WEBVTT
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From your favorite international organization.
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What do you say, Dad?
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It's the Borgen Project Podcast.
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This is your place.
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Learn more.
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Be more.
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Global issues simplified.
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Here we go.
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Hi everyone and welcome to the Borgen Project podcast. I'm
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Lindsay Alexander, Chief of Style here at the Borgen Project
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and I'm joined by Clint Borgen, President of the Borgen Project.
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Hi Clint, how are you?
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I'm good.
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We have a missing gecko in our house right now,
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the kids had a pet gecko and somehow it escaped
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out of the, I'm thinking out of the top part
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because it's like a wire mesh on top. It's in
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this like aquarium type thing, right? So, or terrarium, it's
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got house plants in the thing, but Yeah, it came
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down yesterday and can't find it anywhere. So don't go anywhere.
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How large is said animal?
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It would be a little smaller than your average human hand,
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I guess.
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Okay.
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Yeah, they're called crested geckos. Interesting fun fact for our listeners,
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by the way. These crested geckos are the most common
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gecko you see in pet stores these days. But like
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20 years ago, people thought they were extinct. Like they couldn't,
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they just, they were, I think they're actually listed as extinct.
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There's nowhere to be found. Then they found them like
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on some island and evidently they repopulate. Well, that's in captivity.
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So now they're like in all the pet stores and
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they're just like most generic pet store gecko at the moment.
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But ours is, yeah, it's somewhere in the house, I think.
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We hope.
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Do they tend to look for somewhere warm to go?
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Are you going to find it in like a warm
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cupboard somewhere?
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Yeah. And they, they can do kind of house temperature. So,
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but they probably are. Yeah. He's probably somewhere either in
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the house plants. I'm thinking, I mean, we looked around,
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but we haven't done like the full dive, but yeah, it,
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I just hope I don't wake up with it on
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my face one night. Yeah, absolutely. That's the other thing,
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they're only active at night.
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Yeah, hopefully said animal is located. Yeah, we've got quite
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a mix today of stories. We're introducing a new segment
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highlighting people doing extraordinary things, looking at some troubling developments
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in international politics and discussing a new report on global poverty.
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But we're also going to look at some encouraging developments,
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including countries making remarkable progress against poverty and diseases that
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are being eliminated.
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Yeah, so a little bit of everything. Before we dive
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into the international stuff, I am curious, Lindsay, it's like
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in the US there's been a lot of death penalty
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talk lately. We had the one lady who was given
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the drugs to you know, death penalty killer. And then
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she survived. And then we recently had the secretary of defense, AKA,
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I guess now it's called war secretary of war. Pete
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Hegseth called for a live streaming, the execution of a
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terrorist who had attacked, um, soldiers. This guy himself was
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a military psychiatrist and he shot up, um, uh, some
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soldiers at the base he was stationed at. So definitely
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a bad dude that was getting, you know, that, that,
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Sound guilty, yada, yada, but the idea of live streaming
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and bringing back ex-U.S. firing squads, I think the only
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countries that do live or do public death squads is,
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I believe it's Iran and Afghanistan, so I'm not sure
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we want to enter that category. But where I'm going
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with this, I know Europeans think we're crazy for having
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the death penalty in general, but yeah, what's your take
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on when you hear these stories coming out of the.
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U.S.? Interesting. Yeah, not a fan, I have to say.
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I mean, like you say, I mean, UK abolished death
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penalty a long, long time ago, most of Europe as well. Yeah,
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I mean, for me personally, it does seem something that's
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very hard to understand. I mean, I said this about
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the war in general as well and like the children too.
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You know, you can't really tell a child off for
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hitting another child and then go and slap your child.
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I mean, it's exactly the same. I'm telling you off
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for murdering someone, then what am I going to do?
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I'm going to murder you.
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It just doesn't seem to sit right. The other thing
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is there does seem to be an awful lot of
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people that are wrongly convicted as well. And what then happens,
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you know, it's one thing to spend 20 years sat
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in prison so knowing you haven't done something, which must
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be absolutely hideous. But, you know, to then be killed
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for that as well, there's no turning back from that.
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That's it.
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So, yeah, very, very strange to live stream something like
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this as well.
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Slightly inhumane, possibly, I'd say.
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Yeah. yeah and just the vibe you're potentially creating too
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in the country and like uh that you know i
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got small kids too and that they of course hear
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everything then you like you want to start having a
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conversation of yes we are shooting a guy yeah the
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other part of this the weird one of this too
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is my understanding is he is paraplegic now he is
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he's in a wheelchair so like you're going to fire
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squad a guy in a wheelchair that's like live stream
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that's like not great optics to begin with right so.
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Yeah i don't know and i mean it as as
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terrible as it is and as terrible as anybody's crime
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is i mean like say you're a parent i'm a
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parent if that's your own child being killed by a
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firing squad do you want that on national television and
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people celebrating it must be hard enough as it is
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for you as a person let alone something like that
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going on as well yeah that's it interesting um yeah
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interesting approach.
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It is yeah and i think with a death penalty
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in general i've sort of landed on um obviously a
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lot of people definitely deserve deserve it but that take
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a step back from that it's like well what's the
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point though it's not a deterrent it's like no one's
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going to be like stop in the middle whatever crime
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hurrying this crime they're doing and be like oh i
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shouldn't do this because i might get the death penalty
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or And then I think I need to double check,
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but I think it costs more dealing with the death
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penalty stuff because there's all these appeals. And I think
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ultimately it ends up costing the government more. But I
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think my big one, though, is just like, I think
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it'd be a worse punishment to spend the rest of
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my life in prison than to be killed personally. So
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I feel like it's kind of an easy out for
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these people to do horrific things, to not have to
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spend life behind bars and exit early, so to speak.
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But yeah.
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Yeah, so from not so positive things to people that
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we are impressed by. So we're introducing this new segment
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to the show, People We're Impressed By, and these people
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that have been braved, taking a stand and going through
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huge personal risks for the greater good.
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Yeah, that's right. I mean, we're really living a time
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period where it sometimes feels like those in power make
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one cowardly decision after another. Public leaders, CEOs, the media,
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and dare I even say, I've found myself deeply disappointed
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at the lack of bravery from some of those in
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the humanitarian and human rights organizations as well that I
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typically normally respect. It's just a lot of people kind
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of hiding out, trying to avoid rocking the boat and
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dealing with, and there's a good reason for this, right?
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But at the same time, there's definitely a definite lack
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of bravery. We were kind of saying left and right.
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But despite all that, there are people doing absolutely amazing things.
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And we are going to highlight some of those. Lindsay,
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who is our first person that we are impressed with
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right now?
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Yeah, actually two people. Yeah.
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We're impressed by Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Cesar.
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They're directors of a new documentary, NASA. The title comes
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from the Israeli military acronym for collateral damage. And the
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documentary features interviews with Israeli military and intelligence personnel discussing
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how targets were selected during the war in Gaza. The
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film raises serious allegations about the numbers of civilian casualties
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considered acceptable when targeting suspected Hamas fighters.
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Among the accounts featured is a claim that.
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A strike was authorised despite the possibility of killing hundreds
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of civilians to target a single Hamas member. Another issue
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explored is the practice of striking suspects in their home
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at night, which obviously increases the risk of potentially placing
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the whole family at risk as well.
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Yeah, and for the treasonous act of showing interviews of
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people who are serving in the Israeli military, talking about
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war crimes they're committing in the Israeli military, Yuval and
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Rachel have become public enemy number one in Israel. Government
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officials have called for stripping them of their citizenship. On
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the pro-Netanyahu Channel 14, a broadcaster encouraged viewers to hunt
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them down and give them no respite. The two are
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currently in hiding and unable to safely be in Israel
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at all. What's kind of, I think, really worth highlighting, too,
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is the fact that they had already won the Oscar
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two years ago for a film they did regarding the
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West Bank. no other land. And they knew very well
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the internet, the major backlash they had received from, from
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putting out a film like this. And they know the
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consequences when you do, you know, speak truth to power.
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And they did it again. They took a challenge on again.
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And the film is out right now and theaters all
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across the U S and Europe. The guardian, I believe
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is that is involved as well. And they are going
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to have it available for live. I think for free, actually,
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it'll be available pretty soon online as well. So, I've
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really kind of heard a lot of sorts of amazing
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stuff about it. And it really is just people who
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served in the intelligence apparatus, particularly of the Israeli government,
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speaking about stuff they were doing in Gaza. And that's
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kind of all it comes down to.
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So, yeah, very impressed by them. Absolutely.
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The Borgen Project is widely regarded as one of the
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most politically influential humanitarian organizations in the world. The Borgen
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Project's network of volunteers spans 47 states and over a
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dozen countries. The Borgen Project is an influential ally for
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the world's poor.
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So moving on to then, well, more on Israeli settlements, actually.
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In the United Kingdom, questions are being raised about political
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donations and links to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Now,
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according to reports by Declassified UK, the Conservative Party received
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approximately £ 1. 3 million in donations from JCB, the digger company,
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a company whose equipment has been linked to the demolition
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of Palestinian homes and villages. Conservative Party leader Kemi Belenok
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subsequently opposed new UK sanctions related to Israeli settlements. Following
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the sanctions announcement, she reportedly held discussions with Israeli Foreign
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Minister Gideon Cesar. JCB has faced longstanding allegations from the
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likes of Amnesty International relating to the use of.
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Machinery in the occupied Palestinian territories.
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In 2021, a UK government watchdog also found that the
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company had failed to conduct appropriate human rights due diligence,
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despite being aware.
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Of allegations concerning the use of its products.
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This is a good example of how money shapes the
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views of political parties. You've got leaders knowing darn well
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about the human rights violations that are going on, but
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voting against, you know, instead of voting to stop the
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human rights violations going on, they vote to keep it going.
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while behind the scenes, they're taking money from a company
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that has evolved in the crimes and meeting with the
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Israeli government minister to strategize tactics to make sure that
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this company is able to continue to provide stuff to
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carry out destruction of homes and stuff in Gaza or
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in West Bank. So, yeah, kind of, you know, we
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see a lot of this in the U.S. as well,
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and it's just not a good situation. And kind of
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the interesting part of all this is just the correlation between,
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you know, we all know Money plays a huge role
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in politics and that when it comes to this particular
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issue and this particular government, it just keeps coming up
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over and over again and why it's been so hard
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to see any kind of movement. This is definitely, it's
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part of the factors for sure.
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Okay, so moving on then from Israel and from Gaza,
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Something sort of very at the heart of our organ
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project work, there's a new report on global poverty. Now,
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for the first time since the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index
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was launched in 2010, the reported number of people living
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in multidimensional poverty has actually increased. According to the United
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Nations Development Programme and Oxford University's Poverty and Human Development Initiative,
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approximately 51.5 million more people are living in multidimensional poverty
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compared with the previous report. That brings the total to
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approximately 1.2 billion people across 108 countries included in the assessment.
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And more than half of those experiencing multidimensional poverty are children.
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There is an important distinction because the index doesn't simply
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measure how much money someone earns. It's kind of looking
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at a lot of those other factors. Index was established
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in 2010. It looks at the 10 indicators ranging from
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health to nutrition and underlying mortality. A couple of things
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I found interesting is 83% of those living in extreme poverty,
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multidimensional poverty, live in rural areas. And I guess we've
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definitely heard this through the years, but it is kind
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of telling what a factor that is, being out in
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these remote rural areas where there's just lack of access
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to a lot of stuff. So some countries, poverty was
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driven by population growth. So for example, if you have
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a population of 100 people, Five might have escaped poverty,
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poverty might have gone down, but you added 10 more
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people to your population that were born into poverty. You've
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overall increased the poverty rate, despite the fact that there
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has actually been a decrease as well. So just something
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to think about. But there's another important point about these figures.
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Sometimes the number of people living in poverty can increase
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when the percentage of the population experiencing poverty is falling.
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So that's kind of where the population part comes in
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as well.
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So headline numbers, Don't always actually tell the full story
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is effectively the bottom line with this.
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Yeah, and that's what we need to understand, both the
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proportion of people experiencing poverty and the actual number of
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people affected.
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Yeah, so there's something else in the report that I
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think is also sort of worth mentioning, because obviously there's
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a lot of depressing sort of headlines in there. But
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it was also found that 33 countries have managed to
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at least half their multidimensional poverty index in fewer than
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15 years. Six of those countries are in sub-Saharan Africa. Egypt,
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Nepal and Tajikistan, they have recorded significant reductions in both
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the percentage and the number of people experiencing multidimensional poverty
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in their latest surveys. Obviously, this then amounts to more
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children attending school, families gaining electricity, communities getting access to water,
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people receiving healthcare, the list goes on.
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Yeah, and those things definitely create opportunities that go well
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beyond the immediate benefit. Education can improve future earnings. Better
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health care means fewer days lost to illness. Electricity allows
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businesses to operate and children to study.
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Yeah, and one particularly interesting example in the report is Eswatini,
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where the proportion of people experiencing multidimensional poverty fell from
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nearly 39% to around 8%, which obviously is a remarkable change.
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It is, if you have that question.
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Yeah.
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So moving on with sort of more good news, speaking
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of further things that are working, there's been genuinely encouraging
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news from the Pan American Health Organization at the end
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of September. Five countries and territories in the Americas were
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recognized for successfully eliminating particularly communicable diseases or related conditions. Brazil, Chile,
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El Salvador, the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands
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were all recognized for achievements.
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Over the previous years.
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Yeah, that's definitely not the progress that usually makes headlines.
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So it's nice to see that kind of behind the
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typical from various storms to war and the typical stuff
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we see covered, there's a lot of progress going on.
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Yeah, there is.
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So Brazil was recognized for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
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Chile was recognized for eliminating leprosy. And we've spoke about
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this on a previous podcast. And that's been sort of
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a longstanding public health problem. and dog transmitted rabies as
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a public health problem. El Salvador has eliminated trachoma as
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a public health problem, while Bahamas and the Turks and
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Caicos Islands achieved milestones also related to mother-child transmission of
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HIV and hepatitis B2.
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And these aren't necessarily diseases that have disappeared from the
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world completely, but they're definitely seeing progress in some of
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these countries.
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Yeah, I mean, that's That's sort of the important distinction.
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Elimination has specific public health definitions depending on the disease.
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So it doesn't always necessarily mean that no one will
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contract it again, but it does mean major milestones for
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the countries that are involved.
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And that definitely shows the benefits of kind of the
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sustained investments in healthcare that can achieve those things.
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Yeah, so... Looking at healthcare sort of further, an international
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corporation in healthcare, there's been increasing developments involving US foreign assistance.
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The United States and Zambia have signed a new five-year
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health financing agreement worth approximately $ 2. 49 billion. The United States
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is expected to contribute around $ 1. 52 billion and Zambia committing
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approximately $ 975 million towards its own healthcare system.
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And that is important because international development partnerships aren't necessarily
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just about donor countries handing money over to governments. They
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can also involve countries making substantial commitments to strengthen their
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own health care systems.
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Yeah. And this particular agreement, I mean, it wasn't entirely straightforward.
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The negotiations raised concerns about patient data, biological samples. But
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those provisions were removed before the agreement was actually signed.
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So the agreement is now intended to support healthcare services,
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infrastructure and staffing.
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Yeah, and we'll see how this goes, but it's definitely
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something we're looking at. Yeah.
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And now for sort of this episode's fun fact. How
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do we make an entire country malaria-free?
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Presumably by getting rid of all the mosquitoes.
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Well, that would be one way, but countries don't have
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to eliminate every mosquito to eliminate malaria. To receive official
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malaria-free certification from the World Health Organization, a country has
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to demonstrate that locally transmitted malaria has been interrupted nationwide
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for at least three consecutive years. It also has to
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show that a system is in place to prevent malaria
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from becoming established again.
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And countries are actually managing to do that, which is great.
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Yeah, they are.
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So, Camo Verde, Egypt, they were certified malaria-free in 2024.
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And this is completely remarkable considering that malaria has affected
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humanity for thousands of years.
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And it is still one of the world's major infectious diseases.
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It's still a huge problem.
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Absolutely.
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So certification doesn't mean malaria can never return, but it's
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certainly a big step in the right direction.
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And that is a good reminder that investments in public
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health really do pay off. Right.
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And so to round off today, you've got elections coming
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up over there in the.
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US soon, Clint.
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It's getting close. Yeah, I think we're two weeks, two
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weeks out. And this, you know, the border project doesn't
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get involved in elections. We don't endorse candidates, but we
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don't give money to candidates either. But we, you know,
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obviously those who win and lose. greatly impact what we're
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able to accomplish in Congress as well. So, yeah, very
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much encourage people to go out and vote, get politically
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engaged and active and know about your people you're voting
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for in Congress in particular and whether or not they're
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the right choice to help address some of these issues
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we talk about on the show.
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Absolutely. And if that sort of motivated you to take
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some action and to get involved as.
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Well, what can people at home be doing?
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Yeah, I mean, the big one is we need people donating, volunteering,
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and then mobilizing as always. Advocacy really is strength in numbers.
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So the more people you're reaching out to and getting
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them to contact their congressional leaders, email their congressional leaders
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via our website or directly through the leaders' websites. It
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really does make a difference. They keep a tally of
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all that information and know how many people are contacting
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them on different issues. And even, I mean, we've seen
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this with Gaza. Like that was an issue when we
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first started working on. It was like brutal. Like the
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leaders and everyone were very, you go in the meetings,
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we just felt like everyone was against us. And like,
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how dare you say Israel's doing anything wrong in Gaza?
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That was just like the vibe, right? And within about
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a year and a half, that shifted. And now it's like,
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drastically different it's got a ways to go still i'm
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not where we're going to be but but the joint
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point of it public the big picture on all this
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those public opinion matters and even on a topic like
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that that seemed really impossible to move the dial on
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and get things changed but when the public's aware of
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stuff and they're bothered by stuff and they're putting pressure
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on their leaders to do stuff about it that's where
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advocacy it works and we see over and over again
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a lot of different issues and definitely people involved so okay.
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So get on out there get advocating And with that,
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we'll close up for today.
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So thanks, everyone, for listening.
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Have a great day.
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If you're tired of helplessly observing innocent people getting their
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00:21:56.599 --> 00:22:00.019
teeth kicked in by war, famine and poverty, then hear
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00:22:00.059 --> 00:22:04.230
the call. You were put on this world. to improve
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00:22:04.410 --> 00:22:08.299
this world. For over 20 years, the Borgen Project has
413
00:22:08.339 --> 00:22:13.799
been turning everyday people into remarkable superheroes. Our volunteer corps
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00:22:13.859 --> 00:22:17.319
are second to none and can work remotely from anywhere
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00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:20.200
in the world. Now, before you convince yourself you ain't
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00:22:20.220 --> 00:22:23.269
got time, wander over to that section of your smartphone
417
00:22:23.289 --> 00:22:25.589
that tells you how many hours you spend staring at
418
00:22:25.650 --> 00:22:28.900
that little screen each week. Well, how about that? You've
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00:22:28.940 --> 00:22:31.740
got plenty of time to be your best self and
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00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:35.099
serve as an ambassador for the world's poor. Still ain't
421
00:22:35.140 --> 00:22:39.380
got the grit to commit? How about heading over to borgenproject.org
422
00:22:39.420 --> 00:22:42.700
to make a donation instead? That'll take you less than
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00:22:42.859 --> 00:22:46.299
two minutes and has a world of impact. Maybe skip
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00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:51.059
that city folk latte and divert that money into a donation. Sure,
425
00:22:51.099 --> 00:22:55.109
as the sun rises, the Borgen Project begins every day,
426
00:22:55.369 --> 00:22:57.990
kicking butt. We've only been able to do it because
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00:22:58.069 --> 00:23:02.200
millions of people have volunteered, donated, and taken simple steps
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00:23:02.299 --> 00:23:06.039
to right some wrongs. We'll keep doing us, and you
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00:23:06.279 --> 00:23:07.049
keep doing you.
1
00:00:01.260 --> 00:00:03.560
From your favorite international organization.
2
00:00:03.620 --> 00:00:04.940
What do you say, Dad?
3
00:00:05.219 --> 00:00:07.030
It's the Borgen Project Podcast.
4
00:00:07.459 --> 00:00:08.650
This is your place.
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00:00:10.070 --> 00:00:10.570
Learn more.
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00:00:10.589 --> 00:00:11.609
Be more.
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00:00:12.009 --> 00:00:13.869
Global issues simplified.
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Here we go.
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00:00:35.899 --> 00:00:38.719
Hi everyone and welcome to the Borgen Project podcast. I'm
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00:00:38.740 --> 00:00:41.200
Lindsay Alexander, Chief of Style here at the Borgen Project
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and I'm joined by Clint Borgen, President of the Borgen Project.
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Hi Clint, how are you?
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I'm good.
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We have a missing gecko in our house right now,
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the kids had a pet gecko and somehow it escaped
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out of the, I'm thinking out of the top part
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because it's like a wire mesh on top. It's in
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this like aquarium type thing, right? So, or terrarium, it's
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got house plants in the thing, but Yeah, it came
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down yesterday and can't find it anywhere. So don't go anywhere.
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How large is said animal?
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It would be a little smaller than your average human hand,
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I guess.
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Okay.
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Yeah, they're called crested geckos. Interesting fun fact for our listeners,
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by the way. These crested geckos are the most common
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gecko you see in pet stores these days. But like
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20 years ago, people thought they were extinct. Like they couldn't,
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they just, they were, I think they're actually listed as extinct.
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There's nowhere to be found. Then they found them like
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on some island and evidently they repopulate. Well, that's in captivity.
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So now they're like in all the pet stores and
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they're just like most generic pet store gecko at the moment.
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But ours is, yeah, it's somewhere in the house, I think.
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We hope.
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Do they tend to look for somewhere warm to go?
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Are you going to find it in like a warm
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cupboard somewhere?
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Yeah. And they, they can do kind of house temperature. So,
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but they probably are. Yeah. He's probably somewhere either in
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the house plants. I'm thinking, I mean, we looked around,
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but we haven't done like the full dive, but yeah, it,
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I just hope I don't wake up with it on
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my face one night. Yeah, absolutely. That's the other thing,
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they're only active at night.
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Yeah, hopefully said animal is located. Yeah, we've got quite
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a mix today of stories. We're introducing a new segment
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highlighting people doing extraordinary things, looking at some troubling developments
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in international politics and discussing a new report on global poverty.
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But we're also going to look at some encouraging developments,
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including countries making remarkable progress against poverty and diseases that
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are being eliminated.
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Yeah, so a little bit of everything. Before we dive
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into the international stuff, I am curious, Lindsay, it's like
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in the US there's been a lot of death penalty
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talk lately. We had the one lady who was given
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the drugs to you know, death penalty killer. And then
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she survived. And then we recently had the secretary of defense, AKA,
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I guess now it's called war secretary of war. Pete
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Hegseth called for a live streaming, the execution of a
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terrorist who had attacked, um, soldiers. This guy himself was
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a military psychiatrist and he shot up, um, uh, some
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soldiers at the base he was stationed at. So definitely
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a bad dude that was getting, you know, that, that,
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Sound guilty, yada, yada, but the idea of live streaming
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and bringing back ex-U.S. firing squads, I think the only
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countries that do live or do public death squads is,
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I believe it's Iran and Afghanistan, so I'm not sure
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we want to enter that category. But where I'm going
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with this, I know Europeans think we're crazy for having
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the death penalty in general, but yeah, what's your take
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on when you hear these stories coming out of the.
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U.S.? Interesting. Yeah, not a fan, I have to say.
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I mean, like you say, I mean, UK abolished death
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penalty a long, long time ago, most of Europe as well. Yeah,
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I mean, for me personally, it does seem something that's
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very hard to understand. I mean, I said this about
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the war in general as well and like the children too.
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You know, you can't really tell a child off for
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hitting another child and then go and slap your child.
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I mean, it's exactly the same. I'm telling you off
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for murdering someone, then what am I going to do?
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I'm going to murder you.
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It just doesn't seem to sit right. The other thing
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is there does seem to be an awful lot of
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people that are wrongly convicted as well. And what then happens,
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you know, it's one thing to spend 20 years sat
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in prison so knowing you haven't done something, which must
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be absolutely hideous. But, you know, to then be killed
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for that as well, there's no turning back from that.
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That's it.
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So, yeah, very, very strange to live stream something like
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this as well.
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Slightly inhumane, possibly, I'd say.
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Yeah. yeah and just the vibe you're potentially creating too
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in the country and like uh that you know i
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got small kids too and that they of course hear
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everything then you like you want to start having a
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conversation of yes we are shooting a guy yeah the
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other part of this the weird one of this too
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is my understanding is he is paraplegic now he is
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he's in a wheelchair so like you're going to fire
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squad a guy in a wheelchair that's like live stream
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that's like not great optics to begin with right so.
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Yeah i don't know and i mean it as as
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terrible as it is and as terrible as anybody's crime
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is i mean like say you're a parent i'm a
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parent if that's your own child being killed by a
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firing squad do you want that on national television and
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people celebrating it must be hard enough as it is
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for you as a person let alone something like that
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going on as well yeah that's it interesting um yeah
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interesting approach.
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It is yeah and i think with a death penalty
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in general i've sort of landed on um obviously a
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lot of people definitely deserve deserve it but that take
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a step back from that it's like well what's the
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point though it's not a deterrent it's like no one's
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going to be like stop in the middle whatever crime
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hurrying this crime they're doing and be like oh i
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shouldn't do this because i might get the death penalty
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or And then I think I need to double check,
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but I think it costs more dealing with the death
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penalty stuff because there's all these appeals. And I think
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ultimately it ends up costing the government more. But I
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think my big one, though, is just like, I think
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it'd be a worse punishment to spend the rest of
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my life in prison than to be killed personally. So
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I feel like it's kind of an easy out for
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these people to do horrific things, to not have to
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spend life behind bars and exit early, so to speak.
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But yeah.
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Yeah, so from not so positive things to people that
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we are impressed by. So we're introducing this new segment
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to the show, People We're Impressed By, and these people
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that have been braved, taking a stand and going through
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huge personal risks for the greater good.
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Yeah, that's right. I mean, we're really living a time
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period where it sometimes feels like those in power make
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one cowardly decision after another. Public leaders, CEOs, the media,
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and dare I even say, I've found myself deeply disappointed
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at the lack of bravery from some of those in
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the humanitarian and human rights organizations as well that I
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typically normally respect. It's just a lot of people kind
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of hiding out, trying to avoid rocking the boat and
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dealing with, and there's a good reason for this, right?
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But at the same time, there's definitely a definite lack
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of bravery. We were kind of saying left and right.
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But despite all that, there are people doing absolutely amazing things.
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And we are going to highlight some of those. Lindsay,
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who is our first person that we are impressed with
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right now?
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Yeah, actually two people. Yeah.
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We're impressed by Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Cesar.
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They're directors of a new documentary, NASA. The title comes
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from the Israeli military acronym for collateral damage. And the
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documentary features interviews with Israeli military and intelligence personnel discussing
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how targets were selected during the war in Gaza. The
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film raises serious allegations about the numbers of civilian casualties
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considered acceptable when targeting suspected Hamas fighters.
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Among the accounts featured is a claim that.
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A strike was authorised despite the possibility of killing hundreds
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of civilians to target a single Hamas member. Another issue
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explored is the practice of striking suspects in their home
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at night, which obviously increases the risk of potentially placing
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the whole family at risk as well.
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Yeah, and for the treasonous act of showing interviews of
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people who are serving in the Israeli military, talking about
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war crimes they're committing in the Israeli military, Yuval and
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Rachel have become public enemy number one in Israel. Government
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officials have called for stripping them of their citizenship. On
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the pro-Netanyahu Channel 14, a broadcaster encouraged viewers to hunt
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them down and give them no respite. The two are
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currently in hiding and unable to safely be in Israel
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at all. What's kind of, I think, really worth highlighting, too,
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is the fact that they had already won the Oscar
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two years ago for a film they did regarding the
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West Bank. no other land. And they knew very well
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the internet, the major backlash they had received from, from
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putting out a film like this. And they know the
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consequences when you do, you know, speak truth to power.
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And they did it again. They took a challenge on again.
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And the film is out right now and theaters all
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across the U S and Europe. The guardian, I believe
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is that is involved as well. And they are going
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to have it available for live. I think for free, actually,
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it'll be available pretty soon online as well. So, I've
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really kind of heard a lot of sorts of amazing
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stuff about it. And it really is just people who
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served in the intelligence apparatus, particularly of the Israeli government,
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speaking about stuff they were doing in Gaza. And that's
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kind of all it comes down to.
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So, yeah, very impressed by them. Absolutely.
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The Borgen Project is widely regarded as one of the
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most politically influential humanitarian organizations in the world. The Borgen
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Project's network of volunteers spans 47 states and over a
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dozen countries. The Borgen Project is an influential ally for
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the world's poor.
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So moving on to then, well, more on Israeli settlements, actually.
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In the United Kingdom, questions are being raised about political
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donations and links to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Now,
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according to reports by Declassified UK, the Conservative Party received
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approximately £ 1. 3 million in donations from JCB, the digger company,
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a company whose equipment has been linked to the demolition
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of Palestinian homes and villages. Conservative Party leader Kemi Belenok
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subsequently opposed new UK sanctions related to Israeli settlements. Following
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the sanctions announcement, she reportedly held discussions with Israeli Foreign
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Minister Gideon Cesar. JCB has faced longstanding allegations from the
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likes of Amnesty International relating to the use of.
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Machinery in the occupied Palestinian territories.
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In 2021, a UK government watchdog also found that the
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company had failed to conduct appropriate human rights due diligence,
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despite being aware.
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Of allegations concerning the use of its products.
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This is a good example of how money shapes the
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views of political parties. You've got leaders knowing darn well
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about the human rights violations that are going on, but
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voting against, you know, instead of voting to stop the
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human rights violations going on, they vote to keep it going.
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while behind the scenes, they're taking money from a company
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that has evolved in the crimes and meeting with the
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Israeli government minister to strategize tactics to make sure that
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this company is able to continue to provide stuff to
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carry out destruction of homes and stuff in Gaza or
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in West Bank. So, yeah, kind of, you know, we
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see a lot of this in the U.S. as well,
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and it's just not a good situation. And kind of
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the interesting part of all this is just the correlation between,
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you know, we all know Money plays a huge role
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in politics and that when it comes to this particular
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issue and this particular government, it just keeps coming up
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over and over again and why it's been so hard
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to see any kind of movement. This is definitely, it's
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part of the factors for sure.
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Okay, so moving on then from Israel and from Gaza,
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Something sort of very at the heart of our organ
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project work, there's a new report on global poverty. Now,
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for the first time since the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index
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was launched in 2010, the reported number of people living
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in multidimensional poverty has actually increased. According to the United
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Nations Development Programme and Oxford University's Poverty and Human Development Initiative,
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approximately 51.5 million more people are living in multidimensional poverty
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compared with the previous report. That brings the total to
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approximately 1.2 billion people across 108 countries included in the assessment.
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And more than half of those experiencing multidimensional poverty are children.
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There is an important distinction because the index doesn't simply
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measure how much money someone earns. It's kind of looking
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at a lot of those other factors. Index was established
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in 2010. It looks at the 10 indicators ranging from
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health to nutrition and underlying mortality. A couple of things
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I found interesting is 83% of those living in extreme poverty,
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multidimensional poverty, live in rural areas. And I guess we've
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definitely heard this through the years, but it is kind
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of telling what a factor that is, being out in
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these remote rural areas where there's just lack of access
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to a lot of stuff. So some countries, poverty was
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driven by population growth. So for example, if you have
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a population of 100 people, Five might have escaped poverty,
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poverty might have gone down, but you added 10 more
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people to your population that were born into poverty. You've
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overall increased the poverty rate, despite the fact that there
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has actually been a decrease as well. So just something
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to think about. But there's another important point about these figures.
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Sometimes the number of people living in poverty can increase
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when the percentage of the population experiencing poverty is falling.
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So that's kind of where the population part comes in
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as well.
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So headline numbers, Don't always actually tell the full story
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is effectively the bottom line with this.
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Yeah, and that's what we need to understand, both the
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proportion of people experiencing poverty and the actual number of
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people affected.
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Yeah, so there's something else in the report that I
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think is also sort of worth mentioning, because obviously there's
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a lot of depressing sort of headlines in there. But
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it was also found that 33 countries have managed to
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at least half their multidimensional poverty index in fewer than
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15 years. Six of those countries are in sub-Saharan Africa. Egypt,
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Nepal and Tajikistan, they have recorded significant reductions in both
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the percentage and the number of people experiencing multidimensional poverty
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in their latest surveys. Obviously, this then amounts to more
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children attending school, families gaining electricity, communities getting access to water,
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people receiving healthcare, the list goes on.
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Yeah, and those things definitely create opportunities that go well
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beyond the immediate benefit. Education can improve future earnings. Better
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health care means fewer days lost to illness. Electricity allows
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businesses to operate and children to study.
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Yeah, and one particularly interesting example in the report is Eswatini,
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where the proportion of people experiencing multidimensional poverty fell from
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nearly 39% to around 8%, which obviously is a remarkable change.
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It is, if you have that question.
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Yeah.
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So moving on with sort of more good news, speaking
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of further things that are working, there's been genuinely encouraging
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news from the Pan American Health Organization at the end
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of September. Five countries and territories in the Americas were
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recognized for successfully eliminating particularly communicable diseases or related conditions. Brazil, Chile,
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El Salvador, the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands
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were all recognized for achievements.
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Over the previous years.
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Yeah, that's definitely not the progress that usually makes headlines.
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So it's nice to see that kind of behind the
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typical from various storms to war and the typical stuff
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we see covered, there's a lot of progress going on.
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Yeah, there is.
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So Brazil was recognized for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
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Chile was recognized for eliminating leprosy. And we've spoke about
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this on a previous podcast. And that's been sort of
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a longstanding public health problem. and dog transmitted rabies as
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a public health problem. El Salvador has eliminated trachoma as
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a public health problem, while Bahamas and the Turks and
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Caicos Islands achieved milestones also related to mother-child transmission of
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HIV and hepatitis B2.
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And these aren't necessarily diseases that have disappeared from the
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world completely, but they're definitely seeing progress in some of
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these countries.
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Yeah, I mean, that's That's sort of the important distinction.
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Elimination has specific public health definitions depending on the disease.
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So it doesn't always necessarily mean that no one will
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contract it again, but it does mean major milestones for
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the countries that are involved.
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And that definitely shows the benefits of kind of the
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sustained investments in healthcare that can achieve those things.
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Yeah, so... Looking at healthcare sort of further, an international
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corporation in healthcare, there's been increasing developments involving US foreign assistance.
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The United States and Zambia have signed a new five-year
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health financing agreement worth approximately $ 2. 49 billion. The United States
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is expected to contribute around $ 1. 52 billion and Zambia committing
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approximately $ 975 million towards its own healthcare system.
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And that is important because international development partnerships aren't necessarily
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just about donor countries handing money over to governments. They
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can also involve countries making substantial commitments to strengthen their
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own health care systems.
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Yeah. And this particular agreement, I mean, it wasn't entirely straightforward.
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The negotiations raised concerns about patient data, biological samples. But
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those provisions were removed before the agreement was actually signed.
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So the agreement is now intended to support healthcare services,
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infrastructure and staffing.
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Yeah, and we'll see how this goes, but it's definitely
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something we're looking at. Yeah.
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And now for sort of this episode's fun fact. How
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do we make an entire country malaria-free?
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Presumably by getting rid of all the mosquitoes.
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Well, that would be one way, but countries don't have
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to eliminate every mosquito to eliminate malaria. To receive official
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malaria-free certification from the World Health Organization, a country has
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to demonstrate that locally transmitted malaria has been interrupted nationwide
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for at least three consecutive years. It also has to
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show that a system is in place to prevent malaria
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from becoming established again.
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And countries are actually managing to do that, which is great.
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Yeah, they are.
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So, Camo Verde, Egypt, they were certified malaria-free in 2024.
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And this is completely remarkable considering that malaria has affected
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humanity for thousands of years.
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And it is still one of the world's major infectious diseases.
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It's still a huge problem.
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Absolutely.
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So certification doesn't mean malaria can never return, but it's
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certainly a big step in the right direction.
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And that is a good reminder that investments in public
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health really do pay off. Right.
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And so to round off today, you've got elections coming
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up over there in the.
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US soon, Clint.
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It's getting close. Yeah, I think we're two weeks, two
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weeks out. And this, you know, the border project doesn't
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get involved in elections. We don't endorse candidates, but we
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don't give money to candidates either. But we, you know,
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obviously those who win and lose. greatly impact what we're
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able to accomplish in Congress as well. So, yeah, very
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much encourage people to go out and vote, get politically
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engaged and active and know about your people you're voting
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for in Congress in particular and whether or not they're
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the right choice to help address some of these issues
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we talk about on the show.
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Absolutely. And if that sort of motivated you to take
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some action and to get involved as.
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Well, what can people at home be doing?
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Yeah, I mean, the big one is we need people donating, volunteering,
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and then mobilizing as always. Advocacy really is strength in numbers.
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So the more people you're reaching out to and getting
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them to contact their congressional leaders, email their congressional leaders
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via our website or directly through the leaders' websites. It
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really does make a difference. They keep a tally of
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all that information and know how many people are contacting
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them on different issues. And even, I mean, we've seen
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this with Gaza. Like that was an issue when we
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first started working on. It was like brutal. Like the
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leaders and everyone were very, you go in the meetings,
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we just felt like everyone was against us. And like,
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how dare you say Israel's doing anything wrong in Gaza?
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That was just like the vibe, right? And within about
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a year and a half, that shifted. And now it's like,
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drastically different it's got a ways to go still i'm
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not where we're going to be but but the joint
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point of it public the big picture on all this
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those public opinion matters and even on a topic like
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that that seemed really impossible to move the dial on
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and get things changed but when the public's aware of
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stuff and they're bothered by stuff and they're putting pressure
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on their leaders to do stuff about it that's where
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advocacy it works and we see over and over again
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a lot of different issues and definitely people involved so okay.
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So get on out there get advocating And with that,
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we'll close up for today.
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So thanks, everyone, for listening.
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Have a great day.
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If you're tired of helplessly observing innocent people getting their
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teeth kicked in by war, famine and poverty, then hear
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the call. You were put on this world. to improve
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00:22:04.410 --> 00:22:08.299
this world. For over 20 years, the Borgen Project has
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00:22:08.339 --> 00:22:13.799
been turning everyday people into remarkable superheroes. Our volunteer corps
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00:22:13.859 --> 00:22:17.319
are second to none and can work remotely from anywhere
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00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:20.200
in the world. Now, before you convince yourself you ain't
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got time, wander over to that section of your smartphone
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00:22:23.289 --> 00:22:25.589
that tells you how many hours you spend staring at
418
00:22:25.650 --> 00:22:28.900
that little screen each week. Well, how about that? You've
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00:22:28.940 --> 00:22:31.740
got plenty of time to be your best self and
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00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:35.099
serve as an ambassador for the world's poor. Still ain't
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00:22:35.140 --> 00:22:39.380
got the grit to commit? How about heading over to borgenproject.org
422
00:22:39.420 --> 00:22:42.700
to make a donation instead? That'll take you less than
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00:22:42.859 --> 00:22:46.299
two minutes and has a world of impact. Maybe skip
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00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:51.059
that city folk latte and divert that money into a donation. Sure,
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00:22:51.099 --> 00:22:55.109
as the sun rises, the Borgen Project begins every day,
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00:22:55.369 --> 00:22:57.990
kicking butt. We've only been able to do it because
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millions of people have volunteered, donated, and taken simple steps
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to right some wrongs. We'll keep doing us, and you
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00:23:06.279 --> 00:23:07.049
keep doing you.
