By Katharina Rall While the Covid-19 pandemic dominated the news for much of 2020, climate change—the other global crisis threatening catastrophic impacts on peoples’ lives—has continued to gain ground. The pandemic itself may have…

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…

Isidro Baldenegro López, a subsistence farmer and leader of the Tarahumara indigenous people in Mexico’s northern Sierra Madre mountain region, knew he was a marked man. The 50-year-old had dedicated his life to defending the Sierra…

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…

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…

Fear stood behind many of the big human rights developments of the past year. Fear of being killed or tortured in Syria and other zones of conflict and repression drove millions from their homes. Fear of what an influx of asylum seekers could mean for…

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…

Every year, environmental crises affect millions of people around the world causing sickness and decimating lives and livelihoods. When environmental degradation garners international attention its impact is often framed in terms of harm to nature. But…

By Nisha Varia and Jo Becker If someone had told me 45 years ago that we would be here today, I would not have believed it. We do not have to be slaves anymore. —Myrtle Witbooi, chair of the International Domestic Workers Network and…

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…