The USA is Closer Than Ever to Reforming its Inefficient Food Aid Program Joanne Lu March 20, 2018Advocates for better food aid are hoping they’ll finally see long-awaited changes become law. Last week, Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Chris Coons (D-DE) and Representatives Ed Royce (R-CA) and Earl Blumenaue...
A New Report Shows That Banks Could Profit Big Time By Closing the Financial Inclusion Gender Gap Joanne Lu March 8, 2018 Every year on March 8, women around the globe celebrate their fight for equal rights. But it’s also a day to call out inequalities that still persist to the detriment of not just women, but society as a whole...
The UN Just Released the Most Comprehensive Report on Gender Equality Around the World Joanne Lu February 14, 2018Gender equality is a catalyst for social progress. Thanks to a new report from the UN, we now have the data to prove it. The rubric for the release of this report by is the Sustainable Development Goals, which...
Will Rohingya Refugees Actually Return to Myanmar Without the Promise of Full Rights as Citizens? Joanne Lu January 17, 2018Myanmar and Bangladesh are moving forward with a controversial plan to repatriate more than 650,000 Rohingya Muslims, who fled a military crackdown that began late August. The deal was signed Nov. 23 and aims ...
The Number of Refugees and Migrants Coming to Europe is Now Dropping. Here’s Why Joanne Lu January 11, 2018Two years after sparking an unprecedented humanitarian and political crisis, the largest influx of refugees and migrants into Europe since World War II has finally slowed down, according to the International Or...
New Analysis: 1 in 12 Children Face “Bleaker Prospects” Than Their Parents. Here’s Why Joanne Lu December 6, 2017The future doesn’t look so bright for 180 million children. Despite major improvements in child well-being around the world over the last 20 years, a recent UNICEF analysis found that children in 37 countries ...
This is what a “Marshall Plan” For Sustainably Rebuilding Storm Ravaged Caribbean Could Look Like Joanne Lu December 1, 2017Hurricane season officially ends today. And more than two months after deadly storms tore through the region, full recovery is still months or even years away for the worst-hit islands. Barbuda, for example, re...
This is How Prevalent Child Labor is Around the World Today. Can the Sustainable Development Goals Totally Eradicate it 7 Years from Now? Joanne Lu November 28, 2017The world fell short of its goal to eliminate the worst forms of child labor by 2016. Now, amid conflicts, disasters and an “unprecedented scale of migration and forced displacement,” the UN’s International Lab...
An Obscure Debate in the UK Over What Counts as “Foreign Aid” Has Big Global Implications Joanne Lu November 9, 2017An arcane debate in the United Kingdom about what properly qualifies as "foreign aid" could have a big impact on how anti-poverty development assistance is spent around the world. At issue is how the United Ki...
