communities in countries throughout the world have sometimes been unable to afford or access medication and other essentials, including drinking water, sufficient food and power. The high death toll among ethnic Rohingya from Cyclone Mocha, which hit Myanmar in May 2023, was largely attributable to the appalling conditions in which they have lived since being forcibly displaced in 2012. The health of those living in poverty and informal sector workers has been particularly damaged by the searing climate change-induced heatwaves in Pakistan. Indigenous Peoples and other marginalized groups have been exceptionally impacted by environmental degradation associated with large-scale extractive projects in regions including the Americas and Asia. HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS Human rights defenders campaigning for the rights of those adversely affected by economic crises, climate change and environmental degradation continue to be targeted by governments and non-state actors. Trade unions campaigning to protect workers facing the effect of economic crises and those criticizing their government’s handling of economic crises have been targeted in countries from Egypt to South Korea. In West and Central Africa, human rights defenders combating corruption, a significant drain on resources, have been threatened, imprisoned or killed.12 They are among large numbers of human rights defenders who have been persecuted, intimidated or even killed within wider patterns of repression of dissent. Three people from the Guapinol community in Honduras were killed in 2023. They had been campaigning against a mining company to protect the river on which their subsistence depends. Human rights defenders have also been among those affected by the new laws or regulations restricting the rights to freedom of expression or association that came into force in 2023 in countries including Bangladesh, China, Cuba, Hungary, India, Jordan, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Singapore and the UK. Indigenous Peoples, climate justice activists and environmental human rights defenders have faced mass arrests and prosecution when engaging in peaceful acts of civil disobedience. When protesting, they have, like many other activists, been criminalized or been met with excessive or unnecessary use of force. The deployment of kinetic impact projectiles and other types of projectiles against protesters has led to thousands of injuries across the world, including permanent disabilities and scores of deaths.13 The continued militarization of the police exacerbates this risk. Major producers of less lethal weapons have irresponsibly supplied them to security forces known for using them unlawfully.14 It is important then that momentum for a legally binding treaty to control the trade in law enforcement equipment has been growing. In 2023 the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and the UN Special Rapporteur on torture all expressed their support for a Torture-Free Trade Treaty. Governments and international financial institutions should implement debt relief, including debt cancellation for countries that are unable to meet their human rights obligations due to high debt repayments. They should invest in universal social protection programmes that fulfil the right to social security for all and work together to establish a proposed Global Fund for Social Protection to support lower-income countries.15 Governments should cooperate to establish a UN tax convention. They should commit to a full, rapid and equitable fossil fuel phase-out as part of a wider energy transition package. They should work towards a UN Torture-Free Trade Treaty. They must guarantee the protection of human rights defenders. The State of the World’s Human Rights 21