Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Surge of Journalist Kidnappings

Journalist-Kidnappings

Journalist kidnappings, an issue which has been associated with terrorism, has grown on a global scale. With a total of 720 kidnapped reporters being murdered in the past decade, examiners are trying to fully understand these incidents, while educating the public of its many complications.

In 1994, a debate emerged when an Associated Press writer, Tina Susman, had gone missing after she was snatched off reporting grounds by Somalian thugs. The journalist would later be held for ransom for a near-20 day count while being stored in a cramped room.

Controversially, in the wake of her disappearance, Susman’s story never broke the air until she was rescued, initiating concern from the public over “double standard[s]” and “injustice.”

Fellow peers from her reporting unit at the Associated Press addressed the public, saying that they, alongside other news reporting teams, did not want to report on the story as a means to prevent “periling” Susman’s life. However, political officials noted that sources like the Associated Press were being “peculiar” and “overcautious” and loosely implied that such reporting would not have fazed the Somalian terrorists due to the lack of media presence in the developing region.

Congressional officials further argued that if government officials were to keep the story quiet themselves, journalists like those from The Associated Press would be all over them.

Susman herself proclaimed that in the end, it was good that the media kept her story confidential, partly because media acknowledgment of the Somalian robbers would have made things more problematic for Susman’s survival, adding to the thugs’ arrogance.

Although Tina Susman’s case met a moderately relieving outcome, hundreds of other kidnapping cases have not seen a safe close, considering their involvement with terrorist-induced conflicts.

2002 would mark the year when journalist kidnappings became a global concern, as reporters became potential victims in treacherous power-fueled schemes used by terrorist groups to seek money and attention from the masses. Following the murder of reporter Daniel Pearl, several terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda have used homicide as the key component in seeking ransom negotiations and for “propaganda purposes” at a highly effective level; both elements were once controversially debated in the 1994 kidnapping case of Tina Susman.

In 2003, The New Yorker presented several points on the harrowing scenarios, highlighting that if bargains are offered to terrorist groups at a low rate, only amputations of the kidnapped are likely to be sent; with intricate negotiations set at an expensive price, many remain unsure the kidnapped will be returned safely in one piece.

Today, the stakes of ransom negotiations remain uncertain and have ignited a firestorm of controversy from the public, especially those bearing kidnapped loved ones who served in a range of posts from military personnel to communication officials.

The disappearance of Austin Tice, who has been missing since mid-August 2012, has raised many questions concerning congressional powers’ consideration in establishing a new U.S. policy that assures the return of hostages and enhances the informational exchange of loved one’s whereabouts between government agencies and families.

The case has since not seen positive news coverage. Recently, a report that confirmed that Tice was not being held captive by once-presumed Syrian powers, leaving his whereabouts unknown.

The episodes of journalist kidnapping have caused extreme pandemonium this past year. Notably, the global coverage of the terrorist group ISIS, murdering hostages in the most brutal fashion and capturing the footage on video-camera, only to be uploaded on the Internet for the public to see, has garnered much attention. This is the same strategy those in the discussion of the 1994 case of Tina Susman feared would propel terrorist pacts to conjure controversy in order to attain media attention.

Last year, it was reported by the advocacy group known as Reporters Without Borders that a total of 119 journalists were captured in 2014, with 66 murdered—a 35% increase compared to the previous year.

– Jeff Varner

Sources: American Journalism Review, The New Yorker, CBS News, Poynter, McClatchy DC
Photo: The Atlantic

How to Pay for Healthcare When You Have No Money

Healthcare

If you are already poor and lacking cash, how do you pay for medical treatment? The answer is that there is a sizable chance that you cannot. In the United States, the biggest cause of bankruptcy is healthcare expenditures; in other words, people cannot pay their medical bills. What does this mean for countries who are not as well off as the United States?

In a country such as the United States, which is a rich, industrialized nation, a large number of people cannot afford medical treatments in part because of the soaring medical care costs and in part due to the system in place. Part of the problem, both in America and abroad, is that without insurance the out-of-pocket costs for healthcare can be huge. Being confronted with a huge lump sum to be paid after a medical service or good is received is often incredibly stressful and hard for many people. It strains the financial resources of the immediate family and leaves them having to decide between basic necessities and medical care–a choice no one should ever need to make. This effect is inevitable for the impoverished. It is already hard enough to save any money at all, let alone have an emergency fund for medical expenditures.

Novartis attempted to launch a new model of distributing and financing business with poorer families in India to address many of the concerns with existing healthcare distribution and payment systems. For example, to decrease the burden of out-of-pocket healthcare costs, Novartis began to distribute over-the-counter drugs in daily or multi-day packs rather than in larger quantities. This may seem trivial, but it actually began to work and eventually even turned a profit for the company–proving it to be a sustainable model. It worked because it allowed the out-of-pocket costs to be spread over a longer period of time for those who needed the drugs over multiple days or weeks while allowing those who only had a temporary need to get a quantity that fit their need most directly (one or two pills versus a large pack that cost much more). This benefits the people not only financially, but also physically. By distributing in smaller amounts and for proportionately smaller costs, this increases the likelihood that a sick person would seek to obtain medical care, knowing that the costs would be lower for sicknesses requiring only one or two pills to treat.

The Novartis example still doesn’t quite answer the question of how the poor pay for the healthcare costs they incur. The answer is that in many cases the poor will pay costs out-of-pocket, and endure financial hardships to do so. Another, possibly even worse method is to sell assets or borrow money to pay for the costs of healthcare. A study that looked at low- and middle-income countries that accounted for over 3 billion people found that approximately 25% of households borrowed money or sold assets to cover healthcare costs. While paying out-of-pocket is bad, needing to sell household items or borrow money can lead to even greater financial hardships over a longer period, in many situations.

Many developing countries lack the proper health infrastructure to provide for their populations at a reasonable cost that the local populace can afford. Even some developed countries such as the United States have trouble with these issues. The industry of healthcare is a complicated problem that involves a twisted entanglement of economics and human well-being in its most literal form.

– Martin Yim

Sources: CNBC, Reuters, Health Affairs
Photo: Marketing and Women

Initiatives to Improve Lives in South Sudan

South_SudanThe Republic of South Sudan is the newest country in the world, founded in 2011 following a secession from Sudan. The secession resulted from years of bloody civil war in Sudan. However, as recently as 2013, there was a new wave of conflict in South Sudan, with more than two million people displaced from their homes in the past two years. With this conflict, people are unable to maintain agriculture or other jobs, and food prices are rising. The poverty as a result of this conflict is leaving people malnourished and without access to food or clean water. Thankfully, some organizations are coming up with initiatives to improve the lives of the South Sudanese.

Organizations and governments initiated different forms of help for the situation in South Sudan. Some of the main strategies have been promoting peace, increasing access to food and sanitation, and encouraging foreign investment.

Oxfam America, a nonprofit organization aiming to “fix the injustice of poverty,” has initiatives to combat multiple issues caused by poverty and conflict: improve access to clean water, food and sanitation, and promote peace. Some of the response includes rebuilding wells and sanitation facilities for hospitals. In order to further people’s self-sustainability, Oxfam also gives materials to help communities get food, such as seeds and fishing equipment. For Oxfam, initiatives to fix issues caused by poverty is the focus, while for others, the encouragement of international investment is the way to help South Sudan.

South Sudan has mineral deposits and oil reserves. The South Sudanese government is encouraging foreign investors to invest in this sector of the economy. They formed the Investment Protection Act of South Sudan in 2011 to protect the land and intellectual property rights of national and foreign investors.

The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes, or ACCORD, is a South African organization aiming to relieve conflict in Africa. ACCORD has a South Sudan Initiative, or SSI, which focuses on building and maintaining peace between Sudan and South Sudan, as well as among the South Sudanese citizens. Some of the conflict identification and resolution efforts include “coordinating the efforts to develop a standardized conflict management training toolkit,” and “providing conflict management, mediation, and negotiation trainings for South Sudanese, officials, diplomats” and “United Nations Mission in South Sudan civil affairs officers.”

Some see bolstering the economy as the solution that will better the lives of those in South Sudan, some view access to sanitation and food as the place to start, and some believe peacebuilding techniques will help end the conflict and give way to a healthier, more efficient society. While separately, these initiatives may not combat every issue that exists within the complicated and historical conflict in South Sudan, with all of these initiatives acting simultaneously, a better future for the South Sudanese seems possible.

– Rachelle Kredentser

Sources: Accord 1, Accord 2, About, Oxfam America, Oxfam America 2, Goss-Online
Photo: Flickr

, ,

Talking to a Member of Engineers Without Borders

Engineers_without_BordersEngineers Without Borders (EWB) is an organization that works with communities to help them find an engineering solution that addresses their needs. Right now, there are about 15,000 volunteers working for EWB, and they work for long-term sustainability in developing areas. They travel to places where engineering projects are needed and institute solutions for the problems that people are facing.

A year after the project is complete, volunteers evaluate the impact of the project on the community. Years after that, a final team travels to the community to learn from their successes and see how they can improve.

The members of EWB are varied, and their volunteers include everyone from first-year engineering students to professionals. In order to learn more about EWB, I interviewed Anushka Rau, the President Elect of the EWB chapter at the California Institute of Technology:

1. What is Engineers Without Borders?

“As the EWB mission statement says, Engineers without Borders USA is an organization whose main goal is to partner with communities around the world and enable them to meet their basic human needs, as well as equipping project leaders to solve the world’s most pressing challenges.”

2. What is the impact of Engineers Without Borders?

“They build sustainable projects in developing communities. Right now, there are about 600 Engineers Without Borders projects around the world.”

3. Where does Engineers Without Borders work?

“We work in more than 40 countries. Some of the countries where EWB is working include Peru, Moldova, Macedonia, India, Nepal, Senegal and Rwanda.”

4. What is your chapter of Engineers Without Borders currently working on?

“My chapter of Engineers Without Borders is about to go to Ilam, Nepal to implement our design for a spring source protection system. Infant mortality is a huge problem in the region, and it’s often due to diarrheal diseases caused by poor water quality and sanitation. We surveyed the region and took water quality samples to determine which spring to protect, then made a design and a set of governing principles for it, working closely with the community on the latter. All EWB chapters partner with an NGO in the area, which lets them complete projects that actually fulfill a community’s most pressing needs.”

5. Why do you think Engineers Without Borders is not as well-known as its counterpart, Doctors Without Borders?

“Medicine has a more obvious impact for humanitarian organizations—many people wouldn’t consider engineering to directly help communities, but it’s actually very important.”

6. What do the global poor need the most in terms of engineering?

“I think the global poor need to be listened to by the engineers helping them and they need a sustainable solution to problems associated with their most basic needs. One of the best things about EWB is the partnership with local NGOs—this ensures that chapters can communicate with the community and build a project that matters to them and will have impact for years after the engineers leave.”

7. How can we help with Engineers Without Borders?

“You can donate to the organization EWB on their website. Most chapters also take donations on their personal websites. If you’re a professional engineer, you could look for a college chapter in your area to mentor, or a professional one to join.”

– Ashrita Rau

Sources: Engineers without Borders, CalTech
Photo: Elsevier

, ,

The Sebastian Foundation Fights Poverty in Australia and Globally

povertyAustralia is considered a developed nation with rather good development indicators: children in school, high life expectancy, higher than average gross national income and the ability to be an agent of change. Yet, like most countries, there are still people living in poverty or at a disadvantage.

Guy Sebastian and his wife Jules have started a foundation to directly combat poverty in their native Australia as well as branch out and help others living in poverty abroad.

In the United States, Guy Sebastian is best known for the song “Battle Scars,” released in 2012 with Lupe Fiasco, but his musical career began when he won the first Australian Idol title in 2003. His wife Jules is a celebrity stylist and a copartner in The Sebastian Foundation.

Sebastian’s humanitarian work started very early in his musical career when he took a tour of Africa, specifically Uganda, as an ambassador for World Vision. During his time there, he saw the debilitating effects that poverty can have on a person, and he has worked for awareness surrounding poverty from that time on.

When the Sebastian’s family started to grow, they became even more involved with helping children and families in Australia and the world. Through this desire, The Sebastian Foundation was formed.

The Sebastian Foundation states, “Our focus is people. Our love is people. We want to see the need and meet the need. We want to help in any way we can and we hope you join us in our mission.” With this thought in mind, they form collaborations with like-minded organizations to work with as partners.

Recently, much of their work has centered on local initiatives such as Big Brothers and Big Sisters, dance programs for youth with Downs Syndrome and children’s hospitals. They have also partnered with Sam Moran, the Yellow Wiggle as of 2006 and a UNICEF Goodwill ambassador; Sam works to help “Australian children who are sick, disadvantaged or have special needs.”

The foundation has global poverty in mind as well. Especially because of Sebastian’s time as a World Vision ambassador, The Sebastian Foundation focuses on families in regards of “poverty, poor health and disease, empowering women, educating children and giving them a chance at a better future [and] community.”

One way to be involved with this great foundation is to donate and, in return, one can receive a gift heart bracelet with the word “joy” on it. Or they have a shop where one can purchase a beautiful print of a photo taken by Sebastian, and all proceeds are a donation for the foundation.

Overall, the Sebastian family has used their celebrity status in Australia to help those who need it most in their home country. But through their global work, and Sebastian’s breakthrough on the U.S. music market, their reach can spread even farther than before, helping so many people in need around the world.

– Megan Ivy

Sources: Guy Sebastian, The Sebastian Foundation, The Sebastian Foundation Facebook Page, The World Bank, YouTube
Photo: Jules Sebastian

,

Study Finds Inhalation of New Ebola Vaccine Kills Virus in Monkeys

New Ebola Vaccine Kills Virus in MonkeysA recent study published by the Journal of Clinical Investigation has reported that a new prototype aerosol Ebola vaccine was found to successfully neutralize the deadly virus within monkeys during clinical test trials.

The study, led by Dr. Michelle Myer and conducted collaboratively by the National Institutes of Health and the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, determined that the experimental vaccine activated immune cells within the respiratory system that subsequently provided full protection against the virus. The study also notes that this is the first time researchers have attempted to use an aerosol vaccine within monkeys to fight a hemorrhagic viral fever such as Ebola.

Co-author of the study Dr. Alexander Bukreyev, a medical virologist from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, recently stated, “This is one of the few vaccines that works. The initial several decades of attempts to develop a vaccine against the Ebola virus were unsuccessful.”

Vaccination researchers within the medical community have become familiar with the notion of failure, as an experimental drug designed to treat Ebola patients proved ineffective in fighting the virus. The experimental drug, known as TKM-Ebola-Guinea, was designed by Tekmira Pharmaceuticals and reportedly was, “Not likely to demonstrate an overall therapeutic benefit,” for patients infected with Ebola.

The drug was designed to utilize RNA interference, a process in which the functions of certain genes within the Ebola virus are disrupted and subsequently renders the virus incapable of attacking human cells. Prior to the failure of the trials within human subjects, many researchers considered the experiment the single most promising lead in the race to stop Ebola, as the drug had proved effective in stopping the virus in monkeys during clinical test trials

Since the unprecedented outbreak of the disease in West Africa last year, the virus is estimated to have killed over 11,000 people and infected an additional 27,000 people in the nations of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, according to the World Health Organization.

As the aerosol vaccine does not require the assistance of trained medical professionals, the distribution of the vaccine within developing regions that lack adequate health infrastructures and large personnel staffing will prove to be notably less challenging. Dr. Igor Lukashevich, a medical virologist from the University of Louisville, recently argued that “This aerosolized form of the vaccine is really what the field needs right now. The discussion […] right now is if this Ebola outbreak will be some kind of game-changer for vaccine development, or will it only be one more scare that will be forgotten.”

Dr. Meyer explained in a recent interview that human cells “in the lungs are acting as the first barrier for protection. That’s ideal to combat the virus at the site of the infection.”

Four of the monkeys used for the study were given a single dose of the vaccine, while an additional four were given two doses of the vaccine. Two other monkeys were given a liquid form of the vaccine, while two more monkeys were not vaccinated in order to serve as controlled variables for the study. Four weeks after the administration of the vaccines, all 12 of the monkeys were administered 1,000 times the fatal dose of the Ebola virus.

Two weeks after the injection of the Ebola virus into the test monkeys, all of the vaccinated monkeys had remained healthy while the two unvaccinated monkeys became infected with the disease and were euthanized.

Dr. Daniel Bausch, a medical virologist of Tulane University, noted that the study was “a positive step forward,” but cautioned that “it’s not a breakthrough or ‘Eureka!’”

The success of the aerosol vaccine during the clinical trials on the monkeys indicates the next step will now be for testing to begin on humans in the coming months.

– James Thornton

Sources: New York Times 1, New York Times 2, MB
Photo: Red Orbit

The Tent Cities of Haiti

haitiThe rapid growth of Haitian migrants returning to their native country from neighboring nations has led to the incredibly excessive increase in “ten cities” throughout the small nation. Humanitarian relief groups have turned their attention to this growing problem and the impoverished people of Haiti.

These tent cities are made up primarily of extremely poor individuals, many of whom were deported from countries in which they sought refuge. Many individuals returned from the Dominican Republic — the neighboring nation that Haiti has had tensions with for years, especially with regards to immigration. To make matters worse, the handful of tent cities that have emerged, seemingly overnight, are located along regions of the country that have been suffering drastic droughts. In just about a month’s time, from the end of June to the end of July, the number of tent homes and cities increased in the Southern region of the country three times over. This means limited water and crops, further limiting the resources many of the Haitian individuals are already missing.

As mentioned previously, many Haitians living in the tent cities have returned from migrating to the Dominican Republic. This is because of the strict immigration and deportation policies being enforced by the country. These laws make legal status mandatory for any immigrants entering the country, and make the process rather difficult. Thus, poor Haitians without the means to gain citizenship are sent back to poverty within the tent cities of Haiti.

This rise in refugees and poverty-stricken makeshift cities has drawn in the attention of many humanitarian relief organizations. Despite the unfortunate living conditions, many groups are now working hard to help people living in the cities. Haitian immigrants have made efforts to follow through with the required process for citizenship in the Dominican Republic, but many are unable to. Moreover, with all the concern for the dangerous conditions of the thousands being sent back to the tent cities of Haiti, the Dominican Republic refuses to hold any talks or discussions on the matter.

In order for the problems to be resolved, there needs to be more discussion between the governments of both Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

– Alexandrea Jacinto

Sources: CNN, Tele Sur
Photo: Tele Sur

,

Cleaner Water for Sub-Saharan Africa?

New water purification system in Tanzania Tanzanian entrepreneur Askwar Hilonga has invented a solution to a crisis that plagues his hometown in Tanzania, as well as the greater sub-Saharan Africa region, the lack of pure drinking water. Hilonga has created a water filter, the Nanofilter, that uses nanotechnology for water purification.

Hilonga was born and raised in an impoverished rural region of Tanzania. In his youth, he and his family had no access to clean water. He decided to devote his life to ending this atrocity, aiming to provide millions of people with this basic human right.

Hilonga’s water filter is sand-based — it uses sand to trap bacteria. The nanotechnology eliminates smaller particles like fluoride, heavy metals and chemical contaminants. It purifies water by 99.9 percent.

In Tanzania alone, 70 percent of the population does not have access to clean water or any type of water purification system. 88 percent of infant mortality is caused by waterborne diseases.

Hilonga is motivated to bring change to the country because of these statistics, but also because of his own experience growing up without clean water.

“I was born in rural Tanzania and raised by a poor family in which most of the times we were suffering from waterborne diseases because we could not afford the luxury of expensive bottled water,” explained Hilonga to How we Made it in Africa.

Hilonga, who received his PhD in Nanotechnology from a university in South Korea, won the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation this June, a $38,390 check to help get his company started. The money has enabled him to build his company. “It’s time to save more lives. And grow my business,” said Hilonga.

The Royal Academy of Engineering, which distributes the African Prize for Engineering Innovation, said that the Nanofilter is a transformative invention with the potential to save lives of innumerable Africans, as well as the lives of people across the world.

The Nanofilter is slowly becoming available across Tanzania. Ten entrepreneurs in the country operate water stations that utilize the Nanofilter at the center of their business model.

“We rent the filter to them and they sell drinking water at an affordable price – five times cheaper than the bottled water,” explained Hilonga. The entrepreneurs who run the stations then pay Hilonga’s company around fifty cents per day.

The Nanofilter is cost-effective, with a market price of only $130 per unit. Hilonga believes that the price will continue to drop because, due to his prize money, he can buy materials in bulk and save money.

Nine households have already purchased units. Hilonga has also sold nine filters to local schools, the price subsidized by a Canadian charity.

“We have orders now from various places in Tanzania, Uganda, and Ethiopia. At present the demand for our filter is higher than our ability to supply…Now we are able to increase our production capacity and we will also strengthen our team by employing more people for sales and marketing,” said Hilonga.

Before Hilonga won the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, he feared that the Nanofilter would never make it due to financial constraint. “I was always looking for external sources of support at least for seed capital,” he said.

The Prize, he explained, not only gave him financial confidence, but also business training. Additionally, due to the prize the Nanofilter was publicized and gained credibility.

Hilonga’s plans for the future are ambitious — he wants to provide the 70 percent of nine million in Tanzania who currently do not have access to water treatment with access to the Nanofilter. After that, he hopes to reach the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa.

– Aaron Andree

Sources: How We Made It In Africa, BBC
Photo: QuartzAfrica

, ,

Child Empowerment International Provides Education in Sri Lanka

Child Empowerment International provides schooling for underprivileged children in Sri Lanka
Children living in areas in Sri Lanka affected by war commonly do not have access to the resources and funds needed to receive an education. Many of these children suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder and issues due to their harsh living conditions. Child Empowerment International works to help children who have been negatively affected by war and other violent experiences overcome difficulties, cope with reality and receive an education.

Child Empowerment International establishes day schools in the refugee centers and communities these children live in. Over the past 17 years, the organization helped increase an individual’s future earnings by ten percent through education and training. Their staff of over 200 teachers prepares students for testing in Sri Lanka, which is based on the British education system. Studies conducted by Child Empowerment International have shown students graduating from their program score in the top five percentile on these standardized exams.

Students are taught basic school subjects like grammar and biology and receive career training to become carpenters, seamstresses, chefs, mechanics and hotel managers. Many students are also taught English and computer skills.

Child Empowerment International was started in 1998 to provide children living in war ridden zones holistic care. The organization started with 17 schools, but by the following year they were up to 29 schools. Child Empowerment International began by training teachers and counselors to mentor children who had suffered from sexual abuse and other traumatic experiences.

Founder Adam Salmon worked to establish a textbook-exporting company in Sri Lanka in 1994, but decided to change his line of work when he realized there were large numbers of abandoned children not receiving aid from other organizations. As the founder, he manages the hundreds of teachers working for Child Empowerment International and dedicates his time to improving the lives of the 6,800 children impacted by the organization.

The organization also dedicated themselves to helping the survivors of the tsunami that struck Sri Lanka in 2004. Several hundred students were orphaned by catastrophe and Child Empowerment International lost 126 of their students. The organization worked to find homes for children, provide resources and rebuild the schools lost to the storm.

Today, Child Empowerment International has over 80 schools established in Sri Lanka and other impoverished communities. Their newest project enacted in 2010 is working to provide education and healthcare to children in Uganda.

Students at their schools have successfully graduated from university and gained professional experience in the profession of their choice, with many of them becoming teachers or health professionals. Child Empowerment International is gathering quantitative data of the impact of their work on an individual’s success. Publication of this is set for 2017.

– Julia Hettiger

Sources: Child Empowerment, Global Giving, Matador Network
Photo: Porticus

,

Global Health Investments Save 34 Million Children

Global Health Investments Work: 34 Million Children Saved Since 2000
New data has been able to reveal that global health investments have been able to save 34 million children since 2000. Several of these international collaborations have decreased child mortality rates in half for those under the age of 5 in several countries.

The United Nations’ Millennium Declaration was created on September 2000 as a list of goals that would help reduce global poverty in half by 2015. One of the goals in the Millennium Declaration included providing better health access and lowering children mortality rates throughout the world.

Countries within the United Nations pledged to provide aid in order to reduce mortality rates in children under the age of 5. The goal was to have a two-thirds reduction by 2015.

In June 2015, the United Nations declared that its goal had been reached in several countries but much could still be done to improve child mortality rates in other regions.

A major concern from governments with the Millennium Development Goals was how to account for accountability. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington and the U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Financing the Health Millennium Development Goals and for malaria were able to create a solution.

The IHME at the University of Washington and the U.N. reached out to medicinal agencies and non-governmental organizations that were given the child mortality reduction task. International collaborations with scientists allowed both organizations to create a scorecard that kept track of foreign aid and the progress made in different regions of the world.

This scorecard will continue to be used to further promote investments in children’s global health and as a way for people around the world to hold the regions receiving the aid accountable.

For now, the scorecard is being used to reveal how much direct impact foreign aid can have on global health for children. The statistics showed that only US$4,205 is needed to keep a child healthy from birth until 5 years of age.

Low and middle income countries helped turn low child mortality rates into a reality by providing US$133 billion in children’s global health investments. The international aid that was invested helped saved 20 million children.

Meanwhile, private and public donors contributed US$73.6 billion and saved 14 million young lives. The majority of the donors were from low- and middle-income countries according to the data.

In comparison, the United States was able to save 3.3 million children by using only one-third of its less than 1 percent foreign aid budget plan.

Much of the aid went to providing vaccines, HIV/AIDs testing, sanitation and nutrition. Although much has been accomplished, the United States Agency for International Aid (USAID) has stated that the United States has the ability to do much more for young children.

According to the USAID’s 5th Birthday Campaign, 6.6 million children will die this year before their fifth birthday. The campaign states that that is nearly 18,000 children dying per day – most of them dying from preventable causes.

Through the 5th Birthday Campaign the U.S. will continue investing in family parenting, vaccines, sanitation and nutrition to help more children live beyond their fifth birthday.

Internationally, the United States has agreed to work with other countries in funding the Global Financing Facility. A post-2015 organization that will work toward further reaching the United Nations Secretary-General’s Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health and the Sustainable Development Goals.

International governments and public and private donates have agreed on a US$12 billion budget for the Global Financing Facility. While the U.N. Millennium Development Goals sought to lower child mortality rates by two-thirds, the Global Financing Facility aims to completely lower maternity and child mortality rates by 2030.

With 2030 only a few years away the Global Financing Facility has a ticking clock. However, seeing how the U.N. Millennium Development Goals were able to succeed, the Global Financing Facility is having a positive start with much international support.

– Erendira Jimenez

Sources: USAID, WHO, Un Millenium Project, Scaling Up Nutrition, Washington

Photo: Universityofwashington