Jan 13

All Eyes on Eritrea

With U.S troops withdrawing from Iraq and the fall of Osama bin Laden in 2011, all eyes are now on Eritrea. Eritrea, which means red land or soil, is a small country in the eastern part of the African continent. Before the creation of South Sudan last year, Eritrea was the youngest nation in Africa. So why is Eritrea so important now? Why is the United States foreign policy agenda shifting its focus on this little-known nation?

As one of its last tasks before the end of 2011, the United Nations (UN) Security Council answered a plea from over a dozen East African nations. They asked the Security Council members to impose economic sanctions on their neighbor, Eritrea. The reason? Allegedly, it has ties to terrorists. Their involvement with these violent groups is creating instability in the region. Alarmed, the U.S along with its fellow member states voted to do so.

With a population of five million, Eritrea holds an important place in U.S. foreign politics as it’s been unofficially labeled a rogue state. Joining the ranks of Iran and neighboring Sudan, Eritrea has been accused of financing, supporting and training terrorists. These are charges that they deny. The U.S also suspects that they are involved with this country’s number one enemy: Al Qaeda. Because of its closeness with Somalia, Eritrea has also supposedly sold arms and other weaponry to militant groups operating out of this destabilizing nearby state.

The fact that this nation is linked with North Korea and placed on the same list as other states like Cuba and Venezuela, known for their rocky relationship with the U.S, should give us a hint. This points to instability that is not only with external stakeholders but also within its borders. What we know of the other countries is that those residing inside are suffering at the hands of those that rule them from the control they exert on everyday life.

However, only organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, which has called this country “a giant prison” have brought the problem to light. Is it just that the United Nations and partner states step in only when they feel their security is threatened? How come they have not condemned the regime and its oppressive practices?

What am I referring to? The damaging activities within Eritrea go further than funding militant groups. Eritrea is not only suspected of arms trading and supporting terrorist activities, but also of human rights violations. The country has a record of persecuting religions like Shi’ism, and some Christian groups. Those who disobey and don’t practice government approved religions are arrested, imprisoned and sometimes severely beaten.

The control extends to lack of political freedom which can be seen in that elections have been indefinitely postponed. Freedom of speech and expression are also restricted. According to the BBC, “Eritrea is the only African country to have no privately-owned news media” and not a single [foreign correspondent] now lives in [the capital].” Therefore, all stories shared with the world are vetted by the government.

So I agree that all eyes should be on Eritrea, but maybe for different reasons that those of the UN and the Security Council. I think that we should all be aware of the persecution, the lack of freedoms, the control exerted by the government and the plight of the people. We shouldn’t only have this country on our radar because of their threat to us, but also because together we might be able to help.

To learn more about ways to aid those living in Eritrea, please visit Amnesty International.

Regina Bernadin is a doctoral student at Nova Southeastern University focusing on Conflict Analysis and Resolution. As a SISGI intern, her primary areas of interest are conflict resolution, human rights and Latin American political, economic and socio-cultural issues. Her interest in the development of human rights abroad has taken her to several Latin American countries, including Colombia, Ecuador and Suriname.
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Jan 12

The Ways Economic Inequality is Making Us Sick

Last week I was on my way to a meeting while listening to my favorite show on public radio. I arrived at my location, parked and just as I was going to get out of the car, I heard the commentator discuss how economic inequality was making the world sick. I didn’t have time to listen to the special report, but the topic stayed in my thoughts for the remainder of the day.

So I began thinking about this and now have more questions than I started with that morning.  This is what I found so far.

Looking at economic inequality measured by those who live on $1 to 2 dollars a day and those in developed nations shows us a few things.  Economic inequality leads to a lack of access to things we, in the developed world, consider basic.  This includes food, healthcare, housing, and water among other necessities.  At this level, we are not talking about quality food, safe and appropriate housing or purified water. Here we are discussing just the availability to the individual.

Because of this lack of access, diseases that have been eradicated or at least controlled in other parts of the world can kill. These include malaria, dengue fever and the sleeping sickness. The lack of access also leads to malnutrition, especially among children under the age of 5.

The poor quality of these also affects individuals. Unsanitary water, spoiled food and inadequate and mosquito filled shelter, aggravates the situation. This causes child mortality rates to be high. Lack of appropriate healthcare also leads to high death rates among expectant mothers leading to additional societal issues like that of orphaned children. The lack of economic means here is a matter of life or death.

For many of us, the economic and social disparities between the developed and developing countries or as traditionally it’s been coined the global north and south, seems far away from our local communities and realities. Many think that it is something that happens “over there” and not to us.

But this situation can also be seen closer to home. Those who need assistance from the federal government welfare system can access products or services, but are these quality ones? We have become a society conscious of pesticides on our food and chemicals in our products. We have commercials on television about high corn fructose syrup and eating “cleaner” food, yet we provide those with the most needs the least nutritious food which also happens to be the most inexpensive.

Studies show that obesity, diabetes and other preventable yet deadly diseases are rampant in the United States.  These also show that the rates of these illnesses are higher amongst the poor. That is because the foods consumed tend to be higher in calories, fats, sugars and preservatives. Yet, we give to people enough to survive but not to thrive.

But whose responsibility is this? Is it our responsibility to just provide enough to live or to also provide the same high quality products to all? Is it the responsibility of the individuals to make the best choices within the situation they are in? It is a difficult debate, especially when these diseases are preventable, when they cost more to treat and when they ultimately shorten people’s lifespan.

Financial inequality is making people sick for various reasons.  It perpetuates a lack of access to food, of quality products, and education on how to pick among those options and what to do with them. Financial inequality takes away a person’s freedom of choice and of crucial decision-making about the type the lives they live. Financial inequality is ultimately harming our world, our country and our communities.

What do you think? How do we start to address this?

Regina Bernadin is a doctoral student at Nova Southeastern University focusing on Conflict Analysis and Resolution. As a SISGI intern, her primary areas of interest are conflict resolution, human rights and Latin American political, economic and socio-cultural issues. Her interest in the development of human rights abroad has taken her to several Latin American countries, including Colombia, Ecuador and Suriname.
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Jan 12

Two-Year Anniversary of Haitian Earthquake

When was the last time you thought about Haiti?  If you’re anything like me, it was probably a long time ago.  It’s been almost exactly two years since the devastating earthquake that brought Haiti to the forefront of the international consciousness, and a lot of things have happened since then.  Kim Jong-Il’s death, the Arab Spring, continuing struggles in the Middle East, Occupy Wall Street—too many things have happened just in the past month to keep Haiti in our minds.  So why do I bring it up now?  Well, the 2nd anniversary of the 2010 earthquake that killed 200,000 and displaced 1.5 million is today, January 12th, so now seems like an appropriate time to take a look at what’s going on in the country now.

It’s been a difficult couple of years for Haiti.  As if the earthquake was not devastating enough, shortly after it occurred a cholera outbreak infected nearly 500,000 people and killed 7,000.  The epidemic is now known to have been caused by a 28-year-old mentally disturbed man who frequently walked naked through town to bathe and drink from a river which was contaminated with raw sewage, and the poor living conditions following the earthquake facilitated the spread of the deadly disease, further damaging an already devastated nation.  Paralyzing political crises haven’t helped the situation much, either.  So, it’s no surprise that recovery has been painfully slow.

But there has been recovery; it might be moving very slowly, but it is happening.  In October of 2011 Haiti passed a major benchmark: clearing half of the debris caused by the earthquake, which hopefully can be crushed and re-used to build new houses.  The UNDP has created 300,000 temporary jobs and helped build critical capacities (training judges, supporting the construction sector, placing experts in public administration, for example),  reduced disaster risk, and cured 60 percent of TB patients.  Neighborhoods once lit by candles are now lit with electricity.  Mariott and a local cell phone carrier partnered to build a hotel, which hopefully will bring much-needed income to the country.  In the last two years, the country has shifted from a humanitarian crisis requiring massive foreign aid to one in the recovery phase, where the focus is more on what Haitians can do to rebuild the country than on humanitarian aid.

Indeed, the only way that Haiti can rebuild and eventually experience economic development and growth is if the local communities are involved in the process.  Everyone, from the UNDP to Haitian President Michel Martelly, is looking for ways to get Haitians involved in the process.  Foreign aid is unsustainable, and, in this case, was never highly effective to begin with.  Donor nations have dispersed only about 53% of the reconstruction funds they pledged, and were selective with the funds they did send, preferring to contribute to projects with more cache, like hospitals or schools, over more necessary—but less important-sounding—projects like debris removal.   Worker training and job creation are essential, as is infrastructure improvement, as these things will allow Haitians to reduce their dependency on aid.

President Martelly hopes to create 500,000 jobs within the next three years, which will reduce the 40% unemployment rate.  His government also hopes to reduce the number of steps needed to set up a business, and to make it easier for foreigners to own property; these initiatives, if they pass, will not only encourage job creation, but will encourage foreign investment, which will in turn boost economic development in a sustainable way.  So, all is not lost in Haiti.  Conditions are still bad, but there is hope for reconstruction and for economic growth, especially with such a pro-business president at the helm.  I hope that the next two years treat Haiti better than the previous two.

And now I would like to leave you with a short video that will show you how much things have changed in the last two years, and hopefully it will leave you with a sense of hope for the future.

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Dec 23

The Dark Side of Super Bowl

Every winter millions of people around the world tune in to watch Americas biggest sporting event, the National Football League’s Super Bowl Sunday game. Whether it’s to support that year’s two tops teams, watch the much anticipated half-time show, or comment on which of the different commercials shown took 1st place for creativity, there is always a reason for people to tune in.

To the host city it brings prestige, additional revenue from hotel stays, restaurants visited and the parties, and an increase in tourism which benefits all. However, some of those who participate in the festivities bring problems as well. This does not mean fights over who should have won or brawls during tailgating before the game.  There is a dark side to the Super Bowl. When there is an increase of transient people, in other words people who are just passing through in a city or at large event, there is also an increase in child prostitution.

This is not to say that Super Bowl is the cause of this phenomenon. Situations like this have occurred around other major events.  A demand for sex work, especially involving teenage girls, has been known to exist around national political conventions, large concerts or highly publicized musical events, other sporting events and others of the sort. Whenever there is an increase of out-of-towners who will be in a place for a short time, specifically if the majority is male, there is a demand for sexual services and child traffickers and perpetrators aim to supply.

Studies have noted that in any given point, websites like Craigslist or Backpage.com have had hundreds of ads advertising this type of service. Around these types of events, the number of ads increases exponentially.

In the last few years, local authorities and service providers have worked to raise awareness on the issue and be on hand should any child be identified as commercially and sexually exploited.  After 2009’s game in Tampa, Florida’s Department of Children and Families took in 24 children who’d been trafficked to the city. For the 2010 game, authorizes in Miami formed a committee to address this situation.  One particular case received media attention:

Fred Quinton Collins was charged with transporting a minor for the purposes of commercial sex.  It is alleged that he brought the victim, a young girl, with him from Hawaii to Miami, for her to engage in prostitution in Miami Beach over Super Bowl weekend. Collins allegedly arranged everything; he booked the victim’s travel under a false name, paid for her airfare and hotel stay, and supervised the criminal activities in which he forced her to engage. He was eventually convicted and sentenced to over twenty-one years in federal prison.

In 2012, the Super Bowl will take place in Indianapolis, Indiana.  The city is now getting ready for their turn. The city has looked at what Dallas and its predecessors did and how to gleam from those best practices.  Their preparation has included working to pass legislation that will strengthen their existing human trafficking laws. These include provisions for stricter penalties and others for protections for victims.

So what will you be doing Super Bowl Sunday? If you are watching from the comfort of your home or at a friend’s party, enjoy this unofficial American holiday. If you are attending the event, also partake in this once in a lifetime experience, but also be watchful of anything that seems out of place. Remember that a child might need your help to escape the exploitation of human trafficking and child prostitution. It really will take all of us to put a stop to this dark practice.

Regina Bernadin is a doctoral student at Nova Southeastern University focusing on Conflict Analysis and Resolution.  As a SISGI intern, her primary areas of interest are conflict resolution, human rights and Latin American political, economic and socio-cultural issues. Her interest in the development of human rights abroad has taken her to several Latin American countries, including Colombia, Ecuador and Suriname.
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Dec 22

Google Fights to Stop Global Slavery

In time for the holiday season, Google, the global internet giant, announced that they would donate millions to anti-human trafficking groups working to eradicate slavery around the world.

“Our areas of focus change from year to year,” Google org spokeswoman Kate Hurowitz said in an interview about the grants. “We look for proven impact and potential to scale. This year a lot of the focus is on education, making help accessible through technology, and slavery. That is a hidden, underfunded issue where we thought we could make a difference.”

According to the United Nations, there are currently 27 million slaves around the world.  These men, women and children are forced to work in sweatshops making our clothing, in farms picking our tomatoes and the mines around the world digging for diamonds and other precious minerals.

“You can’t really walk out of your house in the morning without touching something made with slavery,” said Justin Dillon, founder and CEO of Slavery Footprint, a non-governmental organization that allows people to assess how much of their lifestyle is dependent on items created using forced labor.

Slavery Footprint and two other international organizations- International Justice Mission and Polaris Project– will receive a $1.8 million grant to help eradicate slavery through public education, corporate social responsibility and progressive legislation and law enforcement.

All three have a history of working globally to combat human trafficking. Slavery Footprint works to raise awareness on the issue, International Justice Mission has provided aid to more than 9,000 survivors, and Polaris Project advocates for stronger laws and runs the national trafficking hotline (1-888-373-7888) out of The National Human Trafficking Resource Center.

“With this grant, Google is helping us combine forces to not only increase the number of Americans who will learn about human trafficking, but also motivate people to take real steps to eradicate modern-day slavery from all of our communities,” said Bradley Myles, executive director and CEO of Polaris Project. “Whether it’s by calling the national human trafficking hotline, sending a letter to their Senator, or using online advocacy tools, millions of Americans will be able to use their voices to ensure that ending this problem becomes a top priority.”

The funding creates three multi-year global partnerships. “It’s hard for most Americans to believe that slavery and human trafficking are still massive problems in our world,” said Gary A. Haugen, president and CEO of International Justice Mission. “This oppression is now against the law, but millions don’t get the benefit of law enforcement.  To accelerate America’s leadership in helping rescue and protect those most vulnerable at home and overseas, Google’s support now makes it possible for IJM to join forces with two other leading organizations so we can bring to bear our unique strengths in a united front.”

This initiative aims to do the following:

  • Rescue thousands enslaved
  • Improve infrastructure and resources of law enforcement
  • Improve legislation and enforcement of anti-slavery laws
  • Deter perpetrators
  • Mobilize vulnerable populations
  • Equip freed slaves to maintain livelihoods
  • Amplify America’s voice and secure active participation by policymakers to promote anti-slavery policies

The importance of Google’s role is that it demonstrates the need for partnership in eradicating this human rights violation.  Traditionally, non-governmental service providers and government entities joined the fight to rescue and help restore survivors; but is has proven to not be enough.  Google serves as an example of how private companies can aid the work on the ground. Their monies and resources can aid in reaching a wider audience to raise awareness on trafficking, create employment opportunities to prevent individuals from falling for trafficker’s false promises, and fund the creation of homes for survivors and their families where they can thrive and live their dreams. Google is showing an example of how good corporate social responsibility can change lives.

Regina Bernadin is a doctoral student at Nova Southeastern University focusing on Conflict Analysis and Resolution.  As a SISGI intern, her primary areas of interest are conflict resolution, human rights and Latin American political, economic and socio-cultural issues. Her interest in the development of human rights abroad has taken her to several Latin American countries, including Colombia, Ecuador and Suriname.
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Dec 22

End of Year Review: Arab Spring, Part Three

After reading parts one and two of this series on the Arab Spring, you hopefully have a better grasp on what some of the major moments of the movements were, how the revolutionaries in various countries drew inspiration from each other, and the difficulties of transitioning to a democracy.  So, for this post, I thought I would offer a bit more synthesis and some of my own analysis about what these revolutions mean.

First of all, I would like to address a major issue that no one seems to be terribly interested in: should these movements be called revolutions?  The media was quick to label every uprising a “revolution,” as they have been with every major protest in the few decades, but a true revolution is marked by several distinctive characteristics that the Arab Spring does not necessarily share.   A revolution is “a fundamental change in political organization, especially the overthrow or renunciation of one government or ruler and the substitution of another by the governed,” with the key word there being “fundamental change.”  “Revolution” implies a complete overhaul of government, a change in the regime, or the structure and institutions of governance, and so far it doesn’t seem like any of the Arab Spring nations have accomplished this.  Some, like Egypt and Libya, have managed to overthrow their leaders, which is part of a revolution, but they have not undergone a complete regime change.  Democratic elections have been held in some countries, but only to elect transition governments who will then decide the structure of the new regime, and at this juncture it is hard to say whether or not they will be successful.  Of course I want them to succeed, but incidents like the recent news out of Egypt that soldiers are targeting female protesters (fair warning: video is fairly graphic and, if you watched CNN at all over the past few days you will have already seen it about 50 times) make me hesitant to say that a system overhaul is going to happen soon.  And in many countries, like Syria, the old government is still in power and shows no sign of stepping down soon, making true revolution even further away than it is in Egypt.

Regardless of whether or not these uprisings can really be called “revolutions” or just “movements” or “protests” (or “uprisings”), they have still had an enormous impact on the world stage.  Remember that post I wrote back in July about how Belarusians, inspired by the Arab Spring, were taking to streets in protests of their own? Well, Belarusian dissidents are still active, though not at the same level as those in North Africa/the Middle East, in their fight against authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko.  It has even been suggested that North Korea will take a page from the Arab Spring after the recent death of Kim Jong-il, though that seems a bit far-fetched given the radically different conditions in North Korea.

Still, the fact that someone would even propose such a theory shows what an impact these protests have had.  These revolutions, like the revolutions in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, have had a domino effect, with Tunisia erupting in December of last year, followed by Tunisia and Algeria and Libya et cetera after the new year, and now the question is who will follow?  There are still plenty of countries living under oppressive, authoritarian leaders, and with the world economy in decline conditions seem ripe for other nations to erupt in political and social upheaval.

The social media aspect is another source of inspiration for aspiring revolutionaries, as it is a cheap, fast, and fair effective way of mobilizing large numbers of people who are fed up with their government.  I imagine that, if the Arab Spring nations can follow through and manage successful regime changes (which could take decades), or even if they can’t, the model will be repeated in the future.

Michelle Bovée is a SISGI Group Program and Research Intern focused on international affairs, economic development, and responsible tourism. To learn more about the SISGI Group visit www.sisgigroup.org

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Dec 20

Looking Forward to Next Year’s Foreign Aid Budget

On Friday of last week, the House of Representatives passed a bill approving the foreign aid budget for 2012. Anticipating that the Senate will pass the bill this week, the winners and losers of the proposed budget allocations becomes clear. Foreign aid has become a big target in this economic recession, with government more hesitant than ever to spend money abroad. For this reason, there was a heightened anticipation of major spending cuts from the development community.

Overall, there were some re-allocations; some countries receiving more while others are going to be getting less. The State Department saw a decrease of $6 billion from 2011, bring their budget for next year to $42.1 billion. With additional funds earmarked specifically for war-related foreign aid in Afghanistan (another $11.2 billion) the State Department views this as a warning for potential deeper cuts in years to come.

Pakistan is a country where funds increased for next year, jumping to $850 million to be used towards military development. Pakistan is one example of the US putting restrictions on this money however, citing that 60 percent of this funding is contingent upon the country showing improvements in fighting the creation explosive devices and fighting militants.

Egypt is another major recipient, but with contingencies tied to receiving it’s funds as well.  With $1.3 billion in military aid and an additional $250 million in economic aid tied to maintaining status quo with Israel as well as a visible transition of power from military to civilian rule, the US is making sure our agenda with Egypt is maintained as we offer continued support.

Besides countries, multilateral agencies also saw cuts in US contributions; the UN and subsidiary organizations as well as USAID saw donations decrease this year. While this is never a positive thing to hear; it is especially worrying in a world today where famine, natural disasters, and revolutions are requiring additional global support.  When typically it is these multilateral agencies that are first to arrive and last to leave those countries where need is greatest, with less funding available a greater burden will fall upon international governments to offer necessary supplementary support.

Another issue that the development community is frustrated about is that this proposed budget focuses most of the resources towards war related assignments. This leaves less funding available towards humanitarian aid and relief projects. By tying finances to post-war reconstruction or military rehabilitation, less is available for food aid, education, and expanding health services.

This budget is $2.4 billion less than what the Obama administration initially asked for. To put 42.1 billion into perspective, this week Congress also approved a budget of $518 billion for the core Pentagon spending in 2012 as well. Therefore, not only is much of the aid already earmarked for military purposes, it will not account for the projects the Pentagon will be undertaking as well.

When Americans think of foreign aid, images of disaster relief and food donations are conjured as opposed to post-war reconstruction and political concessions. They are not mutually exclusive, and this idea that the US is not obligated to feed the world’s people must be changed. Ideas like these are perpetuated when politicians are determined to cut spending on issues that take finances away from the military or domestic politics. However, even the director of the CIA David Patreaus once claimed, “I am concerned that levels of funding for our State Department and USAID partners will not sufficiently enable them to build on the hard-fought security achievements of our men and women in uniform. Inadequate resourcing of our civilian partners could, in fact, jeopardize accomplishments of the overall mission.”

I agree with this idea that foreign aid must be used to support the military, but I also believe that it should be left open-ended, so it can be allocated to address the growing needs in other sectors as well. It seems that recently the burden of addressing health and expanding education abroad has been left to private donations and organizations. While this is a positive sign that there are some people who will take international issues into their own hands, we must demand expanded support from the government as well. While yes, we are in a time of recession and tight budgets, but we all must remember that there are always people and countries much worse off than we can ever claim to be.

–Katherine Peterson is a Program and Research Intern with the SISGI Group focused on theories of development, globalization, and political ramifications of development work.
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Dec 19

A New School for NYC

New York City may be adding a new higher education facility in its midst fairly soon.  Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg recently decided that the City of Lights needs a top of the line applied sciences school.  The mayor has taken a great interest in the idea of a new academic institution, much to the chagrin of many universities, and has gone as far as saying that NYC lacks an esteemed engineering university like MIT and CIT.  Countless of universities from the United States, like Stanford and Cornell, as well as institutions abroad have expressed an interest in providing the major and city a proposal of a new innovative applied sciences university.  Though it seems as though Mayor Bloomberg is using the academic world as a stepping stone towards revitalizing his position as mayor, it is fascinating to see what will come out of this new change.

The mayor announced in October that the City had received seven proposal ideas for the Applied Science NYC initiative.  First, the program asked businesses, community leaders, and academics what the city needed in order to help boost the local economy.  The answer that came up was that NYC needed scientists and engineers, and for that reason Applied Sciences NYC decided to extend a challenge to top universities in the United States and abroad.  Universities must come up with a proposal that outlines the beginnings of a new and innovative applied science and engineering school.  The winning proposal will be provided with land, up to $100 million worth of contributions, and full support from City administration.  According to city officials, the new school will provide an economic boost of up to $6 billion and make up to 30,000 new permanent and temporary jobs.

However, there are people who have expressed their criticism in regards to Mayor Bloomberg’s new school plans.  Since New York City will be providing millions of dollars worth of funds from its own capital budget, critics believe this is a terrible move to make during the current economic crisis.  Instead, critics believe that Mayor Bloomberg should be directing City funds to programs that are already in existence, so that they can be enhanced and made better.  Many NYC universities have been angered by the fact that Mayor Bloomberg stated the Big Apple lacks a top tier applied sciences and engineering program.  Despite the fact that it is true NYC does not have an engineering school like MIT or CIT, current universities feel offended by the mayor’s remarks.

Nevertheless, it is extremely interesting to see how a new applied sciences and engineering university will affect the NYC area.  There is definitely a glaring issue with the mayor’s remarks because both Cornell and Columbia have excellent engineering programs.  Schools like MIT and CIT are technological schools that focus on producing engineers and scientists, but by no means can local NYC universities be considered as poor engineering substitutes.  Furthermore, there is no guarantee that the new applied sciences and engineering school will be an academic success, and will be ranked in the midst of the MITs and CITs of the world.  If that is the case, then NYC may be unable to get back the money it will fund and invest in the school because the school would have then failed to get the economy revved up again.

However, investing in infrastructure, research, and education has always been a way to get an area’s economy moving again.  There is no need to begin construction of a new university thinking the worst and expecting horrific results.  Instead, it is nice to know that the United States is still thinking about students who want to pursue degrees in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, especially since the U.S. has been falling behind in these fields.  Investing in education is always a promising way of helping secure the future of thousands of children, but it also is a way to help boost the economy.  Though it is yet to be seen how a new applied sciences and engineering university will affect NYC, it will be fascinating to see how the end product is accomplished.

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Dec 16

China’s Progress Towards Green Technology

A few months ago, I wrote an article about China’s effort to make the city of Shenyang more environmentally friendly.  In recent days with the Durban Climate Change Conference having just finished in South Africa, environmental issues have garnered a little more focus in the last few weeks. While I am typically a quick skeptic of drastic change to emerge from these Forums (see my article prior to Busan), I believe that at the very least they will stand to motivate discussion among followers and bloggers. For this reason, I am happy that I stumbled upon another article about the progress that China is making with regards to expanding their support for green technologies, and more specifically carbon capturing.

Recently, it is true that China has gotten constant bad press for their levels of consumption and pollution from the rest of the developed world. While yes, they need to recognize that they are by far one of the worst polluters, but as their numbers continue to grow they are also experimenting with large scale projects looking for solutions. With such an expanding burden upon them, China is also in a unique position to have the ability to experiment for answers.

In September, Foreign Affairs  wrote am article about carbon capture technology and the global adoption of environmental progress. This carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is “a promising environmental technology … which steeply reduces the greenhouse gas emissions from large industrial facilities”. It essentially removes the carbon that factories are already emitting into the atmosphere, and either stores it or recycles it. This is crucial because CO2 remains the most prominent greenhouse gas emitted globally.

To me, this seems like an important technology to develop in the global quest for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Why haven’t Americans tried to expand this technology? Why are we still investing in coal and nuclear plants when they continue to expel such large amounts of CO2?

To begin with, the answer is the cost. The United States has already tried a flagship experiment, but funding from the government was cut before completion. No wonder that US companies are beginning to partner with China to roll out development projects. China is a fitting customer for such innovation. As stated, they need to keep pace with a growing populace. The article states that the government has:

almost finished the GreenGen plant, soon to be the largest integrated gasification combined cycle plant on earth. It is being built to International Green Construction Code Standards with 80 percent indigenous technology — and in less than three years. Moreover, the 250-megawatt plant will sequester 90 percent of GreenGen’s emissions in the next three years, roughly one million tons per year.

As China continues to expand this technology into the future, they could emerge as a leader in environmental innovation. While “China” and “environment” are not often used in the same sentence in positive ways, I foresee this as a future possibility (albiet a long way off). After all, look at how far the country has come in the last 20 years, what is stopping them from bypassing the western world in this dimension as well?

This discussion also brings to memory a speech that Obama once gave when discussing the future of our country. Green technologies and innovation in the field of environmental research is touted as one of America’s continued strength in the world. Similarly, this field of research and development is supposed to keep jobs in the US.

I think that this scenario of  China’s willingness to experiment with innovative technologies that we are developing before the US government takes note will be a continued narrative into the future. As the article states, Chinese leaders are recognizing the future benefits of such investments. Similarly, organizations developing these technologies will inevitably go to where their ideas will be applied. This leaves the US at a fundamental loss in many dimensions. First, when we no longer support our businesses they will move outside the country to those more receptive. Second, the US will continue to lag behind other countries who are taking initiative in developing progressive policies. And third, without the US government’s leading example to fund such projects, the government loses credibility when putting pressure on business to reduce emissions.

I think that America needs to fundamentally restructure our outlook on climate change. This is a global issue and unless our people and the government of the US begin taking steps to promote changes (and forget the conspiracy arguments), we will be on the wrong side of history when problems move from inconvenient to disastrous.

–Katherine Peterson is a Program and Research Intern with the SISGI Group focused on theories of development, globalization, and political ramifications of development work.

 

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Dec 16

Regalos navideños: MyMela

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Previamente, he escrito sobre las responsabilidades sociales y medioambientales de los consumidores. Es muy importante que el consumidos conozca sus productos y la historia de estos mismos. Como consumidores, nuestro impacto social y ambiental es mucho más grande de lo que entendemos o alcanzamos a ver.

En época Navideña, dónde todo el mundo está comprando regalos y las tiendas están llenas de gente, es aún más importante tener esto en cuenta. Hay muchas maneras en que se puede tener un impacto positivo al comprar para volverse un consumidor responsable. Se tienen que buscar empresas que tienen prácticas socialmente responsables como filosofía. Yo decidí hacer la mayor parte de mis compras navideñas en una empresa llamada MyMela. La empresa me llamó la atención primero por toda la hermosa artesanía india que ofrecían. Después de investigar un poco más sobre la estrategia de la compañía, su filosofía y su modelo, me gustó aún más.

MyMela es una empresa que vende productos hechos por artesanos indios y que, en conjunto, da micro préstamos a los artesanos que necesitan expandir su negocio. Es decir que funciona a la vez como un banco y como un distribuidor. Es una forma realmente innovadora de comercio justo y equitable. Y al ofrecer préstamos, realmente fortalece a la gente que está tratando de ayudar.

MyMela mezcla los conceptos de comercio justo y microfinanzas. Permite que los pequeños artesanos en India tengan acceso a los mercados de EE.UU. y reciban dinero por su trabajo. Esto les ayuda a mantener a sus familias y crear un mercado fiable en el futuro. Visitando la página en internet, usted puede ayudar a los artesanos de dos maneras. Ya sea que usted compre sus productos (comercio justo) o usted otorga un préstamo (microfinanzas). Porque su modelo es nuevo, lo han bautizado IMAF (Integrated Micro financiación anticipada).

Al comprar las artesanías, los consumidores ayudan a mantener las tradiciones y artesanías de los artesanos indios que viven en pobreza y cuyos negocios están constantemente en el borde de desaparecer debido a la disminución en los productos artesanales.

Los préstamos son atractivos tanto para los inversionista como para el deudor. Para el deudor, el préstamo se otorga con un 0% de tasa de interés. Esto permite aumentar las ganancias de los artesanos y les da más autoridad sobre lo que ganan. También beneficia al inversionista (o el cliente), ya que por cada préstamo que hace, obtiene al 10% en los “créditos MyMela”. Por ejemplo, si usted hace un préstamo de 50 dólares, después de 3 meses va a obtener 55 créditos MyMela (equivalente a 55 dólares), que podría utilizar para cualquiera compra de los productos del catálogo. Creo que es una gran estrategia de marketing que crea muchos incentivos para dar préstamos y, en consecuencia, aumenta la  oportunidad de ayudar directamente a los artesanos.

Personalmente, cada vez que compro algo de regalo o para mí misma, me gusta comprar productos que tienen historias especiales detrás de ellos, productos con los que puedo conectar o identificarme en algo. Los productos hechos a mano me fascinan y siempre capturar mi atención porque representan una parte de la vida del artesano. Lo que me gusta de MyMela es que además ofrece al cliente la oportunidad de conocer a los artesanos a través de vídeos. Ayuda a reducir la brecha entre consumidores y productores. En la página web, hay muchos videos que muestran cómo los artesanos trabajan y cómo los consumidores están ayudando con el préstamo. Aprovechen de esta temporada para ayudar a un artesano!

En hindi, “mela” significa “festival”. Es una palabra que todos los productos representan muy bien, con sus colores vivos y sus hermosas decoraciones. Se puede comprar joyería, decoración para el hogar (bandejas, manteles, marcos de fotos), almohadas y bolsas tejidas a mano, bufandas de cachemira, y a mi me gusta particularmente sus esculturas y candelabros. Hay algo para todos, es un lugar perfecto para buscar  y encontrar regalos.

Organizaciones como MyMela son en las que tenemos pensar en esta temporada de vacaciones. MyMela es un buen ejemplo de emprendimiento social: una empresa que logra capacitar a las personas y no sólo ofrecer un “curita” como ayuda. Además, no olvidemos que nos trae los tesoros artesanalas escondidos en India!

Julia Naime (@julianasah) es Asistente a la Investigación y Programas del SISGI Group. Es estudiante de Economía en New York University. Durante su pasantía en el SISGI Group, investigará sobre Desarollo rural, Problemas ambientales y Economía internacional
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