Mercy

 __Worldwatch Institution:__ This organization works to help farmers find a way to start farming more sustainably, so that they do not harm the environment or the land. Worldwatch Institution and PAI are in sympatico because at PAI, we also work to help the environment and create sustainable farming international so families can get healthy food in an environmentally responsible manner. __World Health Organization:__ The WHO has many similar goals to PAI. They work to help individuals and families stay healthy. Currently, if you were to take a look at their homepage, you would see the headline “over one million pregnant women infected with syphilis”. Their goal is to treat this. Our goal is to prevent this through improved health systems, contraception, and STD prevention.
 * 1) An  International Advocacy Associate  with Population Action International (1 pt)
 * 2) I am representing Niger. Niger is a nation of ~16 million people, over three million under the age of four. Almost half of the population is under the age of 15. The life expectancy there is only 54 years. Niger’s geography is mostly desert, with fertile lands in the extreme south and along the Niger River Basin. Niger’s geography and social norms make it difficult for contraception to make it to the women who desire family planning. Only ~11% of women practice contraception, and much of that is not “modern”-- rather sketchy. Niger has what might be described as a pronatalist society-- large families are seen as desirable. When asked in 2006 how many children they would like, women and men answered 8.8 and 12.6 respectively. This contributes to high fertility rates due to a median first birth age of 17.9 years.The economy and agriculture of Niger is not able to sustain population growth. The nation is facing desertification and severe changes due to climate change. A nation in Niger’s shoes can hardly sustain it’s population today: 60% of the population lives under $1 USD a day. How can it feed a population which may balloon to over 120 million if it doesn’t reach replacement level fertility (2.1 as Total Fertility Rate: one child to replace mother, one to replace father) before 2080? Even if they reach replacement rate in 2020, their population will still more than double. Contraceptive use, even if increased by 10 fold would still yield a TFR of 3.8.
 * 3) I came to work as an International Advocacy Associate for Population Action International after earning a bachelor’s degree in social science and a master’s degree to prepare me to specialize in family planning. Before coming to PAI, I worked for the UN for 4 years in the field of maternal health and mortality. As background, let me introduce you to PAI’s work. PAI is a “  not for profit organization that advocates for women and families to have access to contraception in order to improve their health, reduce poverty and protect their environment.” My job includes advising the PAI on policy decisions and engaging the international community in discussion on the topic of family planning and overpopulation. I work to secure grants and partnerships to help get contraceptives to women who need them and help organize ways that people can responsibly and sustainably farm to feed their family.
 * 4) __United Nations: __We work to advance the health of women and their families in developing nations in accordance with the UN’s sustainable development framework. This entails: reducing poverty by improving health and education (we focus on health), protect natural resources for economic and social development (we focus on environmental protection), and reducing inequality and expanding opportunities (contraception empowers women to control their lives).

 The youth bulge is causing millions of Africans to go through life without adequate education, sanitation, health care, etc., all while increasing the probabilities of social and political unrest. If things as simple as family planning information and contraceptives could be more widespread across the continent, then even oppressed women could have a shot at controlling their own lives and controlling the population to a sustainable level for human and environmental health, all while solving many problems in the world, most notably food shortage and insecurity and poverty.
 * 1) How does your character measure against these four benchmarks?
 * 2) Safety and Rule of Law: The youth bulge in Africa threatens //Transfer of Power//, can lead to //Social Unrest, Domestic Armed Conflict//, and possibly //Government Armed Conflict// and //Political Terror//. Elevated levels of social unrest, war, and terrorism can all be connected to youth bulges. Social unrest can be caused by the larger, younger generation having different values and ideas. This can lead to political turmoil, as evinced by the youth-led Arab Spring in North Africa and the Middle East in early 2011. These youths were discontent with the lack of opportunity and employment they faced under the current government. This widespread unemployment was in large part from a youth bulge which had come of age. The sanguinary civil war in Liberia which raged on and off through the 1990s and 2000s was egged on by a large population of youths who were unhappy with their opportunities in life. One cannot help but wonder if when my generation comes of age in Subsaharan Africa if there will be an “African Spring” if you will. The nations with the highest birth rates have the most to lose, or at least are the most likely to experience turmoil, as the so-called “third and fourth sons” of large families will realize that though they were the beneficiaries of an improving education system, there are too many educated and/or skilled young adults and not enough jobs in nations where development is just picking up. Should this happen in Africa, most likely calls for drastic political reform will not universally be met peacefully. If autocrats try to cling to power against the will of the people, as is the case in Syria currently, Transfer of Power has the potential be anything but peaceful. Domestic Armed Conflict can stem from opposition groups or even internecine clamoring, as was the case in many Arab nations. It is possible for youth-led protests to escalate into violations of //Government Armed Conflict// and //Political Terror// if, referencing the Syrian youth-lead protests, the government becomes violent.
 * 3) Participation and Human Rights: The youth bulge does not pose a threat to participation and human rights, but certainly stems in large part from the gender portion of human rights. Under Nigérien law, men are the heads of the household, and their wives are expected to obey them. Women have little if a head of the household. There is no specific legislation in place to address domestic violence. This policy violates the //Legislation on Violence Against Women// portion. Girls are also less represented in school, and women hold only small stakes in the workforce and policy making world (//Women’s Participation in Labor Force//). Simply put, if the conditions in Niger were better for women, more in accordance with what the Mo Ibrahim Foundation uses as Indicators, the Youth Bulge would not be nearly as great. When women are educated and given opportunities to expand their scope of mind, if is common for them to wander from the traditional path set out for them. If education were more available, women could learn more about family planning, about other paths for them other than a homemaker. When women progress, so does society. A more educated and active half of the population could help set in motion a stronger society and more stable population. (3)
 * 4) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sustainable Economic Opportunity: //Television and IT Infrastructure// is very inadequate in Niger as is //Land and Water for Low-Income Rural Populations//. The young people in the “Youth Bulge” of Africa are gobbling up information and technology from the rest of the world. However, it is challenging for them to succeed in getting what they want. Going back to political instability, if the youth who are going to be trying to connect with the rest of the world and find employment decide that the government is not adequately meeting their need, it could cause political upheaval. The lack of sustainable economic opportunity is extremely frustrating for the youth bulge. These young people are about to become adults and go out in search of work. Because of the overwhelming size of this generation, there will be not nearly enough work for all of them. Widespread unemployment of underemployment (in, perhaps, unsustainable fields like dwindling natural resources) is going to expand the cycle of poverty. Poverty will likely start the cycle again, causing another population explosion. Water for rural areas is difficult to come by for many. Niger is an arid nation and water is scarce. As we learned previously, when the women are in search of water, they are not getting education, but probably settling for lives as traditional homemakers. The lack of technology and resources are a cause of population growth, and lack of diversified economies are going to cause the youth bulge much struggle. (3)
 * 5) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Human Development: The Youth Bulge is a huge impediment to Human Development, especially //Environmental Sustainability, Education Provision and Quality//, and //Social Protection and Labor//. As the population of subsaharan africa increases, the natural resources of nations will be taxed. Fertile land to farm, materials to use for everyday life like clothing, and gasoline, as the world’s driving sector expands. Not only does the infrastructure of the government and it’s services get taxed by a growing population, every person of which requires a great deal, but the environment is. Can the earth really feed 9 billion people (9-11 billion is the estimate for the population at which the population will top out)? For a population which will top out in the year 2050, the world will have to produce as much food in the next 40 years as it has in the last 8,000. Climate change is already causing dire effects on Africa’s agrarian community, and as degradation continues, these problems will only worsen. These new millions of children are going to tax the weak social protections which governments have in place. And how can these millions of children be educated with a sketchy at best education system? An overwhelming flood of youths require an education if they have any hope of getting out of the cyclical cycle of poverty which is reality for over 60% of Niger’s population. The youth bulge is making this even harder. If education is the key to success, the youth bulge is not looking very successful in regards to Education Provision and Quality. (3)
 * 6) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Why I should get the 5 million dollars:

Bibliography <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Works Cited <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"New Security Beat." New Security Beat Assessing Africas Youth Bulge Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2013. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"New Security Beat." New Security Beat From Youth Bulge to Food and Family Planning Los Angeles Times Beyond 7 Billion Series Synthesizes Population Challenges Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2013. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Population Pyramid." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Feb. 2013. Web. 01 Mar. 2013. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Problem - Youth Impact Ethiopia." Problem - Youth Impact Ethiopia. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2013. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Rising Unemployment and the Global Youth Bulge." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2013.