Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Five Companies Investing in Developing Countries

Investing in Developing Countries
While some view developing countries as hopeless, others see in them the potential for investment. Despite their struggles, many developing countries are growing at faster rates than wealthy and middle-income countries as their working age populations increase and larger shares of people gain access to education. Below are five American companies that are investing in developing countries.

  1. Amazon
    In June 2016, Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos pledged that Amazon would up its planned direct investment in India from $3 billion to $5 billion. Amazon has already built 21 fulfillment centers and has employed large numbers of Indians in positions ranging from courier to researcher and developer. According to Bezos, India is Amazon’s fastest growing market.
  2. Enviro Board
    Enviro Board is a New Jersey-based company that specializes in producing cheap and environmentally friendly panels, “e-boards,” that can be used to construct houses. In 2014, Enviro Board agreed to launch a joint venture with a local Zambian corporation, Africapaciti Investment Group. The agreement involved building over 6,000 houses a year and re-investing a significant portion of the profits into worthy causes.
  3. Cummins
    Cummins is an American manufacturer of power generation equipment. Since 1962, it has been present in India via a joint venture, and today it employs almost 10,000 workers there. It also has a broad footprint in Africa, with representation in 51 out of 54 African countries. It has supported technical education and gender equality in Africa as well.
  4. IBM
    In 2012, IBM set up a global research lab in Nairobi, Kenya. The lab’s researchers focus on finding solutions to the challenges Africa faces, particularly those relating to education, human capital development and sanitation. In 2015, IBM Research Africa added a South African branch through collaboration with a local university. The researchers there are making use of Watson, IBM’s signature cognitive computing system, as they address the continent’s major issues.
  5. Coca-Cola
    Reduced to being one of the poorest countries in Asia by decades of autarkic military rule, Myanmar has courted foreign aid aggressively since it began to open up to the outside world in 2011. In 2012, Coca-Cola entered Myanmar after a 60-year hiatus by opening a new bottling plant there. The plant put the cap on an ambitious plan for $200 million in direct investment in the country over five years.

Whether it be through research and development, direct investment in production facilities or support for training programs, American companies investing in developing countries can help improve people’s lives. As potential consumers, people living in developing countries may also become major assets to the American economy in the future.

– Jonathan Hall-Eastman

Photo: Flickr

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USAID Leads the National Fight on Global Poverty

Global Poverty
As of 2013, 767 million men and women worldwide live under the global poverty line. Nearly 11 percent of the world’s population still struggle to make ends meet with less than $1.90 per person per day. According to recent World Bank statistics, much of this community is densely populated in sub-Saharan Africa. This region touts over half of the global impoverished community.

The U.S. Agency for International Development is one of the many organizations looking to make strides with this epidemic. Launched by the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, USAID aims to lead the U.S. national effort to abolish socioeconomic inequality.

This agency has instituted multiple initiatives geared towards combating widespread global poverty. Most notably, the U.S. Global Initiative Lab, instituted in 2014, works in conjunction with prominent businesses and academic institutions to address preeminent wealth disparity issues through a wide network of pooled resources.

These cornerstone partnerships offer advanced research and development capabilities which would otherwise be unavailable to one single entity. The U.S. Global Initiative Lab has also recently sought to implement technological advances in these poverty-stricken communities. The Lab has labored to effectively reallocate funds to provide the necessary groundwork for these actions to take place.

One USAID administrator, Rajiv Shah, expresses optimism when discussing these changes in a 2014 interview with Time Magazine. “[…] if we could get and invent new seeds, new mobile technology, and open new data centers to help farmers connect their crop prices and understand weather variability, we can do something transformational […].”

In 2016, USAID requested a budget of $50.1 billion to carry out development activities. This lump sum included a $35.2 billion base request to directly support people and global health programs while bolstering American U.N. leadership.

In its Congressional budget justification, USAID recognized the need for “accountability, efficiency, and effectiveness in the use of taxpayer dollars.” Additionally, the agency directly pointed out the need for budget allocation to African programs.

This request specifically outlines the need to secure policies concerning democracy, education and economic growth. USAID points to democratic gains in Nigeria as well as political transitions throughout the continent as vital measures towards infrastructural improvement.

These initiatives illustrate a refreshing sense of awareness on the part of USAID. Blindly throwing money at an issue yields ineffective and temporary solutions. Dire situations require resilience and thoughtful action.

USAID’s mission statement calls for “democratic societies to realize their potential.” The organization does not look for immediate solutions to complicated problems. More accurately, USAID works to promote a stable environment which can cultivate economic prosperity for years to come.

USAID believes actions like theirs may go to “define the majority of the history written about our era.” Time will show the scope of the impact USAID can have in the fight against global poverty.

– Brady Rippon

Photo: Flickr

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Gender in Agriculture: From Policy to Practice (GAPP)

GAPP
In Honduras, as in many places, gender conceptions influence national prosperity. Reimagining the ways that men and women can contribute to their communities and economies and learning how to share the societal load can stimulate poverty alleviation.

More than 1.7 million people in Honduras live in poverty, and many live on less than $1.25 per day. Many impoverished people live in rural areas. In fact, 46 percent of all Hondurans live in rural areas, where the primary occupation is farming. About 38 percent of all Honduran employment is in agriculture, and many farmers are struggling to make ends meet.

USAID and Feed the Future have made significant strides in assisting the Honduran farming community by improving technologies and management practices to help farmers increase the value of their agricultural products. However, there is still a long way to go, particularly in regard to supporting female farmers.

Income gaps and marginal political representation have crippled Honduran women’s leadership in the agricultural sector, despite the fact that in western Honduras alone, more than 40 percent of farming households are headed by women.

For three years, USAID and Feed the Future have partnered with Lutheran World Relief (LWR) in a project called Gender in Agriculture: From Policy to Practice (GAPP). Aiming to stimulate women’s leadership in Honduran agricultural communities, the program is training female farmers in leadership, public speaking and investing. Its hope is that as female farmers become more involved in local political processes, they will gain access to public funding and loans that tend only to benefit male farmers.

One recent GAPP success is a municipal agreement that part of the civic budget reserved for gender activities be specifically applied to women-led agricultural enterprises.

In addition to empowering female farmers in Honduras to demand their own rights, GAPP also funds programs to educate male leaders about the importance of gender equity in agriculture.

Using the concept of “new masculinities,” GAPP teaches male community members to appreciate women’s crucial role in the agricultural sector. According to one male GAPP advocacy training participant, Maximo Mejía, “Being a man isn’t, as they say, being a big shot, but understanding and seeking equality with your partner.”

While the provision of funding and new technologies does alleviate the difficulties faced by female farmers in Honduras, helping people rethink gender roles and stereotypes will help ensure that economic stagnation dissipates.

Feed the Future continues to train women to grow home gardens, farm fish and utilize the latest farming technologies, while GAPP teaches female farmers in Honduras how to use their voices to gain the civic support they need.

At the same time, Honduran men are relearning not only women’s roles in their economy, but also their own roles in caregiving and family health. This mutual empowerment of men and women will help break the poverty cycle in Honduras.

– Robin Lee

Photo: Flickr

Obama Administration to Combat Human Trafficking

Obama Administration to Combat Human Trafficking
Established in March 2012, the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (PITF) actively works to alleviate impacts and rates of human trafficking on both domestic and international levels. Initiatives to increase adherence to the rule of law, victim service provisions, analysis of supply and procurement chains and public awareness are central to the mission of the task force.

The task force aims to put an end to human trafficking through coordinated efforts among leaders across the board in dimensions such as academics, religious communities, the private sector and survivors of modern slavery.

In his last address to the PITF during Obama’s administration, Secretary Kerry emphasized the depth of destruction caused by human trafficking’s impact on “every single thing we are trying to accomplish in the field of development.” Kerry also condemned the “multi-billion-dollar criminal enterprise” that is human trafficking, while emphasizing the necessity of mobilizing resources to combat illicit activity.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) resumes responsibility for another anti-human trafficking initiative called the Blue Campaign created during the Obama administration. It acts as a conduit for collaboration between law enforcement, government, non-governmental and private organizations to enhance public awareness and unify investigative efforts.

Created in 2012, the public-private partnership called the Partnership for Freedom is another program developed during the Obama administration. This initiative offers financial support for innovative victim services as well as grants for tech communities to hinder illicit activity.

When the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking was created in 2015, its establishment emboldened invaluable expertise that human trafficking survivors had attained through their experiences. Composed of 11 survivors, these individuals lend policy advice to the PITF, integrating diversity and personal expertise to the future of anti-human trafficking efforts.

– Amber Bailey

Photo: Flickr

Maternal Health in Haiti a Concern for UNFPA

Maternal Health in Haiti a Concern For UNFPA
The U.N. Population Fund has expressed concern over the effects that Hurricane Matthew will have on the more than 8,400 pregnant women in the country and those who will need cesarean sections or other maternal care. It has pledged to make maternal health in Haiti a key aspect of its response to Hurricane Matthew.

The organization has pledged to send 252 emergency reproductive health kits to 450,000 people in the next three months. These kits will include resources such as medicine and supplies for safe deliveries, rape treatment and voluntary family planning. The organization also plans to certify local midwives through their own UNFPA supported schools and to open clinics that these midwives will staff. In total, UNFPA hopes to raise $5 million for this project.

UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin explained the necessity for the project, stating, “Hurricane Matthew delivered a severe blow to Haiti’s health facilities, whether by flooding these centers or blowing off their roofs and putting them out of service. Our urgent task is to protect the health and rights of women and girls and to ensure that their basic needs, which are often overlooked in humanitarian situations, are quickly met. We will work to help women give birth and live, despite this tragedy.”

Maternal health in Haiti has been an issue in the country since well before Hurricane Matthew. Haiti has the highest maternal and infant death rates in the western hemisphere and, in light of Matthew’s aftermath, these rates are expected to rise. UNFPA warned in a press release that an estimated 13,650 women are expected to give birth in the next three months, and the storm’s destruction of many healthcare facilities on the island has raised serious concern among human rights groups.

According to the World Health Organization, approximately 830 women die each day from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, and 99 percent of these deaths occur in the developing world.

Adolescent pregnancies are very common in Haiti, and since family planning has been interrupted by the storm, such pregnancies are expected to rise in the next few months. According to a 2012 survey, approximately 11 percent of adolescent girls in the country have at least one child.

Magdala Bourdeau, a midwife in Haiti told UNFPA, “Since November 3, we have carried out several deliveries and received several types of pathologies, such as pre-eclampsia, severe anemia, high blood pressure and premature pregnancies.”

Dr. Joanne Liu, the international president of Médecins Sans Frontières, reports that the five main causes of maternal death include hemorrhage, sepsis (infection), complications resulting from unsafe abortion, hypertensive disorders and obstructed labor. Such conditions are usually preventable with access to medical care, but maternal death rates remain high in areas where disaster or conflict has limited access to such care.

The U.N. Population Fund aims to protect maternal health in Haiti and hopes to raise the $5 million that it needs in time to do so.

– Eva Kennedy

Photo: Flickr

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Quality of Internet Use is Influenced by Economic Status

Internet Use
Long considered the means by which the democratization of information would be achieved, the internet is increasingly becoming a platform where wealth disparities are made evident. According to a report released in July 2016 by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the quality of internet use among students seems to be influenced by socioeconomic status.

The OECD report, which studied teenage students’ time spent online, highlighted the so-called “digital divide” that exists between their respective, qualitative internet use. In addition to this, the report found that despite having equal access, which theoretically should imply equal opportunity and success, poor students were less likely to know about or take advantage of the myriad benefits internet access affords.

Interestingly, in 21 out of the 42 countries from which data was collected, poor students actually spent more time online than wealthier students. Wealthy students, according to the study, spend their time online reading the news and learning. “But disadvantaged students may not be aware of how technology can offer opportunities to learn about the world, practice new skills or develop [professional plans or internet-based communication opportunities],” according to the OECD report.

The report noted that internet use among rich and poor students is strongly correlated with more general academic performance measures. It appears that the problem of ignorance about internet benefits both perpetuates and is perpetuated by lack of education.

A separate, unrelated study by the London School of Economics, published in February 2016, showed that people of the “higher social status” (wealthier and more educated people) benefited from their time spent online. “To some extent, the findings suggest that access to and use of the internet might exacerbate existing inequalities offline,” the study’s author remarked.

The OECD report noted that work aimed at ending these disparities is underway but that far more needs to be accomplished in order to make a difference.

One related effort attempting to tackle the issue of internet access is the Digital Global Access Policy (GAP) Act, which is currently making its way through Congress. This legislation is designed to bring internet access to the 60 percent of the world that is currently offline.

Though not directly related to efforts to leveling the playing field among people who are already online, the Digital GAP Act should have indirect but related benefits, as its passing will mean wider dissemination of internet education.

– James Collins

Photo: Flickr

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Education in Cambodia: A Promising Future on the Horizon

Education in Cambodia
From 1975 to 1979, the uprising of the Khmer Rouge political group upset a previously safe Cambodia where education was not only halted but regressed a devastating amount. Left in ashes over the last decade, education in Cambodia has begun to be re-established, setting in motion a prosperous future.

Cambodia, once considered a safe-haven and “Island of Peace” in the 1950s through 1960s, quickly became a torn country with the rise of the radical political group Khmer Rouge.

The Khmer Rouge’s primary goal was to turn Cambodia into a rural, classless society. To do so, the Khmer Rouge government targeted those most capable of opposing the government. One point seven million of Cambodia’s most culturally intellectual — doctors, teachers, lawyers, accountants, clergy, merchants and engineers — were murdered. As a result, a generation of intellects was eliminated, leaving no one to pass down knowledge to the coming generations.

In an interview with CNN, Khmer Rouge expert Craig Etcheson described how “nearly two generations of young Cambodian men grew up learning little more than how to kill.” So, when the Khmer Rouge was overthrown in 1979, Cambodia had to rebuild from virtually nothing.

Additionally, Cambodia had to reconstruct themselves without approximately 25 percent of its entire population, consisting primarily of its educated class. Though democracy was introduced in the early 1990s, strengthening the country has been a glacial process. However, education in particular has been making strides in providing access to schooling and sex education.

Schooling in Cambodia
In 2003, the nonprofit organization Caring for Cambodia was formed to improve education in Cambodia by raising money and building schools for kindergarten through 12th-grade. Thus far, CFC has built 21 schools in the Siem Reap region of Cambodia.

According to CFC’s website, over the course of five years, schools that participate in the program see a 70 percent enrollment increase.  CFC has secured 4,000 financial supporters as well as acquired 250 devoted volunteers to carry out its mission of providing education in Cambodia to an increasing number of children.  Students of higher education are also being given more access to opportunities.

The American University of Phnom Penh in Cambodia has partnered with the University of Arizona to offer Cambodian students a first-rate U.S. education. As of September 2016, as reported by Khmer Times, students attending AUPP are now able to take courses from the University of Arizona and earn a dual degree from the two schools in undergraduate and master’s degrees.

Sex Education
From 2010 to 2014, the pregnancy rate for Cambodian girls ages 15 to 19 increased from 8 percent to 12 percent. In 2013 to combat and reduce this pregnancy rate, Cambodia began a test project throughout schools in nine regions of Cambodia.

This pilot project taught students in primary, secondary and high schools about practicing safe sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, sexually transmitted diseases, and gender-based violence and abuse. According to Cambodia Daily, teachers in Cambodia have attributed previously skipping over such subject matter to parent opposition as well as it being a “sensitive issue.”

Despite some believing sex education to be a taboo topic, the Reproductive Health Association of Cambodia has recommended the government make sex education a core subject in grades five to 12.

As advised, the Ministry of Education in Cambodia will be rolling out the pilot program nationwide by 2019 with the goal of decreasing the pregnancy rate in girls ages 15 to 19 by educating and changing the traditional social norms.

Although the Khmer Rouge takeover presented destructive setbacks for Cambodia socially and economically, education in Cambodia has been making meaningful improvements since the turn of the century and optimistically continues to do so.

– Alex Fidler

Photo: Flickr

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How the Mobile for Development Utilities Program Works

Sanitation_mobile
Funded in 2013 by the U.K. Department for International Development, the Mobile for Development Utilities Program (M4D) makes basic utility services in impoverished areas accessible, affordable and reliable.

The M4D Utilities Program currently exists in 24 global markets, 15 of which are in Africa. It addresses Goal 6 (ensuring access to water and sanitation) and Goal 7 (ensuring affordable energy) of the 17 U.N. sustainable development goals.

The program improves access to water, sanitation and energy services through five channels: mobile infrastructure, sales and distribution, machine-to-machine connectivity, mobile payments and mobile services.

  • Mobile Infrastructure
    Infrastructure such as telecom towers supply service to surrounding communities. The development of these towers will give more people access to mobile networks and enable entrepreneurial phone charging services in remote areas. This ensures convenient, affordable energy to relevant areas, addressing Goal 7 of the U.N. Global Goals.
  • Sales and Distribution
    Focus on sales, distribution and branding can help Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) improve sales and reach underserved communities. Utility service providers and MNOs can work together and co-brand for efficiency, bringing energy, water and sanitation solutions to underserved areas. This addresses Goals 6 and 7 of the U.N. sustainable development goals.
  • Machine-to-Machine Connectivity
    Under the M4D Utilities Program, machine-to-machine connectivity will be more efficiently monitored, increasing technological reliability and allowing service providers and entrepreneurs insight into customer behavior. For example, service providers can collect bills online. However, according to a GSMA Mobile for Development Utilities Program report, machine-to-machine connectivity needs to be more reliable. Improving reliability addresses Goal 6 of the U.N. sustainable development goals, ensuring access to water and sanitation.
  • Mobile Payments
    Pay-as-you-go (PAYG) is a form of mobile payment that has had great success so far under the M4D Utilities Program. It simplifies payment methods for customers and creates a digital record of payments for those without payment history. So far, 650,000 mobile-connected pay-as-you-go solar home systems have been delivered worldwide. This addresses Global Goal 7, ensuring reliable energy, but according to the GSMA report mobile money will need to be even more accessible in order to help meet the U.N.’s sanitation requirements.
  • Mobile Services
    Mobile services such as voice commands, SMS and apps can be used to improve customer service and field operations as well as to optimize supply chains. Communities, agents and service providers alike can use these mobile services to form strong foundations of customer support. However, in order to meet U.N. sanitation goals, mobile services could also make an effort to unite stakeholders and align with the government on its sanitization-improving policies.

The M4D Utilities Program demonstrates that using mobile technology actually works. It has raised more than $58 million in private sector funding and has so far benefited more than 1.9 million people. For example, in 2013 the solar energy company Mobisol used its pay-as-you-go solar business to provide 250,000 people in Rwanda and elsewhere with clean solar energy to power their households.

Improving access to energy, water and sanitation will improve the health and education of people in impoverished places. The Mobile for Development Utilities Program can help bring us closer to the target of universal and equitable access to reliable and safe energy, water and sanitation by 2030.

– Liliana Rehorn

Photo: Flickr

Poverty Reduction Alone: Not a Remedy for Pollution in India

Pollution in India
Although poverty in India was reduced by 91.6 million people between 2009 and 2012, 363 million Indians still live below the poverty line according to a 2014 report by the Indian government. Chief government planning commission officer, Amitabh Kant, however, projects that poverty in India can be eliminated by 2032 if gross domestic product growth increases to 10 percent, as it would result in a $10 trillion economy. While India has huge potential to have a booming economy and lower poverty rates, it must grow sustainably, acknowledging the environment’s limitations, specifically, pollution in India.

In the next few decades, India hopes to mimic the massive growth of China. However, India should also look to China’s past and present as an opportunity to learn from its mistakes. Unrestrained growth called for incredible energy demands in China, which burned 3.2 billion tons of coal in 2010 alone.

The pollution has consequently caused the air quality in some areas to be as toxic as smoking 40 cigarettes a day, according to Berkeley scientist, Richard Muller. Purely relying on fossil fuels will counter many of India’s poverty alleviation efforts by simultaneously deteriorating the living environment.

Another key factor for India to consider when structuring its economic growth is the already extremely polluted environment. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guideline, 22 of the 50 most polluted cities in the world are in India. A 2014 WHO report also indicated that between 0.5 and 0.6 million people die from pollution in India.

The country currently burns 150 million tons of biomass annually for cooking and heating. As India works to provide 300 million more people with electricity, its emissions are projected to double, surpassing those of the U.S. and China. While continuing to use fossil fuels and similar energy sources may be cheap in the short run, long-term damage will be incalculable and possibly sabotage the country’s future. As a result, businesses have begun to look to India’s energy demands as an excellent opportunity.

One rising startup is BioLite. The company created a stove that converts electricity from captured smoke and wasted energy from burned biomass, which is then stored in an external battery.

The stove is more energy efficient and nearly eliminates the pollution created from cooking, one of the largest contributors to India’s pollution. With a proper partnership and widespread production of the BioLite stoves, India could equip its poorest with both safer cooking equipment and rudimentary access to electricity.

Given its proximity to the sea, India has also considered utilizing ocean generated electricity, through either wave, tidal, current or thermal energy. One company, Ocean Power Technologies, has recently deployed its buoys, one of the first to do so, off the coast of New Jersey. At $19 million, the company may even be large enough to propel India’s nascent ocean power technology programs.

Other companies that could benefit from the Indian market are solar technology companies and electric car companies. While opening its market to foreign companies may expose Indian companies to harmful competition, the country itself needs to find feasible ways to ease itself into accelerated growth.

The impending energy demands can either launch the country into the future or drag it through lethal pollution levels. With these new business relations, India’s future has the potential to be bright.

– Henry Gao

Photo: Flickr

Population Growth in Nigeria: Looking Forward to 2050

Population Growth in Nigeria
Africa is projected to account for more than 50 percent of the global population increase between 2015 and 2050. Future efforts to tackle poverty on the continent, therefore, will have to take a larger number of people into account. According to a study published by the U.N., Nigeria is expected to be the third most densely populated country in the world by 2050. The projected population growth in Nigeria, combined with its widespread poverty, will have consequences for the entire country.

It may be challenging to create primary and secondary schooling opportunities, health care facilities, clinics and transport at a rate sufficient to keep up with population growth in Nigeria. As a result, poor households may continue in poverty due to insufficient access to facilities that can improve employment and health prospects.

High unemployment rates in Nigeria are also an area of concern, as jobs are projected to become more scarce in the future due to rapid population growth. In 2015, approximately 70 percent of Nigeria’s youth population experienced either unemployment or underemployment. This statistic is unlikely to improve unless a conscious effort is made to create jobs in the country and to improve skills and technical knowledge.

Resources in the country such as food, water, energy and electricity are currently sparse and are likely to become progressively more so as the population increases. Active measures to expand these resources include providing financial incentives for farming and food industries and setting up local clean water supplies and power sources to sustain individual communities.

Nigeria’s growing population could have some positive effects if humanitarian efforts to eradicate poverty are directed toward younger generations. Increasing numbers of working age individuals can enhance economic growth and output if those individuals are equipped with training and education to improve their employability.

The issue of exponential population growth also needs to be targeted at its core. Quality family planning services need to be made readily accessible in rural Nigerian communities in order to ensure that households are well-informed about the responsibilities and costs involved in raising a child.

Population growth in Nigeria may well strain the country’s resources, but if appropriate measures are enacted, Nigeria will be sufficiently prepared for the years to come.

– Tanvi Ambulkar

Photo: Flickr