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 — and meet the activists on the frontlines of the fight to build a better world.
On Sunday, November 8, 2015, more than 30 million people voted in Burma*’s first contested elections in 25 years. 2011 marked the end of nearly 50 years of military rule, creating an opening for a more democratic state. In Sunday’s elections, Burma’s citizens expressed a desire for change. All that remains is to transform this desire into reality.
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending the second annual Girls Summit in Washington, DC, where American Jewish World Service joined other organizations to discuss a problem that affects 15 million girls each year: early and child marriage (ECM). AJWS was thrilled to launch our new policy brief at the event, “What’s Missing in the Fight Against Early and Child Marriage: Insights from India.” If you missed it, read on for a few highlights.
On May 25, 2014, hundreds of Cambodian factory workers hosted an event that gave new meaning to the term “fashion forward.” The occasion? A one-of-a-kind fashion show in which garment workers from Cambodia’s booming textile industry modeled the very clothing they toil in airless factories for $2 a day to produce.
Peten is Guatemala’s Wild West. Throughout its history, this department—similar to a state—was known for its large fincas (plantations) and populated by landless laborers and small farmers, including indigenous people. Many migrants were often encouraged to move to Peten by the government. Despite its bucolic appearance, Peten has been roiled by several volatile conflicts: the drug trade, the battle over the damming of the region’s rivers, and the country’s long civil war.
The Union of Peasant Organizations of the Vera Paz (UVOC) is a movement of indigenous small farmers—mainly of the Q’eqchi’ and Poqomchi’ ethnic groups—that organizes Mayan communities in north-central Guatemala to advocate for their rights to land and traditional territories. Supported by AJWS, UVOC runs a community radio station in Chamtaca, Alta Vera Paz. Gilberto, a young man with a slight frame and a deep baritone, is the station’s voice, a UVOC youth leader and the president of a Mesoamerican regional network of community radios.
