Part one is going to be primarily lessons that stick close to the book and the original thesis of the book. I won't do this as an actual book review, but I'll say this: whether you buy or borrow it, it's a great book. Some of the stories are undoubtedly familiar to readers of his columns, but he turns it into a full thesis that ties together a lot of somewhat disparate stories and points from many areas around the world. Part two will diverge a bit (whenever I get around to it) and it will focus more on connections between ideas he advanced or noted and other issues that are not directly related to the book. I'm also going to skip over his discussion of whether Islam is by its nature misogynistic, since I don't feel qualified to fully discuss it.

And, on with the lessons:

With some exceptions, empowering women does seem to be very effective in combating poverty. Empowering women can come in many forms. Access to education, access to microloans through organizations such as kiva (seriously, if you can afford to and have not done so, set up an account at Kiva. It pays for itself.), access to proper family planning, etc, are all great ways to combat poverty and empower women. He includes many examples of women who overcame abusive husbands and social stigmas to become community leaders, etc.

Effective organizations are almost universally ones that understand the local cultures and work from the bottom up. He includes many examples to show this. For instance, towards the end he has a chapter on female genital cutting. Legislating against it and putting political pressure on countries was not effective, but one woman came in and set up quid pro quo contracts between villages where the entire village agreed to end the practice. This was far more effective, and to date over 2500 villages have agreed - and exploratory projects are being extended to other countries, based on this one woman's idea.

Education works! This seems so simple, yet it's so profound. My favorite example is where he relates a story that probably is familiar to his column fans, where he wrote several years ago about a girl in rural China who was about to drop out of school because she couldn't afford the modest (~$100) tuition. A reader sent a donation to the school of $10,000, which the school then used to upgrade everything, to give free tuition, and otherwise dramatically transformed the school. Kristof sent a "thank you" letter to the man, who then noted that he only sent $100. As it turns out, his bank goofed and sent 100x the intended amount. In a perfect case of a "happy accident", the bank allowed the school to keep the $$, and furthermore, the girl is now in an excellent job and the school is thriving - all because of one accidentally supersized donation.

Aid is complex, and the law of unintended consequences is powerful. But this doesn't mean to stop giving. For instance, poor girls in Africa in many areas have been given the financial means to go back to school throughout high school. But, many still drop out, due to concerns that many, especially men, don't think about. Two concerns that often have to be dealt with are helping girls deal with their periods, so they don't miss school or drop out during their period, and an even more serious problem of teachers trading grades for sex. Both of these problems can be difficult to combat, but keeping point 2 in mind (ground up works better than top down), they can be solved - and even better, good aid organizations can keep these considerations in mind.

Combat fistulas. The surgery is relatively inexpensive and straightforward; however, women who suffer one during childbirth are basically ostracized and become outcasts because of the effects.

Check out charities at charity navigator or similar sites. These are great resources in order to check to make sure your $ is making a difference.

Conservatives and liberals both have a lot to offer to the aid arena, and by being distrustful of each other a lot of good goes undone. For instance, conservative christians tend to be better about giving to charity than many others, but the restrictions they often place on the aid can be counterproductive. On the ground in Africa, a plurality of western aid organizations are Christian. Similarly, Kristof and WuDunn are perfectly willing to point out where liberals and conservatives have their "institutional faults". Perhaps the harshest single sentence in the book is one they borrow from another writer - the sentiment that the last decade was "a lost decade" in the poverty fight in much of the world, in part due to ideological constraints on aid.

There are many more small lessons to be learned, but I think this is a good overview. I highly recommend the read, and at the end he starts talking about how people can make a difference themselves. They also note towards the end that to empower women isn't meant to completely ignore men - rather, it's an effective means of aid which still needs to be put into proper context for the areas. They note some of the charities they give to, but they include many more and I don't think they are showing favI've included a couple of the points already, but it really boils down to:

a. Make a commitment to giving

b. Check out the charities on Charity Navigator or elsewhere

c. Give!

Part two at some point...