Author: Matt Lesso

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Ethiopia is one of the largest and fastest growing economies in Africa and over the past decade has averaged double digit economic growth. The country has successfully met several of the Millennium Development Goals. Poverty has been reduced from 44 percent in 2000 to 30 percent in 2011. Primary education is now universal and infant mortality rates have fallen dramatically. New skyscrapers are being built all over Addis Ababa and Ethiopia is aiming to become a middle income country by 2025. Corruption has declined greatly too and Ethiopia is now considered the least corrupt country in…

YARMOUK, Syria — Founded in 1957 as a home for Palestinian refugees who had lost their land in Israel, Yarmouk refugee camp is now the center of the worst humanitarian crisis in Syria. The camp has been under siege by the Syrian government for more than two years, and in recent weeks has become the center of fighting between government forces, rebels and Islamic State militants. Before the war the camp was home to between 150,000 and 200,000 Palestinian refugees and, despite being called a camp, was actually a vibrant suburb of Damascus. Residents lived in concrete houses instead of…

MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Nicaragua’s $50 billion canal has generated a great deal of controversy. The plan is to build a canal through Lake Nicaragua and connect the Pacific and Caribbean coasts to provide passage for ships too big to fit through the Panama Canal. The project is financed by a wealthy Chinese businessman, Wang Jing. Supporters of the project say it will boost Nicaragua’s economy and provide much needed revenue. Critics say the project will harm communities in the path of the canal and could have serious environmental consequences. The government claims the canal will double Nicaragua’s GDP and predicts that five percent…

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala — The Central American countries of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras have some of the world’s highest rates of violent crime. Extortion by criminal gangs is a serious problem and has turned the lives of many impoverished workers into a nightmare. Many Central American workers have their already low wages extorted while many of their employers’ profits are also extorted. Those who refuse to pay are often killed. Extortion has had the worst effect on public transit systems. Bus and taxi companies and their drivers are regularly extorted not only by major gangs such as 18th Street…

ACAPULCO, Mexico — Tourism has long been one of Mexico’s most important industries, but certain parts of the country have seen their tourist industries hit hard by rising drug violence. For many places it’s a catch-22: tourists get scared away by drug violence, but at the same time their money is the only thing keeping the drug trade from overrunning the town. Once the tourists leave, there is only one other way for people to make a living. Acapulco is perhaps the hardest hit of Mexico’s resort towns. Once a popular destination for movie stars, the city is now in the…

ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay — The small, landlocked country of Paraguay has long been one of the poorest and least developed in South America. For decades it has been plagued by corruption and political instability. Poverty in Paraguay has been widespread. While all of these problems remain, the country has been making some notable improvements. Over the past decade Paraguay has become one of the fastest growing economies in Latin America and in 2013 its economy grew at a rate of 14.2 percent. The statistics for 2014 have not yet been calculated, but indicators suggest it has sustained its impressive growth. This…

WASHINGTON — A group of BBC journalists were recently allowed to enter and report from inside Eritrea. This is the first time in over a decade that foreign journalists have been allowed to film inside the country, which is one of the poorest in the world. Famines are common and malnutrition is high. To make matters worse, it is ruled by one of the most repressive regimes in the world. The country is often referred to as the “North Korea of Africa.” Eritrea was once an Italian colony and was joined with Ethiopia after the Second World War in what…

MUMBAI, INDIA — India’s budget for 2015 is being called its most significant and comprehensive in more than 20 years. It includes several reforms aimed at boosting growth and investment and making India a more friendly country for business. It also has several measures that could prove to be major turning points in India’s fight against extreme poverty. The budget puts a lot of emphasis on tax reform. It lowers the corporate tax rate by 25 percent. It also simplifies India’s tax code and removes red tape barriers. Business leaders are optimistic about these reforms and expect them to boost…

SANA’A, Yemen — As the security situation in Yemen continues to deteriorate, many fear the country is heading into a civil war between different armed groups. Yemen has never been a particularly stable country, but over the past four years the situation has quickly gone downhill. In 2011 then President Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down and was replaced by a transitional government under Mansour Hadi. The transitional government was backed by the west and neighboring gulf states and was intended to bring the country’s various factions together as part of a national dialogue. The Houthi militia in northern Yemen originally…

YOLA, Nigeria — As fighting and violence intensify, many in northern Nigeria have been forced to flee their homes. The Boko Haram conflict has become one of Africa’s bloodiest ongoing conflicts and is turning settlements in northeast Nigeria into ghost towns. Towns that were once home to 100,000 people now have fewer than 1,000. This has resulted in a major humanitarian refugee crisis. Adamawa is a state in northern Nigeria that has become the center of the Boko Haram’s violence. It is one of three Nigerian states to have declared a state of emergency due to the conflict. The American University…