Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

, ,

Top 10 Causes of Death in Developing Countries

Top 10 Causes of Death in Developing Countries
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), less than a quarter of the population in developing nations lives to age 70. In addition, almost a third of deaths in those countries occur among children younger than 14. These are the top 10 causes of death in developing countries as listed by WHO.

Top 10 Causes of Death in Developing Countries

  1. Coronary Heart Disease
    The most common of all the causes of death in developing countries is coronary heart disease (CHD). In 2015, CHD was responsible for approximately 7.4 million deaths; an estimated three-quarters of these deaths took place in low and middle-income countries. CHD is the disease of the blood vessels supplying the heart, and is caused by poor dieting habits, physical inactivity and excessive drinking or smoking, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
  2. Lower Respiratory Infections
    Lower respiratory infections, such as pneumonia and bronchiolitis, cause more than 1.5 million deaths annually, 42 percent of which occur in developing countries. As stated in a paper published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), these infections are the leading cause of death in children under five and are caused by poor living conditions.
  3. HIV/AIDS
    In 2016, HIV/AIDS caused one million deaths. As stated in a Business Insider article, for many years, HIV/AIDS was the leading cause of death in Africa; however, this is no longer the case due to increased education on prevention and treatment.
  4. Perinatal Conditions
    Of the 133 million babies born each year, 2.8 million die within the first week of life. This is called perinatal mortality; it refers to the death of a mother or her child in the time during and following birth. These deaths could be prevented by improving the quality of health care for pregnant women, especially during delivery.
  5. Stroke and Other Cerebrovascular Diseases
    Five million people die from stroke each year. As noted in a paper published by the NCBI, prevention tactics include eliminating smoking, improving dietary habits and increasing physical inactivity.
  6. Diarrheal Diseases
    According to WHO, approximately 525,000 children under the age of five die from diarrheal diseases each year. These diseases can be prevented by drinking clean water and practicing good sanitation habits.
  7. Malaria
    More than one million people die from malaria each year. According to CDC, malaria is most prevalent in Africa due to a mosquito, Anopheles gambiae complex, which transmits the disease. Young children and pregnant women are most at risk in Africa due to undeveloped or decreased immunity.
  8. Tuberculosis
    There were 1.7 million deaths from tuberculosis in 2016. According to the Health Sector Priorities Review from the World Bank, tuberculosis is treatable, but without chemotherapy, the death rate is 50 percent.
  9. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
    WHO estimates that in 2015, 3.17 million deaths were caused by COPD, 90 percent of which occurred in low or middle-income countries. As noted in an NCBI paper, cigarette smoking has increased in developing countries, causing a rise in smoking-related diseases, such as COPD.
  10. Traffic Accidents
    More than 1.25 million people die each year from road traffic accidents, 90 percent of which occur in low- or middle-income countries. According to WHO, causes of road traffic accidents include unsafe vehicles, inadequate law enforcement, drivers under the influence and speeding. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has set the target of halving the number of deaths and injuries caused by crashes by 2020. Possible prevention methods include better education and safer roads and vehicles.

All of these causes of death in developing countries are preventable or treatable. WHO reported that the U.S. spends $8,362 per person per year on health, while Eritrea, a country in Africa, spends $12 per person per year on health. In this way, improving healthcare services in developing nations will substantially decrease the number of deaths.

– Olivia Booth

Photo: Flickr

,

How Guaranteed Basic Income Can Solve Poverty

Income_Africa
The idea that guaranteed basic income can solve poverty was first proposed by lawyer Thomas More in the 16th century. Guaranteed basic income, also known as universal basic income is an unconditional periodic money transfer to ensure that a citizen can pay for his or her basic necessities no matter what. The idea that everybody will be paid money every month, whether or not they have a job, is undeniably radical.

Guaranteed Basic Income Has Supporters and Detractors

Economists are divided into two groups over the idea: one in favor of guaranteed basic income and the other against it. Those opposing the idea believe that it will undermine the incentive to do a job, that more people would end up in low-wage jobs or that a “handout” is by no means a tool to “turn things around”. Some of them also argue that even if guaranteed basic income can solve poverty, a program like this can be very expensive and hence negatively affect a nation’s economic growth.

On the other hand, the idea has found acceptance among several intellectuals, politicians, historians, economists and entrepreneurs alike. One of them is Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg, who has called for others to embrace the idea, in case people start losing their jobs to automation and artificial intelligence.

Current Studies Testing the Efficacy of Basic Income

To see how guaranteed basic income can solve poverty, many experiments are underway around the world. A nonprofit organization in Kenya called GiveDirectly has launched one of the most comprehensive economic and social experiments in human history. They will be selecting groups of people who will receive $22 per month for a period of two to 12 years, no strings attached.

To date, the organization has distributed more than $70 million among 80,000 households in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. “What’s interesting about basic income is that, coincidentally, it’s a conversation people are having all the way from Silicon Valley, where they are worried about job loss to robots, to some of the poorest countries in the world,” said Paul Niehaus, professor of economics at the University of California San Diego, co-founder of GiveDirectly and a firm believer that guaranteed basic income can solve poverty.

In Finland, the government randomly selected 2,000 unemployed citizens for a one of a kind experiment started at the beginning of 2017. To study how guaranteed basic income can solve poverty, these people will receive €560 every month for two years, tax-free. A key goal of the Finland experiment is to give unemployed people incentive to work by providing them with financial assistance even after they become employed again. Researchers chose the €560 monthly amount because it roughly equals the current level of unemployment benefits.

In a recent interview given to NPR, Stockton, California mayor Michael Tubbs said,” In fact, I think [it] will make people work better and smarter and harder and be able to do things like spending time with their families [be]cause we’re not robots.” Stockton will start a similar experiment by the end of this year.

What Basic Income Can Do for Impoverished People

The proponents of guaranteed basic income caution that the amount paid must be sufficient to be of assistance when misfortune strikes but not large enough to satisfy all of a person’s wants. They also argue that the freedom to start a new business or to say yes to a job that pays little but yields joy, or to say no to a job that pays too little or is demeaning, should not be reserved only for the wealthy.

Historian Rutger Bregman highlights an experiment conducted in India by American psychologists involving Indian sugarcane farmers. These farmers get around 60 percent of their income all at once. Hence, they are relatively rich during one part of the year but poor the rest of the year. The farmers were subjected to an IQ test before and after the harvest. The results showed that farmers gained nine IQ points after the harvest, as the extra money freed up mental resources that were previously concerned with making ends meet.

A similar study conducted between 1974 and 1979 in Dauphin, Canada proved that a guaranteed basic income can solve poverty by making the recipients smarter, healthier and richer. Further studies can bolster the effectiveness of basic income worldwide and could lead to it becoming an important tool in ending global poverty.

– Himja Sethi

Photo: Flickr

Banana Farming in Zimbabwe Eases Poverty in Rural Communities

Banana farming in Zimbabwe
Banana farming in Zimbabwe has evolved from a subsistence crop to a commercial enterprise, transforming rural communities in the eastern part of the country.

In 2010, USAID funded the Zimbabwe Agricultural Income and Employment Development (Zim-AIED) program that worked with banana farmers in the Honde Valley in eastern Zimbabwe to improve agricultural practices, access to markets and the production of high-quality bananas.

The Food and Agriculture Organization also implemented the Mupangwa irrigation scheme in the Honde Valley to help farmers improve banana cultivation and link them to markets and other farmers in the region.

Prior to USAID intervention, banana farming in Zimbabwe was a low-income enterprise. Farmers earned less than $200 per year due to a lack of formal markets and very low harvest yields. Bananas were only grown on a small scale and sold on the roadside to middlemen that took advantage of these small-scale farmers by paying low prices only to sell them for much higher prices.

Where monthly yields used to be only 30 to 50 kilograms of bananas, individuals are now able to produce over 1,000 kilograms per month. The region has gone from producing 2,000 tons in 2011 to more than 27,000 tons in 2017, contributing more than $7.5 million to the rural economy each year.

Banana farming in Zimbabwe has been wildly successful because the trees are easy to manage. Banana trees require a humid tropical climate, good drainage and fertile soil. The Honde Valley in eastern Zimbabwe ticks all of these boxes and thus is perfect for banana farming.

By 2015, about 600 banana farmers had received technical assistance in agricultural techniques. They were able to transform their farming practices to increase their production and incomes drastically. Those farmers then passed on their knowledge to neighbors and others in their community. Now, the Honde Valley is home to more than 5,000 commercial banana farmers, each earning an average of about $4,200 per acre per year.

Banana farming in Zimbabwe has opened many other doors for rural farmers and their families. Access to credit and bank loans has increased dramatically, school enrollment has increased and local small and medium-sized businesses have sprung up in the region. Young people that had left the country in search of employment have returned to eastern Zimbabwe to take up small-scale banana farming. Half of the African population is under 25 years old, so providing decent employment opportunities is vital for the young labor force.

Commercial banana farming in Zimbabwe has also empowered women. Women constitute approximately 60 percent of banana farmers in the Honde Valley. Many of the newfound banana farmers are widows trying to make ends meet to support their families. Other women help supplement their husbands’ incomes with the profits from banana farming.

Banana farming in Zimbabwe has helped pull rural communities out of poverty, improve nutrition and food security, increase incomes and empower individuals throughout the Honde Valley.

– Sydney Lacey

Photo: Flickr

,

Poverty and Tobacco Use Are Linked Within a Vicious Cycle

Tobacco
Studies have shown that poor households in low-income countries can spend an upward of 10 percent of household budgets on tobacco products. Poverty and tobacco use are a highly linked global phenomenon. This disproportionate relation has several outlining side effects.

Households with less disposable income that use tobacco have fewer means of survival when it comes to health and basic living costs. The choice to buy tobacco-based products deprives families of the income needed for proper diet and nutrition. In this respect, outside of the health risks typically associated with tobacco usage, poor diet and malnutrition are within the realm of side effects.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has also reported that tobacco leads to higher illiteracy rates when money is used on tobacco products over education. One 1997 study in Chennai, India, found this to be true. “Among illiterate men, the smoking prevalence was 64 percent, whereas it was only 21 percent among those with more than 12 years of schooling,” reports the WHO.

The vicious cycle of poverty and tobacco use is prevalent throughout the world. Due to the prevalence of poverty in certain countries, farmers will accept a line of credit from tobacco companies. This credit is set in the form of seeds, fertilizer and other essentials for growing tobacco. The problem with this business transaction is that farmers must then sell all of their product. However, the profit for selling the tobacco leaves often ends up being less than that of the line of credit, leaving the farmers indebted to the tobacco companies and continuing the cycle even further.

Luckily, in 2015 the United Nations General Assembly adopted a new plan in order to combat the socioeconomic side effects of poverty and tobacco use. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) formally recognize, on a global scale, the negative impact of tobacco consumption on health, wealth and development. Under the SDGs, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was set to “protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke.”

One key difference included in the Sustainable Development Goals is that, unlike previous implementations, the SDGs apply to all U.N. members. High-income countries, especially the United States, are no exception. Though the United States has one of the highest standards of living, poverty and tobacco use still afflict lower socioeconomic groups. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention found in 2014 that, in the population of people having only a GED certificate, smoking prevalence is more than 40 percent.

Fighting poverty is essential to the fight against tobacco use. Tobacco use is a habit that is so detrimental to human life that it should be of high focus for eradication, especially when global health is at risk.

– Richard Zarrilli, Jr

Photo: Flickr

, ,

How to Write to the President

how to write the President
The President of the United States may seem out of reach to everyday constituents who do not hold any government office. Fortunately, the U.S. democracy is such that essentially anyone can reach the White House. The official website of the president, whitehouse.gov, makes information for contacting the nation’s highest office readily available. Web visitors can find phone numbers, with telecommunications options available for the deaf or mute, online. Furthermore, there is a form built into the site for easy email correspondence.

Though calling and emailing are fast and convenient communication methods, there may be a circumstance that calls for a letter. While the website provides basic information about how to write the president, there are a few other things a potential correspondent may want to consider:

The Paper

The White House recommends that correspondents compose their letter on 8.5 by 11-inch paper, which is the standard size for most ruled and printer paper. There are no guidelines about weight, color or fiber; communicators are free to choose whatever paper they feel is appropriate. That being said, the letter is going to pass through many hands once it arrives at the White House, so durability is an important consideration.

The Method

Choosing between a typed letter and a handwritten letter is an important decision about how to write the president. While handwritten letters tend to come across as more personal, they may be illegible. Should a correspondent choose to send a handwritten letter, use a dark ink pen and write neatly. Avoid using cursive or writing small. For typed letters, stick to a 10 to 12-point font size and avoid flowery, cursive-looking fonts.

The Message

Threats aside, correspondents can write the president about any number of topics. Whether someone wishes to voice their support or frustration, advocate for policy, give their opinion or share a personal anecdote, the White House is receptive to correspondence from the public. Letter writers should keep in mind that the president holds the highest office in the nation, and that alone garners some level of deference. Regardless of personal political opinion, it is wise to use a respectful tone when addressing the president, even if the purpose of the letter is to express discontent.

Enclosures

The White House cannot accept monetary contributions in any form. If a correspondent chooses to enclose any additional documents or photographs, it is likely that they may not be returned. Furthermore, these items may be damaged during the security screening process.

The Volume

The White House receives tens of thousands of letters and packages on a daily basis. The Office of Presidential Correspondence is the government body that receives all of these letters. Within this office, staffers, interns and volunteers are tasked with the responsibility of reading all of these letters. Generally, correspondents should not expect that their letter will actually be read by the president, although there is a chance that it may. Former President Obama made it his policy to read ten letters every night, chosen by the Director of Presidential Correspondence. President Trump may hold his own letter-reading regimen.

Though there is no real way to ensure that any particular letter makes it to the president’s desk, Fiona Reeves, who served as the Director of Presidential Correspondence during the Obama administration, provided a few insights in an interview with 99% Invisible. Reeves explained that her team sought out mail “that is geographically diverse . . . [with] different writing styles . . . and ways of communicating.” The point of passing letters on to the president is to give him a sense of what really matters to the American people. A pointed letter that helps the president feel the country’s pulse may very well find its way to the Oval Office.

Mailing

The final consideration for how to write the president has to do with the mailing. Correspondents should address their letters to:

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC, 20500

Ensure to include a return address on the letter. Place a stamp in the upper right corner and mail as usual or visit a local post office for expedited mailing options. Choosing to write to the White House is an empowering civic opportunity available to anyone. Sending mail to the president is an opportunity to advocate for policies that alleviate global poverty.

– Chantel Baul

Photo: Google

Medical Advancements in Ethiopia Are Improving Lives

medical advancements in Ethiopia
With a population of approximately 106 million, the nation of Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa. Along with this large population, Ethiopia also has one of the highest poverty levels in the world and is one of the most underdeveloped countries on the continent.

Due to this underdevelopment, Ethiopia has many medical and healthcare related concerns that have historically not been able to be addressed. Recently, the government of Ethiopia has made the health of its citizens a priority, leading to many medical advancements in Ethiopia.

The current health system in the African nation is unable to provide for over half of its large population. One of the main reasons that Ethiopia has been unable to provide medical care to so much of its citizens is because there are not enough medical facilities in the country, and many people do not have access to the ones that do exist.

According to the World Health Organization, only 75 percent of urban families and about 42 percent of rural households are within walking distance from a hospital. When individuals are able to access a medical facility, they are often met with facilities that are understaffed, have workers with low qualifications and do not have many standard clinical supplies.

One of the ways that medical advancements in Ethiopia are occurring is by working on improving this shortage of medical facilities. An example is the expansion of St. Paul’s hospital in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. Though this is an existing medical facility, the expansion will help the hospital take in more citizens than it has previously been able to. Currently, the hospital has between 12 and 14 beds in the emergency room; after the expansion is complete, the emergency room will hold up to 50 beds. This expansion is partially possible because of the partnership between Millennium Medical College in Ethiopia’s capital and the University of Michigan.

Another way in which medical advancements in Ethiopia are being made is by the nation’s dedication to treating HIV and AIDS. With the help of the United States, the Ethiopian government has committed to providing free treatments for HIV and AIDS. U.S. aid has been a vital part of this effort and has been working to provide the needed treatments. According to USAID, in just one year the number of Ethiopians accessing HIV counseling and testing increased from 500,000 to more than nine million. It is also reported that the number of people on anti-retroviral therapy increased from 900 in 2005 to 394,000 in 2015.

This expansion of current medical facilities and commitment to the treatment of HIV and AIDS are just two ways in which medical advancements in Ethiopia are being made. The University of Michigan has said that Ethiopia is experiencing a “medical revolution,” and it appears that this is just the beginning.

– Nicole Stout

Photo: Flickr

, , ,

Women’s Rights in Tunisia On a Steady Incline of Improvement

Improving Women’s Rights in Tunisia
While Tunisia has the most progressive laws on women’s rights in relation to other parts of the Arab world, patriarchal values still persist. In 2010, a study from the Tunisian government revealed that many of the country’s women are sexually, verbally and physically abused. However, improving women’s rights in Tunisia has become an initiative for many organizations.

The U.N.’s Work to Represent Women in Politics

In June 2016, Tunisia’s parliament approved an amendment to ensure a greater representation of women in local politics. Applying to regional and municipal elections, the amendment included a proposal for “horizontal and vertical” gender parity in Article 49 of Tunisia’s electoral law. This also marked the first time that 73 Tunisian female parliamentarians (from different backgrounds, parties and political ideologies) conducted their own lobbying in favor of the horizontal and vertical parity.

“Besides being a first in our region, the adoption of horizontal and vertical parity in electoral law is a timely achievement because it will guarantee effective participation of women in the upcoming decentralization process in Tunisia,” said Leila Rhiwi, the U.N. Women Representative from Maghreb. In March 2016, U.N. Women also began a project with Tunisia’s parliamentarians that would support the implementation of the women’s caucus. This will work toward improving women’s rights in Tunisia by increasing their representation in local and national politics.

Aswat Nissa Training Tunisia’s Women For Political Lives

Many Tunisian women find ways to exercise the power given to them by the country’s progressive laws. Some of these ways include Tunisian women attending political academies that began after the country’s Arab Spring revolution in 2011. In October 2016, the political academy Aswat Nissa was revealed to hold monthly training sessions for Tunisian women who enter political roles.

Aswat Nissa teaches Tunisian women many necessary political skills, including how to debate effectively and draft gender-sensitive budgets. Aswat Nissa enrolled forty Tunisian women in 2016.

“I have visited parliament before, but when you’re an assembly member, it’s something else. You are part of this world,” said Aswat Nissa graduate Karima Tagaz.

Tunisia’s New Law Against Gender-Based Violence

In October 2016, Tunisia’s parliament debated a bill to strengthen legislation on violence against women. The bill would be incorporated into Tunisia’s legislative and government policies, defining gender-based violence, outlawing marital rape and increasing penalties for sexual harassment in the workplace. The bill was approved on July 26, 2017, and served as a landmark step toward improving women’s rights in Tunisia.

“By enacting this new law, the Tunisian authorities have shown a commitment to the rights of women and are setting a standard that many others would do well to follow,” said Amna Guellali, Tunisia’s office director at Human Rights Watch. The new law included requirements to assist Tunisia’s victims of domestic violence, providing them with legal and medical support. Tunisia’s authorities intend to ensure adequate funding and political will to fully place the new law into effect.

A Proposal For Tunisian Women to Share in Inheritance

In January 2018, the Committee on Individual Freedoms and Equality (CIFE) planned a proposal for Tunisia’s women to share in men’s inheritance and pass their family name onto their children.

“Tunisia is once again pioneering and irreversibly moving toward advancement,” Bochra Bel Haj Hmida, CIFE’s chairwoman, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “All discriminatory laws in the family space and public space are included in the commission’s tasks.”

CIFE’s proposed bill will also ban dowries, allowing Tunisia’s men and women to share their roles as head of the household. CIFE planned to present its recommendations to Tunisia’s president on Feb. 20, 2018, but requested a postponement until after municipal elections on May 6. The news site ANSAmed said that CIFE did not want its proposal to become an issue of electoral tension.

Tunisia’s parliament, the U.N. and CIFE have made much progress in strengthening the representation of Tunisia’s women in politics and protecting their freedom. Many groups will continue working toward improving women’s rights in Tunisia.

– Rhondjé Singh Tanwar

Photo: Flickr

,

10 Solutions to Global Poverty That Can Be Implemented Today

solutions to global poverty
Nearly half of the world’s population lives at or below the poverty line; out of the 2.2 billion children in the world, one billion of them live in poverty. Though this issue may not be as prevalent or visible in the U.S., it is an issue that affects everyone. Small steps can be taken to better this problem, leading to possible solutions to global poverty.

  1. Properly Identifying Issues
    One of the largest issues involving poverty is the inability to properly identify contributing factors at the micro and macro level. Many organizations assume that local aid alone will better the problem, but it is only with the combined efforts of local, state and national governments that poverty will lessen.
  1. Allocating Proper Time and Resources
    Preventable diseases such as pneumonia claim the lives of nearly two million children per year. Without proper planning, which includes allocating enough time, money and volunteer work, global poverty will continue to exist. Currently, the U.S. spends only about one percent of the federal budget on foreign aid. By creating detailed plans and projects aimed at helping other nations, global poverty will begin to lessen.
  1. Creating organizations and communities to work locally
    Enacting policy is not the only solution to global poverty, as policy often does not affect those suffering directly. As previously stated, efforts must come from both local and federal domains. Essentially, while policy is created to change legislation, local organizations enact the changes, directly helping those in need. On top of that, working with entire communities instead of specific individuals has been proven to be more effective.
  1. Creating Jobs
    Creating jobs in poverty-ridden communities allows individuals to pull themselves out of poverty. This solution to global poverty is arguably one of the most effective. Federal governments can achieve this by rebuilding their infrastructures, developing renewable energy sources, renovating abandoned housing and raising the minimum wage.
    By raising the minimum wage in existing jobs, companies would combat recent inflation in both developed and developing countries. This change in the states (in places such as Seattle and Washington) has been shown to reduce poverty.
  1. Providing Access to Healthcare
    Unpaid medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy. Having access to free or affordable healthcare would allow families to allocate the money they would normally spend on healthcare elsewhere.
  1. Empowering Women
    Female empowerment in developing countries often comes from organizations that work to reduce poverty by allowing them to take leadership positions and advance socially and economically.
  1. Microfinancing
    Microfinancing provides improvements to socioeconomic status by providing access to more, larger loans, providing better repayment rates for women, as they are less likely to default on their loans than men and extending education programs for loan-payers’ children. It can also improve health and welfare by providing access to clean water and better sanitation, create new jobs and teach developing countries to be more sustainable.
    Microfinancing continues to prove that even the smallest amounts of credit can be one of the many solutions to global poverty.
  1. Provide paid leave and paid sick days
    Paid maternal and paternal leave allows families to save money after childbirth, as having a child is a leading cause of economic hardship. Furthermore, giving workers paid sick days allows them to properly get over their illness without worrying about missing a paycheck or receiving a paycheck with fewer funds than normal.
  1. Supporting equal pay for men and women
    Closing the wage gap between men and women would reduce 50 percent of poverty experienced by women and their families. This would also add money to the nation’s gross domestic product.

Global poverty has proven to be an unruly, frustrating cycle, but eradicating it is within our means. These solutions to global poverty can and should be implemented to begin the end of poverty.

– Chylene Babb

Photo: Flickr

,

Poverty in Palestine Remains a Daunting Challenge

poverty in Palestine
Palestine is comprised of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and poverty in Palestine affects one-quarter of the 4.8 million residents. Half of the Palestinian population relies on aid for basic survival due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.

The unemployment rate among Palestinian youth is at 56 percent, the highest in the world. Thirty-three percent of households are food insecure, with rates even higher in refugee camps, “driven by high rates of poverty resulting from unemployment, which is in part due to ongoing Israeli access and movement restrictions, as well as high prices for food and economic shocks.”

The Israeli occupation of Palestine has been called the longest-running occupation in recent history. The World Bank reports that the nature of the ongoing occupation with no end in sight and manmade barriers have isolated Palestine from the rest of the world, damaging the country’s economic development and constraining growth and investment.

A new tax plan recently unveiled by the Palestinian Cabinet is due to expand the tax liability of Palestinian citizens. In an attempt to curb the 2018 budgetary deficit, which projects an increase in expenses to exceed the increase in revenues by 11 percent, Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah met with business representatives and civil society members and agreed on “developing the tax system through tax liability by widening the base of taxpayers, attracting new taxpayers and limiting tax evasion.” These measures, which have been criticized as further burdening Palestinians, were reportedly taken in response to the threat by President Trump to halt all financial aid to the Palestinian Authority.

Residents have been dealing with poverty in Palestine for a very long time. International aid organizations have been able to somewhat address the immediate needs of Palestinian households in the aftermath of major crises. Groups like American Near East Refugee Aid and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, among others, have helped ease the sufferings of Palestinian locals and refugees by providing a critical lifeline for daily survival in the form of international and humanitarian aid.

Palestinian households have also utilized coping mechanisms such as relying on friends and extended families and saving money for higher education at an early stage of a child’s life. In order to prevent a power vacuum that emboldens extremist groups or other factions to seize power, observers have encouraged Palestinian political forces to rebuild a national movement based on democratic principles. Critics, however, have noted that there can be no real democracy under an Israeli occupation.

Palestine and its people face continuing challenges to their sustainable livelihood and daily survival, in part due to the political flashpoints that have deteriorated this Middle Eastern region’s stability, economic development and prosperity. Humanitarian and foreign aid has helped alleviate the stringent conditions of local businesses and foster development. Reducing poverty in Palestine is largely dependent on a change in the political conditions of this volatile region.

– Mohammed Khalid

Photo: Flickr

,

10 Facts About Orphans in Africa

orphans in africa
As the poorest continent in the world, the people of Africa face many struggles regarding poverty. These struggles impact the lives of children the most, and many are left orphaned and fending for themselves.

10 Facts About Orphans in Africa

  1. There Are Millions of Orphans in Africa
    In the entire continent of Africa, there are an estimated 52 million orphans. Statistics for orphans combine three groups, including those that have lost both parents, those that have lost a father and those that have lost a mother.
  2. Africa Is Home to More Than a Quarter of All Orphans
    With approximately 140 million orphans in the world, Africa’s 52 million make up more than 30 percent of the entire orphan population.
  3. Millions in South Africa Alone
    There are an estimated 3.5 million orphans in South Africa alone. As of 2014, 812,000 have lost both parents, 2.13 million have lost their fathers and 611,000 have lost their mothers.
  4. Close to a Quarter of African Youths are Orphaned
    In sub-Saharan regions of Africa, around 20 percent of the population under 18 is considered orphaned.
  5. Millions Orphaned by AIDS
    Approximately 32 percent of orphans in Africa have had a parent or parents die from AIDS. Many of these children suffer from the disease as well. AIDS continues to be a major epidemic in Africa, and the number of those affected continues to rise.
  6. Many Recent Orphans Lost Their Parents to Ebola
    Thousands of African children were orphaned by losing parents to Ebola. The Ebola epidemic was especially detrimental to West Africa at its height, spreading through many countries, including Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, leaving close to 4,000 children without parents.
  7. Orphans Lead a Difficult Life
    Many orphans have no support and are forced to fend for themselves as well as their siblings. This includes maintaining a household, providing food and working to support themselves as well as fund education and medical costs. Yet, because of their young age, orphans are often unable to find any kind of stable income. Fear and stigmatization of diseases such as AIDS also contribute to unemployment.
  8. Extended Family Members Are Unable to Provide Support
    Many orphans turn to extended family members for support, but they are often unable to provide it. Their extended family often includes grandparents and women, who tend to make 31 percent less than the average household.
  9. Foreign Aid Supports Orphans
    There are many foreign aid organizations and projects aiding and supporting African orphans, including USAID. USAID’s Orphans and Vulnerable Children Program focuses on improving the health and well-being of African children, including orphans. This program focuses on reducing educational disparities, providing physiological care and support, helping fund families’ essential needs and ensuring legal support and protection.
  10. The Number of Orphans Is Decreasing
    Since 2001, with the help of foreign aid, the number of orphans in Africa, along with the rest of the world, has decreased and is continuing to decrease. This decline, although small, has been very consistent throughout the years, at approximately 0.7 percent per year.

The plight of orphans in sub-Saharan Africa is the culmination of a number of factors that require a multi-faceted and cooperative strategy to curb. As things begin to get better by some measures, it remains critical to continue the push for foreign aid at the scale of national policy.

– Keegan Struble

Photo: Flickr