The AJWS community has a lot to say about what's happening in the world. Read our insights about the struggle for justice and human rights around the globe.
Thoughtshop Foundation — a longtime AJWS grantee based in Kolkata — uses a unique approach to expand what’s possible for girls and women within India’s deeply patriarchal, restrictive society. They call it “design thinking,” and for a growing collective of young people across the state of West Bengal, it has proven life-changing. Thoughtshop developed beautifully …
Hopeful doesn’t begin to describe the mood in Senegal right now, on the heels of our presidential election last week. We are witnessing our democracy reborn — a major step in AJWS’s mission to amplify democracy around the world. For the past few years, the increasingly authoritarian regime led by our former president Macky Sall …
At 51-years-old, Villy Rivera speaks with cautious optimism about his ongoing fight for the rights of transgender men in El Salvador. Until only recently, he says, this community was nearly invisible — to the government, to society, and even to other LGBTQI+ people. But in the decade since Villy founded Generación HT El Salvador (the …
Teresa Mercedes Emilia, 19, says she was blessed to grow up surrounded by strong women — especially her proud grandmother. She was born in the rural community of Los Mercedes, which was founded by Afro-descendent people (known as “cimarrones”) who liberated themselves from enslavement and created their own autonomous communities. Teresa remembers picking coffee beans, …
Human rights work is complicated—so we’re asking key questions and breaking it down together in our new series, Repairing the World, Step by Step. Last month, we unpacked how AJWS makes change. Today, we’ll talk about who. Everything we do at AJWS—whether we’re funding grassroots organizations, nurturing social movements or meeting at the White …
After Keji lost her parents to the violent, ongoing conflict in South Sudan, she and her siblings fled to Arua, Uganda — a city near the border that has become a major hub for refugees looking for a better life. But Keji and her brothers and sisters needed help rebuilding their lives after losing everything. …