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Three Innovations Helping Nepal Escape Poverty

Nepal escape poverty

It is common for countries around the world to experience rapid growth instead of modest poverty reduction, as income is increasingly concentrated in the hands of the wealthy. Nepal, however, leans toward the opposite. The country has reduced the poverty rate by half in just seven years and witnessed an equally significant decline in income inequality. Yet, Nepal remains one of the poorest and slowest-growing economies in Asia. Nonetheless, a few groundbreaking innovations are helping Nepal escape poverty.

Even without poverty as a factor, Nepal faces challenging obstacles to overcome. Since Nepal is a landlocked country it creates a natural barrier to its development. Nepal’s history of extractive political regimes left Nepal with extremely low levels of physical and human capital and illiteracy rates of 90 percent in 1951. A propensity for natural disasters also contributes to continuous setbacks.

Getting to the root of poverty requires solving many of these additional issues along the way. Poverty isn’t just inadequate access to income. It manifests itself in health services and education, often allowing sexism and racism to flourish. In spite of that, numerous solutions are being drafted every day with the world’s poor in mind. Here are three innovations helping Nepal escape poverty:

Suaahara Nutrition Project

Suaahara translates to “good nutrition,” and is a comprehensive nutrition program that teaches skills for nutrient-rich backyard vegetable farming, raising poultry, improving sanitation and hygiene, and controlling pests through demonstration farms and new mothers’ discussion groups.

Though about two-thirds of Nepalese workers worked in agriculture in recent years, the country’s agricultural sector has suffered dramatic losses since a devastating earthquake in 2015. Against a backdrop of food price volatility, the percent of households relying on food assistance increased from less than one-tenth of a percent before the earthquake to 35 percent after. Suaahara will ensure the health of future generations and guarantee budgets prioritize not just the amount of food people eat, but also the nutritional quality.

The Rani Jamara Kulariya Irrigation Project

Before 2012, Nepal’s rural population was primarily made up of smallholder farmers whose level of income was low by international standards. Farmers often experienced rainfalls and droughts that threatened their crop yields. Before project implementation, the Rani Jamara Kulariya Irrigation Scheme regularly suffered from either a shortage of water or severe flood damage. Furthermore, the government was unable to manage the water equitability which hindered the water distribution. The Rani Jamara Kulariya Irrigation Project put an emphasis on providing more efficient, reliable and flexible water services to farmers and households to mitigate agricultural losses due to water hazards and improve economic gains.

Modernizing the irrigation scheme allowed it to be resilient to water-induced hazards, proven after torrential rain in August of 2017. The project’s inclusive approach increased the number of women working in the Water User Association from 19 percent to 33 percent between 2012 and 2017. Moreover, about 40 percent of the command area saw an increase in irrigated crop yields; 117 kilometers of village roads were upgraded to gravel roads, bridges and culverts, and nearly 16,000 water users have benefitted from this project so far.

Promotion of Early Grade Reading

Nepal has made remarkable progress in expanding learning opportunities for children and adults. Since 1990, primary school enrollment rates have increased from 64 to 96 percent. However, the quality of education remains low and the overall literacy rate is around 65 percent.

A USAID-supported early grade reading assessment in 2014 showed that 19 percent of third-graders could not read a single word of Nepali. Together with the Ministry of Education, USAID plans to help one million young children acquire strong reading skills in grades one to three across 16 districts of Nepal.

Beyond just improving reading and literacy skills, these focused education efforts are strengthening curriculum and training teachers, school committee members, parents and technical support staff across the country. Just a 10 percent increase in basic literacy skills can boost a country’s economic growth by 0.3 percent and create a foundation for future learning.

These kinds of innovations are crucial in helping bend the curve toward increased child survival, lower malnutrition, greater literacy skills, and ultimately, the end of extreme poverty. Solutions like these will help Nepal escape poverty, drive broader development progress and elevate transformative efforts toward change.

– GiGi Hogan
Photo: Flickr

 

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Promoting Relief for Venezuelans During the Crisis

relief for VenezuelansThe Venezuelan people are experiencing a crisis with the collapse of their economic and healthcare system. They are challenged with a lack of medical supplies and equipment. Malnutrition and food insecurity are becoming extreme issues as well. Since 2014, it is estimated that more than 3 million Venezuelans have migrated to other countries to seek food and a better life. In the wake of Venezuela’s crisis, Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-Fla.) proposed the Humanitarian Assistance to the Venezuelan People Act of 2019, which will contribute to relief for Venezuelans during this time of crisis.

Aid to the Healthcare System

The Humanitarian Assistance to the Venezuelan People Act of 2019 focuses on healthcare facilities. The bill suggests offering aid by supplying the healthcare facilities with necessary medical equipment, medicines that are in great demand and other basic medical supplies that a facility might need.

With the Venezuelan healthcare system collapsing and shortages of medicine and supplies growing, several diseases, such as measles and malaria, have started to affect many people. This proposed bill will ensure the proper distribution of medicines and supplies to Venezuelan healthcare facilities via local nongovernment organizations.

Food and Nutrition Assistance

Assistance in food and nutritional supplies will also contribute to relief for Venezuelans. The children of Venezuela are experiencing extreme malnutrition in what some researchers are already considering a famine. As much as 41 percent of children can go without eating throughout for an entire day in Venezuela. Rep. Mucarsel-Powell’s bill aims to address the lack of food security and increased malnutrition. The bill will handle these issues by supplying people with food commodities and supplements.

Reports stated in the proposed bill will monitor the relief for Venezuelans. The bill proposes assistance with ensuring that all health and food supplies being distributed to Venezuelans are dutifully selected and spread throughout the entire population. Local nongovernment organizations are to oversee these distributions.

The bill’s reports will cover how well supplies are being spread out to the population and assess the degree of relief being provided to the population. The United States Agency for International Development and the Department of State will oversee the delivery of the assistance and ensure that it is properly handled.

Where is the Bill Now?

On March 25, 2019, the Humanitarian Assistance to the Venezuelan People Act of 2019 was passed in the House of Representatives and will now move on to the U.S. Senate. The proposed bill was read by the U.S. Senate and the Committee on Foreign Relations on March 26, 2019. Rep. Mucarsel-Powell states that providing $150 million each fiscal year will help to achieve the goals of providing relief for Venezuelans. The proposed bill concludes with condemning the current situation in Venezuela and the actions carried out by the Maduro regime and the country’s security forces.

– Logan Derbes
Photo: Flickr

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Detained Migrants and Malnutrition in Libya

malnutrition in libyaMalnutrition impacts children all over the world, particularly those who are poor or who reside in poorer countries. In Libya, rates for children who experience stunting, wasting and are overweight — the three main effects of malnutrition — are all moderate to very high, indicating that the nation has a lot of work to do to decrease these numbers and improve nutrition and health.

Malnutrition in Libya is exacerbated by the prevalence of migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Libya, as many attempt to use the nation as a crossing point to reach Europe. A recent analysis of migrant detention facilities has shown that malnutrition is prevalent in these centers.

Comparing Libya to Global Trends

Worldwide, 21.9 percent of children under five have stunted growth as a result of malnutrition, a significant decrease from 2000, when the rate was nearly 33 percent. Stunting refers to impaired cognitive skills that often lead to a decrease in school and work performance, negatively impacting children for the rest of their lives. Rates are highest in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, where many countries continue to have a rate of 30 percent or higher.

Libya is just below the global average, with 21 percent of children experiencing stunting.

Wasting is the rapid loss of body weight due to malnutrition. Based on UNICEF estimates, 7.3 percent of children globally are wasted and 2.4 percent are severely wasted, with the highest rates in South Asia, followed by West and Central Africa. Rates in Libya are classified as medium, as 5 to 10 percent of children under 5 are wasted. This is comparable to the global average of 7.3 percent.

Complications of Malnutrition

Malnutrition can also cause children to be overweight. Overnutrition is a form of malnutrition that occurs when there is an imbalance in protein, energy and micronutrients in someone’s diet, often resulting in obesity. Not only is it important to eat food, but it is also important to eat the right combination of foods to have a healthy diet.

Globally, 5.9 percent of children under five are overweight, with the highest rates in Eastern Europe and Central Asia and the Middle East and North Africa. Libya is classified as very high, as more than 15 percent of children under five are overweight. This indicates that poor nutrition is one of the most serious food-related issues that Libya faces.

Efforts by the World Food Programme

Malnutrition in Libya has received global attention, and the World Food Programme has stepped in to fight food insecurity. As a nation with a largely desert environment, agriculture is limited, causing Libya to rely heavily on imported food. The country’s current trade deficit has a significant impact on the availability of food and proper nutrition, as prosperous trade is essential to feeding the nation.

To counteract this, the World Food Programme partners with four local organizations, LibAid, the Kafaa Development Foundation, the Sheikh Taher Azzawi Charity Organization (STACO) and the Ayady Al Khair Society (AKS), as well as the UN Country Team and Security Management Team. These local organizations work closely with communities experiencing malnutrition in Libya to determine the amount of need in particular areas.

The World Food Programme then provides onsite food distributions to vulnerable and malnourished families, with each family receiving two food parcels, which can feed five people over the course of a month. The parcels contain pasta, rice, wheat flour, vegetable oil, chickpeas, sugar and tomato paste, all of which provide approximately 75 percent of daily energy requirements. The parcels are meant to be used alongside other food sources, providing access to certain nutrients that are otherwise unavailable.

A Focus on Migrants, Refugees and IDPs

Migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) are the most in need of food assistance worldwide.  Approximately 60 percent of IDPs are vulnerable to food insecurity. As a result, the World Food Programme focuses many of its food distribution efforts on IDPs and other migrants in Libya, as they are among the most vulnerable to malnutrition in Libya.

Many migrants in Libya are out of reach of the World Food Programme as hundreds of detainees are in migrant detention facilities. In March 2019, a detention center in Tripoli came under fire after Doctors Without Borders published nutrition assessments and determined that almost one quarter of those in the center were malnourished or underweight.

Those held in detention facilities are entirely dependent on the Libyan authorities for the food they receive, and Doctors Without Borders found that many only receive one meal every two or three days and that those who are new arrivals sometimes do not receive food for four days.

Doctors Without Borders Respond

In response to this crisis, Doctors Without Borders began providing emergency food rations to ensure that food needs will be met in the future. Karline Kleijer, the head of emergencies for Doctors Without Borders, stated that “If food, shelter and essential services can’t be provided in a consistent and appropriate manner, then these people should be released immediately by the Libyan authorities.”

Hopefully, with the efforts of organizations like the World Food Programme and Doctors Without Borders malnutrition in Libya will continue to be addressed, and the plight of migrants will soon be recognized and responded to by the Libyan government. Malnutrition is clearly a mounting crisis that requires attention as soon as possible.

– Sara Olk
Photo: Flickr

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Top 10 Facts About Hunger in New Zealand

Top 10 Facts About Hunger in New Zealand
One of the most tragic effects of poverty is large populations of people going hungry. Many poor people cannot afford to feed themselves or their children. While New Zealand might not be on the list of countries in dire need of poverty assistance, families there are suffering. The top 10 facts about hunger in New Zealand highlight this.

Top 10 Facts About Hunger in New Zealand

  1. A study in 2017 discovered that 23 percent of the elderly population in New Zealand were malnourished.  Many elderly citizens find it difficult to access the supermarket and purchase groceries. This leads to the inability to cook meals and they end up being hospitalized due to malnourishment. However, once elderly citizens are moved to hospitalization or residential care, they have better access to food and nourishment.
  2. In 2016, the need for help from the Salvation Army had gone up by 9 percent. The organization handed out over 54,000 emergency parcels to citizens of New Zealand in the span of a year. There were 319 new individuals who required help each week. The head of ministries of the New Zealand sector stated that requests for aid came not only from those who were in extreme poverty but also from those living off minimum wage.
  3. In Auckland City alone, the request for food parcels went up almost 50 percent between the middle of 2015 and the end of 2016. The City Mission, a volunteer-based program in Auckland City, exceeded its budget by $100,000, leaving a huge hole in the city’s budget. According to the City Mission, with rising housing costs, bill costs and changes in other benefits, people were more inclined to cut back on their food spending to cover the price of every bill.
  4. According to The New Zealand Herald, The Red Cross used to have a program that fed children breakfast every day in low-income communities. However, due to lack of support from funders, the program had to end. This created a dramatic rise in hunger among children. In 2011, it was determined that this rise in hunger was due to a 7 percent rise in the cost of food. So, the 2.6 percent rise in income did not help most families
  5. Two programs, Kickstart and KidsCan, replaced the Red Cross breakfast program and went on to feed almost 40,000 children in schools across the country. This number was almost a fifth of the child population in schools which was around 229,400. At the time, there were 20,000 children on a waiting list to join the program since the government did not have enough funding to feed more than 40,000. To fix this, the community members pledged $15 a month to the program.
  6. Another one of the facts about hunger in New Zealand is that growing food on their own is not a simple solution for many who go hungry.  In order to grow a sufficient garden, you need quite a bit of resource. According to the Spinoff, a New Zealand paper, low-income citizens find it difficult to get access to the needed resources. Also, since they have to work hard to earn, they do not have enough time to invest to grow a garden.
  7. Housing in New Zealand is not as permanent as American housing. On average, families move every 15 months. To build a sustainable garden that will provide food for a family, people need to live in the same place for longer than 15 months. Also, growing a few plants in small pots is not enough for a family.
  8. Some claim that one of the reasons for hunger in New Zealand possibly comes from the “media bombardment” of eating healthy or dieting. Cutting back on food and exercising works for people who have plenty of nourishment, but when citizens who are already malnourished see this, it makes them feel as though the small amount of food they can manage is not good enough.
  9. On the other hand, there are reports on how fast food is killing the impoverished population in New Zealand. Fast food is cheap and easy to access but does not provide enough nutrients. It is also creating the opposite problem of hunger: an obesity crisis.  If elementary schools conducted nutritional education programs, it would help battle obesity problems as well as problems of malnourishment.
  10. On a brighter note, The Hunger Project, an NGO based all over the world, has a special division in New Zealand. They are aiming to cut back the hunger significantly by 2030 to meet the poverty reduction goals set by the United Nations. In New Zealand, the organization has been working since 1983. It has helped lead a strike against hunger with various communities across the country.

The crisis is not as bleak as the facts about hunger in New Zealand may make it seem. The government is aware that things need to be changed and that the focus needs to be on children who go hungry. Various bills geared towards government-funded food programs have gone through the system. Also, the Salvation Army and other nonprofit organizations are working together to bring relief. New Zealand, thus, hopes to see a reduction in hunger by 2030.

–Miranda Garbaciak
Photo: Flickr

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How to Fight Global Hunger with ShareTheMeal

ShareTheMeal App
This year, The Shorty Awards, an awards program that recognizes the best of social media, expanded their reach to include Shorty Social Good awards. The Shorty Social Good awards honor initiatives, projects or programs designed to combat lack of food or shelter. ShareTheMeal, a smartphone app, was among this year’s winners in the Mobile Campaign, Poverty & Hunger and nonprofit categories. The app shows us how to fight global hunger by reaching donors through smartphones and social media sharing.

Fighting Global Hunger with ShareTheMeal App

According to the Food Aid Foundation, approximately 795 million people around the world don’t have enough food to live a productive lifestyle. Beyond this, lack of proper nutrition is life-threatening for children worldwide.

Malnutrition is responsible for 45 percent of deaths for children under the age of five. Put more simply, around 3.1 million children every year die from poor nutrition. However, it costs as little as $0.50 to feed a child for an entire day. The ShareTheMeal app fights global hunger by focusing on microdonations and empowering users to donate from anywhere using their smartphones.

As an innovative part of the World Food Programme, ShareTheMeal mobilizes users to give through social media. Starting with donations of just $0.50, users can fund a child’s meals for an entire day. When someone donates, The United Nations’ World Food Program, in turn, supplies the meals to hungry children.

The food assistance provided varies according to the situation in the donor’s choice country. While children in more stable countries may receive school meals, children in high-risk situations may receive staple foods, designed to fortify basic nutrition. Donors may also opt to join The Table, a monthly giving club that receives regular updates and focused stories on global hunger.

Managers of the World Food Programme, Sebastian Stricker and Bernhard Kowatsch, developed the app in 2014. Though it began as an independent startup, it quickly earned the backing of the World Food Programme.

The founders wanted to expand the demographic of donors for programs fighting global hunger. They focused on social media and smartphone technology since they saw great potential for growth among millennial donors.

During its first trial run, the app earned nearly $850,000 to fight hunger in Lesotho. This successful trial run lead to a global launch focused on feeding Syrian refugee children in Jordan. With that initiative, ShareTheMeal fed 20,000 refugee children for a year.

Since then, the app has grown tremendously. Now, there are more than 1.1 million users worldwide and the app fights global hunger in various developing countries. According to ShareTheMeal’s data, nearly a third of their users are millennials, so the app has reached its target demographic.

Making Donations Easy and Personal

ShareTheMeal has innovated the World Food Programme’s donations, by making donations easy and personal. Each user can choose where to direct their donation by swiping through pictures of individual children in need of meals. These pictures give the donations a personal character, backed by information about the status of global hunger in that country.

The app also provides a constant tally of the total meals shared so far which allow donors to see the app’s progress. As of now, users have shared over 26 billion meals through the app and the number is constantly growing.

Beyond merely working through smartphones, the ShareTheMeal app fights global hunger via social media. Individuals can mobilize their friends and family through social media platforms, such as Facebook, by creating teams. These teams invite others to donate together and track their progress as a group.

Finally, the app also offers an innovative tool called Camera Giving. This feature capitalizes on food photos shared on Instagram and similar platforms. By taking a photo of their meal and donating through ShareTheMeal, users gain access to a #ShareTheMeal filter which they can use to publicize their food photo as well as their donation to ShareTheMeal on social media. With tags like “this picture fed a hungry child,” ShareTheMeal not only gains publicity through the Camera Giving feature but also it turns the food photo trend into a vehicle for positive change.

Moving Forward: How to Fight Global Hunger with Technology

In today’s technology-driven world, there are 20 times more people with smartphones than children suffering from hunger. Wondering how to fight global hunger with technology? The ShareTheMeal app fights global hunger by connecting lots of people to the problem.

Anyone around the world with a phone, iOS or Android, can download the app in nine different languages with donations payable in 27 different currencies. With the mere tap of a button, users are connected to global hunger from anywhere and at any moment. ShareTheMeal is turning social media into social good.

– Morgan Harden
Photo: Flickr

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Top Ten Facts About Hunger in Armenia

ArmeniaIn Armenia, hunger has been a problem faced by its citizens since the country gained independence in 1991. However, through steady economic growth and the implementation of strategies from global agencies, the country’s hunger issue has been slowly reducing. Here are the top ten facts about hunger in Armenia:

  1. Hunger is closely related to poverty, as people that live under the poverty line tend to be the most food insecure. As of 2015, six percent of the Armenian population was undernourished. Hunger in Armenia tends to rise and fall as a result of the country’s economic stability. Since the global financial crisis of 2008, food insecurity in the country has almost doubled, as an estimated 16 percent of families were classified as food insecure in 2015.

  2. Armenia is a low to middle income, landlocked country that relies on imports for most food. Because of this, the country and its citizens are reliant on other countries for stability. When surrounding countries are in financial downturn, it takes a negative effect on Armenians as well. The country has had slow economic development since 1991 when borders with neighboring countries Turkey and Azerbaijan were established post-Armenian independence. Due in large to its slow economic growth, 29.4 percent of Armenians lived in poverty as of 2016.

  3. In Armenia, the effect of hunger is visible in two main ways: stunted growth and being overweight. Approximately 9 percent of Armenian children under five have had their growth stunted while 14 percent were overweight as of 2015. To some, it may be surprising that people can be overweight while still food insecure, but it is more common than one might think. Because many people who are food insecure are also impoverished, they tend to purchase food based on quantity over quality. This results in the intake of less-nutritious foods in low-income areas. In countries like Armenia, it has resulted in many of its poorer citizens becoming overweight.

  4. Armenia has reduced the country’s poverty rate from 54 percent in 1998 to 28 percent in 2008. After a brief rise and stagnation in the poverty rate, at approximately 32 percent after the global economic crises, the country’s poverty rate has again begun to fall.

  5. Organizations like the World Economic Forum and the World Bank are considering ways to reanalyze the causes behind Armenia’s hunger problems. More reasons for hunger, like education, health and labor, are being examined in addition to poverty.

  6. As Armenia’s hunger problem is examined from various perspectives, new solutions are being presented to combat the country’s food insecurity.

  7. One solution from the National Strategic Review of Food Safety and Nutrition is to apply healthcare, social protections and regional policies in order to reduce the disparities in hunger and malnutrition throughout Armenia. These policies will target hunger and food insecurity with strategies not traditionally used in the country.

  8. An additional solution is to raise public awareness about healthy nutrition and how to make better decisions about food choices. These public awareness and education campaigns would take place in remote communities where food education is not prevalent, giving way to unhealthy choices. The education campaign will also serve as a preventative measure against malnutrition and undernourishment by focusing on sustainable food choices.

  9. The solution to hunger and food insecurity in Armenia may be in the revision of policy that would protect the most underserved people. Part of this solution will include commencing vouchers to the unemployed, social assistance programs to children 3-5 years of age, as well as monetary and non-monetary plans to ensure nutritious food intake to beneficiary families of assistance programs.

  10. Armenia is a country still growing and recovering from many outside factors that have hindered the young country’s development. However, with newly proposed sustainable solutions and the promise of continued economic security, the country is beginning to address its hunger and food insecurity problem.

Armenia’s hunger problem is a complex and multi-causal issue. However, through steady advancement and changes to its economy and food programs, solutions are possible. These strategies are only a few of many to relieve hunger in the country. These top ten facts about hunger in Armenia are a brief way to understand a longstanding problem.

– Savannah Hawley

Photo: Flickr

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10 Biggest World Issues

Biggest World Issues
World issues range from a variety of different factors; it could be anything from an environmental problem to a global health risk or an international conflict.

10 Biggest World Issues

  1. Malnutrition and Hunger: Malnutrition and hunger continue to be issues in developing countries, such as the Central African Republic, Chad and Yemen. According to the Food Aid Foundation, 795 million people in the world are not receiving the proper amount of nutrients. Additionally, hunger is the leading health problem among children and adults, causing approximately 45 percent of children’s deaths.
  2. AIDS: HIV/AIDS is an epidemic, in which more than 36.7 million people are living with the disease. About 2.1 million children currently have the disease, and in 2016 alone, one million people have died. The prevalence of AIDS is still alive; however, many international organizations have contributed to its decrease in recent years.
  3. Malaria: Malaria is a major health risk in tropical, developing countries, such as Kenya and the Congo. Approximately 3.2 billion individuals are vulnerable to Malaria — this is half of the world’s population. Young children are the most susceptible, and about 445,000 people died from Malaria in 2016.
  4. Air Pollution: Air Pollution is a global environmental problem that causes health issues and food shortages. Pollutants harm food supplies and crops, which further create problems for malnutrition and hunger. Pollutants also directly harm human life. According to Conserve Energy Future, 65 percent of deaths in Asia and 25 percent of deaths in India are due to air pollution.
  5. Lack of Human Rights: Political systems hinder human rights and liberties that are inherent to every individual regardless of his or her demographic, religion, culture, gender, race, etc. In 2014, Amnesty International recorded that more than a third of governments imprisoned its citizens who were exercising their rights. Abuse and conflict occur on every continent — from state-sponsored killings in Syria to repression of speech in Russia.
  6. Lack of Education: The right to education is not guaranteed within developing countries because of issues such as inequality among different ethnicities or classes, interstate or intrastate conflict, and poverty. 72 million children are unschooled, and about 759 million adults are illiterate. Additionally, girls are the least likely to receive an education.
  7. Gender Inequality:  Due to gender inequality, education and economic opportunity are inaccessible to many women of all backgrounds. About 150 countries have laws that discriminate against women’s rights. Underrepresented in governmental bodies, women only hold an average of 23 percent in parliamentary seats.
  8. Conflict and War: There are still many active conflicts in today’s world that have devastating effects for citizens living within war-stricken areas. The total number of casualties from the Syrian Civil War is about 465,000 individuals, and one in four children are the victims of war. In addition, international tension with North Korea has become the leading determinant of the United States’ international agenda and foreign policy. There is a multitude of other conflicts that have detrimental effects on civilian livelihoods and international peace/security.
  9. Displacement: The number of individuals who were forced to flee their homes has skyrocketed drastically in recent years. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (iDMC) reported that 31.1 million individuals were displaced in 2016. Displacement could occur after natural disasters or throughout war. Unfortunately displaced individuals have increased to approximately 59.5 million due to continuing conflict in the Middle East. In Syria alone, there are about 11 million refugees, which include young children.
  10. Global Poverty: Poverty is an overarching world issue that affects infrastructure, health, education, human rights, etc. Roughly one billion children live in poverty, and 80 percent of people live on less than $10 a day. Additionally, every 10 seconds, citizens across the globe die due to poverty-related issues. Dismally, the gap between economic and income disparity among countries is widening.

Fortunately, world issues have solutions, and a multitude of organizations are fighting to alleviate pain that has been afflicted by these problems. The International Affairs Budget is one of many solutions that funds development and helps fight diseases, prevent hunger, and create new jobs, while solving many other issues around the world.

If you would like to get involved in helping prevent these world issues, join The Borgen Project in supporting the protection of The International Affairs Budget from proposed budget cuts by sending a letter of support.

– Diana Hallisey

Photo: Flickr

 

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Mitigating the Effects of Hunger in East Timor

Hunger in East TimorThe situation in Timor Leste (East Timor) has been characterized by war and oppression for decades. In 1975, after Portuguese colonialism finally abdicated control of the region, there began a brutal war between the people of Timor Leste and neighboring Indonesia.

The war resulted in a 24-year Indonesian occupation of Timor Leste, and a cumulative death toll of 200,000 people – nearly one-quarter of the current population. Throughout the country’s occupation, there were guerilla movements working to remove Indonesia from power. However, the final decision to leave Timor Leste to its own devices came after a change of leadership occurred in Indonesia and U.N. intervention.

The Timorese voted for independence in 1999 – the result was a 78 percent majority. Unfortunately, the vote was far from respected. Those who did not wish to be independent of Indonesia instigated yet another insurgency against the majority of Timorese, necessitating more direct United Nations involvement. Finally, in 2002, after two years of U.N. Peacekeeping presence, full independence was attained.

However sweet this victory may have been, it did little to alleviate the problems of poverty, malnutrition and hunger in East Timor. Hunger is arguably the country’s most urgent problem. It affects nearly 100 percent of the population.

In 2010, 57.7 percent of children under the age five were classified as stunting, a term used to describe the condition of weighing too little for your height. Other indicators of malnutrition, such as wasting and generally being underweight, are prevalent, indicating that the situation is dire.

One of the many organizations working to mitigate the effects of hunger in East Timor is Oxfam Australia. The work they do is primarily aimed at educating the public, generally women and children, about the effects of malnutrition and specific ways to increase their family’s consumption of important nutrients.

In classes which they term “supplementary feeding courses,” they demonstrate how to cook nutritious meals, process fresh food so it lasts longer and which ingredients have the highest protein content.

This program, coupled with the organization’s efforts to work with local farmers on improving agricultural yields for their farming cooperatives, has been a formidable attempt to arm Timorese communities with life-saving nutritional and agricultural knowledge.

-Katarina Schrag

Photo: Flickr

 

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Economic Failures Are to Blame for Child Malnutrition in Venezuela

malnutrition in venezuelaA humanitarian hunger crisis has struck the country of Venezuela. The economy has hit rock bottom and moderate to severe child malnutrition in Venezuela has reached 11.4 percent for children under the age of five. The World Health Organization states that a threshold of 10 percent must be surpassed in order to declare a crisis, and Venezuela has well exceeded that threshold. Venezuela’s continuously unstable economy is to blame for the decrease in food and the increase in hunger.

When Venezuela struck massive amounts of oil during World War I, its economy skyrocketed. Its success with oil reserves led to a blossoming economy that assisted in providing its people with what they needed to thrive. However, Venezuela had only relied on the income from the oil industry to fuel its economy. With no economic backup plan, Venezuela was heading down a path of economic destruction.

Venezuela’s economy began its dramatic decline in the 1980s. After the oil price collapse and the accumulation of internal and external government debts, it became apparent that the country had a major financial burden to address. Economic policies to solve this issue were failing and the government was falling deeper into corruption, causing more economic instability.

The coming years would not be any brighter for Venezuela. Ongoing economic mismanagement led to increasing poverty levels. Venezuela went into a recession in 2014, invoking more worry for the country and putting more pressure on the government to make the right economic decisions. The government’s dysfunctional way of solving the country’s money problems eventually led to the worst economic decision to date.

Venezuela’s inflation levels became one of the highest in the world, reaching a record high of 800 percent in December 2016. This hyperinflation came after the Venezuelan government’s decision to enact an internal embargo on food imports, completely cutting off outside sources of food and causing massive food shortages. These food shortages caused an increase in food prices to an unattainable amount. People could not buy food anymore, as a basic food basket could cost up to 16 times the amount of minimum wage.

A popular food item bought in Venezuela is cornmeal. Used to make an arepa, the previous cost of a two-pound bag of cornmeal was 190 bolivars. Now, the cost is 975 bolivars per two-pound bag. This astronomical increase in price hinders the ability to purchase the essential ingredient to make a wholesome meal.

Food shortages directly affect child malnutrition in Venezuela. In just four short years, child malnutrition has gone from three percent to as high as 13 percent in some parts of Venezuela. Families are scavenging the streets to find any morsel of something edible, or standing in line all day only to receive two to three morsels of food to feed their entire family. Today, eight in 10 families eat less than before, and six in 10 families go without food on a regular basis.

Business Insider conducted an interview with Venezuelan resident Lilian Tovar. She weighed in on her personal experience with hunger, stating “If we eat breakfast, we don’t eat lunch, if we eat lunch, we don’t eat dinner, and if we eat dinner, we don’t eat breakfast.” Compromise has become a mindset of the Venezuelan people, deeply affecting both themselves and their children.

Malnutrition can have a lasting effect on a child’s life. When there is limited access to food, children can become deficient in nutrients needed for proper body development. Some of the 20 essential nutrients needed for a healthy body include calcium, vitamin D, magnesium, vitamin K, boron and manganese. These nutrients are found in many plant-based foods and grains. Unfortunately, these products are not easily found, and if found they are at a price that no family can afford. Therefore, a child who is lacking these essential nutrients has a higher risk of bone growth problems and will likely never reach their full growth potential. Inadequate nutrition can also lead to a weak immune system, allowing the body to become more susceptible to diseases and infections later in life. In the worst cases of child malnutrition, normally involving gastrointestinal infection, death is imminent.

Caritas, a crisis-centered organization whose work is now heavily dedicated to Venezuela’s malnutrition crisis, states that “The response to the food crisis must be a social and economic priority, taking the politics out of protecting the most vulnerable people and facilitating the relief work of all those who, officially or unofficially, have direct contact with those most in need throughout the country.” Caritas’ thorough research studies across the four Venezuelan states of Distrito Capital, Vargas, Miranda and Zuliahave have led to their decision to put their full foot forward in rehabilitating the country.

Caritas’ main priority is children under five. They supply malnourished children with food supplements that include protein and iron. Children are brought into Caritas’ makeshift facilities for regular nutrition check-ups in order to provide them with nutritional and medical attention.

Caritas is sending out a desperate plea for the sake of child malnutrition in Venezuela. Their efforts cannot be accomplished alone. Families are suffering and every day more children are being diagnosed with malnutrition. This is now a worldwide cry for help, a call to action and a need for involvement. To eradicate child malnutrition in Venezuela, this call must be answered. Children are the future and with the help of the people, the future is what these children will see.

– Brianna Summ

Photo: Flickr

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Hunger in Uzbekistan: A need for change

Hunger in UzbekistanHunger in Uzbekistan remains a serious issue, yet it is not recognized as a national one.

Close to 75 percent of the working-class population in Uzbekistan live in rural areas, and thus the income of this stratum of the population typically remains low, which exacerbates the lack of food security. This level of poverty has its roots in Uzbekistan’s independence.

Both the domestic and foreign policy of Uzbekistan are inimical to any significant changes that would address the hunger that plagues the country. Since the main priority of such policies is to keep the ruling regime in power, securing food and combating hunger is simply not a huge priority.

Another cause of the lack of food security is the slow growth of the gross domestic product (GDP), which in recent years was as low as seven percent, which is not sufficient for the steadily increasing population.

Furthermore, the economy of Uzbekistan, in regards to agriculture, is largely confined to producing cotton. This lack of diversification exposes Uzbekistan to increased economic risk. This problem is exacerbated by rising food prices as well.

Despite all of these indicators painting a bleak picture of Uzbekistan in the long run, recent reports have shown a decrease in hunger. From 2000 to 2014 the number of undernourished Uzbeks were reduced to less than half of what they previously were. Currently, this number is at around 1.7 million. While much work has to be done, this is a great improvement.

Additionally, unlike the GDP, the rate of agricultural production increased gradually at about 6 percent every year from 2000 to 2007. Furthermore, the wheat production grew nine-fold from 1991 to 2006. These stark improvements are largely a result of the isolationist approach Uzbekistan has adopted in terms of its foreign policy, which has both its pros and cons.

One of downsides that the Uzbeks have experienced as a result of this foreign policy has already been mentioned: the aversion of the rigid regime to take chances that may benefit its population but would otherwise risk its own stability, such as lifting restrictions on trade. The pros of this are increased self-sufficiency that has spurred the growth in certain aspects of the agricultural sector.

There is much work that needs to be done in order to reduce hunger in Uzbekistan. The country has improved in some ways but further work is needed in order to develop a sustainable model that adequately addresses the needs of the citizenry.

– Mohammad Hasan Javed

Photo: Flickr

 

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