Humanitarian Aid

A ventor illegally sells bags of charcoal on the side of the road. Photo: <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/sgregory35/2790647029/">Scott Gregory Photography (flickr)</a>

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Malawi's Charcoal Dependency

Charcoal is Malawi's cheapest energy source, but local dependency on charcoal fuel is stripping the country's forests.

Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/attila/112812695/">Atti-la (flickr)</a>

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With Strings Attached

Traditionally, government-sponsored social assistance programs usually follow a straightforward model of giving money to qualified citizens. But what if the programs asked for something in return?

The Super MoneyMaker Pressure Pump by KickStart can irrigate up to 2 acres of land. Photo: <a href="http://www.kickstart.org/products/super-moneymaker/">KickStart</a>

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Real Good, Not Feel Good

What does someone in poverty need most?

Paul Polak leads a talk on affordable technology design for developing areas <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/poptech2006/2966654473/">KrisKrug (flickr)</a>

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Seeing the Poor as Customers

"Most of us look at the 1 billion men, women and children in the world who live on less than a dollar a day and see poor people," writes BusinessWeek. "But Paul Polak sees market failure."

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Keeping with a UN target of committing 0.7 percent of national income to alleviating poverty and hunger, Jose Luis Rodriquez Zapatero the prime minister of Spain has pledged 1 billion euros to strengthen food security around the world.

The information from the soil map could help this Tanzanian woman farm with better fertilzers and increase her harvest. Photo: vredeseilanden (flickr)

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Mapping for Change

We have elevation maps, weather maps, and population maps. So why not soil maps? It may be the key to the food security of an entire continent.

A Palestinian man looks out towards destroyed buildings following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/farshadebrahimi/3159835222/in/photostream/">Amir Farshad Ebrahimi (flickr)</a>

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Gazans Digging To Survive

A stated aim of Israel's military strikes in Gaza was to destroy underground tunnels between Egypt and Gaza because they're used by Hamas to smuggle in weapons.

A group of gypsies on a street corner in Dhaka. Photo: <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/advanidhaka/2726225260/">A@Dhaka (flickr)</a>

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As Simple as a Conversation

The Brooks World Poverty Institute is holding a conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh about adapting cities to climate change. But it's not what they're talking about that's revolutionary, it's who's doing the talking.

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Adding Resilience as a Tool to Address Food Crises

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has developed a new tool to measure the state of a country's food system and its ability to withstand global shocks.

A Royal Caribbean cruise ship docked in Labadie. Photo: <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/robinh00d/2796431300/">Rob Inh00d (flickr)</a>

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A Tale of Two Haitis

It's not an uncommon theme in the Caribbean: Beyond the most beautiful shorelines exists some of the most extreme poverty in the world.

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Mercy Corps Aid Delivery Reaches Gaza

Despite Israel’s commitment to establishing a humanitarian corridor and daily three-hour ceasefire, delivering humanitarian supplies to the Gaza Strip has been a challenge.

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Civilians Struggle In Gaza

Given the frequently gloomy headlines regarding the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, many may not be surprised to hear of the latest violence in the region.

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The Season to Help Others

When I talk to friends here in Portland, in other parts of Oregon and throughout the Northwest, I'm hearing stories unlike any I've heard for a long time. People are worried about the economy, and many are uncertain about what the future holds for their families.

It's children like these girls that may never recieve the free medicine from aid groups like Unicef, because of the thriving black market. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/travlr/83146114/">Travlr (flickr)</a>

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Hidden Camera Exposes Corruption

BBC investigative reporter Sorious Samura uses a hidden camera to confront pharmacists selling Unicef-provided drugs distributed by Unicef in Sierra Leone. The drugs were intended to be distributed free of charge.

A Congolese woman recovers at a hospital in Goma, DRC. Photo: <a href=" http://www.flickr.com/photos/endrevestvik/2373350227/">Endre Vestvik (flickr)</a>

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Addressing Rape in the Congo

Congo has the world's biggest deposits of gold, copper, diamonds, and tin. Its dramatic mountain landscapes once inspired Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn’s romantic saga in The African Queen.