Human Rights

Children across the developing world are abused, trafficked, and forced in to situations of harsh labor, many receive little to no education, however often their stories remain silenced. IRIN has recently launched a new series of short films which illustrate the difficult challenges that many children across the globe face on a daily basis. IRIN […]

Last Friday Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued his annual report to the UN Security Council took a historic step as for the first time it included a list of violators who use child soldiers. The countries which included Somalia’s transitional government; Congo’s armed forces; Myanmar’s army; and rebel groups in Congo; Myanmar; the Philippines, Colombia; Sudan; […]

According to UNICEF, “More than 70 per cent of almost 11 million child deaths every year are attributable to six causes: diarrhoea, malaria, neonatal infection, pneumonia, preterm delivery, or lack of oxygen at birth.” Recently there has been a lot of discussion on meeting the Millenium Development Goals (MDG) as the 2015 deadline grows increasingly near […]

Uganda, one of the more stable societies in Africa, plans to enact the death penalty for gay and lesbians who repeatedly engage in homosexual relationships. Last year, American missionaries spread their version of the Gospel in Uganda. Hatred, against gays and lesbians, was never too distant. ‘The Ugandan MP who sponsored the bill, David Bahati, […]

Many stories covered in the past week by other blogs on the Foreign Policy Blog network also have a strong human rights component to them. Here is a roundup of those stories from our own blog network: Goldstone, apartheid, and the duty of a judge: Much has been said in the blogosphere since Yedioth Ahronoth […]

On the ninety-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, the 2010 Jane Addams Peace Association‘s Children’s Book Committee announces the following Award winners and honor books. The Jane Addams Children’s Book Award is given annually to books that engage children in thinking about peace, social justice, world community, […]

By Jehan Sadat As the widow of Anwar Sadat, I cannot count myself an objective analyst of his policies; but I am not the only one who believes that the world is poorer for his absence, nor am I the first to note that statesmen of Sadat’s caliber are in short supply. Perhaps then, it […]

It’s rare that human rights activists get truly excited about anything happening in Washington, let alone celebratory. But that is not the case this week as yesterday the US took a step forward in helping end Africa’s longest running conflict with the House of Representatives passing the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery […]

Time magazine recently published an article which indicated that child abuse will likely climb as the economic downturn continues. The article, Study: Shaken-Baby Cases Rose During the Recession, reports on a study which was presented on May 1, 2010 at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada. Child-abuse expert Dr. Rachel Berger of […]

Judge Baltasar Garzon, a pioneer of universal jurisdiction against heads of state, was offered a job by the International Criminal Court today. This comes as Baltasar is being persecuted by far right groups in his home country of Spain. From the Office of the Prosecutor: “The Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal […]

By Robin Gerber On the afternoon of December 11, 1978, a woman in her sixties with well-coiffed, snow white hair climbed the steps of the Federal Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles, her husband at her side. Looming over the couple, the eighteen story building’s rectangular tower sat encased by smaller buildings all clad in pale […]

Yesterday was Mother’s Day and hopefully everyone took a moment to honor the mother’s, and mother figures, in their lives. While being a mother in any country brings with it endless struggles and joys, some bring greater struggle than others. Therefore in which country is it best to raise your children? According to the State […]