Photo: Bhargava Marripati/Unsplash (CC0)
In today’s edition: Mexico begins the gradual introduction of universal healthcare, Thailand announces a new law criminalising sexual harassment, and a nonprofit organisation creates modular playgrounds for children in war zones.
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has announced the initiation of a process to make sure all 120 million citizens can access any public medical institution. The first phase will start on April 13th, with the rollout of a new Universal Health Credential for those aged 85 and older.
Source: The Deep Dive
Over the past two years, an additional 5 million km² of ocean has been brought under protection. Advances in satellite tracking and machine learning are also strengthening enforcement, making it more accessible for countries with limited resources and vast marine territories, such as Palau.
Source: Oceanographic
A recent amendment to Thailand’s Penal Code, along with a new “take it down” mechanism, aims to improve protections against online harm. The measures are designed to better protect women and girls nationwide by encouraging the faster removal of abusive content, as well as strengthening legal consequences for offenders who harass people offline.
Source: UN Women
Divorced couples in Japan will be able to negotiate joint custody of their children from Wednesday, in the first major change to the country’s laws governing child-rearing in more than a century. Previously, Japan’s Civil Code required couples to decide which parent would take custody of their children when they divorce.
Source: The Guardian
With weather extremes now becoming more likely in Europe, housing corporations across the Netherlands are adopting rainwater storage in garden fences, reducing pressure during downpours and preserving water for times of drought.
Source: The Guardian
Playrise is a nonprofit that designs modular, portable playground equipment and furniture for children living in disaster zones and refugee camps. The structures are built from simple wood components that can be assembled easily and customised with colourful accessories like monkey bars, hammocks, basketball hoops, and climbing ropes.
Source: Good Good Good
In Los Angeles, peer support specialists are offering mentorship services rooted in their own lived experience within prison. Prism Way is a nonprofit that trains formerly incarcerated individuals to guide others through trauma and the challenges of reentry into society.
Source: Reasons To Be Cheerful
The more than 100 bat species living in the Mozambican reserve’s labyrinth of caves play a key role in maintaining a fragile ecosystem that benefits wildlife and people thanks to one particular substance: guano. Developed over time from bird and bat faeces, guano is a rich, potent, organic material that is home to cave-dwelling beetles, frogs and salamanders.
Source: The Guardian
In rural Palestine, where olive trees have long shaped cultural identity, a growing replanting movement has seen tens of thousands of saplings planted across the West Bank. Supported by customers of the UK-based fair trade company Zaytoun, the olive trees are reviving communities and sustaining Palestinian families amid decades of land loss and upheaval.
Source: Positive News
The iconic birds disappeared from the city during European colonisation – but one by one, these animals are returning to the forest. Thanks to an ambitious refaunation project, for the first time in centuries, the much-loved birds and other lost species are coming back to the city’s national park.
Source: The Guardian
