Topics for 2011-2012

Water Scarcity
Water is one of the world’s most valuable natural resources, but it is also one of the scarcest. One in every three people in the world lives without enough water to meet their daily needs. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), almost one-fifth of the world’s population, or 1.2 billion people, live in areas where water is scarce. One-quarter of the world’s people live in developing countries that have water shortages because they do not have the systems needed to transport water from rivers and other freshwater sources.

When people do not have access to water, they are forced to drink unsafe water, which can increase the risk of dangerous diseases, like cholera, typhoid fever, and dysentery. They cannot bathe adequately or maintain proper sanitation systems. Women especially have to carry heavy containers of water over long distances, which can cause permanent skeletal damage. People living with water scarcity also often store water in their homes to make sure there is enough. But this can increase the risk of water contamination and attract large numbers of mosquitoes, which often carry life-threatening diseases, like dengue fever and malaria.

To download the full briefing paper, click here.

 

The Situation in Somalia: Crisis and Recovery
Over the past four years, severe and prolonged drought has affected the lives of 12.4 million people in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Djibouti, all countries located in the Horn of Africa. At the center of this crisis is Somalia, where the drought has caused widespread crop and livestock deaths, wreaking havoc on people’s lives. Most of Somalia’s nine million people currently live in poverty without adequate food, water, or sanitation.

Somalia has also been without a strong central government for 20 years, which has made it especially difficult to tackle the famine successfully. Much of southern Somalia is controlled by al-Shabaab, an armed insurgent group linked to al-Qaeda that has resisted relief efforts. For instance, in 2009 al-Shabaab prohibited Western aid workers from providing water, food, and medical care to people in desperate need of assistance. Recently, it lifted this ban, but restrictions on international aid organizations remain. As a result, close to one million people have fled Somalia for refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia, where the governments are better able to cope with food emergencies.

To download the full briefing paper, click here.

 

Maternal and Child Health
Every minute, a woman dies from complications of pregnancy or childbirth somewhere in the world. According to the United Nations, 99 percent of the more than 350,000 women who die each year from regnancy or childbirth live in developing countries, where they often lack skilled medical care. As a result, they can experience lifethreatening complications, including loss of blood, infection, obstructed labor, and disorders related to high blood pressure. But although many causes of maternal death are preventable, the maternal mortality rate has declined very slowly.

Maternal health is not an isolated issue. It also has profound effects on the health and well-being of the world’s children. At its September 2010 Summit, the U.N. reported that 1 million children are left otherless every year and that children who have lost their mothers are up to 10 times more likely to die prematurely than those who have not. Newborn children are especially vulnerable. Four million newborns die within he first four weeks of life each year, representing 40 percent of deaths among children under the age of five. Many of the greatest health threats that children experience are easily preventable through improved edical care and access to proper vaccinations and antibiotics. Ten and a half million children, for example, die each year from treatable causes like diarrhea, pneumonia, and malaria.

To download the full briefing paper, click here.