Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

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Why Invest in Technology in Africa?

Technology in AfricaOver the past few years, recent headlines in the United States have praised the software industry’s integral role in economic growth. Since 2000, the software industry grew from a roughly $150 billion industry to $350 billion in 2016. It has outperformed the information processing, transportation and industrial equipment industries. In the first quarters of 2018 and 2019, the software industry grew by an astounding 11 percent. Technology in Africa is one example of the progress being made by software industries.

Tech Startups in Africa

The value that software and technology have added to the U.S. economy is undeniable. The tech industry in Africa has a promising future. Technology in Africa has grown the most in the startup world. There are two ways that startups and companies have specifically invested in African tech by providing supplements to improve education and agriculture. A variety of recent education startups under the category “edtech” have made news as they entered a Cape Town-based incubator called Injini. Three of the eight startups highlight recent technology in Africa to aid in education:

  1. Zaio is a service that helps students advance their coding and software development skills through online learning courses and practical challenge modules. Their goal is to enable students to land jobs in the tech industry.
  2. OTRAC is an online healthcare service that allows medical practitioners to continue learning about medicine through a variety of courses and modules. OTRAC and Zaio both show the focus of startups on education in more advanced, information-based industries, which are crucial to economic development.
  3. Traindemy is a general vocational and career-based program that offers training in a variety of technical areas and also offers talent and entrepreneurial coaching. Their mission is to fight and combat unemployment in Africa.

Impacts of Investing in Tech

In terms of agriculture, larger companies like Google have invested in tech that helps farmers in Africa. Using a product called TensorFlow, farmers can take photos of their plants to diagnose unhealthy or diseased crops. This product originated at Google’s tech-center in Accra, Ghana.

Investments in Africa have also occurred on a broader level. A variety of financial institutions, such as the CDC group from the United Kingdom and FinDev from Canada, have started an initiative called 2X Invest2Impact with a goal of reaching and empowering women-owned businesses. This initiative is partially due to the fact that Africa has the most women entrepreneurs of any country.

Grassroots and high-level initiatives are part of larger developments in Africa’s landscape. In countries like Rwanda, the population of educated people has jumped from 4,000 to 86,000 in just 20 years. Investing in technology in Africa means investing in the next level of growth in the tech industry and helping those in poverty gain access to educational opportunities.

– Luke Kwong
Photo: Flickr

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Beca 18: An Educational Program that Brings Hope

scholarships
Lack of educational opportunity is one of the principal reasons why people may get stuck in the cycle of poverty. In many places, people are at least required to have a high-school level of education to get a minimum wage job. Most high-paying positions, however, expect people to have a college degree education, something that for many low-income Peruvians, is very hard to obtain.

In the year 2015, Peru ranked 64 out of 70 on the International Programme for Student Assessments: A standardized test that measures student’s performance on academics. The problems don’t lie within the lack of teachers or a good infrastructure; it lies within the fact that most Peruvians don’t have access to a decent education. Most of the most competitive schools and colleges are in major cities, and with usually high tuition costs.

This difference is prevalent in the countryside where some children have to walk for hours to go to school. In the Peruvian Andes, children are less likely to go beyond high-school education and much less pursue a college degree. As of the year 2017, only 16 percent of young adults were pursuing a college degree, principally because of the inability to pay the high tuition. Fortunately, a governmental program called Beca 18 (Scholarship 18) may soon change that.

The Story of Beca 18

Beca 18 is not the first program that has given scholarships to well-deserved students. The National Institute of Scholarships and Educational Loans, was founded in 1972 and lasted until 2007. While they did offer necessary scholarships and loan payments, they only centered in Lima. After 2007, the new Office of Scholarships and Educational Loan opened, with a more polished selection of students and with a clear focus on trying to reach scholars located on problematic areas of the country, but by all merit have achieved academic excellence.

The Office of Scholarships and Educational Loan worked until 2012, the year on which the former president Ollanta Humala “upgraded” it, becoming the National Program of Scholarships and Educational Loans, also known as Beca 18. The program works as an administrative unit of the Peruvian Ministry of Education with 24 regional offices, giving around 52 236 scholarships around 25 regions from 2012 to 2016. Most of the students that benefited were living in extreme poverty.

How the Program Works

The first thing that applicants have to know is if they meet all the appropriate requirements. For Beca 18, a student’s living conditions have to be below the poverty line, attending the last year of high school or have recently graduated and been on the honor roll. The Scholarship has other ramifications that cater to different students, like Beca Albergue, that centers around students that lived in foster care.

After meeting the requirements, the next step is applying to the National Exam, which can be done by just accessing the scholarships webpage during the call-up time, that happens around December each year. Each student needs to present their essential legal documentation; however, depending on what portion of Beca 18 the student is interested in they may submit additional paperwork. After taking the exam, hosted by many public and private schools around the country, each student receives guidance to get into their desired college. Once accepted, the process of applying for the Scholarship can begin, only students with satisfactory grades on both the National Exam and their college entrance exam, are granted the scholarships.

What Costs Are Covered

Depending on each of the holder’s family and economic situations, the scholarships cover the costs of the admissions exam, full tuition and other work materials, such as a laptop. If needed, the awards include accommodations, transportation, and pocket money. A private tutor is also an option but only for public universities, as privates often offer that service to its students. These, of course, help students that either came from the Andean of Rainforest Regions of the country or lived in an extreme poverty situation.

Famous Recipients

As mentioned before, Beca 18 is an excellent opportunity for many people that couldn’t afford higher education but had exceptional academic abilities. Like Omar Quispe, a recipient that now is a developer for ElectroPeru. He is currently working on a project that could bring good quality electricity to his native Huaylas, a district surrounded by extreme poverty. Another famous case is of Abel Rojas Pozo, that upon graduation started to help local guinea pig farmers spend their business. These efforts were to make his hometown one of the centers of guinea pig exports.

With an educated population, the chances of escaping poverty are higher. And like the recipients of Beca 18, they can use their new-found knowledge to help their families and their communities.

– Adriana Ruiz
Photo: Wapa

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8 Facts About Education in Sierra Leone

Eight Facts About Education in Sierra Leone

Situated towards the bottom of the bulge on Africa’s west coast, Sierra Leone sits on top of one of the most concentrated gold and diamond deposits in the world. But the country’s history as a prime subject of colonialism’s horrors explains why it consistently ranks as one of the poorest in the world. Here are eight facts about education in Sierra Leone that help gage context for the country’s current state of affairs.

8 Facts About Education in Sierra Leone

  1. Poor Education Statistics- As is typical in low-income communities, the country, now with a population of more than 7.5 million people, yields unimpressive statistics when it comes to categories such as enrollment, completion and literacy. A 2016 UNESCO report found that only 47 percent of all primary school students progressed to their last year, which is the American equivalent of fifth-grade. However this social problem is well recognized, and the country’s most recent president-elect, Julius Maada Bio, even incorporated it as one of the pillars of his campaign.
  2. Recent Switch in the System- In 2017, Sierra Leone switched its education structure from a 3-6-3-4 system. The current Sierra Leonean educational system now operates under what is known as a 6-3-3-4 structure. This means that a student’s “complete” schooling is broken into four parts: six years of pre-primary school, three years of junior secondary school, three years of senior secondary school and four years at a college program.
  3. Testing into Higher Education- Students face obstacles along the way through their education, as after the first nine years, which are compulsory education, they must take a Basic Education Certificate Examination which determines who can proceed to senior secondary school. Students that pass this test must take an additional test following their completion of senior secondary school: the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination.
  4. The Difficult BECE- This exam carries extreme importance, as its passage is necessary to be granted a spot in the Sierra Leone university system. Moreover, in 2011, only 47 percent of test-takers passed. Although alternative routes, such as trade schools, have been set in place to provide pathways for students that fail to reach this point, a general lack of funding towards them has resulted in their deterioration.
  5. New President Dedicated to Improving Education Standards- Bio’s election in 2018 meant a leadership transition from the All People’s Congress (which had been in power for the previous 10 years and had been consistently accused of corruption) to the People’s Party. In an article, the online publication Theirworld described his campaign as “tumultuous,” insinuating that the turnover was far from smooth. Despite this, Bio has since lived up to his campaign promises regarding education and is paving the way for better academic opportunities for future Sierra Leoneans.
  6. Free Education for Primary and Secondary Students- Bio recently launched a program that grants free education to the more than 1.5 million primary and secondary students in Sierra Leone, a move that holds tremendous implications towards reducing the country’s socioeconomic bias towards education completion. He also nearly doubled the country’s education budget, raising it from 11 percent to 20 percent of public spending. With the implementation of affordable education, Bio hopes to combat the low school enrollment and completion levels that have traditionally plagued the country.
  7. Free Teacher Training- The new education plan also includes increased attention to teachers across the country. The teacher competency rate currently hovers below a mere 50 percent across the board for all levels of education. Bio addresses this in his program by making teacher-education free and by opening teacher training campuses which are fairly distributed across the country.
  8. World Bank’s Positive Involvement- The last of these eight facts about education in Sierra Leone is that the World Bank is actively involved in the establishment of new programs working to remedy the aforementioned institutional problems with education. Their recent program labeled the “Revitalizing Education Development in Sierra Leone Project” has funneled $31.37 million into the education system since 2016. The fruit of this is the Performance-Based Financing (PBF) plan, where schools receive higher government grants funded through the World Bank based on “key contributors to school effectiveness”. These include student attendance, reading proficiency and school management practices. The PBF program enforces good educational practices, which in turn benefits the entire learning environment.

Even with all these improvements, it must be noted that Sierra Leone still faces significant gender discrimination in its education system, as women are currently significantly underrepresented. For instance, in 2015, the male literacy rate almost doubled the female literacy rate for the population aged 15 or older.

However, hopefully, the trend of inclusion rooted in uniform equity being promoted by Bio will soon extend to all people, especially those historically excluded. His sentiment is echoed in his own words as he said during his campaign, “Education is a fundamental right for all Sierra Leoneans.”

– Liam Manion
Photo: Global Partnership

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8 Facts About Education in Serbia

Eight Facts About Education in Serbia
Education levels have been improving in the Balkan country of Serbia since the early 2000s and especially since Serbia’s partnership with Switzerland. It is evident that Serbia‘s work with other European countries and its attempt to bridge the gap between the rich and poor are doing wonders for Serbia’s education system. Here are eight facts about education in Serbia that highlight the progress of its education.

8 Facts About Education in Serbia

  1. Serbia is fighting an uphill battle due to the fact that 25 percent of its population lives at the poverty line, with the Roma people making up two percent of the Balkan national population. Laws for the 2018 education system should help temper this issue, which includes the implementation of procedures regarding the handling of discriminatory behavior and insulting reputation that affects honor and dignity. These should help put an end against any form of discrimination. The second most important law for this trend is the Bylaw on additional education, health and social support for children, pupils and adults. This Bylaw made it so that the education system would include less fortunate children in lower standings of society with the right to use of resources and individual assistance.
  2. Serbia has made great progress in increasing the successful outcomes of its education system since the mid-2010s. The fact that the Harmonized Learning Outcomes (averaged over all subjects and grades) have shown a 63 point increase from a meager 458 in 2003 to 2015 reinforces this. This is due to an attempt to bridge the social gap between the poor and wealthy which has also lead to an increased interest in education after high school. This is due mostly to the laws mentioned in point one, which led to increased spending on education.
  3. Other European countries, like Switzerland, have been integral to helping Serbia reform its education since 2012. The Swiss displayed to Serbia how to provide more inclusive education for those less fortunate. Switzerland also provided agents to show the leaders of the Serbian education system how to properly analyze schooling data to better reform the system.
  4. The Red Cross has provided humanitarian aid that has targeted families in need of food, hygiene and social inclusion to allow children the basic opportunity of enjoying and learning in the schools they are in. In contrast, UNICEF has focused on school programs to allocate funds to allow students to be more involved in extracurricular activities.
  5. The Joint Programme on Roma and Marginalized Groups Inclusion is also taking steps to make sure the Roma children are able to catch up within Serbia’s school system. One of these steps is to make education more affordable for those who require a secondary education so that the system includes more of the population. This is important since the jobless rate for the Roma is over 60 percent, which is exacerbated by the fact that over half the Roma people do not get an education.
  6. Serbia can collect much of its education system’s data partly because it has become the 31st member of the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education. This organization of 31 member states works and collaborates to improve Europe’s education system to make it more inclusive for everyone. Through the use of technical support, this agency supports Serbia by better organizing data so that the Balkan Nation’s Education Organizer can use it. This, in turn, has allowed for better use of evidence-based information to solve critical issues in Serbia.
  7. Serbia has also addressed its plans to fix the large success gap between the wealthy and poor, with the latter only having an upper secondary education success rate of 45 percent. Although this number may seem low, it is an improvement of 22 percent since 2011. The reason for this is affordability as higher forms of education can be too expensive for most families in Serbia. The Inclusivity Act mentioned above should help change this, which works to bring the wealthy or discriminated these higher levels of education.
  8. In 2018, Serbia implemented a program that included a financial education program to help pave the way for greater minds to lead the country’s economy. This is a law that seeks to help students have a better grasp of the business world, how to better find jobs and create them, as well as how to better create teachers who can impart this knowledge on the student body. It should start sometime in the later part of 2019.

These eight facts about education in Serbia show that while Serbia has issues, the country has greatly improved its education system, and will continue to do so at the apparent rate it has set themselves. So long as Serbia is open to accepting outside help and to work to bridge the gap between the wealthy and the poor, the number of people that will benefit from its system will only grow. These eight facts about education in Serbia will hopefully serve as something Serbia can expand upon in the future.

– Collin Williams
Photo: Flickr

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Improving Conditions for Children in India

Children in India
Conditions in India are constantly improving and the country has one of the highest rates of poverty reduction. Between the years 2005-06 and 2015-16, India transformed into a lower-middle-income economy by decreasing the number of poor people from 630 million to 360 million. By improving the standard of living, bettering nutrition and increasing public expenditure, India became home to the largest number of people coming out of poverty. While this improvement has greatly boosted India’s economy, children have also undergone positive changes that improved their lives in many aspects.

There are multiple issues children in India face, and although the challenges continue today, many children live a better life than they did 10 years ago. Here are some of the main problems children in India face and the ways in which the conditions have improved.

Education

Due to poverty, overcrowding and the lack of teachers, less than 50 percent of children receive a proper education. However, in the past two decades, the government has worked toward putting more children into schools. For example, India’s Education For All program has helped educate 200 million children, making it one of the biggest elementary education programs in the world. Additionally, this program has put around 20 million children into primary school since 2001. The government hopes to enroll all children in school regardless if they live in urban or rural areas. Ideally, students would complete school up until grade eight. Hundreds of millions of children would be uneducated and not have the opportunities they have now without the help of the government and the program.

Health Issues

Health has always been a serious issue in India, especially up until the 21st century. The gap between the rich and poor caused the poor to have little medical support which, in turn, increased the spreading of diseases. Private sectors, as well as the government, have set out to reduce the spreading of diseases and, so far, it has eliminated yaws, leprosy, Guinea worm and polio. Infant mortality rate, another serious health problem, has been steadily declining over the past decade. The National Family Health Survey taken in 2015-16 indicated that since the previous survey (2005-06), 57 children out of 1,000 died before reaching the age of one. Now, the number has decreased to 41 deaths out of 1,000. The improvements in underweight children younger than five years have also decreased from 42.5 percent in 2005-06 to 35.7 percent in 2015-16. These health improvements are continuing to help the lives of many children and families.

Violence

Inequality between males and females has caused violence to emerge toward women and girls alike. Violence, abuse and exploitation are all serious struggles faced by many, and UNICEF, along with many other programs and organizations, has been acting to prevent such brutality. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) has begun to standardize the response to sexual violence. The government has also recently launched the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) which protects all children in the country.

A lack of education, health issues and violence continue to threaten the wellbeing of children in India, but through government legislation and the work of NGOs, these conditions have been improving. If all goes well, they will continue to improve.

– Veronica Bodenstein
Photo: Flickr

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New Job Creation in Africa is Reducing Poverty

New Job Creation in AfricaAfrica’s unemployed population is made up mostly of young people. African youth account for 60 percent of the continent’s unemployed. Many of these young people are viable job candidates with college degrees; however, they are often forced to accept work doing menial tasks outside of their area of studies, such as physical labor or hotel maintenance. Development Channel is aiding in job creation in Africa

African Youth and Information Technology

In the last 25 years, unemployment for young people has increased by 80 percent, further contributing to the economic and social divisions these countries already feel. Of those who are employed, many still belong to Africa’s large population of working poor. In an effort to make themselves more marketable to the job markets in Western nations, many African youths are pursuing an education in Information Technology.

Degrees in IT are viewed as sustainable and respectable by young people. Because of this, IT has become one of the most popular avenues of study by African university students. This creates huge potential for new job creation in Africa in the IT sector as a solution to some of these continent’s youth unemployment disparities.

Development Channel in Africa

Development Channel is a collection of companies that seek to bridge the divide between developing and developed nations by improving access to resources that will offer financial assistance, affordable nourishment and other resources that will improve quality of life. These programs are all available through the Development Channel “Mother App.” The introduction of this app also brings positive news for the many young people across Africa with training in IT as Development Channel’s app is creating more than 5,000 jobs.

The position, “Mother App Trainer,” will focus on teaching others how to access the myriad platforms for aid that Development Channel offers. The position offers room for a continual increase in a salary based on performance as well as healthcare coverage and discounts on items sold by their food stores. The job is even more appealing as it can be performed from one’s home, with all training done online and over the phone.

More Than Just a Job

The company itself is contributing to the fight against global poverty and disparity. Development Channel’s slogan is “bridging the development divide.” The platform offers aid in myriad services, including food stability, credit cards, homeownership, emergency relief infrastructure, water infrastructure, community development, information technology, philanthropic income support, student loans, vehicle ownership, legal defense, women’s empowerment, waste management, education and more.

For example, Development Channel believes malnourishment and a lack of access to viable food sources greatly contribute to the poverty cycle. This is why the platform has a chain of “corner stores” called SISCHI that offer easily accessible, affordable food. Another of its companies, Flow, makes it easier for people to access lines of credit in locations where citizens formerly had no basic bank accounts at all.

Not only is Development Channel initiating new job creation in Africa for the largely untapped market of educated African youth but the companies housed under Development Channel are aiding in creating a better quality of life for people in developing nations.

– Gina Beviglia

Photo: United Methodist News Service

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10 Pieces of Good News About Sub-Saharan Africa

good news about sub-saharan africaFor many Americans, the face of global poverty is sub-Saharan Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa consists of 48 countries in southern, central and eastern Africa. Four years ago, the majority of people living in poverty were in sub-Saharan Africa, but a great deal of progress has been made in the fight against global poverty in recent decades. The effects of that progress can be seen as clearly in sub-Saharan Africa. Twenty years ago, much of sub-Saharan Africa was gripped by extreme poverty and nearly non-existent economic growth. However, there has been significant poverty reduction and economic growth recently, thanks in part to poverty reduction initiatives throughout the region. These ten facts describe the good news about sub-Saharan Africa.

10 Pieces of Good News About Sub-Saharan Africa

  1. In 2013, 42.6 percent of sub-Saharan Africans were affected by severe poverty. By 2016, this percentage dropped to 35.2 percent. This represents a decrease in poverty rates of over 5 percent in three years.
  2. Since the 1990s, quality of life in sub-Saharan Africa has improved. Infant mortality is lower and chronic malnutrition is 6 percent less likely. Adult literacy rates have increased by 4 percent as well.
  3. African children are more likely to survive common diseases. In addition, more treatment options are available for HIV and life expectancy has increased by almost twenty years.
  4. Throughout the 1990s, sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP growth remained below 3 percent. The region’s economic growth was above 2.5 percent in 2017 and remained above 3 percent for most of the past decade. Even 2016, sub-Saharan Africa’s lowest year of GDP growth during the 21st century, was better than 1993, its lowest year of GDP growth during the 1990s.
  5. The sub-Saharan African economy was predicted to grow at a faster pace in 2019 than the economies of more affluent regions. For example, Kenya’s economy was predicted to grow by 5.8 percent. Overall regional growth was predicted to be higher than 3 percent.
  6. Economic growth is expected to continue rising after an economic downturn in 2015, with an expected average growth of 3.7  percent in 2020.
  7. In 1999, many sub-Saharan African countries adopted poverty reduction policies modeled on the 1999 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). PRSP programs include cash transfers, subsidies and public works programs. PRSP programs significantly increased economic growth where they were implemented.
  8. From 1990 to 2012, GDP in PRSP countries increased from 0.82 percent to 5.12 percent. GDP in sub-Saharan Africa (including both PRSP and non-PRSP countries) increased from 4.61 percent to 5.21 percent from 2000 to 2012. PRSP greatly stimulated economic growth.
  9. By 2013, 80 percent of primary school age children in Africa were enrolled in school. Secondary school enrollment rates also increased. This means that as education improves, poverty will decrease.
  10. In 1990, industry comprised about 21.9 percent of sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP. In 2012, industry comprised about 24.6 percent of sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP. In the west, the economic transition from a predominantly agricultural economy to a more industrial economy was an indicator of economic growth. A gradual shift away from an economy that relies solely on agriculture is good news for the people of sub-Saharan Africa.

Poverty is still present in sub-Saharan Africa, but the numbers show how much progress has been made. Further, they show that there is plenty of good news about sub-Saharan Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa does not have to be the face of global poverty because of the region’s economic growth and poverty reduction.

– Emelie Fippin
Photo: Flickr

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Global Citizen Year: Connecting Students to Service

global citizen year
In 2008, after winning first place at the Harvard Business School’s Pitch for Change competition, Stanford graduate and aspiring social entrepreneur Abigail Falik established the cultural immersion gap-year program, Global Citizen Year. Falik became inspired to create an opportunity for service available for all rising college freshmen.

Global Citizen Year in Ecuador

As a developing country, Ecuador faces a significant economic strain, especially in its more rural areas. It ranks as the fourth poorest country in South America with a GDP per capita at $11,036.

Global Citizen Year offers five distinct apprenticeships to its fellows, all of which revolve around social justice and complete cultural immersion. The program prides itself on providing an uncensored version of third-world interaction. This stands in contrast to its counterparts, many of which place a patronizing lens over international service.

When a fellow embarks on their mission to Ecuador, they choose between apprenticeships in agriculture, education, environmental conservation, social enterprise or social work. The duties range from working alongside the local government in efforts to protect vulnerable populations, to helping tutor English in local schools, to working in government-run elderly homes.

The following is an excerpt from Natalia Lanzoni’s June 2019 interview with the Borgen Project regarding Global Citizen Year’s unique approach.

Natalia Lanzoni’s June 2019 Interview with the Borgen Project

The Borgen Project: What were the biggest culture shocks—especially relating to the level of poverty—you faced when initially arriving in Ecuador?

Lanzoni: There was obviously a considerably less amount of wealth than the average person has in Cambridge. It kind of permeates every aspect of life, even the little things that you don’t think about what we do here. When I would buy groceries with my host-family we would buy one roll of toilet paper, because that’s what their income allows them. Here we don’t even think about it when we’re buying twenty-four rolls of toilet paper. It means that we have a surplus in our income that we can afford to spend it now. There was a lot of privileges I had that I didn’t even realize. Especially the fact that I was able to travel. The host-family told me they had never seen the ocean, which blew my mind because they were a two-hour drive away. Also, my host parents had to cross the U.S. border as illegal immigrants to find work when their son was born, because the U.S. won’t give visas if they see Ecuador in the papers. Their son lived his first ten years parentless.

The Borgen Project: Can you talk about your service experience in Ecuador?

Lanzoni: For the program, we have what’s called an apprenticeship, which is basically a volunteer job in our communities. So, a lot of people are English teachers or assistants to English teachers. English is important because it is so global. The one I worked for was at a local elderly home, it was run by the government of the town which provided a place for them to hang out during the day. They would come there and do crafts and the home would feed them meals. That home also supported families that lived very rarely, that had no sources of income because they were older. And they lived really high on the mountainsides, so a lot of them didn’t even have access to clean water, or they couldn’t walk all the way to the river because it was too far. They were living in pretty extreme poverty and the organization would also make trips out to do activities with them. Also, deliver them food and supplies for their homes.

TBP: Can you explain the ways in which you believe Global Citizen Year ensures long-lasting improvement on both a personal and social level?

Lanzoni: There are two different parts of how the organization is working to combat poverty. There’s the more obvious one which is the labor, the volunteer work that the fellows do while they’re in the country. But obviously, they’re only 18-year-old kids who don’t have a marketable skill or some niche way in which they can help the community. So I think the organization is more focused on the bigger picture, which is educating the leaders of tomorrow and inspiring young kids who are about to go off to college to involve themselves in social work. People don’t really think about going to college to work for a nonprofit combating poverty that often, so this is a way to expose young kids to those types of fields and to hopefully educates them in ways that they know will tangibly help that community down the line.

Global Citizen Year succeeds in informing its students about the reality of extreme global poverty. In doing so, it builds a force of passionate and motivated youth that will fight the fight to end global poverty. Here is the application to become a Global Citizen Year fellow.

– Liam Manion
Photo: Flickr

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4 Ways Asante Africa Foundation is Helping Impoverished Youth in East Africa

asante africa foundationEducation has a massive impact on global poverty rates. According to the Global Partnership for Education, around 171 million people globally would escape poverty if every child left school with the ability to read. However, according to the Brookings Institute, one in four primary school-aged children in East Africa are not receiving an education. Asante Africa Foundation is working to combat this statistic. The non-profit organization aims to provide quality education and job skills to underprivileged children in Kenya and Tanzania through a four-pronged approach.

The Leadership and Entrepreneurial Incubator Program

The sub-Saharan workforce is the least skilled in the world. According to an Inter-University Council of East Africa report from 2014, a mere 49 percent of employers in Kenya believe graduates are prepared to succeed in an entry-level position. Only 39 percent of employers in Tanzania believe graduates are prepared. Asante’s leadership program works with children to build skills that are applicable in the workforce.

The program is a three year curriculum focused on personal development, job readiness and entrepreneurship. Skills like goal setting, financial literacy, leadership development, professional etiquette, industry exploration, project planning, interviewing and resume building are taught to children in the program. The programs five year impact report states that around 60 percent of participants have a leadership position in their communities, more than 70 percent have completed internships and participants have seen a 40 percent increase in salaries as opposed to those not involved in the program.

The Girls’ Advancement Program

According to Human Rights Watch, over 49 million girls in sub-Saharan Africa are out of primary and secondary school. Tanzania was found to have policies harmful to girls’ education. Human Rights Watch discovered that school officials conducted pregnancy tests and expelled pregnant students. The Girls’ Advancement Program teaches female students about sexual maturation, reproductive health, children’s rights and also assists schools in providing safe environments for girls.

The program has greatly benefited female students. Financial literacy is at 95 percent, 85 percent of participants feel they can attend school while menstruating and 70 percent know the importance of HIV awareness and prevention. The program also involves male students and helps them learn about male and female health.

Accelerated Learning in the Classroom Program

The third of the four ways Asante African Foundation is educating impoverished youth in East Africa is by improving educational resources and classroom environments. The Accelerated Learning in the Classroom Program provides intensive teacher training, a learner-centered education model and low cost digital resources to schools. Over 3,000 teachers have been trained to use digital resources in the program. According to Asante, 63 percent of students involved saw increases in English and critical thinking skills.

Scholarship Program

According to UNICEF, direct and indirect costs of schooling are a large barrier to education, especially among girls. Asante provides scholarships for primary, secondary and university level schooling. The primary school scholarship covers food, school materials, uniforms, personal items, boarding and transportation. The secondary and university scholarships cover all the aforementioned items except transportation and are based on academic performance. All of the scholarships cover one year of expenses and are given to rural and poor students of East Africa.

Asante has positively impacted over 500,000 lives through their programs. According to Global Partnership for Education, programs like Asante’s help reduce poverty rates, increase individual earnings, reduce income inequality while promoting economic growth. Asante has received awards from UNESCO, the Jefferson Awards Foundation, the Khan Academy, the African Achievers Awards and the United Nation Girls’ Education Initiative for their effective and beneficial work. The four ways Asante African Foundation is educating impoverished youth in East Africa and strategies like them are essential for the development of that region, and according to the U.N., imperative in ending extreme poverty.

– Zach Brown
Photo: Flickr

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Top 10 Facts about Living Conditions in Guinea-Bissau

Top 10 Facts about Living Conditions in Guinea-Bissau

Once considered as a possible model for African development, Guinea-Bissau is now one of the poorest nations in the world. The nation has struggled to recover from instability created by a string of military coups in the 1980s. Now, the population is crippled with human trafficking, poverty and low literacy rates. Here are the top 10 facts about living conditions in Guinea-Bissau.

Top 10 Facts about Living Conditions in Guinea-Bissau

  1. Guinea-Bissau’s population is among the poorest in the world. In 2017, the nation’s GDP per capita was $1,700, ranking it 178 out of 214 nations. The main source of income is substance farming of products like cashews, coconuts and Brazil nuts. Those three crops account for 92 percent of the country’s exports. Furthermore, 67 percent of the population lives below the global poverty rate, 20.7 percent do not have access to improved water sources and more than three-quarters of the population lives in areas without improved sanitation.
  2. Healthcare is exceptionally rare in Guinea-Bissau. Diseases such as HIV, cholera, malaria, typhoid fever and yellow fever are rampant. Almost all medical facilities are located in the capital. There is only one hospital bed per 1,000 inhabitants. These facilities are highly inadequate and poorly funded as medicine only accounts for 5.6 percent of the GDP.
  3. Bissau-Guineans have an average life expectancy of 61.4 years. The nation’s life expectancy ranks among the lowest in the world. High infant and maternal mortality rates contribute to low life expectancy. There is little medical help for giving birth, making it very dangerous. In fact, one in every 19 mothers dies in childbirth. The infant mortality rate is among the highest in the world at 54.8 per 1,000 births.
  4. Caritas Internationalis has a strong presence in Guinea-Bissau. The organization was established in 1982 and operates 41 parishes and missions across Guinea-Bissau. Caritas assists in healthcare accessibility, job training, food security and emergency support. Its most impressive feat was the establishment of 24 different nutritional rehabilitation centers, which monitor vulnerable children and provide support for struggling parents.
  5. As a whole, education is seriously underfunded, accounting for roughly 2.1 percent of the nation’s GDP. Only 60 percent of the nation is literate. However, fewer than half of Guinean-Bissau women are literate. There are two universities throughout the country and several vocational schools. While education is supposed to be compulsory, only 65 percent complete the basic level of primary education. Instead of going to school, many children work to help provide an income. In 2017, 169,200 children between the ages of 5 and 17 were working.
  6. Children suffer from malnutrition. Anywhere from 11 percent to as high as 51 percent of Bissau-Guineans are food insecure, causing malnutrition. Roughly 15,000 children do not have enough to eat. Malnutrition has serious effects on a growing body. A lack of calories leads to underdevelopment, stunted growth and weakens the immune system.
  7. Of all the top 10 facts about living conditions in Guinea-Bissau, human trafficking presents the most danger for the developing country. For boys and girls alike, human trafficking is an unfortunate reality. Many boys who attend Quranic schools end up being forced into begging or labor by corrupt leaders of these Quranic schools. Traffickers have little trouble moving these boys through Guinea-Bissau’s weak borders. Bissau-Guinea girls suffer from sex trafficking and forced street vending. Many girls are recruited believing they will be models, but they are forced into prostitution instead. The government is on the Tier 2 watchlist, meaning it does not meet the standards for human trafficking, but it is making changes. In 2015, the government identified a single trafficking victim for the first time in 10 years.
  8. In March, Guinea-Bissau held a peaceful and successful voting day for the national assembly. U.N. officials hope that this vote will finally put an end the political turmoil that has plagued the nation since 2015 when then-President José Mário Vaz dissolved the government. This election was one of the final steps taken by the U.N. Integrated Peacekeeping Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS). This office aimed to reform Guinea-Bissau’s political structure as well as reinforce and rebuild political authority.
  9. Voz di Paz and the U.N. Peacekeeping fund are working together to empower women in Guinea-Bissau. Child marriage is a problem with 24 percent of women between the ages of 20 and 24 being married before they were 18. Furthermore, 45 percent of women ages 15 to 49 have undergone genital mutilation. The organization Voz di Paz is looking to kickstart culture change. In 2017, Voz di Paz consulted with women across Guinea-Bissau and identified four obstacles that hinder women. These obstacles are social pressure to conform to norms, the distortion of differences between men and women in politics, weak female solidarity and a lack of women within the Defense and Secretary forces. Voz di Paz presented this information at a conference with 50 participants from different communities. The result of the conference was a film produced in January 2018.
  10. The NenitaSá Engineering Foundation seeks to boost education and technology skills. One of their main projects is the STEM after-school club. Through this club, NenitaSá hopes to elevate Bissau-Guinean children’s skills in the engineering field, allowing them greater opportunities to find jobs throughout the world. On a large scale, NenitaSá hopes to increase education levels across Guinea-Bissau, especially for women.

These top 10 facts about living conditions in Guinea-Bissau reveal that its citizens are struggling. However, international organizations are taking notice and are striving to institute positive change in this small, West African country.

– Andrew Edwards
Photo: Flickr