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5 NGOs Going Above and Beyond

5 NGOs Going Above and Beyond
There are many NGOs doing good for the world’s poor, but here are five that go above and beyond the rest.

1. The Garden of Hope Foundation

The Garden of Hope foundation was founded in Taiwan and acts to aid girls who were victims of the sex trade. This NGO provides psychiatric counseling and safe half-way houses for many girls while they recover from their abuse. The Garden of Hope foundation also works closely with the government to promote policymaking and discussions about the sex trade. Their main focus is to empower girls and women to stand up for themselves and realize that they, too, can have an impact on this world.

2. Save The Children

Save the Children gives children in the United States and around the world what every child deserves: A healthy start, the opportunity to learn and care when disaster strikes. Save the Children acts on all fronts of poverty, ranging from education needs throughout the world to health and humanitarian issues, such as helping children with HIV and AIDS. Save the Children can be found worldwide after any major disaster attempting to rebuild communities and make them stronger. This NGO is wholeheartedly dedicated to improving the lives of the next generation and is a huge part of the bright future that we have to look forward to.

3. Water.org

According to their website, Water.org provides innovative, market-based solutions that change lives every day through safe water and sanitation. This NGO is supporting countless projects that will hopefully provide sanitary water to everyone around the world. There is a basic human need for clean water, but this instead seems like a luxury for every 1 in 9 individuals worldwide. Water.org has become so well organized that for every $1 donated there is a $4 economic return; this comes from the countless lives that are bettered when clean drinking water is available. Water.org has been very successful in involving high-profile celebrities with its cause and has gained international recognition as one of the strongest players in sanitation.

4. Acumen Fund

Acumen raises charitable donations to invest in companies, leaders and ideas that are changing the way the world tackles poverty. This group seems to be searching out the best of the best and providing them with the funding they need to change the world for good. Acumen states that their main goal is “dignity” rather than the usual goal of profitability. They want to help people believe that dreams do come true and to provide them with an arena in which to do this. By funding leaders and innovators in developing communities, the Acumen Fund is able to build rural communities from the bottom up, allowing them to compete in the global market and, in turn, become more developed. This is one great idea that has clearly allowed people all over the world to realize that dreams really do come true.

5. The Borgen Project

The Borgen Project was founded by one man with one computer and one very big dream. Founder Clint Borgen and his team are seeking to make a mark on global poverty by going right to the source: the lawmakers. The Borgen Project seeks to educate individuals on worldwide poverty and what is being done to make an impact. They also communicate one-on-one with lawmakers to gain support for bills that will better the global community. The Borgen team has met with almost every member of Congress and the House and is continuing to inform lawmakers and the public about changes that could be made to make this world a better place to live in.

– Sumita Tellakat

Sources: The Global Journal, The Garden of Hope Foundation, Save the Children, Water.org, Acumen
Photo: Western University

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Increase US Aid to Darfur

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While Darfur has been at the head of aid policy for a long time, aid may be more important to the region than it has been historically.

In 2003, war in Darfur erupted, partially due to the lack of resources and the diversity of groups living in the area.

Poverty and diversity working together to create conflict is not unique to Sudan, but rather is something that I have seen as well in Kenya. Africa was split into countries, not by groups who wanted to live together, but by European countries seeking land and resources. Now, the people of those countries, including Kenya, are impoverished and left with few resources.

It is easy for groups who did not ever mean to live together to fight over the remaining resources. In Kenya, the conflict is often in the form of cattle raids. In Darfur, there was a split between Arabs and non-Arabs that led to a war against the non-Arab population in Darfur, leaving thousands dead and many more as refugees.

The United States has been providing assistance to Sudan since before this conflict, starting in about the 1980s, but US aid to Darfur did not begin until much later. When the conflict began, USAID became a leader in the effort to stabilize Darfur.

USAID had made progress in transforming the Government of Southern Sudan into a stable government (although civil war has broken out once again). In addition, the organization has provided a million people with access to clean water, as well as increasing the number of children in school.

In May, USAID provided Sudan with emergency food assistance of 47,500 metric tons of grain.

This assistance is crucial at this point in time. Violence in Darfur is increasing and Sudanese people are being recruited into ISIS. Recently, a groups of Sudanese students fled to Syria in order to join the organization.

Areas undergoing political transition and violence are easy places for terrorist groups like ISIS to target as recruitment grounds and safe havens. Darfur is possibly more at-risk for this because of its conflict that began, in part, from Arabs in the region feeling discriminated against.

If Muslims in Darfur continue to feel as if there is no future in their country, because of conflict and poverty, and continue to feel discriminated against, even the United Nations is afraid that Darfur could be a “breeding ground” for extremist groups like ISIS.

Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, however, would like for the African Union and United Nation’s troops to pull out of Darfur. Yet, this is not the time.

In light of the conflict, and rise of ISIS, Darfur can use all of the aid that it can get. The United States should continue to be a role model in helping Darfur by increasing aid to the region. With increased aid, hopefully other leaders in world aid will follow suit and increase aid to the region.

The increased emergency food aid was a good first step, but perhaps increased structural aid should come next.

– Clare Holtzman

Sources: Aid Data, All Africa, WN, Brookings, National Bureau of Economic Research, Open Democracy, Poverties, Reuters, Slate, Time, Thomas Reuters Foundation, USAID
Photo: End Genocide

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Community Health Workers Bring Aid to Nigeria

Community-Health-Workers-Bring-Aid-to-Nigeria
Rural Nigeria is home to the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world; for every 100,000 babies born in 2013, 576 died.  Nigeria, the nation with more people than any other country in Africa, is now a location for community health workers (CHW).

The CHW program provides communities with public health workers that live in the neighborhoods they serve. Workers bring aid to Nigeria to provide residents with access to the care that they need. Although they are not medical professionals, the World Health Organization explains that they are given “training that is recognized by the health services and national certification authority.”

CHWs serve as a link between health care professionals and people of the community. They increase communication and familiarity for patients and health administrators. Moreover, professionals learn how to better serve their community, and residents better understand their healthcare options.

For mothers in rural Nigeria, CHWs are specially trained in maternal and baby health. They inform women how to have safe pregnancies and give birth to healthy babies. Before the program came to the area in 2011, women did not know the importance of having prenatal and postnatal care, nor did they know how to access healthcare resources. After the presence of CHWs, the percentage of women receiving prenatal care more than doubled.

Women once had to give birth either at home or in inadequate community clinics. Homes are spaced so far apart that it takes about an hour and a half to reach the nearest hospital by automobile—which almost nobody owns, although some have motorbikes. Now, they have improved access to medical centers with equipment and trained staff. A newly organized network of taxi drivers was set up to solve the transportation problem.

A report in the scientific journal Global Health: Science and Practice found that the number of visits to local clinics increased by a dramatic 500 percent. Visits went from 1.5 each month per 100 people to 8.  Furthermore, the number of women giving birth in places with medical assistance doubled in just one year. Women receiving prenatal care jumped from 6 percent to 21 percent, but progress did not stop there. In the following years, these statistics continued to improve.

CHWs educate people about good healthcare practices and as serve as guides. Even if healthcare is free, it is not always accessible to everyone, especially those that need it the most. The program also decreases costs for the overall community. Patients learn how to manage their own health and evade illnesses that require hospitalization or other costly treatments. In the United States, CHWs help people dealing with chronic diseases like diabetes and asthma.

Sally Findley, who works for the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York, praises that  “I don’t think there’s a country that can’t benefit from community health workers. In the long run, they’re part of the solution.”

– Lillian Sickler

Sources: NPR, US National Library of Medicine, CDC, Bing, Mass.gov, Partners in Health
Photo: Health Communication

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Clearing the Way for Better Lives in Lao PDR

Lao PDRThe Vietnam War: a distant and heartbreaking memory for some, a reoccurring nightmare for others and still, an everyday existence for the people of Laos, now the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). Weapons of a war long past stay buried like forgotten ghosts, haunting the innocent and poisoning the ground they walk on.

With the help of organizations like Mines Advisory Group (MAG), Laotians could farm the soil instead of fear it.

Between 1964 and 1973, 260 million cluster bombs—the equivalent of one bombing mission executed every night, every eight minutes for nine years—were dropped on Laos by the United States. Today, 30 percent of these bombs remain as unexploded ordinance, also referred to as UXO.

The bombing campaign was meant to deny access to the Ho Chi Minh trail, an important logistics route located mostly within the Lao borders and used by the Vietcong and North Vietnamese Army for supply and movement. Long after the fighting ended, Lao men, women and children are still paying the price with an estimated 20,000 people killed and many more injured since the war’s end.

Lao PDR is the most heavily bombed country per capita in the world with 30 percent of the ordinance still volatile and contaminating ground that could be used for agriculture, 33 percent of the country’s GDP. “Bombies,” as the locals have nicknamed them, are therefore a direct factor causing the persistent poverty plaguing the country.

Over 40 percent of children under the age of 5, and 63 percent of children under the age of 2 suffer from anemia in Lao PDR. Almost 45 percent of children under 5 years old and 23 percent of women between 12 to 49 years of age are affected by sub-clinical vitamin A deficiency. Forty-four percent of children under 5 years old are stunted due to poor diets.

Lao PDR is predominantly mountainous and many of the villages are inaccessible by road, cutting off much of the populace from essential services and further compounding an already bleak situation.

Mines Advisory Group, a nonprofit organization operating in Xieng Khouang province bordering Vietnam, raises funds from the American community, including individuals, corporations, foundations and government donors promoting awareness for their life-saving work.

According to their website, from April 2007 to May 2011, MAG cleared 23,778,512 square meters of suspect land in Lao PDR, destroying 145,000 items of UXO. As a result, 330,000 beneficiaries gained more safe land for agriculture, clean drinking water, sanitation, safe school compounds and safer roads.

Additionally, MAG gives jobs to those who need them most, investing in, training and employing staff from the local population in order to build a robust and sustainable national workforce.

Women are not shying away from battling the hidden perils beneath their feet either. In fact, about 40 percent of the ground clearing crews in MAG is made up of women filling the front lines and risking their lives every day to build a better future.

Years after the end of the Vietnam War, its legacy still lives on, hidden in the ground and destroying lives an ocean away. With peace activists urging the U.S. to do more, funding for mine clearing efforts and victim assistance has increased, but according to Laotians, the scope of the situation is still undervalued and the task of clearing the land is immense.

– Jason Zimmerman

Sources: FT Magazine, United Nations Development Programme, ABC News, Legacies of War, World Food Programme
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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Goodeed and Freerice: Two Easy Ways To Help

goodeed_and_freerice
Helping those in need has never been easier with Goodeed and Freerice, websites that make it incredibly simple for those with computer access to make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate.

Goodeed allows users to donate to a cause for free. How is that possible, donating for free? On the website, you watch a twenty-second advertisement, and the revenue from watching the ad goes to one of three causes: trees, vaccines or meals.

The trees are in the East Khasi Hills in the Meghalaya forest in India. This area is known as the wettest place on earth and is under serious threat. Goodeed partnered with WeForest to not only conserve local biodiversity and the livelihood of the people but also to promote women’s entrepreneurship and empower the indigenous community.

The vaccines are delivered to Chad, where the goal is to completely eradicate polio. Today, 80 percent of people get vaccinated for polio, and Goodeed wants that percentage to be 100. Lastly, the meals go to Kenya schools to ensure that students get at least one nutritious meal a day. Goodeed teamed up with the World Food Programme to make this happen.

Each person can make a total of three donations a day, a grand total of 60 seconds of your time to support three worthwhile causes.

Freerice operates on a similar platform of effortless community involvement. Freerice is an English vocabulary test where, with each question answered correctly, 10 grains of rice are donated.

Freerice works with the World Food Programme to deliver rice to areas in need. They fed 27,000 refugees of Myanmar in Bangladesh for two weeks, and in Cambodia, they provided take-home rations of rice for over 13,500 pregnant and nursing women who needed it over the span of two months. In addition, they have sent rice to Uganda, Nepal and Bhutan.

Freerice is an educational tool for children in the First World, as well as an asset to the Third World. Melissa Foor, a middle school teacher in the United States, used Freerice as a vocabulary lesson for her students. Her classroom, as well as those of other inspired teachers in the school, raised 1,000,000 grains of rice. The students practiced vocabulary and learned a lesson on helping others.

There is a fine line between what people are willing to sacrifice to help others and what they are not. Goodeed and Freerice have made this sacrifice so minimal that making a difference in the lives of others takes no more than 60 seconds, and you can even have a little fun while doing it.

– Hannah Resnick

Sources: Freerice, Goodeed, The Next Web, World Food Programme
Photo: World Food Programme

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Despite Turmoil, Aid Reaches Near East Refugees

Near-East-Refugees
Syria has seen a rise in violence and conflict; moreover, not just Syrians are the victims. Syria is home to 560,000 Palestinian refugees in 12 camps relying on aid. They have been living there up to four years or longer. After escaping violence in Palestine, these refugees find themselves in danger once again. Even the camps they thought would provide security are attacked. Aid can’t enter. Conditions can worsen. This can create preventable health problems: unsanitary conditions, starvation and disease. Many surrounding countries like Jordan and Lebanon have closed their borders to Palestinian refugees, making it difficult for them to flee the violence and worsening conditions.

Although it becomes difficult for aid workers assisting the refugees to provide the adequate care needed, aid continues to reach the refugees. The United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees, or UNWRA in the Near East reaches more than three million people in 128 Primary Health Centers in the Middle East. In Syria alone there are 23 centers; however, only 19 are currently open because of violence. Yet, these centers reach about 80 percent of the Palestine population in Syria. Goals for 2015 indicate that 100 percent of the refugee population will be reached.

The services that UNRWA provides work to ensure a healthy lifestyle and environment. The Family Health Teams were developed to provide comprehensive care to visitors. There is preventive and curative care, outpatient, pharmacies and maternal offices. No longer does UNRWA just focus on the particular issue that brings someone to the clinics, but on the entirety of the health of the patient—this approach to aid is known as the Life Cycle Approach. The goal is to provide long-term medical aid to each person that enters. Doctors are able to treat all medical conditions from pregnancy complications to cancer, from the time a person is born to the time they die. By taking care of person through all stages of life, the hope is that this will lead to a healthier Palestinian community.

The Family Health Teams are made up of several teams that include a doctor, several nurses and a clerk. Each team has the same number of families to treat. The teams form personal relations with the patients, learning about their medical history. Check-ups after the initial visit allow preventable complications to be fixed before they become fatal; this enables the doctors to provide more adequate aid and proper monitoring to everyone. The new focus has seen a reduction in maternal deaths. About 99 percent of the population is immunized, and outbreaks of preventable diseases are near zero.

While conditions appear to be worsening for Palestinian refugees, new programs developed to provide aid for them are showing positive signs. Refugees have access to efficiently run health care providers that provide aid for any problem at any stage of life. The aid has gone beyond just temporary refugee camp health care to a permanent health care system. The doctors and nurses are able to not only combat health problems that are common in refugee populations like maternal death and the spread of communicable diseases, but also create a healthier Palestinian community by treating diabetes and lowering obesity levels.

– Katherine Hewitt

Sources: UNRWA 1, UN News, CNN, UNRWA 2, UNRWA 3
Photo: UNHCR

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Humanitarian Aid and How to Help

humanitarian_aid
With all that happens in today’s philanthropic world, definitions can get muddled. Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to promote human welfare, often after natural or man-made disasters. The World Health Organization defines it as “aid that seeks to save lives and alleviate suffering of a crisis affected population.”

In essence, humanitarian aid is humans helping other humans.

There are countless examples of humanitarian aid, from large organizations to small-scale philanthropy events that benefit a larger cause. One of the goals of the United Nations is to provide humanitarian aid.

An example of a large humanitarian aid organization is Doctors Without Borders. Every year, Doctors Without Borders provides emergency medical care to millions in crisis after a disaster. It has operated in over 70 countries around the world over crisis such as armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition and natural disasters. According to their website, every day over 30,000 people are helping others through Doctors Without Borders.

On a smaller scale, humanitarian aid can be found locally. A local fundraiser for a cause, such as a charity walk to raise money, can support a humanitarian aid organization. For example, nearly 1,000 GoFundMe campaigns were made to raise money after the earthquake in Nepal, raising a total of over $5 million.

There are plenty of ways to get involved in humanitarian aid! Keep it simple and think locally. How can your community help others in need? Here are 5 easy ideas for you to try:

1. Organize a dinner with your friends and ask each person to donate a little to the charity of your choice.

2. Attend a charity walk or ride. You’ll get some exercise while raising money and awareness for a greater cause.

3. Clean out your closet and donate your old clothes.

4. Join an organization like Habitat for Humanity and help build a home for those who have lost their own.

5. Help out at a local food pantry. Make a difference right in your own neighborhood.

Before getting involved with the humanitarian aid of your choice, make sure to do your homework. Understand the issue–the problem at hand, the potential solutions, the dilemmas–before launching yourself into the organization. That way you will understand the complexity of the problem and be able to get a lot out of your experience.

– Hannah Resnick

Sources: GoFundMe, World Health Organization
Photo: Flickr

10 Facts About the 150 Account

150 account
The federal budget has many functions, and thus accounts, that deal with different areas of spending. The 150 Account, in particular, outlines U.S. funding for international affairs. Below are some basic facts about the 150 Account, international assistance and foreign aid.

  1. The 150 Account deals with the relationship between the United States government and other governments around the world. It allocates funds to operating U.S. embassies all over the world, as well as military assistance to U.S. allies.
  2. The 150 Account deals with the economic relations between the United States and other countries. It allocates funds for economic assistance to new democracies, promoting U.S. exports internationally, and making U.S. payments to international organizations.
  3. The 150 Account deals with foreign aid. It allocates funds to aid developing nations and international peacekeeping efforts.
  4. The major agencies in this function include the Departments of Agriculture, State, and the Treasury, the United States Agency for International Development, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation.
  5. It has two subsections that specifically deal with international aid: the 151 Account and the 152 Account.
  6. The 151 Account is for funding international development and humanitarian assistance. International development aims to improve the daily lives of people, while humanitarian assistance aims to help a country after a natural or manmade disaster.
  7. The 152 Account is for funding international security assistance. This includes training other countries about U.S. military practices and peacekeeping.
  8. The 150 Account makes up about 1 percent of the federal budget.
  9. On May 21, 2015, the Senate approved the allocation of $49 billion for the international affairs budget.
  10. Base funding for the international affairs budget is $39 billion, which is $1 billion less than the current budget for base spending.

More awareness of the 150 Account, international affairs budget and foreign aid functions can help influence policy and change in the United States and abroad.

– Ella Cady

Sources: House of Representatives Budget Committee, Center for Global Development, FAS, Global Humanitarian Assistance, U.S. Global Leadership Coalition
Photo: Flickr

Happiness in Switzerland Means Happiness Elsewhere

happiness_in_switzerland
With the Alps reaching elevations beyond 15,000 feet, it is no wonder Switzerland sits at the top of this year’s list of happiest countries, produced by the 2015 World Happiness Report. While the country’s jocular vibes are great for its 8 million inhabitants, a closer look indicates impoverished individuals across the world should also be celebrating.

Since first being published in 2012, the World Happiness Report has delved into the intricacies of socioeconomic development. Turning the subjective nature of “happiness” into objective measures, the study reveals trends in the overall standard of living.

Using a scale that runs from 0 to 10, people in over 150 countries were surveyed by Gallup from 2012 to 2015. Real gross domestic product per capita, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, perceived freedom to make life choices, freedom from corruption and generosity were all gauged in the surveys.

“As the science of happiness advances, we are getting to the heart of what factors define quality of life for citizens,”  said John F. Helliwell, professor at the University of British Columbia and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. “We are encouraged that more and more governments around the world are listening and responding with policies that put well-being first. Countries with strong social and institutional capital not only support greater well-being, but are more resilient to social and economic crises.”

Switzerland, in its snowcapped glory, pulled out all the stops – winning first place. Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Canada followed close behind.

A transparent government, superb healthcare system and dedicated education sector are the driving forces behind happy lifestyles. Their 35.2-hour workweeks may also have a little bit to do with it.

Regardless, Switzerland spreads the socioeconomic joy when it comes to foreign aid. Though countries like Sweden and Luxembourg beat out the Swiss in terms of giving, the country’s government is aiming to meet applause-worthy goals.

In 2011, officials agreed to give approximately 0.43 percent of their gross national income, best known as GNI, to official international development aid. At the time, the U.S. was only contributing 0.2 percent of its GNI.

Now, as Switzerland strives for a greater role in global poverty reduction and sustainability, the benchmark is set at 0.5 percent.

“Switzerland is well-placed to become a more visible leader on development issues and can capitalize on its extensive experience on the ground to influence global policy in areas like conflict, fragility, food security and climate change,” said Eril Solheim of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

In the wake of Nepal’s recent 7.8 magnitude earthquake, the Swiss delivered on their promises. Swiss Humanitarian Aid dispatched an integrative team of doctors, engineers, water specialists and logistics specialists to assess the damage.

Nationwide efforts raised $18.4 million, offered in the way of emergency aid and reconstruction projects.

“The fundraising day proves that major disasters strike a chord across the nation,” Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga said. “[…] the Swiss population shows generous solidarity regardless of age, language or income.”

– Lauren Stepp

Sources: Spring, SWI, UNSDSN
Photo: Flickr