Author: Katherine Hamblen

SEATTLE — Since 2007, Orlando Bloom has worked with UNICEF and since 2009, has served as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. In that time, he has made trips to Nepal and to refugee camps in Jordan to visit Syrian children. Most recently, Bloom visited eastern Ukraine, a war-torn region where children are hoping to get back to the normalcy of attending schools. Per UNICEF’s website, it is hoped that Bloom’s visit will bring attention to the crisis of the number of children displaced from school due to war and conflict. According to Reuters, the Ukraine trip comes close in time…

SEATTLE — A recent study shows that education alone will not create gender parity in employment. What next steps are needed for closing the gender gap? The study, authored by Stephanie Seguino, a professor of Economics at the University of Vermont, was recently published in the Journal of African Development. Progress has been attained in terms of achieving equal educational opportunities for women. Organizations like Girl Rising and Michelle Obama’s Let Girls Learn have made it their specific goal to focus on closing the gender gap in girls’ education globally. Larger organizations like UNICEF and the World Bank have long…

SEATTLE — Early reading skills are needed to succeed in school and also, later in life. Studies show, however, that in impoverished countries, the rate of children who can read at grade level is still quite low. The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) is conducted out of the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. The survey is conducted in countries around the world to compare the results of their student literacy rates. The study has been done every five years since 2001. The next study will be held this year. The information that is provided by PIRLS is…

The Magic Bus organization uses a model that allows communities to learn to help themselves. The program began as the brainchild of Matthew Spacie. While still a teenager, Spacie told Huffington Post, he decided he wanted to make his life’s work helping people to rise out of poverty. He began by volunteering with the sick and teaching English in India and Tibet when 18 years old. According to the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR), Spacie was working for a travel business in Mumbai in 1998. When he played rugby, he would notice boys on the other side of the fence…

SEATTLE — Actress Priyanka Chopra is best known in the United States for her work on the television show “Quantico.” She has also worked as a Bollywood actress and singer, and is a former winner of the Miss World pageant. Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, Ms. Chopra is a humanitarian. Recognition of her philanthropic efforts has increased alongside her growing fame in the U.S. However, humanitarian work is nothing new for Chopra. It has been a decade since she set up a foundation in India to which she donates 10 percent of her earnings. She started the foundation after she…

WASHINGTON, DC — An important piece of global hunger-fighting legislation has passed the U.S. House of Representatives: the Global Food Security Act. The Global Food Security Act (GFSA) was introduced in the House as a bill in 2015 by Congressman Christopher Smith of New Jersey. The gist of the bill is that it would require the President to “coordinate the development and implementation of a comprehensive strategy to accomplish the objectives of promoting global food security, resilience and nutrition consistent with national food security investment plans.” This is significant. 795 million people globally still suffer from hunger, despite previous aid efforts,…