“CITIES DEFENDING HUMAN RIGHTS, SPAIN, 2022” -Amplifying the voices of human rights defenders

“CITIES DEFENDING HUMAN RIGHTS, SPAIN, 2022” -Amplifying the voices of human rights defenders

By Mike Anane

It was an honour to be invited to participate in the 12th edition of the project "Cities Defending Human Rights" ‘Ciutats Defensores dels Drets Humans" that took place in Catalonia, Spain from 24 April to 5 May 2022.

The project which involved the participation of 28 municipalities and 9 Catalan institutions involved in the defense and promotion of human rights locally and globally aimed at publicizing the work of human rights defenders and helping to raise public awareness of the need to integrate the culture of human rights in our daily lives. The Cities Defending Human Rights is a project coordinated by the Catalan Fund for Development Cooperation and managed by the Catalan Commission for Refugees in Spain.

Five other human rights defenders from Colombia, Mexico, El salvador, Philippines and Spain who seek the promotion and protection of civil and political rights as well as the realization of economic, social and cultural rights were also in Spain to participate in the project.

At different meetings in Spain, citizens interacted with the human rights defenders and listened to our struggles and actions in our home countries as we sought to enhance their knowledge about the need to defend and protect rights in our daily lives and to speak up whenever they experience abuse so that we are all able to live peacefully with dignity. ?

The human rights defenders also held meetings with representatives and high-level officials from the related municipalities and agencies and also had interviews with the media and participated in conferences open to the public including political and social advocacy meetings.

A speech by Pilar Díaz, Deputy Councillor for International Relations of the Barcelona Provincial Council expressing her admiration and support for the human rights defenders was indeed heartwarming?and encouraging. "It is necessary to continue strengthening ties to give visibility to your actions because your struggles are also ours," Pilar Díaz who is also the mayor of?Esplugues de Llobregat stressed when she met the six human rights defenders in Barcelona.

?High on the agenda of the project "Cities Defending Human Rights” was the visit to schools in the participating municipalities to talk to students about how young people can create or contribute to positive change in their communities and also inspire others to follow suit.

For me, it was such a great pleasure sharing with the students some knowledge and skills needed to address the electronic waste challenge. The Fact is that the massive generation of e-waste and its improper disposal is one of the greatest challenges of our time, the future health of the planet rests with these young ones, the increased participation of young people in related decision making should therefore be encouraged.

I shared with the students how their decisions and actions can result in mountains of discarded electronics and on the other hand how their activities can also contribute to the global efforts of managing e-waste responsibly.

I have always maintained that it is important to get these future decision makers and opinion leaders interested and engaged in environmental issues early on in their lives through compelling audiovisuals and enjoyable and creative ways and in a way that breaks down complex environmental issues.

For starters I made it clear to the students that, the marriage between human rights and environmentalism was becoming stronger and that all human beings depended on the environment. A safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment is therefore integral to the full enjoyment of a wide range of human rights, including the rights to life, health, food and water.

?The massive generation of toxic electronic waste in the developed countries and their illegal exportation to Ghana where they end up in informal recycling facilities where they poison the land, air, and water bodies are therefore serious concerns.?As a hazardous waste stream, e-waste generated in the wealthy countries should be managed responsibly to avoid illegal exports and adverse effects on the environment, public health and human rights in poor countries. Even the practice of mining the earth for the precious materials used in many consumer technology products is unsustainable as these critical raw materials needed to build new electronics are running out.

Like most young people that I have interacted with around the world, these young people also mentioned that they had a few redundant or broken electronics languishing in drawers at home from tablets, laptops game consoles to children's toys.

Many countries have placed obligations on manufacturers to ensure that their products are properly collected recycled and disposed of once they reach the end of their usefulness, which is good?but the truth of the matter is that ?in many parts of the world, extended producer responsibility is not obligatory, huge tons of e-waste continue to be exported illegally to developing countries including Ghana where children smash e-waste components with stones and other improvised tools and then burn them just to harvest copper and other metals.

Education and awareness-raising for the youth and their active participation in decision making no matter which country they come from should therefore be essential elements of the global response to the e-waste challenge.

?Laptops, PCs, game consoles and cellphones consumption is highest among young people, nearly 99% of students own these technologies. The awareness of students and young consumers in this 'take-make-waste' era and their participation in sustainable e-waste management practices is therefore imperative.

Children and adolescents have the right to grow and learn in a healthy environment devoid of lead, arsenic, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, and mercury. Chronic exposure to e-waste and its many toxic components unquestionably impacts that right. The reality is that, children anywhere in the world are more vulnerable to any contaminant or toxin because of their rapidly developing organs.

Talking to the students about my experiences from the frontlines in Ghana was indeed exciting. Children are naturally curious, and they crave information, this prompted them to ask a lot of clever questions.?In a few instances, I had to prompt conversation and encourage curiosity by asking them interesting and challenging questions first- basically, fun and good Icebreaker questions for kids if you like. And it was great when they were all geared up, smart kids!!!

Catch them Young!!!. The good book admonishes us to “Teach the child the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Prov. 22:6 . It was obvious from the questions of the students and their active engagement and participation during my presentation that the encounter with them will lead to positive and measurable behavioral change when it comes to e-waste and they will take what they learnt from me to their homes and communities for a more sustainable world.

It feels good to see that increasingly, young people are becoming environmentally conscious and are worried about issues such as climate change, e-waste, wildlife trafficking etc,

Enhancing the understanding of young people and their appreciation for human rights and the need to incorporate human rights values into their attitudes and behaviour is definitely a way to go.

Youth constitute the majority of the population in many countries, we definitely need to continue to create opportunities for them and build their capacity and empower them to take action.

It was also such a great pleasure meeting the 5 extraordinary human rights defenders - ?Yurany Cuellar ( Colombia) Maria Sol Taule (Philippines) ?Morena Hererra ?(El Salvador) ?Nataniel Hernández ( Mexico) and Vania Arana (Spain). They had also been invited to participate in the project, definitely some of the best and brightest talents who continue to take significant action to protect human rights in their countries despite the odds.

I had some truly inspirational moments sharing the stage with these amazing Human rights defenders, as I listened to them with rapt attention as they spoke about their struggles back home and how they continue to navigate risks.?It was so obvious that the six of us all shared so much in common, in terms of our message, challenges and even threats to personal safety.

Environmental defenders or environmental human rights defenders also face the same challenges in the course of their work, including great personal risks.

The "Cities Defending Human Rights” project actually provided all six of us a rare opportunity for mutual exchange of experience and ideas as we discussed best practices and shared knowledge and expertise which can be useful to all human rights defenders in their bid to ensure that their voices are taken into account in human rights decision-making processes.

Human rights defenders play an indispensable role in the realisation of rights, they are veritable whistle blowers or monitors who draw attention to their respective communities and to the international community in case of violations and threats that sometimes take place even in the most remote parts of their countries.

With rising authoritarianism, inequalities and increasing environmental challenges, the engagement of human rights defenders is even more essential to uphold the rights of all.

All human rights depend on a healthy environment, the recognition of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment by the Human Rights Council sometime last year is indeed timely and a useful tool.

?It is true that most States have already recognized and committed to the right to a healthy environment, but the fact remains that for most people, it is a mirage and we still have a long way to go.

It is definitely a drawback that human rights defenders continue to face systematic abuse, some are attacked physically and others are smeared to turn the wrath of others against them. Increasingly, this is becoming a worldwide trend with no end in sight.

There is indeed an urgent need for concrete set of measures and a lasting commitment from Governments and the international community to strengthen their support for and improve the protection of human rights defenders for the full enjoyment of human rights and the realisation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.?

?It is also imperative that projects are put in place to develop human rights defenders’ advocacy skills and expertise in tackling the increasing and complex human rights challenges.?

The enormity of the challenges we are facing globally requires international cooperation, solidarity and working together in a broad alliance, that is why I am so happy with the "Cities Defending Human Rights” project.

Kudos to the organisers, translators and the entire management team of the project for inviting us and also putting together this beautiful event!!