Extreme poverty, deep poverty, abject poverty, absolute poverty, destitution, or penury, is the most severe type of poverty, defined by the United Nations (UN) as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services". Historically, other definitions have been proposed within the United Nations.
Engineers Without Borders Canada, abbreviated EWB or ISF, is a non-governmental organization devoted to international development. Founded in 2000 by George Roter and Parker Mitchell, engineering graduates from the University of Waterloo, it is a registered Canadian charity focused on finding solutions to extreme poverty, specifically in rural Africa. The group has chapters at universities across Canada, and regional chapters aimed at professionals in several major cities.
Never Ending Gardens is a division of Dream for Africa, a religious-based non-profit organization based in Gainesville, Georgia, USA, and in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, that seeks to alleviate hunger in Africa by building sustainable vegetable gardens in communities to improve their diet.
The Art of Living Foundation is a volunteer-based, humanitarian and educational non-governmental organization (NGO). It was founded in 1981 by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. The Art of Living Foundation has centers in more than 156 countries. Art of Living offers several stress-elimination and self-development programs based on breathing techniques, meditation and yoga.
Gawad Kalinga (GK) is a Philippine poverty alleviation and nation-building movement known officially as the Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation.
The Bolivarian missions are a series of over thirty social programs implemented under the administration of former Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and continued by Chávez's successor, Nicolás Maduro. The programs focus on social justice, social welfare, anti-poverty, educational, and military recruiting. They draw their name from the historical South American hero, Simón Bolívar.
Sister Cities International (SCI) is a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between communities in the United States and those in other countries, particularly through the establishment of "sister cities". A total of 1,800 cities, states, and counties are partnered in 138 countries around the world. The organization "strives to build global cooperation at the municipal level, promote cultural understanding and stimulate economic development".
Village Earth: The Consortium for Sustainable Village-Based Development (CSVBD) DBA: Village Earth is a publicly supported 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Fort Collins, Colorado, US. The organization works for the empowerment of rural and indigenous communities around the world with active projects with the Oglala Lakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, the Shipibo-Konibo of the Amazon region of Peru, India, Cambodia, and Guatemala. Village Earth is associated with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) at Colorado State University. Village Earth is also the publisher for the Appropriate Technology Library and The Appropriate Technology Sourcebook, a low-cost rural-development resource initiated by Volunteers in Asia in 1975 but transferred to Village Earth in 1995.
Sustainable Bolivia is a nonprofit organization registered in the United States and with offices Riberalta, Bolivia and initiatives in the Bolivian Amazon. In 2016, Sustainable Bolivia secured protection for and established the Aquicuana Reserve, a reserve of more than 20,000 hectares of rainforest. Inside the Reserve, Sustainable Bolivia partners with local institutions and communities and oversees projects focused on community-based ecotourism, conservation and resource management, and environmental education/research. In the city of Riberalta, the organization aims to provide Bolivian NGOs with human and financial resources by offering internship and volunteer opportunities. Volunteers and interns have access to accommodation, language classes, and local excursions.
Volunteer Partnerships for West Africa (VPWA) is a volunteer-driven, non-profit NGO based in Ghana, which aims to promote better life opportunities for people in underprivileged communities through sustainable development initiatives. VPWA has pioneered several social innovations in the region, including micro leasing, the establishment of a Children and Youth Development Centre in the Eastern Region of Ghana, and campaigns such as Deworm Ghana, Green Ghana, Kick Malaria Out, and Street Library.
The Rosetta Foundation is a nonprofit organization that promoted social localisation, the process of making critical, social services information available to individuals around the world in their native languages.
Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (JCUA) is a nonprofit organization based in Chicago that mobilizes the Jewish community of the region to advance racial and economic justice. JCUA partners with diverse community groups across the city and state to combat racism, antisemitism, poverty and other forms of systemic oppression, through grassroots community organizing, youth education programs, and community development.
Tzedek is a UK-based registered charity organisation which aims to provide a Jewish response to the problem of extreme global poverty. Registered as a charity in 1993, Tzedek has a number of overseas development programmes, working closely with local NGOs to alleviate extreme poverty in Northern Ghana and Northeast & Southeast India. As well as supporting local NGOs within these regions, Tzedek aims to develop the leadership skills of young Jewish leaders within the community to provide a long-term, sustainable solution to global poverty.
The Grassroots Business Fund is a non-profit based in Washington, DC. It has field offices in Kenya, Peru, and India. Their mission is to build and support high-impact enterprises that provide sustainable economic opportunities to thousands of people at the base of the economic pyramid. These enterprises are grassroots business organizations in developing countries that empower large numbers of the poor as producers of income-generating commodities and products, as consumers of affordable goods and services, and as independent entrepreneurs. GBF actively supports enterprises throughout Latin America, Africa, India, and Southeast Asia.
The Yachay Initiative is a registered nonprofit organization that focuses on fostering youth education and empowerment as a vehicle for community development and poverty alleviation. Founded in 2010 and named after the Quichua (Ecuadorian) verb “to learn”, the Yachay Initiative (YI) has projects in Ecuador, Germany, and Scotland. The Yachay Initiative is registered in Canada and has received support from the Jacobs Foundation, the Heinz-Peter und Annelotte Koch Stiftung, and Jacobs University Bremen.
Students Offering Support (SOS) is a multi-national charitable and entrepreneurial initiative that currently supports and develops individual SOS chapters within post-secondary institutions across North America. This organization's business model – uniquely designed "by students for students" – raises funds to build schools in Latin America through their Exam-AID review sessions, which are held prior to an exam and taught, as well as coordinated, by student volunteers.
Sport for social development is a method of bringing about social change through the use of sports. In the United States this is commonly referred to as sports-based youth development. Sport refers to the physical activity and development in any individual, health, social and economic benefits. Sport is used as a tool for peace and development. The programs use sport to help children learn lifelong skills as an incentive for the children to improve their scholarship. Sport is used as a tool to reach personal and community goals. Most organizations utilizing this method are geared towards underprivileged children and teenagers in urban areas.
Florida Certified Organic Growers and Consumers, also known as Florida Organic Growers or FOG, is a non-profit organization founded in 1987. It is classified as a 501(c) corporation. One of the main facets of FOG is Quality Certification Services, a program that extends through 30 states and 14 countries. FOG is also concerned with community outreach and education in order to promote healthy organic lifestyles and social equity.
Frontera Women's Foundation (FWF) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization operating in El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Frontera Women's Foundation states its goal is "promoting positive social change for women and girls along the border" and focuses its campaign on community service and issues of women's rights at the family, community, and organizational level. The FWF supports grassroots organizations on the U.S. Mexico border. The region extends from Southern New Mexico, through El Paso County, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, to Brownsville, Texas. The Frontera Women's Foundation supports these organizations by providing grants to groups that support women and girls struggling with issues such as low socio-economic status, gender bias, and ethnic bias.
The Nigerian Capital Development Fund (NCDF) is an independent social investment financial intermediary institution. This hybrid organization was set up mainly to address the challenges of poverty in low income rural communities in Nigeria. The institution mobilizes capital from the public and private sectors to invest in projects, businesses and social enterprises with the intention to generate good financial returns and measurable positive social-environmental impact, as well as act as a champion to help increase awareness and confidence on the advantages of impact investing.
