Defenders' stories

Olga Valle is a human rights defender and activist from Nicaragua who works for the citizens’ electoral watchdog Urnas Abiertas.

Alexandra Lezama is a human rights defender from Venezuela who came to Geneva to expose the facts and consequences of illegal mining and the contamination of the environment in the State of Bolívar.

Olnar is an indigenous human rights defender from Venezuela coming to Geneva to deliver important messages to the international community for the preservation of the Amazon and ancestral lands.

Alexandra Salazar is a human rights defender from Nicaragua, working for the organisation Unidad de Defensa Jurídica (UDJ), which has been supporting political prisoners in the country since 2018.

'A leader needs to have a goal. My target is the grassroots community, mostly the Indigenous persons, because I feel they are mostly left out when it comes to human rights issues and that they are the ones that also suffer a lot when there are violations.'

'We should not allow intimidation to take us away from our work. If we seek local remedy and there is no way, we should be able to at least get to regional and international mechanisms that will compel governments to conform to our work.'

‘Witnessing the realisation of human rights in our countries would be a great joy because that is what we work towards.’

'Daily challenges are quite difficult sometimes. But I am convinced that, when we do good, when we commit to human rights, whatever the difficulties that come before us, we will always be able to overcome them in full solidarity.'

'If we work together to make sure that issues are more visible, that happen in Africa, civil society organisations, I think, will be achieving more.'

'International advocacy is a tool to advance our human rights work, but it is also a tool that will support us in consolidating our protection as women human rights defenders.'

Bonnie Florencia Shariff, woman human rights defender from Madagascar, speaks about the importance of inclusive societies in a world that is becoming increasingly globalised. 

'People in certain areas do not need big hotels, they do not need a huge stadium, they just need the nature to sustainably live and survive.'