Instagram is one of the fastest growing social networks and can be used for anything, from capturing the small moments in life to championing a cause. However you look at it, Instagram lets you tell a story through pictures. We’ve pulled together some of our favorite Instagram accounts that depict life from all across Africa. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so we’ll let the Instagrams do the talking… Everyday Africa @everydayafrica Who needs a fancy camera when you’ve got your...
Ten years ago, on April 5th 2005, at a launch featuring Brad Pitt, Bono, Djimon Hounsou and the late great Jack Valenti, we launched this iconic ONE ad. In stark black and white featuring many of the most famous stars of that time (and today) from Ellen DeGeneres and Viola Davis to Clooney, Pitt, Pacino, Hanks, and Hounsou, it called on people to join ONE and help make poverty history, especially across Africa. It went viral on something that was...
Musically, you may know Angélique Kidjo as the energetic performer who put African beats on the world music map via her Grammy winning songs and collaborations with the likes of Bono, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Josh Groban and others. In addition to her music, Kidjo has a boundless passion for women’s empowerment and human rights. She is an advocate for girls’ education and a fighter against genital mutilation, early marriage, and violence against women. She’s also a global UNICEF...
In the developed world we rarely walk into a room and think twice before flipping a switch to turn on the lights. We seldom, if ever, consider the possibility that when we go to the doctor’s office it may not have electricity, or give us medicines that haven’t been property refrigerated. Most mothers in the developed world don’t consider whether or not to give birth in a facility that has electricity. When was the last time you showed up at...
Issac Asimov once said, “Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.” If it is not your desire to live in darkness then please scrub away. It is simple really: assumptions are constant, the world is not. Most of my assumptions of Africa fell apart while I stayed in Kenya.
“Guinea Wasted” is a photojournalistic piece I conducted while living and working in waste management in Guinea. The piece seeks to provoke thoughtful reflection and critically-necessary discussion surrounding the wealth/filth paradox that lives and breathes side-by-side in Guinea: beautiful countryside/trash everywhere; wealth of natural resources/trash everywhere; fancily-clad bureaucrats and businessmen/trash everywhere; gigantic villas and homes/trash everywhere — it’s pervasive, puzzling and, quite frankly, alarming.
India has an estimated 20 million completely landless rural families. Providing these families with secure rights to a small patch of land gives them security and opportunity. When women are given the rights to the land, the benefits ripple even further – with women gaining economic empowerment and a greater voice in decision making at home.
Because there’s no other way to react to the absurdity of this fact. 1. When you’re a girl and whether you live or die depends on where you were born. 2. When about 39,000 girls under the age of 18 become child brides every day. 3. When only just over 20% of poor rural girls in Africa complete primary education. 4. When only about 22% of parliamentarians are female. 5. When women are paid 10-30% less than men. 6. When females are only 10-20% of...
The evidence is clear -- extreme poverty disproportionately affects girls and women, from their health to income to personal safety. As we elaborate in our new report, “Poverty is Sexist: Why Girls and Women Must be at the Heart of the Fight Against Extreme Poverty,” the poorest women are often barred from owning and inheriting land and other property, opening a bank account, or accessing education.