Water and Sanitation: two everyday necessities that many take for granted, yet millions still struggle today to access potable water and acceptable sanitation. Here’s what you need to know; over the course of the last two decades 9% of the global population gained access to clean water. Yet, as we speak, millions in underdeveloped and overpopulated nations have little to no access to clean water and appropriate sanitation. countries like Chad fall way below the global average of accessibility to clean water. And water isn’t just for drinking, from washing our hands, to brushing our teeth and doing laundry, water plays a big role in keeping us healthy and clean. So a lack of clean water goes hand in hand with inadequate sanitation. Almost a third of the world makes due without improved sanitation facilities like private and clean toilets, and that is not just inconvenient, it is downright dangerous! As poor sanitation exposes people to a range of diseases and illnesses.
Imagine having to go about your day without clean drinking water or a private place to use the toilet. This isn’t a world anyone should live in and the latter should not be problems people should be facing. An informative approach stemming from the immediate consequences of the lack of access to water and sanitation should be enforced to mitigate the effects of the problem.
Many children in the Middle East and North Africa are deprived of education. Throughout the years, almost 18 % of adolescents and children were out of school on average in the region, which is the highest across East Asia, Europe, and Latin America. This is especially true for females who recorded higher average of dropout rates than males by 2.2% in the region over the years. The increase in dropout rates is due to several reasons and poverty plays a major role in increasing the rates of children out of school. It is evident that rates of people who make $1.90 per day has been increasing since 2013 in the Middle East, making it hard for parents to afford education expenditures for their children such as tuition fees and school supplies. This leads families to pull their children out of school in order to work and help the family during financial hardship. As there is a positive linear relationship between children who are out of primary school and children employment, when the average rate of children out of school increases, the rate of children’s employment increases.
Furthermore, the norm that females are not supposed to work is enhancing the idea that females do not need to learn as they will not be able to participate in employment. This is encouraged by the average ratio of female to male participation in the labor force which is 33.09 below the average rate across all indicated regions. Therefore, it is important to bridge the gap of poverty to ensure that people can have sufficient funds to be able to send their children to school. This can be done by providing financial aid dedicated to school fees and supplies. That is because lower poverty rates indicate lower dropout rates among children since there is a positive relationship between the two.
Moreover, it is important to raise awareness of the effects of dropping out of school on the future of children. Because the higher the average of adolescents out of school the more likely they will be considered as vulnerable employees in the future, which in turn lead them to be used and manipulated by employers.
Additionally, the higher the average rate of people completing at least a Bachelor degree, the higher the rate of salaries and wages. This means that if children where to stay in schools, they will be able to get higher salaries, which will provide them with a more stable future.
All the above factors are important in guaranteeing a better future for children. However, it is recommended that they be accompanied by the right laws that prevent child employment and provide equal opportunities for females to participate in the workplace.
“I am a failure, I won’t get any job!”
Have you ever heard someone saying this?
Have you maybe even been that person?
Losing employment is one of life’s most stressful experiences.
Aside from the obvious financial distress it can cause, losing a job can also take a heavy toll on one’s mood, relationships, and overall mental and emotional health.
Societal costs of high unemployment include poverty, homelessness, physical and mental illness, decline in life satisfaction, higher crime and a reduced rate of volunteerism.
Thus, fighting unemployment is one of the world biggest challenges. Some countries could achieve major improvements by producing more goods and services in a given time frame (i.e. one year). In other words, they could achieve lower unemployment rate by increasing the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Nowadays, countries having low unemployment rate such as USA and China have the world’s highest GDP, whereas in South Africa where the unemployment rate is much higher, the GDP is relatively low as shown in the visualizations below:
Who is responsible?
Increasing the country’s GDP is an effective solution of the unemployment issue because of the job opportunities it creates. This can be achieved by promoting education, developing new technologies, improving infrastructure including roads, schools, hospitals, phone lines, transport, electricity, Internet, water supply…
It is also recommended to adopt more flexible working practices: people could choose to work fewer hours, giving the chance to raise employment in the economy and resulting in unemployed population getting a part time job.
Fighting unemployment is a difficult long journey and the contribution of both private and public sector is mandatory in order to make it happen.
“Tigist, I am really sorry for what happened to you, but honestly, it’s okay, not a big deal. I understand it’s not the first time, but you’re not the first nor the last wife to be beaten by her husband.
You can cry and react but at the end of the day these are the norms my dear and do not expect your mother, sister, or other women to defend you, this is fine to them.”
Am I surprising you? Well, welcome to Africa!
A woman’s attitude toward wife-beating is a proxy for her perception of her status. Globally, 1 in 3 women have been subjected to intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their life. Many women still consider such violence as ‘justifiable’.
The majority of countries located in in Africa reported the highest average percentage of women justifying a husband beating his wife compared to other countries as shown in the map below.
What were the most justified reasons for domestic violence?
Among the 5 reasons for wife beating listed in the below dashboard, women mostly justified a husband beating his wife when she neglected the children. But, the range of these percentages is quite different when comparing Africa with other continents. There are very high violence acceptance rates across all reasons for Africa whether because she went out without telling him, argued with him, refused to have sex, or even burnt the food.
Unfortunately, Africa still has a long way to go since the gap between the percentage of women justifying wife beating and women making their own informed decisions on sexual relations, contraceptive use, and reproductive health care is significant and positive in the rest of world and has been improving over time while this is completely the opposite case in Africa.
So, what can be done?
Well, here comes the major role of education whereby education helps young people know their rights and change social norms. In this regard, providing children and youth a safe space that is free of fear, violence, and exclusion is essential.
The below dashboard validates the positive effect of primary educational attainment for females on wife beating perception through a significant negative correlation between the two factors. With higher primary educational attainment, less women tend to justify wife beating.
We can also confirm this when looking at how investment in primary educational attainment for females in Turkey improved wife beating perception over time (inverse case in Cambodia, Africa).
In conclusion, we need support from international NGOs to promote and enhance education in under-developed countries and attract funding. Direct awareness on women rights through field work and local campaigns is also key for better self – perception by women.
Finally, what happened to Tigist is not fine and we need the rest of the society to believe this as well as a start…
In a world where access to electricity is no longer considered a privilege but a basic human right, many Arab counties are still struggling in providing electricity access to their people. Even though the Arab world is often associated with energy wealth in terms of oil gas production, not all the population has access to electricity. Many Arab Countries such as Comoros, Yemen, Djibouti, Sudan, Somalia, & South Sudan, are still lagging behind in terms of the population access to electricity.
However, it is important to distinguish between access to electricity and its availability. For example, in counties such as Lebanon, Syria, and West Ghaza, most of the population has access to the electricity grid, but it is not always available. Private generators are considered as an alternative solution to provide power, as rolling blackouts are common.
Global institutions including the World Bank and International Energy Agency are all working towards global solutions to help less developed countries in their struggles towards proving electricity to their people. By 2030, the United Nations sets a goal to measure progress against its Sustainable Development Goal #7—“affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”.
