Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Top 10 Facts About Living Conditions in Hungary

top 10 facts about living conditions in Hungary

Hungary is a country of 9.8 million people located in central Europe. It makes up a portion of the EU’s southern border and is a major immigration hub. Hungary is one of the EU’s poorer countries, with a GDP in the lower third of all member states, though it is still better off than many of its central European and Balkan neighbors. Below are the top 10 facts about living conditions in Hungary.

Top 10 Facts About Living Conditions in Hungary

  1. Impressive work-life balance
    Unemployment is high in Hungary, with only 68 percent of people age 15 to 64 employed. Of those employed, 75 percent are men and 61 percent are women. However, the number of employees working very long hours is less than 4 percent–much lower than the United States, where 11 percent of employees work long hours.
  2. Standards of living are nearly the lowest in the EU
    In terms of GDP, Hungary is ranked 23rd out of the EU’s 28 member states, at 68 percent of the EU’s average. In first place for the region is Austria, which produces at roughly twice Hungary’s capacity. Another metric used to determine the welfare of the consumer, Actual Individual Consumption (AIC), places Hungary second-to-last.
  3. Habitat for Humanity is raising awareness on housing inequality
    In 2015, the Hungarian government ended housing support to nearly half a million impoverished residents. Prior to that, several hundred thousand Hungarians were already experiencing housing poverty. A Habitat for Humanity report from 2014 noted that more than half a million Hungarians lived with leaky roofs and/or moldy walls. Just under half of the population (44.6 percent) live in overcrowded flats, and 52 percent of Hungarians not living in major cities have access to a sanitary sewer.
  4. Hungary has universal health care, but the rate and efficacy of coverage are low
    Although Hungary has had universal health care coverage since the 1940s, it still ranks in the bottom third in the EU in terms of quality of coverage. This is partly due to low salaries—medical professionals cannot expect to make as much money in Hungary as they would in other EU member states. The main issue is a focus on curative care in hospitals, rather than preventative care in other medical facilities.
  5. Hungary has received significant foreign investment
    As of 2018, Hungary has an annual inflow of $4.3 billion per capita of foreign direct investment (FDI), a full recovery from the stagnation of the 2009-10 financial crisis. While this is partly since Hungary has an ideal geographical position for foreign investment, foreign investors have also shifted focus from the relatively poor textile and food processing industries to more lucrative industries such as wholesale, retail trade and automotive repair.
  6. Primary and secondary education enrollment rates are high
    For primary school students, enrollment has varied slightly over the past two decades, but has remained above 95 percent overall. At its highest, the enrollment rate was 97.2 percent in 2009, and at its lowest in 2012, at 95.7 percent. For adolescents in school, the statistics are similarly good: though there has been a slight rise since 2014 of the number of adolescents out of school, the overall number has hovered at less than 5 percent.
  7. Tertiary education needs investment
    Only 13 percent of 25-64 year-olds have a bachelor’s degree, with 9 percent of that population holding a master’s degree or equivalent. These statistics are low, but the individuals who possess these degrees are reaping the benefits. Studies have shown that postsecondary education credentials can potentially double one’s earnings in Hungary: a bachelor’s degree is worth a wage premium of 72 percent, while a master’s or above can earn 140 percent more than the country’s respective average salaries.
  8. Investments in higher education are underway
    An initiative led by the NGO HEInnovate to invest in higher education has been taking place over the last decade, spurred by a decline in institutional funding from the state. The focus of this initiative has been to utilize Hungary’s educational system to boost economic and socio-cultural development at the local and national levels. This has led to a marked increase in venture capital and start-up creation among academics and has caused strong domestic economic growth.
  9. Many institutions have been consolidated by the federal government
    Since his election in 2010, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has taken steps to consolidate hundreds of pro-government media outlets into a propaganda conglomerate. These actions have been received well by some but not as well by others — Orban enjoys far more support from individuals living in rural areas of Hungary than he does from individuals living in Hungary’s urban centers.
  10. Hungary’s location has made it a major migration hub for refugees in the past
    Since a section of Hungary’s border forms the external border of the European Union, the country has received many migrants in the past. However, in recent years Hungary has adopted a harder stance on immigration, which has drastically reduced the number of asylum seekers from the Middle East.

These top 10 facts about living conditions in Hungary demonstrate how the country remains at a crossroads in the European Union—geographically, economically and socially. While the country performs well in some areas, such as education and cost of living, it still faces more economic hardship than most other EU member states, and its status as a migration hub has led to entrenched xenophobia in the country’s political landscape.

– Rob Sprankle
Photo: Flickr

Ebola Prevention in Rwanda

Ebola Prevention in Rwanda

In August 2018, the World Health Organization confirmed an Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since then, the Rwandan government has taken a proactive stance with a rigorous system to promote Ebola prevention in Rwanda. So far, the system has been successful. Despite constant traffic across the borders between the DRC and Rwanda, there have been no cases of Ebola in Rwanda.

Threat of Transmission from the DRC

Since the outbreak of Ebola in the DRC, there have been more than 2,600 confirmed cases of the virus and 1,800 deaths. According to the WHO, the DRC Ebola outbreak is one of the worst outbreaks in history, second only to the 2014 West Africa Ebola epidemic. The WHO recently designated the outbreak as a global health emergency. With approximately 12 cases of Ebola arising every day in the DRC, the threat of transmission to other countries is still high, especially Rwanda. Since the Ebola threat is just across their border, Rwanda’s government has been proactive in preventing it.

Strategies for Ebola Prevention in Rwanda

The Rwandan National EVD Preparedness Plan is the basis of Ebola prevention, with key strategies, including early detection and response training, Ebola education, vaccinating health workers, outfitting health facilities, and carrying out simulation drills.

Early detection and response training help prepare medical staff, from Red Cross volunteers to health care centers. Rwanda’s efforts to educate its citizens, also contribute to early detection and response training. Through radio, television, billboards and community meeting, the public has learned the signs and symptoms of Ebola, so citizens are better prepared.

Vaccinating health workers in high-risk areas is also critical to controlling transmission, should health workers encounter a patient with Ebola. Approximately 3,000 health workers have received vaccinations so far. Beyond health care officials, Rwanda set up an Ebola treatment center and 23 isolation units. These measures, paired with simulation exercises to maximize response efficiency, go beyond proactive, by preparing for potential Ebola transmission.

In addition to all these measures, health officials check for Ebola symptoms at points of entry to Rwanda. Officials check travelers’ temperatures and make them wash their hands, while Ebola awareness messages play in the background. So far, these measures have kept Ebola out of Rwanda. Even so, the threat of Ebola spreading to Rwanda remains critical.

Increasing Threat of Ebola Transmission

In early August 2019, Rwanda briefly closed its borders, after the third confirmed Ebola death in the Congolese border city of Goma. According to a joint statement from the WHO and the United Nations, the latest case of Ebola in the highly populated, border city of Goma increases the risk of the virus spreading to other countries.

The government closed the border to cut down on traffic between the two countries, due to concerns of transmission between Goma and the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. Though Rwandan officials shortly reopened the border in response to international criticism, they have also increased cross-border monitoring between the two countries.

Moving Forward

As WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted, “Rwanda has made a significant investment in Ebola preparedness.” These investments and prevention strategies have stopped the spread of Ebola into Rwanda thus far. However, the threat of Ebola transmission will remain significant, until the outbreak is controlled in the DRC. Therefore, it is crucial that the Rwandan government, as well as health organizations worldwide, keep encouraging Ebola prevention in Rwanda.

– Morgan Harden
Photo: Flickr

Central American Immigration and US Gun Policy

Immigration and US Gun Policy
Thousands on the migrant caravan were outside Arriaga, Chiapas. To avoid some of the heat of the day they began walking at 2 am. Negotiations began in the dark, and shortly after dawn, the caravan continued towards Juchitan, Oaxaca. As the U.S. tightens its immigration policy at the border, civilians throughout Central America are struggling to cope with the bloodshed largely brought about by smuggled, American-made guns. Here is some information explaining the influence of immigration and U.S. gun policy on Mexico and various other Central American countries.

Variations in Gun Laws

Mexico and the United States have different gun laws. Although the constitutions of both countries protect a citizen’s rights to bear arms, Mexico’s licensing process is more rigorous. In Mexico, only one establishment, the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA), can produce and sell firearms. Anyone who purchases a gun in Mexico must register the weapon with this defense department. Even after proving employment, military service, proof of residence, picture identification, a Unique Population Registry Code and no criminal record, the country still bans some styles of AR and AK assault rifles from civilian purchase. Gun policy in the U.S. is far more relaxed giving further incentives to smugglers and those who hope to profit by obtaining guns illegally.

Smuggling Firearms has Increased

The illicit presence of U.S. guns has increased across Central America. Between 2011 and 2016, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) found that a licensed gun dealer in the U.S. purchased 70 percent of 106,001 guns that Mexican law enforcement recovered. Forty-nine percent, 45 percent and 29 percent of guns recovered from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, respectively, were of U.S. origin. Between 2014 and 2016, El-Salvador had more U.S. sourced guns used for a crime than 20 states combined.

This type of activity, where someone purchases a gun legally only to give that firearm to someone who cannot purchase a gun legally, is a straw purchase. According to Gifford’s Law Center, U.S. law does not currently regulate or prohibit this act enough for change to occur.

Violent Crime

People use the majority of these smuggled weapons for violent crimes. The U.S. Government Accountability Office concluded in 2016 that just around half of the guns that the U.S. manufactured or purchased in Mexico at the time were either semi-automatic, AK or AR rifles. Mexican government officials are concerned because these firearm models can easily become automatic in style and have become the choice weapon of gang members for that reason.

Violent gun crime has grown substantially in recent years in this part of the world. The current rate of homicide in Mexico is 20.5 per 100,000 people. The percentage of fatal shooting homicides increased from 15 percent in 1997 to 66 percent in 2017. Firearm usage also grew from 58 percent to 68 percent in Mexican robberies between 2005 and 2017.

Many cite the overall increase in violence as a major reason for the increased northbound movement of Central American refugees and asylum seekers. Known as the migrant caravan, groups of up to 10,000 will join together on their trek towards a less violent and less corrupt life. They are unlikely to find a solution to this type of life until their countries address their serious political problems.

The profits from gun sales in the Central American States fuel the violence and corruption still present in those countries. Weaponry will continue to pour into these countries for profit. As of February 2019, the Trump administration solidified a new approach to international arms deals allowing for little to no congressional oversight on large sales. This process is to go to the Department of Commerce instead of the State Department.

Paths Towards Improvement

Though immigration and U.S. gun policy have a close relationship as of now, there are legitimate solutions all individuals can participate in. Three possible paths to follow towards improvement include to:

  1. Encourage U.S. congressional leaders to support universal background checks in upcoming legislative sessions. Some have attempted these efforts but have not promoted them enough. A 2017 effort “to stop the flow of arms to Mexico” by one California representative and two New York representatives in the U.S. House stalled. Policymakers allow for individuals that cannot purchase guns to resort to even more opaque transactions, because they have not yet instituted background checks for all gun sales and purchases in the U.S. If it is true that people who desire weaponry will find a way to obtain it, the best option moving forward is to at least ensure every step possible is taken to keep guns out of the wrong.
  2. Support moves that would make straw purchasing and gun trafficking a federal crime. In the status quo, the only crime a straw purchaser or gun trafficker can receive charges for is paperwork violation. Any introduction of law specifically targeting those willingly involved in these acts is in the U.S. and Central America’s best interest.
  3. Increase access to data regarding specific details of recovered firearms. Being able to know the types and calibers of certain firearms could be very helpful in identifying which are the most widespread and may need increased supervision. Also, ATF reports cross-referencing types with U.S. states of origin could be very useful for local and state legislative bodies to know whether or not their direct action is necessary.

The presence of U.S. guns has become something of an epidemic for Central Americans. People in the United States and across Central America can benefit from changing the narrative surrounding immigration and U.S. gun policy.

– Fatemeh Zahra Yarali
Photo: Flickr

 

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10 Facts About Life Expectancy in Malaysia

10 Facts About Life Expectancy in Malaysia
A former British colony, Malaysia achieved independence in 1957. Since gaining its freedom, Malaysia has seen steady growth, reducing its poverty rate, increasing literacy rates and providing affordable health care services. Life expectancy in Malaysia is at an all-time high. However, the promising statistics surrounding Malaysia’s booming economy provide a narrow window into poverty, mortality and other crises within the still-growing nation. These 10 facts about life expectancy in Malaysia give a closer look at the quality of life in the country.

10 Facts About Life Expectancy in Malaysia

  1. The life expectancy in Malaysia is around 75 years. While the life expectancy in Malaysia has increased from 50 years in the 1960s, it has remained stagnant at 75 years for over a decade.
  2. The primary cause of stagnated life expectancy in Malaysia is non-communicable diseases (NCDs). NCDs like high blood pressure, diabetes and many cancers are going unchecked because of a lack of awareness and education. Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad has said that 50 percent of the patients attended for treatable NCDs like high blood pressure and diabetes in Malaysia were unaware that they were living with the diseases at all.
  3. Population aging has been a serious concern in Malaysia since the early 1990s. The population of people aged 60 and over in Malaysia more than doubled in a 19-year span. This age group also happens to be part of the population that NCDs most affect. The massive increase affects the social and economic progress of Malaysia and puts an immense strain on its health care system.
  4. Those who live in poverty have a higher mortality risk than those living above poverty lines. Although life expectancy in Malaysia is 75 years, more than half of older Malaysians live in poverty. Reported household incomes for this group are less than $5,222 per year and 22 percent reported an even lower income.
  5. Malaysia has made a powerful effort to make public health a priority by focusing on giving the best care to the elderly. Whether it was the National Policy for the Elderly in 1995, the National Health Policy for Older Persons in 2008 or the National Policy for Older Persons and Plan of Action for Older Persons in 2011, health care for the elderly has been a major undertaking by both the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Women, Family & Community Development. Programs like the National Policy for Older Persons and Plan of Action for Older Persons seeks to accomplish improvements to life expectancy in Malaysia and mortality rates by developing social programs and legislation that improve health, wellbeing, safety and security.
  6. Part of the nationwide strategy has been to set up numerous nongovernmental organizations, like the MyKasih Foundation in 2009. The MyKasih Foundation centers its efforts on multiple facets of poverty reduction, like financial literacy programs, skills training and children’s education programs. MyKasih Foundation has provided cashless aid to 260,000 underprivileged families and students that equals $240 million RM (Malaysian Ringgit). Comparatively, that is over $57 million USD.
  7. The poverty rate in Malaysia has improved from 60 percent in the 1950s to three or four percent today. However, poverty has become a rotating door in Malaysia; many people who manage to claw their way out of poverty with the help of social programs end up back under the poverty line eventually. According to economist Fatimah Kari, the poverty cycle is due to generalized, one-size-fits-all programs that do not address the various needs that different regions have.
  8. Food poverty is a rising problem for rural and urban Malaysian citizens. This has led to many Malaysians not attaining sufficient nutrients, which may affect the performances of children in school and result in higher drop-out rates. If these children do not get an education, they also miss out on essential social programs that could help get them out of poverty. The good news is there are a plethora of Malaysian nonprofit organizations, like the MyKasih Foundation, that are affecting change. However, many of them lack the financial support to effectively extend their reach.
  9. Poverty affects life expectancy in Malaysia. A 2016 study about the distribution of mortality indicators by socioeconomic quintiles showed that disadvantaged districts in Malaysia had higher mortality outcomes than other more privileged districts. The poorer districts had fewer opportunities or necessary facilities to obtain a better quality of life. On the other hand, the study showed that rich districts have the essential infrastructure, health care and social services to mitigate the burden of disease.
  10. Economic development may not have equal distribution. Two landmasses make up Malaysia; the Malay Peninsula and the island of Borneo, Borneo being the poorer of the two. Since Malaysia’s independence and substantial growth, research exhibits income disparities between and within ethnic groups in these areas. Malays and indigenous natives carry the burden of that disparity because Malays made up 50 percent of the population as of 2010. Although the Chinese and Indian ethnic groups make up a significantly smaller portion of the population, both are more advantaged than the Malays and their socioeconomic statuses impact levels of mortality.

The 10 facts about life expectancy in Malaysia prove a disheartening truth but are also a reason for immense hope. The disadvantaged in Malaysia suffer greatly because of a lack of health awareness, insufficient health care resources and income disparity. However, the revitalization of Malaysia after its independence displays how a nation can survive and flourish when given the help and change in governance it needs. The economy of Malaysia continues to ascend and with more work, so too should life expectancy.

– Anthony Negron
Photo: Flickr

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10 Facts About Life Expectancy in Eritrea

10 Facts About Life Expectancy in Eritrea
The average life expectancy in Eritrea is 65 years, nearly seven years short of the world average. Before getting to the 10 facts about life expectancy in Eritrea, here is some general background on the country’s health metrics. In 2000, life expectancy in Eritrea was only 55, meaning there has been a substantial improvement over the past two decades. However, Eritrea‘s growth has been comparatively less than neighboring Ethiopia, which increased from nearly 52 to 65.5 over the same period and surpassed Eritrea for the first time since 1970.

According to the WHO, despite political turmoil and high poverty rates, Eritrea has managed to improve its health resources. With the official end of the Ethiopian-Eritrean war in 2018, all signs seem to indicate that life expectancy in Eritrea will continue to increase in the coming years.

Still, Eritrea is a complicated country with past political and economic troubles that make its future uncertain. However, present trends may give insight into the future longevity of the country’s citizens. Here are 10 facts about life expectancy in Eritrea.

10 Facts About Life Expectancy in Eritrea

  1. Women live longer than men: Women, on average, live to be almost 68, whereas male life expectancy is only about 63.5. Even so, one problem that connects to women’s health in Eritrea is the lack of access to medical care during childbirth. About 70 percent of women give birth at home, which greatly increases the risk of complications. In addition, malnutrition poses serious problems for women who are breastfeeding, as it can cause both them and their children to be dangerously underweight.
  2. Health has not increased as much as lifespan in recent years: According to Charles Shey Wiysonge, though Sub-Saharan Africa has marked an up-tick in life expectancy over the past several decades, the average number of healthy years people live has shown smaller growth. This means that while people are living longer, their quality of life may remain more or less unchanged. When looking at health statistics, it is important not to celebrate prematurely.
  3. Eritrea has one of the lowest rates of HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa: UNAID statistics show that Eritrea is one of the few countries in the region to have an HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of less than one percent. Sub-Saharan Africa’s average is 4.7 percent, while Eritrea’s is 0.6 percent.
  4. Eritrea’s first medical school opened in 2004: The Orotta School of Medicine in Asmara opened on February 16, 2004. The inaugural class included 32 students, six of whom were women. In addition, over the past several decades, Eritrea has steadily increased the percentage of its population with medical training. In a 2010 workshop supported by the World Bank and WHO, the country established goals to increase the overall number of health workers, increase retention rates, encourage a diverse mix of skills and improve access to technology. The country currently has 6.3 health professionals per 10,000 people. This is significantly above the world average of roughly 4.6.
  5. Eritrean youth frequently seek asylum in Europe: In 2015, 5,000 minors from Eritrea survived the dangerous crossing into Europe to request asylum. Though the number decreased to 3,500 in 2018, the fact remains that an outflux of the nation’s youth could affect average life expectancy. Moreover, the continued export of asylum seekers from Eritrea is indicative of considerable unrest among the population, which will likely impact future political attitudes towards things like public health.
  6. Infant mortality remains an issue: The infant mortality rate in Eritrea is 47 percent, and the under-five mortality rate is 89 percent. The country is attempting to address this, however. One of the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals for Eritrea is to reduce child mortality. According to a 2002 report, Eritrea is on track to meet this and other goals in the near future.
  7. In 2019, the Eritrean government closed 22 Catholic-run health care clinics: According to a 1995 decree, all Eritrean social and welfare projects are to be state-run. The government recently used this precedent to justify the military seizure of the health clinics. BBC analysts believe the seizures to be a punishment for the Church’s call for governmental reform. As the clinics in question served some of the poorest sectors of the nation’s population, their closure has harmed overall health.
  8. The number one cause of death in Eritrea is tuberculosis: Despite increases in access to medicine and technology, tuberculosis remains Eritrea’s number one cause of death killing more than 600 people per year and affecting roughly 2,000. Neonatal disorders and diarrheal diseases also remain everyday challenges. However, since the country has made significant strides in reducing other areas of premature death and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS has dropped by nearly 58 percent, it stands to reason that the incidence of tuberculosis will decrease in the years to come as more medical training and technology becomes available.
  9. Malnutrition remains the number one risk factor for death and disability: Like much of Sub-Saharan Africa, Eritrea struggles with sufficient access to food, water and sanitation. In 2007, the top three factors to a disability or premature death were malnutrition, lack of access to clean water and sanitation and air pollution. This ranking remained unchanged in 2017, despite a decrease in the prevalence of almost 30 percent across all three areas. Eritrea has also made progress in other key health areas. Unsafe sex as a cause of health complications decreased by 47 percent over the 10-year period. Similarly, tobacco use dropped from the sixth to the ninth most prevalent risk factor for poor health.
  10. Per capita spending on health is poised to increase in Eritrea: According to healthdata.org, the per capita spending on health was $30 compared to the United States’ $10,000 per person. Though some project this number to almost double by 2050, the majority of health funding will likely still come out of pocket. Unless Eritrea takes action, this lack of funding may leave the poorest citizens of Eritrea vulnerable.

These 10 facts about life expectancy in Eritrea indicate that the country is a long way from solving the humanitarian crisis which continues to affect its population. However, these facts do give some idea of which areas the country is addressing successfully and which it is neglecting. Many aid organizations around the world are working hard to increase the standard of living in Eritrea and elsewhere in the developing world. It, therefore, seems likely that in the near future, life expectancy in Eritrea will rise significantly.

– Alexander Metz
Photo: Flickr

An In Depth Look At Education in Palau

Education in Palau

Recently, the northern Pacific island nation of Palau hosted its 25th Education Convention from July 23 to July 25, with approximately 530 public and private school teachers attending. The convention follows years of progress in improving education in Palau by increasing enrollment rates, creating primary school retention programs and prolonging the average school life for both boys and girls. All these factors allow Palau to further develop its education system.

Education in Palau and Gender

Surprisingly, girls and young women in Palau have at times had higher enrollment rates than boys and men, according to a 2008 analysis by UNICEF. The Ministry of Education of Palau even stated, “…gender disparity is not an issue in Palau. If there are any cases of gender disparity, they would involve males rather than females.”

The numbers are telling. According to the Ministry in 2005, the adjusted ratio of women to men with post-secondary education was 1.11, and the ratio of girls to boys in secondary school and primary school was 1.23 and 0.92, respectively. Furthermore, according to Palau Census Data as cited in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) status report, a larger proportion of Palau women have reached higher education than men for a college degree since 2000, an associate degree since 2005 and a bachelor degree since 1990.

Only 1.5 percent of women 25 years old and over have no education background compared to 2 percent for men in the same age group. In the same category, 81.5 percent of women have one to four years of college education, while the number only stands at 75 percent for men.

Palau has outperformed some Pacific island countries in such efforts. The Global Partnership for Education states that in Papua New Guinea, for example, the 2016 primary completion rate for boys and girls was 84.7 and 73.5 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, Palau’s 2014 primary completion rate for boys and girls was 96.947 and 94.69 percent, respectively. Although the Pacific Education for All effort lists various concerns of gender equity, low enrollment rates and high dropout rates for many Pacific island countries, many of these metrics do not apply to Palau.

Other Improvements Still Needed

While efforts to offer better girls’ education in Palau have been successful, other metrics for assessing the education system in Palau show that there is still room for improvement: The CIA World Factbook states that the school life expectancy for women in primary to tertiary education is 18 years compared to 16 for men. Further, the male literacy rate is 96.8 percent compared while the female literacy rate is 86 percent.

Other areas of the education system require further attention. Improving the quality of instruction is one of Palau’s top priorities, as the U.S. National Center for Educational Evaluation and Regional Excellence reported in 2016 that instructors scored “relatively low” on reading, writing and math skills in an assessment test. The accompanying survey found that the teachers scored particularly low on data analysis and probability; the report additionally found that teachers who scored higher had higher levels of education, taught upper-level schoolchildren and had higher reported proficiency in English.

Other indicators show weaknesses in the education system. In 2016, the student to teacher ratio in primary and secondary schools was 12:1, suggesting the possibility of overworked teachers who may not be able to give personalized attention. In primary schools in 2018, the CBE -– Life Sciences Education found that only 40 percent of teachers possessed a high school diploma. According to UNICEF, in 2015, 29 percent possessed an Associate of Arts or Science degree, and only 9 percent possessed a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Sciences. Past just the teachers, many schools do not even have adequate funding for school supplies and many buildings are in desperate need of renovations.

Tertiary education opportunities are also limited, given the small nature of Palau’s education system. With only one public high school in the country, many students attend private schools. Should students choose to attend college, the country only has one––Palau Community College (PCC). Though scholarships to attend the University of California San Diego are available, little data on tertiary education in Palau indicates few opportunities for students to expand on their education following high school.

Given that Palau has a matrilineal society and aforementioned indicators demonstrate successes in improving girls’ education in Palau and the country’s high regard for education, the main challenge is not to achieve gender parity in education but to generally boost the quality of education.

To address these concerns, the Ministry of Education has made calls for Palau schools to begin formal accreditation processes to bring more international attention to the country. Accompanying this have been efforts to implement teacher certification procedures. Studies have found varying results in English language teaching proficiency that underscore a greater need to establish training requirements for teachers and offering more opportunities for students to engage in a variety of fields, including STEM collaborations with PCC. To achieve this, the Palau government passed legislation requiring that teachers participate in a teacher preparation program at PCC.

Shaping the Landscape

International movements, organizations and regional efforts, alongside national educational improvement programs, have all helped Palau maintain high enrollment rates for girls and women and generally improve the education system. Palau’s educational achievements come almost two decades after the 2000 World Education Forum sparked Educational for All, an international movement calling for nations across the world to identify and achieve six educational goals.

With the 2006-2016 Ministry of Education’s 10-year plan to improve the quality of instruction, children have access to education from first grade until the end of high school, with compulsory primary and secondary education. The nation’s Early Childhood Comprehensive System and Head Start program––modeled similarly to American programs––provide support for families, medical services and works with Human Services and the Department of Health to help primary care providers, teachers, caregivers and families holistically care for 400 children and their development.

The ever-increasing access women have to financial stability and a wider variety of careers and roles in society throughout the past few decades have not been linked directly to women surpassing men in educational performance and attainment, according to the U.N. The 2005 census shows that women have a higher life expectancy than men, and though women are still less likely to be employed than men are, women’s median income is greater ($9,740) than that of men ($8,417). Women have “dominated” the judiciary in Palau and roles in public boards, but have yet to achieve equity in politics at the national level.

With the 25th convention coming up, the opportunities are endless for how Palau can build off its successes in creating more educational opportunities for both genders, particularly girls, by improving the overall quality of education and allowing for that education to carry over into careers and contributions to Palau society.

– Jeongyoon Han
Photo: Flickr

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7 Facts About Overpopulation in Brazil

ethnically and culturally diverse country

Brazil is located in South America and neighbors every country within the continent except for Chile and Ecuador. It has the largest number of Portuguese speakers in the world and is known as one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse countries in the world. Since the 1930s, immigrants from many countries have become the backbone of Brazil. Although the country’s growth does not necessarily cause poverty, there is a correlation between overcrowdedness and population growth in specific regions of the country that are poor. Here are seven facts about overpopulation in Brazil.

7 Facts About Overpopulation in Brazil

  1. Brazil is currently the most populous country in South America and the fifth-most populated country in the world with 212.41 million people. The current growth rate is 0.75 percent per year. Although the population is dense on the east coast, the central and western parts of Brazil are vastly less populated than these regions. Brazil is ranked sixth in the world in population density with about 24 people per unit area.
  2. Brazil is home to the most expensive cities in the Americas. In addition, São Paulo is ranked as the world’s 10th most expensive city and Rio de Janeiro is ranked as the 12th most expensive city in the world. Of note, 81 percent of Brazil’s population lives in urban areas. Purchasing an apartment in urban Brazil is estimated at $4,370 per square meter. Owning an apartment in these areas is more expensive than owning one in New York City, which is ranked as the 32nd most expensive city.
  3. More than 50 million Brazilians live in inadequate housing. São Paulo is the most populous city in Brazil, South America, the western hemisphere and is even the 12th most populous city in the world. Forty percent of Sao Paulo’s population experience poor living conditions and the poverty rate stands at 19 percent.
  4. There are about 1,600 favelas, or slums, in São Paulo and more than 1,000 in Rio de Janeiro. Rocinha is the largest favela community within Rio de Janeiro. Although the 2010 census reports only 69,000 people living in Rocinha, there are actually between 150,000 and 300,000 inhabitants. The population density in Rocinha is crammed with 100,000 people per square kilometer compared to Rio de Janeiro’s city proper 5,377 people per square kilometer.
  5. Communities like Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro also have high crime rates. There are roughly 37 murders per 100,000 people. In comparison, cities such as London have less than two murders per 100,000 people.
  6. In Brasilia, there are 25 million people who lack access to improved sanitation. Although the country possesses 20 percent of the world’s water, there are still 5 million people who lack access to safe drinking water. In addition, 83 million people who are not connected to sewage systems which have caused many odors and health risks. Habitat Brazil has been working to improve access to clean water for those families who live in extreme poverty. In order to solve this problem, Habitat Brazil is repairing and enlarging roofs and building cisterns for collecting and storing water. This will provide access to safe and usable water for hundreds of families. In addition, Habitat Brazil has constructed 30 water reservoirs. Each reservoir stores 16,000 liters of water. This makes it possible to capture the 200mm of rainwater that falls during the year.
  7. One of the top facts about overpopulation in Brazil happens to be the housing deficit which stands at between 6 and 8 million houses. Low-income families account for 73.6 percent of the housing deficit population. Projects such as the Sustainable Social Housing Initiative Project (SUSHI) and the My House, My Life Brazil Project (Habitat for Humanity) are fighting the country’s sustainability crisis. My House, My Life has already provided 2.6 million housing units for 10.5 million low-income Brazilians. It is currently building 685 houses in two states of Brazil. It is also expected that 100 families in Sao Paolo will have their houses repaired and improved through Habitat Brazil.

– Francisco Benitez
Photo: Flickr

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How Oral Rehydration Therapy is Saving Lives

Oral Rehydration TherapyDiarrhea is both preventable and treatable, yet 1.6 million children die a year from diarrheal disease. Survivors are more susceptible to malnutrition, stunted growth and learning disabilities. In direct relation to poor sanitation, inadequate access to clean water and limited education, diarrhea has a particularly devastating impact in impoverished areas.

Background

Children in impoverished countries are diagnosed with dehydrating diarrhea approximately four times per year. Most cases of diarrheal diseases can be prevented with proper hygiene, sanitation and access to clean water. However, when prevention efforts fail, oral rehydration therapy has proven to be an effective treatment option for diarrhea.

Treatment

Oral rehydration therapy (ORT) uses available fluids such as breastmilk or rice water mixed with salt to rehydrate the ill. Oral rehydration solutions or ORS is a specific way of delivering ORT. Discovered in the 1970s, ORS is a mixture of sugar, salt and water that can be made at home to replenish electrolytes. In 2001, a new version of ORS, with reduced sodium and glucose, was packaged and distributed in powdered form.

The 2001 low-osmolality ORS reported decreases in stool volume and vomiting by 25 and 30 percent, respectively. Since the implementation of ORT in the 70s, it has saved 50 million lives at an individual cost of less than 30 cents per package. Further, supplementary zinc treatments have proven to reduce the duration and recurrence of diarrheal illness, and provide strong supplementation to oral rehydration solutions.

However, ORT use between 1992 and 2005 decreased in 23 developing countries because they had no knowledge nor access to oral rehydration solutions. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that ORT has the potential to save an additional 300,000 children’s lives each year with ORT and zinc supplementation, but, currently, only 42 percent of children in prioritized countries are receiving ORT treatment. Further, only 7 percent receive both ORS and zinc.

Even though oral rehydration solutions sell for only 25 cents, impoverished families living on less than $1 a day cannot afford these costs. Additionally, there are common misconceptions in poor, less educated, communities that those suffering from diarrhea should be restricted from the consumption of food and fluids including oral rehydration solutions.

Solution

The Global Maternal, Child Health Network and the American Public Health Association have worked together to create a strategy involving international policymakers and health organizations with four main components:

  1. They must appoint a U.S. agency within one year to assume the role of global “children’s champion.” Their job is to coordinate efforts among United States’ and international, public and private, organizations.
  2. The WHO and UNICEF must update their 2004 recommendation for diarrhea treatment to include new information about oral rehydration therapy and zinc. Additionally, they should provide training for local health providers, and fund maternal education and community case management programs.
  3. They must refocus efforts to improve health standards for children under five with a coordinated strategy across many organizations, so no children die from a preventable disease such as diarrhea.
  4. Funding for diarrhea treatment and prevention must be allocated under universal health coverage. Funding should include the co-packaging of zinc and ORS as home-based diarrheal treatment.

While prevention efforts such as improving hygiene and sanitation should remain a priority, it is not always possible to address the consequences of poverty. Approximately, 58 percent of diarrhea fatalities in low and middle-income countries is a result of poor sanitation and inadequate access to clean water. This problem cannot be fixed overnight, however, if provided to everyone, oral rehydration therapy is an affordable treatment that could prevent 93 percent of diarrhea deaths.

– Haley Myers
Photo: Flickr

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Children’s Hunger Fund Provides Meals to Families


Located on the junction of the Interstate 5 and Highway 14 is Children’s Hunger Fund (CHF), which nestles between the yellow, brownish foothills that lead to Santa Clarita. The drive to CHF ends in an industrial, office-complex space along northern Balboa Boulevard, in what people know as Sylmar, which is about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

Yet the heart and work of this organization belie its rather nondescript location. CHF is a Christian nonprofit with the mission of delivering hope to suffering children by equipping local churches for gospel-centered mercy ministry. Per its name, Children’s Hunger Fund most tangibly fulfills its mission through the delivery of meals to families in need and equipping local churches in an international network in order to build relationships and support communities for those families.

The Numbers

CHF operates in at least 24 mercy-network countries. There are seven countries in North and Central America, two countries in South America, seven countries in Africa, four in Eastern Europe and four in Asia. Since its founding in 1991, CHF served approximately 1,055 churches. In 2017 alone, the nonprofit delivered approximately 44.1 million meals across 503 international churches and 271 domestic churches in the organization’s network.

The Volunteers

At the nucleus of CHF’s worldwide impact is its volunteers who put in over 70,000 hours and packed over 90,000 Food Paks in 2017. Each food packs can provide up to 48 meals worth of food. Besides packing boxes of food, volunteers help with a variety of projects, such as packing bags of beans, macaroni and lentils in a packing facility at Children’s Hunger Fund’s headquarters. They also sort through gift-in-kind (GIK) products from Costco to give to local churches.

Volunteers, led by Children’s Hunger Fund staff, come in for two-hour-long shifts between Wednesday and Saturday, whether they come on their own or with their church, school or business. Volunteers can serve in a variety of ways, especially if they do not live near CHF headquarters in California or Texas.

For example, around 100 high school and college students in Johnson City, New York met at their local K&K The Old Tea House for bubble tea, music, board games and socializing. Organizers of the event sold wristbands and donated proceeds to Children’s Hunger Fund.

In August 2019, volunteers from Zion Lutheran Church in Texas organized a project to package approximately 3,000 boxes providing around 144,000 meals. Children’s Hunger Fund achieved that calculation from the fact that $0.25 translates to one donated meal.

The International Mission

With over $80 million in donations and gifts-in-kind, Children’s Hunger Fund generates and distributes Food Paks that start a relationship. The Food Paks specifically offer churches an open door to pray, serve and minister to these families and invite them into the network of support and hope. The hope is that these Food Paks can start the process of providing for the material, social and spiritual needs of those in poverty and hunger.

Education through the Poverty Encounter

Beyond its work and mission, CHF’s most recent development is the Poverty Encounter, which provides visitors with an interactive encounter with poverty around the globe. The 90-minute tour takes visitors through four different countries including Guatemala, Haiti, Nepal and Romania. In each room, visitors receive experiential education on four different aspects of poverty. Learning about hunger in Guatemala, visitors follow the life of a young boy living in a landfill. To explore disaster in Haiti, children share stories in the wreckage of the earthquake in 2010. The injustice in Nepal shows through children slaving away in brickyards. Finally, visitors witness hope in Romania, where children must live in the sewer systems of cities. The tour ends with giving visitors the opportunity to volunteer, packaging beans or macaroni in CHF’s packaging facility.

CHF’s international work, its army of volunteers, partnerships with corporations and ventures into poverty education all speak to its overarching mission to FACE poverty. FACE stands for feed, aid, connect and equip where it feeds families in need; aids those families with hygienic, educational or other material supplies; connects those families to a local church and support network and equips churches to meet these families needs.

Children’s Hunger Fund is always looking for volunteers. These efforts show that sometimes it only takes 25 cents to make an impact. Anyone can join the fight against poverty and hunger.

– Luke Kwong
Photo: Flickr

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The Future of Peek: Vision Health for All

The world is experiencing a vision crisis. In total, over 200 million people around the world are visually impaired, and 7 million people develop blindness every single year. One-third of those who seek help and health care for their eyes are unable to obtain it. Developing countries are the most at risk, with 90 percent of individuals suffering from vision impairment living in underdeveloped nations. The organization Peek is seeking to change this, and the future of Peek could mean health care for everyone.

What is Peek?

Peek is proof that great things often come from small ideas. The organization began as a simple, developing research project in the International Centre for Eye Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Now, Peek consists of two entities: The Peek Vision Foundation, an official charity in the United Kingdom, and Peek Vision Ltd, a manufacturing company that develops medical devices for people all over the world.

Peek began with smartphone apps and hardware that provided affordable and accessible eye examination kits that could be used in every home, school and community. This hardware, the Portable Eye Examination Kit (PEEK), was used in 50 schools in Kenya in 2015 to evaluate 20,000 children who otherwise would have been left in the dark concerning their eye health. Further, Peek’s individual products, Peek Acuity, the smartphone app that examines vision, and Peek Retina, a portable ophthalmoscope that captures detailed images of the retina, are currently being used in over 150 countries around the world.

The Future of Peek

Now, Peek is moving beyond portable eye examination kits and onto how technology can play a role in making sure health care is readily available for everyone, everywhere. Concerning Peek’s future journey, Daisy Barton, head of communications and PR at Peek, wrote, “Today, we’ve moved beyond developing and validating our basic technology to building software systems that capture the information from smartphone-based eye health screening and surveys. To bring better vision and health to everybody, we need to understand where people fall through the gaps when trying to access eye care and how eye care providers can ensure their systems improve.”

Their smartphone-based eye care kits laid the foundation and proved that there was a viable way to test vision anywhere in the world using only a smartphone. Now, Peek is building upon that foundation to ensure nobody gets left behind when it comes to vision health.

Tracking Universal Health Care

Universal health coverage seems like a tall order, but Peek is following the lead of organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and Global Goals for Sustainable Development to make it possible. For example, officials from the WHO along with the United Nations are working to develop specific indicators of health that enable different countries to mark their growth and advancements along their journeys toward universal health care. These indicators cover a variety of topics concerning different aspects of health. While the official list of indicators will not be announced until later in 2019, a preliminary list announced that there would be at least two indicators involving eye health.

Part of the struggle in making universal health care a reality is the impracticality of measuring every single aspect of a country’s health coverage; however, Peek is playing an important role in overcoming this challenge. Peek is using their smartphone-based software to provide countries and organizations with raw data that can be used to help develop certain health care indicators. This data allows health services to analyze and evaluate statistics pertinent to making universal health care a reality. Barton said this information includes “who is attending treatment, where they are based, and what the outcome is.”

Peek, along with the development of the rapid assessment of avoidable blindness eye health survey, is using and developing advanced technology and software to measure the aforementioned vision indicators as well as to develop treatments in a cost-effective, accurate and practical way. Their work will be fundamental in ensuring universal health care and improved vision worldwide.

With members of Peek all over the world, and offices in England, Pakistan, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Botswana, it is only a matter of time before Peek’s vision of eye care and universal health care is achieved. The future of Peek along with their groundbreaking work will ensure that those who so often fall between the cracks will no longer be left behind.

– Melissa Quist
Photo: Flickr