By Lena Simet and Komala Ramachandra and Sarah Saadoun At the dawn of 2020, our world was already in crisis. High and rising economic inequality meant that someone born with few resources could see their basic human rights, like food and decent housing…

In 2020 you should be watching for… who’s trying to shut down the Internet. From Caracas to Khartoum, protesters are leveraging the internet to organize online and stand up for their rights offline. In response, in the…

In 2020, you should be watching for… growing international rejection of “killer robots”—weapons that would kill without meaningful human control—and increasing calls for a new treaty to preemptively ban them.…

Corruption, poverty, and repression continue to plague Equatorial Guinea under President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has been in power since 1979, making him the world’s longest serving non-royal head of state. Obiang won another term in…

We are at a difficult juncture in the protection of online speech and privacy, when states resist applying principles they have endorsed interPnationally to their own domestic legislation and practice. It is as if all road signs to freedom of speech and…

Nepal has the third highest rate of child marriage in Asia, with 37 percent of girls marrying before age 18, and 10 percent marrying before age 15, despite the fact that the minimum age of marriage is 20 under Nepali law. Child marriages across…

Venezuela is experiencing a profound humanitarian crisis. Severe shortages of medicines and medical supplies make it extremely difficult for many Venezuelans to obtain essential medical care. And severe shortages of food and other goods make it…

In October 2016, Seleka rebels armed with machetes and machine guns attacked and destroyed a camp for displaced people in the Central African Republic. They killed at least 37 civilians, wounded 57, and displaced thousands of others in and…

Child marriage around the world is associated with many harmful consequences. Girls face health dangers associated with early pregnancy, lower educational achievement, a higher incidence of spousal violence, and an increased likelihood of…

Sharon J.’s marriage at age 14 in Tanzania dashed her hopes for the future: “My dream was to study to be a journalist. Until today, when I watch news or listen to the radio and someone is reading news, it causes me a lot of pain because I wish…

We have reached an inflection point for the future of the Internet. To preserve the Internet as an open, global platform for rights, development, and commerce, we need principled rules to govern digital surveillance and protect privacy that apply to every…

Late in the evening of September 1, 2014, an Iraqi air force plane dropped a bomb on a school in Al-Alam near Tikrit in northern Iraq, which had recently fallen under the control of the extremist group Islamic State (also known as ISIS). Dozens of…

Technology has invaded the sacred precincts of private life, and unwarranted exposure has imperiled our security, dignity, and most basic values. The law must rise to the occasion and protect our rights. Does this sound familiar? So argued Samuel…

Some of the most powerful and sophisticated actors on the world stage are companies, not governments. In 2011 alone, oil and gas behemoth ExxonMobil generated revenues of US$467 billion—the size of Norway’s entire economy. Walmart, the world…

Political violence continues to destabilize Chad and the human rights climate remains poor. More than 400,000 civilians live in refugee and displaced persons camps along Chad's eastern border with Sudan, at risk of rights abuses, including child…