The African Defenders, a Pan-African Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) Network, and the Gender Centre for Empowering Development (GenCED) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish the 7th Ubuntu Hub in Accra.
About The Ubuntu Hub
The Ubuntu Hub will provide a safe haven for human rights defenders and, in some cases, their families across the continent who face attacks, threats, violence, and intense pressure as a result of their work for human rights.
The MoU will make sure that these people get medical, social, educational, and psychosocial help in Accra or another African country if they want it. This will help them stay healthy and grow.
Mr. Hassan Shire, African Defenders’ Chairperson, signed on behalf of African Defenders, “DefendDefenders,” the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project, and Ms. Esther Tawiah signed on behalf of GenCED.
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Mr. Shire stated that it was prudent for Africa to remain alive and help one another in order to repair the gaps generated by the absence of protection for its people, such as threatening, tormenting, grumbling, and crying.
Why They Choose Accra As The Host To The 7th Ubuntu Hub
According to a feasibility analysis completed by the partners, Accra, Ghana, was the ideal host city for the program because its political, security, and human rights records suggested that the city provided a good atmosphere for the migration of at-risk HRDs.
“Why do human rights advocates need to travel to Finland merely to find a safe haven when we can find one in another country on our own continent?” he asked.
He explained that the cost of relocating African HRDs at risk to another continent was prohibitively expensive, and the HRDS frequently faced cultural displacement, stigmatization, and cultural and language barriers when relocated outside of the continent, leaving them unable to actively continue their human rights activism.
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In 2019, he said that the African Defenders started the Ubuntu Hub Cities to help at-risk African HRDs find safe places to live both inside and outside of their home continent.
Since its beginning, the program has established hubs in Kampala, Abidjan, Tunis, Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Cape Town.
Mr. Dire stated that through their diversified local collaborations, relocation provides an opportunity for HRDs at risk to learn and exchange experiences, allowing them to have a positive impact on the host community and return home with strengthened capacities to safeguard and promote human rights.
He cited HRDs, journalists, writers, scholars, trade union workers, human rights lawyers, and artists as some of the groups sponsored by the Ubuntu Hub Cities Initiative.
According to Mr. Esther Tawiah, Executive Director of GenCED, African leaders must remain committed to power while also giving voice to the ordinary citizen who gave them the mandate.
If a woman’s voice is silenced, she says the voices of thousands are silenced and stigmatized; thus, he expressed optimism that the project will not only protect the HRDs but will also protect them from being silenced and ostracized in society.
In a speech delivered on his behalf, Mr. Joseph Whittal, Commissioner, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, stated that Accra was chosen for the 7th Hub because Ghana was regarded as a safe location that could provide security and protection for the victims.
He stated that the notion of protecting human rights imposed an obligation on states as duty bearers to protect the rights of all people with proper attention, and he urged everyone to respect the rights of human rights defenders and their work.
The Commissioner emphasized the need for HRDs operating in the correct environment to advocate for rights related to gender equality, social justice, children, women, people with disabilities, and ordinary citizens.
Despite the fact that many governments, regions, and continents have become more democratic, he said that HRDs still face threats and intimidation.
Mr. Whittal stated that protecting human rights was not a crime, but rather a step toward achieving one’s greatest potential in life and making the world a better place.