Amnesty International Canada’s Secretary General, Ketty Nivyabandi, shares Amnesty’s mission for 2025 and challenges us to come together despite our differences.
Umwaka mwiza—Happy New Year! 🎉 In Burundi, where I come from, New Year’s greetings extend for weeks, serving as a chance to reset, share goodwill, and manifest kindness. In that spirit, I wish you and your loved ones success in your personal goals and an abundance of joy, love, inner peace, and health this year.
I began 2025 quietly with my daughters, who are growing taller every day and inspire me with hope for the future. I’ve returned to the office with a refreshed focus on the big, bold, collective mission we share at Amnesty International Canada.
This year, we must come together despite our differences. As caring people, we can choose to treat each other with love and understanding and, in turn, inspire more love and understanding in the world.
Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary General, Amnesty International Canada
As this year unfolds, a handful of powerful people continue to use fear to try to divide us based on what we look like, where we come from, and what we believe. They shame and blame newcomers, denying them their basic rights. They hope we’ll look the other way while they dismantle our public institutions, allow extractive industries to destroy our environment, and reject systemic racism and misogyny as mere “woke” fantasies.
The inauguration of Donald Trump next week—a figure with a troubling human rights record—reminds us that hateful rhetoric, whether or not it becomes policy, influences public behaviour and endangers us all.
This is why our work is vital.
Human rights erosion often begins subtly: once-secure freedoms become contested, and facts give way to opinions.
In the coming weeks, we’ll finalize our election strategy to ensure that human rights remain central in the national conversation. Despite Parliament’s prorogation stalling some of our key legislative efforts, we see this as a moment to regroup, strategize, and strengthen our collective resolve.
Thankfully, there are always glimmers of hope. Today’s announcement of a long-overdue ceasefire in Gaza is a moment of relief, but we desperately need more. As Canadians focus more on upcoming elections and domestic issues, we will need your voice and support in the months ahead to keep human rights at the heart of our public conversation.
My priorities will be to prepare us for any rollback on our hard-fought rights, to strengthen our People Power, and to sharpen our public voice.
This year, we must come together despite our differences. As caring people, we can choose to treat each other with love and understanding and, in turn, inspire more love and understanding in the world.💛
This is the first step toward a more peaceful, connected, and just world—and it starts with you.
Now, let’s stir up some ‘good trouble’ and let those powerful few know we’re watching!
Amahoro (peace),
Ketty
Ketty Nivyabandi
Secretary General
Amnesty International Canadian Section (English-speaking)
