Development and
Cooperation

Popular

On this page you can find the most popular texts of the past six weeks.

A young man is arrested during the protests in Kenya in 2024.

Rules-based world order

Whose rights does international law protect?

Our writer, Shakira Wafula, is a face of the Gen Z protest movement in Kenya. Writing from Nairobi, she captures what many young people in the Global South feel: that the “rules-based world order” functions less like a universal legal system and more like a hi...

Shamsa Araweelo, public speaker, trainer, social activist and expert on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) inthe UK.
Women's rights activists

“We need to move beyond simply talking about FGM”

A survivor of female genital mutilation living in the UK, Shamsa Araweelo spent years desperately seeking proper medical treatment. She became an advocate for survivors of violence – and is hugely successful on social media.

Kenian farmer: as women do most agricultural work in Africa, they would probably have the best investment ideas, but typically lack access to credit.
Rural development

Africa must move on from subsistence farming

For too long, sub-Saharan governments have seen farming as something poor villagers do to feed themselves and their families.

Young people are getting their information from platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat and WhatsApp.
Media literacy

How Finland is preparing its citizens for a world swamped by fake news

Finland has been a world leader in media literacy for many years. Children as young as kindergarten age are being prepared for the disinformation they will encounter online. Will they succeed in combating fake news?

People walk on the street of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Urban mobility

Ethiopia’s promising future on foot and by bike

Addis Ababa is a prime example of how a city can change when walking and cycling are taken seriously. Over the past few years, the capital of Ethiopia has invested heavily in non-motorised transport as part of its wider urban transformation.

Scene from the music video for “Maandamano” by Bien and Breeder LW.
Music

Dancing under tear gas

For the second year in a row, thousands of people took to the streets in Kenya to protest the government. The so-called Gen Z protest movement is also driven by music. The soundtrack to the protests has already achieved cult status.

In Nzara, in the south  of the country, students drink water during the February heatwave.
Heat

The vicious circle of inattention

South Sudan has had to close schools for the second year in a row as temperatures rose to 45 degrees Celsius. It takes such clearly visible consequences of climate change to make people in this crisis-ridden country aware of the problem.

It’s virtually impossible to keep track of all the militia groups, government troops and other military actors operating in the eastern DRC.
Conflict

A region in constant crossfire

Uvira is situated in South Kivu province in the DRC. The city and its surroundings are an important hub for several countries. In view of this, Uvira should be thriving. Instead, the region has been the scene of armed conflicts for decades.

Small-scale miners at a riverbed on the outskirts of Harare.
Mining

How Zimbabwe’s gold rush is poisoning water

In Zimbabwe, rising gold prices are fuelling a boom in unregulated small-scale mining – at a heavy cost to health and the environment.

Rael regularly stays in her home village.
Indigenous voices

“It’s remarkable how we retain our cultural identity while changing”

What does it mean to be a Turkana today? Rael Nkoi Lomoti is the founder of Turkana’s first girls’ football team and an advocate for education, gender equality and climate justice in her community. She spoke with Katharina Wilhelm Otieno.

The 2022 floodings in Pakistan are con- sidered the worst in the country’s history.
Adaptation

Despite disaster, climate action is lacking

Pakistan has been heavily affected by extreme weather events in recent years. Experts urge policymakers to implement existing policies – and lament that Pakistanis have too little interest in climate policy.

Food aid in Kakuma is now only available to people who have been classified by the WFP as belonging to the relevant categories.
Refugees

Ending up in the last category means no food at all

Cuts to international aid funding have plunged Kakuma, one of the world’s largest refugee camps in Kenya, into a worsening humanitarian crisis. With food rations reduced to a fraction of the minimum requirement, residents face an impossible choice.

GALZ activists with a photo of one of themselves in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Homophobia

“I have no place in society”

Homophobia in Zimbabwe hurts the mental health of LGBTI people

Talk therapy in Harare: Much of the mental health work in Zimbabwe is community-based.
Health funding

How Zimbabwe could benefit from investing in mental health

The chronic underfunding of Zimbabwe’s healthcare sector is contributing to a rise in mental illness. The lack of investment will have long-term consequences not only for the wellbeing of the population, but also for the country’s economy.

Disinformation and fake news are rampant online, and digital media literacy is more important than ever.
Technology and ethics

“Data literacy is about building informed, active citizens”

Irene Mwendwa is the executive director of the civil-society organisation Pollicy. In this interview, she outlines her vision of ethical tech and talks about her experiences in the fight against disinformation and for the empowerment of Africans.

Title of the Human Development Report.
Global governance

Global decline in human development

The latest Human Development Report warns that in 2020 and 2021, progress made towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been reversed

A pastoralist stands among goats and sheep that presumably died of exposure to extreme weather in Kenya, 2022.
Informal sector

Social protection for everyone

Informal workers deserve to be shielded from shocks such as sickness and unemployment

For the Maasai, the Earth and its wilderness are the ultimate source of life.
Indigenous medicine

Why Indigenous knowledge must be preserved

The Maasai know how to treat malaria with bark. Like many other Indigenous groups, they have immense medical knowledge. However, like the entire Maasai way of life, this knowledge is gradually being lost due to forced resettlement for the sake of profit.

Briefing in late November for Elon Musk and Benjamin Netanyahu (centre) in Kfar Aza, a kibbutz where Hamas terrorists killed at least 52 people on 7 October.
Antisemitism

Hating Jews, but supporting Israel

Elon Musk’s barely concealed antisemitism hurts his advertising revenues, but does not seem to affect his relationship to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Restaurant jobs are sought after among African migrants: a waiter at a café in Dubai.
Labour migration

What it’s like to move from Africa to the Gulf States for work

Migrant labourers make up the majority of the working population in the Gulf States. More and more workers are coming to Riyadh, Doha or Dubai from Africa. We spoke with two people who left Kenya for the Gulf.

Global needs exceed available resources: displaced people in Yemen.
Development financing

Wrong priorities in Germany’s federal budget

The German government is planning to cut funding for development cooperation and humanitarian aid – an alarming signal