World in Progress

Fighting fake news in Kenya - How Brazil's election has divided the country - Populism and the narrative behind it - we talk to an expert on storytelling

An isolated village in South Africa launches its own internet service provider to give young people better opportunities, how resourceful students in Greece are creating their own jobs, and why some Indian schools have started happiness classes.

Topics: Training to fight youth uneployment in Kenya / Solving global Problems: Interview with Prof. Dirk Messner / Bringing WiFi to Georgia's remote mountains

The reality for many children in Chicago’s notorious West Side is a short life in the fast lane. Gangs, drugs and crime are always present and so is the possibility to end up in prison or dead. Vera Bünten got to know some of these kids – and people trying to help them change their lives around. 

TOPICS: Inside a re-education camp for Chinese Muslims -- Human Rights Watch's Sophie Richardson on surveillance of Uighurs -- How South Africans defy the country's high unemployement rates

This week on the show: Why Finland's efforts to eradicate homelessness are working, poor neighborhoods in northern Brazil fear for their survival, India makes massive progress in lifting people out of poverty, and how fair is "Fairtrade"?

As more than one million people are leaving their homes in the US to escape Hurricane Florence, we take a look at disasters and disaster preparedness around the globe. What can you do to prepare yourself? What should you have at hand in case there is an earthquake or hurricane? We also hear how people are coping a few years after forces of nature wreaked havoc in their home towns.

Fossil funding: Public investments in Africa favour fossil fuels over green energy -- Waiting for the cleanup: Legal battle over toxic Oil contamination in Ecuador continues -- Harsh lives: Migrants exploited on Italian farms -- Successful Migrant: Western Union CEO on Migration and Money Transfers

Avocados are hailed as healthy superfood, but the craze is wreaking havoc in many communities. For instance in Chile where it's led to water shortages. What can we consumers do? Should we do away with avocados altogether? Join us for a special episode on the avocado fruit.

Humanitarian aid - what needs to change? // Helping to prevent forced marriages in the UK // Tahiti: Revigourating traditional culture to go into the future.

On this week's show: Find out why it's so hard to get adequate treatment for mental health patients in Togo, where the mentally sick are often beaten and chained for weeks or months, and how Bhutan, the country that wants to increase its official policy of "Gross National Happiness" is dealing with an increase in depression in society.

The Nile River has been the life line for East Africa for thousands of years. A mythical river, drinking water, irrigation, hydropower — the Nile feeds many needs in the countries it traverses. But now tensions increase over the water usage. Anna Osius and Linda Staude met people who depend on the river's water, from its southernmost source in Burundi down to the Nile delta in Egypt.

Bracing ourselves for heat waves, earthquakes and poor infrastructure: We'll hear how cities are vulnerable to heat and how the Italian city of L'Aquila is rebuilding itself after it was hit by a devastating earthquake almost a decade ago. We also meet people who are filling up dangerous potholes in Rome's streets. And how urban farming changes the lives of young people in Kenya's capital Nairobi.

Secret resistance in Cambodia --- Mining in Brazil - does it really boost development? --- A new global compact for Migration - the UN’s special representative for migration, Louise Arbour, explains why its important 

Once they have completed their medical degree, many Ghanaian doctors prefer to move to Europe or North America instead of working in a hospital back home. The problem is even worse in the countryside. And the health professionals, politicians and NGOs who are trying to counter the problems caused by the missing doctors face huge challenges.

Coffee farming in Kenya, a taste for homegrown coffee in Guatemala, and Brazil's accordion revival.

Topics this week: Norway has the toughest immigration laws in Europe. We find out how that affects refugees and those who work with them. And: a refugee fact check - what's going on in Europe?

Cape Town's building boom pushes people out of their homes in the city center to shacks in so-called resettlement camps. We'll also hear how old cars from Europe are polluting roads in Africa and how Egypt's new capital is shaping up.

The #MeToo movement has caused shockwaves in the USA and Europe, but in many countries, the discussion about the taboo topic of sexual violence has met much more resistance. In Japan, one woman changed the debate when she wrote a book about being raped by a high-ranking journalist. And in Africa, female filmmakers are setting out to change things through film.

This week on the show: South Korea's automation craze is taking a toll on employees. Former gang members in El Salvador are struggling to reintegrate into the workforce because their tattoos mark them for life. And how are Haitians in Miami's Little Haiti coping after US President Donald Trump ended their temporary protected status that allowed them to legally live and work in the United States?

China's president Xi Jinping dreams of a strong China elevated to a world power. The giant empire is expanding its influence on all continents, including Europe. China's economic interests have been steadily expanding abroad. And after decades of mainly focusing on internal affairs, Chinese foreign policy is moving in a new direction as well. 

This week on World in Progress: How teaching kids how to swim can prevent the silent killer of drowning. A former prison inmate now helps other inmates in Kenya to get an education. A children's dream park in Japan tries to help kids who couldn't cope with school. And: the importance of reading in South Africa and French lessons at Quran schools in Senegal.

This week, we'll talk about culture: In India, a group of people have come together to compile a dictionary which they say helps preserve the language of Gondi. We hear how a ballet dancer in Peru is helping kids turn away from gang violence. And: Stories about Morocco's dying movie theaters and animated films made in Burkina Faso.

The "Smart cities" of the future will be digital and connected, using smart technology to improve the transport network, cutting down on resource consumption, and connecting people. The Kalasatama quarter in Helsinki for instance has become a lab for Smart City experiments. And not just for the hip and young - senior citizens too are at the cutting edge of smart technology,

What's changed in the textile industry five years after the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh ? --- Women in Poland take to the streets to protest planned tightening the country’s restrictive abortion law