Topic: Health

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Sudanese women in Darfur (image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/K. Prinsloo)

Sudan: War on women

Abducted and raped

Sudanese women are paying a particularly high price for the war that has now lasted more than six weeks. Sexual violence – committed by all parties – has skyrocketed. By Karim El-GawharyMore

Humanitarian crisis in Sudan: "I'm trapped in the war"Sudanese artists speak out: "It's not our war"Fighting for power in Sudan: Burhan and Dagalo – greed-driven egotists
Primary school students in a Kabul schoolyard (image: Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat/AA/picture alliance)

Development aid

Despite the Taliban, Afghanistan deserves help

For the sake of the Afghan people, the international community needs to re-engage in development cooperation. The education sector would be an ideal entry point, argue Conrad Schetter and Katja MielkeMore

Women’s rights in Afghanistan: The Taliban cannot defeat womenAfghanistan under the Taliban: "Girls continue to attend our schools"Negotiating with the Taliban for girls′ education: Treading carefully
Malnourished people stand around the carcasses of dead livestock in Somalia (image Erik Siegl)

Climate change impacts Somalia

What future without rain – or aid?

Somalia is still facing unprecedented drought and high inflation, ruining the livelihoods of many and causing widespread hunger. Dadaab refugee camp in eastern Kenya, where Somalis have found refuge over decades, is again facing a new influx. Erik Siegl reportsMore

From failed state to fragile state? Somalia and the rocky road towards greater stabilityPort of Berbera, Somaliland: The development of a trade hub in the Horn of AfricaCOP27 and the Middle East: Millions at risk of climate displacement
Year 12 girls' class in Afghanistan (photo: Kinderhilfe Afghanistan)

Afghanistan under the Taliban

"Girls continue to attend our schools"

Education for girls and women is still possible in Afghanistan, says Reinhard Eroes of the Kinderhilfe Afghanistan initiative. In interview with Elisa Rheinheimer, he talks about skewed media portrayals, the great hunger gripping the country and why aid organisations should returnMore

"The Lionesses of Afghanistan": No more 'white saviours', pleaseTaliban Afghanistan: Afghan girls attend "secret school"Negotiating with the Taliban for girls′ education: Treading carefully
Palestinians in Gaza after an airstrike (photo: Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

Human Rights Film Festival Berlin

"Erasmus in Gaza"

An Italian medical student on a study trip in the Palestinian territories: this documentary takes advantage of the unusual setting to shed light on the unbearable situation of Gaza’s civilian population. By Rene WildangelMore

Politics and the humanitarian situation in Gaza: "War is always possible here"Palestine and its Arabic neighbours: Gaza – a city no one wantsPrivate initiatives in Gaza: For a brighter future ... despite the blockade
Ferdousi Begum (l) describes her symptoms to Sufi leader Syed Emdadul Hoque (R) at the Maizbhandar Darbar Sharif shrine in Maizbhandar (photo: Munir uz Zaman/AFP)

Mental health and Islam

Bangladeshi mystic fights demons with psychiatry

Evil spirits bedevil the families that seek blessings from an elderly Sufi mystic – but he knows his prayers alone are not enough to soothe their troubled mindsMore

Islamic mysticism: Understanding the SufisAttar’s "The Conference of the Birds": There is no person whose soul has not sufferedClimate change in Bangladesh: The end of the line for climate migrants in Dhaka
The headqaurters of the Pikala bicycle initiative in a disused waste-sorting facility on the edge of the Medina, Marrakesh, Morocco (photo: Marian Brehmer)

The Pikala Bikes initiative in Morocco

More mobility, more confidence, more freedom

In Morocco, the bicycle is considered a poor man's means of transport. What's more, cycling tends to be a male-only affair. The Pikala bike initiative in Marrakesh seeks to change all this. By Marian BrehmerMore

The Sufi Trail: Anatolia through the eyes of a pilgrimPhoto gallery: Moroccan kids get a taste of surfing freedomCOVID-19 fallout in Morocco: Tangiers' economic boom – few winners and many losersAlternative tourism in Tunisia: Off the beaten tourist trackFrom Syria to Innsbruck, cyclist makes remarkable journey
Symbolic image of an elderly woman in care (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Health and ageing

Middle East and North Africa unprepared for coming dementia epidemic

By 2050, the Middle East and North Africa could be dealing with many more elderly people suffering from dementia. A lack of facilities, specialists and local knowledge means the region is woefully underprepared. By Cathrin Schaer, Tarak Guizani and Mohammed MagdyMore

COVID-19 in the Middle East: Playing down pandemic death tollsHealth and immigration in Germany: Language barriers to psychotherapy for immigrantsCannabis and Islam? There is no one single answerTahar Ben Jelloun's "Yemma": "Not Crazy, Merely Gone Away"
Indonesian schools foster climate protection projects (photo: Annnuqayah boarding school)

Environmental jihad

Can "green Islam" save Indonesia from climate collapse?

Calls for an environmentally-conscious form of Islam are growing in Indonesia, as climate change poses enormous ecological challenges for the country. Experts say it could change society's approach to climate efforts. Enno Hinz reportsMore

Tarik M. Quadir: "If we don’t pull together to save the earth, we will ‘sink’ together"Eco-Islam: Noor al-Hussein speaks out: Islam, faith and climate changeIslamic environmentalism: The call to eco-jihad
A pharmacy in Beirut (photo: Goethe-Institut/Ruya, Zeinab Othman)

Lebanon's chronic medicine shortage

Zero state support, much Lebanese solidarity

As the Lebanese economy has collapsed, so has the country's health system. Many medicines have become scarce or unaffordable. Confronted with a failing state, the Lebanese are helping each other. Zeinab Othman reports from BeirutMore

Lebanon in crisis: Support lacking for trauma victimsLebanon after the explosion: Beirut's aftermath – shattering as 15 years of civil warLebanese thinker Martin Accad: "Lebanon's tragedy is political sectarianism"
Not yet legal in Germany: joint filled with cannabis (photo: Vincent Michel/Le Mensuel de Rennes/picture-alliance)

Cannabis and Islam?

There is no one single answer

The German government is planning to legalise cannabis before the end of this legislative period. So what does Islam have to say about its consumption? Will changing the law alter the way Muslims in Germany feel about the issue? Said Rezek talked to Muslim theologian Ali Ghandour from the University of MunsterMore

Maghreb and the EU: Will medicinal cannabis become Morocco's no.1 export?Attempts to decriminalise hashish in the Arab world: To legalise or not to legaliseDrug-related crime in Indonesia: Don Widodo's tilt with windmills
Children are seen inside their classroom as they are resume school while maintaining social distancing, Bhubaneswar, India (photo: picture-alliance/Nur Photo/Str)

COVID-19 pandemic in India

Enabling the rights of the child

COVID-19 has many negative impacts on children, particularly in terms of education and healthcare. Development projects in the Indian state of Assam show how actors can successfully support disadvantaged children in times of crisis. By Enakshi Dutta, Cynthia Dittmar and Franziska MullerMore

India's deadly coronavirus surge: India’s teens pitch in on social media during COVID crisis"We are witnessing a crime against humanity": Arundhati Roy on India’s COVID catastropheCOVID-19 pandemic: Science versus covidiots – Indiaʹs coronavirus challengeQantara photo essay: Record coronavirus wave batters India's health system
Lebanon, aftermath of the explosion in the port of Beirut (photo: Patrick Baz/AFP)

Lebanon in crisis

Support lacking for trauma victims

The 2020 Beirut port blast was a traumatic experience for many people in Lebanon. A large number sought therapy in the aftermath. But, with doctors leaving the country, help is not easy to find. Diana Hodali reportsMore

Lebanon after the explosion: Beirut's aftermath – shattering as 15 years of civil warOne year after the Beirut port blast: Young activists fight for a new LebanonOvercoming fear and mistrust: Processing Lebanon's long legacy of collective traumaExplosion in Lebanon: The soul of the city – Beirut's cultural decline
Boat carrying refugees on the Mediterranean (photo: picture-alliance/Photoshot)

Migrants and the EU

Is Europe ready for a post-COVID migration wave?

Unauthorised immigration to Europe went down at the peak of the pandemic. As EU countries re-open, migrant flows are back up. What does it mean for the EU – and for migrants? By Sonya Angelica DiehnMore

Coronavirus fallout: Tunisia post-lockdown – should we stay or should we go?Tunisia's ″Cemetery for the Unknown″: The gravedigger of ZarzisUnderage migrants stranded in Spain: The lost children of Ceuta and the "warehouses of shame"MEP Dietmar Koester on Fortress Europe: "The EU allows human rights to be trampled underfoot"
A man stands in front of a gravestone in Egypt (photo: Getty Images)

COVID-19 in the Middle East

Playing down pandemic death tolls

A new global database shows a significant gap in reported COVID-related deaths, suggesting the actual worldwide death toll is short by at least 1 million. That's due in part to false figures from autocratic regimes. Jennifer Holleis has the detailsMore

Egypt plays politics with poverty: President Sisi’s COVID-19 divisive vaccine strategyTurkey’s failing economy, COVID vaccines and the Uighur issue: Coronavirus less dangerous than Erdogan's politicsCOVID-19 in the Middle East: Arab countries face high coronavirus vaccine hesitancyCOVID-19 pandemic: A golden opportunity for Middle East autocrats?
Numerous kites hover in the sky. For more than three months, schools, sports clubs, amusement parks and gardens in Egypt have been closed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Many children in isolation are trying to kill time (photo: Lobna Tarek/dpa/picture alliance)

Houses of healing

The success of early Arab medicine against epidemics

The coronavirus pandemic has turned lives upside down all over the world. In the Middle Ages, however, people lived with epidemics all the time. The best and most famous physicians worked in the Islamic world. By Dunja RamadanMore

''The House of Wisdom'' by Jim Al-Khalili: The golden age of learning in the Arab-speaking worldCOVID-19 and the ongoing impact: Coronavirus in the time of DeltaScience and research in the Islamic world: Rebuilding the Muslim House of WisdomInterview with Angelika Neuwirth: "The claim that Islam lacks an Enlightenment is an age-old cliche"

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