Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Seven Facts About Education in Pakistan

education in pakistan
Proper education is crucial to the development of any country. Countries with excellent education systems like Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden have populations that generally live longer and have less violent conflict and poverty. This is why investment in education is critical for a stable state. While the country has shown improvement over the past decade, education in Pakistan has a long way to go.

  1. According to the most recent data published by UNICEF, the rate of youth literacy in Pakistan is a little over 60%. Meanwhile, the adult literacy rate is closer to 50% within the country.
  2. The number of terrorist attacks on educational institutions within Pakistan has increased in recent years. The Washington Post reports there were 82 attacks from 2000 to 2008, and 642 attacks from 2009 to 2013. The Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP), established in 2007, has taken credit for many of these attacks. In 2014, seven gunmen killed over 150 people in a public school in Peshawar. The individuals responsible were found to have ties to the TTP. Through fear, these extremist organizations discourage people from living in Pakistan from receiving an education.
  3. In Pakistan, over half of the adolescents not enrolled in school are female. Young girls face many barriers to education within Pakistan, but none as significant as the threats of violence. In 2012, Malala Yousafzai became the face of Pakistan’s female education problem after she was brutally attacked by a Taliban militant for speaking out against the oppressive regime.
  4. The Malala Fund, co-founded by Malala Yousafzai, is dedicated to helping girls receive an education. The organization helps to rebuild schools and increase female enrollment within vulnerable Pakistani and global communities.
  5. Pakistan’s constitution ensures the right to education for children between the ages of five and 16. However, government expenditure on education accounts for only two percent of the country’s total GDP according to the most recent data. Consequentially, schools are filled with unqualified teachers and crumbling infrastructure.
  6. Families living in poverty often rely on their children to contribute to the household’s income. Unfortunately, this responsibility can impede upon their ability to attend school.
  7. USAID has made a significant impact on education in Pakistan through its aid efforts. In addition to providing scholarships, the government agency has helped to repair over 1,000 schools and train thousands of teachers.

Pakistan continues to struggle with a variety of issues including poverty and national security. The country’s instability has taken a toll on its education system, but with the help of the international community, there is hope for substantial change within the country.

– Saroja Koneru

 

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Gov’t Supports School Programs to Reduce Hunger in Jamaica

Hunger in Jamaica

Hunger in Jamaica has improved tremendously among primary and early childhood students with the various programs and strategies implemented by The Program of Advancement through Health and Education (PATH) and the School Feeding Program (SFP).

The Program of Advancement through Health and Education (PATH) enabled by the Government of Jamaica (GOF) continues to play an integral role in providing free lunches for primary school students with the aim of improving the nutrition of vulnerable children and eradicating hunger in Jamaica with Early Childhood students being the target group.

The Hon. Rev Ronald Thwaites in his presentation of the 2015-2016 sectoral debate revealed the aim of the Ministry of Education to expand the breakfast programs in schools initiated to provide free breakfast for 138,000 students inclusive of PATH beneficiaries.

The Ministry assigned J$2.2 billion to this program. The SFP in partnership with the Nutrition Products Limited (NPL) breakfast solutions ensures that all meals are made from local agricultural products.

Board Chairman of Nutrition Products Limited James E.D. Rawle gave a synopsis of the various products offered in the NPL Annual Report, “Segments of the Early Childhood Cohort, inclusive of hot solution (porridge), sandwiches, muffins, breads, cakes and an improved juice drink, made utilizing locally produced fruit puree”.

The NPL has provided breakfast solutions to 12,000 designated children located in Kingston & St Andrew, St Thomas, St Catherine and Clarendon each day. This initiative has helped to reduce hunger in Jamaica among students in Primary level institutions.

The SFP provides additional Nutribun snacks for these students in line with the strategy Ministry of Education to spend approximately 20 percent of the school feeding budget of J$4.6 billion on locally grown products. The Ministry intends to achieve 50 percent in three years.

The Hon. Rev Ronald Thwaites revealed that 40 percent of children lack proper nutrition and another 30 percent experience hunger on a daily basis.

“Providing nutrition in schools is adding value to the lives of our young children and the brightening of their prospects,” said Thwaites. This step towards improving the nutrition of Early Childhood students via proper victuals is a resourceful means by the GOF to improve hunger In Jamaica.

– Shanique Wright

Photo: Flickr

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The Benefits of Conditional Cash Transfers in Latin America

Conditional Cash TransfersIn development assistance, there is always a hand that gives and a hand that takes away. Policymakers now face the fact that up to 20% of foreign aid administered by NGOs and government agencies can end up in the hands of corrupt local leaders. However, conditional cash transfers may be the solution.

A recent report by the Inter-American Development Bank suggests that conditional cash transfers offer a way out of this dilemma. This form of foreign aid offers cash grants to citizens in exchange for compliance. This could mean enrolling their children in school, completing regular medical exams, or attending job skills training.

In Latin America, where youth unemployment hovers around 14%, this means lower risks of radicalization. Roughly 60% of the young adults in this region work in the informal sector, where there are markedly low wages, no benefits and job insecurity.

When this occurs, many of those who might have been productive citizens turn to more lucrative (and illegal) activities. And so the conditions for terrorism flourish.

Conditional cash transfers (CCTs) for the poor in Latin America have posted consistent gains over the past 15 years. They provide money for nearly 129 million individuals of working and post-working age. In addition, some of the countries suffering from the harshest degrees of poverty are taking advantage.

UNICEF reports from 2008 found that in Paraguay, CCTs increased household per capita income by 31% while reducing food expenditure by four percent.

Child school attendance also rose, as beneficiary families were able to save 20% more than without assistance. UNICEF also reports that families enjoyed seven percent greater access to credit. Finally, they invested 45% more in agricultural production.

These are significant results for a country tackling one of the most corrupt and poverty-stricken parts of the continent. Home to radical groups such as Hezbollah and al-Qaeda, the tri-border area—between Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina—is a perfect case for why the United States should ramp up its aid to Latin America.

The endemic poverty in this area allows one to bribe a local security agent for $35 ($15 for Paraguayan officers), buy an AK-47 for $375, or solicit women under 23 years of age for as little as $15.

In this sort of environment, traditional aid projects for nutrition or housing are less effective.

Researchers from Transparency International reveal that in areas like the tri-border, local leaders inflate the amount of requested aid, inviting speculation by gangs and smugglers.

Much of the aid is then misused: corrupt leaders sell food surpluses for personal profit, award housing contracts under threat. In addition, other goods (such as prescription drugs) enter the tri-border $1.5 billion black markets.

Conditional Cash Transfers offer immunity from these abuses by requiring greater accountability from both local leaders and the community. Because they are cash benefits, municipal officials are unable to divert goods as “losses” or favor particular groups.

Instead, they ensure that valuable U.S. aid reaches the hands of those who need it most—citizens doing their part to break the cycle of poverty.

– Alfredo Cumerma

Photo: Flickr

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How Big Business Contributes to Global Food Security

Food_Security
Approximately 805 million people around the world are starving. Extreme poverty, rapid population growth, climate change and shrinking resources are a few of the crucial factors threatening global food security.

It is estimated that by 2050 the world’s population will have grown to more than nine billion people, meaning food production will have to increase by as much as 70% in order to feed the world.

Big businesses recognize the importance of fighting global hunger. As a result, a few major companies are leading efforts to improve global food security.

Amway

Amway, a leader in the nutrition and vitamin market, launched the Nutrilite Power of 5 Campaign to raise awareness of childhood malnutrition.

The company developed Nutrilite Little Bits, a micronutrient supplement that provides impoverished children with the key nutrients and vitamins often missing from their diets.

The Nutrilite Power of 5 Campaign has provided Nutrilite Little Bits to thousands of children in 11 countries since its inception in 2014.

Amway has committed to providing five million Nutrilite Little Bits by the end of 2016. This act has the potential to benefit more than 14,000 malnourished children.

General Mills

Food giant, General Mills, pledged to work closely with smallholder farmers in developing economies to sustainably source 100% of their top ten priority ingredients by 2020.

“We know that when farmers have the knowledge and resources for their farms and families to thrive, the benefits accrue well beyond the individual and extend to the community and societal levels,” said General Mills Foundation Associate Director Nicola Dixon.

General Mills wants its farmers to produce enough to feed their families and generate an income while raising the living standards in their communities. Millions have already benefited from the company’s work.

Cargill

Cargill, one of the world’s largest food and agriculture businesses, committed to providing more than $13 million in grants through a broad set of programs focused on food security, sustainability and nutrition.

The grants will be focused on promoting sustainable agricultural practices, improving market access and productivity for farmers, supporting childhood nutrition and education and advancing healthy diets and preventing diet-related health issues in low-income communities.

“The private sector can be a catalyst for lasting change by jumpstarting innovation and economic development,” said Ruth Rawling, Cargill’s vice president of corporate affairs.

One of the grant recipients is CARE USA, which has partnered with Cargill for over 25 years to combat poverty and long-term hunger among some of the world’s most vulnerable communities.

Cargill’s grants are expected to benefit more than one million people in 15 countries.

Global food security is one of the most dire issues facing the world. One’s ability to feed themselves is directly correlated to their productivity and ability to earn a living.

There is great potential to vastly reduce poverty, increase incomes for the world’s poor and expand the world’s consumer base as big businesses further their investment in global food security.

– Sara Christensen

Photo: Flickr

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The Success of Public Education in Georgia: Is It Enough?

Education in Georgia
In the years following independence from the Soviet Union, the country of Georgia faced a variety of challenges from natural disasters to political unrest. Times were tumultuous for over a decade, but in 2003, the year of the Rose Revolution, a new dawn broke for the nation. A new government arose and enacted many new programs — some of which address the ever-present issue of public education in Georgia.

Although the national plan for education in Georgia direly needed a make-over by the turn of the twenty-first century, the system had not yet become a hopeless case. All age groups within the country were evaluated with over 98% literacy, but it was usually only basic literacy with very few individuals making it to higher levels of education.

This phenomenon of widespread but low-level education can be attributed to the inefficiency and low quality of the public education programs. Ultimately, families did not feel that it was worth their time to put their children through more than the minimum required years of education.

After primary education, the government would no longer support the entirety of a student’s tuition; thus, to continue on in education, the child and his or her family would need to pay a good portion of tuition — funding that few families had to spare.

Shortly after the Rose Revolution, the newly appointed government developed a plan that would allow for the growth of a more efficient and cohesive education system.

The bill passed through the Georgian legislature was dubbed the Law on General Education, and it opened up services that the Georgian public had previously been unable to access. This new law established equal treatment for ethnic and linguistic minorities, ensuring that all could receive a free education to the newly raised requirement of the ninth grade. It also gave more local power to families to elect the principal of their child’s school, and be privy to other rights that had previously been unavailable.

With this new focus on issues surrounding public education, the government has improved many services, such as vocational training and higher education, which are now also more readily available to the public.

A great number of children enter the fifth grade, but there are unfortunately many students who do not make it past the primary levels of education. Generally, due to poverty, two percent of primary-aged children are compelled to drop out of their educational endeavors before completing their primary education.

Many see the drop-out rate due to poverty as a self-perpetuating problem. The Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Transformation Index (BTI) states that, “Households in which adults have better education are less likely to be poor.”

The key drivers of social exclusion include “low education attainment levels among household members, unemployment, lack of land ownership, lack of access to health care, lack of access to loans or credit and lack of social assistance.”

To address this prevalent issue, and to better retain and educate its students, the Georgian government has increased its spending on public education by 43% over recent years. The effort is commendable, but the BTI argues that improvement needs to increase even more in order to keep up with prevailing economic issues and bolster the educational infrastructure of the country.

With an increased amount of students graduating from secondary education, the government will soon need to provide stipends to graduates for further education in institutions of higher learning.

The issues facing the growing sector of public education in Georgia are many, but various international organizations are optimistic for the emphasis placed on education reform by the Georgian government.

With its limited resources, these global figureheads agree that it is key that Georgia puts a high priority on developing its human capital, and in this way, secure the long-term progress of the country.

– Preston Rust

Photo: Pixabay

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4 Influential Humanitarian Athletes

Humanitarian Athletes
Athletes spend numerous hours during the week training and preparing for their next matches, games and adventures. Through their unmatched hard work, they are able to capture titles while simultaneously building a career and global fame.

Going above and beyond, many athletes use their popular status and successful careers to improve the world around them. These four humanitarian athletes utilize their fame and the small amount of free time they have to contribute to global charities.

  1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Professional Soccer Forward)
    Ronaldo is known as one of the most generous athletes in the world. He often donates his bonus checks and portions of his salary to various charities and countries in need of reconstruction and help. For example, he donates millions of dollars to foundations like UNICEF and “World Vision,” which aim to enhance the lives of children in impoverished countries through the enhancement of health and education. When he’s not sweating on the field, he also takes time to physically participate in fundraising campaigns.
  2. Serena Williams (Professional Tennis Player)
    When Williams isn’t grinding on the court winning grand slams, she’s looking to improve the status of the world’s poor. She was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2011 because of her commitment to helping the youth around the globe. In 2010, Williams announced the New Schools for Asia Campaign under UNICEF, which looks to provide children in the Asia-Pacific area with schooling. Around the world, there are 67 million people who are not enrolled in school. Of those 67 million people, 26 million live in the Asia-Pacific area. UNICEF’s executive director talked about Serena, explaining that she “isn’t just a tennis champion, she is a champion for children—and a passionate advocate for providing every child with a quality education.”
  3. David Beckham (Professional Soccer Midfielder)
    Beckham was also appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. His focus under UNICEF is the Unite Against AIDS campaign. After visiting Sierra Leone in 2007, he said, “In Sierra Leone, one in four children dies before reaching their fifth birthday – it’s shocking and tragic especially when the solutions are simple – things like vaccinations against measles or using a mosquito net to reduce the chance of getting malaria.” Beckham hopes to draw attention to the safety and health of children through his global presence.
  4. Jessica Watson (Sailor)
    Watson is known for circumnavigating the globe solo at the age of 16. Now at the age of 23, she continues to the explore the world as a representative for the World Food Program. This humanitarian athlete focuses her time and energy on Laos, saying, “At age 16 I achieved my dream. I want the school children in Laos to be able to achieve their dream. And stopping hunger is the first step in that process.”

Watson works with the School Meals program, making sure that kids in school are able to eat a nutritious meal every day. Global hunger affects 1 out of 7 people in the world. Jessica Watson, along with the World Food Program, aims to help 80 million people in 80 different countries combat lack of food.

These four humanitarian athletes have been able to use their global status to make a positive difference. By representing various foundations, they are not only able to raise awareness of global crises to fans around the world, but their use of fame also makes fighting global poverty a little easier.

– Casey Marx

Photo: Flickr

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21st International AIDS Conference Held in South Africa

International AIDS Conference

The International AIDS Society (IAS) hosted the 21st International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa from July 18 to July 22. The conference discussed the various improvements in HIV/AIDS science as well as challenges the medical community needs to address.

The theme of this year’s conference was “Access Equity Rights Now.” The event was designed to tackle inequalities in access to medical treatment, including barriers such as poverty, gender, race and location.

South Africa has the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence in the world. According to UNAIDS, anywhere between 6.7 and 7.4 million people live with HIV in the country. Yet, more than 60 percent of those infected are not on antiretroviral treatment.

The previous International AIDS Conference held in Melbourne, Australia called for the Victorian State government to repeal a law discriminatory to the HIV-positive population. Additionally, the 2012 conference in Washington, D.C. led to the government removing the country’s travel ban on individuals with HIV.

The equity rights movement within the 2016 conference is a push toward equality for marginalized communities affected by the virus.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), two-thirds of new HIV infections occur in Sub-Saharan Africa. Men who have sex with men, drug users and sex workers are among the various groups that are at a higher risk of infection. Even women face higher chances of transmission and greater barriers to treatment.

The International AIDS Conference brings together health professionals to improve the state of HIV/AIDS detection and treatment around the world. While there is still a long way to go in the struggle against this virus, statistics over recent years show promise.

The WHO reports a 35% decrease in new HIV cases in addition to a 28% decrease in deaths due to AIDS since 2000. With the majority of HIV cases in low and middle-income countries, the support of the international community is crucial to saving lives.

– Saroja Koneru

Photo: Flickr

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Three Attributes for an Improved U.S. Aid Package to Cuba

U.S. Aid Package to Cuba
“The changes in Cuba are for more socialism,” reads a sign in Havana. As relations between the United States and Cuba become warmer, this statement reflects how the U.S. aid package to Cuba should strive to protect its notable accomplishments in human development.

An improved U.S. aid package to Cuba is essential, and with it must come certain qualifications and stipulations that benefit both the U.S. and Cuba.

But what exactly should Americans look for in the next set of policy changes toward the island nation? Here are three attributes to support for an improved U.S. aid package to Cuba.

1. Lifting restrictions on U.S.-backed NGOs

It is true that Cuba boasts one of the lowest rates of extreme poverty in the world—1.5 percent in 2006. But despite this achievement, the island still suffers from food insecurity.

With an average monthly income of $20, even a typical Cuban government employee cannot afford meat daily. Milk, cheese or ice cream are reserved as weekly treats, and an aging population means that Cuba will struggle to meet more specific nutritional requirements in the future.

Yet many NGOs, especially those from Europe, must bypass subsidiaries in the United States and look elsewhere for funding. Major funding partners such as the World Bank, IMF and Inter-American Development Bank are blocked due to American veto powers in these institutions. These restrictions limit capacity-building in the agricultural sector.

In the words of one Cuban teacher, this is all too clear: “People want to leave Cuba just because they are hungry.”

2. Funding for Collective Enterprise

Cubans love to share, and one of the ways the island recovered from the fall of the Soviet Union was through its collective (public-private) business. In fact, the number of small to medium-sized firms has grown to roughly half a million since Raul Castro took office.

Raul has also implemented other changes. Private and hybrid firms can now sell services to each other and to government entities. New credit lines are being issued with unlimited ceilings, and decreases in the value of welfare and food subsidies are motivating Cubans to try entrepreneurship.

For instance, at Bella II Beauty in Havana, one esthetician is now making $42 per month instead of the $14 while under government control. Her business is one such worker cooperative.

“The inspector would come and the products that weren’t from here,” she says, “I had to hide them.”

Under the collective business model, workers can now streamline operations to increase profits, with each having say in their decision-making.

To add to this, the Cuban government is cutting back on expenses, as its banks are unable to provide more than $40 in loans to individual citizens. The Brookings Institution estimates that over 500,000 civil service jobs will be terminated in coming years to halt the bloating of public sector employment.

An improved U.S. aid package to Cuba would, therefore, support economic cooperatives with training, technical expertise, and financial resources to continue their growth.

3. Support for the Housing Sector

Every three days in Havana, at least two buildings collapse on average. This statistic sums up the state of Cuban housing: a cramped, expensive and decaying affair.

Over 85 percent of Cubans own their homes thanks to transfer measures that turned renters into owners during the revolution. But there are 11.2 million residents living in 3.9 million homes. This means that Cubans often live with not only their partners, but also their parents and grandparents.

Government estimates indicate that more than 500,000 additional housing units are required to meet demand, but construction is lagging. In order to reach that goal within eight years, the government would need to build 70,000 units per year, compared to its current yield of 16,000.

This is another opportunity for NGOs to offer properly trained labor and grants, especially since mortgages are illegal in Cuba to prevent real-estate speculation. In the words of prize-winning jurist Rodolfo Fernandez, “Housing is for living in, not for making a living from.”

An improved U.S. aid package to Cuba would preserve these unique advances by finding a middle ground between full-fledged capitalism and the more regulated (think: France) vision held by the island’s citizens.

– Alfredo Cumerma

Photo: Pixabay

Why the Cycle? 10 Facts on Global Poverty

Facts on global poverty
As the World Food Programme says, “The poor are hungry and their hunger traps them in poverty.” The number of people living in the world in extreme poverty does continue to decrease, but the number is still incredibly high.

Poverty creates a cycle, where the poorest people are unable to access quality education or health services, and these people continue to be affected by malnutrition and disease. However, there has been a significant reduction in the state of poverty throughout the last decades. Here are ten facts on global poverty:

  1. Approximately 1 billion children or half of the child population across the globe, lives in poverty. Of these children, 10.6 million die before the age of five. This is akin to between 22,000 and 29,000 children dying every day, according to UNICEF.
  2. Around two million children die each year from preventable diseases, as they are too poor to afford treatment. There are 270 million children in the world who do not have access to health services.
  3. In 2012, over 12 percent of the world lived on or below $1.90 per day. That estimate has improved tremendously from 37 percent in 1990.
  4. The most intense reduction in global poverty occurred in East Asia, where 80 percent lived in extreme poverty in 1981. Now a little over seven percent live in poverty.
  5. Within East Asia, China has shown the greatest reduction in poverty with 753 million people becoming above the $1.90 per day line.
  6. Approximately 30 percent of those living in extreme global poverty are concentrated in India. South Asia is now experiencing the lowest amount of extreme poverty since 1981, now standing at 18.7 percent from 58 percent.
  7. Overall, almost 80 percent of those living in extreme poverty are citizens of South Asian and Sub-Saharan African nations. This is almost 700 million people, with an additional 147 million in East Asia and the Pacific.
  8. A quarter of the world’s population lives without electricity, which is 1.6 billion people. Around 400 million also have no access to drinkable war, and 640 million are without proper housing or shelter.
  9. Unsafe drinking water kills more than 840,000 people each year, particularly those living in extreme poverty.
  10. According to Oxfam, $60 billion annually would be able to resolve global poverty. This is less than a quarter of the income of the top 100 billionaires.

Numbers are hardly a way to sum up the real-time suffering that people who live in poverty face everyday, but the facts on global poverty do create a framework of awareness, seriousness, and hope around a situation that isn’t quantifiable.

– Amanda Panella

Photo: Pixabay

Addressing Poverty in Mongolia Through Government Initiatives

Poverty in Mongolia
Poverty in Mongolia is rapidly decreasing in urban centers despite being one of the most sparsely populated nations. Mongolia, which sits between Russia and China, saw double-digit economic growth within the past three years.

The nation ranked 90 under the High Human Development category on the U.N.’s Human Development Index, which may be due to the implementation of a fiercely ambitious development strategy in 2015.

Mongolia’s considerable economic growth can be attributed to progressive reforms the nation began in recent years. Women hold almost 15 percent of Mongolia’s Parliamentary seats.

According to the Global Gender Gap Report of 2015 by the World Economic Forum, Mongolia ranks 56, making it one of the best in its region.

The Mongolian government also instituted the Green Development Strategy, various laws in 2014 that increased regulation of minerals (the nation’s largest export).

The Green Development Strategy makes eliminating extreme poverty in Mongolia a chief priority by addressing the unequal distribution of wealth.

The Law on Glass Account is another aspect of Mongolia’s development strategy that places a focus on the preservation of cultural heritage and budget transparency.

Poverty in Mongolia is a fairly recent trend. Poverty first increased when Russia abruptly closed and dismantled its factories and stopped providing financial assistance.

Mongolians were not prepared to move to a market-based economy. Poverty began to rise as a mass of rural populations migrated to the capital, Ulaanbaatar.

Mongolia is one of the more proactive nations working to eliminating extreme poverty. China, Russia and Mongolia recently signed a trilateral economic partnership agreement in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, during the 11th meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The three nations will be involved in more than 30 economic boosting projects.

Mongolian Minister of Foreign Affairs Lundeg Purevsuren released a statement calling the nations’ newfound cooperation a representation of “a new era of economic opportunity for Mongolia, which will continue to capitalize on its strategic location as an intermediary between East Asia and Europe.”

– Veronica Ung-Kono

Photo: Pixabay