• Hope for BC at BC?
    Commentary
    Feb 8, 2012

    When I went to college, I chose a highly regarded university with a strong tradition as a Jesuit institution. I was pleased with my undergraduate education at Boston College, but I still lament that my alma mater denies students access to contraceptive services through its health system.  

  • We Told the Children Not to Enter
    Commentary
    Jan 31, 2012

    The Philippine government is engaged in a long-running armed conflict with the insurgent New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. While the NPA maintains a presence in the mountains of northern Luzon, there has only been limited military action in the Cordillera region since the 1990s. Despite the low levels of conflict, the military continues to place troops and guns in local communities. And in some cases these troops and their guns establish a home on school grounds.

  • Philippines: Soldiers on the School Grounds
    Press release
    Nov 30, 2011
    During a recent eight-day investigation in the Cordillera Autonomous Region on northern Luzon island, Human Rights Watch found five cases in which the military, in violation of Philippine and international law, had used parts of functioning schools as barracks or bases for military detachments since 2009. This military use of schools lasted for periods ranging from three months to more than a year.
  • Disarming schools: strategies for ending the military use of schools during armed conflict
    Journal Article
    Oct 31, 2011
    The past two decades have seen increased awareness, attention and action in response to the plight of children affected by armed conflict. However, one issue that has not received much attention, despite the regularity with which it occurs, is the phenomenon of military forces and other armed groups using school buildings. Of particular concern is when armed groups occupy and convert schools into military bases on a medium- or long-term basis.
  • Ukraine: Reject Homophobic Law
    Press release
    Oct 16, 2011
    The Ukrainian parliament should reject a bill that would unlawfully censor information about homosexuality. The bill is incompatible with Ukraine’s international obligations and could deny people information they need for their health and safety.
  • Ukraine: Letter to Chairman of Parliament Volodymyr Lytvyn Regarding Proposal for a Bill on Banning "Propaganda of Homosexualism"
    Letter
    Oct 16, 2011
  • Children With Disabilities: Please Stay Home
    Commentary
    Sep 21, 2011
    Countries around the globe have pledged to provide primary education for all children by 2015, as part of the UN Millennium Development Goals. Yet according to the UN, children with disabilities represent more than one-third of the 67 million children who are not in school worldwide.
  • Nepal: A Failing Grade
    Commentary
    Aug 24, 2011
    It will take time for Nepal to make the transition to a fully inclusive school system, and to make schools safe and accessible for all. But for families crumbling under the pressure of trying to secure an education for their children with disabilities and caring for them around the clock at home, it can’t happen soon enough.
  • Nepal: Separate and Unequal Education
    Press release
    Aug 23, 2011
    Children with disabilities in Nepal face diverse and imposing barriers to getting a basic education, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Schools are physically inaccessible, teachers are inadequately trained, and some children with disabilities are unjustly denied admission to neighborhood schools, Human Rights Watch found.
  • Letter to African Union Chairperson Jean Ping on the 17th AU Summit
    Letter
    Jun 21, 2011