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Tracking Chinese Aid to Africa

Tracking Chinese Aid to Africa
Amidst a flurry of excitement and criticism, AidData released their latest project: a dataset tracking Chinese aid to Africa. This user-friendly free dataset has sparked debate among policy, practitioner, and academic circles.

The data compiles China’s official and unofficial projects between 2000-2011. During this time-period, China committed to 1,673 projects amounting to US$ 75.4 billion. For reference, the US committed US$ 90 billion over the same time-period.

In policy, critics point to the definitions of aid used by AidData in tracking Chinese aid to Africa. Under the OECD classification of aid, China has only invested US$ 1.1 billion over the decade. Academics and practitioners share concerns over the validity of the data and media analysis data collection method. Among the critics are Professor of international development at Johns Hopkins University, Deborah Brautigam, Duncan Green of Oxfam, and Andy Norton of Overseas Development Institute. Brautigam cites her research as having vastly different numbers resulting in reordering of the top recipients.

AidData responded to the critiques by stating that the dataset is a public good and practitioners should make their own conclusions about the policy implications. To the criticism that the data is incorrect and controversial method too risky, AidData responded that “media reports, though imperfect, are often the best means available to track Chinese development finance” citing Brautigam’s own critique as evidence. AidData stresses that the data is a work in progress relying on efforts from many organizations, individuals and experts to find and correct mistakes.

– Katherine Zobre

Sources: China AidData , Japan Times , Devex Impact , AidData Rejoinder to Rubbery Numbers,
Photo: The ChinAfrica Project

Oxfam Raises World Hunger Awareness at Banquet

Oxfam Raises World Hunger Awareness at Banquet
University of Central Missouri hosted an Oxfam Hunger Banquet to raise money to fight world poverty and hunger. The event raised $9,250, of which $9,000 was in the form of donated Sodexo swipes (student meal plans) and $250 in cash. Other donations included 150 pounds of food to be sent to developing countries.

The 100 students and other city residents who attended the banquet were educated on how to end global hunger through long-term development plans and emergency relief programs. Oxfam also emphasized the importance of implementing fair trade rules, combating global climate change, and standing up for human rights.

The Hunger Banquet emphasized access to food inequalities in the world by randomly assigning attendees to represent people in the world who were food insecure, consumed just enough calories for a healthy diet, or consumed more than the necessary amount of calories. To mimic real-world statistics, 15% of the people could eat a high amount of calories, 35% could consume the basic amount of calories, and 50% of attendees were food insecure.

Those who were given the lowest status had beans, rice, and a glass of water for dinner. The 15% of high-class people were served their dinner on China plates and crystal glass. The juxtaposition of people eating beans next to people consuming a fancy meal added a new outlook on world hunger for those who were present at the banquet.

Another alarming fact that attendees took home with them is that 16,000 children die every day from hunger. To put this in perspective, the town where the event was held, Warrensburg, has a population of 16,304. The Hunger Banquet was a huge success in terms of raising money and donations for the world’s poor and also because the attendees are now more aware of the struggles millions of people face every day. Many students left the banquet ready to take action against global hunger.

– Mary Penn

Source: digital Burg

Top 10 World Hunger Blogs

world-hunger-smiles
Below is a list of some of the best and most influential world hunger blogs around. The following blogs use various journalistic styles to spread the word about world hunger and news from around the world. After you finish reading through The Borgen Project blog, take a look at some of these!

1. Action Against Hunger- regular postings on major global hunger news and breaking events. The blog is part of the organization’s website. Action Against Hunger is a global humanitarian organization committed to ending world hunger.

2. Bread Blog- part of the Bread for the World organization. This blog reports US national events and important global stories in the fight against global poverty.

3. From Poverty to Power- a blog from OXFAM. It discusses the avenues individuals can take to achieve power. It is based on the thoughts from the Author, Duncan Green, and is meant to serve as a conversation and debate starter about development policy.

4. The Hunger and Under-nutrition Blog– aims to promote an informed dialogue, and serve as a resource for those in the field, and empower people at all levels to do what they can to make undernutrition and nutrition-related deaths and diseases a thing of the past.

5. International Food Policy Research Institute– the organization seeks sustainable solutions for ending world hunger and poverty. They have a vision of a world free of poverty and hunger and their blog focuses on what the IFPRI is doing as well as major news stories.

6. ONE blog- is part of the ONE organization. ONE’s goal is to fight the absurdity of extreme poverty by asking people to advocate for the world’s poor by taking action instead of simply talking about the problem.

7. Plenty to Think About– a blog highlighting, “the thinking persons guide to feeding a hungry planet”. This blog focuses on dietary solutions that can help end world hunger

8. Universities Fighting World Hunger- this organization works with the UN World Food Programme to mobilize US and international universities to make fighting world hunger a core value of higher education institutions. The blog is informative and journalistic and it provides a summary of the actions individuals within the organization are taking to fight world hunger.

9. WhyHunger blog- shares the stories of community-based organizations that are leading by example and working together to build the movement to end hunger and poverty.

10. OXFAM blogs- these blogs come from OXFAM staff around the world and document the problems, successes, and news coming from their local regions.

– Caitlin Zusy 
Source: Action Against Hunger, Bread for the World, OXFAM Blogs, Hunger and Under-nutrition Blog, International Food Policy Research Institute, ONE blog, Plenty to Think About, Universities Fighting World Hunger, WhyHunger blog, OXFAM blogs
Photo: Africa Dream

5 Fun Events to End Global Poverty

5-events-to-end-world-poverty
These 5 fun events are bringing people together with one common goal, to expose and eliminate poverty around the world. Whether the focus is on one specific country, or the world, the magnitude of learning about world poverty and efforts to end it are being multiplied.

1. The Borgen Project’s “Downsizing Poverty” Online Auction– Taking place from April 12 to April 28, the online auction boasts numerous items from trips to Mexico, artwork, outdoor passes, electronics, to the flag flown at the Obama’s 2013 Inauguration, online bidders from around the world can help the completely volunteer-organized and -run Borgen Project stop global poverty. Proceeds from this event will assist the Borgen Project in marketing initiatives to build public and political support to reduce poverty.

2. Concern Worldwide US Leadership Network Meeting – On May 9 in Chicago, IL, Concern Worldwide US will host an event to bring together young, like-minded professionals to connect and discuss the elimination of extreme poverty in developing countries. Participants will enjoy their first beverage on Concern Worldwide US while the rest of the proceeds from this event will benefit various projects supported the organization.

3. The Bretton Woods Committee 30th Anniversary Annual Meeting – Themed “Can the IFIs, Business, Government, and Society End Poverty in a Generation?” this conference will bring together representatives from multilateral, non-profit, and government organizations such as Oxfam America, The World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund. The dialogue will encompass the “development ecosystem” and how it is changing and how these organizations can support and assist those countries at the bottom of the pyramid. This event will take place on May 15 in Washington, D.C..

4. UNICEF’s Next Generation Photo Benefit – On May 17 at the Milk Gallery in New York City, photographers (both professional and amateur) and givers will come together to raise funds for UNICEF’s Next Generations Colombia Project. The theme of this event is “Seeing ZERO” and guests will have the opportunity to partake in a silent auction alongside an open bar, enjoying hors d’oeuvres and music.

5. Devendra Banhart Concert Tour –This spring and summer at concerts across America, Oxfam will have outreach tables as well as volunteer opportunities to generate awareness to end world hunger and start saving lives. Visit Oxfam to view a complete list of events.

– Kira Maixner

Source: The Borgen Project, Concern Worldwide US, Bretton Woods Committee, Unicef USA, Oxfam America
Photo: United Nations Information Center Washington

Coldplay and Oxfam Fight Land Grabs With “In My Place”

Coldplay and Oxfam Fight Land Grabs With “In My Place”An acoustic version of the Coldplay song “In My Place” has been donated to Oxfam to create a new unique campaign video that will be used to bring awareness to the problem of land grabs all over the world.

Land grabs occur when people have pushed off a tract of land without consultation or compensation because corporations, governments, and banks buy up the land to generate large profits. People are in effect moved off the places they call home. Since 2001, at least 80 million hectares of land deals have occurred forcing many families to find somewhere else to stay. The project is part of the GROW campaign which is working to create a more just and more sustainable world.

Working on the music video is award-winning director Mat Whitecross. Whitecross, using video clips and photos donated by fans and friends of Oxfam, will create a video that very uniquely sends the message of what these land grabs do to poor families all over the world.

“The concept is really simple,” says Whitecross. “I want you to take a room in your house and move it somewhere else, somewhere unexpected.”

Land grabs exacerbate the problem of poverty and hunger by denying people the homes they live in and the land they use to grow their food. With the video, Oxfam hopes to send a message that action must be taken to prevent land grabs and put people before profit.

– Rafael Panlilio
Source: Oxfam

Behind the Brands: Improving Lives

Behind The Brands
PepsiCo, Nestle, and Kellog’s are just a few of the brands that many people are familiar with and have most likely purchased from in the past week. These are also brands ranked by Oxfam’s Behind the Brands campaign, a movement aimed at informing consumers on the living conditions of the farmers who are providing these companies with their products. The question posed by the campaign is: “what are they doing to clean up their supply chains?”

Currently, we are in a food, energy, and climate crisis. Drastically increased food production and energy investments are needed by 2030 to meet projected growing demand. Competition for land and water consumption is quickly increasing as well. Inescapable complications due to climate change will further add to all these problems. Most of the impact of resource scarcity and climate change will fall on the poor living in developing countries that are more susceptible to rising prices for food and fuel. Behind the Brands is bringing awareness about the 500 million farmers in developing countries who work to produce food for 2 billion people.

Quite recently, Oxfam released a briefing paper on the “Big 10” food and beverage companies, assessing how well they regarded the workers who supplied the land and labor that made these companies prosperous. The companies that make up the top 10 include Associated British Foods, Coca-Cola, Danone, General Mills, Kellogg’s, Mars, Mondelez International (previously Kraft), Nestle, PepsiCo, and Unilever. Oxfam released scorecards critically assessing the social and environmental policies of these companies and called on them to create a “just food system.” Seven themes make up these scorecards: transparency, women, workers, farmers, land, water, and climate. The lowest of the Big 10 ratings were General Mills, Kellogg’s, and Associated British Foods with grades of 23 percent, 23 percent, and 19 percent respectively, with low scores on land, women, and farmer rights.

On International Women’s Day on March 8th, activists nationwide organized  to advocate for justice for women cocoa farmers working for the top 3 big chocolate companies of Nestle, Mars and Mondelez, which buy more than 30% of the world’s cocoa supply. Chocolate is a $100 billion industry, yet most of the cocoa farmers working for these companies survive on less than $2 per day. Earlier this month, Oxfam received a response from Nestle, which currently holds a score of 54% with high ratings on transparency, water and climate but low ratings on land and women.  In the form of a public letter, Nestle affirmed their commitment to alleviate problems of gender inequality and make a commitment towards sustainable and just practices. As the result of Oxfam’s efforts, Nestle’s supply chain structure is currently being amended with the idea of a “human rights approach together with a human development approach” in mind.

The policies implemented by these companies could do much to lift the people that work with them out of poverty. Both Nestle and Mars have agreed to work with Oxfam to improve their policies. Oxfam will continue reaching out to Nestle, Mars and Mondelez to address issues of human rights and sustainability. Behind the Brands is intended to be a continuous effort, acting as a watchdog by constantly reviewing companies’ performances on the indicators that make up the scoreboard.

Behind the Brands is part of Oxfam’s global GROW campaign which is on a mission to accomplish two objectives: an end to global hunger and to live within the ecological boundaries of our planet. The earth’s growing population is projected to reach a total of nine billion by the year 2050. The GROW campaign hopes to build a better food system that will allow us to sustainably live within our means and empower the poor to prosper. At the core of the GROW campaign is the idea that it is unacceptable that anyone in the world go hungry due to imbalances in resources like land, water, and food.

– Rafael Panlilio

Sources: Behind The Brands, Oxfam, Oxfam Blogs

The 100 Richest People In the World Could End Global Poverty

The 100 Richest People In the World Could End Global Poverty
It would cost $30 billion annually to end global poverty. This would mean that billions of people would no longer suffer from malnutrition, food insecurity, unsanitary conditions, preventable disease, and lack of education. A new study by Oxfam shows that the world’s 100 richest people earned $240 billion in 2012, enough to end global poverty four times.

While a majority of businesses and individuals were financially hurt by the economic crisis, the wealthiest have benefited from it. Oxfam reported that “The richest 1 percent has increased its income by 60 percent in the last 20 years with the financial crisis accelerating rather than slowing the process,” thus contributing to the growing gap between the rich and poor of the world.

It can be difficult to fathom how the richest 100 people can earn hundreds of billions of dollars in a year while billions of people can live on less than $1.25 a day. Oxfam’s report, “The Cost of Inequality: How Wealth and Income Extremes Hurt us All,” suggests that having so few people controlling such a large amount of the world’s wealth makes it more difficult to end global poverty. The philanthropic organization urges world leaders to address this alarming financial inequality by ending extreme wealth by 2025.

In order to return to 1990’s inequality levels, Oxfam suggests that world leaders get rid of tax havens and regressive taxes, implement a “global minimum corporation tax rate,” increase wages in proportion to corporate earnings, and “increase investment in free public services.” These extreme inequality gaps are spreading to countries like China, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and the United States. Oxfam states that inequality levels in South Africa are worst now than during the end of apartheid.

Jeremy Hobbs, Executive Director of Oxfam International, is adamant that the study shows the idiocy behind trickle down economics. He says, “We can no longer pretend that the creation of wealth for a few will inevitably benefit the many – too often the reverse is true.” He also stresses how when the wealthy control politics, they will often employ policies that only benefit the rich. World financial leaders are meeting April 3rd to discuss these issues and how to overall improve the global economy.

– Mary Penn

Source: SCMP
Photo: Global Giving

Horse Meat and Social Responsibility

Horse Meat and Social Responsibility
The recent discovery of horse meat in fast food chains in the U.K. and around the world has started some interesting conversations. An inspection of 139 meat products showed that nearly two thirds of those products included unlisted ingredients such as donkey, goat, and water buffalo. The discoveries about what is in food has led many people to ask, “What else don’t we know about how our food is produced?”

Oxfam International has started a new project called Beyond the Brands. This project investigates how the world’s ten largest food and beverage companies operate and how they are fulfilling their social responsibilities to their workers and customers. Among the “Big 10” food companies are familiar names like Pepsico, Nestle, and Coca-Cola. These companies combined turn out huge profits around the world and, through their supply chains, employ the labor of millions in the developing world.

The companies are given scores in seven categories including women’s rights, business transparency, environmental responsibility, and workers’ access to land and clean water. The goal of the campaign is not only to pressure some of the world’s largest companies to do more but to help consumers know more about where their food is coming from and the conditions in which it is prepared. An Oxfam spokesperson claimed that these large food and beverage companies need to become more socially responsible. At the same time, most of these companies are doing just that, trying to be more responsible by offering solid employment, providing safe places to work, and working to create less pollution.

With this latest Oxfam initiative, the public can learn more about where food comes from, investigate how the workers are treated, and identify how responsible their employers are. Hopefully, this information will inspire these big businesses to focus on their own supply chains and maybe change the habits of thoughtful consumers. If “you are what you eat”, why not be a positive change?

– Kevin Sullivan

Source: IBI Times

Oxfam Provides Water from Lake to Lips in 6 Weeks

Water-System-Congo

North of Lake Kivu in the city of Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, civil strife has caused thousands of refugees to flee to the Bulengo Camp. Home to about 45,000, Bulengo has been given the remodeling of a lifetime thanks to the hard work of Oxfam volunteers. Over a six week period, a basic yet high-functioning water filtration system has been set up that provides enough clean water for the entire camp.

The entire system is comprised of hundreds of meters of piping. Water is pumped directly from Lake Kivu and sent to large tanks. Within these tanks, the water is filtered and chlorinated to prevent diseases such as cholera. The tanks can hold up to 70,000 liters (approximately 18,492 gallons) each and are filled twice a day.

An amazing aspect of this system, aside from the fact that it provides the most basic need to thousands, is that the system is managed by the refugees. They maintain the pipes and check the chlorination process to ensure everything runs smoothly from the lake to the lips of thirsty refugees. The best job, however, is that of the young children who run to the taps in the camp to freely fill up their buckets and bottles.

Oxfam shows that through providing basic building materials, it is possible to greatly impact more than 45,000 people. It is proven through successful aid work that developing countries do not need the most modern technology; they do not only require a constant stream of millions of dollars but also the time and creativity of those willing to go out to these countries and help. In a matter of just six weeks, thousands of lives have instantly changed. There was no need for excessive donors, elongated presentations or even extensive research on how to solve the problem. Six weeks, plastic pipes and plastic bottles was all it took to get clean water from lake to lips.

– Deena Dulgerian

Source:Oxfam International

Unpaid Corporate Tax Could End World Hunger

Oxfam Cracks Down On Tax Dodging
On January 31, Oxfam came out with a statement revealing that a third of the unpaid corporate tax belonging to developing countries could end world hunger. The amount lost to corporate tax dodgers is estimated at around $160 billion, more than three times the $50.2 billion needed a year to end hunger globally.

Tax dodging practices are possible through a combination of legal and illegal activities such as tax havens, price manipulation across borders, and false invoicing. Oxfam has urged the UK government to close loopholes that allow corporate tax dodging to continue. Chief Executive of Oxfam Barbara Stocking, regarding UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s attendance at the U.N. high panel meeting last week, said that “David Cameron should be pushing for an end to global hunger by 2025, and an end to tax dodging which could pay for this and much more. These companies are effectively taking food from hungry mouths.”

A week before the U.N. high panel meeting, Cameron spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland promising to prioritize tax evasion.“This is an issue whose time has come,” said Cameron. “After years of abuse, people across the planet are rightly calling for more action and most importantly there is gathering political will to actually do something about it.”

Oxfam was one of 100 organizations to launch the Enough Food for Everyone If campaign. The campaign plans to hold Cameron to his “commitment to lead the world in a battle against hunger.”

– Rafael Panlilio

Source: Gov.UK, Oxfam
Photo: Oxfam