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Elderly Poverty in Guinea

Elderly Poverty in GuineaAlthough life expectancy was previously low due to health issues leading to early death, advancements in technology, urbanization and globalization are expected to increase the elderly population in low-income African countries. With an overall lack of resources in line with few studies and policies made for older adults, elderly poverty is a concerning issue in sub-Saharan Africa, a region with the world’s highest poverty rates. “In Guinea, the country is currently facing problems related to aging, not because of the low demographic weight of the elderly (about 6% of the total population) but because of their increasing number.”

Reasons behind Elderly Poverty

Most of the elderly population live in rural areas (65%) and have not received education (82%). As they age and become less able to perform labor, it is hard for older adults to earn income. Deterioration in body function also leads to malnutrition, diseases and illness. Formally, in a traditional family, family members and offspring cared for older people.

However, recently, Africa has been going through a change initiated by colonialism. With development and modernization, change was made toward a Western family structure of a nuclear family or young people moving to urban areas and leaving older people behind. As a result, older adults are often left vulnerable. They have little or no support they would otherwise have had in a traditional setting.

Strategy of Governance

Some solutions to combat poverty emphasize the need for stronger governance and a more effective social pension system. A study that simulated pension systems in 15 low-income sub-Saharan African countries found that considering fiscal capability and operational feasibility, a non-contributory pension program targeting poor elderly individuals was ideal. A targeted social pension was deemed more practical than a universal pension system.

A “Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper” by the Guinean government in 2013 stated that the urban-rural divide and low-income distribution to the poor contribute negatively to national poverty. While the paper does not exclusively cover the topic of elderly poverty in Guinea, it emphasizes efforts regarding policy-making, governance and economic development to combat issues of regional growth, employment and poverty.

A Pan-African Way

However, there is another way of dealing with issues, especially in regard to older people. It is to embrace the African culture and approach rather than implement Western values and modernized social structures. Pan-Africanism is a term that calls for unity within the African region and criticizes colonialism. The book “Aging in Africa” emphasizes the importance of providing support to older adults through family generations. It writes that “this is how Africa had its strength in the decades past and this should be where it draws its strength in the future.”

Conclusion

While there are nongovernmental organizations such as the World Food Program and Helen Keller International operating inside Guinea for poverty allegations, there are not many significant measures taken to deal with elderly poverty. Continuous interest and an in-depth understanding of elderly poverty in Guinea are required. A Pan-African approach, embracing and preserving the African culture of valuing older people, can be implemented to deal with poverty.

– Minji L. Kim

Minji is based in Preston, Lancashire, UK and focuses on Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Top Poverty-Fighting Causes Receive $300 Million in Funding

Top Poverty-Fighting Causes 
In 2023, Open Philanthropy pledged $300 million of funding over the next three years to GiveWell, an organization searching for and highlighting the most cost-effective, top poverty-fighting causes through comprehensive research. Open Philanthropy aims to achieve the best possible, conducting thorough research on the organizations they fund to achieve this. Open Philanthropy’s funding of $300 million to GiveWell will have a huge impact on those who need it most, preventing tens of thousands of deaths and demonstrating Open Philanthropy’s faith in GiveWell as they “set the gold standard in our eyes.”

Open Philanthropy began as an initiative within GiveWell, headed by Cari Tuna and Dustin Moskovitz, later growing into its own independent organization in June 2017. GiveWell and Open Philanthropy still work closely together as they share the mutual goal of finding the top poverty-fighting causes and cost-effective organizations that do the most good. Since the founding of Open Philanthropy, it has awarded GiveWell more than $1 billion in funding. While GiveWell publishes data and research to recommend the most impactful organizations to the public, Open Philanthropy primarily chooses where to give Tuna and Moskovitz’s money, funding a broader range of issues with a focus on how important a cause is, if it is underfunded and if there is a clear way in which funding could accelerate progress. So far in 2023, Open Philanthropy has donated $140,312,603 to organizations recommended by Give Well. 

Sightsavers

Since 2017, Open Philanthropy has been funding deworming programs led by Sightsavers at the recommendation of GiveWell.

In March of this year, they continued their support for Sightsavers, giving a total grant of $11.2 million to fund the next three years of their work. The majority of the funding, $8.3 million, will support already established deworming programs in Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad, with the other $2.9 million used to develop the program in Chad to cover 10 more regions. 

Sightsavers treat children for the parasitic infection schistosomiasis, which kills 200,000 people in Sub-Saharan Africa every year, and intestinal worms. Deworming is recognized as one of the most cost-effective programs in areas where these parasitic infections are high. Without treatment these diseases can affect cognitive and physical development, impacting the child’s health and disrupting their education as they struggle to concentrate or miss school. This can perpetuate the poverty cycle as it is almost impossible to escape poverty without an education. 

Malaria Consortium 

Extending its funding for the seventh year in a row, Open Philanthropy awarded the Malaria Consortium $61.4 million to aid its seasonal malaria chemoprevention programs in Nigeria, Chad, Burkina Faso and Togo until 2025. Open Philanthropy is passionate about tackling malaria, as every year it causes 600,000 deaths, 70% of which are children under 5 years old in Sub-Saharan Africa. Its grant to the Malaria Consortium funds the administration of antimalarial drugs to children monthly during the four peak months of the malaria season.

GiveWell recommended Malaria Consortium to Open Philanthropy as seasonal chemoprevention has proven to effectively and significantly reduce the widespread presence and severity of malaria. A longitudinal study conducted in Togo showed SMC reduced the prevalence of malaria by 75% in 2020, while the fourth round of SMC proved to be 96.2% more effective than the first round. As malaria is the leading cause of death in children under five, it is unsurprising that the Malaria Consortium’s effective work is one of GiveWell’s top poverty-fighting causes. 

Helen Keller International – Vitamin A Supplementation 

Open Philanthropy’s grant to Helen Keller International in January 2023 was 17 times larger than the previous year, awarding them more than $67 million to assist with vitamin A supplementation (VAS) in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Niger, Nigeria and Mali. Vitamin A deficiency occurs in poverty-stricken areas as their diets lack variation or nutrients and can have detrimental impacts on their health by weakening their immune system, causing anemia, stunting, blindness and complications during pregnancy or birth. Helen Keller International aids in VAS programs for children by providing technical assistance, advocacy and funding for governments to implement the programs. The grant supports Helen Keller’s operations in 8 countries for an extra 18 months, ending in June 2026, and helps them expand to more regions, such as in DRC, where Helen Keller plans to reach 7 new provinces by 2025.

Open Philanthropy’s generous funding of $100 million a year to the top poverty-fighting causes recommended by GiveWell, will save tens of thousands of lives every year. Hopefully, this harmonious partnership will continue to play a massive and vital role in the fight against poverty. 

– Alice Isola
Photo: Freepik

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Effective Charities Reducing Poverty

Effective Charities Reducing Poverty
One of the most straightforward methods to combat extreme poverty is contributing to charities dedicated to this cause. However, the positive impact a donation can have varies between different organizations. Despite this, only 38% of U.S. donors research where their money is going. Fortunately, websites such as TheLifeYouCanSave and GiveWell provide valuable data to help individuals identify effective charities that reduce poverty globally. Here are three charities reducing poverty. They are different, yet highly cost-effective and impactful, organizations worthy of support.

Effective Charities Reducing Poverty

  1. GiveDirectly: A new and radical way of helping those most in need is through transfers of no-strings-attached cash. This concept has received wide criticism — consider the aphorism, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for the day; teach a man to fish, and you will feed him for a lifetime.” However, Michael Faye, executive chairman and co-founder of GiveDirectly argues, “There is some visceral discomfort with simply giving poor people money. But the evidence, overwhelmingly, is that cash is one of the most effective ways of alleviating poverty.” Using the gold-standard evidence of a randomized controlled trial (RCT), GiveDirectly claims its impact per $1,000 increases earnings by $270, assets by $430 and spending on nutrition by $330, with no effect on alcohol or tobacco spending, clearly demonstrating the effectiveness of their method. One research study conducted in Siaya County, Kenya, found the economic impact of a $1,000 transfer to be roughly $2,500 after 27 months. Not only did the economic benefit more than double, but psychological well-being, food security and education all improved too. Although there could be a risk of inflation, in Siaya where over 15% of local GDP was delivered in cash transfers, prices hardly increased — only rising 0.1%. Another study evaluating $1,000 cash transfers to coffee-farming communities in Uganda also found consumption, earnings and food security all improved for those in coffee farmer households as well as those not. GiveDirectly proves that cash transfers can have a huge impact on poverty-stricken communities as they reduce child labor (without reducing adult labor), increase school attendance, and provide economic autonomy and greater diversity in diet. It might be time to trust that those most in need know what they need and are capable of building a future for themselves.
  2. Malaria Consortium & The Against Malaria Foundation: Malaria is one of the leading causes of death in low-income countries, killing more than 600,000 people annually, most of whom are children under 5 years old in sub-Saharan Africa. One of the most effective ways of combating malaria is through seasonal malaria chemoprevention, a preventative medicine. In the Sahel region of Africa, which experiences notably high malaria rates, the Malaria Consortium leads the implementation of the Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention program. This program involves administering monthly doses of antimalarial drugs to children during the four months when malaria season is at its peak. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention has demonstrated its effectiveness in reducing the prevalence of malaria attacks and severe cases by approximately 75%, potentially preventing millions of cases and thousands of child deaths. The estimated cost of providing this treatment during the high-risk rainy season is remarkably low, at around $3.40 per child. Another method for malaria prevention is the distribution of bed nets along with education on how to use them. The Against Malaria Foundation (AMF) excels in efficiently distributing bed nets while conducting follow-up audits to ensure the distributed nets are in use and being used correctly. Each bed net from the AMF costs just $2 and can protect two individuals for up to three years. Thanks to sponsor support for additional costs, the AMF is able to allocate 100% of public donations toward the purchase of bed nets.
  3. Helen Keller International: Malnutrition is another main focus for organizations dedicated to eradicating poverty, as every 11 seconds a child dies of malnutrition. According to the WHO, inadequate consumption of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) is a form of malnutrition — micronutrients help produce the necessary enzymes and hormones for growth and development. Deficiencies in iron and vitamin A threaten the development and health, especially of pregnant women and children, in low-income countries. More than 200,000 children die every year from vitamin A deficiencies, as they are left vulnerable to deadly infections. Helen Keller International is an effective organization supporting door-to-door campaigns where health workers administer vitamin A supplements to preschool children at their homes and fixed-site campaigns where caregivers travel to health facilities with preschool-aged children to receive the supplements. It is an extremely cost-effective method as it costs only $1.00 to deliver a vitamin A supplement and help save a life.

Looking Ahead

These charities reducing poverty continue to do incredible, life-changing work to reduce extreme poverty. GiveDirectly offers an economic approach by providing families with an allowance to help them not only survive but thrive, while Malaria Consortium, the Against Malaria Foundation and the Helen Keller Foundation focus on health as they try to prevent deaths from malaria and malnutrition. 

– Alice Isola
Photo: Flickr

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Côte d’Ivoire Health Care Post-COVID  

Côte d’Ivoire Health Care
Côte d’Ivoire health care has faced challenges in recent years and even more so during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a 2020 Helen Keller International report, Moriame Sidibé, a mom and homemaker from northern Côte d’Ivoire was a “Vitamin A Hero” because every six months for the past three years she spent three full days walking door to door and village to village to give young children Vitamin A and deworming pills. Sidibé faced challenges because sometimes she needed to convince mothers of the importance and safety of the pills, coax the children to swallow the pills and mark the children’s fingers with black ink so she would not accidentally give them a second pill.

Sidibé left her own four young children to do this, but it was worth it to her because she has training as a community health volunteer who is part of a collaboration between the Ivorian government, Helen Keller International, the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Nutritional International fighting the extreme form of malnutrition in children called micronutrient deficiency or “hidden hunger.”

The Situation

Twenty-five percent of Ivorian children get enough calories, but not foods with sufficient Vitamin A, zinc, iodine or iron.  That “hidden hunger” puts one in four Ivorian children at risk of blindness, impaired brain development and some fatal infections. Deworming pills kill the parasites that prevent children from absorbing micronutrients including Vitamin A, and together the deworming pills and the Vitamin A can save children’s lives. In December 2019, the campaign reached 5 million children or 98% of all Ivorian children, an incredible accomplishment of a ministry of health working with international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and trained community health volunteers.

Côte d’Ivoire, the West African nation of 25 million, enjoyed a strong 8% average GDP growth between 2011 and 2018. According to the World Bank, the country had one of the strongest economies in sub-Saharan Africa due to an expanded middle class that supported demand in industry, agriculture and services. The Côte d’Ivoire health care indicators, however, lagged behind other less-developed nations, and in 2018, Côte d’Ivoire ranked 165 of 189 countries on the U.N. Human Development Index.

As noted in a 2020 Oxford Business Group report, planned increases in health care spending should improve these indicators. Côte d’Ivoire spent $1.8 billion on health care in 2016, $2 billion in 2019 and intends to spend $2.3 billion in 2021. The country invested in access to services, renovation and building of medical facilities, and development of technical platforms aligned with international health standards. The Ivorian government worked with a number of programs like the Helen Keller International Vitamin A Heroes; however, then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Despite COVID, Côte d’Ivoire Health Care Initiatives Regroup to Persevere

Based on the World Health Organization COVID-19 transmission guidance, the Vitamin A Heroes collaboration discontinued its door-to-door campaign. Nevertheless, during the pandemic, the campaign has resolutely distributed Vitamin A and deworming pills at local health clinics when children come with their families for other reasons. Once the pandemic subsides, it will renew its crucial Vitamin A Heroes campaign.

Predicted to Rebound Post COVID and Target Health Care

Côte d’Ivoire’s pre-COVID targeted investment in health care services, facilities and technical innovation gives Côte d’Ivoire health care a positive outlook according to the Oxford Business Group report. The International Monetary Fund predicts that Côte d’Ivoire’s GDP growth will climb back up to 8.7% in 2021 as the new investment in Côte d’Ivoire health care parallels the successful investment in other sectors.

Moving Forward, Côte d’Ivoire to Roll Out Planned Health Care Initiatives

One example of a Côte d’Ivoire health care collaboration of governmental, NGO and local organizations that launched during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 is Harness the Power of Partnerships. Harness the Power of Partnerships is a Côte d’Ivoire health care initiative to use faith-based organizations in the HIV response. Faith-based leadership is working with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) on long-term strategies to reduce the stigma of HIV/AIDS and to keep Ivorians on their antiretroviral therapies. This PEPFAR/UNAIDS program exemplifies how the Ivorian government continues to partner with non-government groups, including local groups, in order to improve Côte d’Ivoire health care indicators.

Improving Côte d’Ivoire health care will not be an easy task, but creating collaborations with international powerhouses like PEPFAR, UNAIDS, Helen Keller International and local nonprofits and community leaders is definitely a strategy worth watching as COVID-19  subsides and the Ivorian economy rebounds.

– Shelly Saltzman
Photo: Wikipedia Commons

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The END Fund: Treating Neglected Tropical Diseases

the END FundNeglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a group of diseases caused by a variety of pathogens that are common in low-income regions. The World Health Organization WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) categorize 20 diseases as NTDs. They affect more than one billion people around the world, with more than a third of people affected by NTDs living in Africa. While about one-sixth of the world’s population suffers from at least one NTD, more attention is often brought to other diseases, such as HIV/AIDS and malaria. While these other diseases require a high level of attention, NTDs need prioritization too. The effects of NTDs can last for decades if proper care is not sought out as many have the ability to bring on permanent blindness and disfigurement. It is of the utmost importance that NTDs are addressed and one such organization putting in the work is the END Fund.

The END Fund

The END Fund is a nonprofit organization that seeks to protect the lives of people at risk of NTDs. It delivers treatments by working with local partners, understanding that these groups have regional expertise and know the needs of their area best.

The END Fund helps its partners design programs so that they can expand their capacity to collect important data regarding NTDs. Further, the END Fund provides technical support and monitors progress so its partners can fight disease in the most effective way possible.

It also collaborates with non-governmental organizations and seeks to involve all stakeholders in order to improve the lives of those at risk of contracting NTDs. The END Fund is active across many countries in sub-Saharan Africa as well as India and Afghanistan. It has programs in Nigeria, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and others.

NTDs in Nigeria

The country with the greatest prevalence of NTDs in Africa is Nigeria. With a population of 195 million people, five of the most common NTDs are present: intestinal worms, lymphatic filariasis, river blindness, schistosomiasis and trachoma. These diseases can cause severe pain that inhibits people from going about their daily lives. Children miss out on their education and adults miss out on economic opportunities. NTDs can cause the already impoverished to sink even deeper into poverty.

In 2013, the END Fund arrived in Nigeria. Two years later, it partnered with Helen Keller International to support local partners, the Amen Foundation and Mission to Save the Helpless (MITOSATH). It has since helped build the capacity of these groups so that they can respond to the issue of NTDs even stronger. It engaged with local leaders across many levels to make people aware of the treatment plans that are available. Among traditional groups, leaders took medication in front of many people to show that it was safe.

The End Fund’s Impact

In 2019 alone, the END Fund was able to treat 121 million people. The END Fund also trained 2.7 million healthcare workers between 2012 and 2019. Its workers have performed almost 31,000 surgeries during that same time period, with the treatments valued at more than $1 billion.

NTDs pose a great threat to people in developing countries. The END Fund has been able to accomplish a lot through its collaborative projects in Nigeria and across other countries. The END Fund will continue to work toward its vision of ensuring that people at risk of NTDs can live healthy lives.

– Evan Driscoll
Photo: Flickr

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Helen Keller International is Combating Poverty 

Helen Keller International
Helen Keller International (HIK) is an organization that is dedicated to helping the world’s poor by combating poverty, blindness, poor health and malnutrition for all people. It predominately helps those who are less fortunate and do not have accessibility to the resources that help maintain an adequate living.

The Main Focus

HIK primarily focuses on preventing blindness in people by providing them with cataract surgery, vision correction and distributing treatments and cures for tropical diseases. This is how it plans on combating poverty in developing countries. It currently has more than 120 programs in about 20 countries all over the world.

It works with various partners to implement strategies that will combat poverty and strengthen these programs. Some of its partners include organizations such as the West African Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization, UNICEF, World Health Organization and the World Food Program.

Helen Keller International’s Accomplishments

According to reports from Impact Information in 2018, HIK provided 15,000 free precision glasses to disadvantaged youth and performed 40,000 cataract surgeries.

In 2014, USAID funded a five-year Morbidity Management and Disability Prevention Project (MMDP) to strengthen illness management and prevent disabilities in African countries. HIK has led the MMDP project in Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Ethiopia since July 2014. As a result, thousands of people have benefited from HIK’s help and dedication to the project.

The project combats painful diseases such as trichiasis which can cause scarring to the cornea because it causes the eyelash to grow backward. The project also treats hydrocele, which causes the male scrotum to swell causing extreme pain. This is most common in male newborns.

HIK’s work with the MMDP project in the countries above has helped 2.1 million people get screenings for trichiasis and 76,000 people received trichiasis surgery. Additionally, HIK was able to train 280 trichiasis surgeons. This organization also provided hydrocele surgery to over 2,000 men and trained 200 hydrocele surgeons. HIK has changed the lives of many people at risk.

Global Impact

Helen Keller International is combating poverty by improving the lives of the world’s poor at a global level as well. The MMDP project improves data availability and use by sharing knowledge worldwide. The project also assisted in developing tools and resources for communities to use internationally in trachoma and LF programs around the world.

HIK believes that neglected tropical diseases are direct consequences of poverty. To combat this poverty it has turned its focus to protect health. HIK aids in the fight against five diseases including trachoma, river blindness, intestinal worms, snail fever and lymphatic filariasis. All of these diseases cause extreme pain and can even lead to death.

To combat these diseases, HIK has helped deliver thousands of trachoma surgeries to poor communities and will continue to do so in hopes of eliminating trachoma by 2020. The organization has helped develop a platform that is effective in the treatment of river blindness across Africa. HIK also helps developing countries distribute deworming medication to children in at-risk communities.

Helen Keller International is combating poverty all over the world through efforts to protect health and advert the causes of blindness and more in poor countries. Through its efforts, it has aided many in poverty and that number should only grow.

– Jessica Jones
Photo: Flickr

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10 Poverty Charities That Are Currently Changing the World

10 Poverty Charities
Give Well is a nonprofit charity evaluator with the aim of providing donors a list of the best charities to donate to. It evaluates based on how much good is done per dollar. With its criteria in mind, here are 10 poverty charities that are worth donating to.

  1. Against Malaria Foundation
    The first of the 10 poverty charities is the Against Malaria Foundation. According to its website, 100 percent of donations go toward long-lasting insecticidal nets, which are used to fight malaria. So far, it has raised money for 69,720,219 nets. This charity has a Malaria Advisory Group made up of malaria experts who work to ensure that the money is spent on the most cost-effective solutions to combat malaria. Additionally, the team confirms that the nets are being properly distributed.
  2. Malaria Consortium
    Malaria Consortium focuses on preventing, controlling and treating malaria, among other diseases, in 12 low-income countries in Africa and Southeast Asia. Its methods for fighting these diseases are backed by extensive research and then shared with the countries in an effort to improve health practice and policy development.
  3. Schistosomiasis Control Initiative
    Schistosomiasis Control Initiative concentrates on eliminating neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), which affect over 200 million people across the world. According to its website, its goal is “to reduce the global disease burden of NTDs in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030 in accordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.”
  4. END Fund
    The END Fund also strives to fight NTDs, including intestinal worms, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, trachoma and river blindness, which collectively create 2.95 billion people in need of treatment. The organization focuses on providing effective solutions at a small cost. According to its website, it has “raised more than $118 million, treated more than 140 million people with 330 million treatments at a value of more than $620 million.”
  5. Evidence Action’s Deworm the World Initiative
    According to WHO, 836 million children across the world are at risk of parasitic worm infections. This is what Deworm the World Initiative is combating. The principles listed on Evidence Action’s website include using effective solutions that are backed by research and building operational models. As stated on its website, its goal is to “design a process to bridge the gap between proven interventions that work and scaling them up to produce measurable impact for millions of people.”
  6. Evidence Action’s No Lean Season
    Evidence Action also runs No Lean Season, a charity to reduce the effects of seasonality in agricultural areas. The charity provides $20 to families so they can send a family member to a nearby city to find a job in the time between planting and harvesting crops. With this money, the family is able to afford 500 more meals during this period.
  7. Sightsavers
    Sightsavers’ mission is to stop avoidable blindness and protect the rights of those who are disabled. Its strategy is to influence policies regarding global health, education and NTDs.
  8. Helen Keller International
    The Helen Keller International organization aims to improve sight and fight malnutrition. According to its website, “we build the capacity of local government, non-profit and private sector systems and infrastructure, and promote the development of sustained, large scale programs that deliver effective solutions to preventable blindness and malnutrition.”
  9. Give Directly
    Give Directly is an organization that allows donors to donate money to families in extremely poor communities. The process contains four steps: locating the poorest communities around the world, auditing to ensure that recipients did not cheat, transferring around $1000 for the year and monitoring to ensure the households received the payment.
  10. The Borgen Project
    The Borgen Project fights to eradicate global poverty. Its strategy is to mobilize citizens to call their representatives. Through this, it has change U.S. foreign aid policies. Some bills that it has helped to pass include the Electrify Africa Act, the Global Food Security Act and the Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act.

These 10 poverty charities operate with transparency to donors and cost-effective solutions to issues that plague developing nations. These attributes make these the top 10 poverty charities one should consider getting involved with.

– Olivia Booth

Photo: Flickr