Human Rights

As a Humanitarian Crisis Engulfs Afghanistan, Education Cannot Wait Makes Urgent Appeal for Access to Quality Learning for All Children

By Alison Kentish
After leading a landmark, first-ever all-women mission to Afghanistan last week, Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait, the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, says that schools must reopen for all children and that girls, in particular, must be able to return to secondary school classrooms.

In Glasgow, Indigenous People Pound the Table for Their Rights

By Emilio Godoy
"For my people, the effects of climate change are an everyday reality. The rainy season is shorter and when it rains, there are floods. And we've suffered droughts." said Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, a member of the Wodaabe or Mbororo pastoral people of Chad.

Zimbabwe’s High-Risk Cross-Border Trade

By Marko Phiri
Thirty-six-year-old Thandiwe Mtshali* watched helplessly as her informal cross-border trading (ICBT) enterprise came to a grinding halt when the Zimbabwean authorities closed the border with South Africa as part of global efforts to stem the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus.

Daughters of a Lesser God (I) 800 Million Girls Forced to Be Mothers

By Baher Kamal
Imagine your child, your daughter, being genitally mutilated and, further on, sold or even handed over for free to an older man who will force her to become a child mother, when her body is still far from being formed and thus able to bear with a so early pregnancy.

Indigenous Communities & Human Rights Defenders Under Siege in Colombia

By Celia Umenza Velasco
On 21 October, I had the honor of addressing the UN Security Council at the annual open debate on Women, Peace and Security. I spoke as a member of Cxhab Wala Kiwe, which means “Great People’s Territory” in the Nasa Yuwe language, also known as ACIN—Association of Indigenous Councils of the North of Cauca—in Colombia.

Fighting Dengue Virus with Biological Weapons

By Zofeen Ebrahim
Twenty-three-year-old Sarah Tajammal felt a sense of “impending doom” as she fought high fever, nausea, bouts of vomiting and extreme fatigue after being diagnosed with dengue two weeks back.

From Taliban to Taliban: Cycle of Hope, Despair on Women’s Rights

By Heather Barr
Secondary schools have reopened for boys but remain closed to the vast majority of girls. Women are banned from most employment; the Taliban government added insult to injury by saying women in their employ could keep their jobs only if they were in a role a man cannot fill—such as being an attendant in a women’s toilet. Women are mostly out of university, and due to new restrictions it is unclear when and how they can return. Many female teachers have been dismissed.

COP26: Climate Emergency Includes Threat of ‘Nuclear Winter’

By Norman Solomon
When world leaders gather in Scotland next week for the COP26 climate change conference, activists will be pushing for drastic action to end the world’s catastrophic reliance on fossil fuels.

Climate Crisis Fuels Exodus to Mexico, Both Waystation and Destination

By Emilio Godoy
In September, 31-year-old Yesenia decided to leave her home on the outskirts of the northern Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, driven out by violence and the lack of water.

Illegal Immigration: A 21st Century Crisis

By Joseph Chamie
Illegal immigration is a 21st century crisis that will only worsen with the consequences of climate change.

Egypt Must End State Oppression of Women and Girls

By Nimco Ali and Reem Abdellatif
The fate of Egyptian women and girls delicately hangs in the balance as the country continues to have one of the worst records in the world for gender equality. With oppression often state-sanctioned, Egyptian women face a daily struggle against sexual harassment and other violations of their basic human rights, including institutionalised violence.

Disarmament Week? But Hundreds of Nukes Can Be Launched Within Minutes

By Baher Kamal
Hadn't it been so worrisome, it would be ironic to hear that humanity is to mark the World Disarmament Week (Oct 24 to 30, 2021) barely six months after learning that the world’s biggest military powers had spent last year some 2,000,000,000,000 US dollars on killing machines.

World’s Deadliest Malaria Parasite Dominance in Africa Could Be Over – Experts

By Joyce Chimbi
One morning in 2016, Lillian Nekesa's 3-year-old woke up with flu-like classic symptoms of malaria. This was not Kevin's first encounter with the killer disease. Kevin was nonetheless not immediately rushed to Busia County Referral Hospital for advanced treatment in keeping with his severe symptoms.

For Girls, the Biggest Danger of Sexual Violence Lurks at Home

By Mariela Jara
"During the pandemic, sexual violence against girls has grown because they have been confined with their abusers. If the home is not a safe place for them, what is then, the streets?" Mía Calderón, a young activist for sexual and reproductive rights in the capital of Peru, remarks with indignation.

Big Brother is Watching You– as Electronic Surveillance Dominates Lives

By Thalif Deen
The British novelist George Orwell’s “1984” characterized a dystopian society where people were restricted from independent thought and were victims of constant surveillance. Published in 1949, it was a prophecy of the future with the underlying theme: “Big Brother is Watching You”

Artist Asks Uncomfortable Questions at Paris Fair

By SWAN
How does injustice make you feel? Do you see yourself as a perpetrator, or as a victim? Is there any such thing as neutrality? These are some of the questions that Dorian Sari asks through artwork, which includes blurry photographs with violently shattered glass frames.

Bringing Quality Education to Syria’s Most Vulnerable, Crisis-Impacted Children – Their Education Cannot Wait

By Alison Kentish
In war-torn Syria, the support of Education Cannot Wait (ECW) – the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises – is bringing positive, life-changing educational opportunities tailored to children like 11-year-old Ali.

10 Days to Defeat 2547 Miles of Pain

By Rosi Orozco
They call it the Tlaxcala-New York Route. Between one end and the other, there are 2547 miles. An infamous road that today is one of the most important channel for human trafficking gangs. And a route seemingly impossible to destroy because of its million-dollar profits.

Guess Who’s Behind Paralysis on COVID19 in the UN Committee on World Food Security

By Nora McKeon
‘COVID 19 has multiplied hunger and malnutrition challenges. We need transformative action!’ The first speaker at the UN Committee on World Food Security’s (CFS) 49th Plenary Session, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, turned the spotlight on the disastrous impacts of the pandemic that have afflicted communities around the world for close to two years.

We Will Never Give Up the Slavery Reparations Fight, say Caribbean Rastafarians

By Alison Kentish
The Rastafarian organizations in the Caribbean are determined that the issue of slavery reparations will emerge from the eclipse of COVID-19. As the world deals with the impacts of efforts to contain the virus’ spread and regional governments tackle vaccine hesitancy and a wave of misinformation, issues not directly related to COVID-19 have had to be temporarily shelved.

Winning the Human Race, Together

By Yasmine Sherif
“Now is the time for a stronger, more networked and inclusive multilateral system anchored in the United Nations,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his latest report “Our Common Agenda.” Indeed, there is a fork in the road: we can either choose to breakdown or to breakthrough.
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