CJI helps cultivate a culture of sustainable peace and justice by supporting Jesuit partners who promote human rights, democracy, equality, good governance, and fair access to resources.

Worldwide, violations of fundamental rights persist through forced evictions from ancestral lands, forced labour, exclusion from democratic participation, the rise of authoritarianism, lack of respect for local and international law, and suppression of dissent.

CJI supports Jesuit partners who promote human rights, focusing particularly on Indigenous and marginalized communities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Their activities include civic engagement, awareness-raising workshops, leadership training, citizen reporting, and advocacy initiatives aimed at addressing systemic poverty, inequality, and violence.

Here are some highlights:

• In Zambia, the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) helps strengthen the capacity of Zambians to advocate for accountability, transparency, and servant leadership at various government levels. With support from CJI, it has conducted awareness raising workshops on good governance and citizen participation and training programs on advocacy for university students, community members, and parishes in Lusaka. It has organized dialogues between government officials and their constituents on issues that affect their communities.  JCTR has produced communication materials about these topics.
• Jesuit-led ERIC-Radio Progreso uses its independent radio station and research agency to support Honduran NGOs and communities in their advocacy on issues such as human rights, defense of territories, food security, gender equality, and more. ERIC-Radio Progreso’s slogan, “The voice that is with you,” means that “it does not replace the voice of the people, but rather makes the voice be heard,” said its director, Fr. German Rosa, SJ. To this end, ERIC-Radio Progreso has exposed corruption, electoral fraud, environmental threats, narco-trafficking and militarization, which has made it a target of threats.

PROJECTS SUPPORTED BY CJI:

Ensuring social security, building climate-resilient communities (India)
Defending human rights through advocacy, media, & research (Honduras)
Livelihood support & capacity building  for tea plantation communities (India) Workshop on Indigenous Research Methodologies (India)
Indigenous reconciliation & peacebuilding program (Mexico) Women’s leadership for democratic participation (Venezuela) )
Strengthening protection strategies for human rights defenders (Colombia)
Youth training for justice, peace, & sustainable development  (Multi-country)

Total number of beneficiaries: 4, 504