Actors in conclave in Monrovia

Human and environmental rights defenders and activists are meeting from January 17 to 19, 2024 in Monrovia, Liberia to reflect on the mechanisms for expanding their network in order to have a greater impact through their activities on leaders in the defense of people’s rights at all levels. An initiative of the Civil Society Platform on the rights and governance of natural resources of the Mano River Union (MRU OSC Platform).
"We are fighting together to defend our planet and humanity. The Platform is a network of frontline land and environmental actors, defenders operating in West Africa. Frontline defenders are often the first responders in the defense of the climate, the community, human, economic and environmental rights, but they are also known to be among the first victims of attacks and reprisals in the region. They live in vulnerable communities that have suffered historical suffering : marginalization and abuse by their governments and transnational corporations with very little or no attention paid to their fate, due to a blatant under-reporting of cases of attacks against them. International data collection organizations have not been able to fully cover West Africa and Africa in general. As a result, our people are raped/killed without papers," said Peter Quaqua, the Coordinator of the said platform.
"In 2021, the network launched the Directory of Frontline grassroots Defenders in West Africa to respond to the acute under-reporting of cases of attacks against defenders. The objective is to monitor, document and report attacks, as well as to create visibility on the work of defenders and grassroots activists in the region. We have piloted in eight countries (Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Ghana, Nigeria, Niger, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast) and we have decided to cover all of West Africa from this year 2024" said Quaqua.
"And it is within the framework of our expansion project that we are bringing all the data collectors together in Monrovia for a three-day training, from January 17 to 19, 2024 in order to allow them to join this regional program, to tell our own story and to raise the lot of defenders and activists in their respective countries" concluded the Quaqua Coordinator.
Recall that the Secretariat of the platform is hosted by Green Advocates International based in Monrovia, Liberia.
Nicolas Ekué Koudohah, Special Envoy to Monrovia