Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Dairy Farming Innovation in Africa

Dairy Farming Innovation in Africa In much of Sub-Saharan Africa, poverty remains deeply rooted in rural life. According to recent estimates, the region accounts for a disproportionate share of the world’s poorest populations, with 553 million people living in multidimensional poverty and limited access to basic services.

In an unexpected corner of agricultural science, a new approach is taking shape, one that begins not with infrastructure or aid packages but with cows. Increasingly, dairy farming innovation in Africa is helping reshape what opportunity looks like for rural families.

A Cross-Continental Scientific Partnership

At the heart of this transformation is a collaboration between British scientists and African researchers, working through institutions like Scotland’s Rural College and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). Together, they are rethinking how dairy farming can empower smallholder farmers by breeding cows that are not only more productive but better suited to local environments.

The science began in the U.K. Researchers Raphael Mrode and Mike Coffey focused on a simple question: what if cows could produce more milk while requiring fewer resources? According to a Gates Foundation report, the team studied ways to breed smaller cows that would require less feed and less land to graze on while producing more milk than larger cows. They identified the genetic traits that led to healthier cows with higher milk production.

Even in Scotland, the gains were measurable. Farmer Rory Christie noted that since the project began, his herd has produced about 1,000 liters per cow per year extra. This breakthrough laid the groundwork for dairy farming innovation in Africa, showing how science could directly improve productivity.

From Research to Real-World Impact

Recognizing this potential, the research expanded beyond Europe. Scientists Okeyo Mwai and Julie Ojango in Nairobi joined forces with Mrode, forming a partnership that would eventually become the African Dairy Genetic Gains (ADGG) program. The goal of ADGG is to provide small-scale dairy producers in Sub-Saharan Africa access to feed-efficient and well-adapted cows to increase their income.

The challenge in countries like Kenya was not a lack of cows but a lack of clarity. Local herds had become what Julie Ojango described as a “fruit salad” of mixed breeds. Years of unstructured crossbreeding and imported genetics meant that farmers often had no reliable way to know which animals would be most productive. Despite continued investment in imported semen, results were inconsistent.

ADGG set out to change that by bringing data into the equation. The program began systematically collecting information on thousands of animals, tracking performance and applying genomic tools to identify the most promising traits. The initiative aimed at developing and testing a genetic gains platform that uses on-farm performance information and basic genomic data to identify and prove superior crossbred bulls for the benefit of smallholder farmers in Africa.

The Power of Hybrid Cows

Researchers discovered that certain hybrid cows outperformed both traditional local breeds and exotic imports. These hybrids were not only more productive but also better adapted to African climates and farming conditions.

Currently, these improved cows are being distributed through community networks and artificial insemination programs. The impact is measurable across Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia, where thousands of farmers are seeing higher milk yields, more stable incomes and new opportunities.

Okeyo Mwai, principal scientist at ILRI, said that milk is one of the most nutritious animal-sourced foods, and increasing milk yield expands opportunities for food and national security for both farmers and their neighbors.

From Subsistence to Opportunity

For many families, milk is reshaping futures. One Kenyan farmer, Josephine Kimonyi, said the milk from a single improved cow helped her household pay school fees for her children and brought stability to the family.

Across the region, increased milk production is enabling farmers to move beyond subsistence. With surplus milk to sell, families are becoming small-scale entrepreneurs, investing in education, health care and better living conditions. These accounts highlight how dairy farming innovation in Africa is changing livelihoods at the household level.

Looking Ahead

Governments, scientists, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and farmers are collaborating in this effort. ADGG data shows that more than 56,000 farmers and more than 94,000 animals have been registered across Africa, and the program continues to grow. By combining science with local knowledge and focusing on tools farmers can use, this initiative is turning an everyday resource into a pathway out of poverty.

– Lucy Kerr

Lucy is based in Coventry, UK and focuses on Good News, Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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AguaClara: Clean Water in Honduras and Beyond

Clean Water in HondurasIn 2010, the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly officially declared access to water a human right. Nonprofit organization AguaClara Reach has been working with water technologies since 2005. Dr. Monroe Weber-Shirk created the program to implement water treatment plants in lower-income areas. Since then, AguaClara Reach has helped more than 100,000 people gain access to clean, safe water. Founded in Honduras, the program has expanded its work and now operates 26 water treatment plants across Central America and India, each working to reduce poverty through clean water.

The Link Between Lack of Safe Water and Poverty

Lack of access to safe water not only reflects poverty but also drives it. Without safe water, economic opportunity is limited, and communities face cycles of illness, lost productivity and time spent locating water sources. The World Bank classifies India and Honduras, the primary beneficiaries of AguaClara’s projects, as lower-middle-income countries. Both countries experience large inequalities of wealth. In Honduras, the poverty rate was 62.90% as of 2024, based on the national poverty line. While data for poverty at the national level is unavailable for India, the World Bank reports that in 2022, the poverty rate at $3 a day was 5.25%. Initiatives like AguaClara play a role in helping to reduce poverty through clean water.

The Consequences of Unsafe Water

With a large proportion of Hondurans living in poverty, an estimated 2.7 million do not have access to safe drinking water. The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies waterborne diseases as a primary cause of child mortality. The National Survey of Demography and Health shows that only 50% of households in Honduras have access to E. coli-free water, with rural and low-income communities particularly affected.

Conditions in India are similar. As of 2025, 91 million people in India had no guaranteed way of securing clean water sources. Waterborne diseases in India resulted in an estimated 11,728 deaths from 2014 to 2018. Unsafe water also deepens poverty, with waterborne diseases costing the country around $600 million each year.

AguaClara’s Community-Led Mission

According to AguaClara Reach, the organization advances global access to safe drinking water through community-scale, gravity-powered water treatment technologies, capacity building with local implementation partners and research and education with university partners.

To sustainably reduce poverty through clean water access, AguaClara Reach implements its technologies with the community in mind. Its method relies on an understanding of the political and social context of each project area to support a long-term solution.

Since 2008, the AguaClara plant in Tamara, Honduras, has provided locals with clean and safe water. Each household pays a $5 tariff, allowing the water board to continuously upgrade water infrastructure. The community accepts this fee on the basis that access to reliable water eases financial pressure. Improvements made by the Tamara water board include an expanded storage tank, the use of stacked rapid sand filters and a self-cleaning clarifier. In Tamara, AguaClara technology has improved the quality of life and will continue to do so as the equipment evolves.

Looking Ahead

Efforts to improve access to clean, safe water continue across developing nations. The work of AguaClara Reach offers one model for addressing this challenge, with measurable impact across communities in Central America and India. As the organization expands its reach, its community-led approach provides a path forward to reduce poverty through clean water.

– Polly Laws

Polly is based in Cardiff, UK and focuses on Good News and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Diagnostic Tampons: Fighting Cervical Cancer in Latin America

Cervical Cancer Latin AmericaCervical cancer represents one of the most pressing yet preventable crises in global health. It remains the fourth most common cancer among women worldwide, with 94% of deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries, a stark testament to the role that inequality plays in who survives this disease. Indigenous women bear a disproportionate share of this burden, with some of the highest incidence rates concentrated in Central 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

Juliette is based in London, UK and focuses on Technology and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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How Hydropower in the DRC is Reducing Poverty

hydropower drcOnly China and Russia possess greater hydroelectric potential than the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), yet 97.5% of hydropower in the DRC is untapped, and this 100,000 MW capacity remains a dormant resource. This staggering lack of development is both the cause and the symptom of a substantial energy poverty gap. As the world looks toward renewable transitions in 2026, the challenge for the DRC lies in finally harnessing the power of its geography to fuel a long-overdue economic transformation.

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

Rebecca is based in Edinburgh, Scotland and focuses on Technology and Solutions for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Yemen’s Health Care Amid Conflict

yemen's health careThe Republic of Yemen has been in civil war since 2014, pitting the Iran-backed Houthi movement against a Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognized government. This has led to the systematic collapse of formal health care. The Houthis are running a quasi-state in the north that exploits aid as a tool of political control. With hospitals destroyed and clinics inaccessible, Yemen’s private pharmacists diagnose conditions, dispense prescription medications without oversight and provide basic medical advice. Yemen could formalize pharmacists’ expanded role through tiered licensing, basic diagnostic training and integration with telemedicine networks.

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%.

  • Private pharmacies had the best availability at nearly 80%;
  • Private hospitals around 73%, because they are commercially supplied;
  • Public hospitals came in at 53%;
  • Public health care centres involved availability at just 19% – ⅘ essential medicines were not on the shelves.

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

Anisa is based in Birmingham, UK and focuses on Business and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Resilience in Haiti with FADEKA

fadeka haitiIt has been almost five years since a catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti, leaving behind a tremendous amount of damage. The 7.2 magnitude earthquake killed 2,247 people, injured more than 12,700, and destroyed more than 53,000 homes. 1,060 schools were damaged, compromising the education of thousands of children. This event helped start an initiative to enhance the economic status and community standing of women and their resilience in Haiti.

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

Elizabeth is based in Philadelphia, PA, USA and focuses on Good News and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Addressing Housing and Urban Poverty in Vietnam

Urban Poverty in VietnamThroughout the 21st century, Vietnam has focused on improving the living standards of its population. More specifically, Vietnam’s government has actively worked to eradicate hunger and reduce poverty. Despite improvements in the right direction, millions of Vietnamese face a new challenge: affordable housing. Without access to affordable housing, rural poverty in Vietnam has increased, leading to street lottery ticket vendors or families forming informal communities or hamlets in big cities. In response to this growing challenge, Vietnam’s government and private organizations are addressing housing and urban poverty created by the lack of affordable housing.

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

Rodrigo is based in Boulder, CO, USA and focuses on Good News for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Madhubani Art and Poverty in Bihar

Madhubani ArtAccording 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

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Faith-Based NGOs Reducing Poverty in Venezuela and Beyond

poverty in VenezuelaReducing poverty in Venezuela remains a challenge for local communities. More than 90% of the population lives below the poverty line and many families struggle to afford food and health care. High inflation has made basic goods increasingly unaffordable, worsening hunger and vulnerability. 

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

Demetra is based in London, UK and focuses on Good News and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Pixabay

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Gender Inequality in Azerbaijan

Gender Inequality in Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, in southwestern Asia, has a population of more than 10.2 million people, with more than 5 million women. While progress has been made through projects by the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) and the Women’s Association for Rational Development (WARD), patriarchal values and gender stereotypes continue to hinder socioeconomic and political equality.

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

Bonnie is based in London, UK and focuses on Good News and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr