Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Let there be Light: Solar Bottle Bulbs Illuminate Filipino Cities

Let there be Light: Solar Bottle Bulbs Illuminate Filipino Cities

When a group of imaginative students at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) first designed an experiment to make light emanate from plastic water bottles, they never imagined that their minimalistic idea would literally and metaphorically light up the lives of over 15,000 people.

The idea seems deceivingly simple: take an empty one liter plastic bottle, fill it with purified water and a few drops of bleach for cleanliness, and cement it halfway through a small metal roof sheet. The plastic refracts sunlight and suddenly illuminates every corner of a dark room.

But while its physics is straightforward, its impacts have been far greater than any of the original designers could have imagined. Many slum homes in developing nations lack proper lighting because of how closely they are constructed in relation to one another, and the families often cannot afford the luxury of electricity. Over three million families live immersed in darkness in metropolitan Manila, a Filipino city where the bottle of captured light has made the greatest difference.

Filipino student Illac Diaz, the creator of the My Shelter Foundation, has made it his personal mission to brighten one million homes in the Philippines by utilizing this elementary yet ingenious invention. He calls his project Isang Litrong Liwanag – A Liter of Light. Today, with the help of various organizations and individual volunteers, Diaz and his solar bottle bulbs have lit up over 15,000 homes in over 20 Philippine cities.

Although it is not a perfect technology because it does not produce light during the nighttime hours, it is surprisingly effective in the sense that it uses inexpensive and locally available materials to illuminate homes that had never experienced the luxury of light before. The MIT students’ science along with Diaz’s motivation have extended this project’s impact beyond providing light.

The success of A Liter of Light is a great model of a sustainable solution for a variety of socio-economic problems worldwide. It is an idea of Appropriate Technologies, a concept that provides a simple, replicable technology that fulfills the needs of developing nations by utilizing the limited resources they have access to.

And the Philippines aren’t the only country. From the jungles of Uganda to riverbanks of Bangladesh, these solar bottle bulbs are continuing to make their mark on countries all over the world. And for those families that now have these makeshift light bulbs in their homes, something that spreads a stray ray into the darkest interior can be much more than a bright idea.

To find out more, visit aliteroflight.org.

– Angie Lou

Source: Let’s Talk Magazine

Nepal Innovates Traditional Compost with Urine

Nepal_Urine_Fertilizer
Instead of using the traditional nitrogen-rich fertilizer typically used to encourage crop growth, researchers in Nepal are experimenting with an unlikely candidate for fertilizer: human urine.

Urea, which is typically used as fertilizer, was found by researchers in Nepal’s capital to be inferior to human urine in fertilizing crops. As part of their research, compost was mixed with different types of fertilizer sources, including urine mixed with compost, and the combinations were tested on pepper plants. The plants in which a mix of urine and compost was used grew the tallest plants that bore the most peppers.

Scientia Horticulturae, who released the study, attributed the positive affect of the unique mixture to “reduced nitrogen loss and enhanced availability of organic carbon in the soil.” The researchers conclude that human urine could be a possible alternative to traditional fertilizers in enhancing sustainable agriculture.

The study goes on to point out that although the use of urine may enhance crop growth, the use of it alone is not sufficient to have a positive effect on plants – it must be used in addition to compost. Currently in Nepal, farmers are applying urine directly to soil, which is not efficient.

Urine alone does not contain organic matter to become a viable source of nutrients for crops, but does provide “faster-releasing nutrients that complement slow-release nutrients from compost, which has a higher content of organic matter and beneficial microbes.”

Researchers acknowledge that although the combination of urine and  compost is sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective, marketing this to farmers may be difficult due to “cultural factors” and reluctance of farmers to handle human urine. Experts also cite that government subsidies to mineral fertilizers will stand in the way of widespread use of urine in agriculture.

– Christina Kindlon

Source: Guardian

Volunteers Pitch Funding Needs


Coming to a theater near you… or perhaps just your computer screen. Talented Borgen Project volunteers were at the office pitching the cause on Monday.

Coldplay and Oxfam Fight Land Grabs With “In My Place”

Coldplay and Oxfam Fight Land Grabs With “In My Place”An acoustic version of the Coldplay song “In My Place” has been donated to Oxfam to create a new unique campaign video that will be used to bring awareness to the problem of land grabs all over the world.

Land grabs occur when people have pushed off a tract of land without consultation or compensation because corporations, governments, and banks buy up the land to generate large profits. People are in effect moved off the places they call home. Since 2001, at least 80 million hectares of land deals have occurred forcing many families to find somewhere else to stay. The project is part of the GROW campaign which is working to create a more just and more sustainable world.

Working on the music video is award-winning director Mat Whitecross. Whitecross, using video clips and photos donated by fans and friends of Oxfam, will create a video that very uniquely sends the message of what these land grabs do to poor families all over the world.

“The concept is really simple,” says Whitecross. “I want you to take a room in your house and move it somewhere else, somewhere unexpected.”

Land grabs exacerbate the problem of poverty and hunger by denying people the homes they live in and the land they use to grow their food. With the video, Oxfam hopes to send a message that action must be taken to prevent land grabs and put people before profit.

– Rafael Panlilio
Source: Oxfam

10 Facts About World Hunger

10-things-you-should-know-about-poverty
When it comes to Global Poverty, there are more than a few questions that are consistently asked. How many people are living in poverty? What kind of progress has been made? How much does it cost to eliminate world Hunger? Is global hunger a solvable problem? While these questions seem difficult, their answers are relatively simple. The World Food Programme has complied a list of 10 things one should know about World Hunger in 2013 to help clarify the problem and launch the world into action to eliminate hunger across the globe.

1. Approximately 870 million people in the world do not eat enough to be healthy. That means that one in every eight people on Earth goes to bed hungry each night.

2. The number of people living with chronic hunger has declined by 130 million people over the past 20 years. For developing countries, the prevalence of undernourishment has fallen from 23.2 to 14.9 percent over the period 1990–2010.

3. Most of the progress against hunger was achieved before 2007/08. Since then, global progress in reducing hunger has slowed and leveled off.

4. Hunger is number one on the list of the world’s top 10 health risks. It kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.

5. A third of all deaths in children under the age of five in developing countries is linked to under nutrition.

6. The first 1,000 days of a child’s life, from pregnancy through age two, are the critical window in which to tackle under nutrition. A proper diet in this period can protect children from the mental and physical stunting that can result from malnutrition.

7.  It costs just US $0.25 per day to provide a child with all of the vitamins and nutrients he or she needs to grow up healthy.

8.  If women in rural areas had the same access to land, technology, financial services, education and markets as men, the number of hungry people could be reduced by 100-150 million.

9. By 2050, climate change and erratic weather patterns could have pushed another 24 million children into hunger. Almost half of these children would be in sub-Saharan Africa.

10. Hunger is the single biggest solvable problem facing the world today.

-Kira Maixner
Source World Food Programme
Photo The Telegraph

Hans Rosling’s New Insights on Poverty

Hans Rosling
Hans Rosling, a professor of global health at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, focuses on dispelling common myths about the so-called developing world, which he points out is no longer worlds away from the West. In fact, most of the Third World is on the same trajectory toward health and prosperity, and many countries are moving twice as fast as the West did.

The statistic of the world has not been made properly available, because of that we still have the old mindset of developing and industrialized countries, which is wrong. According to Hans, Africa has done a great job and it has done better beyond our thinking.

And there are some wrong ideas. Many developed countries say now the problem is that the emerging economies are emitting too much carbon dioxide. The minister of the Environment of India said, “Well, you are the one who caused the problem.” The OECD countries, the highest income countries, were the ones who caused the climate change. So we need to have the right opinion about emerging economies and developed countries.

We can get out of poverty. Rosling spent 20 years researching African farmers who were on the verge of famine. “When you are in poverty, everything is about survival, it is about having food.” To get out of poverty, they need technology. “We hate this mortar to stand hours and hours,; get us a mill so that we can mill our flour then we will be able to pay for ourselves”.

Technology will bring us out of poverty. But there is a need for market to get away from poverty. His 20 years’ experience in Africa has convinced him that “the seemingly impossible is possible”. Africa is not done badly. In 50 years they have progressed from a pre-medieval situation. Africa has a bright future. Even though we are facing many obstacles, “seeing the impossible is possible” if we work together. Then we can make a great Africa.

– Caiqing Jin(Kelly)

Source: TedTalk

Syrian Children Fed and Educated in Refugee Camps

Syrian Children Fed and Educated in Refugee Camps

While most reports about Syria the past week have discussed the casualties of what has been the deadliest month to record in the three-year long civil war, hope through education remains in the face of strife and depravity.

Of the thousands of children who have fled to Jordan and Iraq, some have been fortunate enough to continue their education. More recently as well, these children also began receiving consistent meals and snacks at their schools.

On March 24, the World Food Programme, a branch of the United Nations, began a special program to feed children attending schools in refugee camps. Their goal was not only to increase the children’s nutritional intake but to also ensure that they continue to attend school. In a matter of two weeks, World Food Programme has already seen a 20 percent increase in attendance throughout the camps they worked in.

World Food Programme partnered with five different schools; two schools in the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan (run by UNICEF) which services 6,000 children and the Domiz refugee camp school and two schools in Al-Qaim, located in Iraq, reaching 4,500 children.

The main snack that is distributed is a date biscuit, an already popular and familiar snack in the Middle East. This version however is fortified with three minerals and 11 vitamins, providing students with 450 calories to help sustain them through their day.

With plans to help an additional 24,000 children in Zaatari and 1,500 throughout Iraq, World Food Programme would need to raise $780,000 to run the program through the end of the year. Aside from the millions of dollars needed to feed all refugees, and not just children attending schools, this particular project has hopes of being able to create a stable routine and lifestyle for children who have already encountered so much.

– Deena Dulgerian

Source: UN News Centre

World Poverty: Three Big Questions and Three Simple Answers

USAID and three questions/answers
While there are numerous questions regarding world poverty and why we should protect it, here are three big questions and three simple answers that make eliminating poverty a foreseeable future.

Question 1 – Is the Problem too big to address? 

In the case of poverty, no action is too small to make a lasting impact. Food, water, and shelter are basic human needs and when teaching people that are living in poverty how to provide these basic needs for themselves, the solution is very simple. Something small, such as installing a well in an impoverished village can improve the lives of hundreds of people by reducing illnesses caused by dehydration and poor sanitation and creating a source of water for crops to grow.

Question 2 – Doesn’t the US do enough already?

In general, most Americans believe that 25 percent of the United States’ federal budget is allotted to foreign aid. In reality, only one percent of the budget goes to funding programs that provide aid and reduce poverty. To give a bit of perspective, $30 billion goes to foreign aid and $663 billion goes to military spending. When it comes to foreign aid and wealthy countries that can afford to give, the United States ranks among those who give lowest percentage of their GDP, in line after Sweden, Norway, Luxemburg, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. The United States allots only 0.2 percent of gross national income to programs that fight poverty across the world while the highest ranking countries give between 0.5 percent and one percent of their national incomes.

Even so, over the years, there have been many successes in poverty reduction. Today poverty remains as one of the biggest problems in the world, however, according to USAID the number of people living in poverty has been reduced by 50 percent in the last 20 years, smallpox has been eradicated worldwide and since 1990, 800 million people have gained access to improved water supplies and 750 million to improved sanitation. If the U.S. only allots 0.2 percent of the gross national income to foreign aid focused programs, there could be tremendous gains and millions more people would benefit if the U.S. allotted another 0.2 percent or more of the federal budget.

Question 3 – Does corruption in developing nations prevent aid from reaching the most impoverished people?

Yes, corruption exists everywhere, but it is not a justifiable excuse for ignoring the billions of people in developing countries that continue to suffer. In fact, experts have developed strategies of transparency that eligible countries must address before receiving aid. These strategies ensure that the aid coming from the United States goes directly to the people and programs that need it the most.

There it is; three big questions and three simple answers when it comes to world poverty. Eliminating poverty is not too big, and funding to end poverty is increasingly protected from supporting corruption. Advocating for foreign aid from the United States, does not simply eradicate illnesses or provide food and knowledge, but lifts men, women, and children out of poverty and assists in establishing long-term development.

– Kira Maixner

Source: The Borgen Project, USAID
Photo: Global Communities

Unilever’s New Model of Capitalism

unilever-CSR-ben-and-jerrys
Citizens of the world are less and less supportive of capitalism solely based on maximizing short-term profits. More and more companies are acknowledging their obligation to all the participants in their business, from the shareholders, to the employees, to the communities they operate in. Unilever is one such company, realizing and owning their need to contribute to the societal welfare and environmental impact for the countries it operates in. They want to propose a new model of capitalism that focuses on the long term, in which companies try to solve social and environmental problems and give equal importance to the needs of communities, as well as their shareholders.

Unilever has over 400 brands worldwide under its umbrella, ranging from foods to household cleaners, including Lipton, Knorr, Dove, and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream; sold in almost every country, with two billion people using a Unilever product every day. Their huge distribution network enables them to make huge changes on a massive scale.

They have developed a range of initiatives that both help people as well has support their business’s growth. One focus is on hygiene, where public health specialists advise that the most effective intervention is to encourage hand washing at key times of the day – before and after eating, etc. Unilever developed the brand Lifebuoy with a marketing strategy based on campaigns to educate mothers and children to adopt this simple gesture. Trial programs in Mumbai, India have shown that, compared to control groups, those who benefited from the change in behavior were 25% less likely to suffer from diarrhea and were less absent from school for medical reasons. The campaign is now being expanded to Southeast Asia and Africa. It has a triple advantage – the consumer is healthier, the company sees a decline in health care costs for its employees, and Unilever benefits from increased sales of soap.

Unilever’s greatest impact is within the agricultural sector. Worldwide, the company purchases 12% of the world’s black tea, 3% of the tomatoes, and 3% of the palm oil. They have committed to halve their environmental footprint by 2020, and source 100% of their agricultural raw materials sustainably while enhancing the livelihoods of people across their value chain.

A third sphere of influence is in economic development through engagement and strengthening of their small-business affiliates. Unilever is connected with more than one million small farmers alone. They are able to work directly with the farmers to improve their productivity through a partnership with local and international organizations, expand their distribution efficiency, and train them in new techniques. Oxfam estimates the number of small-businesses that Unilever touches is more than half a billion, and improving their lives and businesses is an effective way to reduce poverty.

And, this April 9th – you can get free ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s, as they “give back” to their communities all over the world.

– Mary Purcell

Source: UN ITC

Crowdfunding Site Used to Provide Solar Lights to India

India_Solar_Crowdfunding
Australian crowdfunding site, ChipIn, is being used to raise money to provide rural Indian slums with solar powered lights. ChipIn has joined forces with Pollinate Energy, an NGO dedicated to providing sustainable and renewable energy sources to rid India of energy poverty. Pollinate Energy’s goal is to crowdsource funds to support the purchase of five franchises that will sell solar lamp kits for tent slums in Bangalore, India.

Pollinate Energy’s goal is to provide the community members with a month-long training program, initial hardware, and continuing support systems to ensure long-term success – as opposed to simply providing members of the community with solar lamps.

Crowdfunding has rapidly gained in popularity in recent years, and has become an efficient way to fund renewable energy projects in supporting energy-poor communities in developing countries. Pollinate Energy says that the funding is needed, as they found nearly “3,400 families without power in a 6-mile radius.” Information released by the government backs up these numbers, with a recent report citing that 1 out of every 6 urban Indian lives in a slum, a majority of which are not even connected to the power grid at all.

– Christina Kindlon

Source: Clean Technica