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21. Migrant Workers’ Access to Justice at Home: Nepal

Publication Date:
06-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
Much attention has been directed to the exploitation of low-wage migrant workers in the Middle East, where harms are commonplace and severe, and access to justice is limited. But the story of labor migration begins and ends at home. Migrant Workers’ Access to Justice at Home: Nepal is the first comprehensive analysis of how laws and institutions in Nepal succeed or fail in protecting migrant workers from harms suffered during recruitment or while working in the Middle East. The study finds that despite Nepal’s efforts to protect migrant workers, it often falls short in holding private recruitment companies and individual agents accountable. The report presents detailed short- and long-term recommendations for government and civil society advocates that address the failures of Nepal’s migrant worker policies by treating workers as holders of defined, enforceable rights.
Topic:
Civil Society, Human Rights, Migration, Labor Issues, Justice, Migrant Workers, and Political Rights
Political Geography:
Asia and Nepal

22. A Fundamental Rights Strategy for the European Union

Author:
Israel Butler
Publication Date:
05-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
The European Parliament election results show a rise in apathy and hostility towards the EU. A fundamental rights strategy could help to boost the Union’s legitimacy in the eyes of the public. EU institutions should jointly adopt a strategy that highlights the benefits for citizens of rights conferred at EU level. A strategy would allow the Union to meet its overarching goal of improving the well-being of its peoples and improve its credibility when promoting human rights with third countries. The strategy should be structured around measures to respect, protect and promote fundamental rights to the fullest extent allowed by the Union’s powers. To develop and implement the strategy, the institutions should engage in regular and structured dialogue with the United Nations, Council of Europe, Fundamental Rights Agency, and civil society organizations.
Topic:
Civil Society, Human Rights, United Nations, European Union, and Political Rights
Political Geography:
Europe

23. 2014 and Beyond: Priorities for the European Union

Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
The new leaders of the EU’s institutions face immediate and major challenges—from conflict in the EU’s surrounding region to rising xenophobia within its own borders—that have major implications for the future of Europe’s open societies. The European Parliament elections in May 2014 led to a turnover of half of the body’s members and the intake of many more xenophobic populist parties. The European Commission—the EU’s executive body—has a new president and College of Commissioners who will need to find new approaches to employment, inclusion, and development. The new European Council president will also have a tough job finding consensus among EU heads of state and government on issues ranging from relations with Russia to economic governance.
Topic:
Civil Society, Race, Minorities, Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Economic Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe

24. Ethnic Origin and Disability Data Collection in Europe: Measuring Inequality—Combating Discrimination

Publication Date:
11-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
The report Ethnic Origin and Disability Data Collection in Europe: Measuring Inequality—Combating Discrimination is published within the framework of the Equality Data Initiative, a project launched by the Open Society Foundations in collaboration with the Migration Policy Group and the European Network Against Racism to increase awareness within the European Union for the need to collect reliable data for groups at risk of discrimination. The report challenges the commonly held view in Europe that the collection of disability and ethnic data is categorically prohibited. It voices the necessity to involve the affected communities in the process of defining best practices and to respect binding core principles of data collection such as self-identification of the data subject and consent-based, voluntary, and anonymized data collection. The focus of the research is on Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Romania, and Sweden in the field of public education and on France in the field of public employment. Most of these EU member states collect data about their citizens in one or other way. However—as the report suggests—their methods lead to results that are either inaccurate or unreliable. The report makes recommendations for action at both the national and EU levels in order to achieve effective change in the field of equality data and to use data to promote equal treatment. Advocacy and strategic litigation are needed to steer national debates away from taboos, and question unlawful, harmful, or simply unsuitable data collection practices, and to call for the inclusion of disability and ethnic minority communities in the process. The European Commission and other EU institutions can provide guidance in this process by issuing recommendations and guidelines on equality data collection.
Topic:
Migration, Science and Technology, European Union, Citizenship, Discrimination, Disability, Data, Digital Policy, and Migrant Workers
Political Geography:
Europe

25. License to Be Yourself

Publication Date:
05-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
When trans people’s passports, driver licenses, and national ID cards, do not reflect their gender identity, it can exclude them from fundamental aspects of daily life—like receiving health care, schooling, housing, or a bank account. And it can prevent trans people from exercising basic liberties like the right to vote or freedom of movement. The vast majority of trans people around the world cannot obtain official documents under their appropriate name and sex that match their gender identity. Where this is possible, trans people often face highly restrictive laws or regulations for changing name and sex that violate human rights obligations. These restrictions may involve excluding trans people who are married or have children, or require compulsory medical diagnoses or proceedures, including those that result in sterilization. License to Be Yourself documents some of the world’s most progressive and rights-based laws and policies that enable trans people to change their gender identity on official documents. It shares strategies that activists have successfully used in a variety of global and legal contexts, and features case studies from Argentina, Australia, Hong Kong, Kenya, Ukraine, and the United States. This report is a resource for activists working on human rights issues for trans people, local communities examining best laws and policies, and policymakers seeking to uphold the rights of trans people.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Human Rights, LGBT+, Sexuality, Identity, Legal Sector, and Transgender
Political Geography:
Global Focus

26. Migrant Workers’ Access to Justice at Home: Indonesia

Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
Each year, around half a million Indonesians travel abroad to work, half of those to the Middle East. Many are women who suffer abuse and exploitation when they work abroad but have virtually no access to recourse within their host country’s legal system. The vulnerability of migrant workers abroad makes it crucial for them to be able to seek redress in their own countries. Migrant Workers’ Access to Justice at Home: Indonesia is the first comprehensive study of migrant workers’ access to justice in their country of origin. A collaborative effort by the Open Society International Migration Initiative, the Tifa Foundation, and the Migrant Worker Access to Justice Project, the report analyzes how migrant workers may access justice in Indonesia, and identifies the systemic barriers that prevent them from receiving redress for harms they suffer before, during, and after their work abroad. The report also provides recommendations for improving access to justice and private sector accountability in 11 key areas, addressed to government, parliament, civil society, donors, and others. Migrant Workers’ Access to Justice at Home: Indonesia is an important contribution to advancing the rights of migrant workers and will serve as a valuable guide for civil society groups in Indonesia and elsewhere to better understand, use, and test existing justice mechanisms to enforce migrant workers’ rights.
Topic:
Migration, Labor Issues, Employment, Economic Policy, Justice, Migrant Workers, and Legal Sector
Political Geography:
Indonesia and Middle East

27. The Race Equality Directive: A Shadow Report

Author:
Eefje de Kroon
Publication Date:
07-2013
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
The Race Equality Directive: A Shadow Report collects lessons learned from the implementation of the Race Equality Directive in nine European Union member states. The Race Equality Directive is a piece of legislation adopted in 2000 by the Council of Ministers of the European Union implementing the principle of equality for all irrespective of racial or ethnic origin. The directive comes under review at the end of 2013, 10 years after its entry into force. The report includes data on Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain. Annex I contains summaries of developments in each of these member states. The report identifies trends in the challenges facing the countries examined, examples of successful or problematic implementation, and includes recommendations for improving effective implementation. Challenges to the implementation of the Race Equality Directive include: lack of disaggregated data needed to implement parts of this legislation and evaluate its effectiveness; unclear identification of proxy categories that can be used to detect discrimination on the ground of racial and ethnic origin; problems that impede effective access to and use of judicial (individual or collective) redress against discrimination; hindrances to alternative forms of individual (or collective) redress, through the equality bodies. Analysis is based on two sources of data: country reports by specialized international monitoring bodies (excerpts of these are contained in Annex II) and data generated through a short questionnaire (in Annex III) completed by independent experts and subject matter experts within the Open Society Foundations.
Topic:
Race, Law, Ethnicity, Discrimination, and Equality
Political Geography:
Greece, France, Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, and Czech Republic

28. Transforming Health: International Rights-Based Advocacy for Trans Health

Publication Date:
02-2013
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
Trans people across the world face substantial barriers to adequate health and health care. They are targets of discrimination and violence, are at greater risk of contracting HIV, and experience a higher incidence of mental health problems like depression. They face discrimination from health care providers, a lack of doctors trained to address their needs, and the refusal of many national health systems and insurance providers to cover their care. Yet trans communities are building alliances to promote trans health and to fight for policies that respect gender diversity and human rights. This report profiles projects from 16 organizations in twelve countries that address these barriers. These projects offered general health services as well as those related to gender transition, trained health care providers to respond to the needs and concerns of trans patients, conducted public education campaigns about discrimination against trans people, advocated for legal and medical policy changes, and organized trans communities to empower themselves. Collecting insights from these projects, Transforming Health makes recommendations to governments, rights advocates, health professionals and public health organizations, and health and rights donors.
Topic:
HIV/AIDS, Gender Issues, Health, Discrimination, LGBT+, Public Health, Sexual Health, and Transgender
Political Geography:
Global Focus

29. U.S. Military Aid to Central Asia: Who Benefits?

Author:
Joshua Kucera
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
U.S. military aid to Central Asia has substantially increased over the past 10 years with an increasingly large percentage going toward the training and equipping of Central Asian special forces units. In several cases, funding has been misappropriated by host governments, while the United States has tended to look the other way at such abuses. Military aid can have varying goals, but increases in funding and ambivalence by U.S, officials toward possible abuse of funds by Central Asian governments suggest that the primary motive of U.S. aid is to “buy” access to regional governments and militaries for cooperation in Afghanistan, rather than to improve defense institutions and militaries.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, and Military Affairs
Political Geography:
Central Asia

30. The New Silk Road and the Northern Distribution Network: A Golden Road to Central Asian Trade Reform?

Author:
Graham Lee
Publication Date:
10-2012
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
The United States is promoting a “New Silk Road” that would link Afghanistan to Southern and Central Asia via an interconnected web of transit corridors, which could transform the regional trade environment, tear down commercial barriers, and offer economic benefits for all. The New Silk Road and the Northern Distribution Network is a constructive assessment of the conditions and challenges facing this effort that asks and answers the following questions: Is the Northern Distribution network incentivizing regional cooperation and border reforms? Is the Northern Distribution Network helping to fight corruption in Central Asia? Has the Northern Distribution Network made transhipment through Central Asia more efficient? Are ordinary Central Asian citizens benefitting from Northern Distribution Network trade?
Topic:
International Cooperation, International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, Networks, and Silk Road
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Central Asia