communications, Author at Franciscans International

The Human Rights Council convened for its 63rd session between 7 September and 7 October 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 – Mozambique (25 September)

Despite welcoming the active participation of Mozambique in the UPR process, we remain deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation people displaced due to the conflict in Cabo Delgado. With attacks by non-State armed groups intensifying, efforts to ensure accountability for grave human rights violations must be prioritized. As a large energy project is set to resume despite the unstable security situation and risks to both local communities and the environment, we urged the government to strengthen its human rights safeguards for transnational corporations.

• Full statement (English)

Item 6: Universal Periodic Review – Solomon Islands (24 September)

Through the longstanding pastoral engagement of faith-based communities in the Solomon Islands, they have witnessed firsthand the human and environmental consequences of logging and mining. These include the pollution of water and food sources, the destruction of ecosystems and biodiversity, increased vulnerability to climate change impacts, and sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls. At the Human Rights Council, we urged the Solomon Islands to adopt or amend three pending pieces of legislation that could address deep, longstanding structural issues in these areas.

• Full statement (English)

Items 3 & 5: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples – Indonesia (23 September)

In West Papua, Indigenous women struggle to access quality, affordable sexual and reproductive healthcare services, with the Papua and Papua Barat provinces showing the highest child and maternal mortality rates in Indonesia. Beyond physical access to clinics, this situation is exacerbated by administrative hurdles, stigma, and racism. In conflict areas, medical services are often provided by the military, discouraging many to seek much-needed care. We urged the Indonesian government to withdraw the military in and around healthcare facilities and to ensure adequate availability of medical facilities and supplies in conflict areas.

• Full statement (English)

Item 4: General Debate – Indonesia (21 September)

A heavy military presence and ongoing security operations in West Papua have displaced at least 122.000 civilians, with very limited or no humanitarian accesses to provide support. Additionally, Indigenous Papuans are losing their lands without free, prior and informed consent to clear way for the food and energy-related National Strategic Project in Merauke. In a joint statement, we called on the Indonesian government to allow humanitarian aid without delay and immediately re-evaluate the National Strategic Plan pending a comprehensive environment and social impact assessment.

• Full statement (English)

Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Working Group on the Rights of Peasants – Guatemala (16 September)

The progressive loss of native seeds, the expansion of monocultures, and the intensive use of agrochemicals threaten food sovereignty and water resources in Guatemala. This situation is further exacerbated by forced evictions and a co-opted judiciary that favors large landowners and corporations. At the Human Rights Council, we called for a moratorium on evictions, the effective implementation of protections for human rights defenders, and a guarantee of free, prior and informed consent for Indigenous Peoples.

• Full statement (Spanish)

Item 3: Interactive Dialogue on the Secretary General’s Report – Climate Finance (16 September)

Despite the urgent need for adequate climate finance, the Secretary General’s report makes it clear that we are operating in a context where political will is absent and the interests of individual States and private actors are prioritized. At the Human Rights Council, we urged States to recognize and address past and continued colonization and imperialism and their impact on people and the planet. This does not only include adopting robust regulations for transnational corporations but also opposing green colonialism under de guise of a just transition and the diversion of critical minerals for military purposes.

• Full statement (English)

Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on development – Critical minerals (11 September)

While we hope that critical minerals will help ensure the right to development and spur a Just Transition, too often affected communities do not consent or benefit from their extraction while the resources themselves are used in harmful practices. At the Human Rights Council, we supported the conclusions of the Special Rapporteur regarding a community’s “right to say no” and withdraw consent from development projects. Looking ahead to the upcoming negotiations on a new UN Treaty covering transnational business activities, we also noted with appreciation the Special Rapporteur’s warnings about corporate capture, corruptions, and business abuses.

• Full statement (English)

Item 2: General Debate – Sri Lanka (7 September)

Seven years after the deadly Easter Sunday Attacks, victims and their families are still waiting for justice with several investigations suggesting that there was an organized conspiracy behind the bombings. In recent years, alleged links to a former Director of State Intelligence Services have emerged, while witnesses and prosecuting officials have faced intimidation. At the Human Rights Council, we urged the Sri Lankan government to effectively protect victims, witnesses, investigators, human rights defenders, lawyers, church leaders and others who face risks for seeking truth, justice, and accountability.

• Full statement (English)

Thumbnail: UN photo by Violaine Martin

Together with Franciscans at the grassroots, we have made it our priority to fight for the rights of migrants around the world. That is why spaces like the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF), which examines and shapes international policies, are important to Franciscans International. We use these platforms to advocate for migrant rights, share firsthand experiences from the grassroots, and exchange perspectives with other activists and faith-based organizations.

In early May, we accompanied a group of Franciscans who attended the IMRF. Michele Dunne, a former U.S.-diplomat and the current Executive Director of the Franciscan Action Network (FAN), was among them. After visiting the UN in New York, she sat down with us for an interview where she gave us insight into her work, her personal journey with God, and shared her perspective on the political situation of the United States.

Thank you Michele, for taking your time! As the Executive Director of FAN, can you tell us a bit about your work and what your network is doing?

Of course! The Franciscan Action Network was founded in 2008 as an advocacy organization by Franciscans to provide a Franciscan voice on public issues in the United States (U.S.). We try to help Franciscans to mobilize around issues they care about, such as the environment, peace and the role of the U.S. in building it, as well as solidarity with marginalized people, including migrants or people who suffer from poverty.

Before you started at FAN, you used to work as a diplomat for the US. Could you tell us a little bit about your work?

I was a diplomat for around 20 years. Since my work focused on the Middle East, I speak Arabic fluently. As an area specialist, I worked on issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian war and issues around the Arab Spring. After leaving the State Department, I worked for two think tanks, one of them the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace that helps countries and institutions to take on the most difficult global problems.

In 2013, I had a personal calling to join the Secular Franciscan Order, to which I professed in 2016. I had this strong calling to speak up much more about justice and peace inside the United States, and I became active in FAN as a constituent. In 2019, I went on a pilgrimage to Assisi, which had a profound effect on me. After that experience, I felt called to leave my diplomatic work behind and dedicate myself to the Franciscan Action Network, which I joined as executive director in 2021.

Franciscan Action Network

FAN includes 53 religious communities, 35 local Franciscan Justice Circles, and 20.000 individual members across the United States. Some of their core issues are the environment, solidarity with people on the margins, and peace. The latter encompasses both the role of the U.S regarding war and conflict around the world as well as peace inside the U.S, including gun violence and political polarization.

What do you think about migration politics right now? What is your perspective on migration politics in the U.S.?

Our migration policy is a disaster for both the world and the U.S. Americans cannot agree among ourselves on migration policies and have gradually reached a point where the system has broken down.

Now, we have disastrous deportation campaigns. People who have come to the U.S. suffer enormously. Most of them came with good intentions, wanting to contribute to society and the economy. This suffering pains me. Deportations and closing off migration will also definitely affect the U.S. economy. This is a top issue for policy advocacy in FAN.

During the IMRF, it was also painful to hear about other organizations affected by the U.S., including non-governmental organizations whose staff have had their visas denied, causing unneeded hardship.

What is your impression of the UN? Which difference is taking the space in such institutions in comparison with networks like yours?

Well, FAN’s advocacy is aimed at the U.S government and not the UN or the church. We aim at the Congress and the Executive Branch, including U.S agencies. Advocacy in the U.S. is very different compared to the UN, where you are looking at things from a very high-level perspective. Meanwhile, FAN is looking at things from a more bottom-up perspective, identifying which laws and practices need to change, such as limiting funding for ICE. When it comes to advocacy work, the focus is on respecting the safety and human dignity of migrants.

I learned a lot about international perspectives on U.S. migration policies during the review and I am eager to work more with FI to complement each other’s contributions. Already, we have done joint events with FI to show our constituents the global picture and how the U.S. is seen outside its own borders.

It was a pleasure to be a part of the delegation. Thank you for the invitation!

The Human Rights Council convened for its 62nd session between 16 June and 8 July 2026. You can find all our statements delivered during this session below as they become available. Our past advocacy interventions are available here.

Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on internally displaced persons – Indonesia & Mozambique (25 June)

Franciscans in West Papua and northern Mozambique work to support people displaced by ongoing violent conflicts. In both cases, internally displaced persons lack access to basic necessities, a situation that disproportionally affects women and children and exacerbates the risk of gender-based violence. Remarking on the widespread impunity that defines these situations, Franciscans International raised them as an example of the urgent need for State and non-State actors to address situations of protracted displacement, protect civilians, and ensure independent monitoring and humanitarian access.

• Full statement (English)

Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on migrants – Externalization (22 June)

A growing trend of externalizing borders is weakening accountability and access to protection for migrants. In a joint statement by Caritas Internationalis, we expressed particular alarm over proposals for so-called “return hubs” in third countries that risk outsourcing the responsibilities of States under international human rights and refugee law. Invoking the words of Pope Leo XIV that “human dignity has no passport and does not lose its value when crossing a border,” we urged all States to reject a “return at all costs” approach to migration.

• Full statement (English)

Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Climate Change – Food systems (19 June)

With the largest 1% of food businesses controlling over 70% of global farmlands, we are witnessing a concentration of corporate power that drives land grabbing, weakens food sovereignty, and erodes democratic oversight. Moreover, the deepening dependence of agribusiness on fossil fuels hinders climate action and perpetuates human rights harm. Stressing that a just transformation of food systems requires dismantling corporate dominance and redistributing power and resources toward rights-holders, we called on UN Member states to support a robust UN Treaty on business and human rights when negotiations continue in October 2026.

• Full statement (English)

Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on climate change – Fossil fuels (19 June)

In a joint statement by the Geneva Interfaith Forum on Climate Change, Environment, and Human Rights (GIF) we emphasized that food systems cannot be viewed separately from the fossil fuel economy. As such, an integrated vision – addressing pesticides, fertilizers, plastics, and corporate power concentration – is a moral imperative to protect both people and the planet. We called on all States to phase out subsidies to large-scale food businesses, protect Indigenous Peoples and peasants as stewards of a safe climate, and to ensure that the transformation of food systems leaves no one behind.

• Full statement (English)

Thumbnail: UN Photo / Elma Okic

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 12^th 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 12^th 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 25^th 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 20^th 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 70^th 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.