Category: Human Rights

(Kathmandu) – The government of Nepal should urgently create a clear, simple, and rights-respecting procedure that would allow transgender and third gender people to obtain official documents in accordance with their gender identity, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. While Nepali policy allows in principle for transgender to people to obtain documents […]

At least 806 people not involved in violent gang wars were killed, injured, or kidnapped in January – the bloodiest month in more than two years. Additionally, some 300 gang members were killed or injured, bringing the overall total of people affected to 1,108 – more than three times the number recorded in January 2023 […]

A cash crunch and hiring freeze at the United Nations threaten to hinder UN human rights investigations in places like Sudan, Ukraine, and Syria. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned UN member countries on January 25 that if those with outstanding dues do not pay up soon, the UN will be broke by August. In the […]

In south-east Madagascar, a concerning situation is unfolding as malnutrition rates rise in rural communities. Years of neglect and multiple nature-induced disasters means local communities are now left particularly vulnerable, and the districts of Nosy Varika and Ikongo are reaching critical emergency thresholds with a Global Acute Malnutrition proxy rate of 18.1% and 15.9% respectively. […]

Nearly 1.5 million people are now crammed into the southern city on the border with Egypt, and with nowhere further to flee. ‘Terrifying’ situation  A potential full-fledged incursion in Rafah “is terrifying, given the prospect that an extremely high number of civilians, again mostly children and women, will likely be killed and injured,” Mr. Türk […]

The loss of foreign assistance has severely harmed Afghanistan’s healthcare system and exacerbated malnutrition and illnesses resulting from inadequate medical care. Taliban restrictions on women and girls have impeded access to health care, jeopardizing their right to health; education bans guarantee future shortages of female health workers. Special Envoys meeting in Doha on February 18, […]

Alice Wairimu Nderitu also underscored the need to intensify diplomatic efforts to bring the crisis to an end. “Civilians should never pay the price of a conflict for which they bear no responsibility,” she said in a statement. “Their most basic rights must be protected and preserved, and their humanitarian needs must be met,” she […]

(Jerusalem) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the Israeli army and other officials to submit to the cabinet a plan to evacuate Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost governorate. Netanyahu said this action is necessary to attack Hamas battalions in the area. With a pre-war population of 280,000, Rafah is now housing the majority of Gaza’s […]

“The world’s largest displacement of children has been seen in Sudan,” said UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder. “Four million children have been displaced.  That’s 13,000 children every single day, for 300 days. Safety, gone. Worldly possessions, gone. Friends and family members separated or lost. Hope, fading.” Earlier this week, the UN aid coordination office, […]

(Bangkok) – Fighting in Myanmar’s Rakhine State has surged in recent weeks, causing civilian casualties and large-scale displacement, Human Rights Watch said today. Myanmar’s junta and the Arakan Army ethnic armed group should take immediate measures to minimize harm to ethnic Rohingya and other civilians caught up in the hostilities. On November 13, 2023, renewed […]