Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Social Entrepreneurs in Education Are Making An Impact

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Entrepreneurs are individuals that go beyond the status quo in order to make change happen. “They pursue poverty alleviation goals with entrepreneurial zeal, business methods and the courage to innovate and overcome traditional practices,” says the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs.

Reform and change are never made without a struggle. Social entrepreneurs in education are no different.

Many struggle with receiving the support and funding necessary to keep programs running. But despite hardships, they press forward in order to make improvements.

Occasionally, an entrepreneur will find a break in the form of investors. Schwab, Skoll and Ashoka are three such foundations that provide this relief to individuals making change happen around the world.

One such fellow, or entrepreneur, that found relief works for an organization by the name of abcdespanol. Based in Colombia, the organization worked to create a new methodology for teaching reading, writing and math skills.

Javier Gonzalez discovered that the issues across Latin America were not due to the people, but the methodology while playing a game of dominoes. “González then created abcdespañol and “ABC de la Matematica”, an innovative learning solution employing games as a teaching methodology.”

For many, this is how it works. Social entrepreneurs in education see an issue and then fight to find and put into practice new ideas to correct the issue. The journey doesn’t stop there, though.

Going back to Javier, “he continued searching for additional ways to make the learning process more interesting.”

Education isn’t an easy fix and is not a one solution fits all circumstance ordeal. Teaching the world’s future leaders takes innovation and improvement. Social entrepreneurs, like Javier, know this and continue to seek out a better way.

Ashoka fellow Flick Asvat of South Africa is another excellent example of this.

In the country of South Africa, Asvat found that many youths become more discouraged than not by the truism that education is the path out of poverty due to the strikes, violence, and other issues that have continuously interrupted such attempts.

To fight this, “Flick is putting children in control of their own out-of-school educational programs. She has developed a concept, Bugrado, based on the idea that human beings have the power to change their circumstances.”

Through innovative new techniques, real change was seen in schools. “Flick has successfully created five pilot programs around Johannesburg and is now focusing on Alexandra Township, where the program is operating in four schools, reaching approximately six thousand students.”

As a social entrepreneur in education, Flick resigned from her job as Minister of Education to solely focus on the implementation of the Bugrado program.

Such stories have become increasingly common. Through simply opening one’s eyes and caring about making a difference, individuals have made change happen. When one thing doesn’t work, new ones are tried. In this way, education is constantly improving.

Jeff Skoll, Founder and Chairman of the Skoll Foundation has expressed the importance of these social entrepreneurs around the world.

On their site, it is stated that it has become, “the premier global event for social entrepreneurship…the Forum has increasingly become a showcase to highlight large scale impact that social entrepreneurs are having on the big challenges facing the planet.”

By connecting social entrepreneurs with the resources and connections they need to improve conditions, the Skoll Foundation helps millions experience the impact of positive change.

In short, these entrepreneurs are alike in a fundamental thought process. As Skoll puts it, “I believe “a lot of good comes from a little bit of good,” or, in other words, where the positive social returns significantly outstrip the amount of time and money invested.”

– Katherine Martin

Sources: Schwab Found 1, Schwab Found 2, Ashoka, Skoll
Photo: Wikimedia

The Pay-As-You-Go System and Affordable Clean Energy

The Pay-As-You-Go System That Makes Clean Energy AffordableTechnology company Angaza is offering a Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) system to manufacturing and distribution companies to make clean energy devices accessible for the more than 1 billion people worldwide still off the grid.

In the 21st century, more than 1 billion people still burn kerosene at night, a light source that is outdated, hazardous to health and pollutes the environment.

Over the course of a year, a family can spend 20 percent of its income on kerosene, which equals the total cost of a solar light.

The problem is not the access to solar options, but the barrier of upfront costs.

With the San Francisco start-up, Angaza is spreading payments out over a period of time. Now, people who cannot afford the total cost of a solar light have the option to PAYG. By working directly with manufacturers and distributors, the business model removes extra costs by selling their technology to third party manufacturers at a fraction of the cost.

This is how the PAYG solar energy system works:

  1. Before distribution, Angaza embeds its firmware into the green energy devices to provide internal energy metering.
  2. After making a down payment between $1 and $5, the consumer receives a lantern, solar panel and mobile device for tracking from the distribution company.
  3. Depending on the down payment, the lantern will only stay on for the amount of time paid for by the consumers.
  4. Similar to a pre-paid mobile phone, the lantern will deactivate unless payment using the mobile wallet is made.
  5. Depending on the size of the product, the consumer can pay between $1 and $2 per week until the lantern is paid off, typically a two- to 12-month timeline.

Currently, Angaza is the only company that offers a PAYG system to provide affordable clean energy products to consumers. As of now, Angaza’s PAYG system will be distributed to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, South Africa, India and Pakistan.

According to the Global Off-Grid Lighting Association (GOGLA), the off-grid energy and appliance market is expected to be a $50 billion per year opportunity.

– Alexandra Korman

Sources: Angaza, Tech Crunch
Photo: Flickr

Electricity Sparks Decline of Poverty Rates in India

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Electricity has played a big role in the recent decrease of poverty rates in India. The country has received a lot of praise recently due to its strides in decreasing poverty.

The country has garnered attention in a lot of right ways from the rest of the world through serving as an example of progress. According to the World Bank, the success is largely due to electricity.

“India has reduced its poverty rate to 12.4% from the 2011-12 estimate of 21%, according to new data released by World Bank, which identified rural electrification as an important driving factor for everything from greater rural spending to schooling for girls.”

It is no secret that access to power is one of the key solutions to poverty. Rural electrification, the process of bringing electrical power to rural and remote areas, is one of the ways to increase that access. India has utilized rural electrification as the main solution to its power problem, and the results have been reportedly positive.

“By late 2012, the national electricity grid had reached 92 percent of India’s rural villages, about 880 million people.”

In areas that the grid was not able to reach, renewable energy has been promoted. This reflects well on India’s environmental and human consciousness, since those who rely on wood and biomass for heat end up producing air pollution, which is not only harmful to the planet, but “attributable for 4.3 million deaths each year,” according to World Bank.

This is why the UN created the Sustainable Energy for All initiative, which aims to achieve the following three objectives by 2030:

  1. Universal access to electricity and clean cooking fuels
  2. Doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix
  3. Doubling the improvement rate of energy efficiency

85 countries have already opted into the initiative, including India, through its CLEAN Energy Access Network. CLEAN’s goal is to grow the clean energy sector in India and improve energy access for the rural and urban poor over the next three years.

Prime Minister Modi of India has already showed his support for renewable energy, as he stated solar energy as the ultimate solution to India’s energy problem in August.

This is all a good indication that India is capitalizing on its recent success in order to increase its energy access and efficiency.

– Ashley Tressel

Sources: Indian Infoline, World Bank 1, Se4all, World Bank 2, India Times
Photo: Bloomberg

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Kids are the Future: Increasing Youth Employment Rates

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The youth unemployment rate in developing countries does not reflect the same trends as in developed economies. Increasing education and improving job quality are proven solutions to this trend.

Globally, youth employment rates have increased since 2012. However, the progress does not seem to be reflected in developing countries.

“The jobless rate…increased in most of Asia and the Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa,” as compared to the EU, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa.

According to the International Labour Organization, global youth unemployment has plateaued from 2009 to present, hovering around 13 percent. Unsurprisingly, the countries with the highest rates include North Africa (at 30.5 percent, 2014 expected) and the Middle East (at 28.2 percent, 2014 expected) and those rates are actually on the decline.

The most recent report done by the ILO, Global Employment Trends for Youth 2015, argues that the youth markets in developing countries suffer from instability and structural issues.

The report highlights a lack of participation in education, poor quality of jobs and gender gaps as key issues that need reform.

Most importantly, the report places an emphasis on education and training opportunities for youth.

“Ideally, these [findings] will shape future investments in youth employment as countries continue to prioritize youth in their national policy agendas,” says the ILO.

The ILO calls for macroeconomic policies and fiscal incentives that support employment, as well as demand-side interventions, among numerous other concrete solutions.

Yellowwood, an independent brand consultancy in South Africa, has started a project to confront local youth employment challenges. Called Harambee, the project prepares first-time employees for work through an intensive bridging program that leads to permanent jobs.

“Harambee provides a model for a long-term solution to youth unemployment, by showing the importance of business and government working together to address the problem.”

Using Harambee as an example, both developing governments and businesses should work together to find solutions to the youth unemployment crisis.

– Ashley Tressel

Sources: VOA News, ILO 1, ILO 2, McKinsey On Society
Photo: Flickr

UNICEF Sends Aid for Typhoon Victims in Philippines

typhoon_victimsThe United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) launched a $2.8 million appeal to help children affected by Typhoon Koppu which recently tore through the Philippines.

“Typhoon Koppu’s slow moving path includes mountainous and hard-to-reach areas, and we are concerned about the wellbeing of all affect children,” UNICEF Philippines Representative Lotta Sylwander said.

Days before Typhoon Koppu hit, UNICEF activated its emergency preparedness measures via its Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) plan. The DRR is a systematic approach that assesses and reduces risk before, during and after a disaster.

UNICEF collaborated with the Philippine government in the pre-emptive evacuation plan which minimized casualties and property damage.

Mike Bruce, a spokesperson for Plan International, said the typhoon hit many poor communities that would struggle to rebuild their livelihoods without assistance.

“UNICEF’s first priority is to ensure children are safe and protected. Following a typhoon, children face risks from contaminated water sources, lack of food, epidemics such as cholera, hypothermia, diarrhea and pneumonia,” said Sylwander.

Save the Children estimates that 4.5 million children could be affected. In addition to restoring a safe water supply for families in the evacuation centers, UNICEF will include nutritional aid for breastfeeding mothers.

Typhoon Koppu caused floods, landslides, power outages and damaged roads and bridges, consequently isolating several towns and villages. However, the Philippines disaster agency said they have evacuated more than 65,000 people from low-lying and landslide-prone areas.

UNICEF has provided about 12,000 families with water purification tablets, hygiene kits, medicines, schools supplies, food, tents and generators.

“Secondly, we must ensure that the rhythm of children’s lives are restored and that they get back to school as soon as possible,” continued Sylwander.

DRR is also working in collaboration with Save the Children, Plan, World Vision and the Institute for Development Studies to ensure that policies recognize child safety.

Save the Children’s Country Director in the Philippines, Ned Olney, said, “From our own experience responding to other storms in the Philippines we know that children are always the most vulnerable in a disaster, in the coming days we will determine what support they will need.”

Many poor communities were destroyed many typhoon victims are attempting to return to their villages to salvage as much as possible.

UNICEF will conduct an assessment of the destruction of banana, coconut, rice and corn plantations in the most affected areas to estimate the extent of the needs of the typhoon victims. The assessment will also determine the damage done to education facilities and what will be needed to restore them as soon as possible.

– Marie Helene Ngom

Sources: Huffington Post, UNICEF 1, UNICEF 2
Photo: Flickr

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Experts’ New Plan for Eradicating Tuberculosis

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In a new study published in The Lancet, experts introduced an all-encompassing approach to achieving the Zero TB Declaration, which urges the rapid eradication of tuberculosis (TB).

The study was prompted by Salmaan Keshavjee, Director of Harvard Centre for Global Health Delivery, and co-edited by Soumya Swaminathan, Director-General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Currently, the strategy for treating TB is to target those in serious condition; the study done by Keshavjee and Swaminathan states that early detection is crucial to eradicating tuberculosis.

They suggest finding individuals infected with TB before they can transmit and thoroughly treat them for all strains of TB. It is also important to treat individuals in close contact and at high risk.

“The drivers of TB include poverty, poor housing, under- nutrition and HIV infection, underscoring the need to address this problem holistically,” Swaminathan said.

The study also draws attention to the importance of focusing on middle and low-income settings, as poverty and malnutrition make people vulnerable to airborne diseases. In addition to stopping transmission, the study suggests addressing “the social mechanisms that fuel tuberculosis.”

The World Health Organization’s End TB Strategy also supports the prevention aspect of the Swaminathan and Keshavjee study. The End TB Strategy also aims to treat those in close contact and high-risk individuals through collaborative tuberculosis/HIV activities.

Swaminathan stated: “We have to hit this bug hard and hit it quickly. Cutting transmission in the community is key to the control of any infectious disease. Many cities in the world are seeing worrying increases in transmission of drug-resistant tuberculosis. All of us are vulnerable and, therefore, we must all act.”

– Marie Helene Ngom

Sources: Zeenews, TheLancet, WHO
Photo: United Nations

Lighting Global Initiative and Energy Solutions for Poverty

lighting_global_initiativeThe fourth International Off-Grid Lighting Conference and Exhibition was held this past week at the Dubai World Trade Center, UAE, to examine methods of bringing quality, affordable clean lighting for impoverished people.

The conference was hosted by the Global Off-Grid Lighting Association (GOGLA), a non-profit formed by the World Bank that works in the private sector to encourage investments in developing countries.

Anita Marangoly George, World Bank Group senior director, stated: “Lack of energy limits job creation and access to health and education. Supporting universal access to reliable modern energy is a priority. Ending poverty will not be possible without adequate energy.”

In partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank and GOGLA have launched the Lighting Global initiative which aims to expand the international off-grid lighting market to reach people not connected by grid electricity.

The Lighting Global initiative has three regional programs – Lighting Africa, Lighting Asia and Lighting Pacific.

In Kenya, the off-grid lighting market has undergone dramatic changes; there has been a shift in lighting technologies and power sources between 2009 and 2014. Incandescent lighting, dry-cell batteries and cheap plastic torches have been replaced by LED lighting, solar power and quality-verified lighting systems with warranties.

In India, the consumer awareness campaign has reached over 250 villages and almost 15,000 people in rural Rajasthan. In partnership with local solar product distributor Frontier Markets, IFC educates rural households on the benefits of clean lighting and on marketing and sales.

Frontier Markets also recruits rural women, “Solar Sahelis,” who aid in educating households on clean energy and marketing. This opportunity for employment has reached 250 women thus far and there are plans to grow the network to 20,000 in the next 4 years.

Anjali Garg, the program manager of the Lighting Asia/India program, said: “We are working on a series of interventions with manufacturers and distributors of solar lighting products to widen access to quality solar lights for rural consumers.”

In 2009, Lighting Global began providing small solar lanterns and solar lighting systems. To date, over 12 million quality verified products have been made available to over 25 million people. The program is advancing into larger home system kits that will support items like fans, radios and TVs.

– Marie Helene Ngom

Sources: The National, Lighting Global, Lighting Asia
Photo: Flickr

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Bernie Sanders Praises Pope Francis on Poverty Reduction

poverty_reductionSanders praised the pope’s remarks on ending poverty and economic inequality long before the pope arrived in the U.S. this September. Prior to the pope’s congressional address, Sanders celebrated the possibility of the pope addressing Congress.

In February this year, Sanders addressed the Senate, stating that the pope “shows great courage in bringing up issues that we rarely hear discussed here in the Congress.”

In the address, Sanders praises Pope Francis on his leadership. On multiple occasions, he read quotes from the pope to the Senate, publicly acknowledging his admiration for the religious leader.

“Pope Francis is clearly one of the important religious and moral leaders not only in the world today but in modern history,” he said. “He forces us to address some of the major issues facing humanity: war, income and wealth inequality, poverty, unemployment, greed, the death penalty and other issues that too many prefer to ignore.”

Sanders read a quote from the pope: “‘Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalized without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape.'”

Sanders continued by commenting on the quote: “My interpretation of what he is saying is that money cannot be an end in itself. The function of an economic system is not just to let the marketplace reign, and end up in a situation where a small number of people have incredible wealth, while so many people have virtually nothing.”

Sanders especially notes the pope’s comments about exclusion and marginalization when it comes to government austerity. He strongly disagrees with right-wing Republicans on the federal budget committee about their continuous cuts on public benefits like Medicare and Social Security.

He says that right-wing Republican austerity measures are “the Robin Hood principle in reverse. This is taking from the poor and working people, and giving it to the millionaires and billionaires.” Sanders instead argues for tax hikes on the wealthiest Americans.

Sanders welcomed the pope when he arrived, calling him “a brilliant man.” He voiced optimism at the thought of members of Congress taking to heart the pope’s remarks about inequality and poverty reduction.

Sanders has noted that income inequality has reached a point where the wealthiest in America are becoming richer while the impoverished are becoming poorer. He insists that “the pope is right in saying all of us must address the grotesque income and wealth inequality we are seeing throughout the world.”

Sanders urged lawmakers to think about the pope’s speech when discussing balancing the 2016 federal budget. “Give us a budget which works for the most vulnerable people in this country, which works for tens of millions of working families, and does not simply work for large campaign donors.”

Senator Sanders is currently in the running for the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

“I know that people think that Bernie Sanders is a radical… read what the pope is writing about because he is not only talking about poverty,” Sanders said, “he is getting to the heart of hyper capitalism, and he is saying, ‘Why as a society are we worshiping money?'”

– Michael Hopek

Sources: Senate, C-SPAN, MSNBC
Photo: Flickr

Game On! SOCCKET: The Energy-Harnessing Soccer Ball

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In the remote village community of Abuja, access to reliable, environmentally friendly and affordable electricity is difficult to come by.

The village’s primary source of electricity is produced from gas-operated generators that kick out hazardous emissions. But an innovative company, Uncharted Play, intends to change this with the SOCCKET.

The SOCCKET is an energy-harnessing soccer ball that generates electricity through harnessing the kinetic energy created when it is kicked and played with.

With the look, feel and durability of a traditional soccer ball, the SOCCKET can produce more than three hours of light with as little as 30 minutes of play.

As an off-the-grid, internally powered generator, the airless ball is designed to be able to be charged and used anywhere by any age group. Because of this feature, the ball is a great tool for school children whose educations are often hindered by a lack of reliable light sources.

James Ajah Eiche, the proprietor of Ajah Villa Community Academy in Abuja, is a huge fan of the SOCCKET. “The most striking thing in this environment that we need is light. When there is no light, how do you read?” Eiche said. “Light is life.”

In a community where soccer is a favorite pastime of school children and adults alike, the SOCCKET has proven to be a smart platform for sustainable and renewable energy.

“This is the most modern type of production of electricity,” said Eiche. “It is not dangerous. It is portable. It is not dirty.” Since being developed four years ago, the SOCCKET has provided clean power to more than 35,000 families in Nigeria alone.

However, Nigeria is not the only beneficiary of the product. Uncharted Play hopes to bring the SOCCKET to developing nations throughout the world, bringing sustainable power to the nearly 1.2 billion people who don’t have access to reliable or affordable energy sources globally.

“Just a little bit of power can make such a huge difference,” said Jessica Matthews, co-inventor of SOCCKET.

The company is so passionate about making the SOCCKET more readily available to children in developing nations that with every purchase of Uncharted Play’s energy-harnessing products, one is donated to a child in need.

“In a world where there are very few win-wins, this one is a win-win and it’s a good one.”

– Claire Colby

Sources: Play, USAToday
Photo: Uncharted Play

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FACE Africa Fights Poverty in Liberia through Education

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FACE Africa, a nonprofit created by Liberia native Saran Kaba Jones, works to end poverty by alleviating Liberia’s water crisis through educating future leaders.

The organization uses hands-on projects to implement water and sanitation facilities, as well as educate youth about proper health and hygiene rituals. Each year, 12,000 more people gain access to clean water, 25 communities are served and over 200,000 hours of productivity is saved.

Saran Kaba Jones left Liberia when she was eight years old to escape the civil war that killed thousands of people and left millions without a place to live. Jones returned to Liberia in 2008 with a plan to lift under-served communities out of poverty.

Originally, FACE stood for Fund a Child’s Education, but Jones and her colleagues soon realized that the lack of clean drinking water was the number one impediment to a child’s education.

Soon after, they switched gears and focused their efforts on increasing the amount of clean water and sanitation in Liberia and other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

FACE Africa uses local resources, materials and labor to come up with solutions for this global epidemic. Once these solutions have proven to be sustainable, FACE Africa transfers ownership of their solutions to locals in Liberia.

Some of their methods include building wells, creating systems to clean water and educating individuals on proper hygiene techniques.

FACE Africa differs from many nonprofits because they form lifelong partnerships with the communities they help. Their mission is to provide 100 percent water coverage to all of Sub-Saharan Africa.

This may require employees at FACE Africa to walk many miles to reach villages cut off from roads and to fetch sand and rocks to build sustainable wells, but the team still strives to incorporate better sanitation systems within remote villages.

Since 2009, FACE Africa has hosted the annual WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) Gala event. This year, the gala’s goal is to raise $300,000 in support of clean water in Africa.

The gala connects FACE Africa with people from around the world who pull together and combine their efforts to assist those facing challenges with water. FACE Africa continues to help Liberians gain access to clean water to this day.

Since its creation in 2010, FACE Africa has successfully launched multiple projects and has assisted many towns all across Liberia.

– Julia Hettiger

Sources: Face Africa, Black Enterprise, CNN
Photo: Pixabay