Archive for category: Development

Information and stories on development news.

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5 Women Writing About Global Poverty

Women Writing About Global Poverty
Due to an array of causes, including unpaid maternity leave and lower wages, women are statistically more likely to struggle with poverty than men. This imbalance has driven many female authors to speak up about the issue through writing. The publication of material to inform readers of the realities of poverty is extremely beneficial to the cause. Fiction or nonfiction books can play a major hand in urging the world to take action against this social injustice. Here are five women writing about global poverty.

5 Women Writing About Global Poverty

  1. Katherine Boo is an American journalist, whose reports on disadvantaged populations earned her a Pulitzer Prize in 2013. People know her best for her book, “Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity,” a compilation of interviews and observations from Boo’s time in India. The book follows the stories of several different residents of Annawadi, a slum dwelling in close proximity to Mumbai. The village is home to roughly 3,000 people who experience a life of scavenging through airport waste and residing next to a sewage lake. Boo’s accounts of Annawadi provide a jarringly honest look at life inside of a community struggling to battle poverty within a developing nation. She believes that shedding light on underlying issues is imperative to initiate real change in impoverished communities, like Annawadi.
  2. Shobha Rao was merely 7-years-old when she moved to the United States from India. Her novel, “Girls Burn Brighter,” and her short story collection, titled “An Unrestored Woman,” have received critical acknowledgment for the representation of varying social issues, including poverty. “Girls Burn Brighter” centers on two young Indian women who attempt to escape slavery, sex trafficking and prostitution. The novel distinctly describes various aspects of poverty in Poornima and Savitha’s intertwined tales. Both girls’ families are extremely poor, forcing them to scavenge junkyards; the family sends the children to work the spinning wheel, where the two characters meet. As one of many women writing about global poverty, Rao’s writings demonstrate the dark and brutal effects poverty places on those who endure it.
  3. NoViolet Bulawayo is a native of Zimbabwe, now living in the United States, who uses childhood experiences as inspiration for her writings. The Man Booker Prize shortlisted her literary debut, “We Need New Names;” Bulawayo was the first black African woman and Zimbabwean to receive this award. “We Need New Names” follows a 10-year-old Zimbabwean girl on her journey to escape the impoverished, corrupt conditions of her homeland and seek refuge in America, which does not end up offering any solace to the young immigrant. Bulawayo’s compassion for human rights, particularly of her fellow Zimbabweans, has driven her to become one of the most prominent women writing about global poverty today.
  4. Tsitsi Dangarembga is also a native to Zimbabwe; born and raised in the nation, her creative voice has traveled across oceans to reach the hearts of people everywhere. One of her books, “Nervous Conditions,” earned a place on BBC’s list of 100 Stories that Shaped the World in 2018. Further, the novel’s debut was the first time that a book that a black Zimbabwean woman wrote received publication in English. This story follows a young Zimbabwe girl’s struggle for a better education after her brother’s death. In addition to the other women writing about global poverty, Dangarembga also utilizes this theme as a primary element throughout the novel. Dangarembga’s writing captures an authentic view of the life that impoverished Zimbabweans lead, resulting in a raw story that emphasizes the struggles that millions of women in developing nations face.
  5. Anne C. Bromley is an American poet and children’s book author. In 2010, she published “The Lunch Thief,” a children’s book about poverty. The story focuses on Rafael, a boy who plots revenge against the bully who has been stealing his lunch. Rafael soon discovers that local wildfires had recently impacted the thief and the thief’s family, pushing the family into poverty thus fueling the boy’s theft. In the end, Rafael and the thief become friends through him sharing his lunch. Bromley is one of the few women writing about global poverty in children’s books, which is an engaging and efficient way to introduce children to such issues and how to properly react to them.

Books have the ability to spread information, teach children literacy skills and send hope to a person dealing with social, physical or other circumstances. Further, one could argue that books are one of the world’s ultimate weapons against poverty. These five women writing about global poverty have proven that adversity can give rise to a powerful voice. In a world where women are statistically more impoverished than men, such a voice is essential to starting a movement for change.

– Harley Goebel
Photo: Flickr

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The Benefits of E-Mental Health in Chile

E-Mental Health in Chile
As mobile technologies and the internet spreads throughout the developing world, health care has become a new field for emerging technologies to treat patients from a distance. While the number of online programs and mobile apps has increased exponentially in the past decade, the science to verify their effectiveness has lagged. For this reason, Swiss researchers with Frontiers, a peer-reviewed health journal, studied a series of Chilean intervention technologies to test their effectiveness in treating and monitoring different mental health symptoms in adults and adolescents. The results show that while case studies are lacking in scope and resources to date, initial findings are that e-mental health in Chile is addressing inequalities in mental health access and affordability.

Mental Health Problems in the Developing World

A common misconception of the developing world since the 1990s was that depression and anxiety were conditions unique to the developed world. The Millenium Goals of the United Nations (U.N.) in 2015 made no mention of mental health as a global issue. The U.N. Millenium Development Goals for 2030 now include low-cost mental health as a pillar of development. The belief that poor countries were relatively immune to mental disorders due to their communal living and family-centered life has often inflated this misconception. Experts believed that these strong ties safeguarded poor communities in developing countries from developing mental health disorders. Health professionals, including doctors, psychiatrists and the World Health Organization (WHO) held this belief for most of the 20th century.

However, WHO reported a stark lack of access to mental health services in Afghanistan, Rwanda, Chad, Eritrea and Liberia in a 2005 report. Each country at the time had only one or two psychiatrists nation-wide. Poorer countries spend almost no money on treating mental health in comparison to general medicine. Many still consider access to mental health a luxury in these countries, exposing the socioeconomic inequalities. Prior to this, the World Bank (WB) in 1993 had found that mental disorders were the greatest cause of disability worldwide, including both in developed and developing countries.

According to Tina Rosenberg of The Guardian, the data from the WB in 1993 did not fully capture the influence that depression has on general health in poor countries. The data neglected to take into account how depression and other mental health issues can interact with other illnesses such as its effect on the immune system, remembering to take HIV and other essential medicines or maltreatment of newborns from a depressed parent, for example. Although the debate over mental health has changed since the turn of the century, poor countries still spend very little money on mental health programs or access to treatment.

Affordable Solutions

Psychiatrist Vikram Patel, a Pershing Square professor of global health at Harvard Medical school, stated that the majority of people with mental health disorders require very little counseling to guide them in what he describes as “hope interventions.” In his research in Zimbabwe, he found that there are inexpensive solutions to providing mental health help to those experiencing depression or anxiety. An example he points to is a program that elder community members in Zimbabwe runs. This program sets up benches outside of clinics to engage the public in talking through issues with lay mental health workers. He concluded from his research that mental health coverage in poor countries depends on implementing solutions that were affordable and scalable.

Technology is becoming one of these affordable solutions to address the lack of mental health care. Recent data from WHO shows that 85 percent of developing countries are not getting the mental health treatment they need. The spread of mobile phones in developing countries is a novel solution to bringing a therapist to low-income and rural areas to help bridge the accessibility gap. WHO is now promoting the use of electronic health technologies in its Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020. Technology also offers a confidentiality element that gets around the mental health stigma in some places so patients can seek help in privacy if desired. Smartphones can also be proactive in monitoring their owners, offering routine check-ins, noticing a drop in sociability, reacting to phone usage and vital signs. Above all, e-mental health has the potential to cut costs as there is no need to travel to see a trained professional.

E-Mental Health in Chile

Although technology seems to be a viable and affordable solution to the gap in mental health services in the developing world, it has so far outpaced the science to back up the claim that it is an effective solution. In an effort to catch up with the science, Swiss Researchers with Frontiers Public Health conducted several mini studies on the effectiveness of different mental health intervention technologies in both adults and adolescents in Chile which the Millennium Science Initiative of the Ministry of Economy funded in its Dec. 2019 publication.

Researchers also wanted to know how to address the inequalities in treatment that are observable between socioeconomic groups. They found that only 38.5 percent of people diagnosed with a mental health disorder received treatment in Chile. This comes in spite of 25 years of progressive policies by the government to support the expansion of health services in the country. Those who received treatment tended to come from wealthier and urban communities, such as the capital city.

Nevertheless, the researchers concluded that internet-based digital technologies that individuals used as interventions could reduce the gap in access to mental health care in Chile. For example, the researchers evaluated remote collaborative depression care programs that can monitor patients who live in rural areas with little support. The results show that the program received a higher user satisfaction ratio at six months of care when compared to traditional care. The program utilized internet and telecommunication training for interventions, while making it clear to participants that a trained profession was available in an emergency situation.

Another case study the Swiss researchers examined was from the University of Chile Faculty of Medicine that conducted a feasibility and acceptability study for depression management among adolescent females with mild to moderate depressive symptoms. The psychotherapeutic tool used was an online adventure video game to score and recognize negative cognitive bias, interpersonal skills, healthy lifestyle skills and behavioral health. Most patients, as well as their therapists, rated the game favorably, indicating that they believed their mental health benefited from playing it. In a similar project, called The Mascayano, mental health providers created a suicide prevention program through an online intervention for adolescents. The format for the technology was both an online platform and a mobile application with a virtual community. The intention was for the program to be informative and interactive for participants as well as identify those most at risk.

Another program, called Ascenso, aimed to monitor patients post-discharge from treatment. It used an online assessment to monitor symptoms on a biweekly basis and provided automatic feedback. Most patients accepted the program favorably and said that the program was easy to use, educating them on depression, teaching them self-monitoring skills and being a generally beneficial source of support.

The Implications of E-Mental Health in Chile

The heterogeneous studies that researchers conducted regarding e-mental health in Chile show that digital technologies have the potential to bridge the gap in coverage for low-income and rural areas through a patchwork of different programs that aim to improve mental health for those experiencing depression and other mental health disorders. Those who participated in the different programs reported a good level of acceptability on par with traditional care, if not better in some instances. This is particularly hopeful for those who live in remote locations of Chile and have limited access to health care but experience mental health issues at higher levels than their wealthier counterparts due to economic inequality or location.

Furthermore, the conclusion of the mini studies suggests that the spread of internet-based technology and mobile devices to a younger, tech-savvy generation has proven to be a feasible method of reaching people living in low-resource areas. The authors of the study project that digital technologies such as these have a larger implication for the developing world as well. They represent an affordable delivery system to reach poor communities with mental health treatment, follow-up, education, monitoring and interventions that may inspire policymakers and stakeholders from other developing countries to invest in their own mental health infrastructure to resemble the early successes of e-mental health in Chile.

– Caleb Cummings
Photo: Flickr

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Eradicating Food Insecurity in Brazil

Food Insecurities Decrease Around Brazil
Brazil is the largest country in South America. It also has the largest economy, which has been a key contributor to agriculture and business all over Latin America. Even with improvements in income distribution, poverty remains widespread, as income inequality remains an unsolved issue at the root of rural poverty. Thirty-five percent of the population lives on less than $2 per day, which is a reason for the food insecurity in Brazil. Additionally, 19 percent of Brazil’s population lives in rural areas, which means that Brazil has 18 million poor rural people. Meanwhile, the country’s northeast region has the single largest concentration of rural poverty in Latin America. In this region alone, 58 percent of the total population and 67 percent of the rural population live in poverty.

Food Insecurity

Food insecurity is an important subtopic coinciding with global poverty. When someone is food insecure, it means that they lack access to enough safe and nutritious food to give them the growth and development necessary to be active and in good health. Food insecurity might include a lack of resources or availability altogether.

The Food and Agriculture Organization has implemented the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) which explains the differences between the following categories:

  • Food Security to Mild Food Insecurity is uncertainty regarding the ability to obtain food.
  • Moderate Food Insecurity is the reduced quality and/or quantity of food, as well as uncertainty about how to obtain food due to little or no money or other resources. Moderate food insecurity can also lead to malnutrition. An example of this is stunting in children, which is where they do not have adequate nutrition for necessary growth and physical development. Micronutrient deficiencies are another hazard where children do not receive enough nourishment to give them the proper nutrients they require for growth.
  • Severe Food Insecurity is when one has simply run out of food, and at the most, has gone a number of days without eating.

How Fome Zero Has Decreased Food Insecurity

Brazil, which is the largest country in South America, has been able to combat food insecurity, along with poverty, through government spending on social welfare programs. For instance, one way that poverty and food insecurities have decreased around Brazil is through Fome Zero or Zero Hunger. It launched in 2003 under President Lul da Silva and has been successful in leading the nation out of poverty and improving its food security conditions. Fome Zero has been able to provide meals that have nutritious value and can support the poor’s overall health in order to combat food insecurity in Brazil.

Stunting and Food Insecurity

From the standpoint of public policy, the program has also implemented other ways of protection for those under the poverty line. These include providing not only meals and overall health improvement but also education reform, food production, health services, water, sanitation services and the prevention of growth stunting in children under the age of 5. Stunting has resulted in malnutrition, impaired cognitive ability and declining school performance later on in their lives. With Fome Zero as a premiere social-welfare program, stunting has also declined by almost 20 percent in the last quarter-century. From 1996 to 2007, stunting reduced by half from 14 percent to 7 percent.

These improvements happened because of optimal breastfeeding practices, ensuring a child’s healthy growth and development. Initiating breastfeeding for six months provides protection against gastrointestinal infections, which can lead to severe nutrient depletion, causing the process of stunting to begin. Setting a daily diet and schedule for children, as well as diversity in diet, has improved their health and overall growth.

Stunting results from a household, environmental, socioeconomic and cultural standpoint that requires that interventions for better nutrition integrate in conjunction with nutrition-sensitive interventions. One example is that one can prevent infections by hand-washing with soap, the success of which depends on behavior change to adopt the practice, the availability of safe water and sanitation needs and the affordability of personal hygiene products. Available high-quality foods and affordability of nutrient-rich foods will affect a family’s ability to provide healthier foods to prevent stunting.

Bolsa Familia

Another program that da Silva started in 2003 is Bolsa Familia, or Family Allowance, which has helped decrease poverty and food insecurity in Brazil. The conditional cash transfer program supplies low-income families with a minimum level of income. However, there are two stipulations that go with the deal: their children must attend school daily and they must schedule doctor’s appointments in order to receive aid from the government. More than 20 percent of Brazil’s global domestic program went towards education, health care and protection for all low-income families. From 2003 to 2013, the extreme poverty line population has decreased from 9.7 percent to 4.3, with Bolsa Familia reaching 14 million households, equaling 50 million people. As such, many consider the program to be the most successful in the world.

More than 50 million people receive payments from the program. This depends on family earnings that range from $14 to $140, whether people work part-time or full-time, as well as the number of dependents. As the largest conditional cash transfer in the world, Bolsa Familia reaches more than a quarter of the nation’s population and has lifted more than half out of poverty.

BF has also started a trend globally that has expanded conditional cash transfer programs, alongside Latin America, where over 40 countries have adopted this model to aid those on the poverty line and who are food insecure. Brazil’s next step to put a halt to poverty included the Brazil Learning Initiative for a World without Poverty (WWP), launched in partnership with the Ministry of Social Development, Ipea and UNDP’s International Policy Center in 2013. The Initiative helped support continuous innovation.

The endgame of these program developments is to sustain, if not overachieve, in providing aid to families in Brazil. The levels of success and vast improvements of these programs have helped the country come close to eradicating food insecurity in Brazil, as well as poverty.

– Tom Cintula
Photo: Flickr

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Socio-economic Equity in Brazil and Chile

Socio-economic Equity in Brazil and Chile
Latin America has the worst socio-economic equity gap in the world. The average Gini Index (percentile measurement of income distribution) is 41, which is a 10 point difference in comparison to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average. The Gini Index is like golf in a sense—the lower the score, the better the distribution. Although this region has a high Gini rate, Brazil and Chile have shown real promise in leading the rest of the region in socio-economic equity.

Chile: Counter-cyclical Spending and Education Investments

The Bachelet Administration effectively implemented a counter-cyclical spending policy that helped safeguard against a total economic collapse during the 2008 global crisis. Essentially, social spending reduced and taxes increased during a boom period, allowing Chile to save approximately $18.1 billion with the Economic and Social Stability Fund. During the global recession, Chile increased its social spending and lowered taxes creating demands for goods. When properly executed, counter-cyclical spending more evenly distributes resources without causing stagnation or inflation.

Education is essential to decreasing inequality between low-skilled workers and high-skilled workers; it provides an endowment of marketable skills. Generally speaking, better skills receive better pay. Chile spends 1.2 percent of its total GDP on Early Childhood Education and Care programs.

 In 2017, nearly 33 percent of 19 to 20-year-old Chileans enrolled in tertiary education and 25 percent finished with a four-year degree. Systemic education reform made tertiary education 100 percent free for low-income households. As a result, students receiving government loans and scholarships increased from 17 percent in 2007 to 58 percent just 10 years later.

Chileans have benefited from a reformed education system in a tangible way. Individuals with vocational degrees earn 40 percent more than secondary educated workers. Those with a bachelor’s degree earn upwards of 100 percent, and doctoral graduates earn 4.7 times the average of upper secondary educated workers.

Universal education invests in resource mobility; however, this is only possible if leaders prioritize the fundamental needs of those living in extreme poverty. Brazil, through conditional cash transfer programs, directly addresses the imbalance of socio-economic equity by providing those needs.

Brazil: Conditional Cash Transfers

Non-contributory social protection or social assistance works specifically for those in vulnerable living situations. These programs, funded through a general budget and taxation of public companies, provide monetary assistance to low-income households with children.

Of more than 30 active conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs in Latin America, Bolsa Familia (PBF) is the most prevalent. PBF reduced poverty in Brazil by 28 percent during its first 13 years and assisted over 11 million families a year.

The goal of PBF (and CCTs) is to end cyclical systemic poverty by investing in human development. Families receive assistance after they agree to social responsibilities like taking their children to health care providers and attending school.

Since its inception in 2003, Bolsa Familia integrated four other CCT programs. Today it reaches 46 million people, 54 percent of whom are women. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean estimates that out of 133.5 million people living, 30.2 million households receive a conditional cash transfer.

There is no denying the obvious progression in addressing the imbalance in socio-economic equity in Brazil and Chile; however, much of Latin America still lives in poverty. The long term solution for socio-economic equity is to integrate non-discriminatory policies into law.

Universal Social Protection

The idea of a basic level of income is not new; the concept received debate during the early 19th century in the U.K. Meanwhile, some proposed it in the U.S. in the 70s and then again in 2019 with Andrew Yang’s promise to give $1,000 to every U.S. citizen every month.

Creating a “care pillar” would not only meet the urgent needs of those who need it most but would also promote human development for all. A stronger care system by function distributes necessary provisions of public goods and services, creating socio-economic equity. Unconditional, universal payment to the state inhabitants allows them to meet their basic needs.

The Universal Social Protection in Latin America and the Caribbean states that “by freeing people of the more serious consequences of material dependency, a basic income could lead to a rearrangement of social hierarchies, increase bargaining power of women…and [others facing] discrimination…and open up spaces for greater autonomy…for all people.”

In other words, bettering the linkage between the components of social protection and coverage, while eliminating discriminatory mechanisms, guarantees access to a decent life.

Brazil and Chile have made exemplary progress in the battle for socio-economic equity, but like the rest of Latin America, they have a long way to go before income distribution is fair and balanced. Breaking the cycle of poverty begins with policy. It is up to the countries that have disposable funds to implement policy change and reform. Once those countries reach socio-economic equity, they will have the resources to help neighboring countries reach the same goal.

– Marissa Taylor
Photo: Flickr

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5 Benefits of E-Learning in Developing Countries

E-Learning in Developing Countries
Education is being immensely influenced by the digital world. In the last 15 years, the global internet usage has surged from 5.6 percent to 56.8 percent. Despite the remaining gap in internet usage, there are still a multitude of digital opportunities for people using a variety of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The possibility of using e-Learning in developing countries is not limited by the internet or email, as it can also be disseminated by other ICTs, such as CDs, DVDs, audio and videotapes, satellite broadcasts and television. E-Learning in developing countries has the potential to fill gaps in education access and quality, including a lack of teachers, textbooks and classrooms.

5 Benefits of E-Learning in Developing Countries

  1. E-Learning can help reach people where there is a lack of infrastructure, such as roads or adequate transportation. In Nepal, a barrier to obtaining education and job training has been navigating dangerous terrain in the Himalayas. E-Learning has been a useful tool to combat this challenge. In 2015, USAID and the Nepalese Ministry of Education (MOE) launched a radio teacher training project. The following year, MOE also established a Distance Education Center.
  2. E-Learning compensates for reduced access to teaching information. The majority of people who do not have access to a consistent internet connection are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Learn Appeal, an organization based out of the U.K., found a solution for this challenge through the development of a tool they call “the capsule.” The Learn Appeal Capsule has a Raspberry Pi 3 battery in it, which lasts for at least 24 hours of constant use and is rechargeable with a USB cable. The Capsule also includes a WiFi router and can manage up to 150 to 200 users. The capsule can contain up to 1,000 hours of interactive educational material. It is also useful in areas where they use alternative energy sources, such as wind or solar power. The Learn Appeal capsule makes it possible to disseminate necessary information to remote areas in Kenya, Malawi and Northern Nigeria. Learn Appeal works with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and schools from each country to implement the use of the capsules.
  3. E-Learning has the potential to reach more people in rural areas. In 2016, Hewlett Packard (HP) implemented a $20 million program called World on Wheels, which aims to install 48 digital labs to bridge the gap in internet access in rural India. The program aims to reach 6,400 villages and over 15 million people by 2022. The program will support digital literacy, entrepreneurship and will connect community members to government aid. A branch of the program called HP LIFE is a free global e-Learning program that helps people start a business.
  4. E-Learning opens up possibilities for access to specialized training. Malawi has one of the lowest doctor to patient ratios in the world, at 1 doctor to every 50,000 people. To change this ratio, the Ministry of Health recognized that alternative solutions were needed to meet the country’s healthcare needs. In 2007, the University of Edinburgh launched a three year MSC program that uses virtual case scenarios to help trainees through the technical aspect of their training. Each Malawi-based enrollee to the program also obtains an e-tutor to guide them throughout the academic year. Outside of Malawi, more than 1,000 students worldwide in 60 different countries have adopted this program.
  5. E-Learning in developing countries can bridge the global gap in educational resources for primary school-aged children. According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, the world will need 3.3 million teachers to achieve universal primary education by 2030. UNESCO also reports that 250 million of the 650 million children who are primary school age in the world haven’t learned to read or count. E-Learning can bridge the gap and counter the teacher shortage. One of the largest regions in Brazil is the Amazonas, which is about 4.5 times the size of Germany. Although the area does fairly well in comparison with Brazilian education standards, it is also known to have low completion rates for primary school students (50 percent at age 16 versus the country average of 69 percent). To counteract this, in 2002 the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) developed a television-based education system using $150 million. The Amazonas Media Center or Centro de Mídias do Amazonas beams remote classes taught by teachers in Manaus through satellite to remote areas. This curriculum, which consists of 10,000 video hours of classes, is accompanied by an in-person tutor who provides further support.

E-Learning solutions in developing countries are rapidly evolving to solve global challenges that widen gaps in access to education. Each country has its own unique challenge, but the benefits of e-Learning can already be seen around the world.

– Danielle Barnes
Photo: Flickr

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Vietnam’s Health Care System

Vietnam's Health Care System
As Vietnam has grown and developed over the last two to three decades, so has its health care system. There is a decrease in the number of deaths due to health issues and an increased rate of vaccination through Universal Health Coverage (UHC). With much success for the UHC implementation, Vietnam’s health system has become a model to other countries. However, there is still a difference in the level of care between the rich and poor in Vietnam’s health care system.

Health Care and Hospital Systems

Business Monitor International (BMI) stated that health care spending in Vietnam in 2017 increased to 7.5 percent of gross domestic production, which is $16.1 billion. Meanwhile, experts forecasted it to grow 12.5 percent annually during a four-year period from 2017-2021, which would be approximately $20 billion according to KPMG. Public health care spending is expanding with social health insurance programs that projections determine will 58.1 percent of all health care spending.

Vietnam’s health care system is decentralized with the Ministry of Health at the central level. Meanwhile, the provinces, cities, districts and communities connect to the Ministry of Health. The four groups implement their own health policies and manage their own health care system and facilities. The Ministry of Health (central level) manages the health care system for the government as well as hospitals, medical education and research. Provinces and cities run hospitals, other health care facilities and health care-education programs with central oversight. Finally, health care facilities at the district and commune-level provide basic medical care with preventative services.

Universal Health Coverage (UHC)

Vietnam is a leader in implementing universal health coverage. This would cover medical and dental services as well as medicine and vaccines. The Global Monitoring Report on UHC by both the World Health Organization and the World Bank states that almost 88 percent of people in Vietnam have health coverage and 97 percent of the children received vaccinations. There is also a 75 percent decrease in the death of mothers through universal health coverage. Vietnam has reached health care goals (as recommended by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals) earlier as compared to other countries due to its strategy on using all that is available, including staffing and administration.

Public View and Poverty Gap

Vietnamese’s traditional viewpoint on health care services affects health care delivery. It is a common belief that larger health care facilities in big cities would provide better health care services through more specialized staffing and more robust technology and equipment. Therefore, people tend to overlook smaller local facilities in the countryside or in rural areas. This, in turn, is impeding faster and necessary care while incurring unnecessary, unknowing or avoidable high costs. Such a barrier would ultimately contradict the proposed health care strategy above.

Vietnam’s health governance body is working to change the public viewpoint on local community health by educating the public about the programs and charging local health offices to provide excellent care in order to build trust. Wealthy patients have better access and higher quality health care. As wealthy patients tend to live in big cities, they are closer to big health care facilities that are well equipped. Meanwhile, poorer patients often have to travel hundreds of miles from rural areas to reach better care. While private insurance gives patients primary and preventative medicine that would avoid high health care expenditures due to medical emergencies, wealthy patients have more opportunity to purchase private insurance for better care. Health care inequity leaves the poor at a disadvantage with higher chances for illness and a lower quality of care.

Support and Challenges for UHC

Vietnam’s universal health care is receiving support from the Working Group for Primary Healthcare Transformation. The group works to present and emphasize primary care services in provinces around Vietnam, as well as improve and expand those services moving forward. Harvard Medical School, a member of the group, helps with primary care structuring and management. Another member, Novartis, provides rural community health education outreach as well as technology and rural medicine education for health care professionals. For instance, Novartis’ Cung Song Khoe Program has provided treatment for many conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and respiratory disease, as well as education for local rural communities and health care professionals, totaling 570,000 people served in 16 provinces. However, there are still challenges that are holding back Vietnam’s health care system including a high number of smokers and adults with alcohol usage, as well as extreme air pollution and aging populations.

Despite drawbacks from public views, health challenges and the environment, Vietnam’s universal health coverage is holding strong and progressing with ongoing program evaluations, strategic planning, improved care quality and partnerships. Therefore, Vietnam’s health care system has also been growing and is standing tall among that of other well-mentioned countries. With that said, eliminating health inequity is the focus to improve Vietnam’s health care.

– Hung Le
Photo: Flickr

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Understanding the Total Literacy in Kerala

Total Literacy in KeralaLiteracy has always been an important measure of development and a huge means to further progress through an educated population. People usually define literacy as the ability to read, write and comprehend information. This is important in even basic infrastructure improvements for a community, such as implementing road signs in order to lower road injuries and deaths. Literacy in India is improving rapidly. The most recent measure of literacy in India took place during the 2011 census. India’s 2011 literacy rate was 74.04 percent, an immense increase from the previous census, where the literacy rate was only 12 percent. But even more impressive, Kerala has the highest literacy rate of all the states and even has the label of a total literacy state. In fact, the total literacy in Kerala is 93.91 percent.

History of Kerala

Kerala is a fairly small state and largely rural, rather than being a center of commerce. Additionally, it does not have a high level of industrial development. However, Kerala rises above other states regarding development indicators like literacy, health outcomes and life expectancy. It is crucial to analyze and understand Kerala’s success so that the literacy rates can improve in other regions.

Kerala’s history as a region plays a role in its literacy success. Starting in the 19th century, royalty called for the state to cover education costs. While still a colony, Kerala implemented social reform in the early 20th century that allowed access to education for lower castes and women. Post-independence, socialist or left of center governments overarchingly controlled the state government and they made equity and social goals a huge priority.

Literacy Programs in Kerala

However, aside from these factors, one of the biggest contributors to Kerala’s total literacy is its literacy program, Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority. This is an institution that works under the state government and received funding from it, but operates autonomously. The values of this organization are clearly framed in its slogan, “Education for all and education forever.”

The program works on many levels, including basic literacy programs and equivalency programs. The basic literacy programs include a push to take Kerala to a full 100 percent literacy rate. These programs focus on regions and peoples who tend to have lower literacy rates, including urban slum, coastal and tribal populations. District-specific programs target localized issues, needs and a total literacy program for jail inmates. The equivalency program provides the opportunity for adults who did not go through all levels of primary and secondary school to take classes and tests which will bring them up to fourth, seventh, 10th, 11th, or 12th-grade literacy standards. The program also offers certifications and is constantly adding smaller, new programs in social literacy as different areas require attention.

The Goal

The goals of this program center around developing literacy skills through continuing education and offering opportunities for all who have an interest in learning. This ensures secondary education, providing the skills necessary for those learning to read and write to apply these new abilities in their daily lives and to conduct research on non-formal education. The organization and practices of the Keralite government in terms of improving literacy in their state are undoubtedly successful.

In the development field, it is easy for one to become bogged down in the failures. The total literacy in Kerala is a success story that should receive attention. This is the value of investing in development projects. There are concrete gains when development receives careful formulation and funding with the population in mind. There is much that one can learn from the Kerala State Literacy Mission Authority and apply to achieve total literacy around the world.

– Treya Parikh
Photo: Flickr

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The World Cocoa Foundation: Sustainable Cocoa for a Rich Future

World Cocoa FoundationSmall plots of land, unsustainable farming practices, forced child labor, a changing climate and chronic farmer poverty are among the many issues that the cocoa industry faces today. “In Côte d’Ivoire – the world’s largest producer of cocoa – a farmer should earn four times his current income in order to reach the global poverty line of $2 a day,” according to Make Chocolate Fair, an international campaign focused on the fair treatment of cocoa farmers. The World Cocoa Foundation is hoping to make the industry sustainable.

Reasons Behind Issues in the Cocoa Industry

Partly to blame is the common practice of sharecropping. In regions where cocoa is most heavily produced, sharecropping restricts farmers’ ability to significantly alter their land for sustainable use. It disincentivizes farmers to make rehabilitation investments. Moreover, monoculture crops – singular crops produced over a large area of land – inhibit crop diversity and make crops more susceptible to pests and diseases.

According to NPR, high rainfall, lower demand for chocolate and price-fixing have also contributed to a decrease in cocoa prices. This has led to an increase in low wages and high debts for cocoa farmers, resulting in chronic poverty. Charlotte Grant, the Communications and Marketing Manager for the World Cocoa Foundation believes that poverty leads to issues such as child labor and deforestation.

“We fear that the well-being of farmers will not improve unless the cocoa supply chain becomes more sustainable,” said Grant. Without any intervention, the global cocoa industry faces an uncertain and unstable future. Fortunately, the World Cocoa Foundation has given cocoa farmers a sense of renewed hope.

A Rich History

The U.S. chocolate industry created the Chocolate Manufacturers Association (CMA) in 1923 to serve cocoa producers by funding research, promoting chocolate consumption and lobbying Congress and government agencies. When the CMA determined a new model for cocoa sustainability was necessary, it formed the International Cocoa Research and Education Foundation in 1995. In 2000, the foundation was renamed the World Cocoa Foundation. Its main focus is on cocoa research and educational programs.

In the late 2000s, with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development, WCF began administering large-scale projects that emphasized productivity, higher-wages for farmers, the reduction of child labor, scientific research and community strength. Today, with more than 100 members, the vision of WCF is clear: “A sustainable and thriving cocoa sector – where farmers prosper, cocoa-growing communities are empowered, human rights are respected, and the environment is conserved.”

The Work of WCF

WCF maintains a diverse range of programs across several regions, including program partnerships with other NGOs. Initiatives like CocoaAction, Cocoa and Forests Initiative, Climate Smart Cocoa, Cocoa Livelihoods Program and African Cocoa Initiative II are addressing the specific needs of cocoa-producing communities.

WCF launched the Cocoa Livelihoods Program in 2009. This program works to increase cocoa farmer productivity. Through training and education, CLP advances four primary objectives. It works to advance industry initiatives, provide a “full-package” of services to farmers, promote food crops and empower women.  With more than 15 company partners, CLP serves impacted communities in Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire.

With the goal of increased stakeholder collaboration, WCF established the CocoaAction initiative in 2014. CocoaAction offers a Monitoring & Evaluation Guide that provides data collection in communities as well as a Community Development Manual. It provides company partners with an outline for the design and implementation necessary for sustainable Cocoa production.

Making Chocolate Sustainable

In 2019, as part of the Cocoa and Forest Initiatives, 34 chocolate companies, along with the governments of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, released official action plans detailing the new steps they are taking to address climate change and cocoa sustainability. The initiative aims to end deforestation and replace vegetation in impacted forest areas. The Climate Smart Cocoa initiative acknowledges the impact of climate change on cocoa crops. It seeks to examine better risk and investment strategies to strengthen the global cocoa market.

Partnering with USAID and several private sector partners, the African Cocoa Initiative II emphasizes the importance of economically sustainable and economically viable cocoa production. According to the ACI II annual report, more than “two million smallholder farmers” rely on cocoa farming for income. Therefore, “a healthy and sustainable cocoa industry means opportunity for economic growth and poverty alleviation in the region.”

A Sweet and Sustainable Future

In the past two decades, the World Cocoa Foundation has benefited countless farmers and their communities. Through training, education and community partnerships, WCF continues to strengthen the cocoa industry. By becoming more informed about the issues in the cocoa industry and what is currently being done to resolve them, people can make a difference, according to Grant. It is important to research preferred chocolate manufactures and make sure they are using sustainable, fair trade practices. By getting involved and sharing important information about the cocoa industry, consumers can make a difference in cocoa farmers’ lives.

– Aly Hill
Photo: Flickr

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Systems Providing Drinkable Ocean Water

Drinkable Ocean Water
Experts expect that 50 percent of the world population will live in areas with water shortages by 2025. For cities in South Africa, India and China, this crisis is already becoming a reality. So what solutions are there for the shortage of this valuable resource? Water filtration systems and desalination are a few, although many water treatment solutions have not been environmentally friendly and desalination has proven to be costly. However, a lot has changed in water treatment over the years. Here are a few improvements and advancements that could prove promising for the future of potable water, including drinkable ocean water.

Water Softeners and Filtration Systems

Water softeners and filtration systems have gained a negative reputation due to the salt they use and the wastewater they produce that ends up in aquatic environments. However, advancements in these areas have led to softeners that use salt more efficiently and newer equipment reducing water usage and conserving that precious resource. New technology has decreased the usage of both water and salt by 50 percent.

Manufacturers have established ways to achieve high efficiencies by focusing on providing products that are better-performing and able to dictate the amount of water they use during maintenance functions, as well as making larger filtration cartridges that extend the replacement cycle times. Manufacturers have even designed new technology to monitor water usage in the home and adjust to match the household’s habits.

A top priority of the water treatment industry is to develop ways to address contamination while maintaining sustainability. The improvements that manufacturers are making to reverse osmosis (R.O.) systems reflect that.

R.O. systems can result in a reduction of the purchase of bottled water due to how greatly they diminish contaminants. However, the systems still have room for improvement due to the amount of wastewater they produce. The technology to reduce wastewater exists internationally and now the U.S. is looking to make the same progress.

Desalination

If people could drink from the ocean, there would be more than enough water for everyone. However, it would be necessary to remove the salt first.

There are about 2.2 billion people who do not have access to clean drinking water. For thousands of years, turning seawater into drinking water has been an option for this ongoing problem, although the process tends to be expensive and inefficient because it requires a lot of energy.

Kamalesh Sirkar, a chemical engineering professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, has a new process that promises to make a difference. His direct-contact membrane distillation (DCMD) system heats seawater across a plastic membrane containing tubes filled with cold distilled water. The tubes have pores so that the water vapor that collects on them can penetrate into them, but not salt. The vapor can then condense back into liquid water.

This efficient system can produce 21 gallons of drinking water per 26 gallons of seawater, which is twice as much as most existing desalination technology. The downside of DCMD is the requirement of a heat source to prevent the water temperature on either side of the membrane from equalizing, although there is the potential of recycling waste heat to run the system.

A team of international scientists has achieved a similar accomplishment by using the sun to produce high-quality potable water. This process can meet the needs of an entire family at a cost of about $100 without using electricity. This team, consisting of scientists from MIT in the U.S. and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, believes that its system can provide water to islands and coastal areas that do not have reliable electricity but have access to seawater. With this system, the team produced 1.5 gallons of fresh drinking water every hour for every square meter of the solar collecting area.

GivePower

Recently in Kenya, a nonprofit called GivePower has been able to successfully use solar power to create drinkable ocean water. In July 2018, a new desalination system began operations on the coast of Kiunga that can create 19,800 gallons of drinking water every day. That is enough for 25,000 people. This nonprofit’s main focus has been to provide solar-energy systems to developing countries. The organization has installed solar grids in 2,650 locations across 17 countries in places like schools, medical clinics and villages.

The success of this system is in finding a way to pull water out of the ocean in a scalable, sustainable way. The president of GivePower, Hayes Barnard, hopes to open similar facilities around the world, providing fresh water to people who struggle to get it on a daily basis.

At the rate that the population has been increasing, a freshwater crisis appears imminent. However, with the work that experts are putting into finding a solution, the possibilities for the future look bright. With environmentally friendly filtration systems and the successful production of drinkable ocean water, the population will all be able to drink deeply since there will be enough to go around.

– Janice Athill
Photo: Flickr

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5 Facts About the Kurdish Comeback in Iraq

Kurdish Comeback in Iraq
The Kurds are an ethnic minority in the Middle East that occupy a region known as Kurdistan. An area that spans parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. Though they were not given a country at the end of WWI, the Kurds have held on to their strong identity and still speak their own language. Caught in the middle of conflicts in both Iraq and Syria, they played an integral role in fighting back ISIS, seeing off 16 assaults on the city of Kirkuk. After several years of economic woes, there are finally some signs that northern Iraq, or Southern Kurdistan for the millions of Kurds that occupy the region, is beginning to recover. More importantly, the poorest Kurds have rebounded significantly. Here are five facts about the Kurdish comeback in Iraq.

5 Facts about the Kurdish Comeback in Iraq

  1. The U.S. government has provided more than $350 million in aid to Northern Iraq as a part of the Genocide Recovery and Persecution Response initiative. Approximately $90 million of the aid is going directly to the most immediate needs and improving access to basic services, job access, small businesses and infrastructure. 
  2. The poverty rate fell to 5.5 percent in 2019. The most encouraging figure about the Kurdish comeback in Iraq might be the poverty rate. Iraq suffered a recession between 2014 and 2016 with Iraq’s GDP falling to 2.7 percent. Unemployment had risen to 25 percent by the end of 2014. The cause was falling oil prices and the height of the conflict with ISIS. Oil revenue makes up half of the country’s GDP and 90 percent of the government’s revenue. Adding to the economic strain, leaders were forced to cut new investments. Foreign oil companies like Russia’s Lukoil, Royal Dutch Shell and Italy’s ENI also withdrew investments. They saw Iran as a safer economic option than northern Iraq. All of this culminated in a 12.5 percent unemployment rate by 2016. 
  3. Kurdish interests were well represented in the 2018 election in Iraq. Overall voter participation was down, but the Kurdish voice was heard. They helped elect new Prime Minister Abdul Mahdi. The prime minister reciprocated by restoring budgetary support to the region, amounting to around 12 percent of the central government’s budget. Regular federal reserve installments of $270 million per month helped stabilize the KRG oil sector.
  4. Oil production has rebounded, reaching 400,000 bl/d in January of 2019. Of course, there
    is always concern over the long term effects on climate change; however, over the short term, oil production     has coincided with the low poverty rate. The U.S. played a role by brokering a deal that helped to restart production in the Kirkuk oil fields. Exports of petroleum to Europe may begin by 2022.
  5. Local investment increased while foreign investment decreased. According to local businessman Abdulla Gardi, this is typical during times of relative stability. Total investment increased to $3.67 billion in 2018 from 48 licensed investors. This is up from just $712 million in 2017. Most of the investment in 2018 was made by local investors who hope the KRG cabinet will prioritize a variety of different sectors. Local businessmen believe that, in turn, they can help the local Kurdish region become more prosperous.

There are many factors that lead to the Kurdish comeback in Iraq. Firstly, the end of the conflict with ISIS provided much needed yet tentative stability in the region. As a result, local investors felt more emboldened to invest in the oil industry. Politically, the election of Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi was a major win for the Kurdish economy and provided additional support to the oil industry to restart stalling production. Furthermore, U.S. aid is helping to improve lives for lower-income Kurds. More than $90 million of that aid is going to immediate needs including but not limited to shelter, healthcare services, food rations and provisions of water. There are reasons to be optimistic about the future in Kurdish Iraq.

– Caleb Carr
Photo: Wikimedia Commons