Human Rights

In 2023, the organization Global Witness registered the killing of 196 environmental defenders, clarifying that this staggering figure could be even “higher”. This report investigates online gender-based violence faced by women environmental defenders (WEDs) in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

Survivors of conflict-related sexual violence can seek redress under several legal frameworks. Knowing about the different legal frameworks is critical for survivors and advocates working alongside them. This fact sheet presents some of them.

Online gender-based violence, specifically targeted at women in politics, directly threatens democracy as it deteriorates and wears out until it becomes more unjust and less participatory.

This report takes a look at metal processing on the basis of six exemplary metals, which are essential to achieve decarbonisation.

Petra Kelly was a co-founder of the German Green Party and known worldwide as a champion of ecology and human rights. She was tireless, fascinating and inspiring. So it's no surprise that her ideas and initiatives live on in today's politics: in the fight against climate change, for gender justice and the global validity of human rights. This year, the Heinrich Böll Foundation celebrates her 75th birthday and commemorates her violent death 30 years ago.

This e-paper is written based on interviews conducted with young activists, journalists, human rights defenders and academics from Afghanistan (all under the age of 35), who have been actively involved in the process of democratisation and committed to liberal values over the past 20 years in Afghanistan; it highlights the twenty years of achievements by Afghan youth and explores their hurdles and challenges under the rule of the Taliban’s de facto regime.

Abortion is one of the most common gynecological procedures. Legal regulations have a major impact on whether access to this essential healthcare service is safe, legal and free of charge.  

Almost 8 billion people will live on earth in 2021. While in the Global North people are encouraged to have children, in the Global South programmes of so-called development aid tend to aim at reducing the birth rate.

Contraception is a powerful tool of self-determination and population control. But access to contraception varies around the world and is influenced by economic, social, and cultural factors.

Young advocates for democracy are campaigning against the surveillance state and the internet "gateway" to control inappropriate websites and the flow of information from the rest of the world to Thailand. The election win of the Future Forward Party (FFP) shows how Thailand's active young generation is moving from the Internet to the ballot box.