Remembering James Bakati (1967-2024): Human Rights Champion

By Josh Leach on October 21, 2024

In recent days, we received the heartbreaking news that our partners in Kiribati, Te Toa Matoa, have suffered a tragic loss. Their long-serving chairman, James Bakati, passed away on October 6, 2024, after undergoing surgery on his leg. His death brings to a close a long career as a brave advocate for people living with disabilities in Kiribati. UUSC joins our partners in mourning his loss and honoring his legacy of devotion to justice and equal rights. 

Bakati (born September 19, 1967) was by all accounts a person of unusual wisdom, integrity, and courage. As a father of five children, he found himself facing a challenging situation in 2016 after he lost his first leg to amputation. The experience transformed him into a tenacious advocate for people living with disabilities in Kiribati, who—despite some formal recognition of their rights—still face systematic exclusion from key decisions that affect their lives. 

Along with the other members of Te Toa Matoa, Bakati fought for the rest of his life to end this discrimination. As his home country of Kiribati confronted mounting challenges—including the climate crisis and a global pandemic—he worked to ensure that people with disabilities participated in shaping solutions to these disasters. In these ways and others, he advanced the leadership of people with disabilities in addressing the shared needs of their community. 

Members of UUSC’s staff and leadership had the privilege to meet and work with Bakati through our Climate Justice portfolio. Te Toa Matoa helped lead the First Peoples’ Convening on Climate-Forced Displacement and other collaborations, including the Pacific Rising gathering hosted by UUSC in late 2023, where they played a key role in shaping our partners’ collective strategy. In these ways and others, they forwarded a just and equitable solution to climate change that would center the leadership of people with disabilities. 

Lis-Marie Alvarado, our Senior Partnership Officer for Climate & Disaster Justice, remembers James Bakati as “a truly remarkable leader and human. He was wise, inspiring, and known for his great optimism.” The entirety of UUSC’s team joins Lis-Marie in extending our condolences to his family and friends, as well as the other members and leaders of Te Toa Matoa. Whether we knew James personally or not, our lives were all touched by his legacy and example. 

The people of Kiribati are on the front lines of a global climate crisis that they did nothing to cause. And among the 130,000 people of this Pacific nation, persons living with disabilities are especially at risk, due to global patterns of discrimination, colonialism, and exclusion. But Bakati and the rest of Te Toa Matoa did not wait passively for outside deliverance from this crisis. Rather, they organized to build power and claim the rights and equal justice they deserve. 

We should all aspire to meet our globe’s shared challenges with the same resilience and courage. Bakati’s example in life gives us all strength and inspiration to continue the struggle for human rights and climate justice. As the motto of Te Toa Matoa on their website reads: ngaira ni kabane/ titebo inaomatara/ n te katiteuanaki/ ao ti korakora. Which translates in English to: United we are strong/ Working together for equal rights.

UUSC members can learn more about James Bakati and Te Toa Matoa’s work here and on their organization’s homepage. Be assured that UUSC will be working to support our partners at this difficult time. Your thoughts and solidarity are appreciated in the meantime, as we mourn this collective loss and work together for a just future.

Image credit: UUSC