South Africa has named the Taliban’s systematic oppression of women and girls for what Afghan women have long called it: gender apartheid. Now it should act, by supporting its inclusion as a crime against humanity in the new treaty. www.hrw.org/news/2026/08...

South Africa Names Gender Apartheid. Now It Should Act.

At South Africa’s National Women’s Day commemoration on August 9, President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke, among other things, about the Taliban’s systematic oppression of women and girls in Afghanistan. Stan...

hrw.org

Liberia has abolished school registration fees from kindergarten through grade 6, removing a significant barrier to schooling for hundreds of thousands of children. www.hrw.org/news/2026/08...

Liberia Ends Primary School Registration Fees

Liberia’s government announced on August 5 the elimination of all school registration fees from kindergarten through grade 6, beginning with the new school year on September 7.

hrw.org

Young women who call Sweden home are being deported to countries where their rights, autonomy, and safety may be at risk. Sweden should halt these deportations and ensure return decisions comply with its human rights obligations. More from @hrw.org: www.hrw.org/news/2026/07... #WomensRights

Sweden: Deportation Decisions Ignore Women’s Rights Risks

Sweden is deporting young women to countries where they could face severe gender-based rights violations, Human Rights Watch said today. Media reported that in 2025, at least 92 young adults were set ...

hrw.org

With record-level abuses against children in war, many countries are working together to hold abusers to account. Still a long way to go for an effective crimes against humanity treaty, but growing support to include justice for crimes against children www.hrw.org/news/2026/06...

In Liberia, only 17 percent of children complete grade 9, and 1 in 3 children never attend school at all. In a new report, HRW documents that mandatory fees place a heavy financial burden on families and violate children’s right to education. Read more from HRW: https://bit.ly/4nNJ0MX

🚨Great news! Today #ICC judges confirmed all the charges against ex-Philippine president #Duterte and sent his case to trial. This opens the door to long awaited justice for the families of "drug war" victims and is an important acknowledgment of their suffering. www.hrw.org/news/2026/04...

ICC: Court Sends Duterte Case to Trial

The International Criminal Court (ICC)’s confirmation on April 23, 2026, of all crimes against humanity charges against former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is a major step toward justice for t...

hrw.org

Toxic lead from a Zambian mine has poisoned generations of children. This week @hrw.org & IHRDA will spotlight the case & call for justice: PANEL: Spotlight on Kabwe 🗓 16 April 09h00 – 10h40 📍 ACERWC CSO Forum, Lesotho With experts, activists & Kabwe residents Join online tinyurl.com/458yy5kd

The number of out-of-school children has risen for 7 years in a row, reaching 273 million. A proposed free education treaty could push countries to act. www.hrw.org/news/2026/04...

273 Million Children Out of School

A new United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report delivers a sobering message: the number of children out of school has risen for the seventh consecutive year, re...

hrw.org

173 countries agree via the Child Soldiers Treaty that children should not be conscripted/used in wars. Good progress but more work to do. Here's why the future #CrimesAgainstHumanity Treaty should criminalize child recruitment and use: hrw.org/news/2026/04... #CAHTreatyNow

Policymakers meeting at the UN for #CSW70 should ensure that girls facing violence are able to access justice. They should pledge to strengthen justice systems, reinforce prevention efforts, and commit the funds to deliver on these promises. Op-ed here: www.moretoherstory.com/stories/at-t...

At the U.N.’s Annual Meeting on Women, the World Should Focus on Justice for Girls — More to Her Story

As governments gather at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, they should prioritize ensuring that girls can access justice.

moretoherstory.com

Children near Ethiopia's largest gold mine suffer chronic health conditions, women have miscarriages & stillbirths. In response, the UN child rights body just urged Ethiopia to tackle the mine's pollution. The govt should do so, promptly: www.hrw.org/news/2026/03...

UN Urges Ethiopia to Tackle Pollution at Gold Mine

Residents living near Lega Dembi mine, located in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, have complained of serious health impacts for years, including miscarriages, stillbirths, and children born with long-term h...

hrw.org

🇭🇹 Sexual violence by criminal groups in Haiti is widespread. According to a new @msfincanada.bsky.social report, attacks are becoming more intense and brutal, while survivors face increasingly limited access to care. Read more: www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

Sexual Violence Survivors in Haiti Left Without Care

Sexual violence by criminal groups is not new in Haiti. However, the intensity and brutality of these attacks are worsening.

hrw.org

Children living near Ethiopia's largest gold mine have been exposed to toxic pollution. Next week, the UN Child Rights Committee, at its Ethiopia session, should push for the mine's suspension and an independent assessment. www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

Children Affected by Ethiopia Mine Pollution Need Justice

People living near Lega Dembi gold mine in Ethiopia’s Oromia region have for years complained about serious health impacts, including children born with long-term health conditions, miscarriages, and ...

hrw.org

My latest for @hrw.org: - The UN has problems but it’s better than a global Politburo of leaders of abusive governments. Rather than paying billions to join #Trump’s "Board of Peace", states shld strengthen the UN’s ability to uphold human rights. The Board charter doesn't mention human rights🫤

The World Needs Stronger UN, Not Trump-led ‘Board of Peace’

The United States played a leading role in establishing the UN. Now, US President Donald Trump is undermining and defunding large parts of it.

hrw.org

new @hrw.org on how spending on education & health care in #Egypt declined to unprecedented levels, while Sisi keeps justifying jailing tens of thousands by inferring that social & economic rights take precedence over political rights. www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

Egypt: Declining Funding Undermines Education, Health Care

The Egyptian government has severely undermined the rights to education and healthcare by failing to allocate sufficient spending, falling short of constitutional obligations and international benchma...

hrw.org

“It's time to strengthen the right to free education." On #HumanRightsDay Hon. Conrad Sackey, #SierraLeone's Minister of Education sets out the case for a new human rights treaty on education in Modern Diplomacy. #HumanRightsDay #RightToEducation 👉 go.ipned.org/2tcvil

It’s time to strengthen the right to free education

A new human rights treaty which recognises pre-primary and secondary education as part of the right to education will help accelerate

go.ipned.org

Mineral extraction should not happen at the cost of people and planet. Governments meeting at the UN Environment Assembly this week should support Colombia’s initiative for a binding minerals treaty. #UNEA7

New from HRW: The arrest of an asylum seeker at the Club World Cup final in July 2025 raises serious concerns about the safety of noncitizens attending the #WorldCup2026 in the United States next year.

US: ICE Arrest at FIFA Event Spotlights Dangers for World Cup

The arrest and return of an asylum seeker who took his children to the Club World Cup soccer tournament final on July 13, 2025, raises serious concerns about the safety of noncitizens attending the 20...

hrw.org

Starting today, States are meeting in Kenya to negotiate enviro policies ahead of #UNEA7, incl. a key proposal by the Colombian government on environmental protection in mining. This could open up the path to a new global mining, and bring real change. www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

An Opportunity to Address Mining Abuses Globally

When 29-year-old Norbert Amoya went to fetch water from a river in northern Zambia earlier this year, he found large numbers of dead fish and the water had a strange smell. The cause was a major minin...

hrw.org

Good riddance to rubbish policy. The end to the UK's "two child limit" social security policy has been announced, and it will soon be gone. We @hrw.org welcome the news, as one of many, many, many voices calling for an end to this arbitrary, cruel social security policy.

A new quantitative study from National Observatory on Violence Against Educators: One of the most comprehensive efforts to date to measure the nature and scale of censorship and harassment of educators across Brazil 🇧🇷. www.hrw.org/news/2025/11...

New Data on Censorship and Harassment of Brazil’s Educators

A new quantitative study from National Observatory on Violence Against Educators represents one of the most comprehensive efforts to date to measure the nature and scale of censorship and harassment o...

hrw.org

In Feb 26, it will be 80 years since the UN selected its first secretary-general, a man. Since then, eight others have had that job, all men. Surely it’s long past time a woman held the post. In these perilous times we cannot afford an all-men’s club at the top of the UN. www.hrw.org/news/2025/11...

Seventy-Nine Years Without a Woman Leader at the UN

In February 2026, it will be 80 years since the United Nations selected its first secretary-general, a man. Since then, eight other people have had that job, all men.

hrw.org

With conflict globally reaching a level not seen since the post-WWII era, better responses to the impact of conflict on women’s rights are urgently important. Conflicts and crises harm women and girls in ways far beyond sexual violence. www.hrw.org/news/2025/11...

What Escalating Conflict Means for Women and Girls

Conflicts and crises cause harm based on gender. Because women and girls across the globe experience legal, economic, and cultural discrimination, they also experience the impacts of conflict in disti...

hrw.org

🚨 The UN Security Council has just adopted a US-drafted resolution to authorize an international stabilization force for #Gaza with 13 votes in favor, 0 against, 2 abstentions (Russia & China). @hrw.org's reaction follows in a short thread. 🧵

In Hungary, Pastor Gábor Iványi, whose church supports people in poverty, faces absurd charges. The pastor and his church are human rights defenders providing shelter, food, education to people left behind by the state. The move is part of a wider crackdown on dissent. www.hrw.org/news/2025/11...

Hungary: Pastor Supporting People in Poverty Faces Charges

Instead of supporting those who fill the gaps left by Hungary’s crumbling public services and social security system, the government is prosecuting them. On November 3, prosecutors charged Pastor Gábo...

hrw.org

Suspending SNAP payments will put the rights of tens of millions of Americans in jeopardy. No one’s ability to eat should be vulnerable to political games. New dispatch from @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

Tens of Millions at Risk of Hunger if US Food Assistance Lapses

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced last Friday that it will stop distributing payments for essential food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) startin...

hrw.org

Suspending these payments would deny tens of millions of people their basic human right to food. Read more:

Tens of Millions at Risk of Hunger if US Food Assistance Lapses

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced last Friday that it will stop distributing payments for essential food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) startin...

hrw.org

Cutting aid has a human cost. The US Department of Agriculture announced last Friday that it will stop distributing payments for essential food assistance through SNAP starting November 1 if the federal government is still shut down.

🚩Yesterday Saudi authorities executed Abdullah al-Derazi for alleged crimes committed as a child. Saudi authorities reached two horrific milestones: the 300th execution of 2025 & the 2nd execution of a person accused of committing crimes as a child. @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

Saudi Arabia: Spate of Executions of Child Offenders

Saudi authorities on October 20, 2025, executed a man convicted of alleged crimes committed as a child.

hrw.org

"Misogyny is a favorite tool of authoritarians." @heatherbarr.bsky.social @hrw.org

Heather Barr@heatherbarr.bsky.social · 10mo ago

When govts convene this week in Paris to discuss feminist foreign policy, there will be a lot to talk about. The French govt’s description of the event says progress toward gender equality “is not being made fast enough.” That is an epic understatement. www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...