Read the 2005 report by the United Nations Millennium Project about reducing gender inequality through education.

Read a August 23, 2012, story on the World Food Programme website about how the organization’s programs to improve maternal health have changed one community.

Read an August 2012 research report about the effects of religion on the spread of AIDS in Africa.

Read a Jan. 6, 2011, article in Bloomberg Businessweek about Kiva, a microlending non-profit, and how microfinancing can help women around the globe.

The Institute of Halal Investing in Portland, Ore., can provide an Islamic perspective on microfinance and development assistance. It is associated with Rubicon Global, a halal financial advisory firm.

YMCA (The Y) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to put “Christian principles into practice through programs that build a healthy spirit, mind and body for all.”

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is the world’s largest humanitarian organization.

Association of Gospel Rescue Missions (AGRM) is an organization with 290 member rescue missions that provide 35 million meals, over 13 million nights of lodging, and 25 million articles of clothing to the needy each year.

Heifer Project International offers hungry families around the world a way to feed themselves and become self-reliant.