There is a number of challenges and obstacles to achieve sustainable development for international project. Find an international project implemented by and international organization in the Global South. Identify the category of the organization as per the class material. Look at the area where it is implemented and provide a sustainability assessment and the challenges you anticipate the project faced. (Include the link to the project report in your response).
(Sustainable Development in Cities, USP 514 Class Discussion)
#Sust_Glob_South
Sustainability of the Global South 
USP 514
Professor Gohar
International Development & Sustainability
Kimanthe Kithika
The African Water Cities Project: Makoko Floating School
Beginning in 2011, the African Water Cities Project, led by architecture and urban design firm NLÉ Works, identified the twenty lowest-lying continental urban areas that stood to be most threatened by rising sea levels caused by climate change. Out of the twenty so-called Water Cities, including Cairo, Lagos, Kinshasa, Khartoum, Luanda, Alexandria, Abidjian, Dar es Salaam, Cape Town, Dakar, Casablanca, Durban, Algiers, Accra, Douala, Ouagadougou, Bamako, Lome, Maputo and Rabat, Lagos was chosen for the firm’s Floating School project, because its Makoko district had only one English-language primary school for 200 students. The school frequently floods during periods of heavy rainfall, creating an ecological and equity conflict that disrupted studies and endangered the longer-term structural integrity of the building. Taking inspiration from the city’s physical location—several thousand houses on stilts atop a lagoon, accessible only to watercraft, some three miles offshore—the need for an ultra-modern building that, by its very design, was impervious to sea-level rise seemed to be both compelling and obvious.
The firm’s Makoko Floating School Research Report, sponsored by a grant from the Heinrich Böll Foundation, a Swiss NGO that funds sustainable city planning projects in the global south, was completed in 2012. Proposed to be the first building of its kind, the Floating School is not vernacular, indigenous or traditional in design. It is aimed at achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) Goal 2, which is to achieve universal primary education. The project won support from United Nations Development Program, Federal Ministry of Environment Africa Adaptation Program, and was conducted with the approval of the Yaba Local Council Development Area (LCDA) and the Makoko/Iwaya Waterfront Community (MIWC) (1, 2, 3).
Barriers to Sustainable Development
The Floating School project had not been approved by the State of Lagos, however, and as such was declared an illegal structure by the Commissioner for Waterfront and Infrastructure Development in Lagos State almost as soon as it went into the construction phase. In a statement to the local press, “The floating school has been illegal since inception. The owner of the floating school waited until there was a legal issue in the area before he commenced the construction of the school [and] it was erected without the permission of the state government. The simple answer to the floating school is that it is an illegal structure and it shouldn’t be there. (4)”. The project owner has separately noted that “The question remains whether a structure such as the proposed school constitutes a building for planning approval purposes.” The Floating School was nonetheless rolled out as a ‘prototype’ structure.
Though completed through a collaborative process involving local leadership, broader community approval and international support, the project, as built, had not completed the entitlement process and, since Makoto had been declared a slum and an environmental hazard by the State in 2013, the entire community the project aimed to serve could, conceivably, have been razed at any time (5). The project’s mandate to provide schooling to 60-100 students at a time, while being sustainably designed, financed and built, was therefore complicated by its informal status. The project’s use of locally sourced renewable or reclaimed materials, local-only employment and training, and its use of self-sustaining in energy, waste disposal and potable water production systems made it, together with its mandate, sustainable from at least a technocratic perspective. However, four separate State-issued permits were needed to construct and operate a waterborne school in Lagos, and the novelty of the design created additional complications in the permitting process so that, while built in 2013, the school was not operational for the following two years, and even then was in use for only three months of the last six months of its life. The 3-story, 220 sq. foot A-framed project pilot had by then lost much of its structural integrity and luster. Plans were made to demolish and replace the structure three months later, in June of this year (2016), but the structure was later destroyed in a hurricane.
The project’s initial rollout also brought global media attention to the area, winning several design awards in the process, both for the ingenuity of the project’s concept and the spare elegance of its built form. It is under this spotlight that the State has since substituted demolition and clearance rhetoric for the adoption of a ‘regeneration plan’ for the Water City, a separate and subsequent project that was also financed by the Heinrich Böll Foundation. In a press briefing on April 20, 2015, the Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban development was reported to have announced “its consideration for incorporating the” internationally acclaimed prototype floating structure “‘Makoko Floating School’ into a regeneration plan for [the] Makoko Waterfront community (6).” Seen through this lens, the Floating School seems to have been most successful not for its use as an innovative solution to a global problem, but as a folie, or a work of architecture that exists for the purpose of drawing attention to itself and its surroundings.
Though the Floating School was a short-term project, designed to last no more than three years, its short-term impact for future sustainable development in the area appears to have been nonetheless profound. The Makoko/Iwaya Waterfront Regeneration Plan was presented to Lagos State Government (LASG) in February 2014. The plan was shortlisted for the Fuller Challenge the same year (7). A Makoko Neighborhood Hotspot was developed, implemented and inaugurated by the community in December 2015. Three business plans for biogas linked toilets, a miniature biogas reactor and a small solar plant were produced for the hotspot and are being implemented. This facility, however, sits on dry land.
Works Cited:
1. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4tn551o5181b5rd/1Rw7WsoIdA?preview=120420_Makoko_Research_Document_NLE.pdf
2. Alice Min Soo Chun; Irene E. Brisson (2015). Ground Rules in Humanitarian Design (AD Reader). John Wiley & Sons. p. 144. ISBN 978-1-118-3615-97.
3. http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/goals/
4. Monsur Olowoopejo, Lagos Outlaws Makoko Ultra-Modern Floating School, http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/04/lagos-outlaws-makoko-ultra-modern-floating-school/, April 30, 2013
5. Hakeem Ogunbambi, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Environment of Lagos, The green revolution comes on quiet soles, https://www.boell.de/en/node/286381, June 11, 2015
6. Editorial, http://archidatum.com/news/lagos-state-considers-makoko-floating-school-into-development-plan/, 15 May 2015
7. Editorial, Makoko/Iwaya Waterfront Regeneration Plan, http://www.swiss-architects.com/en/fabulous-urban/projects-3/makoko_iwaya_waterfront_regeneration_plan-54118/?nonav=1,
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The Urban Gardens Program is a project implemented by DAI( Development Alternatives Inc.) all throughout Ethiopia, a country in Africa. Ethiopia’s population is vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and poverty which leads them lead a very unhealthy lifestyle due to lack of access to healthy food and limited water resources. This program established community group gardens for HIV Affected Women and Children to help them lead healthier and productive lifestyles. Urban Gardens Program also provided these families affected by HIV/AIDS convenient access to health food and giving them ways to earn money which will help with poverty.
Development Alternatives Inc. is a nongovernmental organization that aims to help improve lives of people around the world. The gardens were built on schools and public land throughout cities in Ethiopia. They used drip irrigation systems which showed quick results in food production. Based on the area, there were very little source of water which is why they implemented drip irrigation system. However, this would be challenge later on if something was to ever go wrong because the children and gardeners maintaining the gardens will not have the knowledge on how to fix it. Another challenge this project might have faced is lack of education on sustainable farming. Not being taught soil health, waste management and etc. will eventually lead to a decrease in productivity in the gardens.
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World Bank Article link: http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2014/09/26/philippines-world-bank-approves-financing-for-safe-reliable-and-affordable-transport-in-metro-cebu
The affordable transport in Metro Cebu of Philippines was funded by the World Bank. This project will implement a BRT system, primarily using buses, computerized traffic management systems, and designated lanes for buses. This system is growing in popularity across the globe. The added effect of an increase in job incomes is a good indicator for resource consumption and overall people are buying more. As a result, issues within sectors of environmental resources and environmental pollution can occur. The growing traffic issues with people investing in their own means of transportation like motorized bikes and cars is an example of the human impact on environments. This project is first of its kind in a developing country and is noteworthy of the transition into a more sustainable model, but there are still more structural problems that this article does not address.
An issue for the country’s environmental and economic calamity are resource conflicts. Also, the barriers of sustainability center around their commute culture where most of the people who live farther away from Metro and Urban areas commute several hours for work, school, etc. This creates tremendous crowding on public roads and freeways and results in much longer commute periods. The commute length creates problems as people have work and life commitments, and hinders an economic scale towards the country’s unity of purpose. Also, many economic opportunities are missed as people become sick from environmental stress with the combined effect of economic stress. In addition, the environmental aspect is also impacted as more people commute. The Greenhouse Gases (GHG) are a growing problem around the areas where people commute as this pollutes urban environments where people live. The growing health issues and health disparities that result from more GHG pollution is even worse. Furthermore, BRT system is a small impact to the required future changes for Cebu needs. Much more green innovation and reduction of pollution should address environmental aspects, which can add green jobs and economic revenue for a developing country.
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Jose Flores
USP 514
http://www.unicefstories.org/2014/05/20/mobistation/
The MobiStation is a solar-powered multimedia kit first developed by UNICEF Uganda. It has a built in document camera, laptop, projector, speaker and other gadgets that fit into a briefcase. The challenges in the education system are teacher absence, lack of textbooks, and poor-quality directions. One of the main issues that the MobiStation solves is it can be taken anywhere, especially in countries where there is an emergency and a temporary school or communication center needs to be available. It can also be useful in rural areas where there is no electricity. The area in where it is implemented is in a hot climate, making the MobiStation solar-powered a good idea. The challenges I anticipate is that the MobiStation might be expensive and having many kits could be costly.
UNICEF is a leading humanitarian and development agency where there goal is to give every child a fair chance in life, providing them with shelter, health care, education, nutrition and more. UNICEF is in partnership with civil society, governments, and businesses to achieve sustainable development goals for children.
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Guanghan Model Sustainable Village
The Guangham Model Sustainable Village is a project implemented by ICSD (International Center for Sustainable Development). It is located in Guanghan, China. Working together with China and USA to make this happen. Since Longju village’s economy is based on rice farming. However, the problem I that a lot of people is burning rice straw for cooking which causes air pollution into the environment making the water bad which can cause health problems due to pollutants in water. ISCD is planning to make the villagers use renewable energy from sun and biomass and bring tourists from nearby temples. The village is planning to reduce pollution and boost the economy from farming rice. This will be good because they rely a lot on water for cooking. With that project in production it can save the environment and make everything more healthier. With this project it will not serve as a model for villagers but also all agricultural based regions. With Solar deign, solar water heating, and rainwater collection for natural resources. It will also provide internet, daycare, health clinic and other services.
However, doing all this will take a long time and it will cost a lot of money. Some other challenge that this project will face will be not having a lot of sunlight since around China it usually rain more than it have sunlight. So even if we have a lot of rainwater collection it won’t really help that much when it comes to solar panels. Another challenge that this project will have to face is how much it rains in China. China rain a lot so if they rain too much it can overflow and cause flooding in China which will be bad for people living there. Since flooding can destroy buildings and cause a lot of damage to buildings. Even if we have solar panels and collecting rainwater for agriculture and electricity it will still be pretty bad when it comes to raining too much and causing floods. Another challenge for this project is how will people react to it. Since China is always based on burning coals and fossil fuels for gas and other stuff many companies in China will shut down which is good for environmentalist but bad for corporations. Since they are in China passing something like this will be really hard compare to United States because of China’s government which is still communist country.
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Daniel Rodarte
Back in 2014, financial institution, the World Bank approved a 73 million-dollar grant to fund the dam project in the Congo. Building a dam in the Congo had many environmental and social impacts that have the potential of being ignored. This project is claimed to produce a little less than half of Africa’s electricity. This is a large amount of energy produced, but the impacts outweigh the benefits. Part of the World Banks mission is to end poverty on a global scale. The problem arises at how they go about trying to get areas out of poverty. They overlook some of the impacts that may arise. There is an energy issue in the Congo because people are living without any electricity. But there are many other sustainable alternatives to overcome this issue. Building this dam will have a variety of environmental impacts. One of the main concerns is that it is going to block fish migrations. This will also causes some species to be separated from one another. There will also be changes in the physical properties that can be detrimental to certain plant and animal species. It is known that dams can be consequential to the environment. They have also led to extinction of fish and other wildlife. Another issue that arises is weather electricity produced will actually be beneficial to the people without electricity. I can envision the electricity produced being used for industrial purposes and not so much to the local community. It is unsustainable of the World Bank to fund projects that do not take its surroundings into consideration. There have been many cases where projects promise outcomes that seem beneficial on paper, but in reality, it is not. There needs to be more transparency and public engagement in regards to proposed projects. The World Bank needs to fund projects that are more sustainable in order four our planet to progress to a cleaner future. We will be unable to achieve this if we keep building oil pipelines, burning fossil fuels, and building dams.
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Regardless of the multitude of challenges faced to attaining sustainable development in developing countries, Qatar has begun to implement the QF Tram System as part of the “Qatar National Vision 2030.” A key component of the Vision will be the transportation focused Tram System aimed at linking far reaching rural areas with Qatar’s well-to-do capital city of Doha, and the newly expanded “Education City” within its borders. Achieving sustainability through the environmental pillar is at the core of the new Tram System by providing clean, sustainable, efficient, and technology-rich transport in the area and reducing environmental impact. It is funded by the Qatar Foundation (QF), which is a non-governmental organization (NGO) – a private, non-profit organization that serves the people of Qatar.
The state of Qatar is located on the Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf), and its capital city of Doha is located on Doha Bay within the Peninsula. Uniquely, Qatar is the richest country in the world but is still considered a developing country by the United Nations GPD and HDI indices. The 2030 Vision aims to propel them out of that category by creating a sustainable economy, environment, and providing a high standard of living for all its residents, focusing on all 3 pillars of sustainability.
In addition to an existing multi-modal transport system, the tram system aims to transform modes and of transport by including a car free zone in Doha and with the ultimate goal of making one of their projects, “Education City” into a “smart city” – leading in green development. The tram system will include a total of 24 stations and 19 trams, all provided by Siemens. Their capacity will allow for 234 passengers per tram and 3000 passengers to be transported per hour in each direction. They will include an energy storage system that will allow them to recharge at stations and run without overhead power lines.
The Vision indicates a concerted effort toward transforming this oil-producing monarchy to a sustainable one via focusing on the human, economic, social and environmental development through their 2030 vision. However, I anticipate a challenge in their achieving a harmony between economic growth, social development, and environmental protection is the attainability of social equity. At this stage of the planning process, Education City focuses on attracting tourism rather than empowering the impoverished citizenry weighing down the country’s HDI ranking. Without further attention to this metric, the local poor populations that exist in Qatar will remain on the lower spectrum of the economy. Even though this project will create local economies through education and tourism, as well as protect their environment by focusing on creating a new green infrastructure, the people of Qatar live with a huge economic divide, as made evident by the contrast in their GDP and HDI indices leading to their ranking as a developing country, the wealth gap there is enormous. The plan should outline a clear path as to how this divide will be addressed, as well as social equity attained for everyone living in Qatar.
Link: Qatar Foundation – https://www.qf.org.qa/content/the-foundation/issue-82/sustainability-in-motion
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My sustainable development for international project I chose, is called Health and Water Interventions. It takes place in Columbia. Due to the current armed war occurring in the country, millions have been effected in different ways. There is constant violence and people have limited access mobility. With being limited in mobility the people of Columbia are not able to access the basic necessities need for day to day survival. Instead they live in fear and a large amount have seek refuge in neighboring countries. Within the boarders, there are 5.8 million people who “require humanitarian assistance, access to safe water, adequate sanitation and hygiene systems, health care services in rural areas, protection, also timely food assistance and nutritional support.” Médecins du Monde which translates to doctors of the world, is a worldwide organization that works to to provide emergency and long term medical assistance to is working to provide all the previously listed services for Colombians.
Though there are millions who are struggling, the projects only can provide so much help for the people. They are able to provide health care, psychosocial support, safe drinking water and treatment against malnutrition for 8,000 people in 6 different regions. One of the projects is a fleet of 33 mobile health care vehicles. Another one is providing filters and nets to areas effected most by water contamination. Also they are working to improve legal and medical services to those who experience sexual and gender based violence. I feel that this project is useful but it is unfair because so ,any people will go without receiving assistance. Along with that, how long will this project be maintained with only so little money provided, will there be more resources to be provided over the years. It supposed to end next year, so after next year the people being supported have to go back to struggling.
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I am going to talk about the Ganges River Basin Project funded by the World Bank. The Ganges river is the largest river in India. The river has served as one of the most important places in the Hindu religion. Many ancient cities, some being the oldest in the world, Varanasi and Patna sit on the Ganges river. The Ganges River Basin is the water supply for one fourth of the population for India and serves a home to 400 million people. The World Bank Finance Group is a Non-government organization that finances projects to help rebuild the infrastructures of countries. The hope is that the project funded by the World Bank will provide an economy once the project is finished to assure the loan is paid back while bringing developing countries out of poverty. This project is to fund the National Ganga River Basin Authority to help with creating an infrastructure to achieve environmental sustainability on the river. The funding is being used by the NGRBA to create an infrastructure of sewage treatment plants to help alleviate the waste that is sent into the Ganges river. The project will also invest in the Central and State Pollution Control Boards by modernizing their information systems to help monitor pollution and providing staff training. The project will also finance the upgrade of the Ganga water quality monitoring system, as well as carry out an inventory of all the sources of pollution that affect water quality in the Ganga. With a World Bank loan of $1.5 billion there must be some skepticism as to how this project will be able to pay itself back with interest involved. The problem with the World bank is they do help with funding projects, but it only makes poorer countries poorer. In Varanasi along the Ganges is the capital of the Hindu faith in India so millions of Hindus want to have their ashes spread in the Ganges in hopes to achieve Moksha, eternal liberation. With that being said, many cremation sites have been created along the Ganges in Varanasi and there is a market for it. While having your ashes spread in the Ganges has become so popular, the price of cremation has risen. Many people are unable to afford the cost of cremating their loved ones and send their dead bodies directly into the river. So dead corpses are left to rot in the Ganges. There are a multitude of things wrong with this practice in terms of environmental sustainability. The Ganges River Basin Project will help fund the infrastructure of sewage and water treatment under the NGRBA, but what it does not address is the religious affiliation of the river. Parts of the Ganges river is considered sacred and for thousands of years Hindus have been coming here to send their loved ones off to the afterlife. This has become ingrained in the culture of the Hindu people and they are not expecting to halt this practice anytime soon. So while creating an infrastructure of sewage treatment, it does not alleviate the issue long term. This project does not deal with the socio-religious affiliation this river has with Hinduism and the environmental degradation that comes with the practice of spreading ashes and sending dead bodies off into the river. I would deem this project unsustainable. Since it is up to the cities and municipalities to upkeep these assets (being the new sewage treatment plants) long term, it is difficult to say that this project will be able to maintain the rivers environmental sustainability.
http://projects.worldbank.org/P119085/national-ganga-river-basin-project?lang=en&tab=overview
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For this blog post I’m writing about the dams made built by and paid for by the World Bank. The WB provides loans and funding for developing countries that are looking to implement changes and become more industrial and technologically developed. One of their most common projects in developing countries is hydroelectric dams. Hydroelectricity is generally a decent source of power and is relatively sustainable. It is leagues better than non-renewable energy sources, but it requires high overhead costs. The WB has provided more than $50 billion for the construction of 500 dams in 92 countries. These dams, while a good sources of renewable energy, have permanently displaced approximately 10 million people since the 1950’s.
While the WB has built dams across the globe, I’m going to concentrate on the Bujagali Dam in Uganda. This particular dam, built in 2012, is 250-megawatts, and sits on the Nile downstream from two other dams. It was built through a Public Private Partnership that includes the government of Uganda, the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company, a few other assorted private companies, and the World Bank. Full ownership of the dam will go to the Ugandan government when the partnership expires in 2042. While the dam was estimated to cost $800 million, by the time of completion, the costs had increased to approximately $1.3 billion. On top of that, is has not provided the expected decrease in electricity costs for those connected to the national grid. Instead, electricity costs have actually gone up for those connected to the grid, which is only a small percentage of the population. As well increasing costs, the damn caused irreparable damage to the natural areas surrounding the project site. The Bujagali Falls, of which the dam is named for, were drowned. As well as the destruction of the Bujagali Falls, the dam submerged a site that held great spiritual and cultural significance to some of the indigenous Basoga people who live near the dam. Besides all of this, local environmental groups argue that the dam has ruined most other chances Uganda would have had to invest in other alternative energy sources. Ultimately, this dam has been nothing but trouble for the people of Uganda, just as all of the WB dams have been.
Sources:
http://www.whirledbank.org/environment/dams.html
https://www.internationalrivers.org/campaigns/bujagali-dam-uganda
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The GIZ, an international development company owned by the german government, has helped Costa Rica adopt its coastal ecosystems to climate change, over a span of 5 years. Climate change is predicted to have immense impacts on areas such as Costa Rica and other parts of Central Africa. Impacts include instability of the local ecosystem, food services, and freshwater supplies. The coastal and marine ecosystems help to mitigate the potential damage of climate change and the project was intended to repair any human damage that has been done to them and protect it from further damage. The following factors are promoted through the project “representativeness of the system of conservation areas; sound management plans and instruments adapted to climate change; financial security strategies; cross-sector exchange.” (GIZ) Some of the results include an extension of the current protected areas of 9,800 square meter with an additional 3,500 square kilometer in the planning. Multiple protected areas now have a five-year management plan that includes adaption and resilience to climate change. A scorecard benchmark system has been introduced and locals and employees have been further trained to monitor the protected systems more efficiently. Lastly, an annual aid of $70,000 has been set up to upkeep the management systems. (GIZ)
Large scale projects often come with barriers and problems that can hinder the effectiveness. In the case of the project to make coastal lines of Costa Rica more resilient, GIZ could have faced huge opposition from locals. Costa Rica is a developing country, and many people are relying on the local resources for survival. When making more than 9,800 square meters of the marine area a protected area, it becomes hard for locals to find food such as fish and shellfish. Furthermore, environmental protection might not be on people’s priority list, because they are struggling with poverty. In 2015, 21% of the people living in Costa Rica were living in poverty. (World Bank) Generally, governments of developing countries such as Costa Rica, are focused on the economical development and lifting its people out of poverty while providing a comfortable standard of living. The GIZ project might not have gotten much support from either government or the local people. Maybe the money could have been invested into renewable energies for Costa Rica. There is no point in protecting the marine life when the land continues polluting.
There is an unequal distribution of the benefits and burdens of climate change. Climate change is mainly caused by the developed countries but mostly burdens developing countries. Costa Rica’s local people could have rioted and demanded that developed countries reduce their emissions before they start to repair the damage they have done. If they do not lower emissions, any repair will be pointless, because weather patterns will become too extreme for the current ecosystems to handle.
The project started in 2010 and ended in 2015, which is a long time to be away from families. People were sent by the GIZ to oversee the project, who probably left family behind. This could have caused a morality issue because people get less productive when they are away from their loved ones.
Lastly, the project heavily focuses
on environmental protection, while offering some equity improvement and very little economic investments. The project does invest into some local employees by retraining them to monitor the technology that has been implemented, which probably was shipped from Europe. The project could have invested in the nation’s science and technology, that in return could have developed technology that they can implement in the coastal regions.
GIZ. “Marine and coastal biodiversity of Costa Rica – capacity building and adaptation to climate change”. https://www.giz.de/en/worldwide/25528.html
World Bank. “Costa Rica”. http://data.worldbank.org/country/costa-rica
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https://www.usaid.gov/haiyan/fy14/fs22
International aid for development typically happens after a country gets affected by environmental damages, where humanitarian aid is needed to ensure people’s safety and well-being. In 2013, Super Typhoon Haiyan made landfall in the Philippines and affected 16 million people, killing thousands and displacing millions. Because this storm destroyed many cities and villages, including agriculture fields, a global aid response was met with the USAID and the U.S. Military being the first to respond by providing emergency shelter, food assistance, relief commodities, and water and sanitation support.
According to the USAID website, the U.S. Government has provided over $90 million in aid. In addition, USAID has partnered with private corporations such as Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola to help rebuild small community stores. To me, it seems like the goal of multi-million-dollar aid projects are only aimed to serve and output more than an outcome. To this day, many villages that were hit by the typhoon are still without homes and limited resources. There is no longevity in these projects and only serve the emergency purpose of getting people by for several months. With warming atmospheric and oceanic temperatures, typhoons are becoming more frequent and stronger, and the Philippines is right in the pathway for many of them.
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In many parts of the world people face the reality of poverty and finding ways to maintain the household running. The ways of survival have changed over the years and now are more based on the use of currency. Trading other people in your community is not a way people can rely on living anymore as the western ways of exchanging currency are becoming common even amongst the most rural villages. This amongst other factors create the problem of poverty and billions of people do not even have a way to access a form of creating credit or a savings account and much less access to loans in order to establish a small business for themselves. The organization FINCA has implemented the system of micro loans in order to tackle these issues and start to alleviate the issue of poverty. These small loans are to make vital improvement to their homes such as implement a pipe system or install electricity and some even use these loans to create businesses in their communities creating a more reliable income for their families. I find this project sustainable because as the video in class pointed out, these improvements are being made from within making them the most effective agent of change. There is no one better that can reflect the needs of the community than people from within, I think this is a major obstacle that other humanitarian organizations fails to recognize. There is also incentive to maintaining the upkeep of these projects because they themselves made the improvements with money they borrowed and payed back. This is also a great agent in empowering women in these communities because they are giving some financial freedom and they use that money to better the lives of their families. Micro loans have a high rate of repayment rate and have the power to stimulate the economy in a more effective way than outside agencies.
http://www.finca.org/our-work/
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LaShan Wiley
USP 514
Nov. 19 HW
For this assignment I reviewed projects from the World Bank website. After scrolling through many projects, I chose to assess the” Mexico School Based Management Project”. The link to the site is http://projects.worldbank.org/P147185/?lang=en&tab=overview . This international organization is an intergovernmental organization because Mexico is mostly sovereign states. The main objective of this project is to unite managerial capacity and parental participation together to reduce school dropout levels. The total cost of this project is estimated at $820 million. The project is divided into three components. The first component focuses on an improvement plan for PEC schools, including parent’s involvement. The second component focus is to strengthen school management. The third component is to develop a new instrument to measure the schools growth. One city this project focus is Mexico City. As of June 2016 the project has a satisfactory rating. Its environment, technical design of programs and projects, and capacity for implementation and sustainability has been rated moderate. Although the project has overall been meeting its primary goal of lowering dropout rates, I think in the long run proving this opportunity to everyone will be challenging in such a large city such as Mexico City. This city population is 21 million, one of the largest urban areas in the country. The basic education programs to strengthen its rates of less failure is currently 0.84 and the final target is 0.09 by 2018. Since 2014, the rate has only decreased by 0.46. This shows how many students are falling through the cracks of the system. Targeting an area this large to improve dropout rates not only requires school management and parental participation, it needs the involvement of the local community. I think this project is on the right path, but a lot more is needed to change the behavior of youth to encourage education.
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Simon Wannehag Hagene
USP 514
The Revival of Bird’s Head Seascape
The marine biodiversity around the world is struggling to adapt and therefore survive the current climate change encompassing our globe. Among the hardest hit countries are in the Global South, wherein economic and environmental issues clash in the strive for equity and same quality of life as in the developed world. For example, Indonesia, which is one of the most unique places with a significant amount of marine life (and rainforests on land), where pollution is already having negative effects on people and nature all over Southeast Asia.
Luckily, we have companies like Conservational International(CI), which is an American nonprofit organization from Virginia, trying to prevent and rebuild the natural wealth globally. In Indonesia, there’s one specific project with a great success rate regarding marine biodiversity, namely Bird’s Head Seascape in West Papua. Why was this project important? How do they manage the balance of environment, economics and equity?
Indonesia is one of the major producers of seafood, thereby there are many jobs in which people depend on to exist; a population of 760 000 to be exact. Back in the 90s’, an ocean region around West Papua, Bird’s Head, was nearly decimated due to commercial fishing, poaching and other. The overfishing was the reason for the massive decline of fish and destruction of coral reefs, and they were ultimately forced to soon make drastic changes in the region’s type of business.
In 2004, the CI launched The Bird’s Head Seascape Initiative together with 30 other partners. They immediately connected a network of 12 marine protected areas(MPAs), which then transformed into communities establishing focus on sustainable practices and livelihoods. Among the new businesses was called Ecotourism. Principles behind this concept are construction of low-impact facilities, to empower Indigenous people and non-disturbing tours of the region for tourists. It’s a trend spreading throughout Asia and around the world, in the hopes that tourism ultimately can switch the economics into a sustainable focus through action.
To achieve these goals, one would have to convince the locals to change their ways, more importantly, contribute with financial benefits to withdraw from short-term profits. One of the bigger challenges is also when it comes to food production, as they’ll have to adapt to a diet of less fish, and also production of other agriculture on land. Another issue is, even though scientists and marine biologists have estimated how long it takes to revitalize the aquatic life, one must be bold and realistic about what can be achieved. Regulations may not be very popular with the population, hence the information and knowledge needs to be shared widely to move forward with the project.
The marine biodiversity in Indonesia is still at huge risk, similarly to the Great Barrier Reef outside Australia, due to human being’s unawareness (or even worse: carelessness). Ecotourism is a step in the right direction for both tourists and locals to diversify and rethink how we travel as well as interact in our world. Through empowerment of local communities, conservation of natural habitats and knowledge of the consequences, the revival project of Bird’s Head Seascape could be the inspiration of new beginnings.
Citations:
http://www.conservation.org/where/Pages/Indonesia.aspx
http://www.conservation.org/where/Pages/Birds-Head-Seascape-coral-triangle-papua-indonesia.aspx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_International
https://www.ecotourism.org/what-is-ecotourism
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’’Solar Cooker Project’’ conducted by the non-profit organization ’’Sustainable Table’’ is a project with the motive to distribute large solar cookers to villagers in rural Tibet. The project seeks with the help of a local organization in order to serve the community as much as possible. The goals of the project are first of all ensure a sustainable alternative for rural communities with the help of solar cookers; secondly it also aims to serve the area by implementing the reusable energy in order for the villagers to be resource efficient. Solar Cookers are an alternative heat source that converts energy from the sun to power and heat. The power they would use from the large metal objects is mainly for the purpose for cooking and boiling water, eventually with the objective to reduce the use of conventional stove material. In addition to the sustainable aspects regarding environment, another core reason for the project is to replace the local citizen’s traditional means of heating. Originally, the villagers use wood and manure for generating heat which emits smoke which may affect the cardiovascular systems of the people working with those practices. On top of that, usage of wood is not resource efficient due to the fact that trees do not come in abundant numbers for the villagers. This serves as a sustainable action due to the environmental benefit, but perhaps more noteworthy the intention of preserving the health of a people who live in a rural environment and currently use traditional methods to serve their people. Another important measure of sustainability is the fact it’s working with a local sustainability organization known as Pentok Insitute to distribute the cookers around, which in its sense provides the community to grow.
When looking deeper into why this is actually is a very sustainable initiative, it becomes very understandable that the project has many positive dynamics. By replacing wood with solar cookers, the society does not require deforestation and cutting down natural habitat for fuel. Another social aspect that is beneficial is by requiring less labor work for energy regulation. In its description site, ‘’Sustainable Table’’ mentions that children at times need to assist their families with work to provide energy. With Solar Cookers however, children may go to school thus enabling the local environment to modernize whilst not compromising the environment nor the conditions of people.
Potential challenges that I anticipate with this project are to maintain longevity and to get it organized. In order to obtain consistency in the long term, it needs to have a solid structure and a very strong base in the form of labor, funding, and easy accessibility. A further challenge that may come up is bureaucratic difficulties. Since it is a very sustainable option, entities of interest might seek to influence the project in order to gain profits and regulate policy.
https://sustainabletable.org.au/Projects/SolarCookers/tabid/73/Default.aspx
http://sustainabletable.org.au/TableTalk/tabid/53/EntryId/24/Helping-women-children-and-the-environment-in-rural-China-Our-Solar-Cooker-Project.aspx
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Damien Hudovic
Prof. Gohar
USP 516
International Development and Sustainability
My international project focuses on strengthening governing institutions and processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It falls under Sustainable Development Goal number 16 “Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions”. To give some context, Bosnia and Herzegovina is still recovering, over 20 years on, from a bloody and divisive civil war. In some sense, the country is still in a “frozen conflict” even though all parties agreed to the Dayton Peace Accords. Some argue it is precisely because of Dayton that the current governing structure has come to a stall. The Accords split the country almost fifty/fifty between government entities the Federation and Republika Srpska with an overarching national government. However, they often act like de facto independent states in implementing policy within their borders. To promote greater stability in the region the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has partnered with the State University of New York’s Center for International Development (SUNY/CID) to bring Bosnia and Herzegovina “toward Euro-Atlantic integration by strengthening the capacity of the country’s governing institutions to adopt, implement, and account for more effective policies, laws, and budgets that address critical EU accession related issues.” USAID is a government agency that often partners with NGOs in implementing reforms in developing countries. SUNY is of course a public higher education institution. The total funding for the project is approximately $5.9 million and began in May 2013 and ends in January 2017. Bosnia and Herzegovina aspires to join the European Union, signing a Stabilization and Association agreement in 2008. SUNY is building onto implementation of the USAID Parliamentary Strengthening Project in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a $4.1 million effort that began in March 2009 and was concluded in May 2013 with successful results. However, many challenges are ahead to achieve European Union membership. Unemployment stands at around 25% for the general population and 50% for the youth. Corruption is very rampant throughout business and government, taking away much needed resources from the people. Brain Drain is another problem with educated graduates often leaving to pursue more opportunities elsewhere. Ethnic and religious tensions remain between the groups, which makes consensus very difficult. Much of the infrastructure was destroyed in the war and the inequality GINI coefficient is one of the highest in Europe.
What USAID hopes to implement is: “Improving policy development in the lawmaking process, Improving budget preparation, review, adoption and implementation, Strengthening systems of public accountability and transparency, Enhancing the role and capacity of women in governing institutions, processes and systems.” The Project is primarily one of knowledge sharing and technical expertise with the executive branches and parliament. On top of that, is an emphasis on “health, environment, local economic development, justice sector reform, gender equality and youth,” touching up on several other UN SGIs. Institute for Youth Development KULT, a local Bosnian youth organization, also received funding from the project and has seen a greater voice in governmental affairs.
It remains to be seen if the project can achieve all it sets out to by January, but one thing is certain: Bosnians must unite in order to achieve a successful future.
https://www.usaid.gov/bosnia/fact-sheets/strengthening-governing-institutions-and-processes-bosnia
http://www.cid.suny.edu/our_work/current_projects/our_work_projects_Bosnia.shtml
http://www.mladi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1869&Itemid=463&lang=en
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In many Southeast Asian countries, the cities have experienced massive urbanization, but still stayed lacking in sustainable transportation infrastructure and options. In Indonesia, the National Ministry of Development and Planning / BAPPENAS has plans to in major cities to provide Sustainable Urban Transport Improvement Projects (SUUTIP). The partnering International Governmental Organizations that provides advisory services has been Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH or translated to German Corporation for International Cooperation known as GIZ. GIZ is under Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ) translated to German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. GIZ usually provides expertise on Urban and Transportation Planning to many other Global South Nations or known as technical cooperation.
In Bogor, Indonesia the city has seen increasing moped and car ownership, which results in increasing traffic and pollution. The city has public transit option is called Angkot, which are private owners and operators, but the problem with public transit in Bogor it has become an unattractive option, due to Angkot buses being stuck in traffic. Under BAPPENAS with technical advice from GIZ, the agency proposes Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) to help move people and reduce traffic. The project hasn’t been built and it is still under planned and proposed status.
The plan never explored transportation alternatives as in Light Rail or Metro. The project seems to be more of a national/international top down plan, instead of getting input from the local nationals As part of Equity, the BRT plan includes to allow Angkot operators to be part of the operating system for BRT. In terms of environment, the buses will be able to carry more people than the moped and cars lanes. The plan doesn’t explain the fuel type for the buses. In terms of transportation access and economics, the BRT will be provided its own right of way and lane to help move people through the city faster, which would make Bogor more attractive to visitors. The BRT proposal only mentions how locals will be given access to better transportation but never states how the locals’ view of the projet.
Links to project information:
Click to access Roadmap-to-BRT-in-Bogor_Aug24.pdf
http://www.sutip.org/profile-member-and-cities/bogor
https://www.giz.de/en/mediacenter/41489.html
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Poverty has always drastically impacted the lives of many people in developing countries. It is mainly due to the aftermath of a war, or because how a country is poorly damaged or simply corrupted. A fundraising international project by an international organization is a good strategy to help developing countries to fight against poverty and bring sustainable development in those countries. It’s sad that the main people who are being affected and has the most drastic impact in their lives living in poverty is the children’s and young adolescents who are growing up and learning about the world. They are significant part of the future that can help international countries in bringing sustainability for future generations, but they aren’t given any opportunity for those who are suffering from poverty. It’s a repetitive cycle of generations for those people who aren’t getting any help and if individuals want the same cycle of underachieving sustainability it starts in helping the children who can change the future. UNICEF is an accurate example that provides humanitarian and developmental assistance in children in developing countries. UNICEF was created by the United Nations of assembly to provide emergency food and healthcare that had been devastated during World War II. UNICEF it’s basically an international governmental organization since its part of the United Nations. One of the International projects that UNICEF is working on is heavily providing aid and 24/7 counseling services on HIV and STDS in Zambia Africa. Africa has been dealing with the HIV disease for decades and it still on high alert. One of the main causes of the spread of the disease is that many people in Africa are unaware of the consequences and causes of the disease that there’s fraud and myths in Africa of how to cure the disease since there’s no cure at the moment. Children and adolescents are mainly affected by the myth of how to cure the disease because they more really vulnerable when they lack the knowledge and awareness of HIV prevention. Every hour, about three Zambian youth aged 15-24 years old get infected with HIV that’s an alarming rate in today society. UNICEF it’s stepping up to save lives of many children in Zambia Africa and to decrease the spread of the disease for a better sustainability for the future. The problem and barrier of the project is that at the moment in only focuses on Zambia. There’s a lot of countries in Africa especially around Zambia in developing countries who are having the same or worst issue. So why only focus on one country when they can help many in many parts Africa. That’s where the lack of equal opportunity comes to play. Not everyone gets the same aid if you don’t live in Zambia it always about money and where the international organizations wants to send help. Probably if the UNICEF project it’s a success in Zambia and it does indeed lowers the spread of the disease, perhaps we can see the project expanding in other developing countries in Africa who critically need aid in saving lives of children, but it remains to be seen.
http://www.unicefstories.org/2014/05/16/ureport-providing-counseling-services-on-hiv-and-stis/
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Education City in Qatar was constructed in 1997 and completed in 2003. Now Qatar foundation is planning on extended this education hub they have created in Doha which; is the capital of Qatar. Education City is the education hub Qatar and holds schools at all grade levels and has University extensions from colleges all over the world. It is the center a research and development with a concentration which on emphasis on fields such as the Gulf Cooperation Council Region. It holds a diverse population of students and teachers while; also giving them top quality resources to make the most out of the learning experience. This new extension of the education city is essentially a project to cater a higher end clientele. The new extension will create more green space, recreational space for sports and exercise and world class hotels. Its aim is to create a environment where students can grow not only at the educational level however; have a sense of well being physically and socially integrating and welcoming. It plans of accomplishing this by concentrating on being a welcoming environment, promoting healthy living, and having connected community.
Though this project seems to create more jobs and attention to the educational aspect of this project a number of issues rise which; I feel should be looked at more closely. The first issue I see is that this education city only seems to want to pick and choose who can attend there and who cant. Though it aims to have a diverse community, which is good, I feel like it only caters to people abroad and not local. This makes me wonder if all this high-end education and resources is only available to people who are affluent. It seems to be turning more into a resort rather than a education city while Qatar has the funding to easily do this I think its unnecessary and alienating the international community in there capital city form the rest of it. They are better of creating these amemdaties where everyone can access them to help make Qatar more diverse and open. Another challenge I saw with this project was that due to its location the amount of green space thy will add will need a massive amount of water to maintain and feel like an easy alterative would be more in door facilities which people can enjoy.
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http://www.crossrail.co.uk/
The Crossrail project is brand new 73 mile railway line that will be developed in London that will give travelers a faster and more convenient mode of transportation from East to West and vice versa. The new line will be named the Elizabeth line and it will connect 40 different stations in the Tube, both underground and at street level, as well as implement 10 new stations on the route. In addition, more than 60 new trains will be developed for the new line as well. The new line will be another transit line that will interconnect with other modes of public transportation in London. The crossrail project is deemed to be one of Europe’s most anticipated transportation projects as it is expected to have high volume of usage once it is complete. The Elizabeth line will be made ready for service in parts. The first part will be available to public in 2017. The entire line is expected to be ready for the public in late 2019.
There are a few concerns that the crossrail project have brought to attention. The main problem that the residents are concerned about is the issue of gentrification. Land was needed to be bought out in order to carry out the the development of the project. Local businesses as well as residencies were forced or were aggressively persuaded to move for the new transit line. Property values are expected to increase due to the popularity of the new Elizabeth line as well as the implementations of the new stations. The increase connectivity will directly increase pedestrian flow which will make it more competitive for businesses to take advantage of the space. This may increase the level and quality of service, but will definitely segregate others who can not afford the price tag. Another concern is that project will go through many different stations that have already been built with transportation lines of their own. It will be difficult to maneuver around the area without running into some conflict with other train lines, pipes, electrical wiring, etc. It would take awhile to coordinate with other organizations which cause very costly delays. However, the crossrail project will for sure create more jobs for people and it will be a very powerful tool for the public have to get around London. The project will also encourage the use of public transportation will would reduce the amount of carbon emissions in the air.
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Tretten Hagen
USP-514
Professor Gohar
The International project that I would like to focus on is from the International Union for Conservation of nature. This is a program that has 217 state and government agencies that are Members of the IUCN. They focus on dramatic climate change and the disruption of nature and its ecosystems. They have several different themes including Business in biodiversity, climate change, economics, ecosystem management, forest, Social Policy, science of knowledge, water, species and marine and polar conservations. They cover efforts in Asia, Mediterranean, Oceana, Europe, West Asia, and South America. They have many publications that act as resources, conservation tools, projects tools, and monitoring and evaluation. That helps support its effort for conservation. This platform has great opportunities for many to get involved as well as it shows great advantages because of its broad range although centralized focus on the environment. Biodiversity seems to be a large part of what this project supports. It is uniquely combined with government and public civil society organizations. Its goal is to help provide public, private and non-governmental organizations with knowledge and tools to help enable human progression, economic development and conservation of nature throughout. This platform is very unique in how it uses the environment to imply all its other aspects of development. It is supported by donors and partners as well as a Union. One thing that I believe lacks in this particular platform is that it doesn’t allow a through enough description of each theme or focus of its development. Although it is broken into section it gives off les of the project aspect and more of what the world already has to offer. This may be its ay in trying to show how it is in the peoples hands to conserve the environment and make the world a better place. One section that I found very important to represent what this platform is trying to show is the Forest Theme. It shows that 40% of the worlds oxygen is provided by rainforest and over a quarter of modern medicines originate from tropical plants. Carbon in forest exceeds that amount of carbon produced each year. This site notes that working with community and government supports the development of locally driven, sustainable measures that will improve forest management. It is very interesting how much government has a part in these platforms intentions although it is almost completely necessary. This project overall Implies all the right aspects for a good developed organization trying to make a difference. Although I do think this could be better centralized it does give an overall important goal. Our Environment and many of our economic systems throughout the world are struggling to survive and this gives a good introduction for what needs to be done to improve the world’s sustainability. This all cost a lot of money although I believe with enough support and progress from society in general the goal of this organization could be accomplished.
Works Cited-
https://www.iucn.org/theme/forests/about
https://www.iucn.org
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Union_for_Conservation_of_Nature (For basic description)
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The International project that I would like to focus on is from the International Union for Conservation of nature. This is a program that has 217 state and government agencies that are Members of the IUCN. They focus on dramatic climate change and the disruption of nature and its ecosystems. They have several different themes including Business in biodiversity, climate change, economics, ecosystem management, forest, Social Policy, science of knowledge, water, species and marine and polar conservations. They cover efforts in Asia, Mediterranean, Oceana, Europe, West Asia, and South America. They have many publications that act as resources, conservation tools, projects tools, and monitoring and evaluation. That helps support its effort for conservation. This platform has great opportunities for many to get involved as well as it shows great advantages because of its broad range although centralized focus on the environment. Biodiversity seems to be a large part of what this project supports. It is uniquely combined with government and public civil society organizations. Its goal is to help provide public, private and non-governmental organizations with knowledge and tools to help enable human progression, economic development and conservation of nature throughout. This platform is very unique in how it uses the environment to imply all its other aspects of development. It is supported by donors and partners as well as a Union. One thing that I believe lacks in this particular platform is that it doesn’t allow a through enough description of each theme or focus of its development. Although it is broken into section it gives off les of the project aspect and more of what the world already has to offer. This may be its ay in trying to show how it is in the peoples hands to conserve the environment and make the world a better place. One section that I found very important to represent what this platform is trying to show is the Forest Theme. It shows that 40% of the worlds oxygen is provided by rainforest and over a quarter of modern medicines originate from tropical plants. Carbon in forest exceeds that amount of carbon produced each year. This site notes that working with community and government supports the development of locally driven, sustainable measures that will improve forest management. It is very interesting how much government has a part in these platforms intentions although it is almost completely necessary. This project overall Implies all the right aspects for a good developed organization trying to make a difference. Although I do think this could be better centralized it does give an overall important goal. Our Environment and many of our economic systems throughout the world are struggling to survive and this gives a good introduction for what needs to be done to improve the world’s sustainability. This all cost a lot of money although I believe with enough support and progress from society in general the goal of this organization could be accomplished.
Works Cited-
https://www.iucn.org/theme/forests/about
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Nicholas B. Evans
11/27/16
USP 514
The Unicef W.A.S.H. program, is a program that incorporates particular sustainable development health policies in an international format that concentrates on people’s daily Water and Sanitation Hygiene. The W.A.S.H. program is world wide, a resource for healthy and sustainable sanitation practices in developing countries. In an Article published on UNICEF’s website “Soap is not enough…” it takes a look at three different areas to bring reference to refugee camps in the Maban County region of South Sudan. In each of these areas they looked at almost 200 households interviewing women of ages (18-90) with a median of 30. In this study W.A.S.H. researchers found that soap was used for handwashing only 20% of the time, after toilet use. In other research, they found that barriers to hand-washing included a lack of free soap and a preference to use soap for laundry. Only 73% of households interviewed in the study had seen any promotion of W.A.S.H. programs. This being pamphlets or word of mouth.
The W.A.S.H. Program use national government mapping and monitoring efforts as well as past project monitoring by NGO’s. In this they have identified failures in water supply systems including sinks and toilets. One problem that W.A.S.H. has is a failure to capture local people’s attention to the significant health benefits associated with their program. This being cited as a failure in human resources and quality management of the organisation. Of the 600 households interviewed nearly 91% reported water was “always” or “sometimes” available. Only 85% of these were exposed to the hand-washing promotion. This being to wash your hand “before eating”, “in the kitchen” and “with Soap”. This is a big improvement from the prior studies, somehow W.A.S.H. program administrators were able to draw the attention of the local people in a more efficient manner.
W.A.S.H and access to W.A.S.H. is important for safe water, hygiene practices and the sanitation program can reduce death and illness. W.A.S.H. also reduces the impact of poverty and helps sustain economic development. So, people are not dying or sick all the time from unsanitary conditions. In the U.N’s Sustainable Development Goals W.A.S.H. provides a part of the answer to target 6, which is “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”. Lack of sanitation in developing countries is a contributor of over half a million deaths of children every year, this being due to diarrhoea and chronic health issues associated with fecal matter in drinking supplies.
I think that the best way the W.A.S.H. program can continue to be successful in developing countries is through the colloquial, S.W.A.S.H. program in schools, This program targets students taking what they learn home, every day. Also providing reduction in hygiene related disease by increasing student attendance and contributes to dignity through conscious gender equality policies and programs of hygiene.
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The sustainability project that I would like to focus on is the drinking water situation in Gaza that is being addressed by the World Bank. People need access to clean drinking water, the situation in the Middle East is becoming evident that this basic human necessity is not being meet. With the rise of temperatures due to climate change and the depletion and contamination of the natural aquifer located underneath Gaza, only 10% of Gaza’s 2 million citizens have access to clean drinking water. There are multiple themes that are employed in this particular project; economics, ecosystem management, humanitarian efforts, and climate change.
Gaza’s lack of clean drinking water is happening because of several different factors. The first factor can be accounted to climate change and the rise of temperatures in Gaza that diminishes any natural bodies of water in the area. Another contributing factor is the poorly treated wastewater that leaks into the aquifer from densely populated areas, this paired with the high demand of water from Gaza’s exponential growing population creates the issue that we are facing. This is were the World Bank comes in, their plan is too work closely with Palestinian Authority and implement a strategic water framework. The World Bank wants to develop this water treatment infrastructure while at the same time back its institutional entities so the government can support any development that the World Bank implements. The development of the new water treatment infrastructure will depend on the development of desalination plants and rebuilding the existing damaged infrastructure that is planned to start in 2017 and finish in 2022.
A project of this scale will always have obstacles to overcome. I believe one of the biggest will be building a infrastructure that will depend on a incomplete and weak governance system. In order for waste water treatment system to be successful, it will need to have a full intact government to control and regulate its operations. With an advanced water treatment system enacted in Gaza, there will be fees emplaced on the treated water that most of the citizens of Gaza won’t be able to afford. However, with people dependent on water trucks for their drinking water and citizens deserting the city measures need to be taken to attack the drinking water problem in Gaza. The World Bank is stepping up to the task, but will only be successful with the cooperation and help of Palestinian authority.
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Urban areas have different and unique ways to developing. in the most cases they are shaped by historically being an area of settlement and over time they are further shaped by policies regulating further development as well as laws that dictate the individual actions of the people living there that will infringe the well-being of the other member of the community. In the most extreme cases urban areas are sometimes developed through the attempt to solve “gap between the demand and the legal and formal supply in the housing market” as described in this week’s class discussion. To accurately compare and contrast the two methods of settlement, we can compare the San Francisco, California and Kibera, Nairobi.
San Francisco has been a place for settlement since the historical period in California known as the gold rush and before that it was an area that was inhabited by Native American tribes. Since then San Francisco has evolved to have policies behind developments and is now considered a world class city. In this urban area we see a variety of different aspects of city life such as cultural centers, retail areas, formal housing developments, and community centers funded by the government. This city also has a diverse range of income groups that contribute to the diversity of the city as well as the way the city further develops. San Francisco also has transportation system that ensures citizens as well as visitors a reliable way to move around the city. In addition to this there is a police force, an emergency response system, and laws in place to ensure the safety of citizens.
In comparison the slum settlement in Kibera are developed through informal circumstances as well as extreme conditions of poverty. The slums in Kibera also lack formal infrastructure, such a plumbing and water systems that reduce the risk of disease amongst the community. Based on the video seen in class it seems as though there no governing structure and citizens abide by a set of community rules apply through a silent understanding. There is also heavy influence from outside charitable organizations that the community relies on to sustain itself. The people who live in these communities did not plan on living in these slums but through circumstances they settled down in this informal community. The provisional aspects of this urban settlement have continued on to be more permanent and there should be steps to establish it as such.
When considering the sustainability aspects of these two urban areas they are both sustainable in different ways. San Francisco has measures of development that have sustainability in mind such as transit systems, water systems, and incentives for citizens to use less resources. On the other hand, there is constant development in San Francisco and there is large amount of resources used to create these developments and people living in this city live a first world lifestyle, using a considerable amount of resources as well as creating waste. In the slums of Kibera the people are using every bit of resources they can as well as reusing anything they can. We do not have to consider the factor of transportation because the citizens of this urban area mainly walk as a method of transportation. Therefore, in terms of the use of resources as the sustainability definition, Kibera would be considered more sustainable considering their high populations and needs for accommodating those people. However, the living condition in these slums are not suitable for human living and effort can be made to improve that with sustainability in mind.
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The top two policies instruments that would be used to overcome the problem of hunger and working towards the goal of zero hunger would be the information-based instrument and the behavioral instrument. The information-based instrument would take part in the goal of zero hunger with its effort that are driven by the private sector in collaboration with its influence to ask the public for donations in order to achieve their goal around this issue. There are campaigns that are funded by companies that give some information on the issue while also stating that when a consume purchases a product some of the proceeds will go towards a cause related to hunger in this case. This motivates consumers to be aware of an issue and feel like they are making a change without necessarily altering their behavior. The consumer will result in having some knowledge on the issue and be more aware of it and leave an opportunity to continue caring about the issue. There are also websites that are mainly used with the purpose to gather donations but while a consumer visits the page they are also gaining some knowledge on the issues, which encourages them to continue being an advocate for the cause. Often time popular public figures speak about a cause and encourage people to visit a site to gain more knowledge, and possibly donate money to a cause. The holiday season is also a reminder of the issue of hunger, not so much around the world but locally. During this time there are can food drives that will be given to families who struggle with food insecurity and there are also holiday races that commonly choose issues of hunger to be their focal points specially around the time of thanksgiving. This instrument would be the most effective in tackling this cause because it draws attention to a reality people do not think about unless they are experiencing it themselves.
The other instrument that would be effective to tackling this issue would be the behavioral instrument. This could be used by communities all over the world but more specifically in the third world that cultivate much of their own food. A huge problem right now is that big seed companies such as Monsanto are trying to appeal to farmers in the third world to use their seed to grow and sell for profit. The problem with this is that the seeds cannot be used again and the farmers are forces to continue buying seeds and that is an ongoing expense that in most cases farmers cannot afford. In addition to this those villages cannot live on one single crop alone. Their behaviors can change this cycle by rejecting companies who will force them to keep being consumers of their seeds and they can continue to reuse seeds from previous harvest as well as trade crops with other farmers in the area. By maintaining the pervious practices of planting multiple crops within a plot of land as well as building communities that are willing to trade food and goods it can give them an opportunity for these people to help one another in a case where there was a bad season for crops or in case of a weather disaster ruining crop production. It would be challenging to reject the opportunity to receive an immediate influx of economic stimulation, however by rejecting this the health of their soil will remain high and that will give them the opportunity for sustainable economic growth. Also practices can be implemented such as composting to rejuvenate the nutrients of the soil as well as reducing the amount of waste generated by the community. Changing the behavior of a large group of people and creating a community where people rely on each other can impact other issues such as hunger.
** posted on wrong week but submitted on time**
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I am working on the project “Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge” (HZMB) that Is an on-going project that located at Southern Chinese Pearl Delta River Region. The bridge aimed to build up direct connection between Southern China and Hong Kong. The main leader of General contractor of Design and construction of HZMB would be China Communications Construction Co., Ltd, which is a governmental organization. Since this was a Chinese national highway project, I have no doubt that Chinese governmental organization was in charge of the whole program. However, in order to improve the quality of the design and constructions of HZMB, the project invited two international non-governmental organizations from Demark and Holland, which were AECOM Asia Co., Ltd and COWI A/S. Therefore, the project actually was an international cooperation instead of just a national highway construction. The challenge of HZMB would be mainly about National Culture in International Project and Opponents of Environmental Protection. Chinese Communist Government has given so many pressures and intervention on the project. The government strongly insisted to implement their own constructed style and methods on the bridge construction even though there would have had some better constructed style with new constructed technology to increase the efficiency of the bridge construction. Chinese government did not really explain the reason why they would not have used other new constructed methods, instead of that, they just made the decision very quick in the initial phase of HZMB construction. Therefore, I would understand that Chinese government was holding their own culture context in terms of the whole construction of HZMB. Secondly, the whole project seemed to have huge environmental impact on the surrounded areas. Even though Chinese research teams have done tons of Environmental Impacted Reports regarding to the project site, all of the report still indicated some level of the pollution that the project would cause in terms of the water and air condition on the site. Therefore, the environmental and biological recovery should put on the priority list once the project was done.
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TEDAP, the Tanzania Energy Development and Expansion Project was implemented and funded by the World Bank, and was completed in 2015. TEDAP is a component of Tanzania’s objective to become a middle-income country by 2025. This larger objective aims to reduce the portion of the population, which lives on less than $1.90 a day from 48.4% of the population to just 4%, and to improve the living standards of the bottom 40% of the population. In order to do this, Tanzania would have to lift nearly 20 million people out of poverty within the next 15 years. The World Bank has committed to supporting Tanzania’s objective and to that end currently has 28 International Development Association Projects implemented with net commitments of about USD $4.2 billion. The World Bank is an intergovernmental agency (IGO), and is a faction of the United Nations. In order for Tanzania to attain its socioeconomic objectives, affordable and reliable electricity must be made available to the population. Only 36% of households in Tanzania had access to electricity, so the World Bank supported the government in the TEDAP program in order to expand access to energy and to ensure the operational and financial sustainability of the sector. The project succeeded in providing 576,000 people, 125,000 of which were women with access to electricity. The World Bank is the main facilitator and financier of this project.
This project faced certain barriers to international sustainability, and accomplishing the three E’s of sustainability. For the social aspect, they were able to provide access to a large portion of people who previously did not have it. Access to energy improves quality of life because it allows people more comfort and fewer restrictions. For the environmental aspect, the goal had a component of renewable energy but due to high costs associated with implementing such energy, much of the energy provided came from nonrenewable sources, like liquid fuel and gas. This increase fossil fuel use will have an impact on climate change on a global scale. Also, the energy provided is being used in some mining operations for gems and other mineral resources. While this is beneficial for their local economy as it allows for more work to be done and more job availability, it has negative implications for the environment because it contributes to the depletion of natural resources. This project involved building new infrastructure for delivering natural gas, as well as a pipeline that delivers gas to rural areas of the country. The energy supplied to the rural areas is separate from thee conventional energy grid which supplies power to the rest of the country. Some challenges the project faced as reported by the World Bank were regulatory issues, financing issues, limited capacity and resources in rural areas, and institutional issues, which included coordinating among stakeholders and finding focus on an enabling environment for the project. There were two components to the project, on-grid and off-grid. On-grid involved improving the service quality and efficiency of Tanesco. The off-grid component involved facilitating framework and grants for new connections by third parties in the private sector, NGO, and communities and finding additional financing to establish a credit line. It also involves establishing a structure of selling power from renewable sources like greenfield mini-grids and solar PV systems to Tanesco’s main grid.
Overall, I would say this project was a success in it’s ability to provide power and improve the people’s quality of life, which is ultimately Tanzania’s main objective.
Sources:
Click to access TEDAP%20SPPs%2011-18.pdf
https://www.thegef.org/about/funding
https://www.thegef.org/project/tanzania-energy-development-and-access-project-tedap
http://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2016/12/06/increasing-electricity-access-in-tanzania-to-reduce-poverty
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Liana Derus
USP 514
The Qatar Foundation uses education and research to aid the human, social, and economic development of Qatar. This private, non-profit organization creates programs in education, science and research, and community development. Through example, the country contributes to human development internationally. They aspire to “develop sustainable human capacity, social, and economic prosperity for a knowledge-based economy.”
The Founder is His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani. He is a member of the ruling Al Thani Qatari royal family and ruled Qatar for 18 years. During his rule he made his country the richest country in the world per capita.
The annual report is hard to navigate because it is segmented by project, but the scope of the projects the Qatar Foundation is extensive. They cover so many areas of education, research, and community building. There is such a wide amount of programs the organization participates in that I am left to wonder how well each of them is completed. It is also difficult to imagine one organization being responsible for such a wide range of interests and being able to follow through with them to the best of their ability. Some challenges I presume they faced were building up enough staff that could manage and oversee each project and be able to work in tandem with the rest of the organization.
I think the best forms of sustainability this project represent are economic and equity. The educational programs focus on uplifting disadvantaged people and use education as the key to their success. This in turn created a better society with a thriving economy because people are able to work in skilled jobs and create their own wealth to spend and grow the country’s economy.
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