Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Closing in on Food Insecurity in Morocco

Food Insecurity in MoroccoThough Morocco’s GDP growth rate has decreased from 4.4 percent rate in 2015 to below two percent this year, the country eradicating hunger for its citizens.

According to a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report titled “The State of Food Insecurity in the World,” Morocco has made significant progress in the reduction of hunger.

The United Nations group reports that the nation has successfully achieved the Millennium Development Goal to cut the number of the population living in hunger by half in 2015. Addressing food insecurity in Morocco has been a priority with hunger levels currently below 5 percent.

The vast progress in hunger reduction that has earned the Northern African country praise from the United Nations is the result of an economic plan launched in 2008. “Plan Maroc vert,” a plan for a green Morocco (PMV), aimed to stimulate socioeconomic development through agriculture. The plan stipulated policies that maximized production from large-scale farms and supported small-scale farms in reducing poverty and hunger through venture capitalism.

Since 2008, several banks and international agencies have invested $12 billion have been in an estimated 700 mechanization, irrigation and soil fertilization projects.

The Moroccan ministry of economy estimates an additional $2 billion have been spent on 500 small-scale projects to help farmers bring more diversity to their businesses, increase harvest yields and experiment with new seed varieties. Private agricultural investment firms hope to bring Morocco’s fruit and vegetable export potential to fruition in Europe.

Agriculture makes up 15 percent of Morocco’s GDP, with up to 40 percent of the population working in the sector. As a result of the PMV, the agricultural industry has grown by approximately 7 percent, exports have increased by 34 percent and farmland use has risen by 11 percent. These production increases have contributed to decreasing the rate of hunger in Morocco from 7.1 percent and 4.6 percent two years ahead of schedule.

Despite the remarkable progress, some critics of the PMV believe the initiative has prioritized the interests of large-scale agricultural production firms over the needs of rural farmers living in poverty. The FAO reports that small-scale farmers, especially females, often find difficulty in obtaining financial support and technical training. The heavy reliance on rain for abundant harvests has also worried officials of the Morocco’s ability to recover from the effects of climate change.

However, the PMV has exposed neighboring countries to an alternative economic plan. “The plan Maroc vert has created an irreversible momentum without precedent,” Michael George Hage, an FAO representative in Morocco told the Guardian. “It has played a determining role in food security and is inspiring several other African countries.”

– Ashley Leon

Photo: Flickr

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India’s Gender Gap in Literacy

India's Gender Gap

As two-thirds of the world’s illiterate population or 496 million people are women, the gender gap in literacy rates remains conspicuous. The Guardian calls the gap “stubbornly unchanging” as gender inequality persists and overall literacy rates improve.

In the past 20 years, youth literacy rates have jumped from 83% to 91%, while the number of illiterate youth declined from 170 million to 115 million. Yet the difference between literacy rates for men and women has remained quite stable.

For instance, India’s gender gap is stark. The country holds the largest illiterate population and constitutes one-third, or 187 million, of all illiterate women around the world; there is a 24 percentage point difference between men and women. About 75% of Indian men have at least a basic level of literacy while 51% of women are literate.

This disparity in literacy rates remained persistent throughout the years according to data collected by India’s National Commission on Population. For example, in 1951, the literacy rate for males was 27% while just a mere 8% of women were literate — a 19 percentage point difference. In addition, in 1981, 56% of men were literate with a 30% literacy rate for women — a 26 percentage point difference.

Taking a Closer Look at India’s Gender Gap

As the gender gap remains stable although overall literacy rates are on the rise, this predicament is an interesting puzzle that requires a closer look at possible causes.

According to Planet Read, the following social factors have contributed to India’s gender gap:

  1. Gender-based inequality
  2. Social discrimination and economic exploitation
  3. Domestic responsibilities dominating educational responsibilities
  4. Low female enrollment in schools
  5. Low retention rate and high dropout rate

It is obvious that abiding social and cultural norms have been a roadblock towards promoting a more balanced ratio in literacy rates.

In a report by the University of Maryland, College Park, Aparna Sundaram and Reeve Vanneman observed a counter-intuitive relationship between an increase in women’s labor force participation and literacy rates. In areas that promote the idea of women in the labor force, there are also lower rates in literacy and education levels.

One may assume that the participation of women in the labor force contributes to an equalization in women’s status and, thus, a decrease in the gap between men and women literacy rates. However, this does not seem to be the case. The solutions towards resolving disparity seem much more complex than simply promoting an equalized labor force.

As more education is provided to a society as a whole, the more likely it would be for the persisting gender gap in literacy rates to decrease. Sounds like a paradox, but it is a solution worth noting.

As literacy is tied to thriving economies, it is important to focus on improving the gender gap in literacy rates. According to data, an increase in literacy rates correlates with a decrease in the share of the population living in poverty — on less than $2 per day. Moreover, focusing on educating women more specifically would, according to Bloomberg, yield a “growth premium” in DGP trends around the world.

– Priscilla Son

Photo: Flickr

10 Quotes from Famous Humanitarians

Humanitarian QuotesThe following humanitarian quotes are from well-known humanitarians who shared their wisdom for helping others.

Humanitarian Quotes

1. “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”

– Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights activist and clergyman

2.  “If you can’t feed a hundred people, feed just one.”

– Mother Teresa,  founder of The Missionaries of Charity

3. “Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.”

– Mahatma Gandhi, Indian nationalist and civil rights leader

4. “Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like Slavery and Apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. YOU can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.”

– Nelson Mandela, anti-apartheid activist and former president of South Africa

5. “The destiny of world civilization depends upon providing a decent standard of living for all mankind.”

– Norman Borlaug, father of the Green Revolution and credited with saving over one billion people from starvation

6. “The fact is that ours is the first generation that can look disease and extreme poverty in the eye, look across the ocean to Africa, and say this, and mean it. We do not have to stand for this. A whole continent written off – we do not have to stand for this.”

– Bono (Paul David Lewis), lead singer of U2 and international philanthropist

7. “Since the world has existed, there has been injustice. But it is one world, the more so as it becomes smaller, more accessible. There is just no question that there is more obligation that those who have should give to those who have nothing.”

– Audrey Hepburn, actress and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador

8.  “When we live in a world that is very unjust, you have to be a dissident.”

– Nawal El Saadawi, Egyptian feminist, writer, and psychiatrist

9. “To say that on a daily basis you can make a difference, well, you can. One act of kindness a day can do it.”

– Betty Williams, Irish activist and founder of the Irish peace movement, Community of Peace People

10. “The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives, and frees prisoners. Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet….Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s places….We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.”

– J.K. Rowling, author, philanthropist, and founder of the children’s charity, Lumos

 

– Jordanna Packtor

Sources: Brainy Quote, All That is Interesting, MSN Glo J.K. Rowling, Harvard Gazette, Nobelprize.org
Photo: Flickr

 

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Clean Drinking Water For All: Ethos Water

Ethos WaterWith more than 1 billion people around the world lacking access to safe drinking water,  Ethos Water founder Peter Thum is using proceeds from his bottled water sales to provide clean water to areas in need.

Ethos Water began in 2001 with the goal of helping children get clean water. Thum, the man behind the mission, founded the company after a business trip to South Africa where he saw the lack of clean water in many communities. Thum became consumed by the idea of creating a bottled water company that gave back to those in need of clean water; he then quit his job to pursue his plan.

Thum’s old classmate, Jonathan Greenblatt joined Thum in late 2002 to help create Ethos. Together they launched their bottled water company in August of 2003 and formed an organization called Ethos Water Fund to invest funds from their business into safe water programs.

With every bottle that gets sold, Ethos donates five cents (ten cents in Canada) to the Ethos Water Fund, in order to give clean drinking water to those who need it. Not only does Ethos donate money for clean drinking water, but it also raises awareness about the lack of clean drinking water in other countries.

In 2005 Ethos partnered with Starbucks in hopes to sell more water. Currently, a little over $12.3 million has been raised to give clean water to individuals who otherwise would not have it, according to Starbucks. That money will help over 500,000 people around the world.

In 2008 Ethos Water Fund and Starbucks Foundation decided to give two NGOs, CARE and Project Concern International, each $1 million over the period of three years from the Ethos Water Fund. These NGOs used that money to help support water, sanitation and hygiene education programs in water-stressed African communities, according to Starbucks. Collectively the expected benefits were estimated to help 54,000 people get access to clean water that previously did not have access.

CARE and Project Concern International were chosen to obtain these grants due to their emphasis on sustainability. Also, due to their agreement to not only provide access to clean water for villages but also to empower local residents to become part of the long-term solution.

CARE introduced sanitation and hygiene practices in Rwanda’s Musanze District while Project Concern International decided to focus their efforts on implementing low-cost, easy-to-maintain technologies in Tanzania’s Babati District.

These NGO’s were only able to do these fantastic acts of service through Ethos Water Fund. Howard Schultz, CEO, president and chairman of Starbucks, said “When our customers choose to buy Ethos water, they’re improving the lives of people who lack vital resources.”

In 2014 grants were made out to six NGOs in Tanzania ($750,000), Indonesia ($750,000), Colombia ($1.1 million), Guatemala ($480,000) and Nicaragua ($300,000). These grants have helped these countries gain clean water access and sanitation and hygiene education programs.

The effect Ethos water has had around the world is incredible, one single man’s idea which ended up helping thousands.

– Bella Chaffey

Photo: YouTube

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Five Things to Know About Water Quality in Peru

Water Quality in Peru
Water quality in Peru is a major problem. According to water.org, four million Peruvians don’t have access to clean water. Tap water in Peru must be boiled for at least one minute or purified using other methods to be safe for drinking.

According to Scientific American, as water shortages cause crop failure, people in rural Peru move to the cities. Unemployment and poverty in these urban areas lead to problems involving mental health, alcoholism and domestic violence.

Modern technology is providing new sources of water in Peru, and efforts are being made to improve Peru’s water quality.

Water-Producing Billboard

The University of Engineering and Technology of Peru teamed up with an ad agency to construct a water-producing billboard in Lima. The billboard uses reverse osmosis to capture and filter water from the humid air, store it in 20-liter tanks and provide quality water for the people of Lima every day. In a three month period, the billboard dispensed 9,450 liters of water. This groundbreaking tool may be the first of many to come.

President Kuczynski’s Campaign

Newly elected president of Peru Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has announced a focus on improving health services and water quality in Peru. Kuczynski participated in the Hydroperu 2030 forum in August, in which innovative proposals aimed at establishing a clean water supply were presented.

Water for People-Peru

Water for People-Peru partners with local governments to collect data on water quality in Peru, hire officials committed to water sanitation and create effective improvement strategies. It also builds quality water facilities and has designed and implemented a water education curriculum in six schools.

Sanitation Sector Reform Law

Peru’s Sanitation Sector Reform Law now requires water utilities to conserve watersheds and consider climate change adaptations throughout their operations. This law may initially present some challenges, but in the long run, it may help create a more sustainable water supply.

Lima Water Fund

The Nature Conservancy has partnered with five other organizations to develop the Lima Water Fund. The fund’s focus is environmental conservation through the stabilization of existing slopes and lagoons and the reforestation of watersheds. This committee is working to provide water solutions now and protect the future through education and government partnership.

Government officials and aid organizations will continue to work together to improve water quality in Peru and design creative innovations, building stability for Peru’s future.

– Rebecca Causey

Photo: Flickr

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Volunteering and its Effects on Empathy

Volunteering
A common reason for conflict, whether cultural, racial or economic is lack of empathy. The solution to this problem may be simpler than previously believed. An article on psychology website Spring suggests that empathy can increase with as little as two positive experiences with a group.

To collect their research, scientists paired Swiss people with people of Balkan descent. The Swiss-Balkan relationship has historically been tense due to anxiety about immigrants in Switzerland. In the experiment, Swiss participants expected to receive a painful electric shock but were rescued by people with traditional Balkan names.

The Swiss participants then received brain scans while observing other people being shocked. If earlier in the experiment a Balkan person had helped the Swiss person in question, the Swiss participant’s brain would demonstrate a similar empathetic response toward both Balkan and Swiss victims. If, however, the Swiss person had not had that positive encounter with a Balkan participant, he or she exhibited lower levels of empathy toward Balkan victims than towards Swiss victims.

According to this study’s researchers, “Our findings show that empathy with an out-group member can be learned and generalizes to other out-group individuals.”

How can these findings be applied globally? Simply put, they may indicate that volunteering can increase empathy. Not only can volunteering help reduce some of the immediate symptoms of global poverty; it can also decrease inter-group tension.

Bridging the gap preventing different groups from interacting with each other is an important step in reducing conflict. Volunteerism does just that by putting human relationships first. It places members of different communities that may never have had positive inter-community encounters in close proximity to each other. Positive volunteering experiences can lead to increased empathy and decreased conflict between them.

In an article by the New Zealand Red Cross, Warwick Armstrong, a volunteer driver for the Cross Town Shuttle wrote about the benefits of volunteering. The Cross Town Shuttle provides transportation for people in Christchurch who have no transportation means of their own. Armstrong said he enjoys the companionship his position provides.

“It’s good for your health!” he wrote. “It gives your empathy batteries a recharge”.

Volunteerism puts human relationships first and encourages personal interaction. It is a powerful tool for increasing empathy, and thus reducing tension, between groups.

– Jordan Little

Photo: Flickr

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Work in Progress: Reforming Education in Haiti

Education_Haiti

Although school attendance has increased within the past several years, education in Haiti remains a problem. More than 200,000 Haitian children do not go to school, and half of Haiti’s adult population is illiterate.

Because most schools in Haiti are privately operated without government regulation, the cost of tuition is taxing. In many cases, students are forced to take a year or more off between grades because they can’t afford to continue. Joseph Woaly, an alumni of the Haitian school system, said he completed primary school at age 17 and secondary school at 25.

Other challenges persist. Even some of the newest institutions are not up to code. School buildings lack basic necessities such as clean water and working lavatories. According to education officials, much more funding is needed to continue plans for reforming education in Haiti.

As in most impoverished countries, women receive fewer opportunities than do men in Haiti. The World Bank estimates that a 1 percent increase in the number of women receiving an education can increase a country’s financial growth by 0.3 percent.

In 2007, the World Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank started a tuition waiver program to help reform education in Haiti. The World Bank has allocated $24.1 million toward supporting the program from 2014 to 2017. The grant helps underprivileged families pay for the cost of primary school tuition and supplies.

This tuition supplementation program has enabled more children to enroll in school while simultaneously creating a need for more teachers, thus benefiting the Haitian job market. Unfortunately, most Haitian teachers are somewhat unqualified, having received little or no training.

Another effective initiative started in 2012. The Adolescent Girls Initiative (AGI) set out to reform education in Haiti by teaching young women the skills they need to obtain long-term employment. Technical trades are often geared toward males, but AGI challenged those stereotypes, training women in such trades as plumbing, construction, machinery and IT.

The development of soft skills like professionalism, self-esteem and leadership is also crucial to gaining and retaining a profession. AGI found that women who received training were more self-confident, developing better decision-making abilities and more optimistic outlooks for the future.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has also taken a deep interest in reforming education in Haiti. The organization has actively worked with the Ministry of Education in Haiti to maximize donor resources and improve national literacy levels. Over the past five years, USAID has helped Haitian children learn how to read, providing them with 85,000 workbooks, 3,700 teacher guides and curricula meeting international standards. USAID also reformed 19 schools to cater to the needs of disabled children.

Last year the World Bank promoted the idea of transferring some private schools into the public sector, hoping to increase enrollment among children who still cannot afford school fees. No notable progress has been made toward this initiative. The Haitian government maintains that there is no funding available for the project now, nor will there be within the foreseeable future.

– Amy Whitman

Photo: Flickr

EcoDomum is Reshaping Affordable Housing in Mexico

EcoDomumIn many developing countries, rapid industrialization and motorization contribute to high levels of environmental pollution. The physical toll of disposable product packaging and plastics is especially high for low-income nations, which frequently lack the government funds and resources to efficiently manage waste.

As a result, it’s often the world’s poor who suffer the worst consequences of global pollution. In fact, the World Bank estimates that 95 percent of people affected by pollution-related illnesses live in middle and low-income nations. It’s important to address the global burden of pollution, not only for health-related reasons but also because pollution management offers countless economic benefits. Living in extremely polluted conditions can make everyday activities such as cooking and getting to work unreasonably difficult. Cleaner living conditions bring fewer communicable diseases and better opportunities because they obviate the challenges of contaminated resources.

One Mexican start-up thinks environmentally sustainable housing is one way to improve the living conditions of the world’s poor. EcoDomum, or “EcoHome,” builds affordable housing in Mexico using building materials made from recycled plastics. Based in Peubla, the company collects, sorts and melts down non-toxic plastics into a liquid form. A hydraulic press then forms the melted plastic into hard panels sturdy enough to construct a house. Each house uses around two tons of plastics and contains two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom. The whole process takes a week and the price of the finished product is a mere $273. For most Mexican families living below the poverty line on around $125 a month, an EcoDomum is an affordable investment.

EcoDomum has bigger plans than just building houses — they want to stimulate Mexico’s economy with sustainable industry. The company has already built 500 recycled homes and has recently partnered with local trash collectors to maintain a steady supply of materials. EcoHome also promises higher wages for plastic collectors, which incentivizes locals to participate in their project. After seeing such a huge success since their start in Mexico, EcoDomum plans to expand their work internationally within the next five years.

– Jessica Levitan

Photo: Flickr

Poverty in the Netherlands

Poverty in the Netherlands
Poverty in the Netherlands? Pockets of poverty still exist.

Around 2.5 million people in the Netherlands live below the poverty line. With a population of 17 million, that means around 14 percent or one in seven people lives below the poverty line.

 

Poverty in the Netherlands: Implications and Solutions

 

The poverty line for the Netherlands is drawn at approximately €1,040 a month for a single individual and up to €1,960 for a couple with two children. These figures calculate to $1,174 up to $2,213 and they are considered the bare minimum necessary to eat, live and partake in social activities in the Netherlands.

Some 217,000 Dutch households were found, in 2014, to have lived on or below the poverty line for at least four consecutive years, indicating a lack of support from the Netherland’s government to help its less fortunate citizens since the worldwide economic crash of 2008.

Those family units most likely to land below the poverty line in the Netherlands are single parents, singles over the age of 65, non-Western households and anyone living solely on social assistance benefits, all of whose poverty rates have risen dramatically since 2012.

To help single parents below the poverty line, the Dutch government affected the Child-Care Schemes Reform Act in 2015. The act provides income specifically for a child or children based on the parent’s income to help offset the considerable cost of rearing children. Netherland’s government will also award double the amount of financial aid to parents of severely disabled children who require round-the-clock care.

There is still much work to be done to help combat poverty in the Netherlands; organizations such as CARE and Cordaid work tirelessly to create employment opportunities and build thriving communities in the Netherlands. With their work and continued support from the government, poverty in the Netherlands will decrease in the years to come.

– Bayley McComb

Photo: Flickr

Public Health Challenge: Combating the Top Diseases in Estonia

Public Health Challenge: Combating the Top Diseases in Estonia
A member of the European Union since 2004, Estonia is among the wealthiest nations in the Baltic region. Likewise, the country has a modern health system that can reasonably support its population of 1.3 million.

Almost all Estonians are covered by health insurance, and the greatest menaces to public health, like heart disease and cancer, are characteristic of a developed country.

Nonetheless, more than one in five Estonians live below the poverty line and are especially at risk for certain health problems that are prevalent in the country. Here are some of the top diseases in Estonia and what is being done to combat them.

HIV/AIDS

While the death toll from AIDS is dwarfed by that of heart disease and cancer in Estonia, the country has the highest prevalence of HIV in all of Europe. Around 1.3% of the population carries HIV, comparable to rates in Sierra Leone or Mali.

The first case of HIV was diagnosed in 1988, and the rate of incidence remained minuscule until the turn of the century. According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), the disease exploded in 2000, mostly among drug users.

Since then, the incidence rate has declined, but still more cases are reported each year. Epidemiologists have found that heterosexual transmission has increased in recent years, adding to the more than nine thousand Estonians who have been infected.

Estonia has seriously grappled with HIV/AIDS for decades. All treatment for HIV-positive patients is free, and education about the disease is standard in Estonian classrooms. Some trends have epidemiologists in the country hopeful: according to U.N. AIDS, both safe sex practices and HIV testing are on the rise among Estonians.

Tuberculosis

Like AIDS, tuberculosis is not one of the major killers in Estonia, but the disease poses complex challenges for the country’s health system. Estonia has one of the highest multi-drug resistant tuberculosis burdens in the world. In many ways, tuberculosis in the country is tied to the issue of HIV: the prevalence of TB/HIV co-infection in Estonia is one of the highest in Europe at 15%.

Beyond people who suffer from AIDS, tuberculosis also particularly threatens Estonians who use intravenous drugs or drink heavily — a population that reports from WHO suggest could be large.

The rate of tuberculosis incidence is decreasing, indicating that Estonia is winning its battle against the disease. But according to WHO, as the incidence decreases, new challenges will arise. As the issue shrinks in magnitude, political and financial commitment may also dwindle — something that Estonia’s government must avoid if the disease is to be defeated in the country.

Obesity

There is still controversy over whether obesity is actually a “disease,” but reports and data on public health in Estonia have outlined it as a clear issue. Sources disagree, but 2014 research from the University of Tartu found that as many as one in three Estonians are clinically obese (a body mass index of over 30).

Obesity can greatly increase the risk of a myriad of health issues, including diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Heart disease and stroke accounted for nearly half of all deaths in Estonia in 2012 (48%), so many physicians believe the issue should be taken seriously as one of the top diseases in Estonia.

The issue may be correlated to modernization. WHO estimates that nearly half of Estonian adults are insufficiently active, while salt intake is growing.

Obesity is not an easy issue to tackle, but growing scholarship and research on obesity has helped Estonia assess its magnitude and effects. In recent years the government has implemented some policies to promote consumer awareness and healthy eating habits in schools.

Estonia faces unique but surmountable public health challenges. The government likely has the means to solve such issues, and the nation, therefore, serves as a good example of how funding is not the only weapon fights like these; there must be political attention, commitment and patience. Coming years will tell the extent of Estonia’s diligence in the realm of health, and likely provide valuable lessons for nations facing similar issues.

– Charlie Tomb

Photo: Flickr