Article by PBI-Netherlands

The 46th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council will take place in Geneva between 22 February and 23 March. PBI and organizations supported by PBI have already contributed to the presentations and debates on several occasions.

Presentations of PBI

Adam Lunn of PBI United Kingdom delivered a short speech on March 2 in response to the presentation of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, in which he addressed the food scarcity in Guatemala, Honduras and Colombia: “The humanitarian crisis caused by the pandemic, the hurricanes Eta and Iota in Central America and the intensification of the armed conflict in Colombia […] have only exacerbated this situation [of food scarcity]. ”

Adam Lunn added, “The governments of these countries continue to support agribusiness growth, tree felling, and the promotion of extractive mega-projects. Not only has this failed to solve the famine emergency, but has also led to an increase in militarization, evictions, attacks, and the criminalization of land rights defenders in these countries. ”

The video of Adam Lunn’s speech is here found (1 hour and 52 minutes). The text itself is here to read in Spanish.

On March 8, International Women’s Day, Yésica Sánchez Maya delivered a speech on behalf of PBI and the organization Consorcio Oaxaca, led by PBI Mexico, further discussing the security situation of human rights defenders in Indonesia, Kenya, Colombia, Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala, against the backdrop of the pandemic.

PBI Canada posted a short article in English about this speech, which can be found here.

Recommendations from PBI

Below you will find some of the recommendations and quotes that PBI made during the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council.