Our Stories

In Colombia, moving from tragedy to development

By Amparo Díaz, laureate of UNDP's annual storytelling contest The 21st century was just beginning when Salomón Manuel Petro – a troubadour and farmer – and his family were forced to leave their home in northwestern Colombia. They took only what they could carry with them, along with their memories more

Cambodian councils cooperate to provide community with school

Several years ago, Soy Pheap, a 39 year-old mother of seven, was forced to make a tough decision; send her daughter away, or forfeit the young girl’s education. Until recently, Pheap’s village, part of the Tuol Pongro commune in Banteay Meanchey Province in northwest Cambodia, lacked an adequate sec more

Creating resilient economies in Mongolia

Tsetsegdelger Byamba and her husband Hatanbaatar, of Mongolia, were among those who lost everything following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Unemployment, a daughter’s illness and a fire in their home destroyed life as they knew it. Today, however, Tsetsegdelger is the proud owner of a more

From one meal a day to three

Inside Asea Begum's home, shelves teem with jars containing pulses, grains, spices and dried biscuits. A little girl runs in with a small plastic bottle that Begum fills with cooking oil in exchange for a few coins. Asea Begum runs a small grocery store out of her one-room house in the Mymensingh di more

Guaranteed job for Madvi Madka, India

Madvi Madka, from the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, has one thing in common with many international business tycoons: he is part of the construction sector that has been crippled by the global economic crisis. But Madvi Madka is no real-estate shark. He is a farmer and a daily-wage earner wh more

Blacksmiths rebuilding hope from the rubble in Ghana

On the fringes of the once-dreaded town of Yendi – in the district of the same name in northeastern Ghana – sits middle-aged Abukari Abdulai in the shade of a rundown blacksmith’s shop. Abdulai is the Secretary of the Boriguyili Blacksmiths Association. Such artisans have long been accused of being more

Helping the victims of Colombia's conflict

Luz Dary Santiesteban stands by the Pacific Ocean in a small Colombian town. “If that sea could talk, it would tell us all about the victims,” she says, pointing to the water. “They all were made to disappear.” Santiesteban is one of thousands of people in the country whose relatives were murdered d more

Reusing earthquake debris to rebuild Haiti

Gera, a young pregnant woman living in the hills of Carrefour-Feuilles in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, is much relieved that the rehabilitation of the alleyway leading to her house has been completed. Before that, “it was impractical moving around in the neighbourhood and going to the hospital, es more

Survivors of Pakistan's floods lay foundations for new homes

Struggling to help her husband with a long-term respiratory illness when their wooden house was swept away by catastrophic flooding in the north of Pakistan, Gul Numa, over 80 years old, survived the initial weeks of August in a makeshift camp. Numa and her husband, Sayed Qalandar Shah, 90, were more

Rebuilding fishermen’s livelihoods in Sri Lanka

Fishermen in Mullaitivu District, Northern Sri Lanka, have been living off the sea for decades. However, years of conflict and displacement have disrupted their livelihoods and caused large scale damage to the economic and social infrastructure. Anuraj, a father of three, was displaced four times w more

Kazakhstan: Preserving wetlands boosts the economy

For years, Valentina Zhakupbekova’s family depended upon illegal poaching for its survival in Kazakhstan’s vast wetlands, thousands of square kilometres of rich soil and abundant lakes, caviar-bearing fish, unique birds and aquatic flora. “My husband had no employment, the fish he caught in the lak more

Peru: Rebuilding communities through volunteerism

Sebastiàn Escajadillo Saire, a resident of Santa Barbara’s village south of Lima, Peru, lost everything when his house was destroyed by a magnitude 8 earthquake in 2007, which left tens of thousands homeless across the region. In October 2011, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, the Frenc more

UNDP promotes peace in Kyrgyzstan

Uzgen, Kyrgyzstan: In a region beset with inter-ethnic violence, a UNDP supported scheme is training media, promoting conflict resolution and even fostering cross cultural friendships to strengthen peace. Three elderly women sit in the sun talking and sipping tea. They have been g more

Justice and atoning for Guatemala's past

It took 29 years for Alfredo to find out the truth about who he really is. The 31-year-old, originally from Guatemala, now lives in the US. He always thought that his name was Oscar, and that Lieutenant Oscar Ovidio Ramírez Ramos, the father he loved, was a military hero in his native country. But t more

Reducing the risk of disaster in Armenia

Hovhannes Arakelyan has witnessed hundreds of floods in his remote village of Sipanik, in Western Armenia. "I have seen smashed roads, houses, and crops, and disasters used to diminish our hope for a better life," says the 72-year-old. Sipanik’s regular inundation when the Hrazdan River fl more

Nepal: Bamboo keeps villagers dry

“When my village floods, which it does almost annually, we never know how bad it will get. Some people lose their whole house, most will lose some crops and everyone will be affected in some way,” says 32 year-old Ms. Sita Gaire, of Shivamandir village in Southern Nepal. Mother of two Gaire lives i more

In Nigeria, farm training yields fuller harvests for rural women

For Mama Nsedu, a young widow in Northern Nigeria, feeding her family was becoming harder every day. Like thousands of women in the rural communities of Nanka, Kyado and Yauri, Mama Nsedu faced poor crop yields due to harsh, dry weather, low rainfall, poor soil nutrients and overdependence on expens more

A future for young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina

At 25, Aleksandar Vrhovac, a resident of Banja Luka in Bosnia and Herzegovina, had no previous work experience. He knew nothing about how to prepare a resume, look for a job or present himself in an interview—until he went to one of the new centres for information, counselling and education opening more

Zimbabwe: Turning the tide in the fight against HIV and AIDS

Working as a volunteer at the Kuwadzana Polyclinic, a public health centre in Harare, Timothy Sandramu, 35, painfully recalls his distress in 2005 when he tested HIV-positive. “I was brought here in a wheelchair by my mother,” Timothy says, noting that he had been ailing for some time, culminating more

Tajikistan: Putting environmental resources in local hands

Tajikistan’s Vakhsh River valley is crucial to the livelihoods and food security of millions of people, but the degradation of natural resources has been persistent and extensive over the past 100 years. The tugai forests, reservoirs of biodiversity and source of income for local communities, have b more

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