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This two-day digital conference, organized by the Humboldt University of Berlin’s Department of Diversity and Social Conflict in cooperation with Brown University and the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation, aims to bring together researchers, activists, and community organizers to discuss how discourses on gender and sexuality have evolved in the Middle East and Europe amid the rise of far-right and authoritarian movements.

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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