The media's message is clear: the AIDS epidemic will be the downfall of families in Africa. A new study by a University of Missouri-Columbia researcher calls that an overstatement. Her study shows that AIDS compounds the issue of poverty in households where poverty is already a prevailing issue, especially when a household loses its primary income earner to AIDS.

India this month celebrates 60 years of independence, and many have paid tribute to a growing economy that has begun to make a mark around the world. But as Anjana Pasricha reports, others expressed concern about the need to spread the benefits of the economic boom to millions of people still mired in poverty.

"I have been shocked to see that children could still die of hunger in Rio de Janeiro..."

A new World Bank report on July 19 warns that poor countries, wealthy donors, and aid agencies are losing sight of the value of contraception, family planning, and other reproductive health programs in helping to boost economic growth, and reduce high birth rates which are strongly linked with endemic poverty, poor education, and high numbers of maternal and infant deaths.

A study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, of community renewable energy projects in Britain has found that so far, projects are largely based in the countryside, some quite remote. From wind turbines to shared heating systems, small-scale renewable energy doesn’t just help in the fight against climate change. It can also bring people together, revitalise local economies and help alleviate poverty.

On day five of their week-long retreat focusing on poverty in Nicaragua, deans and vice presidents from the University of San Francisco waded into the municipal dump in the capital city of Managua, stepping around stagnant water and rotting food. From that vantage point, they glimpsed the life of the 1,500 people who live there and survive by eating discarded scraps of food and collecting recyclables.

In the spring of her freshman year at Princeton, Julia Neubauer and two of her high school classmates established an orphanage in Pune, India.

Sweden offers CHF2.9 million to the WTO training programme for the benefit of developing countries

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) have agreed that the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has taken the steps necessary to reach its decision point under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative.

According to the first global assessment of forest fire control effectiveness in tropical parks, poverty and corruption correlate closely with lack of fire protection in tropical moist forests. A better understanding of the links between corruption, poverty and park management will help conservationists and policy makers create sophisticated strategies to conserve tropical ecosystems.

Mr Yunus received a standing ovation at the end of the plenary session.

The United Nations has given a mixed review of global efforts to lift millions of people out of extreme poverty. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva where the report has been issued.