Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Nelson Mandela’s Early Life

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Rolihlahla  Nelson Mandela was born in Qunu, South Africa on July 18, 1918. He was the youngest son of Nonqaphi Nosekeni and Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela. His father was the principle advisor to the Acting King of Thembu, Jongintaba Dalindyebo. When Mandela was a child, his father died and he became a ward of Jongintaba Dalindyebo and lived in the Great Palace in Mqhekezweni. He attended primary school in Qunu and his teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave him the Christian name Nelson.

During Nelson Mandela’s early life, he was raised hearing stories of war and oppression from his elders and knew from a young age that he wanted to make a contribution to freeing his people. He attended Clarkebury Boarding Institute and then went to Healdtown for secondary school. Nelson Mandela first attended the University College of Fort Hare but was expelled for participating in a student protest. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of South Africa.

The King had arranged a wife for him when he graduated but idea of arranged marriage made Mandela flee Qunu and head to Johannesburg.  He worked as a mine security officer and then law at the University of the Witwatersrand and later at The University of London. He was a poor student though and never finished his law degree.

His political life started in 1942 when he joined the African National Conference, (ANC) an organization that lobbied to the South African government for African rights and political change. Mandela was an influential member of ANC and he helped form the ANC Youth League.  In 1948, the South African government instituted apartheid, apartheid was a government-instituted segregation of people based on their race that oppressed non-whites.  ANC and Mandela instituted passive resistance including non-violent protests, boycotts, and non-confirmation to apartheid polices and rules.

In 1944 Mandela married a nurse, Evelyn Mase. They had two sons Madiba Thembekile ‘Thembi’ and Makgatho and daughter named Makaziwe who died at at young age. They later had another daughter who they also named Makaziwe. The couple separated in 1955 and later divorced.

In 1952, Mandela became one of the ANC’s deputy presidents. The ANC Youth League with Mandela’s help implemented The Programme of Action, a racial mass-based policy.  In 1956 Mandela went on trial for treason and five years later was acquitted.  The government began to shut down all anti-apartheid groups and ANC was declared an illegal organization and shut down in 1960.

– Lisa Toole 

Sources: Nelson Mandela’s Children’s Fund, Nelson Mandela Foundation, BBC
Photo: This Bug Life

Dar es Salaam and Poverty

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With a name that quite literally translates into “house of peace,” one might expect Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania, to be fraught with peace and prosperity. However, contrary to its namesake, this locale still grapples with impoverishment, with a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of less than $530 USD.

Despite this low per capita GNI, Dar es Salaam remains one of the world’s fastest growing cities as an influx of rural farmers from outlaying Tanzanian villages migrate in hopes of success in the city.  Not only is Dar es Salaam one of the world’s fastest growing future municipalities, it is also the largest city in Tanzania, hosting over 4 million residents. A key characteristic of the city is a proliferation of urban sprawl placed in jeopardy by severely inadequate infrastructure.

In an interview with BBC news, Rolens Elias, one of the many immigrants in Dar es Salaam, attests that “It has been hard to set up a life here. I came here by myself and had to wait until I had enough money to bring my wife and family. We all live in one room, but it’s a better life than in the village.” According to Start.org, approximately 50% of the city’s most deprived inhabitants survive on a daily income of $1 USD- an income that falls short of the cost of utilities and adequate healthcare.

It is not as if this widespread impoverishment has gone unnoticed. Many programs have attempted to tackle poverty in Dar es Salaam, however, none of these initiatives have proved fruitful, undermined by insufficient leadership, planning, regulation, and resource constraints.

However, regardless of the humble living conditions in Dar es Salaam, the city still proves more opportune and accommodating than the more rural regions of Tanzania- a country that has consistently ranked among the top ten poorest countries in the world. Indeed, approximately 80% of the country’s impoverished live in rural households with the wealthier members of the populace living within less-destitute urban milieus, such as Dar es Salaam.

By 2015, Tanzania is projected to accomplish three of the seven critical Millennium Development Goals, falling short in the areas of education, maternal health, poverty eradication, malnutrition, and environmental sustainability.Thus, despite present poverty, Dar es Salaam, and moreover, Tanzania, can progress towards a more stable economy, guided by proper leadership and global support.

– Phoebe Pradhan

Sources: Rural Poverty Project, Start.org, BBC, IFAD, World Bank
Photo: National Geographic

Steak Dinner: A Cost Comparison

The restaurant business in America has been growing rapidly in the last couple decades.  Total restaurant sales exceed $660 billion. Among all the cuisines, steak dinner is the most popular. However, steak dinner is getting more and more expensive.

There are a wide variety of steak dinners depending on the restaurant and the type of steak. A steak can cost as low as $14 in a regular restaurant such as IHOP, Denny’s or a local restaurant. A steak dinner in an upscale restaurant can cost up to hundreds of dollars. “At the Michael Jordan Steak house in New York, for example, a dinner of shrimp cocktail [$16.50], New York Strip [$38.50], hash browns [$7.50], and creamed spinach [$8.50], plus dessert, wine, tax and tip easily tops $100 per person.” Overall, a cheap steak dinner will cost $28 dollar, and a traditional steak dinner can cost up to a couple hundred dollars.

In the world, 660 million people live on less than $2 a day, and more than 385 million live on less than $1 a day. Feeding a family in a third world country only costs $8.50. With an average steak dinner, a family will have enough food for almost 3 months. Steak dinners are delicious and fulfilling, but why not save them as treat for a special occasion? With so many people in the world in need, diverting funds  to nonprofits is an easy way to help millions.

– Phong Pham

Sources: The AWL, Slate, Restaurant, Global Issues
Photo: The Sun

Soma Gives Water to Cambodian Villages

The Soma water filter, a new technological advancement with a clean design is now the motive of a clean water project. The hourglass-shaped filter also uses a sustainable filtration method and biodegradable filters, adding to the environmentally-friendly vibe. According to the Soma website, the product is “a dishwasher safe hourglass-shaped carafe with a revolutionary filter made from stuff like Malaysian coconut shell carbon and layers of fine silk, it’s got a two-month shelf-life before it needs to be replaced. And when it does, Soma’s subscription service will ship them to your door. This holiday season, they are a popular product.” It’s sleek design, and environmentally friendly aspect has ranked them as one of the most demanded products of the market.

That’s not all! Now, Soma executives have revealed that they are teaming up with charity  to “provide clean drinking water to those in need.” According to Soma executives, every filter you buy supports bringing clean water.  Moreover, Soma’s made this a limited-edition charity water filter so if you are looking for the perfect holiday gift this might be it.

You not only get an innovative, environmentally friendly filter, but also give funds to developing areas that lack clean water. For every purchase, “$12.50 will be donated to Soma’s clean water’s projects. The ultimate goal is to be able to provide clean drinking water to every family in three Cambodian villages. Prices start at $49 for a Soma and one filter, to $159 for a Soma and 12 filters.” Since it’s Kickstarter campaign began, Soma has raised over $3.7 million for villages that lack clean water.

– Stephanie Olaya

Sources: GQ, GQ, Tech Crunch
Photo: Kick Starter

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Africa Faces Climate Adaptation Costs

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14 of the 20 most at risk nations of climate change distresses are African countries. These countries are considered as so susceptible due to the vulnerability of the population as well as the continent’s liability to extreme climate events.

Specifically, these African nations tend to experience extreme losses due to droughts, floods, fires, storms and landslides. Additionally, weak economies, governance, education and healthcare systems make it difficult to tackle or adapt to these problems.

Over 200 governments agree that global warming will exceed 2 degrees Celsius, causing much devastation and hardship, especially in Africa.

For instance, sea-level rise along Africa’s coastline is expected to be 10 percent higher than in the rest of the world, and in Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Gambia, up to 10 percent of the population would be at risk of floods each year by 2100.

The cost involved to address this looming danger amounts to billions.

According to the United Nations, adaptation costs faced by Africa range from $7 billion to $15 billion annually by 2020. Moreover, that amount could increase to $350 billion annually by 2070.

Some of the adaptation projects include developing drought-resistant crops, building early warning systems, investing in renewable energy sources, producing better drainage, building sea walls and prioritizing reforestation and desalinization.

According to the World Bank, there is a 40 percent chance of temperatures rising by 3.5 to 4 degrees Celsius if these types of climate change mitigation efforts are not stepped up.

Adaptation measures could, in fact, decrease the impacts of climate change in Africa.

Currently, projections for Africa are grim, even without the 2 degrees Celsius warming. Undernourished Africans are likely to increase by 25 percent to 90 percent, crop production will be reduced as arid areas are expected to increase by four percent, protein needs for over 60 percent of the communities would be jeopardized as fish will decline in African freshwater lakes and the necessary infrastructure for African communities to cope with climate impacts is inadequate. These effects will result in an increase of premature deaths, a rise in healthcare concerns and a decrease in food production.

The adaptation costs required to address the global temperature rise could reach four percent of Africa’s GDP by 2100. Therefore, additional funding is imperative if Africa is to move towards a climate-resilient life saving path. To meet this need, annual funds would need to grow at an average rate of 10 percent to 20 percent per year from 2011 to the 2020’s.

– Caressa Kruth

Sources: Thomson Reuters Foundation, The World Bank, CNN

How to Make Christmas Merrier

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For the world’s privileged, the Christmas season means mistletoe and hot chocolate, evergreen conifer trees with glistening ornaments, piles of presents and stockings hung on the fireplace mantle. In fact, Christmas is the largest global market stimulus due to an astounding proliferation in sales that account for almost a fifth of the retail industry’s annual sales.  In the United States alone, consumers collectively spend a whopping $469 billion during the holiday season with the average family allocating roughly $800 purely to holiday indulgences and travel.

However, a substantial portion of the world’s population is deprived of such blissful and lavish holiday revelry. In many areas of the world, Christmas is not celebrated as a joyful commercial and religious event comprised of frantic trips to the local mall and family bonding; it marks just another day of struggle and survival. Even in America, one of the wealthiest nations in the world, poverty plagues about 45 million people.

Due to this, many organizations provide methods in which individuals are given the opportunity to help impoverished families and communities during the holiday season. For example, since its founding in 1993, Operation Christmas Child has given gifts to over 100 million impoverished children in approximately 130 countries worldwide. In order to make a donation to Operation Christmas Child, individuals are instructed to fill any durable shoebox with child-geared gifts and a $7 shipping donation.

Furthermore, Alternate Gifts International also allows people to lend aid during the holiday season. Unlike Operation Christmas Child, AGI focuses on distributing gifts such as nonperishable food, shelter, vegetation, livestock, and medical supplies. All of which promotes sustainability and community health. To facilitate the donation process, a catalog of needed resources are listed for prospective contributors to choose from.

Much like AGI, UNICEF released a poignant campaign urging consumers to purchase their Christmas cards and gifts online through UNICEF with the tagline of “we go where Santa doesn’t.” According to this endeavor, the purchase of each gift goes towards providing life-saving items, such as mosquito nets and water kits, to impoverished children. Hollywood actor and goodwill ambassador Orlando Bloom supports the campaign by stating “I like the fact that [it] does not simply provide people with the humanitarian aid, but also elaborates on the tools to solve problems and improve the life of children and women.”

Although simply donating to these charitable organizations provides gifts and assistance to communities in need, staying informed and enlightening others about global poverty is also an additional, albeit less direct, way to give back during this holiday season. In doing so, poverty is pushed to the forefront of national agendas.

– Phoebe Pradhan

Sources: Statista, Last Throes, Investopedia

Palestinian Poverty in the Holy Land

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The status of Jerusalem is the most contentious issue in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which has led to an alarming rate of poverty among Jerusalem’s Palestinian population.  According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, 86% of Jerusalem’s Palestinian children are below the poverty line.

As a whole, 77% of Palestinian Jerusalemite households faced poverty in 2010, compared to only 25% of Israeli households.

Prior to the 1967 war, East Jerusalem was the hub of urban and commercial life for Palestinians.  After the war, Israel annexed East Jerusalem. Palestinian Jerusalemites were given a separate legal status as merely ‘permanent residents,’ restricting “access to housing, employment, education, health services and representation in the city.”  Since then, Palestinian Jerusalemites have faced a policy of neglect and have become virtually isolated from the rest of the West Bank with the construction of the Israeli separation barrier in 2003.

The East Jerusalem economy accounted for 15% of the Palestinian economy prior to the 1993 Oslo Accords.  In recent years, however, the economy has shrunk by half.  It is estimated that the separation barrier has led to over $1 billion in direct losses to the East Jerusalem economy.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) lists key factors contributing to poverty in East Jerusalem as:  (1) the separation barrier and isolation from the West Bank; (2) a weakened job market; (3) the neglected school system and obstacles in higher education and professional training; (4) difficulties integrating women into the job market; (5) employment in West Jerusalem; and (6) revocation of residency and the provision of temporary status.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) echoes these factors, maintaining that Jerusalem’s increasing economic isolation, “including the building of Israeli separation barrier,” left it “integrated neither into the Palestinian economy nor into the Israeli economy.”

Politics aside, ACRI contends that a crucial way of overcoming Palestinian poverty is to address employment and fair labor conditions.  Due to its isolation from the West Bank, East Jerusalem’s economy is dependent on the Israeli market, which serves as a source of employment and trade.  ACRI stresses a key point for policy change should be Israeli government investment in employment services.  “While Palestinians constitute a third of the municipal population, only three welfare offices operate in East Jerusalem, in contrast to the 18 in the western part of Jerusalem serving Israelis.” ACRI believes that an expansion of employment services is one way to offer the necessary tools for Palestinian residents to find jobs that offer financial stability and professional development.

– Rifk Ebeid

Sources: Al Jazeera News, Haaretz, UNCTAD, ACRI

United Arab Emirates: From Rags to Riches

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is composed of the seven emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah. Located in the southern half of the Arabian Peninsula, it occupies over 83,000 square kilometers and boasts a population of 9 million.

In comparison to the rest of the world, the country is relatively young. It gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1971. The discovery of oil reserves in the 1960s catapulted the once impoverished region into a center of international business and wealth. Today, the UAE is the eighth richest country in the world.

The UAE’s political structure is both traditional and modern in its approach. Each emirate is led by an emir or ruler who oversees the internal political affairs of the region. Representatives from each emirate are chosen to form the Federal National Council. The President and vice president also serve as emirs of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, respectively.

Prior to its entry into the global oil industry, the UAE’s revenues mainly stemmed from its failing pearl and fishing industry. Today, over 90 % of Emirati are literate, due to extensive investments in education, healthcare and infrastructure.

The UAE currently rates 23 out of 189 countries for ease of doing business. Its positive relationships with foreign investors have allowed the country to successfully compete in the global marketplace and exposed its citizens to the level of globalization necessary to conduct international business.

Success has also visited the neighboring countries of Iran, Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia as organizations continue to promote the importance and healthcare in the region.

– Jasmine D. Smith

Sources: CIA World Factbook, BBC, Doing Business
Photo: Win Wallpapers

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5 Facts about Poverty in Yemen

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As one of the poorest countries in the Middle East, Yemen is currently faced with some of the most extreme poverty issues in the world. There are several issues that are unique to Yemen that contribute to this magnitude of poverty, issues that are on track to only get worse unless direct action is taken to mitigate these circumstances. If basic problems, such as lack of access to water, are not properly addressed, other matters, such as sub-par literacy rates, will continue to plague the region and exacerbate poverty in Yemen.

 

Top 5 Facts about Poverty in Yemen

 

1. Yemen’s population stands at 25.4 million and approximately 54% of those people live in poverty.  In other words, 54% of the population survives on fewer than 2 dollars per day.

2. Approximately 45% of the population is malnourished.

3. Life expectancy in Yemen is 64 years old, 14 years younger than the average life expectancy in the United States.

4. Major infectious diseases plaguing the country include Bacterial diarrhea, Typhoid fever, Dengue fever and Malaria, all of which are preventable, curable and in some cases largely unheard of anymore in the western world.

5. There is less than 1 physician for every 1,000 people in Yemen.

 

Major Causes Behind Poverty in Yemen Today

 

  • The dire water shortage: The use of the word ‘dire’ cannot be stressed enough. According to Maplecroft, a global risk analysis organization, Yemen is ranked as the seventh most water-stressed country on the planet. Even though there is a water shortage in Yemen, approximately 90% of the country’s water is put towards its largely ineffective agricultural practices. In Yemen’s capital city, Sana’a, tap water is only available once every four days for its 2 million people. Even worse, in Taiz, a major city in the south, tap water is only available every 20 days. It is estimated that in 10 years, Sana’a will literally run out of water for its citizens.
  • On the brink of famine: In mid-2012, several major humanitarian relief organizations issued a warning that 44% of the population’s food needs are not currently being adequately met. Five million of these malnourished Yemeni citizens require emergency aid and immediate action. The warning cited a surge in food and fuel prices and political instability as the cause behind the number of malnourished people doubling since 2009. Though there is food available in some cases, many Yemenis cannot afford to buy nourishment because they have been displaced from their homes due to conflict.
  • Lingering political instability: Like most of the Middle East, Yemen felt the effects of the Arab Spring in 2011. The initial uprising was centered on protesting high unemployment, economic conditions and government corruption, which included the then president’s plan to alter the constitution to allow the direct transfer of power to his son. Al-Qaeda also has a presence in the region, which further contributes to political instability. For these reasons and many others, the attempt to reach stability within the government and the region is an ongoing process. After significant fighting and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of citizens, a new president was placed in power after running uncontested in an election. The new president is responsible for overseeing the drafting and implementation of a new constitution and further presidential and parliamentary elections in 2014.

– Colleen Eckvahl

 

Sources: BBC: Yemen’s President cedes power, BBC: Yemen on brink of food crisis, Green Profit, Maplecroft, The World Bank

 

The Cost of Christmas

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Beyond the messages of goodwill and the narratives of birth and rebirth, Christmas inevitably turns into an Olympics of materialism and consumerism. For now, there are only the hard questions on which to ruminate: What are the top ten gadgets we cannot live without this holiday season? What is the Cost of Christmas?

A Gallup Poll released November 14 revealed that the average amount an American plans to spend on Christmas presents this year totals to about $704. In 2012, Americans individually spent about $764 on average. To put it all in perspective, a Think Progress info-graphic revealed in 2012 that the amount Americans spend on Christmas (about $25 billion) is roughly equal to the cost of permanently ending homelessness in the United States ($20 billion).

The amount that Americans spend on Christmas presents and decorations entirely eclipses the $3.2 billion that the World Food Programme calculates is needed per year to feed all 66 million school-age children living in extreme poverty around the world. The American Christmas budget also dwarfs the annual budgets of the UNHCR, the World Food Programme, the UNDP and UNICEF combined.

Only $60 billion is needed to end world poverty.

The message here is that the extraordinarily privileged people of United States are entirely capable of leading the crusade against global poverty. Within the span of only one month of the year dedicated to holiday shopping, Americans spend enough money to permanently abolish global poverty by 50%.

While Christmastime may mean scrambling to the tree to unwrap the new Playstation 4, Xbox One and Apple products, perhaps it is time to additionally consider that that money can buy lasting world peace and equality—that these are gifts that are worth the investment and within our budget.

– Malika Gumpangkum
Sources: TIME, Forbes, Business Insider, NY Times, Think Progress, Oxfam
Photo: Telegraph