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Why Promoting Education in Maldives is Crucial

Maldives has made significant strides in creating a robust and effective education system for its young students. In 1978, the government of Maldives created a unified state education system. As a direct result, the literacy rate of the nation has increased from 70 percent in 1978 to 98 percent today. Additionally, the literacy rate is now even for men and women while primary education is universal throughout the nation.

However, there are unique challenges in further improving access to education in Maldives. One of the toughest challenges is a matter of geography. There are 192 inhabited islands in Maldives, many of which are isolated and difficult to travel to and from. While secondary and special education is particularly strong in the capital city of Male, 70 percent of students live on islands far away from Male, so access to these institutions is difficult.  Furthermore, two-thirds of teachers on these islands are untrained and do not have proper facilities or resources to hold classes. And recruiting teachers from other islands or teachers from abroad is tough.

While Male has flourished as a contemporary cultural center, there is a distinct disconnect between the city and the rural areas of the country. Students from islands deemed too small to even host a secondary school must make costly and time-consuming travel arrangements to schools in larger areas. This leads to families hesitating to send their children off to school. It also creates a gender gap in secondary schooling.

Only 65 percent of the population attends secondary school and only seven percent attend a university. The result is a workforce that is not qualified for an industrial and technological job market that can further improve and diversify the economy of Maldives. And with 35 percent of its population under the age of 18, Maldives will face a significant amount of young people entering the job market as under-qualified.

To combat these issues, organizations such as UNICEF and Microsoft are partnering with the government of Maldives to create innovative solutions.  UNICEF is in the process of creating 20 “Teacher Resource Centers,” which will give rural teachers Internet and satellite access to online databases and curriculum.  Microsoft is launching the “Coding Your Way to Opportunity” grant program to encourage youth in Maldives to participate in computer programming.  These programs are crucial steps in helping Maldives continue to develop a sustainable education system.

– Taylor Diamond

Sources: UNICEF, World Bank, UN Development Program
Photo: EDC Online

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How Many People Live in Poverty Worldwide?

What do the 700 million people who watched the world cup in 2010 have to do with global poverty? 700 million people is the number of people who survive on less than a dollar a day, which is 10 percent of the world’s population. A shocking 80 percent of the world’s population survives on less than 10 dollars a day. That is almost 6 billion people living in poverty worldwide.

There are a little over two billion children living in the world currently and half of those children live in extreme poverty every day. According to UNICEF, 22,000 of those children die each year, which is roughly the same number of college students attending at a state university in the United States.

The children living in poverty stricken areas do not have access to proper education. The number of school days missed by these children are over 433 million days of absence. Those days not attended could have been utilized to provide a better life for themselves and their families, but because of their circumstances they are ensnared in that world. Children need access to health resources, clean water and sanitation. Unfortunately, almost one billion children do not receive access to those essentials.

Another major problem that touches nearly half of the world’s population is access to water. Over one billion people in developing countries to not have access to clean water and one in three of those people live on less than one dollar a day. The average toilet flush usage is about three liters of water, which is more than the ordinary quantity of access to water in developing countries. This issue causes problems with human development in these developing nations and causes daily life to continue to be a battle. Nearly half of those populations are suffering from health problems linked to the lack of sanitation and fresh water.

In developing countries the gap between the rich and poor continues to grow each day. This limits areas in poverty, particularly rural, isolated areas to accept limitations to opportunities and resources. The progress that has been formed in developing nations is at times threatened by climate change, famine and economic changes making growth in areas of poverty more difficult. The access to clean water, wellness services and education remains difficult to obtain, causing movement between the class systems stagnant. One answer to the issues of worldwide poverty and climate change is the implementation of the proper education for small marginal farming techniques like irrigation and crop rotation. Food security in the growing nations is a number one goal to continue to reduce worldwide poverty.

– Rachel Cannon

Sources: Global Issues, World Bank
Photo: PKH

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IKEA Improves Lives with Global Philanthropy

The IKEA Foundation’s 2013 annual report celebrates a year of exciting achievements and a growing commitment to global development.

Established in 2009, the IKEA Foundation is the philanthropic entity associated with IKEA, the popular Swedish home furnishings company. In the past year, the foundation has gained 12 new partners and donated 101 million euros to those partner organizations, contributing to the continued implementation of innovative children’s programs. With the support of a new Brazilian partner organization, the IKEA Foundation has also been able to reach children in South America for the first time. In addition, a number of partners have also started to develop emergency shelters for displaced refugees.

Compared to the total monetary donation in 2012 (82 million euros), the IKEA Foundation’s 2013 contribution saw a 21 percent overall increase in giving. IKEA’s Soft Toys for Education campaign raised 10.1 million euros and helped 11 million children. Moreover, the foundation’s projects throughout 2013 impacted children in 35 different countries.

The IKEA Foundation focuses on four areas of development: fighting child labor and promoting children’s rights, improving the lives of refugee children and families, empowering women and girls as well as disaster relief. The foundation also funds education projects for children and works to change current social attitudes towards child labor in developing communities. In 2013, the IKEA Foundation helped UNICEF and Save the Children fight child labor in India and Pakistan. By reaching out to farmers, families and other community leaders, the foundation hopes to raise awareness of the dangers that children face in the workplace – specifically, in the cotton, carpet and metalware industries. Additionally, the foundation’s new partnership with Care for Children is helping place orphans into supportive and loving families in Asia.

In conjunction with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the IKEA Foundation is working to develop safer and more durable emergency shelters for refugees. Innovative additions (such as solar lighting) are expected to increase the lifespan of current refugee camps. Last year, UNHCR began experimenting with the reworked shelters in Ethiopia, taking into account the feedback provided by refugee families living in the newly developed camps.

The IKEA Foundation continues to support KickStart, a partner organization that trains women in southern Africa to grow and sell crops, launch their own businesses and establish a reliable income. The foundation also expanded the number of scholarship opportunities for women and girls to get an education. Currently, the IKEA Foundation’s partnership with the Lila Poonawalla Foundation helps 1,900 poor Indian women pursue higher education in fields like engineering, agriculture and healthcare.

By giving cash grants to its partners, the IKEA Foundation strives to help families immediately after disasters and other conflicts. During the past year, partner organizations used IKEA’s grants to provide medical care to Syrian refugees. After Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines, many partners brought emergency supplies to devastated communities. The IKEA Foundation itself has donated IKEA toys and products to around 1.2 million affected children around the world.

The IKEA Foundation has clearly expanded its goals and reached several new milestones in 2013, but CEO Per Heggenes believes that the foundation has more to offer. “The journey continues,” he wrote, “and we still have lots to accomplish.”

– Kristy Liao

Sources: IKEA Foundation
Photo: INiTs

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Poliovirus Spreads to Equatorial Guinea

The Polio Global Eradication Initiative announced that “a new wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case was reported in Equatorial Guinea” on April 16 2014.  The country has reported three known cases and due to the genetic sequencing of the virus, health officials believe the virus spread from neighboring country, Cameroon.

This poliovirus outbreak contradicts Equatorial Guinea’s statistics in previous years. The UNICEF Annual Report 2012 for Guinea Bissau declared, “Guinea Bissau has been “polio-free” since 2009…due to vaccination campaigns through child health days and strengthened routine immunization.” According to NPR’s article “Polio Hits Equatorial Guinea, Threatens Central Africa” report, however, the country currently has a vaccination rate of only 39 percent, suggesting that routine immunization programs have decreased since 2009.

Similarly, in Cameroon, the origin of this outbreak, the World Health Organization calculated that 40 percent of children are inadequately vaccinated against the poliovirus. Immunization prevents the spread of the poliovirus, which is an infectious disease with no cure that can cause permanent paralysis. It is communicable via person-to-person contact. Children under the age of 5 are especially susceptible to contracting the virus, making proper immunization campaigns are essential to elimination of an outbreak.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), from January 2014 to April 2014 ten countries reported a total of 61 polio cases.  When an outbreak of the poliovirus began in Cameroon in October 2013, the country conducted immunization campaigns in response. On March 17 2014, however, Cameroon confirmed new cases of the poliovirus.  In the WHO’s “Poliovirus in Cameroon update”, the WHO elevated “the risk assessment of international spread of polio from Cameroon to very high.” Despite the organization’s attempt to contain the outbreak, the poliovirus spread to Equatorial Guinea.

In an April 24, 2014 UNICEF news note, UNICEF Representative in Equatorial Guinea, Dr. Brandão Có, stated, “Stopping the transmission of polio in Equatorial Guinea is a key priority in order to ensure children, families and communities are protected against this terrible and crippling disease that also has enormous social costs.” UNICEF also reported that a campaign to vaccinate 300,000 children against the virus commenced on April 24, 2014.

— Jaclyn Ambrecht

Sources: NPR, Polio Global Eradication Initiative,, UNICEF(1), UNICEF(2), World Health Organization

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Malnutrition in Somalia

Even if a person is getting enough food to eat sometimes those foods are not the right foods, which leads to malnutrition.

Malnutrition can make daily life difficult for people living in developing countries. A child’s learning abilities become lower and physical work becomes extremely tiring and impossible to perform. According to UNICEF there are 200,000 malnourished children in Somalia. UNICEF supports stabilization centers in Somalia which help malnourished men, women and children gain access to resources that are not normally available to the community. The stabilization centers admit severely malnourished children under the age of five.

Malnutrition causes generalized oedema, which is the abnormal swelling and buildup of fluid in the body’s tissue, mainly in younger children. Accordingly, acute malnutrition cause Somalian children to suffer from diarrhea, anemia, malaria, dehydration, high fever and vomiting. In fact, 50,000 cases of severe acute malnutrition in Somalia are at risk of death.

Once the child is healthy he or she can be discharged from the stabilization centers. Immediately after the child returns home the care at the outpatient therapeutic centers begins. These are located close to the child’s home and continue to provide services to the child and the family. Only children well enough are discharged from the stabilization centers.

The therapeutic centers’ services include a basic nutrition package which promotes treatment and the prevention of disease and illness. The packages contain micro-nutrient support, infant and young feeding information, along with maternal nutrition information. Moreover, the centers encourage the proper use of handling and cooking food as well as, managing child illness and immunizations. The children are also given a peanut-based paste to help maintain proper nourishment along with vitamin A and deworming tablets.

Mothers in Somalia do not have access to basic human necessities, and unfortunately leave their new born babies unattended for hours while foraging for food. However, UNICEF aims to end this issue by the end of 2014. In fact, UNICEF’s goal is to give over 90,000 vulnerable people the basic foods and non-food needs. The mothers will attend health and nutrient workshops provided by the therapeutic center to help promote a healthier lifestyle throughout their communities. These workshops provide information to call attention to the benefits of breastfeeding to prevent malnutrition for infants.

Furthermore, giving information on subjects like proper hygiene standards and washing hands regularly will help reduce the spreading of disease and illness. Currently, UNICEF hope to administer 1,900,000 children under the age of five with the polio vaccine, as well as 300,000 children under the age of one with the measles vaccine. These vaccines will lead to more longevity for the people of Somalia. Once these methods are instilled in the lives of Somalian women and children the communities will continue to promote and prevent these issues from reoccurring.

– Rachel Cannon 

Sources: UNICEF, WFP
Photo: UNICEF

Internatio​nal Day of Happiness

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Every hour of the day, advertisers try to capture happiness in carefully crafted commercials. Celebrities sell glamour and fame as gateways to contentment. To politicians, a growing economy secures happiness for every citizen.

Yet Borgen, the United Nations and other battling global poverty understand happiness in different terms. On March 20, the U.N. Foundation promotes 24HoursOfHappiness.com to raise donations for its Emergency Response Fund. The U.N. poses this question on its website: “Have you had enough of being made to feel poor in a world that is rich with opportunities to be happy?”

This year, emergencies threatened individuals worldwide. In the developing world, allies sacrificed material comfort to return stability to their lives. At this time, UNICEF, Heifer International and a number of other partners promote monthly donation plans align financial security and personal well-being.

A monthly donation to UNICEF offers a range of benefits to children:

• $15 a month (50 cents a day) provides 20 packets of high energy biscuits for malnourished children
• $30 a month ($1.00 a day) tests 20 children for malaria, a highly treatable disease.
• $75 a month ($2.50 a day) provides basic surgical equipment to under-resourced hospitals
• $100 a month ($3.33 a day) purchases waterproof sleeping mats for 100 homeless children
• $200 a month ($6.66 a day) provides 80 children with a School-in-a-Box kit – this “ready-made educational solution packed with pencils, erasers, exercise books, writing slates, scissors, markers, posters and blackboard equipment.”

A monthly donation to Heifer International advances families’ food security:

• $10 provides one goat
• $30 provides three sheep
• $50 provides five pigs
• $20 provides 12 flocks of chicken
• $42 provides one heifer
• $152 provides a full barn yard

Furthermore, Nic Marks of Happiness Works reports unhappiness threatens the global marketplace. Discontent workers report lower productivity, higher levels of absence and illness, and less motivation to improve performance. Marks and his colleagues seek to align the needs of business with the personal need for happiness.

Global advancements in education, healthcare and business should factor in personal well-being. The materials provided by UNICEF and Heifer offer stability in times of crisis. Coupling these products with personalized support offers assurance of long-term change.

In July 2011, the U.N. General Assembly expressed a commitment to this emotional support. It deemed happiness a “fundamental human goal” and moved to establish a “more inclusive, equitable and a balanced approach to economic growth that promotes happiness and well-being of all peoples.” The world celebrated the first official Day of Happiness in 2013, engaging more 3.5 million in a discussion on global happiness.

Opponents initially stressed the growing hostilities in Syria and North Korea, questioning the need for a Day of Happiness when conflict rages and tensions grow. Yet happiness serves as a “breeding ground for social discontent,” resulting in these cycles of conflict and insecurity.

A happiness campaign demands greater attention to humanitarian efforts. Efforts can do more than help individuals survive trying times; aid, in any form, can help individuals thrive and secure lasting happiness.

– Ellery Spahr

Sources: United Nations, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian
Photo: DeviantART

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What is Child Labor?

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Do you own an iPhone? How about an iPad? Technology juggernaut Apple Inc. recently published an audit of the 451 plants, based in Asia, contracted as suppliers for Apple products. Of almost 1.5 million workers, Apple discovered 23 underage workers. Last year, the company discovered 74 underage workers. According to the report, workers could not exceed 60 hours per week.

Apple’s findings fall short in comparison to the growing number of underage workers in the child labor epidemic. What epidemic?

Child labor is the illegal use of hiring or forcing children to work in a business. Commonly, these working conditions are dangerous, hazardous, and inhumane. Not only are children working in dangerous work environments, they are not attending school. According to the University of Iowa, 75 million children did not attend school because of child labor.

According to the International Labor Organization, there are 215 million children between the ages of five and 17 working in illegal labor.

Here are some potential characteristics of child labor:

  • Ignores national and global human rights
  • Undermines child labor laws
  • Positions children in dangerous working environments
  • Involves some type of abuse toward the child

Child labor occurs mainly in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. However, child labor occurs across the globe. Here are a list of various industries where children are working:

  • Agriculture. Sixty percent of child labor occurs in commercial agriculture. Children working in this industry work long hours, are vulnerable to pesticides, and receive little pay
  • Manufacturing. Fourteen million children work in manufacturing
  • Mining. Children who work in this industry are vulnerable to physical harm
  • Child trafficking. Over six million children are forced into bondage, serfdom, or sexual exploitation. The New York Daily News recently published an article that exploiting Perusian children being sold into sex slavery

Primary Cause of Child Labor

The primary cause of child labor is poverty. As families struggle to acquire basic necessities such as food, shelter, and clothing, families become desperate to make ends meet. Here are some facts about the severity of global poverty provided by UNICEF:

  • 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation
  • 1 billion children are deprived of one or more services essential to survival and development
  • 22 million infants are not protected from diseases by routine immunization
  • 4 million newborns worldwide are dying in the first month of life
  • 101 million children are not attending primary school

As these states show, global poverty is a serious epidemic.

Without access to basic needs and steady income, child labor has spread. Anecdotes about child labor are plentiful online. The common thread among these anecdotes is that fact that poor children are being forced to work long hours in dangerous environments, and they are not being paid. Poor safety conditions contribute to the illnesses, deaths, and injuries afflicted on innocent children.

Poor safety perpetuates the cycle of poverty and child labor. As one child dies or becomes terminally ill, another child is forced to work in illegal conditions.

– Leonard Wilson, Jr. 

Sources: Child Labor Public Education Project, NY Daily News, Reuters
Photo: The Hindu

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Tap Project: Provide Clean Water, Resist Your Phone

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Like Pavlov’s dogs, humans have been thoroughly conditioned to check their mobile phones at the merest vibration, imagined or otherwise. So much so that an annual report by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byer’s found that people check their phones approximately 23 times per day for messages, 22 times for a voice call and 18 times to check the time.

There also exists a term for the anxiety experienced by people without their phones, even for short periods of time. Nomophobia, the fear of not having or not being able to use a cell phone, may result in nausea, panic and desperation, according to a survey conducted by a security application called Lookout.

Although such behavioral ticks may arguably describe many citizens of the industrialized world, various organizations have lashed out against cell phone dependence. Ranging from musicians like the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, who urged audience members to “put that shit away,” to restaurants banning cell phones at the door, backlash against cell phone usage has a growing audience.

In perhaps the most humanitarian reaction to cell phone dependence and its backlash, UNICEF has begun the Tap Project- a campaign that rewards people for not checking their phones. For every minute a user does not ‘tap’ their phone, sponsors will fund one day of clean water to one water-insecure individual.

As for ‘why water,’ UNICEF reports that 768 million people don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water and 2.5 billion people do not have access to a proper toilet. Water-insecurity results in poor hygiene and a greater spread of diseases, causing more than 3.4 million deaths annually. Nearly 99 percent of these deaths occur in the developing world.

Ironically, nearly 10 times as many people in the world have cell phones compared to those who still use open defecation practices in India alone, 5.9 billion and 626 million people, respectively.

The program does not work on iPads nor droid phones (leaving some unable to test their willpower,) but even if only 200 of the nine million people who bought the new iPhone 5 in September did not check their smartphone for one minute, it would generate enough money for UNICEF to give one child safe drinking water for 200 days.

UNICEF’s campaign provides an excellent out for people trapped in a technology blackhole. Best portrayed during the sketch comedy “Portlandia” by Fred Armisen, his character gets stuck in a loop where he constantly rotates from checking his phone, email, Netflix account until his brain overloads and shuts down.

While people will not self-combust from phone use (although injuries sustained from cell phone usage is on the rise,) thanks to UNICEF, cell phone users have all the incentive they need to put down their phones and become conscious members of society again, one minute at a time.

– Emily Bajet 

Sources: UNICEF USA, ABC News, NY Mag, Lookout, Show Bams, ITU, UNICEF, Water.org, Apple
Photo: World Concern

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UNICEF Awards Matt Damon and Michael Douglas

Matt Damon and Michael Douglas were awarded the Danny Kaye Humanitarian award at the 2013 UNICEF ball this month. The Danny Kaye award stems from late actor Danny Kaye, who was UNICEF’s first Global Ambassador in 1954.

Kaye was a beloved comedic Actor to Hollywood but a strong advocate to children. Kaye had been quoted saying “if children are healthy and have care and education, surely they will be more effective adults, and maybe, just maybe, make the world a better place.”

Michael Douglas was honored for his strong leadership and advocacy roles with the United Nations. Douglas became United Nations Messenger of Peace in 1998. Over the years Douglas has brought attention to the rise in child soldiers in Sierra Leone through a UN film “Child Soldiers.”

Throughout the documentary Douglas interviews former soldiers, as well as helps children reunite with their loved ones.  Many child soldiers are kidnapped by rebel groups and endure inhumane conditions while with them. Douglas is also a strong advocate for weapons control and nuclear disarmament, and continues to help the UN’s mission of peace and security.

Matt Damon was awarded for his strong advocacy efforts toward the need for clean water around the world. Damon co-founded water.org, an organization that helps people in developing nations gain access to clean water through loan assistance programs.

“Every 20 seconds a little kid, a child dies because they lack access to clean water and sanitation, every 20 seconds,” Damon states in an interview with CNN.

One way the program works is by giving communities loans so they can gain access to clean affordable water either by building wells or putting water pipes directly in villager’s homes. Having the opportunity to have water nearby allows villagers, especially women and children, extra time for education and career training.

Facts from water.org show millions of hours per day are spent collecting water from wells many miles from villager’s homes.

“It’s not just about the millions of children who actually  die every year, it’s about the quality of life that somebody can have if they have access to clean water” states Damon, after speaking to a girl who is able to play and be a child again , instead of spending that time collecting water for her family.

These men have been great humanitarians throughout the years and will continue to advocate for children and families for years to come. It’s through their efforts along with thousands of other great humanitarians why the world is changing and becoming a place of peace and freedom.

– Amy Robinson

Sources: Variety, UNICEF, CNN, Water, Vimeo, IIP Digital
Photo: PopSugar

Educating Women: An Efficient Angle Towards Solving Global Poverty

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It has been said, to fight poverty start with educating women. Sounds simplistic, but by no means can it be argued as a holistic or the only solution to global poverty. What has been proven without a shadow of a doubt, however, is that from the shadows of our patriarchic cultural past, women still do not enjoy full equality.

In the U.S. This manifests in lower pay and lower rates of CEOs, high executives or public officials, a travesty for sure. Yet in many countries around the world this inequity in rights manifests in much more horrific ways. One does not need to look any further than Malala Yousafzai, and her recently well publicized campaign. What’s disturbing is that what happened to her is a daily occurrence around the world.

So again, while it may not be a silver bullet, attacking poverty by starting with women is an argument that is well founded and arguably proved by social science academia as an extremely effective way to start.

Coupled with the longstanding stance that education is the way out of poverty — i.e. an ability to be self-reliant — to have the knowledge and understanding to progress yourself into a better situation. And, perhaps even more importantly, is the aspect of early childhood education as it is a crucial role of programming the roots of individuals.

Therefore, it could be naturally deduced that women’s education, or even more specifically girls’ education, is one of the areas where more focus and understanding should be applied.

With research institutions and think tanks like OXFAM and UNICEF providing information, and micro-finance or hands on organizations like CARE.org or NURU international, everyone with an internet access and 2 bucks to spare can make a huge impact on moving this planet towards a better more equitable place for all.

Here are some organizations working directly in this arena that you can look into for more answers, or to become an active participant in the solutions:

1 – The Borgen Project
2 – Nuru International
3 – Care.org
4 – Kiva.com
5 – UNICEF
6 – UNESCO
7 – Global Fund for Women

– Tyler Shafsky

Sources: Huffington Post, CNN
Photo: Huffington Post