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Life Expectancy in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Life expectancy in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country located in the Balkan region of Eastern Europe. The country has been one of the center points of the Yugoslavian Wars that tore across the area in the 1990s. It was the location of countless atrocities, such as the massacre at Srebrenica in 1995. The impact of these events still exists across the country today, despite 25 years of improvements and advancements. Part of this impact was the reduction in life expectancy in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

10 Facts About Life Expectancy in Bosnia and Herzegovina

  1. Life Expectancy: Life expectancy in Bosnia and Herzegovina is around 77 years. This is more than most of the other countries in the Balkans, surpassed only by Greece, Montenegro and Croatia. However, in the European Union, life expectancy is the average of 81 or the Balkan average of 77. All of the Balkan countries are above the world average of 72 years despite genocide and war afflicting them.
  2. Instability: The country’s average life expectancy was on a linear growth before the wars and peaked at 71.6 in 1987. However, the loss of life and general prosperity from the instability of late Yugoslavia followed by the violence of the wars and genocide caused a massive dip in this figure. In fact, its life expectancy did not return to prewar figures until 1995.
  3. Reduced Life Expectancy: Before the war, the population peaked at 4.5 million people in 1989. In contrast, up to an estimated 300,000 fatalities massively dented this figure. By 1996, a quarter of the pre-war population displaced while around 1.2 million fled the country in a mass migration. Additionally, high-income families generally have a higher life expectancy which links to the reason behind the life expectancy loss.
  4. Life Expectancy Growth: Life expectancy in Bosnia and Herzegovina has grown by 6.6 percent from 1996 until 2017. This is slower than the world growth of 8.7 percent in the same time frame. This is likely due to poor economic growth and countless health issues.
  5. Air Pollution: Large amounts of air pollution result in many premature deaths. It also reduces general life expectancy in Bosnia and Herzegovina by at least 1.1 years overall. Poor control over energy generation pollution output has cost the people of the country 130,000 years of life overall in the last 10 years. This is due to poorer respiratory health and increased incidences of lung cancers. To combat this, cities and decisionmakers within the country are coordinating with an organization like the U.N. Environment. They will switch energy production from polluting sources such as old coal generators to renewables. For example, the project District Heating in Cities Initiative is attempting to replace the heating oil system of the city Banja Luka to biomass generators. This will cut emissions by 90 percent.
  6. Life Expectancy Disparities Between Genders: The differences in life expectancy between genders are significant. As men live an average of 74.6 years, while women live five years more on average at 79.5 years. This is likely caused by various social conditions such as the expectation for men to take on more dangerous jobs. In addition, suicide rates are disparately high in men compared to women.
  7. Death Rate: Bosnia has a very high death rate. It is the 39th highest in the world at 10 deaths for every 1,000 people. This is due to air pollution, destroyed infrastructure from the war and water shortages. Also, many areas of the country have poorly rebuilt electric networks and poor train lines or road systems. Due to this, reactive health care has suffered in many areas, making it impossible for people to get to hospitals. However, with investments and concentrated efforts, this has been changing for the better. As the country rebuilds train lines and improves roads, motorway fatalities have gone from dozens a year to simply two in 2014.
  8. The Poverty Rate: The poverty rate in the country is 2.2 percent, but lack of health does not contribute greatly to its poverty rate. This means many of those in poverty do not struggle with health care issues. This is due to the fact that the government provides health insurance to even the unemployed, reducing out-of-pocket costs for the country’s poor on these issues.
  9. Health Care Spending: The majority of health care spending in the country is government spending. Around 71 percent of all health care spending is public funding. Of the 29 percent private expenditures, nearly all of it is purchases of household health materials such as bandages and medicine. Meanwhile, the country spends 1 percent on other expenses, indicating that these private expenses are less likely to be costly affairs that may serve to hurt the financial stature of citizens.
  10. Preventative Care: Preventative care is minimal in the country as programs like education and advising programs, immunization programs, epidemiological monitoring and disease risk control and disaster response programs only make up 1.8 percent of total health care funding. This likely plays a large part in the death rate as preventative care is extremely important in ensuring long lifespans. However, the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Union have been working in tandem with NGO projects to boost immunizations in the country including World TB Day, Immunization Week, Anti-TB Week and World AIDS Day. Additionally, the aim is to build trust in vaccines amongst the general populace.

These 10 facts show how damaging the war has been on the general health and lifespan of the population. While the years since have seen improvements, they have not been enough to bring Bosnia and Herzegovina to par with the rest of the world. Damaged public infrastructure, lack of focus on preventative care and deteriorating environmental conditions are some of the primary reasons behind the slow increase of the country’s life expectancy.

– Neil Singh
Photo: Flickr

 

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4 Poems About Poverty

Poetry, one of the most ancient art forms, serves as an outlet for poets to convey their most profound emotions. Poetry is magical because it paints a picture with words and navigates the reader through a flurry of feelings. While few reach glory, many poets go unrecognized or misunderstood in their pursuits. These are four poems about poverty.

Song of the Shirt

“Work—work—work!

From weary chime to chime,

Work—work—work,

As prisoners work for crime!

Band, and gusset, and seam,

Seam, and gusset, and band,

Till the heart is sick, and the brain benumbed,

As well as the weary hand.

[…]

In poverty, hunger, and dirt, And still with a voice of dolorous pitch,—Would that its tone could reach the Rich!—   She sang this “Song of the Shirt!”

This excerpt from the 19th-century poem by Thomas Hood talks about the labor exploitation of the middle class by the aristocracy. A woman works hard night and day, through tiredness and sickness, with dreams ranging from a simple meal to eternal prosperity. Unfortunately, she drowns in the pit of poverty and despite her efforts, is unable to climb out. This issue has spanned the centuries and labor exploitation remains a problem in the 21st century. Especially in developing countries where instances of trafficking and child labor are all too common. More than 150 million children are subjected to child labor around the world. The U.N. is currently working on enforcing appropriate legislation in countries to absolve the use of child labor.

Refugee Blues

“Say this city has ten million souls,
Some are living in mansions, some are living in holes:
Yet there’s no place for us, my dear, yet there’s no place for us.

Once we had a country and we thought it fair,
Look in the atlas and you’ll find it there:
We cannot go there now, my dear, we cannot go there now.

[…]

Dreamed I saw a building with a thousand floors,
A thousand windows and a thousand doors:
Not one of them was ours, my dear, not one of them was ours.

Stood on a great plain in the falling snow;
Ten thousand soldiers marched to and fro:
Looking for you and me, my dear, looking for you and me.”

W.H. Auden, a 20th-century poet, originally wrote this poem about the Jewish refugees who were seeking refugee status in the United States. The theme, however, extends beyond the grim years of World War II. At the end of 2018, there were roughly 71 million forcibly displaced people in the world. They were forced to leave due to conflict, violence or persecution. Many have not found homes or countries that are willing to take them in. Countries are beginning to pay attention. World leaders in the U.N. are working on implementing programs that will help refugees without disappointing host nations.

Poverty

I saw an old cottage of clay,

And only of mud was the floor;

It was all falling into decay,

And the snow drifted in at the door.

Yet there a poor family dwelt,

In a hovel so dismal and rude;

And though gnawing hunger they felt,

They had not a morsel of food.

The children were crying for bread,

And to their poor mother they’d run;

[…]

O then, let the wealthy and gay

But see such a hovel as this,

That in a poor cottage of clay

They may know what true misery is.

And what I may have to bestow

I never will squander away,

While many poor people I know

Around me are wretched as they.

This sorrowful poem written by Jane Taylor in the 19th century paints a vivid picture of the horrid conditions associated with poverty. Taylor writes about a family that lives in an unsafe cottage without an ounce of food. The children starve and beg for food that the mother is incapable of providing. As seen in this poem, poverty is an exclusively uphill battle. There are a million forces exerting pressure on the lives of the impoverished but many must keep persevering to survive.

More than 3 billion people in the world today are living on less than $2.50 per day. More than 1.3 billion are living on less than $1.25 per day. Hundreds of millions of children and adults are malnourished and do not have access to basic healthcare. While this is a depressing statistic, the rate of extreme poverty in the world has decreased in the last several decades.

Poor Children

“They are the future of humanity
But many of them living in poverty
And without shelter homeless on the street
Searching through rubbish bins for scraps of food to eat.
Poor children are victims of circumstance
In life they never really get a chance
Or have opportunities as privileged children do
The road from the poor suburb to prison leads them to.

[…]
Poor children without homes and sleeping rough
And life for them already hard enough
At the wrong end of the social divide
Any chance of a good future to them is denied.”

This poem by Francis Duggan, while relatively recent compared the other poems on this list of four poems about poverty, speaks volumes about the struggles associated with child poverty. Roughly one billion children are currently living in poverty and according to UNICEF; approximately 22,000 children die daily due to poverty. A pattern of malnutrition and disease weakens the body to a point of no return. Coupled with the social repercussions of impoverishment, the odds of survival are slim. A recent study revealed that children who succumbed to childhood poverty were seven times more likely to harm themselves and 13 times more likely to engage in violent crime than their more affluent counterparts.

These four poems about poverty are quite striking. They convey deep emotions and spread ideas that have been prevalent for generations. Poverty is not skin-deep; the consequences of impoverishment extend to all elements of life. It is vital that people take action against poverty by reaching out to elected officials who have the ability to implement legislation that aids those in dire need.

– Jai Shah
Photo: Flickr

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7 Facts About Poverty in Iran

7 Facts About Poverty in Iran
In recent years, absolute poverty in Iran has risen drastically. Action is necessary in order to provide for basic needs and prevent more Iranians from falling under the poverty line. Here are seven facts about poverty in Iran.

7 Facts About Poverty in Iran

  1. Economic Downshift: According to the Iranian Parliament’s Research Center, between 23% to 40% of Iran’s population will be living in absolute poverty soon. This is due to an increase in unemployment, inflation and a downward trend in economic growth. The Research Center’s report shows that the inflation rate has risen to 47% from 2018 to 2019 and estimates that 57 million more Iranians will fall into poverty over 2020.
  2. Support Packages: The Iranian Parliament’s research center recommends that the government send support packages to the Iranians suffering under the worst conditions in order to supply them with basic needs. The government would provide support packages four times a year. It would also include cash cards that people can use only for food items.
  3. Crossing into Poverty: For a family of four living in Tehran, the poverty line rose to a monthly income of 27 million rials or $650 per month. Now, anyone living with a monthly income of $650 per month and under is considered to be living in poverty. The Research Center’s report shows a 22% increase in people living in poverty since 2017. The increase means that Tehrani families of four that were not under the poverty line in 2017, now are.
  4. Organizations that Help: The Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation is an Iranian organization that provides support to families living in poverty. The government and private donors support the foundation. The Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation invested almost $155 million in solar plants to assist families living in poverty.
  5. The Weakened Rial: In May 2019, President Hassan Rouhani announced his decision to partially withdraw from the 2015 nuclear agreement. Shortly after, the rial decreased by 3,500 points. In 15 months, the rial went from 40,000 to 156,500 to the dollar.
  6. Sanctions and Corruption: Iran’s banking and oil sectors are its backbones, but U.S. sanctions have greatly affected these sectors, causing an economic crisis in Iran. Many Iranians have fallen victim to panic-buying due to fear of price increases. Internal corruption has led to an occasional scarcity of goods due to merchants and entrepreneurs hoarding goods to increase prices.
  7.  Plan B: To generate income, Iranian officials say that they are ramping up non-oil goods. They have also built up a network of traders, money collectors and exchange companies in other countries to get around banking and financial sanctions. If sanctions remain, they plan to export other goods to prevent further economic despair.

In Iran, 26 million people are living in absolute poverty. However, with more support from the Iranian government and better relations with the U.S., Iran should be able to prevent the increase in poverty in its country.

– Lisa Di Nuzzo
Photo: Flickr

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4 Professional Athletes Who Grew Up Impoverished

Professional Athletes Who Grew Up Impoverished
The world’s population of human beings is vast and immensely complex. Across the planet, thousands of different languages, religions and traditions contribute to the everyday lives of its people. However, nearly all civilizations have one thing in common: sports. Since the development of the most ancient civilizations, humans have created numerous ways to come together and pass the time with recreation. It continues to be a major aspect of society today, so much so that athletes such as Argentinian soccer player Lionel Messi receive as much as $127 million per year. It is no secret that professionals like Messi are some of the highest-paid individuals in the world, but many of them had extremely difficult upbringings. Here are four professional athletes who grew up impoverished and used their past as motivation for the improvement of their future.

4 Professional Athletes Who Grew Up Impoverished

  1. Pelé: Pelé, one of the greatest soccer players of all time, has helped his Brazilian team win three World Cups throughout his career. He was born in Três Corações, Brazil, in 1940. He lived in extreme poverty during his childhood and developed most of his early soccer skills by playing with a makeshift bundle of rags that hardly resembled a soccer ball. Pelé’s story is a prime example of how a common cultural element such as recreation has the power to propel someone into an entirely new way of life. In 2018, Pelé launched a self-named foundation “to help children of the world better their lives as people in [his] childhood helped [him] to better [his].” The Pelé Foundation has since partnered with Pencils of Promise and Charity: Water to fulfill its mission of helping the world’s impoverished youth.
  2. Bibiano Fernandes: Bibiano Fernandes, also known as “The Flash” for his ability to finish fights so early, is one of the most successful fighters in both Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and mixed martial arts (MMA). He was born in Manaus, a city located near the Amazon rainforest. After his mother died and his father abandoned the family, 8-year-old Fernandes took to the jungle as a means of survival. He lived off of the land for approximately two years before returning to the city. Once he went back to Manaus, he worked as a window washer. During this seemingly hopeless point in his life, he met a group of men who practiced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. They accepted him into their training group and he grew into a champion. For a child who took to the forest to avoid starvation, the grappling sport was a lifeline, an opportunity for Fernandes to quite literally fight his way out of poverty. Today, he aims to reach retirement and continue to provide for his wife and children. He prides himself on having worked hard for his accomplishments and encourages his fans to pursue their goals regardless of how impossible they may seem.
  3. Yasiel Puig: Yasiel Puig has played for three major American baseball teams: the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Cincinnati Reds and now the Cleveland Indians. His nickname is “The Wild Horse” because of his unpredictable, exciting way of playing. Born into poor conditions in Cuba, Puig developed an interest in baseball at a very early age. His desire to escape his hometown and play for Mexico resulted in a journey that would change his life forever. At the age of 21, Puig snuck out of Cuba on a cigarette boat. What should have been a relatively smooth journey became complicated by the fact that the smugglers did not receive the pay they were to receive for transporting the baseball player. Restless and angry, they held him captive, occasionally threatening to cut off an arm or a finger so that he would never play baseball again. Several long, difficult weeks passed before Puig finally reached his destination. A staged kidnapping ambushed his captors and soon landed Puig at his audition to play for Mexico City. Puig proves that no matter how treacherous life’s ventures may be, the child inside remains alive and strong enough to push one forward towards their wildest dreams.
  4. Kassim Ouma: Kassim Ouma has one of the most unique stories among these professional athletes who grew up impoverished. He was born in Uganda and lived in extreme poverty until the age of 6 when his life abruptly flipped upside down. It was at this age that the National Resistance Army kidnapped Ouma, a militant force revolting against the Ugandan government. The resistance forced him to fight as a child soldier until the war ceased roughly three years later. Once he returned home, he began working to build a better future for him and his family. He took up boxing and trained his way to the Ugandan national boxing team, and later decided to stay in the U.S. after visiting for a tournament. Ouma serves as an example to all that even the darkest beginnings can lead to light at the end of the tunnel. He now uses his influence to advocate for change in Africa and runs a charity organization called Natabonic, which helps to fund education for his friends and family in his home village of Maga Maga.

These professional athletes who grew up impoverished serve as reminders that with hope and compassion, one can fight (and win) even the most impossible battles. Of course, not every starving child on the planet is going to become a world-renowned athlete and sports will not lead all participants out of poverty.  However sports can be a path to a better life and these stories emphasize that recreation brings people together, and where people come together, anything is possible.

– Harley Goebel
Photo: Flickr

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What is Poverty?

What is Poverty?
There are two types of poverty that affect millions of people worldwide: relative poverty and extreme poverty. Relative poverty refers to the levels of social poverty of a community, while extreme poverty defines the standard of living throughout the world. There is a global deficiency line set at $1.90 per day. The limitations of the poor determine the ability to pay for medical care, food, clothing and the essentials of daily life. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) have established goals and targets to help the poor have equal rights to economic resources, basic services, microfinance and land ownership. By teaching the poor about finance and resilience, there could be potential to build the community and slowly grow the economy of poor countries like Southeast Asia and Africa.

It is very important for a low economic class to obtain financial knowledge because although people are living in harsh conditions, learning ways to escape poverty will ultimately allow people to be able to support their families. Parents would be able to afford basic necessities for children and the materials needed to send each child to school and obtain an education.

Women’s Hygiene

Another issue that plagues the poor is the lack of hygienic products. Many women struggle from a lack of proper care for their menstrual needs. In the United States, there are millions of women who go without having adequate menstrual products. Is someone who is simply running low on funds in poverty? Or does poverty mean not having the means of providing for oneself at all? The difference is that while in one scenario the individual has a recurring income and may fall under relative poverty, the latter is when the individual does not have an income and is accustomed to finding other ways to take care of daily needs. There are organizations, such as Freedom4Girls, #HappyPeriod and Pads4Girls, that focus on providing areas, like Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, with pads, tampons and any other form of hygienic products so that women can have sterile and clean forms of personal care.

Education to Reduce Poverty

High levels of poverty in communities affect developing countries the most. Many people, organizations and companies work together to eliminate radical conditions. Charities, like the Build Africa Organization, understand that returning education to children suffering from economic limitations could eradicate poverty because they would receive the basic knowledge necessary to succeed. The organization focuses on providing children and teens with core knowledge and works in countries in rural Africa to teach students the basics they require to lead a healthy life.

Agriculture and Poverty

An appropriate way to help those in need is to educate people on how to grow their own food through agriculture as well as promoting local farmers. As a result, farmers may be able to improve their financial standing by selling crops to supermarkets and local restaurants. Organizations, like the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IAFD), finance agricultural development projects worldwide. Some of the projects that the IAFD put into place include reducing vulnerability to climate change, food and nutrition security and making family farmers the forefront of the world’s agriculture transformation.

If older teens and adults could learn about farming as a trade, they might be able to grow crops for food as well as gain a form of income. Local farming would promote healthier lifestyles as well as feeding those who are malnourished. The fact that people would be eating healthier could help eliminate diseases and even deaths that starvation causes. The World Food Programme provides food for men, women and children during emergency situations in over 80 different countries.

Shelter

Furthermore, there are people in underdeveloped countries and developed communities that fail to meet the primary needs of their families, making it difficult to have a stable home. Fortunately, there are organizations like The Salvation Army that help people provide for those who do not have a place to live, food to eat or clothing to wear. The Salvation Army provides those in need with resources and avenues to get back on the right path to a successful life. Aside from shelter, The Salvation Army also provides counseling services, educational support and vocational services. Parents with young children also are able to use the shelter’s address to apply for jobs and to send children to school.

Although those in poverty may experience limited food, shelter or access to materials for hygiene, there are several organizations attempting to help. With the continued work of IAFD, The Salvation Army and The World Food Programme, hopefully, people will continue to rise out of poverty.

– Paola Quezada
Photo: Flickr

 

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Flooding and Poverty in Jakarta

Flooding in Jakarta
Citizens of Jakarta rang in the new decade with fervor and enjoyment, accompanied by slowly rising brown floodwaters. The citizens ascended to the streets, but before long some found themselves swept up in one of Indonesia’s worst floods in the past 150 years – one that the country could not have prepared for. The floods have displaced over 400,000 people and 66 people have died within the first week of 2020. But importantly, this crisis of flooding in Jakarta has disproportionately affected the impoverished regions of the city, which received little public attention.

Increasing Population Affecting Poverty

Jakarta, like many quickly expanding metropolitan areas today, faces the challenge of a rapidly increasing population accompanied by many migrants to the city – a number which experts expect to reach 70 percent of Indonesia’s population by 2025. This rapidly expanding population makes it difficult for the current infrastructure and housing to adequately accommodate the increasing demand, therefore increasing construction rates and skyrocketing real estate prices. As a result, the poorest citizens are living dangerously close to areas that flood almost every year under normal conditions.

Adverse Weather Patterns Creating  an Impoverished Population

Unlike typical cities, half of Jakarta lies under sea level. The city has been sinking roughly 10 centimeters every year due to years of uncontrolled groundwater draining by large companies. This sinking conjoined with regular seasonal flooding creates enormous problems in terms of designing infrastructure. Further, increasingly dramatic typical weather patterns in Jakarta have made the extreme weather events less predictable, specifically flooding in Jakarta. The combination of dramatic weather events and poverty in Jakarta creates a cyclic system where temporary aid seems to be adequate when in reality it only serves as a temporary fix, allowing the cycle of destruction to propagate.

The government of Indonesia has taken measures to house displaced residents of Jakarta. Additionally, most of the electricity in the area is up and running again. However, the long term goals of President Joko Wikodo reflect a sentiment that does not seem to include the protection of citizens and the prevention of these incidents. Instead of continuing plans for a sea wall to protect the city from rising sea levels, President Wikodo intends to move the capital to a less populated, drier site on Borneo island. Though this might be a valid idea, this all but abandons the poorer communities in Jakarta, leaving these citizens behind without the resources to move.

Aid to Reduce Current Flooding in Jakarta

In the meantime, many aid measures occurred to help with the most recent round of flooding in Jakarta. All of the local shelters have sufficient food and medical supplies to harbor the 400,000 displaced people. Moreover, most of Jakarta’s citizens returned to their homes by the second week of January 2020. Aid methods, ranging from foreign financial and medical support to internal medical workers, continue to prove an effective yet temporary fix for the greater problem of the flooding in Jakarta.

– Anna Sarah Langlois
Photo: Wikimedia

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9 Quotes From Notable Figures About Poverty 

Quotes From Notable Figures About PovertyNotable figures throughout history are oftentimes known for their eloquence. This ability is especially important when it comes to mobilizing others around important issues, such as poverty. Below are nine quotes from notable figures about poverty.

9 Quotes From Notable Figures About Poverty

  1.  “Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice.” -Nelson Mandela.

    Nelson Mandela was a philanthropist and social rights activist. Additionally, he was also the former President of South Africa and a spokesman for ending poverty. In 2005, he made a speech at the Make Poverty History rally in London, speaking to a crowd of 22,000 people on the subject.

  2. “When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed.” -Mother Teresa.

    Mother Teresa was a Roman Catholic nun who devoted her life to serving the poor around the world. In addition, she received a Nobel Peace Prize for her work in overcoming poverty and distress.

  3. “There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.” -Mahatma Gandhi.

    Mahatma Gandhi traveled around the world and observed the living conditions and causes of poverty. He began his activism in South Africa and later became the leading notable figure in India. Gandhi faced imprisonment several times for undertaking hunger strikes and protesting the oppression of India’s poorest classes.

  4. “Once poverty is gone, we’ll need to build museums to display its horrors to future generations. They’ll wonder why poverty continued so long in human society…” -Muhammad Yunus.

    Muhammad Yunus is a professor from Bangladesh who dedicated his life to becoming actively involved in poverty reduction in Bangladesh after observing the famine of 1974. Then, he went on to develop a number of companies to address the diverse issues of poverty, including a method of banking that provided small loans to the poor to assist them with getting out of poverty.

  5. “Poverty is not a fate, it is a condition; It is not a misfortune, it is an injustice.”-Gustavo Gutierrez.

    Gustavo Gutierrez was a theologian and priest whose beliefs were that it was the Christian duty to aid the poor and the oppressed. Further, Gutierrez dedicated his life to advocating for the poor in Latin America.

  6. “Poverty devastates families, communities and nations. It causes instability and political unrest and fuels conflict.” -Kofi Annan.

    Kofi Annan believed in combating poverty, promoting equality and fighting for human rights. As the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Annan’s greatest achievement includes the launching of the U.N. Millenium Development Goals which cut extreme poverty in half.

  7. “The issue of poverty is not a statistical issue. It is a human issue.” – James Wolfensohn.

    As the ninth President of the World Bank Group, James Wolfensohn focused on fighting global poverty and helping the poor forge better lives. His belief was that the Bank should serve the people of the world, particularly the poorest of the poor.

  8. “Poverty is a scourge that must be overcome, and this can only be accomplished through concerted international efforts involving effective partnerships between developed and developing countries and between government, the private sector and civil society.” -Dr. Han Seung-Soo.

    Dr. Han Seung-Soo was the Prime Minister of South Korea and is now the President of the United Nations General Assembly’s 56th session. Further, Seung-Soo dedicated his presidency to emphasizing the consideration of ways to bring Africa into the mainstream through poverty eradication and the generation of sustainable development.

  9. “It is our moral failure that we still tolerate poverty.” -Ela Bhatt.

    Ela Bhatt, the founder of the Self Employed Women’s Association, believes poverty is a form of violence. She has been an advocate for the poor, particularly women, in her native country of India.

– Na’Keevia Brown
Photo: Flickr

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5 Organizations Fighting Poverty in Fiji

Poverty in Fiji
Despite significant progress, poverty in Fiji remains a serious problem. In 2013, almost 300,000 Fijians or 34% of its population lived below the national poverty line. Interestingly, among middle-income nations, Fiji’s national poverty rate trends high whereas its extreme poverty rate—which is 1.4%—is comparatively lower. Still, there is cautious optimism when considering the future of poverty in Fiji. After all, as a result of wide-scale efforts by both the government and various organizations, the poverty rate dropped from 40% in the early 2000s. In 2020, these groups are continuing to work toward a poverty-free future in Fiji.

5 Organizations Fighting Poverty in Fiji

  1. Caritas Australia: An originally Catholic organization that works across the Pacific, Caritas runs a variety of programs targeting the effects of poverty in Fiji. An example of one of its projects is the Tutu Rural Training Centre, where farmers learn a multitude of skills through a four-year course relating to agriculture technology. When Cyclone Evan hit in 2012—which caused $312 million of damage and killed 14 people—the center also provided plants for people to start regrowing their farms. Another program is the People’s Community Network, which works to improve the lives of squatters throughout Fiji and promote self-sufficiency. Thus far, the project has helped 500 families secure land.
  2. The World Bank: The World Bank has perhaps acted as the primary player in alleviating poverty in Fiji. The organization has provided loans to the Fijian government since the 1970s for more than 13 large-scale projects on issues such as improving transportation infrastructure and natural disaster relief. In 2019, the World Bank announced it would start loaning over $21 million annually for such projects with 0% interest. This money has ultimately been invaluable in helping Fiji become a more technologically advanced country and providing critical economic opportunities to the Fijian people.
  3. Fiji Council of Social Services (FCOSS): The umbrella body of almost 500 grassroots organizations across Fiji, FCOSS has worked throughout the country to connect different groups and their projects together while coordinating with the government to ensure maximum productivity. Some of the programs that the organization embarked on to fight poverty include the Rural Women Initiative for Development & Education, which helps women obtain economic freedom, and HelpAge, which provides services to elderly individuals the state often ignores.
  4. Peace Corps: The Peace Corps, an American volunteer organization that the U.S. government runs, has worked in impoverished communities in Fiji since 1968, sending more than 2,529 volunteers. These volunteers have worked on a variety of projects throughout this tenure, working primarily on conservation and resource management, teaching sanitation and safe water practices and helping communities with economic development. These projects have proved invaluable in these poor communities. For example, in 2010, the Peace Corps conducted a large-scale study and found that 87% of host communities saw improvement in their sanitation practices and 90% reported better environmental and livelihood security. Furthermore, when teaching business practices, 80% learned habits that helped them in their everyday lives. Clearly, the Peace Corps is providing crucial assistance to poor communities in Fiji.
  5. Habitat for Humanity Fiji: Another international organization fighting poverty in Fiji is Habitat for Humanity. The organization builds homes in Fiji where almost 140,000 people lived in poor housing conditions. Habitat for Humanity has served a large number of homes. The organization is evidently mitigating the effects of poverty in Fiji, although Fiji requires more work.

Clearly, while poverty in Fiji remains a serious problem, there are a variety of organizations leading the fight against it. With these organizations’ continued aid, poverty in Fiji will hopefully become a part of the past.

– Chace Pulley
Photo: Flickr

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Examining Countries with Child Labor

Countries With Child Labor 
There are an estimated 218 million children as young as 5-years-old employed and exploited around the world. Countries with child labor often force and coerce children to work for free and many cases go undocumented due to child homelessness in impoverished areas. The International Labor Organization defines child labor as work that deprives children of their childhood, potential and dignity, and harms them physically and mentally.

Where Child Labor is Most Prevalent

Some of the worst cases of widespread child labor are Africa and Southern and Western Asia. A huge factor in child labor is poverty. These areas often poorly develop their educational systems and many children who work do not enroll in school at all.

In Nigeria, over 15 million children under the age of 14 are child laborers. Girls often start earlier than boys in domestic help positions, but both work in agriculture, fishing, mining and construction. Often, child labor is essential to the income of the households these children live in. Children work in similar positions in India where 33 million children ages 5 and older work manufacturing jobs.

This is not the worst form of child labor, however. In Somalia, people often force children into the armed forces. In 2018, military forces —both state and non-state—recruited 1,800 children. People also force many girls into sexual servitude and multiple clan militias in other countries use child soldiers. Afghanistan has been using children in war since the 1980s and with the continuing violence, there have been reports of 3,179 cases of children suffering killing or maiming because of conflict violence.

The Harm it Causes

Child labor, forced or voluntarily, exponentially stunts a child’s growth. Childhood is an important part of development, and putting children in dangerous and mentally-straining environments causes emotional damage and even kills some children. Countries with child labor put children to work in places where they are in danger of suffocation, drowning, amputation or even heavy equipment crushing them. Child labor is responsible for 2.78 million deaths and 374 million illnesses. Children who work at young ages often do not have the resources or opportunities as an adult to work; this leads to generational poverty.

Who is Helping

Action Against Child Exploitation (ACE) is an NGO that focuses on ending child labor. Founded in 1987, its project areas are Japan, India and Ghana. It has saved over 1,000 children from child labor, as well as supported education for 13,000 children. It works to stop child labor in cotton and cocoa production since 70 percent of child workers are in agriculture.

The Global March Against Child Labor is an organization of trade unions, teachers and civil societies that work to eliminate all forms of child labor and slavery and provide and ensure education. The movement started out as an 80,000 KM cross-country march against child labor in 1998. Today, the organization works toward the development of countries, education children, elimination of sex-trafficking and research on laws and policies in countries with child labor.

What People Can Do

Despite years of work against child labor, it is still a problem in many countries. Due to the lack of educational facilities, economic failure and extreme poverty, there is not a simple fix to the problem. What people can do is conduct research, raise awareness and reach out to their Congress members. There have been laws to protect children from others forcing them into work or military, but people are still doing little to enforce those laws. It will take many more years of effort, economic growth and child labor reformation to eradicate the continuing issue of child labor.

– Taylor Pittman
Photo: Flickr

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Teaching Indonesia’s Impoverished Population to Fish 

Teaching Indonesia’s Impoverished Population to Fish “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” – Ancient Proverb. The Indonesian government is taking the above saying to heart. It is doing its best to teach the poor population how to provide for themselves rather than merely providing aid. The government has grouped poverty reduction programs in Indonesia into three clusters: Social assistance, community empowerment and microenterprise empowerment. Simply put, cluster one is similar to giving Indonesia’s impoverished population fish while cluster two is giving the population a fishing rod and teaching them to fish. Finally, cluster three is facilitating fishing by providing a boat.

The Three Clusters

  • Social Assistance – This cluster of poverty-reduction programs in Indonesia is focused on providing direct assistance to poor households. In the past, the government had taken measures to implement “a single ‘combo’ card-based cashless payment system” in order to promote financial inclusion. It also reallocated fuel subsidies to directly assist poor and vulnerable families. Furthermore, the non-cash food assistance program has transformed the delivery of nutrition-sensitive food assistance. This is the first step to reducing Indonesia’s impoverished population.
  • Community Empowerment – With a more macro focus when compared to social assistance, this cluster gives poor communities the social funds they need to improve basic social and economic services. The programs included in community empowerment fall under PNPM. PNPM is an umbrella policy that attempts to self-help community capacity by creating jobs and achieving a better standard of community welfare. Examples of PNPM programs include social activities, such as the activity of posyandu (a community-based vehicle to improve child development) and BKM, which provides free medical service. It also includes economic activities such as women entrepreneurs weaving traditional clothes and micro-credits for women entrepreneur groups. The PNPM programs have seen great success in recent years with the community participation level reaching 39 percent and per capita consumption increasing 9.1 percent.
  • Microenterprise Empowerment – This third cluster looks at providing access to credits for microenterprises without having them be “hindered by the requirement to provide collaterals.” Most of these enterprises are independent and “highly labor-intensive,” employing “low levels of skills and technology.” According to the SMERU Research Institute, microenterprises provide income and employment for significant portions of workers in rural and urban areas. Microenterprises comprise more than 50 percent of the nation’s GDP. Each unit microenterprise can absorb 1-5 workers. In addition to the independent enterprises, “the government provides a subsidized guarantee scheme at 70 percent in which the government pays the premium” to find unbankable businesses that lack collateral.

The above programs have already achieved a great measure of success. They have reduced poverty by half from 24.3 percent in 1999 to 10.4 percent in 2013. However, there is room for further improvements. In 2014, “only one-fifth of the poorest 10 percent in Indonesia” had received all the benefits to which they were entitled.

Future Reformation

Possibilities for reformation in cluster one include a two-way updating system to the connection between the target database and the program-based beneficiary lists. This would help major social assistance programs reach the right people. Since needs change during certain times, having additional monitoring and evaluation to fill in the gaps in program design will improve the planning of the programs. Moreover, redesigning the Credit for People Initiatives by providing an incentive for smallholders for productive assets accumulation would leverage the poor with adequate access to the program and increase the impact of clusters two and three as well.

To add to the effectiveness of programs that are reducing Indonesia’s impoverished communities, the government has also established a national team, chaired by the Vice President. It is the Vice President’s hope that with the specific changes being looked at in each of the clusters, Indonesia will eventually bring the vast majority of those in poverty to a more sustainable economic situation.

– Shvetali Thatte
Photo: Flickr