Active Citizens

Alternative Destinations Emerge as Cuba Gets Ready for Tourism Boom

By Ivet González
Along the road to the Viñales valley, travelled by thousands of tourists to Cuba, lies the home of self-taught artist Miguel Antonio Remedios, which he has turned into a sort of museum to show visitors a wooden home typical of this mountainous area in the west of the country.

Shifting Sands: How Rural Women in India Took Mining into their Own Hands

By Stella Paul
Thirty-seven-year-old Kode Sujatha stands in front of a hut with a palm-thatched roof, surrounded by a group of men shouting angrily and jostling one another for a spot at the front of the crowd.

U.S. Provides Cover for Use of Banned Weapons in Yemen

By Thalif Deen
The United States is providing a thinly-veiled cover virtually legitimising the use of cluster bombs – banned by an international convention – by Saudi Arabia and its allies in their heavy fighting against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Opinion: Mexico’s Gruesome War Against Migrants

By Carolina Jiménez
“Pray for me.” Those are the last words Eva Nohemi Hernández Murillo told her mother, Elida Yolanda, through a patchy phone line on the evening of Aug. 22, 2010.

The Future Tastes Like Chocolate for Rural Salvadoran Women

By Edgardo Ayala
Idalia Ramón and 10 other rural Salvadoran women take portions of the freshly ground chocolate paste, weigh it, and make chocolates in the shapes of stars, rectangles or bells before packaging them for sale.

Global Web Movements Lift Democratic Decision-Making to a New Level

By Britta Schmitz
In recent years, online activism platforms have multiplied to the degree that they are starting to have a significant real world impact in areas like environmental protection, human rights and public policy.

Islamic Declaration Turns Up Heat Ahead of Paris Climate Talks

By Kitty Stapp
Following in the footsteps of Pope Francis, who has taken a vocal stance on climate change, Muslim leaders and scholars from 20 countries issued a joint declaration Tuesday underlining the severity of the problem and urging governments to commit to 100 percent renewable energy or a zero emissions strategy.

Time to Work Out a Plan C for Greece

By Pavlos Georgiadis
Just over a month ago, Greek citizens were asked to go to the polls for a referendum that posed the country with an unprecedented existential dilemma and challenged the EU with the possibility of its collapse.

Latin America Should Lead in Protecting the Planet’s Oceans

By Marianela Jarroud
Latin America should assume a position of global leadership by adopting effective measures to protect the oceans, which are threatened by illegal fishing, the impacts of climate change, and pollution caused by acidification and plastic waste.

Kashmir: Where a Pilgrimage Threatens a Delicate Ecosystem

By Athar Parvaiz
As he struggled to find a section of the stream clean enough to rinse off his muddy shoes, Mohan Kumar, a Hindu pilgrim on his way to the holy Amarnath shrine in Indian-administered Kashmir, gazed with despair over the filth that lay thick on the landscape.

The U.N. at 70: Leading the Global Agenda on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality – Part Two

By Lakshmi Puri
The efforts of the United Nations and the global women’s movement to promote the women’s rights agenda and make it a top international priority saw its culmination in the creation of U.N. Women, by the General Assembly in 2010.

Nuclear Deal Could Offer Glimmer of Hope for Jailed Journalist in Iran

By Nora Happel
As Iranian-American journalist Jason Rezaian awaits his verdict, human rights advocates and press freedom groups continue to condemn the trial and call for his immediate release.

Clan Wars Increase Displacement, Hinder Development in Papua New Guinea

By Catherine Wilson
The charred foundations are all that is left of the homes that made up Kenemote village in the mountainous Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea in the southwest Pacific Islands.

The U.N. at 70: Leading the Global Agenda on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality – Part One

By Lakshmi Puri
If there is any idea and cause for which the United Nations has been an indispensable engine of progress globally it is the cause of ending all forms of “discrimination and violence against women and girls, ensuring the realization of their equal rights and advancing their political, economic and social empowerment.

New Label Defends Family Farming in Argentina

By Fabiana Frayssinet
It’s pouring rain in the capital of Argentina, but customers haven’t stayed away from the Bonpland Solidarity Economy Market, where family farmers sell their produce. The government has now decided to give them a label to identify and strengthen this important segment of the economy: small farmers.

Tiny Island Nation Pleads for Global Moratorium on New Coal Mines

By Thalif Deen
The tiny island of Kiribati in the Central Pacific, with a population of about 103,000, has long been identified as one of the U.N. member states threatened with physical extinction due to sea-level rise triggered largely by climate change.

HRW to Honour Six Human Rights Defenders

By Jaya Ramachandran
Governments around the world are obliged to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms, regardless of their political, economic and cultural systems, according to the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights.  But reality is far removed from international covenants.

U.N. to Unleash “Power of Education” to Fight Intolerance, Racism

By Thalif Deen
The United Nations is planning to launch a global campaign against the spread of intolerance, extremism, racism and xenophobia -- largely by harnessing the talents of the younger generation.

South African Women’s Day Highlights Need for More Change

By a Global Information Network correspondent
Recognition of the indispensable role played by women in defeating apartheid was the focus of countless speeches, film showings and even fashion shows as the country paused this week for National Women’s Day, a public holiday.

Opinion: Time for the World to Protect and Value its Young Human Rights Defenders

By Clara Fok and Sara Vida Coumans
There’s a deep irony that as people around the world mark International Youth Day on Aug. 12, hardly any attention will be paid to the shrinking space for young human rights defenders who increasingly find themselves on the receiving end of government repression. 

Protests Greet Japan’s Relaunch of Nuke Power

By Kitty Stapp
Protesters rallied outside Japan's Sendai nuclear plant a day ahead of its planned opening and four years after the Fukushima disaster galvanised opposition to nuclear power in the country.
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