In July 2018, The Carter Center brought together nearly 70 activists, peacemakers, and religious and community leaders from around the world for the annual Human Rights Defenders Forum.
This year's theme – "Restoring Faith in Freedom" – was chosen because of the sense that many people across the globe are losing faith in the institutions and principles that have long guided us.
"We’ve reached the lowest level – certainly in my lifetime – in feeling that the future can be better than the past," former U.S. President Jimmy Carter told attendees. "We’ve lost faith in some things that we always took for granted: Faith in each other, faith in the truth, faith not only in religions but in societal relationships . . . we need to go back to those principles."
The group spent four days discussing pressing issues – income inequality, the rise of authoritarianism, the backlash against human rights defenders –while also looking for ways to restore the social contract and rebuild faith.
Because human rights defenders are a naturally optimistic bunch, we asked some of them to tell us what they have faith in...
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