Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Iraqi Women’s Rights under Fire with Jaafari Law

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Women’s rights in Iraq are in danger of being further limited. A new law up for vote in the government would allow girls as young as nine to be married. The law, called the Jaafari Personal Status Law, would also require women to submit to sex with their husbands at any time. Activists throughout the world voiced their objection to the proposed law calling it a major setback for the country.

Many are concerned that this is a beginning sign of a rollback of women’s rights in Iraq. Currently, the minimum age for marriage without parental consent is 18. Girls as young as 15 are currently allowed to get married as long as they have parental consent. This law is put forth by people who base the ideology behind the legislation on the principles of a Shiite school of religious law. Basing the law on one religious affiliation may cause tension between other sects in the country.

The law does not specify a minimum age for girls to get married. Instead it is passively mentioned in the section of the law dealing with divorce. The law outlines rules for divorce for girls as young as nine years old. The law also says that nine years old is the age that girls reach puberty. Many critics of the view claim that the specified age in the divorce section mean that they intend to allow girls that are that young get married.

Sunni female lawmaker Likaa Wardi criticized the law for violating the rights of women and children, “The Jaafari law will pave the way to the establishments of courts for Shiites only, and this will force others sects to form their own courts. This move will widen the rift among the Iraqi people.” Opposition to the law has been mounting over the past couple of weeks in hopes that enough pressure can be put on the government to scrap the law.

– Colleen Eckvahl

Photo: Deccan Chronicle
Sources: The Huffington Post, The Guardian

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Battle of Adwa

Africa was nonchalantly divided up by the Europeans in the late 19th century with little regard for the autonomy and self-government of their African counterparts. Consequently, the more commanding European nations hastily snatched up hefty swaths of terrain in Africa. Italy, on the other hand, had only recently unified in 1871, and was delayed from dynamically engaging in African colonization. Italy was politically and fiscally fragile in the 1890s, in contrast to the affluent and dominant realms of France and Britain, and had to abide by the political arrangement of Europe at the time. Their low standing on the geopolitical stage constrained them to acquire the territories that remained from the initial rush of colonization, or as it’s more prominently known as, the Scramble for Africa. The sole remaining sovereign nation in Africa in the 1890s was Abysinnia, or as it is recognized today, Ethiopia.

Ethiopia at the time was a “highly traditional empire-state” based on the religious ethos that the ruling Solomonic dynasty descended directly from biblical figure King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. The legend dictates that King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba bore the child later known as King Menelik I in the 10th century B.C., who “became the founder of the ruling Ethiopian dynasty.”

In 1896, Italian envoys met with then-ruler of Ethiopia King Menelik II under the pretense of establishing closer ties between their nations. King Menelik and Italy came to an agreement and signed the Treaty of Wuchale. The Treaty of Wuchale was primarily based on the sale of land to the Italians so they could fashion an Italian colony in the region. It was an uncomplicated treaty to appease Italians desire of a colonial empire. A perilously damning concern arose after the treaties were signed. The Italians had secretly slipped in an addendum that legally bound Ethiopia to maintain all foreign relations through Italy, as well as turning Ethiopia into an Italian protectorate. The version of the treaty produced in Amharic did not include this, but rather affirmed Ethiopia’s presence as an autonomous kingdom, with the individual choice of using Italy to conduct foreign affairs any way they saw fit.

King Menelik condemned the Italians for their supposed deception, and asserted that the treaty was not valid nor recognized by his government. The Italians disagreed, asserting King Menelik was well aware of the context of their agreement, threatening military action to maintain their theoretical newly instituted hegemony over Ethiopia.

Italy, however, underestimated the resistance they would face from invading Ethiopia, only deploying “18,00 men armed with about 56 pieces of artillery.” During this period, European nations characteristically did not encounter effective opposition or non-cooperation from African nations when attempting to establish preeminence through military means. Europe’s military was technologically highly developed in comparison to numerous African nations, conceiving an ideal situation for European colonial aspirations.

Racial attitudes in that era earnestly promoted Africa’s cultural inferiority. The European doctrine of mission civilisatrice or civilizing mission was a prime characteristic of Europe’s approach to colonization. The Civilizing mission in essence gave European nations justification for colonization on the foundation that it was their duty to enlighten, educate and humanize the purpotedly benighted and barbaric people of the world. The doctrine propped up their rationalization for colonial capers, but was also a leading basis for Italy’s underestimation of Ethiopia’s ability.

Though Italian forces were better equipped than the Ethiopian forces, King Menelik managed to unite the populace under the banner of preserving their independence. Italy was taken aback by King Menelik and his wife Empress Taytu’s ability to amass of army of substantial size, with some reports insisting their forces ranged between 100,000 and 120,000. The battle occurred on March 1, 1896, and ended with Italian forces in full retreat within a few hours. Consequently, the Italian soldiers fleeing abandoned much of their military hardware, allowing for the coalition of Ethiopian forces to collect the remnants.

The Battle of Adwa was a devastating loss for Italy, and resulted in political discord in Italy. General Bartiera, General of the Italian Armed Forces who led the battle, was severely disciplined for his mis-steps. Italy was then forced to sign the Treaty of Addis Ababa which denoted Ethiopia’s complete autonomy from foreign rule.

The significance of the battle was far-reaching. The victory was seen as one of the major sparks of the Pan-African movement. Furthermore, African-American civil rights activist W.E.B Dubois contended the importance of the victory and “promulgating Ethiopia as an idea of global African unity.” Why was it significant though?

The Battle of Adwa was the sole victory Africa had against a European power, in a time when Africa was under complete control by Europe. Moreover, African-Americans saw the victory as justification for their own self-worth. The triumph was even considered one of the primary reasons for the “modern global rise of a Pan-African vision of freedom.” Abebe Hailu, of the Washington Informer argues that it helped rewrite how Africans were viewed internationally, and assisted in altering the ingrained representation that Africans were “no better than ‘savages.'”

-Joseph Abay

Sources: The Guardian, Washington Informer, BBC, New Vision, Tadias, Origins, Al Jazeera, New Pittsburg Courier
Photo: Willem Janszoon

Drought Crisis in Pakistan

More than 130 children died during a recent drought in Pakistan. Activists link the growing death toll to “long-term failures” in its healthcare and infrastructure. Most of those suffering from the drought belong to the Dalit caste. Referred to as ‘the scheduled class’, Dalits suffer the most discrimination in the region. As residents of the Tharparkar district, members of this caste bear the burden of drought conditions.

Most deaths occurred in the Thar Desert. The Pakistan Dalit Solidarity Network (PDSN) and other agencies fault the government for it delayed response. PDSN reports “animals started dying in the desert in October last year but the government did not act until reports of children dying in the Mithi Taluka hospital.”

Hospital reports indicate 38 children dying of malnutrition in the hospital in December. Before the drought, Oxfam forecasted the consequences of a continued food insecurity. 57% of children under five face stunted growth.

Persisting food insecurity, coupled with this drought, led to the dramatic rise in deaths. Dependent on food subsidies and animal fodder, residents live in constant food insecurity. Syed Qaim Ali Shah currently serves as the minister of Sindh. The chief minister routinely provides food every August. Yet this year, relief did not arrive until November. Currently, he leads an investigation into this delayed delivery.

“Elected representatives must be held responsible for not reporting to the chief minister,” remarks Javed Jabbar, leader of a nongovernmental organization in Tharparkar.

Failure to act on early warning signs continues the pattern of neglecting the Thar Desert and Dalit people. The drought in this region highlights existing structural inequities. For instance, advocates cite poor health services and limited roads to the more developed regions in Pakistan.

The establishment of Nawabshah Medical College promised a rise in female doctors, yet very few decide to work in less developed regions. Jabbar asserts medical professionals should sign a bond, agreeing to serve difficult regions. Referring to maternal and infant health as “the root cause of this crisis,” Jabbar believes women need incentives to serve Tharparkar.

“Missing public policy action and persistent economic inequalities are the main causes of malnutrition, which – if not addressed – may aggravate the situation in future in the entire province,” remarks Dr. Akram, a pediatrician in the region.

As the region is isolated and neglected, activists cannot know the death count with certainty. Dr. Sono Khangarani of the PDSN estimates the a number as high as 190. “The poorest of the poor” die, reports the Dr. Khangarani. Many parents cannot afford the health services or travel the distance to hospitals and as a result, he predicts a much higher death rate.

The “environmental uncertainty” threatens the food security of residents, but limited healthcare services threaten their lives. Interventionists need to invest in long-term development, as opposed to simply crisis relief.

– Ellery Spahr

Sources: BBC, Guardian
Photo: Aamir Qureshi

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U.S. Foreign Aid Facts


With all the attention in the United States focused on the economy and the government’s fiscal decisions, people are finally noticing the vast amount of pork barrel spending that occurs every year. Wasted government dollars are spent on projects of no significance while Congress still refuses to extend unemployment insurance benefits.  This intense scrutiny of U.S. spending usually finds its way over to the International Affairs Budget.

According to a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Americans think 28% of the budget goes to foreign aid. Many are shocked to find that the real number is close to 1%! The same poll also found out that when people learn the truth, it changes their opinions.  When asked if the U.S. spends too much on foreign aid, 61% said “too much” while 13% said “too little.”  When asked the same question after learning the true proportion, just 30% said “too much” while 28% said “too little.”

Education must continue to dispel any myths about U.S. foreign aid and fight ignorance with facts.  Here are some facts about U.S. foreign aid that could help you in your crusade!

  • Nearly 3 billion people worldwide have received assistance from United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
  • U.S. foreign aid dictates future agriculture export totals; 43 of the top 50 consumers of American agriculture products are past recipients
  • Over 3 million lives are saved every year due to USAID health programs
  • Largely due to USAID programs, the world has observed a 10 percent reduction in infant mortality in just eight years
  • USAID family planning programs has seen the children per family average decrease from 6.1 to 4.2 in just 50 years in participating nations.
  • The number of democratic nations in the world grew from 58 to 115 between 1980 and 1995.  The U.S. provided assistance to 36 newly formed nations during this period.

U.S. foreign aid is a wonderful tool of diplomacy that promotes democracy and security throughout the world.  Investments are made in economic development, education and social services, health, humanitarian assistance, environment, governance, and security.  For further ammunition and a complete breakdown of U.S. foreign aid investments and their results, visit USAID’s results page.

– Sunny Bhatt

Sources: Washington Post, USAID, USAID
Photo: Ozy

Quotes About Poverty


The World Bank reports that we are making significant strides towards reducing global poverty.  In 1981, approximately 50% of the developing world was living on less than $1.25 per day.  Today that number is reduced to just 21% despite rapid increases in population. To continue pushing forward on the battle against poverty, here are some quotes about poverty that will inspire while provoking honest reflection:

  • Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime. —Aristotle
  • We have grown literally afraid to be poor. We despise anyone who elects to be poor in order to simplify and save his inner life. If he does not join the general scramble and pant with the money-making street, we deem him spiritless and lacking in ambition. —William James
  • The surest way to remain poor is to be an honest man. —Napolean Bonaparte
  • I thank fate for having made me born poor. Poverty taught me the true value of the gifts useful to life. —Anatole France
  • I’d grown up thinking that a [sanitary toilet] was my right, when in fact it’s a privilege — 2.5 billion people worldwide have no adequate toilet. —Rose George
  • Child mortality [since 2000] is down by 2.65 million a year. That’s a rate of 7,256 children’s lives saved each day… It drives me nuts that most people don’t seem to know this news. —Bono
  • The opposite of poverty is not wealth. … In too many places, the opposite of poverty is justice. —Bryan Stevenson
  • We have two choices: One is to continue to see a poor, ill, crying Africa, carrying guns, that depends on other people forever, or to promote an Africa which is confident, peaceful, independent, but cognizant of its huge problems and great values at the same time. — Zeresenay Alemseged
  • When we are generous in welcoming people and sharing something with them—some food, a place in our homes, our time—not only do we no longer remain poor: we are enriched. I am well aware that when someone needing food knocks at your door, you always find a way of sharing food; as the proverb says, one can always ‘add more water to the beans’! Is it possible to add more water to the beans?…Always?…And you do so with love, demonstrating that true riches consist not in materials things, but in the heart! –Pope Francis
  • If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. –John F. Kennedy

We hope these quotes about poverty allow you to reflect and perhaps gain a new perspective.  It is never a wrong time to get involved in your local community or to help advocate for a world without poverty!

– Sunny Bhatt

Sources: World Bank, Confront Global Poverty, TED, Proverbia
Photo: Personal Excellence

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Communities Reverse Deforestation in Ethiopia

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Less than 5% of Ethiopia’s original forest remains today. Ethiopia experiences 0.8% deforestation per year, and is down to 4.6% forest cover. The rapidly growing population of 85 million and the 70 million livestock put pressure on land forests.

With 80% of the population living in rural areas, deforestation in Ethiopia affects their livelihood. Before 2007, the forest in Ethiopia was government-owned. Michelle Winthrop, Country Director of Farm Africa Ethiopia, helped pioneer an initiative in 2007 to place responsibility for the forest on the local communities.

“You can stick up a big fence around the forest,” Winthrop says, “but people climb fences. If you embed the ownership for the protection of the forest in the hands of communities, it is much more powerful.”

The majority of the rural population are members of the cooperatives that protect the forest; therefore, forest dwellers no longer cut down trees for fuel or livestock grazing. The forest condition has improved a great amount, allowing an opportunity for impoverished forest dwellers to find more sustainable ways of earning income.

In the Bale region, Farm Africa is implementing a participatory forest management scheme. Of the 23,000 households covered by the project in the Bale region, about 3,500 have taken up growing coffee and bamboo, as well as learning how to become bee-keepers.

Farm Africa provided agricultural expertise and equipment to start harvesting coffee and honey, rich natural resources of the Bale region of southern Ethiopia. Along with the transfer of power to local communities, those people are now also able to produce high-value crops and have connections to lucrative market opportunities.

“We built people’s relationship with that coffee and helped them understand that a small amount of it, carefully harvested, is important both for their own pockets and also the condition of the forest,” says Winthrop.

An unexpected outcome of the participatory forest management project has been a sense of civic responsibility, leading to more stable communities and building democracy at the grassroots level.

– Haley Sklut

Sources: Dowser, Herald Tribune, The Guardian
Photo: First Climate

New Approach to Boko Haram


Guns are more of a threat mechanism for Boko Haram. It is knives they use to kill.

Known for attacking Christians, government officials and schools in an effort to halt anything it considers to be Westernization, Boko Haram is an Islamic jihad terrorist organization that aims to form an Islamic state in northeast Nigeria. Their violent campaign, which began in 2002 under Mohammed Yusuf, is increasing in intensity and inciting fear throughout the region. This past year alone saw hundreds of deaths at the hands of Boko Haram and the group’s official recognition as a terrorist organization by the United States.

Many innocent Nigerians have been severely affected by the horrors around them. One young woman was held captive for three months and ordered to slit the throats of newcomers brought to her camp. Orders such as this, in addition to the slaughter of numerous people in front of captives, are not uncommon circumstances in the presence of Boko Haram.

Attacks on schools have resulted in an unfortunate educational hiatus. Borno state, for example, closed down all of its schools prior to the normal end of term in order to keep children and educators safe. And the conflict is spreading.

Thousands of refugees have run away from the region, taking refuge over international borders. Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, has recommended a regional effort in order to take on the tumultuous issue of Boko Haram’s terrorist activity.

Nigeria’s national security advisor, Sambo Dasuki, also offers a new path to solve the problem. Claiming that corruption, injustice and a lack of opportunity have led many young Nigerians to support or even join Boko Haram, Dasuki proposes a plan quite different from the military campaign currently attacking Boko Haram camps that is failing to make much progress toward peace.

Dasuki calls it a “soft approach” and purports to enroll past Boko Haram members in vocational schools while local imams deliver different, more pacifist, interpretations of the Quran. The primary issue, however, is that a great many Nigerians, alienated in the northeastern section of the country where Boko Haram runs rampant, harbor a deep distrust for President Goodluck Jonathan’s counterinsurgency program in the area. This military action is expected to continue even through Dasuki’s new approach.

The hope is that a mobilization of “family, cultural, religious and national values” can turn the tide of the situation in northeast Nigeria. With enough energy behind these new initiatives, perhaps the number of people terrorizing civilians will subside and a feeling of safety and security will form as a replacement for fear.

– Jaclyn Stutz

Sources: The Economist, BBC, Al Jazeera, All Africa
Photo: Daily Post

Preserving Traditional Knowledge

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Many educated people casually assume that the human species has grown more advanced over time. After all, the developed world is full of modern conveniences that were not even conceivable two generations ago.

Meanwhile, a wealth of traditional knowledge, skills and information forged over thousands of years of human experience are being lost in our exhausting race forward. As intuitive as modern progress and development seems, many defenders and practitioners of traditional knowledge see it differently.

There’s an argument to be made that that the developed world’s blind reliance on modern technology is largely inferior to the practicality of low-tech traditional knowledge. In many cases traditional methods of agriculture and resource usage is simply more responsible and better for the environment than modern practices.

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD,) for one, supports traditional agriculture, claiming that, “Many [indigenous communities] have cultivated and used biological diversity in a sustainable way for thousands of years. Some of their practices have been proven to enhance and promote biodiversity at the local level and aid in maintaining healthy ecosystems.”

The CBD argues that these eco-managerial roles are important for the developed world to look to as a model in how we perceive our environment. The West, in particular, often looks down on these otherwise poor, and undeveloped communities because of their lack of modern convenience.

Certainly indigenous communities have many challenges with health and sanitation that advanced societies do not, but these differences are not so imbalanced in favor of modernity as we might think.

In fact many organizations like the CBD have begun to advocate for preservation of traditional practices. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has also drafted international legislation aimed at protecting and promoting the right of indigenous communities and there traditional practices.

At its roots, traditional knowledge is science in its purest form. It is simple, with empirical observations about the land and its inhabitants. It extends in all areas of scientific pursuit: geology, ecology, astronomy, and physics. You name it, there is an indigenous understanding for it across cultures.

Unfortunately, many of these practices are already lost forever. The loss of traditional knowledge is not just the lost of antiquated techniques, it’s also a loss of culture. As traditional knowledge is crowded out by more efficient and modern practices, it is not just the environment that suffers, but it is also the people who identified themselves by an ancient way of life.

Without some thread of connection to the past, people can become really lost. And though not all ancient practices are worth adopting, not all of them are worth rejecting either.

In this global age where there is such a tremendous convergence of culture, it is important to look to (and retain) the understanding of indigenous peoples. The ecological and cultural gain we have in preserving traditional knowledge is tremendously greater than any gain we might acquire from ease of modern technology.

– Chase Colton

Sources: ICSU, CBD, WIPO
Photo: WFP

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Water As A Tool For Peace

Last month, on February 24th, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) released a new report, the Water and Conflict Toolkit. The toolkit is part of a series that explores the ways in which development assistance can assess and manage key risk factors that are associated with conflict and instability in developing countries.

One major contributing factor to conflict is in fact, water.

Water is a human necessity, essential for both survival and development. Its management can be complex, as it often generates competition between divided parties.

USAID is using this toolkit to try to mitigate these effects and promote effective water management. This will not only increase access to water and increase agricultural productivity, but also unite communities and lead the way towards peacebuilding.

This is the first time that USAID has created such a water strategy. During the five-year effort USAID hopes to ensure that 10 million more people have access to drinking water, 6 million have improved access to sanitation, and 3 million have improved access to agricultural productivity.

The report noted the multiple challenges that will be faced, with population growth and movement to urban areas at the top of the list. Other factors that also need to be taken into account include agricultural and industrial demands, corrupt governance, water politics, pollution and climate change.

A number of leaders spoke at the launch of the Water and Conflict Toolkit, held at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington, D.C. Among them was Gideon Bromberg, the Israeli director of EcoPeace/Friends of the Earth Middle East.

Bromberg highlighted the particular importance of this report, noting that the toolkit is about much more than just conflict.

“It’s put very much in the forefront the possibilities of peacebuilding. Water is an opportunity in areas where there aren’t many opportunities.”

He used the example of the Jordan River to show how effective water management can generate the will for change.

The Jordan River has its headwaters in Syria and borders Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan. Over the past 50 years, about 96% of its freshwater has been diverted for agricultural and domestic use and the river’s flow has dropped substantially.

In 2013, a committee of local leaders got together and successfully passed an initiative to pump water regularly from Lake Kinneret into the lower Jordan River, to revitalize the overused ecosystem.

Bromberg explained the change that this grassroots, bottom-up initiative generated,

“I had a water minister from both sides come and say ‘You guys, you environmentalists, you’re dreamers, you’re tree-huggers! Water is too scarce! We’re not going to waste water to allow it to flow down the River Jordan. Were not going to allow water to go beyond our borders and empower the other side, the enemy.’ Well, that was said to us a decade ago. Today, that same leadership is carrying the flag of rehabilitating the Jordan River. This is their project, this is their political leadership, this is their success.”

Public awareness and community mobilization were key to the success of the Jordan River initiative.

The Water and Conflict Toolkit will hopefully be another resource that can be used to effectively manage water, mitigate conflict, and promote peacebuilding among communities.

– Mollie O’Brien

Sources: New Security Beat, All Africa, USAID
Photo: Aqua Rocks

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Gates Foundation to Improve Sanitation in India

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced on March 20, 2014 that they were awarding $2 million worth of grants to multiple teams of researchers in India to work towards solving global sanitation issues.

These grants are part of the foundation’s “Grand Challenges,” a series of grant programs that was started ten years ago. The Gates Foundation describes Grand Challenges as a way to work with partners to “support innovative research to radically improve key problems in health and development around the world.”

In India, the foundation has partnered with the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) IRK Knowledge Park, and the Department of Biotechnology in hopes of designing a toilet that will provide sanitation services to the billions of people who currently lack those services.

Currently, 2.5 billion people worldwide do not have access to safe means of sanitation, which leads to the deaths of 1.5 million children under the age of five every year. Additionally, UNICEF reported that 2,000 children die every day because of poor sanitation and contaminated water. Many of these children die due to diarrhea, which can originate from the use of unsanitized toilets.

In India, more than half of the population does not have access to basic sanitation, which necessitates the building of proper toilets.

In the announcement of the grant, professor and biotechnologist K.Vijay Raghavan said, “Effective and comprehensive sanitation seems an impossible dream for India.” Raghavan went on to say, “Yet today we see a congruence of new and applicable science and technology, its affordability and sustainable implementation.”

The day after the announcement, the Reinvent the Toilet Fair took place in New Delhi and featured a variety of new devices, such as solar-powered electronic toilets. Other prototypes included a portable toilet that is capable of collapsing as well as another that emptied into a pit with waste-consuming insects.

The Gates Foundation’s goals for the scientists participating in the fair were to sanitize any waste, use a minimal amount of water or electricity, and produce a “usable product at low cost.” Another requirement was for the toilet to be something that people would want to use.

The World Bank currently estimates $260 billion to be the total global cost of poor sanitation every year, with India accounting for $54 billion of that total. These poor sanitation in India warrants change before things get worse and more lives are lost.

India is considered to have the worst conditions worldwide in regard to sanitation, an issue that is considered to be more of an annoyance in the Western world. Additional regions that lack basic sanitation include sub-Saharan Africa, southern Asia, Oceania and various islands in the Pacific Ocean. In countries where sanitation is a major issue, people commonly lose their lives due to preventable issues.

The Gates Foundation previously partnered with the BIRAC and Department of Biotechnology for the “Achieving Healthy Growth through Agriculture and Nutrition” program in August 2013.

In continuing its work with innovators in India, the foundation hopes to prevent these unnecessary deaths and improve sanitation worldwide.

– Julie Guacci

Sources: CNBC, Gates Foundation, The Japan Times, CNBC
Photo: InstaBlogs