Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Can Cash Handouts Alleviate Poverty in India?

Poverty in India
When India gained independence in 1947, around 70 percent of the population lived in poverty. By 2012, this statistic decreased to only 22 percent. However, as the second-largest population in the world — more than 1.3 billion people — 22 percent means hundreds of millions of people are struggling with poverty in India.

In order to alleviate this, India is considering a Universal Basic Income (UBI), which involves a government making payments to its citizens no matter their employment status.

India’s annual Economic Survey proposed giving 7,620 rupees per year to citizens, which translates to about $113 USD. While this idea may appear radical, the report argues differently. Thus far, other welfare strategies have hit dead-ends: rather than bring people out of poverty, people felt excluded while misallocations and leakages plagued the welfare system. Because of this, the idea of a UBI has been met with surprising enthusiasm.

What are the positives of UBI?

According to India’s Economic Survey, there are many. To name a few:

  1.  Poverty in India will be reduced quickly and at once.
  2.  Those excluded in the past — particularly the poor and women — will be given agency. With consistent cash flow, each individual will also be given inherent choices on how to use this money.
  3.  New avenues can be created within the job market. Those trapped in poverty can venture into better working conditions due to a stable cash flow.

In summary, UBI promotes liberty, equality, and productivity.

What are the negatives?

  1.  A UBI may reduce work-incentive.
  2.  There is no guarantee on how the money will be spent: some may waste it on frivolous expenses.
  3.  A UBI may place too much stress on banking systems.

In summary, a UBI may remove the motivation to work and prove to be too expensive. Regardless, UBI will not be implemented any time soon, if at all.

The coordinator of the India Network for Basic Income, Sarath Davala, believes the government will not use the UBI model outright, but a modified version of it. For example, he said a greater likelihood would be “cash payments to the poorest 10 percent of the country first and then to 40 percent.” The universal aspect of UBI, then, may not result in being so universal.

Advocates, however, remain hopeful. As a test-run in 2011, a UBI was given to every man, woman, and child in eight villages in Madhya Pradesh for 18 months. When results came in, nutrition and healthcare among children had improved dramatically, along with school attendance and performance. Not only this, but the freedom to make decisions was more significant than the money itself. As the Economic Survey pointed out, when people carry personal finances, they also carry personal choice.

What the government will decide remains to be seen, but a UBI may very well lead to the eradication of poverty in India.

– Brenna Yowell

Photo: Flickr

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5 Things to Know About Childhood Hearing Loss


Childhood hearing loss is at an all-time high. The number of people with hearing impairments increased from 42 million in 1985 to 360 million in 2011. Hearing loss can be particularly hard on children since it affects the child’s ability to develop speech, language, and social skills. The WHO is working on treating childhood hearing loss, and here are some things to know about the condition.

Thirty-two million children are living with disabling hearing loss, and most of them are living in impoverished countries. More than 90 percent of chronic ear infections are in the Southeast Asian, Western Pacific, and African countries, as well as among the ethnic minorities of the Pacific Rim.

Three-quarters of children under fifteen years of age in low and middle-income countries have hearing loss that is preventable, but due to lack of access to healthcare, many children in impoverished countries do not get the luxury of treatment. Some examples of congenital causes of hearing loss, which are usually present before or during birth, are low birth weight, birth asphyxia, inappropriate use of drugs during pregnancy, or severe jaundice. Some causes of childhood hearing loss occur during the child’s lifetime and include infectious diseases like meningitis, measles, mumps, chronic ear infections, and collection of fluid in the ears. Chronic otitis, which describes any type of infection and inflammation in the middle ear, is one of the most common causes of childhood hearing loss.

There are many ways childhood hearing loss can be treated. If a baby younger than six months has signs of hearing loss, the baby should receive intervention right away. The earlier the intervention, the greater the improvement to a child’s development. Developing countries could also introduce more hearing aids, since only 10 percent are given the amount that they need.

There have been success stories about children being cured of their deafness. Recently, 16 Palestinian children were able to hear after Israeli doctors gave them cochlear implants. The Peres Center for Peace coordinated these 16 successful surgeries over the course of last year.

Since most hearing loss is preventable, how can people prevent their children from permanent ear damage? Providing better healthcare to impoverished countries can decrease the likelihood of children receiving ear infections that could result in hearing loss. Some precautionary measures include: immunizing children from diseases such as measles, meningitis, rubella, and mumps, immunizing mothers to prevent their unborn babies from receiving those diseases, providing hygienic practices including healthy ear care, screening children for otitis media and reducing exposure to loud noises.

Childhood hearing loss can be preventable and treatable if access to healthcare is provided.

– Emma Majewski

Photo: Flickr

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What One Woman Is Doing to Bring Change to Poverty

Sarah Emerson is the Director of Women Empowered Initiative at PCI Global and is the driving force behind the idea that women’s participation in the global economy can allow them to live up to their full economic and social potential while reducing global poverty.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), more than 27 percent of the gross domestic product in developing countries is lost each year due to women being denied entry into the global economy.

Women like Emerson are driving change while empowering other women to do the same. These women are lifting their families out of poverty and transforming businesses and economies around the world.

Reducing Poverty Worldwide

The initiative has been a mechanism for empowering over 400,000 women around the world to pool their resources and become active participants in their communities while addressing food insecurity and reducing the impact of poverty. It is funded in part by USAID and focuses on self-sustaining women’s savings groups by building self-worth and not just capital. The initiative also builds leadership skills like goal setting, action planning and decision making about investments. These skills allow women to take the lead in the most important areas of their lives.

PCI Global believes that women are the solution to poverty and have the ability to bring about economic and social change to transform the lives of those living in extreme poverty.

Emerson continues to bring change to poverty, while addressing many other economic issues, through her campaigns and future development programs launched all over the world, including San Diego. San Diego is the home for many former refugees, resettled by the U.S. State Department, who need further aid to lift them out of poverty.

PCI Global focuses on women located on the Pacific coast of California who struggle with meeting the basic needs for survival. It also provides empowerment opportunities to low-income ethnic groups who require food, housing and access to medical care to create better standards of living.

PCI Global believes that the initiative has the trajectory to bring change to poverty, one woman and one community at a time.

– Rochelle R. Dean

Photo: Flickr

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Government to Pay for High School Education in Ghana

Education in Ghana
Nana Akufo-Addo, The President of Ghana, ran as a candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the national liberal-conservative party, in the past three election cycles. He was defeated in 2008 and 2012 by candidates from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the national social democratic party. Nevertheless, he defeated the NDC candidates in 2016 after accusations of electoral fraud.

In 2016, the NPP campaigned on a promise of free Senior High School (SHS). President Akufo-Addo has since followed through, assuring Ghanaians the government will fund the costs of public SHS education in Ghana for all those who qualify for entry in the 2017-2018 academic year.

The SHS policy assures no cost to students or families for tuition. Tuition, as well as admission fees, library services, science center fees, computer laboratory fees, examination fees, utility fees are all free. The policy also includes provisions for free textbooks, boarding and meals for full-time and daytime students.

The announcement was made in the President’s speech as a guest of honor at the 60th-anniversary celebration of Akuapeman SHS in the Eastern Region. The initiative has been authorized in hopes of improving the quality of education in Ghana.

Akufo-Addo detailed that a society that wants to develop into a modern, profitable and constructive participant in the global market requires an educated pioneering and labor pool. By that logic, he argues, the nation must enact its educational policies swiftly and effectively.

The President believes that education is the factor limiting the nation’s economic development and, for that reason, is committed to providing a free public SHS education in Ghana.

Along the same lines, the government intends to create incentives for a higher standard of teaching. President Akufo-Addo hopes this initiative will motivate hard work at both ends of the classroom.

Overall, the goal is to provide all children with equitable and accessible education in Ghana.

– Jaime Viens

Photo: Flickr

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Top Three Deadliest Diseases in Ireland

Diseases in Ireland
Like many developed countries, Ireland, with its green mountainsides and frequent rainfall, is home to many preventable, lifestyle-driven, diseases. Increasingly sedentary lifestyles and high rates of smoking mean the Irish people are susceptible to deadly but often avoidable diseases. Discussed below are the top three deadliest diseases in Ireland and their causes.

Deadliest Diseases in Ireland

 

1. Coronary Heart Disease

Ireland’s deadliest disease is coronary heart disease, which accounts for eight percent of deaths. While treatment options have improved, preventative measures are even more crucial, as 80 percent of coronary heart disease is preventable. Deaths from the disease have actually halved since the mid-1980s. This is due mostly to lifestyle changes such as eating healthier and exercising.

2. Lung Cancer

Cancer causes 30 percent of deaths in Ireland, six percent of which are due to lung cancer. While lung cancer is only the third most common type of cancer in Ireland, more people die from it than any other type. This makes it one of the deadliest diseases in Ireland. Smoking plays a large role, as it is the number one cause of lung cancer in Ireland, as well as the leading cause of preventable deaths. However, there is good news. Smoking rates have dropped more than seven percent since 2004, due in part to a ban on workplace smoking.

3. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

COPD, which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema, makes up five percent of deaths in Ireland each year. Smoking is also largely to blame for COPD. Though working or living in areas with large amounts of smoke or dust can also cause it. COPD mostly affects people over the age of 35. There are treatments for COPD that can help improve breathing. However, most doctors recommend lifestyle changes that would prevent further exposure to pollutants.

While Ireland has made significant progress in decreasing the rate of these preventable diseases, they still harm thousands of people each year. Continuing to push for healthy lifestyle changes will help combat the deadliest diseases in Ireland.

– Alexi Worley

Photo: Flickr

 

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Paid Maternity Leave in India Doubles

India Doubles
The Indian Parliament has recently passed a bill that more than doubles the nationally mandated paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks. The policy change makes India the country with the third-longest paid leave for mothers in the world, trailing behind only Norway and Canada. The new requirements for paid maternity leave in India will expand opportunities for many women.

The bill requires implementation in businesses with more than 10 employees. In a country that has been previously criticized for its lack of gender equality, the bill is revolutionary to the growing economy. The new legislation also requires businesses with more than 50 employees to provide nurseries for childcare in close proximity to their offices.

The months following the birth of a child often call for a reassessment of finances and economic security. Families in developing communities can be hit especially hard by new expenses.

In the U.S., no federal law requires employers to provide paid leave for new parents. Only a few U.S. states have legislation that addresses the issue. This lack of legislation is often harmful, and the Census Bureau reported in 2011 that more than 40 percent of new mothers are forced to take unpaid leave. Human Rights Watch has also conducted studies on the impact of a lack of paid leave for new parents in the U.S. After conducting in-depth interviews with 64 American couples, the organization found that just over a third of the families had gone into debt in the months following the birth of a child.

Positive Social Impacts of the Bill

Activists have stated that the extension of paid maternity leave in India will encourage women to more deeply explore potential economic opportunities. A survey that was released last year by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India brought to light the fact that a quarter of Indian women in urban areas quit their jobs after having their first child. Hopefully, the new bill will help lower this number.

The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, expressed on social media that the new bill is a “landmark moment in our efforts towards women-led development.” The Minister of Women and Child Development, Maneka Gandhi, says that the law will “help thousands of women and produce much healthier children.”

In terms of social norms and gender stereotypes, India has a long way to go before women are on the same playing field as men. The extension of paid maternity leave in India has the potential to encourage economic participation from women across the country, and hopefully, it will do just that.

Not only will the law help women in India, many are optimistic that it will inspire other countries to follow suit.

– Peyton Jacobsen

Photo: Flickr

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Organizations Partner for Global Internet Access


Global internet access creates an equal playing field for both the most and least developed countries in our world socially, politically, and economically. Bridging the digital divide requires hard work from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

Part of the U.N.’s goals in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is to “significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in the least developed countries by 2020.”

In 2015, 54 percent of people in developing countries reported using the internet at least occasionally. Eighty-seven percent reported using the internet in developed countries in the same year.

The World Economic Forum described how the internet boosts economies in developing countries through increasing efficiency and productivity in many industries, and also provides financial, health, and educational services to those in developing countries.

Also, social media empowers people to rebel against dictatorships. For example, in 2011, Egyptian citizens organized protests against former President Hosni Mubarak using Facebook and Twitter. Similarly, in 2013, Turkish citizens turned to social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, Ustream, and Vine for information on protests, since formal media outlets were censored.

So Who’s Involved?

There are many different sectors working toward global connectivity. Google Alphabet is working on Project Loon, allowing for global internet coverage through balloons. Project Loon is a project under X, Google Alphabet’s moonshot (technological innovation) factory. Google is not the only major technology company getting involved in global connectivity. Facebook has the Connectivity Labs, and Microsoft has the Affordable Access Initiative.

One major organization that helps promote global connectivity is the Alliance for Affordable Internet. This organization focuses on reforming regulations and policies in various nations through forming on-the-ground coalitions in each nation, with representatives in the public and private sectors. Facebook, Google, and other businesses and nonprofits are members of the Alliance for Affordable Internet.

In late January, the Digital Gap Act passed in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Digital Gap Act is a foreign policy bill that aims to increase internet access for those around the globe, especially for rural farmers and women.

Many different sectors will have to work together in order to successfully achieve the important goal of global internet access.

– Jennifer Taggart

Photo: Flickr

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Poverty in Republic of Suriname

Poverty in SurinameThe Republic of Suriname, bordered by Guyana and French Guiana, is home to approximately 566,000 people, 47 percent of whom live in poverty. Here are four issues contributing to poverty in Suriname:

  1. Child Labor
    Many children in Suriname are forced to work in order to help their families make ends meet. While the legal working age in Suriname is 14, eight percent of children between the ages of five and 14 are forced into work. The majority work on the streets, which is a safety risk, or in agriculture, handling toxic and dangerous materials. Since these children are working illegally, their wages are unregulated and they are often grossly underpaid.
  2. Health Issues
    The people of Suriname are especially susceptible to major infectious diseases. There are high instances of food or waterborne diseases, such as typhoid fever, and vector-borne diseases, such as malaria. AIDs has also become one of the main causes of death in children under five. Families in poverty struggle to get treatment for these diseases and are thus often impacted the most. Malnutrition is also a concern for many people living in Suriname. Undernourishment affects 8.4 percent of the population.
  3. Disparities Between Rural and Urban Populations
    There are clear differences between the living conditions in urban and rural areas. Only 61.4 percent of rural populations have access to sanitation facilities, while 88.4 percent of the urban population does. The quality of education, which affects future income, also depends on location. Rural areas have poorly trained teachers compared to urban areas, which puts rural children at a disadvantage. The rural Maroon population, for example, has lower educational attainment, higher malnutrition, and less access to resources like electricity, sanitation and healthcare than urban populations. Rural populations’ disadvantages are partly due to the fact that geographic isolation restricts their opportunities to participate in policymaking.
  4. Discrimination
    High rates of discrimination in Suriname have hurt the wellbeing of minority ethnic groups. Compared to majority groups, people in the ethnic minority have limited access to quality education, good healthcare and other public services. Children from minority ethnic groups are also more likely to be forced into labor or sexually exploited as they try to earn money.

While the country is facing difficult issues, there are a number of programs and government efforts in place working to reduce these inequalities and address the health and labor issues that contribute to poverty in Suriname.

– Alexi Worley

Photo: Flickr

Poverty in Macau

Poverty in Macau
Macau, the “Las Vegas of the East,” has been prevalent in recent global news, especially as the residence of Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean leader’s brother who was poisoned in a Kuala Lumpur airport several weeks ago. Behind the façade of a glitzy, Asian gambling den where wealthy men make and squander their fortunes, many people are living in poverty in Macau.

Government officials boast that the rate of poverty in Macau is a mere 2.3 percent of the population. They cite rapid economic development as the reason for this low number, however, through some investigating, organizations such as Caritas Macau have discovered that this number is not entirely accurate.

The percentage does not account for the sky-high cost of living in Macau, and lower wages are often not enough to live comfortably. There are plenty of wealthy people in Macau, but even those who are comparatively poorer have more money than impoverished people elsewhere in the world.

When the high cost of living is taken into account, the number of people living in poverty in Macau jumps up to 10 percent.

A Hard-Working Population

In an interview with The Guardian, one woman at the MGM Macau detailed her struggle as a single mother while working as a cook. Others living in poverty in Macau are forced to leave their homes and find jobs elsewhere in China.

Most of the blame falls on corrupt government officials, who are always looking for opportunities to expand the economic potential to Macau. Government funding is often poured into building developments for the gambling industry instead of helping the poorest in Macau.

It is hopeful that if the government allocated more funding to explicitly help the poor, a significant and more accurate change in the percentage of those living in poverty would occur.

– Mary Grace Costa

Photo: Flickr

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The Top Diseases in Malaysia

Top Diseases in Malaysia
With a vast population of more than 30 million people, the Southeast Asian country of Malaysia has proven to be susceptible to numerous outbreaks and diseases. According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2014 Country Profile of Malaysia, cardiovascular disease is listed as the leading cause of death at 36 percent, affecting all ages and both sexes. Communicable, maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions are the second highest cause of death at 16 percent, followed by cancer at 15 percent. The remaining percentages consisted of a combination of other non-communicable diseases (NCDs), injuries, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes. The most recent data covering top diseases in Malaysia is discussed below.

Top 7 Diseases in Malaysia

Coronary heart disease

According to the WHO, Coronary heart disease ranks number one in terms of both diseases and health-related problems, responsible for 29,363 deaths. Coronary heart disease is the buildup of plaque in the heart’s arteries, which often leads to heart attacks.

Stroke

Stroke is the second-largest cause of death in Malaysia, as it affects approximately 40,000 people each year.

Influenza and pneumonia

Influenza and pneumonia have caused 11,773, or 9.26 percent, of total deaths. Influenza (flu) is a severe viral infection that is highly contagious. Pneumonia is a serious infection or inflammation of the lungs.

Lung diseases

Lung diseases are another one of the top diseases in Malaysia, with 6,797 recorded deaths.

Diabetes mellitus

The total number of deaths as a result of diabetes amounts to 4,760. Diabetes mellitus is a chronic, lifelong condition that affects the body’s ability to use the energy found in food, whether that be a lack of insulin, or an inability to use the insulin that is produced.

HIV/AIDS

As of 2015, 91,600 people in Malaysia live with HIV/AIDS, and 7,200 deaths have come from the disease.

Leptospirosis

In 2016, leptospirosis, a water contact disease, was classified as one of the top diseases in Malaysia. Humans can become infected through contact with water, soil or food contaminated with the urine of infected animals. Without adequate treatment, leptospirosis can lead to kidney damage, meningitis, liver failure, respiratory distress and in extreme cases, death.

Various diseases continue to present concerns for Malaysia and its people. It is necessary that both the public and professionals are aware of these diseases in order to provide affected individuals with the proper healthcare and assistance that they need.

– Mikaela Frigillana

Photo: Flickr