Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Stories from America’s Poor

America's-poor
The Huffington Post has started exploring the lives of America’s poor in a novel way. Rather than reporting on them, it asks the poor themselves to write about their experiences. All their stories are consolidated under a page entitled “All Work and No Pay: False Promises of the American Economy” on the Huffington Post’s website. While many are from people who live under the poverty line, others are from those who earn well above it–and still struggle to make ends meet. Here are a couple of common themes in these stories:

  1. You can work incredibly long hours for almost no money but still look for more opportunities for extra hours. You are almost always exhausted, and leisure time becomes impossible.
  2. Saving and planning for the long-term becomes very hard when you are living paycheck to paycheck. In addition, there’s a nagging fear of losing everything you have anyway. Disaster, often in the form of a simple unaffordable car crash, can be just around the corner.
  3. The struggle of the “in-betweeners.” You work multiple jobs to make ends meet, but by doing so, earn too much to qualify for government assistance. This creates multiple problems. For instance, you are not eligible for day-care assistance for your children but are yourself so busy that it is difficult to look after them.
  4. It can cost a lot of money just to keep your job or try and find a new one. Transportation and car maintenance costs are often unaffordable. A better job with longer-term prospects can be out of reach because it is simply too far away.
  5. Even if you have high qualifications and lower your standards drastically by agreeing to work for minimum wage, it is still very difficult to find work. Many employers shun “overqualified” or older people, believing they will be more demanding.
  6. You make shortsighted financial and health decisions because having small pleasures from time to time makes life worth living. For instance, you might pick up smoking to relieve your stress, while choosing to ignore its long-term effects.
  7. Investing in your future, such as going to school, can make your life more miserable. It adds to your stress and depression and makes it harder to pay your bills. Crippling student debt has driven people towards a lifetime of debt.
  8. It is difficult to socialize with friends because you are too busy and do not want to spend extra money.
  9. You often avoid basic medical treatments, like going to the dentist. Even when you are experiencing something more serious, the tendency is to avoid going to the doctor for as long as possible.
  10. Sometimes you just go hungry. Especially if you have kids and need to feed them instead.
  11. Having kids is something that needs to be a decision that is very carefully examined. Partners often realize that they cannot afford children and give up the dream of having them.

– Radhika Singh

Sources: Huffington Post 1, Huffington Post 2
Photo: Epic Times

Top 5 Diseases that are Nearly Eradicated

Top 5 Diseases that Are Now Nearly Eradicated
For many years, life expectancy of humans was around 40 to 50 years old. Once modern medicine advanced, these numbers changed drastically. Thanks to vaccinations and better medical understanding of diseases, people all over the world can rest a little easier knowing some life-threatening diseases are now nearly eradicated.

Smallpox

Smallpox has been responsible for an estimated 300 million to 500 million deaths in the 20th century alone. This horrifying disease was characterized by small, painful bumps which appeared all over a patient’s body. Smallpox was particularly scary because it affected people of all ages. When scientist Edward Jenner noticed that individuals who had been exposed to cowpox were seemingly immune to this disease, an idea struck. Since the invention of the small pox vaccine in 1796, the world has seen a rapid decrease in the number of cases. In fact, smallpox is the only disease that is considered to be 100 percent eradicated throughout the entire world.

Polio

At its prime, polio was known to be one of the most feared diseases in the world, mainly because it primarily affected young children. It sent hundreds of thousands of children to the hospital. When Dr. Jonas Salk invented a vaccine against it, the world rejoiced. Although this vaccine has not yet been spread throughout the world, with help from organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, polio is on its way out. Hopefully within the next few years, polio will have been eradicated throughout the entire world and parents will no longer have to fear for the lives of their children.

The Plague

The Black Death killed over 50 million people in Europe, accounting for about 60 percent of the population at the time. The disease was spread through infected rats and other small animals. Once infected, people were highly contagious. This disease was characterized by horrible blisters called “boobos” that would emerge and fester on an ill persons’ body. While doctors did not know how to prevent this disease at the time it has since disappeared from the world as sanitation and medical practices have become much more elaborate. While there may be one case every decade, it looks like the plague is gone for now and, hopefully, will never make another appearance.

Tetanus

Tetanus has long been considered a disease of filth, something one can catch by touching rusted metal or using an infected needle. It affects thousands of people each year and causes muscle spasms, lock-jaw and a whole host of other horrible symptoms. Nowadays, most developed nations such as the United States no longer have trouble with this disease, as children are regularly vaccinated against it. In developing nations doctors can administer emergency tetanus shots and have seen great success with this. It is imperative that doctors begin to vaccinate more patients in third world countries as these are the most at-risk individuals. Although this disease has not yet been eradicated, the number of cases has drastically dropped.

Rabies

Rabies has long haunted the big screen throughout the world, with visions of Old Yeller foaming at the mouth sending audiences to tears everywhere, but this image is a reality for many individuals who live every day surrounded by stray animals. Rabies is a virus which is contractible by almost any mammal and is characterized by over excitation, confusion, paranoia, fear of water and the tell-tale foaming at the mouth. Rabies can be transferred through a bite from an infected animal and can have devastating effects once the virus takes root. Thankfully, vaccines have been developed to prevent the disease from taking hold. Whenever an individual is bitten by an animal, it is mandatory that they get a rabies shot; these regulations have allowed doctors to monitor and significantly reduce the amount of rabies related deaths in the United States. Many other nations such as India and parts of Africa are beginning to adapt these procedures and are currently making key decisions about the lives of their stray furry friends.

Thanks to the care and dedication of many scientists and researchers, we now live in a safer and happier world. Hopefully more innovation can lead us down a path of true health and happiness.

– Sumita Tellakat

Sources: MNN, UNICEF

Photo: My NYC Doctor

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UN Launches New Deal to End Global Poverty

new_deal_to_end_global_poverty

After three days of negotiations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the United Nations has established a new deal that will finance the U.N.’s new Sustainable Development Goals. Ultimately, these goals set a 2030 deadline to greatly reduce global poverty.

The negotiations in Addis Ababa involved representatives from around 200 different countries. Seventeen goals make up the new U.N. plan, which mainly includes large, overarching goals such as completely eliminating global poverty and hunger, obtaining gender equality worldwide, creating environmentally sustainable cities and ensuring everyone quality education.

These goals also come with a hefty price tag. U.N. experts estimate that the Sustainable Development Goals will cost around $3 trillion each year in order to properly finance each goal. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim also estimates that along with billions of dollars in foreign aid, these goals will require “trillions in investments.”

“This agreement is a critical step forward in building a sustainable future for all,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. “The results here in Addis Ababa give us the foundation of a revitalized global partnership for sustainable development that will leave no one behind.”

– Alexander Jones

Sources: BBC, Cheyne, Solomon
Photo: BBC

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Charity Versus Chauvinism: Successful Working Methodology at BRAC

BRACAmidst the daily fight against global poverty levels, success stories arise from one of the world’s largest development charities. Recently awarded the World Food Prize for successfully pulling more than 150 million people in developing countries out of poor living conditions, Fazel Hasan Abed, founder of the Bangladeshi charity BRAC, seems to have stumbled upon a working methodology.

What makes this methodology different from other approaches can be found in the difference between chauvinism and charity. Chauvinistic approaches to world aid portray a very “hands-off” tactic, whereas charity clearly sets out to give direct help to those in need.

Many IGOs are now looking to out-source the BRAC method. This method utilizes a short amount of time, 24 months, and a high amount of pressure on developing communities in order to produce the greatest results.

The first step is to determine the target individuals of aid by looking at the “determinants of poverty” – little to no healthcare availability, no livelihood skills or capital, low self-esteem and illiteracy, as well as social exclusion. This is done through “participatory wealth ranking,” which directly engages the community.

Next, the individuals are provided with adequate resources and taught fundamentals through “asset grants.” Fundamentals include different livelihood skills and literacy abilities, such as being able to write his or her name for the first time.

The last tactic is monitoring. Arguably, this demonstrates the importance of such a hands-on approach and in fact is referred to as the “hand-holding” step. Progress is closely supervised. For two years the individuals receive direct assistance and have proven that these individuals are able to maintain a better quality of life over the next four years after they “graduate” the BRAC system.

While this methodology might seem a “brute force approach” concerning its direct and hands-on elements, it proves to be the most effective. BRAC is smart, efficient, and proven to work. It targets the “ultra-poor” specifically, sets goals and drives the ball home until the individuals have successfully been pulled out of poor living conditions.

– Felicia L. Warren

Sources: The Guardian
Photo: Flickr

8 Ways PMI is Fighting Malaria

fighting_malariaIn 2005, President George W. Bush launched the President’s Malaria Initiative, an effort to make the U.S. a technical and financial leader in fighting malaria. In 2008, the signing of the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act extended the existing legislation and tripled the budget for the cause.

The effort has been largely successful, due partly to the range of methodology. The following are all ways that PMI is seeking to address the spread of the disease.

  1. Raw equipment: Over 102 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs) have been distributed by PMI.
  2. Prevention: Over 243 million antimalarial treatments, 107 million rapid diagnostic tests and over 25 million preventive treatments for expectant mothers have been distributed by PMI.
  3. Education: Collectively, over 170,000 health care workers were trained in treating malaria in the fiscal year of 2014 alone.
  4. Finances: The funding level has increased from $30 million in 2006 to $669 million in 2015.
  5. Partnerships: PMI works with National Malaria Control Programs (NMCPs), as well as independent nonprofits, community groups, academia, the private sector and government agencies.
  6. Technology: The constant expansion of technology has allowed for ever-more efficient combat against malaria. For example, smartphone GPS systems allow health officials to map out routes for the transportation of insecticide used for Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS). This way they can avoid areas inaccessible by car, sensitive areas that they should not spray (such as organic crops) and other potential hazards.
  7. Specific goals: The PMI targets 20 “focus countries,” and sets both short-term and long-term goals to keep careful track of its progress.
  8. Looking to the future: The new six-year strategy (launched at the beginning of 2015) has goals that include reducing malaria mortality by over 80 percent from the original 2000 baseline levels.

– Em Dieckman

Sources: CGDEV, PMI 1, PMI 2, USAID
Photo: Alliance for Malaria Protection

Forest-Friendly Fashion Brands

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Canopy, an NGO, commits to sustainability by targeting the marketplace to mitigate non-green practices. Canopy works with businesses, fashion brands, book publishers, magazine publishers, newspaper publishers and printers to protect the earth’s forests and fragile ecosystems.

CanopyStyle pledges to protect the earth’s ancient and endangered forests from supply chains. It’s “Fashion Loved by Forest” campaign unites prestigious clothing companies to support Canopy’s mission of eliminating environmentally destructive materials from fashion production.

Among the fashion brands devoted to reducing their ecological footprint are Inditex/Zara, Levi Strauss & Co., Quiksilver, Patagonia, Stella McCartney, prAna, Aritzia, Portico/Under the Canopy, H&M, Marks & Spencer, lululemon Athletica, EILEEN FISHER, loomstate, Stanley &Stella, ASOS and G-Star RAW.

  1. H&M protects forests by choosing greener fabrics and by turning to alternate fiber sources. It’s goal is to avoid sourcing any materials from endangered sources by 2017. With the Forest Stewardship Council, it makes sure it uses green materials. H&M is also working to build transparency in its supply chains.
  2. Lululemon Athletica avoids using raw metals like tin, tantalum, tungsten or gold and signed the Responsible Sourcing Network’s’ Cotton Pledge to end forced child and adult labor in Uzbekistan’s cotton harvesting. The company partners with DOWNLITE, a company that provides ethically treated down products. It also prides itself on buying wool from transparent, ethical and green vendors.
  3. Stella McCartney does not use viscose in production or fibers from forested areas. It is also trying to strengthen transparency in its supply chains.
  4. EILEEN FISHER’s sustainable fibers collection uses “natural, recycled, and high-tech fibers in its eco collection.” It opts for Tencel over viscose, which is more traceable, more responsible, less-processed, less-energy intensive, less chemical-intensive and less toxic. According to EILEEN FISHER, Tencel is made from sustainably harvested trees, and its closed-loop production means that 99.5 percent of chemicals used in wood pulp-fiber converting are reused.
  5. Patagonia uses an array of ethical and green materials. It uses PVC and phthalate-free inks for T-shirts, 100 percent traceable down insulation, Forest Stewardship Council-certified fibers and chlorine-free wool. Patagonia’s supply chain is extremely transparent, evident in its published reports: public factory list, factory scoring system, principles of fair labor and responsible sourcing, workplace code of conduct, social responsibility benchmarks, paper policy, water footprint, and packaging and merchandising policy.
  6. Aritzia’s Social & Environmental Responsibility (SER) team takes care of protecting its planet, customers and workplace teams. It helps the environment by cutting back on paper in printing and dining, conferencing and packaging. It uses tech to override paper-based systems and also participates in donating extra fabrics to women and children in Yunnan, China. The program, in alliance with Eco Village of Hope and HANDA Rehabilitation and Welfare Association, works to train communities on how to sew beautiful clothing. Aritzia also donates funds that, so far, have provided 130 hygiene packages, 25 sewing kits and 15 electric sewing machines.

– Lin Sabones

Sources: Canopy Planet, Canopy Style 1, Canopy Style 2, H&M, Lulu Lemon, Stella McCartney, Patagonia, Aritzia

 

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Water Access Just a Swipe Away Thanks to New Dispensers

keyna_waterRural Kenya has recently become the first test market for a Danish company’s innovative pilot project to bring clean water to those who need it most. Grundfos, a water engineering firm, has placed a number of card-operated water kiosks in rural Kenyan communities, hoping to provide an alternative, and safe, source of drinking water.

According to Water.org, only about half of Kenya’s 45.5 million citizens have access to safe drinking water, and access to improved sanitation services is even lower. This creates a serious health risk as waterborne diseases are easily spread, as well as an opportunity for extreme price gouging.

While Kenya may be dealing with a severe water shortage, there is no lack of waterborne illnesses in the struggling nation. Diarrhea is the second leading cause of death for children under five in Kenya, surpassed only by pneumonia, and water-related illnesses are the leading cause of hospitalizations in this age group as well. Access to safe drinking water is paramount, yet water from vendors is often no safer than water from any other source.

Despite this, some water vendors may still charge up to 50 Kenyan shillings for 20 liters of water. That’s about 50 cents per 5 gallons of often dirty water, in a nation where almost half the population is scraping by on less than $1.25 a day. But when faced with a choice between walking several miles to fill a single water jug, or paying for uncertain water in the village, many are willing to take the risk.

Grundfos’ water kiosks not only provide Kenyans with water that is guaranteed safe to drink but at a fraction of the cost. At a cost of only a single Kenyan shilling per 20 liters (less than one cent), the Grundfos water kiosk is revolutionizing water access to a number of rural Kenyan villages. Participants simply swipe their card, select the desired amount of water, and their account is charged and the water dispensed. Money can be added to water accounts at the kiosks or via smartphone.

Grundfos has recently placed their water kiosks in Kenya’s Mathare slum, their first experiment in an urbanized environment. They have yet to release a report on how their system is performing, but officials have confirmed plans to expand to Nairobi in the near future.

– Gina Lehner

Sources: PSFK, VOANews, UNICEF
Photo: Child Fund International

Renewable Energy Poised to Generate Employment in Kenya

Renewable_Energy

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta recently broke ground at the site of Africa’s largest wind-power project in Marsabit County, Kenya, which began construction earlier this month. The farm is part of an initiative that will see Kenya become a world leader in renewable energy generation, with a fifth of its energy set to come from the wind turbines when it becomes fully operational in 2017.

The Lake Turkana Wind Project covers 40,000 acres and will be powered by a high-intensity jet stream originating in the Indian Ocean. The farm will consist of 365 wind turbines and is expected to achieve 68% load capacity factor, making it the most energy-efficient wind power farm in the world.

The farm is one element of the Kenyan government’s goal to add 5,000 megawatts of power to its national grid over the next three years, reducing its dependence on hydro and fossil fuels. In 2012, Kenya’s Ministry of Energy announced that vast oil reserves had been discovered in the country’s Turkana region, and four major petroleum basins were being evaluated for economic feasibility. The massive Lake Turkana wind project will provide 20% of Kenya’s energy consumption when fully operational, making the country a prospective leader in renewable energy and weakening the economic argument for accessing these previously untapped fossil fuel reserves.

A government entity called Kenya Power has signed an agreement to buy the power at a fixed price over the next 20 years to guarantee that the wind power is converted into accessible electricity for the Kenyan people. According to a 2013 report published by SunnyMoney, the largest distributor of solar-powered electricity in Africa, 19% of Kenya’s population, or 34 million people, currently live without electricity. Ninety-two percent of rural Kenyan households rely on kerosene for lighting, which can cause permanent eye and lung damage, is too dim to study or perform work after dark, and is extremely expensive, costing off-the-grid families up to 25% of their monthly income.

While Chinese investors have funded many of Africa’s construction initiatives in the last decade, the $690 million Lake Turkana farm is being funded by investors in the European Union under the leadership of the African Development Bank, a development finance institution that contributes to the social progress of African countries. The project is the largest single private investment in Kenyan history.

Due to Kenya’s arid climate, economic opportunity for civilians is limited to animal husbandry and small-scale farming operations. The wind project is set to create 2,000 jobs during the construction phase and over 200 full-time jobs when fully operational. It is also likely to generate thousands more employment opportunities in the form of national power grid operations, electricity distribution and infrastructure.

“As the turbines will be at full production all of the time they will need servicing twice as often as similar units sited in Europe,” said Project Director Carlo van Waginengen in an interview with African Business Review. “As soon as the substation goes live we will be electrifying the largest towns in the area.”

Lake Turkana will also benefit Kenyans in the form of comparatively low energy costs: power from the plant will cost just 8.42 cents per kilowatt, nearly four cents lower than the average cost of electricity in the United States.

Because the power generated by the farm is green energy, the United Nations has registered Lake Turkana under a mechanism that will allow the project to generate carbon credits yielded around $4 million toward local community development. The project has been designed to allocate funding toward business development in the region as part of a 20-year plan.

The Lake Turkana Wind Program represents a long-term investment in energy production and community development in Kenya and provides a legitimate alternative to the short-term economic thought that generally motivates fossil fuel extraction. Projects like this provide opportunities for investors looking to realize returns on sustainable energy initiatives, expand access to basic necessities for local communities and improve economic climates in ways that are sustainable both to the African people and the land that they live on.

– Zach VeShancey

Sources: African Business Review, Quartz Africa, Sunny Money, OPIC, ISSUU
Photo: Quartz Africa

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Mobile Technology Poised to Generate Land Ownership for 4 Billion People

land_ownership
For the world’s poorest and most vulnerable populations, land ownership is an economic resource and critical determinant of social and cultural identity. But for the 4 billion people who live without registered land, landlessness can mean economic insecurity, no personal address with which to vote or receive aid, and a constant state of disputation and residential impermanence.

One implication of massive concentrations of unregistered land is the loss of wealth that they have the potential to generate. But perhaps more importantly, the absence of established land title systems means that property ownership is not guaranteed. As Devex development reporter Naki Mendoza notes, this has serious consequences for developing countries.

“Farmers cannot legally pass down ancestral lands to their children. Families cannot secure a mortgage or use property as collateral for a loan,” he writes. “And local communities are shut out from negotiations with extractive companies. For governments, it represents a sizable loss of tax revenues or, crucially, a foreign direct investment that will never be made because of uncertainty over property rights.”

Data accumulation mechanisms are poised to remedy these problems by streamlining land registration and giving local communities the ability to monitor and enforce their rights to their land. Data and analytics company Thomson Reuters has created a proprietary land information system that digitizes and archives land deeds in government databases, a practice that safeguards against the loss or damage of paper deeds.

Like mobile banking or online healthcare, digitization can reduce the opportunity cost of land registration from a multiday journey to a local registrar to a minutes-long mobile upload. The digital platform is also linked to satellite mapping systems, which provide updated property lines and can be used to mediate disputes between families, communities or even multinational extraction companies.

As Mendoza points out, these digital platforms have yielded concrete results. In Cape Town, South Africa, 915,148 properties were reported on its tax roll last year, up 66% since 2000. In Jamaica, it now takes only two days to register new property, down from 45 days in 2005. In the Philippines, nearly 60,000 urban land titles are issued each year, compared to just a few thousand as of five years ago.

With increasingly large and accessible quantities of land management data, a number of global institutions have commenced programs to secure land rights for the world’s 4 billion landless people. Earlier this month, at the Third International Conference on Financing and Development in Addis Ababa, the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the World Bank signed a Declaration of Intent to establish a Network of Excellence on Land Governance in Africa (NELGA) to establish a widespread system of land registration and land rights. NELGA will complement the existing Land Policy Initiative, whose stated purpose is “to enable the use of land to lend impetus to the process of African development.”

“Secure access to land and other natural resources is of vital importance for the people in rural areas of Africa,” said German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Dr. Gerd Müller. “It will be an important contribution for food security and growth in the agricultural sectors, especially for smallholders.”

The demand for online land management services marks an opportunity for American companies looking to apply data and analytic systems to relieve people living in states of extreme poverty. It would also help millions of people establish a state of permanency for themselves and their families, which precedes activities like consumption and local investment. As land registration becomes more accessible for those living in extreme poverty, demand for modern information systems will become more widespread, and the door will continue to open for American technology companies and mobile developers in developing regions.

– Zach VeShancey

Sources: Devex, Leadership, Rural Poverty Portal
Photo: Devex

Fourth World Love Preserves Indigenous Villages

Fourth World Love
Fourth World Love defines the term “fourth world” as being exotic civilizations existing just beyond third world communities. Fourth World communities are usually located in obscure regions not typically visited by other people. These communities already have a set infrastructure they live by, but Fourth World Love works to help them keep up these unique infrastructures by supplying them with resources and innovative ideas and technologies.

 

Fourth World Love: Unique Development

 

The Fourth World Love organization was started by Misty Tosh and Lisa Colangelo who decided to create the organization in 2008 after filming a television show for the Travel Channel in Yelapa, Mexico. While there, they met people from a fourth world village who charmed them with their kindness and simplistic lifestyle. While filming, they noticed a crucial issue with their village; while they knew they had an established lifestyle, they realized they were not utilizing their resources to the best of their abilities. Tosh and Colangelo sought to help these people without tarnishing their beliefs.

Fourth World Love serves as a middleman for indigenous villages. They connect them with the resources and technology needed for villages to thrive without the technology conflicting with their lifestyles.

The members of Fourth World Love have worked on a variety of projects ranging from raising money through recycling to helping improve educational facilities in indigenous villages. One project raised enough money to provide a sanitation system in a village in Sembalum East Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.

The sanitation system will give the village a public toilet that will help with waste management, and Fourth World Love will create the toilet out of recycled products. The Sanitation System will also provide residents with clean water for proper hygiene.

Another project enacted by Fourth World Love allowed members from their Community Development Center to build and expand schools in indigenous villages in Sembalun. With donations, they were able to add libraries, multiple classrooms and a common area for students to study and hang out in.

Volunteers for Fourth World Love help out with the Community Development Center in preparing villages for possible tourism, teaching them English and working on organic farms. Helping villagers start up their own businesses, working with the elderly and playing with children are also among the tasks completed by volunteers. Tosh and Colangelo, along with many volunteers, have traveled to multiple villages and continue to help them strive and be successful, and Fourth World Love will continue to empower communities through grassroots projects.

– Julia Hettiger

Sources: Fly For Good, Fourth World Love, Matador Network
Photo: Matador Network