In 2006, the World Wildlife Fund identified Cuba as the only country in the world to achieve sustainable development. This was largely due to the great success of its agricultural sector. The Cuban state for the past quarter of a century has encouraged local production by small scale farmers, using sustainable strategies without chemical pesticides.Continue reading “Cuba: A Model for Sustainable Agriculture”
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Mixed Messages and Crossed Wires: Human Rights Promotion in Central Asia
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Central Asia have long been regarded as a vital part of the democratisation of the region. Central Asian governments have recently introduced a series of laws constricting the space in which local NGOs can operate, but how effective has international support really been? Since suddenly and unexpectedly coming to independence inContinue reading “Mixed Messages and Crossed Wires: Human Rights Promotion in Central Asia”
Prioritising Life: Media Bias in Times of Crisis
With news being broadcast 24 hours a day, and the ability to access the news from any location via mobile phones, we have the capacity to be better informed than we have ever been. However, there is a gross bias in the media which inhibits this ability. While some humanitarian disasters – both human andContinue reading “Prioritising Life: Media Bias in Times of Crisis”
Terrified of Trump? Imagine Being Iranian Right Now
Donald Trump’s victory in the US elections has terrified many within the United States; economists fear his business incompetence and cavalier attitude to borrowing and debt obligations; Hispanic-Americans fear stigmatisation and deportation; the African-American and Muslim communities have already experienced vicious attacks against them; LGBT suicide hotlines have seen a huge spike in calls; andContinue reading “Terrified of Trump? Imagine Being Iranian Right Now”
2,000 Murders: Duterte’s War on Drugs
Since the violent and bloody war on drugs began in the Philippines, nearly 2,000 people have been murdered, with the full support and encouragement of President Rodrigo Duterte. During his campaign the President vowed that 100,000 criminals, not only drug dealers, would die within the first half of his first year as president. Further campaignContinue reading “2,000 Murders: Duterte’s War on Drugs”
Island of Despair: The Offshore Detention of Refugees in Australia
The Australian government maintains a strict rule that asylum seekers travelling by boat will be detained and subject to ‘offshore processing’ outside of the country. The ongoing Syrian Civil War and conflict within the Middle East have flooded European countries with refugees fleeing war-torn countries, and migrant target destinations are expanding across the Pacific. ThousandsContinue reading “Island of Despair: The Offshore Detention of Refugees in Australia”
Human Rights: Who Cares?
Why should I care about human rights? What difference does it make to me in Scotland? We’ve always had human rights, right? These are questions which no one asks, or at least, no one has ever asked me. Yet when you ask people on the street about whether they support human rights, they will likelyContinue reading “Human Rights: Who Cares?”
Life Online: How our Social Media Culture Advances the Cause of Human Rights Advocacy
Social media has played a major role in publicising events at Standing Rock Indian reservation and as a platform for protests, both against the pipeline and against local authority responses to protests. More than 1 million Facebook users checked in to Standing Rock reservation in response to a call to ‘overwhelm and confuse’ the MortonContinue reading “Life Online: How our Social Media Culture Advances the Cause of Human Rights Advocacy”
The Religious Clothing Debate
The religious clothing debate has never been a discussion with easily agreed upon conclusions, and has been featured even more than usual in the public eye recently due to the controversy surrounding France’s ‘burkini ban’ over summer, as well as female non-Muslim chess players in Iran being told they could face fine or even arrestContinue reading “The Religious Clothing Debate”
Blurred Lines? Physical Discipline and Child Abuse: The Case for Legislation to Ban Corporal Punishm
According to UNICEF statistics, around 6 in 10 children worldwide between the ages of 2 and 14 are subject to physical punishment by their parents or caregivers on a regular basis. Such disciplinary practices, also known as corporal punishment, are defined by the United Nations as “any punishment in which physical force is used andContinue reading “Blurred Lines? Physical Discipline and Child Abuse: The Case for Legislation to Ban Corporal Punishm”
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