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The government of India is in the process of enacting a Food Security Act, even as 500 million people live with hunger and poverty while 46 percent children are undernourished in the country. The NFSA proposes to lower ration prices but also attempts to reduce the quantity of grain given to each (…)

The world has much to learn from Mohandas Gandhi. As we approach October 2, a look at his principles show that his relevance is greater now than it ever was... Read more

Although its record of reserve-based biodiversity conservation is striking, Beijing’s approach to the conservation of living natural resources outside reserves is less impressive. Pressures for economic development often eclipse complex ecological and cultural factors. This is especially true on (…)

The Indian prison system continues to perpetuate many of the injustices of the colonial penal system. However, it is time to change, time to implement prison reforms, time to seek active societal contribution to the improvement of prison conditions – so that prisons reform rather than inflict (…)

October 2010 marks the fifth anniversary of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The Act and its implementation have been described in both administrative circles and civil society as “revolutionary” , “a blow for transparency”, “a check on corrupt practices” and “a people’s intervention tool (…)

The supreme judiciary in Bangladesh has made it clear that martial law has no place in a civilised country that has a Constitution. After the recent landmark verdict of the appellate division of the Supreme Court that nullified the 5th Amendment to the Constitution and thus declared the military (…)

Women in rural areas play a central role in the agricultural economy of their region, which means that they often work long hours, leaving little time for learning how to use new technologies. Yet, access to new technologies affect both men and women in remote areas. In a new publication, (…)

Many European companies that publicly embrace workers’ rights under global labor standards nevertheless undermine workers’ rights in their US operations, Human Rights Watch said in a report issued today.
The 128-page report, "A Strange Case: Violations of Workers’ Freedom of Association in the (…)

The Forest Rights Act of 2006—also known as the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act—came after considerable and bitter opposition from conservation groups.
They said the Act, which would grant land rights to tribals and other forest (…)

The tenacity, the wisdom and the courage of those who have been fighting for years, for decades, to bring change, or even the whisper of justice to their lives, is something extraordinary. Whether people are fighting to overthrow the Indian State, or fighting against Big Dams, or only fighting a (…)

Time is running out for Israel. And the Israeli government knows it. The Jewish Diaspora, especially the young, has a waning emotional and ideological investment in Israel. The demographic boom means that Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories will soon outnumber Jews. And Israel’s (…)

The recent announcement by President Zuma that certain traditional leadership positions would be not be continued when the incumbent leaders died was met by a remarkable lack of reaction and discussion in the media. Against the bigger picture this was a cosmetic change to traditional and (…)

The United Nations celebrated the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People this week by showcasing award- winning short films produced by indigenous filmmakers and reaffirming indigenous rights and cultural treasures.
The day was observed at the New York headquarters of the U.N. (…)

Twenty-seven-year-old Maria Puscariu is about to complete her MA in philosophy at a Belgian university. The Moldovan has been working for over five years as a domestic worker in Western Europe in order to support herself and finance her studies. Read more

U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern traveled with Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela to Chile, Peru, and Ecuador last week, to discuss climate change with his government counterparts and civil society. Deepening bilateral and multilateral (…)

May has seen an upsurge in local organizations exercising their human rights to housing. Most people recognize that international human rights guarantee all humans a right to housing. With the millions of homeless living in our communities and the millions of empty foreclosed houses all across (…)

The Western Sahara conflict, notes analyst Yahia Zoubir, is now in the 35th year, with no sign of resolution. While the United Nations is ostensibly responsible for its resolution, France and the United States provide implicit support for Moroccan occupation of the territory, failing to support (…)

The institution of marriage has undergone significant changes in recent decades as women have outpaced men in education and earnings growth. These unequal gains have been accompanied by gender role reversals in both the spousal characteristics and the economic benefits of marriage.
A larger (…)

The Bhopal mega-crime trial is over. The barbarity has ended in a light sentence, although the victims are countless. Eight officials of the erstwhile Union Carbide India Limited have been convicted and sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment. There is still no bar on trying the corporate (…)

The political topography of Sri Lanka has changed beyond recognition since the military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the death of its leader, Velupillai Prabakaran, in May last year. Contrary to the apprehensions in several quarters, there are no apparent signs of a (…)