Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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5 Millennial Celebrities Fighting Poverty

Millennial Celebrities Fighting Global Poverty
The term “millennial” is one that has garnered some negative attention in the past decade in that many associate the generation with adjectives like “lazy” or “entitled.” While there are people of all dispositions and work ethics in every generation, the following is a list of five millennial celebrities fighting global poverty and challenging stereotypes about their age group.

5 Millennial Celebrities Fighting Global Poverty

  1. Harry Styles: Former member of the hugely successful group One Direction, Styles is showing that he is not only a talented singer but also a generous philanthropist. Styles’ “Treat People with Kindness” slogan is proving to be a mantra that he takes seriously as he raised $1.2 million in donations for 62 charities around the world during his 10-month tour in 2017. Styles’ 2020 tour is also supporting various charities worldwide including Freedom from Hunger and Help Refugees. He will be donating proceeds from exclusive merchandise purchases and a portion of ticket sales to various charities across the globe.
  2. Rihanna: Singer and businesswoman Robyn “Rihanna” Fenty founded the Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF) in 2012 in honor of her grandparents. CLF supports and funds education and emergency response programs in various parts of the world including Malawi and Barbados. Rihanna is also an advocate for HIV/AIDS awareness. Through her lipstick campaigns with MAC Cosmetics, she helped raise $60 million in 2013 to benefit women and children affected by the disease.
  3. Drake: Record-breaking hip-hop artist Drake has been involved with a number of philanthropic efforts. In 2010, Drake visited a poor community in Kingston, Jamaica, and became inspired to give back. He donated $30,000 to a learning center in the community, stating that “I went there and they had ‘Drake’ all over the walls, spraypainted, and all the kids were running after us. So I donated $30,000 to build computer schools for the kids.”
  4. Emma Watson: Former star in the Harry Potter franchise and more recently in the film “Little Women,” Emma Watson is not only a talented and intelligent actress but also an active philanthropist. Watson, a U.N. Women Goodwill Ambassador, recently visited Malawi to celebrate achievements that U.N. Women and the Malawian Government made including the annulling of child marriages to allow many women to return to school. Watson stated that “It’s so encouraging to see how such a harmful practice can be stopped when communities work together to pass laws and then turn those laws into reality.”
  5. Beyoncé: Bestselling singer-songwriter Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is no stranger to poverty-fighting efforts. Beyoncé headlined the Global Citizen Festival in 2018 alongside guests like Ed Sheeran and her husband Jay-Z. Together, they raised $7.1 billion to aid Global Citizen in its fight to end global poverty. This money will go towards improving education, sanitation, health care and women’s rights around the globe.

These five millennial celebrities are breaking down negative stereotypes about their generation and serve as inspiring role models for the world when it comes to reducing global poverty. These celebrities’ efforts and generosity are changing the lives of countless impoverished people around the world for the better.

– Hannah White
Photo: Flickr

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Saving Kidnapped Children in India

Facial Recognition Saves Kidnapped Children in IndiaKidnapping is a common problem in India. As of 2018, India had around 200,000 missing children, with a new child disappearing every six minutes. Up until recently, the government did little to help with this epidemic. However, thanks to some new legislation, the Indian police’s facial-recognition is saving kidnapped children in India.

The Hidden Industry

Child trafficking is a common problem around the world. It is an industry with 20.9 million victims around the world ranging from the ages of 1 to 18. Victims are most likely to come from poor families, particularly if they are living in an abusive home situation. Captors may lure victims into captivity with the false promises of school or work. Fifty percent of all people who suffer kidnapping and trafficking are children. Two out of three kidnapped children are girls.

In India, reports determine that 90,000 children go missing every year.  The most common reason for child trafficking is that people see children as cheap sources of labor. As a result, kidnappers may tear them from their families so they never hear from them again. In these cases, the family may or may not know what is actually happening to the child. Children may also experience kidnapping for other reasons.

For many years, Indian authorities turned a blind eye to this problem. Since India did not consider child labor a crime, it had no reason to stop those who wished to exploit children for labor. However, in 2007, the remains of 17 women and children were found in a sewer beneath the suburb of Noida in Delhi. Authorities arrested the two men responsible, but civilians accused the officers of incompetence and began protesting against police negligence. Since authorities were no longer able to ignore the problem, they had no choice but to find a solution.

Technology Saves Children

Today, Indian police are saving kidnapped children in India with facial-recognition technology. The technology entered into widespread use on April 6, 2018, after India’s High Court ruled the test run of the software successful. In 2018, authorities used facial-recognition software to find nearly 3,000 missing children and reunite them with their families. Some people raise concerns that the widespread use of facial-recognition technology could be a breach of privacy. However, the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights points out that finding and returning missing children to their families is worth it.

The Future

Child trafficking has been a problem around the world for a long time. Child trafficking has affected India more than most countries, and this is primarily due to the high number of poor families.  Fortunately, facial recognition is saving kidnapped children in India. This practice is still in its infancy, but the results look promising so far.

– Cassie Parvaz
Photo: Flickr

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Oil Find and Economic Growth in Guyana

economic growth in Guyana
Guyana discovered oil off its coast in 2015 and is on the brink of major economic growth. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the projected economic growth in Guyana for 2020 is 86 percent. The projected growth rate is high for 2020 due to ExxonMobil’s oil find in the Caribbean Sea in 2015, which brought hope for change to poor Guyanese. For 2019, GDP growth was 4.4 percent, almost double from the previous year, and the 86 percent projected growth by the IMF shows an increased interest in the development of Guyana. Oil production in 2020 and in the future could bring economic growth in Guyana and add thousands of jobs.

A Potential Future in Oil

Guyana found an estimated 3.2 billion barrels of oil off its coast, with oil production beginning in late December 2019. More than 1,700 Exxon employees are working on extracting oil from Stabroek Block, the oil reservoir, and transporting oil to the Liza Destiny, a storage and offloading vessel. About 50 percent of the 1,700 workers are Guyanese. Exxon expects to produce 120,000 barrels of oil a day in 2020 and estimates 750,000 barrels a day by 2025. The 2025 estimated production would position the South American country in the top 30 countries for oil production. The 750,000 barrels a day estimate would be more oil than India produced daily in 2018. This is one reason for the IMF’s projection of a high growth rate for Guyana, as oil could transform the economy.

Uses of Future Revenue

Oil production in 2020 is exciting Guyanese about the possibilities of changing the country and its people. President David Granger commented, “Every Guyanese will benefit from petroleum production. No one will be left behind.” Guyana’s GDP per capita is about $8,100, which ranks among the lowest in the world. With oil now in production, there is potential to improve its lagging infrastructure and low income. Guyana only has about 500 miles of paved roads, yet almost 2,000 miles of unpaved roads. The President stated that oil could transform the developing country and improve life for hundreds of thousands of Guyanese.

Guyana’s government expects oil revenue of $300 million in 2020 and $5 billion for 2025. This could further enhance economic growth in Guyana and bring the possibility of distributing the money to lagging sectors. In 2019, the government spent $2 billion in its infrastructure. This included constructing or upgrading roads, bridges, highway lights and drains. The East Coast of Demerara Road Widening Project affects more than 100,000 of Guyana’s 777,000 population. Guyana approved about $500 million for the project that focuses on upgrading roadways along the coast. Most of the population resides near the coast and along the Demerara River. Guyana could not only use oil revenue to further develop Guyana but also to add jobs, as the ExxonMobil operation is already showing.

The Impact of Guyanese Oil Revenue

There is steady economic growth in Guyana, as one can witness from its GDP rising from 2.1 percent in 2018 to 4.4 percent in 2019. The IMF’s projected 86 percent growth rate for Guyana in 2020 expresses big expectations for the South American country. Although Guyana’s potential future wealth is good news, the developing country will need support in transforming its newfound wealth into positive change for its people. Every poor country that strikes oil does not always manage natural resources well, yet with the right tools and guidance, Guyana could reduce its 35 percent poverty rate by adding jobs and transforming into a developed economy.

– Lucas Schmidt
Photo: Wikipedia Commons

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10 Facts About Girls’ Education in Macedonia

Girls' Education in Macedonia
The Republic of North Macedonia, commonly referred to as Macedonia, is a republic in the Balkan Peninsula. After the country’s independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, Macedonia had a tumultuous relationship with Greece. Macedonia became a U.N. member in 1993, and in 1995, Greece and Macedonia agreed to ease tensions in their relationship. After Macedonia’s 29 years of existence as a nation, girls’ education in Macedonia is coming into the spotlight as part of the country’s initiative to improve its education system. Here are 10 facts about girls’ education in Macedonia.

10 Facts About Girls’ Education in Macedonia

  1. Mandatory Education: Both primary and secondary education is mandatory in Macedonia. Primary education lasts for nine years for all children aged 6 to 15. Secondary education lasts for four years for teenagers aged 15 to 19 for both general and vocational education. General secondary education is compulsory between the ages of 6 to 19 and 6 to 17, and vocational training is compulsory for ages 17, 18 or 19.
  2. Decentralized Education System: The education system in Macedonia is decentralized. Except for the secondary schools in Skopje, the capital, Macedonia’s decentralized education system places both the administrative and financial responsibilities of public education in the hands of local governments. The national government provides financial resources for education in each municipality, and local municipality councils are responsible for distributing these resources.
  3. Roma Girls: Early marriage makes Roma girls’ education in Macedonia more challenging. The Romani people, commonly called Roma, are one of the ethnic minorities in Macedonia. In 2002, an estimated 2.7 percent of the Macedonian population was Romani. USAID reported that Roma girls are especially vulnerable to early marriages. This results in lower school-completion rates compared to other ethnic groups in Macedonia.
  4. Roma Women’s Illiteracy: Illiteracy among Roma women is high. UNICEF’s 2013 report highlighted illiteracy among Roma women as one of the key education issues in Macedonia. This Romani education issue parallels with Macedonia’s gender discrimination issues. In 2013, UNICEF stated that only 77 percent of Romani women were literate. The report attributes this to their 86 percent primary school enrollment rate.
  5. Gender and Socio-Economic Situations: Gender, socio-economic situations and race play a role in girls’ education in Macedonia. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reported that in 2011, the NAR (net attendance ratio) of Roma girls rose from 21 percent to 35 percent. This rise is still a lackluster number of enrollments compared to the 85 percent NAR of Macedonian and Albanian children. This 35 percent NAR showed that the lowest attendance was in both extremely poor and extremely wealthy families. Nearly 60 percent of Romani children did not attend secondary school. This lack of secondary education attendance is the root cause of the continuing cycle of unemployment and social exclusion.
  6. Girls in Rural Areas: USAID’s Gender Analysis Report found that 31 percent of girls in Macedonia between the ages of 14 to 15 do not continue their education after primary schooling, and this is especially in rural areas. In rural areas, 42 percent of secondary school-aged children are out of school. To remedy this, USAID recommends the Macedonian government target girls and boys in rural areas with a high population of ethnic minorities when planning their education projects.
  7. Increasing Girls’ Education: Girls’ education in Macedonia is on the rise. UNESCO’s country profile of Macedonia noted an upward trend in Macedonian children’s participation in education. True to the trend in the data, girls’ education in Macedonia is on the rise along with the general education ratio in the country. Compared to 2009, when 4,862 girls were out of school, there were only 2,927 children who were out of school in 2019.
  8. Inclusive Education: The Macedonian government is striving to improve inclusive education. Inclusive education aims to provide quality education to all children regardless of their gender, socio-economic background, disability or race. Working closely with UNICEF and the OECD, the Macedonian Ministry of Education and Science is training teachers according to the inclusive education guidelines provided by UNICEF.
  9. The Macedonian Government’s Commitment: The Macedonian government has committed itself to the improvement of access to quality pre-primary education. The Macedonian government committed to improving and expanding access to pre-primary school education in the country because around 61 percent of pre-primary aged children do not attend preschools. In April 2019, Mila Carovska, Minister of Labor and Social Policy, told UNICEF that her ministry’s budget for capital investment increased by 300 percent, which shows the Macedonian government’s commitment to the project.
  10. Girls Versus Boys: According to the OECD’s 2019 of review and assessment of North Macedonia’s education system, girls in Macedonia are outperforming boys in school. According to the report, Macedonian girls are outperforming boys by 20 score points in science and seven score points in mathematics.

While there is certainly room for improvement in girls’ education in Macedonia, it is clear that the Macedonian government is taking steps toward improving education. Girls’ education in Macedonia is not a singular issue of gender discrimination. Rather, it is a diverse issue that has its roots in socio-economic backgrounds and race of the girls in Macedonia. With the help of international groups such as OECD and UNICEF, the Macedonian government is improving the education of girls.

– YongJin Yi
Photo: Flickr

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Indonesia Ends Child Marriage

Indonesia Ends Child Marriage
In child marriages, underage brides usually must quit school to settle down with their adult husbands. According to many international human rights treaties, the minimum recommended age of marriage is 18. In Indonesia, 50,000 girls are married by the age of 15. In September 2019, Indonesia made an important step to end child marriage by raising the minimum age requirement of brides. If Indonesia ends child marriage, maybe other countries will follow suit.

The Problem

In Indonesia, the general consensus is that if a girl has any association with a boy to whom she is not related, they marry as soon as possible. The assumption is that any heterosexual relationship can and will lead to sex and pregnancy. Girls are often pressured into marriage at a young age.

Every year, 340,000 Indonesian girls will get married before they turn 18. Once they settle down, 85 percent of married or pregnant girls drop out of school. This is often due to schools discouraging married or pregnant girls from attending. Furthermore, 16-year-old girls are often too young to become responsible mothers. However, birth control in Indonesia costs $3 a month, which is more than many women and girls can afford.

The New Movement and Its Implications

Indonesia’s 1974 Marriage Law permits girls as young as age 16 to get married. However, under Indonesia’s 2002 child protection law, anyone under the age of 18 is considered a child.  These competing laws create a situation where girls still marry young despite legally being children.

On September 17, 2019, Indonesia announced that it was raising the minimum age requirement of brides in order to end child marriage. Now, women have to be 19 before they can get married. It is expected that this new motion will open young women up to new opportunities that were previously only available to young men. The country hopes to see full, legal implementation of this change within the next three years.
However, this new motion may not curb child marriages completely. Families can appeal to religious courts to have their children unofficially married off before they reach the legal age. As a result, around 1 percent of Indonesian girls are still getting married before the age of 15.

The Future for Indonesia

Child marriage remains a problem in Indonesia even as the world enters a new decade. Girls feel pressured to marry young and may not wait until the legal age to do so. Therefore, the country still needs to work to change the attitudes of its citizens. However, if Indonesia ends child marriage by raising the minimum age required to marry, maybe it will help encourage these girls to stay in school.

– Cassie Parvaz
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Digital Cash Transfers in Cote d’Ivoire

Digital Cash Transfers in Cote d’IvoireCote d’Ivoire had been consumed by civil conflict at the beginning of the century. However, the conflict ended in 2011, soon after the election of Alassane Ouattara. Since then, Cote d’Ivoire has been one of the fastest-growing countries in the world. However, its growth has failed to reach large portions of the population as the country still struggles with a 46.1 percent poverty rate while an additional 17.6 percent of the population lives on the edge of poverty. In 2014, the World Bank Group started working to initiate digital cash transfers in Cote d’Ivoire to assist the poorest and most disconnected.

The Rise of Mobile Money in Cote d’Ivoire

From 2012 to 2018, the number of active mobile money users grew from less than 1 million to more than 9 million. Of note, the number of mobile cellular subscribers increased from 18.1 million to 33.81 million during the same time frame. With a population of less than 28 million, it is evident how popular the use of technology is becoming in the country. Ivorians have adapted to using mobile money for several reasons:

  • Person-to-person cash transfers in Cote d’Ivoire are easy to operate.
  • Due to high fees and the historic failure of several banks in the country, more Ivorians are turning away from licensed financial institutions. In 2017, 34 percent of Ivorians had mobile money accounts compared to 15 percent with bank accounts.
  • There is a rising trend in the digitalization of secondary school feels.
  • Migrants are digitally transferring remittances back home.
  • Paying bills digitally is growing.

How the Cash Transfer Program Works

According to the World Bank, the program operates as follows: “(i) a targeting system for cash transfers; (ii) a social protection household registry; (iii) a cash transfer payment system using digital mobile money technology; and (iv) management information system and capacity-building.”

For the actual transferring of money, the government of Cote d’Ivoire has partnered with the digital financial service organization, Orange. The Account of the Ministry of Social Protection sends a wire transfer to Orange. Then, it creates e-money and puts it into the digital accounts of the intended recipients. The recipients can then access and use their money electronically or cash-out.

Initial Constraints of the Program

Despite the widespread use of mobile devices in the country, there are a few issues with the implementation of the program. Many beneficiaries already owned mobile phones. However, others are given a device through which the program struggled to adapt. Financial literacy has been another issue as some beneficiaries are unsure about how much to withdraw and how much to save. Moreover, the lack of understanding of the importance of the PIN number resulted in some beneficiaries sharing sensitive information, thus compromising their accounts. Regulatory issues such as the requirement of a state-issued ID also created challenges in ensuring beneficiaries are eligible to continue to receive their transfers.

Successes of the Program

Peer-to-peer and community-oriented training focus on increasing knowledge surrounding the operation of devices and building awareness about security best practices with accounts. Those without a proper state-issued ID have been informed on how to obtain one. In addition, exemptions have been provided which allow beneficiaries to designate a trusted transfer recipient within the household or community. This led to 100 percent of beneficiaries receiving their payments in 2018.

By going digital, administrative and transactional costs are limited. As of April 2019, 300,000 poor individuals have benefitted from the program, more than half of whom are women. Additionally, as of the same date, 720,000 individuals have been registered with the social program’s registry. This expands the number of potential future social program beneficiaries.

Overall, the implementation of cash transfers in Cote d’Ivoire is an excellent example of how technology can assist those who are most financially vulnerable and most disconnected from the rest of society.

– Scott Boyce
Photo: Flickr

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How Droughts in Zimbabwe Affect the Hunger Crisis

Droughts in Zimbabwe
Temperatures in southern Africa are notable for their fluctuation which commonly causes climate disasters. These disasters are particularly devastating to Zimbabwe’s rural population of approximately 16 million people and its substantial community of farmers. The country’s landscape has suffered significant damage from unprecedented weather, particularly droughts. Efforts to scale up governmental assistance have skyrocketed since January 2019, which has accounted for much of the rise in the price of basic commodities. Below is a brief history of droughts in Zimbabwe, the many implications that they cause and the solutions that different aid efforts have come to.

History of Drought

Zimbabwe has a long history of droughts, which have cumulatively caused an increase in poverty. On a regional scale, droughts often result in crop failure, loss of livestock and wildlife and power outages. A report from the World Food Programme indicates that as of 2019, an estimated 2.3 million people suffered from poverty as a result of the country’s worst hunger crisis thus far. Citizens turn to government officials to assist in food shortages, and while weather within the region is a determining factor in food production, it is mostly up to different organizations to provide varied forms of food security.

The country’s worst drought happened in 1992, which many consider the most destructive one Zimbabwe faced in the 20th century. Water shortages forced the shutdown of many industries and schools. Due to poor harvests that year, regions across southern Africa faced a short-term supply in their food reserves. Zimbabwe’s food shortages caused a ripple effect, with aggravated food production compromising foods like corn to countries like Mozambique, which relied on Zimbabwe’s exports. Due to low rainfall, communal area farmers did not have any suitable locations for food production.

Solutions and Aid

Shortly after the regional drought, the humanitarian agency Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) worked with Zimbabwe in order to build developmental programs that would increase accessibility to clean water and food. Programs that pilot cleaner VIP latrines, reinforce sexual and reproductive health and develop financial advocacy should increase household income, alleviate food insecurity and improve better access to markets.

In 2016, Zimbabwe declared a drought disaster as an estimated five million people faced food shortages. Shifts in weather patterns were a direct result of El Nino and La Nina, which refer to the periodic changes in sea temperatures in the Pacific Ocean.

The International Rescue Committee works to alleviate many of the economic struggles in Zimbabwe. Started in 2008 after a devastating cholera outbreak, the organization provides support to those afflicted by natural disasters. It will extend its strategy action plan to 2020, continuing to transfer direct cash transfers to low-income households, provide vouchers to farmers, assist in getting more food for livestock, deliver medical and emergency supplies, drill deeper wells and rehabilitate water plants.

The World Food Programme also plans to assist up to two million people in 2020. By March 2020, predictions determine that nearly 59 percent of rural households—5.5 million people—will be food insecure or in poverty. An estimated $173 million is necessary to allocate support to these regions. Many are saying that the hunger crisis will peak during the first three months of 2020, which is elevating the level of urgency for funding.

Recent Drought

Zimbabwe experienced another drought in December 2019, which ignited the worst hunger crisis the country has faced in nearly a decade. It has entered a “Phase 3” food crisis, which is just two steps below large-scale famine. Predictions estimate that this will extend into 2020, as poor macro-economy and germination rates continually affect crop production. In November 2019, farmers received only 55 percent of normal rainfall. Livestock losses have reached 2.2 million people in urban areas and 5.5 million in rural ones. An emergency operation is underway by the World Food Programme in order to assist the 7.7 million people who plunged into hunger. Partnerships with UNICEF and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) are leading to more international efforts for resilience programs.

Implications of Drought

These droughts carry many logistical implications, leading to economic struggles as inflation rates go up, farmers undergo crop failure and food supplies grow scarce. Clean water, medical supplies and nourishing foods have become inaccessible and render much of the population food insecure and poverty-stricken.

Droughts in Zimbabwe hold many implications for the country’s current hunger crisis. Varying aid efforts are slowly pushing the region to a progressive standpoint. The limitations of food security, when it comes to natural hazards like droughts, illustrate a need to offer more aid to regions stricken by climate disasters. Efforts to mobilize aid in southern African are essential to curbing economic decline and creating sustainable communities.

– Brittany Adames
Photo: Flickr

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Empowering 50 million women

Empowering 50 million women
Women face many barriers when it comes to entering the workplace, especially in developing countries. Societal norms in developing countries often prevent girls and women from pursuing an education. When women do not have an education, they cannot enter the labor force as easily and help cultivate the economy. This cultural practice hinders a developing country’s ability to procure economic growth and reduce poverty rates. The Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative is empowering 50 million women.

The Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative

The Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative (W-GDP) is an initiative committed to delivering tangible results concerning women in developing countries. The three pillars of the initiative are: women prospering in the workforce, women succeeding as entrepreneurs and enabling women in the economy. It has been proven that when women have economic empowerment, there is a multiplier effect throughout the region. They invest more in their families and communities, which then promotes economic growth.

United States President Donald Trump established the W-GDP Initiative in February 2019 as the first total government movement to promote the economic empowerment of women across the globe. Funding for the initiative began in July 2019.

14 W-GDP Projects

This introduced 14 new projects and around 200 private-public partnerships from across more than 20 countries. The partnerships consist of foreign governments, multilateral donors, non-government organizations, the private sector and universities. These partnerships will allow the W-GDP to influence more than 100,000 women. The 14 projects are throughout developing countries.

In Papua New Guinea, Cardno Emerging Markets leads its partners in working to grow 40 enterprises led by women. It also plans to reform any discriminatory laws in the region that affect some 50,000 businesswomen. In Indonesia, Cargill and its partners are working together to increase the salaries for 2,000 enterprises led by women.

In the Philippines, UPS and its partners are increasing the salaries of 3,800 women and are working to remove obstacles that block full economic participation. In Chile, Brazil, Peru, Mexico and Colombia, big-name companies such as Citi and Google have formed a partnership within the private sector in order to provide efficient training for some 8,700 women.

In Liberia, Zambia, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Mozambique, Landesa and its private sector partners work to change any laws that limit women’s property rights. In Côte d’Ivoire, the International Rescue Committee and partners work to give job training to around 750 women in the solar energy industry.

In Benin, the Management Sciences for Health and its partners work together to reintegrate more than 170 female victims of gender-based violence into the workforce. This is going to happen via entrepreneurship and employment opportunities.

Ivanka Trump and the U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator (USAID), Mark Green, are going to run the initiative. Green strongly supports investing in women. He will oversee that the resources of the U.S. government will go towards helping women as much as possible.

The Future

By 2025, the W-GDP wishes to help in empowering 50 million women in the developing world. The plan is to achieve this through a new fund, private-public partnerships and U.S. government activities. The W-GDP will focus its resources on these five main points.

  1. Traveling Freely: Limit restrictions on passports and movement for women.
  2. Accessing Institutions: Limit restrictions for women on legal documents.
  3. Removing Restrictions on Employment: Prohibit restrictions on women and their tasks, hours and jobs.
  4. Owning and Managing Property: Prohibit restrictions on women owning or managing property.
  5. Building Credit: Do not allow gender discrimination in accessing credit. Level the playing field for women including equal access and capital.

With these ambitious objectives, empowering 50 million women will be observable. It is propitious that in the coming years, women living in developing countries will enjoy abundant access to the economic sector.

– Nyssa Jordan
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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The Fight Against Learning Poverty

The Fight Against Learning PovertyLearning poverty is defined as not being able to read or understand a simple text by the age of 10. It is common in developing countries. As of 2017, 262 million children from ages six to 17 were not in school. More than 50 percent of children are not meeting the minimum standards in reading and math. In addition, their teachers and the teaching quality have not improved over time. Especially elementary school teachers, who are arguably the most important. As a result of this plateau, around 750 million adults were illiterate as of 2016. The vast majority of them are women. The largest populations of illiterate people are in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Many schools in developing countries cannot provide efficient learning environments because they do not have access to computers, electricity, drinking water or basic facilities and infrastructure.

The UN Sustainable Development Goal 4

The United Nations created Sustainable Development Goal 4 to fully address the issue and solve the problem of learning poverty around the world. It consists of five pillars.

  1. Make sure students are prepared and motivated to learn: The first pillar focuses on motivating students to learn when they attend school. The parts that contribute to making this successful are Early Childhood Education (ECE), nutrition and stimulation. There has been much evidence to show that intervening during a child’s earliest years is the best time to build a strong foundation for the future, especially for children who are less fortunate than their peers.
  2. Effective teachers at every level: The second pillar focuses on increasing the number of quality teachers available. Incentives must be made more to entice more people to the field of teaching. Thus, improving its compensation policies and making it easier to transfer into will help with this issue. Selecting and hiring based on talent, effort and achievements will ensure that these are high-quality teachers. Once in a teaching position, teachers should continue to improve. Additionally, teachers should be educated on how to use tech resources.
  3. Equipped classrooms: The third pillar emphasizes on providing classrooms with a simple but efficient curriculum. This includes increasing access to books and technology and coaching. In addition, teachers are urged to “teach to the right level.” This means they should start with a one-size-fits-all approach and adapt to students’ needs as necessary. It enables children of all different learning levels and styles to learn at the same time. Teachers should also provide feedback to the students so they can further improve their personal education.
  4. Safe and inclusive: The fourth pillar focuses on maintaining a safe and inclusive environment for all students. Many countries are falling into crises, violence and fragility. Schools do not need to be added to the list of places where a child does not feel safe. An unsafe environment makes a child want to stay home. When they do attend, they are more unwilling to learn. Also, unsafe environments from violence or discrimination do not foster learning. As for inclusivity, teachers and staff should not stereotype a student based on their gender, race or disability. Schools must be inclusive to those who have trouble keeping up with their peers.
  5. Well-managed education systems: The fifth pillar is focused on good management in education systems. Principals should show how to further their careers and how to become better leaders for their schools. Moreover, there should be clear authority and accountability in schools.

The World Bank’s Literacy Policy

The World Bank has introduced a Literary Policy package outlining interventions to boost literacy. So far, a few countries have already started following it, including Egypt and Brazil. Egypt has begun the Egypt Education Reform Project. The project focuses on four core values:

  1. Expanding access to quality kindergarten
  2. Improving education delivery through digital learning content
  3. Developing educational professionals
  4. Developing computer-based assessment systems

There are many expectations for this program in the future. For example, the project predicts that it will be able to serve around 500,000 more kindergarten students including those from poorer districts. There will be a 50 percent improvement in early education. Additionally, there will be two million new quality teachers and two million students in secondary school.

Furthermore, the past 10 years have been good for Brazil as a result of its increased efforts in elementary school education. Their rate of learning poverty has been rapidly declining but is currently at 48 percent. Consequently, Brazil plans to increase quality and labor productivity. This necessitates increasing its quality of education. As a result, they are working on improving early education, teacher training and providing more financing.

Overcoming learning poverty is an essential step in the Sustainable Development Goals. It will not only improve the lives of the children learning but it will also decrease poverty rates and increase economic development. Hopefully, programs like the World Bank’s Literacy Policy and SDG 4 will motivate more countries to make education a priority.

– Nyssa Jordan

Photo: Flickr

Economic and Scientific Development in Burkina Faso

Economic and Scientific Development in Burkina FasoBurkina Faso is a country plagued by violence and poverty. There is little opportunity for work in Burkina Faso outside of agriculture. The country also has recently become the victim of Jihadist attacks. Jihadists exploit the country’s impoverished citizens to gain recruits. Violence and climate change contribute to the country’s poverty. Despite this, the government aims to prioritize economic and scientific development in Burkina Faso. The country adopted a National Policy for Scientific and Technical Research in 2012. The goal of the project was to improve research and development. Additionally, the project hopes to improve the country’s agricultural output to improve food security.

Burkina Faso’s Economic and Scientific Development

The country’s objective is to promote an effective and accessible health system. This implementation yielded some positive results in economic and scientific development in Burkina Faso. Fortunately, there is a growing number of doctoral candidates in medicine and other similar fields. However, most of the researchers working in Burkina Faso are from European nations, such as France.

The country passed the National Policy for Food and Nutrition Security in 2014 and the National Program for the Rural Sector in 2011.  The country also passed the Science, Technology and Innovation Act in 2013. The act established three mechanisms for financial innovation: the National Fund for Education and Research, the National Fund for Research and Innovation Development and the Forum for Scientific Research and Technological Innovation.

To attract researchers and developers in an effort to improve economic and scientific development in Burkina Faso, the country held a major event in 2017. Burkina Faso’s National Center for Scientific and Technological Research organized the event. The event hosted investors, innovators, researchers and other players in the technology field to suggest and showcase their ideas on how to improve technological research. As a result, Burkina Faso has received funding from organizations, including the World Bank.

Development Challenges

Much of the funding Burkina Faso and other Sub-Saharan African countries receive comes with expectations. As with many African countries, there is often a condition requiring the country to bring a portion of its own money to be eligible for grants for research projects. Many funding agencies expect contributions of 20 to 50 percent of the project’s cost, according to the Executive Secretary of the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology. Donors often ask for this contribution as a method to ensure the country’s commitment to a project.

Burkina Faso cannot obtain the necessary funding due to these restrictions. As a result, there are a number of problems facing Burkina Faso’s research and development programs. The country has a small pool of researchers, a lack of research funding and outdated research facilities.

Success Stories

Despite the lack of funding, there have been small success stories of economic and scientific development in Burkina Faso. Aminata Sinka, the founder of Linea’s Ideas, embroiders gadgets, baby gift sets, sheets, t-shirts and blouses for businesses or individuals. She takes inspiration from designs she sees on the internet and tries to ensure her designs are unique. As of now, she is the only reference for digital embroidery in Burkina Faso.

Another success story is Sotria-B, an industrial nut processing company in the city of Banfora. Sotria-B nut processing is uplifting the lives of women in Burkina Faso. More than 300 people have employment, 90 percent of whom are women. Most of these women come from impoverished backgrounds. Since 2006, the company has processed 3,000 pounds of cashew nuts. The company sells its nuts in both Europe and America and obtained investors through the European Union. The owner’s goal to improve the lives of women is slowly coming to fruition as the company flourishes.

It is probable that more success stories will come out of Burkina Faso. A higher chance for success requires additional funding and understanding concerning Burkina Faso’s inability to bring forth its own funding. With more grants and other funds, Burkina Faso can implement more economic and scientific developments.

– Robert Forsyth
Photo: Flickr