Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

,

Top Diseases in Guatemala

GuatemalaGuatemala is a center for disease monitoring in Latin America. The Center for Disease Control Central American Regional Office was placed in Guatemala City in 2005. Here are four of the top diseases in Guatemala.

  • Lower Respiratory Infections
    Lower respiratory infections killed about 10,000 people in Guatemala in 2012. It’s possible that lower respiratory infections in Guatemala and other developing nations come from air pollution from solid fuels.
  • Neonatal and Nutritional Issues
    Neonatal and nutritional issues killed about 600,000 Guatemalans in 2012. Still, Guatemala is working on fighting against it. In 2005, the government strengthened the Extension of Coverage program to provide basic healthcare to even the most vulnerable and impoverished people in rural communities. This program included the World Bank’s Maternal-Infant Health and Nutrition Project, which along with other programs helped reduce malnutrition in children under two years old and helped with other issues related to maternal health.
  • HIV, TB and Malaria
    About 2,000 people died of HIV, TB or malaria in 2012. Sex workers, sexually active gay men, prison inmates and street children are among those most at risk of contracting AIDs, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Guatemala has adapted prevention standards from the WHO and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to test for and treat HIV.Tuberculosis is spread very quickly in overcrowded areas. One can obtain tuberculosis through contaminated air or certain milk products. Malaria is most present in low altitude areas (not Guatemala City or Antigua). It is spread by the anopheles mosquito. People may get bitten by these mosquitoes without even realizing it because the mosquitoes are silent and do not leave bite marks.
  • Zika
    Women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant should have the most concern about Zika because it causes birth defects. Almost 1,000 pregnant women were suspected of having the Zika virus, and 275 women were confirmed with having it in 2016.

These are just four of the top diseases in Guatemala. The Center for Disease Control and other organizations are working to alleviate these and other diseases in the nation.

– Jennifer Taggart

Photo: Flickr

,

Child Marriage in Trinidad and Tobago Under Spotlight

Child Marriage in Trinidad and Tobago
There was a total of 17 13-year-old girls who were legally married in Trinidad and Tobago in 2010. In fact, eight% of girls in Trinidad and Tobago are married before the age of 18.

Child marriage is a dire problem that exists across countries, cultures, religions and ethnicities. Although there is great public opposition, at least 117 countries in the world allow it to happen, according to the Pew Research Center.

The Marriage Act of 1923, which states that the youngest legal age of marriage is 12 for girls and 14 for boys if there is parental consent, gives legality to child marriage in Trinidad and Tobago. The irony is that the Children Act, which was declared in 2015 and raised the age of sexual consent from 16 to 18, did not repeal the Marriage Act.

The country’s Muslim and Hindu communities, including some religious leaders, seem intent on holding onto child marriage laws. Back in May 2016, the leader of the Inter-Religious Organization (IRO), which represents the country’s diverse religious groups, declared that the government should not amend the Marriage Act because “age does not determine maturity.” The IRO also stated that it would vigorously fight government interference in the Muslim and Hindu Marriage Acts.

This declaration shed a necessary spotlight on the issue and raised the significant public pressure to repeal the law. The government stated that “the time has come for the age of marriage to be the same [as the age of sexual consent] to protect a child’s right to enjoy life.”

This is exactly what was done when the country’s attorney general, Faris Al-Rawi, presented the Miscellaneous Provisions Marriage Bill to the country’s senate. The bill ensures that the age of marriage is in line with the age of sexual consent and will hopefully pave the way to ending child marriage in Trinidad and Tobago.

The recent resurgence of the debate on child marriage by the United Nations System in Trinidad and Tobago (UNTT) and the support for all efforts to end this practice are the perfect platform to meet the intended goal.

The U.N. office recognizes that the marriage of a person under the age of 18 violates human rights and threatens the health and prospects of young persons, particularly girls. On a global scale, child marriage slows down the fight for gender equality.

With public opposition rising, the fight against child marriage is gaining strength. Hopefully, the world will see its end soon — at least in Trinidad and Tobago.

– Mayan Derhy

Photo: Flickr

Gender Parity and Early-Grade Literacy Rates in Rwanda

Rwanda on the Rise
Although faced with problems in the past, the education system in Rwanda is making an ambitious effort to attain gender equality and increase early-grade literacy, as revealed by a 2016 UNICEF study. Thanks to government programs aimed at improving basic education and utilizing newer teaching methods, literacy rates in Rwanda signal signs of improvement.

With a population of more than 11 million, Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa, and half of its population is under 18. With such a large community of young people, the improvement and dissemination of education throughout the country is vital for its socioeconomic development. Rwanda’s government values education as critical for peaceful development, and has thus increased its allotment in the national budget from 17% (2012-2013) to 22% (2017-2018).

Rwanda has enjoyed a decrease in poverty over the past 20 years, accompanied by economic growth and burgeoning education standards. The country has also sought to improve education by focusing on key challenges such as dropout rates, teacher training and the improvement of educational tools for special needs children.

Because of these efforts to improve education, literacy rates in Rwanda have increased steadily. Early-grade literacy programs focus on teaching children in their native language of Kinyarwanda, which then continues into lessons in French and English. Assessments indicated that children were greatly affected by the improvement in their learning environments and the results of educator training.

This dedication to education is paying off — Rwanda has the highest primary school enrollment rate of any country in Africa, and has achieved gender parity in elementary education programs, with girls’ enrollment actually higher (98%) than boys’ (95%). In secondary education, girls now comprise 52% of enrolled students.

There are still a few challenges facing the Rwandan school system. Children in rural areas, as well as those born during or shortly after the 1994 genocide, are far behind in literacy and lack access to quality education. UNICEF has found that teacher training and parental involvement are two key factors in improving education in rural Rwanda.

Despite hurdles to improving its education system, Rwanda is making great progress in improving the lives of its children. With a continued focus on rural school systems, educator training and early-grade reading programs, its government stands to strengthen and stimulate an entire generation of young minds. If the rising literacy rates in Rwanda are any reflection of the trajectory of the country’s children, they will find they have only the sky as the limit.

– Emily Marshall

Photo: Flickr

,

Ten Facts About Somali Refugees

Somali Refugees
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Somalia “remains the epicenter of one of the world’s largest displacement crises.” Of the approximately 11 million people living in Somalia, well over one million are internally displaced while another one million Somalis are registered as refugees in the Horn of Africa and Yemen. Somali refugees have suffered the consequences of a “failed state,” enduring decades of political turmoil, severe drought and the presence of extremist groups.

Because Somalia is one of the countries specified in President Trump’s executive order regarding the immigration ban, it’s important to understand the implications of the country’s situation. Here are 10 facts about Somali refugees:

  1. Since 1991, when President Mohammed Siad Barre fled the country to make way for a power struggle between two warring clans, Somalia has lacked a stable government. Fighting among warlords and rebel groups has made it extremely difficult to restore peace in the country.
  2. It has been difficult to provide Somalia with the international aid that it needs. The country became so dangerous that the U.N. pulled its international aid workers from Somalia in 2001. In 2005, the U.N. World Food Program shipments to Somalia were stopped because they were being seized by rebel forces. Today, it is still difficult to ensure that aid shipments do not fall into the wrong hands.
  3. The total number of native-born Somalis living outside their country more than doubled between 1990 and 2015. The number increased from approximately 850,000 to two million.
  4. Today, there are close to 150,000 Somali immigrants and refugees living in the U.S., and under the Obama administration, nearly 43,000 Somali refugees came to the U.S.
  5. This decade, more than 260,000 people have died in Somalia as the result of severe drought, which has contributed to a lack of clean water and the disintegration of agriculture across the country. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated in a 2016 report that one in 12 Somalis struggles to meet their needs regarding food and water. The report also stated that approximately 305,000 children under the age of five were suffering from malnutrition.
  6. Somalia’s neighboring countries host the largest number of its refugees. According to data collected by the UNHCR, there are just under 330,000 Somali refugees registered in Kenya, 241,000 in Ethiopia and 255,000 in Yemen. Thousands more have found temporary living situations in Tanzania, Uganda, Djibouti and Eritrea.
  7. Dadaab, the largest refugee camp in the world, was home to more than half a million Somalis in 2015. The camp is located in northeastern Kenya and was initially set up as a temporary living situation for refugees fleeing conflict in Somalia and Sudan. Unfortunately for many, the camp has become more permanent. Refugees are often stuck in camps for several decades, unable to emigrate to another country or return to their own. Kenya now plans to close the camp as it has become a breeding ground for extremist groups.
  8. Islamist group Al-Shabaab has a strong presence in Somalia, initially gaining support by promising safety and security to citizens. Al-Shabaab’s credibility quickly declined due to violence and the denial of Western aid. Al-Shabaab’s presence in Somalia has contributed heavily to the refugee crisis, committing senseless acts of violence that contribute further to the chaos.
  9. According to the U.S. federal budget proposal for 2017, Somalia will receive $116.8 million in funding for security assistance and even less in humanitarian aid.
  10. Somali refugees around the world have been resettled and have succeeded in creating productive and successful lives in Western countries. Apart from the many Somalis living in the U.S., around 280,000 Somali immigrants live in European countries.

Somalia continues to be one of the most prominent sources of the world’s refugees, as it has been for several decades. The call for humanitarian assistance and the need for development in the country is at an all-time high, especially considering the possibility that, under the new administration, Somali refugees may not be allowed to enter the United States.

– Peyton Jacobsen

Photo: Flickr

Promising New Tuberculosis Regimens

Tuberculosis Regimens
Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the top ten causes of death worldwide and disproportionately affects the developing world. Though the number of TB deaths decreased from 2000 to 2015, it is responsible for more deaths than HIV and malaria combined. Over the past several years, multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has steadily risen. Approximately half a million cases of MDR-TB were reported in 2015. Resistance often develops secondary to patient non-compliance.

Given the complexity and duration of tuberculosis therapy, it is no surprise that many patients struggle to take the medications as directed. Initial first-line therapy consists of isoniazid, rifampin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol. The four-drug regimen must be taken at least five times a week for eight weeks during the initial phase. Then, the patient must continue taking two medications for an additional 18 weeks.

Treatment failure can require eight months of retreatment. If drug resistance develops, treatment can take two years and has a high rate of failure.

Researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles have been working to develop new tuberculosis regimens that could boost the probability of treatment success. Using Parabolic Response Surface (PRS) technology, the team identified drug combinations with higher antimicrobial activity than the Standard Regimen of isoniazid, rifampin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol.

PRS Regimen I includes clofazimine, ethambutol, prothionamide and pyrazinamide. For PRS Regimen II, bedaquiline is used instead of prothionamide.

So far, the new tuberculosis regimens have only been tested on mice, but the results are promising. Differences in efficacy, quantified by the number of colony-forming units, were statistically significant for both PRS regimen groups compared to the Standard Regimen control group.

For both of the new tuberculosis regimens, efficacy was dependent on the pyrazinamide dose. The bedaquiline dose also affected the efficacy of PRS Regimen II.

PRS Regimen I took 12 weeks to achieve 100% relapse-free cure while variations of PRS Regimen II achieved cure in three to four weeks. The Standard Regimen takes 16 weeks to achieve a relapse-free cure. Based on these results, a new tuberculosis regimens could reduce treatment duration by as much as 75%. Such a drastic reduction in length of therapy could facilitate better patient compliance.

The next step is to see whether or not the results in mice can be replicated in human beings. Given the rise of drug-resistant TB, successful treatment of human subjects with these new tuberculosis regimens would be a huge victory for global health.

– Rebecca Yu

Photo: Flickr

Poverty in Guinea Persists

Guinea Persists
More than half of Guinea’s population lives below the poverty line despite the country’s great mineral wealth. Guinea ranks 178th out of 187 countries on the Human Development Index. Poverty in Guinea is an immense problem, as 40% of children below the age of five are chronically malnourished.

Foreign investments have unfortunately been dropping due to political, social and governmental crises, including emerging tensions with refugee populations coming from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire.

There are around 25 foreign international mining companies that currently run operations in Guinea, as well as four domestic mining companies. Guinea has the largest export of bauxite in the world — the primary source of aluminum — as well as possessing vast iron ore, gold and diamond reserves, but, unfortunately, this generation of wealth is lost on the population, as the country gains little compensation for its mineral riches.

Guinea has also been faced with an Ebola crisis during the global outbreak between 2014-2015. It is clear that it had a profound effect on various social aspects of Guinean life. Unemployment doubled in urban areas, and many families withdrew their children from school.

Today, Guinea’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has rebounded by 5.2% from the shock of the Ebola crisis, but, unfortunately, the growing economy has been unable to reduce poverty in Guinea, as it persists in rural areas where 67% of the population resides.

The current government of Guinea headed by President Condé, the country’s first democratically elected leader, received help from the World Bank. Jointly, they started the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development Project. The project aims to cut poverty in Guinea by investing in transport and energy, as well as cutting back red tape on job and business creation. By increasing public transit connectivity, President Condé hopes to allow rural workers to go to work in the city. As of now, these workers are landlocked and dependent on subsistence farming for a living.

Guinea has a bright future ahead if it is able to keep its current foreign investment status. With the help of foreign investors, it will be able to continue to develop its MSME Development Project.

– Josh Ward

Photo: Flickr

, ,

UNESCO Rebuilds Refugee Girls Confidence with Education

Girls Through Education
While 91% of children around the world go to primary school, only 50% of refugee children are as lucky. These odds are startling, especially considering that 69 million girls remain out of school worldwide and that this number is expected to increase due to the refugee crisis. UNESCO plans to change that.

“Changing the World of Refugee Girls Through Education” is the aim of UNESCO’s new partnership with Procter & Gamble (P&G) and Save the Children, showcased in late January. Its main goal is to raise awareness of the extreme vulnerability of refugee girls and to secure solutions for their future through education and skills development.

The project is geared toward Syrian and Jordanian women who struggle to continue basic education or pursue work opportunities. The partners are working to help develop the life, business and vocational skills of these women, all while encouraging them to share their experiences.

The program, which is based in Jordan, offers refugee girls innovative job search techniques and helps them develop skills required to gain employment. In addition to all this, UNESCO helps them find opportunities in today’s global marketplace. If needed, one-on-one psychological counseling is also provided.

Schools also play an important role in identifying refugee children at risk of abuse, sexual and gender-based violence as well as forced recruitment. Even more so, they can help connect them with appropriate services, according to a recent UNESCO report.

Classrooms can also act as a place of transformation for many kids. Becoming educated can help one become a well-rounded person and gain a foundation of learning, which is a big step in helping one stand on his or her own feet.

This is even more important for refugee girls. Educating these girls empowers them and reduces the number of girls getting married at a very young age. This is a massive problem for girls in developing countries, where one in three girls is married before the age of 18.

Solving such a problem requires commitment, time and effort. This is just what the UNESCO partnership is hoping to accomplish by supporting refugee girls, raising their confidence and shaping their future.

– Mayan Derhy

Photo: Flickr

,

Five Things to Know About the Bosnian War

Bosnian War
Between the years of 1991 and 1992, the country of Yugoslavia suffered mass chaos as nationalism in six different regions of the country began to surge. This was due in large part to growing perceptions of ethnic distinctions and a faltering economy. This time gave rise to intense violence and ethnic cleansing throughout the region, resulting in the Bosnian War. Here are five things to know about the Bosnian War:

    1. On March 3, 1992, Bosnia (now Bosnia-Herzegovina) declared its independence from Yugoslavia, following in the footsteps of neighboring Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia from the previous year. The official beginning of the Bosnian War is typically marked as April 6, 1992, when Bosnian Serb forces invaded the capital of Sarajevo.
    2. Three primary ethnic groups were embroiled in the conflict: the Bosniaks, Bosnian Muslims who comprised more than 44% of the population; the Bosnian Serbs, who predominately practiced Eastern Orthodox Christianity (31% of the population) and Bosnian Croats, a Catholic minority who comprised 17% of Bosnia’s populace at the time.
    3. Reelected to the Serbian presidency in 1992, Slobodan Milošević encouraged rising nationalist sentiments within the region and backed the attacks on Sarajevo, as well as the siege on Srebrenica on July 11, 1995. Serbian forces invaded the town, which had previously been designated a safe haven by the U.N., and separated the Muslim Bosniaks from the rest of the population. The women and girls — many of them raped and sexually assaulted — were bussed to nearby villages, while the remaining 8,000 Muslims were murdered and left in mass graves.
    4. By the end of 1993, Bosnian Serbs controlled 70% of the country, and most Bosnian Croats had fled. The term “ethnic cleansing” arose, a painful euphemism for the thousands that had been expelled, tortured, raped and murdered at the hands of Serbian forces. Many were forced into concentration camps, while vestiges of Bosniak culture, including places of worship and sites of cultural importance, were destroyed.
    5. In May 1993, the U.N. created the first war crimes tribunal since the Nuremberg Trials in 1945-1946, which indicted Nazi officials for crimes against humanity. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) charged more than 160 individuals for their participation in the violence, including Slobodan Milošević, who was tried and convicted in 2002 of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. He was found dead in his prison cell in The Hague in 2006 following a heart attack.

From 1992 to 1995, the Bosnian War claimed the lives of roughly 100,000 people, 80% of whom were Bosniak — the worst act of genocide since the Holocaust. To date, almost 120,000 of the original 2.2 million people displaced by the conflict still live in bleak conditions in refugee centers far from their homes.

– Emily Marshall

Photo: Flickr

,

Walton Payton Man of the Year Award Nominees Fight Poverty

Walton Payton
Super Bowl fever has come and gone, and while Patriots fans can rejoice in their victory, the season is not quite over yet for players on the remaining teams. On Feb. 4, the NFL Honors ceremony awarded many athletes who demonstrated sportsmanship throughout the season. A highlight of this event is always the announcement of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award to one football star who takes success outside the stadium to charities most in need.

The Man of the Year Award has been given out since 1970 but was renamed in 1999 to honor Walter Payton, one of the NFL’s most charitable players. In light of his off-field contributions, each team continues to nominate one player demonstrating a significant impact on the global community, and a winner is chosen on the eve of the big game. This year, notables included many causes devoted to global poverty.

Washington Redskins wide receiver Pierre Garçon was nominated for his commitment to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. Garçon originally started the Helping Hands Foundation to provide disaster assistance such as building shelters, establishing education systems and coordinating fundraising. Since then, he has returned every year to continue the work of the organization and hopes to create partnerships with other organizations investing in long-term sustainable ideas for Haitian communities.

Another nominee was Sam Acho, a linebacker for the Chicago Bears. Acho has been dedicated to the construction of a hospital in Nigeria that would serve more than 30,000 residents in remote rural villages. He has hosted an annual fashion show and celebrity auction since 2012 with all proceeds going to the initiative. He also travels to the affected area frequently to volunteer his efforts physically and financially. Plans show an expected completion date within the next few months.

Lastly, Seattle Seahawks’ defensive end Cliff Avril volunteered in Haiti because of his family heritage. Throughout the season, he promised to build a house for every sack he recorded. He also worked extensively on a project to build two new elementary schools opening September 2016 and April 2017. As part of this project, Avril funded six classrooms, laid the foundation of the building, erected fence posts for a community garden, hosted a sports camp and donated backpacks, cooking utensils, clothing and even a year’s supply of water. Finally, after Hurricane Matthew, he launched an online campaign to provide food and medical supplies for damaged locations.

While only one of the 32 nominees won the Man of the Year award and the accompanying $500,000 donation to a charity of his choice, all nominees were guaranteed $50,000 to their charity as well. Therefore, regardless of the outcome, the reception of this award closed out the season with a nod to developing communities.

– Zack Machuga

Photo: Flickr

,

Hunger in Madagascar

Hunger in Madagascar
While Madagascar was made famous by the 2005 DreamWorks animated movie about talking zoo animals, it is also one of the world’s poorest nations, with four million people suffering from lack of food access.

Drought, cyclones, floods and locust infestation worsen the case of hunger in Madagascar. Natural disasters are likely to grow worse with the continuation of climate change. Madagascar is one of the 10 nations most vulnerable to natural disasters affecting food security and nutrition.

Those who live in southern Madagascar are most likely to suffer from hunger because the lean season takes up a much longer portion of the year. The lean season is the period of time in between the harvest and the first plant of the next season. During this time, poor farmers and their families have little food or income on which to survive.

In 2016, a drought worsened by El Niño, an irregular and complex series of climatic changes, left 1.4 million people in Madagascar desperately short on food. These people are expected to face food shortages through 2017.

Crop failure causes people to take desperate measures to survive, such as selling their livestock and farming tools and moving into the wild to forage. Over 90% of Malagasies live below the poverty line.

Chronic malnutrition affects nearly half of all the children in Madagascar under five. Hunger in Madagascar also results in stunted growth in children and high mortality rates. Anemia is one of the biggest health issues in Malagasies facing hunger, with one-third of children under five and women suffering from iron deficiency.

More than six percent of children die before they reach five years old, and 500 out of every 100,000 live births result in the mother’s death. High levels of anemia lead to this high maternal mortality rate.

Collaborative Efforts Against Madagascar’s Hunger

Despite the bleak outlook caused by hunger in Madagascar, not all hope is lost. The World Food Program (WFP) works in conjunction with 30 other organizations to relieve Madagascar’s most vulnerable regions, including the South and poor urban areas.

This is done through:

  • Providing meals, nutritional information and promoting hygiene for children in schools;
  • Empowering smallholder farmers, who own small plots of land and harvest only a few cash crops, through increasing access to markets and supporting farmers’ associations;
  • Providing relief and early recovery assistance to households affected by natural disasters;
  • Placing food in remote and disaster-prone areas before incidents are expected to occur to prevent malnutrition;
  • Distributing cash assistance and food during the 2016-2017 prolonged lean season;
  • Assessing Madagascar’s vulnerability to shocks, coordinating livelihood activities and implementing community planning exercises.

To help relieve hunger in Madagascar, you can make a donation to the WFP.

– Cassie Lipp

Photo: Flickr