Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Social Media and Global Health

Social media has been transforming the way in which information about global health is being spread. For example, the Strategic Health Operations Centre in the World Health Organization utilizes social media to help manage global health crises. By paying attention to social media, WHO is able to receive up-to-the-minute updates about global health, as well as being able to rapidly share important health information with millions around the world. WHO has two staff members simply devoted to social media. Other world health organizations are beginning to follow suit.

While social media can allow for the rapid spread of information about global health issues, there are also risks involved with using social media with issues about global health. Social media can sometimes provide an avalanche of data that can be difficult to sort through. Similarly, some of the information could be inaccurate or misleading.

Regardless of the benefits and disadvantages of social media and global health, social media does play a large role in global health. Here are three recent popular social media posts that focus on global health:

1. The Council on Foreign Relations generated a map of vaccine-preventable outbreaks around the world.

2. GAVI launched a colorful graph of vaccine introductions organized by countries, diseases and number of people reached for the last few years.

3. A Twitter campaign launched by End Polio Now celebrated India becoming polio free with a picture illustrating its successful immunization campaign.

While there are drawbacks to using social media to discuss global health, the images created by global health initiatives are still effective ways of educating people about important issues relating to global health. Similarly, by using technology to generate graphs or share pictures, social media allows for information that is more interesting and accessible to be shared, while presenting this information in a format that is easy to understand. As long as it is easy to find and accurate, social media can truly be a powerful tool for educating the world about issues relating to global health.

-Lily Tyson

Sources: Huffington Post, Impatient Optimists, SciDevNet
Photo: hcsmmonitor

Pollution & Health in India

China has become infamous due to its high levels of air pollution, but another Asian country has a staggering pollution problem as well: India. According to a study done by the World Health Organization, the Indian capital of New Delhi has the most polluted air in the world. Furthermore, the top four most polluted cities are all located in India, indicating a countrywide problem.

Pollution is monitored by measuring the size of the particulate matter (PM) in a certain concentration per a specific amount of air. In May, the New York Times reported that air pollution was found at 2.5 PM (meaning “particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter”), concentrated at 350 micrograms in one cubic meter of air. The most alarming part is the size of the particulate matter. The New York Times discloses that 2.5 PM “is believed to pose the greatest health risk because it penetrates deeply into lungs” due to its small size.

Time Magazine reports that air pollution was the “fifth largest killer in India” in 2013. A myriad of respiratory issues, some “unidentified,” were the cause of 600,000 premature deaths. The Indian Journal of Community Medicine outlined some of the medical issues directly associated with pollution in Delhi, and compared the prevalence of those issues with rural communities. Respiratory symptoms all around were 1.7 times higher, upper respiratory symptoms were 1.59 times higher, and lower respiratory symptoms were 1.67 times higher. Rates of asthma were “significantly higher” and overall lung function was diminished.

The list of problems goes on, including headache, eye and skin irritation, increased blood levels of lead, and even a connection to ADHD in children. Schools have been closed on days with especially poor air quality, parents try to keep children indoors as much as possible and physicians discourage outdoor exercise for the elderly.

The Indian Journal of Community Medicine reports that even in 1997, the amount of air pollution was excessive. 3000 metric tons of air pollution was produced by Delhi alone, “with a major contribution from vehicular pollution, followed by coal-based thermal power plants.” The study reported that there were 3.4 million cars on the roads of Delhi in 1997. That number has risen to 7.2 million in 2014.

The problem, while once neglected, can no longer be ignored. The government in Delhi has imposed some measures to decrease the amount of pollution. Various policies calling for less harmful car fuels have been instituted. Different roads and subways have been constructed, with the intention of “smoothing traffic flow.” Drivers are required to obtain a “Pollution Under Control” certificate for their vehicles as well.

Industrial policies exist as well, but their plans are far more vague in a “comprehensive document envisioning higher industrial development in Delhi, with one of its mandates being to develop clean and non-polluting industries.” While these plans are ideal, they do not explicitly call for immediate action.

Researchers call for “existing measures to be strengthened and magnified to a larger scale.” While government policies provide the guidelines, it is up to “participation of the community” to insure that reduction in pollution actually happens. Use of public transportation, continual checking of Pollution Under Control certificates and greater education on reduction measures is suggested.

-Bridget Tobin

Sources: The New York Times, National Center for Biotechnology Information, TIME
Photo: Every Stock Photo

Aspen Ideas Festival 2014

aspen ideas festival
ASPEN, Colorado – Celebrating its tenth anniversary this summer, the week-long Aspen Ideas Festival brought together some of the most influential leaders from around the world to speak and present to audiences. The thought-provoking festival is organized by the Aspen Institute, an educational policy studies organization that aims to foster leadership based on lasting values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for tackling critical issues.

Held in Aspen, Colorado, the annual ideas exchange hosted seminars, panels and discussions from an array of presenters composed of innovators, politicians, artists, writers, diplomats, scientists, entrepreneurs and more. Notable figures at this year’s festival included Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Tony Blair and David Petraeus, all four of who participated in the Afternoon of Conversation, an event that constitutes the halfway mark of the festival and features high-profile leaders who discuss solutions to today’s most critical issues.

This year’s theme was imagining 2024, and thinkers from all over the U.S. and abroad gathered to surmise what innovations the next decade might bring. Topics of debate and discussion encompassed future megacities, urban America in 2024, the shifting world of work in a networked economy, the fate of our forests, national security in 2024, fracking, the revolutions of the Middle East, the economics of happiness and a new cold war with Russia.

Showcasing the wide variety of topics covered, Harvard University President Drew Faust talked about the development of higher education in a digital environment while The Atlantic editor-in-chief James Bennet debated the ethics of genetically modifying embryos. At other discussions, College Board President David Coleman questioned the SAT and college preparation testing methods and former U.S. Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell pondered with audiences on how to counter the foreign cyber attack threat on U.S. corporations.

Years ago, the Aspen Institute envisaged a gathering of leaders from myriad backgrounds and specializations to discuss the issues of the day and come up with innovative solutions, citing the potential and power that comes from a forum where leaders, innovators and citizens alike debate and discuss global and societal issues. This vision culminated in the first Aspen Ideas Festival in 2005, which featured such prominent speakers as Jane Goodall and Toni Morrison, whose ranks have been joined by key figures like Bill Gates and Sandra Day O’Conner since that first festival.

The 2014 Aspen Ideas Festival took place from June 24 to July 3. The festival’s events were streamed live throughout the festival on The Atlantic, National Public Radio, and the festival website, the last of which also archives videos and audio from past AIF events.

— Annie Jung

Sources: Aspen Ideas Festival, The Atlantic, The Aspen Institute
Photo: TIME Magazine

Population Action International’s Impact

population action international
Population Action International is a nonprofit organization that “advocates for women and families to have access to contraception in order to improve their health, reduce poverty and protect their environment.” Its goal is to stem rapid population growth which will help lift families out of poverty and prevent damage to the environment caused in high population density areas.

The organization divides its work into a few different areas including advocacy and research. Each area strives to increase access to contraception around the world.

In terms of advocacy, Population Action International works both in the United States and abroad to create political support behind contraception programs.

For example, in the U.S., the organization works directly with Congress to promote reproductive health programs. Population Action International has made significant progress doing so over the last few years, including helping to significantly increasing funding for family planning. PAI is currently “working hard to protect these gains in the face of spending cuts and attacks on women’s health programs.”

On the global level, the organization supports countries by providing grants to fund family planning advocacy programs, often in developing countries. Because access to contraception is not a high priority in certain countries, these Population Action International grants are often the only source of funding for in-country advocacy programs.

One of Population Action International’s key research areas is identifying “links between demographics for governments and global institutions to combat poverty, ensure growing nations develop sustainably, and create a more stable world.”

When countries have uncontrolled population growth with little to no access to contraception, poverty is often a result, which can lead to conflict. PAI’s research in this field has identified relationships between large population growth and a number of factors including food security, health, climate change, violent conflict and economic progress.

Because of the results of this research, the organization believes that providing high population, low socioeconomic communities with contraception will enable them to thrive again.

In addition, Population Action International focuses its research on the effects large population growth areas have on climate change. Larger populations put increased pressures on the environment, whether that means using more resources or occupying more land. Supporting family planning, therefore, also supports environmental protection, the organization argues.

According to Population Action International, they exist “because providing women the family planning they want can save hundreds of thousands of lives.” The organization is a leader in the field of contraception, providing women around the world with access to reproductive health services in the hopes that it will help stem population growth and, among other things, alleviate poverty.

– Emily Jablonski

Sources: Charity Navigator, Population Action International, Vimeo

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Displaced Syrian Refugees Seek Safety

displaced syrian refugees
The violent blitzkriegs currently commanding Syria and Iraq are causing unfathomably grave circumstances-so many that it is impossible to convey their consequent terror and devastation. Among countless other results, is the widespread population displacement occurring throughout the region.

It is estimated that 2.8 million displaced Syrian refugees are currently residing in neighboring areas, such as northern Iraq, having been forced out of their native country due to the infamous civil war. This number significantly increases daily, as the violence continues to grow in breadth and magnitude. Over 9.3 million Syrian refugees have been displaced as a result of the conflict. Many refugees are living in camps and in host communities in the Kurdish, northern region of Iraq. In last August, alone, over 60,000 Syrian refugees arrived at these designated camps. In one record day that month, a whopping 10,000 refugees arrived. Initially, the Iraqi government accepted the refugees and accommodated their medical needs, in addition to providing shelter and work permits. However, the massive influx stretched the Iraqi accommodations, dramatically.

This is a growing humanitarian crisis that demands attention. An average of 100,000 Syrians are registering as official refugees, every month. The refugees often suffer from dehydration and diarrheal diseases as a result of scarce resources, poor nutrition, and unhygienic conditions. Among the millions are a considerable amount of children; the United Nations reported that, of the displaced, over 1.4 million are child refugees. These circumstances are inherently devastating and disorienting; for children it is particularly disrupting, as they are forced to pick up and leave, ending their educations in the process. The crowded conditions have been conducive to child outbreaks of polio and measles, threatening the children’s lives, as well as their safety and well-being.

Humanitarian group Mercy Corps has intervened on behalf of all the refugees, as well as the child refugees. They have been distributing necessary items, such as shelter materials and mattresses. They additionally built a playground for children and brought toys to an Arbat refugee camp, to ease the children’s traumatic transitions. World Vision is also helping to alleviate refugee strife; the group has been distributing personal sanitation supplies and clean water. They are providing education services for children in addition to creating Child-Friendly Spaces, which are designated areas in which children can play and unwind.

As the conflict continually unfolds in geographical conjunction with the current crises resulting from the ISIS presence, the amount of displaced refugees increases daily.

– Arielle Swett

Sources: MercyCorps, World Vision
Photo: UNHCR

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Every Newborn Action Plan Targets Preventable Deaths

Five babies are born every second, and every day over 400,000 women around the world facilitate the miracle of life. Many of these children, however, are given poor chances of survival. 44 percent of children who die before their fifth birthday are taken from the world within their first month of life. 2.9 million babies die within the first month, and an additional 2.6 million babies are stillborn. Arguably more alarming than the statistics is that these deaths are typically preventable.

That’s where the Every Newborn Action Plan (ENAP) comes in. Endorsed in May and launched on June 30, ENAP is an initiative aimed at accelerating action to prevent the numerous newborn deaths around the world. USAID, the UN and other global organizations have banded together to support and promote this plan.

Children are at their most vulnerable during the child delivery process and the first few months of life. Prematurity, asphyxiation and infection are among the serious threats to newborn survival, but they can be minimized with the right steps. Training doctors and nurses to anticipate and prevent these possibly fatal conditions is a vital step in minimizing newborn deaths, and ENAP aims to address this.

ENAP was launched in Johannesburg, South Africa, where the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon spoke. He said, “If we increase investments, focus on equity and promote human rights, we can create a world free of preventable maternal and child deaths in just one generation.”

The plan has a timetable, hoping to reduce the neonatal mortality rate per 1000 live births from 15 to 7 by 2035, with less extreme mile markers between now and then. To achieve these goals, over 90 countries have to get behind the movement and accelerate their progress and 29 of these countries will have to “more than double current rates of progress in policy and private sector commitments to save newborn lives.” ENAP outlines how this can be achieved.

ENAP focuses on improving healthcare across myriad specialties including prenatal, pregnancy, postnatal and infant care. It emphasizes thoroughness at every stage, beginning with early pregnancy and not ending until the child and the mother are experiencing stable health. Their plan includes a checklist of criteria for improved pregnancy healthcare, including points like “early initiation of breastfeeding” and “birth companion of choice and skilled attendant at birth.” These things are often a given in the U.S., but are sometimes a luxury in impoverished countries.

Higher survival rates for newborns and mothers would mean great things for fighting global poverty. Population growth is often uncontrollable in impoverished areas because, without a guarantee that children will survive, families often have more children than they can support. This puts strain on communities and lowers quality of life standards significantly. As ENAP reduces newborn deaths, population growth can transition to a steadier rate that can be more easily supported by countries, which will lead to more stable economies and happier people.

With the backing of countries worldwide, the support of institutions such as USAID and the UN and effective implementations of the guidelines of the plan, Every Newborn Action Plan has the potential to save millions of lives in just over two decades.

– Magdalen Wagner

Sources: United Nations, World Health Organization, GhanaWeb, Huffington Post, Mail Online
Photo: IBTimes

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Defining a Third World Country

The term “third world country” was created during the Cold War and was used to categorize a country’s alignment during the war. There were three categories at this time: those countries whose views aligned with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and capitalism (i.e. the First World); those countries whose views aligned with the Soviet Union and communism, (i.e. the Second World); and all the other countries, aligned with neither view, the “Third World.”

Today, the term “third world” is an antiquated term most commonly used to describe the developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and is a term typically associated with poverty. What classifies a country as part of the “Third World”? Below are four of the indicators that are used to classify third world countries:

1. Low Gross National Income (GNI)

Third world countries experience low economic development, and high rates of poverty. For the 2015 fiscal year, low-income economies—such as those in Tanzania, Haiti and Cambodia—are defined as those with a GNI per capita of less than $1,045 in 2013. The GNI for high-income economies, such as the United States, is $12,746 per capita.

2. Economic Dependence on Other Countries

Developing third world countries, as a result of the state of their economies, rely heavily on more economically and technologically advanced countries. And, third world countries’ economies—which, for the most part, lack modernity and independence—are typically geared towards serving and are controlled by more developed countries. This imbalance of control and dependence widens the gap between the wealthy countries, such as the U.S., and low-income economies such as Cameroon’s.

3. Low Human Development Index (HDI)

The HDI, published annually by the United Nations, measures three basic dimensions of human life: knowledge, a long and healthy life and a decent standard of living. The U.S. is ranked fifth on the HDI scale, while a developing country such as the Democratic Republic of Congo is ranked 186th.

4. Lack of Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Most of the world’s poorest countries are also the countries for which there is a severe lack of political rights and civil liberties. Developing countries such as Sudan are war-torn and civil liberties and rights almost nonexistent in the wake of the violence and war crimes. Citizens of the U.S. experience a life that is on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, with basic rights such as the right to an education strongly in place.

There are other indicators when it comes to categorizing a country as “third world,” and certainly not every developing country shares each of the above characteristics. But one thing is clear: millions of people around the world are citizens of countries in which daily life is excruciatingly difficult.

Poverty, limited access to education, low standards of living and lack of civil liberties and political rights are just a few of the realities for the many third world countries that exist alongside wealthy nations such as the U.S. If wealthier nations stepped in and did more to assist third world countries, surely the term would dissipate, following the alleviation of the effects of extreme poverty.

– Elizabeth Nutt

Sources: The World Bank, One World – Nations Online, United Nations Development Programme, Blurtit
Photo: Mental Floss

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WhyHunger Mobilizes Artists to Fight Hunger

“Grassroots” is a favorite term of WhyHunger, a New York-based nonprofit addressing hunger and poverty in the United States, and worldwide. The organization supports over 8,000 community-based projects that are helping to create “a just food system that provides universal access to nutritious and affordable food.”

WhyHunger was founded in 1975 by musicians Harry Chapin and Bill Ayres in response to rampant hunger in Africa, and elsewhere. The friends decided that their new charity would need to go beyond providing emergency food aid if it were to create a just and sustainable food system. Chapin and Ayres became dedicated to digging deep to the roots of poverty in order to find long-term solutions to the global problem of hunger.

In an open letter, co-founder and current Executive Director Bill Ayres defines WhyHunger’s global mission as “[helping] people to help themselves through food production, job-training programs, nutrition education, community economic development, healthcare, youth programming, leadership development and more.”

WhyHunger brings much-needed publicity and funding to small, community-based organizations that are working hard to chip away at hunger in their communities. This feat is accomplished through WhyHunger’s various programs, including Artists Against Hunger & Poverty.

AAH&P partners with accomplished and rising musical artists to raise funds for outstanding local projects that are fighting hunger. So far, the campaign has funneled close to 10 million dollars into grassroots initiatives.

Some of the artists involved with AAH&P and WhyHunger include Bruce Springsteen, Carlos Santana, Chicago, Brandi Carlile and O.A.R., among many others. WhyHunger connects the management of the different artists to organizations that focus on hunger and poverty in towns near their tour stops. The artists then set aside time during their concerts to speak about the different nonprofits, and to collect donations. Typically the organizations are given the best tickets in the house to auction off, and the artists generally donate to the cause, as well.

“I’ve always said that working with WhyHunger is the perfect antidote to dealing with the whims and challenges of the music industry,” says Jen Chapin, an artist-supporter and longtime board member of WhyHunger. “In the food justice movement, you always get to interact with inspired and intelligent people who are driven by a sense of mission, which is — ahem — not always the case in the music biz.”

Artists Against Hunger & Poverty is a strategic program that utilizes the existing charisma surrounding musical artists to draw in fans and mobilize support for small-scale nonprofits that would otherwise not have access to such large audiences.

WhyHunger has received a four-star rating on Charity Navigator. The nonprofit places a great emphasis on keeping profits at the grassroots level, in community-based nonprofits that are helping eradicate hunger and poverty, person-by-person.

-Kayla Strickland

Sources: WhyHunger, American Songwriter, Charity Navigator, AAH&P
Photo: WhyHunger Twitter

Reut’s Last Day

The Borgen Project team surprised Reut with a song on her last day.

We’re going to miss you Reut and we’re looking forward to meeting your baby!

Sorcery in the Rwandan Genocide

Twenty years after the Rwandan genocide, personal stories of heroism are still coming to light. One such story is that of Zula Karuhimbi, who saved more than 100 hunted Tutsis through acts of “sorcery.”

She kept these Tutsi fugitives safe and hidden during the three-month genocide in 1994, concealing them in her house beneath dry leaves and beanstalks, as well as in a foliage-covered pit she dug on her property.

When machete-wielding Hutu militiamen arrived and ordered her to open her doors, Karuhimbi decided to challenge them. She had grown up in a family of traditional healers, and many suspected her of being a witch. Karuhimbi used her skills and reputation to her advantage. She threatened to use sorcery against the Hutus if they approached. She also covered her hands in herbs that cause skin irritation and touched the Hutus, who believed a powerful spirit was cursing them.

When the militia attempted to burn her house down and shoot through the walls, Karuhimbi retreated inside. But then she shook various items and instructed the hidden Tutsis to scream and wail. She again scared the Hutus away by convincing them that the noises came from angry spirits. Such Hutu attacks occurred many times throughout the genocide, forcing Karuhimbi to remain vigilant and determined.

As a practicing Muslim, Karuhimbi maintains that she never believed in magic. But she felt it was her duty to defy the Hutu militia any way she could. Yet this brave woman’s actions resulted in the loss of her two children, both killed by Hutus.

Karuhimbi says she was inspired by her mother, who always helped those in need. When violence erupted based around The Hutu Manifesto in 1959, Karuhimbi and her mother saved the life of current Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Kagame went on to lead the Rwandan Patriotic Front, whose victory ended the 1994 genocide.

Karuhimbi says she acted selflessly because she believes that all humans are connected. “We are one. Our forefathers and foremothers are one for all of us. We are siblings to each other,” she said.

Her courage and determination has been acknowledged by both her countrymen and the international community. In 2006, President Kagame honored her with Rwanda’s Campaign Against Genocide Medal. In 2009, she was flown out to Italy to witness a tree being planted in her honor in the Garden of the Righteous.

Yet today, Karuhimbi still lives in the same tiny, dilapidated mud house where she hid the Tutsi refugees. She continues to practice traditional medicine. Her popular products include potions to fix ugliness, unemployment, “head problems” and mosquito bites. Although folk remedies are increasingly viewed as primitive or even Satanic in Rwanda, many members of her community still consider her a kind healer rather than a “witch.” She was never able to acquire a formal education and her livelihood has relied a great deal on small-scale agriculture. In her younger years she sold vegetables in her district. But now, at the age of 89, she is no longer able to farm so she depends on the charity of her neighbors and relatives.

Frail and often forgetful, Karuhimbi still remembers the horrors of the genocide. Yet she has more than persevered through tragedy — she has remained optimistic in her outlook on life and humanity. “Love is the most important thing,” she said. “Find someone to love and the future will always be bright.”

– Mari LeGagnoux 

Sources: Vice, New Times
Photo: Inside