Stories about Development from July, 2017
The African Community Reacts to Emmanuel Macron's Comments on Birth Rates in Africa
"Here is the question that we must ask: is it up to a non-African president to tell our women how many children they should have?"
Philippines: On Facebook's Free Version, Fake News is Even Harder to Spot
Free Basics' limitations leave poorer users at a loss, giving them less access to useful information -- and little capacity to determine whether news is reliable or not.
Facebook’s Free Basics Doesn't Connect You to the Global Internet – But it Does Collect Your Data
Regardless of whether they log into Facebook, users of Free Basics are constantly sharing their data with Facebook.
Can Facebook Connect the Next Billion?
New research by Global Voices tech and digital rights experts in Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, Mexico, Pakistan and the Philippines exposes the ups and downs of Facebook's "Free Basics" app.
Is Free Basics Really Bringing More Africans Online? A Case Study From Ghana
A group of Global Voices contributors tested the Free Basics app in six countries across the globe this spring. Here's what we found in Ghana.
Menstrual Hygiene Products Are Not Luxury Goods: Indian Rural Women Speak Out
Are menstrual hygiene products luxury goods? Women in India are voicing their doubts.
Hell on Earth in Chittagong: Floods Wreak Havoc in the City
"The waterlogging in Chittagong has worsened today. It seems nobody cares. God save everyone."
Truths From the Front Lines of Climate Change in Europe’s Far North
"It should be about taking care of what we have left… It’s not only us Saami that pay the price. We will destroy our planet."
Ghana's Social Media Scene Opens New Spaces for Public Debate
"Today, Ghanaians on social media are quick to make permutations of what number of public schools, hospitals, roads and sanitised water systems could have been constructed..."
Georgian Women March Against Misogyny and Racism
“I’m not too hopeful that the change will come soon, but we will do our part to push for it.”
Dhaka Citizens Show Mayors Red Card for Failure to Control Mosquito-Born Diseases
"No, Mr. Mayor, nobody has called you to fix mosquito nets inside their homes. You were given the responsibility to kill mosquitoes so we don't require mosquito nets..."
A Water Weed Is Damaging Ethiopia's Largest Lake and Putting Livelihoods at Risk
The lake has become a symbol of the dire state of Ethiopia’s natural resources at a time when Ethiopia’s fast-growing population needs more of everything.
In Bangladesh, Fear Drives Headline-Making Spate of Snake Killings
"The mainstream media is spreading the news with enthusiasm. This is leading to more people being interested in killing these animals."
One Year Later: Why the Purges in Turkey Were Always in the Pipeline
"What has happened in Turkey is a tragedy, made even worse by the fact that the loudest voices in the chorus said the wrong things at the wrong time."
An Indian Woman's Eco-Friendly Venture Creates Paper Gifts That Grow Into Plants
"Just think about it, the packets that end up on a street corner or in a dump grow into a plant."
How Are Boys and Girls Supposed to Sit, Walk, and Dance? An Experiment in India's Gujarat
Pink versus blue, pretty versus brave: the childhood landscape is mined with pernicious gender stereotypes that dictate how we behave as adults.