Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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World Hunger is Biggest Threat to Global Health

Though it is rarely featured in the daily headlines, world hunger has become the greatest problem facing the world today. Every day, 1 in 8 people go hungry worldwide. The situation has become so severe that experts now recognize hunger as the largest risk to health – surpassing AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.

Hunger is the worst in developing nations, where nearly 98 percent of the world’s hungry reside. Africa has the greatest number of countries with the highest categories of hunger – in at least 19 of its nations more than 25 percent of the population goes hungry. These issues are exacerbated by war and crisis. For people forced from their homes by violence and for other refugees, food is scarce.

The United Nations spends about $30 million weekly to keep food aid flowing to these problem areas. The efforts of the UN alone are not enough, however. In order to combat this global health risk, the hunger problem needs to be addressed on a global scale.

“It’s getting to a point where if the international community doesn’t wake up and realize that they have to, they must make efforts to find a political solution, otherwise we are not going to be able to sustain this level of response,” said Mathew Hollingworth of the World Food Program. Without the help of the international community, world hunger will continue to endanger people around the world.

– Sonia Aviv

Sources: ENCA, World Food Programme, 15 Min. News
Photo: The Inspiration Room

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Is Big Philanthropy Democratic?

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In an article in Dissent magazine, Joanne Barkan observes that big philanthropy “aims to solve the world’s problems–with foundation trustees deciding what is a problem and how to fix it. They may act with good intentions, but they define ‘good.’” For Barkan, the implication of this system is that the powerful and wealthy define the problem and how to solve it with little or no democratic controls. The article raises an interesting question: is big philanthropy democratic? It answers that question with a resounding “No.”

Barkan is quick to dismiss the laws and regulations that purportedly govern philanthropic organizations. These rules include restrictions on self-dealing, lobbying, and endorsing or supporting candidates for political office. Due to a variety of factors such as loopholes, deregulation, and lack of resources, these rules have been rendered ineffective in governing the operation of these organizations. And, of course, what has become something of a mantra in our society, the wealthier are able to get away with more indiscretion.

With little public oversight, these mega-organizations are free to govern themselves and raise tax-exempt funds from other wealthy donors. What is done with the money, of course, is up to the board of trustees that governs the organization. Although there is a 5 percent payout rule, which requires foundations pay out at least 5 percent of their endowment’s value each year, Barkan points out that this payout rule includes all reasonable expenses of administering the foundation, including salaries, trustee’s fees, travel, and receptions.  Salaries for philanthropic-executives can sometimes reach seven figures, allowing for something of a lavish lifestyle.

Another issue is the type of people that trustees choose to hire for their organizations. Traditionally, management consists of “insider” individuals that come from a business background–management consultants, businesspeople, lobbyists or scientists. Kavita Ramdas, Executive Director of the Program on Social Entrepreneurship at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, has pointed out that these hiring decisions are reflective of a metrics-driven and efficiency-seeking approach to social change—an approach that is not effective in handling, “the nuance and inherent humility of the social sciences.”

As government resources continue to shrink, those services once considered public will be controlled by private organizations. Philanthrocapitalism is filling the public void and its proving to be big business. In America today, there are 67 grant-awarding foundations with assets totaling more than $1 billion. Many will argue that these actors are using the money they have earned to fund humane endeavors. Others, like Barkan, see mega-philanthropies as another way for the wealthy to decide how to improve humanity and promote an agenda that serves their interests and ideas.

– Daniel Bonasso

Sources: Dissent Magazine, Reuters, Stanford Social Innovation Review
Photo: The Emily Dickinson International Society

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5 Facts About SKS Finance

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Originally an NGO formed in 1997, SKS Finance became a for profit company in 2005 when it was incorporated as an non-banking finance company (NBFC). Its mission is to provide low-income households with financial services, primarily in India, but potentially across the globe. Here are five facts about the company:

1. The company’s goal is to use microfinance as a tool for reducing poverty and increasing economic opportunity by providing access to insurance and credit. Loans start at about Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 12,000, or about $44-$260. These loans are typically given to poor women in order to help them expand their businesses. Poor women act as guarantors on each other’s loans, using a group lending model. According to SKS Finance, the loans are collateral-free and have a 99% repayment rate.

2. A variety of financial companies including Axis Bank, Barclays, BNP Paribas, CitiBank, HSBC, South Indian Bank, and ING Bank Vysvya have invested in and partnered with SKS Finance.

3. SKS Finance core values are: customer first, ethics always, and consistent quality. This involves transparency with customers, not offering bribes, and fostering innovation without cutting corners. Currently, the company is in the process of rebranding itself. SKS Finance is focusing on removing ambiguities about the company rather than making many specific changes. This need for rebranding came after founder Vikram Akula’s departure from the company and the upheaval that came with legislation passed in 2010. In the recent legislation, the Andhra Pradesh government sought to regulate the micro finance sector’s practices in terms of loan recovery and interest rate charges.

4. As of June 30 of this year, SKS has 51 LAKHS, and 1255 branches in India. The company has helped people like Ameena Bi set up a small mattress selling shop with her husband and a flower shop with the aid of her father. Currently Ameena earns INR 300 or $6 a day and her husband, Abdul, earns between INR 300 and INR 400, or $8.50, a day, whereas just three years before they were making INR 120 or $2 a day.

5. In 2011, Vikram Akula, the founder of SKS Microfinance, left the company amidst much turmoil. In hopes of an impending return, Akula suggested in September that the company had lost its way again. His statements were similar to the narrative that forced his departure two years ago. While current leadership at SKS is more than reluctant to give Akula any role in the company, he has ties with Biksham Gujja, chairperson of SKS Trust. SKS Trust, the largest shareholders in SKS Finance, nominated Akula for the seat now in dispute. SKS Trust is meant to serve SKS borrowers and acts as the largest shareholder in the company. Various people in the company have different attitudes regarding Akula’s possible return. Some say Akula has not made any attempts to return on his own, others that he has no support, and still others believe Akula’s actions are hostile in nature. Some have said there is a lot of support for Akula, otherwise he wouldn’t have received SKS Trust’s nomination. The effect of this public squabbling on SKS borrowers has yet to be fully realized, but doubts are being raised, especially by those worried about the interests of SKS Finance’s beneficiaries.

– The Borgen Project

Sources: SKS India, Business Standard, Economic Times, Times of India
Photo: Hugedatabase.net

What is Corporate Social Responsibility?

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Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a term that is becoming more and more common in the workplace. According to Mark Whitman of Sustainable Business Forum, a study by MIT in 2011 showed that sustainability is a permanent part of about 70 percent of corporate outlines.

This is more important than just adjusting for corporate philanthropy. As it turns out, Whitman said, doing good is good for business as well. There are several large benefits of CSR.

1.) Corporate Social Responsibility is good for business:

According to Better Business Journey, a Small Business Consortium from the United Kingdom, “88% of consumers said they were more likely to buy from a company that supports and engages in activities to improve society.” Furthermore, according to Simply CSR, customers do not accept “unethical business practices,” and using CSR methods can effectively increase customer retention and win business that is entirely new.

According to One4All, an organization committed to informing companies about CSR, a Harvard University study found that companies that are stakeholder-balanced “showed four times the growth rate and eight times employment growth when compared to companies that focused only on shareholders and profit maximization.” As it turns out, important stakeholders expect corporations to become socially responsible. Customers, consumers, and investors expect a corporation to “understand and address” relevant social issues.

2.) Talented employees want Corporate Social Responsibility:

Aside from customers, practicing CSR helps a company retain valuable employees as well. Whitman said that 53 percent of workers said that “a job where I can make an impact” was necessary to maintain workplace happiness. Furthermore, Whitman said, 35 percent would take a pay cut “to work for a company committed to Corporate Social Responsibility.”

According to Jeanne Meister for Forbes, “employees now want more from their employer than a paycheck. They want a sense of pride and fulfillment from their work, a purpose and importantly a company’s whose values match their own.” She said CSR is crucial to attracting talented employees to a corporation.

3.) Implementing Corporate Social Responsibility sets you apart from your competition:

Simply CSR said that using Corporate Social Responsibility improves a business’s reputation and standing within public forums. Companies that strive for a unique ethical standpoint are set apart from the rest in the eyes on consumers, according to John Paluszek of the Santa Clara University Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Branding an organization as ethical builds a positive reputation.

In an interview with Forbes in May, Garratt Hasenstab, Director of Sustainability at the Verdigris Group, a real estate development and consulting firm, said that they save money by operating efficiently, but that they believe setting a good example is the greatest benefit. They have inspired other organizations to do the same, Hasenstab said.

“Our CSR policy is at the core of our daily operations and guides our future progress,” Hasenstab said. “Our clients want to work with us because we are focused on a healthier and more productive world.”

– Alycia Rock

Sources: Simply CSR, Forbes, Sustainable Business, One4All CSR, Forbes Corporate Responsibility
Photo: Global MED

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Birmingham Partnership Walk Raises Money to Fight Global Poverty

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On September 22, 2013, over 2,200 people participated in the Birmingham Partnership Walk in order to raise awareness and money for those around the world living in poverty as well as the organizations that are pledged to help them.

The partnership walk was held at the city’s Railroad Park, and hosted a 5K run, a 1K youth run, a 100-yard dash, and a 3K family walk. Attendees could partake in these events while various groups, such as local marching bands and choirs, entertained the participants. Last year, 1,950 people participated in the partnership walk, raising $300,000. This year’s walk matched that goal.

The annual paternship walk is an event conducted by Aga Khan Foundation USA (AKF USA), which conducts similar Partnership Walks in 10 other cities around the United States. Aga Khan Foundation USA is a nonprofit humanitarian organization that focuses on agriculture, education, healthcare and other forms of development in Africa and Central Asia. All of the money raised at the walks organized by AKF USA goes to fund projects that directly battle global poverty.

Volunteer organizer Salima Mulji remarked that people should consider themselves part of a single global community, and, as such, it is the responsibility of everyone to help those in need. As a native resident of Southeast Asia, Mulji knows the advantages of growing up in the United States. Volunteering with AKF during the partnership walk is her way of giving back.

– Rahul Shah

Sources: ALL Alabama, Partnerships in Action, Alabama 13
Photo: Aga Khan Foundation USA

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The Side Effects of Not Knowing

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Everyone in the United States knows to expect a long, rambling list of side effects at the end of a TV commercial for medication. We have also learned that taking medication as directed by a physician is an important part of being a responsible patient and consumer, and to notify our doctor immediately if symptoms worsen. But in the absence of television, many people living in rural communities of developing nations don’t know what to make of their medication and its side effects. And without consistent access to doctors or nurses who might be able to explain these side effects, patients’ lack of information often prevents them from benefiting from medication meant to help their quality of life.

This lack of consumer information has dramatic consequences. For example, the World Health Organization estimates that there are more than 222 million women worldwide who would like to use family planning methods to delay or prevent pregnancies, but are unable to do so. Coincidentally, for those women who do make it through social and financial barriers to obtain birth control pills, experiencing adverse symptoms to birth control is one of the main reasons women stop using the method. When women get unexplained bleeding outside of regular menstruation, cramps, headaches, and back pain, they assume the medication is hurting their bodies. This breeds rumors that birth control damages the body, further ingraining social stigma against family planning.

Similar issues surround the drug Coartam, used in many rural health centers as the first-line treatment for malaria. Because Coartam relieves the fever and chills of a malarial infection, some patients will ask for Coartam any time they have a fever, whether it is caused by the malaria parasite or not.

Most public health organizations focusing on HIV/AIDS have realized the critical importance of education alongside medication and healthcare. The famous ABC campaign, first created by the health ministry of Botswana in the 1990s and adjusted in 2003, has educated millions of people about how the HIV virus is transmitted, and how abstinence, being tested regularly, and using condoms can prevent HIV infection. The campaign has aimed to leverage the millions of dollars invested in condom distribution. Because gender dynamics and other social norms play a large role in the acceptance or rejection of condom use, education is a critical step in bringing about behavior change.

Now, health education needs to expand to include drug information any U.S. consumer would want to know. Public health and international development projects need to have the foresight and funding to include patient education if they want to truly impact healthcare and quality of life.

– Shelly Grimaldi

Sources: World Health Organization
Photo: EmaxHealth

10 Thought Provoking Global Poverty Quotes

Below are 10 global poverty quotes from awe-inspiring people like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., and Winston Churchill.

  • “In this new century, many of the world’s poorest countries remain imprisoned, enslaved and in chains. They are trapped in the prison of poverty. It is time to set them free. Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.” – Nelson Mandela
  • “It would be nice if the poor were to get even half of the money that is spent in studying them.”  – Bill Vaughan
  • “True compassion is more than flinging a coin at a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
  • “Witnessing the extreme poverty in remote parts of Africa can make you feel sad and powerless until you realize how little it takes to change these people’s lives fundamentally in sustainable ways.” – John Legend
  • “Such is the scale and depth of poverty in many parts of the world that it won’t be ended overnight. That is why if, like me, you want to see an end to poverty, you need to be in it for the long haul.” – Annie Lennox
  • “Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life . . .” – Nelson Mandela
  • “We live in the richest country in the world. There’s plenty to spare and for no man, woman, or child to be in want. And in addition to this our country was founded on what should have been a great, true principle — the freedom, equality, and rights of each individual. Huh! And what has come of this start? There are corporations worth billions of dollars–and hundreds of thousands of people who don’t get to eat.” – Carson McCullers
  • “Pay attention to the hungry, both in this country and around the world. Pay attention to the poor. Pay attention to our responsibilities for world peace. We are our brother’s keeper…” – George McGovern
  • “Poverty is like punishment for a crime you didn’t commit.” – Eli Khamarov
  • “Of course I am frustrated with regard to extreme poverty, to violence that never seems to cease. Greed is the key. It’s easy to sit in relative luxury and peace and pontificate on the subject of the Third World debts. Not many of us are willing to give up everything we have. We can however give some, and millions of people do, governments do, but there is so much more to be done.” – Sir Roger Moore

 

– Chante Owens

 

Global poverty quotes

 

Vistaar Finance: Supporting India’s Small Businesses

Small businesses in India are finding a friend in the Vistaar Finance Organization. Since 2010, the Bangalore based company has reached out to an often overlooked demographic with innovative credit and lending programs focused on rural and semi-urban markets. With a customer-centric approach, the organization has quickly become a valuable asset to growing small businesses in India.

Vistaar also holds itself to a set of ethical values in its work. Founded on the belief that creating new economic opportunities can enrich the lives of a community, Vistaar promises service free from discrimination of race, caste, or religion. Vistaar also endorses the principles of the Smart Campaign, which include the promise of transparency, responsible pricing, and the prevention of over-indebtedness. Sandeep Fairas, a nominee director of Vistaar, has said that “Lack of access to basic services for any individual is really an issue of discrimination and must be challenged. It is imperative that we leverage the power of markets to scale and provide access to life changing services to millions of individuals and communities.”

Fairas is also the founder of Elevar Equity, a key investor in Vistaar. Vistaar has invested over Rs. 227crs (US $36 million) in small businesses across India. With 51 branches currently, and continued support from Elevar Equity and others, Vistaar is seeking to expand to 180 branches within the next few years.

– David Smith

Sources: Vistaar Finance, The Economic Times

Top 10 Best Quotes on the Government Shutdown

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With the American public angered by a government shutdown that has sent up to 800,000 federal workers home without pay and has threatened to derail a fragile economic recovery, both Republicans and Democrats have attempted to frame the crisis from their own vantage point. The week’s best quotes on the government shutdown include everything from finger-pointing, name-calling, calls to reason, and hot mic revelations.

1) “Save us from the madness. Deliver us from the hypocrisy of attempting to sound reasonable while being unreasonable. Remove the burdens of those who are the collateral damage of this government shutdown, transforming negatives into positives.”

— Senate Chaplain Barry Black, opening prayer on the Senate floor, Oct. 3

2) “We’re not going to be disrespected, We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.”

— Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.), the Washington Examiner, Oct. 2

3) “I really think Boehner needs to get some courage. Maybe he needs to take an afternoon off and golf and contemplate it and come back.”

— Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Oct. 3

4) “I think if you’re the White House, you just sit back and watch.”

— Former press secretary Robert Gibbs, on MSNBC’s “Now with Alex Wagner,” Oct. 2

5) “This is much more like what I deal with Henry in the morning when he says he wants to say, ‘I want candy for breakfast.’ It’s really a tantrum; it’s a tea party tantrum. ‘You either give me my way, or we’re going to shut down government.’”

— Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Oct. 2, referring to her 5-year-old son, Henry.

6) “I think if we keep saying, ‘We wanted to defund it, we fought for that, but now we’re willing to compromise on this.’ … I know we don’t want to be here, but we’re going to win this, I think.”

— Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), caught on a hot mic, Oct. 3

7) “I am not a criminal. I am not a scoundrel. So they better get a different definition of me.”

— Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), on the Senate floor, Oct. 2

8) “When you don’t have a president, every congressman, every senator, every governor, thinks they’re the spokesman for the party. And the one that lights their hair on fire is the one that gets on the evening news.”

— Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, at the University of Utah convocation, Oct. 2

9) “It seems that there is nothing the media likes to cover more than disagreements among Republicans, and apparently some senators are content to fuel those stories with anonymous quotes. Regardless, my focus — and, I would hope, the focus of the rest of the conference — is on stopping Harry Reid’s shutdown, ensuring that vital government priorities are funded, and preventing the enormous harms that Obamacare is inflicting on millions of Americans.”

— Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Oct. 2

10) “Think about the precedent. What’s next? What if the Democratic extreme said, ‘Well we’re not going to sign a budget unless you do away with assault weapons?’ What if we’re not going to have a budget unless 20 people around here decide that everybody under the age of 40 should wear a tin hat around? This is not the way you govern a great country.”

— Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Oct. 1

– Nayomi Chibana
Feature Writer 

Sources: Politico, Reuters
Photo: Vice

UNHCR Concerned About Impact of Dominican Court Ruling

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A court case ruling of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Dominican Republic regarding a Dominican woman, Ms. Juliana Dequis Pierre, 29, and her four children is causing great concern and eagerness to act by UNHCR.

Ms. Juliana Dequis Pierre’s parents were migrants from Haiti, and moved to the Dominican Republic several decades ago. Although she was considered a Dominican citizen when born, she does not meet qualifications based on the ruling. If implementation of the case ruling progresses, hundreds of thousands of persons of Haitian descent would be forced out of the state, and rendered stateless. According to the Tribunal’s criteria, descendents of Haitians registered as Dominicans as far back as 1929 would be considered, and instructed to leave the country they have called home for decades.

Several UNCHR officials voiced worry for the fate of almost 300,000 people born in Dominican Republic since 1929. Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, UNHCR’s Chief of Mission in Santo Domingo explained, “it is difficult to image the devastation of being told you are no longer a citizen of the country where you were born and lived your entire life.” Shelly Pitterman, UNHCR’s Regiona; Representative for the U.S. and Caribbean furthered these concerns by discussing a potential risk of these people being stripped of a recognized nationality, and how it is a “basic principle of international law that no one be deprived of a nationality if that action leads to statelessness.”

According to the ruling, the people should not have nationality because their parents were considered “in transit” and were never truly citizens of the Dominican Republic. Defending the ruling against a backlash of humanitarian supporters, Roberto Rosario, President of the Central Electoral Board, states, “The ruling unifies the country,” and “clarifies and defines a legal way and provides a framework to seek a humanitarian way of for those people.”

However, within the harsh criticism of so many humanitarians, information has leaked about the working conditions for Haitian descendents in the nation’s profitable sugar cane trade. The U.S. was able to conduct reports, and found Haitian sugar cane workers were underpaid, and worked in unsanitary conditions.

Additionally, children of Haitian descent have lived the effects of the hardship caused by a ruling in 2008, because parents were undocumented. School-aged children were stripped of the opportunity to take required standardized tests because they lacked their birth certificate.

Ms. Deguis’s lawyer states, “It’s essentially a life suspended.” U.S. involvement is at a consequential place in this case, as the U.S. imports more sugar from the Dominican Republic than any other nation. The U.S. Department of Labor announced it will revisit the situation involving labor laws in six months and a year.

As for the court ruling, Roman Catholic priest Father Christopher Hartley described the situation saying, “The truth is finally coming out.” Haitian officials will consult with UN members on how to further respond to the ruling.

– Laura Reinacher

Sources: UNHCR, UN Radio, Haiti Innovation
Photo: Castlebar News