Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Kopernik: Using Technology to Improve the Developing World

Kopernik: Using Technology to Improve the Developing World

Billions of people all over the world lack the technology allowing them access to light, fuel-friendly cooking and clean drinking water. This is why Kopernik, a nonprofit technology company, is working to distribute simple, life-improving technologies to the world’s poorest communities.

The company provides these communities with items such as water filters, solar power lights and cooking stoves. Nicolaus Copernicus is the organization’s namesake since Kopernik is meant to be a catalyst for change and new ways of seeing the world. Kopernik distributes the best technology for the developing world through sourcing, connecting and reinvesting.

Sourcing

Kopernik uses its website to spread awareness about its technology. In response, countries submit proposals for the items they need the most. Then Kopernik publishes projects on the website in order to raise funds.

Connecting

Once the projects are fully funded — usually by donors — Kopernik ships the technology to its local partners. People then buy that technology at an affordable price through those local partners.

Reinvesting

Next, the local partners repay the money from technology sales to Kopernik. This money is then reinvested into new technology. Kopernik also works with local partners to assess the technology’s impact and share feedback with technology producers.

Funding

Kopernik is a nonprofit organization with a for-profit arm. The for-profit part of the organization is a consulting firm that works with technology companies in product development. The profits from the consulting business are then channeled toward the nonprofit operations.

Kopernik receives funding from companies, government development programs and individuals. Its partners also provide in-kind support such as free or discounted services. This keeps the organization’s operating costs low.

Technology

Kopernik is helping women access clean birth supplies and information about safe birthing practices. For example, in the Chittagong district of Bangladesh as well as Laos, the nonprofit provides JANMA clean birth kits to women. These birth kits contain sterile tools to reduce the risk of infection during childbirth.

In Vietnam, the organization has also connected 90 families with hearing-impaired children with affordable hearing aid technology. This makes it possible for children to learn to speak and form a better bond with their families and communities.

Impact

So far, Kopernik has served 396,325 people and distributed 90,359 technologies. It has funded 170 projects and reached 26 countries, among them Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Ghana and Nigeria.

According to Patrick Vinck of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, “New applications of technologies to humanitarian action may be the most important factor influencing humanitarian effectiveness over the next decade.” In this regard, Kopernik’s emphasis on technology distribution represents great gains for the world’s anti-poverty organizations with only more progress to come.

– Liliana Rehorn

Photo: Flickr

Poverty in the Marshall Islands

Poverty in Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands are an island country in the Pacific Ocean consisting of 29 atolls and five islands. The atolls and islands form two approximately parallel chains: the Ratak (sunrise) and the Ralik (sunset). Majuro, the capital of the Marshall Islands lies in the Ratak Chain in the East. The population of the Marshall Islands was 52,993 in 2015.

Before its independence in 1986, the Marshall Islands had been under the governance by Spain, Germany, Japan and the United States. The agreement that granted the Republic of the Marshall Islands its sovereignty — the Compact of Free Association (COFA) — allows Marshallese individuals to easily relocate to the United States and obtain work there. About one-third of the population has relocated to the United States, and more than 120,000 Marshallese live in northwest Arkansas and nearby places.

Poverty in the Marshall Islands

Poverty in the Marshall Islands is an urgent concern because of scarce natural resources, high unemployment rates and wealth inequality.

In the Marshall Islands, only 39.3% of the population aged 15 years and above is employed. For every one thousand babies born, 30 die before their birthday — the fourth highest in the Pacific region.

Wealth inequality and poverty in the Marshall Islands are also significant. The Ebeye city, the second-largest city in the Marshall Islands, is also known as the “Slum of the Pacific.” With a land area of 0.14 square miles, it has a population of about 12,000. This city is extremely overpopulated, outranking New York in the number of people living per square mile.

The Marshall Islands comprise about 750,000 square miles of ocean but only about 70 square miles of landmass. Even though people in Ebeye are surrounded by nothing but water, one of their major daily tasks is to search for clean water. Ebeye is badly polluted, and family members take turns sleeping because of the lack of land and money for housing. Constant floods threaten people’s homes and their possessions. However, a mere 30-minute boat ride away lies the Kwajalein atoll, which the U.S. army rents for the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site. In this American middle-class neighborhood, scenes usually include people drinking cocktails and dancing in the warm Pacific breeze, while many of the neighboring islanders live on less than $1 a day.

Massive Nuclear Testing

The Marshall Islands were the testing site for the U.S. of their nuclear bombs during the Cold War. From 1946 to 1958, a series of 23 nuclear devices were tested in these islands. One of the bombs, Castle Bravo, which was a newly designed dry fuel thermonuclear hydrogen bomb, was denoted on an early morning in March 1954. It was a thousand times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II.

Two atolls were destroyed because of the series of nuclear testing. In 1956, the United States Atomic Energy Commission regarded the Marshall Islands as “by far the most contaminated place in the world.” Before the United States conducted its first test in the Marshall Islands in 1946, there were 167 people living on Bikini Atoll, and thousands living on nearby atolls. The Marshallese living on Bikini Atoll were displaced twice because of the testing, but the ongoing nuclear radiation has been causing long-lasting health problems for both the people and the environment — 40 years after the testing, studies still showed that “eating locally grown produce, such as fruit, could add significant radioactivity to the body.”

Climate Change

Floods and droughts are destroying the “islander lives” of the Marshallese. States of Emergency were declared when waves as high as three feet hit the cities and for droughts leaving six thousand people surviving on less than one liter of water per day in 2008 and 2013. If global temperatures rise by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, the Marshall Islands may disappear. The Marshall Islands are some of the most vulnerable islands to the effects of climate change.

US Foreign Aid & Military Agreement

Direct U.S. aid accounts for 61.3% of the Marshall Islands’ $137.4 million budget for the fiscal year 2010. Under terms of the Amended Compact of Free Association, the U.S. is committed to providing approximately $70 million through 2023, including contributions to a jointly managed trust fund by the U.S. and the Marshall Islands. The Marshall Islands are renting the Kwajalein Atoll to the US Army, and their national defense is largely dependent on the U.S. On the flip side, the U.S. is benefiting from its unique and strategically important position in the Pacific Ocean.

Reducing Poverty

Forty percent of the total population in the Marshall Islands were under 15 years old in 2011 census, and 14% were under 5 years old. These young people can be great assets if provided good education and development, and they are the primary focus when fighting to reduce poverty in the Marshall Islands.

– Helen Yu Tang

Photo: Flickr

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Poverty in Mali

Poverty in Mali
As the 12th poorest country in Africa, Mali has remained poverty-stricken for many years. Malnutrition issues, lack of education and conflict are the main causes of poverty in Mali.

The average wage in Mali is $1.25 per day, and more than half of the population currently lives below the international poverty line. This contributes to Mali being one of the least developed countries in the world. The average life expectancy of adults in Mali is 55, due to malnutrition and the lack of access to clean water.

Mali is mostly self-sufficient in the food market. Many people work on farms in order to grow crops to provide for their families and communities. Mali faces many issues involving its climate and landscape. Two-thirds of Mali is desert, meaning that immediately, droughts become a serious issue. With poor soils, millions find it difficult to grow the crops they need and due to low wages, they are unable to buy what their family demands. As a result, malnutrition becomes a leading issue and is the main factor of poverty in Mali.

Poor education facilities across the country have led to poverty across Mali and as poverty heightens, the level of education deteriorates further. School enrollment is currently at 67% and across the country, the adult literacy rate is 38.7%. This is one of the lowest literacy rates in the world, as the global average stands at 86%. This figure shows that the level of education needs to be higher, which means that facilities need to be improved and the level of teaching must be higher.

The current conflict is adding to the problems revolving around poverty in Mali as over half a million families are affected. As the conflict continues, Malians are fleeing to neighboring countries in seek of asylum. Families continue to live in poverty as food shortages continue to be an issue. As people are moving away from Mali, they are not earning enough money to provide their families with what they need.

The United Nations World Food Programme is aiding Mali by providing nutritional support to those who still live there. In 2013, around 125 thousand people were provided with food support in the north of the country. Others in the south are also aided while they work on community-building projects. The program is helping to provide citizens with money to buy fresh vegetables and meat, which not only helps to provide for families but also to boost the local economy.

– Georgia Boyle

Photo: Flickr

Kapuluan Coconut: Improving Philippine Farming Communities

Farming Communities
In 2013, the Philippines was struck by Typhoon Haiyan, wiping out the majority of its leading agricultural product: coconut palm trees. Nearly 33 million trees were left in ruins, inflicting economic strife upon Philippine farming communities.

Will Lauder, the founder of Kapuluan Coconut, initially had the purpose of visiting the Philippines for a surf trip before hearing about the typhoon. Following the news of the devastation left behind from the storm, Lauder adjusted his itinerary and traveled to the Philippines to offer relief by delivering clean water to affected communities. It was this first-hand experience that led Lauder to create Kapuluan Coconut as an initiative to restore the mass desolation of coconut palms on the island through a “One for One” program.

Although Filipino farming communities are a globally dominant source of coconut oil production, farmers live under exploitative working conditions, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Of the three million coconut farmers within the industry, 60% live in extreme poverty. The quality and production of coconut oil have been compromised through industrialization processes, inflicting a type of “modern slavery” for coconut farmers.

Recognizing the reality of the coconut farming industry, Lauder created Kapuluan Coconut in order to restore the Philippines’ source of coconut palms, enhance the sustainability of farming conditions for coconut farmers and offer a coconut product with the finest quality.

Lauder argues, “everyone supports Fair Trade coffee; what about coconut?” With this, he implemented the “One for One” program which plants a palm tree for every Kapuluan Coconut product sold. As a result, jobs will be created for sustainable coconut oil farming thus providing an increase in prices, income, and job opportunities for Filipino communities.

Kapuluan Coconut’s efforts are to restore the “tree of life” that drives Filipino agriculture and to give back to local Filipino community organizations, such as the Lingap Center. This past December, Kapuluan donated $5 per sale to the Lingap Center for children, which offers assistance for children that have suffered from abuse, abandonment, and exploitation.

By subscribing to the email list, users will instantly receive a 10% discount on their first purchase while simultaneously helping to plant their first coconut tree. Through his experience and initiative efforts to help improve Philippine farming communities, Lauder says, “true happiness is… how helpful you are to people and to the world.”

– Amy Williams

Photo: Flickr

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Concerns of Water Quality in Dominica

Quality in Dominica
Dominica tourists and residents can rest easy. According to a Nov. 22, 2016 statement from the Dominica Water and Sewerage Company Limited (DOWASCO), the water quality in Dominica follows World Health Organization requirements and is safe to drink.

On November 21, 2016, Dominica was rattled with social media rumors claiming that the water caused illness in two tourists, resulting in one’s death. The viral message, spread through WhatsApp, warned readers to boil water before drinking after an investigation revealed toxins affecting the liver.

The next day, DOWASCO swiftly responded, advising that the water was tested daily, and during the September-November 2016 testing period, the presence of coliform bacteria was at zero or less than one colony-forming unit per 100 millimeters. DOWASCO reported that these results were within World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water guidelines. Results in hand, DOWASCO fired back at the rumor, calling them “baseless and slanderous and against the best interest of the public.”

Despite DOWASCO’s assurances, the Dominican government swiftly entered the fray to conduct its own investigation. On November 23, 2016, the Ministry of Health (MoH) held a press conference to address the issue. Chief Medical Officer David Johnson supported DOWASCO’s statement and reiterated that the rumor was without merit and caused unwarranted concern to residents and visitors.

Johnson reported that the MoH actively monitors drinking water quality in Dominica through weekly field tests, biweekly bacteriological analyses and annual sanitary assessments of all the water collection points in Dominica. He stated that the samples are even sent to other labs, like the Caribbean Public Health Agency, for further referral.

Johnson concurred with DOWASCO’s findings regarding the water quality in Dominica and reassured the public that the Ministry of Health had no worries about the quality of the island’s drinking water.

Concerning the rumor that someone died due to water contamination, Johnson stated that the country in which the alleged death occurred must investigate and report the issue to the WHO. He advised that if the death is determined to be a result of drinking water quality originating from a foreign visit, Dominica would receive a report.

Johnson indicated that the MoH was very concerned and was actively collaborating with the WHO to get to the source of the rumor.

– Gisele Dunn

Photo: Flickr

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The BRAC Programme: Helping Alleviate Poverty in Bangladesh

Poverty in Bangladesh
“I don’t want to think about my life. It’s a very hard story.” This is the nation’s cry that representatives of the BRAC Programme hear countless times. Village communities in Bangladesh have withstood such extreme poverty conditions that the majority of the population are illiterate, cannot afford to eat, and many families have to separate from and relocate children in order to provide efficient child-rearing.

According to The Guardian, the BRAC Programme, otherwise known as the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, seeks to equip impoverished individuals with accessibility to tangibles in the form of livestock so that they are able to financially sustain themselves within two years. Rather than providing a temporary fix, “poverty graduation,” as BRAC calls it, develops confident, self-sustaining people through financial education, literacy and learning to care for livestock. Children especially benefit from economic improvements as the likelihood of displacement has decreased and education opportunities have increased. In the village of Karli, every child now attends school, which is an increase from just 20 percent ten years ago.

BRAC also serves as a source of relief for recent disasters such as the fire that took place Dec. 4 in Korail, “the biggest slum” located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Within the first hour of the fire, BRAC staffers were at ground zero helping facilitate first aid camps, provide food and water and connect victims with family members. The fire that rapidly spread destroyed 495 homes making 2,000 people homeless. According to the BRAC response team, it will cost 12.4 million Bangladesh taka (USD$156,000) to rebuild what was lost. Fortunately, thanks to the seven-day donation drive supporting the victims of Korail, BRAC has assisted in raising 8.8 million takas.

Continual success occurs in Bangladesh as a result of BRAC efforts; 90,000 families a year receive assistance and a total of more than “1.7 million households have been transformed.” Thirty-five-year-old Rezia Begum recalls she “was half-naked when BRAC arrived, I didn’t even have clothes.” That was almost 20 years ago; now she owns her own land and animals, all six of her children have received an education, and she participates in charitable acts rather than relying on contributions.

As one of the world’s leading organizations that targets poverty, the BRAC Programme seeks to empower impoverished people by tackling poverty “at the root, and plants trees of hope.” It is this newfound hope that can transform the narrative from heartache into joy in overcoming the conditions of poverty.

– Amy Williams

Photo: Flickr

Container Gardening in the Philippines

Gardening in the Philippines
Container gardening is using recycled materials such as bottles or cartons to grow all manner of fruits, herbs and vegetables at home. In the Philippines, it is a critical survival tool for many families, enabling them to sustainably produce their own basil, squash, string beans, thyme, tomatoes and more.

Despite national poverty levels steadily decreasing since 2006, armed conflict and national disasters have kept food deficits regular. The 2015 Global Hunger Index rated hunger in the Philippines as “serious,” and the World Food Programme provides meals for 65,000 school children each year.

Newspapers like  The Manila Times have published guides on container gardening and materials. In fact, this new trend of nutritional empowerment has spread to 21 million households, giving many families the ability to feed themselves regardless of income. In an interview with The Manila Times, John Marchese of Seminis Home Garden Seed said container gardeners today had access to a huge variety of effective seeds that could be matched to their climate, soil and other circumstances.

Container gardening allows growers like Jojo Rom to save space and still produce an abundance of food, while also passing on knowledge to those around him. This way, Rom encourages others to start their own gardens, avoid the cost of ever-inflating food prices and help the planet. Some families are selling their extra crops to food markets and neighbors to generate income, having been able to produce more seeds for others while still growing enough food for themselves.

Container gardening fights hunger at home and climate change for the world, all the while reconnecting people with nature and teaching valuable skills. The next generation of the Filipino working class may never experience hunger in the same way if these practices are passed on and used to the fullest extent by those needing a path out of hunger and toward prosperity.

– Aaron Walsh

Photo: Flickr

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UN Women: Internship Program for Women in Afghanistan

Women in Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s population largely consists of people under 24 years of age, and about 400,000 people are entering the workforce every year. It is hard enough finding a job as a young graduate, but it’s even harder for the women in Afghanistan. The women in Afghanistan who try to get an education or become working members of the society still face a backlash from men.

Although 64 percent of Afghans believe women should be allowed to work, many men still feel that women should be forbidden from pursuing an education. Girls who attempt to get an education face great danger. Schools for girls have been burned down, teachers have been threatened and killed and girls have been injured walking to and from school. The women who actually complete their education often have forces working against them, preventing them from getting a job.

In December 2015, U.N. Women developed an internship program to help women who have graduated from college acquire skills and develop a work ethic to better prepare them for the working world in Afghanistan. As of now, 48 women have completed the U.N. Women’s internship program in Afghanistan. It is a six-month program, where two months is spent training the women in different professional skills, and four months is spent interning with an organization in the woman’s chosen field, where they receive a stipend from U.N. Women for the duration of their internship period.

As drastic and detrimental as things are for women in Afghanistan, the country is making progress for women and girls in education, political participation and in their economic role. The National Unity Government has committed to the empowerment of women and recognizes that equal opportunity for women is necessary for stabilizing Afghanistan and ensuring that the country develops in a sustainable way. There are more women in power than ever before in history – 27.7% of parliament consists of women, four ministries and the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission are led by women, and three women serve as ambassadors. Also, Afghanistan has in place a National Action Plan for implementing a resolution for the peace and security of women. These strides for progress show that there have been efforts in promoting and upholding a peaceful society with equal opportunity for women.

The internship program has helped the women in the program with vital social and professional connections with different programs around the world, some of which have offered these women jobs after completing their internships. The U.N. Women internship opportunity is helping women in Afghanistan look more suitable and appealing to job recruiters, even more appealing than the many young men they are competing against for jobs.

Women in Afghanistan continue to be disproportionately affected by poverty, discrimination and exploitation. There is still a substantial amount of resistance and discrimination in the workforce, but Afghanistan is making progress. With help from U.N. Women, the working and educated women in Afghanistan can be the progressive rebels that serve as role models and leaders to all other women and girls. Although Afghanistan has established ambitious goals, these actions are necessary to ensure that progress is not reversed and to preserve the great gains the country has made.

– Kayla Mehl

Photo: Flickr

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Worm Causing Disease Eliminated from Mali

Worm Causing Disease Mali
Since the ’80s, Former President Jimmy Carter’s foundation has been fighting to eradicate dracunculus, known as Guinea worm disease. Back when the foundation started, there were about 3.5 million cases in 21 countries. Because of their dedication to the cause, in 2016, only 25 cases of dracunculus, known as Guinea worm disease, were reported in Africa. Even more so, the disease has become completely eradicated in Mali.

The worm causing disease is contracted through drinking water contaminated by a parasite called the Guinea worm. The long, threadlike worm grows inside the body to about three feet, only showing symptoms up to a year later when a burning sensation in the form of a blister forms, usually on the legs. The worm then slowly exits the body through the blister and can be pulled out a few centimeters each day. The full process can take up to several weeks.

Though the disease is rarely fatal, there is a possibility of infections or allergic reactions. Furthermore, pains and temporary disability can leave patients bedridden for up to a month.

There is no drug to treat Guinea worm disease and no vaccine to prevent infection; however, the disease is fairly easy to contain and eventually eradicate. People susceptible to the worm causing disease have been taught to refrain from drinking non-filtered water as a preventative measure to curbing the disease.

Guinea worm, which is classified as a neglected tropical disease, now only remains in Chad, Ethiopia and South Sudan. Mali reduced its cases from more than 16,000 in 1991 to zero cases last year.

The fight to completely eradicate the worm causing disease is close to its finish line with only 25 cases to go; hopefully, with the help of organizations such as the Carter Center, the world will see an end to the disease.

– Mayan Derhy

Photo: Flickr

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Achieving Zero Hunger Will Require Investments

Zero Hunge
On Dec. 6, 2016, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released the first post-Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) report, 2016 Asia and the Pacific Regional Overview of Food Insecurity — Investing in a Zero Hunger Generation. According to the report, although the Asia-Pacific Region met the MDG target of halving the proportion of people suffering from hunger, “the overall rate of progress is less than desired, and there are several countries and sub-regions where the prevalence rates are still very high.”

Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs)

In September of 2015, world leaders adopted the Agenda for Sustainable Development, which features 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The second goal (SDG2) of the agenda reads, “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.” The report warns that progress towards achieving zero hunger has slowed, and must increase in order to reach SDG2’s target by 2030. In addition, the report says fully eliminating the prevalence of undernourishment, as well as reducing other forms of malnutrition across the Asia-Pacific region will be a challenge.

5th Global Forum

The U.N. FAO report was featured at the 5th Global Forum of Leaders for Agricultural Science and Technology (GLAST-2016), a three-day event in December that took place in Hainan, China. The theme of the forum was “Eliminating poverty and hunger through Science and Technology,” and discussions focused on solutions to the challenges facing agricultural development. One of the attendees was FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, Kundhavi Kadiresan, who said, “Most countries in this region are spending too little on agricultural research…we will, collectively, need to put our money where our mouths are to ensure we can meet these twin challenges [SDG2].”

Achieving Zero Hunger

According to the report, although economic growth is part of achieving SDG2, it is not nearly enough. Agriculture and food sustainability face resource scarcity and a changing, often unpredictable, climate, and growth in the agricultural sector is much more important. Investing in ways to improve agricultural production in order to enhance food availability is essential. Therefore, these should be the focus of government programs and policies that are intended to increase food and nutrition security.

– Kristin Westad

Photo: Flickr