Information and stories on development news.

Village Health Works Rebuilds a Burundian Village

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Burundi, a tiny east African nation and one of the world’s five poorest countries, is a landlocked state of 10 million and has witnessed a 12-year civil war that has left more than 300,000 casualties. For any global health organization, the country is an intimidating assignment. However, Seattle physicians Sachita Shah, Kris Sherwood, Joseph Alsberge and Harvard’s Dr. Paul Farmer, founder of Partners in Health, donate their time and medical expertise to Burundians through the nonprofit organization, Village Health Works.

More than 20 years ago, Village Health Works’ founder Deogratias Niyizonkia, fled from a gruesome massacre in a rural hospital in northern Burundi where he was a third-year medical student. Following his escape in 1994, Niyizonkiza fled to New York City, graduated from Columbia University and attended the Harvard School of Public Health. It was there that he met Dr. Farmer, and began working at the PIH in Burundi’s neighbor country, Rwanda. Shortly after, Niyizonkiza returned to Burundi and realized his dream of establishing a rural clinic in his native village of Kigutu in 2007.

The plundered nation of Burundi currently has fewer than 300 physicians and to combat that, shocking health statistics. Wasterborne diseases and lack of sanitation account for one in five deaths and more than 54 percent of children under five suffer from extreme malnutrition. The country also has one of the highest rates of child mortality in the world – nearly 180 out of every 1,000 do not make it to five years old – and the average life expectancy is 50 years old. Most of those deaths are due to infection including diarrheal disease, pneumonia and malaria.

However, Niyizonkiza, Farmer and their team are a blessing amongst all the hunger and disease. “Village Health Works was an idea in my mind for a long time,” said Niyizonkiza. “When I came to the United States, I left Burundi, but it never left my mind. One of those memories was mothers dying in childbirth.” Since its opening in 2007, Village Health Works has treated more than 70,000 patients. In 2012 alone, the clinic saw promising steps forward. It treated more than 22% more patients than the years before, saw a 221% rise in prenatal consultations and a 228% increase in voluntary HIV testing.

The mission that Village Health Works has set out on shows that even a small group can make a large impact. The clinic itself has drawn mass attention and for many outsiders, has put the country of Burundi on the map. The lives that have been saved and the health battles that have been fought are no small victory.

– Sonia Aviv

Sources: Cross Cut, Village Health Works, Wheelock College

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The Importance of Malls in Africa

Malls in Africa
In late September 2013, a group of Al-Shabab terrorists entered the upscale Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya and opened fire on its patrons. The siege lasted about four days leaving at least seventy people dead, including women and children. In the aftermath of the Westgate Mall attack, the question, “Why a mall?” remains.

At first glance, it appeared that the attackers chose the mall because white patrons frequently visit it. However, pictures and video from the attack that later surfaced show that a variety of people were caught in the crossfire. Whether the terrorists knew it or not, the importance of malls in Africa and the very different roles they have in society as compared to those in the United States, create a security hazard that may be breached in the future.

By the year 2025, more than half of Africa’s population will live in cities, nearly a 25% percent increase from thirty years before. Africa has the fastest growing middle class in the world, and the retail industry is developing rapidly as a result. As investment shifts from natural resources, plans to build malls in Africa to meet retail demand are growing as well. Currently, about fifty mega malls are expected to be built by one South African development company.

Malls play an important role in modern African cities because they act as an epicenter for socioeconomic development. In surrounding communities, class separations are evident through gates and barbed wire that divide the rich and poor. As malls in America are characterized by some as centers of economic conformism, African malls create an opportunity for a diverse assembly of people to engage in activities and behavior that they may not normally be comfortable with due to the more traditional views of the areas.

The difference between African and American malls can also be seen in their interior characteristics. Generally, malls in Africa are much cleaner than American malls and elaborately decorated. Compared to the surrounding environments, these malls offer patrons the feeling of entering a new world. As African citizens continue to become more sophisticated and technologically advanced, the elaborately designed atmospheres in these malls provide a break from issues that plague many different areas of the continent such as rough public infrastructure, internal government conflicts and the mark of dire poverty.

The increase in mega mall development in Africa will enhance infrastructure and give people a glimpse of an innovative and developed African dream. However, the Westgate Mall attack may result in a boost in security precautions at malls all over Africa, and patrons may find it difficult to find an escape in the mall from harsh realities that exist outside their walls.

– Daren Gottlieb

Sources: PolicyMic New Republic

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Kenya Launches Railway Project Funded by China

Kenya Launches Railway Project Funded by China
On Thursday, November 28, Kenya launched a multi billion-dollar railway project that will link the port city of Mombasa to the capital of Nairobi. The President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta calls the project, “a historic milestone.” Kenyatta told the media, “The project will define my legacy as President of Kenya.” The railway was built by a Chinese state-owned firm called China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), and is funded by the Chinese government. Completion of the first section is estimated within the year 2017.

This is certainly a big deal for Kenya, and for Africa. The current railway in Kenya was built back in the Colonial Era. This project is said to be the nation’s largest infrastructure venture since Kenya’s independence 50 years ago. The new railway comes with economic and China-Kenya relational benefits.

The new transportation addition will impact the people in the region tremendously. This first link of the project, Mombasa to Nairobi, will cut travel time from 15 hours to about 4 hours. Passenger trains will reach a maximum speed of 75 mph.

At the railway launch ceremony, President Kenyatta said, “What we are doing here today will most definitely transform… not only Kenya but the whole eastern African region…east Africa will become a competitive investment destination. A busy growing east Africa is good for us as a country.”

Chinese Ambassador to Kenya, Liu Guangyuan also spoke at the ceremony. He said the railway is a strategic endeavor for Kenya. He noted how railways have powered China’s economy for quite some time.

Deputy Director of the African Department at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, Roger Nord, also explained the impacts this project will have on the east African people. “From an economic point of view, this is quite beneficial, improving both access to global markets and boosting regional trade,” he said.

The railway has allowed a Kenya-China relationship to grow and look toward the future. In regard to the relationship, Guangyaun said, “Kenya is stepping forward…it will be a landmark project for Kenya and east Africa.” In reponse, President Kenyatta praised the Chinese for their support, and felt the Chinese are, “A true friend to Kenya.” Kenyatta pointed out how the Chinese are currently technological leaders when it comes to railway infrastructure. Kenyatta thoroughly thanks the Chinese leaders present at the launch ceremony.

– Laura Reinacher

Sources: FT, Aljazeera, BBC, Global Post
Photo: WUNRN

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Paved Roads Lead to Life

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The roads of the Roman Empire were a novel concept that led to the empire’s complete dominance over the European continent. Mobility and safe transport has always been the hallmark of all successful societies and civilizations. 1.2 billion people around the world lack access to modern all-weather roads. Consequently, the paucity of properly maintained paved roads in developing countries not only hampers economic growth and hopes of socio-economic stability, but also endangers lives. The current shortfall in road safety is known to kill as many people as malaria.

A recent statement made by the World Bank Group on November 12, reinvigorates the Group’s commitment to the establishment of safe roads and transportation in developing countries. The report cites the lack of universal access to water, electricity and most recently, roads as the three main areas of concern in global development.

Roads allow for the movement of goods, trade and services within and between countries, fostering positive growth in economies. Roads also promote universal access to jobs, school and medical facilities for locals.

The World Bank currently supports projects such as the Iraq Transport Corridor Project and the Yemen Corridor Highway Project, in the hopes of boosting internal trade. The Group’s investment in rural roads in Morocco have also doubled the primary education enrollment and established regularity in hospital attendance and emergency health response.

Making roads safe and clean for children, people with disabilities, pregnant women and women with babies are also the foregrounding concerns of the Group’s transport sector arm. The efforts would save 380,000 lives over the next 10 years in the Middle East, where traffic accident-related deaths are among the highest in the world.

The enhancement and establishment of modern roads in developing countries is an innovative concept and push against social inequality. Roads are in their very nature democratic and equalizing in physical and ideological form, paving the way to universal development for all walks of life.

– Malika Gumpangkum

Sources: World Bank News, World Bank, The Guardian

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GIS: The Universal Language of Development

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If a picture is worth a thousand words, a custom-tailored map which can be manipulated to display the interactions between multiple selected variables must be worth entire books. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provides this power to the user who understand the language of the software, and this power is especially important to development and aid organizations seeking to maximize their impact.

Unlike conventional cartography, GIS software can exploit social, economic, political, and environmental data to create an image which can then be layered onto the topographic landscape in any way the user desires. The relations between layers, and between data within layers, can then be presented to the viewer in a way that draws attention to the important facts.

This differs fundamentally from the report by presenting information visually, without losing depth in the way that a chart or graph flattens the ethnographic depth of the actual survey informing it.

Geospatial analysis has been used primarily for military purposes in the past, but that situation is already evolving. USAID is deploying geo-analysts in almost every program to give its staff the most useful information possible, going so far as to institute its own geospatial arm, to ensure the best possible use of the existing technology. The United Nations is on a similar path.

A software which was once esoteric and difficult to manage – akin to prototypical PC operating systems – has been streamlined and aestheticized so that with less than a year’s training, anyone can masterfully manage multiple databases with thousands of streams of data into coherent maps.

As with any form of communication and representation, there is a danger of misrepresentation and error. Factors can be ignored or manipulated to produce maps that do not mirror reality, or that fail to bring attention to critical factors. Even if the map is sound, it can still be misused by those with ulterior motives or simple incompetence.

As with all analysis, GIS relies entirely on a substrate of reliable data from which to extrapolate conclusions. Unlike polls, however, GIS data does not require a ‘boots on the ground’ approach – though this can be useful. For many applications, remote sensing, satellite imagery, and tomography are sufficient, meaning that, in many situations, the difficulties of other analytical approaches are evaded.

What is more, with cloud computing becoming nearly universal, a global GIS network, shared by all development agencies, would perpetuate a system whereby an up-to-date cartographic representation of reality would be accessible to those seeking to capitalize on its wealth of information, thereby bridging the gap between those who are able and willing to help – but lack an idea of where to begin or what needs doing – and those who require assistance. GIS transcends language barriers, enabling global cooperation and understanding to tackle pressing issues. In that way, GIS is becoming the universal language of development.

– Alex Pusateri
Sources: Directions Mag, Esri

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International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

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On October 17, International Day for the Eradication of Poverty was celebrated in honor of the goal to end world poverty by 2030. Declared by the UN General Assembly, this annual day serves as a reminder to promote the need to end poverty and destitution in all countries, specifically the developing nations.

In celebration of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Interaction, the NGO alliance, highlighted global programs that are already making an impact. One of these programs, A World Vision program in Zambia, has made health care, education, and psycho-social support accessible for more than a quarter million children. The program has also trained nearly 40,000 volunteers to assist people living with HIV across the country. It is programs like these, indeed, that are helping us reach our goal.

In hope to get to zero percent by our lifetime, NGOs, like Interaction, are essential parts of the solution. “We cannot let over a billion people suffer in extreme poverty when we have the tools and the research to change their lives for the better. … We can do better. We have to do better,” said World Bank president Jim Yong Kim.

So far, the world has made significant progress in working toward this goal. While it is bold, it is undoubtedly achievable. Already, extreme poverty rates are half of what they were two decades ago. In 1990, nearly one in two people in the developing world lived in “extreme poverty” or on less than $1.25 a day. Today, this number is about one in five. Because of the help of many institutions, government and nongovernment organizations alike, we have been able to make immense developments. Still, it is not enough. The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty recognizes these groups that have made all the difference through these years and even further, motivates people to help take those next few steps forward.

– Sonia Aviv

Sources: UN, Global Dimension, Devex
Photo: Times Square

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Forum on Sustainable Development, UN Seeks Scientific Input

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Following the termination of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), the UN announced recently the formation of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. The new organization seeks to supercede the original, which operated from 1992 to 2012, by incorporating more input from the scientific community and providing a centralized, direct interface between data and policy makers.

The CSD was ahead of its time when it was first created, but had major flaws. Representatives from and experts on topics under discussion were not included in key talks, and as such, solutions ranged from impractical to irrelevant.

Members of governing bodies with the power to enact the solutions that were feasible were not always in communication with the CSD, and the measures were not carried through with the necessary vigor. As these problems compounded, the CSD came to be little more than a subsidiary of ECOSOC.

Aware of the numerous faults, the UN commissioned a special report on the CSD’s failures and addressed each of them with the new Forum. Annual meetings will be structured to ensure constant attention, and every four years, an additional meeting will be convened with the aim of attracting the highest level policy makers to streamline the legislative process and make appeals for particular actions directly to those with the power to do so.

In the same vein, the Forum on Sustainable Development will seek greater integration between UN agencies, to give it the greatest possible reach and resources in tackling the broad problems that are its concern.

Most importantly is the UN’s commitment to seek out and utilize the expertise and knowledge of the scientific community. Environmental, biological, and social scientists will be looked to to identify and address the most pressing problems facing the globe; economists will be sought to consider the financial feasibility of all solutions and, indeed, the Forum itself, which will have its own independent budget to operate from.

As a central aegis under which the many (and incontrovertibly convoluted) disciplines can dialogue to tackle issues in the most efficient way, the Forum on Sustainable Development is itself addressing a major issue: the disconnect between information and policy.

Socially segregated from the much of the rest of the world, the work done by scientists remains stuck in academic journals and treatises, unless it contains enough flash and style to appeal to major media outlets. There is an argument to be made that if the general public was aware of the relentless pace of scientific progress in every field, and the severe constraints put on it by a scarcity of funding, favorable sentiment would increase dramatically.

None of this is set to happen until 2016, pending the announcement of post-2015 Development Goals, but the UN appears committed to making the Forum fully equipped to hit the ground running when its objectives are officially announced.

This swift action is a promising sign in an institution which has been known for sluggishness and irrelevance, and is one sign among many recently that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is aware of the UN’s singular place in the contemporary world and the necessity for it to aim for the greatest possible goals.

If the bureaucratic cogs continue to churn at the same rate, the world will have a beacon of hope come 2016, and the coming years may vindicate the often-criticized Mr. Ban.

– Alex Pusateri

Sources: Sci Dev Net: UN Launches New Sustainable Development, All Africa, Sci Dev Net
Photo: UN News Centre

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How Technology can Alleviate Poverty

Technology can Alleviate Poverty
Politicians everywhere are starting to learn the relation between technology and poverty. They are starting to realize that in the growing demand for new innovations in technology plays a part in the solution to poverty. Technology makes not only global communication and information access easier, it also creates infrastructure and development in developing nations, helps discover and get access to alternative resources, and along with all this, helps create many jobs and stimulates the economy.

 

In Practice: Technology Eradicating Poverty

 

Chile’s president, Sebastian Pinera, sees the importance of technology and how it can alleviate poverty. The Chilean government has almost doubled their investment in technology. Pinera hopes this will help Chile rise out of poverty by the end of the decade. Various programs in Chile encourage innovation and development of technology. From organizations that give grants to entrepreneurs to organizations that support travel abroad (such as Silicon Valley in California) to see and learn how the hub of technology works, there is a lot of encouragement of creativity and innovation in Chile. Such dedication to eliminating poverty helps not just those living in poverty, but also the national economy, and the world with the possible technological innovations.

Organizations like Practical Action focus on helping those living in extreme poverty with the help of technology. Their concept of technology justice, that technology should be aimed at helping humanity rather than just focused on pleasing the consumers who can afford technology, is something that will greatly benefit those in need. By bringing those living in poverty access to technologies such as electricity, technology that ensures clean water, technology that improves agricultural yield, and preparation for natural disasters, Practical Action gives them opportunities that bring not only financial stability and good health, but also the opportunity to rise out of poverty.

– Aalekhya Malladi

Sources: Bloomberg, Practical Action
Photo: Twisted Sifter

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How do you Accurately Measure Extreme Poverty?

New Definition of Extreme Poverty
We currently measure poverty by quantifying it as existing on less than $1.25 USD a day. Not only is that an inaccurate capture monetarily, the true cost or measure of poverty often exists on parallels outside of the economic benchmarks given to development and poverty.

A recent event organized by ActionAid described the $1.25 a day or less benchmark as a starvation line, not a poverty line.

Lant Pritchett of the Center for Global Development has argued that a single monolithic figure to indicate extreme poverty is not only flawed, but fails the poor on an additional level. He has suggested employing a range to indicate and understand extreme poverty, and identifies those living in the range of existing on $10 USD a day or less as those living in extreme poverty.

The current definition of extreme poverty would suggest that only 6% of the world’s population is poor. Taking Pritchett’s range of $10 a day or less, it expands to 5 billion of the 7 billion global population as living in poverty.

Keeping the definition to an economic understanding still does not account for the reality of what poverty means to those who are trapped in it. Consider how even if someone earns enough to live off $1.25 or even $10 a day, without education and access to healthcare or social services, he or she will still exist in a state of extreme poverty.

Not only do they lack the same access to key factors of human development and progress, they are just as likely to be trapped in its cyclical and systemic nature as someone who is numerically counted as living in extreme poverty.

In wealthy countries, the Pritchett range does not account for many who would obviously be identified as part of the global poor and as living in extreme poverty. The economic measurement of poverty varies between national borders and rests on the value of a given currency.

Those who live in extreme poverty, regardless of the borders surrounding them, face similar risks and lack similar basic needs. If development can be universally measured, why can’t poverty?

The Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative along with ministers from several countries in the developing world have pushed for the adoption of a multidimensional poverty index (MPI). An MPI could be utilized alongside economic indicators to present a more dynamic and nuanced understanding of poverty, how to address it, and how to measure progress when combating it.

The MPI would measure individuals and households across a series of parallels, including access to healthcare and education.  This would create a profile of deprivations to not only measure extreme poverty, but to offer a structural analysis of the ways in which people are impoverished and what is being denied to them.

The data would also provide indicators for points of investment in development, so that suffering and the ways in which it can be eliminated can be measured.

– Nina Verfaillie
Feature Writer

Sources: The Guardian, National Review, World Bank
Photo: Awareness Bali

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AMK Cambodia

amk_finance
Angkor Mikroheranhvatho (Kampuchea) Co. Ltd. (AMK) began as a part of Concern Worldwide; their initial work was with savings and credit in Cambodia. From the years of 1997 – 1998, this area of work was separated from their broad-spectrum focus in regards to community development programs.

The vision of this branch of the organization was long-term, a Cambodian society in which citizens would have “equal and sufficient economic and social opportunities to improve their standard of living, and where they could positively contribute to the overall development of the country.”

The section had grown significantly by the year 1999, having accumulated a value of about KHR 1,000 million (US $250,000). With this success in mind, Concern Worldwide began the process of making this division an independent legal entity.

In 2001, the name of the organization was set to Thaneakea Ponleu Thmey (TPT) and became an officially recognized Cambodian Microfinance Institution (MFI). As things progressed from 2002 to 2003, the organization finally gained its current title – AMK. It was now independent from Concern Worldwide.

Over the years, AMK has built itself up to be a highly successful organization with a large amount of growth and stability. AMK even weathered the global financial crisis of 2008. It is currently regarded as one of the leading financial institutions in Cambodia.

The staff of AMK keeps ethics high on the priority list. Their Code of Practice includes the following: inclusion of the poor, transparency and honesty in transactions, ethical and respectful behavior, avoidance of over-indebtedness, freedom of choice, reasonable and collaborative collection practices, accessible complaint and problem resolutions, and privacy of client data.

At this moment, AMK provides credit to over 250,000 Cambodian customers (over 2 percent of the entire population and 9 percent of the households in Cambodia). This large number gives AMK Cambodia the ability to exercise great influence over financial inclusion in the country.

Other information regarding the organization’s successes and current assets can be found at AMK Cambodia’s Highlights.

– Samantha Davis

Sources:  AMK Cambodia, Britannica
Photo: Oiko Credit