Global Development
In an increasingly globalized world, international development efforts aim to improve living conditions, equity, and human rights around the world. Our global development section tracks this globalization and reports on specific equitable and sustainable development initiatives.
Google’s internet balloons are now connecting Kenya to the web
We may take our access to the internet for granted, but more than 40 percent of the global population still can’t connect to the web. With this in mind, Alphabet’s internet-beaming Project Loon has set off on a mission to overcome this digital divide, starting in Kenya. Project Loon is a Read More...
Why a think tank believes the world could end poverty by 2030
As you’ve probably inferred by now – given the current state of the world – forecasting future events is a rather challenging undertaking. But there are rare instances when some experts get it right. Take for example Silicon Valley entrepreneur Tony Seba, who a decade ago was among the few Read More...
Mud stoves are helping Ugandans solve their country’s deforestation crisis
With only 10 percent of Uganda’s rural population connected to the power grid, people have no other choice but to use firewood as the main source of fuel to cook, leading to one of the worst deforestation rates in the world. In fact, every year, 2.6 percent of the country’s forests are cut Read More...
Meet the woman who has saved 72,000 human trafficking victims
Meet Hasina Kharbhih. When she was just a schoolgirl in Shillong, India, she started supporting the social development of vulnerable communities in the northeast of the country. Now at the age of 49, Kharbhih and her Impulse NGO Network have rescued 72,000 women and children trafficked across Read More...
Competition aims to find solutions to training the post-pandemic workforce
The pandemic has radically altered the employment landscape. Most jobs will be very different when regular work resumes and many jobs will not come back at all. In order to induct a large workforce into new roles, effective and rapid training techniques will need to happen across all sectors. A new Read More...
Thought Leader Series: Rethinking the virus and the future
Millions of species on Earth, from tiny microorganisms to the blue whale, all work together to maintain a stable biodiverse ecosystem everywhere on the planet. However, somewhere along the line, humans developed a humans-as-supreme, not life-as-supreme, attitude about our role in nature. In Read More...
Why the coronavirus recovery is the perfect opportunity to enact change
As cities reopen even while global COVID-19 cases continue to grow, most people are wondering when things will truly get back to normal. In a TED2020 talk on Monday, economist Mariana Mazzucato said that it’s the wrong question to ask. “Really, my view is that we need to do everything we Read More...
This nonprofit teaches former felons digital media to boost job prospects
Each year, around 8,500 people in New York City are released from prison, more than half of which are rearrested within three years. Of those who have jobs a year after release, the recidivism rate drops to 31 percent. The problem, however, is that for someone who’s just gotten out of prison, Read More...
New agreement significantly lowers the cost of pneumonia vaccine
Pneumonia is the single biggest killer of children under five worldwide, but a new agreement hopes to change this by making the vaccine for the disease much more affordable. A new agreement between UNICEF and the Serum Institute of India will drop the price of the lifesaving drug from $3.50 to Read More...
Spain is implementing a universal minimum income. What is that?
In April, we shared a story about the Spanish government’s plans to introduce a basic income program—though it wasn’t clear whether it would be implemented on a country-wide scale. This week we got to know that Spain has decided to implement what it’s calling a national minimum income, Read More...