“We feel safer since we started being accompanied by PBI”. “Whenever I travel to certain places in the country I always ask for PBI accompaniment”. “The presence of PBI during hearings helps a lot. Our people feel supported and can identify as human rights defenders”.
This is what members of different organisations have said about PBI’s holistic accompaniment in Honduras, which has been offered to more than 10 at-risk organisations and individuals since 2013, when the first PBI field team was established in Honduras.
2018 marks the sixth year of the Peace Brigades International (PBI) project in Honduras, and we have accompanied human rights defenders (HRDs) on at least 335 occasions during activities related to the defence of the rights of women, sexual diversity, land and territory, and freedom of expression, as well as activities related to criminalisation and impunity. Through our accompaniments, observations and visits to the offices of HRDs, we have made visible defenders’ work and dissuaded possible attacks.
As part of our political accompaniment and advocacy work, throughout 2018 we have held a total of 58 meetings with national authorities and 53 with international authorities and the diplomatic corps, in which we have promoted the protection of defenders’ work and expressed our concerns about human rights violations. With the aim of contributing to capacity-building for national organisations, we have held 18 workshops and activities, including developing the Community for Psychological Learning (Comunidad de Aprendizaje Psicosocial - CAP) together with other organisations.
Honduras abroad
As well as working within Honduras, we have raised awareness at the international level. With PBI’s support, 7 defenders have travelled to Europe and the United States to talk about the situation in their country and their organisation.
This work has been possible thanks to the commitment of our 14 volunteers from 8 different countries, who were part of the field team in 2018. It is also important to highlight the support of our donors who have funded our work both in Tegucigalpa and in 12 of the 18 departments where we have maintained a presence during these past 12 months.
However, without a doubt, the protagonists of our story continue to be those people who day by day work to defend human rights and land rights. It is these people who inspire us to continue opening up space for peace.
Click here to view the infographic related to the PBI Honduras’s work during 2018
