Formerly warring factions in Burundi have now planted over 150 million trees together since 2018
In 2018, Burundi launched a vast national reforestation program to boost the country’s dwindling forest cover, which will run until 2025.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa spans dozens of countries south of the Sahara, each with distinct challenges and achievements. This archive collects milestones in health, education, conservation, and economic opportunity from across the region — reported with context and care.
All-women news source launches in Somalia to cover inequality
The team of six female journalists will cover important issues often overlooked in male-produced Somali media such as gender-based violence, women in politics, and female entrepreneurs.
Gabon announces immediate end to the logging of the Massaha ancestral forest
This is a precedent-setting case in the country’s management of forests, representing the first time an area will be declared protected at the request of the resident community.
Zimbabwe decriminalizes the transmission of HIV
The decision aims to strengthen the country’s HIV response by reducing the stigma and discrimination that often prevents people from receiving prevention, care, and treatment services.
Nigerian mom designs solar-powered cribs that put an end to baby jaundice disease
The Crib A’Glow can now be found in 500 hospitals across Nigeria and neighboring Ghana. It has already been used on 300,000 babies.
Nearly 200 countries pass historic resolutions linking animal welfare and the environmental crisis
The crucial resolution will help develop a better understanding of the relationship between improving animal welfare and tackling the drivers of wildlife loss, climate change, pollution and pandemic diseases.
U.N. adopts landmark resolution that aims to end plastic pollution
The measure calls for an international negotiating committee to set the terms of a treaty on plastic pollution by the end of 2024.
12 international donors pledge $1.5 billion to support protection of the Congo Basin forests
The 500 million acres of forests may be the last significant land-based tropical carbon sink in the world, making the forests vitally important in the global fight against climate change.
Botswana decriminalizes homosexuality
Botswana’s Court of Appeal has declared the government’s appeal unsuccessful, effectively decriminalizing homosexuality in the country, a big win for the LGBTQ+ community.
Conservationists bring the Saharan gazelle back from the brink of extinction
After a captive-breeding program in Spain, Dama gazelles have been reintroduced in protected reserves in Tunisia, Morocco, and Senegal and number roughly 4,000.