Archive for category: Developing Countries

Information and stories about developing countries.

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Uncovering the Truth: Five Poverty Myths vs Facts

Poverty Myths vs FactsDespite the increasing awareness about world poverty that has arisen from globalization and heightened media coverage, there are still many misconceptions about the true nature of poverty circulating in high-income nations. Millions of Americans continue to share beliefs that simply contradict evidence. The following are five poverty myths vs facts:

1. Myth: Low-income countries just don’t have natural resources.

Fact: Actually, most of the world’s developing countries have an abundant reserve of natural resources.

It was for that reason that the European nations who colonized in Africa and Latin America grew so wealthy from trading raw goods, such as tobacco or mined silver. The exploitation of these natural resources, which continues to happen to some degree today within the global economy, is why low-income countries have yet to benefit.

Even today, around 400 billion dollars in natural resources leaves the African continent each year.

2. Myth: There isn’t enough food to feed everyone.

Fact: It’s almost worse to think about, but we have enough food to feed everyone on the planet one and a half times over. Food just isn’t distributed fairly and efficiently. Rising food prices, national disasters and conflict all contribute to global hunger.

3. Myth: Impoverished people just need to have less kids.

Fact: The reason why people in low-income countries tend to have more kids is because they live in poverty. Prevention methods are often either culturally unacceptable or just unavailable. Studies have proven that educated, wealthier women have less kids— meaning that solving poverty could help with overpopulation.

4. Myth: Globalization is helping everyone. When the world economy booms, poverty will solve itself.

Fact: It’s a nice thought, but realistically most developing countries lag behind in economic growth. The recent improvements in global poverty reduction can mainly be attributed to China or India, who have experienced the most growth in recent years. However, for over half a billion people living in extreme poverty in unstable countries, the improvements have yet to manifest themselves— that number will grow without additional aid.

5. Myth: High-income nations are doing a lot to help low-income countries.

Fact: In regard to global poverty, this may be one of the most difficult realities for people to swallow. The average American believes that 25 percent of the budget goes to foreign aid, when in reality it’s less than one percent. Very few developed nations even meet their own standards for minimum foreign aid donations, much less give in full capacity.

Though these poverty myths vs facts may present a more sobering reality about the nature of global poverty, there is the hope that greater understanding is the key to developing greater solutions. As the final fact suggests, there is so much potential to do more and make an even bigger impact on those living in poverty today.

– Kailey Dubinsky

Photo: Pixabay

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Three Ways the World is Changing its Mindset Toward Poverty

The World Is Changing Its Mindset Toward PovertyThe world is changing its mindset toward poverty and realizing that poverty is not a permanent problem. Generating solutions to make poverty preventable, including providing technological tools for success, growing a population’s knowledge with education and creating innovative methods for environmental sustainability create and maintain productive and growing countries.

The technological revolution, education for sustainable development and green growth are three methods the world uses to reduce poverty and build global development and ensure efficiency.

  1. The Technological Revolution
    The goal to end extreme poverty by 2030 is possible with improved technology that speeds progress and collects improved data. The World Bank currently uses technology to increase data collectors’ abilities to track poverty reduction progress and citizens’ well-being. The Pulse of South Sudan initiative uses tablet-based data collection to survey households and record personalized testimonials, and the Listening to Africa (L2A) initiative uses mobile phones to collect up-to-date information on living conditions with face-to-face surveys and followup mobile phone interviews. Technology such as cellphones and tablets streamline the process and is cost-efficient when reaching out to a broad sample or responding to crises.
  2. Education for Sustainable Development
    Education is crucial for global growth and progress, and it has spurred a knowledge-based movement for poverty reduction. As part of the Sustainable Development Goals, education must “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all,” including the world’s poor. According to UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report released this past June, 264.3 million children are out of school. About 62 million are adolescents of lower secondary school age (12 to 14). About 141 million are of upper secondary school age (15 to 17). The out-of-school rate has not decreased since 2008 at the primary level, since 2012 at the lower secondary level or since 2013 at the upper secondary level. While out-of-school rates have frozen, the world is changing its mindset toward poverty by acknowledging that education is a tool to end extreme poverty. By creating knowledge-based societies and using education as a tool, countries improve not only individual livelihoods and futures but their own economic mobility.
  3. Green Growth
    Creating sustainable, green growth not only creates economic development but addresses poverty and creates shared prosperity.Since the poor live in areas with few resources, such challenges can undermine a country’s ability to sustain economic growth and eradicate poverty. Policies that not only prioritize natural resources and environmental sustainability but also address poverty are crucial to economic development. According to Inhee Chung, senior sustainability and safeguards specialist at the Global Growth Institute, “Green growth can only lead to transformative and sustainable change if it is pro-poor and delivers benefits to the most marginalized and vulnerable social groups.”

The world is changing its mindset toward poverty by working to enhance policies that support the poor and create sustainable growth, as well as empower poor men and women and make green options accessible.

– Sarah Dunlap

Photo: Pixabay

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Evolving Human Rights in Peru

Human Rights in PeruPeru is a country with a tumultuous past. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, insurgent guerilla organizations battled the government – a conflict that resulted in the death of nearly 70,000 people. By 2000, the conflict slowed down and since then the government has focused on integrating human rights in Peru into national law.

The Constitution of Peru protects human rights, claiming that humans have the right to respect, dignity, life and equality. Even so, there is still conflict over human rights in Peru.

According to Human Rights Watch, security forces in Peru have occasionally responded to protests over large development projects with gunfire, which has killed or injured protestors. There are also significant threats to freedom of expression and violence against women.

Journalists who publish pieces critical of the government can face intimidation, assault and even murder at the hands of individuals supporting or hired by the government.

Unfortunately, even a well-intentioned policy can fail to ensure the universal human rights. For example, the Peruvian Constitution promises free education to children ages six through 16. In reality, parents are faced with administrative and educational material fees that prevent less wealthy children from receiving a quality education. Students in rural areas receive lower quality education than those in urban areas. Gender and ethnicity can also factor into the quality of education that children receive.

However, there are some positive outcomes in terms of human rights in Peru. Health services are provided for free by the Peruvian government and workers are free to unionize. The Peruvian Constitution also promises a healthy environment for its citizens. Successive administrations have focused on eliminating violence against women, and political parties are now required to include a minimum of 30 percent of female candidates.

While human rights in Peru can be messy and complicated, the government is eager to put the violent history of the country firmly in the past and continue expanding human rights and ensuring those rights are upheld.

– Brock Hall

Photo: Flickr

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Closing the Gap on Education During Crisis

Education During CrisisIt seems that every day, a new crisis emerges in some area of the world. Whether it is a natural disaster, war or a political upheaval, there is a common theme: humanitarian aid organizations are quick to respond, while education during crisis falls by the wayside.

In impoverished countries, education is typically lacking, as the need for food and shelter come first. Conflict is a leading cause of both poverty and the suspension of education.

According to An International Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE), conflict-affected countries have 20 percent of the world’s primary-school-aged children. Unfortunately, these nations also host 50 percent of the world’s out-of-school children.

Access to a quality education is the United Nation’s fourth sustainable development goal. According to the U.N., “When people can get quality education, they can break from the cycle of poverty… Education is also crucial to fostering tolerance between people and contributes to more peaceful societies.”

Many organizations are working to make education during crisis a top priority. One such organization, Education Cannot Wait, is thinking of innovative ways to give children in poor situations a quality education.

In alliance with the U.N.’s sustainable development goal, Education Cannot Wait cites five challenges that need to get conquered for all of the world’s children to receive adequate education by the year 2030. They are as follows:

  1. Lack of prioritization (during emergencies)
    Only two percent of humanitarian aid during a crisis gets given to educational programs.
  2. Poor coordination between humanitarian and development groups
  3. Preparedness in the educational sector is a problem during emergencies.
    According to the INEE, individual sectors should create contingency plans that will help in creating a cohesive procedure for education during a crisis.
  4. Insufficient humanitarian funding
    Currently, $8.5 billion is needed annually to close the education gap. Humanitarian and development efforts have not matched the frequency of crisis.
  5. Lack of real-time data
    As the problem of inadequate education during crisis is often unrecognized, the data collected on the issue is not enough to promote change.

Many people are simply unaware that there is a problem of a lack of education during a crisis. One of the most important tools in counteracting the problem is knowledge and awareness. This is why the U.N. is also working to inform people and give clear ways to help. Here are a few ways to help today:

  • Ask your government leaders to make education a priority in policy and practice.
  • Lobby the government to commit to free, primary school education for all.
  • Encourage the private sector to invest in education.
  • Urge non-governmental organizations to foster the growth of education at the local level.

– Madeline Boeding

Photo: Google

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Five Organizations Helping Women in Developing Countries

Organizations Helping Women in Developing CountriesMen, women and children in developing countries face many common struggles. But women living in poverty must also contend with their own set of unique challenges, such as sexual violence and educational discrimination. Ahead are five organizations helping women in developing countries.

 

  1. The Malala Fund
    Founded by the international human rights icon Malala Yousafzai, the Malala Fund is one of the most famous organizations helping girls and women get an education in developing countries. The Malala Fund works directly with girls in local communities to advocate for their education. Donations to the fund are used to invest in schools and supplies, as well as place activists and educators in the girls’ communities. The organization primarily helps girls in Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and countries housing Syrian refugees such as Lebanon and Jordan.
  2. PERIOD
    Taboos and traditions surrounding menstruation pose a significant health threat to women and girls in many developing countries. Just last month, a Nepali teenager died while observing her culture’s tradition of separating menstruating women from their families in “menstrual huts.” PERIOD is a nonprofit working to break the taboo around periods through advocacy and education. It also distributes period products to women in need.
  3. The Orchid Project
    Female genital cutting is a devastating practice that many women undergo in developing regions such as West Africa. The Orchid Project is one of many organizations working to end this human rights violation. This organization raises awareness of this damaging tradition and advocates for more resources for its victims. They also partner with grassroots organizations to educate local communities about the misconceptions and dangers surrounding FGC in order to end this dangerous practice.
  4. Prajwala
    Prajwala, which means “eternal flame,” is an Indian organization founded by social activist Dr. Sunitha Krishnan. The nonprofit rescues victims of sex trafficking. Prajwala works to keep these women out of prostitution by providing them with education, mental health care and job training.
  5. Women for Women
    Conflict disproportionately occurs in developing regions, and women are often the overlooked victims of this violence. Women for Women is a nonprofit that provides women in conflict zones with an empowerment program. The program equips women with business skills, job skills and networking opportunities. Women for Women also provides women in conflict zones with resources such as microfinancing and access to local healthcare sources.

Women in developing countries have their own special needs beyond challenges such as hunger and health problems. These are just a few of the many organizations helping women in the developing world.

– Bret Serbin

Photo: Flickr

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3-D-Printed Prosthetic Limbs

3-D-Printed Prosthetic LimbsCompanies have started using 3-D printing technologies to create prosthetic limbs for amputees in developing and war-torn countries. The loss or congenital absence of limbs is prevalent in many third-world nations. Reasons for this, according to The Guardian, include war, disease and random accidents.

Amputations are an especially heavy burden in cultures based around agriculture. An inability to farm leads to causes families to provide support for amputees, a heavy burden for those already poverty-stricken.

Typical prosthetics are incredibly expensive for citizens. Many of them can run up to thousands of pounds, according to The Guardian. 3-D-printed prosthetic limbs, however, are much cheaper. In fact, the cost of acquiring one is sometimes as little as 40 pounds.

Regular prosthetics also take a significant amount of time to make. The Guardian estimates that the process of measuring a prosthetic for the right fit, building a mold and getting amputees used to prosthetic can take up to a week.

However, turnaround times for the 3-D-printed prosthetic limbs streamlines this process. TRT World explains how scanners can take an amputee’s measurements in minutes, reducing the construction of 3-D limbs to several hours.

3-D-printed prosthetic limbs are also convenient for child amputees because they are still growing. According to TRT World, prosthetic limbs have to accommodate for children getting taller and gaining and losing weight. 3-D models can be sized and adjusted for the patients’ particular necessities.

Another appeal specifically towards children is the variety of appearances that 3-D-printed limbs can take. The limbs often come in many different colors and designs. For example, the Cyborg Beast prosthetic hand designed by Jorge Zuniga is created specifically to look like a robot for the enjoyment of children.

However, 3-D-printed prosthetic limbs are not without their faults. According to The Guardian, the prosthetics are often too heavy to maneuver, and they can melt in high temperatures.

Regardless, 3-D printing technology is improving. Companies Po and Thalmic Labs, for example, have created the MyPo, which uses 3-D-printed prosthetic limbs and muscle and nerve-reading technology to simulate the movement of natural limbs.

In spite of their shortcomings, the technological advances show that 3-D-printed prosthetic limbs are worth the investment of time and resources.

– Cortney Rowe

Photo: Pixabay

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The Threat of Lake Victoria’s Failing State

Lake Victoria's Failing StateResponsible for over 35 million lives, Lake Victoria is a vital resource for the people of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. However, overfishing, pollution and mismanagement threaten its existence. The threat of Lake Victoria’s failing state is a danger to those who have built their livelihoods around it. Fortunately, there are multiple initiatives being implemented by humanitarian organizations to restore the lake and the people who live by it.

After coffee, Uganda’s second biggest export is fish. Lake Victoria gained international attention the 1980s when the native species of Nile perch and tilapia came into high demand. This fishing boom acted as an economic boost for fishermen, but it costs the lake severely.

Unfortunately, whilst the fishing boom was in full motion, the government’s environmental policies had yet to progress. Even when laws were implemented, they were scarcely enforced. Unregulated pollutants from agricultural run-off, sewage and industrial waste became a large contributor to Lake Victoria’s failing state.

With the pollution in the lake suffocating fish, desperate fishermen have resorted to practices that deplete the lake even more. Illegal fishing methods, such as using an insecticide as poison, have led to the destruction of breeding grounds. Fishermen use these techniques in order to catch more fish but add to Lake Victoria’s failing state.

While the average weight of a perch was 50 kilograms in 1980, it is now just 10 kilograms. Even more, about 300 smaller species have gone extinct. With the fishing industry in Lake Victoria producing about $640 million a year, it is vital to the 35 million who have built their livelihoods on the lake. However, it is being threatened by the environmental impact of pollutants.

Fortunately, there are many initiatives working to help both the fishermen and the lake. The World Bank started The Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project as an effort to both restore the lake’s environmental status and improve the lives of those who depend on it. One program this project is working on is providing income to fishermen through fish farms to alleviate the pressure on Lake Victoria.

This crisis occurring in Lake Victoria can still be solved. Until fishermen are educated on their impact on the lake and practices becomes more regulated, the problem will continue to grow.

– Kelly Hayes

Photo: Pixabay

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Pros & Cons of Alleviating Poverty Through Tourism

Alleviating Poverty Through TourismEarly this year, the United Nations declared 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development with the goal of alleviating poverty through tourism. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the tourism industry has grown by 4 percent every year since the 1960s. In 2016 alone, about $1.4 trillion went towards tourism, making the industry’s potential for poverty alleviation promising.

There are multiple factors that make the tourism industry well-suited for poverty alleviation. The first is the substantial “size and growth of the sector,” which has the potential to sustain development in many developing countries. Through foreign exchange earnings and job creation generated by the tourism industry, alleviating poverty through tourism is made possible. Currently, “tourism contributes to 5 percent of the world’s GDP” and has generated 253 million jobs.

Tourism also has the potential for sustainable growth in developing countries as tourist destinations diversify. In fact, tourism is already the “first or second source of export earnings” among 20 out of 48 of the world’s least-developed countries. For some of these nations, tourism accounts for more than 25 percent of GDP. Alleviating poverty through tourism in these areas would be highly effective as long as tourism is focused on development.

Developing countries have a “comparative advantage” in tourism because tourists look for many features that these nations share. These features include “warm climate, rich cultural heritage, inspiring landscapes and abundant biodiversity.” With these features being most apparent in rural areas, poverty may be alleviated by making destinations out of poorer places.

The tourism industry is also relatively labor-intensive and generates jobs that require little investment. This opens up job opportunities for many people in developing countries including women, young people and minorities. Tourism provides connectivity between sectors and links consumers to producers. Multiple economic sectors benefit from tourism as touring consumers buy a variety of goods. With this connection, both the consumers and producers benefit from increased local investment.

Although there are many pros to alleviating poverty through tourism, developing countries are not seeing the impact from tourism that most may expect. The Global Tourism Dashboard measured the impacts of tourism in 2016 and determined that only 5.6 percent of tourism expenditure went to developing countries. Instead of benefiting these nations, global tourism benefits the economic exchange of rich countries.

For the $79 billion that was spent in 2016 by tourists in developing nations, much of this money did not make a significant impact. The little impact tourism is making is exemplified by Thailand, which is the world’s fourth-most popular destination yet is still classified as a developing country. This shows that cash injection does not necessarily lead to development.

Before tourism can make a profound impact on developing countries, the problem of “leakage” needs to be addressed. Leakage is when a country is spending a “considerable proportion of tourist dollars before they can multiply in the local economy.” This is a significant problem as leakage ranges from 40 to 80 percent in developing countries. Alleviating poverty through tourism will take more than simply expanding the tourism industry.

Although tourism is not currently the most effective way to alleviate poverty, there is still potential for the industry. Countries such as Samoa, Ecuador, Fiji and South Africa are all examples of how tourism can factor into development. For Samoa specifically, tourism is “one of the economy’s main pillars” as the industry contributed to 20 percent of its GDP. This was done through leakage reduction, concentration on local development and investment in training for tourism jobs by the government.

Aside from governmental regulations in developing countries, alleviating poverty through tourism can be made possible through international and individual assistance. International organizations can assist tourism industries in developing countries through financing “transport connectivity” to reduce leakage. Also, training locals for tourism jobs so that the industry can be run by domestic stakeholders is critical for potential development. On an individual level, tourists can support development by making “ethical travel choices.” This means “going local” to benefit the local community rather than deciding to visit and invest in typical tourist destinations.

There is potential for alleviating poverty through tourism as long as developing nations are given the assistance needed to make it work.

– Haley Hurtt

Photo: Flickr

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The Long Road to Ending Extreme Poverty

Extreme PovertyLooking at the World Bank’s records, the proportion of households in developing countries below the extreme poverty line has declined sharply, from 52 percent in 1980 to 43 percent in 1990 to 34 percent in 1999, and finally to 21 percent in 2010. Though the figures look optimistic, the United Nations’ number one Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to end poverty in all its manifestations everywhere by 2030 will only become more difficult to achieve as time progresses.

The World Bank defines “extreme poverty” as living on less than $1.90 per person per day. The multidimensional aspects of poverty are captured to measure extreme poverty through data collection encompassing climate variations, caloric intake, clothing, shelter, health and other variables.

For the past two decades, East Asia has held the largest population of impoverished individuals. According to the Economist, in 1981, roughly 88 percent of China’s citizens lived below the poverty line. Since that time, China has eradicated a large amount of poverty in cities and reduced the number of rural people living below its poverty line of 2,300 yuan or a little over $340 per year. In 2013, due to continual infrastructural and economic growth, and the cultivation of private businesses and corporations, only 2 percent of Chinese citizens fell under the World Bank’s definition of extreme poverty.

Due to the changing landscape in East Asia, much of the world’s remaining poverty is in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Weeding poverty out of these areas will prove to be more difficult due to the lack of available welfare programs and support systems.

Although free markets, trade and economic growth will remain vital to meeting the U.N. SDG, continued progress will depend heavily on infrastructural and health investments by the government, including in water, electricity and healthcare. According to the New York Times and the Harvard FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, decreases in mortality rate as well as public funds to finance scientific and technological breakthroughs such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria have made massive contributions to fighting global poverty to date.

As organizations and nations worldwide move towards eliminating extreme poverty, new challenges will undoubtedly arise. The Brookings Institute reminds global citizens that “as global poverty approaches zero, it becomes increasingly concentrated in countries where the record of and prospects for poverty reduction are weakest.” Despite the fact, the possibility still exists to improve quality of life worldwide, and the opportunity still remains to progress the elimination of poverty through further investment and advocacy efforts across all national barriers.

– Katherine Wang

Photo: Pixabay

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Mental Illness in Developing Countries

Mental Illness in Developing CountriesMental illness has become a major health issue in the world today.  Approximately 450 million people currently suffer from some sort of mental illness or brain condition worldwide. Individuals living in developing countries, which often lack proper medical care, are extremely susceptible to mental illness.

War, poverty and diseases such as AIDS and polio are major concerns regarding mental illness in developing countries.  These countries are generally too overwhelmed by communicable diseases and ill-equipped to respond to depression, schizophrenia and other mental health problems.

Former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan believes that it is time to make mental health a priority and to allot resources for treatment, developing policies, and implementing reforms to address the growing problem of mental illness, especially in developing countries.

In a special issue of a British medical journal, The Lancet, health officials called for new strategies and more money to treat mental illness in developing countries.  The authors of the journal argued that, without implementing measures to promote positive mental health, the future of these countries will be limited.

At the turn of the century, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a collection of papers titled “Mental Health: New Understanding, New Hope” that highlighted the importance of mental health.

“The WHO is making a simple statement: mental health – neglected for far too long – is crucial to the overall well-being of individuals, societies and countries and must be universally regarded in a new light,” former director general of the WHO Gro Harlem Brundtland said.

The WHO conducted a program, titled Project Atlas, to catalog mental health resources around the world.  The program found that almost half the countries in the world have no explicit mental health policy and nearly one-third have no program for coping with rising brain-related disabilities.

The results for Project Atlas are as follows:

  • 41 percent of countries have no mental health policy
  • 25 percent have no legislation on mental health
  • 28 percent have no separate budget for mental health
  • 41 percent do not have treatment facilities for severe mental disorders in primary care

Depression, the most common form of mental illness, has seen an uptick of 18 percent between 2005 and 2015 bringing the total number of people with depression to a staggering  300 million worldwide.

Like most people with mental illnesses, those who suffer from depression often do not seek treatment. Almost 50 percent of people with depression or depression symptoms (such as loss of interest in activities once enjoyed, persistent sadness and problems with everyday activities) do not seek help.

Though there is still a lot of work to do to fight mental illness, especially mental illness in developing countries, some areas have already implemented strategies to fight these diseases. One of the poorest areas of India, with the help of mostly locally recruited mental health workers, showed the efficiency of community-based rehabilitation to manage severe brain-related disabilities. Other countries such as Chile have also implemented effective strategies to help fight mental illness.

The renewed global focus on mental health is encouraging, where mental illness in developing countries still remains a major problem. Through the implementation of new strategies as well as the development of positive policies regarding mental health, there is evidence that mental healthcare is gaining importance and is becoming more accessible in developing countries.

– Drew Hazzard

Photo: Pixabay