Global Envision | The Confluence of Global Markets and Poverty Alleviation

Lebanon’s banking system has helped ease the pressures of the financial crisis within the nation. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/thriol/38619497/">thriol (flickr)</a>

share

Lebanon's "Conservative Reflex"

Lebanon’s economy grew by 9 percent last year, one of seven nations to show positive economic growth in the midst of a

share

The Emotional Toll of Letting Employees Go

I don't think anyone would say it's easy to tell someone they no longer have a job. Especially Shelly Polum, an executive with Ram Tool, a small tool-and-die-cast manufacturer in Grafton, Wisconsin.

A Mongolian herder at work. The drop in demand for cashmere made from the soft fibers of Mongolian goats is putting many herders out of work. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dersmee/213525073/in/set-72157594344690942/">Smee (flickr)</a>

share

Downturn in the Gobi

The global economic downturn seems to be hitting every corner of the world — including the Gobi desert in Mongolia.

Many New Yorkers line up for a tasty and inexpensive snack at one of the city's many street carts. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/roberttorzynski/2806795571/">btorzyn (flickr)</a>

share

Lost your NYC job? Become a street vendor

Job losses in New York City has created a black market in a commodity you might not expect: street vending permits.

FC Barcelona is one of the largest soccer clubs in the world. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/foraggio/302640508/">Foraggio Fotographic (flickr)</a>

share

Soccer Kicks More than Just a Ball

Soccer club FC Barcelona and Fox Soccer Channel — America's leading broadcaster of worldwide soccer — are teaming up with the non profit Malaria No More

A new mobile technology is helping battle HIV in Biwindi, Uganda where most people walked days through the tough terrain to get medical care. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/youngrobv/2282046318/">youngrobv (Rob & Ale)</a>

share

Uganda's New Mobile Technology

Could you imagine having to walk a full day to get medical care, and then wait weeks to learn your test results?

ATMs Abiding by Islam. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tripu/302268240/">トリプ tripu (flickr)</a>

share

Goodbye Piggy Banks, Hello Working ATMs

In Iraq and need cash? It's not easy. All banking has to be done in person at the branch where you hold an account, your salary is paid in cash — not check — and a Visa card won't buy you anything at the market. It's almost not worth graduating from your childhood piggy bank.

share

Has Change Finally Come For Cuba?

Earlier this month, Obama began taking the first small yet significant steps to implementing a different relationship with the island by signing new measures into law.

Pirates stock up on goats, cigarettes and other supplies when they return to shore. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/charlesfred/62784891/">CharlesFred (flickr)</a>

share

Piracy Boosts Somali Economy

Piracy along Somalia's coastline represents a very lucrative business — as the pirates collectively earned an estimated $150 million in 2008 — but what is piracy's effect on Somalia's

For many local business owners in Syria, they hope that the economic transition will improve business and living standards. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hazy_jenius/2104095266/">hazy jenius (flickr)</a>

share

Shaping a New Syria

Syria’s economy is undergoing some real changes. Once known for its socialist policies, Syria is now attempting to spur economic growth through market-based reforms. While such growth is expected to boost Syria's income, experts differ on how, or if, they believe money will reach the poor.

share

The Roots of Green Living

Are the people who've lived on this planet the longest the best-suited to protect it?

Liza O’Reilly thinks so.

share

Six Years in Iraq and Still Counting

It's been six years since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. In recent months, stability has improved, but the gains will unravel unless progress is made toward strengthening the economy.

A young girl walking on the outskirts of Kibera, the largest slum in Africa. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lo_/402495067/in/photostream">subcomandanta (flickr)</a>

share

Is Foreign Aid Helping Or Hurting Africa?

More than $50 billion of foreign aid is given to African countries every year to address poverty on the continent.

A new demographic survey on foreign workers in the US shows that the largest number of foreign-borne doctors are from India and nurses are from the Philippines. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/interplast/1535149053/">Sara Anderson (flickr)</a

share

Is Your Doctor from India and His Nurse Filipino?

There are an estimated 17,553,000 foreign workers in the United States.

share

Black Carbon Second-Leading Cause of Climate Change

Wood-burning cook stoves, diesel engines and coal plants are the primary emitters of black carbon — and the second-leading contributor to warming temperatures. It's estimated that black carbon is responsible for 18 percent of the atmosphere's warming.