November at Manushya - Our Work On The Ground!

November really flew by as we mainly spent it with community members on the ground! It's already mid-December - and we wanted to share with you our monthly video-recap of what we achieved in November along with some behind the scenes pictures! This month, we continued to observe the pro-democracy protests movement. We tried our best to keep the world informed on #WhatsHappeningInThailand through news updates, educational posts, and videos providing necessary information about the #ThailandProtest2020 and analysing the actions of the Thai military-backed government through the lens of International Human Rights Law. More importantly, after the violent dispersal of pro-democracy protesters in front of the National Parliament on November 17, 2020, Manushya Foundation along with 12 other international civil society organisations released a joint statement condemning the Thai police’s unnecessary and excessive use of force against peaceful protesters. In terms of community empowerment, we are so happy we were finally able to go back on the ground post Covid-19 restrictions! In 2021, Thailand will be reviewed on all its human rights record by the United Nations through the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process and on its obligations related to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). It is vital for us to share knowledge with grassroot communities on the ground so they can engage in these UN reviews to tell their #Truth to power, seek justice and hold the government accountable for its human rights violations! For that purpose, we held 4 regional workshops on the CERD & UPR reviews along with Focus Group Discussions with #LGBTIQ+ #Youth. We are so grateful for all the participants from Bangkok, Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai, and Pattani for joining our efforts and for sharing their struggles and community-led solutions, as nobody knows better than them their very own issues and what needs to be done to improve their livelihoods. This is also the first time we're working directly with Young People by having them lead Focus Group Discussions on the issues that LGBTIQ+ youth are facing in Thailand.

In November, we also launched the CSO Sustainability Index Report for Thailand, in Pattani, showcasing that CSOs' sustainability has deteriorated from 2018 to 2019 in Thailand, with grassroot communities, civil society organizations and human rights defenders facing a closing civic space offline and online, judicial harassment, lack of financial support and a public image being undermined by information operations (IOs).

We are very thankful for all your support as it means a lot to us. Thank you for supporting us through our social media platforms, for following the updates of our work on the ground and analysis of governments' actions with regard to international human rights law, and for helping us amplifying the #voices of marginalized communities so they can be heard Stay tuned for our December monthly-recap as we travelled to Koh Lipe, Southern Island, to interview indigenous peoples who are struggling with corporate capture on the island and hotel resorts pushing them away from their ancestral land. They have been left behind by government policies and actions and are living in severe conditions of poverty. The World needs to know about their unjust realities.