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UN PhotoDriving sustainable development: the crucial contributions of human rights defenders to the 2030 Agenda
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01:05:42
Broadcasting UN Entity
Summary
This year's assessment of progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development stated that only 17% of the development goals were on track. The UN has highlighted the need for a 'fundamental shift in global behaviour' in order to deliver on the goals.
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Human rights defenders play a key role in promoting and protecting these rights. The Special Rapporteur's report shows how they are working in every region of the world on every one of the 17 Goals, driving progress towards their achievement. They are working to ensure that no-one is left behind and furthermore, that the furthest behind are reached first. This work often goes unrecognised and unprotected while in some areas, those striving to fulfill the promise of the Goals are themselves stigmatized, criminalised or killed. The report celebrates the contribute of these human rights defenders towards the SDGs and calls on governments to recognise them as vital allies as States work towards meeting their 2030 Agenda commitments.
The side event will take place two days before the Special Rapporteur's presentation of the report to the General Assembly. The Special Rapporteur will be joined on the panel by a young human rights defender from Brazil and a woman human rights defenders from the USA.
- Wellington ('Wallito') Gabriel de Jesus dos Santos, from the Pitanga dos Palmares Quilombola community in the north of Bahia State works to defend the rights of his community, including their right to the titling of their land, as guaranteed under the Brazilian Constitution. In 2017, his father was shot dead outside the communities' school, and in 2023, his grandmother was also brutally killed in response to her human rights work.
- Emily Donovan is co-founder of Clean Cape Fear, a grassroots community action group in North Carolina working to restore and protect their air, soil, water and food supply from PFAS contamination, and spotlight deficiencies in government regulations that adversely impact their right to these basic needs. The group formed in June 2017 after learning Chemours, formerly DuPont, dumped large quantities of PFAS into the Cape Fear River—their primary source for drinking water.
Event organized by the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations.