Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

,

Can $160 Per Year Eradicate Hunger?

World’s Poorest Need Just $160 Per Year to Eradicate Hunger
A new report released last week by the United Nations has predicted that only $160 per year for each individual currently living in extreme poverty is necessary to eradicate hunger in the world by 2030.

The joint report, which was prepared by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Program (WFP), and International Fund for Agricultural Development, argued that such funding to eradicate hunger should be provisioned through both the transfer of cash and certain investments considered supportive of impoverished areas.

In order to meet the current base poverty line of $1.25 per day stipulated by the World Bank, the UN hopes that cash transfers will assist in the immediate elimination of hunger. Officials estimate that this undertaking would cost $116 billion per year, of which $75 billion would be designated to rural areas.

The UN has also estimated that an additional $151 billion per year will be necessary to fund “pro-poor” investment projects designed to support the predicted decreases in the frequency of poverty while also encouraging sustainability. Such endeavors could include the expansion of irrigation systems, the construction of more effective sanitation systems or infrastructural repair.

The FAO stated within their report: “Eradicating world hunger sustainably by 2030 will require an estimated additional $267 billion per year on average for investments in rural and urban areas and social protection so that poor people have access to food and can improve their livelihoods.”

The FAO estimates that over 800 million people across the earth still do not have access to adequate and sustainable food resources. A large portion of these people have been found to live in rural areas, a geographical prevalence which has caused many organizations to shift the focus of development projects towards rural regions in recent years.

Noting the necessity for increased efforts to eradicate hunger, José Graziano da Silva, Director General of the FAO, recently stated: “If we adopt a ‘business as usual’ approach, by 2030, we would still have more than 650 million people suffering from hunger.”

Graziano also argued, “The message of the report is clear: Given that this ($267 billion) is more or less equivalent to 0.3 percent of the global GDP, I personally think it is a relatively small price to pay to end hunger.”

The Sustainable Development Goals, which are new objectives designed by the United Nations to replace the outdated Millennium Development Goals, will be completed this fall and currently have created 17 different goals regarding global development. The second Sustainable Development Goal is focused on the issues of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition.

In regards to the structure of plans outlined by the new report, Graziano stated: “We are championing an approach that combines social protection with additional targeted investments in rural development, agriculture and urban areas that will chiefly benefit the poor.”

– James Thornton

Sources: Business Day Online, Reuters, India Times
Photo: NDTV

,

5 Technologies That Promise to Clean the World

clean the worldThe following are five technologies that provide significant contributions to clean the world:

1. Algae

For some, this may not be seen as a technology per se, but algae is actually classified as a biofuel. Making algae involves growing acres upon acres of crops, but they can help clean our planet in a very important way. They can be used to fuel vehicles such as cars and planes. James Murray of the BusinessGreen website says, “those eco-warriors in the US Air Force have already successfully trialed biofuels containing algae, and wider test flights are imminent.”

2. Nuclear Energy

When Albert Einstein reviewed the technology involved with these carbon chains, they were first intended to be used as weaponry. Therefore, he refused to be involved in the Manhattan Project that led to the production of the atomic bomb. However, this same technology has the potential to clean the environment via depletion of greenhouse gas emissions. According to David Doody, writer for GreenBiz, “Nuclear reactor design company Transatomic Power’s Waste-Annihilating Molten Salt Reactor and Bill Gates-backed traveling wave reactors are designed to use byproducts of conventional nuclear power production as fuel.” So, rather than use carbon chains as a weapon or create more greenhouse gases, we would use nuclear energy as fuel.

3. Solar Glass

Normally, the first thing people think about when broaching the subject of eco-efficient technology, they might think of wind farms and solar technology. Solar is, at the moment, the most promising renewable energy source. James Murray of BusinessGreen describes solar glass as lightweight and flexible, and the solar cells can be integrated into clothes and even to car park canopies. Eventually, solar cells could be integrated into almost anything.

4. Chemicals

Awareness is continuously being spread about the downsides of using chemicals to clean water. That being said, it’s also possible to clean water with chemicals. There are is a demonstration plant being built in Pennsylvania that aims to clean the water used in the fracking process. This way, oil is still attainable and the water used to attain it can be cleaned. William Kohl, the head of business development for Advanced Water Recovery, say,s “this firm can desalinate water for 70 percent less than current technologies. Cost is generally the biggest factor, keeping more drought-prone regions from building these plants.” That being said, he’s also planning to move in on projects to make drinking water from seawater.

5. Commercialized Carbon

Nuclear technologies that are carbon-based have already been discussed, but what about pure carbon? It can be put underground, but newer companies can harness carbon with their technology and create products, like baking soda or chairs, that people use in their everyday lives. “Once captured through these companies’ technologies, carbon can be used in industrial or commercial production, to produce low-carbon fuels or for other applications.” Yet another solution that can combat climate change and global warming.

– Anna Brailow

Sources: Buzzfeed, Greenbiz, CNN
Photo: LibreShot

, , ,

Wi-Fi ‘Saves’ Residents in Jordan Refugee Camp

Wifi in Zataari Refugee Camp, Jordan, Said to 'Save' ResidentsIn Zaatari, a refugee camp located in a desolate area of the northern Jordan desert, Syrian refugees live in a grid of makeshift tents very similar to the other nearly 1 million Syrians who have set up camp throughout Jordan in the past year.

In stark contrast to surrounding refugee camps in the Jordan Valley, such as the neighboring Azraq camp, however, there is one thing which has served to set Zaatari apart: the Internet.

Zaatari, which is home to 100,000 Syrians, started out as a temporary residence in which residents lived in deplorable conditions and frequently complained about the high rate of crime. In the past year, however, the camp has developed into Jordan’s fourth-largest ‘city,’ which boasts an enviable main street by refugee camp standards and is nicknamed the Champs Elysees. The Champs Elysees, which, unlike the rest of Zaatari, has paved roads and functioning street lamps, is also home to a growing number of bootleg charging stations, where customers can pay to refuel their computers and phones with electricity stolen from the camp’s grid. An increasing number of Zaatari residents have begun to tap into the camp’s Internet, using the Wi-Fi in order to stay in touch with family members spread throughout the region, tap into social media, keep up with world news and news about the countries they fled (via trustworthy sources such as the BBC World Service), and even learn English.

The recent influx of Internet users in Zaatari comes despite the fact that the Wi-Fi connection is incredibly clogged, thanks to the influx of thousands of refugees in recent months, which has put a strain on the region’s already slow electricity grid. Refugees hoping to use the Internet for a variety of purposes have to wait hours while a site buffers, even if they upload it in the middle of the night, according to Talash, one of the camp’s electronics vendors.

The success of the Internet and its ability to brighten the lives of Zaatari residents have inspired the United Nations and internet and communications technology (ICT) experts to explore the idea of making Wi-Fi free, and thus widely accessible, to refugees who have been displaced since the crisis in Syria began: a number which currently stands at 4 million.

According to the U.N., free Wi-Fi could bring educational, personal, and career benefits. Syrian refugees in Jordan, for example, who are prohibited from working by Jordanian law, can use the internet in order to tap into a ‘global marketplace.’ Young Syrian children who have suffered from a lack of educational opportunities in the refugee camps are also able to use the Internet to access free classes, thereby helping to circumvent the possibility that the recent crisis has created a Syrian ‘lost generation.’ Free Wi-Fi also offers the added benefit of enabling humanitarian organizations to communicate directly with residents and dispel rumors in the camp, such as the rumor which circulated last year that refugees were all going to be relocated to the less desirable and incredibly remote Azraq refugee camp.

U.N. and ICT officials have acknowledged that installing free Wi-Fi in Zaatari would be a difficult task, especially given the fact that refugee camps hosting Syrian refugees already bear the burden of frequent funding cuts. However, there is precedent for the use of free Wi-Fi accessible to refugees. The U.N. refugee agency’s (UNHCR) innovation team, for instance, recently released a mobile app for Syrian refugees living in Turkey, designed to explain refugees’ legal rights and point them to the nearest U.N. office. Recently, a highly successful app was also created by two Syrian refugees in Turkey for other refugees in the region. The app, which posts jobs that refugees are eligible for, gives them advice about landlords, explains mystifying rules about various camps and has already accrued 11,000 followers.

While U.N. officials consider the idea of installing free Wi-Fi, Zaatari residents have told reporters that they would be ecstatic if it were to come to fruition. Talash, the electronics vendor, told Al Jazeera, “life is comfortable enough here.” But with Internet access, Talash said his time at the camp would be much more tolerable.

“Ya rait [if only],” Talash said, “We’d be so happy.”

– Ana Powell

Sources: Al Jazeera, New York Times

Photo: AljeerzaE

The Tent School System of Pakistan

pakistanPakistan continues to be faced with the direst challenges as it pertains to its education system. With an estimated 7.3 million children of primary school age being out of school, it is no surprise that the United Nations lists it as the Asian country with the lowest rate of school enrollment.

This issue of low enrollment is deeply rooted in the socioeconomic instability of the region. Many of the children are denied an education as either a direct or indirect consequence of poverty. Parents can neither afford an education for their children to begin with, or they cannot choose a lack of employment in favor of a formal education. UNESCO reports that 17.6 percent of Pakistani children work to support their families. Additionally, some children, especially girls, are denied an education due to social stigmas against female education stemming from poverty and lack of knowledge.

These unfortunate circumstances have led to unequal access to education for many Pakistani children. In areas where the government or nonprofit organizations are attempting to provide schooling for marginalized children, education has often been substandard, as evidenced by the abysmal state of most government-operated free schools.

Recently, a small startup by a college student in Pakistan has garnered some attention for its attempt at a solution to these problems. Named the “Tent School” system after the tents he envisioned as classrooms, the small nonprofit is already making progress in its objectives.

Since 2014, the program is geared towards educating children in impoverished slums of Islamabad, the national capital, and its neighboring areas. The teachers are volunteers, mostly college students, who provide most of the school supplies as well. The program is the brainchild of Zulqarnain Jameel, a software engineer, who combined his passion for universal education with his technological skills to create the Tent School.

The school system, as of yet, enrolls about 30 children from the poorest areas of Islamabad. Classes meet in a small room provided for by the parents, instead of in the namesake tents. The school’s mission is to provide primary education to children who don’t even have the most basic necessities of life, however, it does not skimp on the quality of education whatsoever.

Jameel and his IT developer partner rely on a hands-on teaching experience for the children. They use applications and electronic devices to provide their students with experience learning- a far cry from traditional government schools. Their “online collaborative learning” allows the students to learn from experiences and interactions; they can then apply their knowledge in an “innovation lab” to create their own inventions. The goal of the program is to groom the students’ problem-solving skills while stimulating their curiosity.

The Tent School program is currently operational in Islamabad only, but with increased awareness and contributions, Jameel’s planning to expand it to neighboring areas of the capital as well. But not with any compromise on the quality of education: developing the students’ creativity and honing their ingenuity is to remain a vital part of the program.

The spirited enthusiasm of the program’s founders is a welcome change in the scenery of Pakistani education, which has so far been dominated by behind-the-scenes nonprofits. With appropriate funding and efforts, the Tent School System has great potential in eradicating illiteracy in Pakistan- and ensuring that literacy is not just a numerical statistic, but the promise of a better future.

– Atifah Safi

Sources: UNESCO, Startup Expo, Dawn
Photo: IRC

, ,

USAID Helps Vietnam Boost Rice Yields

USAID Helps Vietnam Increase its Rice YieldsAs climate change affects agriculture across the developing world, food security is a painful reality for farmers who depend on their crops to eat and eke out a meager living. Every grain of rice they grow is valued — USAID is helping farmers in Vietnam to bolster their harvest yields.

USAID, the United States Agency for International Development, implemented the Vietnam Forests and Deltas Program in 2012, aimed at promoting rice production practices that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve livelihoods with Vietnam’s agricultural extension services.

The program is focused on enhancing climate change resilience and working with all echelons of the Vietnamese society, from the community level up to the national level. Farmers are learning new agricultural techniques and are putting into practice climate-smart livelihoods in order to improve quality of life. They are applying new national policies and strategies in response to rising temperatures and changing weather pattern concerns. The program mainly concentrates on environmental conditions in Vietnam’s vulnerable forest and delta landscapes.

The Thanh Hoa and Kon Tum provinces have been selected by pilots for moving green growth strategies. With the implementation of innovative land use planning and training programs including local government, civil society and the private sector are demonstrating measurable improvements in carbon stocks and environmental services.

The Mekong and Red River Delta areas are increasingly falling victim to climate-related hazards such as storms, flooding, drought, salinity and sea level rise. These deltas are home to some of the most heavily populated and economically productive areas of Vietnam, making the region especially important as well as vulnerable to the country’s stability. USAID is working with the government and communities of the Long An and Nam Dinh provinces to help the population identify climate-related risks and how to take action in order to provide long term resilience.

USAID is working in partnership with several organizations including Winrock International, Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, provincial governments, the Netherlands Development Organization, American Red Cross, Vietnam Red Cross and the Center for Sustainable Rural Development.

In Long An province, with training provided by USAID, farmers across the region have boosted rice yields dramatically, in many cases up to 25 percent more. This means that families once struggling with food insecurity and little to no profit from rice sales are eating better and making a better living, improving quality of life.

Before The Vietnam Forests and Deltas Program went into effect, farmers with minimal agricultural experience suffered preventable crop losses due to ignorance such as overuse or imbalance of fertilizers. As a result of the program, people learned how to apply new techniques including development of internal drainage lines and favoring conditions that lead to stronger and healthier rice plants such as rice paddy leveling.

No matter what one’s views of climate change are, it is a very real problem for the poor with real effects on the people struggling to survive in the delta and forest regions of Vietnam. USAID has proved an essential resource in the developing world. With the programs offered by the agency and its partners, poverty could soon be a thing of the past.

– Jason Zimmerman

Sources: USAID 1, USAID 2, Winrock, MARD

Photo: OceanBitesE

,

Costa Rica Looks Beyond GDP in National Happiness Index

Costa Rica Looks Beyond GDP in Gross National Happiness Index

Earlier this summer, the National Teacher’s Cooperative of Costa Rica released its inaugural Gross National Happiness Index. Their results mirror what the Sustainable Solutions Development Network’s World Happiness Report and the Gallup Poll’s 2014 State of Global Well-Being Rankings find: Costa Rica’s citizens are generally happy. However, the fact that this index was compiled and published is of greater significance than the results it contains.

The acute and unwavering commitment to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as the ultimate telltale for societal well-being has been distorting policies and steering resources away from sustainable and equitable growth since the Great Depression.

This skewed developmental path has resulted from GDP’s narrow focus on output. GDP, and more specifically its fundamental adherents, has its blinders on an array of other important benchmarks like health, quality of education, altruism and prosocial behavior, environmental health, gender equality, level of social connectivity and support networks, and, of course, financial status.

In other words, the GDP school of thought assumes increased output equals increased income which leads to societies being better off. In a broad, general and abstract sense this seems correct, but it does not hold up in the real world.

A more nuanced approach is required to get humanity back on the right tilt, to allow a better balancing of social, economic and environmental progress. Social scientists are working hard to discover just what makes people happy and societies well off, and how to do so. Their findings may inform a new era of enlightened public policy.

The good news is that when humankind sets a target, we get better at hitting it. We learn how to remove barriers to improvement and shift gears to meet the goals. A whole suite of tools—financial, economic and social—can be tweaked and set in motion to guide and support progress toward an objective.

Costa Rica’s effort to measure their citizens’ happiness marks a trend that has been incubating since 1972, when the King of Bhutan began measuring Gross National Happiness, GNH, instead of GDP. In 1990, the United Nations initiated their Human Development Index, measuring a variety of quality of life indicators. In 2010 Britain declared their intentions to study happiness as well as GDP, and global metrics of happiness and peace, including the World Happiness Report, Global Well-Being Rankings and the Global Peace Index, are on the rise and gaining prestige.

The growing importance of these indicators is a promising sign of a shift. Costa Rica’s high level of happiness and their new effort to measure it should be applauded and replicated by the international community.

– John Wachter

Sources: Foreign Policy, Tico Times 1, Tico Times 2, World Happiness Report
Photo: TicoTimes

,

Innovation Countdown 2030

Innovation_Countdown_2030

As many under-developed countries begin to enter the global market, the struggles their people face are becoming increasingly apparent. Luckily, an amazing NGO called Innovation Countdown 2030 is seeking to fund ideas today that may save the developing world tomorrow.

Innovation Countdown 2030 (IC2030) is an NGO that is mainly focused on advancing global health. In collaboration with PATH, one of the leading innovators in global health, IC2030 has created “a platform to identify, evaluate, and showcase high-impact technologies and interventions that can transform global health by 2030.” The ideas that they have supported include technologies that will add vitamins to rice, long-lasting injectable contraceptives, and devices that can help newborn baby’s breathe better. All of these ideas were the result of massive crowd-sourcing efforts and will inevitably help the world towards reaching the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). People from all over the world submitted their ideas and a panel of expert’s selected 30 innovations which they believed could feasibly change the world in the next 15 years.

For years, innovation has been focused on development. From new types of tractors all the way to robot vacuums, technology development has been focused on developing a better life for those living in developed countries. As the years have gone by, people have become increasingly aware of how reliant we are on one another and the importance of bringing up the developing world in order to benefit the whole world. We are living in a time where children still die from completely treatable diseases and malnourishment, but what if there was a way to provide a sustainable form of nourishment, and a reliable place of medicine? What if people no longer had to worry about basic survival and could instead focus on innovation of their own? This is the philosophy behind many development and global health NGOs, presumably including IC2030, and is one that can only lead to a more prosperous global community.

Much of IC2030’s work focuses on pregnant women and their newborn babies as in line with the SDGs. One invention in particular, a uterine balloon tampon, is predicted to save the lives of over 150,000 pregnant women. The idea was developed in the United States in Massachusetts General Hospital and essentially utilizes water pressure to prevent hemorrhaging in a mother who have just given birth. This device is made out of a simple condom and a catheter and can be filled with water to create pressure. It is low-cost and highly effective, making it an ideal candidate for IC2030’s top 30 devices.

Several of the innovations included on IC2030’s list have already been utilized in more rural areas of Africa and have already begun to save lives. The organization is being led by PATH and has received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Agency for International Development, as well as the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.

Hopefully this organization gains more support, but so far it has succeeded in carrying out its goal of saving lives and promoting innovation throughout the world.

– Sumita Tellakat

Sources: IC2030, NPR
Photo: NPR

,

Bolivian Healthcare: Percentages over People

Bolivian-Healthcare

Although the Bolivian government’s new and improved universal healthcare plan has made a considerable dent in child and maternal mortality numbers, the plan still seems to be more suited for improving statistics than the lives of rural Bolivian women.

With one of highest rates of maternal and child mortality in the Latin America, second only to Haiti, Bolivia remains one of the worst places in the world to give birth, especially in rural areas. Mortality rates have historically totaled to 390 mortalities for every 100,000 live births in central cities (like the capital, La Paz), and reach as high as 887 per 100,00 live births in rural areas, according to UNICEF.

Beginning in 1994, Bolivian government officials centered in La Paz developed a series of free healthcare plans—or, more aptly, three free service packages—intended to keep mothers and children alive past the ordeal of childbirth. The most recent addition to these packages is the “Universal Maternal and Child Heath Insurance plan (SUMI).”

Upon its creation, SUMI was lauded as the symbol of iconic change of fate for Bolivian mothers. Targeted at pregnant women and children under the age of five, the program boasted that it would cover 500 common ailments. Additionally, SUMI was the first Bolivian public health program that did not come from a presidential decree, meaning that it would have longevity through congress even as presidential power shifted.

“The system was created to fight child mortality, to fight that economic barrier that prevented the mother from having proper attention from the start,” said Dr. Dante Ergueta, who works with SUMI at the Bolivian Health Ministry, in an interview with the U.K. Guardian. “It is an icon for Bolivia and I might even say for Latin America.”

Initially, SUMI managed to cut the alarming child mortality statistics. After its introduction, Bolivia saw reduction in infant mortality between 37.7% in urban areas. Even in rural areas, the program saw a 29.9% drop in infant mortality, which, although still less than the drop in metropolitan areas, represented a significant change.

However, the effects of SUMI have been blunted, if not entirely counteracted, since this initial drop.

The seeds for this decline can be found written into SUMI itself. According to a study done by Focal, SUMI’s plan to attack statistics was limited to quick fixes. Every service that SUMI provided was a double-edged sword, all of which left the deep roots of maternal health barriers in Bolivia untouched.

Where SUMI expanded the number of ailments covered by insurance, it also drastically tightened the program’s membership requirements, restricting it to women who had given birth within the past six months and children under the age of five. Previously, Bolivian health insurance had covered all women of childbearing age as well as the general population for endemic disease. SUMI cut the general public endemic disease coverage entirely, along with several family planning services for non-pregnant women.

Focal reports that “health indicators worsened after its [SUMI’s] implementation, particularly in rural areas. Inequity in health outcomes also grew because the services of high complexity that the SUMI plan made available in urban areas never reached the segment of the population [rural, indigenous communities] that needed them most.”

This “icon for Bolivia” is perhaps one of the most stark examples of one of the most common failures in public health: the rush to address startling statistics, instead of attacking underlying socioeconomic, or even cultural, gender-based problems.

According to UNICEF, Bolivian women exist in a culturally persistent subordinate role to men. Their rates of illiteracy are significantly higher, ranging as high as 37.91%, compared to 14.42% of men. This gap also drastically decreases the number of women who are capable of participating in the workforce, giving women less access to employment-based private healthcare options.

These socioeconomic and cultural forces show that the answer to improving Bolivian maternal health is more complicated than implementing a system of health-services handouts. It is not about the number of services the state can provide; it is about changing the situations of people receiving those services.

– Emma Betuel

Sources: Unicef, The Guardian, ITG, WHO, Focal
Photo: Projects Abroad

,

Pilot Program Trains Health Workers for Post-Ebola

Pilot Program Trains Health Workers for Work Post Ebola

After tending to Ebola patients in West Africa for over a year, health workers have begun returning to their regular jobs. Because of the disease’s decline, a pilot training program to prepare these employees to return to work took place in May 2015 in Liberia.

The training program’s aim was to “refresh important skills but also address weaknesses exposed by the Ebola outbreak,” according to Foday Kanneh, a Ministry of Health training coordinator. Dr. April Baller, head of World Health Organization’s (WHO) clinical management and infection control—along with other prevention teams and Ministry of Health and WHO staff—created the training program. It was a rigorous course designed to “support the restoration and strengthening of the health system which virtually collapsed during the epidemic, while also giving health workers the confidence and capacity to respond in the event that Ebola re-emerges,” said Baller.

Although Ebola is in decline, no one knows when it could return. This disease first appeared in 1976 and did not resurface in human beings between 1977 and 1994. With such erratic exposure, health workers need to be trained for the post-Ebola environment.

Doris Sannoh, a trainee and social worker in Liberia, said that she normally worked in an outreach capacity to prevent HIV and gender-based violence. During the outbreak, she found herself working in the triage area of the hospital, counseling and assisting sick patients. “I never had any infection prevention training as a social worker, but I needed it. As health workers, we all need training like this.”

The training sessions were led by 40 trained facilitators and assisted by Ebola survivors. The survivors role played the parts of patients and critiqued the trainees on the quality of care they administered. In order to ensure that the training acquired during the sessions was used regularly and effectively, on-site mentoring and monitoring was crucial, according to Kanneh. Currently, the Ministry of Health and the WHO are evaluating the course and, if appropriate, will refine it and expand it throughout the country.

According to the WHO, “The West African Ebola outbreak has been the largest, most severe and most complex in human history.” When the outbreak began in March 2014, health workers from all over the world stepped up to work with the WHO to stop the epidemic. It peaked in September 2014 and is now in decline. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone reported a combined total of 27,705 confirmed, probable and suspected cases up to July 19, 2015. Deaths from confirmed as well as probable and suspected cases totaled 11,269.

The good news is that in the week before July 19, Guinea reported only 22 new confirmed cases, and Sierra Leone reported four. This good news gets even better: Liberia has not reported any new cases in the week before July 19. Currently in Liberia, 56 people who have had contact with Ebola patients are under follow-up care. Eighteen have completed the 21-day surveillance period. If no new cases arise, all contacts will complete follow-up by August 2.

– Janet Quinn

Sources: WHO 1, WHO 2, WHO 3
Photo: World Health Organization

,

Women’s World Cup Star Ali Krieger Partners with MiracleFeet

miraclefeet

The sports buzz of the past few weeks has surrounded the U.S. Women’s World Cup team as they brought home the title of world champions. Amidst the attention and celebrations, some of the women are doing more than just playing soccer.

Goalie Hope Solo works with a variety of sports foundations and children hospital efforts. Players Ashlyn Harris, Ali Krieger, Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath, Christine Press and Megan Rapinoe advocate for the organization To Write Love on Her Arms: an organization that addresses depression, addiction, self-harm and suicide in our society. Midfielder Megan Rapinoe uses her platform for equality and human rights with groups such as HRC and GLSEN.

However, Ali Krieger, defender and midfielder for the U.S. Women’s National Team and Washington Spirit, has specifically paired up with MiracleFeet, an organization that “increases access to proper treatment for children born with clubfoot in developing countries.” Over the course of just five years, the organization has helped provide treatment for more than 10,000 children in 13 various countries.

Clubfoot is a distortion of the foot that is twisted so that the sole cannot properly be placed on the ground. With over 1 million children around the world currently living with untreated clubfoot, it is one of the most common birth defects worldwide. MiracleFeet is directly tackling this serious, but treatable concern for children.

In places such as the United States and Europe, clubfoot is detected before birth via ultrasounds and can be treated promptly after birth, allowing children to continue on with active lives. Mia Hamm and Troy Aikman are among many professional athletes that were born with clubfoot. Their active and successful lives are proof of the worthiness of treatment.

But in developing countries, the technology and methods needed are not readily available for many children. Without treatment, life is increasingly difficult in developing countries. Stigmas, discrimination, shame and the inability to walk directly impacts their access to education and healthcare.

Disturbingly, children and adults with untreated clubfoot also fall prey to increased neglect and physical and sexual abuse.

The good news is that a child in a developing country with clubfoot can be completely treated through MiracleFeet for just $250. While so many issues in our world are unsolvable or out of reach, treating clubfoot is neither of those.

The process to correct clubfoot is known as the Ponseti method. Plaster casts are applied to the child’s feet for four to six weeks and are changed weekly to ensure proper and swift treatment. Over the next several years, a brace is worn at night to prevent relapsing. This simple and inexpensive treatment for children changes their lives forever.

When asked why she has partnered with the organization, Krieger responded that “People need people in this world… With MiracleFeet, every kid has the chance to walk, to run or even one day play soccer.”

By promoting it on her website and through videos describing what MiracleFeet does for children and why she has partnered with them, Ali Krieger has spread the word of this need and cause to people around the world.

“Giving this opportunity to them, it’s something that people should cherish and take a part of.” MiracleFeet is not just correcting clubfoot; it’s rewriting the stories of countless lives.

– Katherine Wyant

Sources: TWLOHA, Human Rights Campaign, GLSEN, Medical News Today, Miracle Feet, Alikrieger, Vimeo
Photo: Soccer.com