Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

Beekeeping in Africa 

Beekeeping in Africa 
Bees are vital insects due to their role as pollinators. Researchers at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) found that “three out of four crops across the globe producing fruits or seeds for human use as food depend, at least in part, on pollinators.” In Africa, bees take on the additional role of defending crops from an unexpected threat: elephants. Beekeeping in Africa holds multiple benefits for communities.

Human-Elephant Conflicts

In many African countries, free-roaming elephants bring the risk of damage to farmland and trees. For farmers living near the edges of forests, elephants can be a detrimental force that cripples crop yields and income. Because of this, farmers will often confront migrating families of elephants with aggression if the herds come too close.

In South Africa, elephants often target marula trees for feeding. Because locals hold these iconic fruit-bearing trees in high regard due to their cultural significance and economic value, damage to marula trees by elephants is a root cause of their conflict with humans. As the elephant population continues to dwindle due to poaching and habitat loss, many farmers feel the need for a more reliable system of protecting crops while subduing the need for hostility. Over the past decade, the Save the Elephants organization has studied the ability of bees to mediate human-elephant conflicts by preventing the large mammals from encroaching onto farmland, and the results have been surprisingly successful.

How Bees Can Help

The Elephants and Bees Research Project, an initiative of Save the Elephants, aims to “explore the natural world for solutions to human-elephant conflicts.” This initially Kenya-based program aims to supply farmers with beehive fences, a unique bee-based system to repel wild elephants. The system employs multiple beehives that are along the perimeters of farms and connected with wires.

If a wandering elephant trips the wire by walking in between the hives, the hives will open and release the bees. Elephants have mostly durable, two-inch-thick skin around their body, but the soft skin around their eyes, mouth and trunk makes them vulnerable to bee stings, and thus, overly afraid of the small pollinators. A 2007 study by Lucy E. King et al. found that elephants will even run from the mere sound of bees buzzing.

In 2015, the Elephants and Bees organization experimented with its beehive fences near groups of marula trees in Jejane Private Nature Reserve, South Africa. A research team led by Robin Cook from the University of the Witwatersrand found that the marula trees surrounded by beehive fences faced less impact from elephants than the unprotected trees in the control group. The success of Cook’s tests motivated Save the Elephants to train locals in beehive manufacturing and beekeeping skills.

Bees for Business

The most obvious way that the Bees and Elephants program improves business for African farmers is through the ability to protect crops. According to the program, the beehive fences cost about $1,000 for a one-acre farm. Depending on how successfully the beehive fences prevent crop raids, beehive fences can increase yields. Additionally, owners who introduce bees to their farms can expect increased levels of pollination, which leads to the production of higher-quality crops.

Beyond protecting crops from wild elephants, the Bees and Elephants program aims to promote beekeeping in Africa as a business in itself. The organization purchases raw honey from farmers who use their beehive fences, ensuring that the participants have an alternate source of income. Save the Elephants’ “elephant-friendly honey” program encourages more farmers to get on board with this natural, inexpensive and income-generating solution to human-elephant conflicts.

Expanding the Bees and Elephants Program

Save the Elephants has introduced beehive fences to 14 countries in Africa and three countries in Asia. In some counties like Meru, Kenya, the government is recognizing the benefits beehive fences bring to farmers. In May 2022, Meru’s Governor Kiraitu Murungi approved the distribution of 3 million Kenyan shillings ($25,581) worth of beehives and beekeeping equipment for the construction of a 5-kilometer fence that will border the Lower Imenti Forest. Murungi plans to allocate additional funding in the following financial year for “more beehives [that] will ring-fence the entire forest.”

The Elephants and Bees program highlights the significant abilities of bees to act as both pollinators and protectors. As the program’s leaders discuss expanding their work to countries like Angola and Indonesia, it is worth considering that more than 3,500 species of bees play a role in expanding farmers’ crop yields, thereby reducing hunger and increasing income.

Overall, beekeeping in Africa holds benefits that span far beyond honey production. By protecting crops and increasing crop yields, bees play a significant role in improving food security and reducing poverty.

– Evan Lemole
Photo: Unsplash

HIV/AIDS in Pakistan

HIV/AIDS in Pakistan
In 2004, an outbreak of HIV/AIDS in Pakistan caused a skyrocketing number of cases in the country. As of 2020, there are an estimated 180,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Pakistan. However, the vast majority of HIV-registered Pakistanis are receiving treatment and local organizations are making progress to expand treatment to the most vulnerable and stop the progression of the outbreak altogether.

The HIV Outbreak in Pakistan

The 2004 HIV outbreak in the country followed a pattern common in Asian countries, in which the disease grows exponentially within networks of people who inject drugs, before reaching a plateau. Once the disease reaches a plateau, the disease begins to spread to the general population.

About 38% of Pakistani people who inject drugs are HIV positive as of 2017. The common practice of sharing and reusing needles and other drug-injection equipment can explain this. Needles contaminated with HIV-positive blood easily spread the virus among communities struggling with substance use disorder in Pakistan.

There is also an interesting local phenomenon in Pakistan where injection drug users are not able to inject their own drugs. Instead, these individuals utilize “street injectors” who inject the drugs for them. The injectors use a method of injection known as double-pumping, in which blood goes into the needle. As payment for their services, after injecting the individual, injectors keep a portion of the drug solution mixed with blood. The injector then pools it for their own use or for sale to others.

The Spread of HIV Throughout Pakistan

Through practices like these, HIV became extremely prevalent within this highly marginalized group. Once the percentage of HIV-infected injection drug users plateaued, the virus spread throughout Pakistan through bridging populations — people in close proximity to those in the high-risk group, such as the spouses of men who inject drugs. A study published in 2021 in the Harm Reduction journal estimated that, in Pakistan, 8.5% of female spouses of men who inject drugs are HIV positive.

Another population key to the progression of the outbreak is truck drivers. Many truck drivers frequently engage in purchasing sex, which puts them at higher risk of contracting HIV. Due to their mobility across the country, truck drivers who contract HIV/AIDS in Pakistan present a risk of a far-reaching and fast spread of the virus.

Progress and Solutions

Identifying at-risk populations and HIV-positive individuals is an important part of stemming the tide of an outbreak. However, the organization Nai Zindagi believes that society should not blame or stigmatize these individuals, but should help them instead. The organization started in 1989 as a small residential drug treatment center in Lahore, Pakistan.

Over the years Nai Zindagi shifted to focusing on street-based people who inject drugs across the whole of Pakistan and came to have a reputation for working with these populations. In 1999, UNAIDS and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime contracted Nai Zindagi to study “Hepatitis C and HIV among the growing numbers of street-based persons injecting drugs in Lahore.” Through the study, Nai Zindagi became aware of the increasing use of drugs via injections. At the time, the study noted no positive cases of HIV, but it was clear that HIV would spread rapidly once the first case came about within this group. This created a shift in the organization’s response to drug use, with a new emphasis on harm reduction, including reducing the spread of HIV.

Nai Zindagi’s Services

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to address an HIV outbreak, a country must diagnose, treat, prevent and respond quickly to each case of the disease. Nai Zindagi provides services in each of these aspects, focusing on marginalized, impoverished people who use drugs and those close to them, such as spouses.

Nai Zindagi specializes in assisting street-based individuals, utilizing mobile treatment vans and testing machines to accommodate those who are experiencing homelessness in Pakistan. The organization provides testing services, counseling, treatment and referrals to clinics that specialize in HIV/AIDS in Pakistan.

It also provides outreach services and training to spread the word about dangerous behaviors such as the use of used or dirty needles. Nai Zindagi even provides syringe exchange services, with the aim of distributing clean needles to those most at risk of contracting HIV. Harm reduction services like these are clinically proven to reduce the risk of diseases spread through injectable drugs.

With the work of organizations like Nai Zindagi, those at risk of HIV are less likely to contract it and those living with HIV/AIDS in Pakistan will have access to treatment that lengthens and improves their lives.

– Grace Ramsey
Photo: Flickr

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The WFP’s Humanitarian Partnership with Uber

WFP’s Humanitarian Partnership with Uber
On June 8, 2022, Uber donated a customized version of its “Uber Direct” software app to the U.N.’s World Food Programme (WFP) to help distribute food in Ukraine. Some urban areas in Ukraine are hard to reach with conventional large delivery trucks because the areas are densely populated. Therefore, the WFP’s humanitarian partnership with Uber allows the WFP to use a customized version of the Uber Direct app so the WFP can easily reach food insecure Ukrainians in urban areas. In addition, with the Uber Direct app, the WFP will be able to “coordinate a fleet of vehicles and track deliveries in real time.”

Innovative Approaches to Delivering Aid

The WFP’s partnership with Uber highlights the potential of modern technology to solve modern-day global humanitarian issues. The conflict between Ukraine and Russia makes it difficult for international humanitarian organizations to deliver food and other essential items due to ongoing military operations.

Russia is blockading Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, which are important for the transportation of food to developing countries struggling with food insecurity. However, innovative approaches to delivering aid, such as the customized version of the Uber Direct software app, give humanitarian organizations opportunities to efficiently tackle food insecurity in war-torn countries. Thus, WFP’s partnership with Uber in Ukraine illustrates how technology can stand as an important tool in the reduction of global poverty.

The Food Insecurity Situation in Ukraine

As of May 21, 2022, one in three Ukrainian households faced food insecurity due to the war, according to the WFP. Furthermore, these Ukrainians have lost their jobs, which means they have no income to support themselves and many have had to abandon their homes.

Russian forces are destroying farms and croplands in Ukraine. Additionally, the Guardian reported on June 13, 2022, that “Ukraine’s national seed bank has been partly destroyed amid fighting in Kharkiv in the north-east, where almost 2,000 crop samples rest in underground vaults.” The situation further exacerbates food insecurity in Ukraine. Therefore, the WFP’s humanitarian partnership with Uber is necessary in order to easily deliver emergency food to Ukrainians at risk of food insecurity.

How Uber Can Assist in Tackling Food Insecurity in Ukraine

The WFP “is already using the [Uber Direct] app in Dnipro,” but because food insecurity is widespread in Ukraine, the WFP intends to also send deliveries of food aid to Lviv, Vinnytsia, Kyiv and Chernivtsi. The customized Uber Direct app allows the WFP  to “schedule, dispatch, track and manage deliveries by a network of cars and small vans to final distribution points within a 100km radius of WFP warehouses across the country.” Additionally, the WFP’s humanitarian partnership with Uber also includes a $250,000 donation from Uber to the WFP USA “to support the emergency response in Ukraine.”

Private Sector Support

Although the WFP’s humanitarian partnership with Uber is innovative and transformative, Uber is not the only private company providing support to the WFP to help Ukrainians. The John Deere Foundation, the charitable arm of John Deere, announced on May 18, 2022, a donation of $1 million to the WFP U.S.A so it can “combat global food insecurity” and tackle rising hunger in Ukraine. The John Deere Foundation also said that 50% of the donation will go to the WFP’s Innovation Accelerator, which “sources, supports and scales high-impact innovations to achieve zero hunger.” The support from Uber and the John Deere Foundation to the WFP illustrates the commitment of the private sector to humanitarian work, which is instrumental to ending global poverty.

Looking Ahead

International organizations have been documenting the steady decline in global poverty over the past decades before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. However, some may wonder how global poverty can be declining, given the wars and conflicts ongoing in many countries around the world. To find the answer is to look at how humanitarian organizations are leveraging their relationships with the private sector to discover creative ways to solve poverty and hunger. The WFP’s use of the customized Uber Direct app in Ukraine to deliver food to densely populated areas is a shining and, perhaps, enduring example.

– Abdullah Dowaihy
Photo: Flickr

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Organizations Strengthening Health Care in Developing Countries

Strengthening Health Care in Developing Countries
Nearly 6 million deaths occur each year in developing countries due to the lack of quality health care and nearly 2.9 million deaths occur due to the lack of access to health care. This shows that more people pass away by receiving medical care rather than none and the care is such low-quality that it results in fatalities anyway. Health care is a major issue in underdeveloped countries and organizations are strengthening health care in developing countries to save lives and benefit countries worldwide.

Health Care in Low-Income Countries

Many people living in developing countries are suffering from poverty and may not be able to afford medical treatment. Even if someone is in a severe medical emergency, there often is no “911” number to call and no ambulances that can help in an extreme health crisis. Local health care is what people have to rely on and people sometimes have to travel for days to find a village with any medical care. Clinics and hospitals can have good physicians and equipment, but the lack of infrastructure is the most significant concern.

“Sometimes needles are reused, spreading disease and infection, and vaccines are given even though their effectiveness has been compromised by lack of refrigeration,” said Facts and Details. Hospitals can lose electricity on a regular basis, and run out of essential medical supplies quickly and the actual buildings where clinics and hospitals are located sometimes have no windows or fans and are flat-out unsanitary. In addition, some countries have “fake medicine” where 25% of drugs sold to consumers are counterfeit.

Health Care in Low-Income Countries

In some areas, health care workers have comprised of village midwives, who represent a significant amount of health work. There are doctors and nurses, but they are constantly absent from work. Harvard and the World Bank conducted research showing “an absentee rate of as high 80 percent in single-doctor clinics” in Bangladesh. Meanwhile, “Similar research in Indonesia found [that] 40 percent of health workers [were frequently] absent from clinics.” In many cases, village healers are actually the main source of medical help people seek. The healers sell herbs, use divine stones for diagnoses and treat patients using folk medicine, massages, rituals and prayers. The healers take place of doctors when there are not enough available.

“When you are middle class and you get sick, you first think of a doctor, when you are a poor person, the first thing you think of is a miracle,” a Baptist minister said to Newsweek. Quality health care is necessary for underdeveloped countries because millions die each year due to a lack of access to health care and lack of resources to improve the health care systems in the countries. Here are three organizations strengthening health care in developing countries.

SIGN Fracture Care International

SIGN Fracture Care International is a humanitarian organization that Dr. Lewis Zirkle founded in 1999 with the vision of creating quality fracture care worldwide. This organization works to educate surgeons, then provide donated implants and needed instruments in which the surgeon then completes the necessary treatment for the injury. SIGN has worked to make sure that doctors are educated and prepared to treat their patients and once that reaches completion, it provides the essential tools for the doctors to carry out their procedures. “The SIGN System is designed for use in low-resource hospitals and does not require the use of expensive x-ray machines, or even electricity,” SIGN stated on its website. Since its founding, nearly 382,000 patients have been healed and 409 hospitals are using the SIGN program in 55 countries around the world.

Bridge of Life

Bridge of Life is an international nonprofit organization that DaVita Inc. founded in 2006 with the goal of improving health care around the world through various programs, as well as treating long-term diseases. There are three main programs that make up Bridge of Life: Kidney Care, Kids’ Camp and Chronic Disease Prevention. Its approach is building successful partnerships, training health workers, connecting patients to quality medical treatment, educating on the prevention of long-lasting diseases and engaging health professionals and program volunteers. In 2021, more than 390 health workers received training and more than 1,200 “high-risk patients received medication, health testing and education,” the 2021 impact report said. Since the organization’s founding, more than 118,000 lives have been impacted in 30 countries globally.

WellShare International

WellShare International is an organization that began in 1979 that promotes positive health and well-being and provides medical services to communities. It has a long list of programs that provide education and health services to children, adults and elders. The programs include Caafimaadkaaga – Your Health, East African Smoke, Eliminating Health Disparities Initiative, Family Home Visiting, Minnesota Community Health Worker Peer Network, Somali Health Youth Initiative, SPEAK, Survive and Thrive Groups Help Young Single Mothers and Together for Health. In the organization’s 41 years of existence, it has trained more than 6,000 health workers, creating more educated and equipped health workers. “We envision communities with equitable health care and resources where all individuals live healthy and fulfilling lives,” the organization’s website states.

Around the world, 14% of patients experience harm from the medical care they receive at a hospital. The organizations are working to change that and provide excellent health care to countries globally. Strengthening health care in developing countries will save lives, improve poverty rates and build stronger communities.

– Dylan Olive
Photo: Flickr

The Business of Poultry Farming in Nigeria 

Poultry Farming in Nigeria 
Estimates have determined that Nigeria will reach 95 million people living in poverty in 2022. In order to lift people out of poverty, poultry farming in Nigeria is a lucrative business with a promising prospect; the country has the most significant number of chickens in Africa and the largest annual egg production. In 2019, poultry farming contributed 25% of Nigeria’s agricultural GDP. Additionally, its business provides a major source of protein from ducks, turkey and quails to broiler chickens.

The Importance of Poultry Farming in Nigeria

Poultry farming in Nigeria produces essential food sources as well as the industry uses. Poultry products are rich in minerals, protein, carbohydrates and vitamins. With an expanding middle class and an improvement in the rural economy, the demand for meat and nutrition is increasing each year.

The poultry industry intertwines with human lives and people’s livings. The poultry industry can aid in the production of vaccines and fertilizers for industrial uses, and provide preservatives for semen storage as therapeutic uses, ink for printers and adhesives and feathers for pillows, mattresses and cushions.

In addition, the business of poultry farming in Nigeria opens up job opportunities for locals and improves its economy and living conditions. The jobs provided have a wide range of responsibilities from workers to supervisors and security guards to managers.

Saliu Rasheed is a poultry farmer who transitioned from professional accounting to poultry farming in Nigeria. It is a job that requires patience and challenges such as low stocks and high costs. However, Rasheed said that his poultry was “a very large one and contributed to the development of Lagos State and in turn, the government has been receiving our contributions” which also improves Nigerian Gross Domestic Profit (GDP).

A study that the Nigerian Agricultural Journal published conducted a questionnaire to examine the importance of poultry to farmers and economic development. Respondents acknowledged that poultry farming has contributed significantly to poverty alleviation (M=3.86) and helped reduce the unemployment rate (M=4.42). It also improves the standard of living of farmers (M=4.02) as well as the level of income of farmers (M=3.99).

Youth Empowerment in Poultry Farming

With a youth unemployment rate that was 53% in 2020 in Nigeria, poultry farming is a resource that could generate millions of youth employment in the country. Youth entrepreneurship programs and consistent investments are also a way to use its potential.

Agricorp International, a fast-growing food processing and export company invested 4 billion Nigerian nairas into the poultry industry in Nigeria in 2021. According to the Vanguard, the investment could “provide direct and indirect employment for an estimated 100,000 Nigerian youths by 2025.”

Besides its investment, the company also established its poultry developmental program “Project Eclipse 2025.” Its aim is to assist Nigerian youth in developing skills and management for poultry farming.

Poultry farming in Nigeria expands job opportunities for locals including youth across the nation. It provides different types of uses in food, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing. This business paves the way to a better future for Nigerians by improving the economy and living conditions.

– Jiaying Guo
Photo: Flickr

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Migration in Brazil

 Migration in Brazil
As one of the largest and most populous nations in the Americas, Brazil has long served as a safe haven for immigrants around the world. In fact, migration in Brazil includes people from Europe, Asia, South America and Africa. Immigrants in Brazil, in turn, have brought many economic and cultural benefits to the nation.

First Wave of Brazil Migration

Brazil’s first wave of non-colonial immigration began in the late 1800s; from 1870 to 1930, between 2 and 3  million migrants from Europe, Asia and the Middle East sailed to the nation in search of a new home. The abolition of slavery spurred the influx of foreigners. Landowners around the country believed that immigrant laborers would help Brazil form a wage-based economy similar to European countries. However, in 1891 Brazilian elites also sought to “whiten” their nation by enacting racist laws which welcomed European immigrants while banning those from African and Asian nations. Brazilians saw Japanese immigrants as an exception to this rule. They viewed Japanese immigrants as essentially European in their mannerisms and industrial habits. In 1935, a federal deputy commented, “The Japanese colonists are even whiter than the Portuguese.”

Continued Brazil Migration

Brazil has aggressively sought out foreign workers to grow its economy. After World War II, for example, the government encouraged workers from Spain, Syria and Lebanon to move to the country, correctly assuming that the laborers would aid Brazil’s industrial sectors. By 1970, 115,000 Spaniards and 22,000 Syrian-Lebanese called Brazil home.

In the following decades, the nation saw a wave of Korean immigration. These families, like those before them, saw Brazil as a land of social mobility. They purchased cheap visas into Bolivia or Paraguay and used the relaxed border laws to enter Brazil.

Informality Supports Undocumented Immigrants

Brazil’s attitude towards immigrants stands out in its informality. While undocumented immigrants do not always receive encouragement to enter Brazil, there remain no current policies that discourage them. In addition, Brazil’s government has frequently created legalization programs that help unregistered citizens gain documentation. The three most recent of these programs gave more than 100,000 foreigners the right to permanent residency in Brazil.

More than 40,000 of those 100,000 foreigners originated from Bolivia. The country of 11 million has struggled for years financially, and as a result, many have flocked to the surrounding nations of Chile, Peru and Brazil. Currently, more than 130,000 Bolivians officially reside in Brazil, although the Brazilian Embassy in the Bolivian La Paz estimates that in total, more than a million Bolivians live within Brazilian borders. This leaves a vast majority of these immigrants undocumented and subsequently subjected to long hours and low pay in the clothing factories and sewing shops where they typically work.

Venezuela: The Largest New Immigrant Population

The largest immigrant population currently residing in Brazil, however, is not Bolivian but Venezuelan. Venezuela is currently experiencing the largest recorded refugee crisis in the history of the Americas, due to political turmoil and widespread poverty. Brazil’s government has been generally supportive of these immigrants. In August 2018, for example, when the state of Roraima requested to close its border with Venezuela, the Brazilian Supreme Court denied the request on constitutional grounds.

Currently, Brazil houses more than 260,000 Venezuelan refugees. The government has granted asylum to more than 20,000, and a two-year residency permit was made available to purchase in 2017 if certain applicants do not qualify for asylum. A 2020 program titled Operação Acolhida (“Operation Welcome”)  funds more than 10,000 plane tickets to help Venezuelans travel to Brazil and is helping 50,000 to get to cities around Brazil. 

Mutually Beneficial into the Future

Brazil has gained many cultural benefits from the enormous amount of immigrants living within its borders. School children and adults alike enjoy Japanese manga and anime; similarly, Brazilian jiu-jitsu would not have been possible without the sumo wrestling the Japanese brought. Kibe, a simple croquette that bars and street carts around Brazil sell, comes from the Middle East via Lebanese immigrants. Stores owned by Korean families provide many items in a typical Brazilian’s wardrobe. 

Some organizations worry that as President Jair Bolsonairo continues to lead the country, Brazil will become less hospitable to migrants. One of the president’s first moves in office, after all, was to pull out of a United Nations migration accord that had been signed the previous month. “We will never withhold help to those in need, but immigration cannot be indiscriminate,” he wrote on Twitter. Still, it seems that the principles of migration in Brazil have generally stayed the same under Bolsonairo. The nation continues to house many from struggling Latin American countries; this February, it also became the first nation in the world to grant humanitarian visas to Ukrainians. 

Migration in Brazil has been a symbiotic process for many years. Brazil has been hospitable towards immigrants, more so than most large countries; and those immigrants have repaid the nation through their work and their culture. One hopes this relationship is able to remain mutually beneficial long into the future.

– Finn Harnett
Photo: Flickr

New Colombian President’s Plan to Alleviate Poverty

Colombian Presidential Candidate’s Plan
Gustavo Petro was a candidate in the 2022 Colombian presidential election and a founder and leader of the Colombia Humana (Humane Colombia) party, ultimately winning the presidency. As a former mayor of Bogotá and longtime congressman, Petro advocates against corruption and inequality. Petro ran against 77-year-old Rodolfo Hernández, an independent affiliated with the League of Anti-Corruption Rulers, who has gained notoriety by campaigning through TikTok. Hernández had ambitious plans of tackling governmental corruption in his country. The two went head to head in the final round of the election on Sunday, June 19, which led to Colombia electing Petro as its president. Here is some information about Gustavo Petro as well as the Colombian president’s plan to alleviate poverty in Colombia.

Gustavo Petro’s Career

Gustavo Petro is from the Cordobá region of northern Colombia. In his youth, Petro became a member of M-19 (Movimiento 19 de Abril/April 19 Movement), a now inactive guerilla group known for stealing Simón Bolívar’s sword and kidnapping drug traffickers. In 1981, during his time in M-19, Petro held elected posts. Petro was the Ombudsman of Zipaquira in 1981 and the city’s councilor in 1984. Petro ended up in prison due to his involvement in the group just one year later, although he never met violence and advocated for peace in the organization. In 1991, he ceased participation with the group and became a member of Colombia’s House of Representatives. Petro lost his seat three years later and left the country before returning in 2002.

Petro ran for president of Colombia for the first time in 2010, placing fourth. The candidate achieved electoral success in 2012 when Bogotá elected him their mayor. The candidate succeeded further in the presidential bid in 2018, making it to the second round and surviving an assassination attempt.

Poverty in Colombia

Colombia has had a rocky relationship with poverty levels. The country’s poverty rate lowered by 3.2% from 2020 to 2021, after a 7% increase from 2019 to 2020. Food deficiency and poverty interconnect; Colombia’s poor often has trouble finding nourishment. A lack of peace and job security also allows for poverty to increase.

Poverty in Colombia is typically caused by poor infrastructure and authority while demands for better living conditions are often left unanswered. Additionally, the war in Ukraine has led to inflation and more poverty in the South American nation.

The Colombian President’s Plan

Gustavo Petro has many ambitious plans for his country’s potential future. The Colombian president’s plan to alleviate poverty involves expanding social programs and guaranteeing work and a basic income. Petro believes Colombia can prosper without reliance on oil and have a production-based economic structure. He believes that raising taxes on Colombia’s wealthy and printing money can fund anti-poverty programs. Petro likely received political support from citizens who were dissatisfied with former president Iván Duque’s policies, in addition to poverty and the wealth gap.

Regardless of whether Petro comes out of the 2022 Colombian election victorious or not, he and other individuals with his poverty-combatting ideals have the potential to lead Colombia to a brighter future.

– Sophie Buibas
Photo: Flickr

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Rebuilding of Higher Education in Afghanistan 

Higher Education in Afghanistan
The health of higher education in Afghanistan is a product of invasion and civil war. The tumultuous nature of Afghanistan’s history has left obstacles in the path of educational institutions. This takes the form of many hindrances, such as the country’s current political stability or the ruling leader’s tendency for tradition. In the absence of education, economic instability and a lower standard of living may follow.

Turbulent Establishment

The establishment of formal modern education in Afghanistan didn’t exist until 1875. However, it was not until 1919 that the number of established institutions exceeded four. In 1929, during his nine-month rule, Habibullah Kalakany closed girls’ schools and stopped female students who went abroad from continuing their studies. Shortly after, Zahir Shah allowed girls once more the freedom of education. He also established the first small sign of higher education in Afghanistan, the Kabul Medical Faculty in 1932.

In the 1960s and ‘70s, Afghanistan’s educated class grew the strongest. However, the Soviet invasion in 1979 devastated the infrastructure of higher education in Afghanistan. An entire generation of the educated class disappeared, either killed or escaped. The Taliban occupation of Afghanistan further hindered the integrity of higher education. These disastrous conflicts rendered Afghanistan one of the most impoverished in the world.

Brain Drain

“Brain Drain” is a dire issue for the infrastructure and further human development of Afghanistan. This occurs when young Afghans receive degrees from institutes of higher learning and prefer job opportunities or the standard of living outside of their home country. Generally, when facing a crisis, the number of educated emigrants produced by a country will be higher than the number of educated citizens in that country.

The effects of brain drain directly impede further infrastructure development in Afghanistan, continually reducing the country to a state of stagnant reconstruction. The country’s condition of low development poses a threat to the advancement of higher education. According to a study by David J. Roof, in 2014, the higher education enrollment ratio in Afghanistan was around 5%, among the lowest in the world.

The World Bank suggests that Afghanistan could follow the strategies of other developing countries such as Pakistan and Sri Lanka in order to reduce the brain drain. This includes offering tenure tracks to young academics or encouraging studying abroad.

The Taliban’s Effects on Women’s Education

Many commonly think that in repressive regimes, the educated will bring the most opposition. The Taliban’s recapture of Kabul in 2021 initiated one of the world’s most critical humanitarian crises, leaving millions of Afghans starving and unable to collect salaries. However, young academics, specifically women, are being further barred from receiving higher education due to new Taliban decrees, which also restrict women’s freedom to work or leave the house.

In September 2021, the Taliban regime allowed women to continue studying in gender-segregated universities under strict dress codes. However, in March 2022, it banned the opening of schools for girls and women past the sixth grade.

This decision could divert international donations and deepen the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

Foreign Aid

According to the U.N. Human Development Report, in 2020 Afghanistan ranked 169th of 189 countries based on the Human Development Index. An increase in foreign aid or grants focused on bolstering higher education would greatly benefit the country economically and politically by creating and filling jobs as well as providing a future for a more stable government.

In June 2021, the World Bank approved an $18 million grant to Afghanistan through the Higher Education Acceleration Transformation Project to bolster the infrastructure, quality and accessibility of higher education. A majority of this grant will help develop educational facilities, support teachers and improve curriculum and textbooks.

An additional goal of this grant is to empower women in higher education to pursue leadership positions, as only 30% of students of higher education in Afghanistan are women.

Due to gender disparities in higher education within Afghanistan, advocacy has mostly focused on increasing the accessibility of education to female students. The World Bank grant is a large step forward in opening up opportunities for Afghan women.

USAID has also drastically aided in the development of higher education in Afghanistan, focusing on matching universities and the labor market to cultivate 31 new degree programs for undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, the USAID PROMOTE scholarship will award up to 900 Afghan women the opportunity to seek both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees to diversify academia in Afghanistan.

Higher education in Afghanistan is unfortunately a framework of feeble institutions that heavily rely on foreign aid. Foreign aid has become the most important factor in the development of education infrastructure in Afghanistan, and actions by the World Bank and USAID have alleviated some of the negative effects of brain drain and gender inequality.

– Caroline Zientek
Photo: Flickr

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How Shoes Can Eliminate Preventable Diseases

Shoes Can Eliminate Preventable Diseases
Wearing shoes protects feet from more than just scratches and heat. Shoes can eliminate preventable diseases, many parasitic infections, epidemics and dangerous bug bites. While adults can wear a pair for years, this is not the case with growing children. Because children have a much higher demand for shoes than adults, a few inspiring projects are providing impoverished children with shoes.

Soil-Transmitted Disease

Soil-transmitted diseases are most prevalent among those who cannot afford shoes. By giving shoes to those who are most in need, epidemics that can eventually lead to death can decrease entirely. Many diseases are due to contaminated soil and involve parasites that can cause slow development, organ damage, amputation and even death if left untreated. South America and Sub-Saharan Africa suffer the most from these diseases, and some communities in these areas can be difficult to reach. NGOs and charities similar to Samaritan’s Feet have started to tackle these epidemics at their root. Shoes can eliminate preventable diseases by creating a barrier between contamination and bare feet. By preventing disease instead of medically treating it, the solution and work are cheaper, less invasive and eliminated entirely with enough effort.

Shoes = Opportunity

Infections and parasitic jigger fleas, which require painful treatments, are common in children who do not wear shoes in certain areas. Sometimes a lack of self-confidence or cleanliness can be an even more painful barrier. Shoes can eliminate preventable diseases, offer a safer ability to walk and give many the ability to take the first step in creating a better life. Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls is a project within Buckner International that understands how being barefoot can prevent many children from attending school and can affect their self-worth.

By providing a pair of shoes for children, family workshops and job training programs for parents, many will eventually no longer rely on the donation program. In addition to the big picture, Buckner believes that a more hopeful future can arise through its program. Children can find a way out of poverty if they have good shoes and the opportunities that come with them.

Innovation and New Solutions

One pair of shoes provides a child with opportunities and foot protection for as long as the shoes fit. By finding a way to lessen the demand for new shoes every time a child grows, this large concern can shrink to one-fifth of its size. The Shoe That Grows™ is a type of shoe that can expand by five sizes so that children can have a single pair of shoes for a longer period of time than usual. The Because International website has stated that “Over 1.5 billion people suffer from soil-transmitted diseases worldwide,” showing the necessity of having good-quality shoes.

Every time children outgrow shoes, the potential of disease exposure increases. However, The Shoe That Grows™ provides shoes that have a longer wear time than other shoes, subsequently taking away the burden of purchasing shoes once a year. The project distributed more shoes for Christmas 2021 than any other year and is looking to continue making the shoes more durable and create jobs with the company’s manufacturers. The Shoe That Grows™ can save families and organizations time and money, providing a better chance of helping more children.

Looking Ahead

Shoes are an unexpected solution to a deadly problem that faces the poorest of the poor. With simple and innovative solutions to bring people the protection they need, this deadly issue has an end goal in sight. Children’s continuous growth can cause difficulties, many organizations are effectively helping these children with a need that will bring physical protection and future opportunity.

– Karen Krosky
Photo: Flickr

Mental Health in the Maldives

Mental Health in the Maldives
Many best know the Maldives, a nation of islands in the Indian Ocean, for its beautiful beaches that draw many travelers. However, the sunshine and sparkling water often overshadow many Maldivians’ issues. For instance, mental health in the Maldives is a topic that not everyone knows about. Yet, many people in the Maldives have struggled with mental health for a long time. Furthermore, the link between mental disorders and poverty makes these struggles even more concerning.

A Unique Layout

Since a chain of islands across more than 900 kilometers forms the country of the Maldives, the cost of delivering health and social services is higher. In addition, the unique geographical nature of the island has resulted in a widely dispersed population, with some of the islands becoming too densely populated to sustain their communities due to rising sea levels. All of these factors have contributed to mental health problems in the Maldives.

Lack of Strategy

Coordinating a unified effort to combat increasing rates of mental disorders in the Maldives has been an issue. With evidence showing that mental health disorders are on the rise, Maldivians are in need of an effective mental health system. However, mental health services in the Maldives are limited and poorly organized. Since most mental health services reside in the capital, Malé, few resources exist on the outer islands. Additionally, psychiatric medication is inconsistent and institutional facilities deal with overcrowding.

Another barrier to implementing a strong mental health policy in the Maldives is social stigma. There is significant stigma and discrimination toward people with mental disorders in the Maldives, with many openly expressing negative attitudes about mental health, according to an article published in SAGE Journals.

Mental health disorders pose many risks, including the threat of increased poverty. Since there is a link between mental health and poverty, the rising rates of mental health disorders in the Maldives present a significant threat to the already high poverty gaps in the country.

New Reason for Hope

A promising new future in improving mental health in the Maldives lies in the National Mental Health Policy (NMHP). According to the Ministry of Health, some of the objectives of the NMHP include a new structure for mental health care with proper financing, mental health services that integrate community-based and general health services, promotion of mental health in collaboration with relevant stakeholders and advocacy for improved treatment of individuals with mental disorders.

Even further, NMHP will ensure that welfare assistance is available to those with significant disabilities relating to mental disorders, alleviating some financial burdens in order to counter poverty, the Ministry of Health reports.

The NMHP has a long history of development. The Ministry of Health first initiated the policy in June 2005 in the wake of the 2004 Asian tsunami. Still, work on the policy remained untouched until 2011, when the Ministry of Health revised the policy. However, political changes hindered its endorsement. Later, in 2015, the process started again when the World Health Organization (WHO) assisted in the policy’s revision. Now, the NMHP is in effect until at least 2025.

According to the Ministry of Health, new changes from the NMHP include:

  • Screening for mental health disorders from a young age.
  • Adding more school counselors.
  • Implementing mental health strategies at work.
  • Educating religious scholars on mental health.

The implementation of the NMHP is a long-awaited step in the right direction for the people of the Maldives. People are dealing with a disorganized mental health system as well as a social stigma for so long. However, the NMHP offers up the prospect of a more positive future for those in the Maldives who are struggling with mental health.

– Sarah DiLuzio
Photo: Pixabay