>> welcome to "global 30!" drought is a pressing issue across much of india. w can farms irrigate their crops using as little water as possible? christmastime is usually high season in bethlehem. we report on a city of pilgrimage without its pilgrims. and a fascinating documentary tells thstories of seven young activists who want nothing less than to transform our future. these three might be young but what they' achieved in their lives so far is nothinshort

of heroic. take greta thunberg. her termination to fighthe climate crisis has given rise to the biggest global youth movement of our time. and boyan slat. at 16 heecided to ckle pltic pollutn -- thecean cleanup has attracted worldwide support. and malala yousafzai whose efforts to secure an education for rls in paktan woher e nobel pee prize. but many children are doing a huge amount -- as one documentary reveals. >> excuse me, would you like to eat this? >> yes >> it's italiananini. >> thank y. you' really tokind. i haven'seen my children for a year a a half. that's hard! but when i see you it's incredible.

it's ju the wayhingsmania happenednow i'm uck here >> filming this scene was a deeply moving experience for rector gilles de maistre. though he's on ten, arth has been distributing food and clothes to homeless people for ars. he deeply adred in theown wherhe lives >> ahur, you c't carry a the worls pain on ur shoulders. >> i still want to try, it's not that hard. papa, yes, we can relieve everyone's suffering and turn it into hainess. >> arthur sells pictures he paints himself and uses what he rns to help people who are homeless. his determination to not simy accept things as ty are currently filming in senegal. his fi about children whois want to change the world i what hcoiders his st

important project to date. >> we showed the film to about a thousand children in the small town of les sables de gne in southwestern france and discussed it with them afterward. the next day, the cinema's owner went for a walk-in town. heame across seral gros ofhildren who were setting up a community kitchen for the homeless and handing out foo he asked them what they were up to. tbefore and wanted do whaten arthurwas doing.nema the day >> de maise and his mera acmpany children from all over the world who are fighting back, in eope, asia,merica and west africa. 12-year-old aissatou from guinea was oraged when femalelassmate w marri off. officially, child marriages are bannedn guinea y more than has arminors. aiatou start a foundatn for girls that fights against child marriages.

>> hello, we're here today to talk about child marriages. you know tt our pares marry us off becse they'reoor. plea, aunties,isters, dot gives away. don't marry your girls off. why should gir likus have to gthrough th? we have no rights. why do we have to suffer under this violence? >> as soon as aissatou hears about a child marriage, she goes saight to t police an tries stop the legal proceedings. this child bride was supposed to marry her cousin who is more than 30 years d. she's the 16th girl aissatou has been able to rescue. >> the children are taking a huge risk. th get pushed arnd, beaten and demonized, yet thekeep disrupting child marriage services to prevent them. they're very brave.

>> in peru, there's now a cooperative eco-bank founded by josé adolfo. his young clients can bring in plastic ste and per, and i exchan get aredit to tir ba accounts. one of to is use their savings to buy school supplies. >> to en an account, youeed sikilos ofaper and peruvian soles. there's also eco-sre where you can buy food, school supplies, d householgoods. clients who can't afford it can take out a microcredit which they pay bk monthl that means everyone has enough to eat and can continue their little mey. many thas!thery >> josé adolfo, aissatou and arthur are exceptional young people, who are tackling the world's injustes. the film portrays them as glowing examples to others, showing that it'possible for children to make a difference,

even if ults sometes have to help t a bit as well. jé's assisnt is his ther! adults ve to unrstand thathildren cado more than just py, do homerk and ty up their bedrooms. i want them to take kids seriously -- that's what i'm fighting for. >> you learn a lot. i've learned so much from him. >> tomorrow belongs to us is a powerful film that encourages not only cldren, butdults o. >> girlsre strong very rong. >> that's right. >> we shouldn't wait for politicians like angela merkel or emanuel macron to solve the wod's problems like hung and homelessness. i want my own and all other

children to see what the film shows, thaeveryone can do somethg to solve problems, the extremy talentednd the less talented. millions of pele all doing a little something, is what will change the world. >> arthur, for onetill has big plans. wants tbuild a shelter forill chthe homeless.d. the film seems fitting for the time of year -- christmas, the christian festival of benelence and charity. the city of bethlehem figures large as the birthplace of jesus. but bethlehem has endud a lot over the centuries -- occupation by 11th century crusaders for example, ottoman and then british rule, and the second intifada in 2002, when israeli troops moved into the city. >> so bethlehem's residents are no stranger to turmoil. in 1949 the city, which is just a few kilometers from jerusalem, became part of the west bank.

recent years have been more peaceful -- attracting tourists and pilgrims -- particularly during the christmas period. 2019 saw a record 3 million visitors -- many from poland, romania and italy. and this year looked set to dazzle too. but then came the pandemic. christians from all over the world usually flock here to celebrate christmas. >> but not this year. the pandemic has put pay to that. the mood is far from festive. it's more melancholic and gloomy. for many here, no visitors means no income. this street is full of wood-carving workshops. only one is still open. the craftsmen create nativity figures and scenes by hand. it's a minor miracle that they

have any work at all. and that is thanks to their boss, who was determined not to be beaten by the coronavirus crisis. jack issa giacaman is a christian. he learned the craft of woodworking from his father and grandfather. before covid-19, he'd always sold the output of his factory at his store next door. but since march, his jesus, mary, joseph, and shepherd figures in olivewood have been waiting in vain. like countless others in bethlehem, jack was sitting at home with nothing to do. he knew he had to come up with some way to support his wife, two daughters, and 22 employees. >> i tell you, this year has been the strangest year of my life. i saw the first intifada, the second intifada, the war against iraq.

ok there was war, but at least you can see people walking around, tourists trying to buy things, but this year you can see zero! nobody even walking in the street. the church is empty. >> the church of the nativity is right around the corner from jack. people here are saying it hasn't been so empty since before the crusades. this footage is from 2019, when three million tourists came to bethlehem. visitors often waited in line for hours to enter the grotto of the nativity in the church's crypt. it was built at the spot where jesus is said to have been born. now we have the chapel all to ourselves. we can relish in the beauty and the tranquility, but it also feels sad and lonely. in the afternoon, a funeral

procession passes by jack's shop. more than 50 covid-related deaths have been registered in bethlehem, and thousands of cases. bethlehem was the first city in the palestinian territories to see an outbreak. it's thought the virus was brought here by tourists. a strict lockdown was imposed in march. the ensuing economic crisis forced jack to get inventive. he recently began selling his wooden figures online. that was quite an innovation for a rather traditional business. and it has brought with it new complications. >> i started to develop models and ideas with the help of a friend, we managed to make some websites for online sales. >> the whole family has since got involved. on the square in front of the church, there's a big christmas tree just like every year. as if the situation were normal. jack's work day is over but his worries aren't.

>> the palestinian government can't support all the people because a lot of people are out of work. there are a lot of people in bethlehem without any income. and here we have very weak, poor, very sad situation. >> the orient palace is the biggest hotel in the palestinian territories. during the christmas season, it would normally be full of christian pilgrims. this year too, many rooms were booked long in advance. but to no avail. it looks as if time has stood still since march. it's extremely tough for the owners. leith abu rumaneh and his family had invested millions in expanding the hotel -- right before the pandemic erupted. but he's not ready to give up hope. he knows what great significance bethlehem has and always will have for his fellow christians.

>> i know tourists who would give anything to be able to visit the holy land at least once in their lifetime. i see it on their faces when they arrive at my hotel. how happy they are, because they find the fulfilment of their faith in bethlehem. >> we've been invited to tea with jack's wife tamara -- and are surprised to see that there is no nativity scene in sight. in the house of a woodwork factory owner! she tells us that she doesn't like wood. jack explains that tamara's father was also in the woodworking business. tamara says that's exactly why she's had her fill of wood. the wood issue hasn't disrupted family life. and they intend to weather the disruptions the pandemic has brought about -- in the hope that tourists and pilgrims will soon be back in their beautiful

and beloved city of bethlehem. >> merry christmas! ♪ >> and now we head to india for our global ideas series. in some parts of the country, water has become a luxury. many farmers would dearly love to irrigate their fields more often. but instead they're forced to use as little water as possible. we headed to a village near the city of udaipur to find out more. ♪ >> the sun is merciless here. rain is scarce. for a long time, the northwest indian climate has been hostile to residents. rainfall here comes in at barely 750 millimeters a year, only a third of the precipitation that falls in mumbai further to the south.

the situation was once dramatic for the families living here and their fields, says 55-year-old farmer hariram gadri. he lives with his family in the small village of bhatkota. >> our crops used to dry out, and our family members were constantly worrying about things like the crops needing water, how to irrigate the fields, and where to get animal feed. >> things have been transformed now though, partly because of hariram gadri. he's what's known here as a "bhujal jankaar." the hindi name means someone who knows all about groundwater. 20 b-j's, as they're nicknamed here, live in the surrounding villages. gadri regularly checks the water levels in the wells and records any trace of rain. >> i used to feel really strange in front of the other

villagers. when i first started taking the measurements, they used to ask me 'what on earth are you doing. >> every now and then yogita dashora comes to see hariram gadri. she works for the marvi-project run by a nearby university in udaipur together with australia's western sydney university. the project aims to help people find ways of dealing with the constant water shortage here. living on location, the bj's are key participants, though they had to be trained up to handle their tasks. >> they didn't have any classroom education until now. so iwas a new experience for them that they have the opportunity to go to college and learn about things and do it. it was like for ten days or seven days for a six month period. but it was big, a big opportunity for them. >> bj's inform the other villagers about the data they've gathered, advising them at meetings like this one.

most farmers here used to rely purely on wheat. it was a lucrative crop, but one which consumed huge amounts of water. now they cultivate a variety of crops, depending on the market situation and the time of year. to do that, they've divided their fields into individual plots. >> we take a piece of land and divide it into four sections. we use one part each for wheat, mustard, ashoka flowers and chickpeas. by doing that, we have enough water and we earn more from our crops. >> anyone who needs water takes some of the precious groundwater from their own well, of which there are millions in india. getting people to only take a bare minimum and leave enough for everyone else was a challenge for the project.

>> before marvi they were basically working against each other. digging their own wells. and weren't concerned about groundwater levels. they were only thinking about their own air and water and that they had water. but now they are thinking that if we will work together and cooperatively and share water among themselves, they can help each other and can re-charge much more water. >> drip irrigation -- a kind o micro-irrigation -- and sprinklers are also helping now. they mean much less water evaporates or trickles away unused on the fields. the new agricultural methods mean farmers here use 70% less water. >> at the department of soil and water engineering in udaipur, scientists constantly monitor the water quality in the region where the bhujal jankaars operate. they compare the results from the various bjs in their

respective regions. once a week the australian project leader links up from western sydney university. he's glad the project has been so well received but adds that there's still a lot to do. >> the important things we want to do in this project, which still need to be done -- developing these village groundwater cooperatives further so that they become reality. and, also, we make sure that farmers are genuinely involved in the processnot justs a lip-service. >> now another app has arrived which collates all the data. in hindi as well, by special request from the bj's. the marvi-project was launched 8 years ago in the states of gujarat and rajasthan, with a planned lifespan of 4 years.

it's been extended several times. and last year it was decided to broaden its reach to take in another 20,000 villages across seven indian states. ♪ >> two children. two continents. one giant problem water. >> i've only ever seen a f drops rain. >> this year, the flood drowned everything. >> how will climate change affect our health and the health of our children? find out more at dw.com/water. water is too often scarce, polluted, ffult to access. in nigeria, water supply problems can have an impact on basic dignity. of the 201 million people living in nigeria, 56% only have access to inadequate sanitary facilities. and a further 23% have no

access to toilets at all -- and have relieve themselves outdoors. gaps in the power supply are a big problem, too. something that's particularly clear in the most impoverished areas of lagos. ago egun bariga is a poor neighborhood of lagos -- an fokehinde samuel is a widow and lives here with her four children. before the coronavirus pandemic, she was already struggling to cover energy costs for her house and to feed her family. it's become even harder since lagos went into lockdown. >> when the coronavirus came, everybody had to stay indoors. lots of milies starv there. we only had food hdouts from private organizations, andcame, sometimes, if you we unlucky,. the help might not reach you. >> here, women do the oking, ually over an open woofire.

ansince this area is not on the grid, people use dies-powered generats to get ectricity. burninthese fossil fuels ansince this area is not on releases greenhouse gases that coribute to imate change. the thoritiehad no car idea abouinformation.sage here, the suey we are rrying her will help us to know the type of energy they use in lighting, in cking and other activities so it's important to get this data a use it to feed into our climataction plato know how we plan our acons to pture thisnformal settlement in lagos. >> c-40 is a network of almost 100 cities around the world -- including lagos -- that promotes climate action. this energy usage survey is being carrd out undeits guidance. the team go do to door.

tthey have already uncoverethe bema reasonshy solar ergy is not used more widely in such informal settlements. >> why are people not going for solar is because one -- they don't have adequate knowledge about it and finance is problem to get a solar. >> but a local mini-power grid is coming to ago egun bariga. the government wants 10,000 solar-powered mini-grids set up across the country by 2023. an environmental ngo teaches neighborhood residents how to set up solaranels. and how to turn daytime sunlight into nighttime street lamps to >> when it is night -- it will be getting dark everywhere -- u can't see from herto thatplal these, you can see far distance. that's the reason why we are

doing is in the mmunities. t>> another problem here is poor that'ssanitation. why we are this is a public toilet. the waste goes straight into thriver ancontaminat the water used for washing a cooking. another o called jticed empowerment inittives cently built this toilet facility, which uses a kind of composting system called a biofil digester to break down the waste. artist mtala gani iwo is contbuting to e project. biofil dig>>ter to break down even some others do dudes come ound, sit wn with me, ask few questions. why are makingt so beautul like this. this painting should be on my hous why is itn toilet? and i tellhem that iwill help attract to the toileto comend use it. and thes good too. it is interesting, and the community hap about it. >> the facility costs $1800 u.s. ito use it, you have to pay the

equivalent of just under one ce. the monegoes towds maintenance and cleaning. >> we just give thanks to go who enghtened thpeople to come andstablish this social mamenity for us in thisg. commity and were still looking for another ngo again who can come to our help to build more toilets because we need four or five toilets in this community. this is one we have he now isma. >> peoe in a egun bari are al happy about the new solar-powered street lights that are going up. kehinde samuel is looking forward to having light during the long evenings. she might eventually bable to do ay with her diesel generator. this wouldave her some muchneedl reducing the area's carbon emissions. >> and at's allrom us at "global 3000." don't forget to send us yo feedback. you can write to us at

global3000@dw.com. and we're on facebook too -- dw global ideas and dw women. see you next time! take care! ♪

01/01/21 01/01/21 [captioning made possible amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >>e need a vaccine that everyone can have free of charge, no matter where you live or whether you are rich or you're poor. we need companies to share all their search so we can make enough safe vaccines for everyone. we need a vaccine owned by all of us. amy: while the united states, britain,