Region: Middle East & North Africa

Today marks the UN International Day of Elimination of Violence against Women, an opportunity for civil society organisations and political activists to galvanise action to end violence against women and girls around the world. According to the United Nations, 35% of women and girls globally experience some form of physical and/or sexual violence in their…

With the support of HIVOS, the Arab Institute for Human Rights and ABAAD MENA Organization launched today a 3-day regional seminar on “Child Marriage during Democratic Transition and Armed Conflicts”, also in collaboration with the Democratic Forum for Women in Transitional Societies – Amina Forum Lebanon. This seminar focusses on the marriage of underage girls, which has significantly…

Hivos travelled to New York this week to participate in the High-Level Review of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security that is taking place on the eve of the resolution’s 15th anniversary. In this visit, organised as part of Women on the Frontline programme, Hivos joined forces with Karama to advocate…

Hivos would like to congratulate the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet for having been awarded the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize. As the Norwegian Nobel Committee stated, the Quartet won this prize for its important role in establishing peace and stability in Tunisia, by creating “an alternative, peaceful political process at a time when the country was…

Release Bassel Khartabil, Held Unfairly since 2012! Hivos joins 30 other international organizations in calling on Syria’s authorities to immediately reveal the whereabouts of Bassel Khartabil, a software developer and defender of freedom of expression.  Syrian authorities transferred Khartabil, who has been detained since 2012, from `Adra central prison to an undisclosed location on October 3, 2015. Khartabil…

Where: Cogite Coworking Space, Tunis, TunisiaWhen: October 8 to 11, 2015Hosted by: Hivos Mideast Creatives Across the Mediterranean region, a diverse collection of young men and women are seizing the opportunity to spread a new movement of creative spaces. Initially born out of necessity, there are now over one hundred shared workspaces across the region, 88% of which were established…

Women’s groups from seven countries agree to work together and share expertise. Images of refugees desperate to reach Europe come to us daily on our TV screens, newspaper pages and Twitter and Facebook feeds. We see images of desperation and tragic death when the journey to safety and new beginnings is cut short by the…

As the ongoing violence and destruction leaves its traces throughout the country, many Syrian citizens continue to strive for peace, safety and justice. One of the many impressive initiatives undertaken by the Syrian people comes from Zabadani, a strategically located city near the Lebanese border that has been witnessing intense fighting between the Syrian regime,…

Hivos welcomes the news that lawyer and journalist Mazen Darwish has finally been released after more than three years in prison. He was arbitrarily detained since February 2012 for promoting freedom of expression and monitoring gross human rights violations committed in Syria. His wife,Yara Badr, told the AFP on 10 August that his release is…

On the evening of 2 May 2015, prominent Iraqi human rights activist Ammar Al Shahbander was killed during a terrorist attack in a lively commercial district in Baghdad. A car bomb exploded in the street targeting innocent people, our partner amongst them. Hivos is overwhelmed with grief and shocked by this tragedy. Ammar was the…

Hivos joins their renewed call for the release of the ‘Duma Four’ To mark the 38th birthday of missing human rights defender and lawyer Razan Zaitouneh, head of the Violations Documentation Centre in Syria (VDC), winner of the 2011 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought and the 2011 Anna Politkovskaya Award of RAW in WAR (Reach…

Hivos partner ASL 19 hosted the third annual Iran Cyber Dialogue (ICD) on 5 and 6 March in Valencia, Spain. The conference brought together government actors, civil society members, journalists and technical experts to discuss the state of Iran with respect to technological infrastructure, Internet policy, and human rights. Host ASL 19 (Article 19 in…