Nations

This archive collects stories from Good News for Humankind involving nations — countries and their governments — as key actors in progress. Across 1,807 articles, you’ll find reporting on policy wins, international cooperation, and measurable improvements in health, climate, rights, and more.

Haida Gwaii cove

Haida celebrate title agreement that enshrines right to control their own destiny

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The Big Tide Haida Title Lands Agreement affirms that the Haida have Aboriginal title over all of the Haida Gwaii islands’ lands, beds of freshwater bodies, and foreshores to the low-tide mark. It will transition the Crown-title land owned by Canada to the Haida people, granting them an inherent legal right to the land. Gaagwiis Jason Alsop, president of the Council of the Haida Nation, said the agreement was the culmination of “well over 100 years of political mobilization by the Haida Nation.”

Industrial pipes and infrastructure at a coastal energy facility for an article about carbon capture and storage

France runs fusion reactor for record 22 minutes

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Achieving the dream of commercial fusion power is the Holy Grail of engineering and has been for 80 years. With a single gram of hydrogen isotopes yielding the energy equivalent of 11 tonnes of coal, a practical fusion reactor would hold the promise of unlimited, clean energy for humanity until the end of time. France has upped the ante in the quest for fusion power by maintaining a plasma reaction for over 22 minutes – 25% longer than the previous record set by China in January 2025.

Radiated tortoise

Wave of arrests as Madagascar shuts down tortoise trafficking network

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A crackdown on the illegal trade in Malagasy tortoises has led to a series of recent arrests. Following the arrest of a Tanzanian national with 800 tortoises in December 2024, officials said a major investigation had uncovered a major international trafficking network that led to the arrests of more than 20 people in Madagascar and Tanzania. Wildlife trade monitoring watchdog TRAFFIC says more than 30,000 trafficked radiated tortoises were seized between 2000 and 2021.

Indonesian children smiling

Nine Asian nations have cut child mortality by more than half since 2000

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Child mortality in Asia has fallen sharply, especially in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, and Nepal, which have all seen a decline of at least 50% since 2000. This progress amounts to millions more children surviving through the crucial early years of life. Particularly noteworthy, India’s child mortality fell from 9% to 3% and China’s from 4% to just 1%. These huge strides have been made possible by improved nutrition, clean water, sanitation, vaccinations, and poverty reduction.

Someone holding a phone opening the TikTok app

Brazil bans smartphones in schools to aim for better learning

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Brazil’s Ministry of Education says that the restriction aims to protect students’ mental and physical health while promoting more rational use of technology. Institutions, governments, parents, and others have for years have associated smartphone use by children with bullying, suicidal ideation, anxiety, and loss of concentration necessary for learning. China moved last year to limit children’s use of smartphones, while France has banned smartphones in schools for kids aged six to 15.

Two people holding hands

U.S. approves “milestone” Parkinson’s treatment for 2025 release

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The treatment, which will be sold under the name Onapgo, is essentially a subcutaneous – under the skin – device that allows for continuous infusion of the dopamine agonist apomorphine hydrochloride to reduce ‘off’ episodes. These episodes are periods during the day and night when lepodova medication wears off and adverse motor-function symptoms become amplified. In trial, Onapgo significantly reduced these daily off episodes by an average of 2.47 hours, compared to the placebo treatment.

A doctor reviewing a prescription pad in a clinical setting for an article about non-opioid pain drug approval

FDA approves first non-opioid pain drug in more than 20 years

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The FDA’s approval of Journavx (suzetrigine), a first-in-class non-opioid pain drug, marks the most significant shift in acute pain treatment in over two decades. Developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, the drug blocks a specific sodium channel in the peripheral nervous system, stopping pain signals before they reach the brain without engaging the opioid pathways linked to addiction and overdose. Two rigorous clinical trials confirmed its effectiveness for moderate to severe acute pain. With more than 500,000 opioid overdose deaths in the U.S. since 1999, this approval offers patients and doctors a genuinely new choice — one that treats real pain without the shadow of dependence.

Power lines

African nations commit to electricity for 300 million people by 2030

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The heads of 30 African nations have endorsed a plan to provide “reliable, affordable and sustainable” electricity to 300 million people who currently do not have regular access across the continent over the next five years. The plan is expected not only to boost renewable energy and economic opportunity around the continent, but also support new jobs. The World Bank has committed $30 billion to the plan, while the AfDB pledged $10 billion. The Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank pledged $1 billion in financing, while the Islamic Development Bank committed $4.65 billion.

New Zealand's Taranaki Mounga

New Zealand mountain granted same legal rights as a person

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Taranaki Mounga, the second-highest mountain on New Zealand’s North Island, and its surrounding peaks have been granted legal personhood, becoming the country’s third natural feature to gain the same rights, duties, and protections as individuals. The mountain region is of considerable cultural significance to Taranaki Māori and its designation of legal personhood is a long-awaited acknowledgment of their relationship to it. The mountain will also now be solely referred to officially by its Māori name, laying to rest its former colonial name, Mount Egmont.

School of fish

Marshall Islands protects ‘pristine’ Pacific corals with first marine sanctuary

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The Marshall Islands government has announced it will protect an area of the Pacific Ocean described as one of the most “remote, pristine” marine ecosystems on Earth. The 18,500-square-mile marine sanctuary covers two of the country’s northernmost uninhabited atolls and the surrounding deep sea, and it is the first federal marine protected area (MPA) established by the Pacific Island nation. Fishing and other extractive activities will now be strictly forbidden, future-proofing the area against threats and formalizing protections.