Human rights defenders show courage in times of crisis – Academia

The 17 Goals, agreed by all United Nations member states in a moment of optimistic consensus in 2015, set a 15-year timetable for achieving these goals. Each state committed itself to doing its part as part of a joint effort for the good of all. But with six years to go, only 16 percent of the targets are on track.

By failing to meet their commitments to the SDGs, governments are condemning future generations to endure the same endless cycle of poverty and marginalization. In times of crisis like this, states need all the help they can get.

Governments must show courage and lead by example in this time of crisis. Words and statements are no substitute for concerted action based on respect for fundamental rights and the crucial role of human rights defenders.

Without the protection and active participation of “human rights defenders,” there can be no solution, as I set out in a report I will submit to the UN General Assembly today.

For example, look at the work of civil society organization AdvocAid in Sierra Leone, which highlights that poverty (SDG 1) is perpetuated by the imprisonment of those accused of petty crimes such as loitering. Street traders, people engaging in sex work and prostitution, and those already living in poverty, most of whom are women, are further impoverished by their incarceration, leading to loss of earnings and further hardship for their families who rely on them as breadwinners are dependent.

Or consider the activists of Clean Cape Fear, a grassroots collective of people living along the Cape Fear River in North Carolina in the United States. For years, they have been chronically exposed to dangerous levels of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or “forever chemicals,” released from a nearby manufacturing plant.

Through the continued advocacy of the National PFAS Contamination Coalition, made up of local groups like Clean Cape Fear, these activists played a large role in pushing the government to adopt, for the first time, a “national, legally enforceable drinking water standard to protect communities from exposure.” to protect”. on harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances” in April of this year. In doing so, they brought the USA one step closer to SDG 6, namely clean water and sanitation.

But all too often, governments reject this kind of support and instead use anti-terrorism laws or bogus “tax evasion” or similar charges against human rights defenders for working outside a government-approved model. This is despite the fact that their work, knowingly or unknowingly, directly targets the SDGs, the same SDGs that their government supports.

Governments are attacking the very people who are helping them meet their SDG commitments. In June, Thi To Nhien Ngo, a Vietnamese renewable energy expert, was detained for providing independent expertise on energy policy in line with SDG 7 on affordable and clean energy. She is one of several people working on the climate crisis who have been detained in Vietnam in recent years, amid ever-improving relations between the Southeast Asian nation and the United States and European Union.

I call on UN member states to set aside all prejudices against human rights defenders and examine whether their concrete actions actually bring us closer to the future envisaged in the SDGs. I call on States to take a consistent approach to human rights and to recognize that human rights defenders help us achieve our goals, wherever they do their work.

This applies equally to activists in the UK who are raising awareness of the scale of the climate crisis through uncomfortable but peaceful protests (SDG 13), as well as to protesters in Iran and Afghanistan who are boldly demanding gender equality (SDG 5).

A consistent approach to human rights means supporting the right of teachers to provide quality education to their students (SDG 4) and the right not to be bombarded from the sky, whether these attacks take place in Gaza or Myanmar . It means supporting people’s right to peacefully organize, advocate and protest, whether in Berlin or Beijing, Moscow or Manama.

A consistent approach to human rights may require both a change in policy and a change in mindset. Given that every UN member state has committed to achieving the SDGs and human rights are anchored in the goals, this change must be worthwhile. Human rights defenders are SDG champions and every state can do more to protect them.

This will help keep the goals alive rather than allowing them to disappear as irrelevant to UN history. Now is the time for countries to show courage and leadership and change their approach, because in the words of Leo Tolstoy: “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves.” .”

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The author is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.