From investing in human capital and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) to tackling climate change, and addressing the promise and peril of new technologies, last week’s World Bank-IMF annual Spring meetings brought together hundreds of world leaders, government officials and representatives from the private sector and civil society to discuss global solutions for the planet’s most urgent challenges. Throughout the meetings, conversations emphasized the importance of international cooperation as the world reflects back on […]

“They were warned about the flood, but refused to vacate the area, fearing their sugar cane would be stolen.” – Radio host in Uganda Those words come from an actual radio broadcast following a flood in the small Ugandan town of Jinja, on the shores of Lake Victoria. More than half of Ugandan households rely on radio as their primary source of information, and as many as 25,000 Ugandans call into local programs on hundreds

In a remote town in Ethiopia, a health worker learns lifesaving midwife tips from a WiFi-enabled tablet linked to a projector. In the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan, displaced Syrian engineers help run a giant solar plant so families can cook, study, and work. In Kampala, Uganda, a team of analysts uses artificial intelligence to study public radio broadcasts and learn what marginalized communities really worry about. These stories span issues and geographies, yet they

Midwife Selamawit Giday and a crowd of maternal health workers are gathered around a wall at the local clinic in rural Adwa in Ethiopia’s far north. They’re watching arrows dart across anatomical charts projected onto its surface. The images come from a palm-sized, solar-powered smart projector that is helping save lives by teaching local midwives skills and information. Developed by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), this portable “Mobile Learning System” is reaching communities in

Ruth Miller grew up in a household where social justice and family ancestry were common topics at the dinner table. Born in Anchorage, Alaska as a member of the Dena’ina Athabascan tribe and the Ashkenazi Jewish faith, she was raised by parents — both indigenous rights lawyers — to understand at an early age how human rights and her heritage intersect with the landscape around her. “Having the opportunity to grow up in my territory

The impossible is becoming possible – especially if you’re Burger King. The fast food giant partnered with plant-based food company Impossible Foods to create a vegan-friendly burger and is trialing it in restaurants in St. Louis, Missouri. I’ve tried something called an Impossible Burger in another restaurant and, if it’s the same thing, it’s delicious! This hungry carnivore is a happy convert. Livestock accounts for roughly 15% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions – and

On April 29, experts from the United Nations and other organizations released a groundbreaking report – the culmination of more than two-and-a-half years of work – that calls for urgent global action on one of the most pressing and challenging global health threats of our time: antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The report from the Ad hoc Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (IACG) outlines recommendations on how to tackle AMR. The work of the group will

The United Nations is facing a cash crunch. At the beginning of 2019, Secretary-General António Guterres wrote to UN member states to warn them about the deteriorating state of the UN’s core peacekeeping and regular budgets. Together, the two budgets fund the UN’s central activities including 100,000 peacekeepers and 40,000 staff across the world. Member states are legally obliged to pay pre-determined contributions to the UN’s regular and peacekeeping budgets, but over recent years, payments