Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Fuel Crisis in Europe Causes an Increase in Pollution

Fuel Crisis in Europe
After years of economic downfall, increased rates of poverty and supply chain disruptions, Europe finds itself launched into a desolate fuel crisis due to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian crisis. The cost of fuel and electricity is likely to increase, further impacting families as they try and survive Europe’s cold winters.

Although the fuel crisis in Europe is often accredited to the Russo-Ukranian War, the problem has its roots in years of crises and decisions that have left Europe with an acute shortage of fuel. Aside from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the backlash from the 2020 pandemic is the most immediate culprit. The pandemic saw a lower production of natural gas and inadequate maintenance, leading to problems in production now. It also has led to a sharp increase in fuel demand after the lifting of restrictions, causing a shortage in fuel.

In addition to the pandemic and sanctions on Russian exports, much of the fuel crisis in Europe has stemmed from a decrease in energy production. Many countries have been trying to phase out natural gas and coal, shifting towards more sustainable alternatives. In fact, in the past decade, natural gas production halved, with imports making up 83% of gas consumption today.

Impact of Fuel Shortages

Because many homes in Eastern and Central Europe already rely on burning coal and wood to heat their homes, the fuel crisis has exacerbated the ongoing coal shortage. Many countries in the EU have pledged to eliminate the use of coal due to its carbon footprint. In addition, Europe placed sanctions on the coal exports of Russia – one of Europe’s biggest coal producers.

The shortage of coal and other fuel sources has led to many European leaders rolling back on measures designed to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels. Several coal-producing countries, such as Poland and Bulgaria have increased their coal usage and reopened old cold-fire plants. Poland has also lifted bans on burning lignite and household coal, though the country fears that the lifted ban still will not meet Polish energy needs.

Wood burning is also expected to increase throughout Europe as governments encourage their citizens to burn wood to keep warm. Countries like Bosnia Herzegovina and Bulgaria have even banned wood exports, fearing that there will not be enough wood for domestic purposes.

An Increase in Pollution

With an increase in the use of dirty fossil fuels and wood burning comes concerns for the impact on people’s health and well-being. It is well-known that countries with high usage of coal and other fossil fuels have a significantly higher rate of air pollution which causes thousands of deaths. One report estimated that 18 coal plants alone were enough to cause around 19,000 deaths in nearby regions. Wood burning is just as deadly as coal, if not more. One study earlier this year found that wood-burning accounted for the most pollution-related health issues and was responsible for €17 billion in health costs across Europe.

The tremendous impact that coal or wood burning has on people’s health means that a sharp increase in usage of it will also increase health issues. This is especially concerning for impoverished groups across Europe as they are the most likely to be affected by this issue. As prices have surged, research has found that poorer households that cannot afford energy are more likely to resort to burning coal, wood or other harmful materials.

This is especially problematic considering that poorer people are more likely to have exposure to air pollution as it is. They are more likely to live in areas with worse air quality and do not often have access to health care to treat possible health issues.

Mitigation Strategies

Despite the tremendous effects the energy crisis has had on Europe, governments are working to fight it. In October, the EU introduced a new package that is intended to lower energy costs and secure energy supplies. The package intends to impose a variety of measures that would lower costs, such as negotiating prices, establishing a dynamic price limit and working to lower demand for gas.

Many other countries have introduced similar packages, spending almost €500 billion across the continent to curb prices, lower energy taxes and provide subsidies to citizens struggling with energy costs. Both packages intend to lower the burden of energy costs on families and citizens, especially low-income citizens who tend to be affected the hardest by high prices.

The Road Ahead

The impact of the fuel crisis in Europe has been tremendous on its citizens. It has led to an increase in coal, wood burning and pollution, which has particularly affected poor citizens. It is also predicted that low-income countries and citizens will continue to see an increase in air pollution and a decrease in health. However, the proposed packages to lower energy costs could not only decrease the financial burden on citizens but decrease the need to burn wood, coal and other harmful fuels.

– Padma Balaji
Photo: Flickr

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Being Poor in Sri Lanka

Being Poor in Sri LankaExtreme poverty rates in Sri Lanka are low compared to other countries in the region. According to the Asian Development Bank, only 0.2% of the employed population lived on less than $1.90 per day in 2021. However, the quality of life in Sri Lanka remains low as more than 13% of the Sri Lankan population lived on less than $3.65 per day in 2016. Estimates indicate that, by 2019, this rate may have reduced to about 11%, meaning more people were escaping poverty and capable of fulfilling their most basic needs. However, the struggles from the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2022 economic crisis have caused a regression in poverty rates in Sri Lanka, thus, being poor in Sri Lanka is a new reality for many.

Sri Lanka’s Impoverished

According to the National Multidimensional Poverty Index (NMPI), of every six people in Sri Lanka, one suffers from multidimensional poverty. However, being poor in Sri Lanka is more probable in certain areas and among specific age groups.

In Sri Lanka, there is a significant difference in poverty between rural and urban districts. More than 80% of the multidimensionally deprived are living in rural areas, which makes this group a priority.

Plantation communities in Sri Lanka face significant impacts of poverty. Although these communities make up 4.5% of the national population, according to data from 2019, plantation communities make up 14.4% of Sri Lanka’s poor. Plantation communities are vulnerable to poverty due to a history of oppression and marginalization. Many plantation workers face modern slavery conditions and do not earn a living wage. Children living in plantation communities are exposed to harsh working conditions and lack opportunities to prosper in life as access to quality education is lacking, among other issues.

Children, in general, are at risk of being poor in Sri Lanka. UNICEF reports that 42.2% of Sri Lankan children between 0 and 4 years old suffer from multidimensional poverty, according to the Child Multidimensional Poverty Index (CMPI). These deprivations include a lack of nutrition, inaccessible education and inadequate access to clean water sources. About 33% of poor children suffer from a form of malnutrition. However, there are no real differences between boys and girls in terms of exposure to poverty, which means there is no gender disparity in relation to poverty among children.

The Effects of the 2022 Crisis

Despite the country’s efforts to move away from poverty and the numerous improvements during the last decade, Sri Lanka’s current economic crisis has shaken the country. The World Bank estimates that poverty rates could double in 2022, rising from 13.1% to 25.6%. This would mark the highest poverty numbers in Sri Lanka since 2009.

The BBC explains that the COVID-19 pandemic marked the onset of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis as the tourism sector faced severe impacts. Then-President Rajapaksa’s “economic mismanagement” and poor financial decisions also played a significant role — Sri Lanka ran out of foreign currency and fell into immense financial debt.

Sri Lanka’s inflation rate stood at more than 50% by July 2022 and citizens faced “daily power cuts and shortages of basics such as fuel, food and medicines,” the BBC says. The Russia-Ukraine war has further exacerbated inflation across the world.

The situation affects poor households more severely as purchasing power becomes even lower. The economic recession also caused about 500,000 job losses in industry and service sectors between 2021 and 2022, the World Bank says.

Other Impacts

Russia is the third-largest exporter of Sri Lankan tea, but these exports drastically dropped since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war. Furthermore, Sri Lanka banned imports of fertilizer in April 2021, which gravely affected agriculture as farmers had no alternatives. In fact, the 2021/2022 planting season noted a 50% drop in production. This has affected food security in the country and the livelihoods of about 2 million farmers and 40% of the population deriving income from agriculture.

According to ReliefWeb in November 2022, 6.3 million Sri Lankans are enduring moderate or severe food insecurity. Furthermore, severe acute food insecurity affects 66,000 Sri Lankans, 18,000 of whom come from plantation/estate communities.

Deteriorating conditions have led to nationwide protests that concluded with the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Therefore, toward the end of July 2022, Sri Lanka imposed a state of emergency due to political and economic stability collapsing at the same time.

Taking Action

In September 2022, the IMF offered Sri Lanka an initial bailout loan of almost $3 billion. The funding looks to “stabilize the economy, protect the livelihoods of the Sri Lankan people and prepare the ground for economic recovery and promoting sustainable and inclusive growth.” Furthermore, an IMF loan may encourage other lenders to reestablish trust with Sri Lanka, which currently has $50 billion worth of debt as of July 2022.

Due to the unprecedented inflation rates, the government reacted by increasing direct financial assistance. Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe implemented the Welfare Benefit Fast Track Programme ‘Leave No One Behind’ to assist low-income households in Sri Lanka. By October 12, 2022, the program had received 2.3 million applications for assistance. The program is projected to benefit about 3.9 million Sri Lankans.

Because Sri Lanka’s social safety nets have limitations due to the country’s lack of finance, foreign aid to Sri Lanka is crucial amid the country’s economic crisis.

– Carla Tomas
Photo: Unsplash

Fighting Against Statelessness

Fighting against statelessness
Being stateless happens when a person does not enjoy any nationality. Therefore, not having citizenship means that a person does not have any bonds to the legal obligations and rights of any country. In a world where nations are still the dominant players, nationality is one of the core aspects of forming one’s identity. Currently, more than 10 million people around the world are stateless. It is important to see how statelessness enhances other problems, such as economic uncertainty, and how the international community acts in order to improve this situation.

Why is Statelessness a Problem?

Nationals from a country receive certain rights. Participating in political and social tasks, such as a right to social security, freedom of movement and voting are rights that citizens take for granted. However, in some countries, there are residents which are stateless and so they have no access to these basic rights. If a state denies a stateless person protection, it is denying him or her basic human rights. As a result, they have limited access to development and have challenges progressing in life successfully. This situation leads on many occasions to perpetual economic instability. Stateless people have no legal right to work in their country of residence, which makes it very difficult for them to have reliable job opportunities. Residents which the formal economy largely ignores, are vulnerable victims of exploitation such as forced labor and prostitution.

Moreover, statelessness is often the result of discriminatory laws against women. More than 20 countries around the world still have gender-discriminatory laws that make both women and children more vulnerable to becoming stateless. Unequal legislation such as the Qatari does not allow mothers to pass their nationality to their children, even if there is no recognized father and it will render the child stateless. Another example is Jordan, where women married to non-nationals cannot pass their Jordanian nationality to their children. Fighting against statelessness and avoiding the risk in countries with gender-discriminatory legislation, reduces the prevalence of other problems, such as the perpetuation of patriarchal societies and domestic violence. It also helps reduce the risk of child marriage for girls whose only opportunity is to acquire their spouse’s nationality.

International Law is a Key to Change

The main issue for people fighting statelessness is that they cannot count on the protection of a specific nation, so the international community becomes an important ally to monitor statelessness and help people going through the toughest challenges. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), an agency to which The United States is the largest donor, is also dedicated to helping reduce statelessness worldwide. UNHCR drafted the 1954 and 1961 Conventions, through which stateless people received recognition and a guideline focused on reducing statelessness.

Based on Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the 1961 convention has as a core objective to avoid statelessness as a result of deprivation of nationality, as everyone has the right to a nationality. While the loss of nationality is a possibility and the national legislation contemplates it, what the 1961 Convention attempts to eliminate is the deprivation of nationality based on discriminatory laws. Therefore, based on Article 9 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the Convention established that both men and women should have the same right to acquire and pass on their nationality.

What is Improving?

In 2014, UNHCR launched the #IBelong Campaign, an action plan focused on fighting against statelessness and optimally eliminating it within 10 years. The most important actions taken are the following:

  • Solve major cases of statelessness
  • Ensure every child has a nationality
  • Fight against gender discrimination
  • Increase the number of members to the 1961 Convention

The latest data revealed by UNHCR in 2021 shows that 96 states are party to the 1954 Convention and 77 are party to the 1961 Convention. This suggests that ever more countries worldwide are committed to the process of fighting against statelessness. Furthermore, since the #IBelong Campaign:

  • Kyrgyzstan reduced the number of statelessness cases to zero.
  • Eleven countries made significant reductions.
  • Seventeen countries implemented efforts to identify and help stateless people in their territory.
  • Twelve countries facilitated the naturalization process.
  • Fourteen countries compromised to give every child the right to a nationality.
  • Two countries improved their gender discriminatory laws in favor of mothers’ rights to transfer their nationality to their children.

Looking Ahead

Recent action regarding statelessness proves that the international community is making a significant effort to improve the situation. The extent to which international law can make a difference is limited to member states. States are independent to decide if the Conventions regarding statelessness become binding in their legislation. Thus, even though it is difficult for international law to make a difference, the growing commitment to solving statelessness is mainly what allows international law to play a crucial role in fighting statelessness globally.

– Carla Tomas Laserna
Photo: Flickr

China’s Agricultural Sci-tech Poverty Reduction Strategy

China’s Agricultural Sci-techThe Chinese government has seen significant success in reducing poverty across China and is using this expertise to help reduce poverty in other areas of the world. Through China’s agricultural sci-tech poverty reduction strategy, developing countries may see lower rates of poverty in the following years. Since 2012, China has sent close to 300,000 sci-tech experts to rural areas across China in order to advance agricultural productivity through agriculture sci-tech, thereby reducing poverty.

Over the past four decades, the Chinese government’s poverty reduction efforts in China have reduced the number of Chinese citizens living in extreme poverty by 800 million. This equates to a contribution of “close to three-quarters of the global reduction in the number of people living in extreme poverty,” the World Bank says. The country reached this poverty reduction goal through a two-pillar system.

The first pillar included “broad-based economic transformation to open new economic opportunities and raise average incomes,” while the second pillar aimed to provide targeted support to the most disadvantaged households. China’s significant poverty reduction rates are also a result of the country’s efficient government.

Shrimp Farming in Inner Mongolia

Aquaculturist and farmer Wang Changgui told Global Times in November 2022 that Ordos City in North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region had recorded a “successful yield” of shrimp this year.

One can attribute the increased shrimp yield to the knowledge and skills of one of the many experts sent by the Chinese government to rural areas to counteract poverty. The Ordos agriculture and animal husbandry bureau directed Wu Tao to research the soil in Inner Mongolia. Wu found that soil in the area had levels of “high salinity,” making it an ideal environment to farm shrimp.

Fellow researcher Zhu Changbo noted that the farmers in the area usually need to use water to manually remove the salt brought to the ground surface. However, the process of shrimp harvesting removes a lot of the salt from the water, which is beneficial for the soil and plants.

With the help of its researchers, China aims to “popularize agricultural science and technology, foster the spirit of sci-tech innovation and entrepreneurship, bolster poverty eradication efforts and promote rural vitalization.” The implementation of China’s agricultural sci-tech poverty reduction strategy is also seeing success in other countries.

Agricultural Assistance in Other Countries

Because the Chinese government has seen poverty reduction success within China, it is also working to decrease poverty rates in other countries through agricultural sci-tech. China’s agricultural success stories include:

  • Global Juncao technology. China is involved in more than 106 nations’ efforts to decrease poverty, namely by using Juncao technology. Juncao technology, which involves “breeding fungi with herbaceous plants,” has provided households with a sustainable way to grow mushrooms without the use of expensive fertilizers. Papua New Guinea (PNG) has already implemented the method and Juncao technology creator Lin Zhanxi was able to use the technology to help PNG produce rice for the first time in 1997.
  • Sudan’s cotton yield. The China Aid Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center’s creation of lab-developed cotton seeds (referred to as “China 1” and “China 2,” respectively) has led to agricultural success in Sudan. The specific planting area has made up 90% of the country’s cotton yield for multiple years. Furthermore, the seeds’ quality had improved the marketability of cotton in Sudan over the last 10 years.
  • Burundi’s hybrid rice villages. China is responsible for planting hybrid rice varieties across 22 villages in Burundi to boost poverty reduction. Chinese experts developed “the first demonstration village of rice cultivation for poverty alleviation in Ninga village” where hybrid rice varieties were farmed for five seasons in a row. Since the planting of the hybrid rice, “the village has increased its rice production by 1,661 metric tons, resulting in improved income for local households.”

Through China’s agricultural sci-tech poverty reduction strategy, China’s rural regions and other developing countries are seeing greater agricultural success, which reduces poverty by raising incomes and strengthening food security.

– Aspen Oblewski
Photo: Flickr

Ending the War on Drugs in Latin America

War on Drugs in Latin America
The “War on Drugs” is an international focus that began in 1961 when the U.N. Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs recommended countries adopt punitive measures for drug charges. Prohibitionist efforts to eliminate illegal drug use intensified 10 years later when U.S. President Richard Nixon announced his war on illegal drugs, which he deemed “public enemy number one” on June 17, 1971.

After this, the U.S. took the lead in the war on drugs, leading international drug-control efforts such as halting the harvesting of the sacred Incan coca plant and criminalizing product consumption. These efforts mainly impacted Latin America, specifically Colombia, Bolivia and Peru, which are the main cocaine producers. Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean are the distributor countries that funnel drugs into Europe and the U.S. These Latin and Central American countries have experienced community and environmental damage, as well as an increase in violence and corruption because of the war on drugs. Even when levels of drug production in one country decrease, production moves to another country, a phenomenon called the “balloon effect.”

The war on drugs in Latin American countries weakened the economy, environment and overall safety and well-being of citizens. As new progressive leaders in Latin America gain power, Latin America begins the work of creating less punitive measures for drug offenses with the hope of ending the war on drugs.

The Need for Change

The “war on drugs” harms the national development of “narco-economies” and infringes on human rights, through forced labor and torture, the absence of fair trials and the right to a clean and healthy environment. Ending the war on drugs in Latin America is an important step because it frees up Latin American resources to focus on reparations for human rights violations.

Policies created during the war on drugs negatively impact marginalized communities. For example, women serve in prison for drug-related offenses at a higher rate than men, even though women with drug offenses are often non-violent and first-time offenders. These policies have also led to the use of harmful practices such as racial profiling. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention conducted a study released in 2021 on the “war on drugs,” which found that the war resulted in mass incarceration, disproportionate sentencing, abusive use of the death penalty and extensive human rights violations. The UN system Common Position on drug policy states that drug use and dependency are not to be treated as a criminal matter, but as a health issue that should be treated using public health education, mental health support and rehabilitation and reintegration programs.

New Leadership, New Policies

The main voice for ending the “war on drugs” in Latin America comes from the new Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a progressive leader of the state whose focus is peace in Latin America. Petro calls for a reversal of anti-narcotics efforts like ending the criminalization of coca growers and instead focusing on prosecuting the criminal organizations that profit off of drug trafficking.

Colombia, as well as Cuba, Norway, Venezuela and now Mexico, are all guarantor countries participating in the process of peace with the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN). The recruitment of countries to participate in ending the war on drugs in Latin America is a large focus for Petro, who joined a conference of leaders in Latin America at the National Palace in Mexico to announce reforming Latin American drug policy. After the conference, Petro announced on social media that “concrete agreements” were made in regard to development, sovereignty, migration and integration.

Looking Ahead

During Colombian President, Gustavo Petro’s appeal to the world to end the “hypocritical war on drugs” at the U.N. general assembly in 2022, he called out the world’s obsession with carbon, oil and money, which has led to deforestation and the destruction of Latin American stability and health. Petro announced a new time of peace in Latin America, because, in Petro’s own words, “without peace with the planet, there will be no peace among nations. Without social justice, there is no social peace.”

President Gustavo Petro represents a new age of progressive leaders whose focus is to repair the damage to the environment and citizens due to the war on drugs and the climate crisis. His efforts have gained the attention and support of the Puebla Group – made up of progressive Latin American leaders – and The Global Commission on Drug Policy, an organization of cultural and political leaders whose goal is to push reforms for international drug control by using responsible regulation.

With the support of these groups and leaders, economic, social and environmental justice will be at the forefront of future policy creation. Ending the war on drugs in Latin America is no easy task, as it involves creating a nurturing, supportive society for those addicted to and involved with drugs. However, it is a crucial step that must be taken to reverse the climate and humanitarian crisis created by the war on drugs.

Moving forward, the U.N. Human Rights Council requires drug policies to cohere with international human rights laws. Moreover, countries are to provide technical and financial assistance to drug policy to ensure that they protect fundamental freedoms and human rights. In addition, current drug policies are to be replaced with a restorative justice approach involving support rather than punishment for drug offenses. With these policy changes and the focus of dedicated world leaders like Colombian President Gustavo Petro, ending the war on drugs in Latin America is an achievable reality.

– Arden Schraff
Photo: Flickr

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Everything You Need to Know About the Hunger Crisis in Haiti

Hunger Crisis in HaitiDue to its location and small landmass, Haiti is susceptible to severe natural disasters. Because of this, among other factors, Haiti has long relied on importing food to feed its citizens. For example, Haiti imports 80% of its rice, a staple ingredient in many of Haiti’s traditional dishes, according to the International Trade Administration. This heavy reliance on outside sources of food means Haiti faces a high risk of food insecurity. Political instability, devaluation of the Haitian currency and rising inflation rates have contributed to a hunger crisis in Haiti.

Factors Contributing to the Hunger Crisis in Haiti

On August 14, 2021, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit the southern peninsula of Haiti. The earthquake damaged homes, businesses and critical infrastructure. As many Haitians lost their means of earning an income, food insecurity became more pronounced. The United Nations said about 650,000 Haitians needed humanitarian aid in the aftermath of the earthquake.

The supply chain disruptions as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war has caused soaring inflation rates in Haiti and across the world. As of July 2022, Haiti had already seen a 26% inflation rate.

The prevalence of gang activity in Haiti, as a consequence of the political instability in the country, also plays a role in the hunger crisis in Haiti. At the moment, gangs control the entrances to the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince. The rapidly increasing inflation rate coupled with gangs cutting off the southern peninsula from the capital has led to a steep increase in hunger for the vast majority of impoverished Haitians living in that area of the country.

“The complete blockage of the road leading to the impoverished southern peninsula for a year has cut off at least 3.5 million people from the capital — restricting access to markets, basic services and essential humanitarian assistance,” the World Food Programme (WFP) reported in July 2022. Due to these impacts, some families in this area report only eating once a day.

The southern peninsula also experienced the worst effects of the 2021 earthquake, meaning that this newer food crisis hit while the area was still trying to recover from the last major natural disaster in Haiti.

The Most Vulnerable Groups

About 20% of Haiti’s population is projected to experience crisis levels of acute food insecurity from July 2022 to January 2023, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network. Though the crisis affects all Haitians, rural Haitians face harsher impacts. The New Humanitarian reports in a September 2022 article that a single “plate of food already costs the average Haitian 35% of their daily income.” But, the average rural Haitian currently needs to spend 25% more of their daily income on food than the national average.

Children face the worst repercussions of the hunger crisis in Haiti as inadequate supplies of nutritious food affect their growth and development. Malnutrition has far-reaching impacts that affect individuals even in adulthood.

Efforts to Help Reduce Hunger in Haiti

Despite gang violence posing barriers to the delivery of food and other critical resources to those in need, the WFP and other organizations, such as USAID, are working around these barriers. As of August 2022, the WFP, for example, has been utilizing a United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) helicopter, and the WFP’s own ship, the Linda D, in order to bypass the dangerous occupied roads and deliver essentials to those in need.

Additionally, USAID has provided more than $170 million over the last two years to aid Haiti. In terms of the hunger crisis in Haiti specifically, USAID “provided more than $88.6 million to five public international
organizations and 10 non-governmental organizations in FY 2022.” This funding will go toward “cash and in-kind emergency food assistance, as well as nutrition services and agricultural support, to vulnerable households countrywide,” according to a USAID document.

To adequately address food insecurity in Haiti, aid organizations must look toward helping Haiti achieve self-sufficiency and sustainability. With less dependence on food imports and greater focus on agricultural production, Haiti can reduce its hunger woes.

– Chris Dickinson
Photo: Flickr

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Reducing Child Marriage in Zimbabwe

Child Marriage in Zimbabwe
According to a 2022 press release by UNICEF, in Zimbabwe, one out of three young girls enters into marriage before reaching their 18th birthday. Child marriage often results from gender disparities in developing countries. Girls Not Brides explains that “child marriage is rooted in gender inequality” and “poverty, lack of education, harmful social norms and practices and insecurity” exacerbate it. Child marriage in Zimbabwe limits future possibilities for women and perpetuates cycles of poverty.

Child Marriage in Zimbabwe: Contributing Factors

By June 2021, the number of individuals living in extreme poverty in Zimbabwe rose to almost 8 million. The Guardian reported that “child marriage in Zimbabwe is often driven by poverty.” Families living in poverty often push their young daughters into marriage because the “bride price” the family receives will reduce the household’s financial burden.

Aside from economic reasons, there is a cultural and religious ideology that condones marrying off young girls. Specifically, indigenous apostolic religious groups have a higher number of child marriages. The doctrine of the Apostolic Christian Council of Zimbabwe directs that girls must wed between the ages of 12 and 16 in order to prevent premarital sexual relations. Furthermore, many indigenous apostolic churches in Zimbabwe prohibit girls from returning to school once married.

Whereas 33% of girls in Zimbabwe entered into marriage before the age of 18, for boys, this rate is just 2%. The lack of education among women further pushes them into oppression, limiting job prospects and forcing women to rely on their husbands economically. According to a UNICEF statistic, as of 2021, only 14% of females in Zimbabwe attain an upper secondary education.

Human Rights Watch highlights the implications of child marriage: “Child marriage in Africa often ends a girl’s education, exposes her to domestic violence and grave health risks from early childbearing and HIV and traps her in poverty.”

The Women Advocacy Project (WAP) Zimbabwe

In efforts to decrease child marriage in Zimbabwe, the Women Advocacy Project Zimbabwe, a partner of U.S.-based The Advocacy Project, provides the support young girls need to thrive. The specific child marriage program looks to raise $5,000 via the GlobalGiving platform to train five local Zimbabwean girls to become community leaders. As leaders, these girls will be able to action community-wide change to bring an end to child marriage in Zimbabwe. These girl leaders will educate others about women’s rights, the far-reaching implications of child marriage, the benefits of obtaining an education and how to safeguard oneself from abuse.

The leaders will also “identify 25 girls in each of their communities who are at risk of marrying early and assist them in choosing better options,” the project page says. Each leader will form a “Give Us Books, Not Husbands” club in their local communities. The club aims to change beliefs and attitudes regarding child marriage.

WAP expects the project to reduce rates of child marriage in Zimbabwe and increase school attendance and completion rates among girls.

The Good News

The advocacy work of organizations has created lasting impacts. On May 27, 2022, the President of Zimbabwe signed into law the Marriages Act, legally prohibiting the marriage of individuals younger than 18. This means that child marriage is now a criminal offense.

The piece of legislation brings hope to the fight against child marriage, however, implementation and enforcement will play a critical role in actioning change.

– Micaela Carrillo
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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How The Gates Foundation is Enabling Sustainable Sanitation Services

Sustainable Sanitation Services
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is an organization dedicated to fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. It has been working to create a world where every person has the opportunity to live a healthy and productive life. In order to reach their goal, in 2021 alone, the Gates Foundation has been responsible for funding 2,051 grants and contributing a total of $6.7 billion of charitable support to build economies across the globe. With $653 million going to global growth and opportunity, the Gates Foundation has been a leader in improving water, hygiene and sustainable sanitation services globally.

Sustainable Sanitation

Since the main objective of a sanitation system is to provide a clean environment to people living in a community, promote better health and break the cycle of disease in the process. It is imperative that all societies have access to clean, filtered water and sewage systems. Sustainable sanitation is a sanitation system that is economically viable and institutionally appropriate. For example, sustainable sanitation measures should be both socio-culturally acceptable and easy to operate. It should also be low-cost and effective in mitigating disease and preserving the health of the community.

The Importance of Sanitation Services

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that “poor sanitation is linked to the transmission of diarrheal diseases.” As the spread of diseases like cholera, dysentery, typhoid and polio contributes to the spread of antimicrobial resistance, proper sanitation is crucial to the development of a community. Often linked to reducing the well-being and economic development of society, sustainable sanitation services are crucial to reducing poverty. However, improving and providing sustainable sanitation services can lead to many more benefits such as:

  • Reducing the spread of neglected tropical diseases.
  • Reducing the impact of malnutrition.
  • Promoting safety and empowering women and girls to employ safe feminine hygiene practices.
  • Promoting school attendance.
  • Encouraging the potential recovery of water and renewable energy.

However, WHO reported that in 2020, only 54% of the world’s population were using safely managed sanitation services and more than 1.7 billion people still don’t have access to basic sanitation services. Since roughly 830,000 people die every year due to the effects of poor hygiene and inadequate water sanitation in low/middle-income countries, it is important to take steps to mitigate the problem.

The Gates Foundation and Its Goals

The Gates Foundation has been working with government leaders and technologists to revolutionize sanitation standards and practices around the world. Their core initiatives include:

  • Promoting and creating policies and outlets for global governments to take in order to establish sustainable sanitation services.
  • Investing in the following priority demographics:
    • Low-Income populations
    • Racial and ethnic minorities
    • Women
    • Children and adolescents
    • Elderly
    • Individuals with special needs
  • Investing in the adoption of new technologies that can radically change the management of human waste in an affordable manner.
  • Conducting research to help the sanitation section develop data and evidence about what works and what does not.

The Four Focus Regions

The Gates Foundation recognizes that the implementation of sustainable sanitation services is most pertinent in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Even in the sub-Saharan countries with the best water coverage rates, as much as 25% of people still lack adequate access to proper sanitation services. The Gates Foundation reports that governments are now beginning to acknowledge the need for more innovative sustainable sanitation solutions as the population of towns and cities begins to grow rapidly. The organization has been focusing on four complementary areas, which are as follows:

  1. Investing in transformative technologies and commercialization is key to making sustainable sanitation accessible. Since 2011, the Gates Foundation has been working to “reinvent the toilet,” by designing a low-cost toilet that does not need access to an electrical grid, water or a sewer system.
  2. The foundation works with local governments, organizations and partners to stimulate the market and community demands to improve urban sanitation conditions.
  3. It also works to improve government policy and advocacy regarding sustainable sanitation by setting guidelines and providing funding. These efforts particularly work to increase women’s participation in sanitation decision-making areas.
  4. Lastly, the Gates Foundation invests in more research to measure the effectiveness of various sanitation services in order to reach its goal of providing equitable and safely managed sustainable sanitation services for all people by 2030.

Goals for the Future

Because poor sanitation is responsible for so many health complications, the Gates Foundation recognizes the importance of expanding access to clean water and providing sustainable sanitation. Solving sanitation challenges in the developing world will require new technologies that are both reliable and cost-effective. It is therefore crucial to invest in proper sanitation to lift poverty-stricken nations.

– Opal Vitharana
Photo: Flickr

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Improving Education in Rural Mongolia

Education in Rural Mongolia
After the collapse of socialism in the late 80s and early 90s, education for rural Mongolian children suffered due to a lack of financing for the country’s rural schools. Fortunately, changes in government policy and assistance from NGOs over the last 15-20 years have slowly but surely improved education in rural Mongolia.

Poverty Among Mongolian Herders

As of 2021, about 31% of Mongolia’s population lived in rural areas and as much as 40% of the population lives a herding lifestyle. In 2020, the World Bank pegged Mongolia’s rural poverty rate at 31%, with herders accounting for three-fifths of the rural poor.

Rural Education Issues

While basic education in Mongolia (grades 1 through 12) is free under the country’s constitution, attending school can be difficult for rural families.

Herder families struggle because they move around several times a year to find pastures for their herds. As such, many children move into dormitories at boarding schools. During Mongolia’s socialist era, the country was able to establish a well-functioning and convenient boarding school system for rural children, but after the collapse of socialism, authorities neglected rural development, which resulted in poorly maintained boarding schools.

Between 1990 and 1992, “public spending on education as a share of GDP” decreased by close to 50%, many rural schools suffered bankruptcy and many educators abandoned their professions due to lack of payment.

Because of financial neglect, about one-fifth of dormitories do not have proper heating and lack water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities, according to data from 2015. For example, a dorm in Tarialan soum (a part of a province) in Northwest Mongolia did not have a single running toilet, so students had to use a “dirty, cold, bad-smelling” pit latrine outside, with no way to wash their hands with clean water. In 2014, UNICEF established indoor toilets and hygiene facilities in the dormitory.

Another problem with education in Mongolia is that many teachers in rural schools graduate from “low-quality private teacher training institutes,” making them underqualified for teaching.

Rural Mongolians also have low access to early childhood education (ECE) services. While progress has been visible over the last few decades, herder children’s access to ECE services remained low as of 2016. According to a UNICEF fact sheet from 2020, ECE attendance is 1.5 to 2.2 times lower among 2-4-year-olds in rural areas than in urban ones and 19% to 26% lower among children aged 5.

These issues contribute to a gap in education quality between rural and urban schools. Due to high dropouts in the mid-90s, in 2013, the level of literacy among males aged 15-24 stood at 98.4% in urban areas, but dropped to 88.2% in rural areas. The percentage of out-of-school primary school children in 2018 stood at 5% in rural areas compared to 2% in urban areas and children from herder households accounted for around 68% of out-of-school children in 2013/2014.

Improving Facilities

To improve access to education in rural Mongolia, the government built 37 new dormitories across the country between 2014 and 2017 and planned to create an additional 19 between 2018 and 2019. In 2015, Mongolia established specific standards for WASH facilities in schools and dorms to improve conditions.

In addition, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) provided a grant in 2015 to renovate 12 dormitories in the Govi-Altai, Uvs and Zavkhan aimags (provinces) in western Mongolia, as a part of the Improving School Dormitory Environment for Primary Students in Western Region Project. The renovations included insulating buildings, installing “safe electric systems” and establishing more WASH facilities.

Supporting Teachers

Mongolia’s government has worked since 2006 to enhance financial support for rural teachers. The 2006 and 2016 amendments to the Law on Education give financial support to teachers in rural schools and kindergartens. Furthermore, a “teacher salary reform” in 2007 helped to improve the income inequalities between rural and urban teachers.

Outside of the government, the World Bank created the Rural Education and Development (READ) Project (2007-2013) to improve the standard of education in rural schools. The training of educators and principals formed one of the project’s objectives. A total of 4,144 rural primary educators and 383 school directors received training to improve teaching skills and strategies. The project also established a “local professional development network” with 95 main schools and 178 mentor educators.

Enhancing Access to Early Childhood Education

To provide ECE services for rural Mongolians, Save the Children, a child rights organization operating in Mongolia since 1994, alongside the World Bank and Japan Social Development Fund, implemented the project Improving Primary Education Outcomes for the Most Vulnerable Children in Rural Mongolia.

The project operated from 2012 to 2017 in four aimags (Arkhangai, Uvurkhangai, Dornod and Sukhbaatar). The program enabled the completion of the Home Based School Preparation Program for around 4,000 5-year-old herder children. The project utilized mobile learning kits with educational toys, activity books and guidebooks. The program was so effective that primary school enrollment in the four aimags rose from 72.8% in 2012-2013 to 86% in 2017-2018.

Education in rural Mongolia suffered after the collapse of the socialist educational system, but thanks to government initiatives and NGO projects, more herder children are receiving a quality education.

– James Harrington
Photo: Wikipedia Commons

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Human Trafficking in Montenegro 

Human Trafficking in Montenegro
Montenegro is a country located in the Balkan peninsula. Montenegro has close ties and relations with Serbia. Along with corruption and organized crime, human trafficking is a very common enterprise throughout the country. Due to the frequency of human trafficking in Montenegro, The U.S. Department of State classifies the nation as a Tier 2 country.

Human Trafficking in Montenegro

Because of the prevalence of human trafficking in Montenegro, everyone living there and in surrounding Balkan countries is extremely vulnerable to becoming a victim. Traffickers smuggle people of all genders and ages into Montenegro from nearby Balkan countries. Trafficking victims often become street beggars and forced laborers.

In 2020, the U.S. Department of State identified 48 victims of human trafficking in Montenegro. This is an uptick from the 39 official victims in 2019. Of those 48 victims, at least 46 individuals ended up in forced labor. Of those 46, seven became beggars. Meanwhile, 17 of the 48 victims were female, 31 were male and at least seven were children.

According to the U.S. Embassy in Montenegro, women and girls from Montenegro are more likely to be victims of sex trafficking. In Montenegro, Roma teenagers have often worked as prostitutes and at least a few of them were sex trafficking victims. Boys and men, on the other hand, are more likely to become forced laborers. Since the construction industry is rapidly growing in Montenegro, traffickers are moving more boys and men from foreign countries to work in Montenegro’s booming industry.

Aida Petrovic, the founder and executive director of Montenegro Women’s Lobby – a non-governmental agency that helps to support victims of trafficking in Montenegro – found that traffickers were forcing girls as young as 13 into forced prostitution. These were not isolated findings, however, as Petrovic also found that the majority of the victims of forced prostitution were underaged.

Addressing the Problem

Since the U.S. Department of State ranked Montenegro as a Tier 2 country, many preventive measures have been put into place to address human trafficking in Montenegro. In 2011, the government established a hotline to support victims of human trafficking. In 2020, the support hotline received at least 1,657 phone calls. About five possible victims of human trafficking also made calls to the hotline. Moreover, the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare opened a new shelter for trafficking victims in 2020. For this new shelter, the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare allocated $82,860, including $49,080 in operating expenses and up to $310 per month for every victim living at the shelter.

In 2019, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, U.N. Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, introduced new operational strategies in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration to help identify trafficking victims. She also helped develop “guidance on the implementation of the non-punishment of victims” in collaboration with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Lastly, a fund dedicated to compensating victims also underwent establishment.

The Road Ahead

It is imperative that victims of human trafficking receive psychological, financial and medical support for the trauma they have endured. The government of Montenegro is making strides in helping victims and preventing future trafficking, but it still has a long way to go in its fight against human trafficking.

– Yonina Anglin
Photo: Flickr