Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

,

Food for the Poor, Inc.

Food for the Poor, Inc., or FFP, is a Christian-owned and operated nonprofit community dedicated to feeding the poor in Latin America and Caribbean countries.

The nonprofit believes in the power of prayer and donations or gifts to help feed starving children in 17 different countries in order to make their lives better one day at a time.

FFP’s ministry reflects their belief in God’s unconditional love; they inspire trust and faith, and embrace all people, regardless of race or status. It is their belief that Christ is alive and well in their ministry, and that they can best serve him by assisting those in greatest need.

FFP began their work in Coconut Creek, Fla., and it is their current headquarters where they hold daily prayer services. They encourage all members and volunteers of the nonprofit to pray for those in dire need daily because prayer is a fundamental part of their ministry.

The nonprofit also sends out monthly devotionals and weekly prayers in order to set their volunteers and members on the right path as to who has the greatest need. They take prayer requests through the postal service, by telephone and by email in order to best serve the people for whom they pray daily.

FFP addresses issues such as starvation, deforestation, lack of education and many other hardships that may be detrimental to the well-being of the countries they serve.

The nonprofit uses donations and the prayers and faith of their members to help put an end to the largest issue of global poverty. Through donations of gifts, people can help someone eat, get out of poverty or stop deforestation of the rainforests in Latin America.

The charity is in good standing and has great ratings on nonprofit tracker websites. According to Charity Navigator, they put nearly 96 percent of all gifts or donations received toward programs to put an end to global poverty, deforestation and more.

Through the power of faith, donations and prayer, FFP provides a fresh new perspective on how to go about providing aid to those in need.

— Cara Morgan

Sources: Food for the Poor, Charity Navigator
Photo: Empire Press

,

Nutrition in Sierra Leone

Of the deaths of children under 5 in Sierra Leone, 57 percent are the result of malnutrition, and both the ministry of health and government officials in Sierra Leone have begun work to reduce this horrifying statistic by joining Scaling Up Nutrition and by signing the Nutrition for Growth agreement.

As Sierra Leone recovers from its civil war, which ended in 2002, officials are attempting to shift the focus from malnutrition treatment to malnutrition prevention. Officials have been tracking the correlation between sanitation, education and malnutrition in order to improve prevention techniques.

In an interview with The Guardian, Aminata Shamit Koroma, the director of food and nutrition at the ministry of health in Sierra Leone, noted that women with a higher level of education were more likely to have access to adequate sanitation and less likely to have malnourished children.

In his efforts to prevent malnutrition in children, Koroma has been centering her campaign on breastfeeding and emphasizing to mothers the importance of breastfeeding their infants during the first six months of life. She has been spreading awareness through radio commercials and mother support groups.

Koroma has also been encouraging grandmothers to attend these mother-to-mother support groups so that they can impart their knowledge of child nutrition onto new mothers who might not be aware of the nutrients their children need. The Sierra Leone National Food and Security Food Policy of 2015-2016 also targets fathers so that they support their wives in breastfeeding. Besides emphasizing the future health of their children as a motivating factor, the initiative informs the families that if the mother is breastfeeding her child, they do not have to buy extra food for the child during the first few months of life.

The nutrition policy will also regulate the marketing of supposedly comparable and superior breast milk substitutes in order to ensure that mothers are not tricked by false sales promises. While Koroma knows it is unlikely that infant malnutrition will be eradicated within the next year or two, she recognizes the importance of the steps she is taking as she encourages the people of Sierra Leone to begin to change how they view infant health.

— Jordyn Horowitz

Sources: The Guardian, WHO, ACDI VOCA, Scaling up Nutrition
Photo: Mission News Wire

,

10 Facts About Children Living in Poverty

There are millions of children living in poverty throughout the world. Children living in poverty are often malnourished, do not get proper education, lack safe drinking water, and do not have access to essential vaccines. They are more vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, violence, discrimination and stigmatization. Children are deprived from their childhood due to living in poverty. Not only does living in poverty affect a child’s nutrition, but it also damages their mental, physical, emotional and spiritual development.

Here are 10 quick facts about children living in poverty:

  1. There are 1 billion children worldwide living in poverty; this is every second child.
  2. According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day from poverty.
  3. In 2011 there was a reduced growth and development rate in 165 million children under the age of 5 due to chronic malnutrition.
  4. Every year, 2 million children die from preventable diseases like diarrhea and pneumonia because they cannot afford proper treatment.
  5. As of 2011, 19 million children worldwide are not vaccinated.
  6. 1 out of 6 infants are born with a low birth weight in developing countries.
  7. Every year, 3.1 million children die ( 8,500 children per day) due to poor nutrition.
  8. About 72 million children who are primary school aged were not in school in 2005.
  9. Every year, 1.4 million die from lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation.
  10. A child dies every 10 seconds from hunger-related diseases.

If less money were used on weapons for military purposes, then there would be billions of dollars available for better education and health for impoverished children. It is possible to end child poverty. Everyone needs to get together as a community and voice their opinions and interests in helping children living in poverty to their respective governments.

— Priscilla Rodarte

Sources: Do Something, Global Issues, The Hunger Project, UNICEF
Photo: Wikimedia

, , ,

Solving the Cambodian Toilet Crisis

A Southeast Asian organization has used simple economics to create an effective solution to the Cambodian toilet crisis.

The Ministry of Rural Development reports that 61.4 percent of rural Cambodian households lack toilets. Open defecation has been proven to cause diarrhea, malnutrition, stunted growth and negative impacts on a child’s cognitive development.

However, according to a water and sanitation report published by The World Bank, more than half of the Cambodian households that lack a latrine could, in actuality, afford one. With current awareness and subsidy campaigns, latrine coverage has been increasing by only 1.3 percent per year, which means it could take more than 60 years for Cambodia to be “Open Defecation Free.”

WaterSHED is a Phnom Penh-based organization, founded in 2010. This humanitarian team works on water and sanitation marketing in Southeast Asia. The founders of this agency discovered that building toilets in Cambodia was outlandishly expensive. The price to build and assemble a toilet was between $250 and $400, but with Cambodia’s GDP per capita at around $950, having a toilet has been traditionally reserved for the wealthy.

Using a supply and demand framework, WaterSHED toilet suppliers lower their prices, increase their volume and offer a complete package including toilet installation for only $45. Families can pay for these latrines with microfinance loans targeted only at the very poor.

With this new method WaterSHED has reported the sale of 75,000 toilets in 59 of Cambodia’s 171 districts. This rate of toilet installation increases the annual coverage rate up to 7 percent.

The impact of WaterSHED’s advocacy has seen visible results. IRIN, a humanitarian news agency affiliated with the U.N., interviewed citizens in the Kompong Speu Province. In this village of 160 families, around 100 have recently installed a new toilet. The families have already seen the health benefits of their new latrines, including less frequent fever and diarrhea.

The World Bank argues that making the elimination of open defecation a top priority for policy makers in Cambodia is crucial to the productivity of the next generation. With innovative programs like those implemented by WaterSHED, the future looks brighter for the youth of Cambodia.

— Grace Flaherty

Sources: IRIN News, World Bank
Photo: Flickr

,

Aryana Sayeed: A Voice for Afghan Women

The shaky voice of a female contestant caught the attention of a woman who understands. A judge on the popular TV show, “The Voice of Afghanistan,” turned her chair the moment she heard the melody of a fellow woman’s voice.

Until the Taliban crumbled in 2011, women were not allowed to be shown on TV. Now, Aryana Sayeed is proving people wrong and as a popular female vocalist, she acts as one of the judges for the show. Sayeed stands alone as a symbol for female independence in a country where the culture feels differently. She chooses not to wear a head scarf onscreen; something she receives death threats for. In an interview with CNN, Sayeed remembers, “They said that whoever kills this singer would go to heaven,” and acknowledges how her choices have influenced many Afghan women.

Women of Afghanistan are expected to keep themselves covered in a patriarchal society, but Sayeed sees a different future. By uncovering her hair she forces people to see her and her beauty, and does so as an act of personal freedom. Appearing on national TV without a headscarf brought on a myriad of hateful comments from the Afghan public, mostly men shaming her for exposing herself. Her figure fitting wardrobe angered some, but for others her act of defiance spoke to them.

In the conservative culture of Islamic Afghanistan, Sayeed pushes back, using her music as  a platform. In one of her popular songs, she makes the distinct connection between her womanhood and slavery. In her experience, she is secondary to men solely based on her gender. She fights this, telling AFP, “I want women to have rights, to talk freely, to walk freely, to be able to go shopping when they wish,” without the fear of a man telling her what she should and should not be doing.

Sayeed took steps forward by immediately supporting the female contestant who demonstrated bravery when she sang in front of an audience of men and on national TV. Sayeed hopes for this to become commonplace and accepted as it is in many other countries, with women receiving the same opportunities and respect as men.

 — Elena Lopez

Sources: CNN, News.co.au: Entertainment, News.co.au: Lifestyle
Photo: Inquirer

,

UN Youth to Form Post-2015 Agenda

From June 2-3, the United Nation’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) organized a forum for youth organizations and young delegates to voice their opinions about ways to complete the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) before 2015 as well as visions for the U.N.’s post-2015 agenda.

The MDGs were set by the U.N. in 2000 and include eight goals based around eliminating poverty, such as reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, attaining a worldwide standard of primary education and halving extreme poverty levels, all by the target date of 2015.

With the target year fast approaching, the U.N. has already started formulating its next development strategy, and the discussions that emerged in the Youth Forum held earlier this week are valuable contributions to the debates.

Employment opportunities for youth were the center of one of the Forum’s discussions. Jobs in rising sectors like information technology were highlighted as areas with the potential to create many jobs for youth, with an additional focus in creating jobs that use sustainable development practices to help end global poverty.

Why focus on youth to help develop the post-2015 agenda?

Young people have just as much, if not more, potential to help realize development goals as innovative and inspired citizens.

Even though youth are always impacted by policy decisions, the demographics of the world we live in today call for a heavier emphasis on the next generation of leaders.

A U.N. report stated, “With half the world’s population under the age of 25, the current generation of youth is the largest ever, and specific targets focused on youth should be integrated into any future development framework.”

More than any other time in history, youth should have a say in future policy discussions. It is today’s generation of youth that will be carrying out the post-2015 U.N. development agenda and living in a post-2015 world; listening to their concerns should be a priority.

Martin Sajdik, the president of ECOSOC, said, “Youth are not only the future of tomorrow – youth are leaders, entrepreneurs, students, workers, care-givers and problem solvers of today.”

Hopefully the U.N. will continue to involve youth in discussions about its future development agenda, as young people have fresh ideas and the enthusiasm needed to end poverty in their lifetimes.

— Emily Jablonski

Sources: Friendship Ambassadors, UN 1, UN 2
Photo: Forbes

, ,

10 Facts About Malaria

It is well known that mosquitoes carry diseases. Even in developed nations like the U.S., there are yearly warnings of West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis, but no disease carried by mosquitoes is as widespread as malaria. The following 10 facts about malaria shed some light on the global malaria epidemic, what is being done about it and what the future holds.

 

Top 10 Facts About Malaria

 

1. The word “malaria” means “bad air.” In the 18th century people thought that malaria was caused from breathing in bad air in marshy areas. In 1880 scientists discovered that this was not true, but the name stuck.

2. Malaria is spread by parasites. Five different parasites can cause malaria in humans, but the Plasmodium falciparum parasite is the most deadly. The parasites enter the human bloodstream through the bite of an infected mosquito.

3. Malaria is most commonly found in Africa and parts of Southeast Asia. Mosquitoes thrive in tropical and subtropical climates, so countries that are near the equator are more at risk. Additionally, many African and Southeast Asian countries have high poverty rates and people do not have access to malaria prevention and treatment, or are not educated on the disease.

4. Malaria can pass from human to human. You cannot “catch” malaria like you can a cold, but people can pass it on by sharing needles, blood transfusions and through pregnancy.

5. When infected with malaria, symptoms can range from none to severe. It can take anywhere from 9-40 days for symptoms to appear. Early symptoms can include fever, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, chills, headache, muscle aches, cough and sweating. If not treated within 24 hours the disease can worsen, leading to seizures, impairment of brain and spinal cord function, loss of consciousness and death.

6. Malaria infects an average of 200 million people each year. Up to 1 million of these 200 million will die every year. Of malaria deaths, 90 percent occur in Africa. In Africa one child dies from malaria every minute.

7. There is a cure for malaria. There are different drug treatments available depending on the strain of malaria an individual is infected with. The drugs cure malaria by killing all of the parasites within a person’s bloodstream. However, new waves of drug-resistant malaria are threatening the lives of millions.

8. The best cure for malaria is prevention. There are two major ways that malaria is prevented. Insecticide-treated mosquito netting placed around beds is a good way to keep people safe while they sleep, and spraying a household with residual insecticide will effectively eliminate mosquitos in the house for three to six months.

9. Mortality rates are falling. Since 2000, malaria mortality rates have fallen by 42 percent globally. This is largely due to increased prevention and faster testing and treatment to those who are thought to have malaria. By 2015, 52 countries are expected to have reduced their number of malaria cases by 75 percent. In the past four years the countries of Morocco, United Arab Emirates, Turkmenistan and Armenia have been certified by the World Health Organization as having eliminated malaria.

10. There is a promising vaccine currently being tested. While there is currently no vaccine on the market to prevent against malaria, there is one being tested via clinical trial in seven African countries with positive results. Scientists feel very encouraged by this new treatment and the vaccine could be ready for full-time use as early as 2015.

These 10 facts on malaria depict the fact that although malaria is a curable and preventable illness, millions of people still contract it every year. Those who contract it mainly reside in poor countries where access to quality health care and education is more difficult to come by. If these people receive the proper education on malaria, as well as access to medications, then there would be no reason for anyone to be dying from this disease.

— Taylor Lovett

Sources: CDC, Medical News Today, WHO
Photo: Flickr

Poverty Drives Minors Out of Honduras

In 2013, tens of thousands of unaccompanied immigrant children crossed the U.S. border. Most come from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, and are fleeing their home countries because of poverty and violence. The rising numbers of child immigrants are bringing the issue to the forefront of Washington’s political debate.

“I am personally appalled by the staggering numbers of minors — sometimes 5 and 6-year-olds — who are left with no other choice but to cross the desert by themselves,” says Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Ted Menendez (D-NJ).

There is a growing movement of minors crossing the Mexico-U.S. border in Texas, and allowing themselves to be arrested. In 2013, the Office of Refugee Resettlement took in 24,668 unaccompanied minor immigrants, up from the average of 7,000 a year in the early 2000s. This sharp increase in numbers is explained by critical lawmakers as children taking advantage of U.S. policy on child immigrants from Central American countries. The policy allows such children to live with an adult in the U.S. from the time of their arrest until their court date.

Many more than the 24,668 taken in by the Office of Refugee Resettlement cross the border without notice by authorities. Still thousands more never make it to the border. As of June 2014, Mexico has deported 4,500 U.S. bound child immigrants from Honduras alone.

Poverty and violence are the two main factors driving people out of Honduras. Mario Aquino Vasquez is a security guard in Las Brisas, a neighborhood in San Pedro Sula, one of Honduras’ most violent cities. He describes the constant gang raids in the neighborhood: “If you were held at gunpoint and you didn’t give up everything you owned, they would kill you.” The dirt roads and shack-like houses of Las Brisas represent the 60 percent of Hondurans living below the poverty line.

James Nealon, nominee for the U.S. Ambassador to Honduras, addresses the issue of unaccompanied minors fleeing a poverty stricken country. The issue stems from a complex system of narcotics trafficking and organized crime. In order to address the corruption, Nealon explains, the U.S. must assist Honduras in establishing democratic intuitions, in fostering respect for the rule of law and in the successful prosecution of criminals.

He confirms that it is in the U.S. interest to promote stability in Honduras. A stable Honduras means a stronger trading partner for the U.S. and fewer drugs making their way to the U.S. All of this will indirectly result in less unaccompanied minors making the dangerous journey across the U.S. border. Learn more about poverty in Honduras.

— Julianne O’Connor

Sources: USA Today, World Bank, CNN, U.S. Committee on Foreign Relations 1, U.S. Committee on Foreign Relations 2
Photo: America Aljazeera

What Makes Vice Different

The news organization and Brooklyn magazine, Vice, is well known for its unique journalism style. They gain access to places mainstream media can’t through their immerse and adventurous journalism. Whether it is North Korea or Belize, Vice reporters go where others cannot or will not. From eating alongside Kim Jung-un and Dennis Rodman to traveling alongside fugitive John McAfee, Vice has shown no limits to the extent they will go to cover important and even dangerous stories.

Their progressive efforts have brought attention and even criticism from mainstream media. Their adventurous approach was utilized for their coverage of Dennis Rodman in North Korea, which mainstream media criticized, labeling them “stunt” journalists. Meanwhile Vice notes that at the same time of this criticism the BBC was trying to sneak in two journalists under the cover of two foreign students.

Vice originally started as a music magazine in Montreal 20 years ago but has since grown into an international media company. Vice is not stopping there though; owner Shane Smith expressed his ambition for Vice to be the largest global online media network which will represent “the voice of the angry youth.”

The “Millennial” media company that initially gained recognition via their YouTube channel and Brooklyn-based magazine is known for throwing out the standards of old journalism and immersing themselves in the reality of the stories they cover. Vice media’s catch line, “Vice will expose the absurdity of the modern condition,” is an accurate description of their approach as a news show for HBO. The stories can be graphic and the news organization may seem sensationalistic but their dedication and creativity is as eye-opening as it is unmatched.

Vice, however, argues that they are not sensationalistic. It is the stories they cover that make them seem sensationalistic but the actual coverage is fact-based. Vice points to the coverage of the slave labour camps in Liberia as an example.

The coverage featured cannibal and mass murderer General Butt Naked who murdered 20,000 individuals and even went so far as to eat some of the remains. This is not exaggeration though, it’s simply an “absurd” fact just as their catch line notes.

The show, which appears Fridays at 11 p.m. on HBO, is organized and presented in a documentary fashion. The diverse range of reporters from various countries allow an inside look into current events from the perspective of the people living the story. This narrative approach combined with ethnographic research allows for a cutting edge and groundbreaking style of journalism that is both captivating and informative.

Shane Smith’s desire to create “the next CNN” through a “changing of the guard within the media” is certainly becoming a reality. The show has run for two provocative seasons covering in-depth topics including the Arab Spring revolution.

In short, Vice on HBO is news from the insider’s perspective — news from the people living it. Vice is eye opening, raw and honest, and this is why you should be watching Vice on HBO.

— Christopher Kolezynski

Sources: The Guardian, HBO Vice, Washington Post, NY Times, NY Times Magazine
Photo: Twocentstv

,

Action Against Hunger

action against hunger

Founded in France in 1979 with a mission to affect humanitarian change by transforming the political landscape to prevent misfortune rather than merely responding to misfortune as it occurred, Action Against Hunger continues to be a major leader among humanitarian organizations. With more than 870 million people in the world still chronically undernourished, Action Against Hunger’s revolutionary approach to hunger is important now more than ever to eradicate hunger.

Action Against Hunger (which is also known as ACF, the initials for the organization’s name as it appears in French,) operates according to six central principles: direct access to victims, independence, neutrality, non-discrimination, professionalism and transparency. Their clear values have made them one of the most trusted nonprofit organizations in the last 30 years.

In those three decades, the organization has seen its fair share of hardship, serving communities in over 40 countries as they dealt with food insecurity, natural disaster, conflict situations and national emergencies. What is remarkable about Action Against Hunger, though, is that it does not simply seek to provide food to those who need it; Action Against Hunger also works to ensure the dignity of the communities and individuals it serves and to install sustainable solutions to hunger.

The organization also places high emphasis on children, and a large fraction of the 7 million people it serves per year are children.  Approximately 1 million children die unnecessarily of malnourishment – Action for Hunger’s work has driven that number down within the last several years, but its continued work to bring every child adequate food and healthy, accessible water will drive that number even further south soon.

With over 5,000 staff in the field to help carry out this admirable mission, Action Against Hunger brings yet another important weapon to the table: a nuanced understanding of the cultures within which it is working. By interacting in the communities they serve, organization employees and volunteers gain a crucial understanding of which strategies will work where, making the organization extremely effective at what it does.

 — Elise L. Riley

Sources: Action Contre la Faim, World Hunger, Action Against Hunger
Photo: Flickr