One of the most fundamental human needs is that of decent shelter, but, as the collapse of the housing market continues, Scottish families are finding that they do not have the same protections from repossession as their counterparts in the rest of the UK.

There is no equivalent in British politics to the American inaugural address. New prime ministers returning from Buckingham Palace after a general election or internal party leadership contest have barely had a couple of hours to prepare some remarks to the gathered media in Downing Street. By the time he looks east over an estimated crowd of four million stretched out along the historic National Mall, Barack Obama will have had 77 days since winning the election to think about what he will say.

Tory attacks on the Human Rights Act bear little resemblance to reality

Young people must be supported towards making informed choices about sex and relationships

How people vote is decided by three key factors – their views of the parties, their views of the leaders and their views of the issues

As the cholera outbreak escalates, leaders and civil society around the world are calling for change in Zimbabwe. But sadly, effective international institutions, legal tools and processes for dealing with gross human rights abuses committed (or tolerated) by a country’s own government are few and far between.

“Sex’n’drugs’n’roll,” sang cheeky chappie Ian Dury three decades ago. It’s that third element of youth culture’s unholy trinity that’s seen most as defining generational consciousness and change. But has pop music (a synonym for rock’n’roll) ceased to have its once assumed insurrectionary impact?

Welfare reform: a route to greater social justice

Southern Africa has been hit by the HIV/AIDS pandemic worse than any other region in the world

It is essential to redouble the government’s efforts to equip the so-called “hard to reach” groups with the capabilities they need to find work