By Victoria Greaves

We, in the international community, want to believe that development is possible and human rights can be respected, but we must ask ourselves: whose interests do we actually represent? And hearing from local people in the developing world reveals that even positive movements, like environmentalism, can have devastating results.

The development sector replicates many of the very injustices it claims to work against, reproducing these historical power dynamics and stripping agency from the very people it claims to support. How can international organisations truly work towards equality when they underpay local staff, continue to think of development as unidirectional, and don’t allow for a true shift in power towards local leaders who most fully understand the needs of their own communities?

Survivors of COVID-19 from 37 countries are among almost 1,000 people who have signed an open letter to pharmaceutical industry leaders calling for a ‘people's vaccine’ and treatments that are available to all.

For a country synonymous with a culture of machismo, gauchos (cowboys) and a dance deeply rooted in traditional male-female dominant- submissive roles, the tango, Argentina is surprisingly leading the way for gender and sexual equality or LGBT rights in Latin America.