Human Rights | WPN World People News

Street corner in the Deluxe neighborhood in western Taizz that has been damaged by shelling since March 2015.

When Pion was 10 years old, her grandmother said it was time for her to get married and become a “real” woman. Pion was terrified; she knew what that meant – having her genitalia cut, a practice called female genital mutilation (FGM). In the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania where she lives, she had seen many girls cut and forced to marry. Her older sister was cut when she was 10 and made to marry a much older man a month later. “I got very afraid and used to cry every day,” Pion told Human Rights Watch.

A busy street in in Istanbul, Turkey.

Members of Shia militias, who the Iraqi government has included among its state forces, abducted and killed scores of Sunni residents in a central Iraq town and demolished Sunni homes, stores, and mosques following January 11, 2016 bombings claimed by the extremist group Islamic State, also known as ISIS. None of those responsible have been brought to justice.

More than three years after a major rebel offensive was defeated by UN and government forces in Democratic Republic of the Congo's North Kivu province, the area remains extremely volatile and producing displacement.

Members of Shia militias, who the Iraqi government has included among its state forces, abducted and killed scores of Sunni residents in a central Iraq town and demolished Sunni homes, stores, and mosques following January 11, 2016 bombings claimed by the extremist group Islamic State, also known as ISIS. None of those responsible have been brought to justice.

The international community must stand with the people of Ethiopia in their time of need, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on 31 January, urging donors gathered in Addis Ababa to step up assistance to the drought-hit country, which is battling the effects of one of the most powerful El Niño events in recorded history, made worse by the impact of climate change.

The international community must stand with the people of Ethiopia in their time of need, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on 31 January, urging donors gathered in Addis Ababa to step up assistance to the drought-hit country, which is battling the effects of one of the most powerful El Niño events in recorded history, made worse by the impact of climate change.

Hailing vital commitments the African Union (AU) has made on human rights and women's rights, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon encouraged the continent's leaders to move on from setting standards to what he called “the three Is” – Implementation, Institution-building and Investment in real change – and set a shining example for the wider world on 30 January.

The recently accessible mass graves in northern Iraq are being disturbed and possibly compromised for any future prosecutions of what could amount to genocide against the Yezidi people, Human Rights Watch and Yazda, a Yezidi support group, said on January 30. The authorities should take urgent steps to protect the gravesites around Mount Sinjar that became accessible after Kurdish forces recaptured the area from the extremist group Islamic State, also known as ISIS.