Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Seattle Nonprofit Offers Training for Refugee Women

Training for Refugee Women
The struggles that face the increasing refugee population in the greater Seattle area continue to persevere. As these new residents search for employment, they are presented with language barriers, cultural differences and non-transferable professional degrees or certificates. Nonprofits like Muses are offering culpable training for refugee women.

Women from Afghanistan are often accustomed to contributing to their family’s well-being by the small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture, jewelry and other handmade goods.

When these women arrive in the U.S., it is often difficult to translate their skills successfully into the job market.

Oftentimes, refugee families are in a financial position where both adult members of the household need to work. For many women, this is the first time they are faced with entering an official work environment, let alone one that follows the Western standard of living.

Sandrine Espie and Esther Hong realized back in 2012 the potential that refugees and low-income immigrants, women, in particular, had to contribute to the workforce.

They were inspired by the talents of these women and out of this inspiration came Muses. Muses is a Seattle-based nonprofit that aims to educate and provide these women with the skills necessary to enter the workforce.

Through research and interviewing, Espie and Hong found that there is a high demand for local, high-quality apparel manufacturing services. Their services aim to provide training for refugee women, enhancing their existing skills to aid them in finding a job.

Muses has also inspired other organizations in the area to pursue similar training programs.

World Relief Seattle, a non-profit that partners with the local church and focuses on refugee resettlement, has recently taken steps to begin a project specifically geared toward employment for Afghan women.

The program will ideally feature extensive orientation for women about work environments in the U.S. as well as instruction on using sewing skills to contribute to the financial security of their families.

In 1996, when the Taliban banned women in Afghanistan from working or attending school, the idea that women are less capable than men was ingrained into the eyes and minds of many people.

Through training programs for refugee women like Muses, women are gaining economic and personal empowerment and are learning to contribute to the sustainable market for handmade goods in Seattle.

– Peyton Jacobsen

Photo: Flickr

The Elders Support Zimbabwe Through a Letter to SADC

The Elders Support Zimbabwe Through a Letter to SADC
The Elders, a group of global leaders unified by Nelson Mandela, have urged the heads of state of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to support Zimbabwe through an upcoming transitional period.

In a letter to the SADC, they point out that Zimbabwe is “on the verge of an important transition.” The advocates behind the letter, including Kofi Annan, Graca Machel and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, note that with the support of the SADC, Zimbabwe could experience a shift to democratic leadership and a boost to their economic and social development.

Zimbabwe has been rife with protests recently as a result of displeasure with President Robert Mugabe’s rule, as well as various economic problems that have developed in the country.

There are cash shortages throughout the country, the government is planning to reintroduce bond notes as legal tender and civil servants are lacking several months of pay. Civilian anger about these facts has led to multiple protests that police have broken up through the use of batons and tear gas.

Government authorities are attempting to subdue civilian protests, many of which have been organized through social media, by drafting a law that will punish civilians with up to five years jail time for “abusive” use of social media.

The Elder’s letter comes at an auspicious time considering the current tumult within Zimbabwe. Additionally, the letter prefaces the upcoming SADC group summit in Swaziland.

In the letter, not only do the Elders support Zimbabwe but they also make clear that aid to Zimbabwe will be beneficial for the nation as a whole and should, therefore, be something that SADC thoroughly consider in their impending meeting.

The letter states, “The Elders believe the upcoming summit is an important opportunity to reflect on how best SADC can help Zimbabwe manage the complex challenges ahead.”

– Jordan Little

Photo: Flickr

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Elimination of Malaria by 2040: Benefits Developing Countries

Elimination of Malaria by 2040: How Developing Countries Benefit
Malaria is a parasitic condition that is contracted primarily through the bite of an infectious Anopheles mosquito. Currently, sub-Saharan Africa suffers from the greatest disease burden of malaria as a consequence of widespread poverty and poor living conditions.

Malaria has serious social and economic implications. It is estimated that each year, Africa incurs a health care cost of $12 billion as a result of malaria. This cost imposes a significant strain on the continent’s financial resources. It also forces compromises to be made in other aspects such as a provision of schooling facilities and treatment of debilitating infections.

The elimination of malaria has always been an important but elusive objective of the global health care movement. Despite years of investment in research, no vaccine is currently available that offers complete protection against malaria. According to the World Health Organization, efforts are being focused on developing a clinically efficacious vaccine that protects against the most serious variant of malaria that is caused by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum.

Recently, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a humanitarian organization aimed at improving lives of the poor, has declared an ambitious objective: to eliminate malaria by the year 2040. The organization aims to achieve this goal through increased involvement of world leaders in the process of ending malaria. The foundation also aspires to involve countries afflicted with malaria in the movement by encouraging them to implement local strategies to tackle malaria.

The motive behind the movement is simply the fact that if malaria is not eliminated completely, countries could be tirelessly working toward the development of new vaccines, medications and prevention strategies to contain the spread of cases. This is not an economically viable solution for controlling malaria transmission — it represents a drain on valuable health care resources that can be used for the treatment of other life-threatening conditions such as cancer.

Increasing drug resistance of the organisms involved in the causation of malaria has limited the effectiveness of strategies targeted at the elimination of malaria. Currently, in Seattle, several research projects are experimenting with novel methods such as genetic modification to eliminate malaria.

With approximately 3.2 billion individuals globally estimated to be at risk of malaria, it is essential to control the spread of this disease. Malaria tends to be concentrated in regions of poverty, further exacerbating standards of living. As a result of the increasing connectivity of the world and the ease of access to different countries, travel has further increased the risk of spread of malaria to countries that are not typically affected by the condition.

The elimination of malaria by 2040 is a glorious yet difficult objective to achieve. Implementing pragmatic measures over the next few decades such as increasing awareness about malaria, improving sanitation and hygiene in poor countries, and prevention campaigns can bring us one step closer to the complete eradication of malaria.

– Tanvi Ambulkar

Photo: Flickr

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Five Top Documentaries to Stream on Netflix

Five Top Documentaries to Stream on Netflix
Here are five top documentaries to consider adding to your watch list.

5. How to Change the World (2015)
This documentary discusses the creation of the modern environmental groups and the rise of Greenpeace. 1971–the Nixon Administration orders the third underground nuclear test on Alaska’s Amchitka Island, site a WWII U.S. Naval air facility. The remote island, once home to the world’s largest runway, was an ideal location for the U.S. government to conduct underground nuclear testing. The film follows Bob Hunter, “a hippy journalist from Vancouver” and Greenpeace founding member, during a sailing voyage to Amchitka Island to protest the atomic testing.

4. The True Cost (2015)
Number 4 of the top documentaries to stream on Netflix, The True Cost features a “behind the curtain” story revealing hard truths about the fashion industry’s production system. John Hilary, the executive director of the “War on Want” captures the essence of the film: “When everything is concentrated on making profits, what you see is that human rights, the environment, workers rights get lost.” Organizations like Clean Clothes Campaign, BRAC, Fashion Revolution and Greenpeace continue to advocate for reform in the fashion industry. The film seeks to educate the public in order to stir support for campaigns like Fashion Revolution’s mission to reform the fashion industry “which values people, the environment, creativity and profits in equal measure.”

3. The Square (2013)
Tahrir Square certainly has its place going back long into history; however, five years ago it was the site of protests and an Egyptian revolution. Protesters like Khalid Abdalla, the British-Egyptian actor and star of The Kite Runner, occupied the heart of Cairo to protest the current government regime. The documentary features footage shot by protesters that capture the intimacy of their struggle. It’s a story about a people yearning for their rights to be heard and to “create a society of conscience.” The Square received a 2014 Oscar Nomination for ‘Best Documentary’.

2. The White Helmets (2016)
The White Helmets features a story about hope in the war-torn nation of Syria. In a nation wrought with death and destruction, the White Helmets claim to have saved 62,000 lives. The film offers firsthand perspectives into the civil war in Syria, exposing its horrors but also sending a message that the altruism of the human spirit will never fail. Though a bid for the Nobel Peace Prize was unsuccessful, supporters are actively campaigning to raise the $1 million that would have been awarded to the White Helmet rescue workers. The money will go to “treat wounded volunteers and replace rescue equipment and ambulances that have been bombed.”

1. Poverty, Inc. (2014)
At number 1, Poverty, Inc. tells the story of the multi-billion dollar business of charitable giving. Through well-intentioned donations, the charity industry generates enormous profits for certain businesses but does not develop recipient nations to become self-reliant. Instead, the preponderance of aid leads to dependency. The documentary encourages “empowerment” in order to eliminate the mindset of dependency on foreign aid. Winner of 30 film festival honors, Poverty, Inc. tells an incredible story of hope and charts a general path toward finally eradicating extreme global poverty.

– Tim Devine

Photo: Flickr

Indonesia and the UN Create Green Growth Project

Green Growth Project
On Oct. 25, Indonesia launched the Tropical Landscapes Finance Facility (TLFF), a green growth project to finance projects that encourage eco-friendly growth and improve the lives of citizens in rural areas. The TLFF initiative will collaborate with the United Nations’ Environment Program and agents in the private sector, such as the French bank BNP Paribas.

The program will include a loan fund and a grant fund, leveraging public capital to stimulate economic development while working toward the Paris Climate Agreement goals. This will give access to long-term funds at affordable rates for farmers.

In the past, Indonesia lost a significant portion of its forests due to logging and intentional fires. The government tried to implement a permit scheme for deforestation, but the country still has the highest rate of deforestation globally.

According to U.N. figures, between 2000 and 2005, Indonesia lost 310,000 hectares of forest every year. The rate of deforestation rose to 690,000 hectares per year between 2006 and 2010.

Industrialization has driven workers out of the agricultural sector and into the industrial and services sectors. Yet agriculture remains the dominant employer in the country, with a workforce of 40.8 million people.

Palm oil is its largest export, and palm oil plantations have increased dramatically in the past decade. Forests are sliced to make room for palm oil plants. However, the price of this commodity has steadily declined and farmers are destroying the environment for a product that is losing its value.

The new green growth project will use public funding to unlock private investment. It is looking to make strides in the development of renewable energy and sustainable landscape management. The latter will minimize deforestation and restore degraded lands.

The green investment fund will stimulate the productivity of small farms without compromising the productivity of the land in the future. Chair of the Steering Committee of the facility, Dr. Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, told the audience at the launch event that “This ground-breaking and innovative financial platform, a world’s first, can transform the lives and livelihoods of millions of Indonesians in rural areas that deserve it the most.”

Officials hope the fund will steer farmers away from practices that deplete the land of its natural resources and hinder long-term productivity, hindering the growth of the per capita income of poor farmers.

– Eliza Gkritsi

Photo: Flickr

10 Facts About Child Mortality

Facts about Child Mortality
Since 1990, the world has almost cut infant mortality rates in half. Where the number of neonatal deaths in the first 28 days was once 5.1 million in 1990, there were just 2.7 million in 2015. Although this progress is heartening, it does not meet the Millennium Development Goal of a two-thirds decrease in the mortality rate for children under five.

In fact, over 17,000 children under five years old continue to die every day of treatable conditions. This is evidence that we must focus on this problem more heavily, and that child survival must be made an ongoing priority. Here are 10 facts about child mortality:

  1. About 99 percent of newborn deaths transpire in low and middle-income countries.
  2. Africa and South Asia currently have the highest rates of infant mortality and show the least amount of progress in combating it.
  3. In 2015, 5.9 million children died before their fifth birthday. This is equivalent to 11 child deaths every minute.
  4. Approximately 2.7 million child deaths occur within their first month of life. Nearly 50 percent of these deaths occur within the first 24 hours, while 75 percent occur within the first week.
  5. A child’s risk of mortality is highest in the neonatal period. This period occurs in the first 28 days of a child’s life.
  6. Leading causes of child mortality in children under 5 years include preterm birth complications, pneumonia, birth asphyxia, diarrhea and malaria.
  7. Roughly 45 percent of all child deaths are at least in part due to malnutrition.
  8. Children who have lost their mothers are ten times as likely to die prematurely than children whose mothers are present.
  9. In 2015, low-income countries saw one child in every 13 dies before the age of five. In wealthy nations, this occurred in only one child of every 143.
  10. About 3 million of the 5.9 million children who die each year can be saved at a low cost to wealthy nations.

There are things that can be done to help. Access to affordable health care has proven effective against child fatality in developing nations. In fact, more than half of child fatalities worldwide are due to conditions that can be easily treated or prevented should mothers and children be given access to simple and affordable care.

The 48 hours following birth are the most important, as this is when the mother and child are most vulnerable. It is also important that mothers and their children receive follow-up care to both prevent and treat illness.

The bipartisan Reach Every Mother and Child Act (H.R. 3706) is one such solution that works toward ending preventable deaths of mothers and young children in developing countries. If the bill should pass, it would mandate a multi-year strategy to combat maternal and infant mortality, part of which would entail establishing a permanent United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Maternal and Child Survival Coordinator.

The job of this coordinator would be to find and implement a strategy that will bolster the most effective treatments and interventions making them available or scaled up in target countries. It would also require the executive branch of the United States government to develop a fiscal framework to get commitments from non-profit organizations, the private sector, ally countries and global organizations.

Infant mortality is a problem in this world. However, by working together to lobby congress and by donating to global organizations such as UNICEF it is one that we can work to alleviate.

You can make a difference by asking your members of Congress to support the Reach Every Mother and Child Act here.

– Kayla Provencher

Photo: Flickr

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Inequality and Poverty in Namibia: A Gaping Wealth Gap

Poverty in Namibia

Namibia is a country in southwestern Africa, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west. It is home to diverse wildlife species. Namibia is one of just nine countries in Africa categorized by the World Bank as “upper middle income.” Poverty in Namibia, however, is still prevalent and the country is rife with extreme wealth imbalances.

The Namibian Economy

The Namibian economy boasts relatively high growth, with an average growth rate of 4.3% between 2010 and 2015. The economy is heavily based on the country’s mining industry, which accounts for 50% of foreign exchange earnings. Despite its high income, Namibia has a poverty rate of 17.2%, an unemployment rate of nearly 20% and an HIV prevalence rate of 11% percent.

Poverty in Namibia is acute in the northern regions of Kavango, Oshikoto, Zambezi, Kunene and Ohangwena, where upwards of one-third of the population lives in poverty. Furthermore, the country’s status as upper middle income makes its most vulnerable population ineligible for aid from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other development groups.

Economic Disparity in Namibia

The apparent imbalance between Namibia’s high income and simultaneous extreme prevalence of poverty can be traced to enduring income inequalities. Namibia has the second most unequal wealth distribution globally, with a Gini coefficient of 0.63, after South Africa, making it one of the most unequal countries. High inequality persists despite several government initiatives, reflecting the nation’s history when the apartheid system created significant economic and social disparities between the white minority and the Black majority.

In Namibia, the most disadvantaged 20% of the population receives approximately 3% of the total expenditure, while the richest 20% receives more than 70%. Gender inequality is also a significant issue in Namibia. As of 2023, women make up only 55.8% of the labor force, while men make up 63.7%. This gender gap in labor force participation is lower than in other upper-middle-income nations.

Efforts

Even though poverty in Namibia has declined significantly in recent years, the United Nations (U.N.) and other advocacy groups have pressured the Namibian government to do more to tackle the large wealth gap. In response, the Namibian government has implemented several initiatives to narrow the wide gap between the most vulnerable and wealthy populations.

One of these initiatives is the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) program. This policy aims to encourage the participation of the Black population in the economy, which could ultimately transform Namibia’s economy while narrowing the wealth distribution. Additionally, the New Equitable Economic Empowerment Framework (NEEEF), which the Namibian government implemented in 2018, encourages businesses to transfer ownership and skills to historically disadvantaged Namibians.

Final Remark

While these efforts are steps in the right direction, addressing Namibia’s significant wealth gap and inequality remains an ongoing challenge requiring sustained commitment and innovative solutions.

– John English

Photo: Flickr
Updated: June 01, 2024

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How Poverty Affects Learning

How Poverty Affects Learning
Education’s role in improving the lives of the global poor has been well documented. However, researchers have been exploring the reverse — how poverty affects learning and a child’s education.

The Ontario Child Health Study concluded in its research that there is a “direct link between lack of income and chronic health problems, psychiatric disorders and social and academic functions.”

Additional research provided evidence that poverty decreases a child’s school readiness through six factors: the incidence of poverty, the depth of poverty, the duration of poverty, the timing of poverty, the concentration of poverty and crime in a student’s community and the impact of poverty on social networks.

Children from families with lower incomes score significantly lower on vocabulary and communication skills assessments, as well as on their knowledge of numbers and ability to concentrate. Furthermore, their counterparts in higher-income households outperform them in copying and symbol use, and in cooperative play with other children. Students with lower income are more likely to leave school without graduating.

Experts refer to the relationship between socioeconomic status and academic performance as the “socioeconomic gradient.”

According to author Eric Jensen, although “children raised in poverty rarely choose to behave differently,” poverty affects learning because they face challenges their affluent counterparts never see. “Their brains have adapted to suboptimal conditions in ways that undermine good school performance,” Jensen writes.

A child’s formation of new brain cells will slow down and the neural circuitry will create emotional dysfunctions if a child’s primary needs are not met at an early age.

Typically, children from low-income families suffer from parental inconsistency, frequent childcare changes, lack of adult supervision and lack of role models. Thus, the child does not receive the stimulation or learns the social skills necessary to maximize their academic performance.

In order to reverse how poverty affects learning, researchers suggest that schools focus on support services that aid in a child’s cognitive and social skill development.

The High/Scope Educational Research Foundation concluded in a study, that children who received proper intervention services were more likely to graduate secondary school, have higher employment and income rates and have lower crime rates by the time they reached 40.

Schools with targeted efforts to aid in a child’s academic development, such as counseling and after-school programs, can both lessen the effect of poverty on a student’s learning and use education to fight poverty to improve lives.

– Ashley Leon

Photo: Flickr

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Improving the Water Quality in Djibouti

Improving the Water Quality in Djibouti
Water is a human necessity. The issue of water quality in the developing world is one that affects millions of people daily. More than half of the population of the developing world suffers from a water-related disease and about 6,000 children die from a water-related disease every day.

Djibouti, a small country off the eastern coast of Africa, is one of these developing countries. Currently, the country is experiencing a major national water crisis. Citizens in rural areas are the most affected: according to UNICEF, nearly 50% of people in rural communities do not have access to a safe water source.

Despite its coastal location, Djibouti is a country heavily affected by drought due to its arid climate. Most of the country’s water supply comes from groundwater resources, which have dwindled dramatically in recent years because of widespread drought.

Water quality in Djibouti is also a national problem. The little groundwater resources that are available are often of poor quality which has resulted in an epidemic of many waterborne illnesses.

The most high-risk water-related diseases in Djibouti are hepatitis A, hepatitis E and typhoid fever. These illnesses are contracted when people come into direct contact with water contaminated by fecal matter. Typhoid fever is the most deadly of the three, with a mortality rate of 20 percent.

Water conditions are slowly improving in the country thanks to efforts made by UNICEF, the European Union and Djibouti’s Ministry of Agriculture. This partnership, which began in 2007, has given more than 25,000 of the poorest people in rural communities access to clean water close to their homes.

The European Union has given UNICEF 2 million euros toward improving water sanitation in Djibouti. UNICEF also agreed to include an additional 60,000 euros to provide technical expertise.

More still needs to be done to improve the water quality in Djibouti. According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), about 35% of the rural population has not received any improvements to their water supply.

Luckily, the Djibouti government has shown proactive concern in erasing the national water crisis. With help from UNICEF and the implementation of climate change policy in the country, Djibouti is looking toward a future of increased health and adaptability.

– Laura Cassin

Photo: Flickr

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Business Opportunities for Ethiopian Women

Business Opportunities for Ethiopian Women
On May 24, 2012, the World Bank approved the Women’s Entrepreneurship Development Project (WEDP) to provide business opportunities for Ethiopian women. This simple project has provided over 3,000 women with business loans and an additional 5,000 women with business training.

The project’s objective is to “increase earnings and employment of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) owned or partly owned by participating female entrepreneurs in targeted cities.” The $53 million project will close at the end of 2017.

WEDP aims to minimize the financing gap in Ethiopia. In developing countries, 70 percent of small and medium businesses owned by women cannot obtain the financing needed for them to grow. The project tackles this issue by providing loans to female business owners.

The loans are offered through the Development Bank of Ethiopia and microfinance institutions. WEDP receives additional financing from the international development agencies of the United Kingdom and Canada.

More than assisting with access to microfinance, the program also provides women with skill development, technology and product development. By the end of 2017, the project aims to provide loans to 17,500 Ethiopian women entrepreneurs as well as to improve access to and increase the capacity of existing microfinance institutions.

The investment in women entrepreneurs yields high return opportunities in emerging markets. Historically, women in developing countries played minute roles in entrepreneurship. Expanding their participation through microfinance drastically improves economic output. Because women entrepreneurs tend to hire other women, they are also key drivers of unemployment reduction.

WEDP has had far-reaching impacts, benefiting well over 3,000 women through a line of credit backed by the World Bank’s fund for the poorest countries with a repayment rate of 99.4 percent. The average loan size for the project is $11,000, nearly double the amount that women entrepreneurs were able to receive prior to the project’s implementation.

Recognizing the impacts of women entrepreneurship in Ethiopia and the importance of microfinance, the World Bank adopted the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Finance Project to complement the WEDP. With a similar objective, the SME Finance Project also provides loans to entrepreneurs.

Financing constraints of Ethiopian SMEs are one of the key obstacles to job creation, growth and new business opportunities for Ethiopian women, according to a recent World Bank study.

Further, small enterprises are more financially constrained than micro or medium/large enterprises. The development of microfinancing projects to target small enterprises will further build upon the success of WEDP, promoting economic prosperity throughout Ethiopia.

– Anna O’Toole

Photo: Flickr