries with different political regimes, budgets and popular support. Rather than address the gap, varying adoption rates of these policies could actually increase inequality, as only a few choice nations benefit. A new, dynamic approach to smartphone affordability is necessary: one that is easily, globally scalable with low-adoption costs.
Enter Kistpay
Kistpay, a Pakistani-based and UAE-headquartered platform, is revolutionizing smartphone affordability through its market-oriented solution to mobile financing. It works on the principle of “buy now, pay later,” a system that lets customers take home a product immediately and spread payments over time. Unlike conventional versions of this, which usually demand credit scores, bank accounts or deposits, barriers that shut out much of the low-income population, Kistpay relies on Google-enabled device-locking technology. If a user defaults, the phone is temporarily disabled rather than repossessed. This lowers lender risk and keeps repayment incentives intact, widening access for those with no formal financial history.
Through partnerships with major telecoms providers such as Jazz and Telenor, Kistpay offers Shariah-compliant instalment plans starting from just a few dollars a month, showing how expanding smartphone affordability in the developing world is not only possible through subsidy but through a commercially viable, market-driven model.
Scalability and Success
Kistpay’s revolutionary technology currently operates across three continents, in countries as geographically and economically diverse as Thailand and Mexico. This bold mission statement drives the global reach, aiming to shrink the number of digitally detached citizens and facilitate the inclusion of the “next billion users” of smartphones. A commitment as ambitious as this, whether achievable or not, indicates that Kistpay intends to play an emboldened role in ending smartphone inaccessibility.
Kistpay has already taken bold steps towards this reality, focusing on regions where religion may inhibit the ability to take out interest-accruing loans. Here, it offers Shariah-friendly, zero-interest smartphone loans and acts as a vital lever in galvanising mobile adoption in previously overlooked communities. Key international institutions like the UNDP, recognized this groundbreaking work and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Kistpay in 2024 focusing on fostering digital inclusion and enhancing connectivity in the Arab world.
Kistpay has also placed women’s inclusion at the heart of its mission – an essential component of any serious anti-poverty strategy. In Pakistan, where just 26% of women own a smartphone, its Women Empowerment Program has already reached more than 10,000 women since 2022, with a target of 25,000 by 2026. By combining female-staffed helplines, women-only outlets, financial literacy training and affordable instalment plans, Kistpay is not only bridging the digital gender gap but enabling women to grow businesses, boost household incomes and achieve greater independence.
A Digitally Inclusive Future
While Kistpay is no Google or Microsoft, it is doggedly staking its claim in the future of smartphone affordability in the developing world. Through an innovative business model and strong sense of social responsibility, Kistpay has already affected millions in its quest to democratise access to Tech. In doing so, it offers a glimpse of a digitally inclusive future where connectivity is not a privilege, but a pathway out of poverty.
– George Horberry
Photo: Flickr