Question marks over support for short-term projects run by UN population fund prompt concern over future of programmes in Syria, east Africa and beyond.

Since 1947 the Commission on the Status of Women is a multilateral space for government, NGOs and activists to promote gender equality and women’s rights. But the CSW61 was marred by the spectre of travel bans. The restrictions spurred doubts from a number of  human rights organizations about the legitimacy of the US as a venue.

Feminist activists have seen their hard work pay off as the CSW61 adopted a set of Agreed Conclusions that made significant commitments to advance women’s rights and economic empowerment in the changing world of work.

In her second report to the Human Rights Council (34th session, March 2017), Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights Karima Bennoune considers how the rise of fundamentalism and extremism represent major threats to human rights worldwide, and calls for a global rights-based response.

By Essar Batool

In 2016, the Indian-occupied state of Kashmir once again erupted in valley wide protests, in collective expression for freedom, after the killing of a popular militant leader Burhan Wani. The protests continued for over six months and resulted in the killing of around 100 civilians.

By Cindy Clark

"Whilst working to resist oppressions, we also need to radically confront challenges within our own movements. The Women’s March on Washington, and the hundreds of sister marches that took place across the globe are a timely reminder of that call to action."

The latest development in the NGO Foreign Funding Case occurred on December 7, 2016, when Azza Soliman, a prominent women’s rights defender and lawyer was arrested and faced with three preliminary charges, including “receiving foreign funding to harm the state’s interests.” Azza was released on bail after she paid 20,000 Egyptian pounds, pending further court hearings.

The advance of actors pushing fundamentalist agendas within international policy spaces is cause for concern this Human Rights Day. Feminists and other social justice activists must act now to reaffirm and safeguard our human rights.

Increasing evidence of the gendered impacts of corporate abuse make it imperative for feminists, WHRDs and Organizations challenging corporate power on the ground, to share their perspectives and demands. Now, more than ever, we need cross-movement solidarity to make a binding treaty a reality.

Brazil’s centuries-old tradition of protest through the martial art is seeing a resurgence as capoeiristas demonstrate against Temer’s regime.