Radio documentary: Colombia Making the peace

This radio documentary, produced for RTE Radio 1, explores Colombia’s historic peace deal from the perspective of victims, the government and former FARC combatants.

Research

This report, Ireland, the ESB and Cerrejón Coal, was produced for Christian Aid Ireland in 2019. It examines the relationship between Ireland’s state energy company the ESB and the Cerrejón mine in Colombia which has been accused of multiple human rights abuses, and assesses whether Ireland is living up to its international human rights commitments, in particular with regard to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Prompted by the twin twentieth anniversaries of the Vienna Declaration and CESR’s founding, '20 Years of Economic and Social Rights Advocacy’ takes stock of the progress made in recognizing, defending and realizing these rights over the previous two decades. This major report, which I both edited and contributed to, brought CESR’s unique body of expertise together with reflections from many of the human rights movement’s most respected figures, including Mary Robinson, Philip Alston, Irene Khan and others. It was accompanied by an audiovisual piece, which I also produced, featuring insights from many of the same figures.

Each year the CIVICUS 'State of Civil Society Report' provides a detailed analysis of key victories achieved by social justice organizations around the world, along with the most significant challenges they must confront in the year ahead. In 2016, the report’s theme was ‘exclusion and civil society’.

The Center for Economic and Social Rights was pleased to be among the organisations called upon to contribute to the report. This guest essay, which I co-authored with CESR Executive Director Ignacio Saiz, examines the increasing threat to human rights posed by austerity programs being rolled out across much of the world.
See: Under the knife: human rights and inequality in the age of austerity

In 2018 I was hired by Coalition 2030, the umbrella organisation of Irish civil society organisations working on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to lead in the production of a ‘shadow report’ to be presented at Ireland’s first appearance before the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. The report set a baseline for the ongoing development and advocacy of Coalition 2030 for the years ahead, as it continues its efforts to ensure Ireland takes a lead in ensuring the promise of ‘Agenda 2030’ is fulfilled.

After Ireland’s economy collapsed in 2007, the country’s government responded with a series of austerity budgets that severely undermined economic and social rights. The briefing ‘Mauled by the Celtic Tiger’, which I produced as part of CESR's ongoing work on the human rights impacts of the global economic crisis, explored both the causes and consequences of the recession from a human rights perspective.

Photography

Buenaventura. The San Juan River, which enters the sea at Buenaventura on Colombia's Pacific coast, is the busiest cocaine trafficking channel in the world. Indigenous Wounaan and Afro-Colombian communities living along the banks of the river suffer constant harassment and human rights abuses, ranging from forced displacement and confinement to various forms of violence and murder, at the hands of paramilitary gangs. Despite strong provisions for their protection and empowerment in the country's peace deal, the state continues to ignore its obligations to them. These pictures were taken during a visit with Christian Aid Ireland in August 2017.

Dharavi. The Dharavi slum in Mumbai, India, is one of the largest informal settlements in the world. The community living here, estimated at one million people, has successfully resisted a series of ‘redevelopment’ plans initiated by local government and various private sector actors. While the huge pipes running through the settlement carry a substantial proportion of Mumbai's water supply, local people are deprived of adequate water and sanitation. These photographs, taken during my visit in 2000, depict some of the local residents who call Dharavi their home.

A member of the Wounaan indigenous community looks out over a tributary of the San Juan River, the busiest cocaine trafficking route in the world. His community has been forcibly confined to their village by paramilitary gangs, and are suffering myriad human rights violations.

At the mouth of the San Juan River, the predominantly Afro-Colombian Puente Nayero Peace Community resists constant persecution by paramilitary gangs, often with collusion of state forces.

A group of Wounaan indigenous women looks out over a tributary of the San Juan River, which is the busiest cocaine trafficking route in the world. Their community has been forcibly confined to their village by paramilitary gangs.

Boxed in - three Wounaan women look out over the river which their community has subsisted on for thousands of years. Paramilitary gangs now refuse them access to their traditional waters.

Two women talk in a doorway in the Puente Nayero Peace Community.

Grandfather and granddaughter take time out. Colombia's Afro-Colombian community suffers widespread violations of all human rights.

A child waits for his mother at a store in the Puente Nayero Peace Community, near Buenaventura on Colombia's Pacific coast.

Brooklyn Zen Centre. Brooklyn Zen Center in New York is a very special place. During my time in the city I had the good fortune to come to know the members of this wonderful community. In their commitment to compassion and social justice, the folks at ‘BZC’ show how relevant and important Zen’s core principles of simplicity and interdependence remain in today’s world.