World in Progress | Deutsche Welle

Germany's increasing role in humanitarian assistance // 70 years of the Geneva Conventions: why humanitarian law is not enough to protect civilians in war // And: when kids become mothers - we meet a young girl in Ecuador who's among the increasing number of children who become pregnant there

Big international alcohol companies are now targeting the African continent. With sales stagnating in Europe and the US, Africa's growing middle class, and young people in particular, are being tapped as the market of the future.

As the fighting dies down in some parts of Syria, we travel to the war-torn country to meet with recently returned refugees. And we speak with the unwaveringly optimistic head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Achim Steiner, to learn more about how he tackles some of the biggest humanitarian challenges facing the world today.

How can we be better prepared for disasters like floods fueled by climate change? We hear from one of China's sponge cities how it's done. The Rio Grande in New Mexico was once an impressive river, but it's no longer what it used to be. How are locals coping? And how bikes can change lives.

On this week's show, why public school teachers are on strike in Chile, how girls from an Indian slum defy inequality by learning how to code, and how a radical policy change in Mexico is having real consequences for migrants coming from South and Central America, as well as Leros — the Greek refugee haven with a difference.