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For Round Square a Spirit of Service celebrates personal development through practical experience that brings sustainable support & benefit to others.

A key feature in Round Square schools is the expectation that all students will engage with local and wider communities through voluntary service activities.

Through defining and promoting a Spirit of Service, Round Square schools promote responsible social action that is based on a deep understanding of challenges and issues faced by individuals and communities in need of support throughout the world.

In our schools we offer service programmes and projects, both individually and collaboratively, that engage large numbers of students and role-model positive, sustainable community partnership both locally and further afield.

Round Square also offers International Service Projects that bring together students from member schools in different countries to work in truly intercultural teams in support of communities in need throughout the world.

A spirit of service celebrates personal development through practical experience bringing sustainable support and benefit to others. Keenness and ability to learn in real-world contexts delivers meaningful and lasting value to others as well as to the primary learner. An understanding and respect for cultural difference develops through shared experience and partnership.

Co-creation of knowledge is underpinned by a genuine desire to work collaboratively to the benefit of individuals, a neighbourhood, city, nation or internationally. Practical experience provokes an emotional and intellectual response, and periods of reflection develop personal literacy through mindful consideration of ability, motivation, beliefs, perceptions, goals and ambition.

A person living out a spirit of service considers the opportunity, in all aspects of everyday life, to provide for the needs of others and take social action. They seek to ensure that their impact, and the difference they make in the world, are positive. Socially-responsible decision-making infuses every area of life from employment and business to personal, financial and domestic decisions.

Knowledge of how wealth is created, earned, used and managed by individuals and organisations enables consideration of the ethical and social impacts of financial decisions. This develops understanding of how the right application, investment and donation of financial resource can positively impact an individual, community or wider society.

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A key feature in Round Square schools is the expectation that all students will engage with local and wider communities through voluntary service activities

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Students are offered opportunities to explore leadership concepts, identify role-models and develop a range of leadership skills in a supportive environment

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For Round Square a Spirit of Adventure is characterised by those who push themselves beyond their perceived limits, cross boundaries & discover that they are capable of more than they thought.

Through defining and promoting a Spirit of Adventure, Round Square schools create a culture and environment in which students are encouraged to take risks and step outside their comfort zone. Understanding that adventure is defined by each individual according to personal limits, we encourage and celebrate challenge, courage and tenacity in all contexts.

For some this means physical challenge, and our schools offer a range of activities that engage students in exploring the great outdoors, both individually and in groups, in ways that promote personal growth and self-discovery. For others it might be public speaking, performance, a mental challenge or taking up a new hobby or skill, and a range of opportunities both within and outside the curriculum enable students to set and strive for personal goals.

A spirit of adventure is characterised by those who push themselves beyond their perceived limits, cross boundaries and discover that they are capable of more than they thought. It encompasses preparedness to take risks, face a challenge and persist against the odds and in the face of potential failure.

Willingness to rise to unusual, exciting or frightening experiences is evident, as is a compulsion to set and then stretch to reach a personal goal in any hobby or area of interest. Courage, discipline, tenacity and resilience are foundations on which ambition is built and personal development is achieved.

A person living out a spirit of adventure seeks out opportunities to stretch and push themselves beyond their own perceived abilities and the expectations of others. They are dynamic and driven, thriving on practical, experiential learning, and willing to tenaciously pursue their objective, overcoming setbacks and obstacles along the way.

An appreciation that adventure is a very personal experience, and will mean different things to different people, allows for supportive celebration of others' achievements in all aspects of life. As such, a readiness to embrace uncertainty, to explore and pioneer in any field is supported and encouraged.

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A Spirit of Adventure is characterised by those who push themselves beyond their perceived limits & discover that they are capable of more than they thought

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Round Square schools encourage their students to develop a spirit of Environmentalism and learn about the importance of tending to the future of the planet

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Round Square schools encourage their students to develop a Spirit of Democracy: a sense of equality, fairness, justice and a desire to do what is right for the greater good.

Round Square schools promote freedom of thought and speech, and appropriate forums and channels of communication are set in place to encourage student voice and debate. We bring democratic principles into the classroom, engaging students as active participants in lessons, activities and discussion that explore and demonstrate both the values of democracy and the importance of participating in democratic processes.

In defining and promoting a Spirit of Democracy Round Square schools capture and disseminate attitudes, understandings and competencies for positive community engagement, and active, involved local and global citizenship.

A spirit of democracy embraces a sense of equality, fairness, justice and a desire to do what is right (for the greater good). Freedom of thought and speech are valued and appropriate forums and channels of communication are discovered and explored.

An understanding of the importance of active democratic participation and the power of collective decision-making is supported by a strong sense of self-discipline and personal responsibility. Respect for diversity, cultural difference and heritage lead to an outspoken passion for equality, tolerance and inclusion.

Knowledge of civil rights and the ability to understand how society works, on a small scale (such as a school, family or a sports club) and on a larger scale - in one's neighbourhood, city, nation and internationally, enables participation and action, and builds capacity to make a difference.

A person living out a spirit of democracy seeks to be well informed about her or his world and has an outward-looking disposition, engaging with the issues of the day, valuing the opportunity to be involved in making his or her society a better place, and expressing a sense of public duty. Understanding the needs of others and feeling empathy for them becomes a catalyst for action and prompts engagement in social service activity. A spirit of democracy also encompasses the development and application of appropriate social skills to interact respectfully with others in order to contribute as a positive and active member of the community.

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Round Square schools encourage their students to develop a Spirit of Democracy: a sense of equality, fairness and justice.

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In defining and promoting a Spirit of Internationalism Round Square schools identify and develop - in a variety of settings - the attitudes, understandings

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The World Bank Group's goals are to end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. This mission underpins our analytical, operational, and convening work in about 140 client countries.

For three decades, the number of people living in extreme poverty- defined as those who live on less than $2.15 per person per day at 2017 purchasing power parity-was declining. But the trend was interrupted in 2020, when poverty rose due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 crisis. The number of people in extreme poverty rose by 70 million to more than 700 million people. The global extreme poverty rate reached 9.3 percent, up from 8.4 percent in 2019.

The world's poorest people bore the steepest costs of the pandemic. Their income losses were twice as high as the world's richest, and global inequality rose for the first time in decades. The poorest also faced large setbacks in health and education which, if left unaddressed by policy action, will have lasting consequences for their lifetime income prospects.

The recovery since then has been uneven. Rising food and energy prices-fueled in part by the war in Ukraine and by climate shocks and conflict-have hindered a swift recovery. By the end of 2022, as many as 685 million people could still be living in extreme poverty.

The recent setbacks took place when the speed of progress toward poverty reduction was already slowing, in tandem with subdued global economic growth.

The recent crises have pushed the world further off track from the global goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030. Given current trends, 574 million people-nearly 7 percent of the world's population-will still be living on less than $2.15 a day in 2030. And the challenge is made harder by the fact that extreme poverty is concentrated in parts of the world where it will be hardest to eradicate: in Sub-Saharan Africa, in conflict-affected areas, and in rural areas.

Last Updated: Nov 30, 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic dealt the biggest setback to global poverty in decades. The economic recovery has been uneven, affected by rising food and energy prices-due to the war in Ukraine and climate change, among other factors-and high indebtedness in many countries. In addition, extreme poverty is now more concentrated in places where it will be hardest to eradicate, including in conflict-affected and rural areas.

Strategies to reach the least well-off must be tailored to each country's context, considering the latest data and analysis, and the needs of the population. How the world responds to these major challenges today will have a direct bearing on whether the current reversals in global poverty reduction can be turned around.

The World Bank provides recommendations for a complementary two-track approach: responding effectively to the urgent crisis in the short run, while continuing to focus on foundational development problems, including conflict and climate change.
Closing the gaps between policy aspiration and attainment
Too often, there is a wide gap between policies as articulated and their attainment in practice-between what citizens rightfully expect, and what they experience daily. Policy aspirations can be laudable, but there is likely to be considerable variation in the extent to which they can be realized, and in which groups benefit from them. For example, at the local level, those who have the least influence in a community might not be able to access basic services. It is critical to forge implementation strategies that can rapidly and flexibly respond to close the gaps.
Enhancing learning, improving data
From information gathered in household surveys to pixels captured by satellite images, data can inform policies and spur economic activity, serving as a powerful weapon in the fight against poverty. More data is available today than ever before, yet its value is largely untapped. Data is also a double-edged sword, requiring a social contract that builds trust by protecting people against misuse and harm, and works toward equal access and representation.
Investing in preparedness and prevention
The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that years of progress in reducing poverty can quickly disappear when a crisis strikes. Prevention measures often have low political payoff, with little credit given for disasters averted. Over time, populations with no lived experience of calamity can become complacent, presuming that such risks have been eliminated or can readily be addressed if they happen. COVID-19, together with climate change and enduring conflicts, is reminding us of the importance of investing in preparedness and prevention measures comprehensively and proactively.
Expanding cooperation and coordination
Contributing to and maintaining public goods require extensive cooperation and coordination. This is crucial for promoting widespread learning and improving the data-driven foundations of policymaking. It is also important for forming a sense of shared solidarity during crises and ensuring that the difficult policy choices by officials are both trusted and trustworthy.

Overall, with more than 60 percent of the world's extreme poor living in middle-income countries, we cannot focus solely on low-income countries if we want to end extreme poverty. We need to focus on the poorest people, regardless of where they live, and work with countries at all income levels to invest in their well-being and their future.

The goal to end extreme poverty works hand in hand with the World Bank Group's goal to promote shared prosperity, focused on increasing income growth among the bottom 40 percent in every country. Boosting shared prosperity broadly translates into improving the welfare of the least well-off in each country and includes a strong emphasis on tackling persistent inequalities that keep people in poverty from generation to generation.

Our work at the World Bank Group is based on strong country-led programs to improve living conditions-to drive growth, raise median incomes, create jobs, fully incorporate women and young people into economies, address environmental and climate challenges, and support stronger, more stable economies for everyone.

We continue to work closely with countries to help them find the best ways to improve the lives of their least advantaged citizens.

Last Updated: Nov 30, 2022

The World Bank Group works to end poverty in several ways:

Funding projects that can have transformational impacts on communities.

Collecting and analyzing the critical data and evidence needed to target these programs to reach the poorest and most vulnerable.

Helping governments create more inclusive, effective policies that can benefit entire populations and lay the groundwork for prosperity for future generations.

Some examples:

Cambodia has achieved remarkable progress in reducing poverty and boosting shared prosperity, but key reforms are needed to sustain pro-poor growth. The World Bank is supporting Cambodia to help address the country's challenges of limited economic diversification, rapidly increasing urbanization, human capital deficiencies, and infrastructure gaps.

Mexico has experienced high income inequality and concentration of poverty in a few states. The World Bank Group has supported Mexico's efforts to develop a more inclusive, effective, and integrated social protection system including relaunching a conditional cash transfer program to help improve access to higher education and formal employment.

In one of India's poorest states, Bihar, a program financed by the World Bank has transformed livelihoods by mobilizing almost 10 million rural women into self-help groups and granting them access to finance and markets to start and expand their businesses.

A pilot program in Ecuador used text messages to relay information and encouragement to caregivers in an impoverished region of the country and saw a significant improvement in the nutrition and health of children.

Since 2007, a team of experts from the World Bank has been helping Kenya strengthen statistical capacity by reshaping its National Bureau of Statistics. With World Bank's support, the bureau implemented a range of surveys to update key indicators of official statistics and improved the data ecosystem. The project is funded by $50 million from the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA).

In-depth maps in countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Croatia, Republic of Serbia, and Vietnam show where economic diversity and gaps in services exist within a country. This, as part of the poverty assessment process, helps policymakers better target policies and programs to reach and benefit the poor.

Yemen's high malnutrition rates have drawn global attention, highlighting the impact the country's five-and-half-year civil war has had on its population. The Emergency Crisis Response Project gives pregnant women and women with children under the age of five money to buy food and teaches them about child nutrition. It has been able to reach more than 165,000 pregnant or lactating women and 175,000 children so far.

Conflict-affected communities in Mindanao are among the poorest in the Philippines, suffering from poor infrastructure and lack of basic services. The World Bank along with other partners have aimed to enhance access to services and economic opportunities and build social cohesion. These projects have help build water systems, community centers, sanitation facilities, access roads, post-harvest facilities, and farming and fishing equipment, benefiting 650,000 people in 284 villages in a decade.

An innovative series of rapid survey methodologies were pioneered in Somalia, one of the poorest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The surveys overcame significant security and implementation obstacles to yield the most comprehensive analysis of the welfare of the Somali people in decades and is now being used in other countries.

Last Updated: Nov 30, 2022

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Fighting poverty in all of its dimensions lies at the core of the World Bank's work. We work closely with governments to develop sound policies so that poor people can improve their livelihoods, and access social and infrastructure services and good jobs.

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Poverty Is Powerlessness and Voicelessness
Deepa Narayan

"Nobody hears the poor. It is the rich who are being heard." -a discussion group of poor men and women, Egypt

"Poverty is humiliation, the sense of being dependent and of being forced to accept rudeness, insults, and indifference when we seek help."-a poor woman, Latvia

"When the poor and rich compete for services, the rich will always get priority."-a discussion group of poor men and women, Kenya

The world looks different when viewed through the eyes of a poor person. In preparation for the World Development Report 2000/ 2001: Attacking Poverty, the World Bank conducted a research study that brought together the experiences of over 60,000 poor women and men from 60 countries around the world. Using open-ended qualitative and participatory research techniques, the Voices of the Poor study aimed to understand poverty from the perspective of poor people and to illuminate the human experience behind the poverty statistics.

The study establishes, first, that poverty is multidimensional and has important noneconomic dimensions; second, that poverty is always specific to a location and a social group, and awareness of these specifics is essential to the design of policies and programs intended to attack poverty; and third, that despite differences in the way poverty is experienced by different groups and in different places, there are striking commonalities in the experience of poverty in very different countries, from Russia to Brazil, Nigeria to Indonesia. Poor people's lives are characterized by powerlessness and voicelessness, which limit their choices and define the quality of their interactions with employers, markets, the state, and even nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Institutions both formal and informal mediate and limit poor people's access to opportunities.

These findings challenge all those committed to working for poverty reduction. The realities of poor people's lives must inform policymaking at macro as well as micro levels.

Multidimensional nature of poverty

When poor people speak about well-being, they speak about the material, social, physical, psychological, and spiritual dimensions, in addition to security and the freedom of choice and action. In Ethiopia, an older woman said, "a better life for me is to be healthy and peaceful and to live in love without hunger." In Russia, "well-being is life free from daily worries about lack of money." A Brazilian said well-being is achieved "when there is cohesion, no quarrels, no hard feelings, happiness, peace with life." In Thailand, well-being was simply defined as "happiness: it is found in peace and harmony in the mind and in the community."

Conversely, poverty and ill-being are the lack of material well-being, insecurity, social isolation, psychological distress, and lack of freedom of choice and action. Not having enough to eat or possessing any assets to cope with shocks were mentioned over and over again. A poor woman in Egypt said, "a poor person is a person who does not own anything that provides him with a permanent source of living. If he has a permanent source of income, he will not ask for other people's assistance." With few exceptions, poor people reported that insecurity and unpredictability of life have increased in the past few years. In Russia, a poor man said, "every day I am afraid of the next." A poor woman in a favela (slum) in Brazil said, "there is no control over anything, at any hour a gun could go off, especially at night." Poor people also stated that, unlike the rich, they did not have the luxury of long-term planning horizons. As a poor woman in Bulgaria put it, "to be poor means to live from day to day, you have no money, no hope." The new poor in the former Soviet Union countries, who had no previous experience with poverty, often expressed shame, anger, and hopelessness in discussing their present conditions.

Poverty is specific to place and social group

Even within communities, poor people's priorities and experiences can be different, depending on their gender, age, marital status, and ethnicity. The plight of widows emerged as distinct from that of other social groups, particularly in Africa and Asia. Irrespective of the number of years of marriage, widows often found themselves thrown out of households and destitute overnight. The experience of one middle-aged woman speaks for widows in other parts of Africa and Asia: "when my husband died, my in-laws told me to get out. So I came to town and slept on the pavement." In Latin America, indigenous groups and those of African descent spoke about discrimination, whether in trying to get loans or buying food in the local markets or in their interactions with their children's schools.

Powerlessness and voicelessness

The defining experiences of poor people involve highly limited choices and an inability to make themselves heard or to influence or control what happens to them. Powerlessness results from multiple, interlocking disadvantages, which, in combination, make it extremely difficult for poor people to escape poverty (see figure on page 20). By and large, poor people say that insecurity of life has increased and they have not been able to take advantage of new opportunities because of corruption and a lack of connections, assets, finance, information, and skills.

Many poor people define poverty as the inability to exercise control over their lives. Old men in Nigeria say, "if you want to do something and have no power to do it, it is taluchi/ poverty." Limited resources force poor people to think in terms of very short time horizons. "You can't think of the future because you can only see how to survive in the present," says a group of young adults in Ecuador. Poor people are often forced to make agonizing choices: feed the family or send children to school; buy medicine for a sick family member or feed the rest of the family; take a dangerous job or starve. In Brazil, drawing the connection between power, control, and well-being, a poor woman says, "the rich man is the one who says I am going to do it, and does it." The poor, in contrast, cannot fulfill their wishes or develop their capacities.

Low self-confidence both results from poverty and increases powerlessness and isolation from opportunity. A group of young men in Bower Bank, Jamaica, rank low self-confidence as the second biggest impact of poverty. "Poverty makes us not believe in ourselves; we hardly leave the community. Not only are we not educated but we don't have a street-wise education."

Quality of interactions with institutions

Poor people's powerlessness and voicelessness are most clearly evident in the quality of their interactions with the formal and informal institutions on which they depend for their survival. Institutions mediate their access to resources and opportunities. But the individuals with whom they must interact in the private sector, state, and, to a much lesser extent, civil society are often exclusionary, rude, and uncaring, as well as corrupt and exploitative. Poor people end up depending on their own informal networks of kin and friends for survival and solace.

Most poor people, particularly women, survive in the informal sector through a patchwork of low-paying, temporary, seasonal, and, often, backbreaking jobs with little security and no guarantee of payment. Whether in Russia or Bolivia or India, poor people say that they often do not get paid when they complete a job and have no recourse to justice. In Russia, a man cries that he has been paid in mayonnaise and vodka when what he needs is cash to buy medicines for his sick daughter. In Malawi, poor fishermen tell of their powerlessness to negotiate a reasonable wage with boat owners: "The problem is that these boat owners know that we are starving, and so we would accept any little wages they would offer to us because they know we are very desperate . . . we want to save our children from dying." In Bulgaria, women over 25 report finding it difficult to find employment, while younger women report that sexual favors are expected from them in exchange for jobs. In Cambodia, a poor woman said, "poverty means working for more than 18 hours a day, but still not earning enough to feed myself, my husband, and our two children."

Although some government programs are excellent and some officials are highly praised, these are the exceptions. In general, poor people report finding it difficult to take advantage of government programs, whether for loans, education, or health care, or for child, disability, or old-age benefits. They give detailed descriptions of the amounts and frequency of the unofficial payments they are required to make for government services. They speak of teachers who do not teach, doctors who do not show up or who want to see patients for a fee in their private clinics, nurses who extract payments even to register patients. They complain of loan officers who deduct 20-50 percent of loans as "processing fees," policemen who are oppressors rather than protectors, and justice that is available only to the rich. All are commonplace occurrences in poor people's lives. Poor people long for government officials who listen, can be trusted, do not lie, and are respectful even when they cannot help.

Nongovernmental and religious organizations are valued where they exist. However, they, too, are often seen as not accountable or as refusing to listen to the poor. Religious organizations are also faulted for excluding people of other denominations from their beneficence, thereby sowing seeds of disunity in communities.

In many countries, although more poor women are working outside the home to boost household incomes with their earnings, they are not necessarily experiencing greater autonomy, empowerment, or involvement in decisionmaking in households or communities. Where changes have occurred, for example in communities in Bangladesh and Brazil, civil society groups have played important roles, providing resources, skills training, and counseling to women and women's solidarity groups. Nonetheless, the asymmetry of power within the household remains deeply entrenched, as indicated by widespread violence against women. Physical violence against women was reported in 93 percent of the communities visited. Domestic violence was reported in every community in Eastern Europe and Central Asia where the issue was discussed. In the words of a poor woman in Bulgaria, "women must take care of everything and to top it all off, get beaten up every night if he comes home drunk."

The challenge ahead

"A person doesn't have the strength or power to change anything, but if the overall system changed, things would be better." -a poor man in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Poor people are not the problem. Nor is the culture of poverty. Poor people work hard, are remarkably resourceful, and show grit and determination in providing for their families. All those committed to poverty reduction must ask themselves three questions: How can we build on what already works, design institutions, and change institutional character so that they support poor people's own initiatives to lift themselves out of poverty? How can poor people's connectivity with institutions be increased so that they are heard and represented in programs and policymaking at the local, national, and global levels? How can the knowledge, resources, and power at the local, national, and global levels be used to support poor people's own efforts?

Changing mindsets. The mindset of professional and technical experts must change. Instead of assuming they know what's best, they must strive to understand poor people's realities. They must be willing to listen; to understand poor people's knowledge, priorities, and actions; and then to use their technical knowledge to respond to poor people's concerns, whether at the local, national, or global levels. They must routinely ask what is happening within households and communities, so that macro and micro policy interventions designed to support women, men, or children have the desired impact. Participation in policy decisionmaking must be broad based.

Investing in poor people's assets. Poor people need assets to reduce their vulnerability. Just as the definitions of poverty are multidimensional, so are the assets poor people need to move out of poverty. Five kinds of assets are particularly important in an overall context of powerlessness.

First is the body, often a poor person's only asset. Frequently, it is weak, hungry, exhausted, and poor in appearance. For it to remain an asset rather than a liability requires measures to protect the health of the poor: provision of health care, water, sanitation, and energy-saving services that poor people can access and afford and are willing to use.

A second asset is organizational ability. Those who can organize and mobilize get their voices heard and their interests represented. The rich are organized and connected, the poor invariably are not. They depend primarily on their own informal and fragmented networks. Strong networks and membership-based organizations extending beyond the family and immediate community are essential to help poor people gain access to other assets and resources.

A third asset is information. While it is commonly recognized that information is power, poor people are cut off from information about their rights as workers, pensioners, and citizens, as well as about jobs, resources, and assistance programs. The experience of social entrepreneurs shows that new information technologies-the internet and cellular telephones-can be used to connect poor people to each other and to markets and governments, increasing their bargaining power. The experience of Bangladesh's Grameen Bank, which makes loans to rural, landless, often illiterate, poor women for the purchase of cellular telephones, shows that poor people in these villages, armed with information about market prices, are able to negotiate better prices for their goods with middlemen. Owning telephones is also transforming the social status of the "Grameen phone ladies."

A fourth asset is education. Faced with harsh realities, many poor parents cannot afford to send their children to school or keep them in school. Almost everywhere, poor people want to educate their children but calculate that the returns to their investment are unrewarding. Strategies must be found that change the cost-benefit outcomes for poor people of investing in their children's education. These include providing scholarship programs for girls and boys and, when needed, compensating parents for the lost labor of their children.

Ideas and entrepreneurship constitute the fifth asset. At the national and global levels, there are laws that seek to protect intellectual property rights. In a rapidly globalizing world, poor people's knowledge, whether of plants or traditional healing or building practices, needs protection so that they too can be the beneficiaries of their ideas and practices. Their property rights need to be registered.

There are banks, trusts, and venture capital to support rich people's ideas and entrepreneurship but not poor people's ideas and entrepreneurship. Financial services, venture capital funds, and micro insurance programs are needed to capitalize the ideas and initiatives of poor people, who work primarily in the informal sector.

Changing governance. Poor people know that their very survival depends on the resources controlled by others. With few options, they remain silent witnesses to exploitation and wrongdoing even when invited to speak out. As a poor man in Uzbekistan put it, "a dog won't betray its master." Examples of corruption and poor governance pervade poor people's lives. Change requires investment in reforms to make governments effective, participatory, transparent, and accountable to citizens. Strong networks of poor people's organizations and a strong civil society are required for effective governance at the local, national, and global levels. Let a poor man from Argentina have the final word: "If we aren't organized and don't unite, we can't ask for anything."

This article is based on findings reported in three publications: Deepa Narayan, Robert Chambers, Meera Shah, and Patti Petesch, 1999, Global Synthesis, Consultations with the Poor (Washington: World Bank); Deepa Narayan with Raj Patel, Kai Schafft, Anne Rademacher, and Sarah Koch-Schulte, 2000, Voices of the Poor: Can Anyone Hear Us? (New York: Oxford University Press for the World Bank); Deepa Narayan, Robert Chambers, Meera Shah, and Patti Petesch, 2000, Voices of the Poor: Crying Out for Change (New York: Oxford University Press for the World Bank). All are posted at http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/voices/reports.htm. The last two volumes can be ordered on the World Bank's external website (publications.worldbank.org/ecommerce/) or by telephone (1-800-645-7247).

Deepa Narayan is Lead Social Development Specialist in the World Bank's Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network.

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By Deepa Narayan. In preparation for the World Development Report 2000/ 2001: Attacking Poverty, the World Bank conducted a research study that brought together the experiences of over 60,000 poor women and men from 60 countries around the world.

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All the data included in this explorer is available to download in GitHub, alongside a range of other poverty and inequality metrics.

Where is this data sourced from?

This data explorer is collated and adapted from the World Bank's Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP).

The World Bank's PIP data is a large collection of household surveys where steps have been taken by the World Bank to harmonize definitions and methods across countries and over time.

About the comparability of household surveys

There is no global survey of incomes. To understand how incomes across the world compare, researchers need to rely on available national surveys.

Such surveys are partly designed with cross-country comparability in mind, but because the surveys reflect the circumstances and priorities of individual countries at the time of the survey, there are some important differences.

Income vs expenditure surveys

One important issue is that the survey data included within the PIP database tends to measure people's income in high-income countries, and people's consumption expenditure in poorer countries.

The two concepts are closely related: the income of a household equals their consumption plus any saving, or minus any borrowing or spending out of savings.

One important difference is that, while zero consumption is not a feasible value - people with zero consumption would starve - a zero income is a feasible value. This means that, at the bottom end of the distribution, income and consumption can give quite different pictures about a person's welfare. For instance, a person dissaving in retirement may have a very low, or even zero, income, but have a high level of consumption nevertheless.

The gap between income and consumption is higher at the top of this distribution too, richer households tend to save more, meaning that the gap between income and consumption is higher at the top of this distribution too. Taken together, one implication is that inequality measured in terms of consumption is generally somewhat lower than the inequality measured in terms of income.

In our Data Explorer of this data there is the option to view only income survey data or only consumption survey data, or instead to pool the data available from both types of survey - which yields greater coverage.

Other comparability issues

There are a number of other ways in which comparability across surveys can be limited. The PIP Methodology Handbook provides a good summary of the comparability and data quality issues affecting this data and how it tries to address them.

In collating this survey data the World Bank takes a range of steps to harmonize it where possible, but comparability issues remain. These affect comparisons both across countries and within individual countries over time.

To help communicate the latter, the World Bank produces a variable that groups surveys within each individual country into more comparable 'spells'. Our Data Explorer provides the option of viewing the data with these breaks in comparability indicated, and these spells are also indicated in our data download.

Global and regional poverty estimates

Along with data for individual countries, the World Bank also provides global and regional poverty estimates which aggregate over the available country data.

Surveys are not conducted annually in every country however - coverage is generally poorer the further back in time you look, and remains particularly patchy within Sub-Saharan Africa. You can see that visualized in our chart of the number of surveys included in the World Bank data by decade.

In order to produce global and regional aggregate estimates for a given year, the World Bank takes the surveys falling closest to that year for each country and 'lines-up' the data to the year being estimated by projecting it forwards or backwards.

This lining-up is generally done on the assumption that household incomes or expenditure grow in line with the growth rates observed in national accounts data. You can read more about the interpolation methods used by the World Bank in Chapter 5 of the Poverty and Inequality Platform Methodology Handbook.

How does the data account for inflation and for differences in the cost of living across countries?

To account for inflation and price differences across countries, the World Bank's data is measured in international dollars. This is a hypothetical currency that results from price adjustments across time and place. It is defined as having the same purchasing power as one US-$ would in the United States in a given base year. One int.-$ buys the same quantity of goods and services no matter where or when it is spent.

There are many challenges to making such adjustments and they are far from perfect. Angus Deaton ( Deaton, 2010) provides a good discussion of the difficulties involved in price adjustments and how this relates to global poverty measurement.

But in a world where price differences across countries and over time are large it is important to attempt to account for these differences as well as possible, and this is what these adjustments do.

In September 2022, the World Bank updated its methodology, and now uses international-$ expressed in 2017 prices - updated from 2011 prices. This has had little effect on our overall understanding of poverty and inequality around the world. But poverty estimates for particular countries vary somewhat between the old and updated methodology. You can read more about this update in our article From $1.90 to $2.15 a day: the updated International Poverty Line.

To allow for comparisons with the official data now expressed in 2017 international-$ data, the World Bank continues to release its poverty and inequality data expressed in 2011 international-$ as well. We have built a Data Explorer to allow you to compare these, and we make all figures available in terms of both sets of prices in our data download.

Absolute vs relative poverty lines

This dataset provides poverty estimates for a range of absolute and relative poverty lines.

An absolute poverty line represents a fixed standard of living; a threshold that is held constant across time. Within the World Bank's poverty data, absolute poverty lines also aim to represent a standard of living that is fixed across countries (by converting local currencies to international-$). The International Poverty Line of $2.15 per day (in 2017 international-$) is the best known absolute poverty line and is used by the World Bank and the UN to measure extreme poverty around the world.

The value of relative poverty lines instead rises and falls as average incomes change within a given country. In most cases they are set at a certain fraction of the median income. Because of this, relative poverty can be considered a metric of inequality - it measures how spread out the bottom half of the income distribution is.

The idea behind measuring poverty in relative terms is that a person's well-being depends not on their own absolute standard of living but on how that standard compares with some reference group, or whether it enables them to participate in the norms and customs of their society. For instance, joining a friend's birthday celebration without shame might require more resources in a rich society if the norm is to go for an expensive meal out, or give costly presents.

Our dataset includes three commonly-used relative poverty lines: 40%, 50%, and 60% of the median.

Such lines are most commonly used in rich countries, and are the main way poverty is measured by the OECD and the European Union.More recently, relative poverty measures have come to be applied in a global context. The share of people living below 50 per cent of median income is, for instance, one of the UN's Sustainable Development Goal indicators. And the World Bank now produces estimates of global poverty using a Societal Poverty Line that combines absolute and relative components.

When comparing relative poverty rates around the world, however, it is important to keep in mind that - since average incomes are so far apart - such relative poverty lines relate to very different standards of living in rich and poor countries.

Does the data account for non-market income, such as food grown by subsistence farmers?

Many poor people today, as in the past, rely on subsistence farming rather than a monetary income gained from selling goods or their labor on the market. To take this into account and make a fair comparison of their living standards, the statisticians that produce these figures estimate the monetary value of their home production and add it to their income/expenditure.

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In order to make progress against poverty in the future, we need to understand poverty around the world today and how it has changed.

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What Is Fast Fashion?

Fast fashion is the term used to describe clothing designs that move quickly from the catwalk to stores to take advantage of trends. The collections are often based on styles presented at Fashion Week runway shows or worn by celebrities. Fast fashion allows mainstream consumers to purchase the hot new look or the next big thing at an affordable price.

Fast fashion became common because of cheaper, speedier manufacturing and shipping methods, an increase in consumers' appetite for up-to-the-minute styles, and the increase in consumer purchasing power-especially among young people-to indulge these instant gratification desires. Because of all this, fast fashion is challenging the established clothing labels' tradition of introducing new collections and lines on an orderly, seasonal basis. In fact, it's not uncommon for fast-fashion retailers to introduce new products multiple times in one week to stay on trend.

Key Takeaways

Understanding Fast Fashion

Shopping for clothing was once considered an event. Consumers would save up to buy new clothes at certain times of the year. The style-conscious would get a preview of the styles to come via fashion shows that displayed new collections and clothing lines several months in advance of their appearance in stores.

But that began to change in the late 1990s, as shopping became a form of entertainment and discretionary spending on clothing increased. Enter fast fashion-cheap, trendy knock-off garments, mass-produced at low cost, that allowed consumers to feel as though they were wearing the same styles that "walked the runway" or were sported by a sexy entertainer.

Fast fashion is made possible by innovations in supply chain management (SCM) among fashion retailers. Its goal is to quickly produce cost-efficient articles of clothing in response to (or anticipation of) fast-shifting consumer demands. The assumption is that consumers want high fashion at a low cost. While the garments are often carelessly made, they're not intended to be worn for years or even multiple times.

Fast fashion follows the concept of category management, linking the manufacturer with the consumer in a mutually beneficial relationship. The speed at which fast fashion happens requires this kind of collaboration, as the need to refine and accelerate supply chain processes is paramount.

$30.58 billion

Fast Fashion Leaders

Major players in the fast-fashion market include Zara, H&M Group, UNIQLO, GAP, Forever 21, Topshop, Esprit, Primark, Fashion Nova, and New Look. Many companies are both retailers and manufacturers, though they often outsource the actual production of clothing.

In addition, traditional mass-market department stores such as Macy's, JCPenney, and Kohl's in the U.S. have all taken a page from the fast-fashion book. For their in-house and proprietary brands, they've shortened design and production times to better compete in the market.

Here's a closer look at some of the leaders in fast fashion.

Spanish retail chain Zara, the flagship brand of textile giant Inditex, is all but synonymous with fast fashion, serving as an exemplar of how to cut the time between design, production, and delivery. Zara's designers can sketch a garment-the company sells men's, women's, and children's clothing-and have the finished piece appear on store racks in as little as four weeks. It can modify existing items in as little as two weeks.

Its secret to this rapid turnover is its ownership of a relatively short supply chain. Over half its factories are closely located to its corporate headquarters in A Coruña, Spain-including countries like Portugal, Turkey, and Morocco.

Its fast turnaround time aids another key Zara strategy: to stuff the stores with more goods, offering the consumer an unparalleled amount of choice. It produces 11,000-plus pieces annually, vs. an industry average of 2,000 to 4,000 pieces.

Zara's annual net sales (including those of Zara Home) were €19.6 billion in 2021. As of mid-2022, it has 1,947 stores across the globe, as well as a strong online operation.

Founded in 1947, Sweden-based H&M Group (short for Hennes & Mauritz ) is one of the oldest fast-fashion companies. As of 2022, H&M Group operates in 74 countries with over 4,000 stores under its various brands, which, along with H&M, include the slightly more upscale COS and the youth-oriented Monki.

H&M Group functions like a department store, selling not only clothing for men, women, and children but also cosmetics and home furnishings. It is more strictly a retailer: It does not own any factories but instead relies on about 600 independent suppliers for its garments. However, these suppliers are overseen by 16 H&M production offices, using state-of-the-art IT systems to track inventory and communicate with corporate HQ. The factories are based all around Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Part of H&M's strategy has also been not to offer just knockoffs but original creations via its much-ballyhooed designer collaborations with elite labels like Alexander Wang and Giambattista Vali. In early 2021, for example, it launched a collection designed by Simone Rocha.

H&M's annual net sales in 2021 came to SEK 199 billion (about $18.9 billion).

Advantages and Disadvantages of Fast Fashion

The Advantages of Fast Fashion

Profitable for manufacturers and retailers: The constant introduction of new products encourages customers to frequent stores more often, which means they end up making more purchases. The retailer does not replenish its stock-instead, it replaces items that sell out with new items. Accordingly, consumers know to purchase an item they like when they see it, no matter the price because it's not likely to be available for long. And because the clothing is cheap (and cheaply made), it's easy to get people back into stores or online to make fresh purchases.

Quick to consumers: As for advantages for the consumer, fast fashion has enabled people to get the clothes they want when they want them. Also, it's made clothing more affordable-and not just any clothing, but innovative, imaginative, stylish clothing.

Makes clothes affordable: Even those of modest means can constantly buy smart new clothes, indulge in fun or impractical items, and wear something different every day.

Democratizes fashion: No longer is the latest look, being "well-dressed," or having a large wardrobe the province of the rich and famous. Everyone can look good.

The Disadvantages of Fast Fashion

Cheap materials and poor workmanship: Because the clothing is made overseas, fast fashion is also seen as contributing to a decline in the U.S. garment industry, where labor laws and workplace regulations are stronger, and wages are better. If a consumer buys multiple fast fashion garments, cheap as they are, it eventually costs them more than buying a few pricier ones that last longer.

Encourages a "throw-away" consumer mentality: That's why it's also called disposable fashion. Many fast fashionistas in their teens and early twenties-the age group the industry targets-admit they only wear their purchases once or twice.

Bad for the environment: Critics contend that fast fashion contributes to pollution, waste, and planned obsolescence due to its cheap materials and manufacturing methods. The poorly made garments don't age well, but they can't be recycled because they're predominantly (over 60%) made of synthetics. So when they're discarded, they mold in landfills for years.

Associated with exploitative, abusive labor practices: Manufacturers are generally based in developing countries-and some have been none too stringent in overseeing their subcontractors nor transparent about their supply chain. That's led to critics charging that fast fashion is built on bad working conditions, poor pay, and other abusive, exploitative practices.

Intellectual property theft: Some designers allege that their designs have been illegally duplicated and mass-produced by fast fashion companies.

Impact on the Environment and Workers

It's argued in some circles that fast fashion is wasteful and harmful to the environment. When accounting for quality of workmanship, materials, cheap labor, rapid turnaround, and low stock for quick sales on the newest fashion items, it's easy to observe that waste can occur.

However, the environmental impact is much more severe than a cursory look at the industry reveals. Here's a quick look at some figures:

The industry uses 93 billion cubic meters of water per year.

It takes 3,781 liters of water to make one pair of jeans.

Of all the wastewater in the world, 20% is from textile dyeing and is highly toxic-many countries where clothes are made have reduced or no regulations for wastewater disposal.

Microplastic fibers used in clothing make their way to the ocean, amounting to about 500,000 tons-close to 50 billion plastic bottles.

Fashion emits more than 10% of global carbon emissions.

Economic Impact

The apparel industry, in general, has been growing by as much as 8% annually (aside from the blip of the 2020 pandemic year)-and fast fashion leads the apparel industry. It's estimated to grow nearly 7% to $39.84 billion in 2025.

However, the industry growth is unlikely to be felt by the fast fashion manufacturing industry workers-profits are not returned to the local economies for the work being done. Instead, revenues are recognized in the countries the companies are headquartered in, leaving these local economies to stagnate while others enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Worker Impact

Fast fashion companies employ thousands in their offices, stores, and factories, making millions in profits yearly. Unfortunately, workers are underpaid, work long hours, and are exposed to harmful chemicals used in the process.

Fast Fashion vs. Slow Fashion

If fast fashion is getting garments to consumers as quickly as possible, regardless of the impact on workers and the environment, slow fashion is the exact opposite.

Slow fashion-a concept first introduced in 2008 by fashion and sustainability consultant Kate Fletcher-uses environmentally friendly processes and materials through "mindful manufacturing," focusing on quality rather than quantity. Mindful manufacturing, an idea championed by 3D printing company Stratasys, is the concept of developing more efficient production, sound chemical and solid waste disposal practices, reusable materials, and recycled packaging.

How to Avoid Fast Fashion

It's difficult to avoid products manufactured by companies that practice fast fashion completely; however, it's not impossible. One of the issues is consumerism and price; many people cannot afford the actual products fast fashion imitates but are still obsessed with the latest fashions.

Apart from resisting the urges of consumerism, there are some steps you can take to reduce the impact of your purchases:

Investigate the brands you like and see if they use sustainable processes and fair labor practices. You can buy your clothes at secondhand stores, which helps to reduce the amount of garment waste and extends their usage.

Additionally, speaking up and advocating against fast fashion and consumerism is one of the best ways to ensure awareness spreads. Most people are unaware of fast fashion's social and environmental impact-only with everyone doing their part to raise awareness will accountability be forced onto the companies making these products.

What Is Fast Fashion and Why Is It Important?

Fast fashion is getting garments that imitate new styles to market as quickly as possible, regardless of the impact on the environment and people's health.

What Are Some Fast Fashion Examples?

Some examples of companies in fast fashion are Stradivarius, Victoria's Secret, Urban Outfitters, Guess, Forever 21, and many other popular brands.

Who Benefits From Fast Fashion?

Consumers who enjoy the latest fashion with the convenience of low prices benefit, but the primary beneficiaries are investors, owners, and other stakeholders who profit from the practice.

The Bottom Line

"The benefits of fast fashion are clear: more consumer spending, more profits, and the consumer satisfaction of being able to participate in a trend almost immediately after they see it in magazines or on their favorite celebrities," stated a 2020 article on the GlobalEdge, a Michigan State University business reference site.

"However, fast fashion creates a host of issues that make it more problematic than it is beneficial... This industry contributes to climate change, pesticide pollution, and enormous amounts of waste," the site continues. The exploitation of and danger to workers, promulgated by the need for speed and cost efficiencies, is fast fashion's whole raison d'être.

The debate around fast fashion, alternatives, and how to proceed will continue as long as people are willing to buy high styles at low prices and ignore the issues the practice creates.

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Fast Fashion Explained and How It Impacts Retail Manufacturing

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Fast fashion is clothing design that quickly moves from idea to prototype, mass production, and consumers. Learn how fast fashion retailers make money.

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New season, new styles, buy more, buy cheap, move on, throw away: the pollution, waste, and emissions of fast fashion are fueling the triple planetary crisis.

The annual Black Friday sales on 25 November are a reminder of the need to rethink what is bought, what is thrown away, and what it costs the planet.

Sustainable fashion and circularity in the textiles value chain are possible, yet this century the world's consumers are buying more clothes and wearing them for less time than ever before, discarding garments as fast as trends shift.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is spearheading an initiative towards a zero waste world. As part of this ambitious outlook, UNEP has partnered with Kenyan spoken word poet Beatrice Kariuki to shed light on high-impact sectors where consumers can make a real difference.

"We need circular industries where old looks are made new," Kariuki says in the video. "Less packaging, more reuse. Threads that last."

The Ellen Macarthur Foundation, a UNEP partner, has estimated that a truckload of abandoned textiles is dumped in landfill or incinerated every second. Meanwhile, it is estimated that people are buying 60 per cent more clothes and wearing them for half as long.

Plastic fibres are polluting the oceans, the wastewater, toxic dyes, and the exploitation of underpaid workers. Fast fashion is big business, and while the environmental costs are rising, experts say there is another way: a circular economy for textiles.

At this month's UN Climate Conference ( COP27) in Egypt, UNEP and the non-profit Global Fashion Agenda (GFA) held an event on ' Circular Systems for a Net Positive Fashion Industry ', which drew industry leaders to discuss routes towards a circular economy for the industry, with less waste, less pollution, more reuse, and more recycling.

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A new UNEP video captures how fast fashion is a growing problem, creating waste while fuelling carbon emissions, and how combatting it is everyone's responsibility.

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Child labor still with us after all these years.

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Child labor is a major threat to the health of children in the United States. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that more than four million children are legally employed and that another one to two million are employed under illegal, often exploitative ...

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Nearly 1 in 10 children are subjected to child labour worldwide, with some forced into hazardous work through trafficking

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We’ll be back shortly... | salvationarmy.org.au

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Looks like something has went wrong with the Salvos Website. Please click one of the buttons below, or try refreshing in a few minutes.

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Over 400 million tons of plastic are produced every year for use in a wide variety of applications. At least 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year, and plastic makes up 80% of all marine debris found from surface waters to deep-sea sediments.

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Summary

Background

Universal health coverage has been proposed as a strategy to improve health in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, this is contingent on the provision of good-quality health care. We estimate the excess mortality for conditions targeted in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) that are amenable to health care and the portion of this excess mortality due to poor-quality care in 137 LMICs, in which excess mortality refers to deaths that could have been averted in settings with strong health systems.

Methods

Using data from the 2016 Global Burden of Disease study, we calculated mortality amenable to personal health care for 61 SDG conditions by comparing case fatality between each LMIC with corresponding numbers from 23 high-income reference countries with strong health systems. We used data on health-care utilisation from population surveys to separately estimate the portion of amenable mortality attributable to non-utilisation of health care versus that attributable to receipt of poor-quality care.

Findings

15·6 million excess deaths from 61 conditions occurred in LMICs in 2016. After excluding deaths that could be prevented through public health measures, 8·6 million excess deaths were amenable to health care of which 5·0 million were estimated to be due to receipt of poor-quality care and 3·6 million were due to non-utilisation of health care. Poor quality of health care was a major driver of excess mortality across conditions, from cardiovascular disease and injuries to neonatal and communicable disorders.

Interpretation

Universal health coverage for SDG conditions could avert 8·6 million deaths per year but only if expansion of service coverage is accompanied by investments into high-quality health systems.

Funding

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Introduction

Universal health coverage (UHC) has been embraced by global organisations such as WHO and the World Bank as a means to improve health and reduce the financial burden from receiving care. UHC is a central plank of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the ambitious new development targets that were signed by 193 UN member states to improve health and development by 2030. Although financing and implementation of UHC will differ by country, the common definition is the ability of all people to obtain good-quality services when they need them without facing financial hardship.

Supporters of UHC have promoted it as a means for improving population health. These supporters theorise that expanding health insurance would promote the utilisation of health services that reduce mortality and morbidity. However, although insurance generally increases use of services, evidence on mortality reductions is mixed. Escobar and colleagues found that health insurance was associated with improved health status in only three of nine studies in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs; from Vietnam, China, and Brazil). In the USA, coverage has been associated with better self-reported health status and in one recent study, with reduced mortality. The lack of consistent evidence on health benefits from insurance coverage might be in part due to methodological challenges because mortality is multifactorial and subject to factors outside of health care; people purchasing insurance are more unwell on average, and deaths are relatively rare and require large studies to measure their prevalence. However, insurance expansion might also be unsuccessful in improving outcomes if no effective treatment is available for a given condition or if quality of care is poor.

In low-income countries, evidence is emerging that expanding health care coverage does not necessarily result in better outcomes, even for conditions highly amenable to medical care. A large programme called Janani Suraksha Yojana, that was set up 13 years ago in India, has provided cash incentives for women to deliver their children in health facilities and has increased coverage of facility birth for more than 50 million women, but these incentives have not improved maternal or newborn survival., Many of the births in this programme occurred in primary care centres that did not have sufficiently skilled staff to address maternal and newborn complications. Similarly, low quality of care for mothers and children has been documented in primary care facilities in Africa and in India., , Researchers have also found large deficiencies in quality of hospital care for surgical conditions, obstetric care, and care of tuberculosis,, , whereas other studies have shown large differences between treatment and successful control of blood pressure.

Evidence before this study
Although amenable mortality has been estimated and discussed in high-income countries for several decades, the concept has only recently been extended to low-income countries. We searched PubMed for the terms "amenable mortality" and "quality" for studies published in English from 1990-2018 and reviewed citations in relevant articles. Nolte and McKee have developed the concept of amenable mortality to estimate the number of deaths that could be averted by health care in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. In 2016, the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) group extended this concept to low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) and developed an access and quality index to compare performance. Multicountry studies, such as those by Souza and colleagues and Biccard and colleagues, have shown that in some LMICs mortality is higher for people receiving care in facilities than in high-income countries, even after adjusting for morbidity. Alkire and colleagues found that worldwide 8 million deaths were amenable to health care, resulting in estimated welfare losses of US$6·0 trillion to LMICs in 2015.
Added value of this study
This study reports the number of deaths amenable to health care in LMICs and is the first to estimate the proportion of these deaths due to poor quality of care versus non-utilisation of care. This finding has important policy implications for countries pursuing universal health coverage as increased access to poor quality of care is unlikely to improve health outcomes. Our study found that nearly 8 million people die every year because of a lack of access to high-quality care. We found a higher proportion of amenable deaths are among health system users than non-users in LMICs. Deaths caused by poor-quality health care spanned the conditions included in the Sustainable Development Goals, including cardiovascular diseases, neonatal conditions and road traffic accidents. Although the 2016 GBD study did not report numbers of amenable deaths or partition these deaths into the separate contributions of quality of care and utilisation, it did observe substantial disparities in amenable mortality across regions and related to levels of development.
Implications of all the available evidence
Although our findings cannot be directly compared to the study by Nolte and McKee because the conditions they reported were different in high-income settings, the authors made different adjustments for public health interventions, and the settings of care were much better resourced than in many countries in our study, and they found that mortality in 21% of men and 30% of women under the age of 75 years is amenable to good health care; the corresponding figure from our study is 56% (all amenable deaths/avertable deaths).

The 2016 GBD paper concluded that despite progress since 1990, improved access to care and quality of care received has a large potential for improving outcomes in low-income and middle-income countries, although there is a large and growing heterogeneity of performance across countries. Specifically, although many countries lag behind peers in their income group, some middle-income countries with recent health system reforms appear to be realising outsized health gains. Our estimate that 55% of all avertable mortality for Sustainable Development Goal conditions can be addressed by good health care is somewhat higher than the Nolte and McKee study estimates and suggests that health systems are just as crucial for overall mortality reduction in lower-income countries as they are in high-income countries. Our paper uniquely estimates the portion of amenable mortality due to non-utilisation of available care versus utilisation of poor quality of care. We conclude that access is no longer the only binding constraint for improving survival in LMICs-health system quality must be improved simultaneously. This is particularly trenchant as countries embark on universal health coverage, which has been characterised in terms of improved coverage and reduced financial risk. Our work, in combination with past research, shows that improving health system quality is an immediate priority if countries hope to succeed in reaching the third Sustainable Development Goal.

The evidence of poor-quality health care challenges the assumption that increasing utilisation of health services will be sufficient to reduce mortality in lower-income countries. However, to date, there have not been any studies quantifying the potential role of better-quality services versus greater coverage in reducing mortality for conditions amenable to medical care. This report will estimate the excess deaths amenable to health care in LMICs and the relative contributions of non-utilisation of health-care services and receipt of poor-quality care to these deaths.

Methods

Overview

Broadly, we estimated excess mortality for SDG conditions amenable to health care, after excluding deaths that could be prevented through public health and other interventions outside the health system. To estimate amenable mortality in LMICs, we compared mortality by age and sex groups in each country with corresponding mortality from a reference group of 23 high-income countries with strong universal health coverage and good health outcomes ( appendix p 17). We then apportioned amenable mortality into two components: deaths due to poor quality of care (in those who used health-care services) and those due to non-utilisation of health care.

Parameter selection

We first identified conditions for which personal health care plays an important role in reducing mortality. We began with the list of conditions identified by Nolte and McKee as amenable to health care, and further included conditions in SDG Target 3 (improved health) for which risk of death can be reduced by use of personal health care and does not require advanced technology, resulting in identification of 61 conditions in total. Because low-income countries might not have the resources to guarantee care for all 61 conditions, we also analysed a more limited subset of 41 highest priority conditions that require relatively basic interventions ( appendix p 3). We applied established age ranges for which the health system could reasonably avert deaths from each condition., , lists the 61 included conditions and age ranges.

In assigning amenable deaths to poor quality versus non-utilisation, we assumed that once users seek care in the health system, correct management and retention in care is the system's responsibility. Retention in care (ie, repeat utilisation) is a frequently used measure of health system quality for conditions that require a course of continuous care, such as HIV and non-communicable diseases as well as immunisation., , Because condition-specific utilisation measures were not available for all 61 conditions in LMICs, we used population utilisation data for conditions with similar clinical features and level of acuity. For conditions such as neonatal HIV and vaccine preventable diseases, the health system can prevent all incidental cases when people seek preventive care. We used receipt of at least one vaccine as the utilisation measure for most vaccine preventable conditions. For conditions that arise acutely and can be treated or cured with episodic care (eg, pneumonia, appendicitis, or road injuries), we used care-seeking for the corresponding acute illness. Birth with a skilled attendant was used for maternal and newborn complications. Finally, for chronic conditions such as diabetes mellitus that should be screened for or detected when people at risk seek routine care we used health facility visit in the past year. We used condition-specific utilisation data for tuberculosis, HIV, cancer, and mental health ( appendix pp 6-7).

Data sources

Incidence, prevalence, and mortality by cause were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease study (GBD) 2016 in 5-year age groups by sex for each country., , Population sizes were obtained from the World Bank.

Health care utilisation data were obtained from household population surveys and global estimates including the World Health Surveys, Demographic and Health surveys, UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, World Mental Health Surveys, and Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and World Development Indicators databases in the most recent years available ( appendix p 5). For countries for which utilisation data were not available, we imputed values on the basis of known factors that affect utilisation., , , We regressed utilisation for each condition by gross domestic product per capita, percent of population living in rural areas, female literacy rate, land area, numbers of doctors and nurses or midwives per patient, and GBD study region on the basis of geography and epidemiology. On average, these variables explained 59% of the variation in utilisation across conditions. We then predicted missing utilisation values using a generalised linear model with a binomial link to constrain the values to between 0 and 100%. Additional details on imputation are reported in the appendix (p 8).

Statistical analysis

Avertable mortality was defined as the sum of preventable deaths-ie, those that could be averted through public health and other population-level public health or intersectoral policies that prevent the disease or condition in the first place-and amenable deaths-ie, those deaths that could be averted by health care once a condition occurs. This distinction is approximate, as well-functioning primary care can also contribute to primary prevention (eg, by treating hypertension before it causes ischaemic heart disease). In some cases, such as vaccine-preventable diseases, health systems are the predominant means of primary prevention.

To estimate amenable mortality, we compared case fatality (CF) for LMICs against a reference case fatality (CF ref) from best performing countries. The CF was calculated as the cause-specific deaths divided by individuals at risk or incident or prevalent cases of that condition as applicable ( appendix p 5). To reduce the influence of spurious values on our results, observations were dropped in countries that had fewer than ten deaths across all age groups by sex except those in the best performer reference group. When a CF was greater than 1 for a particular age group by sex, we replaced it with the disease's country average CF. Finally, CFs three SDs over the age mean for that sex were treated as outliers and truncated.

Countries in the best performer reference group were 23 high-income countries that scored 90 or greater on a recent UHC index that combines coverage of interventions and risk-standardised mortality for conditions amenable to personal health care ( appendix p 15),, and the reference CF was computed as the average across the reference countries. For conditions for which deaths were entirely preventable within the health system, case fatality was calculated as deaths divided by total population at risk.

Amenable mortality was computed as mortality in excess of what would be expected relative to the reference case fatality level, after first accounting for preventable mortality-ie, excluding deaths among incident or prevalent cases that should have been prevented by population level interventions. We adjusted deaths for prevention by comparing incidence or prevalence in LMICs with incidence or prevalence in the reference group. The proportion of cases that could be prevented was indicated by calculating the ratio of incidence or prevalence of a given condition in the reference group compared with each country. If the incidence or prevalence ratio was less than one (ie, lower incidence in reference group than in the case group) as expected, we multiplied the ratio by the number of cases to calculate the adjusted (lower) number of cases. When the ratio was greater than 1, cases were unadjusted. Deaths due to conditions preventable within the health system rather than through public health measures (ie, neonatal HIV, vaccine-preventable conditions, and tuberculosis) were unadjusted. Formally, excess mortality in LMICs amenable to personal health care was calculated as follows:

for age group i, sex j, and country k, where CF is case fatality, Cases adj is the cases that remain after excluding those that could be prevented though public health intervention, and CF ref is the reference case fatality level.

To estimate the relative contributions of poor quality of care and non-utilisation of health care to amenable mortality, we did a second analysis that partitioned mortality into deaths among health system users and among non-users.

To estimate the counterfactual mortality that would be expected if all people who currently utilise health services received high quality care, we assumed that service users would have CF equivalent to the reference CF levels. Non-user CF is likely to be greater than the country's average CF but non-user CFs are not observed and are not directly inferable from GBD study results. Therefore, to estimate a CF for non-users we sought a plausible upper bound observed CF from the same epidemiological region (those considered poor performers). First, we computed the average CF across age group and sex groups for each cause in every country. Next, we identified the 75th percentile CF within each region for each cause. For any country with a CF below the 75th percentile, we computed a ratio of the 75th percentile CF to the CF of the country, and then multiplied this ratio by each of the country's age-group specific CFs by sex to yield the estimated CF for non-users specific to age and sex. Ratios above 3 were deemed implausible and capped, affecting 5·2% of observations. Subtracting this counterfactual from total mortality (less the portion preventable through public health intervention, as above), we derived the excess mortality among people utilising the health-care system (ie, mortality due to poor-quality services):

for which util is the utilisation of services, CF ratio is the ratio of the 75th percentile CF mortality in the region to the country's average mortality for each age group by sex, and all other variables are as defined above. Mortality caused by non-utilisation is calculated as:

We divided poor-quality mortality by the country's total population to calculate the proportion of mortality due to poor-quality services. We multiplied the poor-quality mortality within each age group within sex by the corresponding GBD study standard life expectancy for that group to estimate years of life lost (YLL), assuming that the average age at death was at the midpoint of a given interval. We calculated preventable mortality and mortality caused by non-utilisation of services or by use of poor-quality services in LMICs by GBD region and condition type by summing across countries and age bands by sex. Uncertainty intervals were estimated by using the upper and lower bounds on the uncertainty intervals for death estimates from the 2016 GBD study. As a simplifying approximation for the aggregate uncertainty in the presence of unknown correlations between estimation errors for age groups by sex, causes, and countries, we estimated uncertainty bounds for mortality totals by treating estimation errors as fully correlated between age and sex groups for a given cause in a country, but treating errors as independent across countries and diseases.

We conducted several sensitivity analyses. As a high-income reference group might not be a feasible standard of comparison for some LMICs, we used four countries identified by the Commission on Investing in Health as best performing middle-income countries (China, Cuba, Costa Rica, and Chile) as the reference group. The incidence ratio approach to account for mortality that could be prevented by public health (ie, outside the health system) also removes deaths that can be averted through primary care (eg, proper hypertension management can reduce myocardial infarction risk). As an alternative approach, we adjusted mortality for different underlying frequencies of risk factors by applying the joint population attributable fraction of behavioural, environmental, and occupational risks for disease. This approach standardises disease risk across countries. Because the data on service utilisation from World Health Surveys were from 2002-03, we conducted a sensitivity analysis in which we increased utilisation prevalence to the next highest income group to more closely approximate current service utilisation (eg, low-income countries were given the average utilisation prevalence for lower-middle income countries). Finally, as an alternative to using so-called poor performer CFs for the mortality among non-users of the health system we assumed that non-users would simply face the country's observed prevailing CF.

All analyses were done in Stata version 14.1. We mapped mortality due to poor-quality services across LMICs using QGIS version 2.14.

Role of the funding source

The study sponsors did not have any role in the study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or writing of the report. The corresponding author had full access to all the data in the study and had final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication. All authors reviewed the final manuscript and approved submission.

Results

Of the 19·3 million total deaths in 2016 in LMICs from the 61 specific causes and age groups considered in this study, we estimated that there were 15·6 million avertable deaths in LMICs (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 15·4-15·9 million), including 7·0 million deaths preventable through public health intervention (UI 6·8-7·2 million), and 8·6 million amenable to health care (UI 8·5-8·8 million). The amenable deaths should be viewed as a conservative estimate because some deaths currently counted under preventable could have been averted through primary prevention in the health system. Of the excess deaths amenable to health care, an estimated 3·6 million were due to non-utilisation of health care services (UI 3·5-3·7 million), and 5·0 million were due to poor quality of available care (UI 4·9-5·2 million). 224 million YLL (UI 219-230 million) were due to poor quality of available care.

South Asia had the greatest mortality due to use of poor-quality health care at 1·9 million deaths (39% of global poor-quality service access mortality; ). Central Europe and Latin America had the highest percentage of amenable mortality due to receipt of poor-quality health services, whereas sub-Saharan Africa had the lowest, where a greater percentage were due to non-utilisation of services. Country results are available in the appendix (pp 9-13). maps mortality due to poor quality per 100 000 population. Poor-quality health care contributed to the most deaths per unit population in South Asia and central and west Africa. The total LMIC poor-quality mortality was 82 deaths per 100 000 population.

Table 2

Avertable deaths

Amenable deaths

Years of life lost to poor quality (per 1000 population)

Deaths preventable by public health interventions

Deaths amenable to health care

Deaths due to use of poor-quality services

Deaths due to non-utilisation of health services

presents the mortality due to access to poor-quality services and non-utilisation of health services by condition type. Cardiovascular disease deaths made up 33% (2 817 000) of the amenable deaths in the total health system, of which 84% (2 358 000) were caused by use of poor-quality health services. After cardiovascular disease, deaths from neonatal conditions, tuberculosis, and road injuries comprised the most amenable deaths, with a total of 1·5 million deaths due to use of poor-quality services and 1·2 million deaths due to non-utilisation of health services. Only 11% (53 000 of 477 000) of amenable cancer deaths and 15% (69 000 of 455 000) of amenable mental and neurological deaths were due to use of poor-quality health care, reflecting the low utilisation of health services for these conditions ( appendix p 14).

In our sensitivity analyses, adjusting mortality by the population attributable fraction due to environmental and behavioural risk factors to exclude deaths preventable by public health or other upstream interventions as opposed to our reference base case approach based on adjusting incidence or prevalence to reference levels in high performing countries, yielded 7·0 million amenable deaths of which 4·4 million were due to use of poor-quality health services and 2·6 million were due to non-utilisation of health services ( appendix pp 3-4). Considering the full disease burden that health systems face today-ie, without subtracting deaths that were potentially preventable outside the health system-13·3 million deaths were amenable to health care, 7·6 million from use of poor-quality health care and 5·7 million from non-utilisation of any health service. Comparison with a best performing middle-income country reference group, rather than our base case reference standard from high-income countries, resulted in 3·2 million deaths due to use of poor-quality services and 2·4 million to non-utilisation of health care. Restricting the UHC package to a narrower set of conditions reduced the number of avertable deaths to 14·4 million (4·7 million due to poor-quality services and 2·8 million due to non-utilisation of services). Adjusting the World Health Surveys data on service utilisation to account for increases since 2002-03 resulted in a larger difference between non-utilisation of services (3·3 million, UI 3·2-3·4 million) and access to poor-quality services (5·3 million, UI 5·2-5·4 million). Assuming that the non-utilisation population and the population that utilised services had the same CF, we found that 5·7 million deaths were due to use of poor-quality services and 2·9 million deaths due to non-utilisation of services.

Discussion

8·6 million people in LMICs die from causes amenable to health care; of these, 5 million are people who have used the health system but received poor-quality health care. This is five times higher than all global deaths from HIV or AIDS and over three times higher than all deaths from diabetes. Deaths attributable to receipt of poor-quality health care constitute 58% of all amenable mortality in these countries. Because deaths in LMICs occur at younger ages, poor quality of health care takes a large toll on YLL: 224 million in the study countries. The estimate of amenable mortality is conservative since some deaths currently counted under preventable could have been averted in the health system through primary prevention of the condition.

Few comparison studies are currently available. A 2017 paper by the GBD collaborators compared health systems by use of a similar approach but did not report on deaths. The authors noted large gaps between observed health system performance in many countries and the best performing comparators. Alkire and colleagues reported amenable mortality of 8 million deaths for 38 conditions in 198 countries, 96·3% of which occurred in LMICs, using somewhat different methods (reducing amenable mortality by attributable risk factors rather than differences in incidence). They estimated that this mortality would result in US$11·2 trillion in lost economic output between 2015 and 2020 in LMICs. Nolte and McKee have tracked deaths due to conditions amenable to timely and effective health care in Europe and other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries for the past 15 years., , Our findings cannot be directly compared with their work because we adjusted incidence or prevalence for all conditions to exclude deaths that could have been prevented outside the health system, whereas Nolte and McKee only exclude a portion (50% of cardiovascular deaths). However, they found that 21% of mortality under age 75 for men and 30% for women is amenable to good-quality health care; the corresponding figure from our study is 55% (all amenable deaths of those that were avertable), suggesting that poor-quality health systems are a greater impediment to improved population health in poor than in rich countries.

Given the global focus on UHC, we designated deaths in people who presented to the health system but were not properly managed or retained in health care as deaths due to receipt of poor-quality health care and deaths in those who did not use care for each illness as deaths due to non-utilisation of services. We found that across LMICs, poor quality contributed to more deaths than non-utilisation of services, (5·0 million poor-quality health care vs 3·6 million non-utilisation of services). Poor quality was a larger driver of mortality than non-utilisation of services in 14 of 17 geographic regions and 115 of 137 countries, including in many of the poorest regions with high mortality. Countries at different levels of development will adopt different UHC packages that might not include all of the conditions assessed here. However, this does not lessen the importance of quality of care: our modeling shows that if low-income countries fund only less advanced care, poor-quality services will account for almost two-thirds of the amenable deaths. Multicountry studies support the finding that mortality in LMICs for people using health-care services substantially exceeds that in higher-income countries.,

Poor quality was an important driver of amenable mortality across conditions, including 84% of cardiovascular mortality; 81% of vaccine preventable diseases; 61% of neonatal conditions; and half of deaths from maternal causes, road injury, tuberculosis, HIV, and other infectious diseases. Averting deaths from cancer, congenital defects, mental health, and chronic respiratory conditions will require major efforts to boost utilisation of services along with improved quality. These figures can provide insights about potential policy directions for countries. The breadth of conditions for which poor-quality health care contributes to excess mortality suggests that health system-wide improvement is needed rather than disease-specific quality interventions.

As lower-income countries undergo demographic and epidemiological transitions, they will need to implement public health measures and strengthen the quality of health systems to continue to reduce mortality. After several decades of health gains in infectious diseases and child health, the residual mortality in LMICs is comprised of more complex and multimorbid conditions. Our study provides evidence that even in settings where progress has been made on UHC, deaths due to poor-quality services represent a substantial challenge. From a financing standpoint, underperforming health systems reduce the returns on UHC investments. However, when coupled with investments in health system quality, expanding insurance can result in major health gains as shown by Thailand, Rwanda, and Costa Rica, which have pursued this dual strategy and achieved substantial improvements in survival in child and maternal health., ,

Our study has several limitations. The incidence, prevalence, and mortality specific to cause, age, and sex come from the GBD, which has known limitations in estimates, particularly for causes of death in LMICs with weak or non-existent vital registration systems. Even in systems with strong vital registration systems, records can misidentify the underlying causes of death. The GBD group conducts extensive corrections to underlying data to address these. Comorbidity and disease history could be different between LMICs and high-income countries, which can result in some bias. Our approach for adjusting for primary prevention, which subtracts these deaths before the reference CF is applied, maximises preventable mortality while reducing amenable mortality. We did this to prioritise primary prevention, which is cheaper and often more effective than treatment. Some deaths that are currently categorised as preventable could have been averted through primary prevention in the health system. Our analysis does not measure morbidity so underestimates the effects of poor-quality health care on overall health. The last three points suggest that our conclusions about the health impact of poor-quality health systems are a conservative assessment.

An important limitation of our analysis is that data on health care utilisation were not complete for all conditions and countries. For conditions in which utilisation of service data were not available we used information for similar conditions and in countries where data were missing we imputed values based on factors known to affect utilisation of services. This is an imperfect approach but consistent with current literature. These data gaps mean that for some conditions, particularly those that have only recently been recognised as global health priorities, such as mental health, cancer, and road injury, our estimates of the roles of quality and utilisation of services should be considered as provisional and need to be updated when better data become available. Mortality for non-users of health services was not directly available in the data-we applied a correction to address this. However, all sensitivity analyses supported the conclusion that poor-quality health care is a larger driver of amenable mortality than utilisation of services. Finally, our characterisation of uncertainty around estimates is imperfect, given that some sources of uncertainty were not included, and aggregate level uncertainty depends on correlations between estimation errors for constituent parts, which were difficult to quantify. Collectively, these limitations call attention to the need for better data on mortality and health system use in LMICs, which will be essential for countries' efforts to track progress on UHC and other health goals.

What do the results mean for countries pursuing UHC? Each country will chart its own course on UHC, with benefit packages reflecting health priorities and available resources. However, the central role of quality is not yet sufficiently recognised in the global discourse on UHC and is underappreciated in many countries. An important starting point is better measurement of health system quality. Some countries are attempting to incorporate this into their UHC efforts. For example, South Africa has begun a nationwide Ideal Clinic programme and Tanzania has used a star-rating system to measure quality of primary care. These results are being used to identify entry points for health-system improvement. Our analysis shows that at all levels of development and across different scopes of insured services, poor quality of care will limit the mortality reduction possible from greater coverage. Countries pursing UHC must put better quality on par with expanded coverage if they are to substantially improve health.

This online publication has been corrected. The corrected version first appeared at thelancet.com on September 20, 2018

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the official views of the Gates Foundation. The authors would like to thank Catherine Arsenault, Denizhan Duran, Dennis Lee, Hannah Leslie, Emilia Ling, Daniel McKenna, Mathilda Regan, Sanam Roder-Dewan, and Jigyasa Sharma for their assistance in this analysis. We are grateful for helpful comments from Malebona Matsoso, Barry Bloom, Peter Hansen, and Madhu Pai.

Contributors

MEK developed the concept for this analysis with input from all coauthors and wrote the first draft. ADG and NTJ conducted data analysis and drafted sections of the paper. All authors revised the paper for intellectual content and approved the final version for submission.

Declaration of interests

We declare no competing interests.

References

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# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Mortality due to low-quality health systems in the universal health coverage era: a systematic analysis of amenable deaths in 137 countries

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Universal health coverage has been proposed as a strategy to improve health in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, this is contingent on the provision of good-quality health care. We estimate the excess mortality for conditions targeted ...

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Since the 1979 revolution, women have struggled to regain lost rights and win a larger role in society, despite a regime unfriendly to women's issues.

The theocracy's suspension of the Family Protection Law enacted under the monarchy once again put women at the mercy of men in the family.

Women fared modestly in politics. They won positions in parliament, city councils, cabinet and other decision-making jobs, but in small numbers.

But women made significant gains in education, particularly after obstacles to certain specialized fields were removed.

After initially pushing for rapid population growth, the government launched a highly successful family planning program. Iran's birth rate went from one of the highest to one of the lowest in the region. The budget for this program, however, was eliminated in 2012.

President Hassan Rouhani's first two years in office were a mixed bag for women. For example, Rouhani appointed four women as vice presidents and three women as governors but did not name women to his cabinet or revive the Ministry of Women's Affairs.

Iranian women made considerable progress during the Pahlavi era (1925-1979). Education for both girls and boys was free. When Tehran University opened in 1936, Iran's first university admitted both men and women. In 1963, women acquired the right to vote and run for parliament. Under the Family Protection Law, women won the right to petition for divorce and gain child custody. A husband could no longer unilaterally divorce his wife or automatically gain custody of the children. The marriage age for girls was raised from 13 to 18. And men needed the court's permission to take a second wife. By 1978, on the eve of Iran's revolution, 22 women sat in parliament and 333 women served on elected local councils. One-third of university students were female. Two million women were in the work force, more than 146,000 of them in the civil service.

The 1979 revolution politicized the mass of Iranian women. But women's expectations were not realized. The new theocracy systematically rolled back five decades of progress in women's rights. Women were purged from government positions. All females, including girls in first grade, were forced to observe the hejab, or Islamic dress code. Family laws were scraped. For the next three decades, however, the energy Iranian women displayed during the revolution propelled them deeper into the public arena to regain their rights. The result is one of the most dynamic women's movements in the Islamic world, and female activists who have won international recognition in a wide array of professions.

The Khomeini decade 1979-1989

Under revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran's new theocracy gave priority to Islamic tradition over modern mores.One of the revolutionary government's first acts was to suspend the Family Protection Law and dismantle Family Courts. Men were once again free to divorce their wives by simple declaration; they also gained exclusive custody of their children. Women could no longer file for divorce unless the right was stipulated in marriage contracts, and they lost the right to child custody. Restrictions on polygamy were also removed. The marriage age for girls was reduced to puberty, which is nine under Islamic law. In 1981, parliament approved the Islamic Law of Retribution, introducing flogging, stoning and payment of blood money for crimes ranging from adultery to violation of Islamic dress codes.

Professionally, women were slowly pushed into traditional female fields, such as teaching and nursing. Women were barred from becoming judges. Government-run day care centers were closed, making it difficult for women to stay in jobs anyway. At universities, the idea of segregating women and men was soon abandoned as impractical, but it took several years before bars were removed on certain fields of education-in turn affecting job prospects.

Politically, women held on to the right to vote and run for parliament. Four women were elected to the first parliament in 1980, and later sat on local councils. But most women in decision-making positions were either dismissed, given early retirement, or demoted. A decade passed before the first woman was named deputy minister, 17 years passed before a woman was appointed vice president, and 30 years passed before the Islamic Republic named its first female minister. The constitution bars women from the position of supreme leader - the highest post in the country-but does not stipulate the gender of the president or cabinet members. Women have tried to run in presidential elections, but they have all been disqualified.

On social issues, the theocracy's initial policies were harsh. Hejab, or Islamic dress and head cover, was forcibly imposed. Showing a bit of hair became punishable, with penalties ranging from heavy monetary fines to 70 lashes. The regime also attempted to segregate men and women in public places, but did not succeed. But the eight-year Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) had a galvanizing influence on the status of women. Women were drawn into the work force as nurses, doctors and support for soldiers on the war front. In the absence of men, many women became the family bread winners. During the revolution's first decade, women in the work force fell from about 13 percent to 8.6 percent.

The Rafsanjani presidency 1989-1997

After the war, women became pivotal politically. They voted in substantial numbers for Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani for president in 1989, and again in 1993 because he was pragmatic on women's issues. Rafsanjani gradually eased social controls. Women were harassed less on the streets. They benefited from minor changes in the personal status law and were able to participate in international sports competitions. The number of girls in schools and universities soared.

Rafsanjani also reversed the Islamic Republic's policy of encouraging large families and launched a family planning program to curb Iran's alarmingly rapid rate of population growth. The success of this program is one of the Islamic Republic's most striking achievements. The total fertility rate (the average number of births per woman) dropped from 5.6 in the early 1980s to 2.0 in 2000, and to 1.9 births per woman in 2006. The decline has been particularly impressive in rural areas where the average number of births per woman dropped in one generation from 8.1 to 2.1. As a result, the annual rate of natural population increase declined from 3.2 percent in early 1980s to 1.8 percent in 2006.

The Khatami years 1997-2005

Women fared even better during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami. Riding on a wave of pro-reform sentiment, he appointed a handful of women to prominent posts. Among them: Masoumeh Ebtekar was his vice president for the environment and Zahra Rahnavard became the first woman chancellor of an Iranian university. In 2004, 13 women were elected to parliament-the largest number since the revolution.

Under Khatami, women also scored several legal victories. Pressure from women led the government to reintroduce modified parts of the suspended Family Protection Law. Women judges became special advisors to presiding clerics on special family courts. In 1994, parliament enacted a law awarding a woman monetary compensation when her husband initiated divorce proceedings and she was not at fault. In 2002, parliament raised the age of marriage for girls from nine to 13. The ban on unaccompanied single women studying abroad on government scholarships was also lifted. Khatami's presidency also saw the burgeoning of non-government organizations that laid the foundation for a more vibrant civil society. Many were founded around women's issues.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad struggled to balance rival trends at a time women carried growing weight at the ballot box. He faced deepening resolve among hardliners to curb the female quest for full equality; he was also confronted by public pressure from women not to be relegated to second-class status again.

Under hardliners, women generally fared poorly on several fronts. The momentum for change built up over the previous 16 years virtually evaporated. The government closed down Zanan, the country's leading feminist magazine. In 2007 elections, only 43 women were elected to local councils out of tens of thousands of seats. In the 2008 parliamentary elections, the only two reformist women in parliament were voted out. Of 7,168 candidates, 585 were women, but only nine were elected. Police cracked down on women for dress code violations. Ahmadinejad also called on women to have more children.

In the June 2009 presidential campaign, tens of thousands of women from all social classes supported the two reformist candidates who backed greater women's rights. For the first time, candidates had women advising and campaigning for them in public. After the election, Ahmadinejad lost the support of a large number of conservative women because of atrocities committed by the security forces against protesters. He was noticeably silent on the trials and harsh on the sentencing of women, allegations of rape and torture of detainees, and the mistreatment of women protesting the detention of relatives.

After his reelection, Ahmadinejad nominated three women to his cabinet. But only one of his nominees, Marzieh-Vahid Dastjerd as minister of health, was approved by parliament because of objections by a number of leading clerics and conservative politicians. After his reelection, Ahmadinejad nominated three women to his cabinet. However, due to the opposition of leading clerics and conservative politicians, only one of his nominees, Marzieh Vahid-Dastjerdi, as minister of health, was approved by parliament. She did not last; Ahmadinejad dismissed Dastjerdi in December 2012.

During Ahmadinejad's last year in office, the government eliminated the budget for family planning, thus ending one of the most successful programs of its kind in the world; and, encouraged by the Ministry of Higher Education, several universities decided to ban female students from a number of fields of study. The government, however, never managed to implement this plan.

The Rouhani years 2013-

Hassan Rouhani's first two years in office were a mixed bag for women. Rouhani did not name women to his cabinet or revive the Ministry for Women's Affairs as he had promised during his election campaign in 2013; he realized the conservative majority in parliament would not approve. However, he appointed four women as vice presidents, including Masoumeh Ebtekar as head of the Environmental Protection Organization and Shahindokht Molaverdi as vice president for women and family affairs. Rouhani also instructed each of his cabinet members to appoint at least one woman as a deputy minister. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif named a woman, Marziyeh Afkham, a diplomat for 30 years, as the ministry's spokesperson.

For the first time in Iran, Rouhani also appointed three women as governors of smaller governorates: Qeshm Island, Hamoon and Qasr-e Qand. Where women were concerned, Rouhani's hands remained tied by the conservative majority in parliament, including eight of only nine women lawmakers; by the clerical community; and by the conservative domination of political institutions. Women activists looked to the 2016 parliamentary elections to produce a reformist, gender-friendly majority.

Rouhani had more visible success in the social sphere. In major urban centers, the morals police were reined in. Women felt freer to wear more provocative and colorful outfits, heavy makeup, and fashionable hair covers. Women designers and private fashion shows became part of the social scene. The president went so far as to say that the police should enforce the law rather than Islam. Women entrepreneurs continued to head companies and start-ups.

In the political sphere, Rouhani proved unable to rein in, much less to control, the security organizations or the judiciary. In the early months of his presidency, Rouhani secured the release from prison of human rights lawyer Nasrine Sotoudeh and seven other women activists. However, arrests, trials and long prison terms of women activists, bloggers and critics of the government continued. Rouhani was also unable to prevent the closure of the women's magazine, "Zanane- Emrouz," one year and 11 issues after it hit newsstands. The magazine was in reality a revival of "Zanan", the most progressive feminist magazine to appear under the Islamic Republic; it was banned under Ahmadinejad in 2006. The Family Law with its many provisions that treat women unfairly has not been revisited. The age of marriage continues to be 13 for girls. The law still allows polygamy and temporary marriage. Married women still need their husbands' permission to travel, and single women need their fathers' permission to get a passport.

Rouhani has had to deal with a legion of issues that are indicative of antiquated thinking among politicians and lawmakers. Parliament passed a bill in October 2013 that would permit men to marry their adopted daughters, even as young as 13. In July 2014, Tehran mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, ordered the segregation of men and women in municipal offices. The ordinance was never implemented. The chief of police in Tehran barred women from working as waitresses in cafes, although he allowed them to continue working in restaurant kitchens. The measure was not practical because of the high rate of unemployment among women, some 18.9 percent. Still, Rouhani could have relied on the support of an ardent constituency if he were willing to show more courage in pushing for women's rights.

In 2009 elections, 42 women registered to run for the presidency. All were disqualified by the Guardian Council. But for the first time, the council also indicated that women were not banned from running for the top political job.

Because of growing pressure from both reformers and conservatives, women's rights became one of the four top issues in the 2009 presidential election. All four candidates developed positions on women's issues.

In 2010, 65 percent of all university students were female. But by the 2012-2013 school year, only 48.2 percent were female, allegedly due to gender rationing policies implemented in 2012, according to the United Nations.

In the election for the ninth parliament (2012- ), nine women were elected to the 290-member body.

In 2012, the budget for Iran's family planning program was eliminated. Alarmed by a rapidly aging population, the supreme leader called on women to have more children.

In the 2013 presidential election, some 30 women registered to run. But they were all disqualified.

In the 2014 U.N. gender inequality index Iran ranked 109 out of 152 countries, with one being the best in terms of gender equality.

Farrokhru Parsa, the minister of education, was the first woman named to a cabinet position in 1968.

Marziyeh Afkham, a career diplomat, was appointed as Iran's first female foreign ministry spokesperson in 2013.

Mahnaz Afkhami was named minister of state for women's affairs in 1975.

Mehrangiz Dowlatshahi was the first Iranian woman to be appointed as Ambassador. She served as Ambassador to Denmark in 1975-1979 and was still Ambassador when the revolution occurred.

Simin Behbahani, one of Iran's greatest female poets, used her poetry to describe social and cultural deprivations, both before and after the revolution. Born in 1927, she was beaten up by police during a demonstration on International Women's Day in 2006, and in 2010 was prevented from leaving Iran to accept a prize in Paris. She passed away in 2014.

Masoumeh Ebtekar became Iran's first female vice president during the reform era of President Mohammad Khatami. Under President Hassan Rouhani, she was again appointed vice president and head of the Environmental Protection Organization. She was also a spokeswoman for the students who seized the U.S. Embassy in 1979.

Shahla Sherkat, editor of Zanan, the leading feminist journalist under the Islamic Republic. Zanan was shut down in 2008, after 16 years of publication.

Faezeh Hashemi, Rafsanjani's daughter, became a symbol of women's expanding role in the 1990s. She founded the Islamic Countries' Women's Sports Solidarity Council In 1992. She was elected to parliament for one term in 1996. And in 1998, she founded the first women's daily newspaper, Zan or "Woman." The paper was closed by the authorities in 1999.

Samira Makhmalbaf, one of several female filmmakers, was the youngest director to show a film at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival-at the age of 18. She won her first prize at Cannes for her second film at the age of 20.

Shirin Ebadi, the first female judge in Iran during the monarchy, and a human rights lawyer, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. The first Iranian and first Muslim woman laureate, she used the prize money to establish the Center for Defense of Human Rights, which was closed by security officials in 2010. Ebadi went into exile.

Under Ahmadinejad, Nasrine Soltankhah was vice president for science and technology. She was also head of the Center for Women and Family Affairs (formerly called the Center for Women's Participation, or CWP) and an advisor to the president on women's issues. Fatemeh Javadi was vice president for the environment under Ahmadinejad.

Zahra Rahnavard was the first female university chancellor and wife of former Prime Minister and 2009 presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. Appointed by Khatami, she was removed when hardliners took political control. Ahmadinejad questioned her academic credentials during the televised campaign debates, a move that backfired on him among women. She was the first wife to campaign for her husband. She later became a spokesperson for the opposition Green Movement after her husband lost. Rahnavard has been under house arrest along with her husband and Mehdi Karroubi, another opposition leader, since 2011.

The One Million Signatures Campaign for Equality is a movement launched in 2006 to secure one million signatures on petitions demanding equal rights for women in all spheres. Under Ahmadinejad, several organizers were arrested, put on trial and sentenced to prison terms. The government tried to crush the campaign, but did not succeed.

Since 1979, women have persistently emerged as one of the most dynamic political forces in the Islamic Republic. Despite many obstacles, they have won considerable freedom in education, employment, the public sphere and personal dress-all of which will be difficult to completely roll back.

The struggle for women's rights is central to the larger struggle for individual rights. It has become one of the four top issues in national elections.

Women's issues are important to both the modern and traditional sectors of society. So the pressure for expanded rights will continue, no matter who is in power.
Haleh Esfandiari is the director emerita of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the author of "This chapter was originally published in 2010, and is updated as of August 2015. Reconstructed Lives: Women and Iran's Islamic Revolution" and "My Prison, My Home: One Woman's Story of Captivity in Iran

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Haleh Esfandiari Since the 1979 revolution, women have struggled to reg

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The sight of more than a million fish floating belly up on the Darling River at Menindee has thrown doubt over the management of the Murray-Darling Basin.

Experts say irrigators are taking too much water from the system, and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority has mismanaged water flows.

But New South Wales Water Minister Niall Blair says drought is to blame.

With more fish likely to die, here's what we know about the mass deaths and what some independent experts have had to say.

Where are fish dying?

A million fish were found dead at Menindee Lakes last week.

It's a series of seven lakes fed by the Darling River, about 90 kilometres south-east of Broken Hill in western New South Wales.

It's believed to be one of the largest fish kills ever recorded in Australia.

Then a smaller kill of about 60 fish was reported at Lake Hume yesterday, on the NSW-Victoria border.But the cause of that kill is still unclear.

What killed the fish?

A variety of factors were at play at Menindee. Water levels were very low, the system had stopped flowing, and temperatures were high after a long spell of hot weather.

This created ideal conditions for blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) to grow, and it "bloomed" out of control.

But it wasn't the algae that killed the fish.

A cold front hit the region, which dropped the water temperature in the river, killing the algal bloom.

The bacteria that feeds on dying algae then exploded out of control, and sucked all the oxygen from the water.

When the oxygen levels dropped too low, the fish drowned.

So who or what is to blame?

The blame game began almost immediately after the Menindee fish kill was reported.

Farmers Rob McBride and Dick Arnold, whose video of dead Murray cod went viral, pointed the finger at cotton growers and politicians.

But others blame mismanagement by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA), and the NSW Government blames drought.

The big question is: why was the river in such a state that a blue-green algae outbreak of this scale could occur?

Here's what four experts working in the fields of river ecology, policy, management and economics told us.

1. Expert in water economics, environment and policy

Adjunct Professor John Williams from the Australian National University said you couldn't blame the drought.

"To manage a river you've got to be able to manage it through a drought without killing all the fish," Professor Williams said.

"We didn't put enough environmental water aside, and then we've continually eroded the little we did allocate with the recent amendments both in the north and to the south."

Environmental water is water set aside to be released into the river system when needed.

In 2018, the Turnbull government won support from Labor to amend the amount of environmental water allocated to the system, while the Greens and some senators were opposed.

The amendments cut 605 billion litres a year that were allocated from the southern basin's environmental water flows, and 70 billion litres a year from the northern basin's flows.

Professor Williams said if more environmental water was allocated to the system, it could be used in times of drought to help flush the system, reduce nutrient levels, help drop water temperatures and oxygenate the water.

"Yes, it is hard to manage rivers like the Darling through drought, but that's Australia. If you haven't got a management plan that can manage the water through drought in the Darling, you haven't got a plan," he said.

"We're taking a hell of a lot of water out. We had good flows 18 months ago.

"We want working rivers, we want irrigation, but we need to know how much we can take and regulate it pretty strongly."

2. Expert in conservation biology, wetland and river management

Professor Richard Kingsford from the University of New South Wales said farmers and irrigators were suffering from the drought, but water management was a big issue.

"Certainly the drought is a contributing factor. The bigger issue is that this has been coming for a long time in the Darling," he said.

"Over the last 20 or 30 years, we've reduced flows coming into the Menindee lakes from upstream and down the Darling by almost 50 per cent. And it means there's less water in the river than there used to be."

As well as extracting water from the river, licences allow some irrigators to capture overland flows.

Overland-flow capture means diverting rainwater into storage before it reaches the river, which in turn leads to less water entering the system.

"Some cotton growers in the Darling River tributaries have managed to capture some of the water in the recent rains that have occurred, and that's part of the licencing system that allows them to do that, to harvest those flows," he said.

3. Expert in water policy reform

Professor Michael Young from the University of Adelaide said the Murray-Darling Basin Authority had failed to plan for lean times.

"We've put a lot of effort into debating what is called the 'sustainable diversion limits', which is working out the maximum amount that can be taken when the tank is full," he said.

"We've put very, very little effort into working out how to manage times of low flow and who's responsible for that."

In the United Kingdom, there is a policy called "hands-off flow", where water is released at the top of a system and that water cannot be extracted as it works its way downstream.

But in Australia, things are different.

"In much of the Darling at the moment we don't have mechanisms in place to shepherd water through the system," Professor Young said.

"The licences people hold are often a function of the height of the river. If one person leaves water in the river, the next person says, 'thank you, I'll take some more'."

4. Expert in ecology, management and restoration of aquatic ecosystems

Professor Robyn Watts from Charles Sturt University said that drought, climate change and mismanagement had all contributed to the state of the river.

"There's a lot of complexity around this fish kill," she said.

"It's hard to know if that could be avoided because there's so much complexity around the Menindee Lakes system in terms of who's been taking water upstream and whether it's been taken legally."

But she said there were things that could be done in the short term to avoid more fish kills.

During previous events, locals have improvised their own aerator systems, pumping oxygen into affected waterholes and moving cooler, deep water to the surface.

"Where these refuges were created ... we got the most adults and the most fish larvae," she said.

Yesterday, the New South Wales Government announced it would be installing aerators at a number of sites across the state.

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Climate change and poor management among factors behind death of a million fish in NSW

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The sight of more than a million fish floating belly up on the Darling River at Menindee has thrown doubt over the management of the Murray-Darling Basin. Here's what we know about the mass deaths, and what experts say could be to blame.

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The human rights of people who are in immigration detention are of special concern to the Commission. Liberty is a fundamental human right, recognised in major human rights instruments to which Australia is a party.

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Freedom of Information, opinion and expression

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Freedom of Information, opinion and expression

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The UN General Assembly adopted the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on 16 December 1966.

ICCPR Article 19 states:

1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.

2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.

3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:
( a ) For respect of the rights or reputations of others;
( b ) For the protection of national security or of public order, or of public health or morals.

General comment 34 (open shut box)

General Comment 34 emphasises that freedom of expression and opinion are the foundation stone for a free and democratic society and a necessary condition for the promotion and protection of human rights. This General Comment addresses in detail:

freedom of opinion

freedom of expression

freedom of expression and the media

the right to access to information

the importance of freedom of expression in a democratic society

the application of Article 19.3 on permissible limitations on freedom of information and expression

the scope for limitations on freedom of expression in certain areas

the relationship between articles 19 and 20.

Freedom of information, expression & democracy

General Comment No. 25 deals with freedom of expression in the context of participation in public affairs and the right to vote. The Human Rights Committee has stated that:

Citizens also take part in the conduct of public affairs by exerting influence through public debate and dialogue with their representatives or through their capacity to organize themselves. This participation is supported by ensuring freedom of expression, assembly and association. ...
In order to ensure the full enjoyment of rights protected by article 25, the free communication of information and ideas about public and political issues between citizens, candidates and elected representatives is essential. This implies a free press and other media able to comment on public issues without censorship or restraint and to inform public opinion.

It requires the full enjoyment and respect for the rights guaranteed in articles 19, 21 and 22 of the Covenant, including freedom to engage in political activity individually or through political parties and other organizations, freedom to debate public affairs, to hold peaceful demonstrations and meetings, to criticize and oppose, to publish political material, to campaign for election and to advertise political ideas.

Common law protection

A well-established principle of statutory interpretation in Australian courts is that Parliament is presumed not to have intended to limit fundamental rights, unless it indicates this intention in clear terms. This includes freedom of expression. See our page on common law rights and parliamentary scrutiny .

Constitutional law protection

The Australian Constitution does not explicitly protect freedom of expression. However, the High Court has held that an implied freedom of political communication exists as an indispensable part of the system of representative and responsible government created by the Constitution. It operates as a freedom from government restraint, rather than a right conferred directly on individuals.

In Nationwide News Pty Ltd v Wills (1992) 177 CLR 1 and Australian Capital Television Pty Ltd v the Commonwealth (1992) 177 CLR 106, the majority of the High Court held that an implied freedom of political communication exists as an incident of the system of representative government established by the Constitution. This was reaffirmed in Unions NSW v New South Wales [2013] HCA 58.

Protection in State and Territory human rights laws

Section 16 of the Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT) states that:

1. Everyone has the right to hold opinions without interference.

2. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right includes the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of borders, whether orally, in writing or in print, by way of art, or in another way chosen by him or her.

The rights in this act are subject to section 28:

1. Human rights may be subject only to reasonable limits set by Territory laws that can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.

2. In deciding whether a limit is reasonable, all relevant factors must be considered, including the following:

3. the nature of the right affected;
b. the importance of the purpose of the limitation;
c. the nature and extent of the limitation;
d. the relationship between the limitation and its purpose;
e. any less restrictive means reasonably available to achieve the purpose the limitation seeks to achieve.

Section 15 of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic) provides:

1. Every person has the right to hold an opinion without interference.

2. Every person has the right to freedom of expression which includes the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, whether within or outside Victoria and whether-

(a) orally; or
(b) in writing; or
(c) in print; or
(d) by way of art; or
(e) in another medium chosen by him or her.

Special duties and responsibilities are attached to the right of freedom of expression and the right may be subject to lawful restrictions reasonably necessary-

(a) to respect the rights and reputation of other persons; or
(b) for the protection of national security, public order, public health or public morality.

Freedom of expression in other instruments

Convention on the Rights of the Child

The Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises the right to freedom of expression and information in the same terms as ICCPR Article 19. As with other rights recognised in the CRC this provision should be read with Article 5, which states:

States Parties shall respect the responsibilities, rights and duties of parents or, where applicable, the members of the extended family or community as provided for by local custom, legal guardians or other persons legally responsible for the child, to provide, in a manner consistent with the evolving capacities of the child, appropriate direction and guidance in the exercise by the child of the rights recognized in the present Convention.

Article 17 goes on to state:

States Parties recognize the important function performed by the mass media and shall ensure that the child has access to information and material from a diversity of national and international sources, especially those aimed at the promotion of his or her social, spiritual and moral well-being and physical and mental health. To this end, States Parties shall:

(a) Encourage the mass media to disseminate information and material of social and cultural benefit to the child and in accordance with the spirit of article 29;

(b) Encourage international co-operation in the production, exchange and dissemination of such information and material from a diversity of cultural, national and international sources;

(c) Encourage the production and dissemination of children's books;

(d) Encourage the mass media to have particular regard to the linguistic needs of the child who belongs to a minority group or who is indigenous;

(e) Encourage the development of appropriate guidelines for the protection of the child from information and material injurious to his or her well-being, bearing in mind the provisions of articles 13 and 18.

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognises that people with disability have the rights to freedom of expression and information which are recognised for all people in ICCPR Article 19. The CRPD also goes on to

make clear that positive measures and not only non-interference are needed to ensure the enjoyment of these rights and

specify some of the measures needed.

Article 21 states that:

States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities can exercise the right to freedom of expression and opinion, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas on an equal basis with others and through all forms of communication of their choice, as defined in article 2 of the present Convention, including by:

1. Providing information intended for the general public to persons with disabilities in accessible formats and technologies appropriate to different kinds of disabilities in a timely manner and without additional cost;

2. Accepting and facilitating the use of sign languages, Braille, augmentative and alternative communication, and all other accessible means, modes and formats of communication of their choice by persons with disabilities in official interactions;

3. Urging private entities that provide services to the general public, including through the Internet, to provide information and services in accessible and usable formats for persons with disabilities;

4. Encouraging the mass media, including providers of information through the Internet, to make their services accessible to persons with disabilities;

5. Recognising and promoting the use of sign languages.

European Convention

Article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms states that:

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.

2. The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or the rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.

United States Constitution

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States states a right to freedom of speech and press freedom in more absolute terms than Article 19 of the ICCPR or the equivalent provision of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech or of the press ...

The text is unqualified. However, the United States Supreme Court has interpreted the right as subject to some restrictions:

'the question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent': Schenck v United States 249 US 47 at 52 (1919). This was later refined to the extent that free speech could be restricted without contravening the First Amendment where it is likely to incite or produce imminent lawless action: Brandenburg v Ohio 395 S 444 at 447 (1969).

The Supreme Court has held that defamation law is subject to the principles of the First Amendment. Criticism of public officials and public figures will not give rise to liability in an action for defamation in the US, unless 'actual malice' can be proved against the defendant: New York Times Co v Sullivan 376 US 254 (1964).

However, the First Amendment protection afforded to criticism of public officials and public figures does not extend to defamatory statements made in relation to private individuals. Public figures 'invite attention and comment', whereas private individuals 'have not accepted public office or assumed an influential role in ordering society'. See Gertz v Robert Welch, Inc 418 US 323 at 341-46 (1974).

More information: UNESCO program on freedom of expression

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Freedom of information, opinion and expression

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The UN General Assembly adopted the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on 16 December 1966. ICCPR Article 19 states:

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Deforestation and Its Effect on the Planet

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Learn about the manmade and natural causes of deforestation–and how it’s impacting our planet.

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Fifty refugees who allege they endured horrific treatment in now-defunct South Australian detention centres are facing vast and unexplained delays to their cases against the government, which threaten to languish in the courts for more than a decade.

Documents filed in the 50 cases before the South Australian district court paint a disturbing picture about the treatment of detainees in the Port Hedland, Woomera and Baxter onshore detention centres in the early 2000s.

The documents allege detainees were beaten by guards with batons, subjected to frequent and unnecessary strip-searches, called by numbers rather than names, and placed in restraints and handcuffs to attend medical appointments.

Most of the 50 refugees allege they directly witnessed fellow detainees self-harming and attempting suicide. Many, including children, spoke of starving themselves in protest. Some sewed their lips together to do so.

In one case a former detainee of Baxter and Curtin detention centres alleges he was beaten by guards and said his children had to witness "men attempting to hang themselves from a tree".

Another spoke of being beaten by guards while a bystander in a detention centre riot in mid-2000.

"The plaintiff was in the kitchen watching the riot when a guard entered the kitchen and accused the plaintiff of being involved and pushed the plaintiff causing his head to strike the steel bars on the walls knocking him unconscious and injuring the plaintiff's neck," his lawyers said in court documents.

In another the detainee said he had seen a fellow detainee climb to the top of a perimeter fence and jump into razor wire.

"Guards used a water cannon on the detainee who fell from the fence to the ground," court documents allege. "After he landed, guards beat him with batons before he was taken away."

Many of the refugees fled situations of violence, torture and persecution, including in Iraq and Iran, and their lawyers allege the government knew they were at risk of psychiatric injury. Despite their history of trauma, and clear signs that many were suffering in detention, their cases allege the government was negligent in failing to provide proper psychiatric care or treatment.

Most of the civil claims were lodged in 2014 in the district court. Just one of the 50 cases has made it to trial in the nine years since.

Shine Lawyers, which is representing all the SA refugees, says it fears the cases will languish in the courts for another decade.

"The first trial went for more than 150 days and the remaining trials could take anywhere up to 100 days each to complete," a Shine special counsel, Mal Byrne, told Guardian Australia.

"Our clients will never truly be free from detention until their claims are resolved, they have gone from immigration detention to litigation detention, a fact which didn't seem to concern the previous government."

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The home affairs department said that it was "aware of the cohort of claims in South Australian courts".

"As the matters are currently before the court, it would not be appropriate to comment," a spokesperson said.

The Howard-era policy of mandatory and indefinite detention in onshore centres like Woomera and Baxter, including of children, prompted widespread criticism from human rights groups and precipitated the notorious Pacific Solution.

Cabinet documents from 2000, released two years ago, show how the Howard government canvassed ways to deal with what it described as "an increasingly non-compliant population" in centres like Woomera.

The situation was so volatile, cabinet was warned, that it threatened to "go beyond the capacity" of Australasian Correctional Management, the private-sector company to which the government had contracted out detention centre management. Cabinet countenanced using the Australian defence force as a last resort.

In March 2000, the cabinet documents show, the then immigration minister Philip Ruddock sought additional sanctions for immigration detainees who engaged in "inappropriate behaviour".

These included a new "non-warrant strip search power", something the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade opposed outright, telling cabinet that Australia's mandatory detention and temporary protection visa regimes had already "taken us close to the minimum standards of treatment the Refugee Convention, international and domestic law, and human rights standards will bear".

In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Refugees alleging horrific treatment in Australian detention centres face lengthy court delays

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Exclusive: Fifty refugees have taken cases against the government that paint a disturbing picture of their treatment, documents show

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Deforestation Affects Wildlife, Ecosystems, Weather Patterns and Climate Change

Climate Change presents a major existential threat, and how we respond to it will determine what our future looks like. But before we get to that, let's get our facts straight.
Climate change is a long-term change in global and regional climate patterns. What it isn't is "global warming" or unusual weather events. Global warming is a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere, while weather is fluid and changes from day to day and year to year. Climate change is observed over a long period of time and includes the seasonal temperatures, rainfall averages, and wind patterns of a region. Its effects influence weather patterns, causing them to become less predictable.

And from shifting weather patterns that impact food production to rising sea levels that cause catastrophic flooding, we're already experiencing some of those effects, which will only intensify if we continue with business as usual. Many of these effects are directly attributable to human activities like industrialization, deforestation, and unsustainable agriculture. And according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, "the net damage costs of climate change are likely to be significant and to increase over time."
So what do we stand to lose? Clean air, safe drinking water, a nutritious food supply, and global stability to start. Inspired by these challenges, human ingenuity is getting its moment in the sun as scientists, engineers, and industry leaders come together to develop creative solutions!

Thanks to rising temperatures, intensifying droughts, sick forests, and unsustainable development, wildfires are raging across the world at an unprecedented rate. From the bushfires in Australia to the wildfires in California, the Huffington Post called 2019 "The Year The World Burned." With current climatic modeling, the unfortunate truth is that this trend will only continue to intensify: the Union of Concerned Scientists projects that "in the future, the fires themselves will be larger, more destructive, more common, and more costly."
We're already seeing this, and we're doing everything we can to reforest the fire-sensitive forests around the world that can't regenerate on their own. However, more must be done to prevent fires from happening in the first place. One interesting solution, developed by scientists at Stanford University, involves spraying a cellulose-based gel onto fire-prone vegetation. This gel, which is biodegradable, can act as an effective carrier fluid for traditional fire-retardants-allowing firefighters to apply them selectively and less frequently. Currently, these retardants are sprayed on active fires and often get washed away too quickly to be truly effective. In contrast,researchers found that this gel provided 100% protection against fire, even after receiving an inch of rain.

While some areas are experiencing extreme drought due to climate change, others get too much water. Climate change is linked to heavier and more frequent rainfall, leading to a marked increase in destructive inland flooding and storm surges. According to NASA, "projections of future climate over the U.S. suggest that the recent trend towards increased heavy precipitation events will continue. This trend is projected to occur even in regions where total precipitation is expected to decrease, such as the Southwest." Heavy rainfall and flooding can create life-or-death situations, intensify erosion, degrade rivers and streams, and damage homes and infrastructure.
While planting trees helps to combat these effects-trees protect against storm surges, absorb water, and hold soil together -researchers at MIT have come up with another solution: engineered wetlands. Intended for cities, which are particularly vulnerable to flooding and overflows, these artificial wetlands mimic the natural ones that were paved over, slowing and purifying the water that flows through. This solution is more cost-effective than most and has the potential to take the pressure off of aging infrastructure and sensitive aquatic species downstream.

On the flip side, droughts and heatwaves put millions of lives at risk by harming food security and creating dangerously high temperatures. As the Union of Concerned Scientists explains: when CO2 is released into the atmosphere, it blankets the planet, which prevents heat from escaping our atmosphere. They add that "rising temperatures are linked to almost all of climate change's most severe impacts." And, unfortunately, NASA recently shared that "droughts and heat waves everywhere are projected to become more intense, and cold waves less intense." They add that "summer temperatures are projected to continue rising, and a reduction of soil moisture, which exacerbates heat waves, is projected."
Again, trees can help by providing shade, reducing the dangerous Urban Heat Island effect, and helping to retain soil moisture. And science has come up with another interesting solution: using graphene filters to desalinate water with nothing more than hydrostatic pressure. This solution is still being developed, but it would allow desalination to become a truly viable climate change solution by greatly reducing the amount of energy required. So far,researchers at MIT have found graphene to be exceptionally durable under pressure, which is essential to the filtration process.

As the world warms, sea levels rise, "disrupting and damaging coastal communities and infrastructure in virtually every sea-bordering country in the world." Some estimates put that rise at 8 ft by the end of the century, which means that coastal communities and entire island nations could end up completely submerged. The scientific consensus is that "this is the result of added water from melting land ice and the expansion of seawater as it warms." Adding to the pressure felt by these vulnerable populations, warmer air and oceans are creating more frequent and intense hurricanes. And "hurricane-associated storm intensity..[is] projected to increase as the climate continues to warm."
While trees can't stop sea-level rise, they can act as a barrier between hurricanes and vulnerable populations, absorbing excess water in the soil and releasing it into the air as water vapor. In addition to planting more trees in coastal areas, we need to strengthen sea walls and invest in developing more resilient infrastructure. Some scientists have taken their efforts even further-specifically, into the depths of the ocean. Norwegian researchers believe that a viable solution exists in the tried and tested technology of "bubble curtains." Currently used by Norway to keep their fjords free of ice, this low-cost solution involves inserting a perforated pipe deep into the water (between 100-150 meters down), and pumping bubbles of compressed air into the cooler, lower depths of the ocean. These bubbles transport cold water to the surface from below.This has the potential to reduce surface temperatures and, therefore, the risk of super-hurricanes developing and achieving landfall. rainforest, which is a higher percentage than any other tropical country. This was largely caused by agricultural clearing and illegal mining.

With all of these climate change effects comes the added pressure of intensifying existing inequalities and conflicts. Already, 11% of the population is adversely affected, and we can only expect this number to grow-with the roughly 800 million people currently living in extreme poverty getting the brunt of it. Crop failures will drive up the price of food, competition over scarce resources will escalate, and entire regions will become unlivable, forcing inhabitants to migrate elsewhere. And by the end of the century, sea level rise alone could displace more than 100 million people. These migrations will "exacerbate existing political and social tensions, and significantly increase the risk of conflict and war." And, unsurprisingly, these effects could also push an estimated 100 million more people into poverty by 2030 if not addressed. Deteriorating conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and South Asia will displace an estimated 140 million people by 2050.
Planting trees can help stabilize deteriorating environmental conditions and improve agricultural yields, but significant improvements in infrastructure, early warning systems, and planting of drought-resistant crops will also be necessary. The Global Commission On Adaptation, co-managed by the Global Center on Adaptation and the World Resources Institute, seeks to alleviate these issues by "encouraging the development of measures to manage the effects of climate change through technology, planning and investment."
Through theirresearch, they have determined that by investing $1.8 trillion dollars over 10 years, the world could save $7.1 trillion dollars in costs associated with rebuilding after disasters. More importantly, investing this money (equivalent to worldwide military expenditure each year) could save millions of lives and, potentially, reduce climate change-induced displacement.

Humanity is not the only population that will struggle to survive-currently, we are facing a global crisis in biodiversity loss. Tens of thousands of animals are becoming extinct each year, prompting scientists to wonder if we're in the midst of a 6th mass extinction. According to a recent UN Report, around 1 million species "are now threatened with extinction, many within decades." And according to the WWF Living Planet Index, on average, wildlife populations have declined by 60% over the last 40 years.
Obvious ways to combat extinction include protecting and conserving wildlife habitat by ending deforestation, eliminating plastic waste, and cutting down on pollution. One interesting solution considered by apanel of scientists last year was: better air conditioners. This may seem unconnected, but hear us out! Last year, the World Economic Forum revealed that air conditioners alone could use up 40% of our remaining global carbon budget by 2050. This is bad news for the "70 to 90 percent of the world's coral reefs; up to half of plant and animal species in the world's most naturally rich areas" that "could face extinction...with only a small amount of warming." Fortunately, scientists have developed a water-based, eco-friendly air conditioner that is capable of cooling air to as low as 18 deg. C without using energy-intensive compressors and environmentally harmful chemical refrigerants like conventional units do. It also produces potable water as a byproduct of its processes. How cool is that?

Use your voice to advocate for sustainability and environmental justice, but not by trying to convince those who are not interested in changing their behaviors. Find opportunities to speak about why you're passionate about nature or wildlife, join like-minded groups or coalitions who lean on power in numbers to affect change, and simply share your own positive actions with friends and family to spark curiosity in others.
Reforestation has consistently ranked as the #1 climate change solution-and with good reason! Trees help to stabilize our climate by absorbing and sequestering carbon via photosynthesis. In fact, one mature tree can sequester up to 22lbs of carbon in one year. They also filter and absorb air pollutants, release oxygen for us to breathe, modulate temperatures, provide wildlife habitat, and so much more. Clearly, they're friends worth keeping in our corner. Plant a tree today!

If you own your home, consider having solar panels installed on your roof.

If you don't, or if an installation just isn't feasible right now, you can still make a difference. Pay a little bit more to get your energy from renewable sources via your utility.

Urge your school, pension fund, office, banks, etc., to divest from fossil fuels if they haven't already.

Consider greening your commute by swapping your gas-powered car for an EV.

The food you eat every day has a huge impact on the planet. Opting for organic and local, phasing out or at least reducing meat, and growing your own will make a difference!

And because so much of the food we buy is wasted, try meal planning to streamline your shopping, and compost whatever you don't use.

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What is climate change? Learn about the causes and effects of climate change and how it poses a threat to ecosystems and communities worldwide. See how you can help stop climate change.

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Tourism-dependent economies are among those harmed the most by the pandemic

Before COVID-19, travel and tourism had become one of the most important sectors in the world economy, accounting for 10 percent of global GDP and more than 320 million jobs worldwide.

In 1950, at the dawn of the jet age, just 25 million people took foreign trips. By 2019, that number had reached 1.5 billion, and the travel and tourism sector had grown to almost too-big-to-fail proportions for many economies.

The global pandemic, the first of its scale in a new era of interconnectedness, has put 100 million jobs at risk, many in micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises that employ a high share of women, who represent 54 percent of the tourism workforce, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Tourism-dependent countries will likely feel the negative impacts of the crisis for much longer than other economies. Contact-intensive services key to the tourism and travel sectors are disproportionately affected by the pandemic and will continue to struggle until people feel safe to travel en masse again.

"There is no way we can grow our way out of this hole we are in," Irwin LaRocque, secretary-general of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), said at a virtual event in September.

From the white sand beaches of the Caribbean, Seychelles, Mauritius, and the Pacific to the back streets of Bangkok, to Africa's sweeping national parks, countries are grappling with how to lure back visitors while avoiding new outbreaks of infection. The solutions range from wooing the ultrarich who can quarantine on their yachts to inviting people to stay for periods of up to a year and work virtually while enjoying a tropical view.

Tourism receipts worldwide are not expected to recover to 2019 levels until 2023. In the first half of this year, tourist arrivals fell globally by more than 65 percent, with a near halt since April-compared with 8 percent during the global financial crisis and 17 percent amid the SARS epidemic of 2003, according to ongoing IMF research on tourism in a post-pandemic world.

The October World Economic Outlook projected the global economy would contract by 4.4 percent in 2020. The shock in tourism-dependent economies will be far worse. Real GDP among African countries dependent on tourism will shrink by 12 percent. Among tourism-dependent Caribbean nations, the decline will also reach 12 percent. Pacific island nations such as Fiji could see real GDP shrink by a staggering 21 percent in 2020.

Nor is the economic hit limited to the most tourism-dependent countries. In the United States, Hawaii saw one in every six jobs vanish by August. In Florida, where tourism accounts for up to 15 percent of the state's revenue, officials said it will take up to three years for the industry to recover.

Among G20 countries, the hospitality and travel sectors make up 10 percent of employment and 9.5 percent of GDP on average, with the GDP share reaching 14 percent or more in Italy, Mexico, and Spain. A six-month disruption to activity could directly reduce GDP between 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent across all G20 countries, according to a recent IMF paper.

Managing the revenue gap

In Barbados and Seychelles, as in many other tourism-dependent nations, the pandemic brought the industry to a virtual standstill. After successfully halting local transmission of the virus, the authorities reopened their island countries for international tourists in July. Still, arrivals in August were down almost 90 percent relative to previous years, drying up a vital stream of government revenue.

Barbados had gone into the crisis with good economic fundamentals, as a result of an IMF-supported economic reform program that helped stabilize debt, build reserves, and consolidate its fiscal position just before the crisis struck. The IMF augmented its Extended Fund Facility program by about $90 million, or about 2 percent of GDP, to help finance the emerging fiscal deficit as a result of plummeting revenues from tourism-related activity and increasing COVID-related expenditures.

"The longer this lasts, the more difficult it gets to maintain," says Kevin Greenidge, senior technical advisor to Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley. "What we don't want to do is operate policy-wise in a manner that will jeopardize the gains in terms of the fundamentals that we have made."

On the other side of the world, Seychelles, a country that entered the crisis from a similar position of strength, will still be challenged to return to medium-term fiscal sustainability without significant support. Just before the crisis struck, the government had rebuilt international reserves and consolidated its fiscal positions. Even so, the ongoing pandemic struck the Indian Ocean island nation very hard as tourism revenues fell while COVID-related expenditures increased.

"It is too early to determine whether the crisis represents a permanent shock and how it will shape the tourism industry going forward," says Boriana Yontcheva, the IMF's mission chief to Seychelles. "Given the large uncertainties surrounding the recovery of the sector, innovative structural policies will be necessary to adapt to the new normal."

All over the world, tourism-dependent economies are working to finance a broad range of policy measures to soften the impact of plummeting tourism revenues on households and businesses. Cash transfers, grants, tax relief, payroll support, and loan guarantees have been deployed. Banks have also halted loan repayments in some cases. Some countries have focused support on informal workers, who tend to be concentrated in the tourism sector and are highly vulnerable.

An analysis of the tourism industry by McKinsey & Company says that multiyear recovery of tourism demand to 2019 levels will require experimenting with new financing mechanisms.

The consulting firm analyzed stimulus packages across 24 economies totaling $100 billion in direct aid to the tourism industry and $300 billion in aid across other sectors with significant involvement in tourism. Most direct stimulus was in the form of grants, debt relief, and aid to small and medium-sized enterprises and airlines. The firm recommends new ways to support the industry, including revenue-sharing mechanisms among hotels that compete for the same market segment, such as a stretch of beachfront, and government-backed equity funds for tourism-related businesses.

Development challenge

The crisis has crystallized the importance of tourism as a development pathway for many countries to decrease poverty and improve their economies. In sub-Saharan Africa, the development of tourism has been a key driver in closing the gap between poor and rich countries, with tourism-dependent countries averaging real per capita GDP growth of 2.4 percent between 1990 and 2019-significantly faster than non-tourism-dependent countries in the region, according to IMF staff.

Smaller, tourism-dependent nations are in many ways locked into their economic destinies. Among small island nations, there are few, if any, alternative sectors to which they can shift labor and capital.

Seychelles, for example, has benefited from increases in tuna exports during the COVID-19 period, which have somewhat offset tourism losses, but these additional earnings remain a fraction of tourism receipts. The government is also carrying out a plan to pay wages to displaced tourism-sector workers while offering opportunities for retraining.

Meanwhile, the government in Barbados is trying to maintain social spending and reprioritize capital spending to create jobs, at least temporarily, in nontourism sectors such as agriculture and infrastructure development.

The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association has projected that as many as 60 percent of the 30,000 new hotel rooms that were in the planning or construction phase throughout the Caribbean region will not be completed as a result of the crisis.

Still, the crisis is being viewed as an opportunity to improve the industry in the medium and long term through greater digitalization and environmental sustainability. The UNWTO has encouraged support for worker training in order to build digital skills for harnessing the value of big data, data analytics, and artificial intelligence. Recovery should be leveraged to improve the industry's efficient use of energy and water, waste management, and sustainable sourcing of food.

"In a sector that employs 1 in 10 people globally, harnessing innovation and digitalization, embracing local values, and creating decent jobs for all-especially for youth, women, and the most vulnerable groups in our societies-could be at the forefront of tourism's recovery," says UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili.

Adjusting to a new normal

As the immediate impact of lockdowns and containment measures eased during the second half of 2020, countries started looking for a balance.

Thailand, Seychelles, and other countries approved programs that would admit tourists from "lower-risk" countries with special quarantine requirements. Fiji has created "blue lanes" that will allow seafaring visitors to arrive on yachts and quarantine at sea before they unleash "the immense economic impact they carry aboard," Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama declared on Twitter. St. Lucia requires a negative COVID-19 test no more than seven days before arrival. Australia created a "travel bubble" that will eliminate quarantine requirements for travelers from New Zealand. CARICOM countries have also created a "regional travel bubble" that eliminates testing and quarantine for people traveling from countries within the bubble.

In a new era of remote work, countries and territories such as Barbados, Estonia, Georgia, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, and the Cayman Islands offer new long-term permits, lasting up to 12 months in some places, to entice foreign visitors to bring their virtual offices with them while spending in local economies.

Japan, which had seen its international arrivals triple from 2013 to 2018, started lifting border closures for travelers from certain countries at the end of October. To accommodate a post-pandemic tourism rebound, an IMF Working Paper recommends that the government continue a trend of relaxing visa requirements, draw visitors away from urban centers to less populated regions of the country, and complement a tourism comeback with improvements to labor resources and tourism infrastructure.

The World Tourism and Travel Council in a report on the future of the industry said the pandemic has shifted travelers' focus to domestic trips or nature and outdoor destinations. Travel will largely be "kickstarted by the less risk averse travelers and early adopters, from adventure travelers and backpackers to surfers and mountain climbers," the report says.

Leisure travel will lead the comeback in the tourism and travel sector. Business travel, a crucial source of revenue for hotels and airlines, could see a permanent shift or may come back only in phases based on proximity, reason for travel, and sector.

In the end, the return of tourism will likely hinge on what will be a deeply personal decision for many people as they weigh the risk of falling ill against the necessity of travel. The private sector backed by some tourism-dependent nations is developing global protocols for various travel industries, including a call for more rapid testing at airports to boost confidence in traveling.

"The fact is people do not feel comfortable traveling. We have not put in the necessary protocols to give them that comfort," St. Lucia Prime Minister Allen Chastanet said at a September virtual event. "After 9/11, the TSA [Transportation Security Administration] and other security agencies around the world did a fantastic job of developing protocols that regained the public's confidence to travel, and sadly with this pandemic we haven't done that."

ADAM BEHSUDI is on the staff of Finance & Development.

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Impact of the Pandemic on Tourism - IMF F&D

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Tourism-dependent economies are among those harmed the most by the pandemic, writes F&D's Adam Behsudi.

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Solutions

Tackling water pollution is entirely within Queensland's control. The solution is to start making changes on our land before it ends up in our waterways.

In 2019, the Queensland government passed a historic bill designed to improve water quality flowing into our Reef from agricultural properties.

We all support our farmers and graziers to make changes on their land. The new regulations target those practices that pose the greatest risk for water quality, such as farmers who are overusing fertiliser and polluting our Reef.

We urge the Queensland Government to achieve a high level of compliance with these regulations, that are crucial for the future of our Reef and the thousands of jobs it supports in Queensland.

In addition, our Governments also need to urgently establish an adequately funded coastal wetland restoration and protection program to improve water quality; Rehabilitation of just 5% of a land parcel to wetlands can reduce nitrogen pollution by 20-50%! Follow the link below to find out more about the super powers of wetlands:

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Pollution & Water Quality in the Great Barrier Reef

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Nutrient pollution and sediment runoff from land based activities are harming our fragile Great Barrier Reef. Water quality is in Queensland's control.

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Secure access to nutritious and available food is a human right, but food insecurity persists as a multifaceted problem that is difficult to detect among Australia's youth population. In 2021, findings from the Australian Youth Barometer indicated that 20.8 per cent of young Australians had experienced food insecurity in the last two years.

Despite its prevalence, food insecurity is hidden behind a veil of shame and stigma and obscured by poor understanding and recognition in the community. Food insecurity is an issue not limited to food, nutrition and eating. The complex impacts of food insecurity are diverse, encompassing both the psychological and the physical. There can be stigma attached to food insecurity, which can result in stress and feelings of shame, which in turn can affect belonging, mental health and wellbeing.

While COVID-19 has highlighted the phenomenon, there is still a substantial way to go in terms of understanding young people's experiences and coping strategies and identifying effective solutions to the complex impacts of food insecurity. This paper represents an entry point into a deeper, critical investigation of young people and food insecurity, and seeks to locate this issue front and centre in the discussion about young people and their post-COVID recovery.

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Realities of food insecurity for young people: Insights from the 2021 Australian Youth Barometer

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Secure access to nutritious and available food is a human right, but food insecurity persists as a multifaceted problem that is difficult to detect among Australia's youth population. In 2021, findings from the Australian Youth Barometer indicated that 20.8 per cent of young Australians had experienced food insecurity in the last two years.

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Women in Leadership (Building Gender Equality)

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Women in Leadership (Building Gender Equality)

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From increasing women's representation in leadership and decision-making to redistributing care-work and productive resources, progress towards a gender equal and sustainable future starts with taking action today.

This International Women's Day, 8 March, join us in calling for policy and social reforms that put gender equality and sustainability at the centre of progress, starting with these five key ways to drive change.

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Five ways to build gender equality and sustainability | UN Women - Headquarters

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Gender inequality and the climate crisis are two of the most urgent challenges of today. As we better understand and make the critical connections between gender, social equity and climate change, it's time we take action towards solutions.

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biodiversity loss, also called loss of biodiversity, a decrease in biodiversity within a species, an ecosystem, a given geographic area, or Earth as a whole. Biodiversity, or biological diversity, is a term that refers to the number of genes, species, individual organisms within a given species, and biological communities within a defined geographic area, ranging from the smallest ecosystem to the global biosphere. (A biological community is an interacting group of various species in a common location.) Likewise, biodiversity loss describes the decline in the number, genetic variability, and variety of species, and the biological communities in a given area. This loss in the variety of life can lead to a breakdown in the functioning of the ecosystem where decline has happened.
(Read E.O. Wilson's Britannica essay on mass extinction.)
The idea of biodiversity is most often associated with species richness (the count of species in an area), and thus biodiversity loss is often viewed as species loss from an ecosystem or even the entire biosphere ( see also extinction). However, associating biodiversity loss with species loss alone overlooks other subtle phenomena that threaten long-term ecosystem health. Sudden population declines may upset social structures in some species, which may keep surviving males and females from finding mates, which may then produce further population declines. Declines in genetic diversity that accompany rapid falls in population may increase inbreeding (mating between closely related individuals), which could produce a further decline in genetic diversity.

Even though a species is not eliminated from the ecosystem or from the biosphere, its niche (the role the species play in the ecosystems it inhabits) diminishes as its numbers fall. If the niches filled by a single species or a group of species are critical to the proper functioning of the ecosystem, a sudden decline in numbers may produce significant changes in the ecosystem's structure. For example, clearing trees from a forest eliminates the shading, temperature and moisture regulation, animal habitat, and nutrient transport services they provide to the ecosystem.

Natural biodiversity loss

An area's biodiversity increases and decreases with natural cycles. Seasonal changes, such as the onset of spring, create opportunities for feeding and breeding, increasing biodiversity as the populations of many species rise. In contrast, the onset of winter temporarily decreases an area's biodiversity, as warm-adapted insects die and migrating animals leave. In addition, the seasonal rise and fall of plant and invertebrate populations (such as insects and plankton), which serve as food for other forms of life, also determine an area's biodiversity.

Biodiversity loss is typically associated with more permanent ecological changes in ecosystems, landscapes, and the global biosphere. Natural ecological disturbances, such as wildfire, floods, and volcanic eruptions, change ecosystems drastically by eliminating local populations of some species and transforming whole biological communities. Such disturbances are temporary, however, because natural disturbances are common and ecosystems have adapted to their challenges ( see also ecological succession).

Human-driven biodiversity loss

In contrast, biodiversity losses from disturbances caused by humans tend to be more severe and longer-lasting. Humans ( Homo sapiens), their crops, and their food animals take up an increasing share of Earth's land area. Half of the world's habitable land (some 51 million square km [19.7 million square miles]) has been converted to agriculture, and some 77 percent of agricultural land (some 40 million square km [15.4 million square miles]) is used for grazing by cattle, sheep, goats, and other livestock. This massive conversion of forests, wetlands, grasslands, and other terrestrial ecosystems has produced a 60 percent decline (on average) in the number of vertebrates worldwide since 1970, with the greatest losses in vertebrate populations occurring in freshwater habitats (83 percent) and in South and Central America (89 percent). Between 1970 and 2014 the human population grew from about 3.7 billion to 7.3 billion people. By 2018 the biomass of humans and their livestock (0.16 gigaton) greatly outweighed the biomass of wild mammals (0.007 gigaton) and wild birds (0.002 gigaton). Researchers estimate that the current rate of species loss varies between 100 and 10,000 times the background extinction rate (which is roughly one to five species per year when the entire fossil record is considered). In addition, a 2019 report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services noted that up to one million plant and animal species are facing extinction due to human activities.

Forest clearing, wetland filling, stream channeling and rerouting, and road and building construction are often part of a systematic effort that produces a substantial change in the ecological trajectory of a landscape or a region. As human populations grow, the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems they use may be transformed by the efforts of human beings to find and produce food, adapt the landscape to human settlement, and create opportunities for trading with other communities for the purposes of building wealth. Biodiversity losses typically accompany these processes.

Researchers have identified five important drivers of biodiversity loss:

Habitat loss and degradation-which is any thinning, fragmentation, or destruction of an existing natural habitat-reduces or eliminates the food resources and living space for most species. Species that cannot migrate are often wiped out.

Invasive species-which are non-native species that significantly modify or disrupt the ecosystems they colonize-may outcompete native species for food and habitat, which triggers population declines in native species. Invasive species may arrive in new areas through natural migration or through human introduction.

Overexploitation-which is the harvesting of game animals, fish, or other organisms beyond the capacity for surviving populations to replace their losses-results in some species being depleted to very low numbers and others being driven to extinction.

Pollution-which is the addition of any substance or any form of energy to the environment at a rate faster than it can be dispersed, diluted, decomposed, recycled, or stored in some harmless form-contributes to biodiversity loss by creating health problems in exposed organisms. In some cases, exposure may occur in doses high enough to kill outright or create reproductive problems that threaten the species's survival.

Ecologists emphasize that habitat loss (typically from the conversion of forests, wetlands, grasslands, and other natural areas to urban and agricultural uses) and invasive species are the primary drivers of biodiversity loss, but they acknowledge that climate change could become a primary driver as the 21st century progresses. In an ecosystem, species tolerance limits and nutrient cycling processes are adapted to existing temperature and precipitation patterns. Some species may not able to cope with environmental changes from global warming. These changes may also provide new opportunities for invasive species, which could further add to the stresses on species struggling to adapt to changing environmental conditions. All five drivers are strongly influenced by the continued growth of the human population and its consumption of natural resources.

Interactions between two or more of these drivers increase the pace of biodiversity loss. Fragmented ecosystems are generally not as resilient as contiguous ones, and areas clear-cut for farms, roads, and residences provide avenues for invasions by non-native species, which contribute to further declines in native species. Habitat loss combined with hunting pressure is hastening the decline of several well-known species, such as the Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), which could become extinct by the middle of the 21st century. Hunters killed 2,000-3,000 Bornean orangutans every year between 1971 and 2011, and the clearing of large areas of tropical forest in Indonesia and Malaysia for oil palm ( Elaeis guineensis) cultivation became an additional obstacle to the species' survival. Palm oil production increased 900 percent in Indonesia and Malaysia between 1980 and 2010, and, with large areas of Borneo's tropical forests cut, the Bornean orangutan and hundreds to thousands of other species have been deprived of habitat.

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Biodiversity loss | Causes, Effects, & Facts

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Biodiversity loss, the reduction in an area's biodiversity (the number of genes, species, individual organisms, or ecosystems) expressed by species loss, population declines and reductions in the genetic diversity within a species, and the collapse of biological communities.

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What Is Water Pollution?

Water pollution occurs when harmful substances-often chemicals or microorganisms-contaminate a stream, river, lake, ocean, aquifer, or other body of water, degrading water quality and rendering it toxic to humans or the environment.

This widespread problem of water pollution is jeopardizing our health. Unsafe water kills more people each year than war and all other forms of violence combined. Meanwhile, our drinkable water sources are finite: Less than 1 percent of the earth's freshwater is actually accessible to us. Without action, the challenges will only increase by 2050, when global demand for freshwater is expected to be one-third greater than it is now.

What Are the Causes of Water Pollution?

Water is uniquely vulnerable to pollution. Known as a "universal solvent," water is able to dissolve more substances than any other liquid on earth. It's the reason we have Kool-Aid and brilliant blue waterfalls. It's also why water is so easily polluted. Toxic substances from farms, towns, and factories readily dissolve into and mix with it, causing water pollution.

Here are some of the major sources of water pollution worldwide:

Agricultural

Not only is the agricultural sector the biggest consumer of global freshwater resources, with farming and livestock production using about 70 percent of the earth's surface water supplies, but it's also a serious water polluter. Around the world, agriculture is the leading cause of water degradation. In the United States, agricultural pollution is the top source of contamination in rivers and streams, the second-biggest source in wetlands, and the third main source in lakes. It's also a major contributor of contamination to estuaries and groundwater. Every time it rains, fertilizers, pesticides, and animal waste from farms and livestock operations wash nutrients and pathogens-such bacteria and viruses-into our waterways. Nutrient pollution, caused by excess nitrogen and phosphorus in water or air, is the number-one threat to water quality worldwide and can cause algal blooms, a toxic soup of blue-green algae that can be harmful to people and wildlife.

Sewage and wastewater

Used water is wastewater. It comes from our sinks, showers, and toilets (think sewage) and from commercial, industrial, and agricultural activities (think metals, solvents, and toxic sludge). The term also includes stormwater runoff, which occurs when rainfall carries road salts, oil, grease, chemicals, and debris from impermeable surfaces into our waterways

More than 80 percent of the world's wastewater flows back into the environment without being treated or reused, according to the United Nations; in some least-developed countries, the figure tops 95 percent. In the United States, wastewater treatment facilities process about 34 billion gallons of wastewater per day. These facilities reduce the amount of pollutants such as pathogens, phosphorus, and nitrogen in sewage, as well as heavy metals and toxic chemicals in industrial waste, before discharging the treated waters back into waterways. That's when all goes well. But according to EPA estimates, our nation's aging and easily overwhelmed sewage treatment systems also release more than 850 billion gallons of untreated wastewater each year.

Oil pollution

Big spills may dominate headlines, but consumers account for the vast majority of oil pollution in our seas, including oil and gasoline that drips from millions of cars and trucks every day. Moreover, nearly half of the estimated 1 million tons of oil that makes its way into marine environments each year comes not from tanker spills but from land-based sources such as factories, farms, and cities. At sea, tanker spills account for about 10 percent of the oil in waters around the world, while regular operations of the shipping industry-through both legal and illegal discharges-contribute about one-third. Oil is also naturally released from under the ocean floor through fractures known as seeps.

Radioactive substances

Radioactive waste is any pollution that emits radiation beyond what is naturally released by the environment. It's generated by uranium mining, nuclear power plants, and the production and testing of military weapons, as well as by universities and hospitals that use radioactive materials for research and medicine. Radioactive waste can persist in the environment for thousands of years, making disposal a major challenge. Consider the decommissioned Hanford nuclear weapons production site in Washington, where the cleanup of 56 million gallons of radioactive waste is expected to cost more than $100 billion and last through 2060. Accidentally released or improperly disposed of contaminants threaten groundwater, surface water, and marine resources.

Categories of Water Pollution

To address pollution and protect water we need to understand where the pollution is coming from (point source or nonpoint source) and the type of water body its impacting (groundwater, surface water, or ocean water).

Where is the pollution coming from?

Point source pollution

When contamination originates from a single source, it's called point source pollution. Examples include wastewater (also called effluent) discharged legally or illegally by a manufacturer, oil refinery, or wastewater treatment facility, as well as contamination from leaking septic systems, chemical and oil spills, and illegal dumping. The EPA regulates point source pollution by establishing limits on what can be discharged by a facility directly into a body of water. While point source pollution originates from a specific place, it can affect miles of waterways and ocean.

Nonpoint source

Nonpoint source pollution is contamination derived from diffuse sources. These may include agricultural or stormwater runoff or debris blown into waterways from land. Nonpoint source pollution is the leading cause of water pollution in U.S. waters, but it's difficult to regulate, since there's no single, identifiable culprit.

Transboundary

It goes without saying that water pollution can't be contained by a line on a map. Transboundary pollution is the result of contaminated water from one country spilling into the waters of another. Contamination can result from a disaster-like an oil spill-or the slow, downriver creep of industrial, agricultural, or municipal discharge.

What type of water is being impacted?

Groundwater pollution

When rain falls and seeps deep into the earth, filling the cracks, crevices, and porous spaces of an aquifer (basically an underground storehouse of water), it becomes groundwater-one of our least visible but most important natural resources. Nearly 40 percent of Americans rely on groundwater, pumped to the earth's surface, for drinking water. For some folks in rural areas, it's their only freshwater source. Groundwater gets polluted when contaminants-from pesticides and fertilizers to waste leached from landfills and septic systems-make their way into an aquifer, rendering it unsafe for human use. Ridding groundwater of contaminants can be difficult to impossible, as well as costly. Once polluted, an aquifer may be unusable for decades, or even thousands of years. Groundwater can also spread contamination far from the original polluting source as it seeps into streams, lakes, and oceans.

Surface water pollution

Covering about 70 percent of the earth, surface water is what fills our oceans, lakes, rivers, and all those other blue bits on the world map. Surface water from freshwater sources (that is, from sources other than the ocean) accounts for more than 60 percent of the water delivered to American homes. But a significant pool of that water is in peril. According to the most recent surveys on national water quality from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, nearly half of our rivers and streams and more than one-third of our lakes are polluted and unfit for swimming, fishing, and drinking. Nutrient pollution, which includes nitrates and phosphates, is the leading type of contamination in these freshwater sources. While plants and animals need these nutrients to grow, they have become a major pollutant due to farm waste and fertilizer runoff. Municipal and industrial waste discharges contribute their fair share of toxins as well. There's also all the random junk that industry and individuals dump directly into waterways.

Ocean water pollution

Eighty percent of ocean pollution (also called marine pollution) originates on land-whether along the coast or far inland. Contaminants such as chemicals, nutrients, and heavy metals are carried from farms, factories, and cities by streams and rivers into our bays and estuaries; from there they travel out to sea. Meanwhile, marine debris- particularly plastic-is blown in by the wind or washed in via storm drains and sewers. Our seas are also sometimes spoiled by oil spills and leaks- big and small-and are consistently soaking up carbon pollution from the air. The ocean absorbs as much as a quarter of man-made carbon emissions.

What Are the Effects of Water Pollution?

On human health

To put it bluntly: Water pollution kills. In fact, it caused 1.8 million deaths in 2015, according to a study published in . Contaminated water can also make you ill. Every year, unsafe water sickens about 1 billion people. And low-income communities are disproportionately at risk because their homes are often closest to the most polluting industries.

Waterborne pathogens, in the form of disease-causing bacteria and viruses from human and animal waste, are a major cause of illness from contaminated drinking water. Diseases spread by unsafe water include cholera, giardia, and typhoid. Even in wealthy nations, accidental or illegal releases from sewage treatment facilities, as well as runoff from farms and urban areas, contribute harmful pathogens to waterways. Thousands of people across the United States are sickened every year by Legionnaires' disease (a severe form of pneumonia contracted from water sources like cooling towers and piped water), with cases cropping up from California's Disneyland to Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Meanwhile, the plight of residents in Flint, Michigan-where cost-cutting measures and aging water infrastructure created a lead contamination crisis-offers a stark look at how dangerous chemical and other industrial pollutants in our water can be. The problem goes far beyond Flint and involves much more than lead, as a wide range of chemical pollutants-from heavy metals such as arsenic and mercury to pesticides and nitrate fertilizers -are getting into our water supplies. Once they're ingested, these toxins can cause a host of health issues, from cancer to hormone disruption to altered brain function. Children and pregnant women are particularly at risk.

Even swimming can pose a risk. Every year, 3.5 million Americans contract health issues such as skin rashes, pinkeye, respiratory infections, and hepatitis from sewage-laden coastal waters, according to EPA estimates.

On the environment

In order to thrive, healthy ecosystems rely on a complex web of animals, plants, bacteria, and fungi-all of which interact, directly or indirectly, with each other. Harm to any of these organisms can create a chain effect, imperiling entire aquatic environments.

When water pollution causes an algal bloom in a lake or marine environment, the proliferation of newly introduced nutrients stimulates plant and algae growth, which in turn reduces oxygen levels in the water. This dearth of oxygen, known as eutrophication, suffocates plants and animals and can create "dead zones," where waters are essentially devoid of life. In certain cases, these harmful algal blooms can also produce neurotoxins that affect wildlife, from whales to sea turtles.

Chemicals and heavy metals from industrial and municipal wastewater contaminate waterways as well. These contaminants are toxic to aquatic life-most often reducing an organism's life span and ability to reproduce-and make their way up the food chain as predator eats prey. That's how tuna and other big fish accumulate high quantities of toxins, such as mercury.

Marine ecosystems are also threatened by marine debris, which can strangle, suffocate, and starve animals. Much of this solid debris, such as plastic bags and soda cans, gets swept into sewers and storm drains and eventually out to sea, turning our oceans into trash soup and sometimes consolidating to form floating garbage patches. Discarded fishing gear and other types of debris are responsible for harming more than 200 different species of marine life.

Meanwhile, ocean acidification is making it tougher for shellfish and coral to survive. Though they absorb about a quarter of the carbon pollution created each year by burning fossil fuels, oceans are becoming more acidic. This process makes it harder for shellfish and other species to build shells and may impact the nervous systems of sharks, clownfish, and other marine life.

What Can You Do to Prevent Water Pollution?

With your actions

We're all accountable to some degree for today's water pollution problem. Fortunately, there are some simple ways you can prevent water contamination or at least limit your contribution to it:

Learn about the unique qualities of water where you live. Where does your water come from? Is the wastewater from your home treated? Where does stormwater flow to? Is your area in a drought? Start building a picture of the situation so you can discover where your actions will have the most impact-and see if your neighbors would be interested in joining in!

Reduce your plastic consumption and reuse or recycle plastic when you can.

Properly dispose of chemical cleaners, oils, and nonbiodegradable items to keep them from going down the drain.

Maintain your car so it doesn't leak oil, antifreeze, or coolant.

If you have a yard, consider landscaping that reduces runoff and avoid applying pesticides and herbicides.

Don't flush your old medications! Dispose of them in the trash to prevent them from entering local waterways.

Be mindful of anything you pour into storm sewers, since that waste often won't be treated before being released into local waterways. If you notice a storm sewer blocked by litter, clean it up to keep that trash out of the water. (You'll also help prevent troublesome street floods in a heavy storm.)

If you have a pup, be sure to pick up its poop.

With your voice

One of the most effective ways to stand up for our waters is to speak out in support of the Clean Water Act, which has helped hold polluters accountable for five decades-despite attempts by destructive industries to gut its authority. But we also need regulations that keep pace with modern-day challenges, including microplastics, PFAS, pharmaceuticals, and other contaminants our wastewater treatment plants weren't built to handle, not to mention polluted water that's dumped untreated.

Tell the federal government, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and your local elected officials that you support water protections and investments in infrastructure, like wastewater treatment, lead-pipe removal programs, and stormwater-abating green infrastructure. Also, learn how you and those around you can get involved in the policymaking process. Our public waterways serve every one of us. We should all have a say in how they're protected.
This story was originally published on May 14, 2018, and has been updated with new information and links.

Every catastrophic oil spill begins with a lease sale.

Tell the Biden administration to stop leasing off our coastlines to dangerous offshore oil and gas drilling.

Tell President Biden to protect our coasts and communities from offshore drilling

Leasing our ocean to oil and gas companies will only lock us into the climate-destroying fossil fuels of the past for decades to come-which is exactly what the fossil fuel industry wants-at a time when we need to be rapidly transitioning to 100% clean energy to save our planet.

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Water Pollution: Everything You Need to Know

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Our rivers, reservoirs, lakes, and seas are drowning in chemicals, waste, plastic, and other pollutants. Here's why and what you can do to help.

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Hundreds of shanty towns line the riverbanks, train tracks, and garbage dumps in the Filipino capital-the most jammed-packed areas in one of the world's most densely populated cities. Around a quarter of its 12 million people are considered "informal settlers."

Manila is starkly representative of a global problem. According to the United Nations, about a quarter of the world's urban population lives in slums-and this figure is rising fast.

Rich cultural heritage brings visitors to Manila, but some feel compelled to leave the safety of the historic center sites to get a glimpse of the city's inequality. Tour operators in the Philippines-as well as places like Brazil and India -have responded by offering "slum tours" that take outsiders through their most impoverished, marginalized districts.

Slum tourism sparks considerable debate around an uncomfortable moral dilemma. No matter what you call it-slum tours, reality tours, adventure tourism, poverty tourism-many consider the practice little more than slack-jawed privileged people gawking at those less fortunate. Others argue they raise awareness and provide numerous examples of giving back to the local communities. Should tourists simply keep their eyes shut?

Slumming For Centuries

Slum tourism is not a new phenomenon, although much has changed since its beginning. "Slumming" was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in the 1860s, meaning "to go into, or frequent, slums for discreditable purposes; to saunter about, with a suspicion, perhaps, of immoral pursuits." In September 1884, the New York Times published an article about the latest trend in leisure activities that arrived from across the pond, "'Slumming' will become a form of fashionable dissipation this winter among our Belles, as our foreign cousins will always be ready to lead the way."

Usually under the pretense of charity and sometimes with a police escort, rich Londoners began braving the city's ill-reputed East End beginning around 1840. This new form of amusement arrived to New York City from wealthy British tourists eager to compare slums abroad to those back home. Spreading across the coast to San Francisco, the practice creeped into city guide books. Groups wandered through neighborhoods like the Bowery or Five Points in New York to peer into brothels, saloons, and opium dens.

Visitors could hardly believe their eyes, and justifiably so. "I don't think an opium den would have welcomed, or allowed access to, slummers to come through if they weren't there to smoke themselves," Chad Heap writes in his book Slumming: Sexual and Racial Encounters in American Nightlife, 1885-1940. Recognizing the business opportunity, outsiders cashed in on the curiosity by hiring actors to play the part of addicts or gang members to stage shoot-'em-ups in the streets. After all, no one wanted the slum tourists to demand a refund or go home disappointed.

The city of San Francisco eventually banned such mockery of the poor, the New York Times reported in 1909: "This is a heavy blow to Chinatown guides, who have collected a fee of two dollars each. The opium smokers, gamblers, blind paupers, singing children, and other curiosities were all hired."

Tours also brought positive results, as Professor of History Seth Koven highlights in his research of slumming in Victorian London. Oxford and Cambridge Universities opened study centers in the late 19th-century to inform social policy, which was only possible by seeing the underprivileged neighborhoods firsthand.

Popularity waned after World War II with the creation of welfare and social housing-then rose again in the 1980s and 1990s as those state provisions declined and labor demands increased.

Presenting Poverty

Plastic arrives from all over India to the dark alleys and corrugated shacks of Dharavi in Mumbai-the second-largest slum on the continent of Asia (after Orangi Town in Pakistan) and third-largest slum in the world. Ushered around by the company Reality Tour and Travel, tourists see a thriving recycling industry which employs around ten thousand to melt, reshape, and mould discarded plastic. They stop to watch the dhobiwallahs, or washermen, scrub sheets from the city's hospitals and hotels in an open-air laundry area.

In a TripAdvisor review, one recent participant from Virginia appreciated the focus on community. "It was great to hear about the economy, education and livelihood of the residents," she writes. "The tour group doesn't allow photography or shopping which I think is really important. It didn't feel exploitative, it felt educational."

One traveler from London commented on the extremity of the scene. "Had to stop after about 20 minutes into it due to the overbearing nature of the surroundings. The tour is not for the faint hearted. I would've liked a few more disclaimers on the website to warn us about the nature of it." Another guest from the United Kingdom expressed disappointment over the so-called family meal. "This was in the home of one of the guides and, whilst his mum made lunch a delicious meal that we ate in her house, she didn't eat with us so it wasn't really what I had expected from a family lunch (or the photos promoting such on the website)."

Reality Tours hopes to challenge the stereotypical perception of slums as despairing places inhabited by hopeless people. The tour presented slum residents as productive and hardworking, but also content and happy. Analyzing more than 230 reviews of Reality Tour and Travel in her study, Dr. Melissa Nisbett of King's College London realized that for many Dharavi visitors, poverty was practically invisible. "As the reviews show, poverty was ignored, denied, overlooked and romanticized, but moreover, it was depoliticized." Without discussing the reason the slum existed, the tour decontextualized the plight of the poor and seemed only to empower the wrong people-the privileged, western, middle class visitors.

With good intentions, the company states that 80 percent of the profits benefit the community through the efforts of its NGO that works to provide access to healthcare, organize educational programs, and more. Co-founder Chris Way spoke to National Geographic after his company surged in popularity from the sleeper hit Slumdog Millionaire. "We do try and be as transparent as possible on our website, which does allay many people's fears." Way personally refuses a salary for his work.

No Two Cities Alike

The main question should be: Is poverty the central reason to visit?

Other cities take different approaches to slum tourism. In the early 1990s, when black South Africans began offering tours of their townships-the marginalized, racially-segregated areas where they were forced to live-to help raise global awareness of rampant human rights violations. Rather than exploitation inflicted by outsiders, local communities embraced slum tourism as a vehicle to take matters of their traditionally neglected neighborhoods into their own hands.

Some free tours of favelas in Rio de Janeiro provided an accessible option to the crowds that infiltrated the city during the World Cup and Summer Olympics, while most companies continue to charge. Tour manager Eduardo Marques of Brazilian Expeditions explains how their authenticity stands out, "We work with some local guides or freelancers, and during the tour we stop in local small business plus [offer] capoeira presentations that [support] the locals in the favela. We do not hide any info from our visitors. The real life is presented to the visitors."

Smokey Tours in Manila connected tourists with the reality facing inhabitants of a city landfill in Tondo (until 2014 when it closed) to tell their stories. Now the company tours around Baseco near the port, located in the same crowded district and known for its grassroots activism. Locally-based photographer Hannah Reyes Morales documented her experience walking with the group on assignment for National Geographic Travel. "I had permission to photograph this tour from both the operator and community officials, but the tour itself had a no photography policy for the tourists." With the policy difficult to enforce, some guests secretly snapped photos on their phones. "I observed how differently tourists processed what they were seeing in the tour. There were those who were respectful of their surroundings, and those who were less so."

All About Intention

Despite sincere attempts by tour operators to mitigate offense and give back to locals, the impact of slum tourism stays isolated. Ghettoized communities remain woven into the fabric of major cities around the world, each with their individual political, historical, and economic concerns that cannot be generalized. Similarly, the motivations behind the tourism inside them are as diverse as the tour participants themselves. For all participants involved, operators or guests, individual intentions matter most.

Better connections between cities allow more people to travel than ever before, with numbers of international tourists growing quickly every year. While prosperity and quality of life have increased in many cities, so has inequality. As travelers increasingly seek unique experiences that promise authentic experiences in previously off-limits places, access through tours helps put some areas on the map.

Travel connects people that would otherwise not meet, then provides potential to share meaningful stories with others back home. Dr. Fabian Frenzel, who studies tourism of urban poverty at the University of Leicester, points out that one of the key disadvantages of poverty is a lack of recognition and voice. "If you want to tell a story, you need an audience, and tourism provides that audience." Frenzel argues that even taking the most commodifying tour is better than ignoring that inequality completely.

For the long-term future of these communities, the complex economic, legal, and political issues must be addressed holistically by reorganizing the distribution of resources. While illuminating the issue on a small scale, slum tourism is not a sufficient answer to a growing global problem.

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Inside the Controversial World of Slum Tourism

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People have toured the world's most marginalized, impoverished districts for over a century.

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The Importance of Sustainable Practices in Camping and Hiking

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In order to ensure that future generations can continue to enjoy the beauty of these areas, it's crucial that we adopt sustainable practices while camping and hiking. This means taking steps to minimize our impact on the environment, such as carrying out all of our trash, using a camp stove instead of a campfire, and respecting wildlife by keeping a safe distance.

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The footprint of our way of life influences the lives of people in other countries and future generations. Some of those influences will last forever. In the project Sustainable Footprint, youths will be stimulated to explore the consequences of their lifestyle and how they can provide a positive influence on the lives of others.

Read more about Sustainable footprint "

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Sustainable Footprint is a project that focuses on the question; What is a Sustainable Footprint and how is it affecting our environment?

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The longer I write about sustainable fashion, the harder it is to walk through shopping centres. I can't help but see the racks of jeans, T-shirts and jumpers as future landfill: crumpled, dirty and tangled in piles of garbage. There is an uncomfortable truth Australia needs to face: we are a dumping ground for the cheapest fashion in the world. The average Australian buys 56 items of clothing a year, at an average cost of $6.50 per garment. If you take a second to consider what else you can buy for $6.50, it's not very much. It wouldn't get you a loaf of sourdough, a pint of beer, a two-hour park or a casual swim at your local pool. In fact, it's almost the same price as a flat white. The reasons for this are perverse. It makes no sense for a T-shirt to cost the same as a coffee, but here we are - latestage capitalism and the economies of scale have collided with a cost-of-living crisis and a climate one.

A few months ago, I was on a roundtable of experts convened to define fast fashion for the second-hand platform Vestiaire Collective, which will ban it from the site on November 24, shadowing calls from the European Union to crack down on fast fashion. The panel discussed several uncomfortable truths I wish everyone would keep in mind when shopping for new clothes, especially during the upcoming sales season.

It's likely you'll throw away a new garment within a year

Several studies have found that we dispose of more than half the clothes we buy less than a year after purchase. This is in part because clothes are so cheap we can replace them when we feel like it and because of inescapable digital marketing tactics that encourage these impulses.

But it also reflects the poor quality of many clothes now.

They are difficult to repair, and often doing so costs more than simply buying something new.

Clothes are basically impossible to recycle

Right now, as the technology and infrastructure stand globally, more than 99 per cent of old clothes are not being recycled into new clothes. In Australia, 227,000 tonnes of textiles are sent to landfill every year and another 190,000 tonnes of textiles are donated to charity; about a quarter of this is sold in the local second-hand market and just over half is exported for sale in other countries.

Only a tiny fraction gets downcycled into plastic pellets, rags, insulation or board.

It's very likely whoever made your clothes is living in poverty

An ethical fashion report released at the end of 2022 by Baptist World Aid found that just 12 of the 120 Australian companies reviewed are paying some or all of their factories a living wage.

Sadly, this makes sense when you account for the cost of fabric, shipping and other expenses; $6.50 does not leave very much (read anything) to go to the person (usually a woman of colour) who sat behind a sewing machine and expertly stitched that garment together.

The mark-up on most garments is so high, you're rarely getting what you pay for

Most large fashion businesses, including luxury houses, make as much product as they can, for the cheapest amount possible, leaving them with more product than they can sell.

To ensure they still turn a profit, and account for all the products that will be discounted or not sold, they have begun to apply even bigger margins.

Some reports suggest the retail mark-up is almost double what it used to be, meaning from cost price to retail, a garment could have been marked up 1000 per cent.

This means, in addition to the environment, there are two groups of people paying for the enormous profits brands continue to report: the consumer who is getting ripped off and, more egregiously, the garment worker whose labour is being devalued.

Most clothes are made of plastic

Two-thirds of our clothes are made using plastics like polyester and nylon, which take hundreds of years to break down. These materials shed microplastics into our soil, air and waterways.

It's so bad, scientists estimate we consume a credit card's worth of microplastics every week. Plus, since they're made of oil, these materials hold onto stains and smells. They're prevalent because they're cheap, not because they make good clothes.

Natural fibres blended with polyester or nylon will pill

The reason polyester-cotton blends or wool-nylon blends pill is because of a fundamental difference between synthetic and natural fibres. Nylon and polyester threads are made of one, long fibre that is smooth and continuous.

Cotton and wool fibres are much shorter, so their yarns are made by twisting the fibres together. When you wear synthetic and natural fibre blends, the friction between the two different fibre lengths causes the short staples of the cotton or wool to separate from the long synthetic thread and form little balls.

Elastane will start to sag

Designers put elastane into garments because it has four-way stretch, so it makes poorly constructed clothes fit a wide range of people.

This usually means we buy a stretchy garment in a size down. How often has a shop assistant recommended you go for the smaller size in jeans ''because they'll stretch''? When we do this, we're putting the elastane under constant tension, which causes it to lose its elasticity (incidentally, so does heat from the washing machine or dryer).

When the elastane stops springing back into shape, you're left with a saggy garment that doesn't fit you any more.

Buying the latest trends won't make you happy

We're all susceptible to the idea that when we walk into a party wearing a new dress, we might be more desirable or popular, but that's rarely the case. Generally, the rush of endorphins that comes with a new purchase disappears pretty fast. The surest way to feel good in your clothes (and incidentally the quickest way to a sustainable wardrobe) is to figure out your own style.

Lucianne Tonti is a sustainable fashion journalist and the author of Sundressed: Natural Fibres and the Future of Fashion.

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With the sales season looming, it pays to know the true cost of cheap clothing

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The longer I write about sustainable fashion, the harder it is to walk through shopping centres. I can't help but see the racks of jeans, T-shirts and jumpers as future landfill: crumpled, dirty and tangled in piles of garbage. There is an uncomfortable truth Australia needs to face: we are a dumping ground for the cheapest fashion in the world.

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Good On You - Sustainable and Ethical Fashion Brand Ratings

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Thousands of brand ratings, articles and expertise on ethical and sustainable fashion. Know the impact of brands on people and planet, and discover better fashion.