“On the one hand it’s crazy because when you take a course at INFOTEP, if it’s not in Santo Domingo, you can’t get a job, just a diploma… but if you do it online you get a job,” said Berkis Mateo, a former INFOTEP student from San Cristóbal, in a phone interview with The Borgen Project in September 2025, reflecting the uneven opportunities that define vocational education training centers in the Dominican Republic.
The basic premise of vocational training is simple: by equipping people with skills that the labor market rewards, it reduces unemployment while higher skill levels raise wages. But in the Dominican Republic, the effectiveness of these programs is mixed.
Dominican women face persistent inequality. According to the World Bank, they earn just 60% to 80% of men’s wages and make up nearly half of all informal workers, where jobs are unstable and underpaid. The U.N. World Food Program reports that nearly 23% of Dominicans live in poverty, with 3.5% in extreme poverty, while youth unemployment hovers above 13%.
In 2009, youth unemployment reached 28.1% among young women compared to 16.6% overall. To respond, vocational education programs like Juventud y Empleo (PJyE) trained more than 72,500 at-risk youth between 2002 and 2013, 57% of them women. However, the results highlight the urgent need for reform.
The Role of INFOTEP
Founded in 1980, the Instituto Nacional de Formación Técnico Profesional (INFOTEP) has become the country’s leading authority on vocational training. It operates independently, with input from government, employers, and labor unions. By law, every formal company contributes 1% of its payroll to INFOTEP, creating a reliable financial base unmatched by most public institutions.
INFOTEP offers more than 150 career paths, ranging from automotive mechanics and IT to hospitality, health care, construction and refrigeration. General Director Rafael Santos Badía announced in August 2024 that more than 3.8 million Dominicans have graduated from its programs since its creation, including 1.77 million young people between 2020 and 2024 alone.
Limits of Digital Access
Leunam Trinidad, the Academic Director at the Dominican Institute of Art and Design (COS) of INFOTEP and a licensed operator of a virtual INFOTEP training center, explained to The Borgen Project in an interview on September 2025 how technology is helping expand access.
“From what we offer, digital marketing works best because of the content format,” he explains. “The office software package is the hardest…because many students don’t have computers and must use their phones, which makes it very difficult.”
Virtual vocational education training centers allow people to study from anywhere in the country. Yet, the digital divide undermines the promise of digital learning. The Internet Society gave the country an overall Internet resilience score of 40% in 2024, indicating a medium capacity to withstand unexpected faults.
Many poor households lack reliable Wi-Fi, and electricity insecurity remains widespread, particularly outside major cities. This means that while online courses technically expand access, the poorest Dominicans are often excluded again. In other words, whether in person or online, poverty itself limits the benefits of even free vocational training.
How INFOTEP Programs Help
Leunam noted that his operation trains around 5,000 people each year. Like all INFOTEP programs, courses require minimum class sizes, typically 35 participants. Free programs are often oversubscribed, and thousands of applicants are turned away annually.
Since courses are free courses, they are often oversubscribed, and thousands of applicants are turned away each year. The very communities most in need are often the least able to benefit.
Vocational training contributes beyond employment. Dominican Today reports that in Puerto Plata, INFOTEP recently graduated 44 new park rangers, strengthening conservation in a country facing deforestation, erosion, and tourism pressures. It also certified 173 brigadistas, volunteers who bolster disaster response in a nation vulnerable to hurricanes, floods and preventable emergencies.
Vocational education training centers in the Dominican Republic can also play a crucial role in narrowing inequality, including the gender gap. Programs like PJyE show that women gained higher expectations of life success, greater self-esteem and improved wage demands long after training.
Stories From the Ground
But the path is uneven. Mateo’s story underscores the gap between training and opportunity. “I did a two-month internship and did not get a job because the pay was so low it only covered my bus fare from San Cristóbal to Santo Domingo,” she told The Borgen Project in a phone interview. In effect, commuting costs erased the benefits of her training and kept her trapped in underemployment, a challenge that thousands face outside the capital.
The Road Ahead
Despite its accolades, INFOTEP reflects the contradictions of Dominican society. Most advanced programs are concentrated in the most urbanized provinces, Santo Domingo and Santiago. This leaves rural provinces—where poverty is the deadliest—without access.
Institutions like the Loyola Polytechnic Institute (IPL) in San Cristóbal demonstrate another path forward. Though smaller in scale, IPL offers high-quality programs in electronics, mechatronics, and industrial design, while embedding values-based training. It highlights how partnerships beyond INFOTEP can diversify opportunities and address gaps in access. The challenge lies in scaling this success, so that opportunity extends beyond the cities to the poorest provinces.
– Shannon Garrido
Shannon is based in the United Kingdom and focuses on Politics for The Borgen Project.
Photo: Flickr
Human Rights: Remedying the South African Grant Algorithms
However, significant programs like the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) R370, a grant in which eligible South African citizens and refugees receive a stipend of $21.2 per month, are increasingly administered by grant algorithms that deny qualified recipients grants for basic goods and welfare accommodations.
Inception of the Social Relief of Distress Grant
In a first attempt to remedy this, the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) responded to the pandemic’s tumultuous economic conditions by launching an Economic Reconstruction and Recovery plan. The plan included measures to address the social distress caused by the pandemic.
By 2023, social grants served as the primary form of income for working-age South Africans living at the extreme poverty level, individuals who would otherwise collect a maximum of $40 per month in means. The stipend is available to any unemployed South African of working age. However, many eligible residents encounter demographic obstacles that make acquisition nearly impossible.
Barriers To Grant Approval
For one, the platform, which largely benefits inhabitants of rural areas populated by native speakers, is strictly available in English. Applications are only received digitally, requiring impoverished individuals to acquire a device for submission.
To receive the SRD grant, an individual’s maximum income may not exceed 624 ZAR ($35.21), significantly below the food poverty threshold. The SRD grant is administered by a digital grant algorithm that scans bank accounts and flags any indication of income.
The Automated Means Test
This process, known as the Automated Means Test, rejects qualified applicants whose accounts possess erroneous means that may not reflect sustainable income. One such miscontextualization of funds perpetually influences Brenda Mtshali, a widow and tomato vendor who scarcely makes enough to support her six children.
In her case, the grant algorithm disqualified her from benefaction, falsely arguing that her account contained a loan. In addition to this invasion of personal and financial data, the detection software misinterprets miscellaneous funds as “means” that exceed an already underrepresentative poverty threshold.
Since the inception of the Automated Means Test, the number of grant beneficiaries has decreased from 10.9 million to eight million, despite an existing eligibility pool of approximately 17 to 18 million people. In analyzing this disparity, the Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) identified an exclusion rate of 89.7%. Whereas failures on the Automated Means Test cause millions of rejections, the IEJ concluded that only 24% of cases should be eliminated in ethical circumstances.
Benefits of the Social Relief of Distress Grant
On the contrary, the beneficiaries of the stipend report significant increases in quality of living. “Mind the People,” a short film directed by Mozilla Africa Mradi (and available for streaming on YouTube), dissects the disparate qualification process by collecting testimony from individuals who reside in the rural Mountain View and Eldorado regions of South Africa.
Ntombizodwa, an individual who testifies in Mradi’s film, describes how the SRD grant allows her to live a “much better life,” providing access to toiletries, food and electricity that she previously lacked. Nonetheless, significant improvements in accessibility must be made to improve the efficacy of the program.
Researcher Response to Algorithmic Inequity
According to the IEJ Report, applicants should be permitted to submit documents supporting their petition for a grant and that means tests should be conducted over a longitudinal period to eliminate algorithmic error. To improve accessibility, the report suggests shifting to a hybrid and multilingual application model.
A 2024 document published by the European Union–Agence Française de Développement (EU-AFD) Research Facility on Inequalities proposed a new structure to improve the efficacy and sustainability of the former SRD model. The document recommended that SASSA use self-reported data to assess eligibility, increase grant amounts and establish grant permanence.
Conclusion
Ethical access to social grants in South Africa is not only an issue of socioeconomic disparity, but also a matter of social equity and justice. Whereas recent projects have advanced critical conversation about broken South African grant algorithms, many people remain excluded from the precise benefits that might salvage them from tragedy.
– Talia Gitlin
Photo: Flickr
Eco-Friendly Agricultural Innovations Led by Women in Kenya
Assistance From Action Against Hunger
The group partnered with Action Against Hunger to achieve its goal of creating a more sustainable agricultural system. The women began by learning the basics of crop cultivation, starting with corn and later expanded to onions and kale. Their progress faced numerous obstacles, including limited access to farming equipment and funds, as well as recurring droughts and infestations, all of which made achieving success significantly more challenging.
With the assistance of Action Against Hunger, the organization provided training on maintaining crops, pest management, rotational farming and drought-resistant seeds. It focused on eco-friendly strategies like intercropping, sunken garden beds and innovations in building a solar-powered water pump to help increase water retention during severe weather conditions. A fence was constructed to keep unwanted pests out of the crops.
Growing Success
Thanks to the hard work of these women in Kenya and with support from Action Against Hunger, the harvest successfully produced tomatoes, onions, sweet potatoes, hot peppers, kale and more. The Habsa Women’s Group earned a profit of approximately $463. This profit allowed the group to invest in improved farming tools and enhance its members’ livelihoods.
Women in Kenya often face restrictive gender roles that limit their income opportunities. Through this project, they helped reduce food insecurity and challenged these norms. Action Against Hunger further supported the Habsa Women’s Group, empowering the women to teach others about farming and nutrition.
The Village Savings and Loan Association
Action Against Hunger established the Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA), providing women with financial literacy training and encouraging independence. With new confidence and knowledge, they learned to manage earnings, plan for the future and strengthen their community’s economic foundation.
Participating in financial decision-making enables women to earn more. It ensures most of their income supports their families, improving overall health and well-being. Building on the success of the innovations led by women in Kenya and the Habsa Women’s Group, Action Against Hunger is expanding support to nearby communities, connecting them to additional markets in Isiolo County to increase income and business reach.
The organization also aims to boost crop yields, raise profits and enable more sustainable livelihoods for women and their families.
Looking Ahead
The success of the Habsa Women’s Group shows the great potential of eco-friendly alternatives in agriculture. It seems promising that the group will continue to grow. The use of climate-smart technology will continue to spread throughout Kenya, hopefully eventually ending the ongoing food insecurity crisis with nutritious food grown by local people in the community.
– Bowie Aldrich
Photo: Unsplash
Nano Ganesh: Remote Irrigation Empowering Farmers
The Introduction of Nano Ganesh
Farmers in India rely on motor systems to irrigate their fields. However, these motors create serious challenges. Farmers face electricity interruptions, frequent trips to the fields at night or in scorching heat and even dangers such as snake and scorpion bites. To solve these problems, Ossian Agro Automation developed the revolutionary device Nano Ganesh.
Farmers attach the Nano Ganesh device to their existing starter, which allows them to control pump sets remotely. By dialling the number of their Nano Ganesh unit and entering a simple on/off code, farmers can switch the pump on or off. The system works with any existing electrical starter and motor pump, so farmers do not need to replace their current setup. For pumps with higher horsepower, the device integrates easily with protective systems.
A few key features of Nano Ganesh are mentioned below:
Changing the Lives of Indian Farmers
Santosh Ostwal’s innovation transformed the lives of 400,000 farmers through more than 50,000 installations. The device created a remarkable impact, especially in Maharashtra. Farmers started using their mobile phones to control water pumps, marking a major ICT breakthrough in the telecom sector during 2003–04. The device also created self-employment opportunities for more than 5,000 technicians. The initiative expanded into advanced GSM-based products designed to address challenges in village and urban drinking water supply, enhanced further with analytics and cloud-enabled features.
Earning Recognition
Over the years, Nano Ganesh and its creator, Santosh Ostwal, earned several prestigious international honours. Nokia named him the Grand Winner for emerging markets in its Innovation Competition (2009). GSMA, MWC, recognised Nano Ganesh among the top seven mobile applications worldwide for socio-economic impact. In California, USA (2011), he received the Tech Award Laureate. He also won the MBillionth South Asian Award (2012) and the FICCI-DST Lockheed Martin Award under the India Innovation Growth Program. The Katerva Award, USA, nominated him in the materials resources category.
Major national and international television networks such as DD1, ET NOW, Times Now, BBC, Japan TV, FRANCE 24, STAR PLUS and NDTV featured his work. Respected publications also chronicled Santosh’s entrepreneurial journey, including The Chicken Soup for the Soul series, The Economist (London), UNFAO, World Bank reports, Agriculture Robot (a high-value reference book), GIZ Germany, and USAID.
The Future
India now enters the early stages of Agriculture 4.0, a new era of farming powered by advanced technology in the fields. By 2025, farming will run on an integrated data-driven ecosystem. Tools like smart sensors, drones, satellite monitoring and AI-powered analytics will support farmers of every scale, from smallholders in villages to large agribusinesses. These tools will help farmers make better decisions, improve food security and build farming systems strong enough to withstand climate change.
As digital solutions spread across rural India, crop yields and productivity will rise. At the same time, sustainability will take centre stage, with digital carbon tracking, efficient resource use and transparent supply chains shaping the sector. Farmers will also gain empowerment through digital platforms, blockchain-based traceability and easier access to financial resources, helping bridge long-standing inequalities.
With continuous advances in IoT, AI and satellite technologies, Indian agriculture will face global challenges such as the changing climate, population growth and resource scarcity with greater confidence. The road ahead promises a farming sector that is smarter, greener and more inclusive, a truly data-driven transformation whose moment has already arrived.
– Chhahat Kaur Gandhi
Photo: Flickr
Global Telehealth Network: Increasing Health Care Access
Health Care Challenges
More than 600 million individuals in Africa lack access to health care services. While Africa contains 16% of the world’s population and 23% of the global disease burden, it only receives 1% of global health expenditures. Africa has the highest disease burden compared to the other continents. Yet, it also has the lowest ratio of health workers to the population.
It carries nearly a quarter of the disease burden on a global scale, yet only holds around 3% of health care workers. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Africa has a mere 2.6 doctors per 10,000 people, compared to 37.6 doctors per 10,000 in Europe. In addition, an estimated deficit of 11.1 million health care employees is projected by 2030, with most of the disparity affecting Africa.
Combined with the excessive burden of disease outbreaks and largely understaffed health care facilities, Africa’s health care systems are overwhelmed and unable to serve its population equitably. Those living in sub-Saharan Africa are notably disadvantaged, with the region having the lowest ratings in well-being and satisfaction with health care services.
With most of Africa’s population residing in rural areas, their access to health care services is even more limited. In response, health organizations have partnered with local governments and introduced telemedicine services.
Telemedicine Services in Africa
Telemedicine involves using apps designed for personal communication devices like tablets and phones to deliver various health care services. Some telemedicine services offer telephonic or face-to-face communication with health care workers, SMS for treatment support or questions and online platforms to view medical records or schedule health consultations. Many companies throughout Africa and beyond are investing and creating these online platforms to better serve their communities, especially those in rural areas with limited access to health care resources.
While telemedicine does support underserved populations, this alone is insufficient to address health care concerns to the fullest extent. A key component of improving the health of underserved populations is prevention. Preventive measures are linked to lower rates of illness and mortality in cancer, chronic disease, mental health, vision, oral health and immunizations. With the combination of telemedicine and effective preventative initiatives, there is hope for improving the health of vulnerable communities.
The Global Telehealth Network
One organization that emphasizes support through telemedicine and prevention is the nonprofit organization, Global Telehealth Network (GTN). GTN was established to improve health care disparities in rural and underserved communities by assisting in health promotion and disease prevention. Volunteer doctors and psychologists for GTN help health care workers in rural areas who face complicated health issues.
The Borgen Project spoke to the President and Chief Medical Officer at GTN, Jack Higgins, about the organization’s telemedicine pilot programs and other initiatives for helping those in rural areas with a lack of access to health care resources.
Higgins said, “Somebody’s health depends as much on where they live, their family history or their cholesterol levels. Basically, by zip code, you can almost predict the average life span for people, because of the inequalities in our society and in Africa, it’s more so because the poverty is even worse. The problems with clean water are even worse and other environmental concerns and sometimes political concerns.”
Access to Medical Professionals
Considering the shortage of medical professionals, especially in rural areas, GTN has specifically focused on those regions. Higgins said, “Uganda and Kenya both have decent health systems in the cities; it’s out in the rural areas where they have almost nothing. And that’s our biggest concentration, connecting them to the people in the cities whenever possible, because they can get consultations without having to go for 10 hours or whatever to see a doctor.” Physicians can treat more patients effectively and efficiently by allowing faster health care services.
Higgins also discussed GTN’s prevention efforts in combination with telemedicine. Higgins said, “It turned out we could do this online in a way that is totally feasible, in that the cost could be much less than it would be if you had to hire a person who’s going to sit there somewhere all the time, whether their patients come in or not. So the hope is that by making preventive care really available to people, it’ll make it easier for them.”
Building Community Resources for Sustainable Health
Despite its efforts in prevention via telemedicine services, Higgins explained that these efforts will grow more effective by providing community resources: “If the kids are drinking dirty water and they’re starving, they’re malnourished, then you’re not going to go very far in terms of really helping that community. So we started partnering with other organizations that have other skills and now we’re developing these community resource centers that can offer a lot of different things.”
GTN has begun building coalitions with rotary clubs and nonprofit organizations to provide services and resources to underserved populations. These include WASH stations, libraries, Climate-smart agriculture training, solar power projects and increased internet access. However, these efforts cannot be fully implemented without proper funding.
Higgins said, “There won’t be enough money coming from the governments to do the job. A combination of philanthropy and NGOs, nonprofits like us can hopefully give them the assistance they need to create sustainable and high-quality health care systems and that’s what we’re about.”
Conclusion
The work of Global Telehealth Network shows that expanding telemedicine alongside community resources can bridge rural health care gaps. However, a lasting impact will depend on strong partnerships and sustainable funding.
– Grace Johnson
Photo: Pexels
African Vaccination Week: Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and South Sudan
The four goals of this year’s AVW were clear. The first was to reach un-immunized children through better initiatives. The second was to display the benefits of vaccines for African society. The third was to emphasize the importance of vaccines for the health care system coverage. The fourth was to increase immunization through further investment.
Sierra Leone
In Sierra Leone, celebrating AVW involved governmental action focused on minimizing national gaps in immunization. Along with support from the WHO, UNICEF and Africa’s CDC, Sierra Leone has received more than $200 million worth of support from Gavi, an international vaccine supplier.
From April 24 through May 2, Gavi assisted Sierra Leone in conducting mobile drives to vaccinate disadvantaged areas. It supplies missed dosages to children and adults, promotes positive campaigns and more.
Ethiopia
Celebrating AVW in Ethiopia began with a commemoration held at the Woreda 03 National Health Center on April 30. An area facing some of the largest historical disparities in immunization, the event was financially supported by the WHO. Among the organizations in attendance were UNICEF representatives, advocates from the Gates Foundation, Save the Children and Ethiopian leaders.
Ethiopia’s State Minister of Health, Dr. Dereje Duguma, gave a speech highlighting the importance of vaccines. Duguma also thanked the volunteer efforts that have resulted in the vaccination of hundreds of children within the Woreda region in the previous six months.
South Sudan
The 2025 AVW marked several significant advances in South Sudan’s efforts toward national immunization. South Sudan is introducing three new vaccines to its standard program this year. Gavi is helping supply South Sudan with Pneumococcal Conjugate vaccine (PCV), the Rotavirus vaccine and the second dose of Measles-Containing Vaccine (MCV2).
In addition to introducing these immunizations and with support from UNICEF and the WHO, the nation has also launched its “Big Catch-Up” initiative. Targeting 30 counties across South Sudan, the initiative is holding vaccination activities to reach untreated children.
Looking Forward
Across Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and South Sudan, the 2025 African Vaccination Week event focused on immunizing unvaccinated citizens. The AVW’s Pan-African framework has motivated ongoing vaccine efforts and improved overall health care. According to WHO data, since 2011, a cumulative 180 million lives have been saved due to health system improvements, including vaccination.
With continued support from global organizations such as UNICEF, the WHO and Gavi, immunization rates in Africa are expected to keep rising, providing greater safety in an increasingly populated world.
– Piper Aweeka
Photo: Flickr
US Aid to Nigeria: $32.5 Million To Fight Hunger
By targeting food insecurity in conflict-affected regions, the initiative highlights how American humanitarian assistance provides immediate relief while promoting stability and advancing long-term development goals.
The Hunger Crisis in Nigeria
Nigeria is experiencing a severe hunger crisis, with 30.6 million people unable to obtain enough food. On top of that, 17 million children are suffering from malnutrition, the second-highest number in the world. About 300,000 children are at risk as a result of the closure of more than 150 nutrition clinics in the states of Borno and Yobe due to a lack of funding.
Supply chains have been disrupted by insecurity. Many families can no longer afford the high cost of food due to inadequate infrastructure, high transportation expenses and significant post-harvest losses of up to 50%. Despite these obstacles, farmers continue planting in areas of relative stability. Local food is being processed and sold by women-led projects and youth-led logistics projects are starting to take shape.
U.S. aid to Nigeria will reach those who need it most. It will also strengthen local markets and agricultural systems by combining locally sourced food, cash-based assistance and targeted support for displaced populations.
The World Food Programme’s Role in Nigeria
The World Food Programme (WFP) is the largest humanitarian organization in the world. WFP helps communities recover from economic shocks, natural disasters and conflict while providing life-saving food assistance during emergencies. WFP works to improve nutrition, support smallholder farmers and strengthen local food systems in more than 120 countries.
Where possible, WFP pairs short-term assistance with livelihood programs. These programs help displaced people develop food processing, aquaculture and tailoring skills, providing them with opportunities for long-term stability. Beyond these, WFP coordinates logistics for more than 90 humanitarian organizations, provides secure communications and emergency connectivity. It also manages the U.N. Humanitarian Air Service to deliver relief supplies and personnel to isolated communities.
WFP is primarily funded by voluntary donations from governments, organizations, businesses and individuals. The nonprofit collaborates with the government, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), U.N. agencies and private sector partners to reach vulnerable populations in Nigeria. The organization has effectively decreased child malnutrition in Nigeria and offers emergency food assistance.
WFP works alongside the Nigerian government to strengthen food security policies, expand the country’s nationally owned school feeding program and build shock-responsive social protection systems.
How US Aid to Nigeria Will Address the Hunger Crisis
Despite significant cuts to U.S. foreign aid, Washington has made a new commitment. This support targets Nigeria’s northeast and northwest regions, where conflict and displacement have deepened food insecurity for hundreds of thousands. The funding arrives at a critical moment, as the WFP had warned of suspending operations due to resource shortages.
Nigeria has “unprecedented” levels of hunger, with millions at risk of malnutrition, according to WFP’s Regional Director for West Africa, Margot van der Velden. By channeling resources through WFP, the U.S. contribution helps stabilize communities on the brink of famine while reinforcing broader international efforts to support Nigeria in its hunger crisis.
– Isaac Nelson
Photo: Flickr
Lamp Of The Path: Fighting Hunger in Mongolia
Hunger and Poverty in Mongolia
Malnutrition continues to affect many Mongolians, particularly children. In 2017, 27% of children under 5 were anemic, 21% had iron deficiencies, 70% lacked sufficient vitamin A levels and 90% experienced inadequate vitamin D levels. Household food insecurity affected 65% of households in 2018, with 23% experiencing severe food insecurity. By 2022, one in four Mongolians still experienced moderate to severe food insecurity. In 2023, approximately 213,000 people endured limited food, largely due to dzuds (extreme winter weather) killing livestock, consequently causing significant challenges with food production.
Poverty compounds these challenges.Mongolia’s national poverty rate was 28.4% in 2018, but only 0.5% of citizens lived below the international poverty line. In 2021, 22% of the Mongolian population did not have access to sufficient dietary energy daily, making it challenging to live normal, active lifestyles. As the U.N. emphasized, food insecurity is largely due to economic struggles rather than physical and social access.
Lamp Of The Path
Established in 2003, Lamp of the Path (LOP) is the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition’s (FPMT) social project. The name in itself represents the light of the Buddhist teachings, guiding people on their way to the higher goal of all Mahayana Buddhists – the state of enlightenment. LOP aims to follow in the footsteps of historic Buddha Shakyamuni, who found enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree in India, later finding a medicine to cease all types of suffering.
Running for 22 years, LOP has supported some of the most vulnerable people in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital. Different food projects are run, providing both immediate food relief and sustainable nutrition, successfully fighting hunger in Mongolia. The project also provides clothing, health checks at home or in their clinic, along with toothbrushes and other essentials – helping in the fight against homelessness and poverty too.
LOP Projects
LOP opened its first project, the Soup Kitchen, in August 2003. In 2019, the kitchen served 14,793 bowls of soup to between 50 and 70 people each day. During winter, volunteers increase output to 60 liters of soup being served between 11 am and 1:30 pm. For many visitors, this remains their only guaranteed hot meal of the day, an essential step in fighting hunger in Mongolia.
In 2022, LOP expanded its reach with the Mobile Kitchen Project. After identifying extreme poverty in nearby areas, volunteers began delivering 20 hot meals to elderly and disabled people, along with fresh fruit and vegetables from the gardens. This often extends to those who simply cannot visit the Soup Kitchen, ensuring inclusivity in fighting hunger in Mongolia.
In the past decade, LOP launched a Vegetable Garden Project that produces fresh vegetables and fruit for both their Soup Kitchen and Mobile Kitchen. The Vegetable Garden supplements meals for vulnerable families and reduces reliance on imported produce. Because of dzuds, LOP grows their fruit and vegetables in summer, focusing on crops that can be preserved for the winter. This Project is a crucial step in fighting hunger in Mongolia year-round.
Conclusion
Lamp Of The Path demonstrates how grassroots organizations can provide both emergency relief and long-term solutions. Through its Soup Kitchen, Mobile Kitchen and Vegetable Garden Projects, LOP directly supports vulnerable communities while reducing poverty and malnutrition. By combining compassion with practical action, the organization continues to play a vital role in fighting hunger in Mongolia and building resilience for the future.
– Rebecca Lamb-Busby
Photo: Flickr
Relieving Poverty in Tunisia Through the AMEN Program
What Does the AMEN Money Go Toward?
AMEN targets poverty in Tunisia through transferring money to its most vulnerable citizens. More than 333,000 households currently receive these cash transfers. Multidimensional poverty levels determine eligibility. In other words, income is not the only factor; access to health services, education and housing is also considered.
Free or subsidized health care is also offered through AMEN. About 620,000 people receive subsidized health care in addition to those receiving free health care. Accessible health care is one of the many ways AMEN goes beyond a “poverty relief” program; it invests in Tunisian’s health and futures to target inequality.
The economy has suffered greatly since the spread of COVID-19 in 2020. Economic growth was at 0% in 2023 and 1.4% in 2024. Unemployment rates reached 16% in 2024, which is quite high. During the pandemic, AMEN provided temporary money transfers to 900,000 households to help families stay afloat.
Empowering Women Through Financial Freedom
Women are often some of the most vulnerable in a population, particularly in low-income areas and those in traditional households who may depend on men to provide financially. AMEN provides opportunities for single women or those whose husbands can no longer work due to illness, death, imprisonment or any other factor.
Mothers no longer have to stress about feeding their children or keeping the household running with AMEN. Women make up more than 50% of households that receive cash transfers. The peace of mind that can only come from financial freedom is invaluable and a necessary step in breaking generational cycles of poverty and inequality.
Sponsoring Children’s Education
Poverty in Tunisia directly affects a child’s ability to attend and excel in school. School supplies can be expensive, an extra cost that families can’t afford. In other circumstances, some low-income families do not prioritize education for their children; instead, they expect them to help earn money for the family instead of attending classes.
AMEN recognizes the importance of education and supports children’s learning through their stipends. One hundred forty-eight thousand children are currently supported by AMEN and encouraged to go to school through the $10 per month stipend.
Moving Forward
AMEN seeks to improve its ability to help those experiencing poverty in Tunisia by revising its systems to determine who is eligible for the program. Ongoing research to strengthen knowledge around social protection is also being done. Continuing to improve AMEN will undoubtedly increase the quality of life for these individuals.
– Sydney Uhl
Photo: Flickr
Vocational Education Training Centers in the Dominican Republic
The basic premise of vocational training is simple: by equipping people with skills that the labor market rewards, it reduces unemployment while higher skill levels raise wages. But in the Dominican Republic, the effectiveness of these programs is mixed.
Dominican women face persistent inequality. According to the World Bank, they earn just 60% to 80% of men’s wages and make up nearly half of all informal workers, where jobs are unstable and underpaid. The U.N. World Food Program reports that nearly 23% of Dominicans live in poverty, with 3.5% in extreme poverty, while youth unemployment hovers above 13%.
In 2009, youth unemployment reached 28.1% among young women compared to 16.6% overall. To respond, vocational education programs like Juventud y Empleo (PJyE) trained more than 72,500 at-risk youth between 2002 and 2013, 57% of them women. However, the results highlight the urgent need for reform.
The Role of INFOTEP
Founded in 1980, the Instituto Nacional de Formación Técnico Profesional (INFOTEP) has become the country’s leading authority on vocational training. It operates independently, with input from government, employers, and labor unions. By law, every formal company contributes 1% of its payroll to INFOTEP, creating a reliable financial base unmatched by most public institutions.
INFOTEP offers more than 150 career paths, ranging from automotive mechanics and IT to hospitality, health care, construction and refrigeration. General Director Rafael Santos Badía announced in August 2024 that more than 3.8 million Dominicans have graduated from its programs since its creation, including 1.77 million young people between 2020 and 2024 alone.
Limits of Digital Access
Leunam Trinidad, the Academic Director at the Dominican Institute of Art and Design (COS) of INFOTEP and a licensed operator of a virtual INFOTEP training center, explained to The Borgen Project in an interview on September 2025 how technology is helping expand access.
“From what we offer, digital marketing works best because of the content format,” he explains. “The office software package is the hardest…because many students don’t have computers and must use their phones, which makes it very difficult.”
Virtual vocational education training centers allow people to study from anywhere in the country. Yet, the digital divide undermines the promise of digital learning. The Internet Society gave the country an overall Internet resilience score of 40% in 2024, indicating a medium capacity to withstand unexpected faults.
Many poor households lack reliable Wi-Fi, and electricity insecurity remains widespread, particularly outside major cities. This means that while online courses technically expand access, the poorest Dominicans are often excluded again. In other words, whether in person or online, poverty itself limits the benefits of even free vocational training.
How INFOTEP Programs Help
Leunam noted that his operation trains around 5,000 people each year. Like all INFOTEP programs, courses require minimum class sizes, typically 35 participants. Free programs are often oversubscribed, and thousands of applicants are turned away annually.
Since courses are free courses, they are often oversubscribed, and thousands of applicants are turned away each year. The very communities most in need are often the least able to benefit.
Vocational training contributes beyond employment. Dominican Today reports that in Puerto Plata, INFOTEP recently graduated 44 new park rangers, strengthening conservation in a country facing deforestation, erosion, and tourism pressures. It also certified 173 brigadistas, volunteers who bolster disaster response in a nation vulnerable to hurricanes, floods and preventable emergencies.
Vocational education training centers in the Dominican Republic can also play a crucial role in narrowing inequality, including the gender gap. Programs like PJyE show that women gained higher expectations of life success, greater self-esteem and improved wage demands long after training.
Stories From the Ground
But the path is uneven. Mateo’s story underscores the gap between training and opportunity. “I did a two-month internship and did not get a job because the pay was so low it only covered my bus fare from San Cristóbal to Santo Domingo,” she told The Borgen Project in a phone interview. In effect, commuting costs erased the benefits of her training and kept her trapped in underemployment, a challenge that thousands face outside the capital.
The Road Ahead
Despite its accolades, INFOTEP reflects the contradictions of Dominican society. Most advanced programs are concentrated in the most urbanized provinces, Santo Domingo and Santiago. This leaves rural provinces—where poverty is the deadliest—without access.
Institutions like the Loyola Polytechnic Institute (IPL) in San Cristóbal demonstrate another path forward. Though smaller in scale, IPL offers high-quality programs in electronics, mechatronics, and industrial design, while embedding values-based training. It highlights how partnerships beyond INFOTEP can diversify opportunities and address gaps in access. The challenge lies in scaling this success, so that opportunity extends beyond the cities to the poorest provinces.
– Shannon Garrido
Photo: Flickr
HIV/AIDS in Slovenia: A Case of Universal Treatment
HIV/AIDS in Slovenia has failed to escalate into a dominant issue, largely thanks to significant progress in addressing broader inequality, with Slovenia having one of the lowest income inequalities in the European Union. With this foundation, Slovenia is a great illustration of how reducing social and economic inequality has helped to mitigate HIV/AIDS rates.
A Foundation of Effective Treatment
As of 2022, the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of the Slovenian population between 15-49 was 0.1%, with the most affected group being men who have sex with men (MSM). While there was a rapid increase in MSM cases by 2008, prevalence has remained low due to strong, universal access to treatment which encompasses Slovenian citizens and migrants with employment status.
Strong public health frameworks across the country ensures access to treatment is viable for most of the population with citizens, migrant workers, asylum seekers and refugees receiving comprehensive medical services, including HIV care.
The Infectious Disease Clinic at the medical faculty for University of Ljubljana leads the way for active antiretroviral therapy with voluntary clinics and testing centers available across the country to ensure treatment can be effective through early diagnosis.
Prioritizing Prevention Key to Success
Alongside universal access to treatment, continuous focus on prevention has enabled transmission rates to be continuously low, promoting safe behavior regarding sexual activity. The Institute of Public Health in Slovenia has continued to promote educational messages annually to align with World AIDS Day, encouraging awareness through mainstream public health messages to destigmatize the issue.
Initiatives in primary and secondary schools have also contributed to an effective prevention strategy, distributing HIV education materials and encouraging condom use more broadly. A significant increase in condom use in Slovenia demonstrated that, at least in heterosexual contexts, HIV related promotion surrounding condom use was effective. Despite the culmination of these disparate efforts succeeding in maintaining low HIV prevalence, deep-rooted stigmas remain that threaten to entrench social inequalities.
The Power of Stigma
There is an evident stigma attached to HIV/AIDS in Slovenia, which relates to broader conservatism in the country. While that has gradually receded, it is still prominent. A significant number of people in Slovenia conceal their HIV-positive status out of fear of discrimination. Lingering stigma and discrimination are one of the primary barriers in completely eradicating HIV infections, including discrimination within public health care settings.
Slovenia holds solutions to these issues though and one includes the work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Legebitra is an NGO based in Slovenia’s capital city of Ljubljana. It has spearheaded programs surrounding HIV prevention and treatment since 2009, opening multiple HIV and STI testing clinics across Ljubljana and other major cities in Slovenia.
It is not only testing where Legebitra has made an impact, but its educational programs are vital at addressing stigmatized issues. Its “HIV+” program has provided counselling to people living with HIV, as well as increasing awareness of taboo subjects which endanger marginalized groups. Crucially, Legebitra offers its testing services and educational programs for free, ensuring that people living in poverty do not suffer the intersectional consequences of low socio-economic status and discrimination.
A Nation Moving Forward
Grassroots, community-based educational messaging and maintaining accessible treatment for deprived groups has softened stigma surrounding HIV. There is a correlation between poverty rates and HIV prevalence, stemming from socio-economic inequalities affecting vulnerable populations such as migrants and the unemployed. Slovenia’s health care policy of providing comprehensive HIV care to migrant workers and asylum seekers has enabled marginalized communities to have access to sufficient care, demonstrating that Slovenia’s progress towards social progression has helped to mitigate HIV infections.
Focusing on cases involving MSM has proved a prudent strategy, with HIV prevalence remaining low despite the initial increase in cases from 2006. Efforts made to psychologically support vulnerable groups at risk from HIV and provide free treatment has supplemented Slovenia’s broader trend of mitigating inequalities and ensuring that while HIV/AIDS in Slovenia is not a universal problem, everyone has the universal right to access help.
– Oscar McClintock
Photo: Unsplash