Families abandon farms and schools for small-scale mining only to be trapped in a cycle of poverty By Jaff Bamenjo | RELUFA, Joining Hands Cameroon Artisanal mining, or small-scale mining using limited machinery, is the only direct means through which local communities can benefit economically from the mineral endowments of their country. In the east… Read more »
August 24, 2018
The Hunt for Gold and Diamonds Leads to Deeper Poverty in East Cameroon
Families abandon farms and schools for small-scale mining only to be trapped in a cycle of poverty By Jaff Bamenjo | RELUFA, Joining Hands Cameroon Artisanal mining, or small-scale mining using limited machinery, is the only direct means through which local communities can benefit economically from the mineral endowments of their country. In the east… Read more »
The 2018 Food Week of Action is coming! The week goes from October 14-21 and is a time to celebrate the abundant and precious world that we inhabit — whose diverse ecosystems provide everything we need to thrive. We also acknowledge the inequality and threats to life brought about by human greed and systems that… 
Learn more about PHP’s international development and advocacy work By Eileen Schuhmann | Presbyterian Hunger Program Recently the staff of the Presbyterian Hunger Program put together PowerPoint presentations, complete with narrations, with the goal of helping Presbyterians and others to understand better the work that we do in the world. The hope is that the presentations can… 
By Eileen Schuhmann | Presbyterian Hunger Program The U.S. is not immune to hunger and poverty problems. In fact, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, found high levels of inequality and extreme poverty in the U.S. After completing a two week visit to the U.S. in December 2017, Alston found… 
Twenty Million on Brink of Famine By Eileen Schuhmann | Presbyterian Hunger Program We tend to associate famine with weather-related food supply issues. However, conflict is the primary driver of “persistent severe hunger” (IFPRI). On May 24, 2018, the UN Security Council recognized for the first time that armed conflict and violence are closely linked to… 
Civil society works to revise the mining code so that communities benefit from increased mining investment By Jean Marie Kabanga | Joining Hands DR Congo Since the enactment of the new mining code of the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2002 and the implementation of its mining regulations in 2003, promises for the development of local communities… 
Eight years after the end of civil war in Sri Lanka, internally displaced persons continue to struggle to return home By Raajan Francis | Coordinator of Praja Abhilasha, Joining Hands Sri Lanka In 2009, in the final stages of the nearly three-decades civil war between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the militant group Liberation… 
Land grab in Mbonjo village, Cameroon displaces population and disrespects ancestral burial grounds By Jaff Bamenjo | Coordinator of RELUFA, Joining Hands Cameroon Imagine the graves of your loved ones being taken over by a palm tree plantation for the export of palm oil. The palm trees stand tall, surrounding the graves, and standing on the graves… 
Joining Hands networks continue to advocate for change despite the long and unpredictable road By Doris Evangelista | Coordinator of Asociacion Red Uniendo Manos El Salvador, Joining Hands El Salvador In August, I traveled from El Salvador to Peru to gather with Joining Hands leaders from Cameroon, Sri Lanka, Haiti, Bolivia, and Peru to share experiences with each other:… 
From Water Wars to Climate Change, Bolivians are Faced with Growing Water Scarcity By Oscar Rea Campos | Foundation for Community Axión, a member of UMAVIDA The year 2000 in Bolivia was the year of the “Water War.” Under pressure from the World Bank, the government of Bolivia privatized the public water supply of Cochabamba,…