Social protection provides a safety net for the vulnerable through policies and programmes that offer financial assistance, healthcare coverage and social insurance. “It helps prevent social exclusion and promotes social inclusion,” said Mahamane Cisse-Gouro, Director of the Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division of human rights office OHCHR. Long-term...
Fionnuala Ni Aolain, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, is the first independent rights expert to gain access to the infamous facilities Al Hol and Al Raj, as well as other places of detention. After her six-day visit to...
“The continuous decline in water quality due to increased salinity levels in its composition is alarming. This situation significantly impacts vulnerable groups, such as children and adolescents, pregnant women and people suffering from chronic diseases,” they said in a statement. Water privatization fears Although health authorities have urged vulnerable groups to...
According to the experts, hundreds of Eritreans were also subjected to summary deportations at the end of June. “Collective expulsions are prohibited under international law,” the experts, including Mohamed Babiker, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, said in a news release issued by the UN human...
The victims, who included members of the Masalit ethnic community, were allegedly killed last month by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militia, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said, citing credible information. Local people were forced to dispose of the bodies in a mass grave outside the regional...
Yelena Milashina, who works for the independent investigative news service Novaya Gazeta, was travelling with Alexander Nemov when they were attacked on Monday morning on their way to covering the trial of Zarema Musaeva, the mother of exiled opposition activists who challenged the leader of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov....
“We must not leave this for our children to fix – no matter how inspiring their activism,” he told the Human Rights Council, advocating for a “just transition” to a green economy. “I ask every member of this Council to take this clear message out of the Palais des Nations...
“If we want a healthy world, then it needs to be a kind and welcoming one too,” said Benedict Phillips, the UNAIDS Director of Communications and Global Advocacy. That means ensuring all communities are included, especially marginalized groups, he said. However, in many countries, stigma, discrimination, and criminalization tend to make...
In a statement released in Geneva on Friday, OHCHR Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani expressed concern over the death of 17-year-old Nahel M on Tuesday, after he was shot dead driving away from a traffic stop in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre. According to news reports, at least 875 people were arrested...
Today, more than 100 armed conflicts are raging worldwide, devastating communities, winding back development, and leading to grave violations of human rights. Ranging from severe beatings to sexual humiliation and rape, torture is widely used as a means of war. And often, torture involves the use of tools or instruments,...
“The overall human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran has markedly deteriorated against the backdrop of continuously worsening socio-economic conditions, aggravated by sanctions and the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Nada Al-Nashif, UN deputy human rights chief, presenting the report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva....
“It is troubling to see Tunisia, a country that once held so much hope, regressing and losing the human rights gains of the last decade,” Mr. Türk said, urging the country to “change course”. The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said that over the past three months, the Tunisian authorities...