Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Opening Doors: UN Secretary-General Advocates for Refugees

Advocates for Refugees
Last month, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed to world leaders to make a greater effort to become advocates for refugees. The secretary-general called helping refugees a “moral obligation.”

His comments came after the conclusion of the Sept. 19 U.N. Summit for Refugees and Migrants.

U.N. member states unanimously adopted the New York Declaration, which expresses the “political will” of world leaders to protect the rights and dignity of refugees, hence becoming advocates for refugees.

U.N. leaders urged world leaders to ensure all refugee children receive education within months of arrival in Europe. The declaration also called for an expansion of economic opportunities for refugees.

The declaration also petitioned leaders to support countries rescuing, receiving and hosting large numbers of refugees and migrants. Turkey, Greece, Germany and France have taken in large numbers of refugees, while other European nations and the U.S. have resisted relocation efforts.

Civil unrest and Islamic extremism in the Middle East drove 1.3 million from their homes, most of these people have found political asylum in Europe. However, asylum does not always entail adequate living conditions.

Around 60,000 Middle Eastern refugees are currently stranded in Greece awaiting processing and relocation in Europe. The refugees are held in a massive tent city under appalling inhumane conditions.

In France over 1,000 unaccompanied minors live in squatter camps in and around the coastal town of Calais. The camp, which is called “The Jungle” by locals, is home to thousands of refugees hoping for a better life in the United Kingdom.

The U.N. Summit for Refugees and Migrants addressed the question of refugee food security. Ki-moon urged leaders to make policy decisions which would empower immigrants to seek and hold employment. To become sustainable, migrants need to have access to land, banking services and freedom of movement.

World leaders at the U.N. summit did more than just craft a paper promise. Under the U.N. directive, more children will be able to attend school and get an education. More immigrants will be able to seek safe, sustainable employment. By making poverty alleviation a top priority, the U.N. has opened a door to opportunity for some of the world’s most vulnerable people.

– Peter Nilson

Photo: Flickr

Improving Drinking Water in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Drinking Water
Despite having the largest freshwater resources in Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has long faced significant challenges in maintaining and furnishing potable drinking water to its citizens. More than 50 million Congolese face the daily trial of acquiring clean water, due to issues ranging from inadequate infrastructure to poor sanitation.

According to a 2015 UNICEF and World Health Organization study, almost 700 million people worldwide did not have access to clean drinking water — most of them in sub-Saharan Africa.

Much of this water quality problem falls within the spectrum of sanitation. The DRC’s rate of urban expanse far outstrips its ability to furnish infrastructure that would deliver clean drinking water to those living in developing areas. In more rural communities, however, the opposite is true — water-furnishing infrastructure is almost non-existent, which puts these Congolese at a higher risk of consuming contaminated drinking water.

Many living in these areas use water from local streams and rivers, unaware that the same water source has been contaminated upstream with chemicals, bacteria and parasites. The people of the DRC share the experience of 2.4 billion people worldwide who do not have access to sanitary toilets.

However, many communities have addressed the water quality problem head-on, developing resourceful solutions to provide this necessity. Hand-drilled wells, for instance, are a much cheaper (although laborious) method of accessing fresh water in rural Congolese villages. UNICEF, via its Water, Sanitation and Hygiene program (WASH), has been working tirelessly with the Congolese government to spread these solutions. They aspire to provide clean water to 4 million people by the end of 2017.

Large-scale efforts have positively impacted the water quality in the DRC. The U.N.’s Environment Program (UNEP) helped to complete a community-led catchment management project on the Lukaya River basin in 2016. These projects work with the natural processes of the local ecosystem, providing drinking water to 400,000 people living in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa.

Despite a history of instability and conflict, the people of the DRC have made great strides in improving their water quality. Organizations such as UNICEF and UNEP bring great support to this cause, and if global interest continues, general health and welfare in these areas will drastically improve as well.

– Emily Marshall

Photo: Flickr

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Studies Find Americans Overestimate Foreign Aid Spending

Foreign Aid Spending
Much of what Americans believe about foreign aid spending is wrong. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll of 1,505 people found most couldn’t accurately place the percentage of its federal budget the U.S. spends on foreign aid. The average amount they guessed is 26 percent; the answer is less than 1 percent. Only one in every 20 people answered the question correctly.

Where do these misconceptions come from?

The U.S. spends more in net amount than any other country on foreign aid; the total came to some $32 billion in 2014. However, when looking at aid spending as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) , the amount the country and residents abroad take in as income, the U.S. spends a mere 0.19 percent of the wealth it receives each year in aid.

The American contribution falls flat behind larger benefactors like Sweden which donates 1.1 percent of its GNI, or Luxembourg at 1.07 percent and Norway at 0.99 percent.

The misconceptions of Americans regarding foreign aid are showing no signs of clearing up on their own. Another poll conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org in 2010 found the median estimate Americans believe their country spent on foreign aid was 25 percent. When the poll asked them what would be an “appropriate” amount, the median answer was 10 percent.

These findings might even be humorous if so many people around the world weren’t living amid crushing levels of poverty. The erroneous views Americans hold of foreign aid spending have a direct impact on millions of people who struggle each day with hunger and a lack of economic opportunities.

Americans also host conflicting views regarding foreign aid based on their party affiliation. A survey conducted by yougov.com in 2016 revealed 49 percent of Americans identifying as Democrats believed U.S. aid should go to the poorest countries, while 59 percent of those identifying as Republicans believed aid should go to countries who support U.S. foreign policy.

Overall, 39 percent of Americans believed in aid for poor countries and 41 percent believed aid should be directed based on foreign policy support.

Our misconceptions of foreign aid influence how we think about the topic. In the Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 56 percent of those interviewed believed the U.S. spends too much on foreign aid.

However, when presented with the actual situation, namely the fact that the U.S. spends less than 1 percent of its $4 trillion federal budget on foreign aid, the poll found the number of Americans who think the U.S. is overspending on the aid dropped to 28 percent.

The wording of the questions also makes a difference. When the poll posed the question to Americans, “Do you think the U.S. is now spending too much, too little, or about the right amount on foreign aid?” 56 percent of respondents said too much.

However, when researchers modified the question to ask, “Do you think the U.S. is now spending too much, too little, or about the right amount in efforts to improve health for people in developing countries?” the percentage of those saying too much dropped to 28 percent.

Despite perceptions of corruption, elected officials tend to act in accordance with public opinion when faced with overwhelming support for spending measures. By dispelling the myths surrounding U.S. foreign aid spending, aid legislation will face less opposition as more Americans come forward to support it.

– Will Sweger

Photo: Flickr

Awaaz.De: A Revolutionary Network That Unites Farmers

Awaaz.De
Awaaz.De, a Hindi phrase meaning “provide a voice,” is a novel technological initiative that originated in Ahmedabad, India. The platform gives farmers advice related to agriculture, fluctuating sale prices and harvest and enables them to communicate with each other and share vital information about market changes.

Agriculture is an essential primary sector industry that represents a considerable source of income for people in developing countries. The agricultural industry offers employment to large numbers of people who are unable to obtain jobs in the secondary and tertiary sectors because they lack technical knowledge, skills or relevant education.

India alone contributes approximately 7.68 percent of the world’s agriculture output. Its vast contribution underscores the importance of constant innovation in the farming industry, better agricultural techniques and market strategies that will optimize productivity and profit.

The founders of Awaaz.De wanted to create a user-friendly interface. They recognized that individuals in disadvantaged societal groups often have limited access to the Internet and smartphone technology. This lack of connection is a consequence of both the priciness of these services and their limited penetration into rural communities with small consumer bases.

A network for farmers, Awaaz.De can be accessed on elementary mobile phones and depends on voice communication. It enables barriers such as language and location to be overcome and facilitates a factual transfer of information that can help farmers increase crop yields and income.

It also enables organizations such as Farm Scientist to liaise with farmers regardless of their language or level of education. Illiteracy is a rampant issue in developing countries, pereptuating as a result of expensive tuition fees, little emphasis on further education and low school attendance due to poor health or household obligations.

According to Neil Patil, chief executive officer of Awaaz.De, “These are exciting times for Awaaz.De as we grow and diversify our customer base in India and abroad, collaborating with like-minded organizations and leveraging our expertise and the immense potential of ICTs for social impact.”

It is believed that every dollar of investment in the technology yields $10 because of increases in agricultural productivity. Awaaz.De symbolizes a promising start to an age of technological innovations that will benefit all individuals, regardless of their income or access to sophisticated technology.

– Tanvi Ambulkar

Photo: Flickr

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Foreign Aid for Tanzania

Foreign Aid for Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania, located in the southeastern great lake region of the African continent, has received foreign aid from the United States since around 1961. That year, John F. Kennedy passed the Foreign Assistance Act, which formed USAID, and began a new era of global cooperation.

The then recently independent nation of Tanganyika teamed up with USAID in an effort to increase the number of educated workers in public service. A few years later, in 1964, Tanganyika and the nation of Zanzibar united to form the country now known as Tanzania.

Over the decades that would pass, the United States maintained an important role providing foreign aid for Tanzania through USAID.

From efforts in 1973 to improve the lives of Tanzania’s poorest through agricultural innovation and funding to combating the rise of HIV/AIDs in the 1980s, USAID has been involved every step of the way.

Today, Tanzania is one of Africa’s fastest growing economies. Positive trends took off in 2013 when Tanzania experienced record GDP growth of 7.3 percent, an increase from the year before of 6.9 percent. Things are looking up with growth expected to continue at least seven percent a year for the foreseeable future thanks to a support from public investment in infrastructure, energy, and transportation.

While this progress is an undeniable success, there is still a lot of work to be done for the Tanzanian people. Poverty persists as a serious issue afflicting the populace, with 46 percent of people living on $1.90 per day. Agriculture, which employs 75 percent of the population, along with empowerment of women and youth are essential to continued growth.

Tanzania has remained a recipient of United States Foreign Assistance for a long time thanks to manageable rates of ethnic tension, political stability and sustained economic growth. As the largest contributor of foreign aid for Tanzania, the United States must maintain its funding and support of the African nation in order to assure the current goal of middle-income status by 2025.

– Aaron Walsh

Photo: Flickr

The Association Between Poverty and Lung Cancer

Poverty and Lung Cancer
Poverty predisposes individuals to a spectrum of conditions that result from an amalgamation of lifestyle factors, health, hygiene and living conditions. Mortality from lung cancer is a more significant factor in impoverished communities compared to developed economies.

One of the major predisposing factors for high lung cancer mortality rates in developing countries is smoking. Cigarette smoke contains toxic particles which can inflict damage to cells present in the airways. Over time, these affected cells can become abnormal and lose their normal function.

The World Bank has established that smoking is more prevalent among poor groups compared to the rich, not only as a consequence of poverty but also in part due to the education individuals receive. Due to incognizance of the health risks associated with smoking, poor individuals may engage in this habit as a result of stress or poor family relationships.

Strategies to reduce lung cancer mortality in developing countries should focus on increasing access to education. Increased education can be achieved by building schooling facilities, implementing laws where education is compulsory until a certain age and subsidizing education for families who are unable to afford school fees.

A composition of diet also plays a crucial role in the development of lung cancer in impoverished countries. Some households are likely to be contingent with foods that are often processed, cheap and have poor nutritional value. As a result of low intake of fruit and vegetables, individuals are likely to be deficient in essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that play an important role in the body’s defense mechanisms against cancer development.

Measures to overcome poor dietary habits can include campaigns educating individuals about healthy eating. Subsidies can be offered to local supermarkets to ensure that fresh, affordable produce is readily available to individuals.

Rural communities often have poor access to health care services which can impede their ability to seek professional help at early stages. This prevents cases of lung cancer from being diagnosed and treated in the inchoate stages. Cancer can eventually progress to a serious stage where it is completely incurable and has a risk of significant mortality. Higher mortality in poor communities can also stem from a reluctance to utilize health care resources, possibly as a result of personal prejudice or concerns about a financial expense.

A recent study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that 40 percent of identified cancer cases are associated with tobacco usage. This represents a significant proportion of cases that can be attributed to smoking, which is a preventable risk factor.

Widespread smoking cessation campaigns in both developing and developed countries can be implemented to encourage individuals to reduce smoking gradually. This can be done through advertising, counseling with health care professionals or even offering alternatives to smoking such as nicotine replacement therapy.

With greater than 36 million smokers in the United States alone, urgent action must be taken to ensure both poverty and lung cancer are reduced through a combination of corrective measures such as education, health care advice, and smoking cessation campaigns.

– Tanvi Ambulkar

Photo: Flickr

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500 Sails: Poverty in the Northern Mariana Islands

500 Sails: Poverty in the Northern Mariana Islands
In efforts to improve overall health and reduce poverty in the Northern Mariana Islands, the 500 Sails project is working to restore maritime culture to the Chamorro people. By 2030, the organization aims to have 500 traditional canoes, called proas, built, operated and sailed by the Chamorro people.

In the Northern Marianas, 51 percent of individuals live below the poverty line and more than 1,800 families make less than $5,000 a year. Additionally, non-communicable diseases like heart attack and stroke cause 45 percent of medical referral patients to need immediate health care. These diseases are responsible for seven in 10 deaths in the commonwealth.

The 500 Sails project aims to improve the overall health and well-being of the indigenous population by encouraging widespread participation in traditional proa construction and sailing. Promoting local maritime traditions will enhance Chamorro culture and bring economic benefits to reducing poverty in the Northern Mariana Islands.

Health problems in the Northern Marianas “are closely tied to modern sedentary lifestyles, high-carbohydrate diets, and the far-reaching consequences of poverty,” says Peter Perez, 500 Sails executive director.

The 500 Sails project was presented with a three-year developmental grant by the Social and Economic Development Strategies program and was met with broad public support. The grant is a part of the U.S. Congressional Native American Program Act of 1974, which promotes economic self-sufficiency of indigenous populations. Benefits of the program directly impact the local residents, as 500 Sails connects communities to their natural and cultural environment.

“This is not a giveaway program,” says Perez. Rather, participating individuals will help build and finish the proas and take water-safety courses to properly prepare for maritime activity.

By promoting the use of proas, Chamorros will have greater access to inter-island transportation and off-shore fisheries, improving physical health and diets.

Economically, the program will open employment opportunities and increase tourist activity, an industry that employs about a quarter of the workforce and accounts for nearly one-fourth of the commonwealth’s GDP. With a very young population and 11.2 percent unemployment as of 2010, strengthening employment in the tourist industry will help stimulate economic growth and prosperity.

The 500 Sails program addresses what acting Governor Ralph Torres views as the “three fundamental potholes toward prosperity — jobs, opportunity, and health.” By addressing these underlying issues of poverty in the Northern Mariana Islands, the fleet created by the project will navigate the Chamorro people out of poverty and toward cultural and economic prosperity.

– McKenna Lux

Photo: Flickr

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The Smile Train: How Kylie Lip Kit Helps the Developing World

Kylie Lip Kit
Recently, Kylie Jenner has used her fame to put a smile on the face of children in developing countries. Earlier in October, Jenner released a brand new shade of her famous Kylie Lip Kits. One hundred percent of the proceeds went straight to the non-profit organization Smile Train, which funds surgeries for cleft lip, one of the leading birth defects that children in many developing countries suffer from. Raising nearly $160,000 in sales, hundreds of people will be able to afford the treatment that they need in order to eat and speak properly.

Clefts involve the lip and the palate, or roof of the mouth, and occur when there is a split as a result of certain structures not fusing together during fetal development. The cause of cleft lip is relatively unknown, but a genetic connection is an assumed possibility. Outside forces such as exposure to drug and alcohol use, smoking, maternal illness, infections or lack of vitamin B are also factors.

According to Smile Train’s website, cleft lip is an easily treatable issue. Though more than 170,000 children in 85 developing countries suffer from it, all it takes is $250 and 45 minutes for a surgery that will change a child’s life.

Children that don’t receive adequate medical care will often live in isolation, and struggle with carrying out basic physical tasks such as eating, breathing and speaking. As a result, most of these children don’t attend school or ever hold a job. Jenner has helped bring further attention to this issue and the launch of the Kylie Lip Kit will serve to ensure that hundreds of children can go on to lead better and healthier lives.

The light pink shade, “Smile,” was dropped on the Kylie Cosmetics website on Oct. 3 in recognition of World Smile Day. Incredibly popular, selling quickly like the other products in Jenner’s makeup collection, the unique Kylie Lip Kit collected a massive amount of money for the international organization.

As a new Smile Train Ambassador, Jenner presented a check for $159,500 to the organization’s CEO Susannah Schaefer. The money will fund cleft lip and palate surgeries for 638 children in need. On her collaboration with Smile Train, Jenner stated, “I’m excited to continue my relationship with Smile Train and see the difference we make together […] I wanted to use my social media platforms to help inform my fans about clefts and raise money to give these young kids the surgeries they need to get the smiles they deserve.”

In situations where the fulfillment of proper solutions is lacking, it is significant to note successful methods for giving back to those who are disadvantaged and ones that anyone can get involved in. The Kylie Lip Kit exemplifies this, acknowledging the generous efforts and tremendous effects that can come from the purchase of one simple product.

– Mikaela Frigillana

Photo: Flickr

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Three Top U.S. Disaster Relief Efforts

Top 3 USA Disaster Relief Efforts
When disaster strikes anywhere in the world, the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance exercises their essential role in providing relief to those in need. Each year the OFDA responds to around 65 disasters in over 50 countries gaining funding and partnership from USAID and other government agencies. This important role that the United States plays in other countries has saved countless lives and aided in disaster relief for a plethora of countries and cultures across the globe. Three of the top efforts made by the OFDA in 2015 include the flooding in Burma Myanmar, a powerful earthquake in Nepal, and the outbreak of the Ebola Virus in West Africa.

Flooding in Myanmar (Burma)

Large amounts of flooding in Myanmar have forced around 500,000 people to flee their homes in search of safety. USAID was able to successfully supply $50 million in humanitarian funding for those affected. The USAID Office of Food for Peace is providing $8.4 million in emergency food assistance to combat the added struggle of malnutrition many are now facing. The OFDA’s $7.3 million funds health care, protection, shelter, water sanitation and basic hygiene needs. This money helps those still struggling in Myanmar as well as those who have fled the country and are forced to build new lives from the ground up.

Earthquake in Nepal

When a 7.8-magnitude earthquake shook Nepal in an area just north of Kathmandu, USAID sprung into action in a big way. Around 6 million people were affected, not only in Nepal but also reaching into China, India and Bangladesh. With more than 9,000 killed and another 25,000 injured, the U.S. supplied $130 million to help the survivors. Within hours of the earthquake hitting, a Disaster Assistance Response Team deployed to organize the disaster relief effort. The USAID hospital preparedness project worked with 11 major hospitals, the largest of which was successful in treating 700 patients and executing 300 surgeries within the first 24 hours after the quake.

Ebola Outbreak in West Africa

As of Oct. 9, 2015, there were 28,429 confirmed cases of Ebola with another 11,297 in estimated deaths from the disease. In order to contain the spread of the disease and help those afflicted with it, the U.S. was able to provide $2,320,249,091 to West Africa. The progress has been outstanding with the WHO reporting no new cases of the disease from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4. This marks the first time since March 2014 that a week has passed with no reported cases of Ebola. The achievement of this success came from the massive amount of aid that funded food security, health services, technology, economic crisis mitigation, global health security agenda and other functions of disaster relief.

– Aaron Walsh

Photo: Flickr

Poverty in Kolkata

Poverty in Kolkata
For a city that has produced Nobel laureates like the poet Rabindranath Tagore, physicist CV Raman, economist Amartya Sen and Saint Mother Teresa, Kolkata’s demise into poverty is both unprecedented and alarming.

According to the 2011 census, over 70,000 people in the city are homeless, even with suppression of numbers to improve Kolkata’s rankings. Most of the urban poor who drive cycle rickshaws and work on construction sites or in small, hazardous factories prefer to sleep on the streets. While living in these conditions leaves them vulnerable and unsafe, it allows them to send a few meager savings home.

Perhaps the most disconcerting example of slum formation in this ancient city can be found under the Dhakuria bridge in South Kolkata. A strange patchwork of migrant workers and poorer locals, the railway colony formed along the active train track below the bridge features over a 1,000 residents housed in bamboo shelters. With no social welfare reaching them from the government, the slum-dwellers have confined themselves to a lifetime along the railway tracks, shared with stray dogs and cows.

This extreme form of poverty in Kolkata stems from several factors. The partition of Bengal in 1947 left raw material suppliers of commodities like Jute in East Bengal (now Bangladesh) and the mills in West Bengal, particularly around Kolkata which was then a flourishing port. By the 1970s, aided by the political unrest, major industries like Jute were dead, leading to the loss of jobs and livelihoods.

In 1971, the city opened its arms to around 10 million refugees from Bangladesh after the Bangladeshi Liberation War. While a morally necessary gesture, the sudden massive spike in population led to rampant unemployment for both the 1.5 million immigrants who stayed back after the war as well as for local Bengalis. The infrastructural stagnation of the city ensured that hardly any new jobs were added even when unemployment threw masses into abject poverty.

Despite already bursting at the seams, Kolkata, as an urban metropolitan surrounded by expanses of rural land, has been a magnet for job seekers from neighboring states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Utter Pradesh and Orissa. While most migrants come in with aspirations of making it in the city and having remittances to send home to their families, they often end up trapped in a vicious cycle of underemployment and chronic poverty that compels them to stay in decrepit conditions just to make a few extra rupees. They then become the population inhabiting the slums of Kolkata.

The consequences of extreme poverty in Kolkata are felt by the most vulnerable sections, most notably Muslims and backward castes with low social capital. To battle poverty in Kolkata is as much a matter of bridging social inequalities as it is of providing stable jobs and infrastructure to the less empowered.

– Mallika Khanna

Photo: Flickr