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The Gender Centre for Empowering Development (GenCED), a non-governmental organisation that seeks to empower women and youth for sustainable development in Ghana and beyond; and human rights advocacy group, DefendDefenders have launched the Ubuntu Hub Cities in Accra.

The Ubuntu Hub Cities is a relocation initiative aimed at providing safety and security for human rights activists on the African continent faced with various pressures and threats as a result of their work.

Accra comes as the seventh destination since the inception of the project, and the second in West Africa after Abidjan in the Ivory Coast.

Hassan Shire, Director of DefendDefenders in his remarks noted that the project would provide a haven for human rights activists threatened in their home countries on the African continent to be able to go about their work.

The Executive Director of  GenCED Ms.Esther Tawiah, acknowledged the difficulties some activists undergo in their line of work and noted that her outfit would give human rights defenders the needed security and support for their work.

She said they have a huge responsibility and their role is to make sure that we attend to the needs of people by providing counseling among other forms of assistance. We need to be able to support activists to integrate into the community they find themselves in”, she iterated.

She said Ghanaian activists who feel threatened can also call on them for assistance following the submission of reports to them.

The Director of DefendDefenders,Hassan Shire in his remarks noted that the project would provide a haven for human rights activists threatened in their home countries on the African continent to be able to go about their work.