Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Whole Foods Market Raises $3.26 Million to Alleviate Poverty

Whole foods market
Whole Food Market’s 2016 annual Prosperity Campaign for the Whole Planet Foundation raised $3.26 million to improve global poverty. All of the funds raised by Whole Foods Market will help support the foundation’s work to fund microcredit for poverty relief in 68 countries.

Philip Sansone, president and executive director for Whole Planet Foundation, shared that the “Whole Planet Foundation will be able to give an additional 91,100 people the chance to lift themselves out of poverty through microcredit and change their own lives” because of shoppers’ generosity.

The Prosperity Campaign encourages Whole Food Market supplier sponsors, customers, team members and online donors to donate to the Whole Planet Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Whole Foods Market. The foundation provides grants to microfinance institutions in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the U.S. These countries then develop and offer microloans to the self-employed poor.

Microloans are small loans of usually less than $300 with no contract or warranty. The loans are used to help the world’s poorest create or expand businesses and make an income for their families. The average first loan size in poor countries is $184, but each microloan helps at least five people invest in their families.

Whole Foods Market covers 100 percent of Whole Planet Foundation’s operating expenses to ensure that all donations benefit microcredit clients. Since 2006, the foundation has distributed over $53 million in microloans across the world, giving 7.8 million people a chance at a better life.

In communities without many jobs, credit serves as a direct means for the poor to improve their family’s lives. Without jobs, the poor are left to their own devices to provide for their families. While microcredit loans alone will not end poverty, it will help provide better nutrition, healthcare, housing, education and schooling to families living in poverty. Whole Planet Foundation is committed to supporting life-saving opportunities to help global poverty.

– Jackie Venuti

Photo: Flickr

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COTVET: The Rise of Vocational Education in Ghana

Education_women

Vocational education in Ghana is on the rise thanks to efforts by the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET).

Since its inception by an act of Parliament of the Republic of Ghana in 2008, COTVET  been a key voice in advocating the importance of technical and vocational education in Ghana. Because of COTVET, there is a growing confidence and appreciation for these job areas that were previously seen as inferior in Ghanaian society.

The major objective of the organization is to formulate policies for skills development across the broad spectrum of pre-tertiary and tertiary education and covers both the formal and informal education sectors.

Another aim of COTVET is to establish the Technical Vocational Education and Training System (TVET) to improve the productivity and competitiveness of Ghana’s skilled workforce and raise their income generation capabilities, especially those of women in low-income communities.

Additional COTVET projects include the Skills Development Fund (SDF), which aims to “improve [the] efficiency and effectiveness of the TVET system and ensure sustainable sources of funding for TVET.”

There is also the Development of Skills for Industry Projects (DSIP), which focuses on supporting key reform areas in the TVET sub-sector such as improving equitable access, quality and relevance and efficient management of TVET delivery in the formal and informal sector.

COTVET is also working to employ a Competency Based Training (CBT) policy. The CBT policy is meant to establish clear, measurable standards, developing competent individuals with transferable skills, linking education and training to skills needed by employers, promoting the concept of life-long learning and optimize each individual’s potential.

COTVET is building capacity to cope with technological development in Ghana, supporting the informal sector for growth, equipping Ghana’s next generation for the world of work and assisting females to enter male-dominated trade areas.

– Vanessa Awanyo

Photo: Flickr

 

Worsening Poverty in Romania Needs a Local Focus

Bordering the Black Sea and just between Bulgaria and Ukraine sits Romania. Although the nation had one of the highest growth rates in the European Union (EU) last year of 3.7 percent, poverty in Romania still remains an issue.

More than 1 million children live in poverty, and over 350,000 live in severe poverty. Poverty in Romania has also contributed to the highest mortality rate in children in the EU.

Currently, UNICEF is working in Romania to ensure children receive the best possible start to life. The organization’s program is designed to combat poverty in Romania by ensuring babies and new mothers receive proper care.

UNICEF is also dedicated to ensuring parents receive proper education in parenting from basics like breastfeeding to providing access to the best quality of education.

However, poverty in Romania is not isolated to the youngest members of society. According to Adrian Oras, Coordinator for the Europe-wide campaign group, Opening Doors, “poverty has worsened due to a high rate of unemployment, a wide gap between rural and urban areas in terms of investment, education and employment opportunities, and a general descending economic trend after the 2008 financial crisis” — all of which have only worsened, since the nation joined the EU in 2007.

Fighting poverty and social inclusion are priorities under the 2020 targets set forth by the EU. In light of these goals, Romania passed an anti-poverty package of 47 measures to combat poverty by focusing on increasing the employment rate, reducing early school leaving rates and scaling-up national health programs.

One of the most important anti-poverty legislative measures, the Romanian Venitul Minim de Incluziune, is currently tabled for debate in the Romanian Parliament, which would serve as a consolidation of three existing means-tested programs. Once this law is approved, it will aim to consolidate the three existing social assistance programs: Heating Benefit, Family Benefit and Guaranteed Minimum Income (GMI).

According to a recent series of poverty resolution maps developed by the World Bank, much of the northeast portion of Romania is at risk for poverty, while the southern tier is very much a sporadic mix of “at-risk” areas. These variations make it difficult to create a “one size fits all” approach to eradicating poverty in Romania and necessitates local strategies.

– Veronica Ung-Kono

Photo: Flickr

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9 Facts About Child Poverty

Child_Poverty
Every day, the effects of poverty take the lives of thousands, with children suffering the most. Chronic poverty makes children more susceptible to disease, hunger, and developmental problems. Here are the most concerning facts about child poverty:

  1. According to the World Bank, more than 400 million children are living in extreme poverty (less than $1.25 a day).
  2. Roughly 16,000 children die each day—mostly due to preventable or treatable conditions.
  3. UNICEF estimates that over 2 million children ages 10-19 have HIV.
  4. Roughly half of all deaths of children under the age of five are caused by malnutrition.
  5. The International Labor Organization reports that 168 million children are child laborers; many of them in dangerous lines of work, such as factory jobs.

The question then arises, what can be done about child poverty? The good news is that, despite the previous data, progress is being made every day combating this issue. Here are four facts on the fight against child poverty:

  1. According to UNICEF, the mortality rate for children under age 5 has decreased by 53 percent since 1990.
  2. The World Health Organization says the most important element in reducing the mortality rate for children is increasing access to healthcare worldwide, particularly in preventative measures such as vaccines.
  3. Global programs, such as the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP), are working to achieve WHO’s goal of increasing access to preventative care. Started in 2010, more than 235 million Africans have been vaccinated against meningitis through MVP.
  4. Ending child poverty can start with an individual. You can donate to an organization working to combat child poverty, and you can do things like contact congress to voice support for increasing foreign aid to causes like this.

The global community has made strides in combatting child poverty, but there is still work to be done to ensure sustainable futures for the world’s youth.

– Emily Milakovic

Photo: U.N. Multimedia

Poverty in French Guiana Leads to Tense Relations with France

Poverty in French Guiana
French Guiana, the small South American overseas region of France, is home to a uniquely intricate story. Tales of its former penal colonies and its more recent prominence as a European rocket-launching site often capture the imagination. Initially explored by the Spanish in the 1500s, it became a part of France in 1667.

Inhabitants of French Guiana are citizens of France, and administration of the area is governed by the French Constitution.

Although French Guiana recently voted against increased autonomy from France, frustration with the French administration has often resulted from longstanding struggles with unemployment and the area’s unbalanced trade. Over the years, this frustration has led to widespread protests and demonstrations throughout the country.

France supports French Guiana’s developing economy by sending aid and technical assistance. The country suffers from unfavorable balances in their trading activities, with their exports significantly less valuable than their imports.

The resulting issues are compounded by high rates of unemployment and inflation, insufficient infrastructure (for example, only two-fifths of roads are paved), and the territory’s need to import fossil fuels for all electricity needs.

The majority of the territory’s population is employed in services and industry, with those in agriculture primarily subsistence farmers who do not contribute largely to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The country’s GDP per capita is $8,300, but assessing what proportion of the population this places below the poverty line is made difficult by the lack of economic information available about the territory.

Its small size and population often mean it is not included in other aggregate poverty assessments. This lack of information makes poverty-related issues difficult to identify in French Guiana.

While the issues associated with poverty in French Guiana are not always clear, it is evident that they do exist. In 2009, reported sufferings due to low wages elucidated threats of revolt. However, those threats were not acted upon until 2010, when approximately 70 percent of the population voted against increased autonomy in administration.

These tensions were felt in a variety of French territories in 2009 and are often the result of disproportionate success and living conditions between these territories and the French mainland. It is not uncommon for GDP per capita in purchasing power parity in French Guiana to be significantly lower than that in France, with the former enjoying only one-third the per capita rate as the latter in recent decades.

This disparity places French Guiana and other French territories in an unusual position. Their poverty is acute compared with rates experienced on the mainland, but it is less severe than rates often seen in developing nations not tied to the power and aid of a country like France.

In addition, the cycle of wealthy inhabitants in French Guiana purchasing primarily imported goods has done more good than harm to the local economy.

In coping with poverty in French Guiana, universally free education is beneficial, as is free health care for the poorest segments of society. However, French Guiana’s noted lack of certain forms of infrastructure affects health care in rural areas, where full-service hospitals are frequently inaccessible.

As French Guiana continues to develop, poverty and unemployment rates represent a large source of social discontentment and everyday hardship. While poverty remains acute, the rates experienced in the territory are less extreme than those experienced in some other developing countries.

– Charlotte Bellomy

Photo: BBC

Addressing Poverty in Greece

Poverty in Greece
For the past few years, Greece has required heavy subsidies from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in conjunction with the European Union (EU) to avoid collapse. However, despite these heavy subsidies, the Greek economy continues to contract, and poverty in Greece is maintaining concerning rates.

The New York Times has compared this crisis to the infamous Great Depression in the United States during the 1930s. When these two timelines of GDP decline are placed in conjunction with the economic descents of the two countries follow the same trajectory.

The single difference between these two scenarios is that after four years the U.S. economy began to progress upward again. Inversely, the Greek economy has maintained constant economic contraction, averaging a negative growth of 25 percent GDP for the last four years.

Since the beginning of the crisis, the IMF and neighboring nations of the EU have poured over €260 billion into the flailing economy and have pledged an additional 86 billion euro to mitigate the extreme poverty that is spreading throughout the country. But even with these efforts, the Greek economy continues to shrink.

The effects of the steadily contracting economy have resulted in over a quarter of the population being unemployed, over 30 percent of the population living below the national poverty line and nearly one-fifth of the adult population not being able to feed their children. Charity organizations are running at full throttle, and some have worried at times if there will be enough food to go around.

The North American economist, Daniel Altman, has observed the fiscal problems that are being faced by Greece and has proposed several unpopular but effective ways in which the economy and reduction of poverty in Greece could make a rebound. He affirms that his prescribed measures would not be easy, but they would be possible to implement.

The first action Altman recommends is to default officially. The trade from Greece has been resulting in very low ingression of profit, and the government debt is continuing to accumulate in the background. Though defaulting on their debt would mean years of frozen access to global markets, it would also stop the progressing debt in the long run.

Secondly, the euro should be eradicated from the Greek economy. As it stands, the government cannot use inflation to its advantage since the euro is a transnational currency. A return to the Greek drachma could necessitate the aforementioned default and an initial scare would be probable, but in the long term, a return to domestic currency would set Greece in a position for economic progression.

In addition to these suggestions are the procedures for tax elevation and a decrease in the public budget. Altman affirms that these are never popular choices, but they are necessary for recovery. Many of these actions are already being imposed as necessary conditions for the reception of bailout funds from the IMF and the EU.

Additionally, an innovative way in which Greece could reduce public debt and put its economy back on track would be through liquidation of land assets. Greece has thousands of islands and large portions of ethnically Turkish, Albanian or Macedonian lands that could be sold.

Altman affirms that neighboring countries would pay large amounts to acquire lands that are largely inhabited by their people, thus alleviating poverty in Greece and putting a dent into the national debt.

Regardless of how this issue is approached, it seems that poverty in Greece is not going to be reduced without any sacrifices.

– Preston Rust

Photo: Spiegel

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Organizations Improving Education in the Developing World

Improving Education
Education is essential to achieving a higher quality of life. Many individuals in developing countries find it difficult to access quality education due to poverty, violent conflict and a myriad of other issues.

Global access to education may seem like a daunting problem, but there are numerous organizations you can support to increase a child’s access to education in the developing world.

The African Children’s Educational Trust (A-CET)

A-CET focuses on developing education in Ethiopia. It provides long-term scholarships to at-risk children that are funded by individual donations. The charity also works to improve and build schools within the country.

The BOMA Project

The BOMA Project is based in the U.S. and strives to better the lives of women in drought-prone areas. The organization gives grants to women within various communities as well as provides a two-year “poverty graduation program” which teaches these women how to run a small business.

By educating vulnerable women about business, the BOMA Project helps to create self-sustainable communities. The NGO is only operating in Kenya currently, but it hopes to expand its reach in the near future.

She’s the First

She’s the First is another organization focused on impoverished women within developing countries. The NGO provides girls throughout the world with the resources and connections essential to a quality education and future.

UNICEF

UNICEF is a well-known UN program dedicated to providing aid to developing countries. Access to education in these countries is among the numerous humanitarian issues UNICEF aims to address through collaboration with governments and NGOs.

Save the Children

Save the Children was originally founded in London in 1919 to address hunger caused by World War I. Today, the organization fights for vulnerable children throughout the world. Through teacher training and empowering parents and their children, Save the Children helps improve the quality of education in developing countries.

All of these organizations strive to increase education in the developing world. While some work on a smaller level, they are all making a difference. Donating or even volunteering for these and similar organizations are just a few ways you can help a child in need access a quality education and escape the cycle of poverty.

– Saroja Koneru

Photo: Flickr

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Ceasefire Ends the Long War with FARC in Colombia

War with FARC in Colombia

June 23, 2016, marks the historic ceasefire between Left-wing FARC rebels and the Colombian government, concluding the fifth and final item of negotiation. While peace talks have been ongoing since 2013, the peace deal witnessed by five South American presidents and a U.N. official should bring an end to the half-century war with FARC in Colombia. The U.N. will oversee the disbandment of FARC and hopes to collect all weapons by December 27, 2016.

Colombia’s long civil conflict was caused by many class tensions that hail back to its colonial history. The social classes are highly stratified between rich landowners of primarily Spanish decent and the poorer, generally mixed-race majority.

The power imbalance led to the formation of left-wing guerrilla groups like FARC. Drug trafficking financed their weaponry, significantly escalating the violence in the 1980s. Because the state was unable to defeat these groups, a right-wing paramilitary group called AUC (United Self Defence Forces) formed as a result. While the AUC was disbanded in 2006, FARC has continued to be in conflict with the government.

Both left-wing and right-wing groups have been criticized for horrible human rights violations. It is estimated that seven million people are victims of massacres, disappearances, kidnappings, murders and forced displacements perpetrated by both sides during the war with FARC in Colombia. Internal displacement alone currently affects 224,000 people, more than any other country in North or South America.

Five topics have been resolved over the last three years:

Rural Reform

Because much of the war with FARC in Colombia between the factions was fueled by social inequality, the agreement takes measure to balance land distribution to reduce poverty.

Political Participation

FARC’s leftist leanings caused the government persecution of nonviolent groups with similar political ideologies. FARC has argued for fair channels of political participation.

Illicit drugs

Drugs, particularly cocaine, have funded FARC and increased violence. The government is encouraging crop substitution and, most importantly, differentiating between rural growers and criminal groups driving trade.

Victims

To bring justice to the U.N.’s estimated seven million victims, Colombia’s government will allow an “international justice tribunal and a Truth Commission.” A Victim and a Land Fund will provide financial reparation. Amnesty will be given to FARC rebels who have not committed human rights violations and are willing to participate for justice.

Disarmament

This final phase began on June 23 with the official ceasefire. The U.N. hopes to have completely disarmed FARC by the end of the year.

While the ceasefire will not end all the Colombian people’s troubles, the agreements between FARC and the government provides a concrete end to the atrocities that have plagued them for decades and a plan toward peace.

– Jeanette I. Burke

Photo: BBC

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Syngenta’s Good Growth Plan Aids Farmers in Asia

Farmers in Asia
Swiss multinational agribusiness Syngenta has been in the limelight since the inception of its Good Growth Plan. This plan revolves around Syngenta’s vision: make farming more efficient, protect farmland, preserve biodiversity, encourage smallholders to take initiative in their farming practices. Syngenta’s belief in improving farmland and empowering smallholders affects farmers in Asia and the farming sector in the U.S.

Currently, farmers in Asia, specifically in rural areas, are not protected by their local governments, which means they lack the resources to protect their land. These farmers or smallholders often live on meager incomes, and they lack the funds to receive training to practice their business sustainably.

Since the farming sector is the backbone for many developing economies, it is vital that technology is inculcated in farming practices to make them productive and protected. Farmers’ incomes rise by 80 to 140 percent through the efficient use of advanced technology. Syngenta’s plan is to drastically improve sustainability and aid farmers in Asia by 2020.

Syngenta’s concerted efforts with the MasAgro program has helped target such smallholders who don’t have the technology for crop protection and efficient production. In the year 2015, Syngenta was able to reach out to about 17.2 million farmers by providing field experts to optimize farmers’ use of new products and current farms’ productivity. Syngenta’s work with USAID, The Sustainable Markets Intelligence Center (CIMS) and the Sustainable Food Lab played a major role in achieving this remarkable feat.

Additionally, the Sales Management Information System has been able to empower smallholders in Asia, helping them “finance higher-yielding products and reach markets to sell their crops.” The Rice Ten Tonne Club, a partner of the Good Growth Plan, rewards rice growers who have been able to effectively produce yields to the ten tonnes per hectare requirement in a sustainable way. This encouragement has incentivized sustainable and productive farming practices. Farmers in Asia have been able to maintain the fertility of their soils, increase revenue and improve their overall productivity.

One of the main ways Syngenta assisted farmers was through safety training and awareness programs about labor safety. Out of 5.7 million people trained in 2015, 70 percent of them were smallholders and have undergone safety training programs about technology usage and crop protection through briefings and commercial activities. Syngenta has very recently won the Silver PRSA Anvil Award for its success in weed management for farmers.

The Fair Labor Program is the crowning jewel of the Good Growth Plan and has aided thousands. It evaluates the labor conditions of production plants, farms, and suppliers in the supply chain. Syngenta’s supplier contracts have helped the monitoring of child labor, working conditions of farmers and enforcement of health and safety laws. In 2015, Syngenta received a major endorsement, FLA accreditation, for effective procedures and supply operations.

Syngenta’s strategic planning and investments in companies like Phytech and Brandtone, two companies changing the face of developing markets, has helped bring aid to smallholders. It has also provided them with many opportunities and crop protection projects which have helped thousands. Moreover, Syngenta has worked with the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) to protect farmland and corn crops especially.

The recent $44 billion takeover bid proposed by ChemChina will impact Syngenta’s work drastically. Farmers and investors in the west see this as something deplorable as monopolistic practices may arise as market share increases.

But the silver lining would be amplified investments to developing countries in Asia pacific where Syngenta has a stronghold, as Chinese companies have a higher propensity to invest now due to slow growth.

-Shivani Ekkanath

Photo: Wikipedia

Ten Facts on Epilepsy in Developing Countries

Epilepsy in Developing Countries

As one of the most common neurological conditions in the world, epilepsy hits resource-poor communities particularly hard. Although there are simple and inexpensive ways to treat epilepsy, the stigmatization of the disorder in developing countries leaves those suffering from epilepsy misunderstood and untreated. In addition, health care providers in developing countries often lack training in diagnosing and treating neurological disorders like epilepsy. Thus, shedding light on the facts about epilepsy is crucial to improving the lives of those affected by epilepsy in developing regions of the world.

  1. Epilepsy is characterized by recurrent and unprovoked seizures, so a single occurrence of an epileptic seizure does not guarantee that a person has epilepsy. Epileptic seizures occur due to abnormal neuronal activity in the brain. The most common visible effect of an epileptic seizure is uncontrollable jerking movements, but the effects can also be as subtle as a momentary loss of awareness.
  2. An estimated 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and 80 percent of those live in developing countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
  3. Epilepsy in developing countries is commonly caused by neurocysticercosis. Cysticercosis is a parasitic infection that occurs from the ingestion of eggs from the adult tapeworm, Taenia solium, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). When cysticercosis affects the central nervous system, it is referred to as neurocysticercosis and can lead to recurrent epileptic seizures.
  4. Some common causes of epilepsy include head trauma, genetic susceptibility, and malnutrition.
  5. Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder, not a mental illness. In many developing countries, including Uganda, epilepsy care is relegated to the mental health sector–often the most underfunded health sector in resource-poor countries, according to NCBI.
  6. Another erroneous belief is that epilepsy is contagious. The stigmatization of epilepsy in developing countries is partly due to the fear of contagion from bodily fluids, such as saliva, that can be emitted during a seizure. However, epilepsy is a non-communicable disease.
  7. The mortality rate of people with epilepsy is estimated to be two to three times higher than the general population in resource-poor communities. This is mostly due to the increased risk of fatal injury, trauma, or drowning during an epileptic seizure.
  8. Of the 35 million people with epilepsy who live in developing countries, around 85 percent receive no treatment at all, according to WHO. In order to close the treatment gap, WHO is calling for consistent and reliable access to anti-epileptic drugs (AED) that are critical to addressing the prevalence of epilepsy in the developing world.
  9. Educating primary care providers in developing countries on the facts about epilepsy is vital to ensuring that epilepsy is de-stigmatized and properly treated. Since access to equipment used to test for epilepsy are rare or often inaccurate in developing countries, increasing the number of neurologists and/or health care providers that can diagnose epilepsy is important, especially in rural areas.
  10. Cost-effective drugs exist to treat epilepsy. Phenobarbital, an older AED that costs $0.12 per daily dose, is currently being used in countries throughout Africa to some success. Although phenobarbital is known to have adverse side effects, the WHO supports the conclusion that phenobarbital is relatively well tolerated in developing countries as evidenced by observational studies.

By ensuring healthcare providers know how to diagnose epilepsy, consistently distributing AED’s to both rural and urban communities and erasing the stigma surrounding the disorder, the prevalence of epilepsy in developing countries has the potential to be reduced as low or lower than in developed countries.

– Daniela Sarabia

Photo: Medscape