Malnutrition in La Guajira: how to help the children of the department? - Other Cities - Colombia

During an event held by the Association of Food Banks of Colombia (Abaco), together with Colombia Takes Care of Colombia and the Food Bank of La Guajira, the Thread Bank initiative was launched.

The project seeks to improve the food and nutritional security of the population in a situation of vulnerability in the department of La Guajira.

But why is it necessary?

The figures are worrying

According to figures compiled by Abaco, 726,000 people -66 percent of the population of La Guajira- live below the poverty line. Of these, 435,000 earn less than 127,000 pesos per month.

Bancos de Hilos seeks to provide quality food to children from different sectors of La Guajira.

In other words, it is the poorest department in the country.

With regard to chronic malnutrition, more than 250,000 people in La Guajira suffer from it or suffered from it during their early childhood.

The seriousness of these figures lies in the fact that those who suffer from this scourge lose 14 IQ points, have five fewer years of schooling and their income is 54 percent lowerwith respect to those who do not suffer from this disease during their first years of life.

(You can read: ‘If Bogotá does not overcome chronic malnutrition, Colombia will not’).

“We have to undertake a serious commitment to the prevention of chronic malnutrition that affects not only people who suffer from hunger but also the country’s economy and development”, assured Juan Carlos Buitrago, director of Abaco, in an official statement from the organization.

The Thread Bank initiative

The Banco de Hilos program aims to enhance the culture, the artisanal capacity of the Wayúu community and at the same time prevent deaths from malnutrition, chronic malnutrition and its consequences.

Buitrago narrated during the event a problem, which is little portrayed, that revolves around the Wayuu backpack industry. These are bought from the manufacturers, who usually belong to indigenous communities in the area, for very low prices -from 10 to 20 thousand pesos-, taking advantage of the situation of poverty faced by these ethnic groups.

This is the only way to have smarter children, (…) capable of lifting their communities out of poverty

Why is it unfair? These pieces of art are sold in stores, websites and tourist areas for prices close to 100 thousand pesosor more.

Given the need to eradicate chronic malnutrition in La Guajira, especially in children under five, and to demonopolize the sale of backpacks, the Banco de Hilos project was born.

The idea is to buy the backpacks for a reasonable price and, as payment for the work of the women artisans, they will be given a subsidy, food, education and more benefits for their children.

(We recommend: ‘In the FAO they were neglected or there was no coordination’: SAC).

“with this project We are going to improve the living conditions of 1,950 people in vulnerable conditionswe are going to strengthen the artisan skills of Wayuu women, help them market their backpacks so that they have better income, but also do community strengthening and nutritional support with pregnant women and younger children to guarantee that in these communities we have zero deaths due to malnutrition and zero chronic malnutrition“, said the director of the organization.

The idea is to buy the Wayúu backpacks made by women belonging to these communities at a fair price.

Some organizations that are part of the project are: The Global Food Banking Network, Novartis, Fundación Éxito, Fundación ARGOS, AVIANCA, Fundación Puntos Verdes, LITO SAS, Construyendo 500,001, Sierra Nevada, Kaionare, La Tienda de la Empathy, Huge and Tik Tok .

How to help?

You can buy the pieces of art developed by the women of La Guajira and allow an improvement in the food security of your children in the Abaco official website.

You also have the possibility of sponsoring a child or making your donations in money to the different initiatives of the organization, by the same means.

If you are a person or company and want to donate resources, knowledge and/or services, contact Abaco: mercadeo@abaco.org.co or WhatsApp Bussiness https://wa.me/573132457978.

The children of Uribia, a municipality located in La Guajira, are also affected by this scourge.

(You may be interested in: They denounce the death of two Wayú minors due to malnutrition).

“The invitation is for all people and organizations to join efforts in this
draft. We are convinced that only with the confluence of wills and capacities of the public and private sectors, the third sector, academia, the media and multilateral organizations we are going to find sustainable solutions to end hunger in Colombia”, concluded Constanza Gómez, director of Colombia Cuida Colombia, in the statement.

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Former US Interior Department Secretary Found to Have Violated Ethics Rules

The inspector general for the U.S. Interior Department released a report Wednesday saying the former department secretary, Ryan Zinke, violated ethics obligations and misused his position while in office through his involvement in a land development deal.

The report, released on the department’s website, details how the Inspector General’s office investigated allegations that Zinke had remained involved in a development project in his home state of Montana after he had taken office. Zinke had been a congressman from Montana before accepting former President Donald Trump’s appointment as interior secretary.

The allegations indicate Zinke and his wife were in negotiations with private developers regarding a commercial development project known as 95 Karrow. One of the developers and primary investors in the 95 Karrow project was a senior executive of the Halliburton Company, who allegedly stood to benefit from official actions Zinke could make as secretary of the Interior.

The report says the Zinkes and the developers all declined to be interviewed for the investigation, but the inspector general’s office subpoenaed the developer for all emails and text messages related to the project. Those communications confirmed the allegations that he had remained involved, even after committing in required documentation to federal officials that he would no longer do so.

In addition, the investigation found Zinke misused his official position in violation of federal regulations by directing his subordinates to assist him with matters related to the project.

The office of the Inspector General said the findings of the report were released last year to the U.S. Justice Department, which declined to prosecute. The office said the report was provided to the current secretary of the Interior “for any action deemed appropriate.”

Zinke is currently a candidate for an open Congressional seat in Montana.

Some information for this report came from the Associated Press.

State Department Recap: January 20-26, 2022

STATE DEPARTMENT — 

Here’s a look at what U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top diplomats have been doing this week:

US, Russia, Ukraine

Following consultations with various European partners as well as Ukraine, the United States and NATO provided written responses to Moscow addressing Russia’s renewed security demands — the latest moves in diplomatic maneuvering aimed at heading off armed conflict.

U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan delivered the document in person Wednesday to Russia’s Foreign Ministry. Separately, NATO transmitted to Russia its own responses regarding European security in a document described by officials as a few pages in length.

US Responds to Russia’s Security Demands, Renewing Call for Diplomacy

Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman assessed that China’s hosting of the Winter Olympics early next month was a factor in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s calculation of military actions against Ukraine.

“We all are aware that the Beijing Olympics begin on February 4 — the opening ceremony — and Putin is expected to be there,” Sherman said. “I think that probably President Xi Jinping would not be ecstatic if Putin chose that moment to invade Ukraine. So, that may affect his timing and his thinking.”

On Sunday, the State Department ordered the departure of eligible family members from the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv and authorized the voluntary departure of U.S. direct-hire employees amid the continued threat of Russian military action against Ukraine. The State Department also asked U.S. citizens in Ukraine to consider departing the country via commercial or other privately available transportation options.

US Orders Departure of Family Members of Ukraine Embassy Staff ​

Burkina Faso

The State Department said it was watching closely “the fluid situation” in Burkina Faso, where a military junta ousted President Roch Marc Christian Kabore. But the U.S. said it was “too soon” to officially characterize the events in Burkina Faso as a coup.

“We call for the immediate release of President Kabore and other government officials, and for members of the security forces to respect Burkina Faso’s constitution and civilian leadership. We urge all sides in this fluid situation to remain calm and to seek dialogue as a means to resolve grievances,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said this week during a press briefing.

Burkina Faso Soldiers Say They Deposed President

US-Iran

The United States warned Iran was just weeks from developing the capacity to make a nuclear weapon. The alarm came amid indirect negotiations between the two countries seeking a mutual return to compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal.

“[Iran] is getting to the point where its breakout time, the time it would take to produce fissile material for a bomb, is getting down to a matter of a few weeks,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a virtual event Monday. How the U.S. and its allies would deal with the risks will be decided soon, Blinken said, adding that “given what Iran is doing, we can’t allow this to go on.”

As Iran Nears Uranium Breakout Capacity, US Mulls Bomb-Making Scenarios

Human trafficking

On Tuesday, the U.S. State Department released its annual “Trafficking in Persons Report.” Blinken called for other countries to improve “collective efforts to comprehensively address human trafficking,” as the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the problem.

State Department Releases Annual Trafficking in Persons Report

State Department Releases Annual Trafficking in Persons Report

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated human trafficking, the U.S. State Department said in its annual Trafficking in Persons Report released Tuesday.

“This year’s Trafficking in Persons Report sends a strong message to the world that global crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and enduring discriminatory policies and practices, have a disproportionate effect on individuals already oppressed by other injustices,” U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in the report’s introduction.

“These challenges further compound existing vulnerabilities to exploitation, including human trafficking,” he said.

In the report, Blinken calls for other countries to join the United States to improve “our collective efforts to comprehensively address human trafficking.”

He said doing so requires mitigating “harmful practices and policies that cause socioeconomic or political vulnerabilities that traffickers often prey on.”

The report said the COVID-19 pandemic has brought “unprecedented repercussions for human rights and economic development globally, including in human trafficking.”

“Governments across the world diverted resources toward the pandemic, often at the expense of anti-trafficking efforts, resulting in decreased protection measures and service provision for victims, reduction of preventative efforts, and hindrances to investigations and prosecutions of traffickers,” the report said.

The report explained that those involved in anti-trafficking efforts “found ways to adapt and forged new relationships to overcome the challenges.” It added that traffickers were also adept in altering their methods.

Some specific cases mentioned in the report include examples in India and Nepal in which young poor girls left school to help support their families due to the pandemic’s economic impact. Some, the report said, were forced into marriage for money.

The report cites incidents in the United States, the United Kingdom and Uruguay in which landlords forced female tenants who were economically hurt by the pandemic to have sex with them when the tenant could not pay rent.

In Haiti, Niger and Mali, “gangs” working in camps for displaced people used lax security caused by the pandemic to force residents into sex-for-money acts.

In Myanmar (formerly Burma), which has been roiled by COVID-19 and political unrest, the report said 94% of households saw a decline in income, leaving some members vulnerable to sex trafficking.

“If there is one thing we have learned in the last year, it is that human trafficking does not stop during a pandemic,” Kari Johnstone, senior official and principal deputy director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, said in the report’s introduction.

“The concurrence of the increased number of individuals at risk, traffickers’ ability to capitalize on competing crises, and the diversion of resources to pandemic response efforts has resulted in an ideal environment for human trafficking to flourish and evolve,” Johnstone said.

State Department Recap: January 13-19, 2022

STATE DEPARTMENT — 

Here’s a look at what U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top diplomats have been doing this week:

US, Russia, Ukraine

The United States will continue relentless diplomatic efforts to prevent Russia from further military aggression against Ukraine while providing defensive security assistance to Kyiv, Blinken said Wednesday.

“We’ve offered Russia a clear choice, a choice between pursuing dialogue and diplomacy on the one hand or confrontation and consequences on the other hand,” Blinken told VOA in an interview.

Standing with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at a press conference, Blinken added that U.S. security assistance deliveries to Ukraine were ongoing and that more were scheduled “in the coming weeks.”

VOA Interview: Blinken Warns Russia of Action Should Moscow Invade Ukraine

After Ukraine, Blinken heads to Berlin on Thursday and then to Geneva, where he will hold talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday. Blinken will urge Russia to “take immediate steps to de-escalate” tensions along its border with Ukraine. The hastily arranged trip for the top U.S. diplomat comes one week after U.S.-Russia talks in Geneva reached an impasse.

Blinken, Lavrov to Meet in Geneva Friday to Continue Diplomacy Over Ukraine

US-North Korea

In response to North Korea’s recent missile launches, the United States called on Pyongyang to “cease its unlawful and destabilizing activities.”

In a call with South Korean and Japanese officials, Sung Kim, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, “expressed concern” about the missile launches and urged Pyongyang to return to dialogue “without preconditions.”

North Korea’s launch on Monday, which South Korea said involved short-range ballistic missiles, marked North Korea’s fourth weapons test this month as Pyongyang flexes its military muscle while ignoring the United States’ offers of talks.

North Korea Confirms Latest Missile Test

US-Iran

U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley will meet with Barry Rosen, an American who was taken hostage in Iran in 1979, while giving “full attention” to and seeking the release of all wrongfully detained American citizens in Iran, a State Department spokesperson told VOA.

Rosen began a hunger strike in Vienna on Wednesday to press U.S. and Iranian officials to come to an agreement about the release of Americans and other Westerners of Iranian origin jailed by Tehran. He hopes the move will help to break a monthslong stalemate in indirect talks between the two sides.

Former US Hostage in Iran to Begin Hunger Strike to Press for Prisoner Deal

Humanitarian assistance to Afghans

The United States said it would continue to support the people of Afghanistan, as Washington delivers more doses of COVID-19 vaccine and provides humanitarian funds.

He highlighted the United States’ latest contribution of more than $308 million toward humanitarian assistance for the Afghan people during a virtual meeting with U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths. The U.N. said it is “in a race against time” to prevent millions of Afghans from falling deeper into a severe economic and humanitarian crisis.

UN Chief: ‘Race Against Time’ to Save Afghan Economy