Over the last decade, empowering women in poor communities has become a focal point in India. That is because about 50.7 million people live in extreme poverty in India, yet, as of 2019, only 20.7% of women in India are part of the labor force. Moreover, the country has recently seen a drop in its GDP from 6.1% to 5% and is attempting to recover from its uncertain economy. As a result, one solution that many nonprofit organizations and the government have recognized is investing in the population that is living under the poverty line. Specifically, many groups are empowering women in India through sewing.
Today, being able to sew can be an acclaimed vocational skill. Over the past decade or so, embroidery has become an empowering tool for women in India, and a traditional craft. With this understanding, nonprofits have implemented many initiatives in India to empower women and help their families out of poverty.
Sewing the Seeds & Samugam Trust
Sewing the Seeds is a nonprofit organization that partnered with the NGO Samugam Trust to begin a women’s sewing initiative. The plan supports women in impoverished communities by creating economic stability using creativity and the traditional craft of stitching. Bruno Savio and Gayle created Sewing the Seeds to use sewing to empower women in India living in poverty.
Savio’s father opened the Samugam Trust in 1991 to support the educational training of the underprivileged, the rehabilitation of leprosy patients and those who are physically challenged. Bruno Savio has continued his father’s legacy as director of Samugam and partner of Sewing the Seeds. Gayle backpacked across India about 40 years ago. During her journey, she saw an opportunity to empower women in the country through vocational training.
Savio and Gayle recognized that more than 50% of women in India are illiterate, and only 29% of women in India are actively employed. Additionally, those who are employed are paid 46% less than men holding the same positions. Sewing the Seeds and Samugam Trust realize that investing in women is smart economics and essential to reducing poverty. With this in mind, the initiative provides the training, financial assistance, materials and communal space to empower women while preserving local craft traditions.
Samugam Trust has supported the initiative since 2011, with the first collection of products introduced online in 2018. Sewing the Seeds and Samugam Trust have supplied training and machines for 130 women. The importance of this initiative is to empower women in India in a way that is holistic and long term in its support.
Shakti.ism
Shakti.ism also supported empowering women in India through sewing by launching a sustainable livelihood project. The starting goal is to reach out to 10 tribal and disabled Indian women to provide vocational training. To successfully supply these resources Shakti.ism is partnering with Samugam Trust and Sewing the Seeds to empower impoverished women. Recently, they chose 10 women from diverse backgrounds including disabled mothers.
Shakti.ism continuously raises money to cover instruction fees, supplies, daily stipends for trainees and administrative costs such as quality control. Most products are crafted from repurposed saris (a traditional Indian woman’s dress) and are to be sold online. Shakti.ism is empowering women in India as a way to support families living in underprivileged rural areas of India, as well as decrease the wage disparity while increasing the trainees’ self-confidence and skills.
Usha Silai School
Included in the community-based initiative is Usha Silai (sewing) School. This initiative has reportedly set up over 15,000 sewing schools across India with the support of the Digital Empowerment Foundation NGO and Sikana. To further their reach and enhance their programs, Usha and Sikana co-created a video program to train illiterate women. The enhanced program has increased the initiative’s outreach while providing skills to gain a livelihood to women in rural India.
The Digital Empowerment Foundation supplies technological information for rural citizens to use to their advantage. For example, they supply internet-dependent tools that can provide access to training and create socioeconomic equality. Specifically, they provide internet and digital tools in rural community centers that partner with Usha Silai School.
Community-based initiatives that provide sewing empowerment for women in poverty have been essential for the growth of rural India. Sewing has become a highly desired vocational skill and is a powerful tool for those living in poverty. Recognizing the long term impact of vocational training, NGOs provide this solution-based approach across India to bring self-confidence and skills to women.
– Sumeet Waraich
Photo: Flickr
3 Innovative Solutions Reducing Poverty in Pakistan
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a major health care crisis in Pakistan. It also reversed years of effort into the elimination of poverty. The poverty rate declined from 64% to 24% in 2015 which occurred over a period of 20 years. However, with the arrival of COVID-19, the poverty rate in Pakistan could increase to 40% according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Impacts of the Pandemic on Pakistan
Pakistan’s GDP growth is also predicted to decline by 3% as a result of the pandemic. In addition, agriculture accounts for 20% of Pakistan’s GDP and 43% of its labor force. The continuation of lockdowns with no end in sight is negatively affecting transportation, labor and the consumer market. Consequently, it affects the millions of people working in the agriculture industry. Around 17 million children and youth are missing important vaccinations for diseases such as polio. Moreover, several million more people are suffering from food insecurity due to the pandemic, bringing the total to 43 million. Those most at risk are the people who live below the poverty line and groups such as women, children, senior citizens, the disabled and minorities.
As more and more of these people fall below the poverty line, Pakistan is coming up with different innovative solutions that can cater to the millions of people that are experiencing multidimensional poverty.
3 Innovative Solutions to Reducing Poverty in Pakistan
While poverty in Pakistan has been an issue, these innovative solutions are proving successful at reducing poverty in Pakistan. Through their continued work, the quality of life for Pakistan’s people should only improve.
– Abbas Raza
Photo: Flickr
Eliminating Tuberculosis in Madagascar
Madagascar, a country off the southeastern coast of Africa, comprises of tuberculosis cases among its citizens of low socioeconomic status. In 2012, 70.7% of the Malagasy population was living below the poverty line and in 2017, the incidence rate for tuberculosis in Madagascar was 233 cases per 100,000 people. Encouraged and perpetuated by poverty, this disease makes Madagascar the perfect candidate for an outbreak.
Tuberculosis, commonly known as TB, is the most infectious fatal disease in the world. Although it is a very treatable illness, it kills more than 1 million people annually across the globe. The vast majority of TB diagnoses and deaths derive from individuals residing in poor, developing nations.
Risk Factors
Lack of quality living conditions, nutrition and healthcare amplify the risk of getting tuberculosis in Madagascar. Limited access to toilets and handwashing facilities for the majority of Malagasy people have left many at risk. According to CIA World Factbook data, sanitation facility accessibility in Madagascar was unimproved for 88% of the total population in 2015. TB is also the leading cause of death for people with HIV. As of 2018, there were roughly 39,000 Malagasy people diagnosed with HIV but only 20,865 known TB cases that also had documented HIV statuses. Without quality systems in place to document HIV and TB rates across the country, solving the epidemic in Madagascar will not be easy.
The Global Fund Support
The added historical stigma surrounding TB makes matters worse. While already struggling financially, patients often fear that exposing their diagnosis will cause them to lose their jobs. This stigma is combated through support systems like The Global Fund, an organization that provides relief for epidemics through fundraising and education for those affected by TB. The fund’s employees act as a support system, thus debunking the shame that infected patients may feel due to their diagnosis.
In 2018, The Global Fund’s donations and work helped cure 33,000 patients with tuberculosis in Madagascar. For 2020-2022, the organization projects that a total of $18,045,448 will go toward tuberculosis management in Madagascar. In 2017, these funds helped increase Madagascar’s TB treatment success rate to 84%.
Biotechnological Solutions
Although TB is preventable and curable, Madagascar lacks the necessary medical tools to diagnose and treat this disease. Not only are there minimal supplies, but there is also a need to expand and strengthen Madagascar’s ability to analyze TB samples according to Niaina Rakotosamimanana, the head of the mycobacteria unit at the Health Institute of Madagascar.
Researchers from the Health Institute of Madagascar, Stony Brook University and Oxford University are also collaborating to find solutions for this issue. These institutions are working together to grant access to a portable and affordable tool, the MinION. The MinION helps to diagnose and efficiently test the resistance of TB strains to antibiotics, while at the same time being a cheap, affordable option that is accessible to Malagasy people.
Tuberculosis is still one of the top 10 leading causes of death in Madagascar, but the country is making significant progress towards the eradication of the disease. The efforts Madagascar is taking in tracking TB are positive steps that contribute to the fight against this epidemic.
– Sophia McGrath
Photo: Pixabay
Eliminating Gender-Based Violence in Zimbabwe
Gender-based violence continues to threaten the safety of millions of girls and women around the world while infringing upon their most basic human rights. According to the World Bank, gender-based violence affects one in every three women globally. Zimbabwe in particular is still struggling to combat this issue, but is working to find solutions. Though gender-based violence in Zimbabwe remains a major societal issue, organizations like the Musasa Project are providing hope for a safer future.
Consequences of Gender-Based Violence
Beyond its negative effects on survivors, gender-based violence is also damaging to economic and social structures as a whole. According to the World Bank, gender-based violence results in a loss of about 3.7% of a country’s total GDP. Failure to address issues impacting the well-being of women has also been proven to contribute to poverty. Poverty cannot be alleviated without the protection of and equality for women and girls around the world.
Gender-Based Violence in Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe, gender-based violence is especially prevalent. Nearly 50% of the country’s women have experienced either physical or sexual violence at some point in their lifetime. Meanwhile, one in three of these women have experienced physical or sexual violence before the age of 18.
Gender-based violence in Zimbabwe is so common that it is steadily becoming a normalized part of Zimbabwean culture; 48.6% of women between the ages of 15-24 years believe that “wife-beating” can be “justified under at least one condition.”
The Musasa Project
Hoping to educate Zimbabwean women about the injustices and abnormalities of gender-based discrimination, Sheelagh Stewart and Jill Taylor Musasa created the Musasa Project. Founded in 1988, this Zimbabwe-based NGO offers a wide range of support and relief services to survivors of gender-based violence. The organization also seeks to eliminate violence against Zimbabwean women by changing regressive laws, beliefs and practices perpetuating gender-based violence.
The Musasa Project offers valuable resources to about 3,000 Zimbabwean women every year including counseling services, legal aid, temporary safe shelters, medical assistance, educational programs and support through a toll-free helpline.
The Musasa Project’s most extensive work is its counseling services, which serve a high volume of emotional and physical abuse survivors every year. Many women also depend on the Musasa Project’s legal aid services and 24-hour telephone support line. In just three years, the Musasa Project attended to the cases of more than 14,000 women.
A Better Future
The organization is currently working towards expanding its educational resources to a broader population and offering programs designed specifically for those convicted of sexual assault and domestic violence. In doing so, the Musasa Project ultimately aims to reduce gender-based violence in Zimbabwe through awareness and education.
Though the Musasa Project only operates in four regional offices in the cities of Masvingo, Harare, Gweru and Bulawayo, its resources and services are making significant strides in reducing gender-based violence across the whole of Zimbabwe. Acknowledging that one of the most meaningful ways to create change is through law and policy-making, the project works closely with the Zimbabwean government to enforce laws pertaining to gender-based and domestic violence.
The Musasa Project’s plethora of resources for victims, perpetrators and the general public raises awareness about the injustices of gender-based violence and gains support for the eradication of this issue. This project and its multifaceted approach to protecting women and girls provides hope that gender-based violence in Zimbabwe will eventually vanish.
– Stacy Moses
Photo: Flickr
Updates on SDG Goal 1 in India
India and the Sustainable Development Goals
Along with being one of the fastest developing economies in the world, India has played a tremendous role in the formulation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda 2030. The SDGs consist of 17 goals, 169 targets and 306 national indicators. Although the SDGs is an exhaustive list, it has not stopped India from making substantive progress towards achieving most of these goals.
Goal one of the SDGs of the U.N. Sustainable Development Agenda is the complete elimination of poverty in every form by 2030. From 2008 to 2018, the poverty rate in India halved as the percent of Indians living in poverty dropped from 55% to 28%. The good news is that India is on track to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030. However, it is important to recognize recent trends to gain a better perspective on where India stands in the race to achieve SDG goal 1.
Updates on SDG Goal 1 in India
Hope for the Future
As India aims to achieve its goal on time, a glance at recent trends gives an optimistic view of the future of India. India owes its reduction in poverty to its thriving economy and to the coordinated efforts of its government and the U.N. Beginning with the government of 2014, India has made successful attempts in distributing essential commodities to its most vulnerable communities. For instance, electricity, clean water and sanitation. Through a robust anti-poverty scheme, India has granted 90% of its population access to electricity. Additionally, a whopping 99.45% of its population has access to basic sanitation. The latter number is up from 40% in 2014.
The evidence suggests that governments can effectively tackle poverty when they have the means to do so. The past decade in India is a prime example. However, India is only halfway through in achieving SDG goal 1. In order to continue its progress, it is imperative to recognize the benefits of coordinated government initiatives that are supported by our own. For the county’s thriving economy and progress towards SDG goal 1 in India can only sustain itself through the support of the effective government.
– Aadil Khan
Photo: Flickr
Empowering Women in India Through Sewing
Today, being able to sew can be an acclaimed vocational skill. Over the past decade or so, embroidery has become an empowering tool for women in India, and a traditional craft. With this understanding, nonprofits have implemented many initiatives in India to empower women and help their families out of poverty.
Sewing the Seeds & Samugam Trust
Sewing the Seeds is a nonprofit organization that partnered with the NGO Samugam Trust to begin a women’s sewing initiative. The plan supports women in impoverished communities by creating economic stability using creativity and the traditional craft of stitching. Bruno Savio and Gayle created Sewing the Seeds to use sewing to empower women in India living in poverty.
Savio’s father opened the Samugam Trust in 1991 to support the educational training of the underprivileged, the rehabilitation of leprosy patients and those who are physically challenged. Bruno Savio has continued his father’s legacy as director of Samugam and partner of Sewing the Seeds. Gayle backpacked across India about 40 years ago. During her journey, she saw an opportunity to empower women in the country through vocational training.
Savio and Gayle recognized that more than 50% of women in India are illiterate, and only 29% of women in India are actively employed. Additionally, those who are employed are paid 46% less than men holding the same positions. Sewing the Seeds and Samugam Trust realize that investing in women is smart economics and essential to reducing poverty. With this in mind, the initiative provides the training, financial assistance, materials and communal space to empower women while preserving local craft traditions.
Samugam Trust has supported the initiative since 2011, with the first collection of products introduced online in 2018. Sewing the Seeds and Samugam Trust have supplied training and machines for 130 women. The importance of this initiative is to empower women in India in a way that is holistic and long term in its support.
Shakti.ism
Shakti.ism also supported empowering women in India through sewing by launching a sustainable livelihood project. The starting goal is to reach out to 10 tribal and disabled Indian women to provide vocational training. To successfully supply these resources Shakti.ism is partnering with Samugam Trust and Sewing the Seeds to empower impoverished women. Recently, they chose 10 women from diverse backgrounds including disabled mothers.
Shakti.ism continuously raises money to cover instruction fees, supplies, daily stipends for trainees and administrative costs such as quality control. Most products are crafted from repurposed saris (a traditional Indian woman’s dress) and are to be sold online. Shakti.ism is empowering women in India as a way to support families living in underprivileged rural areas of India, as well as decrease the wage disparity while increasing the trainees’ self-confidence and skills.
Usha Silai School
Included in the community-based initiative is Usha Silai (sewing) School. This initiative has reportedly set up over 15,000 sewing schools across India with the support of the Digital Empowerment Foundation NGO and Sikana. To further their reach and enhance their programs, Usha and Sikana co-created a video program to train illiterate women. The enhanced program has increased the initiative’s outreach while providing skills to gain a livelihood to women in rural India.
The Digital Empowerment Foundation supplies technological information for rural citizens to use to their advantage. For example, they supply internet-dependent tools that can provide access to training and create socioeconomic equality. Specifically, they provide internet and digital tools in rural community centers that partner with Usha Silai School.
Community-based initiatives that provide sewing empowerment for women in poverty have been essential for the growth of rural India. Sewing has become a highly desired vocational skill and is a powerful tool for those living in poverty. Recognizing the long term impact of vocational training, NGOs provide this solution-based approach across India to bring self-confidence and skills to women.
– Sumeet Waraich
Photo: Flickr
Fighting Malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa Through Investment
Consequences of Malnutrition
For African nations, current statistics on malnutrition paint a grim picture: nearly every country south of the Sahara reports at least 10% of children as underweight. The problems caused by widespread malnutrition—regardless of age—are apparent. According to World Bank statistics, malnourished children typically provide far less value later in life, losing an average of 10% of their potential lifetime earnings. Likewise, a malnourished mother may conceive a similarly deficient child with congenital disabilities and an equal risk of low productivity. While it is simple to recognize malnutrition as a source of other regional issues, identifying the underlying causes of malnutrition has proven to be more complicated.
The Complex Causes
Malnutrition is not exclusively caused by undernutrition. In many cases, the low variety of available foods causes developmental problems in children, which contributes to those mentioned above poor professional outcomes. The region’s poverty causes discrepancies in the food distribution of local towns, with communities becoming dependent on staple crops like grains while missing out on fruits, meats and other nutrient-dense foods. With surveys reporting that 39% of families in sub-Saharan Africa suffer precarious access to food, these cereal crops are the only way for many families to avoid going to sleep hungry.
This lack of nutritional variety primarily stems from the region’s poor-quality infrastructure. Without proper roads, many rural farmers struggle to bring their crops to market, making the trade of goods essential to a running economy—and a balanced diet—nearly impossible. With better economic conditions as well as simple roads, citizens could gain crucial access both physically and financially to foods they could not previously afford.
The Need for Investments
Food insecurity is not the only issue plaguing sub-Saharan Africa: with various forms of poverty—including fiscal, water and energy poverty—also demanding attention, it appears that a fix for one issue may have to envelop the other problems as well. Fortunately, improving the infrastructure for one of these issues incidentally benefits the others.
The region needs massive investments for projects like dams, bridges, power plants and namely roads. Experts advocate this investment on multiple grounds: not only would it assist in fighting malnutrition, but it also represents a sensible investment. Investment specialists recommend this action, and private companies in the U.K. have seen greater returns on investments to Africa than anywhere else in the world, according to the Overseas Development Institute.
A Future Worth Fighting For
Fortunately, current world leaders began to listen to this advice. Organizations like The World Bank have already organized the financial framework to fund ambitious projects fighting malnutrition globally. With Chinese investment into Africa totaling nearly $300 billion from 2005-2018, countries in sub-Saharan Africa are starting to receive the foreign investment necessary to feed their people adequately.
Fighting malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa is no small task, but the current trend of investment shows promise for the future. The Infrastructure Consortium of Africa reported that between 2013-2017, the mean annual funding for infrastructure development was $77 billion, double the average from 2000-2006. If investment continues, much-needed dietary improvements could finally become a reality. Perhaps in the next ten years, a variety of foods will quite literally be a walk down the road for African families.
– Joe Clark
Photo: Flickr
The Economy of the Kurdistan Region
The Kurds, one of the indigenous peoples of the Mesopotamian plains, are an ethnically and religiously distinct nation in the Middle East without their own formal, independent state. In the early 20th century, the Kurds wished to have their own homeland – Kurdistan – and received provision for one in the 1920 Treaty of Sevres after World War One. However, three years later, the Treaty of Lausanne, which set modern Turkey’s territorial boundaries, failed to fulfill the promise of the land for the Kurdish state. In the decades following, subsequent efforts for the formation of an independent Kurdish state failed. Today, there are between 25 million and 35 million Kurds residing in portions of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Armenia.
The Kurds receive the least pressure to assimilate in Iraq and have had a formally-recognized autonomous Kurdistan Region in the northern part of the country since 1992. About 5.1 million Kurds reside there and the 2005 Iraqi constitution states that its government, the Kurdistan Regional Government, has the right to exercise legislative, executive and judicial powers. Since 1992, Kurdistan’s relative autonomy has rendered it necessary to also have an autonomous economy. Here is some information about the economy in the Kurdistan Region.
The Economy in the Kurdistan Region
After Saddam Hussein’s removal from Iraq, some lifted their sanctions. In fact, the UN lifted some of its sanctions on Iraq and Iraqi sanctions on the Kurdistan Region. This allowed the Region to begin to take advantage of natural resources, namely oil. Furthermore, one of these sanctions included ending the Oil-For-Food Programme, an Iraqi-UN humanitarian program that was corrupt and hindered the development of the agricultural sector by lowering the need for domestic growth of food.
The Kurdistan Region’s main industries are oil, agriculture and tourism. Kurdistan has about one-third of Iraq’s total oil reserves. Historically, conflicts and sanctions have hindered the development of agriculture in the Region, but about 13% of the region’s land is arable and agriculture is the second-largest industry following oil. Kurdistan’s tourism industry has also grown since its autonomy from Iraq, and advertisements display it as a safe, peaceful and beautiful travel destination.
The Rise of the Islamic State (IS)
The rise of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq hurt the development of Kurdistan’s economy. Kurdish military forces went to fight against the Islamic State’s advancement into the Kurdistan Region in 2014 and received support from the U.S. However, international oil companies and other key investors in the economy in the Kurdistan Region left the area despite the military forces’ success in fighting IS. As a result, international confidence in Kurdistan’s businesses has since decreased.
Although Kurdistan’s economy has more diversity and is more developed than the rest of Iraq’s, it is highly susceptible to international markets and fluctuations. After a dramatic decrease in oil prices in 2014, Kurdistan’s oil industry suffered another recession and has yet to fully recover, especially with the most-recent decrease in oil prices due to coronavirus.
However, despite hardships, the Kurdistan Region historically has the lowest poverty rates in Iraq. In 2013, in comparison with the southern province of Muthanna’s poverty rate at 49%, the northern Kurdish province of Sulaiminiyah had a poverty rate of just 3%. Past indications of Kurdistan’s economic development and autonomy paints a positive picture for the future, but the area will need to meet conditions such as stable governance and international support if the poverty rate is to remain low in the Region.
– Isabel Serrano
Photo: Flickr
Period Poverty and Stigmas: Menstrual Cups in Developing Countries
A menstrual cup is a feminine hygiene product shaped like a small cup. It is inserted into the vagina during menstruation and collects menstrual fluid. Most menstrual cups are generally made out of medical-grade silicone or latex. Importantly, the cups can be worn for periods of 12 hours and are completely reusable.
Period Poverty
In developing countries, period poverty affects 2.3 billion girls and women. Period poverty refers to an overall lack of access to menstruation education and other resources, including toilets, sanitary napkins, clean water sources and waste management. Many girls who are unable to access menstrual products often resort to using rags, paper or other unsafe materials that cannot be properly clean and sanitized. As a result, this poses a threat to their health and well-being.
Research shows that menstrual cups in developing countries are a hygienic and sustainable option, even if they do require running water. However, in settings where there is less running water, women can find ways to use less water in cleaning their menstrual cups. Women might even use less water with menstrual cups than they would otherwise, as they won’t need to wash stains out of clothes or used cloths.
Advocating for Menstrual Cups in Developing Countries
Ebby Weyime is a believer in the effectiveness of menstrual cups in developing countries. She believes that it can eradicate period poverty in her home country, Kenya. However, there are challenges to implementing menstrual cups in Kenya. For example, many Kenyans believe that a girl will lose her virginity if a product is inserted into the vagina. To combat this stigma, Weyime travels through local communities and educates people on the realities of menstrual cups. Weyime has even created her own menstrual cup, The Grace Cup.
The Grace Cup is the first and only menstrual cup made in Kenya. It is made of FDA-approved, medical-grade silicone. Importantly, the Grace Cup can last up to 10 years. Because it can last for so long, the Grace Cup will allow girls to save money. At the same time, it will allow girls and women to experience the least amount of discomfort during their period. Consequently, this will allow them to enjoy activities that they would normally enjoy.
Menstrual Cup Brands That Help Women
Various global menstrual cup brands are aware of the powerful potential of menstrual cups in developing countries. The brands are creating awareness, making menstrual cups and providing menstrual education available to girls across the world. Here are some noticeable brands that help women and girls worldwide:
Menstrual cups in developing countries will provide women and girls with a cost-effective way to manage their period. The expansion of these products also goes hand in hand with menstruation education. As a result, women and girls will be empowered and enabled to do more. As brands like the Grace Cup continue to educate and provide girls with cups, period stigmas will disappear and period poverty will become an issue of the past.
– Kalicia Bateman
Photo: Flickr
The Life Saving Dot: How Bindis Are Helping Women in India
Bindis
Bindis are small dots worn between the eyebrows of a woman to signify marriage in Hindu tradition. The practice began in the third and fourth centuries to represent the third eye. Now, however, it is popular for all women of all ages, not just those who are married. Though they can be different sizes, shapes, and colors, bindis still hold tremendous cultural significance for women in India.
Urgent Health Concern: Iodine Deficiency
Iodine deficiencies impact 2 billion people worldwide. These deficiencies cause a plethora of health problems, including:
In fact, iodine deficiencies are the biggest global cause of preventable brain damage. A common way to increase iodine intake is by eating seafood. However, many women in India are vegetarians, so their diets prevent them from getting the iodine they need. The soil in many remote mountainous areas also tends to be iodine-poor. In particular, pregnant women need more iodine than other groups. While other treatments such as iodine supplements exist, they are expensive and not accessible for many residents of developing countries. Enter the Life Saving Dot project.
The Life Saving Dot
The Life Saving Dot’s adhesive comes with 150-200 micrograms of iodine. By wearing the bindi throughout the day, a woman receives 12% of her daily iodine dose. Even this is a vast improvement from previous rates of iodine intake.
The bindis work essentially the same as a nicotine patch, and they are cheap to produce. One pack costs only two rupees, which means it is very affordable for women in these rural locations. The initial study tested it in the state of Maharashtra, where women make an average of 20 to 30 rupees a day.
The Life Saving Dot’s Limitations
Luckily, no negative side effects have been reported. In contrast, many women have reported fewer headaches as a result of the increased amount of iodine in their system. The Life Saving Dot seems to be a safe, easy and cheap solution to iodine deficiency.
The only problem is that bindis are generally not worn by men or people belonging to a religion other than Hinduism. Women tend to face iodine deficiencies more frequently than men due to pregnancy and birth, which exacerbate symptoms. However, many men would still benefit from more iodine. Another solution will have to be created for them, but the Life Saving Dot is a great start. Not only is it delivering a much-needed nutrient to an often-ignored population, but it is also helping to spread awareness about iodine deficiencies across the world.
– Fiona Price
Photo: Pixabay
BTS’ #ENDviolence Campaign and the Link between Poverty and Violence
There is a powerful positive correlation between poverty and violence. Working to address this problem is BTS, a popular K-pop boy band. By partnering with UNICEF, BTS has supported the #ENDviolence campaign, which focuses on ending violence against children and teens worldwide.
The Correlation Between Poverty and Violence
One study revealed that children who grew up in poverty are “seven times more likely to harm themselves and be involved in violent crimes as young adults.” To reach this conclusion, the study analyzed 21,267 patients who had self-harm incidents and 23,724 individuals who were accused of violent crime between the ages of 15 and 33.
The results revealed that “children who remained in the top 20% of wealthiest families over their first 15 years of life were the least likely to harm themselves or commit a violent crime between the ages of 15 and 33.” On the other hand, children from families who lived in the least wealthy fifth of society were 13 times more likely to commit crimes and seven times more likely to hurt themselves as young adults.
Numerous research demonstrates the causes of self-harm and abusive behaviors of children, one of which is poverty. Overall, exposure to poverty has a significant impact on violent behaviors. Reducing poverty will therefore lead to a reduction in violent actions.
K-Pop Group BTS’ Support for UNICEF
BTS, one of the most popular K-pop boy groups, has raised approximately $1.4 million for the UNICEF #ENDviolence campaign. On June 22, 2020, the K-pop superstars won the 2020 UNICEF Inspire Award in the Integrated Campaigns and Events category.
The UNICEF Inspire Awards go to the most influential UNICEF campaigns. For this year, there were about 100 campaigns from 50 countries competing for the awards. BTS won this year’s Inspire Award because of the group’s wide range of work to promote children’s rights, which includes fundraising and raising awareness about the issue.
#ENDviolence Campaign
UNICEF launched the #ENDviolence campaign, also known as the Love Myself campaign, in 2017 to fight “against violence toward children and teens around the world.” Through the #ENDviolence campaign, UNICEF works actively to rebuild children’s lives. Some of the organization’s work includes bringing civilian life back to child soldiers and supporting shelters for street kids. UNICEF also protects trafficked children by training and funding a child protection team.
After BTS received the UNICEF Inspire Award, the secretary-general of UNICEF Korea, Lee Ki-Cheol, said, “BTS’ message that you need to love yourself in order to be able to love others is creating positive transformation all over the world. I believe this award is the result of BTS’ positive influence as they give children and youth across the Earth, both courage and comfort.”
BTS’ Global Philanthropy
BTS has not only helped the #ENDviolence campaign but has also contributed to other social and philanthropic campaigns. One member of the group, J-Hope, donated 100 million won ($84,407) to support underprivileged children. The donation went to the Green Umbrella Children’s Foundation. This organization supports children in need and helps students achieve their dreams. Along with the donation, J-Hope said: “Amongst the disadvantaged children that are victims of the various societal problems, I hope that these funds will be well-delivered to those that are facing financial difficulties due to the coronavirus.” J-Hope has been consistently making these generous donations so that the total amount of his donations so far reached 450 million won ($380,530). It’s safe to say that he along with his fellow BTS members are using their position to help people around the world.
– Alison Choi
Photo: Flickr