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US Should Keep Millions of Children Out of Poverty

Expand the Child Tax Credit

The United States Congress is debating the content and price tag of the Build Back Better Act, President Joe Biden’s proposal to invest $3.5 trillion over 10 years in education, fighting climate change, and strengthening the US social safety net.…
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, center, and US Congressman Jimmy Gomez, hold a press conference about the new Child Tax Credit, in Los Angeles, July 15, 2021. 
News

Biden’s Best Chance to Tackle US Inequality

Spending Package Would be Groundbreaking Expansion of Social Safety Net

Critics in the United States who argue about the cost of the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package pending in the US Congress, which would expand government investment in the country’s broken social safety net and protections for workers, are missing…
US President Joe Biden speaks on how his Build Back Better agenda will lower prescription drug prices, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 12, 2021.
Video

Gender-Based Violence Survivors in Kenya Need More Government Support

(Nairobi, September 21, 2021) – The Kenyan government’s response to gender-based violence during the Covid-19 pandemic has been too little, too late, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The 61-page report, “‘I Had Nowhere to Go’:…
News

US: Advance Human Right to Safe, Affordable Water

New Video Urges Congress to Include Equitable Access in Infrastructure Bill

(Washington, DC) – The United States Congress should support programs that ensure everyone in the US has access to safe and affordable water, Human Rights Watch said in a video released today. To advance this crucial goal, the US government should…
Leaky garden tap
News

Hunger during the pandemic shows Nigeria’s social security gaps

Water mixed with salt was dinner for Umar Abubaker and his family of eight, including three young children, for many nights during Nigeria’s five-week lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Before the lockdown, Abubakar, who has a physical…
A man reading the newspaper "The Nation"
News

Kenya Needs an Inclusive Social Protection Policy

Doris is a 75-year-old woman from Kayaba informal settlement in Nairobi. As with most families in the settlement, her house is a single dilapidated room with mud walls, a corrugated iron roof, and dirt floors. There is no clean running water, and she…
People stand outside a purple building with a mural on it that says "Corona is Real"
Report

“Between Hunger and the Virus”

Summary Margaret Okuomo lives with her seven children in Ago Egun Bariga, a waterside slum community in Lagos, Nigeria’s most populous state and the epicenter of the country’s fight against Covid-19. Lagos, although Nigeria’s wealthiest state, has…
Report

“We Are All Vulnerable Here”

Summary On March 27, 2020, Kenyan authorities introduced measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, including a dusk-to-dawn curfew and a directive to Kenyans to work from home. For “Wanjiku,” a 27-year-old pre-school teacher and single…
News

Questions about Money

Low-Income Communities Miss out on Kenya’s Covid-19 Relief

Jane Mbula, 50, a community worker in Mukuru Kayaba in eastern Nairobi, followed the news around Covid keenly. She heard the news in March 2020 when Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta announced the first Covid-19 case in the country. The president later…
People stand outside a purple building with a mural on it that says "Corona is Real"
News

UK National Food Strategy Has Game-Changing Potential

Proposals to Tackle Inequality Can Help Advance Right to Food

A major independent review of the United Kingdom’s food systems has underscored the deep inequality around access to nutritious food in the country. The National Food Strategy makes clear recommendations on using food policy to help tackle…
Students eat lunch at Chertsey High School on March 09, 2021 in Chertsey, United Kingdom. 
Video

The Devastating Impact of Criminalizing Abortion in Ecuador

(Washington, D.C., July 14, 2021) – Ecuador’s laws criminalizing abortion violate the rights and risk the lives and health of women and girls, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The 128-page report, “‘Why Do They Want to Make Me Suffer…
News

Children's Rights and Alternative Care

Submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child

Submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child regarding Children’s Rights and Alternative Care June 30, 2021 Human Rights Watch welcomes the opportunity to provide input to the Committee on the Rights of the Child ahead of its upcoming Day…
News

US Congress Closes Trump-Era Lending Loophole

Federal Rule Allowing Payday Lenders to Avoid Interest Rate Limits Overturned

The US House of Representatives last week joined the Senate in voting to overturn a federal regulation that allowed payday and other small-dollar and short-term lenders to skirt limits on what interest rates they could charge for loans. This is a major…
The window of a payday loan store
News

Facial Recognition Problems Denying US Workers Unemployment Lifeline

Solutions to Identity Verification Errors Urgently Needed to Help Those Facing Hardship

Lucy* (not her real name), a 29-year-old grocery delivery worker and mother of two in the US city of Houston, Texas, was under enormous financial strain when we interviewed her in May. She said her income had dropped steeply during the pandemic; she…
Workers in Texas may apply for unemployment benefits on the Texas Workforce Commission website.
News

Safety Net Needs More Than Stimulus Checks

The Covid-19 pandemic in the United States has left millions of people struggling to make ends meet. Massive government spending, especially the stimulus checks, has provided crucial relief. But the checks are just a band-aid for a U.S. social safety…
Gina Stanton, of the Homewood neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, attends a rally held by the Mon Valley  Unemployed Committee and Pittsburgh Restaurant Workers Aid Group at Governor Tom Wolf’s regional office on March 10, 2021, downtown Pittsburgh.
News

IMF: Make Cameroon Loan Contingent on Anti-Corruption

Lack of Transparency, Corruption Allegations Mar Covid-19 Spending

(Nairobi) – The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Executive Board should ensure that a three-year loan sought by Cameroon is used to meet its human rights obligations and not lost to corruption, Human Rights Watch said today. It should require the…
CDC Cameroon Associate Director for Program and Science, Dr. Clement Ndongmo, observes Covid-19 testing procedures for passengers arriving at Nsimalen International Airport in Yaoundé. 
News

Africa: Prioritize Education to Safeguard Children’s Rights

Guarantee Free Education for All; Tackle Abuses

(Nairobi) – African governments across the continent should accelerate efforts and provide adequate funding to ensure that all children can enjoy their right to an education, Human Rights Watch said today to mark the African Union’s Day of the African…
“Angela,” 20, walks with her son near her home after returning from school in Migori county, western Kenya
News

Seven Reasons the EU is Wrong to Oppose the TRIPS Waiver

As the Covid-19 pandemic has devastating human rights, social, and economic consequences across the globe, European Union (EU) representatives have repeatedly stated their commitment to the idea that Covid-19 vaccines should be a universal common good…
People wait to get tested for Covid-19 in Hyderabad, India. A crowd stands before two health care workers.