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2016 UN Refugee Education Goals – One Year Later

2016 UN Refugee Education Goals - One Year Later

At the UN General Assembly Meeting in New York last year, world leaders confronted the Syrian refugee crisis, focusing primarily on the plight of displaced children. Leaders set a goal of getting every refugee child back in school within two months of their arrival. However, a year later the future of their education remains uncertain.

The annual education report from UNHCR “Missing Out” was released in advance of the UN General Assembly meeting last year. The New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants was signed by 193 countries. Education was the primary focus of the report.

The focus on the refugee crisis and the establishment of refugee education goals was in reaction the influx of mainly Syrian refugees in Europe upon the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2015. The commitment, according to refugeesmigrants.un.org, stated that world leaders would “ensure that all refugee and migrant children are receiving education within a few months of arrival.”

The New York Declaration states, “We are determined to ensure that all children are receiving education…and we will prioritize budgetary provision to facilitate this, including support for host countries as required.” The UN recognized the right for the world’s children to be educated as part of their “obligation” under the Convention of Rights of the Child. The Convention considers education necessary for the full realization of children’s inalienable human rights and capabilities, along with basic health and psychosocial development.

In 2015, approximately 50 million children were uprooted and more than 27 million of them were forced from their homes due to violence and lack of adequate security.

According to UNICEF, refugees are five times more likely to be out of school than other children. As of 2016, half of refugee children were enrolled in primary school and one-fourth of them were enrolled in secondary school. Today, despite the refugee education goals set by the UN, more than 3.5 million refugee children between the ages of five and 17 did not have the chance to attend school in the last academic year.

There have been notable improvements in the last academic year, however. An increase from half to 61 percent of refugee children were enrolled in primary school, thanks to European educational policies and investment for Syrian refugees. However, secondary school enrollment remains stationary.

– Melanie Snyder
Photo: Flickr

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Ethereum Blockchain in Jordan Is Changing Aid

Ethereum Blockchain in Jordan Is Changing How the United Nations Delivers Aid
Distributing aid within areas of conflict, especially those ruled by unstable authoritarian governments, has proven to be a struggle for organizations like the United Nations. These efforts are often plagued by a myriad of issues, such as the distribution of funds to individuals by relief agencies. The Ethereum blockchain in Jordan is shifting the paradigm.

Blockchain technologies, cryptocurrencies and digital banking, however, have the potential to alleviate many of these complications. On May 31, 2017, the United Nation’s World Food Programme (WFP) completed the first successful large-scale trial of the Ethereum blockchain in Jordan to distribute humanitarian aid to Syria.

In order to fully understand the tangible effects that blockchain technology has on the lives of these individuals, it is first necessary to establish a basic background of what exactly this new platform is and what it can do.

Ethereum essentially lends itself to decentralized data recording, meaning that no single person or entity owns the final ledger. Instead, everyone who participates in the network becomes part of the record keeping process.

Blockchain, the technology behind the infamous cryptocurrency Bitcoin as well as Ethereum, has many other applications past transferring money between parties. Like Bitcoin, Ethereum acts as a distributed public blockchain network. However, while Bitcoin’s main application involves peer-to-peer exchange of payments, Ethereum blockchain focuses on both cryptocurrency, called Ether, as well as deploying decentralized applications. These applications generally contain smart contracts: computer codes that facilitate the exchange of money, content, property or anything else of value.

Ethereum offers an unprecedented capacity to carry out nonspecific applications, meaning that instead of just offering peer-to-peer transfer of digital currencies, Ethereum enables the development of potentially thousands of different applications on a single platform. Additionally, hacking and fraudulent activities are virtually impossible on a decentralized network like Ethereum.

Ethereum has many widespread applications, one of which includes legal identification. With current estimates suggesting that there are 1.1 billion people around the world with no official documentation, many of whom are refugees, aid organizations struggle to provide health, financial and educational services without proper identification.

While smartphones or Internet-capable devices are an obvious access point for the identification platform, the project implemented by the WFP was built under the assumption that its beneficiaries might not have access to such luxuries. Instead, the WFP made it possible for thousands of Syrian refugees to pay with a scan of their eyes using the Ethereum blockchain in Jordan.

In this month-long trial, instead of administering funds directly to the recipients, the WFP issued unspecified amounts of cryptocurrency-based vouchers to thousands of Syrian refugees. The U.N. allocated money to the merchants of participating stores where the coupons could be redeemed, effectively cutting out the banking middlemen in the aid distribution processes. Iris recognition devices verified the identities of the refugees at the supermarket in the Azraq camp in Jordan and deducted what they spent from the total sum the WFP provided.

By the end of May 2017, the Ethereum blockchain in Jordan was successfully used to record and authenticate transfers to about 10,000 individuals. WFP consultant Alexandra Alden helped oversee the implementation of this project and stated, “All funds received by the refugees from WFP were specifically used to purchase food items such as olive oil, pasta, and lentils.”

 

The Future of Ethereum Blockchain in Jordan and Beyond

 

In terms of future expansion, the WFP intends to include upwards of 100,000 individuals in Jordan in the program as early as August 2017, with hopes of serving the entire Jordanian refugee population by the end of 2018. If this expansion proves successful, the agency will look to expand beyond Jordan to other countries in need of aid.

Additionally, companies including Accenture and Microsoft have been working to design a more comprehensive digital ID network for the U.N. using blockchain technology.

Instead of just receiving food from local merchants, this identification network will provide undocumented refugees with unique identifiers called “stamps” that authenticate services received at camps or through other agencies, such as vaccinations. This system of record keeping will be tested in the near future.

While blockchain technology has the potential to serve the rest of society in various capacities, Ethereum offers those individuals who have been forced to renounce their identities over and over again the possibility of retaining important parts of who they are.

– Richa Bijlani

Photo: Flickr

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New UN Plan for Peace in Libya

New UN Plan for Peace in Libya DevelopedLast Wednesday, head of U.N. Support Mission in Libya, Ghassan Salame, announced a new plan for peace in Libya. Salame stated that this plan was not designed by himself, but was instead conceptualized by the desires of the Libyan people whom he had spoken to on his travels. “They want an inclusive process,” said Salame, “a way forward which clearly defines stages and objectives…Libyans want a process that they themselves own and lead.” This new action plan will focus on uniting Libya’s rival governments.

The nation of Libya has been in crisis since the revolt against the reigning dictator – Muammar Gaddafi – in 2011. The power vacuum left in the wake of the revolt inspired rebel groups and militias to compete for power with the transitional government. Conflict in Libya erupted into Civil War in 2014, when Libya’s General National Congress (GNC) refused to step down when their rule had expired and therefore came into conflict with the democratically elected House of Representatives (HoR). In 2015, the U.N. helped broker a unity deal between the GNC and HoR, which planned to unite the two governments into a Presidential council called the General National Accord – a democratically elected HoR and a State Council. However, the majority of the HoR has refused to sign on with the General National Accord.

The U.N. plan for peace in Libya proposed by Salame will amend the Libyan Political Agreement brokered by the U.N. in 2015. The U.N. supports the General National Accord that was formed by the agreement, but recognizes that rival factions in Libya do not feel represented by the government in its current form. To resolve the issues rival factions have with the Libyan Political Agreement, Salame will convene next week with a committee to draft new amendments.

The second step of the action plan is to bring together the HoR, the State Council and armed groups without proper political representation. Together at a national conference hosted by the U.N., they will have a chance to politically engage with one another and discuss peace and reunification.

The final step of the U.N.’s plan for peace in Libya is for the HoR to begin drafting legislation for a constitutional referendum and national elections. This is designed to lead to the ultimate goal of creating a new Constitution that will reunify Libya. However, Salame believes that additional steps must be taken by Libya’s governing bodies and the international community. Ensuring free and fair elections, integration of armed groups into civilian life, continued peace talks, reunification of Libya’s military and dedicating funds to ensuring the well being of internally displaced persons are necessary steps to ensure that Libya can draft a new constitution and that the lives of the Libyan people see significant development.

The U.N.’s goal of a reunified Libya is an ambitious one, but it is one worth pursuing. Prior to its current crisis, Libya was one of the wealthiest countries in Africa, but under the current crisis over 241,000 Libyans have been displaced and have scarce access to food, water and medicine. A stabilized Libya would mean an end to the war and a chance to return these displaced people to their old lives. It would also mean the nation would be better equipped to fight terror groups such as ISIS within its borders and to provide proper aid to the thousands of refugees that the EU has demanded Libya take in.

– Carson Hughes
Photo: Flickr

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How Poverty Is Reduced Through Basic Technology

How Is Poverty ReducedMost modern technology is marketed towards the world’s wealthy, but that should not inhibit its potential to help the world’s poor. As prices fall and production increases, affordable and basic technology may be the solution for eradicating global poverty.

How is poverty reduced through basic technology? First and foremost, by understanding the realistic and productive uses for technology in a community and ensuring that it is relevant.

Too often there are stories of computers collecting dust in African classrooms, or new smartphone apps that can help impoverished people find work — in places where smartphones are unattainable. Despite the vast amount of information on the internet, it is hardly relevant to a rural family in a developing country and will rarely help them escape poverty. In reality, the technology that will help end poverty is more basic.

The United Nations is at the forefront of this vision, with the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) working towards the global spreading of information and communications technology (ICT). Founded in 1996, the IICD has come a long way in understanding the pragmatic strategy needed for implementing modern technology in developing countries. The IICD has learned that “it is not the technology itself that makes the difference but rather the people who own it and apply it.” Therefore, helping people get the most out of ICT is now as equally important to the organization’s mission as introducing it.

The IICD works to apply ICT to health, economic and education sectors in different communities around the world. It’s main focus is in the context of helping the U.N. meet its Millennium Development Goals — an effort that the IICD has been at the center of. In short, the IICD works to instigate large-scale social change through low-tech, relevant technology.

Other organizations, such as Kopernik, work on a smaller scale to improve the lives of many through simple technology. Kopernik connects poor, rural families with basic, life-altering technologies that not only save lives, but also save money and time. These simple technologies include water filters, fuel-efficient stoves and solar lights.

Technologies such as solar lights are affordable and sustainable, and their usage is linked to positive behavioral changes and higher household productivity. Investing and distributing this basic technology should be a major priority, for it is fundamental to increasing human development and reducing poverty.

It is not to say that computers and the internet are not infinitely useful and powerful, but we should keep in mind that the internet won’t help a child if they only have access to contaminated water. So, perhaps the question of how to eliminate poverty has a simple answer: distribute relevant, basic technology.

– Catherine Fredette

Photo: Google

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How Virtual Reality Is Fighting Global Poverty

Virtual Reality Is Fighting Global PovertyVirtual reality technology is such a recent phenomenon that we have only just tapped into its potential. This technology has been used to expand the capabilities of film and video games, to train soldiers and surgeons, to assist space missions and to aid patients in physical and mental therapy. Non-governmental organizations have found another use for it; now virtual reality is fighting global poverty.

One of the first major forays into using virtual reality to fight global poverty when the U.N. showed a film called “Clouds Over Sidra” which puts the viewer in a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan. The viewer is given a tour by a twelve-year-old girl named Sidra, who explains what her life is like at the camp.

The U.N. has shown this film and others through virtual reality headsets to potential donors at humanitarian fundraising events. These films have seemingly become a hit. At a March humanitarian pledging conference where donors viewed “Clouds Over Sidra,” $3.8 billion was donated to aiding Syrian refugees, well beyond the conference’s goal of $2.3 billion. In New Zealand, one out of six people who saw the film chose to donate, which was twice the normal donation rate.

A major reason why virtual reality is fighting global poverty so effectively is its ability to elicit empathy from viewers. In a 2013 experiment from Stanford University and the University of Georgia, two groups did a color-matching exercise in virtual reality, where one group pretended to be colorblind and the other group was forced into colorblindness through a filter. The study found that the second group spent twice as much time helping colorblind people than the first group. Similar experiments found that people who saw 65-year-old virtual avatars of themselves were more likely to save for retirement, and people who cut down a tree in a simulator used fewer napkins than people who read a description of what happens when a tree is cut down.

The intense, empathetic reactions to VR films have not been lost on VR film producers such as Robert Holzer, CEO of Matter Unlimited. “I’ve never experienced such a visceral reaction to any form of media,” says Holzer. “People are left with something closer to what a memory is, versus what they are left with when it is something that they just watched, and that to me is the wild difference of VR.”

The apparent success of virtual reality has caused other global development nonprofits, such as Amnesty International and Trickle Up, to invest in virtual reality films. It seems that virtual reality isn’t just for video games; it also has the potential to be a significant driver of development funding.

– Carson Hughes

Photo: Flickr

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International Youth Day 2017

International Youth Day 2017We’ve all heard the old adage that children are the future. While it may sound cliché, this idea is what led the United Nations General Assembly to establish International Youth Day on December 17, 1999.

Each year, the day of August 12 is used to spread awareness of the World Program of Action for Youth, which works to improve situations for children and young adults around the world. International Youth Day is also a tool to recognize the ability of youth to instill change in the world.

Since the first observance of International Youth Day in 2000, a theme has been selected each year. Some of the themes include Addressing Health and Unemployment, Tackling Poverty Together, Change Our World and the 2017 theme of Youth Building Peace.

In 2017, the theme of Youth Building Peace was used to highlight the ability of youth to contribute to conflict resolution and sustainable peace. United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 aims to ensure that decision making is responsive, inclusive, representative and participatory at all levels.

On December 9, 2015, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution on Youth, Peace and Security and identified five key pillars for action: participation, protection, prevention, partnerships and disengagement and reintegration.

Both the U.N. Security Council and The World Program of Action for Youth recognize though International Youth Day that youths are often left out of important decision making because of their age. “When youth are excluded from political, economic and social spheres and processes, it can be a risk factor for violence and violent forms of conflict,” according to the U.N.

“Therefore, identifying and addressing the social exclusion of young people is a precondition for sustaining peace.”

Throughout the decades, many steps have been taken towards building peace. But in recent years, the occurrence of violence and conflict has been far too prevalent. Youths comprise a large part of populations where violent conflict is prevalent.

Since the population of youth across the globe is the biggest it has ever been, it is important now more than ever to include this population in decisions that will affect the future of peace.

– Madeline Boeding

Photo: Flickr

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The Connection Between Social Media and Poverty Reduction

Social Media and Poverty ReductionThe U.N. first asked “how can the international community best harness the power of media…to educate and transform?” in a 2017 conference. Although this requires a complicated answer, social media and poverty reduction can be connected by harnessing the power of information to foster development in a technologically advancing world.

The link is clear: the U.N. recognizes that there are many “opportunities for the media to play a strategic role for eradicating poverty.” This rests on the media’s ability to inform the public about poverty, in many cases by disseminating information through the voices of who have truly experienced it. This provides “an inclusive platform and an open forum to share the views and concerns of people living in vulnerable situations.”

 

Media and Poverty Reduction: Syrian Civil War

 

But what does this look like firsthand? When a video of a young Syrian boy named Omran Daqneesh covered in rubble surfaced in 2016, millions of people disseminated the video through their social media channels hours after its publication. The New York Times called the video “an image of civil war,” as for many it humanized the violent events taking place far from home.

Sharing these shocking images can spur quick action. A different image, that of Alan Kurdi, a Syrian boy who drowned while leaving Syria for Greece, gained similar attention. Sharing it via social media had real outcomes: MercyCorps garnered $2.3 million for Syrian refugees in one month, compared to the $4.5 million raised in four years before.

The information-sharing that took place with these images spurred discussions about poverty and war on social media. In many cases, the power in information-sharing means that “the media can play a major role in developing public understanding of economic, social, and environmental issues: the three pillars of sustainable development,” according to the U.N.

 

Governments Utilize Connection Between Media and Poverty Reduction

 

Many organizations and governments are harnessing the power in social media and poverty reduction. Rwandan health minister Agnes Binagwaho provides an example with #Ministermondays. Every other Monday, Binagwaho opens a discussion via Twitter for people to voice their concerns about health in the country. Listening to real voices, she is able to craft policies using the experiences she absorbs through social media.

Others are doing similar work. An online social media platform called Digital Green provides farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia a network to discuss best practices for farming. Similarly, the World Bank Finances app ensures that sustainable development initiatives put funding into the correct hands, preventing fraud via social media.

Unlike other media sources, social media gives a voice to those who have lived in poverty by creating public platforms to spread experience. In this way, the media “affords individuals and communities the possibility to become active in the development process” by using social media platforms as safe spaces for discussion, according to the University of Namibia. Over time, this is generating “long-term suitability and sustainability” for poverty reduction.

Social media and poverty reduction works for other forms of development. Success for the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals largely rests on the power of the media, according to the U.N., based on its ability to instigate change with credible information sharing. And media hides other tools for poverty eradication; the University of Namibia explains that it also “creates a platform for non-violent discussion and issue resolution” to prevent conflict.

Social media and poverty reduction can be linked through holding guilty parties accountable for their actions. An established social media source known as I Paid a Bribe is doing just this; it creates a space to safely expose corruption in developing countries by text or email. Stories are shared without fear of retaliation, exposing illegal actions and fighting corruption.

 

Media and Poverty Reduction: Shortcomings

 

Even so, media does not always work in favor of poverty reduction; many argue that poverty is often given little coverage time via traditional media sources. For example, a study of three prominent U.S. nightly news sources found that in 14 months, an average of only 2.7 seconds in every 22-minute program mentioned poverty. And not all people are able to access social media channels; ending the digital divide that leaves four billion people without internet can harness the power of social media to share stories for reducing poverty.

In some cases, “the knowledge and experiences of people living in poverty are often undervalued” in the media, and “solutions to their own problems are ignored.” This can improperly portray real world experiences. Giving little recognition to those who have lived in poverty, according to the U.N., ultimately plays a role in distorting public perception and negatively influencing policies about poverty reduction.

Despite barriers, the U.N. explains that “the time has come for all policy actors to recognize and support the vital contribution of the media” in reducing poverty. Developing the tools that social media provides to reduce poverty, when done effectively, is gaining traction for development today.

And although Omran Daqneesh’s video alone can not end a civil war, his impact is igniting progress for sustainable development. In a world like today, change stems from diverse voices, making way for progress that was impossible only decades ago.

– Cleo Krejci

Photo: Flickr

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Improvements Made for Women’s Rights in Cambodia

Women's Rights in CambodiaThe Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has been one of the world’s most important nongovernmental organizations defending women’s rights since it was adopted by the U.N. General Council in 1979. Since then, it has been ratified by 187 countries and has played a major role in the overall increase of women’s safety and living standards worldwide.

Cambodia ratified the CEDAW in 1992, shortly after the end of its civil war. Despite the good intentions such a ratification signals, women’s rights in Cambodia remained stagnant for many years.

Not until the 2003 National Poverty Reduction Strategy (NPRS) was enacted did the Cambodian CEDAW ratification become anything more than nominal. Among many other goals, the NPRS acknowledged and addressed the gap in education, employment and property rights between men and women. Though many women were helped by the plan, the fact remains that they were simply a small part of a larger overall strategy. There remained much to do.

Though women’s rights in Cambodia were helped by both the NPRS and a 2002 affirmative action policy, which gave priority to women entering tertiary education, it was not until recently that the government began truly following through on its commitment to equal rights for women. The Cambodia National Council for Women (CNCW) and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA) were both established in 2001, but it was not until 2005 and 2007, respectively, that either began having any measurable effect.

Some progress has been made. In 2005, 64 percent of people in Cambodia knew a man who had abused his wife. By 2009, the number had shrunk to 53 percent. Infant mortality rates dropped from 65 to 45 per 1000 births between 2005 and 2010, and maternal mortality rates dropped from 472 to 206 per 100,000 births over the same period. From 2008 to 2013, the number of women who received education increased three percent overall, with the most significant improvements being made in the vital rural regions.

Women’s rights in Cambodia have come a long way in a short amount of time, but there is no place now for complacency. Women make up only 15 percent of the Cambodian Senate, a number unchanged since 1999. Parliament is slightly better, with one in five members being women, but this percentage is still frighteningly low.

No Cambodian provinces are governed by women, and sex trafficking, low wages and long hours at menial jobs remain a reality for many women, especially those in rural areas. The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights monitors violations of women’s rights and the work they do alongside the CNCW and the MoWA will continue to shepherd Cambodia into the future. If Cambodians truly wish to become a modern nation, the progress they have made cannot stop until reality reflects the intent of the CEDAW, signed so many years ago.

– Connor S. Keowen

Photo: Flickr

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Future Solutions for the Problem of Hunger in Central America

Hunger in Central AmericaSince mid-2014, the Central American countries of Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama and Costa Rica have been victims of a severe drought. The El Niño conditions that began in March of 2015 have caused staple crops to wither and thousands of cattle to die. These El Niño conditions worsened, and, by the end of June 2016, there were 3.5 million people affected by the drought and 1.6 million at the mercy of hunger in Central America.

This crisis, while dire, has been a rare outlier in the largely successful efforts to ease the pangs of hunger in Central America. Among the major problems contributing to the food shortages of Central America has been widespread poverty. Extreme poverty in Central America was reduced by 50 percent between 1995 and 2011.

The same can be said for hunger itself. Between 1992 and 2014, the number of people affected by hunger in Central America was reduced from 68.5 million to 37 million. While success this resounding is encouraging, it does not by any means imply that the fight to end hunger in Central America is over.

The El Niño drought was one of the worst in recent memory. Though its severity was extreme, it remains indicative of a problem which Central American farmers must face constantly. Droughts devastate Central America with shocking regularity, whether caused by El Niño or other malignant weather patterns.

In order to address the droughts, which, alongside endemic poverty, have been the biggest contributors to the problem of hunger in Central America, the U.N. has begun working with the governments of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala in order to better construct strategies that will allow the countries to remain independent in cases of severe drought. The U.N. has instructed farmers to plant crops that are both less water-dependent and more flood-resistant.

The problem of hunger in Central America is not one which will solve itself, but continuing to allow the countries hit hardest by droughts and poverty to rely on foreign aid and intervention a strategy that will not work in the future. The pattern the U.N. and forward-thinking governments like those of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala have established is one that must be followed. Countries such as these can utilize the ingenuity of their people alongside the expertise of foreign aid to alleviate both poverty and hunger, creating a prosperous cycle that will benefit themselves both now and in the future.

– Connor S. Keowen

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Human Rights in Croatia

Human Rights in CroatiaAs a newly elected member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Croatia is promising to protect human rights and fight against discrimination. Considering the unfair treatment of minorities and hate crimes that were written of in the Human Rights Practices report for 2016, the country has a great deal of work to do.

Out of the 24 reported hate crimes in 2015, 15 were related to racism and xenophobia. A recent example of xenophobia in the nation can be seen through the way policemen have been treating asylum-seekers from Serbia. Out of the 10 Afghani asylum seekers who were interviewed, nine reported that the Croatian police were physical with them. Not only did they punch them, but they also seized some of their possessions. After doing all of this, the Croatian police officers forced them out of the country and back to Serbia.

Another large issue in Croatia is the segregation of people with disabilities. People with disabilities in Croatia tend to lack control in their lives because they are placed into institutions rather than communities.

Although human rights in Croatia still need to improve greatly, the people are still making a conscious effort to fix the problems they are faced with. For example, the Humans Rights House Zagreb addresses the country’s issues and introduces solutions to help them. In 2016, they partnered with Gong to explain both the importance of and how to combat hate speech.

To combat segregation of people with disabilities, de-institutionalization has begun in Croatia, in an attempt to legally give those with disabilities their rights. So far, 24 percent of institutions have begun de-institutionalization. While this number may be small, it is a start to a solution.

Croatia, like every other country in the world, is nowhere near perfect. However, with the help of citizens and activists who advocate for what they believe is morally right, human rights in Croatia will continue to progress.

– Raven Rentas