By : Azza Karam


Arc of History Bending Towards (Ab) Using Democracy & Human Rights: A Plea for Multi-Religious Civil Accountability

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NEW YORK, Feb 21 2022 (IPS) - A “Joint Statement of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China, issued on February 4, 2020 on International Relations Entering a New Era and the Global Sustainable Development”, contains laudable and strong language about commitment to democracy and human rights:

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Twenty Years After September 11, 2001: Institutions on Decline, But Religion Rising?

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NEW YORK, Sep 9 2021 (IPS) - Described as the “worst terrorist attack ever in the United States”, September 11, 2001 is a moment which has led to multiple transformations, cascading around our world.

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Is Religion the New Colonial Frontier in International Development?

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Azza Karam is Senior Advisor, UNFPA and Coordinator, UN Interagency Task Force on Religion and Development

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 4 2017 (IPS) - A decade ago, it was difficult to get Western policy makers in governments to be interested in the role of religious organizations in human development. The secular mind-set was such that religion was perceived, at best, as a private affair. At worst, religion was deemed the cause of harmful social practices, an obstacle to the “sacred” nature of universal human rights, and/or the root cause of terrorism. In short, religion belonged in the ‘basket of deplorables’.

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