Archive for category: Development

Information and stories on development news.

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Women and Environmental Protection

Women suffer the most when it comes to climate change and natural disasters, yet in many areas around the world, women do not have a large say in the policies surrounding environment or how finances are used towards environmental protection. In areas where it has been tested though, empowering women can lead to better preparedness for disasters and better governance of natural resources. Overall, gender equality can lead to better environmental governance.

Rachel Carson created the modern day environmental movement with her book Silent Spring. Today women following her footsteps around the world are essential in the protection of our environment.

In Nepal and India, when more than the minimum threshold of one-third women participated in forest committees, it resulted in forest regeneration and a decrease in illegal extraction of forest resources.

Another success story took place in Kenya and Ethiopia, where women took a leadership role managing the risks regarding the 2005-08 drought cycle. The women generated income by diversifying livelihoods and then saved using women’s savings and loan groups. By doing this, women were able to preserve resources, which then lead to better food security.

Women also play an important role in protecting the environment because they can have a strong impact on the amount of carbon emissions in our atmosphere.

Due to gender norms that exist regarding labor in the household, many of women’s day-to-day tasks have a direct impact on carbon emissions. This means that when a goal is set to reduce carbon emissions, it is up to women to make environmentally friendly decisions regarding cooking, farming and what they purchase for their families.

Women’s decisions regarding cooking fuel, cooking technology and which foods they choose to buy have an impact on the amount of carbon emission released. Women also often have a say in agricultural practices that have an impact because they can determine whether carbon is released or stored in agricultural soils and above ground biomass. In many areas, women are the ones making household purchasing decisions at markets. Because of this women directly impact the amount of carbon emitted through the production, distribution, use and disposal of goods.

From leadership roles to every day decisions, women are an important component in protecting the environment for now and for future generations.

– Kim Tierney 

Sources: World Bank, UN Women
Photo: Environment and Society

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USAID: Initiating Smart Investments in Kenya

In January of this year, USAID announced a new poverty reduction initiative in Kenya. In partnership with Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) and General Electric (GE), USAID promotes investments in Kenya between the KCB and medical institutions that need financial assistance to offer appropriate medical care.

To provide this assistance, banks will grant loans to hospitals and other health centers. These investments in Kenya would have previously been considered unsafe and unlikely to be returned, but under the agreement with USAID, they are guaranteed reimbursement. If a full return cannot be made, USAID will pay back 50 percent of the loan.

The KCB, according to the deal, is obliged to divvy $1 million for medical equipment like MRIs, incubators and other standard-increasing machinery to be used in local health centers. GE has left $660,000 dollars for USAID to use as potential reimbursement funds, though only $500,000 (50 percent) should be used. In return, the Kenyan health services will purchase GE equipment, expanding GE’s global market.

There are some, however, such as Monica Onyango of Boston University, who are afraid this may lead to an overstated importance of imported goods, when in fact, locally manufactured equipment is better for local economic development.

Michael Metzler, director of Development Credit Authority (which is the tool used by USAID to promote loans, as in the initiative in Kenya,) reassures skeptics like Onyango that local business and manufacturing will still have the power Kenya needs it to have to grow. Quoted recently in a Global Post article, Metzler said that “we’d be very sensitive to a deal in which that was the case.”

Aside from the deal’s economic influence, clearer effects of the enhanced medical treatment new loans insure will be seen in public health. This expedites poverty reduction in Kenya by reducing the number of deaths caused by preventable diseases thriving in impoverished communities. These include diseases such as HIV, diarrhea, tuberculosis and malaria.

Illness and poverty go hand in hand, and until one is dealt with, the other is likely to expand. This new USAID initiative incorporates this idea and acts accordingly.

— Adam Kaminski

Sources: Health Poverty Action, Global Post, Federal News Radio
Photo: USAID

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Solving the Cambodian Toilet Crisis

A Southeast Asian organization has used simple economics to create an effective solution to the Cambodian toilet crisis.

The Ministry of Rural Development reports that 61.4 percent of rural Cambodian households lack toilets. Open defecation has been proven to cause diarrhea, malnutrition, stunted growth and negative impacts on a child’s cognitive development.

However, according to a water and sanitation report published by The World Bank, more than half of the Cambodian households that lack a latrine could, in actuality, afford one. With current awareness and subsidy campaigns, latrine coverage has been increasing by only 1.3 percent per year, which means it could take more than 60 years for Cambodia to be “Open Defecation Free.”

WaterSHED is a Phnom Penh-based organization, founded in 2010. This humanitarian team works on water and sanitation marketing in Southeast Asia. The founders of this agency discovered that building toilets in Cambodia was outlandishly expensive. The price to build and assemble a toilet was between $250 and $400, but with Cambodia’s GDP per capita at around $950, having a toilet has been traditionally reserved for the wealthy.

Using a supply and demand framework, WaterSHED toilet suppliers lower their prices, increase their volume and offer a complete package including toilet installation for only $45. Families can pay for these latrines with microfinance loans targeted only at the very poor.

With this new method WaterSHED has reported the sale of 75,000 toilets in 59 of Cambodia’s 171 districts. This rate of toilet installation increases the annual coverage rate up to 7 percent.

The impact of WaterSHED’s advocacy has seen visible results. IRIN, a humanitarian news agency affiliated with the U.N., interviewed citizens in the Kompong Speu Province. In this village of 160 families, around 100 have recently installed a new toilet. The families have already seen the health benefits of their new latrines, including less frequent fever and diarrhea.

The World Bank argues that making the elimination of open defecation a top priority for policy makers in Cambodia is crucial to the productivity of the next generation. With innovative programs like those implemented by WaterSHED, the future looks brighter for the youth of Cambodia.

— Grace Flaherty

Sources: IRIN News, World Bank
Photo: Flickr

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TaiwanICDF Provides Clean Water

April 11 marked the official opening ceremony commemorating the completion of a new, groundbreaking water supply system made possible by the Haitian government, the Red Cross Society of the Republic of China and the International Cooperation and Development Fund of Taiwan (TaiwanICDF.) The new water system will reportedly supply safe and clean domestic water for over 90 percent of the area’s inhabitants.

In January 2010 a magnitude seven earthquake devastated Haiti and rendered about 1 million Haitians homeless, a number of which relocated from its capital, Port-au-Prince, to New Hope Village in Savane Diane. As a result, the need for accessible and clean water  increased exponentially, and the new system accommodates this need and serves as a sustainable, long-term solution. TaiwanICDF reportedly showed residents how to maintain and fix the system in the event that it breaks down.

The Taiwanese ambassador to Haiti, Peter Hwang, attended this special celebration, as did TaiwanICDF’s Secretary General, Tao Wen-lung. Wen-lung said the system would provide enough water not only for over 200 homes, but additionally for the village’s health facility, school and nearby agricultural irrigation needs. He described it as “a real godsend for local residents.”

In a video on the TaiwanICDF website, a local resident describes the arduous three-hour process he formerly endured to transfer water from a far-away source back to his home. Now, he has a quick and easy water source practically in his backyard. In the video, the resident also thanks TaiwanICDF for their instrumental role in developing and maintaining the system in his village.

China and Taiwan are hosts to numerous humanitarian organizations. TaiwanICDF is particularly focused on infrastructural and economic development for long-term stability in needy nations and regions, as well as technical cooperation, humanitarian assistance and international education and training. This type of maintainable, long-term investment in developing nations has provided a model by which helpful contributions in such countries can make significant long-term differences.

– Arielle Swett

Sources: ICDF, Taipei Times
Photo: Taiwan Today

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10 Ways to Make Every Foreign Aid Dollar Count

Foreign Aid Dollar
Public opinion about U.S. foreign assistance has remained unchanged for many decades. It is still not unusual for people to choose foreign aid when it comes to deciding where to cut funding to reduce the national deficit.

For decades, pollsters continue to show us how most people think that foreign aid accounts for over 20 percent of the federal budget. In fact, foreign aid accounts for only 1 percent of the federal budget. What is more, of that 1 percent, only half is dedicated to helping the world’s poor.

Despite the limited amount of foreign aid, and the fact that it is always in danger of being cut further, there are several ways in which we can make our foreign aid dollars count. Here are 10 ways to make every foreign aid dollar count; some of which are already being put in practice.

1. Engage recipients of foreign aid as part of the solution.

Instead of treating people in foreign countries as “passive recipients” of money and food, it has been demonstrated that it is much more productive to include them in the process of formulating and implementing poverty reduction initiatives.

2. Transfer some of the responsibilities to local authorities.

Following up with the previous point, another way of engaging with aid recipients is to delegate some of the work to local authorities. Involving local authorities in the design and implementation of aid policies promises to create better results.

3. Use technological advances to improve data management.

Putting to work the many tools available is crucial for gathering data and monitoring the achievements of each aid program. For instance, the State Department launched a website called “dashboard” where all foreign aid programs can be monitored.

4. Create new partnerships and strengthen existing ones with private businesses.

Partnering with businesses and nonprofit organizations provides additional funding sources that helps leverage the small amount dedicated to foreign assistance by the federal government.

5. No private without public.

At the same time, it is imperative not to deviate too much from public funding sources. In the last decade there has been a growing notion that private organizations can gather enough funding for foreign aid. However, according to Paul Farmer, no intervention can be brought to a scale large enough to make a difference without some input from the state.

6. Do independent scientific research.

This is another tool to determine what really works and what does not. More importantly, it is a means to disaggregate politically motivated foreign programs from the ones that would create a real impact on poverty alleviation.

7. Centralize data for better monitoring of aid programs.

Creating an integral database for foreign aid helps identify redundant programs, eliminating waste. In addition, it is an effective way to determine goal-based foreign assistance and monitor the achievements accordingly.

8. Move away from one-size-fits all policies.

In countries with relatively stable governments, it makes sense to implement programs that rely on “country ownership” and more “participatory processes.” However, this might not be possible in countries with governance and corruption issues.

9. Tie aid to goals with measurable results.

This way both donors and recipients can be held more accountable for specific achievements. This will require moving away from generalized goals toward specifying the particular quality and scope for each program.

10. Reassess the way in which foreign aid is allocated based on risk factors.

This last point speaks directly to reassessing expectation. It is important to be realistic when it comes to foreign assistance. Under the best circumstances, there are still many factors that can hinder the progress made in poverty reduction programs. However, studying the risk involved in each case specifically can be a way to improve the chances of success.

There is no single answer to development and poverty alleviation. Foreign aid can be a lengthy and risky business. But using the tools at our disposal and learning from past experience is still a good way to achieve a growing number of successes.

– Sahar Abi Hassan

Sources: Politix, Foreign Affairs
Photo: The Economist

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Effects of India’s Poor Sanitation

Poor sanitation can sometimes be the initial domino that starts a cascading wave of other problems. In the case of India, poor sanitation and open defecation have allowed for an overwhelmingly unhygienic environment and a variety of widespread health problems.

In India, there are more people who openly defecate on a regular basis than live in the entirety of Africa. Out of the 1.2 billion inhabitants, 103 million lack safe drinking water and 802 million lack any sanitation services.

For starters, combining an unhygienic environment with a high population density creates a breeding ground for preventable disease epidemics. Two common hygiene-related diseases, typhoid and diarrhea, prevent their victims from absorbing necessary nutrients which leads to malnutrition. India has higher rates of malnutrition in children than Sub-Saharan Africa.

The effect of having proper hygienic practices is shown when comparing the states within India. States where 80 percent or more of the rural population can access toilets have much lower levels of childhood malnutrition than cities where open defecation is commonly practiced.

Not only are there health consequences to open defecation, but social safety consequences as well. When women and children have to relieve themselves, they are forced to venture into the streets rather than using a toilet in the safety of their own home, which compromises their safety. A senior police officer in Bihar stated that about 400 women would have avoided rape last year if they had toilets in their homes.

The root of the problem is the lack of available or accessible toilets to the general population. Unfortunately, use of the toilets found in developed countries would be impractical and nearly impossible to achieve in India. A waste disposal system would need to be put into place, and toilets like these require large amounts of water, which is rarely consistent in developing countries.

While India is not known for being wealthy, the country ranks fourth in the world for manufacturing competitiveness. With many citizens capable of designing and manufacturing innovative solutions, the possibility of a low-cost toilet is promising.

One type of toilet that could potentially work well with India is the composting toilet, which is a toilet that is used for about a year, and subsequently sealed for 6-9 months, where the heat and decomposition of the feces kills off harmful bacteria and creates rich fertilizer that can be used in gardens.

While India’s poor sanitation has deep-rooted negative effects, the country has the innovative capacity to find an efficient and widespread solution.

– Courtney Prentice

 

Sources: Live Mint and The Wall Street Journal, British Broadcasting Corporation, The Child Fund, Water
Photo: OMICK

 

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WaterAid Shows Africa’s Growing Access to Water

The nonprofit organization WaterAid released a new interactive map revealing that 14 nations in Africa are scheduled to have clean drinking water by the year 2030. This map was released as part of Africa Water Week, which took place from May 26 to May 31, to promote the idea that the accessibility of clean water in developing countries should have a central role in the U.N.’s post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals.

Since its establishment on July 21, 1981, WaterAid has worked to address the serious health, sanitation and hygiene issues that currently exist in a number of countries. This organization also realizes that education and a change in both policies and practices are needed so that an increase in hygiene and sanitation practices can help reduce global poverty. For more than 30 years, WaterAid has provided more than 19 million people with both clean and safe water in multiple countries, and it was even honored with a Top-Rated Nonprofit Award in 2013.

WaterAid hopes that the release of this map will encourage the U.N. to include global access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene by 2030 in their list of Sustainable Development Goals. This new set of goals is expected to expand on the Millennium Development Goals, which will reach their deadline Dec. 31, 2015. Before this deadline, the General Assembly is scheduled to confirm the Sustainable Development Goals in September. According to Water.org, water-related diseases are the cause of approximately 3.4 million deaths each year, confirming that this is a major global issue that needs to be addressed.

This map produced by WaterAid serves two very important purposes because it offers evidence that this is not only a worthy cause, but that it is also realistic and attainable. According to the map, 65.2 percent of people in Sub-Saharan Africa had access to water as of 2013, meaning that approximately 45 million people need to gain access to water per year to reach the 2030 goal. Although this is certainly a large amount of people, only 1.4 percent of the 2030 population needs to gain access to water every year in order to reach this goal.

– Meghan Orner

Sources: UN, WaterAid, WaterAid 2, Water
Photo: SAB Miller

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Solutions For Ending Extreme Poverty By 2030

Currently, 1.3 billion people around the world live in extreme poverty. These people live on less than $1.25 per day, which roughly equates to enough money to purchase food, clean water and fuel for two meals.

The Development Committee of the World Bank set the goal of ending extreme poverty by the year 2030 and there has been some progress toward helping those who live in poverty. In the last 30 years, the proportion of the world’s population that lives below the global poverty line has been cut in half.

This was a steady decline, going from 52 percent in 1980, to 43 percent in 1990, 34 percent in 1999 and the latest numbers state that the percentage of people living in poverty was last at 21 percent.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the number of people living in poverty has declined from 58 percent in 1999 to 49 percent in 2010.

“Eradicating poverty in a generation is an ambitious but feasible goal,” stated the United Nations General Assembly.

The decline from 1.9 billion to 1.3 billion is a great change, but there are still 1.3 billion people living without the means to properly support themselves and their families.

However, there are tools that can help elevate people from poverty, including education, health care, water and sanitation, economic security and child participation.

When children receive a quality education, they gain the knowledge and life skills that they need to break the cycle of poverty. Studies have shown that a better-educated workforce, along with a highly trained workforce, is more likely to enjoy higher earnings. This can also allow them to access better healthcare.

Poverty and poor health are “inextricably” linked. The causes of poor health for those around the world can be rooted in political, social and economic injustices. Poverty increases the chances of poor health, which then in turn can trap communities into poverty. Marginalized groups and individuals who may be vulnerable are often affected the worst, deprived of information, money or access to health services that can help them prevent and treat diseases.

Diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria account for nearly half of all child death globally, and many other diseases, including HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, have affected over a billion people worldwide, thanks in part to poor water and sanitation.

“Sanitation is a cornerstone of public health,” said World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan. “Improved sanitation contributes enormously to human health and well-being, especially for girls and women. We know that simple, achievable interventions can reduce the risk of contracting diarrhoeal disease by a third.”

Preventing the spread of diseases also helps improve education for children, allowing them to be an added asset to their community. When children take part in their community, it helps engage them as citizens and aids them toward a higher economic prospect.

Allowing people to grow by giving them what every person should have allows them to grow economically, but by also providing ways to prevent and treat preventable diseases, the economies of developing countries will grow as well — thus shrinking the number of people who live in extreme poverty around the world.

– Monica Newell

Sources: Heath Poverty Action, Global Citizen, Prospect, WHO, New York Times
Photo: UN Foundation

 

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Chinese Investment Provides Billions for Africa

It is no secret that Africa is one of the most attractive investment destinations in the world today. Among the countries vying for a spot in the foreign direct investment space is China – a country who has been Africa’s largest trading partner since 2009.

Chinese foreign direct investment went from $500 million in 2003 to almost $15 billion by 2012, and this year China has promised to triple Africa’s line of credit from $10 billion to $30 billion.

So where is all of the money going?

China, a beacon of infrastructure achievement itself, is investing largely in roads, rail and aviation networks around the continent.

China recently signed on to give $3.8 billion to help build the “Lunatic Line”—a rail line that will run from Nairobi to Mombasa and eventually link Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. This line, which was first built in the late 19th century, has been decaying for decades due to conflict, corruption and general neglect.

China also pledged $12 billion in energy and infrastructure projects in Nigeria as well as an additional $2 billion for the China-Africa Development Fund.

Why is Chinese investment in infrastructure so important?

In a continent where only a third of Africans living in rural areas have access to an all-season road, investment in roads and rail lines allow people the freedom to travel more easily for jobs as well as for educational and health reasons. The access the infrastructure facilitates helps decrease poverty levels because people are able to access and participate in their country’s economy more easily.

Another attractive characteristic of Chinese investment for many African countries is the promise of non-interference in local politics. While loans from the International Monetary Fund or other Western nations often come with prerequisite guidelines and reforms to be met before aid or investment is received, China requires none of these. As Chinese Premier Li Keqiang aptly put, “We will not interfere in the local politics of any African country, or ask Africa for things which are impossible to observe or do.”

China, who reduced their own poverty levels by 55.7 percent from 1990 to 1997 alone, may be able to provide just what Africa needs to overcome barriers to creating a robust and thriving infrastructure and economy.

– Andrea Blinkhorn

Sources: Business Day 1, Business Day 2, Daily Mail, Heritage Foundation, Wall Street Journal
Photo: Oil and Energy Daily

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Samasource: Outsourcing and Poverty

Outsourcing is a controversial topic in the United States, oftentimes discussed alongside the current unemployment rate. The phenomenon has been addressed politically since the emergence of a world market and is especially infamous in the high-tech industry.

It is difficult to take a hard stance on the issue. On one hand, outsourcing is viewed as unfairly stripping Americans of much needed jobs. On the other hand, outsourcing is seen as essential for the success of some businesses, often involving tasks that Americans have little or no desire to do at unreasonable wages and levels of demand.

Perhaps both stances can be fairly arguable under different contexts, but under which context do American voices fight for the needs of the people taking these outsourced jobs? If high-tech is the future of international industry, shouldn’t the leading nations give way for developing countries to enter the new world market?

One company is framing outsourcing in a whole new light. Samasource, an innovative Silicon Valley startup, views outsourcing jobs to developing nations as not only mutually beneficial, but a key element to lifting communities out of extreme poverty (living on less than $1.75 a day).

Samasource is based in San Francisco and partners with pioneering Bay Area tech giants such as LinkedIn, Google and Microsoft. These companies send Samasource large collections of data (referred to as “big data”) which the nonprofit breaks down into simple projects according to their Microwork model.

The work is then given to their overseas employees in one of nine delivery centers in Haiti, India, Kenya and Uganda. Employment is granted to qualified women and young adults who undergo 2-4 weeks of training. Aside from the fact that tasks are as basic as content moderation, photo-tagging and routine data entry, the workplace imagery resonates with a typical First World office environment that many Americans can identify with.

And that’s the point. The people living in extreme poverty are often educated and willing to work but there is the standing assumption that developing nations have a populace who are limited due to lack of education or political stability. However, many have found that these areas simply lack the economic infrastructure to work in advanced industries.

When founder Leilah Janah graduated high school a semester early to volunteer as an English teacher in Ghana she was surprised to see so many educated and capable individuals living in extreme poverty. They could even speak English, but there just wasn’t any work.

Janah has been praised as a Silicon Valley superstar for her individual incentive to work hard domestically to bring jobs to those in need. Embracing the ideology of “sama,” which means “same” in Sanskrit, Janah has adopted the perspective that everyone deserves the agency to help themselves live a dignified lifestyle through employment. To accomplish this, Janah found outsourcing to be the answer.

Currently, 1.4 billion people live on less than $1.75 a day, and Samasource has calculated that 43 million people can benefit from their Microwork model by creating new jobs in the tech market overseas rather than sending them away. Samasource has already lifted 15,000 people out of extreme poverty by providing jobs to 4,100 workers with families to support. Continuing their efforts to help everyone succeed, the nonprofit has recently created their SamaUSA program which teaches City College of San Francisco students high tech skills at no cost.

Samasource isn’t the end-all solution; international aid is still necessary to provide basic needs for people. Once basic needs are met, providing jobs is the next step to helping those in need to help themselves.

– Edward Heinrich

Sources: Forbes, Mission Local, Samasource, The Telegraph
Photo: The Telegraph