For the report on recruiting international skilled workers to Germany, the akzente team even donned surgical gowns. Chippy Bose Shaila, a nurse from India, took us into the operating theatre of a district hospital in the foothills of the Alps to give akzente readers an inside look at her day-to-day work.

Our report and an interview on the WIN NRW.Africa exchange programme show how start-ups from North Rhine-Westphalia and Nigeria are jointly driving innovation. During a break at the Digital Hub Bonn, videographer Deniss Kacs filmed entrepreneurs from Nigeria playing table football.

Kick it like Inonge Kaloustian: after her interview with akzente on menstrual health, the Zambian national player showed off her football skills – much to the surprise of reporter Luca Rehse-Knauf, who got to practice his ball receiving skills.

Surrounded by fragrant medicinal plants, photographer Soren Pessoa joined Lizeth Jiménez from Costa Rica as she harvested the plants. In a multimedia report from a village at the foot of the Turrialba volcano in Costa Rica, we report on ways to secure a steady income and new job prospects for women.

Since akzente first interviewed regional politician Aida Al Khattab (left) around five years ago, the exuberant Jordanian has stayed in touch with GIZ Component Manager Shatha Alawneh (right) and reporter Brigitte Spitz. The three women get on well. Their next visit resulted in a second report on strong women in Jordan.

Our journalist Katrin Gänsler travelled around the Nigerian megacity of Lagos with Oluwatobi Adegun. His organisation Verde Impacto teamed up with GIZ and other partners to pilot an e-waste project designed to promote Africa’s recycling industry. The report headlined ‘Taking recycling to another level’ describes how the project supports informal e-waste workers.

Farmers from a Senegalese cooperative welcomed our author Katrin Gänsler in their midst. The women gave our reporter a vivid account of how the déliberation (ruling) allowing them to use the land has changed their lives. Find out more in ‘No one can chase us away from here now’, our report on the new law.

Southwestern Bangladesh is home to the world’s largest mangrove forest. Our team of reporters were so enthralled by the UNESCO World Heritage Site, its people, animals and stories that they brought back not just one but two multimedia reports: ‘My neighbour, the Sundarbans World Heritage Site’ and ‘Custodians of the Sundarbans’.