Human Rights

As the world celebrates the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the region of Southeast Asia highlights two compelling political phenomena: the emergent ‘authoritarian populism’  and the return to the ‘Asian Values’.

Seventy years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations General Assembly. While all human beings are deemed born automatically free with equal rights, the very definition of human itself in practice is not always neutral.

A serious and critical examination of the German colonial history needs a concept of inclusion for LSBTIQ in development cooperation.

Since winning the presidency in 2016, Rodrigo Duterte’s regime has enacted policies of fear and repression that have eroded democratic norms and endorsed violations of fundamental rights.

Across Europe, trans people are denied their right to have their gender recognized, unless they fulfill invasive requirements. Human rights bodies have clearly affirmed: this is a violation of trans people’s human rights.

International human rights law and the rights of trans people. The Yogyakarta Principles plus 10 reflects on how international law has evolved in this area.

Seventy years after the adoption of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) human rights are found in country’s constitutions and also incorporated in regional instruments. However, there is no issue as heated as the universality character of human rights.

We invite you to nominate candidates for the 2019 Anne Klein Women’s Award, who courageously and perseveringly advocate human rights, equality and sexual self-determination. The closing date for submissions is 2nd September 2018.

Apply by the 1st of July to attend the first green open-space workshop on young Asian-European relations: "Our brave new world – valuing human rights across Asian-European borders".

Chile is the only country in the world in which water resources and water management are privatized. Our documentary “Secos” shows the results and its disastrous consequences.

For decades, Myanmar was among the most isolated countries in the world. Although the process of democratization and the internet have changed things, people still cannot express themselves freely.

Hungary has reached a point where people fleeing from war and persecution can be detained, beaten and deprived of their rights, while those who endeavour to help them are cast as national security risks.

In this study, the Heinrich Böll Foundation with the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) want to show how the mechanisms to narrow the space for civil society work. At the same time, the study focusses counterstrategies and proactive strategies to push back against civil society restrictions.

The scope of action for civil society actors opposing large-scale projects; protesting social injustices, land grabbing, and environmental destruction; and demanding democratic participation and human rights is shrinking continually.

Governments and corporations are driving the demand for water, land and organic resources of all kinds as never before. Citizens are fighting for their rights and working to preserve their livelihoods. Our study "Tricky Business" shows how the mechanisms of expropriation work. [external_media:soundcloud.com/boellstiftung/tricky-business-bollfocus]

Over the past years, tens of thousands of men, women and children in Syria havee become subject to forced disappearances in Syria. On July 12, the film "Syria's Disappeared" was screened in which survivors of Syrian prisons and relatives of some tortured to death speak out.

The public discourse in Indonesia has turned against LGBT people. However, behind closed doors, the Indonesian government still supports projects for LGBT groups.

When the 19 member countries and the EU gathered in Hamburg for the G20 Summit one important topic was not on the agenda: from China to Mexico, Turkey to Russia, Saudi Arabia to India – the respect for fundamental human rights can no longer be taken for granted.

The current discourse on renewable energy tends to centre on the positive reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and improved energy security, while the risks of social and environmental injustice are largely ignored.

Sexual and gender minorities remain dangerously vulnerable to human rights abuses across much of Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite immense legal and cultural barriers, civil society activists around the continent are rising up to improve the lives of LGBTI people. Brian Pellot spoke with two leading activists in Uganda and Botswana.