Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

3 Ways Garment Workers in Bangladesh Are Struggling

workers in BangladeshBangladesh’s economy is mostly dependent on the textile/garment industry. Garments account for around 80% of the country’s exports. Some 3.5 million workers in Bangladesh, 85% of which are women, work long hours with pay too low to support themselves and their families. Not only is the pay low but they also work in cramped, dangerous conditions without any financial protection. Majority-female workers are also subject to sexual harassment and other forms of sexism in the workplace.

Moreover, in the recent global climate, many factories have shut down resulting in layoffs, pay cuts and a struggling economy (not to mention workforce). Many of these factory workers are struggling to make ends meet; forced to figure out just how to survive. Here are three ways that the garment workers of Bangladesh are struggling.

3 Ways Garment Workers in Bangladesh Are Struggling

  1. Working conditions in sweatshops are hazardous and violate workers’ rights. These workers often work long hours and have little time between shifts. They have very little workspace as it is typically cramped with other workers. This makes for quite a dangerous working environment. Making matters worse, factory owners have taken strides to limit and prevent labor unions from forming, even though they are legal. These factory owners are suppressing their workers and taking advantage of the situation.
  2. The Covid-19 pandemic has greatly affected these laborers. Workers in the factories were struggling to get by — even before the pandemic closed many factories and lowered the level of garment exports. Many Western brands have canceled their orders from the factories due to decreased sales resulting from the pandemic. Western companies canceled their orders — a large percentage of them. This hurt both the factories and the workers. Factory owners are no longer able to pay their workers and 58% of factory owners reported having to shut down their factories because of such low demand. Management then consequently lays off many of these struggling workers. Without jobs, they have no way to support themselves and certainly not a family.
  3. Even though women account for 85% of the textile workforce in Bangladesh — they are still given neither the rights nor conditions they deserve. Women face sexual harassment and improper maternity leave. While the government guarantees maternity leave for at least 100 days for their first two children — one report noted that around 50% of all women interviewed in said report never enjoyed the proper break. Many of the women who do get maternity leave have to return to a lower position, regardless of the fact that it is illegal for companies to demote a woman simply because of maternity leave.

Organizations Making an Effort

Global Giving is a non-government organization that aims to educate women working in sweatshops and lift them out of poverty. The hope is that in turn, they would also encourage others to do the same by fighting for their rights. Global Giving is a great organization to support because not only does it directly improve the lives of individual women, it also helps women as a whole become more equal and independent. This may help women stray away from sweatshops.

Workers’ Rights

Bangladesh is facing widespread hardship within its working-class because of inadequate and unfair treatment. Adding to the already unsustainable pay — the global pandemic has caused even more layoffs and pay cuts than pre-outbreak outbreak times. The problem that existed before the pandemic was simply highlighted in these recent months. Sweatshop workers in Bangladesh are of course worthy of fair treatment and should receive the rights they deserve.

– Samira Akbary
Photo: Flickr

The Rights of Senegalese Children

Senegalese ChildrenOver the past ten years, there has been a sharp global concern for Senegalese children’s well-being in schools, on the streets and within their own homes. The awareness of the brutal physical, mental and sexual treatment that many Senegalese children are subject to in modern society cannot be examined with a blind eye. Noko-Boku is a nonprofit organization that is having a direct impact on improving the lives of individual children living in Senegal.

Treatment in Schools

Over 50% of Senegal’s population lives in rural areas, making educational institutions challenging and school choice nonexistent. Many children miss the opportunity to attend school because of geographical barriers and familial responsibilities. Only 57% of students living in urban areas enroll in established educational centers.

Physical discipline from teachers is a common experience among children as young as 6-years-old. This makes the student-teacher relationship rigid and unwelcoming. Not only does this propel many students into detesting the school experience, but it also limits the number of safe spaces they have in their daily lives.

Senegalese Children on Streets

Additionally, hundreds of newborn boys in Senegal have no roof over their heads or family to comfort their cries. Many orphaned children among the streets of the nation’s capital Dakar are known as talibé children. They live in the same building that they attend their religious school teachings called Quranic Institutions. These children sleep on crowded sand floors with little to no personal belongings. Their lives have become an endless amount of physical and mental beatings that stay ingrained in them forever.

The fact that the children are subject to daily distress in their school hours is not the only issue. After the Quran’s teachings, a text that preaches peace, the students are forced to roam about the city’s jammed streets and beg for money and food. They receive beatings for showing up empty-handed to their “masters” or caretakers. Talibé children are in grave danger every day. The choice between the Quranic Schools and the streets is between a covered place to sleep or the sandy roads.

Tensions at Home

Furthermore, there is a mortality rate of 78% for children 5 years and under. With this rate, the need to improve home life among infant and toddler Senegalese children is crucial. It is common for very young children to live with extended family or neighbors when growing up instead of with their parents. This results from parents’ occupational obligations or immigration sacrifices to give their children and families a better future. The change in living situations and locations disrupts the mental and physical state of innocent growing children. Rates of sexual and physical abuse are much higher in children living in these estranged situations. This is because of the lack of supervision and trust between the child and the caretaker.

Noko-Boko’s Roots

In 2018 about 650,000 Senegalese children were not enrolled in schools or learning centers. This stunts their social and emotional growth. Zahra Thiam is the president and founder of Noko-Boku. She explained the catalyst of why so many young children are out of school in Senegal. She specified why this happens in the Kaolack region, where she was born and raised. There is an extreme lack of funding for instructors, supplies and materials in this region and all over Senegal. There is also a lack of essential resources for students throughout the school days, such as food. Thiam says that more schools in Senegal need to be provided with the proper financial and staff support. As a result, the Senegalese school day would improve dramatically. This improvement would be made in the teachings and the spirits of the teachers and students alike.

Noko-Boko is a community-run organization that started in 2018. Every year, it has made incredible efforts to help rebuild and reform schools, orphanages and individual lives of children from Zahra’s village and surrounding towns of the Kaolack region. In the 2018 to 2019 school year, the organization raised $413 to buy school supplies providing a kit to each of the 300 students. These kits consisted of a notebook, three pens, three pencils and geometric tools. Zahra Thiam says that access to quality education is the way to help these Senegalese children out of the oppressive cycle of poverty. It is also a way of showing them that there is so much that the world has to offer and so much that they can offer to the world. Her dedication to raising the quality of education and life for young children in her community is remarkable.

What is Noko-Boko’s Future?

COVID-19 had a detrimental effect on Senegal. With many Senegalese children without a home and many living in orphanages, the need for sanitary supplies is dire. A generous $400 donation from the president of Noko-Boku gave over 100 children clean diapers and disinfectant cleaners. It also gave them wearable garments for physical protection. Although these funds went a long way, Noko-Boku needs people worldwide to have a more profound effect on underprivileged and impoverished children living in the Kaolack region of Senegal. There is a Noko-Boku GoFundMe page with more information on how to help.

 Overall, in the final words of Zahra Thiam, “Changing the level of opportunities and treatment of children in Senegal starts with community action and advocacy. However, we cannot conquer the injustices in education, housing, hunger and abuse alone. We need help from individuals around the world with an open heart to hear and aid the needs of these innocent bright lives to create a better future and more equitable world.”

– Nicolettea Daskaloudi
Photo: Flickr

Healthcare in Kiribati is Steadily Improving

Healthcare in Kiribati
Kiribati is a small island nation in Oceania consisting of 32 atolls, or coral islands. A developing country and former British colony, Kiribati is now home to around 115,000 people. Unfortunately, healthcare in Kiribati is limited and citizens, known as I-Kiribati, suffer from unsafe drinking water and high child mortality rates. But there is a silver lining: healthcare has significantly improved over the past several decades and continues to improve today.

Lingering Healthcare Issues

Lack of access to clean water is one of the largest health issues in Kiribati. Water is largely unsanitary to the point that in 2014, only 67% of I-Kiribati used an improved water source. As a result of this lack of access to clean water, diarrhea and related health issues are common. Only 40% of I-Kiribati had access to adequate sanitation in 2014, exacerbating the clean water issue.

Another major issue is Kiribati’s under-5 child mortality rate, which is 50.9 per 1,000 live births. For comparison, the United States has an under-5 child mortality rate of 6.5 per 1,000 live births. Kiribati’s under-5 child mortality rate is higher than the global average of 39. Fortunately, child mortality rates in Kiribati have been declining for at least 20 years. The under-5 child mortality rate was 95.5 per 1,000 live births in 1990 and has decreased almost every year since then.

A notable portion of adults in Kiribati smoke, a practice known to cause respiratory complications later on in life. The smoking rate of I-Kiribati over the age of 15 was 47% in 2016, down from over 70% in 2000.

The government funds and operates all health services, which are free for citizens. There are only four hospitals in the country, with 30 health centers and 75 clinics scattered among the islands. Although these health centers and clinics offer care for relatively minor injuries and diseases, I-Kiribati have struggled to find proper care for more serious health concerns. Low-quality healthcare has been an issue as well.

The Kiribati-WHO Country Cooperation Strategy 2018-2022

Fortunately, the government is working with the World Health Organization (WHO) to improve access to quality healthcare in Kiribati. Through the Kiribati-WHO Country Cooperation Strategy 2018-2022 (and the preceding 2013-2017 one), the WHO and other partnered organizations send funds to support government-led efforts to improve health systems. According to a database compiled by the International Aid Transparency Initiative, the WHO has directly contributed a total of $2.6 million for 45 projects in Kiribati.

The government’s priorities for this initiative include combating communicable diseases such as tuberculosis and leprosy, which are more common in Kiribati than in any other Pacific country. Additional goals include combating non-communicable diseases and improving the quality, efficiency and accessibility of healthcare. Because the initiative is funding government-led efforts, it will improve health services for the entire Kiribati population.

FSP Kiribati

Local non-governmental organizations are helping to improve living conditions as well. The Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific International has a local branch, FSP Kiribati, which has worked in Kiribati for over 20 years. FSP Kiribati partners with other local NGOs and international groups to provide education in areas as wide-ranging as health, civic engagement and sanitation. They teach locals how to cook their produce and help them access clean water, improving their health.

Healthcare in Kiribati has greatly improved due to these efforts. As shown in the data above, the number of people affected by Kiribati’s most significant health issues (child mortality rate, tobacco usage, etc.) has steadily decreased over the past decades. Life expectancy has risen from 60 to 66 years between 1990 and 2015. Kiribati’s health concerns are not inconsequential, but the government has partnered with international groups to improve the situation. The government’s current prioritization of healthcare quality is an important next step.

– Sarah Brinsley
Photo: Flickr

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Updates on SDG 2 in the Dominican Republic

SDG 2 in the Dominican Republic
The Sustainable Development Report states that despite the major challenges present in eradicating hunger, the Dominican Republic is moderately improving on its goal of reaching zero hunger. Here are some updates on SDG 2 in the Dominican Republic.

Poverty in the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic has reduced poverty from 10.4% to 9.5% in just a year from 2017 to 2018. In 2004, the rate was 24.4%. The decline in these figures shows that the malnourishment rate in the country has gone down continuously over 14 years and that the Dominican Republic can complete the Zero Hunger objective if it continues to sustain its current trend. The malnourishment situation in the Dominican Republic has harmed the children of the island. A joint report from FAO, IFAD, WHO, WFD and UNICEF stated that the delay in growth of children under 5 years old was 7.1% in 2019 while wasting or low weight for height in this age was 2.4%.

Approximately 10% of Dominicans are suffering from malnourishment and chronic malnutrition in kids in poverty-stricken homes. According to a report from the 2030 Agenda, 11.3% of kids in households in the lowest wealth quintile suffer from malnourishment in comparison to the less than 7% national average. The report also stated that “… there is evidence that the productivity and income from small agricultural growers are the lowest in the economy.”

Ways to Reach SDG 2 in the Dominican Republic

In order to accomplish the goal of eradicating hunger in the Dominican Republic, the government, along with the WFP, must “[strengthen] the design and implementation of legal frameworks related to food security, nutrition, sustainable agriculture and disaster risk reduction…” The plan intends that the country will use the “whole of society” method which means “… – involving national and provincial authorities, disaster management agencies, national non-governmental organizations, the International Red Cross and private sector and other institutions – where no one is left behind.”

The WFP has three goals to accomplish this:

  • The Dominican Republic must strengthen and coordinate the public and private sectors in order to eliminate hunger in the country’s most vulnerable population by 2023.
  • The WFP aims to improve the nutrition status of the most nutritionally vulnerable groups by 2023.
  • It also intends to set up national and local systems to improve and resilience to shocks, adapt to environmental challenges and reduce disaster risks among the vulnerable population by 2023.

Hunger in the Dominican Republic

In 2019, the Global Hunger Index ranked the Dominican Republic a 9.2. According to its rubric, this means the country’s level of hunger-related issues is low, an improvement from the turn of the century when the country received an 18.2. That score meant that hunger was a moderate problem on the border of escalating to a serious issue. The index also reported that the mortality rate decreased slightly. After a brief uptick from approximately 8% in 2000 to 11% in 2005, the prevalence of stunting in children under the age of 5 has decreased to approximately 6% in 2019.

In order to reach SDG 2 in the Dominican Republic, it must adapt to a post-pandemic world, where even the most developed countries are experiencing increased poverty and food disparity as the world struggles to adapt to the new reality.

–  Pedro Vega
Photo: Flickr

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4 Facts About Women’s Rights in Colombia

Women’s Rights in Colombia
Colombia is a South American country between the Caribbean Sea and the Andes Mountains that people know for its salsa dancing and its coffee. The country has come a long way in the past century in its advancement of women’s rights in Colombia.

Throughout the colonial era and the 19th century, Colombia operated under a patriarchal society, and many relegated women to being housewives. Few besides the wealthy had access to education, and it had limitations for those who did. However, by the 1930s, higher education schooling received legalization for women, and society began to recognize women as equal to men for their academic achievements. Around this time, Colombia offered full citizenship status to women as well.

In the present day, Colombia demonstrates greater gender equality due to the several measures that it previously took to support and protect women. Here are four facts about women’s rights in Colombia.

4 Facts About Women’s Rights in Colombia

  1. Colombia’s government has strong laws in favor of women’s rights and gender equity. For example, in 1991, the Political Constitution of Colombia replaced the 1986 Constitution and included several articles supporting women’s equality. Some articles expanded on women’s rights to participate in society, including freedom from discrimination and the right to participate in politics and public administration. Others improved gender equality in family life, establishing the possibility of divorce and special protection during pregnancy. Furthermore, in 2011, Colombia’s government passed Law 1475, which establishes a 30% quota of women candidates in all elections; the same percentage of women must also occupy the highest level of the government’s public service. The passing of this law has increased women’s participation in politics and government, therefore strengthening their influence over future legislation. In 2018, half of Colombia’s cabinet ministers were women, and for the first time in history, the country had a female minister of the interior. By comparison, the average for female representation in Latin American legislatures was 22% in 2010.
  2. The Colombian government actively combats violence and discrimination towards women. Domestic violence is a prevalent issue in Colombia, with nearly 38,000 reported cases of violence against women at the hands of an intimate partner in 2014. Therefore, legislation that supports women in vulnerable positions is even more crucial. Law 1257, passed in 2008, is one example, as it issued regulations to prevent and punish forms of violence and discrimination against women. Additionally, Law 1719, passed in 2014, ensures access to justice for victims of sexual violence. These recently-passed regulations protect women from abuse and provide them with greater autonomy in leaving harmful domestic relationships.
  3. Young women have access to schooling and education. In 2018, 83% of Colombian children aged 11 to 12 attended secondary school, with girls outnumbering boys by 5% – 80% attendance for girls versus 75% for boys. Young women are overall more educated than men in Colombia, providing them with more opportunities to enter high-earning careers. The technology sector is one industry that is expanding in its employment of women. Colombia is experiencing a boom in IT investment, and as a result, the country’s 1,800 software development companies are creating hundreds of thousands of new development and programming jobs. The Bogotá Chamber of Commerce has launched a World Bank pilot for women in IT, creating a scholarship program to train women in programming and web development at the Bogotá Institute of Technology. At present, women occupy 17% of IT jobs in Colombia; however, programs like these are helping women rapidly increase their participation in the industry and become high-wage earners. Furthermore, this is a valuable resource for the country’s long-term economic growth. Fostering gender equality in the labor market would improve efficiency, increase industry specialization and decrease unemployment rates, propelling Colombian industry and innovation forward.
  4. Colombia’s civil society has increased social mobilization for women. Efforts from community groups and activist organizations have increased awareness of women’s rights issues in Colombian society. For example, LIMPAL, the Colombian branch of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, works to protect women’s rights through advocacy and women’s political participation. The organization does much to increase women’s social autonomy, including providing women with training workshops and legal support to better defend their rights and improve quality of life. With greater representation in governmental roles and positions of authority, women have redirected political debates to include a feminist perspective. Women now have greater influence over legislation regarding sexual harassment, equal pay and domestic violence. This has increased national recognition and visibility of the pressing issues impacting women’s rights in Colombia, as well as creating new methods of addressing these issues. Claudia López, the current mayor of Colombia’s capital city, Bogotá, is one female politician who is paving the way for Colombian women, especially those pursuing governmental positions. Elected on October 27, 2019, López became both the first woman and the first openly gay mayor of Bogotá. In her victory, she pledged to fight the misogyny, racism and classism that is still present in Colombian society.

Women’s rights in Colombia continue to progress every year as women occupy more positions of authority and increase their influence over legislation and societal expectations. Colombia has moved away from its patriarchal past, providing women with greater opportunities for education and career success than what was previously available. Hopefully, more progress is in store as Colombia continues to move towards greater gender equality.

– Natasha Cornelissen
Photo: Unsplash

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China’s Poverty Reduction and the Millennium Campaign

China's Poverty Reduction and the Millennium CampaignThe fight against poverty is a massive undertaking. While China’s poverty reduction has helped the United Nations (U.N.) reach its goals, there is still a ways to go. For real and lasting progress to be made on the task of lifting millions above the poverty line, the global community has no recourse but to rely on the collective efforts and data of the global community. However, by synergizing the work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the private sector and governmental institutions, the uphill battle of poverty reduction remains fierce but not insurmountable.

The United Nations Millennium Declaration

In September 2000, following a three-day diplomatic marathon of deal-making and goal-setting, the U.N. General Assembly approved the United Nations Millennium Declaration. With this agreement, the U.N. adopted more than 60 goals. These goals included improving the environment, encouraging peace and development, promoting human rights, combating hunger and pursuing global poverty reduction. Following this daring declaration, the United Nations Millennium Campaign was put into effect. More than 180 member states agreed to the campaign as a means of achieving these goals by 2015.

Moving The Goalpost

The U.N. claims to have not merely achieved its goals but achieved them ahead of schedule. However, a closer look will reveal how this celebration may have been premature. Yale professor and development watchdog Thomas Pogge pointed out that following the signing of the original declaration, the U.N. rewrote it to reduce only the proportion of the world’s population living on less than $1 a day. Previously, the U.N. had planned to decrease the overall total number of people living in poverty.

It is estimated that this change reduced the goal by 167 million due to population growth. Also, the campaign shifted the focus of what constitutes “poverty” to be based solely on income levels. The World Bank determines extreme poverty by the number of people living on less than $1.90 a day. Changing the variables made it easier to achieve the goal. Additionally, according to the World Bank, the number of people living in extreme poverty is still more than 4 billion.

With the Millennium Campaign’s goals, moving the finish line and still declaring victory makes it more difficult to establish the current standing of global development and progress. This is especially true when it comes to China’s poverty reduction rate. It also, as an unintended consequence, has the potential to dwindle the severity of the current state of global poverty.

In an attempt to show a more impressive poverty decrease, the Millennium Campaign retroactively included data stretching back to 1990. By doing this, the impressive dip in poverty was mainly due to China’s poverty reduction progress during those 10 years.

China’s Efforts

Also, numeric data aside, one cannot underestimate the role semantics plays in perceived poverty reduction. China’s state-run media has proclaimed, “China has lifted 700 million people out of poverty through more than 30 years of reform and opening-up.” And China declares its intention to “lift” even more out of abject poverty.

Skeptics have pointed to the phrase, “lifted out of poverty,” as a purely Westernized regurgitation. China’s preferred usage of “fupin kaifa” (扶贫开发) translates as “assist the poor and develop.” So, while China’s poverty reduction accomplishments are commendable, the translation conveys a larger achievement than what it actually is. However, China does deserve credit for achieving no small feat in raising millions above the poverty line.

The global community has much to be proud of considering how far the world has come in the work of bettering lives. If the mammoth task of combating poverty and promoting development is going to be successful, the goals needs to acknowledge the truth about the current situation.

– Connor Dobson
Photo: Flickr

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The Progress of Women’s Rights in Finland

Women’s Rights in Finland
Finland has a long history with gender equality, being the world’s first country to offer full political rights to women in 1906. Here are five facts about women’s rights in Finland, including landmark developments and where it needs to improve.

5 Facts About Women’s Rights in Finland

  1. Finland offers one of the most generous parental leave policies in all of Europe. A February 2020 policy granted seven months of paid leave for new mothers as well as one month of pregnancy allowance prior to their official leave. Non-biological parents have access to the same parental leave privileges while single parents receive a full 14 months of paid leave. This updated policy also extends the seven months of parental leave to fathers and allows parents to transfer up to 69 days from their seven-month allotment to the other parent. Gender-neutral parental leave policies are a crucial step toward gender equality by leveling the gap between conventionally male and female roles in society and relieving women of the tradition of them solely raising their children.
  2. Women in Finland enjoy high-quality education. In fact, Finland ranked first in the world in leveling the gender gap in educational attainment in 2018. The consistently high levels of education among women show this. Among those obtaining a university-level or post-graduate in 2012, the proportion of women was 60% and 50%, respectively. Moreover, the rate of female educational attainment is increasing rapidly and significantly outpacing that of men, as the share of women earning post-graduate degrees jumped from 15% in 1975 to 54% in 2012.
  3. Political institutions provide equal representation. Finland’s government has a history of pioneering gender equality, being the first parliament in the world to include female members of parliament. Finland elected its first female prime minister in 2003, and its third female prime minister, Sanna Marin, assumed office in December 2019. Marin leads a coalition government consisting of five parties, all of which have women under the age of 35 at the helm. Female representation in the nation’s 2019 election was especially notable, with a record number of women winning parliamentary seats, amounting to 47% of the parliament. As a result, Finland ranked sixth globally in political empowerment for women in 2018.
  4. Women dominate the labor market. Finland enjoys the highest labor participation rate of women worldwide and ranks among the best nations for working women. Moreover, the employment rate for Finnish women is higher than the European Union average. However, Finland needs to still make improvements, as women in the public and private sectors receive only 80% to 85% of their male counterparts’ earnings. Nonetheless, the gender pay gap has been steadily decreasing over the last two decades and expectations have determined that it should continue to decrease as a result of social welfare policies that allow women to reconcile family and work life.
  5. Finland is a victim of the “Nordic Paradox,” the trend where Scandinavian nations experience high rates of domestic violence despite promoting gender equality in economic and political life. The 2013 rate of intimate partner violence in Finland was nearly double the European average. Domestic violence rose 7% in 2019 with over 10,000 reported victims, more than half of which were between married couples. Finland has taken steps at the national level to address this trend, having adopted a National Gender Action Plan and trained about 200 federal judges in prosecuting cases involving violence against women. Moreover, crisis shelters and a free 24/7 helpline are available, with specialized investigators and law enforcement officials to address reports of violence. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare oversees these shelters, which also provide professional counseling and health services to customers.
  6. Migrant women are a major part of Finland’s equal rights agenda. Immigrant women with children experience an employment rate that is nearly 50% lower than that of their native-born counterparts, and social integration has posed a challenge for these communities. To address this issue, the Social Impact Bond emerged through institutional and private investment to assist immigrant women in finding employment within four months. Moreover, the national government finances public language programs to offer support to recent migrants learning the Finnish language.

Despite being a pioneer for women’s rights in Finland, the country still experiences its fair share of women’s issues. However, with a female-led government and strong social welfare policies, Finland’s progress is effectively ongoing and still serves as a model for the rest of the developed world.

– Neval Mulaomerovic
Photo: Pixabay

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The Chinese Classroom: Updates on SDG 4 in China

Updates on SDG 4 in China
The United Nations defines SDG 4 as the attainment of inclusive and equitable quality education and promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all. According to ​the 2020 reports from UNESCO​, SDG 4 in China has already experienced achievement. UNESCO ​awarded China a nearly perfect score of 99.8 for literacy and 99.5 for lower secondary completion rate. However, not all the data is there. The percentage of children of the official school-age population who are enrolled in primary education remains unknown.

The hole in the data also points to a larger issue – the flexibility of interpretation of SDG 4 in China. What some define as a “quality education,” others see as an unhealthy culture of a rigid, score-driven curriculum.

As China rises as a global superpower, its students bear its weight. Giona Gao, 38, was once a student in Beijing. She has provided The Borgen Project with information about her experiences with the rigorous curriculum that characterizes the Chinese education system.

Unattainable Standards

Gao attended primary school through college in China. She moved to Seattle, Washington in 2013 and now works as an accountant.

When she was in high school, her classmates fretted the day that teachers would evaluate their skills. In Beijing’s elite schools, parents receive sheets with the test scores of each student, including their own child. “The parents are all in the room together and pass it around,” Gao said, “Everyone sees.”

The system places extreme pressure on students to succeed and come out on top. Many students work into the early morning to study for standardized tests.

China Daily declared suicide as the leading cause of death for young people in China. Further research by the South China Morning Post investigated 79 suicides in 2013. Almost 93% of suicides happened following arguments between the pupils and their teachers, or after the students experienced heavy pressure with their studies.

Years have passed since Gao has lived in China, but she remains close with some friends. Her friends have told her that the school system is becoming even more competitive. “They teach faster,” she said. “Even in Kindergarten, Chinese kids’ English is better than American kids,” Gao pointed out.

While it was not her favorite subject, Gao recalls some history classes focusing on relations between the U.S and China. “They wash out our brains,” Gao said. “They really try to teach how great the communist party is.”

Gao stayed in China to earn her bachelor’s degree, but it was not rare for kids to want to apply to international universities in English speaking countries. “Lots of Chinese kids want to go abroad for study. America might be their number one choice,” she explained. “They want to open their eyes and see the difference.”

A Lack of Critical Thinking

Zhiquan Zhu is a Chair of the Department of International Relations at Bucknell University and the author of multiple books on Chinese Affairs, including “​The People’s Republic of China: Internal and External Challenges.”

Zhu describes himself as a product of the traditional Chinese educational system. He taught at Shanghai International Studies University and was the Senior Assistant to Consul for Press and Cultural Affairs at the American Consulate General in Shanghai.

While Zhu believes that the Chinese education system gave him a solid foundation, he explains that he developed many of his critical and analytical skills later when he attended school in the U.S.

Zhu has seen some improvements in Chinese education, but he admits that “test scores still matter the most.” According to Zhu, the Chinese school system should adopt the American liberal arts education style. “China has a long way to go to reform its educational system so that students will become more creative with more independent thinking, entrepreneurial spirit, sense of community, and practical skills, not just focusing on achieving high scores in tests,” Zhu explained.

The Urban-Rural Divide

While China has technically met educational standards for SDG 4 in China, there is still much more that it needs to do to improve. China Quarterly published a study that found that 63% of students in rural China drop out by secondary school.

The urban-rural divide is largely due to Hukou, a household registration system that assigns rights to families based on their birth status. Through this system, better education and healthcare are reserved for those living in urban cities. The Rural Education Action Program reports that the government spent an average of 900 yuan more each year on a student in an urban middle school than on a rural student. The same report found that rural schools lack qualified teachers and adequate teaching facilities.

The ​Rural Chinese Education Foundation is a charitable organization fighting to improve education for rural Chinese students. RCEF​ is currently raising funds to bring better teachers to rural China, provide financial aid to students, and instill a more useful curriculum that students can apply to real life.

According to its website, RCEF believes “education should be practical, inclusive, and socially responsible.” Organizations like RCEF show the potential to fill the gap in Chinese education, securing SDG 4 in China on an even higher level.

– Miska Salemann
Photo: Flickr

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Understanding Hunger in Egypt

Hunger in Egypt
With more than 98 million people, Egypt remains the most populated country in North Africa. More than 32.5% of citizens live below the poverty line, making malnutrition and hunger in Egypt pressing issues. The current influx of poverty leaves children and adults without proper education, left to partake in dangerous and under-compensated work such as mining, quarrying and cement production.

The Situation

Although marketplaces are bustling and full, Egypt relies on imported foods. As the world’s largest wheat producer, Egypt is at risk of any drastic changes in commodity pricing and economies. While markets have more than enough fruits, vegetables and bread, most of the population cannot purchase essential grocery items. Without the capacity to control possible economic fluctuations, Egypt’s vulnerability leaves its hungriest citizens without a safety net from their government, let alone their savings.

Egypt’s hunger crisis is an accumulation of many setbacks, including global financial crises, food shortages and disease. Yet another economic or social misfortune has followed each attempted effort towards success. As a result, more than 1.3% of Egypt’s population was living with less than $1.90 to spend per day in 2015; the average American spends $164.55 per day.

How Did This Happen?

Since the early 2000s, Egypt has faced a series of difficulties including the 2006 avian influenza, food and fuel crisis of 2007, economic despair through 2009 and most recently, COVID-19. As a country treading between minor stability and complete poverty, each challenge, both global and local, has severe implications for Egypt and its people.

Hunger in Egypt has roots in food costs; a majority of the Egyptian population can only afford minimally nutritious meals. A 2011 UN World Health Organization study found that 31% of Egyptian children less than 5 years old suffer from stunted growth in comparison to 23% in 2005. Malnutrition not only affects brain development but also contributes to a cycle that perpetuates and exacerbates Egypt’s weaknesses.

Malnourished children cannot perform well in school; malnourished workers are incapable of providing for themselves and their families, making financial and cultural growth seemingly impossible.

Solutions

The prominent changes in Egypt’s condition are a result of the Egypt Vision 2030. As a roadmap to Egypt’s eventual security, Egypt Vision 2030 emerged to increase employment rates, begin food security initiatives, increase clean water access and generate accessible screening and treatment for malnourished individuals.

The mission is that by 2030, Egypt will rank within the top 30 countries for economy size, market competitiveness, human development, life quality and anti-corruption. With such improvements, eradicating hunger in Egypt becomes possible.

Within the economic and social dimensions of the plan, the sixth pillar outlines that by 2030, improvements in health conditions will occur through “early intervention, preventative coverage,” guaranteed protection for the vulnerable and prioritizing the satisfaction of health sector employees.

These extensive efforts have led to program and policy implementation, propelling Egypt to meet its targets. For instance, at the onset of the plan in 2015, the malnourishment rate was 4.5%. By 2030, Egypt hoped the rate would be below 3%. With 10 years until the 2030 deadline, 3.2% of the Egyptian population is malnourished. It is evident that the strategy behind Vision 2030 is effective.

Feeding Children Through Education

A vital pillar of the Egypt Vision 2030 is the National Strategic Plan for Pre-University Education. The World Food Programme (WFP) is spearheading the plan to increase school meals’ nutritional value. Though it helps enrolled students, the plan does not benefit children not attending school. The school meals incentivize students to attend, serving as an aspect Egypt tactfully uses to increase pre-university enrollment rates.

The Pre-University Education Plan resulted from new investment and financing strategies to develop curriculum, financial aid, illiteracy and dropout elimination programs, technical teacher training and recurring student assessments to ensure the meeting of international standards. To execute these programs, The National Strategic Plan for Pre-University Education set a goal to spend 8% of GDP shares on pre-university education by 2030. Currently, that number is at 6%, double the initial percentage that Egypt spent in 2014. Additionally, Egypt’s Ministry of Finance reported an 82% spending increase in education and health. With increased pre-university education attendance, children receive nutritionally balanced meals every day. Health and education funding creates a domino effect, which will eventually lead to the elimination of hunger in Egypt.

The budget increase, in addition to malnourishment, serves Egypt’s education system. Classroom sizes decreased from an average of 42 students in 2015 to between 23 and 16 in 2019. The National Strategic Plan for Pre-University Education 2030 target was to have an average of 35 students per classroom. Egypt’s strategies prove to be highly successful, as its school attendance numbers are higher than its once-projected targets.

Higher enrollment, smaller classroom sizes and well-trained teachers have replaced Egypt’s dated culture of memorization. This new approach emphasizes individual learning, life principles, and modern technology. Repairing the education systems tears has an undeniable correlation to employment and hunger rates.  In changing the fundamentals of the educational experience, Egyptian students now have proper nourishment. As a result, they can have the brainpower to master skill sets that will earn them stable jobs with livable incomes, thus ending the cycle of poverty.

Aid from organizations like the UN and World Food Programme, in collaboration with the Egypt Vision 2030, can eradicate hunger in Egypt. In breaking the cycle of malnourishment and lack of education, Egypt will continue on its path towards growth, prosperity and stability.

– Maya Sulkin
Photo: Flickr

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Poverty and Colorism in India

colorism in IndiaImagine, for a moment, that you’re a five-year-old girl growing up in India. All around you, the standards for beauty are pretty, light-skinned Indians: they’re in all of the movies, splashed across billboards and magazines, on promoted ads and videos. Every drug store sells multiple brands of skin-lightening creams, and your favorite actors all endorse skin-lightening products. Your family members tell you not to spend too much time in the sun, just so you won’t get too tan. That’s what colorism in India was like for Rajitha Pulivarthy, now 20 years old and living in the United States.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced [colorism] myself, because I’m more on the lighter-skinned side, but I definitely adopted a colorist attitude when I was younger,” she said, recalling her experiences with colorism. “I wanted myself to look lighter or not get tanned in the summer.” Even with supportive parents who rarely mentioned colorism and told her to stay away from skin-lightening products, colorism still shaped Pulivarthy’s worldview growing up and even after moving to America. Sadly, Pulivarthy’s story is just one of millions. For many women growing up in India, this is the norm.

What is Colorism?

Colorism occurs when some people are discriminated against more than others of the same race, simply due to the shade of their skin. It is very prevalent in India, and it’s a gendered phenomenon, affecting Indian women more than men. Sometimes, colorism is obvious, but often it manifests in more subtle ways, like in everyday behavior. Something like commenting on how someone is “beautiful and fair-skinned” is commonplace in India. While those comments don’t necessarily insult those who have darker skin, they do show society’s preference for those with lighter skin.

Colorism in India

Colorism is so ingrained in everyday life and society, in fact, that skin-lightening products make up a multi-billion dollar industry in India. Bollywood, India’s movie industry, casts predominately light-skinned actors, which perpetuates beauty as light-skinned. Many Bollywood actors also endorse skin-lightening creams.

While the media plays a large role in these notions of lighter skin aligning with beauty, colorism in India can trace its roots all the way back to British colonization. The British ruled many South Asian countries, including India, for over 200 years. Their colonization embedded the idea that fair skin people were the ruling class, and darker-skinned people were the subjects. British rulers treated lighter-skinned Indians more favorably than their dark-skinned counterparts. They gave light-skinned Indians access to government jobs, while constantly demeaning dark-skinned Indians. This discrimination also bled into India’s caste system, where people perceived higher castes as fairer and superior and lower castes as darker and inferior. As such, these lasting colonial legacies mean that skin color still affects the socioeconomic status of Indians today.

How Colorism Affects Poverty

Poverty and colorism in India go hand-in-hand. Because the caste system still affects socioeconomic status, people with darker skin tend to be lower in socioeconomic status as well. Colorism makes social mobility harder for Indians in general. There is systemic discrimination against dark-skinned people in education systems and the labor market. Educators and employers still prefer light-skinned Indians over dark-skinned Indians, which plays greatly into the opportunities for social mobility that darker-skinned Indians do and do not have.

A basic link between poverty and colorism in India is that impoverished people are not able to take care of their appearance and diet. Though they don’t have access to skin-lightening products, they are seen as “dirty” and “dark.” Over time, these connotations begin to blur, and socioeconomic status and skin tone become connected to social and financial status.

One of the most unique effects of colorism in India is how arranged marriages, common in India, discriminate against dark-skinned people. Marriage ads allow people to filter out women on every condition under the sun, including skin color. A study done at the University of New Delhi, India found that dark-skinned men and women were consistently rated lower on marriage ads. This demonstrates yet another way that colorism in India inhibits social mobility, which makes it harder for impoverished people to change their circumstances.

Combatting Colorism in India

Anti-blackness and anti-darkness together ultimately create discriminatory systems that disenfranchise dark-skinned people in India and across South Asia. However, protests over summer of 2020 in the U.S. have prompted calls for equity and justice around the world, especially in India. In particular, there has been a new wave of conversations surrounding colorism in India and how to fight it.

Many Indians are asking themselves and their family members how they can continue to support “Black Lives Matter” while also perpetuating harmful colorism within their own communities. Some people are starting the fight against colorism by talking to their friends, families and community members about colorism. Others are using social media to create movements, like #UnfairAndLovely, which takes the name of a popular lightening cream and uses it to brand positivity posts for dark-skinned Indians. Still others are calling for accountability from notable Indian celebrities like Priyanka Chopra, who has promoted skin-lightening products in the past.

No matter the level of activism, combatting colorism in India needs the work of all of society to make India equitable for all Indians, regardless of skin color. Fighting colorism in India also helps fight poverty, and vice versa. Ultimately, colorism in India shows us that the fight for poverty is not just a fight for living wages, but a fight for global human rights.

– Hannah Daniel
Photo: Flickr