There have been significant, recent developments in the status of women’s rights in Greece. Some Greeks excitedly look toward a future of gender equality. Others are reluctant to certain changes and are holding steadfast to tradition.

The primary debates in the fight for women’s rights are mainly between rural and urban citizens. Women in urban areas are more likely to dismiss traditional notions of domesticity and instead seek opportunities in the workforce. However, women in more rural areas still hold fast to the status quo. They are much more likely to take care of the home and children while a male partner seeks out work to provide for the family.

A Brief History of Women’s Rights in Greece

1. 1952: Women in Greece receive the right to vote. This was significantly more recent than in other European countries, such as England, which awarded women the right to vote in 1918.
2. 1975: Article 22 declared a requirement for “equal pay for work of equal value.” Although, some sources report Greek women making only 75% of what the average Greek man will make, in the same line of work. This gap is most often observable among higher-paying careers and/or those requiring higher education.
3. 1983: The Greek Parliament ruled Divorce by consent, legal. Further, the long-standing tradition of dowry, which requires a bride’s family to present her future husband with a sum of money, ended as a requirement for a legal marriage.
4. 2000-2006: The government passed major laws, such as Law 3488/2006, to protect women from workplace harassment and improve equal opportunity employment measures.

The Current Situation

Although all of these strides forward have occurred, Greek women still seem to be at a disadvantage. In terms of E.U. countries, Greece is the lowest ranking in the Gender Equality Index, with a score of 0.122. Likewise, the country’s female labor force population, as of 2019, is 44.17%. Additionally, domestic violence rates seem to be on the rise, having increased by more than 30% in the last six years.

Furthermore, migrant and Roma women are, on average, at an even worse economical and educational disadvantage. For example, the typical Romani woman in Greece will spend less than six years in school.

Recent data reports that men make up around 70% of Greece’s total workforce and 80% of the country’s Parliament. Many women in the workforce remain in low-income, service and part-time positions — with only about 33% of part-time positions belonging to men.

In contrast, Greek women have made great strides in academia. More than 50% of Greece’s citizens obtaining university degrees are female. There is hope that these well-educated women will advance in career paths and assume leadership roles. In this same vein, leadership roles are one of the primary areas in which women are currently underrepresented.

Proponents for Women’s Rights in Greece

Many people around the country are in an active fight for gender equality and women’s rights in Greece. There is an ongoing discussion to address gender stereotypes and challenge norms established within the country, in nongovernmental organizations.

The Greek League for Women’s Rights has been fighting for women’s rights since 1920. Notably, it was a strong leader in the fight for a women’s right to vote in 1952. It has also founded the Centre for Documentation and Study of Women’s Problems and is still active today, fighting discriminatory laws and practices.

The National Council of Greek Women, founded in 2008, is a nonprofit fighting for the equality of men and women. The nonprofit recently released a statement from its president who maintains that although legislatively, men and women are equals — the country still has to reach true gender equality in practice.

Katerina Sakellaropoulou became the first female president of the country in January 2020. Many saw the vote for the new president as an optimistic mark of change and growth in Greece.

With an adjustment to public opinion and the presence of female leaders such as President Sakellaropoulou, experts believe that the country is capable of combatting historical barriers to women’s rights in Greece that still affect its culture, today.

– Aradia Webb
Photo: Unsplash

Africa has millions of hectares of viable land for large-scale agricultural operations. Many large regions of Africa are the last locations on the planet with large plots of land rich in soil nutrients and water sufficiency. New government infrastructure, a global investment and advanced technology has allowed sub-Saharan African farmers to raise crop yield. The agriculture industry is the most viable way to feed families on a small scale in villages. African vegetable staples are important as they are the bulk of the famous nutritional African diet.

Approximately 65% of the African labor force involves itself in agriculture, with the agriculture industry accounting for 32% of the region’s GDP. Governments have attempted to increase crop yield by utilizing agriculture marketing boards in order to provide more stable and standardized prices, credit extension services, technology and improved seeds. Additionally, more companies in the private sector have improved rural marketing and supply lines. These advances in extension services improve land and water management, introduce new farming techniques and provide new, efficient technology.

Essential African Vegetable Staples

Essential African vegetable staples include yams, green bananas, plantains and cassava. There are a plethora of different and unique ways of preparing dishes particular to each region and culture. Vegetables such as beans and lentils accompany almost every meal in order to provide a balanced nutritious diet. People in Africa consider meat a side dish rather than the main dish, and vegetables the main dish. Typical African vegetable staples specific to a region are dependent on the location, land viability, soil richness and water availability. Rice is more common where there is more water whereas cash crops such as groundnut are common in every household.

Many African staple foods provide a base diet for African families. African vegetable staples provide the necessary proteins, vitamins and nutrients that combat the alarming, wide-scale malnutrition issues that run rampant in many small villages that are not connected to large cities. With no access to large-scale trade or industrial resources, villagers take care of each other with personal farms. Additionally, many African vegetables also double as medicinal uses as well, allowing improved community health and nutrition.

Many staple meals accompany African’s rich variety of culture and history. The thousands of various African cultures utilize varieties of spices to prepare the same ingredient to uphold their respective traditional values and ideas. Diverse food choices are unique in each region and can range from fermented beans, sweet potato greens, teff and varieties of dumplings, to corn-based porridges, millet, kenkey, fontou and fonio. The diverse sets of languages within each region also have their own unique menus specific to their culture and certain traditions.

Case Study: The Democratic Republic of Congo

Vegetables grown in the DRC include peanuts, yams, beans, peas and maize. The political instability of the DRC has led to problems of malnutrition and lack of food access for millions of people. However, vegetables are used as an efficient solution because of the mass remote lands DRC controls for horticulture. The agriculture industry supports more than half of the DRC population. Although farming provides less than 10% of DRC’s GDP, land use is minimal to only 3.5% of DRC’s land and accounts for over 50 tons of subsistence foodstuffs.

What Next?

African vegetables have been the bulk of the African diet for millennia. Not only is it an efficient and effective way of utilizing rich soil and plentiful land on the continent, but it is also one of the most viable ways to aid the economy while doing so. Vegetables in Africa are the staple food not just for the famous nutritious diets, but also because they are an important characteristic of African identity and culture. Many African recipes eaten today have passed down generation after generation in an effort to maintain and uphold tradition. The African vegetable staples are one of the most unique characteristics of African culture and are a testament to their devotion to their diverse ideas and traditions.

– Aria Ma
Photo: Flickr

The United Nations’ (U.N.) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of objectives designed for all countries to fulfill in order to provide everyone with a more sustainable future. Members of the U.N. General Assembly enacted these 17 SDGs in 2015 to aim to reduce poverty, eradicate widespread hunger, as well as address other global challenges. Assuming all countries follow the plan’s yearly agenda in a timely fashion, all developing countries are expected to enjoy a more prosperous life by 2030.

Since 2015, Bangladesh is one of the many countries that have made remarkable improvements in reducing poverty (SDG 1). For instance, only three years after the implementation of the SDGs, the proportion of the population living below the international poverty line decreased by 8.3% since 2010. In a similar manner, the proportion of the population living below the domestic poverty line decreased by 9.9% from 2010 to 2018. While this is considered an exceptional improvement, much of the Bengali population still suffers from widespread food insecurity. This has been especially apparent since August 2017, where more than 700,000 refugees fled Myanmar, Bangladesh’s neighboring country to the west, due to the violence against the Rohingya population. With that being said, here are five updates on SDG Goal – 2 – achieving zero hunger in Bangladesh.

Updates on SDG Goal 2 in Bangladesh

1. Along with public sector scientists, Bengali farmers have been working alongside one another to create varieties of high-yielding, nutritious foods. This includes rice that has been enriched with vitamin A and potatoes that are resistant to blight. One of the most notable crops Bengali farmers have incorporated into their diets are eggplants, or better known as brinjal in Bangladesh. Historically, farmers applied a massive amount of pesticide since the eggplants often suffered from severe pest infestation. However, ever since the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) studied alternate ways to grow the eggplants without as much pesticide usage, more than 30,000 farmers began to grow and distribute it.

2. Bangladesh’s success in reducing child malnutrition has been the quickest in recorded history. For example, with improved food production and distribution reforms, Bangladesh was able to decrease child stunting rates by 19%.

3. There are still many improvements to be made to achieve zero hunger in Bangladesh by 2030. Looking at the statistics, approximately 36% of Bengali children under the age of 5 still suffer from this condition because of chronic malnutrition. Within this 36%, over half reside in slums and cannot afford food or other necessities. This means that despite the improvements that have been made, a total of 5.5 million children alone still suffer from hunger.

4. According to the World Food Programme, Bangladesh’s progress is not quick enough to fulfill the targets it has set out to defeat domestic hunger. As previously described, stunting is a significant issue within Bangladesh that has been decreased by 19% over 18 years. However, in order to achieve its current targets, stunting rates need to decline at least 5.3% per year if the country is to meet its 2021 goals. Thus, according to the 2014 Global Nutrition Report, assuming Bangladesh continues at its current pace, it will not be able to fulfill the 2025 targets agreed upon at the World Health Assembly in 2012.

5. Around 40 million people or one-quarter of the Bengali population still experience widespread hunger. Of the 40 million, about 11 million suffer from acute hunger.

While it is critical to recognize the success that has been made, it is equally important to acknowledge how a country needs to improve. While there is no denying the drastic improvements Bangladesh has made, the country needs to expand its efforts to fulfill SDG Goal 2.

– Heather Law
Photo: Flickr