Broadcasting Hope: Women’s Voice Radio Helps Afghan Teen Reclaim Her Future

Mehrangiz is a sixteen-year-old girl from Badakhshan, a province in the northeastern Afghanistan famed for its rubies, jewels, and a land of love and beauty.

Environment Day – 2025

 
Plastic pollution is choking our planet. An estimated 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year. Less than 10% is ever recycled.

Climate Justice: Island Resilience

 
In a world where headlines warn of rising seas, dying reefs, and vanishing species, it’s easy to think the story ends in loss. But what if the frontlines of climate change were also frontiers of hope?

Malnutrition Plagues Children and Pregnant Women in Afghanistan

Bibi Gul, a pregnant woman from Helmand’s Marja District, walked two hours to reach the nearest health center in search of treatment for her moderate malnutrition.

Education Cannot Wait Interviews Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

 
Tom Fletcher is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, OCHA. He started his official duties on 18 November 2024.

The Taliban Took Everything – Even My Hope

Rukhsar (pseudonym), 27, is a widow and sole breadwinner for a family of five. She recounts her life story under Taliban rule, a reality faced by thousands of women in Afghanistan.

World Press Freedom Day 2025

 
Freedom of the press is facing growing threats across the world. Authoritarian regimes still imprison, silence, and kill journalists.

The World Bank, at 80, and the True Goals of Multilateral Cooperation and Global Development

The Rogun Dam in the mountains of Southern Tajikistan, if ever completed, would be the tallest dam in the world. Late last year, the World Bank committed almost $3 billion to finance its development, claiming the project would benefit locals.

Afghan Women Defy Taliban Repression With Underground Protests

“Even if our murals don't change much, they will surely leave a mark - at least on the mind of one Taliban member who sees them.” These words from Afghan women activists reflect the bold and creative tactics they continue to use in their resistance against the Taliban's oppressive regime.

Taliban View Even Women’s Cosmetics as a Threat to Their Rule

Women in Afghanistan have borne the brunt of the Taliban’s extremist Islamist rule. Four years on, there appears to be no end in sight.

Education Cannot Wait Interviews Sigrid Kaag, Chair of the ECW High-Level Steering Group

 
Sigrid Kaag is the new Chair of Education Cannot Wait’s High-Level Steering Group. Kaag brings a wealth of experience in political, humanitarian and development affairs, as well as in diplomacy. In 2025, she was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres as the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, a.i. Kaag has just concluded her mandate as Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, a role she held since 2024. She served as the first Deputy Prime Minister and first female Minister of Finance in the Dutch government starting in January 2022. Prior to this, she was Dutch Minister for Trade and Development Cooperation from October 2017 until May 2021, and Minister for Foreign Affairs until September 2021.[related_articles]

Young Women in Afghanistan Driven to Suicide Amid Widespread Frustration

Azar Shaimaa sits in grief, her voice trembling with sorrow as she recounts the devastating loss of her daughter, Benazir. A bright ninth-grade student, Benazir took her own life. Just three years earlier, Shaimaa lost her husband in a car accident.

Turning the Tide on Tuberculosis: Ensuring Access, Treatment, and Prevention for All Communities

Tuberculosis (TB), caused by the aerophilic intracellular obligate pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is a globally endemic bacterial infection transmitted person-to-person through airborne droplets. Although fully preventable and curable, TB remains a persistent global health challenge and is projected to be a leading infectious disease by 2025.

Women in the World: Making the Invisible Visible with Crowdsourced Data

Despite a push in the past ten years for more female representation and #MeToo movements highlighting the abuse that women have faced for centuries, women’s struggles continue to remain invisible—dismissed, denied, and buried under patriarchal bureaucracy.

‘Rule Breakers’ Movie Launches in Advance of International Women’s Day Highlighting the Courage and Hope of the Afghan Girls Robotics Team

Angel Studios’ new feature film 'Rule Breakers' – launching in theaters across the United States, Canada, South Africa and Sri Lanka today – highlights the hope, courage and resilience of the Afghan Girls Robotics Team.

Education Cannot Wait Interviews Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ethiopia

 
Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov was appointed as the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ethiopia by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres in August 2023.

Stitching Hope: Two Afghan Women Rebuild Their Lives with Needle and Thread

Zainab and Mursal, two young Afghan women, had their education cut short by the Taliban. But instead of surrendering to despair, they picked up a needle and thread—transforming their skills into a thriving sewing business that now provides income and inspiration to other Afghan women.

International Women’s Day 2025: For All Women and Girls

 
In 2025, our world remains deeply unequal. Women earn, on average, 20% less than men globally.

Fatima’s Story: The Struggles of Afghan Women Under Taliban Rule

Fatima Mohammadi was a manager in a government office in Afghanistan’s Parwan province before the Taliban came to power. But having been forced out of her job she is back home unemployed.

Shaping Conditions for Fair, Equitable and Enduring Climate Finance 

The global commitment to fair climate finance is at a crossroads. COP29 concluded with a disappointing New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG), leaving developing nations at risk of being left behind. With the U.S. withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and slashing development aid, prospects for more ambitious fair climate finance are getting out of sight.

Online Education: A Lifeline for Afghan Girls Amid Taliban Restrictions

Since the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan in 2021, girls and women have been systematically banned from education, making Afghanistan the only country in the world that denies schooling to girls over the age of 12. The situation continues to deteriorate, with even primary school enrollment for girls in decline, according to UNESCO.