13 Photos From the Front Lines of Impact
In 2015, the world witnessed both the challenges and promise of the human experience. Powerful images conveyed stories — not just of devastation and despair — but of progress and possibility.
As the year comes to a close, we’ve compiled a selection of images shared by CGI members on the front lines of impact. Their photos remind of us our shared humanity, while their commitments remind us of our shared responsibility in building a more just world in the years ahead.
Above, a 14-year-old boy, is reunited with his father in a transit shelter managed by the nonprofit PRAYAS in the bordertown of Birganj, Nepal. He was captured while traveling on his own to Mumbai to find work to support his family.
A 2013 CGI Commitment to Action by Humanity United, in partnership with Walk Free and Legatum Foundation, launched a seven-year effort to raise and deploy a $100 million Freedom Fund to fight modern day slavery.
Freshwater ecosystems provide the basis for agricultural production, industrial needs, and urban development. Yet nearly 80 percent of the global population is threatened with insufficient freshwater supplies.
In 2015, Conservation International (CI) made a commitment to develop the Freshwater Health Initiative, an open data resource analyzing freshwater ecosystems. Over the course of two years, CI will conduct and disseminate a series of case studies in river basins, empowering stakeholders to better understand policies and management practices needed to ensure that freshwater systems remain productive into the future.
According to UNICEF, families and educators often discount play as a medium for learning. In low- and middle-income countries a majority of children under five do not have access to play materials. Yet, children who participate in holistic, quality programs in the early years of their lives are more successful in school, more competent socially and emotionally, and show improved learning outcomes.
A 2015 CGI commitment by LEGO Foundation launched the BRAC Play Lab Project to help promote the importance of learning through play in three countries. The pilot will include 240 new Play Labs in Bangladesh, Uganda, and Tanzania, reaching 7,200 children aged three to five.
In the aftermath of disaster, many organizations provide food, water and shelter. Often, however, there is need for more specialized equipment and experienced staff in the days immediately following.
Through its 2011 CGI Commitment, First Response Team of America launched an effort to increase its capacity to provide specialized equipment and staff in the immediate aftermath of natural disasters around the country. Responding to six storms across 16 cities, the commitment helped more than 15,000 people and saved nearly $3 million across U.S. communities by 2013.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, it is estimated that every 10 percent increase in agricultural productivity lifts 7 million people above the $1 per day income level. Enabling smallholders to farm with greater productivity has the potential to end poverty on a truly global scale.
To accelerate this shift, One Acre Fund made a 2015 CGI commitment to scale its agricultural development model to reach 1 million smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2020. One Acre Fund’s model increases profits by 50 percent and gives farmers access to seed and fertilizer, finance, training, and post-harvest support.
When LeadersUp launched in 2014, nearly 6 million Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 were out of school and not working. Yet, there were more than 3.4 million job vacancies in the U.S.
Through its 2014 CGI Commitment, LeadersUp aims to bridge the divide between businesses in need of skilled talent and the untapped potential of young people. Since the launch of LeadersUp’s initial pilot, it has placed nearly 900 young people into promising employment pathways with eight employer partners spanning three markets: Los Angeles, Chicago, and Columbus.
Through global trade and commerce agencies, Haiti receives substantial foreign direct investment, multi-lateral aide, private investment, and policy support. However, it remains a challenge to leverage these investments in reliable self-sustaining private markets. Despite efforts to create a welcome investment environment, poor physical infrastructure and lack of long-term industry in the region leaves Haiti in need of dependable and risk-tolerant private investors.
Through its 2013 CGI Commitment, TOMS Shoes aimed to support the development of a sustained manufacturing industry in Haiti, by opening a factory in Port-au-Prince, and creating a minimum of 100 sustainable jobs over five years. TOMS also committed to work with the Haitian Artists Collective, supporting more than 30 artisans who design, paint, and decorate TOMS’ retail shoes.
The Democratic Republic of Congo experiences some of the highest Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) rates in Sub-Saharan Africa. NTDs occur in areas with limited access to water and sanitation, and where hygiene practices and health infrastructure are limited.
Amani Global Works made a 2015 CGI commitment to decrease the prevalence of three NTDs through the treatment of at-risk communities in Idjwi, DRC. The program adopts a comprehensive approach, including Mass Drug Administration, a school WASH program, and a bed net distribution program. With the help of 500 recruited and trained community health workers, this program aims to treat virtually all of the 250,000 inhabitants of Idjwi across three years.
According to the World Health Organization, 360 million people worldwide suffer from disabling hearing loss.
Through its 2010 CGI Commitment, Starkey improves access to hearing aids for children across the developing world. Through this commitment, Starkey aims to donate 1 million hearing aids to children in developing countries by the year 2020, in partnership with local organizations to ensure quality long-term care. Today, Starkey is more than 50 percent ahead of schedule on achieving this goal.
Inhabited and owned by the Maasai, the Tsavo-Chyulu-Amboseli Parks ecosystem in Kenya is recognized for its high biodiversity. When economic conditions are favorable, the Maasai are extraordinary environmental stewards. When faced with poverty, the Maasai are forced to make unsustainable choices, including poaching and poor water management.
Through its 2014 CGI Commitment, New Course committed to help alleviate poverty burdens in the region. New Course distributed 500 solar lamps through a system of women’s groups for an initial $3.00, followed by a commitment to contribute 50 percent of household savings from kerosene purchases back to the group. In turn, the women’s groups reinvest the money into projects jointly decided upon such as building houses, funding school fees for children, and starting small businesses.
The Alleghany Plateau of Central Appalachia is the second most biologically diverse temperate forest in the world. However, the region is marked by a long history of extractive industrial use including coal mining, timbering, rock and gravel mining, and recently, industrial development through shale and gas.
Through it’s 2013 CGI Commitment, Rural Action committed to prepare the next generation of students to be successful environmental stewards. Through a school-based environmental education program, Appalachian Green Teachers Project (AGTP), Rural Action provides hands-on, science-based, and outdoor learning experiences to 3,750 Appalachian children.
Cholera remains a formidable challenge in Haiti. This acute diarrheal disease is spread through fecal contamination of food and water.
Through its 2013 CGI Commitment, MASS Design Group partnered with Les Centres GHESKIO to address the challenge by designing 10 Health and Hydration Centers (HHC) in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The city’s first permanent cholera treatment center opened in February of 2015, employing nearly 300 people in the construction process. The facility will be used to organize community health workers around diarrheal disease prevention, provide education programs to the community, and create jobs.
More than one-third of India’s population lives below the poverty line, with an average annual income of $1,330. Many lack access to electricity, while others cannot afford high electricity bills.
Through its 2014 CGI University Commitment, Brighter Today aims to use eco-friendly bulbs and solar technology as a tool to alleviate poverty in developing nations. By replacing energy-inefficient 60-watt incandescent bulbs with longer-lasting 11-watt compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) bulbs, Brighter Today aims to help reduce household electric bill payments by 80 percent. Savings from the conversion of incandescent to CFL bulbs can go towards improving quality of life and combating poverty.
