My name is KAMBALE KYAVU Moïse, born in the midst of the war in 1994 in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, still evolving in this eastern part of the country characterized by violent conflicts and where the climate crisis adds to the misery. Today, at the age of 29, I am the eldest of a family of eleven living children, including 2 girls and 9 boys. I am a father of two daughters. I have lived through the war that I continue to experience since 1994.

I am a student in Construction Engineering (BTP) and a human rights educator within VIGLOJ/RDC and several other organizations advocating for the protection of nature. I am an eco-citizen activist and a human rights activist advocating for the respect of human dignity. I am a member of the Congolese citizen movement LUCHA/RDC, AMANI INSTITUTE, and SUJAA INITIATIVE.

Nature itself is the universe in all its facets and the cradle of all life; my life and the lives of all fundamentally depend on it. Harming the environment is ignorantly harming everyone’s life immediately: neither beings nor things! Human rights are universally defined, which means they apply to all life to protect the inherent dignity of every person. As a defender or activist for human rights, I am a defender of beings and of everything that allows life to exist. Hence, I am the protector, preserver, and guardian of nature in all its biological diversity. In upholding the principles of human rights, such as equality, inalienability, interdependence, and universality, this means that the climate aspect is in no way excluded. Whether it is political, social, economic, cultural, and especially environmental rights, they all have equal importance. The denial of one right invariably prevents the exercise of other rights, and the realization of one right often depends entirely or in part on the realization of other rights. This is why I gladly joined the idea of worldwide hunger strikes alongside hunger strikers from all over the world with the aim of making the voice of the climate heard by all its devastators, all in the pursuit of rational and responsible environmental management at all levels.

Violating environmental rights is oppressing the legitimacy of humanity. This is why I call on the whole world to make efforts to guarantee the environment.