country investigator chap 9-10

Yemen

I chose Yemen because according to the World Economic Forum rating of the status of women of 130 countries Yemen was in last place. I wanted to explore what was important to a country that doesn't value women. The following is what I discovered.

Yemen is located in the Middle East in the southwestern and southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is one of the "poorest and least developed countries in the Arab World, with a formal 35% employment rate, dwindling natural resources, a young population and increasing population growth." (wikipedia). It is considered a developing country with 45.2% of its population below the poverty line.

It is a country rampant with corruption which inhibits the development of the country. Their constitution defines the republic as an independent and sovereign Arab and Islamic country. Islamic law is the basis of all laws. Article 6 of their constitution states that it confirms its adherence to the UN Charter and International Declaration of Human Rights yet women are still struggling with the "various constraints and secondary status. Yemen's Personal Status Law in particular, which covers matters of marriage, divorce, child custody, and inheritance, gives women fewer rights than men, excludes women from decision making, and deprives them of access to, and control over, resources and assets."

Human rights in Yemen is rather poor. The "security forces" have been responsible for torture, inhumane treatment and even executions without due process.

According to Yemeni law a girl can wed at any age, but it forbids sex with them until they are considered "suitable for sexual intercourse". The onset of puberty, which is the age of 9 by some, was set as a requirement for consummation of marriage. Roughly half of Yemeni girls are married before 18, some as young as 8.

Not only do they limit the rights of women they also limit freedom of press. Yemen ranked 136th of 167 nations in terms of press freedom. The government is in control of all radio and television. They will ban journalists for publishing "incorrect" information.

Yemen is a largely tribal society with virtually all citizens being muslim and belonging to either the Zaydi order of Shi'a Islam (50%) or to the Shafa'i order of Sunni Islam (50%). Zaydi's are generally found in the north and northwestern part of the country, whereas the Shafa'i is in the south and southeastern part of the country.

Some things they do value is music. Some Yemenite Jews have become quite popular pan-Arab. Their cuisine is very distinct from the known Middle Eastern cuisine due to Ottoman Turkish influences. Football is very popular in Yemen. The countries citizens also enjoy and have access to mountain and water sports.

Progress has been and is being made to improve the status of women in Yemen, but as the authors of Half the sky stated laws help make changes but cultures need to change and that will take time.

country investigator

Sorry this is late guys, I had a family emergency and just forgot all about it and didnt realize I didnt post!!

the country is Ethopia:

Ethiopia is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million people, and the tenth-largest by area, with its 1,100,000 km2. The capital is Addis Ababa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan and South Sudan to the west, Djibouti and Somalia to the east, and Kenya to the south. It is also the most populous landlocked country in the world. The typical school year runs from September through June. Public education is free from the primary to the college level. Religion is a secure and accepted element of everyday life in Ethiopia; even the language is full of references to God.

Ethiopian New Year's Day, Sept. 11
Victory Day , April 6
Labor Day , May 1
Victory Day , May 28: Celebrated as a victory day for the current government and also marks the Fall of Derg.

Christian festivals include Maskal, or the Feast of the Finding of the True Cross; Christmas; Timkat or Epiphany; and Good Friday according to the Coptic calendar. Christmas in Ethiopia is primarily a religious observance.

Muslim festivals include the ninth month of the Muslim calendar devoted to Ramadan, which is marked by fasting. The greatest Muslim feast of the year is 'Id Al Fatr, which celebrates the end of Ramadan. The 'Id al Adha is the feast marking Abraham's sacrifice

Ethiopia's staple food is injera, a spongy bread made of a unique crop only grown in Ethiopia called "teff." Injera is baked in a clay pan and eaten with sauce made of either meat, ground grains, beans or vegetables.

Usually age 15 and over can read and write.

Summery Chapter 6-8

These chapters had some very horrific stories about women who were sold into slavery and about how others who were pregnant did not get the care that they needed. In chapter 6 a girl by the name of Mahabouba was sold as a "maid" to a man and she was supposed to work hard jobs with long hours for little or no pay. She was also expected to sleep with this man, even though he had a wife. The wife also beat Mahabouba because she was jealous that her husband was more interested in Mahaboua than her. She tried to escape but was caught and beaten close to death. Mahaboua eventually got pregnant by the man and while she was pregnant was able to escape. Unfortunately she was unable to get the medical care she needed and during birth the baby got caught up in her pelvic region and could not be delivered. Mahabouba crawled her way to a hospital where she was finally able to have the [dead] child removed, but the damage done was severe and now has to wear a colostomy bag. In chapter 7 a girl named Prudence went into full labor, but was clearly having difficulty delivering the baby. Instead of giving medical care, the medical assistant started jumping up and down on Prudence's stomach, which eventually led to her death. Chapter 8 discussed how there are various programs that are out there to help women who are in need of medical aid, but can not afford it. Unfortunately, the funding for a lot of these clinics are being cut for political reasons. Due to clinics in China allowing women to have abortions, the Bush administration cut all funding to clinics around the world thus making it even harder for underprivileged women to get the medical care they need.

Issue investigator chap 6-8 Maternal Mortality

There are many definitions to what is or what constitutes maternal mortality but I will use the WHO definition in my entry.

Maternal mortality is the death of a woman during or shortly after a pregnancy. Most of these deaths are medically preventable as the treatments to avoid these deaths are known and available since the 1950's. "maternal mortality is a sentinel event used to assess the quality of a health care system." (wikipedia)

A 2010 research by, U. of Washington and U of Queensland Brisbane Austraila, estimated global MM in 2008 at 342,900 (down from 526,300 in 1980). It also determined that 99% occurred in the developing world where 85% of the population lives. Reducing the MM rate by 3/4's is part of the Millennium Development Goals for the UN.

According to WHO the causes are:
*25% Severe bleeding/hemorrage
*13% Infection
*13% Unsafe abortions
*12% Eclampsia
*8% Obstructed labour
*8% Other direct causes
*20% Indirect causes
"indirect causes such as malaria, anaemia, HIV/AIDS, and cardiovascular disease complicate pregnancy or are aggrevated by it."


Maternal Mortality Ratio(MMR) is the ratio of the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. If we look at the MMR we can measure the quality health care of a particular country.

According to Central Asia Health Review:
MMR Country
2,000 Sierra Leone
1,900 Afghanistan
0 Ireland
4 Austria
13.3 U.S

According to WHO in 2003 the world average was 400 per 100,000, for developed countries 20, for developing countries 440. The numbers of MM are decreasing. The reason for the decline is mostly due to improved asepsis(freedom from disease-causing contaminants or, preventing contact with microorganisms), fluid management and blood transfusion, and better prenatal care.

How we can continue to decrease maternal deaths is for women to have access. Access to health care, family planning services, emergency obstetrics care, intrapartum care and funding.

Why don't women get the care they need? There are many reasons why women don't get the care they need before, during, and after childbirth. Some reasons include: services aren't available, they can't afford them or reaching them are to costly, and some don't like the quality of care offered. Cultural beliefs or the low status of women can also be a barrier.

Kristof and WuDunn have been very consistent in stating that we need to change reality rather than changing laws. What I really liked was how women in sub-Saharan Africa have been taught medical procedures in order to help save the lives of women.

There are ways to eradicate MM and each and every step taken to do so helps to alleviate the unnecessary suffering that occuring every minute of every day.

Chapter 6-8 local orgs

Local organization:
AMDD—Averting Maternal Death and Disability
I chose this organization because of Allan Rosenfield. We read about him in chapter 6 and his compassion for women and maternal mortality started AMDD with a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 1999. I also peeked at that organization also and it was a toss up between the two.
I am going to share the mission and vision of this organization but first I want to share information about AMDD. As I checked out the web site . . . http://www.amddprogram.org/d/, I was very impressed with the thoroughness of the information, statistics and the ease of going through the web site. The AMDD is trying to make the statistic of 99% of maternal deaths are in developing countries and reduce it by 75% by 2015 (Millennium Goal #5). This organization is trying to have global access to emergency obstetric care. This is their mission and vision. This can explain more about them then I can. It is what they stand for and believe in.
The Mission: Recognizing that maternal health is a basic human right, AMDD works with partners worldwide to stimulate new thinking and generate evidence-based solutions to improve maternal and newborn survival. AMDD supports action and intervention to strengthen overall health systems so that whenever and wherever emergencies happen – from home to hospital – lives will be saved by effective and timely response.
The Vision: We believe in a world that respects and upholds the dignity of all women and their basic human right to survive pregnancy and childbirth. We believe in taking a good, hard look at the overall health systems that are meant to support – but all too often do not support – women and their newborns. But it isn’t enough to simply examine these systems; we work collaboratively and innovatively to transform and strengthen them. Strong health systems are an important solution to broader global issues of poverty and inequity.

The organization also has Needs Assessment for Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (EmONC). It is people getting data to back up the need for obstetric care and bring the data to the forefront and essentially proving to the world have grave the situation is. Mothers are dying giving birth and there are so many things that can be done to prevent and/or help with this epidemic. This data collecting is imperative to the success of this organization to get grants and present information to the appropriate people, governments and health organizations to get them on board.
This is the Need Assessment in a nut shell. . .
• Facility-based, cross-sectional studies that are usually national in scope
• Timeline: 8 -18 months
• Scope of data collection: infrastructure, human resources, equipment, drugs and supplies, service statistics, case reviews, and provider interviews relating to EmONC and maternal and reproductive health
• Results used for planning and health systems strengthening at all levels
(the italics was copy and pasted from the website: http://www.amddprogram.org/d/sites/default/files/needs_assessment_factsheet_english_0.pdf
I believe that this organization, which has been in business since 1999, is right on the money. They believe in what they do and they have gone after it. AMDD teams up with other organizations with the same beliefs to fight maternal mortality.
I think is a great cause. Women have been treated as second class citizen
enough; I also believe unborn children should be protected and cherished. It is a shame unborn children and mothers are left to die or fend for themselves. As the book said. . . education is possible the key. It showed that educated people were more likely to have money saved (because of better jobs) to have mothers see a doctor or have enough tucked away for emergencies. Let’s educate people—it couldn’t hurt.
Ericka Turlo
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Pages/home.aspx
also another great organization-¬helps out globally and in the US

India

India declared its independence from the UK on August 15^th, 1947. It is the 7^th largest country in the world. Similar to the U.S., it is broken up into 28 states and 7 union territories. The country’s motto is “Sataymeva Jayate” which means “Truth Alone Triumphs”. The capital is New Deli. The largest city is Mumbai with a population of 12,478,447 which is 4,303,314 more people than New York City has. The total population of India is 1,189,172,906. The average age is 26.2 years. (The average of male and female age.) India is a federation with a parliamentary system governed under the Constitution of India. Their common law system is based on the English model. There are separate personal law codes that apply to Muslims, Christians, and Hindus. India is turning into an open-market economy but there are some aspects of its past are still intact. The Congress is considered liberal. There is a high risk of infectious disease and is the world’s largest producer of licit opium for the pharmaceutical trade. Some environmental issues include air pollution, water pollution, soil erosion and the massive population is using up the natural resources rather quickly. The available military force is estimated to be at 319,129,420 for men age 16-49 and 296,071,637 for woman of the same age group. India has almost 200,000 refugees from countries such as Tibet/China, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan. There was a sex trafficking trade exposed in Mumbai where woman were sold and made very little money. In past years, there have been 500,000 female babies have gone missing each year because of illegal sex trafficking selection and abortions. 450 million people in India live below the poverty line, which is 42% of the world’s poor. Half of the world’s IT services are based out of India which makes it a $47 billion industry. India is the second largest importing country of weapons and has spent $50 billion on defense in the last 10 years. India’s Cherrapnuji gets 425 inches of rain every year.

http://www.businessinsider.com/amazing-facts-about-india-2010-12

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html

Issue Investigator Chap. 3-5

The major issues that I found in this case was corrupt law enforcement and rape. Corrupt government doesn't just mean that the police sides with the criminals or that they like the actions that are being commit ed. In these chapters corrupt law enforcement refers to the police being to afraid of how much power the criminals may have behind them and fearing for their lives and their families lives; the criminals may also have a "high status" in their country which makes them almost untouchable by police. Even if the criminal were to be arrested, he or she would be released and all charges would be dropped do to their political influence. This is not something you hear about often in the United States, but you don't have to look far to find it. Our neighboring country to the south (Mexico), has seen it's far share of corrupt government; the police are bought out by drug cartels so that their shipments of drugs get through the country with out any problems. The police that are not bought out by the cartels or the ones who resist have fear for their lives because the cartels will not hesitate to shoot, stab, and murder anyone who gets in their way.

Rape was another large issue in these chapters. People hear about rape in the United States on a fairly frequent basis; we have shows that go after child molesters and rapist (Date Line NBC: To Catch A Predator) and shows that portray the lives of detectives who investigate sex crimes (Law and Order SVU). So Americans are familiar with what rape is and other crimes of that nature. But the kind of rape that is happening in 3rd world countries is NOTHING like what happens in the States. Girls of all ages are being brutalized and sodomized with sticks, pipes, bats, guns, whatever these sick people get their hands on. They don't just try and force the women to have sex with them; they want to abuse them, humiliate them, and make them wish they weren't even alive. In chapter five, there was even a story of how militias in the Congo would stick a firearm in a women's vagina and pull the trigger. Supposedly this was because the women had pre-marital sex and was no longer "pure", but who is that for someone else to decide? These abusers do not care about the age of the women, whether she has a family or not, or what she does in society; these people rape and abuse with no mercy and it doesn't appear as though it will stop any time soon.

Chris Giroux