• Record number of new arctic foxes in 2022. Warp News.
• India reports 98.7% decline in Kala-azar cases, the second deadliest parasitic killer globally after malaria. Times Now.
• The U.S. prison population had declined 25% since reaching its peak in 2009. New Jersey and New York have reduced their prison populations over 50% since their peak. The Sentencing Project.
• Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest fell by 61% in January compared to a year earlier. Reuters.

For more good news, check out The Progress Network, and Future Crunch.

• The United States’ PEPFAR program, which has provided over $100 billion in funding to fight AIDS in Africa has saved 25 million lives in the last two decades. The Washington Post.
• In India, almost 79 million households have been provided with access to a tap water connection since August 2019. Financial Express.
• In 2006, India’s maternal mortality rate was 254 deaths per 100,000 live births, one of the highest in the world. By 2020, ASHAs (accredited social health activists) had helped slash the maternal mortality rate by over 60%, to 96 per 100,000 live births. MIT Technology Review.
• In the Philippines, pregnancy amongst women aged 15 to 19 declined from 8.6% in 2017 to 5.4% in 2022. Asia News Network.
• Madagascar to expand access to social protection for extremely poor households. In total, at least 3 million people, or 13% of extremely poor households, will benefit from the project. The World Bank.
• The number of mothers in the United States who smoke cigarettes during their pregnancy has declined by 36% in the last five years. US News.
• A recent Gallup poll found 80% of Americans believe crime has risen. That’s the highest opinion in three decades. However, according to FBI and Justice Department statistics, the violent crime rate today is about half of what it was 30 years ago. CBS Austin.
• It’s the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act which has saved at least 227 species from extinction and helped 110 species to recover including American alligators, bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and humpback whales. E Magazine.
• A bold initiative to regrow 73 million trees in the Brazilian Amazon has delivered almost 20% of its target despite the pandemic and an increase in fires. Conservation.
• Now is the best time in history to love and be loved. The Progress Network.
• Renewables will be world’s top electricity source within three years, IEA data reveals. Carbon Brief.
• More people are living to be 100. Changing America.

For more good news, check out The Progress Network, and Future Crunch.

• Ten good news stories for kids in 2022 including bans to child marriage and corporal punishment. Human Rights Watch.
• A new law protecting women against discrimination and sexual harassment has come into effect in China, the most significant reform to women’s rights in 30 years. China Business Law Journal.
• Simple tweak to colon cancer treatment reduces relapse risk by 28%. Freethink.
• Several products that can analyze your urine every time you pee will be launched during the year. Warp News.
• The unemployment rate hit an ultra-low 3.4%. To find a water mark lower than that, you’d have to go all the way back to 1953. Axios.

For more good news, check out The Progress Network, and Future Crunch.

• Nineteen countries including Eritrea, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Uganda, have reduced child mortality by more than 75% since 1990. Unicef.
• Average net primary school enrollment in Western and Central Africa is close to universal, rising from 50% in the 1990s to nearly 90% today. The World Bank.
• Unemployment rate is the lowest in 50 years. The New Republic.
• Median weekly earnings rose 7.4% last year, outpacing inflation. Biggest pay raises went to Black workers, young people and low-wage earners. The Wall Street Journal.
• Over the first two decades of the 21st century, the disparity between Black and White state imprisonment rates fell by 40%; in 2020, Black adults were imprisoned at 4.9 times the rate of White adults, down from 8.2 times in 2000. Council on Criminal Justice.
• 2022 saw one of the lowest ever death rates from natural disasters. Our World in Data.
• For more sustainable affordable housing, just add mushrooms. Architect David Benjamin is bringing his biology-inspired recipe for construction materials to an affordable housing project in Oakland, California. Reasons to be Cheerful.
• Women in Sierra Leone can finally own land. Quartz.
• Wind farms deliver economic jolt to rural middle America. Pew.
• Wind and solar were EU’s top electricity source in 2022 for first time ever. Carbon Brief.
• Maryland lawmakers eye four-day workweek. Changing America.

For more good news, check out The Progress Network, and Future Crunch.