Toxic lead from a Zambian mine has poisoned generations of children. This week @hrw.org & IHRDA will spotlight the case & call for justice:

PANEL: Spotlight on Kabwe
🗓 16 April 09h00 – 10h40
📍 ACERWC CSO Forum, Lesotho
With experts, activists & Kabwe residents

Join online tinyurl.com/458yy5kd

273 Million Children Out of School A new United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report delivers a sobering message: the number of children out of school has risen for the seventh consecutive year, re...

The number of out-of-school children has risen for 7 years in a row, reaching 273 million. A proposed free education treaty could push countries to act.
www.hrw.org/news/2026/04...

Justice for Children in the Future Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity – Crimes Against Humanity Treaty Now Download paper

Dozens of child rights experts agree: how the future #CrimesAgainstHumanity treaty can provide justice for children: cahtreatynow.org/justice-for-...

Children are mentioned only twice in the treaty's current draft. Countries can fix that. Children deserve justice.
@Veroaubert

Countries are working towards a NEW treaty on #CrimesAgainstHumanity that could criminalize recruitment and use of children.

This new paper from
@PrincetonLISD
explains why they should: lisd.princeton.edu/publications...
@JanineMorna

@lauraperez1966

2 gaps:
1. recruiting and using children ages 15-17 is not consistently recognized as a war crime
2. Neither is recruitment outside of situations formally classified as armed conflicts.

There's an opportunity now to fill those 2 gaps.

173 countries agree via the Child Soldiers Treaty that children should not be conscripted/used in wars. Good progress but more work to do.

Here's why the future #CrimesAgainstHumanity Treaty should criminalize child recruitment and use: hrw.org/news/2026/04... #CAHTreatyNow

At the U.N.’s Annual Meeting on Women, the World Should Focus on Justice for Girls — More to Her Story As governments gather at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, they should prioritize ensuring that girls can access justice.

Policymakers meeting at the UN for #CSW70 should ensure that girls facing violence are able to access justice. They should pledge to strengthen justice systems, reinforce prevention efforts, and commit the funds to deliver on these promises. Op-ed here: www.moretoherstory.com/stories/at-t...

UN Urges Ethiopia to Tackle Pollution at Gold Mine Residents living near Lega Dembi mine, located in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, have complained of serious health impacts for years, including miscarriages, stillbirths, and children born with long-term h...

Children near Ethiopia's largest gold mine suffer chronic health conditions, women have miscarriages & stillbirths.

In response, the UN child rights body just urged Ethiopia to tackle the mine's pollution. The govt should do so, promptly:

www.hrw.org/news/2026/03...

Sexual Violence Survivors in Haiti Left Without Care Sexual violence by criminal groups is not new in Haiti. However, the intensity and brutality of these attacks are worsening.

🇭🇹 Sexual violence by criminal groups in Haiti is widespread. According to a new @msfincanada.bsky.social report, attacks are becoming more intense and brutal, while survivors face increasingly limited access to care.

Read more: www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

Children Affected by Ethiopia Mine Pollution Need Justice People living near Lega Dembi gold mine in Ethiopia’s Oromia region have for years complained about serious health impacts, including children born with long-term health conditions, miscarriages, and ...

Children living near Ethiopia's largest gold mine have been exposed to toxic pollution. Next week, the UN Child Rights Committee, at its Ethiopia session, should push for the mine's suspension and an independent assessment.
www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

The World Needs Stronger UN, Not Trump-led ‘Board of Peace’ The United States played a leading role in establishing the UN. Now, US President Donald Trump is undermining and defunding large parts of it.

My latest for @hrw.org: - The UN has problems but it’s better than a global Politburo of leaders of abusive governments. Rather than paying billions to join #Trump’s "Board of Peace", states shld strengthen the UN’s ability to uphold human rights.

The Board charter doesn't mention human rights🫤

Egypt: Declining Funding Undermines Education, Health Care The Egyptian government has severely undermined the rights to education and healthcare by failing to allocate sufficient spending, falling short of constitutional obligations and international benchma...

new @hrw.org on how spending on education & health care in #Egypt declined to unprecedented levels, while Sisi keeps justifying jailing tens of thousands by inferring that social & economic rights take precedence over political rights. www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...

It’s time to strengthen the right to free education A new human rights treaty which recognises pre-primary and secondary education as part of the right to education will help accelerate

“It's time to strengthen the right to free education."

On #HumanRightsDay Hon. Conrad Sackey, #SierraLeone's Minister of Education sets out the case for a new human rights treaty on education in Modern Diplomacy. #HumanRightsDay #RightToEducation 👉 go.ipned.org/2tcvil

Mineral extraction should not happen at the cost of people and planet.

Governments meeting at the UN Environment Assembly this week should support Colombia’s initiative for a binding minerals treaty. #UNEA7

US: ICE Arrest at FIFA Event Spotlights Dangers for World Cup The arrest and return of an asylum seeker who took his children to the Club World Cup soccer tournament final on July 13, 2025, raises serious concerns about the safety of noncitizens attending the 20...

New from HRW: The arrest of an asylum seeker at the Club World Cup final in July 2025 raises serious concerns about the safety of noncitizens attending the #WorldCup2026 in the United States next year.

An Opportunity to Address Mining Abuses Globally When 29-year-old Norbert Amoya went to fetch water from a river in northern Zambia earlier this year, he found large numbers of dead fish and the water had a strange smell. The cause was a major minin...

Starting today, States are meeting in Kenya to negotiate enviro policies ahead of #UNEA7, incl. a key proposal by the Colombian government on environmental protection in mining.

This could open up the path to a new global mining, and bring real change.

www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...

HRW quote card that says, “The UK government’s decision to end the cruel "two-child limit” social security policy is welcome and long-overdue. It forced growing numbers of children and families into poverty and undermined their rights.” Kartik Raj, Europe Senior Researcher

Good riddance to rubbish policy.

The end to the UK's "two child limit" social security policy has been announced, and it will soon be gone.

We @hrw.org welcome the news, as one of many, many, many voices calling for an end to this arbitrary, cruel social security policy.

New Data on Censorship and Harassment of Brazil’s Educators A new quantitative study from National Observatory on Violence Against Educators represents one of the most comprehensive efforts to date to measure the nature and scale of censorship and harassment o...

A new quantitative study from National Observatory on Violence Against Educators:

One of the most comprehensive efforts to date to measure the nature and scale of censorship and harassment of educators across Brazil 🇧🇷. www.hrw.org/news/2025/11...

Seventy-Nine Years Without a Woman Leader at the UN In February 2026, it will be 80 years since the United Nations selected its first secretary-general, a man. Since then, eight other people have had that job, all men.

In Feb 26, it will be 80 years since the UN selected its first secretary-general, a man. Since then, eight others have had that job, all men. Surely it’s long past time a woman held the post. In these perilous times we cannot afford an all-men’s club at the top of the UN.
www.hrw.org/news/2025/11...

What Escalating Conflict Means for Women and Girls Conflicts and crises cause harm based on gender. Because women and girls across the globe experience legal, economic, and cultural discrimination, they also experience the impacts of conflict in disti...

With conflict globally reaching a level not seen since the post-WWII era, better responses to the impact of conflict on women’s rights are urgently important. Conflicts and crises harm women and girls in ways far beyond sexual violence. www.hrw.org/news/2025/11...

🚨 The UN Security Council has just adopted a US-drafted resolution to authorize an international stabilization force for #Gaza with 13 votes in favor, 0 against, 2 abstentions (Russia & China). @hrw.org's reaction follows in a short thread. 🧵

Hungary: Pastor Supporting People in Poverty Faces Charges Instead of supporting those who fill the gaps left by Hungary’s crumbling public services and social security system, the government is prosecuting them. On November 3, prosecutors charged Pastor Gábo...

In Hungary, Pastor Gábor Iványi, whose church supports people in poverty, faces absurd charges. The pastor and his church are human rights defenders providing shelter, food, education to people left behind by the state. The move is part of a wider crackdown on dissent.

www.hrw.org/news/2025/11...

Tens of Millions at Risk of Hunger if US Food Assistance Lapses The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced last Friday that it will stop distributing payments for essential food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) startin...

Suspending SNAP payments will put the rights of tens of millions of Americans in jeopardy. No one’s ability to eat should be vulnerable to political games.

New dispatch from @hrw.org

www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

Tens of Millions at Risk of Hunger if US Food Assistance Lapses The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced last Friday that it will stop distributing payments for essential food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) startin...

Suspending these payments would deny tens of millions of people their basic human right to food.

Read more:

Cutting aid has a human cost.

The US Department of Agriculture announced last Friday that it will stop distributing payments for essential food assistance through SNAP starting November 1 if the federal government is still shut down.

Saudi Arabia: Spate of Executions of Child Offenders Saudi authorities on October 20, 2025, executed a man convicted of alleged crimes committed as a child.

🚩Yesterday Saudi authorities executed Abdullah al-Derazi for alleged crimes committed as a child.

Saudi authorities reached two horrific milestones: the 300th execution of 2025 & the 2nd execution of a person accused of committing crimes as a child. @hrw.org

www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

"Misogyny is a favorite tool of authoritarians." @heatherbarr.bsky.social @hrw.org

Today, the Supreme Court reheard Louisiana v. Callais, which could determine whether Black voters have a meaningful chance at equal representation in Congress.

Learn more👇
www.hrw.org/news/2025/10/15/voting-r...

How Syrian children are being shut out of Lebanon’s classrooms Government restrictions have effectively barred tens of thousands of Syrian children from school in Lebanon, as NGOs step in to teach those left behind

“Under international law, children, regardless of their [immigration] status...have the right to an education. Education should never be used as a political pawn...” @thenewarab.bsky.social
www.newarab.com/analysis/how...

Despite promising statements from PM Nawaf Salam and MEHE Rima Karami on education for all, #Lebanon gov decision to uphold residency requirement for public school registration risks barring 10s of thousands of refugee students from school @hrw.org
www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...