Category: Human Rights

This year’s United Nations climate summit (COP30) is taking place in Belém, gateway to Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva began the summit by announcing a global investment fund to pay tropical forest countries to keep trees standing. Indigenous peoples have made their presence felt throughout, demanding recognition for their contributions […]

In the past year alone, more than 250,000 residents have left the Donetsk region, a focus of Russian attacks in southeastern Ukraine, close to their shared border. Evacuations are also ongoing in neighboring Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia. The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, is supporting both evacuees and those who remain behind. Federico Sersale, head […]

Ireland formally launched its campaign for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) for the 2027–2029 term on Thursday, November 20, 2025, at UN Headquarters in New York. The event was accompanied by “Drawing Hope: Children’s Art for Peace”, an exhibition showcasing artwork from children in eight countries, including Ireland, symbolizing the […]

Security forces in Nepal used disproportionate force against youth-led protests on September 8, 2025, indiscriminately firing on protesters multiple times. On a second day of violence, people, some apparently not linked to the “Gen Z” protest, set fire to prominent government buildings; assaulted politicians, journalists, and others; and attacked schools, businesses, and media companies. A […]

(Beirut) – The African Commission for Human and Peoples’ Rights should act decisively to address the dire, protracted human rights crisis in Egypt following its review of the situation in the country, 22 organizations said today. The commission has found Egypt in breach of numerous articles of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights but […]

The Israeli government’s forced displacement of the populations of three West Bank refugee camps in January and February 2025 amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Geneva Conventions prohibit displacement of civilians from occupied territory except temporarily for imperative military reasons or the population’s security. Displaced civilians are entitled to protection, accommodation, and […]

The Taliban in Afghanistan’s western province of Herat have recently banned women doctors, patients, and healthcare workers from entering hospitals without wearing a burqa. On November 10, 2025, authorities prevented Shabnam Fazli, a female surgeon, from entering a major hospital in the provincial capital and detained her for several hours, allegedly for not wearing a burqa. The requirement […]

March of Dimes issued their annual report on US rates of preterm birth on November 17. The findings are a gut punch. Rates worsened between 2023 and 2024 in 21 states. Preterm birth rates among babies born to Black women climbed to 14.7 percent, 1.55 times higher than the rate for white moms. For the fourth year […]

The EU is co-chairing today a ministerial roundtable on humanitarian crises in the Sahel and Lake Chad regions. The EU will reaffirm its commitment to combining emergency response with investments in resilience, sustainable development and social cohesion.  In 2025, the EU has mobilised over €541.6 million in humanitarian, development and peace assistance to respond to […]

(Belém) – Brazil’s Congress should reject proposals to dismantle environmental licensing requirements and to revoke a plan to protect human rights defenders, Human Rights Watch said today. Instead, it should contribute to global efforts to curb climate change by approving the Escazú agreement.  “As the world comes together to tackle the climate crisis at COP30 in […]