From a brothel to the UN —is the aid sector ready for survivor leadership?

This powerful opinion piece by Shweta Katti challenges the global development sector to move beyond amplifying survivor stories and toward genuinely supporting survivor leadership. Drawing from her lived experience growing up in Mumbai’s red-light area, she makes a compelling case for shifting power, trust, and resources to communities themselves—highlighting how survivor-led initiatives like Kranti are…

Advancing GENDER EQUALITY by Recognizing Women Discriminated on Work and Descent at CSW70

The Global Forum of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (GFOD) has released a powerful Call to Action: Advancing Gender Equality by Recognizing Women Discriminated on Work and Descent at CSW70. This paper highlights the persistent exclusion of Dalit, Roma, Burakumin, Haratin, Quilombola, Palenque, and other descent-based communities from global gender equality frameworks. It underscores…

Centring Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (CDWD) Women in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

The Global Forum of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (GFoD) has submitted a powerful input to the Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls, exposing how digitalization and AI are deepening the marginalization of CDWD women—particularly Dalit, Roma, Quilombola, Haratine, Osu, and other historically oppressed communities. The document shows how limited digital access,…

Beyond the Margins: A CDWD Youth Vision for a Post-Doha Declaration World

For centuries and ages, Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (CDWD) have lived at the harshest edges of social and economic exclusion. Yet across regions from Dalit and Burakumin communities in South Asia to Roma settlements in Europe, from Haratin groups in Mauritania to Palenque and Quilombola and Palenque territories in Latin America  youth are…

From Recognition to Real Change: CDWD Advocates Call for Urgent Action to Implement ACHPR Resolution 619

From Recognition to Real Change: CDWD Advocates Call for Urgent Action to Implement ACHPR Resolution 619

At the ongoing session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) in Banjul, The Gambia, experts representing the Global Forum on Discrimination (GFoD) delivered powerful interventions on behalf of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (CDWD), urging African governments and regional institutions to move beyond symbolic recognition and ensure tangible protection of…