Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

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Salesian Missions: Self-Sustainability in Eritrea

Self-sustainability in EritreaSalesian Missions, an organization part of the Salesians of Don Bosco, has provided the Don Bosco Technical School in Eritrea with funding to buy two cows. The funding, which also enabled students to buy food supplies, will help the school work toward self-sustainability. In the future, the Salesian missionaries hope to gain funding to purchase two additional cows and renovate the barn housing the cows. The funding is part of a long-term self-sustainability project. Members of the school and the community have also been growing their own vegetables, selling milk and making furniture to sell. Self-sustainability in Eritrea is important as nearly 70% of Eritreans live in poverty.

Don Bosco Technical School

The Don Bosco Technical School is located in Dekemhare, 25 miles away from the Eritrean capital, Asmara. The education facility teaches technical skills in “automotive work, general metal, general mechanics, carpentry, building construction, woodwork or furniture making, electricity, electronics and surveying.” The school also teaches courses in information technology and academic subjects. After completing a course, students participate in “military training for six months” and the Eritrean government allocates jobs to them. Salesian Missions’ funding plays a vital role in the school’s flourishing self-sustainability project.

Salesians of Don Bosco and Salesian Missions

The Salesians of Don Bosco is a global Catholic organization founded by an Italian Catholic priest, Don Bosco, to “serve the young,” especially impoverished and marginalized people. It is now the second-largest order within the Catholic Church. Salesian Missions, its U.S. developmental branch, is made up of more than 30,000 religious members dedicated to serving the world’s most impoverished people. Salesian Missions’ overall goal is to equip children with the skills needed to secure employment and achieve self-sufficiency in order to break cycles of poverty.

Poverty and Agriculture in Eritrea

Eritrea’s economy depends, in part, on agriculture. While agriculture makes up about one-third of the country’s economy, it accounts for about 63% of total employment. Eritrea’s agriculture sector is highly dependant on rainfall, making it a volatile sector due to increasing droughts.

According to the World Population Review, 69% of Eritrea’s population lives in poverty. Eritrea ranks fifth for global poverty, behind only South Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau. Due to high rates of poverty, self-sustainability in Eritrea is the surest means of survival.

Eritrea is also known for its strict government. Dubbed by many as the “Africa’s North Korea,” Eritrea has been subject to several U.N. and EU sanctions, some of which have been lifted. However, Eritrea was recently hit with sanctions for human rights violations tied to the conflict in Ethiopia. As an isolated nation, Eritrea is cut off from many of the advantages of globalism and does not enjoy the same opportunities for global trade.

A Future of Self-Sustainability

Because of its high poverty rates and struggling agricultural sector, any funding into agricultural resources greatly helps the citizens of Eritrea, allowing them to work toward self-sustainability and thrive for far longer than short-term food aid would allow. Salesian Missions is doing important work since self-sustainability in Eritrea is vital for the survival of many.

– Augustus Bambridge-Sutton
Photo: Flickr

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UNICEF Promotes Syrian Children’s Resilience

Syrian Children's Resilience
For much of the world’s youth, guns, bombs and rubble describe a scene from a war video game, but these circumstances are a reality for Syrian children. Nearly six million Syrian children have known nothing but war. Over 4.8 million were born into the Syrian conflict with one million more born as refugees after their families fled from conflict-riddled countries. However, despite these challenges, Syrian children’s resilience shines above and beyond their difficulties.

UNICEF, arguably the organization providing the most vital humanitarian assistance to Syrian children, requested $1.4 billion in 2021 to provide the necessary aid to those it serves. The Borgen Project spoke with Salam Al Janabi, Chief of Communications for UNICEF in Syria, who stated that “This past year we saw a 20% jump in the numbers of children in need. The triple crises of conflict, COVID-19 and a crushing economic crisis are really pushing children and families over the edge.” However, hope still exists, because Syrian children’s resilience is amazing despite their devastating living circumstances.

The Life of a Syrian Child

What is it like living as a child amid the conflict in Syria? Here are a few of the most startling statistics:

  • About 80% of Syrian children live in poverty.
  • The number of displaced children has doubled since 2012, reaching 2.6 million in 2020.
  • Nearly 12,000 children have been victims of death or injury since the start of the conflict in 2011. This means, one child has suffered injury or death every eight hours for 10 years, amounting to about 12,000 children. Unfortunately, the U.N. has predicted that this number could be much higher.
  • Between 2011 and 2020, militants recruited more than 5,700 children as child soldiers. Many of these children were no more than 7 years old.
  • Close to 3.5 million Syrian children are unable to attend school. Girls make up 40% of those without access to education.
  • Many children and their families have fled violence more than seven times, usually finding shelter in tents and unfinished buildings.

Hyperinflation and the country’s intense instability continue to breed catastrophe for Syrians. The price of a basket with the most basic food staples increased by 236% while the Syrian pound dropped by 78%. This staggering figure is forcing parents to put their children, as young as 7 years old, to work for meager wages to help feed the family.

UNICEF

Amid the ongoing violence, UNICEF continues to offer life-saving support to Syrian children. In 2020, UNICEF and its partners provided crucial support, such as:

  • Screening 2.6 million women and children for malnutrition.
  • Improving water supply for more than three million people.
  • Vaccinating more than 2.5 million children under 5 years old against polio.
  • Supporting the education of 2.2 million children.
  • Ensuring the continuation of services by providing PPE to healthcare workers, schools and NGOs.

In 2021, UNICEF hopes to give more than three million polio vaccinations and further expand access to safe, clean water. It will continue to provide explosive weapons risk education to young people and offer nutrition guidance to those providing care to infants and young children.

Prioritizing Education

Al Janabi told The Borgen Project, “I think what cannot be emphasized enough is how much parents here in Syria value education. Even in some of the remotest, most destroyed areas we have been to, parents will tell you that they need a school for their children.” Prior to the conflict, enrollment rates were consistently 97% or higher. In 2020, more than 3.7 million Syrian children received access to formal and informal education opportunities as a result of UNICEF and its partners’ assistance.

Education is vital for any child. However, education is absolutely vital for Syrian children. The schooling they miss not only affects their social and mental development but also holds their futures hostage. “The triple crisis” is a lot to contend with; however, even among these extremely challenging circumstances, Syrian children’s resilience continues to inspire.

Saja’s Story

To say that living in Syria as a child is challenging is a vast understatement. Nonetheless, these children carry with them infinite hope for the future. One of these children is Saja, who was just 7 years old when the war began. At age 11, Saja suffered serious injury from a bomb explosion. She lost four young friends and her leg that day. Her brother lost his life during a bombing raid. Her family relocated several times to escape the escalating violence.

UNICEF interviewed Saja at the age of 12. She spoke of the joyful life she experienced prior to the war and her passion for learning. She said she has to walk a long way to get to school which is difficult for her due to her injury. However, looking into the camera and speaking through a wide grin, she said, “It’s a struggle, but what else can you do?” Now 18, Saja says she never loses hope. Her great love of sports, soccer in particular, and school helped her overcome the difficulties that filled her childhood. She dreams of studying literature and physical education.

Hope for the Future

Children like Saja exist throughout Syria’s wartorn cities. Resilience has woven into the fabric of many of these childhoods. Children who refuse to give in to their circumstances instead seek to rise above them. Speaking to Syrian children’s resilience and courage, Al-Janabi stated that “Yes, they need our support and help but they also show us that they have it in them to get through this. The world cannot keep letting them down.” The enduring work UNICEF is doing offers a glimpse of normalcy and the organization has no intention of slowing down. While it is difficult to fathom the seriousness of the crisis in Syria, the children living through it are the true heroes in every story of this conflict.

– Rachel Proctor
Photo: Flickr

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G7 Alliance to End Educational Poverty in Developing Countries

Alliance to End Educational Poverty
The G7 Alliance, otherwise known as Group of Seven, is a global intergovernmental organization made up of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The key principles of this organization are freedom and human rights, democracy and the rule of law and prosperity. The organization promotes sustainable development through “a community of values” by convening at yearly G7 summits. Most recently, the G7 has entered an alliance to end educational poverty in developing countries. 

The G7 Alliance and Goal 5

The G7 Alliance derives from Goal 5 of the G7 Alliance’s Global Goals. The goal is to achieve gender equality. The G7 hopes to do this by ensuring equal access to quality primary and secondary education for both boys and girls. Together, the priorities aid in the path to end poverty in developing countries by 2030.

The G7’s 2021 effort toward Goal 5 includes sending 40 million more girls to school within the next five years. To achieve this, G7 countries will allocate $15 billion to support women and girls’ education in low- and middle-income countries. This movement also includes action to aid in an additional 20 million girls across the world learning how to read by 10 years of age.

Many developing countries already neglected education, especially for women and girls, before the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic inflicted a new set of conditions that worsened education reform in countries that need it most. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 132 million girls around the world lacked access to an adequate education. Additionally, only one in four countries has equal likelihoods of upper-secondary school attendance for boys and girls.

According to Save the Children, the effects of the pandemic have threatened to reverse the gains that many areas have made regarding girls’ education in recent years. About 11 million girls are currently at risk of completely losing their access to education. In Ethiopia alone, the COVID-19 pandemic forced over 26 million children to leave school due to school closures. 

Moving Forward in the Alliance to End Educational Poverty

The G7 Alliance’s commitment toward Goal 5 is one of the largest in terms of scope and projected impacts. However, the Alliance has yet to decide the details of where the funding must come from and where the funding must go.

The G7’s alliance to end educational poverty is placing education at the forefront of policy reform and international aid as countries adjust to the constant new norms that come with each day of the COVID-19 pandemic. This priority could positively affect global economics and accelerate overall global recovery and wellbeing.

– Kylie Lally
Photo: Flickr

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Ugandan Science Show Teaches Science to Children

Ugandan Science Show
A new Ugandan science show called N*Gen (pronounced “engine”) has exploded in popularity over the past year. The show is delighting kids across Africa and presenting a new and engaging way to learn science. The show debuted on Ugandan television in September 2020. Afterward, television networks in various African countries picked up the show. The show is even now available in North America and the Caribbean. N*Gen presents science through a “decidedly African Prism” and seeks to promote greater African and female representation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. With the show’s massive popularity, it has encouraged children to learn more about science and pursue careers in STEM. 

The Origins of N*Gen

Six teachers from the Clarke Junior School in Kampala created the Ugandan science show in 2020. They created the show in conjunction with the East African nonprofit Peripheral Vision International. Peripheral Vision International produces and funds the show. The show is shot in Kampala, Uganda and airs weekly in 35-minute episodes. It also features episodes shot on location for specific topics at times. N*Gen targets 8- to 12-year-old African children as its audience and has proven to be very popular with this demographic.

N*Gen seeks to be both engaging and entertaining to its audience. This is important in a culture where science is often labeled a more challenging subject. The show centers around engaging presentations of STEM topics through guest teachers and presenters, animations, quizzes and experiments, fitness and mindfulness exercises, on-location episodes and more. The creators stated the show’s goals are to be to:

  1. Foster a culture of curiosity and discovery
  2.  Model new holistic ways of approaching learning
  3. Promote positive gender norms
  4. Nurture trust in science
  5. Help families stay safe during the pandemic

How N*Gen is Changing Science Media

A persistent complaint about science education is that it has focused primarily on Western male perspectives. N*Gen’s ability to change this and engage its viewers in new ways has perhaps been the greatest success of the show. The show focuses on African issues and topics that are present in African kids’ lives. It primarily involves African female perspectives. This gives young girls role models and hopes to look to for a future in science.

N*Gen tends to cover topics that are specific to Africa. For example, they had a segment on the Turkana Boy fossil located in Kenya. A paleontologist from the museum where the bones are located spoke about the fossil. The show visited other locations including Lake Victoria and a local chocolate factory in order to bring science under a more relatable and close-to-home lens for the show’s viewers.

N*Gen’s Depiction of Women

N*Gen has emphasized the depiction of women as scientific experts and presenters as an important aspect of the show. A study shows that at age 6, girls draw 70% of scientists as women compared to 25% at age 16. This is likely due to a lack of female representation in media as scientists and scientific experts. However, N*Gen has made this a strong area of focus and helps to inspire young girls by showing exceptional women in the scientific field.

The two main presenters are teachers at the Clarke Junior School: Irene Nyangoma Mugadu and Annah Komushana. Guest teachers, scientists and presenters are predominantly women although men are certainly present in the show as well. This has influenced its audience and had the intended effect. A 10-year-old girl from Kampala who watches and even appeared on the show explained, “It’s boys who do all the fun stuff, and sometimes, a girl like me gets a little left out. But girls can be scientists and go to the moon.”

Going Global

After its debut in September, N*Gen was quickly picked up by television networks in over half a dozen African countries. After becoming a smash hit, the show was picked up by The Africa Channel and is now available for viewing in North America and the Caribbean every Saturday and Sunday at 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. ET.

– Clay Hallee
Photo: Flickr

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Addressing Turkish Educational Inequality

Turkish Educational InequalityWith the COVID-19 pandemic creating economic distress in Turkey, the need for NGOs, nonprofits and organizational aid is bigger than ever. One NGO, the Darüşşafaka Society, is providing much-needed support for one of Turkey’s most vulnerable populations: children. As Turkey’s oldest non-governmental organization in the field of education, the Darüşşafaka Society has served as a model for combating Turkish educational inequality and remains one of the most prominent NGOs in Turkey today.

Low Enrollment Rates in Turkish Schools

In comparison to the majority of EU countries, Turkey has a larger issue with educational enrollment. In 2016, Turkey hit a peak in terms of the percentages of out-of-school adolescents since 2012. The UNESCO Institute of Statistics found that approximately 523,363 Turkish adolescents were unenrolled, surpassing the previous year by almost 100,000 youths.

While this number has declined in recent years, 2019 data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that the percentage of Turkish 15-to-19-year-olds who were unemployed and out of school was 17% still far above the average 6.6% for OECD countries.

Academic and Socioeconomic Inequality in Turkey

A contributing factor to these numbers is Turkish educational inequality, which impacts technological access, enrollment rates and academic performance overall.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the issue of Turkish educational inequality. Reports indicate the true severity of the situation, stating that 20% of Turkish students had internet connection issues in 2020, limiting online learning accessibility and resources for students across the country. Additionally, the financial stress of the pandemic put many families in a tight spot, unable to afford necessary tools like school supplies, computers and technological resources. Households were also unable to pay for data and the internet to connect to online classes.

The History of Darüşşafaka Society

For many needy children and families, relief has come in the form of the Darüşşafaka Society. Darüşşafaka Society is the oldest Turkish NGO in the field of education, originally founded in 1863 as a part of Cemiyet-i Tedrisiyye-i İslamiye or the Islamic Education Society. High-standing intellectuals in Turkey founded Darüşşafaka Society in order to establish formal education channels for needy children and orphans, teaching basic skills like reading, writing and math when governmental efforts fell short.

In more than 100 years since its founding, Darüşşafaka Society has become an integral part of the fight against Turkish educational inequality, providing educational and financial support to needy and orphaned students and expanding on its original mission by constructing a physical campus in Istanbul. The Society offers full scholarships to students as well as complete coverage of all healthcare, living and academic expenses. These costs are covered through donations made to The Society. The initiative also strives for scholarship support to its students during their tertiary studies.

Success Stories

The Society’s impact on Turkish educational inequality can be seen through the stories of students, faculty and alumni. One such story is that of Dr. Nahit Çakar, a professor of anesthesiology at Istanbul University who was admitted to Darüşşafaka after struggling to pay for education. Çakar, while not an orphan, was a student with significant financial hardships that prevented accessibility to prestigious schools.

Çakar says, “We learned about friendship, camaraderie. We were a group of people coming from the same deprivation and poverty.” After graduating from Darüşşafaka, Çakar went on to become a doctor and professor, aiming to pay forward the gift of education.

Funding for Darüşşafaka Society comes primarily from local community donors, but The Society has also found itself in the sights of international corporations in recent years. A 2011 interview with Saffet Karpat, chairman of the Procter & Gamble Turkey Board of Directors, highlighted the “Dream to Reality” flagship project with the Darüşşafaka Society as part of the company’s social responsibility campaign in Turkey. The program has helped more than 10,000 students with projects in the fields of science, photography and music, throughout the course of one year.

Darüşşafaka Society Today

According to Darüşşafaka’s website, the current student cohort amounts to a little less than 1,000 students, many of whom were previously learning in disadvantaged classrooms with up to 60 other students. The success of Darüşşafaka’s students is in part due to the improved learning environments that it provides. For instance, as a result of its rigorous focus on science, Darüşşafaka’s robotics team has become a significant contender in the FIRST Robotics Competition, an annual international STEM and robotics championship held in the U.S.

Comprised entirely of orphaned and disadvantaged students, the team has won championship-division awards since its start in 2009 and was most recently presented with awards in both the Long Island and Houston championships in 2019.

Breaking the Cycle of Poverty

According to the Global Partnership for Education, an equal chance at education for students of all backgrounds could reduce international economic disparities by 39%. With the continued efforts of organizations like Darüşşafaka Society, youth in need, disadvantaged and orphaned students will continue to be provided with opportunities to rise out of poverty through education.

– Madeleine Youngblood
Photo: Flickr

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5 Challenges due to Child Poverty in Uganda

Child Poverty in Uganda
Many know Africa as having a high amount of poverty. Uganda is becoming one of the most impoverished countries, which is significantly affecting the children. The life-threatening impacts children in Uganda face every day include malnutrition, health assistance deprivation, access to education, shelter deprivation and exposure to crime. Here are five life-threatening impacts pertaining to child poverty in Uganda.

5 Life-Threatening Impacts Due to Child Poverty in Uganda

  1. Malnutrition: One of the biggest problems with child poverty in Uganda is malnutrition. Child hunger and malnutrition result in poor health and failure to reach educational potential. Malnutrition in young children can result from a lack of nutritious food but disease, including diarrhea, can also cause it. At least half of all children aged 6-59 months old are anemic as a result of malnutrition. In 2003, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture created a policy that aims to “reduce malnutrition among children; reduce low birth weight among newborns; and eliminate micronutrient deficiencies (in vitamin A, iodine and iron).”
  2. Health Assistance Deprivation: Most of the children in Uganda lack access to healthcare assistance and are not able to receive vaccinations at a young age because of their inability to afford them. According to the UNICEF Child Poverty and Deprivation analysis, “Children slept under treated bed nets to prevent malaria, which was the (leading) cause of 27% of deaths in Uganda in 2016.” A significant amount of children, mostly orphaned, have been suffering from HIV/AIDS in Uganda without any medical treatment. Without parents to provide for their children, the children end up being unable to access any medical assistance. Furthermore, small households with a single parent and a single child are more prone to catch illnesses.
  3. Access to Education: As a result of child poverty in Uganda, children are not always able to garner education and they frequently lack access to school supplies because of the inability to afford them. A majority of the children are unable to read or write, causing Uganda to have one of the highest illiteracy rates in Africa. Lacking nutrition in diets may cause them to miss school; even if they attend class, they may have trouble focusing on their lessons. In Uganda, the deprivation rates are increasing, with nine out of 10 children not having access to educational resources like uniforms, books, chairs and desks.
  4. Shelter Deprivation: Most Ugandan children in poverty live in rural areas with their families. In Uganda, the typical poor family is one that cannot afford access to basic necessities of living. This includes shelter, water, food, beds, blankets and cooking equipment, etc. Additionally, poorer families are not always able to afford any damages that might occur to their homes, causing the damages to worsen over time. A common living condition that the poor in Uganda have to deal with is leaky roofs, which may cause dampness in dwellings and the formation of mold. Also, most children live in households that are unable to put aside money for emergencies. Moreover, they cannot always afford to replace broken pots and pans that their households use for cooking.
  5. Exposure to Crime: Due to Child Poverty in Uganda, a growing number of children are becoming victims of criminal activity. Some forms of crime include theft, housebreaking, abuse, assault, defilement, murder, property damage and robbery. The percentage of defilement cases involving juvenile offenders rose from 28% in 2008 to 42% in 2010. The most frequent form of crime children and their families have experienced in Uganda is theft and housebreaking. Child abuse is more common in girls than boys, with 60% of child abuse crimes involving girls. Even if the crimes are not violent, the constant exposure to such crimes can cause an impact on the social and psychological health of a child.

Save the Children

The life-threatening effects of malnutrition, limited healthcare access, lack of education, shelter deprivation and higher exposure to crime rates could significantly increase if no one addresses child poverty in Uganda. Luckily, the organization Save the Children is aiming to fight for children’s rights to education, healthcare and safety around the world. In 2020, Save the Children and its donors changed the lives of over 552,000 children in Uganda by providing education, protection and health assistance.

While child poverty in Uganda is prevalent, the efforts of Save the Children have had a significant impact. Through continued work, child poverty should continue to reduce in Uganda and around the world.

– Mary McLean
Photo: Flickr

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Education Tools to Combat Gender-Based Violence

Combat Gender-Based Violence
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that as many as one in three women experience physical and sexual violence across their lifetimes, amounting to roughly 736 million worldwide. COVID-19 has increased those numbers. The pandemic has been a gruesome lens of sorts, revealing the weaknesses in many emergency-response and social service systems worldwide. One particular view into the far-reaching consequences of the pandemic has highlighted the disturbing rate at which women experience gender-based violence, often in their own homes. The need to combat gender-based violence has become inherent during the pandemic because it has forced many victims into lockdown with abusers.

To make things worse, vital victim support programs, such as domestic violence shelters and helplines, have had to close or limit operations. Therefore, fear exists that the pandemic may erase the progress that countries previously made on addressing social norms that harmed women and girls.

Gender-Based Violence and Poverty

Gender-based violence disproportionately affects impoverished women and girls, furthering negative socioeconomic outcomes for generations. Unplanned pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections and medical complications all negatively impact the future-income potential of already financially strained women and girls. The unprecedented breakdown in social-response programs and victims’ services highlights the need for the transformative power of education to combat gender-based violence. Nations, nonprofits and other international organizations need to utilize education tools to combat gender-based violence to fight the ‘shadow’ pandemic.

The Education Transformation: Knowledge = Personal Power

Nonprofits worldwide tout education at-risk individuals as a way to reduce and more accurately report instances of violence in all communities. A focus on providing educational tools can help combat gender-based violence by offering a long-term way to identify and eliminate biases in the identification, reporting and prosecution of abusers.

Educating health professionals and law enforcement also plays a role in reducing gender-based violence; advanced, continuing education leads to increased compassion and empathy that is essential in properly addressing the needs of victims after trauma. Furthermore, educating authorities and communities on what constitutes gender-based violence may also limit the stigma associated with reporting it.

A recent UNESCO study found that Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) was lacking in parts of the world with high rates of gender-based violence. The issue is a double-edged sword, as gender-based violence both causes and is a product of a lack of education. UNESCO’s Senior Programme Specialist in Health Education, Joanna Herat, concluded that a lack of quality education was contributing to the ‘shadow’ pandemic. Many countries, Herat says, poorly addressed sexual abuse, exploitation and rape. The trends are changing, Herat continues, and UNESCO will continue to support countries embracing quality CSE.

Social Services Superstars: International Initiatives to Combat Gender-Based Violence

The United Nations Security General’s Campaign to End Violence Against Women (UNiTe) calls for international awareness and advocacy to end gender-based violence and address the pandemic factors leading to a rise in domestic violence. As of July 2020, the Interagency Statement on violence against women and girls in the context of COVID-19 highlighted six critical areas for action:

  1. Make urgent and flexible funding available for women’s rights organizations and recognize their role as first responders.
  2. Support health and social services to operate and remain accessible, especially to those most likely to end up behind.
  3. Ensure that people regard services for violence against women and girl survivors as essential.
  4. Place a high priority on police and justice responses.
  5. Put preventative measures in place.
  6. Collect data to improve services/programs and help meet ethical and safety standards.

Several other organizations have attempted to use educational tools to combat gender-based violence. Here are a few.

McCann Worldgroup’s “The Shadow Pandemic PSA”

This one-minute-long public service announcement, narrated by Kate Winslet, highlights the upsurge in domestic violence during COVID-19. The UN Women Unstereotype Alliance developed the project to highlight homes in over 14 countries and raise awareness. “It’s a proud moment when the power of advertising is used not just to build awareness of a critical issue but also to empower people to do something about it,” says Michael Roth, CEO of Interpublic Group.

The World Bank Group and the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) Partnership

The Development Marketplace launched this program to address gender-based violence. The organization awards international teams up to $100,000. Winners use the money to fund evidence-based research, interventions and other activities related to gender-based violence prevention. To date, the program has given $5,000,000 to teams.

– Katrina Hall
Photo: Flickr

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Inequalities Among Migrant Workers in Lebanon

Migrant workers in Lebanon
For decades, the Lebanese economy has relied heavily on migrant workers to supplement the workforce. The economy provided necessary domestic services and filled up low-level positions in retail, salons and hospitality. The kafala system, a program that encourages employers to hire migrant workers in Lebanon, fueled a sense of dependence on migrant workers in various industries. This institution creates great racial and economic inequality. The employers abuse the migrant workers and offer them substandard pay and inhumane working conditions. This immense disparity worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. The employers placed workers in unsafe situations, forcing them to endure terrible conditions with the imminent threat of job termination.

Refugees and the Kafala System

Currently, refugees and migrant workers make up a quarter of Lebanon’s population. This renders them an extremely valuable sector of society. Tensions between local-born Lebanese citizens and refugees developed during past years. Lebanese individuals and armed forces committed several acts of violence against refugees out of spite and anger. In addition, nearly 90% of Syrian refugees become unemployed and unable to meet housing costs in 2020. Employers fired domestic migrant workers at an alarming rate since the pandemic.

The Anti-Racism Movement found that Lebanese employers terminated their migrant workers, likely due to racial bias. Nevertheless, gaining Lebanese citizenship as a migrant worker is nearly impossible. Due to an antiquated nationality policy set up during the French mandate, only children born to a Lebanese father may obtain full legal status as a Lebanese national. Thus, no feasible pathway exists to permanent residence and legal protection for migrant workers in Lebanon. They end up at the mercy of their employers to keep them in the country.

Medical Inequality Among Migrant Workers

For many migrant workers, medical inequality has become especially prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the cruel implements of the kafala system, migrant workers rely on their employers to provide them with legal residency status. Without Lebanese nationality, these workers do not have entitlement to these benefits that other people within Lebanon possess. Lack of health coverage discourages these migrant workers from seeking out medical help and accessing the treatments they need to ensure their personal wellbeing. As unemployment has continued to rise, thousands of migrant workers are left with no healthcare or legal status. They must return to their home countries, despite the potential endangerment that awaits them.

In an international relations briefing by Natasha Hall, the author notes that “ensuring that people are not prioritized for medical treatment by nationality, as medicine disappears from shelves and intensive care units fill up, is another serious concern.” Migrant workers in Lebanon end up not being able to access treatments due to a lack of insurance and inadequate financial means. This is similar to the United States and other countries that experience inequality. Lebanon faces economic complications, such as inflation rates rising and banks refusing to withdraw money for their customers. It has become nearly impossible for people to obtain the medications they need. Lebanon sustains its medication supply due to imported drugs. Due to the trade challenges facing the nation, Lebanese citizens cannot obtain medicine for their health conditions.

Hope for an End to Migrant Worker Inequality

The kafala system is extremely ruthless. It puts migrant workers at a socio-economic position far below the average Lebanese citizen. This caused a public outcry, sparking change and encouraging reform to the system. According to the Human Rights Watch, “Amendments to the system [in 2020] provide guarantees for workers including 48-hour work weeks, a rest day, overtime payment, as well as sick and annual leaves. Workers can now terminate their contracts without their employer’s consent.” Increased regulations have provided an added layer of protection to the rights of migrant workers in Lebanon.

– Luna Khalil
Photo: Flickr

World Bank Project to Improve Education for Girls in Mozambique

education for girls in MozambiqueMozambique is one of the most poverty-stricken countries in the world but it has made economic progress in the past three decades as its income per capita rose from $373 in 1995 to $1,136 in 2017. However, Mozambique still lags behind most other countries when it comes to the crucial topic of gender equality, specifically in education. New funding from the World Bank seeks to address these gender discrepancies and improve education for girls in Mozambique.

Girls’ Education in Mozambique

There are several measurements of educational attainment by gender in Mozambique and none present an optimistic picture. About 60% of men in Mozambique are literate, as of the latest measurement, in comparison to only about 28% of women. This is largely due to high dropout rates for girls in primary school. More than 50% of girls in Mozambique drop out by the fifth grade and this drops to 11% by the secondary level of education. Solely 1% of women in Mozambique attend college, and once they graduate, their job prospects are grim.

In 2017, less than 4% of women in Mozambique had salaried jobs and only one quarter were landowners holding official rights. Due to these facts, many women find themselves forced to marry early in order to gain any financial stability. About 48% of women in Mozambique get married by age 18, most of whom have long since dropped out of school. This lack of education comes with increased health risks as the prevalence of HIV is three times higher among young women than young men. Furthermore, researchers estimate more than half of Mozambican women have experienced domestic violence in their lifetime and believe it is justified.

The World Bank’s Efforts

Acknowledging the bleak state of girls’ education in Mozambique, the World Bank approved new funding for a project addressing low learning outcomes for girls in primary school and low retention rates for girls in upper levels of education. This funding includes grants of $160 million from the International Development Agency and $139 million from the Global Partnership for Education for a total of $299 million. The project will address the first problem of low learning outcomes by building 100 new preschool facilities in rural areas that lack quality education resources. It will also train and support teachers in grade levels one to three and expand children’s access to learning materials to improve reading skills for girls in primary school.

In order to address the second problem of low retention rates, the project will seek to create safe school environments for girls, increase the number of lower secondary schools across the country and make general improvements to the infrastructure of schools in order to retain more students. Furthermore, the funding will provide sexual and reproductive health programs and gender-based violence mitigation programs in an effort to decrease early marriages, HIV infections and domestic violence. The project will also implement mentorship programs for girls and expand the scope of virtual learning facilities, which will likely continue to be incredibly important education resources even in a post-COVID-19 world.

Potential Impact

Hopes are high that this project, with increased funding from the World Bank, will have a positive effect on the education of girls in Mozambique. Many rural families with children will have access to quality preschool facilities for the first time and girls in lower levels of primary school will have more resources to help them become literate. Girls in upper primary and secondary schools will also gain access to improved resources and revamped school infrastructures. New sexual and reproductive health programs have the potential to decrease the number of young women who are HIV positive and mentorship programs will build relationships among young women and provide activities and resources for school-aged girls.

Besides the direct and immediate effects the project will have on girls’ education in Mozambique, the country as a whole stands to benefit from the results of increased learning readiness and retention rates in the years and decades to come. According to the World Bank, increasing the percentage of women with secondary levels of education in a country by 1% boosts annual per capita income growth by 0.3 percentage points. Furthermore, one additional year of education can increase a woman’s personal income by up to 25%. Girls with basic levels of education are three times less likely to contract HIV and children born to women with basic levels of education are twice as likely to survive past age 5.

The Future of Mozambique

Mozambican girls and women have suffered from poor educational attainment due to a lack of opportunities, high dropout rates in primary school and low retention rates in upper levels of education. However, the new funding from the World Bank has the potential to improve girls’ education in Mozambique from preschool through secondary school by building facilities, expanding access to resources, enhancing infrastructure, implementing sexual health programs and introducing mentorship activities for young women. Increasing educational attainment for women has a ripple effect on their incomes, their families and their countries. A government choosing to improve girls’ education makes a sound investment in the country’s future.

– Calvin Melloh
Photo: Flickr