Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

The Impact of Pakistan’s Growing Population

According to the most recent National Nutrition Survey conducted in Pakistan, approximately 60 percent of the country’s population is facing food insecurity. Of these households, 50 percent of the women and children were found to be malnourished. The growing population in Pakistan poses a significant threat to food security, yet little attention has been devoted to studying the country’s large population numbers and their impact on Pakistan’s development and stability. Perhaps numbers such as these are the reason why more focus is now being placed on the country’s population and its relationship to food security.

According to The Nation, the Population Association of Pakistan (PAP) held its 14th Annual Research Conference on November 20and 21, 2013, during which many problems facing the country were addressed. The theme of the conference was “Pakistan’s Population: New Realities and Challenges for Human Development.”

The country’s food security problems are manifested through the widespread malnutrition experienced by its residents, and these problems were highlighted during the conference by Shahnaz Wazir Ali, President of the Population Association of Pakistan. According to the National Nutrition Survey, stunting (low weight for age), wasting (low weight for age) and micronutrient deficiencies are all major problems in Pakistan.

Another major obstacle in addressing the population problem in Pakistan is poor demographic data. During the conference, Dr. Zeba Sathar, an eminent Pakistani demographer, pointed out that a census has not been conducted in Pakistan since 1998. Although a census has not been conducted in almost a decade, there is information and research evidence that is routinely collected regarding the population. However, this information typically fails to make it into the hands of policy makers.

According to Dr. Sathar, “[w]hat we [Pakistan] need now is that at the federal level, the ministries of planning [and] development and national health services sit together and come up with an overarching, broad and evidence based, strategically focused national population and development policy that outlines guiding principles.”

In response to the information presented at the conference, Minister of State for National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination Saira Afzal Tarar stated it is time to investment in education of Pakistan’s children to meet future challenges, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan. Tarar believes that education and employment are two of the keys to reducing the population in Pakistan. Improvements in these two areas would help reduce the adverse effects on the economy, effects which appear to be related to food security and malnutrition.

Despite the challenges, Pakistan’s leaders are convinced that the country can become a vibrant democracy with a growing economy and a healthy and prosperous population.

– Cavarrio Carter

Sources: The Nation, Daily Times, Associated Press of Pakistan
Photo: Pakistan Real Estate Market

Cost Comparison: Coffee

Perhaps it’s time to start looking where your money goes, and even further where your money could be going. According to Accounting Principal’s 2012 survey, the average American worker spends more than $20 a week on coffee, adding up to a yearly average of around $1,092. For java-lovers, this may seem like a hard habit to kick. However, by even simply making your own coffee at home, you can both save calories and spend that money in a more useful way – combating global poverty.

If more Americans skipped their morning Starbucks and instead donated that money, two things could happen. 1. American obesity would significantly decline 2. Global poverty would significantly decline. Of the roughly 315 million people in the United States, if simply 30 million (about 1 out of 10 people) put their coffee money toward combating global poverty, it could be entirely eliminated.

You heard correctly. The United Nations estimates that it would take nearly $30 billion a year to put an end to world hunger. Therefore, this small and easy adjustment could save the lives of millions worldwide. Is your cup of coffee really worth more than the lives of people everywhere?

There are many ways to start taking steps to make a change toward combating world hunger. While going cold turkey and saving the money for donation is definitely an option, there are other alternatives as well. A basic Keurig Coffee Brewer costs about $120, and including the price of the coffee that goes in them (an extra $180 a year), you can still have your coffee and save the difference between buying coffee every day. While the total is slightly less, it gives coffee-lovers an option to still enjoy their brew but also fight for a good cause.

You may think your contribution won’t make a difference- but it does. Talk to friends, family and encourage them to give up buying a daily cup of java and instead save the money to donate to poverty-groups. This way, we can save the world, one coffee been at a time.

– Sonia Aviv

Sources: Consumerist, Borgen Project, LA Times
Photo: Consumer Channel Dynamics

Typhoon Stirs Risk of Sexual Violence Against Women

Typhoon Stirs Risk of Sexual Violence Against Wome
Protecting girls and women during emergencies is an essential part of humanitarian work. However, aid workers neglect protection and instead focus on other tasks such as saving lives, moving trucks, bringing in tents and distributing food. All necessary work, but protection measures also need to be established during emergencies.

Conflicts and natural disasters result in mass displacement, often leading to a breakdown in social structures. Through this breakdown women become more exposed than men to sexual violence.

Typhoon Haiyan has affected millions in the Philippines. According to the United Nations (UN) at least 4,200 people have been killed, 500,000 homes have been damaged, 3 million people have been displaced and a total of 9.8 million people have been affected by the typhoon. These numbers are devastating.

Additionally, thousands of women and girls have also been uniquely affected by this disaster. The UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs estimates that 47,600 women between the ages of 15 and 49 affected by Typhoon Haiyan are at risk of sexual violence.

Currently, there is great efforts of protecting women and girls during conflicts. The UK government has especially been acknowledged for their efforts in addressing violence against women. Through The Department for International Development, the UK Government led talks for a new resolution on conflict prevention, resolution and peace-building. The UN Security Council has since passed this resolution. Additionally, through their Foreign and Commonwealth Office an initiative preventing sexual violence was launched in an effort to better prevent and respond to sexual violence during conflicts and prosecute perpetrators.

However, according to Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director of UN Women, more attention needs to be given to the practical responses to an emergency in order to protect women and girls.

Mlambo-Ngcuka, along with other aid leaders, suggests instituting several measures to assist the women and girls who are abused in this manner.

1. As refugees, these women and girls do not experience the same level of rights or access to necessary emotional and physical services. Policies need to be implemented that protect these women as refugees.

2. Well lit toilet blocks or water points need to be built close to where people live. As women and girls have higher visibility, the chances of being abused are diminished.

3. Women often look after orphans during a conflict. Resources need to be provided to these women, whose efforts are often overlooked by governments and local leaders.

4.  As sexual violence is prominent, women must have access to appropriate health services such as emergency contraception.

5. Cooking facilities need to be easily accessible, not requiring women to travel long distances into isolated areas in search of firewood.

6. Aid workers need to make sure that women have equal access to food vouchers during distribution. Often times the men get the vouchers, and then women are forced to compromise themselves to get the vouchers they need to provide food for their children.

7. Long-term support in the form of policies and programs is necessary to ensure the rights of these women and girls are upheld.

Lastly, Mlambo-Ngcuka states that the battle of combating violence against women will be won in countries where women engage and confront their governments, and where boys and men are supportive of protecting women.

– Caressa Kruth

Sources: The Guardian, NBC World News, IRIN News

Gift Ideas that Help the Poor

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As the holiday seasons quickly approaches everyone is starting to brows stores and write shopping lists for their friends and families. This year take a few moments to consider an alternative gift list for your loved ones.  There are some innovative organizations that make donation gifts a lot more fun. Instead of giving classic material gifts like scarves or chocolates to your family you can help families struggling with hunger and poverty around the globe.

Heifer International Heifer International’s mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty. When American Dan Heifer worked as an aid worker during the Spanish Civil War he realized that distributing cups of milk to the hungry was only a temporary solution.  He thought to himself “why not give them a cow?” This is the philosophy that drives Heifer International.

Their holiday gift catalog titled “The Most Important Gift Catalog in the World” allows individuals the chance to give a very meaningful gift to those on their list. In the catalog you can chose from a variety of options including donating an animal, providing women with empowerment, supporting sustainable farming, or providing families with basic necessities. Here are some of the great gifts you can give:

1.     Heifer – $500 (full) or $50 (share)

2.     Sheep – $120 (full) or $10 (share)

3.     Bountiful Harvest Basket – $72

4.     Gift of Irrigation Pumps – $150

5.     Launch a Small Business – $365

World Vision World Vision has a similar program called the “World Vision Gift Catalog” that allows people to give gifts that aid people living in poverty both in the United States and globally. They have a large assortment of gifts ranging from emergency aid to care for orphans and widows. Some of their most popular gifts are:

1.     Goat and Two Chickens – $100

2.     $350 Worth of Medicine – $35

3.     Hope for Sexually exploited Girls – $35

4.     $250 worth of necessities in the USA – $25

5.     Share of a Deep Well – $100

Charity Choice If you would like to let your loved one chose a charity that will be particularly meaningful to them consider Charity Choice Gift Cards.  Founded in 2004 by Mark Finkel, Charity Choice allows buyers to make a donation and receive either a paper card or eCard. This gift card entitles the recipient to select a charity for their gift to be donated to from an online list of over 250 charities.

– Lisa Toole

Sources: Heifer International, World Vision, Charity Choice

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Children’s Books on Poverty

In America, we often tend to live inside of a bubble, a comfortable space in which we utilize blissful ignorance to the outside world and its problems.

But this bubble has a negative impact on what’s beyond it – the rest of the world. By choosing to live in ignorance, people who need help are unable to receive it. Where that problem begins is in the home – with children.

Being privileged to a comfortable lifestyle as a child, I grew up typically getting what I wanted for Christmas and birthdays. My sister was given an iPod when they first came out, while I eventually came to be the owner of a Gameboy Color, a Nintendo 64 and a GameCube. Then again, sometimes there were disappointments – things I had asked for that were not wrapped up in brightly colored packages under the tree.

It was important to my parents to make sure that my sister and I got gifts we would actually use, but even more important was the lesson that we wouldn’t always get what we want.

That lesson applies in a large scale to the problem of global poverty, and authors are now tackling it. Not only do these lessons come in large, adult books, but they are now being offered in the pages of children’s books.

The following books educate and reinforce principles regarding economic differences, while also validating the emotions of the poor readers. The refreshing part is that these books do not intend to preach; they teach the values of resourcefulness and gratefulness.

  • The Can Man by Laura E. Williams, illustrated by Craig Orback: Tim’s parents can’t afford the skateboard he dreams of for his birthday, so he puts on rubber gloves and starts collecting cans in a quest for cash. Soon he finds himself racing a homeless can collector to the best spots in the neighborhood for cans. As he gets to know “The Can Man,” Tim learns there are things in life more valuable than any object.
  • Lucky Beans by Becky Birtha, illustrated by Nicole Tadgell: Marshall Loman is sick of beans because he has had to eat them every night since his father lost his job. In this Depression-era story, a bean counting contest at a local shop and one boy’s math-savvy help a family get back on their feet again.
  • The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes, is a classic story about a Polish immigrant girl who is teased for saying she has one hundred dresses, when she wears the same faded old dress every day. It is told from the perspective of the teaser’s friend. I read this story aloud over the course of a week, engaging the children during and after each reading in a philosophical discussion about the ethical dilemma of being a silent bystander.
  • Si, Se Puede! by Diana Cohn, is a bilingual story about the Service Employees International Union organizing drive and janitors’ strike in Los Angeles. It is useful to discuss why and how workers form unions, what a strike is, the importance of community support, and connections between the story of the janitors’ organizing drive and local labor struggles.
  • The Streets Are Free by Karusa, is a bilingual story about children in a Venezuelan barrio who organize and protest about the lack of a playground in their neighborhood and the eventual community action which builds it. Children can retell and then make captioned drawings to illustrate a story of community organizing told by a “guest activist” visitor to the classroom. These can be displayed, then bound into a class book.
  • Shingebiss by Nancy Van Lann, is an Ojibwe legend about a merganser duck who demonstrates the values of persistence, conservation and resourcefulness in order to survive the northern winter. This is a favorite of my students and my own children. Shingebiss is an excellent role model to refer to when the going gets rough. I am often impressed by hearing my students exhort each other to be persistent or praise each other for being resourceful in their problem solving. I start to proudly think, “Wow! Did I teach them that vocabulary?” and then humbly remind myself, “no, they learned it from a duck.”
  • Tight Times by Barbara Shook Hazen, is about a boy in a financially stressed family who really wants a pet dog. Told from the child’s perspective, it describes the boy’s spontaneous adoption of a stray kitten against the backdrop of the father’s anger at his sudden job loss. Children can easily make text-to-self connections with the story as they discuss how a sudden change of circumstances can affect everyone in a family.
  • The Lady in the Box by Ann McGovern, is about two children who notice and then befriend a homeless woman living in their neighborhood.
  • Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting, is about a homeless boy and his father who live at an airport. I use both this book and The Lady in the Box to help children see beyond the “shopping bag lady” stereotype of homelessness, to recognize that people of all ages and circumstances can become homeless for a brief or longer period of time, for a variety of reasons, and that shelters are not solutions in themselves.

– Samantha Davis

Sources: Huffington Post, Scholastic
Photo: Georgina Public Libraries

Pizza Hut Donates to Philippines

It is almost impossible to watch a program on television without seeing an advertisement from one of America’s top pizza restaurants, Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. and is known for delivering more pizza, pasta and wings than any other restaurant in the world. The Pizza Hut name has come very far since its invention in Wichita, Kansas 55 years ago.

Pizza Hut is also a top partner of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the world’s largest effort to fight hunger worldwide. Pizza Hut has been involved with WFP since 2007 and has donated over $10 million in the form of over 40 million meals to fight hunger in the United States. Pizza Hut also founded the Pizza Hut Harvest Program to independently donate meals to shelters in the United States.

Pizza Hut recently declared that a designated percentage of its World Hunger Relief donations will go to the Philippines. The recent typhoon in the Philippines has left 2.5 million survivors hungry and in need of food. Scott Bergren, President and CEO of Pizza Hut, emphasized the importance of aid to the survivors when he said “the purpose and intent of our partnership with the World Food Programme is to provide relief through food to those most in need, and nowhere is that need more urgent now than in the Philippines.” Bergren also took a moment to thank the WFP for allowing Pizza Hut and Yum! Brands to help so many people.

Other major companies such as Royal Caribbean Cruises, FedEx and Google have also donated to those in the Philippines in light of the recent tragedy.

– Lienna Feleke-Eshete

Sources: CNN Money, Market Watch
Photo: Entrepreneur

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UN Foundation Gives Children a Shot@Life

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Every 20 seconds, a child dies from mundane diseases that have faded from first world concerns like nothing but a nightmare. But 1.5 million children die every from pneumonia, diarrhea, measles and polio—all diseases that are preventable with the vaccines one might find at a routine clinic. For children living in impoverished regions, these diseases are an all too prevalent reality caused by the lack of access to vaccines.

United Nations Foundation-sponsored Shot@Life is the latest movement in garnering support and advocacy in humanitarian efforts to provide vaccines to children in need. The movement stresses the importance of Americans to reach out to Congress to make vaccinating children around the world a political priority. Shot@Life emphasizes the dire consequences of slashing global health funding and other forms of foreign aid, that Americans can no longer remain complacent in informing their government of children under five in peril of seemingly antiquated diseases like polio and measles.

The routine life-saving shots one normally receives at Kindergarten are denied to 2.5 million at-risk children.

U.S. paralympian Dennis Ogbe, an advocate for polio eradication, is a living testament to the ever-present threat of the disease. Raised in Nigeria, the track-and-field athlete contracted polio at the age of 3 and was confined to a wheelchair whilst his friends were allowed to run and play. Through force of will and support from his father, Ogbe miraculous regained mobility in one leg—one leg that would scale him to a place high amongst Olympians.

Though now 99% eliminated worldwide, polio still remains a presence—one that might continue grow and resurface as a more serious threat through complacency. There are still 200 cases per year with remaining polio epidemics in Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Permanent polio teams have been established in hard-to-reach provinces in Pakistan and Afghanistan, while Nigeria has employed satellite technology in order to best reach out to children in need of vaccines.

Funding shortages in global partnerships have hampered efforts to completely eradicate polio; it is reported that nearly $1 billion is needed to fully rid the world of polio. The projected benefits and returns in investing in polio eradication are impressive: by 2035, the world’s poorest countries will receive benefits of up to $50 billion. Furthermore, investing in channels of dispersing polio vaccines would in turn open up cost-effective channels to deliver more vaccines and thereby prevent more types of diseases, such as measles and rotaviruses, in regions of extreme risk and poverty.

It is time to construct a world in which all children of all countries are protected from all preventable diseases and given an equal shot at living. UN Foundation’s Shot@Life is a call for Americans to their part in the name of global health equality.

– Malika Gumpangkum

Sources: Shot@Life, AAP Global, CNN, CNN

Krochet Kids International Fights Poverty

While still a high school kid, Kohl Crecelius never thought about that a small hobby could eventually make a big difference on many others’ lives.

Crecelius is the CEO and co-founder of the Krochet Kids International (KKI), a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering people to rise above poverty. When he was in high school, he loved sports on the mountain, like surfing, and was passionate about crocheting unique headwear for himself. Later on, to fund high school dances, he started his crochet business, a small crocheted hat company.

During summer breaks, Crecelius volunteered in various developing nations and saw people tired of living solely on the operating bodies for their every need. “They wanted to work and provide for their own families,” he said.

Not until that moment did he have an idea of helping these people break the cycle of poverty by teaching them crocheting. Crecelius believes high-quality, handmade products can serve as a vehicle for social change.

“The simplicity of crocheting is its most profound quality,” Crecelius said. “With hook and yarn people could make amazing products.Being paid a fair wage to do so would allow for them, for the first time, to provide for their families and begin planning for the future. By teaching these people to crochet, we would be empowering them to rise above poverty.”

Along with some close friends, Crecelius established the KKI in 2008 and began working with women in impoverished communities in Northern Uganda and Peru. By teaching those women, most are mothers and heads of households, how to crochet products, this organization has created an innovative approach to help the poor through job creation and education.

“Our goal is to poverty alleviation,” Crecelius said. “We are trying to empower women and families living in poverty to be in charge of the responsibilities to break that circle of poverty for them and forever.”

Currently, over150 people in Uganda and Peru are working and receiving education. The collaboration of KKI staff and beneficiaries around the world has created a sustainable cycle of employment and empowerment.

Crecelius noted the biggest difference between the KKI and other businesses with missions to provide aid to developing countries.Instead of providing one thing such as water, clothing or education and trying to help a broad range of people, KKI focuses on individuals, helps them with the skills they will need to address their circumstances and assists them to make a difference.

“We try to leverage the tools of business to launch the entrepreneurship and to make the best impact on people,” Crecelius said.

– Liying Qian 

Sources: KTLA, Kochet Kids International
Photo: Onboard Mag

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The Diary of a Poor Woman

On an average blog, an average post managed to make headlines. With over 3 million views, Linda Tirado’s blog post, “Why I Make Terrible Decisions, or, poverty thoughts,” has shed new light on poverty in America. Tirado is a wife, mother, student and employee. Her family lives below the poverty line and faces daily struggles to make ends meet.

Tirado articulates a widespread feeling that persists among families in poverty. She explains that stress, uncertainty and depression come along with financial woes. Tired of being misunderstood, Tirado took to her blog to respond to society’s misconceptions about poverty.

With cuts to food stamps occurring at the beginning of November, the welfare debate in the U.S. has recently been a hot topic. Many assume that people who are in poverty are responsible for their own bleak situation. The reality is, and Tirado makes sure to point this out, that those living in poverty were born into it and are never given the resources or the tools to get out.

Tirado’s post is written as a slightly unorganized stream of thoughts which she explains are constantly occurring in the back of her mind. She describes her average day of school, two jobs, and domestic responsibilities, while trying to keep her depression and exhaustion from getting in the way of her duties. Without knowing what will happen tomorrow, Tirado smokes a cigarette, puts her children to bed and fights on.

Tirado has received a lot of backlash because of this post. Anonymous commenters have urged her to stop having children, to not smoke cigarettes which are destroying her health, and to get a real job. It is because of these insensitive and uninformed responses that Tirado wrote her post in the first place. She explains that she had children because she had no access to affordable birth control, she smokes because she cannot afford depression and anxiety medication, and she is often turned down from jobs because she does not fit the company’s image.

There have also been positive responses to Tirado’s post. She has started a “go fund me” site and has received more than her annual salary in donations. Her post has opened doors for her to write a book and be a professional speaker. All this positive reinforcement has encouraged Tirado, and other families living in poverty, to continue searching for a light in the face of hopelessness.

The importance of Tirado’s post goes beyond her newfound opportunities. Her raw words have opened the public’s eye to the true nature of poverty. Often misconstrued as the plight of lazy and uneducated people, poverty is the result of systemic and social failure. Tirado has granted other families in poverty a platform on which they can be heard.

– Alessandra Luppi

Sources: KillerMartinis, The Huffington Post, Huff Post Live
Photo: The Equity Factor

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GIS: The Universal Language of Development

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If a picture is worth a thousand words, a custom-tailored map which can be manipulated to display the interactions between multiple selected variables must be worth entire books. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provides this power to the user who understand the language of the software, and this power is especially important to development and aid organizations seeking to maximize their impact.

Unlike conventional cartography, GIS software can exploit social, economic, political, and environmental data to create an image which can then be layered onto the topographic landscape in any way the user desires. The relations between layers, and between data within layers, can then be presented to the viewer in a way that draws attention to the important facts.

This differs fundamentally from the report by presenting information visually, without losing depth in the way that a chart or graph flattens the ethnographic depth of the actual survey informing it.

Geospatial analysis has been used primarily for military purposes in the past, but that situation is already evolving. USAID is deploying geo-analysts in almost every program to give its staff the most useful information possible, going so far as to institute its own geospatial arm, to ensure the best possible use of the existing technology. The United Nations is on a similar path.

A software which was once esoteric and difficult to manage – akin to prototypical PC operating systems – has been streamlined and aestheticized so that with less than a year’s training, anyone can masterfully manage multiple databases with thousands of streams of data into coherent maps.

As with any form of communication and representation, there is a danger of misrepresentation and error. Factors can be ignored or manipulated to produce maps that do not mirror reality, or that fail to bring attention to critical factors. Even if the map is sound, it can still be misused by those with ulterior motives or simple incompetence.

As with all analysis, GIS relies entirely on a substrate of reliable data from which to extrapolate conclusions. Unlike polls, however, GIS data does not require a ‘boots on the ground’ approach – though this can be useful. For many applications, remote sensing, satellite imagery, and tomography are sufficient, meaning that, in many situations, the difficulties of other analytical approaches are evaded.

What is more, with cloud computing becoming nearly universal, a global GIS network, shared by all development agencies, would perpetuate a system whereby an up-to-date cartographic representation of reality would be accessible to those seeking to capitalize on its wealth of information, thereby bridging the gap between those who are able and willing to help – but lack an idea of where to begin or what needs doing – and those who require assistance. GIS transcends language barriers, enabling global cooperation and understanding to tackle pressing issues. In that way, GIS is becoming the universal language of development.

– Alex Pusateri
Sources: Directions Mag, Esri