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The world can sometimes seem full of doom and gloom. So we’re highlighting a few of the many inspiring efforts aimed at making the world a better place.

Two truths

We live in an era of unprecedented problems. We also collectively possess an unprecedented level of resources to solve them.

It’s easy to get swallowed up by relentless headlines about crises, conflicts, and suffering. We face some big and scary challenges: historic levels of inequity, potential climate calamity, a frontal assault on liberal democracy, to name a few.

But it’s important — and motivating! — to remind ourselves that we live in a time with the most resources — in terms of money, education, and technology — in human history. It’s never been more possible than right now to solve big problems.

To give just one example: For much of human history, 50% of babies died before celebrating their 15th birthdays. That is true of just 4% of newborns today. We are living in an age of miracles.

And there are a LOT of people quietly and tirelessly working to make them happen. This week, I met some of them at Google.org’s inaugural Impact Summit in Sunnyvale, California. The event brought together some 500 nonprofit leaders, funders, academics, educators, and techies passionate about making a difference to meet, share ideas, and be inspired. A common theme: how to harness the power of AI for social good.

Here are just a few of the many interesting and inspiring projects I encountered.

– Joe Kraus, Aftershocks Editor

3 empowering projects

1. Empowering refugees with knowledge. 1 million people visited refugee.info in the first nine months after its launch. The website, created by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), enables refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers to access information — in their native language — to help navigate the legal, regulatory, and employment requirements in the most common countries of entry into Europe. The IRC also launched Signpost, a two-way moderated, community-led chat that helps refugees get reliable, real-time information during crises. 8.2 million unique users have accessed Signpost since its launch in 2015.

Why it matters: There are 120 million displaced people in the world today, twice as many as in 2014. Many find themselves in foreign countries where they don’t understand the language, laws, or customs. Having access to real-time information — including the location of safehouses, no-go zones, and humanitarian assistance — can literally be life-saving.

2. Empowering pregnant women to make informed decisions. Jacaranda Health is empowering pregnant women to access real-time medical information and targeted support via free SMS messages. The organisation also trains frontline medical nurses and midwives and provides robust data to governments to help identify healthcare gaps. Jacaranda works in 22 of Kenya’s 47 counties and is expanding into Eswatini and Ghana.

Why it matters: 70% of the 287,000 maternal deaths globally in 2020 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa. Most could have been prevented. Delays in seeking healthcare and gaps in care during childbirth are major contributors to maternal mortality. Jacaranda has helped 2.9 million mothers via SMS to seek and connect with quality healthcare, resulting in a 27% increase in mothers attending the recommended 4+ prenatal care check-ups.

3. Empowering climate action. Leveraging the power of AI, Climate Policy Radar is building the world’s largest open knowledge base for climate law and policy. It enables users to quickly and easily search through thousands of climate change interventions, laws, policies, and litigation cases from every country.

Why it matters: As anyone who’s had the (dis)pleasure of pouring over UNFCCC reports or countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions knows, making sense of climate information is hard. Doing so quickly is impossible (we would know – it took our team 10 months to make sense of climate finance data). Climate Policy Radar’s knowledge base marks a significant step toward making climate information accessible and actionable. With the climate clock ticking, that’s a big deal.

From the ONE Team

• African grains like fonio, pearl millet, sorghum, and teff are reclaiming their place on our plates as “superfoods.” Learn more.
• Nigeria will soon have one of the largest and youngest working populations. ONE dives into how IDA is supporting Nigeria’s economic prospects.
• ONE CEO Ndidi Nwuneli weighs in on Africa’s potential to feed the world at an event about transformative solutions for Africa's future, alongside Jon Batiste and Bill Gates.

The numbers

• 75% of nonprofits say generative AI may be applicable to their work.
• Two-thirds of nonprofits say a lack of familiarity with generative AI is their biggest barrier to adoption.
• 40% of nonprofits say nobody in their organisation is educated in AI.

Quote of the week

“People like to say that ‘information is power.’ But for many, information can be life saving.”

— David Miliband, President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee

What you should read, watch, and listen to:

• The African debt dilemma: unpacking the three unfavourable factors [ODI]
• Debt woes and funding needs in focus as China hosts African leaders [Reuters]
• The Future of Sino-Africa Relations [An Africanist Perspective]
• Why IDA is deepening its partnership with civil society [Devex]

The ONE Campaign’s data.one.org provides cutting edge data and analysis on the economic, political, and social changes impacting Africa. Check it out HERE.

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