Equality and Human Rights

The European Parliament recently adopted a toughly worded resolution on the human rights situation in Bahrain focusing in particular on the cases of death row inmates and human rights defenders. The resolution exposed the dilemmas in Europe as the EU seeks closer relations with the Gulf states, but where concerns about the human rights situation in the region remain high.

As part of the various reforms currently being implemented in Saudi Arabia, the sponsorship system for foreign labour, also known as the "Kafala" system, has been scrapped as of Sunday 14 March. The change was introduced as part of the Labour Reform Initiative (LRI) announced last November.

8 March is International Women's Day. Women of the world want and deserve an equal future free from stigma, stereotypes and violence; a future that’s sustainable, peaceful, with equal rights and opportunities for all. To get us there, the world needs women at every table where decisions are being made.

The EU and the six GCC countries are looking for ways to develop their relations amid a changing international context. Human rights remain an issue. A ten year moratorium on capital punishment can offer a good basis for renewed EU-GCC relations argue the commonspace.eu editorial team in this commentary.

As Russia braces itself for another day of pro Navalny street protests on Sunday, the story of a young Chechen arrested for participating in last week's protests has caused uproar on social media, and has become a source of controversy back in his home republic, Chechnya.