Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

, , , ,

The Zero Hunger Challenge Revisited

Hunger_ChallengeIt is a simple phrase, proven fact and universal goal all in one: Hunger can be eliminated in our lifetime.

This belief launched the Zero Hunger Challenge in 2012, a program that challenged individuals and organizations to recognize and assist the 800 million hungry people around the world.

Started by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the challenge strives to achieve five outcomes: zero stunted children less than two years, 100% access to adequate food all year round, making all food systems sustainable, a 100% increase in smallholder productivity and income, and zero loss or waste of food.

Ki-moon believes that combining these five elements will create a world with no hunger. The Zero Hunger Challenge encourages participation from a wide range of people and organizations.

Now three years after Ki-moon launched his Zero Hunger Challenge, countries around the world are declaring their own “end hunger” plans.

In May 2015, the United Nations assisted the government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in launching the National Zero Hunger Challenge, which joined with other countries to eliminate hunger and malnutrition while also increasing food resources. Also in May, the Royal Government of Cambodia started a National Zero Hunger Challenge to end hunger in their country by 2025.

As more countries join the National Zero Hunger Challenge, the goal to end hunger becomes more and more realistic. The United Nations estimates that ending world hunger will require investments in rural and urban areas so that poorer people can have access to food and can improve their lives.

Recently, the Zero Hunger Challenge has gained more support from church organizations.

The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, a global network of church organizations, asks all uninvolved individuals and churches to join the initiative.

Dr. Manoj Jurian, World Council of Churches coordinator, said, “No one should be hungry, especially in a world that already produces more than enough food to feed everyone. We can build sustainable and waste-free food systems that nourish and support all people and empower the smallholder and family farms that produce that vast majority of the world’s food.”

Dr. Jurian also notes that as religious people, churches are committed to ensuring that no person is hungry. The Bible contains many stories about hunger, the most notable being Matthew 1:25, in which Jesus tells his followers, “For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.” In these lines, caring individuals aid someone in need of food and water; like so, Dr. Jurian claims it is part of religious duty to help those in need.

With active participants around the world, world hunger can end in our lifetime. To join the challenge, visit: www.un.org/en/zerohunger/.

– Kelsey Parrotte

Sources: AllAfrica, Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, United Nations
Photo: United Nations

Asian Investment Bank to Complement Anti-Poverty Efforts

Anti-PovertyWith the support of over 50 countries and $50 billion ready for project development, the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, or AIIB, is prepared to join the ranks of the world’s foremost anti-poverty institutions.

As of April 2015, nearly every Asian country and most major non-regional countries joined the AIIB except for the United States, Japan and Canada. Instituted as a response to the Chinese government’s frustration with slow-paced development and a perceived lack of input in global institutions like the International Monetary Fund, the bank will invest in infrastructural development like roads and communication networks that generally precede economic growth. Those investments will come in the form of project loans to countries across Asia, which will commence once the AIIB begins operations at the end of the year.

“With the rights environment, labour and procurement standards, the AIIB and the New Development Bank, established by [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa], have the potential to become great new forces in the economic development of poor countries and emerging markets,” said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

The AIIB’s declared goal is to use its anticipated $100 billion to focus on improving regional infrastructure, upgrading industrial output and increasing the competitiveness of regional supply chains. Much of the effort in establishing the AIIB came from China, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, India, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, which have vastly increased their influence in the humanitarian and global development sectors over the last five years. Those countries’ $1.2 billion of investment in the multilateral aid system in 2013 marked a 51% increase from 2009 levels.

A number of economists have endorsed the AIIB as wielding massive anti-poverty potential, including Columbia Professor of Economics and former World Bank Chief Economist Joseph Stiglitz.

“China itself is a testament to the extent to which infrastructure investment can contribute to development,” he wrote in an article for The Guardian in April. “Last month, I visited formerly remote areas of the country that are now prosperous as a result of the connectivity–and thus the freer flow of people, goods, and ideas–that such investments have delivered.”

Sound infrastructure is a crucial prerequisite for communities in the early stages of economic development and can deliver greater access to education and health services, water and sanitation, and increased opportunities for employment and trade. Indeed, in a 2003 study of the relationship between infrastructure and poverty reduction, the Asian Development Bank reported a positive correlation between the extent of provincial road development and associated wages. According to the study, conducted in Indonesia over a five-year period, a 1 percent increase in road investment was associated with a 0.3 percent drop in poverty incidence.

Despite the increasingly complex multilateral aid system and persistent drivers of poverty such as climate change, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund are prepared to work with the AIIB to continue to increase the extent and efficacy of global development projects.

“I will do everything in my power to find innovative ways to work with these banks,” Kim added. “The decisions we make this year, and the alliances we form in the years ahead, will help determine whether we have a chance to reach our goal of ending extreme poverty in just 15 years.”

– Zach VeShancey

Sources: The Guardian 1, The Guardian 2, The Guardian 3, ADB
Photo: Flickr

,

Poverty and Engagement in Arts, Culture and Leisure

artsLast year, the U.K. Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure published a literature review that summarized research regarding poverty and its impact on people’s engagement with culture, arts and leisure. While it drew some fairly obvious conclusions, other findings were insightful and thought-provoking.

The first object of research was measuring how much poverty impacts people’s participation in sports. It found that adults who lived under the poverty line played fewer sports for far less time. These findings replicated those in similar studies in Canada and Australia. The lack of involvement in sports is believed to increase health risks such as obesity that are already present in lower income groups.

Some people blamed the lack of sports facilities provided in their neighborhoods. Financial and logistical barriers are a constraint. Sports equipment and transportation to and from facilities may cost extra money that the family cannot afford to spend. Moreover, parents who work more than one job find it difficult to take the time out to supervise their children, especially if their neighborhood is perceived as unsafe.

Another reason for poorer people’s reluctance to take part in sports is that they are simply not interested in them, as a study in Ireland concluded. Research in Australia demonstrated that even with ease of access to facilities and training, lower income children and adults were still less likely to play sports than their middle and upper income counterparts.

The second objective of the research was to determine how poverty impacts people’s engagement with arts, libraries and museums. Unsurprisingly, people living under the poverty line were less likely to be interested in or involved in their community’s culture. Even libraries, which are free and open to the public, see lower levels of engagement from poorer people. Children living in poverty are more likely to use the computer or TV for entertainment.

In addition to the obvious barriers of transportation costs and time constraints (for adults), poorer people frequently voiced the view that arts were for “other people and not for them.” They reported feeling out of place and uninterested. In their daily lives, art was perceived as being completely irrelevant.

To fight the main barriers to engagement in sports and culture — a dearth of facilities, extra costs and a lack of interest — the literature review recommends a few solutions: community-based solutions, personal and trusting relationships between mentors and participants, and lower costs.

– Radhika Singh

Sources: UK Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Art Council of Wales
Photo: PxHere

, ,

Equal Education in Senegal

Equal Education in SenegalOnce known around the world as the finish line of the famous Paris-Dakar Rally, the small West African country of Senegal stands out in from its neighbors. Unlike many of other West African countries like Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, Senegal has never experienced any notable conflicts or civil war in the last century.

This distinction has helped to garner the country a deserved reputation for high political stability in an often war-torn continent. However, Senegal also lacks the natural resources of many of its African peers and consequentially ranks as one of the poorest nations on earth. According to UNICEF, 22 percent of its population lives on less than a dollar per day.

For the youth of Senegal and for girls in particular, this has hindered the effectiveness of Senegal’s education system. However, the country has experienced a significant improvement in recent years. In 2009, 92.5 percent of Senegalese children attended primary school. This represents a dramatic improvement from 82 percent in 2005 and only 54 percent in 1994.

Yet, this overall progress belies a residual and significant flaw in education in Senegal; in the long run, girls are far more likely than boys to drop out and to receive less education. At a casual glance, however, it might not seem this way. In 2012, primary school enrollment was actually higher for girls than it was for boys at 74 percent and 72 percent respectively.

While the data for primary school enrollment suggests gender parity, this is not actually the case. As the children progress through their schooling, girls experience noticeably lower rates of attendance. This first becomes apparent upon the transition to secondary school. In contrast to 62 percent of their male peers, 57 percent of girls begin secondary school.

The disparity only widens as their education continues. Secondary school enrollment for boys was 34 percent for boys and 27 percent for girls. Ultimately, one can see the results of gender inequality in Senegal’s adult literacy rate; 62 percent of males and only 39 percent of females were literate. For every 10 literate men in Senegal, only 6 women have attained literacy.

These severe and disparate dropout rates reflect the economic challenges that affect poorer families in Senegal. Children frequently must quit their schooling in order to provide more money for their families by working.

This burden falls harder on girls. Often families will marry off daughters at a young age to lessen their economic burden or they will employ them around the house conducting domestic duties. Many will expect to do domestic work for the rest of their lives. This career choice puts girls and women at greater risk of sexual abuse and financial exploitation.

For families of higher economic standing, education in Senegal is less of an issue and more of an expectation. Girls from wealthier households have twice the attendance rate in primary school.

In the city of Dakar, one of the economic pillars of the Senegalese economy, private schools are becoming even more common. In fact, most schools in Dakar are private rather than public. This has created an even greater educational disparity for those without the money to pay for education.
The wealth and gender inequality in secondary education also carries over to higher education.

UNESCO reported that an increasing amount of private institutions has hindered accessibility for many college students. Additionally, more men were enrolled than women as college students. According to the World Bank, for every 10 male college students, there were only 6 female students.
With the help of foreign aid from USAID and The World Bank, Senegal is attempting to develop and expand its education system. Already, funds from USAID have greatly improved education in the nation.

In total, it has allowed for 500,000 children to enroll in school of which 300,000 were girls. USAID has also helped to expand the educational infrastructure of Senegal through the construction of over 100 middle schools. It has donated more than 3 million textbooks and provided 20,000 schoolchildren with internet access.

The World Bank initiated an ongoing project called “Tertiary Education Governance and Financing for Results Project for Senegal” which is aimed at “[enhancing] the efficiency and quality of the higher education system” in Senegal. While the project is not expected to end until 2016, it has already posted impressive results. It found that 88 percent of academic programs fit quality standards in June 2015 with the target set at 90 percent in September 2016.

To lessen gender inequality, UNESCO and the Senegalese government have teamed up to initiate the “Girls and Women’s Literacy in Senegal” program. It aims to provide 40,000 women and girls with high-quality education and more professional opportunities.

More still needs to be done, and with only 750,000 dollars of funding, this initiative cannot single-handedly solve the issue of inequality in Senegal’s education system. With the help of more foreign aid, Senegal can expect further progress.

– Andrew Logan

Sources: The Guardian, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UNESCO 1, UNICEF, UNESCO 2, USAID, The World Bank

Photo: Open Equal Free

With Food Needs Set to Triple, African Farmers Need Investment

African_Farmers
Recent progress in Africa’s agriculture sector faces a number of potential threats according to Dr. Agnes Kalibata, the president of Alliance for the Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). Kalibata, formerly the Rwandan Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources, cites global climate change as African agriculture’s biggest threat if it’s not met with increases in further investment.

Thanks to recent financing in the form of development aid, agriculture insurance and foreign direct investment (FDI), many African farmers have developed the means to overcome the formidable climatic and economic conditions that threaten food access for hundreds of millions of people. But Kalibata says that without sustained investment, Africa’s food needs, which are set to triple by 2050, could prove unattainable.

“[Climate change] is eroding the momentum we had gained in terms of getting farmers to use improved seeds and buy fertilizers,” said Kalibata. “If a farmer puts his small savings into seeds and fertilizers and loses the whole crop, that’s the end of his whole career … Farmers are getting less rain, it’s more irregular and it’s beginning to affect their production and undermine the investment they are making.”

In a policy paper presented at the development finance summit in Addis Ababa earlier this month, AGRA estimated that the value of African agricultural output could increase from $280 billion to $800 billion by 2030. In order for the sector that employs around two-thirds of Africa’s population to realize this possibility, potential investment needs to be substantially increased and diversified.

One such opportunity for American investment comes in the form of agriculture insurance, which people and countries are increasingly relying upon to withstand conditions out of their control, such as natural hazards and climate-related disasters. Because agriculture is a high-variable venture, particularly in the harsh environments of sub-Saharan Africa, farmers are often left without the means of recovering lost investments or repaying debts associated with past loans. Insurance coverage enables those farmers to participate in riskier but more lucrative activities, like diversified harvests or mechanization.

Investment in African agriculture comes with economic and moral implications that reach deeper than the immediacy of food insecurity. Access to reliable sources of food is essential for countries in the early stages of economic development and, once established, can empower people and countries to achieve previously unattainable levels of security and self-determination.

“Agriculture is everyone’s business: national independence depends on its development because it enables us to escape the scourge of food insecurity that undermines our sovereignty and fosters sedition,” writes The New Partnership for Africa’s Development CEO Ibrahim Assane Mayaki in the United Nations’ Africa outlook. “[It] is the sector offering the greatest potential for poverty and inequality reduction, as it provides sources of productivity from which the most disadvantaged people working in the sector should benefit.”

The Food for Peace Reform and Electrify Africa Acts introduced earlier this year mark a number of Congressmen’s sustained efforts to make African development a focus of U.S. foreign policy. But in order for Africa to meet its future agricultural needs, investors and donor organizations will need to take further steps to establish infrastructure, mechanization and resistance to climate-related challenges. Those investments in food security could help to deliver increased opportunities for the African and American economies alike.

– Zach VeShancey

Sources: The Guardian, AGRA, United Nations
Photo: Flickr

, , ,

FoPo Food Powder and World Hunger

FoPo_Food_Powder

1.76 billion tons of food is wasted globally each year. Food waste is caused by buying or preparing more food than necessary, and not cooking or eating food purchases at all.

To solve this problem and to alleviate world hunger, a group of Swedish master students created FoPo Food Powder. The product is created by turning cheap, nearly expired produce into powder form. By freeze-drying the food, pressure is lowered and water is removed, which results in longer-lasting nutrition in powder form.

Team members Kent Ngo, Gerald Marin, Vita Jarolimkova, Lizzie Cabisidan and Ada Balazy hope that their discovery can help end world hunger and minimize food waste.

The team has three objectives: reduce food waste by turning it into an innovative food product that can be used by people all over the world; extend shelf life while preserving all the nutritional properties and taste; give ugly and expiring food a chance.

“We are not into using a new product or new technology, but creating value out of the inefficiency of the food system,” Marian says.

So far, the powder comes in three flavors: banana, raspberry and mango. The powder retains 30-80% of its nutritional value and can be topped on yogurt and ice cream, baked into recipes, and blended into smoothies.

FoPo Food Powder also offers benefits for food producers and retailers. They can donate or sell their unsellable food, buy FoPo and incorporate it into their recipes, and sell FoPo for a source of good nutrition without additives.

Even further, FoPo offers hope for disaster relief, military and space needs, and providing nutrition to impoverished locations.

Since beginning their project in December 2014, the team has discovered that powdered food is becoming more accepted by consumers, and freeze-drying preserves nutritional value better than other techniques.

FoPo won the Ben & Jerry’s Join Our Core crowd-funding and placed runner-up for Thought For Food Summit, a challenge that helps students with projects to make the world a better place. Currently, FoPo is a finalist for MassChallenge, a community that helps early-stage entrepreneurs with their projects.

FoPo also receives support from both the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the Philippines. They are currently launching a test run in natural disaster areas of the Philippines. Local farmers near the test sights will also be donating fruits such as pineapples and mangoes to the trial run.

The team continues to raise awareness and money about their product. With funds, they can find a manufacturer, acquire legal advice and perform further safety testing.

The team hopes to sell to grocery stores and online to big manufacturers in the near future. They also hope to create more flavors of FoPo, see more consumers interested in their product, and feed 9 billion people healthy and nutritious food produced from wasted food.

– Kelsey Parrotte

Sources: FoPo Food Powder, Mashable, Mother Jones
Photo: FoPo Food Powder

, ,

Aid Worker Attacks Decline After Worst Year on Record

aid_worker_attacks
Newly released data for 2014 shows a drop in worldwide aid worker attacks.

The report was published by Humanitarian Outcomes, a research institution that specializes in the international humanitarian system. The team collected the data through public sources and partnerships with the United Nations and major NGOs.

Humanitarian Outcomes has been tracking aid worker attacks and data since 1997. According to the group, more attacks occurred in 2013 than in any other year on record.

There were 190 major aid worker attacks in 2014, 74 less than in 2013. Still, an estimated 328 aid workers were affected last year with kidnappings, shootings and use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) – all common types of attack.

In an innovative, joint project, Humanitarian Outcomes and Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) created an interactive map that details all major aid worker attacks since 2000. The organizations state that their database is “the sole global open-source of this data.”

Some experts say that last year’s lower attack figures reflect the efforts that aid agencies have taken to improve security. Many agencies have stepped up their efforts to gain community support and use new technologies to keep workers safer.

Other experts believe that fewer aid worker attacks have occurred because international humanitarian groups are choosing to withdraw from volatile regions. As some organizations make the shift to “remote management,” which allows staff to oversee the agency from outside the conflict zone, they rely on local NGOs to deliver assistance. Analysts caution that these local groups are usually even less capable of providing security for their workers.

More than 3,000 aid workers have been attacked in the last 15 years. Of the 27 countries where these aid worker attacks took place, Afghanistan, Syria and South Sudan have the highest rates of violence. Many aid agencies feel pressure to maintain a presence in areas of conflict, even as violence worsens

In early June 2015, armed gunmen stormed an Afghan compound of People in Need, a Czech NGO that has worked in Afghanistan since 2001. The attackers shot aid workers “execution-style,” killing nine. Some were shot dead as they slept.

Afghanistan is the most dangerous country in the world for aid workers; nearly a quarter of all aid worker attacks occur in the conflict-ridden country.

Aid worker attacks have also been startlingly high in many central African countries, including in the Central African Republic (CAR). The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in CAR recently denounced the country’s growing trend of violence against aid workers. The July 22, 2015 statement came just days after the driver of a U.N. food convoy was shot dead while traveling on a major supply route.

“Humanitarian access continues to be hampered by various constraints in the country, particularly violence against civilians and humanitarian workers,” stated coordinator Marc Vandenberghe.

Years of civil war and sectarian violence have displaced an estimated 450,000 people in CAR. Many internally displaced persons are in desperate need of the humanitarian assistance aid workers provide.

Vandenberghe called on all conflicting parties in the CAR to cease the attacks on aid workers: “Allow them to do their jobs and save lives safely in the whole country.”

– Caitlin Harrison

Sources: IRIN News 1, IRIN News 2, IRIN News 3, The Guardian, Humanitarian Outcomes, UN News Center, Aid Worker Security Database
Photo: Huffington Post

,

Empowering Youth to End Poverty

We are always told that children are the future; that to have a successful future we must invest in them, giving them the opportunities and the education they need and deserve. The youth makes up 43% of the world’s population. This means there is a large potential force out there that can change the world. Of these youth, 90% live in the developing world. That means there is a huge importance to reach these youths. If given the proper tools, they could change poverty in their countries.

Ensuring that children in developing nations have access to education is crucial. By attending school, boys and girls learn skills that enable them to find professions besides agriculture and mothering, respectively. It gives them a sense of empowerment and self-esteem.

Government leaders and organizations have seen success in addressing policies and programs for the young populations of their countries. The key is to “create and support the enabling conditions under which young people can act on their own behalf, and on their own terms.”

The United Nations has implemented Youth Empowerment and Employment Programs across the developing world. The programs work to provide business development and career advice to youth. There are three goals that the programs hope to address. First, institutional and policy development to ensure that government policies passed help youth gain employment. Second, the programs empower youth by creating and working with existing youth councils and youth leadership positions. Lastly, the programs provide employment and job experience by providing internships and directing student graduates to jobs.

In Sierra Leone, the results of these programs have been positive and have expanded businesses. In one community, there have been 204 jobs created, 400 students (half being women) supported to create their own businesses, and 150 interns placed in 20 institutions. Both men and women had access to the resources and saw success as the numbers show that about half of the empowered youth were women.

In the end, giving the youth education and training provided them opportunities to flourish. They were able to use their skills and make better lives for themselves. They were able to find jobs, which means that they were not left in dire poverty. Empowering the youth not only helps them to feel successful, but it also helps the local community by growing the economy.

– Katherine Hewitt

Sources: OECD, UN, UNCSD 2012, UNDP
Photo: AANF

,

Arktek: Keeping Vaccines Cool

vaccinesEven in this day and age of technology, there are roughly 1.5 million children who die every year from vaccine-preventable diseases. One of the main reasons is the lack of reliable electricity in developing countries. What if there was a way to keep life-saving vaccines at a cool temperature in places of extremely warm temperatures with no reliable power for months?

This is the challenge Bill Gates presented to Nathan Myhrvold. The result was a thermos model device that looks like a keg and can be easily transported on a motorcycle. Arktek, the Passive Vaccine Storage Device, uses regular ice water and no power, keeping vaccines at a temperature just above freezing for months.

Arktek has just one small battery for the display screen at the top, which has a built-in cell phone to send text messages to alert others if, for example, you are running low on ice. The device was tested in up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit, where it can last 6 to 8 weeks. In a cooler area, it can last for months.

Well, how this is possible, you may ask?

Arktek uses super insulation, similar to what is used for cryogenic fluids, at very low temperatures and to protect spacecraft from extreme temperatures.

The device has already saved millions of lives. It was used in West Africa to transport the experimental Ebola vaccine during the recent outbreak. According to Bill Gates, the current vaccine-preventable disease to focus on is polio, which the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation hopes to eradicate by 2018. Once polio is conquered, the next vaccine-preventable disease would be malaria.

The device is also practical in countries with reliable power, such as the United States, for the transportation of organs. Currently, organs are transported in hand-held coolers that do not last long very long. Myhrvold states the example that if the organs are not transported within a certain amount of time they will go bad in the current device used. That is when Arktek comes in handy, as a superior alternative method for transporting organs.

Arktek has received awards and recognition for its innovative technology. These include the 2014 Good Design Award in the Humanitarian Category from the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture & Design and the 2014 ViE Award for the best technological development.

Arktek is the result of Intellectual Ventures’ Global Good Program and Intellectual Ventures Lab. The innovative company is owned by Nathan Myhrvold, former Chief Information Officer at Microsoft. Intellectual Ventures has partnered with AUCMA, China’s largest refrigeration manufacturer, to help distribute these devices to remote areas. This is a partnership that will save millions of lives from vaccine-preventable diseases and potentially result in a healthier future for the world’s poor.

– Paula Acevedo

Sources: CNN Videos, Intellectual Ventures
Photo: Fast Company

, ,

Mind Over (or at Least on Par with) Matter for HIV Patients

HIV_Patients
HIV-positive individuals face enormous challenges, in terms of both size and quantity, and the psychosocial aspect of their plight is often underestimated.

Living with the stigma of being someone who is “infected” can interfere with opportunities, relationships and one’s overall position in society. Many individuals living with the diagnosis face issues ranging from anxiety to suicidal thoughts, from personality disorders to substance abuse.

Feeling the reality of mortality, along with the sudden ostracism from the community that a person once belonged to due to the stigmatized nature of HIV, is enough to bring up these issues for anyone.

While the war against the physical symptoms and spread of the diseases is in full force, the psychological issues faced by sufferers are just as important to address.

While these “side effects” are not always taken into consideration as a priority, the World Health Organization itself “recommends that attention to the psychosocial needs of people with AIDS should be an integral part of HIV care,” according to a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study. Globally, there are many cases where it is being done with great effectiveness.

Microcredit programs provide small loans to people who, due to their life-threatening diseases and discrimination (despite legislation seeking to prevent it), are hard-pressed to receive them from other places. In the case of the Positive Partnership Program in Thailand, loans are provided for partnerships between one HIV-positive and one HIV-negative person.

Infected individuals who received loans through this program reported feeling a greater sense of self-efficacy, increased acceptance in the community and an overall improved outlook on life. HIV-negative individuals who participated in the program reported an increased understanding of HIV and decreased levels of anxiety, fear and discomfort toward HIV-positive individuals.

Programs like this one are exemplary in the move toward integrating HIV-positive individuals into the rest of society. This is on top of the opportunity they offer them to reach and prove their full mental and economic potential, as, in the study’s period of 2004-2006, 91% of the loans given were repaid on time.

Projects similar to this one include a study of a cognitive-behavioral-group program for HIV-positive men in Hong Kong, and another done in rural Uganda using interpersonal psychotherapy. Both of these studies showed that psychosocially-based programs were effective in reducing symptoms of depression and increasing overall mental health.

In truth, the efforts of groups that work to reduce stigma and increase quality of life are incalculably important. As lecturer in ethics and HIV prevention Bridget Haire says, “showing the nation how people living with HIV are a vibrant, vital and productive part of our community cannot be overestimated.”

Perhaps even more poignant are the words spoken by one of the participants in the Thai Positive Partnership Program: “Life is much improved. My social life is back. I may have HIV, but I am still a human being. I have my self-esteem, and my honor.”

– Em Dieckman

Sources: UNAIDS, NCBI, The Conversation
Photo: Flickr