Women's rights

For Sabina Moce of Fiji, to become a human rights defender, came from her own experiences both with discrimination and with a deteriorating environment. “I decided to become a human rights defender because I’ve gone through challenges in my daily life,” said Moce. “I feel that young people today can make a change to overcome issues like violence, discrimination and climate change.” Moce was born with albinism, a genetic condition that causes her skin and hair to have little to no colour and some vision difficulties. The 17-year-old secondary school student spoke out earlier this year in her native Fiji about some the challenges she has faced living with albinism, including stares and remarks from strangers. But she hasn’t let that keep her from achieving, including being awarded best Kula Film dancer in 2013 (The Kula Awards are part of a government initiative that provides a platform for school students to learn various aspects of film and arts.) She brings that same determina...

"One the most significant things about the combination of gender and climate action is the potential for climate action to be transformative," Nazhat Shameem Kahan, Ambassador of Fiji to Switzerland said. "We do not perpetuate the existing inequalities when dealing with climate change. Climate change is a new challenge for us, but it is not business as usual. In my view, gender responsiveness is a silver lining in the cloud of climate change." For Khan, a lawyer, former High Court Judge and climate justice advocate, an interest in human rights crept up on her while studying and advocating the law. "As I started practicing law, I realized the whole concept of access to justice was really a balancing exercise between the rights of victims and the rights of accused person and the rights of society," she said. "It made me ask myself some very critical questions about the way justice system was delivering on human rights issues." Khan is also ...