Promotion of Democracy

Free media are essential for India, the world's largest democracy. But religious intolerance, political influence and corporate control over the media constitute a common set of factors which harm freedom of expression.

In its attempt to undermine a pluralistic media environment the Hungarian government launched an offensive against the Norwegian NGO Fund operating in the county. It started as a usual political battle, but behind the scenes there is going on much more.

Officially there are no legal obstacles to women participating in politics in Afghanistan. However only one woman registered as a presidential candidate among many men, making discrimination against women in Afghan politics obvious.

Yaseen Samim is a politician and the spokesperson for the "Solidarity Network for Change". He hopes for the engagement of the new generation and a professionalization of politics in Afghanistan.

Avani Tewari is a 19 year old law student from New Delhi, pursuing her studies from Jindal Global Law School in Sonipat. In this web dossier Avani is writing down her reflection on the main debates in the media after the elections and her personal impression of the political discussion.

Even though Recife holds the most remote stadium built for the World Cup, thousands of people were evicted from their homes. Activist Rudrigo Rafael explains how the government ignores human rights and why development projects in Recife are killing jobs.

In this interview professor Orlando Alves dos Santos Júnior (Research Institute of Urban and Regional Planning at Rio de Janeiro University), talks about the violations against citizen's rights that are happening in Brazil.

Antonieta Rodriguês is a former resident of Campinho, a community located in Madureira, north of Rio de Janeiro City. The woman lost her home and is now engaging against the removals and the injustices arising from the construction works.

The EP election in Hungary resulted in a clear victory for the governing party Fidesz. The national vote was characterised primarily by an internecine competition on the left and secondarily by a battle between the far-right and the left - an analysis by Tamás Boros.

Under the justification that a huge aquarium would increase tourism, more than US$126.8 million were spent on the Acquário Ceará in Fortaleza. A questionable project for a city in which 43 percent of the inhabitants don't even have a sewage disposal system.