She played a key role in a campaign that challenged a corrupt waste trafficking scheme between Italy and Tunisia, resulting in the return of 6,000 tons of illegally exported household waste to Italy, its country of origin, in February 2022. In 2020, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimated that wealthy nations illegally…

Determined to protect his homeland from mining, Batmunkh Luvsandash’s activism resulted in the creation of a 66,000-acre protected area in Dornogovi province in April 2022, abutting tens of thousands of acres already protected by Batmunkh and allies. Mongolia is a large and sparsely populated nation – with numerous nomadic and semi-nomadic communities – whose economy…

“We want to create a federation of international journalistic organisations that collaborate in this effort, starting from the global South,” says Filipino journalist and 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa. Sixty-one years old, a former investigative television reporter for CNN from Southeast Asia, since 2011 she has been the soul of Rappler, a Philippine…

“Let’s stop the emissions of false and irresponsible promises, let’s put an end to the pollution of empty words and fight for a livable future and present.” Txai Suruí is 28 years old. She comes from a well-known and influential family of activists: her father is Chief Almir Suruí, who grew up in the Brazilian…

A recent morning, a group of refugees, mostly men and women from Sudan and Syria, filled the waiting room of a centre run by the Rouh Initiative in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria in northern Egypt. By midday, around 60 patients with various medical needs have been seen. It is another busy day for 31-year-old…

In Burkina Faso, the ‘Mother of the Sahel’ brings education and hope to forcibly displaced children. As conflict forced thousands of children to flee to the safety of her hometown, Maimouna Ba rallied the community to provide support and education. Born and raised in Dori, in the far northeast of Burkina Faso, Maimouna Ba was…

“What we would like to achieve when we talk about peace. Peace means self-determination. Peace means biological conservation. Peace means revitalization of our culture and Indigenous knowledge: our way of life.”  Environmental activist Paul Sein Twa explains to us. Paul Sein Twa, a Karen environmental activist and executive director of the Karen Environmental and Social…

When asked how a farmer’s daughter who became a Catholic nun ended up as one of Brazil’s most influential refugee advocates, Sister Rosita Milesi, 79, offers a simple answer: determination. Sister Rosita was awarded the Nansen Prize by the U.N. High Commission for Refugees for her exceptional work with refugees and migrants over the past…

Forced to flee Colombia, she has managed to rebuild her life in Ecuador. Now she defends the human rights of migrants and in particular of women, who often suffer violence and have fewer opportunities. Some stories keep hope alive, especially when, despite enormous initial difficulties, they reveal the possibility of significant changes that alter the…

He led a successful community campaign that saved 445,000 acres of biodiversity-rich forests from 21 planned coal mines in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. In July 2022, the government cancelled the 21 proposed coal mines in Hasdeo Aranya, whose pristine forests – popularly known as the lungs of Chhattisgarh – are one of the…

She blocked the development of the Waratah coal mine, which would have accelerated climate change in Queensland, destroyed the nearly 20,000-acre Bimblebox Nature Refuge, added 1.58 billion tons of CO2 to the atmosphere over its lifetime, and threatened Indigenous rights and culture. Murrawah’s case, which overcame a 2023 appeal, set a precedent that enables other…

Activists Nonhle Mbuthuma and Sinegugu Zukulu have stopped destructive seismic testing for oil and gas off South Africa’s Eastern Cape, in an area known as the Wild Coast. Organizing their community, Nonhle and Sinegugu secured their victory by asserting the rights of the local community to protect their marine environment. By halting oil and gas…