I have been a human rights activist for over 30 years. In that time, I have witnessed up close wartime atrocities, gross miscarriages of justice, and venal behavior by the powerful. People I admired and cared about were killed. As a women’s rights activist, I documented and reported on the terrible things that men do to women, reinforcing and exploiting their second-class status. Just when I thought I had seen the worst, I learned something new about the depths of human depravity.
Yet for all these years, I have remained optimistic that we can do better. Why? Because the incredible leadership, impact and example of local human rights activists around the world gives me enduring hope that global change is still possible.
That belief led me, 20 years ago, to join forces with a visionary group of donors to start the Fund for Global Human Rights. Together, we sought to raise and deliver money and other forms of support to the growing ranks of front-line human rights activists working to effect change in their own communities.
The arc of progress felt inevitable then. Fifty years of human rights research, advocacy and norm-building had produced landmark treaties, multilateral institutions, and at least a loose consensus that human rights matter. Seduced by progress, we believed that supporting civil society would be straightforward and noncontroversial.
Two decades later, it can feel like that moment has come and gone. Civil society is under siege and authoritarianism is on the rise. Power-hungry autocrats have grown bolder in their efforts to silence dissent, trampling on the rights and destroying the lives of those who dare to challenge them. A global pandemic has exposed the dysfunction of a global system incapable of protecting the well-being of humanity. Climate change and conflict are driving people to migrate in search of peace, safety and a decent living — only to be met with suspicion and hatred at every turn. Inequality is rampant; corporate greed is only making it worse. Hostile states are undermining the multilateral human rights framework.
It’s time for a new approach. After two decades of working with and learning from grassroots activists, I firmly believe they offer the moral courage, resilience and clarity of vision to drive human rights forward in the 21st century — and put a stop to the rise of the new authoritarians.
First, local activists know how to make change that truly matters. Communities from the Andes to Zanzibar have adopted human rights ideas and norms to advance their causes. But they aren’t tangled up in arcane legal arguments; they’re rooted in ideas that inspire and frameworks that offer accountability. Local advocates, using the language and tools of human rights, have changed people’s lives in tangible ways and built popular support for systemic change as a result.
I will never forget sitting around the table with the women of Sepur Zarco as they shared stories of their sons, brothers and husbands who were killed by the Guatemalan military during the country’s civil war. They told me how they were pressed into domestic and sexual servitude, and robbed of their land and livelihoods. Yet these women, speaking only Q’eqchi’ and without formal education, took on the Guatemalan generals. With the help of local lawyers and women’s rights champions, they brought their case all the way to the Guatemalan Supreme Court, where they saw the perpetrators convicted and the Guatemalan state ordered to pay reparations.
Second, local activists have shown the power of alliances and movements — both within their countries and across national borders. Through collaboration, they’ve built constituencies that in turn build political power
Roughly 10 years ago, I attended the first gathering of a national network of activists monitoring the extraction of natural resources in Liberia. Government reforms had given them access to national and local government budgets; they reviewed them to determine whether the profits from resource extraction were being spent as promised. People walked — some for days — to be there. Government ministers came, too. And for the first time, those ministers were in the hot seat, asked to explain their actions and admit their mistakes. After years of civil war, exclusion and neglect, Liberians came together to create the kind of transparency and accountability that would have been unimaginable only a few years before.
With so much going wrong in the world — volatile and divisive politics, war, hunger, a flailing global economy, climate change — the temptation is to look for strong leaders with the muscle to implement solutions. For donors — and voters — this temptation can translate into top-down decision-making that negates the vision and potential of local leaders. The desire for quick wins is understandable but wrong-headed. The solutions with staying power are those built on a foundation of homegrown civil society activism. Look beyond the halls of power and turn instead to local voices and movements for answers. That’s where hope lives on.
Regan Ralph recently stepped down after 20 years serving as president and CEO of the Fund for Global Human Rights.
