PBI Ireland Releases 2020 Annual Report

PBI Ireland is very pleased to present its annual report for the year 2020. Click here, or scroll through the gallery below, to view the report and find out more about our activities in 2020, and how we measured up to our goals and expectations!

PBI Mexico: Call for Volunteers

Peace Brigades International Mexico Project is looking for volunteers to join their field team.

Volunteers in PBI come from different countries and backgrounds. All of them share a strong commitment towards non-violence and the believe in the capability of all people to contribute to make this world a fairer and more peaceful place.

PBI volunteers commit themselves to a minimum of a year of volunteering work in Mexico between the two Working Field Teams. in Chihuahua and Mexico City. PBI volunteers live and work together participating in all PBI work activities (physical accompaniment, advocacy, communications, security and protection training). Those arriving to Mexico with PBI will have the opportunity to join exploratory processes to expand PBI’s work in Mexico, opening new accompaniment processes to Human Rights Defenders.

To find out more and apply before 21 June, click here!

PBI Honduras: Call for Volunteers

If you are interested in living and working in the field while supporting human rights defenders through accompaniment, training, communications and advocacy, PBI Honduras may be the opportunity for you! The Honduras project is currently looking for volunteers to join their field team and take part in a unique volunteering experience. Volunteers will receive training from the project as part of the selection process in preparation for their time in the field.

More details and the application can be found on the PBI Honduras website. The deadline for submissions is 19 April.

Watch: PBI Ireland Launches New Video Series - Defenders Speak

PBI Ireland is very excited to announce our new video series, Defenders Speak, which gives human rights defenders the opportunity to discuss their work in their own words for an Irish audience.

To celebrate the launch of our new YouTube channel, we have produced two of these videos featuring Esdra “Moro” Sosa, coordinator of the Litos Women’s Group at Arcoiris LGBT Association, Honduras. Check out the videos below for more information!

Defenders Speak: How Arcoiris is Supporting LGBTQI+ Hondurans

In our very first instalment of Defenders Speak, Esdra "Moro" Sosa from the Litos Women's Group of Arcoiris LGBT Association tells us how the LGBTQI+ community in Honduras has fared under the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricanes Eta and Iota. Moro describes what Arcoiris is doing to help their community during this time of crisis.

Defenders Speak: The Legal Battle for Equality in Honduras

In this instalment of Defenders Speak, Esdra "Moro" Sosa from Arcoiris LGBT Association returns to tell us about her organisation's struggle to gain legal recognition for the rights of the LGBTQI+ community and other marginalised groups in Honduras.

Watch: The People Vs The Pandemic Public Event

If you missed our event last November, you’re in luck! We have just uploaded a recording of the event to our new YouTube channel.

In the video below you will hear from two human rights defenders on how marginalised communities have organised to protect themselves from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

From Honduras, we hear from Esdra "Moro" Sosa, Coordinator of the Litos Women's Group at Arcoiris LGBT Association on the effects of Hurricanes Eta and Iota on the Central American country, and their plans for the future.

From Colombia, Luis Miguel shares how the San José de Apartadó Peace Community has responded to the pandemic by banding together and relying on ties of solidarity and mutual aid.

PBI Ireland Releases Annual Report for 2019-2020

PBI Ireland is pleased to share its annual report for the past year, with a special focus on how we have adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic. You can either read more about what kinds of activities we have been undertaking and how the lockdown has changed our work by clicking through the report below below, or follow this link to a high-quality PDF of the report.

Peace Brigades International Ireland Announces New Consultant Coordinator

Peace Brigades International Ireland is pleased to announce the appointment of Eimhin O’Reilly as our new Coordinator.  Eimhin has taken over this role from Karen Jeffares, who initiated and founded the PBI Ireland country group in 2014 and was Coordinator until April 2020.

Eimhin has recently returned from volunteering with the PBI Honduras Field Project. Prior to that, he volunteered with PBI Ireland and served as Communications Coordinator with the Latin America Solidarity Centre. Eimhin has worked extensively in the Irish NGO sector, on issues ranging from financial justice to global health. Elsewhere, he has worked as a translator and writer, covering human rights issues throughout Latin America.  PBI Ireland looks forward to working with Eimhin as our new Coordinator in supporting PBI volunteers and PBI field projects to help protect human rights defenders around the world.

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PBI Ireland Statement on the Invaluable Work of Karen Jeffares

PBI Ireland would like to pay tribute and give our heartfelt thanks to Karen Jeffares, who recently left the role of Coordinator of PBI Ireland. Karen gave unstintingly of her time and effort in establishing and developing the PBI country group in Ireland.

Karen initiated PBI Ireland in 2014 after returning from three years as a volunteer with the PBI field projects in Guatemala and Colombia. Karen spent five years in total (2008 - 2013) working and volunteering in Latin America with different projects and organisations. This included work on a variety of community-based peace projects and social justice interventions in Colombia, Guatemala, Nicaragua and on the U.S.-Mexico border in addition to her time with PBI. Karen also served on PBI International’s Strategy Development Committee for three years (2014-2018) and helped develop the PBI Global Strategic Plan (2018-2023). She has been involved in the design and delivery of development education programmes in Ireland, including a five-week peace education programme provided by PBI Ireland, a six week introductory course to the Israel/Palestine conflict as part of the Israel/Palestine Development Education Group at Comhlámh, and in her role as Schools Liaison Officer with the Spiritan Education Trust.

I first met Karen as a student in the MPhil programme in International Peace Studies at Trinity College Dublin, which she completed before she went to Latin America. Karen was an enthusiastic participant in one of the modules I teach as part of this programme, on “Conflict Resolution and Nonviolence”. This course introduces students to protective accompaniment as a form of nonviolent action and international human rights solidarity, using PBI as an example, as well as other topics connected to the theory and practice of nonviolence.

Karen is a keen practitioner and teacher of yoga, and this is the focus of her next project, Síolta Chroí (Seeds of the Heart), based on a farm in County Monaghan. Síolta Chroí offers workshops and training in yoga and meditation as well as in ecosystem restoration, regenerative agriculture systems and permaculture. More information about Karen’s exciting new project can be found on its website. We wish Karen all the best with this new initiative dedicated to the well-being of nature as well as human beings, and we look forward to visiting her in Monaghan.

Iain Atack, Chairperson, PBI Ireland