Focus on Arts and Ecology

MRIs taken from before conception until two years after birth show some short-lived changes and some lasting years. 

By Ian Sample, 16 Sep 2024

Profound changes that sweep across the human brain during pregnancy have been captured for the first time, after researchers performed precision scans on a woman carrying her child.

MRI scans taken every few weeks from before conception until two years after childbirth revealed widespread reorganisation in the mother’s brain, with some changes short-lived and others lasting years.

The work, described as “truly heroic” by one independent expert, paves the way for a far deeper understanding of the mother’s brain in pregnancy. Further scans are now being gathered from other pregnant women to learn about the risks of postnatal depression, the link between pre-eclampsia and dementia, and why pregnancy can reduce migraines and symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

Scientists took 26 brain scans of a healthy 38-year-old woman who conceived via IVF, and concurrent blood samples to monitor the dramatic surges in hormones during pregnancy. The data revealed how the brain changed, week by week.

Most apparent was a steady decrease in grey matter, the wrinkly outer surface of the brain, throughout pregnancy and a temporary peak in neural connectivity at the end of the second trimester.

“The maternal brain undergoes this choreographed change across gestation and we’re finally able to observe the process in real time,” said Prof Emily Jacobs, a researcher on the study at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Scientists have previously taken snapshots of women’s brains at various points in pregnancy, but the latest work shows how these can miss temporary changes that revert to normal by the time the woman gives birth.

Writing in Nature Neuroscience, the lead author, Laura Pritschet, and her colleagues describe how soaring hormones, such as oestrogen and progesterone, drive significant physiological changes in pregnancy, affecting blood plasma, metabolism, oxygen consumption and immunity. The same hormones resculpt the brain.

To understand more, the researchers used precision MRI to scan the brain of Dr Elizabeth Chrastil, a colleague at the University of California, Irvine. She was scanned before conceiving, during pregnancy and for two years after her son was born in May 2020.

“It was quite an intense undertaking,” Chrastil said, but added that she did not feel particularly different in pregnancy. “Some people talk about ‘mummy brain’ and things like that, and I didn’t really experience any of that.”

The scans revealed widespread reductions in grey matter volume and thickness, particularly in regions involved with social cognition. White matter microstructure, a measure of the brain’s wiring, increased to a peak at the end of the second trimester before dropping back down. Cerebrospinal fluid and brain cavities known as ventricles both expanded. The changes were linked to rising hormone levels.

“Sometimes people bristle when they hear that grey matter volume decreases in pregnancy,” Jacobs said. “This change probably reflects the fine tuning of neural circuits, not unlike the cortical thinning that happens during puberty.” The researchers compared the process to the sculpting of Michelangelo’s David from a block of marble.

The study does not explain behaviours or emotions that arise in pregnancy, and many factors beyond hormones, such as stress and sleep loss, are at play. But some brain changes were still present two years after childbirth, hinting at cellular changes in the organ. “This paper really opens up more questions than it answers,” Chrastil said. “We’re really just starting to scratch the surface.”

The work marks the launch of the Maternal Brain Project, an international effort to gather similar scans from more pregnant women. Jacobs said: “There is so much about the neurobiology of pregnancy that we don’t understand yet and it’s not because women are too complicated, it’s not because pregnancy is some Gordian knot, it’s a byproduct of the fact that the biomedical sciences have historically ignored women’s health.”

Gina Rippon, a professor emeritus of cognitive neuro-imaging at Aston University in Birmingham, England, said it was “a truly heroic” project, adding: “The data from this study illustrate just how much we have been missing.”

Dr Ann-Marie de Lange, the leader of the FemiLab group at Lausanne university hospital, called the work “fascinating”. “This approach will not only help us map maternal neuroplasticity, but also identify markers that indicate risk for postpartum depression, a serious condition that often goes untreated,” she said.

(Sources: The Guardian)

With no reliable statistics on the number of homeless people in Pakistan's most populous city, there are no plans in place to help them cope with extreme heat and rain. 

By Farahnaz Zahidi Moazzam, August 8, 2024

For Mithu, 30, and the twenty members of his extended family, home is beneath the KPT Interchange Flyover in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city of 20 million. They migrated from Tando Allahyar, 200 kilometres northeast, in search of better opportunities. Unlike people living in high-rise apartments and office developments nearby, they have no real shelter from the elements.

On a sweltering late July day, as his sister Soutri made rotis on a makeshift red brick stove, Mithu wiped the sweat from his brow. “We must go to empty plots to relieve ourselves or bathe, even in this heat. We carry water here in containers from nearby colonies,” he said. “What will the government do for us? We have no faith in the government to help us in either heatwave or rains.”

Mithu’s family, like many others, are missing from any official statistics. Asma Ghayoor, director of information technology at the Sindh Building Control Authority, told Dialogue Earth: “You will not find any numbers, data, or plans about the homeless or displaced. At best, they might serve as potential voters near elections. Other than that, their issues are largely ignored.”

Amber Alibhai, general secretary of Shehri-Citizens for a Better Environment (CBE), a not-for-profit organisation established in 1988, described the homeless as “the invisible people of this megacity.” At times of climate-induced disasters such as floods, police may intervene, she said, but even police stations lack adequate space, so the homeless are usually just moved to another location. “In order to be able to monitor them and collect data, NADRA [the National Database and Registration Authority] needs to be brought on board.”

Muhammad Toheed an urban planner and the associate director at Karachi Urban Lab, highlighted the challenges of supporting the homeless. “Without knowing the exact number of homeless individuals and their locations, it is difficult to allocate resources, plan emergency responses and implement long-term solutions to address their needs,” he said. These issues extend beyond extreme heat events. Some civil society organisations suggest that Pakistan has an overall homeless population of around 20 million, or 9% of its population, but no specific information for cities like Karachi exists even in the civil society sector and there is little data to back this up.

Despite existing laws dealing with the homeless, like the Sindh Vagrancy Ordinance 1958 and its 1983 amendment, Alibhai said the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has effectively “abdicated its responsibilities.” She added that when climate-induced disasters occur, such as heatwaves or urban flooding, those affected are left to rely on the mercy of charitable individuals.  

Rauf Farooqui, who formerly served as its administrator, the most senior executive post for the city and its surrounding areas between 2013-2015, told Dialogue Earth that there are no official provisions  for the homeless. “At most, we would take them to the police for temporary shelter, or to the Edhi Foundation,” he says.

With no protections in place, Karachi’s homeless were exposed to brutal heat this summer, as temperatures remained 4-6C above average in the weeks of 23-30 June and 16-23 July, said Sardar Sarfaraz, chief meteorologist at the Pakistan Meteorological Department. “Since the mid-1990s, temperatures in Pakistan have seen a continuous rise. Homeless people, obviously, suffer the most,” he added.

Muhammad Amin, in charge of the control room at the Edhi Foundation, a social organisation serving Pakistan’s marginalised communities, reported a significant increase in mortality. “From June 15 to 30, we received 1,540 bodies,” at their mortuaries, a threefold rise compared to the “average load of 35-40 bodies that we receive daily”, though he cautioned that these could not all be clearly attributed to heat. Nonetheless, the high number of deaths reported by civil society organisations raised questions about the official government number of 49 deaths during the eight-day heatwave at the end of June this year.

Ahmer, who asked not to reveal his full name, a doctor who works in the emergency room of Karachi Adventist Hospital in the densely populated area of Saddar in Karachi, said they received all sorts of heat-related cases this year. “Heat stroke, hyperthermia, low blood pressure, vertigo – we received examples of all of these problems, particularly in people who have no proper roof or shade,” he said, adding that as the monsoon rains continue the hospital will be inundated with gastroenteritis patients due to contaminated water. “As far as homeless people are concerned, I have not come across any special arrangements or initiatives for them. They are unregistered citizens for all practical purposes.”

Syed Salman Shah, director general at the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Sindh, reflected on the aftermath of the 2015 heatwave in Karachi, which prompted the creation of a heatwave management plan. Their assessment “showed that homeless people or street dwellers were the most effected demographic in heatwaves,” he said. The 2015 heatwave, which coincided with Ramadan, drew many to Karachi from all over Pakistan seeking charity assistance, exacerbating the situation. “These are people who usually don’t have homes and squat in unofficial settlements, makeshift tents, or under flyovers,” he added. For 2024, the plan included providing temporary shelters to the homeless specifically during heatwaves by repurposing buildings like marriage halls and government offices.

According to Shah, while government departments had worked to mitigate the impact felt by citizens ahead of this year’s heatwave, it proved to be unexpectedly long. “The PDMA issues frequent heatwave alerts and daily situation reports, but no one knows the exact number of homeless people in Karachi,” he said, although he expected the actual number of people in Karachi to be high, as there is a constant influx of people moving to the city in search of a better life.   

Ironically, efforts to manage flooding, such as an anti-encroachment drive three years ago to clear buildings illegally built over drains, inadvertently increased the number of homeless in the city. In April, the Supreme Court directed the provincial government to rehouse people rendered homeless by the demolitions.

Zahid Farooq, joint director of the Urban Resource Centre, a civil society institution that monitors the city’s infrastructure projects, noted the widespread impact of such policies. “The Gujjar and Orangi Nullah evacuations left 6,900 housing units demolished, and each unit could possibly be housing more than one family. After getting displaced they go to some relatives’ place… who are equally poor,” he said. With a significant portion of the population already living in cramped conditions, the influx of displaced relatives only exacerbates the overcrowding in small, congested houses or makeshift shelters. This increased density amplifies the impact of climate events like heatwaves or heavy rains, he said. “It is not just their homes that are broken [by house demolitions]. Their livelihood and social identity and connections are scattered, too,” Farooq added.

The plight of homeless women is particularly severe, according to Neha Mankani, a local midwife running mental health clinics for underserved communities. “Homeless women in Karachi face disproportionate health risks during floods and heatwaves. Contaminated floodwaters increase their susceptibility to infections, skin diseases and mental health issues due to displacement and trauma,” she said. “Additionally, crowded displacement camps during these times can exacerbate their vulnerability to sexual violence. Unstable food sources, further impacted by extreme weather, lead to malnutrition and gastrointestinal problems.”

Mankani emphasised the need for targeted interventions to protect women’s health during heatwaves, highlighting their limited access to safe water and sanitation, which heightens risks of dehydration, urinary tract infections and complications in pregnancy, including premature labour and pregnancy loss. “It’s crucial to recognise that women, especially those without adequate shelter, are unequally affected by heat, underscoring the need for targeted interventions and support systems to protect their health and well-being,” she said.

Despite pleas from ministry officials, Indian state governments’ refusals to demarcate flood-prone areas are contributing to high casualties and destruction, writes Omair Ahmad. 

By Omair Ahmad, August 30, 2024

On 23 July, India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman specified a major outlay for flood control during her speech on the 2024-2025 budget. The north-eastern state of Bihar was assigned INR 115 billion (USD 1.4 billion) to build flood mitigation projects, while the states of Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim were mentioned without specified allocations. In the weeks after the speech, a series of flood-related disasters have served as a grim confirmation that India needs to urgently focus on managing floods.

On 30 July, the southern state of Kerala witnessed one of its worst natural disasters. Flash flooding and landslides led to at least 231 deaths, and approximately 700 homes and businesses buried under debris. The next day, at the other end of India, a series of cloudbursts hit Himachal Pradesh in the north, leading to at least a dozen dead, many dozens missing, and damage to bridges, roads, hydropower infrastructure and hundreds of buildings.

To the east, Assam had already reported 117 killed due to floods by 25 July, with 18,000 people affected by 2 August. And just this week, the western state of Gujarat has faced a deluge, leaving at least 35 dead and roughly 8,500 relocated as of 29 August.

The sheer scale and spread of these disasters has left the flood management portion of Sitharaman’s speech and latest budget looking paltry and belated. Death and destruction wrought by flooding is not a new phenomenon in the states affected. Last year, flash floods in Himachal Pradesh led to the deaths of 367 people and millions in damages. In July, the union minister of state for home affairs, Nityanand Rai, informed parliament that 880 people had died in Assam’s floods during the past five years.

Sitharaman’s speech made no mention of flood zoning, the process of identifying and categorising areas based on their vulnerability to flooding. This often involves mapping flood-prone areas and setting regulations on construction and land use to minimise damage during flood events. Despite its importance, many Indian states have yet to implement flood zoning, contributing to repeated disasters.

Part of the problem is that 70% of India’s annual rainfall is between June and September, the four main months of monsoon. This severe concentration inevitably causes rivers to expand far beyond their typical footprints. A complicating issue in the north is the Himalayas, the comparatively young mountain range created by the subcontinent pushing into Asia. Himalayan rivers are steep and carry a heavy sediment load. When they reach the plains, their speed and sediment make them prone to spreading, which can change river courses.

Adding to these challenges is climate change. As the atmosphere heats up, it has a specific impact on rainfall: warmer air can hold more water, and so rainfall is less frequent but more intense. Longer periods of steady rain are changing to shorter bursts of heavy rain.

Follow the money

A closer look at these disasters indicates it is not just these issues that are the problem. Or that large, flood-mitigation infrastructure projects have simply failed to deal with the issue. (More than 3,800 kilometres of embankments have been built in Bihar over the decades, but the flooding persists.) There are other mitigation efforts, but they are being ignored.

For example, in 2011, the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel expressly asked that some of the areas of Kerala be made eco-sensitive zones. This would have prohibited any new heavy infrastructure or buildings. Some of those areas were affected by floods this year.

The damage to hydropower plants in Himachal Pradesh during 2023 and 2024 indicates these large infrastructure projects were not designed with such challenges in mind. The flooding of Assam’s capital, Guwahati, on 5 August also seems linked to infrastructure projects and their impact on drains, according to locals – although the chief minister of Assam blamed a university in the neighbouring, upstream state of Meghalaya for carrying out a “flood jihad”.

None of the states that suffered major disasters this year had done flood zoning. In fact, in 2022, the Ministry of Jal Shakti (which manages water issues) complained that only Manipur, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir had legislated for flood zoning. And even in those places, the flood plains were yet to be demarcated. Two years later, the Ministry of Jal Shakti is once again briefing the press on how state governments are not acting.

One reason may be that flood zoning comes at a cost, and that cost affects a major funder of political parties: real estate. In the United States, flood zones mean lower demand and higher insurance costs for real estate companies. In fact, because many property developers are not pricing in flood risk, it has been estimated that the US housing market is overvalued by USD 121-237 billion.

If flood zoning was effectively implemented in India, it would inevitably impact real estate, depressing prices as people realised the risks of buying properties in those areas. And real estate companies in India are deeply entwined with political parties. Last year, India’s supreme court invalidated the secrecy surrounding electoral bonds, which enable the funding of political parties through purchasing bonds. The real estate sector was subsequently revealed to have bought INR 9.2 billion in electoral bonds.

Put simply, one of the major funding avenues of political parties would be deeply – and negatively – affected if Indian states became serious about flood zoning.

As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of floods in India, its citizens have to ask themselves if they are comfortable with the status quo. The solutions offered by politicians, in the form of infrastructure projects, have not helped. The solutions advocated by the bureaucrats are not being implemented. In the meantime, people continue to die, and their properties are destroyed, as floods – in areas known to be flood-prone but where houses and infrastructure keep being built – wreak havoc again and again.

Syeda Rizwana Hasan, the environmental advisor to the interim government of Bangladesh, speaks to Dialogue Earth about her plans and priorities. 

By Rafiqul Islam, August 28, 2024

Three days after the Sheikh Hasina-led government was ousted on August 5, 2024, following massive student-led protests, an interim government was formed under the leadership of Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus. Syeda Rizwana Hasan, a prominent environmental lawyer, was sworn in as an advisor, overseeing the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

A lawyer by training, Hasan has worked with the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) since 1993, taking over as chief executive in 1997. BELA has been instrumental in using public interest litigation to promote environmental protection. As a well-known environmental lawyer, Hasan has tackled issues ranging from the protection of wetlands in and around Dhaka, to the harmful impacts of shrimp farming on traditional agriculture and the destruction of forests. Her work has been globally recognised. In 2009 she won the Goldman Environmental Prize, was recognised by Time magazine as one of 40 Environmental Heroes of the World the same year, and received the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2012.

Dialogue Earth spoke with Hasan about her priorities and plans as Bangladesh transitions from 15 years of Awami League rule, paving the way for a new government.

Excerpts of the interview follow.

Dialogue Earth: What are your priorities as the environmental advisor in the interim government?

Rizwana Hasan: The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change was previously led by Saber Hossain Chowdhury, who is well-regarded, both in Bangladesh and internationally. He had set the priorities of the ministry in consultation with civil society actors. My first priority is to ensure that his action plan continues.

Beyond that, I aim to take actions that will restore public confidence in environmental governance. I want to infuse the spirit of the [recent] revolution into the bureaucratic process, ensuring that people’s grievances are addressed and that they are informed about the ministry’s activities. Specific actions, such as addressing pollution from plastic bags or tackling noise and river pollution, are still being finalised, as I am still in the process of consulting with relevant stakeholders.

For example, on plastic pollution, there will be regular drives against the use of plastic bags and other single-use plastic items. We have developed a time-bound phase-out plan, potentially starting with coastal areas to make them single-use plastic free. [The Multi-sectoral Action Plan for sustainable plastic management in Bangladesh set a target of a target of recycling 50% of plastics by 2025, and the phase out of 90% of single-use plastic by 2026 – eds]

On air, water and noise pollution, we need to establish a robust monitoring mechanism to avoid gathering data in a disorganised manner. Additionally, we must involve local communities in monitoring pollution.

There is also a list of encroachers [on forest land and rivers] that has been prepared. They will be evicted. We still have to decide whether to conduct a countrywide drive against them or to focus on a specific area and set an example. The government must recover all seized land, but I will prioritise setting an example [by recovering forestland and rivers from specific areas].

What legal reforms are required for the protection of the environment?

The Forest Act, 1927 and the Bangladesh Environment Court, 2010 need to be reformed. If I had the option to amend the constitution, I would advocate for the environment to be recognised as a fundamental right, rather than just a fundamental principle of state policy, which is not enforceable. We also need a law regulating the indiscriminate felling of trees.

What should the government’s approach be for managing transboundary rivers?

While river management primarily falls under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Water Resources, I will be supporting them by providing information and data on the negative consequences of transboundary actions on our part of the rivers.

What should be the government priority in dealing with climate change impacts in Bangladesh?

Addressing climate change requires action at both nationally and globally. At the national level, we have the Climate Change Trust Fund. I have to ensure that its resources are directed to the communities that need them most and are being used for long-term solutions and that funds are not misused.

At the global level, we need to advocate for adequate funding and push for a zero-carbon policy, which is also part of the interim chief adviser’s campaign agenda [of “Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment & Zero Net Carbon Emissions”].

The interim government will soon hand over power to an elected political party, what do you hope to accomplish in this short time?

My goal is to ensure that Bangladeshis do not have to breathe polluted air.  Before my term ends, I want to put in place mechanisms that will restore the health of our rivers so that they flow freely. I also want to ensure, that after I leave, nobody of this generation will need to use single-use polythene bags – a transition similar to what Tanzania has achieved. Ultimately, I would like to leave Bangladesh a greener and more sustainable country.

New Global Witness report documents the violence faced by those resisting extractive industries, with Latin America remaining the deadliest region for activists. 

By Fermín Koop, September 10, 2024

At least 196 land and environmental defenders were killed last year while trying to protect the planet from extractive industries, according to a new report by UK-based human rights NGO Global Witness. Of these murders, 85% took place in Latin America, predominantly in Colombia, Mexico and Honduras, with Indigenous peoples particularly affected.

The new figures bring the total number of killings since Global Witness started its reporting on environmental defenders in 2012 to 2,106 murders globally. This is likely an underestimate of what is happening on the ground, says Laura Furones, the report’s lead author. “Data is scattered, insufficient, inaccessible and sometimes entirely lacking,” she says.

Entitled “Missing voices: The violent erasure of land and environmental defenders”, the report identifies Colombia as the world’s deadliest country for defenders, with at least 79 murders recorded in 2023. This is the highest annual total for any country ever documented by Global Witness. Colombia’s Indigenous peoples and Afro-descendant communities were disproportionately affected, accounting for almost 40% of these killings.

In August, Colombia became the latest country to ratify the Escazú Agreement, Latin America’s first regional environmental treaty, which seeks to protect defenders, grant access to environmental information, and ensure participation in decision-making that affects the environment. Including Colombia, 17 countries in the region have ratified the agreement.

“The Colombian state has failed in its constitutional duty to protect defenders. We should be ashamed of these figures,” says Astrid Torres, director of the Colombian NGO Somos Defensores. “The increase in killings is directly linked to the country’s extractivist economic model. We have hundreds of ongoing social and environmental conflicts across the country.”

Similar trends are evident in Mexico and Honduras, with 18 defenders killed in each country last year. In Mexico, over 70% of those killed were Indigenous peoples. In Brazil, the number of murders dropped from 34 in 2022 to 25. Over half were Indigenous peoples. The report highlights the broader progress on environmental protection seen under President Lula da Silva, who took office in January 2023.

“Across the region, governments create stigmatising narratives against defenders, blaming communities and families and not investigating the companies that operate in the regions where the defenders are killed or threatened,” says Alejandra Gonza, founder and director of Global Rights Advocacy, an NGO that works with defenders in Latin America.

While establishing a direct link between the murder of a defender and specific corporate interests is difficult, the report identifies mining as the industry driving the most deaths. Twenty five of the defenders killed last year had publicly opposed mining operations, 92% of them being from Latin America – a region with a high concentration of minerals critical to the energy transition.

The risks for Central America

Global Witness says defenders in Central America have faced more attacks per capita than anywhere else in the world, with nearly all of them (97%) occuring in either Honduras, Guatemala or Nicaragua. In 2023, 36 defenders were killed in the region. That means almost one in five of the killings documented globally took place in a region with less than 1% of the world’s population.

“After the pandemic, there has been a hike in large infrastructure and extractivist projects, leading to threats to defenders,” says César Artiga, a people’s representative to the Escazú Agreement from El Salvador. “However, it’s not just the private sector. In some cases, the threats come from the state, criminalising defenders and creating smear campaigns.”

The report says Central America has been subject to “unsustainable” extraction, in industries such as logging and mining. Communities are said to be forced to resist in the absence of proper consultation procedures. Events in Panama last year demonstrated this, where plans to award a mining contract were cancelled following nationwide protests that lasted a month.

According to Global Witness, expanding authoritarian regimes in Central America are granting impunity to political and economic elites that use violence to maintain control of natural resources. The region contains 5-12% of the world’s biodiversity in its patchwork of tropical ecosystems, covering a narrow strip between the Pacific and Caribbean coastlines.

“These regimes exist and work in tandem with concentrated economic elites, who have de facto power in the territories. Both benefit from exploiting natural resources,” says Bertha Zuñiga Cáceres, an activist from Honduras. Her mother Berta Cáceres, a noted activist and Indigenous leader who had led opposition to a hydropower project, was killed in 2016. “It’s heartbreaking not to find justice for environmental defenders in the region.”

The challenges ahead

The “Missing voices” report calls on governments to create a safe environment for environmental defenders. It says they should be able to freely exercise their roles without fearing for their lives. The authors urge governments to enforce existing laws and mechanisms, such as the Escazú Agreement and the Aarhus Convention.

At April’s annual Escazú Agreement summit in Chile, countries approved a plan to protect environmental defenders. It is yet to be implemented. At the same time, a group of countries including Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Peru continue to resist ratifying the Escazú Agreement, with its governments generally putting forward arguments that the treaty is anti-development.

“Even with those who signed it, there’s not a sense of urgency regarding Escazú,” says Artiga. “They are not moving as fast as they should with implementing the actions contemplated in the agreement.”

The report also asks governments to systematically identify, document and analyse attacks against environmental defenders, with the aim of developing better enforcement measures. It says data gathering should be transparent and participatory, as in many cases it is the defenders themselves who have the most detailed information.

“Missing voices” says businesses should implement procedures to identify and mitigate harm against defenders throughout their operations, such as due diligence checks for their supply chains. It also urges zero tolerance for attacks and reprisals against defenders, and standards that their suppliers must also follow.

“As the climate crisis accelerates, those who use their voice to courageously defend our planet are met with violence, intimidation and murder. This is simply unacceptable,” says Furones. “Governments cannot stand idly by; they must take decisive action to protect defenders and to address the underlying drivers of violence.”