It’s always encouraging to hear that a Monitor story has had a particular impact. We thought you’d like to know of a recent example.

In April, staff writer Howard LaFranchi wrote about the dramatic change achieved by a group of teenage girls in India who decided they’d had enough of the alcohol-fueled mismanagement of their rural community. Their story caught the eye of Anagha Krishnan, a young Indian-American who founded TheGirlCodeProject in 2016 to connect girls with technology. Anagha, who immigrated to the United States when she was 12, and who hails from the same Indian state as the teens, contacted Howard.

What followed was a Skype call between Howard in the United States, Anagha in Vietnam (where she was setting up another project), and the girls in India. The teens cheerfully waved their copies of the Monitor Weekly so Howard could see they’d received them. Anagha asked the girls if they would commit to sharing with other villages what they have learned about driving change and progress. They enthusiastically said yes. This week, Anagha is talking to her organization’s board about making Thennamadevi its first undertaking in India.

Today is World Refugees Day. The United Nations reports that 68.5 million people were displaced as of the end of 2017. Of those, 16.2 million became displaced during 2017. As the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said, “We are at a watershed, where success in managing forced displacement globally requires a new and far more comprehensive approach.” 

Now, to our five stories.