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The Heinrich Böll Foundation works in Mexico and the Caribbean on resource policy, energy and socio-ecological transformation as well as democracy, security and digital rights.

For decades, Russian civil rights activist, historian, and German scholar Irina Scherbakova has been working to shed light on the repressive policies of the former Soviet Union. This Monday, she was awarded the Goethe Medal.

The Goethe Medal 2017 will be given to Lebanese writer Emily Nasrallah. In her texts for adults and children, she has found a poetic language to describe everyday life in the Lebanon drawn by the civil war.

Urvashi Butalia is one of India’s foremost feminists. On the occasion of her receiving Germany’s Goethe Medal on August 28, 2017 in Weimar, we have talked to her about her work as a publisher, feminism, writing and politics in India.

Viktor Orbán and his closest allies have taken control of most of the Hungarian media. Journalists at loyal outlets are expected to closely follow instructions from the state apparatus; in exchange, they receive advertising money from government institutions.

Afghanistan has been described as the world’s most dangerous country for women. Violence against women (VAW) takes many forms, and has complex and deep roots in the patriarchal culture of the Afghan society. One form of VAW is denying them access to food.

How ASEAN deals with forced migrants shows in how far it is actually people-centered and people-oriented. This vulnerable group used to be integrated in the past. However, today it appears integration efforts are not truly inclusive.

Despite its diversity, ASEAN member states have one common trait: state repression. This is in contrast to ASEAN´s aspiration to be people-centered. How repression looks on the ground can illustrate the example of the Bersih movement for fair elections in Malaysia.

Competing trade agreements and planned infrastructure investments are dilemmas that ASEAN can only successfully solve if they approach the challenges as group that lets go if its consensus decision-making and allows for countries´ flexible participation.

So far, the engagement of the ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN People´s Forum has been disappointing. A new strategy for people-to-people regional integration is needed.