Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Polio: A Conspiracy Theory that Kills

Diplomacy saves lives. Not only can good foreign relations prevent the outbreak of war and violence between and within countries, but it also allows for the trust and respect necessary for global development initiatives to work.

In 1988 UNICEF and the Rotary Club International joined forces to eradicate polio across the globe. The project was shockingly successful and, as a result, the number of estimated polio cases decreased from 400,000 to 7,000 between 1980 and 1999. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation contributed to the cause and helped immunize 2.5 billion young people in 200 countries with the help of almost 200 million volunteers. By 2003 only 784 cases of polio remained on the planet.

Yet as promising as these numbers appear, the goal stated in 1988 was to eliminate polio by the year 2000. This did not happen. In 2003, the number of polio cases dwindling, a conspiracy theory transpired. In a primarily Muslim region of Nigeria, a few imams surmised that the polio vaccine contained sterilizing agents that would make their daughters infertile. The life-saving vaccination was conclusively dubbed to be a CIA plot. As this rumor spread to Afghanistan and Pakistan, groups such as the Taliban spoke out against the previously well-received shot. The number of polio cases in children grew to 2,020 by 2006. In 2008 only Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan still had polio circulating through water supplies and infected children.

In 2013 polio cases of the same strain found in Pakistan were discovered in Somalia and Syria. Both countries trained their military’s in Pakistan. Iraq reported its first polio case in 14 years this March 2014, and the United Nations has branded Syria’s climb to 38 reported cases of polio “the most challenging outbreak in the history of polio eradication.” Fears are skyrocketing that the dreadful disease is spreading throughout the Middle East.

Many claim that violence and displacement are primary causes of the setback in Iraq. Polio, an incurable disease, spreads quickly in overcrowded regions prone to poverty and malnourishment. It is preventable, though, and it’s a shame that less than favorable political and ideological relations contributed to its present resurgence.

– Jaclyn Stutz

Sources: Foreign Policy, The Guardian, IRIN
Photo: CNN

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Impending Famine in South Sudan

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The famine in South Sudan has reached a scale similar to that in Syria. Close to one third of the population of South Sudan is already at severe risk of starvation and, unless something is done soon, the struggle will only get worse. Some are calling it a race against time.

Since the violence erupted this past December, around 255,000 people have fled to neighboring countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda, and more than 800,000 people have been displaced inside the country. Some people have even fled north to South Sudan’s recently separated Sudan counterpart. The United Nations coordinator for humanitarian aid in South Sudan, Toby Lanzer, has appealed for the essentials such as food and water, as well as farming tools and seeds. If the South Sudanese are unable to plant their crops by the time rain comes in May, they will face the most disastrous famine in Africa since the 1980s.

According to Lanzer, aid donations have been catastrophically faltering. A United Nations appeal for $1.3 billion was not fully funded and only a quarter of the requested money went though, in an assertion that only $232 million was necessary for the bare minimum of humanitarian aid to the country. But the bare minimum is not enough, as tragic 7 million people in South Sudan are at risk of hunger. People are in such dire need of food and water that one family started boiling poisonous roots for an entire week in order to have something to eat. Many travel for days with no water whatsoever.

Violence in the country has only made matters worse. When weapons were reported to have been found in a UN convoy in March, the government and army in South Sudan understandably felt obligated to increase surveillance and security measures on UN vehicles delivering aid. The issue strained relations between the international agency and South Sudan, subsequently making aid delivery increasingly difficult.

The horrifying conditions in which people are currently living, however, can be changed. Famine implies that people are dying and, while many argue that South Sudan has not yet reached that point, the risk is very real. With enough funding reaching the people of South Sudan in a timely enough fashion, an even worse future can be avoided.

– Jaclyn Stutz

Sources: USA Today, Al Jazeera, The New York Times
Photo: UPI

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Agriculture Fails to Entice Youth in Africa

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Africa continually fails to produce high agricultural returns, as low government investment translates to low productivity in the field. The agricultural sector employs 60% of its population. Yet it accounts for only 25% of the African GDP.

David Adama of Action Aid International faults politics. “African governments must follow through on their promises and provide more money for agriculture and ensure it is better targeted to help the millions of smallholder farmers,” he asserts.

Those in politics hold agriculture in low regard and as a result, youth do as well. The “unglamorous prospects” of working in the fields drive these young Africans to the cities. Youth constitute the largest and most productive labor force, yet fields across the continent fail to entice them.

The proportion of youth in the African workforce ranks the highest worldwide. Why? More people younger than 20 live in Africa than any continent in the world. An estimated 35% of youth working in Sub-Saharan Africa and 40% in North Africa. In contrast, youth comprise 20% of the European workforce. As the African population continues to grow, the World Bank estimates 60% of the global workforce will lie in Africa between 2010 and 2050.

To champion agriculture, greater investment and commercialization of the sector must occur. Gerda Verburg serves as chairperson of the Committee on World Food Security, and considers this key to attracting unemployed youth. To “reverse the rural mentality” of farming as a last resort, commercialization offers greater employment opportunities and a larger income.

“Private sector finance and agri-industries are helping to modernize agriculture by creating value adding chains that will pay a farmer more for his labor than the local market,” she notes.

The rise of supermarkets accompanies the rise of an African middle class. Large commercials threaten small farmers in regions, such as Lesotho. In this country, more than a million citizens farm. The development of large value chains and supermarkets excludes farmers, threatening their livelihood.

To participate in this lucrative business model, the government must invest in the small farmers. Youth seek food and economic security, yet cannot obtain this without protection against the encroachment of big businesses.

Electricity promises to increase agricultural yield and widening the access to it promises to retain youth in rural regions. As secretary of the Food and Agriculture Organization regional conference, Cheikh Ly cites electricity as a “major contributing factor” for migration. Many youth prefer urban centers because of access to telecommunications and Internet connectivity.

“Electrification is a key need for Africa’s rural economy. Modern agricultural production is not possible without reliable access to power. We will also lose the young who want to be connected and communicate via phones and the Internet if these needs are not met,” Ly remarks.

From Somalia to Ethiopia, food security poses a formidable threat to African youth. Yet these young men and women hold the potential to combat this. More than 50% of fertile and unused land lies in Africa. In addition to these natural resources, foreign investment will likely exceed $45 billion in 2020.

To reap the benefits of this investment, the government must fund an “agricultural renaissance” and help youth to feed future generations.

– Ellery Spahr

Sources: Inter Press Service, Marketplace
Photo: Continent of Riches

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Grace Amey-Obeng: Promoting Natural Beauty

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No one should feel shame about their skin, no matter their pigment and no matter their race. That is precisely what Grace Amey-Obeng believes.

Amey-Obeng is the founder of an extremely successful cosmetics company that aims to help women feel confidence and accepting of their natural beauty. She began her business in Ghana after going to college for beauty therapy in the UK. She loved the way women glowed when they got dressed up, and had their makeup and hair done.

Gaining success in Ghana was not an easy road for Amey-Obeng. When she returned to Africa after college, she had to figure out how to work around the demand for skin-bleaching, which is quite common in certain countries in Africa.

“[Women] associated being light-skinned with being affluent…and I thought that I can do something about that by going on an anti-bleaching campaign,” stated Amey-Obeng.

The process of skin-bleaching has been found to be harmful and risky to the body, especially to those living in area with lots of sun. Bleaching, which requires chemical usage, strips the layers of the skin causing unnatural exposure to the harmful ultra violet rays. The process can range in side effects, including acne, skin cancer, exposed capillaries and easy bruising.

In some countries, selling creams that should require a prescription are sold over the counter, where they are easily accessible to women and often times extremely popular.

When these prescriptions are not available, some women will go so far as to concoct their own cream “using perming creams and all kinds of chemicals to bleach,” says Amey-Obeng.

Amey-Obeng endorses a healthy glow, one based on exercising, eating healthy and sleeping well. She promotes her concept through an educational program that she set in motion. In order to discuss natural ways to take care of one’s skin, she gives advice through a newspaper column, which is published on a weekly basis. She also trains students about skin care at her beauty school, one of the three branches of her cosmetic foundation known as FC (Forever Clair) Group of Companies. Her company also includes a cosmetics line and a few clinics.

The FC Group of Companies goal far surpasses the campaign against skin-bleaching. It also advocates for pride in one’s natural beauty not limited to skin color, but mainly one’s ability to accomplish and succeed. Since the launch of the FC beauty colleges, more than 5,000 students, the majority being young women, have been able to graduate and become beauticians.

“On the day of graduation, I always cry because I see the joy in their faces that they have accomplished something. They’ve been through challenges,” Amey-Obeng says.

And although Amey-Obeng went through her fair share of challenges and struggles as an aspiring businesswoman, she always shares her own story in hopes that it will help another young woman find the confidence she needs to reject harmful beauty standards and embrace their own natural beauty.

You can watch a video about Grace Amey-Obeng by Ghana Culture Politics here.

– Becka Felcon

Sources: Ghana Culture Politics, The Voice, CNN, The New York Times
Photo: Sankofa Online

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Reducing Poverty: Venezuela’s New President

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Countless Venezuelans live in poverty, many of them living in small, run-down towns that are sprawled over the hillside around Caracas, the nation’s capital. Even though Venezuela is known for having some of the world’s largest oil deposits and massive amounts of coal, gold, iron ore, and bauxite, poverty is still a very real issue. The economy is mainly tied to global oil prices, with the oil boom in the 70’s largely benefitting the Venezuelan middle class, but the price collapse to follow caused many of the middle class to enter into poverty and worsened the lives of the already impoverished. Former President Hugo Chavez pursued political programs based on a society with equal rights and opportunities for all, as well as the sustainable integration of the rural poor population into the national economy.

Approximately 60 percent of households are living in poor conditions because of the unemployment rates being so high. Around 50 percent of the rural population is poor, compared to the 40 percent in urban areas. The National Institute of Statistics indicates that over 38 percent of the total population lives below the poverty line and 10 percent of the population lives in abject poverty. The poorest segments of the rural population include mostly Afro-Venezuelan and indigenous communities and landless households headed by women that inhabit semi-arid territories. Even though there have been strong efforts to endorse national food security, the country still imports many basic foods, like grain, milk, and meat. This makes the country extremely vulnerable to global food price inflation, so scarcities of key basic foods is very likely to become more severe in the future.

Some say Hugo Chavez’s economic reforms and expansion of social programs have helped the poor population benefit from oil money, but others say he has harmed economic performance since his rise to power in 1999. According to The Guardian, however, poverty and illiteracy levels have fallen, but violent crime and inflation have increased at the same time. Lately, oil exports have boomed, with the country’s current net oil export revenues at $60 billion, when they were only at $14.4 billion in 1999. The nation’s GDP per capita has increased from $4,105 to $10,801, but the inflation rate has also increased from 23.6 to 31.6 percent. Violence has increased as well and become a key concern for Venezuela, with murder rates doubling since 1999. Unemployment has decreased from 14.5 to 7.6 percent and as a result, poverty has dropped significantly, as well as infant mortality which was 20 per 1,000 live births in 1999 and is now only 13 per 1,000 live births.

Former Vice President Nicolas Maduro assumed presidency of Venezuela in April, 2013 after the death of Hugo Chavez, and has invited corrupt officials into the government. The country continues to face formidable challenges with its economy’s vulnerability to the fluctuations in international oil prices. They have also recently experienced sharp increases in public debt as well as major fiscal deficits. The high inflation rate, largely blamed on businesses, mixed with the falling international reserves that represent less than five months of imports are a great concern to many government officials. The international community is curious to see how Venezuela’s new president will affect what were once improving statistics in the nation.

– Kenneth W. Kliesner

Sources: BBC News, The Guardian, Rural Poverty Portal, World Bank
Photo: Efareport

Abundant Natural Gas Reducing Poverty in Turkmenistan

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Of all of the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, Turkmenistan has the smallest population and is made up of mostly just desert regions. The extremely strict isolation enacted by dictator Saparmurat Niyazov ended around the time of his death, but the government still remains autocratic. According to Turkmenistan officials, the country is estimated to have the world’s fifth largest natural gas reserves, but despite the wealth that comes from these reserves, there is still a large number of people in the country living in poverty.

The country came into an age of isolation after achieving independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, which has only recently shown signs of improvement. The Democratic Party of Turkmenistan is the only political party in the country and was led by the former president Saparmurat Niyazov until his death in 2006. After making himself president for life, he spent much of the country’s money on daunting projects while heavily cutting social welfare at the same time. Kurbanguly Berdymuhamedov took control of Turkmenistan after the former president’s death and has not fulfilled many of his promises toward political reform in the country.

Turkmenistan was considered the poorest of all of the Soviet-occupied territories and in 1989, 45 percent of the population lived below the national poverty line. The country generally has a limited infrastructure with an insufficient workforce, poor communication and signaling equipment, and a general lack of paved roads. The roads are not regularly maintained or developed, and only 30 percent of households have a telephone. The medical facilities in Turkmenistan are minimal and hard to come by as well, with very low standards compared to Western countries. Military and police presence is very common in public areas because of crime rates and corruption in the country. These authorities often monitor and apprehend people that are perceived as a military or security threat, for example, the people that are simply taking pictures of government buildings.

The economy is underdeveloped because foreign investors have been steering clear of the country for years due to rising conflicts with the legal status of offshore oil and the lack of export routes. The country has been struggling to fully benefit from their massive gas and oil deposits as a result. Each year Turkmenistan produces nearly 70 billion cubic meters of natural gas and about two-thirds of that goes to the Russian gas monopoly, Gazprom. Fortunately, in 2006, a protracted dispute between Russia and Turkmenistan ended with Gazprom agreeing to a 54 percent increase in pay to Turkmenistan. Since then, vast gas pipelines have been opened to China and Iran in efforts to break Russia’s hold on its natural gas experts. There have also been efforts to take part in a project with the European Union called the Nabucco Pipeline, which would provide an alternative to the current Russian gas supplies to Europe. Though over 40 percent of developing countries in Central Asia are experiencing the same hardships, Turkmenistan has a brighter future because of its greater fiscal capacity and great natural gas reserves.

-Kenneth W. Kliesner

Photo: Daily Mail
Sources: Asia News, BBC, Mahara

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi: A Turn to Authoritarianism?

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Egypt ended its flirtation with democracy and completed its turn back towards a military-dominated political order this week, as the country’s armed forces chief resigned and announced that he would stand for president. The move by Field Marshall Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egypt’s defense minister and military chief, came in the same week that a court sentenced 529 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, the recently outlawed Islamist movement, to death in a case that underscored the governments authoritarian nature since the coup that ousted Mohammad Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically president.

Sisi, who spearheaded the coup that toppled Morsi, announced in his resignation as armed forces chief in a nationally televised speech Wednesday, saying that he, “will always be proud of wearing the uniform of defending my country.” Moments later, Sisi announced his presidential bid, characterizing his decision to run for Egypt’s highest offices as, “answering the demand of a wide range of Egyptians who have called on me to run for president, to attain this honor.”

After leaving his post as armed forces commander-in-chief on Wednesday, Sisi tendered his resignation as defense minister during a Thursday cabinet meeting in which General Sedki Sobhi was named as Sisi’s replacement for both the military chief and defense minister posts.

Sisi’s widely expected announcement that he would stand for president in an election he is expected to easily win seemed to complete Egypt’s turn back toward the military-led political order that characterized the six decades of Egyptian governance after King Farouk was toppled in a 1952 coup spearheaded by Mohammad Naguib and Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Nasser would go on to serve as president from 1956 until his death in 1970, only to be replaced by another military man, Anwar el-Sadat. After Sadat was assassinated by radical Islamists in October 1981, Hosni Mubarak, the former commander of the air force, became president, continuing the post-1952 trend of presidents drawn from the armed forces. Mubarak went on to serve as president for close to three decades, ruling until massive demonstrations forced him from power in February 2011.

After 16 months of military rule following Mubarak’s removal, Morsi, an Islamist backed by the Brotherhood, was elected president, becoming Egypt’s first freely elected leader and the only president in the country’s history who did not serve in the military. Morsi, who was a member of the Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamist group, at the time of his election, was also modern Egypt’s first Islamist president.

In the lead up to the July 3 popularly-backed coup that ousted Morsi, severe fuel shortages caused long lines at gas stations across Egypt, enraging motorists, as a sharp decline in the Egyptian Pound led to skyrocketing domestic prices. Meanwhile, Egypt’s foreign exchange reserves, which the country’s central bank uses to prop up the pound, had fallen to about $15 billion, down from $36 billion when Mubarak was toppled.

Massive demonstrations in late June and early July led the military to step in and seize power. Since the July coup, the military has unleashed a brutal crackdown targeting the Brotherhood, which has now been outlawed and designated as a terrorist organization. The Islamist groups’ assets have been seized, while its leaders, including Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie, have been imprisoned.

Egypt’s post-Morsi authoritarian state began to take shape in late November, when the country’s military-backed government promulgated a new law imposing draconian restrictions on demonstrations, including giving the Interior Ministry, an institution known for its aversion to civil liberties, blanket authority to ban, postpone or move protests. And then in January, Egyptian voters overwhelmingly approved a new constitution that grants the military wide-ranging powers, including the authority to appoint the defense minister for the next eight years. The new charter, drafted by a constituent assembly whose composition the military helped to shape, mandates that the defense minister must be an active member of the armed forces and creates a legal framework for trying civilians in military courts.

With the announcement that the country’s now former military chief will run for president in an election that he is likely to easily win, Egypt’s turn towards authoritarianism seems to have transformed into a headfirst leap.

-Eric Erdahl

Photo: Ed Week
Sources: BBC News 1, BBC News 2, BBC News 3, BBC News 4, BBC News 5, Carnegie Endowment for Internatinal Peace

How the U.S. Contradicts Its Climate Policy

India has recently made headlines for significantly expanding solar energy production. The new solar policy included the building of record-setting solar plants (in terms of size and production) and has also established that technology for solar energy production would come from local sources. The United States is now fighting the policy despite its compliance with rhetoric in its climate policy on reducing climate change impacts.

United States trade representative, Michael Froman, claimed in February that India’s policy for requiring locally made products to support its expanding solar industry would “discriminate against U.S. exports.”

The U.S. plans to appeal to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in order to impose sanctions on India and allow for U.S. firms to once again have access to Indian markets.

India has increased its solar energy infrastructure significantly after consistent shortcomings from the coal industry. However, the only aspect of its solar policy that the U.S. objects to is the requisite for half of solar technology components to come from domestic sources. Relations between both nations have already been tense recently, and they only seem to be getting worse.

India’s Union Commerce and Industry minister, Anand Sharma, stated that the U.S. is being far too overprotective of its exports. India’s solar policy largely stems from the need to move toward renewable sources of energy due to disastrous economic, environmental and social impacts of climate change. Currently, international diplomats are working toward establishing a global climate deal and the U.S. incursion of India’s solar policy shows where their priorities lie.

Although American rhetoric has swayed toward acknowledging the severity of climate change and the necessity of alleviating the issue, actions have not done so. The U.S. has consistently placed greater private and public emphasis on securing short-term economic gains rather than taking meaningful steps to stop environmental impacts of climate change.

The economic impacts of climate change are expected to be devastating if greenhouse gas emissions by the fossil fuel industry are not slowed.

India is a frequent importer, so to be able to expand its economy, it is important to create domestic manufacturing capacities. This also especially applies to solar technology as India has substantial solar energy potential which would allow for a stable solar technology manufacturing industry.

In order for India to be able to transition from heavily relying on coal—which has long exacerbated climate change—to expanding solar infrastructure, it is important that support from the international community is shown.

– Jugal Patel

Sources: BD Live, PV Tech, The Huffington Post
Photo: Top News.in

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How to Form a Successful Social Movement

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Social change does not happen over night, nor does it happen without a mobilized mission and steadfast support. From civil rights and women’s suffrage to anti-apartheid and Occupy Wall Street, each social movement represents a cause founded upon principles of freedom and equality. However, while these initiatives share many common ideas and aims, no two movements are alike. Every social movement experiences varying degrees of success and failure. So what distinguished successful social action from the unsuccessful efforts?

Movement Action Plan (MAP)

According to American journalist and social change activist Bill Moyer social movements take time and years of planning. While this may seem like an obvious observation, many movements are all too quickly deemed ineffective before given the chance to flourish. Just because a movement does not reach its long-term goals during the first outbreak of social opposition does not mean the movement as a whole has failed. In fact, highly successful action builds momentum over time and continues to do so even after social objectives are met. In the 1970s, Moyer developed the MAP based on his analysis of numerous successful social movements. From these case studies, Moyer established eight distinct stages that help activists create effective tactics and strategies in hopes of building successful initiatives.

8 Steps to Success

1. Identify a social problem
2. Demonstrate institutional failures
3. Prepare nonviolent grassroots
4. Educate the public
5. Acknowledge opposition
6. Dedicate to long-term goals
7. Recognize success
8. Retain success

On the other hand, there are many noble causes with passionate supporters that simply lack the political organization and focus to get off the ground and make a serious impact on popular opinion. A CNN article, ‘Why Some Movements Work and Others Wilt,’ highlights some of the common errors of failed social initiatives, such as the Occupy Wall Street movement.

4 Things to Avoid

1. Do not be deceived by spontaneity
2. Do not just take it to the streets
3. Do not underestimate silent suffering
4. Do not fight the Man; work with him

The article sheds light on common misconceptions and stereotypes placed on social movements. Not all action has to be radical, aggressive, and impulsive. On the contrary, successful initiatives tend to be slow, deliberate, and subtle. “Successful movements just don’t take it to the streets. They elect candidates, pass laws, set up institutions to raise money, train people and produce leaders.” Likewise, rarely is there one event that sparks outright revolution, but rather, the “steady build up” of social discontent and degradation eventually leads to action.

Equally important to the success of a social movement is its leaders’ ability to work with, not against, governmental institutions. The political and economic support of influential elites provides legitimization for many social causes. “A movement, though, can’t appeal to the altruism of elites to get their support. Elites help movements when they feel their own interests are threatened.”

The Borgen Project finds much success in mitigating global poverty due, in great part, to its determined collaboration with United States congressional leaders. Not only does the campaign emphasize all the ways alleviating global poverty works in the best interest of the U.S., but The Borgen Project also uses legislation to support effective policies in order to combat global poverty.

The successes are numerous, as the campaign continues to improve the lives of people all over the world. “Over the past 20 years, the number of the world’s chronically undernourished has been reduced by 50 percent.” The mission is by no means complete, but in order to retain success, The Borgen Project continues to educate and advocate in the fight against global injustices.

– Gloria Kostadinova

Sources: CNN, The Borgen Project
Photo: Occupy

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Female Education & Ending Global Poverty

The book “Half the Sky” introduces an idea that education is the key to ending global poverty worldwide. The title of the book comes from the founding father of the Republic of China, Mao Zedong, meaning “women hold up half the sky”; unfortunately, millions of these women are living in poverty.

Women make up half of the world’s population, yet more than half of these women are more likely to have an unequal place in society. These women are more likely to be poverty-stricken in these communities than men and are excluded from the public domain which leads to domestic violence.

Because of the inequality placed on women living in poverty in developing nations women tend to not have access which is a key aspect of society. Humans need to have access to healthcare, job opportunities, and basic human rights like clean water and food. In order to fight global poverty, an emphasis of education and access is key to bring an end to poverty and the pain these communities suffer from on a daily basis.

Accordingly, Ph.D. student Katie Conrad at the University of Tennessee believes that women need access to resources in these developing countries where there is also a lack of education for these women. Conrad is a teaching associate for child and family studies at the university, and has based her research in Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender as well as family studies.

Furthermore, Conrad’s area of interest is creating courses for first-year students on campus designed to educate not just women, but men, about sex, dating violence, alcohol and rape culture awareness. She feels as though teaching women in society cannot be done without reaching women globally and stated “education is the major form of empowerment and is a good place to start.”

In particular to teaching women’s studies courses in these devolving countries, Conrad remarks that “being educated on their culture and maintain cultural sensitivity to understand what issues they face” would be a good place to start to bringing education to women in those areas. Conrad believes that women in developing countries need not just access to basic resources but access to support when in an abusive situation. In particular, community support systems are needed to help cope with domestic violence in their society.

In addition, both Conrad and the authors of “Half the Sky” understand that bringing access to resources like female education can help improve all corners of the world and drastically reduce poverty. Therefore the book introduces three steps to bring access to these areas. The first step would be a $10 billion effort over five years to educate girls around the world and reduce the gender gap in education.

The second step would be for the United States to sponsor a global drive to iodize salt in poor countries to prevent tens of millions of children from losing approximately 10 IQ points each as a result of iodine deficiency while their brains are still being formed in the uterus; finally, the third step would be a 12-year, $1.6 billion project to eradicate obstetric fistula while laying the groundwork for a major international assault on maternal mortality.

The need to stress issues like female education are indeed crucial to develop of not only developing nations but our own nation at home.

– Rachel Cannon

Sources: Vialogue, University of Tennessee
Photo: Staci Jae Johnson