She has led a campaign to secure legal stewardship of 17,824 acres of tropical forest land for six Indigenous communities in North Sumatra. Her community’s activism reclaimed this territory from a pulp and paper company that had partially converted it into a monoculture, non-native, industrial eucalyptus plantation. The six communities have begun restoring the forests,…
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Faced with the violence of criminal gangs that have overwhelmed the lives of many children, the Kenyan activist opened the doors of her home, giving young people an opportunity. A commitment that earned her the Zayed Prize for Human Fraternity 2023. Shamsa Abubakar Fadhil is a Kenyan activist and first president of the National Women’s…
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She organized community efforts to stop mining development by British mining company Anglo American in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. Brazil is one of the five largest mineral producers in the world, with much of the activity concentrated in the Amazon region. Mining caused nearly 3 million acres of deforestation between 2005 and 2015. In 2019, the…
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Alarmed by the pollution produced by the Konkola Copper Mines operation in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia, Chilekwa Mumba organized a lawsuit to hold the mine’s parent company, Vedanta Resources, responsible. Chilekwa’s victory in the UK Supreme Court set a legal precedent – it was the first time an English court ruled that a British…
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As Gandhi’s heir, he brought the method of non-violence to the conflicts of youth gangs and peasant marches for land rights. In May he was awarded the 2023 Niwano Prize. He has himself called just by his first name to avoid being identified with a caste. And for fifty years in India – following the…
Read moreShe is a leading voice among Brazil’s Indigenous youth. Her message is simple: Indigenous people must be involved in decision-making processes relating to the measures that must be taken to deal with environmental issues. The importance of social media. Samela is part of a lineage of women that has been forged in the fight for…
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She is the leader of a cooperative of artisanal miners in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). “Our story is also about resilience, empowerment and our fight for survival for ourselves and our families.” My story is not easy to tell. It is full of pain, one shared by countless women who work in…
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The Congolese activist and jurist Yvette Mushigo is the coordinator of the Synergie des Femmes pour la Paix et la Réconciliation (SPR), a network of associations operating in Bukavu (DRC) for women to know and claim their rights. “There are many types of violence that are perpetrated against women. From discrimination in employment and sexual…
Read moreTo save biodiversity, we must save human diversity. Many Indigenous languages are ‘dying out’. What is not often discussed, however, is the fact that the languages in question do not just disappear naturally. Rather, their speakers are often wiped out – by outsiders. Even today, where Indigenous people survive, their languages can still be ‘lost’.…
Read moreShe shows no signs of slowing down in her long-standing fight to end the death penalty. At 84, she is writing her fourth book while directing her advocacy organization, Ministry Against the Death Penalty, in New Orleans. She spends a fair amount of time on the road as she continues to give talks, especially on…
Read moreCop 27 is over. A first step in climate justice, but zero progress on the central issue of CO2 emissions. The principle of a new fund to respond to loss and damage suffered by the poorest and most vulnerable countries on earth in the face of climate change was introduced. But there was zero progress…
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In harmony with Pope Francis’ call in Laudato Si’ to “care for our common home”, the Sisters of the Holy Cross have a long-standing commitment to ecological sustainability and systemic change across the globe. Among the Congregation’s initiatives to care for creation and God’s people is SOAR (Sisters Organizing and Advancing Recycling), a project launched…
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The campaign to safeguard the Vjosa River from a surge in hydropower dam projects led to its historic designation as the Vjosa Wild River National…
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On that day, an elephant, a mouse, a woman, and a thief appeared before Kalaga, who was seated in court to hear the grievances of his subjects…
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We met some of the young people who had come to Rome for the Youth Jubilee. (July 28 – August 3). The underground, streets, buses, and bars…
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