Being the text of the Press Conference by Amb. Dr. Tivlumun Innocent Ahure, IHRC Head of Delegation for Africa, Vice Chair & Deputy High Representative for Foreign Affairs
Venue: Chambers of IHRC HQ, World Chair Secretariat, Abuja, Nigeria
Occasion: Instituting Protocols for the Roosevelt-Churchill Atlantic Charter Medal
Date: 12th February, 2026.
Good morning, members of the press, distinguished colleagues, and friends of the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC).
I stand before you today with a purpose that connects our past to the urgent needs of our present. In March 2026, IHRC’s International Eminent Persons Team will formally institute the protocols for awarding the Roosevelt-Churchill Atlantic Charter Medal for Exceptional Performance in Delivering Rural Infrastructure.
In August 1941, aboard HMS Prince of Wales, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill proclaimed the Atlantic Charter. Among its core principles was the right of all peoples to improved labour standards, economic advancement, and social security particularly the freedom from want.
That was not just a wartime declaration. It was a promise that dignity is built on access, opportunity, and security.
Today, IHRC is upholding that promise through concrete honours. We are instituting formal protocols to confer the Roosevelt-Churchill Atlantic Charter Medal upon leaders who have turned those 1941 principles into paved roads, connected villages, and renewed opportunity for rural communities.
The modus operandi is clear and rigorous. Prospective recipients will be assessed by the IHRC Economic Empowerment & Rural Infrastructure Projects Inspection Panel.
The Panel will only recommend a medal where its unanimous findings show measurable impact:
- Expanded rural access
- Reduced travel time to markets and clinics
- Direct contribution to livelihoods and human dignity
Only when the Panel is convinced that there is exceptional performance in delivering rural infrastructure that advances economic empowerment and the spirit of the Atlantic Charter will IHRC confer this medal upon the personality.
Let me be direct: This medal stands as a testament that infrastructure is human rights made concrete.
A road that gets a farmer’s produce to market is not just asphalt. It is freedom from want. A bridge that cuts travel time to a clinic is not just steel. It is the right to health and life.
Leadership committed to the rural poor honours the highest ideals of 1941 in this 21st century. With these protocols, IHRC ensures that such leadership is seen, measured, and celebrated.
I thank you, and I will now take your questions.