Author: Olivia Cyr

HONDURAS — According to The World Bank, Honduras is a low- to middle-income country wherein 66 percent of residents live in poverty. Sadly, many Hondurans suffer through these conditions, and in rural areas, one in five people experience the most extreme poverty, living on less that $1.90 per day. Major challenges to the country include holding the highest level of economic inequality in Latin America, high rates of crime and violence amongst young people, and decreased crop exporting which is detrimental to the agricultural sector. Additionally, Honduras is susceptible to natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes. On its own,…

MANAMA — In Bahrain, a Muslim country situated in the gulf between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, lives 1.4 million citizens who do not live equal or balanced lives. The country’s diversified economy is a result of low oil production, thus creating not-so-prosperous lives for a portion of the population. Tension is higher as the Shia majority and Sunni population are divided over rule of the Sunni King, with the Shia population claiming class and systematic discrimination in the job market. So with all the political and public tensions, why is Bahrain poor? Economic Gap For most of the people living…

Though there is no official poverty line in the Pacific island country of New Zealand, hunger in New Zealand does exist and is a crisis of living for many families. For hundreds of thousands of the country’s residents, their reality is providing for themselves and their families on an average of about $31,000 annually or less. One in seven households, around 682,500 people live in poverty, including 220,000 children. In an effort to shed light on the poverty problem, support hungry individuals and alleviate the burden on families, four organizations are stepping in to help. Global Nutrition Report Global Nutrition…

GABORONE — Botswana is one of Africa’s most stable and transparent countries due to its long history of a multi-party democratic government and its exceptional human rights record. The country boasts a prosperous diamond mining industry, and paired with a booming tourism market, the country is now a middle-income nation. However, while a bird’s eye view of the country shows a generally good picture, the Botswana poverty rate has had its ups and downs. Fortunately, Botswana is now seeing some of the lowest rates of poverty in decades, though some people still struggle. Of the country’s two million residents, an…

Bordering Afghanistan and Uzbekistan near the Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan is a nation of nearly 5.2 million people. A portion of the population is impoverished, and many people suffer from diseases. The following are some of the most common diseases in Turkmenistan, and the past and present status of the country’s healthcare system. Studies from as early as 2002 show that chronic diseases are the most deadly in the country. In 2002 alone, 73 percent of all deaths were caused by chronic illnesses like cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. This could owe to the annual mortality rate of 1,131 per 100,000 people,…

MOLDOVA — The Republic of Moldova, a country in Eastern Europe bordered by Romania and Ukraine, is home to more than three million people of Romanian descent. Unfortunately, it is one of the poorest countries in Europe, with its lack of efficient water regulation being one contributor. Although water quality in Moldova is not at its peak of sanitation and regulation, the situation has vast room for improvement. According to a 2007 survey from residents in Chisinau, Moldova’s capital, uncleanliness and water pollution, including drinking water inaccessibility and overall water quality, were perceived as the biggest issues with pollution in…

TUNIS — The problem of hunger in Tunisia has fluctuated from relatively high to significantly low since 1990. The North African Islamic country of approximately 10.7 million people finds .40 percent of its population is undernourished as of 2016, but, fortunately, progress is being made. The early 1990s saw some of Tunisia’s highest rates of hunger. In 1992, 5.3 percent of children died before the age of five, and 1.1 percent of all people were undernourished by 1996. By 1997, 8.1 percent of children under the age of five were severely underweight, and Tunisia had a Global Hunger Index score…