Rewrite: Mobile Phones Empowering Women, Journalism, and Society in the Developing World

It’s estimated that more than 141 million people will use mobile payments by the end of the fiscal year, an almost 40 percent increase from 2010 figures. The value of mobile payment transactions is also expected to exceed $86 billion, most of them deriving from developing nations like Kenya and the Philippines where less developed banking infrastructure have led to a relatively high mobile phone explosion. And this mobile market continues to grow.

After reading a Bloomberg article about an Afgan woman who tolerated a beating from her husband when she smuggled a cell phone, I thought about how mobile phones can also be used as a form of social liberation from the traditional gender roles. A mobile money specialist Aleeda Fazal says, “in the Afghan woman’s mind, mobile technology helps her to keep in touch with friends and can help her be entrepreneurial… in the Afghan man’s mind, the technology means he loses control of the woman.” Indeed, for a woman in the developing world, telecommunications and wireless phones can be life changing. They can be used as an outlet of information (i.e. SMS with prenatal care/ tips), offer banking services (giving financial freedom), and can help women organize/ communicate with each other (i.e. texting when communal water tap is open).  Through mobile banking women can be safe from being robbed, can pay utility bills and school free (through M-Pesa), and transfer money to relatives.

But it’s perhaps in these developing countries where local news remains undermined by corruption, governmental interference and widespread censorship that the revolution in telecommunications can take hold. With the widespread use of mobile phones, surely more people will gain access to the Internet via mobile phones. Mobile phones may be a hindrance for viewing complex, non-vide information, but in the end, the oppressed will find out the truth. It is clear in the recent “Arab Spring” that mobile phone users played a key role in updating their twitters and facebook to communicate ideas and spread information.  Is this the new type of journalism? In this case, in politically contentious environments, journalists are not objective rather they take sides on all kinds of issues. Furthermore, using social media as a mass reporting, networking device often “conflates journalism and public relations” and “merges with fact, innuendo, and rumor… reported as truth; unverified political speculation mixes with individual political ambition and party agendas. Receiving headlines via text and twitter updates let journalists in developing countries report spot-news events after they happen, but often spend little effort on the investigative work or developing the traditional watchdog role that comes with in-depth reporting. Mobile phones are an increasingly important news source and tackle the problem of when radio waves are blocked by countries like Zimbabwe.

Will it be harder for new consumers raised in oppressed environments  filled political propaganda know what news is when it is delivered via a smaller screen of a mobile phone? Will technology be successful in spurring political action and motions for equality through citizen journalism?  Will access to the Internet and unlimited information help solve the media problems in corrupt countries?  By providing the population (especially women) with information and resources that were once denied, cell phones are an important tool to narrowing the disparities between genders, classes, and ethnicities. As mobile phone usage in the world increases, and as more women in cultures with deep gender divides acquire their own handsets, this could ultimately be an empowering development that seeks to create a more equal, efficient, and prosperous society and prevent developing countries from falling further behind its developed counterparts.

Re-Evaluating the Commercialization of the Microfinance Industry

More than 3 billion people (almost half the world) live using less than $2 a day... and have no access to financial services due to a lack of collateral, bad credit history, high interest rates, doubt from the bank of repayment capacity, and lack of financial infrastructure/ services in remote areas. The founder of Grameen "Village" Bank Project, Dr. Muhammed Yunus was the major impetus for the successful establishment of microcredit arrangements in many developing, in transition countries. Microfinance is an institutional innovation designed to address issues of poverty, under development and marginalization by providing poor individuals access to small amounts of loan capital. Recipients of micro-loan can start their own micro-business, generate income, accumulate assets, and can even extend their own education/ skills and maintain their personal health. Microcredit lenders like the Grameen Bank rely on trust and community peer pressure to maintain high repayment rates rather than the more traditional banking methods of meeting collateral requirements and legal enforcement of contracts.

Though the short-term poverty impact of microfinance is positive, the same cannot be said about its longer run aggregate impact. In countries like Bangladesh (where Grameen Bank started) as well as other developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia, and Latin America, it is hard to point to any localized sustainable development that has risen from the provision of microfinance over the last thirty years. Microfinance has absorbed a significant amount of international donor community resources, yet marginalization continues.  In an article in the Economist, Elizabeth Littlefield (currently OPIC's President, previously Director of Private and Finance Sector at the World Bank & Chief Executive Officer of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP)), is worried that "foreign money, public and private, is not necessarily catalyzing the creation of sustainable, savings-based financial system in poor countries."

But with the founder Muhammad Yunus told to step down from Grameen Bank and the lack of regulation in the microcredit industry has lead people to question the sustainability of microfinance. Many development economists argue that economically and socially inefficient institutions often prevail simply because it is in the interests of the powerful for this to happen. The series of civilian suicides (mainly women) from the state Andhra Pradesh in India sparked calls to create laws that will regulate the industry. Developing countries are potential critical markets that lead to the question whether it is possible to incorporate profit-making into a business that is historically in the realm of non-profit organizations and cooperatives.  For instance, the initial success of the microlending industry in India (i.e. one company SKS Micro Finance raised $350 million in an initial public stock offering) lead to a “shift away from helping the poor start new enterprises.” Rather than encouraging investments in education and promoting entrepreneurship, microfinance companies like SKS Micro Finance pushed loans with no questions asked of its purpose or whether borrowers had loans outstanding from other companies.  

The microfinance instituations' goal seemed to be to increase the number of borrowers; thus attracting the attention of big investors and banks. Consequently, people began taking out new loans simply to stay current on new ones and once they couldn’t pay them back, banks stopped lending to microfinance companies (unlike Grameen, India’s commercial lenders relied primarily on private banks) and the industry was on the verge of collapse. It was simply unsustainable and had little accountability. Just like the .com bubble crashed in the 90s and the housing market came to a tumble--- so did the microfinance industry in India. Too many Indian microfinance institutions opted for growth strategies that put their missions at risk and didn’t do much to manage such risks. With the trust system shattered, the MFI industry in India is entangled in a crisis where too many borrowers no longer feel obliged to repay their debts.  As a result, India’s government is currently working on national regulation that would include interest rate caps and closer scrutiny of credit limits as well as borrower’s incomes. These would help establish a regulatory environment conducive to the viability of microfinance.

But as microfinance gets bigger and becomes universally available, the industry is at a crossroads between its social business mission and commercial, profit making business approach.  How can microfinance institutions (MFIs) ensure that people who live on the bottom of the pyramid with meager, erratic incomes pay them back? This is a challenge. Although there is a higher rate of success with women, in a socially oppressive, gender-biased society (a common trait in developing countries), wives often take out loans for their husbands and spend their money on immediate needs for their families, rather than investments in businesses. These are important questions that international institutions and national politicians and law makers must figure out to define microfinance (profit v. non-profit), to monitor and audit microfinance institutions (make them accountable for their actions), and to find the right balance between government regulations and the free market.

#CarelessMistake? Walking over Politics and Social Media

More politicians today are using social media and technology to communicate with potential voters. Facebook and NBC announced that they will be co-hosting the Republican candidate debate before the presidential primary in New Hampshire next year. Obama held a twitter town hall a couple weeks ago and talked to viewers on facebook live with the founder Mark Zuckerberg in April. These tools provide immediate and increased interactions with voters, for better or worse. The 'Weinergate Effect' led to a 27 percent decrease in tweets by Republicans while posts from Democrats fell 29 percent. A report analyzing the scandal states "part of the danger of using social media is that a thoughtless comment can go viral and spread around the world within a matter of minutes." Thus, Tuesday’s discussion over the growing use of social media to engage Americans in the political process demonstrated the potential benefits as well as the dangers it may have on formulating the reputations and careers of our future elected officials.


Generation z (the first generation born into society that has never been without the internet) proves that social media is an essential mode of communication for politicians to grow close to their constituents. Cynics might point out that increased visibility of politician and voter interaction may not translate into power of the people through political or civic action. However, one high-profile example, NY State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. reportedly changed his opinion and supported same-sex marriage legislation because of the sheer number of people who contacted him to vote for the bill. Many of those people were encouraged by a convenient tool on gay-advocacy websites that connected users after they typed in their address and phone number to receive a call from the Senator's office. By giving more options for people to have their voices heard, these type of relatively simple technological tools have proven effective in getting past the inertia that prevents them from engaging in the political process. With the differing needs and viewpoints of people from various backgrounds, technology and social media can help mobilize people to work together. The power of facebook groups and twitter conversations to organize people to act toward a common goal can be seen in plenty of examples this year from all over the world, particularly in Egypt and part of the Middle East.


It's undeniable that technological tools continue to help break down the barriers of political participation. But in order to gain and improve voter turnout for this segment of the population, politicians are stuck with a dilemma: how much attention and effort should be expended to win over the attention of twitter followers and facebook friends? These sites are a symbolic order that allow politicians to transgress between spoken and written language, political life and personal life. Weiner, like other politicians and celebrities, found liberation from traditional cultural restraints in social networking. When Anthony Weiner first got involved with Twitter in 2009, he started without telling his “minders” who might monitor his message. New media also helps shape how politicians want to be seen by the public. On twitter, “conversations” among users are staged for a broader audience. In the past, Weiner used twitter to shout out to fellow twitterer Congresswoman Meghan McCain over mutual support of gay marriage. Like an idol obliging fans with signed photos, a politician follows back some of their diehard fans and manages to create an online persona using the same trick.


As the explosion of social networking sites like google+, facebook and twitter takes place, politicians experience an increased risk of having inappropriate messages and pictures being leaked out to the public that could ruin their careers and relationships. In the case of Rep. Weiner, he was exercising his right to free expression under the guarantee of privacy that should not have been of concern to anyone outside of the immediate situation. The twitter scandal had nothing to do with his policy-making decisions and abilities, but the incessant news reports and jokes ultimately led to his resignation.  Like Bill Clinton, Anthony Weiner had his private life invaded. In both cases, persecution was justified because they had lied. They did not lie to cover up a crime, but to cover up embarrassment. Although polls suggested Weiner’s constituents still supported him, he was banished by his party, Nancy Pelosi, and the President on the practical grounds of being a distraction from work that need to be done in Congress. As one student during class pointed out, the effect of a written confession verses a picture is drastically different. A viral photo posted on facebook of a presidential candidate doing drugs would definitely jeopardize his or her chances of winning, especially with the tendency of Americans to judge politicians based on their morals and lifestyle.


So where do we draw the line in social media political speech and ethics? Is Rep. Weiner's behavior merely inappropriate, unethical or is it protected by the First Amendment? As Congress makes internet privacy and regulation a legislative priority, legal and political discussion of how social media and the freedom of expression collide must be addressed in the future.


Once a promising candidate for mayor of New York City, Mr. Weiner showed himself an adept politician in his policy-making, but was insecure, needed constant affirmation of his importance, and (as seen in his twitter blunder) recurrently occupied our headlines for all the wrong reasons.  In his apology speech, Weiner urged the media not to blame twitter for his personal and sexual habits. We definitely shouldn’t. Weiner made a common, somewhat trivial mistake of broadcasting an intimate self-portrait to the twitter world. Like other men in their forties, politicians like ex-Congressman Weiner “lie in the sweet spot that makes them unusually prone to this sort of Social Media gaffe: too young not be fully engaged in this hyper-fast, hyper-linked world, but too old to be fully, intuitively understand its hazard.” Even the CEO of twitter admits that the microblogging company currently lacks a “clear long term vision” If we don’t know what twitter is even used for, we can’t know who puts it to the best purpose. To those who are in it, twitter is spellbinding, while others see it as a huge waste of time.


It's been around a month (or a life time in the age of twitter) since Weiner resigned and we can now put the event into perspective. There’s nothing intrinsically immoral about social media sites. But the role of federal government regulation in social media ethics must be defined. We live in a world where there is precious little privacy. Everyone from Sony to Citibank and even the CIA has been hacked. Every click of the keyboard on the internet and google search has been used to commoditize users’ information for someone else to sell or steal. It's time for government and lawmakers to keep up with the Internet Age. Considering its impact to change and organize the masses, social media sites shouldn’t be given up, but politicians who use twitter, need to improve their skills and understand how to use it to connect to their followers. 

e-Revolution in Healthcare

“Humanity’s greatest advances are not in its discoveries, but in how these discoveries are applied to reduce inequity.” –Bill Gates

When tackling the issue of the burgeoning intersection between health care and mobile technology in the developing world, it’s hard not to portray this fascinating initiative as the addition of one phenomenon, technology, to another, Africa’s poor health infrastructure. Really, it should be a combination of the two.

The headline “can new technologies help to tackle the health problems of the world’s poorest?” should not be a “silly question” as an article by The Economist implies. Though it goes against the grain of stereotype, many developing countries are awash with modern devices like cell phones and ICTs. The ubiquity of mobile phones is one of the chief reasons why many hope that new technologies (from smart phone apps to electronic health records EHRs  will revolutionize health care, empower patients and doctors, and improve outcomes while cutting costs.  

In 2008, Bill Gates stepped down from Microsoft to run his charitable foundation (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), which became one of the richest and most influential voices in global public health. Gates, too, once held the view that modern technology could not help the world’s poor. At the "Creating Digital Dividends" conference in 2000, Gates expressed his skepticism that modern technology could not help the world’s poor. “Do people have a clear view of what it means to live on 1 dollar a day? You’re just buying food. You’re trying to stay alive,” Gates told attendees of the technology conference. With a change of heart in recent years, the former head of Microsoft says, “Poor people absolutely deserve better technology,” adding that great advances for the developed world could emerge from innovations in the developing world.

Indeed, mHealth systems is transforming health care in poor countries as well as rich ones. Voxiva, an American technology firm that set up mHealth systems in Rwanda and Peru has helped launch Text4Baby, a public-health campaign to educate pregnant mothers (they receive free text messages with medical advice) that will soon become the biggest such effort in the world.

But what developing countries need most is more money for doctors, not just investments in technology. Although simpler medical tasks can be conducted by community health workers, the expertise of a doctor is necessary to avoid the slippery slope of self-diagnosis through the web. This is a case of recognizing and utilizing the best methods to provide better health case to those who need it. Integrating technology with developing health systems will prove the best way to improve the quality, speed, and breadth of coverage across the globe – not because Africans, Latin Americans, and Asians in third world countries “deserve” it, but because it works most effectively.

What's the Best Solution?

“…working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.” –International Monetary Fund (IMF)


"Our mission is to help developing countries and their people reach the goals by working with out partners to alleviate poverty." -World Bank

“Mission of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is to promote policies that will improve the economic social well-being of people around the world.” –OECD

See the similarities? These are the mission statements for the World Bank, IMF, and OECD; international organizations that have strived to reduce global poverty and raise the living standards of those in developing countries for decades. There is no doubt that these economic institutions have helped finance specific projects fostering economic development. They release a plethora of data sets and statistics used by governments to shape important economic policies and decisions, which impact the lives of billions of people around the world. Undisputedly, policy and money loans to developing countries can create economic development and create change in the standard of living for those citizens, but this can be a slow process, especially when dealing with corrupt governments. So what can the common American citizen do today to actually make a difference in a person’s life in third world countries?

Social entrepreneurs like Blake Mycoskie who founded TOMS Shoes have linked the consumer to helping a person in need. The concept of its One for One model is that for every pair of shoes purchased, the company will give a new pair to a child in over 20 different countries. Why shoes? Mycoskie’s main reason is children without shoes are susceptible to health risks such as Podoconiosis a form of elephantis that is transmitted by walking bare foot. Shoes represent one of the most basic solutions that prevent these health risks and diseases. TOMS Shoes also manufactures in Argentina, China, and Ethiopia, providing job opportunities and ensuring that these factories operate under fair labor conditions.

On June 7, TOMS Shoes showcased the expansion of its One for One model through sunglasses. For every pair of TOMS glasses, another person in the developing world receives the eye care he or she needs.

In the video, Blake Mycoskie states that TOMS originated from a single desire to help those in need. When launching the new project, the VP of TOMS Eyewear says that before going into a country (in this case Nepal), the company “works with local nonprofits and NGOs to really understand what the need is in the community before we go in and start giving.” In the words of Blake Mycoskie with “TOMS eyewear we are able to give someone the opportunity to wear a pair of shades with a much greater purpose.” Sometimes it only takes a creative, simple idea that mobilizes the support of the mass consumers to help make a difference in these developing countries.

During the guest lecture we focused on how the role technology plays with education in developing, third world countries. The speaker Mike Trucano spoke of the World Bank’s support for programs like the One Laptop per Child and the success it had in Uruguay. But the One Laptop per Child organization is often criticized for dumping computers and laptops to rural, poorer countries that lack in infrastructure and resources. These computers remain unused and seem like a waste of resources, effort, and money. In the following clip, the Chairman of OLPC Nicholas Negroponte talks about the success of the program.

The Success of the One Laptop Per Child Organization

Mr. Nicholas Negroponte contends that children often lack a passion or learning due to things like rote memorization and that the laptop taps into their passion for learning. At 3:35, he points out that if you hand a closed box to a child that has never seen a computer before, that child will open the box and have the laptop working fairly quickly. Although he states that “obviously some guided experience is going to benefit everybody, and you prefer that,” Negropante does not stress the importance enough of proper training and research involved to ensure that a community will use technology to further education and economic prosperity. In fact, his main argument for proving the success of the program lies in a few anecdotes as he fails to provide hard evidence. 


For many developing countries where computers are abundantly available, there is a problem that has less to do with a lack of computers, but a lack of skills. In the NY Times article “ Computers at Home: Educational Hope vs. Teenage Reality" economists who have measured the computer’s educational impact on schoolchildren in low-income households found that “computers seemed to have further separated children in low-income households, whose test scores often decline after the machine arrives, from their more privileged counterparts.” Economist Ofer Malamud found a “negative effect on academic achievement” and few children whose families obtained computers said they used them for homework… rather computers were used daily for playing games.

Perhaps people are approaching economic development and education in developing countries the wrong way. Shouldn’t children at least have their basic health needs met first before anything else? Sure, a serendipitous computer can provide some benefits, but is the hefty price tag worth it? With barely enough resources in the classroom such as light, school supplies, desks, notebooks, calculators, and literature in these developing countries, more money should be dedicated towards training teachers and providing essential classroom facilities for students.

An acquaintance of mine started a non-profit organization The Supply Education Group that works with local schools and community leaders in developing countries. Their mission is to “secure the education for all children, positively impact the communities, and generate income for schools to become self-sufficient. [Their] hope is that this input of resources will create a long-term ripple effect, creating local leaders, driving economies, fighting corruption and allowing communities to pull themselves out of poverty.” While reading this description from their facebook page, I couldn’t help but think of the American motto of “pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps.” 

In my personal experience, I barely used the computer until middle school and found my interest in education sparked by my elementary school teachers who always used innovative means to engage their students. Of course a computer can give you all the facts you need, but it lacks the personable attention and guidance of a mentor who genuinely wishes for their students’ success and can spark a desire to learn within children. Organizations like The Supply Education Group work with the local communities that build upon long-term goals of entrenching education into the society infrastructure while instilling a strong desire to learn within these students. In my opinion, knowing that my donations to either TOMS and other non profit organizations whom work with a specific village or group of people gives me the confidence that these resources are being effectively used to spur change and improve the living standards of people around the globe. This brings us back to the mission statements at the beginning of this post. How do global institutions like the World Bank, IMF, and OECD work to reduce global poverty? By collaborating with non profit organizations and companies that reach out to the individuals with abundant resources and means, they can help make a life-altering difference one student, teacher, and person at a time.