Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Ghana: A Poverty Success Story

ghanaWhile this may come as a shock, Ghana has recently been proclaimed a poverty alleviation success story. Sergiy Kulyk, the World Bank Country Coordinator for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, is certainly a credible source. He applauds the anti-poverty action that has taken place in Ghana, and plans for an even brighter future.

Through a carefully crafted recipe of World Bank support, social protection, and government intervention, Ghana has been able to overcome major economic and societal hurdles. It was the first in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of reducing poverty and hunger ahead of the 2015 deadline.

Kulyk originally recommended a reverse mission between the World Bank and Ghana under Ghana’s Social Protection program. This was the first of its kind in the history of the World Bank’s relations with Ghana. Its theme, “Safety nets in Ghana- Innovation and Successes,” helped guide anti-poverty action in the right direction.

Currently, the World Bank supports Social Protection interventions in Ghana through an $88.6 million Social Opportunities Project. Additionally, $50 million is financed for ongoing projects, making the Bank’s total contribution $138.6 million. In the future, the Bank will continue to help reverse Ghana’s poverty situation.

In terms of social protection, there are forty-four programs targeting extremely poor individuals, households, and entire communities in Ghana. For Ghana’s most vulnerable and severely marginalized, these mechanisms bring the social assistance and capacity enhancement needed to break out of poverty.

The government is currently working to ensure that the living conditions of Ghana’s poor population are improved through social intervention programs. Specifically, labor-intensive programs implemented across sixty districts will soon be scaled up in order to achieve the best poverty-reducing and livelihood-improving results.

In countries like Bangladesh, Mexico, and Ghana, regular cash and asset transfers to the poor have helped alleviate poverty by securing food needs and improving access to health and education. Additionally, small, regular income transfers enable the poor to make small investments — a hugely important step in poverty reduction.

It is important to note that while Ghana has successfully cut poverty in half, nine years from now approximately 6 million people will still live in poverty, with 2.2 million living in extreme poverty. Although this does not negate the significance of what has already been achieved, it is a crucial reminder of what is to come.

It is true that there is no perfect model for poverty alleviation. However, there are certainly key elements of focus that have consistently brought the most significant results. By adhering to this wide-reaching, gradually emerging poverty-fighting recipe, Ghana has made leaps and bounds in its poverty fight.

The most common poverty-fighting packages include some combination of microcredit financial aid, public works, training, agricultural extension services, financial literacy and links to credit units. In other African countries like Rwanda, childhood development and childcare services have become key areas of focus too.

Poverty is a complex issue that can be attacked from an infinite number of points. Depending on the time, place, and people involved, target areas fluctuate in terms of severity and significance. Still, at the most basic level, there is a lot to be learned from such success stories. Hopefully, Ghana’s model will spur more like its kind.

– Sarah Bernard

Sources: Graphic Online, allAfrica
Photo: Flickr

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China’s Ambitious Plan for its Higher Education System

higher_educationDuring the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing, China’s notoriously polluted capital, a controversial interview surfaced on the website of Tsinghua University. Alleged to have the support of university president Binglin Gu, the interview condemned the Chinese higher education system as teeming with “serious academic corruption dry and irrelevant to society curriculum, and rote memorization teaching methods.” It continued on to say, “The old-fashioned methods of teaching and teaching material caused our society to lose many Da Vinci’s and Bill Gates … up to now, China has no Nobel prize-winners, which has a lot to do with this kind of education pattern.”

While the interview was later revealed to be a fabrication by hackers, it still garnered enough attention to challenge the effectiveness of Chinese higher education, now the largest system of tertiary education in the world. The question remains though: Are the claims true?

As the report claims, China’s education style is, in a way, old fashioned. China has long favored memorization and exams for its education. This tradition dates all the way back to the 7th century, when China’s growing bureaucracy created the challenging keju exam system in order to select the best administrators. More than a millennium has passed, but the importance of the exam in Chinese education remains.

The college entrance exams, or the gaokao, a modern form of the ancient keju, serves as the single admission criteria for all Chinese universities. It has become a national obsession for college-bound students. In order to succeed on these intensely rigorous tests, the college hopeful have resorted to “cram-schools,” which fill the hours between school and bedtime with studying. On weekends, some 20,000 students will arrive at certain cram schools at 6:20 in the morning only to return home over 14 hours later.

The college admissions process has also received criticism for its bias and discrimination. Reports have suggested that more wealthy, urban students from influential cities like Shanghai and Beijing are 41 times more likely to be admitted to Peking University compared to more rural and poorer students from the province of Anhui.

Not surprisingly, more testing means Chinese students spend more time in classrooms than their Western peers. While more than one-third of Chinese college students experience 30 hours of class time a week, the average UK college student spends 14 hours equally working inside and outside of the classroom. In comparison, 40 percent of Chinese college students spend less than five hours working outside of class.

The Chinese obsession with tests corresponds to the increasing attendance and funding among the country’s colleges. In 1999, the Chinese government expanded its education system in order to jumpstart its stagnant economy. The number of graduating students has spiked since then. In 2003 there were 2.12 million university graduates in China, with almost 7 million a decade later, according to government estimates.

However, this investment in education has not entirely paid off. As more and more Chinese have enrolled in universities, China has found its economy actually decelerating, albeit in small amounts. Recent graduates have also struggled with employment, with only 35 percent having found employment. Post-graduate students fare even worse, with only 26 percent having found employment.

While China has invested greatly in its own higher education, its best universities still cannot hold a candle to those elsewhere, particularly in the West. This has led a large number of Chinese students to seek more valuable college educations abroad to get an edge in an increasingly difficult domestic job market. More than 3 million Chinese students have chosen to study abroad and they represent 20 percent of international students from OECD countries.

These international students often do not return home. In fact, according to a study, 85 percent of Chinese students who earned their doctorate in America in 2006 were still there five years later. With so many potential academics and intellectuals not returning to the country, many proclaim that China has a “brain-drain.” Only recently have Chinese citizens begun to win Nobel prizes for work done in their home country.

To entice its many expatriate academics back to their homeland, China has offered generous benefits. Those who return can expect free housing, a 1 million Yuan bonus and state-of-the-art facilities. The results were exceptional: From 2005 to 2012, published research articles from universities rose by 54 percent, with patents increasing eightfold. However, returning professors still have to work in an academic environment that restricts their research. Currently, the Chinese government plays a major role in directing research and rewards academics for the quantity of articles published rather than their quality.

Yet the sheer amount of money China has invested in its higher education system should guarantee results, a Harvard Business Review article stressed. It predicted that China will soon produce the most PhDs of any country in the world and lauded the increasing productivity of its professors.

The question still remains as to whether or not China can innovate and compete in both the realms of business and education. While perhaps less revered and creative, China’s universities are pioneering a controversial yet forward-looking path. To those guiding this burgeoning system, quantity has a quality of its own.

– Andrew Logan

Sources: The Economist, Harvard Business Review, New York Times 1, New York Times 2, Times Higher Education, TIME, University of Buffalo
Photo: New York Times

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10 Facts About Internet in Africa

Internet in Africa-TBPWhile most members of developing nations have access to the Internet in their homes, in their workplaces and in various public locations, many Africans struggle to access the Internet. Here are 10 facts about the progress and struggles regarding Internet in Africa:

1. In October 2007, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) held the first part of its Connect the World series in Kigali, Rwanda to demonstrate its commitment to foster development of telecommunications across Africa, a key aspect of the Millennium Development Goals.

2. As a continent, Africa has seen steady growth in Internet penetration since its rate of .78 percent in 2000. Internet has now reached 20.7 percent of Africa, but there are major disparities in Internet access and use across the continent.

3. The leading countries with the highest Internet penetration rates are Morocco at 56 percent, Egypt at 50 percent and South Africa at 49.8 percent. Meanwhile, various nations throughout the continent are still at rates below 2 percent. Despite these differences, all African nations have experienced Internet growth in recent years.

4. The majority of African countries have Internet penetration rates below 10 percent, which is well below the 20 percent benchmark rate determined for Internet access to benefit countries economically.

5. A total of 10.7 percent of African households have Internet access. Meanwhile, almost half of African Internet users access the Internet via mobile device. Social media usage accounts for about a third of Internet use for these users.

6. Bandwidth is significantly more scarce across Africa than in developing nations, making Internet access much more expensive across the continent. In recent years, increased investment in infrastructure such as national landing stations has allowed some bandwidth expansion, therefore slightly increasing capacity for connectivity.

7. According to Kojo Boakye, policy manager of the Alliance for Affordable Internet, no developing countries have met the ITU’s affordability benchmark of connectivity costing less than 5 percent of monthly income for the world’s potential users that survive on less than two dollars per day. He said that, for many countries in Africa, the cost of fixed broadband comprises almost half of an average citizen’s monthly income.

8. Internet users in Africa pay up to 40 times more for access than users in developed countries. There are many initiatives in place to decrease these rates, but there has been substantial difficulty in implementation. One of these goals involves establishing at least one Internet eXchange Point (IXP) in every African nation in order to promote the construction of infrastructure that makes Internet access cheaper and faster. Another initiative is in place to migrate from analog to digital broadcasting in order to free up unused spectrum, thus increasing access opportunities. However, by June 2014, only 19 countries had begun this transition and only three had completely transitioned. Another initiative is to accelerate adoption of IPv6, which ensures enough availability of IP addresses to allow anything capable of having an IP address to connect to the Internet. South Africa and Egypt account for 97 percent of all of the IPv6 addresses in the continent, which indicates major lagging for the rest of Africa. This development is seen as necessary for long term expansion of Internet.

9. The Internet contributes 1.1 percent to the overall African GDP, which is substantially lower than the global average contribution of over 4 percent. There are large disparities across the continent, with the contribution to GDP being 3.3 percent in Senegal and .8 percent in Nigeria. These rates are measured using iGDP, which evaluates use of networks and services in private consumption, public expenditure, private investment and trade balance.

10. Key players in Africa’s Internet community come together with global members of the industry for the annual Africa Internet Summit. Participants discuss the continent’s challenges and use it as a platform to exchange knowledge. This year’s conference was themed “Beyond connection: Internetworking for African Development,” and took place in Tunisia from May 24 – June 3.

– Arin Kerstein

Sources: All Africa, International Telecommunication Union, Internet Society, Africa Internet Summit, IT Web Africa
Photo: Africa Renewal

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How the 1979 Revolution Brought Iran Into Poverty

How Their 1979 Revolution Brought Iran Into Poverty-TBPRevolutions spin nations into a whirlwind of anxiousness, confusion and often economic changes. The changes that ensued after the 1979 Iranian Revolution sent the nation into economic troubles for a multitude of reasons.

After the revolution, the new government federalized businesses, which has ended up further hurting the economy. With the new sanctions and laws regarding the businesses, families have experienced a more difficult time to provide for themselves.

To add to the shift in government and adjusting to the new laws, a baby boom occurred in Iran following the 1979 revolution. Following the revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini asked women of the new Iran to have a substantial amount of babies that could one day protect their nation and faith.

After his call for children, the population came close to doubling from 34 million citizens to 62 million, according to The United States Institute of Peace: The Iran Primer.

With such a drastic jump in population, the Islamic Republic soon came to realize that they could not “feed, clothe, house, educate and eventually employ the growing numbers.” Without the ability, space or resources necessary, many families fell into poverty at a significant rate.

As more families sought refuge and aid in any form available, the option of terrorism became more tempting. Not because they desired terroristic actions, but often terrorist groups will travel through impoverished areas promising to pay considerable amounts to those who join their groups.

When in desperate need of money to care for one’s family, the willingness to join radical alternatives becomes a considerable option. With the insecurity of families and nations placed upon them, the feeling of hopelessness only grows.

However, after the dramatic increase in population, a progressive family planning program was enacted in an attempt to slow the population growth and allow the government to provide for those already born.

The program was advanced, especially for the time. Billboards went up across the nation encouraging smaller family sizes, volunteers were sent door-to-door to advocate for why fewer children were the better option, family planning classes were required before marriage and health centers began distributing free birth control and condoms all in an effort to slow the birth rate and end the baby boom.

With the new program in place, birth rates soon began to decline at what was a comforting rate. In 1988, women were averaging 5.5 births. By 2006, the average had decreased to 1.9 births per woman and was continuing to drop.

Though the birth rate had declined like intended, with the continually dropping rate, a new concern arose. There was now an exceedingly large generation of baby boomers being followed by a generation that would not even replace their parents.

The abrupt decline in births has, and still is, causing problems regarding their ability to support the immense aging population.

With this vast difference in situations and problems, the Iranian government and population are continuing to feel a struggle in the prolonged wake of the 1979 revolution.

Between the excessive number of babies and then the sudden drop in births, the population fluctuation is one of Iran’s numerous economic issues that they as a nation and separate communities are having to deal with.

– Katherine Wyant

Sources: Iran Primer, International Affairs Review, Iran Primer
Photo: Iran News Update

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Albert Pujols Helping the Poor in the Dominican Republic

Albert Pujols Helping the Impoverished in the Dominican RepublicAlbert Pujols is a successful professional baseball player who has won many baseball accolades. He is a two-time World Series champion, three-time National League MVP and nine-time National League All-Star who has won, among other things, National League Rookie of the Year and National League Gold Glove for first base.

But his work is not limited to baseball; he is also giving back to those in need in his native Dominican Republic.

Pujols, who was formerly with the St. Louis Cardinals and is currently playing for the Los Angeles Angels, began the Pujols Family Foundation (PFF) as a way to give back to those around him.

PFF works in two main areas: in the U.S. for those with Down Syndrome, including his daughter, and in the Dominican Republic for those that live in poverty.

The Dominican Republic’s population is over 10 million and the World Bank classifies the country as upper-middle class. Even so, there are millions of people living in slums and “bateys.”

“Bateys” are villages made of shacks and dirt roads. They are near sugar cane plantations, which is where those living in the bateys typically work. Children leave school at a young age to help their parents in the fields cutting sugar cane. The workers get paid by the pound of sugar cane cut, not by the amount of time spent in the field.

PFF works to bring educational opportunities, medical care, and basic necessities to the people living in poverty.

The foundation’s work includes:

  • Full medical mission teams in seven bateys, teams that have “medical doctors, dentists, optometrists, pediatricians and a full pharmacy” (PFF).
  • A baseball league for young boys that includes mentorship alongside the sport to build them into strong men, fathers, and leaders.
  • The Pa’Lante program, which teaches women trades and skills that can be used for employment away from the batey.
  • Project Sound Asleep, “where [PFF] provide[s] new, clean, dry bedding for people to sleep” (PFF).

How can one help this great organization? PFF is a nonprofit foundation that relies on individual donations for support. Their website lists lots of ways to help out, but two unique ways are directly related to Pujols and his work on the baseball field.

PFF is an active charity on FantasyHub. By playing fantasy sports and linking to PFF, one can donate a portion of any winnings to the foundation and its work.

Alternatively, one can make a Home Run Pledge linking one’s personal giving to the number of home runs Pujols hits. As of the end of June, Pujols has hit 23 home runs for the Angels. A potential donor can look at the stat box and follow a great ball player while pledging to help those in need.

PFF has helped many people at home and abroad. Their work with those with Down Syndrome is exemplary, and the fact that PFF goes back to the Dominican Republic and actively works to improve the lives of those in poverty is inspiring.

So much good can happen when people use their influence and resources to help better the lives of the economically disadvantaged as Albert Pujols does.

– Megan Ivy

Sources: Fox News Latino, Huffington Post, MLB, Pujols Family Foundation, WHO

How Does Ebola Impact Poverty

How Ebola Impacts PovertyPoverty is defined by a lack of possessing shelter, food, water, money, sanitation, and health care. Without some of these basic rights, Ebola is a powerful enemy of the poor. So, how does Ebola impact poverty?

Ebola, a rare and deadly disease contracted through bodily fluids, still continues to affect parts of West Africa. In March of 2014, Ebola ravished Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, which resulted in 15,065 cases and 11,207 deaths.

So far, the outbreak shows no sign of slowing. The upcoming October election in Guinea has become increasingly concerning, especially because contraction is easier in overcrowded city environments.

Furthermore, Ebola impacts more than just patients; it impacts their families and the lives of others. With the outbreak in West Africa, food prices increased and food supplies dwindled. Sickness resulted in less work and less pay.

So how can the spread of Ebola be reduced? While medical quarantine has been used during the outbreak, many experts say that attacking poverty is the only true solution.

This being said, sanitation and hygiene are key. This includes clean and safe water. When a patient first contracts Ebola, scientists have discovered that replacing the liquids lost can successfully treat the disease. However, without a substantial supply of water for the number of patients, Ebola quickly weakens its victims.

Also necessary are protective and sanitary shelter, as well as greater accessibility to quality health care, even for those with struggling incomes.

Experts have also recently discovered that the disease can remain in semen up to five months after a successful recovery from Ebola. This suggests that education about safe sex and abstinence, as well as access to condoms, is crucial to the decline of patients with Ebola.

As of late, Ebola treatment research may offer hope to reducing the spread of the disease.

In April 2015, members of the Sierra Leone college of health services, sanitation, and centers for disease control teamed up to create a vaccine trial. This study called the Sierra Leone Trial to Introduce a Vaccine against Ebola (STRIVE). The study will assess the safety and effectiveness of the RVSV-ZEBOV vaccine. For more information on the details and successes of this study, visit https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/strive/qa.html.

For the even more good news, on June 24, 2015, researchers reported in MBio that generic heart disease medications might also have the potential to improve the immune systems of patients with Ebola. After a trial in Sierra Leone last fall, researchers were pleased to see improvements in the patients.

While these medications would not prevent or cure the disease, “it could allow individual patients to survive long enough to develop an immune response that eliminates the virus. These agents could be used in combination with anti-virals if they are available,” says David S. Fedson, MD.

Scientists plan to move forward with their research by performing more studies in West Africa. For more details, visit https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/news/2015/06/generic-heart-disease-medications-offer-promise-for-ebola-treatment.aspx.

While these scientific discoveries offer hope, it is important that all people have access to vaccinations. Only then will able-bodied people be equipped to fight off poverty.

– Kelsey Parrotte

Sources: ABC News, CDC 1, CDC 2, Huffington Post, Infection Control Today, Scientific American, WSWS,
Photo: Inhabitat

Three Snack Companies Making a Difference

companies_making_a_differenceEverybody loves a good snack. Salty or sweet, chewy or crunchy, snacking is a great part of anybody’s day. And though many don’t know it, it is also an opportunity to make a difference. So next time you tear into another bag, you should know about these three companies that are making a difference:

Kallari Bars

While chocolate is a major part of snacking, the chocolate industry is, unfortunately, somewhat notorious for unethical practices. The divide between wealthy chocolate companies based primarily in the United States or Europe and farmers in the developing world has lead to an industry notorious for abusive labor practices and economic exploitation.

Kallari bars are an important agent in fighting against this exploitation. Based in the Amazon, Kallari chocolate is owned by the Kichwa nation and controlled at every step of production by 850 growers from the nation.

Focusing on maintaining local control of natural resources in a sustainable way, Kallari can break the cycle of exploitation in the chocolate industry while empowering indigenous communities.

This Bar Saves Lives

Plumpy’nut is quite possibly the most important invention in the modern era. A cheap peanut-based concoction that stays fresh after opening and does not need to be refrigerated, cooked or consumed with clean water, this life-saving paste is reaching over 2 million malnourished children yearly.

For every nutrition bar purchased from the food company, This Bar Saves Lives, a packet of plumpy’nut is given to a child in need. And, to top it off, the bars are delicious.

This Bar Saves Lives comes in three flavors: Wild Blueberry Pistachio, Dark Chocolate Cherry & Sea Salt, and Madagascar Vanilla Almond & Honey. Made with all-natural, non-GMO, ethically sourced ingredients, the bars are delicious and nutritious.

The snacks also make a huge difference. Since June of 2013, This Bar Saves Lives has donated 515,546 packets of plumpy’nut. That is a number that speaks for itself. Customers can order packages of bars individually or can subscribe to a monthly shipment for a discount.

Kutoa

Kutoa is a Swahili word meaning “to give.” The food company of the same name does just that.

Like This Bar Saves Lives, Kutoa focuses on the issue of malnutrition by providing plumpy’nut to those in need. The focus has been successful, allowing the snack bars to make a huge difference. Since 2011, Kutoa has sent almost 200,000 meals to those in need.

Kutoa bars have a bit more variety than those offered by This Bar Saves Lives and include Chocolate Espresso Bean and Peanut Butter & Jelly, among others. Unfortunately, Kutoa does not yet offer the subscription service offered by its competitor.

Snacking is great. It’s no secret that everybody loves a little treat. With companies like these three that do good with their snacks, that little treat just got a whole lot bigger.

– Andrew Michaels

Sources: Kutoa, The Independent, This Bar Saves Lives, Kallari Cooperative, PCC Natural Markets, Snacknation,
Photo: Kutoa

Fixing Favelas: Urban Housing Problems in Brazil

housing_problems_in_Brazil
Brazil’s booming economic growth is now slowing down, and the rose-tinted glasses have come off, as urban housing problems in Brazil worsen. While the country experienced extraordinary economic growth in the past decade, growing 4 percent per year between 2002 and 2008, these rates have fallen to just 1.3 percent over the past 4 years. If anything, this decline should prompt investigation beyond the pristine beaches and sleek high-rises that have given Brazilian urban life a glamorous aura.

Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the two biggest cities in Brazil, with populations numbering approximately 11 million and 6 million respectively, have, in particular, captivated international travelers with increasing prosperity and abundant cultural amenities. With more perceived opportunities and advantages in urban areas, Brazilians themselves have also flocked to these two metropolises in search of better lives with 80 percent of Brazilians now living in urban areas. While these ascending cities seem to have garnered attention for all the right reasons, they also contain considerable eyesores; ostracized to the outskirts or huddled in the heart of downtown, dense slums, or favelas, stifle Brazilian cities.

As urban areas have grown, these shantytowns of old tin and cinderblock have come to house millions of impoverished Brazilians in dangerous, crowded and dirty conditions. Though synonymous with Brazil’s urban housing crisis, favelas are nothing new.

They first appeared in Rio de Janeiro around the turn of the 20th century as civil war veterans returned home without government assistance. Turning to the steep hills of Rio de Janeiro’s fame, they sought shelter in makeshift housing, but instead only found more strife in unsafe living conditions. The favelas continued to expand in Brazilian cities as migrant workers settled in Sao Paolo and Rio in search of opportunity and failed to find adequate housing. In Rio, favelas concentrated next to affluent communities and followed the impoverished up the sharp slopes, while in Sao Paolo the favelas formed on the margins of the city. Over the years, a lack of public services and precarious sitting has literally eroded communities as mudslides 1966, 1996 and 2001 wiped away favelas.

Today, favelas have become an unfortunate and noticeable part of Brazilian life, indicative of an overwhelming housing crisis. According to the New York Times, in just the past six years housing prices in Sao Paolo have “increased by 208 percent and the cost of rent has increased by 97.5 percent in the metro area.” The price of a 970 square foot apartment in Sao Paolo is 16 times the average annual wage while nearly a third of the city lives in slum-like conditions. Overall, Brazil has a housing deficit of 7 million units and 20 percent of its total population lives in inadequate housing.

Those who have resigned to these slums must essentially live without infrastructure. Most favelas lack effective sewage systems, access to potable water and waste management systems. The communities have become so densely built up, that modern roads and utilities are nearly impossible to install. As areas with little government regulation, favelas also serve as ideal crime havens. Drug dealings and gang violence plague these secluded streets and have proven notoriously hard to snuff out. In the late 90s, the homicide rate in the Diadema favela of Sao Paulo averaged one murder per day.

Obviously, confronting the issue of the favela has become a daunting task. The Brazilians learned early that the most effective strategy was, ironically, to leave them standing. In the 1980s, after years of demolition, the Brazilian government realized that slum upgrading was more humane and cost-efficient than rebuilding them.

In order to transform favelas into safer, and more hygienic communities, the city officials of Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro have employed a surprising set of methods. Despite their squatter’s status, government plans have attempted to provide favela residents with titles to their homes. Not only does this provide the impoverished with dignity, but it also allows the cities greater regulation of the favelas. Along with increased property rights come building safety codes, taxes and public services and utilities that can benefit the community.

These programs have also empowered the communities to assist in the improvement efforts themselves. In Rio de Janeiro’s neighborhood of Providencia Hill, garbage and litter have become pressing issues due to narrow streets that restrict waste management vehicles. A new program has incentivized local trash collection by allowing residents to exchange one bag of trash for a gallon of milk. Not only does this clean up the community, it also provides the residents with better nourishment.

Community engagement also extends to crime prevention. In Sao Paolo, the city government has attempted to attack crime in some of its most dangerous favelas by instituting another form of an exchange program. This time, however, it involves toys. In exchange for toy guns, the program would provide children with comic books in an effort to diminish gun culture and in turn to encourage parents to relinquish their actual firearms. Over the course of three years, 27,000 toy guns have been exchanged along with 1,600 guns in just the first six months of the program.

By employing creative and engaging strategies, government officials from Brazil’s two largest cities have begun to change Brazil’s poor urban housing conditions one comic book at a time. While perhaps eyesores, the favelas have become deeply entrenched communities that are better off upgraded than demolished. Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro hold the hopes of millions of Brazilians within their limits. But the question remains: can they house them?

– Andrew Logan

Sources: Cal Poly, The Economist The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, The New York Times University College London, UN The World Bank
Photo: Wooster Collective

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EU/UNICEF Seawater Desalination Efforts in Gaza

EU/UNICEF Seawater Desalination Efforts in GazaThe Gaza Strip has a population of 1.7 million, which is expected to grow to 2.1 million by 2020. The demand for clean water access will also undoubtedly increase. In lieu of rivers or streams, the region has thus far had to survive by drawing water from its lone coastal aquifer. However, water is being extracted at a rate of 47 billion gallons per year and has far surpassed its annual rate replenishment of around 16 billion gallons.

This has caused the aquifer to fill with salinated water from the Mediterranean. Estimates show that approximately 90 percent of the water drawn is unsafe to consume. In addition to the seawater influx, the aquifer is contaminated by untreated sewage. Roughly 90,000 cubic meters of sewage flow from Gaza to the coastal waters.

The demand for water has caused many unregulated vendors to begin selling water to make a profit, but roughly 80 percent of the water sold by street vendors is also contaminated. The desperation of Gazans, however, has become increasingly apparent. As many as 4 out of 5 will resort to purchasing potentially unsafe water by these private sellers.

In addition to a possibly serious health risk, this also places an economic strain on many Gazans. “Some families are paying as much as a third of their household income on water,” states June Kunugi, a UNICEF representative for Palestine.

In response to Gaza’s water crisis, UNICEF has worked to complete 18 small desalination taps where residents can draw water free of charge. Also provided, are 3 brackish (mixed fresh & saltwater) plants that are capable of desalinating 50 cubic meters per hour and 10 plants capable of treating 50 cubic meters per day. In total, these plants are estimated to provide water for 95,000 residents.

In 2013, the European Union (EU) announced a collaboration with UNICEF to build a major seawater desalination plant. The project was made possible by a €10 million grant provided by the European Union. The plant is projected to provide 6,000 square meters of water to residents of the two cities.

In an announcement of the project, European Union Representative John Gatt-Rutter stated “The launch of construction work on this seawater desalination plant, offers the prospect of access to clean water for many thousands of families in Khan Younis and Rafah. It forms part of the EU’s wider commitment to improving the lives of Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank, particularly in the area of water, sanitation and solid waste management.”

The 18 km pipeline that divides water between the cities of Rafah and Khan Younis was recently completed, marking the first step towards a monumental solution. Once the plant is completed in late 2015, it is expected to be capable of providing clean water to more than 75,000 Gazans.

– The Borgen Project

Sources: Al Jazeera America, UNICEF, Water Technology
Photo: Flickr

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Effects of Open Defecation in India

Effects of Open Defecation in IndiaThe extent of open defecation in India presents a major health and safety issue. Worldwide, there are one billion people who do not have a toilet, and Indians make up 60 percent of this number. Of this 60 percent, the majority comes from rural areas. Activists and the government have advocated for the building of shared community toilets as a solution to the problem, but ingrained social norms and attitudes stop people from using them.

The government launched the Swachh Bharat Mission last year, which promises 110 million toilets built in the next five years in an effort to make India an “open defecation free country.” In an added bonus, the waste collected would be converted to fertilizer and other forms of energy. Lauded as a “sacred mission” that would coincide with the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth, this mission has gained approval from almost all sections of the government and society.

But most people from rural areas have shown an unwillingness to discontinue their habits of open defecation even if they are given toilets. Many people who already have toilets in their house forgo its use in favor of defecating in the open. In 40 percent of households that had a toilet, at least one member chose not to use it at all. They believe that defecating in the open is more natural and healthy, and that building a latrine in the house brings impurity to it. The two-thousand-year-old Hindu text, called the “Laws of Manu,” encourages open defecation.

Community toilets also have the added problem of being—by nature—shared, and people from different castes, religions and economic status are not willing to use the same toilet, even if they come from the same village.

However, open defecation practices remain a huge health and safety risk, and issues will only increase as India’s population grows. There have been hundreds of cases of women being raped as they leave their homes after dark. In one notorious case, two women from Utter Pradesh were raped, murdered and hung on trees after they were defecating in an open field.

India’s dense population also means that even in rural areas, human feces are not easily kept away from fields, wells and food. Bacteria and worms in feces are often accidentally ingested. This results in a range of health problems from diarrhea to enteropathy, a chronic sickness that prevents the absorption of calories and nutrients. Many specialists believe that the problems open defecation causes are the reason 50 percent of Indian children are malnourished.

A government study comparing Muslim and Hindu households supports these conjectures. The study found that 25 percent fewer Muslim families defecated in the open and also had lower child mortality rates than Hindu families—even though Muslims in India are poorer and less educated than their Hindu counterparts. In the few areas where more Muslims defecated in the open than Hindus, they had higher child mortality rates.

Social norms and habits need to be changed if open defecation is to be successfully fought. Simply building more toilets will not do the job. The government has already taken some steps to educate people about the dangers of open defecation and reward those who use latrines. In Haryana for instance, it launched the “No Toilet, No Bride” campaign that urged women to only marry men whose home had a toilet.

– Radhika Singh

Sources: Scroll, Government of India, The Economist, BBC,
Photo: Flickr