According to the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), the Indian state of Bihar is the most impoverished state in terms of multidimensional poverty. Poverty in Bihar goes beyond a lack of income; it reflects an impoverished state of health, education and living standards.
Bihar is heavily reliant on agriculture for its economic survival. However, with 73% of its area designated as flood-prone, the state’s people find themselves stuck in a vicious cycle of survival and sustenance. It has been noted that 76% of the population lives under the recurring threat of floods.
Despite the recurrent cycle of ruin and revival, the people of north Bihar, specifically in Madhubani District, have found a way to use their indigenous knowledge and Madhubani art tradition to generate income. Madhubani art, a distinctive folk art form originating in the region and also known as Mithila painting, has grown from a purely cultural expression into a livelihood that now sustains tens of thousands of families.
From Tradition to Economic Empowerment
Madhubani art originated in the villages of Mithila long before the modern era, where women decorated mud walls and floors with elaborate patterns expressing mythology, nature and community life. The art is defined by bold lines, bright, often natural colors and intricate geometric motifs depicting gods, animals, wedding scenes and ritual imagery.
As droughts struck rural Bihar in the mid-20th century, artists began transferring this heritage onto paper, cloth and canvas, a transformation that unlocked commercial horizons. Today, Madhubani art manifests across surfaces from canvas and handmade paper to sarees, notebooks and decorative homeware, giving artisans access to urban markets, exhibitions and global tourism.
Economic Impact: Numbers That Matter
Recent government records indicate that this traditional craft now provides regular income support to artisan families in Madhubani district. This support also extends to other surrounding areas, far beyond its original birthplace. In core hubs such as Jitwarpur, nearly 70% of local families depend on the sale of Madhubani art for income, with many artists coming from low-income backgrounds.
Formal support measures have also made tangible gains. More than 5,000 artisans in the region have applied for specialized artisan credit cards designed to help them access loans for materials, training and other business needs. Tax policy reforms have reduced the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on handicrafts from 12% to 5%, making artworks more affordable for buyers and providing greater earnings stability for artisans.
Though precise income figures can vary widely by artist and medium, studies of artisan households show that sales revenues often constitute a major share of family earnings. The revenues help cover daily expenses, schooling and health care, providing breakthroughs for communities once mired in seasonal migrant labor. Moreover, success in Madhubani art has given women greater public visibility.
Many women now represent their communities at fairs, exhibitions and cultural events across India and abroad, breaking social norms that once confined them to the home. Women artisans report greater influence over family finances, improved household decision-making power and a stronger ability to invest in their children’s education, outcomes that can improve household well-being and reduce economic vulnerability.
Government Programs and Policy Support
The Bihar government has launched handicraft promotion campaigns and training programs to improve design quality, market access and digital selling skills for rural artisans. It aims to transform the craft into a sustainable enterprise. Nonprofit and livelihood programs, such as Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (Jeevika), have also engaged Madhubani artists, linking them to broader rural development and poverty-alleviation strategies.
Such initiatives typically emphasize skills development, collective marketing and cooperative organization to empower artisans economically and socially. Government programs have helped transform this cultural skill into economic opportunity. The National Handicrafts Development Program funded a $1.1 million craft village in Jitwarpur.
The program created artist stalls, training centers and tourism infrastructure that reduce dependence on intermediaries. Meanwhile, Bihar’s JEEViKA self-help groups have enabled rural women artists to access credit, expand production and negotiate better prices. Despite these gains, artists and observers note ongoing challenges.
These include limited year-round demand, exploitation by middlemen and uneven institutional backing, indicating that more coordinated policy is still needed for long-term sustainability.
Changing the Narrative
The growing value of Madhubani art extends beyond individual households. Local tourism circuits, craft villages and cultural initiatives attract visitors interested in heritage experiences, catalyzing secondary employment in hospitality and travel. Artisans have also benefited from global interest, with works reaching buyers in the U.S., Europe and Japan and appearing in prestigious cultural forums and museum collections.
This blend of heritage preservation, gender empowerment and economic diversification offers a replicable model for other rural communities seeking to leverage cultural capital into sustainable development.
A Work in Progress
Despite notable strides, deep rural poverty has not vanished. Many households still supplement art earnings with agricultural or migration income and the market continues to fluctuate with seasonal and economic cycles. Yet, for villages once marked by limited livelihood options, Madhubani art has expanded economic horizons, giving thousands of families greater stability and hope.
Poverty in Bihar has not disappeared, but the shift from single-source farm income to diversified art-based earnings has improved household stability. It also reduced migration pressures and created one of Bihar’s few homegrown rural creative economies.
– Sayanee Mandal
Sayanee is based in Glasgow, UK and focuses on Good News for The Borgen Project.
Photo: Unsplash
Diagnostic Tampons: Fighting Cervical Cancer in Latin America
Positively, vaccines for this disease are extremely effective, when administered at a young age HPV vaccine prevents infection, cervical cancer and other HPV-related disorders. The World Health Organization (WHO) has the goal to reduce the number of annual cases of cervical cancer to fewer than four per 100,000 women. Despite having such effective vaccines, a major issue lies with the accessibility and distribution of diagnostic tests and the subsequent intervention provision.
Cervical Cancer in Latin America
While the WHO’s elimination goal is ambitious, the reality for Latin America tells a different story – cervical cancer deaths in the region are projected to surpass 51,500 by 2030, with 89% of those occurring in Latin America and the Caribbean. Women across the region feel the burden. In El Salvador, 2.53 million women aged 15 and older are at risk of developing cervical cancer, representing a significant proportion of the country’s 6.3 million population.
The picture is similarly concerning in Guatemala, where 6.10 million women face the same risk out of a population of 18.6 million. Compounding this, HPV vaccination coverage in Guatemala stands at just 35%, with only 15% of individuals completing their final dose. El Salvador fares only marginally better at 43%, a figure that still falls well short of the WHO’s 90% target.
An example of how improved vaccination rates reduce prevalence and mortality together can be observed from Costa Rica. Here the Crude incidence rates sit at 14.4 for females with HPV-related cancers.
Prevention
A recurring challenge across the region is lack of awareness surrounding HPV, its link to cervical cancer, and the safety of available vaccines. In many indigenous and rural communities, misinformation and limited access to health education contribute to the low vaccination uptake seen in countries like Guatemala and El Salvador. Addressing this through community-led outreach and culturally sensitive health programs could be a foundational step towards closing the gap.
The Cervical Cancer Foundation works in collaboration with non-profits to lobby for legislative change and vitally provide health training to educate communities on the importance of HPV screening and available vaccines. Crucially, they provide cervical cancer prevention strategies within Latin America to aid in the reduction of this gap. With financial support from the Union of International Cancer Control, they aim to train more than 200 health educators from El Salvador to Costa Rica.
Screening
Yet even when education and vaccination efforts improve, a separate challenge remains: screening. The WHO’s elimination framework calls for screening of 70% of women with high-performance tests by the age of 35 and again by 45. In much of Latin America, this target is still far due to a shortage of trained gynaecologists, limited clinical infrastructure and the geographic remoteness of many at-risk communities. This is where an emerging technology may offer a meaningful solution- the diagnostic tampon.
A recent and applicable advancement for HPV has been analysed and assessed for usage in other LMIC’s. For example, in Tanzania, the use of diagnostic tampons has emerged as a promising, accurate method for cervical cancer screening. This reduces the need for trips to far or inaccessible hospitals for rural communities and those most at risk.
Studies comparing the accuracy of diagnostic tampons with clinician-collected samples for detecting HPV further corroborate this, demonstrating that use of diagnostic tampons has an overall accuracy of 95%, proving an easily implementable and highly specific screening tool.
Looking ahead
The diagnostic tampon is not a standalone solution. Eliminating cervical cancer in Latin America could require sustained investment across the entire health care system- from early education and vaccine distribution mechanisms to clinical infrastructure. However, this diagnostic tampon does represent significant advancements: practical and high-accuracy screening tools which meet women where they are rather than navigating systems which have historically excluded them. Thus, integrating this screening tool into existing public health frameworks, further backed by education, political will and adequate funding, offers a credible path towards turning the tide on one of the more preventable cancers.
– Juliette Dall’Aglio
Photo: Flickr
How Hydropower in the DRC is Reducing Poverty
The Congo River: A Blueprint for Hydropower in the DRC
The Congo River is the engine of the DRC’s immense hydropower capacity and is essential to fighting poverty. Its position across the equator ensures a steady, year-round surge, unaffected by the seasonal droughts that plague other hydropower regions.
Despite this reliable flow, the DRC remains one of the world’s most impoverished nations. While the river could technically power the entire African continent, the vast majority of its energy currently escapes into the Atlantic Ocean, leaving millions of Congolese homes and businesses in the dark. Bridging this gap is no longer just an engineering goal; it is a human rights necessity. By finally tapping into this ‘liquid gold,’ the DRC is beginning to unlock four critical pathways out of poverty.
Powering Rural Entrepreneurship
Reliable electricity is currently helping rebuild the DRC’s local economies by shifting manual labor toward productive use. Through initiatives like the Virunga Alliance, rural villages gaining access to electricity now allow market vendors to refrigerate produce and preserve perishables like fish and meat. This infrastructure is sparking immediate entrepreneurship; electric saws or sewing machines could be serving as catalysts for increased trade in newly electrified zones.
This transition is moving local communities from subsistence living to micro-enterprise, creating a stable cash flow that was previously impossible due to the prohibitive cost of diesel generators.
Boosting Agricultural Value Chains
The Virunga Alliance has “introduced modern farming techniques, provided high-quality seeds, and organised cooperatives to cultivate nearly 80 hectares of wheat, with plans to expand to 500 hectares.” According to the Alliance, “the introduction of mechanised tools such as tractors, harvesters, and threshers has significantly increased efficiency, enabling faster harvesting and the preparation of additional land for cultivation.”
The ability to process crops locally is increasing market value — rather than selling raw, perishable goods at a loss, farmers are now selling shelf-stable, higher-value produce. This shift could directly increase household income and reducing post-harvest waste in regions where hydropower and electricity are available.
How Localized Hydropower is Creating Jobs in North Kivu
While the world waits for project “Grand Inga,” decentralized projects like “Run-of-River” are already transforming the lives of many across the DRC, specifically in North Kivu. The Virunga Alliance is at the heart of this success, using the Congo River’s natural flow to generate electricity as opposed to using traditional dams with massive reservoirs. Not only is this much cheaper, requiring less capital, it is also faster and helps those in poverty now versus in 20 years — with minimal environmental disruption.
The Matebe hydroelectric plant is another great example, providing 13.6 MW of stable energy to the city of Goma and surrounding villages. Every megawatt generated by their plant creates approximately 1,000 local jobs. So far, the plant has connected more than 42,000 households and 2,800 businesses with power, offering young people viable employment alternatives to joining local armed groups.
Ending Poverty Through Hydropower in the DRC
The scale of the DRC’s energy crisis is as vast as the Congo River itself, but the success of decentralized projects is paving the way for further development in the nation. While infrastructural issues remain, the shift to localized run-of-the-river hydropower offers a scalable blueprint to move forward with.
Prioritizing smaller, high-impact investments, the DRC can bypass the decades-long wait for mega-dams and begin lifting millions out of poverty today.
Leveraging the river’s natural flow is no longer a technical challenge; it is a key driver behind providing the Congolese people with the necessary tools to build a more stable, brighter future.
– Rebecca Cameron
Photo: Flickr
Yemen’s Health Care Amid Conflict
Conflict, Funding Collapse and Deliberate Obstruction
The Trump administration labeled the Houthis as a terrorist organization in 2025, causing U.S. funding to decrease. This was meant to pressure the Houthis, but it punished ordinary Yemenis instead, scaring away donors and giving NGOs legal exposure for any activity that could be construed as materially supporting the Houthis.
Human Rights Watch documented how the Houthis’ systematic detention of aid workers is deepening Yemen’s humanitarian catastrophe. As of early January 2026, at least 69 U.N. staff (all Yemeni nationals) and dozens of staff from international and local NGOs have been arbitrarily detained since mid-2024, with arrests occurring in several waves. The arrests, combined with office raids and the seizure of equipment have effectively paralysed aid operations in Houthi-controlled areas. The U.N. suspended operations in Saada entirely – the majority of Saada’s population has moved from crisis level to emergency level food insecurity in that period.
The World Food Program (WFP) announced in January 2026 that it is shutting down its operations in Houthi-controlled northern Yemen entirely. All 365 WFP staff in the region will have their contracts terminated by the end of March. Northern Yemen accounts for around 70% of the country’s humanitarian requirements, and more than 18 million people were already at risk of acute food insecurity, with tens of thousands facing famine-like conditions. An estimated 4.8 million people remain internally displaced across Yemen as a whole.
A Broken System Looking for a Fix
Yemen’s health care operates in a legal and institutional vacuum. The government, currently based in Aden under the Presidential Leadership Council, nominally controls the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MoPHP), which retains legal authority over health care. Any formal tiered licensing system would need MoPHP sign-off to have legal standing. The practical problem is that MoPHP’s writ does not run in Houthi-controlled areas (most of the north, including Sana’a), where a parallel health bureaucracy has operated since around 2016.
Launched in September 2024 in Aden, Yemen’s National Quality of Health Care Strategy 2025–2030 is a joint initiative between WHO and Yemen’s Ministry of Public Health and Population. It aims to improve the quality, safety and equity of health services across the country despite the ongoing challenges of conflict, poverty and weak infrastructure. Furthermore, it has the support of seven years of collaboration between WHO, MoPHP and the World Bank’s International Development Association, with current implementation supported through the Emergency Human Capital Project, which could be a major funding vessel. WHO and MoPHP should co-develop a short-form pharmacist diagnostic certificate and acknowledge honestly that MoPHP cannot certify in Houthi territory, so NGOs operating there would need to serve as the de facto credentialing body on a provisional basis.
Medicine Availability: The Data
A peer-reviewed academic study involved researchers who surveyed 30 health care facilities across 13 districts in three southern Yemeni governorates (Aden, Lahij, and Abyan) between November 2017 and February 2018. On average, only 52.8% of essential medicines were available across all facilities – well below the WHO’s voluntary target of 80%.
Yemen imports 80-90% of its medicines, and the conflict has severely disrupted supply chains, destroyed infrastructure, and caused economic collapse.
With the WFP’s withdrawal from the north, Houthi detention of aid workers continuing and the conflict destroying health infrastructure, the formal system is contracting further while need accelerates. Yemen’s southern governorates, more accessible and more stable than the north, offer a viable starting point. A tiered licensing framework, negotiated between the internationally recognized government and established NGO networks, could begin there. Understanding Yemen’s health care means understanding what happens when a health system disappears entirely.
– Anisa Begum
Photo: Flickr
Resilience in Haiti with FADEKA
After this event, an initiative to enhance the economic status and community standing of women was formed for women as a resilience in Haiti.
FADEKA Project
The original initiative, Fanm nan Agrikilti se Devlopman Ekonomi Ayiti (FADEKA), meaning Economic Empowerment of Women in the South Department of Haiti, was active from 2018 to 2021. U.N. Women developed the project in partnership with the Government of Norway, releasing a final report in December 2022. Despite the success of the project, Haitian agriculture and women are still struggling with ongoing insecurity and poor infrastructure, and need another FADEKA Project.
For supporters of this topic to want to push for a second initiative, they need to hear about the success of the first one. An independent firm dissected the FADEKA Project in Haiti and the resiliencies made throughout the program, expressing the positives of the project, and providing a guide for a second one.
Success of FADEKA
During the FADEKA Project in Haiti, focus was solely on improving the livelihoods of female farmers through agriculture, fishing, and small-scale processing through catalytic investments and capacity-building for female producer organizations, according to the December 2022 report.
The female agricultural workforce makes up 44.2%, with only a third of Haitian farms managed by women. Agriculture is the primary source of employment in Haiti, with 40% of households involved in activities and around 75% of rural households engaged in a form of agriculture, such as fishing or beekeeping.
Training farmers on extreme weather patterns was also a part of the FADEKA project. A total of 8.7% beneficiaries surveyed said that they had taken training on weather challenges and 7.3% on nursery management within the context of the project. According to the discussion group participants, this training built their technical capacity on weather patterns and resilience.
Improving the Atmosphere Between Men and Women
The report found that 100% of women, when asked about their participation in household expenditure, contributed to it. Along with 65.3% said that household management income is managed equally between men and women, according to the December 2022 report. Overall, women’s voices in their households were strengthened, they had higher participation, more leadership in decision making, and strengthened farmers’ and agricultural entrepreneurs’ preparedness for shocks of weather patterns.
Out of 34 planned activities, the program implemented 26 (76%). The failure of the eight projects could be due to the instability of Haiti’s government. If a second project goes through, the evaluation gave ideas on how to make it more successful.
According to the evaluation report, if a second phase gets the approval, “the focus should be on consolidating the project’s achievements and on capacity-building for local authorities and the beneficiary communities.”
The need for that second project has grown more and more over the past years, with the rise of gang violence, displacement, food insecurity, and the collapse of livelihoods.
Need for a Second Project
Ever since the end of the first project, Haiti has fallen into critical conditions with mass displacement of people, widespread, acute food insecurity and the domination of gang control of Port-au-Prince. Numerous cases of kidnappings, murders, rapes, gang confrontations and other acts of violence against individuals have contributed to a sense of general insecurity in the country.
In order to improve the socio-economic situation and government of Haiti, there are many different approaches, including strengthening local governance to restore resilience and fostering economic independence through agricultural investment.
The Future
With a successful first project, the U.N. Women, along with leaders in Norway, can make the second project more effective.
The FADEKA Project in Haiti is highly relevant but requires an additional period to strengthen its exit strategy. Many beneficiaries found themselves left to their own devices. This argues in favour of a second phase of the project, which could be consolidating the project’s achievements and capacity-building for local authorities and beneficiary communities. These efforts would help many people, and not go in vain.
– Elizabeth Fryer
Photo: Flickr
Addressing Housing and Urban Poverty in Vietnam
Housing and Urban Poverty in Vietnam
According to the deputy chief of the National Office for Poverty Reduction, Vietnam’s overall poverty rate would drop to around 1.1%. This represents roughly 900,000 to 1.1 million individuals living in poverty in Vietnam. Furthermore, Vietnam has developed a new multidimensional poverty index for the next six years, designed to increase the urban income threshold to VND 2.8 million ($106) and rural income to VND 2.2 million ($84) per person per month. Although these numbers highlight Vietnam’s success in tackling extreme poverty, they often ignore the millions of individuals who cannot afford housing in major urban centers, like Ho Chi Minh City.
Thousands of people in Vietnam cannot afford housing because of two main reasons: excess housing demand and a worsening affordability gap.. The director of the Housing and Real Estate Market Management Department explained that Vietnam would need roughly one million more homes to meet the increased demand. Given the growing population in urban centers, housing and urban poverty in Vietnam are increasing.
Affordability Gap
Furthermore, home prices have outpaced income growth by a significant margin, making it almost impossible for an average Vietnamese citizen to afford housing in major urban centers. Prices in major cities, like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, have risen 5.6% so far this year. This means that, on average, apartment prices are roughly 80 million dong ($3,028) per square meter. In comparison, the average annual salary of a Vietnamese worker is 98.4 million dong. This sizable difference has made it almost impossible for Vietnamese to afford housing.
Addressing the Housing Crisis
To successfully address this challenge, the government, private organizations and other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have developed effective strategies and projects to decrease housing costs in Vietnam. The government has pledged to adjust land use fee regulations to ensure fairness and prevent companies from raising prices beyond people’s affordability. Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) in Vietnam, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing housing and urban poverty globally, in collaboration with local unions and organizations, has developed the Decent Housing, Peaceful Life project. This project has supported the construction and revitalization of existing properties in Vietnam to improve the housing situation of individuals facing difficult circumstances.
Looking Ahead
As Vietnam continues to grow as a nation, the government, companies and NGOs in the country continue to address the different challenges that arise. Indeed, as housing affordability and accessibility worsen in Vietnam, the government, in collaboration with other organizations, is taking steps to ease this pressure and secure affordable, safe housing for millions of Vietnamese in major urban centers.
– Rodrigo Salgado
Photo: Flickr
Madhubani Art and Poverty in Bihar
Bihar is heavily reliant on agriculture for its economic survival. However, with 73% of its area designated as flood-prone, the state’s people find themselves stuck in a vicious cycle of survival and sustenance. It has been noted that 76% of the population lives under the recurring threat of floods.
Despite the recurrent cycle of ruin and revival, the people of north Bihar, specifically in Madhubani District, have found a way to use their indigenous knowledge and Madhubani art tradition to generate income. Madhubani art, a distinctive folk art form originating in the region and also known as Mithila painting, has grown from a purely cultural expression into a livelihood that now sustains tens of thousands of families.
From Tradition to Economic Empowerment
Madhubani art originated in the villages of Mithila long before the modern era, where women decorated mud walls and floors with elaborate patterns expressing mythology, nature and community life. The art is defined by bold lines, bright, often natural colors and intricate geometric motifs depicting gods, animals, wedding scenes and ritual imagery.
As droughts struck rural Bihar in the mid-20th century, artists began transferring this heritage onto paper, cloth and canvas, a transformation that unlocked commercial horizons. Today, Madhubani art manifests across surfaces from canvas and handmade paper to sarees, notebooks and decorative homeware, giving artisans access to urban markets, exhibitions and global tourism.
Economic Impact: Numbers That Matter
Recent government records indicate that this traditional craft now provides regular income support to artisan families in Madhubani district. This support also extends to other surrounding areas, far beyond its original birthplace. In core hubs such as Jitwarpur, nearly 70% of local families depend on the sale of Madhubani art for income, with many artists coming from low-income backgrounds.
Formal support measures have also made tangible gains. More than 5,000 artisans in the region have applied for specialized artisan credit cards designed to help them access loans for materials, training and other business needs. Tax policy reforms have reduced the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on handicrafts from 12% to 5%, making artworks more affordable for buyers and providing greater earnings stability for artisans.
Though precise income figures can vary widely by artist and medium, studies of artisan households show that sales revenues often constitute a major share of family earnings. The revenues help cover daily expenses, schooling and health care, providing breakthroughs for communities once mired in seasonal migrant labor. Moreover, success in Madhubani art has given women greater public visibility.
Many women now represent their communities at fairs, exhibitions and cultural events across India and abroad, breaking social norms that once confined them to the home. Women artisans report greater influence over family finances, improved household decision-making power and a stronger ability to invest in their children’s education, outcomes that can improve household well-being and reduce economic vulnerability.
Government Programs and Policy Support
The Bihar government has launched handicraft promotion campaigns and training programs to improve design quality, market access and digital selling skills for rural artisans. It aims to transform the craft into a sustainable enterprise. Nonprofit and livelihood programs, such as Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (Jeevika), have also engaged Madhubani artists, linking them to broader rural development and poverty-alleviation strategies.
Such initiatives typically emphasize skills development, collective marketing and cooperative organization to empower artisans economically and socially. Government programs have helped transform this cultural skill into economic opportunity. The National Handicrafts Development Program funded a $1.1 million craft village in Jitwarpur.
The program created artist stalls, training centers and tourism infrastructure that reduce dependence on intermediaries. Meanwhile, Bihar’s JEEViKA self-help groups have enabled rural women artists to access credit, expand production and negotiate better prices. Despite these gains, artists and observers note ongoing challenges.
These include limited year-round demand, exploitation by middlemen and uneven institutional backing, indicating that more coordinated policy is still needed for long-term sustainability.
Changing the Narrative
The growing value of Madhubani art extends beyond individual households. Local tourism circuits, craft villages and cultural initiatives attract visitors interested in heritage experiences, catalyzing secondary employment in hospitality and travel. Artisans have also benefited from global interest, with works reaching buyers in the U.S., Europe and Japan and appearing in prestigious cultural forums and museum collections.
This blend of heritage preservation, gender empowerment and economic diversification offers a replicable model for other rural communities seeking to leverage cultural capital into sustainable development.
A Work in Progress
Despite notable strides, deep rural poverty has not vanished. Many households still supplement art earnings with agricultural or migration income and the market continues to fluctuate with seasonal and economic cycles. Yet, for villages once marked by limited livelihood options, Madhubani art has expanded economic horizons, giving thousands of families greater stability and hope.
Poverty in Bihar has not disappeared, but the shift from single-source farm income to diversified art-based earnings has improved household stability. It also reduced migration pressures and created one of Bihar’s few homegrown rural creative economies.
– Sayanee Mandal
Photo: Unsplash
Faith-Based NGOs Reducing Poverty in Venezuela and Beyond
Faith-based organizations are stepping in to break this cycle of poverty and provide immediate relief and long-term support. Their work spans food distribution, education and income-generating initiatives. Th efforts of faith-based organizations address both urgent needs and structural challenges.
Expanding Aid To Remote Communities in Venezuela
In north-west Venezuela, religious sisters have expanded their outreach to remote villages. With new transport, they can now deliver food and medicine to isolated communities that previously had little access to essential supplies. They care for the sick and elderly, support homeless individuals and provide shelter for 30 orphaned or abandoned girls.
The sisters also run a preschool for 80 children, offering education and meals that help reduce hunger during the school week. These services help break the cycle of poverty by improving access to food, child care and health care in historically underserved communities. Faith-based networks also play a broader humanitarian role across the country.
Church-linked organizations provide food assistance, nutrition support for children and pregnant women and water and sanitation programs to prevent illness. These initiatives help families meet basic needs and reduce the risk of malnutrition, particularly among vulnerable groups. Such interventions help stabilize households and prevent them from falling into extreme poverty.
Promoting Food Security and Income in Colombia
In Bogotá, Colombia, nuns partnered with educators to help women turn backyard spaces into small agricultural enterprises. Families grew vegetables to improve household nutrition and sold surplus produce to earn income. Many participants were grandmothers caring for children and the gardens gave them a source of income and greater financial independence.
This model addresses poverty through both food security and income generation. Entrepreneurship training further strengthened these efforts, with workshops covering financial management, marketing and customer relations. Within 18 months, more than 250 families were earning a livable wage through urban farming and small businesses.
Microloans also helped individuals launch enterprises, including food production and poultry farming. These initiatives show how faith-based collaboration can help communities move from short-term aid to sustainable livelihoods.
Supporting Long-Term Poverty Reduction in Kenya
In Mombasa, Kenya, a faith-run community center supports children living near a large slum, addressing challenges such as hunger, abandonment and lack of access to education. Its leaders also plan to expand the center into a full primary school and launch small-scale agricultural projects to improve food security.
In northern Kenya, religious sisters teach trade skills to young women to promote self-reliance and help them support their communities. This kind of skills training and education helps reduce poverty by improving long-term earning potential.
Across these regions, faith-based initiatives share common strategies. They provide immediate support such as meals, shelter and health care, while also promoting empowerment through education, entrepreneurship and skills training. By combining short-term relief with sustainable development, these faith-based organizations help communities build resilience against poverty.
Conclusion
From delivering food and reducing poverty in Venezuela to supporting women entrepreneurs in Colombia and teaching trade skills in Kenya, faith-based groups continue to play a crucial role in poverty alleviation. Their presence, volunteer networks and focus on community empowerment allow them to reach vulnerable populations and create pathways out of poverty.
– Demetra Mykoniatis
Photo: Pixabay
Gender Inequality in Azerbaijan
Gender Disparity in the Workforce
Azerbaijan has made legal progress on women’s employment, but gender segregation and pay inequality limit women’s economic participation. Women make up 17% of the workforce in transport and storage, 11% in energy and 8% in construction. According to the World Bank, women in Azerbaijan earn 35% less than men on average.
According to the United Nations (U.N.) Women’s data, gender inequality in Azerbaijan remains a structural problem across both public and private sectors. Women and girls aged 15 and above spend an average of 25.4% of their daily time on unpaid care and domestic work. This unequal burden limits women’s ability to participate in paid employment, education and public life.
Women in Politics
According to the Baku Research Institute, the level of women’s political participation remains low. In 2024, women’s representation in Milli Majlis, the national parliament, reached 20.8%. In 2025, women’s representation in municipalities was 39.34%. According to 2025 statistics, there are no female heads of executive authorities or ministers in Azerbaijan, and there are only six female deputy members. According to the Global Gender Gap Index, Azerbaijan ranked 133rd out of 146 countries in 2024 in terms of political participation.
Gender stereotypes, women’s economic dependence and the political environment in Azerbaijan function as interconnected factors that affect women’s political participation. Society often perceives a woman’s place as being in the family and at home, while men are regarded as the main decision makers.
Women-Led Initiatives to Tackle Gender Inequality
In Azerbaijan, efforts to address gender inequality have taken the form of women-led civic initiatives. UNDEF has funded a project to establish Azerbaijan’s first women’s parliament, giving female leaders a platform to push for stronger rights and better governance. The initiative brings together women from civil society, business and academia to address issues such as girls’ education, maternal health, early marriage and support for female entrepreneurs. The project aims to turn women’s participation into influence on public policy.
WARD is an independent nongovernmental organization in Azerbaijan dedicated to advancing gender equality, women’s empowerment and sustainable development. Over the years, WARD has launched the country’s first maternity school, the first Women’s Resource Center, the Women’s Dialogue School and its first expert group on gender. The organization has also led several awareness-raising campaigns across the country.
In an interview with U.N. Women, WARD chair Shahla Ismayil said that women-led think tanks occupy a space where expertise meets empathy and where knowledge becomes a tool for change. She added that initiatives such as the Women’s Dialogue School prepare a new generation of women leaders to enter public life and propose practical solutions, ensuring that women’s leadership becomes institutional rather than episodic.
Looking Ahead
Women in Azerbaijan have made measurable efforts to address gender inequality despite societal challenges. NGOs and activists continue to work toward structural change, with initiatives such as the women’s parliament and WARD’s programs offering pathways for greater representation and economic participation.
– Bonnie Parkinson
Photo: Flickr
Mental Health Resources in Uganda
However, programs have been developed to increase mental health resources in Uganda, such as YouBelong Uganda and Pamoja Afya Initiative.
YouBelong Uganda
Founded in 2016, YouBelong Uganda works to deinstitutionalize people from mental institutions and focus on support through the community. A major concern surrounding mental health resources in Uganda is that many people become trapped in institutional systems and are unable to reacclimate to their communities. YouBelong uses “The YouBelong linked model of engagement and care [to build] a bridge between the institution and the community.”
A key part of this is that YouBelong provides transport for people from institutions back to their communities. YouBelong also uses government resources to prepare the individual for community life and to prepare the community to best support the individual.
The YouBelong HOME is a section of YouBelong that focuses on addressing the inflow and outflow problems at the national mental institution. It works to reintegrate between 40 and 60 people a month from Butabika National Referral Mental Hospital back into their communities. To reduce inflow to the mental hospital, YouBelong is working to expand resources at local health centers to help people before they reach institutionalization.
YouBelong has several programs under its wing. These programs address issues such as inequalities in mental health care for women, early intervention for children experiencing mental health issues, psychosis and learning from the experiences of those in recovery. YouBelong Uganda is a large organization that works at many levels to increase access to mental health resources in Uganda.
Pamoja Afya Initiative
Pamoja Afya focuses on communities surrounding Uganda’s national parks and was founded in 2024. This organization operates on a much broader scale, covering topics such as water and sanitation, snakebite prevention and coexistence with wildlife. Among its many programs, Pamoja Afya Initiative also has a mental health program that provides targeted interventions to help communities.
The initiative brings awareness to youth in schools about disorders such as depression, substance abuse and PTSD. These awareness programs teach students emotional regulation, healthy coping mechanisms and relationship building. Pamoja Afya also works with teachers to foster a more emotionally safe learning environment.
It equips teachers with the tools to support their students and themselves. The program also conducts mental health screenings and gives those diagnosed with mental health issues access to resources.
Conclusion
Programs like YouBelong Uganda and Pamoja Afya Initiative are helping bridge the gap in access to proper mental health resources that many Ugandan citizens lack. By giving small communities resources to address mental health problems early on, people are better able to cope with the growing mental health crisis. YouBelong then steps in to help reintegrate people into their communities and get the support they need.
Mental health resources in Uganda are few and far between, but certain organizations are working to increase access for more people.
– Kaitlyn Crane
Photo: Flickr
Haiti’s Irrigation Canal Fights Food Security Crisis
Building From the Ground Up
With insecurity persisting and food shortages worsening, local agricultural production has become increasingly critical to economic stability. The Kanal la Pap Kanpe (KPK) initiative sits at the center of Haiti’s irrigation canal movement, a grassroots effort to bring water to one of the country’s most fertile and underserved farming regions. By expanding access to water, the project could strengthen food security and support the livelihoods of thousands of farmers.
A Shared Island, a Contested River
The island of Hispaniola is split into two countries, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which inevitably share common natural resources. However, issues persist between the two countries. A clear example is the Massacre River in the north of the island.
The river not only carries significant historical importance, but is also essential to the livelihoods of the surrounding communities. In 1929, officials from the two countries signed the Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Arbitration. Article 10 of the treaty stipulates that both countries may use the water “justly and equitably,” provided its use does not interfere with the river’s natural flow.
In August 2018, Haiti’s irrigation canal project took shape with the start of construction on the Pittobert canal. The project is designed to irrigate more than 7,000 acres of fertile land on the Maribaroux Plain at a total operating flow of about 1.5 cubic meters per second. In a 2021 report, the Dominican National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INDRHI) counted 10 irrigation canals on the Dominican side.
Together, they had a total operating flow of 3.22 cubic meters per second, while the Pittobert canal would be the first on the Haitian side. Progress on the canal halted in 2021 with the assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse. However, grassroots efforts led local farmers to resume it in August 2023.
Dominicans strongly opposed this move, framing it as a unilateral act that threatened shared resources and border agreements and claimed that the canal would divert water. This disagreement created a transnational dispute with significant consequences for both sides. On September 11, 2023, President Luis Abinader unilaterally announced the complete closure and militarization of the border, prohibiting the migration of people and goods. In response, the Haitian government announced that the construction of this canal would not halt.
According to the popular Haitian media outlet AyiboPost, this canal has sparked one of the biggest grassroots movements uniting Haitians in decades. Both local Haitians and the diaspora mobilized resources and forces to aid in the construction of the canal and in “the recovery of national dignity,” as stated by Gaston Étienne, the treasurer of the project.
From Irrigation to Export: KPK Rice Making Its US Debut
Although completion of the canal has not yet been confirmed, it has already begun benefiting surrounding communities. In November 2024, a new rice brand named after the movement, KPK, was launched. It uses water from the newly built Haitian irrigation canal to irrigate its rice fields and exports to the U.S. have already begun.
Additionally, construction of a second canal in the Fort-Liberté area, the Malfety canal, is well underway, with support from local and diaspora communities. It is estimated that this canal will irrigate approximately 17,000 acres upon completion. Although imports still account for more than 70% of total cereal consumption in Haiti, mainly wheat and rice, the KPK movement also has implications for other countries.
Why the World Should Pay Attention
First, initiatives like KPK have economic lessons that go beyond Haiti’s borders. As local agricultural production increases, new trade and investment opportunities emerge both domestically and internationally. In Haiti, increased domestic production can reduce its heavy reliance on imports and create new export opportunities. Internationally, this can create more opportunities for actors to partner with local farmers to improve and increase production.
Second, for aid and development organizations and policymakers, projects like KPK highlight the importance of supporting locally driven solutions to economic challenges rather than relying solely on foreign aid. These initiatives demonstrate how targeted infrastructure investments can unlock productivity, strengthen rural economies and improve food security, especially in poverty-stricken areas. Supporting these efforts through technical assistance, financing and market access could further amplify their impact and contribute to long-term stability for these communities.
Final Thoughts
Global attention is increasingly turning toward sustainable development and economic resilience, even as international aid declines and economic challenges persist. In this regard, Haiti’s experience offers valuable lessons. While Haiti navigates ongoing instability, projects like KPK demonstrate how Haiti’s irrigation canal movement and grassroots movements more broadly, can contribute to long-term economic resilience and poverty reduction.
By investing in local production and empowering communities, these initiatives show how countries can build more self-sufficient economies while creating new opportunities for global partnerships. KPK rice reaching U.S. shelves is only the beginning. It is proof that communities do not need to wait for stability to start creating it and that supporting grassroots movements may be one of the most effective investments the international community can make.
– Chloe Bonnefil
Photo: Wikipedia