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The biggest uprising in the country’s history, a devastating explosion in Beirut a year ago, a global pandemic, and now one of the worst socio-economic crises in the world. In the last two years, Lebanon has been transformed beyond recognition, has unraveled beyond limits.

The Geneva Refugee Convention turned 70. Hardly anyone feels like celebrating in view of the many violations internationally, but the occasion offers the opportunity to strongly support the Convention’s principles in face of all hostilities, because it stands for nothing less than the protection of refugees.

What if leaders of all stripes, from diverse sectors, started to follow the kinds of feminist leadership approaches that have been championed by activists from all over the world for decades. How might this type of leadership help us to navigate our way through these splintered, uncertain times?

It still feels so rare to see non-profit leaders take a firm, defiant stand when facing backlash for their attempts to disrupt the status quo. It still feels unusual to see a leader lean into, rather than away from their values when push comes to shove.

In the non-profit sector, we’re great at talking about structural inequalities. Yet despite our fluency in structural analyses of power, we remain woefully inarticulate about a very specific form of power: privilege.

More than 50 people were injured in attacks on journalists and civil society in Tbilisi in early July in connection with Pride Week. The German Federal Government and the EU should strongly urge their Georgian partners to address the violence through prompt and comprehensive legal and political action. 

Emergence of diverse and inclusive Civil Society organizations, such as NGOs and associations are among the mentionable gains during the last two decades of Afghanistan history. Nevertheless, beside increasing threats of insecurity, NGOs are constantly faced with challenges of laws and policies. 

The circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic have disrupted the striving of women and LGBTIQ+ activists worldwide. The Global Feminist Pitch 2021 introduces eleven feminists who will pursue nine projects on feminist resistance and resilience on social media, within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

2020 was expected to be the feminist super year - the anniversaries of the UN Resolution on "Women, Peace, and Security" and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action were supposed to be celebrated, and discussions about the lack of their implementation to be held. Instead, this became the year that, according to UN Women, would destroy 25 years of feminist achievements.

On 15 June, the majority of Hungarian MPs ­– representatives of the Hungarian Civic Alliance (FIDESZ) and the Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik) – voted for a bill that contained several provisions added to the original draft act, originally intended to enhance the protection of children and tighten sanctions against pedophile offenders. These new provisions introduce an explicit, harsh ban on the "portrayal and the promotion of gender identity different from sex at birth, the change of sex and homosexuality" for persons under the age of 18.

Interview with Rahmatullah Amiri on the withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan and the increasing challenges for the peace process and civil society.

Vulnerability as a Legal Notion in Public International Law

In an interview, Dr. Franziska Brantner MdB comments on the results of the “Actually European!? Citizen expectations of the next German government’s EU policy” study and makes the case for greater German engagement in the fields of climate protection, tax policy and ensuring the rule of law.

Today is World Refugee Day. A day chosen back in 2001 to honour the Geneva Convention for refugees and to remind the world of the plight of refugees worldwide. This year marks two anniversaries: the 20th World Refugee Day and the 70th anniversary of the Geneva Convention. This is a good moment to reflect on the state of global and European protection of those fleeing war and persecution.

As a representative survey reveals, citizens expect the next federal government to set clear priorities, to pursue an active and cooperative European policy and to invest more jointly in European issues of the future.

Memorials are more than memories cast in basalt and concrete; as reference points, they are sources of veneration and contempt, at the mercy of political interests and deliberate acts of manipulation.

Crises are moments when the hairline cracks and chips in the structures of our societies start to show. Whether the crisis is of an economic, public health, rule of law or climate nature: for bold responses to the crises of our times, strong and progressive alliances are needed now more than ever. 

Community-based organizations and grassroots-led initiatives across Asia are addressing the growing threat of plastics pollution. Governments must now enact and properly implement policies and regulations to scale up these bottom-up efforts and hold plastics producers accountable.

Today, the Heinrich Böll Foundation is publishing the digital non-fiction book Unpacked! Plastic, Waste, and Me.

In a brilliant and personal essay on the history of Bidoon literature, Mona Kareem shows why literature cannot be thought along national lines.

More than a year after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, the virus continues to ravage the Asia-Pacific with catastrophic human, social, economic, and developmental costs. Many LGBTIQ+ persons experienced increased vulnerability on top of systemic human rights violations and social inequity many currently shoulder as the pandemic places more stress on health systems and social safety nets. 

The internet we have today has become as real as any social spaces we occupy in-person. So much of our lives are integrated digitally now and opting out of the digital space is no longer a choice for us. Today, to be online is to exist and to be seen.

The European Green Deal will only become a true success story if the EU functions as a multi-level governing system in the truest sense of the word and the various levels operate at a well-connected interplay.