Archive for category: Developing Countries

Information and stories about developing countries.

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How FGM/C and Poverty Are Clearly Connected

FGM/C and Poverty
Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) is a practice that has occurred for generations — a female, often in childhood, is subjected to some form of cutting to her genitalia in the promotion of religious following and the detraction of desire for sexual interaction. Its purpose is to reduce sexual desire in women, thereby making them less likely to be interested in intercourse outside of marriage. It is also highly symbolic to many groups of people who practice it as a religious necessity; however, there is no known religion that demands this practice.

FGM/C and Poverty

FGM/C and poverty are connected in developing countries as the girls who undergo FGM/C are often from poor families who are then married as children, never continue their education and subsequently repeat the cycle of poverty. Recently, there has been a decline in FGM/C practitioners, which should lead to lower levels of extreme poverty on an individual basis.

Countries such as Burkina Faso, Egypt, Kenya, Liberia and Togo have experienced a decline in FGM/C prevalence, with Egypt reducing prevalence from 69 percent to 55 percent between ages of 2005 and 2014. As the correlation with lower education becomes more well-known, it can be inferred that the decline in FGM/C victims has led to a higher attendance rate for girls at school, which can, in turn, affect the poverty in the region.

Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a program designed to create social equality throughout the world, works to end poverty in developing countries. A primary focus of the organization is to work to end FGM/C and poverty because the list of side effects and results of the practice leave women often unable to contribute in their society because they are traumatized, physically incapacitated, unable to maintain strength and nutrition, and in some cases, do not survive the procedure.

When injuries or death result, the cost of caring for these women or paying for their funeral causes strain on family members and communities. Such a responsibility can, in turn, increase the poverty issues already at play. Disability due to the trauma from FGM/C can also lead to a woman’s decreased productivity level, thereby bringing in less money for the family and continuing the cycle of poverty.

The Beginning of the End

The decline of the practice is increasing in developing countries, with more people wanting FGM/C to end. In 2010, a Burkina Faso survey determined that 90.6 percent of women wanted FGM/C to end, a staggering increase from 75.1 percent in 1999. With such a trend beginning, countries should encourage education, discourage FGM/C and lower the poverty levels by introducing a new way of thinking.

FGM/C and poverty are both declining, but it can be agreed that the decline is not occurring quickly enough. More must be done to protect young girls from the sexual alterations that are often completed without consent.

By not cutting into perfectly healthy and innocent girls, developing nations can promote a stronger and healthier workforce. FGM/C and poverty are connected, and one cannot be reduced in isolation — it is imperative that both be tackled to end the other.

– Kayleigh Mattoon
Photo: Flickr

Independent Journalism in Developing Countries is Severely Lacking

Journalism in Developing Countries
Various studies show that free press and independent journalism in developing countries is crucial to promoting progress. But, this feat is often difficult to achieve.

The Pros and Cons of Independent Journalism

One of the benefits of pluralistic and independent media is increased transparency, which allows citizens to hold their governments accountable. According to UNESCO, it is only “when journalists are free to monitor, investigate and criticize a society’s policies and actions can good governance take hold.”

Credible information also promotes discussions about issues that are critical to a country’s development. Allowing people to access and contribute to credible and independent media can even lead to economic, social and political empowerment. In order to reduce poverty, it is important to provide poor and marginalized people with reliable information as well as platforms where they can voice their stories and struggles.

However, journalism in developing countries poses additional challenges. Reporters face threats and harassment from corrupt governments, militias or local gangs. In addition, they often have low salaries and have to work for politicized media outlets.

This lack of freedom prevents journalists in developing countries from objectively criticizing policies and vocalizing the needs of the marginalized communities. Both of these are necessary to empower citizens and hold governments accountable.

The Current Issues in Journalism in Developing Countries

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), around 80 percent of major media outlets are owned by or affiliated with politicians. These politicians use the media as their own source of political propaganda. The salaries of journalists are directly linked to the content of their articles, so the political owners get to dictate what is reported.

Furthermore, journalists in the DRC often face physical harm if they criticize the government or local militias. Those that do report on the rampant human rights abuses and corruption are in danger of being arrested, beaten or killed.

Unfortunately, the danger journalists face when reporting the astounding information is not uncommon. Earlier this year, a conflict between the Nicaraguan government and protesters led to censorship and intimidation. Journalists who critiqued the government faced online and physical threats. The police, military and some government supporters have stolen equipment and footage, shut down media websites and have even physically attacked and killed some journalists.

One journalist, Josué Garay, shared how two men broke into his house, threatened and beat him and stole his phone, wallet and personal documents. He and some colleagues had been threatened at gunpoint a month earlier while reporting on the protests. Other journalists have had similar experiences. An unknown government supporter even burnt down a radio station.

Journalists Are Finding Innovative Solutions

The 2018 World Press Freedom Index cites an overall decrease in the free press and increased hostility and censorship of journalists across the globe. North Africa and the Middle East were ranked as the worst regions for journalists. This was partly due to the wars in Yemen, Iraq and Syria, but other countries, such as Egypt, are also incredibly dangerous for independent media.

But determined journalists are finding innovative solutions to the pressing problems of the free press. In Liberia, journalist Alfred Sirleaf understands the importance of access to information.

Misinformation, Sirleaf claims, contributed to the Liberian Civil War. The country used to suffer from a repressive regime, as Sirleaf describes: “It was difficult in the past … because of what you publish, people come after you.”  Many Liberians cannot afford radios and newspapers, so for several years now, Sirleaf has been reporting the daily news on a big blackboard in the center of Monrovia.

By providing free and independent information, Sirleaf’s “newspaper,” The Daily Talk, promotes dialogue and can help prevent future conflicts. In 2014, the blackboard spread credible information and prevention strategies about Ebola.

Bringing Independent Journalism to All

The thirst for independent journalism in developing countries is growing. Around the world, journalists continue to hold their governments accountable and tell the stories of marginalized people despite the high risks and low salary. Because of this high demand for good reporting, media outlets from wealthy countries are holding workshops and trainings for their counterparts in developing countries. The journalists receive training in basic reporting skills as well as more specialized areas.

For example, by teaching journalists how to report on business and economic issues, these journalists are able to provide more analysis and skepticism to their work. Previously, the stories were taken directly from the statements of politicians.

The Global Press Institute is another exemplary training program. It aims to boost the type of journalism that tells of everyday “stories of entrepreneurship, human rights and education,” according to Forbes. The program has found the best way to do this is through women, who play a more stable and long-lasting role in their communities.

Based in 26 countries, the training program has no language or education prerequisites. Many enrolled women have not even finished the seventh grade. But in the past, after graduating from the program in about six months, all the women were hired as journalists. Through this program, The Global Press highlights the voices of communities that are often ignored, empowers local women and continues to forward the important mission of independent journalism in developing countries.

– Liesl Hostetter
Photo: Flickr

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Reducing the Brain Drain

Reducing the Brain DrainThe “Brain Drain” is the migration of professionals from one country to another in search of a higher standard of living. In 2000, 65 million economically active people were living outside of their home country. This drain usually flows from developing to developed countries, which has extremely negative effects on the developing nations, who have lost many of their most talented professionals.

These professionals have attained high levels of education at home and abroad, but utilize their innovative potential in developed countries, where their opportunities are better. Developed countries reap the majority of the rewards from the innovation of foreign workers while the countries of origin for these professionals merely receive the occasional remittance.

The Economic Dangers of Brain Drain

This trend of skilled and educated citizens living in developed countries is being exacerbated by the growing inequality between the world’s wealthy and poor. Many developing countries have experienced a shortage of high-skilled laborers, taxpayer dollars from would-be members of their upper class and technological innovation. Among the doctoral graduates in science and engineering in the USA, 79 percent of those from India and 88 percent from China remained in the United States.

Overall, there are almost one million immigrants in the United States from South Asia who have achieved above a tertiary level of education. The skills these students acquire in the United States and in other developed nations don’t migrate back to their host countries, which makes reducing the brain drain seem impossible.

Additionally, many of these students become high earning professionals in some of the highest tax brackets; however, their countries of origin do not receive the tax dollars on these high earnings. Some South Asian countries are some of the poorest in the world and could desperately use the funding towards poverty-reducing measures.

More Than Just The Money

Besides higher wages and a better standard of living, professionals leave their origin countries for more developed ones because of a lack of research funding, poor facilities and limited career structures. These issues are extremely important to consider when evaluating how to combat the brain drain. Fortunately, these infrastructural deficiencies have more reasonable solutions that can over time reduce global inequality.

Research has shown that an increase in wages does not provide the sole incentive for educated professionals and students to remain in their origin country. A study in Pakistan revealed that a small portion of people funded for a doctorate faced many disincentives that did not stem from the wage gap.

Although, wage inequalities between the source and destination countries are so significant that a small increase in wages in origin countries will not be enough to reduce the brain drain. The focus then must turn to solving the infrastructural deficiencies that are driving young professionals toward developed nations.

Supercourse

Currently, foreign scientists in developed nations produce 4.5 more publications and 10 times more patents than those in their origin countries. This is mainly due to the infrastructural inequality between developed and developing nations. The solution to bridging the patent and publication gap is to increase the connectivity between professionals in developed and developing countries. One revolutionary network has already been developed to do just that at the University of Pittsburgh; it is called Supercourse.

Supercourse provides free online lectures to all and has already connected over 20,000 scientists to share their knowledge. This network continues to grow and make information less exclusive and contained only in the institutions of developed countries. Scientists around the world will have the materials necessary to create change in their origin countries. Supercourse has the potential to spearhead research and innovation in developing nations that will hopefully reduce brain drain.

Professionals will continue to migrate in search of better opportunities, but increasing access to information and support could be a long-term solution reducing the brain drain effects on developing countries.

– Anand Tayal
Photo: Flickr

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Ending the Stigma: Mental Health in Developing Countries

Mental Health in Developing Countries
Mental illness is something that has long been surrounded by a stigma, and for most countries, the treatment for mental illness is severely underfunded. People struggling with things such as depression and substance abuse disorders have faced huge barriers in their care and wellness, and unfortunately, many countries lack the amount of mental health professionals necessary to treat every individual.

Treatment of Mental Health in Developing Countries

According to The World Health Organization (WHO), low-income countries have less than one psychiatrist for every 100,000 people, and many countries spend next to nothing for mental health programs. In 2011, India spent less than one percent of its health budget on mental health care. Many countries and organizations have noticed these statistics and are now working together to end the stigma surrounding the treatment of mental health in developing countries.

In 2014, India introduced the countries first ever mental health policy. This policy will be geared towards hiring more mental health professionals, and providing increased funding to clinics and hospitals, so that they are able to implement more patient-treatment programs. This new policy was launched on the first National Mental Health Day the country ever organized, and Dr. Harsh Vardhan, India’s Union Health Minister stated that, “It is an occasion for raising peoples’ awareness on mental illness, and removing the false perceptions attached to them.”

Organizational Involvement

The United Nations (U.N.) is also doing its part to ensure people all over the world have access to treatment for mental health. In 2015, The U.N. included mental health and substance abuse treatment in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For the first time, world leaders are recognizing the importance of providing substantial treatment for those struggling with mental health and addition issues. WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan states that “the inclusion of noncommunicable diseases under the health goal is a historical turning point. Finally, these diseases are getting the attention they deserve.”

Partners in Health (PIH) is yet another organization determined to end the stigma surrounding mental health in developing countries. This group partners with countries to establish more inclusive mental health treatment programs. Such organizations have made their foci the implementation of health programs in the neediest countries.

After the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010, PIH started a mental health system to serve an area of over one million people. PIH also started a mental health training model in Rwanda called MESH (Mentoring and Advanced Supervision at Health Centers), whose focus is providing affordable, community-based care.

Recognizing and Aiding Mental Health

Across many countries, mental health and addiction issues are beginning to be seen as legitimate health problems. For so long, thousands of people have been unable to access the care that they truly need, and over the past several years, this lack has begun to change. With a staggering amount of the global population burdened with things such as anxiety and depression, governments and organizations all over the world are beginning to see treatment for these diseases as a priority.

No longer are people forced to feel alone in their struggles, with no hope of much-needed care and support. With more funding aimed at treatment programs and the hiring of more care professionals, people everywhere are finally one step closer to getting the help they deserve.

– Allisa Rumreich
Photo: Flickr

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Malnutrition: The Consequences of Micronutrient Deficiencies

Consequences of Micronutrient Deficiencies
According to the Food Aid Foundation, 1/9 people on earth do not have access to enough food to ensure proper nourishment. Malnutrition is defined by the Oxford Living Dictionary as the “lack of proper nutrition, caused by not having enough to eat, not eating enough of the right things, or being unable to use the food that one does eat.”

Defining Malnutrition

This definition, although correct, hardly captures the severity of its meaning. A clear scientific explanation of malnutrition better illuminates the severity of the pervasive issue that exists primarily amongst those who live in poverty. Micronutrients — which are vitamins and minerals — are non-energy yielding compounds which the body requires to run efficiently. For example, the water-soluble vitamins (all of the B vitamins) are coenzymes which facilitate all of the bodies’ metabolic functions.

In light of their vitality to physiological homeostasis, a deficiency in any one of the micronutrients causes a wide variety of negative side effects. Iodine deficiencies cause goiters, iron deficiency causes anemia and vitamin B12 deficiencies can cause a wide variety of neurological defects, including symptoms of psychological disorders (depression, memory loss, sense perception loss etc.). It is clear that the consequences of micronutrient deficiencies are quite dire.

Consequences of Micronutrient Deficiencies

Given the importance of consuming the adequate amount of micronutrients — and the results of not doing so with even one of them — imagine having a lack of most micronutrients. Most people living in developed countries have adequate food intake, yet they are still deficient in a variety of micronutrients due to poor dietary choices. The consequences of micronutrient deficiencies are much more severe in the case of developing countries, where rates of starvation are higher than those of developed countries.

Considering how easy it is to be deficient in certain micronutrients due to simple nutritional ignorance, the level of micronutrient deficiencies –which in turn cause very negative health consequences — in developing countries where poverty is high and nutritional adequacy is low is much higher than in western countries where the contrary is the case. At the very least, 795 million people in the world experience severe negative symptoms due to lack of food.

For example, 84 percent of children in Kenya and 64 percent in India have a Vitamin A deficiency, whereas in a western country like Poland deficiencies in children are at less than 10 percent. These figures illustrate how countries that have a lower GDP per capita — and thus higher rates of poverty — often experience a higher rate/severity of cases of micronutrient deficiencies.

To cover all the micronutrients would be tedious; however, reviewing the statistics regarding the consequences of being deficient — specifically due to lack of food — proves extremely beneficial. The problem is extremely pervasive as one fourth of children’s growth is stunted globally due to malnutrition, poor nutrition causes 45 percent of child deaths ages 5 & below and malnutrition causes the death of 2.6 million children annually.

The above information may be unsettling, but understanding such disturbing information is the first step to changing such occurrences for the better. With concerted effort, the consequences of micronutrient deficiencies need not be as severe as they currently are.

Current and Future Progress

Progress on micronutrient deficiencies has certainly been made — prevalence and number of children suffering from stunted growth due to malnutrition has been on a slow but steady decline. There are specific examples of this, such as in Uganda, where the rate of stunting due to malnutrition has decreased from 33 percent in 2011 to 29 percent in 2016. In fact, the government of Uganda and its allies (the U.N.) have a  goal to totally eradicate malnutrition by 2030.

U.N. efforts in scaling up nutrition interventions has been very effective in reducing the rate of malnutrition. However, according to the World Bank, efforts to reach the 2030 goal would need an additional $70 billion of funding by 2025. Funding itself is the evident driver of progress. For example, investing in Peru’s malnutrition problem reduced stunting rates by 20 percent over a 20 year period.  

Ways to Help Combat Malnutrition

Many may ask, what can be done to help prevent this crisis from getting more out of hand? First and foremost, more people from all walks of life need to invest in nutrition. It is calculated that each dollar spent on nutrition delivers between $8 and $138 of benefits, according to the Copenhagen Consensus Center.

For more broad ways to help fight against world hunger and its negative consequences, donating to charitable foundations such as the World Food Programme, UNICEF, Feeding America, Feed the Hunger Foundation and others is something anyone can do to support the cause. Something “small” can make a huge difference, so it’s up to every willing individual to help solve this crisis.   

– Daniel Lehewych
Photo: Flickr

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How Access to a Preschool Education Reduces Poverty

Preschool Education Reduces PovertyEducation has always been a catalyst to development and growth in nations. Policymakers have focused on improving primary and secondary education to foster growth in all aspects of developing countries. Foreign superpowers have focused their aid efforts on helping to build the infrastructure for these schools to varying success. An aspect of the education system that is often overlooked by these domestic and international efforts is preschool or preprimary education.

How Preschool Education Reduces Poverty

A common stereotype has created a disparity of funding and attention between preprimary education and the levels above it. Firstly, many believe that preschool does not have an impact on future student outcomes. It is true that poverty has little effect on the cognitive abilities of a baby, but once children enter primary education, there are noticeable inequalities between wealthier students and poorer students such as trouble focusing in the classroom and behavioral issues. This inequality extends to foundational skills such as reading and writing.

Around the world, 130 million children in developing nations are enrolled in primary education but are illiterate. Providing access to preschool education in these developing nations will produce plentiful benefits for these children and continually increase literacy in students entering primary school. Preschool education reduces poverty by giving students the opportunity to develop rudimentary skills at younger ages, which allows these students to tackle more challenging concepts earlier than they would without a preschool background.

Aglaia Zafeirakou, a senior education specialist at the World Bank, found compelling evidence that students with preschool experience achieved more in each stage of their educational career. She observed that students who attended preschool, on average, scored higher on literacy, vocabulary and mathematics than non-attenders.

An additional 2009 PISA survey showed that in 58 of 65 countries, 15-year-old students who had attended at least a year of preprimary school outperformed students who had not, even after accounting for socioeconomic background. The impact of affordable preprimary education also extended into the primary schools themselves. Primary schools saw significant cost savings and increased efficiency in areas where an affordable preprimary school was available to families.

Improvements in Preschool Education in Developing Nations

The overwhelming evidence that shows that preschool education reduces poverty has empowered families of all socioeconomic backgrounds to demand preprimary opportunities for their children. NGOs and developing nations have valiantly responded to these demands and have improved the educational careers of millions of children.

Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania have all adopted policies that include preprimary education in the basic education cycle along with primary education. They have coupled this with significant investment and expansion in access to preprimary institutions.

Ghana, in particular, abolished preprimary school fees, which has drastically increased enrollment and attainment in its preschools. The efforts of these countries have inspired systematic change throughout the whole of Africa. The continent has seen an 84 percent increase in preschool enrollment between 1999 and 2015.

While this huge increase in enrollment will improve the educational careers of millions of students, there is still more work to be done. The impressive 84 percent increase was mainly due to significant institutional changes in seven African countries. Still, only two percent of children attend preschool in Mali, Burkina Faso, Somalia and many of the poorest nations in Africa.

Bettering the Lives of Children Through Education

Some of the most impoverished developing nations are still struggling to provide the necessary access to preprimary education that others have. Fortunately, NGOs have contributed significant efforts to help supplement nationwide projects to increase access to preprimary education in developing countries.

For example, local NGOs in Bangladesh have helped build over 1,800 preschools across the nation. Bangladesh remains one of the poorest nations in the world, but with the help of NGOs, it can ensure better educational outcomes for its young children.

Preschool helps children develop the foundational skills to take on more challenging concepts in primary school. This effect reverberates at each stage of the educational journey, which makes students more successful in their careers as well. It is clear that preschool education reduces poverty, but the effects are best maximized by improving affordability and accessibility in developing countries.

– Anand Tayal
Photo: Flickr

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Developing Nations Need Women’s Empowerment

Developing nations need women’s empowerment
A simple truth has been denied across the globe for centuries — the importance of equality and most specifically, women’s empowerment. Developing nations need women’s empowerment because half measures of equality can’t guarantee complete progress.

Global Gender Inequality

Women make up half of the entire world population yet they also, sadly, represent 70 percent of the world’s poor. The world we live in, a world where women living in poverty face inequalities and injustices from birth until they die, has been built on unequal principals — a slow killing sequence of discrimination that any woman might suffer during her lifetime.

Women earn only 10 percent of the world’s income and half of what men regularly earn. This inequality is one of the main reasons women in developing nations live in poverty. In developing countries, women die each year as a result of gender-based violence. Gender discrimination creates blockades for women both physically and mentally, as they begin to believe they are worth less and thus cease believing they have a purpose in society other than to do what is told to them.

Women’s Empowerment in Developing Nations

Developing nations need women’s empowerment, especially for girls living in poverty, as it’s those closest to them who often work against their interests and create dysfunctional and harmful environments.

Can the world change? Yes, plain and simple. But only once women are no longer discriminated against for being the pillars of strength and growth that they are. The World Bank believes “putting resources into poor women’s hands while promoting gender equality in the household and in society results in large development payoffs.” It’s fundamental to nurture young girls and women in self-confidence; empower them — especially those living in poverty; to make informed choices about their lives; and to understand their importance in their communities.

The empowerment of women and the improvement of their political, social, economic and health statuses is a highly important endeavor. In fact, it’s essential for sustainable development. In reproductive standards, both men and women are responsible for half of the creation of life, so it stands to reason that equality among all is essential to the continued growth and cultivation of life as a whole.

In most of the world, women receive less formal education than men, and women’s knowledge and abilities often go unrecognized. Relations that impede women’s attainment of healthy, fulfilled lives operate in multiple levels of society, from personal to highly public. True change requires policy and program actions that improve women’s access to secure livelihoods. Developing nations need women’s empowerment in order to overcome any “legal” impediments to their public life and raise social awareness through effective education and mass communication programs.

Bringing Equality

Here are key ways that countries, developed or undeveloped, help bring women’s empowerment:

  • Establishing mechanisms for women’s equal participation and equitable representation at all levels of the political process, society and community public life; enabling women to articulate their concerns and needs
  • Promoting the fulfillment of women’s potential through education, skill development and employment; giving paramount importance to the elimination of poverty, illiteracy and ill health among women
  • Eliminating all practices that discriminate against women; assisting women to establish and realize their rights, including those that relate to reproductive and sexual health
  • Adopting appropriate measures to improve women’s ability to earn income beyond traditional occupations, achieve economic self-reliance, and ensure women’s equal access to the labor market and social security systems
  • Eliminating violence against women
  • Eliminating discriminatory practices by employers against women, such as those based on proof of contraceptive use or pregnancy status
  • Making it possible, through laws, regulations and other appropriate measures, for women to combine the roles of child-bearing, breastfeeding and child-rearing with participation in the workforce.

Partnerships for Change

Currently, the World Bank Group (WBG) aims to take action working alongside governments, companies and other partners to close remaining gaps in education and maternal health. Efforts are being put in place to enhance women’s economic opportunities by: helping to create better jobs, ensure ownership and control of assets like land and housing, gain access to finance, technology and insurance services, and increase all capacity and opportunity to act independently at home, in the community and in the various levels of governments.

The world needs women, and in more ways than numerous societies have allowed. Developing nations have always needed women’s empowerment for true growth and prosperity, but now it’s needed more than ever.

– Gustavo Lomas
Photo: Flickr

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How Global Partnerships for Education Is Changing the Lives of Children

Global Partnerships for Education
Global Partnerships for Education (GPE) is bringing people together all over the world to ensure everyone is awarded access to an education. Created in 2002, GPE is a one-of-a-kind organization, with a goal of strengthening the education system in impoverished countries to raise the number of children enrolled in school.

The organization supports more than 60 countries around the globe, in places where it has historically seemed impossible for children to achieve an education. With the help of many different organizations and countries, GPE has provided millions of dollars to countries in need.

What is GPE 2020?

GPE 2020 is the organization’s aid plan for 2016 through 2020 to ensure inclusive and quality education for all, especially for those in the most vulnerable settings. According to Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there has been vast improvement in the number of children enrolled in school over the past 15 years. But in the poorest areas such as Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southern Asia, thousands of children are still unable to attend school.

In the poorest areas of the world, schools are not easily accessible. Due to the poor conditions of schools and lack of qualified teachers, many children miss out on an education because of their societies.

To combat these issues, GPE and many other partners invest millions of dollars to countries with high need. In April of 2018, GPE and The World Bank approved a $100-million grant for the country of Madagascar, a country in Africa with serious educational challenges. Four out of 10 children in Madagascar drop out of school before finishing the last grade, but with the help of GPE, this rate is projected to significantly decrease. Fortunately, Madagascar is just one of the many countries benefitting from GPE’s efforts.

How Does GPE Accomplish Its Goals?

Global Partnerships for Education receives its funding through various sources, including donor countries, international organizations and private sectors. Since 2003, the organization has received over $5 billion from 27 donors, with around 21 percent coming from the United Kingdom alone.

The money donated is given as grants to countries based on poverty level and the number of children not enrolled in school. The donations go to building schools, paying for supplies and hiring qualified teachers.

The Reach of an Empowering Organization

Global Partnerships for Education believes that education is a right for everyone, regardless of status or gender. GPE focuses on ensuring that everyone is able to access the schooling they deserve, and providing support to countries most affected by poverty and conflict.

The organization believes that people are empowered when they are able to achieve an education — something that so many of us in privileged societies take for granted. Through the utilization of available resources to support equal learning across the globe, Global Partnerships for Education is changing lives, one child at a time.

– Allisa Rumreich
Photo: Flickr

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Price Agreement on New HIV Treatment Will Save Lives

HIV Treatment
In September of 2017, it was announced at the seventy-second U.N. General Assembly that the HIV treatment regimen TLD (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, lamivudine and dolutegravir) has been made more accessible to low and middle income countries. This has been accomplished with a price agreement established through the partnership of various countries and global aid programs.

Some of the groups that collaborated on the new price agreement include UNAIDS, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), PEPFAR, USAID, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the governments of South Africa and Kenya. Teams in many countries have begun developing plans to transition TLD into use by the end of 2019. Over 50 low or middle income countries have already introduced or are planning to introduce TLD as the favored first-line treatment for HIV.

Improvements to TLD

TLD medication is already considered a preferred method of HIV treatment in the United States. However, with the use of a generic treatment and a pricing agreement, TLD is now expected to cost health programs in low to middle income countries covered by the agreement only $75 per person per year once the treatment has been fully transitioned into use.

The newly released TLD is a generic treatment consisting of a single pill taken once a day containing a dolutegravir base. Studies have shown that the TLD regimen has fewer side effects on the patient and also has less vulnerability to the development of drug resistance that would render it ineffective. This helps because it means that fewer people would have to start new levels of treatment. TLD has also been shown to provide a more rapid repression of viral load.

Effects of New HIV Treatment

Three countries that began using the TLD treatment by the end of 2017 include Brazil, Botswana and Kenya. Within three months of treatment, studies show that 81 percent of patients using TLD in Brazil had an undetectable viral load, as compared to another HIV treatment regimen with an EFV (efavirenz) base, which had 61 percent presenting with an undetectable viral load after three months of treatment. Botswana and Kenya have shown similar success, with 90 percent of those using the treatment reaching full viral suppression in 2018.

In 2016, only 53 percent of people infected with the HIV virus were receiving treatment. Under the licensing agreement that sets a maximum price on the dolutegravir-based medication, 92 low to middle income countries will be able to provide the treatment to their citizens. These countries represent 90 percent of the people living with HIV in low to middle income countries. The TLD pricing agreement will not only be able to reduce the cost of treatment for the people in these countries but will increase availability so that more people can be treated.

A Brighter, Healthier Future

The launch of this new TLD treatment is another step forward in the treatment of people suffering globally from HIV and AIDS. People who did not originally have access to the dolutegravir treatment due to cost and availability will now be able to use this treatment. TLD provides a more reliable treatment regimen that will improve many people’s lives and ultimately bring the world a little further in the fight against HIV.

– Lindabeth Doby
Photo: Flickr

Ocean Preservation in Developing Countries

Ocean Preservation in Developing CountriesMore than two-thirds of the Earth’s surface is covered by oceans, which contain 97 percent of the planet’s water. Billions of people rely on the preservation of oceans to provide sustainable jobs and food resources. Ocean preservation in developing countries has proven to be especially critical. According to the FAO, fisheries and aquaculture make up 10 to 12 percent of the world’s population, with more than 90 percent working in small-scale fisheries in developing countries.

The health of oceanic ecosystems and marine life is what drives the health and sustainability of other global systems that allow the planet to be habitable above water. Healthy oceans not only promote economic growth and food production, but they are also crucial in mitigating the adverse effects of climate change. Warmer oceans cause ocean acidification, which threatens the balance and productivity of marine life and the Earth’s ecosystem.

The Biggest Problems

Marine Biodiversity Loss: The ocean’s diverse life greatly contributes to the wellbeing of humans. Fish benefit the ecosystem by regulating the climate and producing oxygen while also providing a source of protein, which many people depend on. However, marine ecosystems are facing an unprecedented loss in biodiversity as a direct result of habitat destruction, pollution, overfishing and climate change. This loss of marine biodiversity especially affects coastal communities in developing countries because marine resource exploitation often represents the majority of their livelihoods, serves as their main source of animal protein and, in some cases, represents their cultural identities.

Plastic Pollution: According to U.N. Environment, about eight million tons of plastic waste are produced each year, which is equivalent to the weight of the entire human population. This plastic pollution introduces micro-plastics into the marine life food chain. China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, and Thailand are primarily responsible for more than 50 percent of the total plastic waste found in oceans. If this trend continues without urgent action, oceans could contain more plastic than fish by 2050.

The 14th U.N. Sustainable Development Goal

In 2015, the U.N. developed 17 sustainable development goals to achieve by 2030. Goal 14 is to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources. As a result, the U.N. urges countries to preserve marine biodiversity. Unfortunately, many marine biodiversity hotspots (areas that have large numbers of endemic species and are heavily threatened by habitat loss) are located in developing tropical countries, such as the Western Pacific Ocean, the Southwest Indian Ocean and the Coral Triangle. These places suffer from limited resources, which makes it difficult to effectively maintain or improve the biodiversity without international aid.

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are intended to provide protection, according to the conservation status and biodiversity value of a particular area. In developing countries, MPAs are widely recognized as a tool to provide food security and build resilience against climate change impacts such as coastal erosion. Unfortunately, the lack of economic and human resources in these regions cause a great challenge in the creation, enforcement, monitoring and control of the MPAs.

The World Bank Group

The World Bank Group strives to promote oceanic preservation in developing countries by supporting sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, establishing coastal and marine protected areas, reducing pollution, and developing a greater knowledge of ocean health.

The Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project is an example of a successful World Bank-funded oceanic preservation program. This project has pioneered “hazard line mapping” for the entire coastline of India, which makes it possible to better manage India’s coastal space and minimize coastal vulnerabilities by utilizing shoreline protection and strategic land use plans.

So far, 1.5 million people have benefited from this program. Sewage treatment plants for about one million people have been completed, which has contributed to the prevention of flow of more than 80 million liters of waste into the ocean per day, protecting over 250 miles of Indian coastline.

Our Ocean, Our Future: Call for Action

Today, more and more oceanic preservation initiatives are being prioritized in developing countries, such as Mozambique, Indonesia and several West African countries. However, despite the success of ocean preservation in developing countries, there is definitely still more work to be done. Proper management of fisheries and investment in the sustainable protection of marine habitats will improve the productivity of the ocean and provide benefits for the those living in developing countries while also ensuring future growth, food security and jobs for coastal communities.

– Lolontika Hoque
Photo: Flickr