Supported projects

AMSTERDAM/BRUSSELS/SOFIA - Adoption is often linked to poor countries in the global South. Yet Flanders and the Netherlands adopt children from other European countries, such as Bulgaria and Hungary. This cross-border research shows that Roma children in these countries face discrimination and fall into the adoption system due to stigma, poverty and lack of support for families. 

GOMA - Blue Helmets' retreat from Congo ushers in new chapter. 'Must we die in the graveyard of the international community?'

MINSK/MOSCOW - Four years after the protests, a totalitarian big brother state emerged in Belarus, while Belarusians are building democratic Belarus in Vilnius. Is this a model for democrats in countries where the space for democratic action is non-existent: rebuilding the pillars of democracy in a neighbouring country that provides the space to do so?

BAGDAD - Ten years ago, the reign of the terrorist group ISIS in Iraq began with the invasion of Mosul. And made many victims in the process. Among minorities such as Yezidis and Christians; a lot of attention has been paid to that. Less well known is the largest group: the Sunnis who lived under the ISIS occupation, oppressed and killed. And subsequently lumped together with the radicals by many.

BRUSSELS/AMSTERDAM - In June 2020, following protests in the United States, colonial heritage in Belgium became fiercely debated. The main Flemish cities entered into discussions with activists, experts and citizens to decolonize the public space. Four years later, this research examines the promises that were made by policy makers and compares it to the interventions that ultimately took place. 

MEXICO-CITY - Like in India or the United States, Mexicans will elect a new head of state in 2024. That must spend the next six years dealing with the dubious legacy of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. 'Whoever comes to power, the oppression of indigenous peoples will continue unabated.'

KINSHASA - Who are the Congolese mineral divers in the midst of the green transition? They call themselves kazabuleurs. In the late 1980s, Zairean fishermen dived for diamonds, first near Tshikapa and then on the Angolan border during the civil war.

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa, the queer paradise, or at least that is what is said. We know the images of the annual Pride in Johannesburg. As such, South Africa is the only country on the entire African continent in which LGBTQIA+ persons have equal rights, and can also marry. Only: the contrast between the constitution and daily reality is stark.

BRUSSELS/AMSTERDAM - Half of the sustainability claims on company websites are unproven, vague, unclear or downright deceptive, according to the European Commission. Clothing companies in particular jump on terms like ‘sustainable’ above average without explaining themselves in more detail. Since 2021, both Dutch and Belgian government agencies have therefore been scouring the internet for misleading sustainability claims.

MARTISSANT - "This is where I realise my days are numbered" Joselia, an old lady, confides. In her neighbourhood, one of Port-au-Prince's slums, gangs are fighting for control of the few economic assets the city still has to offer. Haiti, the eternal worry child of the Caribbean, is now truly a "failed state".