Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Sara Blakely Joins The Giving Pledge

sara_blakely_giving_pledge_spanx_founder_billionaire_donation_fund_international_Aid_charity_gates_foundation_opt
Sara Blakely joins the Giving Pledge by donating half of her fortune. In doing so, Blakely, the inventor of Spanx, becomes the first female billionaire to pledge. The Gates Foundation also signed seven new additional billionaires along with Blakely.

Blakely said that Bill and Melinda Gates encouraged her to join and took her out to dinner to discuss their foundation.

Blakely has used her success to focus on helping girls and women. Recently, she donated $100,000 to The Empowerment Plan,a campaign in Detroit that helps to create jobs for homeless women by paying them to produce sleeping-bag coats for other people sleeping on the streets.

The eight other new Giving Pledge signatories include hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer, real estate investor and Miami Dolphins majority owner Stephen Ross, telecoms guru Craig McCaw and wife Susan, coal mining mogul Joe Craft, British politician Lord Ashcroft, Sequoia Capital’s Mark Stevens and wife Mary, Koret Foundation head Ted Taube, and textile tycoon Samuel Yin.

– Essee Oruma
Source: Global Post
Photo: ABC News

Lesotho Increases Fight Against TB and HIV

Lesotho_people_HIV_TB_international_Aid_multidrug_Resistant_TB_ministry_of_finance_grant_global_health_opt

The small nation of Lesotho has the third highest HIV prevalence in the world, at 24%, and the fourth highest estimated TB incidence. The TB-HIV co-infection rates are the fifth highest in the world and multidrug resistant TB (MDR-TB) is a growing challenge.

The Ministry of Finance of Lesotho recently signed two grant agreements with The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria totaling $17 million. These grants will allow Lesotho to expand prevention and treatment of HIV and multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The Global Fund has also invited Lesotho as an interim applicant with US$25 million for HIV and AIDS.

The Minister of Finance, Leketekete, said that the grant agreements “will allow for greater predictability of funding and more strategic investment.”

The Tuberculosis grant will seek to address MDR/XDR-TB, TB/HIV co-infection, expand high quality TB treatment (DOTs), and engage communities in TB control.

Populations that are most at-risk will be reached through prevention interventions that include prevention messages, condom distribution, management of sexually-transmitted infections, and referrals to health facilities.

Lesotho has made great strides towards the reduction of the HIV epidemic. Incidence of new HIV infections declined by 16% between 2008 and 2011.

– Essee Oruma

Sources: allAfrica
Photo: Ezakwantu

The Science of Circles – FHI 360

The Science of Circles - FHI 360
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of “science?” Picturesque frames of a mad man with wacky grey hair, tinkering with beakers and laboratory equipment? Perhaps a venerable historical figure, like Marie Curie or Sir Isaac Newton floods the brain. Whatever thoughts the word “science” brings about, the organization FHI 360 seeks to morph the pre-conceived notions of science into one that is directly linked to reducing global poverty.

Operating in more than 60 countries and all U.S. states and territories, their motto, “the science of improving lives”, reflects a “360°” philosophy that socio-economic development is not just a humanitarian issue, but dabbles in all aspects of science.

Based on 40+ years of experience, FHI 360 has discovered the secret to improving lives in an achievable and sustainable manner. Through cultivating, sharing, and applying skill sets taught by programs that combine evidence with experience, this organization is able to deliver the highest level of influence.

FHI 360’s main objective is to empower individuals. In taking ownership of their own human development needs, these individuals can create a life long and sustainable avenue out of poverty. The organization believes that the world can be steered toward an age in which individuals, together with their communities, have equal access to the opportunities necessary to achieve their highest potential.

In partnering with governments, civil society organizations, the private sector and local communities, FHI 360 believes the key to the reduction of global poverty is the unanimous involvement of all individuals.

With a larger-than-life ethical compass, relentless accountability, mutual respect and undying passion, FHI 360 develops programs based on an interconnected perspective that all aspects of life are inseparable. FHI 360 explains their model:

“Improving lives in sustainable, measurable ways is possible only when we connect ideas, resources and people who have a stake in the issues affecting their communities. Through customized responses that address multiple aspects of people’s lives, we can exponentially increase the impact of our work.”

Their dedication to a holistic approach to combating global poverty makes FHI 360 a leader in reducing global poverty. Health, nutrition, education, economic development, environment, and civil society are just a few of the areas where FHI 360 is present. Through research in science and technology, they regularly effect national policies and publish in prominent academic journals that help lead major development partners in a global direction.

The dream of FHI 360, is to convince people to think of “science” as a global issue, not in increasing technologies for already technologically prosperous countries, but building a highly technological and sustainable foundation for the whole world. One scour over their website will show the inspiring persistence of this organization. Utilizing science in a way that fights global poverty builds communities from atom to affluence.

– Kali Faulwetter

Source: FHI 360
Photo: FHI 360

History of the World Bank

History of the World Bank

For those who think the history of international institutions is boring, it’s time to think again. The history of the World Bank is full of scandals, contentions, failures, and successes, all impacting millions of people. This is part one of a three-part blog about the history of the World Bank. Before discussing the contentions and failures in the next part, it is important to give a brief overview.

The 1944 establishment of the World Bank has its origins in the need for post-WWII reconstruction of Europe. Initially founded as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), at the Bretton Woods Summit in New Hampshire, the purpose was post-war reconstruction and development. Initial projects ranged from industry to reconstruction of roads, bridges, and buildings.

A shift in focus came during the 1960s with re-energized focus on the world’s poorest and most vulnerable. The basic-needs approach to development is premised on human resilience and desire to contribute to growing societies. The World Bank’s focus on environmental issues in the 1970s reflected social movements at the time demanding higher accountability of human impact on the environment. The first World Development Report was published in 1978 reflecting a growing demand for transparency in the institution and publicly available data.

Through the 1980s, as international development as a whole was being disputed by practitioners, recipients, and academics, the World Bank was pulled in many different directions. The first was macroeconomic failures mandating debt rescheduling. Later that decade social, environmental, and civil concerns vocalized criticisms over the quality of the World Bank’s projects. An investigation panel was set-up, reports were written, and reform was made in the early 1990s.

 

History of the World Bank

 

Through the 1980s, 90s, and 2000s the World Bank sponsored programs and reforms in many industries and focused on all four of the established priorities: basic-needs of health, education and livelihoods; economic development through construction projects; improving the environment; and data collection and research.

The World Bank still builds infrastructure, but now has a more holistic approach. At conception, the IBRD was a homogeneous organization based solely in Washington DC. Now it is a complex bureaucracy with diverse professions and 40% of the staff based internationally. The five institutions that constitute the World Bank Group of today are IBRD, International Development Association, International Finance Corporation, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, and International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes.

The Bank’s performance—efficiency and efficacy—have generally improved and, according to the World Bank, clients are satisfied with the level of service, quality, and commitment. The Bank is an important actor in shaping global policy in the arenas of poverty reduction and disaster (both natural and man-made) recovery.

– Katherine Zobre

Source: World Bank
Photo: Bretton Woodsk

The Effect Global Poverty has on Wildlife

The Effect Global Poverty has on Wildlife

The debilitating effects of extreme poverty on the citizens of afflicted countries are well-documented. Poverty leads to illness, shame, violence, and overpopulation. Yet poverty is not only detrimental to the human populations of the countries in which it exists, but also the animal populations which coexist alongside it.

It is well known that the earth cannot produce the resources to adequately sustain the current human population, much less at its current rate of growth. We are currently stripping our planet of all its available resources, with little room to maintain ourselves, much less wildlife. The situation is at its most dire in poor, rural villages where people are caught in an uncomfortable co-existence with native wildlife.

Those who still survive by a hunter-gathered lifestyle get food, clothing, and medicine from their surroundings. A research paper by the Department for International Development’s Wildlife and Advisory Group states: “We estimate that wildlife plays a significant role in the lives of up to 150 million poor people. Of the estimated 1.2 billion people who live on less than the equivalent of one dollar a day, about 250 million live in agriculturally marginal areas, and a further 350 million live in or near forests. Wildlife plays some role in the lives of many of these people, and is thought to be a primary livelihood asset in the lives of up to one-eighth of them. Where wildlife is declining or access to wildlife is denied, poor people adapt, but often at a cost to their livelihoods in terms of reduced income, fewer diversification opportunities and increased vulnerability.”

Resources are not the only problem, but also direct competition. Many are often forced into destruction of wildlife, not for a willful hatred of animals themselves or for recreational purposes, but out of sheer necessity. Tigers in India are often killed by rural communities which fear losing irreplaceable livestock. Poaching is a result of a desperate need for money, as ivory and other endangered animal parts often fetch handsome prices. Better education and greater opportunities for the individuals committing these acts would be far more effective than punishing a crime that the current system inevitably forces them to commit.

What this means is that the existence of poverty and conservation of our wildlife are mutually exclusive. One, by necessity, prevents the other. To conserve wildlife is to rob poor communities of the few resources they have, and to not intervene means the inevitable destruction of our environment and the creatures in it.  We have created a system where, if we do not act, we are choosing to destroy either our fellow humans or our fellow creatures. We cannot currently sustain both.

– Farahnaz Mohammed

Sources: Wildlife and Poverty Study
Photo: Jukani

UNICEF’s First Celebrity Ambassador, Danny Kaye

UNICEF’s First Celebrity Ambassador, Danny Kaye

“I believe deeply that children are more powerful than oil, more beautiful than rivers, more precious than any other natural resource a country can have. I feel that the most rewarding thing I have ever done in my life is to be associated with UNICEF ” – Danny Kaye.

Celebrities tend to get a bad rap. They make oodles of cash and then most of them use it to live extravagant, self-absorbed lifestyles. But some of Hollywood’s most recognizable names have chosen instead to use their fame for good. Audrey Hepburn, Selena Gomez, and Laurence Fishburne just to name a few, have been UNICEF celebrity ambassadors. These celebrities travel the globe and bring awareness to the incredible work that UNICEF does everyday. And it all started with actor and comedian, Danny Kaye.

Danny Kaye was born David Daniel Kaminsky on January 18, 1913 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the youngest of three sons born to Ukrainian Jewish Immigrants Jacob and Clara Kaminsky. From a young age Danny seemed destined to become an entertainer. At 13 he boldly dropped out of high school to pursue a career in show business. He soon returned to Brooklyn to work a string of odd jobs, none of which lasted very long, and eventually returned to his first love, acting.

During his career Danny wore many hats. He had starring roles in film, theater, and television. The beloved actor appeared in the family classic “White Christmas” alongside Bing Crosby and got the whole country laughing with his role in “The Court Jester”. His zany comedic style and heartwarming attitude won him fans the world over. Then, at the height of his career in 1954, he embarked on a whole new journey, becoming the first ever UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, a role he would hold until his death in 1987.

As an ambassador for UNICEF, Danny was the first celebrity to publicly advocate for a global cause. He was vocal about his belief that the world’s children held the key to the future and in an interview he said, “Any organization that perhaps creates a better understanding for the children would in some measure contribute to the security and the health and the peace of the world”.

Danny worked tirelessly to use his fame to bring the plight of the children he cared for so dearly to the attention of the world. He gave countless interviews, starred in a few UNICEF public service announcements, and provided much needed laughter and entertainment for kids around the world. In 1979, he even earned himself a spot in The Guinness Book of Records by flying a jet to 65 cities in 5 days to greet thousands of UNICEF volunteers for the annual Halloween Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign. Kaye continued his mission to educate the world about the lifesaving work of UNICEF until his death in 1987.

Danny Kaye is gone but not forgotten. The legacy he created by using his stardom for good paved the way for countless celebrities to follow in his footsteps. Since 1954, UNICEF has had over 40 international Goodwill Ambassadors.

– Erin N. Ponsonby

Source: UNICEF

,

The Just Give Money Theory

The Just Give Money Theory

For many, the eradication of global poverty seems an insurmountable goal, and foreign aid processes can be long-winded and complex. It is important to realize, however, that the solution to this important issue may be right under our noses, not to mention incredibly simple. The idea laid out in the book Just Give Money to the Poor: The Development Revolution from the Global South, is to give aid as cash directly to those in need of it, rather than through temporary security measures.

“A quiet revolution is taking place based on the realization that you cannot pull yourself up by your bootstraps if you have no boots,” the book says. “And giving ‘boots’ to people with little money does not make them lazy or reluctant to work; rather, just the opposite happens. A small guaranteed income provides a foundation that enables people to transform their own lives.”

While many are skeptical about this approach, the results of this direct aid can be seen in countries around the world. Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, India, and Ethiopia are only a few examples shown in the book – the methods range from grants for those who have children in schools, those who are the poorest, or those who are elderly or children. In each case, there is significant change following these grants: child malnutrition decreases, school registration increases, and general health improvement and growth of local farms and markets ensue.

This method seems to be fairly effective, although it cannot solve the problem of global poverty alone. In addition to these grants, there must be some other methods of government intervention along the lines of investments in education, infrastructure, and health. The notion that the poor are to blame for their position in society is turned upside down by the positive results of these grants, and the money given will only continue to be put to good use in the fight against poverty.

– Sarah Rybak

Source: Pacific Standard
Photo: Fast CoExist

Jeopardy’s Bob Harris Writes About Microlending

Jeopardy’s Bob Harris Writes About Microlending

For many fans of Jeopardy, the name Bob Harris is synonymous with knowing things. Because he’s a thirteen-time champion of the game show and general outspokenness, many respect his opinions. Thus, his new book is making waves in the literary community and may initiate some important dialogue about how to deal with international poverty.

It all began when Harris, a writer and radio commentator by trade, was given the opportunity by ForbesTraveler.com to review some of the world’s finest luxury hotels. However, instead of simply pocketing the earnings, Harris decided to lend the money via kiva.org while continuing to travel around the world to take a look at all the lives that the money had affected. His experiences were compiled into a book titled The International Book of Bob. The book, in addition to shining a light on microlending, shows the juxtaposition of the world’s wealthiest and poorest people. Harris writes of ATM machines that emit gold ingots and Asian construction workers who live like indentured servants in Dubai for the chance to send money back to their families.

In an interview, Harris explains the fundamentals of microlending:

“Microlending was pioneered more than 30 years ago by, among others, Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Charity certainly has its place in poverty alleviation, obviously — when there’s been a disaster, or when there’s epic need — but in many places, the people have small enterprises, and they know what they can do to solve their own problems. They’re in the middle of their businesses and they simply need a small loan.

But if you’re a fisherman, and you simply need to patch a hole in your rowboat, you can’t go to Citibank for a bridge loan in Cambodia. So who do you go to? Prior to microlending, your alternative would be maybe leaning on your family or villagers, or going to black-market money lenders, and paying an exorbitant interest rate. When you go to kiva.org, the vast majority of donors are finding people on the website to whom they can put $25 toward a loan; that money goes overseas to a local lender and the recipients pay the loan back, then you get paid back.”

Speaking once again about kiva.org, Harris says “Now there’s this place on the Internet — where total strangers go, to be nice with other total strangers so they can all collectively be generous to yet more total strangers whom they will never meet — and somehow my name is in the middle of that. That’s magical.”

– Samantha Mauney

Source: Huffington Post
Photo: Telegraph

History of the Peace Corps

History of the Peace Corps
Before Kennedy was even President, he had a vision for a stronger America through understanding the struggle of developing nations and peace building around the world. His speech at the University of Michigan formed the origin of the Peace Corps. From the first deployment of 51 volunteers to Accra, Ghana, in 1961, Americans have engaged in critical projects of building wells, schools, and clinics. They distribute information about AIDS/HIV prevention and environmental preservation. They strengthen capacity and resilience of crop and livestock by working with locals and their intimate knowledge of their needs and resources.

Over 52 years, the Peace Corps has engaged over 210,000 American volunteers in 139 countries and thousands of projects. Volunteers are asked to serve “under conditions of hardship” to help accomplish the mutual goal of improved livelihoods and welfare.

From the start, the Peace Corps was hugely popular with American citizens and partner countries. In the first few years of the Peace Corps, the number of volunteers expanded exponentially. Starting out with only 51 volunteers in March of 1961, by December the organization had more than 500 volunteers serving and 200 more training in the US. By 1962 there were 28 countries participating and nearly 3,000 volunteers. By 1966 the number of volunteers jumped to 15,000 volunteers and trainees. Former president Jimmy Carter’s mother volunteered in 1966 as a public health worker in India. By the early 1970s, Peace Corps volunteers were being elected to the House of Representatives in the US Congress and the first female and first African American was appointed to Peace Corps Director. 9,000 serving volunteers in 1970 is the record for most serving volunteers.

In 1981 the Peace Corps, which had been a congressional mandate, became an independent federal agency. In 1985 the Peace Corps was the subject of the John Candy, Tom Hanks, and Rita Wilson movie “Volunteers.” This was not the Peace Corps’ debut in pop-culture. References to the Peace Corps have also been made in “the ‘Pink Panther’ (1963), ‘Animal House’ (1978), ‘Airplane!’ (1980), ‘Dirty Dancing (1987), ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ (2005), ‘The Simpsons’, and ‘Family Guy.’” The number of women serving as Peace Corps volunteers jumped past the number of men serving in 1985.

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, for the first time volunteers were sent to eastern and central Europe starting in 1990. 1993 saw the first volunteers go to China as English teachers. 1993 also marked a divergence of Peace Corps Directors as appointed from outside the organization. Since Carol Bellamy, director from 1993-1995, and a returned volunteer, all the directors have been former volunteers. Started in 1995, the Peace Corps now also sends volunteers on short-term missions to respond to humanitarian crises caused by natural disasters; this included responses to Katrina in New Orleans. When the apartheid ended in South Africa, the Peace Corps sent the first group of 33 volunteers in 1997. The 2003 ad campaign was aimed at refreshing the image of the Peace Corps in the American mind. The new slogan read: “Life is calling. How far will you go?”

The next year the Peace Corps received the largest appropriation from Congress in the history of the Peace Corps: $400 million. The budget expansion coincided with a “40-year high in numbers of volunteers”—8,655 volunteers in 77 countries.

Who are volunteers? They are mothers, children, fathers, astronauts, scientists, members of Congress, and ambassadors. They are descedants of an organization born in the campaign of President Kennedy and shaped by the demanding needs of people suffering the indignity of poverty and underdevelopment and hard work of thousands of American citizens.

“The Peace Corps represents some, if not all, of the best virtues in this society. It stands for everything that America has ever stood for. It stands for everything we believe in and hope to achieve in the world”- Sargent Shriver.

– Katherine Zobre

Source:
Photo:

Gender Inequality Runs Rampant in India

Gender Inequality Runs Rampant in India

In New Delhi, there are 13 times more toilets for men than there are for women. Specifically, there are 3,712 male public toilets, and a mere 269 female toilets. Women sometimes must resort to defecating in the open, which besides the obvious privacy violation, poses a significant risk of rape and violence.

Public Toilets in New Delhi are just one example of discrimination against women in India; it starts before women are even born, and continues throughout their entire life. Girls can be perceived as a financial burden in parts of India, as a result of their limited income opportunities and costly dowries; 500,000 Indian girls have died as a result of pre-natal sex selection and infanticide over the last 20 years.

If a bride can’t fulfill her dowry, she faces the risk of torture and death at the hands of her in-laws. In 2005, nearly 7,000 Indian women were killed for being unable to meet the financial requirements of their dowries, some of them as young as 15 years old.

Indian women are humiliated, abused, and killed every day. Before they are even born, their opportunities and experiences are decided for them. They will face violence and inequality at almost every turn; and even something as simple as access to public restrooms is not guaranteed for them.

There are ways to encourage gender equality in India, though they may be easier said than done. Laws that discriminate against women need to be amended; girls need to be educated to level the intellectual playing field, and India’s practice of perceiving men above women, needs to be addressed for change to last.

– Dana Johnson

Sources: Trust, Advocates for Youth, Brookings
Photo: Asia News