In Brazil, prisons without guards or weapons allow inmates a level of dignity that is rare in the country’s prison system.Read the full article
Why are evangelical churches in Latin America increasingly influencing the region’s political, social and economic agenda? Argentine sociologist Ariel Goldstein provides some insight into the phenomenon.Read the full article
Violence against farmers and restrictive land permits, combined with changing weather patterns, are negatively impacting harvest productivity and the lives of cultivators in Palestine.Read the full article
Impunity for crimes against Palestinian journalists must end
Selma Dabbagh:
“Today, on the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Committed Against Journalists, we at the ICJP are calling for all crimes against journalists to be investigated. Impunity for must end and justice must be served.”Read the full article
Selma Dabbagh:
“Today, on the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Committed Against Journalists, we at the ICJP are calling for all crimes against journalists to be investigated. Impunity for must end and justice must be served.”Read the full article
Fuelled by politicians and amplified by social media algorithms, hate speech is proliferating online across South Asia. Inflammatory posts garner thousands of views before they are taken down, with offline, sometimes deadly consequences.Read the full article
“In many African countries humanist groups and individuals are working to make the wider public rediscover their own African humanist tradition – the concept of Ubuntu.”Read the full article
In a region where religion and politics are intimately linked, one of the reasons for this decline in religiosity and the waning trust in religious institutions may be the disappointment with Islamist parties, in light of their poor performance since the so-called Arab [...]Read the full article
Every week, eleven girls aged 10 to 14 enter a delivery room in Paraguay. Every hour, two teenage girls aged 15 to 19 do the same. Paraguay has the highest child pregnancy rate in the Southern Cone. In 2018, 589 births were registered to pre-teen mothers and 16,797 to teenage [...]Read the full article
Tens of thousands of Uyghurs have fled China in recent years since Beijing began its policy of subjugation and assimilation of the minority group. Around 60,000 of them have found relative safety in Turkey, but pressure from China has made their future [...]Read the full article
“This is a society where people rarely trust the government. But when religious leaders began to lend their voices, there was a huge turnaround for the country. Getting the right message out early saved Nigeria.”Read the full article
“The term ‘CoronaJihad’ not only blames the Islamic community for the virus but also implies that with it the community is targeting the majority – the Hindus in India.”Read the full article
“If the COVID-19 pandemic requires those who are able to work from home to continue to do so during Ramadan, this may make fasting easier. People will be able to rest when they would have been commuting, they can utilise their own prayer space and they won’t have to worry about things like team [...]Read the full article
By bringing forward charges of genocide of the Rohingya to the International Court of Justice, Gambia has set an important precedent for south-south solidarity against human rights violations.Read the full article
Campaigns aimed at stopping the legalisation of abortion, denying gender-based violence or advocating therapies to cure homosexuality are being promoted by international networks forming a powerful lobby. They talk of ‘gender ideology’ and their target is [...]Read the full article
The battle to secure universal access to sanitation by 2030 is being lost. Only 39 per cent of the world currently has safe latrines or toilets.Read the full article
With the possibility of conflict blowing in the wind, the people of Kashmir are struggling to carry on as normal. Every sector – from public transport to handicrafts to agriculture to IT – has been adversely affected.Read the full article
The two regional enemies, who for decades have imposed the strictest versions of Islam, are beginning to relax their rigid social codes and give their citizens some room to breathe.Read the full article
How Bolsonaro administration is already undermining Brazil’s commitment to Agenda 2030
Mayra Castro :
In his first four months in government, Brazil’s new president, Jair Bolsonaro, has adopted measures that have thrown Brazil’s fulfilment of the Agenda 2030 goals off track.Read the full article
Mayra Castro :
In his first four months in government, Brazil’s new president, Jair Bolsonaro, has adopted measures that have thrown Brazil’s fulfilment of the Agenda 2030 goals off track.Read the full article
With small gigs in cafés or on the street, Tehran’s music scene has been expanding in recent years. Pop music has benefited most from this opening, whilst rock is still struggling to make it to the stage.Read the full article
“Despite cultural and religious differences, the women of Maraveh Tappeh have similar stories to women in other parts of Iran. But the unfinished childhood of the young girls of the region is a forgotten story that resonates with women far and [...]Read the full article
“It is hard for people to understand that freedom of expression is a right for all; we have to be able to consent to what we do not like.”Read the full article
“We can all agree that religious terrorism is a cancer in our societies but what about state-terrorism?”Read the full article
Workplace discrimination against visible minorities is as widespread as gender inequality and sexual harassment. But little action is taken against it.Read the full article
With their growing congregations, Evangelical churches across Latin America are working to increase their institutional presence, under the banner of conservative morals, opposing the legalisation of same-sex marriage, abortion and marijuana, [...]Read the full article
“Kazakhstan has a very poor record upholding the principle of non-refoulement and Sayragul’s case is a welcome departure from that record.”Read the full article
Inclusivity in education – and by extension society, labour and politics – might help heal a divided country.Read the full article
“There are people in this country who are not living in the past; in spite of all the things that have happened here, there are people who are trying to work on themselves and focus on other things.”Read the full article
“The ratification of the Istanbul Convention is great news because on a symbolical level, when it comes to the balance of power between conservative and progressive forces, it was an important victory for the latter.”Read the full article
Experts estimate that China could become the biggest Christian country in the world over the next few years. However, most practitioners reject the country’s state-sanctioned churches, which they accuse of serving the Communist Party of China’s interests and [...]Read the full article
A referendum that could enable the liberalisation of access to abortion is set to be held at the end of May in Ireland. It is a unique opportunity for supporters of this right, who are working to mobilise all their resources, in a country where laws on abortion are amongst the most restrictive [...]Read the full article
“There must be thousands of people in India today who must know how it started, what really happened: what the logistics were, who supplied the weapons and kerosene, the white phosphorus, who distributed the lists, who brought the mobs in on [...]Read the full article
“Every time I think of it, I am so, so grateful to Law and Justice and to Chairman Kaczyński, really. If it had not been for all they had done, there would have never been such an acceleration, such a rapid joining of forces among women’s movements, civic [...]Read the full article
Just like 17-year-old Ahed Tamimi, arrested for striking soldiers, several young Palestinians are becoming politicised and use social media to denounce the Israeli occupation.Read the full article
"It is unfortunate that because of poverty and illiteracy, people look at superstition as a way to escape from that poverty."Read the full article
Following President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, some Palestinians still see non-violence, of the kind seen during the first Intifada, as the best form of resistance.Read the full article
The Turkish government has introduced controversial reforms to its school programmes. The most unpopular of all is the removal from the curriculum of the theory of evolution, considered “outdated and wrong”. But parents and teachers are organising the [...]Read the full article
