UN Women says figure doubled in 2023 amid ‘blatant disregard’ of laws that left women and children unprotected
The proportion of women killed in conflicts around the world doubled last year, with women now accounting for 40% of all those killed in war zones, according to a new report by the United Nations.
The report from UN Women, which looks at the security situation for women and girls affected by war, says UN-verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence also rose by 50% in 2023 compared with 2022.
A key campaign organisation and its sister charity lobbying the Labour Party government to pass a new law on assisted dying has taken significant funds from a billionaire’s philanthropic fund that’s separately ploughed hundreds of thousands of pounds into shady right-wing, Islamophobic think tanks and pro-Israel lobby groups.
As a new bill to introduce assisted dying starts to make its way through parliament, the stakes for chronically ill and disabled people are ramping up fast. However, donor details buried in financial accounts from various charities have revealed the scale of the neoliberal capitalist forces they could be up against.
Assisted dying bill: a well-funded lobbying campaign
Currently, it is a criminal offence in the UK to aid someone in taking their own life via assisted dying – also known as assisted suicide or voluntary euthanasia. However, this could be about to change. Labour MP Kim Leadbeater’s private members ‘Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bills [HL]‘ would allow terminally ill adults with a life expectancy of less than six months to seek medical assistance to end their own life.
On the 16 October, the House of Commons hosted its first reading. Now, it’s set to hold its second reading on the 29 November. In other words, things are moving quickly on this.
Dignity in Dying is amongst the most prolific of lobbying groups pushing for parliamentarians to make it law. And it has been throwing millions of pounds at trying to make it happen.
Follow the money…
According to its most recent annual account, the company had an income of over £2.6m in 2023 alone. This was up from £1.7m in 2022. It spent over £2m of this on a range of PR, media, research, and fundraising activities throughout the year.
Of course, this means the organisation is well-funded for its lobbying efforts. Across the year, the group hosted a parliamentary event, launched an open letter to party leaders, and ran a slick campaign to push for a debate in parliament.
However, if you wanted to know where that £2.6 funds came from, you’d be mostly out of luck. It only provides breakdowns for the types of donations, not who or what, any of it was from. So, all we do know is that:
Nearly £1.4m came from membership subscriptions and donations
Over £472,000 from legacies and bequests
More than £827,000 from “high value donors”
Around £23,000 marked as “other”
Notably though, the accounts don’t define what constitutes a “high value donor” – so it’s possible donors it has lumped in the first category may also have made sizeable contributions. Regardless, it doesn’t disclose who any of these are at any rate.
Dignity in Dying’s sister charity sheds light on its donors
It does however have a sister organisation – Compassion in Dying – and there is some information on its donors available.
Dignity in Dying set this up in 2008. Technically, it’s a legally separate organisation, but the degrees of separation really end there. It shares a number of the same staff, including chief executive Sarah Wootton, who leads both organisations. They operate out of the same offices on Oxford Street.
Purportedly, the difference between the two lies in their work. Specifically Dignity in Dying states that:
Dignity in Dying campaigns to change the law to allow the option of assisted dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults in the UK. Compassion in Dying is a registered charity that supports people to be in control of their end-of-life decisions because there is no one better to make them. While the charity supports the law in principle, it does not campaign on assisted dying.
For all intents and purposes though, the pair are inextricably linked. In Compassion in Dying’s latest accounts, it owed £139,000 to Dignity in Dying for “staff resource and accommodation overheads”. This was for the last quarter of 2023.
So while it isn’t possible to see where Dignity in Dying’s donations are coming from, it was possible to glean some insight from its sister organisation. Considering Dignity in Dying had £139k due from it, some of Compassion in Dying’s funds are invariably making their way into its work.
In other words, whoever’s funding Compassion in Dying, is indirectly funding Dignity in Dying as well. So, the fact they claim financial independence is really just semantics.
Billionaire bungs to assisted dying campaign
By far its biggest funding has come from the Bernard Lewis Charitable Trust. Since 2017, it has funnelled £1.2m to the organisation. Additionally, between 2010 and 2012, it had given Compassion in Dying £270,000.
On top of this, it has also directly donated to Dignity in Dying too. It did so in 2009 with a £25,000 donation. The trust’s accounts for 2023 aren’t yet available. However, across 2021 and 2022, it funnelled £320,000 to Dignity in Dying, on top of its donations to the sister organisation.
Who owns the trust? That would be the exceedingly wealthy Lewis family of River Island fame. Of course, like most corporate capitalists, the family has its fingers in multifarious pies.
Founder Bernard Lewis is where it all began for the family’s fortunes. Companies House lists him alone as an active director of no fewer than 20 corporations. Another company called Cavendish Square Secretariat acts as secretary for 52 companies. It’s owned by the Lewis Trust Group. The group’s portfolio spans various investment companies in England, property development in Poland, and a chain of hotels in Israel and the US.
And if the company it keeps – or rather, the other organisations it donates to – is anything to go by, it seems it sits comfortably amidst right-wing neoliberal circles.
For one, it was a regular donor to the Conservative Party between 2008 and 2010 – though this was chump change to its billionaire owners at £52,000. Founder Bernard Lewis has also directly donated £46,000 to the Tories, with donations most recently in 2015.
Dark money think tanks and Zionist organisations
Some of its recipients just so happen to be right-wing, dark money think tanks. For instance, at different points, it has donated to the Islamophobic Henry Jackson Society, Iain Duncan Smith-founded the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), Policy Exchange, and Demos.
Alongside this, there’s a Who’s Who of pro-Israel and Zionist organisations raking in money from the trust. It includes the Community Security Trust (CST) and the Jewish Leadership Council, among other Zionist groups. It has provided £397,500 to the CST since 2009. To the Jewish Leadership Council it has also given nearly £300,000.
So you might wonder what business a trust channelling funds to these Apartheid-and now genocide-apologist organisations has with pushing assisted dying in the UK. It’s a damn good question, but the most obvious is that the right wing of politics and Zionism have significant crossovers and connections.
However, these links should be alarming for another reason too. That is, that the Labour Party government has been lurching to the right at every possible turn.
So, it’s perhaps no surprise that prime minister Keir Starmer has opened the door wide to the assisted dying bill as well.
The Canary asked both Dignity in Dying and Compassion in dying for comment. Interestingly, both groups had the same media officers. One of these came back to us with a short response, stating that:
Compassion in Dying’s funding sources are stated clearly in our public accounts.
Assisted dying campaign: a right-wing slippery slope
Obviously, assisted dying is an extremely sensitive, complex, and polarising issue. There surely must be few, if any topics that split the left and right so profoundly. There are course many who want to see it law as a compassionate option for those with terminal diagnosis.
That’s understandable – to an extent.
However, as we’ve underscored, that also brings up its own problems where economic burden narratives are concerned. The main problem is though, the buck doesn’t stop at terminally ill people.
The fact that Dignity in Dying and its sister organisation has courted donations from big billionaire capitalists funding right-wing think tanks somewhat proves the point disability rights campaigners have been making.
That is, when you take the assisted dying campaign in the context of the corporate capitalist ideology they espouse, it’s clear this will become a slippery slope.
The Canary’s Rachel Charlton-Dailey has pointed out how this is happening already. Many MPs have been calling for parliament to widen the net. Invariably this will put chronically ill and disabled people in particular at risk of coercion.
Countries like Canada serve as a cautionary tale for what will come next – and it’s exactly this.
That powerful capitalist forces are wrapped up in Dignity in Dying’s assisted dying campaign should send alarm bells ringing. These are the same opaquely-funded organisations punching down and devaluing sick, disabled, and Palestinian lives.
When it comes down to it – these are the moneyed actors pushing for the bill – and that should be cause for immense concern.
France’s Supreme Court has overturned a judgment imprisoning pretrial in mainland France Kanak pro-independence leader Christian Tein, who is widely regarded as a political prisoner, reports Libération.
Tein, who is head of the CCAT (Field Action Coordination Unit) in New Caledonia was in August elected president of the main pro-independence umbrella group Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS).
He has been accused by the French authorities of “masterminding” the violence that spread across New Caledonia in May.
The deadly unrest is estimated to have caused €2.2 billion (NZ$3.6 billion) in infrastructural damage, resulting in the destruction of nearly 800 businesses and about 20,000 job losses.
In this new legal twist, the jailing in mainland France of Tein and another activist, Steve Unë, was ruled “invalid” by the court.
“On Tuesday, October 22, the Court of Cassation in Paris overturned the July 5 ruling of the investigating chamber of the Noumea Court of Appeal, which had confirmed his detention in mainland France,” reports NC la 1ère TV.
“The Kanak independence activist, imprisoned in Mulhouse since June, will soon have to appear before a judge again who will decide his fate,” the report said.
Kanak activists’ cases reviewed
The court examined the appeal of five Kanak pro-independence activists — including Tein – who had challenged their detention in mainland France on suspicion of having played a role in the unrest in New Caledonia, reports RFI News.
This appeal considered in particular “the decision by the judges in Nouméa to exile the defendants without any adversarial debate, and the conditions under which the transfer was carried out,” according to civil rights attorney François Roux, one of the defendants’ lawyers.
“Many of them are fathers, cut off from their children,” the lawyer said.
The transfer of five activists to mainland France at the end of June was organised overnight using a specially chartered plane, according to Nouméa public prosecutor Yves Dupas, who has argued that it was necessary to continue the investigations “in a calm manner”.
Roux has denounced the “inhumane conditions” in which they were transported.
“They were strapped to their seats and handcuffed throughout the transfer, even to go to the toilet, and they were forbidden to speak,” he said.
Left-wing politicians in France have also slammed the conditions of detainees, who they underline were deported more than 17,000 km from their home for resisting “colonial oppression”.
Another legal twist over arrested Kanaks . . . Christian Tein wins Supreme Court appeal. Image: APR screenshot Libération
Total of seven accused
A total of seven activists from the CCAT separatist coalition are accused by the French government of orchestrating deadly riots earlier this year and are currently incarcerated – the five in various prisons in France and two in New Caledonia itself.
They are under investigation for, among other things, complicity in attempted murder, organised gang theft with a weapon, organised gang destruction of another person’s property by a means dangerous to people and participation in a criminal association with a view to planning a crime.
Two CCAT activists who were initially imprisoned have since been placed under house arrest in mainland France.
Tein, born in 1968, has consistently denied having incited violence, claiming to be a political prisoner.
Melani Gunathilaka is a woman human rights defender and environmental activist from Sri Lanka. She told ISHR about how her experiences in the 2022 protest movement that culminated in the removal of Sri Lanka’s president led her to take action for human rights and she shared her hopes for her country’s future in the wake of its recent presidential elections.
The Women Human Rights Advocacy Week, hosted by ISHR, Just Associates (JASS), Peace Brigades International (PBI), Forum Asia, Amnesty International, and the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD-IC) gathered 11 accomplished women environmental defenders and Indigenous leaders from ten countries.
Inquiry preceded controversial migration deal linked to claims of abuse in increasingly authoritarian country
The European Commission is refusing to publish the findings of a human rights inquiry into Tunisia it conducted shortly before announcing a controversial migration deal with the increasingly authoritarian north African country.
An investigation by the EU ombudsman found that the commission quietly carried out a “risk management exercise” into human rights concerns in Tunisia but will not disclose its results.
Christchurch, New Zealand’s third-largest city, today became the first local government in the country to sanction Israel by voting to halt business with organisations involved in illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
It passed a resolution to amend its procurement policy to exclude companies building and maintaining illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land.
It was a largely symbolic gesture in that Christchurch (pop. 408,000) currently has no business dealings with any of the companies listed by the United Nations as being active in the illegal settlements.
However, the vote also rules out any future business dealings by the city council with such companies.
The sanctions vote came after passionate pleas to the council by John Minto, president of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA), and University of Canterbury postcolonial studies lecturer Dr Josephine Varghese.
“We’re delighted the council has taken a stand against Israel’s ongoing theft of Palestinian land,” said Minto in a statement welcoming the vote.
He had urged the council to take a stand against companies identified by the UN Human Rights Council as complicit in the construction and maintenance of the illegal settlements.
‘Failure of Western governments’
“It has been the failure of Western governments to hold Israel to account which means Israel has a 76-year history of oppression and brutal abuse of Palestinians.
“Today Israel is running riot across the Middle East because it has never been held to account for 76 years of flagrant breaches of international law,” Minto said.
“The motion passed by Christchurch City today helps to end Israeli impunity for war crimes.” (Building settlements on occupied land belonging to others is a war crime under international law)
“The motion is a small but significant step in sanctioning Israel. Many more steps must follow”.
The council’s vote to support the UN policy was met with cheers from a packed public gallery. Before the vote, gallery members displayed a “Stop the genocide” banner.
Minto described the decision as a significant step towards aligning with international law and supporting Palestinian rights.
“In relation to the council adopting a policy lined up with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, this resolution was co-sponsored by the New Zealand government back in 2016,” Minto said, referencing the UN resolution that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories “had no legal validity and constituted a flagrant violation under international law”.
‘Red herrings and obfuscations’
In his statement, Minto said: “We are particularly pleased the council rejected the red herrings and obfuscations of New Zealand Jewish Council spokesperson Ben Kepes who urged councillors to reject the motion”
“Mr Kepes presentation was a repetition of the tired, old arguments used by white South Africans to avoid accountability for their apartheid policies last century – policies which are mirrored in Israel today.”
Postcolonial studies lecturer Dr Josephine Varghese . . . boycotts “a long standing peaceful means of protest adopted by freedom fighters across the world.” Image: UOC
Dr Varghese said more than 42,000 Palestininians — at least 15,000 of them children — had been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza.
“Boycotting products and services which support and benefit from colonisation and apartheid is the long standing peaceful means of protest adopted by freedom fighters across the world, not only by black South Africans against apartheid, but also in the Indian independent struggle By the lights of Gandhi,” she said.
“This is a rare opportunity for us to follow in the footsteps of these greats and make a historic move, not only for Christchurch City, but also for Aotearoa New Zealand.
“On March 15, 2019 [the date of NZ’s mosque massacre killing 51 people], we made headlines for all the wrong reasons, and today could be an opportunity where we make headlines global globally for the right reasons,” Dr Varghese said.
“Sanctions on Israel” supporters at the Christchurch City Council for the vote today. Image: PSNA
Exclusive: Those with ‘interest in keeping world hooked on fossil fuels’ should not oversee climate talks, say report authors
Azerbaijan, the host of the Cop29 global climate summit, will see a large expansion of fossil gas production in the next decade, a new report has revealed. The authors said that the crucial negotiations should not be overseen by “those with a vested interest in keeping the world hooked on fossil fuels”.
Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil and gas company, Socar, and its partners are set to raise the country’s annual gas production from 37bn cubic metres (bcm) today to 49bcm by 2033. Socar also recently agreed to increase gas exports to the European Union by 17% by 2026.
The Ocean Declaration that will be agreed upon at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) this week will be known as the Apia Ocean Declaration.
In an exclusive interview with the Samoa Observer, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said members were in a unique position to bring their voices together for the oceans, which have long been neglected.
“The Apia Ocean Declaration aims to address the rising threats to our ocean faces, especially from climate change and rising sea levels,” she said.
Commonwealth pushes for ocean protection with historic Apia Ocean Declaration. Video: Samoa Observer
Scotland, reflecting on her tenure as Secretary-General, noted the privilege of serving the Commonwealth, a diverse family of 56 countries comprising 2.7 billion people.
“I am very much the child of the Commonwealth. With 60 percent of our population under 30 years, we must prioritise their future.”
Scotland reflected that upon assuming her role, she recognised immediately that addressing climate change would be a key priority for the Commonwealth.
“Why? Because we have 33 small states, 25 small island states and we were the ones who were really suffering this badly,” she said.
Pacific a ‘big blue ocean state’
“We also knew in 2016 that nobody was looking at the oceans. Now, the Pacific is a big blue ocean state.
“But it’s one of the most under-resourced elements that we have. And yet, look at what was happening. The hurricanes and the cyclones were getting bigger and bigger.
“Why? Because our ocean had absorbed so much of the heat, so much of the carbon, and now it was starting to become saturated. So before, our ocean acted as a coolant. The cyclone would come, the hurricane would come, they’d pass over our cool blue water, and the heat would be drawn out.”
The Apia Ocean Declaration emerged from a pressing need to protect the oceans, especially given the devastating impact of climate change on coastal and island nations.
“We realised that while many discussions were happening globally, the oceans were often overlooked,” Scotland remarked.
“In 2016, we recognised the necessity for collective action. Our oceans absorb much of the carbon and heat, leading to increasingly severe hurricanes and cyclones.”
Scotland has spearheaded initiatives that brought together oceanographers, climatologists, and various stakeholders.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland . . . discussing this week’s planned Apia Ocean Declaration at CHOGM, highlighting the urgent need for global action to protect oceans. Image: Junior S. Ami/Samoa Observer
Worked in silos ‘for too long’
“We worked in silos for too long. It was time to unite our efforts for the ocean’s health.
“That’s when we realised that nobody had their eye on our oceans, but of the 56 Commonwealth members, many of us are island states, so our whole life is dependent on our ocean. And so that’s when the fight back happened.”
This collaboration resulted in the establishment of the Commonwealth Blue Charter, a significant framework focused on ocean conservation.
“Fiji’s presidency at the UN Oceans Conference was a turning point. Critics said it would take years to establish an ocean instrument, but we achieved it in less than ten months.”
“We are not just talking; we are implementing solutions.”
Scotland also addressed the financial challenges faced by many small island states, particularly regarding climate funding.
“In 2009, $100 billion was promised by those who had been primarily responsible for the climate crisis, to help those of us who contributed almost nothing to get over the hump.
Hard for finance applications
“But the money wasn’t coming. And in those days, many of our members found it so hard to put those applications together.”
To combat this issue, the Commonwealth established a Climate Finance Access Hub, facilitating over $365 million in funding for member states with another $500 million in the pipeline.
“But this has caused us to say we have to go further,” she added.
“We’re using geospatial data, we have to fill in the gaps for our members who don’t have the data, so we can look at what has happened in the past, what may happen in the future, and now we have AI to help us do the simulators.
“The Ocean Ministers’ Conference highlighted the importance of ensuring that countries at risk of disappearing under the waves can maintain their maritime jurisdiction,” Scotland asserted.
“The thing that we thought was so important is that those countries threatened with the rising of the sea, which could take away their whole island, don’t have certainty in terms of that jurisdiction. What will happen if our islands drop below the sea level?
“And we wanted our member states to be confident that if they had settled their marine boundaries, that jurisdiction would be set in perpetuity. Because that was the biggest guarantee; I may lose my land, but please don’t tell me I’m going to lose my ocean too.
Target an ocean declaration
“So that was the target for the Ocean Ministers’ Conference. And out of that came the idea that we would have an ocean declaration.
“It is that ocean declaration that we are bringing here to Samoa. And the whole poignancy of that is Samoa is the first small island state in the Pacific ever to host CHOGM. So wouldn’t it be beautiful if out of this big blue ocean state, this wonderful Pacific state, we could get an ocean declaration which could in the future be able to be known as the Apia Ocean Declaration? Because we would really mark what we’re doing here.
“What the Commonwealth has been determined to do throughout this whole period is not just talk, but take positive action to help our members not only just to survive, but to thrive.
“And if, which I hope we will, we get an agreement from our 56 states on this ocean declaration, it enables us to put the evidence before everyone, not only to secure what we need, but then to say 0.05 percent of the money is not enough to save our oceans.
“Oceans are the most underfunded area.
“I hope that all the work we’ve done on the Universal Vulnerability Index, on the nature of the vulnerability for our members, will be able to justify proper money, proper resources being put in.
“And you know what’s happening in this area; our fishermen are under threat.
“Our ability to use the oceans in the way we’ve used for millennia to feed our people, support our people, is really under threat. So this CHOGM is our fight back.”
As the meeting progresses, the emphasis remains on achieving consensus among the 56 member states regarding the Apia Ocean Declaration.
Republished from the Samoa Observer with permission.
With Prabowo Subianto, a controversial former general installed as Indonesia’s new president, residents in the disputed Papua region were responding to this reality with anxiety and, for some, cautious optimism.
The remote and resource-rich region has long been a flashpoint for conflict, with its people enduring decades of alleged military abuse and human rights violations under Indonesian rule and many demanding independence.
Many Papuans remain haunted by past abuses, particularly those associated with Indonesia’s counterinsurgency campaigns that began after Papua was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 through a disputed UN-backed referendum.
For people like Maurids Yansip, a private sector employee in Sentani, Prabowo’s rise to the presidency is a cause for serious concern.
“I am worried,” Yansip said. “Prabowo talked about using a military approach to address Papua’s issues during the presidential debates.
‘Military worsened hunman rights’
“We’ve seen how the military presence has worsened the human rights situation in this region. That’s not going to solve anything — it will only lead to more violations.”
In Jayapura, the region’s capital, Musa Heselo, a mechanic at a local garage, expressed indifference toward the political changes unfolding in Jakarta.
“I didn’t vote in the last election—whether for the president or the legislature,” Heselo said.
“Whoever becomes president is not important to me, as long as Papua remains safe so we can make a living. I don’t know much about Prabowo’s background.”
But such nonchalance is rare in a region where memories of military crackdowns run deep.
Prabowo, a former son-in-law of Indonesia’s late dictator Suharto, has long been a polarising figure. His career, marked by accusations of human rights abuses, particularly during Indonesia’s occupation of Timor-Leste, continues to evoke strong reactions.
In 1996, during his tenure with the elite Indonesian Army special forces unit, Kopassus, Prabowo commanded a high-stakes rescue of 11 hostages from a scientific research team held by Free Papua Movement (OPM) fighters.
Deadly operation
The operation was deadly, resulting in the deaths of two hostages and eight pro-independence fighters.
Markus Haluk, executive secretary of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), described Prabowo’s presidency as a grim continuation of what he calls a “slow-motion genocide” of the Papuan people.
“Prabowo’s leadership will extend Indonesia’s occupation of Papua,” Haluk said, his tone resolute.
“The genocide, ethnocide, and ecocide will continue. We remember our painful history — this won’t be forgotten. We could see military operations return. This will make things worse.”
Although he has never been convicted and denies any involvement in abuses in East Timor or Papua, these allegations continue to cast a shadow over his political rise.
He ran for president in 2014 and again in 2019, both times unsuccessfully. His most recent victory, which finally propels him to Indonesia’s highest office, has raised questions about the future of Papua.
President Prabowo Subianto greets people as he rides in a car after his inauguration in Jakarta, Indonesia, last Sunday. Image: Asprilla Dwi Adha/Antara Foto
Despite these concerns, some see Prabowo’s presidency as a potential turning point — albeit a fraught one. Elvira Rumkabu, a lecturer at Cendrawasih University in Jayapura, is among those who view his military background as a possible double-edged sword.
Prabowo’s military experience ‘may help’
“Prabowo’s military experience and strategic thinking could help control the military in Papua and perhaps even manage the ultranationalist forces in Jakarta that oppose peace,” Rumkabu told BenarNews.
“But I also worry that he might delegate important issues, like the peace agenda in Papua, to his vice-president.”
Under outgoing President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, Papua’s development was often portrayed as a priority, but the reality on the ground told a different story. While Jokowi made high-profile visits to the region, his administration’s reliance on military operations to suppress pro-independence movements continued.
“This was a pattern we saw under Jokowi, where Papua’s problems were relegated to lower levels, diminishing their urgency,” Rumkabu said.
Yohanes Mambrasar, a human rights activist based in Sorong, expressed grave concerns about the future under Prabowo.
“Prabowo’s stance on strengthening the military in Papua was clear during his campaign,” Mambrasar said.
Called for ‘more troops, weapons’
“He called for more troops and more weapons. This signals a continuation of militarized policies, and with it, the risk of more land grabs and violence against indigenous Papuans.”
Earlier this month, Indonesian military chief Gen. Agus Subiyanto inaugurated five new infantry battalions in Papua, stating that their mandate was to support both security operations and regional development initiatives.
Indeed, the memory of past military abuses looms large for many in Papua, where calls for independence have never abated.
During a presidential debate, Prabowo vowed to strengthen security forces in Papua.
“If elected, my priority will be to uphold the rule of law and reinforce our security presence,” he said, framing his approach as essential to safeguarding the local population.
Yet, amid the fears, some see opportunities for positive change.
Yohanes Kedang from the Archdiocese of Merauke said that improving the socio-economic conditions of indigenous Papuans must be a priority for Prabowo.
Education, health care ‘left behind’
“Education, healthcare, and the economy — these are areas where Papuans are still far behind,” he said.
“This will be Prabowo’s real challenge. He needs to create policies that bring real improvements to the lives of indigenous Papuans, especially in the southern regions like Merauke, which has immense potential.”
Theo Hesegem, executive director of the Papua Justice and Human Integrity Foundation, believes that dialogue is key to resolving the region’s long-standing issues.
“Prabowo has the power to address the human rights violations in Papua,” Hesegem said.
“But he needs to listen. He should come to Papua and sit down with the people here — not just with officials, but with civil society, with the people on the ground,” he added.
Scholars and activists are increasingly turning to international law frameworks — such as sexual rights, the right to health and anti-torture human rights law — to hold the U.S. accountable for escalating human rights violations toward cisgender women and transgender people. “There is a distinct connection with abortion rights and gender-affirming care. They both are being attacked by the far…
Rahima Mahmut, in exile in the UK, ‘disappointed’ at failure to describe Beijing’s crackdown on minority as genocide
A leading Uyghur activist has accused the Labour government of “falling behind” its allies in failing to stand up to China, after ministers backtracked on plans to push for formal recognition of the country’s treatment of the minority group as genocide.
Speaking after David Lammy’s first visit to China as UK foreign secretary, the human rights activist Rahima Mahmut, who has lived in exile in the UK since 2000, said she had hoped there would be a shift in UK policy once the party came into power, including following the US in declaring a continuing genocide in Xinjiang.
A Brazilian nun who has helped refugees and migrants for 40 years on Wednesday won the Nansen prize awarded every year by the U.N. High Commission for Refugees for outstanding work to protect internally displaced and stateless people.
Sister Rosita Milesi, 79, is a member of the Catholic order of the Scalabrini nuns, who are renowned for their service to refugees worldwide. Her parents were poor farmers from an Italian background in southern Brazil, and she became a nun at 19.
As a lawyer, social worker and activist, Milesi championed the rights and dignity of refugees and migrants of different nationalities in Brazil for four decades.
She is the second Brazilian to receive the award. Former Sao Paulo Archbishop Dom Paulo Evaristo Arns won the prize in 1985.
Milesi leads the Migration and Human Rights Institute (IMDH) in Brasilia, through which she has helped thousands of forced migrants and displaced people access essential services such as shelter, healthcare, education and legal assistance.
She coordinates RedeMIR, a national network of 60 organizations that operates throughout Brazil, including in remote border regions, to support refugees and migrants.
Front Line Defenders call for the Pakistani authorities to be held accountable for their mistreatment and abuse of prominent Baloch woman human rights defender Dr. Mahrang Baloch and other human rights defenders accompanying her in Karachi, on 8 October 2024. The woman human rights defender was attacked by Sindh police while she was returning from the Karachi’s Jinnah international airport after immigration authorities denied her permission to leave the country.
Dr. Mahrang Baloch is a woman human rights defender and a staunch advocate for the rights of the ethnic Baloch community in Pakistan. She has campaigned peacefully against systemic violations including extra judicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and custodial torture in Balochistan. Human rights defenders speaking out against state violence, especially seeking to hold the military and intelligence agencies accountable, undertake significant risks – against themselves and their families.
On 7 October 2024, Pakistani authorities prevented Dr. Mahrang Baloch from leaving the country. The woman human rights defender was to attend an event in New York organized by TIME which had named her in the TIME100 Next 2024 List recognizing her human rights work. Unfortunately immigration officers at the Karachi airport withheld her passport for several hours and denied her permission to board her flight without any legal basis or reasoning. Dr. Mahrang Baloch finally left the airport at around midnight after she recovered her passport. Shortly after, her vehicle was intercepted by a group of officers from the Sindh police on the old airport road in close proximity to the airport. Police brutally beat and abused Dr. Mahrang Baloch and several other human rights defenders including Sammi Deen Baloch. Police illegally seized Dr. Mahrang’s passport and mobile phone. They also took the vehicle keys, leaving the human rights defenders stranded on a deserted road at late hours in the night.
Reprisals including restrictions on travel are common in Pakistan, especially for those who speak out against state repression. In August 2024, Sammi Deen Baloch, the Front Line Defenders award winner for 2024 was prevented from traveling to Geneva for an advocacy mission to highlight human rights issues in Balochistan. The attack on Dr. Mahrang Baloch is not an isolated incident. It spotlights what many human rights defenders in Pakistan face as punishment for their work. Human rights defenders from oppressed communities such as the Baloch are especially targeted. State response to peaceful campaigns by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (Baloch Solidarity Committee) has been to suppress protests and campaigns with brute force and repressive measures including criminalization.
Is anyone surprised or disappointed that English Minister of Foreign Affairs, David Lammy (seen above with Israeli President, Herzog) has offered up not a word of concern about Tibet, or the plight of Tibetans, during his visit to China?
The man who defended and excused the denial of food, water, and medical supplies to Palestinians in Gaza, while Israel carpet-bombed civilians. Lammy’s tolerance (like that of the US Administration’s) of war crimes and mass slaughter was an inevitable indicator that his dealings with the Chinese dictatorship was always going to be as the nauseating diplomatic phrases has it, ‘pragmatic’. Commercial interests, as ever, are at the heart of foreign relations.
But his appalling silence on the oppression of Tibetans, and cultural genocide they suffer, was predictable. It’s also reflective, of what’s was recognized and exposed in 2021 by Anonymous Tibet, as a deterioration of interest within the English political establishment on the matter Tibet.
Video courtesy of @AnonymousTibet
Digging into the UK’s Parliamentary record ‘Hansard’ it’s noticeable how, over the past few years, references to Tibet by politicians has plummeted, unlike mention of the case of Uyghurs. Which has received increasing attention and concern.It is our view that this is no accident, or changing fad but a worrying indication of a significant shift of position. Such a development would be informed by, and directed from, the same foreign affairs department, now headed by Lammy.
Tibet it appears has been designated a ‘lost cause’ by the British ‘Foreign Office’. Although it (like the State Department) has never been genuinely interested in supporting Tibetan freedom.
We are in an age where genocidal slaughter is presented as ‘a right to defense’. When women and children are incinerated and torn apart by missiles, sourced from the USA. As political spokes-persons endorse military attacks upon innocent civilian populations, for the purpose of killing claimed terrorists. Aided by signals intelligence and surveillance flights from the UK!
Clearly human rights, and the plight of Tibet’s people, are of no value to those governments who happily collaborate with, enable and supply war crimes. Isn’t that right Mr Lammy?
Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) participated in the 57th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC), held from 9 September to 11 October 2024.
ADHRB delivered eight oral interventions under four items during these sessions, highlighting various human rights violations in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. It also organized a panel discussion on the sidelines of the HRC, in partnership with other human rights organizations and activists, during which the misuse of INTERPOL Red Notices and its implications for human rights were raised.
ADHRB delivered seven interventions related to the human rights situation in Bahrain under items 2, 3, 4, and 5. Under item 5, it delivered an eighth intervention, highlighting the issue of executions in Saudi Arabia.
Item 2
Under Item 2, ADHRB delivered two interventions during the General Debate on 12 September 2024.
ADHRB delivered its first intervention during the General Debate under Item 2, highlighting the ongoing detention of elderly Bahraini opposition leaders and human rights defenders. These individuals have been imprisoned since 2011 for their peaceful opposition to the autocratic rule in the country. The intervention noted that, despite the issuance of three recent royal pardons, none of the opposition leaders or prominent human rights defenders were included. Among those excluded were Mr. Hasan Mushaima, Dr. AbdulJalil AlSingace, and AbdulHadi AlKhawaja. ADHRB called on the Bahraini authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all elderly opposition leaders and prominent human rights defenders.
Under the same item, ADHRB and partner organizations delivered an intervention during the General Debate, drawing the Council’s attention to the ongoing impunity of Bahraini officials responsible for torture and other human rights violations in Bahraini prisons. The intervention noted that despite the three recent royal pardons, none of the perpetrators of rights abuses have been held accountable and that, the same violations persist. ADHRB also held Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Crown Prince Salman, and Interior Minister Sheikh Rashed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa responsible for the growing culture of impunity. ADHRB urged the Council to pressure Bahrain to end impunity for rights abusers.
Item 3
Under Item 3, ADHRB delivered two interventions on 13 and 20 September 2024 during the General Debate and Interactive Dialogue with the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons.
In the intervention delivered during the Interactive Dialogue with the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons on 13 September 2024, ADHRB and its partner organizations addressed the ill-treatment and human rights violations faced by elderly human rights defenders in Bahrain. It noted that elderly prisoners of conscience have been held in Bahraini prisons since 2011, some serving life sentences. All these individuals have faced numerous violations, documented by UN experts, including arbitrary detention, torture, ill-treatment, and denial of medical care. Among them are 76-year-old opposition leader Hasan Mushaima, prominent human rights defender Dr. AbdulJalil AlSingace, who is over 62 years old, and human rights defender AbdulHadi AlKhawaja. ADHRB concluded by addressing the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, asking: When will Bahrain implement its obligations, address the recommendations, and allow UN delegations to monitor prison violations?
In the intervention delivered during the general debate under Item 3 on 20 September 2024, ADHRB affirmed that there can be no reform without releasing political prisoners and human rights defenders, securing justice, and ensuring accountability. It also drew the Council’s attention to the rising numbers of summons, arrests, and trials related to freedom of expression, occurring alongside the recent releases in Bahrain.
ADHRB pointed out that with the onset of demonstrations in support of Gaza in October 2023, Bahrainis are living in a new and dangerous escalation of repression. Widespread arrests targeted participants in popular movements, including over 50 minors, some of whom remain detained and on trial. The crackdown extends into the digital space, where dissenting opinions are criminalized.
It also drew attention to the systematic arrest campaigns and summonses launched by the Bahraini Ministry of Interior last March, targeting the families of detainees and many who expressed solidarity with the political prisoners’ strike. ADHRB also stressed that despite promises to the contrary, Bahraini authorities have yet to demonstrate a genuine commitment to a new chapter for those released. Instead, they insist on restricting their civil liberties and re-arresting or summoning anyone demanding these rights.
Item 4
Under Item 4 during the General Debate, ADHRB delivered two interventions on 25 and 26 September 2024.
On 25 September 2024, ADHRB delivered an intervention during the General Debate under Item 4, in which it emphasized the need to end impunity in Bahrain starting with dismissing the Minister of Interior. ADHRB stressed impunity for rights abuses in Bahrain keeps true reform beyond reach. It also pointed out that since 2011, 19 political prisoners have died due to medical negligence while in government facilities but unfortunately, their killers have yet to be held accountable.
Complaints against Prince Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa were filed for his involvement in the torture of detainees, but he continues to enjoy high-ranking positions, authority, and impunity. It also mentioned that since 2004, the Ministry of Interior has been held by Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, who has been implicated in torture yet remains unprosecuted.
ADHRB renewed its call to implement the Bassiouni Commission’s recommendations, end impunity, and remove the Ministry of Interior’s control over security and judicial bodies. This begins with dismissing the Minister of Interior, prosecuting violators, and compensating victims.
On 26 September 2024, ADHRB and partner organizations delivered an intervention during the General Debate under Item 4, in which they urged the Council to pressure Bahrain to ensure transitional justice for former prisoners. ADHRB also highlighted the hardships faced by recently released political prisoners in Bahrain as they attempt to rebuild their lives. It noted that despite their release, these individuals have received no compensation for their years of detention or the violations they endured, including torture and medical neglect. Instead, they continue to face restrictions under Bahrain’s political and civil isolation laws. At the end of its intervention, ADHRB and partner organizations urged the Council to pressure Bahrain to end these arbitrary restrictions, repeal political isolation laws, and ensure reintegration and transitional justice for former prisoners.
Items 3 and 5
During the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples under Items 3 and 5, held on 27 September 2024, ADHRB and partner organizations delivered an intervention. They drew the HRC’s attention to the discrimination against the indigenous people in Bahrain. ADHRB noted that, despite their distinct cultural and historical backgrounds, both the Baharna and Ajam communities face significant economic disparities, social and political exclusion, and are disproportionately denied access to public services. It also highlighted the severe repression of the pro-democracy movement in 2011 and the revocation of citizenship for hundreds of Baharna and Ajam since 2012. These actions, coupled with unjustified deportations, reflect an alarming attempt to alter Bahrain’s ethnic balance, further marginalizing these groups both socially and economically. Considering this, ADHRB asked the HRC: How can we ensure that the Bahraini government will end the systemic discrimination against these indigenous groups and comply with international standards?
Item 5
On 1 October 2024, ADHRB and partner organizations delivered an intervention during the General Debate under Item 5, expressing deep concerns over the sharp increase in executions in Saudi Arabia. This rise underscores alarming human rights conditions in the kingdom, especially considering the lack of transparency and widespread distrust in the judicial system.
ADHRB further highlighted Saudi Arabia’s use of the death penalty to criminalize freedom of expression and retaliate against activists, as well as for offenses that do not qualify as the most serious under international standards. It urged the Council to condemn the Saudi judiciary’s use of anti-terrorism laws to criminalize free expression, as well as the use of torture to extract confessions and the execution of individuals convicted of non-serious offenses under international law. ADHRB also demanded the abolition of all such executions, including those of political prisoners and individuals convicted of non-serious offenses.
Panel on the Sidelines of the Council:
On 17 September 2024, ADHRB hosted a panel on the sidelines of the HRC discussing “INTERPOL Red Notices and Human Rights.” The event examined how Red Notices are misused to target activists and explored potential solutions to address this issue. The panel also featured case studies from the field.
During its participation in the 57th session of the Human Rights Council, ADHRB successfully highlighted some of the most serious human rights violations in Bahrain, particularly the conditions of political prisoners. It also raised concerns about the alarming rise in execution rates in Saudi Arabia, emphasizing the urgent need for intensified efforts toward their immediate abolition.
Every bit of news of every attack trivialises everything else here. Dreams, plans, ‘achievements’
I grew up and spent most of my life in Beirut before migrating to Australia just over a decade ago. I had to leave and I cannot go back. I have come to terms with the reality that I am a forced migrant.
Forced migrants and refugees flee to seek safety. I watch photographs and videos of as many as a million Lebanese people internally displaced since September, living on streets, in schools and even in a nightclub. It appears to me that safety is a moving scale, and evidently not everyone is owed safety. That my people, and I, cannot access the safety promised in the refugee convention. Or that the safety we are owed looks very different.
Nine members of Force 100 investigated over allegations of sexual assaulting prisoner at Sde Teiman detention camp
An Israeli military unit that has been accused of human rights abuses against Palestinian detainees is reportedly under investigation by the US state department in a move that could lead to it being barred from receiving assistance.
The inquiry into the activities of Force 100 was instigated following a spate of allegations that Palestinians held under its guard at a detention centre have been subject to torture and brutal mistreatment, including sexual assault, Axios reported on Monday.
Human rights defender and former professor at the University of Delhi, Gokarakonda Naga(G.N.)Saibaba passed away on 12 October 2024 due to a cardiac arrest at the Nizam’ Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital at Hyderabad, India. On 7 March 2024, G.N. Saibaba was released from the Nagpur Central Jail after nearly a decade of imprisonment. In March 2024 he was acquitted of all charges by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court, after being falsely accused of having links with banned Maoist organisations, and charged with serious offences including under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
G.N. Saibaba suffered from severe health conditions which worsened during his time in prison. These health conditions included polio related disabilities, a heart condition, a brain cyst, hypertension and breathing difficulties. While in prison, the human rights defender G.N. Saibaba was held in solitary confinement in a windowless cell and kept under constant CCTV surveillance. He contracted COVID-19 twice whilst in prison, in January 2021 and in February 2022, leading to further deterioration of his health condition. In a letter to his wife, G.N. Saibaba had spoken about his ill-treatment in prison stating that he had received no treatment for his ailments despite recommendations by doctors at the Government Medical College Hospital that he receive immediate medical attention. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders had previously called for his release on medical grounds, calling on the “Indian authorities to immediately ensure that G.N. Saibaba has continuous and unrestricted access to health care, including adequate treatment and rehabilitation.”
Even though G.N. Saibaba was released prior to his demise, the ill-treatment suffered by the human rights defender and denial of healthcare during his imprisonment contributed to his already severe health issues. G.N. Saibaba never fully recovered from his time in prison which had prevented him from receiving urgent medical intervention. Front Line Defenders believes that his wrongful imprisonment is at least partially responsible for his untimely demise. It calls on Indian authorities to revise draconian counter-terrorism laws such as the UAPA and ensure that the legitimate work of human rights defenders is not criminalised.
Front Line Defenders holds the Indian authorities accountable for the death of G.N. Saibaba and calls for adequate monetary compensation to be awarded to his family.
Analysis from business and trade department says bill will significantly strengthen workers’ right. This live blog is closed
In the past the weirdest budget tradition was the convention that the chancellor is allowed to drink alcohol while delivering the budget speech. But since no chancellor has taken advantage of the rule since the 1990s (and no one expects Rachel Reeves to be quaffing on Wednesday week), this tradition is probably best viewed as lapsed.
But Sam Coatesfrom Sky News has discovered another weird budget ritual. On his Politics at Jack and Sam’s podcast, he says:
Someone messaged me to say: ‘Did you know that over in the Treasury as they’ve been going over all these spending settlements, in one of the offices, its full of balloons. And every time an individual department finalises its settlements, one of the balloons is popped.’
There couldn’t be a more important time for us to have this conversation.
The NHS is going through what is objectively the worst crisis in its history, whether it’s people struggling to get access to their GP, dialling 999 and an ambulance not arriving in time, turning up to A&E departments and waiting far too long, sometimes on trolleys in corridors, or going through the ordeal of knowing that you’re waiting for a diagnosis that could be the difference between life and death.
We feel really strongly that the best ideas aren’t going to come from politicians in Whitehall.
They’re going to come from staff working right across the country and, crucially, patients, because our experiences as patients are also really important to understanding what the future of the NHS needs to be and what it could be with the right ideas.
Neither Robert Jenrick nor Kemi Badenoch have said much about the economic state the country was left in
Big election defeats almost always throw political parties into existential crises: who do they represent, what are they for? The Conservative party, however, had tied itself in knots over these questions long before it experienced its worst-ever electoral defeat in July. Now it remains locked in its long contest to select its next leader.
The disastrous electoral result saw its 2019 vote share – inflated by Boris Johnson’s populist pledge to “get Brexit done” – collapse to its lowest since 1832; Conservative thinktank Onward highlights how a significant number of the lost votes went not just to Reform, but to Labour and the Liberal Democrats, with others staying home rather than vote Tory. The 2019 electoral coalition proved to be a temporary pulling together that included traditional Conservative voters but also some Labour voters who voted Leave in the EU referendum and believed Johnson’s promise that Brexit was the answer to the country’s structural issues. The election result of 2024 was an overwhelming verdict on their track record from 2010 to 2024 – sluggish economic growth, stagnating living standards and stretched public services – and the desire for change.
Foreign secretary discussed China’s treatment of Uyghurs and support of Russia as well as ‘areas of cooperation’
David Lammy pressed his Chinese counterpart on human rights concerns and China’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during talks in Beijing, the Foreign Office has said.
The foreign secretary had been under pressure to take a tough line on a range of human rights issues with the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, when the pair met on Friday during Lammy’s first visit to China since taking office.
Japanese atomic bomb survivor movement Nihon Hidankyo won the Nobel Peace Prize 2024 in recognition of the organization’s efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons.
The awards committee said that the grassroots movement had “worked tirelessly” to raise awareness about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of using nuclear weapons.
A presentation of the Nobel Prizes will take place in Oslo, Norway on Dec. 10, a date which marks the anniversary of the death of Swedish inventor and philanthropist Alfred Nobel.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said the grassroots movement, which was established in 1956 in response to the atomic bomb attacks of August 1945, had “worked tirelessly” to raise awareness about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of using nuclear weapons.
“Gradually, a powerful international norm developed, stigmatising the use of nuclear weapons as morally unacceptable. This norm has become known as ‘the nuclear taboo’. The testimony of the Hibakusha – the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – is unique in this larger context,” it added.
Congratulations are in order for Nihon Hidankyo, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations. The Nobel Peace Prize has for the first time in at least six years gone to a group of people who work to reduce warmaking, people who in fact seek to abolish nuclear weapons. Nihon Hidankyo has relentlessly done the work of educating the world, thanklessly, for many years. This prize should be celebrated far and wide.
In recent years, nuclear weapons have been the one strong point for the Nobel Committee, the one area of overlap between what they have treated as the purpose of the prize and the actual original purpose of the prize. In 2017, the prize was awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
This year’s award is being given to Nihon Hidankyo “for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.”
At the 57th Human Rights Council session, civil society organisations share reflections on key outcomes and highlight gaps in addressing crucial issues and situations. Full written version below:
States continue to fail to meet their obligations under international law to put an end to decades of Israeli crimes committed against the Palestinian people, including the genocide in Gaza, and most recently Israel’s war on Lebanon. States that continue to provide military, economic and political support to Israel, while suppressing fundamental freedoms such as expression and assembly, as well as attacking independent courts and experts, and defunding humanitarian aid (UNRWA), are complicit in the commission of crimes. We urge the Council to address the root causes of the situation as identified by experts and the ICJ, including settler-colonialism and apartheid, and to address the obligations of third States in the context of the ICJ’s provisional measures stressing the plausible risk of genocide in Gaza and the ICJ advisory opinion recognising that ‘Israel’s legislation and measures constitute a breach of Article 3 of CERD’ pertaining to racial segregation and apartheid. The General Assembly adopted the resolution titled “The Crime of Genocide” in December 1946, which articulates that the denial of existence of entire human groups shocks the conscience of mankind. We remind you of our collective duty and moral responsibility to stop genocide.
States have an obligation to pay UN membership dues in full and in time. The failure of many States to do so, often for politically motivated reasons, is causing a financial liquidity crisis, meaning that resolutions and mandates of the Human Rights Council cannot be implemented. Pay your dues! The visa denials to civil society by host countries is a recurring obstacle to accessing the UN; and acts of intimidation and reprisals are fundamental attacks against the UN system itself. The right to access and communicate with international bodies is firmly grounded in international law and pivotal to the advancement of human rights. In this regard, we welcome the action taken by 11 States to call for investigation and accountability for reprisals against individually named human rights defenders. This sends an important message of solidarity to defenders, many of whom are arbitrarily detained for contributing to the work of the UN, as well as increasing the political costs for perpetrators of such acts. We welcome progress in Indigenous Peoples’ participation in the work of this Council as it is the first time that they could register on their own for specific dialogues.
We welcome the adoption of the resolution that renews the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change by consensus.
We also welcome the adoption of the resolution on biodiversity sending a clear call to take more ambitious commitments at the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and acknowledging the negative impact that the loss of biodiversity can have on the enjoyment of all human rights, including the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. We welcome that these two resolutions recognize the critical and positive role that Environmental Human Right Defenders play. We also welcome the adoption by consensus of the resolutions on the rights on safe drinking water and sanitation; and the resolution on human rights and Indigenous Peoples.
We welcome the adoption of the resolution on equal participation in political and public affairs which for the first time includes language on children and recognises their right to participation as well as the transformative role of civic education in supporting their participation. We also welcome the recognition that hate speech has a restrictive effect on children’s full, meaningful, inclusive and safe participation in political and public affairs.
We welcome the adoption of the resolution from rhetoric to reality: a global call for concrete action against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. The resolution contains important language on the implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action as well as the proclamation by the General Assembly of a second International Decade for People of African Descent commencing in 2025. We welcome the inclusion of a call to States to dispense reparatory justice, including finding ways to remedy historical racial injustices. This involves ensuring that the structures in society that perpetuate past injustices are transformed, including law enforcement and the administration of justice.
We welcome the adoption of a new resolution on human rights on the internet, which recognises that universal and meaningful connectivity is essential for the enjoyment of human rights. The resolution takes a progressive step forward in specifically recommending diverse and human right-based technological solutions to advance connectivity, including through governments creating an enabling and inclusive regulatory environment for small, non-profit and community internet operators. These solutions are particularly essential in ensuring connectivity for remote or rural communities. The resolution also unequivocally condemns internet shutdowns, online censorship, surveillance, and other measures that impede universal and meaningful connectivity. We now call on all Sates to fully implement the commitments in the resolution and ensure the same rights that people have offline are also protected online.
Whilst we welcome the attention in the resolution on the human rights of migrants to dehumanising, harmful and racist narratives about migration, we are disappointed that the resolution falls short of the calls from civil society, supported by the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights of Migrants, for the Human Rights Council to set up an independent and international monitoring mechanism to address deaths, torture and other grave human rights violations at borders. Such a mechanism would not only support prevention and accountability – it would provide a platform for the people at the heart of these human rights violations and abuses to be heard. The study and intersessional mandated in this resolution must be used to enhance independent monitoring and increase access to justice.
We welcome the adoption of the resolution on Afghanistan renewing and strengthening the mandate of the Special Rapporteur. Crucially, the resolution recognises the need to ensure accountability in Afghanistan through “comprehensive, multidimensional, gender-responsive and victim-centred” processes applying a “comprehensive approach to transitional justice.” However, we are disappointed that the resolution once again failed to establish an independent accountability mechanism that can undertake comprehensive investigations and collect and preserve evidence and information of violations and abuses in line with these principles to assist future and ongoing accountability processes. This not only represents a failure by the Council to respond to the demands of many Afghan and international civil society organisations, but also a failure to fulfil its own mandate to ensure prompt, independent and impartial investigations which this and all previous resolutions have recognised as urgent.
We welcome the renewal of the Special Rapporteur on Burundi.
We welcome the renewal of the Special Rapporteur’s mandate on the human rights situation in the Russian Federation. The human rights situation in Russia continues to deteriorate, with the alarming expansion of anti-extremism legislation now also targeting LGBT+ and Indigenous organisations being just the latest example of this trend. The Special Rapporteur has highlighted how such repression against civil society within Russia over many years has facilitated its external aggression. The mandate itself remains a vital lifeline for Russian civil society, connecting it with the Human Rights Council and the broader international community, despite the Russian authorities’ efforts to isolate their people.
We welcome the resolution on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka renewing for one year the mandate of the OHCHR Sri Lanka Accountability Project and of the High Commissioner to monitor and report on the situation. Its consensual adoption represents the broad recognition by the Council of the crucial need for continued international action to promote accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka and keeps the hopes of tens of thousands of victims, their families and survivors who, more than 15 years after the end of the war, continue to wait for justice and accountability. However, the resolution falls short in adequately responding to the calls by civil society. It fails to extend these mandates for two years which would have ensured that the Sri Lanka Accountability Project has the resources, capacity and stability to fulfill its mandate.
We welcome the renewal of the Fact Finding Mission on Sudan with broader support (23 votes in favor in comparison to 19 votes last year, and 12 votes against in comparison to 16 votes last year). This responds to the calls by 80 Sudanese, African, and other international NGOs for an extension of the mandate of the FFM for Sudan. We further reiterate our urgent calls for an immediate ceasefire and the prompt creation of safe corridors for humanitarian aid organisations and groups, and to guarantee the safety of their operations, as well as our call on the UN Security Council to extend the arms embargo on Darfur to all of Sudan and create effective monitoring and reporting mechanisms to ensure the implementation of the embargo.
We welcome the renewal of the mandates of the Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela (FFM) and of OHCHR for two more years. The deepening repression at the hands of government forces following the fraudulent Presidential elections in July has made evident the vital importance of continued independent documenting, monitoring and reporting by the FFM and its role in early warning of further human rights deterioration. We are pleased that OHCHR is mandated to provide an oral update (with an ID) at the end of this year. This will be key ahead of the end of the term of the current presidency on 10 January 2025. This resolution is an important recognition of and contribution to the demands of victims and civil society for accountability.
We regret that the Council failed to take action on Bangladesh. We welcome Bangladesh’s cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights including by inviting the Office to undertake investigations into allegations of serious violations and abuses in the context of youth-led protests in July and August, as well as positive steps by the interim government. However, we believe that a Council mandate would provide much needed support, stability and legitimacy to these positive initiatives at a time of serious political uncertainty in the country.
The Council’s persistent inaction and indifference in the face of Yemen’s escalating human rights crisis is deeply troubling. Since the dissolution of the Group of Eminent Experts, and despite years of mounting atrocities, we have yet to see the type of robust, independent international investigation that is desperately needed. Instead, the Council’s approach has been marked by half-measures and complacency, allowing widespread violations to continue unchecked. Despite the precarious humanitarian situation, the recent campaign of enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention by the de facto Houthi authorities and recent Israeli bombardments, Yemen has increasingly become a forgotten crisis. The current resolution on Yemen represents this failure. Technical assistance without reporting or discussion is an insufficient response. The decision to forgo an interactive dialogue on implementing this assistance is an oversight, undermining the principles of accountability and transparency. We welcome the inclusion of language in the resolution recognizing the vital role of NGO workers and humanitarian staff who the Houthis have arbitrarily detained. We call for the immediate and unconditional release of those who continue to be detained for nothing more than attempting to ensure the rule of law is respected and victims are protected. We urge this Council to act decisively, prioritize the creation of an independent international accountability mechanism, and place civilian protection at the forefront of its deliberations on Yemen.
We continue to deplore this Council’s exceptionalism towards serious human rights violations in China committed by the government. On 17 August, the OHCHR stressed that ‘many problematic laws and policies’ documented in its Xinjiang report remain in place, that abuses remain to be investigated, and that reprisals and lack of information hinder human rights monitoring. We welcome the statement by the Xinjiang Core Group on the second anniversary of the OHCHR’s Xinjiang report, regretting the government’s lack of meaningful cooperation with UN bodies, the rejection of UPR recommendations, and urging China to engage meaningfully to implement the OHCHR’s recommendations, including releasing all those arbitrarily detained, clarifying the whereabouts of those disappeared, and facilitating family reunion. It is imperative that the Human Rights Council take action commensurate to the gravity of UN findings, such as by establishing a monitoring and reporting mechanism on China as repeatedly urged by over 40 UN experts since 2020. We urge China to genuinely engage with the UN human rights system to enact meaningful reform, and ensure all individuals and peoples enjoy their human rights. Recommendations from the OHCHR Xinjiang report, UN Treaty Bodies, and UN Special Procedures chart the way for this desperately needed change.
Finally, we welcome the outcome of elections to the Human Rights Council at the General Assembly. States that are responsible for atrocity crimes, the widespread repression of civil society, and patterns of reprisals are not qualified to be elected to this Council. The outcomes of the election demonstrate the importance of all regions fielding competitive slates that are comprised of appropriately qualified candidates.
Signatories:
International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
Following a concerted campaign led by ISHR together with other civil society partners, Saudi Arabia was just defeated in its bid to be elected to the UN Human Rights Council!
My dear uncle, Mahmoud Attallah, 63, who was suffering from a lung condition called pulmonary fibrosis, passed away on October 12, 2024, after enduring over a cruel year of genocidal war in Gaza. Due to the ongoing war and bombardment, we were unable to bury him in the cemetery. Instead, he will be laid to rest temporarily in the yard of my grandmother’s house. In these dark days we are unable to…
Labour has backtracked on plans to push for formal recognition of China’s treatment of the Uyghurs as genocide in the run-up to David Lammy’s trip to the country this weekend.
The foreign secretary is expected to arrive in Beijing on Friday for high-level meetings before travelling to Shanghai on Saturday.
A study conducted by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), in collaboration with Harvard University, found that Brazil recorded 147,698 suicides between 2011 and 2022. In 2022, the Indigenous population had the highest rates of self-harm notifications (103.72 per 100,000) and suicides (16.58 deaths per 100,000), compared to the overall population, which reported rates of 70.06 and 7.27 per 100,000, respectively.
Territorial conflicts, the expansion of agribusiness, oil and gas exploration, infrastructure projects, both legal and illegal mining and logging activities, along with discrimination, inequality, climate change, violation of Indigenous rights, inadequate state protection, and lack of permanent policies, are significant contributors to the increasing suicide rates among Indigenous People in Brazil.
High suicide rates for Indigenous People in Brazil
Daiane Borges Machado, one of the authors of the Fiocruz study, mentioned:
Increasing suicide rates among Indigenous communities are deeply rooted in a complex web of systemic challenges. These populations have long been dramatically exposed to violence, territorial disputes, and the expansion of industries like agribusiness, mining, and logging, all of which severely impact Indigenous lands and ways of life. These activities not only threaten physical spaces but also disrupt the social and cultural connections that are vital for well-being.
Additionally, longstanding issues such as inequality, discrimination, and inadequate state protection highlight the failure to implement effective, permanent policies that safeguard Indigenous rights and health. Addressing these interconnected issues requires a holistic approach, focusing on cultural preservation, sustainable development, and equitable policy implementation.
Brazil’s Indigenous population exceeds 1.7 million, with more than half living in the Legal Amazon, based on the 2022 Census by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
A report from Brazil’s Indigenous Missionary Council (Cimi) revealed that suicides among Indigenous people in Brazil rose by 56% in 2023, totalling 180 cases compared to 115 the previous year. This data may be underestimated due to flaws in Brazil’s death verification and registration system.
Young Indigenous People taking their lives
From 2019 to 2022, Brazil recorded a total of 535 suicides among Indigenous People. The highest number of cases occurred in Amazonas (208), followed by Mato Grosso do Sul (131) and Roraima (57). In 2023, Amazonas again had the highest number of suicides (66), followed by Mato Grosso do Sul (37) and Roraima (19). More than a third of all cases, totalling 59, involved individuals aged 19 and younger.
Jacyra Azevedo Paiva de Araujo, one of the authors of the Fiocruz study, stated:
It is essential to ensure that government agencies are actively engaged, adequately funded, and properly equipped to maintain a strong presence and function effectively in the region. This would help reduce violence, protect Indigenous lands, and lower the risk of suicide. Since suicide risk is closely linked to mental health disorders, providing access to mental health care must be a priority. While Brazil’s public health system offers mental health treatment to the entire population, these services need to be tailored specifically to the needs of Indigenous communities in these areas.
Jesem Orellana, an epidemiologist at Fiocruz, highlighted that suicide rates among Indigenous populations are associated not only with depression but also with socioeconomic factors such as inequality, economic crises, discrimination, and the decline of Indigenous traditions and practices, including hunting, fishing, and agriculture. Orellana explained that:
Suicide is known to be a complex and multicausal phenomenon. However, in indigenous contexts, sociocultural factors associated with the symbolic and cosmological universe or even with the clash between ancestral traditions and antagonistic worldviews, such as Western ones, tend to play an important role in the tragic statistics of indigenous suicide, especially among younger people.
Territorial conflicts and violence
The invasion of Indigenous lands and territorial disputes continue to be major issues that contribute to the ongoing pressures these communities face. Numerous cases of intimidation, threats, sexual assaults, and violent attacks against Indigenous communities have been reported in Brazil.
The states of Roraima, Mato Grosso do Sul and Amazonas have recorded the highest rates of assassinations.
The Cimi report indicates that invasions of Indigenous lands rose by 252% from 2019 to 2022, compared to earlier years. This period also saw an increase in cases of homicide, sexual violence, and death threats against Indigenous People.
The key factors behind the violence against Indigenous communities include the expansion of agribusiness, cattle farming, oil and gas extraction, both legal and illegal mining, fishing, hunting, and logging, as well as infrastructure projects such as road, railway, and dam construction, along with the private appropriation of their territories.
Indigenous People frequently feel pressured to leave their land due to concerns for their safety.
Of the 1,381 Indigenous lands and territorial claims in Brazil, 62% are still facing administrative obstacles to their regularisation, with 850 pending resolutions, and 563 having received no action from the state regarding demarcation.
Capitalist threats to Indigenous communities
The Brazilian government’s support for expanding oil and gas projects in the Amazon, along with agribusiness, cattle farming, mining, and infrastructure projects like the Ferrogrão railway – linking the port of Miritituba in Pará to Sinop in Mato Grosso – and the recently approved BR-319 highway, is expected to have devastating impacts on the environment and Indigenous communities.
The reconstruction of Amazon’s BR-319 highway, which connects Manaus, the capital of Amazonas, to Porto Velho, will affect 64 Indigenous territories. This project is key for the expansion of agribusiness, oil and gas exploration, illegal mining, logging, and organised crime, all of which will directly threaten Indigenous communities in the region.
In Brazil, Indigenous communities are confronted with a multitude of challenges, frequently left to face life-threatening conditions without sufficient state protection. This lack of support undermines their ability to defend their rights and has driven some to such desperation that they resort to extreme actions, including tragically taking their own lives.
Mining and mercury contamination causing displacement
Climate change and global warming leads to environmental degradation, posing yet another threat to Indigenous communities. Their livelihoods, dependant on agriculture, fishing, and hunting, have been affected by rising temperatures, droughts, and extreme weather events.
The rise in fires and droughts is pushing Indigenous People to leave their lands and seek work in urban centres. However, they often struggle to find employment, leading to economic difficulties and, at times, an inability to sustain themselves.
The lack of job opportunities and a sense of purpose can lead to substance abuse, with drugs and alcohol becoming an escape, often resulting in severe depression and, tragically, sometimes suicide.
Illegal mining is a critical issue affecting Indigenous communities in Brazil. A Fiocruz study discovered alarming mercury concentrations in hair samples and oral swabs from 293 Yanomami individuals in nine villages located in the upper Mucajaí River area of Roraima.
The mercury levels were three times higher than the recommended safety limits, primarily due to fish contamination, which is a staple in the Yanomami diet. Additionally, cognitive impairments were found in 55.2% of the children across these villages.
Mercury is a neurotoxin, and high levels of exposure can lead to damage to the nervous system, gastrointestinal tract, and kidneys. Symptoms of high exposure include cognitive disturbances, memory impairment, mood swings, muscle weakness, and skin conditions such as rashes and dermatitis.
A study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives found that maternal consumption of mercury-contaminated fish during pregnancy over three generations contributed to children’s poor mental health, with emotional and behavioural issues linked directly to an increased risk of attempted suicide.
Mass exodus
The degradation and contamination of Indigenous lands and water sources drive the Indigenous communities to move to the cities in search of work, exposing them to a range of challenges that can have devastating outcomes.
Preserving Indigenous knowledge and practices is vital for safeguarding the physical and mental well-being of Brazil’s Indigenous populations. The contamination of their land and water forces these communities to relocate to urban areas in search of survival, disrupting their traditional lifestyles.
As they adapt, many turn to ultra-processed foods, alcohol, and drugs – substances foreign to their bodies – which can severely affect their health. This shift often results in increased rates of depression, self-harm, and suicide, highlighting the urgent need to protect their heritage and support their communities.
Protection and action is needed
It’s crucial to establish and enforce permanent policies that safeguard Indigenous People and their sacred lands, while ensuring their participation in the decision-making process. The demarcation of Indigenous territories must be a priority, followed by empowering these communities to defend their rights and protect their land.
Machado explained that:
A Brazilian program has demonstrated significant effects in reducing suicide rates among impoverished populations and could potentially be applied as a preventive measure within Indigenous communities as well. By providing financial support, educational resources, and access to healthcare, such programs can help reduce socioeconomic inequalities and promote mental well-being. Strengthening these measures and ensuring access within Indigenous communities, while respecting their cultural and territorial autonomy, could be a crucial step toward mitigating the factors contributing to rising suicide rates.
Indigenous communities must be protected by the loss of their territories to deforestation and environmental degradation caused by agribusiness expansion, including cattle farming, legal and illegal mining, logging, oil and gas exploration, and harmful infrastructure projects.
These activities not only violate Indigenous rights, but also have devastating effects on their physical and mental health. Protecting ecosystems is crucial for Indigenous communities, as their very survival is inextricably tied to the health of the natural world.
The pursuit of profit and the persistence of an extractive colonial mindset must never outweigh the survival of Indigenous communities and the lands they defend. The alarming rise in self-harm and suicide among these communities is a stark indicator of our collective failure to protect them.
We must act urgently to reverse this destructive path before it’s too late.
On 11 October the world marked International Day of the Girl Child.
This day is an opportunity to highlight the challenges faced by girls across the globe and what needs to change to make a fairer more just society for girls worldwide.
This year’s theme is girls’ vision for the future, emphasising how we need to ask girls what they want and how they’d like to shape change for the better.
The disproportionate and increasing effects of conflict – such as increasing poverty, displacement, the growing risk of forced marriage, trafficking/modern slavery and other forms of sexual violence affecting girls (and women) because of their gender
In 2024 for example, just for being born female, you’re more likely to be subjected to child marriage.
You’re at higher risk of not receiving an education and being computer illiterate.
As you grow up, you’ll face the gender pay gap and earn less than your male counterparts, as well as be critically under-represented in political spheres.
Let’s look at the facts.
If the world were 1,000 girls:
200 would be married
126 would be out of school
65 would be child labourers
48 would have experienced forced sex
5 would face FGM this year
5 would be victims of child trafficking
(Source: World Vision, 2024)
This is why we drastically need change – and why this year’s theme is more critical than ever.
Girls across the globe need to be at the forefront of shaping change.
Their voices need to be heard, their experiences shared and their power promoted.
It’s their experiences and their needs that matter most in the fight against gender inequality.
There are some amazing girls fighting for child rights across the globe with shared and local challenges.
And it’s time to hear their voices and see the power of grassroots activism.
Here are just three amazing changemakers who are striving for change and challenging gender-based inequality in their communities.
1. Ratri: protecting children’s rights in Bangladesh
“I firmly believe that women should actively advocate for their rights. It’s essential to speak up for our rights.
If I do not assert my own rights, others may not recognise or grant them.
If I remain silent… others may never engage in conversations about women’s rights.”
(Ratri, Bangladesh)
Ratri is 16 years old and is already the president of her local child forum in Bangladesh.
She’s seeing the community change around her as this platform continues to give children and young people encouragement, motivation, unity, and strength as communities work together.
When money is tight, girls face being married off before they get the chance to finish school.
Child marriage is widespread in the community. Half of girls in Ratri’s area are married between the ages of 12-18 – despite child marriage being illegal.
Ratri wants girls to have the opportunity to succeed and make their own choices:
“What is the issue if someone is a girl? We are all human beings and have the potential to achieve great things… There is no inherent inferiority in girls. They can do anything.
Given the right opportunities and recognition, I believe that girls can accomplish remarkable feats.
In our local society, there is a prevailing expectation that girls may not necessarily require extensive education.
It does not matter if they do not study. It’s often assumed that girls will not be the primary breadwinners and that they will not take care of their parents as their main role is seen as housewives once they marry.”
Leading the child forum group, she’d working to raise awareness about girls’ rights in their community.
The forum meets at the Baptist Church, whose pastor is a member of the interfaith leaders group facilitated by the World Vision Child Sponsorship programme which began working with faith leaders in 2021 to strengthen child protection and change social norms.
The majority of the population is Muslim, with Hindu and Christian minorities.
While there hasn’t been any tension between these communities, they have always lived very separately.
Today, more than 630 faith leaders have undertaken child protection training.
The local area has three teams of faith leaders, including about 90 Muslim imams as well as Hindu priests, Christian pastors and nuns.
Programme and faith leaders meet each month to discuss what is happening in their faith communities.
Every quarter, the interfaith group also meet to share their experiences and plan strategies to strengthen child protection mechanisms in their area.
Gradually, the situation around Ratri is starting to change.
As more people are aware of the dangers of child marriage, they’re connecting to government services and more cases are being reported to the authorities for prevent cases of abuse.
“The community used to think that the kitchen was the right place for women.
There was clear gender-based violence and women were considered worthless as compared to men.
Now those attitudes have changed after our advocacy work”
(Semira, Ethiopia)
Meet Semira. She’s 17 and already a powerful changemaker.
In her community, Semira has totally changed how the community perceives girls.
From a young age, Semira and her peers were expected to prioritise working at home instead of going to school.
Semira knew this life well. She used to fetch water, cook and collect firewood for her family while her three brothers relaxed.
None of them thought anything of it – it was just how things had always been.
The chores made it hard for Semira to keep up at school. She didn’t question this as she expected that she’d be married before turning 18.
However, when she turned 13, things took a dramatic shift and Semira changed her outlook on life.
After joining peer discussions on gender-based violence, Semira was shocked to learn about the grim realities behind harmful practices affecting women and girls.
They formed a girls’ club to help educate others on the importance of empowering girls.
They host performances and activities on girls’ rights, writing plays, poems and songs advocating for girls’ rights which they perform in schools:
“This is the most important thing I can do for my generation. I have dedicated my life to fighting and eradicating harmful traditional practices.
If we girls are united, we can eradicate these practices forever.”
Semira’s decision to stand up for the girls in her community has led to profound change.
The club is a place for many girls to share their views and express themselves freely:
“Before we started advocating for children’s rights, the community had no place for children. But now, after we started awareness-creation training, children’s ideas began to be accepted and respected.”
In just two years, Semira has inspired so much change, with child sponsors continuing to support programmes like the girls’ club.
3. Susma: challenging caste-based discrimination and child marriage in Nepal
“I want to be the example. I wish to create a thousand adolescent girls like me”
(Susma, Nepal)
Susma is defiant and leading a wave of change.
She’s 18 and lives in the rural mountains of Nepal.
Here, she’s challenging expectations around girls, fighting child marriage and promoting girls’ education.
Born into the dalit (“untouchable”) caste, she’s considered to belong to the lowest level caste – and the most marginalised.
Suma remembers how this affected her growing up.
She’d be sent home from school on holy days because she was considered too “dirty”.
But this hasn’t stopped her.
Susma didn’t want to give up her education and she’s now using her experience to tackle deep-seated perceptions.
With the support of her family, she took part in World Vision training and began speaking out.
She’s stood up and become a champion for girls’ rights.
Vocal about the harms girls face, she’s a social media influencer with a strong following of young people who strive for education and a community where they can express themselves:
“It is very difficult for females, adolescents, like us to survive like this, due to societal structure. In our community, even now, caste discrimination, domestic violence, sexual violence, and early marriage is happening.
Many adolescent girls are leaving school. In many families, women are becoming the victim of violence.
This society has so much caste discrimination that there is no positive example to show. I want to be the example. I wish to create a thousand adolescent girls like me.”
The community hasn’t always receptive but Susma knows her rights and speaks out when something in her community needs addressing.
During the day, in between her studies, Susma now leads self-defence classes at the local primary school.
She then visits the local high school, teaching teens (including boys) how to make sanitary pads, so that girls are able to go to school during their period.
Menstruation is taboo but that’s not stopping Susma.
She’s doing whatever she can to break down the barriers preventing girls from exercising their rights – the same rights as boys.
Susma shares her journey online and has been so successful that she’s been invited by other organisations to lead and facilitate training.
However, her influence doesn’t stop at social media advocacy.
Since starting her work, Susma has submitted an appeal to the local government urging them to take action to end child marriage.
She’s also recently taken her quest to government, where she’s leading a policy initiative to prevent child marriage.
Whilst child marriage is illegal in Nepal, 35% of girls are still forced into marriage before their 18th birthday (with 7% of boys affected).
In rural areas, the rate is higher (43% for girls and 17% for boys).
Studying for a bachelor’s degree, Susma is now funding herself through university. She’s determined to become a teacher and help shape the next generation of girls.
Susma, Semira and Ratri are shaping their own paths.
They’re supporting other girls in their community, challenging socio-cultural norms and harmful practices and advocating and lobbying for change in their countries on a broader level.
And it’s working. So what can we do to help?
Well, fighting gender inequality is a broad challenge.
It requires:
> Changing attitudes and socio-cultural norms around women and girls (regarding their roles in society and their bodies)
Only then can we eradicate harmful practices such as FGM which seek to control women’s’ sexuality, whilst also promoting women’s education and full participation in society
> Fighting poverty locally and globally (whilst challenging attitudes)
When we address the plague of poverty and its sexist reality, we’ll lower the risk of girls being denied an education and forced into marriage by families struggling to survive
> Stemming the tide of climate change (disproportionally affecting already vulnerable communities)
This will ensure that communities can build stable livelihoods, rely on protective resilient systems when faced with natural or climate-induced disaster and benefit from greater equity and access to resources
As a result, we’ll lower the currently increased risk of girls being trafficked, displaced and subjected to gender-based violence amid the chaos of displacement and conflict over resources
> Greater funding and access to resources (so that women and girls have access to appropriate health care)
When this is a reality, girls won’t be forced to miss school because they’re on their period
Women won’t face heightened risks of dying in childbirth
And women and girls can make their own choices about their bodies and role in society
1. Widening access to appropriate health care (e.g. ensuring reproductive and maternal care for women and girls)
2. Eradicating food poverty (and therefore lowering the risks of child and forced marriage, being forced into slavery/exploitative labour and the subsequent reality/risk of gender-based violence)
3. Ensuring access to adequate education (so that girls can build their futures as financially independent individuals)
4. Freedom from violence (where girls can freely participate in society without fear or risk of harm)
5. Economic support (so that individuals and families can make healthier, more sustainable choices for themselves and their children, and so societies can build better)
So, for those of us reading this blog, what does this look like?
Well, that will depend on where we’re based and the challenges faced.
But, one thing’s for certain: we can all make a difference and inspire change.
Here’s a few tips to get started:
1. Advocate for gender equality:
Speak out and speak up. Challenge the narrative behind harmful practices such as FGM and “rape jokes”.
Stand up against toxic gender stereotypes.
And finally, whether you’re a peacebuilder, educator, community practitioner, housewife – whatever your role – ensure that you’re carving and sustaining spaces that areinclusive for all.
2. Offer financial support:
Fight poverty in your area, sponsor a child so they can go to school and access health care, and where possible, widen access to spaces for girls and every child.
3. Combat climate change together:
Limit your impact on the environment (recycle, reuse, consume and pollute less).
Join local and national movements working to fight climate change and remember that any solution to climate change must be inclusive and sustainable.
It’s a big challenge but a necessary fight.
Susma, Semira, Ratri and many activists far and wide are there to remind us that the time is now – starting in our own communities.
Will you join them?
Credits:
Stories and images courtesy of World Vision and their child sponsorship programme.
More than 60 NGOs including Holocaust memorial group tell Donald Tusk region’s volatility ‘doesn’t exempt us from humanity’
Human rights and a Holocaust memorial group have urged the Polish prime minister to shelve plans to temporarily suspend the right to asylum, telling him that the region’s volatility “doesn’t exempt us from humanity”.
The intervention from more than 60 NGOs including Amnesty International and the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation comes after Donald Tusk told his party of plans to introduce a new migration strategy.
More than 20 people have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Christian town in northern Lebanon, prompting Hezbollah to fire rockets at Tel Aviv, as Israel’s multifront war continues to escalate.
It was also a particularly bloody 24 hours in the Gaza Strip. Four people were killed in an Israeli bombing of a hospital courtyard in central Gaza, another strike on a nearby school used as a shelter killed at least 20 people, and a drone strike killed five children playing on the street in al-Shati camp in Gaza City, according to local health authorities.
