Archive for category: United Nations

Information and stories about United Nations.

Ten Ways Sustainable Tourism can Alleviate Poverty

Sustainable Tourism
Tourism brings both advantages and disadvantages to a country. It can bring wealth and jobs to communities that would otherwise remain poor just as much as it can lead to social dislocation, loss of cultural heritage and ecological degradation. UNESCO claims that tourism must be sustainable for the advantages to outweigh the disadvantages.

“Tourism that respects both local people and the traveler, cultural heritage and the environment” is what UNESCO calls sustainable tourism. This form seeks to benefit the host country and local economies so that people in that country may have better lives.

Evidence shows that sustainable tourism is a great tool for development and poverty alleviation in developing countries. These are ten ways in which sustainable tourism alleviates poverty:

  1. “Tourism is one of the most important sources of foreign exchange earnings and job creation in many poor and developing countries with limited options for alternative economic development” according to the U.N.’s World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
  2. Tourism can be directly taxed creating the necessary funds for improving infrastructure, education and health on the ground.
  3. The tourism industry employs a high proportion of women, which contributes to gender equality and women’s empowerment in poor countries.
  4. Locally owned microenterprises ran by the poor serve as a benefit, as tourists buy a wide variety of goods and services.
  5. Sustainable tourism leads to employment diversification on a local level, which reduces the vulnerability of the poor.
  6. The UNWTO claims, “Wages can often reach $1,000 to $4,000 per worker per year.” This is enough to bring workers and their families above the poverty line.
  7. In 2012, the tourism industry accounted for more than 260 million jobs according to the International Labor Office (ILO). This number is expected to rise given that tourism is one of the fastest growing industries.
  8. The tourism industry employs a high proportion of individuals under 25. As a result, youth gain access to higher earnings and better opportunities through sustainable tourism.
  9. Tourism provides a vast number of jobs to people with little or no formal training.
  10. Working conditions are generally decent within the tourism industry as the industry depends on providing a quality service.

This list is by no means exhaustive. There are many other ways in which tourism can help the poor. As long as tourism is sustainable and wealth from tourism trickles down to the poor, the poorest countries will prosper. Given the increasing popularity of sustainable tourism, prosperity and wealth are a likely prospect for many poor countries.

– Christina Egerstrom

Photo: Flickr

Restructuring Education in Malaysia to Follow Global Agenda

Education in Malaysia Agrees with the Global Agenda
Redesigning the infrastructure of education in Malaysia goes hand in hand with the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals. The Sustainable Development Goals make up a section of UNESCO’s 2030 Education Plan.

Education Deputy Director General Datuk Seri Khairil Awang says that the Malaysian Education Blueprint (MEB) “was implemented three years ahead of Education 2030, (and) we found that MEB is very much in line with the targets of Education 2030.” Malaysian Education is being redesigned to be part of a global initiative for education.

UNESCO’s 2030 Education Plan was formulated at the World Education Forum 2015 held in Incheon, Republic of Korea. Students from both the public and private sectors, along with teachers, were present at the forum.

One hundred and sixty countries, 1,600 participants and over 120 ministries were also in attendance in order to create and adopt a new perspective of education that will be the new approach to teaching for the next 15 years. Within this new system are elements to ensure twelve years of free and public education, at least 9 of which will be compulsory.

In response to the most faulty educational systems being located in conflict-ridden countries, UNESCO’s plan stated, “We recommend a sufficient crisis response, from emergency response through to recovery and rebuilding; better coordinated national, regional and global responses; and capacity development for comprehensive risk reduction and mitigation to ensure that education is maintained during situations of conflict, emergency, post-conflict and early recovery.”

The plan, even though ambitious, proves to propel this agenda through legislation utilizing policy framework in order to assure transparency within the governments choosing to adopt this system.

The architects of education in Malaysia have opted to adopt the Sustainable Development Goal of the 2030 Agenda and implement the missions too, “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” The main challenge for the Malaysian educational system is providing accessible education for children with unique situations.

Children that require special educational needs, or the indigenous and minority children, were often marginalized and were not given the proper support in order for them to thrive within the previous schooling offered in Malaysia.

In order to properly install the 2030 program on a national scale within the Malaysian education frame according to Khairil Awang, it will “require building a strong capacity of management and coordination in utilizing data and evidence.” The future of Malaysia’s educational system looks promising if executed correctly.

Malaysia is only one of the few countries that vowed to adopt this system in order to better their children. Malaysia is setting itself up to succeed by investing in education and the future of the country.

Through such a bold statement, it gives the country confidence that it isn’t a false promise. The 2030 plan will revolutionize public education for the entire world and education in Malaysia will be a protagonist in the narrative of countries investing in the youth because it provides long-term solutions instead of short-sighted ones.

– Mariana Camacho

Photo: Flickr

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Montreal Protocol Amendment Implemented in 2016

Montreal Protocol Amendment Implemented in 2016
The Montreal Protocol, ratified by the United States in 1988, is an international treaty and aims to provide security and the foundations to eradicate the use of ozone-depleting substances. The initiative is also the only universal treaty to be ratified by all member states of the U.N. An amendment brought by all member states of the U.N. in October agreed to new plans to decrease the use of greenhouse gasses found in air conditioning and refrigeration technology.

Collaboration on plans to develop the Montreal Protocol Amendment to phase out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) began a year prior to its passage by world leaders. HFC emissions are most prevalent in refrigeration and air conditioning technologies and have the vast potential to drastically increase global temperatures, as warned by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator (EPA), Gina McCarthy.

The United States has already taken action to eliminate the use of HFCs, as demonstrated by the Clean Air Act (CAA) and President Obama’s Climate Action Plan (CAP). The EPA reports that the president’s CAP initiative also calls for investment in more energy-efficient and environmentally safe alternatives to decrease amounts of greenhouse gas.

The EPA predicts HFC gas emissions to increase 20 times the current level over the decades in the near future. Timely attention to the phasing out of HFC emissions, due to the extremely high potency of the gas in ozone-depleting processes, is imperative to the success of environmental protection and sustainability. Sustaining current emissions of HFCs into the environment also has the potential to counterbalance existing efforts to phase out other ozone-depleting substances, as reported by the EPA.

However, in a press release from the president’s Office of the Press Secretary, results of the plans set forth to cut HFC and other greenhouse gas emissions in the private sector equate to, “taking 210 million passenger vehicles off the road for a year.” The World Bank also states, “consequences of climate change could cause an additional 100 million people into poverty by 2030.”

U.N. Sustainable Development Goals outline universal climate action as pivotal to ensuring beneficial development for countries in both the global north and south. The World Bank’s Climate Change Action Plan also provides a framework for global regions, recognizing variations in challenges and needs, to administer support and action plans should challenges arise due to the declining state of nature.

– Amber Bailey

Photo: Flickr

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Biometric Identification in Refugee Camps

Biometric Identification in Refugee Camps
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that more than 65 million people are displaced because of armed conflict and persecution. More than 21 million are classified as refugees, which means they are protected by international law and cannot be forced to return to places where their lives and freedom are at risk. The UNHCR is using biometric identification technology in an attempt to keep track of so many people.

The logic for protecting and helping refugees through global humanitarian networks seems simple. People who travel thousands of miles to escape dangerous conflicts should have a safe place to work, raise their children and live their lives in peace. Yet the global refugee crisis shows us that many nations continue to struggle to meet the needs of refugees at their borders and efficiently deliver social services.

For instance, consider the rapid increase of Syrian refugees in response to the country’s ongoing civil war. Amnesty International reports that, as of February 2016, more than half the nation’s population is displaced. Over 4.5 million refugees have poured into the neighboring countries of Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt. However, global resettlement efforts have only managed to successfully resettle 162,151 people, a mere 3.6% of the total refugee population.

While resettlement is the ultimate goal of refugee relief efforts, Syria’s neighbors lack the resources and capacity to do it all themselves. Until other nations agree to take in more refugees, one way to help refugees living in border camps is to register them with the UNHCR.

Once registered, refugees are eligible to receive social and medical assistance from various humanitarian organizations. Refugee status protects adults from refoulement (forced return to their war-torn place of origin) and protects children from military recruitment. Registration also helps keep families together and gives them opportunities to contact other friends and loved ones.

The UNHCR is working to deliver faster assistance to refugees by implementing a biometric identification registration system. Currently, refugee camps employ a combination of methods to register refugees, usually involving time-consuming paperwork and fingerprinting. Not only are paper records increasingly difficult to archive as the refugee population steadily climbs, but fingerprinting requires training. The UNHCR hopes biometric identification, designed in partnership with Accenture, will drastically expedite the registration process and help refugees receive faster care after making the life-threatening journey out of dangerous regions.

Biometrics refer to a set of measurements and analyses of physical characteristics to verify personal identity. In the context of refugee registration, biometrics refer to digitally stored fingerprints, iris data and facial images. Once collected, the data gets encoded into a personal ID, which refugees can use throughout UNHCR facilities. Many refugees are forced to leave home on a moment’s notice, without enough time to collect important personal documents. Biometric ID cards can provide them with a secure form of personal identification to use as they build a new life.

The Biometric Identity Management System (BIMS) is designed to endure rugged field conditions like extreme heat, dust, humidity, power and connectivity outages. It’s relatively easy to operate, which is necessary in refugee camps where workers come and go on a regular basis and have varying levels of technological experience.

Accenture’s BIMS has already seen incredible success. The UNHCR piloted the technology at the Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi, where it rapidly enrolled and verified 17,000 of the camp’s refugees. Then, in Thailand, the BIMS added another 120,000 individuals to the international database of refugees.

The UNHCR has proved how an integrated database of biometric identification information can meet the growing demand for greater security and efficiency in the registration process. Once fully launched, the system can be used remotely or in high-risk areas to register refugees, verify their identity and improve the UNHCR’s ability to keep track of their needs.

– Jessica Levitan

Photo: Flickr

The UN’s Role in the Haitian Cholera Outbreak of 2010

Haitian Cholera Outbreak
The Haitian cholera outbreak in 2010 became endemic, after at least a century of the disease not posing a threat.

Spread through contaminated water, the infectious disease causes dehydration and severe diarrhea. It can even lead to death if left untreated, sometimes in just a few hours. The outbreak transpired just after a fatal earthquake occurred in the country.

The United Nations (U.N.) sent peacekeepers to Haiti to help with the damage but failed to screen them for cholera or build them sufficient toilet facilities. As a result, cholera-infected wastewater flowed into Haiti’s main river — a main source for washing, cooking, cleaning and drinking. By 2011, over 470,000 cases of cholera were reported, with 6,631 connected deaths.

Immediate Response

Within days of the Haitian cholera outbreak, the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP), along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its partners, established a national surveillance system to track cases of the disease.

Treatment and prevention materials were also quickly developed, and thousands of healthcare workers were trained. Together, the organizations reduced the initial mortality rate of four percent to less than one percent, saving an estimated 7,000 lives.

However, thousands of people continue to become sickened each year by cholera. Haiti’s water and sanitation infrastructure require major improvement for any significant, long-term progress to be made.

The U.N.’s Reaction

After denying any responsibility for over five years, the U.N. has now officially admitted to a role in the Haitian cholera outbreak.

The deputy spokesman for the Secretary-General, Farhan Haq, recently sent out an email saying, “over the past year, the U.N. has become convinced that it needs to do much more regarding its own involvement in the initial outbreak and the suffering of those affected by cholera.” He wrote that a “new response will be presented publicly within the next two months, once it has been fully elaborated, agreed with the Haitian authorities and discussed with member states.”

Although this statement fails to put blame on the U.N. or to indicate a change in its legal position — that it is absolutely immune from legal actions — it does represent a significant step forward for the U.N.

Looking Forward

Haiti launched a National Plan to eliminate cholera from the country in 2013. The 10-year-long plan focuses on water and sanitation, health and preventing further infections.

However, the plan is terribly underfunded. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) pledged over $125 million toward this program, $19 million of which was received; the plan is anticipated to top a total of $2.2 billion in investments.

Nigel Fisher, Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary-General in Haiti said, “It’s a big challenge. We have to raise literally billions of dollars. And this requires sustained support and commitment. That’s what we are here for. We, all of us partners, have a moral obligation to stay the course with cholera. Not just to lower the incidence of cholera, but to eliminate it from Haiti.”

– Alice Gottesman

Photo: Flickr

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Room for Improvement: Reducing Poverty in Malaysia

Malaysia_Poverty
The Southeast Asian nation of Malaysia is not a desperately poor country. Poverty in Malaysia is fairly low — the percentage of citizens at or below the national poverty line was 0.6 percent in 2014. Life expectancy and the infant mortality rate are about the same as in the U.S. and the GDP is growing.

Reducing poverty in Malaysia has come a long way since 1990 when the United Nations introduced the Millennium Development Goals. The first goal for the U.N. — to halve the number of people living on less than $1.25 a day by 2015 — was reached in Malaysia.

However, Malaysia has significant poverty and income inequality lurking just below the surface. While extreme poverty in Malaysia (income of less than $1.25 per day) is down to less than one percent, more than 25 percent of the population lives on less than $5 per day. Furthermore, about 60 percent of Malaysian families live on less than $1600 a month according to Al Jazeera.

About 20 million of the 30 million people in Malaysia live on the peninsula and approximately 72 percent of the population is urban.

The area in the need of the most support is the rural sector of Sabah on the island of Borneo. Borneo is a large island shared by Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia so migration around the island is common.

The country is now home to about 2 million immigrants due to migration and recent political turmoil in neighboring Thailand. At this time there is no process for asylum seekers in Malaysia.

Both legal and illegal immigrants are known to be treated harshly and do not receive government support. It is imperative for the Malaysian government to address the needs of migrants as they make up over 10 percent of the population.

Malaysia also has relatively high levels of income inequality. The GINI index measures how much income levels deviate from totally equal distribution. Malaysia places higher than most countries, including all of its neighboring countries and the United States, with a GINI index of 46.2.

Malaysia stands out among its surroundings despite these problems. Nations like Laos, Myanmar and the Philippines all hover around a 25 percent poverty rate and an infant mortality rate that is between three and seven times higher than Malaysia.

Malaysia is also the only country among them with a functional and robust social welfare system. It is clear that further steps must be taken but remarkable progress has been made to reduce poverty in Malaysia in the past few decades.

– John English

Photo: Flickr

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A Year in Review: UN Forum on Sustainable Development

Sustainable DevelopmentThe High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) will meet in July 2017 at the U.N. Headquarters in New York to discuss the U.N. 2030 Agenda, which was adopted on September 25, 2015 at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit. The theme of the forum is “Leaving No One Behind,” and it will meet from July 11 to 20.

The HLFP replaced the Commission on Sustainable Development in 2013 and meets every four years under the U.N. General Assembly and under the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) during other years.

According to the Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform, the goals of the Forum include to guide the execution of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), give suggestions about the 2030 Agenda, incorporate and apply science and international experiences and track the SDG.

The President of the ECOSOC, Oh Joon, stated that the Forum also aims to focus on the national ownership of the SDGS and incorporating the Goals into development plans.

Among its many objectives, the Forum will review the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs with help from reviewers from 22 countries across the world. The President of ECOSOC stated that the reviews are part of the new ways that the Forum works to secure that the world achieves the 2030 Agenda amidst changing global conditions.

The Forum will also take into account the inaugural report entitled “Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals” presented by Wu Hongbo, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for ECOSOC. The document is the first real report of the progress of the 17 SDGs.

As Wu said in an interview, eliminating poverty is both “the greatest global challenge” and a “requirement for sustainable development” that the Forum aims to address with improved methodology.

Although the HLPF is just one event among the many that it will take to create a sustainable, poverty-free world, the deliberations of the Forum are a crucial first step to continual progress.

– Addie Pazzynski

Photo: Flickr.

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G20 Summit Aims for Sustainable and Inclusive Development

Sustainable Development

From Sept. 4 to 5, heads of state and government from nineteen countries and the European Union will gather in Hangzhou, China for the 11th G20 summit. The theme of this year’s conference is “Towards an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy”, a motto which many officials and experts find encouraging.

In an interview with the Xinhua News Agency, China’s state-owned media outlet, Atsushi Sunami, the vice president of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Tokyo, explained that the G20 summit could forge consensus on implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Adopted by the U.N. last fall, the 2030 Agenda includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and aims to end poverty and hunger by the end of the third decade in the 21st century.

Sunami also called on countries to work together and build innovation across borders. The conference in Hangzhou, in his view, could jump-start the dialogue on open innovation and inclusive development.

Also speaking with Xinhua, Peter Thompson, who will be the president of the upcoming 71st Session of the U.N. General Assembly, voiced his support for the summit’s theme as well as the U.N.’s desire to work with the G20 organizers. “We will certainly be doing our part here at the United Nations in terms of the G20 outcome to make sure it’s built into the international implementation plans,” he said.

Likewise, Daniel Funes de Rioja, President of the International Organization of Employers (IOE), expressed his hope that the G20 summit will be a step in the direction of inclusive development. “Prosperity requires growth, investment, technology and innovation, with employment and social coverage for all,” according to de Rioja.

Indeed, while the G20 is primarily a forum for leaders of the developed world, developing countries are also starting to make their voices heard.

Senegal, which will be present at the summit in Hangzhou, sees the G20 as a platform to call attention to African issues as well as an opportunity to explore solutions. Alioune Sarr, the country’s commerce minister, told China Central Television (CCTV) that the conference will highlight the necessity of poverty eradication and inclusive development on the continent.

The G20 has consistently underscored the importance of international cooperation when it comes to solving the world’s problems, and the renewed emphasis on inclusive development and shared prosperity is certainly a welcome change.

– Philip Katz

Photo: Flickr

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UN Unveils New Advertising Initiative: Common Ground

Common_Good_Initiative

The Common Ground Initiative was unveiled at the Cannes Lions advertising festival on Friday, June 24 to a crowd of some of the industry’s top leaders. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon shared the stage with some of advertising’s most powerful CEOs to make the announcement.

The initiative is a plan to produce and distribute advertising about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the United Nation’s set of 17 goals for improving living conditions around the world. The ads will run in publications such as The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, the Daily Mail and Le Figaro, to name a few.

The collaborative effort between the rival companies is unprecedented, even more so when considering that both the ads and media time were gifted pro-bono for the cause.

However, considering the importance of the SDG’s, the necessity of raising awareness in participating countries cannot be understated. It is especially vital considering that there are no legal mandates pushing countries towards adopting the SDGs.

The Wall Street Journal interviewed Jan Eliasson, the deputy secretary-general of the U.N. In his interview, Eliasson argued that raising awareness of the goals would add pressure on governments to take a stand on some of the issues in question.

A 2013 survey by the European Commission found that only six percent of the European Union was aware of the U.N.’s previous initiative, the Millennium Development Goals, despite their success. The U.N. hopes that Common Ground will inspire more countries to reach the 2030 date for the current goals.

According to the Jamestown Sun, the first set of advertisements will focus on everyday people agreeing that the goals of the SDG’s are more important any rivalries between interested parties, implying that everybody should be a strong supporter of the U.N.’s goals.

In debuting the initiative, the advertising companies issued the following statement: “By working in partnership to support the Sustainable Development Goals, we want to demonstrate that even fierce competitors can set aside their differences in order to serve a wider common interest.”

– Sabrina Santos

Photo: U.N. Multimedia

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Plan International’s Goals for Gender Equality

Plan International

Plan International recently announced a multi-organizational partnership to help track the U.N.’s global goals for gender equality.

The goals for gender equality stem from the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These goals, adopted in 2015, aim to vastly improve the living conditions around the world.

The central focus of this project is gender inequality. Plan International decided to collect relevant data and use it as a benchmark to determine the amount of progress.

Partner Organizations for Gender Equality

To do so, they partnered with several organizations. These include the International Women’s Health Coalition and KPGM. In addition, Plan International chose the ONE Campaign and Women Deliver.

Plan International chose these organizations because their previous work and values align with those of Plan. However, some organizations bring additional value to the table.

For instance, KPMG has a history of partnership building in the private sector. They also have a strong data tracking history with their Change Readiness Index. That index will be especially important in the project’s next few months.

The project’s first step is to sift through the data that already exists. They can then determine what is relevant to their goals for gender equality and what is not.

In an exclusive interview with Mary Bridger, the Engagement Manager for Plan’s SDG tracking initiative, she said, “We don’t feel that you can truly comprehend the realities for girls and women until you look beyond the quantitative data and find out what the lived realities for these individuals are (i.e. you can measure the geographic proximity of a school to girls, but until you ask them whether they feel safe on public transportation, you don’t know the true barriers).”

Prioritizing Gender Equality

For now, the project’s next goal is to work with their partners to push the scope of their research and develop the tools necessary to allow them to best capture those lived realities.

Bridger underscored the importance of this campaign when she said, “Plan International’s purpose is to work towards all children fulfilling their rights, focusing on excluded and vulnerable groups so that no-one is left behind. However, we have recognized the urgent need to prioritize girls as the most marginalized group whose rights are violated most.”

Plan International and their partner organizations all believe that meeting goals for gender equality will have a ripple effect within local communities and even worldwide.

– Sabrina Santos

Photo: Talent Culture