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5 Consequences of Not Having Access to Education

5 Consequences of Not Having Access to Education
Growing up, many individuals assume that education is unlimited and that everyone has easy access; however, not receiving a proper education can have a major impact on an individual. Across the world, more than 72 million children are not able to gain access to an adequate education. In addition, almost 759 million adults remain illiterate. Part of this includes a lack of awareness to pursue an education. Further, many people who do have access to education typically take it for granted when many children cannot. It is important to understand the value of learning and the potential repercussions without it. Here are five consequences of not having access to education.

5 Consequences of Not Having Access to Education

  1. Lack of Representation. First and foremost, not receiving an education can have major consequences on an individual’s voice. It can hinder the development of the skills necessary to represent oneself. This is further evident through the continuing oppression of women in developing countries. These women typically marry at a young age and must work at accomplishing domestic chores. In nations such as Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, many women without an education struggle to find jobs. Additionally, these women typically cannot read or write and often grow reliant on their husband’s income. In the end, the lack of access robs women of their potential. To add, gender disparity in youth literacy remains prevalent in almost one in five countries.

  2. Unemployment. In many nations, education often determines employability. These nations rely on well-educated workers to promote their economy and workforce. Employers also use these credentials to differentiate applicants and potential employees. Today, many organizations fighting this issue focus on educating the youth as approximately 71 million 15 to 24-year-olds do not have employment around the world. Without access to education, individuals are more prone to remain at the bottom of the list when it comes to obtaining a job. Even as little as a high school diploma can open up many opportunities for employment.

  3. Promotes Exploitation. Many individuals must resort to incredibly dangerous jobs just to make a living if they have limited education. Specifically, women and girls in developing countries often resort to various methods of exploitation to provide for themselves and their families. Education can provide secure work, but without it, people might have a difficult time getting ahead. Exploitation can include sweatshop labor, prostitution and child marriage.

  4. Difficulty Raising Children. Children often rely on their parents when it comes to their own education; however, it can be quite difficult for a parent to assist their child if they never had access to education. It is important to understand how the lack of education can have consequences on future generations. Uneducated parents face issues such as the inability to help children with their homework or not knowing how to help them find their full potential. According to the American Psychological Association, children of uneducated parents are typically behind their peers when it comes to cognitive development and literacy levels. The effects of this issue were evident in 2014 when approximately 61 million children of primary school age did not attend school.

  5. Poverty Trap. Ultimately, lacking access to a proper education puts an individual at risk of falling into the poverty trap. The poverty trap involves the inability to escape poverty due to a lack of resources. This can also lead to an intergenerational poverty gap, meaning children of those already in the trap are more likely to be at risk as well. Education provides the ability for one to access the knowledge necessary to make a living. Without it, it is difficult to escape the trap. According to the Brookings Institute study, each year of education provides an average 10 percent increase in wages.

In order to avoid these five consequences pf not having access to education, citizens around the world need to take action to increase access to education. Through advocacy and campaigns, there can be a change for the better. Once again, it is important to highlight the importance of education as it provides many opportunities for the future.

– Srihita Adabala
Photo: Flickr

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5 Solutions to Pollution That Are Creating Jobs

Solutions to Pollution
The solution to pollution is not an easy fix and many industrializing countries in the Global South are facing the challenge of mitigating pollution while continuing to sustain economic growth. Because of this, environmental degradation and pollution are common in developing countries, both of which have adverse effects on health and the economy. Environmental degradation is near-inevitable for developing countries, due to industrialization, agricultural herbicides and groundwater dumping. This leaves developing countries with the challenge of finding solutions to all of this pollution. Finding solutions to pollution has brought sustainable industry and trade to developing countries. Here are 5 examples of innovative ideas that are creating jobs and reducing pollution in industrializing countries.

Five Solutions to Pollution and Poverty

  1. Ghana’s Climate Innovation Centre: Ghana’s Climate Innovation Centre (GCIC) holds an annual competition that rewards entrepreneurs who develop products that counteract pollution. Since its launch in 2015, GCIC has supported 53 businesses, had 12 partnerships with entrepreneurs, awarded $772,435 in grants and created 117 jobs. The products sponsored by the GCIC are available to 170,000 households. The 2019 recipient of the Launchpad Competition was Sabon Sake, whose team invented soil supplements that will counter mineral erosion from pollution and increase the fertility of the soil.
  2. Alternative Energy Sources in India: Indoor and outdoor air pollution are the largest environmental health risk in the world. In India alone, indoor and outdoor air pollution was responsible for the death of 1.24 million individuals. The World Health Organization is proposing solutions to minimize health problems caused by air pollution. These changes are not large scale economic changes, but rather small changes — the WHO proposed a switch to non-coal stoves, a reduction in diesel transportation and a limitation on the burning of biofuels. Professor Ramanathan stated that such changes have empirically created jobs and increased the number of individuals eligible to work, thus bolstering the economy.
  3. International Trade and Access to Global Markets: When developing countries prioritize environmental protection, developed nations often increase trade in order to encourage sustainable economic growth. The green industry in developing countries not only provides a solution to pollution by decreasing non-renewable energy but also by increasing efficiency. The adoption of greener markets in developing countries created 3.5 million new jobs, increased access for developing countries to global markets and decreased annual energy costs.
  4. Clean Water Drives Growth: Water pollution due to chemical dumping, feces and trash is responsible for the death of 3.2 million children in developing countries annually. Clean water is an investment that affects not only mortality rates but also the economy. UNESCO estimates that investment in cleaning and sanitizing water in Africa — even on a small scale — would increase the GDP of Africa by 5 percent. A 5 percent increase in GDP would create jobs, trading opportunities and create new markets. Additionally, the investment in clean water would increase the number of jobs by opening water treatment facilities.
  5. Solar Market in Tunisia: In 2018, Tunisia began to transition to solar energy through its Plan Solaire Tunisien (PST), which is funded by the National Agency for Energy Management through various global investors, including the German Investment Bank. This project, which has decreased the need for dirty forms of energy, will contribute 10,000 jobs to the Tunisian economy. There has been resistance to the development of solar alternative powers, however, increasing the time-frame of power outage occurrences.

Although the perfect balance between economic development and environmental protection is difficult to achieve, industrializing countries are successfully transitioning their economies to accommodate environmentally friendly business practices. This has increased job availability, prevented deaths and directly benefited the poor in the Global South. Private markets, Foreign Direct Investment and government initiatives have all alleviated pollution in developing countries and successfully created jobs. These solutions to pollution have the ability to drive the Global South to a cleaner and more economically viable model for industrialization while reducing poverty.

– Denise Sprimont
Photo: USAID

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Top 10 Facts About Living Conditions in Guyana

10 Facts About Living Conditions in Guyana
Guyana is located in the northeastern corner of South America. After gaining independence from the British in 1966, it has struggled economically and politically, but the recent find of over five billion barrels worth of oil should bring in vast amounts of money. These 10 facts about living conditions in Guyana go to show the great potential the country has to improve its population’s quality of life.

Top 10 Facts About Living Conditions in Guyana

  1. Poverty: Unfortunately, Guyana is very poor as over a third of its population lives in poverty. Along with this, Guyana ranks 164 out of 228 nations in human development.
  2. Political Parties are Ethnically Based: There are multiple ethnic groups in Guyana. Forty percent of Guyana’s population is South Asian and are descendants of those brought over for indentured servitude. Meanwhile, about 30 percent are Afro-Guyanese (Guyanese of African descent) are the descendants of ancestors who went to Guyana to work the plantations. Additionally, 20 percent have mixed heritage and 10 percent are indigenous. These differing ethnicities have led to the formation of a number of political parties. There are three main political parties including the People’s National Congress, the People’s Progressive Party, the Alliance for Change and several smaller political parties. These parties include the different ethnicities present in the country, which has led to issues. Some people feel that President David Granger favors his own ethnicity.
  3. Political Tensions: An example of Granger favoring his own ethnicity over others is when he cut subsidies for the sugar industry while making no cuts against the government bureaucracy. This is problematic because a majority of the government is Afro-Guyanese, Granger’s ethnicity, whereas most people who work on sugar plantations are Indo-Guyanese. Although there have been some ethnic-related tensions, Granger has made improvements. An effort to lower the rate of AIDs, which has become an issue for all in recent years, shows this. Since 2010, the rate of AIDS and HIV has increased by over 10 percent.
  4. Emigration: An important point among these 10 facts about living conditions in Guyana is the fact that there is a significant amount of emigration that takes place each year. In 2013, over 7,000 people emigrated. A study also determined that 40 percent of people in Guyana would emigrate if they could. Motivators to leave the country might be a lack of political support and job opportunities. In order to combat this President Granger has raised funds to improve the national public university and increased teachers’ salaries.
  5. Human Resource Drain: Many people leave Guyana because of a lack of jobs. The current unemployment rate in the world is around 5 percent, whereas, in 2017, Guyana’s unemployment rate was 12 percent. Many young Guyanese people are moving to large cities such as New York to secure work. Even though the jobs they get might be low paying, stressful and below their educational levels, having a job that pays is better than not having employment. People who come to work in big cities often send money back to their families in Guyana. All of this emigration leads to the country having a reduced number of human resources. Many of the people who leave have skills and are professional. In fact, 80 percent of students from the University of Guyana leave the country statistically.
  6. Improving Education: Many qualified individuals are leaving the country. A focus on improving youth education has occurred to combat the loss of educated people. An example of this is a partnership between the NGO Family Awareness Consciousness & Togetherness with the U.S. Government that aims to support youth education. The NGO has received a grant of $64,800, which will provide after-school activities, lessons and homework based around arts, sports and life skills. This program is for 80 children between the ages of 10 and 18 in the town of Corriverton, Guyana. Eventually, the NGO hopes to spread these after-school activities to the surrounding communities.
  7. Newfound Money and Potential Issues: The mass amounts of money from oil could present some issues because of the current political tensions. Troy Thomas, the head of global anti-corruption NGO Transparency International, stated that “corruption is rampant.” An example of the corruption that Thomas speaks of was in December 2018 when the governing coalition lost a no-confidence vote, yet disregarded the results. It responded by challenging the vote in courts, which resulted in the occurrence of protests. On September 20, 2019, hundreds of People’s Progressive Party Civic supporters and members protested outside of a hotel where President Garner was to deliver a speech to the business community, who were mainly his ethnicity, Afro-Guyanese. Members and supporters of the People’s Progressive Party Civic feel Granger will use the newfound money from oil to only help the Afro-Guyanese.
  8. Oil to Help the Economy: Among the 10 facts about living conditions in Guyana is the fact that the country’s newfound oil should greatly improve the economy. Predictions determine that the overall economy should grow by 86 percent by 2020. This is 14 times more than China’s predicted rate. Along with this, according to the International Monetary Fund, the oil revenues should reach $631 million by the year 2024.
  9. Guyana and Greener Practices: Guyana has made a commitment to the Green State Development Strategy. This is a long-term plan that will use the money from oil to improve the lives of all ethnicities within Guyana. To achieve this goal, Guyana hopes to create quality education, social protection and low carbon development that is resilient. These things will lead to new economic possibilities. This strategy calls for using the country’s investments to implement more environmentally friendly practices. Guyana will focus on how this change affects agriculture, forestry, energy and road transport infrastructure. By 2040, Guyana wants to transition to nearly 100 percent renewable and clean energy sources for generating electricity. Another main aim of this strategy is to provide all people with necessities, including safe and affordable housing, water, sanitation facilities and electricity.
  10. The Green State Development Strategy to Create Jobs Through Tourism: A focus of the Green State Development Strategy is to lessen poverty through things such as creating more jobs. A way that this strategy hopes to create jobs is through tourism. In 2018 alone, tourism led to the creation of 22,000 jobs. The Guyana Tourism Authority stated that tourism is the country’s second-largest export sector, bringing in nearly $30 million to the economy in 2018. The Ministry of Business in Guyana predicts that tourism and travel will make up nearly 8 percent of the country’s GDP in 2019.

When it comes to these 10 facts about living conditions in Guyana, the country has faced political and economic issues, but this has the potential to change soon. After finding over five billion barrels worth of oil off the coast, Guyana’s potential for economic growth skyrocketed. Predications state that Guyana’s GDP should triple within the next five years.

This new influx of money will allow Guyana to improve the lives of all ethnicities within the country. Guyana should be able to achieve this by investing money into education, job creation, natural resources and tourism while using greener practices.

– James Turner
Photo: Flickr

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10 Facts About Child Labor in Pakistan

Child Labor in Pakistan
Child labor defines as the employment of children who are younger than a legally specified age. However, some child domestic workers in Pakistan are still working under the worst form of child labor which deprives them of education. A lack of education contributes to the prevalence of poverty, which could otherwise help them change their socioeconomic standing. This article sheds light on child labor in Pakistan.

Top 10 Facts About Child Labor in Pakistan

  1. Child Labor: In Sindh Province, 21.5 percent of children ages 5 to 14 are working. About 11 million children in Pakistan perform domestic tasks and work in agriculture. Other children work alongside their families as bonded laborers in the brick industry. The use of this type of forced child labor in Pakistan happens in the brick, carpet and coal industries.
  2. Child Labor Laws: Regardless of Pakistan’s introduction of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1992, bonded labor still exists due to the country not having enough resources to enforce child labor laws. In 2018, labor law agencies have acted against child labor in Pakistan and are still working toward closing gaps that allow child labor to exist. According to the law, employers who use bonded labor risk punishment of imprisonment for a term of at least two years and a maximum of five years, or a fine of at least PKR 50,000 or both.
  3. Hazardous Work: Pakistan still has the worst form of child labor which includes hazardous work that can damage children’s health and development, or worse, put their lives at risk. Children working in carpet factories sometimes work up to 20 hours a day, seven days a week, and often sleep and eat at their place of work. Many children end up with eyesight and lung issues due to the amounts of dust they come in contact with on a daily basis.
  4. The Carpet Industry: UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) believes that children aged 4 to 14 make up to 90 percent of the carpet industry’s workforce. Workshop owners manipulate parents into believing that their children will learn new skills that outweigh any knowledge gained at school. Such manufacturers target children because they can pay them significantly less than adult weavers which allows them to compete with other companies by offering a quality product at a lesser price.
  5. The Employment of Children Act: To combat the worst form of child labor in Pakistan, more provinces are enforcing laws. The Employment of Children Act states that a child or adolescent cannot work more than seven hours a day which includes one hour of rest during that time. A child also cannot work between the hours of 7 p.m. and 8 a.m. The minimum age for hazardous work is 14 years in Balochistan and ICT, and 18 years in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh.
  6. Education: According to UNICEF, Pakistan has the world’s second-highest number of children who do not attend school. Only 60.6 percent of children in Sindh Province between the ages of 5 to 14 attend school with 11.6 percent combining work and school. However, UNICEF is working on improving the number of children who attend school through studies, supporting provincial sector plan development, development of review of non-formal education policy and direct program implementation.
  7. The Sex Trade: Due to the prevalence of poverty, approximately 90 percent of the 170,000 street children in Pakistan work in the sex trade, an extreme form of child labor. The federal government in Pakistan convicted its first child pornography case after passing the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act in 2018. Pakistan has also approved the Prevention of Smuggling Migrants Act 2018 in order to protect victims who traffickers have smuggled to other countries.
  8. The ILO’s Child Labor Program: The ILO (International Labour Organization) is working through its International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour, by assisting the government of Pakistan in the elimination of child labor. Pakistan has agreed to enforce laws based on the conventions of the ILO which include the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999. The ILO’s child labor program has carried out many successful initiatives that have helped rehabilitate child laborers by providing formal and non-formal education.
  9. Labor Inspectors: Data from 2017 shows that the number of active labor inspectors is likely less than what is necessary to review the entirety of Pakistan’s roughly 64 million workers. In 2018, the provincial government made efforts to increase the number of inspectors to better enforce child labor laws in Pakistan. With the ILO’s Strengthening Labor Inspection Systems in Pakistan project, labor inspectors in Punjab Province received training to help them with the enforcement of laws. Between January and August 2018, the Punjab Labor and Welfare Department found over 98 cases of child labor during inspections. Of those inspections, 63 of those child labor cases were in brick kiln establishments.
  10. Minimum Age Standards: At a federal level, the minimum age for hazardous work in Pakistan still does not meet international standards. However, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh provinces meet the minimum age standards, above 18. Punjab Province also put a law into effect in early 2019 that bans domestic work for children under the age of 15.

Many children in Pakistan must work in order to pay off their familial debt or contribute to the familial monthly expenses, but the main cause for concern is that even after many advancements in 2018, the worst form of child labor still exists. With more resources to enforce child labor laws and consistency on a federal level, the world could see an end to the worst form of child labor in Pakistan.

– Lisa Di Nuzzo
Photo: Flickr

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10 Facts About Child Labor in Afghanistan

10 Facts About Child Labor in Afghanistan
Child labor is prevalent in Afghanistan partly due to the quarrelsome war between its government and the Taliban. The country remains one of the poorest in the world where corruption and greed riddle workplaces. Children work long hours and in servile ways to provide goods for their families. It is the only way they are able to survive in an environment marked by poor conditions and minimal social opportunities. Below are 10 facts about child labor in Afghanistan.

10 Facts About Child Labor in Afghanistan

  1. The Motivation for Child Labor: A quarter of kids between the ages of 5 and 14 in the country suffer the burden of working in jobs that are hazardous to their health and well being. The main reason kids work is to help their families survive economically and bring food to the table.
  2. Types of Labor: Children work in many dangerous jobs, such as metal workers, tinsmiths, welders, miners, in the carpet industry and street vendors where the hours are long and the pay is not favorable. One of the jobs that children most fear is bonded labor where they work in brick kilns. Bosses force the children to owe a debt and it becomes insurmountable. The salary children earn is not enough to help them and their families afford a daily meal.
  3. Minimum Employment Age: Afghanistan’s labor law states that the minimum employment age is 18 and prohibits children under 14 from working. Children between the ages of 15 and 17 can work in jobs that express vocational training where the environment is not harmful. The hazardous conditions children must go through at work violates the country’s labor laws.
  4. Limited Enforcement of Labor Laws: According to the Human Rights Watch, the labor law was due for an overhaul to meet international standards, but the government abated its plans to do so. This further interfered with the notion of a child-labor-free country. The safety of children is in jeopardy because the government has not enforced the prohibition against child labor. Children working in prohibited and dangerous jobs go unnoticed as a result of the government’s lack of capacity to inspect workplaces.
  5. Terrorist Groups: Every day, the country’s ongoing war makes matters worse by forcing children to live in constant fear. Various cities in Afghanistan become targets for terrorist groups on a daily basis. Children are at high risk of armed groups abducting them as well as being vulnerable to spontaneous attacks. Armed groups recruit children for use in an armed conflict where many of them face serious injuries, psychological damage and death. In 2018, the country’s government opened a juvenile rehabilitation center for kids formally involved in an armed conflict where it served 34 children.
  6. A Barrier to Education: According to Afghanistan’s Central Statistics, 55 percent of the country’s population lives in poverty. Illiteracy occurs because of the country’s high poverty level where many parents are not able to afford the prices for their children’s education. Around 3.7 million kids between the ages of 7 and 17 do not attend school, and 60 percent of them are girls. Children lose the opportunity to go to school because they need to work long hours in order to make a living and provide for their families’ basic needs. Armed groups constantly target school buildings to use as training grounds, leaving many kids in fear of attending classes.
  7. Girls Education: There is a very low enrollment rate for girls due to the lack of female teachers in Afghanistan. The education system is flawed and only 48 percent of teachers in the country possess minimum academic qualifications. Many schools lack the proper sanitation facilities needed to encourage girls to enroll and only 16 percent of schools in the country are all-girls.
  8. Girls’ Access to Teacher’s Education: To improve conditions, Girls’ Access to Teacher’s Education, a UNICEF supported program, offers a training course to female students in high-school who want to become teachers. UNICEF supported 5,300 community-based schools and accelerated learning centers in 2018, where children learn critical life skills and basic literacy and numeracy skills. As a result, 150,000 students, more than half of them girls, benefited from the organization’s well-doing. In addition, UNICEF worked with the Ministry of Education to provide hand washing stations, safe drinking water and menstrual hygiene curricula to various schools in the country.
  9. Dangers of Migration: Many children flee Afghanistan as a result of the violence and poverty that plague the country. Some kids go to Iran where they continue to work in hazardous environments. They do not attend school. Returnees are vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups and traffickers.
  10. Displacement Due to Natural Occurences: Displacement of populations is a constant occurrence in the country and a major cause of child labor. It is also a reason why poverty remains persistent. Natural occurrences such as floods force families to leave their communities and start a new life. In 2018, a displacement of 266,000 people in the northern and western parts of Afghanistan came as a result of severe drought, further perpetuating child labor along with the selling of daughters for marriage.

The 10 facts about child labor in Afghanistan above demonstrate how the country is in a state of crisis due to high poverty levels among the population. Child labor remains a main obstacle that people around the world need to be aware of in order to make a difference. Afghanistan’s current war only adds to the challenge. However, organizations like UNICEF are working hard to fix the issue and inspire economic progress.

– Eduardo Hernandez
Photo: Flickr

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10 Facts About Human Trafficking in Laos

10 Facts About Human Trafficking in Laos
Laos is one of the most underdeveloped countries in the world and the poorest in its region. Poverty and low levels of education leave its residents vulnerable to diverse sorts of crime and one of the largest crimes the country faces is human trafficking. Here are 10 facts about human trafficking in Laos.

10 Facts About Human Trafficking in Laos

  1. Human Trafficking Numbers: Between 200,000 and 450,000 people in Laos fall victim to human trafficking each year. Labor migration within Laos’s geographical region has a link to trafficking as many natives leave in search of better employment opportunities.
  2. The Vulnerability of Girls: Girls aged 12 to 18 make up about 90 percent of trafficking victims each year. These young Lao women must drop out of school to make a living to sustain their families. The girls then willingly seek employment opportunities abroad.
  3. Migration to Thailand: The majority of human trafficking from Laos occurs when its people choose to move to Thailand. One of the reasons that Thailand is a destination is that it is close and shares a similar culture and language. Moreover, people in Laos tend to move to Thailand due to its higher economic standing. Since education levels in Laos are particularly low, its people often seek better lives and are naïve and vulnerable to criminals who trick and cheat them.
  4. Sex Trafficking and Forced Labor: The commercial sex trade and forced labor situations are the two most common types of human trafficking that Laotians face. Since young females are the main people migrating from Laos, traffickers often take them to countries like China to sell them as brides. Others receive false promises of high paying jobs but end up trapped in slave work.
  5. A Tier 3 Rank: These conditions have manifested due to the Laos government’s failure to meet the minimum standards to end human trafficking. In 2018, the U.S. downgraded Laos to a Tier 3 in terms of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA). Tier 3 is the worst rating a country can have.
  6. UN-ACT and Ending Human Trafficking in Laos: Human trafficking remains one of Laos’s most significant struggles, but positive headway has been developing over the years. Laos’s government has started to tighten its border security. The police force is now receiving training from organizations like the United Nations Action for Cooperation Against Trafficking in Persons (UN-ACT). UN-ACT has implemented the three P’s protocol including prevention, protection and prosecution, to deter human trafficking in Laos.
  7. Raising Awareness: Not only is awareness spreading through law enforcement, but it is reaching civilians too. Officials have launched campaigns to spread information about human trafficking at border crossings. This initiative educates individuals on what to look out for and how to avoid potentially dangerous situations while traveling.
  8. The Lotus Project: While the government has started to do its part, other private organizations have lent Laos efforts too. The Lotus Project, founded in 2008, has a mission to support and provide young Loa women with education. Since the Lotus Project’s start, it has been able to impact 80 families and keep those girls from falling victim to human trafficking.
  9. Lao Women’s Union: Lao Women’s Union is the country’s largest support association. Not only does it focus on trafficking victims, but also on domestic violence victims. To serve the women of Laos, the LWU is an active advocator for women’s rights and their ability to prosecute traffickers.
  10. Village Focus International (VFI): In Laos, there are three shelters for trafficking survivors and two of them are a result of Village Focus International. At the shelters that VFI established, girls receive safe accommodations, food, health care and emotional support to repower themselves. VFI has been able to aid over 500 lives over the years and is helping make Laos a safer country for its residents.

The people of Laos, and especially the young women who live there, face great dangers when seeking employment opportunities abroad. As expressed in these 10 facts about human trafficking in Laos, however, the country is making positive strides. Thanks to recent government efforts and groups like LWU, The Lotus Project and VFI, more Laotians are able to avoid those hardships or receive rescue.

– Ariana Kiessling
Photo: Flickr

 

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5 Countries With The Best Poverty Reduction Programs

Best Poverty Reduction Programs
In the global fight against poverty, there have been countless programs to effectively downsize this issue. Poverty reduction programs are an important part of the fight against poverty and because of this, countries should be able to cooperate and learn from one another. Thankfully, with the help of the U.N., the world has been making progress in terms of cooperating to implement good poverty reduction programs. In no particular order, these are the five countries with some of the best poverty reduction programs.

Five Countries with the Best Poverty Reduction Programs

1. China

For the Middle Kingdom, poverty reduction is a key contributing factor to its rapidly growing economy. China has helped reduce the global rate of poverty by over 70 percent, and according to the $1.90 poverty line, China has lifted a total of 850 million people out of poverty between 1981 and 2013. With this, the percentage of people living under $1.90 in China dropped from 88 percent to less than 2 percent in 32 years. China’s poverty reduction programs have also benefitted people on a global scale by setting up assistance funds for developing countries and providing thousands of opportunities and scholarships for people in developing countries to receive an education in China.

2. Brazil

Brazil has taken great steps in reducing poverty and income inequality. Brazil has implemented programs such as the Bolsa Familia Program (Family Grant Program) and Continuous Cash Benefit. Researchers have said that the Family Grant Program has greatly reduced income disparity and poverty, thanks to its efforts of ensuring that more children go to school. They have also said that beneficiaries of this program are less likely to repeat a school year. Meanwhile, the Continuous Cash Benefit involves an income transfer that targets the elderly and the disabled.

3. Canada

Canada has implemented poverty reduction programs such as the Guaranteed Income Supplement and the National Housing Strategy. The Guaranteed Income Supplement is a monthly benefit for low-income senior citizens. This program helped nearly 2 million people in 2017 alone. Meanwhile, the National Housing Strategy in an investment plan for affordable housing that intends to help the elderly, people fleeing from domestic violence and Indigenous people. With its poverty reduction programs in place, Canada reportedly hopes to cut poverty in half by 2030.

4. United States

Although the United States has a long way to go when it comes to battling poverty, it does still have its poverty reduction programs that have proven to be effective. According to the Los Angeles Times, programs such as Social Security, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Earned Income Tax Credit and food stamps have all helped to reduce deep poverty. In particular, people consider the Earned Income Tax Credit to be helpful for families that earn roughly 150 percent of the poverty line, approximately $25,100 for a four-person family. Social Security could help reduce poverty among the elderly by 75 percent.

5. Denmark

Denmark has a social welfare system that provides benefits to the unemployed, the disabled and the elderly, among others. People in Denmark are generally in good health and have low infant mortality rates. Denmark also has public access to free education, with most of its adult population being literate.

It should be stressed that none of these countries are completely devoid of poverty, but they do provide some good examples of how governments can go about reducing this issue. With the help of organizations like the USAID, it is clear that this is an issue many take seriously.

– Adam Abuelheiga
Photo: Flickr

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How Moyee Coffee is Helping Farmers in Ethiopia

Moyee Coffee is Helping Farmers in Ethiopia
The days of poor coffee farmers in Ethiopia receiving underpayment for hard work may soon be over as Moyee Coffee is helping farmers in the country. Moyee, a Dutch coffee brand, is transforming supply chains with blockchain. Moyee begins this process by creating unique digital identities for its coffee producers. Next, it sets prices at 20 percent over the market rate. Buyers can view these prices and choose to support the livelihood of farmers in Ethiopia. The coffee company is also creating an app that allows customers to tip farmers. These business decisions are what make Moyee the first multinational coffee company based in Ethiopia.

Why Coffee is Such a Tough Business

People consume billions of cups of coffee every day and the coffee industry is worth almost $100 billion, yet the producers of the coffee bean are among the world’s poor. Approximately 90 million people who help produce coffee live on less than $2 a day. To put that into perspective, most Americans spend more than $2 a day on a cup of coffee.

A lot of the problems associated with coffee farming and poverty have to do with climate change and price fluctuation. Climate change has altered growing seasons making it difficult to produce good quality crops. Species of coffee are dying out because of deforestation and soon farmlands may become unsuitable to grow coffee. Prices fluctuate often because of supply and demand. The problem is that when climate change damages crop yield, prices can be low which means farmers earn less than they should for their product.

How Blockchain Increases Profits for Farmers in Ethiopia

This is when Fairchain comes in. Fairchain is a version of blockchain that Moyee created. It is a digital supply chain that is completely transparent. The supply chain tracks every transaction from the coffee bean to the coffee cup. This allows blockchain to cut out the middleman and help control price fluctuations. When the supply chain is transparent, people and companies can see how much each chain in the line received to keep prices fair. This is what helps farmers when prices fluctuate dramatically because they get a fair price even when demand is low.

How Moyee Coffee is Helping Farmers

Moyee gives coffee farmers mobile wallets, tap cards, identification numbers and barcodes that allow them to receive payments directly. Moyee also allows customers who buy its coffee to support farmers by using a QR code. The code allows customers to tip the farmer or fund small programs that aid farmers like microloans or training.

The Moyee Brand has a growing impact in Ethiopia by using blockchain to increase profits for coffee farmers. The use of technology has allowed for supply chains to become more transparent. Transparency is key because customers are often unaware of where their product is coming from and how much the producer receives. The increase in profits can help farmers in a variety of ways. Their product yields could increase and they could live a more sustainable lifestyle. Middlemen used to take advantage of farmers and cut their profits, but Moyee is changing that and hopefully, it will serve as a model for other multinational corporations.

– Gaurav Shetty
Photo: Flickr

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Technology to Promote Literacy in Papua New Guinea

Technology to promote literacy

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is an independent state comprised of about 600 small islands, that also shares a land border with Indonesia. PNG uses technology to promote literacy in a number of ways. PNG broke off from Australia in 1975 but still receives substantial economic, geographical and educational gains from the country. However, the Australian government reports that in spite of their economic growth and middle-income country status (due to agricultural and mineral wealth), “PNG’s social indicators are among the worst in the Asia Pacific. Approximately 85 percent of PNG’s mainly rural population is poor and an estimated 18 percent of people are extremely poor.”

The World Bank details that PNG also faces a “vexing” situation regarding their remoteness and number of languages. Communities in PNG are very closed off from one another and land travel is strenuous. PNG has 563 airports and air travel has proven to be the common way to get from one place to another. At over 800 languages, PNG is recognized as “the most linguistically diverse country in the world.” As a result of these two factors, PNG’s education system faces a variety of challenges. PNG was ranked 153 on the Human Development Index in 2017, and its adult literacy rate was reported to be 63.4 percent in 2015. Australian Aid and the Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) cooperated to produce The SMS Story research project, a way to use technology to promote literacy.

The goal of the SMS Story Research Project was to ascertain whether daily text message stories and lessons would improve the reading ability of children in grades 1 and 2 in Papua New Guinea. The text messages were sent to elementary school teachers in the Madang Province and Simbu Province using a free, open-source software program called Frontline SMS. The project was a controlled trial with two groups, one group of teachers received the message and the other did not. About 2500 students were evaluated before and after the trial. Using statistical testing, it was determined that the reading ability of the group who received text messages was higher than that of the group that did not.

It was found that the schools participating in the study had little to no reading books in the classroom and that students in groups without an SMS story were “twice as likely to be unable to read a single word of three sub-tests (decodable words, sight words and oral reading).” It seemed that many classrooms in PNG did not provide easy access to reading materials or proper reading lessons.

Amanda Watson, a researcher involved with the project stated that the SMS stories were helpful to the teachers as well. She says, “The teachers actually received almost like a reminder to teach, a bit of a motivator to keep teaching and they received that every single day and we think that really helped them to realize that they’re supposed to be teaching reading every single day, five days a week.” This suggests that before the trial, some of the teachers may not have promoted reading as much as they should have, either due to lack of access to materials or not realizing its importance.

Daniel A. Wagner, of the University of Pennsylvania and his colleagues, detail the importance of using technology to promote literacy in countries with minimal access to education or educational materials in their paper, “Mobiles for Literacy in Developing Countries: An Effectiveness Framework”. He underlines the importance of promoting literacy through information and communications technologies (ICTs) in today’s world where there are “more connected mobile devices than people” and provides several examples of organizations that are working towards increasing literacy through ICTs.

The Bridges to the Future Initiative (BFI) is run in South Africa by the Molteno Institute for Language and Literacy. They aim to “improve literacy through interactive, computer-based lessons” created by the University of Pennsylvania’s International Literacy Institute (ILI). They provide access to educational materials and issue students with “mother-tongue resources” in regions where computer sources or books are mostly in English. Comparably, Ustad Mobile is an application in Afghanistan that runs offline on phones. They center around instructing reading comprehension, listening, and numeracy. Teachers and students can download and share lessons; the app also includes exercises, videos and interactive quizzes in order to “mobilize education for all”.

BBC Janala is another project using technology to promote literacy in Bangladesh. It is a multi-platform service and can be accessed through TV, internet, print and mobile phones. BBC Janala concentrates on teaching English through three-minute audio lessons, quizzes, TV shows, newspapers, textbooks and CDs.

Illiteracy is an issue in Papua New Guinea; most likely due to the lack of reading materials and importance placed on literacy. However projects like, “The SMS Story” are all over the world and are working towards using technology to promote literacy one step at a time.

– Jade Thompson
Photo: Flickr

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The App to Help Refugees in Uganda

App to Help Refugees in Uganda
Uganda has been accepting refugees for many years. Unfortunately, these refugees have limited access to economic opportunity. That is where LevelApp comes in. The nonprofit Refunite created the app to help refugees in Uganda. The program creates small tasks for refugees to complete in exchange for payment. It is not a substitute for a regular income, but it provides some money on the side that refugees can save for the future. The work pays well too; a refugee may normally make around $1 a day, but the app gives them the potential to make up to $20 a day.

Uganda’s Refugee Crisis

Refugees have been seeking shelter in Uganda for many years now. Here are some facts about refugees in Uganda.

  • The refugee population in Uganda rose by 48 percent in the past year.
  • There are over 1.3 million refugees in Uganda.
  • Over 60 percent of those refugees are from South Sudan.
  • The South Sudanese are coming to Uganda to escape an oppressive government.
  • Many South Sudanese refugees are between 15 and 25 years old.
  • Almost 30 percent of refugees come from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  • The Congolese are escaping ethnic violence and an Ebola outbreak.

How LevelApp is Helping Refugees

Refugees need to be able to save money if they are to lift themselves out of poverty. The app helps women, who are important in local economies, by giving them tasks they can do from home. Almost 30 percent of users are women and they can use extra money in many beneficial ways. Some ways are to send kids to school, buy livestock and access health care, which might make them less dependent on foreign aid. Another important benefit is that by using this new technology, refugees learn new skills that they can use when they return home.

How LevelApp Works?

Refugees complete simple tasks like categorizing images and datasets. The more tasks they complete, the more money they make. They can download tasks and complete offline, which is important because many refugees do not have access to a consistent internet connection. Refugees can make almost $200 a month with this simple work. As of July 2019, LevelApp had around 1,500 users and the hope is that this number will grow.

The tasks are to help Refunite develop artificial intelligence. The basic tasks refugees complete, like labeling and mapping, help the AI learn. For Refunite, this is a win-win scenario because it is helping refugees climb out of poverty while developing AI.

Unexpected Benefits of LevelApp

While LevelApp is helping to lift refugees out of poverty, there are also some other positive effects. Using the app, refugees are beginning to learn English, which is an incredibly useful language to know. Also, through LevelApp, young people can new people. This is beneficial because a high number of refugees are young, and they are often stuck in limbo socially and economically. The youth often have difficulty making friends and progressing their careers. The app has also benefited the careers of young people by teaching them 21st-century skills that they can use when they return home.

LevelApp is helping refugees by providing an income that they normally would not have. It is a unique economic opportunity that greatly benefits refugees by providing them with 21st-century technological skills to use to access higher-paying jobs when they return home. The creator, Refunite, is also benefitting because the work refugees do for the company helps develop its artificial intelligence program. The company could easily develop this technology at home in the United States, but giving this opportunity to refugees is beneficial to combatting poverty. This app to help refugees in Uganda has created benefits that stretch beyond just poverty reduction and display the need for innovative solutions to global poverty.

– Gaurav Shetty
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