If you are looking to give a diamond or special Jewellery for Christmas, valentines day or a birthday, it can be extremely hard to find fairtrade or "conflict-free" diamonds.

Below is a short guide with a few links and sources of information that we've found useful for those who would like to have a more ethical valentines day.

There are now a great range of fairtrade clothes including fairtrade women's tops to choose from. Here is a selection of the new tops available.

Its still not too late to take advantage of recent price cuts and get the best deal – particularly on green electricity and gas.

In many parts of Africa 80% to 90% of people live in extreme poverty. Parents struggle to feed their children, and the life expectancy of many children in around five years. Adults rarely live beyond the age of 50 years.

Poor families often have to walk miles to gather water and food. Food, when it can be grown, also has to be taken to market to be sold. This can be a very time- and energy-consuming job. Children are often required to help with these household tasks. Having to work for the family means that many children miss out on school.

The gap between standards in the developed world and the less developed world is stark: in one flush of a toilet, we in the West use more water than most Africans would in the course of an entire day.

The Rt Rev George Katwesigye, the Bishop of Kigezi in Uganda, as challenged government donors to be more ‘faith literate’ and to release the largely untapped potential of the local church in tackling the sanitation crisis in the world’s poorest countries.

A 30-year-old charity worker from North London is travelling to the Middle East as part of a delegation of peace activists from Christian Peacemaker Teams.

Civil wars in countries such as Angola, Sierra Leone and the Congo have often been funded by the sale of ‘conflict diamonds’.

Would you like to support cancer research UK? Why not enter the Adidas Women’s 5k Challenge fun run?

The best charity gifts help develop the independence and sustainability of struggling economies. In the hands of local people, a small business can be a powerful weapon in the fight against poverty.

Even when the law is not a direct disadvantage to them, it often fails to ensure basic human rights for women.

If a country cannot educate or medicate its people, it doesn’t have much chance of putting an end to poverty. Whilst it is important for countries to receive aid for the building of these facilities, there is another short-term solution.

Few recognise how important play can be – particularly a team sport such as football. This has all changed since the major charities set up charity gift schemes.