Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

10 Facts About Poverty in Karachi

Poverty in Karachi
Karachi is Pakistan’s largest city and is the capital of the Sindh province located in southern Pakistan. Karachi is home to a major seaport on the shores of the Arabian Sea as well as massive commercial and industrial infrastructure. Increased development of air travel, in addition to the foreign traffic maintained by the commercial and financial industries, has made this city important to the overall economy in Pakistan. Regardless of these achievements, the city still faces poverty, which these facts about poverty in Karachi will illuminate.

Facts About Poverty in Karachi

  1. District governments within the city of Karachi do not have the power to increase taxes, which could be used to rectify local issues there. The Provincial Administration maintains the power instead of the taxpayers or the constituent electorate, which creates a democratic deficit within the metropolis.
  2. In regards to such a deficit, there is a notable underperformance in urban development. Foreign business is the largest part of the industry and economy in Karachi. Because of this, the Provincial Administration puts an emphasis on financial districts and expensive urban building for such purposes.
  3. A majority of tax revenue goes towards the seaports, airports, franchise business, stock brokers and telecommunication systems. The emphasis on finance and business distracts from the local problems. Most of the citizens live with social injustices daily, but their tax money is not being used to solve these problems.
  4. In Karachi, residents suffer from congested roads and poorly planned yet expensive public transportation systems. There is effectively no low-cost housing in the city, which has led to the rise of slums. There is also a shortage of water, leaving many without access to water at all, or at least water that is safe to drink.
  5. Many farmers located in the rural parts of the metropolis are deprived of water from irrigation systems. A large percentage of farmers have turned to using water that is mixed with sewage lines in an effort to grow crops. However, the produce that is harvested is often polluted and unsafe for human consumption, an unfortunate truth in the facts about poverty in Karachi.
  6. Policies geared towards the rapid industrialization of Pakistan had aimed to bring the country to its “take-off” stage. These policies, in retrospect, have actually made the rural lower class even poorer. More than ₨. 1 trillion (about $14.6 billion) was spent on infrastructure with the intention of lowering the local poverty rates in Karachi. Due to poor governance and irresponsible planning, much of this money was wasted and inflicted more economic harm on the lower-class citizens.
  7. There is a lack of access to social services and resources in poor households. Fifty percent of the rural population has been left without land, while approximately 75 percent of urban dwellers work in the informal economy.
  8. There are now more than 600 slum areas in Karachi. These slums are notable for hosting criminal activity as well as hiding criminals. In 2014, following the aerial firing on the Karachi airport, the suspects were found hiding in a local slum. Slums like Afghan Basti, Manghopir, Pehlwan Basti and Sohrab Goth are some of the better-known slums hosting criminal activity within Karachi.
  9. According to Inspector General Mushtaq Mehar, approximately 65 percent of the Karachi population lives in a slum. Residents of the slums are typically issued official identity papers, yet it remains difficult to verify and monitor them as many give false information. This makes it challenging to track down the criminals who may be hiding there.
  10. Despite these circumstances, there are many locals who are fighting back against poverty. UNDP’s Youth Employment Project provides employment opportunities as well as job training in the textile/garment industry. Around 30 percent of Karachi’s population is made up of youths aged 15-29. There are more than 5,000 students enrolled in this program. Initiatives such as this help those who cannot afford schooling to receive a valuable education and eventually earn a dependable source of income.

In his paper “Genesis of Urban Poverty”, Tasneem Siddiqui writes: “Poverty was not just about money. It is about access to power. It is deprivation not only in economic terms, but also at the social and political level.” The people of Karachi face this lack of access on a daily basis, one of the driving facts about poverty in Karachi.

The emphasis on business and finance in the city in order to better benefit Pakistan’s foreign affairs has harmed the local community. In doing so, there is a large gap in the socioeconomic ranks. Initiatives like UNDP’s program work to make the best of the given situation; however, until the governing authorities rectify the social and physical injustices, the citizens of Karachi will continue to suffer from this gap.

– Emma Fellows
Photo: Flickr

,

A $500 Million Project Aims to Bring Learning Back to Egypt

Egypt’s public education system
Egypt, a North African country with more than 99 million people and a steadily increasing poverty rate, is currently suffering from an overpopulated and severely underfunded education system. However, recent news suggests that the country will be implementing new reform efforts for a better education system. On April 21, 2018, it was announced that a $500 million project aims to bring learning back to Egypt. The Supporting Egypt Education Reform Project, signed by The World Bank and Egypt, aims to bring learning back to the public school classroom and improve teaching conditions in Egypt’s public education system. The project’s intent is to improve teaching and learning conditions in Egypt’s currently poor public education infrastructure.

Egypt’s Educational Decline

Egypt has not always faced an urgency to improve the country’s quality of education. In the 1950s, Egypt was considered a popular country for young people in search of an education, and during this time President Gamal Abdel Nasser established free, national schools with instruction in Arabic. Students traveled from dozens of nearby countries to obtain a quality education at Cairo University or at al-Azhar University, the world’s second oldest surviving degree-granting institute.

However, in the 1980s, Egypt’s public education system took a turn for the worse due to a growing population and little reform, leading to extreme overcrowding and underfunding of the country’s schools and universities. In 2011, following the overthrow of Egypt’s long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak, hundreds of thousands of Egyptian youths took to the streets demanding public school and university change. However, seven years later, educational reform has been slow-moving, resulting in a still struggling education system, despite the few improvements made.

Currently, some of the main problems students in Egypt’s public schools face include:

  • Overcrowded classrooms, to the extent that students cannot find desks
  • Inability of teachers to supervise students
  • Extreme underfunding
  • Poor school maintenance (including broken windows, doors and desks)
  • Unrepaired water and sanitation systems
  • Inadequate science labs
  • A lack of technological resources for students
  • Poor understanding of the courses by teachers
  • Obsolete teaching practices, including politically-centered lessons that ignore essential school subjects

Additionally, most students in Egypt’s public schools have to take private tutoring classes after school because the education available in their school is so poor that sufficient knowledge and success are not assured.

The Need to Bring Learning Back to Egypt

In 2016, 14.3 million people, or 20.1 percent of Egypt’s population, were illiterate. Females made up 9.1 million of that number, amounting to 26 percent of Egypt’s female population, compared to only 14.4 percent of men. Illiteracy makes it harder to rise out of poverty, as a lack of education can pass down through families, reducing the chance that anyone in the family will be able to pull themselves out of poverty.

However, Egypt’s education system is planned to receive an upgrade that can help decrease the country’s illiteracy rate. In support of improving Egypt’s education system, The World Bank and Egypt’s five-year, $500 million project aims to bring learning back to Egypt and intends to widen access to quality kindergarten for around 500,000 children and train 500,000 teachers and education officials, all while equipping 1.5 million students and teachers with modern technology. Also, a new student assessment and examinations system will be utilized for more than two million Egyptian students.

This $500 million project aims to bring learning back to Egypt in several ways, including improvements in access to and the quality of early childhood education, implementation of a credible student assessment and examination system, enhancements to the size of teaching staffs and the application of digital learning resources.

The World Bank is a global partnership that helps developing countries find solutions to the toughest global and local development challenges.

– Natalie Shaw

Photo: Flickr

,

Three Companies Building Houses Made of Plastic

houses made of plastic
When it comes to environmental preservation, plastic represents a huge global problem. The average American or European throws away 100 kilograms of plastic per year, as reported by the Worldwatch Institute in 2015. The plastic waste issue not only affects the environment but also increases poverty. Fortunately, initiatives all around the world are trying to fight plastic pollution by promoting recycling while also reducing poverty by building houses made of plastic.

Conceptos Plasticos

This Bogota-based company produces low-cost houses made of plastic; each one averages around 430 square feet. Since 2010, Conceptos Plasticos has been building temporary and permanent homes, shelters, classrooms, community rooms and other buildings in Colombia.

Founded by Colombian architect Oscar Mendez, the company transforms the recycled plastic into Lego-like bricks that are easy to assemble and contain additives that make them resistant to fire and earthquakes. Its clients are the government, non-governmental organizations, foundations and private companies, who pay for housing solutions in the communities where the houses are built. Each house costs the equivalent of $130 per square meter.

Conceptos Plasticos provides the materials to be used by the communities and gives people training on how to build the houses. A home for a single family is built by four people with no experience in construction and takes only five days to be built. In 2015, the Colombian startup helped build a shelter for 42 families displaced by the violence in Guapi, Cauca, recycling a total of 120 tons of plastic.

EcoDom’s Innovative Houses Made of Plastic

In Mexico, every year 800,000 tons of plastic waste is produced and only 15 percent is recycled. To minimize this problem, Carlos Daniel Gonzalez founded the Mexican startup EcoDom, which means “Eco House”. The company recycles everything from soda bottles to toys and turns it into material to build houses made of plastic. It works with local trash collectors in Puebla to achieve its goals of reducing plastic waste as well as improving Mexico’s economy through affordable housing.

EcoDom turns plastic, as well as cardboard, into four different products to structure a house: thermal wall, concrete roofing, thermal roofing and structural beams. Weekly, the company recycles 15,000 kg of solid waste and turns it into 1,200 prefabricated walls, flooring and structural roofing.

EcoDom is helping reduce the number of Mexican people living in poverty, which currently stands at 63 million. So far, the startup has built more than 500 houses out of recycled plastic at a cost of less than $300 each.

Fundación Eco-Inclusion

The Eco-Inclusion Foundation is an Argentinian network of NGOs that manufactures ecological bricks made of plastic. Founded in 2014 by entrepreneurs Leandro Miguez, Leandro Lima, and Fabio Saieg, the organization works to reduce plastic waste and have a social impact by building houses out of the recycled plastic.

Eco-Inclusion has 45 plastic collecting spots in four cities. They turn every 20 plastic bottles into one brick and can produce 20 bricks in one hour. The plastic bricks have the same characteristics as a regular brick. They are also light, insulating and are made with a production process that does not damage the environment.

The bricks, built in partnership with Ceve-Conicet, are used to build community spaces that help the most impoverished people of Argentina. Right now, with the help of volunteers, the trio of entrepreneurs is building a dining hall and bathroom for an Argentinian soccer club, attended by hundreds of children.

If more people support these projects, two huge global issues can be minimized: plastic waste and poverty. It is a way of both helping the environment and improving people’s living conditions.

– Júlia Ledur

Photo: Flickr

A Roof, A Skill, A Market: Transforming Infrastructure in Burkina Faso

Infrastructure In Burkina FasoMore than 50 percent of the 100 million people living in the Sahel region of Africa, which includes Burkina Faso, lack access to adequate housing. This is partly caused by deforestation and the spread of arid landscapes, leading to a scarcity of timber used for traditional housing construction that has dramatically impacted infrastructure in Burkina Faso.

The modern materials used in its place, such as imported wood and corrugated iron, are unhealthy to live in, poorly insulated and unaffordable in a country where 44 percent of people live on less than $1.90 a day and the majority are subsistence farmers.

Ancient Architecture Updated to Create Affordable Homes

But strides have been made in tackling this crisis by the multi-award winning Nubian Vault Association (AVN) under its multifaceted A Roof, A Skill, A Market program. AVN was founded in 2000 by Seri Youlou, a farmer and native of Sahel, and French mason Thomas Grainer.

The first part of the program refers to the building of nubian vaults, an architectural style developed 3,500 years ago in Egypt, that utilize locally produced adobe bricks and are much more affordable, ecological and durable. Not only are they are 50-60 percent cheaper than comparable concrete structures, but nubian vaults are expected to last 50 years or longer as opposed to the seven to 10-year lifespan of houses built out of concrete and corrugated iron roofing.

The influx of this new infrastructure in Burkina Faso is especially beneficial because it continually generates a multitude of new jobs. Cohorts of locals gain new skills as they are trained as masons to build these homes. As the majority of these builders in Sahel are otherwise seasonal farmers with little income security, this opportunity is crucial in providing additional revenue.

Mason Training Diversifies Economic Opportunities for Farmers

The benefits received are not solely monetary. Two to three-day conferences are held at the start and end of each construction season that all AVN masons are welcome to attend. They function as networking events where masons can make contacts and share experiences as well as extended educational spaces with workshops on how to run a small business and be a successful entrepreneur.

This additional training is especially important because of AVN’s ultimate goal of creating autonomous local markets that are not dependent on external cash flow in order to perpetuate this model’s long-term sustainability. After picking a project site, AVN recruits an individual as an ambassador to find new customers within a 100km radius of the project. New customers are then connected with masons who are paid directly by the client.

The builders themselves can also find new patrons, which as of 2013 made up 35 percent of the new client base. This indirect facilitation role fostered by AVN is both important in creating community empowerment and independence. Grainer commented: “Our work expands on the famous saying: we teach a man to fish; we teach him how to mend the nets; we teach him how to sell the fish.”

The Growth of Infrastructure in Burkina Faso and the Sahel

This success is not just limited to the market and infrastructure in Burkina Faso, but has expanded to other African communities as well. More than 2,000 homes and commercial/community buildings have been built as part of the program, which have benefited roughly 25,000 people and reduced 65,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions across Burkina Faso, Mali, Benin, Senegal and Ghana.

When projects expand into new territories, established masons from one country sometimes travel to another to train new apprentices. This strengthens ties across communities and has created a pan-African community of roughly 732 masons to date that has generated a total of $2.6 million for local economies.

The tremendous and multifaceted global impact that AVN has had through A Roof, A Skill, A Market program would not have occurred without the original collaboration between Youlou and Grainer. Together, they forged a creative solution that provides affordable and sustainable housing, increased income stability and economic development across entire communities. Their partnership demonstrates the importance of collaborative global development in creating new ways of living together that build a better future for everyone.

– Emily Bender
Photo: Flickr

USAID Initiative Powering Africa Through Global Partnerships

powering Africa
Two out of three people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity. With better access to electricity, Africans will have the opportunity to grow socially and economically. Power Africa, a five-year initiative launched by former president Barack Obama, aims to increase access to reliable, affordable and sustainable power in Africa and in turn support Africa’s economic growth.

The initiative is powering Africa by facilitating the cooperation of governments around the world, the private sector and technical and legal experts to increase Africans’ access to power by using the natural resources of the sun, wind, streams, lakes and natural gas.

Powering Africa Key to the Continent’s Economic Development 

Access to electricity is an opportunity for economic and social growth. Power Africa aims to generate 30,000 more megawatts of electricity and electrify another 60 million homes and businesses. Since 2013, Power Africa has closed 90 power transactions valued at more than $14.5 billion, which are expected to generate more than 7,500 megawatts of power in sub-Saharan Africa.

Although 7,500 megawatts seems minuscule compared to the goal of more than 30,000 megawatts, Power Africa’s deal tracking tool application is publicly tracking 440 transactions totaling 33,444 megawatts, and it is internally tracking 800 transactions that have the potential to add another 75,000 megawatts. Additionally, it has facilitated more than 10 million electrical connections, bringing electricity to more than 50 million people. 

Power Africa is connecting homes and businesses through off-grid and small-scale renewable power projects. Beyond the Grid, a sub-initiative launched in June 2014, is powering Africa by working to unlock investment and growth in off-grid energy and electricity access projects across the African continent. Power Africa has funded off-grid companies and projects that have enabled tens of millions of people to gain access to electricity for the first time. 

Power Africa’s Reach Extends to Many Aspects of the Global Economy

Power Africa also focuses on the role of women in Africa’s power sector. The USAID 2017 Power Africa Report revealed the correlation between workforce diversity and performance and showed that companies that invest in women outperform their peers. Power Africa strives to promote gender equality and female empowerment by supporting projects, programs and policies that promote the engagement of both men and women in sub-Saharan Africa.

Additionally, Power Africa is one of the largest public-private partnerships in history, with more than $54 billion in commitments and more than 150 public and private sector partners. While it strives to power Africa by sustaining economic growth, it also provides economic opportunities for American taxpayers, workers and businesses. As the five-year initiative came to a close, USAID Administrator Mark Green announced Power Africa 2.0, a continuation of the original Power Africa. 

Green stated, “Under Power Africa 2.0, we will be expanding beyond our previous targets of increased energy generation and access and looking to make gains in the areas of distribution and transmission. And perhaps most importantly, we will be taking on the enabling environments that allow private enterprise to grow and thoroughly flourish.” 

In its next phase, this initiative powering Africa will focus on improving environments and making sure utilities are stable. It will also target U.S. outreach to help U.S. companies see the opportunities that exist in Africa.

– Anne-Marie Maher

Photo: Flickr

, ,

United Kingdom Affirms How Aid Creates Markets

aid creates markets
As public sector debt in developed countries continues to rise, foreign aid has become a target for activists and policymakers seeking to cut spending. The aid budget of the United Kingdom is no exception, with critics claiming that spending on foreigners is wasteful and contrary to national interest.

The country’s Department for International Development (DFID), responsible for administering overseas aid, has rejected calls for cuts in spending by emphasizing that aid creates markets that will ultimately consume British goods and provide higher returns for British investment.

National Debate Over Aid Spending

As one of six countries to reach the United Nations target for international aid spending of 0.7 percent of gross national income, the U.K. is a major contributor to worldwide aid spending. The leadership role the country plays in international aid was bolstered by the passing of a 2015 bill that enshrined the spending target into law, committing the country to sustaining current levels of spending as a share of the economy’s size.

However, in a political environment where nationalist sentiment is rising, exemplified by the 2016 Brexit referendum, prominent U.K. politicians have called for a reduction in foreign aid spending. Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Member of Parliament of the Conservative Party and potential future party leader, has said that with the government budget running a deficit, aid levels are an insane and a costly mistake.

Facing this criticism, Penny Mordaunt, the recently appointed head of DFID, has pushed back, contending that the aid is a moral obligation that also serves British interests. In an April 12 speech laying out her vision for U.K. aid, Mordaunt said that improving global health, security and income is linked to British prosperity and that promoting these goals abroad provides lasting benefits for the U.K.

Notably, Mordaunt emphasized that aid creates markets through the development of economies and human capital, citing DFID’s work in sub-Saharan Africa as having created jobs and growth, benefiting recipient countries but also benefiting British companies by creating new consumers.

Private Sector Partnerships a Key Way That Aid Creates Markets

Mordaunt’s speech also explained how aid creates markets in conjunction with the private sector. Aid will be directed to help African companies to acquire loans through British financial markets, encouraging British investors to direct more capital to the region and spurring economic development. By proposing an aid plan in which British investors could achieve higher returns, DFID is hoping to illustrate another channel through which an aid budget is mutually beneficial to both the donor and recipient countries.

Critics have cautioned of the dangers of conflating national and foreign interests in aid work. In response to Mordaunt’s speech, Tamsyn Barton, chief executive of an international development network representing NGOs called Bond, told Devex that aid programs focused on serving national interests are inherently less effective than those focused on the primary goal of improving conditions in affected countries.

Mordaunt does clarify that aid will not be conditional, stating in her speech that tied aid is bad for U.K. competitiveness and for the recipient nations, but observers such as Barton have warned that this distinction should be made explicit.

Even a country such as the United Kingdom, which has enshrined its commitment to foreign aid in law, faces pressure from domestic critics to redirect this funding home. In highlighting how aid creates markets that benefit the home country, Mordaunt and the DFID are seeking to show that the decision between spending at home and spending abroad is a false dilemma.

– Mark Fitzpatrick

Photo: Flickr

, , , ,

Food, Water and Human Rights: 10 Examples of Global Issues

examples of global issues
The year 2018 has brought many positives with it. Several countries are on pace to minimize poverty. Education movements for girls are spreading like wildfire all over the world. More women in developing countries are gaining access to maternal care. More governments are establishing innovative ways to combat fundamental challenges around the globe. Unfortunately, there are still many global issues that plague the world.

Global issues are matters of economic, environmental, social and political concerns that affect the whole world as a community. These issues disrupt the natural framework of humanity, disturbing economic and social progress. These are 10 examples of global issues that are altering the development of human progress across society as a whole.

Examples of Global Issues

  1. Clean Water
    Water is a basic substance required for all living organisms. Without it, human health inevitably fails. According to a report by the United Nations, there is enough fresh water on the planet for everyone. Unfortunately, 844 million people lack access to it, and one of three people do not have access to a toilet. Millions perish daily from unhygienic diseases due to inadequate water and sanitation. Governments are making efforts to assist those in need but are hindered by declining economics and disorganized infrastructures.
  2. Food Security
    Like water, food helps people lead healthy lives. Globally, 12.9 percent of the population is undernourished. Developing countries struggle with providing an adequate food supply to their people; as a result, nearly 795 million people do not have enough food to meet their nutritional needs. The World Food Programme, a humanitarian effort established by the U.N. to combat hunger and food security, is working to bring relief to developing countries, currently assisting more than 80 countries every year.
  3. Health
    Universal health is a growing concern. Unfortunately, diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, smallpox and polio are still claiming the lives of thousands of people worldwide, mostly in developing nations. The World Health Organization is a global initiative that provides antibiotics and vaccinations all over the world. Since its inception, polio cases have declined by 99 percent, tuberculosis treatment has saved more than 37 million people, and in 2016, zero cases of Ebola were reported in West Africa.
  4. Human Rights
    Every person deserves basic rights, regardless of their race, sex or ethnicity. In 1948, the United Nations created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which today is commonly known as the International Human Rights Law. This declaration promotes and protects human rights civilly, economically, politically and socially.
  5. Maternal Health
    Maternal health is a global human rights issue, making it one of the key examples of global issues. There are an estimated 830 pregnancy-related deaths each day. This is mainly due to lack of maternal care. Women die from infections, postpartum bleeding, blood clots and other conditions. The United Nations Population Fund develops relationships with governments around the world to train healthcare professionals to provide expert maternal care to expecting mothers.
  6. Girls’ Access to Education
    Girls deserve the right to learn. Currently, 98 million girls do not attend school due to barriers like poverty, gender bias, governmental conflict, safety concerns and a lack of educators, classrooms and curriculums. Global Citizen reported that schools are sometimes hours away from where children live, making it unsafe for them to travel alone. Let Girls Learn is a U.S. global strategy targeting an increase in safe access to education for girls and educators. Funds are directed towards curriculums to help girls read and write.
  7. Digital Access
    We live in a digital age where we can find all the help we need online. This luxury is absent in many countries, as more than four billion people do not have access to the internet. Internet connectivity would assist those living in developing countries with finding help and aid. With online options, people in need can contact international aid programs to get assistance faster.
  8. Foreign Aid Budgets
    The world would like to believe it does enough for the poor, but sadly this is not true. In the U.S., the International Affairs Budget only makes up 1 percent of the federal budget. Increasing the foreign aid budget is actually beneficial to the American economy. It helps create more jobs in the U.S. and builds wealth in developing countries.
  9. Women’s Rights
    Women’s rights are human rights. Women suffer discrimination in many areas: laws, the workforce and gender-based stereotypes and social practices. The first conference on global feminism was held in Nairobi in 1985 and involved more than 15,000 non-governmental organizations, encouraging 157 governments to adopt strategies geared towards equality, development and peace for women.
  10. Refugees
    Refugees are people who have been forced to flee their homeland due to war, conflict and abuse. Foreign countries have granted them asylum for thousands of years. Refugees are sometimes denied entry into other countries, leaving them without basic human rights such as food, healthcare, education and jobs. Children make up the largest percentage of refugees. The U.N. Refugee Agency currently provides aid and safekeeping to 59 million refugees.

These 10 examples of global issues are not exhaustive. The world is filled with complex issues that must be addressed. Global strategies must continue to advance to nurture and protect all of humanity.

– Naomi C. Kellogg
Photo: Flickr

The Relationship Between Creativity, Innovation and Poverty

creativity, innovation and poverty
Mainstream thinking revolves around the idea that emerging nations need the industrialized world to bring innovation to them, since they lack the resources to innovate themselves. Silicon Valley and their cohort have proven themselves to be masters of advancing and solving first-world issues, but they do little to solve the very real problems that exist in the developing world. Their hearts lie in the right place, but, having grown up in a different world with a vastly different life, they tend to lack the knowledge to fully understand what will and won’t work.

The true innovators of our time are those who live within the borders of developing countries, as they are the ones who truly comprehend the complex relationship between creativity, innovation and poverty.

Creativity and Poverty

In an interview with Innovations Online, a technology and entrepreneurial digital magazine, Marcelo Giugale, a senior economic advisor at the World Bank, stated that “innovation is not the same as invention. Innovation is the actual application of an invention.”

According to Ken Burns, an Ashoka fellow in a similar interview with Innovations, the minds in first world countries often innovate for the sake of innovating. When people live in dire situations and are consistently faced with constrained resources, they may be driven to solve problems and create in ways that can fundamentally change their daily lives.

The creativity that comes from the people who live in extreme poverty has the potential to instate meaningful and large-scale change that can improve the lives of millions, and not just those in the middle and upper middle class seen in developed countries. The link between creativity, innovation and poverty is being acted upon within the minds of several talented individuals living in emerging countries.

Map Kibera and Insiders4Good

In 2009, young Kiberans of the Kibera division in Nairobi, Kenya, created Map Kibera, the first open and free digital map of their own community. Until then, it was just a blank spot on the map. The primary goal of Map Kibera was “to find a new solution to an old problem: the lack of participatory democracy in Kibera.” The platform aims to address the omission of Nairobi’s citizens from policy decisions, mass communications and city representation.

The site utilizes the digital age to allow the region’s inhabitants to bypass the traditional gatekeepers of data and information. They no longer must rely on the common methodologies of NGOs to learn the facts about HIV, gender, malaria, sanitation and other important health facts in their own community – they can now research the information themselves. Map Kibera has recently grown into a full interactive community project and has expanded to Mathare and Mukura.

Insiders4Good East Africa Fellowship is a training program that, in 2017, brought together 20 young entrepreneurs from Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania who had innovative business ideas that have the potential to improve their communities. The program consists of six months of technical and strategic mentorship from international and local leaders.

Mensa Healthcare and Worknasi.com

Many of these young entrepreneurs utilized the cross-section between creativity, innovation and poverty to address and solve many critical local problems. Using artificial intelligence, Peter Aketch’s Mensa Healthcare provides actionable data to pharmaceutical companies, public health organizations and governmental agencies.

The necessity for such an innovation is vital due to the healthcare system’s lack of comprehensive and efficient digital record keeping. This innovation will decrease the possibility of misdiagnosis and allow for a more robust collection of public health data.

Eighty percent of graduates in Tanzania struggle to find jobs. This has led to an increase in crime, extremism, drug abuse, and violence. Edgar Mwampinge’s Worknasi.com aims to help these youths by making it easier for start-ups and freelancers to succeed.

His goal is to make shared office space available by connecting these youths with business and office owners who wish to share their workspaces.

IV Drip Alert and Lyon Analytics

In Rwanda, Ange Uwambajimana’s IV Drip Alert enables nurses to more easily manage intravenous fluids through its wireless system. This creative innovation was in response to problems such as embolism which can occur if the medical observer forgets to change the IV at the right time.

And Kenya’s John Mugendi developed a breast cancer prediction system. He proposes that his Lyon Analytics will track the progression from onset to late stages.

2015 Website

2015 is a site that launched in the Middle East. It invites users to submit their own creations that help bring awareness to social issues such as poverty in the Arab region. The relationship between creativity, innovation and poverty is front and center on the site as it showcases images and videos of hunger, the vulnerable and of poverty.

This “movement,” as some have come to call it, was born out of a reaction to the promise made by the nearly 200 world leaders at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000. They pledged to eradicate extreme poverty by the year 2015; however, as of 2012, the number of people still living in extreme poverty checked in at 3 billion.

The creative mind brings wonderous elements to the world — whether that be in new technological advances in the medical field, social satire, digital communications or a site dedicated to awareness. As long as ambition and goodwill prevail, there will always be a relationship that exists between creativity, innovation and poverty. The 2015 slogan reads, “Art changes perceptions, perceptions change people, people change the world,” and its mantra could not be more right.

– Aaron Stein
Photo: Flickr

Political Instability Affecting Credit Access in Libya

Credit Access In LibyaThe monetary crisis currently entangling Libyan families has reached unprecedented levels as of late. Credit access in Libya has become a major issue, almost comparable to the ongoing civil war that began in 2014. The only difference is that the latter has somewhat declined whereas the former has become a more rampant issue than ever before.

Starting in 2014, chronic shortages of dinar banknotes and weak valuation of Libyan currency have caused serious problems for Libyans, who are forced to spend their days lining up in front of banks in order to cash their paychecks or simply withdraw some money, only to find out that it cannot be done.

Political Instability a Roadblock to Credit Access in Libya

One of the main factors that has contributed to the lack of credit access in Libya is the precarious political scenario that has effectively held the country hostage. Political stability is all but necessary to kickstart any economy, and Libya has been struggling to achieve this. Ever since the Libyan Political Agreement was reached in Skhirat in December 2015, Libyans have been living under a divided and problematic system.

The eastern part of the country, controlled by the House of Representatives, is based in Tobruk and supported by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army, but this conglomerate of political and military forces does not support nor recognize the Government of National Accord in Tripoli, which was established by the agreement and has international support.

In economic terms, this unstable political situation resulted in nominal GDP in 2016 falling by more than half compared to 2010, to $33.2 billion from $73.6 billion, and per capita income dropping to $5,000 in 2016 from more than $11,000 in 2010. Furthermore, those who took over the country after Qaddafi’s death kept the regime’s welfare system in place, which has been spending at unsustainable levels. Much of the clientelism, corruption and misappropriation that characterized the old regime has been allowed to continue.

Political instability also has led to a forceful block of hydrocarbon infrastructure by armed militias in the summer of 2013.  Such action caused oil production to drop precipitously, from 1.45 million barrels per day in May 2013 to only 220,000 barrels per day in November 2013.

Immediate Efforts to Address the Credit Access Crisis

The most important step in alleviating the currently disastrous status of credit access in Libya is working towards political stability. However, more short-term efforts to remedy the situation are also underway.

In October 2017, public authorities, businesses and international donors gathered in Tripoli to discuss ways to improve access to finance for entrepreneurs in Libya. Many political authorities were present at the meeting, such as Ahmed Maitieg, Libya’s deputy Prime Minister, and Johannes Han, European Union Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations. This meeting established a new program funded by Libyan banks to provide €74 million of standard and subsidized loans to small and medium-sized businesses in 2018.

Such strategies can help small businesses survive and grow in the midst of the larger work towards political stability in Libya. Both short and long-term efforts are needed to create lasting stability and resolve the current credit access crisis.

– Luca Di Fabio
Photo: Flickr

,

How the US Benefits from Foreign Aid to Sierra Leone

U.S. Benefits from Foreign Aid to Sierra Leone
In May 2014, West Africa was struck by a deadly Ebola epidemic. By the epidemic’s end, more than 11,000 people had lost their lives and close to 28,000 total cases were reported. Among the West African countries most affected was Sierra Leone. Prior to the May 2014 outbreak, the Sierra Leonean economy was growing rapidly and democratization had begun to wash over the country. 

Although the Ebola epidemic seriously stunted economic growth for a time, Sierra Leone has begun to vigorously bounce back. In addition to domestic reform, continued aid from the U.S. has aided greatly in improving the lives of Sierra Leonean citizens. However, this aid is not one-sided; the U.S benefits from foreign aid to Sierra Leone as well.

Containment of Infectious Diseases

According to U.S. foreign assistance statistics, Sierra Leone will receive $14.4 million in foreign aid from the U.S. in 2019. The majority of the aid will focus primarily on providing medical care for those affected by malaria. Even though malaria continues to be a major issue in Sierra Leone, the overall mortality rate attributed to malaria cases has fallen dramatically in recent years. Sierra Leone has pledged to reduce malaria-based infections by 40 percent by 2020.

If this goal were achieved, Sierra Leoneans would see increased life expectancy, a lower infant mortality rate and fewer cases of pregnancy complications in women. Increasing resistance to epidemics like Ebola or infectious diseases like malaria is a key way in which the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Sierra Leone. The risk of regional epidemics becoming global ones is of great importance to ensuring global security and health. 

Promoting Democracy and Good Diplomatic Relations

Sierra Leone has seen progress in its democratic institutions since the end of a brutal civil war in 2002. In 2007, Sierra Leone experienced its first peaceful transition of power since the conflict through a democratic election. Approximately $2 million in U.S. foreign aid will be directed towards encouraging democracy, respect for human rights and good governance. Strengthening ties with another democratic ally in West Africa is one way that the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone’s poverty rates remain quite high and the majority of those living in poverty are girls and women. Due to stagnant economic growth during the Ebola epidemic and traditional cultural norms, women have been denied access to high-quality healthcare and education. As the Sierra Leonean government continues to root out entrenched corruption and institute economic reform, poverty rates across the country have begun to slowly decline.

Trade a Major Way the U.S. Benefits from Foreign Aid to Sierra Leone

Bilateral relations between the U.S. and Sierra Leone remain relatively strong. According to the State Department, “U.S. exports to Sierra Leone include transportation equipment, agricultural products, machinery and chemicals, while its imports from Sierra Leone include minerals, metals, machinery and agricultural products.” Having a strong economic partner in Africa increases the U.S.’ competitiveness with countries such as China, who has been investing heavily in Africa in recent years. Having a strong partner in trade is another way that the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Sierra Leone. 

With the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone contained and the country experiencing economic growth, the future looks quite bright for the small West African country. To see continued progress in strengthening its ties with Sierra Leone, the U.S. must continue to pledge its support in the form of foreign aid. 

– Dalton Westfall
Photo: Flickr