Information and stories on development news.

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Violence Against Women in Papua New Guinea


Papua New Guinea is an island in the South Pacific located just north of Australia, with a population of around 7 million. It is a developing country, ranking 156 out of 187 countries on the UN Human Development Index. 

Papua New Guinea suffers—like most developing nations—from high levels of poverty and corruption within the government due to vast oil and gas reserves.

But Papua New Guinea doesn’t simply have to deal with the normal problems of a developing country. Sadly, in recent years this island nation has become known for rampant and increasing violence against women.

It has been reported that 68 percent of PNG women suffer from violence. What is worse is that one in three women have reportedly been raped. As with most rape statistics, that number is often low, as many women who have been raped do not report it.

Violence against women in Papua New Guinea is not always of a sexual nature. Women are often accused of sorcery, and violence is used as retribution. In February 2013, there was a highly publicized case of a 20-year old woman accused of sorcery. As punishment, she was burned alive. 

Domestic violence seems to be the most prevalent form. It is often the result of the male’s desire to assert authority over his female partner because he may perceive that she is acting insubordinate or lazy. 

Amnesty International states that this type of violence “includes rape, being burnt with hot irons, broken bones and fractures, kicking and punching and cutting with bush knives.”

There have been some attempts by the government to deal with this issue. In April of last year, the 1971 Sorcery Act, which criminalized sorcery, was repealed.

In September 2013, the parliament in PNG passed the Family Protection Bill, which made domestic violence illegal. 

However, many women still do not know of the existence of this law, and implementation has been difficult and not very far reaching. The same is true of the sorcery law, which is in the appeals process and does not change the pervasive cultural view of the existence of sorcery.

Women’s groups from within and outside PNG continue to try and spread awareness of this issue and work on programs that attempt to eradicate these grave human rights violations.

Statistics and research on this subject are hard to find though. Women’s rights groups have a difficult time funding further research because no raw data exists. Papua New Guinea is low on the international radar.

Awareness and further research on this issue is needed in order to help the women of Papua New Guinea escape this terrible cycle of violence.

– Eleni Marino

Sources: Child Fund, Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, Islands Business, Human Development Report, United Nations,
Photo: ABCNews

The Importance of Clean Cookstoves

On March 10, Senator Susan Collins of Maine introduced the Clean Cookstoves Support Act. The bill has received support since being introduced. It is co-sponsored by Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois. In order for the bill to receive more support, though, people must understand why clean cookstoves are so essential to the well-being of people in developing countries.

According to the World Health Organization, 4.3 million deaths were caused by cookstove smoke emissions in the year 2012 alone. This number is shockingly high, but maybe not as surprising with the knowledge that over half of the world’s population currently cooks over unclean and dangerous surfaces.

By cooking over open-air fires or dirty cookstoves, families are putting themselves at risk. The smoke from the fire releases harmful toxins into the air that can get trapped in a kitchen space and cause diseases. When the same smoke is released through unsanitary cookstoves, the risk of illness is even higher.

The smoke is also bad for a person’s lungs. Damage done to the respiratory system is detrimental to long-term health and can make accomplishing simple, every-day tasks more difficult.

Because of familial roles in many developing countries, unsanitary cooking conditions have affected women and children more than men. As a result, the average age of death will become lower. Women with smoke-related illnesses experience a great deal of difficulty in child birth, and high child mortality rates are never good for a country’s statistics.

Aside from health related issues, a family would benefit from replacing old cookstoves and open-air fires because the new methods are so much more efficient. The Justa wood conserving stove, for example, is 70 percent more efficient than a regular stove. Families can save a lot of money by switching to safer methods of cooking and heating.

U.S. citizens should also realize that the Clean Cookstoves Act would have a positive global impact as well. Cleaner cookstoves and more efficient methods release fewer chemicals into the air. Therefore, the strain on the environment is reduced. In order to stop or slow climate change on a global scale, the world needs to take action in areas of the developing world that are emitting harmful chemicals without knowing.

If passed, the bill would initiate the replacement of dangerous cookstoves with more efficient ones in 100 million homes by 2020.

Supporting the bill and funding its causes will help families learn how to burn wood more efficiently and provide the money necessary to refurnish kitchen areas in more environmentally conscious ways.

Senator Collins calls the Clean Cookstoves Support Act the “low-hanging fruit” of sustainable development goals. Unsafe and unsanitary cookstoves are a quick and easy fix that just require a little bit of planning and additional funding. With these resources, the bill could change the lives of millions of people combatting harmful diseases and other negative effects of inefficient open-air fires and dirty cookstoves.

– Emily Walthouse

Sources: American Society of Civil Engineers, The Borgen Project, Govtrack, Susan Collins
Photo: Clean Cookstoves

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Education in Singapore

Singapore is the most developed country in Southeast Asia and one of the most developed countries in all of Asia. Its education system is an accurate reflection of that development as Singaporean students consistently rank as some of the best scoring students on international assessments.

In the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), an annual global study conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Singapore ranked second in mathematics, third in reading, third in science and second overall for student performance.

And the students excel in more than just test scores.

Singaporean students won numerous international science and mathematics competitions in 2014. At the 27th International Young Physicists’ Tournament, for example, the Singapore team took first place. At the 25th International Biology Olympiad, the 46th International Chemistry Olympiad, the 55th International Mathematics Olympiad, the 26th International Olympiad in Informatics and the 45th International Physics Olympiad, the Singapore team consistently won multiple gold and silver medals.

Singapore undoubtedly has high quality education and exceptional student performance due to the structure of its education system. For children between the ages of 6 and 15 years old, education is compulsory, but there is also a social norm to proceed on to tertiary education and to succeed.

Singapore currently has four universities and five polytechnic institutions that focus on practical degree programs in disciplines like tourism, biotechnology, engineering, business, communications and hospitality management. The quality of Singapore’s primary, secondary and tertiary institutions is so high that 86,0oo international students come to Singapore to study.

Findings from the 2013 Teaching and Learning International Survey by the OECD explain how and why Singapore succeeds in providing quality education. According to the survey, teachers receive not only extensive training before they reach the classroom, but also professional development throughout their careers as instructors. School culture is reported to be collaborative and teachers are highly respected in Singapore.

Ho Peng, Director-General of Education, says the quality of education in Singapore starts with creating quality teachers. “Ensuring that our teachers are competent and professional is critical, to bring out the best in every student and prepare him or her to meet future challenges,” Peng said. “We will continue to look for ways to support our teaching force to enable them to do their best for our students.”

Singapore’s education model is successfully rooted in core ideologies, pragmatic approaches and societal norms. Students have for many years performed unparalleled in academic competitions and test scores, and the country will continue to see successful development because of its superlative approach to education.

– Joseph McAdams
Photo: The Real Singapore

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Malnutrition in Bangladesh

Malnutrition in Bangladesh remains a severe problem, especially for women and children.

According to the United Nations, 33 percent of Bangladeshi adolescent girls are anemic and micronutrient deficient and 25 percent of women ages 15-44 are unhealthily thin for their height. About 48 percent of Bangladeshi children are malnourished and 1.5 million of them die each year from diarrhea that both worsens and is worsened by malnutrition.

A variety of factors cause malnutrition in Bangladesh, the two most prominent being poverty and food insecurity. These two problems limit one’s ability to live on a diet that provides all the nutrients necessary for healthy living, leading to malnutrition.

The country has high levels of absolute poverty, with nearly 50 million of its people unable to obtain food, clothing or shelter. Thus, even while Bangladesh has managed to reduce poverty by 50 percent since 1971, almost one-third of the population is still impoverished. Poverty is in turn exacerbated by a major distress to Bangladesh: natural disasters.

Consider the food crisis of 1974-75. A deluge destroyed two rice crops in a row, robbing heavily impoverished rural populations of their main source of income. In addition, the lack of rice contributed to malnutrition on an extreme scale. One in four children became “third-degree malnourished,” meaning they were less than 60 percent of a median weight-for-age measure.

Even more problematic, natural disasters in Bangladesh have been described as “frequent,” though not all have been as devastating as the ’74 flood.

In addition to and as a result of poverty, the people of Bangladesh suffer from high levels of food insecurity. The recently released Global Food Security Index (GFSI) ranked Bangladesh 88th out of 109 countries and reported that Bangladesh’s decline in food security was the ninth fastest in the world.

The Bangladeshi diet has the lowest share of non-starchy foods of all the countries studied in the GFSI. This indicates very poor nutrition and diet diversification, which of course induce micronutrient deficiencies.

Other causes of malnutrition in Bangladesh include the fact that many Bangladeshi mothers were never taught proper child-rearing behaviors; in addition, mothers often lack access to health services that are necessary to secure the health of their children.

Despite all of these problems, there is hope. Rates of childhood malnutrition have fallen recently, albeit gradually. In the past 15 years, vitamin A deficiencies among Bangladeshi children have been significantly reduced.

Also, income levels in Bangladesh are on the rise. Typically, this correlates with a decline in malnutrition, and while some South Asian countries mysteriously lack this correlation, Bangladesh is not one of them.

As International Food Policy Research Institute researcher Derek Headey noted in his 2013 study: “From 1997 to 2007, Bangladesh recorded one of the fastest prolonged reductions in child underweight and stunting prevalence in recorded history, 1.1. and 1.3 percentage points per year, respectively.”

Thus, while malnutrition in Bangladesh continues to be a major problem, some signs suggest the country is heading in the right direction for attacking that problem. Moreover, if the country’s overall food security increases somehow, a major reduction in malnutrition may follow.

– Ryan Yanke

Sources: The Hunger Project, JSTOR, FAO, World Food Programme, International Food Policy Research Institute, Global Food Security Index, NHS, Bread for the World, The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Photo: Axis of Logic

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Poverty in Italy Today

Rome, Italy has a population of nearly 2.9 million people and is considered to be one of Europe’s most significant cities. Notwithstanding its status as a city rich with culture and history, Rome is also a victim of poverty.

Although the country has seem some economic stability during the past several years, Rome, as well as the rest of Italy, are not foreign to financial turmoil.

Several years ago, poverty in Italy reached its highest level in over 16 years. It resulted in high levels of unemployment and lower wages. Today, more than 16 percent of the country’s population lives in poverty.

In Italy, poverty is defined by a family of two living on a monthly income of 991 euros or less.

Similar to much of the industrialized world, Italy experienced an economic recession following the global stock market downturn of the late 2000s. Between 2011 and 2012, the nation saw its poverty levels increase.

Like the rest of the country, Rome’s economy is decidedly mixed. Even though Italy has seen some economic improvement in recent years, there continues to be some worrisome signs.

As a metropolitan city and popular tourist destination, Rome, like many of Europe’s cities, regularly sees its economy boosted by tourism. This is in conjunction with an increasingly significant number of African refugees who occupy isolated camps and villages around the city.

Unlike other countries, Italy does not provide refugees with adequate skill sets and chances to seek new economic opportunities. Many of these refugees, who are from the impoverished nations of the Horn of Africa, often find similar poverty conditions along the outskirts of Rome.

Such poverty is not limited to African refugees, however. Thousands of children in the city live in a state of poverty. Austerity measures, generated by the recession of recent years, have not had much of an effect.

Perhaps only time can help alleviate some of Rome’s economic suffering. With its notable tourism industry, Rome will likely remain one of Europe’s most prominent cities despite its lingering poverty problem.

– Ethan Safran

Sources: Reuters, Ansa Med, Open Society Foundations, Global Post, The Guardian
Photo: RT

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Outlook of Latin American Markets

Save a few exceptions, outlook for the Latin American fiscal market is bleak. The region as a whole will grow only by two percent and is marked by countries like Peru, where growth has been exceptionally slow, and even more notably by the recent default in Argentina.

This was Argentina’s first default in 13 years, but the eighth default in its history. When the country defaulted in 2001, the government issued negotiable promissory notes that the country later decided not to honor. When Argentina renegotiated to pay back its debt at 30 cents on the dollar, over 90 percent of the bondholders agreed.

The remaining investors did not yield, and were led by Elliot Management to find a solution and be repaid. In a strange turn of events, the Wall Street firm, with only a few hundred employees, managed to attain control of an Argentine naval vessel. It should be noted that no physical force was used, and the original crew was allowed to remain aboard.

Despite the theatricality and the poverty held within Buenos Aires, the nations of Colombia and Peru offer interesting insight into the future of prosperous Latin American countries, even if they show what not to do.

In the short term, Colombia is succeeding. The first reason for its success has been called “winning the commodity lottery.” Colombia’s main exports, oil and coal, have held steady prices in recent years. However, that is hardly replicable. When copper and gold staggered, so did Peru, as the two materials account for 50 percent of exported goods.

Colombia has reformed as well. They have lowered mortgage rates through an agreement with banks and public subsidies. Unemployment decreased, and jobs in construction grew vastly. A law signed in 2012 cut payroll tax, while raising income rates on the better off. It was a true success story, as jobs grew at eight percent.

Peru, in contrast, saw its currency depreciate. Poor contracts in fishing and farming markets lowered public trust. Several corruption scandals did not help matters, either.

The government has tried to respond by including bonuses and increasing wages for state employees, while giving out extra loans for small businesses. Analysts predict that such reforms could have Peru overtake Colombia once more, especially if their lottery fortune increases even marginally.

– Andrew Rywak

Sources: Slate, MercoPress, The Economist
Photo: The Budget Traveler

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World Humanitarian Day

“One person can make a difference and every person should try.”
- JFK

On Aug. 19, World Humanitarian Day is celebrated by hundreds of thousands of people around the world, recognizing the struggle and sacrifice made by aid workers.

World Humanitarian Day first began in 2003 in the wake of a terrorist attack that killed 22 aid workers who were working at the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq. Since then, the day has been set aside not only to shine a spotlight on those who often go unrecognized for their efforts, but also to remember those killed or seriously injured.

Since that first year, millions around the world have helped raise awareness of the real dangers that many aid workers face. The 2012 campaign – “I was here” – was one of the most successful reaching one billion people. It even included a song of the same name by Beyoncé in collaboration with the U.N.

In a video message about this year’s event, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated, “Last year, more humanitarian workers were kidnapped, seriously injured or killed than ever before. This is an outrage,”

World Humanitarian Day provides a chance to honor the fallen and support those who continue to work despite the dangers they face. This year’s theme, ‘The world needs more,’ is a campaign meant to recognize humanitarian work and raise awareness about the great work being done and to offer support. The organization is highlighting different aid workers around the world, posting short excerpts of their stories and what motivates them to keep going on its website.

In honor of this day, the U.N. asked people to be a part of the conversation by tweeting #humanitarianheroes and listing someone they admire. This allows people around the world to show support for the workers that risk their lives everyday and whose efforts often go unnoticed.

The organization has also put out an interactive map that highlights the work taking place all over the world including Iraq, the Central African Republic and the Gaza Strip.

World Humanitarian Day is the rare opportunity to celebrate the unique spirit that undertakes humanitarian work. It is a chance to recognize thousands of people who face incredible odds and dangers to help those most in need.

– Andrea Blinkhorn

Sources: World Humanitarian Day 1, World Humanitarian Day 2, Vimeo, IB Times
Photo: Starmedica

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History and Causes of the Somali Famine

somali hunger

Famine entails a widespread and extensive scarcity of food, attributed to a “triple failure” of food production, access to food and political response by governments and international donors.

According to the U.N.’s five-step scale of Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, famine (Stage 5) requires that “more than two people per 10,000 die each day, acute malnutrition rates are above 30 percent, all livestock is dead and there is less than 2,100 kilocalories of food and 4 liters of water available per person per day.”

By the time the U.N. declares a Stage 5 situation, there has already been massive loss of life. From 2010 to 2012, Somalia was gripped by a crippling famine that killed nearly 260,000 people. Half of these deaths were children under the age of five.

Somalia was devastated by a two-year drought, which caused reduced harvests, food inflation and a steep drop in labor demand and household incomes. The country had already been suffering from high levels of malnutrition and child mortality, but the drought skyrocketed numbers even further. It also killed off valuable livestock, the only assets many families possessed.

Learn what causes poverty.

But what turned a natural drought into a man-made catastrophe was the inability of Somalia’s government and donors to tackle the issue of chronic poverty. There was already a serious lack of development and investment in basic infrastructure. During the famine, healthcare professionals reacted too slowly and the government itself was in shambles.

Somalia has been entangled in a civil war for the past two decades, and the subsequent violence and upheaval have greatly contributed to the famine.

During the 2010 to 2012 famine, the Islamist group al-Shabaab was at war with the government. Another factor was that the United States—Somalia’s main source of food aid—had discontinued their supply of aid in 2009 to avoid providing food to al-Shabaab.

Since the civil war began, and after an inadequate U.S.-led intervention attempt, the West largely withdrew from Somalia’s affairs. Having failed to stabilize the state and provide the needy with food, a worrisome pattern emerged. Humanitarian aid and food relief were only brought into Somalia with the permission of local war lords or clans, who used violence to control access to resources.

The U.S. withdrawal of aid in 2009 also pressured international aid organizations to do the same, because they feared U.S. backlash should they continue to provide food or supplies.

The U.N. first declared famine in Somalia’s Southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions—both controlled by al-Shabaab. The militant group denied that there were any food shortages whatsoever, forbade famine victims from fleeing the country and banned international aid agencies from operating within its territories.

The Obama administration responded by providing waivers to aid organizations to protect against prosecution. This shifted all blame of food aid blockages to al-Shabaab, which subsequently led to a sharp drop in public support for the group. Bereft of support and power, Al-Shabaab withdrew from the capital city of Mogadishu, which they had occupied since 2008.

The U.N. declared the Somali famine over in February 2012. However, the strain on al-Shabaab and similar organizations continues to grow as people demand more access to food aid. Ethiopia and Kenya have considered training Somali militia to fight al-Shabaab and other terrorist organizations, but this could prove to be a dangerous move in such a conflict-ridden country.

In the 21st century, the public has the ability to completely eradicate famine, and has done so on every continent except Africa. In order to fight famine successfully, a variety of steps must be taken. More funding must be invested in African food production to prevent droughts from completely annihilating crops. There must be more support for farmers and pastoralists to raise hardier crops with cheaper inputs and learn about risk management in the case of a disaster. More aid must also go to infrastructure investment and fortification of unstable markets.

Currently, emergency aid is vital to helping Somalians gain a foothold after this devastating famine. However, effort must also be made to examine the root causes, in order to prevent similar disasters from occurring in the future. The world was slow to act on warning signs this time, but with greater long-term investment, Somalia has the potential to deal with droughts and natural disasters effectively and without external aid.

– Mari LeGagnoux

Sources: Oxfam, SBS, Foreign Affairs, BBC
Photo: Flickr

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Migrant Workers in Shanghai

Standing on a bustling street in Shanghai, it is hard to ignore the feeling of constant movement and intensity. The mantra seems to be: keep moving and keep progressing. And at both the individual and state level there is an insatiable desire to be the best.

But at what price? The pace of development in China is incredibly impressive and yet, despite the new and efficient subways, trains, and buildings, a contrast of wealth still exists.

As a whole, China has been on the forefront of poverty reduction in the last couple of decades, raising nearly 300 million people out of poverty. However, it is not hard to find the instances of impoverishment that still exist even in some of the most developed cities, like Shanghai.

The population of Shanghai in 2013 was 23.9 million, making it the largest and most populous city proper in the entire world.  Furthermore, it has experienced double digit growth nearly every year since 1992, falling below double digits only temporarily during the 2008-2009 recession.

According to the 2010 census, more than 39 percent of Shanghai’s residents are migrant workers who have flocked to the city from the nearby provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, Sichuan, and Henan seeking better economic opportunities. These migrant workers in Shanghai, who have made up the largest percentage of the city’s growth in the past few years, often live in the poorest conditions.

As development has increased in China, upwards of 250 million people have left the countryside for the east coast in the hopes of finding more lucrative work. Migrant laborers often work in labor, construction, factories as well as the service sector. Their wages tend to be lower than those of Shanghai residents and their living conditions incredibly poor. Just down the street from the newest high apartments and office buildings, it is not unusual to see old neighborhoods crowded with huts full of migrant laborers.

It’s important to note that poverty for migrant laborers is relative. In China, poverty and inequality differ dramatically in different parts of the country. Many laborers, who migrate to Shanghai for work, come from even poorer rural villages. While their wages are low, the income is often still better than what could be made back home.

Despite this, without a Shanghai hukou, a registration card that is used to classify where individuals are from, migrants are unable to live in subsidized housing, access basic health care and unemployment benefits, or enroll their children in local schools.

Marginalized and discriminated against, the poorest of Shanghai struggle to find social acceptance as well as economic security in their new lives. Yet, these migrant workers are the drivers of China’s tremendous economic growth. If this growth continues, the people of Shanghai will have to find a way to better accommodate their ever-evolving workforce. One of the biggest obstacles Shanghai faces is housing. Real estate prices are extremely high, leaving many people with low wages unable to purchase or rent homes.

Addressing this issue, as well as reforming the hukou system to allow for migrant workers to access health, education and other public services, will help further reduce the poverty and inequality that persists in Shanghai and China as a whole. It is easy to let the gleaming towers and trendy streets distract from the reality that most of Shanghai’s current population is still very much struggling to move beyond impoverishment.

– Andrea Blinkhorn

Sources: Poverties, China Perspectives, World Population Review, Nyuzai Shanghai, WSWS
Photo: The Globe and Mail

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Poverty in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires, Argentina is a difficult place to be poor.

The government announced earlier in 2014 that poverty levels at the national level continue to decline. Between 2011 and 2012, the nation’s poverty levels dropped from 5.7 percent to 4.3 percent. However, the impoverished of Buenos Aires continue to experience hardships.

Despite a slight reduction in poverty in the first decade of the century, Buenos Aires’ residents considered to be either poor or extremely poor continue to heavily populate the city.

Rising food prices in recent years have contributed to the problem. Crime is also a common problem in and around Buenos Aires. According to a 2011 report, crime is considered to be “one of the biggest burdens facing residents.” Robberies, especially muggings at bus stops, as well as street violence and other shootings are not unordinary in part due to a lack of police presence in areas of the city and the metropolitan region’s poorer areas.

Not helping the level of poverty in Buenos Aires is the city’s inadequate housing. Much of the city’s substandard housing was built with second-hand materials. Some of the buildings were never even finished.

While the city’s water and sanitation levels are adequate, Buenos Aires’ general infrastructure is subpar. The metropolitan areas lack the necessary architectural support to withstand hazards and extreme weather events.

In addition to such shortcomings, notable discrepancies exist among the city’s wealthy and poor. Even though certain areas of Buenos Aires remain inadequate, the more wealthy parts of the city possess newer, stable infrastructure.

Like other regions in South America, Buenos Aires features an abundance of low-income housing on unstable land. This includes land with contamination, low-lying and flood-prone areas and land on or near landfills.

One of the government’s most notable criticisms is its indecision in implementing a national poverty line. Even though many developed and some developing nations maintain such a threshold, Argentina does not.

In recent years, the Argentinean government stated that six pesos, or roughly $1.30, are enough for a citizen to sustain an entire day’s worth of food. The statement drew outrage both domestically and internationally. Given the expenses of living in a city, the average Buenos Aires resident would face financial hardships subsisting on such an amount.

Recently, children inhabiting one of Buenos Aires’ most dangerous slums have utilized cricket and the competitive spirit of sport as a means to separate themselves from a life of poverty. The Caacupe cricket team has seen some of its players enter training sessions at private schools and even play internationally.

“You can really use it in life as well,” fourteen-year-old Alexis Gaona said in an Associated Press article from March. “From here you have a reference for the rest of your life.”

It is a silver lining in a city where being poor poses many challenges.

– Ethan Safran 

Sources: Buenos Aires Herald, Yahoo News, International Institute for Environment and Development, Worldbulletin
Photo: Flickr