Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Chatham House –

Syrian President al-Sharaa on Iran war: ‘Syria will remain outside this conflict’
News release
jon.wallace
1 April 2026

In his first UK public event, President al-Sharaa urged negotiations to resolve the US-Israeli war on Iran – and discussed elections, reconstruction and foreign policy.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa visited Chatham House on 31 March for a conversation with Director and Chief Executive Bronwen Maddox – his first public event in the United Kingdom. The two discussed Syria’s reconstruction, its foreign policy, and its position on the Iran war, before the president took questions from the audience.

Asked by Maddox about his government’s position on Iran and the war with the US and Israel, President al-Sharaa said that:

‘There is no doubt that Iran… was at the forefront of the conflict led by the [former] regime against the Syrian people. However, after we reached Damascus, we did not have an issue with Iran in Tehran; rather, our problem was with Iran in Damascus, because it was occupying Syrian villages and towns, displacing people, and so on.’   

‘We have held back from opening relations with Iran up to this point. Certainly, the war currently under way is negatively affecting the region by disrupting energy and fuel supplies, which in turn affects the global economy… What we had been advising was that they should look for a negotiated solution, rather than resorting to military force, because that carries major risks.’ 

Asked by Maddox if Syria would remain neutral in the war, he replied:

‘Certainly, unless Syria is subjected to direct attacks by any party, it will remain outside this conflict. 14 years of war are enough for Syria, during which we have paid a very heavy price, and we are not prepared to go through a new experience. Those who have gone through the hardship of war know the value of peace…’ 

Asked if his government was helping to prevent weapons being transported to Hezbollah in Lebanon, President al-Sharaa said: 

‘We, too, have paid the price for Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria over the past 14 years. Hezbollah was also an active partner with the [former] regime in the killing of the Syrian people.

‘Nevertheless, after we reached Damascus, we tried to adopt policies that would not harm the situation in Lebanon. We were keen that the conflict should not extend into Lebanon, while at a minimum protecting our borders. Protecting the borders requires that those responsible for securing them prevent the entry of weapons and cases of smuggling.’ 

Addressing relations with Israel, he said:

‘We tried through dialogue and discussion. Indirect negotiations began and then moved to direct negotiations. We reached good points, but at the last moments we always find a shift in the Israeli position.’

Maddox also pressed al-Sharaa on his 2025 promise to hold elections within five years: ‘Are you still on track for that?’ she asked.

‘Certainly, Syria has taken initial steps. We held a national dialogue conference that produced recommendations. After that, we issued a constitutional declaration which stipulated that the first term would be five years as a temporary measure.

‘During this period, we also conducted elections for the People’s Assembly, whose first session will begin next month.

‘Of course, after five years, there will be further steps, as we have reviewed the laws and laid the groundwork for holding free elections in Syria.’  

Watch the event in full.

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

Kenya imports approximately 70% of its electronic equipment, much of which arrives near the end of its useful life.

NAIROBI, Kenya — Waste-pickers in Kenya are paying a heavy price for an escalating e-waste crisis in Kenya.  Exposure to toxic chemicals released during unsafe handling of electronic waste, including open burning, acid leaching, and manual disassembly, has left 61% of waste pickers in Nairobi’s Korogocho settlement reporting health problems,  with nearly half suffering respiratory illness, and more than a third reporting skin infections. 

Kenya imports approximately 70% of its electronic equipment, much of which arrives near the end of its useful life. 

Speaking during the launch of a landmark policy brief and factsheet on the escalating e-waste crisis devastating communities in Kenya and Ghana, the environmental organisation warned that toxic electronic waste, often disguised as donations or recycling, is putting lives, livelihoods, and ecosystems at risk.

Hellen Kahaso Dena, Pan-African Plastics Project Lead at Greenpeace Africa, said:

“What we are witnessing is waste colonialism in action: wealthy countries offloading toxic burdens onto African communities under the guise of development and charity.  When only about 1% of e-waste is formally recycled,  the remainder is handled in informal settings where waste pickers, many of whom are from vulnerable groups, are exposed to dangerous substances such as lead, cadmium, and carcinogenic fumes of burning electronics.

Kenya generates approximately 51,000 metric tonnes of electronic waste annually, making e-waste the country’s fastest-growing waste stream,  yet only 1% is formally recycled. 

Surveys conducted in Nairobi’s Korogocho informal settlement paint a harrowing picture of the health toll on waste workers: 61% of respondents reported health issues from handling e-waste, with 47.2% reporting respiratory complications and 35.3% reporting skin damage or infections. Children as young as six years old are involved in sorting and burning e-waste to extract metals such as copper, silver, and aluminium, exposing them to carcinogenic fumes from toxins including lead, cadmium, beryllium, and furans.

“These are not abstract numbers. Behind every statistic is a mother, a child, a young man trying to earn a living by picking through the world’s discarded electronics with his bare hands. That is the human cost of our collective failure to manage this crisis.” Kahaso added, commenting on the scale of the health emergency facing informal workers.

On the need for bold government action, Kahaso said:

“Kenya and Ghana cannot continue to absorb the world’s discarded electronics while receiving none of the benefits. We are calling on both governments to enforce Extended Producer Responsibility regulations, formalise and protect informal waste workers, and work with customs to stop illegal e-waste shipments at the border. The solutions exist. What is missing is the political will.”

The launch, held at Alliance Française in Nairobi on the United Nations International Day of Zero Waste, brought together policymakers, civil society actors, researchers, and community representatives to confront what the organisation describes as a deepening crisis of waste colonialism – the systematic dumping of toxic electronic waste from wealthy nations onto African soil under the guise of donations or technological transfers.

The event also featured an immersive photojournalism exhibition by Kenyan photojournalist Edwin Nyamasyo, whose powerful images capture the human and environmental scale of the waste crisis as experienced by communities on the frontlines in Kenya and Ghana.

These images are not easy to look at, but they are far harder to live with. My work is to make sure no one can say they did not know,” said Edwin.

Meanwhile, Ghana’s Agbogbloshie site, the world’s largest electronic waste dump, continues to receive hundreds of thousands of tonnes of e-waste, predominantly from Western Europe and the United States.

The crisis was significantly worsened following China’s 2017 ban on foreign waste imports, which redirected enormous quantities of plastic, textile, and electronic waste toward Africa. Much of this waste is mislabelled and shipped in violation of the Basel and Bamako Conventions, international agreements designed to prevent the transboundary movement of hazardous waste into Africa.

The policy brief sets out concrete recommendations to both the Kenyan and Ghanaian governments, including:

• Strengthen policy and enforcement – Full implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations, ensuring compliance by all electronics producers and importers, with incentives for eco-design and sustainable product life extension.
• End waste colonialism  – Enforce the Basel and Bamako Conventions; require that all shipped used electronics be functional and destined for reuse, with any requiring hazardous processing handled in the exporting country.
• Formalise and protect waste workers –  Recognise informal collectors as legitimate economic actors; provide safety training, personal protective equipment (PPE), and certification; establish fair buy-back and franchising models linking informal collectors with licensed recyclers.
• Embed circular economy principles – Launch incentives for domestic repair and recycling businesses; promote “design-for-repair” standards; invest in vocational training for electronics refurbishment.
• Expand collection infrastructure –  Establish accessible e-waste drop-off points in urban and rural areas; use digital platforms to coordinate pickups and track disposal flows.
• Drive consumer awareness and behaviour change –  Run nationwide campaigns on safe e-waste disposal, data security in recycling, and environmental risks, with incentives for consumers to return old devices.

ENDS.

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About the Exhibition

The photo exhibition by Edwin Nyamasyo offers an unflinching visual account of the waste crisis across Kenya, documenting the communities, landscapes, and livelihoods affected by decades of unchecked waste. The exhibition runs alongside the launch event at Alliance Française, Nairobi.

About Greenpeace Africa

Greenpeace Africa is an independent environmental organisation that campaigns for a green and peaceful future across the African continent. The organisation exposes environmental injustice, challenges destructive practices, and advances solutions that protect people and the planet.

For media enquiries, interviews, or accreditation, please contact:

Ferdinand Omondi Communications Lead, Greenpeace Africa 📧  [email protected]  📞 +254 722 505 233 

Greenpeace Africa Pressdesk: [email protected] 

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

Regional Fisheries Management Organisations or RFMOs, bodies in charge of fisheries management in the high seas, are trying to water down the High Seas Treaty’s capacity to deliver on protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030, and give themselves additional powers that would significantly restrict ocean protection measures. Campaigners are sounding the alarm on this proposed text which RFMOs have lobbied for. These amendments would shore up RFMOs own supremacy, after decades of destruction, and stall and derail ocean protection measures like ocean sanctuary proposals.

With only two days left of PrepCom, the key ocean treaty talks happening at the UN HQ this week, Greenpeace UK is calling on the UK government to ask its delegates in New York to completely reject the new text proposed.

Megan Randles, Greenpeace’s head of delegation to the UN talks, said:

“The organisations that have presided over decades of destruction on the high seas have made a completely unacceptable power-grab which would dramatically weaken the Treaty’s ability to protect the ocean.

“They are attempting to re-write the Treaty in favour of fishing industry vested interests. These organisations want to be able to block and derail conservation progress, like the creation of marine protected areas, and these amendments would give them power to do just that.

“We urgently need governments to reject these proposals before key ocean treaty talks end. If they don’t, they risk failing in their commitment to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030 with catastrophic consequences.”

Ends

Notes to Editors:

1. Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) are attempting to weaken the High Seas Treaty text to give themselves additional powers that would significantly restrict ocean protection measures. Campaigners are sounding the alarm on this proposed text where RFMOs have made significant amendments, the relevant sections are: Para 1(b), (c), (g bis), (g ter), (i), Para 4, Para 5. These amendments would shore up RFMOs own supremacy, and stall and derail ocean protection measures like sanctuary proposals.
2. The current language of the text goes far beyond the existing article 5 of the Treaty.

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

BENGALURU, 1 April 2026 — Today, as the city marked April Fool’s Day, a collective “Scream” echoed across Bengaluru. Led by Greenpeace India and a coalition of civil society groups under the Bengaluru Rising campaign, several citizen groups and individuals took to the streets in a series of public actions to protest the “absurdity” of current urban development.

“‘Stupid’ Projects quite simply put are those where there are massive delays causing disruption to people’s lives; where costs have escalated outrageously and the projects remain incomplete or they fail to solve the very problem that they were designed for. In the lead up to the GBA elections we are calling on all candidates to engage with these concerns raised by citizens and not allow Bangalore to be turned into a global stupidity!” said Amruta S.N., Climate and Energy Campaigner at Greenpeace India.  

The major Scream interventions brought this critique into public space at sites that symbolise the failures of such “stupid projects.” At the Rajarajeshwari Nagar Arch Flyover—delayed for over four years—and the Dommasandra flyover, which has seen delays of nearly six years, the actions highlighted how prolonged, infrastructure-heavy projects continue to disrupt everyday life without delivering timely relief. At Mysuru Lamps, the intervention responded to the proposed loss of a vital urban forest space for a convention centre, raising concerns about the trade-offs between ecological preservation and large-scale development.

Find more information on above three projects here: 

The “Scream” interventions served as a defiant response to a decade of development that has prioritized flyovers and road expansions over walkability, breathable air, and the city’s vanishing “green-blue” (lakes and parks) networks.

Find all the ‘Scream’ activity location and details of citizen groups here: 

Kausatubh Rau, member of Malleswaram Social said, “Bengaluru must prioritise public spaces that align with its climate and biodiversity goals—and protecting existing green cover is the first step. The defunct Mysore Lamps factory, with its dense, forest-like canopy, offers a unique opportunity to create an inclusive, mixed-use public space. Turning it into a convention centre would serve only a narrow section of society while replacing vital green cover with concrete, worsening traffic, pollution, and urban heat, without addressing the urgent need for accessible public green spaces.” 

The campaign follows months of Imaginariums—innovative, active-listening workshops held across the city with students, working professionals, old residents and new . Using art and theatre, these sessions captured a stark divide between The Government Vision: Massive, resource-intensive concrete structures that fail to reduce traffic vs The Citizen Vision: A “slower,” shaded, and interconnected city where the “last mile” is walked, not suffered.

Please see all photos and video here:  

By choosing April 1st, the campaign highlighted the irony of a city known as the “Silicon Valley of the East” relying on outdated, mid-20th-century urban planning. 

The “Scream” is not just a moment of venting; it is a call for the BBMP and the State Government to adopt the “Imaginarium” model—bringing citizens into decision
-making processes such as urban planning, budgeting and policy design –so that people are engaged in shaping the city, rather than left to live with the consequences of poor planning.

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About Bengaluru Rising: Bengaluru Rising is a citizen-led movement supported by Greenpeace India and diverse civil society groups. It aims to reclaim the city’s urban narrative by centering the voices of its most vulnerable and everyday users in the planning process.

Media Contact:
Nibedita Saha, Media Officer,
Greenpeace India
[email protected]

Amruta S.N., Climate and Energy Campaigner,
Greenpeace India
[email protected]

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 31, 2026 ) — In response to The Metals Company’s latest announcementof its corporate update and financial results for the period ending December 31, 2025, Jackie Dragon, Greenpeace USA Senior Oceans Campaigner, said: “If deep sea mining is truly the next big thing its backers claim, why can’t The Metals Company attract investors — and why do they expect taxpayers to foot the bill? Before Congress authorizes a single dollar of Department of Defense support for this industry, it should demand the answers it already paid for: two mandated reports on whether these minerals are even needed. Until then, Congress is being asked to fund a solution to a problem the Department of Defense has never formally assessed. This isn’t about security; it’s about propping up a speculative industry that risks irreversible harm to the deep ocean for corporate profit.”

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Contact: Tanya Brooks, Senior Communications Specialist at Greenpeace USA, [email protected]  

Greenpeace USA Press Desk: [email protected] 

Greenpeace USA (inc.) is part of a global network of independent campaigning organizations that use peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace USA is committed to transforming the country’s unjust social, environmental, and economic systems from the ground up to address the climate crisis, advance racial justice, and build an economy that puts people first. Learn more at www.greenpeace.org/usa.

Source: Amnesty International –

Responding to the arbitrary and secret executions of four dissidents in Iran since yesterday as at least seven other protesters and dissidents face the imminent risk of execution, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Diana Eltahawy said:

“Iranian authorities must immediately halt any plans to execute dissidents Vahid Bani Amerian and Abolhassan Montazer and protesters Mohammad Amin Biglari, Ali Fahim, Abolfazl Salehi Siavashani, Amirhossein Hatami, and Shahin Vahedparast Kolo, held in Ghezel Hesar prison, Alborz province.

“It is unconscionable that even as the population is reeling from conflict and mass bereavement amid the ongoing aerial bombardment by Israel and the USA, the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran continue to weaponize the death penalty to eradicate dissenting voices and further terrify people. 

“Earlier this morning, the authorities executed in secret Babak Alipour and Pouya Ghobadi. This followed yesterday’s execution in secret of Akbar (Shahrokh) Daneshvarkar and Mohammad Taghavi Sangdehi. According to information available to Amnesty International, authorities carried out the arbitrary executions of the four without providing them or their families and lawyers advance notice or allowing them to say their final goodbyes. An informed source said the authorities have not returned the bodies of at least three – Babak

Alipour and Pouya Ghobadi and Akbar (Shahrokh) Daneshvarkar – to their families, deepening families’ anguish and suffering. 

“Fears have now intensified over the fate of Vahid Bani Amerian and Abolhassan Montazer, convicted in the same case following a grossly unfair torture-tainted trial. The authorities have refused to provide any information regarding their fate and whereabouts to their families or lawyers since their transfer to an unidentified location on 30 March.

“In another distressing development, authorities transferred five young protesters – Mohammad Amin Biglari, Ali Fahim, Abolfazl Salehi Siavashani, Amirhossein Hatami, Shahin Vahedparast Kolo – from Ghezel Hesar to an unidentified location this morning, also sparking fears of their imminent execution. They were sentenced to death in a separate case related to alleged offences committed in the context of the January 2026 protests.

“All 11 men have said they were subjected to torture and other ill-treatment in detention, including beatings, floggings, prolonged solitary confinement, and death threats at gunpoint before being convicted in grossly unfair trials that relied on forced ‘confessions’ extracted under torture and lasted only a few hours.

“The death penalty violates the right to life and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Carrying out death sentences imposed after serious fair trial violations render the execution arbitrary. All states must urgently call on Iranian authorities to immediately halt all executions and establish a moratorium on all executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.”

 Background:

Vahid Bani Amerian, Abolhassan Montazer, Babak Alipour, Pouya Ghobadi, Akbar (Shahrokh) Daneshvarkar and Mohammad Taghavi Sangdehi – were sentenced to death following grossly unfair proceedings before a Revolutionary Court in Tehran in October 2024,

which convicted them of “armed rebellion against the state” (baghi) on allegations of affiliation with banned opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI). They repeatedly denied all accusations of taking up arms against the state.

According to information obtained from informed sources, in the evening of 29 March 2026, Akbar (Shahrokh) Daneshvarkar and Mohammad Taghavi Sangdehi were suddenly transferred from Section 4 of Ghezel Hesar prison to an unidentified location. The next morning, 30 March, authorities announced their executions. They then took four other men, Babak Alipour, Pouya Ghobadi, Vahid Bani Amerian and Abolhassan Montazer, along with 14 other dissidents, also held in Section 4, to an unidentified location.

In the morning of 30 March, the authorities cut off all phone lines for political dissidents imprisoned Section 4 of Ghezel Hesar prison, who have since been held incommunicado. 

On 31 March, the authorities announced the executions of Babak Alipour and Pouya Ghobadi.

The executions of 30 and 31 March follow the executions of four other men; Saleh Mohammadi, Mehdi Ghasemi and Saeed Davoudi- on 19 March 2026, who had been arrested in connection with the January 2026 protests, and the reported execution of Kouroush Keyvani on espionage-related charges on 18 March 2026.

Saleh Mohammadi was sentenced to death by Criminal Court One in Qom on 4 February, less than three weeks after his arrest on 15 January 2026 in connection with the death of a security agent during protests in Qom on 8 January 2026, an accusation he denies. The verdict, reviewed by Amnesty International, shows that he retracted his “confessions” in court saying they were extracted under torture, but the court dismissed this without any investigation. An informed source said he sustained hand fractures as a result of beatings.

Seven men, namely Mohammad Amin Biglari, Ali Fahim, Abolfazl Salehi Siavashani, Amirhossein Hatami, Shahin Vahedparast Kolor, Shahab Zohdi and Yaser Rajaifar were sentenced to death for “enmity against God” (moharebeh) by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran for allegedly setting a Basij base on fire in Tehran. Their sentences were issued on 9 February 2026, less than a month after their arrests in January 2026.

An informed source said Mohammad Amin Biglari was forcibly disappeared for several weeks before being moved to Ghezel Hesar prison.  Authorities denied him access to a lawyer during investigations and then assigned him a state-appointed lawyer, who failed to represent his interests during a fast-tracked trial in which the court relied on forced “confessions” to convict him. They subsequently denied an independent lawyer, appointed by his family, access to his casefile, hindering his ability to file an appeal before the Supreme Court.

Since the 2022 Woman Life Freedom uprising, Iranian authorities have embarked on an execution spree putting to death thousands following grossly unfair trials, with the pace of accelerating following the 12-day war in 2025 and reaching a scale not seen in over four decades.

Source: Oxfam –

Source: Amnesty International –

The decision by the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, to give assent to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, which denies transgender and gender diverse people the right to self-identify, is a serious setback for human rights in India,” said Amnesty International.

The amendment means that transgender people in India will now have to go through a series of official checks for their identity to be verified and approved by the authorities. 

“This regressive law dilutes safeguards and deepens state intrusion into the lives of transgender people,” said Aakar Patel, Chair of Board, Amnesty International India.  

“This law is not just a bureaucratic overreach; it is a fundamental shift in how the state views transgender people. Identity is no longer treated as something inherent, but as something to be checked, certified, and controlled. That is a dangerous precedent.” 

This regressive law dilutes safeguards and deepens state intrusion into the lives of transgender people

Aakar Patel, Chair of Board, Amnesty International India

The law provides a restrictive definition of ‘transgender’, limiting recognition to certain socio-cultural categories or biological variations. It also removes the separate definition of intersex persons and instead groups them with transgender persons, blurring the distinction between sex characteristics and gender identity.  

At the core of the law is the explicit removal of the right to self-identification – a right that was firmly recognized by the Supreme Court in 2014 in the landmark NALSA v. Union of India ruling. The court made it clear: gender identity is a personal choice, about dignity, autonomy, and the freedom to define oneself. It categorically held that no individual should be compelled to undergo medical procedures including “sex reassignment surgery, sterilization or hormonal therapy” as a prerequisite for legal recognition of their gender identity.  

The new amendment ignores the Supreme Court ruling entirely, replacing self-identification with a system where identity must be verified by a medical board and thereafter recognized by the District Magistrate. This shifts the recognition of gender identity from a matter of personal autonomy and lived experience to one governed by the state through medical and biological criteria, undermining international human rights standards and the Supreme Court judgement. 

The law also raises serious concerns about state overreach, particularly in relation to privacy and unlawful surveillance. The law allows medical institutions to share details of gender-affirming procedures with authorities. For a community already facing stigma and discrimination, this opens the door to surveillance and misuse of deeply personal data, potentially leading to harassment and abuse. It could also discourage people from seeking essential healthcare for fear of privacy infringements. 

“International standards call for legal gender recognition to be a quick, accessible and transparent administrative process based on a person’s self-determination. Instead of simplifying processes, this amendment adds more bureaucratic and medical layers, approvals, and verifications which pave the way for prejudice,” said Aakar Patel. 

In addition, the amendment places transgender persons and their allies at further risk by introducing a sweeping criminal framework. Specifically, it penalizes “compelling”, “forcing” or “alluring” a person or a child to outwardly present as transgender, with penalties extending up to life imprisonment. These criminal provisions coupled with the narrow definition of transgender persons, which excludes self-perceived gender identity, potentially allow for the targeting of traditional kinship systems, civil society, medical professionals and parents.  

The law was passed despite clear objections from a Supreme Court-appointed expert committee on transgender rights and opposition members of the Parliament. The committee had explicitly asked the government to withdraw the bill and engage in meaningful consultation with transgender communities, which they failed to do. 

The judiciary has also raised red flags. The Rajasthan High Court yesterday warned that legal changes cannot dilute constitutional guarantees, especially those already recognized under the NALSA judgement. This is a clear signal that the law may not stand against constitutional scrutiny. 

“A law that directly affects fundamental rights was pushed through without consulting with the very people it affects most,” said Aakar Patel. 

“We stand in solidarity with the transgender rights activists protesting the amendment and urge the government of India to urgently pause and reconsider this law. At the very least, implementation should be halted, and the law revisited through genuine, inclusive consultation. Transgender voices must be at the center of any decision-making process that affects their lives”, said Aakar Patel.  

Background

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, was passed by voice vote in the Lok Sabha (lower house) on Tuesday 24 March, and subsequently cleared by the Rajya Sabha (upper house) on Wednesday 25 March, completing its passage through parliament. The bill was approved despite sustained criticism from opposition parties. Opposition leaders raised concerns over the government’s haste in passing the legislation and urged that it be referred to a standing committee to allow for broader consultation with stakeholders.

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

I grew up hearing the word hosanna carried through church halls and school masses, spoken with a sense of reverence that felt both communal and contained. It was a word of praise, offered upward, shaped by ritual and repetition. At the time, it seemed complete in itself.

That understanding shifted recently, while I was attending a Palm Sunday Mass. As the faithful raised palm fronds and echoed a cry repeated across generations, Hosanna Filio David, the word took on a different weight. In his homily, the priest posed a question: “What is the nature of our hosanna?” It was a simple question, but it invited reflection beyond the ritual and the familiar cadence of the word. It was also there that I learned, or perhaps finally registered, that hosanna means “save us,” or more urgently, “save us now.”

My relationship with the church has become more distant through the years, shaped by questions and a different way of seeing the world. Yet some stories remain, not as doctrine, but as moral reference points. One of them is this: that Jesus consistently aligned himself with those at the margins. The poor, the excluded, the communities whose suffering was often overlooked. He moved toward them, even when it was contested.

Holy Week invites reflection, and I return to that word with a different lens. Because hosanna is not simply praise. At its root, it is a plea. A call that once meant “save us now,” spoken by people who knew what it was to live under pressure, to long for relief that could not wait.

What does hosanna mean in a world marked by deepening crises?

Faith should not be blind; rather, it should point us where to look. Communities continue to face the consequences of environmental degradation, often with the least resources to respond. Floods become more severe, heat more unforgiving, and livelihoods more precarious. Waste systems strain under the weight of overproduction, and when they fail, it is communities that pay the price. At the same time, conflict and war intensify these vulnerabilities. Displacement and rising costs further narrow the space for survival, especially for those already living on the edge.

In this context, hosanna begins to sound less like a distant refrain and more like something urgent—even present. It echoes in communities calling for clean water, for safe homes, for the right to live without the constant threat of disaster, and for justice. It is heard in places where people are already asking—in different words—to be saved.

If the figure at the center of these stories chose to be alongside the oppressed, then echoing that call today requires more than remembrance. It asks for attentiveness to the unequal burdens carried by communities, and to the systems that reinforce these conditions. It calls for a willingness to listen, especially when voices come from places that are often ignored.

So the question becomes personal. What is our nature of hosanna?

Is it something we speak, or something we respond to? Does it remain within the safety of reflection, or does it move us toward those who are already calling out?

Holy Week offers space for contemplation and clarity. It allows us to consider the kind of response that must follow belief. Perhaps hosanna is not only a word we offer upward, but also a cry we are meant to hear and a call we are meant to answer. 

Because if hosanna once meant “save us now,” then this imploration does not remain in the past. The cry reverberates into the present.

Is the call to “save us now” answered by changing hearts alone or by confronting the conditions that make people cry out in the first place?

Perhaps it begins there. To confront these conditions can be as direct as standing with communities already resisting harm or as quiet as refusing the narratives that keep accountability in the wrong places. It can mean paying attention to who profits from our planet’s destruction and who carries the burden. It can mean supporting movements of justice and ending greed in all its forms.

And so when hosanna is spoken today, whose voice do we recognize in it? And what does it ask of us now?

###

Eunille Santos is part of the communications team of Greenpeace Philippines. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in development communication at the University of the Philippines Los Baños.

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

Johannesburg – Constitution Hill was awash with green banners, hand-painted placards, and the sound of singing and chanting today as activists, young people, and community members took to the streets for the Human Rights Festival People’s Walk. The march, led by Greenpeace Africa (GPAF) and allies, drew urgent attention to the human cost of Africa’s critical minerals boom and the growing gap between promises of a just transition and the lived realities of communities on the front lines.

From the steps of one of South Africa’s most historic human rights sites, marchers carried a clear message: the global race for so-called “green” minerals cannot come at the expense of African lives, land, and dignity.

“The energy transition cannot be built on exploitation,” said Siya Myeza, Climate and Energy Campaigner at Greenpeace Africa. “We are seeing a new scramble for Africa’s minerals dressed up as climate action. But for many communities, it’s a painfully familiar trajectory: displacement, pollution, and broken promises. A truly just transition must start with people, not profits.”

The People’s Walk was part of Greenpeace Africa’s broader call for resource sovereignty and accountability in the extraction of critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium, and manganese, resources essential for renewable energy technologies but often sourced under harmful conditions.

“Communities are being told to sacrifice everything in the name of ‘green growth,’ yet they are the last to benefit,” said Cynthia Moyo, Climate and Energy Campaigner at Greenpeace Africa. “We are here to say: no more decisions about us without us. Justice means communities have power, protection, and a real share in the future being built from their resources.”

Participants in the march included youth activists, civil society organisations, and members of affected communities, many of whom shared personal testimonies of environmental degradation, economic exclusion, and human rights violations linked to mining activities.

Greenpeace Africa is calling on governments, corporations, and international institutions to commit to a people-centred just transition that prioritises:

• Community consent and participation in decision-making
• Strong environmental and human rights protections
• Fair distribution of benefits from mineral wealth

As the chants echoed through Constitution Hill, one message stood above the rest: Africa’s future must be shaped by its people.

ENDS

FOR MEDIA ENQUIRIES:

Ferdinand Omondi Communications Lead, Greenpeace Africa 📧  Ferdinand Omondi  📞 +254 722 505 233 

Siyabonga Myeza Climate and Energy Campaigner  📧 Siyabonga Myeza  📞 +27 83 693 8150

Greenpeace Africa Pressdesk: Pressdesk Africa 

Greenpeace Africa is an independent campaigning organisation that uses peaceful, creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.

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