Adriano Nuvunga on Being a Human Rights Defender

In a recent conversation with IHRB's Salil Tripathi at the 2022 Voluntary Principles for Security and Human Rights Plenary, Prof Adriano Nuvunga spoke of the corrosive influence of money in politics in Mozambique, the threat of violence human rights defenders face, and the need for widening the space for human rights defenders so that they can do their work without interference.

Initiatives like the Voluntary Principles for Security and Human Rights are important for the extractive sector to mainstream human rights risks; combining the concern with commitment to transparency can help address governance gaps that resource-endowed countries face. 

Adriano Nuvunga is a courageous anti-corruption activist from Mozambique who has played a leading role in building civil society institutions in Mozambique. At the Centre for Public Integrity, he raised many challenging questions about corruption in Mozambique. A keen critic of the extractive sector and how it affects political systems, he has been threatened personally but he continues to advocate for transparency and integrity.