Information and stories about aid effectiveness and reform

, , , ,

2016: Will Wi-Fi Make Its Mark as a Basic Human Right?

wifi
It is the early days, and the 2016 U.S. presidential contest is still anybody’s race — and no one knows for certain what issues will strike a chord with voters next November. Among the multiple issues that have emerged so far in candidates’ stump speeches and ads are those that have become familiar to many Americans: same-sex marriage, campaign finance and tax reform. However, a new presidential race means new perspectives, and several newly relevant issues stand to become crucial in this and future elections. One such issue, injected onto the national stage first by Democratic Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland, is the concept of Wi-Fi or, more simply, Internet access as a basic human right.

In October 2014, before officially declaring his candidacy for the 2016 U.S. Presidential race, Governor O’Malley boldly stated that “Young people . . . realize that connections to each other are making us better. That Wi-Fi is a human right. That proximity is important to entrepreneurship, access to capital and talent and diversity. There is an opportunity there for us as a nation to embrace that new perspective.”

While the definition of a “human right” is hotly debated, it is generally considered (as outlined in the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights) a right possessed inherently by all humans, regardless of position or any extraneous factors, and thus fundamentally inalienable. While Wi-Fi itself was obviously not listed in the U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights signed in 1948, the U.N. Special Rapporteur did, in 2011, declare that restricting or eliminating Internet access was a human rights violation and against international law — specifically, article 19, paragraph 3 of the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights. This came in the wake of not only laws passed by the U.K. and France against online copyright infringement but in response to efforts by some war-torn developing nations (such as Syria) to block Internet access in times of civil conflict.

It is estimated that 4.6 billion individuals around the world live without Internet access and, thus, without access to the economic opportunities, democratic principles and education that the Internet can expose. The Internet has over 35 billion pages, and many aspects of human knowledge have been freely enshrined through this medium. Beyond individual benefits, Internet access in developing countries allows connections between nations and provides an influx of technological advancement, including innovations in healthcare that allow doctors to communicate and treat patients across borders. Internet access also allows communication between disaster relief workers and on-the-ground victims, which can result in increased coordination and efficiency on the part of aid organizations.

It is estimated that in developing countries, a 10 percent increase in Internet access can result in an increase of up to 2.5 percent in GDP, and increase global employment rate by close to 1.5 percent. Beyond the quantifiable benefits that Internet access injects in society, it has become a fundamental sphere of interaction that all members of society deserve to access. It is arguable that, without access to Internet, it becomes almost impossible to participate in many aspects of the modern world. The founder of the World Wide Web himself argued that “Given the many ways the web is crucial to our lives and our work, disconnection is a form of deprivation of liberty.” However, some experts have questions about what the inclusion of Internet as a fundamental human right would entail. Would electricity then have to be included as a human right? And how would this technology – relatively new, and only recently regarded as something other than a luxury – compare with other basic human needs, such as water, food and shelter?

Despite controversy and skepticism surrounding the concept of Wi-Fi as a human right, Governor O’Malley has injected an important and timely issue into the national discourse and has effectively expanded the debate around human rights to include uniquely modern, 21st century issues that will only become more important throughout the 2010s.

– Melissa Pavlik

Sources: A Human Right, Foreign Policy, I Debate, Town Hall, Wired
Photo: Hopkins Medicine

, ,

Ukrainian Hackathon Helps Displaced People

ukrainian_hackathon
This February, SocialBoost partnered with USAID in Kyiv, Ukraine to host a hackathon in order to generate innovative ideas on delivering services to internally displaced people.

Since February, the number of internally displaces people in Ukraine has reached over 1.2 million because of violence in the Donetsk region. The Ukrainian government supports the internally displaced people; but their methods are inefficient, so they looked towards the young, bright innovators for a better solution.

SocialBoost is a tech nonprofit that promotes Ukraine’s open data law, a newly adopted law that stimulates the startup business environment through free and accessible data, democratic power in taking on problems like corruption, decision-making and public service. With this, SocialBoost hosts hackathons to support socially meaningful IT projects. In this case, it’s how to deliver services to 1.2 million internally displaced people.

Because of the open data laws, all data is at the hacker’s fingertips as they try to create a prototype to help Ukraine’s government. “In Ukraine, the IT community is strong and patriotic,” says SocialBoost founder Denis Gursky. Ukraine’s IT sector is influential to the economy and has been vital in bringing about political change.

Before the hackathon, SocialBoost created a multimedia campaign that allowed people to share their prototype ideas and publicly vote on their favorites. The top ten finalists competed in the Ukrainian hackathon. After two days, the finalists presented their prototypes to the judges, who voted based on five criteria: reach, potential impact, sustainability, technical components and teamwork.

The winning prototype was LifeTag, an SMS service that navigates internally displaced people to the nearest government or volunteer station based on their needs, which can be selected from a drop-down menu. LifeTag was developed by a team of university students.

Jonathan Katz, USAID’s deputy assistant administrator for Europe and Eurasia presented the award to LifeTag at the end of the Ukrainian hackathon and concluded with an air of hope, saying, “It really gives me confidence that despite all the challenges, these young people will work tirelessly to ensure a brighter future for the people of Ukraine.”

– Hannah Resnick

Sources: IDMC, SocialBoost, UNDP, UNHCR, USAID
Photo: UNDP

, ,

Women in Poverty: The Good, Bad and Ugly

women_in_poverty

If you have paid attention to any type of news recently, you likely know that women’s rights and equality have been a hot topic in the United States. These issues that women face—violence, employment issues, malnutrition and more—only multiple in developing and impoverished areas around the globe.

Among the tribulations women face are violence, malnutrition, lack of education, unemployment, less access to healthcare and family stress. All of these come in different forms, but with more than 3 billion people in the world living in poverty and 60 percent of those being women according to The Hunger Project, these factors influence billions of women and children every day.

Like in most poverty-based situations, there are positive aspects occurring as well as unpleasant and disturbing news.

The Ugly: Violence.

Domestic abuse, sex trafficking, childhood marriage and sexual exploitation all fall into the category of violence but are not limited to those forms of violence. Violence is one of the ugliest problems women around the world face, especially impoverished women.

UN Women reported that female children who are poor are “2.5 times more likely to marry in childhood than those living the wealthiest quintile.” If married as a child, girls’ likelihood to experience some form of sexual exploitation increases due to sexual encounters too early in life that are often forced relations.

On top of early marriage, sex trafficking is a widespread problem around the entire world. Sex trafficking occurs in places from the Mid-West of the United States to Central Europe, to highly impoverished areas of Africa.

This disheartening yet growing epidemic targets impoverished women and children specifically. UN Women classified them as being much more vulnerable to become victims of sex trafficking.

For these women and families living in poverty, changing their abusive reality is rarely an option. “Due to their lack of resources and income,” abusive households can provide some forms of security.

The Bad: Though just as ugly, there are numerous additonal troubles that women face while in poverty.

Malnutrition and a lack of healthcare are two of the largest and most threatening problems that women face. The Hunger Project found that “50 percent of pregnant women in developing countries lack proper maternal care,” which results in at least 240,000 deaths annually from pregnancies and childbirth.

The Hunger Project also reported that “1 out of 6 infants are born with a low birth weight in developing countries,” which is due to malnutrition and uncared for health issues in women.

In developing and impoverished areas, healthcare is scarce enough at it is. When healthcare is provided, males are often treated first because of their presumed ability to work more and hold more worth.

This often leaves women and children sickly and untreated. In most situations, men perform agricultural work to sell while women grow food for the family and tend to the children. If unwell, providing for and taking care of the family can become near impossible for these women.

Being uncared for and underfeed trickles down through the families. Nearly 45 percent of deaths in children the age of 5 are due to poor nutrition. With more than 3 million child deaths each year, an average of 8,500 children are dying each day due to malnutrition and a lack of healthcare. Most of these children, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, are under the age of 5.

The difficulties of finding work and education as a women, can be added stressors. Again, work and education are luxuries in most developing countries, which when provided, often go to male prospects before women.

With such a disadvantage at hand, women face more obstacles in becoming educated and able to find a superior job that will allow them to take better care of their families.

The Good: Finally, there is good news for women in developing and impoverished areas.

More and more people around the globe are becoming informed about poverty and its difficulties especially for women and children. Poverty for any gender is a constant struggle, but the added stress for women is becoming increasingly apparent.

Through news outlets and by word of mouth, talk about poverty and ways to end it is spreading. Because of the work of organizations like The Hunger Project, UN Women, The Borgen Project and countless more, support and assistance is being sent to the most impoverished corners of the world.

A UN Women-supported project has begun to train families and women on how to become entrepreneurs of their own businesses and the economic ins and outs of it. The program has provided training for “more than 5,000 families in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan” so far and is equipping them with needed resources.

This is one example of the many organizations and projects that are working to improve the livelihood of people around the world and for women in poverty. Continuing to raise awareness regarding the overwhelming and frightening facts of our world is the first step to ending poverty for all genders and all ages.

– Katherine Wyant

Sources: UN Women, FAO, The Hunger Project
Photo: Grameen Foundation

, , ,

Poverty in Ahmedabad, India

Ahmedabad
With a population of around 8 million, the city of Ahmedabad is the largest in India’s western region of Gujarat. While India has long held a reputation for being one of the world’s least developed countries, it has steadily been shifting and is now one of the fastest growing developing countries. Poverty in India is starting to disappear; industry is thriving, literacy rates are increasing and the world community is beginning to see it as a real front-runner. There is no better example of this new shift in development than Ahmedabad.

Census information gathered in 2001 showed a literacy rate of around 79 percent. The next census, gathered in 2011, revealed a great increase, showing that around 85 percent of the population was literate. The first step in decreasing poverty is increasing education. For many years, India has faced issues with its large impoverished communities not allowing their children to attend school because they needed them to work in order to support the family. Now, with increased aid from various NGO’s and family structure organizations, Ahmedabad’s youth have been, for the most part, educated at least to an 8th grade level. This six percent gain is not the only leap that Ahmedabad has made.

When one imagines India, they might picture crowded streets, pollution, over-population, grand temples and the Taj Mahal, which would all suffice to describe it. However, recent census information has shown a 1.55 percent decrease in birthrates. While to some this may seem sad, it is quite the opposite. Many poor families will have upwards of 8 children in an attempt to have as many people working in order to support the family. Often, women are overwhelmed by the pressure to have kids, and with no safe methods of birth control available, many have more than ten in their lifetimes. While supporting 10 kids is hard enough, this amount of children can also be very detrimental to a woman’s health. Many women to die during childbirth. In the past few years, many women’s health organizations have gone to the slums of India to introduce birth control packs and condoms to the people. This decrease in birthrate is also accompanied by a 6 percent decrease in death rates of women during childbirth, as the amount of institutionalized deliveries has increased by 13 percent. While this may seem small, it marks a big change for the city of Ahmedabad and India as a whole.

As India continues to grow, poverty rates in Ahmedabad are decreasing. Occupying a large strip of the coastline, Gujarat is one of the best areas for businesses seeking to work overseas to take root. The business models in Gujarat and Ahmedabad have been described by UNICEF as “being a highly effective growth and private sector-driven model. In fact, the average growth rate of GDP in Gujarat over the past two decades has been higher than the national average, and more balanced than the other high growth-rate states.” This positive increase in GDP is primarily due to the agricultural and business sectors.

For now it looks like poverty is out and development is in for the great city of Ahmedabad, and this is a trend that the global community hopes to see a lot more of in the future.

— Sumita Tellakat

Sources: UNICEF India, Journal of Health Population and Nutrition, Ahmedabad Census 2011
Photo: Flickr

AGOA’s Ticking Clock

ticking clockAs the expiration date for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) of 2000 approaches in September, members of Congress are calling for a rapid-fire renewal process to protect the work that AGOA has accomplished so far.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ranking Member Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) and Sander Levin (D-Mich.) have introduced The AGOA Extension and Enhancement Act of 2015 that will renew the act for ten years.

Originally signed into law in May of 2000, the AGOA was a bipartisan initiative intended to strengthen economic relations between the United States and Africa. By creating trade preferences for African products that allowed for duty-free entry into the United States, the AGOA sought to provide an exclusive economic partnership with budding African industries and American consumers. The Brookings Institution, a Washington, DC-based think tank, estimates that the AGOA has created several hundred thousand direct s in Africa—particularly in textiles.

Under the agreement, eligible African nations would receive “unlimited duty free and quota free access to the U.S. market for apparel made in Africa from U.S. fabric and U.S. thread.” Several African nations saw unprecedented growth in exports to the United States. For example,  Kenya saw a 1,375% increase in exports to the U.S. between 2000 and 2001.

“The legislation [AGOA] has helped transform the economic landscape for Sub-Saharan Africa by stimulating new trade opportunities for African and Americans businesses, creating new jobs, and investments worth hundreds of millions of dollars,” wrote a U.S. Administration 2002 report.

The AGOA was initially set to expire in 2008 until a new round of legislation pushed the expiration date back to September 2015.

In addition to the African jobs created by the AGOA, there are many American jobs dependent on the trade network that this legislation has formed. The United States Trade Representative has estimated that exports to Africa are responsible for more than 120,000 American jobs. The AGOA has provided a level of security that have lead to a four-fold increase in exports to Africa—something that helped to pay thousands of salaries stateside.

“This legislation will promote American trade and strengthen our economic ties with important countries,” said Sen. Paul Ryan in April. “It will encourage our friends in Africa and Haiti to pursue free enterprise and solidify the rule of law. This legislation demonstrates that more trade can create opportunity at home and promote our economic values abroad.”

Brookings has argued that uncertainty over the act’s renewal could halt the progress made so far by the AGOA. Without the stability of the legislation, textile factories are less likely to receive orders in enough time to produce clothing for a new season of shopping. In the void left by the AGOA, competing manufacturers like China will be eager to step in and soak up the businesses that were once protected by the AGOA.

– Emma Betuel

Sources: WPI, IB Times, Brookings
Photo: Global Vison

, ,

Does Global Aid Really Work?

global_aid
People living in extreme poverty see an improvement in their living conditions when they earn just a little extra money from farming or raising livestock.

This is according to Dean Karlan, founder of Innovations for Poverty Action, or IPA. The nonprofit researches and evaluates different programs fighting world poverty so as to inform its own poverty-combating program initiatives.

Karlan studied economics in graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is now a professor at Yale. He began researching poverty and started IPA in order to answer the question, “Does global aid work?”

Prior to starting IPA, Karlan was displeased with how little research existed on global aid programs and their effects. It was impossible to know precisely how much people’s lives were improving due to aid.

This is an ongoing debate, and today, two polarizing views on global aid prevail. Some believe that the U.S. and other nations need to invest more, while others think that enough money has already been wasted on a fruitless cause. Through IPA, Karlan is working to produce tangible evidence about global aid to dispel the second view and, in turn, combat poverty.

Karlan and his colleagues ran a five-year-long experiment with the poorest families they could find in six developing countries. The team divided the families into two groups. The control group received nothing, while the other group was given a hefty aid package for up to two years. The package included livestock (for raising), livestock training, food or cash, a savings account and physical and mental health aid.

After observing both groups for the duration of the study, Karlan and his colleagues concluded that families who were given aid, made a little more money and had more food to eat than the control group. Moreover, families continued to generate more income a year after they stopped receiving aid.

Karlan reports, “We see mental health go up. Happiness go up. We even saw things like female power increase.”

The measured effect of aid was quite slim. Incomes and food consumption rates in the study increased only by about five percent in comparison to the control group. It is hard to forecast the long-term impact since the families were only observed for a year following the experiment.

Nonetheless, the aid package still has an impact in the short term for the participating families and appears to have promising long-term effects. Giving families an extra boost is exactly what may enable them to begin climbing out of extreme poverty, albeit slowly.

“Moving poverty is hard,” explains Sarah Baird, an economist at George Washington University. “[But] the fact that [Karlan and his colleagues] were able to move it, and it was sustainable after a year, I think is important.” The study supports the conclusion that aid from charities and governmental programs do have a positive impact.

A little bit of money can go a long way for those in extreme poverty. At the very least, it offers hope, and makes a difference for the families who receive it.

– Lillian Sickler

Sources: NPR, American Program Bureau, Innovations for Poverty Action
Photo: Flickr

, ,

Benefits of a Universal Basic Income

Universal Basic Income is a concept where everyone receives a check from their government every month to pay for any necessities one may need. Although the thought of Universal Basic Income (UBI) is a radical move for any country, it can be a way to alleviate poverty. Instead of Food Stamp and Welfare programs, citizens would receive one lump sum check regardless of status. According to the Huffington Post “it could eliminate poverty to a great extent, and set the stage for a healthier and more productive society.”

Switzerland citizens have been fighting for this movement and have sparked a public referendum to push the movement forward. The country has seen the possible benefits of what a UBI can accomplish. Families can have food security, income inequality would decrease, and if countries adopt the idea with success may influence other countries to do the same. In the 1970’s Canada experimented with the implementation of a UBI, and according to the New York Times “poverty disappeared…High-school completion rates went up; hospitalization rates went down.”

Another reason this topic is so vital in today’s world is the advancement of technology. The Guardian has found “Oxford academics Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael A Osborne have predicted computerisation could make nearly half of jobs redundant within 10 to 20 years.” Thus, the more technology grows, the less jobs will be available to the public.

However, the chance of having a UBI gives citizens a way to achieve their professional dreams. Instead of people working a job they need to survive, with a monthly check from the government they can focus on what they really want to do. The economist has studied “Philippe Van Parijs, a Belgian philosopher, who believes a UBI provides ‘the real freedom to pursue the realization of one’s conception of the good life’” Therefore, a family living in poverty will lose the stress of worrying about their next meal and children can focus on education.

If this concept seems so beneficial why hasn’t it been done? One of the main concerns of creating a UBI is the downfall in work ethic; there is a possibility of laziness if people receive checks for simply being alive. Another drawback is the raise in taxes, BBC has stated “income tax would not necessarily rise, but value added tax – on what people buy rather than what they earn – could rise to 20% or even 30%.”

Despite some negativities in a UBI, it is an idea that may soon be adopted by a majority of the world. With its recent conversation in many governments there seems to be a positive outlook on this concept. A universal income may sound outlandish but so does ending world poverty; yet, both are achievable in the near future.

Sources: BBC, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, The New York Times
Photo: PBS

, ,

Poverty in Indonesia

Indonesia Poverty
The economy of Indonesia has been steadily growing in recent years, causing the poverty rate to decline from 17 percent in 2004 to 12.5 percent in 2011. However, due to the financial crisis of 1997, poverty still dominates regions of Indonesia and separates the city of Jakarta into upper and lower classes. As the gap between the rich and the poor widens, many find it difficult to escape the harsh reality of poverty in Indonesia.

In order to recover from the economic crisis of 1997, a variety of urban alleviation programs were implemented, including social safety net programs. These programs have been able to reduce the number of poor people in Indonesia, particularly for those in urban areas.

It is a different story for those living in rural areas. Approximately 70 percent of the population lives in rural areas, where agriculture is the main source of income. Poverty tends to be higher in these areas; 16.6 per cent of rural people are poor compared with 9.9 percent of urban populations. Millions of small farmers, farm workers and fishermen are materially and financially unable to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the economic growth. They are often geographically isolated and lack access to agricultural extension services, markets and financial services.

According to the World Bank, approximately 65 million people in Indonesia live just above the poverty line, making them vulnerable to falling into poverty. Millions lack basic human needs, such as food, clean water, shelter, sanitary environments and education. In fact, few families living in poverty have their own bathrooms. Most communities share a communal bathing facility, often located miles from villages. Many of the poorest people cannot read or write.

Indonesian women in particular are vulnerable to poverty; they have less access to education, they earn less than men, and are subject to discrimination and exclusion. Many children are forced to stay home from school to tend to household duties or work at the family business.

The Indonesian government is working hard to reduce poverty and meet the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, which aim to cut the proportion of people living on less than one U.S. dollar a day by half by the end of 2015.

Kecuk Suhariyanto, the Director of Analysis and Statistic Development at Indonesia’s Central Bureau of Statistics, said that Indonesia’s poverty figure last year was a “significant improvement from the 39.3 million recorded in 2006, although the country has a different definition for poverty from most international agencies.”

– Alaina Grote

Sources: World Bank, Xinhuanet, Rural Poverty Portal
Photo: Flickr

,

The Responsibility to Protect, Evidence from Syria

r2pThe Responsibility to Protect doctrine, also known as R2P, was created by the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty in response to the genocide in Rwanda. R2P argues that the international community has the responsibility to protect civilians in states that are unwilling or unable to do so, therefore re-defining the pillars of state sovereignty. Two basic pillars of the Responsibility to Protect include state sovereignty to responsibility for the protection of its people lies within the state itself, as well as the international responsibility to protect populations suffering serious harm from internal war, insurgency, repression or state failure through humanitarian intervention.

The Responsibility to Protect includes the responsibility to prevent, react and rebuild. To prevent includes addressing both the root causes and direct causes of internal conflict and other man-made crises putting populations at risk. The responsibility to react describes the duty of either the state or international community to utilize coercive measures like sanctions and international prosecution, and military intervention as a last resort in response to situations with dire humanitarian consequences. The responsibility to rebuild includes providing full assistance with recovery, reconstruction and reconciliation, usually after a military intervention.

There are six criteria for military intervention: just cause, right intention, last resort, proportional means, reasonable prospects and right authority. Military intervention is difficult to justify, not only because of the criteria for intervention, but due to state sovereignty and United Nations Security Council vetoes. The conflict in Syria demonstrates the difficulty of implementing R2P and humanitarian intervention.

In addition to issues of sovereignty between the governments, the lack of cohesive intervention from the beginning has contributed to the conflict significantly, for early attempts at intervention were neither swift nor effective.  Due to the humanitarian situation, a UNSC Resolution or unilateral intervention justification would have proven legitimate in regard to the International Convention on Human Rights and the Responsibility to Protect, for the Assad regime was not being held accountable for the mass atrocities being committed within his territory. In addition to a lack of UNSC approval, the Chinese and Russian veto of the transfer of the case to the ICC has proven a hindrance to the international capacity to alleviate the conflict and further promotes the proxy war debate.

The lack of international capacity to alleviate the conflict in Syria has illuminated several tensions for the Responsibility to Protect and the future of humanitarian intervention. The conflict further demonstrates how R2P continues to be dependent on national interests, rather than the presence of “atrocities that shock the conscience.” The international community ought to acknowledge their mistake for not intervening in Syria in pursuit of assuring this non-intervention is a deviation from the norm to protect rather than implementation of a new precedent in order to restore the legitimacy of the Responsibility to Protect and humanitarian intervention.

– Neti Gupta

Sources: Stand, Responsibility to Protect,  Global Center2p
Photo: Global Solutions

, ,

What is USAID?

Want to really know what the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is doing? To learn more about USAID, go explore their official video channel. See videos about agriculture, development, health, war and famine relief, videos in the field, and on the ground showing their progress and impact.

The bigger overall question though: What is USAID, really?

USAID is the agency of the US government that handles all international affairs relating to diplomacy, development, and foreign policy. Started in 1961 by John F. Kennedy, USAID works in over 100 countries, creating markets and trade partners, protecting human rights, food security, and the environment, addressing health issues, prevention and recovery from conflicts, reduction of poverty, basic humanitarian response, and addressing US interests and security. While all of this is massively challenging and consuming work, USAID tries to do it all while working with less than 1% of the total federal budget.

One of their agendas is to make all governments more transparent, accessible, and accountable in order to build democracy worldwide and “make every voice count.”  In partnership with Sweden, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), and Omidyar Network (ON), they have launched an inclusive campaign for citizen involvement; a global fund to support innovation, scaling-up, and research that will harness new technologies to enable citizen engagement and government responsiveness.

Want to know more of the inside scoop about what they’re doing and what it all means? Click here.

– Mary Purcell

Source: You Tube, Makingallvoicescount.org, USAID

 

What is USAID