Part of the ongoing debate about the process of globalization throughout both the developed and developing world is that a good deal of the world's population continues to grow poorer and poorer while a number of international transnational corporations continue to increase their share of the world's assets. There have been a number of efforts to combat poverty in the developing world, including...

As concerns grow about assisting countries in the developing world in a way that is both meaningful and sustainable, it should not surprise Scout Report readers that the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is Canada's federal agency that is charged with coordinating Canada's efforts to reduce poverty and "to contribute to a more secure, equitable and prosperous world." First-time...

Established in 2000, with a series of innovative grants and funding schemes from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, the Chronic Poverty Research Center (CPRC) is primarily concerned with researching chronic poverty around the globe and creating well thought out analyses that will be useful to different government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and other...

Tuesday, October 17, 2000, was the eighth annual observance of the UN's International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. The Website dedicated to this observance serves as a gateway to a wealth of UN and UN-sponsored reports, articles, and data relating to the First United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty 1997-2006. The site also links to relevant data from other sources like the...

Martin Luther King Jr.'s last year of life was complex, and prior to his assassination he was involved in a number of ambitious projects. This compelling and thoughtful documentary produced by Kate Ellis and Stephen Smith of American RadioWorks (in cooperation with the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University) closely examines this period of King's life. The...

Founded in 1937, the Plan organization was initially intended to provide food and education to the unfortunate children whose lives were disrupted by the trauma and horror of the Spanish Civil War. Almost 70 years later, Plan continues to provide much needed assistance to 45 countries around the world, primarily in the areas of education, housing, and cross-cultural learning. First-time visitors...

Many laboratories focus their attention on topics like Alzheimer's research, but this laboratory at MIT focuses on poverty. The objective of their work at the Poverty Action Lab is "to improve the effectiveness of poverty programs by providing policy makers with clear scientific results that help shape successful polices to combat poverty." The Lab was started in June 2003 by a group of...

Taken as a whole, Social Watch as an international network of citizens' groups concerned with the "fulfillment of internationally agreed commitments on poverty eradication and equality." These citizens' groups are also responsible for submitting national reports, promoting dialogue about these development priorities, and developing an inclusive strategy in order to bring other groups into the...

Recently released, this annual report on the state of world development (written by staff members at the World Bank) is an important document that adopts as its main thesis that broad improvements in human welfare around the globe will not occur unless "poor people receive wider access to affordable, better quality services in health, education, water, sanitation, and electricity." From this main...