Planet Aid

Fostering cooperation and understanding among citizens across the globe, Planet Aid develops and implements projects that support health, educational, livelihood, and developmental initiatives. It is headquartered in Elkridge, Maryland, and is registered with the U.S. Agency for International Development as a private voluntary organization (PVO).

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Planet Aid Launches "Give Back" Campaign During New York Fashion Week

Planet Aid is reaching out to clothing manufacturers and retailers this week in an effort to increase recycling of used clothing and shoes.  The groups ...

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"The Zero Hunger Challenge was launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon as a rallying call to everyone. The vision is bold and straightforward: “Let us eliminate hunger in our lifetime."

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Fight AIDS with your smartphone

Android users can donate computing power from their phone to scientists.

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Extreme Weather Heightens Need For Sustainable Development

With the realities of climate change becoming all too clear, an economic shift is needed, towards a more sustainable economy. While protests and concerns about actions such as fracking are important, and needed, there also needs to be a positive message on sustainable economic development.

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An expert on African economic development shares his opinion on the eradicating poverty in the region.

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REPOST: More research shows sustainable agriculture can mitigate climate change

Treehugger.com’s Margaret Badore reports how a new study "found that sustainable farming approaches can accomplish both goals of reducing emissions, and providing more food."

Image source: treehugger.com

Crop cultivation, animal production and deforestation account for one third of the greenhouse gasses produced by humans in the past decade. But new research shows that improving crop yields--growing more food in a set amount of space--could reduce emissions by 12 percent per calorie. Improving yield usually involves increasing the use of fertilizer, which would be counterproductive for reducing emissions. The study, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, found that sustainable farming approaches can accomplish both goals of reducing emissions and providing more food. Phys.org reports: "The most efficient way to ensure sustainable intensification on the crop side is to rely on practices and technologies that are not more fertilizer-demanding, such as new varieties, improved rotations, integrated crop-livestock practices, and precision farming," says IIASA researcher Hugo Valin, who led the study. A number of organizations, including the U.N., have also found that "agroecological" methods outperform the use of chemical fertilizers in boosting food production, particularly in developing regions.

Planet Aid champions various causes, including sustainable agriculture. Learn more about sustainable farming efforts here.

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Sustainability must be at core of development, says EU

If we don't deal with sustainability and climate change, it will be impossible to eliminate poverty, says EU's Andris Piebalgs

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UK focuses on preventing HIV among adolescents in southern Africa

Prisoners also targeted by £10.7m investment in researching how to stop spread of transmissions among vulnerable groups

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Reducing Greenhouse Gases and Promoting Sustainability in the Global Economy

I know it sounds audacious to learn how to manage these resources, but since we've already learned how to damage them on a global scale, we'd better learn how to manage them as quickly as possible.

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UNDP Helping To Improve Lives (by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP))

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In Haiti: "Always there for" HIV-positive children and young adults (by unicef)

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New York City residents have recycled more than 1 million pounds of textiles through the city's clothing reuse program, re-fashioNYC.

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The ABCs of the global teacher shortage

The main challenge faced by the teaching profession today is one of numbers and quality. The United Nations estimates that a total of 6.8 million teachers are needed by 2015 in order to achieve the second target in its Millennium Development Goals, which is to “ensure that by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.” And all of these teachers need to be qualified to either fill new posts or replace those due to attrition.

Image Source: guardian.co.uk

Indeed, the quest to provide quality education will not be attained without qualified teachers. And according to the projections of the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO), the greatest challenge lies in Sub-Saharan Africa, where close to 2 million teaching posts have to be filled by 2015 to meet the needs of a growing number of students.

Image Source: educationandtransition.org

Various efforts are now underway to improve the working conditions so as to attract qualified people to the profession. UNESCO is actively upholding legal frameworks that promote teachers’ status and working conditions. Moreover, last year’s celebration of World Teachers’ Day called for taking a stand for them, which translates to providing adequate training, ongoing professional development, and protection for teachers’ rights.

Image Source: planetaid.org

Education goals will not be achieved without teachers. And it is only with qualified teachers that children from many developing nations will be able to learn, and live rewarding lives. A portion of the proceeds from Planet Aid clothes donation goes to programs that support primary school teacher training in developing nations. See this website to learn more about the programs the organization supports.

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