Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

4Afrika Changes Technology Around the World

4Afrika
Technological capabilities in developed countries continue to evolve, changing the way our economies operate. These new tools give citizens the power they need to innovate even further. What’s more, the ability to access and use new technology properly is more and more becoming a requirement in the workforce.

Developing countries in Africa have citizens who haven’t been able to receive the positive impacts that this technology has to offer. Just seven percent of the African population has consistent access to the Internet. It is an impact that can change their individual lives and the lives of those in their communities. The 4Afrika initiative, powered by Microsoft, hopes to get these citizens up to speed with modern day technology. 4Afrika works to empower African youth and set them up for the future through three focus areas.

1. World-Class Skills

The 4Afrika Initiative works to develop a competitive, academic environment that generates young entrepreneurs. The Afrika Academy, where technological capabilities flourish, can be accessed by those with strong academic merit. Research institutions and local African universities partner to fund this innovative project. The Academy will provide advanced training that will help citizens gain employment in the workforce, benefitting the communities they live in.

2. Access to Technology

The initiative plans to make smart devices, including Windows PCs, slates, and smartphones, affordable to African communities. Injecting these capabilities into the communities is an important step in empowering the citizens. Developing stronger Internet connections and access in local African communities is also important to the initiative.

3. Innovation

Innovation is something constantly occurring across the globe, and something that Africa desperately needs. Microsoft has recently been developing new Microsoft applications that will be beneficial to developing nations. The 4Afrika Initiative plans to give the technological capabilities and market support needed to allow African communities to flourish.

Click here  for more information on this innovative campaign.

– William Norris

Sources: Microsoft, Internet World Statistics
Photo: Biztech

3 High Rated Charities With Low Paid CEOs

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Some of the most successful charities in the world, charities that earn large amounts of revenue annually, happen to have some of the lowest paid CEOs. These CEOs truly give everything to their company, taking miniscule amounts of money to support themselves while dedicating the rest to the cause. Below are three of the lowest paid CEOs operating some of the highest rated charities. All ratings on Charity Navigator are out of 70.

1. Deborah Rickert – Operation Support Our Troops-America

Coming in at 64.45 on the Charity Navigator scale, this organization is dedicated to ensuring that US soldiers and families receive the resourceful comfort that they deserve. While this charity raises almost 1.5 million dollars a year for the cause, its president Deborah Rickert receives only 3.77% of expenses. With a base pay of $53,500, Rickert truly gives her everything to this important cause.

2. Tom Webster – Habitat For Humanity of Spartanburg

This Christian Ministry supports the citizens of Spartanburg by building affordable housing for those in need. It comes in at 63.34 on the Charity Navigator Scale, raising 1.36 million in 2012. The executive director of this cause Tom Webster receives just 3.83% of expenses, netting a base pay of 53,000 dollars.

3. Lisa Hopper – World Care

Serving to provide emergency relief within 24 hours of a natural disaster, World Care made in difference in 2012 with over 4 million in revenue. Of the expenses, Lisa Hopper receives only 1.1 percent. This equates to a salary of $45,000. Her dedication to the cause is reflected through this information.
It is easy to assume that CEOs of organizations take home a large piece of the pie, regardless of whether the organization is for or not for profit. The CEOs above have taken significantly lower annual earnings to help their charities succeed. As a result, these charities with low paid CEOs are some of the highest rated today.

– William Norris

Sources: Charity Navigator, OSOT America
Photo: Open

Why Do Slums Exist?

Why do Slums Exist?
Put simply, the term “slum” refers to “a heavily populated urban area characterized by substandard housing and squalor.” But why do slums exist? In an effort to include quantifiable data in the definition, a group of UN experts suggested expanding it to refer to areas that combine inadequate access to safe water, sanitation and other infrastructure, structurally poor housing, overcrowding, and an unstable residential population.

Today, slums are becoming the most obvious materialization of urban poverty in developing world cities; in Nairobi, Kenya, 60% of the population lives in slums. That 60% is crowded onto only 5% of the land.

The existence of slums is caused and sustained by a number of forces, including rapid rural-to-urban migration, insecure tenure, and globalization.

 

Why Do Slums Exist? 4 Illuminating Facts

 

Rural-to-urban migration amplifies slum formation because city planning and management systems are unable to effectively manage the considerable population influx. For perspective, consider these facts:

  • UN-HABITAT projects that by 2030, Africa will no longer be a rural continent, as more than 50% of its population will be in cities.
  • Today, 75% of the population of Latin America lives in urban areas as the result of a significantly rapid rate of urbanization since the 1970’s
  • Asia, home to 80% of the world’s population, currently sustains 36% of their population in cities.
  • Mumbai, Calcutta and Bangkok are home to over 10 million people; between one-third and one-half of them live in slums.

Insecure tenure means tenants are not protected from unpredictable rent increases and eviction processes. Insecure tenure inhibits opportunities for residents to acquire credit, which limits tenants’ ability to improve upon their homes. A revolving door of tenants does little to inspire feelings of community or pride in one’s home.

Globalization also promotes slum living. Global economic booms and busts lead to uneven wealth distribution. Historically, global economic cycles have been responsible for creating many of major city slums in the developed world, and it is likely globalization will do the same to the developing world.

Addressing slums and their contributing factors are keys to sustaining progress toward the Millennium Development Goal to significantly improve the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020. Although the percentage of people living in urban slums has decreased from 39% in 2000 to 33% in 2012, 863 million people are estimated to still be living in slums as of 2012.

– Dana Johnson

Sources: UN-HABITAT, Business Dictionary, UN
Photo: Portal OZK

3 Top Charities for Measurable Returns

Charities_for_Measurable_Returns
When people choose to donate to one charity over another, they frequently do it guided by a strong conviction or emotion rather than pure rationale. Charity evaluators, however, are rapidly changing the way people think about giving back to society.

They argue that rather than giving to the cause that is closest to one’s heart, one should give to those charities that are the most effective, in measurable terms. One of the most trusted of these charity evaluators is GiveWell, a San Francisco-based group founded in 2007 by two hedge-fund staffers.

It recommends charities to donors according to four main criteria. First, the organization must provide strong evidence of positive impact on people’s lives. Second, it must be involved in highly cost-effective activities that provide a high, measurable return for every dollar invested. Third, the program must demonstrate that there is room for more funding and that it can productively put to good use additional donors’ dollars. Fourth, the charity must be transparent and accountable to donors.

Although GiveWell has been criticized for its results-based approach – leading it to favor health care interventions in the developing world, while ignoring others that cannot provide evidence of success due to the nature of their activities –  its evaluations do carry weight in the world of philanthropy.

Its top three recommended charities are:

1. Against Malaria Foundation (AMF)

GiveWell believes that AMF effectively expands access to bed nets in sub-Saharan Africa, where over 1 million people – mostly children – die each year of malaria. Through providing insecticide-treated bed nets that cost only $5 each, AMF prevents deaths and many other non-fatal cases of malaria.

2. GiveDirectly

According to GiveWell, GiveDirectly effectively distributes cash to extremely low-income individuals in Kenya. By directly transferring money to the very poor, recipients are allowed to spend more on their basic needs – such as food – and other investments that have high returns.

3. Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI)

GiveWell states that SCI effectively expands access to deworming treatments in sub-Saharan Africa. In this region, a large percentage of the population, especially children, are infected with parasite worms that cause short-term symptoms such as anemia, and long-term developmental problems. This condition is relatively easy to treat: around $5 can protect a child for 10 years.

All three charities work in Africa, which is not surprising given that money can go much further in the poorest regions of the world. Twenty-five dollars, for example, allows someone in the developing world to get an eye surgery, while in the United States, this is an insignificant amount. Although most people prefer giving back to causes that are close to home, sometimes those in greatest need are far off.

– Nayomi Chibana

Sources: GiveWell, The Guardian, The New York Times
Photo: Harpers

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5 Ways to Make Your Workout Fight Poverty

Workout_Fight_Poverty
We all know working out is good for us. It makes you feel good and improves your health. But what if your workout could fight poverty as well? Sound too good to be true? It’s not! Here are 5 ways that you can help end poverty with your workout:

1) Charity Miles: This free app will track how many miles you run, walk, or bike and sponsor your efforts. For every mile you run or walk, they’ll donate a quarter, while a mile biking translates to a dime for charity. When you’re done with your workout, you share your success on a social media site and they send the money to a charity of your choice!

2) Run For Charity: This website will help you find a charity to run for. Charity runners use their training and hard work to raise money for the charity of their choice. Charities are extremely supportive of their runners, providing help with registration, training, and fundraising. Some will even have race day events for their runners. This is a great opportunity for runners to put all those miles to good use.

3) Plus 3 Network: This network was created by four guys who wanted to encourage people to get out and ride their bikes more. It has since grown to include all forms of exercise, which you can log on their website. You earn money for charity by logging your activity, so you feel even better about that yoga class or walk around the block.

4) Eco-Friendly Workout Gear: You show yourself some love by working out and staying healthy. Show the earth some love, too, by purchasing eco-friendly workout gear. Be sure to buy your shoes, socks, and clothing from eco-friendly companies like Montrail (shoes), Teko (socks), or Patagonia (clothing). Using reusable water bottles will keep plastic ones out of landfills and save you money. You can also look for secondhand fitness supplies, like weights, treadmills, and exercise balls to cut down on waste.

5) Donate Your Old Workout Gear: That fitness equipment that you just don’t use anymore could help someone else lead a healthier life. You can donate old sports balls, shoes, cleats, and the like to Sports Gifts, which redistributes old workout gear to underprivileged kids. Old tennis balls can go to Rebounces, which restores them and resells them as practice balls, saving space in our landfills. Your old orthotics that helped you get back to the activities you love can be given to Rebounces’ philanthropic organization, Joni and Friends. The nonprofit will give the equipment to disabled or injured people in the developing world.

– Katie Fullerton

Sources: Charity Miles, Plus 3 Network, SparkPeople, Oprah
Photo: DX Foundation

Asian Americans Facing High Poverty Rates

asian_americans
It is often assumed that Asian Americans are one of the minority groups in the United States that is doing well economically. However, this statement too broadly categorizes all Asian subgroups. According to the official poverty rate from the U.S. Census in 2011, the Asian American poverty rate was actually 2.5% higher than that of Caucasians.

In fact, amongst poor Asian Americans, Southeast Asians face some of the highest poverty rates in the whole country. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles conducted a study on income sources, home foreclosures and housing burden. The study indicated that Southeast Asians in the United States have consistently relied on food stamps for many decades. Moreover, language barriers are still major roadblocks that prevent Southeast Asian Americans from entering new labor markets.

The poverty rate for Asian Americans is highest amongst Hmong, Cambodian, Laotian and Vietnamese. Hmong Americans have a startlingly high poverty rate at 37.8%, followed closely by Cambodian Americans at 29.3% and Laotian Americans at 18.5%.

According to a study by UCLA scholars on Asian Americans in eight different states, 23% of Hmong Americans in Fresno, California relied on cash public assistance for income. This is comparably higher than the 10% of Asian Americans that also did so. It is also significantly higher than the 3% of Caucasians who used public cash assistance. Hmong Americans were also amongst the least likely to receive social security benefits or retirement income.

Additionally, Southeast Asians have especially high rates of depression and suffer higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder compared to the rest of the general Asian American population. These facts definitely counter the model minority stereotype that all Asian Americans belong to one monolithic group.

A study on social trends by Pew Research has found that with a population exceeding 18.2 million – or 6% of the U.S. population – Asian Americans have become one of the fastest growing minority groups in the U.S. Moreover, Asian Americans have become the nation’s best-educated and highest-paid racial or ethnic group. Yet these findings run the risk of perpetuating the stereotype of Asians as high achieving.

Additionally, such facts tend to hide the growing poverty amongst Southeast Asian Americans.

The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans has stated that the media has narrowed in on “one-dimensional narratives of exceptionalism,” of successful Asian American families, usually eastern Asians such as Chinese or Japanese.

Due to popular perception of Asian Americans in general, poverty amongst sub-groups is not well known. Thus in order to truly fight poverty in the United States a more inclusive examination of poverty trends is vital.

– Grace Zhao

Sources: LA Times, Diverse Education, White House, National Alliance in Mental Illness
Photo: Asia Foundation

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Sanitation and Clean Water is an Issue In Liberia

In 2003, Liberia finally came out of a thirteen-year long civil war that ravaged the country and left the inhabitants riddled with poverty. Right after the end of the war, the unemployment rate was listed at 85 percent of the population. The populations in the slums skyrocketed and the people living there were left with little choice of where to obtain water or where to use the bathroom. During the war, rebels destroyed much, if not all, of the water and sanitation infrastructure the country once had. A decade later, much of the population is still impoverished and lacking access to the basic needs of potable water and a sanitary living area. In 2010, there were almost 4 million people living in Liberia, over 1 million of which were rural poor. However, there is a stress for clean water in slums, from where a number of people from rural areas fled to Monrovia during the fighting and violence in an attempt to find refuge. For every four people, there is one living without access to clean water and sanitation in Liberia, and for every five deaths in the country, one is a result of contaminated water sources. In fact, in 2012, the World Health Organization discovered that E. coli was present in 58 percent of the city’s water due to public defecation. This spreads illness such as diarrhea and perpetuates the issue, creating a cycle of illness through dirty water. Liberian president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has pledged to double the amount of access to safe water in four years, but has clearly fallen short of this claim. Phillip Marcelo of Rhode Island’s Providence Journal is spending two weeks in Liberia this month to investigate what progress has been made since the end of the war and the installation of democracy within the country. He notes that at the entry to the slums at West Point Beach, there is a massive pile of trash marking the place. The defecation of children is all over the beach and people are being forced to buy their water from “distributors.” While adults have been banned from using the beach as a bathroom and there are pay toilets in the slum, there is often still no other option. Because of this, the spread of cholera is common along with other water-borne diseases. The government is opening up nine new toilets for the area, but the inhabitants are not sure a real difference can be made considering there are more than 50,000 people living the area. Aid groups are investing time and money into providing Liberia with better access to clean water, with the hope that this will cease to be an issue in the coming years, if not in time to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Non-profit organization Waves for Water has raised $15,100 towards the goal of $25,000 to help provide clean water filters for over 60,000 people living in poverty in Liberia. WaterAid, another NGO, also works in Liberia and happens to be an organization for which President Sirleaf is an ambassador. Last year, they were able to reach 17,000 people and provided them with clean water or sanitation facilities. Help for Liberians is out there and there are solutions to the present issues, but it will take a while to recover completely from the devastation of the war. Simply put, it is going to take plenty of hard work and a revamp of the entire infrastructure of the country in order to change the conditions of those living in the slums of Liberia. – Chelsea Evans Sources: Providence Journal, Rural Poverty Portal, Waves for Water, PBS, WaterAid Photo: Sanitations Update [hr top]

  • $30 billion per year is needed to end world hunger.

  • $660 billion per year is the amount Congress spends on Defense.

 

CSR: Ethics or Marketing?

corporate_social_responsibility
As a modern business trend, it is hard to know whether “corporate social responsibility”—or CSR—will be a lasting ethos that transforms the way companies conduct business or a passing fad designed to make big corporations more likable. CSR may be thought of as a corporation’s conscience—a set of internal policies that govern how the company interacts with and relates to its community, its people and its environment.

There is no question that executives and business leaders have adopted the lexicon of corporate social responsibility. As The Economist notes, “It would be a challenge to find a recent annual report of any big international company that justifies the firm’s existence merely in terms of profit, rather than service to the community.” In the late 1990s, a group of CEOs went as far as launching a global organization—the World Business Council for Sustainable Development—for the purpose of discussing strategic issues related to sustainable business practices. The rhetoric is clear: corporations care.

The question is what kinds of corporate actions have resulted from the emerging ethos of CSR. One area where companies have been keen on improvement is energy reduction. For example, General Mills instituted an energy audit program, and in 2012 reduced its energy consumption by 7 percent. It’s a win-win for General Mills—the company saves money and highlights its commitment to the environment. Other corporations like Solo Cup Company are engaging their employees to help with community cleanup events, trash collection programs or recycling drives at Solo facilities.

But some critics question the motives of companies that institute policies and public relations campaigns related to corporate social responsibility. One argument is that CSR is simply a marketing scheme developed to attract consumers to certain brands.

Many dissenters point out that markets are not concerned with ethics or social responsibility. In an article for the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Deborah Doane explains, “CSR can hardly be expected to deliver when the short-term demands of the stock market provide disincentives for doing so.”

While the companies and critics each present compelling arguments for or against CSR, it may be that corporate social responsibility is just a negotiated balance between companies and the communities in which they operate. It is how the company achieves or bolsters legitimacy with its potential consumers. The business benefit, of course, is that the company will profit in some way from its investment in CSR. After all, conventional wisdom says the primary objective of any corporation is not principle, but profit.

– Daniel Bonasso
Sources: Standford Social Innovation Review, The Economist, Corporate Watch
Photo: Career Realism

 

Join The Borgen Project in Fighting for the Underdog

What is it? from THE BORGEN PROJECT on Vimeo.

 

Saving the World One Drop at a Time

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The struggle to access clean water in many developing nations is no secret.  Every year, between six to eight million people perish due to water-borne diseases or lack of water.  Another cause of concern lies in the fact that over two thirds of the global population lives on the driest half of earth.  Experts estimate that 2.5 billion people lack proper water sanitation, and another 783 million completely struggle to locate access to any source of water.

In response to these alarming facts, the United Nations has declared 2013 the UN International Year of Water Cooperation to bring a revitalized focus and attention to these water issues.  The purpose of using water as the year’s theme is to ignite change in this crisis.  The plan is to draw more attention to successful water projects that have worked in various areas in an attempt to spark innovation and spread ideas in areas needing water development.  Other initiatives in the Year of Water Cooperation include increasing water education, working with regional leaders to develop relationships focused on addressing issues, settling border disputes involving water, and fundraising and developing necessary legal limits.

The UN chose the name International Year of Water Cooperation to highlight the necessity of forming regional bonds and of leaders working together to address the problems.  The theme is meant to inspire countries to share and work as a team to save millions of lives.  Since there are many different cultural, political and social factors at play in this global issue, cooperation remains the key to moving forward.

This initiative was started back in December 2010, among a United Nations General Assembly delegation.  The idea began by thinking of water as a chain: connected by various water basins, rivers and groundwater flow all around the world.  One objective of the year is to increase collaboration over sharing these resources to reach a maximum number of people, effectively creating a chain reaction.

If the water initiative goes successfully, not only will millions of lives be saved from simple prevention of disease, diarrhea and dehydration, but conflicts over water and ethnic fighting will simultaneously decrease.  The UN chose a strikingly important issue to focus on during 2013, with the potential to make an impact on the lives of billions of people around the planet.

– Allison Meade

Sources: UN News Centre, UN Water, United Nations
Photo: 

Poor People: Do They Hold Societies Back?

poor_people

You’ve probably heard people discuss the burden that poor people place on society, or the need for them to “pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.” If not, only look to Mitt Romney’s infamous comment from the 2012 presidential campaign, in which he referred to the 47% of Americans who are “dependent on the government” and who could never be convinced to “take personal responsibility and care for their lives,” for an example.

Psychologist Herbert Gans writes about the labeling of the poor as “undeserving” and the effects that such labels have in society. He posits that deeming the poor undeserving fulfills a wide array of functions for the affluent. Primarily, this phenomenon distances the labeled from the labelers, allowing the situation to be cast firmly as “us-versus-them.”

By casting poverty as something that happens to “them,” but not to “us,” one can tap into a well-known psychological bias explained by psychologist Jeremy Dean on PsyBlog.

He describes the phenomenon using sports teams. When a fan sees a member of their team score, they are likely to praise the player’s talent and hard work. On the other hand, when a fan sees a member of the opposite team score, it’s usually attributed to dumb luck or a missed call. By the same token, when a fan’s team loses, it can easily be chalked up to a rough week or a rowdy crowd.

However, a fan would rarely claim that his team won because another team had a difficult week. In other words, one works much harder to make excuses for people that they perceive as “one of us.” This same principle can be applied to almost any facet of society, including poverty.

When poor people are considered to be fundamentally different from us, it becomes more difficult to empathize with their situations. Unfortunately, it also becomes easier to blame the poor for their poverty and struggles, consciously or otherwise.

Some may not concretely be thinking that women in sub-Saharan Africa should just stand up for themselves already, but it is often easier to sympathize with women who live in societies that look most like ours.

For example, when America discovered that Ariel Castro had held three women captive in his Ohio home for a decade, outrage erupted. People were horrified that something this appalling could happen here, to people “like us.” Meanwhile, similar atrocities are happening worldwide every day and our indignation may go just far enough to get us to make an online donation.

While it is incredibly difficult for one to truly comprehend the obstacles faced by the poor, it is important to remember that “we” are not so terribly different from “them.” The balance between recognizing these differences and the similarities is a delicate and important one, and one that is immensely tough to strike.

It is imperative to acknowledge that everyone has different experiences and struggles, and that the wealthy often do not know how best to help the poor. Simultaneously, it is important to keep in mind that the wealthy and the poor are both just groups of people, who usually have a lot more in common than they think.

– Katie Fullerton
Sources: The American Journal of Sociology, PsyBlog, NY Daily News, ABC News
Sources: Danutm