Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Justin Bieber for Global Education

justin_bieber_pencils_of_promise
Since its founding in 2008, Pencils of Promise has been working towards improving access to education around the globe. The non-profit has set out to identify places most in need of educational facilities and then proceeding to build schools in those locations.

However, the organization’s role does not end there. To ensure the sustainability of their projects, Pencils of Promise also offers scholarships, education programs, and hires and trains individuals from local communities to staff their schools. With a focus on long-term success, schools and curricula are also routinely monitored and assessed for efficacy.

Canadian pop sensation, Justin Bieber, has been an avid supporter of Pencils of Promise for many years. In 2011, the smooth-voiced crooner competed in a Magnum Ice Cream contest against Nelly Furtado, Usher, and Jordin Sparks for $20,000 toward their charities of choice.

Bieber ended up easily defeating his opponents and winning the competition, and split the award money evenly between Pencils of Promise and Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The following year, the teen star went on to join Pencils of Promise’s founder, Adam Braun, in filming a promotional video encouraging adolescents to create personal fundraising pages on behalf of the organization. The incentive (aside from the gift of giving, of course)? Bieber would pay a visit to the three schools that demonstrated the most impact through fundraising for the Schools4All campaign.

With each $25 contribution, contestants would be compensated with one lottery entry. The more entries and donations one collected, the better the chance that he or she would get to meet Bieber.

According to the singer, “”I wanted to give every one of my fans a chance to help others and bring me to their school for just $25. The Schools4All campaign is a way for us young people to make a change, and I’ll get to thank an entire school in person.”

To further magnify the project’s significance, Bieber also partnered with Barnes & Noble and Nook to match the amount of money generated by fundraising participants and to donate 1,000 Nook readers to students enrolled in Pencils of Promise schools.

Thanks, in no small part to Bieber, Pencils of Promise’s reach continues to grow as it gains prominence. To date, the organization has built 146 schools in countries such as Ghana, Laos, Nicaragua, and Guatemala.

From his deep involvement with Pencils of Promise and his commitment to furthering its goals, Bieber sets a prime example of how to use one’s star power to alleviate the ill effects of global poverty.

– Melrose Huang

Sources: Huffington Post, PR Newswire
Photo: PopCrush

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Chaga Mushroom Might Be The Cure for HIV

chaga_mushroom
Could there be a cure for HIV? According to Russian researchers, the Chaga mushroom can “cure the Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV.” The Chaga mushroom is a small mushroom usually found in birch and other hardwood trees. It contains betulinic acid, which is considered a toxic substance to cancerous cells. It also has antiviral properties that are essential in the search for an HIV/AIDS cure.

The Chaga mushroom (or Inonutus obliquis) can be found in several regions around the world, most commonly Siberia and other regions in Eurasia. The Chaga mushroom is often characterized by its porous, dark appearance: often black-blue or purple. According to researchers, “strains of these mushrooms demonstrated low toxicity and strong antiviral effects against influenza, smallpox and HIV.” In addition, Siberian researchers at the Vector Institute have compared the Chaga mushroom to a variety of fungi growing in Siberia: 82 strains of 33 fungi and have determined that the Chaga mushroom has the strongest antiviral capacity.

Moreover, the Chaga mushroom usually grows in cool regions such as Russia, Korea, as well as other Eastern and Western European states. Scientists have found that the Chaga mushroom also grows in select parts of the United States and Canada.

The antiviral mushroom has been a constant subject in Russian folk medicine. The folk remedies use the mushroom to cure diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes.

Despite its positive appeal as a potential cure for cancer and HIV/AIDS, the mushroom has not undergone official testing. However, it presents newfound hope for researchers and people diagnosed with these diseases. Research plans to investigate the mushroom’s potential benefits will be held sometime in 2015.

– Stephanie Olaya

Sources: Medical Daily, International Business Times
Photo: Wikipedia

Use of Social Media in Afghanistan

Social Media Use Afghanistan
On September 22 and 23, Afghanistan hosted its first-ever social media summit, catalyzing the growing prevalence of Internet and social media sites as tools for democratic change. Sponsored by the U.S. Embassy, the summit was held at the American University in the country’s capital, Kabul, and welcomed more than 200 active Twitter and Facebook users.

The delegates featured at the summit included technology experts, Internet entrepreneurs, government leaders, authors, and NGO workers. The panel held discussions concerning how the increasing prevalence of the internet in Afghanistan is making an impact on traditional society.

With 65 percent of the Afghan population under 25 years of age, and an important presidential election coming up in 2014, now is an opportune time for Afghan youths to express their opinions on their nation’s issues on the Internet. Despite the popularity of social media, getting Internet access in Afghanistan is not an easy task. In fact, according to a USAID-funded study, conducted by independent technology research consultant Javid Hamdard, only 7.7 percent of the Afghan population can access the Internet – whether it is through mobile phones or computers.

Additionally, about 75 percent of the population resides in rural areas with little to no access to electricity let alone computers or the Internet. According to the UN, only an estimated 41 percent of Afghans have access to a reliable source of electricity. Therefore, charging electronic and mobile devices presents another problem for the population.

The high cost of Internet was previously an obstacle, but a World Bank initiative to implement the use of fiber-optic cables has helped to make internet more affordable in Afghanistan. The World Bank project is about 65 percent complete, but has been delayed due to insurgent activities in the eastern and southern areas of the country.

Afghanistan’s traditionally conservative society poses a problem to the growing prevalence of social media sites. For instance, the strict restrictions for women, like going to work or school, may cause issues as social media connects them to male users. According to Facebook, ten percent of users in Afghanistan are women. However, they often use a pseudonym and do not upload pictures of themselves or their female friends on these social networking sites.

Nonetheless, many see social media as a way for the population to engage itself in public affairs. Numerous presidential candidates are on Facebook and Twitter, which are the two most used social media websites in Afghanistan. This is especially vital to get Afghan youths engaged, seeing that they are the largest voting group.

The Taliban has even taken to social media. It has issued statements and claimed responsibility for attacks via their Twitter account—a rather different side of them compared to their ruthless six-year rule where they forbade television and use of most technology.

– Elisha-Kim Desmangles
Feature Writer

Sources: Business Insider, The Guardian
Photo: Dawn.com

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5 Foreign Aid Quotes from Democrats

Demorcrats Quotes Famous Foreign Affairs
Democrats and Republicans are different; we all know that. Throw out any social or economic topic, and bipartisan debate is sure to rage. Take foreign aid, for example. Republicans are notoriously opposed to foreign assistance, while Democrats usually favor it.

However, these perceived differences between the parties do not always hold true. Leaders of both parties have spoken openly in support of foreign aid. Foreign assistance is not a Democratic or Republican issue, but, rather, an American one.

Here are five quotes from notable Democratic leaders about this issue. These quotes can be compared to quotes from Republican leaders here.

  1.  “Foreign assistance is not a giveaway. It’s not charity.  It is an investment in a strong America and free world.” – U.S. Senator John Kerry
  2. “Growth in poor economies will be an engine of our own economy, and our success is tied to the progress of those around us. The investments we make today in the developing world will help create the jobs of tomorrow here in America. Right now, the tough choice is to maintain foreign assistance, not to cut it. Right now, the bold act of leadership is to defend spending on key international programs, not to attack it.” – Bill Gates
  3. “The 1 percent of our budget we spend on all diplomacy and development is not what is driving our deficit. Not only can we afford to maintain a strong civilian presence, we cannot afford not to. The simple truth is, if we don’t seize the opportunities available today, other countries will; other countries will fight for their companies while ours fend for themselves. Other countries will promote their own models and serve their own interests, instead of opening markets, reinforcing the rule of law and creating widespread inclusive growth. Other countries will create the jobs that should be created here, and even claim the mantle of global leadership.” – Former U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton
  4. “Moreover, the United States will continue to support those nations that transition to democracy — with greater trade and investment — so that freedom is followed by opportunity. We will pursue a deeper engagement with governments, but also with civil society — students and entrepreneurs, political parties and the press. We have banned those who abuse human rights from traveling to our country. And we’ve sanctioned those who trample on human rights abroad. And we will always serve as a voice for those who’ve been silenced.” – President Barack Obama
  5. “Relations between the United States and other countries, and our role as a global leader, are advanced by our willingness to help other countries in need. Foreign aid is essential to protecting U.S. interests around the world, and it is also a moral responsibility of the wealthiest, most powerful nation.” – U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy

Read global poverty quotes.

– Tara Young 

Sources: Pew Research Center, InterAction
Photo: OhioBelle

The Global Poverty Mapping Project

Global_Poverty_Mapping_Project
The Global Poverty Mapping Project, run by NASA’s Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) in collaboration with the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), is an attempt to increase the public’s general understanding of the global distribution of poverty. By creating maps that demonstrate the distribution of impoverished populations as well as the link of poverty to geographic and physical conditions, the project aims to assist policymakers and agencies in developing effective interventions to downsize global poverty.

Depictions of global poverty, either illustrative or written, tend to focus on economic representations based off of a country’s GDP or the percentage of a population that is living on less than a certain amount per day (for example, less than USD $1). Though these figures make the information easily accessible to a wide audience, such figures are not readily available at a sub-national level for many of the world’s countries. As such, the project utilizes five main data sets that were constructed by CIESIN: Unsatisfied Basic Needs, Small Area Estimates of Poverty and Inequality, Poverty and Food Security Case Studies, Global Subnational Prevalence of Child Malnutrition, and Global Subnational Infant Mortality Rates.

The child malnutrition and infant mortality rates are used to generate global and regional maps, while the mapping project synthesizes maps of smaller areas based on poverty and inequality. Each data set incorporates a vast array of variables, and as such, each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Nevertheless, all of the data presented are direct indicators of poverty levels.

All of the maps that have been created by the project are available on their website. They can be searched and sorted by geographic area, data sets involved, and themes – including infrastructure, sustainability, and everything in between. The maps themselves represent a significant step forward in the fight against poverty. Having knowledge of problem areas is the first step in creating policy to combat it. By providing a statistical representation of the specific issues that affect these poverty-stricken areas, the Project has also compiled an invaluable resource for policy makers.

Poverty mapping has since found its place in a wide variety of media. The data has been used to support arguments and demonstrate a need for change in everything from NASA publications to New York Times articles. It has been applied to studies that focus on issues ranging from the dangers faced by small schools in earthquake-prone zones of Pakistan to measuring economic growth based on light production. By synthesizing and condensing the vast amount of data, the efforts of the Global Poverty Mapping Project have proved instrumental in highlighting the need for intervention in the fight against global poverty.

– Rebecca Beyer
Feature Writer

Sources: SEDAC, NASA, New York Times
Photo: Info Chimp

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Advertisers Without Borders Promote Social Causes

Advertisers_Without_Borders
Advertisers Without Borders (AWB), founded in 2002 by Guillermo Caro, is an international network of advertising professionals who donate their time to promote global social causes. Through innovative public service campaigns, AWB brings awareness to issues like poverty, health, environmental care, and peace culture.

One of their recent campaigns, The Children Notwork, was designed to create awareness about global child labor. AWB created profiles on the professional network LinkedIn for textile, coffee, toy, and food companies. It then created dozens of fictitious profiles of children who supposedly worked for those companies. The “children” began to send direct messages to random LinkedIn professionals, executives, entrepreneurs, and leaders on the website. If these messages were read, AWB provided the recipient with a link to The Children Notwork website and detailed information about child labor.

This innovative campaign spurred conversation across the world, finally meeting AWB’s objective to create awareness about the 215 million children who are victims of exploitation and child labor.

Another of AWB’s campaigns, Whatever you do to the world you do to yourself, is composed of a series of four ads to promote greater care for the environment. The four images mirror each other in design, but depict four different issues, namely deforestation, littering, whale poaching, and pollution. Each ad contains a self-inflicted environmental wrong and the connection to the arm that commits it.

Each of AWB’s campaigns is designed to get the public engaged in the world’s issues through innovative, thought-provoking advertising techniques. Said best by anthropologist Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.” Advertisers Without Borders is doing just that.

– Tara Young

Sources: Advertisers Without Borders, The Children Notwork, The CreTimes

Deforestation Caused by Poverty

Poverty Causes Deforestation Amazon Slash and Burn
In the world today, forests make up 31 percent of the area of land. Forests are extremely important to the environment, animal life, and human health. In addition to providing a vital source of oxygen, forests offer many endangered animals shelter and help supply medicine, food, and water to people. The significance of forests to humans and the ecosystem overall has caused the act of deforestation to become a highly contested and widely opposed operation.

The 31 percent of forests alive today are being chopped and sliced away to an even lower number as deforestation continues to consume the world’s forests. Each year, nearly 46-58 square miles of forests are destroyed. In order to enact change and stop the deforestation crisis it is necessary to look at the cause.

Though poverty may not be the sole cause of deforestation it most definitely plays a role in it. Much of the world’s rainforests are located in some of the poorest areas on the earth. That said, underdeveloped and poverty-stricken communities are naturally going to go where there is some means of subsistence. Thus, forests become one of the main sources of survival for many poor individuals but at the forest’s expense. Forests are being forcefully scoured and cut through by those who simply have no other means of survival. When a forest no longer has anything to offer, people move on to the next area and the cycle continues.

Despite the significant impact that poverty has on the world’s rainforests, it is only one part of the bigger picture. Much of the deforestation is caused by the need to create cropland and expand agricultural systems. The building of roads is also another factor that fits into the deforestation equation. In fact, a variety of causes have come to have a hand in deforestation. Nevertheless, providing poor communities with the resources they need would keep them from foraging the world’s rainforests and affecting the entire ecosystem.

Education is one approach that many are taking to help save the world’s rainforests. Scores of people remain ignorant to the growing issue of deforestation. Even worse, many citizens of the U.S. have no idea the impact that their consumer lifestyle has on tropical rainforests and, ultimately, the environment. Educating in areas close to forests will prove highly effective, because there are people who don’t understand how significant forests are to personal and global health.

Deforestation provides another example of how the effects of poverty have gone beyond itself and beyond the individual. Poverty is literally affecting the entire world, and that should be enough to get the entire world not only caring but racing to put an end to it.

– Chante Owens

Sources: Mongabay, NASA, World Wildlife
Photo: The Guardian

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Significant HIV/AIDS Funding in Myanmar by Global Fund

Myanmar HIV AIDS prevention Global Fund
Along both the rural countryside and urban zones of Myanmar, HIV/AIDS ravages many people who are unable to access proper treatment. Fortunately, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria will disburse a US$160 million funding package to Myanmar to specifically combat HIV/AIDS. The Global Fund, an organization working towards the eradication of the three major pandemics of our generation-AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria-will be distributing US$160 million over the course of 2013-2016, according to the Myanmar’s Ministry of Health.

Previously one of the most isolated and oppressive states in the world, Myanmar now has begun reform efforts and started to open up to Western influences. When it was uncooperative with the international community, it received limited funds and relied heavily on organizations like Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to carry out health care treatment and other assumed government functions.

Despite continuing to rely on MSF, Myanmar has been receiving incremental increases in funds, most notably from 2009 onward. A correlation between recent reform efforts and funding as total disbursements can be seen in the jump from over US$10 million in 2009 to more than $47 million in 2010. This increase has risen steadily up to nearly $161 million in the following three years, growing over 16 times its budget from just four years prior. The sudden jump in funding for Myanmar’s HIV victims comes from the Global Fund’s pull-out in 2005 after government restrictions and its resumption in 2010 following an easement on restrictions.

This influx of HIV/AIDS funding in Myanmar is more than welcome as only 43 percent of the population that needs treatment received it in 2012. To truly understand how low this is, Myanmar’s regional neighbor, Cambodia, has properly provided antiretroviral therapy (ART) for over 94 percent of its citizens eligible for the treatment. The most effective response, ART, is provided by MSF and other healthcare organizations and consists of a minimum of three antiretroviral medications that will suppress and stop the spread and progression of the HIV virus.

While some claim this funding will help Myanmar treat all of its citizens affected by the virus, the head of MSF’s mission in Myanmar, Peter Paul de Groote views it through a more realistic lens. According to de Groote, despite Global Fund’s money improving financial capabilities, “the overall availability and capacity for enrollment needs to improve – by looking into better treatment models and implementing increased, decentralized care and treatment.”

– Michael Carney

Sources: Al Jazeera, The Global Fund, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)
Photo: Cody Romano

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Is the MPI a Better Measure of Poverty?

Is the MPI a Better Measure of Poverty Metrics
Experts from the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) are urging members of the United Nations to adopt a multidimensional poverty index (MPI) that could present a more distinctive picture of global poverty. For each individual or family, the MPI collates economic data along with information related to health, education, and living standards. This information is then used to assess where people are experiencing deprivation of basic needs, which determines their overall level of poverty.

Director of OPHI, Sabina Alkire, says that the MPI provides a measure of poverty that will answer not only who is poor but also why they are poor. “The real value of multidimensional measures is not having one number,” Alkire told The Guardian, “but it is that we can bring that number to bear…in different ways to understand poverty and trends in reduction over time.”

The current extreme poverty threshold—developed by the World Bank and used by the United Nations—is $1.25 per person per day. This number is thought to reflect an amount that each person needs to maintain his or her basic needs. But many activists believe that $1.25 per day is hardly enough to address basic needs. A report released by Action Aid suggests that $10 per day is a more realistic threshold and also points out that the number of people living on less than $10 per day has actually increased by 25% since 1990.

Though countries may be making progress with regard to the Millennium Development Goals, questions remain whether $1.25 per day reflects a proper poverty threshold. While some individuals may earn more than that amount, they may not have access to healthcare, education, or shelter. Failing to account for these factors creates an inaccurate portrait of global poverty.

There also appears to be a disparity between the UN’s threshold for extreme poverty and the perception of people actually living in poverty. In a meeting with UN officials, OPHI researchers reported that nearly 60 percent of Nigerians are in poverty, using the $1.25 per day threshold. But when asked their opinions, an astounding 95 percent of Nigerians said they were living in poverty. Such disconnects reveal that certain elements of poverty are not being accounted for with current measurements.

Eradicating extreme $1.25-per-day-poverty is a fair goal and developing countries should continue striving to achieve the MDGs. But with 2015 quickly approaching, the United Nations and the World Bank will be exploring new ways to define poverty and refine their stated development goals. That being said, the MPI is a likely candidate to replace the current poverty threshold.

– Daniel Bonasso

Sources: The Guardian, OPHI
Photo: Photopin

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The Location of Syria and Its Importance

The conflict that has ravaged Syria since March 15, 2011 has had worldwide ramifications. The civil war started as a response to the Arab Spring, government corruption, and the abuse of human rights. The government responded to this uprising with lethal force, and as of June 2013 the death toll has been suspected to surpass 100,000 casualties. By late April 2013, President Bashar al-Assad began launching full-scale military operations upon city enclosures, officially opening the country for civil war. The Middle Eastern country’s conflict could potentially rock the entire world, and for one seriously misunderstood fact: the location of the country.

The location of Syria holds significance not because of the country’s resources, but of the countries located around it. The Middle East is the oil production giant of the world, and is a sensitive spot for intervention. The location of Syria brings out legitimate reasons to be wary of intervention, as the civil war must be contained at all costs. The addition of a foreign power may allow the war to spill over into neighboring countries, inciting a deadly Middle Eastern war that would be devastating.

Not only is Syria close to the Middle Eastern oil titans, but the continent of Africa lays not far away. Africa is one of the most vulnerable places on earth, one rocked by poverty, hunger, and disease. The feeble economies of the poverty-stricken Africa could not take the outcome of a war spilling into its borders. Containing the war to the country of Syria is a precaution that must be taken carefully. If the conflict somehow spreads to Africa, the continent and its emerging countries will face the fallout of a war they had no stake in.

The majority of citizens in the United States do not support military intervention in Syria. Citizens do not want another drawn-out affair like the wars of the previous Bush administration. Whether military intervention is agreed upon or not, the effects of the decision upon Syria could be monumental. The civil war has reached a deadly number, as evidenced by the 100,000 casualties already listed. This number could exponentially increase, regardless of intervention. If the United States does intervene, it could potentially lose control of the situation, or allow the other Middle Eastern to beef up their weaponry with Western troops in such cl0se proximity. But by leaving the conflict to fester on its own, the United States takes any convincing power out of its hands. Not having a say in which way the conflict heads could be as potentially dangerous as being directly involved. By not intervening, the neighboring countries and poverty-racked Africa could be left in the fray.

The Syrian situation has become one of great interest. Understanding the location of the country, and what ramifications the location could have, is crucial to fully comprehending the condition. Not only will the war have complications upon the Syrian government, the neighboring countries and Africa could become involved. Stay tuned, because the land is hot with anger and strife, and only time will tell where these emotions will take the warring country.

– Zachary Wright

Sources: dailyprincetonian, Maps of World
Photo: Al Hdhod