Zimbabwe sees recycling boom as waste picking becomes lucrative business
Community-based recycling organizations, which handpick litter, quadrupled in the last few years, now picking up 15% of all plastic waste generated in the country.
Poverty alleviation
This archive tracks real progress on poverty alleviation — from policy wins and cash-transfer programs to community-led initiatives that are lifting incomes and expanding opportunity. Across 156 articles, you’ll find evidence that poverty is not intractable. These stories document what works, where it’s working, and who is making it happen.
Kenya is launching Africa’s biggest school meals program
Under the new scheme, 250,000 children living in the country’s capital Nairobi will receive a hot meal every day.
California expands Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to provide universal access to free books for young children
With this expansion, all California children under 5 will be eligible to receive a free book in the mail every month, as the program scales over the next several years.
New project to bring education to 10 million girls in rural India
Working in partnership with the government, Educate Girls operates in over 20,000 villages serving adolescent girls and young women who have permanently dropped out of school.
Novo Nordisk to slash U.S. insulin prices, following move by Eli Lilly
The Danish drugmaker will reduce the list price of its NovoLog insulin by 75%, and for Novolin and Levemir by 65%.
Toledo City Council approves medical debt relief legislation
In a 7-5 vote, council members approved legislation to create a partnership between the city and a nonprofit group called RIP Medical Debt to relieve debt for eligible Toledo residents.
New Delaware law ends many fines and fees that criminalize poverty
HB 244 bans courts from charging interest or imposing fees for late payments, failing to pay, or paying in installments, among several other changes meant to reduce abusive fines and fees.
California launches largest free school lunch program in U.S.
When classrooms in California reopen for the fall term, all 6.2 million public school students will have the option to eat school meals for free, regardless of their family’s income.
Adopt-a-Forest climate project in Kenya pays locals to keep trees alive until they mature
The program was started to address the lack of after-care, a major flaw in many forest-planting projects in Kenya and beyond.
Austin becomes the first Texas city to experiment with ‘guaranteed income’
Under a yearlong, $1 million pilot program, the city will send monthly checks of $1,000 to 85 needy households at risk of losing their homes.