Archive for category: Education

Information and stories on education.

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3 Ways Livelihoods in Brunei are Improving

Livelihoods in Brunei are ImprovingBrunei is an independent Islamic sultanate on the northern coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Some statistics about the country still remain unknown, such as the percentage of Bruneians living in poverty. This is due to the fact that Brunei still does not have a poverty line as of 2018. However, one can use other means to measure Brunei’s poverty. Additionally, other data can help ascertain whether or not livelihoods in Brunei are improving citizens’ unquantified impoverished situations.

Economic Freedom Index Score (EFIS)

One way to look at this is the Economic Freedom Index Score (EFIS). One can think of this as Bruneians’ freedom of choice as well as their ability to acquire and use goods. Brunei’s EFIS is 66.6 and the nation ranks 61 out of 180 countries. Singapore, the top country, comes in at 89.4, making it the world’s most free economy in the 2020 Index. Then, there is North Korea, the bottom country, which has a score of 4.2. Despite Brunei’s moderate EFIS score, the country is working to boost that number. There are several ways livelihoods in Brunei are improving.

3 Ways Livelihoods in Brunei are Improving

  1. Self-Empowerment Initiatives. His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah says Brunei has drafted “self-empowerment initiatives” to create more job and entrepreneurship freedoms. Oil and gas production supplies 90% of government revenue and 90% of exports. However, these industries have limited job opportunities. Now, the country strives for economic diversification to reduce reliance on oil and gas. To support these endeavors, the administration will simplify the processes to start a business and develop business regulations. The most significant changes include amending certain laws allowing businesses and investors to operate without a license and reducing the wait times for a business to open.
  2. Employment. Unemployment rates, regardless of education level, are high. Although Bruneians with a vocational background have the highest rates of unemployment, the youth are also at risk of higher rates of unemployment. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the unemployment rate among young Brunei people increased from 25.3% to 28.9% in 2019 — the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held the highest percentage. A suggestion from the IMF is to invest in technology and digitalization to capitalize on the tech-savvy generation. Also, the Manpower Planning Council is setting up a labor-management information system to lower unemployment among college graduates. This will be a cooperation between government agencies, the private sector and education institutions to ensure the turnout of employable graduates.
  3. Welfare. The Sultan also says that people’s welfare is of utmost importance. This assertion stems from taqwa, the basic Islamic principle of God-consciousness together with brotherhood, equality, fairness and justice. This concept is the basis of true Islamic societies. With this in mind, livelihoods in Brunei are improving by adjusting the financial aid requirements. This effort attempts to lift beneficiaries out of poverty and continue to provide assistance to citizens who need it. With these new rules, the government will be able to map welfare recipients and learn where there is a need to advance workforce skills and job opportunities. The implementation of this new system is more important than ever before due to COVID-19 and an expected increase in benefit recipients. Now, however, Brunei authorities can better prepare themselves to leave no one behind, per taqwa.

Looking Forward

Overall, livelihoods in Brunei are improving. The administration has focused itself on economic diversification to become less reliant on oil and gas. The unemployment rate has increased, but the country is undergoing steps to combat this with education and jobs. Also, Brunei is updating welfare programs to include further applicant information. This will assist in financial help as well as learning where education or job options are a factor in poverty.

These changes could create a cycle of prosperity and bring more Bruneians out of poverty. However, Brunei needs to establish a set poverty line. That way, the nation can more accurately assess its poverty situation and how much progress is still necessary.

– Heather Babka
Photo: Flickr

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A Kenyan Center’s Aim to Create Sustainable Change

Create Sustainable Change
A new resource center in Jua Kali, Kenya is using the community to maximize its impact and create sustainable change. It is working with government and school officials to provide free, life-enrichment services not previously available to locals.

Although Kenya boasts one of the fastest-growing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, 36.1% of Kenyans live below the national poverty line, according to the latest report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. The Leo Project targets Kenyans aiming to empower marginalized communities.

But how does one accurately identify what a community needs to empower itself and create sustainable change? The team at The Leo Project has come up with a simple solution: just ask. By working with community leaders, schools and locals, The Leo Project has created a model of community-driven, positive social change centered on the idea that Kenyans know best what Kenyans need to create sustainable change.

The Leo Project

Jessica Danforth, executive director of The Leo Project, founded the organization in honor of her best friend Caitlin O’Hara who died of cystic fibrosis in 2016. The mission of the project is to move beyond the limits of a traditional classroom. Moreover, it intends to provide supportive services and create opportunities not traditionally available to vulnerable populations in Nanyuki, Kenya.

Schooling in Kenya is highly focused on students passing two standardized examinations that determine whether they can progress to the next level of education. As such, formal classroom settings tend to only offer subjects or activities pertaining to standardized exams. To address this issue, The Leo Project partnered with two local primary schools to teach students computer skills, digital literacy, coding, music and art. It also worked to provide them with tutoring, a library, counseling and mindfulness services.

“I think part of the reason that we opened the project is to open kids’ eyes to different opportunities that there are available for them,” Danforth said in an interview with The Borgen Project.

Danforth explained that children in Kenya often want to become lawyers, doctors or accountants because they do not have exposure to the alternatives. Part of the mission of The Leo Project is to give them exposure to opportunities in fields such as graphic design, art, coding or therapy.

Creating Sustainable Change Through Community Participation

Since the resource center’s opening in January 2020, The Leo Project’s mission and services have evolved based on conversations with community leaders and members, resting on the idea that Kenyans know what Kenyans need. The Leo Project uses these conversations to both confirm that Kenyans need the services it plans to offer and to discover new areas to dive into.

During pre-opening meetings, heads of schools expressed the need for literacy classes, because parents would come to them unable to read their child’s report card, Danforth said. The Leo Project’s numeracy and literacy classes emerged from this conversation.

Mental Health Services

According to government statistics, around 11.5 million Kenyans have suffered from a mental illness at least once in their lives, but cultural stigmas surrounding mental health prevent people from seeking help and create a lack of qualified professionals who can provide treatment. In Kenya, there are only 88 psychiatrists and 427 psychiatrist nurses trained in the mental health field. As a result, when Danforth and the team approached community leaders and heads of schools about the mental health services they planned to offer, leaders jumped at the idea.

Engaging the Community

“Spending time with the community and actually getting them very involved and hiring people from the local community and not trying to impart our beliefs or our views as an American, I think, is really important,” Danforth said.

Additionally, Danforth explained that the fact that The Leo Project is not a school or government entity has allowed it the freedom to pilot programs, react to real-time feedback and adapt as necessary without the hindrance of bureaucratic red tape.

“We’re hoping that The Leo Project becomes a place where the community can sort of unite as a whole,” Danforth said, “and we’re hoping to educate as many people as possible.” To reach more people, Danforth hopes to replicate this model across Kenya with the first step being to conduct more fieldwork and data analysis in other communities to better understand their needs, noting that every community is different.

The Leo Project currently partners with the Africa Yoga Project, Daraja Academy, Flying Kites and Education for All Children is looking to expand its partner base. The creation of sustainable change in a community is a large-scale project. The more people and partners working on a project, the broader the knowledge-base that shapes that change and the more effective it becomes. As a result, the goal is to partner with as many organizations as possible and, by doing so, make The Leo Project more sustainable in the long run, Danforth said.

The COVID-19 Shift

The Leo Project is located just outside Nanyuki, Kenya and was serving around 4,000 beneficiaries until the coronavirus pandemic hit. Despite having closed its doors in March 2020, The Leo Project has transitioned to providing relief services to its community and those farther away.

Other educational organizations in Kenya have made a similar shift in activities in response to the pandemic. Danforth and The Leo Project team have been in contact with partner organizations to discuss both strategies for aid and best practices in this new environment, applying the project’s pre-pandemic model of communication to ensure a positive impact and basing pandemic-time services on community need.

Danforth explained to The Borgen Project that people had issues getting incorrect information about COVID-19 in Kenya from social media platforms. In an effort to combat this, The Leo Project created an online learning platform where Kenyans can access factual information about the virus. Through this platform, the center has also continued its adult literacy and numeracy, financial literacy and computer classes.

How The Leo Project Inspires Other NGOs

The organization has had a number of other NGOs reach out about using the model for their own projects post-COVID-19, Danforth said. With the help of chiefs, community leaders, government officials and locals, The Leo Project has been distributing two-month supplies of food to the most vulnerable families in the surrounding communities. As of Aug. 18, 2020, The Leo Project reached over 1,000 families and plans to continue this until January 2021 when Kenya has scheduled the reopening of schools.

When the pandemic hit, The Leo Project also hired local women to make masks for distribution and built hand-washing stations throughout Jua Kali and in surrounding communities.

The organization’s model of community participation to create sustainable change has driven its efforts during the pandemic, as it has worked with local leaders, community members and partner organizations to aid Kenyans through the crisis.

– Olivia du Bois
Photo: Jessica Danforth of The Leo Project

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Examining the Challenges of Life in Mali

Challenges of Life in Mali
Mali is a hot, dry, landlocked country located in Western Africa. With the Sahara Desert dominating 65% of Mali’s land, climate conditions force many into poverty. As the country is among the 25 most impoverished countries in the world, challenges for life in Mali arise as living conditions are inadequate for natives and aid workers.

Poverty in Mali

People living in Mali rely heavily on foreign aid. The most common careers pursued are within the agriculture industry; cotton and gold exports make up 80% of Malians export earnings. Despite living in one of the driest places in the world, Malians greatly depend on farming to provide for their families.

The Borgen Project spoke with Susan Roach, who previously lived with her family in Mali’s capital, Bamako. Roach and her husband were aid workers for the International Society for Humanitarian Action. Roach’s husband taught Malians better farming techniques. Roach says, “a pitiful harvest means starvation and starvation equals poverty.”

However, poor farming conditions are not the only factors that affect life in Mali. A staggering 74.4% of the population does not have access to electricity. Although 80% of Malians have access to water, this number drops significantly in rural areas. As a result, 49% of the population falls under the poverty line due to the lack of access to basic necessities.

The Array of Cultures

There are many different ethnic groups in Mali. Tribes with their own unique language, worldview and cultural traditions live throughout the country. However, 80% of Malians are Muslim and many tribes believe in animism. There are also immense differences in leadership among the Malian government and tribes. While the Malian government is a republic consisting of elected representatives, a council of elders leads the Indigenous people. According to Roach, the honor system is strong in the villages as no one wants to dishonor their family’s name.

“I felt safer in the villages than I ever felt, even in a city in the United States.” Overall, one cannot group Malian culture into one category. “A lot of people think in Africa that they’re all the same. And that could not be any further from the truth,” Roach reflects on life in Mali.

Education for Malian Children

Public education is free for Malians. However, many children are unable to receive an education due to the cost of school fees, uniforms and school supplies. In 2015, on average, boys attended school for eight years while girls attended school for seven. Girls who pursue secondary education often cannot obtain placement and are unable to receive that education.

Roach states that families would rather send their sons to school because they are more likely to quickly find a job to support their families. On the contrary, the social role of girls is to marry and tend to the home. As a result, 25% of Malian women are illiterate. Although education receives funding from the government, the allocation of resources is not equal. Schools in rural areas typically have one teacher educating many students with limited supplies. Yet, in urban areas, school facilities are cleaner and properly staffed.

A Shorthanded Health Care System

To add to the challenges of life in Mali, doctors are scarce and overworked. Roach recalls how her husband would take patients to the hospital and lay them on a mat outside of the doctor’s door. However, the doctor would not be able to tend to the patients for a few days due to overcrowding and overwork. The life expectancy in Mali is 61 years. Fortunately, Mali announced an initiative to provide basic health care for pregnant women and children younger than 5 years old. This initiative costs approximately $120 million and will start in 2022. Additionally, Mali hopes to increase the number of health care professionals and decrease the child mortality rate.

Life in Mali is certainly challenging. Nevertheless, with new government initiatives in motion and various organizations providing aid, Mali is progressing toward a brighter future.

– Bailey Sparks
Photo: Flickr

Access to Inclusive Education in Nepal

Inclusive Education in NepalNepal has made great strides to improve education on a broad scale and currently boasts a primary net enrollment rate of 97%. However, issues of inequity persist especially in terms of factors such as gender, economic status and location. A group neglected more than the average is the large population of children with disabilities in Nepal. Of the approximately 200,000 children with disabilities in Nepal, a study found that around 30.6% of them did not attend any school at all. There are also limited lesson plans for students with disabilities and those who do not attend school have very few basic skills. For these reasons, the government and various organizations are focusing on making inclusive education in Nepal a standard and not an outlier.

Implementation of Inclusive Education in Nepal

Since 2017, the Nepal government has publicly supported legislation that would combat the lack of education services for students with disabilities. In that year, Nepal created both the Disability Rights Act and the Inclusive Education Policy for Persons with Disabilities. Both aim to put a focus on the issue and ensure that no student faces discrimination in school based on their disability. In addition, the Disability Rights Act seeks to have a curriculum set by 2030 and allow students with disabilities to obtain their education in community schools or independently.

However, lack of implementation of the Act has resulted in limited success since 2017. Despite the intent of the Disability Rights Act, inclusive education in Nepal remains very sparse and tens of thousands of children with disabilities still have no prospect of receiving some form of formal education. Some of the clearest factors behind the slow change in inclusive education include:

  • Lack of funding: The Nepal government has made acquiring the funds necessary to implement change difficult for many schools. One specific rule indicates that there must be a minimum number of students with a given disability at a specific school before the school can qualify for funding. This lack of funding means that there will be less money to improve the structure of the school, such as ramps and other accessibilities that many special needs students will require.
  • Lack of educators: In line with low funding, many schools face issues training and retaining educators to teach students with disabilities. Some schools utilize “resource classes” with advanced teaching curriculums and trained teachers to cater to specific disabilities. However, the prevalence of such classes is limited, with only 380 of the roughly 30,000 schools in Nepal offering these classes to students with disabilities. Training of teachers has also been slow, and currently, Nepal faces issues ensuring that there are enough educators for these students. Often, this will mean that students with similar disabilities will receive an education in over-packed classrooms or will not secure a position in a school able to teach them.
  • Lack of materials: Lastly, many schools are still having trouble acquiring enough materials for all students with disabilities. This includes specialized equipment, braille textbooks and audio programs. Without more focus on inclusive education in Nepal’s budget, there will be no effective way to ensure schools provide for all students.

Programs Making a Difference

  1. Nepal Youth Foundation: The Nepal Youth Foundation is a scholarship organization that assists families of children with physical disabilities with the cost of boarding school. The organization is aware of the hardships in finding affordable inclusive education in Nepal, especially for the most impoverished people in the nation. The organization aims to alleviate some of the strain on Nepal families, providing financially for students with specific dietary and living requirements.
  2. Inclusive Education Initiative: Launched by the World Bank in 2019, the Inclusive Education Initiative aims to broaden inclusive education in impoverished nations, including Nepal, where it provides training and other materials. As part of the broader initiative, there is also a pilot program that has delivered an additional $2 million in funding for students with disabilities. In the coming year, the program aims to create a working response to the COVID-19 outbreak that will still allow students with disabilities to receive some education.
  3. Autism Care Nepal Society: The Autism Care Nepal Society is responsible for the creation of daycare centers focused on children and young adults with autism. This includes daily attendance at the centers, education and development assistance and adult supervision. Even now, as the COVID-19 outbreak forces children out of the center, there is still some assistance available online. While not an exact substitute for classroom education, the Society ensures that more young people with disabilities have at least some options to pursue an education.

Looking Ahead

While relief for students with disabilities has been slow to begin, it is clear that the Nepal government and outside groups are determined to find a solution. Ongoing support for inclusive education in Nepal and added funding to structural improvements and accommodating materials in the country could accelerate development across the country.

– Matthew McKee
Photo: Flickr

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How Russia is Improving Public Health and Education

Public Health and Education
Russia is a country located in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. Russia is one of 10 nations that the World Bank has recognized for the greatest improvements to public health and education over the last decade. This improvement in human capital has had positive implications for the country’s economic and social prosperity. Here is some information about public health and education in Russia.

Improvements in Health

Russia has made strides in improving public health care since the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the 1990s, the country’s health care system was underfunded and lacked resources, which resulted in many people being unable to receive treatment for common illnesses. In the 30 years since, Russia has vastly reformed and improved this system. Here are three ways that Russia amended its healthcare system.

  1. Quality Improvement Methodology – U.S. and Russian Federal officials worked together with the Quality Assurance Project (QAP) to implement quality improvement methods in doctor’s offices and hospitals, some examples being increased focus on patients, teamwork and use of data. Officials sought to set attainable and realistic goals for improvement that the country could fulfill in the foreseeable future.
  2. Increased Health Financing – Officials sought to direct more money into the health care system, using several methods including establishing payroll taxes for employers and private financing through commercial companies. In addition, the financing of health care was decentralized to regional and local levels to decrease strain on the national budget. Furthermore, larger cities used voluntary health insurance as a way for employers to purchase access to higher-level facilities.
  3. Pharmaceutical Reforms – Several reforms have emerged to better regulate pharmaceutical prices and production. For example, vital and essential drug lists set products at a fixed price at the federal level. This management of drug prices has increased medicinal accessibility for low-income Russians.

These measures have had several implications for overall public health improvements. Several previously common ailments have drastically decreased in prevalence. For example, pregnancy-induced hypertension, which occurred among 43.8% of women in 1998, is only present among 5.6% of women presently. In addition, better use of resources has cut costs for medical treatment of several conditions; hypertension treatment costs, for example, have decreased by 41% since the 1990s. In the future, Russia’s health care system will continue to develop with focuses on further increasing accessibility and developing primary healthcare.

Improvements in Education

Russia has demonstrated a strong education system, and the quality of education is continually improving as enrollment in higher education increases. Here are three improvements that Russia has made to its education system.

  1. State Education Strategy – Russia’s education system has incorporated a standardized curriculum, including clear milestones, implementation metrics and an action plan. This regularity has improved the quality of education nationwide by establishing the same educational expectations across all regions. In addition, the organization of two ministries, the Education Ministry and the Science and Higher Education Ministry, have improved the management of the quality of secondary and higher education.
  2. Increase in Higher Education Enrollment – From 2013 to 2017, enrollment in Russian universities increased by 40%. In addition, Russia boasts about 200,000 international students, a figure which expectations have determined could triple in the coming years. Furthermore, higher education in Russia is more affordable than Western higher education, increasing access to education for those in rural regions and low-income communities.
  3. Private Education Reform – In recent years, Russia has experienced an increase in investment in private education, with more wealthy Russians sending their children to private schools with Western-style curriculums. In accompaniment with this, teachers have been moving to Russia from other countries to teach in these schools, many coming from Britain in particular to teach English curriculums. Along with this, Russia has been cracking down on private institutions pushing ideologically irresponsible messages, limiting access to fraudulent or incomplete educations.

These measures have drastically improved the overall quality of education in Russia, which has led to increased expected years of schooling and improvements in secondary school enrollment. An overall better-educated population will be more productive in the long-term, as they will be able to transition into a competitive job market more easily and produce greater economic outcomes.

Conclusion

Education quality is strong in Russia and performance expectations are high. Health outcomes, however, are a work in progress, with Russia’s public health quality lying below the global average. Improvements in this sector will not only allow this gap to reduce but will also increase the quality of Russia’s human capital.

According to Renaud Seligmann, the World Bank Country Director in Russia, “Human capital contributes greatly to improving economic growth in every country. Investments in knowledge and health that people accumulate during their lives are of paramount concern to governments around the world.” By increasing the quality of public health and education in Russia, the country is making an investment in its population for years to come, guaranteeing that future generations will have longer life expectancies and educational attainment than those that came before them.

– Natasha Cornelissen
Photo: Flickr

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Eliminating Child Poverty in Nicaragua

Child Poverty in Nicaragua
Nicaragua is among one of the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere. In fact, child poverty in Nicaragua impacts one out of two children. Nicaragua’s population is young; out of 6 million people, 2 million are school-age children. To tackle the issue of child poverty, the Nicaraguan government has promised to create more access to education, sanitation and food security.

Nicaragua has a long history of chronic poverty. For much of the 20th century, the country was under a dictatorship. A revolution beginning in the late 1970s further decimated the well-being of many throughout the 1980s. The revolution ended with thousands dead and a need for Nicaragua to rebuild itself.

Child Poverty in Nicaragua

Child poverty in Nicaragua remains a critical issue. According to UNICEF, 50% of Nicaraguan children live in poverty, with 19% of them in extreme poverty. Furthermore, child poverty is much more prevalent on the Atlantic coast of the country. About 58% of children on the Atlantic coast had completed six years of primary education as opposed to 72% for the country as a whole. Moreover, 500,000 Nicaraguan children do not attend school at all, mainly because of the cost of education and the need to support their families.

When families need financial support, many children and adolescents have no choice but to enter the workforce. An estimated 250,000 to 320,000 Nicaraguans are child laborers. Some children work in sugar cane fields and mines, creating a dangerous work environment for them. In addition to child labor, human trafficking is a growing issue impacting young girls.

Preventing Child Labor

To curtail child poverty, the Nicaraguan government has signed agreements to make sure companies do not hire child workers. In 2019, the Nicaraguan government and private employers have signed 6,129 cooperative agreements that prevent the hiring of child laborers. The U.S. Department of Labor has found that the Nicaraguan government has done little to actually reduce young children in the workforce. However, the international community has been pressuring the country to be more aggressive in diminishing child labor.

Improving Education

An area of increased government involvement is educational spending. Accepting the help of supranational organizations, such as The World Bank, the country has invested in education. The Alliance for Education Quality Project for Nicaragua has helped fund the training of primary school teachers and the construction of forty schools. More than 1,250 teachers received mentoring and more than 9,000 pre-school teachers obtained training. Additionally, the project supplied materials and equipment for the staff and students. Construction of most of the schools occurred in rural areas, improving these communities’ access to education.

Reducing the Infant Mortality Rate

The infant mortality rate is high, with child poverty in Nicaragua being the culprit. According to UNICEF, 74% of Nicaraguans use standard sanitation services and 52% have access to clean drinking water. Furthermore, 40% of children under 5 are malnourished. The Nicaraguan government and The World Bank have created strategies to tackle these issues. The Sustainable Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (WSS) Sector Project (PROSASR), provided rural communities with adequate infrastructure for sanitation. Furthermore, access to food and clean drinking water has also seen improvements. The Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast Food Security Project has invested in agricultural and fishery techniques for farmers and improved socio-environmental practices. Impacting mostly rural communities, food security increased with 33% of beneficiaries being the youth.

Political and economic instability, stemming from the civil war, has created chronic child poverty in Nicaragua. Nonetheless, Nicaragua has implemented changes, with the help of the World Bank, to decrease the child poverty rate.

– Andy Calderon
Photo: Unsplash

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The State of Child Poverty in Zimbabwe

Child Poverty in ZimbabweZimbabwe has high poverty rates with more than half of the country’s population estimated to be living in abject poverty. Child poverty is prevalent in the country as children account for 48% of the population. There are notable efforts occurring to address the issue of child poverty in Zimbabwe.

A History of Poverty

Zimbabwe, once known as Rhodesia, attained independence from British rule in 1980. Following the country’s independence was intense political warfare stemming from tensions between the then newly instated president, Robert Mugabe. This period resulted in the deaths of more than 20,000 Zimbabweans. These tensions would continue in Zimbabwe for the next two decades. Multiple uprisings occurred throughout the 1990s and early to mid-2000s, with citizens protesting a litany of issues, including increased food prices, land ownership and financial plight. Economic turmoil has steadily increased since the country’s independence in 1980. The country broke records with one of the highest rates of hyperinflation in 2008, peaking at 98%. Zimbabwe has had intermittent financial rebounds since this time, however, the country has continued to struggle with stabilizing its economy.

State of Affairs in Zimbabwe

Agriculture plays a prominent role in Zimbabwe’s economy. According to the FAO, 60%-70% of the country’s population depends on agricultural-related affairs for employment. The industrial sector relies on agriculture heavily, providing 60% of raw materials. Agriculture also accounts for 40% of export earnings and makes up 17% of the country’s GDP. Droughts have threatened the livelihoods of many Zimbabweans. The country is currently experiencing the most severe droughts in its history. A significant proportion of the population that is dependent upon farming and agriculture for both income and food is in jeopardy. Food shortages have become a prevalent issue in Zimbabwe with children experiencing adverse impacts.

UNICEF reported that 4.8 million Zimbabwean children live in poverty and 1.6 million children live in extreme poverty. The most prevalent issues for impoverished children in Zimbabwe include malnutrition, education, sanitation and access to potable water. The FAO reported that less than 10% of Zimbabwean children between 6-24 months of age consume a minimally acceptable diet.

UNICEF Addresses Child Poverty

UNICEF has made several efforts to address child poverty in Zimbabwe. A few noteworthy efforts by UNICEF include providing 6,740 mothers with infant and young child feeding counseling as well as supplying more than 700,000 children with vitamin A in 2016.

UNICEF partnered with U.N. Women and the UNFPA in 2016 and the organizations in cooperation with the Zimbabwean Government were able to successfully support the development of the National Action Plan and the Communication Plan to End Child Marriages. UNICEF has also supported grassroots efforts in Zimbabwe. One of these was the development of the National Case Management System (NCMS) which provides child protection services, referrals and HIV care and treatment to vulnerable populations throughout Zimbabwe.

The NCMS provided nearly 24,000 Zimbabwean children with legal support in 2016. UNICEF also showed its support for the multi-sectoral system that accompanied the National Case Management System. This multi-sectoral system employs officers specifically tasked with providing support for children who have been victims of physical and sexual abuse. These efforts are major milestones that have contributed to improving the state of child poverty in Zimbabwe.

The Future of Child Poverty in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has had extensive turmoil in its history and tremendous economic turbulence. However, there still remains potential for growth and development. With the assistance of organizations, child poverty in Zimbabwe can reduce.

– Imani Smikle
Photo: Flickr

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Addressing Disability and Poverty in Argentina 

Disability and Poverty in Argentina. Little girl with long brown hair and wearing an orange sweater.
Argentina has taken steps to address employment discrimination, access to transportation and access to quality education for people with disabilities, factors that have historically contributed to a correlation between disability and poverty in Argentina.

According to estimates based on census data from 2010, around 5 million Argentines have a disability and the unemployment rate for people with disabilities in Argentina stood at 91% in 2004. Additionally, the United Nations has reported that youth with disabilities are far more likely to fall at or below the poverty line in comparison to those who do not have disabilities. However, recent action from the government is beginning to address the link between disability and poverty in Argentina.

Addressing Employment Discrimination 

In Argentina, people have often seen those with disabilities as “objects of charity” rather than productive members of society entitled to the same opportunities and responsibilities as anyone else. These views have inhibited disabled people’s ability to acquire employment and earn living wages for their work. A shift away from this perception of people with disabilities began during the 1970s and in 1981, the Argentine government agreed to approve an employment quota requiring that disabled people hold 4% of federal government jobs. Additionally, in 1988, the legislature passed an anti-discrimination law to help protect disabled Argentines from discriminatory practices. However, due to a lack of enforcement and regulation of such laws, the correlation between disability and poverty in Argentina has persisted for decades.

A significant step toward helping disabled Argentines obtain equal employment has come with Argentina’s ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2008. The convention has since received constitutional status in the country.

This treaty makes Argentina accountable for upholding its commitment to fully including people with disabilities in all areas of society. As such, in 2011, a National Disability Observatory emerged to supervise the implementation of the convention. It involves various working groups consisting of people with disabilities and public officials to monitor different areas of public policy including access to employment.

Since the adoption of the CRPD, Argentina has allocated over 724 million Argentine pesos toward helping promote the employment of people with disabilities. These programs have ranged from vocational training to the implementation of supported employment programs across government agencies to help reach the 4% job quota in public employment in 2017.

Addressing Access to Transportation

Although access to public transportation remains a significant barrier to employment for many disabled Argentines, some have taken measures to make public transportation physically and economically accessible to those with disabilities. Reports have determined that almost all buses in the capital city of Buenos Aires have a manual ramp at the rear door.

The subway station that people know as the subte has automated ramps and street elevators that often lead directly to the boarding platform. Additionally, plans have emerged to increase the number of stations with braille signage and tactile markers. These features have enabled many Argentines to travel freely and independently from their homes to workplaces.

As disability and poverty in Argentina so often interweave, the government has allowed disabled Argentines to ride all public transportation free of charge with the use of disability certificates. In some cases, travel may even be free for a traveling companion depending on the disability. These certificates are available following a certification process that is voluntary and of no cost to the disabled person or their family.

Addressing Access to Education 

The United Nations has stated that as countries work to reduce poverty, they must ensure that all youth receive the same opportunities to contribute to society, and that increasing access to inclusive education is instrumental in bridging this gap as inequities in education negatively impact employment options for individuals with disabilities. While Argentina guarantees access to education for children with disabilities, these children often meet with discriminatory practices in schools and are subject to a lower quality of education, further compounding the effects of disability and poverty in the country.

As of 2016, the Ministry of Education in Argentina organized 35 events and workshops focused on drafting inclusive education guidelines and providing training to teachers. These programs have reached an estimated 45,250 people consisting of teaching staff and the general public. The Ministry has also prepared materials to increase awareness of inclusive education practices, including guidelines for providing accommodations and support to students.

The Argentine government has begun overseeing the implementation of inclusive education policies in all the nation’s provinces with a toll-free national hotline to record and track instances of discrimination in educational settings. Furthermore, with the support of the World Bank, planning and development are underway for inclusive education projects for schools in rural areas of the country where a lack of basic resources and services exacerbates disability and poverty in Argentina.

– Emely Recinos
Photo: Flickr
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Improving Women’s Rights in the DRC

Women's Rights in the DRC
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has suffered from longstanding conflicts that have only exacerbated the country’s poverty crisis. About 70% of the country’s population lives below the poverty line. While these conditions have greatly affected the status of women’s rights in the DRC, much work is occurring to raise the standard of living for women.

Gender-Based Violence

The DRC documented more than 35,000 sexual violence cases in 2018, and U.N. Women reports that gender-based violence has risen by 99% with the onset of COVID-19. In war-torn states, conflict uniquely affects women and they are often subject to rape or sexual violence as a weapon of war. To combat these alarming statistics and improve women’s rights in the DRC, the country revised its strategy for combating gender-based violence in August 2020. The new national strategy includes a care framework for survivors, prevention methods for crimes and increased scope of the strategy throughout the entirety of the country, reaching over 51 million women in the DRC.

Women, Peace and Security

As of July 2019, a mere 16% of women constituted the DRC’s Senate, and none of the country’s Constitutional Court judges or provincial governors are women. The Women, Peace and Security agenda, as the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325 adopted, aims to promote the inclusion of women in positions of power. The DRC’s National Action Plans (NAP) has incorporated it to better include women in decision-making. The DRC’s second NAP experienced enactment in 2019 and expectations have determined that it will be implemented until 2022, with the goal of increasing the inclusion of women and girls in economic and political decision-making to at least 20%.

Women’s Education

An estimated 52.7% of girls between the ages of 5 to 17 do not attend school in the DRC. Gaining an education directly links to an increase in women’s rights and independence, as staying in school commonly leads to lower rates of child marriage, increased financial literacy and expanded job and life opportunities. Although women’s participation in the workforce (70.7%) is roughly equivalent to that of men (73.2%), women’s participation comes primarily from agricultural work where lack of education and gender roles restrict women’s access to financial freedom and property ownership.

While poverty and lack of infrastructure have historically barred women’s and girls’ access to education, UNICEF has worked to improve educational opportunities and thus increase women’s rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. UNICEF has partnered with the DRC’s Ministry of Primary, Secondary and Technical Education to facilitate distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has supported the education of close to 7 million students in the DRC.

Maternal Health

The DRC’s under-5 mortality rate is 84.8 per every 1,000 live births, and in 2011, the DRC accounted for half of all maternal deaths. Women are in particular need of proper healthcare facilities and ease of access to reliable medical centers, two factors that the DRC’s state of conflict and low status of women has greatly affected. To better aid pregnant women and uplift mothers post-birth, the DRC’s National Health Development Plan received €4.5 million ($5.3 million) in monetary aid in June 2020 from the European Union and UNICEF. The E.U. has sent additional doctors and provided blood bags, medicine, vaccines and food for newborns suffering from malnutrition, targeting six of the country’s provinces and 33 health zones.

Looking Forward

While the DRC continues to combat a myriad of issues in regards to women’s rights, it is clear that conditions are constantly improving and progress continues to occur in various sectors of society. As efforts make headway to improve women’s rights in the DRC, the country’s state of poverty and conflict should also experience reform.

– Caroline Mendoza
Photo: Flickr

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Asante Africa Foundation: Education for Young Girls 

Social Skills to Young Girls
Asante Africa Foundation, which Erna Grasz co-founded in 2007, is a Foundation to alleviate poverty and encourage the development of youth through quality learning in the classroom, gender equity and work-life skills. Its motto is to “Educate and empower the next generation of change agents, whose dreams and actions transform the future for Africa and the world.” Here is some information about how Asante Africa Foundation is working to promote health knowledge and education for young girls.

About Asante Africa Foundation

The Foundation comprises a global team that connects youth from Kenya, Tanzania, California and Uganda through three effective interconnected programs that work to promote education through low-cost resources and train teachers how to educate youth. These programs, called Accelerated Learning in the Classroom Program, Leadership and Entrepreneurship Incubator (LEI) Program and Wezesha Vijana Program, are active in East Africa in Narok, Kenya; Arusha, Tanzania; Livermore, California and Kassanda, Uganda.

The LEI Program, founded in 2010, is a three-year program that provides students with job readiness skills, entrepreneurship skills and personal development skills that will allow students to enter the job market and start their own businesses in the future. The Accelerated Learning in the Classroom Program is a program that works to provide intensive teacher training and utilization of technology in the classroom to better prepare students. In this way, both students and teachers gain the necessary skills to thrive and excel in modern academic fields.

The Wezesha Vijana Program, also known as the Girls’ Advancement Program, is a school-based program that works to provide a safe space for young girls to discuss their challenges and to create solutions to those problems. This program allows community support, parental engagement and peer mentoring. Young girls become armed with the knowledge and recognition of their rights and their collective power. The Foundation has changed over 600,000 youth lives by encouraging the development of cognitive skills, decision-making capacity and leadership qualities for the next generation.

Providing Education for Girls

In a virtual event that took place on October 17, 2020, called Creating Opportunity from Chaos, people received opportunities to create changes in their communities and voice their understanding of the struggles that young girls face. Participants had to describe what implementations they were making in the community to foster change and growth. The theme of the panel was to create solutions for the predicament of a young girl facing issues such as gender-based violence and limited educational and economic opportunities. Simon Kinyanjul, the representative from Asante Africa Foundation, answered that he was promoting change in the community through providing education for girls about their sexual rights, hygienic practices and financial/business knowledge.

Kinyabjul emphasized how the start of after-school clubs and activities play an important role in functioning as a safe place for girls to learn how to obtain skills such as financial education, skills training and community support. Some afterschool activities that Asante Africa Foundation has created involved building peer support networks through the administration of girl-led school clubs that educated girls in sexual maturation, reproductive health, financial knowledge, social skills and personal rights. These afterschool clubs allowed greater communication among the girls and also taught the boys to act as a support system and ally to the girls. The implementation of after-school activities and clubs has led to fewer early unintended pregnancies, reduced early marriages, increased school attendance/completion and increased financial earnings/savings for girls.

The Wezesha Vijana Program

Simon Kinyanjui took the time to explain the Wezesha Vijana Program, a program to give young girls knowledge about hygiene, finances and business, along with social skills to help them in their communities and their lives. The help gained from the local government, local chiefs and schools serve as important constituents that will aid as a support structure for young girls to pave their way into the world. This program has impacted over 125,000 youth lives and the number continues to grow. The average attendance rate in schools in Africa has increased by 7%, academic performance in schools has increased by 38% and pregnancy dropouts have decreased by 75% in 2019 alone.

During the COVID-19 Pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic progresses, young girls and children do not have the opportunity to gather and learn these important lifelong skills. Therefore, Asante Africa Foundation has been reaching out to communities and distributing Youth Essential Kits which contain feminine hygiene products and learning products that allow these girls to become healthy women in their business and their lives.

The prolongation of the COVID-19 pandemic has denied youth the ability to attend sessions in the community that served as a place for the girls to meet regularly and discuss and share issues. It is also impeding the process that allowed girls to discuss their knowledge of financial stability, hygiene and personal health. However, through the creation and distribution of the hygiene kits, adolescent girls have the feminine hygiene products that will allow them to stay clean and that they may not have been able to afford. The pandemic has resulted in reduced earnings and increased unemployment in the African economy which, in turn, has increased poverty. As a result, these Youth Essential Kits are providing adolescent girls with the feminine products that they cannot afford due to the economic decline.

To help ease the trouble that the pandemic caused, Asante Africa Foundation has also been working with students and alumni to identify what is necessary within different communities. The effort of Asante Africa Foundation to provide a source of outreach and connection among the students through the pandemic has allowed students to remain active in their endeavors and have a positive outlook for their futures.

– Isha Bedi
Photo: Flickr