Mar 22

Debt’s Vicious Cycle-Part Two

In my last post, I spoke about the problems that arose through debt burdens, and why countries find it so difficult to rid themselves of that obstacle. Countries that are freed from their debts end up accumulating more debts because of failed promises for development assistance. Whatever the reason, the international community needs to come up with solutions to prevent poor countries from falling into the debt cycle and be part of a sustainable development model.

In 1996, Industrialized countries used two models to clear out many poor countries’ debts: the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). Combined, these two initiatives cancelled out nearly  $110 billion worth of debt, $93 billion of which was in African countries. Many African governments used debt savings to help abolish primary school fees; Mozambique used its debt service savings to vaccinate children against tetanus, whooping cough and diphtheria, as well as to install electricity in schools and to build new ones. Cameroon on the other hand, used its debt savings to launch a national HIV/AIDS plan for education, testing and prevention.

To build on these successful developments, donor countries need to take three steps:

  1. Donors should explore potential debt cancellation in other poor countries that did not benefit from the first round of debt relief because they simply did not meet the HIPC threshold for required debt levels.
  2. Donors should provide guidance and advice both in terms of economic development as well as financial planning after the countries get their debt cancelled. The international community should be able to answer the “whats the next step” question.
  3. The international community must also set up a sovereign debt mechanism, which would be useful during cases of state insolvency where cases would be worked out fairly and transparently. The use of this would be to prevent countries from dragging on their debt burden for decades despite best efforts to eradicate them.
Udit Hinduja is a student at New York University double majoring in Economics and Political Science. As a Program and Research intern with the SISGI Group his focus areas are education, poverty and economic development in Asia and South America.
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Mar 22

Human Rights vs. Oil

On March 17th, the United Nations Security Council voted to establish a no-fly zone over Libya, which allows for all measures short of foreign occupation. This is an addition to Libya being referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which I wrote about in my blog on March 3rd, and which itself was unprecedented in international law. Operations began on the 19th with a volley of missiles from a coalition of states, including the United States.

There are a few things going on here, some of which are inspiring, but most of which are actually quite disheartening. The steps that the international community are taking hearken back to the concept of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) adopted at the United Nations World Summit in 2005. R2P obligates states to protect and uphold the human rights of their citizens and, if they are unable or unwilling to do so, requires the interference of the international community, even up to military intervention. This would seem to be what is happening in Libya now, with the ICC referral, the embargoes and the no-fly zone.

On the face of it, this could be an excellent opportunity for the world’s governments to show their dedication to human rights and the evolving system of international law. Unfortunately, I believe there is a more likely and far less noble cause and effect at play. On the 17th I wrote about the interference of states like Russia, China and the US in Sudan and Haiti. Sudan has been experiencing difficulties similar to those being faced by Libya now for quite some time, but the level of military attention Libya is seeing was never even considered for Sudan. Unfortunately, a fairly shallow look at the different political situations the two states have can be used to explain the discrepancy. China and Russia both have very strong economic ties to Sudan, especially when it comes to small arms dealing. Chaos on the ground, then, is directly linked to economic prosperity for them.

On the other hand, Libya is one of the most oil rich states in the world, and instability is not at all beneficial, especially given the dramatic increase in gas prices since the beginning of the conflict in Libya. Although I am not a big fan of cynicism, I’m afraid that it is very warranted in this case.

The high-minded ideals of freedom and democracy have too often been used in defense of purely selfish political agendas. I believe that there is a chance that the protection of human rights, and perhaps even a better government made by and for the Libyan people, could be the end result of this international intervention. I also find it hopeful that the Security Council explicitly limited operations to anything except actual occupation, but we cannot forget the politics of the situation. The Libyan people deserve to be heard, and I support their revolution. But we must be wary of the rhetoric our governments use when they talk about “defending human rights” when it is only self-interest that motivates their actions.

Stephen Thompson is a Program and Research intern with the SISGI Group’s Research Division. For more information about the SISGI Group visit www. sisgigroup.org.

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Mar 21

FDA Warns: Raw Milk May Pose Health Risk!

In my post “To test or not to test“, I talked about the possibility of the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) beginning tests on milk (from farms that repeatedly sold cows tainted with drug residue).  Well, earlier this month, the FDA put out the above poster as a warning to the public.  Apparently, the FDA seems to think that there has recently been a high level of increase in illnesses resulting from raw-milk cheese and is therefore considering tightening the rule that allows producers to sell unpasteurized (raw milk) cheeses to the public.

I usually don’t pay that close attention as to whether the milk I drink is pasteurized or unpasteurized but I love yogurts and when I saw the poster with that bold warning, it peaked my interest and I decided to find out more.

From my research, I found out that most of the milk sold in the U.S. is pasteurized (this simply means that the milk is heated to 161 degrees and kept  at that temperature for about 15 seconds).  However, there has recently been an increase in raw milk and cheeses, yogurts, and other products made from it.  The rationale is that most American’s are adopting the “back to nature” philosophy.  This means that most people in the U.S. are either shopping at farmers markets, picking organic foods at groceries stores, participating in food cooperatives, growing their own food or trying to eat foods that are produced with minimal processing.

I have read some articles online that assert that the FDA’s proposed testing is based on flawed analysis but I feel that it is best to err on the side of caution and I would rather have milk tested even if it means losing flavor.  But hey, that’s just me.  What do you think?

Ufuoma Barbara Akpotaire is a Program and Research intern with the SISGI Group’s Research Division. To learn more about the SISGI Group please visit www.sisgigroup.org.

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Mar 17

Understanding Lenses

On Tuesday I wrote about the “Sexy Disaster Effect,” but during the editing process, it came to my attention that portions of my piece could imply several things, which were unintentional, about the residents and countries I was describing. With more thought on the subject, I would like to add additional points to continue the conversation, as well as explain some of the deeper reasons for the implications that I had planned to make.

In the blog, I made it sound as if Haiti and Sudan are both responsible for and incapable of helping themselves out of the various disasters, political upheavals and violence they have experienced over the past several decades. This was by no means my intention, and I fell victim to what has been described to me in academic settings as having the “inappropriate lens” for discussing any given topic, and I think this is actually a subject worthy of its own post.

When I say “lens,” I am referring to the informational filter that everyone uses to examine the world from a very particular perspective. I am a white, middle-class, American male who grew up in suburban towns across the United States with international experience almost exclusively limited to academics. All of these things cause me to view the world in very particular ways, and this is true of everyone. The key is to recognize the existence of these lenses, because only then can you begin to remove them when they inhibit an unbiased and fair assessment of a situation.

So, taking Haiti as an example, I made it sound as if Haiti is dependent on foreign aid to keep it from collapsing completely. This is a severely limiting and oversimplified understanding of the Haitian situation. Many of the political problems that Haiti currently has are the direct result of external influence, going as far back as the successful Haitian Revolution, to the United States’ support of the Papa Doc regime because of its anti-communist stance. Haiti’s history is full of visionary reformers who were hampered by outside forces like the drug trade’s corrupting influence or even state governments’ interference. To imply that they cannot take care of themselves, as I did, is to deny the limiting role the international community has had in Haiti’s lack of development, or the strength of the Haitian people in times of crisis.

Sudan’s story is similar. China, Russia, and the United States have all played lead roles in the development, or lack thereof, of Sudan over the course of its history. Both China and Russia are responsible for supplying the small arms fueling the Darfur conflict and the other outbreaks of violence throughout the state. Again, the idea that Sudan is a barbaric state with no help except through international aid is unfair, and a look at history will show that much of the destabilization there is the result of a longstanding tradition of intervention by the international community.

The moral of the story is that it is natural to have a very particular perspective, but you need to understand that that perspective can lead to a very narrow view of the world, if you aren’t careful. Fully assess the facts in a situation and avoid judgment. Nothing I’ve said in this blog is meant to imply that the foreign aid being sent to Haiti and Sudan are necessarily bad things, because they can be a very useful tool to help a state in trouble help itself, but you need to look at the other side of the story. The United States should not be seen as providing charity, but as actually being in part responsible for at least some of the strife in both Haiti and Sudan, and likewise with many members of the international community. People are strong, and they are capable of helping themselves out of a bad situation. We, and this goes doubly for myself, must be careful not to disempower them with the way we speak about their situations.

Stephen Thompson is a Program and Research intern with the SISGI Group’s Research Division. For more information about the SISGI Group visit www. sisgigroup.org.

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Mar 16

Japan’s Punishment: Can we really be this ignorant?

We have all watched in disgust as Glenn Beck has brought himself ratings by speculating on the divinity of the Japanese earthquake of March 11. Even gossip blogger Perez Hilton has come out against an Evangelical perspective on atheist Japan being “woken up” by God. However, before Mr. Beck had a chance to opine on this issue, or before atheism became involved, I had already found status updates taken from the facebook profiles of Americans following the tragedies that have happened in Japan this week. You can see the full image here, but here are a few highlights. Be warned, these statuses are not only disturbing but also use foul language.

ya know Japan, this earthquake is just gods way of getting you back for that Pearl Harbor deal… “buy American”

Eat a dick Japan! That’s what you get for pearl harbor , karma son! Hahaha!

those damn krauts deserve to be hit by a earthquake tsunami for nuking pearl harbor

who gives a shit about japan? not this guy. did they send aid when americans were dying during Katrina? hell no, remember pearl harbor? Late justice.

all yall remember pearl harbor when yall give money to japan

If you wanna feel better about this earthquake in Japan, google “Pearl Harbor death toll”.

These are also being tracked and documented by ignorantandonline.

Evidently, some of these statuses are only being put up for shock value. However, the sentiments reflected in them point to larger, cultural norms of aggressive ignorance and jingoism that need to be deconstructed by the socially conscious in order to promote our agenda of making the world a fairer, better place. We have to remember that these things aren’t just confined to FoxNews – these sentiments are pervasive, and warrant our attention.

Putting aside the notion that any nation deserves a natural disaster, which has already claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people, what does it say for Americans that we believe ourselves to be so linked to the divine that a natural disaster can be considered punishment – or justice – for an attack on us? Continue reading

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Mar 16

Debt’s Vicious Cycle – Part One

Over the past couple of years, developing countries have been trying to repay billions of dollars in loans. Many of these loans had been accumulated under corrupt Cold War regimes, and have now become a serious obstacle to overcoming poverty and acting as

a hindrance to economic development. Governments of developing countries have been taking new loans to pay out the old ones, with the end result being that many countries are paying more out towards servicing debt repayments than on health and education combined. Although many wealthy countries have relieved countless debt burdens and international institutions have also taken action, the challenge of debt cancellation and debt burdens remain a problem for two main reasons.

Firstly, because many poor countries had done a relatively good job in managing their debt, they were excluded from the first round of debt cancellation. As a result, today these countries still spend a significant portion of their resources paying off this debt. In 2006, for example, “Lesotho paid $47 million to its creditors, an amount equivalent to two-thirds of its annual development assistance inflows.”

Secondly, a large number of countries that benefited form the original rounds of debt cancellation are now slowly accumulating new debt. One reason for this is that many countries are facing shortfalls of promised development assistance. Additionally, an increasing percentage of the aid is being given as loans now instead of grants.

How do we solve these debt problems? Please comment with your own creative ideas for ways you believe this vicious cycle can be stopped in the comments. Check back later this week when I continue this conversation by providing some of my ideas for solutions in another post.

Udit Hinduja is a student at New York University double majoring in Economics and Political Science. As a Program and Research intern with the SISGI Group his focus areas are education, poverty and economic development in Asia and South America.
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Mar 15

The Philips Livable Cities Award

Lately, I have come across a lot of new concepts and initiatives but one  initiative that I feel obligated to share is the Philips Livable Cities Award (PLCA).

Under the banner “better cities make better lives”, the PLCA is a global initiative which is designed to encourage individuals, community groups and businesses to develop practical, achievable ideas to improve the health and well-being of people living in cities. The award consists of three groups which will help translate these ideas into reality. The categories are well-being outdoors, independent living and healthy lifestyle at work and home.

The video below presents one of the concepts for urban development that has been selected as a finalist for the award ceremony ~ A “Design Your Own Park” competition uses neglected urban spaces in Binghamton, New York for city parks.

Other finalist ideas include (in no particular order):

  • IQare (Education in digital media) for elderly in Edinburgh, Scotland;
  • Using flat rooftops and storage tanks in Sana’a, Yemen to capture, filter and store water during rainy periods for later use during periods of scarcity;
  • Health education for deaf in Embu, Kenya, using Kenyan sign language;
  • A Neighborhood Network Scheme to help elderly citizens in Abeokuta, Nigeria access welfare services.
  • Plaza Movil Street Park, which would close Buenos Aires’ streets to traffic during weekends and public holidays, and also use and convert portable playground equipment and benches into recreational spaces;
  • Posting health-related information and education posters inside 45 new  Shade Stands, similar to bus shelters, across Uganda’s capital, Kampala, that will provide relief against both the hot sun and rain;
  • Using modular solar or wind-powered streetlights, connected to a “smart grid,” in New York City to light outdoor recreational facilities;

After watching the individual videos and reading about each concept, I was very much impressed and decided to vote for my favorite. You too can do the same. To watch all the contestants’ videos, and to vote for your favorite, please click here. Clearly this award is a very smart initiative and hopefully we will continue to see many more companies encourage global community development in the future.

Ufuoma Barbara Akpotaire is a Program and Research intern with the SISGI Group’s Research Division. To learn more about the SISGI Group please visit www.sisgigroup.org.

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Mar 15

The Sexy Disaster Effect

Since 2003, the conflict in Darfur has been in and out of the international public’s awareness. Over the years, governments all around the world have hesitated to label the loss of life happening on the ground as a genocide, since that would have certain ramifications that could involve military intervention and technically breaching Sudan’s sovereignty.

The problems that Sudan has been having for the past several decades with the scarce attention given to it by the media and governments alike puts it into a similar category with Haiti in my mind. We all, of course, remember the earthquake in Haiti last year that leveled the country and resulted in a massive outpouring of goodwill from non-government and government agencies alike as millions of dollars in aid was shipped to the small island to prevent mass starvation or the spread of disease. But, here’s the thing: Haiti was not doing well before the earthquake. In fact, Haiti has not been doing well for the past fifty years at least, what with a dictatorship, several coups d’états, and an infrastructure unworthy of the name.

The point is, Haiti has been a failed state for decades, and it took a natural disaster of massive proportions for the international community to pay them any attention at all. I like to call this the “sexy disaster” effect. The Katrina hurricane damage in the Gulf of Mexico in 2005 and the 2004 tsunami, along with Sudan, are other examples of this effect. It takes something awful for these countries to receive any beneficial attention, and even then it is short lived, as can be seen from the current status of the recovery in Haiti, which has not seen any real media coverage for some months now.

Coming back to Sudan, the sporadic attention it has received over the years has almost come to a halt since the referendum last month where Sudanese citizens voted in favor of splitting the country between the north and the south in an effort to curb the violence. The event was written off as the end of the story, as if the vote meant that peace had been achieved and the conflict would come to a natural and swift conclusion. Unfortunately and, I would hope, obviously, this is not the case. The Abyei region in Sudan has seen an escalation in violence since the referendum took place, and the whole peace plan is on the verge of collapse because of the stalemate there.

Sudan did not suddenly stop needing the assistance of the world’s governments as it makes this difficult transition, in the same way that Haiti hasn’t stopped needing aid since it became an old and boring news story. It is important that we stop using bandaid solutions and begin building lasting infrastructures that will be capable of achieving and maintaining peace. There is still a great deal of work to be done, and it would be an awful waste of time and, more importantly, lives if we were to give up while the race is still on. Continue to be conscious of the issues facing Haiti, the Philippines, Sudan, and all of those other places that you see in the news one day and which are gone the next. The issues in these places have not stopped and still require attention.

Stephen Thompson is a Program and Research intern with the SISGI Group’s Research Division. For more information about the SISGI Group visit www. sisgigroup.org.
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Mar 09

Egypt Reborn

Economic Development in Egypt: The Next Step

What’s next for Egypt? This is the one crucial question that people have on their minds. The Post-Mubarak era promises a lot, but can the new regime increase economic development in the country and get Egypt to its full potential?

Don’t get me wrong. I am not proclaiming that Egypt’s economy was in shambles under Mubarak. On the contrary, the then government’s adoption of liberal economic policies and massive foreign aid from the United States actually benefited Egyptian economic development. But under Mubarak, corruption and privatization of public assets caused an impediment to growth. Analysts have indentified Egypt and other middle-sized economies as a potential success story, but Mubarak was holding the country back. With 40 % of the population living on 2 dollars or less a day, there was bound to be resentment to the regime.

But enough of what has happened. This article is about the next step. In the post-Mubarak era, Egypt can take several different paths. In 1980, when Egypt was ranked 125th, China was ranked 165th in terms of GDP per capita. Fast-forward three decades, and China has left Egypt in its dust. But Egypt has the potential to grow rapidly. Mubarak’s liberalized policies need to continue to be implemented, but more importantly the new regime needs to focus on education and reaping the benefits of globalization. Networks like Al-Jazeera and the Internet have improved the people’s self-awareness, which would be beneficial to the economy in the long run. Egypt cannot rapidly grow over night. It needs to take small steps before taking a giant leap. And the first step is creating jobs for the young educated middle class by taking advantage of globalization.

The video here explains the technicalities on both a micro and macro level behind Egypt’s poor economic situation. Where do you think Egypt is heading? Post your comments in the section below!

Udit Hinduja is a Program and Research intern with the SISGI Group’s Research Division. To learn more about the SISGI Group please visit www.sisgigroup.org.
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Mar 08

The Women’s Revolution

A week before the Egyptian revolution began last month, Asmaa Mahfouz, an Egyptian activist, released a vlog that quickly went viral and is widely credited with sparking the protests that eventually ended the thirty-year reign of dictator Hosni Mubarak. In the vlog, Mahfouz challenged any men who did not think women should be protesting to show up to the protests themselves to prove their worth as men. In the end, it is estimated that approximately ¼ of the protesters in Tahir Square were women, despite the incredible gender discrimination Egyptian women face.

As the Egyptian military took up its position as a placeholder government and began talks for a committee to write a new constitution, there was great hope that women would at last be included in the discussion of Egypt’s present and future, but those hopes were greatly injured when it was revealed that the constitutional reform committee would be composed entirely of men. There was an immediate outcry from the United States and Egyptian women’s rights activists, and a growing fear that women are about to be marginalized yet again.

Obviously, this is unacceptable. A non-representative committee does little to build confidence in a new, fairer and more transparent government. This, coupled with disturbing news that the committee is only amending the existing constitution instead of writing an entirely new one, raises doubts as to the political will for reform found in the interim government and the Egyptian political elite.

One- fourth of the protesters who brought down the dictatorial government in Egypt were women, and they deserve to have their voice heard. Egypt was ranked 125th out of 134 by the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report of 2010, below Iran and Syria, and in the same company as Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The constitutional reforms taking place right now are an incredible opportunity for Egypt to join the international community in eliminating gender inequality and discrimination against women.

Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), said in a statement recently that “in these moments of historic transition in Egypt and Tunisia, it is important to ensure that women’s rights are not set aside as something to be dealt with after the crucial reforms are won.” Women’s rights are not an optional issue. The rights of more than half the earth’s population are not an optional issue. Women’s rights are something that need to be constantly integrated into any and all potential reforms at any level, and should not be seen as something we can think about later once all of the ‘real’ reform is done. Egypt has a historic opportunity today to begin remedying a problem that has plagued it for most of its history. Stand in solidarity with the women of Egypt as they fight for their rights and march for equality.

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