Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Children International Works to End Global Child Poverty

Children InternationalThe poverty disparity between adults and children is ever-growing. Children are twice as likely to live in poverty in comparison to adults, according to UNICEF. Globally, one billion children live in multidimensional poverty and approximately 365 million live in extreme poverty. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has pulled 150 million more children, including some from the wealthiest countries, into poverty. For this reason, the work of nonprofits addressing child poverty, such as Children International, is especially urgent.

Children International

Children International, a nonprofit that has worked to end poverty for nearly 80 years, is renowned for its transparency. Its website displays the many tangible positive changes the organization has brought about for children living in poverty. Children International believes addressing the needs of children is the way to end global poverty. Through its unique child sponsorship program, a person from anywhere in the world can fund the health, educational, security and nutritional needs of a child.

Through its Employment Program, Empowerment Program and various health and education programs, Children International works to end global child poverty through sustainable short-term and long-term approaches. These include providing basic health and dental services, boosting children’s confidence and creating post-graduation employment opportunities.

Safe Community Centers

Children International has also created more than 67 community centers to ensure that children can grow in secure and safe environments. Holistic child care in these safe spaces addresses the nutritional, educational and physical needs of children up to age 20. Children International believes that safe spaces and programs tailored to the unique needs of each child will ultimately end global poverty.

Nuanced Attention to Every Child

Children International’s customized programs focus on the individual needs of each child. The child sponsorship program enables donors to choose a child to sponsor, then give directly to that child’s specific needs. This “contextualization” ensures that both “a 6-year-old in Zambia” and “a 14-year-old in Honduras” have their particular needs met. The child sponsorship program focuses on the nuanced needs of every child by truly listening to the children themselves and allocating the necessary resources to lift them out of poverty.

Children International’s customized programs ensure that children are educated, healthy, employed and empowered as they transition into adulthood. The education program also provides children with shoes, books, uniforms, tutoring and scholarships and builds community centers with computers and other useful resources. Nearly 88% of children engaged in tutoring programs from Children International have improved profoundly in reading, writing and math and 71% of those involved in the Employment Program have found employment.

Ending Global Child Poverty

Success stories from four continents illuminate the astounding work of Children International, which has helped more than one million children. Children International is working to end global child poverty and has already taken off immensely in its success.

– Nora Zaim-Sassi
Photo: Flickr

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and Its Effect on Egypt

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance DamThe Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will allow over 65 million Ethiopians access to electricity. Many estimate it to cost as high as $5 billion. Using two large turbines, the dam will bring more than 6,450MW worth of power to the country.

Project Background

Construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam began in April of 2011 and finished in July of 2020. The dam can hold up to 74 billion cubic meters of water, which makes it the largest hydropower project in Africa.

Located in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, about 30 km upstream from Sudan, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation identified the site between 1956 and 1964. But, construction only actually began after surveys in 2009 and 2010.

Funds from local taxes, donations and government bonds raised the necessary $4.8 billion to cover construction costs. Ethiopian’s at home and abroad provided the first $350 million. Then, the state-owned Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation invested some of its own revenue, as well as money borrowed from state-owned banks.

Controversy

Despite the benefits some say the dam will have, the project is not without controversy. Over the last decade, the governments of Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan are working to come to an official agreement on how the GERD will operate.

The Egyptian government voiced strong opposition to the GERD stating that it will cause major disruptions to the Nile. Egypt depends on more than 90% of its water from the river. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that Egypt is facing “an existential threat” because of this project.

For Egypt, the main concern lies in the impact on the water supply of previous dams on the Nile. They worry GERD will do the same. The annual flooding of the Nile is one of the most important natural events that occur throughout Egypt’s history. Egypt relies heavily on this annual event for its agriculture. Additionally, there is concern that the GERD could alter this flooding and/or interfere with the flow of sediments that are vital for growing food in the region.

Furthermore, the Sudanese government expressed concern over the effect of the dam on its people and their water rights. In June 2021, Sudan and Egypt released a joint statement. They urged for a legally binding agreement between the countries before Ethiopia began its second filling of the dam.

Water Rights

The Nile Waters Agreements of 1929 and 1959 gave Egypt and Sudan the right to all the water in the Nile. These agreements also gave Egypt the right to veto any upstream construction, such as the GERD. However, The agreements did not include Ethiopia. Therefore, Ethiopia does not recognize the agreements as legitimate.

Since Ethiopia does not recognize the Nile Waters agreements, Egypt and Sudan pushed to get a legally binding agreement. The new agreement would place restrictions on the amount of water Ethiopia may hold in the dam. However, Ethiopia refused to agree to any of these restrictions, instead favoring looser guidelines that are not legally binding.

However, the international community supports Egypt’s calls for a formal agreement. The United States warns that filling the dam without an agreement in place would lead to heightened tensions in the region. In July 2021, the United Nations Security Council made another attempt at mediating the conflict, the latest in the decade-long struggle to reach an agreement. These talks also failed and Ethiopia proceeded to fill the dam.

Looking Ahead

Despite the controversy and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam’s effect on Egypt and Sudan, it appears that the Ethiopian government will continue to move forward with filling the dam. In July of 2021, the second filling of the dam was completed. Even with the controversy, the project will provide electricity to millions in the region who previously did not have access. This is sure to have a positive impact on the citizens of the region.

– Taryn Steckler-Houle
Photo: Flickr

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Child Marriage in Zimbabwe

Child Marriage in ZimbabweChild Marriage in Zimbabwe has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Without schools functioning in person, children have less protection and experience more human rights violations such as child marriage and pregnancy.

Child marriage in Zimbabwe greatly predates the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that efforts to eliminate the practice will require a wide range of economic and cultural mitigation tactics rather than focusing solely on the eradication of the coronavirus.

Current Events

The topic of child marriage in Zimbabwe caught international attention recently when 14-year-old Memory Machaya died during childbirth. The practice is common in Zimbabwe’s Apostolic Church and has led to an online petition entitled “justice for Memory Machaya” garnering nearly 60,000 signatures.

“Female persons are not seen as fully human, with individual rights, choice, right to control our own bodies,” said Zimbabwean feminist activist Everjoice Win in a tweet on August 6, 2021 “The enemy is patriarchy, and the attendant systems within the state and religious institutions and wider society, which do not see us as humans.”

Introduction to Child Marriage in Zimbabwe

Almost one in three Zimbabwean women are married by the time they turn 18. The practice most often occurs in the poorer regions of Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland West regions, where 50% and 42% of girls, respectively, marry as children, according to a 2014 UNICEF report. Despite the fact that the Zimbabwean Constitutional Court deemed the practice of child marriage as unconstitutional in January 2016, setting the minimum age for marriage at 18, child marriage in Zimbabwe persists.

What Drives Child Marriage?

The risks for child marriage in Zimbabwe have the potential to exist domestically but require unequivocal participation from healthcare providers. In a 2016-2020 healthcare plan, The Zimbabwe National Family Planning Strategy allowed 16-year-olds to receive contraception without parental consent. However, providers remain reluctant and child services are scarce.

Lack of education also drives child marriage in Zimbabwe. The same 2014 survey found that “the average age at marriage is 17.2 years for girls with no education and 23.6 for girls with more than a secondary education.” Nearly half of 15- to 19-year-olds without a secondary education began having children compared to only one in five girls the same age who completed their secondary education.

Potential Solutions

UNICEF published a list of strategies that it plans to implement throughout Western and Central Africa to reduce child marriage. The organization cites the growing child population in Africa behind the urgency in their efforts.

The following practices will help UNICEF reduce child marriage in the year 2021:

  1. Enable At-Risk Girls to Stay in School Through Secondary Education: UNICEF sees education as an opportunity for at-risk girls to develop vital life skills to make their own life choices and stand up for their rights. As this article previously mentioned, the rate at which girls marry depends on the presence or lack of secondary education.
  2. Fuel Positive Opinions Regarding the Investment in Girls: Through community discussion, the opinions of whether to invest and value the lives of girls could help in promoting and implementing practices that limit or eliminate child marriage.
  3. Provide Adequate and Affordable Health and Education of High Quality: Not only is the presence of education and health care important, but the quality is as well. Without providing affordable and effective health care and education systems, girls are at a greater risk of falling into the cycle of child marriage.
  4. Promote Laws to Match “International Standards” and Ensure the Implementation of the Measures: An effective strategy could be to identify countries or regions with an anti-child-marriage framework and incorporate the successes of those systems in the context of Western and Central Africa.
  5. Partner with Governments to Monitor Progress and Data: By utilizing the services of surveillance and relevant technologies of other countries, Western and Central African nations can adequately track progress to ensure that they are meeting set goals.

While the practice of child marriage in Zimbabwe has deep roots, the international community has taken notice and has a plan to reduce its prevalence. With increased empowerment and investment in young Zimbabwean girls, child marriage will soon enough become much less commonplace and eventually, experience eradication.

– Jessica Umbro
Photo: Flickr

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Vaccine Hesitancy and Africa’s Low COVID-19 Vaccination Rate

Vaccine HesitancyAfrican governments have struggled to vaccinate their populations, which has become more imperative with recent surges of COVID-19 in the continent and more variants arising as time passes by. As of September 2021, less than 4% of Africa’s population is completely vaccinated. This strongly contrasts the rate of the United States, equating to about 54% and at least 20% of populations on every other continent. There are two main factors contributing to Africa’s extremely low vaccination rate: vaccine hesitancy and inadequate supply.

Inadequate Supply

Low-income countries around the world have struggled to obtain a sufficient supply of the COVID-19 vaccine while wealthy countries acquired much of what was available. This lack of vaccines is apparent in Africa, home to some of the most impoverished countries in the world. Wealthy countries obtained COVID-19 vaccines because they “cut deals directly with vaccine-makers, securing a disproportionately large share of early supply and undermining a fledgling COVAX.”

In contrast to the actions of wealthy countries, COVAX wanted to distribute the vaccine supply to all countries engaged in the initiative. Countries in Africa are especially dependent on COVAX as most African governments cannot afford to buy vaccines. For example, Burundi, with “the highest poverty rate in Africa at 80%” needs aid from COVAX to obtain various vaccines. These countries rely on Gavi, the global Vaccine Alliance behind COVAX to obtain vaccines not only for COVID-19 but for various other illnesses as well. So far, COVAX has delivered more than 31 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to countries in Africa and plans to supply 520 million doses by the end of 2021. While Africa is receiving more vaccines through COVAX, vaccine hesitancy in Africa presents another barrier to vaccination.

Vaccine Hesitancy

The ONE Campaign, UNICEF and the African Union have partnered to create a TikTok initiative to tackle vaccine hesitancy in Africa by addressing concerns and misinformation about the vaccine. During a COVID-19 surge in May 2021 in Africa, “a survey conducted by Geopoll” indicated that a mere 48% of people in Africa would take the vaccine if it was accessible. This statistic decreased from 62% in November 2020, which “further illustrates the impact of continued negative information about the vaccine.”

The TikTok campaign helps correct social media misinformation about COVID-19, addresses people’s concerns and promotes the vaccine under the hashtag #MythOrVax. The campaign will have two phases. The first phase involves a public quiz on TikTok that tests users’ preexisting knowledge of COVID-19 and the vaccine. The second phase of the campaign starts on September 4, 2021, involves the organizations bringing African celebrities and health experts to discuss people’s concerns about the vaccine and the importance of getting the vaccine. While the slow vaccine rollout in Africa is a result of limited supply due to wealthy countries obtaining masses of vaccines, there is still low vaccine confidence in Africa, which the campaign aims to resolve.

Looking Ahead

The vaccine rollout in Africa is lagging but major international organizations and governments are committing to securing more vaccines for people in Africa in the coming months heading into next year. However, vaccine confidence must grow in order for Africa’s vaccination rate to improve, which should ultimately help to reduce the growing number of infections on the continent. With the TikTok campaign to reduce vaccine hesitancy in Africa, Africa can successfully improve its low vaccination rate.

– Kyle Har
Photo: Flickr

The Nature of Poverty in the North Caucasus

poverty in the North Caucasus
The North Caucasus comprises a rugged region along Russia’s southwestern frontier. The area is ethnically diverse and has a complicated history. Additionally, its poverty rate is high compared to most other regions of Russia.

Background of the Region

The makeup and history of the North Caucasus are essential to understanding the nature of poverty there. The region lies along Russia’s border with Georgia and Azerbaijan. It consists of the five republics of Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, North Ossetia and Kabardino-Balkaria. The North Caucasus has a population of around 10 million, and of Russia’s eight federal districts, it is the only one in which ethnic Russians comprise a minority. Dozens of different ethnic groups call the North Caucasus home.

Conflict worsens poverty in the North Caucasus. After the fall of the Soviet Union, violence began in Chechnya and spread to the neighboring republics of the region, such as Dagestan, which has seen spillover violence. A low-level insurgency now spans much of the North Caucasus following earlier Chechen-Russian conflicts. Just as the conflict worsens poverty, poverty also contributes to conflict in the region. Areas such as Dagestan have become breeding grounds for Islamic extremists in recent years, due mainly to high unemployment and poverty rates throughout the region.

Poverty in the North Caucasus

Not only does the North Caucasus have high rates of poverty compared to other regions of Russia but it has also suffered from uneven development in recent years. Chechnya, which suffers from high poverty and unemployment rates, has seen little effective reconstruction in the wake of conflict. Underdevelopment also complicates accurately measuring the scope of poverty in the region.

The North Caucasus felt the economic impact of the pandemic heavily as many lost their jobs overnight. Additionally, the Russian government has largely left the regional governments of the North Caucasus on their own during the pandemic, sending little aid. The human rights violations and corruption that hamstring efforts to alleviate poverty have further complicated the situation. However, in recent years, the number of casualties from armed conflict in the region has diminished.

NGOs’ Work in the North Caucasus

With poverty so prevalent in the region, NGOs have been stepping up to provide needed services. For example, My Angel offers assistance to children in Karachayevo-Cherkessia who suffer from genetic diseases. Meanwhile, the All-Caucasus Youth Training Center works to encourage children’s participation in sports and provides support to women and children who have suffered violence. In addition, the Mother and Children NGO assists young women throughout the North Caucasus by informing them about their rights and healthcare options.

The North Caucasus is an incredibly diverse region within the Russian Federation. It has a complicated history, especially regarding the conflict that has impacted the region since the fall of the Soviet Union. In addition, poverty remains prevalent in the North Caucasus and contributes to conflict in the region. However, despite these challenges, NGOs are working to provide the people of the North Caucasus with as much assistance as possible.

– Coulter Layden
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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The Hopes of The First Food Systems Summit

Food Systems SummitThe first global Food Systems Summit will take place on September 23, 2021, preceded by a three-day pre-summit in Rome from July 26 to July 28, 2021. The summit is part of the United Nations’ Decade of Action, in which the U.N. aims to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

Goals of the Food Systems Summit

The Food Systems Summit will examine how food insecurity, climate and human conflicts intersect. According to the United Nations website, the summit has four main goals including:

  1. Establishing a clearer agenda to achieve the U.N.’s SDGs. This means creating action steps for all levels, from national governments to local representatives and from global companies to individual citizens.
  2. Opening up public discussion about food insecurity and creating more awareness.
  3. Formulating guiding principles for governments as they create their own plans to support the U.N.’s SDGs.
  4. Establishing a system of accountability, follow-up and review to ensure tangible progress.

Activists’ Immediate Demands

The summit has long-term strategic potential, but some activists have more immediate concerns as well. The summit comes at a time when food prices, job insecurity and overall global hunger are all rising. On April 20, 2021, more than 250 aid groups and organizations wrote an open letter to the United Nations demanding $5.5 billion in emergency food assistance funding.

Activists’ Criticisms of the Summit

Many activists have major concerns about the Food Systems Summit, particularly regarding who is involved in the program and the direction that the program aims to take for food production. Although small-scale food suppliers such as fishermen, farmers and Indigenous people provide the vast majority of the world’s food, they do not have a seat at the table at the summit. Many feel that the preparation process has not been transparent enough to allow small-scale producers to participate.

Additionally, other activists have concerns about how the summit will approach food insecurity. Many believe it focuses too much on technological solutions to food insecurity and that supporting other systems is necessary to return self-autonomy to people in poverty. Though new technology can play an important role, alternative solutions must undergo consideration as well. For example, agroecology draws upon historical, cultural and scientific knowledge of specific regions, ensuring more sustainable farming and preserving people’s cultural practices. Activists also worry that some high-tech solutions will tighten corporate control over developing countries’ food systems.

Looking to the Future

Though the Food Systems Summit has received criticism, it is still an important step as it will bring countries together to form a plan to address the pressing crisis of food insecurity. According to the United Nations, “Scientists agree that transforming our food systems is among the most powerful ways to change course and make progress toward all 17 Sustainable Development Goals.” With collaboration among governments and citizens, the world can better tackle problems related to food consumption and production.

– Jessica Li
Photo: Flickr

Artists Striving to End Poverty

Artists Striving to End Poverty
Broadway musical director Mary-Mitchell Campbell created Artists Striving to End Poverty (ASTEP), a charity organization. She and a group of Juilliard students created an organization that will engage underserved children in performing and visual arts in order to break the cycle of poverty. ASTEP connects artists with youth who lack the opportunities to receive a fine arts education. Artists Striving to End Poverty serves youth affected by immigration status, gun violence, HIV/AIDS and systemic poverty.

South Africa Program

Recently, ASTEP partnered with artsINSIDEOUT, an organization that consists of artists who travel to areas that the AIDS epidemic has hit hard. Through this work, they have been able to reach mothers and children that the AIDS epidemic has affected.

Artists Striving to End Poverty and artsINSIDEOUT support Nkosi’s Haven. Nkosi’s Haven is an organization located in Johannesburg that supports women and children living with HIV/AIDS. Nkosi’s Haven received its name from Nkosi Johnson, an AIDS activist who became separated from her mother due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. She then lived in poverty due to a lack of financial support. Johnson made it her life’s mission to never let another family experience what she experienced. ASTEP Teaching Artists inspire children and mothers to unleash their creative sides. This two-week camp helped families affected by the AIDS pandemic to communicate their feelings with each other, building a strong and safe community of people with shared experiences.

India Program

Artists Striving to End Poverty has two major programs in India. The first program is the Shanti Bhavan Children’s Project, which hosts a two-week arts camp for the students who live at the school. Shanti Bhavan believes that lower caste children in India can rise out of poverty if they receive a proper education early on in life. Shanti Bhavan is working to build a foundation based on the interests of the students that go there and ASTEP has helped Shanti Bhavan implement fine arts education. ASTEP believes that the power of the arts can help enhance education and personal development.

ASTEP has also partnered with Teach for India. Teach for India is an organization that employs the brightest of India’s students to teach in the low-income areas of the country. ASTEP Teaching Artists partnered with Teach for India to create Maya the Musical as a way for low-income children in India to gain the opportunity to participate in musical activities. The Maya Musical helps children discover their true values and potential and the storyline helps them find courage and compassion. ASTEP hopes that the Maya Musical will be able to reach Teach for India’s 32,000 children as well as many more outside the program.

Going Forward

Although Artists Striving to End Poverty is still a very young organization, its commitment is enduring. Based in New York, the organization hopes to expand its platform in order to reach children both in the United States and around the world. ASTEP is looking for teachers to contribute to its cause, with the determination to use the fine arts to help break the cycle of childhood poverty.

– Saanvi Mevada
Photo: Flickr

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5 Facts About Human Trafficking in Timor Leste

Human Trafficking in Timor LesteHuman trafficking is the exploitation of a human being through the use of force or coercion in order to obtain labor or sexual acts. While human trafficking is a global issue with a large connection to poverty, it is important to recognize that trafficking may look different from country to country. Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, is a Southeast nation occupying half of the island of Timor and has a significant problem with human trafficking that involves both foreign and domestic victims. According to a trafficking report by the U.S. Department of State, “poor economic conditions and limited educational opportunities create trafficking vulnerabilities for Timorese nationals.” Here are five facts to help explain human trafficking in Timor-Leste.

5 Facts About Human Trafficking in Timor-Leste

  1. Timor-Leste is listed under the Tier 2 Watch List. The tiers, mandated from the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, are based on the size of a country’s human trafficking problem along with government efforts to combat human trafficking. To grow in the rankings, a country has to increase anti-trafficking efforts and maintain acceptable progress. The Tier 2 Watch List is the third listed in the four overall tiers and is similar to Tier 2 except for the fact that the government has failed to show progress in combating forms of trafficking in comparison to previous years. Progress includes investigations, prosecution, and convictions into human trafficking cases. Timor-Leste only fell to the Tier 2 Watch List recently in 2020. From 2016-2019, Timor-Leste was listed under Tier 2 but did not report trafficking convictions; the only identification of a trafficking victim came from a non-governmental organization. It was in the fifth year when the government failed to increase their efforts to report trafficking convictions, that Timor-Leste fell to the Tier 2 Watch List.
  2. Timor-Leste is a destination country for human trafficking. A destination country is a country where there is a large demand for human trafficking. Most of these demands come from large cities. In Timor-Leste, many young men and women are lured to the capital through the promise of job prospects and educational opportunities, and end up in situations of forced labor and prostitution. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), “victims trafficked to Timor-Leste have originated from China, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, and the Philippines.”
  3. Timor-Leste is also an origin country. An origin country provides the supply of trafficked persons. The main outgoings of trafficking victims, according to the IOM, “is associated with labor migration out of East Nusa Tenggara Province in Indonesia.” Most of the victims sent to Indonesia are women and girls forced into domestic servitude.
  4. Children are among the victims of human trafficking. The children of Timor-Leste are among the many victims of human trafficking, often taken for sexual exploitation and dangerous agricultural tasks. According to a report from the U.S. Department of Labor, data coming from all 13 municipalities in Timor-Leste show that 55.5% of children in child labor engage in dangerous, hazardous work. It was found that families will place children in household and agricultural labor both in Timor-Leste and in other countries in order to pay off debts.
  5. The majority of victims are women and girls. Many women and girls are vulnerable due to the lack of legal protection, starting from the time they are in school. Research strongly shows that while there are no laws that prohibit pregnant girls from attending school, there are also no laws on providing education for pregnant girls. As a result, many principals will deny the girls access to the school. Obtaining transfer documentation becomes a problem too, as principles control access to documents. The lack of education and access to proper education facilities leaves many women and girls particularly vulnerable to human traffickers.

Looking Ahead

While Timor-Leste has not significantly progressed in its efforts to fight human trafficking, there is still hope for the future. The government of Timor-Leste has used an anti-trafficking curriculum created by a foreign government in order to better inform and train its judicial and legal sections. Organizations and persons that have received training include the national police, judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys. The government of Timor-Leste is also making efforts to criminalize human trafficking, though many of these plans still stay in a drafted status. One such plan comes from the Ministry of Justice, which drafted a national action plan in 2018 that has not yet been presented to the Council of Ministers. Another drafted policy comes from the Ministry of Education. This policy would encourage girls to return to school after giving birth, though it has remained in draft form for years. Through increased government intervention, through enforcing the policies already made and increasing protection for the vulnerable, the tide can turn in the fight against human trafficking in Timor-Leste.

– Grace Ingles

Photo: Flickr

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The IAF and AQUIPP Help Brazil’s Quilombola Communities

Brazil's Quilombola communitiesBrazil’s Quilombola communities consist of Africans and Afro-descended people who escaped slavery and established remote mountain communities called quilombos. In 2020, these communities were spread across Brazil and numbered close to 6,000 in total. Brazil brought in more than four million slaves from Africa over the course of its colonial history, only ending the practice when Brazil became the last country in the Americas to ban slavery in 1888. Unfortunately, the legacy of slavery persists as many descendants of enslaved people still live in poverty. Brazil’s Quilombola communities suffer a poverty rate nearly three times that of the country as a whole — 75% compared with about 25% for the country overall, according to 2018 government data.

The Inter-American Foundation in Brazil

The Inter-American Foundation (IAF) began in 1969, giving grants to grassroots projects working to improve poverty, sustainability, resource management, entrepreneurial skills, leadership, civil rights and more across Latin America and the Caribbean. The IAF currently has 343 active projects across 26 countries, investing more than $100 million in these development initiatives.

Brazil is a large beneficiary of IAF grants, with 27 active projects running as of July 2021. Brazil received its first IAF grant in 1972. IAF investment in these projects totals about $7 million and has directly benefited more than 25,700 people in Brazil. The projects work in a variety of areas, from fighting food insecurity and poverty to providing housing and job training to Venezuelan refugees.

AQUIPP and Quilombola Communities

One of the IAF’s many active projects in Brazil is a grant given to the Associação Quilombola do Povoado Patioba (AQUIPP). AQUIPP fulfills a variety of needs for Brazil’s Quilombola communities, especially when it comes to improving the lives of youth. The association provides educational workshops for young Quilombola people that focus on improving their chances of finding employment, leadership roles in the face of discrimination and strengthening their relationships with their Afro-Brazilian heritage. AQUIPP hopes that these young people will go on to become ambassadors outside their local communities, educating others in Brazil and around the world about the importance of Quilombola culture and practices.

AQUIPP and other Quilombola organizations also work in the political and health sectors. As part of their advocacy work on behalf of the Quilombola people, the organizations work with local and national governments to fight discrimination in schools and other public spaces and to protect Quilombola communities’ land rights. In the health sector, AQUIPP plays a key role in providing masks and other personal protective equipment as well as educational information about protection from COVID-19.

The IAF has been supporting AQUIPP’s work in Brazil since 2017. The IAF reports that the efforts of AQUIPP directly benefit 200 people and indirectly benefit an additional 1,000.

Preserving the Future of Quilombola Communities

Brazil’s Quilombola communities remain strong despite centuries of persecution and discrimination both before and after the abolition of slavery in Brazil. Their vibrant Afro-Brazilian traditions of music, dance, clothing, agricultural systems, languages and more, have survived against the odds.

Programs like AQUIPP help amplify Quilombola voices and fight devastatingly high poverty rates in Quilombola communities. With the help of AQUIPP and the IAF’s funding, young Quilombola people can gain access to the education and training they need to acquire well-paying jobs and rise out of poverty.

– Julia Welp

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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Domestic Violence in India During COVID-19 Impacts Women

decreasing domestic violence in IndiaThe Indian caste system is a hierarchical structure segmenting the Hindu population into four main categories. These categories are the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. Although these caste systems have officially existed for thousands of years, caste discrimination was technically outlawed in 1950, yet it still influences life in India today. The fifth group, the Dalits or “untouchable” caste, is a caste so low that it does not fall within the official caste system. Untouchables are significantly marginalized as this group occupies the least prestigious standing in Indian society. Yet, caste discrimination is not the only discrimination affecting India today. Rates of domestic violence in India, as in many other nations, saw an increase during the COVID-19 pandemic with strict gender roles compounding domestic violence against women.

India by the Numbers

India is home to the world’s second-largest population and more than two-thirds of its 1.2 billion citizens live on less than $2 per day. These strained and taxing living conditions of poverty hurt women and children most because they also suffer from increased domestic violence. In the United States, women earning less than $10,000 in annual income report a five times greater rate of domestic violence than those with income exceeding $30,000. Most Indian women fall in the former category. Accordingly, reports of domestic abuse to three major Indian newspapers from March to July 2020 increased more than 47%.

The Pandemic’s Effect on Domestic Violence

Like pandemics in years past, COVID-19 produced an increase in domestic violence because it gave greater freedom to abusers. During the pandemic, already high numbers of domestic violence cases in India increased “at an alarming rate.” According to a piece published in the Indian Express, most Mumbai citizens lack running water in their homes. As COVID-19 lockdowns caused people to spend more time at home, more women resorted to underground or early morning markets for water. There, women were subject to more verbal and sexual harassment while waiting in line.

While domestic violence increased both in India and globally during the pandemic, Delhi-based NGO Jagori actually saw a 50% decline in helpline calls. This seems counterintuitive at first glance, but many are likely hesitant to report abusers who are constantly under the same roof and who can also restrict their victims’ access to phones and online resources. The popular phrase “locked down with the abuser” expresses this unfortunate reality.

Solutions

Numerous NGOs in India are working to improve women’s quality of life. Sayodhya Home For Women In Need is a nonprofit created in 2010 with offices in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. The organization provides assistance on issues “related to education, employment, domestic violence, harassment, abuse, mental health and other legal matters.” The organization runs a shelter for vulnerable girls and women and also provides “legal and psychological counseling” to victims of abuse. Since its creation, Sayodhya has given shelter to more than 1,000 vulnerable women. Furthermore, the organization addressed 1,500 “cases of domestic violence, harassment, child marriages, physical and mental abuses.”

Often the problem lies in a lack of accountability in regard to the abuser. Organizations like Sayodhya Home For Women In Need look to create that accountability and empower women with a viable source of help.

– Paolo Emilio Giannandrea
Photo: Flickr