Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Poverty in French Guiana Aided by French Economy

Poverty in French Guiana
French Guiana, the small French territory located in South America, is home to a uniquely intricate story. However, poverty in French Guiana remains an issue, inflating tension between the territory and France.

Initially explored by the Spanish in the 1500s, the territory became a part of France in 1667. French Guiana’s fascinating history has collected tales of its former penal colonies and its recent prominence as a European rocket-launching site.

Unfortunately, most of French Guiana’s problems arise from the inhabitants’ standings as citizens of France. Much of the tension centers around the administration of the area by the French Constitution.

Despite French Guiana’s recent vote against increased autonomy in governance of the area, longstanding struggles with unemployment and unbalanced trade creates much frustration towards the French administration.

In 2009, the territory threatened to revolt, following the lead of other French territories Martinique and Guadeloupe. While they never carried out their threats, French Guiana still expressed its anger over poor living conditions and low wages.

Even with limited support from the territory, France helps sustain French Guiana’s developing economy by sending aid and technical assistance. The country suffers from unfavorable trading balances, as their exports are significantly less valuable than their imports.

This imbalance is compounded by high rates of unemployment and inflation, as well as insufficient infrastructure (for example, only two-fifths of the roads are paved). French Guiana must also import fossil fuels for all electricity needs.

Despite these faults, French Guiana has one of the highest gross national incomes per capita in South America. The largest contributors to the economy are the manufacturing and service industries.

One 2012 study estimates that 26.5 percent of households in French Guiana live below the poverty line. However, another source states that while poverty is a major issue, French Guiana has less acute poverty than other similar economies.

Other aggregate poverty assessments generally do not include French Guiana because of its small size and population. This knowledge gap poses a large problem for combating poverty and identifying the major issues concerning French Guiana.

While French Guiana’s living conditions are substantially worse than those on mainland France, the territory maintains a better standard of living than many other developing economies.

Universally free education and health care for the poorest segments of society prove beneficial in coping with poverty in French Guiana. Almost all children between the ages of 6 and 16 attend school. There are also several colleges and universities.

However, the territory’s lack of infrastructure affects health care in rural areas. In fact, there is only one full-service hospital in French Guiana.

Poverty and unemployment rates represent a large source of social discontentment and everyday hardship as French Guiana continues to develop.

Despite these obstacles, France will continue to provide aid to its territory. With a more holistic study of French Guiana, perhaps this examination of poverty will create substantial positive change.

–Charlotte Bellomy

Photo: BBC

The Red Cross Takes The Lead In Providing Aid In Sri Lanka

Sri LankaRecently, many acres of Sri Lanka have been deluged by torrential rains from a slow-moving tropical depression in the Bay of Bengal. 22 of the nation’s 26 districts have suffered heavily from flash flooding and landslides. Officials say this is the worst flood to hit Sri Lanka in over a quarter of a century, and with the monsoon season set to arrive within the next few weeks, there will be no chance of a reprieve. International aid in Sri Lanka is sorely needed to help house and feed displaced persons.

According to Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Center, 82 people have been killed and over 500,000 have been displaced by the flooding and landslides. The death toll could rise even higher as 118 people are still missing, according to the Press Trust of India.

Displaced persons are being housed in 594 temporary camps across Sri Lanka, according to a press release by Sri Lanka’s Red Cross.

The UN’s Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka has met with President Sirisena. Together, they discussed the emergency provisions needed to provide life-saving aid in Sri Lanka.

The UN released a statement, saying: “We met the president this morning for a briefing on emergency response and coordination. We remain committed to assist all the affected people.”

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has deployed 10 medical teams with supplies in the areas of Kolonnawan, and Kaduwels MOH divisions and the Columbo Municipal council area have been given medical supplies, according to the World Health Organization.

However, it seems the Red Cross has taken the lead in the effort to provide aid in Sri Lanka. As soon as the landslide occurred, the Sri Lankan Red Cross Society’s Kegalle Branch deployed its Disaster Response Team to Aranayake.

Shortly after their arrival, Red Cross officials coordinated with government authorities in search and rescue efforts, as well as in creating temporary camps where they have provided food, first aid and psychological support to survivors.

In Gampaha, one of the worst affected districts in Sri Lanka, Red Cross volunteers provided evacuation via boats and first aid support to people stranded in Biyagama.

The predominant presence of the Red Cross is notable since they have been previously denied access to victims of displacement in the region. In 2009, the Sri Lankan government denied the Red Cross and many other NGOs access to civilians in refugee camps following the Tamil Tiger rebels’ final battle.

– Veronica Ung-Kono

Photo: Flickr

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Five Movies About Global Health

Global_Health
There are many inspiring and thought-provoking movies about global health that highlight the very real crises faced today. The following movies about global health explore some of the most dire issues, including women’s health, AIDS, polio, the right to safe drinking water and the realities of providing medical treatment in conflict situations.

  1. Blue Gold. Water shortages are a very real concern. Access to clean drinking water is also a dire problem in many parts of the world, and the demand for water only increases as the world’s population increases. Blue Gold considers the ramifications of this as corporations, governments and militaries try to control the water supply and people fight back for the right to clean water.
  2. A Closer Walk. The film examines the devastation wrought by AIDS throughout the world. A Closer Walk is narrated by Glenn Close and Will Smith, it explores the effects of AIDS in different regions, and what it means to live with and to fight against AIDS.
  3. Grace Under Fire. This is a notable film addressing the health issues women face globally, particularly in conflict areas. Grace Under Fire focuses on the regional conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where half  a million women are reported to have been raped. Dr. Grace Kodindo, an advocate for women’s health and reproductive rights, is followed throughout this film as she talks to both medical professionals and regular people about the access to care for women in the DRC.
  4. Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders. Medecins Sans Frontieres, also known as Doctors Without Borders, gave film crews permission for the first time in this documentary to film the doctors as they work in conflict areas. Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders provides an intense look at what it is like to provide medical care in emergency situations where violence is always a threat.
  5. Last Child: The Global Race to End Polio. Although polio has long been eradicated in developed countries, the fight continues in countries such as India, Nigeria and Haiti. Last Child: The Global Race to End Polio highlights the significant strides that have been made thus far. It also addresses the obstacles health workers have faced in eradicating polio, raising the question of whether the disease could spread again.

Each of these movies about global health provides a thought-provoking look at one of the major health crises affecting our planet today.

– Katherine Hamblen

Photo: Flickr

Portable Device to Detect Zika Virus


An international team of researchers has developed a low-cost and portable product for detecting the Zika Virus. After using their device to test for the Zika virus in monkeys, the researchers are looking to product development as their next step.

The test is nucleic-acid based and has three steps: amplification, Zika detection, and CRISPR-Cas9-aided strain identification. Amplification is necessary because the viral load in samples such as saliva is significantly smaller than the viral load present in samples like urine.

Once the sample has been amplified, it goes into an RNA sensor called a toehold switch. The team’s research paper states that the switch can “be designed to bind and sense virtually any RNA sequence.” The RNA sensors are deployed via a paper disc that provides a sterile and abiotic environment for them. The paper changes color from yellow to purple if positive.

In the final step, the gene-editing mechanism, CRISPR-Cas9, searches the whole gene sequence for genetic markers. According to the Harvard Gazette, this step allows it to differentiate between strains of the Zika Virus.

This process improves upon previous tests which performed serum analyses that tested for the antibodies to certain viruses. In the past, this led to false positives, as the tests were unable to differentiate between the Zika Virus and close relatives like the dengue virus that share a geographical range.

Similarities between the targeted Zika Virus genomic sequences and those of the dengue virus range between 51 to 59 percent.

To ensure the accuracy of their test, Keith Pardee, a faculty member of the University of Toronto, told ResearchGate that the researchers exposed their test to low and high concentrations of the dengue virus, as well as “off-target regions of the Zika genome.” It differentiated between the target genome and everything else successfully.

All three components of the test can be freeze-dried for storage and distribution without damaging their effectiveness, which allows them to be sent to rural clinics for use. This means that even low-resource areas could have access to faster and more accurate tests for the Zika Virus. Previously, Pardee said, people needed to travel to urban areas for such accurate tests.

In an interview with ResearchGate, Pardee noted numerous potential benefits of the team’s test. It could potentially track the Zika Virus outbreak, and it would help physicians to more quickly identify and treat the infected. Physicians can also then take precautions to ensure the virus doesn’t spread.

– Anastazia Vanisko

Photo: National Cancer Institute

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4 Movies About Refugees That You Need To See

RefugeesFilm is undoubtedly one of the most compelling forms of storytelling and some of the most powerful yet untold stories are those of the refugees.  Many millions have left their homelands and travelled across the globe throughout history, inspiring film-makers to capture their journeys. Here are four movies about refugees—two older, fictional films and two newer, real-life stories—that portray the experiences of refugees in an important and meaningful way. Although this list is only comprised of four movies about refugees, hundreds of documentaries, feature films and shorts are available online and in stores.

Fiction

In This World (2002): Shot like a documentary, In This World portrays two Afghan refugees’ land journey. Unlike many other fictitious films about refugees, this film shows a fairly complete picture of a refugee’s journey, which includes the endless hours of waiting, hours of panic, and brief, beautiful moments of hope.

Welcome (2009): A beautiful, artistic and rather unsentimental picture of one Iraqi Kurd’s attempt to swim the English Channel in order to gain asylum, this French film portrays the stark situation of many homeless refugees living in France at the time and the legal dangers that awaited the French people who helped asylum-seekers.

Documentaries

The Land Between (2014): Documenting the everyday lives of Sub-Saharan migrants trapped between their homelands and the prospect of a new life in Europe, The Land Between addresses one of the most important questions of all migrant crises, whether past, present or future: why, and how, do people risk their lives and everything they own?

Neuland (2015): Neuland explores the lives of immigrants and refugees from all over the globe as they acclimate to life in Switzerland. Following the students in one class, the film shows the hardships and joys of building a new life in a foreign country.

In addition to many other full-length fictitious and real-life movies about refugees, many organizations, like Amnesty International, compile short films to spread awareness about refugees. In the end, whether short or long, real or imagined, movies about refugees provide an invaluable window into the lives of victims from all over the world.

– Sage Smiley

Photo: Flickr

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Movies About Human Rights

Human_Right
Movies about human rights have the power to make the problems of distant countries personal to viewers. Whether it is a documentary or a fictional story, the impact of film can be extraordinary. These five movies are just a few of the films that highlight human rights issues throughout the world.

Hotel Rwanda (2004)

Hotel Rwanda depicts the atrocities of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Following decades of power struggles between Hutus and Tutsis, the Hutu government sought to cleanse the country of Tutsis. This infamous movie about human rights is based on the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, who opened his hotel to Tutsi refugees during the conflict despite being a Hutu himself.

While the Rwandan genocide occurred over two decades ago, the country still faces crippling poverty. The film illustrates the effect of violence and civil war on already vulnerable nations.

Beasts of No Nation (2015)

Beasts of No Nation never reveals the country it is set in. However, the events within the film continue to happen in various regions. The main character, Agu, loses his family to the violence around him. He is eventually forced to become a child soldier and goes on to commit atrocious crimes.

Sierra Leone, Uganda and Sudan are among the various African regions where child soldiers are recruited. The film highlights the effects of poverty and conflict on children within war-torn nations.

India’s Daughter (2015)

India’s Daughter follows the aftermath of the brutal gang rape of Jyoti Singh in 2012. The event, which took place in an off duty bus, raised various concerns throughout the country about women’s safety. The documentary interviews a wide array of individuals including Singh’s parents, the parents of the accused and the bus driver.

The documentary brings India’s gender bias to the forefront as it depicts the various protests that emerged following the crime.

5 Broken Cameras (2011)

5 Broken Cameras is a documentary shot by Emad Burnat, a Palestinian farmer, in a West Bank village known as Bil’in. The film is also co-directed by Isreali filmmaker, Guy Davidi.

The documentary depicts life in the West Bank through footage of protests and Burnat’s own family. The film gives raw insight into the lives of those living within an unstable and impoverished region; it is one of the great movies about human rights.

When Elephants Fight (2015)

This film highlights the underbelly of consumerism and its implications in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Electronics companies desire minerals from this region to manufacture their products. However, this practice has led to an illegal mineral trade as well as the rise of warlords within the country.

The documentary calls for companies to hold themselves accountable for the war and poverty that plagues the nation.

Movies about human rights are important and informative as global communities work together to end abuses against the most vulnerable individuals and groups.

– Saroja Koneru

Photo: Flickr

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Improved Seeds Alleviate the Weight of Poverty in Niger

Agriculture
Climate change has the potential to seriously impact both livelihoods and poverty in Niger. Adaptation measures are desperately needed in order to enable communities to cope with the climate change and variability.

The National Action Programme for Adaptation (NAPA), funded by Canada and the United Nations Development Project, supports local producers in Niger to assist them in the pilot usage of improved seeds.

Niger, where two-thirds of the land is covered by desert, is experiencing severe droughts and recurrent food crisis. The new project aims to strengthen resilience to climate change in agriculture and water sectors and thus reduce poverty in Niger.

Here are 5 things about the recently implemented project that you need to know:

  1. New and improved seeds: Through a partnership with the National Institute of Agriculture Research (INRAN), the improved seeds are developed using the grains most commonly consumed in Niger (millet, cowpea and sorghum). They are adapted to withstand drought and allow for multiple harvests per season.
  2. Numbers are increasing: In 2015, 25,000 farmers, including 7,500 women, who used the new and improved seeds harvested yields two to three times greater than the farmers who used traditional seeds. Typically, men will leave their villages to seek work in the city and rural women tend to be the ones most affected by climate change. With these improved harvests, many farmers will no longer need to leave the village in search of more work. Furthermore, this project has also developed women’s empowerment initiatives, such as market gardening, sewing or sheep fattening.
  3. Female empowerment: The project has strengthened the capacity of women with regards to administrative management roles and community living, enabling women to participate in entrepreneurship. In each of the target communities, the project donates two sheep to local women. Once the women have built up their herds, they can sell the sheep, and use profits to carry out other income-generating activities.  Empowering women will help further reduce poverty in Niger.
  4. Everyone wants to be involved: During the first phase of the project, between 2010 and 2013, NAPA anticipated that only 50 farmers would use the new seeds. However, 10,000 farmers were eventually involved in the pilot project.
  5. Cheaper by the dozen: Each kilogram of seeds from the harvests is bought back by the project for a sum of 500 CFA Francs (Niger’s currency). This is half the purchase price of a traditional seed.

“Initially we were seen as guinea pigs,” Abdou Diori, a farmer from the village of Soudouré, said in an interview with UNDP. “Nobody wanted to have anything to do with products with which they were personally unfamiliar… but the benefits are far greater than those associated with traditional seeds, especially in a country such as Niger where rainfall is very unevenly distributed.”

The scientifically improved seeds are a simple solution to lifting the poverty that weighs heavy on Niger’s farming communities.

– Michelle Simon

Photo: Flickr

Books and Butter: Ending Poverty in Costa Rica

Poverty_in_Costa_Rica

Poverty in Costa Rica continues to be an ongoing issue as the country suffers from a lack of infrastructure, weak educational system and high food prices. President Barack Obama recently announced a plan to provide $1 billion in aid to Central American countries. This plan curiously omitted Costa Rica from its list, citing “place-based security strategies” as the reason.

Costa Rica’s troubled neighbors—El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, together known as the “northern triangle”—certainly deserve the attention of U.S. policymakers. In El Salvador, the most violent country on earth that is not at war, the homicide rate stands at 90 per 100,000 residents.

From 2009 to 2013, the number of asylum seekers from these countries in the U.S. has seen a sevenfold increase to 2.7 million people. In fact, some analysts are calling this exodus a “Central American Spring” sparked by drug trafficking, violence and extortion.

Though its rule of law has remained intact, Costa Rica shares a similar poverty experience. Poverty in Costa Rica stands at 22.4 percent of the population, a number that has fluctuated little since the 1990s. Roughly 60 percent of the Costa Rican workforce is unskilled. However, the demand for skilled workers continues to increase thanks to new free trade agreements and the privatization of most government enterprises.

This trend is not likely to change if U.S. foreign aid is diverted exclusively to northern triangle states. Alejandra Obando-Hernandez, a researcher at American University’s School of Public Affairs, finds that unskilled Costa Rican parents exhibit “low expectations regarding future benefits of their children’s education.”

There are two reasons for these low expectations that point to how U.S. aid could be effectively utilized in this country. The first is the “books” issue, or the persistent shortcomings on metrics like desertion, teacher training and pedagogical innovation. Only 15.6 percent of Costa Rican children live in homes with some form of post-secondary education; of all students, only 46 percent graduate from high school.

Hernandez attributes these statistics to a lack of school infrastructure and inadequate teacher training. Among the insufficient resources in secondary schools are science labs (61 percent), library rooms (35 percent), computer labs (24 percent) and computers (35 percent). In addition, 20 percent of secondary schools lack sufficient classrooms to host their students.

The second problem is the “butter” issue, or the unnecessary burden that food places on the poorest fifth of Costa Rican families. These high food prices are caused by price controls and agricultural protectionism.

In the case of rice, one sole corporation is authorized to import this staple at low, world market prices. That rice is then sold domestically at higher, price-fixed rates.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Costa Rica has the third most expensive rice in the world. A basic food basket costs $42.37 compared to the monthly income of $82 for the poorest fifth. Once two school-going children are factored, the cost of education rises to 104 percent of monthly income.

U.S. aid to help poverty in Costa Rica could help improve these statistics by supplementing educational subsidies (already strong) and alleviating the shock to firms releasing their monopoly status. Doing so would create a stronger, more stable regional partner capable of counteracting the rampant violence in the rest of Central America.

– Alfredo Cumerma

Photo: Wikipedia

Besieged Areas in Syria Receive Foreign Aid

Besieged areas in Syria
Syria has been engaged in a heated civil war since March of 2011. It is the deadliest conflict of the 21st century to this point. This war has killed over 250,000 individuals and displaced another 11 million Syrians. In addition, the government has surrounded besieged areas in Syria, preventing aid from reaching them.

Late in the evening on June 16, a U.N. convoy carrying food, medicine and emergency supplies for 37,500 people reached one of the besieged areas in Syria, al Waer. This relief is the first of its kind for the people of al Waer in months.

Jens Laerk, spokesman for the Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that a second convoy to provide aid for the remaining 75,000 inhabitants should arrive within the next few days.

U.N. Humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland points to the significance of the convoy. He said that the besieged suburb surrounded by government troops had “been without supplies for more than three months.”

OCHA estimates that 5.47 million Syrians live in besieged and “hard to reach” areas. Numbers are difficult to confirm, due to conflicting reports from the Syrian government and U.N.

After the United Nations placed pressure on the Syrian government, the World Food Program has been able to breach blockades around several besieged areas.

They have worked with the U.N., Syrian Red Crescent, Red Cross and other relief organizations to provide much needed foreign aid to areas that have not seen relief in months or even years.

Earlier this month, a U.N. convoy reached the Damascus suburb of Darayya with aid for the first time in over four years. Shortly after the convoy left, the Syrian government dropped 28 barrel bombs from helicopters.

Because aid has been considerably scarce, and the government has been inconsistent in allowing supply convoys to enter besieged areas in Syria, the U.N. feels the urgency to provide help. They are considering sending supplies via air drop.

This is an especially risky and inefficient tactic. The U.N. believes that sending supplies in this fashion could be dangerous without approval from Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

The Syrian government recently said that it would allow foreign aid convoys more access to besieged areas. Government officials said that they would also allow air drops to areas under duress from the Islamic State.

As long as the government keeps its word, this could be good news for those living under siege. For the first time in a long time, they will have increased access to food, medicine and other essentials.

– Aaron Parr

Photo: UNHCR

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Toronto Joins the 2016 World Partnership Walk

Toronto_World Partnership WalkToronto was one of the many major cities that joined the 32nd annual 2016 World Partnership Walk to increase awareness and raise money for global poverty.

Each year the Aga Khan Foundation Canada, (AKFC), an international development organization and registered charity, hosts the event. AKFC is a nonprofit international development agency helping to find solutions to alleviate global poverty. The organization focuses on improving the living conditions of those living in poverty, regardless of faith, origin or gender.

On May 29, there were over 10,000 participants in Toronto, who gathered at the Metro Hall in David Pecaut Square. Last year, more than 40,000 individuals participated in the event from Montreal, Ottawa, Regina, Vancouver and Victoria, helping to raise over $7 million.

Canadians are motivated to mobilize and donate to the event because they want to see global poverty levels reduce even further. According to the World Bank, there are 1 billion fewer people living in poverty globally than there were 25 years ago.

Many families are driven to participate in the annual event, as 100 percent of the donations go toward AKFC programs. In addition, the event offers memorable experiences through activities that inform, educate and entertain all participants from the young to the old.

Based in Canada, AKFC works to promote the discussion of global issues and works to build partnerships with Canadian institutions. The organization began operations in 1980 and kicked off its first walk in 1985 when a group of women from Vancouver raised $55,000. Now, the event is held in 10 cities each year and AKFC has raised $95 million since the first walk.

The 2016 World Partnership Walk is the largest event in Canada supporting international development in 14 countries. AKFC concentrates specifically on improving access to education and healthcare, food security, producing economic opportunities and constructing strong communities and local institutions.

– Kimber Kraus

Photo: Flickr