Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Four Reasons Gender Equality Benefits Everyone

4 Reasons Gender Equality Benefits EveryoneIn 2006, the Economist proclaimed that women are “the world’s most underutilized resource.” While gender equality mainly entails giving women rights and opportunities that are equal to those which men have, achieving this equality will provide benefits to all. Here are four benefits of gender equality:

  1. Increased human resources spur economic growth
    Raising female employment to be equal to male employment levels could increase GDP by 34 percent in Egypt, by 12 percent in the United Arab Emirates, by 10 percent in South Africa and by nine percent in Japan. Empowering women to become active in their economy boosts productivity, a benefit that could help the poorest countries rise out of poverty. Based on these findings, many international companies have created programs to empower women economically and improve the productivity of their business.
  2. More resources reach children
    When women have more control over family resources, spending patterns tend to benefit children. Gains in women’s education and health have also been shown to result in better outcomes for children. Improving the lives of young people enhances the growth prospects of their countries.
  3. Decision-making is more reflective of collective interests
    Empowering women politically and economically so that they have a voice in the decision-making process of their community makes community policies more reflective of all members’ interests. In India, increased political participation by women has lead to more funding being allocated towards public goods, such as water and sanitation initiatives.
  4. Family planning improves quality of life
    When women are empowered to make decisions about when to have a child, the quality of their children’s life improves. Children born less than two years apart are twice as likely to die in the first year of life as children born further apart. Being unable to spread out pregnancies also interferes with breastfeeding, which has a crucial role in child nutrition.

Nestlé has decided to promote gender equality as a means of improving their business. The company partnered with COPAZ in 2010, a female cocoa cooperative in the Ivory Coast that has about 600 members.In 2014, Nestlé expanded its efforts to empower women by establishing local women’s associations, listing the wives of male cocoa farmers as members of cocoa cooperatives and helping women to increase their crop yield.

Several other companies, including Coca-Cola, Kate Spade & Company, Avon Products and Abbott Laboratories have realized that promoting gender equality is both a morally and economically sound investment. Unlocking women’s potential will improve life for both genders.

– Kristen Nixon

Photo: Flickr

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Is Urbanization in Developing Countries Reshaping the World?

UrbanizationSince 2013, the U.N. has celebrated October 31 as World Cities Day in support of global urbanization and sustainable urban development. This year’s theme of “Innovative Governance, Open Cities” highlights the important role of urbanization as a source of global development and social inclusion. Urbanization in developing countries contributes to poverty reduction, access to sanitation facilities and education equality if managed correctly.

Urbanization is the result of an increase in population in urban areas. Urban areas differ from rural areas due to numerical and occupational differences in population. For the most part, urban areas have more inhabitants with more industrial professions than the less populated, more agriculture-centric rural areas. Each country sets certain criteria to distinguish urban areas; “some countries define any place with a population of 2,500 or more as urban; others set a minimum of 20,000.”

 

These six numbers represent urban development in the world:

  • 54.5 percent
    In 2016, more than half of the world’s population resided in urban areas. From 30 percent in 1950, the urban population of the world has grown rapidly. An estimated 54.5 percent of the globe now resides in urban agglomerates. By 2030, 60 percent of the world is expected to reside in urban areas.
  • 33.2 million
    The biggest city in the world today, Tokyo, has a population of 33.2 million. Tokyo’s high population, over 10 million, qualifies the city as a megacity. In 1970, Tokyo and New York were the only megacities in the world. Today, Tokyo is one of 23 megacities, including 13 in Asia, four in Latin America and two each in Africa, Europe and North America.
  • $600 million
    UN-Habitat has set aside $600 million to focus exclusively on urbanization issues, including “growth of slums, inadequate and out of date infrastructure and escalating poverty and unemployment.” While urbanization brings many positive changes, the related potential for dislocation and destabilization is the focus of the UN-Habitat for a better urban future.
  • 99 percent
    According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies 2015 report, “nearly 99 percent of urbanization between now and 2050 will take place in the developing world.” The report maps out urbanization as an economic opportunity for donors of developing nations, as long as urban challenges are addressed.
  • 80 percent
    In 2013, the World Bank reported that over 80 percent of global goods and services are produced in cities. Just the year before, “large cities made up 33 percent of the world’s global population, but produced more than 55 percent of all global economic output.” The amount of goods and services produced in cities exceeds those produced elsewhere in the world.
  • 82 percent
    The most urbanized region in the world is Northern America, with 82 percent urbanization, according to the U.N. Latin America and the Caribbean follow with 80 percent urbanization and Europe with 73 percent urbanization. Africa and Asia are urbanizing faster than any other region. While they are mostly rural now, Africa and Asia are projected to become 56 and 64 percent urban respectively by 2050.

Urbanization is spreading across the world at a growing pace. If managed properly, urbanization in developing countries can help lift many people out of poverty by providing better access to jobs, education and services. Supporting this goal is a worldwide effort.

– Eliza Gresh

Photo: Flickr

United States and Nigeria: $17 Million to Fight Extreme Poverty

United States Releases $17 Million Dollars to Reduce Extreme Poverty in NigeriaThe United States and Nigeria established diplomatic relations in 1960, when Nigeria gained independence from the United Kingdom. Since then, the United States and Nigeria have improved their relationship and developed bilateral representation. On October 4, 2017, the U.S. gave the government of Nigeria $17 million as part of their 2015 Development Objectives Assistance Agreement.

According to the announcement released by the United States Embassy and Consulate in Nigeria, the funding will be divided to “support Nigeria’s power sector needs ($14 million), help increase agricultural productivity and economic growth ($2 million) and strengthen good governance ($1 million).” In total, the United States has provided $719 million to Nigeria under the agreement, which establishes four priority goals: improving governance, furthering economic development, expanding opportunity and enhancing stability, to be achieved in 2020.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) “is the lead U.S. government agency that works to end extreme global poverty and enable resilient, democratic societies to realize their potential.” USAID partners with Nigeria to promote economic growth, equitable access to education and to clean water. In line with the four goals of the 2015 agreement, USAID’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy goal is to “reduce extreme poverty in a more stable, democratic Nigeria.”

According to the U.S. State Department, “Nigeria is the largest economy and most populous country in Africa with an estimated population of more than 180 million and an estimated gross domestic product of 510 billion USD in 2013.” Despite its economic prowess, Nigeria is also one of the poorest countries in the world, with a poverty rate of 64 percent.

Nigeria has the highest number of children out of school and the second-highest number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world. Nigeria’s large (and growing) population and wide wealth disparity greatly increase the issue of poverty. From 2004 to 2014, absolute poverty in Nigeria rose by 6 percent, while the number of millionaires living in the country in that period rose by more than 44 percent. The 2015 Development Objectives Assistance Agreement between the US and Nigeria is aimed at addressing these factors of Nigeria’s poverty epidemic.

With the recent investment from the U.S., Nigeria’s human rights and economic concerns will be addressed. USAID has a long history of assistance to Nigeria and the relations between the two countries span far beyond. The U.S. is the largest foreign investor in Nigeria and the countries belong to multiple international organizations together. Reducing extreme poverty in a stable, democratic Nigeria will reduce the wealth gap and promote the development of multiple sectors of Nigeria’s economy.

– Eliza Gresh

Photo: Flickr

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Water Quality in Côte d’Ivoire: A Vision for the Future

water quality in Côte d’IvoireCôte d’Ivoire used to be an exception in West Africa, a model for other countries of economic success. Since civil war erupted in the country more than a decade ago, that model has deteriorated and largely rendered a mere dream. Now, the country is in dire straits, especially in regards to the quality and conditions of its water supply. Water quality in Côte d’Ivoire is an issue for a staggering 31 percent of rural areas.

Furthermore, the quality of water that is available leaves much to be desired. The civil war has tremendously damaged the water supply infrastructures, and this coupled with the fact that water is exposed to unsanitary conditions often results in water-borne disease. This is not confined to rural areas either; it affects urban areas as well.

Slightly less than half of Côte d’Ivoire’s population (about eight million people) do not have access to proper sanitation facilities. In rural areas in particular, roughly four million people drink water not safe for consumption. As a result, many die from diseases related to unsafe and unclean drinking water, including children.

This crisis has a domino effect on other aspects of Ivorian society. The lack of access to proper and clean water sources means that a lot of energy and resources must be devoted to obtaining it. This results in many Ivorian girls being forced to forego their education in order to seek and provide water for their families.

This is true even in the capital, Abidjan, where a large influx of people into the capital has strained its inadequate urban infrastructure. The large swathes of people that have moved to Abidjan did so largely because of the civil war and the threat of violence.

In other cities, such as the northern town Dabakala, the wells that previously contained water have completely dried up. This has resulted in residents seeking unsafe and unclean water sources. When water is obtained from such sources, such as creeks, life-threatening diseases such as guinea worm and cholera easily affect those in need of water.

However, there have been campaigns to combat this problem. Efforts made by the Global Nature Fund, for example, have met the needs of Ivorians by repairing water pumps. Within a couple of years, the residents of 44 villages, or around 24,000 Ivorians, were able to access fresh groundwater.

The water quality in Côte d’Ivoire and a lack of it is causing severe crises. These calamities were a result of the outbreak of civil war that has successfully dashed the stability, safety and prosperity of the nation. While some improvement efforts have been made, this crisis will only continue unless serious changes are enacted on an international scale that provide a long-term solution to the water needs of Côte d’Ivoire.

– Hasan Javed

Photo: Flickr

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Fighting the Marburg Virus in Uganda

Fighting the Marburg Virus in UgandaOn October 19, an official outbreak of the Marburg virus disease was announced in Uganda. The last outbreak of the Marburg Virus in Uganda occurred in 2014.

The virus, which is frequently compared to Ebola because of its clinical similarity to it, causes viral hemorrhagic fever and is known to be fatal, with an average fatality rate of around 50 percent. The virus is transmitted by a species of bat, called Rousettus bats, that live in caves in Uganda and across parts of Africa.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the disease is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected persons or wild animals (e.g. monkeys and fruit bats).

The first person believed to have had the Marburg virus in Uganda, during the most recent outbreak, was a man who lived near a cave with bats. After he passed away from Marburg-like symptoms, his sister became sick due to her involvement in nursing him and with his traditional burial. After she passed away, it was verified that she had suffered from the Marburg virus. Two days later, the outbreak was confirmed and within 24 hours of confirmation, the WHO had arrived in the affected areas of Uganda. Currently, contact tracing is taking place to find and monitor individuals who may have been in contact with those who are sick.

The WHO has already set up structures to monitor the disease and to work with the communities. In addition to the WHO, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and African Field Epidemiology Network (AFNET) are also a part of the efforts to stop the spread of the virus in Uganda.

Containment is the first priority of the WHO. Because the Marburg virus currently has no treatment or vaccine, “supportive care” is needed for those who are infected. But, this also means that proper techniques and safety measures must be taken by healthcare workers treating the infected. Precautions have been taken with protective wear being given to healthcare workers and isolation units being created in order to treat possible Marburg patients in areas removed from the general hospital population.

The WHO and its partners have been educating communities in order to increase awareness about the virus and encourage reporting by community members. Because this virus is spread through fluids and close contact, people involved in traditional burials are at high risk of contracting the virus.

All of these precautions and procedures have been set in motion within the past two weeks, many happening just days after it was confirmed that a woman had passed away due to the virus. It is vital that international organizations respond quickly, to treat those with the virus and protect and educate the communities who are affected.

According to the WHO, the Ugandan government and its health officials have responded to the outbreak very quickly in order to keep it contained. With such a rare and fatal virus, it is important that all of these organizations and the government work together to fight it and protect the affected communities. If these procedures work, the fatal Marburg virus in Uganda will not spread and many people will be sheltered from its reach.

– Emilia Beuger

Photo: Flickr

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Water Quality in Kosovo: Story of Two Lakes

Water Quality in Kosovo: Story of Two LakesWater quality in Kosovo has been a topic of discussion in recent years. Kosovo’s two main water resources are the Badovac and Batlava lakes in the region of Pristina, which supply almost 1.8 million Kosovars with water. But climate change has strongly affected the lakes water levels, which have fluctuated from excessive water accumulation to drought levels in a period of two years.

New Infrastructure

These abrupt climate changes have impacted the almost 200,000 people who live in Pristina, the capital and largest city of Kosovo. For instance, in 2012 severe snow and blizzards affected the area, a year after, flooding impacted Kosovars and the year following that brought with it a drought.

In 2014, Kosovo lived through the worst water shortage in three decades, according to public officials in the country. Around 400,000 people in Pristina faced reduced drinking water supplies thanks to the low water levels of the Badovac and Batlava, a problem that directly impacted the water quality in Kosovo.

However, last year the lakes reached their maximum level, making the extraction of water difficult. The Kosovar system is based on pipes that work in conjunction with a water processing plant, some of which don’t have the capacity to process water when the Badovac and Batlava are at their highest levels.

To resolve the problem, the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) informed that, the European Commission and the German Development Bank granted Kosovar around 17 million euros in order for the country to make improvements to the infrastructure of their water processing plant system and to guarantee water for its citizens.

They Planned to Poison The Lake

Kosovo’s government cut off the water supply from the Badovac reservoir in 2014 after police arrested several suspects linked to the Islamic State (IS) who were allegedly planning to poison the lake.

This reservoir supplies half of Pristina with water. The Guardian informed that policemen found a suspicious substance in the lake. Over the last two years, officials have identified 314 Kosovars who have joined the Islamic State.

Water Quality

Water quality in Kosovo is not perfect. In bacterial and chemical testing of the water, the Water and Waste Regulatory Office reported a 90 percent rate of purity, while the international standard is above 99 percent. Citizens are recommended to buy water instead of to drink it directly from the tap.

– Dario Ledesma

Photo: Flickr

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10 Facts About the Polish Genocide

10 Facts About the Polish GenocideGenocide brings to mind horrific images of concentration camps and apartheid rule, however, few picture the planned extermination of Poles in Volhynia by Ukrainian Nationalists in the 1940’s. Despite its impact on Polish history, it is still largely unknown. In hopes of spreading awareness, here are 10 facts about the Polish genocide:

  1. Genocide is defined as an act “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such,” by the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
  2. Prior to the outbreak of WWII, Volhynia had been divided between Russia and Poland. As nationalism crept through Germany and other parts of Europe, Volhynia became a coveted voivodeship (governorship) causing tensions between the Ukrainian population and the Poles (at the time Ukraine was part of a changing political landscape).
  3. Volhynia was an agricultural region in the northeast of pre-war Poland and was referred to in Polish mythology as the Kresy (Borderlands).
  4. The interwar Polish political climate was full of discriminatory practices that gave rise to a drastic anti-Polish sentiment among many Ukrainians. For instance, Ukrainians were barred from government jobs, protests were suppressed and Orthodox churches were destroyed with people forced to convert to Catholicism.
  5. Between 1942 and 1945 the Bandera faction of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN-B) and its military counterpart the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) carried out an ethnic cleansing of Polish Volhynians as a means of ensuring that Volhynia would not remain under Polish control.
  6. The massacre was staged to look like an unplanned peasant riot as part of an “anti-polish operation.” UPA documents recorded the planned extermination of the Polish population and recounted that “the resistance of the Polish self-defense diminished to an extent that the Ukrainian operations recall German actions against the Jews.”
  7. The UPA units that carried out the massacres used axes instead of firearms and recruited Ukrainian peasants to reinforce the façade of a spontaneous uprising. A survivor recalls the brutality, describing the slaughter of a church mass with body parts strewn around and having to see a young man she lived with dragged behind a carriage and then thrown at the house. Historians estimate 60,000 Polish civilians were killed.
  8. The aggression between Ukrainians and Poles was not limited to the region of Volhynia, it was also present in other parts of the region with mixed populations like Lvov, Tarnopol, Stanisławów and other voivodeships bordering Volhynia.
  9. Poles killed during the Polish-Ukrainian clashes in the city of Lvov were commemorated by the Eaglet Cemetery (Cmentarz Orlat), which was destroyed under Soviet rule.In 2005 the Eaglet cemetery reopened with the attendance of both Polish and Ukrainian presidents, a major moment in Polish-Ukrainian history.
  10. The massacre of Polish citizens in Volhynia was not originally classified as a genocide. In 2013 Polish Parliament voted to refer to the events as an ethnic cleansing with signs of genocide in an effort to improve Polish-Ukrainian relations. In 2016 a resolution adopted by 432 lawmakers of the 460-seat parliament stated, “The victims of the crime committed in the 1940’s by Ukrainian nationalists were not duly commemorated, and the mass murder was not defined as genocide in accordance with the historical truth.”

Even after its classification as genocide, the Volhynian massacres remain unknown to many Ukrainians. Awareness is spreading as Polish leadership seeks to edify the public about this historic tragedy. As politics change and new global leadership arises there is hope that this remembrance of history will encourage a more peaceful future.

– Rebekah Korn

Photo: Flickr

Saving Bees in India and Lifting Farmers Out of Poverty

Farmers Save the Bees in India“Save the bees” has become a trendy cause, although one that holds much greater weight than most people seem to realize. The reality is that the virtually global decline in bee populations has a hefty price tag: in India alone, the nation’s decline in bee population costs agricultural production an estimated $726 million per year. In a nation where 75 percent of the population are smallholder farmers, people whose very lives are resting on their crop yields, an annual loss of that amount means the difference between life and death.

Further, a whopping 34.4 percent of the nation’s cultivated hectares of land depend on bees for pollination. This dependency is especially significant for certain plant species in particular, some of whom see productivity decline 80 percent in the absence of pollinators. For an agricultural system that cycles 99 percent of its fruit harvest back into domestic consumption, such a massive decline in productivity does not just mean economic degradation; it means a rise in food insecurity as well.

Seeing as the farmers depend on the crops, and the crops depend on the bees, the decline in bees is quite explicitly linked to the capacity of farmers to survive, and possibly thrive. In essence, then, bees in India are a crucial component to lifting individuals out of the cycle of poverty. Save the bees, save farmers, save lives.

Such is the mantra of Under the Mango Tree, a social enterprise that trains Indian farmers to become beekeepers and purchases the farmers’ organic honey through fair-trade farm cooperatives. By cultivating bees on their property, farmers have the capacity to increase their crop productions anywhere from 50 to 100 percent (depending on the plant and bee species). This increase in yield, plus the extra revenue from fair-trade honey sales, has the capacity to increase farmer incomes by more than 50 percent, a figure that can and does change lives. The strategy also, of course, augments India’s bee population by providing hives places to flourish, all of which aids agricultural production on the whole.

The successful implementation of this program is working to truly save the bees in India. Yet, it is important to note that the bee population needs help beyond the Indian borders. If the world wants to maintain its traditional agricultural systems and sectors, it needs to support its smallest workers.

– Kailee Nardi

Photo: Flickr

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Water Quality in Guatemala: Battling Drought and Disease

Water Quality in GuatemalaWater quality in Guatemala has become an increasingly important issue because the country is facing one of its worst droughts in decades. The drought has reduced access to clean water, and poor water quality has resulted in the spread of waterborne illnesses throughout the country. Additionally, this lack of water means immense food shortages and increasing malnutrition among children in Guatemala.

Approximately 43 percent of Guatemalan children under the age of five are fatally malnourished, and among rural Guatemalan children this number rises to around 80 percent. It is in rural areas that the drought has the strongest effect, as there is less access to clean water and there are more stagnant bodies of water that increase the spread of disease.

Due to the drought, Guatemala’s disposal of solid and liquid waste in local bodies of water is having a larger impact than ever. With limited quantities of clean water, the waste that is deposited in rivers makes the spread of disease and infection in the population even more rampant. Access to clean water is a major issue facing the country, but there have been some strides in resolving it.

Guatemala was able to reduce the percentage of citizens without access to drinking water to 50 percent, which met the 2015 Millennium Development Goal for access to clean water. In 2016, 93 percent of Guatemalans had access to non-polluted water, which is an impressive statistic.

There are also nonprofit organizations working to improve water quality in Guatemala. Water for People is an organization that focuses on providing clean water to certain communities in impoverished nations. They currently have a number of projects running in Guatemala, one of which is the Everyone Forever program. The program pledges to provide water and sanitation to every single person in those communities, forever. This is a very ambitious project, but it is also incredibly important.

In addition to simply providing clean water to those in Santa Cruz Del Quiche, or San Bartolome Jocotenago, Water for People creates a model that can be replicated by governments to provide water and sanitation for all parts of the nation. The organization also has programs for watershed management and school programming related to water sanitation.

There are also, of course, programs set in place by United Nations agencies such as the Pan American Health Organization, UNDP, and UNICEF. These organizations put in place measures that will raise the living conditions of people in poor communities, primarily through improving water sanitation systems.

Ultimately, water quality in Guatemala is a major issue, but there are improvements being made. Through collaboration between NGOs, the Guatemalan government and United Nations agencies, the issue of water quality and access in the country will hopefully be resolved soon, improving the quality of life for all of its residents.

– Liyanga De Silva

Photo: Flickr

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World Bank President Jim Yong Kim on Eradicating Poverty

Jim Yong KimWorld Bank President Jim Yong Kim said at the start of his term in July 2012 that he wants to eradicate poverty by the year 2030. Jim Yong Kim is the 12th president of the World Bank Group, nominated by Barack Obama in 2012, and unanimously reappointed in September 2016 to an additional five-year term to head the global financial and technical assistance program. Kim established these twin goals to inspire the work he accomplished throughout his term: alleviating poverty by 2030 and increasing shared prosperity.

In a speech delivered at Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2015, Kim proposed that efforts be refocused on improving health in developing nations. If we want to end poverty and stimulate the global economy, redirecting efforts to improve healthcare systems is the best way to accomplish these goals. Kim wants to capitalize on the World Health Organization’s goal of reducing the number of stunted children in the world by 40 percent by 2025. Kim proposes to completely rid the world of cognitive impairments brought on by malnourishment and understimulation by 2030 as well.

The secretary is well on his way to achieving the goals he put in place at the start of his term. In a press conference held in October 2017, Kim revealed that over 800 million people have escaped the grip of poverty as a result of China’s poverty reduction efforts. The World Bank’s involvement with China will continue in the form of improving its healthcare system, promoting access to social services in rural regions and supporting China’s focus on increasing domestic consumption. Similarly, multicomponent efforts have reduced the world’s population who live on less than $1.90 a day from 1.86 billion to 767 million people. This means that nearly 1.1 billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty since 1990.

In addition to these accomplishments, the World Bank also reached its target goal of disbursing $518 million to support countries affected by the Ebola outbreak in 2016. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim’s career has been dedicated to global health, education and ameliorating the conditions of the world’s poor. With these goals in motion, the year 2030 should be a beautiful one.

– Sloan Bousselaire

Photo: Flickr