Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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5 Local Groups Fighting Poverty in Nepal

fighting poverty in nepal
Nepal, a small landlocked country about the size of Iowa, is home to Mount Everest and more than 100 ethnic groups speaking 90 languages. However, Nepal, like many developing countries, is also one of the poorest in the world. Many citizens live on about $2,700 a year, and the majority of the population lives in poverty. Fortunately, many organizations are fighting poverty in Nepal. Here are five local groups fighting poverty in Nepal, their home country.

5 Local Groups Fighting Poverty in Nepal

  1. Aasaman Nepal (ASN): A nongovernmental organization, ASN is a strong advocate for social integration, the eradication of child labor and women’s health in more than 60 municipalities in Nepal. ASN achieves some of these goals through increasing community awareness and stressing the importance of schools through social mobilization. It has already helped more than 80,000 children with their education. ASN has also been able to secure national and international partnerships with U.N. Women, U.K. Aid and Street Child. Securing these partnership allows ASN to provide quality education and protection to children and marginalized groups like women and the disabled.
  2. Nepal Fertility Care Center (NFCC): This organization first started as an NGO to decrease Nepal’s total fertility rate from six to just over two. NFCC is now an internationally credited organization with a focus on providing available, accessible and affordable reproductive healthcare across Nepal. It engages with girls in remote areas in efforts to end child marriage, establishes family planning centers and provides free HPV screenings. Given that these are just a few programs that this organization has undertaken, NFCC is central to fighting poverty in Nepal.
  3. Community Development Forum (CODEF): CODEF is a leading NGO in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector of Nepal. It has completed more than 30 projects in organizing infrastructure for WASH programs critical to the health and safety of the people and the environment. In these projects, CODEF has addressed research, development, implementation and local government accountability across 50 different Village Development Committees (VDCs), districts and surrounding urban areas. This makes it one of many key local organizations fighting poverty in Nepal.
  4. Global Action Nepal (GAN): A social organization, GAN provides comprehensive primary education and health services for all children in Nepal. It has also established more than 10 different programs. GAN accomplishes these goals through cooperation with local school districts in establishing management, support and up-skilling strategies. In total, GAN has helped well more than 10,000 children and women, thus decreasing poverty in Nepal. GAN also supports other important empowerment initiatives. For example, it provides microcredit for women in agriculture-based programs to support gender equality and financial independence.
  5. X-Pose Nepal: This organization works to end all sexual abuse and exploitation of young girls and women. Currently, gender inequality only furthers poverty in Nepal. To combat this, X-Pose Nepal has organized awareness programs in more than 40 schools to educate young women and men about sexual abuse and exploitation. It has also hosted several other training programs, like making reusable sanitary pads for women in remote villages. Its established Charity Shop helps raise money for the cause through painting exhibitions and musical programs done by and for women.

Looking Ahead

These five local groups are only a fraction of organizations working hard to foster progress in Nepal. Nonetheless, setbacks like the 2015 earthquake and internal political strife have hindered growth in recent years. Many critics of foreign aid deem it useless due to corrupt government, insufficient infrastructure and a supposed lack of initiative. However, this criticism fails to account for the impact of deep-seated cultural conflicts, geography and natural disasters on poverty in Nepal. Critics also fail to recognize local organizations making significant changes in smaller communities throughout Nepal. Despite the country’s internal conflicts and fragile geographical location, these five local groups are valiantly fighting poverty in Nepal.

– Mizla Shrestha
Photo: Pikist

How Waste Management Can Improve Public Health in Kampala, Uganda

While it may not always seem like it, the services provided by the U.S. government are vast and exceptional. For example, Americans do not have to panic over the possibility of waste runoff contaminating their water or having to dispose of their week’s worth of garbage by themselves. For services like these, Americans usually have government-sponsored help that is reliable and guaranteed. However, what is typical in the U.S. is not the norm for developing countries. This is particularly the case in Uganda, where poor waste management leads to poor public health in Kampala.

High Cost of Waste Management

Creating sustainable and effective waste management systems is incredibly expensive. According to the World Bank, efficient waste management services can require 20% to 50% of a government’s budget. This makes such services frequently unattainable for municipalities in developing countries. Indeed, this is exactly the problem posed by waste management in Kampala, Uganda.

On the outskirts of Kampala is the Kiteezi landfill. Opened in 1996, the landfill was intended to last until 2010, but it is still in use today. Not only has the landfill been used far past its capacity, but due to rapid urbanization, the city has generated substantially more waste than originally projected. This has culminated in a dire state of public health in Kampala.

Waste Management and Public Health in Kampala

The lack of residential services in Uganda only serves to exacerbate this problem. Kampala, like many cities, is not homogenous. There are a wide variety of infrastructure accommodations, socio-economic conditions and community engagements involved in municipal services. Poor road conditions can make it difficult for collection trucks to pass through living areas. A lack of communication regarding sanctioned dumping sites can lead to confusion and improper disposal practices, such as burning waste or piling it in an area where the waste will not be collected or sanitized.

What are the repercussions of all of this? Firstly, it can degrade residents’ quality of life. Seeing and smelling waste build up is enormously unpleasant. Additionally, that waste buildup can have serious public health consequences. The burning of garbage can produce methane, exacerbating climate change. Waste sites are the perfect breeding grounds for mosquitos, which, for countries riddled with malaria, can make exposure to infectious disease much more likely. Rain can allow waste to flow into water sources and contaminate food sources, making illnesses like cholera and bacterial infections more prevalent. Ultimately, poor waste management in Kampala is a public health hazard.

Building a New Landfill

Currently, the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) is negotiating with investors to build a new landfill and work with the city to revamp waste management services with private contractors to improve public health in Kampala. This agreement will cap the Kiteezi landfill, create a new landfill with the city’s needs in mind and allow Kampala to utilize recycling processes to generate revenue for the municipality. This type of agreement is known as a public-private partnership (PPP).

PPPs are a popular way to get better services to more people, as these agreements allow municipalities to delegate certain services to companies that have the resources and experience to implement them. The End Neglected Tropical Diseases Act, passed by Congress in December 2019, supports the use of PPPs to combat similar issues. This legislation utilizes the resources and expertise of both local and U.S. governmental agencies, as well as private-sector health institutions, to combat debilitating ailments such as malaria and dengue fever in developing countries. Public health in Kampala, as well as in other similarly situated cities, relies on measures like the End Neglected Tropical Diseases Act.

Much-Needed Funding

However, treating these diseases after their infliction is not the only way public health can be bettered in developing cities. Indeed, the best solution to public health crises is to cut off these ailments at their sources, which in many countries requires proper waste management and sanitation. According to The World Bank, investment in infrastructure, education and citizen engagement is the best path to making waste management sustainable and safe.

Whether this investment is through private contractors partnering with developing governments or urging the U.S. to increase its funding for international health projects, cities like Kampala need solutions to manage waste effectively to ensure the safety and health of their citizens.

– Cecilia Payne
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

How GVCs Help Progress Developing Economies

GVCs Progress Developing Economies
In the past, companies primarily produced goods in one country as that was the most efficient way at the time. However, as technology gets more sophisticated, companies are finding that global value chains (GVCs) are the most effective and cost-efficient means of manufacturing goods. This article will explore how GVCs progress developing economies.

What are GVCs?

GVCs are the means behind fragmenting the production process so that different steps can occur in different countries. For example, to make a smartphone, a GVC would call for labor and supplies from multiple suppliers in different countries. Making a smartphone would also require assemblage in another country and selling in other target places. These complex production orders, spanning across multiple countries, have transformed trade as many know it. Both the economic and diplomatic implications of these chains are far-reaching.

The Importance of GVCs

GVCs are robust drivers of productivity and job growth, and they push for improved living standards. The way that a country engages with a GVC determines how that country benefits. According to the Global Value Chain Development Report that the World Bank, World Trade Organization and other partners published, nations that embrace these production chains grow more quickly than normal. They import and export not only manufactured goods but skills, information and technology.

For developing countries, this is an ideal opportunity to vary exports and reinforce the global economy. Under GVC operations, developing countries can grow by embedding more technology and expertise in their production lines. This higher value in labor and production also increases the value of labor and technological tasks, which helps boost the economies of developing countries when exporting products.

Countries that have Grown Under GVCs

Bangladesh, a country in South Asia, uses a GVC model for a variety of sectors, including the garment and apparel sector, which is especially prominent overseas. Garment sector job growth is a catalyst for Bangladesh’s poverty reduction and has had significant positive social impacts.

To elucidate, this GVC model led to the creation of over three million jobs beginning in the early 2000s, with women capturing approximately 70% of those jobs. Not only did this contribute to the growth of Bangladesh’s economy but it also contributed to a 10% rise in female labor force participation in the earlier 2000s.

Another example of how GVCs progress developing economies is in the global technology sector. For example, television designs come from Japan. Input pieces like semiconductors and processors come from South Korea or China. Meanwhile, the entire televisions receive assembly in China. They are exported throughout the world and the participating countries in a chain profit.

The Impact of GVCs

GVCs are evidently important and effective drivers of socio-economic growth for all countries, especially developing countries. They empower people by providing them with jobs and ways to service their abilities. They also allow for nations to take a strong stance in the global economy, encouraging diplomatic relations between countries.

These chains are a means for global growth, shared prosperity and allyship. There is always room for improvement, like finding a balance between importation and exportation. However, nations have already accomplished a lot already. As time passes, countries will hopefully see value in strengthening ties with the surrounding world through GVCs.

– Sarah Uddin
Photo: Flickr

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Stanford’s Poverty and Technology Lab

Poverty and Technology
Stanford University launched its Poverty and Technology Lab in 2016, promoting the collaboration of students and Silicon Valley experts to use their knowledge of the technology world in order to provide practical solutions to poverty.

Reversing the Roles of Technology

Stanford initiated its Poverty and Technology Lab as a project within the university’s Center for Technology and Inequality (CPI). Its goal with this initiative is to redefine the various uses of technology. Experts and students at the university recognize the possible dangers of technology, as it has the potential to decrease employment opportunities and perpetuate global inequalities. This Lab aims to switch this role by applying technology to benefit low-income people, rather than prioritizing the improvement of middle-class lives.

The Technology and Poverty Lab fostered collaboration among students, professors and Silicon Valley technology experts. In addition, the Lab incorporates the voices and opinions of people living in low-income communities into these conversations. This inclusion ensures that the tools being innovated are truly geared toward issues that the impoverished are enduring.

A Unique Approach in the Classroom

Stanford also launched a course series that parallels the goals of this lab. Professor David Grusky, Director of Stanford’s Center on Poverty and Inequality, teaches the first course—Ending Poverty with Technology—as well as the remaining courses.

Grusky explained the unique approach of both his classes and the lab in an interview, stating that “[Stanford’s Poverty and Technology Lab] is an opportunity to not take on problems at their root sources, which is our instinct. …  Sometimes the best way forward is to not take on problems at their causes, at their sources, but rather to approach them less directly and instead opt for approaches that proceed in a different way. It’s kind of a more pragmatic approach.”

Grusky said his classes are largely geared toward teaching students to think in a manner that enables them to create solutions using this unique method: “One of the outputs [of my class] is just training students in how you would think through problems in this way. So it’s not that they actually make headway on the problems themselves, but they learned how to approach problems of this type, and hopefully, in the future, we’ll make headway.”

Forming Projects

Many of the projects that have formed through Stanford’s Poverty and Technology Lab are information-oriented. Examples include services that aid employment, boost access to educational opportunities and enable low-income communities to rate preexisting assistance programs. These projects primarily focus on the process of linking data to evaluate current programs related to these processes.

“We have a lot of work underway in which we negotiate data-sharing agreements and use them to put together linked administrative data sets that then allow us to carry out evaluations,” Grusky reported.

From the United States to Abroad

Stanford created the Poverty and Technology Lab to find poverty solutions in the Bay Area and the United States. However, much of the work by this lab is applicable to impoverished communities across the globe. Acknowledging this global relevance, some students have even begun the process of testing their innovations abroad.

“Although we used the U.S. as a kind of a testbed in trying to understand the problems, some of [the students] actually went on and worked on their projects in other areas,” Grusky revealed.

Experimentation with one such project occurred in Peru, where a female student devised an entrepreneurship app. She proposed this application to include a convenient toolkit for those struggling to secure employment opportunities. This app would help these impoverished individuals to avoid this challenge by learning to start their own business.

At the surface, this project engages students at Stanford University. But it also urges technology experts across the country to examine the impact of their products more broadly. Students and scholars nationwide are collaborating with community members to find practical technological solutions to poverty.

– Hannah Carroll
Photo: Flickr

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Hunger in Grenada

hunger in grenadaGrenada is a small cluster of Caribbean islands, with the largest one being home to the country’s capital, St. George’s. Grenada has a population of about 112,500 people, making it one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. Although Grenada is considered a middle-income country, 38% of its residents live below the poverty line, meaning that the number of people living in hunger is also a serious issue. Read on to learn about the past and present history of hunger in Grenada.

A Turbulent Past

After President Ronald Reagan ordered the 1983 U.S. invasion of Grenada, invading forces murdered Grenada’s leader along with 208 residents of the islands. Although those involved in the invasion were punished, the country’s difficult history continues. Grenada was one of the countries hit hardest by hurricanes Ivan (2004) and Emily (2005). Nearly 95% of all Grenada’s buildings were affected, which decimated the country’s annual GDP, thus putting Grenadians in a vulnerable situation. The impact of the hurricanes forced the government to shift its attention to rebuilding the country rather than tending to widespread hunger in Grenada.

By 2008, Grenada’s average growth rate had reached impressive levels considering the destruction it had endured. The country even began to see the emergence of a middle class. Despite these movements in the right direction, Grenada was one of the countries most likely to go into massive debt in 2012, mainly due to loan disputes with Thailand concerning the tourism industry.

Sustainable Development Goals

One of the most effective ways to evaluate hunger in Grenada is through the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Of the 17 goals, Grenada is only struggling with two. Although it is important to recognize the progress Grenada has made toward the 15 other goals, Grenada has made little progress toward completely eliminating hunger. The second goal, “Zero Hunger,” is in the worst shape out of all 17 goals currently. Without adequate funding or direction to help this goal, much of the country will continue to live in hunger.

Grenada’s struggles with goal 15, “Life on Land,” also contribute to its hunger problems. This goal deals with the degradation of habitats and biodiversity, which leads to an increased level of widespread hunger. Such intense degradation impacts the hunger situation because the destruction of habitats destroys fertile farmland as well. This inhibits Grenadians’ access to adequate food sources.

Combating the Issue

One promising United Nations initiative, the “Zero Hunger Challenge Initiative,” works toward the second Sustainable Development Goal. The Ministry of Agriculture, Land, Forestry, Fisheries and Environment began this initiative in 2013. By 2015, the Food and Agriculture Organization had given $11,308,00 to significantly diminish hunger in Grenada. The Zero Hunger Challenge Initiative worked to improve economic diversification across the workforce, implement school feeding programs and collaborate with neighboring islands to accomplish a mutually beneficial outcome. Although this program helped hunger in Grenada, it ended in 2019, and the U.N. has collected almost no data since the end of the program to determine how successful it was. Hunger in Grenada therefore likely remains a problem.

– Natalie Tarbox
Photo: Flickr

Artificial Pollinators to Fight World Hunger

Artificial pollinators
More than 570 million farms exist in the world today. Notably, 45% of the world’s population lives in rural areas; a number that is equivalent to 3.4 billion people. However, today, 2 billion people sustain themselves through agriculture. While the entirety of human-kind depends on agriculture for sustenance, only 33% of the population depends on agriculture to survive, economically. In this same vein, farmers’ livelihoods have been threatened by Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a leading cause in the decline of bees. With a decrease in natural pollinators, researchers are creating artificial pollinators to sustain our ecosystem.

The Birds & Bees Falling Short

Birds, bees and other insects are the world’s crop pollinators and cross-pollinators. Bees can pollinate more than $15 billion of crops every year in the U.S. alone. In 2016, however, seven species of Hawaiian bees were declared endangered, as well as a bee that is native to the East Coast and Midwest of the U.S. Researchers are now looking to artificial pollinators and robotics as a substitute to help fulfill the world’s agricultural needs.

Robotic Dragonflies and Miniature Drones

In the Netherlands, a group at the Technical University of Delft is creating drones — robotic dragonflies — that will recognize, land on, and pollinate flowers. Assistant professor Guido de Croon said that they “use robot dragonflies which mimic insects flying by flapping their wings… this will be beneficial once miniaturization of these drones has taken place. They’ll be able to fly longer without recharging.” The drones can also communicate with each other to avoid contact and possible damage to themselves. In the future, these robotic dragonflies will work in greenhouses to aid in plant health, i.e., watering and safe pesticide use.

Soap Bubble Pollination

An associate professor at the Japan Institute of Science and Technology, Eijiro Miyako, has used soap bubbles carried by drones to pollinate a pear orchard. Inspired by blowing bubbles with his son, Miyako notes that “soap bubbles have innovative potentiality and unique properties, such as effective and convenient delivery of pollen grains to targeted flowers and high flexibility to avoid damaging them.” Miyako’s team used GPS-controlled drones to direct soap bubbles, carrying pollen grain, at fake lilies from two meters away and had a 90% success rate.

This is by far a cheaper source for pollination and according to Miyako, more efficient than other artificial pollinators. Instead of using human labor, Miyako hopes to continue to advance this eccentric, bubble pollinator. Previously, Miyako used a two-centimeter long drone to pollinate but found that the flowers were getting harmed in the process. This pollinating technique is “flower-friendly” in Miyako’s experience, far safer for the fruit or flower.

More Innovative Technologies

Other researchers have created robot bees and dragonflies and one group has created a backpack to attach to real dragonflies to assist in the pollination process. In any case, these insects are crucial to our ecosystem. While technology should never fully replace the natural process — it is useful to have these innovations to assist. Those who live in rural areas depend on the ecosystem and environment around them — including crops and agriculture. Although these technologies remain unperfected, solutions like these artificial pollinators are working to protect livelihoods.

– Hannah Kaufman
Photo: Pikist

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AmazonSmile: An Online Charitable Donation Platform

Online Charitable Donation PlatformThe AmazonSmile Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization created by Amazon to administer the AmazonSmile program. This program allows customers to enjoy the same Amazon online shopping experience as the traditional Amazon online shopping platform, but now with the option of donating 0.5% of eligible purchases to various charitable organizations. The AmazonSmile program charges no additional cost to either the charitable organization or the customer. The new foundation from Amazon or rather, the online, charitable donation platform, represents a positive, philanthropic step forward for the company. This initiative has the potential to reach millions of Amazon users and hopefully, even more of the world’s poor will benefit.

How it Works

Signing up for AmazonSmile is a highly intuitive process for customers. It is available on any web browser under the URL: smile.amazon.com and it can even be activated from the Amazon shopping application. One of the program’s main features is that customers can choose the specific nonprofit to which they want to donate. Moreover, the online, charitable donation platform offers more than 1 million charitable organizations to choose from.

The charities included in the program must pass an approval process to guarantee that the customers’ donations only fund reputable organizations. Organizations hold valid registry and remain in solid standing with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) (also known as a registered nonprofit). Only then are charitable organizations eligible to register on AmazonSmile. Additionally, foundations must be public and located in either the U.S. or Washington D.C.

Yet, after all of this information, an important question remains — why are some Amazon customers hesitant to use this program when shopping?

The Problems with AmazonSmile

Enabling AmazonSmile seems like a simple way to help others. However, the program has already received some criticism. Since the donation is only 0.5% of a customer’s eligible purchase order, a customer would have to spend $5,000 on Amazon to donate just $25 to the organization of their choice. When taking a closer look at consumer spending, it is clear that this purchase-to-donation ratio is not necessarily skewed in favor of Amazon’s online charitable donation platform (and thus, the charities). For example, in 2018 Amazon Prime members only spent an average of $1,400 on purchase orders. Moreover, the purchase order value (on average) for consumers who were not Amazon Prime members was even less, at $600.

In 2015, the AmazonSmile Foundation donated just less than $13 million to charitable organizations. Although this figure undoubtedly represents a substantial amount of money, the fact remains that the company’s contribution was still less than 0.5% of Amazon’s total retail sales for that same year. The program donated about 0.00012% of Amazon’s total retail sales in 2015. Given Amazon’s extreme level of success, many people criticize the program for its minuscule donations (in proportion to the company’s total retail sales).

A Silver Lining

Regardless of its flaws, the AmazonSmile Foundation holds the potential to provide a simple way to substantially give back to charitable organizations. For those who want to make small contributions, often — transitioning to AmazonSmile is an effective way to accomplish philanthropic, retail goals while making a positive impact in the fight against world poverty.

– Danielle Wallman
Photo: Google Images

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Increased Research & Disease Treatment in Bangladesh

Disease Treatment in Bangladesh
The country of Bangladesh sits in the Northeastern region of the Indian subcontinent. Also, it is one of the most densely populated nations in the world. This high population of more than 166.2 million has been hard hit by disease. For example, the primary causes of death in Bangladesh include respiratory diseases, such as tuberculosis. To combat the threat posed to its citizens, the government installed many hospitals and rural health centers to treat tuberculosis and other fatal yet common diseases. Moreover, cholera and malaria also fall into this category of fatal, common diseases plaguing Bangladesh. These centers came about to improve disease treatment in Bangladesh, especially in the more rural regions. Unfortunately, it is these rural regions where such services would normally be scarce.

Problems and Progress

The Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) and the International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), located in Dhaka, have both worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This joint effort aims to conduct public health research. The organizations seek to gather more information to categorize and treat a multitude of diseases, such as encephalitis, rotavirus, polio, and viral hepatitis. The main hope of these programs is to learn more about the transmission of the pathogens in question and their ability to spread between hosts of different geographic areas.

Also, the CDC assists government staff on effective and efficient techniques to investigate the conditions and cases of a disease outbreak. Moreover, the CDC also provides guidance and instruction on how to respond to public health threats. Policymakers have referenced medical studies to help them make better-informed decisions about introducing vaccines and other interventions. All of this, to improve disease treatment in Bangladesh.

The Impact of COVID-19

Currently, it is these services that the nation looks toward in hopes of dealing with the ongoing, new coronavirus pandemic. The virus has had a dramatic, negative impact on Bangladesh on many fronts. There have been nearly 17,000 deaths within the past few months — with the first cases being detected in early March 2020. The nation’s economy has also taken a massive hit. The annual economic growth had remained steady at around 7% for the past decade. However, now it suddenly dropped to an estimated 2%. This could potentially prove problematic for plans to increase domestic aid. Less trade and resources mean that loans would have to be taken out, to support citizens. This, alongside the projected $250 million required for clinical testing and equipment.

Vulnerable, Rural Populations: A Potential Solution

Bangladesh is working with other research centers to push for potential treatments and research on the virus. Since more than 63% of the population lives in rural areas, the situation is complex. For example, typical prevention methods in place, world-wide, such as lockdowns and social distancing will not be viable in the long-term. Many citizens are poor farmers and will be unable to provide for themselves and their families if quarantining persists for months at a time. However, a potential solution is on the horizon. With the help of the armed forces, it may be possible to install a system of clean and non-contact rationing, to provide people with the supplies and food they need. In theory, such as service could also provide medical supplies to hospitals, volunteer groups and other medical centers working on disease treatment in Bangladesh.

The economic situation of Bangladesh makes plans for dealing with the coronavirus tenuous at best. However, through their strong connections to research institutions and global organizations dedicated to providing support for these scenarios, disease treatment in Bangladesh can still be managed. Regardless of the large scale of diseases and pandemics.

– Aditya Daita
Photo: Flickr

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4 Facts About Homelessness in Guinea

Four Facts About Homelessness in GuineaThe Republic of Guinea is also known as Guinea-Conakry and most commonly, Guinea. Guinea is a country located on the northwest coast of Africa. Guinea’s 13.4 million population is quite diverse. It contains 24 ethnic groups and 25 languages. In addition, Guinea has incredible mineral wealth. Despite Guinea’s rich natural resources, Guinea’s residents suffer from myriad poverty-induced socioeconomic problems. Around 55% of Guineans live in poverty, with rates disproportionately high among rural dwellers, women and young people. This widespread poverty has predictably led to high rates of home insecurity and homelessness in Guinea. Here are fast facts on homelessness in Guinea.

4 Facts About Homelessness in Guinea

  1. The majority of Guinea’s population has insecure housing. In 2012, only 31.5% of Guineans had shelters with permanent walls. This means that 68.5% of the population is without adequate housing.
  2. Homelessness in Guinea varies greatly by demographic. Gender, ethnicity and occupation-based discrimination and inequality plague Guinea, leading to stark wealth disparities. Though subsistence agriculture is the backbone of Guinea’s economy, farmers typically suffer from abysmal living conditions. Around 71.1% of Guineans work as subsistence farmers while around 21.8% suffer from food insecurity. Female farmers are especially marginalized. Though women play a crucial role in agriculture, they are often denied land, education and employment. This often leads women to work for little to no pay. These disparities in wealth and resources are reflected in Guinea’s homeless population.
  3. Climate and global health disasters have exacerbated the problem. Guinea is prone to frequent natural disasters such as flooding and bush fires, especially in rural areas. For instance, catastrophes repeatedly destroy housing in Guinea’s poorest regions. In addition, Guinea was a primary target of the 2013-2016 West African Ebola virus epidemic. The 3,806 Ebola cases and 2,535 deaths devastated Guinea. This required its government to direct its resources toward eradicating the disease rather than homelessness and other social ills. Widespread infections of malaria and HIV/AIDS pose a similar, ongoing drain on Guinea’s wealth.
  4. Foreign aid is crucial to combating homelessness in Guinea. Numerous organizations are currently working to help Guineans achieve quality living conditions. Plan International has been operating in Guinea since 1989 to help alleviate the social problems that lead to homelessness, specifically by empowering Guinean children. Additionally, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Guinea is another vital group. It helps vulnerable Guineans, including those who are homeless, resettle in countries with better housing options. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) also provides essential aid. It operates in Guinea since 1964 to provide food assistance and strengthen the Guinean government. In March 2015, it provided more than $7 million to the cause.

Homelessness in Guinea is not an isolated issue; it is a direct result of the nation’s high incidences of poverty, disease and discrimination. Fortunately, foreign aid has the potential to eliminate these issues. Past foreign aid investments have transformed the lives of Guineans. For example, China invested $526 million in a 240-megawatt dam that more than doubled the country’s electricity supply in 2015. Similar actions can help ensure that every Guinean has a roof over their head.

– Abby Tarwater
Photo: Flickr

Holistic Mental Health Services In India For Indigenous Communities

Mental Health Services In IndiaThe vicious cycle of poverty and mental illness is a problem worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, mental illness is twice as prevalent among the poor than among the rich. Not only does mental illness put someone more at risk for poverty, but the insecurity of day to day life in poverty can also exacerbate mental health concerns. Indigenous communities, routinely separated from their land, traditions and support networks by discriminatory government policies, struggle with both poverty and mental health concerns at particularly high rates, according to the United Nations.

Mental Health Services In India: A Holistic Model for Indigenous Communities

One way of addressing the cycle of poverty and mental health concerns in indigenous communities is a holistic model that draws both from community traditions as well as biomedical and psychological care paradigms. Such an approach is most effective when it treats the community members as experts on their own needs.

Hailey Shapiro ‘22, a Cornell student, spent a semester abroad in Kotagari, India, learning about public health. While she had to leave India early due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she completed her literature review about holistic mental healthcare for indigenous communities in the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve region of Southern India from her home in California. Shapiro spoke to The Borgen Project about her research on the mental health and well-being issues faced by the indigenous Adivasi people in India, as well as the strengths and limitations of different strategies developed to address these issues.

“Learning from local scholars and community members was vital research. Programs to support community wellness are never a one-size-fits all, because all communities have unique resources and challenges,” Shapiro said.

The Link Between Communal Traditions and Well-Being

Adivasi communities in India have long faced disruptions to traditional ways of life. The British colonial government rarely recognized their communal land ownership traditions, which were central to traditional practices of hunting, gathering and practicing shifting cultivation. The Indian government has designated many of the forests they traditionally hunted, gathered and farmed as protected land, which means the Adivasi are still barred from using the land to feed themselves. Most Adivasi now work as day laborers for agricultural plantations and government construction programs.

Community cohesion that provided essential social support for psychological well-being in earlier times has grown weaker as the Adivasi no longer hunt or farm together as frequently and are displaced from their land. The widespread land loss not only prevents the Adivasi from supporting themselves in traditional ways, but it also causes many youths to leave the community in order to find work and has exacerbated the issues of food insecurity and poverty.

These disruptions to community support systems have caused or exacerbated stress for many community members. However, India’s main mental health program, the District Mental Health Policy, does not collaborate with non-clinical agencies to address psycho-social factors.

Community Outreach, Mental Health Services in India and Medicalization

While psychiatric medications have been found to be an effective strategy to assist those struggling with mental health concerns, The Keystone Foundation recognizes that a holistic approach can make psychiatric strategies more effective. The Keystone Foundation trains community health workers to assist with the delivery of mental health services; the organization also works with the family and friends of patients to help patients adhere to medications.

Another organization providing mental health services in India within the context of the community it serves is The Banyan, a mental healthcare nonprofit. The Banyan started as a homeless shelter and became a mental health service provider that focuses on the needs of mentally ill women in Chennai, India. The Banyan uses a variety of strategies including in-patient and outpatient care as well as community outreach and aid to those coping with both mental health struggles and poverty. Through frequent surveys, they identified that their clients wanted to stay in their homes and that facilitating work opportunities and providing healthcare in more remote areas could help make that goal possible.

According to Shapiro’s literature review, learning from the example of The Keystone Foundation, The Banyan and other providers of holistic care could lead to better mental healthcare outcomes for indigenous communities and other marginalized groups.

“We need a holistic approach to community mental health that responds to communities’ unique challenges using communities’ unique resources,” said Shapiro. “According to my research, we can learn what factors are most important to address by incorporating communities’ voices into the intervention decision-making process.”

– Tamara Kamis
Photo: Flickr