From the Grassroots to the Global: Advocacy in Edmund Rice Mission

Edmund Rice International (ERI) is a leading advocacy organisation that uses their consultative status at the United Nations to bring grassroots activism to a global platform. Using a rights-based approach, ERI aims to foster systemic change and influence policy by shining a light on the experiences of the ‘Furthest Behind.’ They equip marginalised communities with the tools they need to advocate for their own human rights and hold state actors accountable. ERI provides training to local partners to educate them on UN mechanisms, empowering them to make submissions to the Human Rights Council on behalf of the communities they serve. They work in partnership with other NGOs and faith-based groups in the promotion of peace and justice and seek shared solutions to the issues affecting the lives of the most vulnerable people on our planet.

Br. Abu Kargbo, West Africa mission coordinator, received an invitation from UPR-Info, a Geneva based NGO, to come to Geneva and be part of a panel making a presentation to assembled representatives of UN member states regarding the upcoming Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Sierra Leone. As NGOs cannot take part directly in the review, the aim of the presentation was to persuade UN member states to put forward recommendations to Sierra Leone concerning issues of particular concern to the local Edmund Rice network. Abu was invited to make a presentation regarding ERI’s submission for Sierra Leone, which he had helped prepare, ahead of the UPR review in May.

During the presentation, Abu commended the government of Sierra Leone for implementing a range of positive initiatives since its last review, but highlighted the issues requiring further attention that were raised in the ERI submission. These included:

• The Right to Quality Education: further investment was needed in educational infrastructure and teacher development, particularly in rural and marginalised areas.
• Gender Equality: the enforcement of gender equality laws including those on child marriage and female genital mutilation needed to be enhanced.
• Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV): a more effective implementation of the Sexual Offences Act and greater access to medical, psychosocial, legal and shelter services for survivors of SGBV was needed.
• The Right to Health: an increase in sustainable public investment in the health sector and a strengthening of the health system by recruiting, deploying, and retaining qualified health workers was urged.
• The Right to an Adequate Standard of Living: Sierra Leone was urged to strengthen and expand social protection and accelerate equitable access to basic services and sustainable livelihoods systems such as safe water and sanitation, affordable energy, adequate housing and essential services.

While in Geneva, Abu also had the opportunity to lobby EU States at the EU Delegation Pre-Session, and also had meetings with Permanent Missions from Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, UK, Portugal, Norway, Spain and Japan. Abu was able to raise the concerns of the communities he serves in Sierra Leone to an international platform at the United Nations, taking a step towards creating lasting change in the lives of Sierra Leoneons.