Posts Tagged ‘defenders at risk’

« Older posts

Call for applications for the 2026 Global South Fellowship programme

January 8, 2026

This opportunity allows human rights defenders to develop their projects and take part in an academic and cultural exchange in a safe space. Apply before January 21. Are you a human rights defender from a country in the Global South who must carry out your work in an emergency or high-risk context? Our fellowship program could offer you a calm and safe space to work; provide you with the opportunity to build bonds of solidarity and companionship; and exchange knowledge with our researchers on tools and strategies for action-oriented research.

We have six thematic lines and areas at Dejusticia to which you can apply.

If you believe your profile and needs are a good fit with our fellowship program, please check our terms and apply before January 21, 2026 (11:59 P.M., UTC-05:00).

We are looking for people with different profiles:

  1. Those who come from an emergency or high-risk context. An emergency or high-risk context may include any of the following:
    • The country/city where the fellow works is experiencing armed conflict, civil unrest, or is under an authoritarian government with an imminent threat to the individual security of the candidate.
    • The fellow and/or their organization has been the target of threats, intimidation, or populist propaganda that poses a risk to their human rights defense work or to their family’s safety.
    • The fellow or their organization has been excluded from funding due to government or private sector influence, or has been subjected to pressure aimed at obstructing the work of the individual/organization.
  2. Those who are at risk of burnout and are seeking a quiet place to continue working on human rights issues, but in a different context.
  3. Those who belong to human rights organizations in the Global South and wish to engage in exchanges and joint research or advocacy work with Dejusticia.
  4. Those who intend to build long-term relationships with other fellows and with Dejusticia. This ensures that our fellowships function as accelerating nodes for connections that will make the human rights movement more coordinated and generate greater impact.

What will fellows receive from Dejusticia?

Dejusticia will cover travel expenses (visa, airfare) and provide a monthly stipend based on the fellow’s profile and experience. While Dejusticia will provide initial support at the beginning of the process—including, during the first two weeks of work, a training space on amphibious research and on Dejusticia’s work—it is important to note that selected fellows will be responsible for managing their stipend to cover their housing, transportation, and food needs.

What will be the commitments of fellows from the Global South?

The fellow will allocate their time at Dejusticia as follows:

  • 65% to develop and implement work associated with a broader project of the host area/line.
  • 25% to continue supporting the work of their home organization remotely.
  • 10% to develop at least one blog post reflecting on their experience or work, to be published on Dejusticia’s Global Blog.

How to apply to the fellowship program

The call will be open until January 21, 2026

Dejusticia will cover travel expenses (visa, airfare) and provide a monthly stipend based on the fellow’s profile and experience. While Dejusticia will provide initial support at the beginning of the process, it is important to note that selected fellows will be responsible for managing their stipend to cover housing, transportation, and food needs. The program also includes one week of in-person training at Dejusticia on action-oriented research tools, writing, among others, as well as an organizational induction.

DOWNLOAD ALL THE INFORMATION TO APPLY HERE
FIND THE APPLICATION FORM HERE

Posted in Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Nominations for the 2026 Front Line Defenders Award now open

November 6, 2025
Home

The Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk [see also https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/2E90A0F4-6DFE-497B-8C08-56F4E831B47D] was established in 2005. You can now submit your nomination for the 2026 Front Line Defenders Award online. Simply answer the questions by clicking the link below and when you have answered all of the questions, input the four digit security code and click on the submit button.

The Front Line Defenders Award is intended for HRDs for whom visibility can contribute to their security and who have not already had a lot of international recognition for their human rights work.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS: 23rd January 2026

Selection Criteria:

  • the nature of human rights defender’s work
  • the impact of human rights defender’s work in advancing the rights of others
  • the level of risk or negative consequences associated with human rights defender’s work
  • the continued commitment to advancing human rights, despite high level risks
  • the potential impact of receiving the Award on the human rights defender and their work

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/secure/nomination.php?l=en

https://www2.fundsforngos.org/individuals/front-line-defenders-award-for-human-rights-defenders-at-risk-2026/

Posted in awards, Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Dejusticia 2025 fellowships for defenders from the Global South

December 20, 2024

Members of the 2024 cohort of our Global South Defenders program.

This opportunity allows human rights defenders from countries in the Global South who are in emergency or high-risk situations to develop their projects and participate in an academic and cultural exchange in a safe space.

There are 14 thematic areas within Dejusticia to whichyou can apply.

The fellowship will begin in the second semester of 2025.

Who is eligible to be part of the program?

We seek human rights defenders from the Global South who meet the following criteria:

  • They come from an emergency or high-risk context. This includes regions affected by armed conflict, civil unrest, or authoritarian regimes, where there is an imminent threat to the security of the grantee. This may involve situations where the grantee and/or their organization have been subjected to threats, intimidation, or populist propaganda, or where they have been excluded from funding due to government or private sector influence.
  • The grantee may be at risk of burnout and is seeking a quiet place to continue working on human rights issues, but in a different context.
  • They belong to human rights organizations in the Global South that are interested in engaging in exchanges and joint research or advocacy work with Dejusticia.
  • They aim to build lasting relationships with other fellows and with Dejusticia. This ensures that our fellowships function as acceleration hubs for connections that will make the human rights movement more cohesive and impactful.

What will fellows receive from Dejusticia?

Dejusticia will cover travel expenses (visa, tickets) and provide a monthly stipend based on the fellow’s profile and experience. Although Dejusticia will offer support at the beginning of the process, including a two-week training period on applied research and on the fellow’s specific work, it is important to note that fellows will be responsible for managing their stipend to cover housing, transportation, and food expenses.

What are the commitments of the Global South Fellow?

The fellow will allocate their time at Dejusticia as follows:

How to apply for the fellowship program?

Before January 31, 2025, please fill out the form

CF: 2024:

Dejusticia: Fellowship Program for Human Rights Defenders from the Global South

Posted in Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

More on the EU Visa Framework for at-risk Human Rights Defenders

December 21, 2023

An initiative of ProtectDefenders.eu, the EU Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society

Human rights defenders have the right to carry out their legitimate work safely and to access support and protection when they are at risk, especially those who operate in the most difficult contexts. Their right to defend rights has been systematically enshrined by the European Union in its political guidelines, and statements, as well as in its financial programming and external actions. In fact, the European Union is a leading actor in the promotion and protection of human rights in the world and it is regarded by the human rights defenders’ community as an invaluable source of empowerment and legitimacy. [see the call of 2022:https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2022/09/24/call-for-an-eu-visa-framework-for-at-risk-human-rights-defenders/]

Human rights defenders often carry out their work at great personal risk, and increasingly face killings, attacks, threats, and acts of intimidation because of their peaceful activities, in addition to being subjected to repression, restrictive legislation, and judicial harassment. For these at-risk human rights defenders, the possibility of accessing a visa to a European territory emerges as an essential security and protection tool, which empowers them to carry out their activities in their countries in a more secure and protected way. Visas and multiple-entry visas are widely regarded by the international human rights defenders community as a vital element of a comprehensive security strategy, one that enables defenders to consider the possibility to move in and out of their country in a way that allows them to manage the level of risk that they face as a result of their work, and to continue to work in their communities without forcing them to resort to permanent asylum paths when facing aggravated threats. However, despite political commitments and existing guidelines, the EU and its member states’ stated support for human rights defenders is not consistent with the current EU visa policies and practices, as human rights defenders at risk around the world lack consistent procedures to effectively and predictably access visas for the EU territory.

The community in support of human rights defenders, including the Consortium of organisations implementing the European Union Human Rights Defenders mechanism ProtectDefenders.eu, have systematically noted and documented with great concern the numerous, diverse, and blatant obstacles for defenders to access EU visas. ProtectDefenders.eu – which has supported 45,000+ human rights defenders and civil society organisations to continue their work in the most difficult situations since 2015 – encounters these obstacles also in relation to its daily operations delivering EU-funded programmes of practical support for human rights defenders. Every day, human rights defenders face an array of impediments that hinder their access to this essential security and protection tool, preventing them from accessing safe haven when necessary, as well as from engaging in existing opportunities for rest and respite and temporary relocation programmes, or carrying out essential international advocacy, mobilisation, or networking activities in the EU territory.

This lack of reliable, predictable, and coherent access for human rights defenders to EU visas unnecessarily aggravates the risk, isolation, and vulnerability they face as a result of their work – which is exacerbated for those defenders belonging to particularly threatened groups – such as women human rights defenders, LGBTI rights defenders, or indigenous rights defenders; for those facing spurious criminalisation processes aimed at impeding their mobility, or for those without secure access to basic travel documents. Major crises affecting human rights defenders and massive backlash against civil society notoriously reveal the gap in the effective implementation of the EU political commitments and guidelines related to visas, as recently illustrated by the demand for support from those human rights defenders and civil society members in Afghanistan in need of urgent evacuation. A more predictable, coordinated, and consistent policy on visas for human rights defenders – allowing for flexible and reactive protocols in critical situations, would reportedly have avoided, or at least mitigated the deficiencies of the EU response, or lack thereof.

With the exception of the positive examples of current good practices and initiatives implemented by some Member States, European institutions, or political actors in the EU, the EU as a whole has yet to make a serious effort to mainstream access to at-risk human rights defenders in their visa policies. The current legislative instruments and established practices fail to comply with the consistency required for the Union’s actions enshrined in the EU Treaties and attest to a lack of harmonisation, effort-sharing, and coordination among both the Member States and the European institutions.

ProtectDefenders.eu and the international civil society organisations participating in this initiative are convinced that with political will and clear guidelines, the EU can and should return to its political mandate in favour of human rights and human rights defenders, and lead on the implementation of concrete initiatives, good practises, and policy changes to ensure that at-risk human rights defenders can access European Union visas with guarantees, security, and predictability.

ProtectDefenders.eu and the international civil society organisations participating in this initiative are calling on all European Union actors to urgently implement all appropriate measures at all levels to develop and promote an enabling framework for human rights defenders to access visas for the EU, one that guarantees predictability, consistency, and protection for those who are most at-risk HRDs.

More specifically, ProtectDefenders.eu and the international civil society organisations participating in this initiative call on the EU stakeholders to:

  • propose a specific facilitated procedure for human rights defenders within the EU Visa Code, setting common criteria and defining the elements of a facilitated procedure;
  • include instructions in the EU Visa Handbook on granting facilitations to HRDs and their family members;
  • work towards amending the legal instruments on visas, particularly the Visa Code,
  • create an EU Directive to protect Human Rights Defenders (HRDs), outlining ways to support and protect them in accessing and staying in the EU, as well as meeting their support needs to continue their work. The Directive would provide a legal tool to grant HRDs at risk access and stay in the EU for a specified time.; and
  • introduce amendments to the Temporary Protection Directive that allow temporary protection status in the EU to be granted to defenders at risk.
Visa for Defenders: International civil society organisations call for an effective and enabling EU Visa Framework for at-risk Human Rights Defenders

see also: https://bnnbreaking.com/breaking-news/human/fra-report-proposes-changes-to-eu-visa-code-handbook-for-human-rights-defenders/

Posted in EU, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Shelter City Netherlands: latest call for applications for March 2024

August 19, 2023

Justice & Peace Netherlands is launching a new call for applications for human rights defenders at risk to participate in Shelter City. The deadline for applications is 14 September 2023 at 23:59 CEST. Shelter City is a global movement of cities, organizations and people who stand side by side with human rights defenders at risk. Shelter City provides temporary safe and inspiring spaces for human rights defenders at risk where they re-energise, receive tailormade support and engage with allies.

From March 2024 onwards, several cities in the Netherlands will receive human rights defenders for a period of three months. At the end of their stay in the Netherlands, participants are expected to return with new tools and energy to carry out their work at home. [see for previous call: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2023/03/22/call-for-applications-for-september-2023-by-shelter-city-netherlands/]

Journalists’ Safe Haven Initiative

Justice & Peace aims to promote the safety of journalists, and in particular women journalists, worldwide so that they can build new strategies and continue their important work for freedom of expression in their country of origin. With support from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Justice & Peace will be able to provide two additional temporary safe spaces per year in The Hague for journalists at risk and provide them with tailor-made support.

To apply for Shelter City, use the online application form below. Application forms must be submitted by 14 September 2023. An independent commission will select the participants.

Apply now to Shelter City for March 2024

Note that selected human rights defenders will not automatically participate in Shelter City as Justice & Peace is not in control of issuing the required visas to enter the Netherlands.

For more information, please contact us at sheltercity@justiceandpeace.nl.

Posted in Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Front Line Defenders award 2023 goes to front line defenders…..

June 5, 2023

Front Line Defenders announced the five winners of its 2023 Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk, at a special ceremony in Dublin on 26 May 2023. Laureates from each of the major global regions travelled to Ireland to accept the Award, including:

“This year’s laureates are a courageous and inspiring group of people who reflect the determination, dynamism and diversity of human rights defenders (HRDs) who are on the front lines of fighting for a more just world,” said Olive Moore, Interim Director of Front Line Defenders. “Their vital work in defence of human rights in DRC, Ecuador, Jordan, Philippines and Ukraine impacts countless people in their communities and beyond. By shining an international spotlight on their struggles and empowering them to continue their work, we at Front Line Defenders hope this Award will touch the lives of many more people on whose behalf they act.”

For more on the Front Line award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk and its laureates, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/2E90A0F4-6DFE-497B-8C08-56F4E831B47D

Watch a video:

The 2023 Front Line Defenders Award winners:

AFRICA

Olivier Bahemuke Ndoole (Democratic Republic of the Congo) is a leader among environmental and land defenders in DRC and one of the most trusted advocates on behalf of communities impacted by land grabs, trafficking, and illegal resource extraction activities. He is also the only advocate who organises judicial training and capacity-building sessions for DRC citizens on topics related to environment and community rights in Goma, eastern DRC.

AMERICAS

Segundo Ordóñez (Ecuador), an Afro-descendant human rights defender, is one of the most visible faces and the community representative in the two legal proceedings brought against the Japanese-owned company Furukawa Plantaciones C. A. and the State of Ecuador. The cases have focused on how workers on abacá (Manila hemp) plantations suffer labour exploitation as they farm the raw materials in slavery-like conditions.

ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Jeany ‘Rose’ Hayahay (Philippines) is a woman human rights defender based in Mindanao, the Philippines. Since 2019, she has been the spokesperson of the Save Our Schools Network (SOS Network), a coalition of child-focused NGOs, church-based groups and other stakeholders advocating for children’s right to education in Mindanao.

EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

Digital Security Lab Ukraine (Ukraine) is a team of specialists in the field of digital security and internet freedom. They help Ukrainian journalists, human rights defenders and public activists solve problems with digital security, as well as promote the realisation of human rights on the internet by influencing government policy in the field of digital rights.

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

Hala Ahed (Jordan) is a Jordanian human rights lawyer who has worked with a number of human rights and feminist organisations to defend women’s rights, workers’ rights, and the freedoms of opinion, expression and peaceful assembly in Jordan.

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/statement-report/front-line-defenders-announces-winners-2023-award-human-rights-defenders-risk

Posted in awards, Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Call for Applications for September 2023 by Shelter City Netherlands

March 22, 2023

On 21 March 2023 Justice & Peace Netherlands launched a new call for applications for human rights defenders at risk to participate in Shelter City. The deadline for applications is 4 April 2023. Now extended to 11 April.

Shelter City is a global movement of cities, organizations and people who stand side by side with human rights defenders at risk. Shelter City provides temporary safe and inspiring spaces for human rights defenders at risk where they re-energise, receive tailor-made support and engage with allies.

From September 2023 onwards, several cities in the Netherlands will receive human rights defenders for a period of three months. At the end of their stay in the Netherlands, participants are expected to return with new tools and energy to carry out their work at home.

Visit to the ICC in The Hague, 2022

Journalists’ Safe Haven Initiative: Justice & Peace aims to promote the safety of journalists, and in particular women journalists, worldwide so that they can build new strategies and continue their important work for freedom of expression in their country of origin. With support from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Justice & Peace will be able to provide two additional temporary safe spaces per year in The Hague for journalists at risk and provide them with tailor-made support.

Justice & Peace and the Asser Institute have established a collaborative relationship to strengthen and support the capacity of local human rights defenders worldwide. In the context of the Institute’s Visiting Researchers Programme, the Asser Institute hosts one Fellow per year within the framework of the Shelter City initiative by Justice & Peace. The selected Fellow will carry out a research project during the three-month period and take part in other human rights relevant (research) activities of the Asser Institute. In line with these activities, closer to the end of the three-month period, the Fellow will have to present the relevant research findings in a public or closed event. The Fellow may also participate in other (public) events like lectures or (panel) discussions.

To be eligible for Shelter City, human rights defenders should meet the following conditions:

  • They implement a non-violent approach in their work;
  • They are threatened or otherwise under pressure due to their work or activism;
  • They are willing and able to return to their country of origin after 3 months;
  • They are willing to speak publicly about their experience or about human rights in their country to the extent that their security situation allows;
  • They have a conversational level* of English (limited spots are available for French or Spanish speaking human rights defenders);
  • They have a valid passport (with no less than 18 months of validity at the time of applying) or be willing to carry out the procedures necessary for its issuance. Justice & Peace covers the costs of issuing a passport and / or visa (if applicable);
  • They are not subjected to any measure or judicial prohibition to leave the country;
  • They are willing to begin their stay in the Netherlands around September 2023.

Note that additional factors will be taken into consideration in the final round of selection, such as the added value of a stay in The Netherlands as well as gender, geographic, and thematic balance. Please note that only under exceptional circumstances are we able to accept human rights defenders currently residing in a third country.

see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2022/04/20/shelter-city-netherlands-call-for-applications-for-september-2022/

To apply for Shelter City, use the online application form below. An independent commission will select the participants.

Apply for Shelter City

For more information, please contact us at sheltercity@justiceandpeace.nl.

Shelter City Netherlands: Call for Applications for September 2023

Posted in Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , ,

Call for an EU Visa framework for At-Risk Human Rights Defenders

September 24, 2022

ProtectDefenders.eu and the great many undersigned NGOs are convinced that with political will and clear guidelines, the EU can and should return to its political mandate in favour of human rights and human rights defenders, and lead on the implementation of concrete initiatives, good practises, and policy changes to ensure that at-risk human rights defenders can access European Union visas with guarantees, security, and predictability.

More specifically, they call on the EU stakeholders to:
i) propose a specific facilitated procedure for human rights defenders within the EU Visa Code, setting common criteria and defining the elements of a facilitated procedure;
ii) include instructions in the EU Visa Handbook on granting facilitations to HRDs and their family members,
iii) work towards amending the legal instruments on visas, particularly the Visa Code, and
iv) introduce amendments to the Temporary Protection Directive that allow temporary protection status in the EU to be granted to defenders at risk.


Furthermore, they call on the EU Member States to implement consistent policies and guidelines to recognise the right of human rights defenders to access visas; as well as to promote the exhaustive use of their current prerogatives to urgently guarantee access to visas for those facing severe threats and risks.


ProtectDefenders.eu is the European
Union Human Rights Defenders
mechanism, led by a Consortium of 12
NGOs active in the field of Human Rights:
• Asian Forum for Human Rights and
Development (FORUM-ASIA)
• DefendDefenders – East and Horn of Africa
Human Rights Defenders Project
• Euro-Mediterranean Foundation Of
Support To Human Rights Defenders
(EMHRF)
• ESCR-Net
• Front Line Defenders
• ILGA World
• Peace Brigades International
• Protection International
• Reporters Without Borders
• The International Federation for Human
Rights (FIDH)
• The World Organisation Against Torture
(OMCT)
• Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human
Rights (UAF)
This initiative is supported by:
• AfricanDefenders
• Amnesty International
• Araminta
• Artist Protection Fund
• Artists at Risk (AR)
• Asociación Zehar-Errefuxiatuekin
• Brot für die Welt
• Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
• Center for Applied Human Rights (CAHR),
University of York
• Civil Rights Defenders
• Comissió Catalana d’Ajuda al Refugiat
(CCAR)
• Defenders in Dordrecht (DiD)
• Docip (Indigenous Peoples’ Center for
Documentation, Research and Information)
• European Center for Press and Media
Freedom (ECPMF)
• Fédération internationale des ACAT /
International Federation of ACAT (FIACAT)
• Freedom House
• Free Press Unlimited (FPU)
• Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
• Hamburg Foundation for politically
persecuted persons
• Heinrich-Boell-Stiftung (hbs)
• Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF)
• Human Rights House Tbilisi
• Humanists International
• Iniciativa Mesoamericana de Mujeres
Defensoras de Derechos Humanos
• International Arts Rights Advisors (IARA)
• International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN)
• International Partnership for Human
Rights (IPHR)
• International Service for Human Rights
(ISHR)
• Justice & Peace
• Mundubat
• Open Society Foundations (OSF)
• PEN America’s Artists at Risk Connection (ARC)
• Pen International
• Réseau de Défenseurs des Droits Humains
de l’Afrique Centrale (REDHAC)
• Scholars at Risk
• Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders
Network
• Tbilisi Shelter City
• Un Ponte Per
• Unit for the Protection of Human Rights
Defenders of Guatemala

Click to access Visa4HRD-ProtectDefenders.eu-Joint-Statement.pdf

Philippines – Sentencing and incommunicado detention of human rights defenders

Posted in FIDH, human rights | 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Shelter City and Artists’ Safe Haven; a call for applications

September 24, 2022

Justice & Peace Netherlands is launching a new call for applications for its initiatives: Shelter City and Artists’ Safe Haven initiative. The deadline for applications for both initiatives is 2 October 2022 at 23:59 CET. Please note that special conditions may apply due to COVID-19.

Shelter City is a global movement of cities, organizations and people who stand side by side with human rights defenders at risk. Shelter City provides temporary safe and inspiring spaces for human rights defenders at risk where they re-energise, receive tailor-made support and engage with allies. The term human rights defender is intended to refer to the broad range of activists, journalists and independent media professionals, scholars, writers, artists, lawyers, civil and political rights defenders, civil society members, and others working to advance human rights and democracy around the world in a peaceful manner. From March 2023 onwards, several cities in the Netherlands will receive human rights defenders for a period of three months. At the end of their stay in the Netherlands, participants are expected to return with new tools and energy to carry out their work at home. For last year see: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2022/04/20/shelter-city-netherlands-call-for-applications-for-september-2022/

Artists’ Safe Haven initiative

Through its Artists’ Safe Haven initiative, Justice & Peace Netherlands aims to contribute to the promotion of freedom of artistic expression globally, including the right to create art, admire it, critique it, challenge it, be provoked by it, and respond to it free of governmental censorship, political interference or the pressures of non-state actors. Through the provision of temporary relocation and tailor-made support for artists at risk, Justice & Peace aims to promote the safety of these artists, and in particular women artists, worldwide so that they can build new strategies and continue their important work for freedom of artistic expression in their country of origin. With support from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Justice & Peace will be able to provide three temporary safe spaces in The Hague in March, June or September 2023 for artists or art practitioners at risk.

https://7a2pv.r.a.d.sendibm1.com/mk/mr/K_x49f0_LN6hMWyukmyZin_8nFjvyvxEZ64oBYmy0mcrornzARhZf2MMVMohYTcigMvb7fOgyE8_v0NpVjJ007RkNxvaOwa970jiH0-_rgbyYyAtoTgTtlTVcOhkQ5AFqLqJihg

Posted in Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Ubuntu Hub in Accra will serve as a safe haven for Human Rights Defenders

March 28, 2022

Accra set to house threatened African Human Rights Defenders

An interesting example of what African NGOs can do in their own region for human rights defenders:

The Gender Centre for Empowering Development (GenCED) and African Defenders, a Pan-African Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) Network, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set up the 7th Ubuntu Hub in Accra.

The Hub will serve as a safe haven for Human Rights Defenders and in some instances, their families within the continent who are subjected to attacks, threats, violence, and extreme pressure as a consequence of their human rights works.

The MoU would ensure that such victims are given medical, social, educational and psychosocial support in Accra or another African country if they so will, to ensure their wellbeing and development.

Mr Shire said it was prudent for Africa to stay alive and support each other to close the gaps such as threatening, torturing, murmuring, and crying caused as a result of the lack of protection of its people.

A feasibility study conducted by the parties proved that Accra in Ghana was the most suitable host for the initiative as its political, security, and human rights records gave the idea that the city provided an appropriate environment for the relocation of at-risk HRDs, he said.

“Why do human rights defenders need to travel to Finland, just to seek a safe haven, why can’t we seek one from another country within our own continent,” he said.

He explained that the cost of relocating African HRDs at risk to another continent was prohibitory expensive, and the HRDS often faced cultural displacement, stigmatization and cultural and language barriers, hence, finding themselves unable to actively continue their human rights activism when relocated outside of the continent.

In 2019, he said the African Defenders, therefore, launched the Ubuntu Hub Cities, with the aim of providing at-risk African HRDs, with options for safe internal and external temporary relocation without having to leave their home continent.

The initiative since its inception has created a Hub in Kampala, Abidjan, Tunis, Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Cape Town.

Through their diverse local partnerships, Mr Dire said relocation also provided an opportunity for HRDs at risk to learn and share experiences, so that, they could have a positive impact on the host community and return home with enhanced capacities to protect and promote human rights.

Under the Ubuntu Hub Cities Initiative, he mentioned HRDs, Journalists, Writers and Scholars, Trade Union Workers, Human Right Lawyers and Artists as some of the groups they supported.

Ms Esther Tawiah, the Executive Director, GenCED, said African leaders had to stay true to the power and give voice to the ordinary citizen who gave them the mandate.

https://www.modernghana.com/news/1147846/accra-set-to-house-threatened-african-human-rights.html

Posted in Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

« Older posts