Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Portable Sinks Offer Solution in Cambodia

portable_sinksAccording to the World Heath Organization (WHO), across the globe nearly 800,000 children die of diarrheal diseases each year. What’s more, these deaths are preventable with access to proper sanitation and hygiene tools. Fortunately, a new innovation from the nonprofit WaterSHED offers a solution: portable sinks.

Hand washing, WaterSHED asserts, is key to preventing diarrhea. However, in a country like Cambodia, where 80 percent of the population lives in impoverished rural areas, hand washing often gets left by the wayside.

Enter the LaBobo, a portable, inexpensive sink whose bright colors are designed to engage children in the hygiene process. Each unit costs $15 and is capable of dispensing up to 15 liters of water.

The LaBobo, which was designed with input from Vietnamese families in the Mekong Delta, is built with a low-flow spout that acts as a means to conserve water. The sinks are designed to be child-accessible and are also outfitted with a soap dish, which promotes the full hygiene routine.

WaterSHED asserted in a recent press release: “If we consistently wash our hands at critical times, especially after using a toilet or before preparing food, we can prevent nearly half the cases of diarrheal disease and one third of the cases of other potentially fatal infections, according to the World Bank.”

According to Om Prasad Gautam, technical support manager with charity WaterAid, improved hand washing habits also help to promote the impact of other health initiatives.

However, in a study conducted of 79 households throughout Cambodia, researchers from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and University of California, Davis found that a mere five percent of these homes were outfitted with “dedicated hand-washing equipment.”

This is a shortage that WaterSHED regional program manager Geoff Revell understands.

“If you give people a bucket and a piece of soap, more often than not you will find the bucket ends up being used for something else,” Revell said. “But if they spend some money on a product they like and actually want to own, it’s much more likely that they will keep using it and form a healthy habit of washing their hands regularly.”

The LaBobo is designed to meet the need for dedicated hand-washing equipment by virtue of its clear function as a sink and its appealing design, which has already engaged the households serviced by the 10,000 LaBobo units sold in Vietnam.

In Cambodia, where proper sanitation is still a challenge and a mere 44 percent of the population has access to both soap and water, small steps toward improving hand washing practices represent enormous progress. Cambodia has one of the greatest under-age-five mortality rates in the world, but with tools like the LaBobo on their side Cambodia’s children are cleaning up their hygiene act.

– Emma-Claire LaSaine

Sources: WaterSHED, Huffington Post, Trust.org
Photo: WaterSHED

6 Reasons Cob Houses Could Shelter the Poor

Cob_Houses

6 Reasons Cob Houses Could Shelter the Poor

1. Cob is one of the world’s most common building materials. It is similar to clay, but is a mixture of lumps of earth, sand, and straw. These materials are not difficult to obtain and are often incredibly cheap.

2. Because it does not use bricks, wooden structures, or particular forms, it is easy to shape. Historically, cob houses were shaped and mixed by people through shoveling and stomping, or by large animals, such as horses and oxen. There are many natural builders who consult and help train people to build with cob.

3. Cob houses are perfect for extreme conditions; they are cool in the summer and warm in the winter. They are ideal for places of either cold climates or desert conditions. They can absorb substantial amounts of rain without softening. Only when it is completely submerged with water will it become more likely that the home with erode with time. However, with a sturdy roof and thick walls, it will be nearly impossible to drench and destroy the house.

4. Using cob as a building material does not contribute to deforestation and pollution. By building homes out of cob, builders conserve and protect the environment.

5. Everyone appreciates the opportunity to add personal touches to their home. Cob houses can be easily and quickly painted with clays and natural dyes.

6. Cob houses stand the test of time. Some of the oldest enduring cob homes are in Devon, England and New Zealand. However, Africa, India, and the Middle East also have a long history of cob construction. One of the most notable is the Emara Palace in Najran, Saudi Arabia. In south Yemen, there is a cob city called Shibam. Near the border of Ghana, Africa, there are many towns filled with cob homes. If these buildings have lasted 100 plus years, cob houses are proof that we can shelter the poor in sturdy, protective, and lasting homes.

– Kelsey Parrotte

Sources: Barefoot Builder, Cob Cottage Company, Devon Earth Buildings, Inspiration Green, Network Earth
Photo: Inspiration Green

India Aims to Eradicate Lymphatic Filariasis

Lymphatic_FilariasisNeglected tropical diseases, or NTDs, are preventable illnesses that impact the poorest regions of the world. The NTD Lymphatic Filariasis (elephantiasis, LF) threatens millions of people across India today. The disease causes intense pain and physically disfigures the bodies of those it plagues.

LF, like other NTDs, is preventable. In many cases across the world NTDs infect millions in extremely poor regions because there is no treatment available.

In India this is not the case; treatment is being made widely available. The Indian government has recently launched an ambitious goal of eradicating LF, providing treatment to around 460 million people in 17 different Indian states.

The reason LF remains present in India today is due to lack of disease awareness and education surrounding the disease. There is also a general suspicion towards pharmaceuticals distributed by the government or by large organizations. For these reasons, people simply do not consume the pills they receive.

Almost half the population of India is at risk of contracting LF. LF takes around eight to ten years to begin visibly showing its damage; and this delay often makes people forget about the danger of this NTD. Prevention of LF, despite the public’s hesitancy toward it, is extremely easy. It requires only the consumption of pills.

To raise awareness about LF and prevention and to try to persuade Indians to take the pills they receive, The Indian Ministry of Health and Welfare along with the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases has created a public service campaign called “Hathipaon Mukt Bharat” or Filaria Free India in the hopes of eradicating LF through education on the disease and the importance of pill consumption.

The creative campaign includes three TV and cinema videos in 10 languages; radio, newspaper and print, cellphone, and online advertisements are also a part of the campaign. The goal is to create awareness and a shared sense of nationalistic determination to unite all and help eradicate the disease.

Research indicates that in advertisements, audiences react much more strongly to positive messages. And the campaign is simple and uplifting, that LF pills are safe and free, and together India can overcome LF. Powerful imagery also captures the audience’s attention; a man in late stages of LF stands disfigured at a small hospital clinic. He explains to children how he “never thought it would happen to me.”

India is a diverse country, celebrating over 780 languages. The background music of the campaign is in Sanskrit,the language of ancient India that many religious texts are written in. It is not spoken today and only a few scholars and religious people know how to read it. It unites the country with its rich history. The lyrics translate to “Every sign or indication leads us to the path of knowledge. And the journey across that path of knowledge leads us to absolute truth.”

Over 200,000 health workers in 14 Indian states were involved in the initial campaign drive. They helped expose over 300 million people in India to information on LF.

“India has made great strides over the last decade to eliminate lymphatic filariasis in endemic states and we are now on the verge of reaching elimination targets nationally. However, the last mile of the journey is often the most difficult. We are employing a wide range of new communications tactics and partnerships that will help us encourage all people at risk from this disease to consume their free dose of medicine during our annual mass drug administrations” explained Mr. C.K. Mishra, Additional Secretary and Mission Director of the National Health Mission at the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

– Margaret Anderson

Sources: WHO, Impatient Optimists, Sabin
Photo: National Geographic

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Fighting Corruption 101

fighting_corruptionFrom the bottom of the bureaucratic ladder to the highest offices of the state, most developing nations suffer some degree of systematic corruption. Such abuses of power are wrong and harmful to the cause of relieving people from poverty worldwide. Corruption is about self-interest and using the power vested in the state for one’s own gains, instead of helping society as a whole. What strategies work to help fight corruption and simultaneously assist the struggle against poverty?

One key strategy used to fight institutional corruption, is to keep governments accountable. Accountability is only achievable by watching the government. Watching the government and people in office requires transparency. Too many secrets in government can keep corrupt practices under the covers and away from the eyes of the fourth estate – journalists.

Journalists are a critical to keeping governments and officials accountable to the people they preside over. Without transparency of government affairs, journalists’ ability to do proper reporting is often compromised, and this system of checks-and-balances becomes weakened. Corruption can be held back by vocal journalists with access to government documents and news, so that they may raise concerns and questions to the general population.

Corruption is also made easier when the bureaucracy grows too large and unwieldy. The farther the public is from the top levels of government, the easier it is for someone in between to take advantage of his or her own position. Minimizing red tape means there is less of an opportunity for someone to be corrupted. There is a correlation between high levels of pointless and unhelpful regulation, and corrupt practices in government.

A third method to reducing corruption, and one of the most effective – but difficult to quantify and implement – is to simply create stronger institutions of governance and regulation. A strong institution is one that has loyal employees and is immune to most corruption because of its own internal integrity. Paying good wages and benefits to government workers is highly effective in working against corruption because the monetary incentives for corruption would be severely weakened by good wages.

Introducing technology to handle tasks is also an effective way to reduce corruption. It’s much harder to cook the books or do other similar elicit activity when software takes care of the work on its own and can spot irregularities.

Fighting corruption is imperative to creating conditions in which poverty can be systematically eliminated. Corruption often manifests itself through rent-seeking behaviors where regulators are “captured” (corrupted by the people that would have been regulated), and these behaviors are often very regressive against the poor because of their lack of political voice in most cases. Reducing corruption is also beneficial to local economies because it allows outside investors to have greater interest in the region, due to less risk of higher sunk costs.

Corruption is detrimental to the economy and bad for the poor. Using these aforementioned strategies can help eliminate the culture of corruption in many developing nations, as well as already developed ones.

– Martin Yim

Sources: World Bank, European Commission, IMF
Photo: World Bank

Angonix is Connecting Angola to the World Wide Web

AngonixA platform for neutral Internet traffic exchange was set up in Luanda, the capital of Angola. It is called Angonix and it is meant to help serve all Internet users with improved content viewing by structuring a better connection with global networks and content providers. With a previously less optimal experience in Angola, Angonix will expand Internet usage to the South African Development Community and elsewhere.

Angonix will change the connection performance. Content delivered by outside sources had provided minimal performance and high latency. The main goal of Angonix is to ensure every member connected to the platform will have low latency and improved content.

Angonix is operated by Angola Cables, who also oversee the connectivity of Angola with the world’s undersea fibre-optic cables. With Angonix, quality service to content will enable the progression of African Internet outreach and global connection. Places in Africa, such as Zambia, still rely on satellite Internet connectivity, which is ultimately unreliable.

Launched March 16, 2015, the expected traffic has enhanced quality content especially in exchanging information between clients and providers. In the past, local clients had to travel some distance to interconnect. This was thanks to configuration problems of network providers.

Working to minimize that distance, providers will have easy access in communicating with clients and vice versa. This development is meant to dramatically change the African Internet landscape. It’s been designed to reach beyond Angola and to help provide low latency between Africa, East Asia and the Americas.

iHub is an online and offline community that hosts a place for 50 companies to connect to clients and has held 500 events. It is a space for online developers working with technology software and is a very well known site in Africa.
Sites like this need to be able to connect elsewhere on the continent. Governments are currently struggling with net neutrality debates and whether or not laws should be in place to support investments that connect rural Africa to enabled environments.

Fibre-optic cables are still needed in South Africa to improve Internet access and link those citizens to the world. The problem is that homes and businesses cannot connect.

Rural Africa is the untapped market. Lesser-developed regions such as Somalia had 200 users in 2000, but 163,185 users in 2014 with a population of 10 million. The Congo Democratic Republic had 500 users in 2000, but 1.7 million users in 2014 with a population of 77 million.

The Communication Commission of Kenya reported 330 thousand mobile users in 2001, and 30 million in 2013. The Angola population had 30 thousand people using the Internet in the year 2000, and 4 million in 2014 with a population of 19 million. Kenya had 200 thousand Internet users in 2000, but 21 million users in 2014 with a population of 45 million.

In sub-Saharan Africa there are over 754 million connections and over 35 mobile networks operators. An SMS-based banking system called M-Pesa in Kenya transfers $24 million daily. Zimbabwe’s EcoCash signed up 2.3 million people in more than a year, after starting in 2011. More than a million accounts push $200 million through EcoCash monthly.

Yet, the continent produces less than one Terabits per second. Angola produces 20 gigabits per second. The demand of improved, constant Internet access is supposed to raise Terabit per second to 10 by 2020, according to TeleGeography.

Projects like West African Cables Systems and South Africa Cable Systems improve connectivity as Angonix improves capacity services. With this, better quality increases capacity of performance, communication and outreach.

The Southern African Development Community has advanced its Internet market. The opportunity for expansion and innovation comes from this improvement. Angola Cables is working to better the growth of Africa with its new technologies in providing services. By improving outreach to the World Wide Web Africa’s communication and business, practices will continue to enhance and expand to rural areas.

– Katie Groe

Sources: IT News Africa, Angola Cables, Angonix 1, Angonix 2, UN, Internet Word Stats
Photo: Africa 21

In Brazil, Breastfeeding Positively Correlates with Education Level

In Brazil, Breastfeeding Positively Correlates with Education Level
What do breastfeeding, IQ range, education, and income all have to do with each other?

In Pelotas, Brazil, a recent study reveals the long-term benefits of breastfeeding. While the short term health and nutrition benefits have been widely acknowledged, this study has discovered new and exciting benefits to breastfeeding.

Here are the two key findings:

1. Duration and predominance of breastfeeding are positively associated with IQ, educational attainment, and income.

2. There is a dose-response association with breastfeeding duration for IQ and educational attainment.

The study was implemented with a population-based birth cohort from 1982. Information about breastfeeding patterns was recorded in early childhood. 30 years later, information related to IQ, levels of education, and income was collected.

Participants who were breastfed for at least 12 months had higher IQ scores, more years of education, and even higher monthly incomes compared to those participants who were breastfed for less than one month.

These results could have important implications for developing countries and the reduction of poverty. It is critical that mothers are supported in breastfeeding. It is recognized that there is not a direct causal link. However, the long-term results from this study could imply that children who are breastfed are more likely to achieve the education that will help them provide for their families. This offers them the opportunity to draw their communities out of poverty.

While breastfeeding is not the only factor related to potential education attainment and income, this study demonstrates that it is an important one. Further evaluation is needed to understand how programs can disseminate information about the long-term benefits of breastfeeding and support parents in this decision.

– Iliana Lang

Sources: The Lancet

Child Poverty Indicators and What They Mean

child_poverty_indicators
On September 2000 at the Millennium Summit, world UN leaders decided to enact the UN Millennium Declaration, a document which asked the world community to meet 8 goals by 2015. As 2015 is upon us, many countries are struggling to meet every goal, but there is no denying that this commitment was a good benchmark for development. Due to the goal’s relative success and the apparent need for more time, many in the international community have begun to developed a new set of goals called sustainable development goals (SDGs), which will allow countries to progress in a mildly regimented fashion. In order to assure world leaders that these goals are being met, the committee has developed a set of indicators which will track different contries’ progression as it rises from poverty.

The first sustainable development goal aims to eradicate extreme poverty—indicated by families who live on less than $1.25 per day—for all people, everywhere, by the year 2030. The proposed indicator for families living in extreme poverty is the percentage of the population living on less than $1.25 a day, disaggregated by the age of the population. This allows the committee and the global community to effectively measure how many children are affected by extreme poverty, and thus take action against it.

Another sustainable development goal will work toward reducing the number of men, women and children living in poverty by any and all of its definitions throughout the world by at least half by 2030. The committee has proposed to indicate this poverty by monitoring the percentage of children (ages 0-17) living below the poverty line and the percentage of children living under multidimensional poverty. This is a lofty goal but there are several task forces and global initiatives that have been enacted to combat this type of poverty.

The global community is finally realizing the importance role children play in world progress. Poverty affects families throughout the world, even in developed countries such as the U.S., where 1 in 8 children go hungry every day. By focusing on children, society is creating a much stronger future; children are the future leaders and decision makers of our world, and by improving their standard of living and providing them with better educations, we can create a world of well-educated, caring individuals.

By introducing child poverty indicators, the global community has created a definitive line, which marks the division between poverty and extreme poverty. In enacting these methods of measurement, it will soon become easier to identify which nations require more assistance and what exactly needs to be done. The sheer existence of such indicators shows the international communities’ heightened awareness of the impact children will have on our societies and the importance of a healthy childhood.

The Millennium Development Goals were the first step in a long path led by the United Nations, and they have helped the global community progress immensely. If we focus on sustainable development and allow society to progress in a ways that benefit everyone, including the environment, we can create a much happier, healthier and caring world.

– Sumita Tellakat

Sources: UNICEF, UN Millennium Project
Photo: Poverties.org

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Celebrities High-Five For UNICEF

UNICEF In association with the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015, Canadian and U.S. celebrities are participating in the #HighFiveIt campaign for UNICEF with the universal high-five gesture.

According to UNICEF, almost one thousand children die every day worldwide because of the lack of clean water. Conditions are worsened for those without proper nutrition, immunizations, safety and infant health.

The #HighFiveIt campaign raises money to develop strategies to solve these issues as well as implement the plans created. UNICEF will also help to educate the areas that suffer from these problems with techniques that continue to improve upon the tactics that UNICEF will put in place.

In Canada, Karina LeBlanc, the Canadian Women’s National Team goalkeeper and UNICEF ambassador, helped start the campaign by high-fiving Christine Sinclair, the captain of Canada’s team.
UNICEF asks that supporters take part in #HighFiveIt by posting a photo or video of a high-five during a sporting match, tagging five friends in the post and donating to UNICEF.

Among the supporters are many celebrities who have pledged to help save lives of children in poor areas. Disney Channel stars Calum Worthy, Raini Rodriguez and Laura Marano are giving their high-fives for UNICEF, and so are Rico Rodriguez from “Modern Family” and Peter Mooney, Missy Peregrym, Priscilla Faia and Erin Karpluck from “Rookie Blue.”

In addition, several other Canadian and American politicians, athletes and celebrities are pledging to #HighFiveIt to save citizens in poor areas.

UNICEF Canada’s Chief Development Officer, Sharon Avery, said that she is very pleased with the support from these celebrities as their backing will draw a lot of attention to the cause.

“It’s wonderful to see our homegrown talent, along with several American celebrities, taking part in this campaign to save lives,” Avery said. “I’ve seen the impact of UNICEF’s work with children in Honduras and Dominica and am excited to have my passions — soccer and reaching children through UNICEF — come together with #HighFiveIt.”

Though their involvement was very important, celebrities were not the only people taking part in #HighFiveIt. 7,238 UNICEF fans took part in the Guinness World Record for the greatest number of people simultaneously giving a high-five. This event broke the previous record by 2,542 people.

With such a large number of supporters giving high-fives, UNICEF hopes to reach their goals. The organization’s website offers five different life-saving options to donate to, the first being “greatest gift.” If the donator chooses to give to “greatest gift,” the money will be presented to areas that need change the most.

“Children living in conflict and vulnerable situations will benefit from your generosity,” UNICEF said.

By selecting “infant health,” the donator will fund the implementation of baby-friendly hospitals, training of health-care workers and breastfeeding education for mothers. If the supporter chooses “vaccines,” the donation will be used to provide vital vaccinations for tetanus, polio, measles and other life-threatening diseases. By clicking on “nutrition,” the funding will go to efforts to end starvation and malnutrition, and with the selection of “water,” the donation will be used to create water-catchment devices for a better opportunity to provide clean water to developing areas.

Because UNICEF presents the chance of choosing to give directly to causes that the supporter prefers, the organization has created a more personal donation experience. That being said, each dollar the supporter gives to their choice source will be matched by UNICEF, up to two million dollars.

Celebrities and fans of UNICEF can potentially raise more than four million dollars with this promise. To join the cause and help save the lives of people in need, go to unicef.ca or search #HighFiveIt.

– Fallon Lineberger

Sources: Look to the Stars, UNICEF 1, UNICEF 2, UNICEF 3
Photo: Newswire

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How Cell Phones are Helping Us Fight Ebola

fight_ebolaThe Ebola outbreak in West Africa continues remains a major public health concern worldwide. In the face of this tragedy, technology provides great hope in managing the disease and providing aid to individuals and healthcare providers. Many technologies are on the forefront of fighting disaster, but the most valuable tool to fight Ebola is probably in your pocket.

Africa has experienced a boom in cell phone ownership in recent years, which has extended to West Africa. As a result, cell phones are providing patients and families of patients with services such as ebola hotlines. Cell phones also allow health workers to be paid electronically, allow clinics to flag when they’re low on supplies and allow individuals to resolve rumors of ebola by texting local radio stations.

Eric King, an innovation specialist who worked with USAID’s Disaster Assistance Response Team in Liberia, said, “among the technological tools that have amplified the Ebola response, arguably none has been more helpful than the mobile phone.”

And it’s not just helpful for individuals. Cell phone companies collect “call data records,” which manage caller identity and the time of the call, along with being able to identify the customer’s location. These records, held by CDRs, are highly valuable to epidemiologists.

But cell phones have been most valuable in fighting Ebola in the hands of health care workers. The mHero program uses information to bring together people making a difference in coordinating a response to this crisis.

The mHero program brings cell phones together with many services. These services include the iHRIS program, a human resource tracking service used within the health sector of 19 countries, along with UNICEF’s SMS platform and information sharing systems such as OpenHIE and DHIS 2.

The mHero programs bring all of this together to allow key text messages to be sent to heath workers internationally, even in remote areas where there is traditionally less access to cell phone service. Having access to this large database of information allows for messages to be targeted to health workers in relevant locations.

According to intrahealth, mHero is also useful to government officials, who can use it to conduct monitoring processes along with data analysis and surveys. The service, which launched in Liberia in September, represents perhaps a major victory in the fight against Ebola.

Information is power. Cell phones are an accessible technology which provide people worldwide with information. It should be no surprise, then, that cell phones are an incredible source of power in responding to the Ebola crisis.

– Andrew Michaels

Sources: Intrahealth, Harvard, The Economist, USAID
Photo: Empower Magazine

Beyoncé, Pearl Jam, More Set to Play MSNBC’s Global Citizen Festival

Beyonce-Global-Citizen-FestivalMSNBC’s Global Citizen Festival, an annual concert which raises support for anti-global poverty movements, now proudly boasts Beyoncé, Pearl Jam, Ed Sheeran and Coldplay as supporters of the cause.

The concert, which will be held Saturday, September 6th in New York City’s Central Park, is a six-hour long show that will air for free on MSNBC’s website. MSNBC is estimating that over 60,000 people alone will visit the website on the day of the show.

“The Global Citizen Festival will channel the power of hundreds of thousands of global citizens, lending their voices to achieve policy and financial commitments that will shape the future,” Hugh Evans, CEO of the Global Poverty Project, told MSNBC.”

Attending the event in person is going to require a bit more participation than simply opening a website, however. Those interested in acquiring tickets to the show must complete five “Action Journeys,” which include calling the State Department and telling them to “commit 50 percent of the U.S foreign aid budget to the world’s poorest countries,” amongst other tasks.

The Global Citizen Festival is coinciding with the announcement of the UN’s new Global Goals program, which is seeking to eliminate global poverty by 2030. According to MSNBC, these goals “carry the promise of equal rights and opportunity for women and men: the promise to live a healthy and dignified life, the promise for every child to survive and thrive.”

Past incarnations of the Global Citizen Festival have proven to be successful. The Global Citizen Organization boasts over $18.3 million in cash donations since 2012.

“By making this call, we will show the U.S. administration that the world is watching and demand concrete solutions that will lead to the end of extreme poverty by 2030,” Evans added.

– Alexander Jones

Sources: Huffington Post, Newsbusters, MSNBC
Photo: Entertainment Weekly