What the Néma Death Tells Us About Health and Human Dignity in Mauritania

What the Néma Death Tells Us About Health and Human Dignity in Mauritania

By Cheikh Sidati Hamadi, Senior Expert on CDWD Rights (GFoD), Essayist, Research Associate, Specialist in Structural Discrimination The harrowing image of a woman giving birth outdoors in NĂ©ma, followed by her horrific death on June 9, 2025, should haunt the conscience of every citizen and policymaker in Mauritania. This was not just a tragic incident—it…

No Consent, No Childhood: Forced Conversions and the Collapse of Minority Rights in Pakistan

No Consent, No Childhood: Forced Conversions and the Collapse of Minority Rights in Pakistan

“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…

CDWD Women and the Beijing+30 Review: Persistent Gaps in National Reports

The 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) in 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. As governments and stakeholders meet to assess global progress on gender equality, the continued exclusion of women from Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (CDWD) remains a concern. To…

How has The Gambia progressed in recognising CDWD rights: UPR Fact sheets

How has The Gambia progressed in recognising CDWD rights: UPR Fact sheets

The Gambia continues to grapple with deeply rooted caste and descent-based discrimination (DWD), a pervasive issue affecting marginalized communities across the country. Despite national and international commitments to eradicate such discrimination, systemic inequalities persist, particularly in education, gender equality, political representation, and protection from violence. Communities identified as “slave castes” face widespread stigma and exclusion-especially…

Understanding the many faces of poverty

Understanding the many faces of poverty

Understanding the many faces of poverty Discrimination based on work and descent (DWD) is the UN terminology used in international contexts to describe the systemic marginalization experienced by certain communities, like Roma in Europe, Dalits in Asia, Burakumin in Japan, Haratin in Africa, and Quilombola in Brazil, due to their caste or similar inherited forms…