Poverty

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation announced this week that it will award $10 million over five years for emergency services for impoverished Holocaust survivors living in North America.

The Weinberg Holocaust Survivors Emergency Assistance Fund provides medical equipment and medications, dental care, transportation, food and short-term home care for Holocaust survivors.

Ford Foundation announced a five-year, $200 million effort to help transform the way cities, suburbs and surrounding communities grow and plan for the future, interweaving housing, transportation and land-use policy to foster greater economic growth.

WASHINGTON — Despite the global recession, private giving and remittances are helping developing countries weather the economic storm, according to the new 2010 Index of Global Philanthropy and Remittances published by Hudson Institute's Center for Global Prosperity (CGP).

In 2008, private philanthropy and remittances remained among the most important sources of funding in the developing world. Private philanthropy and remittances from the developed to the developing world were nearly twice as much as government aid ($233 vs. $121 billion). As predicted in last year's Index, remittances from all countries to developing countries have remained remarkably resilient despite the global recession that began in December 2008. These remittances totaled $336 billion in 2008, a 17% increase from 2007.

(Chicago, IL) — The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today announced grants totaling $5.6 million to ten universities in eight countries to establish new Master’s in Development Practice (MDP) programs. The programs combine training in the natural sciences, social sciences, health sciences, and management to help practitioners address global challenges such as sustainable development, climate change, and extreme poverty. The universities were selected through a competitive process that included reviews by experts outside the Foundation.