Informed, empowered
More info In the rural district of Bihar, India, Altaf and his family are legally entitled to the land they’ve lived on for so long, but there’s a catch – they need to obtain a land entitlement certificate. And that's not so easy.
We want justice
More info Coming from one of the most remote corners of the world, the people of Manus Province seem an unlikely match for the might of logging companies. But they’re not alone.
Power of the crowd
More info After a bribe is refused, a maternal health clinic in India is threatened with closure until the community stands up to be counted.
Fighting back
More info When a school in rural Honduras closed because the teacher had been unjustly transferred, a group of parents refused to be silenced.
Health problem
More info Blind in one eye, and visually impaired in the other, Little Ayan* urgently needed an operation to correct her vision. But without money or connections, her family could do little to help.
Emergency Help
More info Kamal’s* anxiety increased with the heat of the day. His 11-year-old daughter had injured her head and urgently needed medical attention. He faced a heavy dilemma: pay an illegal backhander, or risk the health of his child.
A stronger voice
More info Forest protection programmes potentially lifts people out of poverty while saving trees from destruction. Yet when we visited one community in Vietnam, we found many families had no idea they could benefit.
Caught on camera
More info When Hoda tried to renew her work contract, the official wanted to force her into a relationship. She had other ideas.
Seeds of change
More info At the foothills of the Himalayas lies the rural district of Jhanjharpur, a fertile region for agriculture. Yet with little money for equipment, life is a daily struggle for small-scale farmers.
Water Crisis
More info For many of the impoverished communities in South Africa who lack basic sanitation in their homes, accessing clean water for survival is a daily battle.
Pension Scam
More info “If I were to go to the office, they demand one month’s salary as bribe … it’s like a mafia there.”
Paradise’s Dark Side
More info It’s not an image you’ll find in the tourist brochures: amid the luxury hotels of Maldives’s paradise islands, an estimated 200,000 migrant workers toil under sub-human conditions.
Corruption derailed
More info When a new city mayor took office in 2010, he contacted the team to ask for their help in rooting out corruption in the transport office.
Right to be involved
More info The lush rainforest of Central Kalimantan gets destroyed by reckless loggers. No-one was warned but villagers now have to live with its dire consequences.
Land battle
More info When Isabella* holds the title to the land she lives on, it’s more than just a piece of paper – she’s holding answers. She has the proof of ownership in her hands.
School sting
More info Simon Eyork did not set out to become a whistleblower. He set out to build a proper school. But in the course of trying to obtain funding, he helped a sting operation in the dead of night.
Stealing Futures
More info Peter* was looking forward to collecting his four children's report cards at the end of the school year, but there were some crippling costs involved. If he didn't cough up, his children's futures could be at risk.
Ghost Politics
More info Eager for change, residents in a Guatemalan town voted in a local politician promising big things. But a year into his leadership, nothing had changed. It was time for the community to take action.
Who is to blame?
More info After a fatal fire at a nursery, despair turned to anger. Reports emerged that the state-funded nursery was privately run by the wives of two local officials, and had passed safety tests despite allegedly not meeting the criteria.
Island Support
More info When 35-year-old Benjamin* made the long trek into town to collect his reforestation grant, missing money and dishonest officials were the last things on his mind.
Hunger Money
More info When drought ravaged Zimbabwe's Hurungwe region in 2011, families were left destitute. Help should have come from a state scheme, but community members were telling a very different story.
The drought industry
More info Piauí is one of Brazil’s poorest and driest states. Drought has reached emergency levels in 199 of the 224 districts. The exploitation of water shortage here is not only a lucrative business but a wielder of power.
Honesty Test
More info As the driving lesson drew to a close, he pulled the car to a halt and waited for final feedback from his teacher. What came next was not what he had expected.
Restoring hope
More info Fadzai’s aunt managed to save enough money to buy the child a school uniform. Little did she know at the time, that was the start of her troubles.
Police whistleblowers
More info When two respected police officers found evidence that traffic offences were being wiped and interfered with, they did what their job demanded of them.
Thousands speak out
More info When we held a mobile advice centre in India, we expected a few hundred people. By the end of the day, the total was in the thousands. Among them was 65 year old Ruti.
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