“Even in challenging times, humanity continued to make progress toward a more just and equitable world”
“Even in challenging times, humanity continued to make progress toward a more just and equitable world”
How we stood up for human rights in 2024Inspiring victories from around the world
December 21, 2024
by Angus Hervey, Amy Rose, Vedrana Koren, Olivia Boyd In a year when populists and authoritarians dominated the news cycle, there were still some bright spots for tolerance and equality. Democracy proved surprisingly resilient during a record year of elections, Thailand and Greece celebrated historic victories for their LGBTQ+ communities, while reproductive rights expanded globally with France leading the way.
A landmark UN conference saw over 100 countries commit to ending violence against children, while sustained campaigns against child marriage and gender-based violence achieved big wins in Africa and Asia, and millions of stateless people moved closer to citizenship, with Thailand alone creating pathways for half a million long-term residents. Even in challenging times, humanity continued to make progress toward a more just and equitable world - it's just that this year, you had to look a little harder for those stories. 1. The LGBTQ+ community notched up some big wins
Thailand—home to over 70 million people—became the first country in Southeast Asia to legalise same-sex marriage, and Greece made history as the first Christian Orthodox-majority country to do the same. Nambia and Dominica struck down colonial-era laws against same-sex relationships, South Korea ruled that gay couples are entitled to the same health insurance benefits as heterosexual couples. China recognized that a child can have two mothers for the first time, Israel ruled that LGBTQ couples can adopt and in Japan public support for gay marriage reached 70% following a series of high-profile court cases. The Catholic Church softened its tone towards LGBTQ people, the European Union ruled that member states must recognise legal changes to gender made elsewhere within the bloc and the UN Human Rights Council passed a historic resolution to combat discrimination against intersex people. In the US, more than 1,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates ran for elected office this year, vying for seats in Congress, state legislatures and various local races across nearly every state. Some historic firsts include first out LGBTQ+ woman and first out Latinx person elected to Tennessee legislature, a transgender candidate elected to Congress, a Black gay man elected to the Georgia legislature and a trans person elected to the Hawaii House. 2. Global leaders committed to ending violence against children
In early November, while the eyes of the world were on the US election, an event took place that may prove to be a far more consequential for humanity. Five countries pledged to end corporal punishment in all settings, two more pledged to end it in schools, and another 12, including Bangladesh and Nigeria, accepted recommendations earlier in the year to end corporal punishment of children in all settings. In total, in 2024 more than 100 countries made some kind of commitment to ending violence against children. Together, these countries are home to hundreds of millions of children, with the WHO calling the move a 'fundamental shift.' 
From left to right, representatives of the governments of Benin, Burundi, Czechia, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Nigeria, Kyrgyzstan and Nigeria announce pledges to prohibit corporal punishment in Bogota, Colombia in November 2024.
3. Democracy proved remarkably resilient in a record year of elections
More than two billion people went to the polls this year, and democracy fared far better than most people expected, with solid voter turnout, limited election manipulation, and evidence of incumbent governments being tamed. It wasn't all good news, but Indonesia saw the world's biggest one day election, Indian voters rejected authoritarianism, South Korea's democratic institutions did the same, Bangladesh promised free and fair elections following a 'people's victory', Senegal, Sri Lanka and Botswana saw peaceful transfers of power to new leaders after decades of single party rule, and Syria saw the end of one of the world's most horrific authoritarian regimes. 4. Humanity made progress on reproductive rights
A reminder that the US is an outlier - 60 countries around the world have made their abortion laws more liberal in the past 30 years, only four have made them more restrictive. Even so, seven US states voted this year to enshrine a women's right to choose in their constitutions: Colorado, New York, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, Arizona and Missouri. France became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right, and Poland reversed it's restrictive measure on abortion and access to the morning-after pill. Ireland and Canada extended free contraception to all women and in sub-Saharan Africa, the number of women using modern contraception has nearly doubled over the past decade, reaching 66 million. 
Credit: Think Global Health
5. The largest reduction of statelessness in recent history
In October, the UNHCR announced that it has helped more than half a million displaced people acquire citizenship in the last decade, with at least 22 states taking action—including Kenya, which has granted nationality to minorities; Kyrgyzstan, the world’s first country to resolve all known cases of statelessness; and Sierra Leone, Madagascar, and Liberia, who all recently granted women the right to confer their nationality on their children. The big news however, came in November, when Thailand announced an accelerated pathway to end statelessness for 500,000 long-term residents and minority group members, and their children. Once implemented, this will be the single largest reduction of statelessness by any country worldwide. 6. Workers’ rights saw some upgrades
The European Parliament approved rules to ban the sale, import, and export of goods made with forced labour, and Germany’s Supply Chain Act compelled factory owners in Pakistan to comply with minimum wage laws, provide written contracts, and give bonuses. In Colombia, a bill to restore and expand labour rights rescinded two decades ago advanced to a second round of legislative debates and in Belgium, a world-first law means that sex workers now enjoy the same employment protections as all employees, including pension rights, sick leave, and maternity pay. 7. We got closer to eradicating gender-based violence and child marriage
After 17 years of campaigning by advocacy groups and eight failed legislative attempts, Colombia finally outlawed child marriage. Sierra Leone introduced new legislation that makes even witnesses to child marriages liable to imprisonment, and Zambia raised the minimum marriage age to 18—a big step for a country with 1.7 million child brides. Thailand reported that it has halved teen pregnancy in the last decade, the Netherlands became the 17th EU state to classify non-consensual sex as rape, Croatia introduced the harshest penalties for femicide, and the world breathed a collective sigh of relief when lawmakers in the The Gambia rejected a bill that would have overturned its existing ban on female genital mutilation. 
Lawmakers celebrate the moment when the plenary of the Colombia's Senate said yes to the last debate of the Son Niñas No Esposas (They are Girls Not Wives) bill, in November 2024. Credit: Alexandra Vásquez
8. Generation Z are not doomed
The popular view is that the generation of people born between 1997 and 2012 will live grimmer, poorer lives than their elders. This is not true. Four-fifths of the world’s 12-to 27-year-olds live in emerging economies, and they are richer, healthier, more educated, better informed and more connected than their parents. In the rich world, politicians are also finally starting to do something about the curse of smartphones and social media. At least 19 US states have passed laws or enacted policies that ban or restrict students’ use of phones in schools, Australia became the first country to ban social media for children under the age of 16, and next year France will become the first country to ban phones at school for children under the age of 15 nationwide. Content from Fix the News
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