Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Corporate Philanthropy at the Highest Level with Good360

Corporate Philanthropy at the Highest Level with Good360
For most people, shopping at a giant retail chain now comes with a high level of expectation. People want their favorite products on the shelves now, in adequate quantities. Rarely does one ever stop to ponder just how the most successful retail and grocery chains move such a large amount of varied product so quickly. The logistical processes involved are so fine-tuned and fast that the systems themselves bear admiration. What if those logistical success strategies worked elsewhere?

Nonprofit organizations the world over sometimes struggle getting provisions to those who need it most for a myriad of reasons; not enough donations, not enough people, slow legal channels. The list could presumably stretch on with no end. One nonprofit group has already solved the problem by employing much the same techniques retailers use to rocket products from the warehouses to the store shelves, and they’re doing it with the help and cooperation of private enterprise.

Good360, formerly Gifts In Kind, began in 1983 by accepting a donation of office supplies worth over $11 million from the company 3M and has never looked back. The nonprofit accepts corporate donations like this from a multitude of businesses who need to clean up their balance sheets by unloading unsold assets and backed up inventory. Transferring such donations to Good360, those companies also build a reputation for corporate philanthropy. Good360 then distributes these goods to a network of charities and other nonprofit groups from their own warehouses. Donations get to where they are most needed even faster. The added bonus is also a boon to the environment because the practice doesn’t involve landfills whatsoever.

Continually highly ranked by Forbes as an efficient charity, Good360 works with many top corporations. Most recently, as of October 2012, they were ranked 29 out of 100 charities by the publication. Good360 depends on $306 million in private support, while generating $311 million in total revenue, giving 99 percent of that to charity. They’re totally dependent on their donors and are 100 percent effective in fundraising.

According to Good360’s website, the firm works only on 1.8 percent of the total value of products donated, which is astounding considering that they’re able to expedite it to charities almost as fast as new products are delivered to stores. The process is so environmentally conscious and efficient that employees from larger, for-profit firms are allowed to learn from Good360.

In the last 14 years they’ve grown exponentially, forging corporate working relationships with well over 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies. They’ve gone to great lengths to increase corporate philanthropy and facilitate international seminars on it. Since 2009, Good360 has taken another technological step forward by joining forces with the American Trucking Association so that trucking organizations can donate transportation to aid shipping in the name of charity. Strategically, the move is brilliant because it strengthens an already strong, logistical network and has forged new working relationships.

In July 2013, Good360 named Chris Blake their new Executive Vice President (EVP). He was the former President of K.I.D.S., Kids in Distressed Situations, another nonprofit. He brings a career of expertise of successful fundraising in the nonprofit sector that meshes perfectly with Good360. Blake was elemental in fostering working relationships between community groups and major companies for K.I.D.S. This new hire increases not only business and operational knowledge but leadership capacity as well.

Good360 has done nothing but grow and improve since its inception. The innovative strides it has made are undeniable. Nothing less than success can be expected of their organization when faced with high demand for products globally. Good360 is a great example of what can be achieved using strong logistics for giving rather than buying and supports economic prosperity for all involved.

– David Smith

Sources: Good360, Forbes Top 100 Charities, Chris Blake Joins Good360
Photo: Photopin

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Zambia: Poverty and Promising Signs

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Known for its stunning natural beauty and variety of wildlife, the country of Zambia draws thousands of global travelers seeking adventure and awe-inspiring views in its world-renowned state parks, along the mighty Zambezi River, and at the famous Victoria Falls, a UNESCO world heritage site.  More than half of the country’s 752,000 square kilometers is arable land, and the country is rich in natural resources, especially copper, one of its major exports. Compared to many of its neighboring countries, Zambia has also been somewhat stable politically. Zambia made relatively peaceful transition from British colonial rule in 1964, and the country has been spared the kind of serious civil war that countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo have faced in recent years.

Zambia’s natural beauty and great agricultural capacity are a stark contrast to the economic problems facing the country today, however. According to World Bank figures, an estimated 60% of the country’s 13.8 million people live below the poverty line, with most of those in Zambia’s many rural areas. Life expectancy for the average Zambian is 49 years, in part because of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which has ravaged the population. Just over 12% of Zambians ages 15-49 are infected with the virus, and UN figures show that about 1 million people were living with the disease in 2011.  One-third of the population is without access to clean water, and more than 25% of the country’s schools do not have access to clean water and proper sanitation.  The country is reportedly on track to meet Millennium Development Goal #2, but enrollment in primary schools is just under 72%.

Efforts to combat widespread poverty and its attendant health and social effects in Zambia have been comprehensive, involving a coalition of private and public, national and international organizations. Through USAID, the United States recently launched two new health programs aimed at addressing poverty and HIV/AIDS by empowering small farmers with new tools to make their farms viable and profitable. The programs have drawn praise from the Zambian government. Zambia is also making progress toward its Millennium Development Goals, reducing child mortality from 191 per 1,000 births in 1992, to 119 per 1,000 in 2007.  Extreme poverty in the country declined from 58% to 51% over the same period, and in 2002 the country eliminated school fees for basic education, taking an important step toward universal primary education. These indicators are promising signs that progress is indeed being made toward relieving the misery of poverty and disease in Zambia. They also suggest, however, that there is much more work to be done. 

– Délice Williams

Source: Lonely Planet, UNAIDs, UNICEF, World Bank
Photo: Presentation Primary Terenure

Oil, Inequality, and Youth: Poverty in Gabon

Gabon Inequality
Gabon, the oil rich Central African country, continues to struggle with widespread poverty. Dependent largely on oil and natural resources including timber and manganese, Gabon’s economy struggles to attain sustainable methods of growth.

With 50% of the GDP reliant on oil sales, the necessity for economic diversity stems from the post-peak levels of oil drilling and the sharp depletion of oil production within the country.

Despite an above average GDP/capita of $17,300 and a status as an upper middle income economy, Gabon continues to face large income inequality. According to the African Development Bank (AFDB), one third of the population lives below the poverty line, with 13.2% living in severe poverty. This conflicts greatly with the label of upper middle income status.

To pinpoint poverty in Gabon, the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) allows us to understand and compare a country’s poverty levels with 3 dimensions: education, health, and standard of living. Conducted by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), the MPI shows us that 35.4% of the population live in poverty with limited education, nutrition, and a low standard of living.

The universally understood poverty measurements of US $1.25/day, US $2/day, and the National Poverty Line provide a more in depth view of the varying levels of poverty. OPHI found that 4.8% live on less than $1.25/day, 19.6% live on less than $2/day, and 32.7% live below the National Poverty Line.

To further understand the large percent of impoverished Gabonese we must look into the wealth disparity and unemployment. The biggest drawback of an undiversified economy dependent on commodities is limited jobs within the sector. With such a high percent of GDP due to oil drilling, few Gabonese benefit from the sector. This lack of employment in an undiversified economy manifests itself in an unemployment rate of 21%.

Along with unemployment, two other issues factor into Gabon’s development: the large proportion of youth in the country and high urbanization. The AFDB found that 35.6% of the population is under 15, with 60% of that demographic unemployed. They also learned that nearly 86% of the population resides in urban areas, meaning that more than one third of the population lives in the capital city of Libreville.

In spite of these shortcomings, President Bongo Ondimba has begun work on increasing transparency and Gabon’s attractiveness to investors. In April 2010, the country began its attempts to improve the diversity of the economy. To accomplish this the government started to develop the “energy, mining, forest, tourism and agro-industrial potential.” Not forgetting the financial plight of its poorest citizens, the government has also raised the minimum monthly wage and created “solidarity allowance” to benefit very low-income workers.

– Michael Carney

Sources: African Development Bank, CIA World Factbook
Photo: Africa Review

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Do War Crimes Affect the World’s Poor?

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For hundreds of years, humans have been developing the modern-day laws of war to determine what is legal in the context of armed conflict. For the most part, such laws have been set to govern international armed conflict, such as the Geneva Conventions. Nonetheless, the Internet, traditional media sources, and social media connect us to daily atrocities, carried out under the guise of war that continue to violate international humanitarian law and prey on the extreme poor. As a result of violations that inhibit domestic and international aid, millions of people face hunger and disease in association with extreme poverty that goes unaddressed by international courts.

In 1945, when WWII was won by the Allied Forces, with 6 million dead in concentration camps, the responsible Nazi officers were tried for war crimes. All of the Allied nations, though not initially supporting the format of the trials themselves, backed the justice meted out by the Allied courts as a response. Some of the officers faced death, while others were sentenced to prison.

Today, the international body charged with bringing justice to war-torn nations, the International Criminal Court, fails to be recognized by the United States and many other influential countries that affect the global-political environment of the United Nations. Without having all countries as signatories, the ICC struggles to address atrocities being committed in some of the world’s poorest and most disenfranchised communities.

Because the ICC depends on participation from countries hosting alleged criminals to assert jurisdiction over the criminals within that host country’s borders, a lack of participation effectively cripples the ability of the Court to perform its duties in upholding international humanitarian law. In some cases, domestic courts are left to deliver justice, which, in the context of Syria, becomes all but impossible, seeing as the target of charges is the country’s president.

Because the poorest communities are often targeted by the perpetrators of war crimes, such as leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army Jospeh Kony, it may be all the more necessary that international courts acquire jurisdiction over these otherwise ungoverned warlords. The most impoverished are often the first casualties of war and feel the effects of a diminished food supply, lacking sanitation, and inadequate first aid facilities. Refugees of war in Africa and Asia are particularly vulnerable in the face of natural disasters and the long-term effects of climate change.

– Herman Watson

Source: USHMM, International Criminal Court, WarChild UK
Photo: Save the Children

What was Different about the Decade of Extremes?

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The debate over global warming has been a heated one over the past decade, but it is clearer now more than ever that our climate is changing. The UN has released a report, The Global Climate 2001-2010, A Decade of Extremes, which reports the unprecedented climate extremes experienced in the past decade. The report states that more national temperature records were broken during this period than ever before. This decade was the warmest for both hemispheres and both land and ocean temperatures were at the highest since measurements began in 1850. This heating of the ocean has caused the melting of Artic sea ice and ice sheets.

“Rising concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases are changing out climate, with far reaching implications for our environment and our oceans, which are absorbing both carbon dioxide and heat,” said Michel Jarraud, the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

In the past decade our world has experience extreme floods, droughts, and tropical cyclones. 370,000 people have died as a result of these climate extremes. Tropical cyclones, such as Hurricane Katrina, were responsible for the death of 170,000 people and affecting over 250 million; the damage caused by these cyclones is estimated around $380 billion. Floods were the most frequently experienced climate extreme of the past decade; Eastern Europe, India, Africa, Australia, and Pakistan were severely impacted by flooding. Droughts were the most detrimental climate extreme because of their long-lasting nature. Regions most affected by long-term droughts were Australia, East Africa, and the Amazon Basin.

This report was released as the first session of the Intergovernmental Board on Climate Change Services began. The Intergovernmental Board on Climate Change Services oversees the Global Framework for Climate Services which is attempting to improve and expand science-based climate research to help society cope with climate change.

“We are already seeing the effects of climate change and so we need to take action through the use of scientifically-based climate services to cushion the impact on our environment, our economies and our societies,” said Mr. Jarraud.

– Catherine Ulrich
Sources: UN News, The Guardian
Sources: Political Blindspot

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IKEA Designs Better Homes for Refugees

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IKEA has teamed up with the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, to improve living conditions for refugees. The Swedish company is developing a program that will build modular shelters for displaced people throughout the world.

Like IKEA’s furniture, each shelter is produced in a ready-to-assemble format. The shelters are made of durable materials and can be constructed in four hours. They are expected to be low-cost and to last longer than current refugee tents, which are only made to withstand six months of use. The IKEA shelters are designed to be more durable than the tents, with a guaranteed life of three years, and to provide better protection for the refugees. UNHCR states that on average, refugees live in their shelters for 12 years.

Each IKEA shelter will come with a solar panel to produce electricity. IKEA hopes that the electricity will make tasks like sewing and cooking easier and will allow children to do homework at night. The shelters will also have specially-made walls constructed with materials that can “deflect heat during the day and retain it at night.”

UNHCR states that 26 shelters have already arrived in Ethiopia. The next nations expected to receive the IKEA shelters will be Iraq and Lebanon in efforts to help create more durable living situations for refugees from the civil war in Syria.

Each IKEA shelter currently costs $8,000, however UNHCR hopes that each unit cost will be reduced to $1,000 in the future. Each refugee tent costs $500, meaning the IKEA shelters will be twice as expensive, but are guaranteed to last six times as long.

While IKEA is helping to fulfill the housing needs in refugee camps, UNHCR is bringing health care, education, and job training to those in need. Together, IKEA and UNHCR are looking to help the 35.8 million refugees throughout the world who strive for a better future.

– Jordan Kline

Sources: IKEA Foundation, Public Radio International, News 24
Photo: FC

The Gambia Receives Child Malnutrition Grant

Gambia Grant
BANJUL, The Gambia – UNICEF has recently committed $300,000 to the nation of The Gambia to fight child malnutrition. The Gambia, a nation half the size of New Jersey and located on the west coast of Africa, has acquired an additional $15 million for the issue of food security out of $1.7 billion UNICEF has dedicated to the Sahel region of the continent.

The Gambia is especially in need of this child malnutrition grant since nearly 50% of its population of 1.7 million consists of children under the age of 18. UNICEF’s work is particularly important to this nation because of its large youth population.

Overall, 34% of Gambians live under the poverty line. Fortunately, however, most Gambians are fully immunized and have access to improved water sources and sanitation facilities. UNICEF is working to ensure that all Gambian children are fully immunized, well-nourished, have access to clean water and sanitation, and receive an education. Ultimately, The Gambia’s future will be greatly impacted by UNICEF’s work, as it not only improves children’s lives now, but it also provides the nation with the tools it needs to have a healthy and productive population in subsequent years.

– Jordan Kline

Sources: UNICEF, The Daily Observer

Income Inequality, Brazil, & World Cup

Brazil World Cup
Income inequality is at the heart of the protests currently raging across several Brazilian cities. Originally, the protests were about the twenty-cent price hike for bus fare. Eventually, however, they turned into protests about everything that’s wrong in Brazil.

Next year’s World Cup has added to the public dissent. Brazil’s rampant political corruption has resulted in huge expenditures. The government has spent twice the amount as Germany and South Africa spent on the World Cup.

It is predicted that FIFA will make over one billion dollars from the tournament, but Brazil will benefit very little. Originally, it was presumed that the Cup would be paid for by private investors and corporations, and that the public funds would go toward bettering the existing infrastructure. But then the Brazilian government lent money to build brand-new stadiums. Essentially, the government is spending billions of dollars on a private event that is so expensive that only the rich can attend.

It has become a bit of a paradox — a country that is a symbol of soccer to many has turned against the sport’s largest event. The huge public expenditure has left the people wondering: why can the country invest millions on a soccer tournament but can’t seem to find funds to fix the broken healthcare and education systems?

The independent protestors have balked at any specific political party that has tried to claim leadership in the demonstrations, preferring instead to remain a party-free dissident entity. Even the large Workers Party was shooed away.

The impact of the country-wide protests have already been felt. President Dilma Roussef went on TV and invited protestors into the head of the government to talk about what’s going on. She met with the Movimento Passe Livre, the university free fare group that started the protests, and ultimately ceded the twenty cent transport fare increase.

While the positive impacts have been felt, it is doubtful that any more progress will be made on the issue. With so little political cohesiveness within the demonstrators themselves, it appears that the dissidence will continue into the foreseeable future.

– Kathryn Cassibry

Sources: Fair Observer, The Guardian

Solar Cookers International

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Solar Cookers International (SCI) is a nonprofit organization devoted to spreading knowledge and techniques of solar cooking technology to the poorest parts of the world. The organization works extensively in Chad, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe. Founded in 1987 by a small group of solar cooks in Sacramento, California, SCI began as a small effort by a contingent of people devoted to a single cause: to provide poverty relief through the technology of solar power. By 1999, UNESCO became a beneficiary of SCI by sponsoring regional conferences in poverty stricken countries like India, Kenya, and Honduras. Since its founding, Solar Cookers International has delivered its technology to over 30,000 families in Africa.

Solar cookers are particularly helpful in Africa because they remove the need for African women to leave their homesteads to gather firewood. For instance, Sudanese refugee women in Chad are frequently assaulted by enemy combatants upon departure from their camps, often resulting in severe injury or death. The presence of solar cookers in villages in Chad allows Chadian women to provide for their families while preserving their own personal wellbeing.

So how does Solar Cookers International receive funding for such an ambitious project? Although much of its support base comes from the generous donations of individuals and foundations, SCI also raises money through the sale of solar cookers in the United States and other developed countries. If you are interested in supporting this great cause to alleviate poverty in Africa, visit the SCI website for more information on purchasing a solar cooker. In addition to being energy efficient and better for the environment, the profits will be going towards poverty reduction in some of the poorest areas of the world.

– Josh Forgét

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Poverty in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Poverty in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
A country two thirds the size of Europe, and rich in mineral and agricultural resources, the Democratic Republic of the Congo  is also the site of the “deadliest conflict since World War II,” which has killed more than 5.4 million people. The country is recovering from this civil war, but its infrastructure has been nearly destroyed. As a result, poverty in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is widespread and severe, and it requires urgent attention.

 

Breakdown of Poverty in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

 

Effects of the War
Today, the effects of the conflict in the DRC are extremely apparent. Life expectancy is 49 years compared to the global average of 70 years, and 168 children born out of every 1,000 die before reaching the age of five. In 2011, more than a quarter of the population was sickened by malaria. More than 2.3 million citizens remain displaced from their homes within the country, and thousands more have fled to neighboring countries for refuge from the ongoing violence.

Present Challenges
Though these statistics have improved slightly since the peak of the civil war in the mid-1990s, 71 percent of the DRC’s population continues to live below the poverty line. Experts say that the country’s scale is a primary factor causing many to die from “easily preventable conditions” such as malnutrition, malaria, and pneumonia. Humanitarian and aid organizations struggle to serve the DRC’s large population as “renewed rebel activities” in eastern provinces continue to displace large segments of the population.

Addressing Poverty
The World Bank reopened in the DRC in 2001 after operations were suspended for almost ten years because of political instability and corruption in the country. The Bank has committed $3.1 billion to the DRC, aiming to rebuild the country’s infrastructure, decrease corruption in public and private sectors, and rehabilitate the country’s health and education systems.

The United Nations has also been instrumental in the DRC’s recovery. The Security Council established MONUSCO in 1999, supplying peacekeeping troops to the region. In addition to the UN’s peacekeeping efforts, USAID provides emergency assistance to the displaced and has established long-term programs to address food security, democracy, education, the environment, and global health in the DRC.

Results
Since late 2010, USAID has given a comprehensive malaria prevention package in 70 health zones in the DRC, greatly reducing the incidence of malaria in the country. USAID also provides health services to pregnant women with HIV/AIDs, preventing them from passing the virus on to their children. The DRC happens to be one of the five countries in the world that accounts for half of all child deaths, but USAID recently provided health services to more than 12 million people who previously lacked access to healthcare.

The situation in the DRC remains one of the most urgent humanitarian crises in the world, but efforts to relieve the widespread poverty are proving successful. In order to maintain this trajectory, though, continued funding for USAID will be critical.

– Katie Bandera

Sources: BBC, Global Issues, USAID, WHO
Photo: BBC