Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Is Kazakhstan Poor?

Why Is Kazakhstan Poor?Kazakhstan is a Eurasian country, bordering China and Russia, whose size is comparable to that of western Europe. Kazakhstan has a population of 16.4 million. According to the Asian Development Bank, only 2.7 percent of the population in Kazakhstan lives below the poverty line. Kazakhstan has the lowest percentage of people living below the national poverty line in central and west Asia. These statistics suggest that Kazakhstan is not a poor country at all, which raises the question, is Kazakhstan poor?

Historical Context
Kazakhstan declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 and became an upper-middle-income country in less than two decades. Kazakhstan’s GDP has risen dramatically since the country became independent. In 1990, the year before Kazakhstan declared independence from the Soviet Union, the GDP was $27 billion. By 2013, the GDP was $237 billion. In 2016, however, the GDP had decreased to $134 billion. The rapid economic growth can be attributed to large investments in the oil sector.

Economy
Kazakhstan’s economy has declined due to the decrease of global commodity prices and the economic downturn of Russia. Additionally, Kazakhstan’s exports to the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) countries decreased by 23.5 percent in 2016. Imports to Kazakhstan from EAEU countries declined by 13.7 percent.

The majority of Kazakhstan’s economy is based on industry and services. Agriculture in Kazakhstan accounts for less than 5 percent of the country’s GDP. Kazakhstan’s economy, however, is not at all diverse and is largely dependent on oil. This dependency foreshadows an even steeper economic decline, especially considering imminent environmental concerns.

Infrastructure
Kazakhstan also confronts poor transportation infrastructure, especially for a country whose volume of road and railroad shipping is particularly high. Two-thirds of the 23,000 kilometers of highway are in poor condition.
Kazakhstan’s telecommunication infrastructure is also very poor. Though Kazakhstan has the best telephone system in central Asia, it ranks low in terms of world standards. For example, in 2004, the Kazakhstan telephone system provided only 15 telephone lines per 100 inhabitants.

Poverty Disparity
Kazakhstan has made huge strides in reducing poverty. From 2000 to 2006, the poverty rate declined from 34.5 percent to 19 percent. Rural poverty, however, is still high. For example, from 2005 to 2010, poverty in urban areas declined from 13.6 percent to less than 4 percent, while poverty in rural areas declined from 24.4 percent to 10 percent.

Is Kazakhstan Poor?
In truth, Kazakhstan is not a traditionally “poor” country. In 2011, Kazakhstan was ranked as a high human development country in the Human Development Report. Additionally, Kazakhstan has already achieved many of its Millennium Development Goals.

Kazakhstan is, however, an example of a country that quickly lifted itself out of poverty and can quickly fall back into poverty. Kazakhstan is an anomaly among the former Soviet Union countries, as Kazakhstan’s GDP increased and its poverty rate decreased almost immediately after declaring independence. Kazakhstan has relied heavily on oil to improve its economy. Poverty is largely related to employment opportunities, which have been plentiful in the oil business. Considering environmental concerns regarding oil, it would be in Kazakhstan’s best interest to diversify its economy in order to continue improving the quality of life of its citizens.

– Christiana Lano
Photo: Flickr

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The Political Promise of Young Cambodians

The Political Promise of Young CambodiansUSAID sponsors Next Generation, a televised youth debate in Cambodia. The debate is intended to encourage peaceful political discussion among young Cambodians in a country that values “saving face” and non-confrontation.

These practices are extremely harmful to productive political discussion. Next Generation aims to mitigate the consequences of these social constructs by inspiring young people in Cambodia to engage in debates.

The weekly TV show hosts 24 young adults for a 30-minute debate on issues such as poverty, the electoral system, Facebook censorship and gender quotas. The program hopes to foster a culture of constructive political discussion among the future leaders of Cambodia.

24-year-old Linda Eang won the debate in 2014. She had been a shy child, and her family tried to discourage her from pursuing politics, since being a politician can be dangerous in Cambodia. After learning in school about the state of poverty and healthcare in Cambodia, Eang decided that she wanted to be part of the solution, despite the vast challenges of the field.

After graduating from university, Eang decided she wanted to focus on coaching other young Cambodians. She expressed that “the greatest barriers for young people in Cambodia are the lack of trust and motivation from the environment around us” and that Cambodians “are taught to be followers”.

Eang believes that young people can become more empowered and bring positive change to their country by getting an education. She aims to coach young people to eloquently express themselves and to have self-confidence.

Another forum for the empowerment of young people in Cambodia is Politikoffee, a community that meets weekly to discuss politics and drink coffee. The meetings started with Channy Chheng and three friends who enjoyed drinking coffee and discussing topics like policy, economics, education and agriculture.

The group decided that their conversations would benefit from more people bringing additional knowledge to their discussions, so they started Politikoffee as a platform for Cambodians to engage in political debates, free from restrictive cultural norms. Productive political argumentation is counter to traditional Khmer culture, which encourages respect for elders and the status quo.

For member Chea Veasner, these open and honest conversations are something she cannot have at her university. Veasner notes that many of her Cambodian friends do not like to argue and will not voice their opinions when given the chance.

Politikoffee provides a safe environment for Cambodia’s young, ambitious people to discuss ideas rarely discussed elsewhere. Despite assumptions that young Cambodians are not interested in politics, many actually are passionate about politics because social injustice is blatant.

Opportunities like Next Generation and Politikoffee allow Cambodia’s youths to overcome restrictive cultural norms and are fueling future political change. According to a Politikoffee’s social media representative, “Youth, from my experience, all have a vision of what their Cambodia should be, and for the vast majority of them, it’s a Cambodia that is very different from their parents.”

– Kristen Nixon
Photo: Flickr

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How to Help People in Latvia

How to Help People in LatviaOne of the smaller Baltic states, Latvia gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, and ever since has been shifting to catch up to the rest of the economies in the EU. Although Latvia is one of the fastest growing economies in the EU, nearly one in three Latvians is at risk of severe poverty and nearly one in five suffer severe material deprivation. Additionally, the GDP per capita of Latvia is only $13,700 – in contrast, the United States’ GDP per capita for 2016 was over $52,000. Considering the close strategic ties between the U.S. and Latvia, this all begs the question of how to help people in Latvia who suffer from poverty.

With the aim of helping Latvia develop as a nation and stamp down its poverty rate, here are some ways to get involved and help the people of Latvia:

  1. In 2014, the U.S. provided Latvia with $67 million worth of assistance through an assortment of military programs run in the country. Writing to members of Congress in favor of continued support for Latvia can allow them to focus their attention and finances on their own economy.
  2. Similarly, the U.S. and Latvia are members of many of the same economic groups – such as the World Trade Organization, the World Bank and NATO. Urging your representatives in Congress to support these groups provides Latvia with access to the resources and assistance provided by them.
  3. Latvia is currently in the process of becoming a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) – an international group that seeks to assist nations in improving their economies and the livelihoods of their citizens. Getting involved with the OECD and supporting their initiatives is a tangible way of helping make an impact in the lives of Latvians.
  4. Investing in and purchasing the goods and services of Latvian-based companies puts money directly into the Latvian economy, which is largely based on industries such as transport and telecommunications. For example, choose to fly Air Baltic next time you take a trip to Europe.
  5. Volunteer your time or donate to the American Latvian Association, which has been providing aid to Latvia since 1989.

Ultimately, the choice of how to help people in Latvia most effectively lies in the hands of the Latvian government, but urging U.S. representatives to consider ways to assist Latvia as well as volunteering your own time and money can assist the poor in Latvia in making life a little bit better for themselves.

– Erik Halberg
Photo: Flickr

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How to Help People in Senegal

How to Help People in SenegalSenegal is a West African nation on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. To give an idea of its size, Senegal is slightly smaller than South Dakota in terms of square miles. The population is about 14 million people. Like other African nations, Senegal is considered a developing nation. This means that the country experiences problems that other more developed nations do not face, like a lack of resources such as food and clean water. Food is especially a problem in underdeveloped countries, and Senegal is no exception. If you want to know how to help people in Senegal, nutrition and food security are excellent places to start, and can ultimately save lives.

Good indicators of a nation’s issues with sufficient food are obesity as well as underweight statistics, especially for underweight children. According to the CIA World Factbook, Senegal has an obesity rate of 8.3 percent as of 2014. Among other nations, this ranks them close to the bottom, at 145 out of 191 nations. The percentage of children below age 5 that are underweight is 12.8 percent, putting them close to the top of nations with underweight children (based on percentage).

One organization dedicated to fighting hunger in Senegal is Caritas Internationalis. Caritas is a group that was created to reach out to the poor of the world, regardless of race or religion, and to assist those in need when a disaster strikes. Caritas, inspired by the Catholic church, seeks to take on extreme poverty through the grassroots method, putting people on the ground in impoverished communities in order to lend a direct helping hand.

For Senegal itself, Caritas is “launching an emergency project” to help families that are in urgent need of care. Due to bad harvests, natural disasters and a dramatic rise in food prices, poor families have experienced the harshness of poverty even more severely, which means even less food. One out of five households in Senegal are going hungry.

Caritas seeks to help the Senegalese by providing food, such as rice, millet and oil, to over 1,000 families for at least three months. Their goal is to have these families eating three meals a day. There are also cereal banks throughout Senegal, providing 600 families with regular access to food. There are many other projects as well, including projects to ensure that farmers have proper amounts of seeds and tools.

For the person looking for how to help people in Senegal, helping Caritas might be a great way to assist those in need. One way to help this organization is by donating. Caritas has a very old-fashioned sort of charm, and also operates using older methods (being an organization that has existed for over a hundred years); this means that donating to them is not done directly through the computer. To give to Caritas, a check can be mailed to their headquarters, or you can make a direct transfer through a bank account.

If you are looking to go a little further in helping, Caritas also take volunteers from all over the world, especially those willing to help when disaster strikes. Discover where they work and contact them in regards to volunteering.

Of course, another great way to help can be found on the Borgen Project website, and is perhaps one of the simplest ways of all to help the impoverished. Calling Congress can get bills passed that allocate large amounts of funding to helping the poor and hungry of the world looked at by leaders.

Every call made about an issue gets tallied up by the interns who answer the phone and shown to the representative or senator. All that needs to be said is, “Hello, I’m a Borgen Project supporter and I support protecting the International Affairs Budget,” or whatever bill you choose to support (a list can be found in the link). And that’s the whole phone call. It can be done in an easy 30-second call, and becomes even more effective when one gets their family and friends to do it as well.

– Stephen Praytor

Photo: Flickr

Why Dominica Is Poor

Why Dominica Is PoorDominica is a small, mountainous island nation in the Caribbean. Poverty has been a stumbling block to development here for years, with 29 percent of households and 40 percent of the general population living in poverty in 2003. Unemployment stands at about 25 percent. Sizable minorities of people live without running water and proper toilets. Poverty is most pronounced among Dominica’s native population, the Caribs.

While there may be several reasons why Dominica is poor, poverty here does correlate with the decline in the banana industry over the past several years. Agriculture accounts for 17.6 percent of Dominica’s GDP. The banana industry has been the heart of Dominica’s economy for over half a century and its decline has been cited as a reason why Dominica is poor.

An agreement had guaranteed the European Union, via the former British colonies of the Commonwealth in the Caribbean, a corner on the Caribbean banana market and allowed bananas to be imported to Europe duty-free. In the 1990s, President Bill Clinton worked with several Latin American countries to undo this rule as a favor to the fruit giants Chiquita and Dole, two donors to his campaign. The Caribbean banana industry has never recovered, especially in places like Dominica, which lacks sizeable tourism or financial services industries to fall back on the way some of its neighbors in the region do. This may be the best explanation of why Dominica is poor.

Another explanation for why Dominica is poor may be its health concerns, particularly healthy reproductive practices and HIV/AIDS. There has been an increase in cases of tuberculosis there, which often follows an increase of HIV. In addition, teenage pregnancy and unprotected sex are prevalent there.

Dominica has sought several solutions to its poverty, including embracing fair trade of bananas, establishing a financial services industry, pivoting to China and joining the late socialist Venezuelan leader’s Hugo Chavez’s Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas as a response to U.S.-led free trade agreements. It remains to be seen what the future has in store for this island.

– Andrew Revord

Photo: Flickr

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Happiness, Prosperity and Violations of Human Rights in Brunei

Human Rights in Brunei DarussalamBrunei is one of the few countries where the legal system is based on sharia law, a code based on interpretations of the Quran by Islamic scholars. There is a fairly wide variance in the interpretations of the scholars, with some offering much more conservative views than others. The Penal Code was amended in 2014 to more strictly adhere to sharia law. Since then, human rights in Brunei have been perceived to be under attack, largely due to many of the more conservative interpretations of sharia law which the Penal Code adheres to.

The overall track record of Brunei‘s legal system has been quite good. Despite not specifically outlawing torture, there were no instances of cruel and unusual punishment in 2016. Additionally, there were zero instances of government-instigated murders or disappearances. Although fair and impartial judgment is not guaranteed under the constitution, the majority of cases are uninfluenced by outside intervention.

However, caning is still a legal punishment for most adult males, a punishment that may strike many as barbaric. A major concern for human rights in Brunei is the prison system, which is currently experiencing severe overcrowding.

Not only do some of the legal retributions violate Western human rights in Brunei, the freedoms of speech and press are not protected under the constitution, and under the Sedition Act, the government has severely restricted such basic rights. Any and all public performances must be approved beforehand by a government agency, making any subversive or controversial displays unlikely.

Besides being one of the few countries with sharia law as the basis of its legal code, Brunei is one of the only countries ruled by an absolute monarch. The sultan, Hassanal Bolkiah, maintains absolute power in his country, and has actually enjoyed a good deal of popularity among his subjects.

The approval that Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has enjoyed is due in large part to Brunei’s high standard of living. It has a good education system, and the per capita GDP is among the highest in the world. Sultan Bolkiah has done a lot of good work to utilize the energy reserves of his country and turn it into a profitable nation. Despite the many oversights related to human rights in Brunei, there remains a large amount of happiness and prosperity.

– Connor S. Keowen

Photo: Flickr

Is There Hunger in New Caledonia?

Hunger in New CaledoniaThe islands of New Caledonia lie 900 miles to the east of Australia in the southwest Pacific ocean and are a French territory. The Loyalty Islands, Belep Islands, Iles des Pins, and the mainland (also called New Caledonia) form the majority of New Caledonia, with some other small islands also belonging to this French territory. Gorgeous lagoons and white sand beaches make New Caledonia a popular travel destination and a beautiful home for its citizens.

The people of New Caledonia have a high quality of life, and hunger in New Caledonia poses little to no problem. Of its 270,032 citizens, all have access to improved sanitation, 98.5 percent have access to improved drinking water sources, 96.9 percent of the population is literate, and life expectancy at birth is 77.7 years. Additionally, New Caledonia ranks 61st in the world for per capita GDP, showing the relative strength of its economy.

Most of New Caledonia’s statistics show its success in providing a strong quality of life for its people; however, its poverty rate is 17 percent, which is high for a developed state. Comparatively, the United States’ poverty rate is about 15 percent and France’s is 14 percent. Although New Caledonia has moderate poverty, hunger in New Caledonia is a non-issue. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations continually reports that the number of undernourished people living in New Caledonia is not significant.

Hunger in New Caledonia is not a significant issue, as basic needs are met for New Caledonians. Poverty, however, is still rather high, indicating the needs of New Caledonians as being at a higher level than basic physiological needs. These needs include ensuring greater levels of education equally to both European and non-European New Caledonians, and an expanded job market to help lower the high unemployment rate (14.7 percent in 2014).

– Mary Kate Luft

Photo: Pixabay

Climate Change and the Tuvalu Poverty Rate

Tuvalu Poverty RateConsisting of nine small islands in the South Pacific, Tuvalu is known for its social programs and fiscal resilience. However, the Tuvalu poverty rate remains a large impediment to the nation’s development.

Being one of the smallest countries in the world, the country remains in isolation and depends significantly on imports such as food and fuel. With poor natural resource endowments other than fisheries, the Tuvalu poverty rate can be attributed to the minuscule opportunities for monetary gain and the dependence on the outside world.

The most recent record of the poverty rate in Tuvalu was in 2010, placing 26.3 percent of the country’s population below the poverty line. While poverty has declined in the country since the mid-1990s, the lack of local employment opportunities has manifested in high levels of unemployment, which increases the burden of low earnings.

In addition to low employment rates, climate change has also had a significant effect on the people living on Tuvalu’s islands. A recent study found that a significant proportion of individuals living on the islands suffered monetary losses due to natural disasters. Cyclone Pam, the natural disaster that swept over the island in 2015, proved this, as 45 percent of the nation’s population was displaced due to the storm’s effects.

With the highest point of the Tuvalu islands only reaching 4.6 meters above sea level, the country is vulnerable to and significantly impacted by the increased magnitude and frequency of natural disasters. With the poor investing their earnings in their homes, durable goods and furnishings, they are that much more threatened by storm surges and the floods associated with them.

Therefore, while the poverty rate has been decreasing in recent years across the Tuvalu islands, climate change negatively threatens the future livelihoods of the native population and further deepens the levels of poverty.

With the increasing threat from the waves surrounding the islands, more needs to be done to reduce the chance of future impacts. Aso Ioapa, a citizen from Tuvalu, noted that “We have to face that we might have to go to another place. That is hard. But migration is the last option. We want to save our countries.”

Tuvalu citizens will continue to do just that; save the country they love. The ADB country operations business plan emphasizes this. The 2017-2019 plan aims to improve fiscal management, communication services, and island port facilities while also building disaster resilience for Tuvalu.

If the country continues to improve its employment opportunities and address the climate change issues, the Tuvalu poverty rate will continue to reduce over time.

– Tess Hinteregger

Photo: Flickr

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Ghanaian Government Supports Free Education Program

Free EducationPresident of Ghana Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has shown full support for the Government’s Free Senior High School (SHS) program, which launched on September 12, 2017. The initial implementation of this policy was held at West Africa Senior High School (WASS) to officially integrate free senior high school education.

The Ghanaian government’s decision to implement this program was based on the desire to educate at a faster rate to encourage national development and progress.

“By free SHS, we mean that in addition to tuition, which is already free, there will be no admission fees, no library fees, no science center fees, no computer laboratory fees, no examination fees, no utility fees. There will be free textbooks, free boarding and free meals and day students will get a meal at school for free,” said President Akufo-Addo.

The program covers topics including agricultural, vocational and technical studies at the high school level, which will prepare students to be successful members of the community.

With free education opportunities, more children throughout Ghana will be able to attend school, especially girls who struggle with increasing teen pregnancy and teen marriage rates.

Students interested in the free SHS program need to apply, and the most eligible candidates are granted access. Girls, for aforementioned reasons, are prioritized in the decision process in an attempt to increase the number of educated Ghanaian females.

All applicants are fairly reviewed for the free education program, and so far over 420,000 young Ghanaians have applied. Out of these, 267,327 applicants have been accepted and placed in schools. When students are denied initial acceptance into the free SHS program at the school of their choice, they are placed on a waiting list and provided a selection of schools with vacancies.

The free education program has been fully supported by the Ghanaian government, and the opening ceremony at WASS was attended by the President, Vice President of the Republic, Minister for Education, Minister of State for Education and several officials from the Ministry of Education.

The work done by the Ghanaian government to provide free SHS opportunities will open the door for several young students who would otherwise remain uneducated with slim to no future career prospects.

“The coming into effect of the free SHS policy is vital for the transformation of the Ghanaian economy,” President Akufo-Addo said.

– Kassidy Tarala

Photo: Flickr

Poverty in Malaysia: Understanding the Root Causes

Is Malaysia Poor

Malaysia is located on the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia and is home to more than 30 million people. It has a Gross domestic product (GDP) of $407 million (2022 estimate). Furthermore, improvements in health care have led to a significant increase in life expectancy, from less than 60 years in the ’60s to more than 76 years in 2024.

Renowned for its strides in poverty alleviation, Malaysia’s citizens have reaped the benefits of its economic expansion. According to the Commission on Growth and Development, Malaysia is one of the first 13 countries to experience more than 7% growth yearly for more than 25 years.

Poverty in Malaysia

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), before the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 6% or 405,000 Malaysian households experienced acute poverty. However, this number rose significantly to more than 630,000, while the number of families living in extreme poverty tripled to 78,000. Further, migration from rural areas to urban areas has increased urban poverty, which has been exacerbated by crony capitalism and a rising cost of living.

Factors Causing Malaysia’s Poverty

  1. Rural to Urban Migration

In recent decades, poverty has been much higher in rural areas than in urban areas in Malaysia. As a result, the government’s poverty-reduction programs and policies were focused on rural poverty, neglecting urban poverty. Many people, including many foreign workers, moved to cities from rural areas during that same period.

This rural-to-urban migration put pressure on urban infrastructure and essential services. Currently, more than 70% of Malaysians live in urban areas. This led to increased unemployment and consequently, large families earning low wages now suffer from a lack of basic resources.

  1. High Cost of Living

The cost of living in urban areas is significantly higher than in rural areas. On average, about three out of 10 Malaysians feel they do not have enough money to purchase basic needs such as food. This is more significant among urban residents, where 28.7% feel this way.

This skews the perception of poverty in rural areas relative to urban areas. However, a Malaysian man says, “In rural areas, the cost of living is cheaper and there is no housing shortage. Food supplies can be supplemented by farming, growing your own vegetables and rearing chickens. But you can’t do that in flats in urban areas.”

Food prices have skyrocketed in Malaysia and several people, especially those from lower- and middle-income households, have to skip meals daily. Despite many years of economic growth, the increase in food prices means Malaysians can experience poverty in urban areas even if they are technically earning an income above the poverty line.

  1. Ethnic Disparities

Malaysia broadly defines ethnic minorities as “Other Bumiputera,” which encompasses communities such as the Orang Asli and all indigenous peoples living in the Sabah and Sarawak states. Poverty rates among “Other Bumiputera” are consistently much higher than ethnic-majority groups. For example, the poverty rate in the Sabah state is six times higher than the national poverty average.

The Good News

Like any country, some of Malaysia’s citizens are experiencing poverty, which must be addressed. However, Malaysia has made major strides in reducing poverty since the ’80s. Today, the government provides free primary and secondary education for all Malaysians and health care is free in rural areas and very low cost in urban areas. In short, there is always room for improvement and Malaysia is on the path to eliminating poverty.

– Olivia Bradley

Photo: Flickr
Updated: May 27, 2024