Extraordinary things also happened in 2024: A dozen good news stories to end the year

It’s clear that 2024 hasn’t been a year of good news. Conflicts have increased in number and intensity. According to the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), there are currently 56 conflicts taking place around the world, involving 92 countries, a figure not seen since World War II. Some of them worry us more — such as Ukraine, or Gaza, where the death toll officially exceeds 45,000 — but there are also others that receive much less attention, such as the conflicts in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Haiti.

All wars involve displaced people and refugees, sexual crimes against women, hunger, as well as neglected and sick children. This year, climatic ravages have also increased, from extreme heat in the Sahel to terrible flooding in various parts of Asia.

At EL PAÍS, we’ve been at the scene of these news stories. We returned when the emergencies were over and also reported on important events that happened in places that aren’t usually reported on in the press. These events will have terrible repercussions on local populations, and their repercussions may also reach closer to home.

To cite just a few examples: we travelled to the Gambia, where there was a threat of decriminalizing female genital mutilation. We reported from Ghana — whose minerals reach many Western countries, but leave the local population mired in poverty and disease — and Senegal, where the great dream of young people seems to be to migrate. We also were in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other countries affected by mpox.

However, even amidst these painful and complicated crises, hopeful news emerged that surprised and moved us. This selection — published by EL PAÍS throughout 2024 — is proof.

Masago’s wedding escape

At the age of 17, Naishorua Masago — a Masai girl from northern Tanzania, known by everyone as “Nai” — managed to escape the wedding her father had planned for her. She’s now going to continue her studies. All of this is thanks to the support and strength given to her by members of a council of female shepherds. For more than 20 years, these women have been trying to change deep-rooted traditions and defend the most basic rights of women and girls in their community.

The fight against AIDS in Philippi

Philippi struggles with crime, rubbish and poverty. But in this neighborhood on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa, a pilot health project is also underway that could change the lives of thousands of people, especially women and girls who are often forced to have unprotected sex. It consists of administering — free of charge, voluntarily and discreetly — the so-called CAB-LA, or injectable, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a preventive treatment that stops contagion and contains antiretroviral drugs, which are similar to those used to treat people carrying the virus. The treatment protects the cells of the immune system from infection.

Aljazzar’s new batteries in Gaza

Keeping a cellphone charged is vital for survival in Gaza. But in the Gaza Strip — devastated by more than 14 months of war — there is no electricity. From his displaced person’s tent in the south of this besieged Palestinian territory, Abdallah Aljazzar — a young graduate in English Literature — has devised a system of panels and batteries. Each day, this allows him to charge dozens of his neighbors’ devices. It was difficult to raise the money to buy new batteries and find someone to sell them in Gaza — where humanitarian aid comes in dribs and drabs — but it was achieved and the system continues to function.

Pakisoni’s snails

Three million Malawian farmers have relied on climate-smart agriculture (CSA) initiatives to restore soil fertility and improve crop yields. These often involve simple practices, such as composting or intercropping (growing two or more crops in the same field at the same time). The sustainable control of snails — until recently seen as a pest — has also been a factor. Now, instead of spraying them with chemicals, farmers like Eleniya Pakisoni see them as an unexpected way to make a living.

Ramírez’s return home

Osmín Ricardo Tobar Ramírez will never forget the date of January 9, 1997. He was seven-years-old when agents from Guatemala’s Attorney General’s Office entered his house and took him and his brother away. This was after a complaint was filed by a neighbor, who stated that the children had been abandoned. “They told me that they would return us in the afternoon, but that was the last time I saw my house,” he recalls. Around 30,000 children from Guatemala were given up for international adoption between 1977 and 2007. In many cases, the processes were steeped in corruption. Some have returned and are helping other people find their biological families. Osmín is one of them: he was adopted in the United States. In 2018, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights condemned the state of Guatemala for the irregular adoption of him and his brother.

The return of Papa Idrissa Aidara

Since he was a child, Papa Idrissa Aidara was fixated on the omnipresence of “Made in China” tags on his clothes, toys and everyday objects. At 19, he won a scholarship to go to study in Shanghai. He then returned to Senegal and, today, he owns a hotel in Saint-Louis, in the north of the country. From there, he is carrying out efforts to promote agritourism.

Senegal has about 18 million inhabitants, but there are an additional three million citizens living in the diaspora. The authorities of the African country are trying to encourage the return of many of these migrants. “But there’s no support for investment, nor partnership [with the state]... it’s very difficult. The diaspora could play a big role in job creation, but small businesses aren’t encouraged. Getting a loan is almost impossible,” Aidara stresses.

Fighting misinformation in Ghana

A Muslim candidate who eats pork, or a Christian candidate who’s apparently an alcoholic: various elections have been marred with different images that have been altered, thanks to artificial intelligence. These examples are just some of the misinformation spread during the electoral campaign for the December elections in Ghana. To stop them, several local fact-checkers joined together and created the Ghana Fact-Checking Coalition (GFC). They also established alliances with civil society organizations and journalists to circulate verified information. For example, over 100 radio and television stations spread across the 16 regions of Ghana collaborated with the GFC to publish their fact-checks in some 45 local languages.

Raingou’s voice

It took Cyrielle Raingou seven years to film her documentary, The Spectre of Boko Haram (2023). The director lived through the danger of the jihadist group in Cameroon, but also dealt with the sexism that questioned her authority during filming, the stereotypical vision of African cinema by Western countries, as well as the lack of funding received by projects made by female directors on the continent. Her voice — narrating her achievements and her difficulties — was centered at the FCAT African Film Festival, which is dedicated to African female film directors.

A small victory for Dr. Li

“Perhaps the greatest threat to health of our time comes from our changing climate.” This is according to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO). The interconnection between the two realities was made clear during the organization’s 77th World Assembly in June. That’s when 194 member states of the United Nations voted unanimously in favor of a resolution, in which they committed to integrate climate change into national health policy planning, to equip health personnel adequately so that they can respond to the effects of global warming and to carry out periodic assessments regarding which populations are most vulnerable to the climate crisis, in order to better protect them. This is the battle that Ailan Li — assistant director-general for Universal Health Coverage at the WHO — has been fighting for years. She notes that, for instance, in countries such as Peru, “deadly dengue epidemics are increasingly intense, magnified by rising temperatures and rainfall exacerbated by climate change.”

Okeyo fights the stigma of AIDS in Africa

Ruele Okeyo records himself taking antiretrovirals on the beach, while he’s about to board a plane, at the supermarket checkout and in a restaurant. This 27-year-old Kenyan human rights activist — who has 91,000 followers on TikTok — doesn’t hide his illness. He uses social media as a loudspeaker against stigma, hoping to convey a positive message to those who have just discovered that they’re HIV-positive or living with the virus. Other influencers in his country — as well as in other nations, such as Rwanda or Namibia — have also decided to stop hiding the disease, which affects more than 25 million people across the African continent, according to the World Health Organization.

Egypt says goodbye to malaria

More than 3,300 years after the death of Tutankhamun — who apparently had malaria — Egypt has been freed from this disease, thanks to almost a century of collective efforts in public health. One of the keys to Egypt’s success in this process has been to expand the population’s access to health services — especially public ones — and bolster the training of professionals in the sector when it comes to detecting and combating the disease. It has also been essential that malaria diagnosis and treatment are free and universal, as well as the fact that there has been no recent shortage of medicines.

Ahmadi’s godmothers

When the Taliban entered Kabul in August of 2021, Waheda Ahmadi fled home with practically just the clothes on her back. Days later, this young woman and her family landed in Spain. Ahmadi is still coming to terms with the “sadness of being a refugee.” On her immigration journey, this 20-year-old has been accompanied by a group of Spanish women. Going to the supermarket together, taking walks, or rehearsing for a job interview are some of the activities of this women’s network — called NetWomening — which has provided support to dozens of women who fled Afghanistan, so that they can restart their lives.

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