Tag: Hunger and Food Insecurity

Women Need the Afghan Adjustment Act

Thousands of Afghan women entered the United States as part of Operation Allies Welcome. Still, they continue to be hampered by the lack of a simple, straightforward and reliable way to obtain permanent legal status and to become citizens.

Congress can change that by passing the Afghan Adjustment Act (AAA), which was reintroduced this summer by a bipartisan group of senators and representatives. AAA would allow Afghans paroled into the United States to apply for their green cards, provided they met basic background checks and other eligibility requirements.

A Government Shutdown Would Be Deadly for Hungry and Food-Insecure Americans

Congress is once again at a complete gridlock, barreling toward a government shutdown. Pundits are placing bets about the length of a potential shutdown, which party will cave first, and which government programs will be brought to a standstill.

But what has been minimized by some as merely a political temper tantrum will also have a deep and scarring impact on the 40 million Americans facing hunger.

Programs like SNAP, WIC and the child tax credit work effectively when they are sufficiently funded. Oh, and every dollar invested in WIC generates about $2.50 in healthcare cost savings. Shouldn’t this be a no-brainer?

In Series ‘Front and Center,’ Moms Share How Guaranteed Income Changed Their Lives

Back for its third year, Front and Center is a groundbreaking Ms. series that offers first-person accounts of Black mothers living in Jackson, Miss., receiving a guaranteed income. First launched in 2018, the Magnolia Mother’s Trust is about to enter its fifth cohort, bringing the number of moms served to more than 400 and making it the longest-running guaranteed income program in the country. Across the country, guaranteed income pilots like MMT are finding that recipients are overwhelmingly using their payments for basic needs like groceries, housing and transportation.

Beginning tomorrow, then twice monthly, you’ll hear directly from MMT moms on how the year of guaranteed income has impacted their life. We’ll hear from MMT alumni, as well as women in the current cohort, who will share their goals for the year and hopes for their future.

Two Years After the Taliban Takeover, an Afghan Girl Is Holding On to Hope: ‘I Am Young, But I Am Everything for My Family’

Last summer, almost one year after the Taliban takeover, I spoke to 17-year-old Farzana about her life in Kabul. Now, two years since the U.S. withdrew their troops, Farzana, 18, feels she has very little to live for.

“It has been two years and the future looks dark. It’s not being alive, and not being dead. We have permission for neither. … I had the hope to be a great athlete and leader in the world—a leader for Afghan women. These are still my hopes and my goals, and even in this hard situation, I am doing my best to get an opportunity to find a university outside of Afghanistan.”

Who Do We Call to Solve Our Most Complex Problems? Vice President Harris

Vice President Harris and Israeli President Isaac Herzog just announced $70 million in funding—half from the U.S. and half from Israel—for climate-smart agriculture to capture, store, use and protect water resources in the Middle East and Africa. And it’s no accident a project like this was put forward by the first female vice president in United States history who is a woman of color.

Who Was Dealt Out of the Debt Ceiling Deal?

On June 3, President Biden signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA) into law, allowing Americans to breathe a sigh of relief that we managed to avoid a catastrophic economic situation. But to agree to this compromise, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) insisted on several detrimental and dangerous changes to anti-poverty programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

Plain and simple, these changes will increase hunger and hardship among the most vulnerable Americans. As usual, their impact will be felt most acutely by women, particularly women of color. The debt ceiling bill was far from perfect, and the fight for justice is far from over.

Women Displaced by Climate Change Are Telling Us What They Need. It’s Past Time for Us To Listen.

Women and girls account for 80 percent of the people displaced by climate change. In Somalia, laws that limit women’s abilities to own assets mean they have less access to economic opportunities and tend to depend more on natural resources for their livelihoods, which makes them more vulnerable to displacement.

Once women are displaced, not only do they have to survive, they have to care for their families, all while evading the heightened risk of violence.

Why a Global Treaty Would Help End Violence Against Women and Girls

Ms. contributor Michelle Onello and co-founder of Every Woman Treaty, Lisa Shannon, discuss the causes and consequences of the recent rise in violence against women and girls, why a global treaty is necessary to meet their needs worldwide, and the prospects for moving forward with a treaty in the current political climate.

“In the absence of a global framework, we are allowing generations of frontline women’s rights activists to be stalked, harassed, beaten, murdered and chased out of their countries and forced to live in exile.”