This document is the official report of the First Annual Forum on Human Rights Defenders in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Quito on 22 and 23 November 2022. The Forum was convened by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
The First Annual Forum on Human Rights Defenders in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean was held in Quito on 22 and 23 November 2022. The Forum was convened by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in its capacity as Secretariat of the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (Escazú Agreement), in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Government of Ecuador, and it was supported by the Human Rights, Inclusion and Empowerment trust fund of the World Bank. The purpose of the Forum was to create a space for reflection and dialogue on the situation of human rights defenders in environmental matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, bringing together the Parties to the Escazú Agreement, recognized specialists on the subject and the public in general, especially human rights defenders, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and individual and groups of environmental defenders in vulnerable situations
