Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Improvements in Healthcare in Syria

Improvements in Healthcare in Syria
The Syrian Arab Republic (more commonly known as Syria) is a Middle Eastern country fraught with danger and grief. It has claimed the news headlines for the past decade. Its violent civil war has led to a shattered government with little to no control over its infrastructure and a diminished ability to provide services to its 17.5 million citizens. Proper healthcare in Syria, especially care focused on women and children, has been a service that suffered. UNICEF is a leading organization that is spearheading efforts in Syria to improve healthcare for women and children. These efforts have led to significant improvements in the health and well-being of both women and their children as years have passed.

Improvement in Numbers and Data

One of the easiest ways to identify the improvements in healthcare in Syria lies within the raw data. The life expectancy of Syrian citizens is one major indicator of healthcare improvements. In addition, life expectancy at birth is steadily increasing in Syria. It reached 71.8 years in 2018 after several years of declining numbers after 2006. This indicates a slow but steady return to its peak in 2005 when life expectancy was 74.43 years of age.  This new incline could be due to a variety of factors. However, healthcare is definitely an important piece of the puzzle in improving life expectancy in a nation’s population.

Both infant deaths and neonatal deaths are steeply declining in Syria. Infant deaths have nearly halved since 2000, with numbers of deaths falling from 10,099 to 5,994 in 2018. Moreover, neonatal deaths have lowered from a peak of 8,804 in 1982 to an all-time low of 3,740 in 2018. These two statistics indicate that even at the earliest stages of life when people are the most vulnerable, healthcare in the Syrian Arab Republic is positively progressing in protecting the fitness of its citizens.

Improvements in Female and Child Care

Both women’s and children’s healthcare have seen an uptick in quality in the past few years. UNICEF supported primary healthcare in Syria for more than 2.2 million women and children despite the country’s crisis and war. For instance, the opening of 61 clinics targeted at displaced or deprived communities allowed for 56,000 vulnerable people (20,000 of whom were children) to receive vaccinations and newborn care. Additionally, UNICEF has provided guidance to hundreds of thousands of people, among them 600,000 caregivers, on proper dietary balance and diversity. This effort led to 1.8 million women and children receiving screening for malnourishment. Among those, 11,500 children were able to receive life-saving treatments for malnutrition. With this new training and healthcare infrastructure beginning to take root in hard to reach places within Syria. Women and children will hopefully have an even better standard of life to look forward to.

The data and efforts to date have significantly impacted Syria’s healthcare system. However, it is important to note that all of this progress is occurring despite a lack of assistance from large funding sources. Therefore, it is imperative that Syria receives enough support via other means to ensure that this progress can continue without experiencing delay or derailment. This is a nation in trouble. However, with aid and care from people and organizations like UNICEF, healthcare in Syria could finally know relief.

– Domenic Scalora
Photo: Flickr

Illicit Trade in Kenya: 5 Things to Know

illicit trade in kenyaKenya’s 48.5 million people have chronically suffered poverty because of rampant unemployment, crime and drought. Among other factors, illicit trade in Kenya has contributed to these stressors in a damaging way. Here are five things to know about the illicit trade in Kenya.

5 Things to Know About Illicit Trade in Kenya

  1. Illicit trade in Kenya robs its economy of $900 million every year. Kenya’s largest economic sectors like food and construction frequently fall victim to piracy. Criminals steal from these industries and sell their products illegally on the black market; this causes Kenyan companies and the government to lose money they could have made conducting legal business. Firms in Kenya reportedly lose 37.69% to 42.14% of their profits to illegal trade.
  2. Illicit trade contributes to unemployment as well. Unlawful practices like piracy and the production of counterfeit products caused the loss of 7,484 jobs between 2016 and 2018. The rise of COVID-19 has already threatened the livelihood of Kenya’s 15 million informally employed laborers as people grow less comfortable doing businesses with individuals; illicit trade has only harmed Kenya’s job market further. Kenya’s unemployment has remained fairly stable over the last couple of decades, ranging from 2.6% to 2.9%. However, data has yet to be collected on unemployment in 2020 and across the globe. Unemployment rates have shot well beyond established averages as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  3. Inattention to the issue may be its biggest propagator. Only 30% of the companies experiencing theft by illicit trade are even aware of the crimes against them. Due to the disproportionately high number of foreign banks and poor economic regulation in Kenya, discovering illegal trade proves difficult. The Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Kenya conducted a study from 2015-2016 to look into complaints about Kenyan banks issuing unwarranted charges. The FSD discovered that many banks charged its customers odd quantities in an opaque manner and the surveyors had great difficulty obtaining any further information on the subject due to the industry’s opacity.
  4. Illegal trade is a global issue and Kenya has joined in the fight against it. The international trade of products like cocaine and tobacco has sparked movements across the globe. In 2020, Kenya joined The Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, a treaty signed by 59 countries to universally end the illegal trade of tobacco. The Protocol will lower tobacco smuggling by an estimated 60% and Kenya has already seen success in combating the illicit tobacco market. “The Kenyan Revenue Authority estimates that the illicit cigarette trade market share declined from 15% in 2003 to 5% in 2016, a direct result of the implemented measures [taken],” reports Michal Stoklosa of the Tobacco Atlas.
  5. Kenya’s government has decided to tackle this problem head-on. Kenya’s Anti-Counterfeit Authority, established in 2008 as part of the Anti-Counterfeit Act, has declared its mission to end illicit trade in Kenya. The organization has created jobs, spread awareness of counterfeit activity and its harmful effects, and marked World Anti-Counterfeit Day this year by holding a ceremony and destroying $270,000 of counterfeit goods.

Kenya’s situation may appear difficult, particularly with the added stress of COVID-19, but its government and hardworking people have taken important steps to end illicit trade and its detrimental effects on the Kenyan economy.

– Will Sikich
Photo: Needpix

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Cyclone Harold’s Effect on Homelessness in Vanuatu

Homelessness in Vanuatu
Cyclone Harold tore through Vanuatu in early April 2020 and brought torrential rain, flash flooding and destructive wind up to 145 miles per hour. The storm devastated Espiritu Santo and Pentecost Island, bringing about significant impacts to the rest of the country’s northern and central islands. The cyclone wiped out trees and crops, flooded cities and towns, knocked out power, disrupted communications and destroyed countless homes and businesses. World Vision Vanuatu stated that 160,000 people, which is more than half of the country’s population, became homeless. In some villages, including one on Pentecost Islands, the cyclone destroyed all the homes.

General Relief Efforts

Addressing homelessness in Vanuatu after Cyclone Harold has been challenging due to COVID-19. While the country is one of the few places in the world without any cases, a single outbreak could put the island’s population and healthcare system in jeopardy. Therefore, the country halted international travel, forbade foreign relief workers from on-the-ground efforts and required the decontamination of all aid equipment. As a result, many communities did not see immediate relief.

The Santo Sunset Environment Network and Edenhope Foundation established a coconut weaving program to help rebuild after Cyclone Harold. The program employs people from the island of Tanna in the southern part of Vanuatu. The Tanna weavers held workshops with residents of the affected communities and taught them how to build with coconut fronds, rope and bamboo. Although islanders typically use Natangura palms to construct homes, Harold destroyed most of them, so residents had to adapt. While builders constructed most of the new buildings for communal purposes, they are looking to build private homes and cyclone-resistant buildings as well.

Down Under Rally, an Australian boating tour agency, started Project Nakamal, another local effort to address homelessness in Vanuatu. Down Under Rally also operates in New Caledonia and Vanuatu. Its priority is to rebuild the Nakamal structure, a building that locals use for ceremonial and community purposes. These buildings are at the heart of each community and serve as an important facet of Vanuatu society. The boating tour agency teamed up with Port of Call Yacht Services to provide materials for rebuilding. The organization has now exceeded its original fundraising goal of  $10,000 Australian dollars, about $6,948 in USD.

Larger organizations like World Vision Vanuatu set a goal to reach 3,000 households in Sanma Province, which includes the islands of Espiritu Santo and Malo. These organizations collaborated with World Vision’s Asia Pacific regional office and Vanuatu Women’s Centre to raise money for shelter, water purification and hygiene kits to support people with disabilities.

Through the help of U.N. Women, the Vanuatu Women’s Centre was able to make mobile counseling visits to various areas that the storm affected and help homeless women as well as their families. The organization reports that many women were concerned about their children and avoiding domestic violence. While various women called in need of food, water and shelter, others reached out to alleviate violence and sexual abuse.

Future of Relief

Despite the fact that Vanuatu’s carbon footprint is small, it is at the forefront of dealing with challenging weather. According to a study from Griffith University, the University of Queensland and the University of the Sunshine Coast, stronger and more frequent tropical cyclones threaten the island chain due. Rising sea levels also threaten the country, which would only exacerbate homelessness in Vanuatu. The study found that community-centered initiatives were most successful in addressing these issues. These local programs were scientific but complemented traditional beliefs.

It is important to expand and further implement the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. The document received signatures at the U.N. General Assembly in 2015 and set specific goals for disaster mitigation through 2030. The agreement seeks to reduce global disaster mortality, the number of people who disasters affect, economic losses and infrastructure damage. It seeks to increase warning system availability, international cooperation to developing countries and the number of countries that have both national and local mitigation strategies.

– Bryan Boggiano
Photo: Flickr

Improving Access to Healthcare in Sudan

Healthcare in Sudan
Located in northeastern Africa, Sudan has long been a diverse region of interaction between continental Africa and the Mediterranean. The country is home to hundreds of sub-Saharan African ethnic groups, and political and security challenges in recent decades have impacted it. In addition to displacement, the scattered population has recently suffered several outbreaks of cholera, dengue fever, Rift Valley fever (RVF), chikungunya and malaria.

Healthcare in Sudan faces both unique geographical and financial barriers to access. Improvements in health indicators are difficult to measure since they vary by region. Additionally, efforts to improve healthcare access have met with challenges. These include ineffective implementation of policies and poor coordination between the health and education sectors.

Financial Barriers

Postcolonial Sudan had free access to healthcare until the 1990s when the government gradually withdrew healthcare service provision. To retain healthcare access, Sudanese people often relied on borrowing money from relatives, working more and reducing expenditure on other vital living expenses. Many resorted to buying partial recommended treatments, resulting in further health complications.

Despite reducing support for healthcare, the Sudanese government also invested in higher medical education around the same time. It opened 30 new medical schools and made Sudan the country with the highest number of medical schools in Africa. This investment was an important step in the sustainable progress of healthcare in Sudan. It ensured a steady increase of healthcare professionals for the growing population of 42 million. Consequently, the physician-to-patient ratio improved from 0.1 per 1,000 people in 1996 to 0.41 per 1,000 people in 2015.

In 1997, in an effort to compensate for reduced government spending on health, the Ministry of Health introduced social health insurance (SHI). By 2017, SHI covered most of the population in Khartoum state and a few others. Despite internal efforts, healthcare in Sudan receives little international support. Compared with 50% of healthcare expenditure in Rwanda, only 5.4% of Sudan’s healthcare expenditure comes from external aid. The Sudanese government spends a comparable amount on healthcare to other sub-Saharan countries. However, the cost of healthcare for Sudanese citizens remains high, and many are uninsured.

Current Challenges

Sudan is struggling to retain healthcare workers, many of whom leave the country for better living and working conditions. To reduce physician migration, the Sudanese government has offered various incentives to specialists, such as generous salaries, leading positions, housing, transport and free education for offspring. However, the government cannot afford to sustain these efforts in the long-term or extend these benefits to all physicians.

Michelle Bachelet, a U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, argued that sanctions that the U.S. imposed have barred Sudan from receiving international funding for healthcare and COVID-19 relief. Sudan is on the U.S. State Sponsors of Terrorism list, which makes it ineligible to access any of the International Monetary Fund-World Bank’s $50 billion Trust Fund. This fund is currently assisting vulnerable countries to fight COVID-19. Sudan’s health minister Akram Ali Altom has also confirmed that the healthcare system is in urgent need of funding.

Geographical Barriers

As in many African countries, the main challenges to healthcare in Sudan are in rural areas. There, conflict, lack of transport and uneven distribution of resources reduce the availability of healthcare workers. An estimated 70% of the total healthcare providers are in the capital city Khartoum, serving just 20% of the population.

One way that some Sudanese states have addressed the problem has been through the use of telemedicine. Telemedicine has the potential to break down geographical barriers and increase access to high quality, specialist care to patients. A two-year pilot program in Gezira introduced electronic health records into the area for the first time. More than 165,000 new patients were able to register for consultations.

Sudan has many challenges to overcome before telemedicine can become a national success. Consultants located in the Khartoum center were not responsive. Additionally, issues involving software licensing and equipment maintenance have hindered smooth operations. As Salah Mandil, who led the first telemedicine project in Khartoum, noted, poor collaboration between scattered telemedicine projects has hindered efficiency and growth. For instance, projects such as the Surveillance project (FMOH) and the eHealth project have begun independently in various areas. However, they do not communicate or coordinate efforts.

Despite challenges to stability and safety, Sudan has made steps toward improving healthcare access in the past decade. To ensure equal and sustainable healthcare in Sudan, it must address the remaining challenges through better cooperation, management and funding from the government and international aid organizations.

– Beti Sharew
Photo: Flickr

Diabetes in South Africa: 5 Essential Facts

Diabetes is a disease that occurs when the pancreas is unable to produce or use insulin well, resulting in a high blood sugar level. When the body fails to make insulin at all, this is type 1 diabetes. With type 2 diabetes, the body does not produce or use insulin effectively. Both types of diabetes come with side effects that are detrimental to a person’s lifestyle. In the African region, South Africa has the second largest population of people with diabetes. Here are five facts that you should know about diabetes in South Africa.

5 Facts About Diabetes in South Africa

  1. Diabetes is a leading cause of death in South Africa. With non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like diabetes on the rise globally, South Africa is no exception. In 2016, diabetes and other NCDs caused 16% of the total deaths in the country. Diabetes is one of the three leading causes of death in South Africa, the other two being tuberculosis and cerebrovascular diseases. Among the South African population, there is a major lack of awareness of the disease and access to proper healthcare. Because the prevalence of diabetes in South African adults is 12.8%, it is crucial that other countries continue to support the funding and research of diabetes in South Africa.
  2. There are many ill-side effects for those living with diabetes. Diabetics must consistently track their blood sugar levels to ensure they don’t go into a diabetic coma. Additionally, diabetics are two to three times likelier to experience cardiovascular problems, like heart attacks or strokes. Diabetes can cause an individual’s kidneys to stop working. In most healthcare facilities in South Africa, they lack the procedures necessary to help a diabetic undergoing kidney failure, like renal replacement therapy by dialysis or through transplant. Another symptom of diabetes is neuropathy – or nerve damage – in the feet, which can lead to infection or potential amputation. In healthcare centers in South Africa, there is little equipment available for testing nerve damage in the feet and symptoms like this can often slip under the radar. Through an increase in funding from other countries, individuals suffering from diabetes in South Africa can have access to more equipment and medication necessary for dealing with diabetes.
  3. Socioeconomic disparities and other factors contribute to the prevalence of diabetes in South Africa. In South Africa, proper healthcare is inaccessible in poorer communities. The deficiency of experienced health professionals and respectable clinics makes it hard for citizens to undergo testing or treat the disease if they have it. More than one million citizens in South Africa do not know if they are diabetic. With more accurate and accessible testing, a greater population can begin treatment for the disease. It is crucial that the government receive funding to build diagnostic centers and train medical staff.
  4. Diabetes in South Africa is preventable and treatable in many ways. Though diabetes is irreversible, there are ways to keep symptoms at bay. Type 1 diabetes often develops in childhood and is usually impossible to eliminate. However, type 2 diabetes can go into remission with medication and changes in lifestyle. A common medication used to treat diabetes is metformin. Exercise and good eating habits are helpful treatments for diabetics. The most effective way to decrease the prevalence of diabetes in South Africa is to prematurely educate citizens and encourage healthy decision making. South Africa is currently working towards this goal.One recent preventative measure taken by the South African government is the implementation of a sugar tax. By charging more for sugary drinks and foods, the government is fighting obesity and helping citizens make more conscious decisions. In July 2019, South Africa briefly launched a Diabetes Prevention Programme (DPP). The DPP aims to integrate intervention treatments into a culturally relevant context through household questionnaires and group gatherings for at-risk individuals. In the conclusion of this program, the DPP will focus on using the information they gathered to create a curriculum that can educate communities about diabetes. To prevent rising cases of diabetes it is important that there is more pervasive awareness of the causes of diabetes. Citizens can learn how to manage obesity and understand when they should seek testing.
  5. Many countries and organizations help by funding testing centers and medical treatment in South African cities. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) works with several organizations in the South African region to help combat the severity of the disease through advocacy, funding and training. The three organizations that are a part of IDF are Diabetes South Africa (DSA), Society for Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes of South Africa (SEMDSA) and Youth with Diabetes (YWD). DSA is one organization that does its part in educating citizens and lobbying the government for better facilities and cheaper healthcare. DSA is a nonprofit that centers around mobilizing volunteers to demand better treatment for those with diabetes.

– Danielle Kuzel
Photo: Flickr

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Reducing Hunger in Sri Lanka

 

Hunger in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has experienced notable progress in several developmental areas. The country has achieved improvements to primary education, a reduction in childbirth rate and decreasing poverty levels. However, food insecurity remains a consistent problem. Hunger in Sri Lanka is a major obstacle to the nation’s socio-economic development. According to the 2019 Global Hunger Index, Sri Lanka scores 17.1, ranking 66 among 117 qualifying countries.

The Numbers

According to a UN report, more than 800 million people worldwide were estimated to be chronically undernourished as of 2017. Over 90 million children under five are underweight. Sri Lanka ranked poorly on the Global Hunger Index (GHI) and global food security index, two major indicators of food security in any country. A Food and Agriculture Organization report from 2014 to 2016 found an average calorie deficit in Sri Lanka of 192 kcal per capita per day. In South Asia, only Afghanistan (36.6%) and Pakistan (30.5%) had higher rates of food inadequacy.

A study by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) revealed that more than 13% of minors in Sri Lanka were malnourished between the period of 2006-2010. The survey found that 23% of children between six and 59 months of age were stunted, 18% wasted and 29% underweight.

AHRC also found that remote and underdeveloped areas suffer more from hunger than larger cities. Although Sri Lanka has moderate percentages of food accessibility (54.5%), availability (52.8%), quality and safety (49.5 %), it is still struggling to achieve the United Nation’s goal for zero hunger by 2030.

Causes of Persistent Hunger

A food-insecure family lacks access to an optimum quantity of affordable and nutritious food. The immediate and obvious impact of food insecurity can be observed in physical health. Children struggle to concentrate in school and adults find it hard to perform well in their job. The household hunger scale (HHS) measures food insecurity in Sri Lanka on the basis of three factors: lacking access to food, sleeping hungry because of not having enough to eat and household members spending the whole day and night without eating anything.

There are several drivers behind hunger in Sri Lanka. Stagnant growth in crops in recent years has created a shortage of essential food. As the population continues to grow, this problem worsens. Furthermore, 35% of crops end up being wasted, never reaching hungry people. Rising food prices are also a concern in Sri Lanka. Changes in import duties and non-tariff barriers have caused increases in food prices as well.

Unemployment is also a major factor behind food insecurity and hunger in Sri Lanka. Many families have one or more members unemployed. One report shows that around 30% of the households depend on casual wage labor for their livelihood and food security. Around 90% percent of households in the city of Jaffna and 75% in the Vavuniya District were unemployed around 2012.

Initiatives to Address Hunger

Agriculture is one of the key ways to combat hunger and malnutrition. Different policies are intended to help fulfill Sri Lanka’s food requirement, including the National Climate Change Policy and the National Adaptation Plan for Climate Change Impact. A climate-smart agriculture system is working on increasing climate-resilient crops, rainwater harvesting, crop diversification and use of technology.

Under the National Nutrition Policy, every Sri Lankan citizen has the right to access adequate and appropriate food — irrespective of geographical location or socio-economic status. In addition to these efforts, global agencies like the World Food Program are working to combat hunger in Sri Lanka. UNICEF is also working to improve child and maternal nutrition.

Additional Ways to Combat Hunger

Socially vulnerable groups — like the elderly or female-headed families — are more prone to food insecurity. Sri Lanka’s government and other organizations should supply food vouchers to these vulnerable groups.

Because livestock production in Sri Lanka offers vast opportunity, the government should also encourage training and veterinary services to promote livestock production. In addition to this, privatizing the fish industry could help generate employment.

 

Moving forward, the government and other humanitarian organizations need to make reducing hunger in Sri Lanka a priority. Policies like the ones listed above are crucial for reaching the U.N.’s goal of zero hunger.

– Anuja Kumari
Photo: Flickr

Combating Tuberculosis in Sierra Leone

Tuberculosis in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa, has been recovering from a civil war since 2002. While the country is still healing from the war, as well as combating disease, Sierra Leone’s life expectancy sits at about 52 years. This is 20 to 30 years younger than many wealthier nations. The prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) and other health crises threaten the nation’s strained healthcare system. In 2016, Sierra Leone struggled with the Ebola outbreak. Now in 2020, they fight TB while grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tuberculosis in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone is among the 30 countries most impacted by TB, with 14,114 cases reported as of 2016 and many more potentially uncounted. There are around 170 centers in Sierra Leone that offer treatment for TB.

Bacteria cause TB, which most often affects the lungs. Occasionally, TB can also affect joints, bones and the central nervous system. The disease spreads through the air. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that, “When people with lung TB cough, sneeze or spit, they propel the TB germs into the air.” People can also get TB by drinking unpasteurized milk contaminated by bovine TB.

Combating Tuberculosis

The National TB Programme at the Ministry of Health and Sanitation launched TB-fighting programs in Sierra Leone, backed by WHO, USAID and the CDC. As of 2018, 13,396 people successfully underwent preventative therapy for TB.

In 2015, following the Ebola epidemic, the CDC established an in-country center that partnered with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation. Through this partnership, they improved treatment and diagnosis services for HIV and TB, as well as making them more accessible to the population. This partnership has been the source of several high-tech facilities intended for testing for HIV/TB, drug-resistant TB and HIV/TB coinfection.

Other Obstacles

Poverty, war and epidemics like the 2015 Ebola outbreak — all things Sierra Leone still endures — can further ravage already fragile health programs in impoverished countries.

HIV, another disease Sierra Leone fights, is not only another pressure for a struggling healthcare system but a fast track for people to develop active TB. People with HIV are at a greater risk for contracting TB since HIV attacks an individual’s immune system. This is especially true if the patient is not being treated for HIV via antiretroviral therapy, which suppresses the virus. Children living with both HIV and TB face the added obstacle of a difficult diagnosis process because it is harder to identify the bacteria in child samples. TB is also the leading cause of death in people who are living with HIV.

Another strain on the system comes from the poverty, which Sierra Leone is fighting to end. National economic struggles and the low wages of healthcare staff contribute to the rising prices for TB treatment, even for those within the national subsidized program.

Efforts of CISMAT-SL

Accessibility of treatment and testing are major obstacles for those in Sierra Leone suffering from TB. As of 2009, only 5% of people living with HIV tested for TB, with less than 1% receiving Isoniazid preventive therapy.

The Civil Movement Against Tuberculosis in Sierra Leone (CISMAT-SL) is a collection of civil society organizations, both community and faith-based, to help those fighting TB. CISMAT-SL advocates for TB prevention, early diagnosis and treatment and the classification of TB as a human rights issue. The movement is working to shift the priority of healthcare onto the health of the population, rather than the economics of it. CISMAT-SL strongly advocates for the early start of antiretroviral therapy, Isoniazid preventive therapy (sterilization of lesions to prevent active TB from developing), TB case finding and infection control. The movement work to make these efforts more widespread.

 

Testing and treatment for TB exist, developing further with the rise of drug-resistant TB and TB/HIV coinfection. In impoverished countries, already existing treatments and testing are harder to access due to fragile infrastructures and less supported healthcare systems. In Sierra Leone, and other impoverished nations dealing with TB, the first step to improving the health and welfare of the population starts with making testing and treatment measures accessible. This is the battle CISMAT-SL and other humanitarian organizations are waging to help stave off tuberculosis in Sierra Leone.

– Catherine Lin
Photo: Flickr

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Women’s SHGs Combating COVID-19 in India

Combating COVID-19 in India
Women’s self-help groups have empowered women across rural villages in India to become self-reliant by building their skills and providing access to financial assistance, enabling them to increase their income. However, due to the COVID-19 crisis, there is a predicament of bleak income opportunities due to a lack of transport and marketing facilities to sell their produce and non-availability of credit. It has forced millions of migrants to move back to their villages from big cities due to the lack of income opportunities. With the movement of people to rural areas, there is a need to ensure proper health care, spread awareness about COVID-19 and maintain a supply of essential commodities for the people. Women’s self-help groups (SHGs) in rural areas are combating COVID-19 in India.

SHGs are informal groups of people that come together to address problems by mutually supporting and helping each other. They have been able to uplift and empower individuals by facilitating health care, education, rehabilitation, credit and campaigning. In India, there are 67 million women members of six million SHGs. The SHGs fall under the National Rural Livelihood Mission, a policy that the World Bank has aided. Here are five ways women’s self-help groups are combating COVID-19 in India.

5 Ways Women’s Self-Help Groups Are Combating COVID-19 in India

  1. Making PPE Kits and Face Masks: The women’s self-help groups in Mahabubnagar district, Telangana, were facing a slowdown in work due to the 40-day lockdown in India in March and April 2020. To revive their earning capabilities, they received the responsibility of stitching facemasks and personal protective equipment (PPE). To date, they have stitched over 550,000 masks. Similarly, many other SHGs across the country have engaged themselves in stitching PPE kits to meet the shortfall. Female members in Odisha who previously stitched school uniforms are using their skills to produce face masks. Meanwhile, in Assam, women received training to stitch facemasks using a traditional Assamese cotton towel.
  2. Producing Sanitizers and Disinfectants: In Jorhat, Assam, Rural Women Technology Park under CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology collaborated with female members of SHGs to produce hand sanitizers and liquid disinfectants for their families and poor people in nearby villages to control the spread of the infection. At a time of scarce job opportunities, women’s self-help groups across districts in India are training women to produce sanitizers and disinfectants using raw materials such as Dettol, ethanol, glycerin and essential oils.
  3. Delivering Essential Commodities: Women’s self-help groups have taken various initiatives to ensure the delivery of essential commodities to abide by the mandated social distancing norms. Their service includes doorstep delivery of food kits, fresh vegetables, dry rations and cooking oil as well as personal hygiene products like washing soaps and sanitary napkins. Many states have used the concept of ‘floating supermarkets’ and ‘vegetables of wheels,’ and provided women with electric vehicles. Members also support children, pregnant women and lactating mothers. Women’s self-help groups are also supporting frontline health workers in the delivery of essential child, adolescent and maternal health and nutrition-related entitlements.
  4. Feeding Poverty-Stricken People Through Community Kitchens: In Kerala, the SHGs in collaboration with the local government prepared food for the poverty-stricken families in community kitchens. The beneficiaries of these small packages of food were the migrant workers, daily wage workers and people under home quarantine. Meanwhile, in Tripura, SHGs that engaged in the catering business earlier received contracts to support the community kitchens. Additionally, women’s self-help groups in Arunachal Pradesh provided food throughout the day to the police personnel. Women’s SHGs across the country have taken various initiatives to feed those in need with the support of their local government.
  5. Spreading Information About COVID-19: Along with the spread of COVID-19, there was also a spread of misinformation concerning it across rural areas. SHGs prepared posters to create awareness about COVID-19 and the precautionary measures that people should take during the pandemic.

Women’s self-help groups have taken up various responsibilities such as spreading awareness about COVID-19, preparing sanitizers and stitching facemasks, running community kitchens as well as delivering essential food supplies. At the time of the COVID-19 crisis, women in the rural areas of India have participated meaningfully to ameliorate the predicament.

– Anandita Bardia
Photo: Flickr

The Importance of Microfinance in Bolivia

Microfinance in Bolivia
With microlending and financial services that empower business owners and promote development becoming more readily available, Bolivia is considered to be a microfinance success story. Microfinance allows vulnerable populations to access capital and financial services that would ordinarily be out of reach. Most commercial banks, unwilling to work with very low-income markets, alienate those living in extreme poverty. As a result, the World Bank reports that 73% of people living below the global poverty line are unbanked. However, in many developing countries, microlending systems allow entrepreneurs to take out small business loans in safer manner. Because the economy relies on a great deal of informal labor, access to microfinance in Bolivia has been crucial for its economic improvement. Today, almost 20 government-regulated microfinance providers service the country’s small business owners and entrepreneurs, serving 12.2% of the population and 16.4% of the labor force.

How do Microloans Work?

Since the 1980s, microloans have been used to empower borrowers in developing companies and give them the needed infrastructure to earn a sustainable income. They range from about $100 to $25,000, accrue interest like conventional loans and are capped at fair interest rates that do not put borrowers at risk of sinking deeper into debt, unlike the same services of many commercial lenders and private ‘loan sharks’. According to the World Bank, more than 500 million people currently benefit from microfinance initiatives.

Banco Sol and Microfinance in Bolivia

With the lowest GDP per capita and the second-lowest Human Development Index in South America, Bolivia faces clear economic challenges. However, pioneering infrastructure has allowed many economically disadvantaged Bolivians to borrow the capital necessary to advance their own businesses. In fact, Bolivia boasts one of the world’s lowest microfinance interest rates, at 13.5%.

Banco Sol is the largest microfinance company in Bolivia, and the world’s first commercial bank entirely dedicated to providing microfinance services; it also has one of the lowest delinquency rates in the world, marking the success of both the company and borrowers. Kurt Koenigsfest, Banco Sol’s CEO, markets the bank’s services as tools of social mobility and poverty management, saying “this is one way that has been proven to provide jobs and investment in the hands of those who, before its creation, had no access to financial services.”

Human Benefits

Bolivia is home to the world’s largest informal economy, with roughly two-thirds of Bolivians employed by the informal sector.  Many of these business owners sell goods like clothing, food and cosmetics in simple market stalls or shops. With an economy structured in this way, Bolivia has unsurprisingly benefited from financial infrastructure that services self-employed entrepreneurs who need capital to initiate growth in their business. The country’s physical remoteness and low population density, however, make it especially difficult for the rural poor to access both the national market and necessary financial resources. Banco Sol utilizes mobile branches, or trucks with banking facilities, to overcome this obstacle, so that even the most rural villages can gain access to banking.

A Path Forward

Exclusion from financial services can be a hurdle for those experiencing extreme poverty. Lenders like Banco Sol have given many small business owners the means to grow their capital while still maintaining ethical lending practices. Following the introduction of microfinance in Bolivia, the country has welcomed a new class of empowered, rising entrepreneurs that have secured higher positions in the nation’s marketplace.

– Stefanie Grodman
Photo: Unsplash

Telemedicine Plays a Bigger Role in Healthcare in Ghana 

Healthcare in GhanaFor Ghanaian students enjoying Empower Playgrounds, Inc.’s (EPI) merry-go-rounds, scrapes, cuts and bruises are shrugged off with a laugh. However, treating medical emergencies like malaria infection, especially in rural areas, is no laughing matter.

EPI, A nonprofit organization based in Ghana, operates in remote locations where electricity is almost nonexistent, and medical centers are extremely scarce. By building playgrounds that generate electricity, EPI prioritizes children’s entertainment as much as their health and education.

The Borgen Project had the opportunity to speak with Ben Markham, the founder of EPI, about healthcare in Ghana. According to Markham, when a student falls extremely ill at school, a teacher will accompany the student to the nearest trained nurse, if one exists. The student and teacher will often travel by foot out of town, and if the medical emergency is severe, the teacher will leave the student at the facility and walk back to the community to inform the child’s parents.

Fortunately, healthcare in Ghana is transitioning to include more technology and communication channels. With substantial telehealth investment injected into rural Ghanaian towns, these communities stand a chance to receive basic health supplies and on-demand medical attention through telehealth methods.

Telemedicine is More Accessible Than In-Person Visits

In response to COVID-19, Ghana’s Ministry of Health proposed to open 94 new hospitals across the country between 2020 to 2021. In a statement addressed to the nation, Ghanaian president Akufo-Addo said that the pandemic exposed “the deficiencies of the healthcare system,” casting blame towards under-investment. So how will the addition of more hospitals benefit areas outside of the country’s municipalities?

Lack of basic healthcare in Ghana stands as a serious issue in the non-urban areas of the country. Nearly half (49 percent) of Ghanaians live in rural communities, and many communities lack a central facility and have a shortage of medical professionals. The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has partnered with various entities to solve this problem on the ground.

For example, Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) trains volunteers to provide health services in rural communities. Additionally, GHS has partnered with Novatoris Foundation to develop teleconsultant centers. These centers allow community nurses, who usually lack equipment and staff, to speak with urban nurses over the phone when medical urgencies arise, such as childbirth.

Within the last ten years, healthcare in Ghana has seen emerging interest and attention directed toward telehealth. When the first teleconsultant centers opened in 2011, 60 percent of calls were maternity-related, mainly due to the fact that the majority of maternal mortality occurred in rural areas. In effect, telemedicine became an avenue of investment to bridge spatial and temporal gaps for remote Ghanaians.

Vodafone Proves to be a Major Player in Ghanaian Health

Among technologies and assets helping Ghanaians stay informed about their health, the cellular company Vodafone stands out.

The company has partnered with Ghana’s healthcare industry through its philanthropic arm, Vodafone Ghana Foundation. In 2019, the foundation cleared the medical debts of 180 Ghanaian patients who had been discharged yet detained due to outstanding hospital bills. Upon settlement, all 180 former patients were released from detention. In 2018, the company partnered with the central government to monitor epidemics, specifically targeting the Ebola virus, by aggregating heat maps from customers’ GPS movements. They are doing the same with coronavirus today.

In the spring of 2020, as the novel coronavirus moved into Ghana, Vodafone stepped in to dispel misinformation. The Vodafone Healthline Medical Centers, call centers equipped with medical experts, expanded services to include representatives who communicate in a variety of local languages including Ga, Twi, Fante, Ewe and Hausa.

Managing Expectations

Markham and his staffers know of telemedicine services, but they remain skeptical. Cellular signal breaks up where cell towers are not present, and towers can often be 32 kilometers outside of a remote community. In addition, many Ghanaians turn their cell phones off to save battery, since many of them are still powered with AA batteries rather than chargers. Cell phone credits are also considered precious, leading to many people turning their devices off to save unused credits. All these factors could inhibit the ability of telemedicine to improve healthcare in Ghana.

However, Markham feels optimistic about the role that technology can play in providing health services to rural-based Ghanaians. He believes grassroots efforts, such as the Community-Based Health Planning and Services, should continue to expand at the same rate as telehealth and tech-based health initiatives.

– Victoria Colbert
Photo: Empower Playgrounds, Inc.