Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Green Growth as a Development Strategy

Green GrowthBasic energy services are the cornerstone of any robust poverty reduction strategy. Providing power to the poor is a prerequisite for the improvement of many other indicators of development. For example, it is very difficult to study at night, run a hospital, or start a business without some basic access to electricity.

That is why power access is often the focus of international development policy. Currently, the Electrify Africa Act of 2015 has been introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives and is awaiting consideration. This piece of legislation directs the President to partner with aid recipients in Africa to develop their power resources.

However, while providing power is an important first step in relieving abject poverty in developing countries, it also can be an opportunity to sidestep further environmental damage. Growing concern with climate change is motivating large aid donors to turn their attention towards green growth and the development of renewable energy resources for their recipients. The logic behind this is that, with the help of already-industrialized nations, developing countries should not have to progress through dirtier energy resources, such as coal and oil, and instead can benefit from more efficient, earth-friendly technologies.

The World Bank, cognizant of both the threat of climate change and the lack of energy services for the poor, is adopting an overall strategy of “green growth.” Rachel Kyte, the World Bank’s climate change envoy, explains that “we have to keep economies growing to bring shared prosperity for all, but we also have to bring down greenhouse gas emissions.” Balancing growth with a reduction in emissions could involve encouraging developing economies to invest in renewables, emphasizing climate-friendly agriculture, or instituting some sort of carbon tax.

One tangible way in which the World Bank already encourages green growth is through issuing “green bonds,” development loans set aside for renewable energy projects. The value of issued green bonds currently amounts to about $8.4 billion total.

Green energy investments can take many different forms, depending on the unique needs and economic environment of the country in question, and do not always involve large infrastructure projects. In Malawi, for example, there is a large focus on providing small solar lights to some of the poorest communities, so that children can study at night, and people can make money by using their personal solar devices to charge mobile phones. SunnyMoney, a social enterprise backed by the UK’s aid agency, is working to distribute the technology in small villages in Malawi. The lights are paid for initially with donor support and sold to villagers on credit.

Even small solar devices can have a huge impact on quality of life. Acreo Kamera, the headmaster of St. Martin’s secondary school in Nambuma, is enthusiastic about the lights’ impact on education. “I would say the performance of the pupils will definitely improve enough to get people to pass exams. Now they can stay later at school and revise. Without light, pupils have had little chance to read or write. Everyone will save money on torches and batteries and reduce living costs, too,” he said.

Elsewhere, in countries such as Bangladesh and Morocco, government-supported green energy programs are providing jobs and basic energy services, not only improving quality of life for the poor but creating long-term economic investments. In rural Bangladesh, a government-run program has resulted in the installation of an estimated 3.5 million home solar systems, also creating thousands of jobs to service the new infrastructure. Similar developments are being undertaken in Morocco, with a special long-term emphasis on creating an energy grid suited to running off of sustainable energy sources such as wind and hydropower.

Providing basic energy services to the poor is one of the most direct ways of encouraging growth and development. Access to electricity, even if it is just enough to charge a phone or power a light, can enable those in developing countries to fully take advantage of their educational and economic opportunities. However, in a world where climate change is a growing threat, aid donors and aid recipients are forming strong partnerships to provide power services to the people that really need them.

– Derek Marion

Sources: International Business Times, The Guardian
Photo: The Guardian

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Income Disparity Continues to Plague South Africa

Income Disparity in South Africa
The country of South Africa is divided among those with nothing and those with seemingly everything, making for extremely high rates of poverty for the country overall. The income disparity in South Africa has had an impact not only on the domestic economy and security, but also on the global economy.

Reports show that approximately four percent of households in the country of South Africa make up 32 percent of the country’s household incomes. At the same time, about 10 percent of the citizens live in what are considered extreme poverty conditions, meaning families are living on under $1.25 a day. This disparity has not only drawn attention to the state of the economy, but it has also put a significant strain on the social aspects of the country as a whole.

Though South Africa stands as the second largest economy in Africa, economic disparity amidst the population has created more social tensions and controversy than the numbers would anticipate. Research shows that rates of disparity between members of the 90th percentile and 50th percentile citizens, in terms of income and economic security, have been continuing to grow in recent years. This means that the likelihood of social mobility, say from working class to middle class, or any further for that means, are rather difficult, and nearly impossible.

Despite becoming a democracy, South Africa continues to suffer with inequality between its citizens. This has proven to be an issue regarding security, as the growing size of the lower class and number of impoverished people compares to that of the other four percent. Lack of education can be a great contributing factor to this, as the number of unskilled and uneducated workers heavily outweighs the number of skilled workers in the country. Lack of skill and education leads to less opportunity for the average South African worker. Thus, educating and teaching more skill sets to the people of South Africa may, in part, begin to decrease the growing gap that continues to drive the people of the country apart.

– Alexandrea Jacinto

Sources: CNBC Africa, World Policy
Photo: Daily Maverick

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World Food Program Increases Food Assistance to Syrians

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As fighting persists in Syria, life for the population remains a struggle and food security a challenge. Millions of people have been affected amid the escalating violence and the situation is rapidly deteriorating. The U.S. has announced a contribution of $65 million dollars to the World Food Program, which is operating within the Syrian borders.

The armed conflict in Syria, also called the Syrian Civil War, has been ongoing for years since unrest began in 2011. In the wake of the Arab Spring, a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurred across the Arab world. What began as protests against the government gradually morphed into a rebellion after a violent military force used by President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

As of January 2015, the death toll in Syria had risen above 220,000 and approximately 6 million people have been displaced, cut off from basic human needs such as water, food and electricity.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is giving $65 million dollars to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) to achieve their goal of providing food assistance to 4 million starving people inside the country and 1.6 million more in the neighboring countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt.

In Syria, the WFP has been running dangerously low on funding but the money infusion from USAID will keep the WFP afloat and operating through November preventing what could have been a complete shutdown.

The U.S. being the biggest donor to the Syrian crisis has contributed more than $4 billion dollars overall, allowing millions of needy families within Syria and those affected outside access to food and clean water.

According to USAID, the U.S. has now given more than $1.2 billion to the WFP for its Syrian operations – including more than $530 million for operations inside Syria and more than $693 million for operations benefiting Syrian refugees.

Although USAID has donated billions to the WPF, the international community has for the most part dropped the ball, forcing the WFP to devalue their food vouchers by half to refugees and lowered the amount of food in monthly household parcels inside Syria. USAID and the WFP continues to reach out to other governments hoping to rally more support and pressure them to take more actions.

In a press release by USAID on Friday, July 31, 2015, Dina Esposito, Director of USAID’s Office of Food for Peace said, “we have heard tragic stories of hungry refugees returning to war-torn Syria and taking children out of school to beg.” He continued, “We hope this new funding will help mitigate such difficult choices and help Syrians as the winter months approach.”

In war torn Syria, families are fleeing what were once their homes, desperately seeking safety. Starving and suffering from illness, people are getting life-saving food, water and medical care, thanks to the WFP and the disaster averting financial rescue from USAID.

– Jason Zimmerman

Sources: USAID, Reuters
Photo: Huffington Post

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Healthy Eating in Brazil

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Brazil is the largest country in Latin America and has been on the rise for many years. Along with a rise in overall GDP and standard of living, experts have found a rise in obesity levels. This trend has come to be associated with countries that are rapidly developing as snack foods have become a symbol of wealth and locally grown produce is seen as cheap and unrefined. Bela Gil, daughter of one of Brazil’s most famous singers, Gilbert Gil, recently posted a photo of her daughters’ lunchbox, and this created an uproar.

The young girls’ lunchbox contained fresh food, yams, bananas and more, all locally grown and in proper portion size, her daughter was being fed well and with Brazil recently being named the nation with the best health reforms, it would usually be something worthy of praise. Instead, the internet reprimanded Gil, saying that she was not feeding her daughter enough and making jokes about how little food there was and how unrefined it was. The truth is that was a great meal because it was so unrefined, in the processed sense of the word.

This healthy farm to table style of eating has only recently gained popularity, and with more and more celebrities jumping on board to endorse healthy eating, it is a wonder it has not been more popular. By posting pictures of her daughters’ healthy meal and various other meals, Gil is using her position of influence to proposition the public to really watch what they are eating. While fast food and highly processed snacks with name brands may be a sign of wealth they are also the cause of Brazil‘s increased obesity rate which has nearly doubled in the past decade.

While we often associate poverty with a complete lack of food, we must also begin to connect it to an abundance of unhealthy food. Overall health can be an indicator of a country’s poverty levels and Brazil’s is on the steep decline. In order to remedy this, individuals of influence must begin to associate wealth with healthy eating and good health habits. By posting pictures of this and promoting healthy portion size and control we are promoting healthy living, saying that class can be found in the food choices we make. Essentially, in order to take away the stigma of wealth and junk food we must reassociate it to wealth and health food.

While many other celebrities are joining this bandwagon, some coming under similar scrutiny for their choices, it may take some time for this new idea of healthy living to really take hold in nations that are just reaching the peak of their development, such as Brazil. These healthy meals are grown in the farms of Brazil, supporting local business and people in the neighborhood, and these choices will not only make for a better person, but a better community as a whole.

– Sumita Tellakat

Sources: NPR, CNN
Photo: NPR

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Financing Global Health Through UNITAID

UNITAID
Finding ways to fund global health programs can be tricky. Private sources of funding are difficult to secure, and raising taxes or increasing national budgets is sometimes politically untenable. That’s why UNITAID, a broadly supported organization that emphasizes innovative financing, is starting to gain some traction.

In early 2005, several countries including France, Germany, Brazil, Chile and Spain commissioned studies to develop efficient ways to fund the global health benchmarks set forth in the Millennium Development Goals. In September of that year, during a U.N. conference on that same topic in France, then-president Jacques Chirac declared a levy on French airline ticket sales that would finance a drug-purchasing program.

Shortly thereafter, UNITAID was founded by France, Norway, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Chile. This organization’s focus is the effective treatment of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis via innovative financing methods. But what is innovative financing? In this context, innovative financing is essentially any low-impact, targeted tax which is aimed at funding global health programs.

The aforementioned airline ticket levy was the earliest example of such a tax. The levy is designed to be a robust, stable public funding source that doesn’t affect business. And indeed, the levy has been a great success in France. The modest €1 per ticket levy manages to raise about €160 million in revenue per year and did not experience much fluctuation after the global financial crisis in 2008. And a report by the French National Assembly in 2011 found that the levy had “no negative effect on traffic or on air sector jobs.”

Not all of the 29 states who support UNITAID have implemented an airline ticket levy (thus far only Chile, Madagascar, Mauritius, Niger and South Korea have implemented these measures). However, other measures have been proposed or implemented which achieve the same effect. For example, Norway sets aside a portion of its taxes on carbon to UNITAID.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPussmAv47Y

Another innovation developed by France in 2012 is the financial transaction tax, or FTT. The FTT is a negligible fee attached to any sale of a financial instrument such as a bond or stock. The tax is designed to have no effect on the volume of financial exchanges, yet is capable of raising huge amounts of revenue in countries who sustain many financial transactions. In fact, the idea of an FTT is not a new one; famous 20th century economist John Maynard Keynes was a proponent of implementing FTTs to discourage financial speculation. Many countries already have FTTs for this reason. UNITAID simply proposes that revenue from FTTs be applied towards financing global health initiatives.

In September 2014, UNITAID developed another financing method: the taxation of extractive resources such as oil. The Republic of Congo agreed to a tax on oil, and UNITAID hopes that other African nations will follow suit. The revenue from these taxes will be set aside to reduce malnutrition, which is a leading cause of death among children.

While finding innovative sources of funding is UNITAID’s primary role, the organization also seeks market solutions towards the more effective distribution of medicines for tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria. They accomplish this by channeling funds towards identifying and promoting improved health commodities, expanding the market potential for low-profit medicines and making their distribution more efficient and inexpensive. The idea is that medicines and medical tests need to be less expensive and easier to distribute so they can reach a greater number of people.

There are no silver bullets when it comes to financing global health. Funding needs to come from a variety of consistent sources, and it needs to be dispersed efficiently. National spending on foreign aid continues to have the greatest funding potential; the $2.5 billion raised by the airline ticket levy in 8 years just doesn’t measure up to the $30 billion that the United States spends on foreign aid every year. Even so, every bit of funding matters, and to solve global health issues, it’s going to require every innovative solution available.

– Derek Marion

Sources: Huffington Post, UNITAID, World Bank, OECD
Photo: Comunica Extend

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CNNMoney’s Upstart 30 Project

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CNNMoney launched its Upstart 30 Project in late June. It profiles 30 young innovative startups and their respective founding entrepreneurs and investors.

The list is broken down into five categories: the idealists, the funders, the simplifiers, the playmakers and the futurists. All of which comprise individuals from a variety of fields.

To take part, startups must be established in the United States, be no younger than five-years-old, and harness technology in hopes of making the world a better place. After a series of tests, the Upstart 30 Project was formed. The list is diverse in geography, gender, race, and industries.

Whether it is a solution to the current archaic U.S. school system, an agricultural phenomenon in a box, or an ingenious medical tool, Upstart 30 spotlights visionaries that are making serious headway, all before the age of 40.

While many of the startups tackle commonplace inefficiencies, several address national and global issues, and have the potential of reducing global poverty in unlikely ways.

BioBots brings personalized medicine tools. According to its profile on CNNMoney, the startup’s first product was a 3D printer for building cells, tissues and organs. BioBots’ printer is uniquely small and inexpensive. It can fit on a desktop and is priced at around $5,000. For now, the bio printer is for research. CEO Danny Cabrera, 22, said that his two co-founders and him are hoping to broaden their client base to include pharmaceutical companies who could use their products for testing cancer drugs. BioBots has a bright future in the United States, but could do wonders internationally.

Freight Farms is a farm in a box. Founders, Brad McNamara and Jonathan Freidman, created the boxes out of old shipping containers. The insulated, camera-equipped devices use LED lights and advanced monitors to regulate weather conditions, nutrient intake and carbon dioxide levels, all without soil. The startup launched in 2011, and already made $5 million. At $76,000 apiece, restaurants, schools, and hotels have mainly bought the boxes. While this is very expensive, the payoffs are incredible: each container produces 4,000 to 6,000 plants a week according to Shawn Cooney, a small business owner testing the Freight Farm. This is nearly 80 times more than Cooney would have gotten from a conventional farm space. The high cost keeps Freight Farms away from the developing world but, if ever brought down, Freight Farms could increase food security around the world.

uBiome scans a person’s body and micro biome. uBiome kits locate where diseases take root, and how they escalate. According to CNNMoney, uBiome completely changes the ways we examine anxiety, diabetes and heart disease. The $79 kits test bacteria, analyze results, and compare data to other profiles. This quick and cutting-edge device could easily help millions of people in developing nations.

Plangrid is a paper-saving blueprint alternative for construction engineers. By using a tablet to alter and share blueprints, Tracy
Young, Ryan Sutton-Gee, Ralph Gootee and Kenny Stone are making sure buildings are drawn from reliable sources. So far, Plangrid has been a success since it began only three years ago. The app helped build over 90,000 projects worldwide. Plangrid, however, has a long way to go until it can reach rural populations most in need of new buildings.

– Lin Sabones

Sources: PlanGrid, CNN
Photo: CNNMoney

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ONE Launches Poverty Is Sexist Campaign

ONE

Gender equality is a basic human right that dignifies not only what each sex deserves, but what the social relationships between sexes must entail. According to the UNDP, the majority of children not attending school are girls, and nearly two-thirds of women in the developing world work informally without pay. Furthermore, “despite greater parliamentary participation, women are still outnumbered four-to-one in legislatures around the world.”

ONE launched its Poverty Is Sexist campaign in solidarity #WithStrongGirls. The social media-driven platform asks young girls and women everywhere to strike a pose and post it online with the hashtag #Strengthie. Participants are encouraged to tag women in their lives whose strength they admire, and share a link to ONE.org so that friends and family can also join in the movement. Beyond the hashtag, though, Poverty Is Sexist asks the world to pay closer attention to global gender imbalances. According to the organization, nearly half of women’s skills are overlooked, compared to just 22 percent of men’s. Whether these gender prejudices come from cultural or legal institutions, the group’s campaign advocates for greater change across the board.

Women play vital roles in global markets. ONE reports that in Sub-Saharan Africa, half of the agricultural labor force is female. African women also contribute greatly to the health sector by being healthcare providers and primary caregivers.

Poverty Is Sexist is targeting the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals in order to safeguard the needs of women and girls.

Beyond Poverty Is Sexist, the ONE Blog shares how female empowerment is advancing around the world. There are stories of how breakdancing is encouraging physical and mental endurance among women, and how sewing machines are financing educational equality. The organization often spotlights independent blog publications; Indego Africa, a nonprofit social enterprise in Rwanda, published Photo Essay: Radiant Women of Rwanda, which was an exposé celebrating the 30 seamstresses working at the Umutima cooperative in Myamirambo, Kigali, Rwanda. The portraits drew upon the joy, pride and independence each woman possessed in her life.

– Lin Sabones

Sources: ONE 1, ONE 2, ONE 3, ONE 4, ONE 5, UNDP
Photo: New Internationalist

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Use of Impoverished Children in Pornography


Pornography is a business globally worth $57 billion, with the United States accounting for over $11 billion. Pornography was first developed as a means to help individuals fulfill their sexual fantasies and serve as a criminal deterrent against violent crimes, but pornography has just made sex more violent. Just as the pornography industry began to flourish, a survey of U.S. college girls showed that 69.8 percent of them had been “verbally coerced” into having “unwanted sex.” And in the United Kingdom in 2006, 33 percent of all women say that they have been forced into sex. Pornography has been further exacerbated through the Internet and the emerging trend to use child victims. Statistics indicate​ that upon the legalization of pornography, emerging growth rates of failed marriages have occurred, as well as an increase in sex-related crimes.

In 2013, child pornography arrests grew by 2,500 percent. It is attributed to the demand and an impoverished supply. Families under economically desperate conditions utilize their children as vessels of income. Pornography pretends to offer economic gain to the vulnerable, many of whom are led by coercion, force or kidnapping. In general there is an issue with the way in which the poor are represented in media. The media’s use of impoverished people objectifies them, as does pornography.

Sex industry recruiters and sexual deviants alike choose from a pool of candidates who have experienced various levels of previous exploitation and remain economically desperate. In countries such as Kenya, children as young as the age of six are sold and used in child pornography. The documentary “ Working Lives” is about child sex tourism and pornography in Kenya’s coastal towns. It discusses how in Kenya, some parents send their children to have sex for foreigners for as little as one dollar.

Due to limited options, some parents choose to knowingly rent their children for pornographic or sex slave purposes. In “The Secret Child Sex Trade Hiding in Kenya’s Tropical Paradise,” viewers are introduced to a six-year-old girl suffering from signs of rape, sodomy and beatings, that occurred on film for pornographic purposes.

In the Philippines, there was a major case involving a made-to-order porn operation, with charges that include murder and torture. An Australian made a global business of using impoverished victims for sexual and violent performances based upon customer request. Here he monopolized on the poverty and was strategic when choosing the cities, local child recruiters and victims. Often, he would utilize the other poor local children to establish connections and lure in street children. The documentary “ Catching a Monster” covers methods of grooming and deviant practices to recruit the needy for pornographic use.

His youngest performer was an 18-month-old girl name Daisi, of whom he created a series of pornographic videos of her sexual abuse. All of the children used in these videos had parents that had been coerced by false promises and the opportunity to provide a better life for their children.

Many people are victims to poverty and more so generational poverty, that has passed down impoverishment from the previous generations. Many of those in vulnerable populations experience exploitation and are forced to become workers in the sex industry. For the extreme poor, many questionable work opportunities arise; pornography is one of them. Ending poverty can help to decrease victimized children in pornography.

– Erika Wright

Sources: Oh My News, Feed the Right Wolf, Huffington Post, The Crime Report,

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Sexuality Education in Côte d’Ivoire Revamped by the Zero Pregnancies in School Campaign

Youth pregnancies in Côte d’Ivoire declined by an astounding 20 percent since the Zero Pregnancies in School Campaign began in 2013, according to the United Nations Population Fund. This campaign is part of a nationwide plan, supported with technical and financial assistance from UNFPA, to enable young people to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.

During the 2012-2013 academic year, 5,076 students became pregnant in primary or secondary school, reported the Ivorian Ministry of National and Technical Education. While the teen-age birth rate globally is 50 per 1,000 girls, in Côte d’Ivoire, the number is 125.

The 2013 UNFPA State of World Population report found that 7.3 million girls, 18-years-old and younger, give birth each year in developing countries. This reality is both a health issue as well as a development issue. Many pregnant girls are forced to drop out of school creating downward-spiraling repercussions of limited prospects.

“It is deeply rooted in poverty, gender inequality, violence, child and forced marriage, power imbalances between adolescent girls and their male partners, lack of education, and the failure of systems and institutions to protect their rights,” said Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA Executive Director.

The high birth rates in Côte d’Ivoire undermine the country’s ability to take advantage of a demographic dividend. A demographic dividend is a window of opportunity to hasten economic growth when a population’s age structure shifts from one with fewer people of working age (15 to 65) to one with fewer dependent people (under 14 and over 65).

In response to this situation, the Ivorian Council of Ministers formally adopted the accelerated pregnancies reduction plan on April 2, 2014. The plan is a comprehensive program that integrates sexuality education in Côte d’Ivoire, teaching over several years starting in 4th grade to provide age-appropriate information at each stage.

Based on human rights principles, sexuality education encompasses more than sex education. The fundamental components of the curriculum feature the information about the human body, contraception and sexual and reproductive health. This includes knowledge about sexually-transmitted diseases and the effects of early pregnancy. The curriculum also addresses the issues of child marriage and gender-based violence so that human rights, gender equality and the empowerment of young people is advanced.

The comprehensive program offers other school activities beyond the classroom. Nationally, student clubs are being formed to raise awareness, and an arts and culture festival is planned where students can display their creative endeavors, such as plays, poems, stories and drawings about pregnancy in school. UNFPA has helped the government open a call center that provides free, confidential information. To disseminate information about health and services, various media, such as leaflets, videos, radio announcements and SMS messages will be disseminated.

Much of the needed education involves demystifying contraception and pregnancy. Amina, a pregnant student, revealed: “I did not take contraceptives because my mom told me that it might make me sterile.” Some girls are also told that not getting pregnant by age 15 or 16, “is a problem,” remarked Clarissa, 22.

The Zero Pregnancies in School Campaign was launched in Bondoukou, the most affected area in Côte d’Ivoire. Students in the region brought banners to the event with such messages as “Zero pregnancy in school, I endorse it,” “You don’t get a child pregnant” and “I am a child. A child doesn’t bear a child. A child goes to school to succeed.”

The government is making even further changes. Laws have been introduced that increase penalties for the sexual abuse of minors. Most significantly, this includes sanctions against teachers who abuse their students. Girls are often pressured into sex with teachers in order to get good grades.

Additionally, the government is planning to build better housing for the 10,000 to 15,000 students in cities that must board. This will enable the young students to have proper housing where boys and girls do not have to share a room.

The government also no longer expels girls when they are pregnant, and girls are returning to school after giving birth. Amina told UNFPA, “My mom takes care of my baby when I come to school.” Clarissa’s mom also takes care of her son. Clarissa explained to UNFPA that she still has her dreams: “I lost a school year,” but “I want to become a teacher.”

– Janet Quinn

Sources: UNFPA, UNFPA, Demographic Dividend, UNFPA
Photo: Flickr

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The Voss Foundation: Creating a Ripple Effect

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The Voss Foundation works in sub-Saharan Africa to provide sustainable access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Its community-driven approach maintains projects in seven countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Swaziland, and Uganda.

The Voss Foundation mimics the ripple effect from a drop of water in a bucket. When it builds a well, it aims to trigger positive change throughout every sector in a community. Clean water advances development in rural communities by propelling local employment, and in consequence, local economies. Every year, 7.2 billion dollars is saved because of proper water and sanitation. Stronger trends in child development are a result of clean water, hygiene, and sanitation systems because children consume safer diets. Nearly 2,000 children die each day from preventable diseases linked to poor WASH systems. Likewise, food security increases as a result of effective water management. Education sees increases in enrollment and attendance, totaling to 544 million school attendance days gained per year thanks to access to water and sanitation.

Proper sanitation systems reduce the likelihood of contracting water-borne illnesses. Having functioning toilets and practicing hand washing alone prevents diarrheal diseases by 40 percent. Increased attention to health centers protects maternal health, of which 99 percent occur in the developing world.

Generally speaking, quality of life rises as a result of greater access to WASH systems. Women, for example, are able to pursue personal goals like obtaining an education and employment, which conventionally links to embracing female empowerment and equality. The Voss Foundation reports that for every year of primary school, girls’ future wages increase by 10-20 percent. Earning separate incomes also prompts greater gender parity.

The Voss Foundation builds wells and water systems to ensure that these benefits spread worldwide. In Latawken, Kenya, a water system attracted more students to the area, forcing local authorities to expand the school. In Kalebuka, in the Dominican Republic of the Congo, a well provided water for cementing The Malaika School for Girls. In 2011, the school enrolled 106 girls, and by Fall 2015 it expanded to 230 girls. The well continues to provide clean water to the school for its kitchens, gardens, and bathrooms.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufYRGdHEBk8

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, girls are receiving education from the Malaika School for Girls. Thanks to the well built by the Voss Foundation, the school increased enrollment from its original 106 girls in 2011 to 230 girls in Fall 2015. In Pel, Mali, Voss built five wells. “One of them” according to the Voss Foundation, “is at a garden owned by a local women’s cooperative.”

Every Voss project empowers women. Voss projects recruit local council members to oversee the wells or water system, and every water management committee requires at least half of its staff to be female.

The Voss Foundation’s campaign, Women Helping Women, alone raised $650,000 in Europe and the United States. Voss reports that the profits funded 21 clean water access points and 291 sanitation facilities in Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia and Swaziland, as of February 2015.

VOSS launched another event called One Well at a Time. The contest lasted from March 22 to April 22, 2015. Participants had to promote the issue of water scarcity in sub-Saharan Africa and how gaining access will positively affect short and long-term well-being in local communities. They had the option of choosing from one of three entry methods: an original or rights-free stock photo with a 50-200-word explanation, an original video no longer than three minutes, or a Be Inspired fact with a 50-200 explanation. The winner was announced on Earth Day. Matthew Kistler won the all-expense paid trip to Swaziland and attended the Dedication Ceremony of VOSS Water of Norway and Voss Foundation’s New Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Project.

The Norwegian water company prides itself on serving the 1/6 of the world’s population that has no access to clean drinking water. Approximately two million people die each year from preventable illnesses related to unclean water and poor sanitation. Over 700 million people cannot access clean water and 325 million alone reside in sub-Saharan Africa. Collecting water, on average, requires women and children to walk as far as ten miles per day to the closest, oftentimes unclean, water source. That totals to nearly 140 million hours in just one day, which is comparable to building the Empire State Building 20 times. The Voss Foundation works to eliminate these statistics. Through integrative solutions and sustainable practices, the Voss Foundation aims “to provide meaningful aid” too the 345 million people in sub-Saharan Africa without clean water.

– Lin Sabones

Sources: Voss Foundation 1, Voss Foundation 2, Voss Foundation 3, Voss Foundation 4, Voss Foundation 5, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, PR Newswire
Photo: Voss Foundation