Beliefs in ritual purity and untouchability have not just prevented rural India to access toilets but have also led to a lack of proper maintenance of these facilities. Thus, rather than just financial constraints, issues of casteism act as barriers to making India open and defecation free.

Sri Lanka's government said restrictions on access to social media platforms came a day after protesters defied a nationwide curfew to demand government accountability.

This nine-year-old Nigerian boy has been declared cancer-free after readers of two UK newspapers raised £216,000 for his treatment. Nathaniel Nabena had gone to the UK from his hometown in Bayelsa, Nigeria, in September 2020 to get a prosthetic eye after his left eye was removed due to cancer.

DOCi is a platform for health services delivery that closes the accessibility gaps of traditional channels. DOCi mobile app link users to healthcare professionals in their localities in the process reducing travel and waiting times and address problems of access, unpredictable cost, service quality, and choice of provider.

US President Joe Biden signs two executive orders, including one scrapping a ban on US funding for abortion counseling provided by international organizations and ordering a review of rules under Donald Trump's administration that blocked government-funded family planning clinics in the United States from referring women for abortions. Biden also signs an order expending healthcare access, adding the move is to "undo the damage Trump has done".

Nearly 90 million people in Nigeria live in extreme poverty. Many have no running water, electricity or adequate sanitation. The government now wants to ensure that everyone at least has access to a working toilet.

An agreement between the United Nations and Ethiopia will offer a glimmer of hope for thousands struggling to find food and medicine.

On Guardian talks, Nkem Okocha, Founder/CEO, Mamamoni shares how she is helping disadvantaged and rural women get access to finance for their business and how to rebuild the economy of Nigeria's most-vulnerable women post-pandemic.

Social Media giant, Facebook is building a 37,000-kilometer-long undersea cable around Africa that will provide better internet access. The sub-sea cable will interconnect 23 countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.