Egypt’s State Council swears-in the nation’s first female judges
Ninety-eight women were sworn in before the council’s chief judge Mohammed Hossam el-Din as the first female judges in the country’s history to join the State Council.
North Africa
North Africa spans countries including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt — a region where progress in renewable energy, health access, education, and economic development is reshaping communities. This archive collects solutions-focused reporting on the people, policies, and initiatives driving meaningful change across the region.
Tunisia’s president appoints woman as prime minister in first for Arab world
Tunisian President Kais Saied has appointed Najla Bouden Romdhan as the first female prime minister in Tunisia and the Arab world.
Africa declared free of wild polio in ‘milestone’
Africa is now certified free of wild poliovirus, a milestone reached after more than 95% of the continent’s population was immunized. The campaign began in 1996 when Nelson Mandela launched “Kick Polio Out of Africa,” and since then an estimated 1.8 million cases of paralysis have been prevented. Reaching the last children took extraordinary courage — frontline workers, 95% of them women, crossed Lake Chad by boat and walked through conflict zones, while polio survivors themselves traveled to hesitant communities to make the case in person. The work isn’t quite done, but a disease that once paralyzed tens of thousands of African children each year has been driven from the wild — a reminder that patient, village-by-village trust-building can defeat what once seemed unstoppable.
Tunisia becomes the first Arab nation to offer sex education in schools
Tunisia will become the first country in the Arab world to introduce sex education at schools, the executive director of the Tunisian Association of Reproductive health said.
All banking partners to GEO Group to stop funding private prisons
Eight major banks have announced their commitment to ending their support of the immigration detention center and private prison industry.
Africa is on track to be declared polio-free
It has been three years since the continent’s last reported case of the virus.
Egypt to lead solar energy projects in seven African countries
The Arab Industrialization Organization, owned by the Egyptian government, will develop renewable energies and reduce energy shortages in Uganda, Congo, Tanzania, Eritrea, Somalia and South Sudan.
Google’s new Africa app aims to beat slow internet speeds, high data costs
Google is releasing an app in Africa that will help internet users overcome obstacles such as the lack of high-speed connectivity and the cost of data on the continent.
Morocco unveils a massive solar power plant in the Sahara
Morocco has officially turned on a massive solar power plant in the Sahara Desert, kicking off the first phase of a planned project to provide renewable energy to more than a million Moroccans.
African Union launches as 55-nation continental body in Durban
The African Union opened its doors on July 9, 2002, in Durban, South Africa, replacing the 39-year-old Organisation of African Unity with something more ambitious. Thabo Mbeki chaired that first Assembly, uniting all 55 African nations under a single continental body. It marked a shift toward Africa setting its own agenda — a project still unfolding.