EN

Author: communications

Franciscans International took part in a thematic consultation on 28 and 29 May, providing inputs on the draft text of a UN Treaty that would regulate business activities under international human rights law. This third and final intersessional meeting took place ahead of the 12th Session of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on Transnational Corporations, where formal negotiations will continue in October. Bringing together diplomats, legal experts, and civil society representatives, the final consultation covered the preamble and Article 1 on definitions of the draft treaty.

Thirty-five UN Member States were present in the room, with their inputs highlighting divides that runs through these negotiations since they began in 2014. Some States, including Palestine, Colombia, and Mexico, are calling for stronger and broader language to uphold the rights of victims and affected communities. They also continue to stress the need for the treaty to apply to all business activities – rather than strictly those of a transnational nature – recognizing these as a leading cause of human rights violations today.

States in opposition to these progressive proposals, such as Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Russia propose a more restrictive reading on the articles. We noted with particular concern the backlash against including an explicit reference to the latest legal developments on the environment and climate, including the advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice, which underscores that all States have an obligation to combat climate change – this was affirmed by the UN General Assembly on 20 May.  Business interests were also represented in the room and again attempted to dismiss the process as a whole.

FI continued its work with civil society partners and coalitions to push for stronger language related to the environment and conflict, particularly the applicability of international humanitarian law in relevant articles in the treaty. In many cases, these inputs were informed through grassroots connections: during previous sessions of the IGWG, FI has invited representatives of affected communities as a stark voice that existing, voluntary guidelines are woefully inadequate to prevent and remedy human rights violations caused by business activities.

The last part of the intersessional meetings focused on the way forward. The 2026 consultations will be summarized into a report containing textual proposals on selected articles as a basis for the 12th Session negotiations in October. The Chairperson will also publish a roadmap of work for 2027 in an ongoing and positive effort to move the negotiations forward.

After more than a decade of negotiations, there is a general perception that the process may come to an end in in 2027. However, while stronger, binding, safeguards on transnational corporations are urgently needed, FI and its partners will continue to stress that this process cannot end with a weakened instrument shaped by political compromise or corporate capture.

FI will again take an active part during the 12 Session of the IGWG, which will take place from 19 to 23 October 2026 in Geneva.

For many Franciscans, the core challenge raised at this year’s World Environment Day is one that animates their daily lives. The Earth is sending us clear signals. The question is: what will be our answer?  From Madagascar to the Solomon Islands and from Croatia to Guatemala, Franciscan sisters and brother are ministering in communities where the signals of a changing climate and a degrading environment have already turned into crises. Today, Franciscans International shares the urgent call for climate action. Time is running out, and nature is in emergency mode.

Against this backdrop, we welcome the growing recognition of the magnitude of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution – not just at the grassroot level, but also by world leaders. The recent adoption of a UN General Assembly resolution affirming the International Court of Justice conclusion that States have a legal obligation to combat climate change must be a catalyst for greater action and accountability. Published four days later,Pope Leo’s first encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, underscores many of our shared concerns that also relate to the environment – including human rights violations linked to the extraction of rare earth elements, the seeming normalization of war, and the necessity of multilateralism. His words, echoing those of others across different faiths, remind us that care for creation is not just a policy question, it is a moral imperative.

With time running rapidly out to avoid catastrophic tipping points, these realizations must be turned into policies that leave no one behind. As part of its work, FI will continue to engage in various UN events and processes to ensure that environmental protection and climate action remain at the forefront. Last week, for example, FI participated in thematic consultations ahead of the ongoing negotiations on a new UN Treaty to regulate the activities of transnational corporations under international human rights law. There, FI highlighted the need to ensure strong language on the environment and climate change in the draft text. This process, including the upcoming negotiations in October, continues to be a critical advocacy space to bring the concerns of communities that are directly affected by business activities – a leading cause of global environmental harm.

Next week, FI will travel to Bonn, Germany, for a subsidiary meeting of the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Building on our work at the latest UN Climate Conference (COP30) in Brazil, we will continue our advocacy related to a Just Transition presenting research findings from grassroots faith-communities on the frontlines of climate change. During this meeting and the upcoming COP31 in Turkey, FI will again underscore that a truly Just Transition cannot be a mere shift in energy governance but will require a societal transformation that must be human rights and justice-centered.

As the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) notes today, in the face of climate change, another force is gaining momentum: collective action. FI will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with all those around the world who recognize the magnitude of the crisis we face and share the simple commitment of World Environment Day 2026 – Now for climate!

Building on a long-standing relationship, Franciscans International hosted a delegation representing the Franciscan Network for Migrants (RFM) for a joint advocacy mission to the United Nations International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) in New York. The visit also provided an opportunity for FI and other Franciscans working with migrants across the Americas to strengthen relationships, exchange regional analyses, and identify shared advocacy priorities.

Held every four years, the IMRF reviews the implementation of the 2018 Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) that sets out a comprehensive framework to improve migration governance. While the Progress Declaration adopted during the forum reaffirmed the commitment of States to the GCM, it also recognized persistent gaps between those commitments and the realities faced by migrants on the ground – an issue that was consistently raised by civil society and faith-based organizations throughout the IMRF.

Ahead of the forum, Franciscan delegates participated in the Civil Society Action Committee Day and the IMRF multistakeholder hearing, spaces respectively designed to strengthen collaboration between civil society actors and engage directly with UN Member States. In this context, Cecilia Herrera OFS, an RFM member based in Texas who has accompanied migrants for decades, shared concerns about the increasingly restrictive situation at the United States–Mexico border, where fear of detention and deportation is driving many migrants to self-deport. FI also co-organized a high-level side event on “Upholding Human Rights Treaties and Law, Central to the GCM and the Multilateral System.” Bringing together States, UN experts, academics, and civil society representatives, the event underscored the importance of international human rights law as a cornerstone of migration governance.

The Franciscan delegation to the IRMF, from left to right: Michelle Dunne OFS, James Donegan OFMCap, Cecilia Herrera OFS, Angel Rios OFMCap, João Paulo Gabriel OFM, Paul Lininger OFMConv, Marya Farah, and William Kraus OFMCap

During the IRMF, which took place between 5 and 8 May, FI also co-organized “Walking with the Messengers of Hope,” a second side-event that featured Bishop Mark Seitz, a leading advocate for migrants’ rights in the United States, alongside representatives of Franciscan and faith-based organizations working directly with migrant communities. Participants shared examples of humanitarian assistance and accompaniment, including the work of the RFM-Panama team, which operates a migrant shelter in the city of David. Building on these experiences, Michelle Dunne OFS, Executive Director of the Franciscan Action Network (FAN), highlighted strategies for faith-based organizations to engage legislators and transform grassroots realities into concrete policy changes.

FI also joined Catholic organizations and pastoral leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean in a joint statement affirming that human dignity is non-negotiable. The statement stressed that policies focused on control, containment, securitization, and externalization have not stopped migration, but instead made migration more dangerous. It also urged States to address the root causes of migration, including inequality and climate change, while guaranteeing the rights and dignity of all migrants.

FI will continue working alongside the RFM and other partners to strengthen advocacy for migrants’ rights, building on the collaboration during the IMRF to ensure that migration governance remains grounded in human rights and dignity.

Across the world, Indigenous Peoples continue to face critical challenges centered on land rights violations, forced evictions, and severe health disparities compounded by climate change and conflict. Against this backdrop, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) was held at the United Nations in New York from 20 April to 1 May 2026. The 25th session of the forum centered on the theme “Ensuring Indigenous Peoples’ health, including in the context of conflict.”

The opening statements of the Forum underscored how closely intertwined Indigenous Peoples’ health is to land. This includes impacts as a result of colonization, environmental degradation, and climate change. Addressing Indigenous Peoples gathered at the UNPFII, UN Secretary-General António Guterres acknowledged that “health is inseparable from your lands, waters, languages, cultures, and ecosystems.”

Indeed, throughout our programs and advocacy, Franciscans International has documented the impacts of extractive activities, conflict, and militarization on Indigenous territories and the environment, in particular on the right to health. For example, in the Solomon Islands widespread logging and mining activities have led to air and water pollution and soil contamination. As underscored during the Forum and side events, Indigenous knowledge – including with regard to traditional medicine – and upholding the right to self-determination, are central to Indigenous health.

During the UNPFII, FI welcomed partners from West Papua, and, with them, co-organized the event “Human Rights in Indonesia: Indigenous Papuans and National Strategic Projects.” Across the West Papua region, there are at least 10 such projects, adopted with the stated intent of realizing a prosperous Indonesian society by developing physical and non-physical infrastructure. In practice, these schemes will result in large-scale land grabs of Indigenous customary territories and are already leading to widespread destruction of the environment. Panelists highlighted the Biak community, who are facing systematic land-grabbing campaigns, and the Merauke project, where the single largest deforestation project in the world is being carried out.

As one of its members, FI also participated in events organized by the Mining Working Group (MWG). These events included a panel session titled, “Health, Well-being and the Dignity of Indigenous Peoples in the ‘Lungs of Earth’ Countries,” as well as the MWG’s annual Global Dialogue of Indigenous Peoples.

As the 20th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples approaches, FI will continue to advocate with its partners throughout the world for the protection of Indigenous rights and lands by ensuring that Indigenous voices are heard at the UN.

Franciscans International recently visited Guatemala to conduct a capacity building workshop for Franciscans and local civil society representatives. Through meetings with local partners, the mission also offered first-hand insights into the escalating challenges faced by human rights defenders and Indigenous communities – dynamics that cannot be captured through remote monitoring alone.

Parallel to this training, FI also met with the Guatemala team of the Franciscan Network for Migrants (RFM), whose members provide direct humanitarian assistance to people on the move. These include a growing number of returning migrants following deportation or because of increasingly restrictive migration policies in the United States.

Guatemala continues to face a broad range of structural human rights challenges. Despite the election of a reform-oriented administration in 2023, there is an ongoing deterioration of the rule of law combined with institutional fragility that limits access to justice for affected communities. In a context where powerful corporations threaten Indigenous lands, human rights defenders have borne the brunt of a judiciary that has been co-opted by special interests through criminalization, intimidation, and reprisals. Added to this are complex migration dynamics, including an increasing number of returnees that heighten social-economic pressures in the country.

A key priority of the visit was strengthening coordination, cooperation, and capacity of civil society organizations and the national and international level to expose human rights violations when domestic avenues fall short. As part of the workshop, FI provided the first steps toward initiating a documenting process that can serve to more effectively raise human rights violations with UN Special Procedures and other relevant UN mechanisms.

Meanwhile, the RFM further empathized the changing migration dynamics in the region that FI has previously raised at the UN Human Rights Council. The situation has become increasingly more complex, with a growing number of returnees requiring support and heightening socio-economic pressure in this country. In this context, FI will continue both to raise human rights violations documented by the RFM at the UN and work to strengthen the network’s capacity do so throughout the Americas.

As a first step following the visit, FI is preparing a submission to the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, which will visit Guatemala later this year. The report will reflect the community-rooted evidence gathered during the workshop, including concerns around conflicts about land and natural resources, the lack of consultation with affected communities, and environmental harms linked to business activities.

In late March, Franciscans International participated in the annual meeting of the Coordinating Committee of the Franciscan Mediterranean Network (RFMed) in Istanbul. Founded in 2019, a year when the United Nations documented the deaths of 1,335 people attempting to cross to Europe, the network aims to reconstruct the Mediterranean as a place of life, hope, and fraternal encounter through service to migrants and refugees, the promotion of dialogue and peace, and a commitment to young people.

The choice of Istanbul of the venue for the meeting was no coincidence: it is a bridge between East and West, a meeting place of cultures and religions, and it represent a concrete sign of dialogue and a call for peace in a global context marked by tensions and conflict.

The Committee’s work was structured around moments of mutual listening and sharing. The gathering started with a visit to a shelter of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearth of Gemona in Büyükada. Here, the participants were able to listen directly to stories of migrants that offered an insight in the dynamics of suffering and hope that pervade the Mediterranean today.

While reviewing the network’s 2025 activities, RFMed also welcomed partners to speak and explore opportunities to strengthen its work. Brother Eunan McMullan OFM, FI’s Europe Program Coordinator, provided a broader perspective on global Franciscan commitments to support people on the move, such as the Franciscan Network for Migrants in the Americas and human rights advocacy at the United Nations. Through its Europe Program, FI has called attention the situation of migrants in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Looking specifically at the context of the Mediterranean, FI raised the alarming number of missing migrants in interventions at the Human Rights Council.

Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, the gathering confirmed the urgency and value of continuing to build relationships, promote dialogue, and support paths to peace in a space that remains a crucial frontier for fraternity amongst all peoples. FI will continue to support RFMed in this ministry.

Women and girls continue to be at disproportionate risk of a range of human rights violations. Franciscans International raised multiple such cases during the 70th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), which was held from 9 to 19 March 2026 in New York. This year’s session focused on access to justice, including through promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing structural barriers. On the first day of the session,  Agreed Conclusions were adopted that outlined measures for States to take. Breaking with tradition, these were adopted by vote rather than by consensus at the behest of the United States. 

FI, alongside partners, worked to underscore issues related to access to justice for human rights violations during the two weeks . As part of the NGO Mining Working Group, FI helped to organize the online parallel event, “Generating Justice: Genocide, Ecocide, and Gender Justice” on 16 March 2026. The event underscored the high risks of environmental degradation and human rights abuses posed by the extractives sector, and the disproportionate impacts often born by women. Corporations, working alongside and on behalf of States, often operate with impunity, enabling the continuation of abuses.

The event opened with Fiji’s Permanent Secretary of Environment and Climate Change, Dr. Sivendra Michael, emphasizing the importance of a robust Plastics Pollution Treaty that deals with the full life-cycle of plastics. Fiji, a co-sponsor of the event, has been a leader in environmental and climate justice and has proposed an amendment to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the inclusion of the crime of ecocide together with Vanuatu and Samoa in 2024. Other speakers raised cases in West Papua, the United States, Myanmar, and Gaza to highlight the interconnection between extractivism, ecocide, and genocide.

On 16 March, FI and the Franciscan Network for Migrants also co-sponsored a second event organized by Mesoamerican Women, Health, and Migration Network (RMMSyM) examining violence against women on the move in Mesoamerica.” The event explored strategies towards guaranteeing access to justice and to address, eradicate, and prevent gender-based violence within the context of human mobility in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. The discussion also underscored how multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination obstruct women’s access to justice.

Alongside these formal events, FI also participated in a silent vigil for Palestine with other groups.

Finally, on 17 March, the NGO Mining Working Group delivered an oral intervention, supported by FI. The statement highlighted various issues that we have documented across different contexts regarding the adverse impacts of extractive activities. As noted in the statement, “women must walk longer distances to access clean water, contend with dust-covered crops, and risk subjection to gender-based violence. Land dispossession, forced eviction, and forced labor undermine women’s capacity to provide for themselves and their families. Women environmental and human rights defenders confronting mining activity face retaliation, intimidation, sexual harassment, and even rape and death.”

Across the world, we see impunity, rather than accountability, prevail – an unacceptable norm. 

The Human Rights Council convenes for its 61th session between 23 February and 31 March 2026. You can find all our statements delivered during this session below as they become available. Our past advocacy interventions are available here.

Item 6: Universal Periodic Review – Croatia (20 March)

Franciscans International welcomed the acceptance of recommendations related to both the establishment of formal frameworks and national mechanisms involving civil society actors and on the protection of the human rights of migrants. We urged the government to cooperate with civil society actors with a view to implementing these recommendations.

• Full statement (English)

Item 6: Universal Periodic Review – Panama (18 March)

While welcoming that Panama accepted 16 out of 17 recommendations concerning the protection of migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees, we stressed that the challenge is now to effectively implement these commitments on the ground, especially in the context of a growing “reverse flow” moving south. Franciscans International urged the government to ensure a human rights-based approach to migration and border governance.  

• Full statement (English)

Item 4: General Debate – Mozambique (17 March)

Armed groups have continued to carry out attacks in Cabo Delgado province, leading to the displacement of half a million people. The January 2026 decision to resume the extraction of liquid natural gas has to potential to worsen such attacks. Additionally, civil society organizations have documented serious human rights violations related to this project. As Mozambique prepares to undergo its Universal Periodic Review later this year, we called on all Member States to provide provide constructive recommendations such as adopting measures to address the root causes of the conflict, including socio-economic and political measures addressing structural inequalities.

• Full statement (English)

Item 3: General Debate – Indonesia (11 March)

More than 42,000 hectares of forest have been cleared for the Merauke National Strategic Project in South Papua to cultivate rice and sugarcane. In late 2025, authorities reclassified an additional 487,000 hectares for further expansion, which could make it the largest deforestation project in the world. Beyond its environmental harm, the project is already having serious impacts on the livelihoods, food security, culture, and way of life of Indigenous Papuans. In a joint statement, we urged the government to suspend this Strategic Project pending a comprehensive and independent environment assessment and to adopt the Indigenous Peoples bill with a view of ensuring their recognition and protection.

• Full statement (English)

Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on a healthy environment (9 March)

As we find ourselves in a spiraling context of war following the United States and Israeli offensive against Iran, Franciscans International underscored not only the human toll of the conflict, but also the inter-generational harms on people and the environment caused the pollution and toxics generated by militaries and their ammunition. While welcoming recommendations by the Special Rapporteur that States should align national air quality standards with World Health Organization guidelines, we voiced our concern that the legal limit for pollutants in Bosnia-Herzegovina still exceeds these – an issue that Franciscans International previously raised during the Universal Periodic Review.

• Full statement (English)

Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing – Guatemala (4 March)

Guatemalans continue to experience profound inequalities in access to land and housing, legal uncertainty over tenure rights, and recurring forced evictions that happen both judicially and extra-judicially. In a joint statement, Franciscans International welcomed a report by the Special Rapporteur raising these realities and their disproportionate impact on Indigenous Peoples and peasant communities. We urged the Council to call on Guatemala to urgently address this situation, including by instituting a moratorium on evictions, addressing structural racism and discrimination against Indigenous People, and guaranteeing judicial independence.

• Full statement (Spanish)

Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders (3 March)

Human rights defenders in the Philippines continue to do their work at great peril, with Indigenous women defenders facing particular risk. More broadly, the law is systematically weaponized against defenders to criminalize legitimate dissent. Meanwhile, accountability for victims of the “war on drugs” remains elusive. In a joint statement, we urged the government to adopt the Human Rights Defenders Protection Act without delay, to ensure an independent, transparent, and expedited investigations into cases of extra-judicial killings, and to immediately abolish the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

• Full statement (English)

Panel discussion on human rights and a culture of peace (4 March)

Franciscans joined Pax Christi and others in expressing its deep concern about ongoing conflicts worldwide, particularly situations where structural injustice, exclusion, and the denial of human rights continue to fuel suffering. Noting that initiatives described as “peace efforts” address only the symptoms of conflict rather than its underlying causes, the organizations stressed that genuine multilateralism remains essential to address these shared global challenges.

• Full statement (English)

Item 2: General Debate – UN reform (2 March)

In a joint statement with the International Service for Human Rights, we expressed our alarm that human rights multilateralism faces an accountability crisis, a financial crises, and a legitimacy crisis. In order to create a system that is more credible, inclusive, and just, it is essential that States secure adequate funding for the UN’s human rights pillar, empower the Human Rights Council to combat impunity and better respond to crises, and continue to make the case for human rights at a times of UN reform.

• Full statement (English)

Item 2: General Debate – Madagascar (2 March)

Madagascar new Gouvernement de Refondation, established after a wave of Gen Z-led protests, has announced reforms in to fight corruption, guarantee equal access to public services, and strengthen the rule of low. In this context, the engagement with UN human rights mechanisms is a critical step. In a joint statement, we called on the new government to ensure the effective implementation of recommendations related to climate change, internal migration, the excessive use of preventive detention, and civil society inclusion that were made during Madagascar’s recent Universal Periodic Review.

• Full statement (French)

Thumbnail: UN Photo / Violaine Martin

“I have to speak and use these microphones because here there is hope.” 

When Brother Agostinho Matlavele OFM, speaks at the United Nations (UN), he carries a simple but urgent message: the people of Cabo Delgado want peace, dignity and to be heard. Speaking on behalf of Franciscans International (FI) during the civil society pre-sessions of Mozambique’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a UN process where States examine one another’s human rights records and propose concrete improvements, his voice reflects both deep Franciscan spirituality and a growing commitment to human rights advocacy.

Born and raised in Mozambique, Brother Agostinho’s vocation is rooted in lived experience. “Coming from a situation of poverty,” he explains, “it was easy for me to identify my faith with the poverty of Jesus and of Saint Francis.” For him, Franciscan life is not only about renouncing material wealth, but about choosing proximity to those who suffer and defending their dignity when it is threatened.

That calling has led him to international advocacy, through which he seeks to ensure that the realities of Cabo Delgado are not forgotten in global decision-making spaces. Once known for its natural beauty and abundant resources, Cabo Delgado is now widely associated with conflict and displacement. Violence involving insurgent groups and government forces has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes, leaving behind land that sustained their families for generations. As of today, more than one million people in northern Mozambique need humanitarian assistance, in a context marked by insecurity and severe funding shortages.

“The communities are the ones who suffer,” Brother Agostinho says. “They leave their homes to escape war, they lose their land where they cultivated food, and they are resettled in places they do not know.” Fisherfolk can no longer fish. Farmers can no longer farm. Many displaced families now live in resettlement sites where resources are scarce, and safety remains uncertain.

While Brother Agostinho is not based in Cabo Delgado himself, his advocacy is shaped through close collaboration with Franciscan sisters and friars working directly with affected communities. For years, Franciscans on the ground have accompanied families displaced by violence, provided pastoral and humanitarian support in resettlement camps, and documented human rights violations. This collaborative work, together with preparatory workshops, submissions and sustained engagement through FI, made it possible for voices from Cabo Delgado to reach Geneva. Testimonies shared with Brother Agostinho shortly before his travel ensured his advocacy reflected lived realities rather than abstraction.

Women and children, he stresses, are particularly vulnerable. “In situations of war, men may be able to flee more easily, but women and children do not have the same flexibility.” Reports of sexual violence, exploitation, and children going missing are deeply troubling. In resettlement sites, women may face abuse and harassment when trying to secure food for their families. “We hear testimony that women suffer just to have something to eat,” he says. “This vulnerability continues even where people are supposed to be safe.”

At the UN, Brother Agostinho also raised concerns about how large-scale extractive projects, particularly in the gas sector, are aggravating the conflict in Cabo Delgado. Communities face a double displacement, first from violence and then through forced relocation linked to economic development. Excluded from meaningful consultation and denied a share in the benefits of these projects; families lose ancestral lands that are central to their identity and survival. “The land is sacred,” he explains. “It is inherited from generation to generation. To tell people to leave because there is a project is very difficult.”

At the same time, security forces are often deployed to protect commercial infrastructure rather than civilian populations, exposing communities to abuse and deepening resentment. In such conditions, extractive development does not bring stability but instead aggravates human rights violations and fuels further insecurity.

His engagement with Franciscans International marked a turning point in how Brother Agostinho understands his Franciscan mission. “Before, we focused mainly on charity, responding to immediate needs,” he reflects. “With Franciscans International, we discovered regional and international advocacy, helping people to claim their rights.” It is work that requires patience and perseverance, as change through international mechanisms often unfolds only over time. For him, this partnership completed what was missing in the Franciscan charism in Mozambique.

As Coordinator of the OFM Commission for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) in Mozambique, Brother Agostinho works to raise awareness among fellow friars and younger generations that Franciscan life is not only spiritual but deeply engaged with the realities of injustice. “Justice and peace are the Franciscan charism in action,” he says.

Taking the floor during the UPR pre-sessions, he describes the experience as seeing a green light at the end of the tunnel. “It is all or nothing,” he reflects. “I have to speak and use these microphones because here there is hope.” After his intervention, diplomats approached him to learn more about Mozambique. “It showed me that our suffering is not invisible.”

Despite the gravity of the situation, Brother Agostinho remains anchored in hope. “As Christians, we must always hope,” he says. “In the midst of chaos, we believe that evil does not have the last word.”

“For the people of Cabo Delgado,” he concludes, “the message is simple: we want peace, and we want our land back.” Through Franciscan presence at the UN, their suffering is no longer reduced to numbers alone but heard as a call to conscience.

A persistent drought in southern Madagascar, where 85 percent of the population still depends on agriculture, has pushed over 1.47 million people into food insecurity and extreme poverty. The dire living conditions have spurred migration to the north, creating tensions between displaced and host communities. With Madagascar being the fourth most vulnerable country to climate change in the world, environmental degradation and the absence of a holistic policy to meet this new reality are further exacerbating the crisis.

Franciscans International recently visited Antananarivo to conduct a workshop and a series of meetings with civil society and other key stakeholders, such as diplomatic missions and UN representatives, and aimed at implementing relevant recommendations accepted during Madagascar’s 2025 Universal Periodic Review. This follows a 2024 training and fact-finding mission by members of the Secular Franciscan Order with displaced communities and local officials. Their findings formed the basis of a joint stakeholders’ report by FI and the participation of two Franciscans during the UPR pre-session of ahead of Madagascar’s review, during which 80 percent of Franciscan recommendations were reflected.

However, since the adoption of the report, the political situation in Madagascar has changed dramatically. After widespread demonstrations in September 2025 led to the ousting of President Rajoelina, a transitional government under Colonel Randrianirina has committed to addressing the core demands of Gen Z protestors, including the lack of public services, rampant corruption, and poverty.

While there is a general perception of a more open civic space under the new administration, no specific priority has been given to the implementation of UPR recommendations. With seven outstanding country reports to UN Treaty Bodies and the National Human Rights Institution left without Commissioners since July 2025, the human rights agenda does not seem a priority for the new government.

In this context, part of the workshop facilitated by FI focused on reinforcing networks with civil society and faith-based organizations and strengthening local Franciscan capacity to take ownership of the UPR process. As part of this strategy, the Secular Franciscans are planning a second fact-finding mission in Mahajanga in mid-2026 to assess the implementation of accepted UPR recommendations and provide feedback to authorities. FI will continue to rely on these findings to raise the human rights situation in Madagascar with the UN, including through interventions at the next session of the Human Rights Council and at Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

Start typing to search ...