Transgender Pakistanis find solace in a church of their own

Rates of problem behaviors and emotional issues among students are high - over 3 million elementary and secondary school students are suspended a year. To remedy the problem, a new program for educators delivers lessons on how to help students navigate their emotional lives.

Often social programs at schools fail because they are not implemented fully or over a long enough period. One school in Philadelphia attributes their success in decreasing violence to having a long-term principal, a stable teaching force, and formal training in anti-violence programs.

Harassment on the internet is more accepted but just as harmful as it is in person. RiotGames, a game publisher, decreased abuse by enabling its gaming members to decide and enforce community norms.

The Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence in Quebec has expanded rapidly, becoming a model for programs around the world. What sets it apart from projects in Europe and the United States is that it confronts extremism of all stripes — not just Islamist — and focuses on behavior that signals the risk of violence, not just radical ideas, only involving law enforcement as a last resort.

In Montana, an elementary school is changing the dynamics around bullying and suicide through the Say Something Assembly program, which helps create an environment for students to feel safe and empowered to speak up. Montana has the highest rate of suicide in the country and the assemblies are designed to help youth understand it's OK to be struggling and to seek help. School officials also offer a companion program of support from trusted adults who can continue engaging and helping students.

Coaches and players around the world are using sports to teach boys about masculinity and the importance of integrity, both on and off the field. From cricket in India to rugby in Fiji, games are used as a foundation for teaching important life lessons and values. As a result, young men participating in these programs have been found less likely to show aggression and more likely to believe abuse against women is wrong.

Portland-based NGO, Micah Challenge USA, uses scripture to reach Evangelicals about climate change. The organization partners with legislation-making initiatives, travels to Christian colleges, and contacts national and local leaders urging them to join the Climate Solutions Caucus. Underpinning every initiative is a core strategy: climate change is causing people to suffer, especially those that are experiencing poverty, and as Christians, they are called to help the poor and end their suffering.

On World Toilet Day in 2014, the Kenyan government promised to build 180 public toilets in an ambitious move to combat the issue of public sanitation. The program went well once the keys were handed off to the National Youth Service of Kenya as a means of income, but issues quickly arose that could not be resolved because of a lack of further funds. The youth has since transformed their toilets into a rental space for local churches, such as Christ Miracle Church for All Nations in Laini Saba.

For 28 years, the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Special Investigations, stripped more than 100 people of U.S. citizenship and deported them for their direct participation in Nazi war crimes. The most successful Nazi-hunting operation in the world, OSI’s painstaking investigations – historical research combined with criminal sleuthing and international diplomacy – pried needed records from other nations’ files in order to prove that post-war refugees who ended up in America had immigrated under false pretenses, hiding their true role in the Holocaust’s extermination camps.

Fearing that consistent homophobic street harassment by a resource center for queer youth was detrimental to their mental health and safety, activists set up a weekly counter protest to drown out the harmful messages. The counter-protest grew from a single person to the Pride Corner on Whyte movement with several hundred social media followers. Over time, the participation of dozens of unhoused and housed queer and trans youth provided opportunities for social service outreach, including a mentorship program that paired youth with older queer and trans participants who offer friendship and emotional support.