Category: Human Rights

Briefing the Security Council, Georgette Gagnon, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, and Tom Fletcher, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, said nearly half the population will need protection and humanitarian assistance in 2026. Women and girls remain “systematically excluded” from almost all aspects of public life, Ms. Gagnon said, as the ban on […]

This year’s honourees include five remarkable laureates from Cameroon, Mexico, Ukraine, Iraq and Tajikistan, each recognised for their courage, empathy and determination to protect people forced to flee. Established in 1954, the award celebrates those who go far beyond the call of duty to support refugees, internally displaced people and the stateless. Announcing the winners, […]

Georgia’s ruling party has introduced new legislation that would dramatically weaken protections for peaceful assembly, further shrinking democratic space and flouting basic human rights standards guaranteed by the country’s constitution and international law. The bill, tabled on December 8, is being reviewed under an expedited procedure without a substantiated justification for bypassing the ordinary legislative timeline. […]

In response to the devastating floods that have hit Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand, the European Union has released €2.4 million in emergency assistance for the most affected areas. This funding will serve to provide essential relief to the most vulnerable communities. Up to €1.8 million will support relief efforts in Sri Lanka, including €500,000 […]

When Rights Collide in the Classroom: Gender Identity, Minors, and the Complex Intersection of Law, Belief and Duty A quiet request within a school — that staff address a student by a different name or pronouns — can appear straightforward on the surface. But when the student is a minor, when staff hold deeply rooted […]

Speaking from the shattered enclave, UNICEF Communication Manager Tess Ingram said that at least 165 children are reported to have died “painful, preventable deaths” related to malnutrition during the war between Hamas fighters and Israel. A lesser-known scourge is acute hunger among pregnant and breastfeeding women and “the devastating domino effect” of this lack of […]

Dublin, 8 December 2025 — Taoiseach Micheál Martin has chaired the first meeting of the Delivery and Monitoring Committee for Ireland’s National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025–2030, marking a significant step in the Government’s commitment to embed the voices and experiences of disabled people at the centre of policy implementation. The meeting, held in Government […]

(Washington DC) – Authorities in Ecuador have used secret intelligence reports to freeze the bank accounts of Ecuadorian Indigenous and environmental groups, Human Rights Watch said today. Since September 19, 2025, the Financial and Economic Analysis Unit, the government agency responsible for preventing financial crimes, has ordered the banking regulatory authority to freeze the accounts of […]

The military junta in Burkina Faso has adopted a bill restoring the death penalty nearly a decade after the West African country abolished the heinous practice. The last known judicial execution in Burkina Faso took place in 1988. On December 4, the junta’s council of ministers approved a bill amending the penal code and reintroducing […]