Hyppolite Ntigurirwa’s father was killed and left for dogs to eat. Many of his relatives died in Rwanda’s genocide against the Tutsi of 1994, and he was forced to live like an animal in the bush, hiding among dead bodies and scratching for food in neighbours’ gardens at night. He was seven years old. Despite this, he has forgiven his father’s killers and dedicated himself to peace activism.

Since 2010, OYW Counsellors have inspired us to take action and create positive change.

As we head into 2018, here are some wise words to live by. 

Today marks the 18th anniversary of International Migrants Day - as it stands, the number of migrants and refugees across the world continues to increase. Back in 2000, there were 175 million migrants in total.

Over the past couple of weeks, the Bosnian War has made its way back into international headlines. More than 20 years after the Srebrenica massacre, General Ratko Mladić, one of the key perpetrators of the brutal genocide during which over 8,000 Muslim Bosniaks were killed, was finally been convicted of his war crimes.

This article is authored by Yvet Maassen*

From the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 19

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

This Sunday 10 December  marks Human Rights Day and the launch of the UN’s upcoming year-long campaign to celebrate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted in 1948. From the prohibition of slavery to the right to move freely, the Declaration sets out universal values to uplift the dignity of people from all backgrounds and walks of life around the world.

In 2015, world leaders gathered to devise the Paris climate agreement, a historic deal uniting the world’s nations to tackle climate change within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Two years later, 25,000 world leaders, ministers, NGOs, private sector and civil society descended for two weeks on the quaint German town of Bonn for COP23, to further facilitate dialogue and negotiate the technical operations of the Paris Agreement.

This article originally appeared on OFID's blog "Uniting against Poverty."