“I had three daughters. He took all of them. And my only son.” These aren’t the words of a woman at war. They are the pleas of a Hindu mother in Shahdadpur, Sindh, a province where being born as a minority can mean being robbed of your child, your faith, and your future. On June…
The Global Conference for a Caste-Free World 2025, held in Toronto from May 25–27, culminated with the adoption of the Toronto Declaration, a sweeping international call to dismantle caste-based and analogous systems of discrimination worldwide. The declaration demands urgent and coordinated action across governments, civil society, and international institutions to address centuries of injustice affecting over 250…
At the Global Conference for a Caste Free World 2025, held in Toronto, Paul Divakar Namala delivered a powerful address that spotlighted the enduring global crisis of caste and descent-based discrimination. His speech, titled “Addressing Caste and Descent-Based Discrimination: A Global Imperative,” weaving together deep historical insight, lived experiences of oppressed communities, appealed for an…
Mauritania finds itself at a pivotal juncture in the quest to secure housing rights for its population. Four decades after Ordinance No. 83-127 abolished customary ownership and vested all unregistered land in the State, landlessness, informal urban growth, and forced evictions remain acute. The State’s dual land-tenure framework—modern statutory law overlaid on largely unrecognised customary…
In a historic step for human rights of Communities Discriminated in Work and Descent (CDWD), Mali has officially outlawed slavery by descent through a sweeping reform of its Penal Code. On December 14, 2024, the National Transition Council approved amendments to the Penal Code that explicitly criminalise slavery and related practices, including descent-based slavery—marking a…
