Archive for category: Health

Information and stories on health topics.

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G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment

G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and InvestmentG7 is an organization comprised of seven of the world’s most advanced and powerful economies: the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, the United Kingdom and the European Union. The leaders of these nations recently came together to announce a new G7 partnership for global infrastructure and investment. The partnership will include a funding program of $600 billion with a focus on improving global infrastructure, medicine and technology. This international funding partnership is promising to improve the lives of millions, especially in the world’s impoverished and developing nations.

G7 Promises Relief for Global Economy and Low-Income Countries

In 2021, at the G7 summit, President Biden announced a plan to enhance the economic and infrastructure needs of developing nations, as well as support the economies of the United States and its allies. This initiative was part of Biden’s Build Back Better plan.

In June 2022, after a year of collaboration between the leaders of the G7 nations, President Biden announced the partnership for global infrastructure and investment, a $600 billion initiative of global infrastructure investments between the seven countries by 2027, according to The White House.

The collaboration will officially launch the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII). This should strengthen and diversify the supply chain, as well as improve the quality of life for millions of people in developing countries. The United States will contribute $200 billion over the course of five years, The White House reported. This makes it one of the most extensive contributions to low-income and developing countries in recent years, especially after facing global economic setbacks from the pandemic.

Some of the projects cited in the initiative are an industrial mRNA vaccine plant in Senegal, solar projects in Angola, a sub-sea cable linking South Asia and Europe, a linking port from Christmas Island and a modular nuclear reactor plant in Romania.

G7 Funding Program Demonstrates Effective International Cooperation

The G7 partnership for global infrastructure and investment is in part motivated by the United States and other economic powerhouses’ desire to compete with China’s Belt and Road initiative. China’s infrastructure initiative focuses on road transportation, bridges and mining, which economists estimate to cost $1 trillion.

In the G7 funding program, Biden references a wider range of goals including clean energy, gender equality, health care and communication technology. President Biden and the other G7 leaders are hopeful that the new G7 funding program will have a more direct positive impact on the lives of the impoverished, the global economy and the climate, The Guardian reports. Prior to the G7 summit, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Japan had each announced their individual global infrastructure investment plans.

In November 2021, President Biden met with multiple world leaders to ensure their plans could cooperate to create a more powerful global investment plan that would have a greater impact, according to The Guardian.

G7’s Commitment to Poverty Reduction

The G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment marks one of the most cohesive and extensive international investment plans in recent years. The PGII will support the clean energy initiative, U.S. national security and digital infrastructure. This initiative could offer relief to the 689 million people living in extreme poverty.

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the poverty rate up to 9.1% in 2022 from 7.8% in 2019, signaling a dire need to support people in developing nations by offering them improved digital communication, access to medical supplies and health care, emergency COVID-19 relief and economic support. President Biden asserts that the United States’ partnership with G7 could change millions of lives across the world and the global economy could experience some relief after the pandemic.

– Ella DeVries
Photo: Flickr

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Shea Butter Plant in Ghana

Shea Butter Plant in GhanaShea butter, known as “women’s gold,” supports female empowerment, backs many U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), enhances the global supply chain and promotes self-sufficient development in Southeastern Ghana. To make the most of this versatile nut, Bunge Loders Croklaan (BLC), “the specialty oils and fats business of [U.S.-based] Bunge Limited,” opened Africa’s first and largest shea butter plant in Ghana, in 2019. Bunge’s example portrays how capitalizing on a burgeoning international market is mutually beneficial for the United States and the world’s impoverished, especially women.

Bunge’s Global Partnerships

As an international industry headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, Bunge’s purpose is to “connect farmers to consumers to deliver essential food, feed and fuel to the world.” Bunge serves more than 70,000 farmers and consumers by “sourcing, processing and supplying oilseed and grain products and ingredients.”

The BLC sector specializes in delivering oils and fats to farmers and industries within and across borders. Reaping benefits since the opening of the shea plant in Tema, Ghana, Aaron Buettner, a president of BLC, said that the “latest investment in Ghana plays a critical role in strengthening BLC’s global infrastructure for processing and supplying high-quality shea products to our customers around the world, while also bolstering the entire ecosystem of regional crushers and local shea collectors in the West African region.”

BLC’s Shea Butter Plant opens Financial Opportunities in Ghana

Bunge’s global network increases employment and enhances the self-sustainable development of the local shea community in Ghana. About 16 million families in Africa rely on the shea industry to financially sustain their households. In late 2020, Tema’s shea butter plant provided jobs for 73 people, mostly residents and individuals around the community. Currently, in 2022, Ghana has met the unemployment rate indicator under the SDG “decent work and economic growth” at a value of 4.52.

Celebrating Ghanaian Women’s Empowerment

Women represent most of the shea butter plant industry in Ghana. With “skills passed on from mother to daughter,” women pick, process and sell shea nuts and their components. Women leave their homes at dawn and travel to the shea parklands to generate income for their families.

Autonomy in labor helps to raise the status of women. The gender equality goal of the Sustainable Development Report displays a value of 89.68 in 2020 for the ratio of female-to-male labor participation rate, indicating that Ghana is maintaining an egalitarian workforce.

Shortcomings to Women’s Rights in Ghana

Still, gender inequality remains a prevalent issue. Despite employment data that often only captures the world from its surface, women in Ghana generally have fewer assets and are more impoverished than men. In fact, according to Oxfam, about 94% of the wealthiest people in Ghana are men.

Women are even disadvantaged in the shea business due to their absence in key stages of the supply chain. Illiteracy and lack of skills prevent many women from maximizing their wealth and industries’ production. In fact, “significant challenges remain” in the ratio of female-to-male mean years of education received.

How BLC Helps Females in Ghana

The Where Life Grows campaign, connected with BLC, committed itself to “empower shea collecting women, create socio-economic value in their communities and conserve and regenerate the shea landscape.” The campaign builds the capacity of women through training and by providing innovative resources. For example, during the off-season, women working with the Where Life Goes program organize, plan and discuss their needs with colleagues and receive loans. The women use the borrowed money to rent land, buy fertilizer, hire tractors to plow the soil and more.

Furthermore, BLC and the campaign implement solutions to alleviate stagnated access to sustainable clean energy in Ghana that impedes on shea production. BLC’s management designs efforts that provide energy-efficient pots and stoves that “use 60% less wood,” emit less smoke and decrease nut boiling time. These newly improved tools improve working conditions, sanitation and efficiency. By investing in local skills development overseas, the Missouri-based company attains a more efficient and sustainable production process while accounting for humanitarian needs.

Bunge’s partnerships supply training, tools, farming activities and direct sourcing to women in Tema, ultimately strengthening both ends of the value chain. Global businesses, namely BLC, operate with a multitude of incentives, such as strengthening the independence of women in Ghana and creating jobs in the United States. The international shea business improves Ghanaian individual and economic wealth and works to close the gender gap.

– Anna Zawistowski
Photo: WikiCommons

 

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Accessible Water in Morocco

Water in MoroccoDrought has limited access to water in Morocco. In March 2022, Morocco experienced its “worst drought in 40 years.” Since September 2021, reservoirs in Morocco have only received 11% of typical yearly rainfall, according to Moroccan authorities. Droughts in Morocco are not uncommon, but the current drought is so major that it poses a threat to the water supply in Moroccan cities. In an attempt to put an end to this water scarcity, Morocco’s National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) has drafted and started construction on a project in Marrakech, under the National Program for the Supply of Drinking water and Irrigation 2020-2027 that seeks to build dams inside the country to efficiently distribute water throughout Morocco.

The Blueprints

The National Program for the Supply of Drinking water and Irrigation 2020-2027 aims to “accelerate investments in order to strengthen the supply of drinking water and irrigation,” and thus, increase the nation’s resilience when facing droughts. The plan includes the construction of dams, with a special focus on providing water relief to rural areas.

As of June 2022, ONEE is overseeing the construction of a pipeline that will efficiently allocate water in Morocco’s most populous city, Casablanca. The project is separated into two stages. The first stage involves installing a pipeline that is roughly 4.5 miles long and goes from North Casablanca to the Médiouna distribution reservoir in Southern Casablanca. The goal of the pipeline is to “ensure optimal management of the available water resources at the Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah dam and the Oum Er Rbiaa basin.”

The second phase of the project intends to use a booster station to expand the pipeline velocity to 2,500 liters per second from the current velocity of 1,550 liters per second. Expansions of the pipeline plans to extend an additional 4.4 miles to Casablanca’s Bouskoura reservoir in the southern region. The cost of the pipeline for phase one is around €18 million and the second phase will cost the city an additional €12 million. ONEE foresees the completion of the second phase by July 2023.

ONEE received approval from the government to build multiple dams in the country’s Marrakech region back in 2020 and began construction in March 2022. This project has cost the country roughly $256 million and is receiving funding from the African Development Bank under the African Finance Corporation.

The goal of the project is to raise the number of major dams in Morocco from 145 to 179. The current focal point of the project is the Al Massira Dam “where a settling station, a treatment station, three pumping stations and several reservoirs with a total capacity of 93,000 cubic meters will be installed.”

The Importance of Change

The Moroccan economy tends to falter during times of droughts. Due to drought, agricultural output in Morocco reduced by 17.3% since 2021. It is expected that in 2022 Morocco’s poverty rate will remain stagnant at its current rate of 2.5% due to inflation in food and goods and the drought’s toll on agricultural production.

Due to the powerful effects that the current drought has on the country, efforts toward making water in Morocco more accessible are imperative.

– Luke Sherrill
Photo: Flickr

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Migration to Portugal

Migration to PortugalPortugal, a coastal country known for its colorfully-tiled sunny beach towns, is increasingly gaining a reputation as a destination for migrants looking to work in the European Union. In fact, over the last five years, Portugal’s immigrant population has increased by nearly 70%. In 2020, the number of people that acquired Portuguese citizenship stood at nearly twice that of the previous year. This increase in migration to Portugal stems from the needs of both the country as a whole and the migrants themselves.

The Benefits that Migrants Bring to Portugal

Portuguese citizens, as EU members, have the legal right to both live and work in other European Union countries. This includes countries like Germany and France, which have higher wages and better living conditions than Portugal. As a result, Portugal has a high rate of citizens that emigrate outside of the country, leaving the economy with a need for a replacement labor force.

Not only do migrants remedy the country’s labor shortage but they also bring in tax revenue and contribute to Portugal’s Social Security. Migrants even create jobs by starting businesses of their own, opening grocery stores foreign cuisine restaurants, hair salons and more. This enriches the diversity and vibrancy of the country while stimulating the economy.

What Brings Migrants to Portugal?

To fulfill that basic economic need for labor, Portugal has constructed a legal framework for immigration that is highly beneficial to incoming migrants. In June 2022, Portugal’s minister of foreign and parliamentary affairs announced that the nation would dissolve the quota regime and provide for a six-month work-seeking visa.

Even those without a visa, undocumented migrants, are permitted to apply for work. Once they have secured a job, they can apply for residency. Even “proof of legal entry” requirements in applying for residency status within the country are typically informally lax. Once a resident, migrants can have their families join them and enjoy the same legal status of residency. After five years, a resident can “qualify for a Portuguese passport of their own.” This ease on the path to a passport is a primary perk of migration to Portugal, alluring enough to make up for the relatively low wages offered in the country.

The largest group of migrants in the country are Brazilians, followed by another Portuguese-speaking country, Cape Verde. Both are steeped in poverty, with the most recent estimates of Cabo Verde’s national poverty rate standing at 35% as of 2015. In Brazil, about 27 million people lived under the national poverty line in 2021. With a national poverty rate of 16.2% as of 2019, Portugal offers a gateway out of deeply impoverished communities.

Once a migrant secures a European Union passport, they are free to move toward the wealthy economic core of Europe that draws Portuguese nationals as well, with the promise of higher wages. This allows migrants and their families to pursue opportunities to move toward the higher quality of life they imagined when they chose to leave their homelands.

– Grace Ramsey
Photo: Flickr

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The First Malaria Vaccine

Malaria VaccineIn October 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended a vaccine for the prevention of malaria. This malaria vaccine, called the RTS,S, is the first and only the WHO has recommended for malaria prevention.

Devastating Impact

Malaria has a devastating impact on countries where the disease is common. In 2020, there were 241 million malaria cases and 627,000 malaria deaths. In Africa, where 82% of malaria cases occur, 80% of malaria deaths consist of children under 5. In addition to the high death toll, malaria causes an estimated loss of $12 billion every year in lost productivity.

Over the past several decades, improved preventative measures including mosquito nets, antimalarial medications and efforts to reduce mosquito habitats have helped to contribute to a decline in the prevalence of malaria. Since 2015, however, progress in efforts to combat malaria has slowed, according to WHO. Some countries with especially high malaria transmission rates have even experienced an increase in malaria cases. After a slump in progress in recent years, though, the success of the RTS,S vaccine offers a ray of hope.

The Vaccine

Due to the complexity of the parasite that causes malaria, this vaccine took more than 30 years to develop. Research on the RTS,S vaccine began in the 1990s with the first clinical trial on it published in 1997. However, several more decades of trials would pass before researchers proved the vaccine to be safe and effective against malaria in children.

Trials completed in 2015, which followed a schedule of three or four vaccines for children between 5 and 17 months of age, found the RTS,S vaccine to reduce malaria-related hospitalization by 37% in the first four years of vaccination.

Over the course of three years, the pilot program, which included trials in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi vaccinated more than 900,000 children. The pilot program confirmed that the vaccine, while not perfect, reduces the frequency of severe malaria infection and demonstrated that large-scale vaccine distribution is feasible, according to WHO.

Based on the findings of the trials, the WHO expects that vaccinating one child could save the lives of 200 of them, according to its report. The WHO estimates that, if widespread vaccination is achieved, the RTS,S vaccine could save the lives of 40,000 to 80,000 children every year. Following the success of the pilot program, the WHO officially recommended the use of the vaccine for areas with high to moderate malaria transmission in October 2021.

In April 2022, the WHO reached the milestone of having 1 million children in Malawi, Kenya and Ghana who have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

A Historic Breakthrough

After several years of stagnation, this malaria vaccine represents what Dr. Mary Hamel, a medical epidemiologist who works on malaria prevention, called “a historic breakthrough.” In addition to being the first vaccine to provide protection against malaria, the RTS,S vaccine is the first vaccine for the parasitic disease, meaning the development of this vaccine represents not only a breakthrough in malaria research but a breakthrough in the world of vaccine development.

Though the vaccine’s efficacy is modest, its success is a major breakthrough in a decades-long fight against a disease that kills hundreds of thousands of people every year. As the first WHO-recommended malaria vaccine, this vaccine has the potential to save tens of thousands of lives every year and serve as a stepping stone toward future innovations in the realm of malaria prevention.

– Anna Inghram
Photo: Flickr

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HIV/AIDS in Malawi

HIV/AIDS in MalawiWhile it remains in the top 10 countries with the highest HIV rates, there is a significant reduction in the rates of HIV/AIDS in Malawi. This plummet, from 14.9% in 2000 to 8.1% in 2020, is likely to continue its decrease with the improvements to the diagnosis and care system.

The introduction of the Malawi Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (MPHIA) in 2016 has made it easier to track the progress of testing and treatment for HIV/AIDS in Malawi. The data from the 2022 assessment shows that Malawi has met two-thirds of the UNAIDS targets, with at least 95% of those aware of their status initiating treatment and 95% of those on treatment experiencing viral suppression.

Prioritizing Testing

The one target that Malawi must still meet is for 95% of persons with HIV to be “aware of their status.” In Malawi, where 88.3% of those with HIV are diagnosed, this target is not out of reach, according to the Population-Based HIV Impact Assessment (PHIA).

HIV self-testing is becoming more common in Malawi and studies show that community-led delivery of self-tests is safe, economical and reliable.

However, money and availability are not the only barriers to accessing HIV tests. There is a global need to overcome the stigma surrounding HIV; with a strong correlation between prejudicial attitudes toward HIV and reluctance to test. For many sufferers, attending a testing site is a deterrent, which is another explanation for why many remain untested. The increasing number of home tests could be vital to overcoming this hurdle.

COVID-19

The pandemic saw a 35% drop in HIV tests, according to Nuha Ceesay, UNAIDS country director, exacerbating the struggle to reach the 95% target.

As we come towards the end of the COVID-19 health emergency, education to combat stigmas and increasing testing services are integral measures for Malawi to reach UNAIDS targets. COVID-19 exacerbated existing stigmas with the misconception that those with HIV are more likely to catch Coronavirus. The pandemic birthed a new discriminatory term for people diagnosed HIV positive, “corona carrier,” Reuters reports.

COVID-19 has not permanently regressed in the fight against HIV. Despite the pandemic’s detrimental impact on the health care system of the country, it sustained some positive progress. Of those suffering from HIV/AIDS in Malawi, 98.6% were still referred for vital antiretroviral treatment throughout this period.

Women and HIV

Uneducated young women are one of the main disadvantaged social groups at the center of this health care emergency.

Despite making some progress, Malawi is still far from achieving gender equality. Health care access issues are no exception to this and adolescent girls and young women are the most vulnerable to HIV.

Research suggests that women experiencing poor health are likely to delay seeking medical support, prioritizing their family due to social norms and expectations. Connecting issues, such as lack of education and unemployment, leads more women towards sex work, only increasing the likelihood of contraction.

Children and HIV

The lack of testing makes children vulnerable targets of the AIDS crisis, with UNICEF identifying 25% of children with HIV/AIDS in Malawi as unaware of their status and only half of the HIV-positive children receiving treatment.

This is a cycle mostly formed by the 20%-45% risk of HIV-positive mothers passing HIV onto their children. These children often lack lifesaving treatment, with 20% of infants dying before age one without antiretroviral therapy (in sub-Saharan Africa).

Improving resource allocation and support for women and children helps to interrupt this cycle. Through vital counseling on the necessities of treatment, training of health care professionals, education, career prospects and prevention of sex work, the epicenter of the HIV epidemic could be the focal point of change.

The Path Forward

Foreign aid is crucial for Malawi to reach its UNAIDS targets and USAID data shows it is one of the countries in the world most dependent on foreign aid, with 99% of its HIV expenditure coming from international financial support.

Prompting the government to prioritize international aid, such as funding the coronavirus response, would alleviate pressure from Malawi’s health care system and allow the dedication of more time and resources to HIV testing. Organizations such as MANASO, a major advocate and host of Malawi World AIDS Day, are striving toward lower infection rates.

Its current plans include the Family Planning Budget Accountability Project, focused on advocation for the government to fund family planning essentials and for the spending of these funds to be appropriate and effective. It has achieved success in meeting government officials, engaging in advocacy and conducting meetings and workshops with chief security officers (CSOs). The family planning budget has also received more funds, seeing an increase from 2017 to 2019, as a result of this work.

Lobbying one’s leaders and supporting groups like MANASO enables the fight against HIV in Malawi to progress, with international support having a vital impact on treatment, testing and prevention goals.  

– Lydia Tyler
Photo: Flickr

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The Dangerous Ideology of North Korea 

dangerous ideology of North Korea The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has remained an enigma on the world stage for decades. The Kim dynasty, which has ruled since September 1948, transformed the economic outlook of the country with its oppressive and totalitarian regime. The unstable, elusive and dangerous ideology of North Korea makes it increasingly difficult for foreign aid to promote social, economic and political progress.

The Destructive Nature of Juche

North Korea’s unique ideology, coined ‘juche’ by the late Supreme Leader Kim Il-Sung, is a set of beliefs that focuses on self-reliance and finding strength without foreign assistance. In 1982, the revised Constitution accepted this as its authoritative doctrine. By adopting this isolationist ideology, North Korea’s inadequate economic planning soon plunged large portions of its population into extreme poverty and contributed to the deaths of millions from famine.

While the damage of juche is difficult to measure, its endorsement exacerbated the devastating North Korean famine of the 1990s as juche disregarded the potentiality of foreign aid to relieve the effects of the disaster.

As North Korea continued its isolation, the government’s distribution of the food supply began to favor the political and social elites rather than the majority of the population. In addition, the climate and land quality in the country was inadequate and when fuel aid from the USSR ceased, North Korea was unable to continue producing the fertilizer that helped its land provide higher crop yields. The subsequent famine killed millions.

The Inequality of Songbun

‘Songbun’ accompanies ‘juche’ as one of the discriminatory ideologies in the country that disproportionately impacts North Korea’s poor. ‘Songbun’ is a socioeconomic classification scheme that categorizes the population based on their loyalty to the regime. Upon its creation during the regime’s infancy, 28% of the population was considered in the “Core” or related to war heroes or peasants, 45% was considered “Wavering” and 27% was considered “Hostile”.

This system leads to egregious inequality specifically among the North Korean lower class, hindering this group in regard to education and employment.

For example, North Koreans are not able to choose their occupation or educational opportunity as their songbun ranking and government decide this for them.

Discrimination and Atrocity

Extreme gender discrimination within North Korea greatly hinders the prospect of girls and women in every aspect of life. Every day, women and girls fall victim to tremendous levels of sexual assault and persecution, including forced labor, forced marriage and food deprivation. A July 2020 report from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) observed that North Korean women deported from China were often unable to obtain a fair trial and were wrongfully imprisoned, where they would suffer multiple tortures including rape, infanticide and unlivable prison conditions.

Diplomats worldwide struggle with the predictability of the dangerous ideology of North Korea. As juche, songbun and gender stereotypes and discrimination provoke a greater socioeconomic divide among the North Korean people, poverty worsens within the country. Due to North Korea’s isolationist nature, some previous attempts at sending foreign aid have not been able to adequately advance North Korea’s development.

How Organizations Alleviate North Korean Poverty

Sending aid to North Korea has been difficult in the past due to the country’s intense self-reliance philosophy. However, in the past, the United States has supplied over $400 million in energy assistance as well as $700 million worth of food assistance since 1995 and 1996, respectively.

During times of crisis, many organizations step up to provide life-saving aid. For example, in 2019, with the support of donors, aid from the UN and INGOs reached 2.5 million people in North Korea. The Needs and Priorities Plan of 2020 proposed further aid, which would help give 5.5 million people better access to health services, 1.3 million with food assistance and more.

Although it is challenging for governments to determine whether or not aid is reaching those who need it the most, organizations that focus on serving those in poverty have continued to assist North Koreans for years.

– Caroline Zientek
Photo: Flickr

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Tunisia’s Food Crisis: a Tale Of War, Hunger, and Decree

Tunisia’s Food CrisisTunisia, a North African country with a population of 11.8 million, is facing a dire food crisis in the wake of the Ukraine War. Recently, the country has struggled with various political and economic strife, including 14 government changes in the past decade and a slow economic revival. Reliance on foreign grain exports further exacerbates Tunisia’s food crisis. This makes it particularly susceptible to the dangerous effects of foreign conflicts. In addition, the government has issued decrees that imperil citizens’ freedom of expression.

Import Reliance and War

According to a report by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), moderate to severe food insecurity affected around 25.1% of Tunisians from 2018 to 2020. Government food subsidies protected many Tunisians from the expensive cost of foreign imports and agriculture in the country for products such as vegetables and fruits is self-sustainable.

However, following the COVID-19 pandemic, the government was unable to continue providing sufficient subsidies as the prices of their imports skyrocketed, which led to Tunisia accepting an emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $750 million.

In addition to the insecurity introduced by COVID-19, the war in Ukraine presents a significant threat to Tunisian’s food supply. Since the Tunisian diet relies heavily on grains and Tunisia imports around 50% of its wheat from Ukraine and Russia, the Ukraine war has disrupted regular imports and accelerated hunger within the country.

Inside Tunisia

Statistics tell researchers about the numerical values of a food shortage. However, they cannot properly show the real living conditions of the crisis. Inside the personal lives of Tunisians during recent times of food shortage, bakers are running out of ingredients for bread and the lines of customers in the bakeries continue growing. Food insecurity in Tunisia has even affected citizens’ religious practices; during Ramadan, feasting happens nightly during iftars, but with supply limitations, it was often a struggle to fulfill them.

On March 20, Tunisian President Kais Saied enacted Decree-Law 2022-14, which sentenced those who hoarded state-subsidized products, such as cartels hoarding flour, to 10 to 30 years in prison. This decree’s goal is to protect against ongoing price gouging of grain products. In addition to the president’s decree, the government has also focused on police raids of warehouses and placing the blame for empty grocery store shelves on small businesses.

Amnesty International, a non-governmental organization that fights for human rights, suggested that President Kais’ anti-speculation decree could endanger citizens’ freedom of expression because it claims to target the spread of misinformation. Instead of simply protecting citizens from misinformation, the decree prevents citizens from speaking out about food shortages for fear of prosecution.

World Bank Loan

On June 28th, the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a $130 million loan to help alleviate the devastating effects of Tunisia’s food crisis in the wake of the Ukraine war. Emergency support will be provided, such as imports of wheat and barley for dairy production.

In the long run, the loan could assist Tunisia to become more self-sufficient and less reliant on foreign grain imports. This decision also pushes for the reevaluation of weaknesses in the grain value chain, which greatly contributes to food insecurity globally.

– Caroline Zientek
Photo: Flickr

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Double Burden of Child Malnutrition in Indonesia

Child Malnutrition in IndonesiaIndonesian children suffered from the double burden of malnutrition in Indonesia even before the COVID-19 pandemic. The double burden of malnutrition refers to having both overnutrition and undernutrition simultaneously. The “minimum dietary diversity” of Indonesian children ages 12 to 23 months rapidly decreased from 81% in 2018 to 55% in 2022. The double burden of child malnutrition in Indonesia directly impacts a child’s physical and mental development and puts children at high risk of illnesses in the future. Diverse nutrient intake is a crucial aspect of a child’s development, therefore, children in Indonesia need immediate assistance.

Effects of COVID-19 on Undernutrition in Indonesia

The rapid spread of COVID-19 impacted the economic stability of households as businesses shut down and the unemployment rate increased. The socio-economic crisis that households faced at the onset of the pandemic reduced parents’ ability to provide adequate nutritious meals for their children. A household’s income status is directly related to a child’s nutrient intake.

A survey of 2,400 Indonesian households between December 2020 and January 2021 revealed that “at least one member of every two households” faced a job loss. In March 2022, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin reported that 25% of Indonesian children have endured stunting and 10% of Indonesian children suffers malnourishment. Furthermore, an estimated 45% of households could not feed their children nutritious foods, such as fish, meat and fruit, and had to resort to smaller portions of food, increasing the susceptibility to undernutrition.

Overweight and Obesity Rate in Indonesia

The COVID-19 pandemic also increased the number of overweight and obese children in Indonesia. Historically, the childhood obesity rate in Indonesia has been on the rise. Even before the pandemic, according to the 2018 national Basic Health Research Survey (RISKESDAS), about 20% of primary school-aged children and 14% of Indonesian adolescents are obese or overweight.

The COVID-19 pandemic reduced access to healthy food for children. Rather, many households opted for cheaper processed foods, which are generally unhealthy, high in fat, sugar, salt and lack nutrients. Besides the unhealthy food intake, restricted physical activities because of the social distancing put children at a higher risk of becoming overweight. The health risks of being overweight and obese are as severe as undernutrition as these conditions increase the risk of developing life-threatening non-communicable diseases like heart diseases and diabetes.

Response to Malnutrition in Indonesia

In 2022, UNICEF found that more than 75% of Indonesia’s health offices moved their budgets for nutrition services to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The shift of budgetary focus to addressing the pandemic meant that the government had to divert resources and funding for child nutrition programs.

To strengthen food security and decrease child wasting and stunting by 14% before the onset of 2024, UNICEF provides “technical assistance to the Government of Indonesia.” National efforts to address the prevalence of stunting have been visible since 2020 under the National Mid-Term Development Plan 2020-2024.

In 2015, Indonesia joined the SUN Business Network (SBN), “the world’s leading private sector initiative focused on nutrition.” Within this network, the private sector mobilizes to achieve national nutrition goals “through education and fortified food products.” SBN Indonesia commits to three objectives:  “nutrition for the first 1,000 days and adolescence; providing education about, and access to, balanced nutrition; and sanitation, health and hygiene.”

Also, Indonesia is one of the 61 members represented in the Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, which started in 2010 as a collaborative effort by countries to end malnutrition in all its forms.

Fighting the double burden of child malnutrition in Indonesia has been a perennial issue for the nation. In 2022, UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore noted the importance of addressing child undernutrition, “Poor nutrition intake in the first two years of life can irreversibly harm children’s rapidly growing bodies and brains.”

With both national and international efforts, the double burden of child malnutrition in Indonesia can improve.

– Youngwook Chun
Photo: Flickr

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Addressing Child Poverty in Laos

Child Poverty in LaosLocated in the center of South-East Asia, Laos or Lao People’s Democratic Republic, is one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia.  Nearly 23% of the total population of 7.2 million people in Laos are below the poverty line.  More than half of the population in Laos are under the age of 18 and they are severely impacted by poverty.  Besides the economic growth, the multidimensional deprivation in children is highly associated with the low levels of infrastructure and the heavy reliance on agricultural activities.  The children in poverty in Laos are impacted in various sectors such as nutrition, child labor and education. It’s important to be addressing child poverty in Laos and the numerous struggles that spawn from it.

Overview of Child Poverty in Laos

In Save the Children’s 2021 Global Childhood Report, Laos was ranked 143 of 186 countries on an index reflecting countries’ average levels of performance based on eight indicators related to child health, education, labor, marriage, childbirth and violence. According to the statistics from UNICEF in 2018, only 12% of children experience no deprivation while the other remaining children under 18 years are suffering from at least two deprivations in the areas of nutrition, health and education.

Food Insecurity

Widespread child malnutrition and food insecurity remain as persistent problems in Laos.  The World Food Program and Lao government ranked Laos 87th out of 177 countries on the 2019 Global Hunger Index.

In terms of food security, the share of the household experiencing severe food insecurity rose to 23% in May 2022.

Child Labor and Education

The report from Save the Children estimated that 28.2% of children aged five to 17 were involved in labor from 2015 to 2020

In 2021, Prime Minister Phankham cited that a low level of development in Laos correlates with the parents’ reliance on their children to help out with finances at home rather than getting an education. The main problem of early involvement in child labor leads to the lack of educational opportunities.  To elaborate, the 2019 Southeast Asia assessment of learning outcomes showed that fifth-grade students are not mastering the minimum proficiency level for the grade in terms of reading, writing and math skills.

Poverty in Laos is forcing children to drop out of school and participate in child labor to help their families.   In 2021, approximately 28% of children are engaged in child labor, instead of learning according to the Save The Children report. Although the Laos Law prohibits child employment under 14, numerous children are engaged in various forms of labor.

Because of the devastating poverty situation, most of the parents in Laos do not see the importance of education and instead encourage their children to participate in physical labor to amend their financial struggle.  According to an official from the Education Department in Sekong province, students aged 10 to 12 from rural areas often quit school or only attend classes two or three days a week. The lack of infrastructure in the education sector and low government spending has aggravated the situation of the children in poverty in Laos for accessing education.

The Impact of COVID-19

Since 2021, the impact of the pandemic adversely impacted the children’s education opportunities in Laos.  Approximately 42% of children stopped attending schools temporarily or permanently after many households faced financial collapse because of the pandemic.

Efforts to address Child Poverty in Laos

The national poverty rate in Laos has continuously dropped with annual GDP growth of 7.3%.  According to the statistics from the World Bank, between 1993 and 2019, the poverty rate fell from 46% to 18%. However, the poverty rate in minority ethnic remained relatively high, with the rate of 34.6%.  This disproportionate poverty rate in minority ethnic groups was ten times higher than among households headed by those who have completed secondary education.

To help improve the education status, the World Bank and the government launched a $47 million national project aimed at improving pre-school and primary education performance in September 2021

USAID also took the progressive approach to child education in Laos in 2022, DA Coleman announced a new $2.6 million USAID grant to support childhood and primary education.

To enhance the nutrition security in Laos, the government of Laos jointly partnered with WFP’s Country Director to launch WFP’s new Country Strategic Plan 2022-2026 in February 2022.  This strategic plan is centered on expanding and strengthening the Government’s school meals program, working to enhance community resilience and ensure food security.

A Look Ahead

By implementing long-term commitments and strategies both nationally and internationally, the prospect of eliminating child poverty in Laos is positive.

–Youngwook Chun
Photo: Flickr