Our Stories

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Restoring hope in the future for Prespa Lake, FYR Macedonia

“We used to do a lot of things without thinking about the effects on the environment,” says Naume Toskovski, an apple farmer in the Prespa Lakes region of Macedonia. “We didn’t know that dumping apples would pollute the water. Perhaps it’s a different story with pesticides and fertilizers— the tempt more

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New nets help fishermen in Gaza become self-reliant

By Dania Darwish The Swedish Village, a remote village of fishermen in the far south of the Gaza Strip in the occupied Palestinian territory, is home to some 95 households living under extreme poverty. Visitors to the Village – built by the Swedish Government in the 1960s – can immediately see the p more

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Unlocking energy efficiency in Kazakhstan

A student at Public School Number 9 in Astana, Kazakhstan, 14-year-old Arman said that a few years ago, the gymnasium in his 63-year-old school was so cold in winter that he and his classmates could see their breath. "We hated going to gym class," he said. The chill hurt students’ health a more

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After Philippines typhoon, clean-up brings recovery

Julius Enriquez sifts through a mountain of rubble, picking out usable wood and other materials in the grounds of what used to be Cateel Central Elementary School, in Mindanao, The Philippines. “These wood scraps can be used to rebuild the damaged school where my child used to go,” he says. The scho more

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Tackling poverty through adaptation in Bangladesh

From sky to sea, Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to climate change. Changing rainfall patterns, melting glaciers in the Himalayas, increased floods and storms, rising sea levels, all have an impact on Bangladesh, and in particular, on the poorest communities. Abdul Mazid, who lives in the flood-pro more

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Farmers in Ethiopia fight drought and climate change

Throughout most of his 55 years, Mohammed Hassen and his family have suffered  during recurring droughts that have ravaged his district of Kalu, South Wollo Zone, in northeastern Ethiopia. The country, once defined by rural poverty, is developing a strategy to address pockets of extreme poverty more

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Farmers' cooperatives increase food security in Cuba

Yudiel Mojena Guerra, a young farmer from eastern Cuba, was given land from the government as part of a strategy to increase domestic food production. So he started working at a run-down dairy farm, refurbished it, and bought some livestock. But like most workers in the non-state sector, he soon fou more

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Chinese farmers plant seed for a chemical-free future

By Adam Pitt, third-place winner of UNDP's second annual storytelling contest Seventy-year-old Dang Jiuru dreamed of sending his grandson to university, but until recently his lifelong ambition seemed destined to remain unfulfilled. His apple orchard in Luochuan County, Shaanxi Province, simply did more

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Eco-stoves empower indigenous women in Brazil

By Daniel De Castro and Jacob Said, winners of UNDP's second annual storytelling contest The sun was still rising and Delma Gonçalves, 41, had already spent two hours trekking to the place where she and the rest of her settlement collected firewood. The return trip was even worse: under the hot sun, more

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In Gaza, safe water supply changes lives

By Dania Darwish, finalist in UNDP's second annual storytelling contest Water is scarce in the occupied Palestinian territory and supplies barely meet the needs of the Palestinian people. More than 13 percent of the population currently has no access to running water, and many of the existing water more