Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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U.S. Threatens to Pull Aid from Afghanistan

aid from afghanistan
Preliminary results of the Afghan election, reported by the Afghan Independent Election Commission on Monday July 7, threaten to create further chaos in the country. The situation prompted U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to warn on Tuesday that “Any action to take power by extralegal means will cost Afghanistan the financial and security support of the U.S. and the international community.”

The results declared Ashraf Ghani in the lead of his opponent Abdullah Abdullah, sparking demonstrations from both parties claiming the elections to be marred by fraud. Repeated statements from election officials that the results are not final have done little to quench the protests.

Mr. Abdullah’s camp has spent the days since the reporting of the preliminary results building support for a parallel government. Claims that the election was engineered by Mr. Ghani, the election officials and current President Hamid Karzai have been made by allies of Mr. Abdullah.

“From this moment on, we announce our own legitimate government led by Abdullah Abdullah,” writes Atta Mohammed Noor, governor of Balkh Province, on Facebook.

Mr. Abdullah himself has urged his supporters to wait before taking action. He addressed a gathering of his leading supporters on Tuesday: “We are the winner of this round of elections without any doubt. I ask you to give me a few days to consult and speak.” This speech was delivered after a portrait of Hamid Karzai was torn down by his supporters while they cried: “Death to Karzai.”

The preliminary results threatens to inflame festering ethnic tensions. Mr. Ghani and many of his supporters are Pashtun, the majority-ethnic group that has historically been in power. In contrast, Mr. Abdullah derives his support from the Tajik ethnic group, which has been historically marginalized. Mr. Abdullah and his supporters feel they may never see political power, unless they take it by force.

Financial Times quotes Kate Clark, a senior analyst at the Afghanistan Analyst Network: “the election has thrown up ‘a lot of combustible material’ that both candidates had stopped just short of lighting.”

President Obama has personally phoned both candidates, telling them explicitly that violence or illegal action will cause the U.S. to withdraw all aid from Afghanistan. While both President Obama and Secretary Kerry have voiced their support for a thorough election audit, the threat of rescinding support makes clear the U.S.’s position on any action taken by either side outside the limits of the law.

The U.S. has been a strong financial and security backer for the Afghan government. The United States Agency for International Development is one of the agencies working to improve conditions in Afghanistan. In aggregate, since 2002, USAID has spent $13 billion on programs in the country. Economic growth has stabilized at nine percent per year, eight million children are enrolled in school—including 2.9 million girls—and 60 percent of the population lives within access of health services, since the fall of the Taliban.

U.S. aid is vital to the survival of a country where 50 percent of the population lives in poverty and 7.5 million are food insecure.

“America does have a stake in Afghanistan—and Afghanistan still needs America,” Kate Clark sums up the situation.

— Julianne O’Connor

Sources: First Post, The New York Times, Financial Times
Photo: Afghanistan Study Group

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Somali Food Crisis to Intensify

The United States government recently acknowledged the presence of over 100 military advisors who have been secretly operating in Somalia since 2007. While they are not engaged in combat missions, they have routinely assisted the Somali government by providing their tactical expertise in the Somali effort to combat Islamist militants. Those militants comprise al Shabaab, the al Qaeda-linked terrorist organization which most notably claimed responsibility for the September 2013 attack on a mall in Nairobi, Kenya which resulted in 67 deaths.

The African Union Mission in Somalia currently has 22,000 troops stationed in Somalia from various African countries and the United States has stated its intent to aid soldiers of the Somali National Army. However, Somalia is far from a stable country. On July 8 al Shabaab militants attacked Somali’s presidential palace in Mogadishu. They used a car bomb to blast open the gates and then proceeded onto the grounds. Their attack was eventually thwarted by Somali and AMISOM troops but the threat of violence in the nation’s capital still looms.

Despite the various armed conflicts taking place throughout the country, Somalia is faced with another pressing issue: the Somali food crisis. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization recently disclosed the possibility of a worsening food crisis in Somalia. This crisis would be the result of a predicted water shortage following a lackluster rain season earlier this year, rising food prices in urban areas and dwindling humanitarian assistance in the country.

The food agency also acknowledged the presence of acute malnutrition in Mogadishu which requires intensified humanitarian aid over the coming months. The displaced populace in areas like Mogadishu where armed violence has become regular has served to exacerbate the food crisis. While it is clear that the Somali government is finally receiving the military aid it needs, the food aid it also requires has not yet occurred.

— Taylor Dow

Sources: HORSEED Media, Daily Times, Fox news, CNN, Reuters
Photo: World Vision

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Controlling Malaria Outbreaks

Combating poverty drives innovation. In order to reduce the suffering from poverty, countries investigate cost effective methods of preventing poverty and reducing the negative effects of poverty, such as disease or malnutrition. Confronting public health concerns, like malaria, in developing countries inspires scientific innovations to end the problem in an efficient yet inexpensive way. In this way, controlling malaria outbreaks improves health care worldwide.

Malaria is preventable and treatable, yet the disease killed over 600,000 people in 2012. The Center for Disease Control reported that malaria outbreaks are the leading cause of death in many developing countries and disproportionately affects young children, pregnant women and travelers.

Malaria is both a symptom and cause of poverty. Impoverished people struggle to take preventative measures against malaria, and if individuals contract malaria, the cost of treatment and the inability to work burden them. Furthermore, countries must create and manage health facilities and treatments. The Center for Disease Control estimated the direct cost at $12 billion per year. This creates a cycle of poverty in which both people and nations are unable to escape.

Some of the solutions, though, destroy too many mosquitoes, which affects the environment. Many predators depend on mosquitoes as their primary food source, so the ecological effect of eliminating all mosquitoes would be significant.

Because of this, researchers are investigating effective preventive measures to target a specific type of mosquito. The Economist reports that Dr. Nikolai Windbichler and Dr. Andrea Crisanti found a method of killing only the mosquitoes of the Anopheles genus, or the ones that carry malaria. By ensuring that the mosquitoes no longer produce female mosquitoes, Dr. Windbichler and Dr. Crisanti ensure that the mosquitoes cannot reproduce or draw blood and spread the malaria parasite.

The researchers designed a protein called endonuclease, which erodes the X chromosome of the mosquitoes. Producing female offspring requires two X chromosomes, and the egg only holds X chromosomes. As a result, if the protein limits the production of X chromosomes in male mosquitoes, it will limit the amount of female mosquitoes produced. A male dominated species of mosquitoes would lower the population as a whole and limit the transmission of malaria.

However, the Economist notes that natural selection will eventually allow the mosquitoes to evolve past the protein, so this solution depends on the elimination of the parasite within the species.

Ecologist Phil Lounibos expresses some skepticism of this type of solution. He believes that eliminating or decreasing the population of one species will not affect the spread of the disease. In a study he led, multiple genus of mosquitoes would cross inseminate and spread the parasite to other types of mosquitoes.

Stalling the disease, though, could allow countries to divert funds from malaria treatment to increasing economic productivity and improving the lives of the country’s impoverished. Developing new methods of malaria control presents exciting possibilities for controlling and combating malaria.

Between 2000 and 2012, malaria interventions saved over 3 million lives, and scientific innovation could drastically increase this number.

– Tara Wilson

Sources: The Economist, Center for Disease Control, WHO, Nature
Photo: The Health Site

Germany Battles Over Minimum Wage Law

Ending months of negotiations, Germany’s legislature voted on a minimum wage law mandating $11.61 an hour. The vote passed despite opposition from both trade unions and businesses calling out the program’s potential flaws.

The vote is considered to be a piece of landmark legislation for Germany, as in the past wages were set via agreements between employers and employees. Before this vote, Germany was one of a group of seven countries in the European Union who did not have a national minimum wage.

Opponents of the legislation, however, are outraged over some changes to the legislation in the eleventh-hour before the vote. Citizens under the age of 18 do not fall under the protection of the new law. Opponents claim that having a minimum wage would prevent younger citizens from being able to hold an apprenticeship.

For the first six months after the law is enacted, those who have been without employment for a long period of time will also fail to be covered by the law. Supporters of this restriction claim that if the long-term unemployed were paid $11.61 from the point of the law’s enactment, it would just make it more difficult for the unemployed to find jobs.

Compulsory work placement, something which mainly affects students, will also not be covered by the new minimum wage law, along with newspaper publishers for two years.

According to the Federal Association of German Newspaper Publishers, around 160,000 newspaper sellers will be affected by the lack of pay and the total number of people who won’t be covered by the new law is approximately 3 million.

There are around 7.1 million people in part-time employment in Germany, according to a 2012 report. The report also stated that around 4.8 million people were unemployed.

“These exemptions hit the most vulnerable in the labor market, of all people,” said Frank Bsirske, the head of the white-collar trade union Ver.di. “Millions of people will continue to be exposed to the arbitrariness of starvation wages.”

The bill has also drawn criticism from the European Union executive body. According to László Andor, the European Social Affairs Commissioner, the European Commission requires that countries who are members of the E.U. have a minimum wage that includes everyone in order to prevent citizens from falling into poverty even though they may be employed.

German economists and lobbyists for many of Germany’s businesses have argued against the minimum wage bill as well; stating that a rise in the minimum wage may run the risk of driving prices up for consumers and could potentially end thousands of jobs in the weaker regions of Germany.

Supporter of the bill argue, however, that having a period of time to allow businesses to adapt is necessary.

“This has dominated the political debate in our country for ten years,” said Labor Minister Andrea Nahles, one of the supporters for the bill. “It’s coming now and that’s reason to celebrate. Millions of employees in this country will finally get a fair wage.”

– Monica Newell

Sources: World Socialist Web Site, The Wall Street Journal
Photo: Arab News

Adopt-A-Camp

Adopt-A-Camp
Raising a family of 53,000 can’t be easy, but someone has to do it. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE,) the woman who does so is Saher Shaikh, the head of the Dubai-based charity Adopt-A-Camp. Directed to help some of the 5 million migrant laborers in the UAE, Adopt-A-Camp teaches laborers English lessons as well as teaches them their rights as migrant workers.

Shaikh started this organization after multiple interactions with humble and hardworking migrant workers, and realizing her possible role. Now with 52 camps across the UAE, her standards are still high, as she tells CNN, “Every camp we adopt we make bed bug-free, cockroach-free and lice-free. We physically shampoo the men’s hair ourselves,” proving to them they are just as worthy of healthy living as every other citizen of the UAE.

Over time, Shaikh has picked up some high-ranking supporters in the government, including the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of Labor. Using this support, she helps ensure payment for the men’s work, something often lacking. Shaikh says, “It was a common problem during the recession, but it still happens now and again. We’d hear from the men that they hadn’t been paid for months, or even a year, and that their families were starving and they were starving. We worked with the Ministry of Labor to help them get home, or find a better job.” This allowed hopeful futures and stability for a group of men who once could barely afford bread rolls for their families.

While standards are on the rise, there are still levels of discrepancy that affect the lives of laborers. Employers are required to pay them once a month for their work, and there is a plan of action laborers can take should they not receive payment.

Nicholas McGeehan, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, looked into this and found that the laws aren’t always enforced, saying, “Theoretically, workers can take complaints to the labor courts. Theoretically, they should be able to get their salaries back, but justice is dispensed in a very ad hoc manner, if it is dispensed at all,” showing the lack of separation between government and migrant employers.

Shaikh demonstrates an unfortunately underrepresented population of compassionate people. There is an unlikely hope that Saudi businessmen will support similar initiatives that show concern for migrant workers and offer opportunities for justice.

After eight years of ongoing dedication to Adopt-a-Camp, Shaikh has managed this flourishing organization by herself, gathering members of her growing family and helping them see what they can fight for.

– Elena Lopez

Sources: CNN, Adopt-a-Camp, Saudi Gazette, Gulf News
Photo: Adopt-a-Camp

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Universal Primary Education by 2015

The Millennium Development Goal of having universal primary education worldwide by 2015 is under examination. UNESCO put out a statement saying that achieving this goal is no longer possible, but European Union development commissioner Andris Piebalgs says otherwise.

UNESCO claims that the goal of having all children in schools is unattainable because of insufficient financing available for education.

The goal of Education For All was instituted in 2000, and 2015 was its target for completion. However, as of 2014, 58 million children around the world are still not attending school.

The report put out by UNESCO stated that governments have to be the ones to fix the problems, and called on them to be the leaders of the movement. The problem comes mostly from the inability to provide education to people who are living with disadvantages, including poverty, gender, location or other factors. Governments must reevaluate their efforts and concentrate on these groups of people.

Piebalgs believes that education must start with the government as well, claiming, “Education is the first sign of equality; [it shows] that each child has access to the education system free of charge and that a state is taking care of its citizens.”

If governments can reach out to these marginalized children, then there is a possibility to still reach the Millennium Development Goal by the end of next year. Simply getting children enrolled in school is easy to do and costs very little.

Piebalgs, however, has expressed concern about what is to follow. He said, “We’ve looked on education in a rather shallow way: we set the target of getting kids into school and that was it – we were just hoping that they would get something out of school.” Continuing, the former headmaster explained, “But for me, what is crucial is the quality of education you get: the quality is not less important than enrollment. [sic]”

The difficulty now is to determine whether simply putting these 58 million children in school over the next year is worth potentially losing the quality of the education that they may receive. Despite what may have to happen after 2015, getting these children enrolled in school and emphasizing the importance of education to them could be life-changing for them.

– Hannah Cleveland

Sources: The Guardian, The Daily Star
Photo: The Guardian

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Donated Books Promote Global Reading

For millions of American students, July marks the beginning of summer and the completion of another year of school. Despite the grade level or location, many American students share one thing in common: stacks of books they will likely never open again. Stacks of already-read novels, or subject-and-grade-specific textbooks, will sit and collect dust for the remainder of their shelf lives.

There is a much smarter option for used books: donation. Taking five minutes to donate a pile of used books could change the life of a child or adolescent forever.

Today, 250 million children worldwide cannot read. Most of these children live in developing countries, and education affords them with one of the only opportunities to break the cycle of poverty: employment. But many children simply cannot acquire the necessary literacy skills because they lack access to libraries and an appropriate selection of books, not to mention physical classrooms and quality teachers.

Donating used books is an incredibly simple, powerful way in which we as a nation can help alleviate the global education crisis. Not sure where to start? Here are three organizations that can help you place your books into the hands of children who need them most:

1. Books for Africa (BFA) has shipped over 28 million books to 49 countries since 1988. BFA believes that a culture of literacy is truly the most empowering asset a community can have. The organization currently accepts: fiction and non-fiction books that are 15 years old or newer; primary, secondary and college textbooks; reference books (such as encyclopedias) published in 2003 or later; and medical, nursing and law books published in 1998 or later. A team of BFA volunteers sorts and packs these books, ensuring that each box of books is donated to the appropriate classroom or organization. For information on where to ship donations, please visit Books for Africa.

2. Better World Books (BWB) collects and donates books to support and fund literacy initiatives worldwide and also sells new books. Not only does the organization accept funds and book donations, but for every book purchased on BWB’s website, another book is donated to literacy programs worldwide. The organization boasts 10 million donated books to partner programs — including Books for Africa — around the world since its 2002 beginning. For information on how to donate books and what books are accepted, as well as directions for printing a shipping label for your donation, please visit Better World Books.

3.  Room to Read began in Nepal in 2000, when the organization began bringing donated books to rural communities in need. Today, the organization works globally and is dedicated to promoting and enabling education through programs focused on literacy and gender equality in education. Room to Read has thus far reached 7.8 million children by establishing school libraries, donating and publishing local-language children books and training teachers on literacy education. The organization has distributed 14,588,494 books worldwide since 2000. Though it’s not currently accepting book donations, Room to Read partners with Better World Books, a partnership that ensures that books are being placed where they’re needed most. The organization does accept monetary donations online at Room to Read.

If every child received an education, 170 million people would escape the chains of poverty. In a nation where education resources and tools are a given, we have a great responsibility — and opportunity — to contribute to the fight against the global achievement gap. Donating books or funds that support global literacy programs helps equip children in impoverished communities with the tools necessary not only to learn and succeed as students, but also to establish a better life for themselves, for their families and for generations to follow.

– Elizabeth Nutt

Sources: Global News, Better World Books, Room to Read, Books For Africa
Photo: All Things SD

Sierra Leone Theater Raises Awareness

sierra leone
Sierra Leone has adopted a new method to facilitate discussions about corporal punishment and the violence it perpetuates. Supported by UNICEF’s Learning for Peace program, groups of performers write original plays that deal with the consequences of violence.

One theater performance is titled “The Stepson.” The lead character is a young boy who is beaten by his stepmother before going to school and being physically punished again there. This leads him to run away from home. The goal of the play is to educate and open up dialogue about corporal punishment in Sierra Leone, while providing alternatives for conflict resolution.

Performances like this are not new to development efforts. Other programs around the globe are using theater to effect change in their communities. The Bedari Theatre Programme in Pakistan builds on the Punjabi tradition of street theater to facilitate conversations and change in regards to child marriage. A group in Timor-Leste, called Damas, consists of an all-female ensemble that challenges gender stereotypes through their subject matter and by turning Shakespeare on his head to cast women in male roles. The Theater of the Oppressed, which has spread from its Brazilian heritage to the far corners of the globe like India and Australia, works to give marginalized persons a voice through performance.

In all of these participatory programs, education is key. In Sierra Leone, school is part of the problem. Corporal punishment scares children away from the classroom; a group of students enlisted by the rebels in Sierra Leone’s civil war came back after fighting and killed their teachers because of the violence inflicted on them in school. Theater provides a way to educate the population in a safe and engaging way that challenges the conventional classroom culture.

The performances also educate the performers. PETA, a Phillipine group, found that when children who scavenged in the garbage to survive were involved in theater workshops, they became more confident and articulate. Often, the cast of a performance will include local volunteers, and groups will interview community members to create a realistic, relatable script. This allows the performances to be culturally appropriate and to open up dialogue.

The community will often not respond well to people in authority, but a grassroots conversation fostered by entertainment creates opportunities for people to engage with each other on a topic.

There are other advantages to using theater for development. It is portable, recordable, and cost-effective, particularly when enlisting volunteers from the community to help write and act. It is also public, so people do not feel invaded by the message, but instead volunteer to come see the performance. A major advantage is that understanding and engaging with the performances does not require literacy, so performances are accessible to all.

Theater binds communities together in appreciating each other’s talents and having conversation. It is fun, so people want to be involved, which allows more advocacy efforts to reach more people.

Despite the good work theater does in initiating change in communities, there are some drawbacks. One drawback is the time involved in creating a work. When volunteer writers and actors get together, it can take a lot of time to construct a coherent, rehearsed play. This is a disadvantage when a new topic becomes immediately relevant. The large groups involved can also sterilize the message in order to please everyone.

The government can be another issue. Since governments often provide funding, they sometimes attempt to use theater performances to push their own agendas. Or, in the case of Ghana, the government will shut down programs out of fear the performance will not support current political systems.

People also expect theater to make drastic changes on its own. Theater works best when coupled with other advocacy efforts, like the dialogue sparked by the Sierra Leone performances.

The 20th annual conference for Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed began on Thursday, July 3. Hosted by the University of Nebraska, the conference will aim to improve the development work done by theater performance and give marginalized people a stronger voice.

– Monica Roth

Sources: Oxford Journals, UNICEF Girls Not Brides, Jana Sanskriti, ActNow, Omaha.com
Photo: Girls Not Brides

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UN, Norway Launch Initiative in Malawi

initiative in malawi
A new three year program titled “Improving Access and Quality of Education for Girls” was launched in Dedza, Malawi, on July 2 by leaders from Norway and various U.N. agencies. The new initiative in Malawi is being funded by Norway at a cost of 7.2 billion Norwegian Krone (NK) with the explicit goals of addressing a host of key threats to girls’ education in Malawi. The initiative is being supported by UNICEF, WFP and UNFPA, and will be implemented in certain schools in the Dedza, Salima and Mangochi districts.

Malawi has consistently struggled with educating their children, especially with very young girls. According to the Government of Malawi, only 27 percent of girls complete primary education, and only half of Malawian girls aged 15-24 are literate. In comparison, Malawian perform better in most subjects, especially math and reading, and are more likely to pursue post-primary education. In lower primary school grades the gender ratio is 1:1, but this starts to skew towards boys at a very early age, sometimes as early as stage 4. This can be attributed to a variety of reasons, partly because of girls dropping out, often times before they gain basic literacy skills, and partly because they repeat certain years more often than boys do.

The program is designed to include several areas of joint focus. These areas include, but are not limited to: in-school feeding, improving quality of education, encouraging older girls who have dropped out to re-enroll, reducing gender based violence, creating safe spaces for girls in the classroom and the provision of health services at the school.

UNICEF Representative Mahimbo Mdoe said “…without delivering education, especially for girls, we’ll end up returning to communities, generation after generation, to help the children of the children we failed to help in the first place. We’ll also perpetuate cycles of inequality within society. There is no better time to invest in education than now.” Fortunately, UNICEF and the WFP have been able to enact their goals and help slow this cycle of poverty.

Despite all of the frightening statistics, WFP Representative Coco Ushiyama noted that there is hope for Malawian girls: “Girls in WFP-supported schools in Malawi have 10 percent lower dropout rates than the national average. Also, the graduation rate of girls from primary to secondary school is 7 percent higher in WFP-supported schools compared to non-supported schools.” With any luck this new investment from Norway will continue this upward trend and give even more Malawian girls the education they need.

— Andre Gobbo

Sources: WFP, Afriem, Nyasa Times
Photo: Camfed

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5 Ways to Fight Poverty with Your Wedding

fight poverty
It’s summer. That means wedding season and wedding season means thousands of couples will be getting married across the country. If you, like them, are in love and about to walk down the aisle, here are five ways you can fight poverty with your wedding:

1. Forgo traditional gifts.

Use your big day to fight poverty by asking guests to donate money to advocacy organizations such as The Borgen Project. Follow these instructions on how to set up a page to donate your wedding. 

2. Register with fair trade companies.

If you are financially unable to forgo gifts, then make a fair trade registry and make sure your gifts have a purpose and are ethical. Companies such as Amani ya Juu, Serrv and Ten Thousand Villages offer registries you can use to support impoverished workers from Kenya to Guatemala to Vietnam.

3. Have a dollar dance.

In many cultures, the bride and groom traditionally have a dollar dance where they tell guests they can pay a dollar or two to dance briefly with the bride or groom. Pick a few fun songs and set up baskets on both sides of the dancefloor. Donate the money from your dance to your cause of choice.

4. Take a responsible, eco-friendly honeymoon.

Every time you travel, you have the opportunity to help the people around you. Take a honeymoon that not only makes memories for you and your spouse but also creates a better place for locals to live. Use websites, like Responsible Travel,to make sure you support conservationism and human rights while you “travel like a local.” Companies, like Tribes, plant trees on your behalf and guarantee living-wage incomes to local employees.

5. Give to charities instead of favors.

Instead of giving your guests personalized candles or bags of coffee, make donations in their names to The Borgen Project or nonprofits like it. Through Heifer International, you can donate shares of larger animals for $10 to $85 or flocks of chicks for $20. Your wedding could provide eggs from hundreds of chickens to impoverished families across the world.

– Sally Nelson

Sources: The Borgen Project, Amani, Serrv, Ten Thousand Villages, Responsible Travel, Tribes, Heifer International
Photo: Wikipedia