MADRE

The Mau Forest Complex, located in Kenya's Rift Valley, is the country’s largest Indigenous forest and a critical source of water, biodiversity, and climate resilience. For generations, it has also been the ancestral homeland of the Ogiek People, one of Kenya’s Indigenous Peoples. The Ogiek’s traditions, spiritual practices, governance systems, and livelihoods have long been rooted in the forest. More than a natural resource, the Mau Forest is central to their identity, culture, and survival.

When we think about global protections for women and girls, we’re thinking of an international treaty on women's rights: the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), also often described as the “international bill of rights for women.”

As a global mechanism for justice, countries from around the world can enter into the treaty and work towards ensuring the incorporation and implementation of gender equality initiatives into their legislation. Countries within CEDAW, which are also referred to as States Parties, must be committed to repealing all discriminatory provisions in their laws and enacting provisions to guard against discrimination between women and girls. This is monitored through regular reporting to the CEDAW Committee — a group of independent experts that reviews how parties incorporate the convention in their communities.

While not a perfect framework, this human rights treaty is a key tool for all women and girls to demand gender equality and assert their rights and freedoms, and has had a real impact on feminist movements worldwide.

Young people aren’t just inheriting the world— they’re transforming it.

Since she was 8 years old, Mari Copeny has been advocating for environmental justice and clean water for families in her hometown, Flint, Michigan. Widely known as “Little Miss Flint,” Mari continues to share her beliefs and stories, inspiring others to speak out for their communities.

Her determination and courage show that young people are not only deeply affected by societal issues-- they have the perspectives needed to drive tangible change, challenging the notion that young people are unable to affect policy and community improvement. Her leadership reminds us that young people closest to injustice must have a hand in building long-lasting change that promotes human rights.

“I learned that my voice matters, and I can use it to help fix some wrongs in the world.”

MADRE's Senior Gender Justice and International Law Fellow, Wendy Isaack, recently co-authored an op-ed in South African news sites calling for recognition of the gendered experiences of apartheid.

Isaack writes that an updated and inclus­ive defin­i­tion of apartheid in the CAH treaty presents an oppor­tun­ity to forge con­nec­tions across national bor­ders and acknow­ledge the inter­sec­tion­al­ity of struggles from South Africa, to Nam­i­bia, to Palestine, to Afgh­anistan. MADRE, in part­ner­ship with Found­a­tion for Human Rights and the Centre for Applied Legal Stud­ies, have con­vened sev­eral dia­logues in South Africa to exam­ine the pro­vi­sion of apartheid in the draft CAH treaty.

Read the article: https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/saturday-star-south-africa/20260815/281822880627692

Have you registered yet for When Will This War End? Don’t miss this incredible opportunity and visit WarOnTerror25.org today!

We are partnering with Muslim Counterpublics Lab to examine the lessons and legacies for the 25th anniversary of the War on Terror at the Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University on Thursday and Friday, September 17-18!

Check out this incredible schedule and line up of brilliant speakers from across sectors including journalists, lawyers, organizers, scholars, directly impacted community members and so much more.

Join us as we expose the role of Islamophobia + xenophobia in the War on Terror infrastructure and analyze how racialized narratives have justified surveillance, detention, militarization, and national security policies.

We will highlight and learn from resistance movements from grassroots organizing to narrative interventions to policy change. Together, this conference will give us an opportunity to envision abolitionist futures by fostering collective imagination around dismantling this infrastructure and building systems rooted in justice, care, and collective liberation.

MADRE is excited to see all of you there in solidarity! 🙌🏼✨🔥

One month after a devastating 7.4-magnitude earthquake, Colombia remains in crisis. Over 287 lives were lost, and hundreds are still missing, while cities like Cali, Buenaventura, and Pereira are repairing their communities after destruction. Many families are still displaced, struggling to rebuild their lives, and aid remains difficult to deliver to remote areas such as Chocó.

MADRE is moving emergency grants directly to community-rooted organizations. These organizations, led by women, Indigenous, and Afro-Colombian leaders, are the first to respond, help families rebuild, offer hope amid adversity, yet consistently the last to receive traditional aid.

In moments like this, speed matters. That's why MADRE moves money quickly and directly, without unnecessary barriers, straight to the people already doing the work and most impacted. https://support.madre.org/campaign/831567/donate

On this day, 25 years ago, Representative Barbara Lee was the lone dissenter on the floor of the House for the Authorization for Use of Military Force: “Let’s just pause, just for a minute and think through the implications of our actions today.” She hoped to prevent endless wars, and many could not see her vision… until now.

Read more in this article: https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/barbara-lee-hated-her-9-090619568.html