Author: Mandy Otis

SEATTLE, Washington — Five collaborative innovations are taking small but significant steps to improve the developing world. These following initiatives address the importance of basic necessities, and represent just a few of the innovators, collaborators and creators trying to make health and education a worldwide priority. 1. Well-Good Well-Good provides money to various water charities while encouraging children to practice math skills. The program was founded by two math teachers at Bolton School in the United Kingdom. The program’s sponsors donate money to water projects in the developing world based on a number of math questions answered correctly per student. Students practicing…

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one billion people worldwide need one or more assistive products due to disability. This number is expected to more than double by 2050. Currently, only one in 10 people who need these products have access. 80 percent of disabled people living with a disability in the developing world have no access to healthcare. 20 percent of the world’s poorest have some type of disability. Women are at a special disadvantage in the developing world; a 2004 study conducted in India found that nearly all disabled women and girls had been beaten at home,…

SEATTLE — The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is an international organization which has set the bar for sustainability reporting among governments and global businesses since 1997. In the 1990s, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) realized the need for a standardized method of reporting on economic, social, and environmental sustainability issues among industry and government. As such, UNEP is a co-founder of GRI. The goal of GRI is to help these various entities understand their non-financial impact on climate change, human rights and corruption through transparency, the inclusion of all stakeholders, global perspective and public interest. GRI maintains its has the…

LEXINGTON, Kentucky — The education of children, both boys and girls alike, is critical to future global economic success and stability. Educational quality and access is lacking in many developing countries for both boys and girls. However, girls in developing countries are even less likely to have access to education because of patriarchal societal rules, forced labor, child marriage and genital mutilation. Sixteen million girls between the ages of 6 and 11 will never have the opportunity to go to school, which is twice the rate of boys in developing countries. Additionally, two-thirds of women in developing countries are unpaid…

LEXINGTON, Kentucky — United voices spoke and said “never again” after the killing of six million Jews and millions of other groups during the Holocaust. Subsequently, acts of genocide occurred in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur, claiming the lives of approximately 170 million people in total. Today, acts of genocide continue in Sudan, Burma, Syria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, while religious violence rages in Israel, Palestine, Côte d’Ivoire and Burundi. The question of how to prevent genocide lingers on as the killing continues. Genocide Defined Genocide, as defined in Article Two of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention…

SEATTLE — Capital Finder, a business tool by Allied Crowds, supports trends in African entrepreneurship and small business growth. The tool assists entrepreneurs and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in emerging markets with securing capital. Capital Finder lists available sources of capital in a country by industry and the type of capital available. Capital Finder does not provide funding directly, but shares contact information for each potential funding source. The service is free and offers an ever-growing list of capital options. Tech Hubs Capital Finder has great public service potential, as tech hubs are growing in Africa. As of July 2016, Africa was home…

JERUSALEM — The 2016 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Global Education Summit was held September 25-27 at the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem. This marks the first time world education leaders convened in the city of Jerusalem. Organized jointly by the European Union and Israel’s Education Ministry, the location for the OECD Global Education summit was chosen to symbolize the need for innovation in education. Israel is considered second only to Silicon Valley in technological innovation, having been referred to as the “start-up nation” by Dan Senor and Saul Singer in their 2009 book discussing Israel’s impressive ability…

CARACAS, Venezuela — Education in Venezuela was once a bright light in Latin America. Years of excessive spending and borrowing, political corruption and an unrealistic exchange rate under Hugo Chavez and his successor, Maduro, contributed to the current economic collapse. Heavy investments in education, healthcare, employment and poverty reduction rested on the back of booming oil prices that fell sharply. Chavez became President amidst an effective educational system that was working for the country, but only available to the middle class and wealthy due to annual fees. Chavez envisioned an educational system that also provided educational access to poor populations in…

SEATTLE — Indonesia boasts the largest economy in Southeast Asia with promising growth predictions. The economy grew rapidly in the early 2000s. This growth has slowed down considerably, but Indonesia still shows trends of sustainability and continued economic strength. Sound government policies, decreased protectionism and a growing middle class has contributed to foreign investment, increased purchasing power among consumers and strides in alleviating poverty, although there is still much room for continued progress. The Positive Signs Indonesia’s gross national product per capita rose from $560 in 2000 to $3,374 in 2015. In addition, the country reduced its poverty rate to…

SEATTLE — The Borgen Project sat down with Sarah Aubry to discuss her commitment to working in Haiti. Aubry is not famous, but she has spent considerable time in Haiti working with children. Her interest in Haiti began at church. A group came to her congregation and gave a presentation on their efforts to build schools in Haiti. Each of the presenters had industrial skills to offer, such as plumbing, electrical and engineering. Sarah asked herself what skills she had to offer and settled on two answers: teaching and caregiving. She began researching needs to see how she could help.…