Darfur, Malawi and Brazil

Two fascinating articles by Conor Foley about international development and global poverty:

The Save Darfur Coalition raised $7.5 million in 2008, and spent $0 providing aid to the suffering people there.

Oxfam and Amnesty International have been campaigning (successfully) for new laws against domestic violence in Malawi and Brazil, examples of a rights-based approach to helping people living in poverty. But is there much evidence that either approach is an effective way of reducing poverty in developing countries?