FIRST PERSON: George Childs in Fresnillo, Mexico

The issue of poverty in Fresnillo is so complex that an unstudied observer struggles to begin an analysis. Individual problems can obscure systemic injustices. It’s hard to see the forest for the trees.
I’ve just arrived home from the championship of the local soccer children and adult leagues. The trophy ceremony was disbanded after numerous fights [...]

On Location: Oportunidades

 
Fresnillo, Mexico
A mother of three in Fresnillo Mexico shares how Oportunidades has been a relief and benefit in her life.
Fresnillo is home to over 111,000 people many of which are experiencing poverty. I am currently in Fresnillo and I am submerge into the culture and life of the people here. I have found one mother [...]

Oportunidades: Conditional Cash Transfer Programs Reducing Poverty

 
A new approach to lessen poverty provides families with cash grants.
According to the Oportunidades program in Mexico, if families agree to keep children in schools,  attend required medical checkups, and attend workshops on how to stay healthy, the government will supply the funds to do so. This programs success is raising the amount of students [...]

Does global sustainability require population control?

In order to create a sustainable world, some experts say that population control must take center stage. “Most natural scientists agree our growing numbers and our unchecked impact on the natural environment move us inexorably toward global calamities of unthinkable severity,” said John Feeney in an article for BBC News. Although the impact of overpopulation [...]

Obama lifts restriction on foreign aid

On January 23 President Obama signed a measure that will lift the Bush administration’s block on funding to foreign assistance programs that provide education on abortion to woman, a move that could have a big impact on international poverty programs. According to a post on the White House website, this Reagan era policy referred to [...]

New digital soil maps to help fight hunger

On January 13 the International Center for Tropical Agriculture introduced a new digital map technology that covers 42 countries, and will allow for soil scientists to pinpoint areas of soil degradation. According to the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, “Low soil fertility is one of the major factors responsible for depressed yields on [...]

OXFAM: A billion people are hungry

In a report published this month by Oxfam entitled, “A Billion Hungry People,” the humanitarian organization says global hunger increased by 109 million people in 2008 due in large part to rising fuel and food prices, bringing the world’s hunger count to almost a billion people, roughly one sixth of the world’s population.
Based on this [...]

Access to food halved in Djibouti

Source: IRIN
Assignment Global is not responsible for the content of this article. The information and reporting are those of the author and news organization alone.
NAIROBI, 14 August 2008 (IRIN) – Access to food in Djibouti has been cut by more than 50 percent because of reduced availability and rising prices, according to a humanitarian official.
“The [...]

Food or Drugs? High food prices complicate AIDS fight

Rising global food prices and food shortages are an increasing threat to the poor living with HIV.
“For people living with HIV, who require more nutrition than healthy people, this will have terrible consequences,” said Alan Whiteside, an economist with South Africa’s University of KwaZulu-Natal, according to an IRIN report from the 17th International AIDS Conference [...]

World trade talks collapse

The seven-year world trade talks being held in Geneva collapsed this afternoon when the United States, China and India failed to reach an agreement on agriculture imports.
See reports from the Associated Press, The Daily Telegraph, The Hindu, and China View.