Women’s shelters are an aspect of services designed to empower vulnerable women, but Sugandha Parmar, 22, a Correspondent in Kanpur, India, examines whether these safe havens have the infrastructure required to fulfil their intended role. Before we start, it is important to discuss a few terms in detail. Economic empowerment is the individual’s ability to …
Violent extremism is a virus in the mould of HIV, writes Gerald Nwokocha, 28, a Correspondent from Abuja, Nigeria. HIV quietly and slowly attacks the human defense system, which protects humans from attacks by invading pathogens. In the same way, he argues, to attack the police is to be a virus that can lead to weakened …
Access to justice is a fundamental human right, but as Mahdy Hassan, 24, a Correspondent from Dhaka in Bangladesh explains, gaining that access is not an easy task. That’s where an innovative legal aid programme can help. Let me tell you a story of a 24-year-old Bangladeshi single mother of two children, who was dismissed …
Courts and lawyers are the platforms and providers of justice, writes Sugandha Parmar, 22, a Correspondent in Kanpur, India, but globally, justice for the poor is very different from justice for others. Prof. Mohan Gopal, director of the National Judicial Academy, says that anywhere in the world, poor and middle class hardly get justice. I recently …
With the population of persons affected by HIV and AIDS still growing, Angelique Pouponneau, 26, a Commonwealth Correspondent from the Seychelles, looks at discrimination that can still hamper productive lives. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there were approximately 36.9 million people worldwide living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2014. Of these 2.6 million …
“Countries must invest in HIV positive citizens” Read More »
The Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic games gave international attention to athletes, but Ashley Tan Yu Yi, 16, a Correspondent from Singapore, argues that unevenly split media attention means one group of athletes did not get the recognition they deserve. In the month of September, I noticed a significant difference in regard to how my Facebook page …
Sexual violence has no place in a democratic society, argues Laila Johnson-Salami, 20, a Correspondent from Ibadan in Nigeria, who outlines five steps aimed at eradicating rape culture. Sexual violence has become an increasingly prevalent act in Nigeria over the years. There has been little implementation of effective policies that treat sexual violence as a serious …
Member nations celebrated the UN’s 71st with focus on the SDGs. Kelechukwu Iruoma, 23, a Correspondent from Lagos in Nigeria writes that Nigeria, where Boko Haram sects have killed and displaced thousands, used the anniversary to focus on Internally Displaced Persons and solutions to their challenges. The event that marked the 2016 United Nations Day was …
The scourge of elderly abuse made headlines earlier this year, writes Lyn-Marie Blackman, 30, a Commonwealth Correspondent from Barbados. She reminds younger Barbadians to honour those who paved the way for the social and economic development they enjoy today. This May, a video of an elderly woman being mistreated by an auxiliary nurse in an …
To help dismantle the silos that plague society’s civil discourse, Mary-Jean Nleya, 24, a Correspondent from Botswana, sat down with Ms. Carol – a woman who sits daily on an Oxford street – to learn about life at the grassroots level. Their discussion covered politics, art, business, the economy and mental health care. Q: Hello. Please …
“I am at the bottom of the pile, but all are equal” Read More »