South Africa faces a significant housing challenge, with over 2.3 million units in backlog and millions living in informal settlements or overcrowded homes. Since the end of apartheid, the government has prioritized inclusive human settlements as part of its social transformation agenda. In response, a variety of innovative government-led, private, and community-based initiatives have emerged… [Read More]
Global Outcry: Luxembourg NGOs and Unions Protest Amazon Practices
A coalition of eleven NGOs, trade unions, and civil‑society groups will hold a protest in Luxembourg City as part of the global Make Amazon Pay campaign. Participating organizations include ASTM, CELL, Collectif Palestine Luxembourg, Tax Justice Lëtzebuerg, Déi Lénk, etika, OGBL, Greenpeace Luxembourg, and Rise for Climate. The protest, scheduled at the corner of Grand… [Read More]
Cities as Engines of Employment: The New Geography of Jobs
Dire Dawa, Ethiopia’s second-largest city, exemplifies the evolving role of African secondary cities as engines of economic opportunity. Situated along the Addis–Djibouti trade corridor, the city has grown from a historic railway town into a logistics and manufacturing hub with a free-trade zone, a dry port, and a large industrial park. Its connectivity enables faster… [Read More]
Mauritania: World Bank Introduces EDGE Strategy to Accelerate Growth and Employment
The World Bank Group has launched a new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Mauritania covering fiscal years 2026 to 2030, aimed at accelerating Economic Diversification for Growth and Employment (EDGE). The five-year strategy focuses on four key outcomes: creating more and better jobs, strengthening institutions and governance, improving connectivity in communities, and enhancing population resilience…. [Read More]
Tunisia’s Economic Recovery Depends on Stronger Social Safety Nets
Tunisia’s economy is showing signs of recovery, driven by stronger agricultural production, a revival in the construction sector, and improving tourism, according to the World Bank’s latest economic update, “Strengthening Social Safety Nets for Increased Efficiency and Equity.” Real GDP grew by 2.4 percent in the first nine months of 2025, following years of moderate… [Read More]
WFP Lebanon Receives Korean Contribution to Assist Vulnerable Families and Students
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has received its first-ever in-kind rice donation from the Government of the Republic of Korea to support vulnerable families and schoolchildren in Lebanon. The contribution totals 864 metric tons of Korean rice and will bolster two major WFP initiatives: food assistance for economically vulnerable households and take-home rations… [Read More]
PRC’s Fujian Province Secures $142 Million ADB Loan for Coastal Resilience and Biodiversity Protection
The Asian Development Bank has approved a loan of CNY1,013.56 million (about $142.25 million) to strengthen climate resilience and protect biodiversity in the coastal cities of Fuzhou and Yunxiao in Fujian Province, People’s Republic of China. The Fujian Coastal Cities Climate-Resilient Development and Biodiversity Conservation Project will benefit 4.4 million residents by reducing flood risks… [Read More]
Meghalaya Secures $77 Million ADB Loan to Strengthen Ecotourism and Climate-Resilient Livelihoods
The Asian Development Bank has approved a $77 million loan to support ecotourism and natural farming in Meghalaya, India, with the goal of creating sustainable livelihoods and strengthening environmental resilience. The Integrated Ecotourism and Sustainable Agri-Based Livelihood Development in Meghalaya Project will combine nature-based tourism with climate-smart agriculture and forest conservation to benefit more than… [Read More]
African Development Fund Grants Extra $28 Million to Strengthen Benin’s Private Sector
The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund has approved an additional $28 million in financing for Benin to advance the Economic Governance and Private Sector Development Support Programme (PAGE-DSP). This new funding, approved on 24 November 2025, follows the successful completion of phases I and II in 2023 and 2024. Its overall goal… [Read More]
Nigeria Secures $500 Million AfDB Loan to Boost Governance Reforms and Clean Energy Shift
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a $500 million loan to the Government of Nigeria to finance the second phase of the Economic Governance and Energy Transition Support Programme, covering fiscal years 2024 and 2025. This phase builds on earlier progress and aims to advance economic reforms while supporting… [Read More]
African Development Bank Unveils Strategy to Strengthen Somalia’s Infrastructure and Build a Resilient Economy
A farmer harvesting melons in Somalia’s drought-prone fields reflects the tangible progress made through initiatives like the Drought Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods Programme. Her success demonstrates what becomes possible when communities gain access to water and productive resources, and it symbolizes Somalia’s broader transition marked by improved security, deeper political engagement, and renewed reform efforts…. [Read More]
Côte d’Ivoire Secures €39 Million AfDB Funding to Strengthen Governance and Revenue Mobilisation
Côte d’Ivoire will receive new support from the African Development Bank Group to strengthen governance and advance more inclusive and resilient economic growth. The Bank’s Board of Directors has approved financing aimed at helping the country deepen reforms that enhance transparency, improve public resource management, and ensure that national development benefits all Ivorians. During its… [Read More]
Egypt: Amnesty Demands End to Crackdown on Civil Society Groups
Egyptian authorities are being urged to amend the restrictive 2019 associations law to lift tight controls over independent civil society organizations (NGOs), which are severely undermining the right to freedom of association and threatening the country’s civic space, Amnesty International stated in a new briefing. The report, “Whatever security says must be done”: Independent NGOs’… [Read More]
Tunisia: Civil Society Under Threat as Human Rights Defenders Convicted
The Tunis Court of First Instance in Tunisia convicted human rights defenders Mustapha Djemali and Abderrazek Krimi but released them after they had already spent over 18 months in arbitrary detention. Their prolonged detention and subsequent conviction sparked outrage, as both had been carrying out humanitarian work with the Tunisian Council for Refugees (CTR), providing… [Read More]
Education Crisis in Northern Nigeria: Millions of Children at Risk
Amnesty International has raised alarms over the growing threat to education in northern Nigeria, following the indefinite closure of 20,468 schools across seven states after the recent mass abduction of students and teachers in Niger state. This incident underscores a pattern of repeated attacks, including at least 15 documented mass abductions since the Chibok schoolgirls… [Read More]
Women Human Rights Defenders Face Escalating State Repression in Cuba
Amnesty International has called on the Cuban government to end systematic gender-based violence against women human rights defenders, journalists, and activists, launching its new report, “They Want Us Silent, But We Keep Resisting: Authoritarian Practices and State Violence Against Women in Cuba.” The report documents a pattern of state repression targeting women engaged in activism,… [Read More]
How Local Innovators and Mobile Industry Leaders Are Powering Africa’s Digital Health Transformation
The GSMA Mobile for Development team is conducting major research on how the mobile industry can advance digital health across varied economic contexts. October saw active engagement at the Africa HealthTech Summit and MWC Kigali, where digital health was a central theme. A strong message emerging from these events is that Africa’s digital health transformation… [Read More]
Aid Cuts Fuel Rising Hunger Among Displaced Communities in CAR and Cameroon
A convoy carrying returning families arrives in the Central African village of Beloko, marking the end of a long journey home for refugees like Nafissa, who fled violence more than a decade ago. After years in Cameroon, she and thousands of others are choosing to return to the Central African Republic (CAR) as support in… [Read More]
UNAIDS 2025 Report: Overcoming Disruptions to Revive the Global AIDS Response
The 2025 funding crisis has severely disrupted global HIV prevention and community-led services, particularly in vulnerable populations. UNAIDS’ new World AIDS Day report warns that the AIDS response is facing its most serious setback in decades, driven by abrupt reductions in international assistance and weakening global solidarity. External health funding is projected to decline by… [Read More]
New DEC $1 Million Grant Funding Launched to Reduce Air Pollution in EJ Communities
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced $1 million in grant funding for two projects aimed at reducing air pollution in disadvantaged and environmental justice communities. The funding comes from DEC’s Air Pollution Mitigation program and supports ongoing statewide community air monitoring efforts designed to better identify pollution sources and develop reduction strategies… [Read More]
EU-Backed Guarantee: EIB Group and Inecobank Expand Financing for Armenian SMEs
The EIB Group, consisting of the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund, is partnering with Inecobank to expand access to finance for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Armenia. Through the EU4Business Guarantee Facility, backed by the European Commission, the EIB Group will provide a partial portfolio guarantee that is expected to benefit… [Read More]
Sweden Secures €500M EIB Investment to Boost Sandvik’s Mining and Machining Technologies
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved a €500 million loan to Sandvik to accelerate research and development in advanced mining, machining, and digital technologies between 2026 and 2029. The investment will support innovations in cutting technologies, tooling systems, battery-electric mining equipment, and automated and digitalised solutions for mining and rock excavation. Most of the… [Read More]
Brazil Signs PAHO Deal to Modernize Vaccines Through Revolving Funds
Brazil’s Ministry of Health has signed a new agreement with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to acquire updated vaccines through PAHO’s Regional Revolving Funds, a pooled procurement system that helps countries secure affordable medical supplies. The signing took place in São Paulo during a meeting of the Health Economic-Industrial Complex, where PAHO highlighted ongoing… [Read More]
