Global Development

Empowering Women Farmers Is Key To Ensuring Global Food Security

Roger Thurow | Posted 05.18.2012

Roger Thurow

bringing the benefits of agricultural development to the farmers at the end of the road, is the challenge within the challenge.

Raising Global Citizens

Ana Roca Castro | Posted 04.30.2012

Ana Roca Castro

I don't want you to think that you need to pack and fly abroad to raise global citizens. It still is the ideal, but there are so many local opportunities you can find where your kids can engage in social good.

Can A Rat Change The World? The Unusual Players In Social Innovation

Caty Borum Chattoo | Posted 05.21.2012

Caty Borum Chattoo

Electric soccer balls, life-saving sleeping bags, and water on wheels...business as usual? Well, it depends on who you ask.

A Diamond in the Rough? Africa's Newest Central Bank Opens in an Unexpected Location

Vijaya Ramachandran | Posted 04.16.2012

Vijaya Ramachandran

This post was co-authored by Ross Thuotte. Last week, lawmakers in Somaliland (Somalia's northern, semi-autonomous region) reportedly established Som...

Collaboration at the Base of the Pyramid Through Patience and Innovation

Tom Murphy | Posted 03.25.2012

Tom Murphy

Countries in the global south are still seen by many as charity recipients. This long-held view is beginning to shift as nations move to middle income status and people understand that innovation and growth are possible at all levels.

Is Haiti Doomed to Be the Republic of NGOs?

Vijaya Ramachandran | Posted 03.13.2012

Vijaya Ramachandran

Haiti's challenges are enormous and there are no easy answers. However, a two-pronged strategy --- registration and monitoring of NGOs and a governmental and donor focus on "core governance" -- may be a good start.

Outflows, Not Aid, Must Be Curtailed to Fight Poverty

Raymond Baker | Posted 03.12.2012

Raymond Baker

A shadow financial system consisting of tax havens, secrecy jurisdictions and anonymous corporate vehicles makes it easy for corrupt dictators, terrorists, drug traffickers and tax evaders to quietly shepherd their funds out of the developing world and around the planet without notice.

A Bold New Idea for Infrastructure in Africa

Vijaya Ramachandran | Posted 03.05.2012

Vijaya Ramachandran

The premise is that by increasing transparency, the pool of investors will expand and a network of investors will be created -- something that we have yet to see in Africa.

Global Development as a Vital Export: Changing Lives, Creating Opportunity

Akhtar Badshah | Posted 12.26.2011

Akhtar Badshah

Investing knowledge, resources, time and technology abroad not only betters the lives of others around the world, it also strengthens our community culturally and economically.

How I'm Helping Others By Joining Twitter

Melinda Gates | Posted 11.21.2011

Melinda Gates

There is not a moment to waste when millions of people's lives and futures are at stake. This impatience is why I'm happy to be joining Twitter officially today as @melindagates. After all, what's more impatient than a tweet?

Harnessing The Power Of Religion For Good

Ajarat Bada | Posted 11.13.2011

Ajarat Bada

Religion's potential transcends Marx's opium theory. Religion is not simply a panacea for the psychological imbalance of the masses. It has the power to unify people.

Freedom and Development: Something Worth Fighting For

Otaviano Canuto | Posted 08.09.2011

Otaviano Canuto

The protests that swept through the Middle East and North Africa over the past six months have shown us what people will do to have their voices heard...

Answering the Challenge for Small Farmers

Bill Gates | Posted 08.06.2011

Bill Gates

The vast majority of the poorest people in the world get their food and income from farming small plots of land. Helping these farming families grow and sell more helps them become self-sufficient and build better lives.

Building A Better World By Supporting Farming Families

Sylvia Mathews Burwell | Posted 07.24.2011

Sylvia Mathews Burwell

Supporting farming families makes sense on many fronts. It not only helps farmers become self-sufficient, but it helps increase the prosperity and stability of countries in the developing world.

The Real Successes of Foreign Aid

Bill Gates | Posted 07.23.2011

Bill Gates

Stepping into the public square to announce that foreign aid is important and effective can be lonely work.

Small Farmers Are the Answer

Bill Gates | Posted 07.09.2011

Bill Gates

Many people don't realize it, but most of the world's poorest people are small farmers, and they can play an important role in cutting hunger and poverty.

Moms In Mind: A Look Into The Lives Of Mothers Around The World

Caty Borum Chattoo | Posted 07.09.2011

Caty Borum Chattoo

In many parts of the developing world, the day a woman becomes a mother is a day too often obscured by terrible tragedy and danger. She will face losing her baby and losing her own life.

Aid Agencies Must Listen to the People They're Helping

Nicholas van Praag | Posted 06.21.2011

Nicholas van Praag

Over the years, we have seen a marked increase in the focus on accountability in what is now a $10 billion a year industry. But there is no systematic approach to assessing humanitarian operations through the eyes of recipients.

The Hardest Workers

Melinda Gates | Posted 05.25.2011

Melinda Gates

I am filled with tremendous optimism mostly due to one fact: while we here at the foundation might be working hard to help lift people out of poverty, the poor are working harder.

U.S. Budget Woes Threaten MCC Money and Model

Sarah Jane Staats | Posted 05.25.2011

Sarah Jane Staats

The prospect of a U.S. government shutdown over the FY2011 budget still hangs over Washington.

Another Food Price Spike: Weather Again to Blame for Wheat, Corn Pushed by (Even Worse) Ethanol Policies

Kimberly Ann Elliott | Posted 05.25.2011

Kimberly Ann Elliott

The decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last year to increase the allowable level for blending ethanol with gasoline was a major factor in driving demand for ethanol -- and corn prices -- up sharply.

Keeping Promises and Delivering Hope to Poor Farmers and Their Families

Sylvia Mathews Burwell | Posted 05.25.2011

Sylvia Mathews Burwell

The European Development Days conference I attended in Brussels earlier this month was a smorgasbord for dialogue on international development.

Judaism and Global Justice: A Conversation with Ruth Messinger

Katherine Marshall | Posted 05.25.2011

Katherine Marshall

Jewish sages say that if all the problems of the world were on one side of a scale, and poverty was on the other, poverty would be heavier. That idea guides us.

Share the Proof

Melinda Gates | Posted 05.25.2011

Melinda Gates

Aid is having a huge impact in poor countries, and it's an impact that will build on itself for generations. Bill and I often think if everybody could see the living proof of progress that is being made, they would be as optimistic as we are.

Calling Extraordinary Young Entrepreneurs to End Poverty

Saul Garlick | Posted 05.25.2011

Saul Garlick

Each summer, ThinkImpact hosts the Innovation Institute Scholars Program, a 10-week immersion experience in rural South Africa and Kenya, giving American students the training and guidance to start businesses in rural Africa.