Among the aid Ukrainian refugees can expect: cold, hard cash

Mar 10, 2022
Red Cross founder Clara Barton gave cash to war refugees in the 1870s. Now, aid organizations say it empowers refugees more than in-kind aid.
Residents of Kharkiv, Ukraine, take shelter in a metro station. As aid pours in, many experts believe money would provide the greatest benefit to victims of the war.
Emre Caylak/AFP Getty Images

How to make sure your Ukraine donations make it to the people who need it

Mar 8, 2022
Donating requires some due diligence, especially when it comes to social media.
As the number of refugees from Ukraine increases, so does aid, and so do aid scams. Above, charity workers and volunteers in New Jersey pack boxes with humanitarian donations to be shipped to Ukraine.
Angela Weiss/AFP Getty Images

Aid groups scramble to prepare homes for Afghan evacuees

Aug 20, 2021
The Biden administration has expanded the Special Immigrant Visa program to allow more Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the war to resettle here.
Laura Thompson Osuri, executive director of Homes Not Borders, tosses a pillow to volunteer Amal Abuldood as they prepare an apartment for an Afghan family soon to arrive on Special Immigrant Visas.
Kimberly Adams

U.S. cuts aid to Central America over immigration; critics say that will backfire

Apr 1, 2019
In an effort to slow the flow of Central America migrants into the U.S., President Trump said he’s cutting direct aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The U.S. sends money to those countries to help them combat drug trafficking, gang violence and to promote economic growth. Click the audio player above to hear the full […]
Honduran migrants leave the Metropolitan Center of San Pedro Sula, 300 kms north of Tegucigalpa, to travel to the Guatemala border.
ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP/Getty Images

The wake of Hurricane Maria lingers in struggling Puerto Rico

Mar 7, 2018
Piles of debt and a fraying social safety net hamper the island’s recovery, even six months after the storm. Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 

Haiti’s complicated history with foreign aid

Oct 10, 2016
After Hurricane Matthew, how might aid be administered in Haiti?
UN blue helmets load aid which arrived in US helicopters onto a truck for people affected by Hurricane Matthew, in Jeremie, southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on October 10, 2016. Haiti's death toll from monster Hurricane Matthew has risen to 372, civil defense officials said Monday, as the impoverished country continues to dig out of massive destruction in the south. More than 175,500 people were staying in temporary shelters, days after the Caribbean's worst storm in nearly a decade slammed into Haiti last Tuesday. 
RODRIGO ARANGUA/AFP/Getty Images

Aleppo bombings continue, as aid grows scarce

Sep 29, 2016
Before the war, Aleppo was Syria's largest city with its commercial center, thus an important and symbolic city.
Aleppo's citadel is seen through destruction in this picture taken on September 28, 2016 in the Farafira district, northwest of the city's historic citadel, after Syria's army took control of the rebel-held district after days of heavy air strikes that have killed dozens and sparked allegations of war crimes.
GEORGES OURFALIAN/AFP/Getty Images

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Billions in aid for low-income seniors go unclaimed

May 5, 2016
A campaign is trying to connect low-income seniors with government aid.
Many seniors don’t realize how many benefits they're eligible for.
Julim6/Pixabay

UK aid spending draws praise and criticism at home

Apr 18, 2016
The U.K. spends generously on foreign aid. Some think too generously.
The U.K.'s foreign aid spending has drawn mixed reactions. 
Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

On the ground from Kathmandu, Nepal

Apr 27, 2015
Aid workers face challenges after a devastating quake.
Nepalese rescue personnel and volunteers observe damaged buildings in Bhaktapur, Nepal, two days after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the country. 
PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP/Getty Images