Each time you switch on the news, you might see people living in desperate circumstances. Whether they don’t have enough food to eat or water to drink, they’re fleeing war or they don’t have access to crucial medical supplies, it can be heart breaking to see their plight and feel powerless to help. Thanks to charity initiatives though, there are concrete actions you can take to improve the circumstances of others around the globe. Keep reading for three steps you can follow to ensure you’re doing your bit for those in need.

1. Educate yourself

Your first priority should be to get clued up on the problems that are really affecting people. Whether it’s the homeless in your local community or individuals situated thousands of miles away who are experiencing the effects of droughts or conflicts, you can get the facts you need online. To give you an idea of one of the issues that’s causing suffering, the charity Human Appeal notes that an estimated 200 million children across the world live without one or both parents and these youngsters are often out of school and vulnerable to exploitation, trafficking and child slave labour.

Meanwhile, figures provided by the World Health Organisation suggest that a staggering 1.8 billion people use drinking water containing contaminants that can cause potentially deadly diseases, including typhoid, cholera, polio, dysentery and diarrhoea. In fact, contaminated drinking water is thought to lead to over 500,000 diarrhoea deaths every year.

Malnutrition is a major killer too. Nearly half of deaths of children under the age of five are caused by malnutrition, according to a study published in The Lancet Series. Every year, malnutrition leads to around 3.1 million deaths of youngsters in this age demographic. Deficiencies of minerals and vitamins like calcium, iron, zinc and vitamin A are often to blame.

2. Make donations to good causes

Once you’ve got a clearer idea of the problems impacting on people, you can look for ways to help. A wide range of charities are involved in many different projects that aim to assist people in need. From initiatives that provide clean water supplies, food or medicines to projects that focus on training doctors or giving schools extra equipment to improve educational standards, there are lots of initiatives that you can give money to. It doesn’t matter if you can’t afford to shell out big sums in donations. Even relatively small amounts can make a major contribution to charity efforts, especially if you set up regular payments.

3. Get others involved

Another concrete step you can take is to encourage others to make donations. By chatting to your family, friends and colleagues about the projects that you’re most interested in, you can raise awareness of them. Posting information on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook can be effective too as this will help you reach out to a wider audience.

You may not be to solve the world’s problems, but by getting involved with good causes like this, you can help to make people’s lives better.

*This is a pre-written piece of content provided for my blog, no compensation was received, it’s just a bloody good cause.*