Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Waste Management in the Cook Islands

Cook Islands

The Cook Islands is a sovereign island nation in free association with New Zealand. The main island, Rarotonga, is home to 70% of the nation’s estimated 17,800 people. Rarotonga is a small island, measuring approximately 26 square miles, with only one airport to accommodate its primary source of income: tourism.

Tourism constitutes more than half of the nation’s GDP and is the main stimulant of economic growth. However, it also contributes to the growing problem of waste management in the Cook Islands.

Waste collection is provided to all households Monday through Saturday by two private contractors operating in conjunction with the Ministry of Infrastructure Cook Islands (ICI). Businesses are responsible for disposing of their own waste in the sanitary landfill located in Avarua, the most populous district of Rarotonga and the nation’s capital.

The governments of Australia and New Zealand, along with support from the private sector, provide aid to improve the conditions of waste management in the Cook Islands. The Waste Management Facility, managed by ICI, employs three staff members at the landfill and another five at the recycling center. The sanitary landfill was designed in 2006 with an intended lifespan of 15 years but has now reached its capacity.

Avarua is also home to four operational incinerators used to burn garbage, two of which are used solely for airline waste and medical waste and none of which possess emissions control technology. In addition, open burning in backyards and public spaces is a common practice amongst Cook Islanders.

This is a problem, as open burning and the resulting emissions can be detrimental to human and environmental health. Open burning has been proven to emit significantly more harmful pollutants than municipal incinerators, releasing twice as many furans, 17 times as many dioxins and 40 times more ash, as well as carbon monoxide and dioxide, lead, arsenic, mercury, acid vapors and carcinogenic tars.

This not only because is there no emission control, but because open fires burn at lower temperatures, inhibiting complete combustion of the waste being burned. They also operate closer to the ground, increasing the risk of exposure to harmful effects.

Tourism is a major contributor to the abundance of refuse which has made it exceedingly difficult to control in the Cook Islands. However, the income generated from tourism is needed to stimulate the growth of the waste management system. After all, the standard set for tourists has been the principal catalyst for discussion over the development of waste management in the Cook Islands. The government is looking to break this waste cycle by improving facility quality.

– Jaime Viens

Photo: Flickr

 

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Social Policy Tackles Poverty in Uruguay

Uruguay

Poverty in Uruguay was at borderline catastrophic levels less than 15 years ago. Uruguay has made strides over the past decade to dig itself out of a massive hole and has brought its poverty levels from nearly 50% to below 10%. Its success is due in large part to government action — via a safety net to lift those at the bottom to a more manageable level with the help of leaders who lead by example.

In 2002, Uruguay fell into one of the worst financial crises in its history, which was heavily influenced by the Argentine depression and the Brazilian Financial Crisis. That year, unemployment shot from 10% to 18%, GDP fell by 11%, and poverty in Uruguay doubled. By the time 2004 came, the poverty rate in Uruguay had reached a peak of 39.9%, of which children made up almost 60%.

Thanks to the implementation of new governmental policies targeted at improving the quality of life of its citizens, poverty in Uruguay fell to 9.7% in 2015, and its GDP grew to $56 billion. One of the reasons for this turnaround was taking care of Uruguay’s weakest and most vulnerable first, via the Emergency Social Program. Enacted in 2005 by then-president Tabare Vasquez, it provides the safety net necessary to slowly lift the citizens of Uruguay back to their feet. An allowance program was also created during this time, providing families in poverty a means to live — 700 pesos a month (on average), or about $31.

After Vasquez, poverty in Uruguay continued to fall during the term of Jose Mujica — “The World’s Poorest President.” Mujica was the president of Uruguay from 2010-2015 and did not live in the presidential palace, but instead on a modest farm outside the capital city. He donated 90% of his earnings (about $12,000 per month) to charity and the people he represented and is quoted as saying, “I’m not the poorest president. The poorest is the one who needs a lot to live.”

Uruguay has experienced a drastic turnaround since its economic crisis due to economic growth, introducing social safety nets and strong leadership from the presidents who governed during this time. It still utilizes high levels of social spending and agricultural exports, and current projections are that Uruguay’s growth will continue to climb in the coming years, leaving the high rates of poverty in Uruguay a thing of the past.

– Dustin Jayroe

Photo: Flickr

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Violence in Honduras Continues to Threaten Local Activists

Honduras
In the wake of continuous violence in Honduras, authorities remain negligent in capturing the assailants or even investigating the attacks against land rights activists.

Honduras’ landscape, rich in natural capital, has been exploited for years. Resources of interest include raw land, timber from rainforests and minerals like zinc, copper and lead. While wealth is abundant, it is not evenly distributed.

This is particularly unsettling given the already rampant wealth inequality prevalent within the nation. Among the population of about 8.1 million, 62.8% live on an income of less than $2.50 per day.

The primary obstacle facing poverty reduction and sustainable development within the small Central American nation is the excessive violence. Violence in Honduras has remained a serious and urgent problem for years. In 2011, the nation was dubbed the Murder Capital of the World by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crimes. While the rate decreased from 82 homicides for every 1,000 people in 2011 to 67 homicides among the same sample size only three years later, Honduras remains one of the most dangerous nations in the world.

With the growth of the mining, energy and agribusiness industries, violence in Honduras has taken a turn to target land rights activists and local communities that refuse to abandon their land.

There have been a reported 123 activist murders since the 2009 military overthrow. Recently, the anti-corruption NGO, Global Witness, has investigated the violence in Honduras and implicated a number of high-profile Honduran politicians and business people in the murders.

Global Witness states that the government has begun to crack down on families refusing to hand over their land for mining, logging, energy use and commercial development. In addition, authorities have failed to take action against the wave of non-gang related violence in Honduras.

Occasionally, the perpetrator of the attack will be taken into custody, but will rarely be indicted and will almost never lead to pursuit of the individuals ordering the attacks.

Under the Obama administration, the United States committed $98.3 million in bilateral aid directly to Honduras, as well as another $750 million in regional development funds through the ‘Alliance for Prosperity Plan.’

Half of the direct funding is contingent upon the Honduran government’s accountability for meeting human rights standards, which include the permittance of activists to engage without conflict and denunciation of the violence in Honduras.

There is an evident lack, thus far, of the Honduran government’s ability to meet this condition and advocate on behalf of its citizens’ rights. This is troubling given the history of non-targeted violence in Honduras, and can only venture to hurt the nation’s prospects of future development.

– Jaime Viens

Photo: Flickr

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VGEL Builds Vocational Education in Rajasthan

Education in Rajasthan
The Rajasthan government and the Rajasthan Skill and Livelihood Development Corporation (RSLDC) have agreed to partner with Virtual Global Education Ltd. (VGEL) in aiding unemployed youth by providing vocational education in Rajasthan, specifically in the cities of Gudha, Toonga, Reengus, Pipar City, Palsana, Kotputli, Bhopalgarh and Jodhpur.

The initial stages of the program are set to reach out to at least 6,000 unemployed youth in the first phase, but it is hoped to reach more than 25,000 by the end of this financial year. This first phase will offer training opportunities in business process outsourcing, nursing, telecommunications, accounting, renewable energy branches, business and finance.

RSLDC has partnered with career development programs similar to VGEL in the past. These programs include the Employment Linked Skill Training Program (ELSTP). The program provides students between the ages of 18 and 35 with a number of job training courses in the fashion, hospitality and marketing industries.

For years, school enrollment and child labor restrictions have been a contentious issue in India’s rural northwestern states, including Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. These states are the country’s largest producers of cotton and rank among the highest for the proportional share of children aged five to 14 engaged in child labor in India.

According to the most recent region-specific data collected in 2011, roughly 66% of Rajasthan citizens are literate. Of the population, 79% of men and 52% of women are able to read and write. While these rates show improvement from the 60% recorded in 2001, they are still short of India’s national literacy rate of 69%.

In response to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act passed in 2009, education in Rajasthan has undergone rigorous reform. Among initiatives to improve learning conditions for rural public schools, education officials have called for the implementation of vocational programs in order to increase students’ chances of finding employment in a variety of industries.

– Casie Wilson

Photo: Flickr

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Waterseer Project: Clean Drinking Water Access for Millions

Water Access to Millions
Access to clean drinking water is a growing problem. There are 2.3 billion people around the world facing water availability issues every day. Problems come from rising global drought patterns, lack of access to groundwater, water contamination, and waterborne illness. Almost a third of the global population does not have access to clean drinking water. A possible solution, called the Waterseer Project, may be hitting the market in late spring 2017. The Waterseer Project aims to increase access to water, as well as to treat the water through a distillation process.

So how does this Waterseer device actually work? There is no use of power or chemicals involved in the extraction of water from the air. A compact wind turbine directs air into a condensation chamber that is planted six feet below the earth, where temperatures are constant and cooler than above-ground temperatures. This temperature exchange condenses the water molecules into liquid form, and also serves as a distillation process to remove some contaminants.

The Waterseer Project was founded by Ikhlaq Sidhu in 2015. Preliminary research was conducted at the Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology in Berkeley, California. They joined forces with the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA), who has been involved in the initial field trials at UC Berkeley and has agreed to additional trial runs in targeted countries where they operate. The project then joined forces with the Jacobs Institute for Design at UC Berkeley, where current developments on the second round of product prototypes are taking place thanks to their successful crowdfunding campaign. After the design phase and lab trial period in the late spring 2017, the prototype will be trialed in different outdoor field locations with the help of the NPCA.

The possible implications of this device are vast and far-reaching, but as with every potential development project, technology is only a part of the solution; policy, politics and management must all be aligned to ensure success.

– Joshua Ward

Photo: Flickr

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Improving the Water Quality in Kenya for All People

Improving Water Quality in Kenya
The water quality in Kenya is affected by factors like climate change, extended periods of drought and catchment degradation. Clean water in Kenya is not only scarce, but it is also not distributed fairly. Those who can pay for clean water in Kenya can much more quickly get access to it than Kenya’s poor. According to the World Health Organization and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), only 63% of the population has access to clean water and a mere 30% has access to sanitation facilities.

Effects and Improvement of Poor Water Quality in Kenya

Many people get their water from the nearest water hole and their toilet is a hole in the back of their home. These water holes are contaminated with raw sewage, as well as industrial wastes, parasites, bacteria and diseases. Without access to clean water and sanitation, more than 20,000 people die annually from preventable diarrheal diseases and water-borne illnesses such as cholera, typhoid and dysentery.

Organizations like Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) are working with local water and sewage companies to improve the water quality and sanitation for Kenya’s poor. In Dandora, a poor community in Nairobi, Kenya, WSUP has laid 23 kilometers of new pipeline to improve water quality in Kenya. Their efforts are providing access to clean water to more than 52,000 people. Prior to this project, as much as 90% of the water intended for the community was illegally diverted or lost because of leaks. People had to buy water from privately-owned boreholes that were often several kilometers away.

Legal and metered water sources have reduced water costs, making it affordable for people in low-income communities. More importantly, access to clean water and toilets has improved. John Chege, a field sociologist with Nairobi City Water and Sewage Company (NCWSC), reports a dramatic reduction in the number of people requesting medicine and treatment for illnesses. Chege states, “From my observations, I think people’s health is improving.”

There is hope that the new pipeline will extend to other low-income communities, improving water quality in Kenya for all people.

– Mary Barringer

Photo: Flickr

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Seven Facts About Refugees in Russia

Refugees in Russia
The number of refugees in Russia has skyrocketed in the past few years. Multiple migrant crises have affected the Russian Federation, leading to domestic tensions. Where has this influx of refugees come from, and what is life like for refugees in Russia? Ahead are seven facts about refugees in Russia.

    1. In 2013, Russia received 3,458 refugees. The next year there were 235,750. In 2015, the refugee population in Russia was greater than 300,000.
    2. In 2011, the Syrian civil war saw refugees escaping to nearby countries such as Lebanon and Turkey, and by 2013, total Syrian refugees numbered more than two million. The Federal Migration Service of Russia recorded 7,096 Syrian citizens in Russia in 2016. Russia has granted refugee status to just two Syrians.
    3. There are a few charity-run schools for refugee children in Russia. Still, many parents fear sending their children to school, worrying that it raises the risk of being questioned by the authorities. Syrians who have lived in Russia for years and become citizens say that officials are inhospitable, according to VOA News.
    4. In 2015, Russia accepted more than 380,000 Ukrainians seeking asylum. Many Ukrainian refugees are officially registered, and receive financial assistance and amenities from the government.
    5. Based on a poll of Russian citizens in 2014, about one-quarter of the country believes the government does too much for refugees. This number almost doubled in the regions near the Ukrainian border, which received the most refugees and aid.
    6. Many Meskhetian Turks, followers of Islam originating from Georgia or Uzbekistan, have lived in Russia for the required residency period but are still denied citizenship.
    7. Following strengthened ties between Russia and North Korea, Russia agreed to repatriate undocumented North Korean citizens found within its borders. Russian refugee group Civic Assistance says there may be hundreds of undocumented North Koreans living in Siberia and the Far East.

Despite varying policies for refugees in Russia, those seeking asylum have much in common. Many refugees in Russia wish to return home or find a place with better living conditions. Many, however, face hostility from the surrounding community.

– Michael Rose

Photo: Flickr

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Zipline Uses Drones to Ship Health in Rwanda


On October 14, 2016, an 18-second video of what looks to be a model airplane buzzes overhead against a sky slowly turning to dusk. A small red box ejects out of the back and begins a descent by paper parachute before landing at the front steps of a building in Rwanda’s Muhanga District. California-based company Zipline had just made its first delivery of blood by drone to improve health in Rwanda.

That day marked the beginning of Rwanda’s national drone delivery program which, over the next three years, is anticipated to save thousands of lives and drastically improve health in Rwanda.

The endeavor is a partnership between Zipline, the Rwandan government, the United Parcel Service (UPS) and Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance. The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of health in Rwanda by delivering important medical supplies to remote locations quickly. This partnership currently maintains a fleet of 15 drones, referred to as “Zips,” that are all designed, manufactured, operated and launched by the company itself. Zips have the capability to fly round trips of up to 150 km while carrying 1.5 kg of blood — despite windy and rainy weather conditions. Orders are placed by text messages. They are then received by the distribution center and sent out to be delivered via Zips launched from slingshot-style catapults. When the delivery is complete, the Zips simply return to their original locations without having to land at the drop site.

Chief Executive Officer Keller Rinaudo touts the company as a solution to the last-mile problem, which is when supplies are unable to be delivered from the city to more remote and rural locations. The reasons for the last-mile problem vary, but they usually involve a lack of adequate transportation for the rural poor. In addition, washed-out roads or difficult terrain like hills and valleys make it difficult to construct reliable roadways. Improving health in Rwanda has been slow due to these factors. In the medical field, the failure to connect a supplier to the end-users can be fatal.

In a November 2016 interview with Code Mobile, Rinaudo said, “When you need blood, you really need it. Your life is on the line and minutes are the difference between life and death. The challenge with blood is that it expires quickly. You have all different types, you don’t know what you’re going to need before you actually have a patient dying. What was happening was that…they have a patient that is dying, the doctor gets into a car, drives to a blood bank and drives four hours back. Obviously at that point usually the patient is either stable or dead.”

Approximately half of the blood that is currently delivered by road ends up being used for transfusions to women giving birth. When blood can be delivered quickly, doctors have access to more life-saving options for their emergency patients. In one case, a Zip only took five minutes to deliver a package of blood over a span of 33 miles.

For the beginning of the 2017 year, the plan is to expand Zipline into the Eastern half of Rwanda. This will keep their staff of skilled engineers, who have previously worked at organizations like Space X, NASA, Lockheed Martin and Google, incredibly busy. Justin Hamilton, the official spokesman for the company, described the future ambitions of the company: “There is a palpable sense of the promise this technology holds to save lives in the communities we serve. We look forward to expanding our efforts to serve the eastern half of Rwanda this year before expanding across Africa and the world.”

For Zipline, health in Rwanda is something that can be addressed with a talented staff and just a few catapults.

– Tammy Hineline

Photo: Flickr

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Political Instability and Poverty in Guinea-Bissau


Guinea-Bissau is a country in West Africa with an estimated population of 1.8 million. The country gained independence from Portugal in 1974 and has since been marred by high levels of political unrest with repeated changes in government. No elected president in the country’s history has successfully served a full five-year term. The political instability and poverty in Guinea-Bissau has resulted in a lack of development throughout the country.

Guinea-Bissau is one of the poorest countries in the world with a gross domestic product (GDP) based on purchasing-power-parity (PPP) per capita of 1,568 dollars. The country’s economy is highly reliant on subsistence farming, foreign assistance and the export of cashew nuts. International aid to the country has been suspended on several occasions due to concern over governance and the rule of law. Guinea-Bissau has become a way station for drugs bound for Europe due to lack of strong governance, poor economy and its geographical location. There are fears that Guinea-Bissau is becoming the first narco-state in Africa.

Guinea-Bissau has a Human Development Index (HDI) value of 0.42, which puts the country in the low human development category, ranking 178 out of 188 countries. Life expectancy in the country has increased somewhat but is still around 55 years. The adult literacy rate is 56%. In addition, the average number of years that people go to school in Guinea is only 2.8 years. Nearly 70% of the population lives below the poverty line.

A major contributing factor to poverty in Guinea-Bissau is the fact that almost 85% of the population depends on agriculture as the main source of income. This is not a stable form of income due to several factors, such as political instability, irregular rainfall and volatile prices of imports and exports. As a result, 11% of households in Guinea-Bissau are classified as food insecure and in some regions, this figure is as high as 51%.

While Guinea-Bissau has one of the slowest growing economies in Africa, there is potential for growth in several untapped sectors. This includes adding value to raw exports like cashew nuts and timber, as well as exploring untapped mineral deposits of bauxite and phosphates.

However, effectively addressing poverty in Guinea-Bissau and reaching sustainable economic growth will require long-term political stability.

– Helena Kamper

Photo: Flickr

Trump’s Views on a Two-State Solution

Trump_Two-State Solution
Since the Trump administration took office in January, the international community has been working to reestablish the importance of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. Even before Trump took office, European leaders met to discuss the issue in mid-January, asserting their endorsement behind a two-state solution. Trump’s views on a two-state solution have left the international community baffled.

At the meeting, French President François Hollande stated in regards to Trump’s influence that the “two-state solution, which the international community has agreed on for many years, appears threatened. It is physically threatened on the ground by the acceleration of settlements, it is politically threatened by the progressive weakening of the peace camp, it is morally threatened by the distrust that has accumulated between the parties, and that has certainly been exploited by extremists.”

The new ambassador to Israel, David M. Friedman, was picked by Trump and houses views that are in concordance with Israel’s conservative Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Friedman rejects the two-state solution, disregarding that it has been widely accepted by the international community. The views of the new correspondent have raised concerns for Palestinians as well as members of the international community, who have been encouraging a two-state solution for many years.

Feeling emboldened by the new administration in the White House, Israel has recently announced intentions to extend settlements into Palestinian land. The settlements have been condemned by international law and the U.N. Security Council, but Netanyahu continues to press forward in the movement.

When Trump met with Netanyahu in mid-February, it became clear that the Prime Minister is closed to the idea of holding back on Israeli settlements and a two-state solution. Trump’s views on a two-state solution are less clear, as he failed to directly address questions regarding the settlements during a press conference with the Prime Minister.

Palestinians, however, are dismayed at Trump’s apparent lack of insistence for a two-state solution. Many in the West Bank and Gaza are concerned that without American support for a two-state solution, peace will be even more difficult to come by in the region.

As of July 2015, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center estimated that there were at least 263,500 internally displaced persons in Occupied Palestine (West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem). The number includes Palestinians who have been displaced in the area since the beginning of Israel’s occupation in 1967.

It is unclear how Trump’s views on a two-state solution will affect those displaced in Palestine, but the ideological stance of Trump’s appointed ambassador to Israel and Trump’s own wishy-washy convictions leave many in the international community wondering if peace in the region is still a possibility.

– Peyton Jacobsen

Photo: Flickr