Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Tensions Rise in Colombia over Land Disputes

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Escalating tensions over the issue of land rights gave rise to protests, which turned violent after security forces shot and killed four unarmed peasants on June 22 and 25 in Catatumbo, Colombia, as reported by Amnesty International. They are only the most recent casualties in the ongoing battle over land in Colombia.

Land is becoming ever more scarce for farmers throughout Colombia, as big businesses and mining companies have been consolidating their ownership over land for years. Rural farmers are struggling to earn a living, and growing enough food to feed their families is becoming increasingly difficult as land is disappearing from beneath their feet. Colombia is home to the world’s largest internally displaced population. Farmers are continuously forced to leave their homes and farms as more and more land is granted to wealthy companies. While the government has recently passed the land restitution law, no landholding entity has yet returned land to displaced peasants. Over 16,000 people involved in land disputes have simply “disappeared,” according to Catalina Ballesteros Rodriguez, Program Officer for Christian Aid.

The 14,000 strong protest this past June was organized by the Peasant Farmer Association of Catatumbo, with support from the Luis Carlos Pérez Lawyers’ Collective. CALCP is an all-female organization of lawyers, who offer legal advice and provide training to support grassroots organizations and displaced communities. Judith Maldonado, director of CALCP and winner of the German ‘Shalom Award’ for her human rights work, says “we seek to bring the rule of law to the communities… so that it can be a tool for the defense, protection and promotion of human rights, and for the transformation of their communal, social, political and cultural realities.” Their operations are based in northeastern Colombia, a place so rich in natural resources that it is a curse rather than a blessing for indigenous and small scale farming communities, who are forced off their land in large scale extractive projects to make way for big money-making business interests. They also advocate on an international level, to raise awareness about the violent removal of peasant farmers and land rights issues. Their work is done at great personal risk, and human rights lawyers have often been threatened, repressed, even “disappeared” or killed. Judith Maldonado has personally faced threats from armed groups, and illegal surveillance by the state. CALCP is supported by Peace Brigades International, a UK based group that provides support and protection to human rights defenders all over the world who are subject to repression.

– Jennifer Bills

Sources: The Guardian, Peace Brigades International

Poverty in Guyana

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Poverty in Guyana remains a problem. Guyana is a small country located in Northern South America that borders Venezuela, Brazil, and Suriname. Initially a Dutch colony in the 17th century, Guyana came under British control in 1815. The British first used African slave labor to man their sugar plantations, but slavery was finally abolished in 1834. The abolition of slavery in Guyana led former slaveholders to import indentured servants from India, maintaining ethnic and socioeconomic divisions in the colony. Though Guyana achieved independence from the U.K. in 1966, the country is still experiencing the aftereffects of its colonial background.

Societal Divisions in Guyana
Today, approximately three quarters of Guyana’s population descends from slave or indentured servant populations. 43.5% of Guyana’s population is of East Indian descent, and 30.2% is of African descent. These dominant ethnic groups frequently clash, backing ethnically based political parties and voting almost entirely along ethnic lines. Roughly 43% of Guyana’s population lives below the poverty line, with indigenous people comprising the biggest fraction of those affected.

Education and Economy
Though Guyana reports a literacy rate of 91.8%, the poor quality of education and teacher training combined with its suffering infrastructure contribute to a much lower level of functional literacy for most of the population.

Guyana’s emigration rate is also one of the highest in the world, with 55% of its citizens living abroad. The country is one of the largest recipients of remittances relative to GDP out of Latin American and Caribbean countries. 80% of Guyanese citizens with tertiary degrees have left the country, depriving those living in Guyana of invaluable services, including healthcare.

The Guyanese government owned more than 80% of industries until the 1990’s, but mismanagement combined with falling commodity prices and high fuel costs caused the standard of living to fall drastically. The government has since divested itself of many industries, but problems such as deforestation, violent crime and widespread poverty continue to threaten the economy.

Poverty Statistics
Roughly two-thirds of Guyanese citizens living in poverty, or 29% of the population, can be classified as being extremely poor. Most of the poor live in rural areas and work as agricultural laborers. Though Guyana’s farmers have access to adequate land resources, their productivity is extremely low.

Guyana has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in Latin America, with 280 deaths per 100,000 live births. Its infant mortality rate is the 66th highest in the world, with 34.45 deaths per 1,000 live births. These grave statistics can be attributed in part to the low density of physicians, with just .59 doctors per 1,000 people. 1.2 percent of Guyana’s population is living with HIV/AIDS, a rate higher than that of most other Latin American countries.

Solutions to Poverty in Guyana
The World Bank is currently working in Guyana to refocus public expenditures to improve the infrastructure and the quality of health, education, and water services. Advocating for the privatization of most industries, the World Bank hopes to increase opportunities for investment and conserve government resources.

The United Nations Development Programme is also working to empower vulnerable people in Guyana by improving the economic status of indigenous groups and establishing community livelihood projects that will create jobs.

Though Guyana ranks 117th out of 187 countries on the UN’s Human Development Index, continued aid and humanitarian assistance will ensure that its citizens can overcome past subjugation and establish a strong infrastructure.

– Katie Bandera

Sources: CIA, World Bank, UNDP, BBC
Photo: California Historical Society

Education in Honduras

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Many people in developed countries  take for granted their easy access to quality education, but there are millions of children who struggle daily to find someone to teach them.

One country that has had their education crippled by poverty, crime and lack of government is Honduras. Located in Central America, just east of Guatemala, Honduras is about the size of the state of Virginia and has an average population just over eight million. Of those eight million, 65 percent of them live below the poverty line, earning an average salary of $1,200 in American currency. With many families struggling to get by, almost 100,000 children drop out of school each year and are forced into the workplace to help their families make ends meet.

For the students who do stay in school, the experience is frustrating. The average time it takes a student to finish first through sixth grade is over 9 years. According to the Global Exchange, over 30 percent of students don’t finish primary school without repeating grades.

The educational system in Honduras only covers about 87 percent of school-age children, while the remaining 13 percent have no access to education at all, leaving them unable to find the education they need to move forward in life. Because Honduras limits their access to free education to the sixth grade, poor families can’t send their children to school beyond that. Only 30 percent of students even attend high school and many are unable to finish. The students who are able to continue their education do so without high equality educators. Nearly 40 percent of the teachers in Honduras only receive basic training, leaving them unable to get the maximum out of each child’s potential.

A good, solid education is what molds the minds of children and puts them on a path to success for the rest of their lives. Poverty and lack of education go hand and hand, and if other countries recognize this and invest in education, it will benefit both the children and the world they grow into.

– Taylor Schaefer

Sources: OYE Honduras, Global Exchange, Bless the children
Photo: The Central Honduras Education Fund

The Good News About the Kenyan Economy

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Kenya, one of the world’s leading developing countries in East Africa, is on its way to becoming a more stable economy. The country experienced an economic growth of 4.2% in 2012 and is expected to grow by 4.5% in 2013 and as much as 5.2% in 2014.

However, Kenya is not growing as rapidly as expected because, while agriculture is the staple of the Kenyan economy, the demand in Europe for Kenyan horticultural exports was lower than projected. While overall, the Kenyan economy is growing, there is still a very wide range of economic activity going on in Kenya.

In an interview for The Borgen Project, Andre Sanchez-Montoya, a student at  American University, talks about his five months studying and living in Nairobi. He draws on his experiences to come to conclusions about the work ethic of Kenyans and what is most important to Kenyan socioeconomic culture.

“Kenya’s visible economic activity ranges from informal economic actors like street vendors an open air markets to some of the nicest and largest malls I’ve ever seen,” Sanchez-Montoya said. “In urban development areas like the neighborhood on Kangame, there are dozens of [stands] selling fresh vegetables from the countryside and mangos from the coast, along with almost anything else you could want.”

The makeshift markets that Sanchez-Montoya talks about drive the domestic economy. While local economic support is seen as very positive in America because it drives funds away from big corporations and encourage small businesses to grow, in Kenya, it reflects something else.

“The emergence and longevity of the open air markets are a direct result of the uneven economic development in the country,” he suggests. “These markets exist to meet the needs of the people who live in neighborhoods such as Kangame, because whatever can be found in the ‘slums’ can be found in the city centre, but for a higher price.”

Despite the work that still needs to be done in Kenya, the recent economic growth in a positive sign not only for international trading but for Kenyans on a more individualized level. Kenyans are excited about the opportunity to make things more financially stable in their country.

Reflects Sanchez Montoya, “The 2013 elections made Kenyans want to engage in talks about politicians, the domestic and international economy, and what the future of Kenya looked like to them. Kenyans are definitely aware of where their country is on the development spectrum, but the conversations I had with many of my friends indicated that they know change comes slowly and they are excited to be an active citizen in the cultivation of their country.”

Kenya’s high rate of economic success is also in part due to funding by the USAID. It is one of the top ten recipients of USAID sypport, having received just over $296 billion for all six of USAID’s incentives: democracy and governance, economic development, education and social services, environment, health, and peace and security. However, there have only been tangible results in two of the six incentives.

Regardless of the politics, Sanchez-Montoya finished the interview with a positive reflection on the cultural difference between Kenyans and Americans:

“There is very much a divide between what Kenyans consider ‘success’ and ‘joy.’ Americans tend to think that those things are intertwined, that success and wealth bring happiness. But Kenyans, whatever their situation is, find joy in friends, family, food, and faith.”

– Lindsey Rubinstein

Sources: All Africa, USAID, USODA, UN, AfDB
Photo: My Daily News,

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5 Facts about Child Poverty

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Child poverty is a multifaceted issue whose impacts are far-reaching and pervasive. While adults may fall into poverty for a period of time, children in poverty are often trapped forever. Seldom are they able to start anew because their poverty that lasts a lifetime. Furthermore the depths of child poverty often lead to greater entrenchment in social inequality. Thus governments and individuals must commit to understanding and tackling global child poverty.
Child Poverty is real and it is poses a threat to millions of children. Here are 5 key facts about child poverty.

  1. According to UNICEF, 1 billion children are living in poverty throughout the world. Of these children, 121 million are out of education and 22,000 die due to poverty each day.
  2. 30% of the children in developing nations live on less than $1 a day. Of this 30%, 270 million children have no access to health care services.
  3. The result of this dangerous poverty is extreme malnourishment. 27-28% of all children in developing countries are underweight or stunted in growth. In 2011 alone, 165 million children under the age of 5 were stunted due to hunger and starvation.
  4. Child poverty does not only affect developing nations. In a report by the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United States ranks 34th amongst 35 countries examined for child poverty rates. In fact more than one in five American children live below the poverty line today.
  5. Sadly, the Millennium Development goal to halve the proportion of underweight children will not be reached if current trends continue. The mark will be missed by 30 million children due in large part to slow progress in Southern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Though these facts are bleak, the truth is that child poverty can be fought. For example, in the year 2000 it would have cost an estimated $6 billion a year to place every child in school. Though the cost may have fluctuated since then, such a seemingly large amount was only a tiny fraction of how much the world spent on weapons alone. Eliminating child poverty is indeed a feasible goal.

– Grace Zhao

Sources: Global Issues, UNICEF, Do Something, The Washington Post
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

MDG 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger

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The Millennium Development Goals are a set of eight targets agreed upon by almost all countries around the world. (For a more in-depth description of the MDGs, review this excellent post by Delice Williams: https://borgenproject.org/what-are-the-un-millennium-development-goals) Overseen by the United Nations, these goals are to be reached by 2015. Two years out from this deadline, it’s important to recognize how much progress we have made, and how far we have to go. This is the first in a series of posts that will do just that, focusing on each MDG individually in order to better understand the intricacies of each one.

The first MDG states that we will eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. This goal consists of three facets:

  1. Cut the proportion of people whose income is less than $1.25/day in half between 1990 and 2015.
  2. Ensure the opportunity for full and productive employment and decent work for everyone, including women and young people
  3. Cut the proportion of people who suffer from hunger in half between 1990 and 2015

The first of these goals, to halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty, was met five years ahead of schedule. This represents 700 million less people facing extreme poverty in 2010 than in 1990. Extreme poverty is falling in every region. It is incredibly encouraging to know that progress is possible everywhere, especially considering that 1.2 billion people around the world are still living in extreme poverty.

In regards to the second goal, 294 million workers have been raised out of extreme poverty as of 2011. However, this still leaves 384 million workers living on less than $1.25 per day. Progress in this area has been made in part through UN partnerships with governments that provide job training for unemployed youth in developing countries. One such program, The Youth Employment Fund, was instated in Serbia, where over 2000 young Serbs were given job training and opportunities for work.

Despite significant progress towards the second goal, a significant gender gap remains. The employment percentage was still almost 25% higher for men than for women in 2012. UN Women, a women’s rights group sponsored by the United Nations, has been working towards this goal by empowering women in the workplace, especially when it comes to food production. Women all over the world are benefiting from their programs, such as those in Timor-Leste and Rwanda. These programs include self-help groups and agricultural training, as well as financial education that gives women more sway when it comes to family financial decisions.

According the UN’s progress report, the goal of halving the proportion of hungry people around the world is within reach by 2015. In fact, 38 countries have already met this target. However, roughly 1 in 8 people worldwide still go to sleep hungry each night, and about 870 million people are still undernourished. While undernutrition is a significant problem, malnutrition affects many more people worldwide, with two billion people suffering from one or more micronutrient deficiencies.

With advancements in each of the three facets of the first MDG, we should celebrate our success. And yet, with billions of people still facing extreme poverty and hunger every day, we must continue to make progress.

This series will continue by considering the significant advancements made and work to be done in regards to the second MDG, the achievement of universal primary education.

– Katie Fullerton

Sources: UN Women, UN NewsCentre, UN MDGs
Photo: Mwebantu,

The Adverse Effects of Counter terrorism Laws

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In the last decade, following the attacks on September 11th, 2001, there has been a proliferation of counter terrorism legislation. Most notably the Patriot Act, but many such others have been drafted and passed. A large focus of these laws is to reduce the effectiveness of terrorist organizations by cutting them off from international aid.

There is a side effect though to this crackdown on organizations designated as terrorist, especially in regions where those organizations have control. In Gaza for example, where a rift in the Palestinian government has led to Hamas control of the region, international funding has all but evaporated, due to the labeling of Hamas as a terrorist organization. This isn’t due to the money not being available or no one being willing to assist with humanitarian issues in the region, but rather because a large number of counter-terrorism measures have attached strings to donations.

Examples include an NGO that was prohibited from distributing food because the ministry of social affairs required it to share its beneficiary list, and, as this would constitute a connection to Hamas, the donor wouldn’t authorize it. Similarly, a school project was blocked because the headmaster at the school was viewed to be too senior in the Hamas administration. By placing conditions on the distribution of aid, or prohibiting any connection to a terrorist organization, in a region dominated by that organization, these counter-terrorism laws are preventing many NGOs from securing funding. The first concern for them now is to avoid association with the terrorist organization, and only then can humanitarian action be taken. Or, as more often happens, local NGOs simply refuse funding from external donors, as conditions can’t be met.

Somalia has seen a similar decline in aid, for similar reasons. Kate Mackintosh, co-author of a report commissioned by the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, says, ‘We did find negative impacts on humanitarian activities, as restriction of funding, blocking of projects and self-censorship by International Organizations and NGOs. After 2008, for example, when the US listed al-Shabaab as a terrorist group, we saw an 88% decrease in aid to Somalia, between 2008 and 2010.’

While counter-terrorism measures are a sad reality of our time, what needs to be reviewed is their impact on humanitarian aid. These laws need to make exceptions to avoid having a negative impact on aid organizations and allow them to operate with the needs of beneficiaries foremost.

– David M Wilson

Sources: The Guardian, IRIN
Photo: LA Times

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Top 10 International Poverty Statistics

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  1. Nearly half of the world’s population lives on less than $2.50 a day. More than 1.3 billion live in extreme poverty (less than $1.25 a day). In the developed world it is hard to fathom living on $2.50 a day, yet almost 3 billion people do so in their daily lives. The World Bank sets the extreme poverty line at $1.25 a day, and over 1.3 billion people live on such an extremely low income.
  2. More than 1.6 billion people lack access to electricity and modern forms of energy. Electricity is necessary for modern development, yet so many people are denied its use. With climate change on the rise, it is ever more important to find sustainable, renewable energy sources for the world’s poor.
  3. 1 billion children worldwide are living in poverty. According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. Many of these children live in single parent households, as many parents die from treatable diseases or leave their families for less poverty-stricken areas.
  4. 80% of the world population lives on less than $10 a day. Although it is not as extreme as $1.25 or even $2.50 a day, most in the developed world can’t imagine living on $10 a day. In fact, the poverty line in the US is set at just over $30 a day. Yet an overwhelming majority of the world’s population lives at less than a third of that.
  5. Preventable diseases like diarrhea and pneumonia take the lives of 2 million children a year who are too poor to afford proper treatment. Diarrhea takes many  lives annually, when just access to proper water supply could reduce around 40% of all cases.
  6. Women produce half of the world’s food, work two-thirds of the world’s working hours, earn only 10% of the world’s income, and own less than 1% of the world’s property.
  7. Women make up around 70% of the world’s 1 billion poorest people. Women’s empowerment and equality is the silver bullet to ending poverty. Enabling women to get the same opportunities as men, such as access to credit and education, would lift whole communities out of poverty. Women are much more likely than men to reinvest their wealth into their local communities.
  8. About 2.5 billion people in the world do not have access to adequate sanitation – roughly two-fifths of the world’s population. The global water, sanitation and health crisis has reached an incredible level, to the point where it will soon not only be the developing world which is affected by it.
  9. Of the 22 countries where more than half the population is illiterate, 15 are in Africa. This underscores the fact that Africa, despite its vast natural resources, is the most underdeveloped and neglected continent on the globe.
  10. It would cost approximately $40 billion to offer basic education, clean water and sanitation, reproductive health for women, and basic health and nutrition to every person in every developing country. $40 billion may sound like a lot, but it is less than the operational cost of two US aircraft carriers (which cost $26.8 billion each).

– Martin Drake

Sources: Global Issues, DoSomething.org, Compassion.com, Convio.net, Face the Facts USA
Photo: Press TV

Zambian President & Social Networks

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President Michael Sata’s parallel intelligence system is moving to block the social networks Facebook and Twitter after realizing that stories on the blocked websites, Zambian Watchdog and Zambia Reports, are now filtering through the two social media sites for public view.

The Xavier Chungu-led parallel intelligence is also targeting a third internet based media channel, Crossfire Blogtalk Radio, for potential blocking after it continued airing guests critical of the Sata administration. Chungu, a forgery-convict and corruption suspect, is President Sata’s permanent secretary and former director general of the Zambia Security Intelligence Service.

Regular access to Zambian Watchdog and Zambia Reports for the domestic market was blocked earlier this month. Both sites were blocked after deciding to activate their Facebook pages and making public the stories that President Sata did not want Zambians to have access to. Some locals are still able to access the sites through advanced devices or proxy websites.

A team independent of the Zambian government, including Chungu, the mastermind behind the trusted intelligence system Zamtrop, traveled to Russia last week for a “consultation” on the possibilities of blocking Facebook and Twitter.

President Sata is reportedly very angry that the critical stories are now all over the highly popular social media sites. The stories are gaining a following that could potentially threaten his hold on power. In addition, the blocking of Zambian Watchdog and Zambian Reports is reportedly being used as a pilot project to block all social media sites during the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections.

The plan is expected to be in full swing during the 2016 general elections. Mobile communication and radio signal will be used to facilitate the installation of President Sata or his General Secretary Wynter Kabimba back into office by falsified elections.

Intelligence sources are equally frustrated that they are being forced to carry out excessive monitoring of citizens as well as breaching the fundamental human right of free speech. There is total disagreement within the ranks with regards to the ongoing assault on the media, and those that have questioned the development are facing possible firing. The intelligence officers who spoke up anonymously are warning citizens that they should brace for tough times ahead because the cooperation between Sata and Zimbabwe’s leader Robert Mugabe is unhealthy for the country.

– Scarlet Shelton
Sources: AllAfrica, The Promota Africa Magazine, Zambia Post
Photo: Naij

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What Is International Poverty?

What Is Global Poverty
Global poverty, at least on first blush, seems to be a rather self-explanatory concept. To be poor, we understand as Americans, is being unable to afford certain necessities. But what it is to be poor, that is, what it is to be unable to afford certain necessities would surely depend on who you are asking. What you consider necessary, such that it would constitute a necessity, would most certainly change your definition of what it means to be poor. So, is global poverty subjective?

Extreme global poverty, as defined by today’s standards, is living on less than $1.25 USD per day. To be considered extremely poor, therefore, would require living on about $450 USD a year or less. Worldwide, there are 1.2 billion people who would “qualify” as living in extreme poverty. But is living on less than a certain amount of money a day all there is to poverty?

The World Bank suggests that poverty is a pronounced and multi-dimensional deprivation in well-being. Rather than placing a number at which one is considered poor or extremely poor, the World Bank definition operates on a holistic approach that takes multiple factors into consideration. For example, communities with inadequate access to health services or education may be considered to be facing the circumstances of poverty, though they live on an amount in excess of the global standard for poverty. Likewise, living with insufficient physical security or certain basic human rights, say freedom of speech, may constitute poverty.

Clearly, what is poverty is not limited to a financial over/under amount, such that it demands a more inclusive, and perhaps malleable, definition. Because understanding what poverty actually is is so fundamental to addressing poverty as an important global issue, however, the United Nations has dedicated both time and resources to better recognizing and defining the many facets of poverty. As a result, the world’s largest multi-governmental organization has developed several working definitions of poverty, including “absolute poverty” and “overall poverty,” while the official United Nations definition of “poverty” is as follows: “Fundamentally, poverty is a denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society. It means not having enough to feed and cloth a family, not having a school or clinic to go to, not having the land on which to grow one’s food or a job to earn one’s living, not having access to credit. It means insecurity, powerlessness and exclusion of individuals, households and communities. It means susceptibility to violence, and it often implies living on marginal or fragile environments, without access to clean water or sanitation.”

– Herman Watson

Sources: United Nations, The Global Poverty Project, One Day’s Wages Brookings Institution
Photo: National Geographic