Call for investigation of the death of Indonesian human rights defender Golfrid Siregar

In 2019, women from Semanga, Indonesia took action to improve the water quality in their community affected by palm oil. "The pollution needs to be stopped somewhere and it can start with me." 

The six members of the Fair, Green & Global (FGG) Alliance power voices of people and communities all over the world. We aim to expand civic space, stimulate movements and invest in mutual capacity development. Collaborating with over a thousand partner organisations in countries where people and nature are under constant pressure. Thanks to the strategic partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the six member organizations can make a difference for people across the world. Read more on the FGG website!

This week, from 12 until 16 February, fourteen indigenous leaders and human rights defenders from forest countries came to the Netherlands to call upon Dutch policy makers to take serious action against human rights abuses, land grabbing and further deforestation in relation to large scale agriculture, timber logging and mining. The Dutch harbours of Rotterdam and Amsterdam receive enormeous amounts of soy and palm oil, both for the Dutch market and for further transport into Europe and elswhere.

Last Friday, 29 May, it was announced that both the Fair, Green and Global Alliance (FGG) and the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA) have been selected as two of the 20 potential strategic partnerships of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the 2021-2025 period. Both ENDS is pleased that the Dutch government is seriously considering extending its support to these networks, as they show that cooperation on the basis of equality between grassroots organisations and NGOs throughout the world can continue to bring about change in the position of women, in respect for human rights and in making trade chains and financing systems sustainable.

The Joke Waller-Hunter (JWH) Initiative creates opportunities for young people in the environmental sector in developing countries to unfold their full potential. By providing small grants to individuals to expand their knowledge, experience and training, the Initiative aims to strengthen environmental Civil Society Organisations capacity and efficiency. Grantee Brighton Aryampa wrote a column for Monitor about his journey to becoming a Human Rights Defender, and his work battling the EACOP.

Update Monday June 10: On the evening of June 9 Stephen has been found abandoned on the side of the road. His condition is bad, after having suffered severe beatings, mistreatment and abuse through the week. He is alive, safe and reconnecting with his family. We thank everyone that has shared the solidarity statement. This international pressure helped in ensuring his release. 

June 8: This is a joint statement by over 115 international civil society organisations to call upon the Ugandan authorities to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of Stephen Kwikiriza, who has been held incommunicado since his abduction by plain clothed officers in Kampala on 4 June 2024.

We are outraged and saddened to hear that Hernán Bedoya, a brave Colombian community leader and human rights defender, has been brutally murdered. After numerous threats to his life and despite all the best efforts of local groups to provide him with protection (such as bullet proof vests, cell phone etc.) he was shot dead by paramilitaries last Friday the 8th of December, while riding home on his horse.

At the core of the Fair, Green, and Global (FGG) Alliance’s mission is the commitment to building a just and sustainable world. As members of this alliance, Both ENDS, SOMO, and the Transnational Institute (TNI) recognise the urgent need to reimagine global investment frameworks. These frameworks, entrenched in outdated treaties such as Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) and the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), often prioritise corporate profits over human rights, environmental sustainability, and social justice.

We are very proud that our director Daniëlle Hirsch has been included again in the ‘Sustainable 100’ (an annual ranking list published by Dutch newspaper Trouw), and has gone up more than 40 spots compared to last year! Danielle was included in the list because of the many things she does with her organisation as a whole, but she got the higher ranking for the way she combines her criticism of the destructive role of the Netherlands as a trading nation and large cause  of CO2 emissions in the world (often supported by the Dutch government), with a  constructive attitude when it comes to finding alternatives and solutions.

On Tuesday 28 June, the Honduran organisation COPINH and the Global Justice Association filed a complaint with the public prosecutor in the Netherlands against Dutch development bank FMO. For COPINH, this is part of their continued efforts to bring to justice those involved in the murder of their leader Berta Cáceres. FMO financed the Agua Zarca project in Honduras in 2014. The new complaint is based on documents indicating that FMO's money has been used improperly.

On September 16, 9 members of the Save Bugoma Forest Campaign in Uganda have been arrested. One of them works for AFIEGO, a partner organization of Both ENDS. The members of the Save Bugoma Forest campaign were in the Hoima province to take part in a peaceful demonstration aimed at stopping the destruction of Bugoma forest for sugarcane growing and oil activities.

We are shocked and alarmed by the news of a planned raid into the headquarters of an environmental organisation in the Philippines. Although the raid has not materialised until now, we are deeply concerned for their wellbeing.

An Open Letter to States and Development Financiers on the need to ensure that development interventions support the realization of human rights, safeguard human rights defenders and guarantee meaningful public participation

We are shocked and alarmed by the news that the Philippine government has declared a list of 600 people to be communist terrorists. On the list are mostly indigenous leaders, environmental activists and human rights defenders. Among them are some of our partners, and we are deeply worried about them and the other people on this list.

On Friday, March 2, the director of DESA, David Castillo, was arrested in Honduras on suspicion of involvement in the murder of Berta Cáceres, exactly 2 years ago. The Honduran government refused for a long time to not only detect the actual murderers, but also the intellectual authors of the murder of Cáceres.