With women lacking access to safe and legal abortions, many of them turn to unsafe abortion practices, such as self-induced abortions. This has costly consequences; around 5 million Ugandan women annually are injured or otherwise disabled as a result of abortion-related consequences.

“Every woman and adolescent girl has a right to make informed decisions about their reproductive health”

CSOs have worked extensively in Uganda on the human rights implications of lack of access to legal abortion and modern contraceptives. Many protests, workshops and talks have culminated into reports that have recently forced Ugandan Parliament to call for a revision of the old abortion law. This is due in February 2021, but the expectations of the conservative government are low.

To pressure the need for legalized abortion, Voluntary Efforts for Rural Development (VERDE-Uganda) organized a consensus building campaign among human rights activists, journalists, parliamentarians, human rights lawyers and health practitioners. The campaign included a solidarity march in Kampala City, an interactive radio discussion with the public and a petition to be taken to the speaker of Uganda Parliament.

VERDE-Uganda will continue their campaign in the four regions (Central, Western, Eastern and Northern) to further advocate for legalizing abortion in Uganda.

VERDE-Uganda was established in July 2004 to empower, advocate and build in rural communities, with their main focus on vulnerable women. Their social goal is to protect the rights of women, sexual and reproductive health rights being first on the agenda. They use activism to bring about social justice, which is highly needed in times of growing injustices and oppression under the ruling social-political order in Uganda.

Caldera Gráfica Crew started an artistic protest by taking over public space through ‘Contra Cultural assaults’ (murals, posters and neighborhood projections). Thus creating a strong public visibility to motivate mobilization and outrage among civilians and highlight community values such as empathy, solidarity and organizational skills.

The project is aimed at highlighting the strength and persistence of the people of the neighborhoods that motivate organizational processes to face the Covid-19 pandemic as a community. Through their efforts they try to secure fundamental rights such as health, food, education, housing and a dignified life in general. They secure the basic needs the government fails to provide.

The group painted four murals throughout the city center of Florencia and the neighborhoods Malvinas, Ciudadela Siglo XXI and San Judas. They printed large amounts of posters and spread them with a team of volunteers and screened several video’s on subjects as solidarity, care and organization in publicly accessible places.

The organization sees their project as a beginning, a push to invite other people and collectives to start thinking in an organized way, to understand the power and importance of social mobilization in the times of Covid-19. After the pandemic, they plan to organize new mass actions and interventions.

Masingo is the largest and densely populated slum around Kakamega town; with 700 poverty-hit households, who earn an average income of less US$1.25/ household and rely on river Masingo and Masingo open spring well for all water needs and livelihoods. The slum has a market called Masingo that serves as an economic hub for at least 400 low income earners from slum’s 700 poor households, who primarily depend on smallholder enterprises on the market for an income. 

Land grabbers have been digging trenches directing untreated polluted water from sewage systems into the slum’s open water sources, mainly the nearby river. Moreover, many residents with overflowing pit-latrines ask children from the street to empty their latrines at night by carrying their feces to the trenches or the river. This puts the Masingo market at great risk of closure and collapse, not only because of the threat of Covid-19, but because of increased cases of waterborne diseases among Masingo slum’s dwellers affecting at least 77% of its residents yearly. In 2019, three people died of Cholera and left others hospitalized. Attempts to address these issues to the authorities failed.

Mobilization

The Renewed Hope Group (RHG) aims to end the pollution of Masingo’s water sources by advocating for permanent blockage of illegal trenches from sewage systems to open water sources; eviction of land grabbers that are responsible for diffing the illegal trenches. Together with the Masingo market’s governing committe, local businesses-groups, environmentalists, and leaders of key active social groups, among others, the RHG aims to organize a range of mobilization activities over a period of 2,5 months, to engage at least 200 individuals from Masingo slum’s 700 households. Activities will include door to door visits, social media campaigns, and public gatherings. 

Following this period of mobilization, the RHG will organize an official protest walk, during which face masks and colorful protest signs will be distributed. The protesters will walk through the larger town of Kakamega to catch people’s attention, and will head to the offices premises of various governmental authorities. Finally, protesters will sing, shout and walk to grabbed lands where illegal trenches have been dug, blocking them with stone-mud walls. 

On New Year’s eve, 23-year old Blessings Nyondo was shot by the Malawian police, suspected of being one of the muggers that he was actually running away from. He battled for his life after being shot 8 times, passing away a week later. Four days after the shooting, the police denied any wrongdoing. The shooting of Nyondo follows another recent shooting, where two men were killed in cold blood by a police officer.

The unlawful police shootings are symbolic of Malawian police brutality, threatening and ending the lives of innocent citizens, while the police has a duty to protect people. Zenith advocates for the immediate arrest and prosecution of the police officers who shot the three victims. What’s more, it is insensitive and incoherrent of the Malawian police to adhere to a narrative that the victims were robbery suspects; even if the suspects were criminals, the police officers broke the law and denied the suspects of their right to remain innocent until proven guilty. 

Zenith and other human rights organizations in Malawi are mobilizing and soon aim to hold public protests against police brutality. The protests will include a solidarity walk in support of families of victims of police brutality. 

The isolated living space of refugee women in Germany has been increased due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Once new rules were implemented by the German government, many facilities were put under complete lockdown with no clear end in sight. This prevented residents from accessing any support and information outside the accommodation facilities, including access to wifi. Moreover, the lockdown obstructed the flow of information from the facilities to the public, being even more important as media outlets shifted their focus from immigration related topics to reporting on the pandemic.

The goal is now to build political groups for women inside the different accommodations. The continuous movement of people through the asylum system creates a demand for constant active mobilization inside the accommodations. Women are often transferred, making it difficult to share their acquired political knowledge with new arrivals; knowledge that is built on a daily basis through one-on-one conversations, open meetings, sharing resources and spreading flyers and information. The women groups, formed in each place of residency, meet a few times a month, depending on their capacity and needs. Central meetings are organized with the representatives of each group in the office of IWS. In the case of lockdown, the meetings will take place online.

On a monthly basis, workshops will be organized by the group representatives. The exact topics of the workshops will be determined by the group members themselves, but may include sessions with lawyers for legal advice, meetings with activists, career development, dealing with psychological traumas, among other things.

Fighting the patriarchy

The International Women Space is a feminist, anti-racist political group in Berlin, with migrant and refugee women and non-migrant women as members. The organization fights patriarchy and documents everyday violence, racism, sexism and all kinds of discrimination. The organization was formed in December 2012, during the Refugee Movement’s occupation of a former school in Berlin-Kreuzberg. There, a women’s space was created that remained open until 2014. After their eviction, IWS continued working with new members joining them, and officially registered as an association in 2017.

Women’s resistance is often oppressed, and women’s history is hidden or ignored. IWS takes on the responsibility to counteract this by documenting, making visible, and publishing women’s stories in their own words. By organizing politically their defend themselves against issues and attacks that women are facing on a daily basis as refugee, migrant, and non-migrant women—sexism, racism, the violence of the asylum system and migration polities influence their lives. As a group, they stand in solidarity with each other and provide as well support on a day-to-day basis.

Sympathizers of the AFA Fryslân find it worrisome that parties of the political centre and more conventional rightwing parties are increasingly working together with, or take over ideas from, far-right political parties. Fascist ideas that divide people and promotes intolerance and discrimination is seeping increasingly into regional and local politics. Since it is important to actively challenge these voices, the AFA Fryslân will dedicate itself to raise the awareness against racism and fascism, and will fight wherever necessary to counter ideas of intolerance.

In the run up to the March elections multiple actions will be organized in as many places as possible. Yesterday (4/2/2021) all public advertising pillars in the City of Leeuwarden are covered with the poster “Leave no space for racism and fascism.” Also in the town Ooststellingswerf the posters have been put up, and the posters has been presented to the Provincial Government of Friesland.

Read more about AFA Fryslân on their website.

Slaughterhouse Vion is ankered in Boxtel. A lot of residents are directly or indirectly connected to the slaughterhouse, but also people that are not tied to Vion are often convinced that the company is important to the village. On the other hand an increasing amount of people is voicing its concerns about the company. Criticism has grown in the last few years, now that more attention is given to topics such as animal welfare, environmental pollution, public health and workers’ conditions. To give an example, a recent corona outbreak in the slaughterhouse led to fear among workers, workers’ conditions is often bad, animals are living in miserable conditions and locals are subject to odor nuisance.

Sluit Vion! wants to start the conversation with the silent majority of people in Boxtel that does not actively support Vion but also does not speak out against the company. The action group wants to inform local residents, start discussions and decrease the support for the company. Around three thousand houses will be given newspaper, containing articles on the multiple forms of exploitation that Vion is upholding, but also with interesting, inspiring stories on what to do if the slaughterhouse were to close. The paper will be supported by posters, stickers and flyers for smaller and spontaneous actions.

Photo: “Ruine IX”, made by Hartmut Kiewert. 

Video-based activism

Established in 2006, Israel Social TV is a non-profit independent media organization promoting social change. Their online archive contains over 4.000 video reports and studio programs in Hebrew, most of which are translated into English, reaching about 200.000 people per month. Whereas written text does not always “change the hearts and minds of people,” visual documentation is an alternative way to promote human rights and bring about social change in Israel, according to the organization. 

Social TV criticizes the existing social order in Israel and its militaristic, chauvinist agenda which promotes solutions based on power through an “us and them” discourse. The organization focuses on the plurality of people living in Israel and their environment to oppose the state’s nationalism, commercial interests and political agendas. Social TV promotes a society in which the media plays an active role in social change and provides a platform for groups whose voices are not heard, promoting equality, social justice and solidarity. To do this, Social TV engages in video-based activism (e.g. documenting demonstrations), producing videos on socio-political issues, and offering training programs for social activists to learn to produce independent content.

Opposing the obligation to enlist

Social TV now aims to help visualize the multitude of challenges to Israeli occupation, increasing their outreach. This is often done by refusing to enlist in the army, by which more than 100 people  have been incarcerated in the last decade. One of the aims is to record personal interviews with young people in preparation for their decision to refuse to enlist in the army, accompanied by documenting demonstrations in support of those who refuse to enlist on the day of their enlistment. The organization especially aims to reach young people between 16 and 18, who are facing obligatory army recruitment. Het Actiefonds supports Social TV in producing, editing and translating their video-based activism to oppose the illegitimate Israeli occupation.

For more information, click here to see the website of Social TV.

Climate activists put pressure on the people in power to act. Sometimes these are disruptive actions, sometimes more playful. The Extinction Rebellion branch in Deventer put pressure on the City Council in a playful way; the activists braved the cold of December to portray a summer scene. Summer clothes, bathing suits, umbrellas and beach balls were taken to the square in front of the town hall. The purpose of the demonstration was to get the municipality to declare a climate emergency. Make policies to combat global warming before we can sit outside your town hall door in swimwear all year round!

Het Actiefonds sponsored a new microphone and speakers to give some extra strength to these and future actions of XR Deventer. View the photos below.

 

These incidents show that, because of a continuous failure by law enforcement agencies to prosecute those who accuse older men and women of practicing witchcraft, Malawians took the law into their own hands by administering mob justice.

Malawi’s active youth organization Youth Acting Together [YATO] decided to stand up against this violence against the elderly people. On the 25^th of November, they held a demonstration to pressure the Malawi Police Service to take these violent crimes more seriously and immediately arrest and prosecute every person involved in mob justice. Next to that, they filed a warning to the public against taking laws into their own hands.

According to Malawi’s Witchcraft Act of 1911, witchcraft doesn’t exist and states that it is an offence to accuse anyone of practising witchcraft. In addition, the 2016 National Policy for Older Persons recognises the duty of the State to protect their rights. Now that the State failed take this responsibility, YATO aims to reinforce these laws by speaking out.

The youth activists fight injustices on many different issues since 2016. They stand up for the rights of poor and marginalized populations by ensuring that their rights are fully protected and promoted. In the past, Het Actiefonds successfully supported several of their direct actions.