The state of the world’s human rights deteriorated further in the past year, as new, drawn-out wars and conflicts gave way to unprecedented humanitarian crises.

The impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic continued, exacerbating poverty and inequality, aggravating gender-based violence, giving rise to rampant impunity, and “serious deterioration of human rights," according to the UN Human Rights Report 2023.

In the face of gross human rights violations, Canadian Jesuits International (CJI) and its Jesuit partners continue to advocate for issues such as access to and defense of basic rights, freedom of speech, and Indigenous peoples’ rights.

Here are some highlights:

In India, 316,500 Dalit, tribal and marginalized people and 6,000 community leaders (50% women) received training on how to use and protect their rights through  Lok Manch (People’s Forum), a network of about 100 Jesuit and secular organizations in 15 Indian states and 15 Jesuit provinces. Lok Manch has empowered 326 leaders who represent their communities in local governments, completed 803 community infrastructure projects, and planted 500,000 trees to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Two projects – by the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (Zambia) and the Latin American Jesuits Conference (Latin America, and the Caribbean) – promoted good governance, citizenship, and political participation. In Zambia, 2,400 members of local communities and policymakers participated in “leadership for the common good” training workshops. Latin American Jesuits designed a virtual course on citizenship and political formation which they shared with directors, coordinators, and training teams of 15 Jesuit social centres. These centres will in turn offer this course to local grassroot communities and groups.

Centro Montalvo helped communities affected by the mining industry in the Dominican Republic to defend their territories. Activities included training sessions on advocacy for environmental justice in seven communities and six community dialogues on the local impacts of mining.