Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Poverty in Jakarta

Jakarta
There are over 28 million people in Indonesia considered to be poor according to national standards. The Multidimensional Poverty Index, or MPI, focuses on standards of living and measures 10 indicators of multiple deprivations in a household. The 10 indicators include issues of education and health. To be considered multi-dimensionally poor, a person needs to be deprived in at least three out of the 10 indicators.

In Jakarta, 20.8 percent of the population has multiple deprivation and 12.2 percent is vulnerable to multiple deprivations. The intensity of deprivation means the degree to which the average percentage of the people is in multidimensional poverty. As of 2014, this was 45.9 percent.

The population of Jakarta is 10 million at night and increases to 11.2 million in the day as individuals travel into the city for work. As of 2014, the poverty rate and Gini coefficient ratio, a measurement tool for the gap in income, have increased immensely due to increasing rates of inflation and the weaker rupiah. The result is a higher poverty index.

The poverty index ratio increased to 8.9 percent from eight percent in the previous year. The country average for Indonesia is 8.3 percent. The coefficient ratio has gone from a measurement of .364 in 2013 to .436. The ratio illuminates the income distribution among the city’s population as well as the inequality of the economy.

There has been an increase in the poor population from 3.7 percent in 2013 to 4.9 percent. Based on the population of Jakarta, the number of poor has increased from 371,000 to 412,790. Due to poverty, issues of malnutrition, no proper sanitation, lack of electricity and limited educational opportunities are often issues occurring in tandem.

It is important that proper indicators are used to determine the amount of the population that is poor in order to correctly assess their needs. In the words of Amartya Sen, author of the book, “Development as Freedom,” poverty should be seen “as a deprivation of basic capabilities, rather than merely as low income.”

Currently, the national poverty line is based on monetary measures. These measures, utilized by the Millennium Development Goals to indicate the national poverty line, have assisted in growth and processes that have recently been taken by the Indonesian government. In addition, budgeting and planning resources have been observed.

– Erika Wright

Sources: Jakarta Post 1, Jakarta Post 2, U.N. Habitat
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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IKEA’s Better Shelters

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Nearly four million refugees have fled Syria in the last four years. In 2013, almost 51 million people were displaced from their homes worldwide. This marks the highest global refugee population since World War II. In camps, the only shelter these displaced families have are flimsy tents. A new mobile shelter called the Better Shelter could offer a safer, more dignified solution to the challenge of housing refugee families.

IKEA Foundation and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees have joined forces to improve the housing options for displaced families. The shelters come in two flat cardboard boxes, can be assembled without additional tools by as few as four people in less than a day. At 188 square feet, they can house up to five people and come with weather-proof panels, a solar powered lamp and cellphone charger and a door that locks.

Shaun Scales, Chief of Shelter and Settlement at UNHCR, has lauded the Better Shelters as, “…an exciting new development in humanitarian shelter and represents a much needed addition to the palette of sheltering options mobilized to assist those in need. Its deployment will ensure dramatic improvement to the lives of many people affected by crises.”

The houses were designed by a team in Sweden with the goal of making a temporary housing solution that was sustainable socially and environmentally. After UNHCR and IKEA became involved in the project, Better Shelter was tested by refugees in Ethiopia and Iraq. Their needs and critiques were central to the design process and helped shape the final product.

The Better Shelters cost about $1,150, about twice as much as the makeshift tarp tents that spring to mind when refugee camps are mentioned. This is mostly because the shelters are more akin to mobile homes. The locking doors add a layer of security and privacy that is currently all but forgotten in the overcrowded camps, and could help reduce the staggeringly high rate of sexual assault. With weatherproof walls, interior lighting and a solid foundation, the shelters are designed to last for about three years. That’s six times as long as the standard tents usually last.

“Even though the upfront price is double that of an emergency tent, the solution is still more cost effective considering its longevity,” explains Johan Karlsson, head of Business Development at Better Shelter. “We’re working hard to get it below $1,000, and we see good potential to achieve this within the next two years.”

UNHCR has purchased 10,000 of the Better shelters and plans to distribute them this summer, potentially housing 50,000 refugees. Although 50,000 of the 13 million people who rely on UNHCR may seem like a drop in the bucket, it is a promising start for a product that could ease the pain of displacement.

– Marina Middleton

Sources: World Mic, The Huffington Post, Better Shelter, Mashable, DIHAD
Photo: Mashable

Crimes Against the Homeless

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Murder rates are much higher in large cities compared to in smaller towns. In general, violent crimes are more prevalent in heavily populated areas, in particular, impoverished urban communities.

In densely populated areas, crime rates can be influenced by the increase in peer contact. Individuals have more contact with one another, which allows for the potential for more crimes to be committed overall. An urban setting also entails more bars, convenience stores and other vulnerable businesses meaning there is an abundance of potential targets.

Statistically speaking, gender affects the number and types of crimes committed. On average, males commit more street crime than females due to the socialization to be aggressive and assertive. In addition, younger individuals commit at a disproportionate amount of street crime, in part because of peer influence as well as their lack of desire to conform.

The most targeted and vulnerable of the population is the poorest of the poor: the homeless. The abuse, death and crimes against this population is often undocumented.

In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of violent crimes committed against the homeless. “Bum fights” are a new phenomenon where people videotape their attacks against the homeless for entertainment. The more recent and violent attacks have gotten the attention of the United States Justice Department, which acknowledges not only that this a growing and serious national issues but is also a hate crime. However, the homeless are not considered to be a federally protected class.

Crimes committed against the homeless are brutal and violent and include but are not limited to drowning, burning, shooting and stabbing.

Factors that make the homeless more vulnerable includes a criminal’s lack of discrimination against their victim; in essence there is not a targeted victim. Given a lack of trust in the police on the part of the homeless, many of these crimes go unreported. Homeless individuals become easy targets. Environmental factors also impact a homeless individual’s vulnerability. No walls, locks or keys and a transient lifestyle increase the likelihood that a homeless person will be targeted and become a victim.

​Crimes that target the poor and homeless are a problem in the United States. Support for legislative change and policy updates that allow the homeless to be considered a protected class is the first step to help this population.

– Erika Wright

Sources: LardBucket, Common Dreams, Desert News
Photo: Flickr

Himalayan Sherpas Left Lost Following Nepal Quake

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With nearly 5,900 dead and monetary growth stalled, loss has become commonplace in the wake of Nepal’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake. The tourism sector, constituting eight percent of the country’s gross domestic product, now looks gutted – a reality that could have grim implications for Himalayan Sherpas.

Jagged snow-capped peaks and olive-green farmlands frame rural villages in Nepal. It is here, with the beast’s shadow looming, that backpackers from across the world come to tackle Mt. Everest. Himalayan Sherpas, indigenous people notorious for their mountaineering prowess, lead nearly 100,000 through the unforgiving ice fields each year.

Making upwards of $7,000 in a single trekking season, 10 times the average Nepalese wage, the Sherpas contribution benefits Nepal’s economy. By filling hotels, airplane seats and sporting goods stores, the sun-aged workers have created their own niche in tourism.

This once lucrative business, however, is taking a turn for the worse following April’s earthquake.

In Chaurikharka, a rural area in Nepal, villagers and Buddhist monks gather in a hut, its walls crumbling and sagging in the dim lamp light. They mourn the loss of Dawa Chiri, a 27-year-old Himalayan Sherpa killed alongside 17 other trekkers and guides during an avalanche caused by the quake.

Dawa’s wife, Phura Yangzi, is now left with an 18-month old child. With the baby strapped to her back, Yangzi explains that she will now turn to street vending, selling soda and mineral water in hopes of supporting the family.

“It will be difficult but I will try,” she said. “I have to.”

Mountaineering companies, hearing of these tragic and devastating stories, have called off all spring expeditions. From teahouses to airlines, the effects of a poor trekking season will be felt by many – a big blow for Nepal’s economy.

“Foreign clients will be reluctant to climb next year,” David Morton, executive director of the Juniper Fund charity, said. “There are concerns about danger, sure, but also cost, after climbers lost all that money.”

With nearly 40 percent of villages already living below the poverty line, this drastic decline in tourism will leave high-altitude families reeling. Most, now camped in makeshift nylon tents, may never secure the funds to rebuild their homes.

“I have lost everything,” Pasang Lamu, a 55-year-old villager in Khunde said, choking back sobs. “Please help us.”

Foreign aid efforts, though effective for urban centers, prove futile for most Himalayan towns. The only way in or out is by foot making travel for international aid workers, reporters and government officials impossible.

“It has been the main economic driver for many people and now, the industry will take a hit,” nonprofit director Ben Ayers said of the tourism sector. “We are looking at hunger, disease and suffering for a lot of people.”

Yangzi will be one of those people. Her face tired, the 22-year-old widow explains how she wishes her husband’s death was simply a nightmare. She tries to think of it as a dream, but then remembers the last words he spoke a day before the earthquake.

“Tomorrow,” the Sherpa said. “Is my rest day at base camp.”

– Lauren Stepp

Sources: Bloomberg Business, CNN, The Economic Times
Photo: Flickr

 

10 Facts About the Senate Appropriations Committee

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The Senate Appropriations Committee first formed in March of 1867 in order to reduce the labor hours needed for the combined tasks of tax writing and appropriations. The Senate Appropriations Committee has jurisdiction over all spending legislation in the U.S. Here are some quick facts about the committee:

      • There are a total of 30 members on the Senate Appropriations Committee; 16 Republicans and 14 Democrats.
      • There are 12 subcommittees, each assigned a unique category ranging from Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies to Defense.
      • Senator Thad Cochran from Mississippi is the Chairman of the Committee.
      • Barbara A. Mikulski is the Vice Chairman of the Committee. She was the first woman to ever be appointed to this position (Dec. 2012).
      • Anyone can attend the committee hearings, but only if it is an open hearing, which is the majority of the time.
      • The Senate Appropriations Committee is the largest committee in the U.S. Senate.
      • When the country is in a crisis and needs emergency expenses, the Senate Appropriations Committee can pass supplemental spending bills in order to alleviate the crisis.
      • Each subcommittee must operate within the budget that the full committee states, but this can be waived if enough votes are collected in order to increase the budget.
      • All hearings can be watched and listened to through the webcasts that are uploaded to the Senate Appropriations Committee website: https://www.appropriations.senate.gov.
      • The State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Subcommittee deals with situations similar to what The Borgen Project deals with. Programs like the Peace Corps, the African Development Foundation, the United States Agency for International Development and more are found in this subcommittee.

– Erik Nelson

Sources: Committee on Appropriations 1, Committee on Appropriations 2, Committee on Appropriations 3, Thad Cochran
Photo: Flickr

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Drowning in Bangladesh: A Public Health Crisis

bangladesh
When one thinks of a public health crisis, maybe the mind goes to the incidence of AIDS, the measles outbreak in Disneyland or maybe even obesity. Rarely does one think of drowning as a public health issue, yet over 350,000 people die every year due to drowning.

In Bangladesh, this problem is particularly severe. Drowning accounts for 43 percent of all deaths among children between one and four years of age, making drowning the leading cause of death among children.

In a region crisscrossed by many rivers and frequented by monsoons and cyclones, flooding is a constant concern during the rainy season. As expected, the death rate rises rapidly during these rainy months. Many children drown close to their homes when adults leave them unsupervised to go to work. Many children die because they do not know how to swim.

Bangladesh is hastening to control the problem. In collaboration with UNICEF, the Alliance for Safe Children and the Royal Life Saving Society Australia, an NGO named, SwimSafe, is providing training to community swimming instructors. These instructors teach children to swim and float, to be confident in the water, to save someone who is drowning and to identify life-threatening water hazards. By using ponds that are in close proximity to schools and health centers as makeshift pools, SwimSafe is able to generate interest in the program and has taught more than 130,000 children in Bangladesh water survival skills. The Bangladeshi government has now made swimming compulsory in schools.

The Johns Hopkins Injury Research Unit at the Bloomberg School of Public Health is working on evaluating the effectiveness of two initiatives on reducing drowning in Bangladesh. One is providing adult supervision by enrolling families in community daycare centers and the other is implementing playpens that would effectively restrict the ability of children to access water hazards. To date, nearly 30,000 children have been enrolled in 2,000 daycare centers and playpens are being designed and manufactured locally. In this effort, they are being supported by WHO and Bloomberg Philanthropies which has committed $10 million to this cause.

Apart from initiatives like these, Bangladesh needs approaches that can reduce the flooding that is endemic to the country. The WHO provides five recommendations for national efforts that can reduce the impact of floods including better land use and conservation of wetlands and forests. Without a doubt, improving infrastructure such as developing better irrigation methods, safer bridges and stagnant water control will contribute significantly.

Most importantly, early warnings of impending floods and disaster conditions delivered in accessible ways to the local population can alert them to take appropriate precautions. Bangladesh also needs rapid response methods for when disaster strikes. International cooperation by neighboring countries will go a long way to help provide disaster relief to a region that experiences severe storms and cyclones on a regular basis.

Greater attention given to drowning as a real public health crisis will bring in more funding and solutions to this problem that claims thousands of young lives everyday.

– Mithila Rajagopal

Sources: BBC, Bloomberg 1, Bloomberg 2, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, SwimSafe, WHO
Photo: Flickr

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Hunger in Lao PDR

Lao_PDR
Since 1990, hunger in Lao People’s Democratic Republic, or PDR, has dropped from 34.5 percent to 20.1 percent in 2014. Though this decline of over 14 percent is promising, Lao PDR remains one of the world’s hardest hit countries by poverty. Citizens, mostly in northern and rural provinces, suffer from malnutrition, stunting and what the International Food Policy Research Institute, or IFPRI, calls “hidden hunger.”

Child nutrition is significantly lacking in Lao PDR. Forty-four percent of children are stunted due to poor diets that are lacking in key nutrients, including vitamin A, iodine, healthy fats and protein. As a result, over 40 percent of children in Lao PDR are anemic. The problem of “hidden hunger,” or a pronounced deficiency of key nutrients in childhood, has long term effects on the brain and the physical development of a child.

Lao PDR has the second highest rate of poverty in Southeast Asia, after Timor-Leste and continues to deal with gaps in its economics and wealth distribution. According to the IFPRI, Lao PDR ranks 61 out of 76 countries facing extreme hunger, with the country ranking at 76 being the most affected. Poverty and extreme hunger remains alarming in rural regions of the country, where access to healthcare and adequate nutrition remains scarce.

For example, in the province of Houaphan, 50.5 percent of the population faces extreme poverty. Those who live in this province often depend on agriculture to work and eat; however, the region is susceptible to natural disasters and wavering weather conditions, causing productivity to be low.

Recognizing the impact of climate and environmental factors on the nutrition of individuals, the government of Lao PDR launched the National Nutrition Strategy, aimed at addressing the causes of malnutrition, hunger and economic disparity. In conjunction with the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Administration, this strategy will tackle hunger at its most basic causes.

The FAO said, “To address the immediate causes (at the individual level), the focus will be on improving nutrient intake and reducing infectious diseases that affect the biological utilization of food.”

As the completion of the Millennium Development Goals quickly approaches, Lao PDR is still not quite on track when it comes to meeting them. Resources are needed to complete these goals and not enough are being provided to Lao PDR that will improve overall development.

Lao PDR depends largely on agriculture and farming, yet those regions are affected by poverty and lack the resources to contribute to the nation’s economic stability. It is in the nation’s best interest that the government develop those programs that focus on educating rural families on sustainable farming practices and how to effectively maintain agriculture and livestock in the face of climate change, so that poverty will give way to sustainability.

– Candice Hughes

Sources: FAO, International Food Policy Research Institute, UNDP, WFP
Photo: Flickr

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Hugh Jackman Releases Video for Global Citizen

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Actor Hugh Jackman, best known for his role as “Wolverine” Marvel’s X-Men series, recently released a video urging others to help end global poverty through the platform Global Citizen and through the initiative of the Global Poverty Project.  “The world has the resources, the policy leaders have the ideas, the question is, do we as global citizens have the will?” asks Jackman in the new video.

This is not the first video Jackman has made regarding the issue of global poverty. In 2013, globalcitizen.org released an impactful video where Jackman explains the organization’s “Live Below the Line” fundraiser. Four thousand people took part in the fundraiser by living below the poverty line, or surviving off of two dollars a day for five days. Their efforts raised $440,000 toward ending extreme poverty. “Lines can’t help it, they separate things. But we can also be the ones who color outside those lines. We can voyage out to cross over lines for the sake of each other and for the planet,” explains Jackman.

Now, Jackman is focusing on the positive: global poverty has been cut in half in the past 20 years. Poverty now has the potential to be completely eliminated by 2030. This year is crucial as world leaders will be making important decisions regarding the future of extreme poverty. Global Citizen remarks that the year 2015 could be a “turning point.”

Global Citizen launched in 2012 and quickly gained the support of many celebrities, including rapper Jay-Z, actress Katie Holmes and singer Carrie Underwood. Every year, Global Citizen hosts a festival attended by many celebrities. In order to win the opportunity to attend, steps toward ending poverty must be taken, such as signing online petitions.

“I am thrilled to be a part of this year’s Global Citizen Festival to further the movement to end extreme poverty,” Jackman was quoted as saying at last year’s festival, which was held in Central Park. “This is a cause that has been close to my heart for many years, and I look forward to joining 60,000 Global Citizens in Central Park as we change the world for the better.”

Jackman’s dedication to the cause is admirable, and chances are this is not the last call-to-action we will see from him.

– Melissa Binns

Sources: Global Citizen, Huffington Post, People
Photo: Zimbio

Energy Poverty Affects Sub-Saharan Africa

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Lack of electricity is more than just an inconvenience—it is life-threatening. Two out of every three people in sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to electricity. Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia comprise 95 percent of all people without electricity. While this region hosts only 13 percent of the entire world’s population, at least 48 percent of sub-Saharan Africans make up the total population of people without electricity globally. The already at-risk economies continue to fail due to the lack of electricity affecting health and education. Thirty percent of all schools and health centers are without electricity.  Without proper health and education, the chances of escaping poverty are slim to none.

“Energy plays a big role in this: from mass communications to the refrigeration of vaccines,” says Richard Bridle, an energy analyst with the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s Global Subsidies Initiative. “We don’t usually talk about how the global economy will benefit because that isn’t the key motivation, though economic growth will certainly benefit if we enhance health, education, clean water, sanitation, heating, transport, cooking add communication services.”

Some argue that putting more investment in infrastructure would fix the issue, but this notion has proven itself to be easier said than done. “Infrastructure can only be deployed and operated in a financially sustainable electricity sector that can recover costs, make investments, provide reliable electricity and meet social and environmental obligations,” explains Bridle. “So, really, it is the lack of a viable electricity sector that is the key gap.”

The funding needed to give sub-Saharan Africa electricity by 2030 is reportedly an enormous amount that affected nations would have to pay themselves. The best shot at fixing this is outside support, which is why many are eagerly waiting to hear about the 2015 version of the U.S.’s Electrify Africa Act. This bill would ensure progress on the issue.

“Energy poverty matters for the same reason that poverty matters,” Bridle says. “We have a duty to ensure that those less well-off then ourselves have access to a good standard of living and equal opportunities.”

– Melissa Binns

Sources: Fuel Fix, World Finance
Photo: United Nations Foundation

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Outernet Delivers Information Equality

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An estimated 60 percent of the world’s population has no Internet access. Of the people with regular Internet access, several million can only access censored information. Syed Karim, founder of Outernet, plans to change all that.

In 2012, Karim founded Outernet to bring the Internet to the remotest parts of the globe. To him, information is a human right as basic as food or water, and the Internet is the best information delivery system in history. Outernet is a datacasting company that could change the way isolated communities receive Internet. Using hardware of its own design, the company can bounce prepackaged streams of data off small satellites and onto Wi-Fi-enabled devices anywhere in the world.

Outernet’s hardware innovations come in three forms. The first is the durable 24-inch satellite dish that receives the data stream. Designed like a folding colander, the dish can expand and contract by unfolding a series of overlapping panels. It can fold down small enough to fit into a bucket, making it easy to transport. Instead of the small motor most satellite dishes use to rotate, the Outernet dish articulates on a threaded screw that makes it extra durable, especially under windy conditions. Outernet has also perfected a device called a Lantern that serves as both a data stream receiver and a portable Wi-Fi hot spot. Lanterns are about the size of water bottles and can receive almost any information on the Internet.

Perhaps the most impressive of Outernet’s accomplishments is its fleet of CubeSats, shoebox-sized satellites that bounce uni-directional data down to Earth’s surface. This past March, the U.K. Space Agency agreed to fund the fleet of CubeSats. By 2016, Outernet plans to have three of the tiny, inexpensive satellites in orbit, each delivered by piggybacking on launches for larger projects. “It costs about $100,000 per kilogram,” Karim said. “The cost of the launch is much more expensive than the satellite itself.”

The service Outernet provides is not the same as conventional Internet access. It works more like a conventional radio. The signal is one-way and generalized. As Syed Karim put it, “When you talk about the internet, you talk about two main functions: communication and information access… It’s the communication part that makes it so expensive.” Because the service is only information, not communication, it is also much harder to jam. The signal sent from Outernet’s CubeSats is almost impossible to censor.

If Outernet succeeds in its mission, basic information will become available to everyone, everywhere. Censorship will be, if not a thing of the past, then at least much more difficult to pull off. Farmers in rural India could request price predictions for the upcoming year before deciding what to plant. Schools in rural Africa could download the most up-to-date lessons and facts to learn from, and not rely on old, potentially inaccurate textbooks. Information could become as widely distributed as food or electricity, and the world could take one more step toward equality.

– Marina Middleton

Sources: World.Mic, Outernet, Gizmodo, Wired
Photo: Indie GoGo