Ekvilib

Opening of the photo exhibition “GLOBAL WORLD: through the lens of human rights” was held in gallery KUD France Prešeren in Ljubljana on 6^th of March 2010. Photo: Urška Povsod

The winner of the contest is GIULIO DI STURCO with his photostory "Bihar Aftermath".

Bihar, India / 2008

In late August, the Kosi River in India overflowed its banks in the state of Bihar after severe monsoon rains caused a dam to burst in neighbouring Nepal, triggering what officials are calling the worst floods in 50 years. India was grappling with the task of feeding and housing close to a million villagers displaced by huge floods in the eastern state of Bihar, as the rescue effort wound down. Some 900,000 people fled from their homes or were evacuated by boat since the Kosi river breached its defences three weeks ago on the Nepal border and changed course. Photo Giulion di Sturco

You can see the whole photo story at the exhibition which will take place in different Slovene towns during the year 2010.

RICARDO GARCIA VILANOVA (Spain)

War Casualties Children in Afghanistan

Kabul, Afghanistan / 2009

Afghanistan has been shattered by two decades of war which has created a massive humanitarian and human rights catastrophe. The country has one of the highest rates of amputations by landmines in the world. An estimated 1.7 million people have been killed and another two million permanently disabled. About 70% of recipients of humanitarian assistance are children and women. It is estimated that around 10 million landmines have been laid in Afghanistan, making it one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. Approximately half of all landmine victims are children. Photo: Ricardo Garcia Vilanova

ÅKE ERIC ERICSON (Sweden)

Racism against Gypsies

Breclav, Czech republic / 2009

The Roma or "Gypsy" population is a vulnerable ethnical group, counting to almost 12 millions in the European Union. In the Czech Republic millions are abandoned from the rest of the society and expelled to special camps, like the one outside Breclav: no work, no income. Photo: Åke Eric Ericson

JAMES CHANCE (USA)

Living With The Dead: Manila’s North Cemetery

Manila, Philippines / 2008

In the middle of the bustling Philippine city of Manila, home to almost 11 million people, lies the North Cemetery. Founded in 1904, it is the final resting place for several Filipino Presidents, celebrities, and hundreds of thousands of the city's Catholic dead. In recent years extreme poverty, overcrowding and demolition of city slums has forced over 2,000 of Manila’s poorest residents to reside within the North Cemetery's walls. This story reflects the resiliency of people who lack stable housing and community infrastructure laid out in Article 25:1 of the International Declaration of Human Rights. It is an inspirational example of people making the best out of very little, as well as an alarm bell for human rights activists, as it shows how difficult it is to find stable housing due to poverty and overcrowding in the city of Manila. Photo: James Chance

BRENNAN O'CONNOR (Canada)

Photo from the series On the Run

Thai - Burmese border / 2008 - 2009

‘On the Run’ documents Burmese ethnic minorities who have been pushed off their land by the military dictatorship. Some have moved to rebel controlled zones. Other groups like the Karen have left for Thailand only to languish for decades ‘warehoused’ in overcrowded refugee camps. Recently over thirty thousand have been resettled across the world by the UNHCR. The project was described by the UN as the “world’s largest resettlement operation”. At the front lines of one of Myanmar’s largest rebel army, the Shan State Army South (SSA), camped on the Thai/ Myanmar border, their world is a barren hilltop no longer than 300 meters wide by 3.5 km in length that they can’t leave. Thousands of landmines lay scattered in the valleys below. On one side is the Thai border patrol and on the other is their dire enemy: Burmese government troops, on the adjacent mountain. The situation for Burmese ethnic minorities has gotten worse in the last year. The Burmese army increased its military campaigns against both rebel groups and the people. Photo: Brennan O'Connor

RODRIGO CRUZ (Mexico)

Photo from the series The Promised Land

Mexico / 2008 – 2009

Every year, thousands of Central Americans from Guatemala, EI Salvador and Honduras illegally enter Mexico via the southern border with the goal of reaching the United States in search of a better life. The journey is long and full of dangers, travelling for days as they cross the country atop the "beast",as they call the train that takes them to Mexico's northern border. Photo: Rodrigo Cruz

QAMRUZZAMAN (Bangladesh)

Photo from the series How the green turns gray

Tobacco production is a historical reality in Bangladesh. The British colonizers commenced tobacco farming in this region about 200 years back. Since then the dependency of the peasants on tobacco grew farther gradually.

A huge number of people are engaged in "Biri" (an end product of tobacco) and cigarette making in homes and factories among which children are also employed. While labourers suffer from various diseases they have no alternatives to leave making "Biri" and cigarettes due to poverty.

Tobacco itself is an important issue in terms of environment, health and economy which needs to be addressed.

It is a story of a very simple thing. A leaf. Or residue. Tobacco. Apparently innocent. It may be a story of making money. Or of starvation, discrimination. Of slavery. Of tears. Of fears. It is a story of green. It is a story of brown. It is a gray story. Photo: Qamruzzaman

FLORIANA GAVRIEL (Germany)

Photo from the series The Vidarbha Cotton Widows

India / 2009

The Vidarbha Project is a documentation of the unsustainable practices in the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) cotton in central India, and their effects on the local community.

GM cotton has been grown in India since 1992. 95 % of farmers have succumbed to the hard-sell of the GM companies and switched from traditional hybrid seeds to GM seeds. These seeds are four times as expensive as hybrid seeds and need twice as much water to achieve a good yield. GM seeds cannot be re-used next year, so the farmers become dependent on GM suppliers, and on re-buying seeds season after season. Between 1995 and 2007 more than 200,000 farmers committed suicide in India. Photo: Floriana Gavriel

PETER DICAMPO (USA)

Photo from the series The Fiery Serpent – Guinea worm disease and the right to clean water

Ghana / 2006 -2008

Guinea worm, scientifically called Dracunculiasis and nicknamed The Fiery Serpent based on presumed biblical references, is a water-born parasite that causes a painful blister from which a worm emerges.  The disease can be so debilitating that a patient is unable to walk for several days or even weeks until the worm is completely removed.

Closely tied to issues of water shortage, Guinea worm is spread when a patient with an emerged worm walks inside a source of drinking water and the worm lays its eggs.  In Ghana's Northern Region, many communities have only one small, contaminated dam from which they fetch their drinking water, causing the area to be one of the few remaining places on earth that are highly endemic with Guinea worm disease. Photo: Peter di Campo

SUDIPTO DAS (India)

Reminiscence

Kolkata, Indija / 2008

An elderly woman (74 years) stays at an old-aged home in Kolkata, India dressed with wedding gown during on her 60th marriage anniversary. A recent study says, in India, having one of the fastest growing economies in the world, the number of elderly people living in the old-aged homes is on alarming rise. Photo: Sudipto Das

In 2008 international educational meetings were held within the project GREAT. Purpose of the meetings was to learn about the theory and practice of the so called human rights based appoach to development. Alma Rogina, Urška Povsod and Aleš Kranjc Kušlan were attending the meetings. Photo: GREAT

At the release of the Manifest "You are a small part of the same world - speak on behalf of the weak" for European elections, Sloga - Platform for non-governmental development organisations and humanitarian aid, organised a meeting with European parliament candidates. The speakers were also Aleš Kranjs Kušlan and Anita Ramšak. Photo: SLOGA