Humanitarian Issues

Tony Blair Launches Search For Thirty Young Ambassadors For The Millenium Development Goals

Tony Blair today launched an international search for thirty outstanding young people to serve as inter-religious ambassadors for the Millennium Development Goals. In Spring 2009 these young activists aged 18 - 25 will be selected to be the first Faiths Act Fellows.

The Faiths Act Fellowship brings together thirty young leaders drawn from the different faiths from the US, UK and Canada to embark on a 10 month journey of interfaith service.

Tony Blair said: "As changemakers for current and future generations, young people have the opportunity to establish a new vision of inter-religious interaction that places protecting the welfare of the world's poorest at its centre."

Actor Paul Newman Leaves Many Legacies, Including Camp for Ailing Kids

Enrichment.com mourns the passing of a great human being - actor, humanitarian and philanthropist Paul Newman. One way to honor his memory is for us to provide this link to his camp for children with serious medical conditions. It is the realization of his dream. His endless passion and commitment to help those less fortunate, especially children, was enormous. Children whose lives are interrupted by illness are able to put their worries aside and enjoy a carefree camp experience thanks to Paul’s tireless efforts and boundless enthusiasm.

Enrichment.com Enthusiastically Supports The Tony Blair Faith Foundation

One of the cornerstones of the mission of Enrichment.com is to encourage dialogue between the great religions and cultures of the world. In 1990, when the vision of this site was first put on paper, what came through was that as the world undergoes globalization through technology, and as peoples and ideas would of necessity converge through the instruments of communication heightened by technology, that it would be vital for true mutual understanding and empathy to be fostered between peoples of different faiths and cultures.

Microfinance: Boon or bane?

Editor's note: In July 2007, I arranged an online debate on FT.com (Financial Times) between microfinance expert Eric Thurman, co-author of A Billion Bootstraps: Microcredit, Barefoot Banking, and the Business Solution for Ending Poverty, and Professor Aneel Karnani of the University of Michigan. This was a lively polemic between two humanitarians with opposing views on the efficacy of microcredit (or microfinance as it is also known) - and the best ways to reduce poverty in the developing world. It was important enough to earn another posting here on Enrichment.com.

Let Them Eat Mudcakes

By Luise Light, M.S., Ed.D.

"The biggest enemy of health in the developing world is poverty."
--Kofi Annan

The world’s greatest hunger crisis in modern history is ravaging the world, pitting poor nations against rich ones, and poor people against financial elites in an epic battle for survival, based on who controls the global food supply. In just three years, global food prices have climbed 83 percent, according to the World Bank, placing a life-sustaining diet beyond the reach of the poorest and most vulnerable groups. Staple foods that poor people depend on as their basic sources of nourishment are the most inflated in price, with rice, the grain of choice for half the world, at a 19 year high, and wheat, the staple for another third of the world, at a 28-year high. Other foods essential for a basic nutritional diet in poor countries, cooking oil, eggs, and dairy, have been equally hard hit by price inflation, affecting the working and middle classes, not just the poor.

Beating Poverty, One Entrepreneur At A Time

Microcredit is a quiet revolution, creating tiny, flourishing businesses in some of the poorest places in the world. But the economic benefits are global.

Worth Reading: The Quick Take from Kiplinger

Phil Smith and Eric Thurman

Phil Smith and Eric Thurman are authors of A Billion Bootstraps: Microcredit, Barefoot Banking, and the Business Solution for Ending Poverty. Smith is a private investor, estate administrator and advocate for microcredit and retirement issues. He recently founded the Microcredit Clearinghouse.