Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

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Reducing Poverty in Chiapas Through Education

Poverty in Chiapas
Poverty in Mexico is a long-standing issue in the nation. The National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL) says the poverty rate in Mexico stood at 42% in 2018, but some regions noted disproportionately higher rates than others. In particular, poverty in Chiapas stood at almost 80% in 2018. Several organizations are taking action to reduce poverty in Chiapas and empower locals through education and more.

Education in Chiapas

Education is a proven pathway out of poverty, yet in 2020, just 36.3% of the Chiapas population completed primary school, 26.8% completed middle school and 20% completed high school. Furthermore, in terms of tertiary education, only 12.5% of the population had a bachelor’s degree. A lack of educational attainment limits access to skilled and higher-paying job opportunities that could help people break cycles of poverty.

According to Data Mexico, “the illiteracy rate for Chiapas in 2020 was 13.6%. Of the total illiterate population, 37.1% corresponded to men and 62.9% to women.” A lack of literacy links to a lack of access to quality education and contributes to high levels of poverty.

On top of this, the minimum wage in Mexico is only about 172 pesos for a day at work (about $9 USD per day). A lack of livable wages also contributes to the economic struggles of the country’s people.

Efforts to Improve Education

One of the key ways to help reduce poverty in Chiapas is by providing education. There are several organizations, such as Schools for Chiapas, providing education services to the young and impoverished in Chiapas. Schools for Chiapas came about in 1996 to provide education to locals in Chiapas by raising funds to build new schools, especially for Mayan communities. In particular, Schools for Chiapas aims to “support the autonomous, Indigenous Zapatista communities of Chiapas,” its website says.

Another example of a local NGO that is helping to alleviate poverty in Chiapas is Help Chiapas. Set up in 2008, Help Chiapas focuses its efforts on supporting Indigenous populations by creating more secure and prosperous communities to prevent forced migration.

Help Chiapas is achieving this by setting up clinics that provide dental and health care while educating the Indigenous population on essential healthcare practices, among other efforts. It also runs a scholarship program, which launched in 2019, to give Indigenous young people the opportunity to further their education through college learning or trade school. By raising literacy rates and increasing levels of educational attainment, locals can rise out of poverty through access to more opportunities.

To decrease poverty in Chiapas, organizations such as Schools for Chiapas and Help Chiapas need to continue their work in providing new opportunities through education and addressing basic needs through services such as clinics. On a wider scale, efforts from the Mexican government are necessary to ensure long-term success in reducing poverty throughout the nation, but especially in areas like Chiapas, which see the highest rates of poverty.

– Reuben Cochrane
Photo: Flickr

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The DOLE Graduation Program In the Philippines

DOLE Graduation Program
Many developing countries suffered the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic with the Philippines being one of them. The past few years left about 19.99 million Filipinos below the poverty line recorded in 2021. Not only did the pandemic affect families but projections also stated that the Philippines’ GDP would decrease by about 11.5% during the timeline of the pandemic. The DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) Graduation Program in the Philippines, whose purpose is to lead participants into self-sustainability and out of poverty has taken place and proved to be positive even among those latest struggles.

Needed Aide For the Philippines

The Philippines had initiatives and organizations set up even before the pandemic that was working on poverty reduction. UNICEF is one organization with several efforts already in place in the Philippines. For example, it teamed up with CERF (United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund) and Plan International to push the WASH initiative which helps with hygiene and healthier living conditions.

However, even with programs like that, there was still a need for assistance in other ways. Among hygiene health, resources and training for the Filipinos to learn how to manage their livelihoods themselves seemed like the next step.

DOLE Graduation Program

Fortunately, a pilot program called the Graduation program that BRAC started in 2002, was yielding positive results. More than 2 million households had graduated from the program and were out of extreme poverty as a result.

The purpose of the program is to give support and aid through various means like cash transfers. The program also helps find health resources and provides training or mentorship for financial management and long-term resiliency skills. Not just economically but also socially; the program has coached for the participants to learn how to navigate and gain resources through city links or their government.

This type of program is what the people of the Negros Occidental municipalities could benefit from. So, the DOLE had been partnering with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and BRAC UPGI (Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative) to instill this working program in their community. The goal was to help their people become self-stainable and work their way out of poverty like the others in the initial pilot program.

Graduation Initiative in the Philippines

The DOLE Graduation Program for the Philippines began in 2018, reaching about 1,800 participants. The fundamental goal was to put these beneficiaries on a path toward sustainability and have long-term effects even after it would end. According to the BRAC’s country brief, the program ended in September 2020 but the COVID-19 pandemic had made many wonders if the program’s desired effects were able to sustain throughout and after it.

Adaptability

For the DOLE graduation pilot to survive during the epidemic they had to adapt. Coaching and peer meetings had to become remote or change in frequency or size. The program included many other measures to ensure safety for all those involved including digital monitoring, and strong communication between workers/participants. Workers also used PPE and participated in training on safety protocols like reporting symptoms and rescheduling meetings if needed or conducting them from a distance.

Through the hygiene training that was already being implemented, the participants were able to quickly handle the COVID-19 pandemic more effectively. There were even cases where participants with food assistance from the initiative were able to feed themselves and other neighbors too during the pandemic.

Results

The results of the DOLE Graduation pilot program and its adaptability have been positive for the participants. In the ADB assessment of the Graduation program households receiving the interventions along with government help, fared better during the COVID-19 pandemic than regular households. Other results from the assessment showed specific numbers, “The pilot project’s regular monitoring system found that, on average, 71% of households met each of the nine criteria under the four pillars of graduation—social protection, financial inclusion, livelihoods promotion and social empowerment.”

BRAC had also started its Rapid Diagnostic Assessment to monitor the participants even during the quarantine and mark down assistance or data. Through this, the pilot participants used the training and resources they received to find government assistance when necessary like the 96% who were able to go and find cash assistance from the government or two-thirds (67.15%) of participants able to keep up earnings and their occupation/livelihoods compared to a smaller amount in April (48.72%), according to BRAC’s bulletin.

The financial literacy training given displayed pilot participants withstanding the financial hardships during the pandemic. Seventy-five percent of the participants had savings to even use at this time compared to the 29% that originally reported in the beginning, according to the bulletin.

The Future

The Philippines DOLE Graduation pilot program has shown long-term impact and resilience during the COVID-pandemic for the Negro Occidental municipalities. This in turn has made the Philippines Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), adopt the learnings of the pilot and instill the full Graduation program in other provinces of the Philippines, according to the country’s report. BRAC also has a worldwide goal to reach around 4.6 million more households by 2026.

– Marynette Holmes
Photo: Flickr

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English Learning in Latin America

English Learning in Latin AmericaLatin America notes large numbers of extreme poverty across its population. In 2021, extreme poverty hit 86 million, under the pressures of COVID-19. This is a 5 million increase from 2020 — the Social Panorama of Latin America report highlights that this is a setback equivalent to 27 years. English learning in Latin America could help reduce poverty across the region by opening up more economic opportunities.

English Learning in Latin America

According to the English Proficiency Index, “Latin America is the region [with] the lowest levels of English” as of 2020. Low English proficiency rates stem from a “low quality of language teaching programs in public education and the difficulties in accessing alternative training” as a result of the scarcity of language training institutions and the expensive costs of such programs.

According to the index, some of the Latin American countries with the lowest rates of English proficiency are Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Mexico. In Mexico, less than 10% of schools have English as part of the education curriculum. Furthermore, in 2015, Latin America lagged 2.5 years behind Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations in schooling development.

The Importance of English Skills

According to the report “Work in Progress: English Teaching and Teachers in Latin America, “Many, if not most, English teachers in Latin America lack either the necessary English skills, the necessary pedagogical skills, or both, to be effective educators in the classroom.” Yet, most Latin American countries do not have programs in place to ensure English educators receive the training necessary for high-quality English education.

The Inter-American Dialogue highlights that one of the top “21st-century skills for most countries in [Latin America] is English language proficiency.” It says further, “English proficiency is increasingly necessary for business and international communication and, in that regard, linked with prospects for economic competitiveness and growth in the global economy.”

Learning English in Latin America offers many new opportunities, sources of revenue and securities. There are clear benefits to learning and speaking more than one language. In particular, English speaking skills open up a greater range of job opportunities. On top of this, English is commonly used as “a trade language or diplomatic language.” In fields such as tourism, science and computers, English is the dominant language.

Opportunities in and out of Latin America

Firstly, tourism is booming in Latin America, bringing significant income to the region. Considering the proximity of the United States and Canada to Mexico, it is no surprise that Mexico is a popular destination for tourists from these English-speaking countries.

In 2019 alone, 55 million U.S. citizens traveled to Latin America. Speaking English would likely enable locals in Latin America to do business more effectively in the tourism market. Locals could conduct tours in English or provide translation services.

English is growing as the language of choice for international business and trade, known as “business English.” As much as 80% of jobs offered in Latin America require proficiency in English. Considering only 20% of professionals in Latin America can speak English, a lack of English proficiency is concerning for labor markets. As international commerce expands, if Latin America wants to draw in more money and attain greater job security and revenue, it needs to promote greater education in English. This will persuade more multinational corporations to relocate to Latin America or hire individuals within Latin America.

Lastly, speaking English provides individuals with the opportunity to apply for jobs in countries that offer better wages and job security. The minimum wage in Mexico is 172 pesos for one day of work, which converts to around $8 a day.

The Positives of the Pandemic: Education, Policies and Technology

The restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a rise in education software that people across the world can access remotely. This expands people’s access to opportunities for English learning. With the added pressure on governments to provide online services for schooling, in Latin America, there are now 12 million adults accessing online education, UNESCO says.

Many Latin American countries are recognizing the importance of providing English language learning opportunities. Costa Rica has made English learning compulsory and launched an initiative in 2018 where teachers across the country enter into English learning courses.

Following the increased pressures of COVID-19, resulting in about a third of Latin America living below the extreme poverty line as of May 2021, English learning in Latin America appears to offer a window for many to access new opportunities in a wider job market with higher pay and more security. If Latin America continues to prioritize English learning, this skill could translate to economic growth across the region.

– Reuben Cochrane
Photo: Unsplash

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Early School Dropouts in Developing Nations

Early School Dropouts
Education is one of the most fundamental rights a child must have, no matter where they live. A free, equitable and good-quality education is also one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that the United Nations designed. Education allows a student to be literate and articulate, and gain proper knowledge of various subjects. Unfortunately, many students experience early school dropouts drop out of school due to financial, social and political reasons.

Rates and Statistics

According to UNESCO Institute for Statistics, more than 64 million primary school students dropped out of their education in 2020. The rates are even more extensive in low and middle-income countries. For example, in Ethiopia, more than 2 million students dropped out of primary school whereas, in India, more than 6 million left primary schools. The dropout ratio between female and male students differs in countries. Boys in India abandoned school nearly two times more than girls in 2020, while female students were two times more likely to leave school in Ethiopia in the same year.

Reasons Why Students Drop Out

There are several reasons for early school dropouts in developing countries. The most common causes are:

  • Child Labour: Based on UNICEF estimations, one in 10 of all children around the world are victims of child labor. COVID-19 has worsened this crisis by forcing them to work for longer hours.
  • Child Marriage: Even though marriage under the legal age of 18 is a contravention against human rights, almost four out of 10 teenage girls marry before 18 in West and Central Africa. Female child marriage rates are lower in Eastern and Southern Africa (32%). Boys also face early marriages. Based on the reports, 115 million young males marry before the age of 18 around the world, with Belize, Suriname and Nicaragua having the highest child groom rates in 2022.
  • Conflict: Schools should be a safe place for pupils to study and learn, but this is not often the case in developing countries. In fact, many students miss out on school due to periods of conflict.
  • Funding: There is a substantial issue regarding low prioritization and underfunding of the education sector in countries facing a crisis. Only 2.6% of humanitarian funds go to education. Moreover, government funding related to education is distributed inequitably, with children of poor households receiving as low as 10% or less of the public education spending. This funding crisis will deprive students of the opportunity to study in developing countries.

Addressing Early School Dropouts

Many organizations, charities and institutes are raising funds and implementing strategies to prevent and end the global education crisis. UNICEF, UNESCO, Education International and The Global Partnership for Education are some organizations that serve and support this cause. UNICEF is currently working with various partners and officials to remove current barriers along girls’ education paths. UNICEF’s priority is to enable girls to complete their secondary education.

Keeping Girls in School Act

Keeping Girls in School Act is a bipartisan (H.R.4134 / S.2276) to employ and direct the U.S. government to create solutions to address the global education crisis and barriers in the way of female students. The Keeping Girls in School Act empowers girls around the globe by increasing educational opportunities and economic security.

Conclusion

Even though many efforts are helping girls obtain an education, there is still much work to do. Every little contribution can improve the educational crisis that girls face. Moreover, free education can give equal opportunities to the future community of girls who can be the leaders of tomorrow. Equality in education can lead to stable and civilized communities around the globe and put an end to early school dropouts.

– Hasti Mighati
Photo: Flickr

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How Malala Yousafzai is Fighting for Women’s Education

Malala Yousafzai is Fighting
Former First Lady Michelle Obama, while speaking on the importance of women’s education in Senegal, stated, “When girls are educated, their countries become stronger and more prosperous.” Her speech, titled ‘You Are Role Models,’ sought to encourage females around the world to continue to fight for their education – not only because it was an inherent right, but because it also led to more opportunities. One cannot overstate the importance of women’s education. As Michelle Obama described, educated women can change the lives of millions. They can serve as role models for the world and encourage the expansion of quality education. Malala Yousafzai is a notable woman who is fighting for women’s education to end poverty.

About Malala

Malala Yousafzai is one of the few individuals brave enough to carry the responsibility of women’s education. Malala was born on July 12, 1997, in Mingora, Pakistan. As a child, Yousafazi attended the school her father established – Khushal Girls High School and College – and quickly developed a reputation for dedication to her studies. Malala’s commitment to learning, however, did not only exist in her school building. When reflecting on her childhood, Malala recalled that “From an early age, I was interested in politics and sat on my father’s knee listening to everything he and his friends discussed.”

The Arrival of the Taliban

Malala’s love for education, however, came to a complete stop in 2008, when the Taliban arrived. The Taliban is a radicalized, religious and political group that emerged in 1978, after the Afghan War. Since the early 2000s, the Taliban developed a reputation for asserting strict interpretations of law and order, heavily determined by religious ideology. Using the conservative Pashtun social code, the Taliban created a brutally repressive regime.

Once they arrived in Pakistan, the Taliban implemented strict rules and punishments – especially targeting women. They ordered various rules, but one was particularly crushing to Malala. The Taliban ordered that women were to experience exclusion from public life – essentially, the Taliban banned women from attaining an education.

Malala Becomes an Advocate

In 2012, Malala began to speak out against the Taliban. Using the pseudonym Gul Makai, Malala began writing for the BBC online. Her blogs contained advocacy and a peek into the daily life of living under Taliban rule.

However, as Malala’s popularity increased, so did the threat of the Taliban. After several months of writing, The New York Times revealed that Malala was really “Gul Makai,” resulting in the Taliban naming her one of its main targets.

On October 9, 2012, a Taliban gunman shot Malala as she rode home on a bus after school in Pakistan’s Swat Valley. She was 15 years old at the time.

How Malala Yousafzai is Fighting for Women’s Education Through The Malala Fund

Despite the trauma of the event and the partial loss of brain function, Malala never quit advocating for women’s education. Today, she runs a nonprofit organization called the Malala Fund. The Malala Fund invests in education and activists who are challenging the policies and practices that prevent women from receiving an education. Over the years, the Malala Fund has helped expand access to education for girls and women, improve the quality and relevance of education and strengthen government policy to ensure safe learning environments. Today, Malala focuses on women’s education and politics. She holds a childhood dream of becoming the Prime Minister of Pakistan, and she hopes to ensure the right to education for all children.

Malala’s persistent advocacy truly displays the importance of women’s education. Education has the ability to break the constraints of gender inequality, thus allowing females to acquire more opportunities and responsibilities. Education allows an individual to become economically, socially and politically independent; they are able to support themselves and take on various positions in government, business and civil society. As women rise above gender inequality, they are able to support their families, develop leadership skills and achieve more representation in their government.

Overall, Malala Yousafzai is fighting for women’s education, having risked her life multiple times. Through her efforts, gender inequality is decreasing, thus allowing females around the world to dig themselves out of poverty and avoid the abuse that accompanies the setting.

– Sania Patel
Photo: Wikipedia Commons

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The John P. McNulty Prize: Supporting Leaders to End Poverty

Supporting leaders to end poverty
In 2019, the World Bank stated that approximately 700 million people lived in extreme poverty, surviving on $1.90 daily. The future is optimistic though as extreme poverty decreased from 35% in 1990 to 8.6% in 2022. Thanks to the persistent efforts of governments, foundations, international non-governmental organizations and many others, global poverty is diminishing. In 2008, Anne Welsh McNulty established the John P. McNulty Prize “in honor of her late husband” in partnership with the Aspen Institute with the aim of supporting leaders to end poverty. Each year, leaders who address significant world problems, like global poverty, receive funding and “support to amplify their efforts.” Here are five women leaders and McNulty Prize winners who focus on global poverty reduction.

Navyn Salem, Edesia

Navyn Salem’s philanthropy journey began with a trip. In 2007, during a visit to Tanzania, her father’s home country, she witnessed child malnutrition firsthand. “A mother was crying inconsolably over the loss of her child. The child had starved to death,” the Edesia website described. Since that day, Salem made it her mission to prevent global malnutrition. In 2009, she founded Edesia Nutrition, which is the reason why she stood as one of the winners of the John P. McNulty Prize in 2022. Edesia Nutrition is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that produces ready-to-use therapeutic food, like Plumpy’Nut, to end malnutrition. This organization has addressed hunger and malnutrition among more than 16 million children in 60 nations through successful collaborations with UNICEF, USAID, the World Food Programme (WFP) and more.

Jacqueline Novogratz, Acumen Global Fellowship Program

Jacqueline Novogratz gave up her career on Wall Street in 1986 to assist with launching Rwanda’s first microfinance institution. According to the McNulty Foundation, she “continued her work of using creative methods of financing to encourage development by starting Acumen” in 2001, an impact investment organization that invests in companies and individuals, working on global poverty with its “Patient Capital” model.

For her, this is a bridge between philanthropy and markets. Also, the Acumen Academy provides courses, fellowships and accelerators to support next-generation role models, innovators and leaders who focus on social change in different ways. The Acumen Global Fellowship Program is a one-year program that helps individuals to master the required “skills, attributes and values of moral leadership values”necessary to ignite social change. Through this program, Novogratz won the 2018 McNulty Prize Catalyst Fund, which “builds on a decade of the impact of the John P. McNulty Prize, a $100,000 award given annually to honor the visionary work of individuals moving the needle on intractable global challenges.”

Alexandra Kissling & Maria Pacheco, Vital Voices Central America

Vital Voices Global Partnership is a nonprofit organization that has supported women leaders all around the world since 1997. The organization has supported more than 20,000 women in more than 180 countries and regions. It supports women leaders because it believes “women are the key to progress in their communities and nations cannot move forward without women in leadership positions,” the Vital Voices website said.

Under this partnership, Maria Pacheco developed the Vital Voices Chapter in Guatemala in 2008. With her invitation, several other leaders attended the first Vital Voices conference in Central America. This led to the development of six chapters in the region and the founding of the Vital Voices Central America coalition by Pacheco and Alexandra Kissling.

Kissling is also the co-founder of Vital Voices Costa Rica. Overall, “the Vital Voices Central America network has touched the lives of [more than] 100,000 women and their families” through different programs. Women are now able to gain important skills in communication, entrepreneurship and leadership, career-building and community work. This is a crucial contribution considering that in this region, women are more likely to live in extreme poverty than men. Kissling and Pacheco won the 2019 McNulty Prize thanks to their dedicated efforts to fight against poverty in Central America.

Réjane Woodroffe, Bulungula Incubator

Réjane Woodroffe witnessed the utmost opposite conditions during commutes between Cape Town, South Africa, and a secluded community of villages on the southeast coast of the country. In one place, there were luxurious cars, fancy buildings and many job opportunities, whereas, on the other side, she saw extreme poverty and underdevelopment. The villages lacked roads, proper health care access, schools, electricity and sanitation.

After this eye-opening experience, she started to work on trying to end rural generational poverty. In 2007, Woodroffe founded Bulungula Incubator, which is the reason why she won the 2014 prize. Bulungula Incubator is a nonprofit organization that has goals to end poverty while improving community life through several programs. For instance, early childhood education, health and nutrition, sport, art, culture and economic programs through collaborations with government, non-governmental organizations and other associations. This is another example of supporting leaders to end poverty.

All in all, awards like the John P. McNulty Prize play a significant role in supporting leaders to end poverty. These types of awards not only provide monetary support to further leaders’ humanitarian work but also stand as motivation for future leaders who would like to play a role in poverty reduction. Announcing these types of awards to recognize winners is crucial for motivating the next generation of leaders.

– Irem Aksoy
Photo: Flickr

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Public Health in Africa: Reducing Meningitis

Public Health in AfricaFor many people around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic was an eye-opening event that revealed the dangers and inadequacies of the world’s global health systems. However, for other people, outbreaks of epidemic diseases might be more of a lived reality. On the continent of Africa, many know a certain geographic region in sub-Saharan Africa as the “meningitis belt.” These 26 countries face the dangers of meningitis more than other places around the world, and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the vaccination of the MenAfriVac meningitis vaccine to 50 million children in these countries. African governments collaborated with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and PATH, a nonprofit health organization, to develop the MenAfriVac vaccine and distribute it to more than 350 million people living in areas of high risk. While this scientific effort made an incredible difference in public health in Africa, the COVID-19 pandemic largely disrupted the processes that allowed these successes to continue. The pandemic reduced services aimed at preventing meningitis by 50% from 2019 to 2020. Despite recent setbacks, WHO developed a plan to address meningitis.

Meningitis: The Disease

Meningitis is a complex disease with several variations. It arises in viral or bacterial form with several types of viruses or bacteria causing meningitis. Some meningitis vaccines protect against several forms of meningitis.

The types of meningitis are important to consider because historically, different types of meningitis affected African communities. Prior to 2010, only 10% of meningitis cases were a form other than meningitis type A; however, after the introduction of the MenAfriVac vaccine, the number of cases of meningitis type A decreased significantly. Since 2017, no person has experienced a case of meningitis type A in the region. While deaths due to meningitis still totaled 140,552 people in Africa in 2019, the elimination of meningitis type A means that about 95% of people diagnosed with meningitis survived in 2021. Since 2013, however, meningitis type C led to several outbreaks in the meningitis belt.

At the end of 2021, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) reported 2,662 cases of meningitis along with 205 deaths due to meningitis. Local mobile clinics and vaccination drives from WHO helped reduce the outcome of death from 85% of cases to 10% of cases fairly quickly.

The Defeating Meningitis Road Map

WHO assists with suppressing the outbreaks of meningitis such as in the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo in late 2021; however, it also develops long-term plans to improve public health in Africa overall. In November 2020, the World Health Assembly approved the Defeating Meningitis by 2030 roadmap. WHO will implement the $1.5 billion plan in January 2023, which will begin the fight to control meningitis in Africa by 2030. The plan includes a goal to achieve a 90% vaccination rate using a new vaccine that will hopefully protect communities against new outbreaks of the disease. From 2023 to 2030, the plan also hopes to reduce deaths of meningitis by 70% and reduce cases of meningitis by 50%. Several steps to achieving these goals include increased disease surveillance to catch meningitis early and increasing awareness of services to improve overall public health in Africa.

With WHO’s plan to defeat meningitis by 2030, public health in Africa will greatly improve the lives of millions of people within the meningitis belt. Meningitis is mostly a preventable disease with the efforts of vaccinations and other measures of public health. As the rest of the world encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic, collaboration within a community goes a long way to keeping everyone safe.

– Kaylee Messick

Photo: Flickr

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Education in Mexico: Keeping Kids in School

education in MexicoMuch of Mexico’s population faces economic struggles that have only magnified amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, one of which includes the high dropout rate for school-age children, a challenge education in Mexico is facing.

Mexico Faces High Student Drop-Out Rates

Mexico’s enrollment rate is one of the most successful out of the Latin American countries. By the start of the 21st century, almost all of Mexico’s age-eligible population was enrolled in primary and lower secondary school. A study found that the enrollment rate for students in grades one to nine as of 2007 was around 95%. Yet, the country fails to secure a high rate of student enrollment through the end of lower secondary schooling, with the overall drop-out rate being close to 50%

Data shows that less than 60% of students finish upper secondary school (high school level) and of that percentage, a large number of children age-eligible for high school do not even attend, according to a University of Nebraska-Lincoln study. Many students decide to end their educational pursuits around the age 15, due to financial reasons. Additionally, an estimated 5.2 million students, around 14% of Mexico’s school-aged children, had dropped out of school since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, citing financial hardship as the reason for their educational termination.

The Impact of Poverty

Although the government made secondary education mandatory in Mexico, it doesn’t directly enforce it. Additionally, “children marginalized by… poverty experience particularly high risks of dropping out” due to financial burdens, according to an article published in the International Journal of Educational Development. As children age, their school curriculum tends to become more difficult and financial costs tend to increase. Coupled with that fact, as children grow older they become more capable of contributing to their family’s financial status, whether that labor is through household duties or in the formal job market, the same article reports.

Mexico’s high dropout rates for school-aged children during and prior to secondary school therefore can have two reasons: the country’s poverty rates and the dependency on children’s labor to supplement household income, all of which especially escalated following the onset of COVID-19.

The Cancellation of Prospera

In recent news, Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador canceled Prospera, a governmental program intended to keep children in school and improve education in Mexico, according to Social Protection. The government developed the program in 1997 in response to Mexico’s economic crisis during the years 1994-1995, renewed it as Oportunidades in 2002, then renamed it Prospera in 2014. Following its cancellation, a new program, the Benito Juarez Scholarship Fund, replaced the educational components of Prospera.

What was Prospera?

Prospera was a conditional cash transfer program (CCT) that not only focused on child education but health and nutrition; it supplied monthly cash subsidies to poor households, primarily those belonging to single and/or unemployed mothers, under certain conditions, Social Protection reports. These conditions included school enrollment and regular trips to health clinics for children.

The CCT program reached 6.2 million households and researchers found that during its implementation, educational attainment for children increased by about 10%, according to Social Protection. Other short-term positive impacts thanks to the program’s conditional healthcare visits included a decrease in maternal death by 11% and infant mortality by 2% and an average improvement in children’s nutritional health.

Long-term impacts of Mexico’s Prospera are still being studied, but one study found that the program’s beneficiaries were “37% more likely to have a job” than those who did not participate and the World Bank attributes one-third of the decrease in Mexico’s rural poverty rates to the program. The World Bank also notes that over 50 countries have replicated Mexico’s Prospera model, adopting similar CCT programs.

Reasons Behind Cancellation

Despite this, Prospera was not particularly popular among voters and Mexico’s president Lopez Obrador eventually canceled it. Data has shown that the program’s beneficiaries received 30% to 40% less in cash value than what was originally intended.

Additionally, the program failed to include 55% of families living in poverty and with household incomes that should have qualified for program consideration, according to Development Pathways.

The Benito Juarez Scholarship Fund

That being said, President Lopez-Obrador and his administration intend for the Benito Juarez Scholarship Fund, Prospera’s replacement, to serve children’s educational pursuits without Prospera’s past corruption. In an effort to confront Mexico’s low enrollment and high dropout rates in secondary education and beyond, the fund will give monetary grants in the form of scholarships to teenagers attending upper secondary (high) schools, Social Protection reports.

This fund, however, does not account for “the removal of conditional health and nutrition requirements of Prospera,” Social Protection reports. Despite this fact, the Benito Juarez Scholarship Fund aims to “encourage [children’s] school enrollment and graduation” without making subsidies conditional upon parents meeting certain requirements.

The program targets families with school-aged children whose monthly income falls under the extreme poverty line and Mexico’s government claims “priority is given to families that live in areas of indigenous populations, areas with high degrees of marginalization or with high rates of violence,” according to Observatory on Social Development.

Mexico’s government has made efforts to improve education in Mexico and school enrollment through programs such as Prospera and, more recently, the Benito Juarez Scholarship Fund.

– Ashley Kim
Photo: Flickr

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Safaricom’s Job Expansion Is Critical for Combating Poverty

Safaricom’s Job ExpansionIn a move to fight competition, Safaricom in Kenya expanded its technical staff by hiring 400 employees with one new deal. The deal, completed in July 2022, will not only create new jobs for Kenyans and open the door for future employment but also will improve Kenyans’ access to technology. Nationwide access to the internet and reliable technology is critical to fighting poverty in Kenya.

Safaricom and its Role in Kenya

Safaricom is a mobile network and internet company based in Kenya. The company hires directly for countless fields, including tech, cybersecurity, commercial, corporate and more. Indirectly, the company is responsible for sustaining thousands of jobs, almost millions, of jobs. Indirect jobs, like contractors, have connections to the production or maintenance of a company’s products. Indirect jobs are also ones where someone’s business or employment is reliant on the services that the company produced. The jobs are indirect because they result from Safaricom’s internet spread or use of Safaricom’s technology and would not exist without Safaricom. Safaricom operates in at least 10 other countries, with recent expansions and more to come.

Allot, a secondary company that tracks cybersecurity and reliability, described Safaricom stating that “With 29 million connections, they are the largest telecommunications provider in Kenya and one of the most profitable companies in the East and Central African region.” In the fiscal year 2020-2021, Safaricom contributed $4,642,499,981.43 in earnings to Kenya’s gross domestic product (GDP). Safaricom’s earnings amount to almost 5% of Kenya’s entire GDP. The economic impact of Safaricom’s work is indisputable, and Safaricom’s job expansion exemplifies its effects on technology usage and poverty reduction in Kenya.

Technology in Kenya

Kenya has the “best e-infrastructure in Africa,” making the country known for its technological development and innovation. Kenya’s information, communications and technology sector (ICT) is at the core of Kenya’s government’s latest projects to strengthen the country’s economy. The World Bank has reported that the ICT sector in Kenya still requires significant work to increase its impact on Kenya’s economy and to completely help its poorer citizens.

In April 2022, Kenya’s government created and began implementing the Digital Master Plan 2022-2032. Safaricom will be one of the companies tracking the Master Plan and its progress, specifically regarding data usage. The plan outlines goals, strategies and necessary steps to have Kenya align with global technological infrastructure advancements, and to strengthen and secure Kenya’s “digital economy.” A digital economy is the economic income and improvements from technology use, online activities and all the businesses that depend on the use of technology to strengthen their work and employee retainment. The Digital Masterplan, while not a direct plan to decrease poverty rates or unemployment rates, is meant to enhance the economy, which will result in reduced rates.

One of the key technological advancements in Kenya is the use of M-Pesa. M-Pesa stands for “mobile pesa” and allows users of M-Pesa to make secure transactions from their phones. Vodacom, a partner of Safaricom, and Safaricom itself produced M-Pesa first in 2007. M-Pesa has become a critical connector between rural and urban Kenya. It pre-dated apps such as Venmo and Paypal and has been a part of daily life with further expansions underway. M-Pesa is one of the primary technological tools in Kenya that have lifted thousands out of extreme poverty. Safaricom’s job expansion will help even more escape poverty once the expansion is underway.

Poverty in Kenya

Extreme poverty is when a person lives on less than $1.90 daily. Kenya’s extreme poverty rates were at their highest at 21% in 2016 but have since dropped to 17% as of 2022. Projections for Kenya’s poverty rate show the percentage of Kenya’s population in extreme poverty decreasing to 14% by 2025.

Poverty in Kenya has many causes including lack of education, poor health, and, as technology becomes a key source of income and infrastructure for Kenya, a digital divide. The World Bank noted that 44% of the urban population has access to the internet, compared to the rural population’s meager 27%. Older Kenyans know there are not enough basic skills for technology usage, especially in rural areas. The lack of skills will result in their being economically disadvantaged as technology becomes Kenya’s dominant source of income. Younger age groups are beginning to participate in courses in technology usage or computer science. However, not enough of the older Kenyan population, who struggle to escape poverty, are learning these skills. This is furthering the poverty rates and the technology divides.

Safaricom’s Work In Kenya and Its Future Impact

Safaricom’s job expansion continues the work of the company’s efforts to fight poverty and reduce unemployment rates. Safaricom has created access to financial services for almost 80% of Kenyans. Before Safaricom began operations, the number of Kenyans with access to financial services was 20%. Safaricom has closed education gaps by providing updated technology to schools or has supported local communities or refugees as they find their footing. The technology demand is growing in Kenya, and Safaricom’s job expansion of 400 new employees for the tech team will help meet these demands.

M-Pesa, a product of the tech team, has become one of Safaricom’s most economically valuable ventures, connecting poor rural Kenyans with financial services and mobile usage. M-Pesa earned Safaricom $896,454,132.48 in 2020-2021.

Safaricom is hiring new employees to meet demand and further the company’s reach with M-Pesa and projects like it. Safaricom’s job expansion might seem small. Safaricom is hiring 400 new workers compared to the 6,230 the company already has working as full-time, part-time or contract workers. However, the new workers are invaluable to the company and its ability to serve those who have become reliant on the company and its technology. Safaricom’s job expansion might not seem like a grand move, but there are now 400 tech developers who will benefit from a steady income. There will also be thousands more Kenyans lifted out of extreme poverty by Safaricom’s projects and technology advancements that rely on these new 400 tech developers.

– Clara Mulvihill
Photo: Flickr

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Period Poverty in the Dominican Republic  

Period Poverty in the Dominican Republic Joining the fight to tackle period poverty in the Dominican Republic, Batey Relief Alliance, a nonprofit organization in the Dominican Republic, worked with Always, a famous American brand of menstrual products, to distribute pads to Dominican women through their #ChicaAyudaChica campaign.

Period Poverty and its Effects

According to UNFPA, “period poverty describes the struggle many low-income women and girls face while trying to afford menstrual products.” Though period poverty is a global issue, it is more prevalent in countries where women are disproportionately impacted by economic hardship. In the Dominican Republic, while the poverty rate is 3% higher for women compared to men, it is also important to note that “40% of women [carry] out unpaid work at home.”

Societal norms limit many Dominican women to domestic work rather than professional occupations. Women in rural Dominican Republic who do work often earn a total of $1 per day when the average package of pads costs $3, making it near impossible for them to afford the products. Thus, the cycle of period poverty persists.

Along with financial difficulties, women also struggled to access menstrual products due to COVID-19, as shown in a survey conducted in 30 countries including the Dominican Republic. Per the survey, 73% of health professionals noted that increased shortages and disrupted supply chains restricted women from buying menstrual products. In addition, 68% of health professionals highlighted that there was limited access to “facilities to change, clean and dispose of period products.”

Without access to sanitary products, most girls fear they will bleed through their clothing and be seen as “unclean” or “dirty” due to the taboo placed around periods and sexual health. In response, some girls trade sexual favors for money to pay for their menstrual products, while others simply stay home from school. These absences lead to lasting negative effects as these girls sometimes miss out on their education or drop out altogether.

How Batey Relief Alliance is Helping Dominican Women

Batey Relief Alliance is a non-political nonprofit founded in 1997 that addresses extreme poverty for women, children and families across the Americas and the Caribbean. In 2021, the organization revealed that 20% of Dominican girls in rural areas missed an average of 2-3 days of school monthly due to lack of access to menstrual products. Overall, a UNICEF report notes that only 56.7% of Dominican girls complete high school.

In response to period poverty in the Dominican Republic, the organization partnered with Always and a famous supermarket chain in the Dominican Republic called La Sirena to launch the ChicaAyudaChica campaign on April 6, 2022. The ChicaAyudaChica, or GirlHelpsGirl campaign is a response to the financial strain the pandemic placed on low-income families. The initiative grew using platforms like Twitter and Facebook to reach a bigger audience. By the end of the month, Always donated 20,000 sanitary pads to girls who lived in the rural province of Monte Plata, the seventh poorest town in the Dominican Republic.

Moving Forward

Even though the campaign is over, Always continues the fight against period poverty through its ongoing #EndPeriodPoverty movement, using social media as a tool to spread the word. As awareness of period poverty and its effects increases, the more young girls and women can gain control over their well-being and future economic opportunities.

– Blanly Rodriguez
Photo: Flickr