Stay ConnectedDiscover the people and the projects trying to make the world a better place.
A weekly programme looking at common challenges around the world and the creative ways people are trying to tackle them.
Presenter Myra Anubi speaks to reporters, experts and innovators to investigate how effective different solutions are, share their successes and inspire listeners with what is possible.
Copyright: © (C) BBC 2022
A good childcare system is essential in most modern economies. Yet in many countries, childcare is only available to the wealthy, and the burden of care falls disproportionately on women - effectively barring them from the workforce.
People often point to Scandinavian countries as the gold standard in childcare, but in other corners of the world people are working with women and communities to set up affordable childcare solutions - enabling mothers at the bottom of the income scale get back into the workforce and helping children get a head start.
We travel to Burkina Faso to visit a project that brings mobile childcare to parents working as outdoor manual labourers – to benefit both the economy, children's safety and ensuring future generation get access to education. And we visit Nairobi’s informal settlements, where one company is breathing new life into existing childcare centres.
Presenter: Myra Anubi Producer/Reporter: Lizzy McNeill Series Producer: Tom Colls Sound Mix: Gareth Jones Editor: Penny Murphy
Email: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk Image: Childcare in Kenya (Credit: Daniel Macharia, Kidogo)
Harassment and violence on public transport is a global issue. We look at initiatives aiming to make commuting safer.
In Indonesia, we take a ride on the Pink Bus which serves only female passengers. The city has one the most dangerous transportations systems in the world for women, with high levels of harassment. The scheme hopes to provide them with a safer journey.
And in Germany, we look at a new kind of CCTV that uses artificial intelligence to spot aggressive situations in real-time that’s soon to be trialled on trains in Germany. The company behind the technology says it could transform safety on the railways.
Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporter: Farhana Haider Indonesia reporter: Nicky Widadio Series producer: Tom Colls Sound mix: Neva Missirian Editor: Richard Vadon
Email: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk Image: The Pink Bus (Getty Images)
Reporter Rosie Blunt spent years getting help for her endometriosis - a condition which has symptoms including debilitating pain and infertility.
She's on a quest to find new ways of treating the disease and bringing down diagnosis time.
That mission takes her to Hungary to test out a medical centre that doubles as a thermal spa and meet Adrienn Salamon, who has created an app that's helping women get the information they need for an earlier diagnosis.
Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporter: Rosie Blunt Series producer: Tom Colls Sound mix: Gareth Jones Editor: Penny Murphy
Email: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk Image: Adrienn Salamon
Across the African continent, people with disabilities are often stigmatised. The discrimination they face can impact their ability to go to school, find a job and even to feel safe.
We look at the projects trying to change people’s attitudes and help people with disabilities flourish.
We speak to Lilian Dibo Eyong, who is trying to change attitudes to people with disabilities in Cameroon.
In Uganda, we visit the “silent café” - which is run by deaf people and you order in sign language.
And we test out a virtual reality game designed in Nigeria that’s helping people understand what it’s like being a child with an autism spectrum disorder.
Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporters: Eric Mugaju and Craig Langran Producer: Ann Hepburn Series producer: Tom Colls Sound mix: Hal Haines Editor: Penny Murphy
Email: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk Image: Lilian Dibo Eyong
More than 100 million people have been forcibly displaced from their home around the world – fleeing conflict, natural disasters or persecution. Millions end up in refugee camps, living in tents.
Around the world, designers and architects are trying to improve the lives of these displaced people, by improving the temporary homes they’re living in.
From prefabricated shelters made using Swedish flat-pack design methods, to the homes made from scratch using local knowledge and materials, we meet the people trying to replace tents with homes that have a little more dignity.
This is an updated repeat from August 2022.
Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporter/Producer: Farhana Haider Producer: William Kremer Syria Producer: Ali Haj Suleiman Production Co-ordinator: Ibtisam Zein Sound mix: Hal Haines Executive producer: Tom Colls Editor: Penny Murphy
Photo credit: Ali Haj Suleiman Description: Kafirjalas IDP camp Idlib, Syria
Meet the oceans’ unsung hero.
Human activity is having a huge impact on the world’s oceans - global warming, pollution from fish farms and damage from the fishing industry are all threatening some of the oceans most important ecosystems.
But one creature might be able to help. The humble sea cucumber – an animal in the same family as starfish that looks like a lumpy sausage and lives on the ocean floor.
We meet the Australian researchers using drones to count the cucumbers to understand how their poo is helping coral reefs. And in Madagascar, we speak to the local communities which are learning to sustainably farm the creature, protecting the seas and increasing their income along the way.
Presenter: Myra Anubi Producer/Reporter: Lizzy McNeill Series producer: Tom Colls Sound mix: Annie Gardiner Editor: Penny Murphy
Email: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk Image: Sea cucumbers (Getty Images)
Thousands of women are infected with HIV every week in Africa. Many can't persuade their partners to wear a condom, so it was hoped that a new form of protection could be a real game-changer.
It's a small silicon ring which encircles the cervix and releases antiretroviral drugs, lowering the women’s risk of contracting HIV. Their partners aren't supposed to feel it, and so shouldn't even need to know it’s there.
People Fixing the World first reported on the HIV ring five years ago. We find out what’s happened since.
Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporters: Ruth Evans and Rosie Blunt Series producer: Tom Colls Sound mix: Annie Gardiner Editor: Penny Murphy
Email: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk Image: Agnes holds up a dapivirine ring
Food waste from hotels and the heat from computers are being used to provide new sources of energy.
In the fight against climate change, it is of vital importance to find new ways of making our energy go further.
We visit Goa in India, to hear how food waste digesters - that turn waste into gas for cooking – are springing up everywhere.
And in server centres around the world, we explore how the heat generated by running the internet is being re-used by local neighbourhoods.
Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporters: Chhavi Sachdev and Craig Langran Producer: Claire Bates Series Producer: Tom Colls Sound Mix: Annie Gardiner Editor: Penny Murphy
Email: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk Image: Richard Dias from Flycatcher Technologies
Meet the people using the healing power of forests to help improve physical and mental health.
In forest therapy, people are taken into the woods and taught to use what they see, hear and smell to calm their minds.
This kind of therapy has its roots in the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku or “forest bathing”, which was developed in the 1980s.
Myra is joined by Gary Evans, founder of the Forest Bathing Institute, to experience some of the relaxation techniques of forest bathing.
We also hear how forests are helping people recover from depression and addiction in Hong Kong and Costa Rica, and look into the scientific evidence for its effectiveness.
Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporter: Carla Rosch Producer: William Kremer Series producer: Tom Colls Sound mix: Hal Haines Editor: Penny Murphy
Email: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk Image: A woman in a forest (Getty Images)
Clearing up pollution can be a messy and expensive task, but around the world people are harnessing the power of plants to do the job for them.
We hear how water hyacinths are going from hated weed to providing communities with a greener water filtration solution; how plants in the Niger Delta are helping rejuvenate land drenched in oil and devastated by fire and ask whether plants could be the future to more environmentally friendly mining.
Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporter: Georgina Rannard Reporter/producer: Lizzy McNeill Producer: Zoe Gelber Series producer: Tom Colls Sound mix: Hal Haines Editor: Penny Murphy
Email: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk
Image: A water hyacinth (Getty Images)
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