“The cultural exchange is so important for finding commonalities and learning about differences, traditions and every day life, and you really become more immersed in the cultural than you would by just reading about it,” West said. “We have members from Iowa, Minnesota — people really want to support the connection to Ireland.”

Over the past 10 years, many NGOs and human rights organisations on both sides of the Green Line, have started offering alternative tours of East Jerusalem, Palestine, and Israeli settlements inside the West Bank. These tours take tourists deep into conflict zones. They try to break negative stereotypes about Palestine as an unsafe place infested with terrorists by showing tourists the natural beauty, cultural wealth and hospitality of Palestine.

Osun State recorded an outstanding feat in its quest to promote education by sponsoring 5 outstanding female students in an exchange program in the United States. The program is in partnership with an NGO AWOW International Girls Leadership Initiative, which empowers and offers skills and professional mentorship to young women.

China has 128,000 poor villages with 55.75 million registered poor people. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to lift them out of poverty. Typically, people fall into four categories of poverty, requiring different approaches. Unlike some development players, NGOs are more agile and are innovative in solutions, allowing them to provide support sooner.

A group of Japanese college students made a rare visit to Pyongyang in late August — just before North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear test on Sept. 9 — for talks on war and peace with local students. [...] The student-to-student program was initiated in 2012 by a group of Japanese nongovernmental organizations. Among them was Tokyo-based Relief Campaign Committee for Children, Japan, which conducts cultural exchanges.

The German embassy in Nigeria has partnered with African Health Initiative and the National Youth Service Corps scheme (NYSC) to combat malaria and other diseases among the internally displaced persons in Abuja. The embassy, in its quest to achieving this objective, has established a clinic equipped with modern laboratory facilities at New Kuchingoro IDPs camp.

In New Jersey, an eastern US state, the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) held its 9th regional conference that was attended by Nepalis from around the world. From a small community that was trying to establish its identity and get access to dual citizenship and the opportunities accompanying it, the NRNA has grown into a larger organisation with multiple issues to deal with.