Quito, 22 and 23 November 2022

In November 2022, Protection International (PI) participated in the first annual forum on human rights defenders in Latin America and the Caribbean environmental matters. Held in Quito on 22 and 23 November 2022, the forum brought together all Parties to the Escazú Agreement to discuss the protection of environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs) as per Article 9 of the Agreement[1].

Attached is the official report of the First Annual Forum on Human Rights Defenders in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Quito on 22 and 23 November 2022. The Forum was convened by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), in its capacity as Secretariat of the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement), in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Government of Ecuador, and it was supported by the Human Rights, Inclusion and Empowerment trust fund of the World Bank.

[1] For more background, see the Escazú Agreement entry on our FOCUS Observatory.

Find the original document here in English and Spanish (CEPAL– ECLAC).