February 10, 20245:52 PM ET
This week, the United Nations pleaded for more aid to Sudan, after nearly 10 months of war. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield is working to draw more attention to the crisis there.
February 10, 20249:52 AM ET
Enlarge this image26-year-old Zainab Sankoh in a shack at the Kingtom dump site in Freetown, Sierra Leone. A self-described “hustler,” Sankoh used to send money home to support her family and her young daughter in a village in the south of the country. Now, she spends almost all her money on kush. “My life is miserable” said Sankoh. “This is not the Zainab I used to be.”
Tommy Trenchard for NPR
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Tommy Trenchard for NPR
26-year-old Zainab Sankoh in a shack at the Kingtom dump site in Freetown, Sierra Leone. A self-described “hustler,” Sankoh used to send money home to support her family and her young daughter in a village in the south of the country. Now, she spends almost all her money on kush. “My life is miserable” said Sankoh. “This is not the Zainab I used to be.”
Tommy Trenchard for NPR
It’s barely 9 a.m. but the cramped alleyways of Kaduna in the western end of Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, are already pack..
February 8, 20245:32 PM ET
We hear rare eyewitness testimony from Darfur, one of the worlds unseen and often forgotten conflicts — which has resulted in the largest child displacement crisis in the world.
February 8, 20248:06 AM ET
Enlarge this imageA child receives a measles vaccination at a clinic in Harare, Zimbabwe, where a 2022 outbreak saw some 700 children die from the highly infectious childhood disease.
Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP
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Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP
A child receives a measles vaccination at a clinic in Harare, Zimbabwe, where a 2022 outbreak saw some 700 children die from the highly infectious childhood disease.
Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP
Measles is on the rise around the world, and even experts who saw it coming say the increase is “staggering.”
The World Health Organization said in December that its European region (which extends into parts of western and central Asia) saw an “alarming” increase in measles cases – from under a thousand in 2022 to more than 30,000 last year.
John Vertefeuille, directorof the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Global Immunization Division, said in a statement that the numbers are “stagge..
February 28, 20247:41 PM ET
Enlarge this imageSpeaker of Ghana Parliament Alban Sumana Bagbin speaks at the Parliament House in Accra, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. Ghana’s parliament passed a highly controversial anti-LGBTQ+ bill on Wednesday that could send some people to prison for more than a decade.
Misper Apawu/AP
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Misper Apawu/AP
Speaker of Ghana Parliament Alban Sumana Bagbin speaks at the Parliament House in Accra, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. Ghana’s parliament passed a highly controversial anti-LGBTQ+ bill on Wednesday that could send some people to prison for more than a decade.
Misper Apawu/AP
ACCRA, Ghana — Ghana ‘s parliament passed a highly controversial anti-LGBTQ+ bill on Wednesday that could send some people to prison for more than a decade.
The bill was introduced to parliament three years ago and criminalizes members of the LGBTQ+ community as well as its supporters, including promotion and funding of related activities and ..
February 26, 20248:46 AM ET
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Scovian Lillian for NPR
Scovian Lillian for NPR
Mary Gachoki had learned about autism spectrum disorder from a caregiving course she’d taken in college. When her son was 2 years old, she recognized that he was displaying traits associated with this neurological condition. He wasn’t making eye contact, he stopped talking and he began flapping his fingers – a common behavior for people with autism as they seek to calm themselves.
Deep down, the 34-year-old single mom knew he likely had autism. But, she says, she was in denial.
When she did get a diagnosis, she says, the news “felt burdensome because I am a single mother. I am not strong mentally. I need support and reassurance that [my son] will be okay someday.” (Editor’s note: We are not naming the children in this story to protect their privacy as we discuss their condition.)
Challenges for parentsAround the world, parents like Gachoki often struggle to find reliable informa..
February 25, 20245:00 AM ET
Enlarge this image74-year-old Lenval Skiers at his home in Pan-African Village, in Asebu.
Jude Lartey for NPR
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Jude Lartey for NPR
74-year-old Lenval Skiers at his home in Pan-African Village, in Asebu.
Jude Lartey for NPR
ASEBU, Ghana — Nestled in the sleepy town of Asebu, a few miles inland from the Atlantic along Ghana’s Cape Coast, lies a serene 5,000 acre rural settlement. A mud road at the entrance weaves through a dense, green landscape of dozens of homes and partially built concrete structures, enveloped by miles of farmland and palm trees.
“Nobody’s ever lived here before,” says 74-year-old Lenval Skiers, from the sun-lit lounge of his six-bedroom home and guesthouse. “It was me alone in the forest. It was idle land, but I braved it.” From his wide-set balcony on the second floor, Skiers points to his large garden, full of clusters of cassava, avocado and sugar cane. Beyond lies Pan-African Village, a..
February 16, 20245:07 PM ET
World record marathon runner Kelvin Kiptum died on Sunday. Kenya has been celebrating the life and explosive career of the 24-year old marathon runner.
February 16, 202410:58 AM ET
Content Warning: The following story references graphic violence and descriptions of murder.
Enlarge this imageActivists march through the Central Business District of Nairobi on Jan. 27 at a demonstration calling for government action to address the murders of young women.
Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images
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Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images
Activists march through the Central Business District of Nairobi on Jan. 27 at a demonstration calling for government action to address the murders of young women.
Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images
Hashtags like #WeAreNotSafe, #StopKillingWomen and #EndFemicideKE are trending in Kenya.
They reflect an intense national debate over a series of murders that have rocked the country. In the month of January, 30 women were murdered, according to data compiled by the grassroots organization Usikimye (Swahili for “don’t be silent”), whose mission is to end gender-based violence, workin..
February 16, 20245:10 AM ET
The brutal decades-long conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is moving into a new phase, and the city of Goma is in the crosshairs of the violence.
Enlarge this imageThousands who are fleeing the ongoing conflict between government forces and M-23 rebels reach the entrance the Democratic Republic of Congo eastern city of Goma.
Moses Sawasawa/AP
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Moses Sawasawa/AP
Thousands who are fleeing the ongoing conflict between government forces and M-23 rebels reach the entrance the Democratic Republic of Congo eastern city of Goma.
Moses Sawasawa/AP
Ruth Alonga and Sammy Mupfuni in Goma