Tag Archive for: Global Poverty

Inflammation and stories on global poverty

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The Battle to Alleviate Global Poverty

The Battle to Alleviate Global Poverty
The Trump Administration has recently proposed severe budget cuts that will drastically reduce U.S. foreign aid in the developing world. In response to this potential risk, it is essential to identify the various developing countries that receive financial assistance that is necessary for developing the economic, political and social structures. Being able to differentiate between varying forms of foreign assistance is necessary in fully understanding what the U.S. can do to develop these struggling countries around the world.

Although foreign aid is extremely beneficial in efforts to alleviate global poverty, it is temporarily effective when compared to the long-term sustainability that is achieved through foreign investments. Nonetheless, foreign aid is extremely vital in potentially liberating a developing country from the negative consequences of recession, malnourishment and poverty. In distinguishing between foreign aid and foreign investments, it is crucial to understand how both efforts fundamentally affect the world’s poor.

Foreign aid is simply the donation of goods and services to developing countries, which generally is represented by a “cash value” articulated through the goods and services. However, alongside this aid derives contingencies for the recipient. For example, the goods and services heavily influence economic, political and ideological deviations that ultimately benefit the progression of the donor’s advancements in their worldly position.

Although this foreign aid is very resourceful during struggling times, citizens of developing countries seek more than just donations from countries around the world. The citizens strive for opportunities from development organizations to train them in various life skills that will help them lead healthy and successful lives. These developments will aim to improve their social and economic situations, giving them the tools and opportunities to raise themselves out of poverty, thus furthering the efforts to alleviate global poverty.

On the other hand, foreign investment is preferred to aid due to the long-term sustainability that accompanies the ventures made in developing countries. By investing in the encouragement of entrepreneurship, the development of small businesses and growth of financial investments, it benefits both the donors and the recipients. These investments generate economic activity and employment for not only the developing countries, but it produces additional consumer markets to boost trade within the host countries.

Nonetheless, foreign aid is an effective form of assistance for a developing country that needs immediate relief before devastating living conditions become destructive to the country’s well-being. By only lending goods and services to these developing countries instead of implementing teaching techniques, it could potentially hurt the development of encouragement and self-sufficiency overseas.

However, without foreign aid, these crisis-stricken nations would not be able to save the structural components of the countries. In order to alleviate global poverty and produce long-lasting effects on many struggling countries across the developing world, philanthropic nations need to understand that strongly investing in developing countries creates bigger impacts on furthering the world’s poor.

– Brandon Johnson

Photo: Flickr

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Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina: Fighting Global Poverty


During the 136th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Bangladesh, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pressed world leaders to unite against global poverty and terrorism in order to progress mankind toward a peaceful and unified world.

The IPU Assembly includes 1,400 delegates from 120 countries, whose efforts focus on the pursuit of global resolutions of peace, development and cooperation among peoples, which is necessary for the protection of representative democracy across the globe.

During Hasina’s address, she stated that nearly 800 million people are still threatened by poverty and malnutrition in developing countries. Though progress has been made in allocating peace and granting opportunities to these struggling families, she advises global leaders to continue the fight in combatting the threatening and aggressive forces of global poverty and terrorism.

With a population exceeding 156 million, at least 45 million people in Bangladesh live below the poverty line, including extreme poverty conditions. A major cause of rural poverty has been the excessive population growth throughout the country. By placing enormous amounts of pressure on the country’s natural resources, population growth has produced detrimental consequences, resulting in a low-income country with substantial poverty and inequality.

Hasina spoke highly of the progress Bangladesh has made in fighting rural poverty. She stated that poverty has declined from 31.5 percent in 2010 to 22.4 percent in 2016, leading to an increase in per capita income to $1,466 and life expectancy to 71 years. These increases are in response to the high expectations and goals Hasina has placed on Bangladesh, aiming to make her country a middle-income country by 2021 and a developed and prosperous nation by 2041.

Along with these long-term goals and expectations, Hasina has urged the global community to stand up against terrorism and militancy, as it is threatening many developing countries from achieving prosperity. Hasina claims that she has had to escape numerous attempts on her own life, proving the constant difficulties in her fight of reaching democracy and fulfilling her dangerous agenda of eradicating terrorism throughout these developing countries.

With firm ambitions for her country, Hasina has fought for her country to attain prosperity, primarily by combating the threats of global poverty and terrorism. Through her persuasive dialogue and determination for success, she seeks for other global leaders to join the fight in alleviating the hardships felt around the world.

– Brandon Johnson

Photo: Flickr

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Compassion International: Educating Children on Global Poverty

Compassion International Aims to Educate Children on Global Poverty
In the U.S., a sheltered and privileged lifestyle can reduce potential opportunities for happiness and prosperity for those living in developing countries. But how? As time progresses, younger generations develop a lack of understanding in regards to the devastating living conditions in the developing world, inhibiting the potential for philanthropic efforts from youthful generations.

In aiming to educate children on global poverty, Compassion International has designed an interactive exhibit that gives children the opportunity to learn about the developing world. Compassion International is a child-advocacy ministry with the goal to free children in the developing world from various forms of poverty.

This exhibit strives to open a privileged child’s eyes to the barriers that prevent less privileged children from escaping the consequences of devastating inequality.

In working with churches throughout the U.S., the Compassion Experience aims to educate children on global poverty by pushing them to learn about the specific living conditions and daily lives of those who face poverty every day in developing countries.

The exhibit allows children to choose between different variations of a self-guided tour, represented by recreations of actual homes throughout struggling countries, like Ethiopia and the Dominican Republic.

These children will hear other less privileged children describe their own life and living conditions. At the end of the tour, the less privileged discuss how they overcame poverty through education and church sponsorships.

With three operable mobile units in the U.S., featuring five poor children’s stories, the exhibit draws hundreds of thousands of visitors. Compassion International aims to further expand its initiative with the development of more dialogues and tours across the U.S. With about a million and a half children sponsored through their program, Compassion International grossed an annual budget in the 2014 fiscal year of $710 million, continuing to show promising results and increases in their annual budget.

These exhibits aim to open the eyes of many children by demonstrating the difficulties of those growing up in extreme poverty. By showing younger generations these overwhelming differences, Compassion International hopes children will express more gratitude in their own lives and join the fight in alleviating global poverty.

– Brandon Johnson

Photo: Flickr

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15 Facts about Global Poverty

Global Poverty
Most people are aware of global poverty, but oftentimes, the facts don’t sink in until people see the numbers. Here are 15 facts about global poverty.

1. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that from 2014 to 2016, one in nine people suffered from chronic undernourishment. Almost all of them live in developing nations.

2. Between the years 1992 and 2014, the number of undernourished people in developing nations was reduced to 43 percent. However, there is still a long way to go. The percentage of the world’s population that still suffers from hunger is 13.5 percent.

3. Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the least amount of progress made in reducing hunger, with one in four people deemed chronically undernourished.

4. Although many Asian nations have made improvements in their poverty levels, little progress to decrease the number of chronically undernourished people has been made.

5. Undernutrition during a child’s developing years causes problems such as stunted height. In 2012, Professor Daniel Schwekendiek from Sungkyunkwan University studied the heights of children in North and South Korea. He found that poor nutrition causes North Korean children to be one to three inches shorter than South Korean children.

6. Another side effect of malnutrition is iron deficiency. Half of all pregnant women in developing countries are estimated to be anemic. About 40 percent of preschool-age children are also estimated to have anemia, which causes problems such as weakness and insomnia.

7. In the United States, a case of upset stomach and diarrhea might cause a sick day. For developing countries, a diarrheal disease could be a death sentence for a child. In 2015, diarrhea accounted for nine percent of deaths among children age five and under. This made it the leading cause of death for children in that age group.

8. Between 2000 and 2015, the number of children under five dying from pneumonia decreased by 47 percent. However, the numbers are not decreasing fast enough. In 2015, the cause of one in six childhood deaths was pneumonia.

9. The Center for Disease Control and Management estimates that 780 million people have no access to clean drinking water. This is about the same number of people who suffer from hunger and malnutrition globally. People living in rural areas are more likely to not have access to an improved water source.

10. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that one in five primary schools girls do not have access to education. Experts say that one reason for this is because menstruating girls often do not have access to toilets in schools. Girls are also more likely to be in charge of fetching water for the family. This makes it difficult for them to stay in school.

11. Contaminated drinking water can also lead to diseases such as Guinea Worm Disease (GWD). This is a painful parasitic disease that causes worms to emerge from the body through blisters and sores.

12. Unclean water isn’t only unsafe to drink, it can also be unsafe to wash in. Contaminated water sources used in washing can lead to problems such as trachoma, the world’s leading cause of preventable blindness. Nearly 41 million people suffer from this condition.

13. According to UNAIDS, there were approximately 37 million people living with HIV/AIDS in 2015. The number of children under the age of 15 living with the disease in 2015 was 1.8 million.

14. In 2015, 150,000 children became infected with HIV. The majority of them live in Sub-Saharan Africa and became infected by their mothers through pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding.

15. However, people are making progress in addressing the AIDS epidemic. In 2016, there were an estimated 18.2 million HIV-infected people on antiretroviral therapy. UNAIDS hopes to increase that number to 30 million by 2020.

Most people have some general knowledge of the effects of global poverty, but the numbers make the reality more palpable. These facts demonstrate the great amount of progress made and the work that still needs to be done. The Borgen Project is helping decrease global poverty number by educating, advocating and mobilizing people. However, until poverty is completely eliminated, there is still plenty of work to be done.

– Mary Grace Costa

Photo: Flickr

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Teaching Children About Global Education and Development

Teaching Children About Global Education and Development
Entering “pen pal in developing country” into a search engine will display results with at least five different organizations that offer this type of service. Parents and teachers may do this to find pen pals for their children and students, while at the same time trying to teach them about global education and development for those who are much less fortunate than they are. However, Virginia Fresne who is Director of programs for the nonprofit organization Flying Kites, says that this is not always mutually beneficial or educational for either writer.

Founded in 2007, Flying Kites believes that the way out of poverty is through education. They run a leadership academy in the foothills of Kenya’s mountains where they help some of the world’s most desperate children. Flying Kites believes that education is a human right; they believe in children, and they believe in children’s rights and dreams. They invite others to “believe with us.”

Fresne says that she often receives letters written by people who hope to become pen pals with her Kenyan students. However, she feels that “letter exchanging with ‘disadvantaged’ children in an effort to remind our own children to appreciate privilege doesn’t work for our students in Kenya.” Students may not know enough about the person who they are writing to, specifically about their vulnerabilities. This can lead to the use of phrases such as, “I’m sorry you are poor.” According to Fresne, wording such as this, “would be confusing, offensive or hurtful to our students in Kenya.”

Instead, she suggests other methods that she feels are more effective in teaching children about global education and development. One is having children write to their state representatives about issues that are affecting the world’s poor. To do this requires them to first learn about some of the challenges and difficulties faced by people who live in poverty. Another way is sponsoring a student, with the help of an adult, using an organization such as Flying Kites. This supports the education of a student in need and may initiate correspondence between the student and the sponsor, depending on the level of sponsorship.

Among Fresne’s other suggestions for teaching children about global education and development are helping them to coordinate a bake sale to use the proceeds as donations, or encouraging them to read about global poverty. They can then take what they learn and teach others, spreading awareness. Fresne notes how much braver this generation is, and says, “They will be a force in this world, but it won’t be because they sent letters to ‘poor children.’”

– Kristin Westad

Photo: Flickr

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USAID Leads the National Fight on Global Poverty

Global Poverty
As of 2013, 767 million men and women worldwide live under the global poverty line. Nearly 11 percent of the world’s population still struggle to make ends meet with less than $1.90 per person per day. According to recent World Bank statistics, much of this community is densely populated in sub-Saharan Africa. This region touts over half of the global impoverished community.

The U.S. Agency for International Development is one of the many organizations looking to make strides with this epidemic. Launched by the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, USAID aims to lead the U.S. national effort to abolish socioeconomic inequality.

This agency has instituted multiple initiatives geared towards combating widespread global poverty. Most notably, the U.S. Global Initiative Lab, instituted in 2014, works in conjunction with prominent businesses and academic institutions to address preeminent wealth disparity issues through a wide network of pooled resources.

These cornerstone partnerships offer advanced research and development capabilities which would otherwise be unavailable to one single entity. The U.S. Global Initiative Lab has also recently sought to implement technological advances in these poverty-stricken communities. The Lab has labored to effectively reallocate funds to provide the necessary groundwork for these actions to take place.

One USAID administrator, Rajiv Shah, expresses optimism when discussing these changes in a 2014 interview with Time Magazine. “[…] if we could get and invent new seeds, new mobile technology, and open new data centers to help farmers connect their crop prices and understand weather variability, we can do something transformational […].”

In 2016, USAID requested a budget of $50.1 billion to carry out development activities. This lump sum included a $35.2 billion base request to directly support people and global health programs while bolstering American U.N. leadership.

In its Congressional budget justification, USAID recognized the need for “accountability, efficiency, and effectiveness in the use of taxpayer dollars.” Additionally, the agency directly pointed out the need for budget allocation to African programs.

This request specifically outlines the need to secure policies concerning democracy, education and economic growth. USAID points to democratic gains in Nigeria as well as political transitions throughout the continent as vital measures towards infrastructural improvement.

These initiatives illustrate a refreshing sense of awareness on the part of USAID. Blindly throwing money at an issue yields ineffective and temporary solutions. Dire situations require resilience and thoughtful action.

USAID’s mission statement calls for “democratic societies to realize their potential.” The organization does not look for immediate solutions to complicated problems. More accurately, USAID works to promote a stable environment which can cultivate economic prosperity for years to come.

USAID believes actions like theirs may go to “define the majority of the history written about our era.” Time will show the scope of the impact USAID can have in the fight against global poverty.

– Brady Rippon

Photo: Flickr

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Masood Ahmed Named as the New CGD President

Masood Ahmed Named as the New CGD President
Representatives confirmed on Sept. 6, 2016, that Masood Ahmed would begin serving as the new Center for Global Development (CGD) president in early 2017. Current President Nancy Birdstall announced the end of her 15-year tenure with the organization last November. Now that the CGD has found an equally accomplished replacement, she is thrilled to welcome a leader of Ahmed’s caliber to the team.

The CGD works to change practice and policy in wealthy nations in a way that alleviates global poverty. Per the organization’s website, “We are a policy crucible where world-class scholars use independent, rigorous research to develop new knowledge and practical solutions.”

Because the organization has a proven track record of influencing developmental policy worldwide, finding a new CGD president with global reach was paramount. After conducting an intensive search, the selection committee chose Ahmed for his impressive record of service for the world’s poor.

Here are five facts about Masood Ahmed’s career that will position him for success as the new CGD president:

  1. Ahmed has multiple degrees from the London School of Economics (LSE).
    LSE is one of the world’s leading universities. Students and faculty alike regularly produce groundbreaking research in social sciences, economics, politics, sociology, anthropology, accounting and finance. The institution boasts a roster of top researchers and Nobel Prize winners. Ahmed excelled to such a degree that he took a position as lecturer at LSE after completing his postgraduate work.
  2. He has held senior positions within the World Bank.
    In 1983, Ahmed began working with the World Bank, which provides low-interest loans to aid programs in developing nations. Over the course of his career with the organization, he carried out emergency response, water management, flood protection and hydropower projects in nations across the globe. He also led the HIPC Debt Initiative, which provided 36 developing nations with $76 billion in funding since its inception in 1996.
  3. He redefined International Monetary Fund policies.
    Most notable of all, perhaps, is Ahmed’s extensive work with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The organization is a collaborative effort among 189 member countries. Like the World Bank, IMF focuses on poverty reduction by way of strategic funding and the creation of financial stability in developing nations.
    Ahmed joined IMF in 2000 to serve as deputy director of the Strategy, Policy and Review Department. In that seat, which he held for three years, he oversaw the organization’s conditionality guidelines. In 2005, he played an instrumental role in redrafting those guidelines for the first time in 32 years. Such guidelines focus on internal evaluations of how funds are appropriated. These principles also set up safeguards that ensure all IMF funds are repaid once recipient nations reach financial stability.
  4. Ahmed took on global poverty from a government seat.
    Between 2003 and 2006, Ahmed served as director general for Policy and International Development of the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID). This branch of the British government is the driving force behind the United Kingdom’s global development efforts.
    DFID directors are tasked with ensuring that the U.K. cooperates to the fullest extent with U.N. development goals, enhancing the efficacy of British foreign aid by increasing transparency and improving international development policy.
  5. He led developmental efforts in the Middle East and Central Asia as an IMF director.
    Ahmed’s current position, which he has held since November 2008, is IMF director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department. Christine Lagarde, IMF managing director, said that Ahmed has been a “visionary leader” in overseeing operations in the region. He will vacate this post in 2017.

Over the course of a brilliant career, the new CGD president has helped create meaningful, sustainable change in the developing world by working with some of the most influential agencies on Earth. The upward mobility of his career is indicative of a mind people trust and a voice those working for the world’s poor want to hear.

“CGD occupies a prime position in the development, policy and research worlds; in my career these have also been my worlds,” Ahmed said. While serving as the new CGD president, Ahmed will flex strategic muscles built by a lifetime of outstanding global service.

– Madeline Distasio

Photo: Flickr

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The King Scholar Program at Dartmouth College

King Scholar Program
The King Scholar Program is a full scholarship gifted to Dartmouth College students who are dedicated to alleviating poverty in their home countries. The program was funded by Dorothy and Robert King, who wanted to, “help address the problem of global poverty by funding exceptional students from developing nations in Latin America, Africa, and Asia at Dartmouth.”

Students who receive the King Scholarship have ongoing academic mentorship throughout their career at Dartmouth College and course development that encourages them to focus on leadership and international development.

The King Scholar Program encourages its participants to actively participate in ending global poverty. For example, during the students’ participation in the program, they must return to their homes for one summer to research and report how they would end poverty in their countries. After graduating, the students are encouraged to return to continue their work.

Additionally, during their freshman and sophomore years, King Scholars participate in King Leadership Week, which takes place in Washington, D.C. and New York. During this event, they have the opportunity to meet leaders in international development, gain context for work being done in the field and network for future employment.

There is no special application for the King Scholar Program, but the Dartmouth Admissions Office, “elects students for this special honor who embody the vision of the program, including a commitment to alleviating poverty, a record of academic excellence, and a passion for global issues.” The program’s current members hail from Jamaica, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Rwanda and Burkina Faso and all share a similar passion to making a difference in their countries.

By encouraging young students from developing countries to make a difference in alleviating global poverty, the King Scholar Program is creating influential leaders who are ready to make palpable changes in their home countries. This causes students to have a stronger connection to the work they are doing, and be inspired to make a change. This type of education is one that makes a lasting difference in terms of fighting global poverty.

– Julia Arredondo

 

Why Global Poverty Still Exists

Global Poverty
For the first time in human history, the goal of eliminating poverty is within our grasp. Recently, the World Bank announced global poverty has fallen below 10 percent for the first time, a measure the organization defines as a person living on less than $1.90 a day.

However, the numbers surrounding poverty are still daunting. About 702 million people or 9.6 percent of the world’s population still live in extreme poverty. More than 3 billion people, nearly half the world’s population, live on less than $2.50 a day.

Where does this level of poverty come from? Are resources limited?

According to the CIA’s World Fact Book, the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of the world at purchasing power parity is $21,470. That means the value of goods and services produced for every person in the world each day is about $58.78.

World poverty isn’t a problem of limited resources, it is a problem of inequality. This inequality is upheld by the idea that aid creates dependence. The old proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,” embodies this idea.

Aid can take the form of instruction. New efforts related to relief have revealed poverty can be reduced by offering productive assets, training and cash to people living in destitute countries. The non-profit Innovations for Poverty Action tested what they call the “Graduation Program” in a nine-year, six-country study following 21,000 adults in 10,495 households in India, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Ghana, Peru and Honduras.

The program successfully reduced poverty through providing goods such as livestock, business advisement and a small amount of cash to live off of while receiving training. Testers found a boost of 133 to 433 percent on investment. In other words, for every dollar spent on the program in India, participants received an increased income of $4.33.

The creators of the Graduation Program understood poverty is a vicious cycle that can be hard to break free from. People living in extreme poverty often have to choose between immediate gratification like eating every day and long term investment like procuring an education. By providing immediate aid to people in need, we can help them out of poverty by allowing them to focus on learning the skills they need for self-sufficiency.

The world without poverty is possible and desirable. The six countries that field the most expensive militaries spent almost a trillion dollars on defense expenditures in 2015 alone. Despite this astronomical military spending, our world remains locked in conflict. Removing poverty would make our world more stable. Access to economic opportunity helps insulate populations from extremist ideologies. By shifting a fraction of what we spend on defense to international aid, we can eliminate global poverty in a generational period.

In turn, a poverty-free world would create expanded overseas markets and additional job opportunities in developed nations. A future without poverty is a more productive one. By coming together to tackle the plague of destitution around the world, we have the opportunity to advance the human condition and eliminate global poverty in a way no one has done before.

– Will Sweger

Photo: Flickr

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Thought For Food Offers Prizes For World Hunger Solutions

World Hunger With almost 800 million people globally without enough food, at least one group is looking to college students to find world hunger solutions.

Although many things are being done to reduce these numbers, the world population is on course to reach over nine billion by 2050. Fortunately, one organization is taking a unique approach to battle the approaching issue of food security and fight world hunger.

Thought For Food (TFF) holds an annual event called the TFF Challenge where teams of university students dedicated to finding world hunger solutions through technology and innovation compete for a $10,000 grand prize to come up with a way to feed more than nine billion people by 2050. Teams are judged on the quality of their innovation, implementation, uniqueness and team spirit.

Registration is open until Oct. 31.

In the latest round of the TFF Challenge, more than 450 teams are expected to enter in hopes of being named finalists. Only 10 teams actually make it past the first round, but competitors have good incentive to be one of lucky teams that do make it beyond prize money. Competitors are also offered  valuable training and mentorship opportunities.

First, finalists enroll in an online business building course to help them improve their pitch. After they finish the business course, they are invited to TFF boot camp, where they gain startup building experience. Finally, teams go to the TFF Global Summit, where they present their ideas on stage in front of industry leaders and thinkers.

Although only ten teams enter the final round, the TFF community is available to all entrants. The TFF community, made up of past and present teams, provides an opportunity for teams to communicate, network and improve ideas with others who share a common passion.

The latest finalists of the TFF Challenge had a wide variety of ideas on solutions to world hunger and how it should be tackled. One group, Fruiti-cycle, engineered a better means of produce transportation for farmers. Another called B-Box, provides a high-tech bee hive that farmers would keep on their land. Not only would the bees produce honey for consumption, but they would significantly increase food yield through higher rates of pollination.

One team even created a cooking oil made from meal worms that is low in fat and high in nutrients. Though it may not sound appetizing, there are many undernourished people around the globe that could benefit from an enriched food.

These are just a few of the hundreds of ideas that the TFF Challenge attracts. By offering premium incentives TFF brings out the best in some of the world’s finest up-and-coming innovators. In doing so, TFF members say they hope to see the world move a little closer to finding solutions to world hunger.

– Weston Northrop

Photo: Flickr

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