Our Stories

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In Egypt, adapted technology improves women's lives

By Marwa Elnokrashy and Karim Ezzeldin, finalists in UNDP's second annual storytelling contest Fatma Ibrahim, a poor mother of six, has been illiterate all her life. As a child, her hardworking parents made simple handicrafts and sold them to make ends meet. Like many girls growing up in Siwa, the l more

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Uzbekistan rebuilds kindergartens in the devastated Aral Sea region

The city of Muynak, in northwestern Uzbekistan, used to be home to a flourishing fishing industry. But when the Aral Sea started to dry up, so did the jobs. Today, the population in Muynak is down to 29,000, and has the highest percentage of unemployment in the region. To address the economic, healt more

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In Kazakhstan, increased rights for the disabled improve living standards

By Assel Tleof, finalist in UNDP's second annual storytelling contest Since the age of five, when Ali Amanbayev was diagnosed with a serious spinal injury, life has been a constant struggle. “As a schoolboy, I began using crutches and had to do my homework lying on my back,” he recalls. “As the year more

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Training Beninese youth in agribusiness

Cybelle Agossou, the youngest of a family of six children, decided to enroll in a practical training course to become self-employed and help her parents. Today, at age 20, she manages a small soap-making business and employs four people. Cybelle took an 18-month training course at the Songhai Center more

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Agriculture opens new doors for young Jamaicans

Kingston – Some 650 young and jobless women and men in four impoverished areas of Jamaica have received training in cultivation and food production skills to boost their job opportunities in local farming and agro-industries. Through a three-year programme started in January 2010 by the Government a more

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Emiliana helps herself by helping the elderly in Bulgaria

“Don’t take her away,” urged Emiliana, a Bulgarian social assistant who provided personal care to an 87 year-old woman in Pravetz municipality. The elderly woman had lost two of her three sons and was living alone with arthritis and diabetes until Emiliana intervened. Emiliana kept the woman company more

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Creating a culture of leadership and results for Palestinian civil servants

By: Dania Darwish Picture this:  Groups of students huddle around large pieces of paper. The papers are adorned with bright colours and complex diagrams. One teacher praises the students’ work. Another teacher tears it up. The students, all senior members of the Palestinian civil service - are more

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Lao PDR: Revamped market creates brighter future for local vendors

Soutsady, a 48-year-old mother of six who prefers to be addressed by her first name, has always depended on her meagre income from selling fried bananas at Khangkhai village market in the central Lao PDR province of Xiengkhouang. But the small, poorly-equipped community market did not provide enoug more

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Strengthening education in Bangladesh

It is 8:30 a.m. in the village of Matiranga, in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. School is about to begin and, unlike in years past, the children arriving for their preschool and primary school classes know they will have no trouble understanding what is said in their lessons. The Hill Trac more

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Georgia: Microloans offer new starts in war-torn regions

Dali Chilachava and her family fled their home village in Abkhazia, Georgia, after separatist conflict broke out in the region in 1993. For 12 years they endured extreme poverty, until a microfinance programme helped them to start a small business growing and selling lillies. In regions of Georgia more

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The Sustainable Future We Want

UNDP has decades of concrete development experience in countries ranging from fragile States to middle-income countries like Brazil and Indonesia. This, combined with our four focus areas, make us uniquely situated and qualified to answer the UN’s call for a better and more sustainable future.

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