I am painting a sea of solidarity to invite you all to show your support for our network of courageous 1300+ at risk Human Rights Defenders and the 1M vulnerable people they protect during these uncertain times.

As you might have guessed the COVID implications for many of our Defenders and vulnerable groups (migrants, women at risk of sexual violence, indigenous peoples, rural and peasant communities, refugees and slum dwellers) are going to be devastating. Now more than ever we need to show our solidarity for those key workers on the front line who are working extremely hard to save lives, expose human violations and give access to the basic and universal rights we are all entitled. 

I have chosen to paint a 2.6 m sea canvas of solidarity to highlight the struggle many of the vulnerable communities we support will be facing as a result of a lack of access to water, soap and food and to remind us all of their resilience and commitment to justice.

As trusted and honest leaders in their communities, human rights defenders are best placed to fairly distribute humanitarian aid and save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in their communities.

"The Social Justice Centre  Working Group has demanded that the government restores the water supply  to all slums and clamp down on water cartels. They have asked the Ministry of Health to provide free or subsidised sanitisers, to equip health centres with testing kits, and to train more personnel and ambulances. On top of this, our partners have argued for price controls on basic commodities, food relief, and public education programmes to prepare the public for the pandemic".

Working Group of grassroots Social Justice Centres, Nairobi, Kenya.