World Bank

Google Lets You Search World Bank Data

Chris Dannen — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:12:40 -0500

Whether you think the World Bank is an engine of worldly improvement or a bunch of corrupt plutocrats, you'll probably still want to look at their exhaustive trove of data, which Google made available today.

Driving Dramatic Progress through Touchstone Events

Seth Kahan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:56:12 -0500

The original touchstone was basanite. It is a smooth, black stone used to test the quality of gold and silver. It was rubbed across the precious metal and the authenticity could be determined by the color of the streak produced. The word touchstone now means anything that tests genuineness or excellence.

Nike at CGI: Helping Girls and Women Achieve their Potential and Change the World

Alice Korngold — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:47:17 -0400

I have admired Maria Eitel since I met and interviewed her at last year's CGI. Talking with her again this year reminded me why. Imagine that just a few years ago, she was asked to create a purpose and a plan for the Nike Foundation. What she presented to the Nike Board of Directors was The Girl Effect-- the idea that when you invest in girls, you change the world.

Ebay's Fair-Trade MarketPlace

Anya Kamenetz — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:31:18 -0400

China Saps Mozambique of Timber Resources

Richard Behar — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 13:00:00 -0400

In a 4x4 vehicle arranged by a local group that monitors Mozambique's forests, I travel to Maganja da Costa in the once-heavily-wooded Zambezia province, the country's poorest. Maganja is a tiny district, a five-hour drive along tortuous, dusty roads -- traveled by villagers on bicycles with huge bags of firewood on their heads -- from Quelimane, one of the country's main port cities. Quelimane was journey's end for Livingstone on his trek from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean in 1856. But it is the start of my trans-African journey.

China Surpasses U.S. as Leader in Sub-Sahara

Richard Behar — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 13:00:00 -0400

That the West is losing the sub-Sahara does not come as news in Africa itself. One leader after another has been explicit on this point, from Senegal's president ("Today, it is very clear that Europe is close to losing the battle of competition in Africa") to Botswana's president ("I find that the Chinese treat us as equals; the West treats us as former subjects") to Nigeria's president at a banquet for China's President Hu ("This is the century for China to lead the world. And when you are leading the world, we want to be very close behind you").