Active Citizens

How Mangroves Save Lives, Livelihoods of Bangladesh Coastal Communities

By Rafiqul Islam Montu
Golenur Begum has faced 12 cyclones in her life. As a child, she witnessed her father’s house destroyed, and as an adult, she watched her home smashed. Saltwater brought by the tidal surges that accompanied the cyclones wrecked their farms and livelihoods.  And with climate change, these impacts are becoming more intense and frequent.

From Grief to Action: Demands for Democratic Renewal in the Balkans

By Inés M. Pousadela
Three catastrophic events in the Balkans have sparked powerful movements for systemic change. A train collision that killed 57 people in Greece, a nightclub fire that claimed 59 young lives in North Macedonia and a collapsed railway station roof that left 15 dead in Serbia have ignited sustained anti-corruption protests in all three countries. These weren’t random tragedies but the culmination of systemic failure – neglected safety regulations, illegally issued permits and compromised oversight – with corruption the common denominator.

Hungary’s LGBTQI Amendment an Affront to Human Rights, Say Activists

By Ed Holt
A controversial amendment to Hungary’s constitution has left the country’s LGBTQI community both defiant and fearful, rights groups have said.

In Zimbabwe, Farmers Are Leading Scientific Research on Conservation Agriculture

By Farai Shawn Matiashe
Migren Matanga grew up shying away from small and traditional grains in Rushinga, in northern Zimbabwe. The 58-year-old mother of four from Toruzumba village relied on maize and cotton, one of the major cash crops in the area at the time.

World Press Freedom Day 2025
Call to Protect Elections from AI ‘Information Pollution’

By Naureen Hossain
The prevalence of artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the flow and access of information, which has a wider influence on how freedom of expression is affected. National and local elections can demonstrate the particular strengths and vulnerabilities that can be exploited as AI is used to influence voters and political campaigns. As people grow more critical of institutions and the information they receive, governments and tech companies must exercise their responsibility to protect freedom of expression during elections.

Lawyer-Turned-Activist Bhuwan Ribhu Honored for Leading a Campaign to End Child Marriage

By Stella Paul
Bhuwan Ribhu didn’t plan to become a child rights activist. But when he saw how many children in India were being trafficked, abused, and forced into marriage, he knew he couldn’t stay silent.

Lives at Risk After Some States Withdraw From Landmine Treaty

By Ed Holt
As a string of European states announce withdrawals from a global treaty banning antipersonnel landmines, campaigners are warning countless lives could be put at risk as decades of progress fighting the weapons come under threat.

World Press Freedom Day 2025
Global Press Freedom Index Falls to Critical Low

By Ed Holt
Global press freedom across the world is at a “critical moment,” campaigners have warned, as a major index mapping the state of global press freedom hits an unprecedented low.

Indispensable—Native Hawaiian Elder Says of Indigenous Ocean Management Systems

By Joyce Chimbi
Indigenous people play a vital role in ocean protection due to their deep-rooted connection to the marine environment and their traditional knowledge of sustainable resource management. They often possess centuries-old practices and stewardship ethics that prioritize ecological balance and community well-being.

Tanzania’s Women Miners Digging for Equality in a Male-Dominated Industry

By Kizito Makoye
Under the scorching Tanzanian sun, Neema Mushi wipes sweat from her dust-covered face and swings her pickaxe into the earth. The impact sends dust swirling into the air, coating her tattered clothes. She barely notices. For the past eight years, this has been her life—digging, sifting, sieving, and hoping to strike gold in the male-dominated pits of Geita. It is a grueling task riddled with obstacles.

‘Noboa Did Not Receive a Blank Cheque: He Will Have to Show Tangible Results’

By CIVICUS

 
CIVICUS discusses Ecuador’s presidential election with Jorge Tapia de los Reyes, Coordinator of the Democracy and Politics Department and the Political Funding Observatory of the Citizenship and Development Foundation (FCD). FCD is an Ecuadorian civil society organisation that promotes participation, citizen monitoring and open government.

Smallholder Farmers Are Not ‘Beneficiaries’, but the ‘Co-Creators of Change’

By Naureen Hossain
Eliud Rugut comes from generations of farmers, yet his family expected him to move out of their home and pursue another career.

Want To Fix the World, Ubuntu (Humanity to Others) Can Help

By Busani Bafana
The world needs an urgent fix and humanity could just be it.

Global Disability Summit Galvanizes Education Support for Crisis-Impacted Children with Disabilities

By Joyce Chimbi
Of the nearly 234 million children and adolescents of school age affected by crises, 85 million are already out of school. At least 20 percent of them—or 17 million—are children living with disabilities.

Bangladesh’s Ethnic People Safeguarding Forests and Wildlife

By Rafiqul Islam
Kishore Kumar Chakma, a young man from an ethnic community in Rangamati district, voluntarily guards a village common forest (VCF) so that none can hunt wild animals and fell trees from it.

Epilepsy Patients in Africa Fight Stigma and Neglect

By Promise Eze
When Angela Asemota’s son began having seizures at six years old in 1996, people gossiped that he was possessed by evil spirits, leading her to seek healing from native healers and religious clerics. He underwent several traditional rituals and drank various concoctions, but the seizures persisted. It was not until his fourth year in secondary school in 2004 that she took him to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with epilepsy and began taking medication.

Papua New Guinea: Years of Environmental Clean Up Ahead Following New Report on Abandoned Bougainville Mine

By Catherine Wilson
Local communities are finally witnessing progress in their mission for justice, 36 years after the Panguna copper mine in Papua New Guinea’s Autonomous Region of Bougainville became the centre of landowner grievances about environmental damage.

Nuclear Testing in Kazakhstan Documentary Showcases Urgent Need for Nuclear Abolition

By Naureen Hossain
The documentary I Want to Live On: The Untold Stories of the Polygon exposes the lifelong impacts of nuclear testing in Kazakhstan’s Semey region. As a third-generation survivor born in Semey, international relations legal expert based in New York, Togzhan Yessenbayeva said she was aware of the “profound impact” that nuclear testing has had on her community and environment. She remarked that the tests in Semipalatinsk have left a “legacy of challenges” that people must deal with to this day.

Siddis of India—a Unique Community Moves Into the Mainstream With Tourist Venture

By Rina Mukherji
The Siddi community, descendants of slaves from Africa, is now becoming more involved with mainstream enterprises, including a forest homestay venture—which is changing their fortunes after years of discrimination on the Indian subcontinent where they were originally enslaved.

International Women’s Day, 2025
Rule Breakers: The Compelling True Story of Afghan Girls Who Risked All to Learn

By Joyce Chimbi and Naureen Hossain
Like the Afghan robotics team, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises in the United Nations, is breaking the 'rules' and continuing to educate young women in that country despite an edict from the Taliban denying girls a secondary school education.

International Women’s Day, 2025
UN: Women’s Rights Face ‘Unprecedented’ Pushbacks

By Naureen Hossain
Girls and women worldwide are facing growing threats to their security and rights, from threats to their education access to severe poverty and multiple forms of violence. In 2024, nearly one in four governments worldwide reported a backlash to women’s rights, as a new report from UN Women reveals.
« Previous Page — Next Page »
*#*