Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Poverty in Cyprus

Impact of COVID-19 in CyprusSituated south of Turkey in the Mediterranean Sea, Cyprus is a small island with a population of 1.2 million, increasing modestly. Approximately 15.3% of the population is vulnerable to poverty or social exclusion — and given the impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Cyprus, this percentage is only rising.

Cyprus Before the Virus

Poverty existed in Cyprus before the COVID-19 pandemic. This is due in part to the country’s political divisions, which include the Northern Republic of Cyprus, a Turkish de facto state that has controlled one-third of the island since 1974, and the Southern Republic of Cyprus. With such a stark division, the Cypriot government has found it difficult to track its impoverished population and provide assistance where it is needed.

A recent survey found that in 2019, just one year before the advent of the pandemic, “194,400 Cyprus residents were living in households with disposable income below the at-risk-of-poverty line.” Cyprus’s ethnic division also accounts for this, in that dense Greek-Cypriot populations in the South have tight-knit familial relationships. If one person in these families falls into financial difficulty, they are likely to not have another stable family member to fall back on. This leaves unsupported people like immigrants, single mothers and the elderly most vulnerable to poverty.

Impact of COVID-19 on Poverty in Cyprus

As one of the most popular destinations in Europe, tourism is a vital component of Cyprus’s economy. Prior to COVID-19, Cyprus had three consecutive record years of tourist arrivals, topping 4 million annual tourists. International travel bans that were implemented in March 2020 stagnated the country’s economy and exacerbated the impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Cyprus. In that vein, domestic quarantine restrictions also halted the progression of potential reunification talks between Turkish-Cypriot President Ersin Tatar and Greek-Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades.

Cyprus also saw a surge in unemployment rates at the height of the pandemic. According to the most recent data on Cyprus’s unemployment rate, unemployment rates were at a low of 6.3% in July 2019, but jumped to 10.2% a year later, just a year after the pandemic hit.

Taking Initiative: Caritas Cyprus

Despite these drawbacks, fellowships have been able to make a dent in combating the impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Cyprus. Organizations like Caritas Cyprus were among the first to do so.

Since its inception in 1986, Caritas Cyprus, a member of the Caritas Internationalis confederation, has worked at the grassroots level. It aims to end poverty, promote justice and restore dignity by “responding to humanitarian needs on the island with the aim of providing compassionate care and support to the poor, dispossessed and marginalized.”

Caritas Cyprus primarily works through local parish initiatives as well as cross-island programs that focus on migrants, local needs (diaconia) and youth engagement. The Migrant Sector typically affords support to hundreds of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants through the operation of two centers. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine restrictions, these two centers weren’t able to operate at full capacity. Nonetheless, the organization still provided sufficient aid through its two other sectors.

The Diaconia Sector provided extensive relief for Cyprus’s unemployed population amid the pandemic. Job Search Program connected jobseekers with potential employers using networks within the community.

Following the relaxation of quarantine restrictions, the Youth Sector encouraged the country’s youth to participate in volunteering, fundraising, social events and other humanitarian efforts to raise awareness for groups that bore the brunt of the pandemic’s poverty.

Looking Ahead

As of October 2021, Cyprus has administered more than 1.1 million doses of COVID vaccines; assuming that every person requires two doses, that’s enough to have vaccinated nearly half of the country’s population. Though the impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Cyprus has posed an acute setback on the country’s economic progress, hope still exists that the country can recover. The rapid distribution of vaccines, assistance from organizations and potential reunification talks between Northern and Southern Cyprus can not only suppress the spread of COVID-19, but ultimately make headway in eradicating poverty.

– Tiffany Grapsas
Photo: Flickr

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Human Trafficking in Albania: Escaping a Dark Past 

Human trafficking in Albania
Albania experienced greater prosperity than it ever had during its years as a Soviet satellite state, with its national income and standard of living skyrocketing as the country industrialized and urbanized. When the communist government lost power following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, political instability, government-backed pyramid schemes and civil war caused an economic disaster. As a result, many of Albania’s desperate poor, particularly women and children, became vulnerable to human traffickers, who significantly expanded their operations.

The Situation in Contemporary Albania

The Albanian government and the National Coalition of Anti-Trafficking Shelters identified 81 potential trafficking victims, with an additional five victims officially recognized in 2020. Of the 85 total victims, 58 were children and 62 were female. These figures are lower than in 2019, when there were 96 potential victims and seven confirmed victims, 80 of whom were female and 67 were minors. However, the number of victims is likely higher, and prosecutors did not convict any traffickers in 2020, whereas they did in 2019.

To compare, the state identified 134 total victims from 2005 through 2006, following the introduction of its first action plan for “trafficking in persons. Among the victims were 123 women, 77 children and 112 Albanians. In 2005, there were 49 convictions, and in 2006, there were 56. The country’s ability to identify victims has certainly improved, yet the complexity of trafficking cases has increased over the years, making convictions more difficult.

A Tier 2 source country, traffickers smuggle more people out of Albania than they bring in. The primary destinations of trafficked individuals are countries neighboring Albania such as Greece and Italy, as well as Western European countries like the United Kingdom, which had about 600 Albanian potential victims in 2015. In all, the number of Albanian victims abroad could be in the thousands. The Albanian government must fully comply with the minimum standards of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to become a Tier 1 country, the highest and best tier. Albania has held a Tier 2 position for many years because it continues to make significant efforts to meet the Act’s standards.

The Link Between Trafficking and Poverty

Human traffickers are most likely to prey on the poor and those living in rural areas because the poor are frequently desperate for work and people living in rural areas are more isolated than city dwellers. Women, children and migrants are also traffickers’ most common prey since they tend to be easier to entice and hold captive while engaging in sexual acts with the former two is in higher demand than with adult men. Though they are not prime targets, traffickers hold men captive as well, typically forcing them to perform farm or factory work in nearby Balkan countries.

In 2016, 33.90% of the population lived on less than $5.50 per day, compared to more than 55% in 2002. Similarly, the proportion of the population living in rural areas has decreased since the expansion of trafficking in Albania, from around 60% in the 1990s and early 2000s to 37.89% in 2021. Thus, the target demographic of human traffickers is shrinking.

Examining the Targets of Traffickers

Traffickers force children to sell small items on the street and beg for money, especially during tourist season, when traffickers know tourists are more vulnerable to these practices. Their captors make these children hand over most or all of the money they earn. Traffickers also solicit minors for the purpose of sex. The traffickers tend to force children of ethnic minorities and migrant groups such as the Romani into seasonal work. Stigmas against the Romani make them vulnerable to traffickers, less identifiable as victims and less likely to receive support.

Traffickers entice poor women to work as prostitutes by posting false job ads and posing as wealthy boyfriends. These women keep little to none of the money they earn, leaving them only with the trauma of their experiences. Captive women work in nail salons, factories and as domestic servants when not performing sex work. The attitudes of men toward women are also a component in women being targets.

Transiting migrants heading to Western Europe from Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa, are additional targets of human traffickers in Albania. The language barrier, the fact they are in an unfamiliar country and their desire to reach a wealthy nation make migrants susceptible to traffickers looking to exploit them.

The Albanian Government’s Response

The government is doing little to resolve law enforcement’s limited ability to screen and identify potential victims from migrant groups, children and sex workers. The Border and Migration Police have few interpreters, yet people speaking dozens of languages other than Albanian cross the border regularly. This language barrier exacerbates the difficulty of identifying and helping trafficking victims.

The lack of specialized experience prosecuting trafficking cases results in prosecutors convicting few criminals for human trafficking-related crimes. Instead, they often either convict the accused of a lesser crime, or the accused goes free. Furthermore, government employees are allegedly complicit in various human trafficking crimes. If true, corruption is contributing to human trafficking in Albania. The government claimed it would conduct an investigation but is not yet prosecuting anyone.

Government Investments to Reduce Trafficking

The government invested 29.3 million leks, the equivalent of $291,980, to the government-run specialized shelter for human trafficking victims. This is a massive increase to the 20.9 million leks or $208,270, it spent in 2019. While the government decided to reduce the funds it allocates to the salaries of support staff at NGO shelters, it spent more on food support. Delays in funding periodically undermined the efforts of shelters, however.

Additionally, the government moved 4.6 million leks ($45,840) to a fund of seized criminal assets designed for victims of human trafficking in Albania. The offices of the National Employment Services offered job priority to 60 of these victims. The government has also provided vocational training to 20 officially recognized victims and offered temporary residence permits to foreign victims.

Ending Human Trafficking in Albania

After the fall of the communist government, traffickers exploited the turmoil to expand their illegal trade, enriching themselves at the expense of their victims. However, the plague of human trafficking has undergone mitigation due to increased combined efforts of the Albanian government and NGOs. To eradicate human trafficking in Albania, the government must establish more robust social programs for the poor, expand job opportunities and improve access to support services; especially for people in rural areas. The government also needs to improve its screening of targeted groups, better train police in identification and prosecutors in dealing with trafficking cases, put greater emphasis on reintegration and fund NGO-run shelters consistently.

– Nate Ritchie
Photo: Flickr

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Washing Machines for Refugees in Iraq

Refugees in Iraq
Iraq has endured decades of armed conflict. Since 2014, around 3 billion families have experienced displacement. According to the United States of America for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (U.S.A for UNHCR), more than “6.5 million Iraqis…including 3 million women and girls, require humanitarian assistance and protection.” Maintaining a sense of normalcy is difficult, significantly, if war and political strife exacerbate this struggle for normalcy. Many refugees in Iraq are without power and often cannot afford to keep it on. Simple chores, like doing laundry, become arduous tasks that could take all day to complete. Thankfully, one man’s trip to India proved successful in alleviating the onerous obstacle of handwashing clothes.

Sawhney’s Development of Machines

Navjot Sawhney, whose parents fled from unpartitioned India, always had an interest in humanitarianism and helping those in need. He was first inspired to create the manually operated washing machines after watching his next-door neighbor struggle with her laundry in India. The woman’s name was Divya and, upon returning from his trip, Sawhney developed the plans to create something that would make someone like Divya endure less physical strain when doing laundry.

While only volunteering at the time, Sawhney relied on his former career in engineering to develop the hand-cranked washing machine named after his neighbor. The devices, named after Divya, undergo construction in the U.K. and weigh about 5.5 kg per unit. They also wash, clean and dry clothing. Sawhney eventually developed the Washing Machine Project in 2018 and has received orders from around 15 other countries. Among the countries receiving the Divya, Sawhney has been vigilant in providing a sufficient amount for the families of refugees in Iraq.

Impact of Washing Machines

The Divya’s functionality and convenience make laundry less of an all-day task for displaced families, especially women. According to Sawhney, the long-term goal of this invention was to give women of displaced families their time back, potentially granting them a greater opportunity for an education. In 2019, Sawhney and other Divya engineers traveled to Kurdish, Iraq, to donate the machines. The displaced families, particularly the women, reacted positively to the devices. Sawhney gushed, “We have developed partnerships with large international NGOs and a funding pipeline.”

Plans for Invention

Even though Sawhney’s sojourn inspired the Divya in India, it essentially has not rolled out in the country yet. Sawhney intends to distribute the Divya to other displaced families in India, Lebanon and Uganda, among other countries. With the machine relying solely on 10 liters of water, its small size and minimal requisites make it easy to transport to other countries. Its success in Iraq proves that this machine will make the lives of those abroad even more accessible.

The Divya is still a relatively recent technological and environmental innovation, but a quiet strength lies in its smallness. This little gadget turns something time-consuming into something trivial, showing the effects of small acts of kindness and concern for others and the significant impact on populations.

– Maia Nuñez
Photo: Flickr

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GoodDollar Promotes Universal Basic Income

GoodDollar
GoodDollar is both the name of an Israeli cryptocurrency and a not-for-profit company launched in 2020. Cryptocurrency is an immaterial system of money that has secure coding. Additionally, people can exchange it virtually and governments do not control it. Yoni Assia is the mind behind the GoodDollar project and coin (G$), the virtual currency that intends to democratize the economy by working to promote universal basic income and reduce inequality. Universal basic income (UBI) is “a periodic cash allowance given to all citizens… to provide them with a standard of living above the poverty line.” Here is some information about how GoodDollar promotes universal basic income (UBI).

GoodDollar’s Mission

According to Forbes, 80% of the population owns only 6% of the world’s wealth, while the remaining 20% owns the rest. Against this unfair backdrop, GoodDollar is a potential game-changer through how it promotes universal basic income.

Yoni Assia believes that “too many underprivileged people are locked out of opportunities that could take them out of poverty, including access to capital markets and digital work opportunities. Therefore, the GoodDollar project aims to alleviate that by fostering financial inclusion and empowerment around the world.” The creator of GoodDollar is also the founder of eToro, a social trading company and platform, which is responsible for investing $1 million in the new cryptocurrency.

How GoodDollar Works

GoodDollar can benefit anyone who signs up and creates an account (a wallet). For that, people need to record a short video to ensure that they are real humans, not bots, and they can complete the entire sign-up process in less than 5 minutes. There are two groups of users, claimers and supporters. Claimers are people who benefit from free digital cash (G$) without the need to invest any amount, being allowed to claim it every day and use it to pay for goods, services and exchange it with friends. Up to now, 255,000 claimants have received G$180 million, totaling more than $20,000. Supporters are both companies or regular people that believe in the UBI cause and fund a mechanism that generates interest (the DeFi — decentralized finance, protocol).

Interest generates in a blockchain, a kind of extremely safe digital information record system, and becomes the reserve of G$ coins to that undergoes distribution among claimers and supporters. The supporters benefit not only from the interest generated by their initial staked amount, but also the interest generated on top of the previous interest rate. Currently, only small businesses accept G$ coins, and they are not very valuable. However, as more people join the GoodDollar movement, its value will rise.

Hope for GoodDollar’s Growth

“Inequality plagues the world. Let’s solve for it in our future,” is a statement on GoodDollar’s website. The company is still in its early stages, but getting ready to release version 2.0 of the GoodDollar protocol. In the first year of the second version, it plans to distribute around $47,000 worth of G$. AI Multiple’s review on GoodDollar points out that, to grow and make a real difference in its users’ lives, GoodDollar needs to have more supporters and a G$ reserve that grows “faster than the number of claimers.”

The more people use this cryptocurrency, the more valuable it will become. If “a public figure sheds a light on it via their social media platforms or accepts it as a payment method for a business product or service, that could boost its popularity.”

A Promising Future

The Forbes article discusses how basic income distribution could help to reduce the financial inequality that the pandemic exacerbated, and the GoodDollar team has been working hard to make it a reality someday. While the future of the project depends on a combination of factors, blockchain solutions like GoodDollar are undeniably promising and revolutionary economic models.

Tal Oron, GoodDollar project director, hopes that within a few years, “GoodDollar [will distribute] $2 a day per person, and, together, as a global community, without government support, raise hundreds of millions of people above the poverty line.” The way that GoodDollar promotes universal basic income will only benefit people globally.

– Iasmine Oliveira
Photo: Flickr

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Sustainable Taxi Gardens in Thailand

Taxi Gardens in Thailand
Since January 13, 2020, COVID-19 played a significant role in disrupting Thailand’s economy. Financial hardship in Thailand was undeniable. The World Bank has indicated that if the country’s government had not introduced socially and fiscally restorative programs, about 700,000 citizens would have fallen into poverty. While Thailand’s economy has essentially stabilized, one occupation has struggled to land back on its feet–or, behind the wheel. This occupation’s struggle led to the incredible innovation of taxi gardens in Thailand.

The Effects of COVID-19 on Taxi Services

Along with the curfew implemented on April 3, 2020, Thailand made multiple attempts to control the spread of COVID-19. However, because everyone stayed at home working or learning remotely, taxicab drivers experienced a slowed revenue stream. Because no one traveled, these drivers could not afford the daily payments of their vehicles. Instead, they used their funds to take care of their families. As a result of COVID-19, financial hardship in Thailand certainly impacted the economy and put several businesses in financial jeopardy. Taxicab owners suffered a significant dwindling in their source income, leaving them to make a tough decision regarding their cars.

Because of the decline in fares, taxicab drivers from the Ratchapruk and Bovorn Taxi Cooperatives could not afford to make payments for their vehicles. The corporation’s executive, Thapakorn Assawalertkul, described how drivers left their cars on the streets even after the vehicles’ daily payments dropped to $9.09. Thailand’s government provided financial assistance to businesses, but not cab drivers. Cab drivers sacrificed their livelihoods and received little to no government assistance during the pandemic. The government introduced specific aid programs for many corporations, such as lengthening credit for hotel operators to deter them from liquidating their assets. However, there is still an evident disparity in financial stability for other livelihoods.

The Benefits of Taxi Gardens in Thailand

A few workers from these taxi companies started turning the standing vehicles into sustainable gardens. The crops, such as string beans and tomatoes, grow from the roof of these idled vehicles. As of September 22, 2021, cab drivers transformed approximately 300 cars into planters. The taxi gardens provide food for the drivers and their families to make up for their lack of revenue. They also serve an artistic purpose. Taxi gardens in Thailand are symbolic of the unfortunate circumstances of the nation’s taxicab industry in the wake of the pandemic. The companies’ staff tend the gardens in turns, a poignant reminder of their concern for their lost livelihoods and lack of societal or governmental initiative.

A Symbol of Resilience

The artistic and overarching theme of unity explored with this collage of taxicab crops is impressive. Taxi gardens in Thailand illustrate the beauty that comes from a concerned and considerate community. It is also worth noting the sustainable usage of these idled vehicles. However, many workers who tend to these gardens explain that they would like to see the government play a more active role in alleviating their financial stress and stagnance. With such an eye-grabbing display as this, it may not be long before Thailand’s taxicab drivers receive proper attention as a symbol of financial hardship in Thailand.

– Maia Nuñez
Photo: Flickr

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The World Food Programme Supports Guinea-Bissau

Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau, a West African country bordering the Atlantic Ocean, is known for cashew nut farming, which amounts to “90% of the country’s exports,” serving as “a main source of income for an estimated two-thirds of the country’s households.” However, almost 70% of the country’s population lives in poverty.  Among the issues of poverty that plague Guinea-Bissau is food insecurity, low educational attainment and inadequate healthcare. The World Food Programme (WFP), in particular, supports Guinea-Bissau by tackling several issues through humanitarian aid and support.

Food Insecurity and Education

In Guinea-Bissau specifically, the WFP focuses its efforts on supplying “nutritional support” to roughly 96,000 citizens. Data indicates that about a quarter of Guinea-Bissau’s population endures chronic malnutrition. Therefore, in specific, the WFP’s nutrition programs work on combating malnutrition among children younger than 5 as well as “pregnant and nursing women.”

On top of food and nutrition support, the WFP also focuses on education in Guinea-Bissau. In 2014, the overall literacy rates of young citizens aged 15-24 in Guinea-Bissau stood at just 60%. A specific strategy the WFP employs to tackle both food insecurity and low educational attainment rates are supplying meals to more than 173,000 school students to encourage students to attend school. Furthermore, “take-home food rations for female students” aim to “encourage girls to attend and remain in school” since rates of school completion for girls are disproportionately low. The hope is for the WFP to assist the Guinean government in taking over this school feeding program.

In order to strengthen the long-term food security of Guinea-Bissau, the WFP is helping rural people gain access to “social services and markets.” In addition, on June 24, 2021, the WFP provided “agricultural tools and seeds” to about 120 female farmers for the purpose of growing food in their local communities. For short-term food security, the WFP delivered 80 million tons of rice across villages in Guinea-Bissau.

COVID-19 in Guinea Bissau

The WFP is also assisting Guinea-Bissau to better manage the COVID-19 crisis within the country. By October 1, 2021, Guinea-Bissau reported more than 6,000 COVID-19 cases and 140 deaths. As a low-income country with a GDP per capita of just $727, the nation does not have adequate funding or resources for resilient and effective healthcare facilities as well as a strong and efficient COVID-19 response.

The WFP supports Guinea-Bissau with supply chain management of essential COVID-19 resources such as “personal protective equipment, medical equipment, medicines and hospital lab supplies” and delivers these resources to health facilities across the country.

Looking Ahead

Guinea-Bissau faces significant challenges regarding poverty, food insecurity education and healthcare, among other issues. Through how WFP continuously supports Guinea-Bissau, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic, conditions in the country can improve. With both long-term and short-term humanitarian efforts, hope exists for the people of Guinea-Bissau to rise out of poverty as resilient, empowered and productive individuals.

– Makena Roberts
Photo: Flickr

Dawrati Addresses Period Poverty in Lebanon

Period Poverty in Lebanon
In a world where many people within underdeveloped nations struggle to afford even their next meal, the issue of period poverty runs rampant. In Lebanon, specifically, a country experiencing what the World Bank describes as “one of the world’s worst financial crises since the 1850s,” the issue of period poverty in Lebanon is a growing concern.

What is Period Poverty?

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) defines period poverty as “the struggle many low-income women and girls face while trying to afford menstrual products.” However, one can also use the term in a more broad and all-encompassing way. Period poverty also refers to any increased financial vulnerability a group of people may face strictly due to menstruation. As the country of Lebanon sinks deeper into economic and financial turmoil, period poverty in Lebanon has reached an all-time high. According to local Lebanese organization Dawrati, as much as 66% of adolescent Lebanese girls cannot afford menstrual products to properly manage their menstruation.

Overall Poverty in Lebanon

The official Lebanese currency, the Lebanese pound, is facing severe devaluation due to several factors such as corruption, crippling debt and the lack of foreign currency circulation in the country. This financial issue plunged the Lebanese population further into poverty. According to the Observatory, “the cost of food has soared by 700% over the past two years” with the potential to increase further in 2021.

The United Nations indicates that the Lebanese multidimensional poverty rate has drastically increased from 42% of the population in 2019 to 82% in 2021. Now, a significant portion of the Lebanese population earns unlivable wages, leaving most families stuck below the poverty line.

As necessities such as food and medicine become scarce and more difficult to afford, people who menstruate view menstrual products as luxuries they simply cannot afford. Due to inflation, the price of menstrual pads and products increased by 500%. This increase, in addition to the severe decrease in the value of incomes in Lebanese households, makes period poverty in Lebanon a major issue.

The Challenges Lebanese Girls and Women Face

By attempting to substitute menstrual products with more accessible alternatives, Lebanese girls and women put themselves at risk of infections and health complications. With more than 66% of girls and women in Lebanon unable to afford menstrual products, this substitution is a common reality. More than half of women in Lebanon have reduced their consumption of pads, opting for less sanitary options to manage their periods.

Lebanese women are increasingly replacing menstrual products with children’s diapers, old pieces of cloth or fabric and even newspapers. In addition to health concerns brought about by unsanitary methods of managing periods, period poverty in Lebanon also impacts the education of girls. Many adolescent girls skip school due to a lack of menstrual products, impacting their overall education and prospects for future success.

Taking Action Against Period Poverty in Lebanon

Even though the situation concerning period poverty in Lebanon is challenging, organizations are rallying to support Lebanese people who menstruate. “Dawrati,” which translates from Arabic into “menstruation cycle,” is one of the most prominent non-governmental organizations addressing period poverty in Lebanon.

Dawrati began in May 2020 and its efforts include distributing thousands of menstruation kits, maternity kits and first-time period kits to Lebanese people in the nation’s most vulnerable areas. The organization participates in many collaborative projects with other non-governmental organizations to ensure access to menstrual kits countrywide. The organization is partnering with the Zovighian Partnership to gather data on precise period poverty statistics in Lebanon. This comprehensive research will inform Dawrati’s lobbying efforts and “help Dawrati finalize its policy proposal to end period poverty in Lebanon.”

Looking Ahead

As Lebanon’s economy continues to deteriorate, it remains important to focus on addressing period poverty as issues affecting girls and women often go overlooked by governments. Period poverty in Lebanon is a serious concern, however, many individuals and organizations continue to support the country’s most vulnerable people with the resources they need to properly manage their menstrual cycles.

– Nohad Awada
Photo: Flickr

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WHO Calls for Delay in Administering Booster Shots

Delay in Administering Booster Shots
In early September 2021, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and other WHO officials called for a delay in administering booster shots until the COVID-19 vaccine becomes more accessible to low-and middle-income countries. While wealthier nations are already offering booster shots to their fully vaccinated citizens to protect against COVID-19, other low-income countries, such as the African nation of Burundi, are just recently rolling out their first round of vaccines. WHO officials argue that these doses of booster shots would be more beneficial in ending the global pandemic if countries allocate them to developing nations instead.

Prioritizing Developing Nations

This is not the first time WHO officials called for a delay in administering booster shots as Ghebreyesus previously recommended the postponement of boosters until at least the end of September 2021. However, with many nations disregarding this request, the WHO is now calling for nations to pause booster shots until the end of 2021.

Burundi, a poverty-stricken country in Africa, has noted more than 12,000 cases of COVID-19 as of September 1, 2021. However, Burundi accepted its first supply of COVID-19 vaccines only in August 2021. Thus, at this point, a significant portion of the nation remains unvaccinated. These circumstances stand in stark contrast to countries such as Israel that are now offering booster shots to all vaccinated individuals ages 12 and older.

Each booster a nation dispenses comes with opportunity costs. Researchers argue that every booster shot a nation administers constitutes an inoculation that could go toward vaccinating an individual from an underdeveloped nation. These booster shots in wealthier countries ultimately deprive many at-risk populations within low- and middle-income countries of a chance at surviving COVID-19. Without a majority vaccinated population, these nations struggle to thwart the overall spread of the virus in their countries.

The Need for Booster Shots

While Ghebreyesus accepts that higher-risk portions of the population may benefit from booster shots, he believes boosters are unnecessary for low-risk groups. “We do not want to see widespread use of boosters for healthy people who are fully vaccinated,” he said. Furthermore, WHO officials maintain that there is a lack of evidence to suggest that booster shots are beneficial for protecting against COVID-19. Until this proof is available, vaccine doses will likely be more useful if the world prioritizes redirection and distribution of these shots to developing nations.

Compliance for the Moratorium on Boosters

Despite the initial failure of the first moratorium placed on booster shots, WHO officials believe that this time, nations are taking the moratorium more seriously. WHO official Dr. Bruce Aylward has stated that several countries are taking this plea into consideration, delaying their distributions of booster shots. Additionally, some vaccine manufacturers are pledging to supply lower- and middle-income countries with vaccines rather than wealthier nations that already have an ample supply.

As of September 1, 2021, about 73% of the global population was not vaccinated. Many of these unprotected individuals come from underdeveloped nations with lacking resources. Meanwhile, several wealthy nations are administering booster shots to healthy individuals. As the world continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to prioritize global vaccine equity as even one nation without adequate protection from COVID-19 means the whole world is without protection.

– River Simpson
Photo: Flickr

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Economic Diversification in Saudi Arabia

Economic Diversification in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s most prominent industry is the oil and gas industry. The oil and gas industry has made Saudi Arabia extremely wealthy. However, in recent years, the government has decided to diversify the economy. The involvement of more industries in the job market could create more jobs for Saudis. Here is some information about economic diversification in Saudi Arabia.

Oil and Gas in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia provides about 11% of the world’s oil. It is the second-largest oil provider after the U.S. Since 1938 when Saudi Arabia first struck oil, the gross domestic product (GDP) regarding oil and gas has seen mostly positive growth. Conversely, the oil and gas sector makes up 50% of Saudi Arabia’s GDP. The oil and gas sector also makes up 70% of all export earnings. However, some estimates go as high as 90%.

Saudi Aramco is the official oil company in Saudi Arabia. In 2020, Aramco made $229.9 billion USD in revenue and employed 66,800 people. The average salary people receive at Saudi Aramco is $129,083. Even on the lower spectrum, the salary is around $60,000. Good pay creates high competition for any other job market that tries to take off. In addition, creating more jobs that are not in the oil industry is beneficial because people of all skills and education levels can seek employment.

Saudi Arabia’s Dependence on Oil and Gas

In 2016, Saudi Arabia announced a new program called Vision 2030. One of the focuses of this program is economic diversification in Saudi Arabia. Specifically, the goal is to broaden Saudi Arabia’s exports and income possibilities from oil and gas to other necessary avenues like transportation and entertainment.

Economic diversification in Saudi Arabia has already proven to be beneficial because oil prices took a massive hit during the ongoing pandemic. China is one of Saudi Arabia’s largest oil importers. Because of the pandemic decreasing travel, Saudi Arabia’s oil exports to China have drastically decreased as well. In addition, Saudi Arabia’s oil exports to the rest of the world have declined because of the pandemic. The severe decrease in oil exports has contributed to the lowering of its GDP from 0.3% in 2019 to -6.8% in 2020. These numbers show how the reliance on gas and oil is detrimental to Saudi Arabia’s economy.

Diversifying Saudi Arabia’s Economy

The goal for the revamp of Saudi Arabia’s economy is not just about diversity but also about making knowledgeable job growth decisions that make sense for Saudis. The goal is to have an economy that relies more heavily on the private sector than the government. Getting Saudis working in the private sector and creating jobs that match people’s skills will be crucial to the success of this plan.

The government’s plans on achieving economic diversification are to increase foreign investment, increase the amount of small and medium businesses and create jobs by developing what the government is calling mega-projects. Mega-projects and the new jobs could be part of several sectors looking to expand including tourism, transportation, entertainment and others.

While the drop in oil sales has created setbacks in the economic diversification of Saudi Arabia, that has not discouraged the country. Despite COVID-19, Saudi Arabia is determined to continue the diversification process by continuing with already planned projects.

– Shelby Tomassini
Photo: Flickr

Internet Accessibility in the Dominican Republic

Internet Accessibility in the Dominican Republic
Intelsat, an international satellite communications organization, is partnering “with coreNOC, Audio Union International and KM Systems and an undisclosed capital fund” to deliver affordable high-speed internet to rural areas of the Dominican Republic. In collaboration with the Dominican Republic government, the endeavor will help provide “a nationwide wireless internet and infrastructure system for the Ministry of Education.” Expanding internet accessibility in the Dominican Republic will benefit schoolchildren in the more rural and impoverished regions of the Dominican Republic by allowing them access to quality learning materials and lessons. The endeavor will also create more jobs in the telecommunications sector in the Dominican Republic, aiding in economic growth.

Internet Access in the Dominican Republic

Approximately 15% of the Dominican Republic’s population, or approximately 1.6 million people, live in rural areas. In these areas, internet accessibility has lagged. In 2016, internet accessibility in the Dominican Republic reached slightly more than 50% of the country’s population.

Adding and maintaining internet access is expensive and Dominican rural residents are often more impoverished than the rest of the island. The poverty in the rural sections of the Dominican Republic stems from the destruction of recurring natural disasters as well as an unproductive agricultural sector.

Benefiting School Children

In the Dominican Republic, in 2018, only 69% of children in rural areas had access to the internet. As a nation with “one of the world’s worst education systems,” in 2014, the Dominican Republic committed to reforming its education system by updating the curriculum and building better classrooms. Adding internet accessibility to classrooms has “the potential to improve the quality of education.” According to dotmagazine, the internet “opens doorways to a wealth of information, knowledge and educational resources, increasing opportunities for learning in and beyond the classroom.” In addition, “interactive teaching methods, supported by the internet, enable teachers to give more attention to individual students’ needs and support shared learning.”

As Dominican students progress from one education level to another, studies note a high dropout rate. Many students drop out of school to provide an income for their families. Others want to avoid adding further financial stress on their household with the costs of school. However, a lack of education significantly impacts an individual’s earning potential. A survey that the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic conducted in 2015 shows that students with a high school degree “earn more than 30% higher” incomes than individuals who only completed primary school. In general, a better quality education decreases overall poverty rates and the internet has the potential to increase the quality of education in the Dominican Republic.

Benefiting the Dominican Republic Workforce

Increased internet accessibility in the Dominican Republic will bring more jobs to the rural areas of the Dominican Republic. Most telecommunications jobs exist in larger cities, such as Santo Domingo. In July 2021, the Inter-American Development Bank proposed a project to improve internet connectivity in the Dominican Republic. This project alone could generate more than 33,000 local jobs. Furthermore, the World Bank estimates that with each telecommunication job generated, two to four more jobs emerge across other business sectors too.

Looking Ahead

The Dominican Republic’s poverty rate reached about 23% in 2020. Research suggests that improving internet access also increases the chances of lower poverty and unemployment rates. Intelsat’s proposed plan to improve internet accessibility in the Dominican Republic means that the nation can expect similar positive outcomes.

– Clara Mulvihill
Photo: Flickr