We stand together, with you.
We can’t sugarcoat it. It has been a tough time for the issues we all care about: protecting freedom of expression, human rights, and media freedom around the world.
Our freedoms are enshrined in laws – but this very fact increasingly appears to be inconsequential.
Despite the fears – the journalists at risk of surveillance, censorship, and violence, the diminished right to protest, the threats to our ability to access information about our health, the environment and climate change – our community knows how to fight. We know how to handle adversity. Around the world, the attacks on freedom of expression, and those who fight for it, have been unrelenting; crisis is what we live with day in and day out.
Despite this, every day, individuals and communities are taking action and finding the right levers to push back against the tide of authoritarianism that threatens us all in different ways.
Today, as through history, resistance movements continue to inspire and guide us. They remind us all that standing up and speaking out does make a difference:
In Poland, activists continue their work to restore democratic values after eight years of authoritarian rule, demanding reproductive rights and equal rights for the LGBTQ community
In Thailand, grassroots groups continue to work locally to support people caught in violence between the government and separatists
In Serbia, a student-led protest movement is speaking out against government incompetence and lack of accountability
In Iran, despite crackdown, the Woman Life Freedom movement continues to inspire action, showing us that every voice can make a difference
Around the world, communities are standing up for media freedom. Ending impunity for crimes against journalists and demanding accountability from the government in Mexico, or the authorities in Israel, is about protecting our right to know
ARTICLE 19 is humbled to be part of a global movement to raise voices so there can be no ignoring them in the halls of power.
So today, remember:
We are strong, brave and creative. Now, more than ever, our movement needs us to support each other, find ways of resisting hate, and fight.
Together we must strengthen a diverse, collective, and focused movement to protect our right to speak and our right to know.
Without these freedoms, the world will be even less safe, less secure and even more unequal than it is now.
In the face of the pain that many are suffering, there is no escaping this truth: making gains is hard and making them last is even harder. That is why ARTICLE 19, our partners, and our supporters are here for the long haul.
We will keep fighting for a world where all people can hear your voice – wherever you are.
In strength,
Quinn McKew
Executive Director
ARTICLE 19
