Archive for category: Poverty Reduction

Information and stories about poverty reduction.

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The Past and Future of Poverty Reduction in India

Poverty Reduction in India
Just this May, India was reported to have stepped down in the ranking of the largest number of poor people in one country when Nigeria took its previous place. India has increasingly been acknowledged for its poverty reduction efforts and results in the last 10 years. According to The World Bank, poverty in India has dropped from 38.9 percent to 21.2 percent in less than a decade since 2004.

However, despite the fact that there has been a lot of success in poverty reduction in India, there are still quite a few challenges ahead. This article will first discuss the driving force for success in the past and future strategies for further improvements.

Lessons from the Past—the Urban v. Rural Lens

Poverty reduction in India has been largely consistent with its patterns of economic growth since the 1980s. In other words, as India’s economy picked up its per capita income growth rate from 1.8 percent to 4.3 percent per year in around three decades, the rate of people climbing out of poverty has increased as well.

Before economic reforms of the 1990s, economic growth in rural areas was especially conducive for poverty reduction in India. Compared to growth in the manufacturing sector, growth in the agricultural and service sectors have shown better outcomes in alleviating poverty overall. Urban growth and manufacturing growth did not necessarily benefit the rural poor and its benefits in the urban population were far from consistent.

After the 1990s reforms, the patterns of poverty reduction shifted significantly. Urban growth came to be the key driver of poverty reduction in both urban and rural areas. The agricultural, service, as well as the manufacturing factors all accelerated poverty decline. Ultimately, urban growth is less favorable than rural growth in terms of distributional effects when trying to decrease poverty.

Uneven Growth

Poverty reduction advances at very different paces in different geographical areas in India. States including Kerala are decreasing poverty at a much faster rate than states like Bihar and Rajasthan. More strikingly, one’s gender, social status, and ethnicity are important factors when it comes to getting rid of poverty. Gaps of economic improvement across such identities are significantly wider.

The economic elites are also taking a larger share of economic advancement. Every year, the top 10 percent get more than half of the national income, which has increased significantly from the 1980s when the number was closer to a third. At the same time, the bottom 50 percent take a mere 15 percent.

To be Addressed

While the rate of extreme poverty has dropped, many are still living in “poverty” in India when factors like education and healthcare are considered. Therefore, stronger and more capable state services are in need in order for people’s living standards to continue to improve.

Specific social groups, including women and scheduled tribes, need to have to better access to participation in the country’s economic growth. As historically disadvantaged groups, their advancement will be beneficial to not only themselves but society at large. Participation among these groups needs to be encoraged and facilitated.

Like many countries in East and Southeast Asia, India is also facing an aging population—the workforce will likely shrink, the demand for elderly care will be overwhelming for the nation’s current welfare services, and there will be increasing concerns for poverty among the elderly.

Seemingly, India’s economy will continue to grow at its current rate. In order for India’s economic growth to have a significant impact on reducing poverty, a restructuring and rethinking of economic distribution need to happen. As some studies have shown, what works in urban areas doesn’t necessarily work in rural areas. The nation still has a lot to do to secure the lives of those who only recently struggled out of poverty and to work to bring the rest of its population out of poverty for good.

– Feng Ye
Photo: Flickr

Top 10 Facts About Poverty in Georgia

Top 10 Facts About Poverty in Georgia
The country of Georgia is on the eastern end of the Black Sea, right in between Turkey and Russia. It is an underexplored nation for some, but it is known for its beautiful scenery as well as its delicious wine. Poverty in Georgia has decreased in recent years, but the country is still affected by economic and social factors that have led to most of its population living below the poverty line. Here are the top 10 facts about poverty in Georgia.

List of Top 10 Facts About Poverty in Georgia

  1. While poverty decreased in 2014 for the fourth consecutive year, according to the World Bank, it still affects one-third of Georgia’s population.
  2. According to the World Bank, the overall population living in poverty in Georgia is 32 percent. Out of which, 28 percent are children. The good news is that people suffering from poverty in Georgia usually get out of it in less than a year.
  3. Unemployment remains one of the biggest challenges in the country, according to UNDP. The unemployment rate has increased to 12 percent, and 68 percent of the population consider themselves unemployed.
  4. The top three causes of death in the country are stroke, heart disease and cancer according to the CDC. Tuberculosis and other infectious diseases are other major health problems affecting the country. In the last few years, the number of HIV/AIDS cases and deaths have decreased significantly, according to the WHO.
  5. Since the fall of the USSR, Georgia’s standard of living has decreased dramatically because it lost its cheap source of energy, according to SOS Children’s Villages.
  6. Pervasive income inequality happens to be one of the top 10 facts about poverty in Georgia that cannot be ignored. Even if their economy went up by 11 percent each year, it would take almost 10 years for the poverty rate to reduce dramatically.
  7. Labor market status is another big reason for a large number of Georgia’s population living in poverty. According to The World Bank, people still rely on self-employment as the main source of income.
  8. Children living in rural areas of the country are less likely to have access to a proper education or healthcare, according to SOS Children’s Villages. The infant mortality rate is also quite high.
  9. Georgia ranked 140 in the world for their GDP per capita, right between Guatemala and Paraguay, according to Limes. Even if Georgia used its GDP for consumption, the average person would only receive about $200 per month.
  10. The Georgian government has started growing their healthcare system, which includes low-cost health insurance and pensions for daycare. However, according to The World Bank, only about 30 percent of people who require government aid actually receive it.

Since 2004, Georgia has made democratic reforms in public service and economic development, according to UNDP. The Georgian government has implemented many ongoing reforms to help with human rights and the election system, which will in return assist with poverty reduction. 

– McKenzie Hamby
Photo: Flickr

Urbanizing from Scratch: Ordos Kangbashi, China’s “Ghost City”

Urbanizing from Scratch: Ordos Kangbashi, China's Infamous "Ghost City"
Somewhere along the desert steppe of Inner Mongolia, the skyline of Ordos Kangbashi currently perforates an otherwise flat horizon. The city’s superstructures – lustrous monoliths of urban development following a local mining boom – have stood quietly since its 2004 inception, waiting.

China’s New City Project

It is one of the many new city projects that China has put into motion, but is particularly prolific due to the ambition of its size and architecture. Intended to welcome at least a million inhabitants, Ordos Kangbashi boasts countless high-end facilities and tourist hotspots, but its isolated geography and exorbitant property costs initially left it occupied by only thousands. With whole streets empty for years, the metropolis has done little but repose upon an infertile land, shiny and alien.

So the narrative goes. Despite Ordos Kangbashi commonly being referred to as a modern ghost town in the past, recent reports reveal that the city simply needed time. Ordos Kangbashi currently has a growing full-time population of 153,000, with more than 4,500 businesses in operation.

Economic Diversification

A large portion of the city’s residents are country people encouraged to urbanize in order to diversify China’s economy. The rural villages speckled throughout the Ordos region have historically struggled against sandstorms, limited natural resources and poor infrastructure. With the advent of Ordos Kangbashi, locals have the opportunity to be lifted out of poverty by relocating to the city with the acceptance of a hefty compensation package.

The Ordos government’s goal is to build the tax base to ensure the continued success of ex-farmers. With proper urban education, healthcare and targeted programmes, rural transplants will ideally be able to integrate with city life and become self-sufficient.

Opportunities Near or Far

There are some that do not wish to move to the city. Those that elect to remain in their villages are still able to take advantage of the new opportunities available. The Ordos-based Elion Resource Group, for example, has invested more than $4.4 billion into addressing desertification. They, along with local government forces, mobilize by teaching farmers effective agricultural methods, providing healthy crop seeds and promoting eco-restoration as a means of job creation.

“I couldn’t imagine before that I can earn 6,000 yuan ($900) per month,” said Wu Zhihua, 60, a local farmer. By receiving liquorice seedlings and selling the mature plants at market price, Wu generates extra income while the seedlings help fix drifting sand in the environment.

Barren to Growth

Greening the region benefits far-flung desert dwellers and Ordos Kangbashi residents alike. The number of sandstorm occurrences has fallen from 50 in 1988 to only one in 2016. Approximately 102,000 villagers have already been alleviated from poverty as a direct result, and the city is transforming its barren environment from a detriment into a boon.

Ordos Kangbashi’s skyscrapers have developed a unique symbiosis with the surrounding pastoral terrain. Due to the lack of an existing urban population, city resources have been readily allocated to rural-dwellers instead to the benefit of everyone.

It remains to be seen if this will be a successful model for other prebuilt metropolises, but Ordos Kangbashi currently has expelled its ghosts with a rare mutualism — its heartbeat continuing for the foreseeable future.

– Yumi Wilson
Photo: Flickr

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Five Incredible Memoirs About Overcoming Poverty

memoirs
The problems in developing countries are often viewed as too big to find solutions. Because of this, many people are deterred from putting in seemingly futile efforts to alleviate a problem. But, they are more likely to join the fight when they learn the individual names and faces of those living under such conditions. These five memoirs about overcoming poverty highlight success stories and seek to mobilize people with a renewed sense of hope.

5 Memoirs About Overcoming Poverty

  1. Masaji Ishikawa recalls escaping from North Korea in “A River in Darkness.” With Japanese heritage from his mother and Korean from his father, he found himself caught between two worlds. When his father realized he could no longer tolerate the discrimination he faced in Japan, the family moved to North Korea. They arrived with the promise of paradise and found, simply put, quite the opposite. Ishikawa was only thirteen years old.In this memoir, he describes atrocious living conditions with graphic detail, unparalleled by any other nation in the world. The regime controls every aspect of its citizens’ lives, and Ishikawa tells readers that “the penalty for thinking was death.” More than any of the five memoirs about overcoming poverty, “A River in Darkness” highlights an ongoing crisis.Since North Korea remains untouched by the rest of the world, it’s difficult to extend support to those still living under the dictatorship. But Ishikawa’s story is one of many that prove North Koreans are waking up to the reality of their oppression. Gradually, more people are choosing to gain control over their destinies.
  2. When Jacqueline Novogratz donated a sweater to Goodwill, she never expected to encounter a young boy wearing it on the streets of Rwanda. It ended up being the namesake for her book entitled “The Blue Sweater.” She holds onto this memory as an important message of interconnectivity and the responsibility to help people in need.Her travels to various countries revealed economic injustice along with a lack of credit access for those with low incomes. This led her to help open the first bank in Rwanda available to women. Along with numerous other initiatives through The Acumen Fund, Novogratz learned that charity is fleeting compared to the sustainability of helping innovators launch businesses to benefit millions of people.
  3. Several reporters sought to overcome poverty by being a voice for untold stories in developing countries. Maya Ajmera, joined by co-authors Sarah Strunk and Olateju Omolodun, wrote “Extraordinary Girls” about what girlhood looks like across the world. Despite cultural differences, the authors work to prove that all girls can find common ground in the desire to make their dreams come true.Their book showcases girls such as Alexandra Nechita from Romania, an exceptional painter whose work was published in a collection by the age of eleven. Through this and many other success stories, the book’s purpose is to encourage girls to be active in their communities rather than feel as if their only option is to fulfill traditional gender roles.
  4. Katherine Boo sheds light on the ramshackle town of Annawadi in “Behind the Beautiful Forevers.”. This book illustrates how members of this community responded to India’s promise for renewed economic prosperity amid a global recession. A young man named Abdul discovered the value of reselling possessions thrown out by the wealthy. Others sought to change the course of politics by climbing the social ranks, like the Annawadi community member who became the first woman in that settlement to be a college graduate. These stories are about relying on pure grit to succeed in life when the economic system favors only the rich.
  5. The last of these five memoirs about overcoming poverty is “Teach a Woman to Fish” by Ritu Sharma. It’s a reinterpretation of the gendered language in this saying: “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.” She argues that if women are taught the same thing, everyone will be fed too.Sharma helped found a business run by women in Honduras, giving them a chance to break free from the household sphere and gain financial independence. Other countries she visited include Sri Lanka, Nicaragua and Burkina Faso. In the book, readers can also find tips for shopping in ways that support female entrepreneurs and email templates if they feel inspired to speak with their members of Congress about this important cause.

All the authors in these five memoirs about overcoming poverty have discovered important lessons about global issues through real-life experiences. They write about them in the hopes that people will no longer be complacent in the face of a problem that, contrary to what some might believe, can be solved.

– Sabrina Dubbert
Photo: Flickr

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How Breastfeeding Helps Alleviate Poverty

Breastfeeding
The first week of August was World Breastfeeding Week, a week that, among other things, aims to inform the public something often overlooked: increasing the number of moms who breastfeed could significantly help decrease infant mortality and boost survival in extreme poverty. A healthy and low-cost practice, breastfeeding helps alleviate poverty.

Essential Health Benefits and Survival Booster

Breast milk has all the nutrition that a baby needs in its first six months of life and is a natural way of warding off diseases. Studies show that breastfeeding could decrease the risk of diabetes, allergies and other health hazards that may come in the baby’s later life. It is recommended that mothers feed their babies with breast milk exclusively for six months, and then breastfeed up to two years while introducing nutritional solid food.

Breastfeeding is not only beneficial but also necessary. A baby’s survival rate is boosted if it takes in breast milk within the first hour after birth. Failure to give a baby breast milk within a short period of time after birth could increase the possibility of infant death by as much as 80 percent.

The effects of breastfeeding on a global scale are striking. If all mothers across the world exclusively breastfeed their babies for six months and then feed their babies with breast milk along with other solid food for another year, 13 percent of global child deaths under five could be averted. Other recommended methods to increase child survival, such as hygienic delivery, Hib vaccine and tetanus toxoid, could each avert only up to 5 percent of child deaths under five.

“Breastfeeding is the best gift a mother, rich or poor, can give her child, as well as herself,” UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director Shahida Azfar said on Mother’s Day.

Why Breastfeeding Helps Alleviate Poverty?

Breastfeeding is important everywhere in the world, and an essential way to help mothers in poverty or wealth. But poor regions with unclean water and insufficient hygiene should especially embrace breastfeeding because in these places this issue has a higher stake: artificial milk or infant formulas could become poisonous if contaminated, resulting in illnesses, or even death. Breast milk also provides sufficient water for babies in their first six months.

Breastfeeding is low-cost yet easily meets the nutritional needs of young babies. In other words, breastfeeding promises food security for babies and takes off some of the households’ financial burdens.

In a joint message released during the 2016 Breastfeeding Week, UNICEF and WHO stated: “breastfeeding is not only the cornerstone of a child’s healthy development; it is also the foundation of a country’s development. In fact, supporting breastfeeding is one of the smartest investments countries can make in the well-being of their citizens–and thus, in their own long-term strength.”

Why Aren’t More Mothers Breastfeeding?

It might be counter-intuitive that many mothers do not breastfeed their babies even though breastfeeding is ultimately the most cost-efficient practice. But breastfeeding may not be as easy as it appears: female workers often cannot afford sustained breastfeeding because their working environment or work routine do not provide them with the time and space for the practice.

UNICEF calls for support of national legislation and policies that provide women with paid maternity leave, breastfeeding breaks and other deserved benefits after birth.

UNICEF and WHO also launched the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) in 1991. This initiative essentially does not allow feeding bottles and cheap breast milk substitutes. The initiative proved highly successful. Cuba, for example, saw a three-fold increase in exclusive breastfeeding for four months in the stretch of only six years after making 49 of 56 hospitals or maternity facilities baby-friendly.

Countries also need more informed, supportive health-workers who encourage and assist with breastfeeding. Advocacy for breastfeeding like the World Breastfeeding Week also helps raise awareness.

“Now, as governments around the world develop budgets and action plans to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, breastfeeding must be a policy, programming, and public spending priority,” WHO and UNICEF stated in 2016.

– Feng Ye
Photo: Flickr

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Photojournalism: Inspiring Action Around the World

inspiring actionAn inspiring action is something one thinks of when seeing a good deed done. For some photojournalists, their profession is intended to do just that. In taking thought-provoking, sometimes hard to look at, photos of a war-ravaged country or a starving child, photojournalists are inspiring action through their work for the betterment of the people in the photos.

The Inspiring Actions of Photo Journalists

Living on a Dollar a Day: The Lives and Faces of the World’s Poor by author Thomas A. Nazario is a book that features photography by Pulitzer Prize-winner Renee Byer. The photographs capture the lives and struggles of people from 10 different countries living in poverty on less than a dollar a day. Byer worked as a photojournalist for the Sacramento Bee for many years before becoming a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer.

Inspired by the reaction of people viewing her photos for Living on a Dollar a Day before the book and exhibit were published, Byer created the Youbridge-it app. The app allows viewers of her photographs to donate to specific poverty-related causes as soon as they see the people in the photos and are inspired to help.

For Example, Intrahealth International is one of the foundations that viewers can donate to specifically through the Youbridge-it app. This organization provides treatment for women with obstetric fistula in Mali, which accounts for six percent of all maternal deaths every year and is preventable. With the Youbridge-it app, people can simply pull up the app at the exhibit or when looking through the book and donate.

Aside from helping women across the globe with her photography, Byer is “…asking people to imagine that reality as their reality.” Byer believes people are desensitized to photographs of people suffering, another reason why the app is so important and effective.

Her belief in the power of photography has served as a catalyst for change. It happens in real time, as people feel empathy while viewing the pictures; they can donate immediately on the app. Connections like these are essential to inspiring action that creates change by means of photojournalism.

The Dangers and Sacrifices of Photo Journalists

Not only are photojournalists opening doors to the ills of the world but they also often risk their lives in taking these photos. Chief photographer for Agence France-Presse in Kabul Shah Marai was killed in a suicide bombing in April of this year on the job. Marai had been documenting the war and lives devastated by corrupt government rule in Afghanistan since 1998. Over the course of 20 years, 18,000 photos taken by Marai had been published, educating the world on the horrors and realities of people living in war-ravaged Afghanistan.

In countries where media is controlled by corrupt governments, photojournalism speaks truths that inspire those globally to step in. Though Marai and other photojournalists are not necessarily directly linked to any charity organizations, their photos are inspiring action among those that are more fortunate.

Neither charity organizations nor the media would be quite as effective without the photographs of the truth to go along with them. As Byer said, putting oneself in a suffering person’s shoes inspires empathy, and that empathy is what creates change.

There are millions of suffering people in the world, and photojournalists are connecting the gap between us and them. The continued innovation of apps like Youbridge-it and the bravery of the photojournalists behind such projects will help people living in poverty around the world by inspiring action from the more fortunate.

– Hope Kelly
Photo: Flickr

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Top 10 Hunger Nonprofits

Top 10 hunger nonprofitsAccording to the World Food Programme, some 815 million people in the world do not have enough food to lead a healthy and active life, with a vast majority of the world’s hungry people living in developing countries. With many governments struggling to provide aid to their citizens and a calculated $3.2 billion needed per year to start reaching children across the world, many individuals have banded together to bring about change on their own. These top 10 hunger nonprofits have started making a change in the world in the hopes of ending world hunger once and for all.

List of Top 10 Hunger Nonprofits

  1. A Growing Culture: This organization works to boost farmer independence by providing them with the means to adapt to change. It also helps farmers in having a say in the system, something that they currently lack because of industrial farming. A Growing Culture has been working on creating a farmer networking program to connect agriculture enthusiasts from around the world to boost innovative ideas and creating a lasting food system for all.
  2. Bioversity International: This research nonprofit works on saving agricultural and tree biodiversity in order to improve nutrition security as well as to fight climate change. The Bioversity International is a part of an international food security research partnership and works with low-income countries to work on food management practices and new policies to protect biodiversity within their nation.
  3. Community Alliance with Family Farmers: This organization focuses on farming and food systems through many grassroots programs. It tackles current challenges to the food system and supports family farmers and those who live in low-income populations. As an organization, the Community Alliance with Family Farmers tries its best to uphold sustainability within food and farming systems.
  4. Agricultural Biodiversity Community: Made up of more than 100 individuals and organizations, the Agricultural Biodiversity Community shares the idea that agricultural biodiversity can save the world. By utilizing conservation techniques and the development of food security in many regions, this organization seeks to enhance food security on a global scale.
  5. Green Shoots Foundation: Based in six different countries in Asia, the Green Shoots Foundation aims to improve healthcare and education through a program called the Food and Agriculture and Social Entrepreneurship program. These programs combine agriculture, peer education and community building to help communities in Asia create a better future for all.
  6. Groundswell International: As one of the top 10 hunger nonprofits, Groundswell International is unique in that it is a global partnership consisting of multiple nonprofits, local organizations and communities that all work to combat food insecurity. It also works to improve and start healthy food systems in many low-income countries and teaches new farming techniques to help improve community health.
  7. Heifer International: This global nonprofit aims to erase poverty through community development. It helps train families in sustainable food practices and its goal is to increase self-reliance among families. From teaching environmentally friendly farming techniques to helping families improve their lives, Heifer International is an effective organization.
  8. IFOAM Organics International: At the center of the organic movement worldwide is the IFOAM organization. IFOAM’s goal is to improve transparency with organic standards and balance local adaption and food diversity. Operating in over 100 countries worldwide, IFOAM is a force to be reckoned with.
  9. INGA Foundation: The Inga alley cropping is an alternative to the slash and burn agriculture practice that the INGA Foundation teaches to farmers and communities globally. This practice restores degraded land and protects rainforests from destruction. Soil fertility is retained and trees also benefit from this method of agriculture.
  10. Kiss the Ground: With the mission statement “We can do this!”, Kiss the Ground tries to balance climate using technology and science and its goal is to recreate the food system. Every initiative this organization starts is based on a message of a hopeful future.

The top 10 hunger nonprofits all have a similar goal: to end world hunger. Stopping world hunger isn’t easy but these organizations have taken on the challenge and work tirelessly for a better future. We need more individuals and organizations to do the same.

– Michael Huang
Photo: Flickr

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How Tourism Reduces Poverty in Peru

Tourism Reduces Poverty

Machu Pichu is a premier tourist destination in the developing country of Peru. It is listed as one of the new seven wonders of the world, attracts over 1.2 million tourists each year and continues to be incredibly well preserved. Peruvian tourism authorities are restricting access to the Incan ruins to minimize the impact of the millions of visitors who journey to the ancient citadel each year. Efforts like these have preserved most of the city and its buildings that are over 500 years old. Machu Pichu is the “golden goose” of the Incan ruins that are spread throughout Peru and has shown that tourism reduces poverty.

Machu Pichu

The ancient citadel was built on a mountain ridge in the Cusco region for the Incan emperor Pachacuti around 1450. It was soon abandoned during the Spanish conquest, but its isolated location left it completely unnoticed by the conquistadors, who were responsible for the destruction of most Incan relics. Machu Pichu remained unknown to the outside world until 1911, when it was discovered by American historian Hiram Bingham. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1983 and still features its famous astronomical clock, Temple of the Sun and Room of Three Windows that have given historians and tourists an accurate glimpse into Incan life.

Tourism in Peru

The astronomical growth in the popularity of Machu Pichu, from having around 800,000 visitors in 1980 to over 1.2 million in 2013, has made tourism an essential development tool in Peru. According to a guide for Akorn Destination Management, “tourism is the main industry in the region of Cuzco followed by mining and then agriculture.” Tourism reduces poverty in Peru by providing the government with tax revenue from restaurants, sales and income, in addition to the $6 million generated per year from Machu Pichu’s entrance fee.

The Peruvian people also benefit from the enormous popularity and interest in the ancient ruins, through a multiplier effect, a phenomenon whereby a given change in a particular input causes a larger change in output. The new money that is brought into the economy by tourists attracts new businesses and services that are highly labor intensive, which creates millions of jobs for Peruvians. Both the employment benefits for Peruvians and the tax dollars going to the government are having a positive impact on the overall economy.

The Economy in Peru

Peru is one of the world’s fastest growing economies with a GDP of 6.3 percent in 2011 and is classified as an upper-middle economy. According to the guide, “Peru has grown exponentially in the last decade.” This steady increase in GDP has been coupled with tourism in Peru, growing by an annual rate of 25 percent. Overall, travel and tourism contribute 10.1 percent to the country’s GDP and supports 1,366,500 jobs. Thus, Peru has the largest tourism sector in all of South America and is one of the leaders in the global tourism industry.

Tourism is responsible for 5 percent of the world’s GDP and over 235 million jobs. It is an important development tool for developing countries, which host several of the world’s wonders. Peru’s use of Machu Pichu as a tool for domestic progress is a prime example of how tourism reduces poverty.

– Anand Tayal
Photo: Unsplash

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Ten Facts About Poverty in Azerbaijan

ten facts about poverty in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan is the country located in the South Caucuses at the crossroad between Eastern Europe and Western Asia. Humans have settled in this area in the Stone Age, and throughout the history, the country location was ideal for trade and commerce. Today, Azerbaijan, from the perspective of the capital city of Baku, has transformed itself into a polished country of luxury with glass skyscrapers and trendy malls. The country even began hosting a Formula One Grand Prix in 2017 and the European Games in 2015. But behind the glitz and glamour of the freshly paved streets of Baku, the country still deals with poverty. Here are ten facts about poverty in Azerbaijan.

  1. Azerbaijan was hit by a major economic shock in 2015 and 2016. In a study done for the Government of Azerbaijan in 2015, the GDP of the nation was decreased from 74.19 billion USD in 2014 to 34.9 billion USD in 2015. Understanding this fact is integral to understanding the poverty in the country, as in one year span the income per capita in the nation fell from $5,359.70 to $2,808.
  2. In 2017 the World Bank noted that Azerbaijan only experienced a “very modest recovery” from the recession that occurred in 2015-16. The country fell short in increasing the nominal average wage and the minimum cost of living enough to offset higher prices. The World Bank stated that poverty likely increased in 2017.
  3. The Asian Development Bank reported that in 2016 5.9 percent of the Azerbaijan population lived below the national poverty line, which is good compared to the neighbor countries Georgia and Armenia that had 21.3 percent and 29.4 percent of their populations, respectively, below the national poverty line in 2016.
  4. The Bank also reported that in 2016, 5 percent of the country’s population was unemployed. This is low compared with higher numbers in Armenia (18.4 percent) and Georgia (11.8 percent).
  5. In 2001 the State Statistical Committee of Azerbaijan estimated that 49 percent of the population was below the national poverty line. This fact is a good illustration of the rapid decline in poverty that Azerbaijan has experienced during the 2000s.
  6. People living in rural areas have lower income. In a report done by the State Statistical Committee of Azerbaijan in 2017, rural households achieved monthly income per capita of 151 USD, compared to 163 USD achieved in urban households.
  7. The number of households without access to a water was decreased from 37.6 percent in 2002 to 11.3 percent in 2018. In the same time, the percentage of the population connected to the sewage system increased from 86 percent in 2002 to 98.2 percent in 2018. These two figures reflect the macroeconomic trend of massive reduction in material deprivation in the country in recent decades.
  8. Internet access rose sharply from just 16.6 percent of household’s having internet access in 2005 to 77.2 percent in 2016.
  9. The number of graduates from higher education institutions increased in the country from 24,488 in 2000 to 37,506 in 2017, a figure that is extremely well for an economy that is trying to reduce its reliance on oil exports.
  10. Economic growth forecast of the country in 2018 expressed in GDP is projected to be 2.0%. This was reported by Azerbaijani news source in 2018. IMF increased this number for a GDP growth from 1.2% to 2.0%. This is an encouraging sign for an economy that suffered recent hardship and perhaps a realignment on the multi-decade long trend which has seen Azerbaijan experience much less material deprivation.

These ten facts about poverty in Azerbaijan show that the country stands at both a physical crossroad and at a metaphorical one. Extreme poverty in the country has been drastically reduced, but a continuance of the country’s economic dependence on oil makes the country susceptible to the economic crashes, similar to the one that happened in 2015, and the potential for poverty increase again. The country must decide how to diversify its economy and carry out its progress further into the future.

– William Carlos Menchaca
Photo: Google

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11 Facts About Poverty in Nepal

10 Facts About Poverty in Nepal

Of the 31 million people living in Nepal, 20.27% or more than six million are living below the poverty line. This makes Nepal one of the poorest countries in the world. Rates of disease, malnutrition and child mortality are high. Fortunately, Nepal has experienced slight economic growth in the past few years. Here are 10 facts about poverty in Nepal:

  1. Displacement has had a significant impact on living conditions in the country. According to Relief Web, “Between 1996 and 2006, the civil war between government armed forces of Nepal and Maoists left thousands of people dead and many more displaced.”
  2. Approximately five million people in Nepal are undernourished, with about one million children aged less than 5 suffering from stunting. This is in part caused by high food prices and limited access in rural areas to farming. High prices of food make it unaffordable for people in poverty, which drives hunger.
  3. Nepal has been the victim of numerous natural disasters. With an already struggling economy and low political stability level, earthquakes in Nepal are another factor in the country’s instability. People lose their homes and their jobs and are forced to find other ways to make a living. Women often become more vulnerable to trafficking in the post-natural disaster.
  4. Nepal’s government is known for being corrupt. According to the Transparency International 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index, the country ranks 108 out of 180 countries, signifying the massive level of corruption in Nepal’s public sector. Abuse of authority leads to a biased economic system and unfair distribution of resources, perpetuating the issue of poverty in Nepal.
  5. Poverty in Nepal contributes to high child mortality rates. In 2021, for every 1,000 children born in Nepal, 27 died before their fifth birthday. This can be attributed to the lack of health care and education access in impoverished regions and there are many such regions in Nepal.
  6. The geography of Nepal influences the country’s ability to mitigate poverty. Nepal is a landlocked and mountainous region, which makes development and transportation of resources difficult.
  7. A lack of advanced farming methods makes it hard for progress against poverty in Nepal to be made. More than 85% of Nepal’s population relies on agriculture as the primary form of sustenance. However, outdated methods are slowing the farming pace.
  8. Unemployment and underemployment are significant factors that contribute to the high poverty rates in Nepal. As of 2023, the rate of unemployment in Nepal was approximately 11%, highlighting the large number of citizens who are without jobs. The lack of well-paying job opportunities is a major factor that contributes to poverty in the country.
  9. Surging housing prices have made it difficult for the impoverished people of Nepal to afford a house. About 10% of urban inhabitants are living in informal settlements. Rates of rural-urban migration have also soared in recent years, further pushing up the price of houses in cities.
  10. There are many nonprofit organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity, that are working to help the people of Nepal. Habitat for Humanity has specifically focused on the problem mentioned above — the housing crisis in Nepal. Working alongside its partners, the initiative is building 2.3 houses per hour. Further, since its inception in 1977, the organization has served more than 200,000 families in Nepal’s Eastern and Western Regions.
  11. Save the Children is another nonprofit that has been working in Nepal since 1976. The organization has implemented various programs to improve the lives of Nepalese children. One of these programs is the Adolescents’ Skills for Successful Transitioning (ASST) initiative, which aims to help Nepalese adolescents transition into adulthood with the necessary skills and opportunities required to break out of transgenerational poverty.

Although Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world, all hope is not lost. Efforts of volunteers and nonprofit organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity, have the potential to make a big difference.

– Amelia Merchant

Photo: Unsplash
Updated: May 30, 2024