My name is Patrick and I’m a new member of the NCC. I recently returned from three years of working with the PBI Colombia project, accompanying human rights defenders across the country. I met so many passionate volunteers from across the Americas and Europe, who dedicated endless hours to providing protective accompaniment to human rights defenders and communities under threat.
I saw first hand how PBI’s work supports human rights defenders (HRDs) addressing so many of today’s most pressing challenges: climate change, gender justice, indigenous rights, and building peace in conflict-affected regions. They stand up for their rights and the rights of their communities, in spite of armed actors who continue to threaten and commit violence against HRDs, making Colombia the most dangerous country in the world for land and environmental defenders.
Working through PBI’s global network, we regularly brought together HRDs to discuss security challenges that are shared across struggles, building links among defenders across Colombia and the Americas. These links helped provide new resources and strength for defenders working in their own local contexts.
After returning to the US, I joined the NCC because I see how we need organizations like PBI to build networks of solidarity among activists and communities around the globe. We need each other to push back against forces that are threatening human rights, our communities, and our planet.
PBI has over 40 years of experience building these networks, and pioneering protection tools that are still all too needed across the world when people stand up to corrupt governments and powerful interests.
I am asking that you continue to be a part of PBI’s global network by giving today as part of PBI week. Your support helps us continue this vital work.
