QOL/ SOL thoughts

After you have written your essay you will need to answer the following questions:

1. What was the topic of your essay?

The topic of my essay was whether freedom of expression improve one's quality of life. 

2. How has your opinion changed through the research you did while writing your essay?

I have realized so many different groups are being denied and ignored by others. They are not able to obtain their right to right to speak whatever/wherever they want to, they face discrimination, bias, and harassment, and do not have any chance to prove to the country or world that they can make a significant change. Thus, having prejudice and being being racist to every group is not right and they do not deserve to be looked down. Equality is the key to happiness and success. 

3. What interesting facts did you find out during your research that you did not include in your essay (were not relevant to your topic?)

Places that have the most issues regarding freedom of expression are India, Nepal and Pakistan, where the caste system is still present. The Dalits have to part in the community or in the development of the government. In Serbia and Moldova, the pride parade by LGBT peope were banned and accused of an inappropriate cultural event. 

4. How do you think your quality of life and standard of living relate to others around the world (which country/demographic do you think your circumstances are on par with?)

Standard of living and quality of life are not equal for everyone in the world. These set the atmosphere and superiority of one's life. The high class, middle class and lower class people are usually separate and do not live in the same surrounding. This could lead to issues like strikes and protests against the government in order for a better education system or more jobs. However, with different lifestyles, it creates competition, improving the economy and condition of the financial system of the country. 

NGO

1. Greenpeace: Is one of the world's largest environmental organization and the headquarters is in Amsterdam, Netherlands. They focus on activities such as nuclear weapons and energy, the oceans, forests, climate change etc.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Greenpeace_International

2. All Bengal Women's Union: Started in 1932 by a group of women in West Bengal, they createhomes for old women, develop rehabilitation centers, give free legal aid to women and provide vocational training.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Bengal_Women%27s_Union

3. Human Rights Watch: Headquartered in New York City, it is an international human rights organization. They stand to prevent discrimination, bring offenders to justice, cease human rights violation, and enlist the public and international community  to support the cause of human rights. 

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Human_Rights_Watch

4. Natural Resources Defence Council: Is considered one of the biggest and prominent Big Green environmental group. They use law and science to protect the planet's wildlife and Earth's healthy environment for all living things. 

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Natural_Resources_Defense_Council

5. Lifeline Foundation: It is an NGO in Kolkata, India, and it provides with telephone counseling to mentally distressed individuals. It raises awareness regarding anxiety and depression, helping out those who have suicidal or emotional distress.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifeline_Foundation

Questions

Tseki Lhamo (overpopulation):
1) What causes overpopulation?
2) What are the solutions for overpopulation?

Samiha Thapa (availability of energy):
1) After the sources of energy runs out, what are some alternatives?
2) What if the renewable energy are not able to function?

Saw Yan Naing:
1) What are some things that the government could do to protect these children?
2) Can there be any laws that can be enforced to give them the right to not participate in such horrible scenarios?

Sonam Deki:
1) What are the solutions to cease this terrible act of child marriage?
2) What are some of the punishments if one disobeys the laws?

Poverty

Poverty is the single biggest threat that humanity faces. Almost every issue that humanity is confronting recently, such as hunger, diseases, child labour, etc, fall under poverty. It is surely the worst case and if the condition continues to aggravate, there is no hope in development or improvement in society. What causes poverty? It is said that due to extreme external influences, the governments of poor nations and the people are powerless; hence, a few get wealthy and the majority struggles financially. A symptom of world poverty is world hunger. Interestingly enough, food aid from others can cause poverty and more hunger in long term since free or cheap food gets rid of local farmers or sellers and slants the market share of larger producers. In addition, countries that are corrupt can suffer from poverty. More than 25000 people were interviewed for BBC POLL on which was the biggest and the most serious problem that the world faced and the results were as following: 1 - extreme poverty (71%)2 - the environment or pollution (64%)3 - the rising cost of food and energy (63%)4 - the spread of human diseases (59%)5 - terrorism (59%)6 - human rights abuses (59%)7 - climate change (58%)8 - the state of the global economy (58%)9 - war or armed conflict (57%)10 - violation of workers' rights  (48%)In 10 countries, poverty was chosen as the most serious global issue currently. Although a rich country has a strong economy, if the majority of the population are struggling to survive, the country is in a big hazard. The improvement in standard of living and access to all the basic needs such as enough food, water, shelter, health and education, is the key to a proper and successful country with barely any poverty. 
Other issues like climate change cause bad consequences but it only worsens the pre-existing issues. These problems, like water shortages and spread of malaria, are issues that need to be addressed to the whole world whether or not climate change occurs. 

http://www.theguardian.com/society/poverty

http://www.thp.org/learn_more/issues/poverty?gclid=CIO3-Mq13LoCFWlT4godvTkA7w

http://www.poverty.com/

http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats

http://thebreakthrough.org/index.php/programs/energy-and-climate/poverty-not-global-warming-remains-biggest-challenge/

http://www.globalissues.org/article/4/poverty-around-the-world#WorldBanksPovertyEstimatesRevised

http://www.globalissues.org/issue/2/causes-of-poverty

http://www.realclearscience.com/articles/2013/07/08/climate_change_isnt_worlds_biggest_problem_106585.html

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hFX8Y4c3W0WzTKKk7FpXNGLTGBfQ

http://www.globescan.com/news_archives/bbcWorldSpeaks-2010/

10 main issues - UNICEF

1. Health: People who are healthy will create better lives for themselves, their communities and their countries. Improving the health of the world's children is a core objective by UNICEF.
2. Nutrition: People who are well nourished tend to be more healthy, productive and it benefits their whole community as well as the whole world. 
3. Child trafficking: This is a violation of the children's rights and denies their opportunity to reach their full potential of a well-being person. Proper social services and health care is required for them. 
4. Child labour: This triggers intergenerational cycles of poverty and it hinders achieving any goals of the government and undermines national economy. 
5. Gender equality: Promoting equal rights, especially to women and girls, aid in the country programmes of political, social and economic development in their communities. 
6. HIV/AIDS: Many, particularly in Africa, are suffering from this disease and if it is not prevented or the epidemic does not cease, it will be hard for the community to develop. 
7. Poverty: Children who face poverty, might not have the chance to experience proper education and be healthy. This threat could be passed on through generations and experience inequality in society. 
8. Quality of education: Only some have access to high quality education and some have such poor quality education that it does not count as education. Quality education is education that works for every child and enables them to achieve their full potential. 
9. Water, sanitation and hygiene: Bad WASH (Water, sanitation, hygiene) results to poor production of any product and national economies suffer; hence, sustainable development is impossible without it. 
10. Global economic crisis: Due to the global economic crisis, many households are not able to afford essential needs, protection, health and right education. Many governments lack the resources but have a high demand. Therefore, they need assistance and need to partner with other governments to improve the situation. 

Standard of living for the minorities (Digital desk)

Minority groups are considered to be any group of who are singled out from everyone else in the society due to their cultural characteristics and are treated unequally with multiple discrimination. Lack of power is their main feature and the biggest issue.

1) Sri Lanka - minority women face sexual violence and insecurity: Tamil and Muslim women in Sri Lanka are suffering and struggling from abusement and are not able to sustain their lives properly since they do not have any income. Their standard of living is very different from men and those who are not considered as minorities.  (http://www.minorityrights.org/12117/press-releases/minority-women-in-sri-lanka-facing-increasing-levels-of-sexual-violence-and-insecurity.html)

2) People with disablilities: the disablility rights movement tries to help those in need to be accepted by society and as a normal human being. They are disadvantaged by everyone else and are seen as unnecessary or useless creatures. Although there has been improvement, the standard of living for people with disabilities is very bad and different from those who do not have any physical or mental issues. They are not able to have any occupations and even if it is, they have very low wages.

3) LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgenders): they have been hated on since the early 1900s and are seen as malicious human beings.Due to their sexual desire towards the same gender, they are sometimes declined for jobs or are offered with extremely low amount of income.

4) Tibet: Tibet has been conquered by China for over 50 years and are trying hard to fight back as well as be free. They are being ignored and looked down by the Chinese. Hence, they were not able to afford any proper possession and had to obtain it through hard work. Nevertheless, the living standard of Tibetans have remarkably improved.

5) Germany (Nazi, WW2) - Jews: during world war 2, Jews were considered to be minorities and were blamed for everything bad that happened in germany. There was the holocaust where millions of them were sent to concentration camps and killed. Their standard of living was extremely low and they were treated with merciless disrespect. Every possession of luxury were taken away and were not capable to earning an money.