and so particularly the dichotomy between the global north and the global south how expectations like that play into challenges upon democracy and different ideas like that and so my first question goes to Pepe and Alex I would like to ask a bit more about the kind of impact external expectations place upon your countries and countries within the Global South and how that has impacted democracy in your context.

Thank you so much, Kaleen.

I think the impact, the external expectations on my country, we carry a very deep colonial legacy from the British.

And that's where our laws have come from.

And also because the country, in one part they say it's a secular country where any religion or faith practices can be held, but we've been squeezed into this form of Christianity where Pentecostals are not held accountable, where churches are not held accountable.

In some way, people who practice Islam and Muslims, there's some accountability that is placed on them, but where there's Christianity and all these other forms, you find that they go unchecked and there's no one accusing people who are curtailing speech, curtailing movement, creating all these laws based on that colonial and white supremacy kind of legacy that our country holds and holds it dear.

In one part, my country is saying we are a sovereign country, but what kind of sovereignty is it if you cannot protect everyone within your borders? if you're going to pick and choose to say that, okay, this one is a foreign agent, this one is actually, you know, a Ugandan because in one part they're preaching on the street and yet they are violating people, you know, behind closed doors.

I wanted to ask, how do we see this taking effect globally? And then how does that change advocacy strategies in your respective professions and regions? So Pepe, we'll start with you for that.