Blog #10: Why water access matters to poverty reduction

Summary:
Amanda Klasing has spent about 8 years speaking with women and children of Haiti about their living situations, one important factor that she focuses on is their access to water. There was an earthquake that occurred in the year of 2010, but before this earthquake they had a poor water drainage system, which left many places at a risk for flooding to happen. As a result of the damage many women and children had to go fetch water on their own, causing these kids to miss class. Mothers also had to result in using bad water to care for their sick children, because they had no source of healthy water. Some women even had to give birth in tents or streets with no access to running water. There is an estimate of 800 million people who have been deprived of access of clean drinking water and 2.5 billion lack sanitation. Countries are currently devising a plan to alleviate these problems that are taking place in the United Nations.

Analysis:
 I believe that it is good that Klasing has followed this certain group of people in Haiti for the past 8 years, because it shows that someone id being consistent in trying to find out what problems are and making them known to the public. I don't believe the only goal of this article is show the public that there is a lack of sanitized water in Haiti, but that water is really a primary source that keeps people healthy and living. Many may think that food and shelter is the most important thing, but if you don't have clean water, then you don't have a clean body. These people need to be able to have a clean body to be able to eat. Dirty water is the source of these women's kids becoming sicker and this only result's in fatality and more poverty. The article states that this is an easy fix problem, and if it is such an easy fix then it should be alleviated in no problem. After they do this they can focus on other factors that will help their women and children out of poverty.

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2014/03/21/why-water-access-matters-to-poverty-reduction/

Blog 9: Global poverty could be up to a third higher than reported

Summary:
There are over 1 billion people in the world who are living off of $1.25/day. A recent research says that the poverty line is well above what we know is it today, because of our specific definition of poverty. They took into account shelter, sanitation, water, information, nutrition, health and education to get a better look at how many people are actually impoverished. The study that was reports in the Journal of Sociology says the World Bank isn't aware of these numbers because they don't take all of these factors into account. From a study done in Vanuatu it showed that 5% of children live in poverty according to the dollar a day measure, but 17% of children live in poverty according to the basic need of food and shelter. It states that the World Bank need to take a more accurate measurement on the poverty line because, if they did it would substantially increase about 30%.

Analysis:
 I believe that the reason for the bank not going into depth with the measurements previously taken to get a count of the people in poverty is because they will find themselves in more trouble than they really bargained for. It doesn't make sense that they only go off of the dollars a day measurement, because I'm sure not every family has the same amount of kids and can make a living off of $1.25 a day. Sub-sequentially, given them false number of those who are impoverished. Every family is unique and their basic need for food and shelter may out way the next families basic needs. If the World Bank really wants to be of assistance to people who are in poverty, they really need to think about going beyond the surface and really take into account the things that people in poverty desperately need. The faster they get a count of these people, the faster they can make a budget to help them.

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2014/april/global-poverty.html

Blog #8: World Bank increases loan capacity to $300bn

Summary:The World bank has just recently agreed to an increased loan amount to assist impoverish countries in their times of need. This will all happen over the next decade, and this is happening to adapt to the changing world. In a meeting with the International Monetary Fund, Jim Yong Kim stated that the World Bank is doing this in efforts to end extreme poverty by the year of 2030. The bank has undergone a serious amount of restructuring in order to prepare for this great change, and one of those changes is being able to double the amount of money that they are able to give to middle income countries. The bank is also looking to cut unnecessary fund out in order to increase the amount of money that they can save. They will share prosperity between the lowest 40% of developing countries, but while focusing on them, they will not overlook the others that need help as well. They will insure a strategy that ensures that no country is left behind.

Analysis:
This is great news to hear that the World Bank is putting forth effort to help get countries out of poverty. They acknowledge that 2/3 of the worlds most impoverished people are all gathered in just 5 countries, but they also note that these are not the only people that need help. With loan capacity being raised, this could possibly help people get out of poverty faster, but what about the amount of debt that countries are putting themselves in as they accept a higher amount of money. Maybe, as they get these loans from the World Bank, they will create more jobs for their citizens and consequently these citizens can work to help build the economy and finally the end result will be the countries generating enough funds to pay these loans off. But, if the countries don't spend their loan amount wisely, then this calls food disaster. I am in hope that the people who are in charge of distributing funds, have a well planned out budget and have the authority to carry those plans out. If they have great leadership, it will take them, hopefully, a shorter amount of time to implement their plans as opposed to if they have people who don't know what they are doing that are in authority.

 http://www.publicfinanceinternational.org/news/2014/04/world-bank-increases-loan-capacity-to-300bn/

International Monetary Fund,c

International Monetary Fund,, Ki

Blog #7: Cutting aid to Afghanistan will cripple the nation

Summary:
An Islamic report revealed that Afghanistan has reaped many benefits since troops have been there. They have experienced a substantial gain of education, almost half of the girls in Afghanistan are in school, whereas there was only 3% ten years ago. There has also been a rise in health. Contrary to the benefits that they have received, their aid has been drastically cut from $894 million to $508 million in two years. The progress that was made in the realm of education and health are threatened due to this significant amount of money being taken away. Islamic Relief’s Country Director of Afghanistan, Farzana Balooch, realizes that such cuts have resulted in a downhill motion regarding their economy, she also realizes that Afghanistan needs the continuous support of their international community to prevent further deterioration. The Islamic relief presents the argument that international aid should focus on basic needs such as health and food aid, and making sure that the people of Afghanistan continuously deliver and develop aid. The Ambassador of Afghanistan thanked the Islamic Relief report for back Afghanistan up, in an effort to keep receiving humanitarian support from international countries.


Analysis:
 It is good that Afghanistan has resulted in a significant amount of growth concerning their citizens, but is it really plausible for them to become so dependent on other countries to keep their people out of poverty? I believe that it is okay for them to receive any help that is given or to appreciate what they have gotten in past years as a result of troops being there, but it is not okay for them to make their international community feel even the slightest bit of obligation for not continuing to aid them as their need arises. Over the decade that Afghanistan was receiving support, it wouldn't be too far fetched for anyone to think that they would come up with a plan to try to support themselves, as their need should arise. Being dependent on another will never result in success, and this is why countries must always have alternative plans so they can take actions when they need to. As a result of not having an alternative plan to generate funds for themselves, Afghanistan faces the chance of their education growth deteriorating once again. Cutting the aid to Afghanistan will cripple their nation, but maybe the continuous aid that their international had been putting forth over the years has resulted in them experiencing a crippling in their nation. If the international community has resulted in a crippling, then this may have caused them to take a step back, and reevaluate where their funds need to be spent in the future, and once they get their budget in order again they will be able to reconsider helping Afghanistan again. But in the mean time, Afghanistan needs to be figuring out another way to keep their poverty level down and their education enrollment rate the way it is, if not even higher.

http://muslimvillage.com/2014/03/28/51657/islamic-relief-cutting-aid-to-afghanistan-will-cripple-the-nation/

Blog 6: While Cambodia's poverty rate drops, many still struggle to survive

Summary:
Cambodia has managed to alleviate their number of poverty from 52.2 to 20.5 between the years 2004 to 2001, which is a number that passed their goals. Despite Cambodia's effort to help all people, they still have a numerous amount of families that are still struggling, living in poverty. Many Cambodians take a part n leisure activities, but according to the World Bank report, the gap between rich and poor is great. There is talk of building a new airport, which will further cause people to loose their home, making the poverty number rise again. Previous studies have been conducted that showed that only horrific results can come from such building, most importantly unemployment and debt. Citizens of Cambodia that live close to where the airport will be built have been in fear since they've heard the news f the new airport. One particular family have had generations of people stay in the place they are staying now, JUST enough money is made to feed their household of eight, and their don't have funds for medical care.

Analysis:
 While it is great that Cambodia made efforts to get people out of poverty, a substantial amount of people may I add, it is not okay for them to forget about the rest of the people living in poverty. It seems as if they feel like they've accomplished a big goal, and for that goal they need to reward themselves with an airport, that will only reverse the numbers of poverty again. Everyone loves to get an incentive when they perform a great act, but I feel like it is the job of Cambodia to make sure people are not suffering, especially at their hand. I could understand if Cambodia wanted to build an airport after they alleviated all of their citizens from poverty, that would be a well deserved reward, but that isn't the case. "It is as if" they are sending the message to those remanding that they are less important than a new airport that will bring then revenue, which could make those citizens  feel worthless. Contrary to Cambodia building the airport and making people loose their homes, if they were doing it to create fund to further help people, that would happen to be a great idea! Although, they would need to find another location, so the people that lived near their current location could continue to have a home. If Cambodia has more ideas about helping their people out of poverty, then they need to carry those plans out, instead of building an airport that hasn't been presented as if it will help their citizens as a whole. Cambodia did good, dropping poverty number from more than half, but they can surely do better.

http://www.catholic.org/news/international/asia/story.php?id=54406

Blog #5: South Asia – where weapons are more important than the poor

Summary:
At the launching of a ceremony a South Asia report stated that South Asia accounts for forty percent of the worlds poor people. One of the key speakers at the ceremony was Dr. Riaz Shaikh, he stated that it is a shame for the people of South Asia used to be famous for the provision of food over the entire world and now they can't even provide enough food for themselves, causing them to suffer from starvation. He believes that they are not spending enough money on the development of their country, but instead spending money. Women and children are the most affected people by starvation of this country. South Asia spends the most money on weapons, their military has an abundance of weapons, but military spending is more than developed countries. South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication is an important part in fighting against structural causes of poverty and social injustices in the region and beyond. SAAP has been doing reports since 2003 and the current report is the fourth one. People are consistently fighting against political forces to receive and this increases the resistance movements giving these citizens a bigger voice in their society. This report is a voice of the people of South Asia concerning injustice, it gives an overview of the people and factors dictating this injustice. 

Analysis:
This article is basically showing how South Asia is not distributing their funds the way that they should so that their citizens are able to sustain life. If the government continues to spend money on military supplies then that doesn't leave money for food, shelter and clothing for the people that live their.Why is a government spending money on the military if their citizens need this money distributed to them more? These people can die from starvation, just like they can from an invasion of another military on their country.  Like previous blogs, I believe that this country needs to get their priorities straight, get a budget, and this will help them to distribute money in the proper amount to each section of people that need it.  If South Asia needs weapons, then they should buy weapons IN ADDITION  to buying the necessary items for their citizens. It is amazing that a country that one was a huge provider for the worlds food is now suffering and can't provide for JUST for their country. This shows that somewhere, someone in their political system who had power over the distribution of funds changed their budget and caused for their economical structure to struggle in some aspects and this just causes for them to go back and try to get to that place where they once were, when their country was prosperous and abundant. 

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-4-236464-South-Asia-%E2%80%93-where-weapons-are-more-imp

Blog #4: Plan Uganda to boost youth employment

Summary:
This article is about Uganda's plan, Plan International Uganda, to boost the job market for their younger generations. Youth unemployment is seen as one of the main factors in stinting the development of Africa.  An estimate of 12,00 youth will receive job placement, and Patrick Ssebowa Lubowa, the micro finance and business development specialist at Plan says that hopefully in three years this groups of young people will be able to teach others how to receive employment with what they will learn. This program is designed to help them reach their full potential and will be geared towards private sectored jobs. Their goal is to create new opportunities, so these kids can work their ways out of poverty. This is not the first time one of these plans have been implemented, and when they did try it didn't stop the unemployment rate from rising by the end of 2013, to 80%. The youth count for the largest amount of unemployed, yet Uganda can only provide 20% with jobs. In 2011, the government tried to implement a plan to allow youth to be able to take loans, but the banks said that youth were too unreliable and they had a hard time working with them at that time. However, in their fight to try to lower unemployment again, the bank agrees to support them with their plan, especially if it would create working products for their youth.

Analysis:
This article is showing that you have to reach your general population at a young age. In the effort to relieve poverty, it was a great idea for Uganda to target young people, because they are the next generation that will have to work for what they want to have. creating job for these young people, will contribute to their funds and will ultimately help them get themselves out of poverty and, for some, it may even help them get their families out of poverty. If private sectored jobs agree to begin to create new jobs for these youth, then it will help them to learn how to create their own businesses at a young age, to eventually create more jobs for others when they are well established in their business! While is is good for the youth in this program to be able to make bank transactions, it can also affect them negatively in the long run. Loans can be taken out, but they eventually have to be paid back, and who's to say that these youth will be able to make this money back to pay off their loan? No one, so with loans not being paid off, their debt rises, ultimately putting these kids back in poverty. I think Uganda's plan to help create jobs for their youth is awesome, and it is best that they are catching them at a youth age. Not that its bad to work with people when they are of an older age, but youth is the optimal age for teaching them lifelong skills. Reach them young and teach them young, it will make a world of difference.

 http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=30380:-plan-uganda-to-boost-youth-employment&catid=38:business&Itemid=68

Blog #3: South African education lacks quality

Summary:
This article is highlighting the severe lack of quality education that Africa had been seeking and this, in turn, leads more of their people to be left in poverty. There is no competition in education, therefore this doesn't challenge their students to think, and this leads to a cycle of never ending poverty because kids do not how to make a better life for themselves. South Africa spends the most funds on education in the continent of Africa, yet they have not seen an elevated number of children who come out of this education system. It is said that rich and middle class, white and blacks leave this public education system, because they do not have much faith in it. Iraj Abedian, chief executive officer of Pan African Capital Holdings says that these parents are being unfair to the future generation and that he believes social welfare is the fastest growing item in their budget. He believes that they need to change their curriculum to counteract this growing number of  people who are in poverty. It is said that the budget is expected to be more tightening, resulting in hurting already overburdened taxpayers.

Analysis:
This shows that it is not a matter of whether a country offers education or not, but it matters that the education they are providing is a quality education. If education is not quality, then this seems like it is a waste of money that they use to compensate those who are teaching. If children are going to school and aren't learning anything that they can apply to their lives, then how can this help them? It is not that South Africa needs to spend more money trying to help their students to learn, they just need to take more time a construct the best curriculum for their children, like Abedian said. If they continue to teach the same curriculum that they are currently teaching, it will result in more children growing up to live poverty, in which South Africa will have to consistently to find a way to fund these impoverished people. Constantly having to raise their budget for impoverished people, will eventually result in a lack of funds to distribute to other things that they once didn't have a problem with. It is amazing to me that out of the whole continent of Africa, that the South is the part that struggles to most with their education. It is almost as if they are in North America, because is seems like the North is given a better quality education than that of the south, it is just ironic that it is the same way in places other than my current geographic placement. Nonetheless, a change in curriculum, is a change for the better. This will help the children of South Africa learn better and have a better sense of awareness of how to prevent themselves from not being able to sustain life when they get older.

private and social sectors, greater community participation and use of technology to streamline and monitor operations. - See more at: http://www.publicfinanceinternational.org/news/2014/02/india-urged-to-double-public-spending-to-tackle-poverty/#sthash.qFDG0TRO.dpuf

private and social sectors, greater community participation and use of technology to streamline and monitor operations. - See more at: http://www.publicfinanceinternational.org/news/2014/02/india-urged-to-double-public-spending-to-tackle-poverty/#sthash.qFDG0TRO.dpuf

private and social sectors, greater community participation and use of technology to streamline and monitor operations. - See more at: http://www.publicfinanceinternational.org/news/2014/02/india-urged-to-double-public-spending-to-tackle-poverty/#sthash.qFDG0TRO.dpuf

http://www.theafricareport.com/Southern-Africa/south-african-education-lacks-quality.html

Blog #2: Zimbabwe Forsakes the Vulnerable

Summary:
 My article gives an overview of the lack of funds that are being distributed to the vulnerable people of Zimbabwe. Non-governmental Organizations have failed to keep the same amount of funding to help these people, thus leaving it all up to the government to provide for these heavily impoverished people. Food Shortages, and increase in HIV and aids and little economic assistance have all been factors resulting in this high realm of poverty. An estimated 700 firms have closed their shops in the the past years, leaving many people with no jobs to help them sustain life. Financial assistance that was once given to people with disabilities and national heroes has decreased. The Zimbabwe constitutions states that their people are entitled to the basic rights of having food, basic education, health and shelter, which will help them minimally sustain life. Lack of government prioritization and budgeting leaves the people of Zimbabwe without these basic rights. Lack of distribution of funds leads orphanages to have to downsize, leaving more children homeless. Less than 1/3 of the senior citizens are receiving health assistance, only more than 3/4 of the 1.8 million people who need food assistance will face starvation, and only less than 1/2 of the children who need assistance with school fees will receive help. A state also needed a sum of $20-million to help 60,000 relocate as a result of flooding, and this money probably wasn't distributed to them, leaving those people in dire need to shelter, food and clothes.

Analysis:
This article sheds light on how dependable the people of Zimbabwe are on their lacking government. It reveals how unorganized and how unconcerned their government is with their citizens. They totally disregard the constitution that gives their citizens the rights to have the necessary things to sustain life, because they don't distribute these things properly to their people. It is as if their government is only concerned about the well-being of themselves, and not that of their dying people. All power is in the hands of those who have money and those who have the appropriate items to help those who are in need. It will soon be no people for the government to help because eventually they are all going to perish, waiting on help from those who are supposed to have their best interest at heart. These people have no one that genuinely cares about their lives and if the government did, they would find a way to allocate the appropriate funds to help their people. They aren't asking to have millions, they are only asking for just enough to get them by for another day, so the problem can somehow be solved. If their people can't depend on the government or the environmental functions of the earth to contribute the their health and well-being, then who are they to turn to?

http://mg.co.za/article/2014-02-14-00-zimbabwe-forsakes-the-vulnerable

Blog 1: "Education, Employment, and Youth Today", 2/7/2014, 3:23pm

 Summary: 

The article “Education, Employment, and Youth Today”, brings forth the correlation between poverty and education. An annual update reviewing the status of education of the United Nations was released last week. The review revealed that the many of the educational goals of the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) will not be met by their preferred year of 2013. If the current trends continue less than half of the 141 countries will reach an 80 percentile of pre-primary enrollment education rates that they desire to have. They note that education is one of the key factors that will contribute to the elimination of poverty. An example used by the UNESCO is that children with educated parents were more likely to life themselves out of their poverty. The World Literacy Foundation states that illiteracy contributes to 1.19 trillion dollars of global costs. The ILO ( International Labour Organization)released that the Global Employment trends report revealed that the unemployment rate went up 5 million in 2013. Although the movement by the UNESCO to increase the level of educational attainment is being enforced, it still has yet to meet their goals.

Analysis:

This article highlights the importance of having an education to contribute to the prevention of poverty. The fewer the children that are education, the higher the rates of poverty will be. It isn’t only up to the educators of children to push the importance of education, but it is also in the best interest of the child to see their parents encouraging them to further their education. It is also not in the best interest of the job market to have people that are all education in the same exact field having the same exact level of education because everyone can’t have the same exact job, this is why it is vital for students to get the most education that they can achieve. This article highlights the importance of having an educated mother to have nutritional health (being well nourished) and this brings forth a distinction of gender roles. Women account for most of the illiterate people in the world, maybe this is because of the expectations that are put on them to spend so much time with their children that they can’t teach themselves. Or maybe even children aren’t being taught how to read and write because their mothers are so wrapped up in teaching themselves how to do it that they can’t teach their children. Lack of education is the greatest barrier that is holding these children back from being accepted into the labor market. In order for the UNESCO to reach their goals in reference to education, they may need to take note of what plans they devised that are not contributing to education and revise them so that they can provide the maximum amount of education for the maximum number of people that they desire. 

 http://blogs.cfr.org/development-channel/2014/02/07/education-employment-and-youth-today/

Poverty

The topic that I am most interested in researching is poverty. Often times we don't realize how many people are impoverished in the United States, and much less, those who live in international countries. I would like to see how whole families, kids, women and men of different ethnicities and ages struggle to live from day to day, and what precautions countries are taking to help lower their poverty rates, if they are taking any. Taking a look at these kinds of problems will give me a better chance to realize how blessed I am to be living in the state that I am today.