Full Coverage: Social exclusion

31.12.2007 Thousands of Ranchis held a mass rally at Port Blair to demand their tribal identity and rights. Currently 13% of the Andaman and Nicobar population, these tribes were first brought to the islands as labourers to clear jungles for settlements.

27.12.2007 The story of Anuradha, a medical student, who fought her disability to pursue her dream caught the jury’s attention at Canada’s first international film festival on disability. Girl Stars, supported by UNICEF, is a series of films that document the stories of young women and girls in India who have changed their lives, and those of others, by going to school.

21.12.2007 Last Friday, Margaret Wanjiru -- a parliamentary candidate in Kenya's Dec. 27 general elections -- was reportedly attacked while campaigning in her Starehe constituency in the capital, Nairobi. While she escaped injury, her supporters are said to have been hurt and her campaign van extensively damaged by stoning…Still, those targeted in this incident were probably luckier than Martha Kibwana.

21.12.2007 Dalit and tribal children from across Madhya Pradesh in central India face discrimination at the hands of fellow students and teachers. This was revealed at a public hearing organised by ActionAid partner in Dewas district that exposed major shortcomings in implementing government education policy in the state, and sought a way forward.

12.12.2007 For the Tharu, a group of people native to southwestern Nepal, freedom from years of bonded labor initially meant being kicked out into a completely foreign society, forming small communities on marginal land, and falling deeper into poverty. Now, youth programs that promote education are empowering the Tharu's younger generations to repair the injustices and indignities of the preceding generations.

12.12.2007 To remind the Indian government of its own promises that it had made by ratifying the UN Child Rights Convention fifteen years ago on this day (December 11), Child Rights and You (CRY) held a press conference in New Delhi.

03.12.2007 To mark the occasion of International Day of Disabled Persons on December 3, a two-day event, ‘Abilities Mela’, was held in Indian capital New Delhi to showcase the skills and talents of people suffering from variety of disabilities. Organised by National Trust and supported by major corporate groups, the event also had a job fair to provide them with opportunities for work.