Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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10 Facts About Tuberculosis in Impoverished Countries

Tuberculosis in Impoverished CountriesThe largest infectious cause of death in the world is Tuberculosis (TB), resulting in over 4,000 deaths a day. Many factors make people living in poverty more susceptible to undiagnosed and untreated active TB, notably its interaction with HIV/AIDS. A lack of information and adequate healthcare systems also make Tuburculosis in impoverished countries a major threat, requiring a rapid response from the global community.

10 Facts About Tuberculosis in Impoverished Countries

  1. Tuberculosis is more common in impoverished countries. People in severe poverty often live and work in crowded areas with poor ventilation, which are the optimal conditions for the spread of TB.  They’re also more susceptible to conditions that lower their immune systems such as malnutrition or other infectious diseases. These factors make them more likely to catch and spread TB, as well as less likely to be able to fight it.
  2. COVID-19 is expected to increase TB. Two large effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are economic crises and quarantining. For people living in poverty, quarantining can increase the transmission of TB as households may be more crowded with less ventilation. Losing one’s job can increase undernutrition or malnutrition which lowers your resistance to TB.
  3. The cure rate is low in developing countries. The cure rate for TB in many developing countries is less than 50%. This is a result of many factors, but it is mainly because of a combination of the fear and stigma around TB in impoverished countries. It leads to delayed treatment or refusal to seek treatment, and inadequate healthcare systems in place that are tasked with treating the disease.
  4. TB often spreads because of delayed treatment or refusal to seek treatment. A person with active TB can spread it to 10-14 people a year, which may not seem like a lot, but allows cases to multiply in places that are suffering from other lethal infectious diseases as well. This makes tuberculosis in impoverished countries more deadly and harder to treat.
  5. TB interacts with HIV. HIV patients develop active TB at a much higher rate. The progression of TB and HIV is sped up when a person has both diseases, which usually leaves little room for treatment in countries that are struggling to provide adequate healthcare. Almost 70% of HIV-positive people live in sub-Saharan Africa, where 41% of people live in poverty. The risk of getting TB increases 19-fold when a patient also has HIV because of their weakened immune systems and their environment. Of reported TB cases, 56% have been among those who are also HIV-positive. This leads to at-risk individuals contracting both of these diseases which are much more difficult to treat together.
  6. Drug-resistant TB is on the rise. A strain of the TB that is resistant to the traditional course of antibiotics is starting to spread. It is particularly dangerous for people with TB in impoverished countries because many may not have adequate resources or information to follow their TB treatment methods. This results in infectious, drug-resistant strains that are harder to treat. When a drug-resistant strain of TB appeared in the U.S. during the 90s, the quick government response helped to decrease cases by 67% over five years. A similar approach would help to quell the current spread of TB in impoverished countries by providing resources that lead to better diagnoses and tracking of new infections.
  7. TB is curable and preventable. The reason people in developed countries don’t hear a lot about TB is because developed countries have better-funded healthcare systems. These systems can monitor for the disease effectively and have access to drugs that can treat it quickly. More than 95% of all TB cases and deaths happen in developing countries where healthcare systems often don’t have the same reach or resources.
  8. USAID is helping in the fight against TB. USAID focuses on providing locally generated solutions to fight TB. By training healthcare workers, USAID is able to improve the detection of TB, as well as the treatment and overall treatment success rate. In 2018 the organization was able to train 40,000 healthcare workers in key areas to fight TB in impoverished countries and saw a 14% increase in case notifications. USAID also set the tremendous goal of having another 40 million people diagnosed and enrolled in treatment, and another 30 million people enrolled in preventative therapy by 2022.
  9. Poverty and TB connect. TB cases would fall by more than 80% by eliminating extreme poverty. There is a strong link between extreme poverty and TB. If combined, programs directly targeting TB and programs targeting the eradication of poverty can help slow the transmission and increase the response rate by improving healthcare services and raising the quality of life.
  10. The TB Alliance is working to affect change. The TB Alliance is researching affordable treatment for those in need. By forging partnerships in many different sectors, this non-profit is chasing the goal of ending TB deaths. The organization is developing faster-acting drugs that can be circulated to both treat and prevent TB. This development has already transformed how TB is approached in the medical research field and could help millions of patients struggling to access affordable and fast treatment options.

Although TB poses a threat to impoverished countries, there is a lot being done to prevent TB deaths. The Global Fund is ensuring that grants are provided for countries combating the dual-threat of COVID-19 and existing diseases like TB, HIV and malaria. With effective treatment regimens already on the market and faster-acting versions in development, increased U.S. foreign aid and funding for aid programs could expedite the end of TB in impoverished countries.

– Eleanor Williams

Photo: Flickr

A Global Fight: Battling Tuberculosis in Tanzania

Tuberculosis In Tanzania

Tanzania holds a spot on the list of the 30 highest-burden countries for tuberculosis (TB) and TB/HIV coinfection. Many things contribute to the spread of TB in Tanzania, like infrastructural barriers and transportation difficulties for those in rural areas. While the burden of costs associated with addressing TB in the country falls largely on the government, the United States and Tanzania have formed several partnerships to attack infectious diseases with a united front. 

Tuberculosis in Tanzania

Victims of active TB in Tanzania endure chronic coughing fits, fevers, night sweats, persistent exhaustion and severe weight loss. Annually, more than 166,000 Tanzanian inhabitants are infected with TB. The International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers classifies the infectious disease as “highly endemic” in the East African country. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that TB is the fifth leading cause of death for Tanzanians, trailing behind heart disease and HIV/AIDS. Moreover, the five percent of Tanzanians with the HIV/AIDS infection are at a higher risk for TB co-infection, according to the World Health Organization.

The Science Behind Tuberculosis

The two strains of TB most common in Tanzania are airborne pulmonary TB (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) and bovine TB (Mycobacterium Bovis) sometimes found in unpasteurized dairy products. Pulmonary TB occurs globally because it travels through small, aerosolized droplets that settle in the lungs. A mere cough or sneeze, or even singing, can pass the infectious droplets from one person to another. The CDC reported that the disease can also stay suspended in the air for hours if the environment allows. 

Latent TB comprises 90-95 percent of cases, a stage that can last many years in which carriers do not exhibit symptoms. However, when activated, the disease can prove lethal. Broad-spectrum antibiotic treatments can cure TB, although multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is becoming more common. Without proper treatment, TB evolves to resist antibiotics, making it difficult to kill the bacteria.

Factors Contributing to the Prevalence of Tuberculosis

Infrastructural barriers increase the spread of Tuberculosis in Tanzania. Densely populated communities provide a breeding ground for bacteria and infection. The International Organization for Migration identifies the mining sector as a hot-spot for TB, a problematic externality to an industry that stimulates the Tanzanian economy. 

While crowded environments increase the spread of disease, remote regions experience delays in the diagnosis and treatment of TB. The National Institutes of Health reported that people living in rural areas are more likely to pursue traditional healers before seeking health care services, preventing early diagnosis and prolonging infection. Moreover, especially during the rainy season when roads are inaccessible, inhabitants of remote regions face difficulties with transportation to medical facilities and testing sites.

Within the health care sector, inadequate adherence to preventive measures allows for the risky exposure of TB to health care workers. Tanzania also lacks the human resources (i.e. health care personnel) and technical diagnostic tools to properly tackle widespread TB infection.

Efforts to Mitigate Widespread Tuberculosis in Tanzania

The financial burden of TB testing and treatment falls mostly on the Tanzanian government, which covers the majority of costs associated with health care services. However, other agencies, such as volunteer organizations, donate in order to help stop the spread of TB.

For instance, since 2003, USAID has partnered with the Tanzanian Ministry of Health to combat Tuberculosis. In 2017, the partnership yielded concrete changes, such as initiating 2000 new patients for TB treatment and expanding drug-resistant TB services to 48 sites throughout the country. USAID pledged an additional $5 million to continue the prevention and treatment of Tuberculosis in Tanzania for the fiscal year of 2018.

Beyond government agencies, medical schools aid Tanzania through academic support. In December of 2018, Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and 50 participating Tanzanian partners united for a symposium in Dar es Salaam. The symposium sought to address TB through the exchange of research and a strengthened relationship between the United States and Tanzanian academics.

Lisa V. Adam, director and dean for Geisel School of Medicine, said “the [symposium] addressed both the progress with TB care and prevention in Tanzania and the many challenges that lie ahead.”

Well into 2020, TB continues to diminish the quality of life throughout Tanzania and poses a threat to the livelihood of its people. Yet, governments, organizations and academic centers are working to eliminate Tuberculosis in Tanzania. These groups are furthering the fight against infectious diseases — together.

– Maya Gonzales

Photo: Flickr

6 Facts About the Garment Industry in Nepal

Garment Industry in Nepal
Nepal is one of many developing South Asian countries that plays a substantial role in the global ready-made garment industry. These mass-produced textiles have become a staple export from Nepal, but they have also normalized the unethical practices of fast-fashion chains within the country. Over the last two decades, Nepal has struggled to regulate both economic and ethical issues within the garment industry, but the last few years have produced a shift towards a brighter future for garment workers. Here are six facts about the history of the garment industry in Nepal and the efforts to address both the problems of fast-fashion chains and the country’s economic reliance on them.

6 Facts About the Garment Industry in Nepal

  1. In the 1980s, the garment industry in Nepal boomed because of interest and funding from Indian exporters. Due to the product quota limits in India, exporters looked to Nepal to increase their production. This expanded production served to boost not only Nepal’s economy but also its reach on the global production scale. Thus, Nepal became a viable option for countries to produce and export various textiles.
  2. In 2004, intense competition in the global garment market broke out after the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Textiles and Clothing expired. Nepal struggled to outproduce their competition and subsequently saw a fall in revenue from garment exports. The Multi-Fiber Agreement, an international trade agreement that allowed duty-free access to the U.S. for Nepal, also fell through in 2005 and further exacerbated the country’s declining international revenue.
  3. The international economic aftermath of 9/11 also negatively affected the U.S.’s reliance on the garment industry in Nepal. The U.S. was the recipient of 87% of Nepal’s readymade garments until 2002. In subsequent years, Europe, Canada, Australia, and India have become the largest markets for Nepali garments, making up 90% of the country’s exports.
  4. In the 2018 fiscal year, the garment industry in Nepal hit a new high. The industry made approximately RS 6.34 billion (approximately  $84.9 million), up 6.52% from the previous year. Despite this rise in revenue, Nepal had exported fewer garments than it had the year before.
  5. Chandi Prasal Aryal, president of the Garment Association of Nepal, claimed that the financial growth was due to a shift from quantity to quality. By focusing on producing better garments instead of more garments, other countries were willing to pay extra for better products. Because of the fine quality of the exports, those same countries are now willing to buy even more of the pricier garments.
  6. The focus on quality over quantity changes the focus of the garment industry in Nepal. Instead of relying on fast fashion practices that prioritize creating as many items as possible within a set amount of time, the industry can now shift to more ethical work forms. Thus, the quality of the garments will continue to improve and raise the value of each item, bringing more money back into the Nepali economy.

The exact reach and impact that the garment industry has had on Nepalese poverty remains unclear, but the future looks bright. The Nepalese government reports that employment data within the garment industry is “not readily available” but at the peak of its power, the garment industry employed 12% of the overall labor pool of the Nepalese manufacturing sector. As of 2019, the World Bank calculates the poverty line in Nepal to be $1.90 per person per day. Nepal lacked substantial policy in terms of a minimum wage, but the Library of Congress reports that since 2016, Nepalese workers across industries now make a minimum wage of approximately $3.74 per person per day. The modern garment industry, regulated with a minimum wage, can help lift Nepalese workers above the poverty line of the country, even if the garment industry of the past once presented a potential hurdle.

There still exists substantial work to transform the garment industry in Nepal into both a thriving industry and an equally ethical one; the country is making the first successful steps towards achieving both. This change will provide garment industry employees a better quality of life, as well as ensure that they and their families receive fair treatment.

– Nicolette Schneiderman
Photo: UN Multimedia

Improving Internet Access in the DRC

Internet Access in the DRC
Internet access in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been almost nonexistent for the past decade. The DRC’s internet access is 145th in the world, which is horrendous knowing the haunting past of its internet accessibilities. It was just in 2019 that the DRC lost its internet access completely amidst its election cycle. This has become a growing trend amongst several African and Asian nations, as governments are becoming more capable of shutting down electronic ways of communication and civil discourse. Apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube and Skype have cut communication. Here is some information about internet access in the DRC.

Economic Burden of Internet Loss

The financial burden that the DRC has faced has become an eroding problem after every internet shutdown of 83 million people. NetBlocks and the Internet Society, both internet access groups, calculated these shutdowns by using an algorithm. NetBlocks is a website that has a Cost of Shutdown Tool (COST) that “estimates the economic impact of internet disruption, mobile data blackout or app restriction using indicators from the World Bank, ITU, Eurostat, and U.S. Census.” NetBlocks estimated that the DRC’s shutdown costs an economic downturn of $3 million or more. This paints a bleak picture for the people of the DRC and their government.

Cutting off internet access is one thing but to cut it off at the expense of losing capital funds is a losing feat on both ends. The Internet Society has been trying to answer the question, how can internet access be better for the Democratic Republic of the Congo?

New Approaches to Internet Access

In 2019, The Internet Society started working on launching the second Internet Exchange Point in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kojo Boakye, that Head of Public Policy for Africa, said that “This new infrastructure will help improve connectivity by lowering the cost of delivering Internet services to people in the region.”

Since then, the DRC has seen a steady increase in internet access. Mobile connectivity has increased by 1 million (3.1%) from January 2019 to January 2020. This increase still means that 60% of the DRC’s total population does not have a mobile connection via the internet. Social media accounts have increased by 680,000 (28% increase) from April 2019 to January 2020.

The Future of the Internet in Congo

With TIS and NetBlock’s help, internet access in the Democratic Republic of the Congo should continue to expand as more IEP emerge. Another way of helping the Congo is by advocating for the removal of censorship laws from laws like No. 13/2002. No. 13/2002 “governs the telecommunication sector and confers powers on the government to take charge of communication facilities in the interest of national security or public defense.”

Not complying with these laws makes internet service providers like Bharti Airtel and Orange Group afraid that the country could revoke their licenses. If these laws change or the DRC puts a new one in place, internet access in the DRC should allow others to hear all voices without the government’s force.

– Grant Ritchey
Photo: Flickr

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Innovative Ways to Solve Hunger During a Pandemic

Solve Hunger During a Pandemic
The Borgen Project has published this article and podcast episode, “How Innovation Can Help Solve Hunger During a Pandemic,” with permission from The World Food Program (WFP) USA. “Hacking Hunger” is the organization’s podcast that features stories of people around the world who are struggling with hunger and thought-provoking conversations with humanitarians who are working to solve it.

 

As COVID-19 spreads across the globe, it brings more than the threat of disease, it also brings the threat of hunger. Currently, 135 million people suffer from severe hunger, and it’s estimated that the pandemic will double that number by year’s end. WFP is ramping up to meet the rapidly increasing need.

Technology and innovation have always been a key part of WFP’s emergency response, but now, during a global pandemic, they are perhaps more critical than ever before. That’s why it should come as no surprise that WFP tapped its Innovation Accelerator program to aid in its COVID-19 response.

The WFP Innovation Accelerator sources, supports and scales high-potential solutions to hunger worldwide. Each year, it hosts several bootcamps where technology starts ups hone their innovative ideas help solve  global hunger. So far, more than 60 innovations have been deployed within WFP’s operations and have been making a critical difference.

Since the Coronavirus hit, the Innovation Accelerator has adjusted its plans and operations, but it hasn’t slowed down. In fact, it’s now doing even more. We dialed up Bernhard Kowatsch, Head of WFP’s Innovation Accelerator, to learn more about how it’s helping WFP overcome challenges they face in this unprecedented time.

Click the link below to listen to Bernhard Kowatsch talk about innovative ways to deal with hunger during COVID-19.

 

 

Photo: Flickr

Tennis in Poverty-Stricken Countries

Tennis in Poverty-Stricken Countries
Around the world, people have always considered tennis to be an aristocratic sport. Although tennis is one of the most popular sports worldwide, many people in poor nations simply do not have the infrastructure to play. However, tennis in poverty-stricken countries is growing in popularity. From post-Soviet European societies to rapidly developing African nations, tennis is spreading to a diverse community of people all over the world, and it is helping catalyze the development of under-resourced areas.

Rising Stars: Tennis in Eastern Europe

One prominent example is the effect that tennis has had in Eastern Europe and the Balkan region. The brutal internal conflict spanning nearly 20 years at the end of the 20th century centered around border disputes and ethnic boundaries between Serbians, Bosnians and Croatians. As war ravaged the former Yugoslavia, tennis became an outlet for many youths to escape the conflict and make a name for themselves. One such youth was a boy named Novak Djokovic, who went on to receive wide regard as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

Djokovic, who experienced his transformative years in Belgrade, Serbia during the late 1990s, described growing up with tremendous adversity. Like other tennis players, he sometimes had to play in abandoned swimming pools because the courts experienced bombing. Partially accrediting his later success to this difficult childhood, Djokovic recalled one period from 1999: “We were waking up every single night at 2 or 3 a.m. for two and a half months because of the bombings.” He went on to articulate that “these experiences made me a champion, it made us tougher, made us more hungry for success.”

The “us” he refers to is his cadre of fellow Eastern European tennis players from war-torn or poverty-stricken countries in the 1990s. The Serbs took the tennis world by storm in the 2000s, dominating both men’s and women’s tours. Janko Tipsarević, Filip Krajinović, Nenad Zimonjic, Jelena Janković and Ana Ivanović are just a few examples. The popularity of tennis radiated from the war-torn Balkan nations northward to poor post-Soviet states like Bulgaria, Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltics, and even to Russia. All of these countries now have players in the top 100 world rankings.

Progress On and Off the Courts

Though one cannot overlook the impact of the sport on world rankings, tennis has also helped develop and unify struggling nations. Extracurricular programs and character development among children are just a few positive side-effects of tennis. Indeed, following the conflict at the end of the 20th century, Balkan nations have seen relative progression and development. This formula of development through tennis also appears in other regions of the world.

Africa suffers from many circumstances similar to the Balkans such as poverty, despair and ethnic conflict. Tennis in poor countries in Africa can offer incremental progress toward building strong young people for the future and mending broken societies. Many organizations share this vision. Tennis in Africa, a nonprofit organization, is trying to kickstart tennis infrastructure in Ghana and other nations to help build not only technical tennis skills but also life skills to bring families out of extreme poverty. In July 2018, locals received a tennis clinic in Ghana well. Organizations like Tennis in Africa provide year-round training for impoverished youth on the continent, helping cultivate the seeds of growth and development in an underprivileged area of the world.

Working in conjunction with other support efforts, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) development fund has its sights set on the African continent too. Being the central governing body of tennis, the ITF raised its budget by 12% to a total of $11.3 million in 2019. The ITF works to give underprivileged athletes financial support in traveling and making a living through tennis, while also covering other areas of development like coaching, facilities and administration to underprivileged communities. In addition to these organizations, some of the most successful tennis players in the world, like Rafael Nadal, are using tennis as a means of an education — both physical and emotional — all over the world. In one such project that the Rafa Nadal Foundation conducted, underprivileged youth in India received access to tennis and education through Nadal Educational Tennis School (NETS). NETS aims to alleviate extreme poverty in Anantapur, India by enrolling over 200 disadvantaged children each year. NETS is just one example of how tennis can be a positive societal force to spur progress, especially for future generations.

Hope for Tennis Players Worldwide

Though tennis has traditionally been a sport of privilege and wealth, the modern game is seeing many new faces from disadvantaged parts of the world. Especially for young people, tennis in poverty-stricken countries offers a unique opportunity for character development, as well as building healthy physical habits. Beginning with Eastern Europe, tennis has had an overwhelmingly positive social influence, helping nations recover from economic, social and political upheaval. There is no reason why the sport should not receive extension into underdeveloped nations across the world, providing a vehicle to help lift people out of extreme poverty.

– Zak Schneider
Photo: Flickr

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Essential Education Reforms in India

education reforms in indiaAfter 30 years, the government of India has finally revamped its standards in secondary and higher education. Among the education reforms in India, there has been an increase in socioemotional care, staff qualifications and access to innovative program opportunities in the public school system. These changes are significant for today’s Indian children, who made up 30% of the world’s poorest children in 2016.

Impoverished and Uneducated?

In 2017, 22% of India’s population lived in poverty. Among them, 287 million were unable to read or write: the basic fundamentals of primary education.

India has the highest worldwide rate of illiterate children. Sadly, illiteracy makes many students unable to keep up in classes and causes them to be removed from the public school system. Disproportionately, 78% of the children out of school are girls.

Children who fail out of lower school due to illiteracy are in greater danger of falling or staying beneath the poverty line if their family is already facing hardships. Indian children who are not included in the school community face greater social seclusion and lack of community support. Without support and opportunities from their communities, these challenges greatly stunt a child’s socioemotional and economic growth.

Building the Budget

Although there are difficulties, education reforms in India are growing. In 2019, the Indian government in New Delhi declared the 2019-2020 school year budget for public institutions to be ₹94,853.64 Indian rupees ($1,254). This was a raise of $149 U.S. dollars since the previous school year.

Although the New Delhi government is increasing its budget with the funds it can spare, India spends nowhere near the U.S. $64 billion yearly budget for public education.

Building the budget for public education in India means much more than funding for materials and updating technological services in school buildings. Along with a lack of access to education, many children in India are malnourished, making it more difficult to focus during school.

The budget has also increased the amount allocated for the lunchtime meal plan to ₹11,000 Indian rupees. Thus, students receive more services than classroom instruction while in the school building. This betters the overall physical and mental health of a student.

Three Initiatives of Public Education Reforms in India

  1. Happiness Curriculum: The implementation of the Happiness Curriculum in 2018 created requirements to include meditation and mental exercises in the public schools’ daily programs. The 45-minute daily “happiness” period takes students into a deep reflection and meditation. As a result, students reduce feelings of anger, anxiety and fear – all emotions that stunt students’ physical and mental growth.
  2. No Detention Policy: In the vital years of middle school, students in grades fifth through eighth are now able to retake their final examinations if they fail for their grade level. Following the 2017 Right of Children Act and immense community advocacy for struggling students this bill was written; the legislation was put into action for the 2018 school year.
  3. Ph.D. Required for College Professors: The New Delhi government has increased the required level of education to a Ph.D. for university staff. This requirement raises the level of education that students at public universities will pursue and receive. By 2021, the government plans for all college-level professors to have received a Ph.D. and undergone a month’s worth of induction training. The training teaches innovative ways to structure the professors’ school year. For example, teachers learn the tools to use two hours of their days for mentoring and extracurricular activities. This change has created layers of education reforms in India.

Is Socioemotional Learning the Future?

India has invested in enhancing the level of mental and emotional growth that a child can have at school. This includes self-enhancing and enlightening engagement from the school curriculum and staff. The benefits of these initiatives implemented by the government are making many nations around the world start to question the benefits of investing in their children’s emotional and social well-being during the school day.

– Nicolettea Daskaloudi
Photo: Flickr
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Homelessness in Croatia

Homelessness in Croatia
Croatia has become a massive tourist destination in recent years. Whether visitors are in search of relaxing beaches, national parks or Games of Thrones filming locations, the small Balkan nation offers a myriad of attractions. In the midst of a mass exodus of tourists due to the COVID-19 outbreak though, a 5.3-magnitude earthquake struck the country in March and damaged thousands of buildings, injured dozens and killed one person. Immediately following the disaster, the government drafted a vague plan for reconstruction. Josip Atalic, an associate professor at Zagreb’s Faculty of Civil Engineering, anticipates it will take years for the affected infrastructure to be completely repaired.

Thousands of buildings, from schools and hospitals to apartments and homes, have been deemed unusable. Unfortunately, Croatia doesn’t have the resources to handle more displaced persons. Here are four facts about homelessness in Croatia.

4 Facts About Homelessness in Croatia:

  1. “Croatia ranks among the most vulnerable countries of the European Union in terms of poverty rates,” according to the nation’s Ministry of Demographics, Family, Youth and Social Policy. Between 2010 and 2017, the number of citizens receiving unemployment benefits decreased from almost 80,000 to about 35,000. Yet, the rate of people at risk of poverty has consistently hovered around 20% since 2013. Poverty, unemployment and homelessness intersect at different points. With so much of the population at risk of poverty, the risk of homelessness grows all the more.

  2. The official number of homeless people in Croatia depends on a very particular definition of homelessness. As a result, the statistic is lower than it might be if other organizations were to calculate the quantity. European Typology of Homelessness and Housing Exclusion, or ETHOS, has six categories that encompass varying degrees of homelessness. These degrees range from people living in public spaces to temporary residence due to a lack of personal housing accommodations. The Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy found only 364 homeless persons in Croatia in 2018. This number is quantified by the definition in the Social Welfare Act of 2013, which determines a homeless person as one “who has no place to live, resides in a public or other place not intended for housing and has no means to settle the need for housing.” The government only counts most extreme cases of homelessness, in which a person is without a roof over his or her head. The total does not include the number of individuals who are without permanent residences and occupy beds in shelters, refuge accommodations, healthcare institutions or penal institutions. If the ministry were to include all ETHOS categories, there could be up to 10,000 homeless people in Croatia.

  3. Croatia has 14 homeless shelters in the entire country, with enough space to house 383 people. About a fourth of the nation’s population lives around Zagreb; as a result, most of Croatia’s homeless occupy the nation’s capital. There is only one shelter in Zagreb, and just recently it nearly closed as its lease with the city government came to an end. Without adequate resources to combat homelessness in Croatia, those afflicted have fewer chances to escape it.

  4. Aside from these aforementioned statistics, there is little research on poverty and homelessness in Croatia. In the last few decades, however, a number of organizations dedicated to homeless and vulnerable populations—Pragma, Caritas and the Croatian Anti-Poverty Network, to name a few—have materialized in Croatia. Most of these organizations are connected to the Croatian Network for Homelessness. Just a few years ago, a formerly homeless man began giving “anti-tours” of Zagreb; this was done in partnership with a social impact agency and the humanitarian association Fajter. He educates tour groups on the existence of homelessness in Zagreb, which is hardly noticeable due to strict vagrancy laws.

In the wake of two disasters that have impaired the infrastructure and the health of Croatia, it’s unclear how the country’s homeless population is faring. Nonetheless, between anti-tours and the growing number of aiding organizations, homelessness in Croatia is becoming more central to humanitarian efforts. Hopefully, in a few years, further research about the country’s vulnerable populations will be conducted. This would make more information available, and thus lead to more effective policies needed to address homelessness in Croatia.

– Mary Wilkie
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

5 Facts About Hunger in Angola

Hunger in AngolaAngola is a country in Southern African that is home to nearly 31 million people. Of those people, at least 2.3 million of them are at high risk for extreme malnutrition. Angola experienced an El Niño from 2015 to 2017 and the impact of this phenomenon along with the 2019 drought has been long-lasting. Here are five facts about hunger in Angola.

5 Facts About Hunger in Angola

  1. Widespread drought is the central cause of hunger. A devastating drought hit Angola in 2019 that reversed much of the steady decline in hunger and malnutrition within the country. The start of 2019 marked an uptick in both Angola’s Global Hunger Index rank and prevalence of stunted children under 5 years of age. Nearly half a million people at high risk for extreme malnutrition are under the age of 5. This drought was especially harmful to Angola due to the country’s fragile state after the recent El Niño in 2017. The drought’s impact on hunger in Angola can be seen across all aspects of everyday life.
  2. Commercial cattle farming hurts local cattle farmers. As the drought took its course in Angola, thousands of kilometers of previously fertile land was rendered useless. About 40% of Angolans live in rural areas where they depend on livestock-related activities for survival, mainly cattle farming. Commercial farmers were given 2,629 square kilometers of the remaining fertile land, leaving only 33% of the fertile land for local cattle farmers. Cattle farming is the main source of income for Angolan locals; however, when the drought began, their land was taken from them without due process. One of the hardest-hit provinces was Cunene, a province of rural farmlands that commercial cattle farmers now occupy.
  3. Improper governmental land distribution reveals corruption from within. The constitution of Angola clearly states that before any of its people’s land is taken away, there must be a consultation with the government. No such consultations were made before 46 commercial cattle farmers took the Angolan land, which is a clear violation of the country’s constitution. Shortly after these unlawful land seizures, the Angolan government ratified several laws to protect the right to food and clean water for its people, although no reparations have been made to those living in Cunene. With Cunene being the second largest province for cattle farming, the seizure of communal farmland forced locals to travel long distances to other provinces for water and food they previously had access to on their land.
  4. Conditions in Angola force people to turn to new food sources. With local cattle farming being the main source of food, there is a distinct lack of food because of the drought and improper land distribution. Hunger in Angola has intensified because communal cattle grazing land has either dried up or been given to commercial farmers. This has forced people to eat wild leaves to avoid starvation. Eating wild leaves causes sickness, diarrhea and skin conditions in both adults and children. Despite many adults giving up drinking milk so their children may have it, malnutrition levels in Angolan children younger than 5 continue to increase.
  5. The fight against hunger forces education to the back burner. In a country where people fight daily to find clean water and decent food, education becomes less of a priority and more of a luxury. Children spend their days helping their parents search for clean water and food, which has led to the closure of 160 schools alone in Cunene, one of the most affected provinces. Over 70% of Angolan children have had their education disrupted due to an inability to meet their basic needs. Even when students can come to school, most of them are exhausted from their long days of searching for clean water and food: and oftentimes these searches yield few results.

Although Angola faces these pervasive issues, some organizations are working to fight for the Angolan people and their well-being. Doctors With Africa CUAMM is an NGO working to fight malnutrition specifically in mothers and children under the age of five in Cunene. They first began their work in Angola in 1997, but their “Mothers and Children First” program took off in 2012 by working to ensure safe birthing and newborn care practices. Doctors With Africa CUAMM has visited nearly 27,500 Angolan mothers and newborns in addition to building 20 health centers near Cunene. The NGO focuses on building long-term healthcare projects, training African and Italian health care providers, conducting scientific studies about health in Africa and providing educational resources about health to the general public.

In 2017, Angola requested aid to help provide resources to Congolese refugees entering Angola. The U.S. Food for Peace partnered with the U.N. World Food Program to contribute $4.5 million to their efforts in 2019. The money went toward local food distribution, to affected locals and refugees as well as monitoring the drought situation. With this money, better protection of refugees has become possible, and locally produced food has become more accessible in northern provinces. While these are helpful steps forward, a more permanent set of solutions is still needed to eliminate hunger in Angola.

– Natalie Tarbox
Photo: Flickr

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5 Improvements for Women in Togo

  Togo is a country in West Africa that borders Ghana, Burkina Faso and Benin. The nation gained independence from France in 1960, and has a population of 7.89 million people. Despite the country’s success in phosphate production, more than 50% of the Togolese population lives below the poverty line. Togo is considered a “Least Developed Country” by the United Nations.

The extreme poverty that exists in Togo disproportionately affects women, as they are not granted equal opportunities for work and education. Togo ranks 115th of the world’s 129 countries on the Sustainable Development Goals’ gender index, which measures each country’s gender equality in terms of the sustainable development goals. These goals include access to education and health, among others, as well as addressing the prevalence of gender-based violence. Despite the many difficulties that still exist in almost every sector of daily life, there have been significant improvements for women in Togo over the past few decades.

5 Improvements for Women in Togo

  1. The maternal mortality rate decreased. The rate declined from 489 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2000 to 396 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2017. Togo’s decline in its maternal mortality rate is largely due to the efforts of nonprofits working to improve access to and the quality of healthcare. In a partnership with World Centric, the nonprofit Integrate Health provides training and education to nurses and midwives and employs Community Health Workers to provide health services on the front lines in Togo. The organization also improves the management and infrastructure of existing clinics and removes user fees that prevent many Togolese people from seeking healthcare. Across 13 clinics, Integrate Health intends to “perform 20,497 pre- and post-natal consultations and 2,862 facility-based deliveries.” Additionally, since Community Health Workers are predominantly women, Integrate Heath also provides economic opportunity and medical training for Togolese women.
  2. The adolescent fertility rate declined. The rate decreased from 130.17 births per 1000 women between the ages of 15 and 19 in 1985 to 88.69 births per 1000 in 2018. Togo is making significant strides in educating its youth about contraceptives, as 410,000 young people now participate in a sex education program. These are significant improvements for women in Togo. The Association Togolaise Pour Le Bien-Etre Familial (ATBEF) is a nonprofit organization that has been working in Togo since 1975 in the sexual and reproductive health sector. ATBEF aims to reduce infant and maternal mortality by organizing mobile health clinics and going door-to-door to discuss the benefits of contraceptive use. Additionally, ATBEF reached more than 870 villages in Togo that chose to sign onto protection charters that safeguard girls from gender-based violence, encourage them to finish school and teach village chiefs about the importance of educating young people about contraception. Since ATBEF began working in the Haho health district in 2011, the use of contraceptives doubled.
  3. Education for women increased while the overall fertility rate decreased. The steady decline of women’s fertility from 7.21 births per woman in 1980 to 4.32 births per woman in 2018 could be a result of increased education efforts. As women become more educated and countries become more developed, fertility rates decline. Although there is still a disparity between male and female literacy rates, female literacy rates increased from 38.5% of literate women over the age of 15 in 2000 to 51.24% in 2015. Additionally, youth literacy rates for females increased from 63.5% to 78.37% in 2018, indicating that younger women are receiving more education and may be less likely to have many children or to become pregnant as teenagers.
  4. Employment opportunities increased. In 2019, 88.79% of Togolese women were reported as self-employed. Additionally, Togo’s Labour law, passed in 2006, prohibits workplace discrimination based on gender and allows for up to 20 weeks of paid maternity leave with job security. However, husbands can still limit women’s choices to work and have control over their finances according to customary law. Nonprofit organizations such as CARE are working in Togo, and across West Africa, to empower women as participants in the economy. CARE’s Women on the Move program encourages women to join savings groups, in which women pool their savings and loan each other money to start businesses or to pay for healthcare and education. Women on the Move empowers women by educating them about their economic rights and mobilizes women across West Africa with a goal of improving their socio-economic status. The program aims to reach 8 million girls in West Africa by the end of 2020. As a result of influence from Women on the Move, the Togolese government planned to include savings groups in the national financial inclusion strategy.
  5. Child marriage decreased. Togo is one of the many countries in West and Central Africa to experience a decline in child marriage, with a 2% average annual reduction rate. Additionally, Togo has the third-lowest number of girls married between the ages of 15 and 18 in West and Central Africa. Although the government has committed to ending child marriage by 2030, 600,000 Togolese girls today are still married in childhood. To eliminate child marriage, the government will need to work to ensure that girls stay in school and are educated about their rights, as many girls are still taught that violence against them by their husbands is justified. Girls Not Brides, a global partnership with the mission of eradicating child marriage, works in Togo to develop country-specific strategies that encourage governments and communities to take action.

 

These five improvements for women in Togo depict the country’s steady progression toward gender equality. Togo’s improvements in healthcare, education and economic opportunities for women contributed to a higher female life expectancy, which rose from 54.29 in 2000 to 61.61 in 2018. However, Togo must continue to address the problem of child marriage, as it is still legal for families to marry off their daughters to receive a dowry.  Although the legal age for marriage is 18 in Togo, marriages can be arranged before the age of 18 with parental consent. There is still work to be done in Togo, to reform laws in order to give women more power over their marital choices and educate parents about the harm child marriage can have on young girls and their futures.

– Melina Stavropoulos
Photo: Flickr