At 8:30 a.m. on August 14, 2021, a massive, 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck southern Haiti, its epicenter in the heart of a rural region home to many of the country’s poorest communities. Globally, it was the deadliest natural disaster of 2021, with nearly 2,500 people killed. In Haiti, the earthquake was the latest blow to …
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“There’s a stigma in society that we’re a curse,” says 26-year-old Feronika, a transgender woman in Palu, Indonesia. “But we’re perfect the way we are. We have two hands just like everyone else, and we’ll use them to improve our society. If people think we’re a curse, we’ll be a blessing in return.” For Feronika, this …
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The headlines in Haiti are bleak. After years of increasing political corruption under former President Jovenel Moïse and skyrocketing gang violence, including kidnappings and outright massacres of civilians, the country faced a new onslaught of crises in the summer of 2021. In July, Moïse was assassinated in his home, disintegrating what was left of Haiti’s …
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As talk of COVID-19 vaccines swept the world in early 2021, a new human rights crisis was already looming: profound disparities in who would receive a life-saving shot and who would face the pandemic unprotected. In the Dominican Republic, this inequity quickly became a reality: on February 16, Dominican President Luis Abinader announced a national …
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For Daniel Kobei and other leaders of his indigenous community in Kenya, May 26, 2017 marked the victory of a lifetime. Everything they’d worked tirelessly to achieve finally materialized, as they won the legal rights to their land after years of struggle. Daniel is a member of Kenya’s Ogiek people—a small community of just over …
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When Shee Kibwana Shee was growing up in Lamu Island, Kenya, he always dreamed of becoming a journalist — reporting the news that mattered most to his community and bringing people together. Decades later, he’s doing exactly that, but in a way he never expected: For the past 15 years, Shee has been Lamu’s town …
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Hurricane Iota hurtles towards the same coastlines just battered by Tropical Storm Eta, as Central America braces for more catastrophic damage.
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Disappeared. It’s a benign word we use for a lost object, gone without a trace. Something we most likely misplaced by accident. But when ‘disappeared’ describes another human being, it is no longer passive. It’s an act of violence—abduction, imprisonment, and often murder. People don’t simply get lost; they are ‘disappeared’ so that they’re never …
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“What makes me proud is that this win was a team effort. The world has seen now how communities can rise up and stand for what is right—to the very end,” says Omar Elmawi. Omar is the Campaign Coordinator of deCOALonize, a coalition of organizations in Kenya turning the tide on rampant industrial development in …
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“You may have heard that Thailand is a paradise for transgender people. We have the beauty queens. The cabaret shows. But you don’t see the negative side of how we’re treated. And I want to make sure my sisters don’t experience what I went through.” It’s a Saturday in central Bangkok, and Jetsada Taesombat, better …
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