In a first since 2014, vaccination campaign reaches 13 million children in Sudan
Despite ongoing socio-political uncertainty in the country, the campaign provided children under the age of 10 with vaccines against measles and polio.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Supreme Court of Malawi bans thin plastic production
The court’s decision makes production of thin plastics under 60 microns in thickness illegal with immediate effect.
Kenya passes law requiring free sanitary towels for schoolgirls
Schoolgirls who have reached puberty will now receive free sanitary towels from the government, a new law aimed at minimizing absenteeism and putting them at par with their male counterparts says.
Kenya launches largest wind power plant in Africa
The farm, known as the Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) will generate around 310 megawatts of power to the national grid and will increase the country’s electricity supply by 13%.
Ethiopia begins planting 4 billion trees to fight deforestation
Hundreds of thousands of volunteers are needed for the planting and bedding in of the four billion saplings.
Endangered rhino numbers ‘soar by 1,000%’ in Tanzania after crackdown on poaching gangs
The number of endangered rhinos in Tanzania has risen from just 15 to over 150 after a government crackdown on industrial-scale poaching, officials claim.
Judges in Botswana unanimously rule to decriminalize homosexuality
In the landmark ruling, the southern African nation’s High Court rejected sections of the penal code that criminalize same-sex relations and impose up to seven years in prison.
Democratic Republic of Congo completes its first peaceful transfer of power
Felix Tshisekedi has been sworn in as the president of the DRC, in the vast central African country’s first transfer of power through an election in 59 years of independence.
Tanzania bans the use of plastic bags
In a historic conservation move the government of the United Republic of Tanzania has announced the ban on plastic bag use beginning June 1, 2019.
World Data Lab projects Kenya to eradicate extreme poverty by 2032
A global data enterprise suggested in a post published last week by a US think tank that the share of abjectly poor Kenyans will drop from nearly 21 percent to 4.3 percent in 2030.