By Liesbet Debecker These days, society seems to be shifting towards the right. In different Western countries, right-wing parties are gaining popularity, and extreme right-wing movements are on the rise. Thoughts and opinions of the general population are also becoming moving towards the right. This is not without consequence for women’s rights. In conservative and right-wing circles, politicians are not too keen on protecting women’s rights, let alone granting them more. This has damning consequences for women’s ability to decide on the course of their own lives, particularly with relation to reproductive rights.

By Lauryane Leneveu In 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon introduced Article 50, a formal mechanism which, for the first time, allowed EU Member States to withdraw from the Union. Before the United Kingdom did so in March 2017, no Member State had ever triggered Article 50 or decided to leave the EU. Today, while the embers left by UK’s decision are still burning, the EU may be on the verge of losing other Member States. Tensions are increasing. Doubts are being raised. Is the EU heading towards implosion?

Kosovo has the youngest population in Europe, and the country itself has a lot of growing to do.

By Charles Slidders The institutional “mainstreaming” of human rights has left human rights stagnant and mired in a quagmire of bureaucracy. They have lost “their initial revolutionary and dissident purposes” and transformative potential.

by Cassandra Bockstael We all know that moment in CSI: the tech experts and the police are looking at a video with a potential new lead. Suddenly, they zoom in or clear the image, someone sees a detail they recognise, they identify the place and find the missing person or the suspect. What if I

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By Mustapha Hadji The 1980s debt crisis opened the door for IMF to directly interfere in the fiscal and monetary policies of borrowing countries. The Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) have impacted the lives and livelihoods of third world citizens for decades.[1] Reducing public spending was the “magical recipe” prescribed by IMF to crisis-wracked countries to get out of the debt spiral. Cutting public spending meant little to no money for social programs, public education, public health services and many other programs and services that create safety nets for vulnerable social segments of those countries.