Human rights defender's story: Victoria Maladaeva, from Russia
'Indigenous communities must have better political representations to ensure our rights are protected both constitutionally and in practice.'
Human rights defender's story: Barun Ghimire from Nepal
'The rights of migrant workers is a global problem, and actors in different jurisdictions have to come together to make a difference in this particular area,' says Barun Ghimire, a human rights lawyer based in Kathmandu, Nepal. 'And we need to create a collective narrative that is based on a rights-based approach of migrant workers.'
Barun Ghimire is a human rights lawyer and programme manager at the Law and Policy Forum for Social Justice. Barun works for the protection and defense of the rights of migrant workers in Kathmandu, Nepal.
In this video, Barun explains his work in relation to the rights of migrants, as well as how Covid-19 has affected this group, which is facing even stronger vulnerability. He also calls the international community and other actors to come together and help improve the situation of migrants workers as well as their families. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to create a new narrative and defend and promote the rights of migrant people in vulnerable situations, especially during and after Covid-19.
Barun was also a participant in ISHR’s Human Rights Defender Advocacy Programme (HRDAP) in 2020.
Watch the video below to learn more about his experience at HRDAP!
Explore more defender stories!
Human rights defender’s story: Melani Gunathilaka, from Sri Lanka
‘We try to address issues of climate change and inequality only through answering symptoms of the disease. It's time that we address the root cause which is the global financial architecture.’
Human rights defender’s story: Bárbara Astudillo, from Chile
‘We strongly believe that we must push the gender perspective, that we must work with the present and future generations, and that also puts their lives at risk, because they are looking for their birthright. And [these risks] should not be normalised in our world, as we look to reach what is known as climate justice.'