CONAKRY / RABAT - Thanks to Chinese investments, the West African nation of Guinea is on track for annual economic growth of 10 percent. But Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah does not want the country to become too dependent on China and is also inviting Europe to invest. Morocco, too, is undergoing rapid transformation. New jobs are being created, but the old inequalities remain.
LEUVEN – Over the course of six episodes, the Wonderzoekers explore some major human themes: shame, language, beauty, imagination, homesickness and lying. In doing so, Palmers and Pierlet combine scientific insights with personal stories, humour and fiction.
MECHELEN - Youth care center Juneco is a multicultural hub that houses 15 unaccompanied foreign minors aged 12 to 18 in Belgium. The young people grow up here without their families, creating close friendships.
MATAM - As a nine-year-old girl born with exceptional flexibility, Fanta took her first steps in the Amoukanama circus group, which consisted of boys. Even then, Fanta dreamed of a professional career as an acrobat. However, her family did not approve. Five years later, Fanta still cherishes the same dream and faces the same practical family objections.
AFRICA - New generations always dream big. Daaf Borren travelled through some 16 countries in Africa, fascinated by their stories. From Mali and Congo to Ethiopia and Mauritania: this is an atypical travel book, in which you not only cover many kilometres, but also travel along to the future.
BEIROET / JERUSALEM / DAMASCUS - The ‘Arab Spring’ of 2011 had huge consequences: dictators fell, wars followed, the refugee crisis came. Now the Middle East is in a new maelstrom, from Gaza and Lebanon to Syria. Do younger generations see hope alongside misery?
BISHKEK - Kyrgyzstan is a country where Russian influence is still very strong. While other global players such as Europe and the West are increasingly vying for influence in the region, conflicting interests can be observed.
OXKUTZCAB - An estimated five million elderly parents in Mexico have been separated from their undocumented children living in the US for decades due to strict border policies, with little hope of being reunited.
CLUJ-NAPOCA / VALENI - As the European Union grows eastward, many children in Eastern Europe are left behind in their home countries while their parents go to Western Europe for better economic opportunities.
SOFIA/BUDAPEST - When people think of adoption, they think of poor countries in the global south. However, Flanders and the Netherlands adopt children from other European countries, such as Bulgaria and Hungary. This cross-border investigation shows that Roma children in these countries are discriminated against and end up in the adoption system due to stigma, poverty and a lack of support for families.
BRUSSELS - Two young people are growing up in a world that is destroying itself. They each seek their own path and test how far they are willing to go in their actions.
OOSTAKKER - November 1967. The police raid the Martens-Sotteau orphanage in Oostakker. Following the report of a social worker, it is suspected that the children there are being abused. Father O., Capuchin and confessor, and the guardian P.J. were arrested.
BRUGGE - In Europe, children sometimes end up in prison. Not because they have done something wrong, but because they are the (unborn) child of a convicted, accused or interned woman. Bruges prison even has a special ward where young children can live with their imprisoned mothers.
UKRAINE - Is there room for healing and recovery in the midst of wartime? With that question, photographer Emiel Petrovitch and writer Johannes Decat traveled to Ukraine. Their answers are contained in a series of articles.
TUNIS - When Tunisians initiated the Arab Spring in 2010, a challenging transition to democracy began. Nearly a decade later, Kais Saied, an independent candidate, came to power. He stealthily implements his political agenda, dissolving parliament, arresting the opposition and targeting the media and electoral commission. Many Tunisians speak of a true coup d'état.
RIO DE JANEIRO - Vila Cruzeiro is one of Rio de Janeiro's most dangerous slums. People are living in poverty surrounded by a drug war. After far-right president Jair Bolsonaro took office, shootings between police and traffickers are much more frequent. Violence in the neighbourhoods is only increasing.
BRUSSEL - Onder het gezag van commandant Walter Van Dyck volgen de jonge rekruten van het Belgisch leger een basisopleiding tot militair. Aan de hand van rollenspelen wordt hun toekomst als beroepssoldaat verbeeld.
KISANGANI - The Children of Eastern Congo tells the story of two young people from the same region around Goma: child soldier Isaac and activist Rebecca.
BRUSSELS - Nature and the climate are not doing well and that does something to a person. Increasingly, the psychological impact of the climate and biodiversity crisis is coming to the attention of the public. Young people would be especially sensitive to this, research indicates. MO* organised a panel and asked young people how they felt.
Shortage of sign language interpreters: fight to be heard
BRUSSELS - Wout Van der Steen is an 8-year-old deaf boy from Wuustwezel. His parents are happy to let him go to a mainstream school, where he is entitled to an interpreter of Flemish Sign Language. This interpreter translates everything, both what the teacher says and what his classmates say.
ANTWERPEN - After images of her were non-stop circulating online, 13-year-old Destiny took her own life. For her, it was the only way out of all the judgements and hurtful comments. In a physical murder, the killer is visible. But who is to blame when everyone online has participated in the murder of your child?
ANTALYA - Two shy young men start to work in an all-inclusive hotel. A new, absurd world opens up to them. Colourful swimsuits, an abundance of food and the management’s demands ensure they will never be the same again.
RONSE - Is the voice of the children still heard? For some time now, there has been no real motivation to invest in youth. That results in a salvo of cries for help from youth councils and youth movements. Robbe Vandegehuchte investigates in Knack the local youth infrastructure through various cases in Ronse.
BEIRUT - The report 'Draining the well of young dreams' portrays these young adults alongside urban landscapes that reflect the current situation in Beirut.
BRUSSELS - In 2013, the Belgian television programme Panorama delved into the world of urban black gangs. The members spoke openly about life and survival on the streets of Brussels. Now, eight years later, they look back on their tough youth. Did they succeed in choosing the right path? Does the past still haunt them?
BRUSSELS - 'Back to Bled' is a contemporary story about the connection between the city and the countryside, starting in multicultural Brussels. The core of the documentary is friction; friction between city and countryside, ecology and economy, healthy versus cheap, connected versus uprooted.
BRUSSELS - How will this pandemic shape the next generation? The middle class is fighting a valiant battle to reconcile family and professional life, but the vulnerable are fighting the same battle with more limited resources.
Congenital malformations due to war and famine in Yemen
SANAA - Yemen already suffered from a high rate of birth defects and infant mortality before the war, due in part to intrafamily marriages and lack of family planning, but the hospitals we visited in three different provinces are adamant that there has been an unprecedented increase since the war.