CED - Land Rights Now support

General

We are witnessing an increased number of cases of Environmental Defenders rights# violations in Cameroon and DRC. The existing cases are very often located in rural areas, with very little publicity in the cities. The public opinion, key decision-makers are oftennot informed of those cases of rights# violations. The media, judges, public administrations, members of the Parliament and human rights commission are unaware of the magnitude of these violations and there is no collective action to address theprotection of environmental defenders. In addition to the work being done by the platforms focusing on Commitment-Based Initiatives (CBI) 10, NES-DRC and NES Cameroon plan to inform national authorities of the extent of this problem, and to attract publicattention. Mobilizing decision-makers on this issue is the first step towards political commitment. The project aims at raising awareness of civil society organizations, decision-makers, the media, parliamentarians, the Human Rights Commission and relevant civil servants on the nature and extend of the violations of environmental rights defenders, and to give a public space to environmental defenders to make their casein the public. In the context of the Land Rights Now Global Mobilisation against Criminalisation of Land Rights Defenders the project will: # Document per country at least one case of criminalization of land rights defenders based on the key criteria for the global public campaign (DRC and Cameroon) # Put in place a mechanism to identify, discuss and address cases of violations of land and environmental rights (through legal means, paralegal solutions and mediation) with the media, the judiciary, members of the Parliament, members of the Human Rights Commission, and relevant civil servants (Cameroon) # Initiate discussions with government authorities(DRC) # Organize a series of public events for the mobilization day of the Land Rights Now campaign (DRC and Cameroon)