Supported projects

BRUSSELS / BIAŁOWIEŻA / LESBOS - Security agents abandoning people in the desert. Coast guards destroying boats and leaving those on board stranded on the open sea. Slave markets with refugees. Since the start of the “European refugee crisis”, violence at our external borders, and in distant countries that do the dirty work for us, has exploded.

BENZDORP/PARAMARIBO - Deep in the Amazon rainforest, on the banks of the Lawa River between Suriname and French Guiana, live the Wayana. The peaceful existence of this indigenous population came to an abrupt end in 1885, when gold was discovered in the region. Since then, the presence of outsiders has left deep scars on their society.

BRUSSELS - In 2021, the European Union decided that it wants to end homelessness by 2030. Belgium also signed up to this goal. During the Belgian Presidency of the European Council at the beginning of last year, our country organised a conference in Brussels entitled “Towards zero homelessness, only six years left to succeed”.

BEIRUT - Jado is a trans woman from Beirut. A prominent figure and a motherly presence in the local LGBTQIA+ community, she is an inspiration to many. Like many others, she has to fight every day just to be herself and survive.

BRUSSELS - Life is impossible without music blends music, memory and humanity through the true stories of pianist Kosta Jakić and Simon Gronowski, a Holocaust survivor.

BIAŁOWIEŻA - Since March, Poland has imposed an asylum ban at its border with Belarus. Officially, there are exceptions for children, pregnant women and the sick, but in practice these are systematically ignored. Only 22 people have been able to apply for asylum since then. 

GULU - Since 2005, the ‘LRA’ has been expelled from Uganda. Despite an international arrest warrant, Joseph Kony is still a fugitive. President Musevini is still in power after 38 years. The majority of Uganda's population lives in poverty with no prospect of improvement. They are surviving but hungry for hope.

ANTWERP/BRUSSELS - To understand how citizens weigh ethics against the law, Suzanne Roes decided to conduct research into criminalised movements above and below ground.

NEW YORK CITY - The West may not have fully realised it, but the United Nations is undergoing a revival. Not that everything will remain the same, because Beijing seems to be finding enough allies to change the organisation from within. 

KIEV / GOMA / TIGRAY - Sexual violence is unfortunately common in conflicts and wars. It is a serious violation of humanitarian law of war that is rarely punished. For victims, the consequences are profound - physically, mentally and socially.

AMSTERDAM / BRUSSEL / STOCKHOLM - The European approach to legislation on sex work is a complex patchwork of contrasting policies, each of which claims to prioritise the welfare of workers, but often falls short in practice.

NAYPYIDAW - From exile, Myanmar filmmakers continue their armed resistance against the military regime. Many have joined rebel groups, seamlessly switching between camera and gun whilst using film proceeds to fund the insurgency.

SREBRENICA – The women of Srebrenica have spent 30 years searching through mass graves, holding fragments of bone up to the light, hoping to recognise the remains of sons, husbands and fathers who never came home.

MANILA - After corona, the problem of online sexual abuse and exploitation has only intensified. At any time of the day, 750 000 people worldwide are searching for images of child abuse. As many as 1 in 5 children in the Philippines face it. Yet international interest in the problem is declining.

GHENT - Poverty is not just a matter of not having enough money. Poverty affects every aspect of your life. By highlighting people's problems from different points of view, Michelle Ginée in Poor in Rich Flanders goes in search of answers.

DONETSK - As a young reporter, Arnaud De Decker toured Ukraine, a country torn apart by the biggest war on the European continent since World War II.

GAZA - Nadia AlHassanat was born in Gaza during the First Intifada. In her twenties, she fled her conservative family to pursue her dream of becoming an actress. Today, she has been living in Belgium for eight years. The only person she stayed in touch with by phone is her older sister Fatma, who remains in Gaza with her two children.

BAHIR DAR - For the past 19 months, Ethiopia’s Amhara region has been devastated by a conflict between federal forces and the Fano militia, which seeks full control of Amhara territory. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Latinos voting for Trump in the US: they exist and there are far more of them than you might think. Alex Cordova travels to the United States in the run-up to the presidential election. He examines the role of the church, politics and identity in the context of the 4 November election.

KINSHASA / TERVUREN - After almost 70 years in the Africa Museum, the rare Kakungu mask is back in Congo. Despite the festive ceremony at the National Museum, the mask remains the property of Belgium, causing unrest among the Congolese people and the Suku community, where the mask originally came from.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan is not so much a country with an army, but rather an army with a country. Like the black kite, a powerful bird of prey, the armed forces keep a close eye on the people of Pakistan.

NAYPYIDAW - When the Burmese Spring began more than a decade ago, and 50 years of dictatorship seemed to be coming to an end, trees were growing to the sky in Myanmar. Aung San Suu Kyi came to power and the country liberalized. After the Rohingya genocide, however, the honeymoon was over. And the new military coup in February 2021 turned back the clock decisively.

JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH - The war in Gaza has been going on for more than a year. Ethnic cleansing is taking place not only there, but also in the West Bank. It did not start after October 7, but has been going on for decades, stresses Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention, among others. 

SOFIA/BUDAPEST - When people think of adoption, they think of poor countries in the global south. However, Flanders and the Netherlands adopt children from other European countries, such as Bulgaria and Hungary. This cross-border investigation shows that Roma children in these countries are discriminated against and end up in the adoption system due to stigma, poverty and a lack of support for families.

GOMA - After 25 years of blue helmets' presence in eastern Congo, 2024 was supposed to be the year of departure. But as the UN peacekeeping mission deploys the retreat, M23 rebels keep advancing. 

BAGDAD - Ten years ago, ISIS began its reign of terror in Iraq by invading Mosul. Many people were killed in the process. Minorities such as the Yazidis and Christians have received a lot of attention in this regard. Less well known is the plight of the Sunnis, the largest group, who lived under ISIS occupation and were oppressed and killed. They were subsequently lumped together with the radicals by many.

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.

KABUL - In the remote mountains of central Afghanistan, a Hazara family embarks on a quest for truth and justice after their daughter Zahra mysteriously dies at Kabul University.