“How can we maximize our personal abilities to create an impact on the world on a small or large scale?” For my third blog post, I will begin my research on my first subcategory:
2. Which countries/populations of people are most in need right now?
The long-term effects of the 2020 pandemic, worsening climate change impacts, and long-term conflicts causing violence in numerous countries create for a devastating combination of issues today. [1] Food is an undenied basic human need for nearly 750 million people, wars in Ukraine and Gaza has caused devastating deaths and tragedies as well as violations of human rights, [2] and even in our country of Canada, 4,821 people experiencing homelessness were counted, up 32% from 2020. [4]
This can help sum up which countries/populations are most in need right now:
- Starving countries:
Sierra Leone – After a decade-long civil war, peace was declared in January of 2002, however the effects of the conflict such as high inflation and not sufficient food began affecting the vulnerable population. Since then Sierra Leone was also struck by the West African Ebola virus epidemic and a year after had the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. After that, the COVID-19 pandemic also had a large effect on the country’s economy, shrinking growth to -2% in 2020, and then the conflict in Ukraine led to yet another inflation which cut off access to many of the populations basic necessities
Other countries suffering very similar stories include Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Chad, Niger, Lesotho, Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, Madagascar, and Central African Republic [3], Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Sahel, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Northern Ethiopia, and Haiti [5]. These countries which are all African countries suffered from famine due to civil wars, effects from the pandemic, climate crises and illnesses which can classify them as countries in need. [3]
2. Countries at war
The two largest wars, Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas, have created a devastating loss of life, numerous human rights violations and impacts on the economy of the rest of the world. As of now more than 18,000 Palestinians are dead, a large number of them children, [1] Palestinians are drinking toilet water, starving or dying of injuries. [2] In Ukraine, Russian forces commit shocking human rights abuses. This war which has been ongoing for two years now and the number of human rights violations are astounding. Ukraine is also going through a famine and many Ukrainians are leaving the country from fear of being bombed. These countries are not the only ones at war. There are many wars going on in the middle east as well where refugees are desperate to leave their countries, and these countries are in desperate need of help as of now. [1]
5. Individuals experiencing homelessness
Homelessness is an ongoing crisis in Vancouver, but also in California, and many other parts of the world. The homelessness crisis had struck many countries, mainly due to opioid usage which stems from housing complications, evictions, mental or physical illnesses, unemployment etc. Either way, these individuals living on the streets fail to receive basic human needs on a daily basis, are forced to live a much more difficult life and many of them are also subjected to deaths by drug overdose. Housing loss takes a big role in homelessness in Vancouver and this could be solved with a better housing system [4]. People living on the streets often develop illnesses, mental and physical and are in dire need of help.
Thank you for reading to my blog post! Here are my sources:
- https://news.un.org/en/interview/2023/12/1144832
- https://www.irishtimes.com/world/middle-east/2023/10/20/analysis-how-much-aid-does-gaza-need/
- https://www.concern.net/news/hungriest-countries-in-the-world
- https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/greater-vancouver-homeless-count-2023-1.6987718
- https://www.wfpusa.org/articles/global-food-crisis-10-countries-suffering-the-most-from-hunger/
