Category: Human Rights

Cuba, like most of the Caribbean, is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, regularly hit by natural hazards. In Santiago de Cuba, the EU helps UNICEF prepare students for the next natural hazard. In 2017, hurricane Irma made landfall in Cuba. Weather stations recorded gusts of up to 250 km/h before the […]

In a video message to a high-level event marking the 75th anniversary of the Declaration, Mr. Guterres recalled that the landmark document presented a “beacon of hope” for humanity and a blueprint for fundamental freedoms. “As we celebrate this 75th anniversary, I call on every Member State to use this opportunity, and the Summit of […]

(São Paulo) – President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva should veto a bill set to weaken regulations on the registration and authorization of pesticides in Brazil, Human Rights Watch said today. Bill 1459/2022, passed by the Senate in a rushed procedure on November 28, 2023, presents a serious threat to the environment and the right […]

“This is a pivotal day. We are here to rebuild a foundation of hope – hope that we need now, perhaps more than ever, at this sombre moment in history,” Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said, addressing participants which included leaders from Poland, Slovenia, Estonia, Greece Senegal, Colombia and the Maldives, taking to […]

The United Kingdom government’s fixation with expelling asylum seekers to Rwanda went from absurd to grotesque this week when it introduced a new “Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill” to parliament. For many victims of the Rwandan government’s repression, reading article 2.1 must feel like a punch in the gut: “Every decision-maker must conclusively […]

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least half of the people in the world do not have access to essential health care. Moreover, 344 million people are going deeper into extreme poverty each year because they cannot afford the health fees. No wonder the United Nations has set a goal for its member […]

Launching the Global Humanitarian Overview, Martin Griffiths, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, praised the heroic efforts of humanitarians but emphasized that international support is falling far short of the escalating needs.  “We thank all donors for their contributions, which amount to $20 billion so far this year – but that is just a third of what was […]

(Washington, DC) Peru’s release of the former President Alberto Fujimori violates the country’s international obligations, Human Rights Watch said today. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights should refer the case to the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS). On December 4, 2023, Peru’s Constitutional Tribunal ordered the release of Fujimori, who was serving […]

Eleanor Roosevelt played a key role as a member of the US delegation to the United Nations in the two-year-long process that led to the adoption in 1948 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She famously said that the “real change which must give to people throughout the world their human rights must come about […]

On Health Day at the COP28 climate conference in the United Arab Emirates, 124 countries endorsed the COP28 UAE Climate and Health Declaration, which commits to putting health at the center of climate action. Yet just outside the conference venue, migrant workers are exposed to health harms associated with escalating effects of climate change and […]