Human rights groups face global crackdown 'not seen in a generation'

By The Guardian

Human rights organisations and campaign groups are facing their biggest crackdown in a generation as a wave of countries pass restrictive laws and curtail activity. Almost half the world’s states have implemented controls that affect tens of thousands of organisations across the globe.

Over the past three years, more than 60 countries have passed or drafted laws that curtail the activity of non-governmental and civil society organisations. Ninety-six countries have taken steps to inhibit NGOs from operating at full capacity, in what the Carnegie Endowment calls a “viral-like spread of new laws” under which international aid groups and their local partners are vilified, harassed, closed down and sometimes expelled.

Cobertura sanitaria universal, una cuestión de voluntad

Vía El Mundo

Un informe asegura que los países deben priorizar atender a toda la población.

"Vine a dar a luz aquí porque necesitaba una cesárea. Cuando todo acabó, me dieron la factura pero, como no pude pagarla, mi médico me dijo que no podía abandonar el centro hospitalario. No me dejan hacerlo con mi bebé y aquí se pasa hambre. No sé cuánto podré resistir la situación". Este es el testimonio de una paciente de 18 años de la Louis Rwagasore Clinic, en Bujumbura (Burundi), citado en el informe Ofrecer cobertura sanitaria universal: guía para políticos, presentado en la Cumbre Mundial de Innovación en Salud promovida por Lord Ara Darzi.

Swedish frustration with Saudis over speech may jeopardise arms agreement

By The Guardian

 

Foreign minister Margot Wallström says Saudi Arabia prevented her talking to the Arab League, as Swedish parties debate whether to renew military memorándum.

 

The tension between Sweden’s feminist face and its desire to maintain lucrative weapons contracts with Saudi Arabia broke into the open on Monday, when the Swedish foreign minister accused Riyadh of blocking her speech on human rights at the Arab League.

 

Margot Wallström had been invited as guest of honour to the Arab ministers’ meeting in Cairo after Sweden’s Social Democrats won general elections in September and announced they would become the first European Union member state to recognise Palestine.

 

But Saudi Arabia had “reacted strongly” to her government’s position on democracy and human rights, Wallström told reporters in Cairo on Monday, and blocked her speech in which she was due to “celebrate women’s achievements” and focus on women’s rights and representation.

 

“The explanation we have been given is that Sweden has highlighted the situation for democracy and human rights, and that is why they do not want me to speak,” she told the TT news agency in Cairo. “It’s a shame that a country has blocked my participation.”

 

Wallström has previously spoken out against the “medieval” punishment of the Saudi blogger Raef Badawi, who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and a decade in prison for insulting Islam.

 

She has also championed a feminist foreign policy, which she says should include the strengthening of women’s rights, increasing women’s participation in decision-making, and a gender perspective on how resources are allocated.

 

The snub by Saudi Arabia comes at an awkward time for Sweden’s left-leaning coalition, which is divided over whether to renew a memorandum of understanding on military cooperation with the Saudi dictatorship. The memorandum, signed in 2005, comes up for renewal every five years, with the next renewal date due in May.

 

On Friday, more than 30 of Sweden’s business elite, including Jacob Wallenberg of Investor, Annika Falkengren of SEB bank, and Stefan Persson of the clothing multinational H&M, signed an open letter calling for the memorandum to be continued. “Sweden’s reputation as a partner in trade and cooperation is at stake,” they wrote.