All Points of Progress
- Progress WatchHIV/AIDS: What's behind the decline in new infections
The amount of newly infected individuals worldwide is down 38 percent since 2001 and investment in prevention and better access to care are credited.
- Progress WatchAfghanistan: Women's rights make big gains
A record amount of girls are in school in Afghanistan and the Constitution guarantees equality before the law. Can a decade-plus of success withstand Western withdrawal?
- Too young to be a bride? More countries aim to curb child marriage.
The world is making steady progress toward reducing child marriage, which is closely linked to chronic poverty and health problems.
- Progress WatchMore than half a million square miles of land have come under protection since 2012
More than 15 percent of terrestrial and inland water areas around the globe are now under protection. The United Nations established a target of 17 percent by 2020.
- Progress WatchChild labor: Number of children involved is shrinking every year
Eleven percent of the world's children – about 168 million – are currently subjected to child labor, but between 2000 and 2012, the number of children involved was cut by one-third.
- Progress WatchGender gap has narrowed in more than 100 countries
In recent years, many nations have reduced wage gaps, increased female college enrollment, and expanded the role of women in government. But there's still work to be done – a recent report estimates that complete gender equality in economic participation and opportunity remains decades away.
- Progress WatchFish in American waters are experiencing population rebounds
Nearly two dozen species of Pacific groundfish, including snapper, Dover sole, and dogfish, and Atlantic haddock, among others, are all making a comeback. The rebounds can be attributed to the passing of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the US management system.
- Progress WatchUS worker deaths have declined steadily for past two decades
The rate of fatal workplace injuries in the US is 25 percent lower than it was in 2006 and it's been trending downward for the past two decades, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The decline in certain dangerous occupations, as well as better regulations, have contributed.
- Report: Fewer people in the world are malnourished
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the number of chronically undernourished dropped from 18.7 percent of the total population to 11.3 between 1990 and 2014. More than 60 developing nations have halved the number of undernourished people in their populations since 1990.
- Progress WatchLand mines could be almost completely gone within a decade, experts say
The tide first began to turn against land mine use in 1997 when 122 countries signed the Mine Ban Treaty, and the number of land-mine casualties has decreased almost every year since then, reaching its lowest recorded point in 2013.
- Progress WatchJob market: Consumers' confidence rises across the globe
In every region except Latin America, consumers now expect the job market to be good or excellent in the coming year. The number is the highest since before the Great Recession.
- Progress WatchSince 1990, billions more have access to clean water
More people worldwide have gained access to an 'improved' source of drinking water, or one that is not likely to be susceptible to outside contamination, says the World Health Organization.
- Progress WatchDeforestation: Brazil is a success story for conservation
In key regions, private firms and governments are taking action.
- In US, a decline in domestic violence
In the two decades since the United States Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act, domestic violence has declined dramatically.
- Progress WatchUN Millennium Development goals: World cuts extreme poverty in half
UN Millennium Development Goals report shows how 'bold targeting' has reduced the gap between boys and girls attending primary school, malaria mortality, and the number of people living without improved water sources.
- Progress WatchObesity among young children fell 43 percent in past decade, CDC says
Changes to a federal nutrition program and Michelle Obama's nutrition and exercise campaign may have played a role in the dramatic decline in early-childhood obesity, some say.
- Antismoking crusade has saved 8 million lives in 50 years, study says
The surgeon general first warned of the dangers of smoking 50 years ago this month. The antismoking campaign that grew from that report has added 157 million years to lives that would otherwise have been cut short, a study says.
- Progress WatchPoland takes top honors for 'most improved' in cutting red tape
It's getting easier to do business in many countries, according to a World Bank report, with Eastern Europe and Central Asia making significant strides this year.
- Progress WatchNeither heat nor gloom ... Afghan post office delivers
As the Afghan government struggles to develop, the post office has quietly managed to become one of the nation's most efficient institutions - and with extremely limited international assistance.
- Progress WatchGot broadband? Access now extends to 94 percent of Americans.
Every year, Internet access via broadband becomes available to millions more Americans, up from 92 percent last year to 94 percent, a recent report shows. Rural and tribal areas are the outliers.