Social Justice

Human Rights Watch launched a campaign in April asking the Greek government to free hundreds of unaccompanied migrant children held in unhygienic police cells and detention centers, where they face increased risk of contracting the coronavirus. Weeks after #FreetheKids launched, the Greek parliament reduced the maximum time an unaccompanied child could be detained from 45 days to 25. Talking to the media, the Greek special secretary for the protection of unaccompanied children also committed to ending child detention by the end of the year. Portugal announced it would take in 500 unaccompanied children from Greece, while France said it would take in 350 children. Since then, another 11 European Union member countries have joined the coalition, committing to relocate hundreds of asylum seekers and unaccompanied children.

ECPAT-USA’s Youth Against Child Trafficking (Y-ACT) program empowers youth to take the lead in anti-human trafficking efforts. ECPAT-USA trains students to be the foremost advocates in their communities and among their peers, educating them on the facts, misconceptions, and risks of trafficking. Students are provided the tools needed to identify the warning signs and proper resources to protect themselves and their peers. During one early morning workshop, the education team saw a student transition from avoiding the workshop altogether to becoming an active participant and advocate by the end. Prior to the class session, the Y-ACT educators positioned the chairs in a semicircle at the center of the room. At the start of the period, instead of sitting in the semicircle with the rest of their classmates, this student opted to find a seat behind a desk in the back left corner of the room. When handing out the pre-workshop…

Bogota, Colombia is a capital city filled with commerce and tourism. But, just outside the city center exists a noticeable contrast in housing and economic development where the poorest families reside. Many of the city’s poorest families live on the outskirts in the mountains, and they have very difficult commutes into the city center for work. Without daycare, many of the young parents would not be able to earn an income to support their families. Fe y Alegria, a Jesuit network of organizations helping the disadvantaged and poor since 1955, has preschools within this community offering free services to children up to 5 years of age. These services include: monitoring and evaluating the child’s development, nutritional supplementation and home interventions when needed. The administrator of the preschool feeds the children three nutritious meals per day. Although it doesn’t sound like a huge accomplishment, she does this on just $1 (one…

Michel became a mom in June 2021, when baby Nathan was born; she’s part of the Wayuu community. She lives with her dad, brother and another child that a friend asked her to care for two years ago. She’s a medical laboratory technician and holds a B.A. in Administration. Although she currently works as a Procurement Analyst, she doesn’t make enough to pay for basic needs. Michel has participated in different IRC-supported programs in the community center that is located a couple blocks away from her house. She first visited to get attention after experiencing pain while breast feeding, that’s how she joined the breast-feeding orientation program, in which she has now started to participate to share with other moms-to-be her experience. Additionally, she has joined the Wapushii program after Nathan was born, where she learns how to promote his development during the Early Childhood stage; she also has accessed…

Prabin, 5, lives in southeastern Nepal with his parents. He was born without the lower part of his right leg. “Because of the disability of our child we were worried about his future,” says Sunita, Prabin’s mother. A community mobilizer from Community Based Rehabilitation-Biratnagar (CBRB), a local partner organization of Humanity & Inclusion, met Prabin and referred the family to seek services at a rehabilitation center. At first, Prabin was hesitant to be fitted with an artificial limb. Specialists worked with the boy and his parents to better understand how the device would work, and how it would help him. A month later, he was eager to have a new leg. “This was a wonderful change for our little boy, as he quickly accepted the prosthesis and began playing, running, and even jumping like any other child of his age,” Sunita explains. Prabin attends school and loves to play with…

To combat human trafficking made possible by many elements of society, Ashoka Fellow Ioana Bauer is taking the whole enabling system apart. Romania is the epicenter of trafficking in Europe. Of all European countries, Romania has the highest number of identified labor and sex trafficking victims, nearly half of whom are minors. Globally, human trafficking is an industry worth 150 billion dollars annually and directly impact at least 40 million people who are currently living in some form of slavery. To have any serious impact on trafficking, Ioana knew that she had to change the culture in which vulnerable young people are growing up. A teen’s peers have significant influence on her life, so Ioana focused on building awareness among teens so that they can protect each other. She now has mandatory anti-trafficking courses in all high schools. She also created a program that has trained over 6,000 teachers how…