HUMAN RIGHTS - The African Mirror

Jul

2021

Tunisian garment workers fight for unpaid wages in pandemic’s shadow

LAYLI FOROUDI RACKING up debts and running out of options, Tunisian seamstress Najeh is pinning her hopes on her employer's promise to pay four months of overdue wages in August. The 44-year-old, who declined to give her last name for fear of reprisals, is the main breadwinner in her household and has been commuting every day to her garment factory job of 22 years despite receiving no wages since March. Tunisian garment factories, which mainly supply European fashion brands, have been hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic - with thousands of job losses and a rise in complaints about labour rights…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

World hunger, malnutrition soared last year mostly due to COVID-19 – U.N. agencies

HUMAN RIGHTS

MAYTAAL ANGEL WORLD hunger and malnutrition levels worsened dramatically last year, with most of the increase likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a multi-agency United Nations (U.N.) report. After remaining virtually unchanged for five years, the number of undernourished people rose to around 768 million last year - equivalent to 10% of the world's population and an increase of around 118 million versus 2019, the report said. Authored by U.N. agencies including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), the report is the first comprehensive assessment of food…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Five human rights wins in a year marked by COVID-19 backsliding

HUMAN RIGHTS

SONIA ELKS THE coronavirus pandemic deepened entrenched inequalities and took an especially heavy toll on the most vulnerable, but in a grim year there were some notable wins for human rights, Amnesty International said on Wednesday. From Black Lives Matter protests showcasing people power to climate lawsuits holding corporations to account and a groundswell of action to fight violence against women, the rights group highlighted bright spots in its annual report on the state of human rights worldwide. Here are five of the human rights wins and positive trends identified by Amnesty: 1. Black Lives Matter protests The death of George Floyd…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Conflict and COVID-19 drive hunger to record levels in Congo

HUMAN RIGHTS

A record 27.3 million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, or about one-third of its population, are suffering from acute hunger, largely because of conflict and the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations said yesterday. The figure makes Congo home to the most people needing urgent food assistance in the world, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a joint statement. Besides conflict and the pandemic, the number also rose because the latest analysis covered more people than previous ones. "For the first time ever we were able…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Why girls continue to experience violence at South African schools

HUMAN RIGHTS

GIRLS experience gender and sexual violence in schools around the world, and South Africa is no exception. Research has shown how learners, and girls in particular, are vulnerable to violence. EMMANUEL MAYEZA, Senior Lecturer, Department of Sociology, University of the Free State DEEVIA BHANA, Professor Gender and Childhood Sexuality, University of KwaZulu-Natal Despite the country’s political response to violence against women and girls, school-going girls struggle with male violence in and out of school. Learners who are victimised at school often show poor academic performance, regular school absenteeism, anxiety and depression, drug and alcohol use, psychological trauma, and dropping out…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Unravelling the complexities of human trafficking

HUMAN RIGHTS

JAN BORNMAN HUMAN trafficking is a topic that never seems far from the public imagination. Regular awareness campaigns ensure it is always included in conversations on fighting crime, and in South Africa, barely a day goes by without someone posting about it on social media. More often than not, though, people tend to link human trafficking to sex trafficking and, invariably, sex work. But globally and in South Africa, experts have warned that sex work is often conflated with human trafficking and the voices and experiences of sex workers are thus dismissed or excluded. In a 2020 research report by the Centre…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Panel advises Dutch government to apologise for slavery

HUMAN RIGHTS

AN advisory panel in the Netherlands has told the government to acknowledge that the 17th-19th century transatlantic slave trade amounted to crimes against humanity, and to apologise for the Dutch role. The independent panel, whose recommendations are not binding, was set up following protests over the murder of George Floyd, an African-American in police custody in the United States. It noted that Dutch people's knowledge of the country's colonial past is weak and recommended it be taught in schools. "History cannot be turned back," chairwoman Dagmar Oudshoorn said in a summary of the panel's findings. "However it is possible to…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

The global approach to vaccine equity is failing: additional steps that would help

HUMAN RIGHTS

ACCUSATIONS abound of vaccine nationalism against states that stockpile vaccines and of vaccine apartheid, as COVID-19 vaccines become concentrated in rich countries. Calls for vaccine equity or justice demand vaccine allocation on account of need, based on the idea that no one is safe until everyone is safe. ERIN HANNAH, Department Chair/Associate Professor of Political Science, King's University College, Western University JAMES SCOTT, Senior Lecturer in International Politics, King's College London SILKE TROMMER, Senior Lecturer Politics , University of Manchester SOPHIE HARMAN, Professor of International Politics, Queen Mary University of London At stake is our ability to ensure an end…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

U.N. agency says 41 million on verge of famine

HUMAN RIGHTS

MAYTAAL ANGEL SOME 41 million people worldwide are at imminent risk of famine, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday, saying soaring prices for basic foods were compounding existing pressures on food security. Another half a million are already experiencing famine-like conditions, said the WFP's Executive Director David Beasley. "We now have four countries where famine-like conditions are present. Meanwhile 41 million people are literally knocking on famine's door," he said. The WFP, which is funded entirely by voluntary donations, said it needs to raise $6 billion immediately to reach those at risk, in 43 countries. "We…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

From teaching to football, communities seen as key to ending use of child soldiers

HUMAN RIGHTS

EMELINE WUILBERCQ Listening to local communities is key to meeting a global goal of ending the use of children by armed groups by 2025, a top United Nations (U.N.) official and charities said on Thursday. Former child soldiers often face stigma when they return home and they risk being re-recruited if they cannot find food, security and support among their communities, according to experts on child soldiers. "Even when separated from armed forces and groups, children continue to struggle in regaining their place in their families and communities," the U.N. Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba told…