Tag: Op-ed

For the Muslims, Christians, Jews and followers of other Abrahamic faiths that make up over half the world’s population, the founding gender myth is that of Adam and Eve. In the beginning, man is created in perfection, but in order to enjoy the companionship of woman he had to give something up. Some scriptures are […]

The dramatic fall in the price of oil has had some unusual effects on the petro-economies of the Persian Gulf. Countries like Saudi Arabia have grown dependent on importing cheap foreign workers to do the jobs its citizens won’t. Now, traditional sources of domestic labor like South Asia have become uneconomical in straightened times. Saudis […]

As talks to bring an end to nearly five years of conflict in Syria continue, it is essential that we learn the lessons of Iraq, Libya and the Arab revolutions if there is to be lasting peace. To rebuild stable state institutions after conflict, you need to make sure that everyone is able to take […]

This op-ed was originally published by The Independent on January 29, 2016. As the war in Syria approaches its fifth year, the toll it has taken on the country’s women has been particularly brutal. Four million Syrians have sought refuge abroad, while a further 7.6 million have been displaced internally. Though the refugees reaching European […]

This article was originally published at Huffington Post online. On Human Rights Day last year, activists across the world united in demanding justice for Salwa Bugaighis, the Libyan human rights defender murdered as she returned from voting in that country’s general elections. A year on there has still been no serious investigation into this appalling […]

For the next 16 days, activists across the world will be joining UN Women in global efforts to end violence against women and girls, starting on November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, leading up to Human Rights Day on December 10. For those of us working on this cause in […]

Originally published on The Huffington Post on November 3, 2015. Last week, talks to bring an end to the Syrian civil war finally restarted. Since the conflict began over four and and a half years ago, more than 9 million people – nearly half of Syria’s population – have been forced to flee their homes […]

The original article was posted on The Huffington Post on April 17, 2015. Following the murder of nearly 150 students in the Kenyan city of Garissa by the terrorist group Al-Shabaab, local leaders sought to lay the blame entirely at the feet of Kenya’s large Somali refugee population. The attacks of Al-Shabaab have been portrayed […]

Op-ed by Hibaaq Osman originally published on The Guardian online Talks have commenced to bring an end to the civil war in Syria that has killed more than 100,000 and forced almost 2.4 million men, women and children to flee the country, while millions more have been displaced internally. As is so often the case […]