Human Rights Magazine

There are an estimated 130,000 Tibetan people living in exile in India, Nepal and Bhutan. Most are in Dharamsala, India, where they continue their traditional customs and language with support from outside.  But decades have passed since China occupied their homeland, and the communities have a new challenge. In this episode of Human Rights Magazine, Dina Lowe explores their changing situation. 

Human Rights Magazine is produced by The Upstream Journal magazine. The host, Derek MacCuish, is editor of both. If you agree that informed reporting on human rights and social justice issues is important, your support would be welcome. Please rate the podcast wherever you listen to it, and tell your friends about episodes that you find interesting. Why not consider making a financial contribution to help us cover costs?  You are always welcome to email with your comments.

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Across the world, corruption costs trillions of dollars that should have gone into social and environmental progress. Corruption steals from efforts to reduce poverty, to improve social services and to build schools, hospitals and roads. It leaves little room for democracy and systems of justice.

In this episode of Human Rights Magazine, Sofia Gobin explores the concern with corruption in Brazil.

Human Rights Magazine is produced by The Upstream Journal magazine. The host, Derek MacCuish, is editor of both. If you agree that informed reporting on human rights and social justice issues is important, your support would be welcome. Please rate the podcast wherever you listen to it, and tell your friends about episodes that you find interesting. Why not consider making a financial contribution to help us cover costs?  You are always welcome to email with your comments.

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Every year, about 11,000 people who work in farming in India are listed as having killed themselves. The actual number is probably much higher, and in recent years the number of suicides is increasing. High levels of debt, the impacts of climate change and  government policy are all factors in the despair of small-scale farmers. In this episode of Human Rights Magazine, Aditya Sathe explores the reasons behind the poverty of India’s famers, and possible solutions. 

Human Rights Magazine is produced by The Upstream Journal magazine. The host, Derek MacCuish, is editor of both. If you agree that informed reporting on human rights and social justice issues is important, your support would be welcome. Please rate the podcast wherever you listen to it, and tell your friends about episodes that you find interesting. Why not consider making a financial contribution to help us cover costs?  You are always welcome to email with your comments.

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Indigenous communities throughout the world usually take water directly from rivers, ponds, streams, wells or springs. This  often requires people – mainly the women of the community  - to carry the water from sources distant from their homes.

A recent report to the UN Human Rights Council stated that one of the biggest barriers to indigenous peoples’ access to water and sanitation is that many countries deny the very existence of their indigenous peoples, or just ignore them.

In this episode of Human Rights Magazine, and its companion article in the Upstream Journal, Ciara Balhi explores the situation in Chiapas, Mexico.

Human Rights Magazine is produced by The Upstream Journal magazine. The host, Derek MacCuish, is editor of both. If you agree that informed reporting on human rights and social justice issues is important, your support would be welcome. Please rate the podcast wherever you listen to it, and tell your friends about episodes that you find interesting. Why not consider making a financial contribution to help us cover costs?  You are always welcome to email with your comments.

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Mira Cohen explores the situation for Wayuu people who live in an arid peninsula in northern Colombia. La Guajira region, a rapidly desertifying region shared by northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela, has been home to the Wayuu indigenous people for centuries. With the presence of one of the largest open-pit coal mines in the world contaminating their land and regional government corruption, Wayuu must take matters into their own hands. Wayuu women uplift their communities by revitalizing indigenous ontology in the fight to preserve their ancestral lands.

Human Rights Magazine is produced by The Upstream Journal magazine. The host, Derek MacCuish, is editor of both. If you agree that informed reporting on human rights and social justice issues is important, your support would be welcome. Please rate the podcast wherever you listen to it, and tell your friends about episodes that you find interesting. Why not consider making a financial contribution to help us cover costs?  You are always welcome to email with your comments.

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Greece is a destination country for many refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants from the Middle East and North Africa. The majority of these refugees come from Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt, and Eritrea

Greece currently hosts about 50,000 refugees. They may have expected that Greece would be a gateway to the rest of Europe, but most of them can expect to remain in the country, since they can no longer legally travel deeper into Europe.

Since 2021, many of the refugee arrivals have been detained in what are called Closed Controlled Access Centres, which are similar to prisons, with their inadequate food, minimal and overcrowded housing, surrounded by fencing and watched over by security personnel.

In this episode of Human Rights Magazine, Nell Pollak looks into the situation in these Closed Controlled Access Centres. 

Human Rights Magazine is produced by The Upstream Journal magazine. The host, Derek MacCuish, is editor of both. If you agree that informed reporting on human rights and social justice issues is important, your support would be welcome. Please rate the podcast wherever you listen to it, and tell your friends about episodes that you find interesting. Why not consider making a financial contribution to help us cover costs?  You are always welcome to email with your comments.

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As this podcast episode, and its companion article on Upstream Journal were being prepared, the Peace Research Institute in Oslo announced the nomination of Sudan's Emergency Response Rooms for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize. In this episode of Human Rights Magazine, Sarah Elobaid takes a close look into the work of the Emergency Response Rooms and their impacts, with guests who have direct experience with these youth-led networks.

Human Rights Magazine is produced by The Upstream Journal magazine. The host, Derek MacCuish, is editor of both. If you agree that informed reporting on human rights and social justice issues is important, your support would be welcome. Please rate the podcast wherever you listen to it, and tell your friends about episodes that you find interesting. Why not consider making a financial contribution to help us cover costs?  You are always welcome to email with your comments.

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In this episode, we take a somewhat different approach to our focus on human rights, and look not at a social situation but rather look at technological possibilities. Artificial intelligence is rapidly emerging as a new tool, as computer technology accelerates in the ability of machines to learn and emulate human thinking. Listen as Charlotte Power explores the impact that AI may have on human rights, especially in humanitarian work.

Human Rights Magazine is produced by The Upstream Journal magazine. The host, Derek MacCuish, is editor of both. If you agree that informed reporting on human rights and social justice issues is important, your support would be welcome. Please rate the podcast wherever you listen to it, and tell your friends about episodes that you find interesting. Why not consider making a financial contribution to help us cover costs?  You are always welcome to email with your comments.

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In 2023, more than 650,000 people in America were identified as being without permanent shelters, and that’s a record number, the most since counts were started in 2007, and a 12 percent increase over 2022. 

Oregon has double what would be the national average of people without a permanent place to call home. 

In this episode, Tawnya Layne explores why so many are homeless, and possible short-term and long-term solutions,  in her home state of Oregon.

Human Rights Magazine is produced by The Upstream Journal magazine. The host, Derek MacCuish, is editor of both. If you agree that informed reporting on human rights and social justice issues is important, your support would be welcome. Please rate the podcast wherever you listen to it, and tell your friends about episodes that you find interesting. Why not consider making a financial contribution to help us cover costs?  You are always welcome to email with your comments.

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The use of children in combat roles is not new in Myanmar. Both the government and some resistance groups have child soldiers, with tragic results. Hundreds of children have been killed and tortured by the Myanmar army in recent years. In this episode of Human Rights Magazine, Yiwen Li speaks with several experts about the issue.

Human Rights Magazine is produced by The Upstream Journal magazine. The host, Derek MacCuish, is editor of both. If you agree that informed reporting on human rights and social justice issues is important, your support would be welcome. Please rate the podcast wherever you listen to it, and tell your friends about episodes that you find interesting. Why not consider making a financial contribution to help us cover costs?  You are always welcome to email with your comments.

Support the show