Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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MADE51 Empowers Refugee Artisans Globally

Made51 artMADE51 is a global initiative created by the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the World Free Trade Organization to showcase the creative talents and skills of refugees while giving them an opportunity to earn an income by selling their art. MADE51, which stands for Market Access, Design and Empowerment for Refugee Artisans, connects artisans with markets in order to economically empower artisans and help them rise out of poverty. U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees Kelly Clements states that “Rather than viewing millions of refugees across the globe as a burden, MADE51 sees untapped talent and potential that, if unlocked, can directly benefit” refugees, host countries and local enterprises.

How MADE51 Works

MADE51 gives refugees the opportunity to build sustainable livelihoods by selling “artisanal home decor and accessories.” Sales from MADE51 products allow “refugees to contribute to their host country’s economy” and reinforces their ties with society. Instead of seeing refugees as a burden, MADE51 gives them a platform to showcase their talent.

The initiative connects artisans with local social enterprises in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. According to Herbert Smith Freehills, “International trade in artisan crafts is now valued at over $32 billion per year, with 65% of handicraft exports coming from developing countries.”

MADE51 promotes economic inclusion using an innovative marketing solution. It identifies refugee artisans and gives them a platform to showcase their traditions and skills by helping them form partnerships with local businesses. Then, the initiative brings in its partners’ technical expertise for branding, marketing, capacity building and more.

The UNHCR also conducts assessments to make sure partner businesses follow UNHCR principles and Fair Trade standards. Fair Trade principles ensure that workers receive adequate compensation while working in a safe environment. MADE51 embodies the spirit of the UNHCR’s Global Compact on Refugees.

A lot goes into the success of the MADE51 collection. MADE51 receives help from strategic partners in product design, integrated technology, branding and marketing.

MADE51’s Impact

Other than providing a way for refugees to make a living, the initiative presents an opportunity to show solidarity with refugees. MADE51 “demonstrates the talents that refugees possess and how if given the opportunity, they can become positive contributors to societies and economies.”

MADE51 gives refugees the chance to honor and preserve their heritage and culture through art. Often the only things refugees can take with them when displaced are intangible skills, craftsmanship, knowledge and traditions. The collection shares these skills with the world while allowing refugees to “regain economic independence.” MADE51 is also a way of telling the human story of refugees rebuilding their lives from scratch.

How to Help

As a global collaborative initiative, MADE51 relies on the help of strategic partnerships. It is currently seeking partners in several areas such as retail branding, design and logistics. Individuals can also play a role in uplifting and empowering refugees by supporting the collection. For example, individuals can promote the collection on social media platforms, utilize word-of-mouth marketing and purchase items from the collection. The collection is diverse, containing protective face masks, towels, aprons, laptop sleeves, key chains, travel bags and more.

According to the UNHCR, at the close of 2020, “there were 82.4 million forcibly displaced people in the world.” More than 25% of this population was made up of refugees. MADE51 presents an inspiring tale of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people using their creative skills to rebuild their lives while simultaneously sharing and preserving their culture.

– Ariel Dowdy
Photo: Flickr

Digital Access and the Digital Divide

Digital accessDigital access for all is becoming more and more necessary with the growing digital economy. Ecuadorian businesswoman Pierangela Sierra recently became the United Nation’s eTrade for All initiative representative for Latin America and the Caribbean. The program seeks to “expand and promote” the digital economy across middle to low-income countries. Sierra is the founder of Tipti, which is an e-commerce online grocery shopping platform in Ecuador. The platform makes strides for women entrepreneurs around the world as Sierra advocates for their place in the digital workforce. Unfortunately, the growing global digital divide creates barriers to access. People in lower-income countries, especially women, have less access to the online world. Sierra’s advocacy for internet access equality provides much hope for the global digital accessibility movement.

The Digital Divide: A Global Crisis

On February 15, 2021, the United Nations Commission for Social Development discussed the presence of the global digital divide as it applies to the COVID-19 pandemic and global poverty. Members of the Commission noted that while technology has made it possible for numerous countries to overcome educational and economic crises throughout the pandemic, the digital divide has expanded globally.

The U.N. Secretary-General Amina Mohammed states that half the world’s population currently lacks internet access, “the majority of whom are women and mostly in developing countries.” The World Bank reports that only 35% of people in developing countries have access to the internet, indicating that the greatest digital access disparities are seen within rural areas as “these disparities impede shared prosperity and constrain access to pathways out of poverty.”

These disparities can sometimes even impact the speed, and therefore, the accessibility of the internet in different areas. As of 2019, it would take an average of 30 hours, one minute and 40 seconds to download a 5GB movie in Yemen in comparison to the average eight minutes it would take in Taiwan.

Pierangela Sierra and Founding Tipti

The global digital divide has grown throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as those in rural or impoverished areas lack access to the resources the digital world provides. As impoverished communities and women continue to bear the brunt of internet inaccessibility, communities need advocates now more than ever. Sierra and her company Tipti work to debunk myths surrounding digital access and generate change by advocating for greater e-commerce and digital access among low-income populations and women.

After working for a variety of international corporations across Latin America, Sierra founded Tipti in 2016. Tipti is an abbreviation of “Tiempo para ti” or “time for you.” Tipti is an e-commerce grocery shopping and delivery platform designed to save clients time otherwise spent buying groceries in person.

Tipti’s Impact on Women

While 346 million people in Latin America have internet access, only 20% of the population “made online purchases in 2019.” The U.N. reports that there is an overall “lack of trust in postal services” and barriers to online bank account access. Sierra attributes the low level of e-commerce in Latin America to inadequate technology access and a lack of internet education. Sierra emphasizes that “there is a great need for access to education” in low-income areas, especially for women.

As part of the United Nation’s eTrade for All initiative, Sierra will teach a Masterclass “geared toward women who are ready to craft their own business plan for the tech sector.” Furthermore, Sierra aims to mobilize communities in order to create lasting change and significantly reduce the digital divide. As Sierra states in talks with the United Nations, “the moment you lend a woman a helping hand, you are helping up to 20 other people, too.”

The Future for Women in the Digital Workplace

As the digital divide increases worldwide, advocates like Sierra are extremely important. Fortunately, Sierra is not alone in her fight to increase e-commerce access and internet equality. Among various other organizations, the World Bank recently called for global broadband internet access for everyone. Currently, the World Bank is embarking on initiatives surrounding sector policy, loans and grants for broadband access. Individuals like Sierra along with organizations such as the U.N. and the World Bank further the movement to close the global digital divide through their advocacy and educational efforts.

– Lillian Ellis
Photo: Flickr

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A Closer Look at USAID Assistance to Sudan

USAID Assistance to SudanUnited States Agency for International Development (USAID) assistance to Sudan offers hope to alleviate poverty in the struggling country. Sudan has a population of more than 44 million people, but as of August 2021, approximately 13.4 million Sudanese people require humanitarian aid. Citizens are grappling with conflict, food insecurity, economic crisis and the impact of drought and flooding. The onset of COVID-19 has only exacerbated issues of poverty in the country. Even though there were developmental gains in the past decade, the African country of Sudan is still dealing with widespread poverty, conflict and violence. However, with USAID assistance to Sudan, the country has the potential to make significant strides in reducing poverty.

The Economy of Sudan

The secession of South Sudan in 2011 is a leading cause of many of Sudan’s modern economic struggles. When South Sudan seceded, the most significant economic loss to Sudan was oil revenue. Oil contributed to more than 50% of the Sudanese government’s income and “95% of its exports.” Without oil revenue, the country experienced a lack of economic growth and “consumer price inflation” as well as soaring fuel prices. However, Sudan came to an agreement with South Sudan “to lower oil transit fees” in 2016 in order to address some of these issues.

While oil is still Sudan’s main economic sector, about 78% of the population work in the agricultural sector. However, the agricultural industry in Sudan is highly rain-dependent and very sensitive to “changing weather patterns” that lead to drought and flooding. This volatility can hurt the incomes of the many people whose livelihoods depend on agriculture.

The State of Poverty in Sudan

Sudan faces significant challenges regarding poverty. Sudan has “one of the highest rates of stunting in the region,” with global acute malnutrition impacting about one million children in the country. In addition, roughly 83% of the citizens live in rural areas and 80% of the population survives on less than $1 a day. Furthermore, more than a third of the country experiences food insecurity. The culmination of these factors means, on the Human Development Index, Sudan ranks 170th out of 189 countries. This ranking puts Sudan in the “low human development category,” according to the 2019 Human Development Index.

USAID Assistance to Sudan

“The United States has been the largest donor of humanitarian assistance to the people of Sudan for more than a quarter-century.” USAID assistance to Sudan aims to reduce poverty and provide immediate humanitarian relief. In June 2020, USAID gave Sudan roughly $356 million “to support the democratic transition in the Republic of Sudan following a peaceful revolution in 2019.” Of this funding, $20 million went toward the Sudan Family-Support Program, “a safety net administered by the World Food Programme” to assist Sudanese people “through a difficult period of economic reform needed to end unsustainable state subsidies on wheat and oil.” In addition, some of the funding went toward strengthening the COVID-19 response in Sudan.

More recently, on August 3, 2021, USAID Administrator Samantha Power proclaimed that the agency will provide more than $56 million worth of humanitarian aid to Sudan. The aid looks to increase healthcare resiliency by assisting with “emergency health care,” medical resources and the training of healthcare personnel. Furthermore, the funding will support victims “of gender-based violence by improving case management and training personnel on survivor-centered approaches.” The funding will also increase resources with regard to water and sanitation. Through this assistance, USAID strives to help approximately 13.4 million Sudanese who need humanitarian aid.

Looking Ahead

With the addition of this recent aid, the U.S. asserts its position as the most significant donor to Sudan, providing nearly $377 million worth of aid since the beginning of 2021. U.S aid to Sudan provides support for millions of Sudanese people who deal with food insecurity, lack of clean water and conflict, among other issues. With U.S. aid, Sudan can make strides in the fight against poverty.

– Kyle Har
Photo: Flickr

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How Crowdfunding is Reducing Poverty

crowdfunding is reducing povertyIn 1997, modern-day crowdfunding gained global traction as British rock band Marillion funded their U.S. tour entirely through fan donations. Since then, crowdfunding has transformed into a global market. It is capable of financing aid projects, resource distribution and business ventures. Thus, crowdfunding is reducing poverty in developing countries, as proven around the world.

What is Crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding is a fundraising method performed on the internet. Investors contribute small amounts of capital to finance an idea or aid individuals. Using social media networks, crowdfunding works to draw people’s attention to situations of need. Moreover, it creates an opportunity within which anyone with money can invest.

Crowdfunding is typically performed through loans and donations. The loan system helps businesses that are developing a product or resolving a conflict. In this regard, crowdfunding is reducing poverty by giving investors an incentive to have a stake in a business’s success. Additionally, donations are a way for individuals to raise money after being impacted by natural disasters or medical expenses. In both ways, crowdfunding improves fundraising accessibility on a global scale.

Crowdfunding’s Growing Popularity

Crowdfunding became a popular option for entrepreneurs at the turn of the 21st century. Sites such as Kickstarter and GoFundMe have expanded globally. Revenue increased “from $530 million in 2009 to $1.5 billion in 2011,” contributing to economic growth. Not only does crowdfunding allow individuals to invest in campaigns directly but it also brings attention to causes around the world as a catalyst for poverty reduction.

Market Potential

According to the World Bank, crowdfunding’s popularity is spreading from developed to developing countries. In order to boost profitability, global poverty reduction legislation has created an opportunity for crowdfunding to thrive. Due to advancements in income equality and job growth, there are up to 344 million households that can contribute small investments to crowdfunding platforms. This means that by 2025, nearly $96 billion can be raised just through crowdfunding alone.

Thus, crowdfunding is reducing poverty through its ability to connect people around the world. When observing diaspora remittances, education and housing funding, crowdfunding has the potential to increase capital by 25% more in developing countries. As such, in emerging economies that struggle to provide adequate healthcare, crowdfunding can alleviate some of that pressure.

Crowdfunding and Health

A 2018 study by the British Medical Journal studied poverty in India. The Journal found that 38 million people went into poverty as a result of self-financing healthcare bills. The second wave of COVID-19 hit India hard, and as such, many citizens relied on crowdfunding instead of insurance coverage. Through crowdfunding, nearly $1.6 billion was raised from more than 2.7 million donors. Thus, while developed countries have adopted crowdfunding as a method to support innovative business ideas, the developing world is seeing money channeled into small projects or helping others afford medical bills.

Leading by Example

As crowdfunding has gained popularity, several platforms are working to help those in need. Kiva is a loan-based platform that started in 2005. This website allows people to crowdfund loans that support more than 1.7 billion people who are unable to access essential financial services. Kiva’s work spans 77 countries, funding female-led businesses, youth education and medical expenses. In total, Kiva has supported $1.63 billion worth of loans.

A forerunner for crowdfunding sites in India, Milaap, offers investors the opportunity to contribute donations for causes they are passionate about without incurring any fees. Started in 2010, Milaap’s team has been a pioneer in providing funding to rural areas and small businesses. Now, crowdfunding is reducing poverty in healthcare, making Milaap the go-to platform to raise money for treatments and operations.

Similarly, Transparent Hands is the largest crowdfunding platform in Pakistan, which also assists the health sector. Those who are in extreme poverty can rely on donations made by people around the world to help cover the costs of surgery.

Overall, crowdfunding is an emerging resource that is positively affecting the scope of global poverty. Its potential to provide funding to low-income groups is an important step toward solving inequality.

– Nicole Yaroslavsky
Photo: Flickr

6 Facts About Higher Education in Brazil

Higher Education in BrazilBrazil has a population of more than 211 million, but only 18% of adults between 25 and 64 years old have acquired an academic degree. Brazil has both private and public (federal, state and municipal) higher education institutions (HEIs) classified into four main categories: universities, colleges, university centers and federal institutes. Universities are the most complex institutions as they incorporate not only regular learning activities but also scientific research and extension programs. As these six facts about higher education in Brazil illustrate, Brazil’s higher education system faces some challenges, but it also demonstrates a great history of success and potential for improvement.

6 Facts About Higher Education in Brazil

  1. Government spending in public higher education in Brazil is low. The spending in public higher education institutions increased by 19% between 2010 and 2016, but spending per student was still below the OECD member countries’ average in 2016. In 2021, a substantial budget cut is threatening federal universities’ operations. The new budget is almost the same as it was 17 years ago when the number of students was half of the current number. The low budget affects the payment of utility expenses and forces the universities to cut financial aid to low-income students and research funding.
  2. Most bachelor’s students attend private higher education institutions. Although federal and state universities in Brazil are tuition-free, more than 75% of students enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs attend private institutions. According to the 2019 census, there were more than 16.4 million admission spots that year, 94.9% at private and only 5.1% at public HEIs. Since 1999, programs, such as FIES (Student Financing Fund), finance tuition fees and allow students to start paying their loans after graduation, facilitating the access of students to private institutions. However, a study on student loan schemes in Brazil found out through simulations that there is an unsustainable repayment burden for many graduates. The study also suggested some possible solutions to the problem, such as “imposing a zero-interest rate whilst students are at higher education and whilst debtors are below the first tax threshold.”
  3. Social quotas facilitate impoverished people’s access to federal universities. In the last 15 years, 28 million people in Brazil transitioned out of poverty, but the system still favors the wealthy: the richest 10% of the population accounted for 61% of economic growth between 2001 and 2015. Business Insider suggests that federal universities’ admission systems favor this small portion of Brazilians who can afford private high schools where they have better opportunities of learning and, consequently, are more likely to succeed in the competitive public universities’ entrance exams. In 2012, President Dilma Rousseff signed a law that requires federal universities to reserve half of their admission spots for public high school graduates. Besides, half of the spots for public high school graduates go to people with a family income of less than or equal to one and a half of the minimum monthly wage per capita. ANDIFES’ surveys show that these people represented 70.2% of the undergraduates in 2018 compared to 44.3% in 1996 when the first survey first occurred.
  4. Racial quotas help to reduce the racial achievement and wealth gap. The law that emerged in 2012 to help public high school graduates and low-income students also guarantees that a percentage of federal universities’ admission spots go to those of African descent and indigenous people. This percentage varies according to their number in each state. Racial quota supporters see this law as an attempt to pay a historical debt with these groups and reduce inequality. Slavery was legal in Brazil until 1888 and left a legacy of profound racial inequality. About 125 years later, individuals of African descent earned “little over half of what white Brazilians did” and represented less than 30% of the country’s job market. In 2019, they represented more than half of higher education students in public institutions for the first time.
  5. Brazil’s public universities play a significant role in science production. Between 2013 and 2018, Brazil ranked 13th in the world in terms of its output of research papers with 280,912 papers added to the Web of Science. Fifteen public universities were responsible to produce more than 60% of this research output. Academic research benefits the world as a reliable source of information and insights that contribute to social improvements, such as the development of new technologies. The importance of university research is even more evident in the context of a pandemic. One example is the case of the Brazilian scientist Jaqueline Goes de Jesus who works at one of Universidade de São Paulo’s institutes and led the sequencing of the genome of a COVID-19 variant. Jaqueline’s accomplishment was all over the news and she even had a Barbie doll modeled after her as a recognition of her work.
  6. Brazil’s higher education institutions have international recognition. Seven of Brazil’s higher education institutions are among the top 10 Latin American universities in the 2021 Times Higher Education (THE) rankings. Universidade de São Paulo, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais and PUC-Rio are examples of a state, a federal and a private university in the top 10, respectively. Universidade de São Paulo is the oldest university in Brazil, being “responsible for around 20% of all Brazilian academic output.” THE evaluates universities in the Latin American and Caribbean regions within five areas including teaching, research, research citations, international vision and industry investment.

Looking Ahead

Higher education institutions are like gardens in which good ideas flourish when they receive the right amount of nutrition. It is worth noticing that both private and public Brazilian HEIs excel among Latin American institutions. While budget cuts threaten the future of public universities in Brazil, they do not erase their history of research contributions to the global scientific community. Besides, affirmative actions play an important role in the democratization of access to Brazil’s public institutions and impact society as a whole. These six facts about higher education in Brazil give an idea of how much there is to learn about this country’s higher education system, which is both a matter of concern and a valuable source of national pride.

– Iasmine Oliveira
Photo: Flickr

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3 Ways the U.S. Could End Global Poverty by 2030

End Global Poverty by 2030In 2015, the United Nations (UN) created the Sustainable Development Goals, a group of 17 goals that aimed to create an equal and prosperous society. Many of the goals are centered around ending discrimination, providing quality education to all, and other measures to improve equality. However, the most important goal out of the 17 developed is to end global poverty by 2030, which would significantly impact the lives of billions around the world. With America having the strongest economy in the world, even during the pandemic, the U.S. has many ways to reach this goal and finally end global poverty.

Provide Natural Resources

Currently, the U.S. holds the greatest amount of natural resources in the world, especially oil and natural gas. These resources are extremely important to help those in other countries. For instance, in countries without access to electricity, life expectancies are 20 years shorter. Electricity is necessary to provide better education, improve food supplies, upgrade healthcare and so much more. Thus, by improving electricity, America can provide the resources necessary for families to survive and potentially end global poverty by 2030.

Similarly, while electricity is essential to uplift people in developing countries, it also provides profits to America itself. The most important of these benefits is that when the U.S. exports more energy, allied countries have to rely less on authoritarian countries such as Russia and China. This helps reduce prices for these countries to purchase energy and improves confidence in the energy supply. For America, it means that trade will boost the economy and will invest in American citizens.

Improve COVID Aid

In countries across the globe, COVID has been surging due to a lack of vaccines. In fact, in Africa, the number of cases rose by 39% in June 2021. Similarly, at least 20 countries in Africa have experienced a third wave of infections. Nevertheless, wealthier nations have only promised to deliver vaccines to Africa by 2023, prolonging the spread of COVID throughout the continent.

While the U.S. has tried to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Africa, they failed in 2020 to meet the requirements for a sustainable recovery. For example, out of the $9.5 billion that the U.S. was required to contribute as part of a 2020 COVID global response, they only contributed $3.8 billion. In fact, in countries like Bangladesh and the Philippines, the U.S. only contributed 27.2% of the necessary funds.

However, in 2021, America has made many improvements to its foreign policy to aid countries in fighting COVID. The most significant of these is the $11 billion of foreign aid issued as part of the American Rescue Plan in March 2021. Furthermore, the U.S. has provided over $2 billion to COVAX, an organization that provides COVID vaccines to 92 low-income countries. With the vaccines helping potentially millions of people, the U.S. is aiding these countries to exit the current pandemic-induced recession. Although this effort likely won’t be able to end global poverty, America is providing a strong foundation for families in low-income countries.

Help Children in Poverty

Even though billions of adults live in poverty, children are twice as likely to live in poverty. Over 1 billion children worldwide are multidimensionally poor, meaning that they have no access to education, nutrition, housing, water, and more. Children who experience multidimensional poverty die at twice the rate of their peers from wealthier families.

To address this, the United States needs to recognize the flaws currently in place with regards to aiding children. For instance, only 2.6% of humanitarian funds go to education, stifling 128 million children from going to school and having the necessary abilities to succeed in the future. Financial contributions by the U.S. could help millions achieve a quality education. With better education, these students will have the resources to economically support themselves and ultimately lift themselves out of poverty.

While economic problems continue to persist, especially during the pandemic, the U.S. can help millions of families. If the U.S. uses its economic might, it could finally remove burdens for families and end global poverty.

– Calvin Franke
Photo: Pixabay

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5 Ways Bees Reduce Poverty

Bees Reduce PovertyBees are an essential part of global agricultural systems. Additionally, bees reduce poverty around the world as they are responsible for pollinating 80% of the world’s plant species, including 90 different types of crops.

Study by the FAO

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) studied 344 plots of land in parts of Africa, Latin America and Asia. The plots revealed a positive correlation between the number of bees that visited a particular plot of land and its agricultural productivity. For small farms with a landmass of fewer than two hectares, the study concluded that farmers could increase their crop production by an average of 24% by increasing pollinator traffic.

The results of the FAO study could affect approximately two billion farmers worldwide. Because of their importance to agricultural production, increasing the number of bees on agrarian lands could improve global food security. Bees also provide a valuable way to reduce rates of poverty. Bees can be especially valuable to people living in rural poverty, a very important issue to address as approximately 63% of people in poverty worldwide live in rural areas.

5 Ways Bees Reduce Poverty

  1. Beekeeping helps households increase their income. Rural families living in regions with poor agricultural yields may struggle to make ends meet. However, raising bees can help these families earn more money. In addition to potentially increasing their annual crop production, bees produce honey and beeswax which families can sell. For example, Bees Abroad and the Poverty Abroad for the Poor Initiative taught farmers living in extreme poverty how to run bee farms. As a result of this training, 30 of those farmers went on to run their own bee farms afterward, which helped increase their incomes.
  2. Beekeeping creates opportunities for entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs use bee by-products to make commodities such as shoe polish, candles and ointments. More importantly, beekeeping presents opportunities for entrepreneurship, which helps people escape poverty and support themselves and their families. Entrepreneurs are finding ways they can use bees to reduce poverty and improve living conditions.
  3. Food insecurity and poverty are linked. Poverty is the main driving factor behind food insecurity worldwide. Across the world, roughly 80% of chronically undernourished people live in rural areas of developing countries, making food insecurity a particularly important aspect of ending rural poverty. Increasing bee populations can enhance food security by increasing crop yields. By improving food security, bees reduce poverty in a way that is especially beneficial to rural communities.
  4. Beekeeping is an effective form of occupational therapy. Occupational therapy helps people with disabilities accomplish goals such as working and attending school. People with disabilities are disproportionately affected by poverty, which makes addressing their needs critical to reducing poverty. Additionally, inaccessible work and education opportunities are major contributing factors to this problem, which occupational therapy can help address. Fortunately, beekeeping requires little capital and helps occupational therapy participants become financially independent, making it an effective form of occupational therapy.
  5. Protecting the global environment keeps people out of poverty. Environmental degradation can increase levels of poverty. For example, the loss of natural resources to environmental degradation leaves communities with fewer means to support themselves. However, bees are critical pollinators that support ecosystems and natural resources across the globe. Additionally, bees can even improve habitat restoration efforts. So, by preserving and restoring vital resources, bees reduce poverty.

Overall, bees provide unique benefits that have the potential to reduce global poverty. By garnering the help of pollinators, impoverished communities can rise out of poverty.

– Caroline Kuntzman
Photo: Flickr

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Diving into Poverty Reduction in Malaysia

poverty reduction in MalaysiaEstablished in 1963, Malaysia is a small country located in Southeast Asia. Since earning its independence, Malaysia has made considerable strides in working to reduce the national poverty rate, to the point where the country is expected to gain high-income status between 2024 and 2028. With the help of the United Nations and other organizations, poverty reduction in Malaysia is slowly reaching rural areas, which still remain disproportionally plagued by poverty.

A Flailing Poverty Line

Malaysia’s economic success cannot be explained without first noting the shift in an economic system previously dependent on agriculture to one built around commodity exportation. With about 40% of its labor force working in export activities, the country’s positive attitude toward trade and investment is responsible for the upwards trajectory in job growth and income expansion. Poverty reduction in Malaysia is apparent in its revision of the poverty line, increasing from $231.27 to $521.06 in 2019. That same year, however, rural households reported earning less than $2 per day.

Reports from government officials, which detail poverty reduction in Malaysia, ignore risks that many people face every day. The most impoverished 40% consist of rural villagers, migrant workers and refugees. These people are often left out of official poverty figures and lack a social safety net. Moreover, the dramatic economic growth seen in recent years is not accurately reflected in the poverty line, which is largely inconsistent with the current income levels of Malaysians. In his report, Professor Philip Alston explains that the impoverished have benefitted in gaining universal access to basic utilities. However, things like medical care and education are widely unattainable.

In areas such as Pulau Indah, an island not far from the capital Kuala Lumpur, many citizens live alongside heaps of garbage consisting of discarded plastic waste from Western countries. Here, sanitary living conditions are hard to come by. Education levels and medical needs prohibit people from building a life elsewhere. Most are even employed at illegal factories working to burn the waste that surrounds them. This leaves them in an inescapable cycle of poverty.

Villages Struggling to Stay Afloat

Problems are exacerbated in rural areas where the distance from hospitals, schools and jobs prevents residents from obtaining help. In water villages, which are clusters of homes sitting atop the water’s surface, the communities are subject to pollution and dangerous living conditions. While poverty reduction in Malaysia targets floating villages, providing them with basic necessities is still a hurdle. Access to clean water is a major problem as towns have no way of installing sewer systems. Even safe methods of electricity for heat or cooking are unaffordable. Thus, people resort to illegally extending power lines, risking engulfing entire villages into flames.

Casting a Safety Net

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is using an innovative strategy to aid poverty reduction in Malaysia. True to its mission of caring for the environment by improving people’s quality of life, UNEP sponsored a pilot project aimed at providing sewage treatment tanks to homes and schools in floating villages. This is major for a region like Sabah, which has 10,185 floating homes. These efforts are helping nearly 50,000 people gain access to sanitary living conditions. As part of a 36-month-long project, UNEP hopes to install 200 more treatment tanks in another village. Additionally, UNEP is encouraging the establishment of a facility where local people can work to produce the tanks themselves.

A business known as Hive Bulk Foods has also made considerable efforts at drawing attention to the waste issues in Malaysia and the impact of waste on impoverished communities. Founded by Claire Sancelot, The Hive encourages sustainable living and works with local farmers to source its ingredients. It operates as one of the only no-waste stores in Kuala Lumpur.

This push toward empowering rural communities to help eliminate poverty is apparent in the Malaysian government’s work as well. Legislation such as the 12th Malaysian Plan is based around promoting economic growth and poverty reform. Key policy measures that include providing help for undocumented citizens and re-evaluating the poverty line would ensure that poverty levels continue their downward trend for good.

– Nicole Yaroslavsky
Photo: Flickr

Khabar Lahariya Works for Change in India

Khabar LahariyaSince 2002, Khabar Lahariya, a newspaper in the northeastern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, has been changing perspectives and advocating for justice. With a team of all women, Khabar Lahariya takes on corrupt authority figures and unjust social systems, fighting for change in the communities it covers and the country overall.

Beginnings

Khabar Lahariya grew out of a literacy program for women. In the program, participants wrote about topics in their communities that mattered to them. When the program came to a close, the women wanted to continue these reading and writing efforts, thus prompting the creation of a weekly newspaper in 2002 called Khabar Lahariya. The paper was in print up until the mid-2010s and then moved online. In 2020, The Story newsletter reported that Khabar Lahariya had grown from 80,000 newspaper readers to around 5 million viewers every month on YouTube. Currently, the new digital news platform has 540,000 YouTube subscribers.

Exposing Social Issues and Injustice

Khabar Lahariya’s staff comes from heavily marginalized groups. All of the staff are women, but they are also Dalits (the lowest social caste in India) as well as Muslims and indigenous Adivasis. By publishing a newspaper, Khabar Lahariya’s staff have resisted oppressive systems and are also able to earn an income by working for the paper. The staff members receive compensation and their ongoing training serves to strengthen the newspaper even further while improving the literacy rate among women.

The digital newspaper provides a way for its staff to expose social issues and injustice. “We expose corruption and the way that public money gets handed around, talking about what kind of welfare schemes are being rolled out, at what point and in what area. How do those actually pan out on the ground?” Disha Mullick, the paper’s co-founder, explained in a 2020 interview with The Story. One of Khabar Lahariya’s most recent stories covers India’s rural employment scheme, which has failed many people, leaving them struggling to get by with little work.

Igniting Change

Additionally, Khabar Lahariya does “a lot of reporting around human rights for gender and caste,” Mullick tells The Story. The paper explores questions such as, “Why do certain crimes have impunity? How does violence against women happen? What exactly does it mean? How does it change?” Khabar Lahariya’s reporting highlights the voices of survivors of violence as well.

The Khabar Lahariya team’s work has resulted in tangible change. People are able to hold their government accountable and demand the services rightfully due to them. Road improvements and school constructions are tangible reflections of this success. Perpetrators of sexual violence face punishment and a cultural shift is forming surrounding sexual violence as people no longer view it as a crime that perpetrators should get away with.

However, not everyone supports Khabar Lahariya’s work. When the paper first began, the women were met with pushback from their husbands. Moreover, women working for Khabar Lahariya face death threats with mobs visiting their houses.

Looking Forward

Despite the challenges, Khabar Lahariya continues to flourish, gaining international attention along the way. In 2014, it won Deutsche Welle’s Global Media Forum Award for its community journalism. Most recently, in 2021, it won the Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation. Also this year, a film about Khabar Lahariya called “Writing With Fire” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary.

Khabar Lahariya’s staff work hard to transform their communities and society as a whole. The film will hopefully spread the word about their continuing efforts. “With this movie coming out, there will be a lot of impact on people,” lead journalist Meera says in the film’s Q&A session with the Sundance Institute. She expresses that the film may bring about negative consequences for Khabar Lahariya, but it may also “have a great impact on the society, because people would know a lot about them, a lot about journalism, and also, the strength that they have.”

– Victoria Albert
Photo: Flickr

Utilizing Laos’ Forests for Poverty Reduction

Laos' forestsLaos’ forests may be the key to reducing poverty in the country. The World Bank and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry created a new program titled the Lao Landscapes and Livelihood Project. The project, running from 2021 until 2027, seeks to help reduce poverty and kickstart the economy in Laos. The project will cost roughly $57 million and aims to alleviate the economic hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic through the preservation of Laos’ forests.

History of Poverty in Laos

Over the past 30 years, poverty in Laos has decreased dramatically. Poverty went from 46% in 1993 to 18% in 2019, coinciding with rapid growth in GDP. Much of this is a result of farming reform as farmers “moved from subsistence rice cultivation toward the commercial production of cash crops,” increasing income for farmers. However, poverty reduction has recently been slowing down in Laos with a lack of new jobs to drive economic growth and rising inequality.

Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic is causing even more employment uncertainty. There has also been a sharp decline in tourism due to COVID-19 restrictions and border closures. Workers have to deal with job informality and fluctuations in demand as well. However, remittances, an income source for about 15% of households between 2013 and 2019, contributes to poverty reduction in Laos.

The Role of Forests

There are several ways that the government can ignite poverty reduction, including improving infrastructure and investing in education. However, the Lao Landscapes and Livelihood Project looks toward one of the main sources of income: Laos’ forests.

Much of Laos’ poverty is present in the country’s rural areas, specifically in the central provinces, which are home to an abundance of forests. The main goal of the project is to utilize Laos’ forests to increase investment in sustainable forest management and preserve the country’s “natural capital” while creating employment opportunities that will help reduce poverty. About 70% of Laos is covered in forests and nearly 70% of the population lives in these forest-dense areas. This means that forests can play a key role in igniting economic growth in Laos.

Although the economy improved consistently in the past few decades, Laos’ natural resources have not. The deterioration of natural resources makes “vulnerable rural people more susceptible to floods and droughts while jeopardizing their access to food, fiber, fresh water and income.” This degradation prompts preservation efforts to protect the forests while improving the livelihoods of the people living around them.

Lao Landscapes and Livelihood Project Goals

The project focuses mainly on encouraging economic growth, which slowed during the pandemic. There are three main areas of focus for the project: conservation, tourism and production. Conservation and production relate to new jobs through investment in sustainable practices and facilities. As there is more societal pressure to obtain “good wood,” or environmentally friendly wood production, more companies are willing to invest in sustainable ways of producing wood. Consequently, this may result in nearly 300,000 new jobs in Laos.

Tourism also grows through the protection of the abundant biodiversity in Laos’ forests. Biodiversity is one of the most important, yet quickly disappearing parts of the environment. Therefore, biodiversity protection will not only help the environment but will also attract tourists who wish to see the various plant and animal species that are native to Laos, spurring economic growth.

Looking Forward

The Lao Landscapes and Livelihood Project is one part of the 2030 National Green Growth Strategy. The project intends to utilize the forests of Laos to promote economic growth while also reducing poverty by aiding the federal government in passing legislation and designing policies to align with these priorities. The project also prioritizes gender equality, with roughly 50% of the jobs allocated to women. Overall, the project will ultimately help put Laos back on the right track to continued economic growth and reduced poverty.

– Ritika Manathara
Photo: Flickr