As a young girl, Mourine dreamed of becoming a doctor. But in her village of Kuria, in a rural region in southwestern Kenya, it is customary for girls to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) and be married off — 8 out of 10 girls under the age of 18 are subjected to FGM every year. …
Read More
Kenya’s government has been selling off Indigenous communities’ ancestral lands to foreign companies for carbon projects without their free, prior, and informed consent, leading to the forced eviction and displacement of communities such as the Sengwer and Ogiek peoples. But AJWS partners East Africa Women-Led Indigenous Assembly (EAWIA) and Sengwer Indigenous Community Trust (SICT) are …
Read More Thailand’s government has created an ambitious goal of achieving “net zero” carbon emissions throughout the country by 2050. This may sound like a commendable effort to reduce carbon emissions. However, the government considers carbon projects to be a key strategy towards this goal, claiming that they offset pollution and compensate for existing emissions. In fact, …
Read More
The Trump administration’s radical expansion of restrictions on lifesaving foreign assistance will have devastating impacts around the world. Though the expansion was expected, its breadth fundamentally alters U.S. interaction with the rest of the world far beyond reproductive health. With this expansion, the U.S. continues its retreat from the family of nations and leaves marginalized …
Read More
In June 2024, Thailand’s LGBTQI+ people achieved a massive human rights victory when the country legalized same sex marriage. But activists know there is still work to do. “Marriage equality opened more space for us to talk about trans rights,” AJWS partner Hua Boonyapisomparn (she/her) of the Foundation of Transgender Alliance for Human Rights (ThaiTGA), …
Read More
American Jewish World Service (AJWS) denounces the reckless and abrupt withdrawal of the United States from dozens of international organizations that advance global stability, sustainability, democracy and economic growth and have long served as safeguards against abuse of the most vulnerable people on the planet. Inspired by the Jewish commitment to justice, AJWS supports grassroots …
Read More
At 12, Anzoa Sarah was struggling with her body image and self-esteem. Today, at 24, she’s a powerful women’s rights lawyer in Kampala, Uganda’s capitol city. What changed? As an adolescent, she was introduced to the Mentoring and Empowerment Programme for Young Women (MEMPROW), a feminist organization working to empower women and girls across Uganda …
Read More
The Embobut forest in Kenya is misty during the rainy season, filled with fresh, sweet air and chirping birds, rich biodiversity and flowing rivers — a gorgeous, lush landscape. It’s also the ancestral home of the Indigenous Sengwer people, who have lived throughout the forest for generations, stewarding and safeguarding its natural resources — until …
Read More