Human Rights

“Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance." – Kofi Annan The key to a prosperous future lies in the youth of the world, however if we ignore half of our future we will only have […]

In what amounts to state-sanctioned torture, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the Senate Armed Services Committee she interrogators in Iraq were using so called harsh interrogation techniques. WASHINGTON (AP) ‚ A military interrogation expert, Air Force Col. Steven Kleinman, told Congress on Thursday that prior to the abuses at Abu Ghraib, he witnessed […]

The quest for parenthood is nothing new, however in our increasingly busy Western lives we are waiting longer and longer to get married and have children. The result of older motherhood has led many families to face infertility and difficulties in conceiving. The idea of having fertility treatments is no longer shocking and taboo, so […]

The United Nations Millennium Development goals are taking a U-turn according to Medical Emergency Relief International. Yesterday, the leaders of the world met at the UN General Assembly to discuss promises made all those years ago. In 200o, the heads of state promised to halve poverty by 2015, achieve six other quantifiable goals for reducing […]

Around the world millions up on millions of girls continue to remain marginalized. September 24th, International Girl Child Day, looks to bring light to the issues and awareness to the plight of girls across the globe. The fight for equality is far from new, and while historical battles have been fought and won across the […]

September is Washington D.C.’s Human Trafficking Awareness Month, the event which was established thanks to the efforts of the DC Task Force on Human Trafficking. The Task Force was established in 2004 with the DC police department and the DC US Attorney’s office. Since the establishment of the Task Force, membership has grown to over […]

This month Free the Slaves, the United States oldest anti-slavery/abolitionist organization launched the Freedom Awards, honoring those who have struggled for freedom and won, those who fight in the name of those who have been silenced by the chains of slavery, those who never look back and face hardship as if it were only a […]

North Korea remains veiled in a murky shadow as their laconic leader, Kim Jong il, has taken ill after supposedly suffering a stroke.  No one has seen him since and he was conspicuously absent at a September 9 parade marking the country's foundering. No more fan fare, no more god awful spectacles filling stadiums teeming […]

In Haiti the term Restavek, a Creole word derived from the French "rester avec", meaning "to stay with" or "to remain with", is deeply rooted in the countries history. While sending your children away to work as a domestic may be deeply rooted in the impoverished countries history, however the modern reality is that some […]

The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, called on the world community to work in unison to bring Sudanese war criminals to justice. Moreno-Ocampo, who was in New York Monday ahead of the 63rd annual session of the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 23, said world leaders could do a better job […]

Githu Muigai has replaced Doudou Dienne as the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. Muigai addressed the Human Rights Council in Geneva today and was particularly alarmed by the mainstreaming of racism and xenophobia by their adoption of political parties in democratic countries.  Muigai did not specify. Many […]

“The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.”  – Pablo Casals (Spanish cellist and conductor 1876-1973) Children are our world's irreplaceable miracles; each one possesses the potential to change […]