Extreme Poverty Down?
According to a recent report by the World Bank, the answer is (unexpectedly) an emphatic yes. Researchers found that the number of people in the developing world living on $1.25 per day or less actually decreased from 2005 to 2008. In fact, the world appears to have met the Millennium Development Goal on extreme poverty…almost three years before the 2015 deadline. The news media don’t often report good news from the global South, so let’s permit ourselves a little celebrating—though folks now living on $1.26 a day may not be dancing in the streets.
Talk + Action = Progress Toward Equality
The San Francisco-based network of grantmakers Hispanics in Philanthropy is hosting one of its trademark “philanthropy lab” webinars on March 20th about “Using Strategic Communications Tools to Advance Equality for LGBT Latinos.” A panel of experts drawn from the non-profit and foundation sectors will discuss innovative uses of traditional and social media to move the equality agenda forward. Join the conversation!
An Honest Look at Microfinance
Forbes India’s February feature—“What Ails Microfinance?”—is the kind of piece that can restore our faith in thoughtful evaluation of complex processes. Author N.S. Ramnath discusses David Roodman’s careful analysis of the claims that microfinance makes about impact and reports on Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus’ response. Yunus, an initial proponent of microfinance and founder of Grameen Bank, praised the book. As Ramnath notes, Yunus recognized the value of “cool, evidence-based analysis.” And that, friends, is a recipe for good evaluation.
