New Zealand to ban most single-use plastics by 2025
The new measure builds on the country’s 2019 decision to phase-out plastic bags and includes everything from disposable cutlery to ear buds and fruit labels, The Guardian reported.
Nations
This archive collects milestones and progress stories involving nations — countries and their governments — acting to improve lives, protect rights, or address shared challenges. From policy breakthroughs to international cooperation, these stories show what countries are doing right.
Canada to make online hate speech a crime punishable by $16,000 fine
The law is only designed to punish the most extreme forms of hatred that “expresses detestation or vilification of a person or group on the basis of a prohibited ground of discrimination.”
91 countries now offer COVID-19 vaccinations to refugees
To date, refugees and asylum-seekers have begun receiving vaccinations in 91 of the 162 countries that UN High Commissioner for Refugees has been monitoring.
Gabon becomes first African country paid to protect its rainforest
The UN-backed Central African Forest Initiative (Cafi) has handed over $17m – the first tranche of a $150m deal struck in 2019.
Saudi Arabia to create the world’s largest coral garden in the Red Sea
The Shusha Island Coral Park will cover 100 hectares and become a global center to showcase innovations to protect and restore coral reefs and accelerate conservation solutions.
Tanzania to offer alternative education for school dropouts including pregnant girls
Secondary school drop-outs in Tanzania will be offered the opportunity to resume studies in alternative colleges, part of a shift away from a disputed policy under which pregnant girls were expelled from school.
Sudan to ban female genital mutilation and allow non-Muslims to drink alcohol
Sudan will permit non-Muslims to consume alcohol and strengthen women’s rights, including banning female genital mutilation, in a reversal of almost four decades of hardline Islamist policies.
Canada allows Indigenous peoples to officially reclaim their names
Canada has announced a new policy that allows Indigenous people who were forced to adopt European Christian names to officially reclaim their original names.
Landmark G7 agreement pledges 870 million COVID-19 vaccine doses
The Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized nations’ commitment to immediately share at least 870 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, supporting global access and helping to end the acute phase of the pandemic.
Saudi Arabia imposes moratorium on drug-related executions
The state-backed Human Rights Commission said 27 executions were recorded in 2020. That is down from 184 the year before, according to rights watchdog Amnesty International.