In Egypt, traditional gender roles mean many women grow up without access to education. But change is coming. Small schools, established with the help of UNICEF, are opening their doors to both sexes, and young girls like Yusriya are grasping the opportunity to learn with both hands.
Hassan has a degree in business, but he doesn't commute to an office every day. His place of work is a farm 200 kilometers from Cairo. And it isn't even land in the fertile Nile Delta. Strangely, it seems, Hassan has chosen to farm in the desert.
Jordan has introduced modern farming technology to overcome the challenge of feeding its population of five million. Only five percent of Jordan?s land is arable, yet with assistance from the government and FAO, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, the country can now feed its population and export produce to more than thirty-three countries in the Middle East and Europe.
Sepehr is an Iranian environmental blogger reporting on climate change and how it's affecting his country. His reporting has spurred protests and attracted media coverage that has protected natural areas from harmful development.
Thanks to Brother Andrew de Carpentier, deaf children in Jordan have a place of their own to learn. In addition to academic and vocational training, the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf matches up younger children with older mentors to foster a spirit of self-assurance that helps them grow into confident and independent adults.
Problems arise when people simply do not understand one another. At the community school in Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam—named in both Hebrew and Arabic—children learn both languages at a very young age, thus cultivating a spirit of communication and mutual understanding. The village is a true rarity, as Jews and Palestinian Arabs live together in cooperation and respect.
Garbage is piling up everywhere in Amman, Jordan, and when it ferments, methane gas is released into the atmosphere. The United Nations Development Program, UNDP, the Danish Government, and local officials are working with the Global Environmental Facility to harness the gas and convert it to electricity for use within Jordan.
New York Times reporter Nick Kristof has been covering gender and poverty issues for decades. His new documentary is called Half the Sky - Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, inspired by his widely acclaimed book of the same name. Speaking at the World Affairs Council in San Francisco, Nick talks about the value of investing in women across the globe.
In the West Bank and Gaza, children experience violence at many levels, both from the ongoing conflict and due to local cultural beliefs and practices. UNICEF and the European Commission have been running projects to promote "nonviolence," enabling children to learn about their rights and how to protect themselves.
In Hebron, human rights organization B'Tselem is giving children video cameras to document their daily lives, hoping that it will lessen violence between Palestinians and Jews.
