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Sustainable Development

The Gift that Keeps Giving

Posted on June 24, 2008 by Kaitlin Bruno
Topics: Agriculture, Climate and Environment, Economic Development, Food, Humanitarian Aid
Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/swissfrog/632096066/">Swiss.frog's photostream (flickr)</a>
Photo: Swiss.frog's photostream (flickr)

Working Villages International (WVI) is an NGO with a unique take on how to eliminate poverty in Africa. Their new initiative, Village Reliance, aims to combat poverty directly, rather than dealing only with its effects. They want to give people the skills and tools to take control of their own lives and bring themselves out of poverty.

The goal of this program is to build a village that will be environmentally and economically self-sustainable for people living in the Ruzizi Valley of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

They are building from scratch a model village which will have full employment, private ownership of small farms and businesses, zero carbon footprint and total 100 percent recycling. This project is a practical demonstration that it’s possible to profoundly increase living standards in rural Africa without hampering local culture and ingenuity.

In the future, WVI hopes to spread these villages across the DRC and the entire continent.

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Keywords: Sustainable Development, eradicating poverty, community, Africa

From the Archives

Peacebuilding Through Sustainable Economic Development

Posted on October 4, 2007
Topics: Economic Development
Countries: Kyrgyzstan
Previously filed under: Asia, Interviews
An interview with the head of the Mercy Corps Collaborative Development Initiative in Kyrgyzstan, an economic development and peacebuilding project.
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Keywords: Mercy Corps, Sustainable Development, peace, Middle East

From the Archives

Greening Globalization

Posted on June 18, 2007
Previously filed under: Europe and Middle East, Environment
A plan to link climate change policy with biodiversity loss renews a twenty-year-old idea of sustainable development.
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Keywords: Sustainable Development, biodiversity, climate change, G8, globalization

From the Archives

Poverty and the Environment

Posted on November 1, 2006
Previously filed under: Asia, Environment
Environmental degredation and poverty alleviation are often treated as separate issues -- this article explores these divisions and suggests alternative approaches.
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Keywords: environment, poverty, globalization, development goals, Sustainable Development,

From the Archives

Man and His Endangered Home

Posted on October 2, 2006
Previously filed under: Europe and Middle East, Environment
The notion of sustainable development may pose a problem as the contradictions of fast human development and the slow conditions of evolution are combined.
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Keywords: global warming, technology, Sustainable Development, Population Growth

From the Archives

The Last Thing the Developing World Needs

Posted on November 6, 2003
Previously filed under: Asia, Agriculture
A disturbing trend is appearing in the battle for control of the world's food resources.
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Keywords: Genetically Modified Organisms, food security, hunger, developing countries, Sustainable Agriculture, Sustainable Development

Stories We're Watching
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