Third World Studies Certificate LibGuide: Library videos

The French Polynesian islands once housed thriving native populations that were tragically wiped out by European disease. The vines and trees of the jungles consumed huge stone cities that sprawled across the interiors of Tahiti, Raivavae and the Marquesas Islands. The structures remained forgotten until archeologist Edmundo Edwards rediscovered them. Now, with each swipe of his machete, Edmundo is bringing to light a world that no one has ever imagined existed.

In Colombia, five decades of war have left the economy struggling, especially in rural areas. But a fruit company with a Canadian connection employs a business model with a social justice approach — everyone who grows the fruit or works in the factory has been victimized by war.

Canadian paleo-pathologist Eldon Molto is leading the search for clues of the mysterious Pericu people of Baja California, Mexico — a fierce, independent tribe that disappeared over a century ago, after being exposed to European disease. They left virtually nothing behind but their bones. By using DNA, Molto is piecing together the story of the Pericu and along the way makes a surprising discovery that raises questions about identity and our own existence.

Africa still is the continent with the most ‘white spots,’ places without internet or mobile phone signal, and this holds a great promise for Africans and for the global technology companies that aim to enlarge their markets. More than 80 percent of all African households have mobile phones and in some of the 54 countries on the continent half of that number are smartphones. This program observes how Africa is getting connected and features prominent experts examining these developments such as; Achille Mbembe (philosopher), Juliana Rotich (iHub Nairobi), Robert Mica (Outernet), Bob Collymore (Safaricom CEO), Isis Nyong’o (former director, Google Africa) and Louis Otieno (Microsoft4Afrika). The people who live in the Parkhurst area of Johannesburg already have the fastest internet connection in the world because they want to organize their street’s security with very accurate HD cameras. The iHub in Nairobi is home to 150 start-ups. Some of them are developing an app that makes crowd information about public transport accessible. And in the north of Kenya old-fashioned radio waves are used to bring free broad-band internet. In principle, this method can be used anywhere in the world and it costs practically nothing. The African continent is a laboratory for all possible solutions. High-tech as well as low-tech pioneers come here to try their luck. Can Africa be a forerunner in the world of the future that is one big network?

In conflict zones far from the eyes of the world it is the wounded and the sick that struggle to survive. But as the lines between aid workers and military become blurred, as NGOs are increasingly attacked, the rules that protect the innocent and injured are breaking down. The confused relations between military and NGOs introduce ever more suffering into the hell that is war. An intelligent and fascinating insight into the politics of war zone aid.

In an escalating war between humans and microbes, catastrophic disease may have the edge. This program studies the ubiquitous threat posed by super viruses and describes scientific efforts to prepare for viral disease epidemics. Documenting the World Health Organization’s response to the 2005 Angolan Marburg virus outbreak, the program examines strengths and weaknesses in the WHO infrastructure. It also visits the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Montana, and Cornell University’s CHESS—synchrotron X-ray facility, featuring interviews with leading researchers who are developing sophisticated weapons against Ebola, dengue, HIV, and other viruses. (50 minutes)

This video emphasizes the importance of agricultural research and innovation in being able to feed the world in an organic and environmentally friendly manner.

Poverty in Africa reminds us that abundant natural resources don’t automatically translate into widespread economic wealth. This program brings home the disturbing reality of daily life in Angola—marked by ramshackle houses, open sewers, and a question that grows louder every day: who benefits from the country’s vast oil resources? Outlining the nation’s colonial and Cold War traumas, the film examines the civil war between MPLA and UNITA forces and the present-day mismanagement of oil revenues stemming from that conflict. Related topics include China’s growing role in the country, the tragedy of child hunger and malnutrition, and Angola’s widespread problem of land mine injuries. (Portions in other languages with English subtitles, 25 minutes)

This program examines a unique community based education program in rural India. At Barefoot College, located in the Indian State of Rajasthan, education takes place off campus, in nearby impoverished villages, among all age groups, with a unique interdisciplinary curriculum intimately encompassing rural village life and the issues villagers must grapple with. While seemingly far removed from the American experience, it offers telling lessons for how the current debate around educational reform might be focused and curriculum transformed in the United States.

Since 2002 Indian agriculturalists have replaced almost all of their native seeds with genetically modified varieties due to intense campaigning by biotechnology giant Monsanto. Monsanto’s proprietary BT cotton now occupies 90 percent of India’s crop lands, having been sold with the understanding that it would improve yields and cut farmers’ costs. But critics are questioning Monsanto’s claims, and the farmers themselves report problems—their plants grow tall but without producing bolls, they must purchase special pesticides to combat GMO-resistant bugs, and they don’t see nearly as much profit as do growers of organic cotton. Monsanto worked hard to win over Indian farmers, but as one man put it, “They made fools of us.” In this program, scientists investigating the use of BT cotton in India convey their concerns about non-renewable seeds, loss of biodiversity, and a rise in suicides linked to farmers’ debt since the arrival of Monsanto.

Banned in Cameroon, "The Big Banana" illustrates the poor working conditions in banana plantations, and exposes the adverse impact on the people of a corporatocratic government that affords super-profits for corporations at the expense of the local population. "The Big Banana" outlines land grabbing tactics by the company, Plantation du Haut Penja (PHP), and the ensuing devastation for communities: poverty, pollution, and sickness from pesticides. Bieleu, who spent two years filming residents in the remote countryside of Cameroon also features local cooperatives resisting the devastation through business alliances with fair trade organizations. As a result, The Big Banana not only exposes multinational corporations culpability in the land grab of Africa but also makes us reconsider where we get our fruit from.

The head of the UN’s world food program says “a perfect storm” is hitting hungry people around the globe. What are the causes, and what is being done to help the poorest of the poor? This edition of the Journal begins with a report on the situation in the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo, where an estimated 45,000 people die every month of hunger and disease. Then, Bill Moyers interviews David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, an organization campaigning to strengthen U.S. political commitment to end global hunger and poverty. Broadcast date: April 4, 2008.

Once widely considered a sustainable energy source, some forms of biofuel are now seen as exploitative and environmentally harmful. This program examines the global dilemma over palm oil—a fuel source championed by the European Union before the effects of its cultivation became apparent in the developing world. Viewers meet members of Indonesia’s Orang Rimba tribe who have drawn sustenance from the rain forests for millennia and now watch as their lands give way to palm oil plantations. The film highlights efforts by tribal and Western activists to fight deforestation, as well as the work of E.U. leaders like Claude Turmes, who once supported agrofuel quotas but now recognizes their destructive impact. (44 minutes)

This program travels to tea estates in Sri Lanka, Kenya, India, and Bangladesh—some traditional, some fair trade—to expose unsafe work environments and labor exploitation. Finding little meaningful difference between fair trade and non–fair trade operations, questions arise: Are fair trade organizations such as the E.U.’s Max Havelaar Foundation being duped by tea growers? Or are growers doing the best they can in a brutal industry and a market that has yet to demand the quantities of fair trade tea that would create meaningful trickle-down profits for their workers? It is left to the viewer to weigh the arguments and decide.

Coffee is the second-most actively traded commodity on the planet, reaping billions in annual retail sales. But farmers make as little as three cents for each cup sold, with most of the rest going to giant food conglomerates that control the coffee market. This highly acclaimed documentary follows a manager from an Ethiopian coffee-farmers cooperative as he tries to negotiate a living wage for the growers he represents. The film explores issues of globalization, fair trade, and the impact of Western consumerism on the rest of the world as it makes the provocative point that international commodities markets are deliberately rigged against developing countries. (77 minutes)

On the long and winding road to more sustainable energy and climate policies, the year 2015 saw several unexpected and positive developments – the largest fossil fuel divestment campaign in history reached its peak and led to trillions of dollars being pulled out of coal, gas and oil companies. In early summer, Pope Francis released his long-anticipated encyclical Laudato Si’, calling the world to drastic and immediate action in order to avert uncontrolled global warming and environmental pollution. But just before the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, a decisive date for global climate policy and the future of the planet, climate economists are concerned about the adverse effects of low coal prices and little political will to come to meaningful results that could support global action against climate change. Ottmar Edenhofer, one of the world’s foremost experts on climate and energy policies, warns of a “renaissance of coal.” While in the short-term, cheap coal benefits consumers, the long-term environmental and social costs – air pollution and continuously high CO2 emissions – do not only affect the current world population, but endanger generations to come. Economists like Edenhofer argue for immediate measures, as the window of opportunity for reforms is closing more rapidly than expected: while the West is contemplating a green revolution, many of the fast-growing countries in the developing world are investing in cheap coal-based energy systems. These will be in use for decades and substantially lower the chances of keeping carbon emissions in check. At Falling Walls, Ottmar Edenhofer makes an urgent case for comprehensive reforms towards fossil-free energy sources.

The last two decades have seen a sharp growth in the number of people who have been driven out of human livelihoods and frameworks that protect their basic needs and rights. Among the expelled are the growing numbers of displaced people in poor countries who live in formal and informal refugee camps, minorities in rich countries who are kept in prisons, workers whose bodies are destroyed on the job, and populations warehoused in ghettoes and slums. The current so-called “migrant crisis” in Europe is perhaps the most acute version of a larger process of expulsion from life-spaces. War is the main reason, but land grabs and both desertification and rising water levels, which will further add to a massive loss of habitat, play a role too. While the visible narrative is one of progress and growing wealth, much of the tragedies mentioned above are invisible, existing in the shadows of the rapidly expanding high-quality built environments that are taking over more and more urban and suburban space. Saskia Sassen, a sociologist and professor at New York’s Columbia University, is globally recognized for her contributions to urban and globalization studies, and a long-time scholar of migration and mobility. In her most recent work, Expulsions – Brutality and Complexity in the Global Economy, she argues that the usual terms of 'poverty' and 'inequality' are no longer adequate to describe the expulsion of entire populations from professional opportunities, living space and unspoilt nature itself. In her Falling Walls talk, Saskia shares her thought-provoking research on the complex connections between overpowering financial, political and legal formations and the fate of the single individual.

Jagdish Bhagwati’s influence on the international economic debate is huge. He is known both for his directing and advisory roles in organizations such as GATT, UN, WTO, and for his provocative publications which include the 2004 worldwide success “In Defense of Globalization”, putting him in direct opposition to globalization critics such as Naomi Klein. A Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Bhagwati is the winner of several prizes and honorary degrees, including awards from the governments of India (Padma Vibhushan) and Japan (Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star). His latest book Why Growth Matters sheds light on the myths around the Indian economy, a topic of special interest at a time when the current political establishment is under international scrutiny. With 2013 marking the first economic slowdown faced by India since the liberal reforms of 1991, many have criticized the country’s growth for being too fast and unequal. Bhagwati explains that it is in fact this kind of accelerated economic change that decreased the extreme levels of poverty in India—and that it can do the same for other large developing countries.

Nematodes, or roundworms, are highly adaptable multicellular survivors of many diverse ecologies. From an agricultural perspective, nematodes are often detrimental: they are pests that attack plants and spread viruses, causing a global crop yield loss of $125 billion annually. This 2009 Falling Walls lecture video features the research of Waceke Wanjohi, who has taught nematology for 20 years, developing academic programs and labs while publishing internationally. Wanjohi also leads projects like the Nematology Initiative of East and Southern Africa (NIESA), an organization that effectively improves crop yields in smallholder farming systems in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, and Zimbabwe through the use of environmentally friendly strategies for worm control. Wanjohi will present the benefits of her approach, which allows for less pesticide use and misuse, reduces food risks and environmental damages, and increases food harvest and security.

“Forget China, India and the internet: economic growth is driven by women”, the Economist wrote in 2006, in an article titled A guide to womenomics. Over the past 10 years, the importance of gender equality to promote development, innovation and economic growth has been widely recognized. All over the world, political leaders, corporations and international organizations have realised that sexism is not just wrong but also expensive. Recent studies show that globally more and more women of all ages are entering paid jobs, but this has not served to equalize responsibility for unpaid domestic work within the home or to close the gender gap in earnings. Without addressing these two inequalities, women’s contributions to economic growth will be at the cost of their individual well-being and the equity of the growth process. A more inclusive pathway to growth requires several walls to be overcome: the walls that associate women with a limited range of skills, that block their access to productive assets, and the walls that assign them disproportionate responsibility for the unpaid work that reproduces people and labor on a daily and generational basis. Gender discrimination, in the form of social norms and patriarchal value systems, is still at the root of the problem, and economists like Naila Kabeer are challenging this by exploring policies that can address these structural inequalities. A professor at the Gender Institute at the London School of Economics, Naila Kabeer has been engaged in teaching, research and policy advocacy in the field of gender and development for more than 25 years. Her work on gender, poverty, livelihoods and labor markets is mainly focused on South and South East Asia, but has lessons for all regions of the developed and developing world alike. At Falling Walls, Naila demonstrates why gender equality will be a key condition for sustainable development – and how it can prepare the global economy for a more human-centred growth.

After more than 50 years of activity, Amnesty International does not slow down its commitment to promoting freedom and justice worldwide. It recently made headlines with reports on the human rights violations committed by Turkish authorities during the Gezi Park protests. It engages a controversial debate with Barack Obama to remind him of his promise to close the Guantánamo Bay detention camp. But most of all, the organization, strong of over 3 million supporters, is engaging a new strategy to increase its global relevance in the protection of human rights. The effort is led by Salil Shetty, the organization’s eighth Secretary General. A long-term activist on poverty and justice, Salil Shetty was Director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign, where he played a key role in promoting global awareness on the Millennium Development Goals, and chief executive of ActionAid, which he helped transform into one of the world’s foremost international development NGOs. Son of a campaigning journalist and a feminist activist, Salil Shetty studied at the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad and at the London School of Economics. For Shetty, Amnesty needs to become truly international and more grassroots-oriented – especially in countries like India and Brazil as well as on the African continent. At Falling Walls, Salil Shetty presents his vision for human rights today.

Today's major imbalances between developing and richer countries, together with the local and international conflicts of the 21st century, are forcing the evolution of health care finance—in which UNITAID has achieved rapid and remarkable progress. Founded in 2006 on the initiative of Brazil and France, with the goal of lowering the price of treatments for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and TB in developing countries through market-based interventions, UNITAID has a budget that already exceeds $1.3 billion—as the result of including in its governance structure the UN, governments, private foundations like the Gates Foundation, and civil society, as well as UN Member States. Denis Broun, executive director of UNITAID since 2011, previously specialized in pharmaceutical policies at the World Bank and was European director of Management Sciences for Health. In this Falling Walls lecture, Broun sheds new light on how to direct apparently contrasting interests toward the same global challenges. (15 minutes)

War, violence, and abuse have consequences that go much beyond physical destruction and pain. Armed conflicts, acts of terror, political violence, torture, and natural disasters affect millions around the world, with lasting social, political, economic, and psychological consequences. These mass traumatic events generate complex effects not only on those directly affected by mental and physical damages: traumas are passed on to the victims’ families and communities even through the following generations. The existence of these long-term effects has been known for some time, but health care systems still do not address the problem, leaving especially the survivors of devastated developing countries to face the aftermath without any support. The Mass Trauma Research Group at I-CORE, led by psychologist Zahava Solomon of Tel Aviv University, aims to fill the gap between theoretical literature and the still inexistent practical solutions by exploring what triggers our individual and collective ability to prepare, adjust, and react before, during, and after traumatic events. Based on sociological, psychological, and biological studies, the researchers develop and assess realistic interventions. Solomon has influenced the policies and practices of governments around the world with her prolific research on stress reaction and post-traumatic stress disorder – for her lifelong achievements in social work, she was awarded the prestigious Israel Prize in 2009. Using an unprecedented multidisciplinary approach, Zahava Solomon seeks to find innovative and creative perspectives to create solutions which might inform future policies worldwide and diminish the devastating impact of trauma on our planet.

The term “global energy crisis” still sounds like a vague future scenario, but over the last decade science, policy and the public have slowly come to agree that the threat is real and taking shape right before our eyes. Today, most of our energy needs - roughly 80% - are met by fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas. The worldwide energy demand is expected to grow by 35% to 40% in the next 25 years, as economies in emerging countries, but also in the developed industrial nations, continue to grow and globally rising standards of living cause higher per capita energy consumption. Hand in hand with this development, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere is growing to dangerous levels. Just before the UN Climate Summit in 2014, a study revealed that more carbon pollution was spewed into the air in 2013 than ever before. Even though climate models vary on the how and when, it is clear that increasing greenhouse gas emissions will sooner or later result in a warming of the planet – with vast and irreversible consequences. Chemist Nate Lewis is a pioneer in artificial photosynthesis and an international authority on global energy, having contributed to countless governmental panels and studies about clean energy, and now leads the dedicated research department at Caltech. At Falling Walls, he provides a unique occasion to understand how we all as members of the scientific, political, technological, and civil society need to cooperate in order to facilitate the one and only priority of our times: saving the planet.

Tropical diseases were defined in the 1970s as infectious ailments—like malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, and Ebola—that disproportionately affect poor and marginalized populations in the developing world. Guided by the awareness that adequate health policies can help defeat such diseases, Columbia University's Earth Institute, headed by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, has developed the Millennium Villages Project as a model for helping rural African communities to rise out of extreme poverty. Dr. Yanis Ben Amor—a molecular biologist with almost a decade of tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS research experience in organizations such as the Pasteur Institute—directs the Tropical Laboratory Initiative and coordinates the tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS control programs of the Millennium Villages Project, currently operating in ten sub-Saharan countries. In this Falling Walls lecture, Ben Amor explains the innovative ideas of harnessing mobile phone technologies to provide increased access to laboratory diagnosis for underserved populations in resource-constraint settings. (17 minutes)

When Dan Shechtman became a full professor at Technion in 1986 and initiated a new class on technological entrepreneurship, the word “start up” – which became a mantra after the dot-com boom – was not that fashionable yet. Even today, entrepreneurship education is not fully explored in business schools, where students rather learn about maintaining a company than about bringing a good idea to a profitable realization. From today’s perspective, it is not surprising that Shechtman’s unique program became one of the most attended courses at Technion and that by now, the class was visited by more than 10,000 engineers and scientists. Shechtman’s research as a chemist, which was led mostly during his sabbatical years, opened the new science of quasiperiodic crystals and explored several other subjects, earning him recognitions such as the Wolf Prize in Physics, the Gregori Aminoff Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the EMRS Award and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2011. To Dan Shechtman, technological entrepreneurship is more relevant than ever, having turned Israel from a country with scarce natural resources to a powerhouse of innovation. At Falling Walls, Shechtman, a pioneer of an entrepreneurial revolution that changed the face of a country, explains how the fostering of strong national start up cultures, science education and supportive policies can help developing countries to economic growth and prosperity.

In Bridge the Gap to Uganda, host and global explorer, Chris Bashinelli, travels the world to experience life outside of his hometown — Brooklyn, New York. In this episode, he visits the Ruwenzori Mountain range of rural Uganda to see how fair trade has helped lift farmers out of extreme poverty. Once there, he learns how to “impregnate” a vanilla flower, rides a motorcycle taxi through the luscious green mountains, and runs screaming through the woods while being attacked by venomous bees- all in the name of cultural exchange. Each character he meets, from the bee keeper, to the goat herder, to the seamstress, has used their fair trade earnings to make a better life for their families.

Bangalore’s booming IT business lures so many new professionals every year that a separate industry has sprung up to help them settle in. But Bangalore also has more than 1,000 slum areas, and that is where most newcomers, arriving from poverty-stricken rural villages, will end up. This program explains why so many of India’s poor continue to migrate to cities like Bangalore, the challenges they face when they arrive, and what the slum residents themselves are doing to improve their quality of life. Illiteracy, caste discrimination, and the role of grassroots community groups are all examined. Part of the series Superpower India.

Many children in Africa have to work or their families will starve. Often they work long hours alongside their parents. Etienne Babila survived two years of working in the cocoa plantations of Cameroon, but he is one of the lucky few. He and his family received help from the International Labour Organization to get Etienne out of work and back to school. There are estimates of up to a quarter of a million children being used in dangerous, exploitative labor across West Africa. Child Labor meets Etienne as he tells NGO worker, Julius Fomboh about the ordeals he went through, and what life holds for him and his family now that he is away from the fields and his parents have started their own business.

They cross six thousand miles of desert and sea to reach Europe, children travelling alone, on the world's most dangerous migration route. Some of them are as young as seven. BBC travels to the place they're fleeing, the border area between Sudan and Eritrea, where four thousand migrants cross each month, trying to escape Africa's most secretive rogue state. With exclusive access to desert refugee camps, and to the Sudanese border patrols, the program discovers that more lone children than ever before are attempting the route. Some are recruited by the people-trafficking gangs because they are too young to be prosecuted by the European authorities. Panorama speaks to one such 15-year-old who piloted a boat across the Mediterranean with nearly 200 migrants on board.

A major problem in the spread of chlamydia in the developing world is that people rarely have the time to see a doctor, let alone attend a follow-up appointment. In the Philippines a journey to a clinic can take a whole day, and the diagnostic test takes five to six hours. However, the development of a much more rapid screener—a test strip utilizing nanogold technology—has taken place in Cambridge, England, to allow diagnosis within 25 minutes and enable immediate treatment. This program follows researchers and outreach workers in their quest to implement solutions. The result: a fascinating look at several challenges, from trying to educate sex workers in the developing world to the high-tech hurdles of mass-producing test kits.

A seldom discussed dimension of the war on drugs is the plight of impoverished farmers in the developing world. This program tells the story of Peru’s struggling cocaleros, whose livelihoods and ancient agricultural traditions have become a casualty of antidrug policies. Shot on the steep hillsides where Peruvian growers have produced the crop since pre-Columbian times, as well as in villages and town halls where a movement to protect their way of life is gathering momentum, the film interviews several self-described peasants who predict a dark future for their fragile economy. Global drug policy scholar Ricardo Soberón and legal coca grower Genaro Cahuana offer expert commentary. (26 minutes)

From miners scrabbling for raw metals…to factory workers facing inhumane conditions…to scavengers who subsist on illegally discarded products…today’s cell phones extract a social, economic, and ecological cost that extends far beyond the price tag. This program spans the globe as it shows how the manufacture of mobile phones affects both human beings and the environment. It takes aim at child labor and brutal working conditions in the mines of the Congo Republic; organized crime at collecting points for electronic waste in Norway; and the smuggling of such waste via Hong Kong to mainland China, where high-volume manufacturing turns employment into near slavery, and where children and pregnant women pick through refuse dumps that violate international law.

Filmed in Bangladesh, one of the world’s most active textile-producing countries, this program explores the social cost of the textile industry, which benefits mostly Western consumers and capitalists while creating oppressive environments in the developing world. Using eye-opening footage shot inside a number of Bangladeshi textile factories, the film explores issues of sweatshop labor—including poor working conditions, unfair wages, and the right to unionize—and asks viewers to consider where the responsibility for improving industry practices should lie. The program then compares the social impact of mass-scale textile production with the benefits brought to a small rural community in Bangladesh by a fair trade textile initiative. A part of the series Ethical Textiles: Sustainability and Fair Trade. (30 minutes)

An award-winning and moving film narrated by actress Meryl Streep, which at times is hard to watch and even harder to listen to. It’s an up-close and personal look at the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). An estimated 140 million women and girls have undergone some form of FGM. Its justification is that it is an important initiation, which reinforces virginity, chastity, purity, marriage ability and fidelity. FGM is a harmful and brutal practice—it is associated with long-term physical and psychological morbidity of girls and women who are subjected to it. FGM is not just a cultural norm in parts of the developing world, but is also, sadly, occurring among some practicing communities in the West. Many of the girls travel from their homes in Europe, North America and Australia back to their parents’ homeland to undergo the practice.

First Earth is about a massive paradigm shift for shelter: building healthy houses in the old ways, out of the very earth itself, and living together like in the old days by recreating villages. An audiovisual manifesto filmed over four years on four continents, it proposes that earthen homes are the healthiest housing in the world—and that since it still takes a village to raise a healthy child, we must transform our suburban sprawl into eco-villages. First Earth is not a how-to film, but a why-to film. It establishes the appropriateness of earthen building in every cultural context and under all socio-economic conditions: from third-world communities to first-world countryside, from Arabian deserts to American urban jungles. In an age of collapse and converging emergencies, the solution to many of our ills might just be getting back to basics, for material reasons and for spiritual reasons both personal and political.

This program analyzes the causes and impact of deforestation in developing countries around the world and reveals the importance of forests. It also discusses how afforestation and reforestation programs help create sustainable environments.

Helen Lee and her team at the Diagnostics Development Unit at University of Cambridge created the fundamental principle behind simple, rapid, point-of-care diagnostic tests for a range of different infectious diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis B, chlamydia, gonorrhoea or influenza. The rapid results of the test also solve the problem of patients being “lost to follow-up” – by showing up for tests, leaving, and not returning for diagnosis – which can amount to 30–70% of patients in some areas.

Modern food production is largely dependent on fossil fuels. Now that we are beginning to reach the end of them, the main question remains: How will we feed a global population of 9 billion people in 2050? In the Netherlands, Belgium and Silicon Valley, numerous startups have sprung up that use smart technology, big data and new distribution systems to find solutions. This program explores tomorrow’s food, which not only needs to be sustainable, tasty and organic, but mainly nutritious and above all sufficient to feed the entire planet. Will the approach of this new generation of food startups help us to ensure the necessary quantity and quality of food in the future?

“Brain drain” is a core problem in the developing world, and an especially tragic one in the field of health care. For many African countries, training new doctors and nurses is almost a fruitless enterprise—since, upon completion of their schooling, these young professionals typically leave for high-paying positions abroad. This program analyzes the predicament by following a young, Malawi-born gynecologist as he wrestles with a fateful decision. Should he earn a good living in the West or make a crucial difference in the life of his native country, albeit on a meager salary? His journey of discovery (and self-discovery) incorporates interviews with Malawian medical students, educators, nurses, and fellow doctors. Dr. Mubashar Sheikh of the Global Health Workforce Alliance is also featured. (25 minutes)

Statistician Hans Rosling was one of the world’s most sought-after public speakers. In this film, timed to coincide with the launch of new development goals at the 2015 United Nations Summit, he offers real hope for an end to global poverty. Rosling explains how there are still one billion people around the world living in extreme poverty—but that number has halved since the UN last set development goals 15 years ago. Brought to life by the revolutionary holographic projection system Musion, this is a fascinating as-live studio show that charts where we’ve come from, where we are now, and where we’re heading when it comes to eradicating extreme poverty. A BBC Production.

Dystopia is a word to label fictional portrayals of negative utopias. This film deals with the very real hell on earth that is experienced by nearly a billion people right now. It predicts that the dystopia that is here for many will become increasingly prevalent for more and more of us. Humanity faces many different sorts of crises: environmental, political, and economic. These crises will continue to worsen unless the drastic systemic change is undertaken. However, the widespread knowledge that is required to form a strong enough political consensus for that sort of change is unlikely to occur. There is systematic mystification preventing it. The film demonstrates that present responses are inadequate and suggests the way forward.

Technology has truly revolutionized the ways in which we interact with the world, but what happened to your old phone when you upgraded? Where did your broken computer or television end up? Electronic waste is one of the fastest growing environmental threats of the 21st century. This documentary follows the path of discarded electronics. It reveals the illegal trade in discarded technology, tracking it to toxic scrapyards around the world, and exposing the detrimental effects it has on the environment and the people who dismantle our waste in unsafe conditions. Through interviews with those on the frontlines, the film also discovers some remarkable people and companies trying to change the way we think about electronics, and how we consume technology.

How is the economic progress of a country or a region measured? What causes underdevelopment and poverty? Will the struggling nations of the world ever “catch up” with the wealthy ones? This program studies various methods for calculating economic potential, growth, and stagnation in the context of today’s global environment. Introducing the three main determinants of income and expansion—physical capital, human capital, and technology—the video examines geographic, historical, and political reasons behind underdevelopment, especially the vestigial effects of colonialism and the population disparities that exist between rich and poor nations. Production structure, credit markets, income inequality within a country, and the concept of the dual economy are all explored in detail. The success of micro credit systems highlights the possibility of development in even the most disadvantaged societies. A Films for the Humanities & Sciences Production.

Welcome to Beverly Hills, California, where some of America’s wealthiest citizens have created their own personal versions of paradise. But don’t get too comfortable—this program whisks viewers off to Mexico City and Lilongwe, Malawi, as well, showing how different life can be in all three parts of the world and how globalization has amplified the economic gaps between them. In addition, the film provides an extensive analysis of the development of the global economy through compelling historical narratives—including the Spanish colonization of Central America, spearheaded by Hernán Cortés in an effort to find cheap trading silver, and the crucial role of child labor and forced trade agreements in the rise of British economic might.

This program contrasts indigenous, community-based culture with market economics driven by multinational corporations. The film assesses the growing conflict between Burlington Resources, an American oil company licensed to prospect in regions of Ecuador, and the self-sufficient Achuar people of that country, who believe the oil industry will destroy their environment and nonmaterialistic way of life. Underscoring the Ecuadorian government’s tendency to accommodate U.S. interests, the video portrays a country divided by incompatible definitions of wealth and happiness. (Portions have English subtitles, 26 minutes)

Almost every major bank and electronics company on the globe has an office—or posh, sprawling campus—in Bangalore. How did the city become a world-class business center, and in what ways has its development impacted the people living there? This program looks at the factors contributing to Bangalore’s success, the complications of rapid growth, and the impact of a new middle class on a traditional society. With severe traffic jams, limited access to basic utilities, and new demands placed on family life, Bangalore is addressing both social and infrastructure problems so that it can retain the international trade it has attracted. Part of the series Superpower India.

In India a new generation is enjoying the luxury of air-conditioning, not just at home, but in the thousands of commercial buildings that have sprung up in the flourishing economy. With its increased energy needs, India is now spewing more greenhouse gases than almost every other country—and yet there still isn't enough electricity to meet the demand. This program examines India’s energy shortage and the sustainable alternatives being employed to address it. Wind turbines have been effective in Tamil Nadu, and in Karnataka, villagers using fuel made from cow dung find benefits beyond the ecological: their health, finances, and educational opportunities have all improved. Part of the series Superpower India.

Exploring the aisles of a Dutch grocery store, this program clearly demonstrates that globalization has made almost any food item, no matter how exotic or remote, available to the Western consumer. But the film also shows the downside of that new global access, tracing specific foods to their countries of origin and revealing the impact on indigenous communities and ecosystems. Viewers witness the burning of Mehinaku forestland in Brazil in order to cultivate soya crops; the creation of inland shrimp farms in the Philippines at the expense of fragile mangrove habitats; and the mass production of sugar peas, green beans, and other vegetables—made possible by low-wage Kenyan labor. A powerful visual study that is sure to spark further discussions of food security and sustainability. Contains nudity associated with indigenous customs.

Dhaka is the center of a large textile industry and a significant contributor to Bangladesh’s economy, but the waste it generates is causing big problems: local residents must vie with factories for access to energy and clean water, but manufacturers are reluctant to implement expensive pollution controls. This program travels to Dhaka's slums to show the destructive effects of industrial pollution on both the environment and human health, then looks at efforts to clean up the manufacturing process. Case studies include Padma Dyeing and Weaving in Bangladesh, and Axminster Carpets, a U.K. textile factory located in a national park. Part of the series Issues in Globalization.

Roughly one million women in the developing world suffer from obstetric fistula, an injury that results from inadequate medical care and causes incontinence. But beyond the physical effects, the condition can subject them to shame and isolation from their families. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports from Kenya on efforts to offer treatment and reintegrate women back into communities.

Hydropower presents the most attractive option for many developing nations seeking to meet renewable energy demands. Dam construction destroys habitats, displaces populations, and disrupts ecosystems. However, a more balanced approach is gaining ground, illustrated by local solutions in Brazil and Nepal. This film examines the reality of renewable energy in the developing world today. (26 minutes)

This film explores how Indris Seid Yimer and Emyet Assen Woraki’s lives have been transformed since 1984, when their Wollo area community was engulfed in a famine described by BBC journalist Michael Buerk as “the closest thing to hell on Earth.” Featuring contributions from entrepreneur Samuel Alemu and financier Ermyas Amelga and showcasing the UNESCO World Heritage site in Lalibela. (25 minutes)

Everyone talks about globalization, but what does it really mean? And what are its implications for the average American? In this compilation of NewsHour segments, experts from the U.S. and abroad speak their minds on a shrinking world and an expanding global economy.

Archaic models of global commerce assume that all parties will benefit equally from free trade. But well-documented exploitation of workers in the developing world has convinced many experts of the need for stronger fair trade practices. This program reports on the efforts of socially concerned entrepreneurs and leaders to safeguard the interests of foreign farmers, producers, and laborers. Bob Stiller, president and founder of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, explains why his company has earned a place on the Business Ethics magazine “100 Best Corporate Citizens” list; Neal Kearney, chief of the ITGLWF, debunks myths of slim profit margins in the garment industry; and Paul Rice, CEO of TransFair USA, describes his group’s fair trade certification process. (28 minutes)

Like most girls from rural India, 16-year-old Jayshree Janu Kharpade never expected to get an education. Film mentor, Joyce Chopra, a pioneer of documentary film, helped Jayshree share her journey from illiterate laborer, to scholar and young activist – in this powerful story that illuminates the social and economic potential of educating girls in the developing world.

“This is the ugly face of globalization,” says A. R. Chowdhury-Repon, director of the Bangladesh Occupational Health, Safety, and Environment Foundation. He refers to a failure on the part of Western multinationals to ensure worker safety and proper environmental procedures in developing countries, and his description is echoed by many others throughout this program. Hidden camera interviews reveal shocking practices in steel factories across Bangladesh—from water pollution to child labor to a complete lack of protection from falls, fire, and hazardous materials. These factories are direct suppliers of the telecom companies Ericsson and Telenor, whose officials also appear on camera, in some cases promising to make amends, in others downplaying any association with wayward vendors. A much-needed look into international and green business ethics.

Taking viewers deep inside a devastated landscape, this program examines physical forces directly tied to flooding in Bangladesh as well as the broader causes of such disasters, including climate change. It also explores the social, economic, and environmental impact of intense flooding through the personal accounts of people living by major rivers and on Bangladesh’s char lands, areas built up from river sediment. Examples of flood management strategies are explored, with a look at the pros and cons of hard and soft engineering. Additionally, the film shows how NGOs are working with flood-affected communities to reduce the developing world’s vulnerability to future floods. A part of the series Tropical Storms and Flooding in Bangladesh.

Satisfying one’s hunger is a primal act that most Westerners never connect to global issues. But the diets and farming systems of wealthy countries can be directly linked to starvation in the underdeveloped world. This program sheds light on the international tragedy of hunger and malnutrition, emphasizing that the problem is one of distribution, not production. Filmed in Asia, South America, and sub-Saharan Africa, the film shows how geopolitics, economic isolation, regional conflicts, and lack of infrastructure render poor countries unable to feed their own people. Biotechnology, land use priorities, government corruption, the fast-food industry, and the vicious cycle of child hunger are all featured topics. Contains scenes of breast-feeding. (47 minutes)

Tunisia’s Arab Spring was triggered in part by a surge in grain prices that made purchasing bread nearly impossible. Like other publicly traded goods, the wheat market is subject to speculation—but when investors speculate on agricultural futures, food costs rise, directly impacting the quality of life in developing countries. In this program, director Kees Brouwer assumes the role of a food speculator as he investigates this practice, traveling to the Chicago Board of Trade and to Tunisia, where he meets with the man responsible for food prices there. Along the way, viewers get a crash course in commodities investment, supply and demand, and futures contracts.

Among the research and funding experts of the global health community, the “Big Three” diseases are AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. As urgent as it is to fight these illnesses, many others also need attention and aren’t getting it. These “forgotten diseases” include elephantiasis (or lymphatic filariasis), bilharzia (or schistosomiasis), and river blindness (or onchocerciasis), among others. This program examines the medical science at the core of all three afflictions while also discussing many of the economic and organizational challenges that are hindering action against them. Experts include Professor Alan Fenwick of Imperial College, London; Professor David Molyneux of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine; Dr. Lorenzo Savioli of the WHO; and Dr. Chris Hentschel of the Medicines for Malaria Venture.

In this program, Hazel Henderson and NASA Chief Scientist Dennis Bushnell review all the issues around the increasing global shift from polluting fossil fuels and their effect on climate to economies. They discuss today’s harvesting of solar, wind, geothermal, hydro and oceans, as well as the cost savings from more efficient buildings, batteries electric vehicles and charging stations, smarter cities and urban design, public transport and the future of decentralized energy, especially in developing countries. Both Henderson and Bushnell agree that there is ample renewable energy from our Sun for all existing and foreseen human societies’ needs. The issues concern the politics of incumbent interests and the re-design of green infrastructure so as to utilize and scale up all our existing renewable technologies now available, as tracked in the Green Transition Scoreboard ®.

Today 1.6 million people live according to the rhythm of the sun, for they have no access to electricity. Their lifestyle is minimalist, ritualized; each individual keeps to his or her role. But people are struggling to change this situation. This film tells the story of the arrival of electricity in Hathine, a tiny, isolated village in the forbidden mountains of northern Laos—one of the last Communist countries in the world—on the borders of China and Vietnam. One sunny morning the village headman announces that electrical current will soon arrive. With it will come comfort, development, modernity, and wealth. Refrigerators will keep food fresh for longer. Children will do their homework under the streetlamps. The first shops strung with multi-coloured lights appear, and in them the first cold drinks that any villager has tasted. Electricity brings progress, unquestionably. But does that progress bring happiness?

We live in a world where an epidemic in Mexico affects lives in Europe, air pollution in China disturbs crops in Bangladesh, and financial disaster in the U.S. impacts economic growth everywhere. Given this high level of interdependence, isn’t it more important than ever to be aware of the effect of our actions on the rest of the planet? Filmmaker Jian Yi and his team discussed this question with people from a variety of backgrounds on five different continents. The respondents’ thoughts, offered in this documentary, represent the views of businesspeople and artists, students and theologians, as well as a Nobel laureate, a UN economist, and an Internet guru. Inspired by the work of Hakan Altinay (Global Civics: Responsibilities and Rights in an Interdependent World), the film calls for an increased sense of social responsibility. With Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales, economist Kemal Dervis, and others.

Because disease threats have no respect for borders, America’s Centers for Disease Control brings together leading experts anywhere in the world that public health is threatened. From rabid bats in a Guatemalan cave, to ensuring the health of Kenya’s poor, and investigating a mysterious disease outbreak among babies in China, the CDC works to protect America from health threats. A Production of the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). (7 minutes)

While international corporations boast of newfound environmental stewardship, toxic materials are still produced on a worldwide scale—with underdeveloped nations serving as the planet’s dump site. This program explores the issue, traveling to Asia, Africa, and Latin America to illustrate the effects of industrial waste on the environment, social systems, and human life. Viewers will gain an understanding of several topics: the impact of pesticides and other chemical products, the role of large-scale food waste, the dangers low-wage workers face as they pick through urban trash heaps, and more. Images of discarded ships rusting in shallow harbors epitomize Western wastefulness and compose one of many powerful sequences in the film.

Is there a way out of the fear and insecurity created by globalization? If we view the issue in terms of collective psychology, then confidence and cultural openness would seem to go hand in hand, and only a country that lacks self-confidence will shield itself against diversity, multiculturalism, and foreign influences. This program presents the opinions of authors and philosophers who suggest ways for societies to deal with the emotionality and subjectivity of globalization pressures. Commentary comes from Charles Taylor, author of Sources of the Self: The Making of Modern Identity; Ian Buruma, author of Taming the Gods: Religion and Democracy on Three Continents; Dominique Moïsi, a French thinker whose experiences as the son of a Holocaust survivor informed much of his view of post-Cold War Europe; and others. A part of the series LUX: Great Thinkers on the Future.

To some, the term “globalization” means ruthless exploitation by corporations; to others, it means bringing economic development to all the peoples of the world. This program explains key principles at the core of global economics and takes a historical look at their effects, focusing on market liberalization and the failed “East Asian miracle”; privatization of basic resources in Bolivia and the severe backlash against it; Russia’s rapid transition to capitalism and the oligarchism and kleptocracy that came to characterize it; and China’s incremental implementation of capitalism under communism. The video also takes stock of the seismic shift in the U.S. economy and its probable effect on the rest of the world. A Films for the Humanities & Sciences Production. A part of the series Global Issues.

In Europe, food manufacturers have signed up to “responsibility pledges,” promising no added sugar, preservatives, artificial colors or flavors, and not to target children. So why are they using tactics banned in the West in the developing world? There, they have created ultra low cost products with higher levels of salt, sugar and saturated fats. Filmed in Brazil, India, and France, we investigate the new tactics of brands like Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Domino’s Pizza.

What is the relationship between a country’s natural assets and its economic power? Does wealth in raw materials alone lead to monetary wealth? What are the dangers of relying on finite supplies? This program explores economic questions surrounding the management of—and international competition for—natural resources. Describing the process by which nations translate the products of their forests, fields, mines, and waters into economic and political power, the video provides insight into the drive to control natural resources, the role they play in the economic development of poor countries, the precarious concept of the “global commons,” and the connection between resource mismanagement and environmental damage. Recent events in the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America highlight historical patterns of international resource exchange and exploitation. A Films for the Humanities & Sciences Production. (39 minutes)

In this program, Hazel Henderson discusses a range of global challenges and transition management strategies with Frank Dixon (Harvard MBA), former head of global research with social auditing firm Innovest. They consider the ways in which global geopolitics is evolving in response to the systemic changes to our planet’s ecosystems due to human activities. Frank Dixon’s book, Global System Change, maps these global issues and connects the dots. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), agreed upon by 190 member countries, show evidence that humans are accepting responsibility for the changes created by unsustainable industrial development and moving toward integrated policies. These realistic approaches to transition management can lead to cleaner, healthier, more equitable societies on which our survival may depend.

Genetically modified bananas could be the answer to malnutrition in developing countries. In this video clip, hear from the botanists who are developing genetically modified bananas that can boost vitamin and mineral content in disease resistant varieties.

A new generation of GM foods is winning over governments and former critics of the technology, and scientists say the crops could help feed people in the developing world. So are those who oppose GM doing more harm than good? And is their opposition based on genuine safety concerns, or is it just feeding fear? A BBC Production.

This episode of The Green Interview features Vandana Shiva: scientist, philosopher, feminist, author, environmentalist, activist. Shiva is a one-woman movement for peace, sustainability and social justice. After hearing the leaders of world agri-business describe their plan to control the world's supply of food and pharmaceuticals through the use of patented, genetically-engineered seeds, she founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, dedicated to opposing such ventures. Shiva is also the founder of Navdanya, a national movement in India to protect the diversity and integrity of living resources, especially native seeds, and to oppose what she calls the colonization of life itself under the intellectual property and patent laws of the World Trade Organization agreement. Today, she is one of the world's most famous and effective advocates for bio-ethics, eco-feminism, and genetic biodiversity.

In 1950, only two of the world’s urban centers boasted populations of eight million or more. Today, dozens of cities contain at least that many people, with dozens more pushing to join the list. This program surveys the emergence and development of the megacity—both as an intellectual concept and as a physical phenomenon that is altering the face of the planet. The film examines present-day issues associated with the mammoth metropolis, including poverty, unemployment, rampant crime, poor or nonexistent health care, and air and water pollution. While many problems are studied in the context of the developing world, the program clearly ties them to Western cities as well. (51 minutes)

Coffee is second only to oil as the world’s most valuable traded commodity, but small-scale producers rarely profit from it. This program reveals the hardship and uncertainty faced by coffee farmers in Guatemala, and how many are taking steps to obtain better prices and build better lives. Analyzing the country’s traumatic history and the lingering effects of its civil war, the video sheds light on the reluctance of some citizens to organize for fear of persecution and murder. The video clearly demonstrates that behind every pound of coffee lies a story of human struggle. (Portions have English subtitles, 26 minutes)

Hitting hardest in the developing world, microbial diseases can nevertheless show up anywhere and their impact is often extremely severe. Some microbes can cause significant birth defects if an infected woman passes the virus or bacteria to her unborn child. Arming viewers with information on microscopic bio-threats, this collection of six video clips explores many of the major global culprits. Each clip averages four minutes in length.

On World AIDS Day 2003, WHO and UNAIDS released a detailed and concrete plan to reach the 3 by 5 target of providing antiretroviral treatment to three million people living with AIDS in developing countries and those in transition by the end of 2005. It was a vital step toward the ultimate goal of providing universal access to AIDS treatment to all those who need it. This program travels to Zambia and Papua New Guinea to explore the anti-HIV fight in those countries, where poverty and lack of education amplify the crisis. Zambia-born Agetha Lloyd, an HIV therapist, describes her WHO-backed campaign to distribute antiretrovirals into remote and hard-hit areas of Papua New Guinea.

Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Central and South America, ravaged by the drug trade, political instability and the highest murder rate in the world. It may seem like the last place on earth where businesses would want to invest, but a new idea is underway. Some call it a Startup City or Free City, others a LEAP Zone, and in Honduran law it's known as a ZEDE. They are politically autonomous, privately run zones that supporters believe could transform not only Honduras, but the entire developing world. This documentary interviews some of the key players behind the idea, explores both past and current criticism of the project, and looks ahead with some entrepreneurs who've already sketched out a business plan for what they hope will be one of the first Honduran startup cities. A Reason TV production.

Over a half-million women in the world get cervical cancer every year, with nearly 80 percent in developing countries. Human papilloma virus, or HPV, causes the cancer and is therefore among the worst instigators of female cancer mortality worldwide. A vaccine is now available against the disease—but how effective is it, and can it save lives in poor, remote regions as well as wealthy areas? This program visits India, where conservative values regarding sexuality make drug distribution and compliance especially challenging, and Costa Rica, where clinical trials of an HPV vaccine are taking place. The importance of developing a fast, low-tech screening method is also discussed extensively.

It is one of the more serious and complex problems of our time: hunger. This film is a worldwide search for clues, a search for connections, and for solutions- the answers are not so far out of reach. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, our world should have the resources to nourish 12 billion people. Yet worldwide, one billion are suffering from chronic hunger. Syz, the former State Secretary for Economic Affairs of Switzerland, seeks answers as to how this is possible. What influences do subsidies from the Western world have on hunger? What role do speculators in the stock exchanges play? How far does political responsibility in the international community and in each individual country go in order to fight hunger?

The former French colony of Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world. Life expectancy is just 44 and infant mortality, according to the World Health Organizaton, is the second highest in the world; one in five children die before they reach five years old. Niger also suffers from a poor education system, poor access to contraception and an extremely high rate of teenage pregnancy. It really is a fight for survival, but there are signs that is beginning to change. Centers have been developed to help advise people on nutrition. But what impact will they have? We find out by following a young woman and her baby girl as they endure the daily struggle to find enough to eat.

Leonard Nimoy narrates this wide-ranging documentary on hydrogen-based energy solutions in the United States and around the world—including systems that are fully operational as well as those currently in development. Visiting China, Germany, Iceland, and other countries, the program examines the PEM fuel cell and equipment that incorporates fuel cell technology, avoiding fossil fuel consumption and utilizing clean, renewable hydrogen. This dynamic and in-depth video gives special attention to energy advances that can help developing nations improve their economies while reducing pollution and environmental damage.

According to Sushil Beriwal at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in low- and middle-income countries. If not treated, it could lead to death. And it’s probably the second-most common cause of cancer death in developing countries.

Unlike developed countries, most of which have banned asbestos products, India can’t seem to get enough of the material. Disturbingly, India’s chief supplier is a Western nation. Canada restricts asbestos consumption domestically, but its massive exports to India have breathed new life into the Canadian asbestos mining industry—and given vulnerable Indians the kiss of death. This program investigates, sifting through the forces of global commerce that are responsible and examining the impact on low-wage workers and poverty-stricken families. Viewers learn about the widespread use of asbestos as a cheap roofing material, steadily displacing safer options such as thatch, tiles, or steel—and how this demand for the substance meshes easily with corporate marketing tactics. India’s lack of affordable, accessible health care is also discussed.

This program examines India’s immense child labor problem and the fight against it. The video contrasts this nation’s status as the world’s largest democracy with the fact that, inside its borders, 80 million children work physically exhausting jobs for minuscule wages. Incorporating interviews with Shanta Sinha, founder of the organization known as MVF, the video illustrates how the group coordinates community action against the exploitation of young people and creates bridge schools that help children with the transition from work to education. It also makes a strong case that child labor increases poverty levels. (Portions have English subtitles, 26 minutes)

As much energy falls on the Earth's deserts in just six hours as all of mankind consumes in the course of an entire year. Morocco is aiming to become the first country in Africa to invest in solar thermal technology on a large scale. But small, decentralized photovoltaic systems can generate power more efficiently—in countries like Ethiopia or India, for example, where the majority of the people live in rural areas far from any power grid.

A killer flu outbreak isn’t just a developing-world nightmare. The influenza virus is so adaptable that the West is as vulnerable as anywhere else. This program outlines the history of influenza and explores current research into what steps, if any, might prevent a future flu pandemic. Viewers are shown how the virus mutates to resist vaccines and has an uncanny ability to jump species barriers, as well as to rapidly spread between people—making it one of the most stealthy and contagious viruses presently known. Dr. John Oxford of Queen Mary’s School of Medicine describes influenza as an “underrated” killer and outlines scenarios in which the virus can spread through bird, then human, communities. National Institute of Health expertise is also featured.

This film explains where we stand with vaccines now. It gives the history of vaccines, the latest science, rising costs and finance, and the arguments and controversies. It touches on the history of vaccine development. What is a vaccine, how and why have they been successful, and what are the future challenges for both scientists and health systems in making vaccines even better? How important will be the part played by new technology? All these questions and more are asked and answered in this program. The sequences include our babies, new filming in laboratories and research centers. Archive includes rotavirus and why vaccines need to be tested on children in developing countries and how the first generation of vaccines weren’t effective and how vaccines are an important tool for social justice.

Some 1.3 billion people around the globe don’t have access to an electric grid. But solar startup companies say harnessing an abundant resource—the sun—can light up some of the world’s most remote areas. In this Kenyan village, rooftop panels are becoming a cheap, popular and promising source of light. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports.

Wavefront aberrometers have proven in labs and in clinics to be very accurate in obtaining a prescription. However, these aberrometers are generally both expensive and large, and therefore are not very well suited for rural populations and developing countries. Researchers helped convert these large instruments from the lab into a small unit. The first units are being manufactured in labs in Madara, India, at very low-cost, are hand-held, and can be built for a fraction of the cost of lab aberrometers. It’s easy to operate. Non-optometrists are using it because it doesn’t require any prior skill, and it can give patients a prescription in seconds. Clinical studies have shown that the device can give accurate prescriptions similar to those received from standard optometrist visits.

Kenya, a country that struggles to feed its population, is Jimmy Doherty’s destination in this program. He meets farmers who use ingenious new ways to combat pests, and scientists who produce bananas in a lab. As he travels across the country, Jimmy picks roses, milks camels, and discovers how Maasai sheep could save farmers around the world billions of dollars. But will Kenya ever be able to feed itself? A BBC Production. Part of the series Jimmy’s Global Harvest.

Despite its success in alleviating poverty, particularly among women, microfinance has reached only eight percent of the world’s poor. San Francisco-based Matt Flannery and Premal Shah have devised the first online platform for microfinance lending. Kiva, which means “unity” in Swahili, is a Web site that allows individuals to lend 25 dollars to specific small businesses in the developing world. Kiva.org works with a network of microfinance institutions that use the site as a marketplace to attract loans for their clients. This program accompanies Alvin Hall as he tries to help Kiva.org achieve its ambitious expansion goals and bring a growing number of lenders directly to small entrepreneurs. Part of the series Alvin’s Guide to Good Business: Case Studies in Social Entrepreneurship.

Due to its entanglement in America’s Vietnam War, Laos is frequently cited as, per capita, the most bombed country in the world. This program shows how a conflict that officially ended over three decades ago still kills and maims innocent civilians. Viewers meet several families decimated by buried munitions, or “bombies” in the local vernacular, that were dropped between 1964 and 1973. As the film demonstrates, these explosives are often accidentally detonated in the course of agricultural work and have brought many family farms to the brink of ruin. Bounpone Sayasenh, director of UXO Lao, further illuminates the grim legacy of American air power—a legacy made more visible with every deadly harvest. A part of the series Fighting the Tide 3: Developing Nations and Globalization. (Portions in Lao with English subtitles, 25 minutes)

Most industries exploit the advantages of globalization—specifically, low labor costs. Recently, however, major textile manufacturers have come under increasing pressure from fair trade activists and NGOs. This program studies the complex mix of economic forces, corporate policies, and social conditions that go into the production of everyday consumer goods, especially apparel items. Shedding light on the policies of adidas, H&M, and other key players in the global textiles market, the program examines the circumstances under which sports shoes and T-shirts are produced in countries like Indonesia, India, and Turkey. Viewers will gain insight into labor practices that have improved but remain troublesome for many workers.

With awareness of global warming rising, going "green" and reducing one's "carbon footprint" have become pop culture catchphrases. But addressing climate change on a global, governmental level is still a matter of heated debate. With potentially staggering costs involved, are efforts to make major reductions in carbon emissions worth the price? Would the money be better spent elsewhere? Or, does the amount of money involved become less important when considering the possible consequences of climate change?

How does an organism carried by insects become an instrument of mass destruction? Can malaria be defeated or at least neutralized? What political and economic forces influence the battle against the disease? This program investigates social and scientific issues surrounding malaria and shows how the parasite wreaks havoc—especially in Africa, where it causes more deaths than AIDS. Explaining differences between strains of malaria, the program clarifies concepts with computer-generated animation and presents the expertise of Dr. Pierre Druilhe of France’s Pasteur Institute, Dr. Nurdan Ozer of the Society for Vector Ecology, and other medical and governmental authorities.

Poverty, unstable government, and disadvantages in trade have virtually eliminated food security in Malawi. This program explores the African country’s struggles on both a personal and national level, interviewing frustrated civil servants and impoverished citizens, and reflecting widespread despair over WTO policies and the government’s inability to subsidize the agriculture of its own people. Highlighting the additional problems of environmental degradation and AIDS, the program offers a moving glimpse into human lives that revolve around one constant challenge: getting something to eat. (Portions have English subtitles, 26 minutes)

Elderly Nana Chinegowe is left to care for her three orphaned grandchildren. Other than occasional casual work as a day laborer, she has no means to support them and they often go without food. This film tells the story of Malawi’s ultra poor, and investigates the Millennium Development Goals of reducing maternal mortality, hunger, and poverty. (25 minutes)

As climate change lays waste to the Niger River, the great Malian city of Timbuktu increasingly resembles a desert landscape. The same is true for much of landlocked Mali, which could, in a worst-case scenario, find itself without water altogether. Incorporating discussions of poverty, population growth, and other issues, this film examines the impact of desertification on two of the nation’s indigenous peoples—the fishing-dependent Bozo, who have plied their trade along the Niger for centuries, and the Tuareg, an equally nomadic, pastoral culture threatened by the depletion of desert wells. A Malian environmentalist and a Timbuktu historian both share their expertise. A part of the series Fighting the Tide 3: Developing Nations and Globalization. (Portions in other languages with English subtitles, 25 minutes)

Many critics of “Big Pharma” see a pattern of exploitation in the industry’s dealings with the developing world. This program identifies new ways for drug manufacturers to operate globally, promoting increased cooperation with local producers of traditional, plant-based medicines. Recognizing that worldwide demand for alternative medicine may create new producer countries, the program visits centers of herbology and other non-Western healing methods in China, Vietnam, Bhutan, Senegal, and Kenya. The documented ability of these facilities to fight AIDS and other diseases forms a powerful argument for the coexistence of both corporate and traditional industries.

Scientific progress relies partly on Western technology, but also, and increasingly, on the products and research from the more traditional pharmacopeia of “Southern” countries. From Bolivia to New Caledonia via Vietnam, we look at three examples of collaborations between North and South that are often far from easy.

For decades, experts have hailed microcredit as the paramount solution to global poverty. But there is a lesser-known version of that story in which Grameen Bank founder Mohammad Yunus and other promoters of miniaturized finance appear to serve mostly their own interests. Bringing to light a range of potentially unethical practices and policies, this program explores the microcredit system that has been implemented across much of the developing world. Using examples in both Bangladesh and Mexico, the film assesses the financial wellbeing of several borrowers; reports on suicides resulting from massive personal debt; questions whether or not celebrity advocates like Bono or the Clintons truly understand the impact of microcredit programs; and examines the future viability of the microfinance community. Interviews feature respected economists Milford Bateman, Thomas Dichter, Ha-Joon Chang, and many others.

In 2000 the world's leaders came together and established eight goals aimed at making the developing world a better place for future generations. These time-bound targets addressed extreme poverty, hunger and disease, and promoted gender equality, education, and environmental sustainability. In 2015, 15 years on the United Nations is reassessing the goals and laying out its future ambitions. This film travels across the world, from kids hustling to get by on the streets of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo to 11 year olds working on rubbish tips in Cambodia and teenagers affected by drought in California. We hear directly from the children living and working in some of the toughest places in the world. Have their lives changed and what does the future hold? Both a celebration of the achievements of the past 15 years and a call to arms, this film offers a compelling and dramatic snapshot of what life is like for young people around the world now. A BBC Production.

Our waste is worth money. Recovering it has started up a new global industry worth billions. It is called Urban Mining and it appears to be the solution for many of our environmental problems and our energy needs. A ton of broken mobile phones, computers or other electronic waste contains sixty times the amount of gold a ton of gold ore has. Moreover, it is easier to get at. It is estimated that 30 to 40 percent of total world demand for rare metals can be covered by urban mining and this is only the beginning. Urban Mining has a different, almost hilarious consequence: for years we have dumped our electronic waste in developing countries, with our eyes closed. There, it was to be recycled. But in Africa only one quarter of the gold, platinum and coltan is recovered whereas the newest technology in Belgium recovers almost 99 percent. So somewhere there’s a profit to be made. The NGO ‘Closing the Loop’ is buying up dead mobile phones and computer parts that we have dumped in developing countries making our waste a desirable sales item over there. In Houthalen, Belgium, a start has been made to dig up landfills of which half the waste material, such as slag, steel, copper and other metals can be recycled into usable raw materials. The rest is incinerated, using a new plasma technology which produces green energy that can cover the energy need of 200,000 households for 20 years. The principle of urban mining seems the solution for many of our environmental problems and our energy need. It creates a new recycling industry, gets rid of our waste for us and presents developing countries with a new business model.

Close to the Russian border, far removed from Mongolia’s polluted and overcrowded capital city of Ulan Bator, an ancient herding culture fights to maintain its identity—and its survival. This program examines the nomadic communities of the Mongolian plains and their resistance to change, despite growing pressure on many herders to modernize and migrate to urban areas. Viewers meet some who hold fast to the old ways and some who have already moved to the city, even though they long for the open landscape and acknowledge that “a Mongolian without a horse is like a bird without wings.” Scholar Tsedev Dojoo further explores the impact of Mongolia’s new emphasis on commercial agriculture, mineral extraction, and other industries. A part of the series Fighting the Tide 3: Developing Nations and Globalization. (Portions in other languages with English subtitles, 25 minutes)

Water and sanitation are among the biggest challenges facing developing countries. Yet they continue to be low on the political agenda. In a bid to raise the profile of this human crisis, former Neighbors star Mark Little and a group of musicians set off to Mozambique to discover how communities are tackling the issue of human waste. Ecosan toilets that turn human waste into compost and pumps that provide water for remote villages are giving the people of Mozambique a sense of optimism. Direct community action can and does work. But breaking the cycle of poverty and despair will require commitment on a global scale. Uplifting and thought-provoking, this documentary addresses fundamental issues that are all too often met with resounding silence.

A mystery illness that destroys skin, muscle and even bone when it strikes: the Buruli ulcer can leave sufferers horribly disfigured. Scientists in Australia, where it was first recorded, are working on research to find out how it occurs and why outbreaks are so localized. They hope their research will help the tens of thousands of people who suffer from Buruli ulcers, particularly in Africa.

In this program Hazel Henderson and Linda Crompton MBA, CEO of Leadership Women-USA explore the new trends they see in globalization from the nativist popular movements in the USA and Europe led by autocratic politicians to the “Small Is Beautiful” grassroots globalist in the United Nations 195 countries who support their Sustainable Development Goals and climate.

In Nicaragua, a growing awareness of domestic violence and its consequences has spurred grassroots activism. This program documents the efforts of two groups, the Xochitl-Acatl Women's Center and the Association of Men Against Violence, both of which confront gender and sexual abuse. Arguing that economic and political oppression influence male tendencies to exercise physical authority within the home, the video describes educational campaigns that build financial self-sufficiency and self-esteem in both men and women. Interviews with participants feature more than one success story. (Portions have English subtitles, 26 minutes)

Noma is an acute oral infection that attacks young, malnourished children. If left untreated—which, tragically, is often the case in Africa—it devours bone tissue and permanently disfigures its victims. This unflinching program studies the impact of the pitiless disease and will help viewers assess the ability and readiness of the international community to combat the suffering. Graphic scenes of school-age noma patients are interwoven with commentary from medical experts and heartbreaking accounts from family members who have watched as sons, daughters, and grandchildren succumb to the sickness. The film also describes low-cost interventions that could keep noma from spreading, if resources are made available. Original broadcast title: Noma in Niger. A part of the series Fighting the Tide 3: Developing Nations and Globalization. (Portions in other languages with English subtitles, 25 minutes)

They are the worker bees of China’s labor market: the four million poorly paid men and women who drive Guangdong’s massive textile industry. But now they’re demanding higher pay and better conditions. The latest trend of globalization sees China moving its production to other Asian countries where labor is even cheaper like Vietnam, Cambodia, and Bangladesh. “Made in China” is a worldwide brand, but are we now witnessing the beginning of its end?

It doesn’t take much to travel the world these days—and that applies not only to goods and people, but also to money, intellectual property, and high-profile corporate brands. This program illustrates the phenomenon of globalization and how it is changing the world of business, as seen in a variety of industries and cultures. Starting with a piece of 3-D animation as a brief case study in internationally sourced labor, the film goes on to explore Apple’s borderless appeal to technology consumers and the stunning rise of Gazprom, Russia’s foremost energy giant. Shanghai’s emergence as a global city, Hyderabad’s increasing importance to India’s IT industry, and ongoing changes in the Paris fashion world offer additional views of globalization’s effects.

A low-cost ingredient in countless food products and a healthier alternative to trans fats, palm oil is also increasingly being used for biofuel and as a substitute for other petroleum products. But not all news about palm oil is good. This program takes a balanced look at an oil that its proponents are calling “liquid gold”: its many valuable applications, its beneficial health properties, the economic boon it represents to the economies of developing nations, and, on the downside, the severe environmental impact that the expansion of palm oil plantations is having on the irreplaceable rain forests of Malaysia and Indonesia. (48 minutes)

When an 11-year-old Paraguayan boy named Silvino Talavera died from pesticide poisoning in 2003, his name became a rallying cry in the fight against intensive soya production. This program recounts the tragedy and the legal, political, and economic impact of “agritoxins” in Latin America. Opening with a poetically filmed reenactment and moving on to feature key players in the story, the film includes an interview with Fernando Lugo—a Catholic priest whose election to Paraguay’s presidency shifted policy away from large-scale agricultural interests toward more populist causes. Land redistribution and genetic modification emerge as central topics in this look at a controversy that is far from over. Original broadcast title: Soya: Silvino’s Story. A part of the series Fighting the Tide 3: Developing Nations and Globalization. (Portions in Spanish with English subtitles, 25 minutes)

In an endless landscape of garbage, hundreds of people fight with crows over the edible contents of the trash. Hungry children stare from the door of a shack. A man labors under the weight of a bucket of water on a muddy street lined by low, crowded dwellings. What are the human stories behind these images of the Fourth World? Traveling to Nairobi, Guatemala City, and Manila, this documentary brings viewers inside the world’s shantytowns, exploring the reasons for their rapid expansion and revealing the personal struggles of those who live there. Original title: The Fourth World.

In 1995, while still First Lady, Hillary Clinton made a groundbreaking speech in Beijing, setting down a challenge to world leaders: to treat women’s rights as human rights. She highlighted abuses including young girls sold into slavery; women raped as a tool of war; and lack of education for girls. Since then, three women—Madeleine Albright, Condoleezza Rice, and of course Clinton herself—have done one of the world’s most powerful jobs as U.S. Secretary of State. In candid interviews, these former Secretaries of State talk about what it’s like being a woman at the center of power, how they personally tried to change things, and about the political challenges of improving the lives of women across the world. The film reveals the shocking extent of abuses in some developing countries and conflict zones, and asks what Western politicians should—and should not—do to promote women’s rights and equality. And in the U.S., as Hillary Clinton makes a second attempt at the U.S. presidency, the film asks if America is ready to break the biggest glass ceiling of all—and what a woman President of the U.S.A. could do for the world’s women? A BBC Production.

Vaccines are expensive and the funding is complex. From Big Pharmaceuticals to public sector, to universities, to NGOs, the UN, non-profit, not-for-profits and huge donations from private foundations, for the drug companies the trail from discovery to delivery requires deep pockets, a clear understanding of the market and ruthless commercial instincts. This program unpacks the way we pay for vaccines and looks at who benefits. Is this a business that just serves rich shareholders, or does it deliver vaccines to the poor who need them most? And what are the recipient countries themselves doing to pay the costs? Indeed, holding developing countries to account for where the money goes is a key part of building a better future between developed and developing countries.

After surviving 20 years of civil war and being forced to live in the deplorable conditions of Internally Displaced Persons' camps, Northern Ugandans return home to discover thousands of their children—who were healthy at birth—developing a bizarre illness called Nodding Syndrome. Children are described by the locals as 'alive in dead bodies' because they become mentally impaired, lose the ability to talk, and their growth is stunted. Children appear to be sleepy and 'nod off'. During these episodes they cannot control their bodies and are prone to wander off and drown in rivers or burn in fires. "A Question of Humanity" follows a young Ugandan woman who operates a small care center for children with Nodding Syndrome as she journeys out to some of her country's most isolated villages where these mentally ill children are treated like outcasts. Feared to be possessed by demons, many children with Nodding Syndrome are tied to trees like animals, neglected by their families, and sexually abused. During this journey, the woman discovers the true strength of the human spirit in the midst of tremendous obstacles and realizes the children she set out to help are actually providing her the strength to carry on.

In the developing world it’s the leading cause of female cancer deaths: it’s cervical cancer, and it kills more than half a million women every year—mostly in poor countries. New low-tech screening programs have begun to reduce cancer deaths, but campaigners like Sarah Nyombi, a politician in Uganda, wants to see more. She’s trying to get a brand new vaccine, widely used in the developed world. The trouble is, it costs $300 a shot—way beyond Uganda’s health budget. We follow her journey as she tries to find solutions in the battle against "the real lady killer."

Like its sister organization the World Bank, the IMF was created after World War II with the goal of stabilizing the economy of nations in need, and like the World Bank, faced an onslaught of criticism by the dawn of the 21st century. Developing countries were going deeper into debt by following the prescriptions of the IMF, at the expense of their citizens’ day-to-day quality of life. In this program, Hazel Henderson discusses the ethics of debt restructuring, and whether the only entities who benefit from IMF loans are rich nations and the despotic leaders of the countries who receive aid. Henderson is joined by Kenneth Rogoff, former IMF chief economist, who supports the use of austerity measures and explains what bankruptcy would mean to emerging economies; UN Human Development Report director Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, who feels the IMF’s narrow focus ignores social realities; and independent economist John Perkins, who contends that financial policies considered immoral in the private sector are standard practice for the IMF. Part of the series Ethical Markets 2.
(28 minutes)

The World Bank was founded in 1944 mainly as a way to help Europe rebuild after the Second World War, and it has since become the premiere agency for aiding developing countries. But critics began to say that the World Bank’s rigid economic formulas failed to take into account the societal differences of those it served, that its projects were ecologically harmful, and that despite aid, billions of people were still lacking access to food, clean water, and education—but were now in debt to more powerful nations. The World Bank expanded its mandate to address these concerns, but has there been measurable change? In this program, Hazel Henderson discusses the World Bank’s focus on the noneconomic aspects of development with former IMF chief economist Kenneth Rogoff; Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, director of the UN’s Human Development Report; and independent economist John Perkins. The panel also discuss immigration and the considerable economic impact of remittances. Part of the series Ethical Markets 2. (28 minutes)

This program examines the urgent need—not only in the U.S. but across the world—for sustainable energy; it also illustrates how new power production methods are becoming a reality. Alternative energy trendsetters are featured, including Time magazine “Hero for the Planet” Geoffrey Ballard, who explains his hydrogen fuel cell innovations. Evergreen Solar vice president Mark Farber describes his company’s advanced solar cell production methods and its mission to provide access to energy in the developing world—a goal shared by the Solar Electric Light Fund, says executive director Bob Freling. In addition, Rocky Mountain Institute founder Amory Lovins promotes the benefits of small solar power plants, and economist Hazel Henderson explores the potential of wind energy.

At a time when the world food balance is once again under threat, this film sheds light on what will be the subject of future commercial wars: the control of agricultural resources. Rice feeds one in every two human beings on a daily basis, and as such is key to worldwide food security. The precious crop has the power to guarantee political stability or to topple governments. In spring 2008, the inhabitants of Port au Prince in Haiti cried famine. In Cairo and Dakar, crowds took to the streets. In Manila, shantytowns were on the brink of revolt. Everywhere, the cause was the same--the price of rice had exploded. Why was the market affected so adversely? With its detailed inquiry into producers and exporters in Thailand, into international traders in Geneva, and into importers in Dakar, Bamako and Manila, Ricejacking reveals the mechanisms that led to the 2008 crisis--corruption at the very highest level, abusive monopolies, and speculation, which forced Africa to pay very high prices for Asian rice.

India is the planet’s biggest producer of over 22 different cash crops, making its agricultural economy the second largest in the world. Why then does most of its rural population live below subsistence level, relying on foreign NGOs for aid? This program looks at reasons why working villagers remain in poverty, including government policies that direct funding away from development and towards the urban business boom. Viewers meet several struggling families and learn how microcredit programs are helping them boost their household income. Part of the series Superpower India.

This episode of The Green Interview features Bunker Roy, founder of the only college in the world “for the poor, built by the poor, managed by the poor and controlled by the poor.” Open only to people with no formal education, Barefoot College in India marries traditional knowledge with new sustainable technology, creating fresh approaches to health and sanitation, rural employment, sustainable energy, and ecological conservation. Its students come from more than 20 Third World countries. Roy is also the founder of the Global Rainwater Harvesting Collective, which provides Asian and African villages with clean, drinkable rainwater for schools, libraries, hospitals and family planning centers. His work illustrates what might be called the ecology of positive action. His focus is education, but what Barefoot College does in the field of education impacts health, technology and communication, and the environment.

The developing world is soon set to get affordable vaccines and affordable drugs. A new international agreement is planning to fix the price of a drug or vaccine to make them affordable for some of the world’s poorest people. The agreement is between donors, drug companies and governments. Saving Lives travels to some of the countries where the agreement will make a massive impact, with the head of the organization promising such a radical reform. On the journey we find out whether the agreement is going to deliver on its promise, what the result will be, and how global health institutions and the big pharmaceutical companies managed to agree on such a deal.

Called both a “doomsday vault” and a “library of life,” the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a collection of the seeds of thousands of different plant species, held in frozen reserve against the eventuality of ecological disaster or other means of crop extinction. This program spotlights scientists who are working with the Svalbard team to preserve Earth’s biodiversity, along with some potential recipients of that endeavor—Kenyan farmers affected by drought due to climate change. With sobering discussions about the potential impact of global warming on the world’s food supply, Seed Warriors makes the point that taking action now is a wise safeguard against future food shortages. (Portions in other languages with English subtitles, 52 minutes)

Does the future of capitalism favor the global corporations of the West—or small, competitive businesses that are homegrown in the developing world? This program offers valuable case studies that clearly illustrate both the challenges and the enormous potential of non-Western entrepreneurship. In Senegal, plastics manufacturer SIMPA has obtained funding for equipment upgrades and employee training, while clothing designer Kali Abu Sol has opened a Dakar boutique and is moving full steam toward international recognition. The film’s Tunisia segment features the Hannibal Clinic, a state-of-the-art cancer treatment center, and the Laos portion covers fair trade measures for boosting coffee production, quality, and profitability. Part of the series Sustainable Development: The World Challenge.

Madam Bwa has never been trained, but she's delivered over 12,000 babies. She works on filthy floors and in crowded slums, while her mothers-to-be eat dirt to survive. From Ethiopia to Cambodia to Haiti, across the Third World life lies in fragile hands. In this beautiful doc the difficulties of childbirth are laid bare and the strategies to improve maternal health and mortality rates are explored with an affecting clarity. An intimate portrait of a global crisis.

Patterns of urbanization and poverty are playing an increasingly heavy role in the debate over globalization and market regulation. In a hard-hitting analysis of the issues, this program assembles a wide-ranging set of opinions from scholars and experts—as well as from ordinary individuals around the world who face urban hardships and obstacles to their livelihoods every day. Commentators include economists Jeffrey Sachs and 2008 Nobel laureate Paul Krugman; Professor Sakika Fukuda Parr, former editor of the UN Development Program’s Human Development Report; and World Bank President Robert Zoellick. City residents, favela dwellers, and itinerant merchants in India, Turkey, Nigeria, Brazil, and China have their say. (45 minutes)

Micro credit—small loans administered with no collateral requirement—might represent the most powerful weapon in the fight against global poverty. But is micro credit a sustainable solution? This program follows up on the 1995 documentary The Women’s Bank of Bangladesh (item #7129) which examined Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank, a pioneering micro credit provider focused mainly on struggling women. Small Change, Big Business revisits loan recipients a decade later, studying the long-term effects of micro credit in their households and in their Islamic community. The video also interviews Grameen bank founder Muhammad Yunus, who sheds further light on the bank’s methods and goals. Portions are in Bangla with English subtitles.

For most of a century, industrial and automotive smoke were equated with progress and prosperity. But the cost in human health has been devastatingly high, particularly in developing countries. In this program, Devra Davis, author of When Smoke Ran Like Water; Peter Brimblecombe, executive editor of Atmospheric Environment; and others use examples such as smog-related deaths in Donora, Pennsylvania, in 1939 and London in 1952 to address the causes and effects of air pollution. The Ruhr Valley, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Calcutta, and Durban, South Africa, are also discussed. Improvements via legislation and emissions standards are touched upon as well.

Evoking the spirit of 19th-century abolitionism, this program enters the lives of three antislavery activists in today’s developing world. Symphorienne Kessouagni works to protect vulnerable children in rural Togo, keeping them away from traffickers and helping young slaves escape. Sunitha Krishnan is a former Hindu nun in Hyderabad, India, who runs 17 schools for former brothel workers and lobbies officials to enforce antislavery laws. Ansar Burney is a Karachi attorney who retrieves Pakistani boys forced to perform as jockeys in the brutal sport of camel racing. Each activist speaks in eloquent detail about his or her experiences and the psychological scars—as well as the resilience—of those freed from slavery.

Can Western aid to the developing world help to stem the tide of foreign workers into the EU? This program reports on European initiatives intended to improve conditions in Africa and the Middle East and thus reduce the number of job-seekers entering the European Union. With a spotlight on human rights, fair trade, the global war on poverty, the role of the private sector, and the frustrations of young unemployed foreigners, the program uses Morocco as a specific case study and also outlines the significance of the Middle East peace process. Additional insight comes from activists and businesspeople in developing countries and from Louis Michel, EU Commissioner of Development and Humanitarian Aid.

If you want to know where the next environmental issue will arise, says UNESCO education expert Charles Hopkins, "look at where capital investment is moving." This program makes a thesis of that observation while expanding it to examine not only ecological but also socioeconomic dilemmas. An unflinching look at an Indian toxic waste dump, including its health impact on the surrounding population, and an eye-opening journey through a Sri Lankan free trade zone, complete with overcrowded worker "dormitories," help point out globalization's ongoing challenges. Policy solutions are offered in various forms, while on-the-ground hope emerges in a case study of the Dem Collective, an ethically and ecologically sound textile producer operating in Sri Lanka.

Half a trillion dollars have been spent on international aid in the last 50 years. It’s an industry that's unquestionable and supported by the world’s biggest celebrities including Bono, Bob Geldof, and Angelina Jolie. But recently, an increasing number of experts have begun to criticize the giving game. This documentary dissects the aid industry and reveals some difficult home truths about “Aid as Business” in the developing world. With English subtitles.

The business of fake medicines and counterfeit drugs is said to be worth $75 billion a year. Developed-world health systems have been targeted, but life-saving drugs in the developing world are now being faked—with fatal results. We gained exclusive access to international counterfeit drug investigators to see the extent of the billion-dollar trade.

Most elementary-age children exude innocence and optimism. What about kids who face extreme poverty? This documentary focuses on the plight of underprivileged nine-year-olds across the world—revealing their hardships and challenges as well as the light-hearted spirit they often exhibit in spite of their surroundings. Traveling to Egypt, Rwanda, India, Cambodia, Romania, Brazil, and New York City, the film presents a case study of a child in each location through compelling interviews, tours of struggling schools, and visits to barely livable homes. In every segment, the most illuminating moment follows the question, “What would you do if you had a lot of money?”

We travel to Poona, India, where the very latest rubella vaccines are under development, and we find out about the new methods of delivery and production. We filmed in the Dominican Republic in Central America, where congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) is a major cause of disabilities. It’s estimated that if rubella were brought under control in the Dominican Republic, it would save the country $65 million. Rubella appears as a mild rash, but when caught by a pregnant woman, it has devastating consequences on the unborn child. With CRS, the child can end up deaf, partially blind and with heart and brain defects. In many poorer, developing countries, CRS is a major problem.

Western consumers are accustomed to buying low-cost garments, but in global terms there is a larger price to be paid—a price in human health, security, and dignity. It seems that many manufacturers still rely on dubious production models, benefitting from “legal” child labor in overseas factories or from a cruelty that afflicts victims of all ages—forced labor, also known as slavery. This program enters the sweatshops of Bangladesh, where girls like 12-year-old Khadija endure 60-hour work weeks. In Dhaka viewers meet Hanan, one of a growing number of laborers with diseased lungs, a result of his years spent sandblasting denim. Returning to Europe, the film accesses a confidential document from Inditex, owners of Zara, showing that every one of their Indian suppliers was graded D (the worst possible score) for breeches of their ethical charter. Can the virtuous claims of big-brand retail companies be trusted? A part of the series Underhand Tactics: Investigating Corporate Culture.

Shedding light on one of the most brazen criminal enterprises to be uncovered in the E.U. in the past two decades, this film tells the story of approximately 2,000 workers—mostly from Southeast Asia, but also from Romania, the Slovak Republic, and other European countries—who were systematically exploited in the Czech Republic between 2009 and 2010. Viewers follow the efforts of lawyers and NGO members who have joined forces to investigate cases of foreign laborers being lured into menial, abusive forestry jobs. One of the workers concerned is Pham Hung Long, who, like many of his fellow Vietnamese, entered the Czech forests expecting decent pay and working conditions, only to fall into circumstances amounting to slavery. Detailed interviews with Pham, his attorneys, investigative journalists, and others are included.

Scientists expect the island nation of Tuvalu to disappear into the sea during the next few decades. If that is true, what will become of the country’s citizens and its unique South Pacific culture? Should the traumatic task of evacuation begin now, and if so, to where and under what circumstances? This program grapples with those questions by interviewing key figures in Tuvalu’s government and populace while presenting compelling scenes of the ongoing environmental calamity. Centered on the main island of Funafuti, the film explores the growing significance of climate change issues in Tuvaluan political life and examines plant species that are dying off due to encroaching sea water—leading to more land erosion. (Portions in other languages with English subtitles, 25 minutes)

This informative program provides an accurate profile of the United Nations—its organization, structure, and purpose. It covers the organization from its history and status as an international zone in New York City, to explanations of its role as mediator between developed and developing nations, which often find themselves politically divided. UN officials offer candid revelations about tensions in the UN Security Council, how the balance of power is maintained between negotiating nations, and the changes brought about by the end of the Cold War. The many ways that satellite agencies such as UNICEF impact today’s global political environment are discussed. A Cambridge Educational Production. (30 minutes)

After 25 years of research, scientist Mike Hands has perfected a sustainable farming technique called alley cropping to replace slash-and-burn agriculture in equatorial rainforests. Now all he has to do is convince governments, NGOs, and farmers who are barely scraping by to adopt it. Filmed over four years in Honduras and the U.K., this documentary places slash-and-burn agriculture within the context of two interrelated threats to global stability—accelerating climate change and diminishing food security—as it spotlights two Honduran farmers, one of whom has embraced Hands’ technique and one who has adopted a wait-and-see stance.

Vietnam, one of the few Marxist-Leninist states, is still standing. The Communist Party of Vietnam faithfully represents the rights and interests of the working class and the nation. Just over thirty years after the country was devastated by war, leaving between one and two million dead, its economy is storming ahead. In 1993, poverty levels were at 58%; now that figure has dropped to 12%. (26 minutes)

This film retrospectively asks us to reflect on the state of the world and ourselves, and to listen more closely to what is being asked of us at this time of unprecedented global transformation.

“Plenty of fish in the sea” may endure as a platitude, but the expression runs afoul of current marine biology. This program examines the dangerous depletion of Pacific Ocean fish stocks, an echo of the overfishing that has ravaged the Atlantic. Contrasting the tuna industries of wealthy countries with the localized fishing many developing nations engage in, the video features case studies of the socioeconomic impact of overfishing on Fiji, Kiribati, and the Marshall Islands, and analyzes political systems that enable harmful and often illegal fishing to continue. Activist and pro-regulatory groups that confront these problems are profiled with a tentative optimism.

Despite the progress of the international women’s movement in exposing and correcting human rights abuses against females, in many countries women are still fighting to attain the most basic of civil liberties. This program contextualizes that struggle by comparing women’s rights in the U.S. with the status of women in China, Afghanistan, and Kenya. Hopeful signs such as rising levels of education for girls, female representation in government, and business opportunities for women are contrasted with the continuing practice of age-old antithetical abuses that have yet to be eliminated—nonconsensual marriage and severe domestic violence, to name two—and the demoralizing effect of seeing hard-won rights overturned. Some content may be objectionable. A Films for the Humanities & Sciences Production. A part of the series Global Issues.

From the Newseum in Washington, this is the beginning of a month-long series of reports on empowering women in developing countries. In conflict areas, women are seen as peacemakers where there has long been war.

Kenneth Kaunda remains a dominant figure on the Zambian and African landscape. One of the first to break the silence of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, he has been an outspoken voice for Africa and has been an arch critic of the European colonial enterprise. In this program, he gives us his current assessment of the country, the continent, and of the Millennium Development Goals. Zambia remains one of the poorest countries in the world with almost two-thirds of its population living below the poverty threshold and over half in extreme poverty. (25 minutes)

When the 2004 tsunami hit the coast of Sri Lanka, 65-year-old Anton Ambrose's wife and daughter were killed. "In five minutes," he says, "I lost everything."

A year later, Anton returns to Sri Lanka. With him is his nephew, award-winning filmmaker Rohan Fernando.

A Tamil, Anton moved to California in the 1970s and became a very successful gynecologist. His daughter, Orlantha, made the opposite journey, returning to Sri Lanka where she ran a non-profit group that gave underprivileged children free violin lessons. Anton and his wife, Beulah, were visiting her when the tsunami hit.

Blood and Water is the story of one man's search for meaning in the face of overwhelming loss, but it is also filled with improbable characters, unintentional comedy and situational ironies.

This feature documentary chronicles the lives of young call-centre workers in Bombay (Mumbai), India. The film profiles several characters who attempt to sell phone services to clients in the UK, showing both sides of globalization’s impact on India – the economic benefits as well as the break with tradition and loss of innocence. A compelling insider’s look at youth culture in India and the growing number of young people who choose to follow the American dream, Indian-style.

In this feature documentary, a remarkable group of young Afghan women dream of representing their country as boxers at the 2012 Olympics, embarking on a journey of both personal and political transformation.

This full-length documentary takes us to an unspoiled corner of southern Belize, where cacao farmer and father Eladio Pop manually works his plantation in the tradition of his Mayan ancestors: as a steward of the land. The film captures a year in the life of the Pop family as they struggle to preserve their values in a world that is dramatically changing around them. A lament for cultures lost, The Chocolate Farmer challenges our deeply held assumptions of progress.

Columbia is the trade union murder capital of the world. Since 2002, more than 470 workers’ leaders have been brutally killed, usually by paramilitaries hired by private companies intent on crushing the unions. Among these unscrupulous corporate brands is the poster boy for American business: Coca-Cola.

These unpunished crimes spur U.S. activists David Kovalik, Terry Collingsworth and Ray Rogers into an ambitious crusade against the soft drink giant. A searing indictment of a major corporate brand, The Coca-Cola Case takes us on a riveting legal game of cat and mouse via the U.S. federal court and the Stop Killer Coke! campaign.

After five years of struggle, will Coca-Cola yield in the end? And on the verge of a settlement, what will the victims choose − cash, or power and integrity?

This charming short documentary takes us on a trip to Belize, where we meet 13-year-old Elisha, the daughter of a cacao farmer. What links a village in Belize and millions of North American kids? Chocolate! We learn about Elisha's daily life and her dreams as she and her father show how cacao is grown, harvested and turned into chocolate.

"Imagine leaving your lifelong home for a one-room flat in a city with a husband you barely know. You work beside 5,000 others in a factory, sewing 180 zippers on 180 sweaters each day. You’re the first woman in your family ever to earn a paycheck, but it’s barely enough to survive." Welcome to Monira’s world, and that of countless other women in Bangladesh’s booming garment trade—a complex world full of difficult choices and competing values. It’s a brand new world made possible by Western consumers, each time we purchase clothes from a major retailer. And it’s the world you’re invited to explore in Four Million Threads.

Over five years, acclaimed filmmaker Andrea Dorfman follows the heartbreaking yet uplifting story of the girls of Meru and their brave steps toward meaningful equality for girls worldwide.

In Kenya, one in three girls will experience sexual violence before age 18, yet police investigations are the exception. In The Girls of Meru, a multinational team led by Canadian lawyer Fiona Sampson and Tumaini Shelter head Mercy Chidi Baidoo builds the case of 11 girls to pursue an unheard of legal tactic. Together they created legal history.

Ariel Nasr's documentary gives voice to the complex dilemmas faced by contemporary Afghanis under Canadian intervention. The film introduces us to young Afghan-Canadians torn between a deep desire to help Afghanistan and a fear that things will never change. Good Morning Kandahar asks whether Canada's mission in Afghanistan is failing.

This film was produced as part of the Reel Diversity Competition for emerging filmmakers of colour. Reel Diversity is a National Film Board of Canada initiative in partnership with CBC Newsworld.

When it comes to world-class marathon runners, Kenyans are considered the cream of the crop. Particularly those from Kenya’s Rift Valley. These athletes have won marathons in London, New York and Berlin, and have set countless world records. But some of Kenya’s top runners aren’t running for fame and fortune. Some are wanted warriors, running for their lives. For years, Julius Arile and Robert Matanda thrive among the roaming bands of warriors that terrorize the North Kenyan countryside. By the time they reach their mid-twenties, stealing cattle, raiding and running from the police is the only life they know. So when both warriors suddenly disappear from the bush, many of their peers assume they are dead or have been arrested. Instead, they trade in their rifles for sneakers—in the hopes of making it big as professional marathon runners. Years of fleeing from the police have prepared the men for running marathon distances, but do they have what it takes to overcome the corruption, mistrust and jealousy that threaten to derail their careers? Or will they give up on their dreams and return to a life of easy power and money? Told entirely by its central characters, Gun Runners is the American Dream, Kenyan-style.

In this feature documentary, Senegal-born director Musa Dieng Kala returns to Dakar, where he grew up, and asks this painful question: has God forsaken Africa? The answer is bitter. As he films 5 young adults seeking to immigrate to the West at any cost, the filmmaker discovers the helplessness of individuals faced with international indifference and the apathy of the leaders of a society emptied of its resources and incapable of meeting its needs. A deeply human film that makes the case for a global ecology in which no nation or people is abandoned.

This feature documentary by renowned director and cinematographer Vic Sarin is a personal yet global investigation into the history and current state of colourism: the discrimination within one ethnicity based on differences in skin tone. Sarin travels the globe to discuss this complex cross-cultural social issue with individuals whose lives it affects, including a Filipina entrepreneur whose business has flourished within the billion-dollar skin-whitening industry. Hue leads viewers on a thoughtful and surprising journey to the heart of a painful and pervasive social issue that not only polices appearance, but also class, gender, and geography.

This feature documentary tells the stories of 5 asylum seekers who flee their native countries to escape homophobic violence. They face hurdles integrating into Canada, fear deportation and anxiously await a decision that will change their lives forever.

This short documentary is a portrait of Martine Duviella, whose parents were forced to flee Haiti during the Duvalier regime. Here, Duviella recounts the story of her activist father and through him seeks to retrieve the forgotten past of a generation that sacrificed itself trying to free Haiti. In French with English subtitles.

This documentary was made as part of the Tremplin program, with the collaboration of Radio-Canada.

A feature documentary on Nigeria’s successful movie industry. The creative duo of Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal – the same team who made Discordia – profile the Lagos-based dream machine. Operating on low budgets and tight schedules, “Nollywood” specializes in a unique form of African B-movie that draws upon both traditional voodoo stories and contemporary urban themes.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, murder, rape, armed conflict and the looting of civilians by the military are daily facts of life. In this huge country where chaos and corruption reign, the journalists of Radio Okapi risk their lives every day to expose the abuses of power to which the Congolese people are subjected. This is one of the worst humanitarian crises in our world today.

Shooting in danger zones still in the grip of rebellion the filmmakers follow the work of several journalists from this free, UN-backed radio station. Taking us up the Congo River and deep into the equatorial jungle, they capture with a hidden camera a reporter's confrontation with unscrupulous soldiers who practise extortion and torture. Another reporter journeys east to cover a new outbreak of the rebellion and returns with harrowing testimony by victims of rape and destruction. Elsewhere, after denouncing the chief of police, another journalist barely escapes reprisal by a death squad. All across the country, Radio Okapi's national network of reporters takes enormous risks to put the truth on the air.

Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army kidnapped Evelyn Amony when she was just 12 years old. Kony raped her, and took her as one of his wives. Eventually, Evelyn escaped. Stronghearted tells the first pivotal part of Evelyn’s story as she remembers it years later: the moment she comes face to face with Kony himself. The child regards this man—her kidnapper, her abuser. Facing impossible circumstances, Evelyn begins to wonder: Could he hold the key to her survival?

For more, listen to To Have & To Hold: Evelyn Amony's Story on CBC's The Current.

This full-length documentary tells the story of 2 Afghans who return to Afghanistan in search of their families after a 16-year exile. Like many Afghan children, Soorgul and Amir were sent to Tajikistan during the Soviet occupation of their country. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the civil wars that broke out on both sides of the border left the children stranded, unable to leave the country until Canada accepted them as refugees.

The Sweetest Embrace tells an intimate story set against one of the world's most harsh and yet beautiful landscapes, in a land where life has been shaped by war and hardship but where spirit remains resilient.

This autobiographical documentary revisits the Mau Mau Rebellion of the 1950s. More than 50 years after the conflict, in which the director participated as a young British soldier stationed in Kenya for his national service, he confronts his past with audacity and unflinching self-inquiry.

Combining McWilliams' own photographic record of the times with original animation and archival imagery, A Time There Was crafts a thoughtful account of the Mau Mau Rebellion – one of the most contentious episodes in Britain’s imperial endgame.

In this vérité feature documentary, we travel with Dr. James Orbinski from Toronto where he is a father, doctor and teacher, back to Africa where he spent years as a field doctor, as he embarks on writing a personal and controversial book about his humanitarian experiences. Dr. Orbinski accepted the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as their President, and was a field doctor during the Somali famine and the Rwandan genocide, among other catastrophes. In this film, and through his personal perspective, we look at the act of triage. Racing against time with limited resources, relief workers make split-second decisions: who gets treatment; who gets food; who lives; who dies. By the creative team behind the award-winning documentary Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire.

African hip hop pioneer Didier Awadi is on a quest to craft an album that pays tribute to the great black revolutionary leaders and their struggle to realize a dream: a united, independent Africa. In this epic musical and political journey, Awadi visits some 40 countries to collaborate with hip hop activist artists, including Smockey (Burkina Faso), M-1 of Dead Prez (United States) and ZuluBoy (South Africa).

Featuring a score by Ghislain Poirier, as well as Awadi’s own songs, United States of Africa draws the viewer into one artist’s profound meditation on the power of music and the impact of political engagement—both individual and collective. A hopeful and compelling portrait of a continent whose politically aware youth is refusing to accept the role of victim, the film is a call for Africans to rise up, take a stand and take control of their continent and their destiny.

Shot in cinema-vérité style, this feature doc immerses us in the sights and sounds of the world's largest field hospital, the International Committee of the Red Cross in Sudan. The ICRC allowed filmmakers David Christensen and Damien Lewis unprecedented access to the surgical hospital and local medical staff as they care for wounded Sudanese soldiers and women and children, all casualties of the civil war.

With no narrator and minimal explanation, War Hospital simply and powerfully captures the joy and sadness of life and death.

The quest for fresh water leads Indonesians of Catholic and Muslim faiths to work together, along with Quebecer Gilles Raymond, to establish direct democracy. A road movie in which solidarity overcomes defeatism, and generosity wins over corruption.