Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Nine Facts to Know About Yemen Refugees

Yemen Refugees
The Yemen civil war has escalated the number of refugees fleeing from Yemen to safer locations for their families. Here are nine facts you need to know about Yemen refugees.

  1. About two million people have been displaced because of the war in Yemen.
    Before the war began in Yemen, poverty was already an issue for many in the country and it was the poorest nation in the Arabian Peninsula before the war. The war has only caused the number to rise. Refugees have been fleeing to neighboring countries, with Saudi Arabia taking in the largest amount of Yemen refugees. As a result of poverty, most refugees are not able to flee to the United States and Europe as often due to the high costs of traveling to these countries.
  2. Civilians and many family members are still in danger in Yemen.
    A number of the victims in Yemen are civilians who have been caught in the crossfire of the war. A six-year-old was shot in the back while walking in his home city of Taiz with his father, according to the BBC. Civilians that spoke with BBC described multiple times when civilians have been shot at and innocent people that have died due to the war. Also, many refugees that have fled end up returning to different parts of Yemen in order to help their family members, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
  3. Many have been fleeing to the Horn of Africa despite the war going on there.
    About 3,000 Yemen refugees have been fleeing to the Horn of Africa, a place where war and crisis are also prominent. The countries in the Horn include Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Sudan, all of which have suffered from many political issues. Everything from famine to bombings has disrupted the region, but still, many Yemen refugees migrate across the Gulf of Aden to escape the danger in their home country.
  4. Refugees are without food, water and other basic needs.
    With many citizens being displaced across the country and region, some of the biggest needs include food, water and shelter, according to Ayman Gharaibeh, the country representative for Yemen for UNHCR. “More than half the population is without adequate food and health care and this will only worsen,” said Gharaibeh in an interview with UNHCR. Many refugees are living in poor conditions, which just increases the spreading of diseases among them.
  5. Yemen was one of the seven countries banned from the United States by President Trump.
    On Jan. 27, 2017, President Trump signed an executive order banning immigrants for 90 days from seven countries, one of which was Yemen. The other countries, which comprise Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Somalia and Libya, were placed on a ban to “prevent a terrorist or criminal infiltration by foreign nationals,” according to the United States Department of Homeland Security.As of recently, President Trump’s ban has been suspended by multiple federal judges who repealed the ban. This now allows citizens of the seven countries to come to the United States. President Trump does have plans to fight the repeal in court.
  6. Many are forced to live in refugee camps.
    There are countless stories of refugees leaving their homes and lives behind in order to find a safe place to stay while the war continues. Many have fled to neighboring countries and other countries in the world, but many have also ended up in refugee camps. Al Kharaz is a refugee camp in the southwest region of Yemen near the Gulf of Aden. More than 16,000 refugees live in this camp, with many from Somalia and Ethiopia, according to UNHCR.
  7. Different humanitarian groups and organizations are bringing aid to Yemen.
    Around the world, many groups and organizations have brought attention to the crisis in Yemen since the civil war began. UNHCR is just one of the many organizations bringing aid to Yemen. Others include UNICEF and the World Food Programme (WFP).
  8. Many of the victims are children.
    As with the story of the six-year-old who was shot in the back, many children have been victims of the war. About 500,000 children are in need of care in Yemen due to malnutrition, according to UNICEF. One child dies every ten minutes in Yemen due to starvation and malnutrition, also according to UNICEF.Not only are children starving, but many have been caught in the crossfires in their own towns. In President Trump’s first raid, 10 women and children died due to an airstrike in al-Bayda, according to Al Jazeera.
  9. There are a lot of ways to help the refugees of Yemen.
    Through the countless organizations in the world that are helping those in Yemen, any citizen can donate money to the organizations to help feed and care for the Yemen refugees. Another way to help is by learning about the situation or supporting a group such as Doctors Without Borders in order to help those in need in Yemen

As the war in Yemen continues, people will continue to flee the country to seek the necessary resources to live safely, causing the crisis to grow and for more refugees to need help.

– Hailey Rose McLaughlin

Photo: Flickr

Why is Poverty in the Spratly Islands Key to the US?


There are no indigenous people and no inhabitants of the Spratly Islands. However, the Spratly Islands represent the claim on areas of sea that contain oil, gas and rich fishing grounds. The islands prime location within busy international shipping lanes draws focus to the political sensitivity of the area.

The Claim to the Spratly Islands

Although rival countries have been quarreling over the Spratly Islands and neighboring territories for centuries, tensions are building. China’s long-term strategy to build and expand its own industries threatens the livelihood of rural populations.

Backed by geographical proximity to the Spratly Islands, the Filipino population, whose livelihood is dependent on the fishing grounds that surround the Spratly Islands, fear a violation of their sovereign rights.

Intimidated by China’s goliath presence and associated economic, military and global influence, the Philippines sought international arbitration in regard to the U.N. Convention on the Laws of the Sea in 2013.

In July 2016, the Philippines case was backed by the tribunal and their claims supported. China was found guilty of violating the Philippines’ sovereign rights, a ruling that China found to be illogical and unsubstantiated.

Why is the U.S. invested?

Bound by a mutual defense treaty ratified in 1951, the U.S. and Philippines preserve a historic relationship. “Sharing a common bond of sympathy, mutual ideals and regional security, the treaty stated that no potential aggressor could be under the illusion that either of them stands alone in the Pacific area.”

Former U.S. ambassador Max Baucus warns that if the U.S. strategy toward China is not strong, careful and considered, China will continue to build its economic force to the “detriment of other countries.”

In addition, if the U.S. turns a blind eye to political power plays and poverty in the Spratly Islands’ neighboring countries due to protectionist island ideals, the U.S. runs the risk of yielding crucial global space to China. This is an ocean space in which $1.2 trillion worth of U.S. traded goods passes through annually.

China’s right to the Spratly Islands

At odds with the Philippines’ shared rights to the Spratly Islands is China’s nine-dash line. Spreading hundreds of miles south and east of its border, China claims territory and sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and the Paracel Islands, including its surrounding ocean areas.

China argues that the Spratly Islands lies within Chinese territory that can be identified in maps issued in 1947. According to the map, both island groups in the South China Sea are marked within China’s territory. The aforementioned maps contain no coordinates and claim all of the territorial water within the line.

How can the Spratly Islands reduce poverty?

According to the international poverty line, 18.4 million Philippines live in extreme poverty; their livelihood is dependent on the fishing grounds surrounding the Spratly Islands. Keeping sea territory in the hands of the Philippines is crucial to the families who rely on the income and produce of Filipino fishermen.

Furthermore, estimates made by Chinese analysts suggest poverty in the Spratly Islands will become a past notion due to its rich resources. With extensive research and extrapolation of the mineral wealth that surrounds the Spratly Islands, oil deposits and gas fuel increase debates over ownership.

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates there are 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Spratly Island region.

Considering the economic climate of the Philippines, the rights to oil and natural gas resources in the Spratly Islands and the surrounding ocean area could drastically change the lives of millions of people. Poverty in the Spratly Islands and its neighboring nations remains a looming presence. The poorest provinces in the Philippines are in short supply of water sources, electricity and toilet facilities.

If the majority of wealth from these resources goes to the Filipino people, national capital will increase, new industries will be created and mass poverty could be eliminated. The economic infrastructure will also provide education, nutrition and healthcare.

For China the driving reason behind ownership of the Spratly Islands is territorial. Developing hydrocarbon resources in the South China Sea allows the Chinese ownership of regions and is of huge strategic value in the delineation of maritime boundaries.

For the Philippines, the U.S. and other associated nations, there is far more at stake.

– Emma Royce

Photo: Flickr

10 Facts About Hunger in Moldova

Hunger in Moldova
Situated between Romania and Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova remains one of the poorest countries in Europe. With an economy that relies heavily on agriculture, the Moldovan people are especially vulnerable to floods and droughts, which often bring more hunger to the country. Here are ten facts about hunger in Moldova:

1. Of the country’s roughly 3.5 million people, 20.8 percent live below the poverty line. While high, this is an improvement, as the poverty rate was 70 percent in 2000.

2. In order to make ends meet, many Moldovans move abroad to work and send money back home. Forty percent of the working-age population work abroad, and remittances, or the money they send back to their home country, make up 30 percent of Moldova’s GDP.

3. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, agricultural practices changed drastically, cutting production in half. This was devastating for Moldova since agriculture is a huge part of the country’s economy, making up one-fifth of its GDP.

4. Poorer families often struggle to afford nutritious food. A third of children under the age of five, as well as half of the pregnant women, suffer from anemia. This is especially prevalent in rural families.

5. A severe drought in 2007 worsened hunger in Moldova as 96 percent of families experienced production losses. As a result, a third of households were in debt in order to meet food needs, with poor families spending half of their income on food.

6. Climate change is also a threat to food security in Moldova, due to changes in the agricultural landscape. “The rural poor will be disproportionately affected because of their greater dependence on agriculture, their relatively lower ability to adapt, and the high share of income they spend on food,” said William Sutton, lead agriculture economist at the World Bank.

7. Digestive disorders are one of the leading causes of death in Moldova. While this is in part linked to poor nutrition, alcohol is also a culprit. Moldovans drink more than 18 liters of pure alcohol a year, almost three times the global average.

8. Despite high rates of poverty, alcoholism and hunger in Moldova, life expectancy is two to five years higher than richer countries in the Commonwealth of Independent states, such as Russia. In 2010, Moldovan life expectancy was 69.13 years.

9. While the EU has supplied aid in order to address issues such as hunger in Moldova, high levels of corruption and weak institutions weaken the affect this support has.

10. There are many development projects created by organizations such as USAID and the World Food Program that aim to alleviate hunger in Moldova. Many of these projects focus on diversifying Moldova’s economy in order to give Moldovans non-agricultural sources of income.

While the people of Moldova are facing economic and nutritional challenges, both the government and aid organizations are starting to implement promising programs that could play a key role in improving the country’s economic potential and alleviating hunger in Moldova.

– Alexi Worley

Photo: Flickr

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Italy Helps Fight Hunger in Ukraine With Donation of €1 Million


Amidst facing a humanitarian crisis and lack of mine regulations, Ukraine received aid totaling one million euros from Italy through the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF to help those impacted by the actions in Eastern Ukraine in 2017. The donation will help the WFP provide basic necessities and humanitarian assistance Ukrainians need to combat hunger, while also fighting against their own government and people.

Among a population of 45.2 million, more than 4.4 million Ukrainians have been impacted, and more than 3.8 million still need humanitarian assistance.

Who the Donation Will Help Most

“Our contribution to WFP and UNICEF operations will help ease people’s suffering, in particular for the most vulnerable, providing food assistance, increasing knowledge and building safe behaviour practices to deal with the risk of mines,” said Davide La Cecilia, the Italian Ambassador to Ukraine in a press release published by the WFP.

Thanks to Italy’s donation, UNICEF will help protect 500,000 children and their guardians from the dangers in mines by supporting the mine risk education program.

The WFP plans to help those who do not receive assistance from other humanitarian actors and further small-scale recovery activities, such as providing food, to aid local citizens. UNICEF will use the funding to promote children’s education programs and for families living in areas close to the contact line, which divides the government and non-government controlled areas and where the fighting is most intense.

Giancarlo Stopponi, WFP deputy country director in Ukraine, said, “WFP greatly appreciates Italy’s support at a time when communities across Ukraine continue to experience the negative consequences of the conflict.”

The WFP has been aiding those experiencing hunger in Ukraine since 2014 by providing emergency food services to internally displaced citizens in Eastern Ukraine, handing out monthly food packages and food assistance. To this day, about 850,000 of most Eastern Ukraine’s most vulnerable people have received food from WFP, despite attempts to bar humanitarian staff.

Ongoing Efforts to Battle Hunger

The program plans to continue its efforts, aiming to assist 220,000 citizens in Eastern Ukraine. These people both rely on and need WFP’s food assistance, along with their other operations, such as the Logistic Cluster Support to the Humanitarian Response in Ukraine.

In 2017, UNICEF has appealed to the U.S. for $31.3 million to be used towards combatting hunger in Ukraine. The money will be used for health and nutrition needs, education, water, hygiene and sanitation, and protection for those most vulnerable to the conflict, such as children and families.

– Mary Waller

Photo: Flickr

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The Battle Against Hunger in Côte d’Ivoire

Hunger in Côte d’Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire continues to experience aftershocks of the military coup in December 1999, which turned into an all-out civil war in 2002, leading to the creation of a North and South Côte d’Ivoire. This resolution was supposed to be disbanded in 2010, but there was a conflict over the results of the election for the new leader of the unified government, complicating the transition of power. This threw the country into another five months of the war. The political unrest in Côte d’Ivoire has created widespread economic instability and food security issues.

Following the conflicts in 2011, President Alassane Ouattara adopted the National Agricultural Investment Program (PNIA), and the National Development Plan (PND) in an effort to alleviate the widespread hunger in Côte d’Ivoire, as well as to repair social relations between the polarized country. The country is ushering into a new era of human rights, job creation, availability of social services, sustainable resource consumption and poverty reduction. This new phase, which will run until 2021, and is focused on decoupling agriculture from deforestation by using more sustainable farming methods, is projected to create 400,000 jobs. This shows that the aid given will cultivate lasting economic growth for the country.

Unfortunately, despite all the positive forward momentum in the government, Côte d’Ivoire still ranks in the bottom tenth percentile of the United Nations Development Programs Human Development Index. Twenty-three percent of the population lives below $1.25 per day. Primary school enrollment is at 50 percent. And there is still widespread hunger in Cote d’Ivoire, with 13.3 percent of the population experiencing undernourishment in 2016, and 30 percent of children under 5 years old experiencing growth stunting. The country received a global Hunger Index Score of 25.7 out of 100 in 2016.

So what’s being done about it? The World Food Program opened up a Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation to save lives and combat hunger in Côte d’Ivoire. The program has opened a school breakfast program that has fed 571,000 children. Action Against Hunger (ACF) has also started a program that has successfully provided food to 792,688 people and helped 848,698 people gain access to safe water and sanitation.

Difficulties for the future will depend on the influx of foreign aid to sustain these development projects. However, it is clear that Côte d’Ivoire is on the right track. It has reached a period of stability and has been able to focus inward on lowering hunger in Côte d’Ivoire and raising the quality of life. Things look bright for the country’s future.

– Joshua Ward

Photo: Flickr

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5 Top Diseases in the Bahamas

Diseases in the Bahamas
The top diseases in the Bahamas are hypertensive disease, ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular diseases, HIV/AIDS and diabetes. These diseases account for the high mortality rates in the country and affect the overall health of Bahamians.

  1. Hypertension was the leading cause of death for Bahamians in 2011 resulting in 215 deaths, which is a decrease in the number of deaths from 2008, which stood at 993. Hypertension preventative measures have been implemented in the Bahamas and a national campaign was launched in 2013 promoting good habits for controlling blood pressure.
  2. Ischemic heart disease, or coronary heart disease, has been considered one of the top diseases in the Bahamas and resulted in 180 deaths in 2011. The country’s department of statistics has reported that more than 24 percent of all deaths in the Bahamas are directly related to heart disease.

  3. Cerebrovascular diseases accounted for 130 deaths and have been another of the top diseases in the Bahamas, especially among women. Cerebrovascular diseases are considered more life-threatening, even though hypertensive diseases are the number one cause of death.

  4. HIV/AIDS has been prevalent in the Bahamas and ranks fifth on the list of top diseases in the Bahamas with a mortality of 121 deaths, according to a 2011 report by the Bahamas government. This is considered an epidemic, and there is currently no cure. The Bahamas, along with its AIDS Secretariat, is working vigorously to promote preventative measures and proper health measures for those living with this disease. Recently, the Linkages Project in conjunction with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has begun the groundwork of linking across the Continuum of HIV Services for Key Populations Affected by HIV project. This project is aimed at accelerating the ability of partner governments, key population-led civil society organizations and private-sector providers to plan, deliver and optimize comprehensive HIV prevention, care and treatment services to reduce HIV transmission among key populations and help those living with the disease to live longer.

  5. Diabetes, another top disease in the Bahamas, affects 34,900 Bahamians and can lead to death, according to the International Diabetes Federation. The mortality of this disease in 2011 was 86 deaths per year. Diabetes can lead to other complications and result in similar symptoms to the other top diseases in the Bahamas.

These diseases all have a major impact on the health of the Bahamian people, and health providers continue to promote healthy lifestyles and to lobby for affordable, all-inclusive national health plans to combat their impact.

– Rochelle R. Dean

Photo: Flickr

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Forced Marriage In Burkina Faso: When Laws Are Not Enough

Burkina Faso_Merriage
In Burkina Faso, forced marriage is a frequent occurrence, especially for girls of a very young age. Over 52 percent of women in the country are married before the age of 18 and 10 percent are married before the age of 15. Forced marriage often puts girls in jeopardy of increasing health resources and losing access to education.

Child marriage rates vary throughout the country but can be as high as 86 percent in some regions. The practice is connected to both poverty and tradition. There are also tangible links to lack of education, with girls being more at risk for child marriage if they are less educated.

Forced marriage in Burkina Faso is technically illegal, but the law is rarely enforced. It does not prevent traditional or religious marriages, which creates a loophole in the law, causing many girls to be forced into marriage. The law also defines a lower legal marriage age for girls than boys. Girls can legally marry at age 17 and boys at age 20. Many girls are married before age 17, despite the current laws in place to prevent the practice.

Girls as young as 11 can be forced into marriage. This equates to a huge age difference between a young girl and her male spouse. The gap can vary from 30 to 50 years. In many cases, these men are engaging in polygamy and already have one or more wives.

Forced marriage is usually motivated by economic or social incentives. Sometimes marriage is promised at birth or during early childhood, often including a dowry from the husband’s family that consists of money or land.

Risks Associated with Forced Marriage

There are numerous health risks for young girls that are forced into marriage. Women are expected to bear children at the husband’s discretion, which can be extremely unsafe at such a young age. Complications during pregnancy may cause injury or even death to the young mother. Physical and sexual violence is also common among forced marriages.

Marrying early endangers girls’ futures as well. Wives are expected to perform all household chores and are often denied access to education or economic opportunity. The level of female access to education in Burkina Faso is already low, at only 64.2 percent, but girls that are forced into marriage are more likely to give up school.

Joint Efforts Toward Prevention

Burkina Faso created a “National Strategy to End Child Marriage” in 2015. The goal of the project is to reduce the occurrence of child marriage by 2025. The strategy is supported by U.N. agencies as well as political and religious leaders throughout the country. Objectives include preventing child marriage and supporting victims of child marriage.

This is a step in the right direction, but the country still has a long way to go to comply with international human rights standards.

– Lindsay Harris

Photo: Flickr

Poverty in Guadeloupe


In 2009, the citizens of Guadeloupe launched the largest revolt in the country’s history. According to Reuters, there were “huge demonstrations accompanying the strike, consisting of as many as 100,000 people marching in the streets demanding social and economic change.” The strikes were in response to the rising cost of living and disparity in commodity prices in comparison to metropolitan France. The first general strikes were caused by the salary of Guadeloupe being lower than metropolitan France. Alongside low salary, the unemployment and poverty in Guadeloupe were double than the workers living in metropolitan France.

The strikes included groups ranging from environmental groups, to music and dance groups. The wide diversity of activists came together and formed the Lyannaj Kont Pwofitasyon (LKP), loosely translated as the Alliance Against Profiteering. After a month of striking, the LKP came to an agreement with the French Government on 165 demands, including “A 200-euro ($250) increase in the monthly minimum wage, measures to aid farmers and fishermen, lower bank fees, reduced airfares between the islands and France, and reduced prices on food, housing, water, gasoline, and public transportation.”

The strike ended on March 4, 2009, with the Jacos Binos Accord. It is uncertain what the long-term impact of the movement will be and how it will affect the socioeconomic future of Guadeloupe, but one thing is clear, as the new slogan on T-shirts and banners in post-strike Guadeloupe asserts: “Nothing will ever be like it was before!”

Strikes Effective in Reducing Poverty

As a way of rectifying the rifts caused by the strikes, President Sarkozy personally visited Guadeloupe. During his stay, he asserted the view that “Guadeloupe is French, and will remain French.” Almost a decade later, we are seeing some of the ways the French government has taken action to keep poverty in Guadeloupe low preventing another revolt.

In 2016, France created a universal healthcare system for individuals who live within Guadeloupe. The scope of coverage ranges from medicinal prescriptions to death insurances, in attempts to further decrease poverty. The unemployed are also able to use the health care benefits. As of the first day of 2017, “This system covers pregnant women and patients with long-term illnesses (LTI). Patients in these categories no longer pay upfront for their appointments with medical professionals as part of their maternity or LTI coverage.” This took much of the strain of high living costs off of citizens and created more accessible healthcare for Guadeloupe.

This past September, the French government sent police reinforcements to tackle the ever-increasing crime rates in Guadeloupe. According to an article published on Dominica News Online, 70 police officers were sent from France to aid with overall violence within the country. Decreasing crime rates increases tourism, which is increasingly important with the new global attention Guadeloupe is receiving due to being part of France.

Since the revolt in 2009, Guadeloupe has been recognized as a French nation. Much of Guadeloupe’s attractiveness today is attributed to its tropical area with its French-style of living. The French continue to send aid to help in decreasing poverty in Guadeloupe.

– Taylor Elgarten

Photo: Flickr

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Five Awesome Women Who Fought Disease


History is full of unsung female heroes, and the story of the fight against disease is no exception. March 8 is celebrated as International Women’s Day, and global health organizations worldwide took the opportunity this year to recognize amazing women who have made, and continue to make, important contributions. Here are five awesome women who fought disease:

 1. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, 1689-1762

Lady Montagu was almost singlehandedly responsible for introducing inoculation to Western medicine. An accomplished poet and letter writer, Montagu became an advocate for global health after she witnessed a smallpox vaccine being administered during a visit to the Ottoman Empire. She used her writing skills to defend the practice at home in England, where she defied European doctors by having her son Edward vaccinated.

 2. Dr. Isabel Morgan, 1911-1996

Instrumental in the fight against polio, Morgan broke new ground in the medical understanding of vaccines with her work during the 1940s. She and her team proved that “killed-virus” vaccines were effective in the creation of antibodies in the immune systems of monkeys, preventing the virus from passing the blood-brain barrier. Thanks to her research, a safe and effective vaccine for humans was created and continues to save lives today.

3. Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler, 1831-1895

Crumpler challenged the status quo by becoming the first African-American woman to earn an M.D. She devoted her practice to caring for freed slaves and the poor after the end of the Civil War in 1865. Her written work published in 1883 Book of Medical Discourses, which contains a brief autobiography of her career, is one of the first medical references in the U.S. authored by an African-American individual.

4, Henrietta Lacks, 1920-1951

Lacks fought disease in a most surprising fashion: with her own cellular tissue. After being diagnosed with cervical cancer at age 30, Lacks provided a sample from a tumor that contained what medical research refers to as “immortal” cells. Her cells were code-named ‘HeLa cells’ by doctors and researchers. These particular cells are able to survive indefinitely in a laboratory environment, for reasons still partially unknown to science. They have been used to learn more about everything from developing vaccines to cellular behavior in zero gravity environments.

5. Nontokozo Zakwe, 1993-current

Zakwe is living proof that even without medical degrees, girls can grow up to become awesome women who fought disease. Zakwe is a volunteer and ambassador for the DREAMS partnership across 10 African countries, led by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR). After being inspired by her mother’s battle with HIV, Zakwe continues to raise awareness and provide education for preventing the spread of the virus throughout the world.

On International Women’s Day 2017, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) released a report outlining its impressive goals to reduce the number of girls and women infected by the virus by providing access to reproductive health options to 90 percent of the population by 2020. Among the ranks of those working to achieve that reality, there will surely be more pioneering women in the global fight against the disease.

– Dan Krajewski

Photo: Flickr

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UN Secretary-General Calls for a System Overhaul to Achieve the SDGs


In her first official statement as U.N. Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed called for a new approach to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She gave her speech to the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) operational activities segment, which met between February 28 and March 2, 2017.

Participants at this year’s ECOSOC meeting discussed increasing coordination, accountability and transparency in the U.N.’s approach to the SDGs. In her address, Mohammed stated that to achieve the SDGs would require all countries to “redefine traditional planning, delivery and monitoring.”

Mohammed has a track record of fighting for the environment. She has held positions as the former Minister of the Environment of Nigeria, the founder of the Center for Development Policy Solutions and a professor for the Master’s in Development Practice program at Columbia University’s Earth Institute. Mohammed’s past achievements show her commitment to the SDGs. In her address she said that, “achieving the SDGs is not an option, but an imperative for a safe and secure future of prosperity, opportunity and human rights for all.” The SDGs are an investment in preventing crises from forming out of global challenges like poverty, climate change, environment and hunger.

Mohammed believes that achieving the SDGs will require the U.N. to take more initiative. While the U.N. is actively engaged in efforts to achieve the SDGs, policy and framework has expanded immensely since the creation of the Millennium Development Goals in 2000. For example, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda laid out specific guidelines for implementing the SGDs in 2015, and the Inter-agency Task Force was created in 2016 to analyze progress. Only time will tell what developments will come in the future.

– Josh Ward

Photo: Flickr