Our Stories

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Lao PDR: Diversifying crops to cope with climate change

For Ki Her, the head of Kioutaloun village in mountainous northern Lao PDR, and 95 percent of the population who grow rice, the change in the weather over the past five years presents significant challenges. With shorter but more intense rainy seasons, followed by longer dry seasons, farmers are st more

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DRC: Former combatants gain skills and income through reintegration

For 32-year old Wathum Ukecha, life has taken a turn for the better since he volunteered to be demobilized after four years as a fighter in the forests of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Wathum is one of 160 people – mainly ex-combatants, vulnerable women and school drop-outs– who were tra more

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Building a brighter future for rice farmers in Cambodia

Farmers in the small community of Tuol Sdey, in the Svay Rieng province of southeastern Cambodia, have reason to be happy.  For the first time in decades they can rejoice in having two harvests in one season. This is largely due to the construction of a new water dam which stores rain in a near more

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Moving towards self-sufficiency in Madagascar

A Madagascar-based civil society organization, Association Anja Miray runs a community forest reserve, using ecotourism to create jobs and fund basic social infrastructure such as schools, health clinics and environmental education centers. "Prior to our initiative, this vast territory was clea more

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Solar power provides sustainability to Croatian village

“The milk that we produce, we cannot sell,” says Mileva Desnica, who lives in the small village of Ajderovac in Croatia. “We don’t have electricity for a refrigerator, so we can only store food in the cold room for a day or two at most.” The municipality of Gračac where the village is located was cu more

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Burundi: Reclaiming forest reserve while improving livelihoods

During Burundi’s civil war, thousands of people sought refuge in the Kibira forest reserve near the capital Bujumbura. But since the war ended in 2002, damage to the forest has been exacerbated as internally displaced persons and nearby communities cut down trees to clear land for farming, and use t more

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Nigeria: Sawdust recycling creates jobs while cleaning up city

For environmentalist Leslie Adogame in Lagos, Nigeria, his daily commute past large sawdust piles from the local timber factories got him thinking - how to clean up the waste and create jobs at the same time? “After brooding over it for a while, I decided that I had to do something to stop the burni more

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India: Conserving the Gulf of Mannar’s biodiversity

The Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve, off the south eastern coast of India, is home to one of the world’s largest concentrations of marine species. Much of the Reserve’s biodiversity depends on the coral reef, which houses numerous species of fish and supports the livelihoods of close to 150,000 fis more

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India: Transforming poor rural women into successful business managers

Ten years ago Pushpa Devi Maurya joined a self-help group to make ends meet in the village of Chak Padri in the state of Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Today this 35-year-old mother of two manages the bulk milk chilling centre set up by the milk producers’ company near her village. The centre collec more

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Peru: Improving cook stoves and access to energy

by James Leslie Cooking on a wood fire has always required a great deal of effort for 48-year-old Pilar Valladolid. She is supported in this duty by her 8-year-old daughter, Pamela. Together they have to walk more than an hour to collect the firewood they will use to cook with during the coming days more

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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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