Timor-Leste, one of Southeast Asia’s youngest nations, continues to grapple with a range of social and economic challenges, one of which is the gender wage gap. Despite progress in political representation and laws promoting equality, women in Timor-Leste frequently earn less than men, limiting their economic independence and the nation’s growth potential. Addressing the gender […]
Niger has one of the lowest HIV rates in sub-Saharan Africa – but experts warn that low prevalence does not mean low risk. Behind the calm statistics lies a fragile health system, deep gender disparities and poverty that magnifies every infection. According to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), as of 2020, about […]
According to the Bertelsmann Stiftung Country Report (2022), 7.36% of the Taiwanese population is relatively impoverished. In other words, the poverty rate in Taiwan is relatively low. The low rate may be due to Taiwan’s strict definition of poverty. However, there is a cultural significance that expresses the value of well-being in humanity. For example, […]
Healthy soil is at the heart of the food system, yet its decline is putting billions of lives at risk. For communities that rely on agriculture, fertile land is not just valuable; it’s essential. The impact of soil degradation on global poverty often goes unnoticed, but it impacts food security, economic stability and well-being worldwide. […]
Until recently, Costa Rica had one of the highest child marriage rates in Latin America, affecting more than 359,000 girls nationwide. About one in six young women married before turning 18. Poverty, social inequality and cultural norms that limited girls’ autonomy often drove these early unions. In the past few years, child marriage in Costa […]
In 2025, Australia is introducing new legislation to address the volatile housing market in Australia, which is affecting the country’s growing unhoused population. Australia is focusing on enforcing a new bill, which the Australian Capital Territory Greens leader, Shane Rattenbury, introduced. Now that Australian law has deemed the housing crisis inhumane, sufficient action to resolve […]
When Dorothy, a young woman from Hopley, a suburb of Harare, dropped out of school, she believed her chances at a stable future had ended. Jobs were scarce and her family struggled to make ends meet. But through a short vocational course offered under the USAID-GOAL Uplift II program, she learned baking, catering and entrepreneurship […]
Recent data from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) indicates a steady increase in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) enrollment from 2020 to 2024. Over the last five years, from 2020 to 2024, the TVET Sector in the Philippines has shown a “consistent upward trend” in both enrollment and graduation outcomes. […]
For a substantial portion (approximately 21.7% or 1.5 million in 2024) of Bulgaria’s population, poverty is an inescapable reality. Vulnerable citizens, especially Romani people, are born into families with little access to basic needs, such as education, housing and employment, further maintaining the cycle of systemic inequality. Recently, however, the nation’s government and nonprofits have […]
Elderly poverty in Togo is a serious and often overlooked issue. Public discussions usually center on youth employment or general health, leaving out many older citizens, especially those who worked in informal jobs without retirement benefits. This article looks at the institutional and social factors behind elderly poverty in Togo and shows how reforms and […]
