Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) member Dr Aishath Rameela reiterated that the right to a clean environment is a fundamental human right for individual.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the “HRCM-CSO Partnership Forum”, Dr Rameela stressed that every individual has a right to live in a clean environment. Her statement draws parallels to the key theme of the forum “Voices for a Living Planet: Civil Society Conversations on Environment and Human Rights.”, which highlights the interlinkage between human rights and environment.
In her speech, Dr Rameela drew attention to the vital roles Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) play in societal progress of every nation and in addressing environmental concerns. On the forum itself, she highlighted the relevance and importance of the key topic, speaking on how environmental issues are one of the biggest hurdles that we face in the contemporary world. She emphasised that categorising the right to a clean environment highlights the enormity of how environmental issues impact the rights of an individual.
Furthermore, speaking on climate-vulnerable countries and the impact of both natural and human induced environmental degradation, Dr Rameela said that it is every individual’s responsibility to limit their negative footprint on the environment and to find ways to mitigate natural causes for ecosystem disruptions. Passing a clean, secure and sustainable environment to the next generation is vital, she said. She also pointed out the importance of holding such forums between different stakeholders working in civil society and environmental sectors as key to increasing awareness on such issues.
Speaking on how CSOs can champion awareness on environmental issues, Dr Rameela drew information from her experiences and said that it is a key imperative for such organisations to investigate and analyse how developments plans are implemented and carried out and to inform and spread awareness to the public on their findings, in addition to environmental issues in general.
The forum concluded with the participation of a total of 63 participants, with HRCM and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representatives in attendance. A total of 26 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) from Male’ and 14 organizations from the atolls also attended this forum.
HRCM has detailed that this forum aims to strengthen engagement between HRCM and CSOs, providing a vigorous system for consultation and collaborative action, while serving as a platform for dialogue and holding multifaceted discussions on human rights.