Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Pathfinder International

Pathfinder International

Aisha gave birth to her 9th child at home in Nigeria in 2009. Hemorrhaging and in shock, she was immediately rushed to the Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital in Kano, northern Nigeria. Upon arrival her blood pressure was very low and she had lost a lot of blood, a leading cause of maternal death in developing countries. Doctors immediately wrapped Aisha in an anti-shock garment that encourages blood flow to all parts of the body. In places like Nigeria, it can take several hours for a patient to receive the blood they need. In Aisha’s case, it took 4 and a half hours. Without this garment, Aisha would likely have died, waiting for blood.

Aisha’s story is all too familiar for millions of women around the world. Access to pre and postnatal healthcare as well as general sexual health resources, in developing nations is limited, if available at all, and women often die during childbirth. Pathfinder International, however, is an organization dedicated to bringing vital, life saving sexual and reproductive health care education and practices to the people that need it most.

222 million women today lack access to contraceptives. They have limited ability to choose when, if, and how often to have children. When women are educated and empowered with the ability to make these decisions, they are happier and healthier. Their children are more likely to stay in school longer and in turn lead longer, more productive lives.

Pathfinder International, founded in 1957, is active in more than 20 countries today in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. They have five key areas of focus in addition to maternal and newborn health. These include education and services for adolescents, HIV, contraception and family planning, abortion, and advocacy. Multi-level collaboration and data are key components of the work they do. They partner closely with NGOs, community and faith-based organizations, local governments, and individuals and emphasize collecting reliable, consistent data to improve programs and provide accountability to donors.

For more information about Pathfinder International and to find out how you can help, visit their website.

– Erin N. Ponsonby

Sources: Pathfinder International
Photo: Hope Ofiriha

Azerbaijan: MDGs Progress

Azerbaijan MDG Progress
Azerbaijan is a country of 9.5 million people in Southwestern Asia, surrounded by the Caspian Sea, Iran, Russia, and the European Caucasus mountain range. For a country with a name many Americans could not pronounce, let alone place on a map, Azerbaijan has made huge strides towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to the UN and World Bank.

Public and private supporters have rallied to “slash poverty, hunger and disease by 2015.” Private partnership has included the oil and gas industries. Revenues from these industries have been used to achieve significant economic growth and progress towards the MDGs. Diversification of this landlocked country is the next step in continuing progress. The “Azerbaijan 2020: vision of the future” details a plan to increase non-oil exports and decrease poverty. This plan develops the concept of growth based on the available natural and human resources in the country. The goals of the plan are:

• “sustainable economic growth;
• “social prosperity;
• “effective state governance;
• “rule of law;
• “complete exercise of all human rights and freedoms;
• “reach a development stage characterized with an active status of civil society in the country’s public life.”

The World Bank identified areas of progress: poverty reduction, basic education, and HIV infection. Because of the significant strides, the UN has included Azerbaijan in the group of 100 countries to define goals for post-2015 development. Areas specific to Azerbaijan include inclusive economic growth, new jobs, and regional development. Development of Human Capital should continue to be spotlighted, according to the World Bank.

The goal of achieving the MDGs and fulfilling the “Azerbaijan 2020: vision of the future” plan is to be an economic and politically competitive force. “From the standpoint of economic development, Azerbaijan will advance from being a regional leader to become a highly competitive participant in the system of international economic relations.”

– Katherine Zobre

Sources: Azernews
Photo: Azernews

Taxation Could End Global Poverty

taxation-could-end-global-poverty
Research released by Oxfam declared that global poverty could be solved entirely if taxes were applied to the offshore assets across the globe. At a rate of 3.5% taxation on the USD trillions of assets and capital held in hidden havens could generate USD 156 billion in extra tax revenue.

According to Oxfam, this taxation could end global poverty with room to spare. Oxfam research indicates that USD 66 billion per year is the cost of funding poverty reduction. If the taxation were to take place, it would ensure that every person in the world could be given a minimum income of USD 1.25 per day. This minimum income is the estimated amount of money needed to lift one person out of poverty.

Currently there are USD 18.5 billion in assets and capital in offshore jurisdictions with approximately USD 12 billion being held in European tax havens such as Luxembourg, Andorra, and Malta.

– Kira Maixner

Source: Taxation Info News
Photo: Jezebel

History of the World Bank: Successes

History of the World Bank: Successes
Despite the depressing news of the last part in this three-part history of the World Bank, the global lending institution has had a great number of successes that improved the livelihoods and well being of millions of people.

Immediately after establishment in 1944, the World Bank set up offices around Europe and started work. The first recipient was France. $250 million was used for reconstruction of factories, roads, and other essential economic and social infrastructure. Europe was not the only focus of the new institution. India received assistance and expertise from the World Bank in harnessing the “River of Sorrows.” Once a source of major floods, the River of Sorrows was transformed by power generator, sanitation, and irrigation projects.

In 1971, the World Bank built a worldwide network of agriculture research centers resulting in the creation of a scientific partnership and massive increases in agricultural production via technology adoption. This initiative allowed countries to better fulfill their growing populations’ nutritional needs. This decade also saw investments in renewable energy (1973, El Salvador) and the establishment of national programs for water pollution controls.

With projects like the long-standing water deal signed by India and Pakistan and the establishment of the International Development Association, the World Bank started focusing on a ‘basic-needs’ approach to development. Pursuant projects included helping subsistence farmers (1973) and eradicating River Blindness in 1974 allowing more people to participate in the development of their communities and nations.

Milestone projects include the 1984 donations for food-for-drought victims through the World Food Program for sub-Saharan African countries. Other note-worthy initiatives include stopping ozone damage (1989) and protecting forests (1991) through which the World Bank implemented the Montreal Protocols on the environment and halted all financing to commercial logging in primary tropical forests such as the Amazon. The World Bank also played a role in developing job-creating projects under Nelson Mandela in South Africa in 1991. The World Bank joined the post-conflict reconstruction team after the war in Yugoslavia in 1995. In 2000 and 2001, the World Bank declared war on HIV/AIDS and the next year started delivering vaccines through the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization. 1997 marked the beginning of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative, which eventually led to the Jubilee Drop the Debt campaign to relieve poor countries of crippling debts. The next year the Freud and Corruption hotline was set up to help combat corruption associated with World Bank projects.

The World Bank took the opportunity of the turn of the century to embark on a project of groundbreaking proportions: a war on HIV/AIDS. Over these 13 years that the World Bank has been engaged in this project, AIDS drugs have dropped in cost from $10,000 per person annually to less than $100. Additionally, 1.5 million women were provided with drugs to prevent them from transferring the disease to their child. On a global scale, 50,000 grass-roots organizations in 50 countries have received funding to combat AIDS. Some of these projects resulted in huge decreases such as those in India (preventing 3 million cases), West Africa (22% decrease in 4 years) and Rwanda’s 76% increase in use of health systems.

Between 2000 and today, the World Bank has successfully undertaken projects in health, education, and financial sectors. Health projects include fighting TB, food crises responses, and recovering from natural disasters. Education projects approach it as not only a necessity for economic growth and development, but also a moral imperative and human right. 2010 marked a record high of financing education projects at $5 billion. $5 billion accomplished training for 3 million teachers and renovating/building 2 million classrooms all affecting an improved education for 105 million children.

The moral of the story: raising the living standards of the world’s poor is a multifaceted and difficult task. The World Bank has had a mixed record of getting successful results. However, their institutional framework is extremely valuable and their experience of both successes and failures is invaluable.

– Katherine Zobre
Source: World Bank
Photo: UNESCO Bangkok

Grow Africa: Agriculture First

Grow Africa: Agriculture First
The call to end global poverty by the year 2030 has been sounded, but the real question is, where do we focus? Grow Africa is a partnership platform that seeks to accelerate investments in Africa’s agricultural sector by bringing public and private partners together. Their goal is to increase private sector investments, enable multi-stakeholder partnerships, and expand knowledge and awareness of the most effective practices and initiatives.

Because most of Africa’s poorest people live in rural areas on small farms, the goal to increase rural productivity seems a good place to start. The acceleration and improvement of the agricultural sector would lead to a quickening of the process of urbanization. This growth would undoubtedly support economic stability and success. The increased food supply will also aid tremendously in the fight against hunger.

Grow Africa has initiatives in many African countries including Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda. These programs focus on commercial agriculture, local investments in commodities, and the strengthening of infrastructures such as irrigation canals and hydropower. Their first annual report showed over $3.5 billion in investments across the eight countries supported by Grow Africa. These investments allowed for around $300 million in sales from farmers as well as 800,000 smallholders that were reached and provided with training and sourcing.

While Grow Africa is focused on only one part of the developing world, if their reports continue to be positive and foster growth and development, other organizations and investments would very likely begin to pour into other developing regions such as Asia. In order to ensure long-term economic success, it is important to focus first on the development of agriculture. This focus will allow for a dramatic decrease in hunger-related deaths as well as an increase in economic stability, not only for farmers but for all those living in developing countries.

– Sarah Rybak

Sources: Grow Africa, The Globe and Mail

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10 Facts on Global Road Safety

10 Facts on Global Road Safety
According to the World Health Organization’s new report titled “Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013: Supporting a Decade of Action”, approximately 1.24 million people die every year on the world’s roads. Another 20 to 50 million sustain nonfatal injuries as a result of road traffic crashes. Road traffic injuries are estimated to be the eighth leading cause of death globally with an impact similar to many communicable diseases. Current trends suggest that by 2030 road traffic accidents will become the fifth leading cause of death unless urgent action is taken. Road traffic injuries are estimated to cost low- and middle-income countries between 1–2 % of their gross national product, estimated at over US$ 100 billion a year. Hence this is a serious problem that gets in the way of poverty eradication.

The following are findings from the report about worldwide road safety:

  1. Of the 1.24 million global road traffic deaths, young adults aged between 15 and 44 years account for 59% of it.
  2. 92% of road traffic deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. These countries have only 53% of the world’s registered vehicles.
  3. Vulnerable road users account for half of all road traffic deaths globally. Pedestrians, cyclists, and riders of motorized two-wheelers and their passengers are collectively known as “vulnerable road users.” The proportion of road traffic deaths in vulnerable road users is greater in low-income countries than in high-income countries.
  4. Controlling speed reduces road traffic injuries. Only 59 countries, covering 39% of the world’s population (2.67 billion people), have implemented an urban speed limit of 50 km/h or less and allow local authorities to reduce these limits. A 5% cut in average speed can reduce the number of fatal crashes by as much as 30%.
  5. Drinking alcohol and driving increases the risk of a crash. Above a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05 g/dl, the risk of road traffic crash increases dramatically. 89 countries, covering 66% of the world’s population (4.55 billion people), have a comprehensive drink-driving law enforcing the WHO-recommended blood alcohol concentration limit of 0.05 g/dl or less.
  6. Wearing a good-quality helmet can reduce the risk of death from a road crash by 40%. Wearing a good-quality helmet can also reduce the risk of severe injury by over 70%. 90 countries, representing 77% of the world’s population, have a comprehensive helmet law covering all riders, all roads and all engine types, and apply a helmet standard.
  7. Wearing a seat-belt reduces the risk of death among front-seat passengers by 40–65%. Wearing a seat-belt can also reduce deaths among rear-seat car occupants by 25–75%. 111 countries, representing 69% of the world’s population, have comprehensive seat-belt laws covering all occupants in a car.
  8. Infant seats, child seats and booster seats can reduce child deaths by 54–80% in the event of a crash. More than half of all countries have implemented a law on child-restraint use in cars.
  9. Prompt, good-quality pre-hospital care can save the lives of many people injured in road traffic crashes. 111 countries have a universal national access emergency number, but only 59 countries have ambulance services available to transport over 75% of injured patients to hospital.
  10. Since 2007, 88 countries have reduced the number of road traffic deaths. This suggests that progress can be made if there is sufficient political commitment. However, in 87 countries the number of road traffic deaths has increased, while at the global level the number of deaths has remained stable. The pace of legislative change and enforcement need to be hastened and more attention paid to vulnerable road users to reduce the number of road traffic deaths.

– Maria Caluag

Source: WHO
Photo: Facebook

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Neglecting Environment Prolongs Global Poverty

Neglecting Environment Prolongs Global Poverty

The actions and decisions of humans have had negative effects on the environment and the world’s natural resources. However, research suggests not all humans deplete resources unnecessarily; the poor are often best at sustaining the environment because they recognize its direct connection to their survival. According to The Centre for Science and Environment, wealthier nations are to blame. The Centre speculates that if impoverished nations developed and consumed at the rate of the West, two more planet Earths would be needed to produce enough resources and absorb the waste.

So, if wealthy nations are consuming at an alarming rate while poorer nations excel at sustaining their environment, why is the latter suffering economically?

The answer is simple, but sad; industry frequently exploits less developed countries. They send their most environmentally unfriendly ventures to the Third World to circumvent the high cost of doing such work in the developed world. As a result, large-scale deforestation occurs to make land available for lease to international companies. Prime agricultural land is damaged by harsh pesticides and fertilizers to produce cash crops for wealthier countries and ten times the amount of water a typical Indian family should consume in one day, if they get water at all, is used for meat breeding for richer nations.

Disregarding the environment when addressing poverty leads to an incomplete solution because the two are directly related. The natural resources needed to lift people out of poverty, though sustainable, are not unlimited. Thus the environment can only sustain us for as long as we sustain it.

– Dana Johnson

Source: Global Issues
Photo: UN

Duflo Talks Social Experiments to Fight Poverty


Esther Duflo is the founder and director of the Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), a research network that evaluates social experiments to fight poverty. It’s concerned less with wide-ranging policy than with specific questions. Esther Duflo takes economics out of the lab and into the field to discover the causes of poverty and means to eradicate it.

In Esther Duflo’s TED Talk, she brought up three specific questions people care about:

  1. The “last mile problem” of immunization.
  2. Should we donate lots of bed nets to solve malaria?
  3. What do we do about education?

When you ask the general question of whether millions dollars of aid are good or bad for Africa’s development, no one seems to be able to produce an exact answer. No one knows and no one can do the control experiment to prove his or her point, because Africa is a singularly unique continent whose development cannot be so easily compared to other regions of the world. But when you specify that big idea into small questions, social experiments, in some areas, may answer these questions. This may not answer people’s big questions like whether or not donating to African charities is a good or bad thing, but they definitely can tell us what we should do to help make Africa a more stable and prosperous continent.

– Caiqing Jin (Kelly)

Source: TED Talk

Richard Crespin Joins USGLC

richard-crespin-usglc
Richard Crespin has joined the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) as the Director of Business Outreach. He will be responsible for working as a USGLC ambassador, engaging Americans about the importance of international affairs programs in strengthening markets for U.S. goods and services. He will convey how investing abroad creates jobs in the United States and helps to keep the US secure.

USGLC is excited that Crespin has chosen to join their team. USGLC believes Crespin’s experience as a business leader with experience in corporate opportunity and corporate responsibility will mesh incredibly well with their organization’s goals and mission. Crespin provides the USGLC a unique opportunity to demonstrate how U.S. engagement abroad is good for business at home.

Crespin’s resume boasts substantial experience working in the private, public, and civil sectors. He was worked as the Executive Director of the Corporate Responsibility Officers Association. He has also worked with noteworthy companies and organizations including the American Red Cross, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Department of Defense.  He attended George Washington University and Harvard Business School. Currently, he works for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the Editorial Board for the Sustainable Business Forum and on the Board of Directors for the Society for International Development among others.

Crespin has stressed the importance of investing in foreign economies. He has said that American presence in these markets is a, “surefire way to grow our own economy and create quality jobs across the country.” As the new Director of Business outreach, Crespin says he is excited to work with businesses to build support for new tools of development and diplomacy.

The USGLC provides an excellent platform for outreach. The USGLC is a broad-based network of 400 businesses and NGOs, national security and foreign policy experts and business, faith-based, academic and community leaders. Members support a smart power approach that elevates diplomacy along with defense, in effect building a better and safer world.

– Caitlin Zusy 
Source USGLC
Photo Twitter

Smart Consumers Can Help Poor People

Oxfam Fair Trade
Coffee is the second most-traded commodity and one of the most consumed drinks around the world. The consumption of coffee is a universal business within its own, for its demand is incredibly high worldwide. Drinking coffee has become almost second nature to many who can afford it. American author and journalist, Sarah Vowell, says that she realized that drinking a mocha, although seemingly trivial, was in fact “to gulp down the entire history of the New World.” She continues on to say that the modern mocha is nothing less than a “bittersweet concoction of imperialism, genocide, invention, and consumerism served with whipped cream on top.”

Taken into consideration how big of a role coffee plays in people’s lives today, one would think that people would know where their coffee was coming from and what kind of conditions it was produced in. However, the truth is to the contrary because many people have no idea what conditions coffee producers undergo. Approximately 25 million farmers depend on coffee production/sales to make their living, and many of them live in poverty. The coffee market is prone to severe fluctuations due to changes in climate which in turn affect the growth patterns of coffee plants. Due to the longevity of the growth of coffee plants, producers cannot react quickly to changes in coffee demand. Thus, this is where smart consumers can help poor people, and in particular, coffee producers.

As smart informed consumers, people can buy certified fair trade coffee which basically means that farmers and coffee producers are paid a fair and stable price regardless of changing conditions. A recent Oxfam Australia survey reports that more than 85% of consumers want more fair trade products in their supermarkets, and 60% believe that their consumer decisions can make a difference in the lives of producers and farmers in less-developed countries. Marcial Valladolid, from CACVRA, which is a small producer organization in Peru, expressed how coffee cultivation used to disappoint him because the money he made was not remotely close to cover the cost of his coffee production. CACVRA uses its fair trade premium to “support and improve organic cultivation and certification.” By joining this cooperative, Marcel is content that he was able to receive some profit, and he is hopeful for a future with more fair trade.

It is no wonder that coffee was once described by Neil Gaiman as “sweet as sin,” taking into account all the producers and farmers horribly affected by our enjoyment of their produce. Majority of coffee producers live in developing countries including Brazil, Colombia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Ethiopia, and Mexico. Luckily, our enjoyment can come as a better price as the conditions can change because certified fair trade products are becoming increasingly available and accessible through independent grocers, major supermarkets, and retail stores. Thus, making the switch to becoming a smart consumer could not be any easier today. Make the switch today and change people’s lives.

– Leen Abdallah

Sources: AU News, Good Reads
Photo: Google, Google