Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

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How Google is Helping Africa’s Small Businesses

Africa’s Small BusinessesIn June 2022, Google announced a new initiative that targeted small businesses in Africa. The initiative was part of the company’s month-long celebration of International Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Business Day. Micro, small and medium-sized businesses, make up a large portion of the global economy, “[accounting] for 90% of businesses, 60 to 70% of employment and 50% of GDP worldwide.” The significant role that micro, small and medium-sized businesses play internationally as the backbone of economies holds true, especially in Africa. Consumers “buy more than 70% of their food, beverages and personal care products” from Africa’s small businesses.

Loyalty to Small Businesses

This loyalty to small businesses has continued despite the insurgence of corporate supermarkets and retail chain stores. Transitioning this loyalty to e-commerce holds incredible promise for economic development throughout the continent. South Africa posted online sales of $1.8 billion in 2020 and countries like Nigeria and Kenya where the retail sector is a major component of GDP posted 30% and 40% growth rates respectively in 2021.

The framework for e-commerce in Africa has been laid out. Internet coverage, access to credit cards and bank accounts and mobile phone usage have all increased substantially in Africa in the last decade. Google has noted this opportunity for growth in Africa, with Google’s country director for West Africa Juliet Ehimuan noting that “E-commerce presents an opportunity for small businesses in Africa to reach new customers and grow.”

However, the online market has remained untapped for many small and medium businesses in Africa. Technical know-how, as well as concerns over cybercrime, has impeded online market penetration by small and medium businesses in Africa, according to a report by World Trade Organization (WTO). Fortunately, Google’s new initiative is helping build online retail presences for Africa’s small businesses, aiming to “…assist small businesses in Africa to gain the expertise to connect online, expand their customer base and scale-up,” according to Ehimuan.

Google is accomplishing this strategy through a three-pronged plan. It includes the Shopping Small Business Summit, an online career certificate course, and the Local Opportunity Finder.

Shopping Small Business Summit

In late June 2022, Google hosted a Shopping Small Business Summit. According to The Guardian, this event was a one-hour virtual training session to help small and medium business owners develop the skills they need to compete in the online marketplace. This training session covered both e-commerce trends as well as digital marketing tools and skills.

Online Career Certificate Course

The second portion of Google’s plan to help build online retail presences for Africa’s small businesses is an online career certificate course, as The Guardian reported. Unlike the Shopping Small Business Summit, this course has limited availability and is not free. However, Google has offered 1,000 scholarships to Africans who wish to participate in the course. This course will cover digital marketing and e-commerce trends in a deeper capacity than the Small Business Summit, and it aims to prepare Africans for entry level-jobs in e-commerce.

Local Opportunity Finder

Google also launched the Local Opportunity Finder in June 2022. The Local Opportunity Finder is a free online tool for small and medium business owners that aims to improve their online presences. This new tool can analyze a Google Business Profile and then give personalized recommendations for improvement. These improvements are geared towards making e-commerce sites more appealing to consumers and overall more consumer-friendly.

Google’s commitment to growing small businesses is helping build online retail presences for Africa’s small businesses. The large African retail sector is dependent on small businesses. However, the continent has lagged behind in terms of digital market space until now. If African businesses can take advantage of Google’s initiatives and work through the impediments holding back e-commerce in the continent, they could scale their businesses up and expand their consumer bases.

– Benjamin Brown
Photo: Flickr

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Shea Butter Plant in Ghana

Shea Butter Plant in GhanaShea butter, known as “women’s gold,” supports female empowerment, backs many U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), enhances the global supply chain and promotes self-sufficient development in Southeastern Ghana. To make the most of this versatile nut, Bunge Loders Croklaan (BLC), “the specialty oils and fats business of [U.S.-based] Bunge Limited,” opened Africa’s first and largest shea butter plant in Ghana, in 2019. Bunge’s example portrays how capitalizing on a burgeoning international market is mutually beneficial for the United States and the world’s impoverished, especially women.

Bunge’s Global Partnerships

As an international industry headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, Bunge’s purpose is to “connect farmers to consumers to deliver essential food, feed and fuel to the world.” Bunge serves more than 70,000 farmers and consumers by “sourcing, processing and supplying oilseed and grain products and ingredients.”

The BLC sector specializes in delivering oils and fats to farmers and industries within and across borders. Reaping benefits since the opening of the shea plant in Tema, Ghana, Aaron Buettner, a president of BLC, said that the “latest investment in Ghana plays a critical role in strengthening BLC’s global infrastructure for processing and supplying high-quality shea products to our customers around the world, while also bolstering the entire ecosystem of regional crushers and local shea collectors in the West African region.”

BLC’s Shea Butter Plant opens Financial Opportunities in Ghana

Bunge’s global network increases employment and enhances the self-sustainable development of the local shea community in Ghana. About 16 million families in Africa rely on the shea industry to financially sustain their households. In late 2020, Tema’s shea butter plant provided jobs for 73 people, mostly residents and individuals around the community. Currently, in 2022, Ghana has met the unemployment rate indicator under the SDG “decent work and economic growth” at a value of 4.52.

Celebrating Ghanaian Women’s Empowerment

Women represent most of the shea butter plant industry in Ghana. With “skills passed on from mother to daughter,” women pick, process and sell shea nuts and their components. Women leave their homes at dawn and travel to the shea parklands to generate income for their families.

Autonomy in labor helps to raise the status of women. The gender equality goal of the Sustainable Development Report displays a value of 89.68 in 2020 for the ratio of female-to-male labor participation rate, indicating that Ghana is maintaining an egalitarian workforce.

Shortcomings to Women’s Rights in Ghana

Still, gender inequality remains a prevalent issue. Despite employment data that often only captures the world from its surface, women in Ghana generally have fewer assets and are more impoverished than men. In fact, according to Oxfam, about 94% of the wealthiest people in Ghana are men.

Women are even disadvantaged in the shea business due to their absence in key stages of the supply chain. Illiteracy and lack of skills prevent many women from maximizing their wealth and industries’ production. In fact, “significant challenges remain” in the ratio of female-to-male mean years of education received.

How BLC Helps Females in Ghana

The Where Life Grows campaign, connected with BLC, committed itself to “empower shea collecting women, create socio-economic value in their communities and conserve and regenerate the shea landscape.” The campaign builds the capacity of women through training and by providing innovative resources. For example, during the off-season, women working with the Where Life Goes program organize, plan and discuss their needs with colleagues and receive loans. The women use the borrowed money to rent land, buy fertilizer, hire tractors to plow the soil and more.

Furthermore, BLC and the campaign implement solutions to alleviate stagnated access to sustainable clean energy in Ghana that impedes on shea production. BLC’s management designs efforts that provide energy-efficient pots and stoves that “use 60% less wood,” emit less smoke and decrease nut boiling time. These newly improved tools improve working conditions, sanitation and efficiency. By investing in local skills development overseas, the Missouri-based company attains a more efficient and sustainable production process while accounting for humanitarian needs.

Bunge’s partnerships supply training, tools, farming activities and direct sourcing to women in Tema, ultimately strengthening both ends of the value chain. Global businesses, namely BLC, operate with a multitude of incentives, such as strengthening the independence of women in Ghana and creating jobs in the United States. The international shea business improves Ghanaian individual and economic wealth and works to close the gender gap.

– Anna Zawistowski
Photo: WikiCommons

 

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HIV/AIDS in Malawi

HIV/AIDS in MalawiWhile it remains in the top 10 countries with the highest HIV rates, there is a significant reduction in the rates of HIV/AIDS in Malawi. This plummet, from 14.9% in 2000 to 8.1% in 2020, is likely to continue its decrease with the improvements to the diagnosis and care system.

The introduction of the Malawi Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (MPHIA) in 2016 has made it easier to track the progress of testing and treatment for HIV/AIDS in Malawi. The data from the 2022 assessment shows that Malawi has met two-thirds of the UNAIDS targets, with at least 95% of those aware of their status initiating treatment and 95% of those on treatment experiencing viral suppression.

Prioritizing Testing

The one target that Malawi must still meet is for 95% of persons with HIV to be “aware of their status.” In Malawi, where 88.3% of those with HIV are diagnosed, this target is not out of reach, according to the Population-Based HIV Impact Assessment (PHIA).

HIV self-testing is becoming more common in Malawi and studies show that community-led delivery of self-tests is safe, economical and reliable.

However, money and availability are not the only barriers to accessing HIV tests. There is a global need to overcome the stigma surrounding HIV; with a strong correlation between prejudicial attitudes toward HIV and reluctance to test. For many sufferers, attending a testing site is a deterrent, which is another explanation for why many remain untested. The increasing number of home tests could be vital to overcoming this hurdle.

COVID-19

The pandemic saw a 35% drop in HIV tests, according to Nuha Ceesay, UNAIDS country director, exacerbating the struggle to reach the 95% target.

As we come towards the end of the COVID-19 health emergency, education to combat stigmas and increasing testing services are integral measures for Malawi to reach UNAIDS targets. COVID-19 exacerbated existing stigmas with the misconception that those with HIV are more likely to catch Coronavirus. The pandemic birthed a new discriminatory term for people diagnosed HIV positive, “corona carrier,” Reuters reports.

COVID-19 has not permanently regressed in the fight against HIV. Despite the pandemic’s detrimental impact on the health care system of the country, it sustained some positive progress. Of those suffering from HIV/AIDS in Malawi, 98.6% were still referred for vital antiretroviral treatment throughout this period.

Women and HIV

Uneducated young women are one of the main disadvantaged social groups at the center of this health care emergency.

Despite making some progress, Malawi is still far from achieving gender equality. Health care access issues are no exception to this and adolescent girls and young women are the most vulnerable to HIV.

Research suggests that women experiencing poor health are likely to delay seeking medical support, prioritizing their family due to social norms and expectations. Connecting issues, such as lack of education and unemployment, leads more women towards sex work, only increasing the likelihood of contraction.

Children and HIV

The lack of testing makes children vulnerable targets of the AIDS crisis, with UNICEF identifying 25% of children with HIV/AIDS in Malawi as unaware of their status and only half of the HIV-positive children receiving treatment.

This is a cycle mostly formed by the 20%-45% risk of HIV-positive mothers passing HIV onto their children. These children often lack lifesaving treatment, with 20% of infants dying before age one without antiretroviral therapy (in sub-Saharan Africa).

Improving resource allocation and support for women and children helps to interrupt this cycle. Through vital counseling on the necessities of treatment, training of health care professionals, education, career prospects and prevention of sex work, the epicenter of the HIV epidemic could be the focal point of change.

The Path Forward

Foreign aid is crucial for Malawi to reach its UNAIDS targets and USAID data shows it is one of the countries in the world most dependent on foreign aid, with 99% of its HIV expenditure coming from international financial support.

Prompting the government to prioritize international aid, such as funding the coronavirus response, would alleviate pressure from Malawi’s health care system and allow the dedication of more time and resources to HIV testing. Organizations such as MANASO, a major advocate and host of Malawi World AIDS Day, are striving toward lower infection rates.

Its current plans include the Family Planning Budget Accountability Project, focused on advocation for the government to fund family planning essentials and for the spending of these funds to be appropriate and effective. It has achieved success in meeting government officials, engaging in advocacy and conducting meetings and workshops with chief security officers (CSOs). The family planning budget has also received more funds, seeing an increase from 2017 to 2019, as a result of this work.

Lobbying one’s leaders and supporting groups like MANASO enables the fight against HIV in Malawi to progress, with international support having a vital impact on treatment, testing and prevention goals.  

– Lydia Tyler
Photo: Flickr

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The Dangerous Ideology of North Korea 

dangerous ideology of North Korea The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has remained an enigma on the world stage for decades. The Kim dynasty, which has ruled since September 1948, transformed the economic outlook of the country with its oppressive and totalitarian regime. The unstable, elusive and dangerous ideology of North Korea makes it increasingly difficult for foreign aid to promote social, economic and political progress.

The Destructive Nature of Juche

North Korea’s unique ideology, coined ‘juche’ by the late Supreme Leader Kim Il-Sung, is a set of beliefs that focuses on self-reliance and finding strength without foreign assistance. In 1982, the revised Constitution accepted this as its authoritative doctrine. By adopting this isolationist ideology, North Korea’s inadequate economic planning soon plunged large portions of its population into extreme poverty and contributed to the deaths of millions from famine.

While the damage of juche is difficult to measure, its endorsement exacerbated the devastating North Korean famine of the 1990s as juche disregarded the potentiality of foreign aid to relieve the effects of the disaster.

As North Korea continued its isolation, the government’s distribution of the food supply began to favor the political and social elites rather than the majority of the population. In addition, the climate and land quality in the country was inadequate and when fuel aid from the USSR ceased, North Korea was unable to continue producing the fertilizer that helped its land provide higher crop yields. The subsequent famine killed millions.

The Inequality of Songbun

‘Songbun’ accompanies ‘juche’ as one of the discriminatory ideologies in the country that disproportionately impacts North Korea’s poor. ‘Songbun’ is a socioeconomic classification scheme that categorizes the population based on their loyalty to the regime. Upon its creation during the regime’s infancy, 28% of the population was considered in the “Core” or related to war heroes or peasants, 45% was considered “Wavering” and 27% was considered “Hostile”.

This system leads to egregious inequality specifically among the North Korean lower class, hindering this group in regard to education and employment.

For example, North Koreans are not able to choose their occupation or educational opportunity as their songbun ranking and government decide this for them.

Discrimination and Atrocity

Extreme gender discrimination within North Korea greatly hinders the prospect of girls and women in every aspect of life. Every day, women and girls fall victim to tremendous levels of sexual assault and persecution, including forced labor, forced marriage and food deprivation. A July 2020 report from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) observed that North Korean women deported from China were often unable to obtain a fair trial and were wrongfully imprisoned, where they would suffer multiple tortures including rape, infanticide and unlivable prison conditions.

Diplomats worldwide struggle with the predictability of the dangerous ideology of North Korea. As juche, songbun and gender stereotypes and discrimination provoke a greater socioeconomic divide among the North Korean people, poverty worsens within the country. Due to North Korea’s isolationist nature, some previous attempts at sending foreign aid have not been able to adequately advance North Korea’s development.

How Organizations Alleviate North Korean Poverty

Sending aid to North Korea has been difficult in the past due to the country’s intense self-reliance philosophy. However, in the past, the United States has supplied over $400 million in energy assistance as well as $700 million worth of food assistance since 1995 and 1996, respectively.

During times of crisis, many organizations step up to provide life-saving aid. For example, in 2019, with the support of donors, aid from the UN and INGOs reached 2.5 million people in North Korea. The Needs and Priorities Plan of 2020 proposed further aid, which would help give 5.5 million people better access to health services, 1.3 million with food assistance and more.

Although it is challenging for governments to determine whether or not aid is reaching those who need it the most, organizations that focus on serving those in poverty have continued to assist North Koreans for years.

– Caroline Zientek
Photo: Flickr

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Addressing Child Poverty in Laos

Child Poverty in LaosLocated in the center of South-East Asia, Laos or Lao People’s Democratic Republic, is one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia.  Nearly 23% of the total population of 7.2 million people in Laos are below the poverty line.  More than half of the population in Laos are under the age of 18 and they are severely impacted by poverty.  Besides the economic growth, the multidimensional deprivation in children is highly associated with the low levels of infrastructure and the heavy reliance on agricultural activities.  The children in poverty in Laos are impacted in various sectors such as nutrition, child labor and education. It’s important to be addressing child poverty in Laos and the numerous struggles that spawn from it.

Overview of Child Poverty in Laos

In Save the Children’s 2021 Global Childhood Report, Laos was ranked 143 of 186 countries on an index reflecting countries’ average levels of performance based on eight indicators related to child health, education, labor, marriage, childbirth and violence. According to the statistics from UNICEF in 2018, only 12% of children experience no deprivation while the other remaining children under 18 years are suffering from at least two deprivations in the areas of nutrition, health and education.

Food Insecurity

Widespread child malnutrition and food insecurity remain as persistent problems in Laos.  The World Food Program and Lao government ranked Laos 87th out of 177 countries on the 2019 Global Hunger Index.

In terms of food security, the share of the household experiencing severe food insecurity rose to 23% in May 2022.

Child Labor and Education

The report from Save the Children estimated that 28.2% of children aged five to 17 were involved in labor from 2015 to 2020

In 2021, Prime Minister Phankham cited that a low level of development in Laos correlates with the parents’ reliance on their children to help out with finances at home rather than getting an education. The main problem of early involvement in child labor leads to the lack of educational opportunities.  To elaborate, the 2019 Southeast Asia assessment of learning outcomes showed that fifth-grade students are not mastering the minimum proficiency level for the grade in terms of reading, writing and math skills.

Poverty in Laos is forcing children to drop out of school and participate in child labor to help their families.   In 2021, approximately 28% of children are engaged in child labor, instead of learning according to the Save The Children report. Although the Laos Law prohibits child employment under 14, numerous children are engaged in various forms of labor.

Because of the devastating poverty situation, most of the parents in Laos do not see the importance of education and instead encourage their children to participate in physical labor to amend their financial struggle.  According to an official from the Education Department in Sekong province, students aged 10 to 12 from rural areas often quit school or only attend classes two or three days a week. The lack of infrastructure in the education sector and low government spending has aggravated the situation of the children in poverty in Laos for accessing education.

The Impact of COVID-19

Since 2021, the impact of the pandemic adversely impacted the children’s education opportunities in Laos.  Approximately 42% of children stopped attending schools temporarily or permanently after many households faced financial collapse because of the pandemic.

Efforts to address Child Poverty in Laos

The national poverty rate in Laos has continuously dropped with annual GDP growth of 7.3%.  According to the statistics from the World Bank, between 1993 and 2019, the poverty rate fell from 46% to 18%. However, the poverty rate in minority ethnic remained relatively high, with the rate of 34.6%.  This disproportionate poverty rate in minority ethnic groups was ten times higher than among households headed by those who have completed secondary education.

To help improve the education status, the World Bank and the government launched a $47 million national project aimed at improving pre-school and primary education performance in September 2021

USAID also took the progressive approach to child education in Laos in 2022, DA Coleman announced a new $2.6 million USAID grant to support childhood and primary education.

To enhance the nutrition security in Laos, the government of Laos jointly partnered with WFP’s Country Director to launch WFP’s new Country Strategic Plan 2022-2026 in February 2022.  This strategic plan is centered on expanding and strengthening the Government’s school meals program, working to enhance community resilience and ensure food security.

A Look Ahead

By implementing long-term commitments and strategies both nationally and internationally, the prospect of eliminating child poverty in Laos is positive.

–Youngwook Chun
Photo: Flickr

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Human Trafficking in Oman

Human Trafficking in OmanHuman trafficking rates have grown significantly in the last decade. While rising global trends persist amid the COVID-19 pandemic, countries like Oman steadily reinforce its policies to combat human trafficking in Oman.

The Human Trafficking Epidemic

According to the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC), human trafficking is defined as the “recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit.”

The involuntary movement of people occurs internationally and affects men, women and children. Human trafficking varies in scope and degree regarding its victims’ characteristics. The data shows most women and girls are sex trafficked; most men and boys are labor trafficked. Perpetrators include organized crime groups or individuals acting of their accord. UNODC highlights immigrants and the unemployed as more susceptible to trafficking, with the COVID-19 crisis likely to “expose more people to the risk of trafficking.”

Oman’s Policies on Human Trafficking

According to the U.S. Department of State, Oman ranks at “Tier Two,” indicating a country that lacks to meet the Trafficking Victim Protection Act’s basic requirements but shows substantial effort to meet those standards. Some areas where Oman struggled to fight against human trafficking include failing to prosecute, investigate or convict supposed traffickers. But, while there have been shortcomings, there have been great strides in tackling human trafficking in Oman.

To further develop victim detection and identify possible trafficking situations, the Omani Ministry of Labor and Royal Omani Police created counter-trafficking units. The units investigated over 20,000 labor disputes and monitored and inspected 312 recruiting agencies for possible trafficking scenarios, the U.S. Department of State reports.

Omani authorities also designated approximately $4.6 million in victim shelters and services such as legal support, rehabilitation, medical care and many others. In addition to the victim shelters, the Omani ministry implemented a labor law to better protect the rights of domestic and migrant workers to mitigate abusive labor relationships and boost victims to protective services.

Continuing The Fight Against Human Trafficking

In December 2020, Oman’s Foreign Affairs Ministry hosted a conference to acquire feedback on the National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking and evaluate Oman’s effectiveness in combating trafficking. Currently, Oman endorses the National Action Plan. It recognizes the issue of human trafficking and the severe repercussions trafficking has on the marginalized members of society; while stressing the importance of government(s) cooperation in fostering and enhancing anti-trafficking programs.

The Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues to finance an expert advisor on international human trafficking and aids multi-national bodies in investigating, proposing new legislation and advancing data collection strategies.

Omanis have also begun to sponsor and host more national campaigns to inform the public about human trafficking in Oman, according to the U.S. Department of State. The campaign instructs its participants on how to correctly identify cases of human trafficking and how to report these crimes to both the authorities and hotline service.

During the 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report, the Sultanate of Oman disclosed its recognition of 29 female victims. This is an improvement from the previous year, where the Sultanate discovered only 25 victims, the U.S. Department of State reports. Out of the 29 victims, the trafficking hotline recovered three. Additionally, in June 2022, in cooperation with INTERPOL, Omani authorities successfully rescued six human trafficking victims.

The Omani Centre for Human Rights (formerly the Omani Monitor for Human Rights) is at the forefront of the observance and reporting of human rights matters, including human trafficking in Oman. Its primary objective is to record cases of violation and raise awareness in all public sectors through its team of researchers in the field. The organization coordinates with international bodies such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters without Borders, MENA Rights Group and others, to mobilize international conferences on human rights.

While there is much work to be done, Oman is one of several countries gallantly stepping into the arena of combating human trafficking. The nation continues to revise, enhance and adopt new strategies to its policies to fight against human trafficking in Oman.

– Ricardo Silva
Photo: Flickr

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Girls Not Brides is Working to End Child Marriage

Girls Not Brides Girls Not Brides is an international nonprofit that works to end child marriage around the world. The organization is an initiative founded in 2011 by The Elders, a group of senior statesmen and human rights advocates brought together in 2007 by Nelson Mandela. Girls Not Brides has been working for over a decade to bring the issue of child marriage to the forefront of the government’s attention.

What is Child Marriage?

The term ‘child marriage’ refers to any formal or informal union between a child under the age of 18, and an adult or another child. According to the Girls Not Brides Atlas, the three countries with the highest rates of child marriage as of 2020 are Niger, Central African Republic and Chad. Currently, one in five girls worldwide are married before they are 18, which is a decrease from 10 years ago when one in four girls were victims of the practice. Despite this reduction, the practice still remains very prevalent in certain places. Child marriage can be the result of grave gender inequality, as the frequency of the tradition amongst boys is one sixth of that amongst girls.

Child marriage is also largely driven by poverty, as girls can pose as financial burdens to their families and are married to help relieve fiscal pressure. Girls believe that marriage is the key to securing their futures and sometimes drop out of school before they receive secondary education and begin their lives as wives. In some communities, marriage at a younger age can mean a lower expense. It is customary in different cultures for the girl’s family to ask for money in exchange for their daughter’s hand in marriage. Younger brides tend to go for higher rates, which serves as an incentive for impoverished families to sell their daughters as soon as they can.

The Dangers of Child Marriage

The practice of child marriage has devastating effects on the girls who fall victim. Girls married under the age of 15 are 50% more likely to suffer from domestic violence than those married at a later age. Child marriage can result in girls having sex before they are emotionally and physically ready and is a key driver of adolescent pregnancy, which carries its own health risks. When a girl enters a marriage, she is usually expected to drop out of school and tend to the home and eventually, the children.

If and when girls are ready to return to school, they are faced with barriers such as household responsibilities and a lack of educational and social preparation. In fact, school closures due to the pandemic have exposed 10 million more girls to child marriage as isolation and rising financial instability have driven families to turn to child marriage in order to cope with the economic challenges that came with COVID-19.

How Girls Not Brides is Working to End Child Marriage

Girls Not Brides is working to end child marriage in a multitude of ways. Not only does it work to prevent child marriage, but it also amplifies the voices of current and potential victims. Girls Not Brides strives to bring awareness to the problem by encouraging informed discussions about the topic on local, national, and international levels. As of 2020, Girls Not Brides is made up of more than 1,500 members from 104 countries around the world and has advocated across multiple platforms and top-tier media outlets.

Girls Not Brides offers in-person and online workshops in order to enlighten people on child marriage and educate them in ways they can help. It also mobilizes various political and financial supporters to help further its cause.

A Look Ahead

The nonprofit comprises of 1,400 civil society organizations around the world and works with a range of stakeholders and partners to ensure that its message is being heard. Girls Not Brides is working to end child marriage so that girls everywhere can grow up to reach their full potential, and is bringing light to an issue that is often overlooked but extremely important.

–Ava Lombardi 
Photo: Flickr

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Rising Youth Unemployment in China

Youth Unemployment in ChinaAt the end of June 2022, statistics showed that youth unemployment in China was rising significantly to an unprecedented level of 19.3%. This is partly due to the slow growth (only 0.4%) of the Chinese economy in the second quarter of this year. Such a worrying scene could require powerful solutions.

Reasons Behind Rising Youth Unemployment in China

Nearly one in five young men is unemployed in China, a country with the second largest economy in the world. One of the greatest contributors to youth unemployment in China was the pandemic and the government’s relative lockdown policies. As the Chinese government made tight policies to control the number and spread of COVID-19 cases, major cities including Shanghai experienced large-scale lockdowns, affecting many economic activities.

For example, the retail sales in China have decreased considerably by 11.1%, which was its highest contraction value since March 2020, according to the BBC. An executive at Huawei, Richard Yu, has expressed his worry that if the lockdown persisted, the whole “technology, industrial and automobile supply chains” would come to a full shutdown. The poor performance of the economy in the pandemic made unemployment become more widespread.

Also, due to the Chinese government’s policies since 2021, most extracurricular tutoring was banned in China to lower pressure and discourage competition among Chinese students. However, as many private tutoring institutions had to shut down, teachers lost their source of income.

Chinese Government’s Effort to Solve the Problem

Fortunately, youth employment in China is not at a dead end. Circumstances can get better for those young people who are desperately seeking jobs.

The Chinese government was aware of this problem and already implemented some measures. On the one hand, the government made it compulsory for state-owned businesses and institutions to create new jobs for young graduates from higher education. On the other hand, universities are opening up temporary positions for their own graduates as emergency support, according to NZZ.

The Future

Although the unemployment figure was high in June, the Chinese labor market has already started to revive slowly since May. It may take some time for the reviving effect to lower the youth unemployment rate. As the government started to focus on tackling this problem for the younger generation, it started to provide subsidies and guaranteed loans for small businesses to help them overcome the financial difficulties that came with the pandemic lockdowns.

It was clear that the strict lockdown policies in China limited economic performance instantly. However, the economy is recovering steadily since the end of the second quarter of 2022. Consumer expenditures, including the key Chinese industry—vehicles, have experienced an impressive boost since June. In fact, economists from other countries still give high expectations for China’s future economic growth.

Hopefully, a more thriving economy could benefit the job market and ease the pressing problem of youth unemployment in China very soon.

– Ella Li
Photo: Flickr

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The Necessity of Vaccine Diplomacy

Vaccine DiplomacyWhile the COVID-19 vaccine has helped to reduce destruction and devastation from the pandemic, the virus is still spreading across the globe. According to Dr. Peter Hotez “organized hostility against the scientific community,” may be public health’s biggest enemy. However, on a global scale, the most serious threat is the lack of vaccine diplomacy and effective health care in geopolitics. Solving this crisis requires the United States and other western countries to prioritize the distribution of pandemic response resources so that everyone can lead healthy, safe lives regardless of their location.

Inequities of Vaccine Resources

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the global death rate by 20%, shut down economies and dismantled health care systems across the world. Despite the fact that the COVID-19 vaccine is now readily available in many developed countries, many low-income countries remain highly unvaccinated while the United States eases pandemic funding. With monkeypox cases on the rise, the fight against global health crises has hit a major roadblock, as low-income countries are scrambling for vaccine resources amid slowing economies.

Developed countries have a humanitarian responsibility to ensure that low-income countries have access to the healthcare resources that North American and European countries have. Additionally, novel variants of COVID-19 often arise from unvaccinated populations, which means that the pandemic will only worsen unless we make a concerted effort to fully vaccinate developing and low-income countries, according to Dr. Hotez.

Making a Commitment to Vaccine Diplomacy

Today, less than 20% of people in low-income countries have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The next step is for the United States and other world leaders to provide more resources to help get shots into people’s arms in developing countries. According to The Borgen Project’s action center, “This essential funding will go towards vaccines, tests, last-mile efforts and treatment so we can continue vaccinating the rest of the world, save lives and prevent new variants from emerging.” It’s an important investment that will not only save the lives of people in the most vulnerable places across the globe but will also help to protect the well-being of Americans.

Overall, vaccine diplomacy is also necessary to conquer vaccine skepticism, which is keeping millions of people from getting vaccinated. In order to effectively fight against the worsening global health crisis of COVID-19 and monkeypox, the United States and other economic powerhouses should prioritize geopolitical cooperation with developing countries to collaborate on equitably distributing vaccine resources.

– Ella DeVries
Photo: Flickr

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The Efforts of USAID Programs in Vietnam

USAID Programs in Vietnam
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) began its relationship with Vietnam in 1989 with programs assisting disabled persons and has expanded its influence on Vietnamese society and its markets. The foreign aid agency primarily focuses on Vietnam’s economic productivity, education systems, health and environment, amongst other pressing issues.

Fostering Economic Growth

USAID programs offer support by improving the business ventures of Vietnamese enterprises and governance capacity. USAID programs are aiming to increase Vietnam’s economy to an upper-middle-income status by 2035 through efforts to increase productivity and competition amongst small businesses, address economic policies and emphasize sustainability.

Existing programs promote global trade and international commerce by stimulating competition in private sectors and developing leadership and management skills for provincial leaders. USAID programs in Vietnam create a further expanding market with small and medium businesses that cooperate with global supply chains. Boosting Vietnam’s trade reach beyond localities creates a more inclusive, productive and accessible market for vulnerable populations.

Efforts to increase sustainability go hand-in-hand with USAID’s environmental protection programs. Shifting reliance on renewable energy sources has been a goal of USAID in partnership with Vietnam Urban Energy Security (VUES) to stimulate investments and commercialization. The focus on sustainability and economic growth aims to provide opportunities for vulnerable populations in poverty to gain access to business ventures that can bring social mobility and stability.

Health and COVID-19 Recovery

USAID invested more than $1 billion in Vietnamese health assistance programs to prevent and treat infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and zoonotic diseases in the past 20 years. Global health security projects aim to train health workers, monitor possible health threats from animals and/or contagions and prepare appropriate responses to public health emergencies that may arise in the future. For example, the One Health Workforce project will provide training at universities for almost 1,700 students in various health care disciplines – not only enhancing the job force with academic opportunities and skills for the next generation but also improving the health security of the country.

Vietnam has also received $23.4 million in COVID-19 assistance including vaccine doses, ventilators, emergency response systems and health facilities. USAID’s MOMENTUM project addressed low immunization rates and a lack of accessibility to COVID-19 vaccine doses in provinces without properly trained medical health professionals and resources due to geographic and socio-economic barriers.

In the first six months of its implementation, the program trained almost 4,000 staff members and placed 716 mobile vaccination sites in mountainous provinces that otherwise experienced neglect in terms of health security amid the pandemic.

Higher Education System Modernization

One step USAID programs in Vietnam are taking to provide access to knowledge and skills required for socio-economic prosperity is focusing on improving academic opportunities. USAID recognizes that in order to improve Vietnam’s status from its current standing as a lower-middle income country, the labor force would benefit from modernization and advancement in skills to keep up with an ever-changing job market.

The government is appropriating funds and creating partnerships between Vietnamese universities and American higher education institutions like Indiana University to improve academic quality, research and innovation in the Southeast Asian country. American universities will give nearly 150,000 Vietnamese students the opportunity to pursue academic endeavors that reflect the future of the job market through academic partnerships and socio-economic growth within the country.

USAID programs in Vietnam have reflected the strengthening relationship between the United States and Vietnamese governments with financial investments and support that could benefit the economy on local and international levels. Economic support, educational advancements and emergency relief that the U.S. provided could allow Vietnam to eventually become an independent and thriving country.

– Nethya Samarakkodige
Photo: Pixabay