August 2026

Table of Contents

SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE DAY FOCUS

Special Focus: International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

On the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People: Decolonizing Psychology in Canada. Josephine C. H. Tan. Global Network of Psychologists for Human Rights Blog Series, Posted 29 July 2026. In recognition of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, Josephine C. H. Tan discusses Canada’s response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, describing efforts to decolonize psychology through education, clinical psychology training, and research. Tan explains that the objective of decolonizing psychology is not to replace mainstream psychology, but to inform work with Indigenous Peoples, broaden understanding through diverse ways of knowing, and promote culturally sensitive practice that is better aligned with the lived realities of Indigenous Peoples.

UN COMMEMORATIVE DAYS – August

• August 9 – International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples 
• August 23 – International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
• August 30 – International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances

GNPHR NEWS AND EVENTS

GNPHR 6th Anniversary Celebration

The GNPHR will celebrate its sixth anniversary with events on 10 and 17 October, in conjunction with World Mental Health Day. The program will include a screening of Another Summer and a live Q&A with director Alzbeta Kovandova-Bartonickova. For additional details: see here

LinkedIn

The GNPHR Writing Project

The GNPHR invites your involvement at the intersection of psychology and human rights. We are soliciting short, pithy pieces that will raise issues, encourage reflection, and suggest new ideas and actions on how psychology matters to human rights and how human rights matter to psychology. Would you like to join the writing project? Read the contributor guidelines, select a topic, and send your proposed topic or any questions to GNPHR at writing@humanrightspsychology.org

Webinars 

Webinar Library – Human Rights Education: https://humanrightspsychology.org/webinars/

August 26, 2026 10 am EDT / 4 pm CEST

Land, Community and Identity: Indigenous Pathways to Resilience and Human Dignity – Dr. Ryan Chua, Monash University, Malaysia

Register here:

Or use this registration link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_iixF_gVOSkalB2W8brvO9Q#/registration

GNPHR Steering Committee Members in Action

Wilson López López, Ph.D. chaired the 10th Regional Congress of the Interamerican Society of Psychology (SIP) held in Santa Marta, Colombia, July 14–17, 2026. The congress brought together psychologists, researchers, educators, and students from across the Americas under the theme “Peace, Development, and Multiculturality for the Americas.” In his opening address, Dr. López emphasized psychology’s contribution to human rights, social justice, resilience, intercultural dialogue, and the use of scientific knowledge to address violence and inequality. He concluded by highlighting the importance of human dialogue, collaboration, and psychology’s continued role in advancing peace, development, and intercultural understanding in an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.

Ethics column: A Warning. Tony Wainwright. Clinical Psychology Forum, 1(1), 32–36, 2026. This ethics column is a warning. We are at a critical juncture for the future of humanity. I don’t use these words lightly, but they echo the various presentations at the Emergency Briefing for Parliamentarians (National Emergency Briefing on the Climate and Nature Crisis, 2025) last year on the climate crisis. We cannot continue business as usual when there are such clear indications of a catastrophic future. As psychologists we need to work out what ‘not business as usual’ looks like.

General

31 Wins for Human Rights. Amnesty International. 2026. Amnesty International highlights 31 human rights achievements from around the world, including legal reforms, court decisions, the release of individuals from detention, protections for Indigenous Peoples, advances in gender equality, environmental justice, and the defense of freedom of expression. The collection illustrates progress across a range of human rights issues through advocacy, litigation, public campaigning, and community action.

ISC and UNESCO Join Forces to Advance Science for Peace, Human Rights and Sustainable Development. International Science Council. 2026. The International Science Council (ISC) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have signed a cooperation agreement establishing a framework for joint activities to strengthen science systems and international scientific cooperation. The agreement outlines shared priorities, including advancing peace, human rights, the right to science, sustainable development, science-informed policymaking, and equitable access to scientific knowledge. It also supports continued collaboration through international research programmes and global scientific initiatives. 

MKUltra: Declassification Task Force Should Focus on Real Secrets, Not Conspiracy Theories. National Security Archive. 29 June 2026. This article reviews the historical record of the CIA’s MKULTRA program, including non-consensual human experimentation conducted during the Cold War. It discusses the ongoing effort to declassify remaining records to better understand the full extent of the program, the destruction of historical records, and the documentation of unethical behavioral research practices.

Psychology, Psychosocial Expertise and Collective Human Rights. Antonio E. Filho et al., Estudos de Psicologia (Campinas), 2025.This dossier examines the work of psychology, focusing on the expansion of its role in legal contexts. Historically, Psychology has been restricted to individualized expert contributions, grounded in a liberal and subjective conception of rights. However, new practices have been emerging, driven by critical perspectives such as Critical Psychology, Liberation Psychology, and Community Psychology, which recognize the collective dimension of human rights violations and political violence. In this context, psychosocial expertise stands out as a technical-political practice, as it integrates analyses of the impacts of violations on the social fabric, community dynamics, and collective mental health. The dossier compiles eight articles by researchers and professionals who develop theoretical studies on psychosocial reparation and collective human rights, as well as those engaged in practical actions, including the production of expert opinions, technical-political reports, and other documents aimed at strengthening legal pluralism and ensuring collective rights.

Macropsychology: A Systematic Scoping Review of the Psychology Literature on Public Policy and Law.  Marit Moonenveld and Joanne McVeigh. Behavioral Sciences, 2025. Macropsychology examines the influence of macro-level factors such as policies and laws on our psychological well-being and how the field of psychology can be more effectively leveraged to influence them. While psychology has traditionally been focused at the individual level, a greater focus is needed on policies and laws at the macro level, including areas that are underpinned by psychological concerns such as human rights and social justice. Systematic scoping review methods based on the PRISMA guidelines were used to examine the following research question: To what extent is psychology, through macropsychology, engaging with public policy and law, particularly in relation to social justice? In total, 118 articles were identified as meeting the inclusion criteria, including 46 empirical articles and 72 conceptual articles. Although the authors of such articles are clearly operating at the macro level, it is not evident that they conceptualise such work as macropsychology. This scoping review is the first to systematically synthesise psychological research at the macro level, adding value to the existing conceptualisation of macropsychology. This review calls attention to the work of psychologists engaging with public policy and law from a social justice perspective.

HRC62: Accountability for Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines. International Service for Human Rights. 1 July  2026. This statement discusses the April 2026 killings in Negros Occidental, findings from an independent forensic investigation, and killings associated with the Philippines’ so-called “war on drugs.” It calls for independent investigations, prosecutions, witness protection, reparations for victims and their families, and continued monitoring and reporting on the human rights situation in the Philippines. Video statement.

Rights Defender Killings Hit Record High as UN Pushes to Shore Up Humanitarian Action. UN News, 2026. This article reports findings from the United Nations Human Rights Office’s Human Rights Count 2026, including data on killings and enforced disappearances of human rights defenders, journalists, and trade unionists, civilian deaths in armed conflict, discrimination, and national human rights institutions. It also discusses how these indicators are used to monitor progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.

IPsyNet’s Declaration Against Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity/Expression (SOGIE) Conversion Practices. International Psychology Network for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Issues (IPsyNet), 2026. This declaration was developed by the IPsyNet Policy Committee starting in May 2023, incorporating input from representatives across 12 countries. It builds on established positions from leading professional psychological and mental health associations worldwide, including the Academy of Science of South Africa, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the European Association for Psychotherapy, the European Psychiatric Association, the Hong Kong Psychological Society, the Psychological Association of the Philippines, and the Psychological Society of South Africa, as well as extensive peer-reviewed psychological literature. The statement clearly defines SOGIE conversion practices as any systematic efforts—whether psychological, behavioral, medical, or spiritual—to alter, suppress, or eliminate an individual’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. These practices, often referred to as “conversion therapy” or “reparative therapy,” include a range of interventions that assume non-heterosexual orientations or non-cisgender identities are pathological or undesirable.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Can AI Cure Loneliness? Sam Harris, YouTube, 2026. Sam Harris speaks with psychologist Paul Bloom about relationships with artificial intelligence and the future of human connection. Their discussion explores the rapid pace of AI development, AI companions as a response to loneliness, the importance of mattering to other people, digitally resurrecting the dead, AI consciousness, the ethics of apology, parenting, and other topics.

Is the Pope’s AI encyclical a warning on Tech Messianism? Francisco De Abreu Duarte, The Conversation, June 29, 2026. Full-time Assistant Professor, European University Institute, June 29, 2026.In May 2026, in his first encyclical Magnifica Humanitas – signed on the 135th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum – Pope Leo  XIV warned the world about the dangers of the promise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), categorically calling machine learning “a form of statistical adaptation based on data and feedback, which can be very effective, but does not imply inner growth”. Critical of an AI that replaces religious pluralism with a technological monolith, Pope Leo XIV addresses one of the most interesting dynamics of our contemporary societies: what role can religion play in a world in which technology seems to have a spiritual project of its own?

Children, Youth, Families

Children’s Rights and Needs During War: The Case of Adolescents in Israel. Yasmin Rum, Efrat Milsthen, Haneen F. Zedan, et al. Frontiers in Psychology, March 2026. This study aims to examine the attainment of rights and needs of adolescents during the war following the October 7th 2023 terror attack on Israel. A normative analysis of the human rights of children and youth, based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), was integrated with an empirical examination of children’s rights and needs attainment. Committed to a children’s rights epistemology, the empirical examination is based on children’s own reports. Additional aims were to explore whether gaps existed between the adolescents’ perspectives and those of their parents, and across demographic groups (using Hebrew and Arabic surveys).

Legal Gaps in Protecting Children’s Mental Health in Armed Conflicts: Insights from Ukraine, Gaza, and Iran. Savalan Mohammadzadeh and Mohammad Mehdi Seyed Nasseri. Opinio Juris, June 3, 2026. This essay examines the international legal framework governing children’s right to mental health during armed conflict. It discusses protections under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and identifies gaps in the protection and enforcement of these legal frameworks for children affected by armed conflict.

Community perspectives on early childhood mental health in Lesotho: Symptoms, Adversity, and Resources. Ann Scheunemann, Moleboheng Mohlalisi, Sebaka Malope, et al., Academia Global and Public Health, 2026. Introduction: Early childhood is a formative time that can establish the foundation for a successful life. Unaddressed adversities, however, can lead to mental health challenges. In Lesotho, little is known about factors affecting mental health in early childhood, preventing the development or effective use of resources to support children in need. Materials and methods: This study used a constructivist qualitative methodology to explore, through a series of 25 focus groups and four interviews, the perspectives of health professionals, mental health professionals, and community members (n = 218) related to signs and symptoms of mental health challenges, adversities, and resources to support mental health in early childhood. Results: Findings suggest an awareness of common signs and symptoms that a child may be struggling, but also a lack of knowledge of mental health and child development that may result in stigma. Adversities and resources related to the mental health of young children are identified. Conclusions: Recommendations based on these findings are paired with evidence-based models of early childhood development to suggest a framework for improving early childhood mental health care and development in Lesotho. This study suggests a need for future research and greater support systems to help young children who are struggling and their families.

Children and adolescents in the humanitarian response. Editorial, The Lancet Child & Adolescent, August 2026. Children bear the brunt of war and conflict. In 2024, the UN verified 41 370 grave violations (eg, killing, maiming, denial of humanitarian access, recruitment of child soldiers) against 22 495 children, with the highest numbers recorded in Israel, Palestine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Nigeria, and Haiti. The Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack recorded at least 8566 attacks on education in 2024–25, a more than 40% increase compared to 2022–23, with over 10 600 students and staff killed, injured, abducted, or otherwise harmed. Blast and crush injuries are particularly deadly for children and can cause serious long-term disability and psychological trauma in survivors; Gaza now has the largest cohort of child amputees in modern history.

Independent Inquiry Report for the  UN Human Rights Council June 2026. Title: “The essence of childhood has been destroyed”: Israel’s deliberate targeting of Palestinian children in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 7 October 2023: Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.” This report is, at face value, a legal and human rights document. But its subject matter — the systematic infliction of physical and psychological harm on children, and its long-term developmental consequences — sits within psychology’s own field. Much of what the Commission catalogues (attachment disruption through family separation, developmental regression under chronic threat, the distinction between single-incident PTSD and what the report terms “continuous traumatic stress,” and concerns about intergenerational and  transmission of trauma) are constructs psychologists have spent many years studying and treating. A report of this scale offers the profession both a body of evidence and an urgent set of clinical and developmental questions about children growing up under conditions research has consistently linked to lifelong psychological, cognitive and physical harm. Video – Presentation of the report at the Human Rights Council, 62nd Session, Geneva (15 June 2026).

Climate Justice

A Conceptual Integration of Climate Justice: Taxonomy of Climate Justice Integrating Theory and Policy Practice. Gulnaz Anjum and Mehwish Aziz, Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 2026. This article develops a comprehensive taxonomy of climate justice that integrates diverse normative perspectives and supports both scholarly analysis and policy assessment. It synthesizes five scholarly traditions into nine analytically distinct but interdependent justice domains, identifies 48 sub-themes with indicative metrics and illustrative policy applications, and demonstrates the taxonomy’s application through the Loss and Damage Fund. The article also identifies persistent blind spots, including disability justice, data justice, and everyday justice in informal settlements, and aligns the taxonomy with the IPCC AR6 framework for climate-resilient development.

Editorial: Climate Change Anxiety. Matteo Innocenti, Alessandro von Gal, Laura Piccardi, et al. Frontiers in Psychology, 2026. Over the past decade, climate change anxiety has moved from a mainly conceptual and interdisciplinary concern to a rapidly expanding empirical field within environmental psychology, mental health, and behavioral science. Early scholarship helped establish that climate-related anxiety can be an intelligible and often non-clinical response to real ecological threats, while also recognizing that, in some cases, distress may become persistent, overwhelming, and functionally impairing. As the field developed, psychometric instruments and cross-cultural validation studies accelerated research output, but also made visible ongoing heterogeneity in definitions and operationalizations, including the boundaries between climate anxiety, climate worry, and broader climate emotions. More recently, large-scale population studies and quantitative syntheses have reinforced the public health relevance of this topic and highlighted the importance of conceptually precise, culturallysensitive,and justice-attentive approaches to assessment and interpretation.

Eco-Anxiety Without Borders: A Cross-National Study on Climate Perceptions, Beliefs About Government Climate Action, and Climate Concern. Cebeci, F., Reyes, M. E. S., Innocenti, M., et al. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 72(3), 657–667, 2025. Background: Eco-anxiety has become a prominent emotional response to the global climate crisis, yet there is a lack of empirical research examining its prevalence and correlates across diverse cultural and national contexts. Objective: This study aimed to investigate levels of eco-anxiety and its associations with age, perceived knowledge, climate risk perception, and beliefs about governmental climate action across participants from six countries. Results: Data were collected from 2,206 participants across India, Italy, the Philippines, Türkiye, Trinidad and Tobago, and Hungary. Statistically significant cross-national differences were found in eco-anxiety, perceived knowledge, climate risk perception, and beliefs about government action. Italian participants reported the highest levels of eco-anxiety, while Hungarian participants reported the lowest. Correlational analyses showed that eco-anxiety was positively associated with climate risk perception and perceived knowledge, but negatively associated with age and beliefs in government action. Discussion: The findings reveal that eco-anxiety is shaped by both cognitive and sociopolitical factors. Risk perception and climate knowledge appear to intensify emotional responses, while belief in government action may serve as a mitigating factor. Age-related differences suggest that younger individuals are more emotionally impacted by climate concerns. Conclusion: This study underscores the need for culturally sensitive public policy and mental health interventions to address the psychological dimensions of the climate crisis.

Focused on the Future. Bill McGuire. Cool Earth, June 28, 2026. McGuire discusses the unprecedented heat and humidity affecting the United Kingdom and Europe and examines three possible pathways for responding to climate change: continued expansion of fossil fuel use (“Hell for Leather”), rapid action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (“Damascene Conversion”), and continuation of current trends until climate-related disruptions contribute to societal and economic breakdown (“Bumbling Along”). He also considers evidence from past geological periods, including the Pliocene and Miocene, to explore how future warming may compare with Earth’s historical climates. The article further examines uncertainties surrounding climate models, including the potential influence of cloud cover and Earth’s energy imbalance on future temperature increases.

Counting What Counts: A Compass of Progress for People and Planet. High-Level Expert Group on Beyond GDP, edited by Carol Graham. United Nations, 2026. This report presents recommendations for measuring progress beyond Gross Domestic Product (GDP) through a framework centered on equitable, inclusive, and sustainable well-being. It proposes a dashboard of indicators that complements GDP by measuring foundational principles, including peace, human rights, and respect for the planet, alongside current well-being, equity and inclusion, and sustainability and resilience. The report also outlines recommendations for national implementation, statistical development, and international cooperation to support broader measures of progress for people and the planet.

Human rights as a compass for transitioning away from fossil fuels in a just, orderly and equitable manner. Amnesty International, 31 March 2026. This submission in response to the UNFCCC COP30 presidency’s invitation argues that a just transition away from fossil fuels must be explicitly anchored in human rights law and principles; the goal of limiting global temperatures to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels; the “polluter pays” principle; and equity. It must recognize that the climate crisis is, at its core, a human rights crisis whose impacts fall disproportionately on marginalized individuals and groups and thus must be tackled as an issue of climate justice that interrogates the root causes of the climate crisis and how human-induced climate change builds on and magnifies inequalities.

Crimes Against Humanity

Macron says France must address issue of reparations for its role in slave trade. Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian, 21 May 2026. French President Emmanuel Macron stated that France must address the issue of reparations for its role in the enslavement of African people while acknowledging that the issue requires careful consideration rather than unrealistic promises. He announced that France and Ghana will jointly launch an international scientific research project to develop recommendations for addressing the legacies of slavery and emphasized the importance of confronting France’s history through honesty, dialogue, and historical truth.

Decolonization / Indigenization

The Siena Recommendations on Contested Histories and National Minorities. Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) High Commissioner on National Minorities, 2026. The High Commissioner has developed the Siena Recommendations, the 11th in the series of HCNM thematic recommendations and guidelines, to offer practical advice to the authorities of participating States when taking decisions on matters related to contested historical narratives, especially when they relate to national minority issues. The High Commissioner has observed dynamics related to contested histories and national minorities in the legal and policy spheres, in public spaces and in education. The Siena Recommendations are structured into three sections accordingly, and offer a range of practical options on how to manage contestations in a manner that eases tensions in society and prevents them from escalating into conflict, both within and between states.

Democracy

Populism Among European Youth: Need for Cognitive Closure, Social Cynicism, Meritocracy, and the Dynamics of Right- and Left-Wing Authoritarianism. Anna Miglietta, Alin Gavreliuc, Marius Lupșa Matichescu, et al. Current Psychology, 45, Article 990, 2026. Populist ideology has attracted growing attention in political psychology, particularly concerning its cognitive antecedents. This study examines the relationship between Need for Closure (NFC) and the endorsement of populist ideology among young Europeans, focusing on Italian and Romanian participants. We propose a mediated model in which NFC predicts populist attitudes through Social Cynicism (SC) and Reward for Application (RA), with further mediation by Left-Wing (LWA) and Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA). 599 young adults from Italy and Romania (N_Italy = 325; N_Romania = 274; Age range: 18–30) completed validated psychological scales measuring NFC, SC, RA, LWA, RWA, and populist ideology. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test both direct and indirect pathways across the two national samples. Results indicate that NFC is indirectly associated with populist ideology through SC and RA. Additionally, LWA — but not RWA — partially mediates this relationship, suggesting that NFC may be associated with more rigid ideological beliefs that align with left-wing populist rhetoric. Cross-country comparisons reveal significant differences between Italy and Romania, highlighting how national contexts are associated with differences in the psychological correlates of populist attitudes. The findings suggest that political discontent among youth is not always expressed through traditional ideological channels but may instead take more radical and morally rigid forms that resonate with populist rhetoric. Implications for educational and civic interventions targeting youth populism are discussed.

Erfurt Shines: Two Identitarian Grand Projects, and in Between a Spark of Civil Society. Maximilian Steinbeis. Verfassungsblog, July 10, 2026. Steinbeis reflects on public protests held during the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party convention in Erfurt, Germany, and examines the relationship between democratic participation, civil society, and constitutional principles. The article considers the role of civic engagement in responding to parties viewed as hostile to constitutional democracy, discusses questions of academic neutrality and democratic responsibility, and argues that an engaged civil society plays an important role in protecting democratic values and pluralism.

Displaced/ Migrants/ Refugees/ Stateless

Launch of a Global Mentorship Scheme to Support Displaced Scholars. International Science Council, 2026.  A new international initiative will connect displaced scholars with experienced academic mentors through a structured global programme led by the International Science Council (ISC) and the Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund (IIE-SRF). The scheme aims to strengthen academic integration, professional development, and long-term career continuity for researchers affected by conflict, intimidation and instability.

HRC62: Trafficking at the Dominican-Haitian Border. International Service for Human Rights. 1 July 2026. This statement discusses trafficking along the Dominican-Haitian border, with a focus on migrant, refugee, asylum-seeking, and stateless children at risk of trafficking. It examines the effects of restrictive migration policies, racial discrimination in border management, forced displacement, and barriers to legal documentation, and calls for strengthened legal protections, safe migration pathways, and international cooperation. Video statement.

Education

Inclusive Excellence in Faculty Hiring to Advance Environmental and Sustainability Sciences. Amy K. Sater. Academia Environmental Sciences and Sustainability, 2026. A broadly representative faculty benefits student learning and the practice of science. In the context of environmental science and sustainability, a more representative and inclusive community of investigators expands the scope of research and the range of research strategies. To achieve greater representation, we need to alter traditional approaches to faculty recruiting and faculty development. This essay describes perspectives and practices, grounded in the framework of “inclusive excellence”, that can bolster initiatives to improve representation in environmental science and sustainability. Re-evaluation of the use of merit and merit criteria, consideration of interdisciplinary work, and a more individualized approach to investment in faculty success can provide opportunities to increase the representation of individuals from underserved groups.

Inclusion, Exclusion, Racism

“Hack the Hate 2026”: ECRI Raises the Alarm on Racist and Anti-LGBTI Hate Speech in Europe. European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), Council of Europe, June 19, 2026. On 16-17 June 2026, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) contributed to several Council of Europe discussions in the context of the 2026 edition of the Council of Europe’s annual Democracy Hackathon and No Hate Speech Week (“Hack the Hate, renew Democracy”), in Strasbourg, warning about the growing need to prevent and combat racist and anti-LGBTI hate speech, including online, across member states. It was highlighted that racist and anti-LGBTI forms of hate speech remain at alarming levels across Europe. The scale of the phenomenon is accompanied by a growing tendency to trivialise hate speech, both online and offline.  On 17 June, ECRI held a workshop entitled “Major Trends in Racist and Anti-LGBTI Hate Speech”. Jens Vedsted-Hansen, ECRI Bureau member, presented ECRI’s most recent annual report. In his intervention, Jens Vedsted-Hansen stressed that the growing trivialisation of hate speech is a major warning for democratic societies. He also recalled that a proportionate, rights-based response to hate speech must fully respect the right to freedom of expression. The workshop also addressed the need for stronger legal frameworks, more effective reporting systems, more accessible remedies, as well as properly funded policies developed in consultation with affected communities. Jens Vedsted-Hansen emphasised that preventing hate speech requires a major investment in education and awareness-raising, counter-speech and positive narratives.

LGBTQI+, Gender Rights

Healing After Harm: How Gender Shapes Experiences of Torture and Recovery. United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, 2026. This article examines how gender shapes experiences of torture and recovery through the stories of survivors from South Sudan, Syria, and Pakistan. It discusses conflict-related sexual violence, the experiences of LGBTQIA+ survivors, mental health and psychosocial support, and survivor-centered rehabilitation following torture.

Mental Health and Human Rights

The Interface Between Mental Health and Human Rights: Past, Present and Future. Fiona Martin et al., BJPsych Advances, 2026. The relationship between mental health and human rights is complex and bidirectional: human rights abuses can have a significant adverse effect on mental health, and those with mental disorders are vulnerable to violations of their human rights. This article begins with an overview of human rights instruments most relevant to psychiatric practice, including the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It discusses some globally occurring human rights abuses and the complex relationship between human rights and mental health. It gives an update on developments in human rights considerations in psychiatric practice over the past decade, and examines emerging challenges that continue to shape the intersection between mental health and human rights. Drawing on a British Medical Association article that highlighted the threats posed to health and human rights by neoliberalism and inequality, forced migration, climate change, new technology and violent conflict, the article explores the impact of these issues on mental health, as well as the challenges related to mental health legislation. It concludes with practical considerations for psychiatrists to safeguard and promote human rights.

Older Persons

Intergovernmental Working Group on Older Persons. United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR), 2026. The Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on the Human Rights of Older Persons was created by the Human Rights Council in its resolution A/HRC/RES/58/13, with the mandate of elaborating and submitting to the Human Rights Council a draft international legally binding instrument on the human rights of older persons with the objective of promoting, protecting and ensuring the full enjoyment of human rights by older persons.

Peace, Violence and War 

The Destruction of Healthcare in Armed Conflict: Policy Implications and Accountability.  Athena Madan. Academia Medicine and Health, 2026. This Perspective examines how the destruction of healthcare systems in armed conflict produces enduring public health harm and broad human insecurity. Drawing on social medicine, sociological theory, governance scholarship, and field observations from Afghanistan, it argues that attacks on healthcare infrastructure and personnel result in not only the loss of clinical services but also in the erosion of social and moral worlds of care. The paper advances three interrelated claims: first, that healthcare institutions function both as clinical and social infrastructures; second, that their destruction generates disproportionate psychosocial, gendered, and intergenerational harms extending far beyond immediate morbidity and mortality; and third, that the persistence of such attacks reflects abject failures in international protection and accountability mechanisms. Particular attention is given to the consequences for women and children, including preventable death, disability, and psychosocial distress with constrained possibilities for recovery and social ways of belonging. These harms are compounded by weakened international accountability, which has increasingly normalised attacks on healthcare as a feature of war rather than a violation demanding intervention.

Glimmers of Hope in Times of War. The Lancet Psychiatry, 2026 Editorial. The editorial highlights that, as conflicts multiply around the world, millions of people are affected by trauma and the need for mental health care has never been greater, while the provision of health care is increasingly in jeopardy. It discusses initiatives to strengthen mental health and psychosocial support, evidence supporting non-specialist delivery of psychological interventions for people experiencing distress following war-related violence, and research demonstrating that trauma-focused therapy integrated with cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis is safe and effective for people with co-occurring PTSD and psychosis. The editorial concludes that improving the health of populations affected by armed conflict and forced displacement requires political will alongside clinical evidence.

Women

Is the Elimination of Violence Against Women a Realistic Goal for the Near Future? Enrique Gracia. Nature Communications, 17(1), 2026. As 2030 approaches, achieving Sustainable Development Goal Target 5.2, which aims to eliminate all forms of violence against women, appears increasingly unrealistic. Using the European Union as a case study, this Perspective argues that prevalence remains high, progress has stagnated, levels can be disproportionately high in some of the most socioeconomically advanced and gender-equal countries, and prevention efforts seem unable to reach younger generations. Together, these patterns suggest that prevention and response efforts, as implemented to date, have not produced sustained population-level reductions. Achieving measurable declines will require scaling evidence-based prevention with sustained political will and stronger accountability.

OPPORTUNITIES
Resources/Publications/Podcasts/Events

Resources

In the project, Realizing Human Rights and Social Justice in Mental Health. This international initiative gathers information about the lived experiences of coercion and discrimination in mental health care and highlights services and practices that are more equitable, based on user-led, social justice, human rights, and intersectional approaches. Through collaboration with organizations led by people with lived experience, the initiative works to bring mental health policy in Canada, Australia, and Kenya into alignment with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) human rights framework. It applies critical mental health perspectives and intersectional, social justice, and human rights frameworks to research on mental health policy and practice.

Global Alliance for Human Rights: A Call to Imagine. Dialogue. Act. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, June 2026. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights introduces the Global Alliance for Human Rights, a global initiative that encourages governments, civil society, businesses, educators, youth, and local communities to place human rights at the center of decision-making and everyday action. The initiative promotes collaboration, dialogue, and practical engagement to strengthen respect for human rights and address shared global challenges.

Happy News. BBC World Service, July 11, 2026. This BBC World Service episode highlights positive news stories from around the world, featuring individuals, communities, and initiatives that are making a meaningful difference. The program shares examples of cooperation, innovation, resilience, and social impact, offering listeners stories that emphasize constructive responses to local and global challenges.

Publications

On the Warpath: The Psychology of Public Support for Armed Action. Jim Orford. Oxford University Press, 2023. Why do we–not the politicians or the generals, but ordinary people–so often and so willingly support war, in the west and elsewhere? In search of an answer to that question, this book explores topics such as the personal appeal of war and wartime, the role of nationalism and other values in defense of which wars are fought, war as a male enterprise, images of the enemy, militarism and society, the role of propaganda, and the moral dilemma posed by war. While a focus on the public’s attitude to war has been surprisingly neglected in psychology, this book combines psychology’s few direct contributions on the subject with psychological theories to answer the book’s key question. These theories include social identity, interpersonal contact, moral disengagement, system justification, relational models, and spiral conflict theories, plus concepts such as the authoritarian personality, social dominance orientation, and cognitive complexity versus simplicity. The book concludes by presenting an integration in the form of a Model of War Support, helping us understand one of the great issues facing us all, and opening up a relatively new area of psychology. Readers may also be interested in an interview with the author published by the British Psychological Society.

Women in Power: Fighting for Democracy in an Age of Authoritarianism. Linda Robinson. Columbia University Press, 2026. Around the world, antidemocratic forces are taking aim at women leaders. Misogynistic authoritarianism has entered the mainstream, seeking to reverse decades of progress. Weaponized digital technologies have unleashed sexualized smears and violent threats. There is a deep connection between attacks on women and attacks on democracy—and female leaders can show us how to fight back

Working with Interpreters in Mental Health (2nd ed.). Rachel Tribe, Kate Thompson, Haritaworn Raval (Eds.). Routledge, 2026. This fully updated edition gives an insight into the opportunities and challenges of mental health professionals and interpreters working together in mental health. Drawing on extensive theory, research, and practice, chapters combine contributions from a range of disciplines on topics including interpreters in medical consultations; issues of language provision in health care services; the application of theoretical frameworks to the work with interpreters; and the work of interpreters in a variety of practice settings. This thoroughly revised edition also features additional chapters exploring interpreter perspectives on their work, along with new chapters on working with interpreters in forensic settings, in National Health Service talking therapies/primary care settings, in humanitarian work, in schools, and with older adults, as well as presenting an interprofessional approach to interpreter and therapist training. This book will be invaluable for practitioners of psychology, psychiatry, social work, and other health professionals. It will also be relevant to interpreters working with mental health professionals and their managers and service leads. It will be of interest to anyone involved in commissioning language support in health and social care services.

Podcasts

Emma Bellamy, Podcasts presenting stories of Australia-based immigrants and refugees, along with insights from migration experts and professionals.

Call for Papers

Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, Calls for Papers. American Psychological Association (APA), 2026. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology invites manuscript submissions addressing topics within peace psychology. International in scope, the journal welcomes contributions from psychologists and scholars in related disciplines whose work engages with the peace psychology literature.

Events

44th Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies. Maintaining Human Dignity in the Midst of Crises. Hamburg, Germany, and online. 25th August 2026. The Dignity Conference, to be held in Hamburg in August 2026, will be linked to the annual summer school of the transdisciplinary Peace Education and Peacebuilding initiative at the University of Hamburg. Faculty and students from the University will participate in the conference. As part of the program, students will develop stories and arts-based activities with and for children and young people that address experiences of humiliation and dignity. These activities will be shared with conference participants through the conference’s open-space format, known as the Dignity Dialogue, or “Dignilogue.”

11th International Conference of Community Psychology – ICCP 2026. Gathering in the Motherland: Celebrating the Ways of Water & Reconnecting to the Source. September 1 – 4, 2026. Lagos State University, Lagos, Nigeria. Water, the excellent nurturer, supports all forms of life, whether mythical or actual. Water runs through and shapes every landscape, enlivening the hills, the mountains, the forest, and animals of varied kinds. The power of water lies in its ability to shapeshift form for conditions. The rise of civilizations has always been inextricably linked to the successful management of water when there was either too little or too much of it, harnessing its power. All ecosystems and cultures, through the movement of humans and goods, have often become identified with the societies they support. Is it possible to think of China without imagining the Yangzi, ancient Egypt without the influence of the Nile, Caesar’s Rome, or Dante’s Florence without picturing the Tiber or the Arno? It is impossible to think of the transatlantic trade and redistributing human bodies across the Americas without Lagos, Badagry’s “Point of no Return.”

 International Human Trafficking and Social Justice Conference. Virtual Conference, September 23–25, 2026. This conference brings together researchers, practitioners, advocates, survivors, educators, and policymakers to address human trafficking and promote social justice. The program explores current research, prevention efforts, survivor-informed practices, and multidisciplinary responses to trafficking while providing opportunities for learning, collaboration, and professional exchange.

The 31st International Congress of Applied Psychology (ICAP) was held in Florence, Italy | 21–25 July 2026. The International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP), brought together psychologists from around the world to share research, exchange ideas, and explore new directions in applied psychology. The congress featured keynote addresses, symposia, round tables, workshops, posters, and scientific sessions spanning the broad range of applied psychology and its contribution to addressing contemporary global challenges.

ENDNOTES

CONTACTS: Published by the Global Network of Psychologists for Human Rights – www.humanrightspsychology.org

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