Welcome to the first 2026 edition of Global Good News, where we share stories of progress to inspire hope. While the challenges facing women, girls, and gender-nonconforming people remain complex and deeply urgent, we begin this year grounded in optimism – because through Rise Up Together’s work to advance gender justice, real, measurable change is taking shape across communities around the world. 

One story that embodies this change comes from Sarmad Muhammad Soomar, a Rise Up Leader and Senior Instructor at Aga Khan University. In 2019, Sarmad received seed funding from Rise Up Together to author and publish a storybook called Wo Kahani (“That Story”). His vision was simple yet bold: to challenge harmful gender norms and help children in Pakistan imagine equity, leadership, and care.  

“At the proposal stage, it was difficult for me to even write that we would work with 200 children,” Sarmad shared. “Today, in 2026, we’ve distributed our 5,000th book and worked with our 5,000th child – through a vision created during my time with Rise Up Together.” 

What started as a single authored storybook has grown into the Wo Kahani Network, now reaching over 5,000 children across more than 60 cities in Pakistan, with pilot programs in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Kenya, and the UAE. “Personally, this growth affirms my belief that children’s voices, creativity, and lived experiences matter and that they deserve safe, inclusive spaces to express themselves,” Sarmad told Rise Up Together. “It has also strengthened my motivation to continue working at the intersection of gender, education, and health, as I have seen firsthand how storytelling can build empathy, challenge harmful norms, and inspire social change.” 

Wo Kahani fills a critical gap in children’s literature. Across Pakistan and many other countries, storybooks often reinforce rigid gender roles, rarely showing girls as leaders or boys as caregivers. Sarmad’s book flips that script. By centering diverse characters, shared caregiving, emotional expression, and children as active protagonists, Sarmad’s storybook challenges the assumptions children absorb about who they can be and what they can do. 

In communities where traditional gender norms are deeply entrenched, Wo Kahani gives children a new language and framework for imagining equity and possibility, helping them internalize that leadership, care, and creativity are not limited by gender. 

Because we know that gender norms formed in childhood solidify into the systemic barriers women face in adulthood – limiting access to education, influencing health outcomes, and constraining economic opportunity – early interventions like Wo Kahani are critical to reshaping harmful beliefs and advancing gender justice at its roots. 

Sarmad’s journey illustrates the power of supporting leaders to innovate locally while thinking globally. Seed funding from Rise Up Together provided the initial resources to develop the book and disseminate the first copies. 

Since then, Sarmad’s initiative has grown far beyond what he initially imagined. “Seeing Wo Kahani evolve into a network reminds me that small, values-driven initiatives can scale when they are rooted in care, collaboration, and a clear purpose,” said Sarmad. 

This is Global Good News in action, a reminder that lasting change takes time, persistence, and the right support to truly transform communities. As a Rise Up Together alum, Sarmad’s journey shows what’s possible when leaders are trusted, resourced, and supported to drive long-term change. 

“I had wings,” he shared. “Rise Up Together helped me learn how to use them.”