The GiveWell Blog

Singularity Summit

Among those who follow GiveWell, there is some interest in the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence and its mission of lowering the risks associated with the creation of artificial intelligence that “[leaves] human abilities far behind.” We have been asked several times to share our views on its work and the value of a donation…

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Microfinance’s “failure” to reach the poorest

USAID’s most recent report on microfinance and microenterprise development tells an interesting story and, in my view, shows just how widely microfinance has been (and continues to be) misunderstood. While many advocate that microfinance institutions focus on people under the global “extreme poverty line”, USAID’s report implies that actually doing so is rare and even…

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New evidence that cleaner water -> less diarrhea

Providing clean water to people living in developing countries is a cause that many donors are interested in. Among other hardships, unclean water can lead to diseases such as diarrhea, which is responsible for millions of child deaths annually. Unfortunately, we have found little evidence that charities’ efforts to improve water infrastructure in the developing…

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Neglected tropical disease charities: Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, Deworm The World

There are a lot of reasons to be interested in charities focused on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), and particularly on deworming schoolchildren. Deworming schoolchildren, as discussed in a recent post, is ranked among the top programs in terms of “cost-effectiveness,” i.e., health benefits (in DALY terms) per dollar. Deworm the World has in the past…

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