Climate Action New Zealand Project #46197

Climate + Gender Justice

by International Center for Advocates Against Discrimination (ICAAD)

Project Report | Feb 23, 2023
Highlighting Banaban Human Rights Struggles

By Sara Lobo | Communications and Development Lead

Banaba Exhibit Announcement

The Banaban Working Group is contributing a case study to ICAAD's Right to Life with Dignity project to ground our understanding of relocation and the implications for cultural, national and social identity.

The forced displacement of the Banaban people because of phosphate mining in 1945 has resulted in human rights violations at many levels. The experience of the Banaban people in terms of lack of legal protections, and the protracted citizenship struggles that continue to this day, is a localized policy challenge and offers a suite of lessons for impending climate-induced displacement across the region.

To support the Banaban community, ICAAD and the Banaban Womens Organization have co-created an art exhibit that bringing the struggles of the Banaban community to the global stage, providing them with a platform to share their history and demands for action from the governments of Fiji and Kiribati to safeguard their human rights.

Through 9 March, Tamaki Makaurau Auckland’s Silo 6 exhibition space is featuring handicrafts, photos and videos from Banaban artists and storytellers that highlight their culture and history.

Local Change Maker on Rabi shared: “As the Banabans commemorate 77 years this year on Rabi, the sad reality is that nothing major has happened in terms of development to uplift this community to thrive in their new home and in their homeland, Banaba.

“This exhibit not only highlights what went wrong with the Banaban story of displacement, but more importantly how policymakers, legislators, politicians and advocates can use the story of my people to craft future policies and laws that actually work for climate-induced displaced communities of the future. For us Banabans, we have a long way to go, and this project is an important step in the right direction.”

The art exhibition allows for audiences to explore Banaban history, the impacts of mining on communities, and stories of resistance.

In order to better safeguard the human rights of Banabans, ICAAD and the Banaban community have set out a series of recommendations for the governments of Kiribati and Fiji.

The Kiribati government must take immediate action to ensure access to basic food supplies and clean water on Banaba.
The Fiji Office of the Prime Minister should embark on an urgent fact-finding mission to Rabi to evaluate development outcomes. This trip should also include a scoping assessment to plan an election to reinstate the Rabi Council of Leaders. This should include amendments to the Banaban Settlement Act 1970.
Both the Kiribati and Fiji governments should extend guarantees of dual citizenship for Banabans. This has not always been the case, and this guarantee is crucial for the enjoyment of a number of human rights.
Both the Kiribati and Fiji governments should extend support to Banabans applying for citizenship, which should include reducing the application fee and simplifying processes.
The Fiji government should establish a Ministry for Minor Ethnic Groups with a specific budget for development assistance on Rabi, Kioa, and Rotuma.

These recommendations would begin to close the gap in human rights protections that Banabans currently face. The community is asking for the public’s help in amplifying their message by sharing their story online using the hashtag #JusticeforRabi. By providing greater visibility, the exhibit aims to provide a platform for change.

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Oct 26, 2022
Advancing the Kioa Climate Emergency Declaration

By Erin Thomas | Policy and Research Coordinator

Delegation Drafting Team on Kioa

On October 19, ICAAD joined the group of powerful Pacific civil society advocates to sign the historic Kioa Climate Emergency Declaration. Unlike similar declarations, delegations gathered together in one of the communities on the frontlines of the climate emergency, Kioa Island. Ten miles from Rabi Island, where Banabans were forcibly relocated in 1945, Kioa was purchased by Tuvaluans from the island of Vaitipu in 1947. As opposed to holding high level dialogue overseas, the Declaration brought the conversation to the community: in the village hall, evacuation center, and into the very homes of Kioans.

Key Demands

Over three days of deliberation, ICAAD assisted in the drafting of the Declaration which features the demands most pressing for frontline communities in the Pacific, including:

Greater action on mitigation, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to align to the 1.5 degrees celsius temperature goal, to ensure survival of small island communities
Urgent action on adaptation, including financing and support for community-led initiatives
Urgent progress on the issue of Loss & Damage (L&D) including new and additional financing
Ensure the just, dignified and safe movement of peoples, in the context of climate change
Guaranteed access to finance, and the creation of more equitable finance arrangements, beginning with a review of regional and international financial architectures, with input from civil society organizations and other stakeholders
Ocean policies that are compatible with climate goals
Achieving intergenerational equity, ensuring we leave a better world for our descendants, by canceling climate debt and committing to a debt-free future.

Delegates from displaced communities including Rabi, Kioa, Cogea, and the Torres Strait Islands spoke of displacement and the need for “migration with dignity to be protected by law and promoted in policy.” For ICAAD’s Right to Life with Dignity project, the Declaration brings a sense of urgency to expanding legal protections at the international level. With the Rabi delegation, ICAAD’s Erin Thomas presented on the project as well as the continued work on Rabi.

COP27 and the Power of Collective Action

The Kioa Climate Emergency Declaration will be taken to COP27 in Egypt this November, to bring the demands from the frontlines to the international platform. Lawrence Nikotemo, Kioa Council Chairman, shared: “We now realize that we are not alone in this fight. After 75 years of being in Kioa, our commitments and strengths continue to grow because we know what it feels like to start with nothing in the land we now call home. The journey was not easy but today we have seen the fruit of our commitments. Our tears of resilience have brought us this far, political will and strong collective actions are needed to reverse the climate crisis. We have faith in the work of young people taking our stories to COP. This is a historic day for our people.”

Erin Thomas speaking alongside the Rabi Delegation

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Jul 18, 2022
First-Ever Regional Climate Mobility Dialogue

By Erin Thomas | Policy and Research Coordinator

In June 2022, the ICAAD team participated in the Pacific Climate Change Migration and Human Security Regional Dialogue held in Nadi, Fiji. The dialogue brought together civil society and non-state actors for the first two days and then invited the Pacific Islands Forum member states for the last two days. The dialogue began with a review of the zero draft of the regional framework on climate mobility which was produced over the last two years through consultations and research coordinated by the Kaldor Center based in New South Wales, Australia.

The ICAAD team, alongside other civil society partners, brought in insights from our Right to Life with Dignity project including from the 18 virtual discussion series events over the last year and a half. On day one of the dialogue, the presentations and discussions resonated with many of the sentiments raised in the discussion series with other frontline climate activists. Issues around spiritual connection to land, the nuances of rights-based approaches in the Pacific, and the challenge of building accountability to the framework all came up consistently. One of the main sentiments expressed by civil society was that as the framework is coming from the Pacific and will impact and represent the Pacific, they want to be able to smell, hear, feel, and see the Pacific within the framework.

We submitted a written statement resulting from the discussions with other partners, suggesting the addition of the Right to Life with Dignity legal standard as well as adding clarity around who the framework applied to. Our virtual discussion series regularly addressed the status of communities and individuals who have already been displaced. The clarification that the framework would apply to those who have already been displaced was added to the subsequent draft.

We are grateful for the opportunity to connect with our partners and build new relationships with those in the regional climate space. Looking ahead, the framework will continue in the consultation process with the outlook of endorsement by the Pacific Islands Forum leaders by mid-year 2023.

Links:

Right to Life with Dignity Project

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