global development

Who's ahead in the baby tally these days — boys or girls? Newborns are ready to be counted in a Florida hospital.

QUIZ: How Much Do You Know About The World's Girls? #15Girls

7:03am October 24, 2015

by Malaka Gharib

Do the world's mothers give birth to more boys than girls — or vice versa? What country has the top percentage of women in political power? Test your knowledge on the state of the world's girls.

A video still from a Save the Children television fundraising advertisement.

At What Point Does A Fundraising Ad Go Too Far?

4:31pm October 05, 2015

by Malaka Gharib

Images of the "starving child" were popular in 1980s campaigns. Critics didn't like the depiction of the developing world as a place of helpless victims. Such ads faded away, but now they're back.

In the 1950s, the World Bank funded the creation of the world's largest man-made dam, the Kariba Dam, which sits on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia. The construction of such dams can have dire consequences for poor people living near a river, an investi

When The World Bank Does More Harm Than Good

8:17am April 17, 2015

by NPR Staff

Large projects funded by the bank have left millions of poor people worse off, an investigation found. The bank says the vast majority of its projects don't fall into this category.

Queue Listen Now

Each item, including boots from Guatemala, a basket from Rwanda and a soda can cuff from Kenya, are handmade. And when people buy these gifts, the profits go back to the artisans and their community.

For Giving Tuesday: A Guide To Gifts That Give Back

2:18pm December 02, 2014

by Maanvi Singh

Boots from a Guatemalan village. A basket woven in Rwanda. Kenyan soda cans that became cool cuffs. Money spent on these and other items provides a better life for artisans in the developing world.