“It all started with some pictures of children that drowned on a beach. We thought: if we dedicate ourselves to this and we do it on our beaches, why are they dying there and why is nobody helping them?“ That’s Proactiva Open Arms. It’s a Spanish non-governmental, non-profit organization whose mission is to rescue refugees who arrive in Europe […]

KickStart image Have you heard of the social enterprise KickStart? It develops affordable technologies for small African businesses. It states its accomplishments in this way: “Since 1991, 160,000 successful new businesses have been started in Africa using our tools. Today more than 800 new businesses are being created each month. Since each of these enterprises supports […]

“Human Nature” is a company that produces organic cosmetics to help the children and poor in the Philippines. The purchase of one of this company’s items helps pay public school teachers in the south of the country so children there stay in school instead of becoming child soldiers. The company aims also to help the country’s farmers and […]

Dr. Kshama Metre is making a difference. She is contributing to the alleviation of poverty in the developing world. She leads an organization called CORD, or the Chinmaya Organisation for Rural Development, which works in rural India. Dr. Metre is an example of what just one individual can do to make others’ lives better. A pediatrician, Dr. Metre has set […]

“Shining Hope for Communities combats gender inequality and extreme poverty in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, Kenya, by linking tuition-free schools for girls to accessible social services for all.” That’s how this non-profit organization founded in 2009 describes itself. It operates in the slum where one million people live without roads, electricity, or hospitals. Founder Kennedy Odede […]

Everyone knows the power that football, also known as soccer, has on the world. Played in over 200 countries and watched by millions upon millions of fans, it’s considered the world’s most popular sport, according to Encyclopædia Britannica and leading experts on the subject. Harnessing this power, streetfootballworld is a global network of almost 100 organizations that use […]

Conscious of the fact that having legal rights to land is a foundation for prosperity and opportunity, Landesa Rural Development Institute forms partnerships with governments and local organizations to ensure that the world’s poorest families have secure rights over the land they till.  Founded as the Rural Development Institute in 1967, Landesa has helped more […]

The Maya Library and Leapfrog Scholarship promote the education of orphans at the Charis Center and Junior School near Kampala, Uganda. The project encourages reading and writing, and creates an opportunity for graduates to continue their studies in secondary school. Currently the Leapfrog Scholarship is sponsoring Lovisa, the first scholarship recipient, so she can continue her secondary studies […]

Giving Women is a non-profit association based in Geneva. Its members support selected projects directed at women and/or founded by women. Village Exchange International-Ghana (the VEG Project) is one such venture. It aims “to improve the lives of women in poverty through a combination of income-generating activities, education, and financial services.” Specifically, the project promotes “the self-actualization of Ghana’s […]

Founded in 1976, the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) describes itself as “thought leaders driven by a passion to alleviate poverty and rectify injustice in the world.” The Center “reduces global poverty by investing in the lives of women and girls.” In particular, ICRW works with girls and boys in their communities to […]