The Life Changing Power of Global Literacy

September 28, 2023

For the millions of people around the world who cannot read or write, creating educational opportunities for literacy can help close economic and health inequalities.

A child practicing writing in Myanmar. United Nations Photo. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Within the last five decades, the world has been reading more. Literacy rates have increased around the world, growing from 67% to 86.8% between 1976 and 2020.

However, despite global improvements, there are still some 781 million people around the world who cannot read or write. These numbers do not exist in a vacuum, but rather are intrinsically tied to economic and gender disparities. About 95% of the world’s illiterate population lives in developing countries, and nearly two-thirds are women. Such statistics reflect global gender disparities in which women are more likely to be defined by traditional domestic roles and childcare, roles that — especially in countries where educational opportunities are already limited — cut off women’s access to literacy.

Child marriages can also derail young girls' education. On Earth today around 650 million women were married before the age of 18. While child marriages rip young girls of education opportunities, access to education itself actively combat rates of child marriage. Each year of secondary education that a girl completes reduces her risk of marrying before the age of 18 by 5%

Benefits of ReadingWomen attend school in Niger. Global Partnership for Education - GPE. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

The benefits of reading and writing skills extend way beyond the pages, as globally literacy works to make the world a healthier, richer and more democratic place.

Increasing women’s literacy does not just impact lives on an individual level, but entire communities and economies. Every 10% increase of female students in a country leads to a 3% increase in gross domestic product. The real world economic power of literacy plays a crucial role in lifting communities out of poverty. Concern USA estimates that if every student in a low-income country had literacy skills, some 171 million people would escape extreme poverty.

Opening up educational opportunities, specifically for women, creates a ripple effect among communities. Because women are more likely to be the primary caretakers to children, their own literacy influences whether or not they decide to send their children to school.

Increasing access to information through literacy can also have long-standing health benefits. Not only does literacy encourage individuals to read and understand medication and treatment options, but it also empowers individuals to seek out medical attention when necessary.

A study from 2002 found that women in Bolivia who attended literacy programs were more likely to seek out medical help when needed, as well as be more open minded towards receiving vaccinations — both for themselves and their children. Another study found that if a woman was literate she was four times more likely to know how to protect herself from AIDS, while in Nepal literacy has been connected to a more open mind towards family planning.

In measuring the effects of literacy and its economic and health impacts in communities, UNESCO estimated that infant mortality rates decrease 9% for every year of education that women attend.

In addition to increasing access to education and medical knowledge, literacy also strengthens democracy by combating political marginalization and exclusion. Reading and writing are necessary skills for individuals to fill out voting forms necessary in any democratic system, and can also help increase political engagement by granting access to newspapers and written political material.

Education and Empathy

Students reading in a classroom in Sejnane. World Bank Photo Collection. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

One of the greatest psychological and social benefits of reading is in the way it builds empathy and fosters opportunities for communication and connection. Fiction in particular has been connected to empathy-building. One study in 2006 found that people who read more fiction scored higher in empathy tests. Another study from 2013 found that those who studied fiction improved on empathy tests that measure one’s ability to understand other people’s beliefs and desires that are different from one’s own.

The effect of fiction on reader’s emotional intelligence stems in part from the way it forces readers to use their imagination and view the world from another’s perspective and life. Fiction writing forces readers to grapple with choices and scenarios that disrupt their expectations and practice empathy towards characters in order to understand their thoughts and actions.

Get Involved

Organizations all around the world are doing their part to make literacy accessible, encouraged, and achievable globally.

The World Bank seeks to combat global illiteracy through educational interventions, with the goal of reducing the number of children who cannot understand a simple story to half of what it is to today by 2030. The World Bank encourages the public to share information on the global literacy crisis, encourage government officials to invest in literacy programs, and understand the impacts of learning poverty around the world.

Save the Children’s Literacy Boost works to increase literacy rates around the world through individual and communal efforts. The program relies on schools and teacher training as well as community initiatives that support literacy through Book Banks, reading clubs and workshops for parents. A Stanford study found the average child who went through Save the Children’s Literacy Boost program in Rwanda scored higher on reading comprehension tests than 63% of children who did not go through the program.

Jessica Blatt graduated from Barnard College with a degree in English. Along with journalism, she is passionate about creative writing and storytelling that inspires readers to engage with the world around them. She hopes to share her love for travel and learning about new cultures through her work.

Suffering in Silence: The Women of South Sudan

September 28, 2023

An increasing amount of discrimination and violence is targeting Sudanese women.

10 Natural Disasters that Shook History

September 19, 2023

Witness the awe-inspiring forces of nature unleashed through devastating hurricanes, volcanic eruptions and catastrophic floods.

The recent havoc wreaked by a wildfire in Hawaii has turned the once-idyllic summer paradise into a scene of devastation. The ferocity of another’s sweep through British Columbia and the Northwest Territories stands as a stark testament to the awe-inspiring might of Mother Nature. In contemporary times, we find ourselves confronting an array of astonishing extreme weather events and disasters. From heart-rending floods in California to merciless storms battering Mississippi, and the earth-shattering earthquakes that shook Afghanistan, these events underscore the delicate balance between human society and the natural world.

Throughout the annals of history, spanning various epochs of human progress, we encounter a recurring theme of dramatic weather and geological upheavals. Presented below are six far-reaching instances of natural disasters, each demanding a profound respect for the forces of nature.

1. The Great Hurricane of 1780

Caribbean Islands

Egmont Robt Fanshawe Esqr, Commander, when dismasted in the Great Hurricane on October 11th 1780 near the Island St Lucia. Royal Museums Greenwich. CC0.

Among the most catastrophic events etched in the annals of the Atlantic Ocean is the Great Hurricane of 1780, a tempest that swept across the Caribbean archipelago and left in its wake a death toll that neared 22,000 victims. The island of Barbados, nestled among the Lesser Antilles and situated to the north of Venezuela, bore the full brunt of this storm’s wrath. Accounts from the local inhabitants paint a grim picture: “Many ships were wrecked and many people were killed…the wall has been completely washed away by the sea and the back of the house has been left only on single struts”. With wind speeds exceeding 200 mph — a velocity that engulfs the length of a football field (300 feet) in just over a second — this storm annihilated every vestige of human civilization in its path. Trees, houses, stones, and wood crumbled before its might. Fortresses, cannons, and ships were tossed haphazardly, like mere playthings, as the tempest raged on. Its course then shifted northwestward, targeting the islands of Saint Lucia, Martinique, Dominica and Guadeloupe.

On Martinique, a nucleus of French sugar production that depended heavily on enslaved labor, the hurricane’s fury claimed a toll of roughly 9,000 lives. But the storm’s impact transcended the natural realm. It unleashed winds that bore the force of history, catalyzing a chain of events that reverberated into the American Revolution. Both British and French troops, staggered by the disaster, bore the brunt of its blow. The catastrophe was particularly unkind to the French forces, then taking part in the American War of Independence as an ally of the newly declared United States — over 40 ships were swallowed by the depths near Martinique, and the death toll among soldiers grew to around 4,000. The impact extended to the British side as well, leaving their once-potent fleet decimated by a trio of consecutive storms. In part as a result, the English presence in the northwestern Atlantic suffered a profound and enduring contraction.

2. Mount Tambora’s Eruption, 1815

Indonesia

Rocks and ashes on the ground with smoke in the background in front of a mountainrange.

Tucked away on the obscure Indonesian island of Sumbawa, the name Mount Tambora might elude recognition today. Yet, its eruption in the spring of 1815 held within it the power to reshape global weather patterns indefinitely. On a seemingly ordinary afternoon, as the sun prepared to dip below the horizon on April 10, 1815, Mount Tambora rumbled to life. An astounding 12 cubic miles of gases surged into the atmosphere, accompanied by a tumultuous eruption of dust and rocks that choked the skies and enveloped both the island of Sumbawa and its surroundings in a shroud of darkness. Amid this scene of apocalypse, inhabitants either met their end in the fiery conflagration or succumbed to the merciless hail of rocks. The handful of survivors found their once-fertile land tainted by volcanic ash and other substances, rendering it incapable of yielding crops. The ensuing famine claimed many remaining lives as starvation took its cruel toll.
The eruption, though spanning merely three days, reached its dramatic pinnacle with the mountain expelling an astounding 300 to 500 million kilograms of material every second. This eruption stands as an unparalleled event in documented history, claiming the lives of 100,000 islanders. It also unleashed the largest recorded volume of toxic sulfurous gases and volcanic ash from a single natural source. The once stately Mount Tambora, which had stood tall, now bore the scars of devastation, losing more than a third of its height as a shattering explosion rent the mountain asunder on that fateful April evening.

The 1815 Mount Tambora eruption. The red areas are maps of the thickness of volcanic ashfall.Wikipedia Commons. CC0.

The aftermath of this eruption reverberated not just in the years that followed, but has cast its shadow even upon the present day, nearly two centuries later. Geographically, the immense explosion carved out colossal craters along Tambora’s rim, plunging to depths of around 1.2 kilometers. It caused a veil of sulfate dust to enshroud the planet, casting a cooling pall over temperatures and unsettling crucial weather systems for over three years. This era, often referred to as the “Year Without a Summer,” cast its shadow in 1816. Across Europe, temperatures plummeted and precipitation surged, ushering food scarcity and triggering widespread upheavals, with protests and riots sweeping across the continent. This tumultuous atmosphere gave birth to iconic gothic literature like Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” John William Polidori's “The Vampyre,” and Lord Byron’s “Darkness”. Meanwhile, North America experienced its share of hardship as well, with New England grappling with snowfall and “killing frost,” a factor that catalyzed the Panic of 1819, the United States’ first major economic depression. Moreover, the impact of this eruption radiated across the ecology of the Indian subcontinent and the Arctic, spawning pandemics and wreaking havoc on ocean currents.

3. Yangtze River floods, 1931

China

A sign for environmental protection at Yangdi village. shankar s. CC BY 2.0.

The city of Wuhan, China has gained global recognition as the ground zero of the Covid-19 outbreak. However, Wuhan's story stretches back beyond this contemporary chapter, encompassing a legacy of natural upheavals spanning nearly a century. China‘s iconic Yangtze River, an aquatic lifeline celebrated for its contributions to sustenance, irrigation, sanitation, trade and industry, harbors another facet — the potential to ravage the land with its powerful floods. The pages of history bear witness to the tumultuous year of 1931, when torrential waters surged and engulfed swaths of central and eastern China. This watery onslaught did not bustling towns of Wuhan and Nanjing, as the Republic China was torn asunder by political tumult, economic strife and relentless conflict. Amid the backdrop of droughts and challenging winters that plagued the 1920s and 1930s, the Yangtze River basin bore witness to a torrent of water cascading downstream in the spring of 1931, as ice and snow yielded to the warming sun.
Within the cradle of civilization that is the Yangtze River Basin, a substantial segment — roughly one-third — of China’s population makes their home. The specter of flooding casts its shadow, further accentuated by deforestation and the unchecked utilization of wetlands. As spring unfolded its petals, waters of the river cascaded into the thoroughfares and mingled with the discharges from Wuhan’s overburdened sewers. By the start of August in 1931, a sprawling area encompassing 180,000 square kilometers — a vast terrain akin to the collective expanse of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut — was claimed by the deluge. Cities and hamlets submerged were in their entirety, while others stood as half-drowned relics. In the throes of the flood‘s onset, around 150,000 lives soon succumbed to its watery embrace, while the final toll remains a haunting enigma. Economic devastation ensued, obliterating years of hard-earned income for countless individuals. Amidst the aftermath, the specters of famine and disease loomed large, exacting a toll far surpassing the deluge’s immediate impact.

4. Valdivia Earthquake, 1960

Chile

Chile’s geographical positioning atop a convergent plate boundary leaves it perpetually exposed to Earth’s shifting tectonic plates. One seismic spectacle that resounds through history is the Tsunami of May 22, 1960 — a seismic symphony that crescendoed to a magnitude of 9.5 on the Richter scale. To grasp the significance of this figure, consider that an earthquake registering between 6.1 and 6.9, like the temblor that rattled Little Antelope Valley, California near the Nevada border on July 8, 2021, can already inflict substantial devastation within densely inhabited areas. Now, imagine the seismic intensity of a magnitude 9.5 earthquake, which is an overwhelming 177,827.941 times more potent in terms of energy released than a magnitude 6 quake. This degree of seismic activity can wreak havoc, decimating any settlements in proximity to its epicenter. This seismic reckoning occurred around 3 p.m. on May 21, 1960, approximately 100 miles (160 km) offshore from Chile's coastline, tracing a parallel path to the city of Valdivia. In a time when Chile was gearing up to honor the Battle of Iquique, the coastal haven of Concepcion was suddenly plunged into turmoil. The portents of impending catastrophe manifested in violent tremors, the precursor to the cataclysmic quake that bore a magnitude of 7.9 at its inception.

The grimmest chapter unfolded the ensuing afternoon, as a seismic rupture of staggering scale snaked along a sprawling 600-mile fault line. In a dramatic geological ballet, the Nazca Plate — an expanse of the Pacific seafloor rivaling California in magnitude — descended fifty feet beneath the South American continent. The thriving harbor town of Valdivia met its demise, while a multitude of coastal settlements vanished into oblivion. This seismic drama had unforeseen consequences, expanding Chile’s realm by an area equivalent to around 1,500 football fields. Heightening the seismic spectacle, the epicenter of this cataclysm sprawled along a nearly 700 mile tract along the southern edge of the Chilean coast. The upheaval stirred up tempestuous seas, resulting in ruin across distant shores — from Hawaii and Japan to the Pacific coastline of the United States. An estimated count of two million people found themselves displaced by this seismic upheaval. In terms of monetary toll, the damage in Chile alone amounted to a staggering $550 million, with the aftermath registering a grim tally of several dozen to hundreds of fatalities and casualties from the South American and US West Coast, to Japan and the Philippines at the other end of the Pacific.

5. Bhola Cyclone, 1970

Bangladesh

Bangladesh, a densely-populated delta nation born from eroded Himalayan sediments, endured the catastrophic Bhola Cyclone in 1970, impacting the country (which was then known asEast Pakistan, and part of the Pakistani state that exists today) and India’s West Bengal. The region's history of cyclones left it vulnerable, averaging nearly two annually from 1959 to 1969. Termed the “Bhola Cyclone,” it ranks among the 20th century’s deadliest disasters, claiming 300,000 to 500,000 lives. The storm's origins trace back to a dissipating tropical system over the Malayan Peninsula on November 5. Rapidly intensifying by November 12, it struck with 130 mph winds. But, as traditional danger notifications over Radio Pakistan came to an abrupt halt, coastal residents were left unaware of the impending peril's magnitude, as reported by Pakistan Press International (PPI). In the aftermath of the devastating cyclone, countless survivors were stripped of their belongings, left only with their lives, as entire villages, rice harvests and essential provisions were wiped out. Following this, outbreaks of cholera and typhoid added to the challenges.

The aftermath of the Bhola Cyclone also played a crucial role in East Pakistan's pursuit of independence from the grip of West Pakistani authority. The mishandled response to the disaster allowed the Bengali Awami League to champion both independence and political reform. This movement gathered momentum in December 1970, when the League secured victory in the elections. As a result, East Pakistan transformed into Bangladesh in 1971 — a victory for freedom caused in part by the cyclone’s impact, although independent Bangladesh would undergo periods of tyranny.

6. Tangshan Earthquake, 1976

China

July 28, 1976, Tangshan earthquake, epicenter area. Wikipedia Commons. CC0.

Tangshan, located in Hebei Province, China, felt the earth’s fury in a cataclysmic event that still resonates as one of the deadliest and most destructive earthquakes in recent memory. On the quiet morning of July 28, 1976, as darkness lingered before dawn, the thriving Chinese industrial city of Tangshan was abruptly thrust into chaos. Hints of the impending disaster were strewn outside the village of Baiguantuan. A thousand chickens, typically eager for sustenance, abandoned their feed to sound off an agitated cacophony. Mice and yellow weasels, creatures of the night, scrambled in frantic retreat, sensing the impending upheaval.

Subsequently, a seismic shock with a magnitude ranging from 7.8 to 8.2 on the Richter scale rocked the region for 23 seconds, reducing 90% of Tangshan's buildings to rubble. This was followed by a series of potent aftershocks, two of which surpassed a magnitude of 6.0. Roughly 15 hours later, a robust aftershock measuring 6.1 struck. The earthquake obliterated coal mines and the industries reliant on them, triggering the collapse of power, water, sewage, telephone, telegraph, and radio networks. The destruction of railway and highway bridges isolated the city entirely. Tragically, half of the city’s population — about a million individuals — lost their lives.

7. Ethiopia Famine, 1983 –1985

Ethiopia

Those who weathered the 1984 famine in Kobo and belong to the elder generation conveyed to ambassadors Haslach and O'Hara that the compounding impact of several unfavorable rainy seasons has resulted in the most formidable drought they have ever experienced. USAID Ethiopia. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

In spite of a global food supply that typically suffices for the world's growing population, hunger remains an unfortunate reality in many developing nations. Over the past decade, grain yields per hectare in Africa have plunged by a third, and since 1981, food production has diminished by 15%. The year 1984 marked Ethiopia's encounter with a massive famine that reverberated across the globe, claiming around 2 million lives. A harsh drought intertwined with fierce conflicts to intensify the distress, as Eritreans fought for their autonomy and Tigrayans for their rights. This turmoil unfolded in central Eritrea and the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia, marred by arbitrary incarcerations, expulsions and ethnic cleansing. Manipulating hunger relief, the Ethiopian government used the crisis to relocate and expel Tigrayans, triggering a more volatile conflict that obstructed aid delivery to civilians in controlled areas. Consequently, sick and famished individuals congregated along stretches of Wollo's north-south road, halting vehicles in a desperate plea for sustenance — an unsettlingly frequent sight.

Accounts of hunger in Wollo and Tigray were disregarded by authorities and shrouded in secrecy. Aid organizations overlooked warning signals, prioritizing a rapport with the government. Economically, the majority of Ethiopian farmers are involved in livestock rearing or agricultural activities. Their reliance on the market to meet even their basic consumption needs is profound throughout the year. The drought of 1984 exposed the frailty of Ethiopia's political and economic systems, causing the loss of nearly 8 million lives to famine. Today, the threat of starvation still hangs over Ethiopia, impacting no less than 350,000 individuals in the Tigray region, still wracked by conflict four decades later.

8. Kashmir Earthquake, 2005

Pakistan

The meeting point of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates lies right in the heart of Kashmir, giving birth to the grandeur of the Himalayan mountain range through intense geological forces. This collision not only shaped the Himalayas but also unleashed tumultuous seismic activities in the area. In the early dawn of October 8, 2005, a formidable earthquake rocked northern Pakistan, leaving behind a trail of devastation. The consequences were felt deeply: villages were leveled, roads buried under rubble, and vital services such as water and electricity were severed. A staggering three million individuals found themselves homeless, while the grim count of human lives lost reached a tragic toll of at least 80,000. This seismic occurrence stands as the nation’s deadliest earthquake ever experienced. Among the most severely affected regions was Uri, where the heart-wrenching aftermath left 80% of the town in ruins.
The scene in the Muzaffarabad region of Kashmir was equally haunting, as villages laid in ruins, bearing silent witness to the aftermath of a natural disaster. Over 780,000 structures were left devastated or irreparably damaged, while countless more faced extended periods of unusability. Notably, around 17,000 educational institutions and crucial hospitals situated near the epicenter of the earthquake either crumbled or suffered significant destruction. Reporters on the ground captured heart-wrenching moments, where traumatized parents, their eyes filled with panic, gathered in search of their children. Amid the chaos, faint cries of surviving children could be discerned from the debris, a fragile ray of hope in the overwhelming despair. However, with the passage of time, those cries grew fainter, and as night descended, grieving parents began the grim task of recovering the lifeless bodies of their young ones.

9. Haiti Earthquake, 2010

Haiti

The 12th of January, 2010, marks a somber date in Haiti's history, forever associated with a colossal earthquake. The earth shook with a magnitude 7.0, and its epicenter in Port-au-Prince, the capital, was delivered the harshest blow. Once-vibrant neighborhoods and towering structures crumbled, nature’s unyielding might reshaping the cityscape. Haiti's geological position along a fault line between substantial tectonic plates makes it prone to seismic activity, evidenced by historical quakes in 1751, 1770, 1842 and 1946. However, the country's houses, often made of concrete and cinder block to withstand storms prevalent in the Caribbean, displayed vulnerability during earthquakes.
In a nation already locked in poverty’s grip, this catastrophe left an indelible mark. It went down in history as the most catastrophic event ever faced by the Western Hemisphere’s most destitute country. The impact was overwhelming: approximately 3 million people were caught in its fury, with an unimaginable loss of about 250,000 lives and another 300,000 grappling with injuries. A staggering 19 million cubic meters of debris, enough to stretch a mournful line from London to Beirut if gathered, signifying the immense destruction in Port-au-Prince. Amid the ruins, the education sector lay in ruins, with four thousand schools reduced to rubble or severely compromised.

10. Siberian Taiga Fires, 2019 –2020

Russia

An emergency firefighter from the Ministry dousing a forest fire near the Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant. RIA Novosti archive, image 733844 Alexey Kudenko. CC-BY-SA 3.0

Picturing Russia’s icy dominion of Siberia, it might appear inconceivable that this frigid realm could ever harbor one of the planet's mightiest wildfires. Yet, in early spring in 2003, this implausible chapter began to unfold, with echoes in 2019 and and again in 2020. The wildfires, sparked by lightning, stand as vital ecological players in the birthing and nurturing of boreal forests. But Siberia’s story in recent decades has taken a dangerous turn. A mix of parched conditions and heightened human involvement has triggered a surge in fires, making them more frequent and covering wider ground. This shift has altered the historical fire patterns. Between 1995 and 2005, the fires in this region shot up tenfold. And then there is 2021, when a single fire claims 40 million acres of forest. Yet, close to half of that destruction occurred in 2019 and 2020. This hints at a potential threshold, potentially already passed, after which extreme fires could become a common occurrence in the region.

With more than a fifth of the world’s forested expanse within its borders, these lands are home to many Indigenous and local communities in underdeveloped areas that rely on the boreal forest for timber. Real peril surfaces for these groups when they face Siberia’s peculiar wildfires, aptly named “Zombie” fires. These are wildfires that possess the eerie ability to spontaneously rekindle months after being quelled, maintaining an underground inferno within partially decomposed organic matter in Siberian soil. In the absence of proactive measures to combat global warming and safeguard ancient woodlands, these fires are destined to swell in size and surge in uncontrollability with each successive year.

The aftermath of these catastrophic events has seen age-old landscapes, nurtured and passed down through generations of human stewardship, swept away by transformative suprahuman forces. Through the preservation of the narratives about these occurrences, humanity confronts its identity as an indispensable element in the delicate web of our ecosystem, transcending the notion of a mere overseer.

TO GET INVOLVED：

All Hands Volunteers and Happy Hearts Fund united their efforts back in 2015, right after the devastating earthquake struck Nepal. Their joint endeavor aimed to reconstruct schools and communities fortified against future disasters. Guided by the vision of David Campbell and Petra Nemcova, the fusion of these two forces coalesced around the powerful concept of “Smart Response.” By the fall of 2017, the merger's resonance was clear as All Hands and Hearts stood tall. Learn more about All Hands Volunteers and Happy Hearts Fund here.
Direct Relief International has emerged as a steadfast force, improving the lives of individuals caught in disasters in 80 countries. The group designs a multifaceted response by offering food, drink, shelter and medical care. Direct Relief methodically tailors medical aid to fulfill urgent requirements, keeping a pulse on the particular dynamics of each case and giving search-and-rescue operations, emergency medical services, and quick logistics top priority. This project entails locating essential local healthcare professionals, comprehending the unmet requirements of outlying populations, mobilizing appropriate medications and equipment, and deftly managing the complex logistics of storage, transportation and allocation. Learn more about Direct Relief International here.

Hope is a Chinese international student at Wake Forest University in North Carolina studying sociology, statistics, and journalism. She dreams of traveling around the globe as a freelance reporter while touching on a wide range of social issues from education inequality to cultural diversity. Passionate about environmental issues and learning about other cultures, she is eager to explore the globe. In her free time, she enjoys cooking Asian cuisine, reading, and theater.

The Dark Side of H&M's Fast Fashion Empire

August 31, 2023

As the fashion industry grapples with its environmental impact, the fast fashion brand H&M comes under scrutiny for its pollution and hazardous labor conditions.

A landfill in Russia. Wikipedia commons. CC BY-SA 4.0

Have you ever fallen in love with a dress, imagining it would exude the same style and allure as it does on a model or your favorite celebrity, only for it to be worn just once or twice before being forgotten in the depths of your closet? Many of us can relate to this experience. Interestingly, today’s average person buys 60 percent more clothing items than they did 15 years ago, but keeps them for only half as long as they used to. Waste in the fashion industry has many causes, but is often associated with fast fashion, a business strategy in which companies quickly turn around cheap imitations of high status garments to cash in on transient fads.

In the realm of fashion, vanity can lead to excessive consumption and an alarming amount of waste. Although individual choices play a role in this, it is crucial to recognize that fashion behemoths, including renowned names like H&M, Zara, and UNIQLO, often promote fast fashion trends while glossing over environmental costs to maximize profits.

The dawn of fast fashion can be pinpointed to the rapid evolution of supply chain management in the industry. Gone were the days of traditional craftsmanship, where each individual garment was lovingly designed either at home or within small workshops. Thanks to the fashion supply chain, designers could now disseminate their original creations through an intricate network of textile sourcing companies, manufacturing facilities, distribution channels, retail stores and warehousing centers. The 1960s witnessed a surge in young people embracing affordable clothing, shunning the age-old notion of sartorial grandeur. In response to this cultural shift, retailers began introducing trendy and pocket-friendly attire, consistently refreshing their offerings through the 1990s. While this innovative approach bolstered brand visibility and efficiency, it also gave rise to a notable drawback: excessive waste. Take the production of shirts and shoes, for instance; over the past five decades, production has doubled, yet three out of four of these items end up either incinerated or in landfills.

H&M at Belfast. William Murphy. CC BY-SA 2.0.

The 1990s were a turning point for brands like H&M. Originally established in 1947 by Swedish businessman Erling Persson under the name “Hennes,” the company later acquired Mauritz Widforss in 1968, a Swedish hunting and fishing store, leading to the more succinct and memorable name of H&M that we know today. Rapidly expanding across Europe, the company set its sights on global outreach by the 1980s. H&M made its first foray outside Europe with a store on New York’s 5th Avenue, positioning itself alongside myriad other fast fashion brands. Catering to a diverse consumer base, including women, men, teenagers and children, it offers an extensive range of products, from sportswear and underwear to shoes, accessories and cosmetics, all at affordable prices. With a presence in over 4,000 stores worldwide and a workforce of over 100,000 people, H&M stands as the eighth most valuable apparel brand in the world as of 2022, only trailing behind giants like Nike, ZARA, and Adidas.

However, behind H&M’s tale of success lies a daunting environmental cost. The brand’s significant contribution to waste and pollution is a matter of public concern. In 2019 alone, H&M churned out a staggering 3 billion garments, making it one of the foremost polluters in the fashion industry. The use of cheap and toxic textile dyes, coupled with the fabrics themselves, is contributing to the global warming crisis. Polyester, an artificial textile that constitutes roughly 60% of the global fiber market in 2020, is derived from fossil fuels and sheds microfibers that exacerbate the proliferation of plastic in our oceans. Although H&M promotes its use of recycled polyester, made from oil-based waste like old PET bottles or pre-existing polyester clothing, studies reveal that the recycling process is energy-intensive, and tracing the origin of recycled polyester is challenging. Surprisingly, of all the materials used by H&M, a mere 23% are recycled, even though the brand touts that 84% of its products are sourced from recycled or sustainable materials, and the criteria for a “sustainable material” remains elusive. Even H&M's acclaimed Conscious Collection, which is marketed as sustainable and has seen brisk sales, contains only a fraction of recycled materials. All of these concerns are artfully obscured by the ambiguous language of H&M’s sustainability report.

Protest against Fast Fashion. Stefan Muller. CC-BY 2.0

While acknowledging the importance of gradual change, H&M's approach to sustainability is unacceptable due to the company’s engagement in greenwashing — a disconcerting technique whereby companies overstate their actual sustainability accomplishments to divert criticism from harmful practices. A study conducted by The Changing Markets Foundation, an organization dedicated to propelling and amplifying solutions for sustainability challenges through market influence, revealed that a startling 96% of the claims in H&M's sustainability report were “unsubstantiated” and “misleading” as per guidelines. Despite the vagueness in its official report, H&M invests diligently in presenting a clear and positive image of its sustainability initiatives through vigorous social media and marketing campaigns. An example of this involves the brand’s strategic partnerships with celebrities. For instance, H&M collaborated with the former Game of Thrones actress Maisie Williams, whom the company lauded as a symbol for her generation and an influential advocate for female empowerment, sustainability and diversity. In 2020, H&M introduced “The Loop Machine,” a recycling program aimed at transforming old H&M garments into new clothing items. However, access to this program remains limited worldwide and is burdened by lengthy processing times, with hours required to recycle a single item.

Beyond its environmental impact, H&M’s massive production business model has led to serious ethical concerns, particularly regarding labor conditions. While H&M has taken some steps towards recognizing the importance of decent, meaningful jobs with fair compensation, benefits, and safe working environments free from discrimination and with the right to freedom of association, statistics paint a grim picture. During the pandemic, a staggering 89 percent of H&M workers received wages below the international poverty line. In June 2023, just a month earlier, over 4,000 Spanish employees from H&M's brands, including Other Stories and Cos, took to the streets, demanding pay raises in line with the rising cost of living and protesting increased workloads resulting from layoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Workers at factories producing for H&M and Best Seller also reported witnessing explosions and exposure to electrical discharge and harmful substances.

H&M Global map in 2015.Barthateslisa. CC BY-SA 4.0.

While it is true that H&M has made progress — evident in its 2022 report with highlights such as 17 approved projects that can potentially reduce the supply chain’s CO2e production by 50,000 tonnes and an improved Fashion Transparency Index ranking — there is still much more the company must do to be ethical and go green. The root of the issue lies in its fundamentally unsustainable fast fashion model, which prioritizes cost reduction and profit maximization above all else.

Thrift Town in California. MikeR. CC BY 2.0.

On the other hand, the resale and rental industries are rising as more sustainable alternatives to fast fashion. Embracing a recycle-oriented model, they eliminate the need to extract additional resources to meet our demands. Though not as widely accepted in the world of fashion, they provide compelling alternatives for those seeking a more environmentally-conscious lifestyle. For H&M and other fast fashion brands, addressing current concerns about pollution, waste, and human rights is only a partial solution on the path to sustainability. As they continue to expand globally, new challenges will inevitably arise. The true path to progress lies in an unwavering commitment to a radical transformation of the industrial model, embracing a truly sustainable approach.

TO GET INVOLVED:

Centre for Sustainable Fashion

The Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF) is a research institute in the University of the Arts London's London College of Fashion. Its mission is to challenge and question the status quo in the fashion industry, driving toward a system that values and respects the planet’s ecology. Embracing Fashion Design for Sustainability, the CSF pioneers innovative approaches in academia, industry and education. Learn more about CSF here.

Fashion For Good

Fashion For Good, a platform fueled by the fashion industry, spearheads sustainable fashion innovation. Its goal is to unite the entire fashion ecosystem, transforming it into a powerful force for good. Shifting away from the linear 'take-make-waste' model, Fashion For Good advocates for a circular Good Fashion strategy, one that is restorative and regenerative by design. With its Accelerator, Scaling Program and Good Fashion Fund, the organization targets technologies and business models with immense potential to revolutionize the industry. Learn more about CSF here.

The Ethics of Visiting the Galapagos

August 27, 2023

How visiting the Galapagos contributes to their destruction.

Humans are Leading Blue Whales Toward Extinction in Sri Lanka

August 27, 2023

Human activity has compromised the blue whale habitats in Sri Lankan waters. Here’s what is being done about it.

Blue whale. U.S. Embassy New Zealand. CC0 1.0.

Though blue whales are the largest animal species on Earth, their population has been shrunk by human activity. There are an estimated 10,000 to 25,000 blue whales left on Earth, compared to a population of at least 100,000 just a century ago. A traditional hotspot for these endangered gentle giants is the northern Indian Ocean, in Sri Lankan waters. Human actions, such as fishing and shipping, have contributed to the death of blue whales in this area, pushing this species ever closer to extinction. Here are some ways that humans have negatively impacted the blue whale population, as well as some potential solutions.

Pollution

Microplastic. Oregon State University. CC BY-SA 2.0.

Pollution, particularly of microplastics, has contributed toward the decrease in the blue whale populations. As their name suggests, microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic that are created when larger objects break down, or are manufactured at tiny sizes for beauty products such as face scrubs. Krill often consume this type of debris, and are themselves food for whales in huge quantities. Because of the enormous amount of krill they eat, filter feeding baleen whales may consume about 10 million pieces of microplastic per day, equivalent to about 96 pounds of plastic. Blue whales in Sri Lankan waters are especially vulnerable to plastic pollution, as this area is a major shipping lane and microplastics are used in product packaging, leading to an increased risk of exposure. Though the mechanisms by which microplastics harm whales are still under investigation, they can carry toxic materials, which may be a contributing factor toward increased blue whale mortality.

Entanglement

Marine organisms caught in fishing nets. Martin Stelfox. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Whales can get entangled in fishing gear, resulting in injuries and infections. Whales may also carry around tangled fishing nets for years, making it more difficult for them to swim and feed,and leading to exhaustion. It has been found that about 300,000 whales and dolphins die from entanglement every year. Entanglement is one of the leading causes of death for blue whales in Sri Lanka.

Shipping Accidents

Ships in Sri Lankan waters. NZ Defence Force. CC BY 3.0 NZ.

The northern Indian Ocean contains a major shipping lane, and this lane happens to be a large feeding ground for blue whales. Due to the overlapping use of this area by boats, many blue whales have been killed in collisions with ships. Within the last decade, there has been an increase of shipping traffic by 300 percent, with more than 200 ships using the lane in Sri Lankan waters per day. There are differing estimates on the number of whales killed by ships, but it is suggested that as many as 56 whales die this way each year.

Resolutions

Whale disentanglement training. Nicole Capps. CC0 1.0.

Change of Shipping Routes

There are currently efforts to relocate Sri Lanka’s shipping lanes to decrease harm done to whales. It has been found that by directing ships 15 miles south of the current route, 95 percent of whale fatalities in the area may be avoided. Organizations such as International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and OceanCare have requested changes in this shipping route. The major shipping corporation, MSC Group, has agreed to move these routes south in order to benefit the blue whale population. Although this action has now been approved, it was previously rejected by the former Sri Lankan government due to economic concerns.

Entanglement Response

There are current international efforts to save whales that have been entangled in fishing nets. The International Whaling Commission (IWC), which regulates whale hunting and preservation globally, provides training workshops on disentanglement, reaching over 1300 government representatives, scientists and conservationists globally. The Center for Coastal Studies also has a “Disentanglement Network,” where trained response teams visit popular whale feeding and calving areas to assist any possible whales-in-need.

Addressing Microplastic

The Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Environmental Investigation Agency, Humane Society International and OceanCare recently got the European Union push for the IWC to prioritize plastic pollution in its conservation efforts. The motion received consensus approval; all votes were in favor. Individual efforts against the use of plastic can help reduce its prevalence in the ocean, such as taking small measures like recycling, using reusable products instead of single-use, and avoiding beauty products that contain microplastic beads.

TO GET INVOLVED

Click here to donate to the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Click here to donate to Marine Life Studies.
Click here to donate to Greenpeace.

Alexandra Copeland is a student at The College of New Jersey studying psychology and journalism. She is a lover of coffee, dancing, and visiting new places. Being raised with her Greek culture has inspired her interest in cultural customs around the world. She is a passionate writer and hopes that her work will make an impact in the future.

What Is Killing the Dead Sea?

August 2, 2023

Industrialization and restricted water flow have led the Dead Sea to shrink, throwing its survival into question.

Dead Sea Shoreline. Jan Helebrant. CC0 1.0

As a landmark of the ancient world, the Dead Sea, which lies between East Jordan and the West Bank, has long been a staple for international travel. Every year, more than 800,000 people travel to the Dead Sea where they can experience the lowest point on earth and the salt lake’s extremely high salinity levels, which allow travelers to float easily on the surface while looking out on the desert’s beauty. While many travelers make the journey for the unique and thrilling experience of floating in the Dead Sea, others journey with the hope that the water will cure health ailments, including chronic skin diseases such as psoriasis and eczema.

The area surrounding the Dead Sea is a place of cultural and religious importance, and has been featured as a sacred site in Islamic, Christian, and Jewish stories. Some Muslims believe that Moses is buried at Nabi Musa, a hilltop mosque off the main road of Jerusalem overlooking the northern edge of the Dead Sea. In Christianity, Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River was believed to have occurred after he traveled from Galilee down through the Dead Sea. And in the Judean Desert, on a peak overlooking the Dead Sea, sits fortress Masada, a spot in which a community of nearly 1,000 Jewish Israelites committed suicide in A.D. 73 in order to avoid surrender to the Romans.

The Dead Sea is not only an important cultural and historical site, but an environmental one as well. Some 500 million birds, representing about 300 different species, fly through the area during a biannual migration moving from Africa to Europe. And nearby desert mountains serve as home to ibexes and hyraxes.

In recent decades, the Dead Sea has been facing serious environmental dangers that threaten to make it, and the cultural and historic importance it carries, disappear forever. Within the past fifty years, the Dead Sea has shrunk by over a third of its original size, a rate that experts believe may lead it to completely disappear by the year 2050. The changes are already being felt on an annual level in the area, with the sea receding by more than a meter each year.

Increased Industrialization

Dead Sea Sinkhole. Ziva & Amir. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

For generations, the Dead Sea was maintained by a careful equilibrium in which evaporation was offset by fresh water coming in from nearby streams and rivers. However, in the 1960s, a massive pumping station built by Israel on the banks of the Sea of Galilee re-directed the flow of water. Fresh water from the upper part of Jordan that had been feeding into the Dead Sea was moved into a pipeline to supply water across Israel. It and other industrial projects have led the Dead Sea to receive only about 5% of its original water inflow.

With these fresh water lines being redirected, the Dead Sea has been unable to make up for its high evaporation rates. Today, it receives only about 10% of the 160 billion gallons of water it would need annually to maintain its current size.

Sinkholes

Erosion of the land surrounding the Dead Sea and limited water flow has led to the creation of dangerous sinkholes in the surrounding area.

When underground salt deposits caused by receding salt water combine with fresh water from flash floods, the salt deposits dissolve, and form a kind of cavern that eventually causes the ground to collapse. Reaching depths of over 30 feet, sinkholes surrounding the Dead Sea pose a danger to surrounding communities and farmlands. Today, locals of communities must avoid the over 3000 sinkholes on the western side of the Dead Sea.

Cosmetics

Another potential major source of harm to the Dead Sea lies with the cosmetic industry and beauty products that have been built around the Dead Sea’s mineral supply. The Dead Sea cosmetics market has grown to a massive industry, valued by Allied Market Research at $723.00 million in 2021, with predicted growth to $2.6 billion by 2031.

Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights organization, is seeking to combat the exploitation of the Dead Sea’s natural resources. In their 2012 report labeled, “Pillage of the Dead Sea”, al-Haq brought attention to the exploitation of Palestinian land and natural resources by the Israeli government and the resulting environmental damage.

A major player in the Dead Sea cosmetics industry is Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories. The company, which began in 1988, has annual sales at almost $150 million.

In its report, al-Haq advocates for the restrictions from the European Union on Israeli products from Israeli settlements in Palestine as well as for the Israeli government to withdraw the mud mining permission that was granted to Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories in 2004. The group also demands that private cosmetic companies provide more information about the origins of their products and their environmental impact in order to allow consumers to make better informed decisions.

Get Involved

In the wake of an ecological crisis, environmental organizations are working to bring awareness and protection to the issues facing the Dead Sea. Founded in 1994, EcoPeace Middle East brings together Jordanian, Palestinian, and Israeli environmentalists in order to coordinate their activism. The organization is working to protect the Dead Sea with a three step plan of action: inclusion of the Dead Sea as a UNESCO World Heritage site, creating a rehabilitation plan to replace the water flow that has been diverted from the Jordan River, and ensuring that the Israeli government places a public trust obligation on companies that receive concessions to extract Dead Sea minerals.

It’s Time to Decolonize Healthcare

July 27, 2023

Medicine has a long history of reinforcing colonial stereotypes.

Medical students at their induction ceremony at the University of Minnesota. Anthony Souffle. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Have you heard that women are 73% more likely to experience serious injuries in a car crash than men? If you are curious as to why, it’s because when designing airbags and other safety features, auto manufacturers use crash-test dummies based on measurements of the average male. These so-called safety precautions are engineered to protect only half of the world’s population. The scariest part, however, is that car manufacturing is not the only industry in which such blatant exclusion and discrimination occur. The practice of medicine, whose sole purpose is to treat and cure people, has recently come under fire for having a foundation rife with antiquated and colonial ideas, upholding social hierarchies that alienate not just women, but people of non-European heritage. The term “decolonizing” here refers to efforts to eliminate these racist, sexist and homophobic ideals that existed during the initial development of the Western Medicine, in favor of methods that recognize and successfully treat the whole, diverse range of patients. This need for a decolonization of healthcare became especially apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, as African Americans and Hispanic people were twice as likely to have severe cases of the disease as white Americans. Unfortunately, there is no equivalent of the average male crash-test dummy in this case. Western medicine as it is known and applied in many countries around the world has existed for hundreds of years, continuously cementing its elitist and exclusionary ideals.

Protestors in Portland, Oregon during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Spencer Platt. CC BY-SA 2.0

As with most disciplines, medicine is practiced the way it is taught. Exclusionary principles date all the way back to the very origins of the field: even Aristotle described the female body as a mutilated version of the male one. These and other, similar beliefs have trickled down through the years, resulting in the white, heterosexual, able-bodied man being considered the “average” patient, while everyone else is forced to fit the cookie cutter treatments and medical services designed for a fraction of the population. This results in huge gaps in specific medical knowledge about women, people of color and people with disabilities that are often either ignored by the medical community or, more dangerously, are filled by blaming other, unrelated causes.

A prime example of this appears in the controversial condition termed “female hysteria” which, for hundreds of years, has been used by doctors (especially male ones) to label any women’s symptoms or behaviors they did not recognize. Far from being a historical phenomenon, psychology is still used today to brush aside the symptoms of female patients. Dr. Kate Young, a public health researcher from Monash University in Australia, is one of many medical professionals who has published research on how female patients suffering from endometriosis are often referred to as “reproductive bodies with hysterical tendencies,” furthering the harmful idea that women are oversensitive to pain and therefore are more inclined to exaggerate their discomfort.

Improving access to health education is crucial to help female patients deal with medical gaslighting. American Association of Nurse Practitioners. CC BY-SA 2.0

Of course, women are just one of many groups who stand at a systemic disadvantage when receiving medical care and advice, and the effects of racism on the health of people of color and minority populations have been studied extensively for years. In 1992, Professor Arline Geronimus of the University of Michigan proposed a concept called “weathering,” which describes the pattern of early health deterioration among African Americans as the consequences of constant and repeated experiences with socio-political marginalization and discrimination. Almost three decades later, doctors are finally starting to make the connection between this more or less forgotten idea and the disproportionately high incidences for African Americans of high blood pressure, strokes and even colon cancer, along with a host of other conditions.

While contemporary racism, both structural and otherwise, is definitely to blame, we cannot ignore medicine’s long history of excluding Black and Brown bodies in science and research, not to mention medical textbooks, illustrations and even case studies. Historically, the main use of people of color for medical study was as test subjects in unethical experiments, with no intention of using the results to better the medical conditions of these minorities. The Tuskegee Experiments are often the first such example that comes to mind: a study in which American researchers deliberately infected African American men with syphilis under false pretenses, and proceeded to withhold care in order to track the natural progression of the disease. However, other similar “studies” have occurred time and time again, with The Aversion Project singling out LGBTQ+ members of the South African military between 1971 and 1989, or the US government-run Guatemalan syphilis experiments of 1947 which duplicated the Tuskegee study on Guatemalan immigrants to the US. Like female hysteria, the perception that certain people are less deserving of treatment and are therefore more expendable has leached into the modern medical landscape. Fixing such deep-rooted issues will not only require a huge increase in diversity within the medical profession, but also a serious push towards increasing our understanding of how medicine and disease is experienced by a wide range of people.

Nurses in New York advocating for healthcare justice. New York State Nurses Association. CC BY-NC 2.0

Ridding healthcare systems of their colonial foundations will not happen overnight, but there are many individuals and organizations who are working to foster change. Here are a few that you can learn about and support in their efforts to increase diversity and inclusivity in the medical community:

Dr. Annabel Sowemimo: In addition to being a noted doctor and academic, Dr Sowemimo is a prolific activist and writer, especially in regards to reproductive health. She founded the Reproductive Justice Initiative which focuses on reducing health inequalities and also published her first book earlier this year about racism in medicine titled “Divided: Racism, Healthcare, and Why We Need to Decolonize Healthcare.”
Mind The Gap: Founded in late 2019, this project culminated in medical student Malone Mukwende publishing a handbook with staff at St George’s University of London that highlights how a variety of medical conditions present on patients with darker complexions.
Dr. Nadine Caron: As the first female general surgeon of First Nations descent in Canada, Dr. Caron has long been an outspoken advocate for Indigenous people’s rights in both medical practice and research. In 2014, she co-founded the Center for Excellence in Indigenous Health at the University of British Columbia, her alma mater, which focuses on supporting research on Indigenous health.
Advancing Health Equity: Founded in 2019 by Dr Uché Blackstock, an internationally recognized doctor, advocate and speaker, this organization partners with medical institutions and gives professional training on how to provide racially equitable healthcare and medical services.

Tanaya Vohra

Tanaya is an undergraduate student pursuing a major in Public Health at the University of Chicago. She's lived in Asia, Europe and North America and wants to share her love of travel and exploring new cultures through her writing.

Chad is the Country Most Vulnerable to Climate Change

July 27, 2023

In Chad, climate change creates new challenges for an already disadvantaged population.

Humanitarian aid in Chad. EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Due to its geography, Chad has experienced a temperature increase of 1.5 times higher than other places in the world. With additional disadvantages of poverty and political conflict, Chad has been ranked as the country most vulnerable to climate change. Here are some of the ways Chad is currently being affected by climate change, as well as current action against this crisis and ways you can help.

Lake Chad

With a surface area of 2.3 million square kilometers, Lake Chad is the country’s reservoir. Climate degradation has taken a toll on this freshwater inland sea over the decades, resulting in its shrinkage of 90 percent within the past 60 years. Not only does this affect the country of Chad itself, but also surrounding nations that rely on Lake Chad, such as Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon. The increasing lack of this water source reduces the availability of drinking water for both humans and animals, and also impacts irrigation and fishing. Access to clean water is an existing issue in Chad, with only 43 percent of the population able to obtain clean drinking water, forcing many to consume unsafe water that exposes them to diseases like cholera.

Flooding

In sharp contrast to the drought affecting Lake Chad, the rest of this Sahelian Republic has suffered flood damage over the past year, caused by its heaviest rain season in 30 years. In October of 2022, both the Chari and Logone rivers overflowed, causing 18 out of 23 Chadian provinces to flood. This flooding has affected more than 340,000 people, destroying thousands of homes and farmland. Though climate change has caused much drought in Chad, it is also a contributing factor to this flooding. As climate change causes temperatures to rise, it allows for more evaporation from the ground and water sources, leading to extended periods of drought and punctuated by bursts of extreme rainfall.

Illness

Medicine in Faya-Largeau, Chad. Gerhard Holub. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Another way climate change endangers Chadians is by increasing the probability of illness transmission. As mosquitoes are attracted to water, increased flooding could create a greater risk of malaria contraction. In 2022, there were 1.8 million cases of malaria in Chad, with over 2,500 fatalities. Though malaria cases have decreased over the last 20 years due to an increase in treatment and preventative measures, they have been rising within the last decade, with 190 cases per 1,000 at risk in 2014 versus 206 cases per 1,000 in 2021. An uptick in temperatures can also cause a greater risk of meningitis, an illness that is common in Southern Chad, which is part of a region known as the “Meningitis Belt.” Heatstroke is also a danger to Chadian people, as well as malnutrition, as crops are destroyed by drought and flooding. With only 1 in 17 children having access to soap and water to wash their hands with, there is already a public health crisis in Chad, and rising temperatures only exacerbate the problem.

Resolutions

World Food Programme. Anjeli Mendoza. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Chad National Adaptation Plan Advancement Project (NAP)

Launched in 2018, the NAP was created as part of Chad’s national contribution to the Paris Climate Agreement. With this plan, eight areas are prioritized, including environmental subjects such as agriculture, forests, sanitation, water resources, and more. National planning and budgeting are being developed on these fronts, all aiming to improve conditions for the Chadian population.

United Nations (UN)

In April, the United Nations appealed for $674 million for a humanitarian response plan, in order to address climate, health, and food crises in Chad. The Sustainable Development Group of the UN also aims to aid the country in its struggles by helping the government enact national security, humanitarian and economic policies.

World Food Programme (WFP)

The WFP provides nutritional support to infants, young children, and pregnant women in order to combat malnutrition in Chad, helping 458,000 children and 235,400 nursing and pregnant women in 2021. WFP has also provided meals to schoolchildren and helped restore degraded land.

To Get Involved

Click here to donate to the World Food Programme.

Click here to donate to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Click here to donate to UNICEF.

An Ethiopian’s Path to From Refugee Camp to College Campus

July 13, 2023

How a refugee survived genocide and rebuilt a life in the United States.

Omot retelling his journey coming to the U.S. during our interview. Image courtesy of Ojullu Omit.

This semester, I had the privilege of connecting with Ojullu Omot, whose life was forever altered by tragedy. On December 13, 2003, when he was just 14 years old, Omot experienced a massacre at his hometown in south-west Ethiopia. As part of a Wake Forest University project to raise awareness about the challenges faced by refugees, a team made up of me and my classmates produced a 10-minute advocacy film that aims to shed light on the often-overlooked struggles refugees encounter while adapting to life in the United States. Omot’s story is a testament to the blend of heartbreak and perseverance that characterizes the ongoing global refugee crisis, capturing the resilience and fortitude of those seeking haven away from home.

Omot’s story began with displacement, as he fled the 2003 massacre in the remote Gambella region of southwestern Ethiopia. From December 13-15, in a reprisal against a small ambush against Ethiopian federal government officials, ethnically Amhara, Oromo, and Tigrayan soldiers and rioters murdered hundreds of minority Anuak civilians. Human Rights Watch’s report suggests that these atrocities should be considered crimes against humanity. . The Ethiopian government claimed that only 57 were killed and that the violence resulted from ethnic tensions between rival Anuak and Nuer groups, in contrast to the claims of international human rights groups and the Anuak themselves. Human rights NGOs have called for a thorough investigation into the incident, with concerns that others like it could occur. Despite facing deadly tragedy along with the immense challenges of settling into a new society as a refugee, Omot has found a new home in the United States, where he serves as a living witness to the egregious human rights abuses of his homeland. He remains committed to starting a new chapter in life.

By now Omot has gotten used to retelling the story of how he left his home in Ethiopia in the midst of genocidal violence, and his journey from there to become an international politics student in the United States. The three-day-long massacre in Gambella town of southwestern Ethiopia was an outburst of ethnic conflict between the indigenous Anuak group and members of the Ethiopian military. As the situation in Ethiopia deteriorated, Omot moved to Sudan when he was a teenager, with the hope that things would get better in a year or two.

But they didn’t. The military confrontation neither started, nor ended with the massacre. More than 10,000 Anuak people were forced to leave Ethiopia in 2004, the year after the massacre took place.

Omot left Sudan for Kenya after two years of waiting. The unrest had separated him from his family, and he lacked many colorful memories about his childhood in Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya. What he remembered is playing football with his friends in refugee camps everyday; many of those eventually being sent to Canada, Australia and other developed nations. Omot remembers planes from the United Nation hovered above their heads in refugee camps, dropping food and supplies and people hurrying to grab them. “We were dependent on the refugee program,” Omot said, “Resettlement in the United States was not a typical solution for refugees living in the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) camp.”

Omot never dreamed about coming to the United States then. He was invested in the idea that everything will go back to normal in Ethiopia, and that he could then return home. Yet Omot’s life took a major turn in the year 2016. He was called for an interview, which he later found out was part of the application process by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees concerning whether he is eligible for resettlement in the United States as a refugee. The approval rate for a refugee status in the United States is 27%, according to World Data.

Omot waited for roughly six months until he was called for a series of security checks, examinations and orientation. In February 2016, International Organization for Migration contacted Omot, telling him that his case is ready. He then boarded a plane to the United States on April 4th, 2016, his first ever flight. When he landed in Miami, Florida, it was like landing on a new planet- the shock of the novel language and lifestyle almost dazzled the then 28 year old.

“There was something change, [such as] the day became longer, I was not even comfortable, and I cannot see where I come from, ” Omot recalled his initial exposure to the United States, “The first question I asked myself [was], is this the U.S. [as] I expected it?”

And the first few months continued to affirm to him that starting anew wasn’t easy. Omot often found himself alone in his house assigned by the government, since his roommates busied themselves working in the daytime, and went straight to sleep not long after walking in the door at night. Comparing the situation to the community life in Ethiopia, where everyone would sit down and share stories after a day’s work, filled Omot with homesickness at night.

Language is also a major challenge to Omot. Going to a university was at the top of his wish list when he came to the United States, but he couldn’t even understand people’s accents when he asked for directions on his way to school. He had no idea how to open emails during his first semester at a community college. When one of his classmates finally taught him how to view the inbox, he found emails from professors flooded in there. In winter, the temperature dropped so low that Omot, who used to live near the equator, had to drop his English as Second language (ESL) classes to avoid traveling in freezing weather.

But Omot is determined to realize his dream. Instead of “wasting time” in ESL classes, he decided to push himself, taking the General Educational Development (GED) tests directly. He works as a hospital janitor in the daytime for living; in the evening and before dawn, he dives into his study. Whenever he had free time, Omot would peruse his textbooks, went up to the library of the community college he attended everyday, asking every librarian what GED looks like, and tips and tricks to score higher.

The global refugee population has reached crisis proportions, with more than 30 million refugees displaced in 2022, signaling a significant surge from the previous year's level. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reported a staggering total of 103 million people forcibly displaced as of mid-2022. In response, President Joe Biden has committed to revamping America’s current “inhumane” immigration policy. However, the administration's effort to admit refugees has fallen significantly short of its goal, with only 25,465 individuals granted admission by the end of the previous fiscal year on September 30, 2022, a mere 20% of the objective. The number of refugees received by the United States still remains one of the lowest among all nations, and the number continues to decrease.

Refugees face a plethora of challenges when they resettle in a foreign country, with attaining secure housing among the most pressing. Asylum seekers in particular struggle to obtain temporary housing due to a lack of government support and unfamiliarity with the US housing system. Non-profit organizations and shelters provide vital assistance to these individuals. Despite this aid, refugee and asylum seekers are disproportionately at risk for health problems, both physical and mental. They are more susceptible to severe mental health conditions like PTSD and depression, while chronic illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease exacerbate their already challenging circumstances.

In 2017, Omot took the GED for the first time. And hard work pays off — he passed the test.

“It [passing the test] gives me hope that I could continue to do all of them,” said Omot, breaking into a smile. And he did. After he finished with GED, Omot is currently pursuing a bachelor degree in international politics at University of North Carolina Greensboro. When asked why he could recall his story in astonishingly clear detail, Omot answered, “I think my story is important because if other people, other refugees heard about it, they would think, oh, this guy did that and starting his new life. Maybe I could do the same.”

To Get Involved:

While Omot is navigating through his new life in the United States, it is not without support from various refugee organizations, such as Every Campus a Refugee (ECAR), an organization aiming to mobilize colleges and universities to host refugees on campus grounds and support them in their resettlement. ECAR provided nearly 4 years free housing and accessories to Omot, and provides several other services to refugees in the North Carolina region. Learn more about ECAR here.

5 Wildfires Around the World in 2023

June 29, 2023

The increasing temperatures and drier conditions created by climate change have caused bigger and more dangerous wildfires.

Wildfires are occurring more frequently, burning hotter and causing more destruction than ever before. In the US alone, the top five years for the largest acreage burned have occurred since 2007, with the top three all within the last eight years. Climate change causes warmer and drier atmospheric conditions, leading to more intense and longer-lasting wildfires. The years with the most burned acreage tend to also be the years of the warmest temperatures on record, suggesting the role of climate change-induced aridity in the intensity of these natural disasters. Here are examples of wildfires that have occurred in 2023 so far.

Chile - February 2023

Wildfire smoke in Chile. Lacasadeljotta. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Wildfires in south-central Chile led to 24 deaths and about two thousand injuries, burning over 800,000 acres of land. These fires arose from a phenomenon referred to as “La Nina,” which explains the occasional cooling of ocean temperatures, leading to rainier and colder conditions in the north as well as drier and warmer conditions in southern regions, such as Chile.

Spain - March 2023

Wildfire in Spain. Sergio Torres. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Fires originating in the province of Castellón marked the beginning of this year’s wildfire season for Spain. Forcing over 1,800 people to evacuate, the blaze spanned over 10,500 acres of land. Though these fires were destructive, the country experienced even more devastation last year, with about 500 wildfires and the burning of about 756,000 acres of land.

Russia - May 2023

Wildfire damage in Russia. Ivan Simochkin. CC BY-SA 3.0.

Wildfires in the Russian Ural Mountains and Siberia have led to at least 21 deaths and many injuries. These inferno covered 280,000 acres of land, destroying hundreds of homes. The cause of these fires was a heat wave likely caused by climate change, and the degree of destruction has been attributed to lack of resources and in and the sheer isolation of in the locations of these fires’ origins.

United States - June 2023

Smoke from California wildfires. Frank Schulenburg. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Like Spain, the United States experienced a brutal wildfire season in 2022, especially in western states. For example, fires in the state of Oregon burned over 400,000 acres of land in 2022 alone. So far in 2023, Oregon has experienced 18 wildfires and the burning of over 17,000 acres of land. Other US states, such as Arizona and California, have also had multiple wildfires recently.

Canada - June 2023

Forest fire in Canada. Stefan Doerr. CC BY-ND 3.0.

The Canadian province of British Columbia experienced its worst wildfire on record this June. The fire occurred in Donnie Creek, burning 2,063 square miles of land. The summer of 2023 is projected to be the worst wildfire season ever for Canada in terms of damage, as the country experiences warmer and drier conditions than usual.

In recent years, the most wildfire damage has occurred in the month of July, with an average of 1.7 million acres burned in this month between 2002 and 2020. With this statistic, it can be inferred that there will be even more destruction to come from wildfires in 2023. More than 80 percent of wildfires are caused by humans, often through cigarettes, campfires, and other common products and activities. Fires are becoming deadlier due to atmospheric conditions resulting from climate change, as drier and warmer temperatures make the environment more flammable and induce larger fires. Indeed, the wildfires in Chile, Spain, and Oregon were likely caused by human activity. With this information, it is important to spread awareness about wildfires and to be cognizant of possible environmentally-harmful behaviors.

Here are some ways you can help prevent wildfires:

Ensure that you properly extinguish your camp fire.

Douse your camp fire with a bucket of water twice, stirring it in between. Before leaving, check to make sure the ground is cold.

Avoid engaging in fire-related activities during dry conditions

Dry atmospheric conditions increase flammability. Avoid building fires, using fireworks, or engaging in any other fire-related activities on dry days.

Avoid driving or parking on dry grass.

The exhaust of one vehicle alone can exceed one thousand degrees. As dry grass is highly flammable, it is best to not park or drive in these areas.

Put used matches in a cup of water or closed container.

Ensure that you are being conscious of how you dispose of your matches to avoid accidentally igniting them. Put used matches in a cup of water or a closed container (to starve any embers of oxygen) before disposing of them.

Another way of making an impact is to donate to wildfire relief organizations. Many organizations help revitalize areas that have been devastated by wildfires.

Click here to donate to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief .

Click here to donate to the UN Crisis Relief.

Alexandra is a student at The College of New Jersey studying psychology and journalism. She is a lover of coffee, dancing, and visiting new places. Being raised with her Greek culture has inspired her interest in cultural customs around the world. She is a passionate writer and hopes that her work will make an impact in the future.

Where Are All the Women Pastors?

June 20, 2023

The Southern Baptist Convention’s recent rule to prohibit women ministers is part of a long history of gender exclusion in Christian churches.

Men being ordained at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Boston. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. CC BY-ND 2.0

On June 14, 2023 the Southern Baptist Convention met in New Orleans for its annual conference and voted in favor of the church’s long-standing prohibition of women serving as pastors. The vote ruled overwhelmingly in favor of upholding the rule, a decision that led two congregations with women pastors to be expelled from the denomination: Saddleback Church in Southern California and Fern Creek Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky.

The vote reaffirms the Southern Baptists’ conservative focus and comes at the heels of a 2022 report detailing the church’s attempt to cover up sexual abuse by staff and pastors.

With 47,000 churches and 13.7 million members, the Southern Baptist Convention is the largest Protestant denomination in the United States. However, SBC’s decision to continue its exclusion of women from pastoral roles within the church is not unique within the Christian world. The Roman Catholic Church, along with the Church of Latter Day Saints (commonly called Mormons), and the Orthodox Church, all prohibit women’s ordination.

The question centered at the debate around female ordination is a complicated one. While many women make up a majority of congregants and are often heavily involved in Church life and activities, taking on secondary leadership roles, there remains a stark cut-off in women’s degree of power in these religious spaces, a phenomenon that has been dubbed the “stained-glass ceiling.”

In 2021, Duke University published research examining the reality of these “stained-glass ceilings.” Their findings highlighted a disproportionate lack of female leaders across a survey of Catholic, Evangelical, Black Protestant, Mainline Protestant, and Non-Orthodox Jewish communities. The study found that women lead only 14% of American congregations. The numbers varied across communities, with women leading 30% of white evangelical congregations and 16% of Black Protestant congregations. Contrastingly, within predominantly white Evangelical congregations only 3% were led by women, and only 2% of Roman Catholic Churches had female leadership.

However, even when women are able to serve as church clergy, they lag behind men when it comes to equal pay. Female clergy earn 76 cents to each dollar made by their male counterparts. The Church Law and Tax Compensation Handbook reported that male senior pastors earned a salary that was 40% higher– or $25,000 more– than female senior pastors between 2014 and 2015. While the pay gap appears to be shrinking, it is still present. From 2016 to 2017 men who worked as full-time senior pastors received 27% more earnings and benefits, or approximately $15,000 more, than their female counterparts.

Along with a measurable pay gap, women clergy members also face the same insidious sexism that harasses all women in leadership roles, leaving female clergy in a position of intense scrutiny through which through their authority, intelligence, and ability are routinely questioned and mocked.

Despite being barred from top roles, women play a crucial role in supporting the structures and community of the church. Out of all secondary ministerial staff, 35% of full-time and 46% of part-time staffers were female.

Women have long played a crucial role in religious life, serving as nuns, teachers, religious teachers, and deacons. But the very top positions are still out of reach.

A study found that only four out of nine major U.S. religious organizations that ordain women had a woman in the top leadership role. Those four churches– The American Baptist Churches, The Episcopal Church, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the United Methodist Church– each had only one woman in a top position.

In many ways women still serve as the backbone of the church, leading the charge behind community organizing, childcare, and volunteer services. When Pope Francis formally allowed women to serve in lay ministerial roles such as lectors and acolytes, he failed to acknowledge that women have been informally taking on the work and responsibilities of these positions for some time. Instead, he emphasized the difference between these positions and the ordained roles open only to men.

While women are the vital essence powering many churches, when it comes to access to the podium or microphone, they face categorical silencing.

Protest outside Westminster Cathedral. Catholic-womens-ordination.org.uk. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Why does female religious leadership matter?

Female leadership in the church not only allows religious spaces to better serve the specific spiritual needs of their congregation, but the opportunity to see examples of women in positions of power and respect also has a significant impact on young girls.

A 2018 study found that the presence of female congregational leaders can lead to better self esteem in the young girls who grow up in their church, an impact that reverberates into adulthood. Compared to women who had grown up with some female clergy members, women who had never had female congregational leaders were 10% less likely to agree and 30% less likely to strongly agree to having high self esteem.

Additionally, the study found a link between young girls' access to female congregational leaders and their future employment opportunities. Women who grew up with a female role model as their most influential leader were just as likely to be employed full time as men, in contrast to those who did not.

Female leadership in church marks an important benchmark of gender equality that extends beyond religious divisions into social and political life as well. Church leaders oftentimes serve as influential figures in their communities, with the opportunity to serve as a powerful voice in discussions on timely social issues, including abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. Elevating women’s pastorship would also elevate women’s roles as community leaders, local activists, and engaged political informers.

Stained glass from from the Basilique de Sacré Couer in Paray-le-Monial. Lawrence OP. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Get Involved

Harnessing the power and advocacy of their women congregants, there are many organizations working tirelessly to advocate for women’s ordination and religious empowerment.

Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC) is a grass-roots movement that has been working to increase female leadership opportunities within the Catholic Church since 1975. The activist group advocates for women’s ordination and increased power within the Catholic Church. In 2018, WOC members protested outside the Vatican in order to advocate for women’s right to vote in synods, a body that makes up the advisory board to the Pope. Along with advocacy work, the organization provides a network aimed at building a community of empowerment for young women in the Catholic Church. Working alongside their goals for gender equality, WOC also seeks to dismantle systems of oppression through anti-colonialism and anti-racist work that champions inclusivity.

For over 100 years, the International Association of Women Ministers has been supporting women’s ministry and advocating for women’s ordination, with members across 22 countries. IAWM offers annual assemblies that have been hosted both within the United States and abroad in Canada, England, Cuba, New Zealand, Germany, Scotland, and Hungary, with the mission of cultivating an international forum for female ministers from all backgrounds, countries, and cultures to develop relationships and provide a community of support for women’s professional growth within ministry.

The Peace Walls in Belfast and the Politics of Separation

June 17, 2023

Today, there are efforts to take down the walls that have separated the loyalist and nationalist neighborhoods in Belfast for over fifty years.

Murals along the Falls Road side of Belfast’s Peace Walls. Megan Coughlin. CC BY-ND 2.0

The Walls are not only a reminder of a violent history, but a medium for artistic expression and international solidarity.

The origin of the partition that defines Ireland today can be traced back to the early 1920’s, when a successful Irish rebellion from British rule led the island to be broken up into two countries. The Irish Free State gained independence from the United Kingdom, while Northern Ireland remained part of the British state. Irish Nationalists, who generally support an island-wide Irish republic, are predominantly Catholic, while British Loyalists/Unionists are mostly Protestants.

The 1960s saw the beginning of ‘the Troubles’ in Northern Ireland. The Troubles refer to the period of violence, riots, and unconventional warfare between the British state and Loyalists paramilitaries, who believed Northern Ireland should remain part of the United Kingdom, and Irish Nationalist paramilitaries, who wanted Northern Ireland to join the rest of the island as a United Ireland.

It was within the context of the Troubles that the first Northern Ireland peace walls were built in 1969, after days of intense rioting in Belfast and Derry/Londonderry. Originally constructed as a temporary structure to ensure peace between the two sides, the walls have hardened into semi-permanent lines that continue to divide the cities today.

The signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, marked the end of the Troubles. The agreement set up an autonomous legislature and government that could legally only be governed by a coalition of Unionist and Nationalist political parties. Furthermore, while still recognizing Northern Ireland as a part of the U.K., the agreement also acknowledged the possibility for the area to one day unite with the rest of Ireland should a majority vote to do so.

The Good Friday Agreement was a pivotal marker of peace and cooperation between the two sides. However today, some 25 years after its signing, peace walls continue to divide Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods in Belfast.

One of the largest of these peace walls runs along the Falls and Shankill Roads in West Belfast and divides two major Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods. The wall is interrupted by stretches of metal gates, several of which still maintain a curfew, including the Townsend Street gates which closes every weekday night and throughout the weekend. The enduring curfew speaks to the continued tensions between Belfast’s Catholic and Protestant communities, which have been reinforced by the 2016 Brexit referendum.

But today, the walls are not just borders of separation. They’re also a canvas of artistic expression.

The Shankill and Loyalist side of the divide depicts memorializations of those killed by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and tributes to the Ulster Defense Association, a Loyalist paramilitary organization founded in 1971. A portrait of King WIlliam, known as William of Orange, looks out upon the neighborhood where Union Jacks decorate the streets.

In contrast, the Falls Road and Irish nationalist side of the divide touts the orange and green Irish tricolor. Here, murals celebrate national pride with depictions of Gaelic sports and memorializations to national heroes, including a large portrait painted on the side of Sinn Fein Political Party Press Office of Bobby Sands, a popular IRA leader and elected MP who died of hunger strike while imprisoned.

It is also on the Falls side that one can see the famous International Wall, depicting images of global civil rights leaders the likes of which include Fredrick Douglass, Nelson Mandela, Harriet Tubaman, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and Bob Marley. In this neighborhood, it is common to Palestinian flags hanging in people’s windows, aligning a mission to free Irish land from British rule with that of occupied territory in Palestine. A mural on the International Wall depicts hands clasped between prison bars, one of which is draped in an Irish national flag, the other in a Palestinian flag.

Murals along the peace wall that runs through Shankill and Falls Road. Mike McBride. CC BY-NC 2.0

In 2013, a project called Together: Building a United Community was launched by the Northern Ireland Executive. The project called for the removal of all walls in Northern Ireland by 2023, but progress has been slow and in January of 2023, about 60 walls still remain. In a 2015 survey by Ulster University on public attitudes towards the peace walls, about 35% of respondents wanted the peace walls ‘come down some time in the future’ with 40% of Catholics and 25% of Protestants surveyed sharing this position, while 44% of Protestants and 23% of Catholics ‘would like things left the way they are now’.

While the future of the peace walls remains uncertain, their presence serves as a striking visual reminder of division within a city that is increasingly embracing a global economy and multiculturalism, the very extent of which is exemplified by the international calls for peace and solidarity in the artwork that lines the divided city.

To Get Involved

The Social Change Initiative (SCI) is working to support peacebuilding and dialogue between Nationalists and Unionists. Based in Northern Ireland, SCI partners with local activists and publishes articles and reports that detail the strategies and reflections of those working directly within divided communities. SCI also connects local leaders to a global community of human rights activists through fellowships and mentoring programs, in an effort to create an international network through which individuals can share communication and advocacy tactics as well as strategies for peacebuilding and conflict disruption.

How To Visit

One of the most popular ways for travelers’ to experience and learn about Belfast’s peace walls is through Black Taxi Cab tours.

The tours began in the 1970s and are recognized for their effort to provide a balanced and unbiased history of Belfast. The black taxis were first employed as a kind of bus service in the midst of the Troubles in order to transport working class people from their neighborhoods to the city center. The tours are notably co-run by Catholics and Protestants, allowing visitors to hear perspectives from both communities as they travel across the Falls and Shankill roads.

The Dark Side of Czechia's Thriving Sex Industry

May 12, 2023

Legal but unregulated, the Czech sex industry leaves workers vulnerable to exploitation, abuse and trafficking.

A poster promoting sex in Prague. A. Curell. CC BY-NC 2.0

The grim specter of sexual slavery still lingers in the underbelly of many Eastern European capitals. Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, is no exception. Despite the world's fascination with Czechia's natural landscapes and medieval castles, the city remains home to thousands of women trapped in the grips of human trafficking, specifically forced sexwork, while their basic human rights are stripped away and their voices silenced. While a thriving sex industry has bolstered the country's economy since the Velvet Revolution of 1989, it's a complex issue that requires attention. In 2019, estimates suggested that between 12,000 to 13,000 women worked in the country’s sex industry, with many being victims of trafficking or coercion. It's important to differentiate between sex work which involves consensual engagement in commercial sex, and sex work which involves force, coercion, or deceit. In the Czech Republic, all sex work is permissible under the law, meaning the issue of consent often operates in a gray area leaving sex workers are vulnerable to discrimination, abuse and sex trafficking.

In fact, a thriving sex industry has been a mainstay of the country’s economy since the Velvet Revolution of 1989, when the Czech and Slovak peoples overthrew their communist dictatorship before peacefully splitting up into the contemporary Czech and Slovak states. In 2008 The New York Times revealed the sex industry in the Czech Republic was raking in more than $500 million in annual revenues, with 60 percent of that coming from foreign visitors. It is a booming business that continues to thrive. According to some estimates, 12,000 to 13,000 women worked as sex workers in the Czech Republic in 2019, making the industry a significant source of employment. But who does this employment truly benefit?

The history of sex work in Czechia is a complicated story that stretches back decades. The early of the 20th century brought a period of tremendous upheaval, as the world underwent rapid changes in population, urbanization, and political power. World War I led to the creation of an independent Czecho-Slovak state for the first time in centuries, and the age of machines brought with it unparalleled economic growth. Unfortunately, these shifts also paved the way for a spike in the trafficking of women and girls, with many of the victims being brought in from other European countries.

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, state regulation was the dominant way authorities dealt with the sex industry in Europe, with governments implementing mandatory health checks, police surveillance, and registering sex workers. While sex work remains legal in most European Union countries, a select few—France, Sweden, and Ireland—have implemented the Nordic model of neo-abolitionism, which decriminalizes sex workers but prohibits buying sex.

The Czech Republic’s attitude towards the dangers of an unregulated sex industry has long been ambiguous. While the industry was recognized in 2010, no legal framework was put in place. As a result, sex work is legal but remains largely unregulated. On the policy level, the legal status of sex work has been a highly contentious issue in Czechia, with no clear consensus among politicians or the public.

The reality is that paying for sex is a prevalent practice throughout the country, with Prague and the western and northern Bohemia regions on the German and Austria borders serving as hotspots for brothels. Prague's “Red Light Districts” can be found through online guides, offering access to a trade in sexual services. While seemingly legal, the unregulated sex market in Czechia is a breeding ground for exploitation and abuse. Although the sale and purchase of sexual services by adult sex workers over 18 are not illegal, crimes such as pimping, trafficking, and brothel operations are punishable offenses. Moreover, institutions like ShowParks, the largest de facto brothel in Prague, operate under a cloak of legal ambiguity. By renting apartments to young women with no questions asked, the owners of ShowParks skirt the law, leaving the activities that take place between the walls of rented rooms entirely up to the discretion of women and their clients, or in a worst-case scenario, pimps who sexually and financially exploit sex workers with no questions asked.

Prague by night. Schaffhauser Balázs. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

According to a Czech journalist who investigated Charles Square sex workers, women charge as little as $45 (CZK1000) for vaginal sex and $25 (CZK500) for oral sex. But many of these women are not in control of their earnings, as they rely on business operators or managers who take a hefty cut of their income. For many sex workers facing dire living conditions and scant economic prospects, the sex industry is a last resort to cope with the harsh realities of poverty and instability. Around 60% of them shoulder the responsibilities of single motherhood, often caring for two or more children without state or paternal support. The situation speaks to the wider issue of poverty, gender inequality, and social exclusion faced by this underrepresented community. Though the Czech Republic has made progress in reducing poverty and social exclusion, persistent ethnic discrimination and socioeconomic inequality continue to impede improvement. For example, members of the Roma minority are at a much higher risk of poverty, which will likely require concrete government action to address. The lack of women represented in leadership roles is a persistent issue, with women holding only a quarter of national parliamentary seats in both the public and economic domains in the Czech Republic. According to Safarik, Czech women earn $329 (CZK 7,000) less per month on average than men.

The legal gray area surrounding the sex work in the Czech Republic also opens the door to one of its most sinister aspects: human trafficking. With the fall of communism in 1989, the sex trade gained access to fresh resources, both geographical and human, that enabled the exploitation of women from Eastern Europe. According to the 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report from Romania and Czech Republic, the Czech government has only limited data collection and uses narrow criteria for identifying trafficking victims, which has led to a significant undercounting of the true number of victims. Women from countries such as Ukraine, Romania, and Vietnam are often forced into sex work in the Czech Republic and then transported to other parts of Europe for further exploitation.

Meanwhile, men and women from countries such as Russia and Thailand are at risk of being forced into labor in industries such as construction and agriculture in Czechia and are frequently trafficked through the country to other parts of the European Union. Most recently, as the conflict in Ukraine rages on, an alarming trend has emerged in the Czech Republic: human traffickers taking advantage of vulnerable individuals. With the displacement of over 8 million Ukrainians, 80% of whom are women, UN Secretary General António Guterres recently warned that women and children are being targeted by these traffickers. A report by Czech outlet Lidovky revealed that some pimps in the Czech Republic are luring Ukrainian refugee women into forced sex work. The pimps are said to be targeting young mothers, whom they consider to be a “safer” option.

Destigmatizing and decriminalizing sex work, while respecting individual choice is a policy recommended by many human rights organizations. The Czech Parliament has considered reform bills which propose extensive regulation of the sex industry, although the issue remains unresolved. Reform efforts have prioritized clients and public order over the safety of sex workers. Ongoing impartial and qualified research on sex work and migration is crucial for determining the next steps forward in providing social welfare to all professions, including the sex industry.

To Get Involved:

Click here to discover Urban Justice Center Sex Workers Project, a US national organization that provides free legal services, education, research, and policy advocacy to destigmatize and decriminalize sex workers and to defend their human rights.

Click here to discover European Sex Workers Rights Alliance (ESWA), a network led by sex workers representing over 100 organizations across 30 countries in Europe and Central Asia. Their goal is to create a sustainable network for national, regional, and international advocacy activities that drive long-term, systemic change.

Kazakhstan's Journey From Nuclear Devastation to Disarmament

April 27, 2023

The harrowing story of Soviet nuclear testing in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, and the wrangling with its legacy.

The center of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site.Alexander Liskin.CC BY-SA 3.0.

It was the summer of 1953. Valentina Nikonchik was outside playing in Semey, a village in eastern Kazakhstan, then part of the Soviet Union. The ground suddenly trembled, and the air filled with a deafening boom that shook Nikonchik to her core. Little did she know that she had witnessed the first detonation at “the Polygon” of a thermonuclear device, a monstrous weapon of mass destruction that released a force equivalent to 400 kilotons of TNT.

West of Nikonchik’s hometown of Semey lies Semipalatinsk, the testing location where the Soviet Union’s nuclear visions were accomplished. A once-thriving region, now a desolate wasteland, has a dark history. In this Central Asian Soviet Republic, the Soviets conducted nearly 400 nuclear tests, blasting a lethal storm of radioactive isotopes into the environment and soil from 1949 to 1989. Even now, the consequences of these tests are still felt, with environmental damage and public health risks ongoing in the area.

At a conference commemorating the ninth anniversary of the Nevada-Semipalatinsk movement, the first anti-nuclear protest movement in the USSR, statistics showing that between 500,000 and 8 million people were directly impacted by the test site’s operations were presented. The detonations, with their tragic and predictable repercussions, represent one of the twentieth century’s major ethical violations. Altogether, the total force of the nuclear explosions at Semipalatinsk equals more than 2,500 Hiroshima bombs. The long-term health effects for the region were harrowing, including an alarming spike in health issues such as miscarriages, birth deformities, and suicides blamed on “unsanitary conditions” in the area by Soviet military scientists in the following decades. What is so disturbing about these dismissals is that the same medical professionals had been performing creeping radiation tests on the villagers for years.

The testing site, despite being uninhabited, is encircled by villages, and the major hub of Semipalatinsk lies just 160 km away. But the testing was kept secret, known only to top Communist Party officials, while anyone who spoke out against the detonations was immediately silenced. Russian scientists confessed that they failed to follow burial and nuclear material protection protocols, as they thought that no one would be in the area. The newly independent Kazakh government officially acknowledged 1,323,000 people as negatively affected by nuclear testing in 1992. However, just 1,057,000 of them received radiation passports, leaving over a quarter of those affected without the requisite documentation. From 2003 to 2017, a $30.5 million reimbursement was intended to give relief to over 700,000 passport holders. Divided between them, a pittance of only only $40 was allocated to each individual each year.

Map of Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Range, Area “N”. Martin Trolle Mikkelsen.CC BY 2.0.

In 1990, a year before independence, the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) and Kazakh poet Olzhas Suleimenov’s Nevada-Semipalatinsk Movement banded together and pushed Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s to issue declaration of a nuclear testing moratorium. Kazakhstan seized the opportunity to declare independence the same year and promptly closed down the infamous Semipalatinsk plant. Then, the nation went further, renouncing its inherited position as the world's fourth-largest nuclear weapons owner, and relinquishing its stockpile.

Despite this, the inhabitants go about their regular lives, seemingly unaware of the danger that surrounds them. They swim and fish in the lakes, graze their herds and pick wild strawberries all while being exposed to the poison lurking in the ground and air. However, the danger does not end there. The area will remain a bleak wasteland for millennia, poisoned with plutonium, strontium, and cesium, unfit for human habitation. Residents continue to graze their animals and collect contaminated scrap metal on the polluted land as the 7,065 square mile region is devoid of barriers, fencing, and warnings reminding people of its radioactive status.

Semey, once a thriving city, has suffered the brunt of the devastation. While acute blasts of radiation produced immediate harm, repeated modest doses of radiation over time can accumulate to cause great damage. The wind on the Kazakh steppe has brought the radioactive fallout to nearby settlements, amplifying the impact. The repercussions of nuclear testing have been passed down to future generations as a result of radiation-induced mutations in the population’s chromosomes. As a result, the region’s life expectancy is seven years lower than the national average due to a rise in the prevalence of cancer, thyroid sickness, and birth abnormalities. Tolkyn Bulegenov, Vice President of Semey Medical University, confirms that “in the zones adjacent to the test site, one can encounter 10 to 15% more malignant thyroid and blood malignancies - hematological blastoma, leukosis, lymphoma, and chronic leukemia - than in other regions of Kazakhstan.”

Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test, the effect of radiation on the fetus. Perrona Patrick André Perron.CC BY 3.0.

The late 1980s saw a glimmer of hope for the people of Kazakhstan. As the world was introduced to Gorbachev’s nuclear testing moratorium, the Nevada-Semey movement was born on Kazakh soil with a mission to shut down the Semipalatinsk polygon. Kazakhstan destroyed its inherited weapons testing infrastructure and disposed of the remaining vulnerable nuclear material with the cooperation of foreign partners, including the United States.

On August 29, 1991, President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed the proclamation closing the test site, popularly known as the Polygon, which marked a watershed point in Kazakhstan’s recent history. As part of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, the United States collaborated with Kazakhstan between 1995 and 2001 to seal 13 boreholes and 181 tunnels at the test site. From 2012 to 2019, the National Nuclear Security Agency and the Netherlands led two major radiological security operations in Kazakhstan, securing approximately 13,000 radioactive sources from the National Nuclear Center and the Mangystau Atomic Energy Complex. Kazakhstan confirmed its commitment to a nuclear-free world in 2021, in accordance with the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Kazakhstan’s commitment to disarmament has allowed the nation to serve as an example of a responsible state that has relinquished its nuclear weapons, setting a global precedent for responsible statehood. Kazakhstan has created an environment conducive to the formulation of a multifaceted foreign policy by abandoning its nuclear weapons and closing the world's most extensively used nuclear test site, allowing the country to collaborate with China, Central Asia, Europe, and the United States. While each nuclear-armed state faces unique problems, Kazakhstan’s peaceful approach to disarmament has encouraged many, and its lessons serve as a guide for other countries seeking a similar path.

TO GET INVOLVED:

The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) is a nonprofit global security organization focused on reducing nuclear and biological threats imperiling humanity. You can learn more about NTI and its records on nuclear disarmament in Kazakhstan here.

Togzhan Kassenova’s Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave up the Bomb explains Kazakhstan’s denuclearization process in detail. Kassenova’s book explains how Kazakhstan’s leadership considered security interests as well as economic, political, and diplomatic priorities when making the decision to give up nuclear weapons. You can learn more about Atomic Steppe on Amazon here.

A Brighter Future Emerges 29 Years After Rwanda's Genocide

April 12, 2023

Rwanda's unwavering determination and spirit shine as a source of optimism for the rest of the world.

Rwanda Genocide Memorial. config manager.CC BY 2.0.

This week marks the 29th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide, a 100-day period of violence in 1994 in which more than 800,000 people were killed. The repercussions of this tragedy continue to linger, leaving survivors and their family members with deep emotional traumas. Almost 30 years have passed since the devastating genocide in Rwanda, and the country has made some commendable progress in rebuilding its economy and mending its relationships with other nations, while also acknowledging its past mistakes and the sacrifices made during the massacre. The scars of the past may still be visible, but they no longer define Rwanda. Its developments shed light on the country’s journey toward healing and growth, with infrastructure, technology, and education driving its transformation.

The genesis of the Rwanda Genocide three decades ago can be attributed to years of systemic oppression that eventually culminated in one of the most devastating conflicts in modern history. Surprisingly, the two primary ethnic groups involved in this conflict, the Hutus and Tutsis, shared no religious or linguistic differences at the outset. A deep dive into their origins reveals that the Hutus migrated to the Great Lakes region of Central Africa between 500 and 1000 BC, while the Tutsis arrived four centuries later, migrating from the highlands of Ethiopia. The Hutus primarily worked as land cultivators, while the Tutsis were cattle herders, thus creating an economic divide that eventually led to a hierarchical system. In a strange colonial mythology, Tutsi cattle herders were labeled Hamites — a separate and exceptional group — who hailed from an ancient Christian tribe supposedly linked to people of old Palestine. This system placed the Tutsis, as a minority ethnic group, in a position of disproportionate power over the majority Hutus.

Colonial powers subscribed to this concept of racial hierarchy and origin stories, believing the Tutsi to be natural leaders and granting them preferential treatment. After taking Rwanda as a colonial possession in 1897, the German Empire built a power structure that firmly established a hierarchy that favored the Tutsis. They bestowed upon the Tutsis a superior status, owing to their taller stature and lighter skin, giving them greater influence over the Hutus. However, in the aftermath of Germany’s defeat in World War I, Belgium took over the reins of Rwanda’s governance, and, rather than attempting to bridge the cultural divide, exacerbated it. The Belgian administration continued to uphold the Tutsis’ superior status while disregarding the Hutus, creating a further chasm of inequality that only grew wider with time. The introduction of identification cards during the 1930s that explicitly listed one’s ethnicity, for example, further polarized the population, and the stage was set for the tragic events that culminated in the Rwanda Genocide.

In 1973, Rwanda witnessed an event that would forever alter the course of its history. General Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu tribe member, rose to power and established the National Revolutionary Movement for Development (NRMD) party to secure his authority. Meanwhile, in Uganda, a group of Rwandan exiles in Uganda who had tasted victory in Yoweri Museveni’s National Resistance Army during the Ugandan Civil War formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). This organization was largely dominated by Tutsi figures and posed a challenge to the incumbent regime. The Rwandan Civil War began, which pitted the Hutu-dominated NRMD government against the primarily Tutsi RPF, while social tensions began to simmer. It was midsummer in 1993 when Hutu extremists hatched their plan, creating a platform for propagating their racist ideology and spewing hatred against the Tutsi people. Thus, Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) came into being, which soon became a tool to incite violence and hatred against the Tutsi, using propaganda and malicious rhetoric.

Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines broadcasted from this office during the Rwanda Genocide. kigaliwire.CC BY-NC 2.0.

April 6, 1994, was the beginning of a nightmare for Rwanda and Burundi. The presidential plane, which was carrying the heads of state of both countries, was hit by gunfire. The news of their deaths, broadcasted by the radical Hutu RTLM radio station, served as a call to arms, sparking a wave of violence against the Tutsi population. The initial attack was planned by a group of military leaders, politicians, and business owners, who were later joined by an increasing number of supporters. This resulted in a devastating genocide, with Tutsis flocking to ostensibly safe havens like churches and administrative centers only to find them transformed into places of horror. 75% of the Tutsi population was wiped out, including many children who were labeled “little rats” and killed alongside adults. The perpetrators killed people of all ages indiscriminately, committing rape and torture on a regular basis. With nowhere to call home, over 2 million people fled the country, including many Hutu ethnic group members, while a million more were internally displaced, leaving 75,000 children orphaned.

The aftermath was massive destruction, with infrastructure reduced to ruins and hundreds of thousands of citizens dead, dealt a crippling blow to progress and development. Rwanda, however, refused to give in to despair. The RPF won the Civil War and took power after four months of horror, ending the genocide. The nation embarked on a journey of healing and reconciliation by embracing a deliberate strategy of transitional justice and transformative programs, characterized by the visionary “Rwanda Vision 2020” campaign launched in 2000. Rwanda embraced a path of renewal through initiatives such as “I am Rwandan,” which encouraged deep reflection on the nation's painful history, acknowledgment of past atrocities, and promotion of healing and reconciliation among all its people. Another example is “Umuganda,” a day of community service in which people from all walks of life work together to improve their communities. Though challenges remained, these initiatives instilled a renewed sense of vigor and solidarity, bringing new life to the difficult task of rebuilding Rwanda.

The modern capital of Kigali is safe, clean, and orderly. Dylan Walters. CC BY 2.0.

Rwanda also undergoes significant changes in its economy. The government has introduced the “Girinka” program, which provides one cow per poor family to combat poverty, with the first female calf being passed on to another family. Poverty has decreased by 23.8 percent from 2000 to 2010, and Rwanda has emerged as one of the fastest-growing economies in Central Africa, with four years of eight percent GDP growth between 2011 and 2014. These developments are positive indicators for Rwanda’s future.

Despite the indelible mark of shame left by the horrific acts, Rwanda has sought reconciliation by embracing its rich heritage of traditional pre-colonial Rwandese customs and values, while also welcoming contributions from the international community. The genocide has prompted profound reflections on critical issues such as the efficacy of peace operations, the urgency of ending international crimes, and the delicate nature of maintaining civility. These pressing issues necessitate international attention and are still relevant today.

TO GET INVOLVED:

World Help: Over the last decade, World Help has worked to bring healing and restoration to Rwandan communities through initiatives like trauma counseling, children’s homes, child sponsorship, construction projects, clean-water wells, sustainable agriculture, vocational training, and more. To learn more and get involved, click here.

IBUKA: IBUKA is an umbrella organization supporting survivors in Rwanda. Representatives from institutions like IBUKA and the National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide are invited to speak at commemorations to provide expert histories and testimonies. To learn more and get involved, click here.

The True Culprits of Poaching

April 4, 2023

The causes and consequences of the illegal wildlife trade.

Elephant Calf - Madikwe, South Africa, Vince O'Sullivan, CC BY-NC 2.0.

In 2019, a man and his four companions entered South Africa’s Kruger National Park, dead set on killing a rhino. They botched the job- the man was trampled by an elephant and killed. His four companions fled the scene. Later, the man’s body was found eaten by lions. For many, this was a story of nature’s revenge on an aggressor. Some even took to social media to celebrate his death, claiming that “It’s a shame all five didn’t die.”

But the digital peanut gallery likely did not know that this man was from South Africa’s Eastern Cape, the country’s poorest region where the average annual income per year is less than $3,700. And, they probably didn’t know that even if he and his companions had successfully killed the rhino, taken its horn, and bolted, they would have remained in poverty, having sold the horn for a tiny fraction of its value on the international market. From there, the horn would go through multiple stages of middlemen to hide its origin and be shipped to a foreign nation, likely Vietnam or China. There, poaching kingpins such as Vietnam’s Nguyen Mau Chien would receive the horn and sell it to consumers for a huge profit.

Unwrapped Rhino Horn, cropped, ukhomeoffice, CC BY 2.0

This story is not unique. The United Nations estimates the poaching market to be worth a minimum of $7 billion per annum. The poaching kingpins who lead these operations are akin to drug lords. With few moral qualms, they are making millions, exploiting those working lower on the food chain and putting the environment in danger, all while taking very few risks themselves.

Over the past few years, dozens of species have gone extinct largely due to poaching, with hundreds more being driven to the brink of extinction. They range from smaller, lesser known species to large, iconic megafauna such as the Western Black Rhinoceros, a subspecies that went extinct in 2011.

The impact of these extinctions goes far beyond the animals themselves. The world exists as a closely connected ecosystem. When one species becomes endangered, it affects every other species in that ecosystem. One clear example of this is the North American Gray Wolf. The wolf’s regional near-extinction caused a surge in the elk population in Yellow Stone, which nearly ate the aspen tree into extinction.

Poaching also is detrimental to countries, like South Africa, that heavily rely on animal-based tourism. When iconic animals become extinct and ecosystems are damaged, ecotourism becomes much less successful. Even worse, poaching is incredibly dangerous to those working in conservation. Each year, across Africa, 600 rangers' lives are lost in the line of duty.

Ranger and rhinos, Kruger National Park, South Africa, anoukpilon, CC BY-SA 2.0.

In addition, poaching poses a huge risk to the world at large. COVID-19, Ebola, and SARs all started in animals. In fact, 60% of all infectious diseases are thought to have begun in non-human animals. Whether through the murder of animals directly or the transfer and consumption of illegal animal products, poaching puts thousands of hands and bodies in contact with wildlife, and therefore at risk.

TO GET INVOLVED

The International Anti-Poaching Federation (IAPF), founded in 2009, aims to hire 2,000 women by 2030 to work in anti-poaching units in their local communities, as part of the all-female Akashinga Project. The IAPF has managed to reduce poaching by over 80% in the 8.5 million acres it manages, making them one of the most successful anti-poaching organizations in the world. If you want to help stop the poaching epidemic, you can donate to the IAPF here.

The David Sheldrick Wildlife Fund has been Operating in Kenya since 1977. Over the past 45 years, they have become one of the best Elephant rehabilitation organizations in the world, raising over 300 orphan elephants. Beyond this, the Fund has 23 anti-poaching teams working with the Kenya Wildlife Service, employing both Aerial and Canine Units. If you want to support them, you can donate here.

Jeremy is a Writing Seminars and International Studies major at Johns Hopkins University. He is an avid writer and the Co-Founder of Writers’ Warehouse, Johns Hopkins’ first creative writing group. He is an advocate for Indigenous rights, and studies how Indigenous philosophies can be used to help prevent climate change. Using his writing, he hopes to bring attention to underrepresented voices in today’s world.

The Disappearing Snows of Mt. Kilimanjaro

March 31, 2023

As the mountain's snow melts, its ecosystem faces escalating pressures from tourism, climate change, and deforestation.

Mt Kilimanjaro. Tambako the Jagua. CC BY-ND 2.0.

If you have perused Ernest Hemingway’s “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” you'd be moved by the writer's introspection and memories, and no doubt recall its breathtaking descriptions of Mount Kilimanjaro’s wintery peaks. Nestled in Southeastern Africa, where temperatures often soar to scorching heights, a mountain graced with a frozen crest appears as a natural wonder. Nevertheless, before many have had the opportunity to appreciate its miraculous summit, the pristine snow has begun to melt at an alarming speed.

Rising above the plains of Africa, Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcano and the highest free-standing mountain in the world. Its snow-capped peak is created through a combination of freezing temperatures and precipitation at high altitudes, where the mercury can drop to a frigid 15.98 F, calculated according to the linear relationship between altitude and temperature. Long-term averages indicate that, in the middle of February, snowfall occurs three days per week on Mount Kilimanjaro.

The captivating ice-capped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro renders it a highly coveted destination for tourists visiting Tanzania, with many foreigners and locals flocking to the site each year. As far back as the 1860s, Europeans had launched their quest to summit Kilimanjaro. In 2006, Kilimanjaro National Park Authorities (KINAPA) registered 40,701 climbers on the mountain, with the Machame trail reigning supreme, welcoming 15,879 adventurers. Today, numerous guiding companies, including the African Zoom and Abercrombie & Kent, offer luxury expeditions and comprehensive travel guides for those seeking to conquer the “roof of Africa.”

While Hemingway’s story may have brought Kilimanjaro to the attention of the world, the mountain has long been revered by locals who have given it names like “Mountain of Greatness” in Swahili and “That which defeats the caravan” in Chagga. The Maasai, who have a deep appreciation for Kilimanjaro, affectionately refer to it as the “Mountain of Water” due to its crucial function as the primary source of water for the surrounding area.

Regrettably, as mentioned above, generations to come might be deprived of the privilege of admiring the captivating natural beauty of Mount Kilimanjaro. Several complicated factors contribute to the rapid disappearance of its ice cap. Scientists have established a link between global climate change and variations in greenhouse gasses, along with transformations in land cover. The consequences of climate change loom over developing nations, and Tanzania is no exception. Additionally, glaciers located in tropical regions are more vulnerable to the impact of climate change, and they can only be sustained at exceptionally high altitudes, where the weather is colder than regional averages.

A recent study by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in late 2022 suggests that 1/3 World Heritage glacier sites will disappear by 2050 due to global warming, including Mount Kilimanjaro. Even if global greenhouse gas emissions are reduced, the melting is unlikely to be reversed.

The danger to Kilimanjaro’s ecosystem has not only inspired a widespread climate advocacy campaign but also sparked controversy. In 2002 a group of scientists led by Ohio State’s Lonnie Thompson published a paper predicting that Kilimanjaro would be devoid of ice by 2020. This claim was picked up in 2006 by former Vice President Al Gore in his documentary film “An Inconvenient Truth,” designed to raise awareness about global warming, emphasizing the melting glacier as a potent symbol of the impending environmental catastrophe. A decade later, the World Mountain Forum in Uganda saw the release of a report by the United Nations, revealing that the warming of the Earth’s temperature, caused by climate change, has led to a marked increase in the occurrence of wildfires on Mount Kilimanjaro, which has resulted in a hastened loss of forest cover. The report stressed the gravity of the situation and called upon Tanzania to protect Mount Kilimanjaro’s water catchment area, including reforestation, early warning systems, and climate adaptation strategies.

It’s obvious by now that Thompson et al. and Gore overestimated the future decline of Kilimanjaro’s glaciers. This has led websites such as Climate Realism and The Climate Record, as well as anti-regulation groups, to attempt to use Kilimanjaro’s lingering snow and ice to discredit climate science and Al Gore’s environmentalist stance. H. Sterling Burnett, a senior fellow, and head of environmental programs at the National Center for Policy Analysis criticized the Kilimanjaro snow melting prediction, stating that it is just one of many scare stories that scientists have had to revise or abandon in the face of significant counter-evidence. Although these specific predictions were false, the result of extrapolating past data far into the future, overgeneralization of a complex system, and neglecting the impact of yearly fluctuations in precipitation, this does not mean that Kilimanjaro or the planet at large are safe from the effects of climate change.

Although perhaps relieved by the presence of snow on Kilimanjaro’s ice cap in 2023, residents of nearby settlements confront other severe environmental problems such as dried streams during the sowing season and deforestation, problematic for a country that is heavily reliant on wood products. Additionally, even if the melting of the snow cap is not affected as much as predicted by Thompson and Gore, the vegetation communities’ altitudinal zonation will inevitably change in the medium-to-long term as the climate warms.

Ultimately, it is crucial to prioritize safeguarding the closely-knit ecosystem that surrounds Kilimanjaro’s snow-covered peak by taking necessary steps to bolster its resistance to the escalating pressures from tourism, climate change, and deforestation.

To Get Involved:

If you are looking to explore Kilimanjaro, there are various sustainable approaches to consider. Visit the site of Responsible Travel to learn more.

Mount Kilimanjaro is managed by Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro National Park, which strives to protect wildlife and provide eco-friendly tourism services around the mountain’s local community. Visit the site of Mount Kilimanjaro National Park to learn more.

The African Blackwood Conservation Project (ABCP) focuses on replanting the tree species Dalbergia melanoxylon, also known as grenadilla, African blackwood, or mpingo, in eastern Africa, including the Kilimanjaro area. The ABCP has played a significant role in Mount Kilimanjaro reforestation efforts. Visit the ABCP website to learn more.

US Lags Behind Other Nations in Recycling

March 30, 2023

Germany, Austria and South Korea recycle 20% more trash than the US. Can they lead the US to a new era of recycling?

Landfill in Danbury, Connecticut, United Nations Photo, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

The United States recycles 32.1% of its trash, meaning the other 67.9% of U.S. waste ends up in landfills, is incinerated, or gets lost somewhere else in the environment. Moreover, only 5 to 6 % of plastic ends up being recycled, while 85% of plastic American plastic goes to the landfills, and another 10% is incinerated. These numbers are especially concerning given that plastic is the one of the most difficult types of waste to biodegrade.

Nationally, there are few to no laws in the U.S. that mandate recycling. There have been efforts to change that. On March 5, 2021, Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley and Representative Alan Lowenthal reintroduced the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act, a bill that would ban single use plastic bags and discourage the use of plastic utensils and straws. In addition, it would increase post consumer recycling minimums to 25% by 2025 and 80% by 2040. However, like many similar bills in the United States, it has not been passed.

While the federal government lags behind, certain states have been considerably more active in promoting recycling. Since 2022, New York has passed two important laws; one demanding that the carpet industry becomes more responsible for its waste and the other allowing consumers to fix their own electronics. California has banned certain types of produce bags, and Michigan has committed to overhauling its recycling system, striving for a 45% recycling rate, albeit without a clear deadline as to when this needs to be achieved.

With that said, even with state efforts, the US still remains far behind the world’s leaders in recycling; Germany, Austria, and South Korea. They recycle 56.1%, 53.8%, and 53.7% of their waste, respectively, each of which is over 20% more than the current US figure and around 10% more than Michigan's new recycling goal. This largely is due to enhanced recycling laws, as well as cultures and practices in those countries that incentivize and engage their populations to be environmentally conscious.

Germany

German Recycling Bins, 3268zauber, CC BY-SA 3.0

The first pillar of Germany’s recycling success is its Deposit Refund System (DRS). In Germany, when consumers purchase a bottle that can be recycled, they must pay a deposit between 0.08 and 0.25 euros. Single use plastic bottles and more environmentally harmful products tend to have a higher deposit. Once the items are returned to a retail store, the consumer will be reimbursed for their deposit. This system has proven to be incredibly successful, reaching a 98.4% return rate. In 2024, Germany plans to expand their DRS to include all milk and dairy product containers.

Germany also has a mandatory recycling system. Each household has four different recycling bins: yellow bins for lightweight packaging, green or blue bins for waste and cardboard, black or gray bins for residual and household waste, and brown bins for compostable kitchen and garden waste. If the waste is not sorted correctly, workers at the recycling plant will go through the waste and sort it manually, and the household that failed to sort the waste will be fined.

Austria

Plastic Bags Package, zeevveez, CC BY 2.0.

Three major policies contribute to Austria’s high recycling rate. First, like Germany, Austria has a rigorous recycling sorting system. Second is the country’s blanket landfill ban. This policy instructs that any item with a total organic carbon emission rate of more than 5% is banned from going into landfills, meaning that the most harmful products have to be recycled. Finally, in 2020, Austria prohibited the use of plastic bags, completely removing one of the longest lasting products in landfills, with a decomposition time of 200-500 years.

South Korea

South Korea’s “pay-as-you-throw” recycling system requires consumers to buy specialized food waste bags, costing about 20 cents. The profits from the food waste bags goes straight back into the recycling market, greatly minimizing the cost of recycling to the government. When these bags are full, consumers leave the bag in a special bin. These bags are then picked up and composted, leading South Koreans to recycle almost 100% of their food waste.

In 2022 Keppel, a Singapore-based company, spent about 600 million dollars to buy EMK Co, South Korea’s biggest waste management and recycling company. Keppel expects the value of their investment in EMK to almost double in five years. South Korea has created a system in which private companies are able to make a profit buying and selling waste, greatly increasing the percentage of their waste being recycled.

It's important to recognize that while all these systems are successful in their own countries, the cultural, political, and economic environment in the US is very different from that of Germany, Austria or South Korea. Additionally, the US has a population about four times the size of Germany, the biggest of the three countries, meaning any recycling measures are much more difficult to implement. Yet, with the US lagging so far behind the world leaders in recycling, it would be foolish to not at least consider the solutions that have worked so well for these other countries.

GET INVOLVED

Keep America Beautiful was founded in 1953. Since then, they have created many different recycling programs, including recently a Cigarette Litter Prevention Program. Within a ten year period, they earned their communities over a billion dollars in economic value, have planted millions of plants, flowers, and bulbs, cleaned over 500 kilometers of roads, and collected over 750 million pounds of litter. You can donate to Keep America here.

Ample Harvest Inc. was founded in 2009 by Gary Oppenheimer as a way to reduce food waste by having gardeners donate their surplus food. Beyond this, they have created an Emergency Food Assistance Program to help food insecure families. Currently, they are working with over 62 million gardeners, spread over all 50 states, allowing them to generate billions of pounds of food they donate to over 8,000 different charities. This has given 4,200 different communities a sustainable food supply free of charge and, in 2020 alone, saved 1.6 million pounds of produce from being discarded. You can donate money to Ample Harvest Inc. here and give your excess food produce to your local food pantry here.

The Container Recycling Institute functions much like a Think Tank, researching recycling so they can provide recycling options and insights to local communities and governments. With a perfect 100% score for Finance and Accountability on Charity Navigator, The Container Recycling Institute, since its founding in 1991, has grown into an incredibly trustworthy Institution. As a leading recycling resource, they helped expand the Connecticut recycling Bottle Bill, the largest expansion of this kind in 10 years. In California, they helped raise the annual consumer recycling budget to over 100 million dollars. You can donate to The Container Recycling Institute here and become a member here.