Quote of the Day
“Every individual shall have the duty to respect and consider his fellow beings without discrimination.”
— Article 28, African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights
We talk a lot about our rights.
Maybe not enough about what we owe one another.
The African Charter does something interesting. It does not only tell governments what they must do. It also speaks directly to ordinary people about our responsibilities towards other human beings.
Respect the person in front of you.
That sounds simple until you think about how often we find reasons not to.
The person may speak another language. Come from another region. Vote differently. Worship differently. Have a disability. Be poor. Be a stranger.
None of those things makes them less human.
And respect does not mean agreement.
We can disagree strongly. We can challenge someone’s ideas. We can tell someone we believe they are wrong.
But there is a difference between challenging what a person believes and deciding that the person deserves less dignity because they are not one of “us.”
That line matters.
Because communities do not become peaceful simply when everybody agrees.
They become stronger when disagreement does not erase respect.
Source: African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights — African Charter, Article 28
Did You Know?
Africans have a human right to a satisfactory environment under the African Charter.
A polluted river can look like an environmental problem.
But what if that river is where a community gets its drinking water?
What if smoke from burning waste enters people’s homes every evening?
What if mining or industrial activity damages the farmland families depend on?
Very quickly, what looked like an environmental issue becomes a question about people’s health, livelihoods and dignity.
Article 24 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights says that all peoples have the right to a “general satisfactory environment favourable to their development.”
That right has been part of the Charter for decades. But its meaning continues to matter as African communities deal with pollution, extractive industries, climate change and other forms of environmental damage.
In 2025, the African Commission moved to develop further guidance on the environmental right. In March 2026, it also stressed the connection between environmental protection and access to information, public participation and access to justice.
That last part matters.
Imagine that a company wants to begin an activity near your community that could affect the river, farmland or air.
It is not enough to ask whether somebody in an office approved it.
Were the people who live there told what could happen?
Could they see the environmental information for themselves?
Were they given a real opportunity to ask questions or object?
And if serious harm occurs, where do they go for justice?
The environment can sound like something discussed by scientists, ministries and people sitting around tables at international conferences.
But the environment is also the water coming from your tap.
The air entering your lungs.
The soil producing someone’s food.
The river a child walks past every morning.
Sometimes human rights are literally under our feet.
Sources
- African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights — African Charter, Article 24
- African Commission — Resolution on Developing a General Comment on the Right to Environment, 2025
- African Commission — Resolution on Access to Information and the Right to a Healthy Environment, 2026
For discussion: When an environmental decision could change how a community lives, how much say should the people who live there have?
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