Discrimination against sexual minorities in Kenya is costing the country up to US$1.3 billion annually, a report by a coalition of global businesses said, attributing the losses to missed tourism earnings, poor health and less employment of LGBT+ people.
The report by Open For Business – an alliance of big companies including tech companies Google and Microsoft and Deutsche Bank – estimated anti-gay attitudes were shaving off up to 1.7% of Kenya’s annual gross domestic product (GDP).
“A lot of the...
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Sierra Leone has banned female genital mutilation (FGM) as part of a wider clampdown on initiation ceremonies by secret societies, a minister has confirmed.
With nine in 10 girls cut, Sierra Leone has one of the highest rates of FGM in Africa, according to U.N. data, and is among only a handful of African countries where the practice remains legal.
Girls are cut during initiations into powerful secret societies – known as the Bondo – which wield significant political clout.
The ban...
We first introduced you to Robinah in 2016, and now we’re catching up with her to see what her life has been like since she revealed her HIV status to her classmates and began her journey as an HIV/AIDS activist.
When Robinah Babirye was ten years old, her mother sat down with her and her twin sister Eva and told them they were both HIV positive. Robinah was devastated.
Now 25, Robinah sees that moment as a beginning, sparking what...
Today, young people need a wide variety of skills to thrive in the global economy. Alongside traditional academic skills, such as literacy and numeracy, education should foster 21st century skills like creativity, critical thinking and collaboration. This is known as cultivating breadth of skills and competencies.
At the same time, half the world’s upcoming generation is at at risk of being left behind. If nothing changes, 825 million young people will not be on track to learn basic secondary-level skills...
This story was originally reported by Kagondu Njagi and edited by Robert Carmichael for the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
For the women of Tuluroba village’s self-help group, the goal was simple: use their combined savings to buy cattle, fatten them and sell them to the beef industry for slaughter.
But there was a problem.
“We had no land to graze the cattle. Nor could we obtain a loan from a bank to buy land, because as women we do not own title deeds,”...
This story was originally reported by Emmanuelle Landais and edited by Jumana Farouky and Sebastien Malo for the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
For centuries, women in West Africa’s cereal belt have relied on fonio, a small, nutty grain, to feed their families.
Now, Adja Aissata Aya Ndiaye, a farmer in Kedougou in southeastern Senegal, thinks fonio could become a staple across the continent, and eventually around the world.
“We want to take over the global market,” said Ndiaye, 62.
Over in New York,...
Temie Giwa-Tubosun was visiting Nigeria for the first time in 13 years when she realised blood is a big deal.
By Carmen Belafi
Last week, leaders from the world’s largest economies, the G20, came together in Buenos Aires to discuss pressing global issues ranging from economic growth, trade, and security to questions of fair and sustainable development. This year’s summit had some encouraging messages for education globally.
Here are 3 of the most important messages:
Education is a human right
All countries agreed that access to education is not a privilege, but a fundamental right. Education needs to reach all children, and access...
HIV/AIDS is a global health crisis that impacts the lives of millions of people a year, yet still many people don’t know enough about what it is, what it does to the body, and the best ways to prevent it. That’s why we’ve answered your most googled questions about HIV and AIDS, and added a couple extra in for good measure:
How many people alive today are living HIV or AIDS?
Around 37 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. That’s nearly...
Thirty years ago, HIV/AIDS swept the globe largely unchecked, and a diagnosis was seen as a death sentence. Two decades later, we’ve made amazing progress – AIDS-related deaths are down by half – but the good news makes the bad news worse.
This good news may be hiding a big problem. The incredible progress the world has made against AIDS has created a sense of complacency that is threatening our ability to end AIDS within our lifetime.
You might not know...