Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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The Success of Australia’s Humanitarian Aid to Fiji

Humanitarian Aid to FijiIn February of 2016, category five Tropical Cyclone Winston killed 44 people and negatively affected the lives of the 540,000 residents of Fiji. Recorded as the most powerful storm to ever hit the Southern Hemisphere, Fiji was in desperate need of emergency assistance. The Australian government was one of the first to step in to help, as they are economic partners with Fiji, and donated $15 million worth of emergency humanitarian assistance. Australia was able to provide humanitarian aid to Fiji that changed the lives of thousands of people for the better.

The Australian government enacted an aid program to provide assistance to Fiji. Australia’s Department of Foreign Affair and Trade’s aid program focuses heavily on creating a prosperous Fiji through development assistance for the rural poor. The focus is on aspects of education and economic opportunity. The program includes three objectives to be addressed and resolved. The three components are increased private sector development, improved human development and Tropical Cyclone Winston recovery. A total of $65.6 million in the 2017-18 years will be contributed to the resolution of Fiji’s most important issues.

The third objective in Australia’s aid program is of utmost importance as recovery processes are still being made post-cyclone. Altogether, Australia has contributed $35 million in assistance services. Five million dollars was used for lifesaving supplies and support, $10 million was used to send children back to school and provide health services to residents and $20 million was leftover for Fiji’s long-term recovery.

The $20 million is to be used primarily for reconstruction of hospitals and schools, replacing damaged medical equipment and restoring water and sanitation systems back to their original state. The rebuilding of communities is allowing individuals to return to work, whether that be to their farms or to the markets.

Australian non-profit CARE was among the many emergency responders after Cyclone Winston. Their humanitarian aid to Fiji was able to bring relief to more than 25,000 residents across 231 communities.

CARE distributed emergency shelter kits to 2,500 families, hygiene kits to 4,196 families, constructed 17 community water supply systems and 253 toilets, distributed seed kits to 4,290 families and conducted agricultural training for 231 communities.

The Australian Red Cross has also been a large contributor to the recovery efforts. The Red Cross has successfully provided supplies to more than 50,600 families to assist in the repair of their houses and with medical issues. After the cyclone, the Australian Red Cross managed to raise a total of $4.2 million, in just three months, to use towards humanitarian aid.

Every contributor to Fiji after Cyclone Winston helped the country to work towards rehabilitation at a more successful pace. With the year-plus humanitarian efforts, Fijians were able to begin recovery. Australia’s contribution of humanitarian aid to Fiji gave the country the opportunity to find itself again.

– Brianna Summ

Photo: Flickr

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Five Development Projects in Benin

Five Development Projects in BeninIn Benin, 40 percent of the country lives below the poverty line. The conditions force residents of the country to migrate on a regular basis. The country’s increased investments in infrastructure and sustained economic growth rate highlight its potential to move in the right direction. Below is an overview of five development projects in Benin that could help the country reduce poverty.

Agricultural Productivity and Diversification Additional Financing

One of the ways for a country to reduce poverty is to invest in agricultural programs. This project allows Benin to invest more heavily in its agriculture, as it will restore and improve productivity. It will also support the promotion of improved technologies and the development of production via water management.

Public Investment Management and Governance Support Project

This project will help reduce poverty and increase shared prosperity. The World Bank has issued a $30 million credit to Benin that will better facilitate the efficiency and management of this project. Their aim is to enhance good governance, accountability and promote more transparent management of public funds.

Small Town Water Supply and Urban Septage Management Project

About 22 percent of the country does not have access to adequate drinking water. The Small Town Water Supply and Urban Septage Management Project will increase access to water supply and sanitation. It will also strengthen the service delivery capacity of water supply and sanitation as well as prepare an effective response to potential emergencies.

Energy Service Improvement Project

This project will improve utility power performance and expand access to electricity to various areas across the country. It also aims to promote community-based management of forest resources. Investing in infrastructure is important to build up an economy, so this project, among other development projects in Benin, is extremely important.

National Community Driven Development (CDD) Project

The CDD project has provided grassroots management training. This has helped contribute to the decentralization process and strengthening of both local government and community capacities to better plan and implement development projects. Under the project, 81,000 children have enrolled in school and 10,000 people have gained access to a clean water supply.

These development projects in Benin have the capability of reducing poverty in the country and improving the lives of the individuals who reside there.

– Dezanii Lewis

Photo: Flickr

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Apps That Help Impoverished Countries: iCow

Apps That Help Impoverished Countries: iCow
As technology improves around the world, more apps have been developed that aim to help impoverished countries. An example of one of the apps that help impoverished countries is called iCow. iCow is an app that aims to reduce cow mortality rates and educate farmers on proper agricultural practices.

In many African countries, farmers have no formal training. As a result of a lack of formal training in agriculture, farmers do not know how to properly raise farm animals. This is problematic because these farmers are the foundation for growing crops that feed the nation. In an effort to combat this problem, the iCow app was made to help these farmers.

The app in itself is easy to use. After the initial registration, farmers type in information about their cows, such as their weight and calving dates. Once the farmers key in this information, the iCow app can give tailored advice about how to take care of their cows.

Not only does it give tailored information, but the iCow app also gives tips on breeding, animal nutrition and milk production. Farmers will benefit from the specific advice given to care for their cows as well as general advice that will assist them in the future.

The app also works like a calendar for cows. It keeps records about milking schedules and immunization dates. The app provides farmers with good veterinarians in the area for their cows.

Even though the app is called the iCow, this app is not exclusive to Apple products or smartphones. The iCow app is made to work for all mobile devices, so any farmer with a phone can use it.

As a result of its universality and wide availability, nearly 60,000 farmers in Tanzania and Ethiopia have registered to use the iCow app. These farmers are able to breed healthier animals that can be sold and produce food for the nation. These healthier animals are not only better for consumption, but they bring in more money for the farmers.

The iCow app is not only one of the many apps that help impoverished countries, it is an app that helps maintain healthier food security.

Food security is an issue that many impoverished countries face. Finding solutions to these problems is the key to helping raise countries out of poverty. Apps that help impoverished countries, like the iCow app, can change millions of lives. The iCow app aims to ensure that the citizens of impoverished countries are well fed.

– Daniel Borjas

Photo: Flickr

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Five Active Development Projects in Afghanistan

5 Active Development Projects in AfghanistanThe World Bank Group is currently providing funding for 49 active development projects in Afghanistan. These projects are working to address the full spectrum of needs of the Afghan people. Here are five development projects in Afghanistan currently underway.

  1. Trans-Hindukush Road Connectivity Project. The Hindukush Mountain range spreads across a vast piece of central Asia, including much of eastern Afghanistan. Travel throughout this region is limited and road conditions are generally poor. This project will provide aid to the Afghan government to rebuild and maintain roads spanning the Hindukush mountain region. Improved transportation infrastructure will bring economic growth as well as increased access to resources for people living in remote areas. The project started in 2015 and will come to a close in 2022 and The World Bank group has pledged a loan of $250 million.
  2. Women’s Economic Empowerment National Priority Program. This project came about when the Afghani government accepted a loan of $482.3 million in a plan to enact seven new development projects to combat the growing poverty crisis. The Women’s Economic Empowerment National Priority Program aims to ensure better access to economic opportunities and rights for women.
  3. Urban Development Support Project. The Urban Development Support Project was implemented to strengthen urban policymaking and development on both the national and provincial level. The project aims to improve city planning capabilities, census and data management and urban institution development and accountability. The project began this year and cost $20 million in funding; completion is projected for 2020.
  4. Herat Electrification Project. A small province in western Afghanistan, people in the Heratprovince have limited access to electricity. This project aims to provide homes and businesses in this region with a sustainable source of power. The World Bank group plans to accomplish this by expanding the electrical grid in the region. In areas which are further removed from electrical grid access, solar panels are being implemented to supply power to those who need it. The project began in 2017 and will hopefully be complete by 2022. The total cost of the project is $60 million, which was loaned to the Afghani government by The World Bank Group.
  5. Afghanistan Strategic Grain Reserve Project. This project was started in 2017 and aims to create a reliable stockpile of grain in hopes that in the event of an emergency there will be a safety net of food security. The project has an estimated total cost of $30 million and is hoped to be completed by 2022.

Development projects in Afghanistan such as these are radically improving the quality of life in Afghanistan, however, they only begin to scratch the surface of the larger web of issues preventing Afghanistan from becoming a fully developed country. Cooperation between the World Bank Group and the Afghan government has set the stage for Afghanistan to move closer and closer to development as time moves on.

– Tyler Troped

Photo: Flickr

 

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4 Reasons Why Women’s Education Leads To Less Poverty

4 Reasons Why Women's Education Leads To Less PovertyDr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” But the inverse can also be true. When a socially marginalized group gains access to rights and opportunities, it can benefit everyone around them. This statement holds true for women’s rights. History has proven that easy access to women’s education leads to less poverty. Here are four examples that support this claim.

Women’s education results in better family planning

Niger is not only one of the world’s poorest countries, but it boasts one of the world’s highest birth rates. Women from Niger each give birth to an average of 7.6 children. The country sees large families as a sign of power and wealth. But “it’s impossible to feed, educate and care for all these children in the short term,” according to the nation’s family planning division.

Niger developed Project Sawki to teach women about birth control, family planning and forced marriages. Their goal is to encourage smaller family sizes. Aid workers created this project to let women speak freely about their marriages and future. “Husband schools” also exist in Niger to teach men the benefits of family planning through educated women.

The BBC, reporting on Niger, concludes that, “Education appears to be the key to reducing the number of babies born.”

Countries that invest in schooling become richer and healthier

Women’s education leads to less poverty, but also to several other benefits. UNICEF studied how countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America changed by investing in women’s advancement. The investing countries found an increase in economic development, income per family and health. Human trafficking and child mortality rates for those same nations declined. By contrast, the countries in the study who did not invest in educating women were met with reduced income and slowed growth.

Female empowerment comes from female choices

The ultimate obstacle to women’s empowerment, according to The Guardian, is the culture they live in. Women not only contribute 70 percent of the world’s working hours, they also make up 70 percent of the world’s poor. The most limiting factor to a girl’s future can be the people closest to her. These limitations take the form of a neighbor shaming a school-attending girl, or a parent arranging a girl’s marriage. If women’s economic choices are tied to their families then they will have few tools in escaping poverty.

The World Bank supports gender equality in addition to poverty elimination. It does so by providing resources to impoverished women while promoting gender equality in the household. The result is large development payoffs in society.

Education, in general, leads to less poverty

The American Prospect (TAP) looks into the complications of integrating education into an anti-poverty initiative. It is certain that both men and women’s education leads to less poverty. However, TAP notes how education only fights poverty in places where economic returns are viable and achievable for those with higher learning. Workers require a context wherein they can be rewarded for their skills and can see the benefits of the growth they help create.

Job training improves the quality of workers for a global market, which allows poorer nations to benefit from their wealthy peers. Supporting women’s education will create the context where girls can improve their lives and improve the world at the same time.

In 2017, Congress introduced the Protecting Girls’ Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings act. Through providing women’s education, the United States can bring about the positive changes recorded, and predicted, by the BBC, UNICEF, The Guardian and The American Prospect. If you are an American citizen, you can support this bill at The Borgen Project’s website.

– Nick Edinger

Photo: Flickr

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Five Development Projects in Bangladesh

BangladeshBangladesh is a developing country deep in poverty—about 31 percent of the country lives below the poverty line. Even though poverty is certainly prevalent in the country, strides have been made to reduce it in the past few years. For instance, the literacy rate in the country stands at an average of 72 percent and about 86 percent of the population has access to a drinking water source, according to the World Factbook.

Developing a country is an on-going process. Bangladesh is trying to continue its growth in ways that will ensure the success of the country. Here are five development projects in Bangladesh that will help the country reduce its level of poverty.

  1. Health Sector Support Project. There are areas in Bangladesh, such as Sylhet and Chittagong, whose key health indicators are below average. The Health Sector Support Project will help to strengthen health, nutrition and population management systems. One of the most notable aspects of this project is that it seeks to improve the quality and coverage of essential services, such as immunization coverage for children. According to the World Bank, $515 million was loaned to the country in support of the project.
  2. Bangladesh Insurance Sector Development Project. In order for the health sector to be sufficient, the insurance sector needs to be developed. The World Bank states that this project will “strengthen the institutional capacity of the regulator and state-owned insurance corporations and increase the coverage of insurance in Bangladesh.”
  3. Smart City campaign. The urban population of Bangladesh, which currently stands at 55 million, will significantly contribute to the growing national GDP. According to the Smart City website, this will lead to “burgeoning in cities” and a need to improve the conditions of urban cities. Since cities are “key economic engines” one of the development projects in Bangladesh, the “Smart City” campaign, will help to innovate these areas of opportunities.
  4. Additional Financing to Chittagong Water Supply Improvement and Sanitation Project. Parts of Bangladesh do not have access to an adequate water supply and sanitation. About 13 percent of the country does not have an adequate drinking supply and 39 percent of the country does not have access to water sanitation. This project will increase access to safe water and improve water supply, sanitation and drainage in Chittagong.
  5. Clean Air and Sustainable Environment (CASE) Project. According to the World Bank, poor air quality in urban areas creates serious health hazards and adversely affects the environment and quality of life. Reducing pollution could save lives and diminish disease outbreaks. The CASE project would improve air quality and safe mobility in Dhaka through the implementation of demonstration initiatives.

Increasing water supply and sanitation, innovative technology and improving access to healthcare are significant ways to reduce poverty. With these development projects in Bangladesh, the country is well on its way to implementing practices that will reduce poverty in the country for the long term.

– Dezanii Lewis

Photo: Flickr

Green Belt Movement: Empowering Women

The Green Belt Movement is an environmental organization whose aim is to make the planet green again through fighting deforestation and preventing soil erosion. It engages the community, especially women, in its process and, in return, compensates participants with a small monetary payment. It has now become an international platform for women’s empowerment through the conservation of natural resources.

The Green Belt Movement was started by the late professor, Doctor Wangari Maathai, who founded the organization in 1977 in Kenya. Dr. Maathai is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, the first African woman to receive such an honor. She is also the first woman to receive a doctorate degree in East and Central Africa. Dr. Maathai witnessed the struggles of rural Kenyan women with finding drinking water, food and firewood, saw the connection between deforestation, scarcity of rainfall and food insecurity and wanted to address the problem as a whole. She encouraged men and women to practice reforestation, binding soil to prevent soil erosion, food processing, beekeeping and many more sustainable values.

The Green Belt Movement has also dealt with larger issues in the daily lives of Kenyans. It has protected public lands from private landowners, known as “land grabbing.” It has trained farmers with simple techniques to grow indigenous vegetables and fruits that are sustainable in harsh environments. It also uses a water-shed based approach to harvesting. Furthermore, the Green Belt Movement launched the Community Empowerment and Education program, which helped to educate common people on the environment, natural resources and civics.

Since its foundation in 1977, over 51 million trees have been planted across Kenya. The movement also invented a method of spreading ideas among the community through “trainers of trainers.” In 2015 alone, over 200 women who participated in training from the Green Belt Movement have gone on to train over 20,000 members of their communities, thus assisting in the spreading of the Movement’s ideas. The Green Belt Movement has addressed important issues such as deforestation, climate change and women’s empowerment, gaining international status in the process.

– Mahua Mitra

Photo: Flickr

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Five Facts About Active Development Projects in Serbia

5 Active Development Projects in SerbiaSerbia is located in the heart of the Balkan Peninsula in Eastern Europe. The United Nations Development Programme measures a country’s overall development through the Human Development Index, which considers all aspects of a nation on its way to development. The Human Development Index ranks Serbia as the 66th most developed country in the world, a ranking which is certainly nothing to scoff at. However, there is still much to be done before Serbia can be considered a fully developed nation. Here are five active development projects in Serbia which are bringing the country closer to becoming fully developed.

  1. Floods Emergency Recovery Project
    The aim of this project is to make the nation less vulnerable to damaging floods, and to improve the response strategies of people living in areas which are at a high risk of flooding. This project will aid farmers in taking precautionary measures in case of a flood so that such an event would not cause a devastating effect on the food supply and economy.
  2. Corridor X Highway Project
    Corridor X refers to the road network which leads from Austria to Greece, connecting the nations of the Balkan Peninsula. This is a critical route for trade, commerce and travel, and there has been a great deal of construction on the highway to try and connect the road networks leading through Serbia. Development projects in Serbia like this one will move the nation closer to becoming fully developed, and will bring increased economic prosperity.
  3. Enhancing Infrastructure Efficiency and Sustainability Project
    This project has a similar goal to the Corridor X Highway Project in that it aims to bring increased connectivity between the different regions of Serbia. By improving infrastructure like roads, water systems and hospitals, this project will help to grow Serbia’s economy and increase ease of travel for Serbian citizens.
  4. Real Estate Management Project
    The Real Estate Management Project addresses an issue which is currently holding Serbia back on the path to development. This project will essentially make the real estate system in Serbia more reliable, accountable and transparent. It will create a dependable system of determining property value, thus ensuring that people pay the right amount of tax on their property. Serbia is adopting an internationally accepted standard of property valuation to achieve this goal.
  5. Deposit Insurance Strengthening Project
    The Deposit Insurance Agency is essentially Russia and Eastern Europe’s version of the American Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and will serve as a financial safety net or backbone behind the banking industry in Serbia. Strengthening the Deposit Insurance Agency will make banking in Serbia more reliable, and will spark economic growth in the nation.

These projects only begin to scratch the surface of all the work that has been done, and has yet to be done, in bringing Serbia into the developed world. While there is an immense list of things that need to be addressed and improved before Serbia can be considered fully developed, development projects in Serbia such as these are leading the way into the future.

– Tyler Troped 

Photo: Flickr

Damage to Infrastructure in Syria During Seventh Year of War

Damage to Infrastructure in Syria Entering Seventh Year of WarWarring factions in the six-year Syrian civil war have deliberately targeted both civilians and civilian infrastructure. While the international Commission of Inquiry on Syria has called the establishment of safe zones for civilians “a step in the right direction,” the lack of infrastructure has not allowed for improved delivery of humanitarian aid.

The prolonged crisis, which has resulted in massive displacement of refugees both within the country and internationally, has resulted in the destruction of infrastructure systems including the provision of water, electricity and sanitation. Additionally, social infrastructure such as schools and healthcare centers have been severely damaged or destroyed altogether. Without these systems, civilians have experienced increasingly vulnerable living conditions in affected communities.

A World Bank report issued in July 2017 estimated that, as of early 2017, the Syrian civil war has damaged or destroyed about a third of the housing stock and about half of medical and education facilities, and led to significant economic loss. The destruction of physical infrastructure, though, does not attest to the full toll of the war. World Bank called the visible impacts only “the tip of the iceberg.”

To calculate the extent of the damage, the report used satellite imagery in conjunction with traditional and social media postings for information on the state of the country. The specific targeting of health and education infrastructure in Syria has resulted in significant disruptions with communicable diseases reemerging. The warring factions often use schools as military installations as well.

Often overlooked, solid waste management systems continue to be one of the most affected services reliant on infrastructure in Syria. The equipment and heavy machinery used for waste removal has been looted, destroyed or not functioning due to lack of maintenance and parts. As a result, waste piles in the streets serve as breeding grounds for rodents and insects, polluting the environment and increasing the risk of disease.

The World Bank estimates that by comparing current circumstances with a projection of how Syria would have developed in the absence of conflict, the war has caused a loss of $226 billion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This total comes to around four times the entire Syrian GDP in 2010.

The United Nations Development Programme aims to stabilize local communities and promote the return of internally displaced individuals by restoring and repairing basic social infrastructure and services in severely affected areas. However, the U.N.’s ability to distribute aid has been severely limited by the Syrian government, armed groups, continued insecurity and fighting. Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Ursula Meuller, told the U.N. Security Council, “despite reductions in violence, we have not been able to noticeably increase our reach.”

With more than 13 million Syrians in need of aid, more needs to be done to restore infrastructure in Syria and provide access to food, health care and other basic needs.

– Richa Bijlani

Photo: Flickr

Five Facts About Development Projects in South Sudan

Five Facts About Development Projects in South SudanSouth Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, sits along one of civilization’s oldest landmarks: the Nile River. On July 9, 2011, South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan. Its path to stability and sustainability has not been easy.

The South Sudanese government originally planned to use its oil-rich regions to stabilize and grow the country’s economy, but due to disagreements with Sudan, oil production was shut down in 2012. Since then, civil war and rogue militias have ravaged the people of South Sudan, causing a humanitarian crisis. However, this has not slowed the success of aid in the nation. Here are five facts about development projects in South Sudan.

  1. Development projects in South Sudan see long-term international aid. In 2014, the British government allocated 442 million pounds for the development of South Sudan. Instead of directly involving itself in the process, the government has allowed various international aid organizations to use the money to carry out their missions on its behalf. These organizations include the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Danish Refugee Council and the Norwegian Refugee Council. Over 60 percent of spending was allocated to providing food, medical supplies and material aid. The project is on track to end in 2020.

  2. The South Sudanese health services are overwhelmed and underfunded. According to the World Bank, the South Sudanese Ministry of Health is underfunded. As a result, the World Bank began a project in 2016 to help the South Sudanese government cope with its rising need to provide healthcare to its citizens, called the South Sudan Health Rapid Results Project. Funding has been set at $40 million. The project has succeeded in providing healthcare to South Sudanese citizens in the Upper Nile conflict area, an area that only a few development projects in South Sudan continue to work.

  3. Food security is in jeopardy. Food is in short supply in South Sudan, and the World Bank has attempted to alleviate the crisis with a food and agriculture project in 2016. The project is called Southern Sudan Emergency Food Crisis Response Project. Overall, this project has had mixed results when measured against its target goals. It has reached its target for farmers adopting new technologies to increase output and surpassed its goal of constructing new food storage facilities. However, less than half of the targeted families have been helped by their funding. Unfortunately, this project did not receive funding again in 2017, but the infrastructure it created and the new technologies introduced will help drive development in South Sudan for years to come.

  4. May 4, 2017, saw the approval of the South Sudan Emergency Food and Nutrition Project. The project was granted $50 million and is set to run until July 2019. Its goals are similar but more comprehensive than the previous food aid project. This time, more focus is being given to the re-engagement of farmers, which is exceedingly important for the stability of the country’s food supply. Using the infrastructure and technologies of the last project will help provide the basics for the beginning of this new development project in South Sudan. To compensate for the shortcomings of the last project, more funding has been given to focus on supplying food while the farmers begin to produce their new crops.

  5. South Sudan’s development has improved at the community level. USAID is providing support to South Sudan at the community level, focusing on the availability of safe and sanitary drinking water and the health and education of children. Manual water drills and pumps are being provided to villages around the country along with education on waterborne illnesses. To protect and educate children, USAID has implemented three programs. The first aims to protect the rights of children against child-labor and provide equal access to education for boys and girls. Encouraging nonviolent play is another implemented program that focuses on keeping children away from violence. Safe spaces for children are often hard to come by in war-ridden nations. With the third program, USAID seeks to provide more of these spaces for children to receive medical treatment away from conflict.

Conflict has displaced 2.2 million South Sudanese citizens. Fortunately, the world has not forgotten about its newest country. International aid will continue to help fund development projects in South Sudan, hopefully leading the nation and its people to a brighter better future.

– Nick DeMarco

Photo: Flickr