humanitarian aid

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Global Ideas News Brief: Should business solve society's biggest problems?

Why business can be good at solving the world's problems, escaping the cycle of scarcity, and the data revolution reaching further. Staff picks: What we're reading this week

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Value Chains

T-shirts, technology and trade: Planet Money host says experimentation, not theory, key to cutting poverty

Making t-shirts can help lift a country out of poverty, but t-shirts alone no longer cut it, according to economic journalist Adam Davidson.

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Global Ideas News Brief: Tech hubs in Libya and Egypt + Western Union goes mobile

Turmoil doesn't stop entrepreneurs in Egypt and Libya, Western Union gets further in to mobile money and land grabs may not the the most profitable option. Staff picks: What we're reading this week

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Sustainable Energy

Nom, Nom, Nom: The Earth Will Eat Itself

We're plundering the earth’s natural resources at an incredibly fast rate--so fast that the planet cannot keep pace. But innovations and investments in renewable energy offer a glimmer of hope.

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Sustainable Energy

Poverty and climate change: An interview with Eliot Levine, Mercy Corps senior climate change advisor

When Cyclone Nargis ravaged Myanmar in 2008, inundating its lowlands and killing some 138,000 people, experts blamed the severe weather conditions on climate change.

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Global Ideas News Brief: Big data for climate resilience + Costs of sanitation

Big data creates a new underclass, poor sanitation drains resources, and how cell phones are transforming healthcare in Africa. Staff picks: What we're reading this week.

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Global Ideas News Brief: Grapes in Afghanistan + Rodman in North Korea

Staff Picks: What we're reading this week. Afghan farmers face future uncertainty, Dennis Rodman talks about his N. Korea trip and the global elite's favorite strongman.

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Value Chains

Cutting the strings: Why some aid orgs want to give money away

Poor people are poor because they don’t have money. A new charity sees a simple solution: give money to those who need it most. Despite some controversy, the program has started to turn heads, largely because it might just work.

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Global Ideas News Brief: The 5 stages of innovation at scale

Staff Picks: What we're reading this week. Lessons on scaling social innovation, the business of beer meets the ugliness of war, and Google Translate adds African languages.

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Value Chains

Is charity: water the Expedia of philanthropy?

Aid agencies and their donors debate: Is it more effective for a charity to build and maintain wells or help people get loans to buy materials for wells and their upkeep? The decision might be made by the charity with the biggest coffers.

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Global Ideas News Brief: Twists on philanthropic thinking + big data

Peter Buffett questions philanthropic giving models, text messages help the urban poor and Pakistan's threat from water. Staff picks: What we're reading this week.

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Sustainable Energy

Unlocking Uganda’s potential market for fuel-efficient stoves

There’s significant demand for fuel-efficient stoves in northern Uganda, where 76 percent of the population relies on open fires for cooking. But tapping into that market is easier said than done.

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Mobile Technology

Testing the future of emergency assistance

A quiet revolution is underway to streamline the delivery of assistance to people in crisis — using the most prolific technology in the world. And it could help people become more financially literate and secure for the long-run.