Every day stories of survival during the Covid19 crisis, a report from the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Background Dara(*) is an edjai, the local term in Khmer language to designate a street waste picker. In a country lacking a formal recycling system, he is one of the many thousands roaming the streets in search for aluminum cans or plastic bottles he can find to sell to collectors, composing the backbone of the recycling ecosystem.
A (partial) defense of the Frugal Four Background Sweden has recently become known as one of the members of the Frugal Four group in the negotiations concerning the new European long-term budget. These member states are skeptical towards the idea of corona bonds, and, as net contributors to the EU budget, they are open to paying more to the EU but “there are limits”. By Anders Schröder
Council Presidency as a chance? Germany’s new role for the EU Council Presidency Background On July 1st, Germany will take over the EU Council Presidency in midst the Corona pandemic. This presents opportunities for Germany to redefine its European policy. How does Germany perceive its role in the European Union and what are the expectations of other member states for the German Council Presidency? By Christine Pütz and Claudia Rothe
Italian expectations of the German EU Council Presidency Background The disappointment in Italian society in relation to the EU at the beginning of the corona crisis has now changed to confidence. Now the expectations of financial solidarity are particularly directed towards the forthcoming German EU Presidency. By Christopher Hein
Spanish demands on the EU and the German EU Council Presidency Background Europe and European politics do not currently play a central role in the social debate in Spain. This makes it all the more important for Europe to come up with clear proposals to overcome the crisis. By Susanne Rieger
A shaky system starts to wobble: Mexico and coronavirus Background A fluctuating economy, high unemployment, enormous violence against women and girls – what was already a difficult situation in Mexico has been made far worse by the coronavirus pandemic. Dawid Danilo Bartelt, Head of the Mexico City Office, describes the country’s approach to tackling coronavirus. By Dawid Danilo Bartelt
"Scarecrowna" - A variation on dealing with Covid-19 in Cambodia Gallery Cambodians have the custom of using scarecrows in times of fear, an old animist tradition called Ting Mong for scaring bad spirits and ghosts which is being revived during the corona crisis by placing these artefacts in front of their homes to trick the virus to contaminate them instead of the families living nearby.
Sexual Violence in the Holocaust: Perspectives from Ghettos and Camps in Ukraine Background The experiences of women in the Second World War with sexualised violence show that some suffering was gender-specific. According to the sources, sexualised violence against Jewish women and girls was not a by-product of the war, but the war itself, organised and controlled by those who denied Jews their right to exist. By Marta Havryshko
Women’s Faces of Ukrainian Contemporary Memory of World War II Background We are currently witnessing and participating in the processes of reinterpreting the history of World War II and the formation of the modern historic narrative in Ukraine. An important aspect of this relevant discourse is the visibility of diverse women’s experiences in World War II. By Kateryna Kobchenko