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At the end of February 2026, the UNESCO Regional Office in Santiago and the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA) signed a cooperation agreement to promote the responsible use of artificial intelligence in education across Chile and Latin America. The partnership establishes a framework for collaboration aimed at strengthening capacities, advancing digital competencies, and ensuring… [Read More]

The UNESCO Amman Office, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, has officially launched Jordan’s Education Strategic Plan (ESP) 2026–2030, marking a key milestone in the country’s education reform efforts. The new strategy follows the conclusion of the previous Education Sector Plan (2018–2025) and is based on a comprehensive Education Sector Analysis finalized in March… [Read More]

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) has announced the allocation of $1.5 million in Small Business Development Grants to ten community organizations across the state of Wisconsin. The funding aims to strengthen local economies by supporting small businesses and encouraging community-driven development. According to WEDC leadership, the initiative is designed to help communities create environments… [Read More]

Over the past four decades, Nepal has undergone a significant political transformation from a centralized monarchy to a federal democratic republic. This transition has created a pluralistic justice system that combines formal courts with local judicial committees and community mediation mechanisms. Key constitutional milestones shaped this transformation, including the 1990 Constitution, which established judicial independence… [Read More]

Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the world’s leading public health challenges, with an estimated 10.7 million people affected and 1.23 million deaths reported in 2024. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted TB services, causing notifications to fall from 7.1 million in 2019 to 5.8 million in 2020. These disruptions led to a surge in undiagnosed and… [Read More]

Scaling social innovation requires more than a strong idea—it demands sustainable business models, clear value propositions, and solid evidence of impact. In February 2026, the Innovation Hub of Enabel organized the Innovation Hub Days in Dakar, bringing together grantees supported through the Belgian Wehubit 2.0 programme and three European programmes: DGA, DGI, and RTIA. The… [Read More]

Community engagement must go beyond being treated as a project and instead be embraced as a mindset to ensure more effective humanitarian responses. This was one of the major lessons highlighted during a workshop held in Mogadishu from 2–4 February 2026, where humanitarian partners reflected on community-led approaches in Somalia. Between October and November 2025,… [Read More]

Sierra Leone has achieved a major public health milestone by surpassing national targets in its recent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign, marking a significant step toward eliminating cervical cancer as a public health threat by 2030. The campaign used a multi-age cohort approach, targeting adolescent girls aged 11 to 18 to rapidly increase population immunity,… [Read More]

For the first time, Kenya has measured the growth, learning, and development of children under five as part of a major national health survey, marking a milestone in how the country plans and delivers support for its youngest citizens. Early childhood is a critical period for brain development, and the quality of nurturing care—including health,… [Read More]

Tanzania has significantly strengthened its pandemic preparedness by expanding its capacity to detect and respond to respiratory disease threats. The country’s sentinel surveillance network has grown from 9 sites in 2021 to 27 sites across 19 regions, enabling faster detection of pathogens such as COVID-19, influenza, RSV, adenoviruses, and other emerging respiratory infections. This expansion… [Read More]

Jimma University in Ethiopia is advancing national efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through the Local Production of Antibiotic Disc (LoPAD) project, an innovative initiative supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) under the LEAD Innovation Challenge Program. The project explores local production of antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) discs, aiming to reduce dependence on imported… [Read More]

Brazil’s Cerrado biome, the country’s second-largest, plays a central role in national agricultural production while also hosting significant biodiversity and ecosystem value. Nearly half of its native vegetation remains intact, presenting an opportunity to expand agriculture on already cleared land. How agricultural finance—particularly public rural credit and emerging blended-finance instruments—is structured and deployed will be… [Read More]

Plan International Australia has released a new report urging the Federal Government to increase targeted aid for adolescent girls in the Asia-Pacific, warning that global aid cuts and a growing anti-rights backlash are threatening gender equality in the region. The report, Invest Early, Change Everything, highlights that over 240 million adolescent girls live in the… [Read More]

On March 4, 2026, Pacific Island governments launched the world’s first regional guidance on climate-related relocation grounded in human rights principles. The initiative aims to provide a framework for communities forced to move due to rising seas, coastal erosion, and extreme tides, ensuring that relocations are conducted with respect for human dignity and self-determination. The… [Read More]

The German government has proposed legislation to replace the existing basic income program for job seekers with a more punitive system, raising concerns over human rights and the constitutional guarantee of a dignified standard of living. Human Rights Watch warned that the bill, set for its second reading in the lower house of parliament, would… [Read More]

Amid escalating regional hostilities following joint United States-Israel attacks on Iran and subsequent Iranian retaliatory strikes, Amnesty International has called on all parties to prioritize the protection of civilians and strictly adhere to international humanitarian law. The organization emphasizes the urgent need to halt unlawful attacks, including deliberate, indiscriminate, or disproportionate strikes on civilians and… [Read More]

Amnesty International has condemned the recent conviction of a woman in South Korea who underwent a later-stage abortion, emphasizing that abortion is essential healthcare and a human right under international law. Sarah Brooks, Deputy Regional Director at Amnesty International, stated that the ruling exposes the difficult and unsafe positions faced by pregnant people and medical… [Read More]

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has announced the successful closing of an investment in Carbonwave, a company that transforms sargassum seaweed into commercially viable agricultural biostimulants and cosmetic emulsifiers. The initiative aims to convert a growing climate and environmental threat into a job‑creating industry with high economic and… [Read More]

São Paulo, March 4, 2026 – IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has launched a regional initiative in partnership with BlackForest Solutions GmbH and ABIPLAST to accelerate investment-ready opportunities in industrial plastic circularity across Brazil, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The initiative aims to transform the region’s plastic industry by promoting a circular… [Read More]

Goroka-Rome, 3 March 2026. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has announced its co-financing of Papua New Guinea’s AgriConnect Project, launched today in Goroka alongside the World Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and other partners. The initiative aims to transform small-scale farming into a driver of sustainable growth, employment, and food security… [Read More]

Ghana achieved significant economic growth and poverty reduction between 1995 and 2016, with national poverty falling from 56.5% in 1992 to 23.4% in 2016. However, these gains have been uneven, with the Northern Belt of Ghana facing the highest levels of poverty, illiteracy, and malnutrition in the country. The region is affected by recurrent drought… [Read More]

Iraq is a middle-income country emerging from decades of conflict and large-scale displacement, with over one million internally displaced persons (IDPs) still affected. Amid declining humanitarian funding and a planned phase-out of emergency aid, Iraq has faced the challenge of shifting toward development while ensuring that vulnerable groups are not left behind. The Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP)… [Read More]

The recent webinar hosted by UNCDF and the Digital Frontiers Institute, titled “Scaling Impact Through Women in DFS: Policy, Regulation and Innovation in Action,” highlighted the pivotal role of women in shaping inclusive digital financial services (DFS). As digital finance evolves, barriers persist for women, youth, and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), particularly in… [Read More]