Alleviating poverty is more guesswork than science, and lack of data on aid's impact raises questions about how to provide it. But Clark Medal-winner Esther Duflo says it's possible to know which development efforts help and which hurt—by testing solutions with randomized trials. 

Children in Tajikistan whose families can't afford to support them often end up in institutions that are little more than child detention centers. A new UNICEF-sponsored daytime drop-in center aims to offer a better alternative for cash-strapped parents.

The Great Ones Pre-School in northern Zambia is no ordinary pre-school. Not only does it educate vulnerable children who may otherwise not have a chance to learn, it's also run by young women from a similar background who have seized the opportunity to improve their communities.

The Advance Market Commitment scheme, formulated by the GAVI Alliance, aims to provide more vaccines to the developing world by fixing their price over a 10-year period. Is it going to deliver, what will be the result, and how did global health institutions and the big pharmaceutical companies manage to agree on such a deal? 

Every year, thousands of children travel to Casablanca from far-flung shantytowns. Living rough, many fall prey to sexual exploitation and cruelty. It is a problem the government prefers to ignore, but there are some local people brave enough to stand up and make a difference.

The Australian Government has made education a flagship of its Laos aid program. Already the number of children, especially girls, staying in supported schools to grade 5 has doubled.

The members of the Awra Amba community in rural Ethiopia believe there is a way out of poverty—through improved education, equal rights for men and women, and hard work. It may sound simple, but these values turn many firmly ingrained local traditions and deeply held religious beliefs on their head.

Children with malnutrition are being given a radical new treatment that is cheap and incredibly effective: fortified peanut butter. Best of all, mothers can administer the ready-to-use food at home, eliminating the need for hospital stays, and empowering families to treat themselves.

Cervical cancer kills more than half a million women worldwide every year, and is the leading cause of female cancer deaths in the developing world. New low-tech screening programs have begun to reduce cancer deaths but campaigners like Sarah Nyombi, a politician in Uganda, want to see more.

Is peanut butter the answer to childhood malnournishment? In Haiti, a locally made fortified food is helping to save babies' lives.

Taught how to express their feelings with shapes and colors, the children at the Queen Rania Family and Child Center in Jordan use paint, brushes, and paper to build confidence in their emotions and discover their dignity and identity. The art program, along with other activities such as group yoga and drama class, teaches the children to trust themselves, and builds the self-confidence necessary to deal with traumatic experiences like child abuse and domestic violence.