Take a deeper look at our stories from around the world.
Each month, AJWS shares the latest developments from our grantee-partners and our staff working to create a better, more just world. You might call this blend of grantee profiles, opinion pieces, and organizational updates a window into the state of human rights around the world. We just call it Stories of Hope.
We support women, girls and LGBTQI+ people, as they organize to end discrimination, stop violence and live with dignity, safety and health.
We aid communities and movements organizing to protect the land, water and natural resources that people depend on for their survival.
Each year, 15 million girls worldwide are married before the age of 18—sometimes against their will. AJWS supports efforts to end child marriage by bringing girls and young women together to define their own futures.
We aid communities and movements that speak out against injustice, hold governments accountable to respect the rights of all people, and work to recover from civil wars and other conflicts.
When disasters and emergencies strike in the countries where we work, AJWS provides immediate humanitarian relief to activists on the front lines.
A visual storytelling collaboration from AJWS and Magnum Foundation
Witness social change up close through these videos from around the globe. You'll watch a day in the life of an activist AJWS supports and learn how they change lives and build social movements for justice.
Analysis, proposals, and personal stories brought to you directly from Haitian civil society leaders.
An archive of stories related to Robert Bank, who served AJWS from 2009-2026.
An archive of stories related to Ruth Messinger, who served AJWS from 1998-2016.
The rapid growth of mineral mining across Mexico has ravaged local communities. Poverty and disease have soared for workers and people who live near mines and other development projects. The digging has stripped local land—ruining it for farming—and polluted sources of drinking water, multiplying health problems and miscarriages.
When 43 college students disappeared from Iguala, Mexico in late September 2014, the incident was just one in a long series of tragic stories. As the country’s epidemic of government corruption and gang violence has escalated over the past decade, more than 26,000 people have simply disappeared.
Like so many trans men that today form the community of HT El Salvador, Shane Mejía Iraheta grew up feeling like he didn’t fit — into society, in his own body and even in his family. He had a grandfather who respected him and sheltered him from his family’s disapproval. But when Shane’s grandfather died …
For years, transgender men in El Salvador have needed to hide their identities for fear of violence and persecution from their families and society at large. But HT El Salvador is shining a light on this community, increasing the visibility of trans men through years of hard face-to-face organizing — creating allies of parents, teachers …
My whole life, Haitians have demanded political representation. Now we need it more than ever. As a child, my first perception of government was military uniforms, as Haiti went through repeated coups after the fall of the Duvalier dictatorship. In our neighborhood, government men beat people and stole things. I did not yet understand that …
As the transition government’s term expires, Haitians want to set up conditions for real change. The term of the current transition government expires on February 7, 2026. The international community and the Haitian elites are already negotiating who will govern next. But there is a great gap between their conversation and the concerns of most …
Ruth Messinger’s dedication to social justice runs deep. “I feel like I’ve been an activist my whole life.”
Juanita ‘Kika’ Antelis Juan is the oldest Juan sister, at 26. For Kika, Muñecas Negras inspired an extraordinary change in her life. She grew up in a family of 10 and was married when she turned 15 (In the Dominican Republic, marriage is often forced upon adolescent girls by families struggling financially, to lessen her …
The impact of the U.S. presidential elections in November will surely extend beyond our borders and influence civil and political rights around the globe. The example the U.S. sets holds importance across the globe on a macro level; our actions speak volumes. And when the U.S. disregards the principles of rule of law and democracy, …
With a divided nation heading to the polls in November, our shared expectations of a new direction are palpable. But one change that may surprise most Americans is the potential for wholesale disruption to U.S. foreign aid, including billions in humanitarian funding, that could affect millions of lives around the world. As the world’s largest …
