Region: Global
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RightsCon 2025: the intersection of care, cybersecurity and Connect, Defend, Act!
In 2025, digital rights advocates, technologists, journalists, and civic leaders from around the world came together for RightsCon in Taipei, Taiwan. As one of the world’s leading forums on human rights and technology, RightsCon offered a critical space for reflection and strategy, especially for organizations navigating the closing civic space in Southeast Asia. For the…
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Joint statement on Nepal: Civil society condemns killing of protesters and calls for accountability
Security forces in Nepal used lethal force against protesters calling for the lifting of a social media ban and an end to corruption and bad governance. At least 51 people have been killed and more than 1000 injured, some critically, as a result of the violence. The authorities, in coordinating with the military, are currently…
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Charting inclusive futures: the Free to Be Me economic empowerment forum
Against a backdrop of increasing social exclusion and economic hardship faced by LGBTIQ+ communities, more than 100 business executives, civil society leaders, and diplomatic corps members convened at the Free to Be Me Economic Empowerment Forum held in Nairobi, Kenya. The three-day event, hosted by Workplace Pride, Hivos, and the Netherlands Embassy in Kenya, was…
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“This is just the start of it” – How the We Lead program is ending on a high note
After five years of implementation, the We Lead program is coming to an end. To celebrate the shared achievements and acknowledge the increasingly challenging contexts, the global team came together in Nairobi to host the close out event. We Lead began with a bold and urgent vision: to shift power to young rightsholders, and to…
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Political leadership on gender equality at FFD4: A call for bold feminist action
At the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) in Sevilla, Hivos co-hosted a powerful side event titled “Financing for Development and Gender Equality: A Feminist Agenda for Action for Sevilla and Beyond.” The session brought together ministers, feminist activists, and development partners from across the globe. While the overall outcomes of the conference…
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The power of queer community: when aid is cut, we don’t disappear. We organize.
The global LGBTIQ+ movement is being systematically undermined, not just by eroding legal protections and escalating political harassment, but by the sudden withdrawal of vital funding.
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An urgent call to prevent authoritarianism from changing the face of established democracies
Lawsuits and funding cuts from governments such as the US and the EU, aimed at restricting free speech, are putting pressure on global democracy. Activists, journalists and civil organizers face legal threats designed to stifle dissent as well as deliberate financial restrictions. Civil society groups urgently need legal protection and increased support to continue to…
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Shaping conditions for fair, equitable and enduring climate finance
The global commitment to fair climate finance is at a crossroads. COP29 concluded with a disappointing New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG), leaving developing nations at risk of being left behind. With the U.S. withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and slashing development aid, prospects for more ambitious fair climate finance are getting out…
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Preparing for COP30? Then listen to and amplify Amazonian Indigenous voices
In the heart of the Amazon rainforest, where Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru meet, we went on a transformative journey last December that showed us the essential role of Indigenous leadership in the fight against climate change. The Cuida! Amazon climate advocacy event (Cuida, a local slang word, means both take care and hurry up), brought…
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Exploring the connections between Latin America and the Kingdom of the Netherlands
The ties between Latin America and the Kingdom of the Netherlands through the Caribbean Netherlands mean that these neighboring territories share many challenges – from climate change to public safety – and need to work together effectively to address them. Hivos and the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) recently convened a panel of experts…
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Civil society launches new initiative to strengthen the enabling environment
The European Union System for an Enabling Environment for Civil Society (EU SEE) was officially launched in Johannesburg, South Africa on January 29, 2025. The EU SEE platform, which will be implemented by civil society in 86 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, implements and maintains an early warning and monitoring mechanism to document…
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Call for a ceasefire in Gaza, Lebanon, and Israel
Hivos has signed the open call for a ceasefire in Gaza, Lebanon, and Israel and an end to impunity in this spiraling humanitarian catastrophe and escalating regional conflict. Read the statement below, signed by over 150 NGOs. We, the undersigned organizations, appeal to all UN member states to secure an immediate ceasefire across Gaza, Lebanon,…
