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Water and sanitation: where are we?
Photo by Samad Deldar on pexels.com 2.1 billion people still lack access to safely managed drinking water; 3.4 billion people lack safely managed sanitation; 1.7 billion people lack basic hygiene services at home, including 611 million with no access to any facilities. These are some of the key findings from Progress on Household Drinking Water and Sanitation 2000–2024: Special Focus on Inequalities , the latest joint report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Un
the Observatory for Human Rights
1 day ago2 min read
Turin’s Imam Risks Deportation.
Photo by Moslem Daneshzadeh on unsplash.com On 24 November 2025, Mohamed Shahin, imam of the San Salvario’s mosque and resident in Italy for 21 years, was stopped by the police and notified of a deportation order issued by the Ministry of the Interior for reasons of public order and national security . Despite being in possession of a residence permit for long-term residents, having no criminal record, and a long-standing role in promoting interreligious dialogue, Italian au
the Observatory for Human Rights
Dec 133 min read
Climate Crisis Deepens Inequality for Dalit Women Sanitation Workers in Bangladesh.
Photo by Mumtahina Tanni on pexels.com Amnesty International reveals that Dalit women sanitation workers in Bangladesh are currently facing human rights violations. As the country is among those most affected by climate change, international authorities have raised their concerns about this minority group’s access to water and other essential resources. Amnesty International recently published a report exposing human rights abuses and gender-based violence against Dalit wo
the Observatory for Human Rights
Dec 112 min read
The Inuit community still faces alarming discrimination in Denmark: children forcibly removed from their families after biased parenting tests.
Photo by Palle Knudsen on pexels.com Denmark is, once again, making the headlines for violating Greenlanders’ rights through the forceful removal of their babies, after the administration of biased parental tests to assess “whether they were fit to be parents ”. The tests mentioned above, known as FKU (forældrekompetenceundersøgelse), were, in fact, banned earlier this year in May, after decades of harsh criticism by Danish human rights groups. Indeed, such examinations
the Observatory for Human Rights
Dec 83 min read
Climate Change Is Erasing Nations and the World Is Still Looking Away: TheTorres Strait Islanders vs. Australia (UNHRC Case, 2022–2024)
Photo by Tomasz Proszek on Pixabay.com Rising sea levels are often spoken of as a purely environmental issue, but for many Pacific Island communities, they are also a fight for cultural survival, dignity, and legal recognition. The world continues to react with slow diplomacy, even as entire nations confront the possibility of becoming uninhabitable within a generation. Climate change is no longer a future threat, but a present human rights emergency, and the international sy
the Observatory for Human Rights
Dec 53 min read
Netherlands must better recognise role of gender in domestic violence, expert body says.
Photo by @ ELG 21 on Pixabay.com The Netherlands’ system of legal and policy protection of women against domestic violence has been the target of warnings by the Council of Europe’s expert group on violence against women (GREVIO). In its most recent report, GREVIO lauded the Netherlands’ efforts to implement the Convention in recent years, but warned that significant changes need to be made in order to better recognise the way in which domestic violence disproportionately af
the Observatory for Human Rights
Nov 292 min read
Afghan women left without medical treatment after the September earthquake.
Photo by Angelo_Giordano on Pixabay.com On September 1st, a magnitude 6 earthquake hit the eastern part of Afghanistan . The aftermath was catastrophic: 2,200 killed, 3,600 injured, and thousands of people were left homeless . The current Taliban government faced its first major natural disaster earlier in 2022 , when another earthquake killed 1,000 people in the same region as this year. The aid agencies working in the territory were already confronting funding cuts, worse
the Observatory for Human Rights
Nov 292 min read
Sudan: Inside the War That Targets Women’s Lives and Dignity.
Photo by consolersafari on pixabay.com From the bombs that fell on city streets to the dusty roads of villages in Darfur and Kordofan, the war in Sudan has turned women’s bodies into battlegrounds. According to UN Women, there is mounting evidence that rape is being used “deliberately and systematically as a weapon of war.” In the besieged region of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, women fleeing bombardment, hunger and displacement recount terrifying stories of gang r
the Observatory for Human Rights
Nov 272 min read
Gaza’s Healthcare System on the Brink: Hospitals Running Out of Supplies Amid Ongoing Airstrikes.
Photo by hosnysalah on pixabay.com Hospitals across Gaza are facing a critical shortage of essential medical supplies as Israeli airstrikes intensify, according to medics and aid workers on the ground. Despite a fragile, U.S. backed ceasefire, facilities like Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis are overwhelmed, with daily inflows of casualties and dwindling stocks of gauze, antiseptics, thermometers and antibiotics. Mohammed Saqr, Director of Nursing at Nasser, described the situa
the Observatory for Human Rights
Nov 242 min read
Crisis in Colombia: UN Raises Concerns Over Mercury Contamination in the Atrato River.
Photo by Danilo A renas on pexels.com The United Nations (UN) has urged the government of Colombia to act on what it has been described as “a human rights emergency”. A recent evaluation demonstrated that the high levels of mercury in the Atrato River In Colombia are threatening the health of people living in the area. The UN presented evidence that more than a third of the population living in the Atrato River basin has been exposed to mercury levels exceeding the paramet
the Observatory for Human Rights
Nov 202 min read
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