Nike Okundaye is an internationally renowned artist specializing in Adire, the traditional Yoruba indigo art from western Nigeria. She has used her craft to overcome a difficult past, and now trains disenfranchised young Nigerian women, including former sex workers in Italy.
Nigeria has had some success in getting more women into government and business. But what about those in the crowded and often violent slums of Lagos? Meet three girls from one of the city's poorest and toughest neighborhoods, all looking for their chance to escape.
In just 20 years, the Nigerian movie industry has grown from virtually nothing to become the third largest in the world, fueled by low-budget films that are shot fast and released straight to video. But perhaps the most remarkable part of this explosion is that it has required almost no government help or outside aid; instead, it's all down to cheap technology and some remarkably driven filmmakers.
Concerned about the health and environment issues created by the absence of public toilets in most Nigerian cities, social entrepreneur Isaac Durojaiye started a unique mobile toilet initiative to provide decent toilet facilities in strategic locations across the country. This video, shot by Magnum photographer Eli Reed, is part of the Rippling project, an Ashoka-Magnum Foundation partnership.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, has the second-highest number of maternal deaths in the world. The Edge of Joy follows doctors, midwives, nurses, and public health educators as they fight maternal death on every front, from preemptive family planning education to expanded blood transfusion services.
The Advance Market Commitment scheme, formulated by the GAVI Alliance, aims to provide more vaccines to the developing world by fixing their price over a 10-year period. Is it going to deliver, what will be the result, and how did global health institutions and the big pharmaceutical companies manage to agree on such a deal?
We know the negative images of Africa: famine and disease, conflict and corruption. But, says Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, there's another, less-told story happening in many African nations: one of reform, economic growth, and business opportunity.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the former finance minister of Nigeria, sums up four days of intense discussion on aid versus trade on the closing day of TEDGlobal 2007, and shares a personal story explaining her own commitment to this cause.
Gas flaring in Nigeria is rampant, even though its toxicity and effects on health and the environment make it a violation of human rights. Tina and Ifie are filming testimonies so that people around the world can see the local cost of oil.
Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice—and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.
The Tokyo International Conference on African Development is more than just a conference. It has become a major global framework for Asia, Africa, and the UNDP to collaborate in promoting Africa's development. Here are five projects working to improve people's everyday lives throughout the continent. Produced by UNDP.
A single bite from a venomous snake can case tissue damage, paralysis, and even death. Antivenoms can keep you alive, but their side effects are often devastating. That's why scientists at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine are working with the Nigerian Ministry of Health to develop cheaper and safer antivenoms.
Malaria kills a million people in Africa every single year. But it is a preventable disease, and now a unique public-private partnership is helping to spread awareness and increase the use of the best defense there is against it: treated mosquito nets.
Dr. Ernest Madu runs the Heart Institute of the Caribbean in Kingston, Jamaica, where he proves that—with careful design, smart technical choices, and a true desire to serve—it's possible to offer world-class healthcare in the developing world.
