In July 2017, the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature (APN) participated in the second regional conference for the protection and enhancement of human rights in Cairo. The conference, titled “Implementing the 2030 Sustainable Development Plan in the Arab Region from a Human Rights Perspective” was held by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the League of Arab States.

APN was one of three organizations representing Arab civil society among governments and human rights commissioners from across the Arab region. Participants discussed the idea of the right to development as a fundamental human right.

Mr. Rami Barhoush, who represented APN, intervened by stressing that contrary to other regions, the state of human rights in the Arab world is unique for a couple of reasons;  large gaps in political and civil rights have persisted, and it is the region most afflicted with religious and tribal implications. American and European terms that address these concepts are ineffective among our Arab communities, that it is imperative that we familiarize and localize these terms to truly improve the level of human rights.