Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

China Overtakes the U.S. as World’s Top Trader

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China has more than likely overtaken the US as the world’s top trading nation, a title the US has held for decades. According to the latest data, China’s total trade has grown at an annual rate of 7.6 percent to an incredible $4.16 trillion last year. While the US has yet to release it’s full-year figures, it’s trade for the first 11 months of 2013 totaled only $3.5 trillion.

In 2009, China became the world’s biggest goods exporter. Along with that, its imports have also risen amid an expanding economy. “It is very likely that China has overtake the US to become the world’s largest trading country,” said Zheng Yuesheng, a spokesman for China’s custom’s administration.

However, concerns in recent months over the accuracy of China’s export data have been brought to light. There has been speculation that some Chinese exporters may be overstating their shipments in an attempt to evade restrictions on importing funds into the country.

Sun Junwei, China economist at HSBC in Beijing, has said the measures that were implemented to weed out fake trade activities appear to be working. Junwei believes that compared to last year, these activities have actually decreased.

Even when addressing the inflated numbers, some analysts believe that China would still take the top spot from the U.S.

“The gap between the overall trade of China and the US is likely to be almost $250 billion in 2013,” Rajiv Biswas, chief economist Asia-pacific at IHS, told the BBC.

China’s growing trade prowess has been fueled by economic growth of around 10% a year in the past three decades. This progress has propelled the country up the list of biggest economies, it’s middle class garnering wealth and boosting its’ overall global trade.

This progress can be attributed to a shift from the production of textiles and light industrial products to more sophisticated products including cell phones and other gadgets. The amount of available labor has allowed for this incredible increase.

China has also recently overtaken the U.S. as the biggest oil importer of oil, amid rising demand for fossil fuels. However, this has brought in an assortment of environmental difficulties that the government is still having difficulties addressing.

Mr. Zhen predicts that because of structural reforms in China and a lowered outlook for commodity prices, an even stronger trade performance by China is possible in 2014.

The first time China became the world’s biggest goods exporter was in 2009, and now its total exports and imports make up for more than 1/10th of the total world trade, up from 3 percent in 2000.

The economic competition between America and China is a favorite subject of the American people as well as a motive for a large number of decisions undertaken by politicians. President Obama has used this competition to enforce education initiatives to fend off countries such as China that will “out-compete” the U.S.

If the latest prediction out of the Centre for Economics and Business Research is correct, then the Chinese economy will grow larger than America’s in 2028. However, predictions stating that its economy will surpass ours in 2016 have been made while others stake claims that it already has.

In terms of economic output per capita, however, the U.S. is still vastly ahead of the Chinese by a factor of more than eight. This is because there are far fewer Americans than Chinese, so even if the outputs were equal, there’s a lot less people to share it with. Meaning, the average American is wealthier than the average Chinese.

Ultimately, it becomes important to note rather than “beating” the Chinese, it is more important to collaborate with our cousins across the globe, with hopes to increase the goods and services available to the U.S.

– Chloe Nevitt
Feature Writer

Sources: BBC, CNN, RT, TIME
Photo: Sino Mania

Keeping Corporate Social Responsibility Alive

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In the age of big profit, big business, little-concern corporations, firms are not considered particularly environmentally conscious or self-aware. Since the presumed mentality of most firms is to maximize profits with little internal expenses, corporations tend to possess a short time horizon, pursuing immediate gains at the expense future externalities. Such mentality has leveraged hefty damage to the environment in haunting catastrophes such as British Petroleum’s oil spill in the Mexican Gulf during 2010.

These events have quite literally scarred the memory of Earth. In a statement released by the United Nations Environmental Program, UNEP decreed that “there was a growing gap between the efforts to reduce the impact of business and industry on nature and the worsening state of the planet” and that “this gap is due to the fact that only a small number of companies in each industry are actively integrating social and environmental factors into business decisions.”

The handful of corporations that operate with a social conscience often uphold corporate social responsibility by maintaining ethical and environmental responsibility for its actions. Verdigris Group, a real estate and consulting firm, has engineered a set of sustainable initiatives for partnering businesses. According to Verdigris Group, the noblest example that a firm can set for other businesses is achieving highly on markets without compromising environmental integrity.

Another firm that has put corporate social responsibility initiatives into action is RBC Wealth Management USA, which reportedly allocates $50 million to organizations that protect fresh water reservoirs along with a 10-year commitment to carry out provisions of their own. Each year, RBC employees participate in non-profit community activities in order to raise awareness about Earth’s limited fresh water resources. In doing so, the firm builds a sense of respectability, attracting future employees and future consumers, which in the long-run may place corporate social responsibility businesses ahead of others.

Furthermore, operating with corporate social responsibility not only benefits the environment but can, apparently, also benefit firms as well. According to Forbes, the majority of CSR corporations believe that their employees are happier and also more efficient than that of non-CSR firms. Despite the vast amount of corporations that operate with little regard to the environment, it appears that more and more firms are shifting towards corporate social responsibility initiatives in order to make profit while also making a positive impact on the world.

– Phoebe Pradhan

Sources: United Nations, Forbes
Photo: Giphy.com

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Heavyweight Helps Syrian Refugees

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Evander Holyfield, former world heavyweight boxing champion, is taking on an even greater role in helping displaced communities of the Syrian refugee crisis.

On November 13, Holyfield announced that he would be working to aid the alleviation cause for an estimated of 6,500 refugees fleeing from the war-torn Syrian nation, those of whom have settled in Bulgaria. During the announcement, Holyfield noted, “Somebody helped me and that gives me the opportunity to help someone else.”

The refugee crisis that has taken shape out of the Syrian civil war has become staggering. It’s estimated that 9 million Syrians have been displaced out of a population of 23 million.  Syrians are settling in nearby countries such as Jordan and Turkey, most of where large camps have drawn the majority of foreign assistance — muting attention for the relatively small amount that has ended up in Bulgaria.

Holyfield and the Global Village Champions Foundation, the organization where he works as a Goodwill Ambassador, hope to raise awareness and deliver support for these refugees. To future add to the impact of celebrities bridging successful traction to raise awareness, the head of the Global Village Champions Foundation is musician, Yank Barry, from the 1960s band “The Kingsmen.”

The pairing might seem odd, but they are united in their hope to make the lives of the Syrian refugees at least somewhat easier.  In an interview with CNN, Holyfield stated, “at some point in time, when you leave this earth… they’ll say: What did you do for the least of them?”

Yank Barry may not be as well known in modern pop culture, but he has been actively philanthropic in recent years.  Barry founded the Global Village with Mohammed Ali in 1995, and they worked together until Holyfield took Ali’s place within the organization in 2012.  Since the founding of the organization, it has sent out 900 million meals to the needy around the globe and, according to Barry, including “5,000 tons of food to (Syrian) camps” since last year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEInSPRIVDY

During the 1990s, Holyfield’s biggest worries were Mike Tyson’s left hook and how he would retake a heavyweight championship belt that he ended up winning five separate times.  Now, he has taken it upon himself to help the world community that he once entertained.  While recent reports have claimed that Holyfield has not retained the fortune he accumulated over the course of his boxing career, his reputable standing as a celebrity can still help causes for those that never had the opportunities he did.

While the help from private foundations like the Global Village is welcomed and inspiring for others to emulate, the global community still has plenty of work to do.  The UN says that the number of Syrian refugees registered in various EU countries ranks over 62,000 with more likely to come.  With so many of them looking for ways to get by, the hungry continue to appreciate the influencers like those in the U.S. for the help that such refugee communities could barely survive without.

– Eric Gustafsson

Sources: Fox News, CNN, Huffington Post
Photo: Vintage 3D

Wasted Electricity Can Be Prevented and Redistributed

Wasted Electricity Can Be Prevented and Redistributed
Energy efficiency is extremely important for the economy and a green future. However, that statement seems to be undervalued in the U.S. for the amount of energy efficiency estimates to around 43.8% whereas the amount of wasted electricity is estimated at 56.2%. In other words, Americans are wasting more energy than their actual usage. A fifth of the wasted energy actually comes from commercial and residential buildings.

In residential buildings, the most common type of wasting energy is people leaving their light on when they are not at home, keeping their computers running when they are not in use or simply leaving appliances plugged in. In commercial buildings, companies leave their lights on to showcase the offices and keep companies on standby.

Even in educational buildings, computers in the libraries and computers in media labs are kept on around 12 to 16 hours a day. When computers are on standby, they consume less energy, but the large amount of computers causes the huge waste in electricity.

Saving on energy is saving money. People can reduce their energy cost and spend in more useful ways. To illustrate one instance, reducing energy cost for companies can mean more profitability, higher pay for employees or passing the savings down to the consumers.

Saving energy is not difficult, and it is an effective means of saving money. By reducing electric consumption by only 1.7 TWH — or 0.002%of total residential energy consumption — people can save more than one billion dollars each year.

Around the world, more than 1.6 billion people are living without electricity.  Saving energy might be an interesting solution that contributes beneficially to such urgencies.

Consider how the saved income from prevented energy waste can be distributed to aid a cause ending global poverty: Lets say one billion dollars saved from saving energy, 17,000 farmers can be trained, 10,000 hectares of land can be under protection and almost 600 kilometers of road can be built to offer better transportation and facilitate the world economy. One billion dollars is also equal to one-fifth of the United Nations Development Program’s budget and one-fourth of the World Food Program’s annual budget.

– Phong Pham

Sources: Oil Price, MN Energy Challenge, Tree Hugger
Photo: Giphy.com

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Venezuelan Economic Spiral

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Eudomar Tovar is the Central Bank President in Venezuela and has taken the spotlight most recently for blaming a nation-wide blackout on sabotage. Accusations have been made that the Central Bank has been using their gold supply in a deal with Goldman Sachs and Bank of America to increase hard currency.

Tovar vehemently denies that the Central Bank is doing any sort of business with either Goldman Sachs or Bank of America. Henrique Capriles, an opposition leader, claims that Central Bank was involved in a value swap with Goldman Sachs for the equivalent of $2 billion dollars (USD) in gold ounces. Central Bank has also been accused of dealing with Bank of America to pay off debts owed to foreign governments. Tovar denied any such deals and claimed they were unofficial proposals, but did not elaborate or further explain the Bank’s position in regards to these claims.

The main problem is that Venezuela is experiencing a shortage of basic goods, and could potentially use its huge reserves of gold to procure a loan from such companies such as Goldman Sachs or Bank of America. Main Central Bank officials have complained that they are due a huge amount of hard currency from Washington, and that the red tape and delay in receiving this currency is causing inflation and product shortages.

Furthermore, a decrease in oil supply has caused tension on the dollar value, making some think that Venezuela is in desperate need of cash. The value of gold has decreased as well, putting a dent in the net worth of the country’s enormous gold reserves. As it stands, only government channels have access to the dollar due to harsh capital requirements, which often causes delays and bottlenecks day-to-day cash flow.

Leaders of the South American nation do not believe in free market capitalism and have tightly controlled the cash flow for decades. Consequently, the country falls more deeply into poverty every year, while the tyrannical government is not improving the situation.

President Maduro replaced the recently deceased President Chavez, who had a reputation for spending funds that could not be liquidated. Shortages have increased, inflation has risen to 55% and an inside Bank official claimed that Venezuela was indeed conversing with Wall Street. However, all three parties involved had no comment to offer on these claims. The economy is in a downward spiral, encouraged by the fact that stores cannot buy new inventory due to the cost of goods being higher than the retail price.

Questions are circulating about methods of intervention and whether American aid is appropriate, as well as questions regarding the depth of corruption in the Venezuelan government. Basic economics further show that public spending is good for the economy, when business have the right to compete with each other for capital gain.

The absence of a free market suggests that if Bank of America or Goldman Sachs loaned Venezuela the cash they need, it would just be reinvested into a corrupt system and exacerbate the problem. Solutions must involve correcting the dishonest practices of the government and its leaders so that the citizens will not continue to suffer, but instead thrive.

– Kaitlin Sutherby

Sources: Reuters, The Wall Street Journal: The Pope, State and Venezuela, The Wall Street Journal: Blackout
Photo: Vintage 3D

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Tendulkar and UNICEF: Hygiene and Sanitation

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UNICEF signs Tendulkar as Goodwill Ambassador: “Thanks for allowing me to start this wonderful second innings of my life. I’m looking forward to being an ambassador for UNICEF and serve to the best of my ability. This is an innings that is really important to me, so I will try my best,” – Tendulkar.

Recently, the well-known Cricket star Sachin Tendulkar (AKA Master Blaster) and UNICEF joined forces. Tendulkar is now the UNICEF Ambassador for South Asia and will focus primarily on hygiene and sanitation needs.

“I humbly accept the responsibility for being Ambassador for UNICEF in South Asia. I look forward to working with children and communities in the region, urging them to use toilets and wash their hands. Following simple practices can contribute to a hygienic lifestyle which is important for the good health of children and women across the world,” stated Tendulkar during a signing ceremony in November.

UNICEF hopes that Tendulkar will be able to raise an incredible amount of awareness for these issues through his successful career as a Cricket star. Tendulkar is newly retired from India’s team but not before he was able to become the first cricket player to ever bat a double hundred in a one a day international.

With his far reaching reputation as being the greatest cricketer pushing South Asians toward better sanitation practices should have a large impact. South Asia is number two when it comes to the highest number of underage five deaths. It is also an area where the largest amounts of people do not have access to toilets.

There is definitely a connection between these issues and child mortality rates.  Besides Tendulkar’s newest partnership with UNICEF, in past years he has made many contributions to the well-being of others. Tendulkar has definitely offered his share of good deeds throughout his career, although the deeds have been kept mostly out of the public eye until now. Starting next year Tendulkar will begin his journey with UNICEF by visiting several countries to spread the word about Sanitation.

– Amy Robinson

Sources: UNICEF
Photo: Giphy.com

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Myanmar to Reclaim Title “Asian Rice Bowl”

mynamar monkeys
Myanmar makes strides towards reclaiming the title of being the primary source of rice exports, so named the “Asian Rice Bowl,” by doubling its rice production and export.

In fact, Myanmar aims to ship 2.5 million metric tons of rice between 2014-2015 with a targeted increase of 4.8 million tons between the years 2019-2020. In comparison, Myanmar shipped approximately 690,000 tons last year, ranking 9th in the world.

Among Myanmar’s competitors are its neighboring countries: Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. In its favor, Myanmar holds vast arable land, a large water supply and labor force, as well as low production costs.

Myanmar’s primary beneficiaries include Russia, as well as a number of other European and African countries. Half of Myanmar’s rice shipment goes towards its largest shipper: China.

However, a key hindrance to Myanmar’s growth concerns the remnants of its past military regime. Myanmar was the largest exporter of rice between 1961-1963.

More importantly, Myanmar’s prime deterrent in reestablishing itself as a large rice exporter is its infrastructure. With almost five decades run by a military junta, Myanmar has since seen little development in mechanization, basic electricity, telephone networks, and facilities such as governmental buildings are severely lacking in computers. From processing and shipment to transport, Myanmar is also lacking in the quality of its ports.

As the nation shrugs off 49 years of dictatorship rule, Myanmar is ready to show the world, particularly foreign investors, that the rules will change. In 2010, pro-democracy and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi was released. Since then, many more political prisoners have been released. Political parties formed and participated in parliamentary elections in 2012 and in the same year, privately owned newspapers were allowed into the country.

Results have come about. Previous economic sanctions by the United States and the European Union have been lifted. The Asian Development Bank, in a bid to jump start the fledgling regime’s economic and social institutions, granted loans to Myanmar. Furthermore, Myanmar recently regained its position in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Despite a history of human rights abuses and ethnic and religious conflicts occurring, Myanmar is implementing necessary changes, starting with rice.

In regards to its citizens, Myanmar’s working sector is heavily tied to the rice industry in which an estimated 70% of the population partakes. Additionally, 13% of Myanmar’s gross domestic product is in the rice industry.

In order to truly be the Asian Rice Bowl, Myanmar must continue to cultivate and foster its existing industry towards creating a surplus of opportunity for its citizens.

– Miles Abadilla

Sources: BBC: Increase in Rice Exports, BBC: Reforms in Burma, Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters: Analysis, Thomson Reuters: ASEAN Chair
Photo: Giphy.com

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A Congress of Millionaires

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As Congress debated extending unemployment benefits, like Medicare and Social Security disability benefits, a report regarding other benefits was released. The Center for Responsive Politics found that, for the first time in history, more than half of the Congressional members are worth more than $1 million.

The report, released in early January, finds that at least 268 out of the 534 current members of Congress have an average net worth of more than $1 million. The numbers are based on personal disclosures filed in 2013, regarding the 2012 fiscal year. To calculate net worth, the Center added together the members’ assets, such as corporate bonds and stocks, and subtracted liabilities such as credit card loans and mortgage debt.

Overall, Senators are wealthier than House members while Democrats are slightly wealthier than Republicans.

The fact and knowledge that Congressional members are much wealthier than the average Americans they represent is not new. Intuitively, politicians need large sums of money to run campaigns, and are more likely to have access to influential donors if they themselves are wealthy.

However, this is the first time in history that we have a Congress of millionaires, where over half of Congress is worth more than $1 million. That fact is somewhat ironic, as it is Congress who determines unemployment benefits, food stamps and the minimum wage, as well as legislation to overhaul the tax code.

Josh Bivens, director of research at the Economic Policy Institute, was quoted in the New York Times as saying, “Congress not only seems more responsive to policy desires of the very rich, but increasingly they are the very rich.

These findings also come at a time when wealth disparity within the United States of America is becoming a political focus. During the summer of 2013, Obama decried the “inequality of opportunity” while Pope Francis recently drew attention to growing economic inequalities – a message that Congress supported.

These issues of inequality are likely to weigh heavily on the 2016 election. Whether or not the pressure will result in a more economically diverse group of representatives remains to be seen.

– Claire Karban

Sources: Open Secrets, New York Times, LA Times, Time, New York Times Blogs
Photo: Nation of Change

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Sanitation and Poverty

Sanitation and Poverty
Two and a half billion people – over a third of the entire world’s population – have no access to adequate sanitation facilities, which leads to the rapid spread of disease and heightened child mortality rates. Most commonly, poor sanitation practices lead to diarrhea: little more than an annoying byproduct of bad hygiene practices for first-world residents, it is often fatal in developing countries. In fact, it is estimated that 5,000 children die daily from complications related to the ailment. Consequently, one person dies every minute due to the lack of basic sanitation.

Why is the lack of well-formulated means of sanitation such a large problem in modern times, when technology has reached such an advanced stage? One reason is the negative stigma associated with it: the discussion of toilets simply feels dirty or inappropriate and is not as popular nor does it appear at first glance as urgent as, for example, the issue of access to drinking water. However, the two are related and equally pressing; disease control is an impossible goal without proper sanitation adjustments. In many places around the third world, toilet stalls are completely nonexistent. Essentially, this means that people are forced to defecate in public, populated areas, leaving waste behind which will remain on the ground spreading disease. Just a gram of human feces may contain as much as ten million viruses and a hundred parasite eggs.

Besides the obvious health benefits, according to the World Health Organization (WHO,) improved sanitation in developing countries would provide $9 economic benefit per $1 spent. The year of 2008 was dubbed by WHO as the International Year of Sanitation. Through various conferences and seminars, five key principles of sanitation were determined: 1. Sanitation is vital for human health. 2. It generates economic benefits. 3. It contributes to dignity and social development. 4. It helps the environment, and most importantly. 5. It IS achievable. South-East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are two regions most affected by poor sanitation practices. Coincidentally, they are also the two areas with the highest death rates from various diseases. It is especially prevalent in rural areas, where open defecation is six times more likely and use of unimproved sanitation is four times higher than in urban areas. Being one of the 2015 Millennium Goals, improved sanitation should not be taken for granted. To heighten the quality of sanitation is to improve the quality of life as well as economic efficiency for millions of individuals worldwide. In this day and age, no one should have to defecate publicly; not only for reasons of dignity and civility, but also due to personal awareness and dedication towards reducing of the spread of deadly disease.

– Natalia Isaeva

 

Sources: The Global Poverty Project, World Health Organization: International Year of Sanitation, UNICEF: Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation

Toilets in Nigeria, Human Waste links to Diseases

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The small town of Kyuzhi in Nigeria is now giving fines to those who do not use toilets and defecate in the open, all of which is part of a water protection initiative to stop the dangers of human waste in small communities. Locals, furthermore, have the opportunity to take toilet education workshops where they learn the dangers of exposed human waste.

According to UNICEF, over 45 million Nigerians defecate in the open, an action stated as being the primary cause of high infant mortality in the country. When children are undernourished, diseases such as cholera or even parasitic infections can become deadly.

It has been over a year since members of the Kyuzhi community began to understand the problem with open defecation. By coming together and following a plan to improve community hygiene, an environmental task team was formed. They now fine 2,000 Naira or $13, to those violating the agreement and since last year only 3 have been caught defecating in the open.

Workshops in the community, moreover, allow locals to see how human waste and disease are linked.

Community leaders, women and youth take participants to an open defecation site in the forest and explain how crucial it is to stop this behavior. Mothers are now teaching their children the proper way to go to the restroom and if they see other children in non-designated sites, they seek out and speak to the children’s mothers. Several agree that this is the best way to keep the community clean and though some remain emotional about this confrontation, they are now using toilets.

More toilets and defecation sites have been set up for the locals of Kyuzhi and in due time local diseases will diminish, setting up an exemplary model for other developing communities.

– Maybelline Martez

Sources: UNICEF, DW.DE
Photo: Deutsche Welle