Poorer nations like Africa have higher fertility rates, and this because they don’t have enough culture, women’s are not working and becoming mother at a very young age.
As we can see in the map, the highest fertility rates are is in Africa countries.
Many factors are affecting the high fertility rate and one of them is related to a low education level. So in order in order to boost the economy and reduce poverty , measures related directly to education should be taken into consideration.
When women are more educated, they tend to shift there focus to their education , which can lead later on to an occupation . And a working mother , wouldn’t be able to have kids like a stay at home mother . In this case women would consider planning when to have kids. And with women contributing to the economy, trough education and work . These actions will boost consumption and production , moreover boosting the economy and having a higher gdp.
And by giving women this opportunity, and by spreading education and knowledge, fertility rate will be reduced therefore it will contribute to slowing the population growth rate.
Where there is energy there is life, but what if that same energy is the reason life is being destroyed? Non-renewable energy resources such as coal, oil, and natural gas have been abused extensively over the years; and not only are they detrimental to the environment, but they are bound to finish in the future. The switch over to more sustainable sources of energy has been something that has not been around for a hundred years yet, for that it could still be considered to be still in its infancy today.
Sustainable Development Goal 7 is one of 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. It aims to “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.” According to “SDG7 Energy Compact of the Republic of Lebanon”, by the year 2030, universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services should be ensured, as well as increasing substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix, and expand infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern and sustainable energy services for all.
Energy in Lebanon, ever since the mid-nineties has been dominated by oil, which represents more than 95% of the primary energy consumed in 2019 (Julian & Salameh, 2022). According to Electricité du Liban (EDL), in 1995 thermal energy expenditure was 4,349 GWh only to spike drastically to 14,617 GWh in 2017. In 2019, though, there is a noticeable decline in thermal energy expenditure as it settles at 11,665 GWh; with an increase in hydraulic energy from 415 GWh in 2017 to 829 GWh, thus almost doubling in two years. As a result, we notice that slowly, but steadily, Lebanon has been shifting its focus to renewable energy sources, thus aligning with SDG 7.
Source: World Bank Global Electrification Database from “Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report” led jointly by the custodian agencies: the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency ( IRENA ), the United Nations Statistics Division ( UNSD ), the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Energy consumption in Lebanon has always been at a loss. From 1995 until 2019, Lebanon’s consumption averaged at 10,845 GWh whereas only 8,936 GWh has been averaged in production. Hence, this is where the deficiency lies. It is impossible to claim sustainability where there is an undersupply.
Despite the lack in production, Lebanon does in fact import sources of energy in order to fulfill the needs of the country in terms of electricity. That, though, does not reflect the reality of most Lebanese citizens. “For decades now, electricity has been a major issue in Lebanon. State-owned Electricité du Liban provides only two hours of electricity per day. However, some areas experience complete shut-off. Until today, the Lebanese people’s main alternative to state-provided electricity is resorting to private generators that work on diesel. Two problems emerge from this situation, the first one being the price of petroleum-related products” (Muro, 2021). Surprisingly, according to the most recent World Bank studies, in the year 2020, 100% of Lebanese have access to electricity. The reality of the situation is very different as aforementioned with privatized energy distribution becoming the norm, consequently aggravating the environmental situation.
Source:Electricité du Liban (E.D.L)
As the economic crisis intensifies day by day and energy costs rise by the hour, the more well-off portion of the Lebanese society has been resorting to alternative energy sources; mainly solar energy. Although that does not solve the problem per-se, it has spurred a mass transition as NGOs have hopped on board to provide solar panels to less-abled communities. As a result, more and more people have been stopping their memberships with alternative providers (generators).
It comes as no surprise, switching to solar energy. It is a step that is long overdue, and as the saying goes “necessity is the mother of invention”. Even though it is not exactly an invention, but through necessity, Lebanon is slowly becoming more sustainable! Lebanon has a lot of natural resources such as wind and water. However, the most interesting and important natural asset is the abundant sunshine, making solar energy in Lebanon the ideal alternative to consider for Lebanon to get out of the electricity crisis. Using solar energy in Lebanon saves money for the Lebanese people whose private generators’ cost keeps on increasing. In fact, for 12 hours of electricity a day, the fuel cost for private generators can be as high as $550 per day. Although the installation of solar panels is expensive as well, it is an investment. If someone pays $550 per day on fuel, installing solar panels will reduce their cost to around $140 per day. (Monzer, 2022)
Yet another possible solution, straying from the tradition of utilizing natural resources, is the use of yet another crisis Lebanon suffers from. The trash situation has been plaguing the country for years now and it is possible, with the right funding from the right individuals and associations to begin collecting this trash and transferring it to specialized factories that will in turn use it in order to produce energy. This long term investment thus solves two issues simultaneously, while providing job opportunities for many locals.
It is of the utmost importance in Lebanon to deviate away from oil as a main fuel for energy and depend more on renewable energy from resources such as sun, wind and water. In Lebanon up to 4.5% of electricity comes from hydropower and up to 95.5% from oil. Abiding by the goals set in the SDG 7 is a surefire way to take the appropriate steps to building a society in which sustainable energy is the norm. Despite being a long way from sustainable; with the aid of the diaspora, concerned NGOs, and the local community, it is possible to make use of nature’s bounties, which are plentiful in the 10,452 km2 of mountainous rushing streams, gusting winds of the vast planes, and the showering sunlight reaching every corner of the nation.
Hussaini, 14, is one of the lucky ones. He escaped. In 2018, as terrorism by extremist groups crossed into Burkina Faso, his village was attacked while he was in school. First, he heard screaming, and then gunfire. “They shot at our teachers and killed one of them,” he says. “They burned down the classrooms.” Hussaini ran home and within a matter of minutes, his family set off. They left everything behind, including school. Since that day, Hussaini has not set foot in a classroom. “I used to love school, to read, to count and to play during recess,” he says. “It’s been a year since I last went…”
From the end of 2017 to 2019, the number of schools forced to close due to rising insecurity tripled. More than 9,200 schools closed across Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and others, leaving 1.9 million children without education. These children face a much higher risk of recruitment by armed groups, gender-based violence and targeting by traffickers. Most parents in Africa will tell you that their children’s education is the most important investment they can make.
Trouble Cycle
Education is the UN’s top priority because it is a basic human right and the foundation on which to build peace and drive sustainable development. Unfortunately, lack of education for the young generation remains highly present in the world.
The problem is a cycle: lack of education results in high child labor and low literacy rate thus increasing the world’s problems such as crimes. And in its turn, terrorism decreases education opportunities. Hussaini is among millions of other children that were deprived from quality education and had high chances to be part of child labor.
Evidence
Poor basic education can be identified by high child employment rate. So, what are the target continent and countries?
The map shows that the Average Child Employment Rates (ages 7-14) is highest in Africa.
Having a deeper look, Cameroon ranks first for having the highest average child employment rate of 52.7% for years 2006-2015, followed by Niger, Benin, and Burkina Faso.
Referring to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal number 4:
What if kids will get exposed to education in early stage?
Can we influence their perception?
Fulfilling the Dream
Education cannot wait, and our world had enough. It is time to increase the number of education programs targeting young generation, and specifically African countries as previously mentioned, with Cameroon being a major target.
Creating education programs would:
Have education camps with volunteering and non volunteering teachers all around the world
Use workshops and fun trainings to later voluntarily engage kids
Involve underdeveloped countries in globalization
Introduce the diversity of cultures
Work on making education a need and will for every kid and parent- representing a lasting impact environment
Many past programs were successfully implemented in Cameroon such as Open Dreams, which already funded more than 200 scholarships and mentored more than 1000 students.
Is it Time?
Targeting Cameroon, and implementing it as a first stage project, would be a start to then expand into other countries.
Finally, from another perspective, how about looking at equalizing educational opportunities as a solution to many other issues? and working on SDG 4 for quality education will strongly and positively affect other goals such as ending poverty and hunger?
Presented by: Loma Komeiha, Hassan Hodroj, Amar Abbani, Ahmad Abdel Malak, Yasmina Moghnieh, Fatima Baydoun
Zomato is India’s largest food delivery, dining and restaurant discovery service platform. Zomato grants customers the ability to order food online, track orders, benefit from offers and discounts, book a table, and discover top cuisines, restaurants, and dishes in their area. Arguably Zomato’s most distinguishing feature, the app allows users to access restaurant details by looking up menus, ratings, reviews, contact details, and map directions. Customers who have visited restaurants found on the app are also able to send in pictures from their experience in order to help other customers make an informed decision. On the opposite end, restaurants listed on Zomato are provided with industry-specific marketing tools in order to attract and retain customers. The app also regularly runs promotional campaigns for restaurants listed exclusively on Zomato, providing increased visibility. (Zomato, n.d.)
While Zomato sounds like any foodie and restauranteur’s dream on paper, in practice, it is very different. Many of the aforementioned services are available only in India, Zomato’s main country of operation. Zomato segments its operations into three geographical ones: India, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the Rest of the World (ROW) (Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Lebanon, Turkey, Poland, Qatar, Ireland…) (Business Insider India, 2021). As of November 2022, Zomato was operational in its full capacity only in India and the UAE (Financial Express, 2022) after it gradually began halting its full operations in the 22 ROW countries it operated in, with Lebanon being the last international market it exited in November 2021(Business Insider India, 2021), though it has been confirmed that the app will surrender its delivery services in the UAE to Kuwaiti delivery app Talabat at the end of November 2022. Zomato’s CEO explained this move by claiming that the business has the capacity to grow at a much faster pace than its currently at, diverting its attention to more local ventures and businesses (Financial Express, 2022). It is important to note that users in the ROW are still able to access restaurant details through the app, providing some form of business for Zomato in these countries. However, even in this regard, the app has some shortcomings: Very few restaurants are listed in most countries (even before Zomato’s halt of full operations), average prices and ratings of restaurants on the app are skewed, there is little variety in the cuisines offered, and table booking is not available everywhere.
The below visualizations provide a sense of the distribution of restaurants on Zomato as well as their characteristics in order to better understand the outlined problems:
Given its current stance on its international presence, Zomato can still make use of its distinguishing feature and maintain its position as a restaurant aggregator, albeit without food delivery services, through:
Increasing the number of and diversify the restaurants available in the countries it operates in, especially in major cities. Starting with smaller restaurants first might be a cautious step, especially in countries where Zomato might be facing competition from other apps in its category.
Diversifying the price ranges of restaurants in different countries found on the app to cover varying tastes and budgets.
Increasing the number of restaurants that offer table booking, not only in India and the UAE, but also in the ROW countries where Zomato once offered this feature (UK and Philippines, for example), especially as a surge in the number of people dining-in has been seen in our post-COVID world (Franzreb, 2022).
Creating partnerships with local delivery service apps in ROW countries that Zomato can link its users to if they would like to place an online delivery order after viewing restaurant information on Zomato – similar to how Zomato currently redirects users who wish to place an online order in the UAE to Talabat per their partnership agreement.
The gross domestic product ‘GDP’ is the total market value of goods and services produced by a country’s economy during a specific period, when it comes to calculating it, economists consider consumption, investment, government spending and net exports. But there’s a hidden factor that’s common yet overlooked, what is it?
Education is the most important and ironically overlooked factor when it comes to GDP, as Malcolm X describes it: “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”
Governments should acknowledge that spending more on education is a crucial and beneficial factor that affects all aspects of Life, it is the basic building block of a nation, the best investment to develop a healthy, prosperous and equitable society, therefore I firmly believe that governments should invest a higher proportion of money to improve the quality of education, which aligns with the sustainable development goal number 4 of the UN by 2030, and through this project, I proved that there’s a relationship between improving education and boosting GDP, to convince greedy politicians.
Creating education programs would:
Finally, from another perspective, how about looking at equalizing educational opportunities as a solution to many other issues? and working on SDG 4 for quality education will strongly and positively affect other goals such as ending poverty and hunger?
