Jun 08

Adopting “The Code” to Combat Child Sex Tourism

As I traveled to Hawaii this past week on American Airlines, I thought about part of a previous post I wrote about on international airlines showing anti-slavery PSA announcements in-flight to fight child sex tourism.  I could not help but to think again about the important difference it would make in ending modern day slavery if U.S.-based airlines and tourism agencies began implementing similar awareness campaigns—particularly in places like Hawaii where tourism and the military make up 2/3 of the economy, according to one of my travel guides.  As I had mentioned in earlier posts, tourists and servicemen make up a significant proportion of individuals who buy sex.

Upon my arrival back to Florida, I began catching up on recent news that I had missed and came across two articles that totally caught my eye—one related to Hawaii’s push for tougher legislation regarding sex trafficking and one about Delta airlines taking proactive attempts at ending modern day slavery, specifically in regards to child sex tourism.  I nearly fell off my couch from excitement (or possibly due to jet lag exhaustion)!  Either way, I could not help but to feel a sense of enthusiasm.

Delta Air Lines signed the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism—also known as “The Code”—becoming the 1st U.S. airline to make this huge and honorable commitment.  Agencies adopting The Code are expected to follow “The Six Criteria:”

1. Establish ethical policy and procedures to fight the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC)
2. Train personnel in both origin and destination countries on CSEC
3. Present a clause in contracts with suppliers that states a mutual rejection of CSEC
4. Provide information to travellers about CSEC by means of catalogues, brochures, in-flight films, ticket-slips, home pages, etc.
5. Provide information to local “key persons” at the destinations
6. Report annually

Delta has made a groundbreaking initiative in the fight against modern day slavery, particularly within the travel and tourism industry.  They are being great role models in regards to exercising social responsibility in the industry, setting a great example for Continue reading

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Jun 08

Millenium Villages – Scaling Up

This is a follow up of my last post where I discussed the Millenium Villages. In the last one I discussed the problem of sustainability (is it a good project in the long run?). Here I am going to discuss the problem of scaling up the project.

I feel like the project is too ambitious when it suggests that the model implemented in each village could be scaled up to any district or any country. Even thought the villages are supposed to be a pilot and a “model” for rural development in Africa, their very nature is to have a local and one time impact. The project is treating each village as a separate island in a sea of poverty and under-development. Indeed, each planning team includes local villagers and farmers, and promotes the participation of the community. Therefore, the project focuses directly on the village’s specific needs. While this community-based development strategy is good and necessary to have a local impact, it also misses the whole external and global environment.

If this external context is ignored (and by that I mean if the external circumstances affecting the villages are ignored-like the political environment and the economic conditions) it is doubtful that scaling up the project will be as effective as it could be.  This ultimately means that the project is doomed to fail as a large or small scale rural development strategy that could be implemented anywhere on the African continent. You cannot generalize a development strategy when you have such specific circumstances in each village. It is a strong example of a good local initiative, and it should stay local.

The MVPs makes reference to the green revolution of India, implying that the absence of new agricultural technologies in Africa is what has delayed rural development and wealth on the continent. But Indian farmers face today difficult circumstances too, and the green revolution does not guarantee success. African farmers- just as Indian farmers- need to become much more competitive. This is difficult due to unfair international competition (US and European farmers receive large subsidies, which make them less expensive) and in any case, it would require much more investment and education that one offered in a 5 years for systematic continent wide change to occur.

To sum up, it is my impression that some of the criticisms to the MVP make reference to the “opportunity cost” of having to invest in those villages. Could those resources have been used better? It is a difficult question to answer.

But one thing is for sure. The MVPs are having short-term benefits that are improving individual lives in ways that would seem otherwise impossible. It is one of the reasons that I sympathize with the project. It nevertheless has some flaws. There’s a need for a detailed examination of the implementation of the project to make sure that it has a sustainable (long-term) impact. Also, there is a need to really contextualize the project in the broader national and global environment. It is all about acting locally but thinking globally.

Finally, planners of the project should be more cautious when trying to scale up MVPs. It is just not designed to have such an impact. The MVP project is unlikely to be the developing nation’s solution, or an agricultural panacea for African nations. But because it is a bold and appealing project to end rural poverty, it has gathered financial support and has had significant short-term impact. Which is always good, but not good enough.

Julia Naime is a Program and Research intern with the SISGI Group.

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Jun 08

India’s New Rules for Ecotourism

The concept of ecotourism is frequently misunderstood despite its rising popularity across the globe, which results in an outcropping of businesses and companies that claim to be “eco-friendly” or “environmentally correct” when they are, in fact, nothing of the sort.  Being eco-friendly can be difficult; it’s much easier to cut corners while benefitting from the increase in patronage that comes to those who declare their business “green.”  And with vague and frequently undefined guidelines as to what is or is not “eco,” it’s easy to get away with fudging a bit about your practices.  Of course, companies aren’t the only ones at fault.   People want to see endangered animals, want to stay in a secluded hotel in a rainforest or on a beach, want to go on magnificant hikes to ancient ruins, and so how can we fault tourism companies for giving us what we want despite the damage it does to the environment?

Well, India is finally taking a stand against poor ecotourism practices. The Ministry of Environment and Forests announced on Friday the 3rd a comprehensive set of guidelines for tourism.  The guidelines were a reaction to the booming tourist industry in India, which has led to the exploitation and destruction of ecosystems.   They have not been finalized yet, as the Ministry is still awaiting comments from the people, but hopefully the guidelines will be put in place by December 31st of this year.

The list of new rules is fairly long, and includes items such as:

1) Relocated village area will not be used for tourism. Tourism infrastructure must be environment-friendly.

2) Complete ban on burying, burning or otherwise disposing non-biodegradable or toxic waste in tourism area.

3) All tourist facilities, old and new, must aim to generate at least 50% of their total energy and fuel requirements from alternate energy sources (wind, solar and biogas).

Additionally, protected areas (PAs), which are already a part of India’s forests and parks, will be provided with further protection to ensure that they remain ecologically stable.  For example, under these new guidelines no new tourist facilities may be established in PAs (which include national forests, tiger reserves, and sacred areas), and existing facilities will be slowly phased out.  Also, only 20% of the PAs may be used for regular ecotourism access, a rule that will help preserve the natural beauty that draws tourists to the PAs.

I think that India’s new guidelines for ecotourism are a bold step forward, and I hope more countries follow in India’s footsteps.  The rules will hurt some of the tourism industry, since they cut down on access to PAs and provide stricter guidelines for what can and cannot be considered ecotourism, but I think overall the rules will benefit both the industry and the world.  Preserving endangered species and precarious ecosystems can be a difficult task, especially when both of those things are major tourist draws, but losing them is more difficult still.  Restricting tourist access and phasing out tourist facilities will help to preserve the PAs, and thus I hope other nations do the same.  Also, by creating these rules India is acknowledging that ecotourism companies do not always follow eco-friendly practices, a problem that all nations share.  India has taken a step forward in regulating ecotourism and ensuring that the practices are good for the environment and are truly sustainable, another positive step that I hope others will also take.

 

 

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Jun 07

Aid to Sudan – Lessons Learned

Many of my posts this past month discussed the impacts and strategies of foreign aid. The more that I’ve researched projects undertaken by aid organizations, the more I’ve seen what commonly works and what doesn’t work. If we take a look at these commonalities, incorporate lessons learned from them and use them to inform current and future aid projects, perhaps we can ensure that aid resources are put to the best possible use.

As a way to demonstrate each of these points, I’ll pull examples from the foreign assistance projects that have been used to help the people of Sudan. For those unfamiliar with the issues these people face, here is a quick history that focuses on one of Sudan’s key resources: oil. Tensions between the Sudanese of the north, mostly Muslim and the south, mostly Christian, have led to decades of violence, partially stopped by the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Earlier this year, over 98% of southern Sudanese voted to separate from northern Sudan in a landmark referendum. Tensions have mounted as the deadline for separation nears, leading to the establishment of a 20-kilometer demilitarized zone between the north and south. Generally speaking, the south is in a much worse economic condition than is the north.

The first point I believe to be essential to any form of foreign aid is that, in most long-term cases, aid should be directed at helping the given population establish the means to sustain itself, rather than only addressing immediate issues. Simply pumping massive amounts of monetary and/or material aid into a country is not an effective way of creating a lasting and sustainable impact.

I understand that in certain cases, immediate aid without an extensive plan is necessary, such as the relief efforts to the Japanese earthquake. But in the case of Sudan, the humanitarian crisis has been present for decades. There is no excuse here for rushing in with aid that does little but bandage a gaping wound. In spite of its vast oil reserves, southern Sudan “produces very little durable capital goods and hardly exports anything to the outside world.” Most of the infrastructure in the country to handle the oil reserves is in the north, which southern Sudan will soon not be a part of. Aid organizations should focus on helping the southern Sudanese establish Continue reading

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Jun 06

High and Alive

Researchers have recently published surprising findings that people who live in higher elevations are more at risk to commit suicide. Although the causal link is still unknown, the researchers used solid methods and controlled for typical suicide risk factors such as age, race, gender, and income. One potential explanation for this finding is that people who live in higher altitudes receive less oxygen, and this could potentially adversely affect people’s brains. However, this study was only done domestically, so we would have to see data from other countries and find a similar correlation to extrapolate that something such as thinness in air could elevate suicide risk. Whatever the reason for this link between highly elevated residence and suicide risk may be, it must be addressed.

One way to address this link is to publicize the results of this study. People need to be aware of this strange correlation. Such awareness will bring about several benefits. First, people who live in places of high elevation will know that they are more at risk to commit suicide than the average person. Just as a person with a family history of diabetes must be extra-careful in maintaining a healthy diet to avoid diabetes, someone living high in the mountains should be even more precautious about mental health than the average person. People who live in such areas should also look out for suicidal signs from friends and family members. One researcher also suggested that people experiencing signs of depression and suicidal thoughts living in high altitude locations consider moving to a lower altitude. It may not solve the problem, but at the very least would rule out the altitude as a factor for the individual’s feelings. Finally, psychiatrists, counselors, and other mental health professionals looking for jobs should move to these areas, as there is clearly a demand for these services in these areas.

This study leads me to another extrapolation. Neither the researchers nor I understand the causal link between altitude and suicide incidence. However, the study does reinforce my opinion that physiological and environmental factors, even those that seem irrelevant, can lead to higher incidence of mental health disorders or suicide. Thus, researchers should receive funding to conduct similar studies to find other risk factors, and people should be aware of such risk factors so that they can take the necessary precautions to counteract them.

We can decrease the amount of overall suicides if we are aware of risk factors. By being aware of risk factors, people can be vigilant in maintaining personal mental health, monitoring the mental health of friends, and finding professional help. In this post, I wanted to point out this strange correlation so that you could tell others about it. By spreading the word, you can help other people make the necessary precautions to avoid needless deaths.

 

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Jun 06

Pro-Woman or Pro-Disability?

When I was a freshman in high school, I had a tense conversation with my biology teacher that has always stuck with me. As a class, we had been learning the basics of genetics, and examining some of the ethical issues surrounding prenatal screening for congenital disorders. Our teacher was an enthusiastic supporter of screening, and believed that if conditions could be detected and eradicated early enough, children and their families would be spared from investing in expensive and invasive treatments, not to mention experiencing psychological trauma in the long-run.  He reasoned (paraphrasing), “If you could prevent a kid from being disabled, why wouldn’t you?” I objected, essentially suggesting that disability is an element of human diversity, and that experiences of disability can contribute positively to people’s characters. (Admittedly, at 14, my words probably weren’t as organized or concise).  His response (shock and dismay) suggested that it was much more unethical to allow people to be disabled, when perfectly good options were available to “fix” these problems. Even though I couldn’t eloquently rebut his points at that young age, I knew that something just didn’t seem right about his argument. And although these issues have become more complex and multi-faceted in my mind as I grew older, my position has remained the same.

Today, medical abnormalities are still considered reasonable grounds on which parents can abort their fetuses. In this post it’s unnecessary to review the whole history of abortion rights and the pro-life/pro-choice debate, because readers in general are well aware that this is a contentious issue.  I’m not arguing against women’s rights to choose what happens to their bodies. Instead, I’d like to urge parents and society as a whole to make responsible, broad-minded decisions that consider the validity and rights of persons with disabilities (PWDs). At the end of the day every woman has the right to terminate her pregnancy at her own discretion, but it’s important to make informed decisions that don’t rely on misguided perceptions of disability.

The question I raise here is not whether the practice of abortion is ethical, but who is getting aborted and how do abortion trends reflect society’s norms and values? Take, as a parallel example, the trend of increased female feticide in certain countries. For various reasons in such cases, it is culturally or financially advantageous to have sons instead of daughters. As a result, we are seeing skewed sex ratios that could threaten the stability of populations, not to mention continue the devalued perceptions of women.

Similarly, we see that medical professionals and researchers have made it a socially acceptable goal to eradicate disabilities. Eugenics, the study of ways to improve the genetic composition of a population, was discredited long ago, after the height of its practice in the mid-20th century. Yet, the idea of eliminating “abnormality” in the human race still remains in the often-overlooked issue of disability. Various techniques, such as an ultrasound or amniocentesis, are available to parents who may wish to screen their children for disabilities. For example, Medscape, a site that offers medical information and educational tools for patients and medical professionals, lists some of the benefits of prenatal diagnosis, including 1) helping couples decide whether to continue the pregnancy, 2) preparing couples for the birth of a child with an abnormality, and 3) improving the outcome of pregnancy using fetal treatment. Abortion is offered as an option to parents whose unborn children are diagnosed with Down syndrome, spina bifida, or even intersex conditions. Recent breakthroughs have even made it possible to Continue reading

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Jun 06

People Comprehension Part II

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about the importance of teaching children people comprehension skills so people can better understand each other, despite differing opinions. Personally, I think this should be part of the curriculum in elementary and middle schools, since equipping children with these skills can enable them to become more open-minded adults.

Teaching people comprehension skills doesn’t necessarily have to be made into a daily subject like math or reading, as it would be quite unrealistic to expect education administrators and policy makers to allow so much time to be devoted to learning a skill that is difficult to measure. After all, there are no standardized tests for social skills – the only way to measure them is through a life of interacting with people. So how can these people comprehension skills be taught, then? There are two types of exercises in particular that I think can be easily integrated into the education system, both of which are extremely simple and easy to modify. The first exercise involves two students who don’t agree on something – which can be anything ranging from what they want to do that weekend to what their favorite subject is. Below is an example of two students (Bobby and James) who disagree about what the best sport is.

First, each person states what they think and why.

  • Bobby: I think basketball is the best because I have fun playing it with my older brother everyday.
  • James: I think soccer is the best because I like kicking soccer balls into the goal.

Then, each participant repeats what the other thinks and why they think that way, and then they give another possible reason for the opposing opinion.

  • Bobby: James thinks soccer is the best because he likes kicking soccer balls into the goal. He also might like soccer because he doesn’t have to use his hands.
  • James: Bobby thinks basketball is the best because he likes playing it with his older brother. Maybe he also really likes dribbling.

This allows the two students to not only hear what the other person is saying, but also understand why they have that opinion. This exercise also pushes the participants to think of other reasons for having a particular viewpoint, which consequently causes them to be more open-minded about why people think differently.

Continue reading

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Jun 03

The Millennium Villages

The Millennium Villages project offers a bold, innovative model for helping rural African communities lift themselves out of extreme poverty. To date, the Millennium Villages project has reached nearly 400,000 people in 79 villages. The villages are in 10 African countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda), and are located in different agricultural zones that reflect the variety of farming, water, and disease challenges facing the continent.

It is not so much an innovation as it is an integral development strategy. Indeed, what makes the MVP project remarkable and unique is its integrative approach to development: it looks to increase food security, education, health services and amelioration of infrastructure all at once in a 5 year period. The villages are carefully selected to make sure that the project covers different agricultural sectors so that the agricultural development strategy becomes more credible and applicable across all of Africa. The hope is to adopt the strategy in an entire district and eventually the country, if the villages were to be successful.

Gathering a budget large enough to precede with the project, the millennium villages initiative has proven to be successful in many short term goals, such as an increase of crop production, improvement of health and education services and some evidence of self lead businesses.   The standard of living of all of its participants has substantially increased because of it, in ways that would be impossible without the program. The MVPs are doing good, but is it really good enough?

It is an ambitious project. It seems to have too many goals and too little time. But will the people have time to adapt? Will it be sustained through the generations? Criticisms Continue reading

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Jun 03

Counterintuitive, but Affordable

Since my previous post in which I brought to light Robert Bach and Peter Kocher’s proposal of eliminating tuition costs for med school students, I have had various interesting conversations with people about potential pros and cons of this plan. On the most part, people agreed with me that such a change to our medical school system could bring about huge societal benefits. Theoretically, if there are no tuition costs, more people will apply, and students accepted to medical schools will be more capable and the quality of our healthcare will rise. More importantly, physicians will be able to select specialties that align with their professional desires rather than being able to pay back enormous debts. The growing shortage of primary care physicians and physicians in low paying specialties is alarming, and heavily subsidizing med school could counteract this problem. Although there are clear benefits of making med school free, the idea is controversial. Some people have asked how our government, which has been making huge budget cuts, could afford such a plan. Others have wondered if making med school free would induce so much demand from applicants that either more med schools would have to be created, or existing med schools would have offer more admission seats. Such reform would make an already-expensive proposal even more difficult for the government to fund. Finally, some have questioned whether making medical school free would even have the benefits that I have outlined. I hope to address the concern of the economic feasibility of such a plan in this post.

Making medical school free won’t be cheap. It would be silly to argue otherwise. Tuition costs average $38,000 per year and 67,000 students enter medical school every year. This equates to nearly $2.5 billion per year. Sure, this is a substantial amount of money. But this sum is only a tiny fraction of the $1.1 trillion that the federal government already spends on healthcare. The US consistently overspends on healthcare. Studies have shown that average Americans spend an average of $1,895 more than necessary every year on healthcare because of excessive prices, expensive insurance plans, and inefficient use of technology. Some of these problems can be overcome by eliminating medical school tuition costs. In the long run, all doctors will be able to charge less for procedures since they did not incur the cost of medical school. This should also eventually decrease health insurance costs. Secondly, I proposed decreasing the stipend that resident physicians who are training in specialties that are not undersupplied. Part of these stipends can serve to pay off the cost of medical school tuition, and decreasing stipends for people training in certain specialties can serve as financial incentives for them to become primary physicians. Finally, since there will be much less of a scarcity of primary care physicians after the proposal is initiated, patients can seek services from primary care physicians rather than specialists. This shift in services could be significantly cheaper and also contribute to decreasing federal expenditure on healthcare.

Although the proposal may seem expensive at first, I think that this massive reform can go a long way in fixing our healthcare system. Costs have been spiraling out of control for too long, and in the long run, this initiative is affordable and will save the government a lot of money.

Shaunak Varma is a SISGI Group Program and Research Intern. To learn more about the SISGI Group visit www.sisgigroup.org
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Jun 03

Hello, Hola, Bonjour, Ciao

The Importance of Learning Languages in Schools

Languages are some of the most important cultural and social building blocks of humanity. They can be barriers when people cannot understand one another or they can be connectors that bring people together. As countries become more globalized, knowing a second language has become almost essential for young children in the United States. Being bilingual not only enhances learning abilities, but it also allows children to grow up to be stronger competitors in a global market. The benefits of learning a second language are overwhelming, and prove to be advantageous tools for children in the future. Unfortunately, school budget cuts have taken a hefty toll on foreign language departments in schools across the country.

Due to the faltering economy, a plethora of school districts have stated that it is necessary for them to cut funding for their language departments. Schools in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and other states have decided to either relieve foreign language teachers from their positions or reduce the amount of languages offered as electives to students. For example, an international studies high school in San Diego recently cancelled its German language department due to a lack of student interest and budget cuts. Out of 565 students at the school, only 24 were studying German, but some of those studying the language wanted to continue their education in German studies. However, since the school has decided that funding cannot be allocated to such a small language program, those students will be unable to continue learning German through their school. The scenario at the San Diego high school could have been chalked up to one story in a million, but the fact of the matter is that thousands of schools have cut funding to their language departments.

As the budget cuts continue to slice through foreign language programs, extensive research has be done to prove that learning a second language is beneficial for the young generation. Ellen Bialystok, a cognitive neuroscientist, recently explained that bilingual children have better control over their cognitive abilities as well as their executive control system than monolingual children. This allows bilingual children to be more mentally flexible by filtering out distractions and focusing on one question at a time as well as juggling two languages at the same time in their minds. Additional research conducted on the subject proves that children who learn foreign languages from a young age, and continue throughout school, have higher standardized test scores and excel academically. Multilingual children are proven to be better creative and critical thinkers, and this ultimately enhances their academic performance. Furthermore, in a competitive job market, students who are fluent in two or more languages are more likely to land a job in comparison to monolingual students. This is because multilingual students are able to interact and converse with non-English clients, and have a better appreciation for the culture and customs of those individuals. Such a tool is a beneficial in any occupational field, ranging from teaching to working at the White House.

Though the economy may be in a slump at the moment, it is should not be able to deprive students of valuable foreign language programs. There are a myriad of advantages for any child that is proficient in two or more languages, and budget cuts have been taking those advantages away from students. Children who do not have bilingual parents at home look to schools for foreign language education, and it is up to schools to provide their students with the necessary tools to excel in the future. Research proves that a child who learns a second langauge at a young age, and continues throughout his or her academic career, will be more likely to succeed academically than a monolingual child.  For that reason, the language departments in school districts across the United States should be given more resources, not less, in order to provide their students with the tools they need to succeed in a competitive global market.

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