Global Ideas News Brief: Red Cross aid scandal

Red Cross and Haiti

How the Red Cross Raised Half a Billion Dollars for Haiti ­and Built Six Homes
ProPublica
Even as the group has publicly celebrated its work, insider accounts detail a string of failures

In Search Of The Red Cross' $500 Million In Haiti Relief
NPR
When a devastating earthquake leveled Haiti in 2010, millions of people donated to the American Red Cross. The charity raised almost half a billion dollars. It was one of its most successful fundraising efforts ever.

The Charity Trap
Stanford Social Innovation Review
Why a recent exposé on Red Cross failures in Haiti highlights unrealistic expectations for social sector organizations.

“Ultrapoor”

Upward Mobility for the World’s Destitute
NYT Fixes
The difference between poor and ultrapoor isn’t just one of degree. Being ultrapoor has an extra component: it is a trap so deep, people can’t take advantage of ways to improve their lives. BRAC’s program helps the most destitute “graduate” from poverty, and it’s being scaled and studied around the world.

Rural solar light

Zanzibar's 'Solar Mamas' flip the switch on rural homes, gender roles
PRI
Take a step back from Zanzibar’s white sand beaches and big hotels and you’re in a very different world. One where the island’s dusty, inland villages largely go dark once the sun sets. This is when the differences between people who have electricity and those who don’t are most pronounced.

Life without light in rural India: why solar lanterns can't compete with the grid
The Guardian
After living in a part-electrified village in Odisha, Jamie Cross learned that it will take more than solar lamps to bring energy equality to impoverished communities

Migrants

Playing politics with migrants – on both sides of the Mediterranean
BeyondBrics
Over the past 18 months, hundreds of thousands of desperate migrants have paid smugglers to set sail from Libya on barely seaworthy boats headed northward towards Europe.

Impact

Moving Beyond Vanity Metrics
Stanford Social Innovation Review
To achieve greater impact, membership and advocacy organizations must find new ways to measure engagement.

Building a Bigger Tent for Effective Philanthropy
Stanford Social Innovation Review
By embracing a more-inclusive outreach approach, effective philanthropy advocates can attract more funders.

Fossil fuels

IMF: 'True cost' of fossil fuels is $5.3 trillion a year
PRI
A new report from the International Monetary Fund says global use of fossil fuels costs taxpayers and consumers $5.3 trillion year. That’s trillion — with a T.

New systems

Creating a Level Playing Field for Social Innovators in Africa
Stanford Social Innovation Review
By supporting local innovators, we can solve more social problems and deepen our access to new systems thinking.