The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the protective measures of social distancing and washing hands have highlighted the enormous social and economic importance of water and sanitation. From sanitation workers in the United States to refugee camps around the world, people all have the same concerns about how to stay safe
The last week of February was filled with an outbreak of religious violence in northeast Delhi, India over a citizenship law passed in December. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) provides minority groups from neighbouring majority-Muslim countries a fast-track to Indian citizenship. Critics of the new citizenship law claim it is
On January 29th, the Bangladesh government announced plans to provide formal education to Rohingya child refugees, a move praised by human rights groups. A pilot program led by UNICEF and the Bangladesh government will start in April with an initial 10,000 Rohingya children up to age 14 will be taught
More than 235,000 people were displaced between December 12 – 25 from the Idlib province in northwestern Syria, the last major region held by the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad, due to weeks of intense bombardment and a ground offensive by Syrian government forces that began on December 19. Many
Following a visit to Zimbabwe from November 18 – 28, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Hilal Elver, released a report of her findings on the ongoing food insecurity crisis in Zimbabwe. Although Zimbabwe’s Constitution guarantees the right to adequate food, Zimbabwe’s current crisis is the result
On October 27, Claudia López, a member of the Green Alliance party, became the first woman to be elected mayor of Colombia’s capital, Bogotá. These were the first local elections since the signing of a peace agreement between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 2016,
On Friday, August 30, traffic and trains stopped in Pakistan at 12 pm as crowds gathered to show solidarity with the people in the Indian-controlled region of Kashmir. The event was led by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in response to India’s ongoing lockdown, including a high military presence and
Protests have been building in Honduras approaching June 28, the tenth anniversary of the coup ousting Honduras’ democratically elected president Manuel Zelaya. The recent protests began in late April led by teachers and healthcare workers after proposed reforms to the health and education ministries that were seen as a step
A two-day explosion of prison violence has left 55 inmates dead in Manaus, Brazil. The violence began on May 26 when 15 people were fatally strangled or stabbed at the Anísio Jobim prison complex, and spread the following day where another 40 people were killed at three nearby prisons. This
On April 25, Tropical Cyclone Kenneth made landfall in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado Province, causing widespread damage in the Macomia and Quissanga districts north of Pemba and on the island of Ibo. The storm has killed at least 41 people and destroyed almost 35,000 homes, along with damage to infrastructure
In a televised address on 19 March, Kazakhstan’s president Nursultan Nazarbayev announced his resignation. Nazarbayev was president for 30 years, and was the only president independent Kazakhstan has ever known. He was the last Soviet-era leader still in power, and this controlled transition of power allows him to leave office
On February 24, Cuba held a constitutional referendum whereby the new constitution was ratified by an overwhelming majority however, the amount of dissent has increased from past elections. The new constitution upholds Cuba’s one-party communist system and centrally planned economy and institutes some changes, such as legitimizing private business and
On January 25, Greece ratified an agreement that puts an end to a 28-year dispute over the use of the name “Macedonia”. The Greek Parliament voted 153 to 146 to ratify the Prespa Agreement, under which their neighboring country’s name will be changed to the Republic of North Macedonia, and
In Sudan, protests sparked by increases in bread and fuel prices have been ongoing since December 19 and have escalated into calls for an end to the rule of President Omar al-Bashir. Protesters first took to the street because of the immediate crisis of the tripled price of bread, but
While the United States government has made immigration from Latin America one of its main concerns, it is important to look at the conditions in Latin American countries causing people to leave. In Venezuela, economic and political issues have caused a humanitarian crisis. On November 8, the UN reported that
After a controversial move where Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena’s fired Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, replacing him with former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President also dissolved Parliament and called for a snap general election. Sirisena’s actions have been criticized as unconstitutional, and Wickremesinghe has refused to leave his position as Prime
Millions of people around the world lack access to clean water and sanitation services. Water scarcity causes conflict as people and countries compete for the limited resource. As a water scarce country, over 80% of Kenya is arid or semi-arid land. Kenyans depend on water resources not only for drinking,
In the past week, there has been growing pressure on the Australian government to remove refugees that are being held in detention centres on the island of Nauru. In the by-election on October 20th, Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s party lost their majority in the House of Representatives, demonstrating the momentum
On October 16, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a statement detailing how the Syrian government has been actively blocking displaced residents from returning to their homes in former rebel zones. Under Law 10, which was passed in April 2018, the government planned for the creation and establishment of
On October 7, 2018, Joenia Wapichana became Brazil’s first indigenous woman elected to Congress. The very polarizing election – with presidential front runner Jair Bolsonaro making many hostile comments against women, indigenous peoples, and other minority groups – makes Wapichana’s victory even more important. Brazil’s indigenous population of 900,000 people
