Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Poverty and Violence in Honduras

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Birthplace of the term “banana republic” and victim of the brutal fruit companies-led coup, Honduras is among the countries with the lowest incomes in Latin America, poverty is very pronounced problem in this Central American nation. Despite an economic growth of around 3 percent per annum, the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of the country remains stagnant.

This discrepancy could indicate that there is a widening disparity gap.

In fact, since the coup d’état in 2009, Honduras witnesses the most rapid rise in inequality in Latin America, a factor that contributes to prevailing climate of violence. Equally frustrating, the top 10 percent of the population also earns virtually all of the republic’s real income gains.

Furthermore, the 2009 coup d’état had increased the overall rates of poverty and extreme poverty. This climate of political crisis had reverted the economic advances that took place in the country. In addition, the government of President Porfirio Lobo, who came into power after the post-coup elections of 2010, had reduced social spending despite the boost in public spending.

It is estimated that 71 percent of the 8.3 million Hondurans live in poverty, a major problem that contributes to the frequent instances of violence that plague the nation. Because of this astronomic number of people living in poverty, a large sector of Honduras’ population is also deprived of education.

Only a lucky few can afford any education beyond sixth grade.

What’s more, Honduras has the highest rate of homicide in the world, with the average of 20 people murdered daily, 90 percent of whom are male victims. This frightening data stem from the burgeoning narcotic business, which has given rise to many organized crimes. This epidemic problem of homicides also takes away from the country’s meager income by necessitating the Honduran government to spend 10.5 percent of the national GDP in the combat of violence.

Due to Honduras’ constant history of political instability, there has always been very little opportunity for Honduras to develop democratic institutions to impose the rule of law. Instead, centuries of colonialism and decades of dictatorship have marginalized the poor, leaving them with minimal choices to make a living.

This scarcity of upward economic mobility and grinding poverty have driven many towards illicit ways of earning money.

In its attempt to encourage Honduras to alleviate poverty, the World Bank has suggested the country to support the stability and the growth of its macro-economy as well as to improve the quality of its education. But, these key options to improve the situation of the country are easier said (or suggested) than done. Development and democracy are not phenomena whose advent can be brought about at an instant.

Instead, they require years of institutional and systematic reforms for a society to have a functional democracy and a sustainable development.

 – Peewara Sapsuwan

Sources: El Pais Internacional, El Heraldo, El Heraldo, Los Angeles Times, World Bank, World Bank
Photo: Zimbio

World Bank Increases Lending by $100 Billion

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The World Bank will increase its lending for poverty reduction and infrastructure projects by $100 billion, a 50 percent increase that will occur gradually over the next 10 years. The World Bank plans to finance the initiative through a combination of higher service fees for rich countries, substantial administrative cuts and a loosening of lending restrictions.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD,) the World Bank’s branch for middle-income and developing countries, will execute the majority of the increased lending. Therefore, while all of the World Bank’s member countries will receive increased benefits, middle-income countries have the most to gain.

The IBRD serves the World Bank’s largest borrowers, including China, India, Brazil, Indonesia and Turkey. All five of these countries have growing and vibrant economies; yet still experience mass poverty within their borders. For instance, 76 percent of India and 36 percent of China still live on less than $2 per day. In other words, over one billion people live in abject poverty in these two countries alone.

By targeting these countries, with their high growth potential and their large impoverished populations, the World Bank can make serious gains on its mission to end extreme poverty within a generation. Two-thirds of the world’s poor live in middle-income countries and IRBD sees investment in infrastructure projects and development as key to helping them.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) estimates that $30 billion per year in aid can end extreme hunger throughout the world. The increased lending by the World Bank follows the UNFAO’s prescription of increasing aid as a means to eradicate poverty. It allows middle-income countries to experiment with small local projects, expand currently successful poverty initiatives, and offers developing government’s advise and services to build better legal and institutional frameworks to manage their economies.

The World Bank’s lending to middle income countries has helped 100 million people in the last decade gain better access to clean water and reduced the impact of floods and pollution on agriculture. It also played a key role in stabilizing middle-income countries after the 2009 financial crisis by providing a record $33 billion in loans in 2009 alone. Continuing these sort of initiatives with increased lending will accelerate the World Bank’s mission of eliminating poverty and improve the lives of many throughout the world.

– Martin Levy 

Sources: Reuters, World Bank, FAO, Population Reference Bureau
Photo: Social Velocity

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IKEA Brighter Lives for Refugees Campaign

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The devastating Syrian refugee crisis has brought to the forefront the plight of millions of refugees around the world.  It is estimated that today there are 10.5 million refugees globally, nearly half of whom are children. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres has noted that in 2013 alone, over two million refugees were registered, a record number not seen in 20 years.

In response to the dire conditions faced in refugee camps, the Swedish megastore IKEA, most popular for its range of modern and ready-to-assemble furniture and home accessories, recently launched their ‘Brighter Lives for Refugees’ Campaign, where they will donate one euro (roughly $1.38) to UNHCR for each LED light bulb sold in IKEA stores between February 3 and March 29, 2014.

Funds raised through the Brighter Lives for Refugees Campaign will provide a variety of renewable energy technologies to hundreds of thousands of refugees in Jordan, Chad, Sudan and Ethiopia.  Such technologies include solar streetlights, indoor solar lanterns, and fuel-efficient cooking stoves.

It is estimated that a refugee family will spend, on average, 12 years in a camp. This would make it more like a home rather than a temporary refuge.  Life in a camp usually stops when the sun goes down, making even the simplest activities a dangerous endeavor.  The goal of providing lighting and renewable energy technologies is to make camp life more humane, where using the toilet, collecting water or working inside the home is no longer an impossible feat.

It is important to take note of the IKEA campaign because it does not simply seek to provide temporary assistance to refugees.  The idea behind providing sustainable lighting is to transform the refugees’ quality of life, thereby allowing them to be active forces, rather than passive receivers, in improving their lives.  The Brighter Lives for Refugees Campaign website lists a number of positive effects that access to lighting will have on quality of life for refugees:

  • Improving safety by reducing the risk of crime
  • Improving results in school by allowing children more time to study after sundown
  • Enhancing camaraderie by enabling community gatherings and social activities
  • Allowing for the continuation of income-generating activities after sundown
  • Allowing refugees to keep their small shops open after sundown and earn a sustainable income

The IKEA Foundation has been partnering with UNHCR since 2010 to address the fundamental needs of children, including shelter, care, and education.  While the Foundation has committed 73 million euros ($100.448 million) to support UNHCR activities, it has also supported dozens of other organizations, donating 82 million euros ($112.832 million) in 2012 alone.

– Rifk Ebeid

Sources: IKEA Foundation, UNHCR, IKEA, AbuDhabi Week, IKEA Family Live Magazine
Photo: Humanosphere

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Fortress Europe: Ceuta and Melilla

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The term Fortress Europe refers to the European Union’s obstructive policies towards immigrants. It is a term that critics employ to highlight many member states’ reluctance and outright unwillingness to welcome migrants seeking a better life within the European Union.

Nowhere is this Euro-jargon more literal in than the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa. These two cities are where the E.U. borders the African; the cities are located only a few yards apart, they are also where modern day fortresses have been erected.

Heavily patrolled and surrounded with three rows of 20-foot-high barbed wire fences and infrared cameras, the borders of Ceuta and Melilla bare resemblances to the Berlin Wall. In 2005, 11,000 Africans forced their way across the borders in hope of entering the E.U. via Spain since these two cities are politically European despite not being on the continent.

Since then, the Spanish government has invested heavily in fortifying the EU’s southern most land frontiers (more than 30 million Euros, or approximately $41,238,000.)

In 2010, these two enclaves, both relying on resources from their immediate neighbor, Morocco, caused a political ruffling when the Moroccan government accused Spain of racism and boycotted produces going into the two Spanish territories.

What is the most direct effect of these European fortresses in Africa? Since the revamp of the fences, immigrants—many being refugees—have to cross into Europe via the Mediterranean, often in makeshift and unseaworthy boats.

The Arab Spring that sprung across North Africa and into the Levant unleashed waves of asylum seekers and refugees dire to get into the E.U. However, due to the difficulties of crossing into these two enclaves people have been going via the sea to reach another nearby EU territory—the Italian island of Lampedusa. These journeys frequently prove to be perilous.

A Syrian refugee and his family who had traveled through five countries with six forged passport across the Levant and North Africa hoping entering Europe via Melilla claims this European fortress is nothing less than an open-air prison.

Not only is the condition inside the refugee camp less than optimal, in February, Spain took the decision to close the border of Melilla after a group of around 200 to 300 Syrian refugees tried to enter.

After the Moroccan authorities warned the Spanish authorities of the presence of “uncontrolled people,” the gates of Europe quickly flung closed before these desperate people who found themselves stranded in Moroccan territory. Earlier in February, at least 12 people died outside of Ceuta’s fences; 23 others were handed to the Moroccan authorities to be returned to Syria, a human right violation and a contradiction of the terms laid out in the Convention for Refugees of 1951.

If the E.U. would like to live up to the terms set out in the Europe Convention on Human Rights of the Council of Europe and other treaties and conventions to which it and its member states are party, the unofficial Fortress Europe policies of its frontier member states must not continue. These policies are unjustifiable disregard of ongoing ordeals that many refugees are facing in their homeland as well as the value of their lives.

– Peewara Sapsuwan

Sources: CEA(R), 20 Minutos, Spiegel Online International, Reuters
Photo: 20 Minutos

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Education in Ethiopia

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In 1999, less than half of the school-aged children in Ethiopia were attending primary school. In 2010, the number increased to 87 percent. As a result, literacy rates have also increased.

How did education in Ethiopia grow so rapidly?

Access to Free Education

Government-led efforts, including building schools in rural areas and abolishing extra fees, have expanded access to free education in Ethiopia. Between 2000 and 2010, the education sector expenditure and aid increased by 25 percent. Participation rates have also increased to 86 percent. The rapid growth in the number of students and schools presents additional challenges including the purchase of academic materials, getting students to the appropriate literacy levels and updating the curriculum.

Local Autonomy

Education in Ethiopia is supported by local leaders and community members. Regional and local leaders have more autonomy over education in their respective areas, creating an environment more conducive to community participation.

The Next Step: Training and Retaining Teachers

Now that Ethiopia has made strides in increasing access to education and involving the community, the country needs to focus on recruiting, training, deploying and retaining qualified teachers. Teachers need to be able to instruct in the mother-language and their training must equip them to meet the needs of students from a diverse range of backgrounds. While incentives can draw teachers to remote and rural areas that have the greatest need, they can also help retain teachers.

Global Education First Education Initiative

In January, Ethiopia joined the UN Secretary General’s Global Education First Education (GEFE) Initiative, which recognizes the prime minister’s commitment to education in Ethiopia. Ethiopia joined the group of Champion Countries, which serve to catalyze political and financial support for education as well as advocate for GEFE. As a Champion Country, Ethiopia will work to rally other countries, particularly in Africa, towards overcoming the challenges created by education expansion.

– Haley Sklut

Sources: All Africa, Global Education First, Voice of America
Photo: Nazret

Kenya Charity Seeks End to ‘Sex for Fish’ Trade

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A charity associated with the US Peace Corps works hard in Kenya to end the ‘sex for fish’ trade, a common practice in which the risk of contracting the HIV virus is high.

Known the locals as “jaboya,” the transaction literally involves the act of trading sex for fish. Fishermen daily compete for business in Lake Victoria at the western end of the country to sell the fish they caught. Most of their clients, however, are women who are willing to pay with more than just money.

According to a fishermen interviewed by the BBC, a female customer will sometimes “pay 500 Kenyan shillings ($6) in cash and another 500 shillings with their body.” Despite being ashamed, he said that the women were tempting and couldn’t resist having sex with them. He promised his father, who also practiced jaboya, to always wear a condom.

However, statistics show that not everyone involved in jaboya is wearing a condom. The BBC claims that the HIV infection rate around the Lake Victoria area is at 15% and is “double the national average.”

But, why would people risk getting such disease? Lucy Odhiambo, a mother of five who was left widowed told the BBC that she is forced to purchase fish by pleasing men because that is the only option she has.

“Usually I sleep with one or two fishermen a week,” she said. “I could get diseases but I have no other choice: I have my children to send to school.”

Fortunately, the charity supported by the US Peace Corps is finally beginning to make a scene in the area. Although 19 women currently run it, the organization called Vired helps females look for their own catch instead of depending on men to do the fishing.

Managed by Agnes Auma – who practiced jaboya but quit after realizing how dangerous it was – Vired is a project that sells fish and uses the money to pay its staff. With more money, people like Odhiambo would less likely depend on men and risk getting a disease to support their children.

According to Avert, a UK-based organization, “Kenya is home to one of the word’s harshest HIV and AIDS epidemics.”

“An estimated 1.6 million people are living with HIV, around 1.1 million children have been orphaned by AIDS and in 2011 nearly 62,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses,” states Avert in its website.

To prevent the HIV epidemic in Kenya from getting worse, the world community needs to focus on putting an end to poverty within the country. However, attention is also needed in other African countries with a high HIV infection rate. Poverty results in the lack of material and health resources that makes contracting infectious diseases possible.

– Juan Campos

Sources: Avert, BBC
Photo: PeaceCorps

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Syrian Peace Talks Bring Ceasefire to City of Homs

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The Syrian peace talks in Switzerland at the start of 2014 have had little success. Members of the West insist on a transitory government away from the present Assad regime, yet that is a non-starter for negotiators from the regime. In the meantime, the Syrian people are still being killed, starved and stuck in the midst of battlefields. Relief organizations looking to bring in goods to the region have had repeated difficulties in doing so.

The one major development from the talks has been the agreement for a ceasefire at the city of Homs.

The city has been besieged for the greater part of the war, and while it is currently held by rebel groups, the people remaining in the city were still subject the whims of Assad’s forces.  The city had been under siege by Syrian Army troops for 600 days. This city where such horror has taken place was the one area where peace was actually achieved during the Switzerland peace talks.

During the week of evacuations, at least 1,400 Syrians were evacuated from the city.There were projected to be about 3,000 people in the city at the start of the conflict, with many women and children involved.

The effort was focused on getting those groups out of the city, yet some men aged between 16 years old and 54 years old were included as well.Issues arose around these men, who were detained and interviewed by the regime. Some were allowed to leave after declaring their allegiance to the Assad government, bu the evacuation was not extended in part due to the detainment of some.

Even with the ceasefire, there were reports of violence in the war-torn city. Belying the difficulties of administering relief during a time of war, some convoys were fired upon by unknown sources. The United Nations reported that 10 people were killed during the operation, though none were relief workers.

Despite the difficulties, a U.N. team leader said food supplies sustainable for 2,500 people for up to a month were delivered to the city.

The evacuation of Homs is an important first step for the Syrian peace talks, though it is not nearly enough for the international community to deserve praise.

The work that relief organizations did during the operation shows what can be achieved if these groups are given the chance. However, there is not enough work being done by governing bodies to give the people of Syria a fighting chance; it is up to advocacy groups to push governing bodies to do this work.

Despite obvious tensions on both sides, the soldiers on either side were operating in close proximity and there were no blows exchanged for the time of the evacuation. While fighting raged on in other parts of the embattled nation, in Homs there was at least peace for a week. This week showed that these two sides can at least peacefully coexist for a time, and hopefully is an example that could be used to better the situation of all Syrians soon.

– Eric Gustafsson

Sources: Los Angeles Times, International Business Times, CBS News
Photo: Daily Mail

Korean Artist Uses Chocolate to Protest Inequality

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The art of Jin Joo Chae, a native of South Korea living in New York, is unique in many respects, but none more so than her chosen medium: chocolate.

For Chae, the chocolate is not just a sweet confection—it is also representative of a difference in pay between the factory workers of her native South Korea and the communist North.

Among other, more drastic differences in the quality of life between North and South, North Korean workers in Kaesong were paid bonuses in small cake-like pastries known as Choco Pies.

ABC News reports these Choco Pies were extremely valuable on North Korea’s black market due to widespread food shortage and malnourishment. Some sources claim that individual pies can sell for as much as $10 each when average monthly income is as little as $100 to $200.

The Daily North Korean has called these figures into question. However, the figures confirm that the prices of the cakes are still rather high and are often replaced with Chinese equivalents.

Prices aside, Chae’s work hopes to call attention to North Korea’s inequalities by working in chocolate-based paints.

North Korean newspapers act as canvas in Chae’s work, where prints Choco Pie logos appear in the style of Coca-Cola ads. Several of these prints are followed with text that reads “with capitalist cream.” Chae points to the “taste” of capitalism North Korean workers receive in the South Korean operated Kaesong district.

Beyond malnourishment, a recent report by the United Nations points to more grievous issues in the North. This report focuses on crimes against humanity, including the torture and imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of “political prisoners.”

Chae’s installation, “The Choco Pie-ization of North Korea,” may be focused on chocolate, but it is making national news as North Korea’s problems have raised international concern. The U.N. is now demanding that the international community hold North Korean officials responsible for human rights abuses.

Chae’s unique and poignant work is on display in New York City through the end of February at the Julie Meneret Contemporary Art gallery.

– Chase Colton

Sources: ABC News, Washington Times, DailyNK
Photo: Columbia

USAID Working to Prevent Illiterate Generation

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As recently indicated by a global monitoring report on education, there are 250 million illiterate children in the world, 130 million of them at the primary school level. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has identified the development impacts on the illiterate generation and has made plans to lead efforts in contributing to universal education.

Human capital is at the foundation of improving the third world. However, providing access to the resources necessary for improving it is a difficult task for nations with weak economies to address.

In addition to the generation of millions of illiterate children, there are also 57 million primary school-aged children that do not have the opportunity to receive an education. Moreover, the areas that contain rampant illiteracy and a lack of educational resources will continue to face problems in the future, thus perpetuating their process of development.

In conjunction with achieving United Nations Millennium Development Goals of alleviating the international issues along the likes of climate change, hunger, poverty and illiteracy, the U.S. has joined the U.N. Global Education First Initiative. The USAID has already targeted Malawi, Zambia, Kenya and the Philippines for areas to implement programs that would supplement access to quality education.

The USAID has sponsored initiatives to improve literacy rates by establishing reading programs and introducing training programs for teachers as well. Additionally, the USAID has made efforts to improve educational infrastructure in multiple areas. For instance, it has done so by strengthening communication and feedback between teachers and the Department of Education administrators.

Assuming the role of an international leader, the U.S. is mobilizing resources through USAID to promote education as an investment. Its goals are well aligned with the U.N. Millennium Development goals to improve the third world; investment in human capital is a practice that results in a win for everyone.

– Jugal Patel

Sources: DIPNOTE, DIPNOTE U.S. Department of the State Official Blog
Photo: RT

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Facts About U.S. Aid to Israel

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Since 1997, Israel has received $3.1 billion annually in foreign aid from the United States. The agreement began almost two decades ago, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke before a join session of congress to establish a goal for economic independence.

“Israel’s gross domestic product is at about $250 billion a year, and its per capita income is about $33,000 a year.”

Considering the nation’s level of economic development, the aid could be much more beneficial in other areas. The United Nations Human Development Index currently ranks Israel at 16th in the world and life expectancy at birth is at 81 years—two years higher than the United States itself. Israel has also been the top recipient of United States foreign aid for over the past 30 years.

The question therefore arises, how does a developed nation with per capita gross domestic product on the same level as the European Union average, receive the most amount of aid from the United States?

The answer is riddled with politics and is primarily concerned with influence in the Middle East region. The vast majority of U.S. aid to Israel actually goes to supporting Israel’s military.

The U.S. presently funds about one quarter of Israel’s defense budget.

Much of this aid ends up going to the Israel’s weapons industries. Accordingly, it is not the people of Israel who receive the majority of the aid. In fact, “replacing all American aid would cost Israelis about 1 percent of their income per year,” which is a modest figure considering that the funds could be going to developing nations.

Recent polls show that when asked about the U.S. federal budget, U.S. citizens believe that 28 percent of the budget goes to foreign aid and that the percentage ought to be reduced to 10%. In actuality, less than 1 percent of the U.S. budget goes to foreign aid.

Considering that much of that 1 percent goes to the economically stable nation of Israel, other programs or nations could use the money much more efficiently.

The U.S. and Israel have had a longstanding alliance, which has contributed to their agreement in military funding. However, considering the purpose of foreign aid, contemporary third world nations facing popular suffering and instability have a far greater need for the help.

– Jugal Patel

Sources: Economonitor, Le Monde
Photo: IMEMC