Spiderman
Veteran Member
1.1 billion people in our world are facing water scarcity. 1.1 billion people, 1 in six people faces lack of access to something so basic as drinking water. Wtf?
Sub-Saharan Africa had the largest number of water-stressed countries of any other place on the planet and of an estimated 800 million people who live in Africa, 300 million live in a water stressed environment
Water scarcity in Africa - Wikipedia
3/8 of the African people are fighting for something as basic as water. Estimates number up to 700 million people who are displaced over conditions that are increasingly unlivable and people are in stress and panic over a precious resource that we take for granted, that a human can barely live 3 days without.
"African women are disproportionally burdened by scarcity of clean drinking water. In most African societies, women are seen as the collectors, managers, and guardians of water, especially within the domestic sphere that includes household chores, cooking, washing, and child rearing.[11] Because of these traditional gender labor roles, women are forced to spend around sixty percent of each day collecting water, which translates to approximately 200 million collective work hours by women globally per day[12] and a decrease in the amount of time available for education. Water scarcity exacerbates this issue, as indicated by the correlation of decrease in access to water with a decrease in combined primary, secondary, and tertiary enrollment of women.[10]
For African women, their daily role in clean water retrieval often means carrying the typical jerrycan that can weigh over 40 pounds when full[7] for an average of six kilometers each day.[1] This has health consequences such as permanent skeletal damage from carrying heavy loads of water over long distances each day,[9] which translates to a physical strain that contributes to increased stress, increased time spent in health recovery, and decreased ability to not only physically attend educational facilities, but also mentally absorb education due to the effect of stress on decision-making and memory skills.
Water scarcity in Africa - Wikipedia"
There is a fairly frequent violence and bloodshed in: Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Somalia, Uganda, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Western Sahara, Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad. Here is a map of countries in Africa with ongoing conflict:
The group, Boko Haram, has openly pledged its allegiance to other terrorist outfits like al-Qaeda and ISIL (or ISIS, for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). Boko Haram wishes to outlaw western education, and even education itself, and follow a radical interpretation of Islam that oppresses women, and kills non-muslims, and even muslims who don't want to follow such extremist views..
They have kidnapped hundreds of school girls who have given testimonies of rape, torture, and slavery.
Boko Haram's Atrocities Against Humanity · Guardian Liberty Voice
In addition to the conflict deaths, there have been over 9 million refugees and internally displaced people. While refugee numbers in recent years have declined, the number of internally displaced has risen
If this scale of destruction and fighting was in Europe, then people would be calling it World War III with the entire world rushing to report, provide aid, mediate and otherwise try to diffuse the situation.
Yet here, as mentioned in the media section of this web site, and noted by Virgil Hawkins, the western mainstream media does practically nothing to raise this awareness (or, perhaps it is not deemed important enough to report extensively about).
Conflicts in Africa—Introduction — Global Issues
The media does not give much coverage of the misery and human rights abuses in Africa.
In the regions of Port Loko and Masiaka, approximately 30 miles northeast of Freetown, Human Rights Watch has taken testimonies of survivors who describe decapitations, amputation of hands, mouths and ears, and scores of abductions of children and women by the RUF rebels.
"The world is captivated by the suffering in Kosovo," said Peter Takirambudde, Executive Director for Africa at Human Rights Watch. "Meanwhile, what's happening in Sierra Leone is unspeakable. Where is the global outrage?"
These rebels go around with machetes hacking people to death and cutting off people's hands and arms. Could you imagine having no hands or arms, and how much worse that would be than death, not even being able to feed yourself or wipe your own rear end for life? Such amputations were the calling card of rebels during Sierra Leone's 11-year conflict.
With the exception of Syria, African countries currently get the worst rep when it comes to violence and conflict. Virtually every story coming out of the continent seems to showcase one atrocity or another.
. In 2014, Africa experienced more than half of worldwide conflict incidents, despite having only about 16 percent of the world population. This is a slightly larger share of the world’s conflicts than even during the chaotic years of the post-Cold War 1990s.
The Wars Ravaging Africa in 2016
But Americans have a higher suicide rate and fret about things hundreds of millions in Africa don't even think about, because they are displaced, hungry, without running water, or facing the painful torturous death of thirst.
In my city, Americans can have food stamps, free meals at the Dorothy day and elsewhere, a shower, a cell phone with internet access, shelter, free bus cards, free wal-mart gift cards, free bus tokens, and free taxi rides to medical appointments, free healthcare, and free medication, without having to work.
I almost never hear about what's going on in Africa, and the hundreds of millions of people who live in fear, panic, homelessness, hunger, or thirst.
You are more likely to hear about celebrities like Kanye West or Paris Hilton making a silly remark...oh, and of course, Donald Trump's tweets.
Anyway, when should the west feel it is their burden or that they sould step in?
Poverty in Africa refers to the lack of basic human needs faced by certain people in African society. African nations typically fall toward the bottom of any list measuring small size economic activity, such as income per capita or GDP per capita, despite a wealth of natural resources.
In 1820, the average European worker earned about three times what the average African did. Now, the average European earns twenty times what the average African does.
Over $500 billion (U.S.) has been sent to African nations in the form of direct aid.[11][12] The consensus is that the money has had little long-term effect
In addition, most African nations have owed substantial sums of money. However, a large percentage of the money was either invested in weapons (money that was spent back in developed nations, and provided little or no benefit to the native population) or was directly misappropriated by corrupt governments.
Poverty in Africa - Wikipedia
So, donating money isn't necessarily helping the poor and falling into the hands of corrupt regimes. What is the solution you propose?
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