Haiti

Yesterday a girl in my class did a presentation on the Haiti earthquake; it happened over a year ago, and honestly it is not something that I thought about. Of course when it first happened it was on everyone's mind, but she made a good point by saying that after a few weeks people think everything is magically better and that the people are easily rebuilding their lives. Through her presentation we learned that this was not the case, Haiti still needs help. In place of my regular blog I decided to write a post on Haiti and the hardships that they are still overcoming. This will be my last post in this blog series, and I hope you don't mind that it is not my regular format.

I don't mean to downplay the efforts that have been made to rebuild Haiti, there has been progress. So many people have volunteered their time and money to help Haiti, but after such a huge disaster it is difficult to fix everything in a timely matter. The girl in my class was telling us that Haiti's government was unstable before the earthquake, and since then it hasn't gotten much better. Just to give a brief background on how unstable their government is/was: In 1991 the first democratically elected President was removed in a military coup, this was repeated in 2004. Haitians then had an election this past November in which there are a claims that fraud took place. People also became frustrated and refused to vote when the authorities refused to let the countries most popular party run (The Utopianist, January 11, 2011). How can Haiti rebuild if the government can't even sort itself out?

Crime rates have also gone up, which is definitely something that we could have all predicted; nonetheless it's really heartbreaking. Rape especially has increased in the past year (The Utopianist, January 11, 2011). The reason for this increase in crime is that people are still living in tents and makeshift wooden homes; there is poor, if any lighting at night, making it that much easier for criminals to commit crimes (USA Today, January 12, 2011).

A tent city in Haiti
(The New York Times, April 4, 2011)

A problem that people are facing in Haiti are facing when trying to rebuild their city is rubble. There is still a great deal that needs to be removed before real rebuilding can take place (The New York Times, April 4, 2011). The reason it has taken so long to remove this rubble is the cost. Haiti is in severe poverty and they simply don't have enough money to pay for it. Even with the donations that poured in. See, what I think is that the donations were used more for short term things, like medical care, food, and water. Now while all those things were desperately needed, it was also extremely important to save a large sum of money for the rebuilding of Haiti.

Orphans in Haiti still need help
(The New York Times, 2011)

I know that this has been a pretty depressing post thus far, so now I want to highlight some of the good that has been done! There were/are many organizations that contributed to helping Haiti, and one of them is World Vision Canada. They alone provided food aid to 220,000 families following the quake, and made sure there was clean water for people to drink. To be exact, 189 million litres of water and 132,000 people (World Vision Canada, 2011). Save the Children, another amazing organization, reached out to 870,000 Haitians and provided them with shelter, food, water, sanitation, and much more (Save the Children, January 7, 2011).

It is amazing what we can accomplish when disaster strikes; it is just sad that it takes such a horrendous disaster to make people reach out to others in such a large way. Haiti needed help long before the earthquake, but it took nearly 300,000 people dying to get us to notice. There is work that needs to be done in Haiti, that fact cannot be disputed. Yet people should not ignore what has already been done, because what has been done is amazing.

(Progress Report for Haiti Earthquake - Feb. 19, 2010, youtube)

Sweden



The Swedish Flag
(The World Factbook, May 17, 2011)



Sweden is a country that I have always wanted to visit, don't ask me why because I won't be able to give a very good answer. I knew very little about Sweden before I started doing research for this blog post. I really only wanted to go because my family has roots in Sweden and I've always felt a certain connection. This is going to be my last post on a developed nation, so I thought it might as well be about one that I've always wanted to travel to.

What has always impressed me about Sweden is the fact that they were able to remain neutral throughout both world wars. I think that is something that has really helped them earn respect. You always hear about countries sending in troops or supplying weapons, and it just feels like they're helping to fuel the war; but Sweden has been able to distance themselves from that which I think was a well informed decision on their part.

The Prime Minister of Sweden
(Government Offices of Sweden, 2011)

The most recent election in Sweden was just last year, on September 19, 2010. This secured Frederik Reinfeldt a spot as Prime Minister. Like many of the countries I've been researching Sweden has a constitutional monarchy; thus there is a king (Carl XVI Gustaf) but the Prime Minister holds most of the power. What I was a little confused by was how the political parties in Sweden are run. From what I was able to gather in the recent elections the Alliance for Sweden won, which is a coalition party (meaning it is made up of different parties). In this case the coalition consists of the Moderate Party, the Liberal Party, the Christian Democrats, and the Center Party. If I had one entire post to go over what each party stands for I would definitely go into more depth, but in the interest of saving time and your interest I'm going to switch focus for a bit. I encourage you to go to this website, it's where I got my information on the elections and their government (U.S. Department of State, November 8, 2010).

When I was looking at education statistics for Sweden everything was in the high 80's or 90's, which is such a difference from some of the other countries I've looked at. Especially when it came down to Internet users. Out of 100 students 88 used the Internet (UNICEF, March 2, 2010). That is such a difference from Lesotho, the country I was speaking about the other day. I believe there statistics for Internet usage out of 100 was four. What a difference!

I was able to find out quite a bit about Sweden's education system, which was great. School is mandatory in Sweden from the ages of 7-16, but many people decide to enroll their children in pre school, thus many people are spending ten years in school. I was really impressed with the fact that schools strive to enhance students understanding and appreciation of democracy; and hope to instill the belief in children that all are equal and deserve equal education rights (Sweden.se, October 2009). There are also schools in Sweden that are meant for students with special needs, some might say that these students shouldn't be segregated from other children in regular schools. However I think it's okay for them to do this because from personal experience I know that many children with special needs (not all, I  don't have a right to say that) feel more comfortable when they are in a group with the same abilities as them. Oh, what I forgot to say before is that school is free during the compulsory years, yet pre school and secondary education is not free; they are partly funded by the government though.

Something else that I liked about the education system in Sweden was not so much how it is set up (although I do like it) but the fact that lunch is free (Sweden.se, October 2009). It has been proven again and again that people need food to keep their energy levels up and their brain running smoothly and very often I see people going without lunch who cannot afford to buy food from the cafeteria, or do not have enough food at home to bring for lunch. In this way I think it's wonderful that they provide free lunch for students. Obviously less developed countries can't afford to do this, but developed countries certainly can! I think that if lunch was free there would be a lot more students eating at school, and maybe we would even see average grades go up!

In 2008 Sweden was ranked fourth in the world for the best treatment of women; they used to be first. Nonetheless number four is very impressive and deserves a pat on the back. But what is it that makes Sweden such a gender equal country? And what do they still have to improve on?

Well to begin, women and men in Sweden are both allowed to take a number of paid days off from work when they adopt or have a child biologically. To be exact, they are allowed to take off 480 days between the two of them, however men usually take less and women take the majority of days off (Sweden.se, July 2009) This makes sense though seeing as if the baby was born biologically the mother is usually needed for nursing.

Women in Sweden are also protected from abuse under the law, which is something that many less developed countries do not do. Even if they do the law is often not implemented against men. Luckily in Sweden is one of the countries that takes abuse against women seriously. Now, Sweden does strive to give equal opportunities to men and women in the workplace, however women still earn 15% less than men on average (BBC News, October 16, 2010). Before we jump to conclusions though, it is important to remember that this is an averaged out number, and we are not looking at the jobs in which these women are employed. It was not clear to me whether or not women were earning 15% less than men for the same job, or 15% less than men on average for every job in the country. If the latter is the case then it could simply be a matter of more men working full time, or women working later in life because of having children. If the former is the case then that is definitely an issue that needs to be worked through, because women deserve to be paid equally.

Overall I must say that I am impressed by Sweden, I wish I had gotten to spend a bit more time on their government because I would have liked to have better understood it. However there was so much information to cover and I wanted to get on to my other topics. I was very impressed by their education system, as well as the fact that they are leaders in gender equality. Also, as I said in the beginning of this post I have always loved that Sweden remains neutral during wars, I think most other countries could look to Sweden as a prime example of a successful country.

Lesotho

Map of Lesotho within South Africa
( BBC News, April 19, 2011)

I decided to do a post today on Lesotho in south Africa. I had never really heard much about Lesotho until recently, when a charity run by a doctor in my community became very prominent. The charity aims to wipe out HIV/AIDS in Lesotho through fundraising and medical work. Lesotho currently has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the world, and in 2004 the Prime Minister was tested publicly for it to encourage people to get tested. While the Aids pandemic in Lesotho is a huge issue, there are also other issues that the country must face. Some being poverty and scarce resources. One issue that Lesotho has recently begun to overcome is a turbulent government. The royal family, army factions, and different parties in Lesotho have vied for power of the region for years. It was not until 2002 that peaceful elections were held; the current Prime Minister of Lesotho is Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisili. He is the leader of Lesotho Congress for Democracy. The LCD party promised (through campaigns) to expand free education in the country, and increase pensions (BBC News, April 19, 2011). While improvements have been made in the government system, seeing as people are allowed to vote for their leader (as they should be able to) there is still some violence surrounding the Prime Minister. In 2009 gunmen attempted to assassinate him by firing on his home, however this failed and he was unharmed. Also, when he was first elected in 1998 there were violent protests that followed and military mutinies. This ended when South African and Botswana forces intervened (The World Factbook, May 17, 2011). There is also a King of Lesotho, who is King Letsie III, however he does not hold any legislative or executive power (BBC News, April 19, 2011). You can compare their government to ours in a way, as Queen Elizabeth is a symbolic ruler of the country, yet we have a Prime Minster who holds much more power.

I agree
(Lesotho Education Fund, 2008)

It had a bit of difficulty finding relevant articles on the education system in Lesotho. But I did come across some statistics from UNICEF that completely blew me away, in a good way. The literacy rate for male youth age 15-24 is 86 percent. For a country that is struggling so much with poverty and the Aids epidemic I find that number amazing. However what I find even more amazing is that the female literacy rate for ages 15-24 is 98 percent. Hallelujah! I can't begin to explain how happy that makes me. After doing so much research on these less developed countries that do not educate the girls and women in their country properly it is wonderful to see these statistics. I encourage everyone reading this to go take a look at the statistics for education, as many of them are extremely impressive (UNICEF, March 2, 2010). I was also very impressed by an article I found at BBC that followed a teacher in Lesotho. She stated that she would teach the children in her class about HIV and Aids. In 2000 they started to use pamphlets in class to help teach the children. This particular teacher also had speakers come into her class to speak to the children about their experience with HIV/Aids. The teacher also stated that, "They (the children) go home and tell their mothers who don't know about this sickness and this sickness is a killer" (BBC News, May 5, 2009). I think it's great that the teacher realized that teaching her students about the disease would help to educate their parents and friends as well.

To be honest, when I watched this BBC video (BBC News, March 8, 2011). I almost started to cry because I was so happy. I know that sounds incredibly sappy, but I am honestly so tired of reading about how women are treated terribly around the world that it was such a relief to see that one less developed nation is making so much progress towards gender equality. Lesotho is ranked at number eight in the world for gender equality by the World Economic Forum. It comes before both Canada and the U.S. which are not even in the top ten. Women make up a huge portion of the work force in Lesotho, as many men had to leave to work in South African mines. They are returning now to a female focused world. Even politics is now being more influenced by women, as one in five government ministers is female. Lesotho can still improve in some ways, but every country can, so this is nothing new. Lash Mokhathi coaches a girls football (soccer) team and says that she wants to see more women in construction work, and a political party led by a woman. She says when this happens then she will believe that Lesotho has reached true gender equality (BBC News, March 8, 2011).

I applaud Lesotho for reaching such an amazing state of gender equality; they clearly have issues that they need to work through as well, but they have managed to bridge their gender gap (somewhat) and see that more girls than boys are literate.Of all the less developed countries I have researched I have never been more impressed by one than Lesotho. I truly believe that at the rate they are going they could see themselves become a developed country. I know that is a bold statement, but just look at them currently. In a continent that is notorious for poverty, poor education, violence, and large gender gaps, Lesotho just shines. It will be interesting to see how they develop over the coming years.

Above is a short video by UNICEF about  the Aids issue in Lesotho.
(UNICEF: Treating people living with HIV/AIDS in Lesotho, youtube, June 5, 2008)

The United States

Today I'm going to be doing a blog post on our neighbors to the south; the United States of America. A boy in my class once said that Canada is America's b____h. Of course he is a very opinionated young man and while some people may agree with him I certainly do not. While America is a grand old country it certainly doesn't trump Canada (and yes I'm extremely biased because I am Canadian), but I'm not here to prove how amazing Canada is, nor am I here to insult America. They do have Target after all, and that is simply wonderful. I'm only here to do what I usually do, look at their government, education system, and gender equality. I'm not going to get into the troops in Afghanistan, because although it is a very interesting topic it is also one that someone could devote an entire blog to. I'm sure you're ready to get on with it now, so here we go! I have to say, it seems that whenever I talk about a developed country my tone is dramatically different from when I talk about a less developed country. I suppose it's because there is less doom and gloom to talk about.

President Obama
(the White House, 2011)

Now, I'm sure many of us know that the Americans are allowed to vote for the leader of their country. In the last election Barack Obama won, which was a major victory for many Americans, and a great defeat for many as well. Before Obama George W. Bush was in office for two terms, much to the disdain of Americans, and the world. I like to say that Stephen Harper is the Canadian George Bush, but that's for another time. I actually don't know enough about Bush to really criticize him, and since he is no longer President I have no need to. Instead I'll focus on Obama. A question I find myself asking again and again is, "What has Obama actually done?" I think that  many people invested so much belief in him and truly hoped he would be one of the best President's America has ever seen, but to be honest, I think he has fallen short of many peoples expectations. However something that he recently did that has changed the world, and made many people believe in him again (if they ever stopped) was helping to find Osama Bin Laden. A great victory yes, but enough to call him a great President? Maybe not. While looking for articles that would point me to what he has done I came across many websites devoted entirely to looking at what he has NOT accomplished. It was actually difficult to find a website that outlined what he has done, a reliable website at least. I did find a few that listed what he has accomplished and I have to say that the list is quite impressive, I encourage those of you reading this to go take a look at it. Something that I found impressive is that through the Recovery Act he was able to save 300,000 education jobs that would have otherwise been lost during the recession (The Best Article Everyday, 2011). As anyone reading this blog will know, I really support a good education and  I applaud Obama for this. In my opinion, one of the greatest things Obama has accomplished is the health care reform. Now, he didn't do that by himself, the U.S. House of Representatives had to pass it, but as Obama was President at the time it passed he is obviously going to get a lot of credit. He did support it however, and it was his signature that was needed for it to fully pass. This health care bill will provide coverage for 30 million uninsured Americans (amazing) and it will also end the discrimination by insurance companies against people who have existing medical conditions (CBC News, March 22, 2010). I know there are naysayers out there who don't support this health care bill, just read the comments on the article and you'll find them. I think they are most bothered by the fact that taxes will increase, but in my opinion, I would be happy to have my taxes increase if it meant that 30 million people would get health care insurance. All I can say right now though, is that I'm happy I live in Canada.

I believe that part of the reason people (including me) are asking "what has Obama done?" is because it is not heavily publicized. It even took me awhile to find a legitimate article on the historic health care bill.

Obama signs the health care bill

(Obama Signs Historic Health Reform into Law, youtube, March 23, 2010)

What I've been hearing about the American education system as of late is that it is heading downhill, and I can understand that, but I also think that when people say that they are only looking at a small part of the American education system. American is a very populated country with many poor regions; since schools in these poorer regions generally receive less funding the quality of education is not generally as good. There are exceptions of course! Also, there are things being done right in the education system. For example, only a hundred years ago there were eight and half percent of seventeen year olds who had a high school degree, and a shocking two percent of twenty three year olds had a college degree. Two percent! That's nothing. However now there are about 50 million Americans (1/6 of the population) enrolled in public school. There are also 20 million more who are enrolled in higher education, or are faculty at a centre of higher learning (The New Yorker, September 27, 2010). These numbers are impressive but we also have to look at the fact that more people are in school because the population is growing, non the less for an education system that some have said is failing, I think it's doing alright. There are definitely some improvements that could be made, and I'm sure that with the recession it has been harder for public schools (which many families rely on) to receive funding.

Gender Statistics
(USA Today, September 26, 2008)

While the United States is much more advanced in gender equality than other countries they also have some work to do. I feel that we can relate their viewpoint on gender equality to Canada's, we both support it, but inequality still exists. Stereotypes still exist in peoples minds about the types of jobs that women and men should hold, as women in the U.S. are still preferred for jobs such as elementary school teacher and banker. Men on the other hand are favoured in jobs such as surgeon, or airline pilot (USA Today, September 26, 2008). I believe that these stereotypes are always going to be around, however it is important to overlook them when hiring people. For example, lets say both a man and woman are applying for a job as a surgeon. The woman has far more credentials and is much more experienced and educated than the man, but since the person hiring them has the stereotype in their mind that women should not be performing a job like this they hire the man. It just doesn't seem fair does it? I do think that the gender gap is getting narrower in the U.S. though, and so does Times magazine. Based on research done by Harvard and the University of California-Berkley the U.S. ranks number #27 out of 130 countries in gender equality (Time, November 12, 2008). The U.S. was actually ranked better than Canada, which went from #18 in 2007 to #31. Way to go Canada, what with that and re-electing Harper I have to say I'm so proud to be Canadian (please note the sarcasm). So while I do think the U.S. can certainly improve its gender gap I also think that they are doing pretty well. Women make up a large portion of the work force and are protected under the law, which is quite different from some of the less developed countries I've been studying.

Overall, for a country that people make fun of all the time I believe the U.S. is doing pretty well. Yes they can make some improvements in their education system, but once they are fully recovered from the recession they will probably see a lot of improvements being made. They should also work to keep narrowing their gender gap to reach their full potential. If I lived in the U.S. I would have much more to say about this I'm sure, but since I only have the Internet as my guide I hope you have found this informative!

Ethiopia



The Ethiopian Flag
(SIGI, 2011)



I was originally going to do a post today on Burma, but decided I was much more compelled to do a post on Ethiopia. I figured that because I've studied Burma briefly in school and I thought I should learn more about a country I know absolutely nothing about.

Ethiopia is actually regarded as one of Africa's most politically stable countries (BBC, January 22, 2011) but that does not mean that they have not had their share of unstable governments, coups, and wars. It was not until 1994 that Ethiopia got its first Constitution, and in 1995 the first multi party elections were held (The World Factbook, April 25, 2011). In December 2000 a peace treaty ended a border war with Eritrea that began in the late 1990's. However, there are ongoing conflicts over the border that could disrupt the peace that was forged (BBC, January 22, 2011).

Meles Zenawi
(BBC, January 22, 2011)

While Ethiopia may have multi party elections that by no means signifies that they are peaceful. In May 2005 the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front led by Meles Zenawi won the elections and this set off a wave of violence. People who supported the opposition went to the street in protest and as a result 36 people were killed and hundreds of people were arrested. In November of that year 46 people died in further violence (BBC, January 22, 2011). It saddens me to much that people can do that to each other, that they kill each other over an election. We just had an election here in Canada and while I disagree with the views of people who voted Conservative I would never harm them. Even though Zenawi's win in 2005 sparked violence it did not stop him from running and winning again in 2010 (BBC, January 22, 2011). 

According to BBC Ethiopia is one of Africa's poorest states. Their biggest export is coffee, and their economy is mostly based on agriculture, which depends on rainfall to be successful. About two thirds of Ethiopians are illiterate, which is just shocking (BBC, January 22, 2011). Imagine how difficult life would be if you were unable to read and write. I feel that being taught basic reading and writing skills should be a basic right, people need to read to be informed and educated. I was completely astounded and impressed by what I read on UNICEF's website. In 2004 a group of Ethiopian children got together and put out a survey to find out who wasn't attending school and why they weren't. Members of this group, which is called the Ethiopian Youth Forum interviewed 550 children. They did this in support of a movement across the country for free primary education. What they found from their survey was that 69 percent of the children interviewed did not attend school because their parents could not afford to send them to school. 29 percent stated that their parents could not afford school supplies. Some of the other reasons given were that they had to stay home to do housework, carry water, having to walk too far, and having no one to take them to school. Because of these reasons 7.8 million Ethiopian children do not attend school, 4 million of them being girls. I can't believe that so many Ethiopian children are going without education. I have a firm belief that if people are not educated it will be very difficult for a country to progress. It was nice to see that the Ethiopian government has made it a goal to give each child free primary education by 2015 (UNICEF, June 15, 2006). Lets hope that they reach this goal.

I am always very disturbed when I find out how women in third world countries are being treated. I have yet to find a third world country in which women are treated equally to men and are not subject to abuse because they are seen as "lesser" beings. Unfortunately, Ethiopia is no different. In 1999 the World Bank estimated that 88 percent of rural women and 69 percent of urban women believe that their husbands have the right to beat them (SIGI, 2011). WHAT!? That just makes me so angry, women need to have a better view on themselves before they can expect to be treated equally. Now I know that they probably think this because of the society they live in, but it makes me angry non the less. The family code in Ethiopia is not favourable towards women either, and although the minimum age for marriage is 18 younger girls get married frequently. In fact, the UN estimated that 30 percent of girls between the ages of 15 and 19 were either married, divorced, or widowed. Ethiopia also has a high rate of maternal mortality, and this is in direct relation to the fact that young girls are giving birth (SIGI, 2011). I've said this before and I'll say it again, women need equal rights before a country can progress.

To conclude, I wasn't really surprised by what I found when researching Ethiopia, except when reading about the brave group of children who launched that education survey. I still can't believe that. I wish children and teenagers in Canada were that committed to education.

Scotland

(British Life and Culture, 2010)

Today the developed country I'll be talking about (I guess writing is a better term) is Scotland. I've always wanted to go to Scotland and actually did a pretty large presentation on it last year. However last years project focused more on the culture and tourism aspects, so it will be interesting to learn more about the political side of things. Scotland is part of the United Kingdom which is made up of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The map here shows where Scotland is located in the UK. I got a bit confused when I was researching Scotland's government, but I think I've got it all figured out now. It seems that the UK is under a constitutional monarchy (read my past posts if you need to know what that is, or follow this link), but Scotland was devolved in 1999, which means that the UK transferred some power to the Scottish government so that the Scottish government could deal with everyday issues. It is my understanding that the Scottish government is democratic, as on the governments website it says, "The Scottish Government was known as the Scottish Executive when it was established in 1999 following the first elections to the Scottish Parliament" (The Scottish Government, Feb 24, 2011). What I found really interesting was that Scotland just had an election, as we here in Canada did (I hope their election was more successful than ours) and that the new government has intentions to bring a referendum to the table (BBC, May 9, 2011). I actually had no idea that Scotland wanted independence, which just shows how wrapped up we our in the goings on in our own country. Clearly this can be related to Quebec's wish to separate from Canada (another issue for another day), although it would seem that people in Scotland are more keen to separate, as the newly elected Scottish National Party was elected with a majority vote (International Business Times, May 9, 2011). The three other parties, which are the Conservatives, Labours, and Lib Dem's are all opposed to independence (BBC, May 9, 2011). There are many questions that are being raised concerning Scotland's wish to separate, such as, "Who would defend Mr Salmond's new nation?" and, "Would Scotland also keep the pound or join the euro?" (International Business Times, May 9, 2011). Personally I don't know enough about this issue to give a true opinion, but as someone who doesn't think that Quebec should separate from Canada I have a feeling I would be leaning towards Scotland not separating. Now that I know about this though I'll make sure to keep reading about it in the future. If Scotland does become independent it will be interesting to see if this will act as motivation for Quebec. For those of you who are interested to find out more about Scotland's possible split I would  watch this video it's pretty informative.

A Scottish Government Building (The Scottish Government, mitrefinch, 2011)

Now I'll move on to the education system like I usually do, I hope this same routine isn't getting too boring! I might switch it up a little bit in my next post, or maybe I'll do a post on the recent Canadian election. I have lots to say about that, let me tell you. I better not get started on that though or you'll be reading this all day! Okay, now to get back on track. Over 90% of students in the UK are attending publicly funded school, and about 830,000 children in Scotland go to 5,000 schools. These include pre schools and special education schools. Scotland has its own curriculum that is separate from the rest of the UK, but children in Scotland must attend seven years of primary school and four years of secondary school. That's pretty similar to Canada's school system, although Scotland obviously has different curriculum and examinations. In the UK one third of students go on to higher education and 50 percent of these students are from Scotland! Go Scotland! (British Council, 2011). However, while Scotland does have a pretty good education system, they are having some trouble going beyond the UK's average. They are lagging behind in most subjects except in Science, where they are above average. I think this is an easy issue to rectify though, and when you compare it to the education situation in places such as Niger there really isn't much of a worry (BBC, Dec 7, 2010).

I was really impressed by what I found about gender equality on the Scottish Government's website. They seem very committed to creating a safe and equal environment for both men and women. I really like the fact that they don't only stress the fact that women need equal rights, they stress that women and men should just be equal. As they put it, "...There are areas where men also experience disadvantage, for example - by workplace cultures that do not recognise or support their family or childcare responsibilities and so deny them the opportunity to take advantage of flexible working arrangements" (The Scottish Government, 2010). I actually really like that they stress the fact that men sometimes face problems in the workplace, just like women do. It really makes the government seem less biased and committed to the people in Scotland. The government also realizes of course that women face discrimination as well, and are working hard to fix that. I really suggest that you take a look at the website link above, it gives a great explanation on what the government is trying to do.

I have to say that I'm really impressed by Scotland, of course that could be because my last post was on Niger. But in all honesty I think Scotland sounds like a wonderful country. It is difficult to say for sure because my research is limited, this is only one blog post, and I've never been to Scotland, but from what I have read it seems like a lovely place. As I said before it will be really interesting to see if Scotland does separate from the UK, and if so how it will affect both countries. If they do end up separating it could give us in Canada an idea of what it may be like to have Quebec separate.



Scotland's Landscape (Travel Globe Pictures, April 28, 2011)



Well, I do hope you found this post interesting, I'll be back soon with some information on Myanmar. Oh, and I know I didn't talk about Scotland's landscape and castles, but I wanted to leave you with some beautiful pictures showing them. It's just astoundingly beautiful there, I really hope to visit some day.

I feel like Scotland deserves a whole other post just focusing on it's castles. They are just fascinating.
( Flickr, Aug 11, 2006)



Niger

(The World Factbook, April 25 2011)
The location of Niger within Africa

Hello again! I've decided to take a look at Niger today, another country that I really don't know much about. I'm realizing that's a trend with me, I never seem to know anything about the countries I examine. I think that's a good thing though, this way I learn more instead of simply reiterating information about countries I already know lots on. So yes, as I said my topic today will be Niger.

Niger is a land locked country in Africa, surrounding it is Algeria, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Nigeria (Google Maps, 2011). I'm going to quickly run through some background information on the Niger government, and then take a look at the newly elected President and Prime Minister, along with my regular information on education and gender equality. Buckle up, I feel like this will be another long post.

A small village in Niger
(AmericanDiplomacy.org, Aug 8 2005)

In 1960 Niger became independent from France (1960! That's not very long ago) and until 1991 citizens of Niger experienced single party and military rule. In other words, an unfair government. From 1991 to 2010 there were a series of military coups which led to a suspension of the constitution and the cabinet being dissolved. Clearly there has not been a stable government for quite a while (The World Factbook, April 25 2011). Just recently Niger elected a new President and Prime Minister, Mahamadou Issoufou and Brigi Rafini. The Prime Minister was appointed by the President and will share some executive responsibilities with him (News24, April 21 2011). I was happy to see the word "elected" when I was doing my research, as this means that the citizens of Niger were able to vote for their leader(s) instead of simply being appointed one. After more research I found that when a President is elected he or she is elected for a five year term, and is then eligible for a second term (The World Factbook, April 25 2011). I was also thrilled to see that there are six women in the new Presidents government. I wasn't actually expecting to see any women in the government. I know I shouldn't make assumptions like that, however, in many of the underdeveloped nations I've been introduced to through school and this blog it is not common to see women in government positions. Non the less it's wonderful! I hope that this government will be stable, as Niger needs to get back on its feet after so much instability.

A problem I can foresee for the new President and Prime Minister is the fact that Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world, and they do not have much money to fund their government (The World Factbook, April 25 2011).

There is a lot more that I need to learn about their government, but in the interest of getting all three topics covered I'll be moving on to their education system now. Instead of simply telling you how Niger's education system is structured like I usually do, I'm going to focus on the improvements Niger has been able to make in the past few years. In 1999 84% of the adults in Niger were illiterate, and 64% lived in poverty. However thanks to the government and donors through the World Bank Group Niger's education system has greatly improved. In 2001the enrollment rates in school was a mere 37 percent, but in 2002 it rose to 42 percent. Another amazing figure is that the number of girls going to school rose from three percent to 33 percent. I think that is really, for lack of a better word, awesome (The World Bank Group, 2011). Niger still has a long way to go though, for the Sub-Saharan average for school enrollment is 78 percent, while Niger's is only 42 percent (The World Bank Group, 2011).  Still, in these situations, when a country is so poor and lacking in resources it's really important to focus on the good instead of the bad.

While I was doing my research on gender equality in Niger I came across some really disturbing information, sadly though, it didn't really surprise me. I have yet to come across an underdeveloped nation that treats women with a high degree of respect and equality. Hopefully I find one soon enough! What I found is that marriage is certainly not in the woman's best interest. The Civil Code sets the minimum marriage age at 15, which I understand, because families need more children to produce more hands for labour. Thus marrying at a young age will give the family a chance to have more children. But I also find it completely unfair for such young girls to be getting married. Just think, here in Canada girls that age are arguing over who they like better, Edward or Jacob. Yet in Niger they're getting married? That's not right. Many women in Niger are often in a polygamous marriage, as Islam allows polygamy and 80 percent of the people in Niger practice Islam. Women are also not well protected under the law, and violence against women is unfortunately very common. Women who are abused can report this to an official court, but they usually don't for fear of being stigmatised or being abused further by their husbands. Furthermore, women often aren't aware that they can report abuse. Female slavery is also common in Niger, which is just so sad, something really needs to be done. I'm hoping that with six women the government they will be able to enforce the laws that concern violence against women to a higher degree (Social Institutions and Gender Index, 2011).

I would really suggest that those of you reading this take the time to read more about Niger, as there is really a lot of information that I wasn't able to cover in this short post. By now I can see a trend within underdeveloped nations, the government had some instability (or a lot of instability), the education system really needs some work and many people are illiterate. However it seems that the enrollment rate is rising in some countries, like Niger. Also, there is not a high degree of gender equality, which is something that really bothers me. I think once I finish this project I'll look into some organizations that support gender equality. Then again, why wait? I should start looking into these organizations right away; the women and girls in these countries need a voice, and it is my sincerest wish that they soon get one.

Luxembourg

(The World Factbook, 2011)

Today I thought I would take a look at a country that I know very little about, but have heard multiple times that it is a highly developed country. One of my friends is actually hoping to move there in a few years, as he says, "it's awesome" and it really does look lovely. I'm talking about Luxembourg for those of you who weren't able to tell from the title. While looking up information on Luxembourg's government, schooling, etc. I came across some interesting facts from the national geographic website (National Geographic). Luxembourg is a land locked country in Western Europe, its population is 78, and the literacy percent is 100 (woo! It's nice to see such a great number after last weeks rather depressing post on Sierra Leone). There are roughly 457,000 people living in Luxembourg, so when you think about it there really aren't that many people. Which would make sense seeing as it is only 988 square miles, now compare that to Canada's 3.8 million square miles; pretty big difference if I do say so myself (Encyclopedia of the Nations, Canada).

Okay, now I'll get into the nitty gritty government information. Luxembourg has a constitutional monarchy, (U.S. Department of State, Sep 24 2010) which means that a monarch acts as the head of state, but must act within the paremeters of a written constitutions. In a constituional monarchy there is also a prime minister, who is the head of government and holds political power. A constitutional monarchy differs from an absolute monarchy, as an absolute monarch is not bound by a constitution and holds all political power. Through my research I came to the conclusion that the citizens of Luxembourg do not currently have any large problems with their government; I'm sure there are some people who are not satisfied with the prime minster, but that is to be expected. We don't all love Stephen Harper over here (thank God) but we are still able to be a productive and advanced country. I feel as though this is the case for Luxembourg, at least as far as I can tell. I believe that countries that are allowed to elect a president or prime minister are generally better off and more developed, as the people in these countries are more content with their government and are less likely to rebel against it.

The education system in Luxembourg is seemingly very well run and accesible to everyone, at least up until post secondary education, then, like Canada, it becomes expensive. In Luxembourg education is mandatory for eleven years, in which there are two years of pre primary education, six years of primary education, and three years of secondary education. I really like the fact that education is compulsory for eleven years, and that transportation to school is free (State University.com, 2011). This definitely enables children who lack transportation a fair chance to attend school. As I said at the beginnning of this post, Luxembourgs literacy rate is 100 percent, which is wonderful! This certainly contributes to the fact that Luxembourg is a well developed country, as the people are well educated and able to advance to higher education, thus granting them well paying jobs and jobs that contribute to the government, healthcare system, etc.

A beautiful view of Luxembourg (wine pages, 2008)

Now lets move on to gender equality in Luxembourg. Now, I wasn't able to find a great deal on women's rights/gender equality and I think that's because Luxembourg really supports gender equality. Something that I think is wonderful is the fact that women are treated equally to men under the law, and men are severely punished if they abuse a woman. I believe this is a major difference to many of the less developed countries, as many times women are not protected under the law in terms of abuse, and if they are the laws are not well enforced. Something that did bother me however was the fact that women are supposed to be given equal pay to men, but it was found that they are receiving 14 to 16 percent less than men for the same amount of work (U.S. Department of State, Feb 25 2009). This should not be happening, especially in a developed country.    Hopefully over time this difference will decrease until there is no pay difference at all.

To conclude I have to say that although Luxembourg is in a completely different region of the world than canada, it seems quite similar, what with the education system and government. I am going to make the assumption that gender equality in Luxembourg is also very similar to Canada's. Yet I will definitely be reading more about it and will hopefully be able to update you all on my findings. I just really wanted to get this posted because I've been working on it for a few days and it's getting quite long! Have a good day everyone, and talk to you soon!

Oh, and before I sign off, here is a short video on tourist attractions in Luxembourg. It looks so beautiful, and you can really see how well developed it is by watching this.

(youtube, Travel Guide: Luxembourg- Top Attractions, May 11 2010)