Seán Arthurs (’05), Director of Global Education and Training at EarthRights International, published a blog post for EarthRights highlighting the success of the second Congo River School, which focused on equipping community leaders to champion human and environmental rights (“When Your Rights Are Violated You Must Fight,” Oct. 9). Building on last year’s inaugural event, this year’s cohort of students from around the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) “moved from gathering evidence of the toxic impacts perpetrated by corporate ne’er-do-wells to how communities can fight back,” Seán said. “Participants learned about stakeholder and power mapping, the differences between root causes and symptoms, and how to define and present an advocacy request. Congolese lawyers and non-profit leaders led sessions on legal rights, security, and how to strategically interact with mining communities.” Seán hopes that these trainings will not only help the citizens of the DRC understand their rights, but also “strengthen communities’ ability to advocate and raise their voices.”
