Community Development

Rio Tinto, ALNF Launch Three-Year First Nations Language Program

Australia – October 27, 2026 -- Rio Tinto and the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (ALNF) have launched a three-year partnership to support community-led Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language initiatives in five regions across Australia.

Five communities in four states and territories receive support

The funded initiatives are in Mapoon (Queensland), Nhulunbuy/Yirrkala (Northern Territory), Bidyadanga (Western Australia), Bundjalung Country (New South Wales and Queensland) and Kalkatungu Country (Queensland). The program supports the objectives of the United Nations International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022 to 2032).

BLUETTI, UN-Habitat Expand Solar Program to Nigeria, Aid 1,000+

Abuja, Nigeria – September 17, 2026 -- BLUETTI and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) donated 230 solar lighting and storage kits in Benue State, Nigeria, between Sept. 7-10, marking the second joint deployment of the companies' 'Lighting An African Family' (LAAF) program following their initial 2025 rollout in Kenya.

BLUETTI donates 50 PB200 kits for university solar training

A two-day workshop at Rev. Fr. Orshio Adasu University Makurdi covered solar energy fundamentals, with BLUETTI supplying 50 PB200 Solar Lighting and Storage Kits for hands-on instruction. The company also launched a Campus Ambassador Programme to extend clean-energy awareness across the university and surrounding communities.

STARCARES Court in Thailand Now Serves 600 Villagers Weekly

Sukhothai – – September 17, 2026 -- A sports court renovated by STARCARES at Ban Nam Lat School in Sukhothai, Thailand, now functions as a dual-use facility, serving 62 students on weekdays and roughly 600 residents from 180 households on weekends.

Renovated court shifts from single-use to community asset

The facility supports physical education for Ban Nam Lat School's 62 students during the week, then opens to neighbouring villagers once classes end and on weekends. STARCARES designed the transition intentionally, given that rural schools in Sukhothai often double as the only nearby recreational infrastructure available to local households.

Study: Prosperity Seen as Collective, Not Individual Wealth

Portland, Ore. – September 16, 2026 -- Material wealth was cited in fewer than 10 percent of conversations about prosperity in five of six countries surveyed, according to a new report from Prosper Global, formerly Mercy Corps.

Research spans 1,100 people across six conflict- and climate-affected nations

The report, titled "What It Means to Prosper," draws on 396 individual and group conversations with more than 1,100 people in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Indonesia, Kenya, Syria, and Ukraine. Rather than impose a definition, researchers asked participants to describe prosperity and its barriers in their own words.