Endangered languages are classified by the Endangered Language Project as languages that are not spoken by many or any young people and whose native speakers are elderly or have passed away. When older speakers of a language do not or cannot teach that language to their children, that language eventually ceases to exist. The loss of language education and the loss or destruction of written records can endanger languages. Some languages have an ‘afterlife,’ like Latin, which is teachers teach in schools but people do not speak casually. Most dead languages, however, disappear without the possibility of an afterlife. Language extinction and poverty may seem completely unrelated, but this is not the case.
Language and Ethnicity
Professor Peter L. Patrick of the University of Essex writes in “Linguistic Human Rights: A Sociolinguistic Introduction” that linguistic human rights “[do] not at first blush appear to be the most pressing area of human rights to think about.” He’s right; threats to healthcare, voting rights, freedom of speech, gender equality and economic stability require more immediate attention. However, Patrick also correctly asserts that “the complex relations between language socialization, linguistic competence, and ethnic group membership” are relevant to human rights and therefore, global poverty.
Herman M. Batibo writes in “Language and Poverty” that the intersectionality between language and poverty has “long been recognized.” Poverty affects language survival, and language often helps determine economic status. Small communities that seek to preserve dying languages face obstacles directly relevant to poverty. Without the proper economic stability to train teachers, establish schools and publish books in the endangered language, communities must witness their native languages die. In 2013, it was estimated that a language dies about every two weeks and is then replaced with a major language. The death of a language is more than the loss of its words. Native speakers watch their songs, stories and poems disappear as well. There is music and beauty in every language, signed or spoken, that one cannot replicate through translation. Language extinction causes the world to lose a unique perspective.
Language Extinction
Professor Emily Manetta teaches Introduction to Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Anthropology and Advanced Topics in Linguistics at the University of Vermont. In Linguistic Anthropology, Professor Manetta explores the concepts of language extinction and endangerment. When asked about how poverty restricts language development and preservation, Professor Manetta writes that it is important to “see language pressure and language endangerment in the context of a wider pattern of oppression of speakers and deprivations that are likely systemic.”
Impoverished communities, often facing extreme inequalities compared to dominant societies, are more likely to experience language loss for several reasons. Impoverished people often choose to move from rural settings to urban settings to improve their quality of life. Their new communities are more likely to speak dominant languages. With little use for their native languages, these individuals may abandon them completely and raise their children using only the language spoken by the majority. After just a generation or two, their native tongue dies. While this is not always the case, Manetta finds that this is “one possible way” in which poverty “create conditions in which language loss is accelerated.”
In discussing the consequences of language death, Manetta writes that it is “hard to say” for certain. She does note that the consequences of “human suffering, of profound inequality, of poverty and lack of opportunity, of racism and colonialism” are all related to language loss. She asserts that it is difficult to distinguish between the consequences of systematic oppression and the consequences of language loss. This is because oppressed communities are the most likely to experience language loss. Language loss, while tragic, does not compare to the “greater losses that accompany language loss.”
Saving Languages
How can people help prevent language extinction? Manetta writes that tackling systematic social problems like racism and other forms of oppression is the most important goal. Dismantling forms of oppression will allow communities to have the resources to educate their children about their native languages. This may seem like an overwhelming task; fortunately, there are smaller tasks that can also help save languages. Honoring and remembering dying languages can extend their lifespans. One can also encourage the use of non-dominant languages in legal, educational and institutional settings. Manetta does not advocate for the intrusion of small communities by larger communities. Rather, it is imperative to give members of small communities the resources to become educators, linguists and researchers to allow them to “preserve the language from within.”
Just as poverty relates to race, gender, sexuality, religion, status and education, poverty relates to language as well. Communities without the resources to preserve their languages often see them die as dominant languages crowd them out. While it is smart to learn more popular languages, they should not replace less-common languages altogether. It is important to remember that all languages connect people and preserve tradition, value and culture. To combat poverty is to combat the erasure of language, the beautiful code that allows human beings to connect with each other.
– Levi Reyes
Photo: Unsplash
Wealthy Philanthropist Donates Billions to Charities
It is no surprise that Forbes named Charles “Chuck” Feeney the James Bond of Philanthropy. After 38 years, Feeney achieved his lifetime goal: giving away all his $8 billion amassed wealth to charity and being alive to see its impact. When someone donates billions to charities, the impact should be substantial.
Charles “Chuck” Feeney
Chuck Feeney amassed his wealth from establishing a franchise of stores within thousands of airports known as the Duty-Free Shoppers Group. He also launched the General Atlantic, an American growth equity firm. Yet, the man, with this immense fortune lives in a rented San Francisco apartment. Moreover, he has even been found riding public transit. Feeney has credited his life philosophy to the Andrew Carnegie essay, “The Gospel of Wealth.” The essay declares that the millionaire’s sole duty is to give back to the poor. As Feeney donates billions to charities, he certainly obliges. Carnegie’s influence is extremely apparent within Feeney’s life. His coined phrase and mantra in life, “Giving While Living,” is essentially saying that you should give all you can to charity now rather than later. This, which closely resembles the messages behind The Gospel of Wealth.
Atlantic Philanthropies
In the early ’80s, the Duty -Free Shoppers franchise was at its peak. This is when Feeney decided to be the one who donates billions to charities. Without anyone’s knowledge, he secretly handed over all his shares and formed his new foundation, the Atlantic Philanthropies. Since 1982, the Atlantic Philanthropies has focused on issues of health, social and public policy throughout Australia, Bermuda, Ireland, South Africa, the U.S. and Vietnam. Within these countries, the foundation has addressed many important issues. Among them include facilitating the peace process in Northern Ireland, reducing the number of children without health insurance in the U.S., providing millions with HIV/AIDS medication in South Africa and helping modernize Vietnam’s health care system. While the foundation has officially dissolved recently, Feeney has one last message to relay: “To those wondering about Giving While Living: try it, you’ll like it.”
3 Countries Impacted
An Inspiring Message
Feeney’s extreme display of generosity via contributions of billions to various charities has inspired many notable philanthropists and entrepreneurs to do their part to help the less fortunate. An example of wealthy business moguls following in Feeney’s footsteps is the “Giving Pledge.” Warren Buffet and Bill Gates launched the Giving Pledge in 2010 as a campaign that seeks to persuade wealthy figures across the world to donate close to half of their wealth before they die.
– Maya Falach
Photo: Flickr
Networks Unlimited Africa Promotes Education in Tembisa
Background
The Nokuphila School was originally founded in January 2009, and it wanted to serve as a source of hope for the community of Tembisa; the name Nokuphila literally translates to “place of light.” It started with a class of 45 preschoolers from Tembisa, a township with high unemployment, poverty and crime. Tembisa was also chosen as the spot for this project because of its lack of resources for education, especially when it comes to pre-school education. Statistically, only 5% of adults in Tembisa have completed some kind of education beyond high school, and more than 10% of adults in Tembisa have received no schooling at all.
Children are admitted to the Nokuphila school based on their vulnerability, and the school provides them a number of enrichment opportunities: early childhood development and primary education, nutritious meals for breakfast and lunch, safe and reliable transport to and from school, after school care, and extracurricular activities. While the school now serves 340 children, there are plans for the development of the physical school building so that the Nokuphila school can admit and educate more at-risk youth.
Networks Unlimited Africa Supports Education in Tembisa
Having a tech giant like Networks Unlimited Africa donate to the school is game-changing, in terms of the number of children they can serve and the amount of resources the school can provide. The donation of R130,000 ($7,459), raised from the tech company’s annual charity golf event, will be used for two things: art supplies for the school’s art curriculum, and IT equipment, to support the essential technology that helps to keep the school up and running.
Networks Unlimited Africa provides innovative technology to Africa, but the company has also committed to helping improve the regions that it serves. It was recently certified as a Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Level 2 contributor in June 2020. BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) is a racially inclusive initiative by the South African government that attempts to rectify the economic inequalities brought about from Apartheid. The Love Trust fund has been a B-BBEE partner of Networks Unlimited Africa since 2018, which allows the company to help the Love Trust foundation in its goal of providing education in South Africa.
The donation couldn’t have come at a better time, either. Soon after the donation was announced, COVID-19 leaped onto the global stage and forced many schools to shut down or cut back on education. The Love Trust organization was hit hard and was forced to redo the budget and redistribute their finances, including their work with the Nokuphila school. While the situation is still uncertain, the Love Trust organization is grateful for its partnership with Networks Unlimited Africa and their dedication to childhood education in South Africa, especially since its support has made it possible for The Love Trust to continue to serve its community in these trying times.
– Hannah Daniel
Photo: Flickr
What to know about Healthcare in Mali
Free Healthcare to Address High Maternal and Child Mortality Rates
In 2019, Mali announced that it would begin offering free healthcare to pregnant mothers and children under 5. This is a monumental step forward that came after decades of adhering to a system that had barely changed since the 1960s when the country gained independence. This radical new change will benefit the healthcare system’s most vulnerable recipients and work to lower the infant mortality rates as well as the lack of citizens’ use of the healthcare services. However, the program’s success is dependent upon how effectively they can roll out the changes to avoid flooding their healthcare systems.
Besides user fees, other issues persist in Mali which put citizens at risk for disease and insufficient care. A large issue is the lack of education regarding women’s health. Mali has the third-highest fertility rate in the world, and its capital is one of the fastest-growing cities in Africa. The absence of health education leaves young women vulnerable to shorter birth intervals, lack of skilled birth attendants and female genital mutilation, which all result in Mali’s high maternal mortality rates. With an average of six children per mother, education measures that address health and family planning are necessary to address high maternal and infant mortality rates as well as alleviate poverty.
USAID Helps Tackle Infectious Diseases
Another large concern is the prevalence of infectious diseases. Mali’s degree of risk is ranked at very high for diseases like malaria, dengue fever, hepatitis A, meningitis and typhoid fever. These illnesses result from living in poverty, with a lack of clean water and adequate health services, as well as contact with animals and parasites carrying disease. As of 2018, USAID is supporting 991 health programs in regions across Mali to alleviate these health issues. Supplies such as bednets, diagnostic tests and medication are disseminated to prevent, diagnose and treat malaria.
This is very important work, that needs increased funding in order to continue spreading these life-saving services, as malaria cases reached 3.3 million in 2017 and the disease was responsible for almost a quarter of child deaths. With a larger budget and increased reach, USAID could provide Mali with the tools to create a self-sufficient healthcare system capable of tackling the maternal and infant mortality rates as well as the rampant infectious diseases.
– Ellie Williams
Photo: Flickr
Child Vision: Glasses for Developing Countries
A variety of NGOs have been working for decades to provide glasses for developing countries. Most models for this operate in similar ways, either by donating glasses or offering low-cost glasses for communities to purchase. These programs have been successful in helping people correct their vision, as well as creating more education and economic opportunity. They only lack one thing — innovation. Choosing to apply a solution designed for a developed country to a remote village is not always the best option. This is where Child Vision comes in.
The Statistics
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that nearly 80% of all persons in Africa have unaddressed vision impairment. Additionally, 33% of the world’s poor population suffers from vision impairment. There are 123.7 million people with a refractive error, which can be solved with glasses that have the correct strength. On average, glasses cost approximately $343, despite the average manufacturing cost of $10. Clear vision drastically reduced education access for children, which in turn created less economic opportunity as they moved into adulthood. Lack of clear vision loses $202 billion in global productivity each year.
The Standard
Some of the biggest names in glasses for developing countries are NGOs like Eyes on Africa, Vision for a Nation, VisionSpring and the WHO.
The WHO has been working on the Global Action Plan for eye health since 2014. The plan has one main objective — to encourage and enhance global eye health. The Global Action Plan has several initiatives. These include identifying what is causing vision impairment, understanding where the gap is in eye health access and bringing cataract surgery to developing countries. VisionSpring works by allowing those in developed countries to purchase glasses for developing countries through the VisionSpring website. VisionSpring donates those as well as letting communities purchase low-cost glasses. It also provides bulk purchase discounts and sell glasses individually and by the box. On average, one pair of bifocals in a box set costs just 85 cents. The price point is low, but still unmanageable for many villages, especially in areas with little to no internet access.
Child Vision
Child Vision is a program within the Centre for Vision in the Developing World (CVDW). The CVDW looked at the statistics of vision impairment then accepted the challenge of creating a solution that worked for the developing world. The main struggles the CVDW found in the traditional programs were a lack of optometrists and the high cost of traditional glasses. There is one optometrist per 1 million people in the population in developing nations. While 85 cents for a pair of glasses may seem affordable, it is a great financial strain for the world’s poor, many of whom survive on less than a dollar a day.
Child Vision, after identifying the root problems with getting glasses to developed countries, created a successful prototype within two months. The CVDW created an inexpensive, adjustable lens that sets into durable frames.
How the Glasses Work
The round lens is composed of two walls made of a flexible plastic membrane that the wearer fills with liquid silicone. The lens is then set into plastic frames that have dials on both temples of the glasses. The plastic frames are filled with the same liquid silicone that is in the lens. The wearer puts on the Child Vision glasses, covers one eye and using a tumbling “E” chart, adjusts a side knob to move more or less fluid into the lens until they can see clearly. They then repeat on the other side.
The wearer simply removes the knobs from the glasses and throws them away after the lens is set. They now have durable, functional, cost-effective glasses. With a $20 donation, CVDW can provide a pair of self-adjusting glasses to a developing country. A 1–2-hour training session with a local community leader to show them how to use the tumbling “E” charts to check vision and make sure the glasses are adjusted correctly is also provided. This is not only an immediate solution and innovation to provide glasses to developing countries but it creates generational empowerment of checking eyesight and promoting educational and economic growth within each community.
– Madalyn Wright
Photo: Flickr
5 Podcasts Bringing Attention to Foreign Policy
Over the years, there has been a shift in popularity from traditional media to mass media outlets—specifically podcasts. Whether for entertainment or education, podcasts help leave listeners with engaging and insightful information. Here are five podcasts bringing attention to foreign policy and international relations in the United States.
5 Podcasts Bringing Attention to Foreign Policy
With the popularity of podcasts continually rising, the topics they cover are endless. With the help of these podcasts bringing attention to foreign policy, listeners gain unique perspectives on issues all over the world.
– Sara Holm
Photo: Pixabay
Poverty and Language Extinction
Language and Ethnicity
Professor Peter L. Patrick of the University of Essex writes in “Linguistic Human Rights: A Sociolinguistic Introduction” that linguistic human rights “[do] not at first blush appear to be the most pressing area of human rights to think about.” He’s right; threats to healthcare, voting rights, freedom of speech, gender equality and economic stability require more immediate attention. However, Patrick also correctly asserts that “the complex relations between language socialization, linguistic competence, and ethnic group membership” are relevant to human rights and therefore, global poverty.
Herman M. Batibo writes in “Language and Poverty” that the intersectionality between language and poverty has “long been recognized.” Poverty affects language survival, and language often helps determine economic status. Small communities that seek to preserve dying languages face obstacles directly relevant to poverty. Without the proper economic stability to train teachers, establish schools and publish books in the endangered language, communities must witness their native languages die. In 2013, it was estimated that a language dies about every two weeks and is then replaced with a major language. The death of a language is more than the loss of its words. Native speakers watch their songs, stories and poems disappear as well. There is music and beauty in every language, signed or spoken, that one cannot replicate through translation. Language extinction causes the world to lose a unique perspective.
Language Extinction
Professor Emily Manetta teaches Introduction to Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Anthropology and Advanced Topics in Linguistics at the University of Vermont. In Linguistic Anthropology, Professor Manetta explores the concepts of language extinction and endangerment. When asked about how poverty restricts language development and preservation, Professor Manetta writes that it is important to “see language pressure and language endangerment in the context of a wider pattern of oppression of speakers and deprivations that are likely systemic.”
Impoverished communities, often facing extreme inequalities compared to dominant societies, are more likely to experience language loss for several reasons. Impoverished people often choose to move from rural settings to urban settings to improve their quality of life. Their new communities are more likely to speak dominant languages. With little use for their native languages, these individuals may abandon them completely and raise their children using only the language spoken by the majority. After just a generation or two, their native tongue dies. While this is not always the case, Manetta finds that this is “one possible way” in which poverty “create conditions in which language loss is accelerated.”
In discussing the consequences of language death, Manetta writes that it is “hard to say” for certain. She does note that the consequences of “human suffering, of profound inequality, of poverty and lack of opportunity, of racism and colonialism” are all related to language loss. She asserts that it is difficult to distinguish between the consequences of systematic oppression and the consequences of language loss. This is because oppressed communities are the most likely to experience language loss. Language loss, while tragic, does not compare to the “greater losses that accompany language loss.”
Saving Languages
How can people help prevent language extinction? Manetta writes that tackling systematic social problems like racism and other forms of oppression is the most important goal. Dismantling forms of oppression will allow communities to have the resources to educate their children about their native languages. This may seem like an overwhelming task; fortunately, there are smaller tasks that can also help save languages. Honoring and remembering dying languages can extend their lifespans. One can also encourage the use of non-dominant languages in legal, educational and institutional settings. Manetta does not advocate for the intrusion of small communities by larger communities. Rather, it is imperative to give members of small communities the resources to become educators, linguists and researchers to allow them to “preserve the language from within.”
Just as poverty relates to race, gender, sexuality, religion, status and education, poverty relates to language as well. Communities without the resources to preserve their languages often see them die as dominant languages crowd them out. While it is smart to learn more popular languages, they should not replace less-common languages altogether. It is important to remember that all languages connect people and preserve tradition, value and culture. To combat poverty is to combat the erasure of language, the beautiful code that allows human beings to connect with each other.
– Levi Reyes
Photo: Unsplash
Poverty Among the Indigenous People of Taiwan
Taiwan is an island nation off the coast of China that houses 560,000 indigenous peoples — around 2.7% of the entire population. In the 1940s, the Chinese Civil War forced the Republic of China (ROC) to relocate its base to Taiwan, causing 1.4 million people to migrate from the mainland. Prior to this incident, in 1895, Japan defeated the Qing empire for Taiwan in the First Sino-Japanese War. War has ravaged native families and brought thousands of colonists to the country. This decreased the number of aboriginal people and created a divide between the settlers and the indigenous people of Taiwan.
The Reasons Behind Poverty
Due to consistent colonization since the 1600s, the native people of Taiwan (originally Formosa) have faced persistent oppression. Under Dutch rule from 1624 to 1662, the indigenous people of Taiwan had to convert to Christianity. Colonists also recruited them for military services and placed them into strenuous jobs. Japanese soldiers in the early 1900s raped women, illegally took land and enslaved indigenous men. In 1914, the Japanese killed over 10,000 aboriginal inhabitants of the Taroko area, resulting in the major uprising the Wushe Rebellion of 1930.
Oppression and discrimination have quelled the process of native people integrating into modern society. Most of the indigenous people of Taiwan remain below the poverty line. Household incomes of aboriginal families are 40% lower than the national average. A study by an Academia Sinica sociologist surveyed Han people of Taiwan: only 40% of families would let their children marry an aboriginal person while 80% allowed their children to marry another Han person. This is shocking evidence of the prominence of societal discrimination. The Democratic Progressive Party leaders have been heard calling indigenous peoples racial slurs to suppress and insult aboriginal people. Many businesses still refuse to employ aborigines. The problem worsened when an influx of workers from southeast Asian countries came in and competed for traditionally aboriginal jobs.
Natural disasters that often rampage the island consistently annihilate sources of income for indigenous families. Typhoon Morakot, a fatal category 2 typhoon that hit Taiwan in August of 2009, killed 673 people, mostly from aboriginal villages. Landslides and heavy winds destroyed villages and small economies. An earthquake on September 21, 1999 killed over 2,400 people and sent 100,000 people into homelessness.
The Effects of Being in Poverty
Poverty in indigenous communities has hurt their access to education, insurance and healthcare and is exacerbating the inequality gap. In 2013, 10% of aboriginal students dropped out of college. Of those, 12% could not afford to continue their education. Although 90% of aboriginal college students receive a higher-level education at private universities, they tend to be more expensive causing many students to have financial burdens. Despite the 12-year compulsory education system, aboriginal students in rural areas receive a substandard education. Financial struggles prevent 3% of students from enrolling in school. Aboriginal parents often move to the city for work while their children provide for themselves. Sometimes, the oldest sibling drops out to take care of their younger siblings.
According to a survey that professors at the National Taiwan University conducted, 45% of indigenous participants believe that they are least likely to be hired and promoted compared to Han people. The study also found that the indigenous people of Taiwan lack access to social welfare services. This leads to the widening gap of inequality among the rich and poor, as well as between the Han and indigenous people. In 1985, the income gap between the indigenous people and the national average was $3,702 (USD), while in 2006 it increased to $20,006 (USD). Gradual increases in inequality build higher obstacles for indigenous people to conquer.
Combatting Poverty
The Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) is a group of ethnically indigenous government individuals, working to improve the life of indigenous people of Taiwan. Recently, CIP initiated the Four-Year Plan to develop a proper social welfare system to protect aboriginal individuals. The government hopes to increase employment by providing internship opportunities to the indigenous youth and creating websites like “Indigenous Job Agency.” The CIP also guides aboriginal businesses, teaching companies how to market, package and sell their products in the metropolitan area. They aim to develop a “sustainable self-sufficient industrial model” in indigenous villages. A self-sufficient model will help businesses survive with the modern market economy and traditional manufacturing skills. CIP also plans to increase healthcare services and protect indigenous rights to bridge the inequality gap.
The Renewal Foundation, a nongovernmental organization devoted to children’s education, is helping bring people out of poverty. The Bunun Tribe’s official website, run by the Bunun Cultural and Educational Foundation and the Bunun Tribal Leisure Farm, aims to develop educational and financial sectors of their own communities.
Taiwanese indigenous communities are gradually rising out of poverty. Recent statistics have shown increasing education rates and income equality. With assistance from the government and other institutions, aboriginal people will preserve their cultural heritage and reintegrate back into society.
– Zoe Chao
Photo: Flickr
The Impact of South Korea’s Foreign Aid
South Korea, or the Republic of Korea officially, is stepping forward as a global leader in delivering foreign aid. During the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea’s foreign aid will amount to $400 million USD donated to programs dedicated to improving health in developing countries, according to South Korea’s fiscal chief Moon Jae-In in April 2020. In 2017, he was the chief of staff to President Roh Moo-hyun. The country has also enacted foreign aid by pledging to extend the due dates of international loans and payments.
Where South Korea’s Foreign Aid is Going
South Korea’s foreign aid has helped South Korea emerge as a world leader, and especially since the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) recruited it. Another thing that has helped South Korea emerge as a world leader was its swift detection, containment and treatment of COVID-19. South Korea lowered the number of cases in the county to 61 cases on October 24, 2020 – all without imposing a full lockdown.
In Tanzania, South Korean foreign aid is implementing a project to empower rural women. It will facilitate this project from 2020 to 2023, with $5 million USD. Agricultural facilities will undergo construction, and female farmers will receive marketing and technical education. This will improve women’s access to land. South Korea will also establish a center for victims of gender-based violence.
South Korea has undergone a radical transformation. It has gone from being a recipient to a significant donor of international aid. In the 1960s, South Korea received over $1,400 million USD in foreign aid. Decades later, in 1987, South Korea adopted democracy, and institutions received new designs to better serve the interests of the public. In 1987, it donated $25 million in foreign aid, but this does not include aid to North Korea, or else this amount would be far larger. This change was due to South Korea’s official adoption of democracy in 1987 when June demonstrations forced the government to announce democratic reforms. A free market allowed for competition, and therefore, innovation to take place, thus sustaining the economy and bolstering the GDP per capita, from $2,835 USD in 1986 to $13,403 USD in 1996.
South Korea as an ODA Donor
In 1987, South Korea became a donor for official development assistance (ODA). ODA is government aid to encourage the economic development of developing countries. In 1987, South Korea’s foreign aid totaled $25 million. Contributions steadily increased, with yearly percentage increases ranging from 30% to 79% in the next 20 years. It continues to flourish and thrive as an emerging significant country in global aid.
South Korea and the OECD
South Korea became a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) prestigious Development Assistance Committee (DAC) in 2010. The OECD is an international group of the biggest providers of assistance towards developing countries and the DAC is a forum to discuss issues of international aid focused on inclusive and sustainable growth.
In 2011, one year after becoming a member of DAC, South Korean president Lee Myung-bak stated that South Korea intends to give more aid to the world than what it has ever taken. To exemplify this promise, in 2015, Korea partnered with USAID to commit $5 million to the Ethiopian government to encourage its efforts to mitigate child and maternal death there. It mainly focused on heightening the numbers of healthy mothers and successful births, giving more access to application and acceptance of family planning, and increasing healthy birth rates.
South Korea also pledged in July 2020 to give $4 million in humanitarian assistance to countries in East Africa that experienced locust swarms, resulting in food crises for over 25 million people. The World Bank recommended that social and productive safety-net programs – a subset of social protection mechanisms – be instilled to bolster food and nutrition security. Safety nets include cash, social pensions, public works and school meal programs.
South Korea’s growth in foreign aid increased significantly after the county adopted democracy, and it became a member of the OECD. It is stepping forward as a global leader in delivering foreign assistance, as proven by its inclusion into the DAC. It is combating issues such as maternal deaths in Ethiopia and food scarcity in the East African region due to food scarcity caused by locusts.
– Madeline Drayna
Photo: Unsplash
The Movement Against Casteism in Nepal
Casteism in Nepal is a centuries-old social class system. This system oppresses lower-caste communities and gives power to upper-caste, educated Nepalis. Historically, the caste system justified the subjugation of lower castes, allowing upper-caste Nepalis to use their status to gain security and power. Roughly 260 million people in South Asia are “Dalits,” or members of lower castes, and are therefore treated as ‘untouchable’ by their social superiors. Dalits in Nepal face social, economic, cultural and political marginalization and routinely fall victim to both institutional and structural discrimination. Despite legal provisions intended to eradicate caste discrimination in Nepal, hate crimes and acts of violence against the Dalit community are rampant. The discrimination and violence Dalits experience severely limit their access to equal education, employment and housing opportunities.
Inadequate Legal Protections
After the monarchy was overthrown, the Nepali constitution explicitly banned discrimination “on grounds of origin, religion, race, caste, tribe, sex, economic condition, language, region, ideology or on similar other grounds.” When the Civil Act 1963 emerged, its primary focus was to make caste-based discrimination a punishable offense. The Untouchability and Discrimination Act and the Constitution of Nepal both provide legal protections for Dalits. Yet, discrimination against marginalized communities in Nepal—particularly Dalit people—remains prevalent.
Despite the instituted legal provisions, cases of caste-based discrimination rarely make it to court, much less result in a conviction. In the rare case of a conviction, perpetrators often avoid jail and walk free after merely paying a small fine. “The discriminatory practice of excluding Dalits from all social practice is so deep-rooted that victims have not been able to speak up for their rights which has resulted in such a few numbers of cases in court,” says Durga Sob, President of the Feminist Dalit Organization.
Discrimination Exacerbated by COVID-19
Discrimination against Dalits is embedded in Nepal’s social fabric. COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown have only exacerbated incidents of violence and prejudice. A global crisis such as the pandemic not only exposes existing structural inequalities but also deepens their effects. The lockdown has not prevented violence against Dalits from taking place; there were at least 31 documented cases of physical violence against Dalits during the lockdown period. In particular, an incident on May 23rd in Soti Village, Rukum triggered a nationwide anti-caste movement against casteism in Nepal. The movement, called “Dalit Lives Matter,” is inspired by the “Black Lives Matter” movement in the United States. That day, Nabaraj BK, Tikaram Sunar and Ganesh Budha were murdered in Rukum–a hate crime committed out of caste-based prejudice.
Especially Vulnerable Groups
As previously established, state-imposed discriminatory practices are historically embedded in Nepal’s social fabric. As a result, marginalized communities including Dalits and Indigenous Nepalis bare much of the burden from the country’s political and economic turmoil. According to the Human Development Index, Dalits are the poorest community in Nepal. Over half of Dalits live below the poverty line and 45.5% struggle to make ends meet. Not only are Dalits much poorer than their upper-caste counterparts, but they also have life expectancies and literacy rates below the national average. Dalits routinely lack access to religious sites, face heavy resistance to inter-caste marriages, use separate water sources and suffer many additional forms of discrimination.
Among the Dalit community, women face more violence and marginalization than men. Females are deprived of control over resources such as land, housing, money or education. They are also extremely vulnerable to sexual exploitation.
The centuries-long egregious treatment of the Dalit community in Nepal incited nationwide protests and the “Dalit Lives Matter” movement. To effectively put an end to the violence and oppression of casteism in Nepal, beneficiaries of that system–wealthy upper-caste Hindus in Nepal–must use their privilege to uplift and liberate the Dalit community.
– Shreeya Sharma
Photo: Flickr
How NASA Prevents Rift Valley Fever in Developing Countries
Prediction of Rift Valley Fever
In 2006, NASA scientists predicted and tracked an outbreak of Rift Valley fever in East Africa. Unfortunately, even with intervention efforts, the 2006 outbreak led to the deaths of more than 500 people and cost the regional economy more than $60 million. This was due to export restrictions as well as livestock deaths. However, the aim of researchers was not to entirely stop that outbreak. The results of that mission gave researchers confidence that they could predict the next outbreak even better the next time.
Ten years later, the NASA team successfully predicted the location of the next potential outbreak and warned the Kenyan government before the disease could strike. Thanks to the combined efforts of NASA and the Kenyan government, Kenya saw no outbreak of Rift Valley fever in 2016. This, in turn, saved the country millions of dollars and protected the lives and livelihoods of rural farmers, throughout the country.
Focus on Cholera
With the success of Rift Valley fever prediction in 2006, NASA researchers became confident they may predict all disease outbreaks. Moreover, they believed they could halt them, using satellite technology. Researchers are especially focused on neglected diseases like cholera which are connected to environmental conditions and hit developing countries and impoverished people the hardest. Newer satellites add the ability to measure variables like temperature and rainfall. This enables researchers to use more than just the visual data, used in the initial Rift Valley fever predictions. Consequently, this significantly improves their models.
Cholera is perhaps the most promising disease, analyzed by new scientific models due to its scale. Nearly 3 million people contract and almost 100,000, die each year. Moreover, it spread directly links to weather events. There are two distinct forms of cholera, endemic and epidemic. Endemic cholera is present in bodies of water primarily during the dry season. Also, communities living along coasts are typically ready for the disease. Epidemic cholera comes about during extreme weather events like floods and inland communities are often unprepared for the disease. Both forms of the disease proved to be perfect candidates for modeling by disease researchers. In 2013, a NASA team successfully modeled cholera outbreaks in Bangladesh.
The Yemen Model
The real test of the NASA team’s predictive models would come in 2017. The use of the model in Yemen proved to work near perfectly. Researchers predicted exactly where the outbreaks would occur, nearly a full month in advance. The success of the model in impoverished and war-torn Yemen is especially notable. This is because it could mean less of a need for more expensive and dangerous methods of disease research. Instead, early warning systems are an implementable option. Even if they fail, medical professionals can send vaccines and medications to exactly the right locations. Cholera outbreaks and their disproportionate death rates among the global poor will hopefully soon be a thing of the past.
By halting outbreaks before they begin, international aid lends itself more efficiently. Information is valuable and the more information poverty-fighting organizations have, the better they can spend their dollars to maximize utility and help the most people. As satellite technology advances along with newer predictive models, preventing disease outbreaks could save developing economies and aid organizations hundreds of millions of dollars each year, along with thousands of lives.
– Jeff Keare
Photo: Flickr