Belgium was named the fastest country in Western Europe to have decreased its meat consumption. The city of Ghent has been holding Thursday Veggie Day for the past 10 years now in an effort to fight climate change, curb world hunger, and improve health. The government of Belize recently strengthened its wildlife protection laws when, in 2017, it decided to end all drilling and oil exploration activities around the Belize Great Barrier Reef. Belize is also the first country in the world to ban the cruel practice of bottom trawling. Benin is leading the way in gender equality. The government is also finding ways to encourage women’s participation in parliament and boost their ability to become farming entrepreneurs.

During the Rohingya refugee crisis in Myanmar, the people of Bangladesh opened their arms to over 900,000 Rohingya refugee in 2017. Barbados has also instituted protection laws that watch over the welfare of our animal friends. Various animal rights organizations have formed to rescue, rehabilitate, and re-home animals. The Belarusian government is fully supportive, even granting visa-free entry to citizens of 79 countries, including all Western states, with plans to lift other restrictions to speed up to country’s path to an even more modern and prosperous future.

A unique gateway country linking southwest Asia and Europe, Azerbaijan is a resilient nation that has transformed from being caught in conflict to becoming a beacon of peace, stability, and a prospering democracy, all within just a few decades. Ever since gaining full independence in 1973, the Bahamas has been on a steady path to improve its citizens’ lives through nature conservation, economic development, and social programs. Bahrain has been making great strides in social and economic development. It has a high Human Development Index and is recognized by the World Bank as a high-income economy.

“Âu Lạc” is an ancient name of Vietnam. My spiritual Master, the most wonderful Supreme Master Ching Hai, has loving reminded us to use this beautiful name to address our country to bring prosperity and peace to the land. And I’m positive that it helped! The name “Âu Lạc”has two meanings.“Âu Lạc” means “âu ca lạc nghiêp,” which means prosperity and happiness. That is “âu ca lac nghiêp.” “Âu Lạc” also means Âu Cơ and Lạc Long Quân who were our ancestors. So the word Âu Lạc is very good. Very, very lucky. That word brings luck to the country.

Our country is also on track to increase its solar and wind energy to 20% by 2025. But here comes the best changes of all: Believe it or not, Argentina, formerly known as the world’s second-largest beef-eating nation, is steadily going vegan! Buenos Aires is now home to over 60 vegan and vegetarian restaurants, with many other places offering plenty of plant-based options. As the owner of one Buenos Aires vegan restaurants has said, “Veganism is on the rise. Each year more and more people are starting to see animals differently.”

In recent years, in God’s love and through unprecedented blessings from Heaven, people are becoming more open; governments are enacting benevolent new measures. In 2018 Andorra opened its arms and welcomed its first Syrian families, joining bigger European countries in a life-saving humanitarian corridors project. In 2002 Angola signed a peace agreement that ended three long decades of sorrow. In 2016 Antigua and Barbuda the government worked with all the countries supermarkets to ban plastic bags. Now, both humans and animals enjoy a much cleaner, healthier environment! And so blessed are we to have a good government that is also committed to ensuring the health of its people.

In recent years, Afghanistan has made remarkable progress in peace and stability. The President, His Excellency Ashraf Ghani, offered an unprecedented, unconditional peace to the Taliban in 2018. Albania is seeing positive changes at its borders with Kosovo. Albania's prime minister, His Excellency Edi Rama, and the prime minister of Kosovo, His Excellency Ramush Haradinaj, signed a number of cooperation agreements in November 2018 to remove barriers between the two neighboring countries. Algeria has been recently building brotherly relations with many countries.