Archive for category: Developing Countries

Information and stories about developing countries.

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Making a Difference: School Gardens in Developing Countries

School Gardens in Developing Countries

Right now, world leaders are faced with a daunting challenge. At the current rate the population is growing, it is predicted that there will not be enough food to feed the world, especially in developing countries. Fortunately, the introduction of school gardens to education gives hope to the end of global poverty.

For many children in developing countries, students must walk to school at an utmost of 4 miles. Some children even walk to school knowing they will not have a lunch because their family could not afford the cost.

According to the World Food Programme (WFP), 795 million people are undernourished, meaning one in nine people will not receive enough food to lead a normal, healthy and active life.

Students cannot focus or comprehend new information in the classroom without a proper meal. If students do not learn and go to school, the cycle of poverty will most likely continue.

A solution to this problem exists with school gardens that can help overcome the nutritional crisis. Not only will children be guaranteed a meal during lunch, but they can also learn how to eat a healthy and nutritious meal.

For 14-year-old Marita Wyson, a student from Malawi, her school garden is making a lasting impact on her life and helping her gain the proper nutrients for healthy adolescent development.

“I am able to understand what my teachers are telling me,” she said. “My grandmother doesn’t have to worry so much about how she will provide food for me and my sister.”

With governments partnering with organizations around the world, school gardens are becoming increasingly popular and have shown to give students a better understanding about the environment. If children are introduced to agriculture and the environment at an early age, they are more likely to have a better attitude about the subject.

While the deadline for the U.N.’s 2015 Millennium Development Goals has passed this September, two of the most important goals — cutting poverty in half and making primary education universal — have come a long way since the turn of the century.

While poverty has been cut in half since 1980, primary education lags behind in developing countries including sub-Saharan Africa.

The introduction of these school gardens in developing countries may become the turning point in eradicating global poverty. With the world united, school gardens can make not only an immediate difference but ensure the future of children living in developing countries.

– Alexandra Korman

Sources: FAO, KCET, The Christian Science Monitor, Vox World, WFP
Photo: Flickr

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Experts to Create a Global Health Risk Framework

What is the Commission on Global Health Risk Framework
In response to recent outbreaks of infectious diseases such as Ebola, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and H1N1, the National Academy of Medicine is coordinating a new Commission on Global Health Risk Framework. The framework will address the need for better local and global health infrastructure to stem the spread of diseases on a global scale.

The Commission is a multinational, independent board made up of 18 members from 11 countries. The National Academy of Medicine serves as the secretariat. Those serving on the board are members of their countries’ health ministries and funds while others work in universities and the insurance industry.

To create the framework, the Commission will convene four workshops, each lasting up to three days. Topics include governance for global health, financial responses to pandemic threats, resilient health systems, and research and development of medical products.

A wide range of experts will address the layout of related global initiatives, challenges and lessons learned from past health threats, and the reactions of governments, communities, and the private sector during threats.

The first public meeting was held in Washington D.C. on July 29, 2015. At the conclusion of the four workshops, the commission will publish a consensus report on how to address the issues raised and will provide detailed recommendations for fixing  problem areas. The report is scheduled for release by the end of 2015.

– Katherine Hewitt

Sources: NAM 1, NAM 2, News Medical
Photo: Flickr

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Field Ready Uses 3D Printing to Create Disaster Relief Supplies

Field Ready Uses 3D Printing to Create Disaster Relief Supplies
The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) calculates that 2.9 billion people have been affected by disasters between 2000 and 2012. According to UNISDR, 1.2 million were killed and $1.7 trillion in damages sustained. Natural disasters and other humanitarian emergencies are a profoundly influential part of the global human experience.

Unfortunately, recovery from disaster can be just as costly, both to governments supplying aid and victims of the disasters themselves. In the aftermath of floods, earthquakes, conflict and other emergencies, access to basic items needed for survival is severely limited and expensive. NGO Field Ready understands this struggle.

“In a humanitarian disaster, simple items can mean the difference between life and death,” the organization’s website explains.

However, the site goes on to state, “A bucket, for instance, essential for health and hygiene, may only cost a few dollars in a capital city but supply chains and support costs mean that in reality this simple item is expensive and can take weeks or even months to arrive in the hands of disaster victims.”

The good news? 3D printing technology may just be the solution. Field Ready specializes in using the technology to meet the needs of disaster victims and provide humanitarian relief.

Following the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti, Field Ready worked with other relief organizations to print products like mosquito-net closures and tools for aid workers, TB patients, newborn babies and maternal care. The organization’s efforts established safer patient areas and workspaces, as well as reducing the risk of mosquito-borne disease.

During their first stint in Haiti, Field Ready’s members were especially struck by the shortage of maternal health equipment. Although nurses and doctors could sometimes improvise makeshift tools such as clamps for newborn children’s umbilical cords, Field Ready sought a better solution.

They were able to print clamps on 3D printing presses, reducing the risk of neonatal umbilical sepsis. Field Ready also trained Haitian staff to use 3D presses to ensure that they would have a permanent alternative to importing costly equipment from more developed areas at additional expense. Instead, health workers are now able to print parts and tools when needed.

Field Ready also printed a prototype for a prosthetic hand, assembled from only five parts, and proved the capacity for 3D presses to produce items needed to maintain and improve the printers themselves.

In total, Field Ready’s efforts in Haiti assisted a dozen aid workers and 60 medical patients. The organization has since set its sights on improving conditions in Nepal.

“In the coming weeks, an assessment will be carried out to determine how Field Ready can best contribute to medium and long-term recovery and reconstruction efforts,” the organization promised.

These efforts, they believe, will likely focus on repair and capacity building, with an eye to help the Nepalese spearhead their own recovery and development.

“Even in crisis situations, people need more than just ‘stuff’ […] they need the skills and knowledge that will empower them to look after themselves and those around them,” the organization asserts.

Field Ready seeks to give disaster victims that tool for empowerment through technology. Through training disaster survivors in developing areas, the organization is able to leave a lasting impact. Trainees learn skills they can use to generate income and continue to develop solutions to supply issues facing marginalized regions.

Field Ready has an eye to expand, with the goal of a worldwide network of 3D printing technicians and kit designers. Linked by the Internet, this network would have the potential to share designs and solutions instantaneously on a global scale.

– Emma-Claire LaSaine

Sources: Sci Dev Net, Field Ready, UNISDR, Relief Web
Photo: 3D

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Improving Global Surgery Addresses Development Needs


According to the World Health Organization, 5.8 million people die each year as a result of injuries. This is 32 percent more than the number of fatalities that result from malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDs combined.

The most common life-threatening issues include road traffic, homicide and suicide. The World Health Organization also states that “injuries are a leading killer of youth.” Unfortunately, less attention has been directed toward surgical services in the developing world. A study in the Lancet Global Health Journal analyzed the factors that have contributed to this unmet need.

Key factors include:

  • Lack of leadership in the global surgery community
  • Disagreement on how to address the problem
  • Lack of effective efforts to take advantage of political actions
  • Minimal data on effects of surgical diseases

Despite these difficulties, there are networks committed to advancing the priority of global surgery. One promising solution is to link these efforts with other global health goals.

Basic surgical care could avert 1.5 million deaths per year. A few surgical diseases include blindness, fractures and appendicitis. While we may place less of an emphasis on these health issues, in comparison to HIV/AIDS for example, they still place significant burdens on the quality and productivity of life in developing communities.

It is important for the above factors to be addressed with existing organizations that have the structure and ability to bring attention to this goal. With adequate healthcare, communities in developing countries are more likely to develop in a sustainable and equitable manner.

– Iliana Lang

Sources: World Health Organization, The Lancet
Photo: Unsplash

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Developing Countries Need to Raise Enrollment of Disabled Children

disabled
A new report released last week by Human Rights Watch (HRW) has detailed how an estimated 500,000 children with physical and mental disabilities are not enrolled within South Africa’s primary education system.

The monitoring group underscores within their report the growing trend worldwide of children with disabilities failing to become enrolled in primary education programs, specifically in developing countries and regions grappling with conflict.

The report was compiled based on individual interviews with 70 parents across South Africa; researchers traveled throughout KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Gauteng and the Northern and Western Capes in late 2014.

In reference to South Africa, the report asserts, “Although the government claims it has achieved the MDG of enrolling all children in primary schools by 2015, HRW found that in reality, across South Africa many children with disabilities are not in school.”

The report also details the failure of many primary schools to accommodate disabled students and provide adequate educational services, as well as inherent discrimination against certain students through the application of additional fees.

Hannah Kuper, the co-director of the International Centre for Evidence in Disability at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, argued in a recent interview, “Many, if not most, of disabled children are not enrolled in schools in developing countries. We need to raise awareness that disabled children have the right to attend school, and that including them often involves only small changes in the school or teaching methods, or even just in attitudes.”

She offered potential solutions for this problem in detail — “The first thing that we need is more data in order to know how to enroll children with disabilities in school. We need to know which children are most excluded and why, in order to see how to overcome these barriers. And we need to know what works best to address the needs of disabled children when they are in school, so that they can have the best education possible.”

The Malawian Ministry of Education announced that they had successfully mainstreamed over 90,000 disabled children into their primary school systems as part of their Inclusive Education Program. The program has also offered funding for structural modifications to schools, including the installation of ramps and handicap restrooms compatible with disabled students.

The author of the HRW report, Elin Martínez, questioned the complacency of the South African government in discriminating against education opportunities for disabled children. “The South African government needs to admit that it is not providing quality education to all of its children – in fact, no schooling at all to many who have disabilities.”

Qinisela, a South African mother of an eight-year-old with Down’s Syndrome, told HRW researchers, “We tried to put him in a [mainstream] school but they said they couldn’t put him in that school because he has disabilities […] because of Down’s Syndrome he isn’t like other children so they [said they] can’t teach him. At the therapy, they promised to phone if there’s a space in a special school. I’ve been waiting since last year.”

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which were designed by the United Nations to replace the near completed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), will be put into place next year and include several regulations intended to improve the lives of disabled children, specifically within primary education and employment.

South Africa has attempted to remain active in the push disability advocacy, as they adopted policies to prohibit the exclusion of disabled children from primary education in 2001 and were one of the first countries to ratify the United Nations Disability Rights Convention in 2007. Despite these significant policy advancements, many officials have expressed concerns about disabled children’s access to primary education not just in South Africa, but across the developing world.

Jo Bourne, the Chief of Education for UNICEF, warned in a press statement, “Despite recent progress, there are still some 59 million primary-age children and 65 million adolescents out of school—often children living in poverty, girls, children with disabilities, children from ethnic minorities, children living in conflict or those engaged in child labour. These children and young people are among the most disadvantaged citizens from across the developing world and are not only excluded from the opportunity of education and learning for their own individual development, they are missing out on the opportunity to contribute to their communities and economies when they reach adulthood.”

– James Thornton

Sources: Malawi Nyasa Times, The Guardian
Photo: The Guardian

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Innovative Policies that Spur Growth and Reduce Poverty

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A handful of standard policies have been used throughout the world over many decades to attempt to decrease poverty. However, poverty is still a massive problem worldwide. It is also known that healthy economic growth is vital to reducing poverty. What are some new, innovative policies that can be used more widely in conjunction with existing policies to maximize poverty reduction and spur economic growth?

One of the most well-known innovative systems of reducing poverty has been the microcredit or microfinance system that has been perpetuated throughout areas with high densities of impoverished people. Bill Gates has said that he believes that providing more access to mobile banking (an extension of the ideas behind microfinance), will have huge impacts on the way the poor deal with money and will help reduce poverty.

Many innovative new policies are aimed at specific demographics in order to fully leverage the investment in a way that affects the poor best. For example, many of the poor live in rural areas and are involved in agriculture.

Due to the large role of agriculture in many impoverished people’s lives, one organization named Katalyst gives out small packets of high-quality seeds to farmers in Bangladesh. The result? Incomes for these farmers increased on the whole by over 300 million dollars.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has begun to fund proven methods of development. Two programs, one from Colombia and one from Haiti are being funded by the UNDP. Both programs focused on job training and development for people in vulnerable areas of the respective countries.

A third program was aimed at helping the government of Laos address the infrastructure concerns and problems in local areas, which eventually helped over 300,000 people to get better goods and services as well as local infrastructure.

Another idea which is incredibly simple is now being more widely accepted as a method that would prove valuable. Give poor people money. Giving unrestricted cash transfers to the poor has not been a popular policy in the past because many fear that the money would be wasted on nonessential goods or illegal activities.

However, a study based on a model like this was done in Uganda and resulted in a 38 percent increase in wages by the end of the study in the group that was given the unrestricted cash transfers. In addition, hours worked and business assets both increased significantly. The myth that the money would simply be wasted via this simplistic approach seems to be being dispelled.

Most of these ideas are not based on some new understanding of poverty. The existing rationale behind each one is held in commonly held knowledge about the different attributes of poverty and those in poverty.

The innovations are creative ways of tackling the most basic traits of the impoverished, unemployment (specific job training centers), lack of money (unrestricted cash transfers), and giving high quality seed packets (agriculture as a means of income).

By addressing these known factors in new ways, these policies have proven to be of use in the instances they were used, and should be more widely spread across the globe to help increase the rate of poverty reduction.

– Martin Yim

Sources: OCED Insights, United Nations, Social Science Research Network
Photo: CNN

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Students Work on Prosthetics to Help World’s Poor


Providing prosthetics in developing countries can be challenging because of the lack of technology and support. Two students at Texas A&M University may have the potential to make prosthetics quicker, cheaper and more accessible.

On campus, Brandon Sweeney and Blake Teipel have discovered how to make prosthetic body parts using a 3D printer.

“With a typical 3D printed part, it’ll just peel apart between the layer, so it’s a pretty fragile piece, but for this technology, with the coating, as you print the layers you heat up the whole part and cause fusing to happen all across the entire component,” says Teipel.

Their new invention is increasing in demand. Teipel says, “Globally, every 30 seconds, there is a new amputee.” Most prosthetic options, however, are extremely expensive, sometimes $50,000 or more.

With their new discovery, they believe prosthetics should not be this expensive. “At the very basic level, the materials cost and the time it would take to make it? $20,” says Sweeney.

As products become more affordable, it is that much more possible to make them accessible for those in developing countries.

“Next generation materials are making it possible for us to address problems that have so far been too expensive to technologically advanced, especially for the world’s poor,” says Teipel.

Several large companies are interested in their technology and the pair hopes to team up with one who is socially conscious and believes in doing good.

– Kelsey Parrotte

Sources: KBTX, TSRHC, JMU
Photo: Flickr

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Tax Inspectors Without Borders

financing-for-developmentTax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB), convened at the Third International Conference On Financing For Development back in July, is a joint operation between the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the United Nations Development Programme.

TIWB will play a vital role in unlocking billions of dollars over the 15-year course of the Sustainable Development Goals.

TIWB’s strategy has evolved out of the revelation that every year, roughly $3 trillion in government revenue goes uncollected due to tax avoidance.

IMF researchers estimate that developing nations lose $213 billion each year for those reasons. Finding a way to get their hands on that money could help those governments invest more in education, health, energy, infrastructure and the like.

Tax law can be dense, confusing and hard to follow, especially when multinationals make it that way on purpose. For this reason, TIWB will send in highly trained tax accountants and audit specialists that will work with national tax agencies. They will strengthen tax audit capabilities and help design smarter tax policies.

The details are less exciting than the results.

Pilot projects are underway in Europe, Latin America and Africa, all of which are helping national governments increase revenue stream that will be vital for financing the Sustainable Development Goals. The numbers speak for themselves. From 2011 to 2014, tax revenue in Colombia increased from $3.3 million to $33.2 million.

TIWB is extending the hard work of previous initiatives including the Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation and the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.

They all arose in an environment where multinationals are gaining in power and influence and governments around the world are strapped for cash. In trying to rebalance the scales, they are looking for everyone to pay their fair share.

The money that will come from more effective regulation will be crucial for funding the Sustainable Development Goals. Furthermore, the expertise and training that the TIWB will provide to developing country governments around the world is an extension of the philosophy embodied in the SDGs themselves.

This form of technical training and capacity building will lead to more professionals in developing countries and their skills will become necessary to help their countries develop.

– John Wachter

Sources: The Guardian 1, The Guardian 2, OECD 1, OECD 2, UNDP
Photo: TaxLinked

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Engage Emerging Nations, Improve Education Spending

Engage Emerging Nations, Improve Education Spending
Global Education is a hot topic. It has been a part of the Millennium Development Goals and the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals. There was a recent Education Summit in Olso, Norway, in July. Education was also part of the discussions at the International Conference on Financing for Development.

Education leaders believed that there was a downturn in funding and supporting quality education for boys and girls around the world. However, after this year’s attention to education, this trend may be behind us. Mobilizing donors has had positive results. The financing committees work to enable traditional donors, private philanthropy and emerging nations.

One of the biggest game-changers is the Emerging Nations. They have a lot of potential to improve education standards and bring education to more people. The Global Partnership for Education brings together its developing nations partners and constituents before board meetings. The countries come together and exchange ideas and practices that work or didn’t work for them, allowing knowledge to spread more easily. It also gives the board an idea of how to tackle problems and how to approach education in these areas.

The meetings show that emerging nations are engaging in educational discussions and want to invest in the improvement. That is why it is important to mobilize these nations to spend on education. Show them where and how their money will be most effective.

Developing Nations are said to be growing economically more than developed nations. They will account for 65 percent of global growth up until 2020. It is important to reach out to them on such an important topic such as education. These countries have the resources to better education not just for their citizens, but for all global citizens by donating to global education. They can be the ones to close the $39 billion deficit in global education financing. The emerging nations are the ones that will benefit the most from education spending.

– Katherine Hewitt

Sources: Devex, Global Partnership, ICEF
Photo: Higher Education Development

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Silicon Valley and Global Energy Poverty

Silicon Valley & Global Energy Poverty
Over one billion people around the world do not have reliable access to electricity. Furthermore, 2.6 billion people are reliant upon biomass to cook, which causes harmful indoor pollution. The World Health Organization estimates that approximately four million people die each year due to habitual inhalation from these toxins.

The Silicon Valley is at the apex of technological achievement and is inhabited by some of the brightest and most creative minds on the planet. There has been a mounting international appeal to Silicon Valley to use their intellectual tech brilliance for philanthropic efforts.

There has been criticism for focusing on solutions to micro problems that intend to only service the individual, as opposed to global humanitarian issues. Responsibility, however, cannot rest solely with the entrepreneurs themselves. Widespread global issues do not always necessarily lend themselves to the venture capitalist system.

Tech entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa notes this struggle: “Investors believe that the quickest hits come from building apps or games that go viral, or from creating websites that automate business processes. This was surely the case in the social-media era, when even children who had not completed their college education could write apps. But we’ve built enough messaging and photo-sharing apps, and have bigger opportunities now. It is possible for the young and the old to solve real problems, to great effect.”

Continents like Africa, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, have limited access to electricity and are being viewed as a possible new frontier for tech consumption. In some parts of the continent, Africans walk miles to the nearest power grid just for a cell phone charger. Even then, because of the demand, it can take hours and it is expensive. For this reason, solar energy has recently seen a boom in usage particularly by telecom companies being funded by tech investors. The rationale is that broadening electrical access across the continent will hopefully cause a surge in mobile phone usage.

Tesla has created a Powerwall home storage 10kwh battery that is capable of powering 1,000 watts of current for 10 hours. In comparison, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates the average American household uses 1,200 watts, 24 hours per day. The battery is capable of recharging via solar or wind energy. The only downside is that the battery unit costs $4,000, which does not include installation. The average per capita income in Sub-Saharan Africa is well below $3,000, making the unit well out of most price ranges.

Nonetheless, the Powerwall home storage stands as a promising, albeit a rudimentary example of Silicon Valley creativity and ingenuity being applied for a global purpose.

– The Borgen Project

Sources: National Geographic, Huffington Post, Wadhwa, Forbes
Photo: Silicon Beat