Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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What is the MMR Vaccine?

mmr vaccine
Measles, mumps and rubella are all viral diseases that can interrupt the development of children and adolescents. Accessing reliable information about the MMR vaccine is the most cost-effective method to increasing its uptake.

The MMR vaccine is recommended in childhood. The three-in-one vaccine is necessary for most children to enter school and can be given as early as 11-15 months, and children should get two doses. In addition, adults born after 1956 or 18 years or older should also receive one dose of the vaccination unless they have already had all three diseases.

The MMR vaccine can be given at the same time as other vaccines. Young children (under 12 years) can get a combination of vaccines known as the MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox).

Upon receiving the vaccination, there are some risks involved, but most people who receive the vaccine do not develop any problems.

Mild issues can occur 6-14 days after receiving the vaccine and can include any of the following: fevers, mild rashes, and swelling of cheek/neck glands. Moderate issues can range from: seizures, stiffness/ pain in joints, temporary low platelet count that leads to a bleeding disorder (1 in every 30,000 doses). Some severe and very rare problems are: serious allergic reaction (1 in every million doses), deafness, permanent brain damage, and long-term seizures/comas. There is no evidence that the vaccine causes childhood autism.

All of these listed risks are small however, in comparison with the risks of contracting measles: severe illness, hospitalization and death. The vaccine itself has brought huge leaps in early childhood disease prevention, providing vaccination to over 500 million people worldwide in over 100 countries. Before the vaccine, mumps was the most common cause of viral meningitis in children and rubella caused terrible damage to unborn babies.

Now, both mumps and rubella are virtually non-existent in children.

The Measles Outbreak

With concern to the current measles outbreak of 2014, two doses are recommended because 2-5 percent of vaccinated people do not respond to their first dose. More than 99 percent of people develop immunity after
the second dose.

Out of the 593 confirmed cases of measles, very few were from people who had been vaccinated twice.

The virus itself can stay in the air for two hours after a person with measles symptoms have left the area and is spread by respiratory droplets. The people infected are contagious four days before and after receiving the rash.

International Outbreak

In the third world countries of the world, measles outbreaks have been spreading more freely, with thousands of cases. In the Philippines, there were 50,000 registered cases and 77 deaths. In Vietnam, there are at least
8,700 cases with 112 deaths in children. In Pakistan, over 30,000 people have caught measles and 290 people have died, with the number increasing daily for children alone. The effect of measles has been spreading due to a lack of proper vaccination, more vulnerable immune systems and misinformation (MMR vaccine may produce autism).

In Africa, the number of measles-related deaths have decreased by 91 percent due to a surge in immunization. However, cases have still been growing, a number well into the thousands.

The potential benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks. Parents should understand that the MMR vaccine is the best way to protect their children from these diseases, especially if traveling to an affected area, or the family resides in an affected area.

– Ashley Riley

Sources: About, About 2, CDC, CDC 2
Photo: Medimoon

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Economic Growth: Will a Rising Tide Lift All Boats?

Developing countries around the world face the tremendous challenge of promoting sustainable growth while also reducing poverty and increasing the living standards of their populations.

Around the world, conventional wisdom holds that by focusing development policy on economic growth, inequality will be reduced and incomes of every segment of society will increase–a rising tide lifts all boats.

While poverty has been reduced dramatically all around the world (700 million fewer people live in conditions of extreme poverty in 2010 than in 1990), big challenges still exist to further reducing this number. One of these challenges is rising inequality within and between nations.

Listed below are three reasons why income inequality must be addressed in both the developed and developing world in order to ensure long-term economic growth benefits for everyone and not just a select few.

1. Economic growth is not always equal

China, one of the countries where poverty reduction has been dramatic, is astoundingly tolerant of large gaps in inequality in exchange for growth. Deng Xiaoping, a top Communist Party leader from 1978 to 1992 who initiated economic reforms, is thought to have acknowledged, “It is good for some people to get rich first.”

While this may be true in some cases or at the beginning of market reforms, recent studies undertaken in Indonesia, South Africa, India and China reveal an increase in the gap between the rich and poor. This gap in income inequality can not only prevent further reduction in poverty, but it also has long term implications in the ability of large parts of the population of each country to be able to contribute to the country’s economy and growth.

2. Education, health, and job creation policies must be pursued simultaneously with growth policies

In order for a country’s population to contribute to and participate in the country’s economy, individuals must have the skills. Pursuing policies only focused on increasing GDP may improve growth outlook in the short run. However, in the long run, without education initiatives to match, a large segment of the population will remain poor.

In the 1990s, Brazil pursued a pro-equity growth policy in which it provided grants to help boost education. Average years of school for the poor shot up and when growth hit; they too were able to take advantage of the better jobs.

Just as an overall boost in education and health is important, so is robust job creation. People must have the opportunity to input the skills they have learned back into the economy.

For this reason, inequality cannot be solved without government involvement. The market left as is does not ensure that growth is shared equally. A combination of strong government programs and a strong private sector ensures better opportunities for more people.

3. Positive GDP growth can hide underlying inequality

The main measure of inequality within a given country is through the gini coefficient. The gini coefficient is a variable that measures how equal a country’s income is with zero representing an instance where everyone’s income is exactly equal, and one representing an instance in which one person has all of the income and the rest have none.

In South Africa, while the government is vocally committed to fighting poverty and inequality, between 2003 and 2008 overall income inequality increased. During this period, South Africa’s gini coefficient rose from an already high .66 to .70 – one of the highest in the world. So despite an average GDP growth rate of 3.2 percent (1994-2012), steps still need to be taken to ensure that the bottom segment of society is able to contribute and benefit from that growth.

Today, nearly 80 percent of humanity lives on less than $10 per day and over 3 billion live on less than $2.50. High levels of inequality exacerbate problems of poverty and reduce opportunities for the poor to move beyond their circumstances. Fewer opportunities for children to rise up economically means that inequality becomes more exaggerated over time and can affect the social structure of a country – leading to unrest, crime and violence.

Developed and developing countries alike all face the challenge of reducing their gini coefficient while also promoting growth. While each country faces unique challenges, this is one problem that can benefit from collaboration at the international level. From the information above, it becomes clear that poverty cannot be fully eliminated without measures in place that simultaneously address income inequality.

– Andrea Blinkhorn

Sources: Science Mag, Global Issues, Global Issues 2, Politics of Poverty, United Nations, South Africa, Hvistendahl, M. (2014). While emerging economies boom, equality goes bust. Science,344(6186), 832-835.
Photo: PBS

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Girl Child Network Changes Attitudes in Zimbabwe

Girl Child Network
In Zimbabwe, it’s hard to be a girl. With a population of mostly youth, the country and its economy have been decimated by the AIDS epidemic. Up to 80 percent of the population in rural villages is unemployed and women are subordinated with gender violence and rape.

The Girl Child Network (GCN) is trying to change things. Founded by Betty Makoni, the network is designed to help change the policy and acceptability of rape. The program has grown to assist girls with education and housing.

Featured in the documentary Tapestries of Hope, Girl Child Network is trailblazing the way rape survivors are treated: with dignity and with agency. One of the easiest ways to explain GCN is through its use of the color blue. In Zimbabwe, blue is a color mainly for boys; GCN uses it everywhere.

While health and support are provided, Makoni emphasizes that access to education is among her priorities. A donation as little as $50 could provide a girl with tuition for a year.

Expanding upon the original goal of getting justice for survivors, GCN allows girls to envision futures for themselves. Many of these girls are orphans and some are even mothers themselves, but GCN empowers them. Girls are encouraged to dream and pursue education and careers.

While GCN’s staff advocates for the girls, the girls themselves have emerged as advocates. Some have publicly spoken out against violence against women at the United Nations. Others courageously shared their stories on the documentary.

The solution to the poverty they face isn’t simple. Will achieving a degree make a difference? Will they be able to get a job with the extraordinary high unemployment rate? The answers are unclear. The philosophy of GCN, however, is to maximize the potential and resources for these girls.

– Kristin Ronzi

Sources: Tapestries of Hope
Photo: TeachAids

Poverty in Barcelona

Although Barcelona is a top vacation spot for many European and international tourists, residents are nevertheless accustomed to the effects of poverty in this nation.

Geographically, Barcelona lies in Catalonia, a region that encompasses the northeastern part of Spain. The region is made up of four provinces: Barcelona, Tarragona, Girona and Lleida.

Over the years, Catalonia has sought independence from the rest of the nation. Much of the uproar in the area, as well as in much of Spain, concerns the rampant corruption that has affected the nation’s economic outlook. The 2008 global economic collapse caused substantial harm to the Spanish economy.

Jose Maria, chair of the economics department at Madrid’s Autonoma University, said last year that corruption in the country is inhibiting the country’s recovery from its economic problems.

“[Corruption] generates political instability,” he said. “[It] damages the country’s image abroad and investor confidences and increases financial uncertainty.”

Between 2008 and 2011, the number of children living below the poverty line in Catalonia increased by more than 10 percent.

In Barcelona—the country’s second largest city—signs of a troubled economy are present. Public transportation fees on the city’s most popular travelcard have increased five percent this year. Water bills in the city’s metropolitan area could increase by up to 8.5 percent.

A number of different slums can be found in and around the city. Degraded housing in the center of the old city, shantytown housing, multi-family residential blocks and Romani encampments are common throughout the city’s poorest areas. Many of these housing structures were first built in the early and middle 20th century and their infrastructure has been declining ever since.

Those who inhabit the slum housing infrastructures possess similar characteristics, including low levels of education and low incomes. The elderly and the immigrants are often the most common populations who live in such housing structures.

For years, Barcelona has been a witness to high unemployment rates coupled with significant immigration movements. A significant number of Barcelona residents survive off of less than 1,000 euros a month or, roughly, $1,300.

Despite a history of relative impoverishment and continuous economic uncertainty, Barcelona residents do maintain some advantages over others in the developed and developing worlds. For example, every resident has access to health care. In addition, the city, as well as the rest of the country, manages to provide adequate unemployment benefits to its citizens. And given the Spanish culture, strong families are an ingrained aspect of everyday life. Parents and grandparents regularly provide financial support to the younger members of their families.

While Barcelona’s financial future may be relatively uncertain, it is more than likely that the positive components of Spanish culture will remain unchanged.

– Ethan Safran

Sources: UCL, Global Research, BBC, El Pais, Expatica.com, The Atlantic
Photo: Mission Home

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U.S. to Close Emergency Shelters for Migrant Children

The U.S. government announced on August 4 that it would be closing three separate emergency shelters designed to house the rapid influx of unaccompanied migrant children arriving from Central America. The shelters, run by Health and Human Services (HHS) and located on military bases, are planning on closing due to waning numbers of children crossing the border and an increasing capacity at other, more permanent shelters.

One shelter at Fort Still in Oklahoma closed on August 8, with the other two shelters located at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas and Naval Base Ventura County-Port Hueneme, California set to close in the next two to eight weeks.

The migrant children were being held at the bases thanks to a 2008 law dictating that any unaccompanied children from countries not bordering the U.S. must be handed over to HHS within 72 hours of being apprehended. It has been estimated that around 7,700 children had been housed at the three bases, with the average stay lasting 35 days.

Most of the children are originally from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, but have come from other Central American countries. The majority of those living at the shelters have found themselves fleeing their home countries due to an increased instability in the region. This lack of safety is largely due to a combination of increased gang violence and deeply entrenched levels of extreme poverty. However, it is impossible to attribute one particular cause to the massive increase in children attempting to enter the U.S.

Unaccompanied migrant children crossing the U.S. border hit a peak during June when it was estimated that as many as 2,000 children were crossing per week, but the amount has since tapered off. The last estimate was around 500 per week in Mid-July. An estimate from the Obama administration say that a total amount of child immigrants could hit 90,000 by September.

– Andre Gobbo

Sources: New York Times, PBS, BBC
Photo: Raw Story

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What is Development?

The definition of development has been controversially contested, complex, ambiguous and unstable. The most common theme among the definitions put forth is that development, as a whole, encompasses change of the human condition.

Since the 1990s, development has come to relate to policy objectives and performance indicators. Some examples include social and psychological development as well as more economic-related factors such as per capita income.

Poverty involves a wide range of concerns, all of which cannot be counted for when considering income alone. With regard to a person/family’s quality of life, countries with similar incomes may differ extensively.

Development cannot just be summed up by the prosperity of an economy, brought about by making the people of that economy more fortunate. Development carries a connotation of change that is long-lasting. Instead, development should be looked at as Nobel-prize winning economist Amartya Sen would define it: the capacity of economic, political and social systems to provide the circumstances for well-being on a sustainable, long-term basis.

According to Owen Barder, a global development specialist from the Center for Global Development, “I argue that development is an emergent property of the economic and social system, in much the same way that consciousness is an emergent property of the brain.”

Barder’s argument suggests that development is the result of human interaction within three systems: economic, political and social. If development can provide sustained improvements in all three systems, then systemically, it is a success. Otherwise, it is a failure.

As the accepted definition of development continues to change, it is important to remember that development encompasses the long-term transformation of  societies in addition to those short-term desirable outcomes.

– Ashley Riley

Sources: Sage Pub, Center for Global Development
Photo: Time for People

Mobile Tech Aids Agriculture in Pakistan

If you were to spend any amount of time in Pakistan, you might think you were in the heart of a very rich country, especially when you saw how many people have mobile phones. Regardless of economic class, nearly everyone has mobile tech; individuals who work as farmers are no exception.

But the farmers live in very isolated areas that are tough to reach and, until recently, were very hard places with which to communicate. Additionally, the farmers are at risk of being struck by major natural disasters or attacked by militants in the area. Although the picture is bleak, there are some silver linings.

The first is the rapidly improved mobile technology and service in the area. USAID noticed this improvement and partnered with the local government as well as Telenor, a mobile network communicator to launch a program to benefit farmers. And now, there’s an app for that.

The pilot program will reach peach and potato farmers as well as individuals who own fisheries. The venture seeks to increase farmer’s incomes, improve market access and bolster knowledge and the ability to fight crop disease. The app will do so through various methods.

The primary function of the app will be to send alerts filled with advice and tips on how to increase efficiency and quality of food production to mobile phones. There is also a service that users can access that has voice files with similar instructions and additional tips. The latter will provide an excellent service, since a large part of the country is illiterate and would therefore be unable to access the data in any other way.

On the business side, farmers will receive data about market prices and consumer trends to ensure that they are increasing profits. There are also more technical bits of advice, such as state-of-the-art farming practices designed to increase yield and help fight crop diseases. Additionally, there are advanced weather programs on the app to help farmers decide when to plant, irrigate and harvest crops.

The pilot has been met with overwhelmingly positive feedback. Over 90 percent of participants said the alerts were “well-timed and useful,” while three quarters of the participants have adopted the farming practices recommended by the app.

The app also has a feedback section that will be incredibly useful, although it might take longer to see results. Users can log activity and practices through the app, which specialists can analyze in order to get a picture of what challenges farmers face. From there, solutions can be made. And, in a country where agriculture employs 44 percent of the population, it might be just what they needed.

– Andrew Rywak

Sources: USAID 1, USAID 2, USAID 3, Nation
Photo: USAID

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The Problem with Poverty in Tokyo

Despite having the third-largest economy in the world, there is a growing issue with poverty in Japan. Of the total population, 15.7 percent of Japanese people live in poverty, a percentage greater than countries with less economic resources.

The country’s overall child poverty rate has also hit a record high of 16.3 percent, prompting questions as to whether the country is trying to fix these issues.

When people think of Tokyo, “poor” is a thought that seldom ever comes to mind. Walking in the streets of the capital, you do not see people begging for money; the homeless are all hiding amongst the shadows.

Yet when the story of the emaciated and hypothermia-struck bodies of an elderly man, his wife and 39-year-old son were found in their home after weeks of no one noticing, one cannot help but question the state of the one in six Japanese citizens living under the poverty line.

Living in a Single-Parent Household

In 2012, The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reported that “significant poverty among single parents is a factor boosting the child poverty rate to 14 percent.” According to a Library of Congress article, there has been an increase in the number of welfare recipients, especially from single-parent households. In addition, the article states, “It is hard for single mothers to find jobs that pay enough to support a household in Japan.”

Child poverty in working, single-parent households stood at 50 percent, according to a 2014 TokyoWeekender article. The Abe administration is working on poverty alleviation methods, but not enough attention is paid to child poverty.

Due to the stagnant economy, the number of “freeters” is on a rise. “Freeters” refer to young people, who, after deciding to avoid Japanese corporate culture, live a freer lifestyle. But jumping from job to job in modern Japan is too difficult to properly survive on.

More than 1.23 million single mother households exist that earn only 40 percent of the average household income. One out of three unmarried women are considered poor, and many of these women fall into poverty due to divorce, single parenting, debts, domestic violence and family background.

The Elephant in the Room

After the Fukushima nuclear disaster of March 2011, there have been many job losses for middle-aged workers.

At the national level, Japan has gone through three prime ministers since the Fukushima disaster, who ranged from anti-nuclear to cautiously pro-nuclear. Calls for removing nuclear plants completely swarmed the country due to the fact that 20 percent of the world’s earthquakes occur in Japan; danger of a repeat is high.

Only one or two of the 54 nuclear reactors in Japan are now active; the rest are substituted by imported coal and gas, which have caused other detrimental effects on the economy.

When it comes to the question of poverty in Tokyo, many people prefer to hide the truth. On a neighborhood level, people hide that they need two jobs to afford tuition. On the political level, the government hides the true poverty statistics from its international community.

According to an article describing the effects of the Fukushima disaster, the “government was afraid to face reality and did not set the poverty line at an appropriate value.” All of this was done in the effort to endure the misfortune in private.

Poverty is a topic that is emerging from the shadows, and the Japanese government is beginning to acknowledge and address its presence.

– Ashley Riley

Sources: Behind the Grids, Japan Sociology, Tokyo Weekender, Library of Congress, The Economist
Photo: Travel CNN

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Basketball Brings Hope to Mexico’s Triqui Tribe

The consequences of poverty are many: some impoverished people go hungry, others become ill and others are forced to take on informal jobs that rob them of dignity or safety. Yet, a widespread effect of poverty is the loss of hope due to a lack of resources, social status and opportunities. Poverty can be difficult to escape; accordingly, those who experience it often feel it will define the rest of their lives.

Basketball programs for children of the Mexican Triqui tribe have made the news in the last year – the chance to play the sport that’s become wildly popular throughout the Oaxaca region of Mexico is giving boys and girls alike hope that they may avoid the poverty and violence that plagues much of their tribe.

Despite the fact that many families are too poor to purchase shoes for their young basketball stars, these children remain committed to honing their skills on the court and many aspire to become local coaches or international athletes. In fact, some of their dreams are already coming true; last fall, a team of Triqui boys traveled to Argentina to compete in an international basketball festival and beat more than 50 other teams (while playing barefoot) to become festival champions.

Basketball isn’t just giving these children hope, it’s giving them opportunities. Triqui basketball players have the chance to travel outside of Oaxaca and learn about options for their futures. League rules require that players maintain certain grades, so the love of the game keeps kids in school as well.

Furthermore, girls participating in basketball programs are changing the ways that women are treated in their traditional communities. Though Triqui girls are often discouraged from pursuing education and are encouraged to marry young, the opportunities that basketball provides them pave the way for gender equality. When girls can hold their own against boys on the court, people – including the girls – see them as equals.

Basketball may not be the most customary method of eliminating poverty, but it’s one that may work in the long run for the Triqui people of Mexico. In the meantime, it’s giving the community hope for the future.

-Elise L. Riley

Sources: The Guardian, CNN
Photo: The Guardian

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Get Out and Play: Sports and Child Development

Playing is fun! The importance of play goes beyond simply passing time or seeking health benefits. A study completed by scientist Jaak Panksepp supports the pre-existing hypothesis that play is critical to child development.

Panksepp, along with others in the scientific community, theorizes that humans, as social animals, need play to learn social rules and cues. Through sports, people form communication skills, learn cooperation and leadership and come to better understand others.

To test this idea, Panksepp experimented with rats. He isolated one group so they could not play, while allowing another group to play. When both groups were placed in the same cage, the rats that received more stimulation were better able to interact and mate than the rats that were not allowed to play.

A comparable study done on kittens by a different group of scientists observed similar results. The young cats that were unable to play failed to acquire certain social skills. And although the kittens that were deprived of play could still hunt well, they were more aggressive and had trouble fitting in socially with other cats.

Lack of play, especially at a young age, proves to be a serious problem. Panksepp concluded that, with play, both humans and animals learn to live in social groups, build relationships, express emotions and master skills that do not come instinctively.

The importance of play for child development cannot be understated, according to Panksepp and many others concerned with the health and well being of young people.

The U.N. and UNICEF hold play as a fundamental right for every child, and protect that right under Article 31 of the Convention of Right of the Child. Sport and recreation are essential components of a child’s education, allowing children to gain confidence and lead healthier, more balanced lives.

Unfortunately, children living in poverty and areas of conflict are the most deprived of play.

Children are denied their rights when they are forced to work at a young age. In an effort to support their families, poor children drop out of school and work long and hard jobs. Across the world, there are over 168 million child laborers. Laboring like adults prevents them from playing and gaining the important life skills that come with play.

War and violence also keep children from play. Those in conflict zones live in constant fear and cannot run and have fun outside. With current conflicts raging in Gaza, Iraq and Syria, to name a few, the impact of war on children’s lives today is extensive and pervasive.

Without play, children living in poverty and conflict are denied essential interactions. Childhood is a critical period to set the foundations for healthy development, and play acts as an important component to this growth. The study completed by Panksepp suggests that the conditions experienced by children in poverty and conflict can have long-term negative consequences on their development.

– Kathleen Egan

Sources: NPR, UNICEF, International Labor Organization
Photo: UNICEF