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Two Sides of the Same Coin: Discrimination Against Women and Exclusion of Children in Jamaica and Niger

By Caroline Jones

This article seeks to examine key issues related to the discrimination of women and the exclusion of children in example countries Jamaica and Niger. The women and children of both countries face marginalization, though the case in Niger is more extreme. While the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child has been ratified in both countries, there are still significant existing infringements on children’s rights. In Jamaica, women and children face violence, while in Niger, child marriage is a pervasive problem. This article finds that the discrimination women face in both countries are related to the exclusion that children face. Thus, this article argues that women’s and children’s issues should be examined together for policy interventions to have the utmost positive impact on the issues plaguing women and children in developing countries.

Read the full article: Two Sides of the Same Coin

Challenges in Accessing Clean Water and Sanitation: An Analysis of Niger and Peru

By Alexi Navichoque

This article examines the challenges in accessing clean water and sanitation services in two different parts of the world, Niger and Peru. While access to safe clean water and adequate sanitation is a fundamental human right, millions of people around the world remain deprived of these essential services. Niger and Peru, although being across the world and culturally distinct, face similar challenges in ensuring clean water and sanitation for their population. In Peru, communities located in the rural mountains/highlands struggle with insufficient infrastructure and contamination. In Niger, weak sanitation systems have made the communal waters prone to diseases causing public health challenges. Although there are organizations that are raising awareness and bringing solutions to these remote areas of the world, a lack of adequate water and sanitation has led to severe impacts.

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Facing a Rising Tide: Ethical and Economic Dimensions of Climate Change in the Philippines and Indonesia

By Sydnee Patak

This article looks at the impacts of climate change on the economic and ethical landscapes of the Philippines and Indonesia. Both archipelago developing countries as vulnerable to climate change as they are more susceptible to both extreme weather and rising sea levels. Ocean warming and increased acidification threaten sea-life industries and rising waters cause displacement in both island nations from shoreline retreat, coastal flooding and freshwater contamination. As the impacts, policies and struggles of the two countries are compared, there are of course differences between the Philippines and Indonesia, but there is no question that both are being significantly compromised by global warming.

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What Makes a Family Planning Program Successful in Sub-Saharan Africa? A Look at Nigeria and Rwanda

By Ashley Totten

Family planning programs are an important tool in slowing population growth but also for empowering the people, especially women. This article will focus on Nigeria and Rwanda, two similar countries in terms of location and development stage, but one major difference is their family planning programs. Rwanda’s contraceptive prevalence was 58.4 percent in 2020; that is higher than the world average. Nigeria’s contraceptive prevalence was stagnant at around 12 percent for the last decade. These differences in contraceptive prevalence rates are largely due to differences in their family planning programs. Rwanda is much further along in family planning than Nigeria. Some reasons for this include administrative attributes, but most importantly how Rwanda sees family planning from a social and culture standpoint. Approaching the program from the ethical lenses of efficiency, equity, and empowerment, leads to more successful family planning programs.

Read the full article: What Makes a Family Planning Program Successful