Region: Global
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Eleven Dutch organizations join forces to improve sexual and reproductive health and rights worldwide
Dutch Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Sjoerd Sjoerdsma, and eleven Dutch civil society organizations launched a new, groundbreaking alliance yesterday for the promotion and protection of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) worldwide: the SRHR Next Alliance. SRHR encompasses people’s rights to make informed decisions about their bodies, health and relationships and…
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West Manggarai deaf youth claiming spaces for futures
In a simple room in Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai, Indonesia, a group of young people sit quietly in a circle. But their hands dance in the air, forming words and creating meaning. In their midst sits a facilitator, Frits. He not only teaches sign language but also creates a space that has long been underdeveloped:…
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Statement on the cancellation of RightsCon 2026
Hivos regrets the Zambian authorities’ decision to suspend the planned RightsCon 2026 conference in Zambia. Widely recognized as a global platform for dialogue among civil society, the private sector, the technical community and governments on human rights in the digital age, RightsCon is an important event. The conference promotes the exchange of ideas, learning, and…
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Connecting teams and strengthening impact for sustainable food systems
In an increasingly bleak funding landscape, taking the time to personally exchange experiences, listen to different perspectives, and build on what others have already tested is a worthwhile and necessary investment. It is a strategic opportunity. And this was the goal of the Urban Futures Annual Meeting, held from April 8 to 10, 2026 in…
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Getting out of the way: Lessons from five years of just climate action
The Voices for Just Climate Action (VCA) program ran from 2021 to 2025, implemented by Hivos and alliance partners in Brazil, Indonesia, Kenya, Tunisia, and Zambia. Our core assumption was that communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis already held the knowledge, leadership, and climate solutions the world urgently needs. Five years later, we know we were right. By…
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Change underway for communities in Colombia
Colombia has signed the Escazú Agreement, a treaty that gives citizens the right to access environmental information, participate in decision-making and seek justice in environmental matters.
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Women and girls’ rights are meaningless without enforceable justice
We see this price paid in the Middle East, where over 161 million women and girls are living in countries shattered by conflict, and over 1.6 million pregnant women are currently struggling to survive under the threat of escalating violence.
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EU SEE data supports civil society actors to lead the fight back for fundamental freedoms
EU SEE members predicted an impending perfect storm of conditions that would seriously threaten the infrastructure of global civil society. Now, one year later, we have the EU SEE data to prove it.
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CSW70: Access to justice requires access to global policy spaces
Governments, activists, and advocates are preparing for the UN’s 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York. This year’s focus is on improving access to justice for women and girls. But what does this mean for women and girls in Zimbabwe, where gender equality exists on paper but not…
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Resilient action in a turbulent world: Connect, Defend, Act!’s 2025 Year in Review
We are proud to share the inaugural edition of the Connect, Defend, Act! (CDA!) program’s Year in Review. For a program like ours, that advances civil liberties and fights efforts to restrict (digital) civic space, 2025 was a year of great risk and pressure brought by profound global shifts in civic space. We saw authoritarianism gain ground, polarization deepen, and institutions designed to protect accountability put to endless tests. Yet it is…
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When frontline communities lead; lessons from five-years of just climate action
Efforts to combat climate change too often sideline the very communities hit hardest by the crisis and who have contributed the least to it. This injustice was the core idea of the Voices for Just Climate Action (VCA) program. Now that VCA has concluded after five years, Job Muriithi and Winny Nyawira from Hivos reflect on its…
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Gen Z movements and the future of protest
A new “youthquake” emerged worldwide in 2025: Gen Z took to the streets in a series of youth-led protests organized via TikTok, Instagram, and Discord. The demands of these movements deeply resonated with each other: governments’ corruption, inability to deliver public services, and lack of accountability, as well as deepening income inequality. In many countries,…
